She looked in dismay at the bodies of their friends, hands tied behind their backs and shot neatly in the back of the head. “Andy, what did Paulie do?”
Andy kept looking at the bodies of his friends. “Paulie hooked up with these gang bangers. His money still had value and he was paying them, to keep he and Rita protected. Looks like they followed Paulie here and took everything.”
Her head was spinning, trying to comprehend what happened, “ Rita, Claudine, Suzanne, none of the women are here.”
Andy answered through gritted teeth. “I know, the bastards took them.”
While Andy was dealing with his feelings, she began looking around to guess at how long ago their friends were killed. Forcing herself past her own squeamishness, she got close to the bodies. Picking up the leg of one of the men with her foot, she could tell rigor was setting in. It was warm in the sun and the blood on the ground had dried, even the thicker puddles. As she finished her inspection, she came across a sign, left by the culprits that murdered their friends.
“Andy, I'm no expert, but I think this happened at least a couple of hours ago.” She said.
Andy merely nodded.
Tugging on his arm, trying to bring him back to the moment. “I found this sign, what could it possibly mean?”
Andy looked down at the pizza box with a message painted in the blood of his friends, 'Welcome To Inferno.' “A joke, marking their territory, your guess is as good as mine.”
The silence was broken, by a noise behind them. Andy alerted his sister. “It's a dead one, turn around slow and get ready to run.”
They turned to see the woman advancing on them. She was nude and the blood between her thighs giving evidence to the vicious rape she had endured. Her beautiful face was bruised and bloodied from slaps and punches. Her breast were painted in the blood that had gushed from the ear to ear slit in her throat.
Andy dropped to his knees at the sight of the woman, calling out to her, in barely more than a whisper. “Claudie.”
Andy tried to rise, but Ria pushed him back down. “No you don't, I got this for you.”
Ria pulled the knife from its sheath and advanced towards the woman. The woman, turned her full attention on Ria and the two moved in an odd dance. Ria tried to get a hold of the woman, without getting bit. Finally, Ria got a generous handful of the womans long black hair and pulled her head down hard, onto the picnic table and drove her knife in through her ear.
Suddenly, Andy was there, holding the, now, still body of his fiance, with tears streaming down his cheeks. “She wanted to come with me to get you. I hadn't seen you in so long, I wanted to spend some time alone with you. I told her she would be safer, with Paulie and Rita.”
Chapter 2 - Morrow
Andy and Ria wandered aimlessly for days, barely marking the passage of time. The bond between the twins was so strong, Andy's pain over losing Claudine was almost a physical sensation for Ria. Their whole life, Ria had leaned on Andy for support. Now, Andy withdrew into himself and Ria took the unfamiliar role of caring for him.
Ria, unable to take the uncomfortable silence between them, tried to draw Andy out. “I do know something, about what you’re going through.”
Andy scoffed. “Really? You didn't even have plans to marry... God I'm sorry, I'm an ass.”
Ria looked down at the jagged scar on her wrist. “Yes you are, but at least you didn't try to join Claudine.”
Andy hugged his Sister. “We're two halves of a whole, you and me, till the end of the world.”
“And whatever the hell this is.” Ria added.
With the loss of all their friends and no safe harbor to go to, the twins chose an isolated location to hide. There was so much to fear, the relentless, risen dead and the group calling themselves Inferno. For a time, just to survive to the light of another day was enough. Ria honed her knife skills on the, occasional, dead ones that found their camp. Each kill, made the creatures seem less like people.
Andy began giving his sister shooting lessons, starting with a .22 pistol. The gun had no recoil, barely made a sound and Ria rapidly became a better marksmen than her brother. Andy brought out his trusty .22 target rifle and showed Ria how to shoot it. Their Father, had given Andy the rifle when he turned fifteen. The rifle, had earned Andy several awards in shooting competitions and even the occasional, though given grudgingly, compliment from their Father.
The jeep, allowed them to travel off road and the twins camped on a steep bluff. The dead, seemed to have trouble walking up hill. They had a clear view, though it was nearly a half mile away, of the 575 and 75 intersection. Ria had become obsessed, with not only learning to handle firearms, but excel in their use. Lying in a prone position, with the barrel of the 22 rifle perched on a rock, Ria took headshots at any dead, having to much success, moving uphill.
Andy was positioned a short ways away, watching the roads through a spotting scope. Andy smiled, every time the 22 would pop and Ria gleefully chuckled her delight, when the shot found its mark. Even more amusing to Andy, was Ria's anger at herself when she missed. Suddenly, Andy's attention was directed at a late model sedan, being followed down 575 by a black SUV.
The SUV, eventually overtook the sedan and turned sideways, blocking the road. The driver of the sedan got out with his hands raised. A tall, thin man emerged from the passenger seat of the SUV and was joined shortly by the driver of the SUV. Andy could see the SUV's driver smiling, as he talked to the man facing them. Eventually, the driver of the Sedan, lowered his hands and turned back to wave the other occupant out.
When the sedan's passenger door opened, the SUV's driver drew a pistol and shot the other man in the back of his head, splattering his brains against the windshield of the sedan. The thin man raced up to the passenger door and tore it open, before the occupant could shut and lock it. The thin man, pulled out a rotund woman with dishwater blonde hair. He dragged her over to the hood of the sedan and pressed her face into the mess, left from the man's shattered skull.
With one hand twisted into her hair, the man pulled a long knife with his other hand and slit the back of her sweat pants, exposing her plump ass. He placed the knife on her back, undid his fly and roughly entered the woman. The driver of the SUV, started rifling through the couples belongings, ignoring the woman's pleas.
Visions of Claudine, played through Andy's mind, causing him to curse the men, under his breath.
“What was that?” Ria asked.
Though unable to tear his own eyes away, Andy didn't want his sister to witness this scene. “Nothing, damn bugs.”
The one man, finished loading whatever he had found of value into the SUV, about the same time the thin man was done, raping the woman. Pulling her head back by her hair, he retrieved his knife from her back, placed it to her neck and slit her throat from ear to ear. The woman's blood sprayed out as if from a geyser and the man used his hold on her hair to spray her blood, over the front of the sedan.
The man, tossed the woman's limp body to the side. The sedan's hood, heated by the hot Georgian sun, caused her blood to congeal rapidly. Extending his index finger, the man wrote, 'INFERNO', in the sticky ichor.
With the spotting scope dialed up to its maximum, Andy studied the face of the thin man. Then watched, for as long as possible, the SUV, fading away to the east. Turning the scope back to the murdered couple, Andy witnessed the woman's corpse rise up and with the sweatpants bunched around her ankles, she stumbled towards the bloody sedan. She paused briefly, ran a hand through the mess and seemed to sniff the air. Moving on, she went to the body of her man, fell to her knees and began to feed.
Andy was convinced that these men had a part to play, in Claudine's murder. Vowing to avenge Claudine, Andy began formulating a plan, he hoped would allow him to cross paths with these men.
Andy rolled onto his back and then sat up. “Ria, I've been thinking.”
“About what?” Ria questioned, not taking her eye away from the 22's scope..
“Seems to me, I've been saying that for a while.” Ria replied.
“I know, I just been weighing the odds, trying to think of where to go.” Andy answered.
Ria, turned to look at her brother. “Where are we headed?”
“There are some big lakes up near Gainesville. It's good camping there and if needs be, we can push farther north, up into the Blue Ridge mountains.” Andy urged.
Ria smiled at her brother. “You don't need to convince me little brother, just say when.”
The next day, Andy and Ria were parked at a distance from a campsite that was in a furious state of activity. Armed guards patrolling the perimeter, which was a simple rope with chimes made of cans and pans. Outside of that, crews were digging large pits and assembling barriers, made of sharpened branches and poles.
Pacing around, seemingly directing all of this was a robust, older man. Ria, focused her scrutiny on him. He was wearing black, military style, lace up boots. Green cargo pants and a shirt style, popular with many trap shooters. The sleeves were rolled up, revealing muscular forearms. His hair was black, but peppered with gray. His neatly trimmed beard, grayer than his hair, gave him a distinguished look. As Ria watched, a young girl ran up to the man. He picked her up and briefly swung her around, before sending her off to a group, sharpening up more sticks for their barrier.
While Andy continued to watch, Ria went to rummage through her clothes and then quickly changed. “Okay let’s go.” Ria announced.
Andy took one look at his sister, wearing a simple blouse with a scooping neckline and cringed. Andy was not a prude. His sister was a beautiful women and he had seen her wear much more revealing attire at social affairs, but those were different times. After what had happened to their friends, to Claudine, Ria needed to be careful of sending the wrong message. “Ria what in the hell are you thinking?”
Ria smiled. “Trust me Andrew. If there’s one thing I know about, it's men.” Ria moved her right hand, under her left breast. “Just show them a little charm...” Then moved her hand under her right breast. “...and flattery, men like him are glad to help a lady out.” Finally, she patted the pistol on her hip. “If all else fails, I do have other means of persuasion.”
Andy couldn't help, but chuckle at his sister's confidence. “No offense to your charm and flattery there, but times are different, people are taking whatever they want, there are no consequences.”
“Little brother, what you don't understand is, people have always taken what they wanted. They might be more straight forward in their methods now, but in reality, not that much has changed.” Ria asserted. “Just follow my lead.”
Andy shook his head. “Don't I always.”
Andy steered the jeep down the two-track, leading to the group's encampment. As he neared the guards, watching that trail, he turned the jeep so that Ria could address the men. “Please, we aren't looking for trouble, but could we speak to whomever is in charge?”
One of the men, standing watch, turned to the other. “I'll hold em here, you go get Childers, he can figure this one out.”
The man left at a trot and arrived a few minutes later with Rex Childers. Childers was a stern looking man. He was tall, with a lean athletic frame and his head was shaved clean. As he looked at the couple in the jeep, his eyes squinted and his lips curled into an angry scowl. “Sorry folks, we are day to day around here, we ain't taking no more in.”
Ria glued on her prettiest smile and slowly exited the jeep. On the short ride over to the encampment, Ria had released her hair from the ponytail she had been wearing it in, of late, letting it cascade over her shoulders in red waves. Stepping away from the door of the jeep, the breeze caught her hair, causing it to glint in the sunlight. Unconsciously, the eyes of all three men, focused on her and seemingly, with a mind of their own, scanned her up and down.
Ria addressed the trio, her southern accent laid on even thicker. “Gentlemen, I assure you, we will not be a burden. My brother and I, fully intend to pull our weight and contribute to your group. It's just that we are in dire need of a safe haven and y'all are so organized.”
Rex was not unsympathetic to the plight of the pair, but he knew how thin their resources were stretched. Besides, this couple seemed to be faring well enough so far. “Miss, I hear ya, we are just so strapped, caring for those already here.”
Ria, seeing the dark haired man she suspected was really in charge, spoke louder to catch his attention. “Mister Childers, all we are asking, is you give us a chance to prove ourselves. We would never dream of depriving any of these dear children, or their families, a morsel of food.”
Gideon Morrow, seeing the confrontation taking place, walked over to satisfy his curiosity. “Rex, who do we have here?”
“Gideon, I was just explaining that it is not possible for us to take in more people.” Rex replied.
Hearing Gideon's name, Ria jumped on the opportunity. “Gideon, what a delightful name. Andrew, be a lamb and show mister Childers what we have to offer Gideon's band.”
Andy wasn't crazy about giving up their supplies, but this group was organized and Ria had let the cat out of the bag. Hopefully, they wouldn't take their belongings and kick them down the road. Rex had the guards open the makeshift gate, while Andy opened the back of the trailer.
Ria, moved in through the open gate and daintily extended her hand to Gideon. “Ria Carlyle and you are?”
“Gideon Morrow ma'am, pleased to make your acquaintance.” Gideon responded as he bowed and kissed the back of Ria's hand.
“Oh my, I could tell you were a gentleman, right from the start.” Ria, linked her arm with Gideon's. “Gideon, while your man shows Andrew where to stow our supplies, would you be so kind as to give me a tour?”
As Gideon showed Ria about the camp, he told her the story of their group. “Don't be too hard on Rex, he's been with me for years and always got me through the tough spots in my life.” They stopped at a semi-trailer, painted with an outdoors mural and the words, 'Morrow's World Taking Adventure To New Heights'.
“I've always been, what you might call, a sportsman. I've hunted damn near everywhere. As I got older, I got this gig with the Outdoorsman channel. I was more the face of the show, not really taking the high risks. When this thing broke out, Rex and I were at a convention, hawking Morrow's World products. Freeze dried food, tools and gear. Hold on a minute.” Gideon left Ria's side and entered the trailer, returning momentarily, with a couple of water bottles.
“Here you go, we've given these to everybody here. They have a built in filter. You could pee in these and drink it, just like it came off the tap.” Gideon explained.
Ria, took the bottles and clipped them to her belt. “Well, I certainly hope it does not come to that, but it is a comfort to know, I have that option.”
Gideon chuckled. “Clean water is a must. If we have somebody get sick and heaven forbid die, it would be catastrophic.”
Ria nodded. “I never thought about it in those terms, of course this all so new. The people Andy and I have seen thus far, have been so lost and desperate. You are the only one, taking action against these things.”
Gideon cleared his throat, in embarrassment. “Lord knows, I wish I could have helped more people, done more.”
Ria stopped and faced him looking him deep in the eye. “You have a lot of people here and I know they are alive, because of the actions you have taken.”
Gideon gave her a sad smile. “I don't know about a lot, we have barely a hundred people and keeping them alive is proving to be a trick. It's not just the monsters on the outside, it's keeping these people fed. Keeping things clean around here, so diseases don't start. I've travelled the world and I've seen first hand what happens when sanitation is poor. The lake will be fished out soon and our latrines will only last so long. Sooner, rather than later, I'll need a new spot to move this group to.”
&n
bsp; “My offer of support was sincere, my brother knows the area around the state well. Talk to him of your needs and he may be able to offer some solutions. I've worked in shelters and I am no stranger to hard work, tell me how I can help.” Ria stated.
Gideon's smile brightened at her enthusiasm. “We need all the help we can get. Normally we take our meals as a community, but I do get some perks. Why don't you and your brother, join Rex and I for a quiet dinner in our trailer.”
“We would be delighted, it’s a date then. Please let us continue our walk and teach me all the marvelous ideas, you have put in place.” Ria replied.
With their trailer relieved of its supplies, Rex found a spot for Andy to park. Ria and Andy spent the rest of their day, converting the trailer into a camper. After spending days sleeping in the jeep, it was a relief to be able to stretch out at night. Andy was particularly struck by the change in Ria's mood.
Ria, had been quick to accept a world with the dead and had never made one complaint, about the conditions that she and Andy had been living in. It was immediately obvious to Andy, being allowed to join the Morrow group, was of utmost importance to her. Her mood was so bright, her smile showing genuine happiness and her entire demeanor was radiant.
Dead Reckoning_HZA, Vol. 3 Page 3