by David Achord
I paused a moment as a deer ran across the road and looked us over. “Some might even argue that it was textbook mercy killings. Those two were terminally ill, so…” I left the rest unspoken. We rode the rest of the way in silence.
Chapter 21 – Lunch at Walmart
I glanced at the thermometer as I hurried to the chicken coop. Still below freezing, which was no surprise, it was, after all, still January. Fred, Rowdy, the boys, and Terry filtered in, and we knocked out some chores before breakfast, which consisted of hardtack biscuits and stale coffee.
“Alright guys,” I said between mouthfuls, “Julie and Tommy talked it over and they don’t want to go. So it will be all of us and Mac. I don’t know who else wants to go.”
“If Tommy ain’t going, neither am I,” Joe said.
“Fair enough,” I said with a chuckle. “You two can stay here and help Julie with the chores.”
We arrived at the school promptly at eleven. Benny greeted us with a tray of steaming mugs.
“We found some hot chocolate in one of the houses. It’s a good day for a hot cup.”
Everyone agreed and grabbed a mug. It was stale, but still delicious.
“Who all will be going with us?” I asked.
“Mac and me, everyone else says it’s too cold to be outside.”
I frowned.
“What is it, Zach?” Fred asked.
I saw them looking at me and explained. “There are ten of them. If they plan on trying some shenanigans, they’ll have us outnumbered.”
“Then again, they saw our numbers yesterday. They might think we have a few snipers deployed,” Benny remarked. I looked at Fred.
“Yeah, it could work out like that. We can help it along with a ruse or two.”
“Besides, after you see what Mac has cooked up, I doubt they’ll be thinking about anything else but filling their belly,” Benny added.
As if on cue, Mac exited the school pushing a wheelbarrow with a steaming caldron in it.
“I figure I have enough servings for fifteen to twenty people. If they can handle my beef stew, they can handle anything,” Mac proclaimed. It smelled wonderful and we carefully loaded it on the back of the truck. “I’m going to warn y’all right now, I ain’t going to take no bad remarks from that woman. If she says anything unkind about anyone, there will be an ass whooping.”
As we were about to leave, Bo drove up and exited with his companion. “Sorry I’m late. I wasn’t going to join in but Lucy insisted on going,” he said, and she barked in agreement.
When we drove into the Walmart parking lot, they had set up some tables of various sizes and circled them with a combination of barrels and metal trashcans, all of which had an inviting fire burning in them. I made a quick headcount as we parked. Chet approached with a welcoming smile.
“You’re missing two men. Where are they?” I demanded immediately.
His smile quickly changed to a puzzled frown. He stared a moment, and about the time I was going to tell them the deal was off, two of the men walked out of the Walmart with a cart full of folding lawn chairs. I relaxed a little then.
“You’re a little paranoid, Zach,” Chet observed.
“It’s what keeps me alive,” I replied with no apology, looked off into the distance, and made a phony hand signal. Chet saw it and looked at the imaginary point I was staring at. I offered my hand. He stared off for a moment longer before shaking, and then watched as Fred tied a handkerchief to the radio antenna.
“He’s doing that so your snipers will get a good idea of the wind,” he quipped. I nodded, to which he shrugged.
“Suit yourself. Whoever you’ve got out there is going to freeze their asses off. The sky looks like crap and I bet we’re going to get snow or freezing rain before the day is over,” he commented. I nodded in seeming agreement as I looked around, watching his people for any susceptible behavior.
“Yeah, I believe we’re going to have a cold February. That’s both bad and good,” I said. Chet looked at me quizzically. “The cold slows them down.”
He nodded in understanding. “I believe that’s one of your rules I’ve seen painted all over town.”
“Yep, rule five.”
“Well, let me say this from the get-go,” Chet said. “We had a long discussion last night. Everyone agreed to try to make this work. Even Janet said you know your shit, but she also said that you think you’re king of the roost.”
“I’m a little set in my ways,” I conceded, “but it’s not like I go around barking out orders to everyone. We have a democratic process going on here, mostly.”
Benny chuckled. “It works out pretty good, Mister Chet. You’ll see.”
We were about to help unload the large kettle out of the bed of the truck, but Mac beat us to it. Using a pair of mittens, she hefted it out with ease and carried it over.
“Holy shit, she’s a strong one,” Chet said under his breath.
“Yes, she is,” Fred said in agreement. “Let’s get set up and eat.”
Mac’s stew was a hit and we ate it all, down to the last drop. Chet’s group had a couple of cases of beer, which they shared with everyone. Lucy went around to all of the humans, begging pitifully. She was rewarded with everyone letting her lick the bowls clean.
The conversation was awkward at first, but Rowdy soon had everyone going with his jovial demeanor and goofy wisecracks.
Chet sat back after eating a couple of bowls and hooked a thumb toward the Walmart. “There’s not much left in there.”
“Nope. It was pretty decimated by the time we got to it, even though there were several zombies inside.”
“Ah, that explains the pile of burnt bodies piled up over there,” he said pointing at the charred corpses Howard and I had stacked up so long ago.
I nodded. “Yeah, we never did get around to burying them. Did you guys find anything you can use?”
“We got a few things, nothing spectacular,” he commented. I nodded in understanding. “All those piles of corpses along Bell Road, are you guys responsible for them as well?” he asked. I nodded again. “Holy shit, dude, there must have been over a thousand of them. That’s a hell of a lot of work.”
“It’s very necessary work,” I added. “As you’ve learned, humans cannot live in a symbiotic relationship with those things.”
“Say what?” one of them asked.
Fred simplified it. “We can’t have them anywhere around, so we kill them at every opportunity. At some time in the near future, before it gets warm, we’re going to dig a mass grave and bury what’s left of them. Maybe you guys can take care of it in exchange for some commodities,” he said, then winked at Mac and me.
Chet looked at the others, one of whom shrugged indifferently. “I don’t think any of us is very proficient at operating heavy equipment, but we’d be willing to try.”
“Don’t worry, I can teach all of you,” Mac said. Chet and the others looked at her, trying to decide if she was joking before looking over at me.
“Mac is a jack of all trades. She can drive any piece of heavy machinery you can imagine.”
“Well, one thing’s for certain,” Chet said, “she’s a hell of a cook.” Everyone heartily agreed.
“Where is Julie?” Janet asked during a pause in the conversation. She was eyeing me like I was hiding something, which was true. She had no idea Tommy was with us.
“After the last encounter the two of you had, she was reluctant to come.”
“What happened?” Rowdy asked innocently. I had previously told him all about Janet one night, but I guess he was drunk and didn’t remember. I also noticed he had been eyeing Janet the entire time and would grin at her whenever they made eye contact. She’d cleaned up since yesterday, although it looked like all of them could benefit from a long hot shower with a bar of strong soap and a scrub brush. I saw hints of gray at the roots of her hair, and wondered how long it would take for her to figure out there were probably some hair coloring products still inside the s
uperstore.
“It’s kind of a long story, but one day we met some people whom Janet was staying with. Janet and Julie got into a discussion, Janet called her a whore, and Julie slapped the taste out of her mouth.”
My answer got a booming laugh from Mac, along with chuckles from some of the people who were listening. Obviously, she wasn’t the most popular member of the group.
“I like her already,” one of the women commented. Janet glared at me, but didn’t respond. Suddenly, the CB radio in the truck crackled to life.
“Come in, Zach,” it was Julie.
“Why speaking of my beautiful wife, I believe she’s calling me on the radio,” I jumped up, hurried over to the truck and turned the volume down so the rest of them could not overhear our conversation.
“How’s it going?” she asked.
“It’s going okay. No drama, no threats. Your mom asked about you and she’s actually behaving herself.”
Julie keyed up the microphone and sighed. “We’re on our way there. I’m bringing Frederick, Tommy, Joe, and Kelly.”
I smiled a little. She would never admit it, but she probably missed her mother, and I’m sure Tommy did as well. She gave me an ETA of ten minutes.
I grabbed a map out of the console before walking over to Fred and filling him in before sitting back down at the table. Before I could say anything, Janet spoke up.
“Why are you claiming Julie is your wife?” she asked. Her tone made it seem like a motherly type of question, but I never knew with her.
“We met with a group of people who had a minister with them and he married us,” I studied her face to see how she reacted to my next statement. “Julie is on her way here. She’s bringing along Tommy and your grandson.”
Janet stared at me in puzzlement a moment before what I said it sunk in, and then she let out an involuntary gasp.
“I sincerely hope you’ll be on your best behavior,” I added. Before she could respond, I turned to Chet.
“I have a map here of the local area,” I unfolded it and placed it on the table. “Fred and I thought it over and came up with some locations nearby which might be suitable for y’all.”
The weather was getting worse and the wind was picking up, so we used dirty bowls at each corner to keep it from blowing it away. I started right in and pointed at an area of the map.
“This is an area y’all might like, it’s called College Grove. It’s an urban community with a fair amount of farm land,” I ran my finger down the state highway. “If you go in this direction, there is a large state park which might be a good spot.”
“Henry Horton State Park,” Andie added. “There was a group of people camping there a couple of years ago, but they got eaten. We found what was left of them one day,” she looked at me as if she were thinking she said too much. “The farms in College Grove are mostly vacant though.”
The rest of the group had gathered close and were listening with interest. I continued.
“We’ve cleared most of Nolensville Pike of fallen trees and other debris, but the potholes, like all the other streets, are starting to add up. If you guys locate there, we’ll definitely need to make road repairs.” I sipped a small swallow of beer as Rowdy opened his third can.
“Now here,” I said, pointing, “is the Ellington Agriculture Center. It’s roughly two hundred acres. If you guys want to stay closer to the Nashville area, this could possibly be an ideal location. It’s located less than two miles from here, there is access to water, and there is arable farm land.”
They started conversing with each other. I glanced at Fred, who gave me a nod of approval. It consisted of him dipping his head about a quarter of an inch. The casual observer would have missed it. During the conversation our Ford Raptor truck turned into the parking lot, causing everyone to stop talking and watch.
“Now that’s a nice truck,” one of them commented.
“They’re here,” I said to Janet as I got up and walked over to the truck. All of them got out and looked around tentatively. They had all cleaned up and were wearing fresh clothing. Tommy and Joe were dressed like soldiers and held their M4s in a low-ready position. Kelly was holding Frederick, and it reminded me to look around in the store for a child’s travel seat before we left.
Janet walked up slowly, stopping to look over her two children and grandchild.
“Hello, mother,” Julie said plainly and gestured to the child she held in her arms, “this is our son, Frederick, your grandson.”
Janet looked intensely at little Frederick and then focused on Tommy. He had grown a few inches and gained some weight since I had found him, which coincidentally was not too far away from here. His hair had also grown out since his last haircut and he kept pushing it out of his eyes. He remained quiet, staring at his mother and scanning out the rest of the crowd.
“Hi, Mom,” he said with an equal amount of plainness as his sister.
“I thought you were dead! Where have you been?” she asked.
Tommy ignored her question and looked over at me. “Those aren’t the same men Mom was with when you found me,” he turned back to his mother and eyed her the way most teenage boys eyeball their mothers. “Those other men were heathens.”
I nodded in understanding. Last November, I had happened upon Tommy purely by fate. Two men, who were friends with Janet, had brought Tommy along on a scavenging run. Apparently, it was commonplace for the men to bully little Tommy. One of the men decided to rape him on that fateful day. I had no regrets when I shot them. Tommy looked at me. I nodded in understanding. We kept this secret to ourselves and it was going to stay that way.
They stood there, awkwardly staring at each other. I don’t know what I expected, maybe some tears and hugs or something. After all, they had not seen each other in quite a while.
“Well, I’m sure the three of you have a lot to talk about. We’ll give you some privacy,” I walked back to the table with Kelly and Joe, where there was an animated conversation going on.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
One of the women, a grungy looking brunette who called herself Penny, spoke up. “I know this area,” she said, “there is a beautiful horse farm right here,” she pointed at the intersection of Franklin Pike and Concord Road. She then pointed at Bo. I noticed her fingernails were practically black with grime. “He said we can’t move there.”
I shrugged. “Bo’s living there. I don’t think he wants any roommates.”
“Why, that’s ridiculous. The house is a huge mansion and there are multiple barns. All of us could live there easily,” she looked around, trying to get us on her side. I glanced at Bo, who was obviously starting to get angry.
“Ma’am,” Fred said, “perhaps, one day Bo will change his mind, but not today. He says you’re not going to live there, pick somewhere else.”
She looked at the two men in disbelief for a moment before staring back down at the map. Suddenly, she stabbed a finger at the other side of the intersection. “Who’s living here?” she asked.
I looked at the map and then at Bo. Across the street from the horse farm was another older, stately mansion. Nobody was living there. He shrugged.
“That place has a couple of barns and plenty of acreage. I don’t give a shit if they move in there, as long as they leave my horses alone.”
She looked back at Bo, wide-eyed. “You have horses? I love horses!”
Frederick didn’t even budge when we moved him from the truck to his bed. The day’s activities had worn him out. Julie changed his diaper before tucking him in and then she crawled in bed with me.
“How’d it go with your mother?” I asked after she had gotten under the blankets and snuggled up beside me.
“It was uncomfortable, but at least she didn’t call me any disparaging names.” Julie sighed and started rubbing my arm, which I had draped around her. “She asked about Frederick and why I didn’t name him after my dad.”
I chortled. “I can only imagine how you responded.”
“I’ll have you know I was very civilized. So, then she did the superficial caring mother routine. She asked how I had been, how Tommy was doing. It took about three or four minutes on that routine and then she spent the rest of the time asking about our set up.”
“It figures,” I quipped.
“When I wouldn’t answer, she got a little peeved, but didn’t say anything. Then, she asked if she could come live with us,” she was silent for a moment. “I told her I’d think about it.”
I was silent. The last thing in the world I wanted was that bitch to live with us. Julie had fallen asleep while I was thinking about the ramifications.
Chapter 22 – Journal Entry: March 1st, 2 A.Z.
February was butt-cold! We had a foot of snow fall on the 1st, and about a week later it snowed another six inches. It stayed on the ground throughout most of the month, so travel has been very limited. Zach had found some ski equipment and we took turns practicing our skills at cross country skiing. It was fun, until Julie twisted an ankle. She said it had never completely healed since the last time she twisted it. Most of the time the weather was so miserable we stayed cooped up in the house. Zach declared February ammo month, and so we spent many hours reloading ammunition.
Here is a summary of our situation –
Food: Our food supplies are still good, but limited in variety. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for the chopped steak and mashed potatoes I ate for dinner last night, but good Lord, I miss the things we used to take for granted, like pizza, burritos, strawberry milkshakes, candy bars, gummy bears, all the stuff that made life enjoyable.
Livestock: we’ve added more donkeys to our population, but even so, we’ve lost a few cows to predators. We’ve doubled up on traps, which helped, but I feel sad when we trap a coyote or a feral dog. They look so helpless when we find them. Our chicken population has grown, which is good because those idiots on Concord Road keep letting theirs die. I asked Zach about Bo’s horses and hogs. He said not to worry, Bo dotes on the horses like they’re his own children and hogs can live through anything. I also worry about the bees, but I guess they’ll be okay.