by Roberts, EM
“Ok,” He leaned in to kiss her. She flinched. She so didn’t want this. Jerking away, he looked at her, disappointment in his eyes.
“You really don’t like me, do you? We just had sex like animals on the floor of a freaking deer stand, and you don’t like me?” he incredulously asked.
“I just don’t like your attitude, and you really irritate me--like all the time,” she replied, biting her lip. Good lord, had the man never had a booty call? She supposed he was used to women falling all over him. She smiled--her first booty call.
“Well, sometimes I think you’re a bitch, but I like you just the same. I just give you a hard time and tease you because I’m attracted to you,” he confessed.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you about that. You’ll get over it,” she said moving over to the bench and taking a seat.
He sighed, leaned down and kissed her on the cheek anyway.
“I’m not going to bother you or let anyone know what happened, but we’ll do this again. I promise,” he said as he climbed down the ladder.
Ella leaned her head against the window feeling the cool night air blow over her flushed face. Why had she just had sex with that man? Was she so horny she’d have sex with any good looking man that came along? Oh Lord, she could just hear Roe if she learned about this. She sat in the stand trying to focus on anything but Dean Scott, but all she could think about was his promise. And, she wondered, how would she say no?
Chapter 8: A Meeting of Leaders
Parker Wallace closed the door to brick ranch house quietly and looked around. Still no one around. For a minute, he’d thought about just staying there, but he had a duty. He had a duty to the country to help it get back on track, and for that to happen, he needed to make the trip west.
“So, where you headed? I never did ask you that,” he asked Izzy, as they walked down the main strip of the town.
“Well, I’m going to Tennessee. To a little town just outside of Knoxville and past the Kentucky border. I used to volunteer down there, and I want to see if any of the people survived. There are great people there. And, it’s beautiful,” she replied.
He was learning more and more about Izzy’s character. . She seemed so tough and sassy on the outside, but he could see she had a heart. She was still such a kid who’d had to grow up and learn about life and death too quickly.
“Okay, we should travel together for a while, then,” he said, gearing up to convince her that the idea was beneficial.
“Oh, my God,” Izzy cried slapping a hand over her nose, “Do you smell that?”
He certainly did, and it worried him. Each step they took, the stronger the smell became. Parker knew, without even looking, it was the smell of death and decay. When they did come upon the scene, it was all Parker could do not to retch. The sight that greeted him and Izzy was ultimately inconceivable.
There were several bodies attached to the fence posts along the side of what he assumed had been a corn field in years past. The white fences contrasted starkly with the bodies. Buzzards pecked at the eye sockets and any other flesh showing, gobbling the pieces down in gluttonous fashion. The bodies were swollen and bloated from their time in the warm weather. Parker yelled, and the birds flew away, hovering in the air, waiting to return to their meal.
“Oh my god, what in the world happened here?” Izzy asked moving closer to the fence.
Parker followed her. These people couldn’t have been dead too long. There was no decomposition, and there was very little blood, making him wonder how they’d died. Each corpse had a rope around its neck anchoring it to the fence. There were additional ties on each arm. The scene reminded him of the scarecrows his grandfather used to make to protect his garden. He would make a cross out of two poles and position the creature by tying the neck and the arms of the scarecrow to the poles. These dead bodies were posed in a similar fashion, except they weren’t very effective in scaring the buzzards away.
“Look, there’s a sign,” Izzy cried, pointing at the small piece of cardboard hanging on the fence near the bodies. Written in what looked like dried blood, the sign proclaimed: The Lord hath rained down his wrath upon the sinners. Repent--sinners--Repent!
“Who would do this? Why would someone do this?” Izzy asked as she turned and walked away from the bodies.
“I don’t know. There are crazy people out there,” he said, taking her arm and leading her away from the macabre sight and down the road a little piece.
“Are we just going to leave them there?” she asked unshed tears bright in her eyes.
“There’s nothing to be done for them, and the murderer might come back. We need to get out of here.” he replied, feeling bad he couldn’t stay and give them a decent burial.
The couple walked for several miles when suddenly, Izzy’s somber face lit up. A sign proclaimed the two were entering Virginia.
“So, if we go southwest, we can make it to Tennessee and then it won’t be long until we are there! We just need to find a car that actually has gas in it. I can’t believe every car in that town had an empty gas tank,” Izzy complained.
“Well, I’d say the gas probably went to generators and such or people just hoarding it,” he replied, wondering if he should tell her of his own plans to travel west. No, he decided. Tennessee wasn’t that far out of his way, and he could at least get her there.
“Hey, do you see what I see? It’s not a car, but it has two wheels, and they look like they’re in good condition,” he motioned toward the bike resting in a ditch near the state sign.
“But, there’s only one bike and two of us,” she stated the obvious.
“Young lady, have you never ridden on the handlebars before? True, it’s a little uncomfortable, but it beats walking,” he explained, as he positioned the bike.
“Seriously?” she asked, gaping at him, “You seriously didn’t expect me to climb up on the handlebars and ride?”
“Thankfully, it’s an older woman’s bike, so it’s pretty sturdy. Take one foot and put on the tire, and then leverage yourself up there. You’re skinny enough,” he instructed, laughing at her outraged expression.
She finally gave in and did so, and he could see her alarmed look as he took off on the bike. It took a couple of minutes for him to get the hang of it again, and during that time he weaved back and forth in the road causing Izzy to yell and curse while he laughed and did it intentionally sometimes.
He laughed again. If people could see him now riding a powder blue woman’s bike with a young woman on the handlebars down a highway in the middle of nowhere. Now, if it were six months ago, the media would have had him having an affair with this young woman and questioning his mental ability to run the country. All he felt at this moment was freedom. Freedom to act like an idiot without his every move being recorded
In the next town, they found two things: one good and the other bad. The good thing was they found a little Ford Festiva. It was rusted and probably a good twenty years old, but from what Parker remembered about the car, it got good gas mileage. He also found a gas station that hadn’t been completely looted, so they loaded the backseat and the small hatchback full of food and gasoline.
The bad thing they encountered was another dead body. This one was tied to a street lamp. The young man had been shot in the head. He’d been attached to the post with ropes around the neck, waist and ankles. Stopping, they’d read the sign hanging around the man’s neck. This one proclaimed: The meek shall inherit the earth; the sinners shall die and burn in eternal hell. Parker was pretty sure only that first part was a Bible verse and not the latter. Good lord, they were following a serial killer who believed he was somehow doing God’s work. It sent a chill down his spine. It was bad enough worrying about the infected. Now, it seemed they also had to worry about the living.
“Parker, this is crazy.” Izzy exclaimed.
“I know. Just don’t trust anybody, Izzy. I mean it. When we get to Tennessee, if you don’t know anyone, then you’re coming with
me,” he’d already started to care for the young woman. She reminded him of a younger sister or even a daughter.
The two drove in silence for the next several hours. They were getting close to their destination. Parker was almost hoping that Izzy wouldn’t find anyone she knew there and would have to go with him. He felt sick thinking about the dead bodies they’d found along the way. If she tagged along with him, he wouldn’t have to worry about what would become of her. That was selfish, he supposed, but the bodies they’d discovered made him realize more than ever the craziness going on in their world.
They came sputtering into the next little town, the car dying in the middle of the road. Shit! Parker looked down at the fuel gauge. It was showing a little above empty. The car shouldn’t be out of gas. Rolling to a stop, Parker got out and looked around. There were three infected ambling toward them. Izzy climbed out behind him, her gun ready to go. One of the creatures was wearing a shredded policeman’s uniform. Parker aimed at the man’s head and fired noting the splatter of brains with grim satisfaction. At about the same time, Izzy shot the female creature between its eyes. The creature gracefully folded into a heap on the ground, its flowered muumuu flaring out around it. The last creature, neither one wanted to kill. It was a young boy of about eight years old. He was dressed in a tattered and torn green football jersey and muddy white pants. His little features were gaunt and gray, his teeth snapping as he shuffled closer.
Izzy stepped forward, tears in her eyes, and raised her gun.
“No,” Parker stopped her. Instead, he raised his handgun and shot the boy in the head. He stood over the child’s body and said a prayer.
The mood was somber as the two walked back to the car. Parker pulled out a couple of the gas cans and used them to fill the tank. He really hoped the car started back up.
“Parker, oh my God, get in the car. Now!” Izzy screamed from the front seat as she looked into the side mirror.
Looking back, Parker’s eyes widened. There was a herd of the infected; he couldn’t describe it any other way, shuffling towards them. It looked to be around a hundred of them. There was no way he and Izzy could kill them all. He threw the empty can aside and jumped in the car, praying it would start. Normally, when a car ran out of gas, it took a minute or so to get it started, especially a car this old. He knew this from being a poor college student. Damn, he shouldn’t have let it run out of gas. He pumped the gas pedal a couple of times. The creatures were fifty feet away. He turned the key… the car sputtered.
He tried again….sputter. The creatures were almost on then. Twenty-five feet. Izzy leaned out of the car and started shooting. Suddenly, he heard other gunshots coming in rapid succession, and more of the creatures started falling to the ground.
A big, blue pickup pulled alongside, and a beautiful red haired woman yelled:
“Get in the back!!! Now!!!Get in the back!!!”
Parker and Izzy didn’t need to be told twice. They jumped from the car, taking only their weapons and ran to the truck as a man in the back continued firing upon the infected. As soon as he and Izzy landed in the bed of the truck, the woman gunned the truck and took off. Several miles later, she pulled into the parking lot of a major grocery store chain. With the truck turned off, the man in the back smiled and held out his hand:
“Lo, I’m Jackie Kincaid, and the woman who saved yer butts is Ella Johnson,” he shared, shaking Parker’s hand first and then Izzy’s.
The woman in question walked over and smiled. She held her hand out and helped Izzy down from the truck. Parker jumped down and Jackie followed.
“I’m Dean Scott, and I bet you’re glad to see us,” the other passenger in the truck introduced himself, his smile pleasant and welcoming.
Parker sized them up. The woman was very beautiful in a wholesome kind of way. Tall and graceful, she wore a denim shirt and jeans. A belt around her middle held a holster and a knife. She wore brown cowboy boots, and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail.
The two men were both big guys and could probably kick ass if threatened, he guessed. The heavier one, Jackie, seemed like a true blue country boy, whereas the other man looked like he’d spent a lot of time maintaining his good looks. They both seemed friendly enough, but he knew appearances were deceiving. Plus, they’d just passed several dead bodies who had been killed by a living person. This group might be the ones guilty of that crime. Just because they’d saved he and Izzy didn’t mean they were legit.
“Well, it’s good to see you guys. Looks like we were in the right place at the right time. We just passed this store and decided to turn around when we spotted you. We’d originally planned to head west, but then I remembered this town and store. We can give you a ride, but we’d appreciate it if you’d help us out,” Ella explained, as she checked her weapon.
“Well, um, we were kind of trying to make it to Tennessee.” Parker explained. He wasn’t sure he wanted to remain with these people.
“Look, dude. Ya got no car and no supplies now. We live on a farm that’s been turned into an outpost in Tennessee. Help us, and we’ll get ya some supplies and take ya where ya want to go,” the bigger of the two men stated. Jackie, he thought the guy’s name was.
Izzy nodded at Parker. Why not? The big guy was right. They did need supplies. They were really stuck between a rock and a hard place, as his grandfather used to say. He would have to remain on guard. He wouldn’t go down without a fight--that was for sure.
Ella explained that she would pull the truck up close to the door and leave it running. They would go in, but at the first sign of trouble they would leave. She didn’t plan on losing anyone. She was a risk taker, but she wasn’t foolish, she told Parker, smiling. She instructed Parker and Izzy they were to grab a cart once it was deemed safe and take anything they thought would be useful.
Ella put the plan into motion and left Jackie guarding the front door. She walked into the building with a brave confidence and yelled: “Anyone here? Hellooooo?”
It didn’t take but a minute for a creature to come running. Ella swiftly dispatched it with a knife to the head. She wiped the gore on her jeans and replaced her life in a cool, concise manner.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she called. They waited another couple of minutes. When there was no more activity, she instructed the group to spread out throughout the store. Although, the place looked like it had been given a good going over, there were still some items scattered here and there.
Parker pushed his cart down the canned goods aisle. A can of peas lay on the floor. They were dented, but the expiration date indicated they were good for another two years. Probably all that sodium, he thought. He picked them up and placed them in the cart. Two cans of sauerkraut followed. By the time, he reached the end of the row, he’d managed to find about twenty cans of food. He’d given up on checking the expiration dates. That could be done later. They weren’t the most popular or appetizing selections, but hey, beggars couldn’t be choosers. He ran into Izzy in the next row.
“What you got there?” he asked.
“Just some personal stuff,” she replied, a blush staining her cheeks, as she attempted to push her cart away.
Looking down, he saw that her cart did indeed contain some personal stuff. There were a couple of tubes of toothpaste, some deodorant, tampons, and condoms. He smiled. Well, it was better to be prepared, he guessed.
“Do I need to play dad and lecture you about boys and all that stuff?” Parker asked jokingly.
“No, I’m pretty sure I’m past that stage,” she replied, the blush on her face transforming to an even darker shade of red.
“Well, I’m going to take the household supply aisle, and you can have the junk food aisle. Make sure to get me some good greasy potato chips if you find any,” he instructed pushing the cart around the corner. Poor kid. He’d have to watch about teasing her.
It had been a long time since he’d pushed a shopping cart. He never really had the opportunity to do so
in his capacity as the president. His shopping had usually been taken care of by an assistant, or he’d ordered online. For some odd reason after all these years, he still managed to get the one cart with bad wheel, he mused as he pushed his wobbly cart along, its lame tires thumping dully.
He picked up a few more things, some in good shape and some damaged. Bleach, dishwashing liquid, and charcoal were among those making their way into his cart. He turned the corner and once again met up with Izzy. He was pleased to see that she’d found some jerky and chips. His blood pressure would be out of the roof before this thing was over, if it ever were. Izzy had also found several boxes of granola bars which he was sure made her happy. That seemed to be her favorite snack. Shortly, Ella walked up pushing a cart that was almost half full. She was a fast worker, he thought in admiration.
“I found some ibuprofen and some other useful medicine. Also found some rice and some noodles,” she said with satisfaction. Altogether, including Dean, they had about two carts of stuff to load into the truck.
Ella instructed Parker to grab a few boxes. Satisfied with their haul, the group made their way to the exit and met up with Jackie who reported there was absolutely nothing to report. All was clear in the parking area. A few minutes later, the boxes were loaded up, and the group was ready to go.
“Hey, I’ve got to go take a leak,” Dean announced already making his way to the side of the building.
“Okay, but hurry, or I’ll leave your ass here,” Ella yelled. She was in a good mood after finding some supplies, but Parker knew she was anxious to be on her way.
As Dean walked off smiling, Ella turned to Parker and gave him a half grin. Parker smiled back, hoping that these people were good people. He and Izzy needed a break. He was starting to like the woman and the big guy Jackie was just as friendly. He didn’t want to have to kill either one of them, but he would if pressed.
“Listen, I just realized who you are, and I have to tell you, I didn’t vote for you, but you seem like a nice guy,” she deadpanned.