by P. S. Power
Honestly, she just didn't know. It was the job of all their people to protect his kind, and they'd failed him. In the end, when they were denied passage to the afterlife, she'd know why, at least.
It was because they were all fools, and couldn't see who was there right in front of them all along.
Enter the Bard- Colleen Becks
"That guy... The one with the rocket launcher? I know him." Colleen brushed her blonde hair out of her face. It was longer now, but a pain in the rear to deal with most days. She had the time for it, now that most of the men were gone, but it was still a lank and somewhat dingy mess. They had soap, but nothing even near to conditioner had touched it in four months. They were lucky that they still had enough toothpaste.
She glanced up at Becky. They weren't exactly close friends, but they'd backed each other up in some pretty dark situations. Most of the women had. More than once. After the trauma of the second month, when the old, now thankfully dead, Chief had ordered them into bed with any man that wanted them, it became more or less the thing you did.
If you could take being used for sex that day, weren't too sore or actually injured after the animals that their friends had become were through with them, you tried to make certain that no one else was used beyond what they could take. That didn't always work. Some of the women had been killed, mainly for saying they didn't want to do something. Gang bangs, or taking a bottle in one hole or another.
Some of them didn't say no, and died anyway.
So, while Becky wasn't the most pleasant person to be around all the time, Colleen knew she could trust her. With her life, if it came to it. They'd been there for each other.
"You do? What can you tell us about him? Most of those people weren't anyone that the rest of us recognized at all. I think that the kid with them used to be the fat boy from down the street. I barely recognized him now. He looks hard. They all did."
It was just true. The one dark guy had looked freaking built. It was the kind of thing that she'd never even seen before. Well, on television, but that didn't count.
"Yeah, they called him Jake? He's Mickey Robson. He..." After a moment, she looked away, out that the fence line. It was empty, but locked tight and closed. It had kept them safe the whole time. From the dead. Except for the ones that the men had brought in to infect some of the younger guys and women. She wasn't sure, but Colleen was almost certain that that's what had happened to her sister, Rachel.
She was always so strong. A fighter, in her own fashion. One day, when one of the men wanted to screw Betty, she went and told him that wasn't a good idea. Whoever had her the day before had left her bleeding and sore. Enough so that she could hardly walk. Then Rachel was taken away, at gun point, and never came back. Some of the other women, Robin and Sue, as well as Becky, had been forced to go along too, but none of them would tell her what had happened.
That had to mean it was bad, didn't it? They would have mentioned if it was just a beating, or a gang rape. So whatever had happened was worse than that. Her mind couldn't handle that. Not even a bit.
She took a deep breath and avoided looking Becky in the eye. It was kind of embarrassing, after all.
"We used to be friends. For a long time, I kind of loved him. He seems different now. We all do, I guess. But he's a really nice person. If he's with those people, we can trust them. If Mickey is with them, then they won't be bad. Not like here."
She had to shake her head a little, since the person that she saw was him. Mick hadn't seemed to recognize her at all though. That was less than heartening. After all, if you spend ten years of your life pining after someone, they should at least know who you are, shouldn't they? Even after he'd gone away, because Rachel had told him she didn't like him as more than a friend, Colleen had practically stalked him for years. She'd go to his family store and make a fool out of herself, talking to his mom or dad, asking if he was around. It had been a sad tale too, since he didn't want to see anyone, or even leave the house. All because he was too depressed.
It didn't really scan with the man she'd seen earlier that day, but he was so good and kind that any group he was with would have to be too. Otherwise they would have killed him.
Becky nodded a bit, but didn't seem to trust her on the topic.
"Well, we don't get much of a choice. They all seemed clean, at least. As long as they aren't cannibals, we should be fine. Another dick or two won't make that much of a difference now. We're all too numb to be hurt that way. At least if they aren't sickos. If they are..." The hawk nosed woman scowled and then looked away herself. A lot of the women and girls there didn't make eye contact with anyone. No one did it for long. That had been a punishable offense, under the old regime.
"But... Mickey, I mean, Jake, I guess, he's not like that."
There was a sound behind them, and Becky went wide eyed, signaling that it was one of the new men. She turned, half wondering if it was Jake, since he'd stayed with them, and was currently inventorying the things in the back store room. It had mainly gone unchecked, being reloading equipment and bullets. The Chief and his men, and they were all men, hadn't needed them yet. The people from the new place, The House, Mickey had told them, did need that kind of thing. They hadn't hidden, it turned out.
No, they'd gone out and actually fought the zombies. Clearing the town of them, one house at a time. If they could be believed.
Turning, she saw that it was the boy that Mickey had with them. David.
The kid had his arm wrapped, with a piece of wood to act as a splint for it.
"No shit. Jake won't let anyone do the kind of things that have been going on here. He probably would have killed those fuckers sooner, the cops, but we didn't know that they were doing that kind of thing to you. Still, he killed about half of them himself."
The boy looked at her, his eyes smoldering in a way that made her tense up, at first. What he said got her attention though.
"Jake... Things haven't been going well for him, romantically. I mean, The House is way over half women, about seventy percent, and I think he's still a virgin. If either of you will sleep with him, I'll-" He glanced at Becky and winked. "Well, I don't really have anything either of you would want right now, unless you need something killed. Still, he's a great guy. Probably the best the world has left."
That earned a snort, and had Becky glaring at the boy, who was almost the other woman's size. Both were about seven inches taller than she was.
"Right. He's the fricken messiah, I bet. Does he walk on water, too?" Arms were crossed in front of herself defensively, expecting a beating from the boy in front of her.
Dave looked over at Colleen and winked.
"Not that I know of, but to tell the truth, I never asked. What I can tell you is that he holds us all together. Get too loud, and he will shoot you. Even you." This was directed at Colleen, the kid looking down to make eye contact. "Even if you used to be friends, like you said. If you make noise, human sounds, it draws the dead to you. That's how we lure them in, when we're cleaning a place. Having someone scream, like they're in pain. That's an actually job on the team, by the way. We don't just poke a tied up person with a stick. Jake won't let us." There was a mock sad headshake then, and he ignored Becky, who was pretty much the one in charge now, and spoke to the smaller woman exclusively. "Maybe you could find something for him to do? I mean, sex, too, but all he does most of the time is work. The only time I've seen him even slow down is when he's hurt. It's starting to make the rest of us look bad."
The words were hard to hear, but also kind of made sense to her. Even back when they were in school, Mickey had done things, like standing between the bullies and those they wanted to tease or hurt. Even when it got him beaten up, he'd just smile, back then, and not back down until they left the other person alone. That had happened at least three or four times that she knew of, and he'd never even thrown a punch to defend himself.
In this world though, what would someone like that have to become in order to survive?
; Still, she shook her head.
"That... Doesn't really sound like him. He's not a killer. I don't think Mickey even knows how to shoot a gun." There was a troubled tone to her own words, but the boy, all dressed in blue, and filling the jeans out decently well, considering he used to be kind of heavy, if Becky was right, narrowed his eyes.
Then he spoke in a voice so low it was nearly a whisper.
"Well, he does now. I've never seen anyone better. My point is, we're going hunting tomorrow, so keep the voices down. We're supposed to try and keep you all alive if possible. I hear it would hurt people's feelings if we had to kill some little kids, so get some reliable people out in the first wave. I'll do what I can to help, but..." There was clearly more that he wanted to say, but for some reason he didn't
Becky nodded though, as if his words hadn't been an insult. They were all pretty good about not reacting to things like that too much. Not now. They'd been conditioned not to.
"I'll try to find some people that won't spook too easily. I... We aren't exactly fighters here. We've just hidden, really."
That got a shrug that looked more than a little dismissive.
"You'll learn. Don't worry. That, or you'll all die. Anyway, get on that, if you will? Collecting a team and making sure that Jake gets some positive attention? I know, it sounds like a non-issue, since he's practically a superhero, but there's been some shit going on back at The House and he's managed to catch most of it himself. Any woman with half a brain should get all wet just looking at him. I'm pretty sure that several of you ladies did, earlier, when he pointed that RPG at you. Not in the right way, so, what do you say? Sorry, I didn't get your name?" This was pointed at her again.
"Colleen. Becks."
"Colleen. That's a good name. Pretty. Well, see to that will you? I shouldn't be the only one around here trying to fix things. I swear, some people are just assholes, you know?" Then, without saying anything else, he started to turn, only to look back at them, his hair moving on his forehead at the speed of the move. Just a bit. "Wait... His real name is Mickey? Like the mouse?"
"Yeah. Don't tease him about it. He's really sweet."
That got a smirk, but the nod that came was just a bit stiff.
"I wouldn't dream of it. Do you know how many times he's saved my life? Anyway, later." Then he made good on his earlier motion and walked away, at a decent clip. That was a thing that she hadn't seen for a while. Everyone in the compound tended to mince, or at best slowly stroll. It was mainly about saving energy, but all of these new people seemed to be pretty quick and lean. They didn't stand around all that much either. None of them had sat that she'd noticed, for instance.
Becky grinned. There was darkness behind it.
"There you go, all you have to do it suck this Jake guy off, let him pound you five times a night and be passed around to all of his friends. Or maybe not, if he's really been that pent up. That can't be a good thing though. Is... Do you think you can be safe with him around? Men can't be trusted, you know that."
"He really can be. I... Actually I'd just assumed that he was dead. You didn't know him before things went wrong. I'll be safe. I don't know that he'd want me though. There's a bit of history there. I don't think he even recognized me when we spoke. Given that I hung around with him for years, that... He might be mad at me. I should have..." What she should have done is simply insist to his parents that they show her to him, and screwed his brains out until he forgot all about Rachel. Her older sister had been a bit of a bitch about the whole thing, and it had really hurt him. More than a little bit of a cunt, really.
She'd known it too. When they used to talk, after the dead had started killing everyone and they were both being raped more often than they ate, she'd mentioned that. That her one regret had been not taking Mickey up on his offer.
Colleen had nearly punched her, every time she said it.
She'd been the one that loved him. Worse, she still did. Only now, things might just be too late for anything like that. If her friend needed her though, in any way, she'd be there for him. That... It was all she could really do. Try and be his person.
It left her feeling both oddly hopeful, and sad. She could do it, of course. Sleep with him. After a long enough time of being forced to do things with any of the men that even hinted they might like to try her out, the idea of being with a really good person didn't hurt. It seemed like it would, or shouldeven, but like Becky had said, they'd all grown numb over time, that way. It was probably a bit like what happened to prostitutes. They may not love what they were doing all the time, but after a while you came to accept that what was happening was the new normal. You could act, and respond correctly enough to keep you from being hurt. Sometimes.
Now though, she didn't have to do anything like that. Not there. All the men were dead. They had some boys, but that was all. The women, almost all of them, still did things with them though, or would if they asked. That was the price of surviving like they had. It was so hard to say no now.
That boy, David, had actually asked her to have sex with Mickey though. Not ordered, or suggested. What he didn't know, and hopefully would never figure out, was that if he'd walked up to them and suggested they both get on their knees right there, out in the open, in front of everyone...They both would have. Even if he was way too young for either of them. That part, learning to regain control over what they did like that, it was going to take time. Still, being asked wasn't the same was it? Not if a third party did it, and it was only a request for a friend of his.
One that she already liked.
Plus, he didn't say it like he really expected her to do it herself, just find someone, if she could. Like it would be all that hard? Mickey could get any girl he wanted, practically.
Looking over at Becky, who seemed to be upset, she let herself grin.
"I'll go and see if I can do that now, I guess. If he'll even talk to me."
"You... Don't have to. I'll go. That way, if it's too bad, you won't have that memory of him ruined." There were tears in her eyes, but none fell.
Colleen just rolled her own eyes and threw out an arm to go around the taller lady's shoulders.
"That just isn't going to happen. Mickey isn't like that. I don't think he can be. You'll see."
Then, without giving herself a chance to change her mind, she walked over to the back storage area, to find the doors wide open and Mickey, or Jake now, she guessed, inside, working away. There was a pile near the front that seemed to be all the reloading gear. Not that she had a clue about any of that. She didn't really even know how to shoot a gun.
"Um, hi?" Her voice was small and worried, which made her want to roll her eyes again. That was stupid. Her old friend, looking almost skeletally thin now, and he'd never been chubby, turned to her and smiled. It was radiant, and not the half tense grin that had been on his face before when she'd seen him. "Do you... Want me to do anything?"
It was hard to be sexy. For one thing there was no makeup left, and even if there had been, she was dressed down a lot. Jeans and a sweater. It was a light blue, and one of the few soft things she had left. She'd put it on, because Mickey had told her once how pretty that color made her eyes. She got ready, suddenly uncertain of what he'd ask of her. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt too much. She'd gotten off lucky, compared to some of the others, when it came to what she'd been made to do. A few of the men decided that they liked her, being so small, and they weren't the ones that really liked to hurt people. She'd done a lot of anal though, since they didn't really have birth control left. It hadn't been comfortable, but if they could find some lubricant, that would be all right.
Really, it was better than getting pregnant right then. The world was too far gone for that kind of thing. She was just about to offer him a blowjob, when he started to nod, making her voice die after saying, "would you-"
"Oh? That would be great. Could you write down what I call out? This would go a lot faster if I didn't have to keep stopping to do that. Then stack the th
ings I hand over in that pile?" He pointed, seeming happy, but still not like he recognized her.
She nodded though. Maybe she just hadn't been that important to him? Still, they'd known each other for years. True they hadn't been in the same grade at school, since she was two years behind him, but he'd been at her house, like three or four times a week, for years. Practicing music and songs. They'd even played and sung duets together. Whatever was going on, he didn't seem angry with her though, so she nodded efficiently and went to work.
He was using a real ink pen and a notebook pad that had been left blank, probably hidden amongst the things in the room. It was actually more like a pole barn, having a dirt floor with pallets on it, so that the things wouldn't rot if the world got damp.
Mickey moved fast. It was enough that she had to scurry quickly herself just to write out what was called out. Then, every seven or so items, she had to jog over to take it from him, so that he could open the next box or bin. This went on for several hours, until the light faded enough that she couldn't see to print what he said. It was pages of stuff, even writing small, like he had been.
Looking up, which he did constantly, he glanced behind her at the open double doors. They were white, and huge, the kind that swung out instead of sliding to the side.
"It looks like we're done for now. Are you going out tomorrow? On the hunt? We could use some people that won't be too scared. Or, rather, we want you scared, but not so much you can't act. Does that sound like you?"
Honestly, it didn't, but she didn't want him to think she wouldn't try.
"I don't know, but I'll go and do my best. Is that enough?"
That earned her one of his patented shrugs, along with a smile.
"Who knows? I think you can do it, but it will be a bit dangerous. Probably not that much, to be honest, since we want to go where the animals are, which will be away from all the zombie food. That being people. You're willing to work though, which is better than I was thinking to find here. Soon you'll have to leave anyway. Otherwise you'll all end up starving to death. Going first will just show the others what to do." There was a charming smile then, and he made lingering eye contact. His voice was low. Deeper than she remembered it, and a bit husky.