by P. S. Power
The men were either really good actors, didn't know he was there, or simply didn't care about it, since they chatted about the day quietly, in hushed tones that spoke of not wanting to be overheard by the people in the kitchen, not just protocol. Jake only made out what they were saying because of months of practice paying attention to the subtle changes in the air. A kind of acclimation he figured, that allowed him to mainly tell what people said, even if he really didn't hear all of it consciously.
“Sieger, what did you say to that kid earlier?”
Jake couldn't make out who said it, just that it wasn't the Major or Robert. One of the others and a white guy from the tone, maybe Latino.
“Suggested that the barn dog looked tasty. Just kidding around, but I guess it's his personal pet. Damn kid hits hard. Maybe we should recruit him? Definitely not a coward at least. Be sore for a week. He was really kicking my ass, too. Short of shooting him I don't think I could have won. I hit him a half dozen times and he acted like I didn't even make contact.”
No one laughed at him about it, which showed a much different mindset than Jake figured they'd go with. Then, these were the ones that had lived, so the manly posturing thing the military normally did wasn't that prevalent. Macho types really hadn't done very well.
He'd seen that firsthand. On the third or fourth day he witnessed a man, in shape, probably pushing superhuman in some ways, going into a group of undead bare handed. They tore him apart. Oh, he looked great dying, using impressive moves that would have kicked the asses of a dozen regular people no doubt, but zombies just moved a little when hit and kept coming, wearing him down. That wasn't the last time he saw something like that either, just the most dramatic. A lot of men had that problem. Even the ones that hadn't been training to fight like that for years.
On some level, even when they knew better, most adult males thought they should be able to beat another man in a fight, and women or children didn't even rate mentally with them. Those guys were gone now. It was one of the reasons that there were more women left than men probably. That and the fact that guys would try to protect women and children, even when they didn't know them, or wouldn't gain by it. Not all the time, but enough to wear down the numbers. Jake had felt that effect himself, hadn't he? It was pretty much what he'd been doing for months. The whole time really.
He sat and listened while they chattered back and forth for a while. Some of the men mentioned how good the women here looked. Well fed compared to most places, rosy cheeked, and in a couple of cases even round bottomed. They weren't, the Major told them with an amused tone, there to get laid. Not that the guy seemed to blame them for the interest, but alienating the most successful group they'd encountered yet wouldn't be a good idea from what the man murmured.
“We need these people. They've figured out a lot, and done it without any help. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, for them to be cannibals or thieves, to have slaves hidden out back or at least be severely wronging someone, but so far they just seem... solid. Real. If we all make it to spring we'll want to come back here and see if they can lend a hand.”
How that was supposed to work Jake didn't know, but everyone else just made slight noises as if the idea of a bunch of civilians helping them out made perfect sense.
Any port in a storm, Jake guessed.
“Mac, what did you find out earlier, I saw you going off with their silencer...” The voice of the Major sounded interested, tired too.
The dark did that, the world wasn't pitch black at night, the moon and stars made a huge difference, even through the windows of the house, but being in the dark too long made it hard to stay awake. Right now Jake had to, so he would, but the others seemed to feel pretty safe, which meant they'd sleep eventually.
A low, smooth voice answered, Robert. Where the “Mac” came from he didn't know, possibly the last name the man was using, or just a nickname having nothing to do with anything. Maybe he liked McDonald's coloring books or something? That would at least add some interest to the name.
“I found out that we'd be best not to get in a fight with this outfit, as you might have guessed. These people are all hard. On the job training for some, but there's a lot of other stuff going on here. Their man Jake isn't just a silencer, he's pretty much the real leader here, second in command at least. I got that from my niece. Smart girl, don't be fooled by her age. They had a fall out about three weeks ago, after Jake left to set up a secondary base a few miles from here by himself, real capable guy. Apparently he went from almost nothing to ready for winter in a month, enough for nearly ten people. Things went south here though. Their head man, Nathanial, just couldn't keep it together. A good leader for the real world, but people got lazy. They had to get Jake back in to handle it. Biggest issue there is that all the women are freaked out by him. Jake. He wasn't kidding about that part earlier. Good guy though, won't just demand they sleep with him even though he could. That's pretty much a first from what we've seen so far I think. He also won't let anyone else do it, or bully anyone. Some of their team leaders are the same, so as long as they stay a unit, the whole thing works.” The man kept talking, without a break, going over a lot more than he would have thought anyone could pick up that fast. The guy had skills. That or Sammi did, which really, Jake already knew. Even if the idea of him being the second in command seemed silly. That was...
Jake drew a blank for a second. Burt maybe?
“The central group is solid, hardcore in a way, not just the fighters. Nathanial, the older man with the white beard, Burt, the woman that does the food prep and cooking – Lois – and the man in charge of the crops and greenhouse set up, Julio. Their silencer and then the 'cleaner' team heads. The rest are a little spotty it seems. Some good workers, but most are really lucky they found this place and don't know it yet. The newest people seem to get it, having seen what the world's really like now, but the ones that have been here the whole time just don't understand how great this place is.”
A few of the others had a bit to add, some of it about other people, and the fact that they had both a dog and a cat out in the barn was news to Jake. These men had found out about it in less than a day. They made him uneasy, inventorying the things that had been set up, as if they wanted them for themselves, but they didn't talk about taking anything or even coming back for it. Not even the women. After a while they all just went to sleep.
Except one.
Probably Robert. The breathing pattern was different, more regular and steady and Jake had to figure that if he could tell that with his normal human ears, Robert had at least the same clue about him. Neither said anything or moved all night. In the morning, at first light, everyone got up and the Major actually squeaked when he realized Jake was sitting in the corner.
“Holy fuck! How long have you been there?”
Robert chuckled softly, “He came down while we were all getting ready last night I think. His house though, so if he wants to sit in the corner, who are we to say different? I don't blame him and obviously we're all alive, so if there was a test, we passed.” The man smiled and stood up, then stretched hugely. “Do we get an 'A' then, Jake?”
Jake stood up himself and shook out some of the kinks that had developed, making big circles with his arms and then, even knowing it would look funny, his legs and torso. Being able to move meant more than looking good. He didn't really stretch, not more than reaching for the ceiling or bending around to get comfortable when he could, but sitting like that in one place took its toll on a body. His butt felt sore and his legs needed to have the circulation restored before he tried walking out of the room. At least if he didn't want to fall down.
He grinned himself, almost invisibly in the still very weak light.
“Yeah, decent, a 'B plus' at least. I'm not sure you got all the data right about us, but no plotting to take over or enslave us, so I'll give you bonus points there. I have to go check the charcoal burn outside.”
He walked out the door silently. No one had
been out all night to check on it, he didn't think, unless some of Vic's crew had poked their head out. Luckily it was fine, but someone should have made sure it was checked on regularly. That could be done from the south side windows even, if they didn't want to go out at night. He'd have to mention that. People were a lot more likely to do it if they didn't have to go outside. Just the cold would be enough to make that happen.
The ground was hot over the logs, the mound steamed a little in the distance as the drizzle that fell evaporated quickly. No smoke of note came out, but then they'd taken most of the air out of the equation by burying the ends, leaving only tiny spaces about the size of a quarter. Hopefully they'd get something usable out of it. In another two days they'd take even that away and let it burn out, which could take a while. Then all that had to be done was stripping the burnt carbon off the outside of the logs and collecting that for the forge. Probably doing another burn after that. They had the logs ready to go. Enough for three more batches.
Jake scrubbed up with cold water and sweet smelling soap, shaved and got into clean clothes, staying damp in the rain. He found an old forest green plastic camping poncho in the piles of unsorted gear he'd brought back, trying to stay quiet as most people were still asleep. Then made preparations for the trip into town quickly. Efficiently, thanks to all the practice he'd had at it and decided to take tarps with them this time, knowing that there would be rain for sure and not wanting to search a dozen garages for what they needed. By the time everyone sat down for breakfast he had things pretty much ready for the day. All the others had to do was show up and pull the carts.
Easy, right?
Jake thought so, but everyone that was supposed to go, even Rita, seemed hesitant, asking if they were going in the rain. He blinked at them and nodded, letting his eyes go wide and playful.
“Yes... why would rain stop us? This isn't even hard or anything yet. Just make sure to dress warm and get something to keep you dry. There's more rain gear in the unsorted stuff.” He pointed out the poncho he had, wondering if everyone would try to balk at the last minute.
Oddly the military men repacking their vehicles seemed to rouse people to action a lot more than not, and they were able to get on the road about the same time that the trucks pulled out, headed in the opposite direction.
“All right... So, Molly, you're second in command. I don't expect trouble, but you've got this if I get taken out. Then... Rita. If it gets to that Rita, run. Not before both of us are dead though, all right? You're all armed,” not a question, he'd gotten the weapons for them himself earlier and made them carry them. They all knew how to shoot, but all also claimed they sucked at it.
Fair enough, they'd been selected from people that had largely hidden for months, and Molly, so he couldn't ask for much. But they had them just in case. Mainly shotguns, since they had a lot of them and that made it harder to miss.
“So, remember, head shots, and don't panic if you can help it.”
The new man, the one that looked a little slow, or more honestly, looked very slow, shuffling a bit when he walked, spoke then, asking what was on most of their minds. He really sounded handicapped too, but he'd made it this far, which meant something, and his question was directly on point.
“Will we have to fight zombies? Or... the police?”
Jake nodded, “Zombies are likely, I almost always see some, probably not out in the open, but stay ready. When we go in someplace, just assume they'll be there. I hope we meet with the police, since I want their ammo.” He grinned. Jake really did want their ammunition though. The trick was killing them before they got a chance to burn through it all. They always carried a lot extra.
Everyone else seemed nervous about it, but he really doubted the cops would be coming out for a while. If they could help it they'd probably just hide and try to wait for the military men to be gone. How long they'd do that he didn't know. Really he couldn't be sure that would be their tactic at all, but it fit with what they'd done before. Better if everyone stayed ready, so he didn't mention any of that.
Rita guided them directly to a fabric store. It hadn't been touched at all inside, which meant that they got a lot of material, and all the needles, thread, scissors and cutting tools the place had. They didn't get all the cloth, there was actually a lot left, dozens of cart loads, since the place was huge, but they took a full cart themselves. Apparently at the end of the world most people hadn't worried about sewing. More for them.
Then Molly did something actually helpful and guided them to a construction site. The walk took a while, it being in the burned out area of town, but the bricks and boards had been untouched having been well away from anything that could burn. There were even some tools in a locked shed. A zombie was in there too, but Jake shot it without thinking, and got Molly to set up the burial with the slow man, Len, while the others looted.
It was a mother load. They couldn't fill either cart all the way with bricks, they were too heavy, but made a solid layer in the bottom of each, then repeated it three more times. The carts handled the weight, but lighter things were needed to go on top, tools and stuff first, but more wood and then, from a house they checked out near the edge of town, bedding and clothes, kitchen knives and plates.
They had food with them, and ate before it got dark, separating into three groups to sleep after locking everything up. Humans had little reason to try an armed group like theirs, and zombies wouldn't bother them through locked doors, if they came at all. As long as you didn't scream or talk too loud, the dead just ignored people inside.
That left burners, but they'd gone invisible after a while, finally figuring out that Jesus probably didn't want them to burn the world after all. Maybe they figured that out on their own. Unless Jesus had shown up and told them to stop being morons. That, or they all died. If so he hoped it was in one of the fires they'd set. If anyone in the world deserved to burn, they did.
Bastards.
There were three beds, which was fine, since they could share, but the slow guy wanted to sleep with his girlfriend, the new, dumpy looking woman in her forties, that seemed smart, but shy. That left an odd woman out, since Rita wanted to be with her guy. That, or Jake got the floor again. Tired as he was that could work, or the couch in the front room. He'd decided on that when Molly shrugged.
“I'm not fucking you, but we can share.” She said bluntly, as if the normal expectation would have been something different. It pissed him off that she said it like that, but he shrugged. It would be warmer, if nothing else, which was probably her idea too. A chilly night out now meant a chilly night in, especially without a fire. Still, she could have just said they could share, and that would have worked just as well, wouldn't it? She'd already made herself clear about how she felt in regards to him.
The trip back the next day was as expected at first, they got up, ate some bread Lois had made, using real flour, with some of the apple conserve, which is what they'd taken to calling the cooked down brown sludge that happened when you just smashed and evaporated the water from the fruit. Basically applesauce meets baby food. After that, since they were already fully loaded, they started the slow trudge back to the house. It took a long time, because Rita and Molly couldn't move their cart, the lighter one with the fabric, nearly as fast as he and the guy he'd gotten or the other two could. The new woman may have been as small as Rita, but she pulled her weight. That meant they all went slow, which meant they saw the police van, a big dark blue and white panel thing parked on the far side of the woods through the trees way before they got to it.
Yay. Free ammo.
How often did you get to have a situation like that just fall into your lap? Jake grinned for a few seconds.
Men in heavy clothing herded zombies out of the back of the thing, the blue and black colored vehicle with police written on the side as if to advertise exactly who was attacking. All of his people saw this at about the same time and came to a stop.
Silently. Nearly perfect really.
> Well then.
It was the first time he'd actually seen it happen, but they'd kind of suspected something like this for a while, hadn't they? There were six cops, or men at least, since they didn't wear police uniforms, just layers of heavy clothing. Like the cleaners did. It presented an interesting dilemma.
He thought he could get the police, or the seven zombies they had and were moving through the woods toward the house, but he didn't think he could do all of them at once. The people with him had weapons, and while a lot of the zombies looked pretty fresh, they didn't have any of the 'type Bs' with them that he could tell. Jake shrugged and gathered everyone around so he could whisper at them.
“Molly, I want you to take out the zombies, all right? I have the police. Remember head shots. Take turns and reload. Got it? Team work here. And remember, move to your own left. Don't let it confuse you.” He tried to sound light and happy about the whole thing, but everyone looked scared. Molly nodded at least.
That she seemed scared too was... wonderful.
Lovely really. It was good that she didn't want to die anymore. He set up a flanking pattern for them and explained what to do, then walked up behind the police until he stood no more that fifteen feet away. They didn't even notice him, the undead keeping them focused to the front.
Very handy.
Molly screamed. Loud. It was something she was good at. The zombies turned from their handlers and moved with best speed toward the “vulnerable” prey, making the cops curse and stare in that direction, they had shotguns out, so he'd have to be quick about the whole thing. The police weren't stupid, not about fighting. They were just not ready for this, and Jake, thanks to all the practice he'd had, didn't miss a lot. He had the first two down before they even turned and caught the third as he brought the weapon in his hands up to fire. It went off, leaving a line of burning pain across the side Jake's right leg mid-thigh. He dove for the ground and rolled as the others fired at him, the patterns tight and lethal as they pumped round after round at him. Trying to shoot and roll was just going to waste ammunition so he didn't bother, wondering what the police were thinking instead. Probably that they were going to die.