Walkers (Book 1): The Beginning

by Davis-Lindsey, Zelda

  "Nothing, but well, Flynn has been showing an interest when you're around and Mason has noticed and we, Randy and me, we thought maybe you might be interested in Flynn too, so well, you have to decide."

  "Decide? Decide what?"

  "Well, which one you want."

  "Want? What? What the hell are you talkin about?"

  She looked at me like I had grown two heads. Mason and Flynn? They aren't interested in me, are they? I mean, Mason kissed me a couple of times, and I've admired his ass whenever I had the chance and Flynn’s ass was fine to but, oh crap! I'm screwed.

  I sat down on the window seat with Lacy. Moaning, I put my face in my hands and rocked back and forth. She put her arm around me and I thought I heard a giggle come from her. I looked up quickly but that's when she got up and walked to the door. "We'll start moving our stuff to the other room. Seeing his butt is not something I want you to do either. Although, it is a fine one. Relax, I think you have a bit longer before they start dueling over you".

  I stared at the door long after she left. Then shaking myself like a dog, I took my stuff, went to Mason’s room and showered. Drying my hair as I stumbled back to my room, I thought about Mason and Flynn. When did Flynn become an issue? He's nice enough, even pulled out my chair for me once and every once in a while he will hold the door for me, but he's just being nice. Right? Crap! Tying my shoes, I decided to not think about it again. I wanted to take the four wheeler out and check the grounds. The cliff wall behind the lodge tapered down to a ravine and I wanted to check behind it.

  I drank my coffee and stared out the window contemplating Mason and Flynn. The noises up stairs told me Lacy and Randy was moving into the honeymoon suite and from the laughing and giggling it was going fine. I smiled at the thought of having my own bathroom again. A flash from the north caught my attention but when I stared long and hard at it, I didn't see anything else.

  I took my coffee into Duke's Den as we were calling it. Actually Sarah started it and it had stuck. He glanced up when I walked in, then hooked the small stool next to him with his foot and pulled it out for me to sit. He smiled when I sat the mug full of coffee in front of him.

  "What's up?" he said playing with the gate camera.

  "Not much. I thought I saw a reflection to the north of the lodge and wondered if you caught it to."

  "Yep, it was just that once. I don't know what it was. You gonna check it out?"

  "Might as well, I was gonna check behind the cliff wall and see what’s there. There's a road that runs around there so someone was using it for some reason."

  "Take someone with you when you do, Randy maybe."

  "No, no that's alright, I'll take Lacy, and she can handle herself."

  Duke snuck a look at me and raised one eyebrow. (How do you raise one eyebrow...I've tried it and it's like they're both connected). "Ok, you should be ok. I might use Randy in my helicopter experiment."

  "Oh, are you that close?"

  "If it works, I'll give you a special viewing when you get back"

  "Sounds good" Mussing his hair, and him hollering "Hey" behind me I walked back to the kitchen to await Lacy. Mandy was at the table, so I quickly sat next her with my back to the wall. I learned from the last time.

  Bumping shoulders with her, she smiled and offered me part of her pop tart. She had declined to eat the deer. I hoped she would eventually eat it, but she was holding out so far.

  Sarah was busy putting together a stew in the crock pot. I wasn't about to mention the deer meat in front of Mandy but it would cook all day and the guys would have a good meal when they returned. She had already started the fresh bread and the smells in the kitchen brought back good memories of my childhood.

  "Me and Lacys going out to the ravine and check things out, as soon as she and Randy move into the honeymoon suite. I found him all natural in my shower this morning so I strongly suggested they make the move...today."

  "What’s 'all natural' mean?" Mandy asked around her pastry. She asked a lot questions and it seemed like nothing got past her.

  "Ask your dad," Sarah said as she stirred the stew. Mandy jumped down and ran to the front room followed closely by Bubba. Sarah covered the stew then sat at the table.

  "Now that you have Lacy in a safe place, what about you? You deserve to be happy too, ya know? Mason and Flynn are both really great guys, although we don't much about Flynn yet."

  "You to? Geez, just this morning Lacy nailed me with this crap." I got up and started for the door. "You have to choose or they're gonna get in a fight." she said softly.

  "I haven't thought about it but I will now since that's all anyone can talk about."

  "Do it soon, it isn't fair to them."

  "Oh for heaven’s sake" then stomped out to the barn. I don't give a damn if it's fair to them or not. Let them beat each other up over the honor of holding the door for me. What a crock. I started up the four wheeler and tooted the horn for Lacy. While I waited I cocked my bow and set it aside. Soon Lacy came bouncing out and after locking her rifle into its slot in front of her we took off.

  She talked a mile a minute. Randy this and Randy that. I headed to the spot where I thought I had seen the reflection that morning and tried to tune her out. The terrain was bumpy and the going was slow but we finally stopped at the ravine and got out. Looking down into the ravine I was surprised at what I saw. Several walkers were milling around in the creek at the bottom.

  They saw us, and attempted to climb the ravine to get to us. Lacy started for her gun, but I stopped her and reached for the bow. I killed six before I ran out of arrows. I radioed Duke that he was going to hear a gunshot and Lacy killed the last one. I was glad the spring ran downhill away from us but it bothered me that they were contaminating the water.

  "Well, crap". I said and got the rope out from behind the seat and tied it to a yellow pine.

  "You're kidding right? You can't go down there."

  "They have to be moved away from the creek, Lacy. They're contaminating the water."

  "So, the water runs the other way, what do we care?"

  "Lacy, what if there is a family living somewhere down the creek, just trying to survive like us? You want them to drink that water? Keep a look out for me and if you see a walker shoot em in the head like I taught you".

  I started down the rope and when I got to the bottom I took a minute and to look around. Then I started to haul bodies as far from the creek as I could. By the time I was done, I was sweaty and tired.

  "Oh shit, JD, get up here right now. Now. Hurry. Dammit move your ass!!"

  I ran grabbing the rope, and banged into the bank, while trying to get a foothold in the loose rock. "Shoot" I yelled.

  "I can't, you're in the way". Crap, I thought as I tried to climb up the cliff but my feet kept slipping. Suddenly a hand clamped around my ankle and started to pull. I felt the rope starting to slide from my sweaty hands. I was swaying and kicking with my other foot while I tried to hang on. Then a loud shot rang out and the pressure on my foot disappeared. I just hung there for a minute and then worked my way back up to the top.

  Lacy helped me climb the last foot or so, and then we both sat on the ground.

  "And I thought it was getting boring around here." I said between pants. "If he's in the creek I'll send a letter of apology to the folks downstream." Then we started laughing as we shakily climbed into the mule.

  CHAPTER 10

  I started to wipe my sweaty palms on my pants then, ow,ow, OW! flipped my hands up and down to relieve the pain. The rope had torn the skin off my palms and inside fingers of both hands. Dirt and gravel was sticking to the blood. Crap!

  Lacy thought we should have Sarah doctor them, so we headed back to the lodge. Sarah took one look and shook her head. We went into the clinic where she brought out the peroxide and burned the rest of the meat off my hands. My ankle had a bracelette of bruises surrounding it, but no skin was broken, thank God, or Sarah would've burned it to. My shoulder and hip was bruised, but
I'd be okay. I started limping out to the four wheeler again, when Randy met me half-way, pulling on leather work gloves.

  "Me and Lacy will check around that hillside for you. Your hands have to hurt and I'm bored out of my mind. Duke wants to show you something anyway". he said as he climbed into the mule.

  Lacy came out then with her camera and leather gloves (Where is everyone getting gloves?) climbed in with Randy and waved excitedly as they drove off.

  She wasn't that eager to go with me. I went in search of Duke. His shirt was like a beacon in a maze of wires. Today it was bright yellow and orange with red something or others on a background of teal. Ouch!

  "What ya doin down there Duke" He jerked up and banged his head on the underneath of the table.

  "Dammit JD!"

  "Daddy" admonished Mandy.

  "Sorry" he patted Mandy's leg.

  He wiggled his way from under the table, then sat rubbing his head.

  "Randy said something about you showing me something". I tried not to smile, but he looked so cute.

  "If you say I look cute I'll kick you in the shins". He said rubbing his head.

  "Daddy, that's not nice" Mandy came crawling out from under the table behind him.

  Duke hung his head then looked at me and shrugged.

  "My apologies, JD. I don't know where my manners are." I could tell he wanted to say more, but because of this little girl he adored more than life, he would mind his manners. He turned toward a table where a miniature, six foot, gray helicopter sat. Next to it was some sort of remote control device.

  "It's a stealth, attack, remote controled helicopter. It has three directional remote controls with built-in gyro stability and a LED light built into the nose for flying at night." He said proudly.

  "Gyro?"

  "Yea, it keeps it from spinning in flight. Easier to manage".

  He actually pet the damned thing.

  "I have a miniature camera strapped to the bottom of it. I've been working on it for a while. The camera kept knocking it off kilter so I removed the missles and launcher and then taped a pencil on it to balance it."

  "Well, maybe when the guys get back, you can give us a demonstration."

  "Yea, that's what I thought to. They should be pulling in real soon. Where did Randy and Lacy head off to?"

  "They went to check the hillside where we were earlier. Sarah felt I needed to stay home". I then brought my hands out from behind my back so he could see the way they were wrapped in guaze. "She thought I had done enough damage for one day."

  "Wow," he whistled, "I have to say, you sure know how to peel the skin off."

  "Yea, well, we carry ropes with knots in them from now on. Make climbing with them easier on the hands and faster."

  "Or wear gloves, Mason brought back a whole case of em last time"

  I wanted to growl in frustration, but Mandy had started doing it and we were trying to break her of it. The clicking of nails on the floor alerted us to Bubba, and when I saw him I gasped. He had a bright scarf wrapped around him from his head to his belly and was hunched in the middle with his tail between his legs.

  Duke looked at Mandy and she quickly picked him up.

  "He wanted to look nice for when Howard gets back and he said it was ok to put it on him. Doesn't he look cute.?"

  "What do you think Howard is gonna say when he sees him?"

  Mandy sighed then kissed Bubba and started removing the scarf. When she put him down he was gone in a minute to parts unknown. The clicking of his nails gradually silenced. He'd come out when Howard got home.

  Just then Randy and Lacy came flying in the house.

  "Wait till we show you what we found. Would you download these pics for us Duke?" Duke took the camera and downloaded the pictures. In seconds we saw row after row of hay bales. Hundreds of them were stacked one on the another. Beside the bales were rows and rows of stacked, split wood. There was tarps on most of it but you could see where the wind had torn some of em off. I smiled, happier than I'd been in a long time. Winter didn't look so bleak after all.

  "Whoo who!" I jumped up and punched the air. "We can feed the cow and build a fire at the same time" I grabbed Mandy and we danced around the room.

  "Randy, any chance I could get you to drive me to the top of the mountain? I want to put up a camera and a signal booster on the cell phone tower".

  Randy shrugged and said "Why not" then he leaned over and kissed Lacy and brushed her hair from her forehead. Lacy sat at the table to watch the monitors while Mandy went in search of Sarah. I wandered outside just as the mule turned the corner and was gone. I walked around the deck and sat in a rocking chair looking up at the craggy, snow capped mountains in the distance. For just a minute the aches and pains of the day disappeared and the cool, clean air filled my lungs with contentment.

  I was resting my eyes with Mason popped into my head Hey smartypants, we're approaching the gate, ok to come in? I thought back at him yea, mudcat, come on in. I felt his smile and heard the sound of semi's gearing down to come around the bend. There were three this time and only one was different. They had planned to pick a different semi since the last one was low on fuel and it was simpler than trying to fuel one up. One trailer pulled a pup and I got curious.

  Mason stopped short when he saw my bandaged hands and the limp but didn't say anything. Some men are so smart. Flynne however, had a lot to learn. "Wow, been sliding headfirst down gravel roads again?" I looked at Mason but he'd turned to say something to Howard who had just managed to catch Bubba when he launched himself at him. I raised my eyebrows at Flynne and limped down the steps to peek into one of the trailers.

  The trailer pulling the pup held another wind generator, and the pup contained pallets of large car type batteries, and extra parts for the wind generator. The next trailer held bolts of cloth (Sarah and her treadle sewing machine) palletts of plastic and tape (for the windows for winter) and one marked "Duke". The third trailer was food stuffs and odds and ends. Our chance of making it throught the winter was looking better all the time.

  I smiled at Mason before limping back to the rocking chair.

  " Where is everyone?" Flynne asked leaning against the rail.

  "Randy took Duke up to the mountain top to install a booster of some kind and a camera, they should be heading back about now. Lacy is in the lodge somewhere and Sarah..."

  "...is right here", she said as she sat in the other chair. "Dinner will be ready to eat as soon as you all clean up."

  "Made from that poor widdle deer Jadee kilts the other day" Mandy said from the swing Flynne had hung from the big shade tree. "I ain't eatin it". She shook her head just in case anyone misunderstood her.

  "You mean killed, Mandy. Come along and get washed up."

  "Howard, did ya bring something back for me?"

  "Might have, Munchkin, but you have to eat supper first. Mama's word is law around here. Come on Bubba old man, lets find us some grub"

  I motioned the guys along and we started into the lodge when Duke and Randy pulled up.

  "Hey guys, wait till I show you my new toy."

  "That could mean just about anything coming from you Duke." Mason said. He waited on the porch for them to catch up while I went on inside. Flynne followed me.

  "You gonna tell us what happened while we were gone or not?"

  "I'm gonna tell it just once so you can wait till dinner or let someone else tell you."

  "Do I get to feed you since you're handicapped?"

  I whirled around and gave him the finger but the way my hands were wrapped kinda lessened the effect. Still he got the idea and went to the kitchen sink to wash up with a smile on his face.

  I told the story of the ravine walker with unwanted help from Lacy. Mason got redder and redder but never said anything. He retired to the porch rocking chair. I felt him in my head but he didn't say anything there either.

  After an exhausting time of trying to get Mandy to eat more than a salad we retired to the main room to hea
r how the trip went. After that we all went outside to watch Duke's new toy perform. He explained the benefits of being able to see around a curve or on the other side of a building. Then he told everyone about the camera and booster he installed and how the booster would let us hear things miles away.

  Howard disappeared for a few minutes, reappearing with a large box. Inside were several dozen dvd's of movies in every genre. Mandy was over the moon and jabbered non-stop until we got the dvd player hooked up and the movie going. She was staring at the tv the last I saw her.

  Mid way through a movie I went outside and met Flynne coming from around the back.

  "I tied several knots in a sturdy rope and put it and several pairs of leather gloves in the box behind the seat of the mule."

  "Thanks, meat head." He smiled, nodded and said good night.

  CHAPTER 11

  I've been secretly compiling a list. Not just any old list. No sir, not me. A Christmas list. I'm going on our next trip to town, although no one knew that yet. It couldn't be helped, I needed some personal things anyway and I'm going. The guys have been putting me off every single time they went into town with some reason or another. I can drive a semi so...No more. I am going. End of story.

  I wish Duke could go but he can't drive a semi and wouldn't be much help with the picking and choosing of items. Sarah and Lacy seemed to be content to sit here. I'm just afraid after a very long winter they will be nuts or drive the rest of us crazy. I think he needs to get out of the lodge but I can't for the life of me figure out a way.

  Winter was fast approaching and we needed to get in at least one more run. The fence was nearly done and a wooden corral was built for Casey the cow (Mandy named her). Hay was restacked to the north of the corral for a wind break and the wood was restacked all over the wraparound porch. Wood was up to the bottom of the windows and up each sideabout 6 feet. We still had enough to stack on the decks between the rails.

  We had five wind turbines running with extra batteries and parts and a trailer full of more parts. Duke believes in being prepared. There were water pump parts, two extra water heaters and several electric heaters for individual uses and electric stock water heaters also for the cow, hogs and chickens.