As they got up close to the gate, the old man said, “Sorry about that, son. Can’t be too careful, though. Speaking of manners, I don’t suppose I could ask you your names?”
“I’m Zach, and this is my daughter Abby.”
“Pleased to meet you, I’m Tom. Tom Marshall. And this is the Marshall Farm. These here are my sons, Frank and Henry,” said the old man, pointing first to the short one and then the tall one.
“Howdy!” said Henry, putting on a warm, country smile. He had dark brown eyes and big, bushy eyebrows like his father. He wore tan slacks and a dark green button-up shirt, clothes that were almost certainly bought at a store exclusively for enormous men. His smile took up almost the entirety of his round, full face, the middle of which was marked by a prominent nose. He radiated a charming aura, and Zach thought he looked like the kind of guy who would happily invite the new folks at church over for a hearty lunch of fried chicken, turnip greens, and delicious sweet tea. Even Zach, cautious by nature, felt a little disarmed by Henry’s pleasant demeanor.
Frank, on the other hand, didn’t say anything. He gave Abby an odd look, which Zach duly noted. He would have to watch this Frank fellow.
“So,” said Tom as he pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead, “you two are looking for food?”
“Yes sir,” said Abby.
“My, my, what wonderful manners! Well, we can definitely help you,” Tom said. “We’ll be having supper in an hour or so, and we’d be glad to make both of you a plate if you’ll stay and chat for a while.”
Zach wasn’t so sure that he wanted to stay. He was picking up a bad vibe about this whole situation. Maybe it had just been the way Frank had glared at Abby, but he still had a knot in his stomach that wouldn’t go away. Abby, however, had no such compunctions and said, “Well, Zach?”
“Sure, we’d love to stay. Thank you,” Zach said to Tom, though not entirely meaning it.
Tom’s face lit up all the same and he said, “Great! Come on in then!” He unlocked the gate and swung it open, being careful not to cut himself or anyone else with the barbed wire. Zach and Abby stepped through the opening and waited for Tom to reclose and relock the gate behind them. The thick iron bolt slid home with a loud ‘thunk’, mimicking the drumming of Zach’s heart.
They walked down the dirt path towards the house together with Henry and Tom on the left, Zach and Abby in the middle, and Frank on the right. Zach kept a close but cautious eye on Frank. The way he had looked at Abby, plus his sour demeanor, put the former Marine on high alert. Meanwhile, Tom took it upon himself to give his guests a miniature tour as they walked.
“Yup, my family and I have been doing pretty well, all in all. Speaking of my family, I’ll introduce you to the rest of us once we’re inside. The gals are waiting for us, my wife and my daughter. Anyway, we’d been building up stockpiles of food and survival gear for years, even before the first reports of zombies in the city, enough to last us for years. Soon as the news broke, we didn’t wave it off like everyone else, we just rushed into town and bought even more food, as much as we could. People laughed at us, called us crazy, but it looks like we were pretty smart! We didn’t know how long this thing was going to last, and still don’t, so that’s why we still tend the farm, as you can see,” he said as he made a sweeping gesture towards the fields.
“We also got those solar panels put up there a long time ago! Now those cost us a fortune, but they’ve been well worth it over the years. We try to conserve the power though and only use it for things like watching movies on our TV or listening to music. I’ve also got some power tools that I can keep charged with the power from those panels.”
“And this here is my truck!” Tom said, pointing to the left at the old Chevy. “Got her back in 1990, and she still runs like new! Sadly, I don’t get to drive her much. Fuel is pretty hard to come by, and right now she’s barely got a gallon in her.”
“Why not park it in the garage? Aren’t you worried about it being stolen?” asked Zach.
“That’s why I have all that darn barbed wire!” Tom said, laughing. “Keeps zombies and people out. Plus, we can see anyone coming from a good way out, anyhow.”
“Really? How?” inquired Zach.
“Oh, you know, just by watching from the windows and such. We got a lot of windows, especially upstairs. Well, here we are!” Tom said quickly. They walked up onto the porch and Henry held the screen door open as the others filed in. Zach and Abby found themselves standing in a quaint little kitchen with pale yellow countertops and tan tiled floor. Tom shut the door behind them and said, “Come on out girls, and meet our guests!”
From the archway directly across from the front door came an older and a younger woman, the younger one looking to be no older than twenty. “This is my wife Anne, and my daughter Hannah!” Tom said, pointing at the two ladies respectively.
“Nice to meet y’all!” Anne said, smiling wide. She wore a long jean skirt that reached almost to her ankles and a blue blouse that matched the color of her eyes. She was thin, and must have looked very pretty a long time ago when she was young. But age was definitely taking its toll on her, as evidenced by her wrinkled skin and greying hair.
“It’s a pleasure!” said Hannah, a gorgeous young lady with long blonde hair that came down to the small of her back. She had blue eyes like her mother and was thin like her, too. She wore a tight-fitting pair of jeans and a button-up shirt with very short sleeves. The top two buttons were left undone, partly revealing her breasts, which Zach could not help but stare at for an extra second or two.
“My name is Zach.”
“And I’m Abby!”
“Thank you for letting us into your home, it’s very lovely,” said Zach.
“Why thank you! And think nothing of it!” Anne said, still smiling warmly.
“Well, now that we’re all introduced to each other, I suppose I should tell y’all about our house rule,” said Tom. “All weapons go in the closet.” He turned and opened up a small, thin door to the left, revealing a mostly empty closet. Zach was alarmed by this and he frowned noticeably. But Tom said, “Now, don’t you worry! Our weapons go in there, too. We’ll even go first.” He motioned for Henry and Frank to drop their rifles inside the closet, and then Tom did the same with his. This failed to disquiet Zach, but it seemed like they had no choice if they wanted to get food out of this deal. And if he was going to be honest, if this was an ambush they probably would have done it already, Zach thought. He slowly trudged over and set his rifle in the closet, along with his pistol and KA-BAR. Abby followed him, and also relinquished her pistol and Gerber knife.
“That’s a fine rifle,” said Henry with a low whistle.
“Thanks,” said Zach.
With all of the weapons inside the closet, Tom closed the door and locked it with a key. He gave the doorknob a twist and a tug to confirm that it was locked, and then dropped the key into a pocket on his vest. He then pulled his hat off and set it on the counter. “Alrighty then!” he said, “Y’all can go ahead and set your packs down right there next to the door, then we can all go into the living room and have a nice chat before supper!”
Zach and Abby both did as instructed and were about to head into the living room, but Zach noticed that Abby was still wearing her hat. “Bug, lose the hat,” he whispered, reminding her of her manners.
“Sorry,” she whispered as she quickly stuffed her hat in her pack and then they both followed the Marshall family through the archway that led to a small dining room. There was a back door that almost perfectly lined up with the front door, and next to it was what appeared to be the dinner table. Going through the archway, on the left side there was a small dresser with pull out drawers that was topped by a doily, and above this was a set of shelves with several small books on them. On the opposite wall, in which another archway had been made, was a small bookcase with three shelves, all filled with books. Two stacks of books were on top of the bookcase, s
eparated by a neat looking porcelain owl facing the dinner table and back door. It was brightly painted and had large, comical looking eyes.
Going through the next archway brought Zach and Abby into the large, wood-floored living room. On the left hand side was an impressive brick fireplace, though it was not in use during this time of the year. A staircase was on the right side, almost immediately after the archway and beyond that was a wall with several paintings hanging on it. A long, rectangular rug covered most of the floor, and at the end of the room was the sitting area. Several chairs and couches all sat facing each other, and in the middle was another small rug on which sat a low coffee table.
“Yup, we don’t get very many visitors these days,” said Tom as he settled into a dusty old recliner. Hannah and Anne sat on one couch, Frank and Henry on another, and Zach and Abby on the third one.
“Which is a real shame,” Anne noted. “Back before all this zombie business, we used to have people over all the time! Especially on Sundays after church.”
“So Zach, tell us about yourself,” said Hannah, propping her chin up with her hand, her elbow on the armrest. She looked at Zach with a twinkle in her eyes that might have been interpreted as desire. This made him a little uncomfortable, but he did his best to conceal that.
“Not too much to tell, really. Abby and I have just been traveling west ever since our home was destroyed a few days ago,” Zach said.
“By whom?” Hannah asked, looking concerned.
“I don’t know, just some bums,” Zach answered.
“But what did you do before all of this crap happened?” asked Tom.
“I was an infantry Marine. I served for nine years and did six deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan,” Zach said proudly. He still did not entirely trust these people, for whatever reason, and so wanted to drop a hint that he was not a person to be taken lightly.
“Well ain’t that somethin’,” said Tom, looking genuinely impressed.
“So Abby is your daughter?” asked Henry.
Zach hesitated at first, wary of giving away too much personal information, but Abby jumped in and said, “Not by blood. I was all alone during the outbreak in Chicago, and that’s when Zach found me and took me under his wing.”
“Aw, that is so sweet!” Hannah gushed, placing a delicate hand on Zach’s forearm. Abby noticed and thought that she was trying to be flirty with Zach, but he deliberately moved his arm almost as soon as she touched him, pretending to itch his head.
“Yup, Zach’s been a better dad than I could ever have hoped for!” Abby declared, with no small measure of pride.
“And how old are you?” Henry asked Abby.
“Fourteen. But I’ll be fifteen in September,” she replied.
“Wow, you’re the youngest girl I’ve met in a long time,” Hannah said. Zach looked up and saw Frank, who still had not said a word since they had arrived, tap Henry on the arm and jerk his head towards the dining room. The two brothers got up quietly and left. Those red flags in Zach’s mind were waving wildly.
“Those years of becoming a woman are always the most special years. I remember when I was going through that transition,” Hannah continued. “But you’re much prettier than I ever was. If the world was normal, you’d have to beat the boys away with a stick!”
“No way, you’re gorgeous!” Abby replied sincerely. “And I think Zach would do a pretty good job of keeping any mean boys away.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Zach said, and the others laughed.
“I remember when I was a young teenager too, though that was long ago,” said Anne.
Tom scoffed and said, “Yeah, back when there were only seven presidents to memorize in school.” Everyone laughed at his joke (Zach gave his best fake laugh) and Anne playfully shoved her husband.
“So what do you like to do, Abby?” asked Hannah.
“Well, I love to dance! I’ve been teaching Zach how to dance, but he’s got two left feet,” Abby replied with a giggle. “I like to read a lot, too.”
“You have a lot of books?” Hannah asked.
“Had. We’d collected a lot of books over the years whenever we went scavenging, but I didn’t get to take any with me when we had to leave,” Abby said. Henry and Frank came back now, both looking very grim. Henry returned to his normal, smiling self when he sat down, but Frank continued to scowl.
Abby and Hannah were having a chat about some of their favorite books when Frank suddenly said, “Hey Zach, how would you like a tour of the farm? And the garage?” He spat out the word ‘garage’ like it was venom in his mouth. Zach caught this strange tone and looked inquisitively at Frank, who stared back with eyes that were trying desperately to communicate some unspoken message.
Hannah suddenly stopped talking and glared at Frank, but Tom quickly took the baton and said, “That’s a great idea! Henry, why don’t you show our friend Zach around while Frank helps your mother and I with supper?” Frank looked ready to protest, but Henry’s massive hand on his shoulder stifled the words in his mouth.
“What about Abby? Can she come?” Zach asked.
“Why doesn’t she stay with me?” Hannah said. “Abby, do you wanna come to my room? I’ve got tons of books, magazines, and I can even let you try on some make-up, if you’d like!”
Abby’s face lit up and she smiled from ear to ear. “Yeah, sure!” she said. And before Zach could object, she had jumped up and was following Hannah upstairs to her room. Tom and Anne took Frank to the kitchen, leaving Zach alone with Henry.
“So would you like to head outside now? It’ll be getting dark soon, and it feels like some rain is comin’ on,” said Henry, standing up and smiling. Zach had to crane his neck to look up at Henry when he was this close.
“Sure,” Zach answered as Henry led the way to the back door. “Oh, by the way,” he added before stepping outside, “I don’t mean to impose, but I don’t suppose you folks could also spare a little bit of food that we could take with us on the road, do you?”
“We sure can! Just head on into the kitchen, and my parents will give you something,” Henry replied. Zach turned around and crossed into the kitchen and seemed to cut off an intense conversation between Tom, Anne, and Frank.
“Hi Zach! You need something else?” Anne asked with a smile. Why did everyone around here smile so much?
“Yes ma’am, I was just wondering if Abby and I could get some food that we could take on the road with us when we leave.”
“Why sure!” Tom said as he stooped down to open up a cupboard. Zach could now see Frank standing behind Tom, looking very pale. He looked back at Zach and mouthed the words ‘get out’. But then Tom stood up with an assortment of cans in his arms, cutting off Zach’s view of Frank.
“Here you go!” Tom said as he handed Zach about a dozen cans: there was tuna, chicken, beans, and even ravioli. Zach thanked them, stuffed the food into his ruck quickly, and then returned to Henry, who was still holding the back door open.
Henry led Zach over to the crops behind the barn, telling him what they grew and the peculiarities of each crop. They walked into the barn and Henry introduced Zach to their animals: two cows, three sheep, a dozen pigs, and about twenty chickens. They started to head back towards the house when Zach asked Henry, “What about the garage?”
“Oh, there ain’t nothing there,” Henry said. “It’s not even a garage anymore, we just converted it into a slaughterhouse for whenever we decide to have some meat for supper. In fact, we’ll be having some meat tonight!”
“What kind of meat?” Zach asked.
“Pork,” Henry replied. “Pa slaughtered a pig for breakfast this morning, but we’ve got some leftovers. There he is now at the grill!” Tom stood in front of a large, black grill and was busy seasoning some strips of meat on the hot grates. He waved at Zach and Henry and they waved back. “Well, what do you say we head back inside?” It’s getting dark now, and it feels like it’ll rain soon,” Henry said, putting his arm around Zach’s shoulders. Za
ch assumed that this was more than a suggestion and so followed as Henry quickly led the way back to the house.
“Well, a little rain never hurt anyone,” Zach said without any real interest. He simply wanted to break the silence in the air.
“No, but lightning can kill you, and I’d rather not test my luck again,” Henry replied, glancing up at the sky again.
“You’ve been hit by lightning?” Zach asked, genuinely surprised. Henry was the first person he’d ever met to be struck by lightning.
Henry nodded his head and said, “I was nine years old, playing out in the rain, and I got fried like a chicken leg. Haven’t been too fond of rain and rainstorms ever since.”
Abby was in the dining room with Hannah, helping her set the table for dinner while Anne was in the kitchen shucking corn. When Abby saw Zach, she ran up to him and said, “Zach, look at my face!” She had rose-colored blush on her cheeks and eye-liner around her eyes, making their silver-like luster even more brilliant.
“Wow, kid! You look beautiful!” Zach told her with genuine affection. Abby giggled and said, “Thanks!” then went back to helping Hannah with the table. Zach looked around for Frank, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Frank?” he asked.
“Oh, he’s not feeling well, so he’s upstairs in his room. Best not to disturb him,” said Hannah. Zach nodded his head, showing no emotion, but the red flag that had been waving in his mind since arriving at this house had now been replaced by a grand orchestra playing a concerto of warnings, and they’d just hit a crescendo that led all the way up to fortississimo. Something was very, very wrong and he needed to see what was in that garage. He heard a distant boom of thunder. Apparently Henry was good at predicting the weather.
Speaking of Henry, he was in the dining room talking to Abby, complimenting her looks and her make-up, and telling her how grown up she looked.
His Name Was Zach Page 4