by Kris Weeks
“I just assumed since…” Thoams stopped mid-sentence.
“We are both black? Nah, just worked out that way.” Atora joked. Thomas accepted their offer and laid down the backpack he had kept on while he ate, assuming he would be leaving as soon as they were able to kick him out. He rolled out the sleeping bag and spread it against the wall. He put his head on his bag and was sound asleep in a matter of minutes.
“Well, that didn’t take long.” Atora made fun of Thomas’s snoring. “You should go get some sleep. I will explain to Eric in the morning that I let him in.” Bryan was ready to accept the consequences from Eric.
Bryan walked from window to window of the house throughout the night keeping watch on the land to keep himself awake. The sun peered through the openings as it did every morning to wake everyone.
“Good morning Bryan.” Rue was way too bubbly for so early. “I am going to try and make some eggs. Would you like some?”
“I know I would.” Thomas sat up. Rue jumped at the unfamiliar voice. “Sorry, hi I am Thomas.”
“He got here last night, he was wandering around outside the fence and I let him in. I gave him what was left of that casserole you made last night, he had not eaten in days.” Bryan tried to explain to Rue.
“You really shouldn’t bring anyone else in here without discussing it with Eric first.” Rue suggested.
“He was going to leave in the middle of the night. He has nowhere to go.” Bryan told her.
“Good luck.” Rue stated to the both of them. Bryan shook his head wondering what she meant. He had thought about offering to go get the generator and hot plates that he had seen unloaded yesterday, but she made her way out of the back door before he could even make his offer.
Thomas cleaned up his sleeping area, and threw the strap of his back pack across his back and started to head out. “Thanks man I don’t want to cause any trouble.”
“It is all good I w ill take care of Eric. Stay, we could use the muscle around here.” Bryan stopped him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“MORNING ERIC.” Bryan
stated as Eric walked out. Eric glared at Bryan and then over to Thomas. “Really, who the hell is this guy?”
“Eric, this is Thomas Mala…” Bryan started.
“Thomas Malafarina.” He
introduced himself. Eric stared at him for a moment. “We could use another guy around here.”
Bryan was surprised at his response of him bringing someone in without his permission. “That is what I thought. Thanks for being okay with him.”
“Where did you come from?” Eric sat down on the small stack of
blankets.
“I was in South Texas when this all began. I was a CEO of one of the biggest businesses in the state and an Author. I was married and had two kids. They were taken back in central Texas when we ran into a building for safety and it was inundated with the screwballs. They were attacked before I could kill them all. I never expected as a millionaire, I would have to fight off some stiffs in my lifetime. I made my way this way because I have a sister that lives in East Texas. I thought there was a chance she made it. I ran out of gas about thirty miles back; actually saw you guys at the grocery store cleaning it out and just went the way you drove out and found this place. Crawled over the gate.” He explained.
Eric nodded and the rest of the crew finally awoke and Rue walked in from out back with breakfast.
“Rue, we brought back a generator and hot plates. You don’t have to cook over the fire anymore.” Eric told her.
Rue stared at Bryan for a moment. “I tried to tell you, you left before I could and were angry, so I left you alone.” Bryan explained. “I will go get them.”
“What can I do around here? Bryan said that you would be the one to tell me how I could help around here. I ain’t scared to get my hands dirty these days.” He asked Eric.
Eric nodded as he took a bite of the plate that Rue handed him. “Nate.” He muttered through a mouthful of eggs.
Nate shook Thomas’s hand and introduced everyone else. “I take care of the garden and help out where I can.”
Thomas followed Nate out to the garden to check out what needed to be done after a bit of breakfast had been downed.
“He seems okay.” Willy stated to the group. Everyone agreed, except Eric. “A millionaire that saved himself and not his family. Something fishy here. He won’t be here long. I will make sure of it.”
Everyone froze at the comment Eric made and stared at him. “You can’t tell me that it isn’t strange that this millionaire survived through all of this all the way up here, but not his family.”
Everyone went back to finishing up their breakfast and made their way out of the house quickly to organize all of the goods they had brought back.
Willy and Alex decided that
another house would be a good idea for more room as well as another lookout and knew that they had enough materials to do so. They started gathering all that was needed to start their project. Atora, Ashley and Karlin began to arrange all of the food on the newly built shelves. Nate led Thomas to the barn after checking the garden and showed him the lay of the land.
“What’s in the bag?” Nate asked Thomas as they walked. “Just stuff I was able to save from home and the trip up.” Thomas told him.
“We have plenty of weapons we collected from the hardware store, along with tools and things that we have had to use as weapons.” Nate explained. “You are a pretty big guy, pretty sure you had no problem smashing those drunk’s heads.”
“Drunks?” He questioned. “Yeah, they look like drunks. Eric hates when I call them that.” Nate laughed.
“What is that guys deal? Why is he considered the leader?” Thomas asked.
“Well, not sure r eally. I ran into Alex and his son and Ashley and her daughter along the way. We ended up here with everyone else and he seemed to be the leader. He has kind of turned out to be a real prick and seems a little nuts to me. But this is the only place we had come to so far that was somewhat safe.” Nate stated.
“What the hell is going on here?” Eric questioned Willy and Alex running his hand across the wood they had stacked on the other side of the land.
“We are going to build a separate house. We are getting a lot of people, we need another place just in case as well as somewhere to lookout from. Maybe a balcony on top to be able to see more.” Alex explained to him.
Eric nodded. “And you thought you would take it upon yourself to use the materials that I collected?”
“You never even touched this stuff. This is what we hauled on the
flatbed.” Willy heaved out lifting a heavy piece to the pile.
“I planned these outings. This is for me to say what to do with.” Eric let it be known.
“What, master would you have done with it?” Alex shot at him. Eric scanned the material and walked around it. “I don’t know yet, but building another house is stupid. So you two can take your stupid asses and go help the others get organized.”
Willy and Alex stepped back from the stack of wood and both walked away before either of them did something that they regretted. Eric watched them walk to the barn and walked down the fence line to check out the walls that kept them safe. Rue soon joined him once he got close to the house.
“Hey there, how are things?” Eric asked her.
“Okay I guess, the group doesn’t get it.” She told him. “They will soon, no worries.” He reassured her. “Thanks for sticking with me.”
“Of course, I believe that there has to be a leader no matter what.” She agreed.
The two entered the house to Karlin holding Rowena making her laugh. “Karlin, just who I was looking for. You need to learn the ins and outs. Has your mom taught you to use a knife to protect yourself?” Eric asked her.
Karlin shook her head and
proceeded back to play with Rowena. “It is time you learned. Come on.” He demanded.
Karlin handed Rowena back
to Rue. “Good luck honey.” Karlin watched Rue as she
followed Eric to the backyard. He handed her one of the larger machetes and took one of the smaller ones. He held both hands on the handle and showed it to her. Karlin put her hands the same way on her weapon.
“Zombies have to be stabbed in the head, you have to disengage the infected area.” Eric explained.
He swung his machete upward into the air and stepped back nodding his head at her to do the same. Karlin swung the large weapon upward and then across like she was cutting off someone’s head.
“Good job, you may be ready to take one on.” Eric told her. “Now if you can, stabbing them in the head has a better affect, but some are tall and if you are able to cut their heads off, that will suffice.”
Karlin nodded. “What happens if I get in trouble like Tyler did?” “Pay attention and that won’t happen. Always keep an eye on your surroundings.” He warned.
Karlin was excited to be learning how to protect herself and the others. “Your mother is going to tell you that you don’t need to learn this, but you do or you are going to die.” He told her. “Keep that machete with you, we will let you keep watch one night if you are up for it.”
Karlin nodded excitedly and ran off into the house to put up her new weapon.
“How’d it go?” Rue asked as she ran passed.
“Good!” She hollered back. The crew had finished up
organizing things in the barn and were all famished from their hard day of working. Winter would be there soon and they knew that things had to be in order. Willy and Alex really wanted to build a separate place to keep watch from. There needed to be at least one other place for safety, both of them had discussed throughout the day about talking to Eric about it.
They all made their way to the house, hoping that with new
equipment and all of the food, that there would be something extravagant for dinner. One by one they cleaned up in the water basin that they had made outside the house and refilled every morning. They all piled into the living room and waited. After their rest, and no sign of Eric, Rue or the kids; they decided that they would ravage the kitchen and make dinner for Rue since she was always cooking for everyone.
Willy pulled tortillas from the shelf along with some of the cans of nacho cheese and cans of chili. Atora caught on and pulled out the casserole dish Rue had used for the cornbread
mixture she made a few days before. The group all began to chip in and make some enchiladas. Before long, they started the generator and plugged in the hot plate. They covered the casserole dish and waited for it to heat up. Willy pulled the cover off and the aroma filled the house. Everyone filled their plates with the cheese and chili filled enchiladas and sat in a circle enjoying their dinner. Eric, Rue and the kids came from the back room and stopped as they saw everyone eating.
“So another pow wow, what is going on?” Eric asked. “We made dinner so Rue didn’t have to.” Ashley said with her
mouthful. “Everyone’s plates are on the counter.”
Rue picked up a plate and looked at the enchiladas. She sat the plate back down and calmly walked back down the hall with Rowena on her hip and slammed the door to her room. Barker and Linda grabbed a plate and sat down where they stood and began to eat. Eric scanned the living room and the group that had now stopped eating and were staring at him.
“Thanks for today sir.” Karlin broke the silence. Eric nodded at Karlin and walked to the back. The group went back to eating and their normal conversation.
“What were you thanking Eric for honey?” Ashley asked her daughter. “He gave me a machete and showed me how to use it. He said I could keep watch sometime. Maybe I can go on some outings and help out.” Karlin answered.
“Where is the machete Karlin? It is dangerous.” Ashley said angrily. “Why are you mad mama? It’s in the bedroom.” She said. Ashley caught her feet with a hop and down the hall. She came out with the machete and met Eric in the hall with it as he came back out of Rue’s room. She held the machete up at Eric.
“When I want MY daughter to learn to use weapons, I will teach her myself!” Ashley hollered.
Eric walked forward and grabbed Ashley by the neck and squeezed. “Put it down now!” He instructed.
The machete began to drop slowly as her airway was cut off. The clang on the floor made everyone jump and Rue opened her door.
She ran to Eric and Ashley who now laid on the floor and grabbed the machete. She threw it down the hall to her bedroom and backed up watching Eric choke her. Ashley’s face began to turn blue and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Thomas pushed his way through the crowd and took giant rumbling steps down the hall. He grabbed Ashley and pulled her by her arm to stand. He body was already limp. She had passed out from lack of oxygen and Eric’s chest hit hard on the floor.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Thomas asked still holding Ashley.
“She is not allowed to talk to me the way she has, or act like and imbecile. This place is for those with intelligence. You are not to betray me or act like you are your own person. I am here to keep everyone safe and provide you all with safety from the dead walking around us all!” Eric shot back at Thomas.
Thomas drew his head back a bit from the spit exiting Eric’s mouth as he hollered. “Just because you
provide safety, does not give you the right to take over someone’s life.”
“The Fuck it doesn’t!” He shouts that echoed off the walls of the hall way.
Rue took a few steps back without a word and shook her head at
everyone else that was not abiding by the rules. “The rules aren’t that
difficult. You do as told so that he can keep things in order and all will be copasetic.” She tried to convince them all then walked back to her room.
Ashley’s head began to move from side to side as Thomas picked her up and carried her to the self-made couch of stacked up blankets and laid her down. Atora ran to her roomie and took her hand as she came to.
“Everyone needs to understand that I need to know what everyone is doing at all times. You are to report to me if you change positions on the land or jobs at any time. No one is to be brought aboard without my
knowledge first, if they are, the one who brought them will be
reprimanded one way or another. Your children will learn to defend our land, themselves and will help around this place if they are of age to do so. Barker and Linda will now be part of the crew to help outside. They were advised today that they are not children of this world anymore, they are easy targets of the drunks, stiffs or whatever else you want to call them! Is that clear to everyone?” He finished his directions.
The rest of the group moved to their rooms and rid themselves of the ridiculous bullshit.
Eric moved to the kitchen and swiped all of the plates from the counter to the floor.
“AND RUE IS THE ONLY ONE TO COOK IN THIS HOUSE!!” He screams at the top of his lungs.
Barker and Linda moved from the floor as the leftover food spread across the floor. They took the few last bites of their food and ran to the room where they slept without a word.
No one was left to keep watch in the living area and Eric knew that he was too angry with any of them to instruct them with any kind of manner. At this point he almost didn’t care, but knew that most of them would just try and buck his system; and stupidity is not what he wanted to deal with right now. He blew out all of the candles in the living room and sat by the window that had a good view of the outside.
The moon lit up the night sky and he could not fathom why it was so hard to just follow simple rules. He was the leader here. He could make their life a living hell. His convincing would eventually come to them and he would have his group of followers. He needed more like Andrew and Rue. He ran ideas through his head on how to make the others understand that things were his way or they would be left out to die.
Eric had always wanted to be a leader, and this was his cha
nce. He believed that he knew absolutely all there was to know about being a leader and was not going to pass up the opportunity to do so. He was always the geek to many; but as he got older, he turned into what he thought was cool. He dabbled in a bit of drugs as he aged out of high school, became covered in what he called ‘expression of his feelings’ across most of his body and became what he saw as a bad ass and he aimed to stay that way.
CHAPTER NINE
NO ONE came to relieve Eric
throughout the night. Everyone stayed tucked away in their rooms not wanting to deal with the confrontation that they knew would happen with him.
The next morning, Rue woke with her children quietly playing on the floor and Rowena crying for her morning breakfast. She quickly grabbed her curly haired baby and nestled her to her bare chest to feed before she went to see if she needed to make breakfast, or if someone else had done her job for her.
Rowena was finally full and Barker and Linda were whining about being hungry.
“Come on guys, it doesn’t smell like breakfast has been prepared.” She opened the door to allow them out.
She tip toed down the hall to Eric lying on the blankets asleep. She peered out of the kitchen window to see the sun rising over the fencing. She pulled out some cinnamon and decided that oatmeal would be a good choice for today. She did not want to wake Eric with the generator, but had no other choice but to build a fire, which was not what she wanted to do. She tried to waste time by preparing things for meals later in the day, until finally Eric began to stir from the noise.
“Oh, good morning. Why did you not wake me?” He asked. “You have been awake all night, I was letting you sleep.” She told him as she started the small generator and readied some coffee on one burner and put the oatmeal on another.
“Heard some noises last night, but once I got outside, just sounded like some animals rustling in the trees. No growls or anything. Guess I sat down and fell asleep.” Eric stretched.
Ashley, Atora, Thomas and Karlin were the first to begin stirring in their room. Willy and Alex came out to the kitchen to the smell of the coffee and held their cup out to Rue. She nicely poured them a cup and they both stepped out of the back door and Alex lit a cigarette.