Z Chronicles (Books 2 & 3)

by A. L. White

  Boo didn’t have to figure out how to bring it up, Charlie did it for him. “The girl said they would follow the food source.”

  “I heard her, too.”

  “We’re safe in the school?” Charlie asked, still looking into the darkness.

  “Yes, I believe we are, in the school and the library,” Boo replied. “We will have to check out the old tunnel that goes under the street to make sure it is passable. If so, we could close the gates up so that they are as secure as they can be.”

  “Wouldn’t we be kind of trapped in here then?” Charlie asked.

  “Yup.”

  “You think we could hold out in here?” Charlie dug further for the answers to his questions.

  “Nope.”

  “I thought you said we would be safe in the library and the school.”

  “Charlie, I did say we would be safe in these two buildings, and we will,” Boo replied. “How long we can hold out is a different matter altogether. That depends on food to eat, coal to keep us warm, and gas for the generator, now doesn’t it?”

  Charlie thought for a few minutes and then replied, “All I have accomplished tonight was to bring hell down on us then, haven’t I?”

  “I think you hastened it a little. I do believe that it was coming this way all along. How long do you think the creatures could feed off the livestock out on the farms?”

  “I guess I never really thought about that,” Charlie replied.

  Hearing the change in Charlie’s voice as he shifted from a man excited with doing the right thing to the man who had to put the creature down that had once been his wife, Boo felt the need to reassure him. “I think we have a few options left, Charlie. If we use some of the town’s abandoned cars we could block the bridges. That takes care of them coming in that way unless the rivers freeze over.”

  “We could use some of the schools buses to block the viaducts on the other side of town,” Charlie added.

  Boo smiled at him, “Now you’re thinking, Charlie!” It was good to see Charlie in action when he thought out an issue. If Boo had his choice, Charlie would be doing more leading around here than following. If only they could convince him to lead, and let Doc deal with the mental and physical health.

  “Maybe it is time for your guard unit to start earning their keep,” Charlie thought out loud.

  “Yes, I agree. We will have to get them together and start posting a few up here and at the gates around the clock.”

  “Do you think they are ready?” Charlie asked.

  “No, not yet, Charlie. But the folks that came in today are just what we needed, I think. As long as someone can convince them to lend us a hand and stay for a while.”

  “You don’t think that they are staying or would help out?”

  “Not sure, yet. They operate like a small unit, and look like they have seen a lot more of these creatures up close than we have. We should bring it up to them tomorrow morning and get a better idea of what their plans are.”

  “Plans? What plans could they possibly have that would take them away from here and out there in the middle of that?” Charlie pointing toward the herd.

  “From what I hear, they have a map they were following; that is how they ended up here. I guess we will just have to ask them what their plans are, Charlie. From what I have seen so far, if the creatures come into town it would be nice to have them with us.”

  Charlie agreed on that last point, from what they had both seen out on the road. Those people had stood their ground when the creatures had them surrounded. Charlie couldn’t tell you with any degree of certainty that he could do the same.

  Boo shook his head and handed Charlie the binoculars. “I am going to secure the gates before it gets any later, Charlie. You think you could do a four-hour watch?”

  “I can handle it, Boo.”

  “I will be back up in about four hours then, Charlie. Keep an eye on our gates and the bridges,” Boo said as he left.

  CHAPTER 18

  When they went to bed, thanks to Lori, Walter was sharing the double bed with them. He didn’t take up much room and was scrunched up against the window with Lori in between him and the others. After getting a good warm meal into their stomachs, it felt good to sleep in an actual bed again. Virginia wasn’t complaining about the bunks back at the bunker, or even about the beds in the RV, but these were real beds that she could pull the thick blankets up around her neck and fall into a deep sleep. Well, she tried to fall into a deep sleep, but it just wasn’t coming as easy as it had for the rest of the group. It wasn’t Zeus’ or Zoe’s snoring that was keeping her up, nor the man called Doc on the other side of the room harmonizing his snores with them. Lori was moving around fitfully in her sleep like she had back at the bunker when Zoe had saved her. Though even that wasn’t what was keeping her awake. She didn’t feel like they were in any danger, Zeus and Perseus wouldn’t let anything get too near them. She knew that. There was just something that felt too good to her, being around these people. In Virginia’s mind there were zombies, people, and people who didn’t know they were soon to be zombies. Being here made her think that maybe there was a chance to live a normal life; a chance to not be as quiet as she could for fear of attracting the zombies to her.

  A few hours later Lori began to tremble enough that Virginia felt like she was doing it on purpose, so she sat up and looked over at her sister. Lori’s skin seemed to be paler than normal in the little bit of light coming in through the transit above the door from the hallway. Zeus too, had noticed it, and was sitting up staring at her now. Virginia placed her hand softly on Lori’s shoulder and shook her. No response. Virginia shook her a little harder until Lori’s eyes popped open, causing her to move away quickly. Lori’s beautiful eyes had been replaced by black oversized pupils; lifeless eyes like those of a shark. Frozen in time, Virginia didn’t know what to do, so she just sat there petrified. Zeus let out a barely audible growl, as if he too was stuck between attacking a zombie or leaving Lori to sleep.

  The cold black eyes were locked on Virginia, and she felt what was left of her old life would die soon, and by her own hand. Then she noticed a tear trickle down Lori’s cheek.

  Walter whispered, “She can’t help it. There are too many people here for her to handle.”

  “What do you mean too many people for her to handle? She’s changed!” It was a whisper but is was a whisper full of urgency and panic.

  “If we can get her outside to the camper, she will be ok,” Walter added as he rolled over and took Lori’s hand into his.

  Without thinking, Virginia quietly reached down into her backpack, the backpack that held all of the clothes she owned in the world, searching for a dark green hoody. Finding it she tugged it free. “Here, do you think you can help me get this on her?”

  Walter took the hoody and began to put it on Lori. Lori took over and completed pulling it over her head. For an instant, Virginia saw her sister and not the creature.

  “If we don’t run into anyone, I think she will be okay,” Walter said as he climbed out of bed. “You know, it is hard controlling it sometimes.” Walter pulled Lori’s arm until she followed him; they were sneaking out of the room into the hallway. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone moving around on the third or second floors. There was some movement at the bottom of the stairs, causing Virginia’s anxiety level to rise, but it moved off quickly. The door leading out still wasn’t locked in any way; Virginia rolled her eyes in shock. Once they were in the RV, Virginia got the heater started and sat down at the table across from Lori. Walter had laid down on the sofa, looking back at the two of them.

  Lori’s color was coming back to her now, along with her eye color.

  “Is someone going to tell me what the heck happened in there?”

  Lori shook her head for a few seconds trying to find a way to tell her baby sister when Walter broke in. “Your sister and I have it in us somehow. Lori was bitten, I think, but I don’t remember if I was or not. I don’t have any marks, not
like she does.”

  “I think part of that creature is still in me,” Lori stated with tears beginning again.

  It was a lot for anyone to handle, especially for Virginia who had made it her life’s goal to kill all zombies before she died.

  “I have watched you since you were on that bus all laid out! I have not seen any sign of a change happening!”

  “I know, Virginia. I have been watching myself as well. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me. I have dreams of what I think are things that the creature had seen… but that is it,” Lori replied.

  “It is the smell, mostly,” Walter added. “To us, people or living things smell sweet, like candy. It is hard to explain or control.”

  “You’re right!” Lori stated. “I noticed it when we first got here, but it got stronger when I tried to go to sleep.”

  “So we have to leave or tell them that the thing that they are trying hard to keep out is sleeping with them in the next bed?”

  “I don’t know, Virginia!”

  “Fine. What else have you noticed since that day? Anything?”

  “Sometimes I know they are there before Zeus and Perseus do. Not by a lot, usually under a minute or so,” Lori added.

  Part of Virginia wanted so badly to put an arrow into Walter and Lori’s heads right now before anyone got hurt, or worse. Another part wanted to know if there was a way that Lori could keep going like this and still be Lori.

  “You can control this thing?” Virginia asked.

  “It is only a tiny part, so I think she can. Just needs to learn how, like I did,” Walter replied smiling. “We are still human like you.”

  “You two should start sleeping in the RV if being around too many people is what caused this. I promise you both, that if you do a full change, I will kill you.”

  “That is what I would want you to do, Virginia,” Lori said with a warm smile.

  “I guess if the lads think you’re safe to be around, then I do too,” Virginia said shaking her head slowly. “The lads and I are going to go for a walk and check things out,” she added as she rose up and left without giving Lori a chance to object.

  The cold air and solitude outside felt good after hearing all of that in the RV. Not being sure where the walk was going to take them, Virginia decided that she would like to see how good of a view there was on the roof. Pulling the door open and letting the lads enter first, Virginia followed and smacked face first into Boo’s chest.

  “Bet it is cold out there,” he said to her.

  “It felt refreshing. I wanted to look around a little.”

  “If you want to get a good look, why don’t you come up and check out the roof? Maybe you can keep Charlie from talking my ear off again,” Boo said with a smile.

  Virginia nodded her head and followed Boo up to the roof. They were right when they said everything was in view from up there. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see the little car where they had been trapped until Boo and Charlie came with the snow plow. More importantly, Virginia could see that the herd had moved surprisingly close to the bridge that they had crossed coming in. Pointing toward them with her finger, Virginia said “Look.”

  Boo followed the direction that she was pointing when Charlie said, “They’re closer to the Jones Street Bridge than the Main Street Bridge. I am not sure which one we should be more worried about.”

  “Looks like we need to block the bridges off after all then,” Boo stated.

  Charlie shook his head in agreement then asked Boo, “Should we be planning for a ‘cry uncle’ scenario?”

  Boo looked at Charlie cold and hard for a few minutes and then said, “What do you think we should do, little lady?”

  Virginia didn’t even pause to think about an answer, “Stop them before they cross.”

  Charlie laughed long and hard at that. “How exactly are we going to do that?”

  “Use the buses to block the bridges and worry about what gets around them,” Boo replied.

  “When the rivers freeze over?”

  “If the rivers freeze over, Charlie; they don’t freeze every year,” Boo stated as a matter of fact.

  Virginia started to walk away from the two men, only stopping at the door when Boo had asked her why she was leaving.

  “Looks like we need a few people to help block off your bridges, and I know a few that could help,” she said smiling.

  Boo and Charlie smiled at her and then each other. “There you go, Charlie, another plan like yours has presented itself,” Boo said.

  Charlie smiled and replied, “I will get Zach to take the watch from up here and keep an eye on us.”

  “Good idea, let’s all meet down in the lot out back,” Boo stated looking first at Virginia who nodded yes, and then at Charlie.

  Virginia headed to the third floor and tried to enter their room as quietly as possible. The plan had been to very quietly awaken Jermaine and Albert, leaving Zoe to sleep soundly. That was the plan. Unfortunately, Zoe had heard them leave earlier and was laying awake in her bed.

  “What is all this sneaking around in the middle of the night about child?” Zoe asked in hushed tones.

  Virginia felt like she had been caught by her mother with her hand in the cookie jar. “Looks like we are going to need to block the bridges off leading into town,” Virginia replied.

  “I think we all knew that was coming. I was concerned that they didn’t know here,” Zoe replied as she got out of bed. “Albert, you need to wake up and go help these folks out. Jermaine, rise and shine boy, there is work to be done.”

  “Is she always this pleasant in the morning?” Jermaine said through a sleepy voice.

  “This is a good one. You have no idea what the bad ones are like,” Albert replied laughing.

  “Virginia, where is your sister at?” Zoe asked. Virginia hung her head a little and looked away from Zoe, “She thought it was too hot in here, so she took Walter and went to sleep in the RV.”

  Zoe shook her head and said, “I was wondering if this place would cause a problem. You know what I am talking about?” Zoe asked.

  Before Virginia could answer, Albert butted in, “There is not very much that gets passed ole Aunt Zoe. You may want to remember that for in the future.”

  “Ok, where are we going, and what are we about to do when we get there?” Jermaine asked.

  “The herd is moving toward the bridges, so we are going to go block them off,” Virginia replied as she led them out the door and down the stairs. Once they were outside she was surprised to see Lori and Walter standing by the door waiting for them. Seeing Virginia’s look Lori said, “That guy Boo banged on the door and asked us to wait for you, and then to meet them across the street by the library.”

  Lori took the lead as they crossed over to where three trucks were waiting. One had Boo standing by it talking to three men that Lori had not met yet, while Charlie sat in the cab of the second truck loading a pistol. He smiled at Lori when he had noticed her, causing her to blush a little.

  “Welcome to our little party,” Boo stated with a large toothy smile.

  “Can’t say I am overly glad to be here, to be completely honest with you. Of course if it means we don’t deal with the creatures on our doorstep, that is a different story,” replied Albert laughing.

  “I think it will stop them, or buy us a little time to find a better way,” Boo said.

  “What is the plan then?” Lori asked.

  “These guys are going with me over to the Main Street Bridge. We will use what is left of the chain link fencing to create a barrier on the far side of the bridge. If you guys could go with Charlie to see what needs to be done down the street on the Jones Street Bridge, that would be great.”

  “Virginia or I will go with you. We know what to keep an eye out for,” Lori added.

  She thought for a minute the old man was going to argue with her until he replied, “Point taken and I agree with you. Is there anything we should know in c
ase we get up close and personal with them?”

  Lori looked him in the eyes and said, “If it is only one or two that you are dealing with DO NOT shoot them! All that does is call the others right to you.”

  “Then what are we supposed to do?” one of the men asked.

  “Cave their head in with anything handy. It is the only way to put them down so they stay down,” Jermaine replied to the group of men so that they all could clearly hear him. “Is this the first time you have dealt with this?”

  “Charlie and I have dealt with them on a limited basis. Most of the others have done their best to stay out of the way,” Boo replied.

  “Maybe we should get moving so that we can cut down on the chances of changing that. I will go with you guys and cover you while you work. Charlie will be in good hands between Virginia and the dogs, while Jermaine and Albert help him,” Lori said as she walked over and climbed into Boo’s truck.

  “You heard the lady, let’s get going fellas,” Boo ordered the group.

  CHAPTER 19

  The sun was just starting to rise off to the east as Boo pulled onto the bridge. In front of him stood a sight that would send fear deep into the soul of most battle hardened veterans, and Boo was no different. It was the type of sight that the mind could not comprehend, that it had no way of processing. With the sunlight to their back the masses of the moving herd looked as though they were glowing. It nearly hid the fact that they were around fifty feet from being on the bridge.