Mason nodded to the ladies, got up and shook Duke's hand, smiled at Mandy then turned to me as we walked to the other side of the room. "You say you're leaving in the morning. Mind my asking where you're going. Not that it matters, I've been doing ok on my own, but I recognize the fact that there is safety in numbers and where ever you're going is fine with me. I'm tired and tired of being tired, the company of others is a welcome relief. So, if you'll have me, I'm a pretty good carpenter, scavenger, and all around handy man. I'm not afraid work either.”
"It's a democratic society here, Mason. We'll talk about it together and decide. They may have a few questions, and you can't blame em. I know I do. So if you're willing to do your share, we'll talk after we eat."
"What about this Howard, won't he have something to say about it?"
"Of course, we'll ask when we see him. But he may not get back until morning. If it gets too crowded out there he’ll just spend the night where he is."
"Soups on everybody" called Sarah from a corner of the room where a makeshift kitchen had been erected. A small outdoor grill had a large pot of stew bubbling away. Next to that was plastic silverware, some more bottles of water and several containers of Crystal Light. A box of crackers rounded out the meal, and the newly acquired box of soft, warm candy bars would be the dessert. Everyone helped themselves.
After the meal, Mason took himself off to the bathroom while the group discussed him. They all knew I was telepathic and wanted my opinion. I told them that he was ok and they were ok with it. When he returned, they all smiled at him and welcomed him into the group.
"What about Howard", he asked.
"What about him?” asked Howard.
Mason turned and saw a tall man of about 50 walking in the door, wiping his hands on a dirty towel. He had a white mustache and goatee and was of medium build. Howard looked at him and smiled as he walked to the kitchen and accepted a bowl of stew from Sarah after removing a black, ratty, old cowboy hat with snakeskin band and eagle feather stuck in one side over the lampshade. Then he turned and raised his eyebrows at Mason, looked at me and winked.
"Well, it seems the group has decided I can stay and you're the only one who hasn't had a say in it."
"So it matters what I have to say?" Howard said then drank half a bottle of water. Mason looked at everyone then at Howard.
"Yea, it matters. I won't stay if you don't want me here. It causes friction and I don't like friction. You want me to leave; I'll leave, right now if you want."
I shook my head and started to say something when Howard grinned and sat on the couch, balancing the bowl of stew and placing the bottle of water on the floor between his feet.
“Naw, I don't much like friction myself, rubs raw spots don't ya know. If it's ok with the rest of these fine folks, then it's fine with me. But she knew that", nodding towards me, "or she wouldn't have brung ya back with her. She's smart, has a good sense of people and ain’t got no one kilt so far. I trust her, we all do. Now let me finish this fine meal".
Lacy helped Sarah with the cleanup as Duke and I checked out the supplies I'd brought back with me. Howard finished his meal, thanked Sarah and went into the restroom. Bubba, his part weenie and part Chihuahua dog followed him inside, since where one went the other was sure to follow. When we're are in a hurry, Howard sticks Bubba into a duffle bag and hangs him over his shoulder. He'd taught Bubba not to bark but if there is trouble nearby, that little dog sure could growl. They were one gutsy pair. When they emerged from the restroom; Howard was cleaned up and in a new pair of bib overalls. I hated the things but I have never seen him in anything else. He lay down on the pallet in one corner of the room and began to snore. Everyone just smiled. Mandy got two bowls and put water in one, dog kibbles in the other for Bubba. He ate, drank some water then curled up beside Howard after turning in three small circles. Soon he was snoring to.
"You got a ride, Mason?" I asked, while I took off my Nikes. Lacy found a few blankets and a pillow and made a pallet for Mason. Mason watched Lacy for a minute, nodded his thanks and started removing his boots.
"Yea, I have a motorcycle and trailer locked up in a storage shed down the block. It's fueled up and ready to go."
At that moment the sound of motorcycles could be heard in the distance and the faint sound of a car alarm made me realize how much I missed the quiet.
"We'll pick it up on our way out of town in the morning."
He nodded, then lay down on his pallet. I lay back on the sofa and turned the lantern off. I thought sleep would be hard to find, but I was out before I could finish my prayers.
CHAPTER 2
The morning started off with a lot of moaning and groaning and the wonderful smell of coffee. Looking bedraggled and almost cute, Mason managed to stumble off to the restroom. Breakfast consisted of pop tarts with orange juice for those who didn't drink coffee. I wasn't one of those. Give me coffee or I give you death. Everyone deserves to have a vice that was mine. If I had to eat another pop tart, though, I'd shoot myself in the head with my own cross bow.When Mason came out, he was handed a cup of coffee and a pop tart. Sipping the coffee he watched with interest the comings and goings of the group.
Things were packed into plastic totes and taken downstairs. Mason downed his coffee and helped, picking up a tote of books. The grunt he made when he lifted the heavy tote made Howard smile but he never said anything. When everything was gone, I left, pulling the door closed and thanking the gods for the sanctuary. Howard and Duke had taken two pieces of plywood and painted what the alley looked like from each end making a false wall. They were propped up about five feet apart allowing us to move from one building to the other unseen. After we'd transferred everything, the door was padlocked from the inside. There was a collective sigh of relief heard in the cavernous building.
Standing in the dark we could just make out the shapes of our outfits. It was a very large warehouse filled to capacity with one RV, one school bus and the largest wrecker I have ever seen. Of course it belonged to Howard. When Mason gave me a questioning look I shook my head. I was still amazed when I saw it. It was painted Desert camouflage, so was the RV and school bus. He had gotten very excited with the spray paint. We couldn't go near the place for two days until the paint dried. Mason took it in and shook his head. The RV was mine, brand new of course with two pull outs. Duke claimed the school bus which he had added two solar panels to run the air conditioner which was badly needed in the Texas heat. He and Howard was loading the bus with the totes. The seats had been removed and a bed built behind the driver’s seat. The opposite wall had a table full of computer monitors with computers anchored to the floor underneath. At the end of that was Sarah's treadle sewing machine and dozens of bolts of Hawaiian material. He had some trouble finding shirts in his size. He'd fashioned an air conditioner on the roof and inside a plastic curtain divided the bus at the storage area.
The wrecker was Howards and Bubba's. It was a sickening green color when he got it; the camouflage was a vast improvement. It sported a sleeper and a small refrigerator, fancy CB and TV. Mason looked around and said "Why hasn’t the motorcycle gooks found this?" I smiled "Because Lacy made a new sign for the building. It reads 'Lacey's Diaper Service'."
He laughed and looked at Lacy, giving her a big smile and two thumbs up.
"Now what?"
"Now the fun begins".
Howard and Bubba got into the wrecker and settled in. Duke, Sarah and Mandy settled down in the school bus, with Duke at the wheel. Lacy and I belted ourselves in and rolled the windows down. Mason stood there uncertainly, trying to figure out where to go.
"If you'd open the garage doors, you can jump into the school bus till we get to your storage shed." he nodded and stood ready to open the doors.
"I got em on signal now, J.D." Duke said, staring at the screen of his small laptop. He'd put homing devices on each of the Goonies motorcycles so we could keep track of them. They had had a tendency to show up at the oddest times.
&
nbsp; "They're still at the manor house. Must be too early for em"
"Well, they are about to get a rude awakening. I'm ready when you are, Duke."
He nodded then raised his mike, turned it up, and yelled, "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. I've had a flat, you have to come BACK and get me." He yelled into the mike.
I yelled back at him on my mike "I told you not to use this channel, you twit." Duke winced at that then smiled and replied, "I don't care what you said, I'm broke down and you can't leave me here. You have to come BACK and help me."
We waited for a minute while Duke studied the computer screen, then he gave thumbs up and a big smile indicating the Goon Squad was moving out.
"Ok, I'll send Howard back for you and we'll meet up at the rest area, north of Jackson. Just stay off this channel till then."
"Ten four." Duke replied, and after a few tense moments he laughed and yelled "They went for it. Let's go."
Mason opened the garage doors, and then jumped into the open doorway of the bus where he rode till we arrived at the storage area where he kept his bike and trailer. It was a pretty ,black, Honda Goldwing. He had several plastic totes on the trailer which were covered with a camouflage tarp. I thought that was a good idea and was determined to remember to get a few of them as soon as possible.
The caravan then headed west. We avoided as many towns as possible but there were times we had no choice but to go down the middle of town. We quickly learned that the herds of walkers congregated in areas of the big stores rather than downtown. Howard would position his wrecker in front and just smack the walkers if they got in the way. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it worked. The big store was at the other end of town. So we had to take a number or shortcuts. The weather remained sunny and hot.
The scenery started to thin out later in the day. Where there was tall pines the land was starting to roll and we lost more grass. The dessert would be coming up soon and less civilization which meant fewer walkers. The humidity combined with the heat was unbelievable but the inside of our individual outfits were air conditioned and that made all the difference in the world. We were seeing more flat, naked land and a lot of dirt near noon, and somewhere north of Waco, I signaled Mason to pull over into a vacant lot next to a filling station. When we got settled, we gathered in the RV, drinking cool water and pop from the fridge.
"Duke, do we have anything on the where abouts of the Triplets"?
"They went off the computer screen about an hour after we left this morning. They were headed north at a pretty good clip, so I'm gonna take a guess that we won't have to worry about them anymore. "I don't know, they're just stupid and lucky enough to stumble upon us when we least expect it, so let's pretend they are still following us for a few more days."
"Works for me" he said, then took a deep swallow of the pop.
"Mason, what do you do when it rains?" I asked, as I flipped the sliced spam in the skillet.
"I usually just hole up somewhere. The last time I tried to run in the rain, I took out a walker because I couldn't see for the rain on my face shield. Banged up my ride and had to find another. I lucked out on the Goldwing but I don't ride when the roads wet. Why?"
"We need to fix something up so we haul your stuff when the weather turns nasty. That way we can keep goin. You okay with that?"
"I got a hitch on the wrecker and there's one on the bus. Why don't we look out for another trailer." Howard said.
"Why don't I just get a truck and I could put my stuff in the back and the bike on the trailer? The trailer has a set of ramps so I'll be good to go. I'll keep an eye out since we won't be seeing rain for a bit and when I find a truck that'll do I'll just load the cycle up and go. But who wants to drive the truck when I'm on the cycle?” Mason asked as he washed his hands in the sink.
"Lacy can drive if you don't mind. What about you Lacy, you willing to drive his truck when he's on the cycle? Might get a bit lonesome for you. "
“Long as it has a cd player and some tunes I'll be fine. I'll need a walkie, tho, so I know what ya'll are doin.
"Ok, we got that figured out. Do you want to keep goin or hunker down here for the night. It's up to you".
Everyone looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
"Ok, well, why don't we plan to leave here in about an hour, which will get us farther down the road. Then we stop before dark."
After a short meal, the guys went to the gas station and pilfered what they could. Out came several bags of potato chips and dip. Nibbling on the stale chips, everyone settled in and we were on the road once again. I wanted to get onto the interstate because these two-lane roads were too easily blocked by road jams. We'd gone quite a ways when I noticed Mason racing back towards us from around the corner ahead, so I stopped and rolled down my window. The blast of the hot, humid air nearly took my breath away as Mason stopped by my window. His perspiration soaked hair was stuck to his face, and he shook like a dog to dislodge it so he could see me.
"We got a fine road block ahead. It's on a bridge and there is no way we're gonna get through there. We have to find another route."
"I saw a rock road back about two miles, maybe it would take us around the road block."
I got up and went to the table and spread the road map out on top. Mason came in and went to the tiny fridge and removed a bottle of water. Duke climbed up on top to keep watch as we tried to figure out what road to take. Suddenly, there were three short raps on the roof. We bent to look out the front window and coming towards us was a herd of walkers. We quickly rolled up the windows and locked the doors, shut off the engine, and closed the curtain on the rear window. I noticed Howard as I was closing the curtain, slipping Mandy and Sarah into his truck, closing the door and with a nod at us slipped into the bunk and closed the curtain.We knew that Duke would be ok on top as long as he stayed down and since we didn't have the time to get him inside we had no choice but to leave him there. I knew he hated the walkers enough to be glued to the roof of the RV.
We waited in the gathering heat quietly but tension was thick enough to cut. Lacy rocked gently back and forth...her way of dealing with it. Mason looked at her and then me. I shook my head and gave him thumbs up. She'd be ok, she was good that way. Occasionally there was a slight rocking motion as the walkers would bump into us. Once there was an attempt to open the door but only briefly. Just enough to make you want to wet yourself. Soon all was quiet and then two fast raps on the roof. When no one made a move to open the door, there was a knocking similar to shave and a haircut, two bits. Mason chuckled and glanced out the window before he opened the door and admitted a pale, sweaty Duke.
"Water", he croaked, and collapsed into the bunk. Lacy got him a bottle of water while I moved to start the RV and air conditioning.
"Well" I said "that certainly makes the day memorable"
"Any more memorable and I'll just shit my pants and get it over with." he said and then finished the water. "Let me know what you decide, I need to check on the girls." Out the door he went.
"Ok, let’s go back to that gravel road. It looks like it crosses the bridge and then meets the highway about 10 miles on down. What do you think?”
Mason looked at the map while rubbing the cool water bottle slowly across his forehead.
"Why don't I take the bike and check it out just in case it's blocked to. Wouldn't want to run into that herd with no way to turn around"
"You sure you want to do that? The road is there so there must be farms along the way, I'd think if we have to turn around we should be able to find a place. It's up to you but it was just a thought."
"Let me go talk to others and see what they have to say but we need to do something other than watch walkers walk by. We can't go forward so we need to do something. Besides, I don't think Duke could take it."
"Go ahead, I'll take another look at the map and see what I can figure out."
Mason left and Lacy sat staring out the window.
"You ok, kiddo?" I asked quietly.
"I'm tired of all this crap, sis. I know everyone else is too but damn...when does it end? I'm scared all the time. I want a shower and a bowl of ice cream and the nightly news." I gently caressed her shoulder but couldn't think of a thing to say. We have had this conversation numerous times and there just wasn't much left to say.
"I don't know about the nightly news kiddo, but I'm working on the rest of it. I want the same things except maybe a bubble bath and large hamburger with everything but pickles...still we'll get by."
"I know thanks." she sniffled, then got up and went to the bathroom. Just then Mason returned. "They say take the road and see what happens. They don't want to wait and see if the walkers come back again either. Duke is still shaking and the girls are pretty shook up. Doing anything at this time would be better than sitting here."
"You gonna be ok on the bike?"
He looked up the road at the roadblock, grinned and said "I'll be right back". Then he got on his bike and took off down the road.
Lacy came back from the bathroom. I asked her to tell everyone else we were turning around and going back to the rock road. Howard was behind Duke and the bus so I figured it would take a few minutes to get us backed down the road two miles. We had just gotten to the gravel road, when I noticed a pickup with a motorcycle on a trailer headed our way. I grinned as I realized Mason had gotten himself a new ride. It was one of those extended cab, double duty, dual tires, and macho rigs. Yep, it suited him just fine.
He led the way down the road. The land was flat, mostly sand with scrub oak. The road was pretty good and we made good time. Around a curve ahead we saw an old two story farmhouse. We slowed to a stop and stared at the gate which was covered in more warning signs than I'd ever seen in one place. Just then, an old man stepped out from behind a slanted, weathered, old shed with the biggest gun I've ever seen in my life. It was pointed at Mason. Well, he did look meaner that the rest of us, but still.
Walkers (Book 1): The Beginning Page 2