by Diane Butler
Roxanne took the rawhide with the key off her neck and began to unlock the gate. “Is that the only key?” Gene asked.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Lucky,” Roxanne looked up at him, “You can take it off my dead body if you need to.” She missed the looks that passed between the three behind her as she told Mutt to stay within the fence and not to come out.
She hung the lock on the fence and pushed one side of the gate out and approached the nearest zombie. She had learned that going for the head of a zombie with her sharpened pole didn’t always work if the zombie made a sudden move so she had changed her tactics and began to stab them in the chest throwing them to the ground and then using her pickaxe to crush the skull. She used this method and then pole stabbed the next zombie, pushed him into another zombie to knock them both down at once then axed both. This was the first time they had seen Roxanne in the action of killing a zombie other than behind a fence. Realizing that they were staring they suddenly jumped into action to help her.
Brandon took out the water bottle and passed it around while they were walking up the road toward her car. The deterioration of the road was quickly turning it into just a lane. Part of it had eroded from rain water rushing down the mountain and was just loose gravel. Part of it was still concrete, but there were patches of mud and saplings breaking through the ground in other places.
“You said you never checked the rest of the road to see if it was clear,” Brandon said, “Do you know where it goes?”
“I think it is the road I was coming in on but I ran out of gas ten0 miles out and cut through the woods,” she answered. “There were a few houses along the way but I didn’t check any of them. I never saw any Ze’s on that last stretch. I don’t know where these are coming from.” They rounded a curve and Roxanne saw that the car was still there under the tarp and dried brush she had covered it with.
“Nice camouflage but it wouldn’t work since everything else is so green this time of year,” Brandon said. They uncovered the car then Roxanne got in to retrieve the key from the ashtray and managed to start it on the second try. “I can understand you parking it out here when you were alone at the park, afraid of being taken by hostiles, but I prefer that we park it inside the gate” Brandon continued. “We can’t protect it out here, Roxanne. If you were on this road then others could come in this way too. Even inside the gate it’s still a long run from the Admin buildings to this end of the park and would be even harder to get to if the car was surrounded by Ze’s. Would you agree to that Roxanne?”
They drove the car back into the park area but Roxanne made sure she turned it around to face outward for a quick exit if necessary. Cami got out of the car and looked at the Ze’s they had just killed. “I’m not dragging twenty damn bodies away from the fence. We’re far enough away from the Admin buildings that we shouldn’t smell them. They can rot there for all I care,” she said.
“Roxanne, I don’t want you to think that we are naïve,” Gene said as they walked back using the road this time and not cutting through the Zoo Section of the park. Gene wanted Roxanne to show him how she had brought the car through the park to the back entrance where she now had it parked. As they walked back he decided to question her on some of her fears and see if he could penetrate that cold shell of hers. “We have run into some small bands that would kill to steal our supplies rather than join us as a group. But we’re talking five or six people and we can handle that. We have lost some along the way but what you see standing before you is the best of what’s left. We’re not alive because we were the weakest and ran, we’re alive because we fought them off. That barrier you have us building is more like you had an army in mind.”
Roxanne shook her head, “I was thinking more of a herd.”
“A herd?” Cami questioned, “I don’t know what you mean by a herd, unless you’re talking about the number of Ze’s in a city. That I’ve seen and I guess you could call it a herd because of the massive amount of zombies. But we’re in the country Roxanne, and should be safe from a herd out here.”
Roxanne stopped and turned to look at them. Mutt, who had been running ahead of them turned and came back to her side. “We don’t know anything about these things that we call zombies. We don’t know how long they live or how long we will need to protect ourselves against them. We know they are attracted to noise but have you noticed that one will change direction and the rest will follow? Is it because that zombie is a leader, or is it just the blind following the blind? Freshly turned seem to be the strongest and there will always be ‘freshly turned’. What happens when they run out of food in the cities? Will they migrate or will they just stand there until they crumble? I see a sea of zombies coming at us one day.”
Everyone was silent until she turned away and they all started to walk with her again. “It sounds like you’re losing hope Roxanne,” Gene said gently, “I chose to think that the world will be normal again. Maybe not in our lifetime because there is so much to rebuild but the technology is still there, the knowledge is still there. I like to think that we still have a government hidden somewhere with scientists working on a vaccine against zombie bites. Maybe they won’t know why we turn after we die, but a vaccine if you’re bitten is possible. Until then I will keep fighting to stay alive and I know you haven’t given up because you’re still fighting too.”
As they approached the rear of the buildings Roxanne stopped once more and turned to them. “Another thing,” she said softly because sound traveled in these hillsides. “Ed has another car ready. He does not know of the back gate. You have your own cars so I thought to just let him have his little secret but the back gate is another issue. If we are in harm’s way or attacked, Ed will run. He will leave us here to our own defenses and drive for that back gate. If he knows where the key is he will open the gate and just keep driving. With the gates open we could be overrun by a herd of Ze’s or a gang of hostile people and be ambushed from behind. Ed is devious and thinks of his own skin. He is loyal to no one.”
“That may be difficult to do, Roxanne”, Brandon answered. “We would always need to watch what we say around him or watch our activities if we go to that portion of the park. Wouldn’t it be better to just deal with him now and get our point across? I think the three of us,” he motioned to Gene and Cami behind him, “would be able to get our point across if we approach him right.” Brandon finished his last remark with a smile that Roxanne did not misinterpret.
She sighed and continued to walk the last distance toward the admin buildings, “If you want to handle it fine. I’m through dealing with him. We kept him because he is good with mechanics and welding and he has improved the living conditions here. I’m just passing on the information that he cannot be trusted and will abandon you at a critical point when you are counting on him. He doesn’t have your back.”
They continued the remaining walk in silence but Brandon still wasn’t comfortable with the arrangements of the car and gate in the back lot. He told Cami and Gene of what he was thinking and with their approval he went looking for Lucky. He found Lucky pumping water from the well outside Roxanne’s cabin. It was the only working well on the property and construction had actually accessed an underground spring to complete the authenticity of the cabin. Although Ed had managed to get a couple of generators started they did not use the showers since they had not had time to investigate the amount of fuel in tanks on the property.
“Morning, Lucky. Sorry you had to pull that double-shift last night,” Brandon said.
“No problem,” Lucky said as he pulled the water bucket from the well and filled a container. “I heard Roxanne was taking you to the back gate and showing you how your cars would access the exit. Did she show you where she stashed the backup car?” he asked.
“Yeah, we moved the car inside the gate, covered it with the tarp and Roxanne put the key in the ash tray. She was OK with that. But there’s still the matter of the key to the gate Lucky, and we feel that we have pushed Roxa
nne enough for today. She….” Brandon hesitated, “She is still somewhat of a mystery to us.” Lucky started to laugh and set the bucket down. “She’s been very forthcoming with us today” Brandon continued, “showing us the hidden path through the zoo, where the car was hidden and letting us move it back in, then taking us to the service road that goes behind the buildings,” Brandon said. “She even told us that Ed has a car stashed in his facility.”
On that last remark Lucky raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms while he sat on the well, “Oh, did she?”
Brandon nodded, “But there is still the matter of the gate key around her neck. I approached her on it but she said something about taking it off her dead body.”
“Yeah,” Lucky got up and connected the bucket to the rope and started to lower it into the well again, “I heard the same thing from her. Sometimes I think she was around……” he paused almost saying that Roxanne had been around Ed too long but he was sure that Roxanne had not mentioned that relationship to Brandon. “I think she was around some devious people too long and picked up some of their habits. She is very distrustful but she’s a good person. We are all casualties of the ZA but sometimes I see a very gentle person hidden in there, if just briefly.”
Brandon nodded his head in agreement, his eyes wandering off into the distance as if he was remembering how things once were with him. “You appear to be closer to her than anyone else so far, Lucky,” he continued. “Do you think you could approach her about putting the gate key in the ashtray of the car so it is accessible to everyone? We understand that this isn’t to be mentioned to Ed, although if it becomes burdensome Roxanne said we could approach Ed in our own way.”
“Wow,” Lucky said when he realized that Roxanne had basically given the new group her permission to beat the crap out of Ed. “She has been full of surprises today. I’ll see what I can do Brandon.”
The next morning Caleb said that he would like to get in some practice with his crossbow and asked if the others would let him kill the zombies at the fence. Morgan, Cami and Roxanne went with him to see how many zombies had gathered at the fence during the night. Roxanne was relieved to see that it was only five since the increase of Ze’s had started to concern her. Morgan said they would wait while Caleb handled those five but Caleb objected to their presence saying that he wasn’t in any danger on this side of the fence.
“We still need to go outside the fence to retrieve your arrows if you miss any zombies,” Morgan said. “You only have seven arrows left Caleb and I’m not letting you go outside the fence by yourself.”
Roxanne could see that Caleb was nervous so she spoke up hoping that she wasn’t interfering with a father/son relationship. “Tell you what” she said, “I’ve always wanted to see a crossbow in action so why don’t you and Cami go back and I’ll stay with Caleb. I’ll make sure the coast is clear before we go outside the fence. Is that agreeable to everyone?”
Morgan nodded his head, “That’s OK with me. Caleb is that comfortable with you?” They could see a struggle within Caleb but he finally agreed. They didn’t know that Caleb was afraid of Roxanne and that she made him nervous. She was pretty like one of his nicest teachers in school but Roxanne’s mannerisms were completely different from that person. Roxanne was aloof, distracted and always seemed to be hearing something that no one else did, as if she was always on guard or knew what was going to happen. It freaked him out and he knew he would be disastrous at hitting anything.
After the others left Roxanne sat on a bench that Cami used to stand on when she killed zombies. Cami said it gave her an advantage to be looking down on them. Caleb took his stance, let out his breath and tried to calm himself, but the shot went wild when the zombie moved. His second shot hit the fence and bounced off. If he didn’t get the next five shots then Roxanne would need to kill the zombies with her stake. He heard her softly call to him and reluctantly turned around.
“Caleb, come here and sit beside me for a minute” she asked while patting the bench.
Shit, he thought, another adult lecture. You can do it, blah, blah, blah. He plopped down on the bench as if he had just been told that he couldn’t have his PlayStation that night.
Roxanne rested her elbows on her knees and looked off into the distance. “Do you know why I sent the others away?” He shook his head glad that she wasn’t looking him in the eye. “There were so many times I would go into a hardware store or sports store while scavenging and see a crossbow. All I had was a pickaxe which meant I needed to get up close and personal to kill a zombie. I was so scared, Caleb.” This startled Caleb to hear. He became very still and stopped fidgeting. He couldn’t believe that Roxanne had ever been afraid.
“I would see those crossbows but never took one because I didn’t know how to use it. I starved so many times because I couldn’t get close enough to kill a rabbit or squirrel with a pickax and I could see wildlife all around me yet I was useless.” She finally looked over at him but still didn’t straighten up. “I wanted to stay behind with you because I’d like for you to teach me how to use a crossbow. I don’t ever want to be that hungry again.”
“But this is a Junior Crossbow,” Caleb said, “and I’d been taking classes for a year before…..before” he let the sentence trail off. “I was good too and it was the first thing I grabbed when we had to evacuate. But I found shooting a moving target was completely different especially when the target wants to kill you. I know you need to shoot them in the head to kill them but when they’re coming at you I…..I guess I panic and either I miss or I hit them in the chest. Dad says to stop beating myself up because I’m only twelve.”
Roxanne straightened up and looked at the zombies still at the fence, “You’re not twelve, you are more like fourteen.” She looked back at Caleb, “because a twelve year old would not go out into the night with the threat of Ze’s to bring back a rabbit.”
Caleb went red all over and felt his heart drop. “You saw that?”
She nodded. “You teach me to use the crossbow and I won’t tell your father but only this once Caleb. If I see you out there again the deal is off. I won’t be taken advantage of Caleb. During training I’m your pupil but I won’t cover for you like a kid who has slipped out on his parents and wants to use me as an alibi. Do we understand each other?”
He nodded, “Yes. Is the training a secret?” Roxanne smiled. It was the first time he had seen her smile. She was becoming more human to him after their talk and he found he was more comfortable around her now.
“No, Caleb the training isn’t a secret. I don’t care how many people know even if I suck at it. What if we set up some targets, maybe paint something on the side of my cabin and meet for an hour after dinner every night?” The thought excited Caleb. “OK, then let’s see what you can do with the last five Ze’s and then we’ll retrieve the two you already used. They’ll be wondering about us soon.”
CHAPTER 3
KC stood at a distance watching Sally who was washing her hair. Sally had put a wooden bucket that may have been designed to churn butter next to the well. She filled the bucket with water from the well, washed her hair and was now pouring more water over it to rinse out the soap.
KC had a pair of scissors in her hand and was tapping them against her thigh while she watched Sally. This was a big step for KC but she knew it was the right thing. Sally had been cutting hair for most of the group except for Lucky and Brandon who both wanted to keep their long hair tied back. Roxanne had her black hair cut into a short Egyptian style just below the chin with bangs. Later Roxanne said that she regretted the bangs because they made her face sweat so she began to wear a piece of rawhide around her head. Now she looked more like a native Indian and this was what KC wanted. She was smitten with Lucky but knew that Roxanne was her competition. KC knew she could fight Ze’s as well as Roxanne and felt she was just as pretty so why didn’t Lucky notice her? She couldn’t talk to Lucky, didn’t know how to approach him so that he would take an interest in her. She d
ecided to clean up a little and look more like a woman than a teenager who had been trapped in K-mart and afraid to move.
Once Sally began to dry her hair KC came out of the bushes and approached her. She held the scissors out and said just one word, “Cut”.
Sally was startled. KC seldom said anything and if necessary it would be one or two words, but she had never let anyone touch her wild hair, nor had she bathed since they met her. Sally was delighted and said, “Well, why don’t we wash it first since it will be easier for me to cut it into a style? Have you decided what style you want? How short?”
KC nodded, “Roxanne” was the only word she spoke.
“Oh”, Sally smiled “Are we looking to catch us a boyfriend” she teased.
“You shut up!” KC yelled, her body stiffening. With the scissors still in her hand she took a menacing step toward Sally. Sally gasped at the unexpected anger and took a step backwards, her hand going to her throat.
“KC what’s gotten into you? I was only joking.” They stared in silence at one another, Sally feeling threatened by this girl who they knew very little about and KC hesitant about her decision to have approached Sally for help. Finally KC put the scissors on the well, turned her back to Sally and sat down on the bench. “Cut”, she repeated.