Aliens Versus Zombies (22 page)

The next morning, Daniels and Jesse awoke early and decided to scout the surrounding area and maybe catch a rabbit or two. They got the woman on watch at the barn door to let them out and they set off facing the sun that was just beginning to peek over the low hill ahead. The shadows were still long, but shrinking as they walked. The dew clung to their boots and pant legs as they waded through the long grass on the way to the woods beyond the yard.

Jesse was the first to speak. “Sure is pretty out here, isn’t it? You could almost imagine all’s right with the world. No damn Zoms, no damn aliens. Just a coupla guys goin’ hunting.”

Daniels nodded. “Yeah. Too bad it isn’t true.”

“Tell me about it.”

They trudged on in silence for ten minutes, seeing and hearing nothing, except one lone sparrow calling to others that never responded.

“You suppose the Zoms got all the birds and other small critters around here?”

Daniels shrugged. “Beats me. But the place isn’t exactly crawling with Zoms. Except for the one that came after you yesterday, we haven’t seen
any
.”

“You’re right. That’s weird. Where did they all go?”

“I’m hardly an expert on country living among Zoms, but it seems to me there aren’t a lot of people around here to eat, and it’s hard to run down a bunny or a bird or a deer. There probably wasn’t a lot of food here for them after they took out the farmer and his family. Maybe they starved to death, or moved on to greener pastures.”

“Maybe. Let’s hope so. I wouldn’t mind hanging out around here for a while. Peace and quiet kinda grows on you, don’t it?”

Daniels smiled. “Sure does. Don’t mean to cut you off, but if we want any chance at catching anything, we need to be quiet. We can’t sneak up on them if they hear us talking from fifty yards away.”

“Gotcha.”

After the heavy rains, the leaves coating the ground were wet and therefore didn’t rustle when the two men walked over them. After another twenty minutes, Daniels stopped and held up a hand. Jesse froze.

Daniels pointed eighty yards ahead and to his left. Jesse looked in that direction but saw nothing. Then an ear twitched. Jesse gave a thumb-up signal indicating that he saw the rabbit. Both men raised their rifles slowly and aimed.

Daniels whispered. “Now.”

Two shots echoed across the woods. Both missed the target and the rabbit took off. They each fired again, but missed.

“Damn,” Jesse said. “I had my taste buds set on some rabbit stew, with those fresh carrots and potatoes I dug up.”

“If there’s one out here, there must be more. We just have to keep looking.”

“I thought you were some big war hero. Marksman and all that.”

“Don’t believe everything you read in the funny papers. Besides, this old rifle is crap. Give me an M16A4 with a scope and we’re talking a different story.”

“Heh. There must be an armory around here somewhere. We can just hit the drive-thru window and pick one up.”

Despite his own admonition earlier to be quiet, Daniels roared at that one.

“Sure. Then we can pick up some RPGs and an Abrams tank or two and take on a few of the aliens. Hell, while we’re at it, maybe we can launch a nuke at them.”

“Ha! Sounds good to me.”

The duo turned left and followed a small trail up the slope. At the top of the small hill, they had a better look at the surrounding area. There was another farmhouse to the east, perhaps half a mile farther. It was the only building within sight besides the one they had just come from.

“What do you say we check out the other house. Maybe there’s something there we can use.”

“Sure thing, boss. Maybe they got one o’ them Abrams parked there.”

Daniels laughed again. “Maybe so.”

* * * *

Due to the terrain, it took more than half an hour to go less than half a mile, but they reached the edge of the woods without incident. They stopped to survey the surroundings before proceeding. The house was big; larger than the other one, with a large barn out back and a horse paddock. There were no horses in evidence, and part of the wooden fencing around it had been knocked down. There was an old pickup truck parked out back, but no sign of people.

“Careful, Jesse. There could be someone inside.”

“You got it.”

The two ran across the quarter-acre of grass between the woods and the house, and then stopped just at the corner of the house. The paint was peeling off the siding, but otherwise the place seemed in one piece. The door was closed and the windows were unbroken.

Daniels ran to the door and tried the knob. It was locked. That gave further credence to the idea that there might be people inside.

Jesse led the way around to the back. The door on the back porch was also locked, but the door rattled. The lock was loose. Jesse leaned against the door with his shoulder and pushed.

The door popped open without anything breaking. The men entered and trod softly, guns held across their chests, ready to go, but not quite as threatening-looking if there was a family cowering inside.

There was no one in the kitchen, dining room, or living room. But the house seemed ransack-free, as if the family had left for church and never returned. Perhaps they had.

Daniels started to tiptoe up the stairs to where the bedrooms were when he detected the faint stench of death. Not a good sign.

At the top of the stairs, he peered left and right. Nothing moved. He headed for what looked to be the master bedroom. The stench was much stronger here.

Inside, he found the skeletons of a man and a woman lying on the bed, holding hands. It appeared as if the flesh had melted off them and puddled around the bones on the bed.

“What the
hell
,” Jesse said. “Did Zoms do this?”

Daniels shook his head. “They did it to themselves.” He pointed to the empty pill bottle on the floor. There were hundreds of dead flies all around the room. “They evidently saw what was going on in the world, and decided to go out on their own terms before the Zoms could get them.”

“That’s gross. What happened to their bodies, I mean.”

“That’s what happens to a body if you don’t bury it. Well, even if you do. You just don’t see the results in that case. I saw it more than once in Afghanistan.”

“Yuck.”

“It’s been at least a year since it happened, or it would smell so much worse, and the fact the windows are open slightly helped. On the plus side, if we get the mattress and bodies out of the house we could move everyone over here. It’ll be cramped for thirty people, but it’s gotta be more comfortable than living in a barn, long-term. Clearly, the Zoms haven’t been here in all this time, so it’s reasonably safe, too.”

“Hey, you’re right!”

“Let’s check out the rest of the house, just in case there are any nasty surprises, and then dispose of the mattress. There’s probably some edible food in the kitchen, too. We could have a bite to eat before we head back.”

After inventorying the rest of the house and finding boxes of children’s clothing packed away in the attic—in various sizes, from newborn through elementary school—it was time to get the queen-size mattress out of the house. It was nasty, but not as nasty as the remains that they first had to dispose of, along with the sheets they were on.

The men had already dug a joint grave out back—clearly the couple had wanted to be together in death. Then they wrestled the mattress down the stairs and tossed it out behind the house. After that, they opened all of the upstairs windows to air the place out. The freshening breeze helped.

Exhausted from their work, they went to grab a bite to eat and opened the windows in the kitchen as well. The bread on the counter had turned to mold, and the small basket of apples on the table held nothing more than withered husks. The refrigerator was a disaster. When the power went out, everything inside had rotted and mold was growing everywhere.

But there were untouched boxes and cans of food in the kitchen, as well as a small pantry in the hallway. Tuna, peanut butter, pasta, rice, canned soups, canned fruit, everything a hungry group of people needed to sustain them. And dishware for at least a dozen people at once. Combined with the dishes from the other house, there might just be enough for everyone.

“Too bad there isn’t a nice big steak just waiting for us,” Jesse said.

“Maybe there is. Take another look in the fridge.”

Jesse laughed. “No thanks!”

* * * *

After a lunch of tuna and canned peaches, they left the farmhouse to check out the barn before heading back.

Inside, they found the remains of four cows that had apparently starved to death in their pens. Aside from that, there was nothing particularly notable about the place. They walked back out the door and closed it behind them.

As they turned toward the woods, they froze at a sound coming from around the side of the barn. It definitely wasn’t the wind rustling through the trees. Guns at the ready, they jumped around the corner.

A palomino pony grazed on the long grass growing there. It stepped back when they jumped out, but then went back to grazing.

“Hey, girl, hi there.” Daniels spoke in a soft, soothing voice as he approached the mare.

She eyed him, but didn’t back away. He stroked her muzzle and then her flank.

“She looks to be in remarkably good shape, considering she’s been alone for all this time. I don’t know how she survived the winter, but she’s obviously a hardy one.”

“Are horses good eatin’, Sarge?” Jesse licked his lips.

“Eating? We’re not gonna
eat
her. She’s too important for that.”

“Oh?”

“We can’t really drive those SUVs around. If the aliens are watching, they could show up on thermal scans, or be spotted because they move too fast to be animals. But this little beauty can get us from point A to point B, faster than walking, and do it inconspicuously.”

He patted her side and she raised her head and shook it.

“You miss the attention, girl? That’s all right, we can find a curry brush somewhere and get these brambles out of your coat.”

“You know much about horses, Sarge?”

Daniels shook his head. “Not really. I spent a few summers at a dude ranch when I was a kid. Learned to put a saddle on them, and ride and curry them. But I can’t shoe a horse, and I’m not a vet, so there’s only so much I can do for her. But she can certainly help us. Maybe pull a plow, if anyone around here still has old-fashioned horse-drawn plows, rather than tractors.”

Jesse shook his head. “So much for the industrial age. Ha!”

“You said it. I think I saw a saddle in the barn. I’ll go get it while you watch ol’ Mabel here.”

“Watch her? What am I supposed to do if she decides to wander off? Grab her?”

“Good luck with that! No, if she walks off just stay with her until I get back. Can you do that?”

“I…think so. But if she hightails it, I’m not runnin’ after her.”

“Good. You’d just tire yourself out. Be right back.” Daniels turned and headed back to the barn door.

Other than eyeing Jesse once or twice, the newly named Mabel stayed put and kept eating.

“Mabel, huh? You look more like a Qua’nisha to me. I knew a girl with that name, once. She had a long, skinny, horsey face and a big nose, too.”

Mabel shook her mane at him.

A couple of minutes later, Daniels returned with a horse pad folded atop a saddle and a bridle. He put them down long enough to stroke Mabel’s side again, and then tossed the pad across her back. When she didn’t bolt, he put the saddle on top and cinched it tight.

“Good girl.” He stoked her muzzle and persuaded her to take the bit. Then he secured the bridle and flipped the reins over her head and onto the back of her neck, just above the saddle.

“All set. You want to ride first, Jesse?”

“Me? On a horse? No way, José!”

“I can go first, but we’ll have to take the road back and that’s a lot longer walk than through the woods. She’s not big enough to take us both.”

“Fine by me. At least I don’t have to worry about my feet running off with me at a hundred miles an hour!”

Daniels laughed. “Okay. I guess we both walk, then. We’d better get going before the others get worried. We said we’d be gone a few hours at most. It’ll be late afternoon by the time we get back.”

“Suits me. After that mess in the house, and digging that grave, I’m looking forward to walking in the fresh air and stretching my legs.”

* * * *

Daniels and Jesse arrived back at the barn where the others waited. Chrissy and Moose rushed out when they saw the two, plus Mabel, walking up the driveway.

Chrissy spoke first. “What happened to you guys? We were afraid the Zoms had got you—or the aliens.”

“Yeah, dude,” Moose chimed in, “you were gone a long time.”