It sounded simple enough. And it would have been.
If not for the zombies.
They got as far as Broadway and 8th Avenue, about where the Federal courthouse is/was located. As Rick approached the intersection, Don gasped and Rick let out a concerned, “Oh shit.”
“What?” Janet was in the back seat and, at Rick’s direction, had been spending most of her time gazing out of the back window. She turned and looked out the front. “Oh shit!”
Rick was both amazed and frightened. “There must be thousands of them!” They were a variety of age, race, and gender, and they seemed to come out of nowhere. They must have been very hungry. The leading edge of the horde swarmed the truck. Rick punched the gas, running over several. One got hung up under the truck, but Rick did not slow down. He accelerated and turned down a side street.
“Rick!” Don yelled. “There are cars blocking the street!” Rick slowed only a bit, hopped a sidewalk, and performed a high speed U-turn that would have made any stunt driver proud. He hopped another curb and raced diagonally through a parking lot which was surprisingly empty of cars due to the entrances being blocked off by chain and padlock. Rick grunted, and bypassed the chained entrances by jumping the curb on the far side of the parking lot. He narrowly avoided wrecking into several abandoned cars and eventually made it back onto Eighth Avenue. Rick put distance between them and the horde.
“Holy shit that was close!” Rick shouted. “There is no way we could have killed all of those motherfuckers before they ripped us apart.” He glanced over at Don and Janet as he drove. They nodded in agreement.
“Nice driving big guy.” Janet said. She leaned forward and tousled Rick’s hair, much like she did with Zach earlier in the morning. Rick stole a couple of additional glances at his passengers. Both had broken out in a nervous sweat, which was understandable. Janet was fine, just working off the jitters. Don though was a deathly shade of pale and staring straight ahead. Rick looked back at Janet and inclined his head toward Don. Janet’s smile faltered. “Don, are you okay?” She asked.
Don did not answer immediately. In fact, Janet finally had to gently shake his shoulder to bring him back to reality. He slowly looked over at Rick. “There is no FEMA camp, is there Rick?”
Rick slowly shook his head. “If there was, it’s long gone now. We can ask Zach, but it could be, I’m thinking the reason there were so many zombies packed together is because the camp people became infected. I think the Titan’s stadium can hold something like 70,000 people. If there were a FEMA camp set up there and they all got infected…” Rick left the sentence unfinished. He hoped he sounded as smart as Zach.
Don looked defeated. “What do we do now Rick? We left our home. We thought we were going someplace safe. Now we have nothing.”
Rick slowed down to a tolerable speed and glanced over at Don. “It’s not a problem Don. You got your family out alive. That’s the most important thing. Zach and I can get you guys set up in a new home. Hell, our nearest neighbors, the Riggins, their house is empty. It’s a pretty nice one too. Five bedrooms, three full baths. I know for a fact they have clean well water. We can set up a generator to power the place. I helped Henry install two wood stoves, so Zach and I can help y’all with the wood for the winter.” As he spoke he looked on his windshield. The snowflakes were much thicker now.
Rick took a few slow deep breaths to calm his nerves, stopped the truck, and made a full circular scan. Seeing no zombies, he took the opportunity to get out and check the undercarriage. The carcass of the zombie was lodged in the wheel well. Fortunately, most of the body had been ground down from begin drug along the asphalt. Rick had Don turn the wheel in one direction and he was able to work the upper half of the Torso loose. As he pulled it out, the zombie’s head turned toward Rick and attempted to bite him. Rick quickly dropped the torso and kicked it away from him.
“Holy shit, did you guys see that? The fucking thing is still alive! There’s nothing left from the waist down but it’s still alive!” Fucking amazing, Rick thought. He got back in the truck and locked the door.
“Alright you two, downtown Nashville is definitely a no-go. The snow is getting heavier and will probably drop a couple of inches before the day is over. We need to start heading back, but there’s no reason why we can’t make this work for us.”
“What do you have in mind Rick?” Janet asked worriedly.
“We scrounge around and try to find stuff. We’ve been on the road two hours now and have nothing to show for it. Let’s at least attempt to round up some supplies.” Janet looked at Don and nodded. Don still looked pale, but he did not argue. Rick tried to recall everything on Zach’s list. The boy could sure write a lot of lists. He tried to get Rick to take it with him, but he refused out of nothing more than pure stubbornness. The easy items to remember were gas and food, but there were a lot of other things the two of them thought up and dutifully listed. He scratched his beard as he drove and looked around. He stopped in the middle of the Wedgewood intersection. There were two convenience stores on opposite corners. The windows were broken out and they had obviously been looted. Rick used the binoculars to confirm the shelves were bare. He drove slowly south Eighth Avenue and made their way into the community called Melrose. There were some fast food restaurants they checked out, but the freezers contained only spoiled, foul smelling food.
“We’re not having much luck today.” Janet said.
Rick started to agree, but then he stopped suddenly. Don and Janet looked at him questioningly. “There.” He pointed to a full service gas station on the corner a block away. It was old and poorly maintained, but it appeared to be still functional and up until recently had still been in business.
Rick and Zach had agreed one of the many items they had a need for were tools. They had quite a few back at the farm, but as any real man knew, one can never have enough tools. He scanned the area with his binoculars once more. Satisfied there were no major threats, he put the truck in drive and headed toward the building. Rick circled the building and then parked among some abandoned cars.
“Okay, let’s keep it simple. We’ll clear the building and then you two stand guard while I go to work. Who knows what kind of goodies may be in the service bays. And, we must be quiet. Zach and I saw firsthand these things are attracted to sound, and to a lesser degree, movement. If you guys spot any, don’t yell or do a lot of frantic moving around. Whisper just loud enough to get my attention. Got it?” He got a nod out of Janet, Don was still silent. Rick stifled a sigh. He hoped they did not do something stupid and get them killed.
The three of them exited the truck and shut the doors quietly. Rick left his rifle in the truck, opting to keep his hands free and using his Kimber, but only if he had to. He got a pry bar and went to the front door, which was a standard glass with a steel frame. He tapped on the glass softly. “What are you doing?” Janet whispered.
“Remember what I said? They’re attracted to sound. If there are any of them in there, they’ll come see what the noise is. If there is anyone living in there and if they are halfway smart, they’ll know zombies don’t knock on the door before breaking in.”
Janet looked at the door, looked at Rick and smiled. She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Unlocked.
Rick stroked his beard gruffly. “Smartass.” He whispered. They cleared the building slowly and clumsily. Several times, he caught Janet waving her gun back and forth and cringed inwardly. He was somewhat worried she would accidentally fire off a round and he would get hit. They did not work very well as a team. Rick missed Zach already. The two of them had practiced over and over the fine art of both surreptitious and dynamic room clearing. Zach was a natural. Janet and Don were clumsy oafs.
Once Rick was satisfied the building was clear, he quickstepped over to the service bay. He looked at the two and grinned. “God may be smiling upon us. Look.” He pointed at a utility truck. It was a Chevy Silverado 2500. It had the utility package with tool boxes mounted on the
sides. The ensemble was completed with a welder and a generator strapped down in the bed. The keys were still in it. “Let’s hope the mechanic finished working on it.”
Don wasted no time. He went over to a mechanics tool chest, a large Snap-On brand. “Lots of good tools in here. We should take these.” Rick agreed with a nod. They spent the next forty-five minutes unloading the chest, and then manhandling it onto the back of the truck before reloading it. Rick went outside and got the hand pump out of the truck. Janet saw what he was doing and began unloading their five gallon gas cans. Good, he thought. She’s finally starting to understand what needs to be done. He decided there was hope for her yet. He caught himself staring at her breasts longingly. So did Janet.
“You want to get your mind back on the task at hand?” She said without warmth. Rick snorted and started pumping gas out of the underground storage tank. It took almost an hour, but they eventually got everything they could. He even filled up both trucks, which he almost forgot about.
Rick stretched and looked at the sky. The snow was coming down very hard now, limiting how far he could see to just a few yards. It’s going to drop three inches or maybe more, Rick thought. It was getting colder as well. Time to go.
“This is a decent haul. Let’s call it and get out of here. I sure hope that truck starts. Alright, here’s how this is going to work. Don, get in that work truck and start it. Janet man the service bay door. Once the truck starts get the door up and open as quickly as you can. Every garage door I’ve ever fooled with makes a lot of noise, so don’t worry trying to be quiet, just get it open. I’m going to be in my truck. If that work truck doesn’t start, we’ll grab as many of the tools that we can and then get out of here. I don’t like staying in one place for too long and I think we’ve been here a bit too long already. If at any time zombies start showing up, we’re going to stop whatever it is we’re doing and haul ass. Don’t worry about leaving anything behind, we’ve gotten ourselves a decent supply of gas and we can always come back later.” They nodded at Rick. He hoped it would work out.
It did. Well, sort of.
The work truck started right up. Janet got the service bay door open about three feet and then it stuck. Rick hopped out of the truck and ran over. He grabbed the bottom of the door and began trying to lift it like a weightlifter. It did not budge more than a couple of inches.
He stopped and inspected closer. “Ah, dang it. There’s a chain looped through some holes here. It’s padlocked.”
Janet watched as Rick ran back to the truck and retrieved some bolt cutters as quickly as his bad leg would allow him. As he trotted back to the door he saw them. About a dozen zombies had apparently heard the racket and were shambling toward them from a burned out building down the street. Rick slid the bolt cutters under the door and drew his Kimber. He began carefully aiming and shooting, taking down one after another.
“I can’t cut it! I don’t have the strength.” Janet gasped.
Rick hastened a quick look under the door. Don was still sitting in the truck looking at them through the mirror.
“Don, dang it, give her a hand!” Don refused to move. “Motherfucker.” Rick growled under his breath. He shot until he was out of ammo. He reloaded as he ran back to his truck. He could shoot quicker with the AR-15. More zombies appeared, at least ten more. Rick shot them all and then crawled under the partially open door. Janet was desperately trying to cut through the padlock. Rick joined in and with a mighty unified squeeze on the handles of the bolt cutter they snapped the chain in half. Janet pulled the chain out and finished lifting the door. As soon as she did so Don put the newly acquired truck into reverse and floored the gas. He sideswiped Rick’s truck in the process. Rick looked at him like he had lost his mind.
“Get in the truck!” He yelled. Janet did not hesitate. She got in the driver’s side while Rick started shooting again. He saw Janet put the truck in drive. He was suddenly alarmed. Was she going to leave him? His leg was sending electric bolts of pain up his hip and back, but he ran as fast as he could and jumped in the bed of the truck just as she sped off. Zombies were mere inches from him as she maneuvered back to Franklin Pike.
Chapter 13 - Houseguests and Fish
Zach had watched the three of them leave with no small amount of trepidation. He had full confidence in Rick, but he was still worried. In the meantime, there was work to be done. He stoked the fire and hung an old but sturdy cast iron tea kettle on a hook over the flames. Julie sat on the couch and watched.
“What’s that for?” She asked.
“I’m heating up some water to wash the dishes.” I said. I kind of hoped she would volunteer to help out. I was mistaken.
“What is there to do around here?” She asked.
I chuckled. “Chores. Lots of chores.”
“Fuck that.” Julie replied.
“I wish they were that easy to blow off.” I replied. “Chores can mean the difference between survival and starving.”
Julie laughed derisively. “Yeah, right.”
I was getting irritated. Where had she been the last month, on Mars? I tried to put on a patient smile. “I guess you may be right. Let me ask you something. What did we have for dinner last night?” Julie rolled her eyes and refused to answer. “I’ll help you out. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. Did you think all of that food magically appeared, or perhaps I ran down to the local grocery store? Rick killed the chicken yesterday and spent a couple of hours preparing it for dinner. The green beans came from our garden. The biscuits, well, you should get the idea by now, unless you’re just plain stupid.” I got a sullen, angry glare in response.
“I don’t know if you have just repressed the memories of the past few weeks, but when Rick and I met you guys, you were a pitiful looking bunch; hungry and dirty. You certainly didn’t turn that meal down, now did you.” Julie tried to maintain her angry sneer at me, but could not accomplish the feat. She stared at the fire instead and crossed her arms. “One would think, after nearly starving and going without a hot bath for as long as you did, you’d be more appreciative. Anyway, I’m through with the sermon. I’ve got a lot of work to do. I could use your help if you would be willing to give it.”
Julie glared at me. “You’re not my dad and I’m not your slave. You’re acting like you’re all badass and better than me. You’re not. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re the same age, so quit thinking you’re so special. And besides, all of this shit going on right now is just temporary.”
I shrugged my shoulders “Hey, you may be right. For all we know the government may be getting everything up and running, and it will be back to normal in no time. In the meantime we’ve got to help ourselves, and the time is long over to be acting like a petulant brat. Are you going to help out or not?” The only response I got was a dramatic display of her middle finger.
“I’ll help! What are we going to do Zach?” Tommy had come in during our little conversation and had been listening quietly.
“I’ll be glad to have you help me Tommy. We’ve got to feed the chickens and the cows. And then we need to check the farm for any new calves.”
“Neat! Can we ride on the ATV?”
“Sure. I’ll even teach you to drive.” I said.
We got our jackets and made a hasty exit. What is it with girls? I did not get it. Did she think that she was so special that she could just hang out, doing absolutely nothing, and we’d wait on her hand and foot? Bullshit, absolute bullshit.
“C’mon Tommy. Let’s get the chickens fed.” The snow was just starting, just a light dusting at first, but I had no doubt it was going to get thicker as the day wore on. I wanted to get as much done as possible while still able.
Tommy was more of a burden than a help, but even so, I fed the chickens, gathered some eggs, and checked the hay. There was still plenty lying out in the pasture. I got Tommy on the ATV and we made a slow trek around the farm.
“What are we doing now Zach?” Tommy asked.
/> “We’re checking on the cattle. We have a few cows that are pregnant. You see Tommy, when the barometric pressure drops, it can cause a pregnant cow to give birth. We need to find all of the newborn calves and get them into the barn.”
“Why?”
“So they won’t freeze to death. It’s going to get a lot colder in the next few days I’m thinking.”
“Oh.” He replied plainly. I chuckled. The whole explanation was probably entirely over his head, but it was nice to have a pleasant conversation without getting a shitty look or flipped off.
We found three newborn calves in total. When we found one, I’d pick it up, and carry it on the ATV while Tommy slowly drove back to the barn. The mother cow usually followed. We did this each time and it was very time consuming. After a couple of quick lessons, I had Tommy driving while I held onto the calves lest they fall off and injure themselves. We toured the rest of the farm, presumably to let Tommy enjoy himself, but I really wanted to make sure there were no zombies lurking around. We then drove to the Riggins house. I should have thought of it earlier. Freezing weather was going to wreak havoc on all of the plumbing unless something was done. First, we carefully drove around the house to make sure there were not any new occupants. Satisfied, Tommy and I went inside. It was a beautiful home. It was all brick, built solidly, and had a large basement. Mr. Riggins had converted into an awesome man cave with two large, flat panel televisions, surround sound, a pool table, and a poker table. He also had a wet bar and a big Jacuzzi. All of which were now basically worthless, but it was nice nonetheless.
“What are we doing now Zach?” Tommy asked.
“We’re going to make sure the pipes don’t freeze.” I was hopeful we were not too late. The temperature had been in the thirties and forties for the past couple of weeks. If I was too late, most of the pipes would have split as a result of freezing. We would have to fix the plumbing before anyone could live here. Tommy and I went to each faucet and turned them on. Although there was no longer any water pressure to speak of, water seeped out of each tap. The pressure tank for the well was located in the garage, as was the hot water heater. Both were equipped with a drain valve. I hooked up a garden hose to each drain so all of the water would drain outside instead of onto the garage floor.
Zombie Rules Page 9