Surviving Day By Day (Book 2): Fears, Flames, and Future

by Allensworth, Audra

  Charlie was turning green, which caused Ceara to laugh, “I’m just giving you the talk my dad gave me when he took me out to milk my first cow.”

  Charlie looked around and found a large old log lying on the ground. Rolling it over to where the cows were. Moving it took a few minutes, she turned as he got near her, “Yeah Charlie, I guess that will work for now.”

  He frowned a bit, “I wish it was drier.”

  Ceara giggled, “Honey, my butt is drenched already, it doesn’t matter.”

  Turning red a little he looked as she stood, then he smiled, “Yeah well mine ain’t.” As she brought the cow over and sat down on the wet log she looked at him, “Get your ass down here and join the club.”

  Charlie sat down next to her and smiled. Ceara reached over and grabbed his hand and placed it on the cow’s teat, “Okay, now here’s how you do this.”

  Charlie pulled back quickly, “I thought Alden said something about practicing…”

  Ceara glared at him, “and just what did you think you were going to practice on?” Her hands went to her hips as she finished her statement.

  Charlie’s face was beet red, again, as he turned back to the task at hand. He grabbed it hard and the cow kicked. Letting go he looked at Ceara, “WHAT THE HELL?”

  She smiled, “Honey take hold of it gently but firm, it’s a teat not a football. Then you squeeze it down like I showed you. Start slow and you’ll get the hang of it.”

  Charlie tried again this time with a little less force. Soon he had the hang of it and the bucket was full. Quickly Ceara grabbed it and threw it out. She brought the next cow over, “Now this batch we’ll keep.”

  Charlie worked his fingers and the bucket was soon full. Ceara smiled, “now empty the rest on the ground sweetie and let’s get going.” It took only a few minutes more and the last drop squeezed out. As he stood he reached down and picked up the bucket and Ceara kissed his cheek. “You did that just like a pro.”

  Charlie got a seductive grin on his face, “I still think I need more practice.” He winked at her and the two headed back. As they got back to camp Charlie grabbed a flat piece of board and used it as a lid. He then turned and began to cut wood for the fire and started on the chores around the cabins.

  As Alden, Tabitha, and Heath walked to the creek he watched the tall young man. He could tell by his walk that he was not stranger to the woods. His stride was long and steady and he was having no problem keeping up with Alden. Unlike Tabitha who was a city girl and used to walking on pavement, she was getting better about not tripping on roots and rocks, but wasn’t quite there yet, from the amount of profanities about the local brush and rocks that came out of her mouth periodically.

  As they approached the stream Alden looked at Heath and then to Tabitha, “Why don’t we let Tabitha look for the eggs in the reeds while we fish.”

  Tabitha started to protest then saw a look in Alden’s eyes that she knew meant for her to do just what he said. She also knew he had his reasons and she would learn later what they were. Tabitha turned smiled and waved, “You guys go fish I got this.”

  Alden took a pole and hooked a worm. Casting out he sat back, “So…. Heath, why did you give up your search for your kid?”

  Heath was shocked at Alden’s bluntness and at first, was angry. He looked at the old man who was sitting on a large rock just staring out at the water. He looked around and saw Tabitha searching the tall reeds and grass and plucking eggs from a nest putting them in a plastic bag she had pulled out of her back pocket. He turned back to Alden who was still watching the water. Looking down at his feet he suddenly began to speak. “After what I saw happened in Colorado, then in all the cities and towns across the country as I was trying to get home, I finally realized when I got here and had to kill the rangers that, well that things were hopeless.”

  Heath sat down next to Alden who simply turned and looked at him as he lit a smoke. Heath went on, “I was able to hear some news on a radio for a few days. At first they were naming safe places and shelters then next thing I know they’re saying even those places were not safe anymore. One reporter screamed and all I heard next was a gurgling and chewing noise. I guess I knew right then that if my son was still alive he would not be where he lived. My ex would’ve moved as fast as possible probably to one of the shelters and….. well…..”

  Heath speech was labored trying to contain the pent up emotions, Alden reached over and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “See son you ain’t no coward. You’re smart.”

  Heath looked at him with tears in his eyes, “Why’s that?”

  Alden let go and looked back out beyond the stream as he spoke. “When you’re caught behind enemy lines, and hell you don’t even know where the lines are. A smart man will find a place to hold up until he can get a full appreciation for the situation. That is exactly what I used to teach my troops and it’s what you did out of instinct.” Alden turned to him, “That way when one does understand what’s going on he can make a plan and act on it.”

  Heath looked out across the stream, “So you’re saying I did the right thing?” Alden nodded and snatched the pole quickly hooking a large bass that broke water as Tabitha suddenly screamed.

  “SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!!!” came billowing out of Tabitha’s mouth, when she felt something grab her ankle as she was walking along looking for eggs. Tabitha looked down, quickly realized that the torso of the half eaten zombie was trying to pull her down to the ground.

  Without hesitation Tabitha pivoted with her one leg, grabbing her knife from her belt plunging it through the zombies head. “TAKE THAT YOU FUGLY FACED, MOTHERFUCKING, STINKING, COCKROACH RIDDEN, SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!!!!”

  After about eight good jabs through its skull, Tabitha kicked the bastard off of her ankle and took a deep breath trying to regain her composure. She looked at the carcass that laid there and noticed that it was pretty rotten and had probably been fed upon by others along with any varmints that could possibly get a bite off of it before it had turned. Tabitha thought this poor bastard was probably camping nearby when everything went to hell, and he got caught right in the fucking middle of it. Once she had finally calmed down Tabitha bent over and rubbed her knife along the blades of grass before putting it back into the sheath.

  Standing back up, Tabitha caught something out of the corner of her eye. Only a few feet away from where she was standing was the mother lode. Her eyes began to get as big as saucers and a smile presented itself across her face. It had only taken maybe a couple of seconds if that to get over to the nests. Looking at four nests scattered across the path, all were of different sizes each one had at least over three to four eggs each. “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! I FOUND THE JACKPOT BABY!!!”

  Jumping up and down like a kid on a Christmas morning Tabitha then stopped and realized she needed to go get Alden and Heath because she couldn’t carry all of these by herself. Turning around she gave off a whistle that she knew would draw Alden’s attention.

  Heath jumped up as Alden was trying to pull in the fourth bass in a row. Alden turned and looked to where Tabitha’s scream came from, “OH HOLY HELL, GO SEE WHAT THE FUCK SHE’S HOLLERING ABOUT.”

  Heath took off through brush as Alden turned back and mumbled, “Probably some fucking baby snake crawled across her toes.”

  As Heath got close to Tabitha he suddenly saw the body and stopped short. “SHIT! FUCK! DAMN! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?”

  Tabitha looked up at him, “Don’t worry about him, come over here and see all these eggs I just found.”

  As he broke through the last bit of brush, he saw Tabitha bent over in front of him picking up eggs and gently placing them in her bag. The shape of her rear end swaying back and forth as she walking bent over from nest to nest caused him to get red. “Errr uhhh, what did you find?”

  Without hesitation Tabitha looked over her shoulder and saw Heath ogling her body. Slowly she stood up then tilted her head to one side while raising her left brow. “Well, after you blink and get
the image of my ass out of your mind you could help me gather these eggs ‘cause I don’t want to crack them.”

  Heath smiled and bent down to help as the two finished he smiled at her, “I meant no disrespect, it’s just well… it’s … Hell I was just admiring the scenery, it’s been a long time for me.” Both laughed as they headed back to where Alden was working on now pulling in fish number six.

  Chapter 8 – Teach Them to Fish

  Colt was moody as everyone got to spend the day away from the cabins, he knew that Beth was left here with him to babysit. He didn’t mind her there, hell he liked it, but he didn’t like that she wasn’t given a choice.

  His leg was doing much better thanks to her, and he was walking without the wooden staff. He knew his shoulder would be a bit longer. Colt went to the window and saw Charlie chopping wood. Beth walked up behind him to see what he was looking at. “Colt, stop dwelling on what you can’t control.”

  He looked over his shoulder at her, “Then tell me what I can do that’s useful.”

  Beth rolled her eyes, “Colt, really, stop the pity party already. You can walk pretty good so get out there and haul the wood that Charlie is chopping.”

  Colt smirked, “Pity party? Is that what I’m doing?” Her raised eyebrow was all the answer he needed, “Ok, ok but damn I hate being cooped up! But you’re right, I’m being stupid; time to suck it up and move on. Shit, I’m starting to sound like Chef Ramsay.”

  Beth looked confused, “Who?”

  “You know that chef that is a real hard ass on tv… well, was on TV. I figure if we are cupcakes Alden must be a chef.”

  Beth smiled then continued, “Well, I don’t’ know about him but I do know about Emeril so let me put it this way………” She sauntered over to him slowly and examined his arm soothingly then softly spoke, “Colt…sweetie….. get your ass outside before I kick you out there. You need to help Charlie or the next sound you will hear is BAM!!!”

  Colt smile and kissed her cheek, “Understood dear, but…” He grabbed her hand, “You are coming out too. You can sit for a while with us. You are just as cooped up as I am.”

  They both went out to join Charlie, “Hey Charlie, how did the milking go?”

  Charlie dropped the ax splitting a log and smiled, “Not bad but I think I need so more practice.”

  Ceara came around the corner in time to hear them, “CHARLIE!”

  Charlie winked at her, “Hey, they asked how it went!”

  Ceara joined Beth, “He did just fine, he is a natural.” She realize that she had just said Charlie was a natural at playing with teats and blushed, then gave Beth a sideways glance and smiled.

  Beth stood there and could tell there were some innuendos being made and she wanted a little bit of the action as well. “Ya, too bad we are not able to get the milk cold cause that would just add the BAM to our meals wouldn’t you agree Colt?”

  Beth looked over to Ceara and then back to Charlie then returned the look to Colt. Colt grabbed some of the split wood on the ground, one armed would take a lot longer but he needed the exercise, he glanced over at Beth. “Yeah, cold milk could add a bit of BAM where needed.”

  Charlie looked from Beth to Colt, “What’s with the BAM?”

  Colt laughed, “Well we, or I should say I, decided that Alden must be our chef if we are cupcakes and well, Beth thought Emeril was a good nickname for him. There you have BAM!”

  Ceara busted up laughing just as Alden, Tabitha, and Heath came walking back into the camp. Tabitha held up the eggs but said, “What’s so funny?”

  Colt ducked down to grab more wood and Charlie quickly began chopping another log. Ceara and Beth decided dinner needed to be started and bolted for the kitchen. Tabitha looked around, “Damn, what did I say?”

  Alden walked up and laid the fish in the grass. Then headed to the shed and came back with a flat board and two five gallon pails. Handing one pail to Heath, “Could you fill this up with water from the pump.”

  Heath smiled, “Sure thing Boss.”

  Laying the board on the table Alden pulled his knife and began to clean the fish. Looking to Charlie as he worked quickly with knife he grinned, “So Charlie how’d the milking go?”

  Charlie stopped and turned, “Okay I guess, Ceara said I did just fine.”

  Alden turned back as he sliced the head of the fish, “Yeah, I figured she’d be the best judge.”

  Heath was returning with the water and started to chuckle as Charlie had turned back to chopping and missed the log he was aiming for. Tabitha giggled as she laid the eggs on the other end of the table. Colt was reaching for another bundle of logs and spoke up, “I just wish we had some way to get the milk cold.”

  Heath turned and looked at him, “Seriously? Where’d you grow up, suburbia U.S.A.?”

  Colt looked at him “Well, I lived in the suburbs yeah, but so what.”

  Heath smiled and looked at Alden, “You guys have everything else except a tank, I would imagine you got some empty jars around here.”

  Alden looked up, “Yeah some mason jars from a house we raided.”

  Heath looked back to Colt and Charlie, “Simple then. Pour the milk in the jars and tie them together, and then take them to the stream, place them in it, in a shady spot. That water, this time of year, has to be about 45 degrees and would be cooler at night.”

  Colt looked at Charlie, “Oh Great, a minnie me Alden.”

  Charlie smiled, “Yeah maybe, he has a point, it would work, but as far as XXXidwes Alden goes, I don’t think Heath could kill a bear, while having sex with an eskimo nympho at the same time.”

  Colt dropped the small bundle of wood he was holding as he started to laugh. Tabitha turned quickly wide eyed, “Charlie! You did not just say that?!?!!” Then she started to laugh so hard tears came to her eyes and she was holding her side.

  Ceara walked out hearing all the laughter, and looked at Tabitha, “what’s so funny?” Colt turned still laughing; “Charlie was explaining his idea of Alden having sex, that’s all.”

  With those words, Charlie dropped the axe and sat down laughing, Tabitha roared and Colt turned quickly to pick up the wood he dropped.

  The last thing that Ceara wanted to think about, seriously or in humor, was Alden’s sex life, “Well…. Umm…. Beth sent me out to see if you guys found eggs and caught fish.”

  Alden whacked another head off a fish and pointed the tip of the knife at Tabitha and the eggs, “I think you got that answer already, right?”

  Ceara wanted to be a smart ass and say something about needing to change the conversation about his sex life but just turned to go back in the cabin. “Yeah Beth, they got both fish and eggs. What are you thinking for dinner?”

  Beth smiled, “I was looking around and found cornmeal, plus I found good old lard. I am pretty sure those came from the ranger station, so I am thinking of a good fish fry.”

  Ceara’s face broke out into a wide smile, “Oh God, I haven’t had good fried fish in forever. What do you need me to do?”

  For the next hour everyone worked to get the dinner fixed and the milk into mason jars to take to the creek.

  Alden stood over the cast iron skillet frying the fish as Colt looked on. Heath and Charlie had taken the jars and the buckets of fish guts to the stream. Looking over at Colt, Alden started, “So son, the leg looks like its healing pretty good. You seem to be moving a little better.”

  Colt nodded as Alden went on. “I think the arm will be okay in a few days. So at supper tonight I plan on bringing up the fact that we need to begin to look for a place to move to.”

  Colt raised an eyebrow, “You’re not happy here are you?”

  Alden flipped a fish, “No not really, we’ve had way too much action in this area. I just don’t feel as safe. We need to find a place that is not as populated and a little more open.” He looked around and waved his fork, “These trees are very pretty and provide protection from the wind but it’s too easy to sneak up on us and that I don’t lik
e.”

  Colt was looking around at the trees and knew Alden was right, although they really hadn’t had too many attacks lately but the night before proved the Wanderers were still there and still just as active. “I get that you want to move, but no matter where we go, won’t we have the same issues? And Alden, not to sound like a chicken shit but we have to get wherever we are going and that means getting through areas that aren’t so secluded. I’m just worried that we may be biting off more than our ammo can chew.”

  While Tabitha made her way over to where Colt and Alden were sitting she could hear them talk about the plans to move. To be very honest, she wanted to move out and she waited for Colt to finish before she jumped in. “Colt, Alden, I couldn’t help overhearing what you all were talking about and I want to tell ya what I think.”

  Squatting down between both of the men Tabitha turned and winked at Alden and then softly smiled as she turned to talk to Colt, “You’re not ‘chicken shit’ brother. The world is a different fucking mess now. I mean it was a mess before but it is TOTALLY fucked up now and some people in the world at that time were completely sheltered. Those poor, sons of bitches had no idea what to do when the world went to shit. Now I get from your previous conversations that you have had with everyone, you were one of those people.”

  Colt gave her a look that let Tabitha know if he could have kick the shit out of her, he might have tried. Tabitha put her hand on his shoulder and continued “But you did the best you could with Jess and that is why you stayed put. You were felt safe and secure right?”

  Colt took a deep breath when she had mentioned Jessica, and reluctantly nodded in agreement. “Then when Jess was gone, you had to move on in hope that you would find better, cause being in that little secluded area wasn’t beneficial to you anymore. Well, honey that is where we are at now… this place here is not going to be comfortable for us much longer. Those fucking zombies are out there and I damn near had one of the fucktards eat me earlier.”