The Wilder Side of Z

by S A Ison

  The police had given up and had put her into the house of a true monster. She looked over at Xander; he was very quiet and she knew he was thinking. They really needed to get back to North Carolina and the cabin. That place would be a haven for them. Was he worried about the girl and the responsibility? She mentally shook her head. No. Though Xander had had a screwed-up childhood like herself, he’d had a bully and a drunk for a father, Xander was none of those things. He was a thoughtful if not repressed man. She smiled softly remembering their fun in the shower that morning. So much had changed within a twenty-four-hour time frame. She was used to death, but this was some other kind of level of mayhem. She couldn’t say she was sorry to say goodbye to the human race, most were assholes, especially when it came to their notions about werewolves.

  She looked down once more and smiled. She’d help this little one. She sighed and looked back over to Xander and he was looking at her, a soft smile on his lips. She wanted to say something flippant, but couldn’t bring herself to ruin the mood. She looked back out the window. It was a hard habit to break, spewing acid and hurling insults. It was her defensive mechanism but she was learning that Xander wouldn’t hurt her.

  Xander was once more surprised at the tenderness that suffused Zahara’s face. He was learning more and more about the woman he was coming to care deeply about.

  “Looks like we’re about there, good thing too. The night is coming pretty fast and though our night vision is good, theirs aren’t,” Xander said. He watched as Rose got out of the ambulance and walked up to a long metal gate that was six feet high and ten feet wide. She unhooked a latch and walked it open and then the ambulance went through. He followed and Reggie brought up the rear. He wondered about Reggie and noticed that the man had scraped off the offending bumper sticker. He suspected that the man would be taking on the three orphans. His eyes slid over to the still sleeping Shay. He wasn’t sure how he felt, he’d never ever thought he’d have children. He never thought he’d have a woman either. A smile twitched at his lips and he looked at Zahara, who was now sitting forward on the bench seat.

  Rose ran back up to the ambulance after securing the gate. There was barbed wire fencing that appeared to run the property. Good, that would keep things out, unless these things crawled in on their bellies. The zombie beings didn’t seem to have a higher reasoning, just animal instinct. They drove slowly around the double S curve drive and soon a large farmhouse came into view. It was a two-story affair, with a wide wraparound porch. It had six white pillars that lined the front porch and windows across. The second story displayed windows across the front. Jutting up on the side was an actual chimney. The front lawn was wide and with live oaks peppered about the property. Spanish moss hung from many of the trees around the yard.

  Xander could hear the almost deafening buzz of the cicadas and it seemed very peaceful. It reminded him of his cabin and made him long to be there. There was no stench of decay here and he could hear a cow over in the large barn. He parked the truck and got out. Shay was sitting up and rubbing her sleepy face, her hair sticking up in a crazed mass. Xander thought she was a cute kid and smiled softly at her. She grinned shyly up at him and he reached over and patted her cheek gently. Zahara shifted and opened the door and helped the little girl down out of the truck and they all walked up to the ambulance.

  “Your uncle has a nice place here. Peaceful,” Xander said, a soft smile on his face.

  “I loved coming here as a child, it is one of my most favorite places to be. I visit as often as I can,” Rose said, looking around.

  “Do you think your uncle is in the house?” Ethan said. There were a few lights glowing from windows as the day turned to early evening.

  “Not sure, it’s late in the day and if he were in the house, he’d have come out. He might be in the barn, I hear the cow calling, she might need milking. Let’s go take a peek there. The group started toward the barn and Xander saw a large pond about five hundred feet from the house. He wondered if it had fish. The doors to the barn were open but it was gloomy inside, the fading daylight only reached in so far.

  “Uncle Dickie? You there?” Rose called into the barn. The cow responded and Xander heard goats bleating at the far end of the barn. He heard them shuffling around in their stall. The scent of cow manure, hay and goats were prevalent within the barn.

  “Uncle Dickie? Oh, Lord. What on earth are you doing down there?” Rose said with a laugh as they saw a large man on his belly, he was reaching under the door of a stall, it was the cow’s stall. He wore faded overalls and Xander could make out a yellow bandana hanging out of his back pocket. A straw hat sat beside the prone man. He was wiggling around. Rose was laughing and bent down to pull on the man’s arm. Xander was unprepared for what happened next as the man jerked around and in the dim light that filtered through the doors, he saw a brutal bite mark on the old man’s face.

  Rose tried to jerk back as the man’s hands flew out and caught her; his mouth gaped open and it looked as though he’d chewed off his own lips. His eyes were wide but blank and he clawed at Rose and tried to draw her close to his mouth, his teeth clacking and chomping at her. Rose’s shrilled scream filled the barn and the cow slammed itself against the far wall.

  Uncle Dickie was raking his fingers down her neck, jerking and pulling her closer and closer. Ethan had stumbled and was trying to pull Rose out of the zombie’s grasp, for Uncle Dickie was no longer. Shay was hiding her face in Zahara’s stomach and Zahara’s eyes were wide with shock. Finally, Xander drew his weapon and shot the man in the head and he fell to the ground, his mouth hanging wide open as blood and saliva dripped down his chin. Time resumed at normal speed and Ethan was scooping Rose up and running out of the barn. Reggie was just running in, his eyes wide and then he saw the old man on the ground. The cow was now kicking and lowing. Xander looked at him and saw the shock and sorrow in Reggie’s eyes.

  He saw that the three orphans were clustered behind Reggie, the twins holding onto his waist. Lauren hovered behind, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. Xander went to follow Ethan and see if Rose would live or if they had to kill her. They could bury her uncle later. He came out of the barn when he heard Reggie talking to the twins.

  “You boys ever milk a cow? My granddaddy showed me how. Sounds like that old girl needs a milkin’. I don’t suppose you wanna help me?” Reggie asked, his voice soft. Perhaps he wasn’t an asshole after all? Lauren followed Xander and Zahara, Shay was nearly glued to Zahara’s side. There were more lights on in the house now and the group turned when two zombies came around the side of the house. Lauren squeaked and Zahara shot both of the creatures without breaking her stride.

  “I’m going to take a look around the property. See if there are any more of these things out here,” he said.

  “Good, kill every motherfu…kill anything that isn’t human or doesn’t belong,” Zahara said and went into the house. The screen door slammed behind her.

  Ethan’s heart was in his throat as he carried Rose in his arms. It just couldn’t end this way. She was such a wonderful woman and he’d not even gotten to know her. She was weeping in his arms and there was blood on her. He took her to the kitchen and switched on the light. He was shaking when he sat her at the table.

  He looked over his shoulder at her as he went to the large sink and grabbed the dishtowel and ran it under water. He drew in a deep breath and blew it out forcefully. He needed to focus; Rose needed him to be steady. Squeezing the towel out, he came back to her. Her eyes were large on her face, she was in shock.

  “How bad?” Zahara asked and he was glad that she’d lost the sardonic tone that was usually present.

  “Not sure, I’m gonna clean her up and see what we have,” Ethan said and was surprised at how calm he sounded. He glanced down at his hands and they were steady. He tilted Rose’s face up and began to wipe the blood. There were no bite marks there. Her neck was a different story, there were long thin nail marks down her neck where he
r uncle had clawed at her. She winced when he began to wash them.

  “There should be betadine packs and other sterile cleaning supplies in the ambulance,” Rose said, her voice shaking badly.

  “Got it,” Zahara said and disappeared.

  “Is she gonna be okay?” Lauren asked from the doorway, her face pale and her blonde hair wild about her head. Shay was holding onto the older girl, their hands entwined.

  “I think so. I hope so,” Ethan said as he wiped again. There was a lot of dirt on her neck as well, maybe from when her uncle had been trying to crawl under the gate to the cow’s stall. He let out a shuddering sigh as Zahara rushed back in and opened one of the betadine packs. She smeared it on Rose’s neck and it appeared even more ghastly. Rose sat quietly as he and Zahara worked on her. He took wipes and began to wash the betadine from her neck and took paper towels to wipe her down, getting most of the brownish liquid off.

  “You’ve got several gouges down your neck from your uncle’s nails but there are no bites,” Ethan said and sat in the chair across from her abruptly. His legs going weak and now his hands were shaking badly. He looked into her light gray eyes and saw her fear and uncertainty.

  “Do you think I’ll turn into…into one of them?” she asked.

  “I don’t think so. There’s no bites. And there was a lot of dirt on his fingernails. I cleaned dirt out of there but I think no saliva or blood got into the wounds.” He picked up a tube of antibiotic ointment and gently coated the wounds.

  Zahara nodded and turned as Xander walked into the kitchen, his eyebrows raised in silent question.

  “We think she’ll be okay. There aren’t any bites on her. Her uncle only scratched her and he had a lot of dirt and filth on his nails. If anything, she might get an infection from cow shit,” Zahara said.

  “I’m really sorry Rose, for your loss. It’s too late now, but in the morning, I’ll dig a grave for your uncle,” Xander said softly.

  “Thank you, thank you so much. Bless his heart, my poor uncle. He was such a sweet man,” Rose said and her voice choked with emotion.

  “I’m sorry too,” Zahara said softly.

  “There were a couple more zombies outside behind the barn and I put them down. I’ll get rid of them tomorrow as well. After we get the kids settled, I’m going to go out and do a walkabout and see if there are any more within the vicinity. With the kids here, I want to make sure that they’re safe,” Xander said.

  “I’ll go with,” Zahara said and both looked over to Shay and Lauren.

  “Let me see about fixing these kids something to eat and then we can get them cleaned up and put to bed,” Rose said and started to get up.

  “You sit still and catch your breath, I can fix something,” Xander said.

  “I’ll go get some things for Shay and get her into the bath.” Zahara walked by and took Shay by the hand. Lauren stood leaning against the kitchen opening and Reggie came up from behind, the twins in tow and a pail of milk in hand.

  “Watered and fed the animals, looks like they’d not had anything for a day. Nothing serious. Your cow is happy now. How are you doing?” he asked as he set the milk on the table.

  “Thank you, Reggie. I know Lulabell is very happy. I think I’ll be alright. No bites, just scratches. I guess we’ll just keep a watch over me,” Rose said, her voice heavy with fatigue.

  “Mom and Dad turned into those zombie things after about four hours,” Lauren said in a dead voice and they all turned to look at her.

  Her face was so pale that her eyes looked like dark splotches in her face. Her fingers were knotted together and the knuckles white from gripping so hard. Ethan thought that the child was hanging on by a thread. He could not imagine watching his parents’ attack and then transform into something like the zombies. It was hard for him, a grown man, to accept this reality and he was a man of the world.

  “Then I guess we wait and see,” Rose said softly and smiled. She started to get up but Ethan tried to stop her.

  “I’m alright, Ethan. Let me do this, it will keep my mind occupied as we count down the minutes.” She moved about the kitchen and opened drawers and cupboards.

  Once the children were fed and put to bed, everyone went to the porch. All the lights were out and the frogs from the pond were in full chorus. There were crickets lending their voices to the noise and it felt tranquil and Xander was thankful for it. Shay and Lauren were sharing a bed, both sound asleep from fatigue and sorrow. The twins didn’t want to be separated from Reggie and so he promised he’d be back to sleep with them when it was his bedtime. Ethan had brought several chairs out and set them along the porch. There were three rocking chairs and a porch swing. Xander thought he would sit a few minutes and then head out and see what was what. He’d carry plenty of magazines in case he ran into a group of zombies. Zahara was going with him and he looked forward to just walking in the quiet night.

  It had been one hell of a day with one hell of an ending. The heavy scent of coffee filled the air as each of the adults cradled a coffee cup. So far, it had been two hours and Rose was doing well. Xander was glad it was dark under the veranda; it hid the smile on his face as he watched as Ethan watched Rose. Every now and again, Ethan reached over and place the back of his hand on her forehead. She’d smiled at him and shook her head. Xander looked up as Zahara walked out of the house. She had gone to check on the children above.

  “All snoring heavily. Hopefully there won’t be any nightmares, but I don’t think we’ll get that lucky,” she said as she sat down beside Xander. Gone was her mocking tone and it had been replaced with an adult’s voice. Where had the amaroidal Flea gone? She sipped her coffee and looked out into the night sky. There was a gibbon moon above and the stars were scattered across the heavens and thin clouds that ribboned out.

  “When do we head out?” she asked softly so as not to disturb the conversation going on between the three at the other end of the porch. Xander had chosen the porch swing at the far end.

  “We can head out now, if you’d like. I want to make a large circuit around. Maybe over to the next property, that may be where these zombies came from.”

  “The gate was latched when we got here,” she said.

  “They may have come over before they turned and when they turned, they could have attacked Rose’s uncle. Those walkers you shot still had normal eyes, though their pupils were blown. It was the same with the two I killed behind the barn. Same with Rose’s uncle. I think their eyes go milky after a few days. Then they start to slowly rot. The zombies you killed appeared fresh.”

  “You’re probably right. Shit, this whole day has been three kinds of fucked up in a one tent shit show. Let’s go and then I want to hit the sack, after two transformations, I’m beat,” she said and stood. He grinned and took her coffee cup and set it on the porch railing.

  “We’re gonna go walkabout, maybe head to the neighboring properties and see if we see any threats or zombies. If you want to lock the door, just leave the key on the top lip of the doorframe. We’ll lock up when we come in,” Xander said softly. His eyesight was perfect at night and if he let the wolf out just a bit more, he could see nearly as clear as day.

  “You want me to come with?” Ethan said, starting to stand.

  “Naw, stay here and keep an eye on Rose. We don’t need flashlights but you would. I’ll see you all in the morning,” he said and turned and took Zahara’s hand and both stepped off the porch. Most of their supplies were still in the truck. They would have to sort through them tomorrow and divide it up with Rose, if she lived. He thought she would since there were no bodily fluids exchanged. They headed for the back of the property; Rose had said the property was over a hundred acres, much of it forested. There were a few pastures and fields and Xander could see several acres planted in corn. Rose was going to have her hands full taking care of this place.

  “You think Ethan is going to stay here?” Zahara asked, as though reading his mind and he looked down at her. She was pretty in
the moonlight. Her eyes were glowing gold and he knew she was using her night vision, just as he was. It was something they would teach Shay. To use their wolf side, to bring forth its abilities and merge it with their human side.

  “He might; he’s been pretty much goofy since we met Rose. I’ve never seen him like this, though honestly, I don’t know him that well. He’s a quiet man and kept to himself when we worked together. We got the job done and he got me out of Djibouti, got me to the extraction point, when shit went sideways.”

  “She’ll need some help; this place is big. I heard Reggie volunteering to stay on with her, to help and the kids will stay as well. I wonder how Ethan will be with that?”

  “What do you think of the ex-Klansman?” he asked her.

  “I think he’s okay. When I got to the store, he was protecting Shay and she seems to trust him. Kids are pretty perceptive. I think if he were a real shitheel, I’d have picked that up and I’d have killed him. Ethan’s just gonna have to deal with it. Not my chair, not my problem,” she laughed softly in the warm air. They slowed down when they heard rustling in the trees. Both sniffed the air and moved closer. Both had their weapons drawn. If they killed anything, he’d come back tomorrow and bury it. He didn’t think Rose would want to smell rotting corpses on her property.

  Several minutes later a deer and her fawn came through the brush and froze, scenting the air. The doe made a soft grunting noise then she and the fawn took off in the opposite direction. Xander and Zahara continued their walk. It was nice and he felt himself relaxing. All he wanted was to get back to his cabin. Retirement had come early and he couldn’t say he was sorry. He slowed and placed a hand up. Something ahead was moving and then he saw two zombies bouncing off trees. They were slow, as though caught in a quagmire. Two shots later and they were down. Moving past the dead, Xander and Zahara made their way slightly west and saw reflective eyes in the trees around them. Raccoons. He hoped the animals didn’t dine on the dead.