by P. S. Power
“Calm every one. We can handle this. You three,” He pointed almost at random at the men.
“Make a square and get ready to shoot anything running up on us. Remember; head shots if you can manage it. The rest of you come with me, except... Burt, um, could you watch the cart? Once we're in place, I mean?” The old guy didn't kill, not even the dead. Jake could respect that. Not his way personally, but someday they'd be done with the zombie mess and would need someone to remind them how to be people again. Otherwise that would leave people like Dave in charge, and that wouldn't work well at all.
He almost just killed the rotting thing himself, but remembered what had worked before, so held his nine pointed up suddenly, turned and smiled a little.
“All right, which of you is going to do this?” He looked around, ready to wait for someone to step forward. Carley didn't hesitate, just moving in and shooting the thing in the head, three times. She had a twenty-five, so that was about right. It took more bullets to make things happen with smaller weapons. The men all stood around looking shocked, and Carley looked pale. Not ready to cry and not scared, just a little sick looking. No red blood came out of the zombie though, which made it easier. Seeing red blood always made people wonder if they'd killed the right thing or if they'd just murdered a crazy person. That only held with runners and shamblers though. Normally only runners. No one lived through having both their legs shredded off like this thing had. It wasn't an issue this time at all.
Jake always figured that it never would be. After all, if someone ran up on you and tried to eat your face, shooting seemed a sensible course of action, didn't it? Crazy or zombie didn't matter that much when it happened.
Not to him.
Most people didn't see it that way though. Not even the other cleaners. They agonized over every bit of red they saw as if it meant something. That pain slowed them down. Not all of them. Not Dave or Tipper, or from what Jake had seen, Vickie. The others though, even Barry the veteran, froze for a second when stuff like that happened.
Like how he'd frozen with Becks. The thought made him so sad he felt like crying for a few seconds, until he shut it all down. There was no time to worry over things he couldn't fix, and while it was really bad, it wasn't like they'd ever been more than friends. She'd made her reasons for that pretty clear, hadn't she? Jake couldn't be happy about it, but really, did he have a right to act like it was important? More important than anyone else or their problems at least?
He grabbed one of the shovels and started digging fast, since they didn't have as much time now. It wasn't far enough from the house for his comfort, but sometimes they had to make do. After a minute everyone else shook off what had happened and started digging too. Burt first, then Carley and Randy. The others moved slower, but they did it without being told, taking turns and even helping to remove the head with a shovel blade, made easier thanks to the level of rot on the thing's neck, and pushed the body into the grave with only a little prodding. Jake smiled and nodded to Carley after they started walking again, this time two of the other men pushing the wagon bar.
“Not bad. I'm proud of you.” He said, hoping it wouldn't trigger a half hour rant about how he didn't have a right to feel pride over her actions.
She grinned a little instead.
“Yeah, I'm the bad ass zombie hunter now, aren't I. I nearly wet myself back there. That would have made me look tough, wouldn't it?” She looked at the ground as she walked.
It would have been kind of funny, he assured her, but the chaffing would have annoyed for the rest of the walk, so it was just as well she hadn't. A lot of people did their first time. Soil themselves, about a third. Jake hadn't, but he'd thrown up. Retching hard after shooting his mother. Enough that his Dad nearly ate his leg before he could recover enough to shoot. Carley had done better than that, he assured her.
“Better than a lot of people. You didn't even get yourself killed. So yeah, you're bad now. Just remember to shoot things in the head and don't give them a chance to get you. Don't get full of yourself and think that you're too tough to take down, and you'll do pretty well.”
The conversation was low and gentle, it nearly sounded romantic in tone to Jake, lacking only decent subject matter, leaning in he explained what he was thinking with a smile.
“Maybe I should tell you that you have pretty eyes or something? Which you do, of course. This is surely the right moment to make a move, don't you think?”
She had to stifle a laugh.
“I thought you and Heather had something going, you always sleep together...”
He shook his head, but didn't explain it. After all that wasn't his story to tell. Plus, he didn't want to jinx it. The girl had gotten a bit cuddlier over time and maybe, possibly, it seemed like something could happen there someday, if he was patient and kind to her. It was hard not to be pushy, but he'd waited for twenty-four years, he could manage a bit longer.
Carley didn't ask, but looked curious. They didn't have TV, so any story you didn't already know seemed interesting now, didn't it? He shrugged and kept walking. If Carley really wanted to know, she could ask Heather. He still didn't even know how old she was. Looking around he realized that most of the facts about the people around him were a mystery. Even Burt, and really he felt about as close to him as anyone. Dave was thirteen, Molly nineteen and Tipper forty-two. The rest? Not a fucking clue. He hardly knew anyone's name even really.
It made things easier. If he had to cap Carley now to shut her up he'd probably hesitate slightly. He liked her. God knew why, but he did. Probably her looks, but she'd also really stepped up in the last month, which meant a lot. Even when he'd been locked in a room, she kept right on making sure the wood got in. That might just make the difference later.
“Burt, how much more wood do we need, do you think?”
The man chuckled softly and winked at him, moving close to talk, not just so his voice wouldn't carry, but so the others wouldn't hear.
“We've had enough for nearly a week. Now we're building surplus for the baths. We even have what we need for the greenhouse. I'm just waiting on the harvest to let everyone know. Besides, we'll need charcoal for the forge, which means green logs. I've been trying to keep people busy for a while. Stave off depression. Now if we could just get rid of the freaking zombies around here it might even work, don't you think?”
Jake did think and nodded at the man.
“Good, I'll get with Carl and we can go hunting then. We need to figure out canning and stuff too. Mary was on that with Lois, but I don't know anything about it. Meat can be dried, right? Beef jerky was dried meat, I think. I don't know how that works either, a kind of slow cooking?”
“You're thinking smoking, which we should do too, people will want the variety in the middle of winter. How many animals do you think you can get?”
They decided to plan on twenty, but seriously, who knew? With that they could feed their people a little meat each day for nearly half the winter. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference. Really they needed a lot more, forty or fifty deer at least, maybe a couple of the older cows. Randy moved over and listened.
“If we go back I bet we can find more. There are always stragglers, and the Hofstadters kept a lot of other things, rabbits, goats and alpaca. If we can collect up those and some sheep, we can maybe make our own yarn. Or eat them. I don't know what they taste like, but I don't feel too picky right now.” The boy smiled when he said it, but it was only the truth. Anything not human would be fair game for a long while.
Carley was holding the water container in place as they made their plans for the next day, a combination scouting and hunting trip hitting the river at dusk and staying in the other house for the night, it was small, but secure enough. Even if they didn't get anything they could bring back the wood stoves. Burt gave him a funny look when he mentioned that.
“Efficient.” The older man said, not as happily as would be expected normally.
Jake didn't get it, so he kept look
ing at the man until he explained.
“I didn't go in there myself. If I'd gone, I would have known that they were there. Instead we sent Vickie's team in. Just realizing that I need to be a little more proactive, that's all. I never liked horror movies you know. Thought they were boring.”
Jake had liked them. When he was twelve, then they really had gotten boring. He preferred dark toned video games. He doubted that would hold now. Someday, when they had time for hobbies, he wanted to learn to make things. Maybe blacksmithing would be a good place to start? That, or wood working. Something with his hands that created instead of destroyed. Something actually useful.
They walked back into a noisy mess, two women rolling on the ground in the backyard, pulling each other's hair and trying to punch the other.
Poorly.
It was really sad, and people just stood around watching as if it were happening in a school yard.
Pathetic.
On all counts. Someone should have stepped in already.
Neither was armed, and no one had interceded. The fighting was bad, but could have been overlooked except that they were also too loud. Jake walked over and pulled his nine, getting ready to shoot. One of the women was Yvonne and the other was someone smaller. A hard, thin looking woman with a hooked nose and a tattoo of a butterfly on her left shoulder. Yellow and black. Quality work really. It was about the size of a pack of playing cards.
They didn't stop fighting, even as he stood there, getting ready to kill them. Jake rolled his eyes and sighed, then aimed a kick at each, taking them in the ribs, Yvonne first. Then Tammy. He thought that would be her name. They both stopped then and looked at him, scared.
Jake hated to be the bully, but... good. They were being morons. If this whole thing turned out to be over who Holsom had loved more, he was just going to shoot them both.
“Bit of a disagreement? We really don't have time for this kind of thing. Come with me. If either of you does anything but follow meekly, I'll kill you.” He meant it, and his voice sounded low and dark. Jake was getting good at sounding menacing. Not really a thing to be proud of, but it worked so often anymore.
They'd made it to the back porch when Nate came out, holding a rifle.
“Oh, Jake, good. I was just coming to shoot them. I doubt they would have bought it coming from me if I bluffed. So...” The man shrugged, thin shoulders making the weapon rise just a bit in his hands.
“Yeah, exactly. So. We may have to shoot them both anyway, depending on why they were doing it. Keep the rifle handy. Really, we should consider it just based on how much noise they were making.” He glared at the women for a moment. “I'm very disappointed with you both right now. Fighting like that is stupid, but to make noise while doing it is asking to die. Three months ago we'd have been fighting off a steady stream of zombies right now. As it is we'd best put out some sentries.” He stared hard, and at least Yvonne looked slightly ashamed of herself. The other woman didn't, she just looked away as if she had a right to do anything she wanted.
No matter who ended up dying because of it.
The men looked at each other and shrugged. This wasn't a school yard, and a fight was serious here. That it hadn't ended in death probably meant the women weren't really trying. Everyone knew how to kill now, even if they were afraid to.
Jake turned to them and waved them into the living room, grabbing two chairs for them on the way past.
“Sit please.” He gestured to them and after they did, got two more, one for him and one for Nate. He didn't really need to be there, except to kill them if they didn't stay calm. Other people crowded into the doorway, but Nate waved them away.
“Go now, leave them the meager scraps of dignity they have left.”
Sammi and Ken stood in the door anyway. For a second Jake was going to shew them off too, but then he remembered that they were in charge of Yvonne, so she at least, was their responsibility. Shrugging he nodded at them and gestured silently until they came over.
“All right, what's the situation then?”
Sammi and Ken stood next to him, and Sammi spoke softly, going first to his surprise.
The story was ridiculous, nearly absurd in the telling. Tammy had come to get some food for one of the pregnant women, who was hungry, but didn't want to ask for more after the whole Holsom thing, since she was having one of his brood. That really would have been fine. They had enough now for a pregnant woman to have a bit extra, but instead of just telling the kitchen people that, which would have gotten them to hand over something to eat without much question, rationing or not, Tammy tried to bully them into it, without mentioning why. Lois had told her no firmly and gotten in her way as she tried to take the food anyway, which got the older woman a punch to the face. So Yvonne tackled the woman and dragged her through the door. They'd walked up about a minute later.
Uhg. Well, Jake didn't blame Yvonne for that part then. They needed to be willing to fight marauders now. So it was just the noise she'd made while doing it. Maybe her poor execution when it came to fighting? Given everything she should have grabbed a weapon. He'd have to mention that to her, but later.
Nate shook his head, then held it in his hands. Sighing loudly he looked around and got up to find Lois. Jake sat staring at the women firmly. If they moved he'd still just kill them. Mainly for being dumb. Tammy first though. She'd punched Lois. That wasn't just stupid, it was nearly insane. Like mugging a granny for her welfare check Back Before. Your own granny. Because that wouldn't make Thanksgiving awkward at all.
Hit hard too, apparently. When the older women walked in, holding a damp cloth to her face, the bruise looked decent already. They couldn't have that, but it wasn't exactly a killing offense either. What else could they do, ground her? She didn't want to leave the house at all... Spank her?
Well... that could work. After a fashion.
Corporal punishment. It just had to come from the right person. It couldn't be Nate or him, or people would think they were just jerks, beating up girls. Lois was a pacifist and hurt, so that wouldn't work.
Vickie came to mind, but that might end up with Tammy dead on the floor, which was tempting, but wrong. Tipper had the same problem, and while Sammi had the guts, short of giving her a baseball bat she wouldn't be able to do a lot. Really there was only one person he could think of that would work.
“Sammi, would you go get Carley please?” Jake said, almost sweetly. The women in the chairs in front of them both cringed.
Heh. Yeah, good call then. They at least thought something was going to happen. Possibly a scolding for letting their “sisterhood” down. They'd be shocked then, wouldn't they?
The curly haired blonde came in, looking a bit hesitant, Jake smiled at her and stood.
“Tammy, stand up please. Carley would you come over here for a second? This won't take long.” He led Tammy by the arm, moving her firmly, until the distances looked right.
“Tammy here punched Lois, for not letting her steal food. She has to be punished, but it needs to be equal to the crime. Hit her in the face please. Hard.”
It took a second and Tammy gave first him a disbelieving look, then Carley, just as the woman's fist came around in a big wide swing, hitting the dark hard looking woman in the face, about where Lois had been hit. It was really a nice solid punch too. The blow took Tammy to the floor and caused Carley to bite her lip, holding her hand as if it hurt. She didn't cry out, just making a light hissing sound. After a bit she shook her hand lightly.
“Anything else?”
Their leader, unshaved and a bit red eyed looked at the woman and nodded.
“Yes... We need to get everyone together after dinner for a serious discussion. There are some things we've left unsaid and undone that really need to be fixed. This shouldn't have happened at all and the next time it does the reason better not be someone trying to push around someone else. We aren't a gang, this is a community, and we need some kind of order. Thank you Carley, if you'd let everyone else know? After
dinner, in here, please.”
Jake just stood up and walked into the kitchen with Lois and Yvonne.
“OK, I don't know what to do, but we have two people injured, if only mildly, so I'm here to help.”
Sammi, eleven years old or not, took over instantly.
“Ken, wash and prep the carrots, please, we have some meat, raccoon, so stew tonight. We need a fire in the stove and the big pot filled half full with water. Some potatoes need to be sliced up as well, about one for each person, they're small. We have some sprout bread already, but some mashed turnips might round things out nicely. I'll do those. Jake, could you get the fire going and then the water? Maybe grab another body for us?”
Lois sat at the little kitchen table working, even with her aching face, parting out the two raccoons they had. They'd already been skinned, so Carl or one of his team had probably gotten them. The deer skin from the one he'd killed had gotten a bit trashed when Randy dressed it down, having to work in the dark like he'd been. Collecting skins seemed like a good idea though. There had to be something that could be done with them. Clothing or something. Hats.
Sammi, it turned out, was a bossy little thing. She also knew what to do, so he followed her orders and had not one, but three, of the adults helping them inside two minutes, simply by walking into the house and pointing at the first three he saw not doing anything, two men and a woman. They just followed and didn't ask what was going on. No one wanted to cook, but they all liked to eat, didn't they? It was so weird really. What else did they have to do in the house? Jake would have thought people would have been fighting to get a job doing something useful.