by Nick Harland
I put my hand up to stop her and blurted, ‘Don’t. I’m freaked out enough as it is, I won’t sleep if you say it.’
She replied, ‘Yea, that one freaked me out for weeks. So what do we do now?’
I thought for a moment, ‘Now we wait and see what tomorrow brings. I think we’ve done well overall. We’ve collected a ton of useful stuff and we have enough food for ages. My main concern is water. We have enough for a while and there are other cans and bottles of drink from the supermarket, but it’s what we’d run out of first if we got stuck. There are some empty containers we should leave outside in case it rains. I wouldn’t want to drink it, but we could use it for washing or watering those plants, they already look rough. I also think we should move the camper up the slope to under the radio tower where it’s much harder to see from the path.’
Eve nodded, ‘Good idea, and if we’re not going out again it would be good to do a little gardening before dark. Like you say, some of those plants look rough and even at the expense of a little water now, fresh juicy tomatoes and tasty fresh salad leaves later will be worth it.’
We moved the camper van and managed to plant all the seedlings in the grow bags. We had plenty of decent tools and the ground wasn’t too hard so we also managed to plant out the small trees and bushes before it got dark. We used the compost from some of the grow bags to help what we planted out. We put some of the tomatoes in the small plastic greenhouse things. I never fancied myself a gardener, and I know I said earlier I never would, but it was strangely satisfying and helped take both our minds off things.
We ate and went to bed without talking much. Although we didn’t do it, and frankly I was exhausted so I didn’t mind, we held each other closely and I fell asleep curled up behind her. It was nice.
Mutt woke us at just after one in the morning with his warning growl. We got up bleary eyed and pulled some clothes on. It was pitch black outside and we couldn’t see a thing. When you are so used to manmade light everywhere, even if it’s in the distance, it takes some getting used to proper, complete, all enveloping, blackness. You have to take a deep breath and gather your courage to face it. The moon was only a sliver and the clouds masked it, it wasn’t much help. Eve fumbled around for a night vision scope swearing as she searched for it. She looked out of the van’s window, then, without a word, handed the scope to me. I had never used night vision before and it was cool. It was like you could see, even though it was dark. It’s obvious I know, but it’s cool when you first try it. It’s a shame what I saw made me have to clench by bladder shut rather than get hard from watching some woman undress, but you can’t have everything.
There was a wall of Zeds lining up along the gate and front fence at least six deep. There were quite dense bushes either side of the path that seemed to be stopping them making it around the sides of the compound, which was something at least. I put the scope down and looked at the muffled dark outline of Eve’s face. I couldn’t see her expression at all and while I was staring she leant in and kissed me, almost hitting my nose as she fumbled to find my lips. Before laying her head on my shoulder she whispered, ‘Now I’m scared too.’
I held her and whispered back, ‘We’re not going to die tonight ok. We’ve worked too hard to die now, we’ve only just got started.’
She sat up and replied, ‘How did they find us? I mean, I can see them following the car from this afternoon as it’s basically a straight run for a few miles up the bank, but we’re off the road by at least a hundred feet up a steep path with trees everywhere. You can’t see this place from the road, even in the daytime.’
I had no idea but one possibility occurred to me. I said, ‘Shit, Mutt dropped a steamer earlier at the other end of the compound. We know they can’t see us, we’ve been in bed for hours now so they can’t have heard us or seen any light, that only leaves smelling us. They seem to be programmed to do anything for fresh meat and perhaps poo is evidence of fresh meat. The only other alternative is that they followed the cars tracks here but I’ve never seen them searching purposefully for any reason and it’s pitch black. Unless they’ve suddenly developed night vision, that only leaves shit.’
Eve took a moment to think about it, ‘I guess that makes sense, if their one purpose in life is to hunt fresh meat they would ignore any rotting smells like the dead ones outside but could be attracted to a smell that points to living meat, no matter how gross. Fuck that makes life more complicated. So what do we do, they can’t have actually seen us yet?’
The Zed hoard was banging against the fence but it was holding just fine. I replied, ‘One way or another I think we have to deal with them. We could wait and hope something else attracts them but then we’re stuck in here for who knows how long and Mutt at least will have to go out tomorrow. My worry is that one of two fall over and the others walk on top of them and get curious about if they could climb the fence. If a few more fell, eventually there could be enough of a pile so the others get over. Then we’d be, well…. dead.’
‘I don’t think we have a choice. It’s gonna be hard on the swinging arm and it will take some time, but we have to deal with them. Their combined groaning will attract any passers-by if we don’t and we still need to deal with the smell. Killing them might cause a pile that could get dangerous, but they will follow us along the fence so if we’re careful and spread them out we should be alright. Keep your guns on in case though.’
My eyes were getting used to the blackness and Eve looked tired and pissed off, ‘Fuck. I know you’re right, but fuck. We should think about using different weapons, or at least rotating them. A thinner sharper pointy thing will go through their eye’s more easily than a blunt thing will crush their skulls. We’ll also have to practice left handed or neither of us are going to be able to use our right arms tomorrow. We have to stay healthy and don’t want to risk tearing a muscle or ligament that won’t heal well.’
I could just see her smile and she added, ‘You’ve heard of tennis elbow, who needs Zombie shoulder.’
I giggled and kissed her. She kissed me back and I knew from the way she squeezed me that we both felt a familiar urgency. Then she pushed me gently away and said, ‘Mistress says deal with the Zombies and you shall have a treat, anything you want, anywhere you want it, for as long as you want it, you’re in charge.’
I replied, ‘Well what are we waiting for.’
The Zeds were excited to see us but the feeling wasn’t mutual. We found a couple of large screw drivers as alternative weapons and got to work. We started at the end of the fifteen meter run of fencing parallel to the path. The gate was at the other end of the run we started from. There was a small verge and some prickly bushes on the other side of the fence, which made it easier. The fence was about a foot higher than the path so before they climbed onto the thin verge we didn’t have to reach up so high to hit. Believe me, when you have to crush or impale dozens of skulls, not having to reach quite so high to do so makes a difference.
The work was tiring, even changing between left and right hands and going between crushing and stabbing weapons didn’t help much. An hour later we were both exhausted and needed a rest, but we had only thinned out the horde by about half. More had kept coming after we started but it wasn’t long before the new arrivals stopped. We spread the bodies out and the verge helped so there was no risk of climbers yet, but we both knew it would get tight towards the end. As they were showing no signs of going anywhere, including over the fence, Eve made tea. Then I had an idea.
I grabbed a torch and searched our supplies. Even a one handed stabbing thing was quite hard work, what we needed was a two handed spear. I removed the long handles from a broom and rake we didn’t need and taped the screwdrivers to them so the points stuck passed the end of the handle by a few inches. Then I found some small nails and put one at the end of the screwdriver handle and a couple either side before taping the shit out of it again. I knew they would come lose eventually but if our aim was right they probably had forty or fifty
stabs in them. They were ugly and botched but I was proud of myself none the less.
I took them to show Eve who was just coming out of the van to find me. She stopped and looked at them then said in a stilting gruff voice, ‘Man, make, spear.’
I handed her one and replied in similar voice, ‘Man kill Zombie, then take woman to cave.’
The tea break didn’t exactly revitalise us and even with the new spears we had to rest frequently. It was another couple of hours before we could see an end to the Zeds and, as we predicted, things got dodgy. I killed one, and while bending forwards to rest my hands on my knees I didn’t notice another one seize the opportunity to use the pile of bodies it had fallen onto to try and climb the fence. I heard the scuffling and groaning above me and reacted quickly, but the Zed got stuck trying to get over the top of the fence. As its hands slipped on the goo cover steel one of the spikes went through its neck and into its head. It was one of the most fucked up things I’d seen up the that point, and that included a Beefcakes arm stuck in Frank’s bull bars. The dead Zed hung there, its feet just resting on the pile of bodies below it, its pale eyes bulging and an eternally surprised look on its face.
That was all the example and encouragement the others needed and they all surged towards the breach. The first one climbed up the impaled body and managed to get over but of course it fell when it landed and was easy to finish, others were close behind though. Eve came to stand beside me and Mutt was close behind her. Eve said, ‘There aren’t many left and they will fall when they land. We may end up needing every round, so strictly hand to hand unless we get desperate.’
Mutt pounced on the next one as soon as it landed. One more got impaled on the fence spikes which gave us a momentary break but doubled the area they could use to climb over. The next three minutes were pure adrenalin and I wasn’t sure I could have lifted the pry bar again if my life had depended on it, which of course it did. Eve gasped next to me and said, ‘Fuck it’, before taking out a pistol and backing up a few steps. The pile on our side of the fence was high enough now that the last few stayed on their feet. Eve finished them, only missing one I had to front kick backwards so she could try again.
We stood for a moment gasping for air, feeling sick from exhaustion mixed with adrenalin, but they were all dead. We dropped our weapons where we stood and staggered back to the van. Eve stopped at the door, we were both covered from face to feet in goo, ‘Clothes off please. I know the promise I made and I always keep my word, but perhaps after some sleep.’
I was still breathing heavily, Eve was quite a bit fitter than me, but I managed to reply between breaths, ‘I know, I couldn’t even if I tried, and I wouldn’t want to waste my special treat.’
We stripped off and let our clothes fall where they were when I remembered something, ‘I’m sure it will reduce in intensity over time but Mutt’s beacon is still there and I don’t to wake up to even one more Zed. I figure a body should do it.’
Eve nodded, ‘Even when you’re knackered your smart. I’m so lucky you found me.’
I replied, ‘We’re both lucky. If I didn’t have you to survive for I don’t think I’d be as sharp for just myself.’
There was an awkward moment. Eve broke it by saying, ‘Man hunt shit, woman warm bed.’
I found Mutt’s poo and he looked up at me innocently as I dragged the nearest Zed to put on top of it. Having stopped sweating I was shivering from the cold night air by the time I got back to the van. Eve was waiting for me in bed with a bottle of water in her hand. I gulped most of the bottle and fell into her inviting arms. She was soft and warm and her luscious naked body shuffling as close as it could to mine made me instantly hard. I considered my options for a moment but the adrenalin had run out and I felt myself falling. The last thing I remember was feeling Eve squeeze me gently and saying, ‘Mistress says rest now, some treats are worth waiting for.’
Chapter Twelve – Second Base
By the time we woke up it was almost midday. It was always lovely to wake up next to Eve’s soft shapely body but there was nothing lovely about the smell coming from both of us. She snuggled in, kissed me and whispered, ‘You stink, I know I do to, so what’s the plan?’
I looked at her and replied, ‘I’m in charge today, yes?’
She kissed me again and said, ‘Yes.’
‘Then stroke me until I’m hard and I’ll tell you the schedule. It’s flexible of course, depending on Zed activity, but here it is.’
It was a little hard to concentrate as she did what I asked, but I knew I was going to have to be strong to get the most of out of the day. I said, ‘Firstly we both need to be clean and as it happens I know of a place where there might be enough water for one more shower. After last night we deserve it.’
Eve snuggled closer, ‘Brilliant plan so far, I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it first, and yes, there should be enough water for one or two more.’
‘This place isn’t exactly big or full of options so after showering we’ll take advantage of the local facilities and fuck like superhero’s. It’s unfamiliar territory for me to be in charge but I’ll try and do a good job.’
Eve interrupted, ‘You’ll be fine. Shall I tell you a secret?’
I nodded.
‘When I’m teasing you to within an inch of your control, like putting my soft breast and hard nipple in your mouth but not allowing you to suck it, I’m teasing myself just as much as I’m teasing you. Having it there, having your lips around it and your tongue touching it but not having them close on it and suck it is torture. I want you to suck it at least as much as you want to, but we both enjoy the waiting and we both know it makes it so much better when it happens.’
‘That time when we first did it and I showered and made you watch as I soaped myself up and pinched my nipples, all I wanted to do was grab you and make you take me in the shower. There is very little difference between being the sub and being the dom when you play like that. I like sex and I want you. The more you make me wait and work for it the better it will be for both of us. You don’t have to try and think of what I want or what you might have seen on porn sights, just think of what you want and take pleasure in waiting for it to happen, just like you do when I’m in charge.’
I wanted her right then and there but she was right, we stank. I nodded to acknowledge I understood what she had said and I did feel better about taking charge without disappointing her.
I carried on, ‘After the sex we’ll be taking a trip out of town. Last night made a few things clear. The first is that this base isn’t cutting it. It’s too close to too many houses and has no toilet. The idea of building our own extension and everything is all very well, but this isn’t a computer game and I think the reality might be very different from the dream. If we make it to winter we’re gonna need something much less ramshackle. Mutt’s steamer might have caused us some pretty big trouble but it’s given me an awesome idea for our second base. Be prepared to be astounded by my brilliance.’
‘I used to go caravanning with my parents when I was young and they still could. They had me when they were quite old and died a few years ago. When I was thinking of how to cover up the smell of Mutts poo’s I thought of the blue chemicals in the campers toilets. A dash of that over a poo and it won’t attract the Zeds. That made me think of caravans and the big caravan centre where my parents brought theirs, just outside town.’
Eve grabbed my erection enthusiastically, ‘That is fuckin brilliant. I know the place. I’ve been there a few times with a friend who was looking for one. It’s a big building on loads of land on an industrial estate and it has a big security fence all the way around it because they also store vans for people. It sells big bottles of gas for vans and barbeques and had a shop with loads of good stuff, let alone having bloody loads of vans to mess around in. Fucking brilliant.’
Still holding me, but more gently again she said, ‘You know all that stuff I said about waiting?’
I nodded, ‘It wasn’t wron
g, but our experience has also taught me that although a really long session is awesome, the climax at the end is never as good as it could be. All that waiting and being hard for so long I guess.’
Sliding on top of me she looked into my eyes and said, ‘You know what makes for a really good climax…quick and dirty. Now fuck me without stopping and don’t spare the horses. Don’t worry about me, you can give me mine afterwards. I have a little secret I haven’t told you about, something I really like that I’ve been holding back for a special occasion. You can use it again later but only after making me beg for it. I absolutely love it so you can really make me work for it. I know you’ll like it too.’
What can I say except she was right, quick and dirty was great and afterwards was something I looked forwards to doing again and again. I still found it hard to believe I’d got so lucky. Being close to death every day and in the middle of a Zed apocalypse was the best thing that had ever happened to me, she was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
We found some clean clothes and got Frank ready. We put a selection of gear including enough food and water for a few days in the back and headed off. It only took a few minutes to get to Eve’s old house but we encountered several Zeds on the way. Eve built up a little speed as we approached the house then turned the engine off so we could cruise up to the front. With the Zeds probably opening doors now we knew there could be more around than there had been.
We weren’t wrong. Even though we cruised silently for the last hundred feet or more, by the time we stopped we saw Zeds coming from various houses and drives. One came from the house opposite and I saw it go to the front door and open it. I said, ‘Try and remember where they come from so we can search them for keys. I still think it’s a good idea take a few hand breaks off and have some spare cars we could come back to.’