Neither of them spoke as Sarah tore down the streets, all attempt at stealth abandoned. Fred sat silently. As they neared the airport, Sarah calmed down enough to talk.
“Listen, we’ll go back, get the other two, and keep searching, but no more gosh-danged John Wayne antics, you got me?”
Fred stared straight ahead. “There’s no need to keep searching. Let’s go back to Tinker.” Sarah hastened a look over at him as she drove. She thought she saw him quickly dab a tear out of the corner of his eye. She stopped the Humvee.
“What happened, Fred?” She asked quietly.
“Let’s just say I found her and leave it at that.” He pointed. “Let’s move out.”
Chapter 30 – For Macie
We gently wrapped Macie in a blanket and put her in the barn until we could prepare a grave. I suggested getting something to eat, but instead of eating, we sat at the kitchen table and brooded in silence. I only had an appetite for water.
We sat unmoving for several minutes, and I found myself drumming my fingers incessantly. Andie would glance at us from time to time, but was afraid to break the silence. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“I’m going back.” I said. Julie looked at me as if I were speaking in tongues. “I’ve got to know what happened.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” Julie asked. I shook my head and pointed at Andie.
“She’s going. I have questions I want answered.” I said. Julie looked at me somberly. Her clothing was covered in Macie’s dried blood. It was a depressing sight. When I stood, Julie stood suddenly and hugged me tightly.
“Come back to me, my love.” She whispered in my ear and then looked at Andie balefully.
The sun was below the horizon when we set out. When it was fully dark, I donned the night vision gear. After a few miles I looked down at Andie. I had her sitting on the floor with a blanket over her.
“You can sit up now.” She tentatively pulled the blanket off of her and looked at me for confirmation. When she was satisfied I wasn’t joking, she sat up in the passenger seat.
“No. In answer to your unasked question, the answer is no. I don’t trust you and therefore I don’t want you to know where we live.” She bit her lip and nodded in understanding.
I parked on the side of the road and we hiked the last half mile to the store. When we got within eyesight, the two of us crouched down beside a wrecked car and I used a pair of binoculars to scan the area. There was a body lying beside the front door, the person Julie had shot, but otherwise it did not appear to be anyone there. Still, I was cautious, it had also appeared unoccupied earlier when those two miscreants were hiding inside. Andie’s jeep was still there as well, unmoved.
“Is that Barry lying there?” I asked. Andie used the binoculars and nodded her head.
“It was Eli who was inside. I’m pretty sure you shot him. I have no idea if there was anyone else.” She said.
We approached cautiously, ducking between cars as we made our way closer. With Andie in tow, we worked our way around to the rear of the building, and finally worked our way to the front. Satisfied there was not another ambush awaiting us, we made our way to Barry’s corpse. He had died where he fell of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. There was a spark of pride when I noted the tight grouping of the shots.
I picked up his weapon and inspected it. It was a fully automatic military issue M4 assault rifle.
“Where did this come from?” I asked.
“They found the Murfreesboro Police SWAT van and broke into it. There were a few of those guns in it, along with the two machine guns they mounted on the bus.”
I nodded and continued inside with Andie following so close she bumped into me when I stopped suddenly. There was another body lying on the floor in a fetal position. I heard raspy breathing and an occasional whimper. When I was sure there was nobody else in the store, I removed my night vision apparatus and used my flashlight for a better look. I pointed my rifle with my free hand, kicked his rifle away, and rolled him over with my boot. He groaned in agony. It was indeed Eli.
“I can’t walk.” He lamented. I looked him over. He had a bullet hole in his jacket about where his belly button would be.
“Yeah, looks like my aim was off. The bullet must have gone through your spine. I’m surprised you’re still alive.” He whimpered again.
“Search him.” I said to Andie. She went through his jacket and found a small caliber handgun. She looked at it a moment and handed it over to me. I held the flashlight under my armpit and stuck the gun in my jacket pocket.
“What the hell were you guys thinking anyway?” I asked in a friendly tone.
“Barry wanted some payback. When we got back to the compound, everyone made fun of him getting beaten up by a teenage boy.” He had a coughing fit. I slung my rifle, dropped down on one knee and gave him some water from my canteen. Most of it ran down his face, but he managed to drink a little.
“Thanks.” He said. “Are you going to help me?”
“We’ll see. Tell me what the plan was.” I said in the same friendly tone. Eli coughed again and I helped him with some more water.
“I’m dying for a cigarette, haven’t had one in forever.” He looked at me. “You got one?” I shook my head. Andie pulled out a joint, lit it, and put it in between Eli’s lips. He took a draw and smiled gratefully.
“It’s almost as good as a Marlboro.” He puffed on it again and coughed. “I personally didn’t care you kicked Barry’s ass. He was always strutting around like a banty rooster and needed to be taken down a notch.” He looked at me. “We found Andie’s diary. She had written down all kinds of shit about you, including meeting you here.” I glanced at Andie. She looked down at her feet.
“Barry asked George how to set up an ambush. He drove us up here last night and told us what to do. We spent the night in here freezing our balls off just so Barry could get even with you.” He smoked some more of the joint and had a coughing fit before continuing. I wondered if George was on his way back to check on his comrades and glanced out of the window.
“So, instead of you showing up, it was them two bitches. They thought they were clever with filling that canteen up with piss.” He coughed again.
“So you had a taste?” I asked with a sour smile on my face.
Eli nodded his head. “Yeah, it made me throw up.” Good, I thought.
“Well, when we saw the bitches, we looked at each other and kind of agreed to take them.” He looked at me with sudden worry. “We weren’t going to do anything, just scare ‘em a little bit.” I smiled condescendingly, like I actually believed his bullshit.
“I guess you know the rest.” He said and involuntarily groaned in pain. “You didn’t have to shoot me.”
I looked at him with loathing. If I had not shot him, had Julie not have shot Barry, there is no telling what they would have done to my girls. I thought of Macie staring at me as she slowly died.
Not bothering with a response, I stood and looked around. The store was pretty much the same as the last time I inspected it. Gutted, nothing left but trash. I made a pile of trash next to a wooden counter and lit it on fire.
“Hey man, what are you doing?” Eli asked. I ignored him. When the flames were going good I grabbed the weapons and walked out. Andie followed in silence.
“Are your keys in the jeep?” I asked. She nodded. “Come on, we’ve been here too long.” The sounds of Eli screaming in agony were echoing in our ears as we drove away.
“Do you want me to follow you?” Andie asked when we arrived back at my truck. I took the keys to the jeep and put them under the floor mat.
“Nope. You either ride with me with the blanket over you, or get in your jeep and go your merry way.” I said. I looked back toward the direction of the store. There was a faint orange glow which was growing rapidly. The smoke was hanging low in the air.
“Make up your mind, I think we’re going to have company soon and I’m not hanging around.” I walked
to my truck. Andie hurried after me and hopped in. She sat down in the floor and pulled the blanket over her without being told. I took a roundabout route back home.
The next morning, we buried Macie beside her child. She would have liked the gesture, and Rick would no doubt enjoy the company of a woman. While we were gone, Julie had cleaned her up. She’d washed out Macie’s hair, brushed it carefully, and applied make up to her pale face. She looked beautiful.
The Allen family joined us for the makeshift funeral. Everyone cried. I held up well, all things considered, but I was numb from the neck down. I could not even feel the shovel in my hands as I threw the dirt on top of the coffin.
It was a sunless day, overcast and dour.
After the burial, we went back to the house and shared lunch. Lashonda made everyone coffee as we sat in the den making small talk. Andie sat off to one side looking awkward and out of place. She was wearing one of Macie’s pullover sweaters. I thought of how Macie’s breasts filled out the sweater nicely, and how it hung loosely on Andie.
“Howard.” I said. “Would you be willing to move your family closer to us? There are a couple of good houses nearby. They’re large enough for your family. We can protect each other better.”
Howard looked at me somberly. “You think the Captain will try to pull something?” He asked. I nodded.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. He’s going to blame everything on you guys I’m betting.” Howard opined. I nodded in agreement.
“He’ll twist it around somehow. Never mind that his two boys started it, he’ll blame us for their deaths.” I said, and then pointed at Andie. “He’ll eventually figure out she’s with us and he’ll want her back.”
Howard rubbed his face and lowered his voice so Andie could not hear. “Maybe you should send her on back. He is her uncle.” I shook my head quickly.
“Out of the question.” I hesitated a moment before continuing. “He’s done terrible things to her. She’s nobody’s property. She’s free to leave here of her own accord anytime she wants, but I’m not going to give her back to him if she doesn’t want to go.”
Howard rubbed his face some more. “I suppose I understand.” He motioned Lashonda over and filled her in on the plan.
“I think that is an excellent idea.” She said. “Do you have a house in mind?”
I nodded. “Yeah, the Parson’s home. You leave the driveway, turn right, first house on the right. It’s a nice four-bedroom home with two fireplaces. I think they have a wood stove in the basement as well. Oh, and there is a four car garage.” I added. Howard smiled.
I thought a moment more. “It still has all of the furnishings and I winterized it, so there are no busted water pipes. I think it’ll be a good home.”
“It sounds wonderful.” Lashonda said. “When do you think we should move in?”
“I think y’all should move in as soon as possible. When you guys leave here, take one of the trucks. I’ll hook up a trailer to it and you guys can begin packing. I’ll get some firewood over there later today and get a fire started.” I looked around for Julie to see if she had any thoughts on the matter. She wasn’t around.
“Anybody know where Julie is?” I asked.
“I saw her walking to the barn.” Lashonda said. I nodded and excused myself.
Julie was brushing Prancer when I walked into the barn. I walked over to the stall and watched her quietly.
“I’ve been neglecting her lately. Maybe I’ll take her for a ride.” She said.
“It’s awfully cold out.” I replied.
“It’ll feel good.” Julie said. “It’ll feel good to ride out and never stop.” There were fresh tears in Julie’s eyes as she brushed.
“Did you know I wanted to kill Macie once? When they came that one day and tried to ambush you at the bridge, and you had me set up in the sniper hole. I sat there thinking, if they pull any shit, Macie is the first one I’m going to kill.” She wiped away a tear and pulled a carrot out of her pocket. Prancer eagerly nibbled it out of her hand.
“Sounds stupid, doesn’t it?” She asked. “She wasn’t with them of course. She wasn’t that kind of person.” I walked over and put an arm around her. Julie buried her face in my chest and sobbed. After a long while, we walked together back to the house.
“Tell me who your Uncle met with.” I said. The three of us, Julie, Andie, and I, were sitting at the kitchen table, the Allen family having left after dinner. We had been grilling Andie for the past two hours. She had given us a complete list of names of those living in the Captain’s compound, as well as a detailed map. I took notes as Julie mostly glared at her.
“They were soldiers.” Andie said. I stopped writing and looked at her questioningly.
“They’re up at Fort Campbell. We happened upon them one day at the airport in Smyrna.” She fidgeted in her seat while we stared at her. “They’re creating a provisional government. The Captain told them he was the leader of this area.” She leaned forward. “He plans on setting them up and killing them. He thinks they’re going to take over and leave him out of the loop.” Andie said.
“When and where?” I asked. She spent the next fifteen minutes giving me the details while I wrote as fast as I could. When I was finished I sat my notepad down and leaned back. Julie was nodding off and I suddenly realized how tired I was as well.
“Can I ask something?” Andie asked. I nodded. “What’s with the bucket of water in the bathroom?”
“The well water is run off of an electric pump. It is also run through a filter and is treated. It’s more prudent to use buckets of creek water whenever we use the toilet. And by the way, we’re on a septic tank, so no foreign objects are flushed, if you get my drift.” Andie nodded in understanding.
“Is that the only thing you wanted to know?” I asked.
“Um, well, what are you guys going to do with me?” Andie looked at us worriedly. If I find out you were involved in my girls’ attempted kidnapping and Macie’s death, you’re going to experience a slow painful death, I thought while looking at her. I glanced at Julie. She appeared not to be listening.
“You can stay here for now. You’ll be expected to pull your weight with the chores. We’ll discuss it more at a later time. In the meantime, we’re going to bed, you should do the same.” Andie started to get up. “Oh, if you get any ideas of wandering around during the night, I sleep with a gun and am very paranoid. Consider it a warning.”
“What if I have to pee?” She asked.
“You better take care of it before you go to bed would be my advice.” I answered curtly. Andie hung her head and walked off to the bedroom.
“Do you trust her?” Julie asked sleepily. We were in bed holding each other, intentionally avoiding talking about Macie, even though we were on one side of the bed, as if we were saving a space for her.
“No.” I answered bluntly. I lay there in silence for a moment. “But I didn’t trust Macie at first.”
“She’s not Macie. She’ll never be Macie.” Julie’s voice cracked a bit. She was right, Andie was no Macie.
“I love you, Julie.” I said quietly.
Chapter 31 – Carry Your Own Water
I poked my head in the doorway of Macie’s bedroom. “Get up.” I said. Andie stirred sleepily. She had slept in her clothes. She was probably convinced we would wake her in the middle of the night and kick her out into the cold night.
“Breakfast in fifteen.” I said. “Get cleaned up and wash those bite marks. I’ll have Julie take a look at them if you want. Make sure they’re not getting infected.” I walked back to our bedroom without waiting for a reply. Julie was still lying in bed.
“Hey, sweetheart.” I said softly. She cracked one eye open and a sad smile made its way onto her face.
“Is this going to be the speech where you tell me to get out of bed and keep going with my life?” I nodded. “It won’t bring Macie back.” She said glumly. Before I could respond with an inspirational cliché, she crawled out of bed and
headed to the restroom. I couldn’t help but notice her toned legs and baby bump as she walked by.
We had breakfast in silence. Julie was in a somber mood and Andie was too worried she might say the wrong thing.
“I don’t want her sleeping in Macie’s bed.” Julie suddenly said. “She can sleep on the couch.” I started to respond, but Andie spoke up.
“It’s okay, I understand. It’ll be nice sleeping in front of the fire.” Andie said. I looked at Julie. She ignored me. The rest of the meal passed in silence.
“I’m going to help Howard with moving.” I said as we cleaned the dishes. “You want to tag along?” I asked.
Julie shook her head. “Take her with you. I don’t have any desire to hang out with her all day.” She looked sidelong at me. “Why do you trust her? What makes you think she had nothing to do with the ambush?”
“They had no way of knowing it would have been you and Macie showing up. They thought it was going to be only me. Eli said Barry was planning on getting me. When it was you two who showed up instead, they opted for plan-B.” I said.
“Wait, you talked to Eli?” Julie asked.
“Yep, he was still alive when we got there. Gut shot. It went through and hit his spine, effectively paralyzing him. He said they found Andie’s diary. Apparently she had written about meeting with me, so they came the night before and set up inside the store.”
“Are they dead now?” She asked. I nodded.
“Zach set the store on fire. Barry was already dead, but the fire finished Eli.” Andie added. Julie looked at her and then back at me.
“For Macie.” I said in explanation. Julie looked at me a long moment before turning her attention to cleaning up the table.
Andie hopped in the truck sat in the seat until I glared at her. She grabbed the blanket, slunk down in the floorboard, and covered herself without comment. When we neared the tire shop I told her she could get up.
Z14 (Zombie Rules) Page 18