Walkers (Book 3): The Survivors

by Zelda Davis-Lindsey

  Someone grabbed my hand and I let out a screech. Joe came over real quick and looked at it. He started to say something but the look on my face stopped him. "Why don't you find a hot pool of water and soak for awhile. Sarah will call when supper's ready." Smart man, and sweet.

  I grabbed a suit, and left everyone to it while I strolled to my favorite hot spot. I found Lacy already there and when she saw me she smiled. "I knew you were coming." I laughed and started stripping. "Wouldn't have anything to do with your being telepathic would it?"

  "Can't see why. You're a hell of a sender."

  "Really? I did not know that."

  "Well, you do now. Jump in and tell me what you brought me."

  I laughed at that. I could remember when I left for Montana years ago, every time I came to visit Lacy she always asked me what I brought her. Maturity doesn't seem to temper that particular habit. "You'll have to dig around and find out for yourself."

  "Wow, that's a nice bruise bracelet ya got there. Run into some walkers or is Mason getting kinky lately."

  "Don't answer that JD, she doesn't need any more ideas." Randy said, from behind me.

  "Whoa, too much information here. I'm the sister don't forget."

  "Hey baby, how was your trip?" Lacy had completely lost interest in me and was eying Randy with hungry eyes. I'd be doing the same thing to Mason if we'd been apart all day so I kept my opinions to myself.

  "I thought you'd be out there fighting for the digging rights to the trailer by now. Surprised me you weren't so I had to come looking for you." He squatted down to get closer to her and when she reached up to kiss him she grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him in. When he came up spitting and sputtering I thought he'd be angry but he laughed and proceeded to make love to her. In front of me.

  "Get out of here and find a room." I managed with a bright red face. They kidded and splashed but finally left me alone to relax. I settled back to relax and was alone for awhile until I had the feeling I was being watched. I opened my eyes to Mikey, staring at my wrist. "What's up dude?" I asked sleepily.

  "Walker do that?" He asked, pointing to my hand.

  "Yeah, no big deal."

  "Did it bite ya?"

  "Nope, but it was close. Want to join me?"

  "Naw, Sarah said we couldn't go into the pools unless we had swimming trunks and I don't."

  "Well, then, I reckon you haven't looked through the trailer yet. I could have sworn I found you a pair of blue ones." His face lit up, then he took off at a run.

  I got another five minutes before Mason walked up, and started taking his clothes off. I really enjoyed that show until he got into the pool with me. Then he sat across from me his arms on the rim of the pool just looking at me. I felt his foot settle down in between my thighs so I squinted my eyes at him. He ignored me and his foot remained still so I ignored it for the time being. Sometimes we did that...just looked our fill. Then he put his head back, closed his eyes and sighed. I smiled and lay my head back and we proceeded to play through each other minds for the next half hour.

  So relaxed we almost couldn't get out of the pools, we laughed and tried to help each other on our wobbly legs. The warm water had relaxed our muscles to the point of them not wanting to work. Trying to hold each other up we slowly made our way back to the cabin for supper. We walked to the camper to change clothes and got sidetracked for about an hour then showered quickly, dressed and ran to the cabin for supper.

  Everyone tried not to look at us when we barreled inside the dining room. Still laughing like two red faced teenagers, we served ourselves and sat down to eat. I looked for Mikey and asked if he found his trunks. He smiled real big and held them up. "I ain't letting them out of my sight so I can go swimming after supper."

  "Not for an hour after supper." Sarah said, "You have to run off your supper first or you'll get cramps."

  "Yes ma'am," He mumbled but kept shoveling the food in.

  "We're still digging through the trailer but it looks like you got a lot of the things we needed. I'm glad you thought to get all sizes of clothes for the kids, they grow so fast. Thanks for the bolts of material, I can start sewing tomorrow." Sarah said, as she cleared away her plate.

  "You find a sewing machine?"

  "Yeah, one of the houses up the valley had a treadle machine in pretty good condition so she can start sewing." Duke said smiling at Sarah. She smiled back. AH.

  The new shoes came in handy too. We are going through them since you got so many and picking out the ones that are more useful now. I see you have a new pair on."

  "Yeah, I left the old ones at the store. Maybe we ought to think about burning the old clothes and shoes in the old ravine to get rid of them. We could burn the garbage there killing several birds with one stone." Everyone knew what 'birds' I was talking about cause they all nodded at the same time.

  "Where's Bruce?" Mason asked, patting me on the leg.

  "He's been watching from the ridge where Nancy was shooting at us. He was down for a bit, but thought it was such a great place he'd make it his own when you guys went to town. He'll be down any minute."

  Sure enough, Bruce came walking in the door a few minutes later. He seemed ok with Nancy being gone. Maybe there wasn't much there after all. He smiled at everyone and got some food, then sat at our table.

  "Before anyone says anything, I'm fine with Nancy being gone." We all looked at each other then back at him. He laughed. "You think I'm reading your minds or something. It's just the looks on your faces. Did you pick me up something?"

  We laughed at that. He'd been the only one who hadn't asked that question. After supper, the kids ran their butts off so they could go swimming. Melody and Clint walked them down to one of the shallow pools and let them tire themselves out, then when they got back they modeled their new pj's for us. Mikey loved his G.I. Joe pj's because he hugged me and told me so. Mason laughed and shook his head. "I think I've got some competition. I'll have to watch him a little closer."

  "Yep, he-man, you better watch out. I like my men young." His eyes got all dark again and the next thing I knew, we were saying our good nights and heading to bed. I never knew shopping made men lovable, or I'd have to taken him shopping more often. Before I went to sleep, I felt him kiss my bruised wrist and I knew what it was that made him lovable...the thought of losing me. I curled up with him spooning me from behind and went right to sleep.

  The morning found us hunting down jackets, blankets and long sleeved anythings. I didn't think it had settled into being cold, it was just one of those days. I grabbed the list and wrote down, jackets and sweaters. It was mid October so I guess it was feasible it'd be cold but I hoped it didn't last too long. I just wasn't thinking about it being cold when I was sweating my butt off shopping yesterday. My bad.

  Mason kissed me bye before he left to hunting with with Bruce, Clint and Randy to go hunting. I'd picked up some boxed meals but we still needed to fill the freezers with meat. So the guys planned to go hunting everyday for a while. We'd plan another trip to town in a couple of weeks but for now it was the same old stuff, different day.

  Bobby offered to take us up to the caves to look around. I'd heard a lot about the caves and thought now was as good as time as any. The Pueblo people lived here and built their homes inside the six caves that ran along the river. The sign at the entrance to the canyon said this happened over 700 years ago. There were stairs and steps carved into the rock and you could see down the canyon for miles.

  The cold of the morning had burned off from the hot sun and the temps settled down to around 75 degrees making the day a nice one. Birds danced on the wind currents and clouds drifted in the light blue sky. The silence was broken with the sound of two gunshots in the distance and I hoped we would have elk for supper. Next month was Thanksgiving so we'd need at least three big turkeys to feed our rapidly growing family.

  When we got back to the cabin, Duke was talking to Randy in Montana. He covered the phone for a second to say "He found
us a home." Then continued to talk. I walked around the counter and started to fix us some hot chocolate. I'd promised the kids on the way back from the caves, so I set the big pot on the stove and poured the powered milk into the water. When it got hot, I poured several cups of non dairy creamer in to make it more creamy, then got the mugs down while all the time I was relaying what was being said to Mason. Him and the guys were coming back from their hunting trip.

  I had mugs of hot chocolate ready when the guys arrived and Duke finally got off the phone. He waited till we sat down before he announced our new home would be Chico Hot springs. We started laughing and was still laughing when the great hunters appeared. They'd gotten several turkeys, pheasants and two deer. The deer here were smaller than they were in Montana but I have no idea why.

  The rest of the day was spent processing the meat and getting some of it cooked for supper. Later, as we sat on the porch in the near darkness, we saw a fireball streaming across the sky. We all stood and stared in awe until it exploded as it went behind a tall cliff. Duke came out to tell us another satellite bit the dust. He said it was a communications satellite, probably TV because we still had the sat phone and internet. I guess it won't be much longer before they all fell out of the sky then we'd be without communications and computers would be nearly useless. I wasn't looking forward to that. I'd gotten used to looking something up if I needed to. When I mentioned it to Duke the next day he said he would just 'download' the internet onto disks. I thought that might mean a hell of a lot of disks so I asked how many he would need. The little smartass replied 'all of them'.

  We got quiet after that, each lost in their own thoughts. The noise of giving children baths and getting them ready for bed was just background noise to our thoughts. After a whirlwind round of goodnight kisses, the kids went to bed and it really got quiet. We said our good nights and quietly walked back to the camper. We stopped and gazed at the sky full of a zillion stars before we went to bed.

  CHAPTER 14

  We were in the dormant stage and by that I mean it had been quiet for several weeks. Even the last two trips into town hadn't resulted in any, shootings, kidnappings or bites. We'd killed our share of walkers but that was about it for excitement. We were now getting ready for Halloween and if anyone dressed up as a zombie they would die. No question.

  We planned to go to our cabins, campers and rooms at dark and wait for the kids to show up dressed in their costumes. We would then ooh and aah, drop a candy bar in the bag and they would troop to the next sucker. The last trip to town netted a case of candy bars and we would give each child one, and I mean only one, piece to each kid. They would be counted after the kids went to bed to be sure. A sugar high is not a pretty sight with so many kids.

  The nights in October were getting in the 20's, but the high 60's during the day. I know in Montana is was probably snowing and in the teens at night so we were ok, so far. The heating system Duke set up with the pipes running through each camper was keeping it nice inside but there have been times when we had to open the windows. So I wasn't too concerned about it getting really cold.

  November 1st found a couple tummy aches and arguments but other wise it was quiet enough. There were some holidays we wanted to keep and this was one. Thanksgiving was another and the guys were out today hunting turkeys. They'd taken a net and wanted to catch some live ones which was something I really wanted to watch, but they were adamant that no women or children could come along. I know these guys hate to be laughed at so I was disappointed. It would've made an amusing show.

  So we stood on the porch and watched them disappear around the bend then turned to each other, shrugged our shoulders opting to go back inside and have another cup of coffee. "I guess we need to figure out how to make a pen to put all those turkeys in when they return." I said, leaning back against the chair. "Anyone have any ideas on how to make a pen?"

  They looked at each other then at me. "Lets ask Duke, he can look it up on the internet." Sarah said.

  "We need to hit the local library for some survival books. We lost all ours in the lodge."

  "Yeah, we can't depend on the internet forever. Those satellites won't stay up there indefinitely. Someone better write that down on the list. I'll check and see if the local library has a online catalog so we can write down the call numbers of all the books we need."

  "Well, if we find some thin reeds or willows we can weave them together for the roof. Those things fly don't they? So we need something to keep them from flying out."

  "The Wilson's down the road had a pen built for his nanny goats. Would that work?" Kevin said. He seemed to have gotten over pa dying after he worked so hard to drag him five miles. Of course, the fact that the man had been abusing him and his little sister for years might have a lot to do with. "I'll show you where if you want."

  "I think that's a great idea, Kevin. Thank you. We'll leave after lunch."

  "Do you think that's enough time?" Asked Melody.

  "Well, if they wanted to pen some live turkeys they should have built the damned thing before they left, so if they get back with live turkeys they can just stay in the truck under the topper all night. I think though, we could at the very least, get the stuff together so it would be easier for them. Capturing wild turkeys might wear them down a bit." That brought about several jokes and a lot of laughter.

  So after lunch we headed to the Wilsons. Sure enough the pen the nanny goats (whose dead carcasses littered the area) would be perfect for the turkeys and we could make the roof. So we started looking for tools to take down the wires and dig up the posts. Kevin pointed to a pile of posts stacked behind the shed so that helped immensely. We started to stack them in the bed of the truck.

  But you know me, right, I couldn't help wondering about what was in that shed. I used the hammer to pound off the lock and when I opened the door the walkers inside turned as one to look at me.

  Oh, shit.

  I tried to slam the door but with the lock broke (thanks to me), it wouldn't close against three walkers anxious to get me. They were trying to stick their hands out of the door to reach me while pushing against it at the same time. The smell was unbelievable. I was gagging and pushing back when Lacy and George pitted their strength with mine. We pushed the door closed, cutting off several fingers in the process. The walkers not ours. Now what?

  I saw a metal fence post in the stack of wooden ones and yelled at Kevin to get it for me. I thought he was too scared to move at first cause all he could do was stare then he ran to get it. He propped it up against the door, then we found several planks to nail over the door to keep them in till the guys got home. Oh, I know what you're thinking. Why didn't we just kill them and get it over with? Well, when you scared, you do what you can and then think about it later.

  We thought that later, when the guys got home they could come back and kill the damned things. I knew I was not about to open that door again just so I could kill them. The deed was done. We stood huffing and puffing from the exertion and then started laughing. Kevin just shook his head and went back to stacking wooden fence posts in the truck. George went into the house and came back out with a can of yellow spray paint and painted the number 3 on the door. The guys shouldn't miss it, right? We'll see.

  A dirtier bunch of people you've never seen pulled around back of the cabin to unload the truck. Sarah supervised just to keep the little ones out of the way, while Joe helped us so it didn't take long. We rested with tall glasses of iced tea, cooling off quickly in the shadow of the cliffs. Finally we headed to the hot springs to warm up tired muscles and was found lounging there by the guys when they returned.

  I'd heard the truck drive up so I set the glass that was half full of dish washing soap in the springs with us. By the time they got close enough to see us in the water, soap suds hid all the important parts.

  "So, I see you ladies (me, Lacy, George, Sam and Sandy) have been enjoying yourselves while us he-men have been working our tails off to bring home the turkey." Ri
ley made the mistake of saying. I kept my mind quietly blank as Mason stared at me, narrowing his eyes when he couldn't find anything.

  "What have you been up to?" He asked.

  "Yeah, Lacy what have you been doing?" Randy asked, squatting near the edge of the pool opposite her and far from her reach.

  "George, what's going on?" Riley asked, the only one of them that couldn't read minds.

  "We've..." George began.

  "Nothing," I said quickly. "We've been enjoying ourselves just as you see. Haven't we ladies?" They looked confused but went along with it. We all grinned really big.

  "Oh yeah," I said, "we picked up the materials you'll need to make the turkey pen. They're behind the cabin."

  "What materials."

  "Materials."

  "What is she talking about?"

  "Yeah, JD, just what the hell are you talking about?"

  "Well, dear heart, we couldn't for the life of us figure out where you were going to put those poor, tired turkeys when you came back so we decided to make a pen for them. Of course just finding the materials took most of the day, but we managed to get a truck load of wooden posts and wire, stacked them behind the cabin so when you got back you could just build a pen."

  "And, brat, just where did you find this massive amount of materials, as you put it." He was getting worked up. He is so cute when he gets worked up.

  "At the Wilsons. Kevin showed us. Wasn't that the sweetest thing? So he-man turkey wranglers, how many turkeys did you bring back?"

  The guys looked at each and with no other words they turned red faced and walked back to the cabin. That probably meant they didn't get any and didn't want to talk about it. The sound of running feet got our attention but it was Bobby telling us 'you have a half an hour before supper was ready' or she was feeding it to the men. Yea, right.

  George sighed, "And I had my heart set on a turkey leg."

  "Yeah," Sam said, "with dressing and everything to go with it. Can't depend on anything anymore." We were laughing as we climbed out of one spring and wallowed in the next one to remove the bubbles. Then we dressed and walked back to the cabin, laughing and talking like we weren't going to catch hell when Kevin gave the men an accounting of our day. They can't leave us alone for five minutes. Yeah, we know.