“Where did you find those,” Commander Hudson asked picking up a high-powered hunting rifle with scope.
“Wal-mart sir,” Mary answered looking at him unsure of what to do.
“Did you clear it out,” he asked looking at Dan as he placed the rifle back into the cart.
“Just the store display,” Dan answered unconcerned.
“What about the warehouse,” Commander Hudson continued his questioning.
“Never went into it,” he said as he made to move towards the cart. He could see the calculating look in the commander’s eye.
“More ammunition and weapons could be in the warehouse with other items we could use,” Dan nodded to his statement.
He could see other salvage groups looking at the rifles in the cart. He remember what Manny had told him about making acquaintances and what they could do for you. So lowering his voice.
“Tell you what, Mary has duty in two hours.”
He saw Commander Hudson nod.
“She has perimeter duty,” he said.
“Which means what,” Dan asked.
Commander Hudson noticed he did not understand.
“She will have to watch the street from an office window in the police station,” he said as a look of understanding came over Dan face.
“How’s this, I will take her watch, She can lead you or the people of your choice, To the Wal-mart and a sporting goods store near it.”
Commander Hudson’s eyes lit up when Dan said this.
“We left Wal-mart and I was planning on going back to the sporting goods store.”
“Is there anything left,” Commander Hudson asked Dan. He pretended to take a moment to think.
“I will give you the weapons and ammunition I hid from the sporting goods store if you give Mary and her friends some time at the mall.”
Dan will admit Commander Hudson was a hard person to read.
“Throw in those tarpaulins and you have a deal,” Commander Hudson said motioning to the tarpaulins on the top of the gray carts. Dan nodded at this.
“It is on the way to Wal-Mart you will want the empty store next to the sporting goods store. I hid the weapons and ammunition in the bathrooms you can have the tarpaulins when we get the stuff in the trailer,” Dan finished.
Commander Hudson was smiling as he left Dan.
“Hurry up and help me finish loading,” Dan started.
“I know I have duty soon. Mary replied stopping at the smile on his face.
“No I cut a deal for you to take Commander Hudson to the store. I will cover your duty. After he gets there you can go to the mall,” Dan started as a surprised Mary pulled him into a hug.
“But not alone,” he added.
Mary nodded her agreement.
“Thanks,” she said moving for her plastic totes.
“You know if we just load everything now in my section of the trailer and postponed the split until they got back to town,” Dan started.
“Sure,” Mary said quickly understanding he was giving her some extra cargo space.
They pushed the gray carts into the trailer to a makeshift wall made of plywood with a door and a hasp for a lock. Dan produced a lock from his daypack. After the full gray carts where pushed in. Mary quickly started taping boxes together as Dan started to unloading the trailer into them. After an hour they carried the final rifles and items from the cart into the trailer. When T-bone pulled up in a flatbed truck with wood fencing for sides with two other people.
“Glad we caught you that liquor store was a gold mine. Where do you want your share,” T-bone said from the passenger window.
“In the trailer if you could,” Dan said motioning to the open trailer. T-bone motioned to two people on the truck. Loading several cases of various alcoholic drinks on to a two-wheeled dolly, and pushed them in to the trailer. When they came out T-bone said to Dan.
“I see you kept some good places secret,” he said motioning to the trailer.
“And you are trying to tell me the pawnshop was a bust,” Dan replied as a self-defense force member was approaching.
“No,” T-bone said getting back in the truck.
“Are you going out again,” he asked.
“No, I have some business here first,” Dan said as the flatbed pulled away.
“Hi Mary,” the self-defense force member said.
“Hi Charley” Mary responded. Charley then turned to Dan.
“Commander Hudson said I was to give you a radio and show you where you will stand duty,” he said.
Dan nodded to this.
“The cart has three-quarter of a charge left, should be enough,” Dan said to Mary as she nodded.
“Remember about what we talked about knowing when to call it quits,” he said making eye contact with her. He could see a slightly embarrassed look on her face.
“I will,” she said getting into the cart and pulling off.
“What did she offer you to take her duty, so she could go out again,” Charley asked amazed. Dan just smiled.
“Lead on,” he said.
Moving through the police station. Towards a stairwell Charley produced a flashlight. Lighting the way to the second floor heading for an office on the east side of the building.
“This is your station,” Charley started. “Just watch the street and report any problems to our command center.”
Dan looked at the radio for a minute.
“You do know how to use one,” Charley started to say. Stopping at the look he received for Dan.
“The radio is preset to the command center and if you need to call Commander Hudson you go to channel fifteen,” he added quickly.
Got it,” he replied watching Charley leave him alone in the office.
Moving to the window he could see it gave him a good view of the road and surrounding area. Looking around he moved to the desk to look through it finding the desk pick clean all ready.
“Probably all the other offices also,” he muttered.
Pulling a rolling office chair from the desk to the window he sat down making himself comfortable. Looking out onto the street he waited and watched. The only event of interest other than watching the zombies as they milled past was when several big rig trucks came down the street one being a baby blue Peter belt.
Less than twenty minutes after seeing the trucks Katrina showed up in the office doorway.
“What are you doing up here,” she asked him.
“I am covering for Mary’s guard duty,” he replied noticing Katrina giving him a hard look making him wonder what was going on. Nevertheless, after a moment she sat in the other chair.
“So how was your day,” he asked breaking the silence that was forming.
“Good we found the truck store you told us about and got one truck running. Mother figures if we have a couple of days more we might get another two going. Plus we have pulled several parts we can use,” Katrina said happy the tension from a few minutes ago seemed forgotten.
“Good,” Dan said as he watched the rain start again. They talked about their days before something smelling good caught their attention reminding Dan he had not eaten since breakfast.
He had just started to pull some bread and jerky from his daypack when he heard from the door.
“Hi,” both he and Katrina looked up to see Mary standing in the door a plastic tray with food on it in her hands.
“Thought you might like some food,” she said as she entered and placed the tray on the desk. Dan could see Katrina glaring at Mary and remembered the first time she had met Sara.
“Mary, Have I introduced you to Katrina,” he said quickly.
“No, you have not,” She said extending her hand to Katrina.
“Hi, I am Mary and finally glad to meet you.”
“Hi,” Katrina said shaking Mary’s hand and Dan could see the glare was gone and the neutral look she had with Sara replace it.
“Dan has spoken wonderfully about you.” Mary continued as she sat down on the desk.
Right then Dan saw the smile appeared on Katrina’s face and the mood in the room lightened which puzzled Dan because he did not remember ever talking to Mary about her. Dan started eating.
“We had a good day,” Mary started telling Katrina. Dan offered some food to Katrina as Mary spoke.
“Dan made a deal with Commander Hudson so I could go to the mall with some of the others self-defense force members,” she continued. “We had the place to ourselves for almost three hours until the other groups started showing up,” Mary said pausing. Dan was thankful she conveniently left out the zombie and underwear encounter.
“And did he tell you about the zombie we saw coming back here,” she said with a laugh. After they finished eating, Mary got up to clear the tray.
“How is your day looking for tomorrow,” she asked Katrina.
“I have to help mother pick up some more truck parts, why,” she answered.
“Well I do not have duty until tomorrow night and was wondering if I can borrow Dan for some more salvage work?”
“Sure that should be fine,” Katrina said with a smile. Dan was looking at them puzzled, did he get a say in this.
“Great then, I left the cart by the trailer,” Mary said as she picked up the tray and left.
Dan left the chair and went to sit on the office floor looking out the window.
“I like her,” Katrina said moving closer and sitting down behind him. Dan felt his temperature go up as he felt the firm pressure of her breasts push up against his back as she put her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. Dan sat looking down at the milling figures below. Their low moaning almost drowned out by the sound of the rain and wind as the storm raged on as he tried to regain control of his racing heart. A large group of zombies numbering close to two hundred had wonder up the street and was now surrounding the building as far as Dan could tell.
“What happened here,” Katrina asked him as she put her hands under his shirt as she watched the zombies. Dan tried to turn and looked at her.
“Is this town untouched because it's so full of zombies,” she continued.
“You don’t remember when the plague started do you,” Dan said in a low voice as he turned and looked down again at the mass of zombies below.
“No, I told you so a while back,” Katrina, said unconcerned moving her hands up and down his chest.
Doug told Dan about something like this once. He had said this can happen sometimes in people when they have a terrible mental shock or suffer a great tragedy in life.
“Doug would know something like that,” he thought. Even though he taught school now, he still was a psychologist. This left him wondering what causes a person to block those memories and not care about remembering. He remembered all the good, and the bad that happened to him.
“The last time I was here, I was searching this police station. I found a memo, this place was a safe haven set up by the government,” Dan said in a low voice.
“What was that,” Katrina asked as she moved her hands up his chest. Dan inhaled a deep breath, which made Katrina give off a slightly pleasant noise. He fought a mental battle for control for a moment before speaking.
“A place supposedly protected, you saw the main roads when we came in. There were several supposedly around here,” Dan said looking up from the shambling zombie masses below.
“So what do you think happened,” she asked once again.
Dan was silent for a moment enjoying the warmth and closeness of her body.
“They were holding a meeting at the school grounds to discuss the issue. Was what the entire memo said,” Dan finished once again focusing on the zombies.
“Strange but does the meeting fit in with all the zombies down there,” she asked him.
“I’m not sure, But I remembered a drunk the last time me and Manny where in Baton Rouge. He seemed upset while he was talking to Manny. Telling him how the government lied the safe areas where a big lie.”
“What lie,” Katrina asked, as she wiggle against his back, as she seemingly adjusted her position. Dan was sure she did it just to make him uncomfortable.
“The government had asked people with certain skills to go one place everyone else to another. He said the government protected them and not the others. When the zombies came they overran the unprotected.
“Do you think it's true,” she asked him and he could feel the warmth of her against him.
“I am not sure, they had this town sealed off. The last words the drunk said before he passed out. Was the government used and made zombies to guard areas they wanted but did not have the personnel to protect,” Dan said turning his head to try to look at her.
“You’re kidding,” Katrina said lifting her head from his back where she had been resting it.
“Makes sense in a way put enough of them in one area and people will stay away,” he said.
Thinking back to Memphis and how one member of the government tried to make him a zombie. This thought broken as he caught a slight smile on her face in the window as her hands started moving again under his shirt going lower.
A Self-defense force member showed up at the office door almost starling him slightly and annoying him more.
“I am here to relive you,” she told them. Dan could not tell if the expression on her face was one of apology or triumph as her arrival cut off any further conversation between him and Katrina. Dan and Katrina moved from the floor making their way through the dark building to the first floor where everyone was camping.
“I have to go see mother, I hope we can see each other before you turn in for the night,” she said looking expectably.
“That would be great,” Dan said and could see her expression brighten.
“We can see each other before we head out tomorrow and have dinner together,” he finished.
“Yes,” she said hesitating before turning and leaving. He sighed slightly and was just getting ready to go out into the rain when Mary showed up.
“Just in time to help,” Dan said, pulling a green poncho over his head.
“With want,” she asked.
“I want to put the cart and trailer back on the truck and flipped the charge switch. In case it stops raining long enough to charge the batteries,” he said, looking out into the rain as a flash of lightning lit up the black Mac truck.
“All right let me get my poncho,” Mary said.
Dan moved out into the rain. Fumbling for the keys in his pocket as he unlocked the trailer holding the golf carts. Mary appearing a few seconds later with her green poncho on as he started unhooking the latch and lowering the ramp to the trailer.
“Can you unhook the trailer for me,” he said finishing lowering the ramp Mary went about doing this is Dan climbed into the golf cart and pulled it up onto the trailer. After stopping he started climbing out of the cart walking down the ramp.
“You can use one of those ratcheting straps to hook the trailer to the side,” Dan said as he moved to start lifting the ramp on the back of the golf cart trailer.
Mary nodded as she attached the ratcheting strap to the trailer pulling it up onto the side of the larger trailer.
“She is strong,” he thought as Mary started using the ratcheting strap to raise the trailer higher and secure it to the trailer. Dan closed the ramp and locked it and was about to head back inside when Mary stopped him.
“Can I ask you a question,” she started softly as Dan turned in the rain to look at her, shrugging his shoulders.
“Go ahead,” he said as Mary looked around, making sure no one was around slightly embarrassed.
“In the store today,” she started and hesitated as Dan stared at her.
“When you saw me,” she stopped again as a slow look of understanding crossed his face. “Nearly naked,” she said sighing.
Dan nodded his head.
“What did you think,” she asked as he tried to decipher the look on her face.
Standing in the rain. Dan thought for a minute wondering what
was going on as the look on Mary's face slowly fell into one that he would describe as despair.
“Mary, I've always considered you a friend in a levelheaded person,” he started as Mary shook her head.
“But you don't find me attractive,” she said unhappily.
Dan shook his head slightly.
“After what I saw the day not attractive would be the last words I'd use to describe you,” he said.
As Mary’s head shot up to stare directly at him a shocked look on her face.
Dan took a deep breath.
“I've always thought you were attractive but never thought you would find me interesting” he said slowly as Mary's eyes grew wide.
Looking around in the rain to make sure no one was near.
“And I guarantee you after seeing what I saw,” he started as Mary's cheeks blushed red the smile on her face grew.
“I cannot see why any guy would not find you attractive,” he said.
Mary looked at him and bit her lip slightly.
“Is just even with my dad chasing my last boyfriend down the street,” she said.
“He never showed any interest,” Mary hesitated, unsure of what to say.
Dan looked at her for a second before looking around to see if they were still alone.
“Have you heard from Robbie since then,” he asked.
Mary shook her head negatively.
“No he avoids me at all costs,” she started as Dan nodded his head in understanding.
“You know,” he started saying. “I heard Sara telling me that he was holding hands with another guy the other day,” he said slowly as Mary's eyes looked up at him.
Dan shrugged at the expression.
“So I would not use him as a judge on how attractive you are,” Dan barely said before Mary pulled him into a quick hug.
Releasing him. She looked around quickly.
“Thank you,” she said. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything between you and your girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend,” Dan blurted out his face showing a dumbfounded look.
“Men,” Mary said walking off.
Dan shook his head doing a quick walk around the truck to make sure everything was well before he headed inside.
The Aftermath Trilogy (Book 2): The Aftermath [Town of the Dead] Page 15