The King of Clayfield - 01

by Shane Gregory

  "Drive, Jen!"

  The truck lurched backward, the passenger door still open. The men advanced, shooting. I could hear the bullets hitting the truck, but I didn't know what kind of damage they were doing. Hank was still holding his bleeding face with one hand, and firing a pistol with his other.

  The infected came around both sides of the building and from the road. Some of them were dragging their feet, but others were coming in a limping jog, and others were coming in a full sprint. They were in different states of dress and undress. I saw five that were wearing the red Lowes vest.

  I leaned over Sara and pulled the door closed. We had a few that were interested in us, pounding on our windows, but most of them were headed toward the four men in the open.

  The fear on the men's faces was evident even from a distance and even though they were wearing masks. They turned their guns on the infected and backed toward their vehicles. Soon, they were empty. They tried to run and reload, but there was no time.

  Hank pulled out his machete. He hacked and chopped, but there were too many of them. He was dragged down.

  The man with the shopping cart tried to make it back inside the store, but they caught him and went to work on him like piranha.

  "Dear God," Jen said. "What are they?"

  "Please go," Sara pleaded as sneering, slobbering faces pressed against her window. "Please."

  Jen looked over her shoulder and gunned it in reverse. Before we got around the corner, I watched one of the men break free and make it to the Porsche.

  Jen continued driving in reverse until she was well clear of the fray. Then turned, put it into drive, and pulled out onto the road behind Lowes. I was shaking, and I couldn't make myself stop. Sara was crying.

  "What happened?" Jen said.

  "I asked him about Brian's car, and--"

  "Is Brian okay? Where is he?"

  "I don't know. He told me he found the car. He offered to trade it for one of you."

  "For one of us?" Sara said.

  "That's why you pulled down your mask?" Jen said. "Hell, that ain't no reason to shoot somebody."

  "No," I said. "I pulled down my mask because I thought he was going for a gun."

  "He was," she said. "I saw that. I was going to shoot him whether you signaled me or not. I was just wondering what you did to make him go for his gun."

  "Dammit, I can't quit shaking," I said.

  "This is going to happen again," she said, pulling out onto the bypass that circled around the town. "This ain't no civilized world no more. People are realizing now they can do whatever they want and get away with it. There ain't no law or prisons to scare them into being good. For the rest there ain't no god no more neither. When there ain't no law and there ain't no god, then....well, it's going to be like caveman days."

  "You say that like you're okay with it," I said.

  "I'm just facing reality--taking the bad with the good. We ain't got no government breathing down our necks; that's a good thing. Sara and me were lucky to come across you and Mr. Somerville like we did. There are more good folks out there like Brian and Charlie. There are also assholes out there that ain't got no moral compass. I ain't saying that I can't take care of myself--I can and have--but if I was to get backed into a corner... surrounded...outnumbered....there'd be nothing I could do about it."

  "I still believe in God," Sara said softly.

  "Sara, hon, maybe you could talk to him about a few things. I think he dropped the ball on this one."

  "Don't be so condescending," Sara said. "It'll all work out for the good. I believe that."

  Jen laughed a little.

  "Yeah," she said. "I can see that. It's worked out for my good so far."

  Jen headed north on the bypass, the wind whistling through the bullet hole in the windshield. She knew of another place that rented moving vans on the other side of town. We crossed the railroad tracks, and I noticed smoke coming from under the hood.

  "We're overheating," Jen said, looking down at the gauges. "They must've hit our radiator. I ain't stopping. We'll just run her until we crack the engine block."

  "Throw it in the gutter, and go buy another?" I said, making an attempt at humor.

  "Huh?" she said.

  "You know...Eazy-E."

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  "Never mind," I said.

  It didn't take long. The engine started making a horrible sound and stalled. We coasted to a stop in front of Grub, one of Clayfield's better restaurants.

  "That's that," Jen said. "Let's find another car before the zombies find us."

  We all checked our guns and made sure they were fully loaded. Then we grabbed our small bag of supplies that we brought--extra ammo, a little food and water, and the bottle of Southern Comfort.

  There were plenty of cars around, it was just a matter of finding one with keys that would start. Most of the ones that were abandoned with the keys inside were left running, so their batteries were dead and they were out of gas. I went into the little restaurant to see if I could find a purse with car keys. I thought that would be our best option.

  Both the dining area and the kitchen were trashed. The air inside stank. There was old food and broken dishes on the floor. I saw a couple of piles of human excrement and a raw, meaty bone with a partial human hand attached. Something really bad had happened here same as everywhere else, but thankfully it was gone now. I found Grub to be unoccupied.

  There was a purse at one of the tables, and I found two more in the back. I took them outside so I could look through them in the fresh air. When I came out, Jen was standing sentry with the shotgun while Sara looked in the windows of cars and tried to start the ones with keys.

  I turned the purses up and emptied their contents on the hood of the nearest car. Sara came up, and I handed her a set of keys.

  "Try to find the car these go to," I said. "It'll be parked here in the lot."

  She picked up one of the wallets and started to open it.

  "Don't," I said.

  "I'm not going to steal her money," she said. "I just thought I'd see who she was."

  "I know," I said. "Don't. It's easier if you don't know them."

  She did it anyway then proceeded to open the other wallets, too.

  "Take them with you," I said. "We don't have time for this."

  "Sorry," she said. She put them into a single purse and walked away.

  "We need to move!" Jen said. "I see some coming down the road!"

  I took the other two sets of keys and tried them on the cars in the lot.

  "Got it!" Sara said, standing next to a green, two-door, Dodge Neon.

  She got in and shut the door.

  I got to the car next and climbed in the back seat, leaving the door open for Jen. Jen ran over and got in the passenger side of the car. Sara started the car, and the stereo started up, too, with Flo Rida's Right Round. Sara ejected the CD, but Jen pushed it back in.

  "I haven't heard any music in more than a week," Jen said. "I don't care what it is; we're listening to it. Hell, I'd listen to John Tesh right now."

  "I like John Tesh," Sara said.

  "Of course you do," Jen said. "Now drive.”

  She cranked up the volume, and I must admit that it brought a smile to my face and helped me forget for a little while. I still had the shakes, but they were subsiding. It was nice to see Jen enjoying herself. I was amazed at her resilience and detachment. I'd been trying to separate myself from all the excitement, too, but I still felt shell-shocked. I feared it would eventually catch up to all of us. I just hoped it wouldn't break us.

  Sara seemed to be having a good time, too. It brought back memories of cruising with my friends in high school.

  Then I heard something else. I thought it was part of the music at first, but no....

  "Turn it off for a second," I said.

  Jen did.

  "What?"

  "Do you hear that?"

  Jen rolled down her window and listened.


  "It's the tornado siren," she said, laughing. "I guess old Saint Nick finally turned it on."

  When we got close enough to see the rental store, Jen turned the stereo off.

  "Pull in close," she said. "I'll run in and get the keys. I'll bet since the siren is on, we won't have any trouble now. I didn't think it was a good idea before--I still don't--but right now I don't think we could have had better luck.”

  "I wonder what Mr. Somerville is doing," I said.

  "He's probably giving himself some space so he can go door-to-door checking for survivors."

  "He'll need our help," Sara said.

  "He's not getting my help today," Jen said. "I'm sticking to the plan. We can check on him when we're done. He knew where we were, and he could have run his plan by us before he did something foolish by himself."

  CHAPTER 32

  Sara pulled up to the front door. There were four trucks and a trailer parked out to the side of the building. They all had MOVING? RENT ME! on the sides and back. Two of the trucks were smaller, one was very large, and one was somewhere in between. I didn't really want to drive the big one. It was hard enough to maneuver through some of the cars on the roads as it was. Jen ran inside, and I got out, too.

  I stood by the car for a while, and then I decided to go in.

  "Jen, you okay?"

  "I'm in the office!" she said.

  I walked around the showroom looking at other stuff. There were big screen TVs, furniture, and appliances. In another section of the store were tools like log-splitters, welders, and augers.

  I didn't see anything we could use.

  I stepped behind the counter. Under the register was a row of hooks. The keys were there.

  "Found them!" I said.

  Jen came out of the back.

  The hooks were labeled: 24', 17' and 10'.

  The 10' hook had two sets of keys on it.

  "These are the truck sizes," I said. "I think we should use one of the ten-footers."

  "We can't get much stuff in there," Jen said.

  "We're not hauling furniture," I said. "We're talking about food and clothes. I think it will be plenty big for that but small enough to get through tight places."

  "I really wanted to get as much as we could," she said, hesitant. "What about the seventeen-footer?"

  "How about both of the ten-footers?" I offered.

  "I like that better," she said. "I like having a backup."

  "I don't see a need in keeping the car," I said. "Is Sara with you or me?"

  I knew she wouldn't like either option.

  "Sara can ride with me," she said. "It'll give us time to talk."

  "I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing," I said.

  "I'll be nice," Jen said. "I promise."

  "Good," I said.

  Jen rolled her eyes, "You heard what she said to me at Charlie's. I'm not threatened by her."

  "There's no need for you to be, but--"

  "So you're going to take her side again?"

  "No, Jen, there are no sides here. We're all in this together, remember? Why are we having this conversation again? Sara has done nothing to you. She's a good kid who has the terrible misfortune of being physically attractive. That's not something she can help, so why don't you give her a break?"

  "Why don't you give me a break?" Jen scoffed.

  "Would you be putting her through the same kind of hell if she weren't so good looking?"

  "Would you be defending her if she weren't?"

  "I have been purposefully avoiding talking to her and looking at her just so you wouldn't feel uncomfortable. Can you imagine how she must feel to be ignored like that? She's alone just like us. She's got nobody. She doesn't even have us, really. I feel bad about that."

  "So it's my fault that she's not fitting in?”

  "Jen," I said, frustrated, "I...I don't know what to do here. I suppose I should feel flattered that you'd be so jealous, but--"

  "Oh yeah," she said sarcastically, "it's all about you."

  I don't know why, but it suddenly hit me as being incredibly humorous. It was like I'd traveled back in time, and I was arguing with my ex wife again....and every other woman with which I'd had a relationship. Even during the apocalypse, I was attracting the same kind of woman. So far as I knew, all women were the same kind. There was absolutely no way I could win in these arguments.

  I laughed.

  I would have never done that in the past. In the past, I would have acquiesced and apologized just so I wouldn't have to talk anymore.

  But I was a different man since the world ended.

  "Don't laugh at me!" Jen said. "What's so funny?"

  "I should have traded you for that Porsche."

  She stared at me over her mask. I'd thrown her for a loop, and I was pleased.

  "So this is a big joke? Why didn't you? Huh? Why didn't you trade me?"

  I shrugged and said the first thing that popped in my head.

  "I don't know how to drive a stick." I said it dryly as I could, but I couldn't hold back the grin.

  I could see her eyes soften a little. I started laughing again.

  She stepped up to me and cupped my crotch. I gasped and froze. I expected her to squeeze and hurt me, but she didn't. Something like a jolt of electricity shot up my spine. She came in close, her eyes narrowing.

  "I can drive a stick, funny man," she whispered. "I can drive it real good."

  I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. Every muscle in my body was tense.

  She removed her hand.

  "Sara is riding with me," she said, grabbing a set of keys and acting as if nothing had happened. "We'll work things out. It's none of your business."

  She went to the door.

  "You coming or what?" she said and walked out into the sunlight. She looked around then headed toward the trucks.

  I was still standing in the same spot, watching her through the large windows in the front of the store. I realized I'd been holding my breath. I exhaled.

  Holy moly.

  The trucks had CB radios, so we were able to communicate with each other. None of us had used one before, so it took a few minutes to get all of the particulars worked out, like setting the channels and not holding down the mike button when we were trying to listen. After playing with them for a couple of minutes we realized why people in the movies say, "Over" when they are done talking on them.

  Once we figured out the radios, we got on the road. We knew that since the siren was going off, there would be no way to get through town, so we got back on the bypass to take us around.

  "Where to first?" I said.

  I waited but Jen didn't reply. I realized I was still holding the button.

  I said, "Over," in the mike then released the button.

  The radio hissed static then Jen came on.

  "That was quite a broadcast you made there, Bandit," she said. "Let's go to Wal-Mart. If we can't get everything there, then we'll go other places."

  Static as she released her mike button. Then—

  "Over."

  I led the way, backtracking past Grub to the bypass. I looked in the side mirror. The women had their masks down, and they were talking.

  I was uneasy with this jealous side of Jen. Part of me was saying I should get out of this while it was still early. If I waited until after this thing was consummated, it would be a lot more difficult for both of us.

  And she was more than just jealous; she was also a tad unstable and unpredictable. All three traits could be dangerous.

  The other part of me--the part that usually did my thinking for me when it came to women--kind of liked that about her. Besides, did I really have the luxury of being picky? The phrase "there are a lot of fish in the sea" didn't apply anymore. Shouldn't I get an ego boost that a sexy woman like Jen would be so territorial over me? Maybe...but I didn't.

  I got to thinking about how things would be if Sara were replaced by a good-looking young man. Would Jen be acting the same wa
y over me? Would I feel threatened in that situation? We were together out of necessity. But were we staying together for the same reason, or for something more? Had Sara's presence caused Jen to accelerate our relationship out of fear, and was I accepting that because I feared she'd leave and I'd be alone?

  My ex wife always accused me of over-thinking things. Of all the times to be over-thinking a thing like this....

  Maybe I should accept Jen's assessment of the world, and just be a damn caveman.

  We had to access the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot the same way we had to access Lowes' lot--through the back. We pulled past the entrance to the automotive section around the front of the building by the garden center. The main parking lot was crazy. Cars were everywhere. It looked kind of like it did the day after Thanksgiving except there was no order to the parking. I was beginning to doubt we'd find anything left in there with all the people. Then again, all those people never made it outside with their purchases.

  I couldn't get the van to the front door.

  "Jen, we'll go in through the garden center here. The gate is shut, but maybe I can push it open with the van...Over."

  The garden center was enclosed in a tall chain link fence. I pulled around and backed into it. Rather than the gate opening, the fence began to buckle.

  "Stop," Jen said. "You're making it worse. Let's just go in through Automotive. Surely we can open one of those garage doors."

  Static.

  "Over."

  They waited in their truck while I tried the doors on the garage. The siren was still howling to the north, and there were infected headed toward it. I could see them here and there, weaving their way through the cars in the streets.

  I got both doors up. In one of the bays, a car was up on the lift.

  I directed Jen as she backed the truck up to the opening. Then she directed me while I filled the other.

  When I came around, the two of them were smiling.

  "What?" I said.

  "Sara was just saying that it feels kind of like Christmas and the store is like one big present."

  The power was out in the store, but it was lit by the skylights. Sporting goods was to our right; automotive products were to our left.

  "Should we stick to the list, or can we get extra stuff?" Sara asked.