by Diane Butler
“OK,” Roxanne answered. “There are some picnic tables back here. I’ll go sit on one to get my legs out of the tall grass. I don’t see any Ze’s in this section. Looks as if it has its own fenced-in borders.”
Caleb approached Morgan, “Dad, when you were getting the blow torch I put some crackers and dried cereal into a baggie for myself. Wish there was some way I could get it to Roxanne since she is sitting there all alone. Would you let me climb the debris? I’m lighter than her. I should be OK.”
“No way,” Morgan said standing with his arms crossed watching Brandon getting in the truck. He pulled Caleb away and said, “Why don’t you send it to her by bow and arrow delivery?”
“Huh?”
“It’s in a plastic bag, right? Attach it to an arrow and shoot it across,” Morgan said casually as Brandon drove into the building with a huge crash. He shook his head and thought, ‘white people’.
Caleb started laughing, “Dad, an arrow needs to be perfectly balanced. You can’t tie stuff and things to it.”
Morgan watched Brandon back out of the storefront with the sides of the building crashing in on the truck. He then turned the truck around so Gene and Lucky could wrap a chain around one of the hedges and attach it to the trailer hitch. “Doesn’t need to go far and doesn’t need to hit a target,” Morgan continued. “Just needs to go up and then come back down again. Doesn’t need to look pretty either, it just needs to get over to the other side. Let’s write her a note and put it in the plastic.”
Lucky was not concerned about getting the truck or any vehicle into the other section of the park today. He just wanted to reach Roxanne so everyone could explore the area together. Sometimes he thought that she had a death wish when death was surrounding them all the time. Did she want punishment for killing KC and Ed? Could she not live with it and was putting on a front of stability? He knew she was a decision maker and fearless in many ways but this was an unnecessary risk and foolish when there were other solutions.
Roxanne was sitting on the picnic table drinking water when she thought someone had thrown a rock from the other side. With a soft ‘thump’ it landed just inside the fence. Then she saw the feather of an arrow and went over to pick it up. She chuckled when she opened the plastic and read Caleb’s note that said, “Thought you may be hungry.”
“Thank you Caleb,” she yelled out but as she turned she caught movement coming over the hill. She froze to see the head of a zombie coming up over the rise. She reached for her rifle but only felt a bare shoulder, forgetting that she had given it to Lucky. She tapped her back pocket and as always her pickaxe was there. She glanced over to the picnic table to see her staff leaning against it and made a run for it. She was not going to yell out and frighten everyone. She would take care of it herself but she had been with a group for so long that she had forgotten the feeling of vulnerability at being alone. I can do this, she thought and wondered why she needed to convince herself.
She circled and backed out of the tall grass to lure him to the sidewalk where she would get better footing for a kick to the groin. She waited in her stance until he was 3’ away and was about to kick him when a shot rang out and the zombie’s head blew apart. She let her breath out, not realizing that she had been holding it and looked over to see Lucky standing inside the fence, his arm still raised with the gun in his hand.
CHAPTER 6
Their passion that night was of such a beautiful and tender union that Roxanne was overwhelmed. She had never had a man adore her body as Lucky had done, cherishing every moment that their bodies touched, wanting to continuously touch her even in rest. She knew that part of it had to do with the zombie event earlier that day and how it had affected her changed her to be able to give and receive this type of love.
When she had looked up to see Lucky standing there with the gun in his hand after shooting the zombie she was flooded with relief. At first the feeling had confused her because she knew how to fight zombies, knew she had the confidence and experience to do so successfully. And then she realized that it was the relief of knowing that someone was there for her, someone to protect her if she could not protect herself. Someone who would fight for her if she could not fight for herself. Someone who would still love her on those days that she may not like herself and the things she had done to survive. She had looked at him standing there in the field and suddenly everything changed.
When Lucky walked up to her in the grassy area he had intentions of showing his wrath, his anger at her foolishness of climbing the debris and putting herself in a situation of being alone. But as he drew closer to her he saw a change come over Roxanne. He saw her relax the staff almost as if it was too heavy for her, then he looked up into her eyes and saw that she was seeing him differently. At last, he thought. At last she has come to me. He stopped before her and touched her cheek, smiling at her. She reached up and held his hand there when Gene suddenly yelled out, “Are there more? Are you OK Roxanne?” and broke the spell between them.
Lucky was also overwhelmed that night and wanted nothing more than to stay awake touching her. Their first night together had been a tender union but he was never confident of the relationship. He didn’t know if he was a ‘throw away’ to Roxanne as she seemed to discard people as part of the ZA process of losing people along the way. She was a passionate woman and had given her body to him but he did not think he had reached the darkness in her soul. Tonight was different and they both knew it.
Lucky had brought in two buckets of water because the night was warm without a breeze and the room could become hot since the cabin did not have a tree to provide shade from the sun. He had put candles in the room which added to the heat. On occasion one of them would get up to pour water over their body, towel off and then get back in bed again.
Several times he wanted to speak to her but when he looked into her eyes her lips always seemed to become his focal point and the process would begin again. He waited a few times to see if she would begin a conversation but she would snuggle into his arm running her hands over him and he wanted nothing more than to take her again.
The next morning he was lying in bed with his arms behind his head watching her dress. He watched as she put her battle gear on and saw her disposition start to change as she added each piece. Watched the boots go on, the gun belt go across her hips and she appeared to stand taller. Watched her add the axe to her back pants loop and saw the previous night’s softness leave her. He watched her put the knife into the sheath and strap it on, the rawhide placed across her forehead and all femininity was gone.
She picked up her staff and stood at the foot of the bed. “Get up. We have that back lot to check out today after breakfast.” Then she turned and walked out of the bedroom. He smiled and looked at the ceiling. Mutt came to the doorway and gave him a ‘woof’. Lucky threw his legs over the side of the bed and said, “Alright. I don’t need two dictators giving me orders today.”
Roxanne heard the remark from the living room and smiled. “Come Mutt. I don’t think we are needed here.”
They had not made a full search of the new area after they broke through the fence and Lucky had killed the zombie that was approaching Roxanne. They did not see more Ze’s but if any had come through the Weavers Stall during the night the group was still well fortified behind their own barrier. The next day everyone followed the sidewalk in the new section down the hill to Beaver Creek and saw the Coal Mine on the other side. It looked as if small boats took people across the creek but they were sure that a service road had to be on this side.
Their vehicles could easily travel over this terrain without getting stuck and could be placed at the fence where they had broken through. This section was closer to the Admin bldg. and not as far away as Roxanne’s car at the back gate. They were comfortable with the possibility of having two exits again although both would be at the north end of the park. They were sure whatever service road they found that it would connect to the same road Chen Le had housed on, just ex
iting further north.
“This is a long walk,” Morgan said as everyone walked into the sunlight of the open field.
“As soon as we clear the debris from the floor of the Weavers Stall then we can start driving down here,” Sally said. “When Brandon drove into the building those walls just collapsed in on itself. I wouldn’t attempt to drive over them like that. Too many nails for us to even be walking over it, but if we all pitch in we should have it cleared today.”
They stayed out of the tall grass and kept to the sidewalk to go down the hill toward the creek. The morning was still cool but the days were getting hotter as they entered mid-Summer. Mutt spotted a rabbit in the grass and took off after it until Roxanne called him back. “Stay on the sidewalk Mutt. I don’t want you in that tall grass since I saw snakes yesterday.”
“Timber rattlesnakes are very docile, Roxanne,” Brandon said. “Pets are bitten because they corner them. And even then the snake may strike but not release any venom because their venom is very special to their food source and they don’t see us as food.”
“I picked up some antivenin when we went to the Feed Store and Vet’s” Sally said. “It is supposed to be refrigerated but in an emergency I would triple the dosage and keep my fingers crossed.”
“Just the same”, Roxanne said, “I wouldn’t want to wait to see if Mutt reacts from a bite or from venom.
They arrived at the pond and looked across the creek at the mock mine shaft. “I’m not going in there,” Randy said. “We don’t know where that zombie came from yesterday and there could be a nest of them in there.”
Lucky looked at the overturned boats on the shore and tested their hulls. “These still look in good shape.” Then he looked into the creek and said, “Trout. OK, know where I’ll be spending my time.”
“Here it is! I found it!” Caleb yelled out. They turned to see him standing uphill but could not see any sign of a service road. “Where?” Morgan asked. Caleb took a side step and disappeared behind the hedges growing along the fence line, then took a step back and reappeared again. He giggled and ran into the foliage and suddenly came out the other side. They were confused since they could not see any road, gate or break in the fence. It appeared as if he was running in and out of a solid barrier.
As they walked closer they realized that it was a camouflage hedge standing away from the gate to hide it from the general public. From a distance it looked like part of the fence but was actually a well-designed disguise to hide unsightly views. There was a gap of 12’ between the camouflage and the real fence, enough room for a service truck to restock cokes and water in the machines or a catering company to set up food in the snack bar where BBQ was served.
The gate was ajar and squeaked when Lucky tested it but was still in working order. “Morgan, could you get some oil for this so we won’t be detected if we need to sneak out at night? I think this is how our zombie got in. Since there was only one zombie this may be a safer road than the service road where Roxanne’s car is parked. That gate always has five to six Ze’s at it in the morning. We just need to find where this comes out.”
By that evening they had the Weaver’s debris cleared that Brandon had caused when he smashed into the building with his truck. They checked the ground closely for any nails or bolts that could puncture a tire and swept the ground clean. They completely removed the 8’ portion of the fence that was dividing the two sections of the park and decided that there was no need to replace it. A few days later Lucky, Brandon, Roxanne and Caleb were going on their first test run in the SUV, across the field to the mine and to the service road. It was the first time that Morgan had let Caleb go on one of these runs but he was comfortable in letting Caleb go since it wasn’t a supply run and they just wanted to find out where the service road came out. They were sure that it would access Rte. 40 north of where Chen Le’s house was and if they turned south on Rte. 40 they should come to the service road where Roxanne had stashed her car.
The SUV didn’t have any trouble using the sidewalk and easily accessed the service road. The road was crumbling and would get worse over time but it wasn’t a hard drive. After a mile they saw an intersection ahead and Lucky said, “Alright! Here we go, Rte. 40. We’ll go north this time.” But as the front tires of the SUV hit the pavement of Rte. 40 Lucky threw on the brakes. “Oh, Jesus.”
Everyone was quiet as they sat there, not believing their eyes. To the south the road was blocked with zombies. They spilled out from the road filling the woods on both sides. To the north they encountered the same sight, Ze’s so thick that they were shoulder to shoulder. Some would bump into the zombie next to them as they shifted on legs that were becoming weaker without food. The woods to the north were also filled with Ze’s.
“I was afraid of this,” Roxanne said in awe. “A sea of zombies. We could never fight this. It looks like a whole city’s population. I wonder if they have already turned down the service road to the back gate.” Lucky pulled the SUV onto the highway so he could turn around and go back, knowing that they would be followed but there was nowhere else to go, nowhere to hide from a herd that huge. They would be swallowed by it.
“Will the fences hold?” Caleb asked his voice filled with fear and panic.
“For a short time Caleb” Brandon answered. “Enough time for us to get away but it is not the best of circumstances to evacuate. If they are at the back gate, and I’m certain that they are, then that leaves the one vehicle at the front entrance. We only use that for runs and it is not stocked. It will also only carry four people.”
Lucky raced as fast as he could but the road was falling apart as he drove over it. “But we have ammo now,” Caleb said. “And grenades and…..and….the rocket launcher! Cami will want to use those. That should take out a lot of them.”
“We concentrated our efforts on loading the truck with ammo for our guns and rifles at the NRA residence,” Lucky said. “We only brought a small amount of ammo for Cami’s toys and that was used on Chen Le.” There was silence as they remembered how Cami kept insisting on going back to the NRA house. “We had good plans,” Lucky continued. “Just not enough time to put them into place. Never checked out that farmhouse to see if there was a car, nor did we stock it as a meeting place in case we became separated. We will need to split into two groups with one group driving a car as far as the cavern on the logging road and will need to abandon it and go on foot the rest of the way. The Ze’s are coming from the north and east. That leaves going west or south for us. Damn! There was still so much to do!”
They pulled into the park again and Brandon got out to shut the gate. They did not have chains or a lock for it, but he pulled the latch shut hoping it would stall the zombies. Lucky got out and turned the small boats over that were stacked at Beaver Creek and set them afloat. “What was that all about?” Roxanne asked when he got back in the truck.
“I’m hoping they will float down Beaver Creek to Yellow Jacket Creek which we can access off of Rte. 321 near Pigeon Falls. If all the roads are clogged we may be forced to use the waterways.”
Everyone knew that something was drastically wrong when Lucky drove up in a cloud of dust to the front of the admin bldg. He got out to address the stunned group and said, “We have less than two hours to evacuate.”
“But why can’t we just hide and let them pass?” Sally asked when she heard of the situation. “All this food? We can’t pack all this up and I hate leaving it.”
“And all this ammo,” Cami said. “We can’t pack all that up either and I’m not leaving it.”
“Both of you please listen to me,” Lucky said. “Sally, I’m not talking about 100 Ze’s, I’m talking a whole city of them. If we hide in the Admin bldg. and remained quiet so they didn’t hear us, they would still starve us out. There isn’t enough food to wait out this herd because only 70% of them will move on. The rest will get distracted by something and stay, or will get to the bus and stop and wander around for ages, or will get hung up on something and ther
e will always be stragglers coming in, the ones who fell behind. This herd will own this place! It’s not ours anymore.”
“And you, Cami,” Lucky turned to face her. “There isn’t enough ammo to kill them. All we would be doing is letting them get closer until they surround us. As of right now,” he turned to the group, “they haven’t seen us in here, only on the road and it changed their direction. We still have time to get out unseen so they will not follow us.”
“Gene you, Sally, Morgan and Caleb get your things, as much food as you can as much ammo as you can and take the small truck out front. It will only carry four. Me, Roxanne and Brandon will put as much as we can into the truck parked at Ed’s fence and take the logging road. I hope that the truck can thread around the trees in the forest to avoid the cavern and climb the embankment on the other side of the clearing so we can reach the farmhouse. Cami, you and Randy will follow us in the station wagon that you arrived in. Gene you will meet us there. Be careful since we haven’t checked out the farmhouse but once we meet up we will decide what to do. If we aren’t there in an hour after you then unload some of the equipment and use the logging road to come looking for us. If we get stuck we may need to transfer food and ammo over to your truck.”
“I’m not going,” Cami said. They all stopped and looked at her. “Don’t worry, I’m not committing suicide but I’m not leaving this ammo behind. If we get stuck in the woods we will have two vehicles loaded with ammo and food that will be abandoned. And some of us will be on foot if there isn’t a car at the farmhouse because Gene can’t take all of us. I’m loading as much as I can and driving to the new entrance we created at the demolished building. That’s where you expect them to come in since they detoured to follow you. I can slow them down from entering from that direction and give you more time. If I can’t take it with me then I’ll use it and catch up with you. I’ll take Caleb’s dirt bike.”