Howard eyed me. “How in the hell did you know what it was?”
“In ninth grade I did a report for my geography class. Each student was assigned a country in Africa. My country was South Sudan. There is a River in Sudan named the Kuru. I was going to add a few factoids in my paper about the river systems and was doing a Wikipedia search. There were a few hits on the word Kuru. One of them was about cannibalism in New Guinea. It fascinated me so much I looked up videos of it on You Tube.”
Howard shuddered. “They had videos?” I nodded. Howard shuddered again. “Eating people. That’s just plain wrong Zach. Just plain wrong.” I nodded silently. “You sure it’s a Ford F150?” Howard asked.
“Yeah, it’s a nice one.” I said. He already knew this. We discussed it before we left his shop and found a spare tire to fit it, which was sitting in the back of his Hummer. Howard was sort of the opposite of Fred. Where Fred was stoic, Howard was a talker.
“Zach?” Howard asked. I looked over at him. “If you were starving, maybe had a wife and some kids who were starving, and, they were looking at you, wondering what you were going to do about it, would you do it?”
“Would I do what?” I glanced over at him. “Eat another human?” Howard nodded and eyed me.
“I don’t know, Howard. I know I’d have to be very desperate before I even thought of it as a viable alternative. I guess if I had starving kids and there was no other food source…” I shrugged.
“I don’t know.” I repeated. “The only thing I’m certain of right now is if I see any of those people again, I’m not going to be very civil with them.” We rode in silence for a couple of minutes.
“I’ve never been a fighter.” Howard suddenly said. “I had two older brothers. Both of them were in a gang. My oldest brother was killed in a drive-by. There was no rhyme or reason behind the murder. He happened to be in a rival gang is all. My other brother, he swore revenge. He found three of them in an apartment one night and killed them all. The police arrested him, of course. He got tried as an adult and the jury found him guilty. The judge gave him back-to-back life sentences. He was the same age as you at the time.” Howard shook his head sadly before continuing.
“I was thirteen when it happened. My momma was devastated. I don’t think she ever recovered. I was pretty devastated too.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I had an Uncle who owned a garage. I started working for him after school and on weekends to help momma pay the bills. It kept me out of trouble and away from the gangs. That’s how I became a mechanic.”
I nodded thoughtfully and pointed down the road. “There it is.” The truck appeared unmoved since I had left it.
“Okay, you’re the better shot, I’m the better mechanic. I’ll get the tire changed and you keep watch.” Howard said. He parked behind the truck and we got out. I made a quick scan of the area and looked in the truck. It was empty.
“They took everything, the bastards.” I said.
Howard grunted and crawled under the truck. “The gas tank is still intact. No holes, but I’m betting they drained it as well. Good thing we brought a gas can.”
I used Howard’s binoculars to scan the area as he got the tire replaced and put five gallons of gas in the truck. I fished the keys out of my pocket and it started right up.
“Good thing you took the keys with you. They’d have taken this truck with them, even with a flat tire.” Howard popped the hood and inspected the motor. “Everything looks good Zach. It’s got four-wheel drive, a tow package, and a V8 engine. It’ll be able to tow up to six thousand pounds. It even has one of those new lithium batteries. That’s awesome.” He said as he closed the hood, looked around, and studied me.
“What are we, about fifteen miles from your farm? You say you ran all the way back? In the dark?” He asked. I nodded.
“Holy sheep shit Zach.” Howard said incredulously.
I shrugged. “It was either run or meander along, waiting to be attacked and eaten.”
Howard laughed. “I get your point.” I frowned then. Howard saw it. “What?”
“It was the weirdest thing Howard. For a few of those miles I felt like I was being followed.”
“Well of course it was the zombies.” Howard said.
I shook my head. “No, it was something or somebody else. The zombies stank and they made these awful breathing noises. They sounded like someone using a rasp on a piece of old oak. They were fairly easy to avoid. It was something else. I don’t know, but when I was running, I felt like someone was trailing me. I made several detours and cut backs, but I never saw anyone, or anything.” I shrugged. “Maybe it was a coyote thinking I would be an easy meal.”
Howard nodded, although I don’t think he comprehended what I was saying.
“Alright Zach, where to now?” He asked.
“I’m going to get my property back.” I said. Howard’s eyes widened.
“You’re going to confront those cannibal eating motherfuckers?” He asked.
I nodded. “You can wait here if you want.”
“Oh, hell no. I’m not sitting here by myself.” Howard rubbed his face. “I’ll follow you.” He walked to his Hummer.
I drove up to the neighborhood and parked near my old truck. The driver’s door was open, as if they were looking for something to loot out of it as well. The bodies were missing. Only some dried blood trails remained. I followed the trails through the yard and to a house one street over. I went back inside the truck owners’ home and scrounged around until I found a couple of mason jars. I punctured a hole in the gas tank of my Ranger and managed to fill up two of the jars. Rigging them so they were Molotov cocktails, Howard and I drove over to the next street and parked about twenty feet away from their house. I saw curtains being pulled aside. They knew we were here.
I exited with my assault rifle and shot out the windows before lighting one of the rags on the jar and threw it through the broken window.
“You fuckers have five minutes to bring my property back to me.” I shouted. “Watch ‘em Howard.” He took up a position beside his Hummer with his shotgun. I prepared the second jar.
“Four minutes!” I yelled, and threw it through the other shattered window.
“Zach,” Howard whispered. “It’s only been about twenty seconds.” I looked at him and winked. There was smoke coming out of the window now. I shot a few more times and reloaded.
“Three minutes!” I yelled and glanced back at Howard. He looked at me and then shot out one of the upstairs windows.
“Two minutes!” He yelled. I nodded.
“I’m going to run around to the back of the house. Stay here.” I said as I took off running. The back door was opening a crack as I rounded the corner. I splintered the door frame with a bullet.
“Do you fuck-tards think we’re playing? You better bring my property back A-S-A-Fucking-P!” The door slammed shut and I jogged back around front. The front door of the burning house opened a moment later.
“Don’t shoot!” A woman shouted. “We’re coming out!” They nervously exited the house with their hands raised. It was the same crew, even the kid. Hell, they were even wearing the same clothes.
“Where is my property?” I asked.
“It’s all inside.” One of the men said.
“Well, go get it you dumbass.” I demanded.
He tentatively looked inside. “The place is on fire. It’s full of smoke.”
“Well then, you better make it fast. You men go in there and help your friend. Otherwise, I’m taking out your kneecaps.” They were certainly slow witted, but a shot at their feet reaffirmed to them I was serious. They turned and ran back inside. They came out a minute later with their arms loaded and coughing heavily.
“Put it all in the back of my truck.” I said. “Make it fast.” They hurriedly complied. As the last one dropped my property into the bed of the truck, he looked back at the house. Flames were visible now.
“You’ve set our house on
fire. What do we do now?” He lamented.
“Frankly, I don’t give a shit.” I motioned at Howard and we left.
”You want to drive over to the Cool Springs Mall and try some of the retail businesses around there? See if there’s anything left over we can use?” Howard asked.
“I need to get some baby stuff, and maybe some stuff for the girls, but I need to make it quick and get back to the farm.” I said. We were sitting in front of his home, a former tire store near the intersection of Nolensville and Old Hickory. I hooked my thumb over my shoulder at a nearby Walmart. “Have you been in there lately?” I asked.
Howard shook his head. “Not lately. I tried back in the spring. Man, it was full of zombies.” He shook his head again.
“But, I haven’t tried it lately. You want to give it a shot?”
I shrugged. “We can give it a try. If there are too many of them still in there, we’ll back out and call it a day.” Howard frowned with worry, but went along.
We started at the front doors and slowly worked our way in. We spent the next two hours clearing the super store. Every time we thought we had killed them all, another one would emerge out of a dark corner. The two of us were drenched in sweat by the time we killed the last one.
“My ears are ringing. I should have worn earplugs.” Howard lamented.
I nodded. “Yeah, mine too.” I made a mental calculation. “I’m counting eighteen dead zeds, does that sound about right?” I asked. Howard nodded in agreement.
I pointed toward the front of the store. There were multiple corpses of what I suppose were healthy people before they died. There wasn’t much left of them. Whatever the zombies didn’t chew on, the maggots had finished the job.
“It looks like people would come in here thinking they had easy pickings and would get attacked. Even so, this store doesn’t have much left.” I said. Howard nodded again and took a long drink from his canteen.
“We need to apply rule number eight and burn these corpses.” I said as an afterthought. Howard got up and walked down an aisle. He returned a minute later with two pair of cheap gardening gloves. I smiled appreciatively.
“It’s like you predicted though. Those zombies are dying off. These ones here,” Howard waved his finger at the zombies we’d killed. “They could hardly move.” I agreed. It was a good sign. Once they all died off, it would make it a lot easier for the survivors. We had no problem dragging them outside. The decomposition reduced their body weight by a considerable amount. Stacking some debris on top of the corpses, we watched them burn. When the fire was going sufficiently, we walked back in and then spent several minutes looking around at the small amount of merchandise left.
“Looks like all the food products are gone, but there’s still some baby’s and women’s products left.” Howard said. “I better get Lashonda some of those female things as well. She’ll have my ass if I don’t bring her a present.” He smiled and wiped the sweat off of his brow before continuing.
“You know, it wasn’t so long ago if you brought a woman a box of tampons as a present, you’d get your face slapped.” He erupted with his signature belly laugh at his own joke. I had to laugh as well. It was a great stress reliever. We got some shopping carts and with the aid of flashlights soon had them overflowing.
“Have you noticed they can’t scream or shriek anymore?” I asked Howard.
“Yeah, they sure sound funny.” He said. “You want to come over and visit a while?” Howard asked.
I looked at my watch. “We better call it for the day. I have a lot of farm chores waiting.”
“How are Macie and her baby?” Howard asked.
“Macie’s still very weak, but I think she’s going to be alright. The baby is another story. He’s so tiny. I’m worried about him. Macie has been trying to feed him, but he’s lethargic. I may know a lot, but I don’t know much about babies. Do you think Lashonda could come over one day and see what she thinks?” I asked.
Howard nodded. “Why didn’t you say so sooner? Consider it done.” He glanced at the sun. “We still have plenty of daylight. I’ll go pick her and the boys up, and we’ll be right over.” I shook his hand and we parted company.
The four of them came to the house an hour later. I was sitting on the porch when they drove up. Lil’ H and Derry ran up, said hi and started playing with Curly.
Howard laughed as he walked up. “You sure got those chores done quick.”
I shook my head as I stood and spoke somberly. “The chores had to wait Howard.” I looked at his wife. “Hi Lashonda, it’s good to see you. The girls are inside.”
She looked at me and frowned. “What’s wrong, Zach?” She asked.
“It’s the baby. You better go inside. We’ll wait out here.” Lashonda rushed inside. I looked over at Howard and his sons. “The baby died.”
“Oh, shit.” Howard said.
We sat on the porch for a while and listened to the women cry inside. I stood suddenly. “There is some wood in the barn. Howard, would you mind helping me build a coffin?” I asked Howard.
Howard stood. “Absolutely.” Howard, his sons, and I walked slowly to the barn. I tried to make some measurements on the wood, but was all thumbs. Howard told me to have a seat and relax. He took over and had a small coffin built in no time. It looked very nice.
We buried the baby on the mound beside Rick. Even though they had never met, he always seemed to like children. Everyone was somber and spoke in hushed tones. Howard recited the Lord’s Prayer and I shoveled the dirt. The boys helped me quietly.
Afterward, I gently picked Macie up and put her back on the ATV. She wept silently on the ride back. Julie kept a reassuring arm around her.
“How about I put you to bed and fix you some tea?” I asked. She nodded absently. She was able to walk for short distances now, but the stress of her baby’s death had sapped her strength. I carried her inside, and tucked her in while Julie fluffed her pillows.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you two.” Macie said softly.
“We’re all family now Macie.” Julie said. “We stick together, right?” Macie looked up at Julie and nodded sadly.
She fell asleep within minutes. The rest of us gathered on the porch and talked quietly. When the sun was on the horizon, the Allen family said their goodbyes. Julie and I ate a small dinner and went to bed. At Julie’s insistence, we slept with Macie. Julie said she didn’t want her to be alone.
I was the sandwich. I had one on each side of me. Julie settled in with her butt snuggled up against me and Macie had her head buried in the crook of my shoulder. I drifted off wondering if this was all going to work out okay.
Chapter 13 – Fred
Fred attempted to save time by travelling on the Interstate. He encountered chronic traffic jams, and at one point had to drive in reverse for over a mile before he could back down an entrance ramp. He finally made it to the outskirts of Memphis when the sun was in his eyes. He spent the night in the sleeper of his truck on the side of Interstate 40, at the base of the bridge over the Mississippi River, known as the Hernando de Soto Bridge. It consisted of six lanes with a concrete barrier down the middle.
Daylight confirmed what he suspected last night. The entire bridge, all six lanes, was a logjam. He realized with great frustration there was no possible way he was going to maneuver the Volvo rig through the gridlock of abandoned and wrecked motor vehicles.
Seeing no other alternative, Fred loaded a backpack, retrieved his favorite rifle, a Winchester lever action, his revolvers, and set out on foot. There were a few zombies on foot, but most of them were stuck in the vehicles.
Fred adeptly avoided most them.
Most of them.
It was a long walk across the bridge. Every time he passed a car or a truck, there was a zombie waiting, lunging, gnashing. He shot sparingly, running past them when he could, shooting only when there was no other choice. It was roughly ten thousand feet, almost two miles, before he reached the rest area on the west s
ide of the river.
To his delight, he found an old Volkswagen Bug. It was bright yellow, dirty, but otherwise appeared to be in good condition, if you didn’t count the rotting corpse sitting behind the wheel.
Seeing no other option, Fred broke out the little vent window, unlocked the door, and dragged the corpse out. The keys were still in the ignition and the battery was dead, which was no surprise. But, that was the beauty of the venerable Bug. They seemed to be almost indestructible. Fred dumped his backpack in the backseat, put it in neutral, and began pushing.
After pushing the little car for almost a hundred yards, it sputtered to life.
Fred hopped in and drove on.
Chapter 14 – Getting to Know Andie
It had been two weeks to the day since my meeting with Andie. I had not planned on seeing her again, but I felt the extenuating circumstances warranted another encounter.
I knew it was risky. If she were a part of those idiots who tried to ambush me, I would be taking a big chance by coming to this location again. But, I wanted more information from her. Specifically, I needed to know if they had encountered any doctors. The death of Macie’s child troubled me greatly. One day, Julie and I were going to have a child.
I started out well before sunrise. It was cool this morning. The outdoor thermometer read fifty-four degrees. September was here and a change in the weather was close at hand. I packed the truck with a picnic basket and grill. A nice brunch might put Andie in a good mood, if she even bothered showing up. I also hid a gun under the seat and added one to an ankle holster, in case she was in a nasty mood or brought friends.
I used the night vision gear to drive, but it was slow going. The recent gunshot to my head, although merely a glancing wound, had nevertheless caused me some issues, one of them being if I wore those things for any length of time I’d get a severe headache. I got about five miles before I took them off and used the headlights. Again, another risky move, but I wanted my mind sharp for the meeting.
The problem was, the headlights tended to attract zombies. There were no massive hordes, but there were more than I was comfortable with. I stopped every so often and would wait for them to approach before saying hello with a head shot. They were starting to all look alike, the decomposition eliminated any identifiable character traits. I assumed what gender they were based on their manner of dress. I killed an even dozen before arriving at the old store.
Z14 (Zombie Rules) Page 9