could have, and that’s what really gets me.” I start to feel a weight I hadn’t thought I was carrying leave.
Cooper holds up his hand, hoping I’ll acknowledge his
attempt at a truce.
“Yes,” I sniff.
“I’ve had a lot of secrets for a really long time. I opened up a lot when we got married, but it was an ingrained habit.
Honestly, we’ve never needed the money, and the way I was raised, it never really meant anything to me. I was
already making a bundle when we got married, but as the
projects got bigger, so did the promotions and the money
that came with it. I didn’t want money to become
something that we were trying to decide on bigger houses
and cars with. I wanted our kids to be taught responsibility
and to learn how to earn their own living, and not become
the moochers we see all the time.”
“I get that, but you couldn’t trust me not to tell the
kids? Or to teach them how to be responsible children? Am
I just your glorified nanny?” I’m getting mad again.
“Babe, you’re so much more than that to me. You’re
my other half.” Cooper slides to the floor in front of me and
picks up my hands with his. “I did tell you about the raises
and promotions, I just didn’t tell you how much they were.
Remember all the times we discussed what to do with the
money from each bonus or raise that I got?”
“Yeah,” I ground out begrudgingly.
“That’s what I did with the money each time. I put it in
accounts for the kids and reinvested it into CDs that would
make the most for each of them. I did lie in that I didn’t tell you the whole truth. There were a lot more zeros after those
bonuses.”
I narrow my gaze at him. “So for every hundred, it was
closer to thousands? That’s what you’re telling me?” I yank
my hands out of his and cross my arms in front of me to
keep him out of my space.
“Essentially, yes. It seems like I was trying to hide something, but I wasn’t. It just turned out that way. Can
you forgive me?” he pleads.
I understand the motive behind his actions, and it
doesn’t really change my love for him, so I guess it’s a
mistake that I can move on from.
“I forgive you. I’m hurt right now, and it will take some
time for me process things.” I grin mischievously. “When
this zombie thing is over, I plan to do some serious
shopping. I don’t think I’m going to give this credit card
back.”
“Honey, as long as you love me, you can spend as
much as you want.” He pulls me into his lap.
The past week’s stress melts away as his arms wrap
around me, and I truly relax.
“Don’t die on me tomorrow, okay?” I laugh at the
shock on his face. “I may be able to be mad at you or make
you sleep on the couch, but that doesn’t mean I want you
dead.” I snuggle into his arms a little more.
“Does this mean you want to take a walk out to the barn
for a little roll in the hay?” he whispers suggestively.
“I could be persuaded if someone special promised to
show me the stars.” I stand and help him up.
“Ready?” he asks, holding out his hand.
I place my hand in his. “Ready.”
We walk slowly to the barn and flip the switch off,
leaving everything in darkness.
I didn’t hear the giggled conversation between Linc and Jessica as we left the house.
Linc
“I think they’re going to make up. Do you wanna find
our own place to do some making up?” I wink.
“One happy couple is more than enough around here.
We have a lot to do tomorrow.” Jessica pushes me toward
the door. “Bye.”
Smiling, because she hadn’t really said no, I take the
long way around the barn, back to my place.
-----------
“Hello?”
“He’s leaving by helicopter tomorrow,” a voice reports
to his director.
“Does he have the plans?”
“There was no mention of it. He said he knew the
pieces they needed, but without him, it would take years to
put everything together and obviously, sooner is better.”
“What time is he leaving the farm?” The director
inquires.
“In the morning, but there was no definite time. Should
we make plans to intercept him?” the voice questions.
“Since we don’t know where he’s planning to leave
from, that would problematic. Follow them and report
which direction they’re headed and we’ll take over from
there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Um…” The voice hesitates before ending the call.
“What?”
“I was wondering if you might want to use the two
women with him as leverage?”
“He’s taking the women with him to Utah?”
“No, sir. They’re driving him to the city, then going
shopping. It’s his wife and sister-in-law, so I know he cares
about one of them and is just getting acquainted with the
other.”
“You should have told me that to begin with. That’ll
narrow down the cities that they can drive to and from in
one day. Call me back when they leave and give me the
vehicle’s description. We might be able to use this.” The
director ends the call with a click.
“Of course.” I’ll just run over and monitor all their
activities. Oh, snap. I’m already doing that. He can just
stick it if he wants the intelligence so badly.
Chapter 9
Trish
It’s hard to leave the kids, even though Linc’s mother
is so nice. I don’t normally get a babysitter, and I have
Trevor with me for everything. Nicole has been in school
the past three years, so I’m more comfortable leaving the
others for a longer period of time.
I have one foot in the truck with Jessica waiting for me
to slide toward the center when I got cold feet.
“I can’t,” I mutter, starting toward the house.
“Honey.” Cooper meets me as he hurries around the
front of the truck.
He whispers in my ear so that the kids can’t hear. “We
have to do this. Besides, don’t you want to spend the day
with me? Kid free?” he adds as extra enticement.
“You’re right.” I concede as the kids watch from the
porch, wondering if I’d forgotten something.
“I thought I left my wallet. Your dad already put it in
the truck.” I blow an air kiss and climb in so the kids won’t
be able to see the worry on my face.
Jessica quickly gets in, blocking any escape. “Just
breathe, sis. They’ll be fine,” she promises, knowing that it
might not be true.
Cooper starts the truck and I can’t even turn back to
look. I just held up my hand to wave.
“Sweetie, I never thought you’d take an unlimited shopping trip like this.” Cooper tries to joke and lighten my
mood.
“This just seems so final, like we’re abandoning our
children to those things.” I keep looking straight out the
<
br /> front so I don’t see Cooper and Jessica exchange concerned
looks.
The truck remains quiet, except for the old cassette
that’s playing ’50s rock and roll as we head straight into the city.
The day seems normal as far as traffic is concerned, but
we’re still nervous because we haven’t seen anything on
the news about other incidents.
“I’m going to drive over to the box store. Or do you
want to go to the club warehouse store?” Cooper asks as he
navigates through the unknown town.
“What do you think, Jessica?” I speak for the first time
in an hour.
“Club warehouse first, then anything we can’t find
there, we can find at the smaller store.”
“Great,” Cooper replies.
“Hey, how do you know where to go anyway? We’ve
never been here before. Have you?” I ask accusingly.
“Calm down, dear. I used a map and looked it up on my
phone last night.” He grins at my tone.
“Oh.” All the anger flees from my brain at his
reasonable explanation. “I’m going to be suspicious for a
while.”
“Since I have a prepaid phone, I can use it for normal things, as long as the internet still works. I love you, babe.
Truth from this point on, even with my project when I’m
here. Deal?” He wraps an arm around me while holding the
wheel with the other.
“If you two need some privacy, I can just walk.” Jessica
jokes.
“What? You don’t like to see true love at its best?”
Cooper sticks out his tongue like a little kid.
“Cooper!” I admonish. “Behave, or I’ll have to ground
you.”
“If you do that, he might not be able to save the world,”
Jessica snorts.
“I’m glad the end of the world can at least be
humorous.” I feel myself begin to have fun, even though
we’re away from the kids.
“Here we go,” Cooper informs us as he pulls into the
huge parking lot, finding a space toward the middle.
“Before you get out, I want to give you both
something.” He reaches behind the seat and pulls out two
backpacks.
“I made you both a safety pack. It has knives, and a gun
inside. Normally, you couldn’t walk into a building with
these items, but I think since they’re in a purse, no one will look at you or suspect anything.”
“Geeze, he’s going to ruin my casual look, sis.” Jessica
gestures to her jeans and T-shirt.
“That’s why there were so many purses to choose from in the closet.” Cooper chuckles.
“Yep, I’m a minimalist. I can make an exception for
today, though.” Jessica examines the two knives duct taped
onto the lining. The handgun, a SCCY-CPX1, is lying on
the bottom with two extra clips. Even with the added
weight of the knives, it still doesn’t weigh as much as we’re
used to carrying as moms.
“They both have ten rounds, and the two extra clips
give you both around thirty shots each if things get bad. I
don’t think you’ll have to use more than that, but just in
case.”
I pull out a perfume and lipstick case that are in the
pocket.
“Don’t open those!” Cooper screams at me.
“What?” I drop it, startled.
“They’re pepper spray. I didn’t want you spraying it
and trying to take a sniff.”
“Way to warn a girl.” Jessica pulls the lid off of the
lipstick tube and points it toward the floorboard. “Nifty.”
I just stare at her. “What planet have you been living
on? Nifty?”
“Ha. We still use some older phrases out in the boonies
on our farm. We don’t have to keep up with the cool city
kids if we don’t want to.” Jessica slings the purse over her
shoulder and hops out of the truck.
Cooper grabs his duffle from the back and backpack
from the seat as he comes around to kiss me goodbye.
“Promise me you’ll be careful?” I beg him. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“I know, babe. I won’t take any unnecessary risks. I’ll
call every night that I can,” he promises as he holds me
tightly, with the bags hitting my legs.
I kiss him like I’m never going to see him again, then
rip myself from his embrace.
“Bye.” I fling over my shoulder, trying not to cry.
“Um, babe? I think you’re forgetting something
important.” Grinning, Cooper holds the credit card out in
front of him.
“Ugh!” I grab it and place one last kiss on his lips.
“Come on, Jessica.”
She’s been standing silently, waiting for us to say our
goodbyes. She falls into step beside me as I quickly walk
away.
She seems to understand that I don’t want to talk about
it. “Do we want a shopping cart, or the large flat cart?” she
asks, focusing on what’s ahead of us.
I almost resist, but glance back just once to see Cooper
get into a cab.
“You’ll turn into salt if you keep looking back.” Jessica
lightly pulls me back to the task at hand.
“Right. Do you have the list?” I question.
“Yep, along with my extras in this huge purse I now
have to lug around.” She flashes her club card as they let us
enter.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“You’re welcome.” She hip bumps me and takes off
with the cart.
“I’ve always needed a sister to mess around with.” I
feel the smile settle on my face as I hurry to catch up with
her, thankful for the new person in my life that cares about
me as well.
-----------
Two hours later, we’ve loaded up the goods and had
lunch before heading over to store where I can get shoes
and extras for the kids.
“This feels so surreal,” I tell Jessica as we leave the
restaurant. “Nobody here seems to be in a hurry or
concerned that an entire city just a few hours away is being
quarantined.”
“You know how we Americans are. Unless there’s
danger right in front of us, we tend to ignore other’s
problems. I think people are more scared than you realize,
we just hide it really well.” Jessica holds the door open for
me to enter.
“Two carts this time?” I ask.
“We always manage to fill two, even if the world isn’t
ending, so I’m sure that’ll be a good start.” She joins me
with a mischievous grin.
“No more cart races. Do you realize that the only
reason they didn’t kick us out of the other place is because
we had that credit card to pay for all that stuff?”
“Lighten up, sis. Money talks.” She rubs the tips of her fingers together.
“Whatever. Let’s get this over with.” I sound perturbed,
but barely hold back a grin of my own.
A few minutes later, we’re standing at the rack of
shoes, discussing the need for durable, verse shoes that
sparkle for the girls when a shot rings out.
I duck and turn to find Jessica doi
ng the same thing.
“Should we leave?”
She just shrugs. “Let’s see if we can find out what’s
going on. It could have been a kid doing something he
wasn’t supposed to.
We stay low as we creep close enough to see the front
of the store, where a guy is waving a gun around.
“I just want to be safe and have food for my family. Is
that too much to ask?” He throws the question out to the
crowd. You’re going to let me have all the money in your
registers or you’ll get what this guy did.” I can see the body on the floor, and the red puddle of blood growing around
him.
I start to motion Jessica back when the body on the
floor starts to twitch. I watch in morbid fascination as the
body sits up and takes a bite out the shooter’s leg.
“What the…” He trails off as he screams in pain. He
points the gun at the man on the floor and shoots three
times, only to have the thing get up and jump on top of
him.
He loses his hold on the gun. A bystander catches it and starts shooting it widely, hoping to hit the original shooter
or the thing on top of him.
Suddenly, people were screaming because the person
holding the gun has no idea what he’s doing, injuring more
people.
I reach into the large purse and grip the gun, easing it
slowly out. I glance beside me and see that Jessica has done
the same.
Unlike the current person holding the gun, I hold mine
facing the floor, unsure if I will have a clean line of sight to the thing causing the screams.
Everyone that can still move has fled either out the
front doors or into the office area overlooking the cash
registers.
The injured are moaning loudly when a new scream
sounds from behind us.
I continue to face forward as Jessica covers me from
behind. We crouch behind a wall of jeans and below the
clothing racks, out of sight.
One of the injured people have been dragged out of
sight on the other side, but they’re too badly injured to
survive. The innocent people gathered around him have no
idea what will happen when he dies, so they’re terrified
when their friend starts clawing at them.
“I can’t get a clear shot. I’m moving closer,” Jessica
informs me as she moves stealthily through the clothes
racks, providing her little coverage.
Moms Against Zombies Page 13