****
In honor of Dave, Hudson Place was renamed Dave’s Place and the next few days were busy, which was a relief to Mick. People were anxious to get back to Shady Oaks and new folks were joining them. Sean and Denise were going back to help. Scott felt he needed to stay with Sarah and the girls until it was safe, and then they planned to head out too. Megan was leaving with Darrell, and both Jacob and Mark’s families were going.
Brooke was moping because Jimmy was leaving with his parents, but Mick and Cindy sat her down and told her to give them a month and they would leave when Scott and Sarah left. They both felt they needed to stay to help Lilly for awhile, especially after she declined any further assistance from the military. Captain Sears had generously offered to leave a contingent behind, but after much discussion it was decided that the platoon needed all the men. They still had more places to check - they knew the elusive Connor Group was still out there planning to do harm and the Captain wanted them out of the way so they could focus on the zombie problem.
Mick hated to see them leave, but as they stood waving goodbye to the platoon, he was somewhat relieved. He knew all the extra mouths to feed had been a huge drain on their supplies, much more and they would have run out of many essentials a lot sooner.
The next day dawned bright and clear. Everyone was up early, some were packing and some were once again saying their tearful goodbyes.
Mick stood with Cindy waving until the final vehicle faded from sight. He dropped his hand, lowered his head and sighed.
Cindy eyed him with a grin. “Don’t be sad, we’ll be seeing all of them again real soon,” she soothed.
Mick looked up and gave her a crooked smile. “I know, it’s just so much has happened, I feel like I need a week to digest everything.”
“I know what you mean,” his wife said with a chuckle. She cocked her head toward him thoughtfully. “You know, with that scar across your cheek, you look positively rakish.”
Mick grinned at her. “Oh really? Is that a good thing?”
Cindy laughed. “Oh yeah, I think it’s a good thing.” She gave him a wink and they both laughed. Linking arms together, they walked up the stairs as the garage door slammed shut behind them.
Chapter 29
Early the next morning, Mick woke before everyone else. After making himself a steaming cup of coffee, he joined Scott, who was sitting on the balcony with his feet propped up on the railing.
“When’s your watch over?” he asked as he leaned against the railing to look at his son.
“Not until ten,” Scott replied. He turned his full attention to Mick. “What are you doing up so early?”
“Can’t sleep,” Mick said with a sigh. “I can’t stop thinking of Dave and what happened.”
Scott nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean, it seems unreal.”
Mick turned and looked out over the street. “Yes, it does,” he said somewhat distractedly. He pointed to the left. “Is it just me, or do you see something moving way down the street?”
“Huh?” Scott mumbled as he stood and stared where Mick was still pointing. “Yeah, I do see something, not sure what though,” he said, excitement creeping into his voice. “Maybe more survivors?”
“Still too far away to be sure,” Mick replied. He walked back toward the door, retrieved the binoculars off a small side table, and handed them to Scott.
Scott quickly adjusted the focus, watched silently for a moment, and then swore under his breath.
“Dad, there are survivors down there headed this way,” he exclaimed. “Looks like at least ten or twelve and there’s a ton of zombies right behind them.”
Scott handed Mick the binoculars. One glance and like his son, he too swore under his breath.
“This looks bad,” Mick muttered, handing the binoculars back to his son. “I’m going to get Jeff, Matt, and Cindy up, give me a yell on the walkie if you need to,” he instructed Scott on his way out.
“Will do,” Scott replied without turning; still focused on the approaching group. “I’ll let you know when they get close.”
Mick quickly slid the balcony door open and stepped through. Cindy was walking toward him with her own cup of coffee in hand. She slowed when she saw the worried expression on his face.
“What’s going on now?” she asked with a frown. She glanced over his shoulder. “Is that Scott out there? Is he all right?”
Mick held out a hand. “Whoa, Scott’s fine, we spotted a whole group of survivors headed this way and of course they have zombies after them. A lot of zombies.”
Cindy’s eyes widened as she looked back at Mick. “We better get moving then, think we need to stop and get weapons on the way down?”
“Tell you what,” Mick said, taking her arm to hurry her toward the stairs. “You go rouse Jeff and Matt and I’ll start pulling weapons, ok?”
“Gotcha,” she remarked. “We’ll meet you downstairs.”
As Cindy trotted down the stairs with Mick following, he started thinking about how after the fight with Bill’s group, the military had easily taken care of the zombies drawn to the noise and chaos when they got too close. How would they fare now that there were so few of them left to fight? At that moment, Mick wished more people had stayed behind. They planned to be a temporary refuge for survivors before moving on to Shady Oaks, this was not a well-manned fort.
Cindy peeled off from Mick on the third floor, headed for Jeff and Lindsey’s room first, then on to Matt and Diane's.
Mick quickened his pace until he reached the second floor vault. Once inside, he grabbed a duffle bag and placed an assortment of pistols and rifles inside. He quickly searched the ammo cans lined up on one shelf and selected four. Once everything was outside the door, he realized he needed help to get everything downstairs. He grabbed the duffle bag and began dragging it over to the door. Cindy didn’t have a walkie; he’d have to wait for her and the others to show up. By the time he got the last ammo can to the door, he saw his wife hurrying toward him.
“They’re coming,” she said, slightly out of breath. “Let me help you.”
Mick picked up the duffle bag with a grunt; Cindy grabbed two of the ammo cans and they headed downstairs. Mick figured the others would see the cans left behind and bring them along.
“If this keeps up,” Mick huffed. “We might want to think about adding a weapons cabinet downstairs.”
“Good idea,” Cindy agreed as they reached the first floor. “This takes way too long and there might come a time when we need weapons immediately down here.”
Mick put the bag on the ground and grabbed his walkie. “Scott, what’s going on?”
“Dad, they’ve stopped,” Scott replied. “They had to; the zombies were gaining on them. They’re shooting at them now.”
He frowned and glanced at his wife before replying. “Ok, keep us posted.”
To Cindy he said, “Do you hear any shooting?”
“No, I don’t,” she said with a shake of her head. “Guess they’re too far away and with these thick walls we can’t hear it.”
Mick was about to reply when Jeff, Lindsey, and Sarah came down the stairs toward them.
“Brooke and Diane are going to stay with the kids and Matt went to help Scott,” Sarah told Cindy and Mick. She walked over to the duffle bag, unzipped it and began rummaging through the guns, pulling out a .22 automatic. “I’m not as good a shot as Megan,” she mumbled while Mick handed her a clip. “But I think I can handle this.”
Mick grabbed an AR-15 rifle and slapped a clip in it. “And I think I can handle this,” he said with a grim chuckle. Funny how things change, he thought wryly. There was a time he wouldn't touch such a weapon, now it felt familiar in his grip.
Once everyone had the weapon of their choice, Mick started to key up the walkie when they heard rapid gunfire coming from above.
“Oh, that’s not good,” he said worriedly. If Scott and Matt were firing that meant the group of survivors were close. He looked at the
others. “I’m going to open the door; I don’t think we have time to wait for Scott to give us the all clear. Jeff and I will go out first. Cindy, you and Lindsey follow; Sarah guard the door. Is everyone ok with that?”
At their nods, Mick unlocked the door and threw back the deadbolt. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped out.
****
Charlie opened his eyes, and for a moment wasn’t quite sure where he was. Turning his head, he smiled at the woman lying next to him. Judith still slept, her tousled blonde hair covering her face. Charlie reached over and carefully brushed a curl off her forehead. She stirred and opened her eyes. Shoving the rest of her hair from her face, she smiled up at him.
“Mornin’,” Charlie said in a half-whisper.
“Mornin’,” Judith echoed back. She squinted at the clock. “What time is it?”
“About 9, we slept in a bit.”
Judith sat up. “A bit? I should have been up at least an hour ago; they need me to help with breakfast.”
Charlie shook his head, causing him to wince in pain. When they returned last night, everyone gathered together to discuss what happened at Dave‘s Place. Someone was passing around a couple bottles of whiskey and he wasn’t sure how much he had, but it was enough to give him a bit of a hangover.
“After what we went through I don’t think anyone expects too much from us right now,” he murmured. Leaning over, he gently kissed Judith.
“Are you ok about last night?”
At her nod, Charlie grinned. “Are you ok?” she countered with a grin of her own.
“Oh yeah,” Charlie growled playfully. Judith chuckled and slapped him lightly on the arm. “I’ve had my eye on you for some time now.”
Judith threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, really? You’ve only known me a few days.”
“Well, it feels like I’ve known you longer than that,” he quipped. He reached over and stroked her cheek. “I’d like to know everything there is to know about you,” he said with a serious expression on his face. “One thing this whole mess has taught me is to take nothing for granted and to not waste the time we’re given.”
“I feel the same way,” Judith said with a shy smile at Charlie, which made him feel warm all over. “But, I do have to get up now. Travis stayed over at a friend’s apartment after his shift, but he’ll be back soon.”
Realizing her remark was also his cue to get up and moving, he quickly rolled out of bed and pulled on his heavily wrinkled jeans.
“I’m going to go check on things,” he replied while pulling an equally wrinkled t-shirt over his head. “Want to meet back here in about an hour? I’ll cook breakfast for all of us.”
“Sounds good to me,” Judith said with a nod.
Charlie leaned over to give her a lingering kiss. “Ok, be back soon!”
Despite the headache, Charlie hoped they would have a good day in Shady Oaks for a change. They all deserved it and being the optimist he was, Charlie began to whistle a lively tune on his way out of Judith’s apartment. When he stepped out into the hall, he heard her laugh behind him, which made him grin and whistle even louder.
Strolling toward the lobby, he spotted Rose and Kevin sitting by the open door. They both looked up and smiled at his approach.
“Hiya Rose - Kevin,” he said jovially. “I’m looking for Dexter, is he outside?”
Both Rose and Kevin nodded in unison.
“Daddy’s talkin’ to Sean,” Kevin interjected. He turned and pointed. “Out by the street.”
Charlie grinned and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Thanks son.”
Kevin grinned back and turned to his mother. “Mama, can I go with Uncle Charlie to see what Dad’s doin’?”
Rose glanced up at Charlie.
“Sure, I’ll take him,” Charlie replied with a good humored shrug. He put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder as he stood up. “Let’s go kiddo.”
Together they strode toward the street, Charlie scanning the area for anything unusual. Dexter was leaning against Barry’s truck and talking to him through the window. He looked up when they approached, and to Charlie’s surprise, held out a hand to Kevin and the boy scurried over. Charlie waved at Barry, who returned his wave with a smart little salute and a lopsided grin.
“About time you got yer lazy backside outta bed,” Dexter grumbled. Then he smiled, surprising Charlie further. Charlie surmised that having Rose and Kevin around was a good thing for Dexter‘s mood. “We searched the big grid this morning and since we took out so many zombies already, it looks safe enough to move some families into a few of the houses next to where we’re all staying now. Been talking to Barry here about helping us out. The yards need mowed and trash picked up; Barry says he's the man for that.”
Charlie looked over at the row of small, neat homes east of the apartment building. He could see the logic in the decision and nodded his head.
“So who’s moving in?” he asked.
Dexter scratched his head with this free hand. “Well, lemme see. Rose and I took one, so did Darrell and Megan. I think Judith and Travis are moving into one, too. The other three, can’t remember offhand, but they‘re all families with at least one kid. Oh yeah, one of the new guys - Mark I believe his name is - and his son Reggie want one. Will sure free up space at the apartment, was getting kinda crowded.”
“True,” Charlie agreed. He liked the idea of Judith having her own place. She and Travis lived in a rental trailer on the outskirts of town, and it was out of the question for them to return. He hoped she liked the new house well enough to stay there permanently or at least for a good while.
He allowed himself the brief thought that maybe someday soon, if things progressed with Judith and Travis, that he could join them. She hadn’t mentioned the house to him, but then they did little talking the night before. Seeing movement from the corner of his eye, he glanced toward the houses again. Jenny was exiting the house closest to them, with Megan right behind.
“Jenny!” he called out with a wave. She looked up, waved back, and hurried over.
“Whatcha been doing?” Charlie asked.
“We set up a small generator in the back yard, all the houses have one, so they can at least run a few lights at night and run the frig in the evening too. Megan had this idea to freeze two large blocks of ice in the freezer at night. Then we leave one in the freezer and put one in the frig to keep things cold during the day when the generator is off. Pretty smart way to do things until we have a more permanent source of power.”
Charlie nodded. “That is smart,” he said. Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something burning. “Do you all smell that?” he asked the group.
He watched them sniff the air.
“I smell it,” Dexter said, Kevin nodding next to him.
Jenny and Megan nodded too and turning in a slow circle, Charlie scanned the sky. Sure enough, he saw smoke rising from near the school.
He pointed. “Over there.”
They looked in the direction he was pointing. Dexter took Kevin’s hand again and began moving toward the apartment. “Looks like we better hoof it over there,” he said as he passed Charlie.
Here we go again, Charlie thought as he waved the two women in front of him on, following behind as they headed for the apartment to sound the alarm.
Chapter 30
The moment Mick stepped outside shots rang out again, causing him to flinch involuntarily. He bent over and scurried to a tree next to the building, peering around the trunk. At the end of the block, he saw a group of people in firing positions. As he watched, they began to back up at a fast pace. When he glanced further down, he gasped. The entire street was filled with zombies, with more spilling out from the side streets.
“Oh my,” he heard Cindy whisper from behind him. “Those people need to be running as fast as they can or they’re not going to make it.”
“There’s too many of them!” Jeff exclaimed. He was positioned near the corner of the warehouse across the street, with Linds
ey crouched down behind him. “What are we going to do?”
Mick frowned, trying to think. “Guess the only thing we can do is offer support for as long as possible. If they can get here before the zombies, they have a chance. If not, well they can make a stand here and we will do what we can from inside and get them in when we can or they will have to keep going.”
A sudden gunshot from directly behind caused them to jump and turn toward the sound. Sarah was aiming at something on the street that ran alongside their building. Mick quickly glanced down the street and what he saw caused his blood to run cold.
Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place Page 18