Zombie Overload (Book 3): Learning To Live

by C. M. Wright

  My mom comes in with a glass of water and unceremoniously dumps it on Sara's face. Spluttering and cursing, Sara flails her arms and screams as she flies into a sitting position. That. Was. Frikken. Awesome, Mom! I want to act like a kid and bounce on the floor, clapping my hands and shouting "do it again, do it again!," but I've got Grace in my arms.

  Mom looms over her and in a very mom-like voice once she's had enough, says, "Listen here, little Miss Priss. This is my daughter's home and now ours'. You can either straighten up and start acting like an adult or I'll set your butt on fire with a belt, since you're choosing to act like a spoiled child. You will treat all of these people, who saved you, who have protected you, and who have put up with your shit for far too long, with respect, or...you can leave. Do you understand me?"

  Whoa! It's usually me she talks to like that. It's fun to see her let someone else have it, for a change.

  The room is deathly silent. Everyone's a little scared of my mom-and if they'd seen her when she beat the crap out of that zombie in the armory, they would be even more so.

  Sara obviously is feeling the fear, too. She just nods and lowers her head in shame. Mom tells her to get her to apologize to Kally, then get her butt in the shower-and Jake will give her a another set of fatigues, since he has plenty. Jake nods and hustles to do as Mom told him. Bringing then in, he shoves them at Sara's chest. Head still lowered, she hurries to the shower.

  When Mom's back is turned, I grin at my sisters, who are all hiding grins from Mom too. Mom takes Kally in to doctor her bleeding knuckles. Damn! She really hit that chick hard! The kids and I go back to watching the movie.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I play with Grace and talk to the boys every time a boring part of the movie comes up. My nieces and nephews scoot closer to me and I'm finally able to give them a hug-I haven't even had time to say "Hi" to them until now.

  Will comes in and sits behind me, and I lean back against him and relax. He coos and talks to Grace over my shoulder, and then he and Bo start talking about Bo getting to shoot. Bo tells him how he's now a teenager and should be allowed his own gun.

  I hear Will whisper, "Shh. Not in front of your mom." And I roll my eyes. Ash scoots next to his dad and tells him all about me letting him shoot all the guns.

  "Oh, she did, did she?" Will says, looking at me from above.

  I shrug. "We were bored." Simple as that.

  "And Bo, I agree. You should have your own gun. But your dad or Jake has to teach you all about cleaning it and all that." I surprise both Will and Bo.

  "I will teach you. I'M your dad." Oops! Insert my big-ass foot in my big-ass mouth.

  Getting a big whiff of something nasty, I check Grace's diaper and wrinkle my nose at the god-awful smell. I have Will grab a blanket off the chair behind him and lay it on the floor in front of me. I lay Grace down and pull her diaper bag closer to me. Then I get her cleaned up and changed. The boys have scattered, apparently afraid of the smell, although I've had to deal with their own smells. Not pleasant!

  Handing Grace to Will and ignoring his protests that he might break her, I get up and go help the other women who are make something to eat for everyone.

  After making sure the kids have a plate, I bring mine and Will's in and sit down beside him, noticing Grace is back on the floor asleep on the blanket. Its amazing how something so tiny and helpless can scare the shit out of full-grown men! Pathetic!

  As everyone is eating, Coco asks for our attention. Once it's quiet, she says, "As you may remember," she pauses, "or not, tomorrow is Halloween―"

  I interrupt with a short bark of laughter, and now everyone's attention is on me.

  Looking around sheepishly, I simply say, "When isn't it Halloween now?"

  A few snicker and laugh, the rest roll their eyes and shake their heads. Those are the ones with no sense of humor. Bunch of grouches!

  Coco continues, "Anyway, the kids have asked if they can make decorations, but I want to make sure no one has a problem with it first."

  Before any of us can say a word, the Queen of Bitch herself opens her mouth, just as loud and annoying as ever.

  "Well, I have a problem with it! How could you possibly think that this would be a good idea with the way things are? Besides, these kids need to learn to work, not play," Sara says in her irritatingly whiny voice.

  So of course we tell Coco it's a great idea, mostly because of Sara's protests, but we would have agreed to let the kids have some fun even without Sara making an ass of herself.

  Sara stomps out of the house, slamming the door behind her, which puts a grin on almost everyone's face.

  "Let it go, kids. She's just an angry, bitter young woman who needs our prayers." She needs a lot more than my prayers. Like maybe a fist or two. Everyone goes back to their food and conversations, forgetting Sara and her drama.

  Will and I finish eating and he helps me off the floor. I throw our paper plates away while he grabs our coats and then ushers me back out to the porch, but this time, we don't stop there-he leads me down the steps and across the yard. When we get to our truck, he helps me in, goes around and climbs into the driver's seat, then starts the truck.

  "Are we going somewhere?" I ask him.

  "No. Just want to sit here and get the heater going," he explains. Then his tone turns serious, "We need to talk."

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  No! No! No! Crap. Here we go.

  "Ok. What's up?" I ask. My heart is pounding so hard and my mind is spinning. What do I tell him? How much do I tell him?

  "We need to talk to everyone about going out and getting what we can. It's not going to be long before everything's taken by others, if it hasn't been already." The breath I'm holding releases loudly in relief. Oh, thank God! Easy talk. No problem!

  "Yep. You're right. So lets get everyone together and discuss it." I put my hand on the door handle but Will stops me.

  "Has Jake said anything to you since last night?" he asks me. Ah, damn. So close!

  "Nope. Not a word."

  "He stares at you when he thinks no one is looking. Knowing he kissed you, saw you naked, and held you when you were naked, pisses me off like you wouldn't believe. I know it wasn't your fault, but all I see when I look at the asshole is him holding you like that. I wish he'd just move on. Find his own damn place to live."

  I pull Will to me and wrap my arms around him. I kiss him but I don't say anything. I know how I'd feel if I saw some bitch all over him. Only difference is, I would kill the bitch, and no one will stop me!

  Will pulls back enough to see my face and I watch as his own face turns as hard and cold as granite. "I need you to tell me now, and don't you dare lie to me because when I find out-and I will-shit will be a lot worse. Did anything else happen between you and Jake? Did you sleep with him?"

  "Hell no, Will! Nothing else has happened except for when he tried to kiss me in that town where we found you." Well, I didn't sleep with him! I'm trying to keep my husband from murder. That's the only reason I didn't tell him about the incident on the floor of the truck...and the back of the store. Honest!

  "Not even when you thought I was dead?" I shake my head no.

  "Alright. Let's go in."

  We walk to the house together, his arm around my shoulders and my arm around his waist. What we didn't see, was Sara lying in the very backseat of our truck, listening to every word and wearing a big evil grin. Revenge the only thing on her mind.

  We gather everyone in the living room except Ma, Lindey, and Coco who are helping the kids make Halloween decorations at the kitchen table. Will explains what we need to be doing and everyone agrees that, first thing in the morning, we will go out and get what we can. They also discuss getting more walls put up tomorrow after the trips into St. Thomas, the large city southeast of here.

  I notice Sara come in the front door and she flashes me a cocky grin. Great. What's that bitch up to now? I glare at her and she tosses her head back, still grinning. I roll my eye
s and turn my attention back to the others and our plans for tomorrow-and just that easily, she's forgotten. What is it they say, hindsight's twenty-twenty?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  We finally break the group up and everyone but Greg heads to bed. He insisted on being the one keeping watch, saying the rest of us need to get sleep since the majority of us will be going out and the others will be taking care of the kids.

  It took some time to convince Jake he would be alright, but after Greg explained he had gotten plenty of sleep after they got back from Nebraska and insists he can sleep tomorrow while everyone else is busy, Jake finally agreed-although he didn't go further than the couch in the family room. Everyone else piles upstairs. Somehow, Will and I got the room to ourselves-and don't think we aren't going to enjoy it. Wink! Wink!

  Exhausted but satisfied-we fall into a deep sleep.

  The next morning we're startled from sleep by very loud screams and the sound of running feet. Will and I fly out of bed, him in his pj bottoms and me in a long nightshirt. Grabbing my handgun, I fly to the door, yank it open and jump out into the hall, gun pointed....at all the kids!

  The kids stop instantly, complete fear on their faces. I shift my eyes around the hall looking for undead when it hits me that they can't even get upstairs.

  "What the hell is going on?" I bellow at the kids. The kids look too terrified to move or talk. Slowly, I lower the gun to my side, and ask them again in a softer tone.

  "We're just excited cause it's Halloween, Aunt Canada," explains MaLayna.

  My body sags with relief. Will places his hands on my shoulders and the kids look dejected, still thinking they are in trouble. I grin at them and tell them they aren't in trouble and I'm not mad. Just scared the living hell out of me, is all!

  "You guys can't be screaming like that, anymore. We will think you have a zombie chasing you, ok?" They nod and head back down the stairs much quieter than they came up. Will and I go back inside our room and I get what I need for a shower while Will makes the bed and gets dressed.

  Downstairs, Mom checks, cleans, medicates, and puts a fresh bandage on my throat. Still burns like a bitch! We all eat breakfast, and then the ones of us going to St. Thomas head outside and gather round the trucks. Dad and Mom are taking one of the semis, Toby and Andy the other. Will and I are taking our Hummer, Jake is taking his, and Ryder is taking Dad and Mom's Hummer, while Rose and Kurt are taking Kurt's truck.

  Sara, Bianca, John, Sam, and Helen are riding with Jake. Kally, Ricky, and Norman are riding with Ryder, which leaves Coco, Lindey, Greg, the kids, and Ma at home.

  Jake makes sure my sisters and Ma can get to the guns easily and remembers how to load and shoot. Finally, we're ready to go. We follow the semis and the other vehicles out to the road where the guys secure the fence-after everyone's through-with the ropes and chains, taking extra care to make it as secure as possible.

  Once on the highway, I'm shocked at how many more abandoned vehicles there are now. There are so many that we can't get through at all! We see Dad running back to our vehicle and he jumps in the backseat. Seconds later, Jake jumps in from the other side, right behind me.

  Dad tells Will to turn around and go back to the little town that's at the same exit as Rose's but turning left instead of right. Will takes us there and Dad guides him to an old run-down building and tells him to go around the back. Will parks in the back lot and I see a couple beat-up tow trucks. I grin. Nice!

  Dad runs inside the building and comes back with keys. Tossing one set to Jake, they jump inside the tow trucks and lead the way back to the others. The others, who are at this moment, shooting about a dozen undead.

  A dozen. No biggie. We just wait for the others to finish them off and then Dad and Jake start clearing cars. The ones of us with Hummers get on our roofs and keep watch. We see heads and torsos bobbing behind vehicles all up and down the highway but fortunately, they aren't all in one large group.

  After they get the road cleared, Norman jumps into the tow truck Dad was driving and Dad gets back in the semi. John takes over Jake's tow truck and Jake goes back to his own. The back door of Jake's truck swings open hard and we watch as Sara dramatically slams the door then runs to John's truck. She gets in without asking and I see John shake his head. But apparently, he gives up and lets her stay.

  Someone in Jake's vehicle must have pissed her off again. Fun times!

  We follow the tow trucks, stopping every once in a while and wait for them to clear the road. A trip that should have taken only an hour ends up taking three-but, finally, we make it.

  All of us except Jake, Toby, Andy, John, and their passengers, head to a large shopping center on the edge of town. Jake's group heads toward an industrial park, which has a lot of construction companies inside.

  Dad backs the semi up to the loading dock at the back of the store and we all get out, carefully clearing the back lot. The back is surrounded by a large security fence, and we close and secure the gate, keeping the surprises from out here to a minimum.

  When everyone's ready, we start for the double loading doors. Both are locked, but the single employee door nearby is propped open by a medium-sized box. Dad kicks it out of the way and pulls the door open wide. He looks inside and listens while we strain to see past him.

  Finally, he goes inside and we all follow. I'm next to last in line with Will being the last. We all have our guns drawn and clear the back storeroom by splitting up, with instructions from Ricky to lock or block every door we find. It will be safer and easier to control just one set of doors. The storeroom is set up with the area we are at now as the main aisle to reach the shopping area. On each side are two large aisles separated by floor to ceiling shelves, all stocked with items.

  Will and I take the first hall on the right. We slowly walk down the aisles, looking between large stacks of boxes where anything could hide. The overhead lights are so high in the rafters that the glow barely cuts through the darkness, and it's so quiet. I know that should make me feel better but sadly, it doesn't. It actually worries me more not hearing anything.

  Will and I are about halfway down the aisle when we hear the noise of the zombie. Sounds like just one. No big deal.

  We follow the sound to the end of the aisle, staying as quiet as we can. At end, we creep forward, our backs against the inside shelves and peek around the edge.

  We are stunned by what we find.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  At least fifty zombies are hanging from their necks in a line on a rafter. They are all moving but only one is making any sound. We watch in shock as they kick their legs and flail their arms. Obviously the others aren't making any noise because their throats are a mess. They look as if they've been up there for awhile, except the one making the noise.

  He looks like he's been freshly hung. That scares me. By whom and where are they now? He's wearing a store uniform and looks to be-have been?-in his late twenties, early thirties. One of his shoes have been kicked off and the other looks about to go at anytime.

  Will and I check for others behind us, living or dead, before we leave the aisle. We walk toward the line of zombies and then down the row, studying each one in sickened fascination. Who would do something like this? At least shoot them. Don't keep them like this!

  Ryder and Norman walk out as we near the other aisle. Like us, they are shocked by what they see, as well.

  "What the hell is this?" Ryder asks. Will and I just shrug our shoulders.

  "Should we shoot them?" asks Norman.

  I shake my head no. "If we do, it could bring everything in the front of the store after us. Undead and whatever the hell did this. I think I would rather deal with the undead over those sickos, any day. We need to get back and let the others know about this."

  They all agree and we take off at a run. Running, because we are afraid something worse than the undead is going to find our family first.

  We come to the open center area and see Kally and Ricky running toward us fr
om the opposite aisle. They stop and beckon for us to follow them. We do and when we come to the end of the aisle, it's like we are seeing a mirror image of the other side of the storeroom.

  Zombies strung up by their necks. But these are different in one way. Some have been stripped of their skin-large strips of skin. This is shit you see in the movies!

  I can't believe it, after all I've seen and done, but I start gagging. Bending over, I throw up until I can do nothing but dry heave. Once I'm able to move again, Will pulls me away from the others. We go far enough down the aisle that I can't see the zombies anymore and I fling my arms around Will's neck, sobbing into his shoulder. He holds me tight and rubs my back in soft circles.

  "Shh, Honey. Don't think about it. I love you," he tells me in a soft, gentle voice. I stop sobbing and sniff a few times, then release him. Wiping my face of the tears, I shake my head.

  "I just don't understand, Will. I mean, what the hell?"

  "I don't know. I wish I did but I just don't freakin' know what that shit was all about."

  The others join us and we walk back to the main aisle. Ricky and Ryder go to the double swinging doors leading into the actual of the store, while Will goes to the back door and locks it from inside.

  We gather near Ryder and Ricky-so they can be a part of the group, yet still able to watch for whatever comes our way-and we all try to figure out what to do next. Considering we have blocked or locked all ways back here but the swinging main doors, there's no need for us to worry about danger from behind us. Ricky reports that he can see some undead in the store but of course he can't see the entire store. So we know there are some out there, just as we expect there to be.

  I speak up, saying, "I think we need to use the silencers, sneak in, and take those things out as we come to them. We should have had the silencers on to begin with." Actually, I forgot all about them.