Hamsikker 2 (6 page)

“You know,” said Javier quietly. “There’s no reason we can’t keep the girl. You can do the parents. Start with the cop if you want.”

Rose bit her lip. “You’re my eagle. Forever. I’m sorry I doubted you. I just wanted you to fill me in. I thought something must be going on, but it was confusing, and…”

“Never mind that now,” said Javier. “Just look out for a road sign. We need to get out of this storm, some place safe and warm, preferably somewhere without a pack of ravenous zombies on our asses.”

Rose smiled. “On it.”

Javier knew what she was thinking about. She would already be planning who to kill first. He had had to rein her in lately, but as long as she took her time, she could have some fun. He was going to have some fun too. Just for a short while. Once they had regrouped and thrashed out a plan, he could get on the road north. In a couple of days they would be in Canada, and he could free himself of the others. Hamsikker would be the last to go. He was useful, certainly. Back at the gate, if he hadn’t shown up when he did, Javier knew he might have a death sentence or worse right now, but Hamsikker had saved him with that damn axe of his. He would save Hamsikker for last, have some fun with Dakota, and then enjoy watching the life drain from their bodies.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Pull up behind Gabe, but keep the engine running. I’ll have a quick word with him. If we’re stopping, I’ll give you the nod. Stay alert.”

Jonas asked Erik if they knew where they were, but he had to admit he was lost. He didn’t recognize any features on the land, and the town names meant nothing. From that, they took it they were heading out of Kentucky. They had been driving for just over an hour, and they were getting nervous the further they drove. With no way of contacting Gabe, Jonas and Erik had followed, hoping he was leading them away from Jeffersontown. They had no wish to go back there, and Jonas couldn’t think why they would. There was nothing there for them anymore, nothing but the dead.

They had taken small back roads for a while, skirting past towns and villages, keeping their distance from the main developments and built-up areas. It felt like they were heading north, but the storm had taken a while to die down, and the sun was hidden behind a bank of dark, grey cloud for a long time. Even now, the sky was a hazy shade of blue, and the air was cool.

Jonas jumped out of the SUV and scuffed his boots into the ground. The earth was soft and salty, but almost dry. Evidently the storm had largely avoided this area. For the last few minutes they had driven very slowly, and there was no sign of the dead. Erik had followed the white van down a small side street on the outskirts of a small rural town, and eventually they had pulled up next to a soccer field. The nets were still up, and the lines across the pitch painted white, but they were mostly hidden by overgrown grass. Jonas looked around. He had to admit it felt like a safe enough place to stop. Other than the rumbling engines of the van and the SUV, there were no other sounds present. There were no voices, no birdsong or dogs, and no groaning sounds indicative of the dead. He saw no movement, and, therefore, no reason to panic. He approached the driver’s side of the white van and looked into the cab.

“How you holding up, Hamsikker?” asked Javier with a slight grin. “I think we’re in the clear now.”

Jonas rested his axe on his shoulder and looked back at the SUV. A mere nod of the head told Erik all he needed to know, and the engine stopped. Jonas watched as Quinn, Terry and Dakota got out, and they all began stretching their legs.

“Let’s just take five minutes. Seems clear. You did good, Gabe. Thanks. I bet your passengers need a break.”

“You got that right,” said Peter.

“How’s everyone inside?” asked Jonas as he watched Peter climb out of the back of the van. He held open the rear doors, and out came Pippa with Freya hanging onto her anxiously. Mrs. Danick got out slowly, and Peter helped her out.

“No windows, just a sunroof to let the air in. It’s no fun, I can tell you that much,” said Mrs. Danick as she rubbed her legs. “You want to trade places, Hamsikker? Jump on in, and try sitting on a box of Gatorade for the next hour. I’ll go sit up front of that nice SUV you got there. Honestly, I don’t mind.”

Jonas rubbed Mrs. Danick’s back as he watched Gabe and Mara get out of the van. “How’s the ankle? Better? I’m thinking we can stop here a while, so maybe walk around on it, and get the blood flowing.”

“You can ride in the SUV,” said Terry as he approached the van. “I’ll swap with you, Mrs. Danick.”

“Thanks,” said Mrs. Danick. “I thought we were through with running. It never gets any easier, does it?”

“Hey, be careful will you?” Erik called out to Peter who was taking Freya to see the soccer goals. “Don’t go too far. Yell out if you see anything, and haul ass.”

Javier grabbed a box of snack bars from the back of the van and ripped the top open. He took a handful out and held them towards Quinn. “Here, take these, and pass them around.”

Quinn took them and handed them out. “I’ll go take these last two to Peter and Freya.”

“Thanks,” said Pippa. “I’ll come with you. I need to stretch my legs.”

“You have any idea where we are, Gabe? I appreciate you taking the lead back there, but we can’t keep driving in circles. We need to formulate a plan before it gets too late, or we’ll end up in the middle of nowhere. Where do we go now?” asked Erik. “It seems like we have a lot of options, but they all come with a lot of questions attached.”

“Options?” Dakota rubbed her eyes. “Surely, we’re going back? Why would we even think about going anywhere else?”

“Why would we go back?” asked Rose. “We only just got the hell out of dodge as it is. Saint Paul’s is gone. Louisville is just down the road, and you’re looking at close to a million zombies when you factor in Jeffersontown, St Matthews, and New Albany. Hell, I think we should leave Kentucky far behind. We’ve got a van full of gas, plenty of food for now, and more water than you can shake a stick at. I'm sure we can find somewhere better.”

Jonas looked at Dakota, his eyes wide as if to suggest she was crazy. “What’s the appeal in staying here, in going back to that hell? We need to move on.”

“Are we really giving up that easily?” asked Dakota. “Are
you
?”

“We’re not giving up,” explained Jonas. “We’ll keep away for a while, and perhaps we can go back when they’ve dispersed. If we can get the fences up again, we could still make it work. There’s a lot to consider though, Dakota.” Why did it feel like every conversation he had with her had to turn into a battle? Jonas wanted her to be on his side for once, but it seemed like they wanted different things these days.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Jonas,” said Dakota, “and maybe you’ve had your fill of being on the road. We all have.” Dakota poked the tip of her tongue out between gritted teeth and rubbed her eyes once more. “Look, I’m tired, and Kentucky is no better or worse than any other state really. Where would we go? I seem to remember back at the golf course there were plenty of gassed up trucks ready to go whenever we needed. What’s the rush in leaving so soon? I looked around the place when we got there, and I’ve got to tell you, that place could be nirvana. We should go back.”

“
Could be
, Dakota, could be. Truth is, it isn’t right now, and we’re not equipped to make it happen.” Jonas reached for his wife, but she turned away. “I’m not sure about going back, not now, and maybe not ever.”

“It’s true,” said Erik. “Maybe you didn’t see it, but I sure did. There were hundreds of them things all over the place. The fence was coming down, and no way could we deal with them all. We can find something better, something…”

“Gabe, surely you’re with me? Come on,” said Dakota. “Tell ‘em. Tell us about how you made it so good. You lived there for a long time, right?”

Javier leant back against the van and looked at Dakota. He could see the desperation in her eyes, but he couldn’t lie to her. He couldn’t afford to let her convince the others to go back. “The golf course has an impressive irrigation system that we turned to our advantage. Rainwater collects in several drums and stations that are situated discreetly throughout the property, and it’s channeled into a tank and a series of pipes. The greens and lawns are kept pristine even in summer. There are sprinklers spread over the grounds which we turned off to preserve our supply. There’s a recycling system that purifies the wastewater, and it feeds into the showers and kitchens. The whole place is pretty self-reliant and runs without much interference. Subject to enough rain, we potentially have a never-ending supply of water. The solar power would keep us going a while, and we have gas and a back-up generator running just fine. As long as we were careful, we could live there for months, if not longer.”

“See?” Dakota let out a triumphant smile.

“But…” Javier shook his head. “But…”

Dakota’s smile began to fade, and Javier sighed, purposefully making a big deal of it. It felt good to crush the woman’s hopes. He could derive a good deal of pleasure from someone else’s pain. He didn’t always need to use his fists. “The fairway was actually still in good condition, considering we didn’t maintain it over summer. The grass was green, just thinning in patches where it had turned brown and sour. The cedars smelt beautiful, and the outside world, as horrible as it was, was hidden from us by the trees, and, of course, the fence. A twelve-foot high perimeter fence extended all the way around the course – until this morning. And
that
is your problem. I was remiss not to check it, and I never thought the TV tower would come down like it did. I’m sorry about that, truly I am. Patching up the fence with those zombies around is not going to happen, no matter how much we want it to. With all the commotion, there will be even more of them back there now. There are millions of them out there. How many do you think are behind us, right now?”

Javier watched as Dakota looked at Mara for backup.

“Don’t look at me. I’m with Gabe on this.”

“
Millions
, Dakota. We need to keep moving forward. Right, Hamsikker?” Javier knew he had done enough. He planned on letting Jonas explain to his wife why they were doing the exact opposite of what she wanted.

“Dakota, have you forgotten about Janey? Have you…”

“Have you forgotten I’m pregnant? I felt sick enough this morning, but riding around in the car for the last hour hasn’t exactly helped me feel any better. You…” Dakota blinked back tears. “Never mind. Just do what you want to do.”

“Dakota?” Jonas felt helpless as she walked away. He couldn’t put her attitude down to the pregnancy. There was a small part of him that wanted to go back too. It had seemed so good.

“Leave her be.” Erik shoved half of his uneaten snack bar into his pocket. “She’ll hammer it out with Pippa, that’s what she does, and she’ll come around. We’re making the right decision here. We can’t go back.”

“So where do we go?” asked Javier. He knew the answer, but he didn’t want to spell it out for them. He had already planted the seed in Jonas’s mind earlier. Javier slipped an arm around Rose’s waist. “I’ve got my Mara to think about. We’ve all got family to take care of.”

“And the rest,” said Mrs. Danick suddenly.

“The rest?” Javier had forgotten about Mrs. Danick. She had been walking around the van, trying to shake off the pins and needles in her legs, listening to the conversation, but saying nothing.

“I might have fifty years on you, young man, but I’m not senile yet. What about the rest? That place was a paradise compared to what’s out here. Yet you’re happy to give up on it, just like that. Tell me, where were the bankers and the lawyers? Hm? Where were the golf nuts, the corporates, the sleazebags, and all those rich types that frequent those places? You telling me that they forgot about their wonderful golf course? You telling me hardly any of them showed up asking for help? This all seems a little too… contrived to me. Why are you so quick to move on?”

“Mrs. Danick, I hardly think…”

“Shut up, Erik, you big oaf. You’re smart, but even you can’t see the bigger picture here.”

“Listen, now is not the time to start arguing amongst ourselves,” said Jonas. “Why don’t we take five to…?”

“You need to clean your ears out, too, Hamsikker.” Mrs. Danick frowned as she spoke. “I heard these two arguing about something on the way out of the golf course. I don’t know what, but they’re not the loving, peaceful, tree-hugging couple they’re trying to make us believe they are. Not everyone is up front and honest like you, or have you forgotten about Cliff already? I know he was a bad egg, and he led us into trouble with that garage. It got some of us killed, and we need to be more careful now than ever. We don’t need some asshole like that messing with us again.”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Mrs. Danick, but I can assure you we’re all
friends
here.” Javier shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and smiled at her. “We weren’t arguing. We were just worried about everyone. As for the golf course, well, of course it’s upsetting to leave it behind, but as I explained, there’s no safe way of getting it back. As for all the members, well, maybe they all got in their private jets and are living it up in Bora Bora. How the hell should I know where they are?”

Mrs. Danick stared at Javier as if waiting for a further explanation.

“All right, Mrs. Danick, let’s just focus on what really matters right now,” said Jonas. He looked around the field, noticing that Dakota was deep in conversation with Pippa. Peter and Freya had found a deflated soccer ball, but they were still kicking it around the long grass as best they could. Quinn was sat on the sidelines, just watching patiently, nibbling on her snack, keeping a lookout for them. “Look, Mrs. Danick, do you think you could go talk to Quinn? Make sure she’s okay?”

“That’s right,” muttered Mrs. Danick. “Get rid of the old woman.”

Jonas could see she was still brooding over something, but he didn’t want to get into anything else right now. She was picking up on something that wasn’t there, and their main concern right now was to find somewhere else to stay.

With a click of her heels, Mrs. Danick turned about and grunted. She headed across the soccer field, walking briskly and wrapping her shawl around her tightly. If he wasn’t wound up so tight, Jonas would’ve laughed at the sight of her. She still held onto that shawl, day and night. It was probably the first thing she’d grabbed when they’d had to leave Saint Paul’s.

“Here’s the thing,” said Jonas. “Kentucky was my home once, but it hasn’t been for a long time. Truth is, I don’t know what is home anymore. We need to keep moving. North is my best advice.” Jonas looked at Gabe, wondering if he was going to chip in. From the silence Jonas guessed that Gabe hadn’t told Mara yet about heading north. Or maybe that’s what they had been arguing about earlier.