Love in the Age of Zombies (Book 2): Zombies in Paradise

by James K. Evans

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “Doc! Where’s Michelle?!” Kevin shouted.

  “In the house . . . ” Doc gasped. With energy supplied by intense fear, Kevin sprinted to the house and stormed inside, nearly bowling Michelle over as he ran into the kitchen. She had wormed free of Don’s belt and pulled her pants up, but her blouse and bra were in tatters. “Michelle! Are you all right?!” he cried as they fell into each other’s arms. “Did he hurt you? Are you okay?” He pulled back and looked at her, seeing her battered and bloody face, unsnapped pants and bare breasts, he wailed “Oh my God, no! He didn’t . . . ?”

  Michelle began crying. “I’m okay, I’m okay. You got here just in time. Oh, Kevin, thank God you’re home!” As she said this, they heard a gunshot from outside. A few seconds later Doc limped through the door.

  Seeing Kevin and Michelle locked in an embrace, Doc couldn’t help but notice the condition of her face and clothing. He quickly stripped off his shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders to cover her nakedness. The three of them locked arms around each other and stood there for several long seconds. Michelle and Kevin were weeping. Doc was grimacing but dry-eyed. Nearly.

  “What happened in here?” Doc said.

  “He was hiding in the shadows. He grabbed me from behind then dragged me to the bedroom and tied me up. He kept calling me Ms. Tracy. When I told him he was mixed up, he hit me. Then he tore off my clothes and . . . ” She shuddered before going on. “He was going to rape me. Said he wanted to know my secret. Then he heard the gunshots and ran out of the room.”

  Doc looked at Kevin. “If you had arrived five minutes later, I think it would have been too late. After he raped Michelle he probably would have come back outside and killed me.

  After a few moments, Kevin said “Let’s get home. I could use a drink.” As Michelle looked toward the door, she asked “Where is he? Is he . . . ?”

  “He’s dead. Doc killed him. The dog too.” Kevin replied, looking at Doc with such grateful intensity it nearly took Doc’s breath away. “What was that last shot?” he finally asked.

  “I shot him in the head. Just to make sure.” At that moment Michelle noticed the trail of blood leading from the door. She glanced down and saw Doc’s wounded and bleeding leg.

  “Doc! You’re hurt!” she cried.

  “The dog bit me, no big deal. I’ll live,” Doc said, gingerly pulling the denim up and away from his leg. Matey had done a number on his calf, gouging long strips of flesh.

  “We need to get that bite cleaned up!” Michelle said, using both hands to pull Doc’s shirt over her breasts. It was too tight to button. “Kevin, help me get him home!”

  “Goddamnit, I can walk! I’m not a cripple!” Doc protested.

  Michelle squared her shoulders and glared at him fiercely. “You listen to me. You may be a doctor but right now you’re my patient and you’re going to do as you’re told! Do you understand me?!”

  “Better listen to her, Bones,” Kevin suggested. “I’ve seen her like this before. She won’t take no for an answer.”

  Doc sighed. “I hate being a patient. And don’t call me Bones.”

  Kevin put Doc’s arm around his shoulder and together the three of them limped home. Michelle walked behind the men, still holding Doc’s shirt closed. They barely glanced at the few zombies that were slowly headed their direction, attracted to the sound of the gun and commotion. Likewise, they barely glanced at the dead man and his dog.

  Two hours later, Doc reclined on the sofa, wearing a bathrobe Kevin had pulled from a closet upstairs. His leg was propped up, and Michelle was wrapping gauze around the wounds. Some of them were mere scratches, but three of them were deep enough for stitches. Michelle had spent nearly a half-hour irrigating the wound after giving Doc some local anesthetic to dull the pain. Kevin chose not to watch as she sewed him up. “Back when I asked you if you’d done any suturing, I had no idea I’d get to see your skills up close and personal,” Doc said between winces. “I believe you were being modest with your reply.”

  “It’s kind of fun, actually,” Michelle replied as she finished wrapping his leg. “I was told I have a knack for it.”

  That’s not all you have a knack for, Kevin thought, admiring yet again the swell of her breasts while intentionally not looking at Doc’s leg.

  She gingerly placed Doc’s leg on a towel she’d placed on the sofa, then told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to get up for at least an hour. And no, she told him, he was not allowed to have bourbon on top of his Lortab.

  “Michelle, my dear, I appreciate all you’ve done. You did a good job. But I officially resign as your patient. I’m a grown man. I went to med school. I’m an MD. And I’m twice your age. I can have a taste of bourbon, especially after that miserly dose of Lortab you doled out.”

  “You’re lucky I gave you any at all. We have to conserve what we have. Once the local wears off, you’ll be in some pain. Today you get Lortab. Tomorrow it’s ibuprofen. In the meantime, Kevin, would you please get Doc a small glass of bourbon?

  Kevin’s hair was still wet from his shower. He strategically decided to shower once Michelle started suturing. It wasn’t quite the shower he had fantasized about on his way through Chelsea, but even so, it felt good to peel off his sick clothes and wash off the grime. A set of fresh clothes made him feel like a new man. A new man who wanted to have some private time with his wife. Maybe the Lortab will make Doc sleepy, he hoped. Maybe it’ll knock him out. But as the afternoon progressed with no sign of sleepiness from Doc, he resigned himself to waiting.

  Kevin asked about the baby and Michelle, getting assurances from Doc that everything was right on schedule and he saw no complications. Both Doc and Michelle asked Kevin questions about the hospital in Frankfort, questions he tried his best to answer until their questions became more technical than he could answer. He relayed the information the staff had given him, and them Frankfort had a home waiting for their combined skills.

  Kevin filled them in on his journey, only leaving out the part about Lee taking her top off and Carolyn coming on to him. He told them about his off-road experience and bragged about shooting the truck that pursued him off-road. He described his zombie run-in at Lake Menekaunee, and told how Frankfort had created a safe haven. He apologized for the trip taking so long, and then relayed his experience of being sick and holing up in the house. As he told them the strange encounter—real or imagined—with the teenage boy he saw Doc and Michelle glance at each other.

  “What did this boy look like?” Michelle asked, wide-eyed.

  “I didn’t get a real good look at him. It wasn’t real bright in the house and I was pretty sick. I might have imagined him, but I don’t think so. Somebody gave me water to drink and fed me ibuprofen for a couple of days. But he was probably a head shorter than me, thirteen or fourteen years old, brown hair.” Kevin didn’t relay the part where the boy said his name was Jason.

  “Kevin, you know that Petoskey stone you always carry in your pocket? Can I take a look at it?” Michelle asked.

  Kevin got a regretful look on his face. “I’m afraid I lost it. I had it when I left Frankfort, but after I got sick I couldn’t find it. I think it must have fallen out in the house where I was sick.”

  Without a word Michelle got up and went into the bedroom. When she returned, she dropped a stone into his hand. “Does this kind of look like it?”

  “Yes! In fact, it looks . . . exactly like it! It even has the small chip from when I dropped it once! Where in the . . . how in the hell . . . ?”

  Michelle relayed her story of waking up with the young man at the foot of her bed. As she finished the story, telling Kevin of finding the stone atop the bed the next morning, she saw how his face had grown serious. “There’s one thing I didn’t tell you,” Kevin said quietly. “When I asked the kid his name, he told me Jason. At least, that’s what I thought he said. But like I said, I was pretty sick.”

  The three of them sat there, lost in t
hought for a moment, before Doc said, “Kevin, how old would Jason be today if he had lived?”

  “Nearly fourteen,” Kevin said in a whisper, clutching the Petoskey stone tightly in his hand.

  After a celebratory dinner in the living room, Michelle allowed Doc one final taste of bourbon before giving him a Donnatal. “This will help you sleep,” she told him.

  Doc looked at her as if she’d said, This water is really wet! Of course he knew what Donnatal was. Kevin’s ears perked up. Michelle said, “I imagine your muscles will be rather sore from your experience, and your leg will probably bother you. You need to get some good sleep.” Kevin felt a welcome stirring in his loins. Together she and Kevin made Doc’s bed and eased him onto the mattress.

  They talked for a while longer, but when Doc started nodding off they told him to get some rest. “I’ll do that,” he replied. “Even if you don’t. Good night you two.” Kevin noticed a twitch of his lips as Doc tried not to smile as he closed his eyes and rested his head on the pillow. Doc wasn’t born yesterday; he knew what they were going to do. And he was glad for them. Be young, be foolish, but be happy, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Once the bedroom door was closed, Kevin and Michelle fell together and embraced tightly. “I missed you so much!” Michelle whispered, her head against his chest. “Don’t ever leave me again!”

  “I missed you too. From the moment I pulled out of the driveway—”

  “Kevin, I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye when you left. I was so scared. I didn’t want you to go, but I knew you had to. Do you forgive me? Did you see me run outside and wave right before you turned the corner?”

  “Really?! You came to say goodbye? No, I didn’t see you. Thinking you were mad at me haunted me the whole trip. I thought about you all the time. I just had to keep on moving till I was back in your arms again,” he said, “I couldn't stand putting more and more miles between us. It felt horrible. I couldn’t wait to be back on the road. I even wrote you some poems. Getting sick was bad enough, but I felt even worse because it meant I wouldn’t see you as soon!

  “Michelle, how close did you come to getting raped by that man?”

  “It doesn’t matter. He didn’t do it. Right now I don’t want to think about what would have happened. Help me think of something else! Let’s get naked,” she whispered. Silently Kevin began unbuttoning his shirt as Michelle unsnapped his jeans and pulled them over his hips. Mmm, commando! she thought appreciatively. His jeans slid over his legs to the floor, where he none-too-gracely stepped out of them, then lay down on the bed to watch her undress.

  “I swear, I think your baby bump has gotten bigger!” he said with fascination. She stepped closer, allowing him to run his hands over her bulging tummy. As he leaned forward and kissed her abdomen, she unsnapped her pants and let them fall to the floor and, with only a modicum more grace than Kevin, stepped out of them. Now completely naked, she watched Kevin’s eyes feast on her voluptuous body, a body she had despised most of her life. Until Kevin.

  He really does think I’m beautiful, Michelle thought with a mixture of astonishment and pride, nobody has ever looked at my body the way he does!

  She slid next to him on the mattress, not bothering to get under the covers. Bedding would only get in the way. The burning intensity she’d seen as his eyes explored her body caused a burning intensity of her own at the core of her being.

  They brought their heads together and entangled each other in passionate kisses. Abruptly she pulled apart from him and leaned her head upon his chest, where she began to weep as she held him tightly.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she sobbed, “I’m just so glad to have you home!”

  They held each other, feeling more whole than either had felt the entire time they’d been apart. It was as if a wholeness had been restored, and all things were pure again.

  Within minutes they were making quiet but fervent love. Both orgasmed quickly, then held each other. After several minutes she rolled over and they spooned, Kevin resting one hand around her shoulder and the other on her breast. They fell asleep, satiated and filled with bliss.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Doc woke up the next morning on the sofa, feeling a bit stiff. His arms, back, legs, stomach . . . all the major muscles in his body seemed to be complaining. When he thought it over, it made sense—although he was in pretty good shape, the day before he’d sprinted to the maple tree and pulled himself up into the branches. Then he’d jumped for his gun. Those exertions were strenuous. At least I’m healthy enough to do what I needed to do. If I were a weaker man, my muscles would have failed me and I’d be dead, he thought as he began to rouse himself. The most painful part of his morning was having to stand up. He felt a low throb of pain in his leg even before he tried to use it. He put most of his weight on the other leg.

  Michelle had done an excellent job patching him up—unlike Kevin, Doc had watched her suture the wounds and was impressed. Likewise, she’d done a first-rate job bandaging him. I’d be proud to have her as my assistant any day! he thought, then corrected himself. Hell, I’d be lucky to have her as my doctor! There won’t be any new medical school graduates for a long time! He walked to the kitchen, trying to minimize his limp, and made a pot of coffee.

  He’d slept fairly well despite the ache in his leg. The Donnatol had helped quite a bit, but Doc always was a light sleeper, and even with the drug he didn’t sleep like the dead. Uh, that might not be an apt metaphor these days, he thought with gallows humor. Every time he moved his leg during the night he woke up, and then there were the two lovebirds in the next room. Despite their attempt to be quiet, Doc was faintly able to hear their muffled sighs and moans. As he poured a cup of coffee, he paused . . . it sounded like they were at it again. He’d have to give Kevin some strokes on his—maybe strokes wasn’t the right word—compliments on his virility at some point. Doc hadn’t made love twice a day since . . . funny, he couldn’t even recall how long it had been. He pushed the thought aside and went back to the living room to put on some music. He didn’t begrudge the two their act of love, but didn’t necessarily want to hear it, either.

  As he was going through their collection of music, wishing he’d brought his CDs in from the Jeep, he heard the bedroom door open, quickly followed by the sound of the bathroom door closing and the shower starting. A moment later Kevin walked into the kitchen, saying “Thank God you made coffee! If we ever run out I don’t know what I’ll do! Now if I could only have an Egg McMuffin to go along with it!” He sighed as he filled his cup. “My grandmother Runyon used to say, If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride, meaning there’s no point in wishing, I guess. I’m tempted to break open one of the packages of pre-cooked bacon, though, and maybe even some of the instant scrambled eggs. What do you think?”

  “I think my leg hurts and you’re too jolly and talkative this early in the morning,” Doc said grumpily. “I’m not much of a morning conversationalist. But bacon and eggs sounds great.”

  Kevin made a mental note to limit his future morning conversation with Doc until after Doc had downed a few cups of coffee. He poured a cup and started breakfast. By the time Michelle joined them, they were brewing their second pot.

  She came into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Kevin. “Man, that smells good! Is that bacon and eggs?” Kevin returned her hug and affirmed that bacon, eggs and coffee were indeed on the menu.

  “What am I, chopped liver?!” Doc teased while Kevin poured her a cup. She walked over and gave him a hug too.

  “Speaking of chopped liver, let’s take a look at that leg.” Doc rolled his eyes and quickly threw on Kevin’s bathrobe. He wasn’t about to have her examine his leg while he wore only an undershirt and boxers. He sat on the sofa and propped up his leg. Michelle grabbed some ointment, scissors and new bandages, then unwrapped the gauze. A small amount of blood had soaked into the bandage, but no more than expected.
Once his leg was unwrapped, she examined the wounds closely after asking Kevin to bring a lantern over for better light. With Doc looking on, she gently felt the wounds, pressing ever so slightly. “It looks good. A bit warm to the touch, but that’s normal. Pink, not red. No sign of infection.”

  She started to apply fresh bandages when Doc said, “Michelle, after it’s all healed, will I be able to play hockey?”

  She laughed and said, “Because you never could play before, right? Geez, Doc, that’s the oldest joke in the book!” Doc glanced at Kevin and the two men grinned. Michelle was nothing if not quick. “You stay here, I’ll get you another cup of coffee.” Even though Doc had only planned on an additional half-cup, he wasn’t going to turn down the chance to be waited on by this bright and attractive woman.

  Kevin fixed their plates, and while they were eating, said, “I was thinking. Next door we have a dead dog and a corpse we need to dispose of. I can dump them in the zombie dump. On the other hand, I could give them a proper burial, but I—”

  “The hell you will!” Doc and Michelle said practically unison.

  “That creep was going to rape me!” Michelle said.

  “That dog bit the crap out of my leg!” Doc said.

  “He was going to kill us!” they nearly said together.

  “—don’t think they deserve the respect,” Kevin quickly finished. “So I’ll dump them. And I noticed a key ring around his neck, it’s probably to the school. I think we should check it out, although I’m a bit nervous about what we might find.”