Zombiemandias (Book 2): In the Year of Our Death

by David J. Lovato

  “It was like there was something I was left here to do. I know now that God spared me to become a soldier. But at the time… I didn’t know anything. I buried Aaron behind the store, and your congregation found me soon after.”

  “I’m glad,” Adam said. Someone pounded on the door. “Come in.”

  The door opened and a face appeared. It was Elizabeth. “Adam.” The Church of Lesser Humans knew no titles, as all were equally lesser. “Some of the greater humans have found us. They’re trying to break in.”

  Adam stood up, as did Randolph. They exchanged glances.

  It really was a miracle no major accidents had happened. They always found a place, kept it dark, and were mostly left alone. The other instances were small, and no one had even woken Adam during them. For Elizabeth to come get him was different. What purpose could God have for letting the greater humans attack now? The church was still miles from the Great Evil One, and months from destroying him, at least.

  “We must leave,” Adam said. “Soon.”

  He left the office and hurried to a window, where several of the church members were pressing a piece of wood against the broken glass. Beautiful hands poked in here and there, and moans wafted into the church like music. Adam was proud; his congregation was not hurting them.

  “How are you holding?” Adam said.

  It was Horace who replied. “Not well, Adam.”

  Horace had a short temper and an unguarded tongue. Regardless, he had proved his worth to the cause time and again, and Adam trusted him with harder work. Perhaps it was because Horace had no heart. Lesser humans were lesser humans, but Horace had a tendency to treat them like nothing at all.

  Adam spotted Maddock. A big, strong man, but he had raised a daughter alone, and knew gentleness. “Maddock, go check the back door.”

  Maddock left.

  “What do we do?” Randolph asked.

  “If the back is clear, we’ll leave and get on the bus. When the rest of the congregation is gone, we can drop this board and make our flight. I want no greater humans harmed.”

  “There sure was a lot of ‘we’ in there,” Horace said.

  Adam stepped forward and pressed both hands against the board. A greater human scratched his arm, but weakly. They were hungry, that was all. Adam wished he had something to give them, but food had been scarce lately. It had been a while since they’d run into any lesser humans on the road. Few wandered, and it was all the Great Evil One’s fault. It always went back to him.

  Maddock returned, panting. “The back is clear, mostly.”

  “Mostly?”

  “There’s one out there. Near the bus.”

  Something pounded, and the board nearly came free. Maddock threw his weight against it.

  “Horace,” Adam said. “Be so kind as to incapacitate our friend out back. Be gentle.”

  “As always,” Horace said. He left.

  “We’ll give him two minutes.”

  The board was getting harder to hold. Perhaps his arms were growing tired, or perhaps there were more greater humans pressing against it.

  “It’s time,” Randolph said.

  “Go,” Adam said. “I’ll let go last. Go!”

  The others let go, and the weight became unbearable, but Adam only had to hold it for a few seconds, just to give his fellows time to move. This was dangerous work, and if he was to put them in danger, he demanded most of it be upon him. He had faith he’d be taken care of.

  Adam let the board drop, then he saw them: A teeming mass of greater humans. Most were ragged and skinny, with long hair and clothes that barely fit. Some had sunburns that were fading away.

  “My greatest apologies,” Adam said. They began to climb into the theater. “This world is yours. I don’t intend to intrude for long.”

  Adam turned and headed down the hall and out the back door. Horace was pinning a greater human to the ground. It was too weak to get out from under him.

  “Horace, I said to be gentle.”

  “I am being gentle,” Horace said.

  Adam sighed. “He’s bleeding.”

  “I know. I couldn’t think of another way, he got the jump on me.”

  “What are the rules?”

  “It’s not that easy, Adam. God won’t do everything for you. Sometimes you have to move. This one could’ve killed us all, and then how do we further the Cause?”

  Adam pinched his eyes. He was used to this kind of trouble from Horace regarding lesser humans, but not greater ones.

  “He should be compensated,” Adam said. Horace looked around. The back door of the church was shut, and no other greater humans appeared. Horace pulled a knife from his belt. Adam smiled, but then Horace said, “We don’t have time. They’ll be out here soon.”

  Adam shook his head. He took the knife from Horace. “Get on the bus. And don’t ever let me down again.”

  Horace left Adam with a look of disgust. The greater human started to climb to his feet. He could barely move.

  “My apologies,” Adam said. He turned the knife in his hand, felt the cold metal tip. It was sharp. “You… you are so beautiful.”

  Adam pressed the blade into his hand, and pain exploded up his arm. He wanted to scream, but that wouldn’t do any good. This was for the Cause, always the Cause. With a pop! and a release of pain and pressure that almost felt good, Adam’s left-hand pinky finger came free. He looked it over. Blood dripped onto the greater human, who wiped it from his face and then sucked it from his fingers.

  “A gift,” Adam said. He dropped the pinky onto the greater human’s lap. The greater human took it and sucked at the bloody end, and his eyes rolled up slightly before he began to tear the flesh from the bone. “And soon you will have more. So much more.”

  9

  In Rob’s House

  When Will woke up again, he could tell it was late. It was difficult not to sleep in with heavy blankets drawn over every window, but he usually didn’t, and it bothered him when he did.

  Jeremy’s sleeping bag was empty, and so was Alex’s. Will got out of his and headed for the door.

  Once in the hall, he could hear muffled voices coming from the living room. Will walked down the stairs and found everyone gathered in a circle. A grim air filled the room, and everyone watched Will as he entered. For a moment, he wondered if he’d done something wrong.

  “I guess that’s everyone,” Rob said.

  “What’s going on?” Will asked.

  “Steven and I went out to get more water,” Kevin said. “We brought back the last of it. There’s no more.”

  “What do you mean ‘no more’?”

  “We’ve searched all the houses, and we cleared out the grocery store months ago,” Steven said. “There just isn’t any more, not anywhere near here. Not much food left, either.”

  “Can’t you just look farther away?”

  Kevin shook his head. “We’ve looked everywhere we can get to and from in a day. There’s just nowhere else close enough.”

  “So we have to move,” Alex said.

  “Not this again,” Rob replied. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

  “Well what do we do then, Rob? How do you plan to live with no food or water?”

  “We just need to find a car and some gas.”

  “You have some secret store of gas I don’t know about? That shit doesn’t last forever.”

  “At least I’m trying to think of something,” Rob said.

  Alex threw his hands up. “I did think of something! We move closer to some water!”

  “Ladies!” Steven said. “Enough fighting, that isn’t going to help.”

  “We need to talk about this like adults,” Rachel said. She took Kevin’s hand.

  “I think Alex is right,” Jeremy said. “We need to move.”

  “There’s too much here,” Sharon said. “All of our stuff, everything is here.”

  “We can bring what we need and leave the rest,” Ed said.

  Sharon glared at him. “Yo
u’re supposed to be on my side.”

  “I like being on your side, but I also like being alive, and we sort of need water for that.”

  “We should vote,” Will said. Everyone looked at him. He was never one for speaking out, and he felt awkward, but he continued. “We don’t have to tell anyone how we feel, either. We can just write down our choices on paper and count them up.”

  “Willie’s right,” Kevin said.

  “I agree,” Gladys said. “We should vote.”

  “Even if you decide to go, I’m not leaving,” Rob said. “But let’s see how this turns out.”

  They gathered some paper and ripped it into shreds. Everyone scribbled their answers down, and then handed them to Will. He wasn’t sure if they did that because it was his idea or because they trusted him, but he felt good regardless. Will shuffled the papers together and then picked up the first one.

  “Stay,” he said. He set the paper apart from the others and picked up the next. “Go. Go. Stay. Go. Go. Go. Go. Stay. Go. Stay. Go.”

  “I think it’s pretty clear,” Kevin said. Rob crossed his arms.

  “So… when do we go?” Alex said.

  “It’s your idea, you tell us,” Rob replied.

  “Chill out, Rob. Besides, I thought you weren’t going.”

  “I guess I have to. Someone has to be around to tell you guys what to do. Like right now. We’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”

  “The water will be gone by then,” Hannah said. “We don’t know when we’ll find more.”

  “Then we leave right now,” Rob said. He stared at Hannah as though she had killed his first-born son.

  “Hey, I voted to stay,” she said with her hands raised in innocence.

  “Gather your stuff, guys,” Steven said. “We’re walking, so really only bring what you have to. We can find blankets and clothes and shit later.”

  “We might want some blankets, actually,” Ed said. “It’s not like we’ll find a new house this afternoon. We’ll probably be out all night.”

  “You want to sleep outside?”

  Ed didn’t say anything after that. Steven turned to the others. “Anyway, bring what you have to. And try to find something you can use to defend yourself, just in case.”

  ****

  Will and Jeremy and Alex sat among their sleeping bags.

  “Wonder what’s taking so long,” Jeremy said.

  “Girls,” Alex replied. “They’re probably in there deciding which shoes to bring.”

  “You’re an asshole.” Alex smiled like he was proud of it. Jeremy turned to Will. “How are you feeling, Will?”

  “All right, I guess,” Will said. He had a bag with some clothes in it, and that was all. He still didn’t know what to use as a weapon, but Jeremy and Alex hadn’t found anything either, so he didn’t feel too bad.

  “This’ll be a breeze,” Alex said. “We’ll just find some quiet neighborhood and do what we did here. If we have to move every two years, so what?”

  “Eventually we’re bound to find someplace with working water,” Jeremy said. “Beyond that, we don’t really need much else.”

  There was a knock on the door, and then Hannah came in. She sat down next to Alex, and they hugged. Will wondered how they (and the others, for that matter) had stayed together for so long, but he figured with little drama outside of being eaten, there wasn’t much to drive anyone apart.

  “You guys all ready?” Alex asked her.

  “Kalli is,” Hannah said. “Gladys and Rachel aren’t ready. I keep telling them they’re packing too much clothes, but they really want to bring their winter stuff.”

  “What for?” Jeremy said. “Winter is a few months off. If we haven’t found a house by then, we’re fucked.”

  Hannah shrugged. Will thought it was cute. He looked away.

  “How are you, Will?” she asked. Will turned back.

  “I’m all right.”

  “That’s good. Did you find a weapon? How many zombies you plan to kill on our trip?”

  “Only as many as I have to,” Will said. He hoped it was funny. Hannah giggled.

  “And apparently with your bare hands,” Jeremy said. “What are you bringing?”

  “I haven’t found anything yet. I thought you guys hadn’t either.”

  “There’s a rake in the garage I called dibs on before you were up,” Alex said.

  Jeremy reached into his bag and drew out a pocket knife. “I have this.”

  “Oh,” Will said. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” Hannah said. “I haven’t found anything either. We can go look for something together.”

  “Uh, sure,” Will said. He stood up, and Alex let Hannah go and she stood up as well. They walked out of the bedroom and down the hall, past the other bedrooms, where Will could hear Gladys and Rachel arguing about something.

  “Have anything in mind?” Hannah asked.

  “We could check the kitchen,” Will said.

  “I think the guys already cleaned that out. Steven and Kevin and Rob, I mean.”

  “What about the garage?”

  “Good idea.”

  The two walked downstairs. Kalli was on her way up, carrying a small hatchet.

  “Good one,” Hannah said.

  “You know it, girl.” Kalli smiled at Will. “Hey Willie. You find anything?”

  “We’re on our way to the garage now,” Will said. He didn’t mind when Kalli called him that.

  “There’s plenty in there,” Kalli said. She continued up the stairs, and Will and Hannah went to the garage. The place was a mess, and very dark. They split up and fumbled around.

  “I’m scared I’ll get lost in here,” Hannah said.

  “I know what you mean,” Will replied. He saw a wooden handle and reached for it, but it turned out to be a broom. He set it aside in his mental “maybe” pile. “Find anything?” he asked. For a moment there was silence, and he wondered if Hannah really had gotten lost.

  “No,” she said. “Not really.”

  Will found a pair of gardening shears. “Want some shears?”

  “Like garden shears?”

  “Yeah, like really big scissors.”

  “I don’t know. You’d have to use two hands, right?”

  “I guess so,” Will said. He set them aside, and then spotted a small wooden box.

  “Hey, I think I found something,” Hannah said.

  Will knelt down to the box and moved some random junk off of it. “What is it?”

  “It’s a hoe,” Hannah said. Will heard a crack! “And now it’s handheld.”

  “Cool,” Will said. “Hey, does Rob’s dad have a gun?” He tried to open the box, but it was locked.

  “I don’t know, why?”

  “I found a box. It’s long, though. Kinda long for a gun, but not long enough to be a rifle.”

  “Open it up.” Hannah sounded closer.

  “I can’t, it’s locked,” Will said.

  Hannah knelt down next to him and set her hoe aside. “Break it.”

  “I don’t know, what if Rob gets mad?”

  “Fuck Rob, he probably doesn’t even know this is out here. And never would have, if you hadn’t found it.”

  Will thought for a moment. “All right. Can I borrow that?”

  Hannah handed him the hoe. Will slammed it against the wood above the lock a few times, and it popped off. Will opened the box.

  “Holy shit,” Hannah said. “That’s awesome.”

  Inside the box was a sword.

  10

  Outside New Los Angeles

  They drove for almost two hours, and Keely was beginning to regret going. Garrett said they were getting supplies from nearby towns, but she had no idea how far away he meant.

  Finally, Garrett stopped the car in front of a supermarket.

  “We done this one?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Vince replied. “What all do we need?”

  “Clothes, actually. Ammo, if they have an
y.”

  “Nobody ever has any.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  The three got out and headed for the front door. “Is there some kind of plan?” Keely asked.

  “Yeah,” Garrett said. “Don’t get bitten.”

  The automatic door didn’t work. “We might be in luck,” Vince said. He turned to Keely. “Locked door usually means nobody’s looted the place yet.”

  Garrett looked around, then slung his gun over his shoulder. “Stand back,” he said. He picked up a cinder block. Keely and Vince backed up, and Garrett heaved the cement into the door. It shattered, and when the glass was done tinkling to the ground, the hole was wide enough for the three to fit through.

  The place had no power, and it smelled terrible. Rotting corpses dotted the floor, and in the darkness it was hard to see them, but the smell gave them away.

  “Should we split up?” Vince asked.

  “I don’t see the harm in it,” Garrett said. “That door didn’t open for us, chances are it didn’t open for anything else either.”

  “There could be other doors,” Keely said.

  “That’s true. Keep an eye out for signs of trouble. If anything seems suspicious, we should regroup.”

  They split up. Keely headed to the electronics department. There wasn’t much there, but they did have batteries, and a lot of them. There were some off-brand packages, but when she looked closer, the once-clear plastic was murky with dried battery acid. She moved on to some name brands and found a few packages of Energizers that looked clean. She had a flashlight, but couldn’t find the expiration date on the batteries. Keely took all of the packages and put them in her bag.

  She tried to think of anything else she might need. She decided she might as well grab a razor or two, and replacement blades, if they had any.

  Keely scanned the signs hanging from the ceiling and saw the hygiene department was just past the meat department. She found the razor aisle and looked around, but didn’t find any decent electric ones. Then, she stopped looking. Keely sniffed the air. It smelled of death, but that was nothing new. Something seemed wrong.

  The meat department. She should’ve smelled years-rotten meat, but she hadn’t. Keely went back to it, and sure enough, the displays were broken and the meat was all gone. There was, however, no shortage of bones, scattered in the empty displays and on the counter and on the floor.