Dying Days 4 (12 page)

"Veronica. Friends call me Vee."

"You know how to grow shit in a garden?"

"Yes. I had a small one back home in Georgia. Why?"

Jeff smiled. "I need your help. I'm promoting you, Vee. You get the responsibility of taking over the garden and staff, as well as getting the entire upper floor of Dirty Harry's."

"Why?"

"Because I need good help, and you seem like you have your shit together. Azrael has gone away on a sudden mission and we need someone to take over on a temporary basis, but there's a great chance it will be a full-time position. Interested?"

Vee smiled. "Of course."

Jeff patted her lightly on the shoulder. "Then your first order of business will be to find someone you trust to help you out and be your second in command. You'll still report back to me on any decision, so I can take it to The Lich Lord. Understand?"

Vee nodded. "Isn't it, uh… scary being so close to him?"

"At first," Jeff admitted. "But you get used to him. He's not so bad. Not like the rest out there, just trying to kill everyone. He has a plan."

"I just hope his plan doesn't include fattening us up with veggies and then eating us," Vee said.

Jeff laughed. He was starting to like her. In a sister or mom kind of way, though. She'd be the perfect fit to take over, especially since Russ wasn't coming back except in a body bag. "Maybe. But, in the meantime, we eat and enjoy the relative safety."

"I'll go find a second and report back to you," Vee said.

Jeff held up a finger. "Actually, there is something more pressing for you to do. I need you to go and let those people out, but make sure they aren't carrying anything other than what they came in with. Understand? Take Bryan with you. And a couple of other men you can find. They're allowed to leave but they aren't stripping us of what we need to live."

"You got it," Vee said.

Jeff watched her run off excitedly. He really hoped she was a good choice for the responsibility he'd just handed her. As much as he hated Russ and hated to admit it, the man knew his shit. And kept everything in order, without needing a secondary person.

Now I need to find something to kill a few hours
, Jeff thought. He might need to find a loose woman to play with.

Jeff saw the newcomer making a casual beeline to him from the crowded street.

"I'm Doug. I'm the one who knows where the preggo chick was hiding out. When do we leave?"

Jeff shook his head. "Not until tomorrow. I'll let you know."

Doug smiled. "Not a problem. Looking forward to contributing around these parts. I'm also looking for women's private parts to contribute something to, as well. Got any leads?"

Jeff smiled. He was going to like this guy, too.

Chapter Fifteen

"I need to rest," Taylor said quietly as the three stumbled down the sidewalk. "My feet hurt and I haven't even woken up yet."

Russ stopped and sighed. "We need to keep going. Once we find a place to hide, we'll do it. But it is too damn dangerous right now. We're lucky we managed to get this far in the dark. Especially with so many zombies in the area."

"I still don't understand why you woke us up," Taylor said. 

Russ sighed. "Trust me. If I'd left you back there… bad things would've happened to you."

"We need to do less talking and more walking," Bri said. "Unless you want to argue this stupid point and attract unwanted attention."

"What's up your ass? I just want to know what we're doing," Taylor said.

"Trying not to die." Bri walked off at a quick pace.

Russ smiled. The girl was tough, even with everything she'd been through. And he knew she shared the hatred toward Jeff that he did. She had needed no coaxing a few hours ago when he'd woken her and told her it was time to leave. She simply pulled her bug-out bag and slipped her shoes on.

Taylor needed to be forced to go, even with her friend Bri explaining how Jeff was going to take her for a wife and abuse her if she didn't leave. Bri also explained Darlene was one of the good people, someone who'd helped her to survive.

Russ also thought Bri felt guilty for abandoning the stilt houses and being so gullible when Jeff appeared. For all they knew, Darlene and whoever was with her thought Bri was long dead.

"Jeff isn't so bad," Taylor said. "He's been very nice to me. He even found these boots in my size and gave them to me instead of putting them into the community pot for anyone to grab."

Russ shook his head. "The man is more dangerous than The Lich Lord. He's going to destroy you if you let him."

"Then I won't let him," Taylor said and smiled, which unnerved Russ. The young girl had no idea what she was dealing with. He hoped it wasn't a bad move to bring her along. He just wanted to save her from Jeff.

They were moving slowly on side streets and still far away from where he thought Darlene could be. This was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack, because, by now, they'd have moved on or been killed. But he needed to try to find and warn her before Jeff found her. Even now Russ was sure he'd figured out they were gone and when the distant sounds of motorcycle engines came he wasn't going to be surprised. He just hoped they could hide from them.

Bri stopped at an intersection ahead. When she turned back, she put a finger to her lips and shook her head.

Russ crept up to her and followed her eyes.

Six zombies were sitting on the porch of a house, casually passing around severed limbs and eating bites from them like they were turkey legs.

Russ pointed to a yard going east and they made their way as quickly but as quietly as they could, Taylor right behind. When they got around the house, they turned back north but stayed on the broken sidewalk, watching where they stepped. One rock kicked or glass underfoot, in the stillness, would give them away.

Russ held his breath until he was sure they were far enough away. "We need to find a way to find Darlene," he said quietly. "And a ride."

Taylor put her head down as she walked. "I'm tired. Can't we rest? I didn't get enough sleep, and all this walking is killing me."

"How old are you?" Russ asked.

"Eighteen."

"How old?"

Taylor smiled. "Maybe sixteen. Who cares anymore? I'm old enough. And tired enough to want a nap."

Bri was their advance scout and Russ smiled because he had no idea how it had happened. He realized he needed to stop thinking like this was the old world, and start to accept these two girls had become women by default. Age was no longer an issue, only survival.

They walked another three blocks before Bri found a spot, behind a fence on the side of a dilapidated home, to rest. Russ liked how she'd made the call herself.

"What's the plan?" Bri asked once they'd each found a suitable spot, making sure they could watch all around them.

Russ pointed at Bri. "You tell me. You're the one who seems to be taking charge." He frowned when he noticed Taylor was already snoring softly on the ground.

"I just don’t want to go back or get caught and forced to go back," Bri said. "And it isn't because of the zombie. It's because of that asshole Jeff."

Russ was about to correct her on her language but thought it would be stupid. They were well past it now. "It is weird how the worst thing out here is still the living. Even after everything we've been through. You’d think people would lighten up and work together. But most of them would rather fight and take what the other person has, like nothing has changed."

"This is God getting back at us for being so horrible. Like The Lich Lord said. We're the bad people. We'll never get to heaven. Eventually we'll all die and become zombies," Taylor said.

"I don't believe it for a second," Russ said, but he definitely had his doubts. None of this made any sense. When he'd first met Darlene he was so enthralled with the practical applications of what made the zombie tick. Their healing process, and if it could be duplicated in a human. In theory, you could turn it all around and use it for good. They were also immune to disease as well, right? Russ thought he could use this knowledge to cure diseases.

Now he was just trying to survive. He was sure his lab at the high school was long gone, but it might be a long-term destination to get back to. He still had his research. Maybe he'd have time to pick up where he had left off and find more clues to what happened.

"I think we'll never know what's going on. We just need to survive. I'd like to die of old age, if it's alright with you," Bri said defiantly.

Russ smiled. "That would be the best game plan I've heard all day. Hell, all month."

Something banged in the house they were leaning against and everyone stiffened. Russ pulled out his pistol and slowly lifted into a standing position using the sharpened spear he'd been carrying. At least all three were heavily armed, since Russ had made sure he took his secret cache of weapons when he left.

He could definitely hear someone walking around inside.

"Is the front door open?" he whispered to Bri. He couldn't remember.

She shrugged.

"Alright, here's what were going to do. We're going to sneak through this yard and go to the next street."

"I want to go home," Taylor said.

Russ ignored her. What did the girl consider home right now? Wherever she'd come from, or Main Street? It didn't matter, because neither was in reach or realistic.

The three skirted around the house, careful where they were stepping. With the grass so overgrown, it was hard to see what debris was lying in wait for a bad footstep.

Across the backyard was a wooden fence, most of the slats rotting and several gaps they could easily slip through without much sound.

Russ watched as Bri once again took point, moving quickly through the tall weeds and getting to the fence in seconds.

"Where ya headed?"

Russ froze at the booming voice from behind him. He turned slowly.

"Drop the weapons or you'll never see who killed you. And take another step, honey, and I'll shoot your fucking head off."

Russ saw the man, sitting on a rocking chair on the back porch, holding two .357's with a sawed-off shotgun propped against the railing. He was smiling.

"Nice day for a walk. Except this is private property, and us Floridians don't take kindly to Yankees traipsing through our vegetable gardens. I'm sure you understand."

Russ tried to act casual. "I was born in Florida."

The man with the guns shook his head. "You ain't from around here, boy. I can see it by the way you walk. Too uppity for my tastes. And hanging around with two little girls. You should be ashamed." He looked past Russ but still had both barrels aimed at him. "Where'd your little bitch run off to? No matter. My friends will catch her soon enough. Drop everything and walk slowly to me with your hands on your head. Both of you. And no funny stuff."

"Maybe we can work something out," Russ said. He was glad Bri had escaped, but, by the guy's words, he had some friends in the area who would hunt her. "We're just trying to pass through and stay alive."

"Sucks to be you, then." The man stood and tilted both guns sideways in his hands. "I saw this in a gangsta movie once. It looked cool. I shot someone a week ago like this, too. Both barrels in the head. We don't want everyone to turn into a fucking zombie, right?"

"Holy shit," Russ said when he got closer to the back porch. He stopped walking. "You're a fucking zombie."

The man's gray eyes were vibrant. "I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out. I'm one of the lucky undead, because I survived long enough to get my shit in order. My mind back. Now I'm just enjoying my time on this rotting planet and getting a nice collection of the living together for my meals. Ha, I should start a business… instead of Meals on Wheels, how about Meals That Trespass? I like the sound of it."

Russ knew they were screwed. "What do you want?"

"I want you to quietly go inside the house and join your fellow roommates. I'll be in soon. I'm sure my boys are already capturing the little bitch that thinks she got away," the zombie said. "But first I need to pat you down. You understand. We can't take many chances in this screwed up world, now can we? I need you both to come up onto the porch slowly and keep your hands on your head while you sit down cross-legged," He said to Taylor. "I'm sure you've both seen
Cops
enough to know the drill."

"Maybe we can work together," Russ said.