“Everyone’s dead?” the younger one asked looking totally surprised.
“Most. No way of knowing how many people survived. Most that did were affected by the virus. There’s no cure because there wasn’t time to make one.” Zack told them. They acted like they didn’t really believe him.
“Listen, my name’s Zack, this is my wife, Katie, and our daughter, Kenna. This property is owned by my in-laws, who should be here later today.”
“Well, I’m Charlotte Skinner and this is my daughter, Abby. We live right down the road here.” Charlotte said.
“Hey.” Abby said.
“Are you sure about what’s happening?” Charlotte asked and Katie nodded.
“You mean you haven’t seen any of the crazies?” Katie asked and Charlotte chuckled.
“Hell, I thought they was either drunk, takin’ drugs, or both.” Charlotte answered.
“I wish.” Zack said, “These crazies are pretty much oblivious to pain, have absolutely no fear and will do just about anything. If they catch you, they will kill you. Not sure how they know that you aren’t one of them, but they do. Noise and movement attracts them.”
“So, they’re zombies?” Abby asked and Zack shook his head.
“No. Unlike the movies, where it takes a head shot to kill one, these things die like any normal human. “Zack explained and Charlotte grinned.
“You’re shittin’ me ain’t ya?” she asked and Zack shook his head.
“You’re damned lucky you haven’t run into any of them yet.” He answered.
“Maybe that’s what happened to Charlie and the boys.” Abby said.
“They drive a truck?” Zack asked and Charlotte nodded.
“Says ‘Rednecks 4 Jesus’ on it. Another one of his dumb damned ideas.” Charlotte answered.
“Well, the good news is the crazies didn’t get him. The bad news is I did.” He told them and let that sink in for a minute before continuing, “They were raping a little girl, looked to be about thirteen or so. I’m sorry, but I shot them all, except for the one Wolf got. I just didn’t see any other choice.” He explained.
“Are you sure they’re dead?” Charlotte asked.
“Positive. I burned the bodies.” He answered and she smiled.
“Good. No good bastard got what he deserved. I told him he’d get his own one day.” Charlotte smiled again.
“I figured you’d be pissed, but that was before you told me about them. Now, you ladies need to do something for yourselves. Move out of that trailer, for starters. There are plenty of empty houses, fully furnished that just came on the market right here where we all live. You guys have any guns?” he asked and both women shook their heads. “We’ll have to fix that. Running around unarmed now will get you killed. You’ve been very lucky so far.”
“But what about the government? Won’t they help?” Abby asked.
“No. There is no government anymore. You have to help yourselves now. If anyone comes by and says they’re from the government, shoot them. They’ll be trying to rob you or worse. How are you set on food?” Katie asked.
“We were waiting on Charlie to get back and take us to the store. Neither of us drive.” Charlotte said.
“That explains the bikes. It’s probably best if you don’t drive right now anyway. What cars that are working are older, like before 1978 and those cars make noise and noise attracts crazies. Pretty sure most cars are dead now anyway. As far as food, if your neighbors are dead, they won’t be needing what they have. The Dollar General up the road hadn’t been ransacked the other night when I went there. Not sure about now.” Zack informed them.
“Can you ladies shoot?” Katie asked and they both nodded.
“We was raised in the country, been shooting most our lives, but Charlie was afraid we’d shoot him and didn’t let us have no guns.” Charlotte said. Zack nodded. It figured that he’d been a controlling bastard.
“You mean we could just move into someone’s house like one of them squatters?” Abby asked. And Zack had to smile.
“It wouldn’t be squatting because the current owners are either dead or running around out of their minds and won’t be coming back. Might not smell very fresh if the bodies are still in it, but some cleaning and airing out would probably fix that.” Zack told them.
“Well, would ya help us?” Charlotte asked.
“Ma’am, until the rest of my people get here I can’t. I’m pretty tied up here for the moment. But I will do my best as soon as I can. All I ask is that we get along like good neighbors. Your best bet is looking for a house that’s got a fence for your goats and a garden. You do know how to garden?” he asked and they both smiled.
“Of course, we do. I done told ya we’s country girls.” Charlotte looked at him like he’d just grown a third eye, making him chuckle.
“The way I see it, you have goats, so you have meat and dairy, if you have a garden, you have veggies.” Zack said and realization suddenly dawned on them that they could do this.
“We got a few chickens out back, so’s we got eggs and chickens to eat too.” Abby said.
“What about water?” Zack asked.
“Most folks out here are on a well, since the county didn’t see fit to run the water out here.” Charlotte replied.
“So, then all you really need is a battery and generator to power the pump.” Zack said.
“We got one of each. That’s how we get water. It’s got one of them solar things.” Abby said.
“Sounds like you girls are good to go. First step, find a house that has those things on it already or as close as you can get to it and move on in.” Zack said.
“We ain’t got no guns.” Abby reminded him and he nodded.
“I took all the guns off Charlie and his boys, so yes you do. We don’t need any of them and I just took them to keep them out of the wrong hands.” Zack answered.
“Well, thank you.” Charlotte said and started crying.
“What’s wrong, Miss Charlotte?” Zack asked, afraid the fact that he’d killed her husband was just setting in.
“I just…I just never had nobody be so nice to us before.” She sobbed.
“Miss Charlotte, not everyone’s mean and not every man is an asshole.” Katie said, near tears herself.
“We’ll help you as much as we can. We have to because there’s not a lot of us humans left.” Zack said. He looked at his wife, questioningly and she smiled and nodded, still blinking back tears over what these two women had gone through.
“Listen, Katie put some stew on earlier, why don’t you two stay for dinner? If Pops gets here, we’ll explain everything. He’s a little gruff, but he’s not really a mean or bad man.” Zack said and the Goat Girls nodded in unison. That creeped Zack out a little, but he said nothing. He thought for a minute and looked at Katie.
“What do you think about me and these two ladies at least try and find them a new house before it gets late? I’d like to be here when Pops gets home, but I think we can help them.” He asked.
“That’s fine. Keep your radio on, in case I need you.” She said.
“Want Wolf?” he asked and she shook her head.
“Nope, not if you’re going in the houses. He’ll alert you to anything bad before it can get you.” Katie answered.
Zack made sure the ladies had their weapons loaded and knew how to use them before they headed out. He felt bad about leaving the women without the men, but thinking on it for a second longer, he didn’t. Incest loving, child raping freaks. No, when he thought about the look on that poor girl’s face, he didn’t feel one bit bad. And knowing what they’d put these two women through made it even worse. No, he figured, he wouldn’t feel sorry for the women, but he would do everything he could to make sure that neither they, nor anyone else he ran across, would have to suffer the same fate.
They walked past several houses that didn’t seem to fit the bill as they headed back to their trailer. Zack was actually glad, because even though he wanted to help, he did
n’t necessarily want them on the farm’s doorstep either. He knew Pops would be pissed, but Zack also knew the man had a soft spot for women and children, especially those that had been mistreated.
About halfway back to the Goat Girls’ trailer stood a single-story brick ranch with a fence around it entire two-acre plot. Zack led the way through the gate and rapped on the front door. He listened, but heard nothing. Making his way through another gate he went to the patio and peered through the glass sliding door.
“Did you guys try this house earlier?” he asked.
“No, it was locked.” Charlotte replied and Zack nodded. There was a fence around the entire yard and a smaller one around the garden, but he didn’t see any sign of an animal ever having lived there. He spotted the pump house and went to check it out. The battery hadn’t been fried and evidently the solar panel charging it was still functional. That was another plus. It looked like all they had to do was check out the inside, move their livestock down and they’d be in good shape. He was double checking inside the small pump house that wasn’t much bigger than a dog house when something cold and hard pressed against the back of his head. He heard the hammer get pulled back and got confused.
“What the hell?” he asked.
“Don’t move! Don’t you fuckin’ move!” Charlotte hissed.
“But, why?” he asked.
“My husband never raped me anymore than them boys did Abby. I knowed they had that girl too, but she was gonna die anyway. Now you killed our men, you sonofabitch. I’m going to kill you and then go do the same to your family. Then we’ll take whatever we want.” Charlotte said.
“There’s gotta be some way we can work this out.” Zack pleaded.
“There is. It starts with me killing you. Then your family.” Charlotte chuckled.
“Well, fuck you bitch. If you’re gonna shoot, then shoot.” He said, standing up to turn around and Charlotte pulled the trigger.
Walt
Guntersville, AL
After making it out of Pickwick, Norm kept the boat moving as fast as he dared without overheating the engines. Just because they were water-cooled didn’t mean they couldn’t overheat. When they’d reached the Wilson Lock and Dam near Florence, Alabama, they’d had to take the rubber boat ashore and make their way to the lock control building because the riverside gates were closed. It also took them less time, not only because they knew what to do, but somehow the emergency generator was on and functioning normally. All Nate had to do was to lower the water level in the lock, open the gates and wait on the radio call for him to close the gate and start the cycle. Then they were on their way, unimpeded by anyone or anything.
A short hour later and they were at the Wheeler Dam, which went even faster with the gate on the riverside being open. This time though, they did have to take care of a small herd of crazies that had made their way into the dam parking lot. They’d left Nate on the boat after he’d shown Walt how to work the controls. The fine people at TVA had seen to it to keep all the controls exactly the same so that they could easily transfer operators between dams.
As they approached the Guntersville Dam, Norm tapped on the fuel gauges.
“We’re going to have to get some fuel here or we won’t make it.” He said and Walt nodded.
“Maybe they’ve got a store or something so we can get extra food.” Walt added.
“That would be nice. I could use some smokes too.” Norm sad.
“I didn’t think you smoked.” Walt replied and Norm shrugged.
“I don’t drink much either, but now’s as good a time as any to start.” He chuckled.
As they got closer to the dam, Walt could see that the locks were on the left side of the dam from the way they were facing.
“Why the difference?” he asked and Norm shrugged.
“Beats me. Breaks up the monotony. Look here, the boat side is closed but the barge side is open. Instead of going through all the work to drain and refill the boat side, what say we just use the barge side?” Norm asked as he steered the boat to the open lock.
“Sounds good to me. Why don’t you take easy this time and stay with the boat? I think the four of us can handle this.” Walt suggested and Norm nodded.
“About to wear my damned hip out climbing all the ladders anyway.” Norm said and slowed the boat. Walt grabbed the binoculars and scanned the area looking for any signs of people, normal or not. He also made sure he checked the shoreline on either side of the boat, but other that a deer grazing on a tuft of grass, saw nothing moving. He sighed and relaxed a little. After this, two more dams and they didn’t have to do this shit anymore.
He scaled the ladder, followed by Paul, Lexi and Tim. Paul went with Walt and Lexi and Tim took up their station guarding the ladder. Walt had his hand on the door when he heard the first scream. He was about to open fire, when Paul yanked the door out of his hand, pushing Walt inside and following quickly behind him, quietly closing the door.
“They didn’t see us.” Paul said.
“You sure?” Walt asked and Paul nodded. Walt snatched his radio off his vest.
“Don’t fire unless they’ve seen you. We haven’t even started on this system yet.” He told the kids and one of them answered with two clicks on the transmit button in order to stay quiet. Walt smiled because they’d remembered it. Paul and Walt quickly cleared the building.
After clearing the last room, a mechanical room at the back of the building, Walt set about trying to start the generator because the power was out.
“I’ve been thinking; I wonder where in the hell everyone that worked in the dams are?” Paul asked.
“Most of them probably didn’t make it to work and died at home. Some probably died here, but I’ll be damned if I want to find them. Others probably turned and are wandering around out there somewhere, if they haven’t killed themselves already. The generator refused to come on, no matter what he did with the controls. He snatched his radio up again.
“Hey someone, give Nate the radio, please.” He said.
“Is everything okay?” Tanith asked.
“Stupid generator won’t come on and I need Nate to tell me what’s next.” He replied as a scream sounded closer, followed by two more a little more distant. Paul went and peeked out the windows, listening to them screaming short screams, which were answered by short screams.
“They’re learning to communicate.” Paul said.
“That’s great, dad. I’ve gotta get this generator online quick before they’re onto us.” Walt said as the radio came alive again.
“You have to take the stairs down a flight and then look for the door that says Emer. Gen. That’s where both the generator and the batteries to start it are. Then check and see if they’re connected to the cables.” Nate said.
“Right, got it from there. Thanks, bud.” Walt said and quickly located the door.
“Want me to come with you?” Paul asked.
“Nope, stay up here, just in case they need to be kept out.” Walt said, yanking the stairwell door and descending into the darkness below. He cursed himself for not even thinking about bringing the NVG’s along, just in case it was dark. Like it was. He fumbled and found his red-lensed Mag-lite and turned it on, quietly descending the stairs. There was a little window on the door that had wire mesh in the center so that a person could see if someone was on the other side, rather than just bursting through it. He shined the light through the window and wasn’t able to see far, again, cursing himself for forgetting the NVG’s, because if someone was down here, they probably knew he was coming now.
His mouth went dry from fear as he could picture a hundred crazy people waiting just outside the flashlight’s beam to pounce on him once he was through the door. He quietly opened the door, half-expecting it to squeal and was surprised when it didn’t. Holding the door open with his back, he quickly looked up and down the hall. Breathing a sigh of relief, he stepped away from the door, cringing when a very loud squeal erupted from the doors hinges. He f
roze in place, waiting on the sound of movement and suddenly needing to take a leak very badly.
Nothing. He exhaled loudly and rounded the corner, tripping over the dead guy on the floor. Walt groaned and he made his way back to his feet, now feeling the need for a very hot shower with lots of soap. He pointed the flashlight at the body, making damned sure the dam man was staying damned dead.
Jittery as hell, he found the door to the generator and made his way in. Just as Nate had described, there was a set of very large linked batteries and an even larger generator. The cables for the battery terminal ends were secured by a bracket on the wall. These he quickly attached, using the wrench that was also secured by its own wall bracket. As soon as the positive cable was connected, red light illuminated on the generator, letting him know that it was receiving power. He released a breath he’d been holding and quickly ran for the door.
“Walt, you’d better get up here.” Paul said over the radio.
“On my way.” He replied, stepping quickly over the dam dead guy and ran up the stairs. Paul was looking out the window still. “What’s up?”
“I’m not real sure, but I think they know we’re here.” Paul answered and Walt went to go see what he was looking at as Paul continued, “There’s one nearby that I can’t seem to locate, and two more, possibly groups, answering back from each side of the dam.”
“What’re you saying?” Walt asked.
“They’re communicating. Worse, I think they’re up to something.” Paul answered.
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.” Paul said and Walt trusted his father.
“Norm, we think the crazies are up to something. I just brought the generator online, so they’ll know for sure anytime know. Back gate is closing and we’ll start the cycle once it does. Post some lookouts but do not leave the boat. You guys are going to have to defend yourselves if they try anything before we get back, so warn everyone.”
Three Days From Home Page 23