She gazed at me with her dark sultry eyes. I felt my blood pressure rising as I pulled the blanket off of me and stood, feeling the sudden need to do something. I grabbed the poker and jabbed it at the burning logs. A spray of sparks erupted. Kelly stood and put the screen back in place before an ember set our blankets on fire. I put the poker back in the rack and placed both my hands on the mantel. The fire was warm against my torso. She pressed her body against my back and wrapped her arms around me.
“What’s troubling you?” she asked quietly. I sighed heavily.
“We lost, Kelly. Everybody in our group is dead and my kids are God only knows where. We lost.” I continued gripping the mantel tightly. “For all I know, when Colonel Coltrane had me locked up in that shitty little room, my kids were probably at the end of the hallway in another shitty little room and not only was I totally oblivious, I was powerless to do anything.”
“But, it wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was,” I responded gruffly and turned around to face her. She tried to draw me close, but I held her at arm’s length. “But you don’t understand.”
“Explain it to me then.”
“Alright, it’s very simple really. I was arrogant, a know-it-all, and that arrogance blinded me. I did it with Andie’s uncle. I did it with the colonel and my supposed best friend, Felix. That’s a bad record if you ask me. Now, it’s over. This isn’t some kind of damn zombie movie where the plot ends with everyone living happily ever after. Our plight has taken its course. The only thing we have left is to try and survive for a few more years and not die a horrible death. Don’t you get it? The only thing we’re doing these days is existing, we’re not living. What is our endgame, have you ever asked yourself that?” Kelly stared at me in silence.
“I can answer for you, there is no endgame. There is no win. There’s nothing for us. One day, you may start having a pain that just won’t go away. Eventually, you’ll figure out its cancer. One day, I’ll have a farming accident, or I’ll be ambushed, or maybe while I’m tending to the crops the zombies will get me.
“We’re living under a fallacy, a mistaken belief that there is a happy place awaiting us. A light at the end of the tunnel and all that bullshit. It doesn’t exist.”
“Wow,” Kelly said quietly. I turned back toward the fire. After a minute, Kelly pressed herself against me again. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right. Henry Ford said that, I think.” She continued holding me and we stood like that for several minutes. In spite of myself, I chuckled.
“You amaze me sometimes with your insight.” She responded with a tighter squeeze and I sighed again.
“I can’t help but think you’d be happier living back at the school.”
“You’d be wrong,” she replied. “Besides, you need me.”
“Yes I do,” I admitted quietly. “We need each other.”
Chapter 7 – Unexpected Visitors
After my blowup the previous night, Kelly calmed me down with her tender ministrations and I ended up promising her I’d do everything I could to carve out a happy life for ourselves, which meant she won the argument.I grunted to myself thinking that one over and started sorting out the electrical equipment.
As I laid everything out, I was trying to plan out how I was going to upgrade our solar power grid, but I was distracted. By Kelly, of course. I remembered an episode of one of those scripted reality shows, the one with the ducks and all of the men with their long beards. There was a scene with the patriarch of the family in which he said all women have quirks and if you could put up with said quirks you’d have a happy relationship.
Kelly’s quirks were talking and sex. She loved to talk about anything under the sun and she loved sex. Sometimes she liked to have a conversation while we were having sex, but thank goodness it was only rarely. Any issue we encountered, any problem, any disagreement, invariably led to a long, mostly one-sided discussion, followed by lots of sex.
They were quirks I could put up with.
My thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar truck pulling a cattle trailer making its way up the drive. I grabbed my shotgun and was about to take cover behind my own truck when I recognized the occupants, Tonya, Ward and Gus, I relaxed a little and set my weapon down, although I wasn’t so sure I wanted them anywhere around my property.
Floyd had been relegated to ride in the bed of their truck and although it was a sunny March day, it was still quite chilly. The thermometer was hovering at forty and I could see he was cold and miserable.
“This is a surprise,” I said when they exited. I briefly wondered why they had a new truck, but decided I didn’t give a shit. Ward walked up and shook my hand, grinned foolishly and grabbed me in a hug.
“We’ve missed our old friends and thought we’d visit,” he replied with a grin. Yeah, I thought, and y’all just happened to bring a truck hauling a cattle trailer. I gestured at Floyd.
“You look pretty miserable,” I said.
“I’m a might cold,” he replied through chattering teeth. Gus scoffed at Floyd’s perceived softness. Kelly stuck her head out of the door at about that time and I motioned at her.
“Go on inside with Kelly and she’ll fix you a cup of good old fashioned stale coffee.”
Floyd nodded thankfully. She smiled warmly as he walked up, hugged him and led him inside while chatting it up. For a second, I experienced a pang of something, and when I realized it was jealousy it surprised the hell out of me. Before I could decipher my thoughts, I was interrupted.
“What are you doing over here?” Tonya asked as she looked over the electrical supplies laid out on the ground. I gave her a look, and then decided I wouldn’t be giving away any of my secrets.
“I’m going to upgrade our solar power grid,” I replied. She looked around and spotted the solar panels mounted on the roof. I watched as her eyes followed the conduits to a concrete block enclosure on the side of the house.
“Do you mind if I have a look?” she asked. I shrugged and led her to the enclosure.
“The enclosure is weatherproof but vented,” I said, pointing at the eaves. “All of the wiring is protected with conduits and the batteries are on a raised platform.” She looked over the set up carefully. I was proud of it, but I saw her frowning.
“Do you see something wrong?” I asked.
“It’s not a bad set up, but you have the wrong type of charge controller for these batteries and you need a shunt at this junction,” she replied while pointing at the grid panel. She turned and looked at me questioningly. “How much experience do you have with solar power and electricity, if you don’t mind me asking?”
I shrugged. “Not much. I’ve read a couple of books.” She nodded in seeming understanding. "It works well enough," I said defensively.
“Zach, for a novice you’ve done some good work. But, let me tell you something. I have a bachelor’s degree in both electrical and nuclear engineering, along with a master’s and doctorate in nuclear engineering. I’ve written so many treatises on alternative energy it’d make your head spin. You may be incredibly smart, but on my worst day, when it comes to this field of expertise I can run circles around you.”
“I believe you,” I said simply. I figured the next thing she was going to brag about was that her dick was bigger than mine, and if it were indeed true, Kelly was going to be devastated.
“So, let’s talk business,” she said. I looked at her quizzically. Here it comes.
“We need more cattle, she said plainly. “If you want to work out a trade, I’ll help you set up a power grid system that’ll increase your efficiency and storage capacity.” She pointed at the breaker panel. “You’re going to want a surge protector on that panel. I have all of the equipment you’ll need back at the school, plus, I’ll throw in some additional solar panels we found. They’re used, but they’re the latest generation and in good shape.”
I rubbed my face as I thought it over. “Beef cattle or dairy cattle?
” Her eyes narrowed.
“There’s a difference?”
“You might say that. Floyd knows the difference and one of the things he’ll tell you is that dairy cattle require more maintenance. They need milking twice a day, whether you use the milk or not.”
Tonya frowned. “I didn’t know that.” I didn’t tell her about the cream separator we’d found but weren’t using, otherwise she’d probably want that thrown in with the deal. I continued.
“There’s a way around it, but I’ll let Floyd explain all that.” I thought for another minute as we walked back outside. The truth of the matter was I had too many cows to keep up with. I looked at the cattle trailer they’d brought with them. “Alright, a dozen head for now. If I like the way y’all are taking care of them, I’ll give you a dozen more in a couple of months.”
“Sounds agreeable,” she said after a minute and held out her hand. I looked at her stubby outstretched paw. I didn’t want to touch her. Hell, I didn’t like the woman, but I shook on it anyway.
“How’d it go with Floyd?” I asked as we shared a dinner plate.
“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say he’s smitten with me,” Kelly replied. When I looked at her she giggled. “I caught him staring at my breasts a couple of times.” Once again, I felt that pang of jealously. It irritated me. I thought I had my feelings for her firmly and narrowly defined. But, when she mentioned Floyd ogling her, I found myself staring at them as well. She was wearing a button-down flannel shirt with a few of the buttons seductively left undone. I’ve seen her breasts many times, but even so, her cleavage was very alluring. I forced myself to focus.
“Did he have anything to say?” She shook her head.
“Before I had a chance to ask him any direct questions, dumbass Gus invited himself inside and drank most of the coffee while talking about sports.” She rolled her eyes. “Why in the world he thought baseball would interest either of us is beyond me.”
“It figures,” I muttered.
“Yeah, he kept me from asking any prying questions, but I think if I can get Floyd alone again he’ll tell me anything I want to know. So anyway, how’d it go with Tonya?”
“I have reluctantly conceded she knows more than me about electricity and she’s going to help upgrade our power grid. In return, we’re going to give them some cows.”
“Is it going to be a good deal?” she asked. I nodded between bites.
“Yeah, we have too many cows for us to handle as it is. Besides, it couldn’t hurt to be nice to them, right?” Kelly expressed her approval by leaning over and kissing me on the cheek, causing me to look down the front of her shirt.
“I think we got the better deal,” she said. “And as for Floyd, I’ll have him telling me all of their little secrets in no time.” She punctuated her declaration with a cheerful grin.
“Alright, I have an idea which may help you along.”
“Oh, yeah? What?”
“Well, it involves Floyd, you, and me.”
Chapter 8 – Jorge
In truth, I was anxious. Floyd admitted his marksmanship skills were somewhat limited due to his bad arm and Kelly is, well, a girly-girl. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very appreciative of her femininity and I’m not bashing women in general. Hell, Julie and Andie were excellent marksmen, markswomen, sharpshooters, whatever the proper term. Mac was a pretty good shot and I even had Macie making headshots at two hundred yards with scoped sights. But, when we executed Operation Bell Road last year, shooting all of those zombies had stressed Kelly greatly. She said she still thought of them as humans. And of course, there was the deer she killed which caused her to cry afterward. Now, she was acting as my backup, armed with the Remington model 700 sniper rifle that used to belong to Rowdy. This time, she may actually have to shoot a real human.
That’s why I was anxious. It had nothing to do with Kelly wearing one of those bras that pushed her boobs up and out, causing them to strain the fabric on her already tight-fitting tee shirt, and that she and Floyd were sitting alone together in a parked car, all by themselves and hidden among many other abandoned cars. Nope. It had nothing to do with that at all. Don’t think I didn’t notice her unzipping her jacket as soon as they hopped in the truck, revealing said tight-fitting tee shirt.
I’d been thinking about it constantly for the past three days now. After burying Julie, it took perhaps two days before Kelly and I started sleeping together. It wasn’t an act of love. It was nothing more than two lonely people sharing themselves on a cold lonely night. I told myself that was all it would ever be, even though I told her I loved her a month later.
I hadn’t repeated it because I didn’t really believe it. It was the wine talking. We drank a whole bottle and I hardly ever drank. But now, in spite of how I may have felt in the past, I realized I was actually developing strong feelings for her. Much stronger than I thought was possible. Anybody else would have felt elation at having such an epiphany. All it did for me was confuse the hell out of me. I sighed heavily, scratched myself, and reached for the microphone.
“Ready?” I asked curtly. I was answered by a microphone click. I responded with two clicks and switched to channel nineteen. “Is the gentleman with the raggedy black SUV listening?”
I was parked at the same location where we’d originally spotted them. The odds of encountering them again weren’t good, but I had no other idea of how to make contact with them. I originally was going to use the radio tower, but the generator was out of diesel and needed maintenance. I opted to save the fuel for my farm implements.
I waited a minute and repeated my broadcast. There was no answer. I did this for almost an hour and was about to give up when I finally got a response.
“Don’t be making fun of my ride, man.” It was him, his accent was unmistakable.
“How are you this morning?” I asked pleasantly.
“Doing so-so, man. How about you?”
“Pretty much the same,” I replied. “I’m parked near the location where we first saw each other and I’ve got a thermos of hot coffee. Why don’t you join me and we can talk?”
“Okay, man, just don’t be pointing a gun at me this time.” It took about ten minutes before the black SUV came into view, and I’ll be damn if there wasn’t a fresh coat of wax on it. Even the tires looked like they had been wiped down and were glistening.
I got out, leaving my rifle and shotgun sitting in the truck and walked out carrying a thermos and two cups. Oh, I still had my beloved Kimber holstered on my hip, I wasn’t totally trusting after all.
He turned off his vehicle and exited a moment later. He wasn’t a big guy, maybe five-nine, lean, dark black hair with accompanying eyes, clean shaven, hell, he was clean all over. Even his Chuck Taylors were pristine looking.
“Buenos Dias,” he said.
“Hello,” I replied. “My Spanish is limited.”
“No problem, man,” he replied while holding out his hand. “My name is Jorge and my English is better than most Americans.” I couldn’t help but smile as I shook hands with him.
“His name’s Jorge but he prefers it to be pronounced George.” After meeting Jorge, Kelly and Floyd followed me back home. I glanced at them quite a bit in the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but notice there was a lot of smiling and laughing going on between the two of them. When we got home, we had lunch together and even used separate plates for the occasion.
“What’s his girlfriend’s name?” Kelly asked. I shook my head.
“It’s his little sister, Maria. He’s twenty-four and she’s twenty. Their father is still alive too. The mother got infected. He had a girlfriend, but she was killed.” I finished my lunch and pushed my plate away. “And, most importantly, he said Maria is still a virgin and I should not get any ideas about her.” Kelly burst out laughing, so Floyd immediately joined in. We sat at the table enjoying our stale coffee while I continued.
“So, there are three of them altogether; Jorge, his father Josue, and Maria. They have a small
farm consisting of five acres on a dead end street near Smith Springs Road.”
“How did they survive?” Floyd asked.
“They blocked their road by turning a couple of buses over at the end of the street. That kept the roaming gangs out, and for some reason Josue had a lot of bear traps. They used them to trap zombies, making it easier to kill them. They’ve lived off of their gardening, hunting, and scavenging.” I shrugged. “No different from the rest of us, I suppose, at least, for some of us.” For some reason, I thought of the cannibals I had encountered a while back. “Oh, Jorge said there’s a UPS hub a couple of miles from his house that he wants us to help clear it and salvage.”
“That sounds promising,” Floyd remarked.
“Yeah. Anyway,” I continued, “it was a pleasant meeting, and to borrow a phrase from the late great Bernie the Beekeeper, I have opened the vestibule of barter by giving them a jug of honey.” Floyd stared at me questioningly, but I didn’t bother to explain. I was ready for him to leave, so I stood and stretched.
“Well, Floyd, we have a lot to do before sundown. I bet Tonya has some work waiting for you as well.” Floyd realized he was being kicked out and looked crestfallen.
“Yeah, I guess I better get back.” He stood slowly and struggled to put his jacket on. Kelly jumped up and helped him get his bad arm into the sleeve, glancing at me and winking. The two of us walked him outside. He stopped momentarily, turning toward us.
“I appreciate y’all inviting me to join in, today,” he said, glancing a little bashfully at Kelly. “I had a really nice time and I’m glad we didn’t have to shoot nobody.”
“We appreciate you helping us,” I replied and absently put an arm around Kelly’s shoulders.
“Oh, I meant to say something earlier,” he said. “I spotted a group of zombies wandering down the Interstate yesterday, about a dozen of them. We didn’t do nothing with them. They didn’t see us and kept on walking.”
Zombie Rules (Book 4): Destiny Page 6