Foamers (3 page)

Kade stuffed the box into his go-bag and then took his gear to the living room. Having
with him the items that were like longtime friends, he felt much more comfortable
stepping into the unknown of the Primal Age.

He sat in the living room with the dog for a few minutes, looking around the house.
He was suddenly hit by the realization that he would never walk through this home
again. The memories held within these walls would now have to be carried with him.
Not just this house, but everything about his life until this moment would be left
in the past. The thought made him feel both naked and liberated at the same time.

The rest of the group trickled in to the living room. Kade gave the .22 to Ashton
and the hunting rifle to Tiny, keeping the katana for himself.

“We’ll make our way to Mick’s cruiser, drive to Old Yeller, and then caravan to
Lucas’s. Mick, lead the way,” Kade said.

The four of them emerged from the house, moving in a diamond formation like migrating
geese, with Argos trotting beside Kade. Normally, traffic from the highway a few
miles away could be heard from Kade’s house, but on this morning the roadway was
silent. As they marched through the row of townhouses, Kade kept his eyes on the
windows. He wasn’t sure if he hoped or feared he would see movement. When they reached
Mick’s cruiser in visitor parking, they appeared to be alone.

Mick and Tiny took the front seats, leaving the back for Kade, Ashton and Argos.
Mick drove out of the parking lot, while Ashton leaned her head against the barrel
of her rifle. Her breathing became short, like hiccups.

“Ash, breathe deep,” Tiny said, glancing at them in the mirror.

Kade rubbed his sister’s back. His eyes never left her as she fought to regain control
of her breathing. He had faith in Tiny, who was former military, and Mick, who was
a police officer, to be able to handle the transition into the Primal Age, but he
wasn’t sure about Ashton.

She was one of the best athletes he had ever known, so he wasn’t worried about her
physically, but yesterday she was rehabbing to prepare for her freshmen year. He
would be there to help her transition through the change, but the apocalypse had
set on the old world like a closing curtain. And now the Primal Age had begun.

“I’m here. Don’t worry, Ash. I’m here. We’re going to be okay,” Kade said.

Ashton’s breathing slowed and she looked at him. “I’m okay. I just had to get that
out of my system.”

“We’re going to be okay,” Kade repeated.

“Damn right we will,” Ashton said as she scratched Argos’s muzzle.

During the remainder of the drive to Tiny’s house, Mick scanned the channels on his
radio, searching for any other brothers in blue that might still be alive. Each channel
that responded with static added another rock to Mick’s burden.

They came around the last turn to Tiny’s house, in a neighborhood of small ranch
homes. Standing guard in front was Old Yeller. After Tiny had been medically discharged
for her leg injury, she had used a connection to get herself a job driving a school
bus until she could find better work. Part of the deal of driving a bus was that
she was allowed to keep it at her house. They all had come to affectionately call
the eyesore Old Yeller.

Mick parked the car, while the rest of them disembarked.

“Keep it running. I’ll be two minutes,” Tiny said.

“Ash, take shotgun. I’ll ride the rest of the way with Tiny,” Kade said.

Ashton slid into the front seat. “Try not to trip, fall, and have sex while you’re
in there.”

Kade and Tiny ignored her jest and took Argos with them into the house.

Mick hung up the radio. “They’d be doing us all a favor if they would get that tension
out of the way now.”

“I just wish they’d hurry up so we can leave. I hate this waiting around in the open.
Who knows when more of those things will come after us?”

“I wish we could check these houses for other survivors,” Mick said.

Ashton shook her head. “Think about how dangerous that would be for us. Risking our
lives for people we don’t even know doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m a police officer. That’s what I do every day.”

“Protect us, then,” Ashton said, as Kade came out of the house carrying a large duffel
bag.

“She has him so whipped,” Mick said.

Ashton imitated the crack of a whip.

* * *

“No one ever wanted to believe us, but we were right! Goddamn government,” Lucas
said, as he and Kade walked around his garage.

Lucas could easily pass for Jesus in appearance—but only in appearance. His long
hair and scraggly beard disguised the fact that that he was a shrewd businessman.
He’d adopted the persona when he started a solar company because it increased sales.

“I’m just glad someone believed me right away,” Kade said. Argos came after them,
his eyes never leaving Lucas.

“Isn’t that Jem’s mutt?” Lucas asked as they strolled toward his SUV that had a
trailer loaded with two ATVs.

“I haven’t been able to get a hold of Jem,” Kade replied as he eyed the red gas cans
aligned in a neat row on the trailer.

“Who did we find for this adventure?” Lucas asked with the excitement of a little
kid getting to go on his first camping trip. Kade’s other friends had indulged his
Primal Age prepping, but Lucas was the only one to take it seriously. There was
a fine line between prepping and crazy; Lucas toed that line.

“You, me, Ashton, Tiny, Mick, and Victoria.”

“Who’s Victoria, and what about X?” Lucas opened the back door. All the seats were
folded down and narrow, rectangular boxes were piled from floor to ceiling.

“She’s Damian’s ex-fiancé. She’ll be a wonderful ball of excitement and positivity,
but she is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I called X, but he’s gone dark.”

Lucas clapped him on the shoulder. “When doesn’t X go dark? This will make you feel
better: these boxes are solar panels.”

Kade’s friendship with Lucas had been formed through Tiny in high school. They had
tolerated each other. Lucas wanted to be with Tiny. Tiny only wanted to be with Kade.
Kade didn’t want anyone to hurt Tiny. They were often like two wolves circling one
another, waiting for the other to reveal a weakness. Then, one day, Lucas came along
with Tiny to the weekly video game session she had with Kade. After they bonded slaying
virtual zombies, Lucas and Kade never circled each other again.

“Electricity. The difference between surviving and living. What else do we have to
get done around here before dark?” Kade asked as they walked into the house.

The living room in Lucas’s house was filled with second-hand furniture and smelled
like old people. The walls were lined with exotic trophies from Lucas’s hunting excursions,
all of which had been killed with his bow. His belief was that bow hunting was the
only true way to hunt.

Mick and Ashton sat on the couches making phone calls that weren’t getting answered.

“Where’s Tiny?” Kade asked.

“She’s collecting seeds in the green house,” Ashton replied.

“I’ll go lend her a hand,” Lucas said.

“What can I do?” Kade asked.

“The cabinet above the sink is filled with water bottles. We should store up on as
much safe water as we can,” Lucas said, as the two of them left the living room.

Mick looked up from his phone and watched them leave.

“I hope Lucas doesn’t try anything with Tiny,” Mick said. “It wouldn’t be fair to
your brother.”

Ashton rolled her eyes at Mick. “You keep this up; I’ll start thinking you’ve got
a crush on Kade.”

Mick kept his eyes on his phone and acted like he was searching for a number to dial.

Argos ran across the room and sat at the door. The doorbell rang a moment later.

Kade spoke over the faucet in the kitchen. “Mick, will you get that? It’s best Victoria
doesn’t see Damian’s face first.”

Mick set his phone on the table, happy to have an excuse to stop calling people
who wouldn’t answer. He couldn’t handle knowing every family member, friend, acquaintance,
coworker, accountant, insurance agent, everyone he called, was dead. After checking
his pistol he crossed the room and opened the door.

Victoria stood in the doorway. As soon as she saw his uniform she covered her mouth.
“I’m sorry, officer. If Kade is under arrest, I swear he lied to me.”

“Victoria, it’s me, Mick. We’ve met like a dozen times.”

“Oh, Mick, of course. Think a strong officer like yourself could help a girl out?
My suitcase is still in the car and I think I over packed some.” Victoria placed
her hand on Mick’s chest.

“Kade!” Mick shouted. “Victoria’s here.”

He pushed past her and made his way to the car while she entered the house.

Kade stood at the far end of the room. Ashton had been more than eager to take over
his job of filling water bottles.

“Victoria,” Kade said.

As much as he hated the woman inside that shell, he couldn’t help but appreciate
that she was beautiful. She had used modeling to pay for medical school, and she
hadn’t lost any of her looks over the years. Argos took up post behind Kade with
his tail between his legs.

“What’s the plan, Captain Dipshit?” she said.

“You’re welcome for saving your life.”

“Damian contacted you, correct?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll thank him when I see him. Now, what’s the plan?”

Kade shook his head. He supposed someone who got so lucky on looks and brains couldn’t
get a good roll on personality as well.

“Prep and pack here until dark, then break into two groups. Group A will go with
Ashton to the sporting goods store and load up on supplies. Group One will go to
the police station and get weapons. Then north to Houghton College where we will
settle in and wait for Damian to arrive,” Kade said.

“That’s your goal. Stay alive until Damian can save the day?”

“Have a better plan?”

“Nope. I would like to request to be on whatever team you are not on,” Victoria replied.

Mick came back through the door and banged the suitcase off of the frame.

“Be careful with those,” she snapped.

“Don’t worry, that’s already been arranged,” Kade said.

___________

Kade stood in the cool air outside of Lucas’s dilapidated colonial home. He blocked
out
the sounds of the night and his fear that foamers could be around, and took a moment
to enjoy the night. Rarely did he consider himself lucky, but he was thankful. He
was thankful Tiny was afraid of needles, Victoria was pissed at his brother, Lucas
was paranoid, Mick was overworked, and Ashton had a bad reaction to a flu shot when
she was a kid. He wished he would have been able to get in touch with X, but he doubted
X believed him.

The garage door clanked open, signaling it was time to leave.

Kade approached the driver’s side of the cop car, and Mick rolled down his window.
Victoria sat in the passenger seat looking apathetic. Even in her disinterested state,
she was still gorgeous.

“Two a.m.” Kade said.

“X never showed?” Mick asked.

Kade shook his head.

“Figures,” Mick replied and drove off.

The treaty Kade had negotiated between Mick and X had always been shaky. With Mick
as the cop, and X as the robber, it took every favor Kade could call upon to make
them play nice. X was never much for hanging out in groups, which made Kade’s task
of balancing these two friendships less difficult. Like most of Kade’s friends, Mick
came along after Kade was diagnosed with Huntington’s.

Mick had been the sweeper for the high school soccer team, the last line of defense
before Kade, who was the goalie. They formed a symbiotic bond that flourished into
a friendship. Both of their performances were greatly affected by one another, which
led to watching each other’s backs, both on and off the turf.

He could tell Mick felt like a failure. In high school he had acted the same way
when he felt responsible for a goal. Each person who had died overnight in his jurisdiction
was a personal failure. Kade knew in time Mick could work past that, but hoped he
could forgive himself sooner rather than later.

* * *

Mick and Victoria packed duffel bags with boxes of ammo in the supply room of the
police station. They had already loaded most of the weapons and gear that they wanted
into the cruiser, but now they were focused on emptying as much ammo as they could
pack out.

“I have a Ph.D.,” Victoria said.

Mick ignored her and kept filling his bag. Regardless of how long the time with her
felt, he didn’t want to add to it by having to listen to her complain. Robbing his
own police station already cast him in a somber mood, like he was present at his
own funeral.

“I don’t do manual labor,” Victoria continued.

Mick tried to block her voice out of his mind, but her smooth delivery was almost
impossible to ignore. There was some quality to her voice that even he appreciated.
There was a confidence in every word she spoke that made it ring true to the ear.

“How was this a good idea?” she said.

On that topic, Mick agreed with her, but he wasn’t going to speak against Kade’s
plan. He didn’t like the idea of stealing from the police station in case things
would rebound and Kade had been wrong, or if there were more officers left alive
they would be coming here for supplies as well. Overall he’d rather have left the
police station untouched so it could serve to protect others. Mick zipped his bag
shut and hoisted it over his shoulder. Making his way for the door he could already
feel the sore muscles in his body from the multiple loads he had taken to the car.

“I don’t understand Kade,” she said.

Mick dropped his bag with a huff and squared up to Victoria.

“Well, generally when you hate someone you don’t take the time to understand them,”
Mick said.

He regretted speaking before he finished the sentence. Engaging her in conversation
was the worst thing he could have done to get her to shut up.

“I don’t hate Kade,” Victoria said.

Mick wasn’t going to debate her and decided his best option was to exit the conversation,
so he slung the bag over his shoulder.

“How could I hate him? I thought he and Damian were identical the first time I met
him. He has mental capabilities I am jealous of, and wish he wasn’t such a waste
with them. We might not get along, and I might ride him pretty hard, but I don’t
hate him,” she said.

Mick put a hand on his forehead as he continued for the door. He hoped she would
be assigned a different vehicle for the rest of the trip

“He saved our lives. How could I hate him?”

Mick pushed the door open.

“Mick?”

He stopped.

“Does Kade hate me?”

Mick closed his eyes wishing he had never said a word. This was not a topic he wanted
to get himself involved in.

“Mick?”

“What?” he snapped.

“There’s a gun pointing at your head,” Victoria said.

Mick opened his eyes and looked to his right.

“Quintin, put the gun down,” Mick said.

Quintin’s gaze took in Mick’s uniform and Mick could tell he was trying to put everything
together. Quintin was their newest officer, who had just moved into the area a week
ago to cover their empty shifts. He had a few years on Mick, but below him in rank.

“What are you doing?” Quintin asked.

“Gathering everything up for a training exercise,” Mick said, lying as best he could.
“Did you not get the e-mail earlier today?”

“I came off night shift and passed out all day. My phone is the only access I have
to my e-mail right now and that isn’t working,” Quintin replied.

“So, put that gun away?” Mick asked.

Quintin holstered the pistol. “Sorry about that. I thought we were getting robbed.
I’m gonna go settle in at my desk, but I’ll come see if you need a hand with getting
this stuff together in a couple minutes.”

Quintin continued on his way down the corridor, muttering. “Who would rob a police
station?”

Mick ushered Victoria to grab the bag and follow him. They made their way through
the station to the front door.

Mick was torn between escaping without being arrested and explaining the situation
to Quintin, who clearly slept through the transition. The walking stride he tried
to maintain felt more and more like a jog. He couldn’t tell Quintin now, but they
could get safely to the car and he could radio to his fellow officer. Then if Quintin
believed him they could come back and finish looting, and if not they wouldn’t be
trapped behind bars while Kade and the others started the journey.

“Freeze!”

All options went out the window.

“Hands on your head.”

They did as they were told. Mick didn’t have another option, other than drawing
his own gun, but that was way out the realm of possibility. He couldn’t draw on a
fellow officer, nor did he want to take the chance of getting shot.

“Quintin, listen to me, the country is dead or turning into monsters. You need to
come with us,” Mick said, and immediately heard how stupid his words sounded.

“Right. Lie to me once and I catch on, so you’ll lie to me twice. Let me guess the
reason you didn’t lead with the X-files approach was because I wouldn’t have believed
it? I don’t,” Quintin said.

Mick lowered his head. He had never wanted to be on the wrong side of a jail cell.
The Primal Age was already proving to be a place that wasn’t meant for him.

* * *

It was 12:45 a.m. at the sporting goods store and Kade was soaked in sweat as Argos
watched him pack. They worked in a supply line and had decimated most of the useful
areas of the store. Kade loaded bags with everything from field hockey sticks to
hunting gear and placed them in shopping carts.

The work had been continuous. However they had cleared most the valuable sections
of the store. At their current speed, they shouldn’t have a problem being ready to
shove off by two a.m. when Mick should return.

Kade froze, his hand tightening around the grip of a bat. He thought he heard footsteps.
This was the thirteenth time he thought he heard footsteps. Searching the darkness
he didn’t see any motion. He stood and took a spin to make sure he was alone. Argos
watched him with a puzzled expression, and Kade took that as enough evidence to resume
packing.

He went back to work, as he heard the familiar squeal of shopping cart wheels from
the far side of the building.

Ashton arrived with an empty shopping cart. “Tiny wants to see you.”

Argos ran over and licked sweat off her legs.

“Too much to do to take a break,” Kade replied as he continued to pack a bag with
baseball bats.

“Kade, Tiny wants to see you. We’re running out of space,” Ashton said.

“Will you—”

“Yes. Now go.” She grabbed a baseball bat and slid it into the bat bag.

Kade jogged through the store, past the empty shelves in hunting and camping, and
out the back, where the vehicles waited. When he got there, Lucas was passing the
last load of bags up the steps of the bus to Tiny.

“The SUV is crammed to the brim. All I’ve got left is the aisle in Old Yeller,” Tiny
said. “I can fill it, but we won’t be able to access anything until we get there.”

“Fill whatever space you can find. I’d rather take too much than too little,” Kade
said.

Flashing emergency lights and high beams blinded them. The emergency vehicle continued
down the loading lane. Tiny drew her pistol. Kade shielded his eyes from the bright
lights and hoped these were looters and not police. A sporting goods store was a
high ticket commodity for looters, and if these weren’t police he might be able to
broker a deal that would avoid violence.

Tiny aimed her pistol at the vehicle, which came to a screeching halt and all of
its lights shut off. The dots in Kade’s eyes left him disoriented, but he fought
to focus on the driver.

A black cowboy hat extended out the window.

“Please don’t put a hole in my hat,” X shouted from the driver’s side.

Tiny holstered her pistol behind her back and shared a relieved sigh with Kade.

“Still want me to fill the aisle?” Tiny asked Kade.

“And the ambulance,” Kade replied heading toward X, who was climbing out of the vehicle.
X strolled toward him nonchalantly, wearing a pair of blue jeans, dark shirt, black
cowboy hat, and a leather weapons belt with a .357 in the holster. X’s appearance,
combined with his weathered features, made him look like a farmhand from an old
Western. However, X was far closer to being the villain: Car thief, small-time con
artist—he was a jack-of-all-trades.

X and Kade hugged quickly.

“I was getting worried,” Kade said.

“There’s stealing to be done, and you thought I’d sit it out?” X replied with a wink.

Kade turned back to the store. “We could use your—”

“Looks like you guys got this under control. There’s a sports car in the lot across
the street that I’ve had my eye on.”

“There’s things—”

“I know. I’ll be back in a half hour,” X said, clapping Kade on the shoulder.

“We—”

“Look, I’m coming. That doesn’t mean I’m taking orders. I brought you an ambulance.
Be happy.”

Kade watched X disappear into the night, wanting to be mad at him, but unable to
be anything but happy. His friend had turned up after all, complete with a stolen
ambulance.

* * *

At 1:15 a.m. X returned to the group, as promised, with a shiny silver sports car.
By 1:45, with X’s added manpower, they had finished packing the vehicles with everything
they’d looted from the sporting goods store. By 2:00, they had taken the time to
eat, but were on edge because Mick and Victoria hadn’t returned from the police station
and weren’t responding on the walkie-talkie.

At 2:02 a.m., Kade decided to go to the police station. At 2:03, X refused to let
him go alone. At 2:05, Kade conceded, and told everyone else to head to a gas station
north of town and wait no more than two hours before commencing the journey. At 2:07,
X drove Kade in the shiny sports car to the police station.

Kade held out a set of spiked knuckles that had a long curved blade.

“Would you stop waving that in my face?” X said, shifting into fifth gear.

“It’s a predator knife,” Kade said. “And it’s all yours if you take Ash with you.”

“No. I’m a solo act,” X replied.

“Just until we get to the campus.”

“I’m not babysitting for you.”

Kade let out a sigh and slid the predator knife back into its guard. “I’m not asking
you to babysit. I’m asking you to make sure she gets there alive. I trust you more
than myself.”

X snatched the blade from him. “Fine. But I’m only signed on till we get to Houghton.”

They rode in silence the rest of the way, but Kade was breathing easier. He had just
bought Ashton the best bodyguard he could. X slowed the car as they passed the police
station.

Mick’s cruiser sat in front of the station with the doors open. Kade figured things
hadn’t gone exactly as planned and his cop got arrested. There must have been an
officer around who didn’t get the flu shot. X circled the cruiser once and then parked
the car on the street.

They got out and looked around to see if anyone was watching them, but it appeared
they were alone.

“Let’s go get the little piggy back,” X said.

“How?” Kade asked.

X picked up a handful of rocks from the shrub line.

“Still got an arm?”

X explained his plan and Kade went to the far end of the parking lot, while X moved
into position.

Kade aimed his shoulder at the door. He wound up and released the first rock. It
cracked off the door. He wound up again and launched the second, and then the third.
After the third a cop opened the door, his pistol free of its holster.

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” the officer said.

Kade launched the fourth rock, which contacted the cop’s boots. The officer lifted
his pistol, but X came around the building and hacked his arm, sending the gun skidding
across the macadam.