They quickly joined the group at the apartments to hear about the water situation. Jake jumped onto the back of a nearby truck and held up a hand. All talking immediately stopped and every eye was fastened on him.
"We managed to get up to the plant with no problems, didn't see a thing. When we got there, we found some bodies but none inside the water. We removed them, cleaned up the area, and locked the gate. I will be testing the water samples as soon as I'm done here. I took them from the main reservoir our water is currently coming from. What we really need to do is get the pumps going again up there and keep the plant maintained."
A tall, extremely thin man around fifty years of age and wearing farmer's overalls and a cowboy hat raised his hand. Jake nodded toward him.
"Most of you know me, some of you don't," he drawled. "Name's Morgan O'Shea and my family have been farming these parts for nigh on eighty years or so." He cleared his throat and glanced around nervously. "Our farm is totally self-sufficient, which means at a young age my pa taught me how to keep our water goin' and I'm purty sure I can git those pumps runnin' - that is if you'd like me to give it a try."
Someone clapped Morgan on the shoulder and there were several smiles and nods. Morgan nodded back at them and grinned.
"Well, looks like that problem is solved," Jake said. He climbed down gingerly, still favoring his side and carefully picked up a backpack which Charlie figured held the water samples. "Off to work then, if you have any questions, ask Jenny. Soon as I have the results will let everyone know." With a wave of his hand, he hurried off toward the apartments.
Jenny turned toward her father and Dexter. "Your turn."
Charlie shot a look at Dexter. "Go ahead."
Dexter didn't need telling twice, he hauled his carcass onto the bed and turned to face the crowd. "Ok, here's the thing. We got some zombies, but no dogs. Figure it doesn't matter though, pretty sure when we get all the zombies in the field we'll attract the dogs."
A young woman holding a red-haired little boy about two years old raised her hand. Charlie remembered meeting her in the shelter and was fairly certain her name was Sandy and the child's name was Rusty, which fit him perfectly. "I know we already decided, but is it really a good idea to battle it out with the zombies on that field again?" She glanced around and licked her lips nervously. "I mean, I need my George to take care of us, especially now with the way things are and I don't want him hurt."
Dexter puffed out his chest and smiled. "Don't you worry one bit, your George will be fine." He glanced around. "Everyone will be fine. We follow the plan and it will work."
Charlie began to lose interest in the discussion, which was turning into a rehash of the previous night's meeting. He wandered over to Jenny.
"I'm starving, want to sneak off upstairs and grab something to eat?"
"Sounds good to me, we can make Jake a sandwich too."
Once inside the apartment, Charlie began rummaging through the cabinets while Jenny spread peanut butter and grape jelly on thick slices of homemade bread. "Once we get the zombies taken care of, we can start growing our own vegetable gardens, would be nice to have fresh produce," she said as she worked.
"There are lots of things we can do," Charlie remarked. He found a half-eaten bag of chips and laid them on the counter, followed by a round plastic bin full of chocolate chip cookies. Another cabinet revealed a stack of paper plates and he pulled out three. Once the plates were loaded with food, Jenny picked one up.
"Since Jake's working in the bedroom I'll take it to him."
Charlie handed her a bottled water and followed her to open the door. She gave him a grin and went inside. He closed the door behind her and hurried over to get his plate, he really was hungry. Jenny returned and sat across from him. Together they ate in silence, glancing out the window at the people below.
Jenny pointed her sandwich toward the window. "Looks like they're loading the trucks already," she said with her mouth full. She swallowed and took a quick swig of water. "Looks like we better hurry and eat."
Charlie grunted and nodded, his own mouth full of the sticky sweet goodness. He forced it down with a drink of water, wishing it was a frothy cold glass of fresh milk instead. Maybe someday, he thought. He chewed as rapidly as his jaws would allow. Once finished, they quickly discarded the soiled plates in the trash. Jenny fished three apples from the fridge and handed one to Charlie.
"Surprise! They're not looking too bad at all, so enjoy," she said as she tossed one in the air and he caught it. "Going to give this one to Jake and tell him we're heading out soon."
Charlie now gnawing on the apple, nodded. "What did he say about you going again?"
Jenny tossed her head. "He didn't say much, told me he loved me and to be careful."
"Sounds like he's learning," he teased with a wink. He waved and turned toward the door. "Meet you downstairs."
Soon as he was in the hall, he could hear voices below and over them all he could hear Dexter bellowing orders. Déjà vu, he thought as he tromped noisily down the stairs. He'd eaten way too fast, making him feel sluggish and heavy.
Jenny soon joined him and together they loaded the truck with their gear. Charlie was impressed at how quickly they were ready, not even an hour had passed. Guess we've had a lot of practice, he thought wryly.
After Dexter checked everyone, they were ready to move out. Charlie slid into the driver's seat and shut his door. He started the truck as Jenny slid into her seat and fastened her seat belt. He gave her a look.
"What?" she asked with a grin. She settled back against the seat.
"Fastening the seat belt struck me funny for some reason. Here we go - off to battle zombies - and you put on your seat belt."
To his surprise, he laughed out loud. Jenny tilted her head to look at him and the look on her face made him laugh harder. "Well," he said with a gasp in between. "It is funny."
She grinned at him. "Yeah, guess it is." She shook her head and giggled.
Charlie fastened his seat belt; they looked at each other and burst out laughing. As he drove by Dexter, he gave him a wave, laughing louder at Dexter's perplexed look. Sometimes you have to laugh at the absurdity of it all, Charlie thought as he headed toward the field. Either that or go mad.
****
The trip to pick up the armory folks went without a hitch, until they were almost back to Dave's Place. The idea to travel mid-day worked perfectly, they saw not one creature - living or otherwise. Sullie turned out to be a small, compact woman around sixty with pure white hair and big smiling brown eyes. After quick introductions and once supplies were handed over, Mick and his team quickly headed back with their new charges. He was feeling hopeful as they neared their destination. He felt more than heard the two clicks from his walkie. His steps slowed as he fished it from beneath his jacket. He put up a hand and heard rather than saw the group behind him come to a halt.
He carefully checked the volume before responding. "Mick here," he whispered. "What's up?"
"Mick, this is Lindsey. We've got problems." Mick adjusted the volume up a tad. "Zombies started showing up about ten minutes ago. We have no idea why."
Mick winced. He glanced at his son. "You heard?" Sean nodded. "What should we do?"
"Find out how many zombies we're talking about and where they're at, we may be able to sneak around and go through the garage."
He smiled at Scott. "Good thinking."
"Lindsey, do you think we can get in through the garage? How many zombies are we talking about?"
"Not many and they're mostly on the main side," Lindsey replied. "If you hurry, I'd say you could get in at the garage. Let us know when you're ready and we'll open the door."
"We should be there in about five minutes," Mick said softly. "Will message you when we're close."
He placed the walkie back under his jacket and turned to the others who were whispering among themselves. "We need to hurry," he said in a loud whisper. "Try to be as quiet as you can and stay close to ea
ch other."
Without waiting for a reply, Mick turned on his heel and began to trot toward Dave's Place. He wanted to get there as quickly as possible, but they had to stop twice so parents could pick up and carry the children who were falling behind. Within a few minutes, he was able to see the top of Dave's Place. He slowed down and pointed so the newcomers could see their destination. He looked back.
"We're not going directly in," he whispered between breaths. "We need to take a left up here, so pay attention."
Once they reached the corner, he took a sharp turn and ran across the street. If he had kept going straight, they would have come up on the main entrance to Dave's Place. Now they needed to approach from the other side. Once safely across, he stopped with his back up against a building. The others followed his example and soon they were lined up with their backs to the wall. He could see Jeff bringing up the rear. Most were breathing heavily and everyone was sweating in the midday warmth.
After a brief pause, he turned and slowly headed toward the end of the block. Once there, he cautiously peered around the corner. The side street was empty and he sighed quietly with relief. He inched forward, hugging the wall. He was afraid zombies would come along and spot them if they moved too fast. He could feel the sweat dripping down his neck and back. He glanced back to see Scott right behind him. He stopped. A few more feet and they would be at the end of the street. Time to call Lindsey. He leaned forward a bit so he could see the garage. No zombies. He pulled the walkie out and promptly dropped it. His eyes widened in surprise. Did he break it? He grabbed it off the ground and fiddled with the volume. Everything seemed ok.
"Lindsey," he whispered. "We're ready."
"Ok, hang on; we're going to give these guys something to fixate on. When you hear the fireworks, come running."
He once again put the walkie back and straightened up. He gestured for everyone to huddle together.
"They're going to throw fireworks over on the other side to distract the zombies. When they do, we're all going to run right across the street to the garage. Please, whatever you do, be careful and stay close!"
Even with the warning the sudden sound of the fireworks going off made everyone jump, a few even cried out in surprise. Without a word, Mick took off and could hear pounding feet behind him. He ran without looking back, he heard the hum of the garage door as it began to slowly roll upward. The timing was perfect, he ran straight in with the group right on his heels. The door was already going down before he stopped and turned.
Lilly and Cindy were waiting for them. Mick dropped his backpack and drew Cindy into his arms, giving her a hug and kissing the top of her head.
She leaned back to look up at him and pointed to her lips with a grin. He obliged her, kissing her with a loud smack which made them both laugh.
"You goof," she said good-naturedly as she pushed him away. "I'm so glad everyone made it back safely."
"You and me both," he said, kissing her again.
Once again introductions were made and while Lindsey, Cindy, and Brooke showed the newcomers around and got them settled, Mick took Scott up to the rooftop to have a talk. To his relief, Scott was agreeable to heading out to Shady Oaks, as long as they didn't leave Lilly shorthanded. Mick already knew one family they brought in wanted to stay for awhile to see if any of their relatives turned up.
Later Mick and Cindy went in search of Lilly. After a lot of tears and hugs, she assured them they would be fine. Jeff and Lindsey, as well as Matt, Diane, and their children, were staying behind for awhile as well to keep the numbers up. There were still a lot of chores and animals to attend to and the new families agreed to do their part to help out so Dave's Place could continue to run as smoothly as possible.
Since they were shorthanded on vehicles, Mick decided they needed to call Sean and Charlie and have all the vehicles driven back. They would then take two back to Shady Oaks and Scott would drive his family in their car. He wanted to make sure Lilly and the others were not stranded and had enough transportation if they needed to leave quickly for any reason.
Finally the day was winding down and Mick could relax with Cindy sitting next to him on the rooftop.
"Do you think we're doing the right thing?"
"Having doubts?" she asked softly as she intertwined her fingers with his. He squeezed them gently.
"Some. I think the time is right to leave, but I hate leaving anyone behind here. Then again, I know we need to have people here for as long as possible, we provide a real lifeline to people who are still fighting to survive out there, even if there's not many left."
"I agree," Cindy said. "Time is limited here, we know the city is infested now and eventually more and more zombies will be around - we've seen more in the last few days than in all the time we've been here. It'll come to a point where they can't be driven away and we don't have the ammunition to kill them all. Then Dave's Place will be closed down and everyone will be at Shady Oaks."
Mick sighed and Cindy leaned her head on his shoulder. Together they watched the sun set on what would be their last full day at Dave's Place.
Chapter 36
Jenny gasped with surprise when they reached the football field. She turned to Charlie.
"Did you know about this?"
He shook his head without looking at her. "Nope."
Two backhoes were at work on either side of the field. There were two long and deep trenches running the full length of the field. In the center of the field sat a lone table with what looked like an amp and the boom box. The backhoes were fairly loud and Charlie was surprised they hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. He saw a few people stationed here and there on the bleachers holding rifles, they were obviously on watch. Charlie turned off the truck and opened his door.
"Let's go find out what Dexter's up to."
They simply followed the loud string of expletives coming from Dexter to find him. When he saw them approach, he grinned.
"We're gonna get them SOB's this time," he crowed. He grabbed Charlie by the arm. "Lemme show you how this works." He pointed to the far end of the field. "They'll come from there or from the other end to investigate all the noise. When they do, we open up on 'em. Some should fall in the trenches, the rest we'll put in there when we're done. Then we set it all on fire, there's already hay scattered around down there soaked with gas and kerosene. End result - no more zombies."
Charlie looked around. "Must say I'm impressed," he said without the same enthusiasm Dexter showed. What was about to happen only made him queasy. "We're not leaving the bodies here are we?"
"Nah, townsfolk want to open this school up again so we can't bulldoze dirt over 'em and call it a day. They'll be hauled off and buried."
"Good to hear," said Jenny with a nod.
The backhoes finished and they watched them head toward the other side of the school.
"I see Travis fiddling with the boom box," Jenny said. "Is it ready to go?"
"Almost," Dexter replied. "We had the idea to hook it up to the loudspeaker system - that will get their attention!"
Dexter nodded back toward the school. "We need to head over there. I've had everyone redirected to the parking lot on the other side. We'll wait there until I get the signal from my guy on the roof and then we'll go get 'em. Travis hooked something up that will enable us to turn on the floodlights too so we will be able to see what we're killin'."
Charlie looked up and sure enough saw a man standing on the roof. He glanced back at Dexter.
"Looks like you've got it covered."
"Yep, let's get out of here so we can get this party started!"
Charlie shook his head at Dexter's retreating back. He felt a hand on his arm and looked down at his daughter.
"He'll never change," she remarked dryly. "He doesn't see that these were people once and they need some respect."
"He only sees them as an enemy and one to be destroyed at all costs," Charlie said sadly. "Sure, they are deadly and they would destroy us in an instan
t, but they're driven by impulses and urges now. We have to remember they were once people. We'll put them down and bury them, but we can do it respectfully like we did before."
"Agree," Jenny stated simply as Charlie steered them both toward the truck. "I imagine we can get Pastor Gonzales to say a word when this is done."
"Great idea sweetheart," Charlie replied with a smile. They quickly climbed into the truck and moved to the other side. All engines and lights were off - no one was out of their vehicle and everyone was quiet. Charlie realized they didn't want to attract any attention. He quickly shut the vehicle off and all was quiet except for the pings coming from the engine as it cooled. He felt Jenny grab his hand and he gave it a small squeeze.
Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place Page 24