“STOP!” I yelled suddenly. “Nathan, stop the car!” He continued to drive. “Damn it, Nathan, stop the freaking car NOW!”
“Zoe?” asked Gus, a bit sternly. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t feel like explaining. I was angry. Angrier than I had been in a long time. Flashes of lost friends came to mind, flashes of the horrors we’d seen. Worries about our survival now flooded my head. “Just stop the car!”
“Nathan, do it,” said Gus.
The car came to a rough stop. I looked through the back window, and saw the Roamers gaining on us.
“Zoe, what the hell?” asked Boggs.
“They’re not getting it,” I said sharply. “They’re not getting our van!” I could feel my face flushed with fury. Boggs held onto my right arm as I scrambled to crawl over Emilie. I knew if I tried to get out on Boggs’ side I would fail. “Adam, let my arm go!” I said with venom. It was a tone I don’t recall ever using with him before, and I saw the hurt in his eyes.
“Zoe, stop!” said Emilie firmly.
“We can take them,” I said as I looked at her eye-to-eye. “If we do it now. There’s not that many and we need the supplies in the van.”
“You’re not going out there, Zo. No way,” said Boggs firmly.
“Yes, I am. Let go.” I was already reaching into the back of my waistband, where I had grown accustomed to tucking my revolver.
“Boggs, she’s right,” said Gus. I heard the familiar click of a gun being cocked. I didn’t look up front to see if it was Nathan or Gus. I didn’t need to, hearing a second gun being readied and the front doors opening.
“Christ,” said Boggs as he let go of my arm.
I was out the door quickly, leaving Emilie behind. Boggs must have gotten out after me. It happened so fast I only had time to visualize my companions in my peripheral vision. I knew there were three others beside myself outside of the SUV. The dead were approaching more quickly than I had bargained on. The stench was that of putrid meat and stagnant bodily excretions. Something like sewer, death, and strong mold rolled into one. As badly as I wanted to lean over and throw up, I raised my revolver, cocked it, aimed at the zombie closest and fired. My aim was true, hitting it somewhere on the top of its head. It fell forward, landing only about ten feet from the back bumper of the Suburban. It still wore one high heel and the remains of a sheer dress, now torn and dirtied from time. Its hair was long and tangled. The sound of the others shooting and the cries of the dead filled the air. There were several other decomposed bodies now littering the ground. Some were what I would call ‘dry,’ and others began leaking various colors of slime and fluid. I picked my head up and looked for my next target. I could hear the grunts and screams of the dead growing. There were more than I had anticipated. I found myself doubting my ability to gauge the situation accurately. Maybe I had been wrong. I was unsure of how these monsters were manipulating my mind, but I had no doubt they were.
“Gus! Shoot it!” I heard Boggs yell.
I wanted to look over to see what was going on, but knew I needed to focus on the dead in my own line of sight. I steadied my gun, aimed at a child that was crawling toward me. It wanted me to look at it closely. It wanted me to pity it. It wanted me to be sucked in. Something was wrong. I was suddenly sure it was purposely distracting me. I imagined it had been a cute little boy of about five or six, based on its size. I aimed at its head and squeezed the trigger. I knew as soon as I blew its head off that more of the dead were upon us. There were three. They were the fast ones, the smart ones. Runners. They were up hill from us, looking down. I could see the SUV, the four of us shooters, and the remainder of the herd of rotting dead through their eyes. I stopped for a moment and aimed at the Roamers before us, but instead of focusing on killing them I took a gamble and let my unusual senses see through the eyes of the three above us. When I was fairly certain exactly where they were congregated, I raised my revolver, cocked it, and turned quickly to my left. I found my targets quickly, and aimed at the closest. I shot it in the gut, way off mark, but caused it to fall backward. While it was righting itself, I cocked my gun again and aimed to the creature’s side, where another Runner was crouched. I took a deep breath in, and as I slowly exhaled I squeezed the trigger. At first I thought I had missed altogether, but the crouching Runner slowly fell to its side. The other two were already running down the hill, and nearly on top of us.
“Boggs!” I yelled. “To your left!”
Boggs turned without questioning me. He hit the zombie that I had already shot once, killing it. My own shot missed the other. Before anyone could do anything, the remaining zombie was upon me. It was face-to-face with me, its glazed over clouded eyes only inches from my own. It opened its mouth in a hideous snarl. I tensed and braced myself for the attack that was imminent, but I refused to shut my eyes and hide. To my surprise, it was trying to show me something. It stood there, just watching me, a low growl emanating from deep within its chest. My mind was filled with dark and warmth and the sound of a heartbeat. It was a pleasant feeling, which ended suddenly as I heard the sound of Boggs’ Kahr firing. I stood in shock as the creature now lay at my feet, finally dead. I put my hand low on my belly.
“It just showed me,” I mumbled. “It just showed me our baby…”
Boggs was already back to shooting the last of the Roamers. I turned toward the carnage that was around us. The last of the dead fell at Nathan’s feet. My ears were ringing from the gunfire. My nose stung from the stench that was already turning sickly-sweet.
Boggs was by my side suddenly and embraced me. “Don’t ever do anything that stupid again, Zoe.” He held me tight, showing no signs of letting me go.
“Boggs,” I whispered. “That one staring at me. It showed me our baby. It knew about the baby.” Tears were starting to fall down my cheeks, remembering the calm feeling I had been ‘shown.’ “It was so peaceful,” I said. “It was beautiful. It was happy in there.”
“Ok you lovebirds, knock it off,” grumbled Gus. “We need to move on out.”
“Is there rope in the van?” asked Nathan.
“Ya,” said Boggs.
“Good. Let’s grab it and tie it to the back of the Suburban. We can pull the fucking tree out of the way. I want to be out of here within two minutes.”
Gus was already headed to the van. “Back the SUV up,” he instructed as he walked away. “I’ll meet you there. Zoe, you sure we got them all?”
I focused my mind. “I swear I don’t sense any more.”
Once we were back to the van, Gus and Boggs worked together to retrieve the rope and tie it from one end of the tree to the Suburban. I stood by, keeping my mind open for any intrusions. Nathan drove the Suburban slowly forward until the rope became taut, and then pressed the gas until the log began to move forward at an angle. The goal was to move it off to one side, just far enough to drive the van past. It didn’t take long.
Boggs and Gus climbed into the van. Nathan untied the rope from the back of the Suburban and the log before reclaiming his seat behind the wheel of the SUV.
“Nathan, mind if I ride in the van?” I asked.
“That’s fine, Zoe,” he said. “Go ahead and tell Boggs and Gus to drive past me and lead the way.”
“Ok.” I kissed Emilie on the cheek and climbed out of the Suburban. “I’ll see you at the cabin, Em,” I said.
“You bet,” she said and winked at me.
I ran the short distance to the step van and climbed in through the passenger side.
Gus was behind the wheel. “Boggs is in back, Zoe.”
I nodded and smiled at him. “Thanks.”
I walked back to the bed of the van and knew instantly that Boggs was irritated with me.
“Please don’t be mad, Boggs.” I didn’t want him upset with me. It was too much to bear right now.
“Zoe, you put yourself and our baby in danger. You just can’t do that.” He huffed. His loose curls were a mess, his face streaked with sweat and dirt.
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“Boggs, you know our survival depends on most of the stuff in here. We have a long journey coming up. I couldn’t just sit there and not try.”
“Sit down, Zoe,” said Boggs.
Apparently the discussion was over. I sat on one of the mattresses, my back against the metal side of the van. Boggs lowered himself and sat beside me. I sighed, and leaned against him.
“Didn’t you sense them at first?” he asked me.
“No, not at first. It’s hard to explain, but there was only one. It was like it was hiding from me, like it knew I could hear it.”
“Hiding from you?” Gus gave a semi-laugh from the cab.
“Once I knew something was going on, I looked inside my head. Focused, I guess that describes it better. Anyway I found it in there, hiding. Once it knew that I knew it was there, it was like the rest woke up. I wish I could explain better, Gus, I really do.”
Boggs wrapped an arm around me, and drew me close to him. He kissed the top of my head.
The rest of the drive back to the cabin was made in relative silence with no more untoward events. The trek took about half an hour or so. I felt a great sense of relief when our little home came into view. I searched the area with my mind and an even greater sense of relief washed over me when I was fairly sure that no Runners were lurking about. I was exhausted from the battle we had just won, and ready to sleep.
We all congregated outside of the cabin. The wind had picked up and rain was falling steadily.
“Let’s haul just a few things from the van back inside,” said Gus. “I think we should leave at first light, but we all need a good night’s sleep. We should put the mattresses in the living room and all camp out in there. One box of food. Keep the rest packed up and ready to go.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Nathan.
“Agreed,” said Boggs.
A part of me deflated. I had hoped to sleep back in our own bed, in our bedroom, just me and Boggs. I sighed and pushed the thought from my head.
“The temperature’s dropping” said Emilie. “Let’s get inside.”
“You girls head on in. Em, give me five minutes to turn the propane tank back on and then light the fireplace? Nathan, if you can help me unload the mattresses I’ll send Boggs in to do a quick sweep upstairs. Girls, don’t go up top until Boggs gives the all-clear, understand?”
“Ya. Thanks, Gus.” Emilie stood on her tip toes and pecked him on the cheek. “For luck,” she whispered.
Susan had already thought to begin unknotting the small rope we kept on the front door. It was one way we knew the place had not been entered while we were gone. She made quick work of the job and we all filed in behind Boggs and his outstretched Kahr. My mind was empty of foreign bits. Still, I knew Boggs checking the place out was prudent. Especially after today, with my ‘talent’ now in question. While he went upstairs and Emilie got ready to start the propane fireplace, I showed Kelsey and Abbey the kitchen and living room.
CHAPTER 10
Once Boggs had made sure nothing was hiding in the shadows, I took Abbey and Kelsey upstairs to the bathroom while the others were bringing in mattresses and blankets for the night. I knew Emilie would be in the kitchen trying to throw something together for supper.
“It’ll take a little while for the hot water tank to fill,” I said. “The cold water should work, though, if you want to get cleaned up, Abbey. There’s washcloths and hand towels in the cabinet behind the door. You can have first dibs on a hot bath.”
The girl smiled at me. “Thanks, Zoe.”
“As soon as you guys are done, head downstairs and warm up by the fire. Gus should have the propane tank turned back on by now.” I yawned.
Kelsey looked up at me. I could tell she was worried by the look on her face. “We should all try to get a good night’s sleep. Do you think we’ll really leave tomorrow?”
“Part of me hopes so, but part of me wishes we could settle in here. Just for awhile.”
Kelsey wrapped her arms around her little sister and held her close.
“I’ll make sure your books make it inside, Abbey, ok?” I smiled at the girl, who nodded back at me.
I left them alone in the bathroom and walked across the hall to the room I had shared with Boggs for the past several weeks. It felt like home, minus the mattress on our bed. The room was dark still, but enough light filtered in through the open door behind me to outline the basics of the furniture. It was chilly, so I walked to the armoire and fished out one of the large flannel shirts we had left behind. It was one that was threadbare and missing several buttons. We had taken all of the good ones with in the van. I slipped it on over the t-shirt I was wearing. The floor behind me squeaked, the familiar sound of someone walking across the old wooden floor. I turned, expecting to face Boggs. My heart dropped just a notch when I saw that it was Susan.
“You ok, Zoe?”
“Ya. I think I’m just tired.”
“It’s like that early on, you know,” she said quietly. “With being pregnant.”
I nodded in acknowledgement. “Gus told me.”
“I’m glad for you guys, you know? You’re giving him what I couldn’t. Wouldn’t,” she corrected.
I smiled, half-heartedly. I wasn't exactly comfortable talking about Susan and Boggs’ past relationship and mistakes. I knew his heart still ached from her decision to abort their baby, and I knew it always would. “I appreciate you saying so, Susan, really. It’s just too hard to talk about.”
She nodded. “Emilie was wondering if you want to help make dinner.”
“Ya, sure. I’ll be right down.”
“Ok.”
Susan lingered for just a moment, as if she wanted to say more. Thankfully she turned and left the room without saying anything else. I counted to ten silently to gather my thoughts and then followed her down the stairs.
The front door was wide open. I walked to it, welcoming the cold air that met me. Rain was still falling and a thick fog was rolling in. Most of the snow was gone now, and I wondered where the remains of the body parts in the yard had gone to. I forced the thought from my head and watched as Nathan and Boggs carried one of the mattresses toward me. They were obviously in a hurry to get in out of the horrible weather, so I stepped aside to clear the way.
“Thanks, Zo. Can you shut the door behind us?” asked Boggs.
“Sure.”
As soon as they were inside, I shut the door tightly and locked it. I leaned against it for a moment and took a deep breath. My hip was screaming with pain, I assumed from the interaction with the dead earlier in the day. I was beyond exhausted, and ready to sleep for a very long stretch. I was dizzy and felt weak.
“Zoe?” I heard Gus ask. “You ok darlin’?”
I took another deep breath, stood upright, and turned to face him. I nodded. “Just really tired.”
“Let’s get you over to one of the couches, Zoe,” he said softly. “I’ll send Boggs in to sit with you.”
“It’s ok, Gus. I’ll be fine.”
“No arguing. Go. Sit. Now,” he said while he stepped toward me. He took hold of my arm, and guided me to one of the two loveseats in the room.
“Zoe, you’re shaking. You need to take a breather. And you need to eat. I’ll have Emilie bring you some food and send Boggs in.”
I sat down as instructed. I wanted to help set up for the night. I wanted to feel useful. I wanted to stay busy, despite being so tired. Gus knelt down, took my shoes off of my feet, and swung my legs up onto the other side of the little sofa. He covered me with a blanket from the closet and walked toward the kitchen.
I heard mixed voices as I laid my head back on the couch cushions. I was nearly asleep when I felt my legs being lifted off the couch. I looked up in surprise and saw Boggs, who was already lowering himself onto the sofa with me.
“Hey, kid,” he said as he tucked the blanket around my feet and nestled my legs onto his lap. “Gus said you’re not feeling so hot.”
“Just tired, Bog
gs,” I said quietly. “It’s been a long day.”
I took notice that the propane fireplace was lit. The room felt cozy in its own right.
“Em’s heating up some soup. She said she’ll bring some in for you.”
“She’s a sweetheart,” I said with a smile. “I’m glad she’s here with us.”
“Ya, it’s a good group of people,” he added.
“Susan seems happy with Nathan.”
“She does,” he agreed. “I’m glad.”
Our brief conversation was interrupted when Emilie walked into the room, carrying two mugs with spoons sticking out of them.
“Hey guys,” she said. She also sounded tired. “Zoe, Gus told me to tell you to eat all of this. He said ‘no arguing.’” She had mimicked his deeper voice, and it made me giggle.
“What is it?” asked Boggs.
“Chicken noodle. Mmm Mmm Good,” said Emilie with a wink.
She handed one to me first, then released the other to Boggs.
“Thanks, Em,” I said.
I blew at the steam coming from the hot meal-in-a-mug.
“I’ll be back with drinks in a sec,” added Emilie as she turned and walked back toward the kitchen.
I set my mug down on the coffee table.
“Uh, no, Zoe,” said Boggs in a scolding tone. “Gus said you need to eat before you pass out.”
The Grace Series (Book 2): Tainted Grace Page 10