She leaped and her knees hit him in the chest. He went down, his breathe forced from his lungs at the impact. Chuck and others grabbed her arms as she tried to plunge both blades into him. The other children came forward, weapons raised, and Cocky stepped forward to meet the unusual threat.
“Tamar,” Antonio whispered roughly.
“You know her?” Chuck asked in amazement.
“He killed my parents!” she screamed. “He took me from them and killed them. He killed everyone! He’s a fucking Z.E.D.!”
Tamar lost all composure and tried in vain to stab him. Two more of Cocky pulled her off and threw her to the side. She jumped up immediately and tried to move forward but Rick jumped in front of her.
“Move out of my way!” she commanded.
“You’ll have to kill me first,” he said defiantly.
“No!” Antonio coughed. “Let her through.”
“What?” Rick asked.
“Do it,” Antonio stressed, finally able to breathe, looking Tamar in the eyes. “Let her near. I deserve this. I knew my past would catch up to me. Just let me explain a few things and then I’ll be willing to accept whatever punishment you think I deserve.”
“I was born and lived long before the apocalypse, so I remember what the world was like before, and I wanted so much to help make it go back to the way it was,” Antonio began, as they sat around the fire inside the cave. “When the Neo-US was formed, many people, including myself, truly believed that they had the people’s best interest in mind. When they formed the Z.E.D.s around 2027, they were looking for recruits. I had lost everyone I loved to the damned zombies. So, of course, I joined up as fast as I could. That Colonel Argosi seemed like our savior and I idolized him even though I never met him. I followed orders and learned to do things I later hated myself for doing. I really thought that what we were doing was for the good of everyone. Why would anyone resist joining? It didn’t make sense to me at the time. I was so brainwashed,” he shook his head and tears fell from his eyes. “Slowly, I was learning to hate what I was becoming but I thought there was nothing I could do about it. Years later, I met Captain Goodard. He was traveling through on his way to another encampment and somehow I caught his eye. He was there for two nights and we talked after dinner both nights. The things he said made me afraid, as if he was trying to catch me in treason. Somehow, he knew the doubts I was having about the Z.E.D.s’ methods. He could tell I didn’t really want to be there anymore. He encouraged me to slip away. I really thought he was tricking me so I would get caught. But... I couldn’t take it anymore. What we did to people who refused to join was unthinkable. What we did to those when we stole their children was unimaginable. Before I went AWOL, someone reported me at my refusal to attend one of the exhibits in the pit. I was taken before my commander and grilled. He saw too much doubt in my face. When loyalty leaves, the next best thing to keep someone in line is fear. So, the next day I was publically whipped. Twenty lashes.”
He stood up and removed his shirt to expose the scars on his back. “With each lash, I wanted to die. By the last one, I knew I wasn’t going to die. Instead, I was going to leave. And eventually, I was going to come back and kill every last one of them. Two weeks later, I left.”
Tamar sat glowering, still blaming him for her parents’ death.
“I didn’t kill your parents,” he said, looking her in the eyes. “In fact, I saw you under the bed when I looked in the window, but I didn’t say a word. I thought maybe if I could save one child, just one. Then Wilkes set the cabin on fire. The only thing I did that day was nothing, which was worse than what the others did. I tried to block your view of your parents’ bodies, but I shouldn’t have done that. You needed to see just what the Z.E.D.s were capable of. And I’m pretty sure you found that out, anyway.”
Tamar nodded, thoughtfully. She still wanted to kill him. Kind of. But was what he did any different from her? She killed on their orders while training in, and accepting, that life. Wasn’t that, basically, what he did? She needed to think on this. Maybe she would kill him later. She remembered what she told the others earlier.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
She could use this new friend and his friends to attack and kill the Z.E.D.s. Based on his hatred of them, she didn’t think he’d turn down the offer. She needed all of them and they needed her and the others to kill the ghouls and free their people. She liked that new word for them. She smiled as she realized a new trade was about to be made.
Chapter Fifteen
When they woke the next morning, several of the kids fished in the pool and presented Cocky with over a dozen freshly caught fish. Chuck’s eyes lit up at the sight as he reached for them eagerly, salivating as he imagined them grilled on the rocks in the fire. He reached for them but the kids pulled them back with mischievous grins on their faces.
“What do you want for them?” he asked, remembering what Tamar had said about their frequent diet of fish.
“Anything but fish,” Tamar said, walking up between the other kids. “How about some of that jerky?”
Joe and Sheila had already run back to the trucks to bring jerky and other possible trade items. They made some trades and Chuck and Antonio immediately prepped the fish for grilling. The aromatic smell of the fish had every member of Cocky practically drooling. Only the older members remembered fish and the younger ones were eager to try it, especially after smelling it cook. The first bite was heaven. How could the kids ever get sick of this?
Tamar saw the look on Paul’s face. His eyes were closed and he was chewing slowly as if to savor each bite.
She laughed. Eat that shit for a month straight and see how much you like it then.
She portioned out the jerky and the kids thought they had eaten heaven too. The meat was unknown but delicious, flavored with lots of garlic.
“Can you dry fish?” Rick asked Antonio. “To take with us for later?”
Tamar spoke up wryly, “You can, but trust me, it’s not very good. If you do, I would suggest you alternate it with your other jerky. Fish gets old really fast.”
The kids showed them how to fish in the pool, and every time one of them caught a fish, they cheered. The kids shook their heads, rolled their eyes, and laughed.
Tamar and the older kids talked in private late at night and realized that the younger ones would be safer with other people; it was time to rejoin a community. Chuck agreed, and although he was eager to go after the ghouls, they all helped the Imperials pack up their belongings to go back with the young ones. Joe, Sheila, and their sons would take the younger members of the Imperials back to the compound. The combined forces of Cocky and Imperials should be enough to decimate a single cannibal tribe.
Besides packing, they spent a lot of the day fishing and drying their catch, not just for the mission, but also to take back to the compound. They weren’t afraid of decimating the fish, there were plenty and besides, the kids had no intention of returning. Tamar sent her scouts to track down the exact location of the ghouls. Then they made the plans to rescue their people.
“I noticed you don’t have any flowers in here,” Jim said, walking to Tamar holding a handful of flowers he’d picked. “They might brighten it up.”
Tamar took the flowers and thanked him. Not knowing what to do with them, she set them on a rock next to her.
“I’m Jim,” he offered, pushing the dirt around with the toe of his boot.
“I remember,” she replied, unsure why he was so nervous.
“I’m fifteen but I’m one hell of a tracker,” he said. “I’m not as good a fighter as the others but I can hold my own.”
Ah, now she was beginning to understand. “I’m only thirteen, but sometimes I feel much older,” she admitted.
“It’s this world,” he said, “it makes you grow up a lot faster.”
She nodded, not sure what to say. She did think he was handsome, but right now, the only thing on her mind was revenge.
“You’ll kee
p them safe?” she asked him. “My young ones? You’ll protect them? They can fight, maybe better than you, but they are still very young.”
He stood straight up and put his hand over his heart, “I’ll protect them until my dying breath.”
She was shocked at the intensity of his words and began looking at him in a new light.
“I’ll see you when our mission is done,” she said quietly.
He smiled and went back to the truck, helping prep it for the trip home. Chuck was a stickler for maps and every vehicle kept an identical one. Every mark and note that Savage added to Chuck’s map also went on all the others’ as soon as they stopped. Joe and Sheila had complete directions back to the compound, despite the many detours they took. Barring any adversaries, undead or alive, they should find their way home easily.
Chapter Sixteen
Tamar watched the truck, full of her young ones, as she called them, drive out of the valley, Zach and Izik letting them out through the false wall. Jim and Paul sat in the bed of the truck with a couple of the kids. Jim smiled at her as they drove off and waved to her. She waved back before she thought to look around and see if anyone was watching. As the false wall closed behind them, her heart felt empty with the absence of the young ones. She knew she couldn’t take them to the cannibal camp. That was too risky. She had a meeting with the older Imperials alone and told them that anyone else who didn’t want to take on the cannibals was free to back out. After the Z.E.D.s, she would never force anyone to fight for her. She was proud to see that not one of them backed out. They all wanted the cannibals—the ghouls—dead, too. The thought of their new friends in Cocky, in getting revenge on the Z.E.D.s, had them all ready to fight.
As they drove away, Tamar looked back at the cave that had been her home, wistfully. They stopped so the false wall could be put back in place. It never hurt to have a safe place to fall back on in case this compound didn’t work. Living with grownups again? She wasn’t sure about it, but she owed it to the others to give it a chance. She sat back down in her seat, squeezed in next to Susan, and faced the front. They had poured over the map and her scouts showed them where the ghouls currently were. They planned to camp for a night before they reached their target destination and, after conferring with Tamar earlier, they had decided on a spot that was away from the road but well behind the remains of an old church. It had a wall and a half still standing so it blocked much of the view from the road. There were overgrown bushes behind it so it was almost a perfect camping area. Since they couldn’t be seen, though, that meant they couldn’t see either. They posted guards to rotate in two-hour shifts through the night.
Chuck woke to a low whistle. It wasn’t one that Cocky used, but one that the kids used. He jumped up quietly and ran to the nearest sentry. As he approached, the young boy put his finger to his lips and pointed over the edge of the broken wall. He peeked over and saw three zombies in the moonlight. They were mutants; and not just ordinary mutants. These had to be the same kind that Rick had seen years ago. He’d never seen any like this and stared in awe. They were at least a foot taller than he was, and he was the tallest man around, and they looked like steroid junkies from the old days. Their arms were long like orangutans, their fingers landing below their knees. Their hands jutted with three-inch claws that looked like knives and their heads seemed almost square, solid, and huge. He could guess what a head-butt from that would feel like. What bothered him the most was they didn’t walk as if they were mindless, in fact Chuck sucked in a breath when he saw one of them holding an axe. That was the only part that Chuck really didn’t believe about Rick’s story. According to Rick, the zombie that had mutated had bent over and picked up a weapon; they just didn’t have enough brains to use weapons. Antonio always believed him, even though he’d never seen one carrying either. But all three of these had them! He now realized that the other two had them tucked in the waistbands of their torn pants.
What in hell were these things?
He pointed back at the others to indicate the boy was to wake everyone quietly and let the other sentry know what was on the road out of his sight. Chuck kept an eye on them but kept glancing back at the camp. He was happy to see that everyone was waking up quietly and arming themselves quickly. The mutants kept walking down the road and although they didn’t say a word, Chuck had the feeling they were communicating with each other. From out of nowhere, he heard a horrendous noise at the camp. He looked back quickly to see two men still sleeping on the ground. The boy was just about to wake them when one let out a tremendous fart in his sleep. Edd’s love of food had just lost them the element of surprise. Chuck turned back to the road and saw all three super mutants now stopped and had their weapons out.
This is going to suck!
One opened its mouth and roared. The other two followed suit and they began running, yes running, to the edge of the church wall. They would reach it in seconds.
“Ready Cocky! Zombie Mutants!” he yelled.
They all stepped into place and everyone gasped at the sight of the giant mutants. They collected themselves quickly and stood their ground. The mutants stopped when they saw them all and looked at each other before spreading out away from each other.
Oh yeah, they are definitely communicating.
Tamar looked at Chuck and smiled mischievously.
What the hell?
She whistled and a group of children stepped in front of the adults, throwing knives already out. At her next whistle, they all threw them at the knees of the mutants, causing them to howl in pain as every blade hit its mark.
They feel pain! This could be an advantage to us!
They staggered and the children fled to the sides, pulling out new throwing blades as they went. Cocky ran forward, aiming high at their heads while the kids threw new blades at their hips. One mutant dropped its hammer as a knife plunged into its hip, burying itself into the joint. The leg buckled and Antonio, who had been about to smash it in the head, had to quickly adjust to a lower height. He slammed it in the head with his axe. The mutant roared and shook its head in pain but its head didn’t split.
“Oh shit!” Antonio yelled, “The skulls aren’t decayed, they’re hard as rocks!”
He swung and slammed it again. He watched as the massive skull cracked but didn’t collapse. There was a scream and Antonio turned to see Terry pulled to the mouth of a mutant. He was about to run to help him but the mutant he’d been hitting with the axe grabbed his arm. He waved his arms to maintain his balance and tried to pull away. Suddenly the monster let go and he fell to the ground. He quickly turned and his mouth dropped into an ‘O’.
Tamar had jumped on the shoulders of the mutant and had jammed the point of her largest blade into the crack that Antonio’s axe had started. With both hands on the hilt, she pushed down, while wiggling the blade, until it slid in with an audible pop. Its skull cracked open and she used the blade as leverage to open it wider. When it was wide enough she began slashing into its exposed brain. Within seconds, it dropped heavily to the ground, Tamar jumping off before its weight could crush her.
“Thank you,” Antonio said, still in awe.
“Don’t think it means I like you or anything,” she retorted, then ran off to attack another one.
Just as Antonio gathered himself to help Terry, there was a gurgling sound and Terry’s head was hanging off; the mutant had torn half of his neck out. With their extra-long arms, and weapons, their reach was much longer than any human, with one possible exception.
Chuck ran to the mutant on the left and let it clumsily swing its axe and miss him. He pushed off the ground with his left foot and landed his right foot on the flat side of the mutant’s axe. As he pushed off and up, he swung his massive club, single spike side down. It slammed into the side of the mutant’s head. The mutant swung its head from side to side trying to dislodge it but it was stuck and the spike had only gone in halfway.
“Rick!” Chuck yelled after a glance to see who was closest.
Rick stood back, mourned his broken bat for a second, then shrugged and threw it aside. The rest of the others were attacking the remaining mutant and were slowly chipping away at its rock hard skull with each blow.
“Down now!” Chuck yelled and everyone scattered.
He took two steps forward and swung his club, slashing the blade end across the neck. Its head wobbled then toppled off, the skin stretching as the weight of the heavy head pulled it to the ground. The body collapsed a second later. Everyone sighed in relief; these three mutants had worn them out.
Antonio was standing over Terry’s body, his head down. His head was mostly unattached but they couldn’t take the chance especially with the infected bite of one of these mutants. Who knew what Terry might turn into?
“I’m so sorry Terry,” Antonio said. “You were one of the best.” He swung his axe and finished the decapitation.
They buried Terry and cairned the mutants. As they watched the last rock being piled on top of the monsters, Chuck said to Rick, “I’m sorry I didn’t completely believe you about these super mutants.”
“That’s okay,” Rick replied. “It’d been so long since I’d seen them, I thought maybe it was a one-time thing.”
He looked at the ground at his beloved broken spike-bat. He’d had it so long it felt like part of his arm. He would miss it.
“How about we make you a club like this?” Chuck asked him. “Only smaller. You know I figured you were too young to know about M.C. Hammer. You surprised me.”
Survive (Book 1): Salvation Page 9