by Joseph Zuko
“Don’t be gone for too long.”
“Just an hour.” Troy reassured her.
“We’ll run a good old fashioned snatch and grab job.” Leon cleaned up the kitchen counter and loaded all the dirty dishes into the sink.
Karen continued to eat her breakfast and drink her coffee in silence. Her mind was a whirlwind of doubt, fear and sorrow.
Jim still was not here. Every hour that ticked by darkened the grief cloud looming over her head.
He should be here by now. Walking from his store in Portland to Mama’s shouldn’t take this long.
Either he is stuck somewhere or…
Or what? Karen’s mind argued against itself. She had to change the subject or the tears would start to trickle.
The girls! That would get her mind off the negative thoughts. She needed to spend quality time with the girls. Karen planned to play with them as much as she could today. Whatever the girls wanted to do, dolls, wrestling, coloring or snuggling. Karen needed the girls to feel safe and she needed the distraction.
Troy geared up with his bandoliers full of shells for his trusty old shotgun. Both of the men covered their shins and forearms with sewing magazines and duct tape they found in Penny’s sewing room. Leon tucked the revolver they found last night at the neighbor’s house into his jacket pocket along with the extra box of ammo. He picked up the fire axe that he got from the police station.
“Here. Something to load the supplies into,” Troy said as he tossed six canvas shopping bags into the backseat of the Subaru.
Leon took his position behind the wheel and Troy hopped into the passenger’s side. Karen waited for Leon to start the car before she opened the garage for them. She rested her hand on the Ruger strapped to her hip. She was ready to blast down any infected that stepped into the garage. The Subaru’s engine turned and Leon revved the gas a few times, then he nodded at her to open the door. Karen pressed the open button that hung on the wall and the garage door shuddered as the motor pulled it up.
The street was clear. Leon punched the gas and the tires barked as he backed the Subaru out of the garage and out into the street. Karen closed the garage door and entered the house.
Karen needed a fresh set of clothing for the day. She remembered the backpack full of Lizzie’s clothes. She carried the pack into the bedroom and laid the dead woman’s clothing out across the bed. She had to psych herself up before she could slide her legs into the jeans she had looted. Karen was minutes away from putting stolen clothes on that belonged to a woman she and Leon accidently killed. The more she thought about being clothed by the belongings of a dead person the creepier it felt.
I can’t run around in my underwear all day. Suck it up and just get it over with! Karen pumped herself up to get the deed over with.
“Come on, quit being a pussy,” Karen grabbed the jeans and pulled them up her long legs. She hoped wearing them would not be bad karma. As she finished dressing, the soft and expensive fabrics felt amazing on her skin. Karen stepped into the bathroom and looked at herself in the full length mirror. She did a three sixty in front of her reflection.
“Oh my god! My ass looks amazing.” Karen prayed that this was a good omen.
Why would the Universe give me the opportunity to wear jeans that make my butt look this incredible if it was a curse? Karen’s logic seemed sound and she hoped Jim would get to see her in them.
Karen could hear her girls playing out in the living room as she walked down the hall, “What should we do today?” Karen asked as she rounded the corner.
A heavy knock at the front door stopped Karen in her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Who is it Mama? Is it Daddy?” Valerie asked as she continued to play.
Karen wished and prayed that the next sound she heard was that of her beloved husband.
“Ma’am! I need you to open the door!” The man’s voice was deep and he spoke with authority, but it was not Jim.
Karen quietly stepped to the door as she pulled her gun from its holster. She gently pressed her face to the peephole. A clean-shaven man dressed in all black stood on the other side of the door. His recently cut hair was combed to perfection and black sunglasses covered his eyes. Karen could see beyond him. Out in the driveway was a new pickup truck with five armed men sitting on the edge of the truck’s bed. They watched over the neighborhood with shotguns and assault rifles pulled tight to their shoulders. The hood and front grill of the pickup was coated in the blood of the infected. It was clear that they had been out killing all morning.
“Open the door and let just me in or the six of us will force our way in. Believe me…you don’t want us to do that.” The man in black raised his chin and turned his head. It looked like he was trying to hear any movement inside. “I know you’re alone. We watched the two men leave. I know it’s just you and your girls.” The cadence of his voice was off. He sounded like a door to door salesmen who was pitching doom as his product.
Karen finally found her voice, “I have a gun!” Her words trembled.
“So do we.” His calm demeanor was unnerving.
“Go away!” Karen pleaded.
“If you let me in right now, I promise no harm will come to the children. If I have to wait another minute. Well…I promise you will regret it.”
Karen panicked. Her mind raced. The man in black’s demand seemed unholy.
What does he want?!
There was no time to ponder it or come up with a plan. The only two choices as Karen saw it were, open the door and most likely get murdered or don’t open the door and definitely get murdered.
FUCK!
Karen unlocked and opened the front door. She aimed her pistol through the screen door. The man in black pulled off his sunglasses and hung them from the collar of his shirt. His eyes were cobalt blue.
“Put that down. It wouldn’t do you any good.” He reached for the lever on the screen door and popped it open. Karen kept the gun on him as he stepped into the house. She backed away from him and blocked the entry into the living room. She was absolutely going to drop this asshole if he made the slightest move for the girls. “I said you can put that down.” The man in black pushed the front door wide open and made sure the screen was unlocked. “Let us leave this open, okay?” He sniffed the air and before Karen could answer he asked. “Do I smell coffee?” The man in black stepped past Karen and entered the kitchen. “May I have a cup?” he asked as he pointed at the coffee pot.
The girls charged in from the living room. The stranger’s voice was too much for them not to investigate.
“Mama, who is it?” Valerie asked as she ran into the back of Karen.
Karen blocked them from getting by her, “Stay in the living room!” she shrieked at them.
“My name is Eric and I’d listen to your mother if I were you little girl.” Eric reached for a mug and poured himself a cup.
“Don’t talk to my girls!” Mama bear was ready to kill someone. “Valerie take Robin back into the living room right now!” Valerie jumped from fright at how her Mama was talking to her. She took her sister by the hand and led her out of the foyer and back to the living room to hide.
“Valerie and Robin. Those are very pretty names.” Eric sipped at the coffee. “Do you have any sugar or cream?” He pointed at the refrigerator.
“What do you want?”
“Sugar and cream,” he said with a smile as he opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk.
Karen was sick of his game, “What are you doing here?”
Eric poured a little milk into the coffee and then placed the carton back in the fridge, “Sugar in the cupboard?” He stepped back across the kitchen and opened a few cupboards before he found what he was looking for. He served himself two scoops of sugar before putting it back. Eric found a spoon in the drawer next to the sink and stirred the contents of the mug.
“What do you want?”
“It’s not polite to aim a gun at your guest.” Eric took a drink as he lean
ed back against the counter. “I’ll tell you why I am here as soon as you put the gun on the counter.”
Karen did not know what to do. She was no killer and she was sure that if she pulled Eric’s plug the five guys out in the truck would storm the house. Then she and the girls would be gunned down or worse.
She chose to hear him out. Karen wanted him to leave as quickly as possible.
Maybe he just wants to rob us? Karen thought. And then they would be on their way.
If Troy and Leon come back before these assholes leave, they might get shot to hell before they even know what happened.
Karen dropped the gun to her side and paused for a moment before putting it on the counter. Eric calmly sipped at his coffee like he was just visiting an old friend.
Karen’s last thought before she let go of the gun was, This is stupid. I should shoot him and try to make a run for it. She knew she wouldn’t make it twenty steps out the door with both girls. This was the only move she had.
“What do you want?” Her patience was wearing thin.
“Can I say just how happy I am that you are so beautiful? I was watching you from across the street and I hoped you would look this good in person, but I was not sure. You do not disappoint I tell you.” Eric held a smug smile. Karen’s confused face was apparently not the answer he was looking for. “It’s customary for someone to say thank you when they are complimented. I am going to let that one slide and get down to brass tacks. I see you are wearing a wedding ring. Maybe one of those men that left is your husband. I don’t know. The reason I’m here is because I’m really into married women.” Eric took a sip from his coffee and let his words sink into Karen’s mind.
She made a half step back to her gun.
“I would not do that if I were you,” his tone threatened with extreme intent.
She stopped.
“I am going to give you two choices. Ready? Choice number one. You take me back to the bedroom and show me every ounce of passion you possess in that amazing body of yours. I want to feel like you are in love with me. Absolutely, head over heels, man of your life, in love is what I am talking about.” Eric drained more coffee from his mug. “I want you to act like you are having the time of your life. I want you to give yourself to me, freely. You do what I am asking and give me a very convincing performance, then I’ll be on my way.” He took another sip.
Every fiber of Karen’s body cringed and filled with dread.
“Choice number two would be that you refuse or I feel that you are not committed to the role, then I will have my five friends out in the truck join me in our scene… I promise you will not enjoy it and I am a man that keeps his promises.” Eric licked the corner of his mouth and then took the last drink of his coffee.
Never in her life had Karen been put in a more diabolical position. No woman should have to make that kind of choice. The world was already a horrible and cruel place to live and the infection that had spread was only going to make it worse.
Karen did not have time to weigh the options. She could see Eric was itching to go back to the bedroom with her. She knew exactly what to do. Karen’s body shifted. Her hip popped to the side and one shoulder dropped. She took the relaxed stance of a woman on the prowl. Eric noticed the change and he pushed himself off the counter and moved toward her.
“Let me get you another cup. You’re going to need your energy,” Karen did her best Jessica Rabbit impression and slinked across the kitchen.
“Yes, ma’am.” Eric handed over his mug. His face brightened up like a kid on Christmas morning.
“That was cream and sugar, right?” Karen purred like a cat in heat. She removed the pot of coffee and turned back to face Eric. She could see he was already sporting an erection in his pants.
“I would love the taste of your cream and sugar,” he said with a dirty smile.
Karen batted her eyes and gave him a big smile back. “Can you get me a cup? I want to make sure I have enough energy for you too?” Karen pointed up at the cupboard.
Without hesitation Eric turned and opened the cabinet.
Karen swung the coffee pot. The glass erupted when it hit the back of Eric’s skull.
CHAPTER 20
Jim stood by the control switch for the garage bay doors. A loaded pistol on his hip and an assault rifle in his hand. Frank slid the bolt into position on his SKS as he stepped closer to Jim.
“Is everyone ready?” Jim whispered his question. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, sure.” Frank said unconvincing. He adjusted the strap of his duffle bag and his shoulder holster for the two Berettas. Everything checked out and Frank gave Jim a nod. Jim reached up to the controls on the wall. His fingertips could feel the word “OPEN” engraved in the old plastic square button. Outside the horde had doubled and the metal doors flexed and groaned under the weight. Jim nodded to Cliff and then Sara. All the nodding reminded Jim of a favorite movie of his from his childhood, Johnny Dangerously. Peter Boyle and his team of gangsters nod at each other for close to five minutes before he yelled “NO MORE NODDING!”
They cranked on the engines. Frank pulled his rifle in tight to his shoulder and aimed at the bottom of the first bay door. Jim pressed and held down the two buttons. The electric motors that hung from the ceiling made a ton of racket as they turned the sprocket that pulled the chain and raised the doors.
The monsters outside dropped to their bellies. Their gnarled, chewed up bodies pawed at the concrete floor as they inched their way under the door and into the garage.
Frank took the domes off the first ones. The bay doors crept along the tracks it felt like an eternity. The higher the two doors got the more zombies crawled in. They began to pour in like a flood of dead bodies.
Sara revved the PT Cruiser’s engine. Its four cylinder engine sounded silly. It was closer to a go-cart than a zombie crushing machine.
Frank’s rifle chopped away the closest infected beast. Jim had to keep his fingers on the buttons, but with his free hand he attempted to fire headshots at the encroaching horde.
Bloody hands crashed into the side of Cliff and Tina’s van. The children screamed at the top of their lungs as the van rocked back and forth. Rich sat next to Morgan in the middle row and the two of them clutched one another. The newly bolted on hunks of metal did a good job keeping the monsters out of the windows. Cliff watched the zombies creep closer in his side mirror. Tina closed her eyes and said a prayer to a God she rarely talked to.
Sara and Devon watched helplessly as Jim and Frank risked their lives to save the others. Devon sat in the passenger’s seat. A pistol laid in his lap. He had asked for it, but was very afraid to hold it. He did not want to shoot his other leg by accident.
An infected broke free from the pack and sprinted right for Jim. Frank was in the middle of flipping over his SKS’s magazine for a fresh one. Jim wildly fired his rifle and was unable to land the killshot. The rounds ripped through its chest but only slowed it down. The beast was right on top of Jim and there was little time to react. The doors were almost raised enough for the cars to fit through. He just needed to hold it a little longer. Jim threw up his leg and caught the beast in the chest with his boot. He landed what they called in his Krav Maga class a defensive front kick. It worked perfectly. It stopped the monster cold in its tracks and Jim stomped it down to the ground. Jim had the zombie pinned to the floor and he popped its ugly face with a shot from his rifle. That was it. He could not hold down the button any longer.
Jim released the controls and yelled, “GO!!”
Cliff and Sara stepped on the gas. The tires burned out and both cars lurched backwards. Body after body was sucked under their rear tires. The top of Cliff’s van scraped along the bottom of the bay door, but they made it.
Jim and Frank ducked out of the garage and into the lobby. They hopped over the front counter and headed for Rich’s office. The zombies were right on their heels. If either of them stopped and tried to take a shot they would be swallowed up by the ho
rde. Jim glanced over his shoulder for an instant and the image behind him was all red stained teeth and claws. The horde moved like it was one body. One constant flowing river of death. The horde took the path of least resistance and just like water, once it got rolling it was nearly impossible to stop.
Jim and Frank entered the back office. The main lights were out in this room. The word “EXIT” glowed on the far wall. On Rich’s desk was an office phone. Its LCD screen said it was eight twenty five in the morning.
Maybe I’ll make it there in time to make the kids breakfast? The warm thought made Jim’s legs pump even faster for the door. Frank hit the exit first and the room filled with morning sunshine. The horde overturned Rich’s desk behind them. As Jim breached the doorway his hand hit the wall. A surge protector dangled next to the exit. Jim’s index finger found the on switch and he pressed it as he passed through the door.
Cliff and Sara were pulling around to the back of the building at that moment. Frank dispatched a few zombies that littered the back lot of the garage.
The surge protector’s power switch flickered orange. Electricity coursed through the five outlets and down the cords plugged into it. Jim’s crew had round up every lamp in the building. They placed them all in the back office knowing it would be the last room they would escape through. When the power hit the bulbs they exploded into balls of fire! Gasoline rained like napalm out of the five bulbs and doused the zombies with fire.
Jim couldn’t believe it worked. He had seen it in a few movies, but there was no time or way to test them. He was sure it would not get all of them, but he hoped that it would blind the front runners and slow down the rest. The trap did just that.
Sara skidded to a stop only a few feet from Frank. He opened the backdoor and dove onto the bench seat. Jim was right behind him. He slammed the door shut and that was the signal for her to punch it. A few burning beasts stumbled out the back exit. They fell to the ground with melted skin dropping off their faces and hands.