The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. “I’m going to give you the same chance you gave us.” With that, she shot him in the upper leg, knocking him to the ground, where he raised up on his one good leg, a mask of fear on his face.
“You shot me!” Cue-Ball cried, holding his bleeding leg. “You fucking shot me!”
Grabbing the door handle, Roper nodded. “But I didn’t kill you.” She smiled grimly. “They may not be so obliging.” She got into the now more spacious Hummer, the occupants sitting there in stunned silence.
“We’re burning daylight, Dallas,” Roper said. “Let’s go.”
Dallas’s hands never left the wheel as she stared out at Cue-Ball struggling to get to his feet as the man eaters surrounded him.
“In a way, he sorta looks like them,” Einstein said softly.
“And soon, he will be.”
****
They all decided that spending the night in the hills was safer, and the Hummer had no problem getting them there.
The rock formations were a perfect buffer from the slight wind that had kicked up and the oak trees gave them plenty of shelter from the night’s dew. Once settled atop the tallest hill in the area, they made a small fire and quietly ate a dinner of Spam, freeze-dried spaghetti, and topped it off with the multivitamins Butcher was always harassing them to take.
The mood around the campfire was somber, their losses felt too deeply to discuss.
“Well,” Roper said quietly, “at least we’re sure of one thing: They’re not interested in gay meat.”
“No, I think we’ve had plenty of confirmation on that score. Looks like science got it right. We’re born gay.”
“With a different genetic make-up, so whoever designed this virus, had no clue it would leave at least ten percent of our population alive.”
“That ten percent is going to be needed to keep this country going. Speaking of irony.” Dallas shook her head. “Did anyone know that Peanut had been bitten?”
Einstein bowed his head. “I did. I saw a mark on her upper arm, but I didn’t have it in me to ask her. I guess I sorta convinced myself it was a dog bite. She seemed okay, you know? I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Putting his face in his hands, he wept.
Roper pulled him to her and held him. “Shhh. It’s not your fault. I doubt I would have done anything differently. Not your fault.”
“But it is. I’m the one who always knows. I’m the one with the answers. I knew what could have happened, and I sat on it. I could have gotten us all killed.”
“But you didn’t. You’re also the one with a heart of gold and you cared about her. We all saw that.”
“Besides, Einstein, given what we know, we probably would have assumed she was gay…or going to be.”
Einstein sniffled and tried to pull himself together. “That was so…hard. So damn hard.”
Butcher slowly chewed the Spam. “Yes it was, and I nearly crapped my pants when that one came from behind us. She moved so fast, I didn’t have time to warn anyone.”
“I won’t let it happen again. I swear. I won’t let my emotions get the best of me.”
Safety patted Einstein’s back. “You done good, kid, really.” To the women he said, “Well, gals, if the homos are gonna save humanity, what are your thoughts about mocha babies?”
Everyone laughed, and the mood lightened.
“You laugh, but repopulation is gonna be an issue, you know?”
Dallas and Roper glanced over at Einstein, whose blush was visible in the light cast by the fire.
“Cart before the horse, buddy,” Butcher said. “But I have to say watching that eater bump into you without even noticing freaks me out. We really do have our answer, don’t we? You guys are immune. Only me and the kid are tender morsels now.”
Einstein rose and excused himself. “And on that nice image, I’ll take first watch. I need…I just need to be alone, if you guys don’t mind.”
When he was out of earshot, Roper said, “Peanut’s death has really hit him hard.”
“I think he really saw her as his little sister.”
“I can’t believe he didn’t say anything. I think he knew…knew what we would have had to do.”
Safety placed his large hand on Roper’s knee. “Thank you for doing what I could not.”
Dallas nodded. “Ditto. That couldn’t have been easy. Are you…okay?”
Blinking back tears, Roper shrugged. “We live in a different world now, with different rules. I don’t know if a zombie feels anything, but we did her a favor.”
“And Cue-Ball?”
“I did us a favor. That bag of shit deserves whatever happens to him.”
Safety shuddered. “Can you imagine the shock on Crazy Callaghan’s face when she popped up and went for his throat?”
“Too damn scary.”
“Speaking of Callaghan, I think I’m gonna go clean the Hummer a bit more before I lay down. Dried blood will only be harder to get out as time goes by.” Jumping to her feet, Roper headed to the Hummer with Dallas right on her heels.
“Wait up.”
“Can’t.”
When Dallas reached for her, Roper crumpled into her arms, sobbing.
“Shh. I gotcha. I gotcha, love. You stepped up and did all the hard jobs today. I know it had to hurt.”
“I feel…I feel…so much…less.” Roper squeezed Dallas tightly. “All those kids…Peanut…leaving the horses. I feel…empty.”
“I know you do. I know leaving the horses was terribly hard on you and I promise, if we ever get our country back, we’ll come back for them.”
Roper leaned back, tears wet on her face. “Really?”
Kissing her forehead, Dallas nodded. “Of course. We’re in this together, Rope. I know what a tough call that was for you. I know shooting Peanut must have been awful. And I know, too, as much as you hated him—”
“Oh hell no, Dallas. Leaving him there to that fate was the easiest decision I’ve made in a long time. Self-serving son-of-a-bitch.”
Dallas barely smiled. “Tell me how you really feel.”
The expression completely changed on Roper’s face as her features softened. “I feel like I’ve fallen in love with you, and I’d do anything to protect you and our little family. I don’t know exactly when it happened, Dallas, but I have fallen madly in love with you.”
Dallas gently kissed Roper, whispering into her mouth, “And I love you.”
For a moment, they stood in the soft rays of a half moon looking into each other’s faces, oblivious to everything else around them.
“We are going to make it through this,” Dallas finally said. “Together.”
Kissing Dallas longer and with more passion, Roper pressed her body into Dallas’s, wanting more and knowing it might be an eternity before the time was right.
She was willing to wait.
“Together,” she said before continuing a kiss that heated her loins and melted her heart. Nothing had felt this good to Roper in years.
“I would say ‘get a room’, but there aren’t any.” Einstein walked up to them, rifle hanging loosely at his side. “Unless we’re willing to check out that house on the hill.”
Roper and Dallas separated. “What house?”
“Come look.”
They followed him around a short bend in a deer trail. There, on a hill about a mile away stood a house with a single light on in the front room.
“What the hell?”
“I think it’s a signal,” Einstein said. “I looked through the binocs, but never saw any movement.”
“You think there might be people there?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I feel like we need to at least let other survivors know what we know. You know—kind of a moral obligation?”
“A moral obligation?” Roper said. “Kid, I just shot one of our group in the head and left another to be eaten. I’m pretty sure I am as morally bankrupt as those assholes in the truck.”
“Don’
t say that,” Dallas said sternly. “You did what you felt you had to do.”
Roper shook her head. “Dallas, I do know that. That was cowboy justice, plain and simple. He got what was coming to him. I was just the delivery girl.”
Einstein shook his head. “Whatever. I’ll go there alone if I have to, but they obviously have that light turned on for a reason. I’m thinking they’re letting others know they’re here.”
Roper looked at Dallas. “We should all go.”
In less than thirty minutes, they stood on the front porch of the house with the lights on, ringing the doorbell.
“Wait,” Einstein said, putting his ear to the door. “Ring it again.”
Dallas did.
“There’s no sound.” He stepped back, and when he turned to say something to Roper, he raised his hands in surrender.
“Do as the young fella’s doing or we’ll shoot.”
Slowly turning around with their hands over their heads, Roper, Dallas and Safety saw two men and two women holding guns on them.
“Casey, you collect their weapons,” the older man ordered. He stood well under six feet tall, short salt and pepper hair, clean-shaven with square-shaped glasses.
The girl named Casey was probably closer to twelve than twenty and wore shorts that were too short and a button down shirt that was too big. Her Doc Marten ten-hole combat boots had seen a lot of life.
Dallas stepped in front of the young girl. “I’m sorry, sir, but we’re not giving up our weapons. We didn’t come here to cause any trouble or to donate to your weapons fund, so if you’d just let us leave unmolested, then no one will get hurt.”
The man cocked his head. “You mean to tell me you aren’t going to give us your weapons?”
“I mean to tell you we aren’t giving them up without a fight. If bloodshed is what you want, we’ll oblige, but we just finished off a pack of hoodlums who thought they could just take our stuff. We’re no longer in a very generous mood.”
“Just say the word,” Roper growled, aiming her rifle at his chest.
The man lowered his rifle. “Lower your weapons.”
Casey backed away and the other two let their rifles hang from their shoulders.
“Why are you here then?”
“We saw your light.”
He nodded. “We’re collecting as many survivors as we can, but you can’t be too careful. I know about them hooligans, all right. Put a few down my own self.”
Safety chuffed. “Tell us about it.”
“Name’s Evan,” he said, extending his hand to Dallas. “We don’t have much, but we’ve managed to gather enough food to last a month or two.”
“We’re not looking to stay,” Dallas said. She shared with them almost everything they knew, leaving out the part about the genetic code they’d uncovered. Evan and his young threesome listened intently as Dallas spelled it all out for them. When she finished, Evan whistled.
“Woo-whee…and you believe all that mumbo jumbo? This is the United States of America. Our military will figure out what needs to be done. In the meantime, we live in the basement and bomb shelter just biding our time till it’s safe to come out.”
“Biding your time? Evan, those things are winning.”
“Maybe for now, but a war is won in inches. We give some, we lose some, but we all need to stick together if we are going to make it through this. You are welcome to join us. We could always use able hands who know their way around a rifle.”
Dallas didn’t even need to consult the other three. “Thank you, Evan, but we’re getting out of California as quickly as possible. I respect what you’re doing here, though. You’re right about us sticking together, but we’re going to continue with our plan.”
Evan nodded. “Please let anyone you see know that we are here and that we’ll be creating our own army soon enough to battle those things.”
“We will do that. You all take good care here.”
When they were far enough away, Einstein said, “Well, that was weird.”
“Uh, you scared the crap outta me when you wouldn’t give up our weapons.” This came from Safety.
“We were helpless today. We won’t be again. We’re making a pact here and now. We don’t give up our weapons. We don’t let people take our car. From here on out, we fight any and everyone who tries to take our shit.” Dallas looked at them for confirmation. “I’m through being nice.”
Roper put her arm across Dallas’s shoulder. “About fucking time. I second the motion. No more getting the screwgee from people.”
When everyone got settled for the rest of the night, Roper took the next watch.
She wasn’t fifteen minutes into it before Dallas made her way over to her.
“I wanted to finish our conversation.”
Roper pulled her closer and kissed her hard, her hands in her hair, down her back, pressing into her, pulling her shirt up so she could feel the softness of her skin.
“I didn’t want to fall in love,” Roper said softly, resting her forehead against Dallas’s. “And to be honest, I didn’t even think it was possible that you’d return the affection.”
“Why not?”
“We’re in survival mode, ya know? It’d be easy just to pass off these feelings as something else all together.”
“But I didn’t.”
Roper grinned. “No, you didn’t. Thank you for that.”
“You might play a tough girl on television, but I see right through you. You have a heart of gold.” Dallas placed her palm on Roper’s chest. “And I know it had to hurt like hell to shoot Peanut. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I respect you. I know I can be too soft. I get that, but you. You always step up. Always.”
“You know, it might have if I saw that thing as Peanut, but I didn’t. I kept picturing her as a sick and injured animal who was better off being put out of her misery.”
Dallas kissed her tenderly once more, holding her face in her hands as she let her tongue roam inside Roper’s warm mouth.
“If there was anywhere or any time for me to lay you down and make love with you, I’d do that. You know that, right?”
Roper nodded. “But don’t expect it to be tender. I want to fucking tear your clothes off right now.” She stopped when she heard someone approaching from opposite the camp. The speed of movement did not indicate an eater.
Grabbing her M16, she leveled it in the direction of the noise. “Stop where you are or I’ll but a bullet through your brain.”
“It’s me, Cassidy.”
Dallas and Roper exchanged questioning glances.
“Casey. That doofus never could get my name right. It’s Casey from the compound.”
Roper kept her rifle up. “Come on up, but keep your hands empty and in the air.”
Out of the darkness, Cassidy emerged, a rifle slung behind her back, a revolver tucked in her belt, and a backpack on her back. She held her hands up to show they were empty.
“The compound?” Dallas lowered her weapon. Roper did not.
“That’s what we all call it.”
“What are you doing out here?”
“I was hoping you could take me with you.”
Roper started to shake her head, then looked to Dallas.
“Why would you want to leave the relative safety of your place?”
“Because I’d rather die in the sunlight than live like a vampire below the ground. I can’t stand it down there. Evan and his family firmly believe our government is going to get a handle on this, but he has virtually no contact outside the compound with which to make that assumption.”
Dallas squinted in the dark. “How old are you, Cassidy?”
“Twenty-one. I came from the University of Miami to visit my family when the epidemic broke out.”
“Is your family?”
She shook her head. “They’re in the compound. You know, I’ve sat there for weeks listening to the uneducated guesses of the moral majority and I can’t do it any longer. I made up
my mind that I would try to hitch a ride with the first people who came through.”
“And if we say no?”
She shrugged, lowering her arms. “Then I’ll make my own way, but I’m done living underground. It’s suffocating the life out of me.”
“I can totally understand that. Let me talk to our people in the morning. From here on out, we decide as a group who can join us. I’m sure you understand.”
She nodded.
“In the meantime, toss your bag down there so we can keep an eye on you during the night. We hate to be so suspicious, but I’m sure you know why it has to be that way.”
When Cassidy was in her bag and Dallas returned to hers, Cassidy said to Roper, “I think it’s cool ya’ll are lead by two women.”
“It just happened that way, but you can imagine what some of the outlaws will try.”
She nodded. “In the beginning, we had a few issues, but Evan took care of them.”
“And what did that look like?”
“Bloodshed says it all. Evan may look like a mild-mannered mouse, but he’s fiercely protective of the compound.”
“And they really believe the government can contain this? That waiting it out is the thing to do?”
“They do. And since the undead aren’t around as much, they feel safer.”
Roper shook her head. “They horde together.”
“Like schools of fish. I noticed. I am…was an oceanography major at the university. At first, I just thought I was seeing things, but then, I saw a mob in action and I just knew.”
Roper let the conversation fade with the last of the light, tasting Dallas on her lips and wanting more of that. Lots more. It was as if the constant threat of death made her hungrier for more of the goodness of life.
And Dallas was good.
She was better than good. She was amazing on so many levels.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Cassidy asked with a sleepy voice.
Here in the hills amid the wreckage of what was once the great state of California, Roper actually smiled in the darkness.
“Yeah, Cassidy. Yes, she is.”
****
With a unanimous vote for Cassidy, they set off with a nearly full tank of gas to Barstow, California, a lower-income burg with more military and ex-military than not. It sat in a desolate part of the state, not a destination location by any means.
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