by Brown, TW
Juan squinted his eyes against the sun and looked up the beach at the children playing under the women’s watchful eyes, then back to Thad. “Okay, if you say so.” He shrugged and picked up the post-hole digger.
“I better go get some more posts,” Thad said and headed to the stairs that exited the beach.
Juan looked around again. He hadn’t even realized that this was where he’d first stopped. He’d dropped his anchor right off of this beach. He didn’t even really know how long it’d been. Across the river and to his left he could see Mount St. Helens in the distance. Directly across the river, scattered houses amidst a wall of green. Those houses scattered across the river would be first, he decided.
He plunged the post-hole digger into the ground, smiling at the sounds of children’s laughter.
***
“Kill ‘em now, or deal with ‘em later,” Chad repeated.
Colonel Morris knelt next to the driver, staring out the front window of the bus. Staggering down the road, directly for them, were at least fifty zombies. Only, it looked like a macabre spoof on school field trip. All but a handful of this horde were children, most not even in their teens.
“I don’t think I can do it,” Derrick Foster breathed from the driver’s seat of the bus.
A murmur of similar sentiment rippled through some of the men bunched in the aisle beside Chad’s seat. A few of those that had initially come to look actually retreated to their own seats as if not seeing what was out there would make it go away
“Those aren’t children anymore,” Chad implored. “They’re zombies just like the rest. And if we don’t put them all down, they’ll follow us to Yosemite and there’s no tellin’ how many they’ll bring with ‘em.”
There was a long and uncomfortable silence. Chad could feel eyes on him, glaring. He knew that feeling well from prison. As soon as the general population got wind of his charges, he got similar looks anytime he walked into the chow hall, medical, or the yard.
“He’s got a point,” the colonel finally broke the silence. “But I won’t ask anybody to go out there who don’t think they can do the job. If you’ve got an iota of doubt in your ability to perform, then stay inside. It’ll be hairy enough without having to worry about someone freezing up and addin’ to the mess.”
“We usin’ hand-to-hands only?” somebody asked.
“Guns would defeat our purpose at this point,” Colonel Morris replied.
“I’m out,” the voice announced.
“Well anybody who’s in, let’s go,” the colonel barked. He patted Derrick on the shoulder, “Open the door, son.”
Chad stood, following the colonel out. When Derrick shut the door after the last volunteer had exited, there were fourteen men and two women standing in the chilly morning air. The sky overhead was gloomy, and wisps of fog slithered along the ground in places.
“Sorta brisk out,” one of the guys said, rubbing his hands together.
“My grandpa always said that brisk was a polite way of sayin’ fuckin’ freezin’,” Scott muttered. There was a smattering of laughter.
“Keep spread out,” the colonel put an end to the nervous banter. Volunteers or not, it was clear that everybody was bothered by the task ahead. “We got lucky with an even number. I want each of you in pairs. Do not abandon your partner unless you’ve had to drop ‘em. I don’t have to remind anybody that these things are not children, they are monsters, and they will kill you.”
With those final words, they waded into battle. Chad had one of the women at my side. She’d introduced herself as Michelle as they closed the distance between the zombies and the parked and still-idling bus.
As they closed, somebody else noticed about the same time as Chad did. A barking laugh that was as much amusement as it was relief caused a few people to jump. These weren’t children at all. The little person closest to Chad was a man in his fifties at the very least. That revelation spread quickly through the group. From there, it was a vicious slaughter.
With Michelle at his back, Chad moved along the left side of the road, dispatching one zombie after another. It took him a moment to connect the fact that most of the little people were wearing paraphernalia with the Los Angeles basketball logo emblazoned somewhere. A few had jerseys with the number twenty-four in royal purple. They’d obviously been a group attending a game. As he brought his axe down on another skull, he tried to imagine what horrific event occurred that turned each of these poor souls.
It didn’t take long for them to put each of the zombies down for the last time. After wiping off their weapons, the group made it back to the bus.
“Night of the Little Dead,” somebody quipped.
A chorus of chuckles and outright laughter followed. Chad glanced up and saw the collage of horrified faces staring out the front window of the bus as they walked back, everybody laughing and joking.
“Hey,” he called out, cutting off the mirthful noises. “I don’t think the others know what’s up. They’re lookin’ at us like we’ve lost our minds.”
Colonel Morris moved to the front of the group and raised his arms, “Alright, people,” he called, “let me go ahead and explain. When that bus door opens and we board it, there’s gonna be some hackles raised. Let me shut this down before it gets too spicy.” He went to the bus and actually had to knock on the door before Derrick would open it. When he boarded it, people scrambled back from him like he was a monster…or a zombie.
Chad caught a glimpse of Ronni’s face in the crowd. It felt like a punch in the stomach when he saw the same look of revulsion and horror on her face that was plastered on everybody else’s. Some of those looks softened, but others seemed less than amused by the strange twist of events.
Finally, the colonel emerged. He waved the group over and ushered them on board. Everybody was required to sign the list so that each could be called back one at a time and checked to ensure they were clean. Chad noticed a few scowls as he walked up the aisle when his name was eventually called. Everybody checked out clean. Chad didn’t know about the others…but he felt dirty.
Late that afternoon, a sign came into view. “Yosemite Village Just Ahead.” A small cheer erupted from everybody. It died right around the time the first zombie stumbled out from between two buildings.
16
Geek Delivery
“Somebody needs a bath,” Aleah said, waving her hand in front of her face.
“Yeah?” Kevin asked, making a dramatic showing of sniffing each armpit. “Or maybe…” he looked up with a devious leer.
“Don’t you dare!”
“C’mon, baby,” Kevin pled, trying his hardest not to laugh.
“Kevin David Dreon!” Aleah held both hands out in front of herself, slowly backing up and out through the main entry doors that were propped open to allow the cool autumn breeze of the day to blow through the large building. It possessed a very crypt-like nastiness that everybody was anxious to be rid of.
“Aleah Christina Brock!” Kevin replied in a mocking impersonation of Aleah. He faked a stagger, trying to look like he’d tripped.
Aleah bit and lunged for him with a little shriek. That was when Kevin sprung. Turning his fall into a tackle, he wrapped his arms around the coverall-clad blonde, immediately appreciating how curvy she was.
“You evil man!” Aleah brought up her fists and pounded on Kevin’s chest. Her mouth was silenced with his and all protests vanished as she returned his kiss.
Resting his forehead against hers, Kevin looked into her astonishingly blue eyes. He couldn’t help but marvel for a moment. Aleah was simply the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. He felt a tingle of something in the back of his mind trying to ruin the moment by reminding him that, in the ‘old world’ he would’ve never had a chance with somebody like Aleah.
“What’s wrong?” Aleah’s hand touched Kevin’s cheek.
“Nothin’,” he replied, swatting away at the dark cloud trying to settle over his happiness.
“Don’t lie to me, som
ething is wrong. It’s written all over your face.”
“It’s just…”
“Yes?” Aleah prompted after several seconds of silence.
“You’ll think I’m stupid.”
“Kevin, there are a lot of things I may think about you. Stupid is not likely to ever be one of them.”
“I can’t help it. Sometimes when I look at you,” he began, occasionally stumbling awkwardly over the words. Then, it came in a rush. “You’re so gorgeous. I mean, I’d have bikini posters of you on my wall… You’d never be caught dead with a guy like me if it weren’t for all this crap. And sometimes the reality of that hits me and I worry that, one day, we’ll find this group and some buff jock-type will scoop you up.”
He stared down at the ground while he spoke, scared at the look he might find in her eyes. Thinking it was one thing, but seeing that confirmation in her eyes was something else entirely.
“Okay,” Aleah sighed, “I take my previous statement back…you actually can be stupid.” She took his face in her hands and Kevin could feel the callouses from all the hard work she’d done alongside him the past few days. He looked into her eyes, dreading what he would see. “Do you know what I was doing when this nightmare began?”
“Flying home or something?” Kevin shrugged.
“No…I mean in my life?”
“Not really.”
“I was finishing my Master’s at MIT.”
“Wha—”
“And planning my wedding.” Aleah stepped back and reached in her back pocket. She produced a laminated photo that had seen better days and shoved it at Kevin.
He reluctantly accepted the photo, then blinked. If a Hollywood casting agent were looking to fill a role in the modern remake of Revenge of the Nerds, this guy was a guaranteed lock. And there he was, complete with glasses with lenses so thick that the man’s eyes looked gigantic, like an anime character. He was laughing at something, but he had both arms wrapped around Aleah’s waist. His chin was resting on her shoulder and she was reaching back, cupping his cheek with her hand.
“His name was Daniel Wormdahl and he was probably the smartest guy I ever knew. The first day we met was in molecular physics…he was correcting the instructor.” Aleah smiled, obviously remembering. “I paid the guy sitting beside him twenty bucks to trade seats.”
“I don’t—”
“Understand?” Aleah cut him off. Tears were brimming over in her eyes. “Why is it that when people see me, they have such a hard time believing that I have no interest in brain dead jocks or meatheads that spend more time in front of a mirror than Narcissus?”
“I’m sorry,” Kevin muttered, feeling incredibly foolish as well as clueless about what to do.
“Why is it, that, even with the world dead, we can’t get past the same stupidity that filled our lives? Why does everything have to try and fit itself into the same molds as before despite the fact that there were gigantic and obvious flaws?”
They stood there for a moment, Aleah’s sniffles the only sound. Then, Kevin stepped close to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her on each check, then drew back and looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry. And I appreciate you sharing something so personal with me.” A big grin crept across his face.
“What?” Aleah sniffed, scrubbing the tears away from her face with the sleeves of her sweatshirt.
“You are a geek groupie,” Kevin sing-songed.
“Is that like a chubby chaser?” Aleah managed a smile, slapping Kevin’s chest playfully.
“Yeah, only you swap out pounds for IQ points,” Kevin laughed.
“You know what would be even better?”
“Chubby geeks?”
The two both laughed. Kevin stopped suddenly, staring off in to the distance.
“What is it?” Aleah was instantly on guard.
“The sunset,” Kevin said, bringing Aleah around beside him, his arm snuggled around her waist. “It’s so incredible. It doesn’t care that the world has gone to hell.”
Aleah rested her head against Kevin and sighed. “I think this is the first sunset I’ve appreciated in months…I used to love them.”
“Well if we can’t enjoy something beautiful, what’s the point in fighting so hard to survive?”
***
Erin stared out the window as the sun began to vanish behind the low, rolling hills full of trees changing colors. She watched Matt and Heather as they made their way back from someplace, both carrying an assortment of tools and weapons. Matt was healing up and gaining his strength in noticeable leaps and bounds every day.
And here she sat. Alone. Upstairs. Everyone was busy from sunrise to sunset. Then, as it grew dark, they were tired and very poor company for a young girl who was starting to get more than a little stir crazy. Why didn’t anybody want to keep her company?
Ow, she thought, wincing. There it was again. Something very much like cramps kept happening. In fact, it’d been getting worse the past hour. She’d gone to the bathroom, but nothing happened. She went to step away from the window when another cramp hit. This time, it doubled her over.
Erin tried to cry out, but this one had taken her breath away. Just as it felt like it was easing up, another one hit. This time, a trickle of fluid ran down her thighs. Erin managed a strangled scream; weak at first, but it grew in volume fast.
***
The frightened cry echoed throughout the enormous club house. From every direction, the sound of running footsteps could be heard. Kevin and Aleah met Shari and Peter at the stairs that led up to the offices being converted into living quarters.
Kevin was the fastest and led the way up the narrow staircase. He reached the door just as another wail made the hair on his arms stand up. Erin sounded terrified. He threw open the door and froze. Sitting bowlegged on the floor in a small puddle, pants down to her ankles, was Erin Bergman. He had just enough time to realize that it was indeed a tiny head poking out between her thighs before he lost consciousness.
Peter caught him just enough to stop his fall, laid him aside, then stepped over him into the room. Erin stared up at him, her face a mixture of fear, pain, and embarrassment.
“Shari, go get my kit, Aleah, grab the stack of sterile towels we put in the cabinet, then we’ll need some water boiled for the cleanup,” Peter barked. “Oh, and tell Heather to come get Sleeping Beauty.”
Both women glanced at Erin, then nodded and ran off to take care of their assigned tasks. Peter nudged Kevin the rest of the way out of the doorway and shut it.
“Okay, Erin,” he knelt beside the trembling girl, “let’s get this baby out, shall we?”
***
“Wake up, sweetie,” Heather patted Kevin’s cheek.
“Erin!” Kevin sat up in a rush, almost knocking Aleah over in the process.
“She’s in with Peter.”
“I saw…” his voice trailed off as he realized just what it was he had actually seen.
“She’s having her baby,” Heather said with a smile.
To punctuate that statement, a wail came from behind the door. It made the skin on Kevin’s arms pebble up in goose flesh.
“Is that Erin?” Matt made his way up the stairs.
“Yep,” Heather answered. “She’s in there squeezin’ out a puppy right now.”
“That’s a bit…” Matt stopped, mouth opened, unsure what to say.
“Crude?” Kevin offered.
“Oh please,” Heather scoffed.
“Where is everybody?” Kevin sat up, still looking more than a little dazed.
“Shari and Aleah are in there helping Peter,” Heather answered.
“Wow,” Kevin sighed, “there’s about to be a real baby here. That’s—”
“Complicated?” Heather offered when Kevin seemed to freeze.
“Sure,” Kevin said with a shrug. “But it’ll be amazing, too.”
“Look, I’m not trying to sound like a complete hater.” Heather learned against the wall and slid to a seat
ed position beside Kevin. “It’s just that…if we have to get moving in a hurry, or if we are hiding out and trying to be quiet…this makes things tougher.”
“All the more reason we need to get this place secure,” Kevin said.
“Speaking of that,” Matt spoke up, “we pulled the three trucks in front of the main entry gates.”
Early in the day, Matt and Heather had snuck into the residential neighborhood just up the road. There were five houses along the first road, each with vehicles in the driveway. It had seemed strange until they noticed the enormous RV at the end of the street. It had obviously swerved, probably to avoid a zombie, and crashed into the front of the house that sat at the head of the tee-intersection.
Matt had gone down to get a closer look and saw that the yard had been stomped down flat. It looked as if there had been a lot of zombies here at some point. The RV doors were open, and there was dried blood everywhere. It was brown with age. This had happened a long time ago.
When they went back to the first house, it showed signs of a hasty evacuation; drawers were open, clothes thrown everywhere, cupboards had been picked clean. While there had been so much taken, there was a lot in the way of tools and things like detergents and cleaning supplies. Getting the gas-guzzling SUVs in the driveways started and driving them to the entrance to further bolster their defenses was a secondary benefit. Even though Kevin had built gates and put them up, nobody really felt good about it. The wall of vehicles were another precaution that they’d weighed the dangers of noise versus safety.
Kevin pointed out that they hadn’t seen a zombie since they’d arrived and cleared the place out. The vote was unanimous. This place would be awesome…as long as they didn’t encounter any groups like Shaw and his men again.
“I thought that four of us were gonna make that trip?” Kevin asked after another horrendous groan and scream came from behind the door where Erin was now using an amazing strand of profanity.
“Heather was bored,” Matt shrugged.