“There was no reason to stop,” she said without looking up.
“You guys don’t happen to have any cigarettes, do you?” Kate asked hopefully. Kelly stood and fished out a carton from a drawer.
“We found these a while back. Neither of us smoke, so you’re welcome to them, but not inside, please.” Kate looked at Kelly like she’d just bestowed manna from heaven. Kelly motioned toward the door.
“Let’s go outside and let Zach fix us dinner,” she said with a facetious grin. They walked out, but Sarah elected to stay with me and help me struggle with preparing something edible.
Eight people were currently occupying Fred’s house, much more than it was designed for. Kelly and I were snug in our bed with the kids, the rest were either in the spare bedroom or laid out in the den.
“I fear my superb house cleaning is going to be negated,” I commented. Kelly laughed quietly.
“I’ll have to admit, it was spotless, at least for thirty minutes. Maybe you should be the full time maid.”
“Yeah, you should have seen me. I cleaned from top to bottom. I even emptied all of the kitchen drawers and wiped them down.” I felt Kelly involuntarily flinch. “Yep, I found them.” I don’t know where she got them from, but she had enough to last for at least five years. “Why were you hiding them?”
“Because I don’t want to get pregnant and I wasn’t sure how you were going to react if I said as much,” she said plainly. I sighed.
“I thought you knew me better than that. I would have, and do respect your decision.”
Kelly snuggled close. “I’m sorry, Zach. I just thought, well, you know, with your kids missing and not knowing if you’d ever see them again you might have wanted to get me pregnant.” I was about to object, but then it thought over. When we started having sex, I gave no regard to taking protective measures. Hell, considering the number of times we’d done it and she hadn’t gotten pregnant, I should’ve already figured it out. Maybe she knew me better than I thought. I moved the hair off of her face and kissed her cheek.
“Okay, point taken. So, anyway, the little shit-factory figured out how to bypass those so-called child proof latches.”
“He did?”
“Yeah, I’m doing dishes and the next thing I know he’s opened one of the doors and is crawling around inside the cabinet under the sink. So, I moved all of the cleaning supplies to the barn and your birth control pills are on the top shelf of the medicine chest.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” she murmured tiredly. We lay there in peaceful silence for a few minutes. It was nice. I’m glad I didn’t overreact and we had cleared the air.
“You know, I’ve been thinking. I think we ought to rebuild the Riggins house, or maybe build a series of houses like this one. It looks like our population is going to keep growing, whether we want it to or not.” I waited for a response, but after a few seconds of silence, I realized I was talking to myself. Kelly had already fallen asleep.
Chapter 18 – Sarah
I woke at my usual time. The house was quiet, nothing but the rhythm of breathing from Kelly and the kids. Sarah and company had been here for two days now, and while I considered them nice people, there were far too many living here for my comfort. I made it outside without waking anyone but Callahan, who happily followed me out and headed for a good spot in the yard.
I stretched at the entrance to the barn as I looked at the clear dawn. It was a little cool, but it looked like it was going to be a pleasant day. My plan was to get in a quick workout, grab something for breakfast and get started on chores before anyone else was even awake. If everything went according to plan, I could get a sizeable amount of work done and then have the rest of the afternoon free. Thinking it over, I decided I was going over to the radio tower and talk to Justin and Ruth about finding quarters for the Oklahoma crew. I did some more stretching and I’d no sooner started into my first set when the barn door opened. It was Sarah. She had on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt with Air Force logos on them.
“May I join you?” she asked.
“Sure,” I replied. I assumed she wanted to talk while I worked out, but to my surprise, she took off her sweatshirt revealing a slim but muscular torso with perky breasts barely being hidden by a taut athletic bra. She stretched while I completed my first set, and when I set the bar down she took twenty pounds off and began her own set. We stayed with it throughout, matching each other set for set. It took a little longer than I wanted, but she stayed right with me and the two of us pushed each other. When I thought we were finished, she insisted I join her for pushups and then an exercise she called planking. It was harder than I thought it’d be, but my ego prevented me from uttering any complaint.
Kelly had the kids sitting on the kitchen floor and was cooking breakfast when we walked in. She looked at the two of us in concern, which confused me until I realized both of us were covered in sweat and still breathing heavily. And Sarah had not put her sweatshirt back on. I suppose our appearance could have been mistaken for another kind of workout, but I knew Kelly would never think that.
“Good morning,” she said a little suspiciously. Uh-oh, I thought, maybe I was wrong.
“Good morning, love,” I replied and gave her a big sloppy kiss. “Sarah decided to join me in a morning workout.”
“Oh.” Although I had no doubt she believed me, I wasn’t sure what else was going on in her mind. Like I’d been reminded many times in the past by Julie, in spite of how smart I thought I was, I was clueless when it came to women. Our discussion was interrupted by Kate and Kyra coming into the den. They plopped down at the table and grumbled about it being so early.
"Please tell me there's something to drink with caffeine in it," Kate grumbled.
“I just ignore them until they get out of their moods,” Sammy said as he plopped down in a chair. I grinned at him. He was smarter than I originally thought.
“I’m going to wash up,” I said to Kelly and motioned with my head toward our bedroom. She followed me in a minute later.
“I have a plan,” I said, turning toward her while taking my shirt off.
“What kind of plan?”
“I want to pick Sarah’s brain about life in the Midwest. I thought I’d get her to help me with the farm chores and then take her with me to do some scavenging.”
“How was your workout?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Really good, that woman is in pretty good shape,” I said and quickly got into the shower. I thought it’d keep her from interrogating me further, but I should have known better. Kelly stripped out of her night clothes and got in with me.
“Is she going to be your new best friend?” she asked as she reached for the soap. I frowned and shook my head.
“No, sweetheart,” I said. “You’re my best friend.” She huffed and rinsed off. When we’d dried off she wrapped the towel around my neck and pulled my head toward hers. She kissed me long and passionately.
“I’m not sure I like three other single women living here.”
“Are you jealous?” I asked with a grin. She gave me a look. My grin faded.
“Just keep one thing in mind, I’m not into sharing.”
“I don’t want to share you with anyone either,” I said and kissed her again. “You and me, right?” Kelly looked at me a long moment before smiling at me in a way that made me giddy and I felt myself getting aroused.
“How about this, while we’re out scavenging, I’ll talk to her about the living arrangements, maybe find them a house nearby. Sound good?”
“If you say so,” she replied, gave a certain appendage a good squeeze, and left the bathroom giggling.
“I try to vary my routine every day,” I said to Sarah. She looked at me quizzically.
“I figured you for the anal retentive type,” she replied. “The kind of person who has to do things a certain way every time, not that I’m criticizing.”
“I used to be, but one day I almost got ambushed. The person told me my
behavior patterns were very predictable while pointing a gun at me.” I thought of Carla and how she’d ultimately killed herself.
“So, what happened?”
“Thankfully, she didn’t shoot me and I learned my lesson.”
“Someone I know?” she asked, probably wondering if it was Kelly.
“Nope.” She looked at me, waiting for me to explain. “Alright, it goes something like this. Tonya had a little brother named Anthony, who was married to a woman named Carla.” Sarah listened attentively as I explained everything.
“So, Fred killed him?” she asked when I was finished with the story.
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
“Yeah. So, anyway, after Fred killed him, Tonya and Carla became very angry with us. Not too long after is about the time that Carla decided it was all my fault. She stalked me, learned my patterns and confronted me one day while I was checking the fence lines. She told me I always checked the fence lines at the same time.”
“She blamed you for her husband’s death.”
“Yeah, she acted like she was going to shoot me for a minute, but she didn’t.” I paused a moment. “I think things had been building with her for a while. It became too much for her I guess. She ended up killing herself.” Sarah nodded in understanding. “It was sad. She wasn’t a bad person.”
“Yeah, well, shit happens,” Sarah replied. I expected her to ask more questions about her, but I don’t think she was all that interested.
“Okay, so, now you vary your routine.”
“Yeah.”
“How much farm do you have?”
“We essentially have two different farms, Fred’s farm and a farm collective originally owned by the Parsons family. That's who I worked for when the plague broke out.”
“How many acres?” Sarah asked.
“Fred’s farm is about fifty acres, the next door neighbor had another fifty which they had combined and worked together, and the Parsons farm is a collective of roughly fifteen hundred acres. So, after my run in with Carla, instead of doing the same things on Monday and the same things on Tuesday, I break it up. Sometimes it’s not very efficient though.”
“That’s a lot of farm for just a couple of people to manage,” she commented. I sighed heavily.
“Back when Fred and the rest of the crew were alive, we had a handle on it.” I paused for a minute while I made a head count of the cattle. “We were prosperous even. We could’ve easily kept a hundred people fed. After they were killed, I’ve downsized considerably. I maintain all of the fence lines but we’re now only working a fraction of the land. It’s been tough,” I said quietly, knowing she understood the multiple meaning.
I told her about the massacre while we rode the fence lines. She listened in silence as I went over everything, starting when Fred arrived back home. I found a couple of places that needed some mending and then showed her the old houses and the resulting damage.
“So, those three Marines were with the same group that did all of this?”
“Yes.”
“And killed Fred and your wife?” I nodded.
“And they’re the same Marines who abducted you and your kids, and conducted tests on you and your kids like you were lab rats?” I nodded again. I expected her to say something, something derogatory, something insulting, something supportive, anything. But, she had no further commentary on the matter.
“The only thing left for now is to feed the chickens and clean out the coop. Kelly did it last time, so it’s my turn. Once we get that done, I thought I’d head out and do some scavenging. Kelly usually goes with me, but now that we have the kids back someone needs to watch them.” What I didn’t say was that there was no way in hell I was going to leave my kids in the care of Kate and Kyra, people I barely knew. I think Sarah sensed it and understood.
“Are you asking me to join you, Zach?”
“If you want to,” I answered. “It’s always good to have back up, especially when scavenging, but if you say yes, I’ll have to insist on making sure you’re knowledgeable about guns and we rehearse room clearing tactics before heading out.” She stretched a kink out of her back and brushed herself off.
“Let’s get to it,” she said and walked to the chicken coop.
“Alright,” I said as we drove down Trousdale Drive. “I’ve been working this area on and off for over a year now and there’re still plenty of houses and businesses to check out.”
“Why this area?” Sarah asked.
“Are you asking why am I driving all the way over here when there are so many houses and businesses all around the Nolensville area which is so much closer to my house?” I asked sarcastically. Sarah caught the tone.
“Let me guess, it has something to do with the people at the school.”
“Bingo,” I replied. “Tonya and her buds are either too scared or too lazy to venture out more than a five-mile radius of the school and they get all butt hurt if I work the same area.”
“So, instead of causing conflict, you chose instead to scavenge other areas,” she concluded. “Very considerate of you.” I shrugged.
“It seemed more prudent,” I said and gestured. “I’ve been all over Nashville, but this particular area seems bereft of humans. I haven’t seen one around here in quite a while and only a few infected here and there.” I pointed at one of the side streets.
“I’ve not been down this street, let’s try it out.” We started at the house on the corner. I drove into the yard and backed up to the front door. After a minute of not seeing anyone peeking out of the windows, I went to the door and did the standard knock and announce.
“Do you do that every time?” Sarah asked.
“More or less. There’s always a chance that survivors still live here. I don’t want to get into a shootout with someone who's merely protecting their property.” I gestured at the door.
“I give it a good listen, and then try to make entry without making too much noise.” I demonstrated by putting my ear close to the door before forcing it open with a pry bar.
“Hello?” I stood there a minute, waiting for any human to challenge us. There was nothing and I got the distinct musty odor of a home that’d not been occupied in a while. “Okay, let’s clear it.”
“I look for telltale signs,” I said as I pointed out various things. “There’s a lot of undisturbed dust on the furniture and some of the water pipes have busted. Those are indicators no human has lived here in a while, which is good. But, you’ve got to watch for any zombies that’ve been trapped in a closet or bedroom.” She nodded in understanding and we began rummaging through drawers and closets.
We worked through four different houses with minimal results and then took a break for lunch.
“Tell me about Oklahoma,” I suggested. She took a long drink of water.
“I guess you know how Fred and I met,” she started. I nodded.
“I got a brief summation. You know Fred, he was never one for a lot of prattle.” Sarah grinned for the first time since I’d met her.
“Yeah, that’s Fred. Well, let’s see. He shows up out of nowhere driving a vintage, bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle, says he’s going to LA in search of his daughter, and then asked if I would be kind enough to fly him the rest of the way.” She smiled wistfully at the memory. “I looked at him like he had lost his ever-loving mind and said as much.”
“But, you flew him there.”
“Yes, I did,” she said. “He had that effect on me. Anyway, after landing, we went to the address where she had lived. She was still there. Unfortunately, she’d become infected. She’d apparently been trapped inside her apartment the entire time. Fred killed her and her roommate, or whoever it was that was with her, and then we flew back to Tinker.”
“Why’d you drive here instead of flying?” I asked. “Has all the jet fuel gone bad?”
“Bad enough where I didn’t want to risk flying.” She pointed at a house down at the end of the block.
“Look
, that house has a two car garage and a four-wheel drive truck parked out front. I bet he’s a hobby hunter.” I looked where she was pointing.
“That truck’s covered in grime, even the windows. It hasn’t been driven in a while,” she observed.
“Good eye,” I said and started our truck.
We hit pay dirt in the garage. The owner had converted it to his own personal version of a man cave, complete with mounted bass, deer heads, you name it. He had a gun safe and an elaborate reloading system neatly arranged on a custom work bench. I hastily looked through the drawers and smiled.
“Bingo,” I exclaimed as I pulled out box after box of ammunition. The drawers also had several boxes of primers and other reloading material. “Oh, man, this is good,” I told her. “We’ve been really hurting on ammo.” I looked over the different calibers and found myself grinning like a fat man at an all you can eat buffet. Sarah’s response was a soft grunt; she’d quickly put her emotions back in that hidden little room of hers.
“Try to contain yourself. I know it’s a good find, but you’re being far too emotional.” Her response was to glance at me with an arched eyebrow.
“Fred said you were a little bit of a smart ass,” she said glibly. I held my hands out.
“Guilty as charged. Okay, let’s get it loaded,” I said and started with the reloader. She gestured at it.
“I saw two of these in the barn.” I nodded. “But you think you need a third one.”
“Yep, this is an excellent barter item. Or maybe we’ll give it to Josue. That man is constantly tinkering with stuff.”
We loaded everything into the truck, all the while keeping an eye out for hostiles. When we were finished, Sarah gestured toward the garage.
“What about the safe?” I frowned at her question.
“I’m betting they have the combination to it hidden somewhere in the house.” My logic sounded good, but after a frustrating search, we didn’t find it.
Zombie Rules (Book 4): Destiny Page 15