Dead End (Book 3): A Very Good Thing

by P. S. Power

  Spices.

  “Ah! Great, this is really good. How much do you want in trade for it?” He looked up slightly at the man, who spread his hands and started to say it was a gift.

  Sammi interrupted, raising her left hand just a bit.

  “Spices are a commodity again, Jake. One that, by and large, Morris’s people control for the time being. Perhaps setting a standard price for them would be helpful? For that matter, perhaps arranging for deliveries and sales of a variety of goods would be useful?”

  It was a good idea. A great one in fact. Jake looked at Morris.

  “Right. You might want to look into that. It really is a good plan. Try to keep your share fair though, and work with the other sections. We’re kind of on an emergency footing still. Um, maybe if you could get with Nate and get about ten or fifteen people from here to help with it, who could go with your people to make sales and deliveries? As for this, would… Say a thousand pounds of meat be enough?” He had it, a lot more than that, in his barn, well frozen. That was about what he could spare though. Tiredly he remembered that he’d kind of promised that to the Technologists. That would be food for several days. Longer if they could collect some wild fruits and veggies to go with it.

  “Or, I can maybe trade some forge work? If you need anything. I’ll worn you first though; I’m not that great at it yet.”

  Grinning the man just gestured at the case.

  “Call it a matching set of four knives, due when you get good enough not to feel bad about the trade? They’ll be almost priceless after all, if you make them, so it’s not like I’m being cheated.” He looked happy enough about it and oddly, the people that had been listening in all started agreeing.

  Of course they hadn’t seen his forge work yet. He was kind of new to it, and it showed.

  Morten stood behind him, looking tired, along with a cute woman that had orange hair to go with her eyes and a little girl. The ones from the picture he’d seen. It was an odd place to bring a child right now, but the woman held her close, so it was probably safe enough.

  Jake looked at them and then Morten.

  “Is this Tansy and Ginny?” He asked, pleased that he remembered the names at all. The women looked surprised that he’d known who they were.

  “Yes… I… wanted you to meet them. I…” He looked at Morris, then the guard line for some reason.

  “You said that you didn’t want to learn the names of people you might have to kill later, but they don’t live here, and we’re safe, where we are. So, I figured that this would give you a connection to someone…” He looked back at Jake and shook his head.

  “I know it isn’t much, but, we need links, Ba-Dehist. You need them. Without connections, there’s no point to any of this and we can’t afford… to have you leave us.”

  It was an odd thing to say, but Jake just nodded, hugged the little girl for a second, since she really was adorable, like a puppy, and patted Tansy on the back, forcing a smile. Then they left, quickly, before the little girl could fuss or make too much noise. It was nearly perfectly executed, to tell the truth. In, meet him, and gone in minutes. Teleportation was so cool.

  Morris patted his son on the back and then did the same to Jake, as other Teleporters came and went with loads of gear and supplies. It probably wasn’t that hard to get a hold of anymore, since most people were dead and didn’t care if their stuff went missing.

  Jake glanced around and finally waved everyone into the kitchen. If they had to talk, it was better to do it indoors, where walls could muffle the sounds. The room was warm too, and smelled of cooking as Jake set the box of spices down on the table. They were, he decided, for his house, but he wanted his hands free for the time being. The second he got in, people stared.

  For once it wasn’t at him. Yay.

  The room rushed Sammi and Barb though, holding them both and making soft, surprised sounds, loud enough that Nate came from the other room, followed by Burt, who had his arm in a sling, and Robin, who had two black eyes and a badly swollen nose. She looked like a raccoon.

  Nate moved in and hugged the girls himself, “oh thank God. You have no idea how worried we all were. I… We couldn’t think about it. It…”

  Heather pushed in the door and frowned at Jake, Colleen in tow behind the pregnant girl, literally being pulled by the arm. She didn’t look happy to see him at all. As she got in front of him she stood for a second, smelling a little ripe. Then slapped him in the face. Hard. Half the room stared at her. The rest ignored “Crazy Heather” out of sheer habit.

  Jake didn’t hold his face, even though it stung, just getting ready for whatever tirade would be coming. It wasn’t a long wait.

  “If you’d stayed here, none of this would have happened. The cannibals would have just died. All of this is your fault. All of it.” She spun to walk away, pushing Colleen towards him before she went. The girl was pretty banged up, had a fat upper lip, and her blond hair was matted on the left side of her head, by blood.

  “Watch her now. Don’t leave her again. If you do, she’s going to die. You can’t let that happen. It won’t go well for you if you do.” It sounded like a threat, dark and angry.

  It wasn’t.

  Jake understood her meaning. If he let the last link to his old life die, it would affect him. Not in a good way either, apparently. In the end that was probably right. He looked at them both and caught Heather’s eye, nodding just a bit. Enough so that her face softened a little and she gave just the tiniest nod back, signaling that he’d gotten the message right. Maybe at least.

  Then she stalked off, glaring hard enough that people cleared the door to let her through without comment.

  “Right. OK. Sorry Colleen. Won’t happen again. Are you alright?”

  “Um, a bit sore. Maybe with a concussion, no one’s sure. I think I feel alright, just tired.”

  Didn’t they all feel tired though? He kept moving, making a point of keeping the small woman next to him the whole time, if only to keep Heather from coming back to kick his behind. It took a while to convince everyone that going off and hunting for game in the tropics was a good thing to do, but half an hour later he had a whole crew going with him.

  Carl, Vickie, Tipper, Colleen, Robin and Dave. The rest were too busy, too tired, or couldn’t hunt to save their lives. Really he wasn’t thrilled to have Robin and Colleen, but at least Robin could shoot. Colleen… would learn.

  Morten geared up to take them all, which got Cam to run over, her face set and emotionless.

  “I’m going too. I need to learn the location and I’m supposed to be working with Jake on all this, so…”

  She clearly expected an argument. Jake didn’t see why, she was right after all. Even Morten just nodded to her and held out his hand. Eyes closed, standing on the back porch, Jake knew instantly when they arrived. The air was humid and smelled of growing things, instead of snow. It was warm too, suddenly too hot for the jacket he was wearing and the gloves covering his fingers, so he slipped those off into his pockets, carefully juggling the rifle in his hands as his green coat got unbuttoned. Everyone else stood doing similar things for a bit.

  No one was there to meet them this time, so they just waited. Morten looked around, his face a bit perplexed.

  “It’s the right spot. We are late though. Couldn’t really be helped. I hope it doesn’t make them mad. Normally they have people waiting, even if you come unannounced. This is really not to their normal pattern.”

  Jake hoped they weren’t upset too, even if they were a little weird. They’d seemed alright, other than the strange huddles and weird clothes. Even those weren’t that bad. They just looked different, not uglier for what they wore. It wouldn’t do to give offense though, if they could help it, Plus, it really sounded like they could use a hand, didn’t it? It’s why he’d come back.

  No one came for a long time, so long that Jake was just about to call it a day when a rustling came from his left side, away from the direction people had left to th
e day before. At first he wondered if it was an animal, or possibly if someone had just gotten lost in the thick growth surrounding them.

  It wasn’t that, he realized as soon as he saw the face of the woman that stepped out. Not at all. This person was clearly looking for them. She batted at the large leaves, pushing the deep green plants aside with a soft chuckle.

  The hair was shorter than he remembered, the build a little thinner, but that could have been the skin tight tan pants she wore. She used to wear jeans all the time. She had a leather jacket too, just like the people from the day before. In all though, she looked the same as the last time he’d seen her. Well, the last time he’d seen her alive, and not as a zombie.

  Colleen gasped, which he took as a sign that the resemblance wasn’t just superficial. The woman smiled at him, a little tentatively and then did the same with Colleen.

  “Mickey? I know this must seem a little strange to you, I can’t really explain it, but they said I could talk to you… go and stay at your new place?” She took a step forward, smiling happily, gazed fixed on the short blond next to him.

  “Colleen Becks, isn’t it? Rachel’s sister? How have you been?” She held out her hand getting the girl to respond with her own, but from a distance. Jake pulled her back. Hard.

  It was rude, sure. The others looked a bit shocked by the move, but the setup was too weird to be trusted. At least by Jake.

  “OK then…” he said, pointing at the woman in front of him. “This person… appears to be my mother. My dead mother. Cam, you remember the hardware store? You met her.” It wasn’t code exactly, just the truth. They had met. The zombie version of his mother and the girl that stared at her now.

  Cam grunted and gave a single slow blink, her tone was cheerful enough though, considering everything.

  “Yes, I do remember her. She looks better. Still has her head for one thing. What’s this about?”

  Jake started to tremble a little, and glanced quickly at the others, who stood around as if they didn’t know what to do.

  “She’s dead guys. I shot her and took her head. So, unless things are far different than I think, this is probably a trap.”

  His mother laughed and took another step forward, arms going out wide.

  “Honey? I’m back. I can’t explain it, but they told me that it was a reward for you, for not getting in their way? I didn’t understand, but, I’m real… Here feel my hand, it isn’t a dream.” She tried to touch his arm but Jake moved back again.

  “No. I can’t trust this.” The truth of the matter was though, that he really wanted too. To have her back would be…

  Wonderful.

  To have any of them back, any of the people he killed, who’d turned… Even to just make it seem like she was real was incredible.

  Unreal.

  Fake. She had to be.

  “We’re leaving, come on. Morten, fast, get us out of here.” Jake moved over to him, already holding Colleen’s hand harder than could be comfortable. Everyone else jumped towards him, making contact, just as it happened.

  As if trying to hug him from about fifteen feet away, arms stretched wide, his mother, this thing that looked like his mother, exploded.

  Boom.

  Not a fiery blast, but a strong wave of concussive force, and a splash of blood and bits of flesh and bone that hit just before they could leave. They didn’t go back to the House, like Jake had thought, but rather to somewhere he didn’t recognize at all. There was a lake, surrounded by trees and a large group of buildings off to one side. Nice ones that looked like oversized log cabins. So the Bawdri compound? That almost didn’t make sense, not for someplace Morten would take them.

  The Teleporter looked around and smiled, relieved.

  “I was practicing this place a few days ago. I guess I defaulted here. It can happen when I get scared enough. Sorry I freaked like that. But, someone’s supposedly dead mother and then…” He was breathing hard, but didn’t let them release their hands.

  “Eye’s closed please.” That was all the warning they got, the nearly instant trip ending them at the House again.

  Now, back to someplace familiar, Jake started shaking for real. Talking wasn’t happening, not for a while. Not if anyone wanted more than inarticulate grunts out of him. Instead he just headed into the House, stumbling a bit on the steps. It was nearly funny, he knew. Fighting cannibals and zombies was almost normal now, but seeing his dead mother looking alive again, it was too much. To freaky. That she’d blown up was nearly a relief. At least he knew it was a trick of some kind. He was almost certain his real mother hadn’t secretly also been a bomb on her mother’s side or anything. If they’d just left and she hadn’t done anything, he’d have been riddled with doubt, wondering if he’d somehow abandoned someone magically resurrected.

  Kind of whoever had just tried to kill him then, wasn’t it? Making her into a bomb like that.

  Jerks.

  No, worse than that. Much more so. They’d tried to hold out the promise of getting his people back. From the dead. If anyone could do that it would have an allure that would be nearly impossible to ignore. A real draw that might tempt him to…

  To do what exactly? All they seemed to want was either him out of the way and not working against them, or dead. Hardly a big deal. Of course, now he was going to be going after them, whoever they were, if he could find them at all. Maybe that was the real point? Did they want him to come for them? To hunt them down and possibly find some way to stop them? A way to steer him towards the people responsible for making the world go dead? Or to just distract him from that task?

  Otherwise, no matter how technologically savvy they were, they were morons. Picking a fight with anyone, no matter how weak, that you didn’t need to, was always foolish.

  He had to sit down though. He did that on the floor of the main room, right in the open. People were talking to him, the sounds were there, but the words just washed over him. It was too much. Too much for him to handle. Too much to ask of anyone.

  But he had to cope with it anyway. No matter what it required him to do. He closed his eyes and took a very deep breath, and… let himself change. It wasn’t something done on purpose, but it was real enough. Calm came over him. A sense of purpose. Like when he was going to kill someone that needed to die.

  Only without the undertones of self-doubt and fear. He didn’t have time for that right now. Fear. No other emotions either.

  It was his job to protect these people. To protect everyone. It was what he’d chosen to be. The rest of this was…

  Crap.

  Very Good Man? That wasn’t him. That was some kind of game that people had picked to play. Even Jake the killer was just a fiction he’d made up to get through the day.

  Right now though, he couldn’t afford to turn into a lump, waiting in shock for the next thing to happen, hiding and cowering, hoping someone else would take care of it for him. He had to become something new. Had to finish the change and make it all that he was now. He needed to gear up for war, because for some stupid reason someone had chosen to go to war with him. You didn’t get much more personal and direct than making a bomb in the shape of someone’s mother, did you?

  He stood, going cold and still for a moment, as people around him stopped talking. It was like the world had gone flat. Then, with a sense of purpose, Jake stood. Though he wasn’t certain he was still Jake at all anymore. Luckily names didn’t matter now. Not to him.

  “Colleen, you’re staying with me. If Rachel shows up like my mom did, we shoot her before she can close with us. Same with my dad or anyone else we know that’s dead for certain.” He ran through what had happened quickly, Colleen backing him up with a few comments, just in case people didn’t believe him. It was just that kind of story.

  “So, from now on we travel in groups. No one goes anywhere alone, not even to the bathroom. Nate will assign those teams for the House, Vickie, will you and Tipper work with him on that? We need to meet with the leaders of all th
e other groups and let this be known as quickly as possible. If they sent one of these things after me, the others are just as likely to be targets.” He ran out of things to say, or thought he did, his mouth opened and more words came out anyway. It sounded like he had a plan. Confident and self-assured.

  Both things he’d never really been before at all.

  “From now on we check everyone using telepaths. Nate, if you’d get with Lamont on that? I want a group of volunteers for that from him, if possible. Again, we stay together. All the time. Everyone will have their new assignments in the next few days. Report anything strange or odd immediately, so it can be checked out. If you don’t know for certain if something is weird or not, tell someone. Better to have a bunch of busybodies for a while than to have people blowing up at dinner.” His face was flat, his eyes gone dead. Flat.

  Hopefully that wouldn’t be happening, people blowing up all the time. Maybe it was all about him, or “The Very Good Man”. If so these people coming for them might just find that he wasn’t as nice as they’d thought. Not anymore.

  Showing him his mother like that… giving hope that she could, by some miracle, be alive, was just cruel. If they thought that would break him, or get him to let his guard down… Well, it wouldn’t be happening would it?

  “Sammi? Get with Cam. Both of you are with me and Colleen now…” He sighed, already feeling put upon by his own decisions. “Heather too. We can’t afford to lose our early warning system and we haven’t been giving her proper support yet. That’s my fault, but it has to stop.” Everything was his fault. He could see that now. Heather had really been correct there. He didn’t care about the past though. Just the future.

  They worked quickly enough, and Nate got Carl to start writing out who was in who’s group. Not everyone was happy with who they got put with, but no one did more than whine a little. It was mainly busy work really. Groups of three seemed to be the order of the day, meaning his was too large. He’d need to travel though, so this would allow them to mix and match two groups with various skills at need.

  They didn’t know what the new enemy could do, so they couldn’t defend against it. Really, they didn’t know if this was a new enemy even. Jake had a strong suspicion that whoever it was might be behind the zombie plague to begin with. Or at least have a clue or two for them to investigate. When he mentioned it to the room, everyone went still, except Morten and Vickie. It was the Val that spoke though, just loud enough for everyone to hear.