replies.
“Clayton, do you copy?”
“This is Clayton. Who’s this?” he asks, suspicious of
the female voice on his radio.
“It’s Emma, up at the house. I’m supposed to let you
know that breakfast is ready.” I hope that’s official enough.
“Just ring the bell.” Clayton sounds miffed.
“It calls the zombies. They like the sound of noise and
are drawn to it,” I respond.
“She’s right, Clayton. Just pass the word and we can
discuss some new protocols after breakfast.” Cole’s voice
rings out with authority.
Clayton might think he’s in charge, but once Cole
speaks, everyone seems to nod in agreement.
“Breakfast, everyone. Over and out.” Clayton’s disgust
flows through the radio.
I turn back to Nana and Kelly. “Did I make him mad?”
“No,” Kelly says. “He thinks that because he married
me and he’s a man, that gives him the authority to help lead
the clan. He’s mad because you knew something that he
didn’t.” She shrugs. “He’ll get over it.”
The door opens and people start flowing in and fill the
large kitchen quickly.
Cole makes sure to sit next to me at breakfast. When
everyone is busy talking and eating, he leans over toward
me and whispers.
“Watch your back with Clayton. If he thinks it was just
a mistake then you’re good, but if he thinks you know more
than he does, he’ll go out of his way to put you in your
place.”
I frown and glance around the room. “Thanks for the
warning.”
I decide right then that I will start wearing my holsters
with my knives all the time. If someone doesn’t like it, oh
well. I don’t plan to let any danger from the outside or the
inner circle hurt me or my baby.
-----------
My backpack is on and filled with extras for Pierce,
and hidden in the front pocket is my gun and an extra clip,
just in case. Since I’m with ‘family,’ I decide that I’ll only put the outside knives in the holsters. If the zombies get
past the perimeter guard, then I’ll need more than a knife,
but for a walk up the mountain it should be more than
sufficient.
Nana and Kathryn are waiting out by the golf cart that will carry us up the mountain.
Pierce is changed and fed, content in the sling as he
cuddles into my chest, leaving my arms free in case I need
them.
Kathryn sits on the back so that I won’t have to hold on
as much with Pierce. Nana’s the driver, and even eighties,
she’s not afraid to drive fast.
I can see a few little cabins in a clearing about a half
mile up the dirt road. There’s a small one that could be on
one of those tiny house show. There’s a larger barracks
type building that has lots of bunks, and a larger cabin that
holds several individual rooms, plus a kitchen to feed those
that are sleeping in the bunkhouse.
Nana pulls up in front of the tiny house and stops.
My dad opens the door as we pull up. He eyes baby
Pierce warily as I walk up.
“She’s had a bad morning so I’m not sure how she’s
going to react, but come in, and let’s find out.” He holds
the door open. “I’m Neil. Wait, didn’t we meet at their
wedding?”
“Yes, but it’s been a few years now,” Kathryn
graciously answers.
“Mom, I’ve got a special someone for you. Pierce,
here’s your grandma.” I work to take him out of the sling as
the others came into the room with my mom sitting in the
rocking chair.
“You brought the baby?” She sits up, alert and anxious.
“Your grandson, Pierce.” Unsure if I should let her have him, I go with my gut and place him in her arms.
“He’s so little.” She starts to rock him gently for a few
minutes, while the rest of us sit or stand in the small space, watching her.
He starts to fuss just a little and squirm, but that’s
enough for my mom.
“Emma, can you take the baby for a while? I’m really
tired, and I think I need to go take a nap.” She gets up so
suddenly, that if I hadn’t been standing there, she would
have dropped him to the floor.
“I’ll go make sure that she’s okay. If you’ll excuse me.”
My dad leaves the small living room and goes through the
one door leading to the bedroom.
“Well, that wasn’t exactly what I had expected, but I
guess it went okay.” I try to play off the strangeness of my
mother’s behavior.
“Oh, sweetie, you don’t have to apologize. She’s not
the first person to have a few problems, and not be quite
right afterward,” Nana assures me.
Kathryn holds the door open for us as we walk out onto
the small porch.
When we get to the golf cart, I get in the passenger’s
seat and begin to rearrange Pierce as the seat dips under
Kathryn’s weight next to me.
I look up, confused.
“I’ll see you and Kathryn later, dear.” Nana pats me
on the back and begins down the path toward her home.
“What? You’re not coming to see Granny Earlene with us?” I ask, not understanding what’s going on.
“Hell no. That woman has hates my guts since I took
her son away from her.” Nana pauses at the fork that leads
up the trail, back to her house.
Shock covers my face as I try to process Nana’s anger.
“Haven’t you always lived on Jackson Mountain since you
and Pop got married?”
“Exactly. That woman,” Nana points up the hill, “has
always lived less than a mile from us, but I took her son
away from her. I’m too old to put up with her nonsense
these days. So when I don’t have to see her, I don’t.” With
that, Nana turns on her heel and marches down the
mountain, away from Granny Earlene’s.
“Well, this morning is just full of surprises,” I exclaim,
leaning back against the seat.
“Don’t get too comfortable yet. We need to talk about
Haley,” Kathryn states as she takes the parking brake off
and we start forward up the mountain.
“What about Haley?” I ask, not wanting to pick a side
yet.
“You two looked really cozy when you got back last
night.” Kathryn looks at me accusingly.
“I’m not sure I’m understanding the problem. She’s
Dawson’s wife. We all went on a dangerous trip through
which we got to know each other. Isn’t that what I’m
supposed to do, get to know Brad’s family better?”
I’m going to make her say what she doesn’t like about
Haley if I have to get out and walk up the hill to do it.
“Don’t you know what she did?” Kathryn asks, certain that I couldn’t possibly and still be friends with her.
“What did she do? Marry Dawson and become Andi’s
stepmother?”
“She stole Dawson from Andi’s mother,” Kathryn
informs me, almost gleeful in sharing her side of events.
“
Really? So the fact that Carole was a lesbian and went
to live with her lover had nothing to do with her leaving
Dawson and Andi alone?” I know I should stay out of it,
but I just can’t help put a busybody in her place, even if she is Brad’s mother.
“What?” Kathryn steps on the brakes and I’m almost
thrown from the cart with Pierce.
“Carole was gay. She liked girls. Ask Andi, she knows
about it as well.” I know by her reaction that it’s not
something Dawson has talked about.
“Seriously? We always assumed that Haley was hitting
on him because she was Andi’s babysitter, so Carole left
because she’d had enough.” Kathryn takes a few deep
breaths to steady herself.
“I think that it was a long time ago, and you might want
to try getting to know Haley for who she is and not based
on assumptions. The world could end tomorrow, and all
those things don’t really matter anymore. She’s family, and
Dawson loves her. He wants to be here, but he’ll leave if he
thinks that the clan won’t take care of her.” I sway back
and forth slightly to keep Pierce happy.
“Why didn’t they tell us?” Kathryn has a tear running
down her face.
“They knew that people on the mountain weren’t progressive and didn’t want to have anyone cause
problems.” I know this will take some time to process.
“Just start by being nice to her and including her in things.
If you do that, then the others will follow your lead.”
“Thank you for telling me. I just wish they had trusted
us enough so we hadn’t wasted all these years being mad.”
Kathryn wipes her eyes.
“Well, you kind of proved their point with how you
treated her, so just show them that they can trust you now.
They’ll tell you in their own time.”
She starts up the hill again, and we finally arrive at
Granny Earlene’s cabin.
Cabin is a very generous term because while the logs on
the cabin are still standing, the whole building tilts to the
right, while the chimney leans in the other direction. It
gives it a weird look that makes me tilt my head from side
to side.
The first thing about Granny Earlene is the cackle that
echoes from the darkened interior.
A small bundle of paisley covered cloth moves through
the door and into the doorway.
“If it ain’t my Brad’s baby. You bring that child right
up here and let me bless his little soul.” The crackly voice
comes through a toothless mouth, surrounded by withered
skin that seems to have grown loose around the bones,
giving the flesh that I can see a flapping appearance.
At least I know Granny Earlene is alive since she’s
talking to us as we gingerly walk up the steps. The porch’s
boards are uneven as I make my way to the rocking chair where she’s sat down, motioning with a bony, almost
skeletal hand, for me to join her.
“Hey, Kathryn. I see you got visitation duties this
morning,” a voice from inside speaks as I pass by.
“Good morning, Pat,” Kathryn responds, following me
to the chairs.
“Oh, it’s a wee little thing. You’ll have to hold him on
my lap. I don’t trust myself to keep him from falling.”
Granny cackles in delight at the baby boy in front of her.
I do as she asks and hold Pierce just off of her lap,
which places the backs of my hands against her knobby
knees.
Two other hands reach around me to touch Pierce’s
head, as two voices begin the blessing.
“May your days be bright and long. May you be the
fastest and the strongest of the clan. May they look to you
as their leader and listen because you hear the voices that
will help the clan survive.” Granny’s voice gives a shrill
cackle, while the other two echo her words.
Pat is holding a little vial of something which Granny
dips her finger in and wipes in the shape of a cross on his
forehead.
I don’t want to offend them, but this is getting out of
hand, so I lift Pierce from her lap and look over, hoping
that Kathryn will get us out of there.
“He’s such a blessing. Can you see the light
surrounding him?” Pat asks Granny Earlene.
“Surely can. That baby will save us and help his family so that we can stay on the mountain. There’s always one in
every generation that has the special light. I won’t be
around to see it, but mark my words, he’s special.” She
points her finger at us to emphasize her words.
She suddenly flings her head back, like someone has
placed her head wrong on her shoulders.
“What happened? Did she die?” I clutch Pierce close
and back up.
“Oh no, she’s just fainted.” Pat picked up a vial and
holds it under her nose to revive her.
“Kathryn, I think we need to head back home. Little
man is going to need a diaper change, and his stuff is back
at the house.” I almost run to the golf cart, not waiting to
see if she follows.
Granny cracks an eye open. “Did it work? Did we scare
her?”
“I believe you did. Now, I’ve got to ride down there
and calm her down. Bye, Pat. Granny.”
Wide-eyed, I don’t say anything as we drive down the
mountain. When she stops at the house, I get off, still
holding Pierce tightly.
“I think I’ll go in now.” I turn and go inside without
looking back.
I can only hope that Brad will come rescue me from the
crazy part of his family because if this is a normal welcome
for a baby, then I’m not sure we can stay here.
Before I finish changing Pierce’s diaper, there’s a knock on the door.
Kelly stands in the doorway with a smirk on her face.
“They want you in the family room.” Her tone sounds
like I’m in trouble for something.
I use a wipe to clean my hands after changing his diaper
and go out to face the music for whatever I’d done.
“Surprise!” The entire family, except for those on guard
duty, are crowded into the room.
“Welcome to the family.” Nana grins.
“I’m not sure I understand. I got married to Brad over
two years ago.” I look at all the smiling faces, but have no
idea why they’re so happy.
“You passed the initiation. Granny Earlene always likes
to “bless” the babies, and if the mothers don’t run
screaming then we know they’re made of stern stuff and
can survive anything,” Kathryn chimes in.
“So that wasn’t real?” I ask, feeling relieved that maybe
the crazy genes only run on my side of the family.
“Nope. Even the feud between Granny and Nana was to
test you. They have to know that you’ll stand up for the
family, even if there are two sides to it.” As Pop explains,
my eyes meet Kathryn’s in acknowledgement of which side
I’m on in the Haley matter.
The entire family has to hug me and welcome me to the
real family.
>
“Does this mean I get to know all the secret things the
guys went out to get the other day?” I joke.
“We’ll give you the family tour later,” Cole promises.
I look around the room and realize that I already feel a
part of the family. The only thing that will make my world
better would be to have Brad by my side.
The End for now…to be continued in the next book.
The Military Against Zombies
Brad Jackson—Somewhere Overseas.
About a week earlier…
Doug comes running into the tent.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, hoping that my life hasn’t
gotten more complicated.
“They’re declaring it contagious. They’ve asked
scientists to come in and do some tests and report to the
government.”
“Crap. Can we contain the spread of it?” I ask Doug.
“No. Some of the doctors and scientists working on the
wounded got it as well, and they were all sent back to
Germany to the hospital there.” Doug’s breath is slowly
returning in-between gasps for air.
“Have we been put on alert?” I start to put my boots on.
“They’re going to have us move out and return back to
the main base. Here in the middle of nowhere, the only
thing between us and a horde of those things is a thin wall
of sand bags, barbed wire, and a wooded area.” Doug
waves toward the south end of base to make his point.
“So when do we evacuate?” I ask wearily.
“Twenty-four hours.” Doug sinks onto the other bunk,
trying to get his second wind.
“Why would they wait so long to get us out of here?”
“There are other outposts that have priority due to their
isolated nature. We’re not at the top of the list, but closer to the middle. Bright side, there are others that have to wait
even longer than we do.” Doug starts to take his boots off,
but giving up, he lays back on the cot.
“Don’t they want us to take a shift?” I ask, incredulous
that he could even try to sleep right now.
“Oh. Guess I left out that part. We don’t have to report
until second shift. They’ve brought another group from
further up that were on a mission. They got some sleep last
night and they’re insisting that we get some rest in case if
we have to move out in a hurry. We’ll be running full out to
escape these things.”
I finish lacing up my boots and stand.
Moms Against Zombies Page 16