Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 2): Conflict (7 page)

“Get up
Morgan,” urged Barbara. “You have to. We can’t carry you.”

They
were still on the open plain with nothing in sight. The road was long gone –
they’d stumbled off it a few days earlier without noticing – and travel had
become increasingly difficult. At best, Kenneth thought they were moving only a
few miles a day. Nights had been spent in the occasional car, when available,
but most of the time they dug a hole in the snow, forming a rough shelter.

“Go.” He
rolled over onto his back. “Just leave me.”

“We
can’t do that,” said Tamara, her voice cracking, “not after Chris.”

The man
closed his eyes, his breathing shallow.

“Come
along Tamara,” ordered Kenneth.

“You
can’t leave him here!”

“Barbara’s
right. We can’t carry him. We can barely walk ourselves.”

She
began to cry, shaking her head angrily. Barbara and Kenneth left her behind.

*
* *

The pair
eventually stumbled across another road. The snow had lessened, and they found
it easier to move. They also picked up more clothing and found enough food to
keep going. Even so, both were losing weight at a frightening rate, and their
strength never returned. Some of Barbara’s teeth were coming loose too,
probably a result of their horrendous diet. The biggest problem, however, was
the zombies.

The
things were showing up more and more frequently. Kenneth and Barbara traveled
in silence whenever possible, trying not to speak or make any noise that might
attract the shambling dead. On two occasions they saw towns, places that likely
held the supplies they so desperately required. Both times, the number of
zombies was such that they didn’t dare approach. Despairing, they pushed on.

Kenneth
doesn’t know how they lasted as long as they did, and his memory is spotty
about the latter weeks just before we found him. Barbara died along the way,
somewhere on US-20, which they’d been following east at the time. Roughly
following is probably the better description. In no condition to fight, and too
terrified to try, the couple spent most of their time in the countryside where
the zombies were less common. And, as much as it hindered their own movement,
the deep snow slowed the zombies even more. Lacking coordination of any sort,
the dead just pushed their way through, always moving and never tiring, but
also making even slower progress than the survivors.

Chapter II

“Kenneth
isn’t doing well.”

I used
the back of my hand to shove a particularly evil hen to one side. The vicious
avian made an attempt, as always, to tear into me with her beak, but I’d
learned to wear leather work gloves while in the coop. I often wonder if all
chickens, the entire world over, are as unpleasant as ours. The clucker’s
efforts didn’t stop me from recovering the egg she was sitting on or the one
hidden beneath the straw. That discovery was greeted by a loud, indignant
squawk.

“In what
way?”

Steph
was filling her basket without any apparent difficulty. How did she manage
that?

“He’s
been here for nearly a month, but Kenneth hasn’t put on any weight. Well, maybe
a few pounds, but he still looks terrible. He skips half the meals and doesn’t
eat much when he does join us. He almost never says a word either.”

“But he
does help out,” I countered. “He’s participating that way.”

“Yeah,”
agreed Steph, “but mostly by keeping watch, sitting on the battlements day
after day. I’ll admit he still can’t walk too well, but he’s doing that because
he wants to be alone.”

“Doesn’t
complain, which I like. That’s a new one for our group.”

She
shook her head. “Our group does not complain. Briana bitches about being stuck
in the castle. Mary whines about not having any new episodes of her favorite
shows ever again. Lizzy is Lizzy and can’t help but yell at everyone. We are
way past simple complaining.”

“Gotta
love Lizzy.” I smiled to myself. “She is consistent.”

“True
enough. You know Jacob, I might go into shock if she was ever positive about
anything for more than, oh, seven minutes straight. But as to Kenneth, he’s
creeping me out, the way he always seems to be staring at nothing.”

“He saw
some horrible things,” I pointed out, slowly. “Maybe it’s stuck in his mind.”

“We all
saw stuff we’d rather forget.” Steph gave another shake of her head. “This is
more. Kenneth has real problems, the kind that might cause him to put the
barrel of a gun in his mouth.”

“You
think so?” There always had to be something to darken my day. “I would have
thought he’d do that back when he was alone on the run. He’s safe now. Kenneth
should be getting better.” I began to reconsider the words almost as soon as I
said them. I had zero knowledge of psychology.

“Maybe.
I don’t know. He’s dwelling on things, and that can’t be good. Did you know
that he and Barbara had been talking marriage?”

“I did
not. Had they set a date?”

Steph
reached for the door to the chicken coop, took a look at the snow outside, and
allowed her arm to drop. “No. They’d been together for like ten years and were
considering making it official. Nothing serious according to Kenneth, but I
think they were really going to do it. Then she dies on the hike here. That has
to be eating away at him.”

I began
to massage my forehead with one hand, after checking to be certain there wasn’t
any chicken shit on the glove. “Can we trust him? In your opinion?”

“I don’t
think he’ll hurt anybody else,” she answered, after a long pause. “He may very
well do something to himself however, and I really do mean that. Also, talking
of hurting others, Kenneth just learned about Cherie.”

“Really?
You mean nobody mentioned her before?”

That was
unexpected. While I kept silent on the distasteful matter, I was certain one of
the others would have provided the gory details. The ladies all loved to
gossip.

“He knew
who she was. Mary told him some of the stories about what happened last year,
but she left out the latrine. He asked me about the sign last night, the one
that says ‘shit in Cherie’s mouth, win a prize’. I went into more detail on how
Cherie tried to stage a coup and ended up shooting Lois, along with how Lizzy
cut off her head after finding Cherie turned into a zombie.” Steph paused.
“Kenneth is avoiding that latrine. I don’t think he’ll ever use it again.”

“Can’t
really fault him there.” I hated the idea of Cherie staring up at my private
parts. “That all the eggs Steph? If we take much longer, we’re going to hear
screaming.” My sweetie had developed a craving for omelets, to the tune of four
or five a day.

“Briana
has been kinda pushy lately.”

I
scattered some feed on the floor. “No kidding. Sometimes I think she’s plotting
against me, making certain I have to go out in the cold.”

The
redhead laughed. “Could be.” She quickly grew serious once more. “You are going
to keep an eye on Kenneth?”

I
nodded. “I will, and we’ll make sure Briana, Mary, and Lizzy know to do so
too.”

*
* *

The next
few weeks were unusually dull. Lizzy and I continued patrolling on horseback.
Steph or Mary would come along on occasion, but they spent the bulk of their
time tending the animals. We saw no people and almost no zombies. Our isolated
position was certainly a blessing in that regard.

Kenneth
did not get any better, and the speculation about his mental state was growing.
We made sure to keep our conversations private, although I’m not at all certain
if he would have cared. The man was quiet and withdrawn, never joining in any
of our leisure activities. Kenneth did take on more chores as he recovered
physically, but these were invariably solitary tasks.

There
was one bright point in March, Johnny’s fifth birthday party. We baked him a
cake with a thick sugary frosting. There was plenty of soda, as much as he
could drink, which likely didn’t do his belly any good, and some alcohol for
the adults. We were careful with our consumption, having an unspoken policy
against intoxication for basic safety reasons. Lizzy even consented to allow
Mary a single drink, which she barely touched.

And
there were presents. Lizzy found some shiny pieces of quartz – the kid liked to
collect rocks so that worked. Briana gave him a telescope that had been sitting
in the back of the storeroom and was showing him how to look at the stars and
moon at night. Steph’s present was a saddle and the promise of riding lessons
come spring. Mary gave him a zombie doll complete with a little tire iron so he
could pretend he was Lizzy and bash the head in – everyone, save Lizzy, found
that amusing. Kenneth provided a whack the mole game that was in a truck of loot
we’d never gotten around to sorting. As for me, I gave him a .22 rifle,
complete with scope, just like the one I used to hunt rabbits. Five is pretty
young, but considering the way things were, it was time to begin teaching him
the basics.

After
everything wound down, Steph took Johnny back to their townhouse. Kenneth
excused himself and took up his customary post atop the walls outside, keeping
watch. This left myself and Briana, along with Lizzy and Mary, in front of the
fire. Lizzy was quick to break the silence.

“We need
to go on a looting run.”

“We
don’t need anything, and the weather’s lousy,” protested Briana, stating the
obvious.

“I hate
sitting here all the damn time!” Lizzy lurched to her feet and began to stomp
around the room.

“Sit
down,” laughed Mary. “You look silly, and you’re going to have an aneurysm if
you keep it up.”

“I will
not have an aneurysm!”

“A heart
attack then,” she suggested, helpfully.

Lizzy
glared at the diminutive blonde. “Quiet brat. We need to visit Chadron to see
what’s happening. It’s been months since we last took a look, and the place is
only a few miles away.”

“It
would be good to check it out, from a distance,” I agreed. “It always was a
zombie magnet.”

“Gotta
check for raiders too,” she continued. “Plenty of stuff in that town to take,
and if one of those other bands we know about came through, they might hang
around to resupply.”

“You’re
stretching Lizzy.” Briana began to twist her brown hair into a braid, pulling
it over one shoulder. “As cold as it is, the others are probably way to the
south.”

“Still
be good to check. Not you of course, being so inconveniently pregnant.” Lizzy
wheeled on me. “Damn pervert, knocking up a girl who isn’t even out of high
school yet.”

Mary
began to giggle. “I’m riding with the deviant when we go. I bet we can get the
Jeeps through. Enough of the snow has melted for that.”

“You
ride with me,” snarled Lizzy.

“No,”
corrected Briana. “You get Steph. Jacob can take Mary. He’ll watch out for her
just fine. Besides, you’ve been hovering too much. I’ll stay here with Johnny
and Kenneth.”

“Yay! I
get to ride with someone who might actually let me talk on the radio.”

Lizzy
had a bad habit of driving and working our handheld radios at the same time. As
a result, there had been quite a few near accidents.

“Good
point,” amended Briana. “I’ll let Steph know that she’s in charge of Lizzy’s
radio before I turn in, which will be right about now.”

“Still
puking?” asked Mary, a twinkle in her eye. “Want me to get a bucket for you in
case you hurl on the way?”

“I am,
and I don’t need a bucket.”

“We have
one in the room already,” I said.

Briana
shot me a nasty look. “It’s your fault I’m sick.”

“Sweetie,
that is in no way fair.”

She gave
me the slightest of shrugs. “Whatever. Make sure you stay on the roads if you
can tomorrow. Don’t want to get stuck.”

“Can’t
do that,” argued Lizzy. “We’ll take a trail and circle around. Don’t want any
tracks leading to the castle. And if something does happen, we’ll just leave
the Jeeps and hike back.”

I did
not relish the idea of leaving my precious Wrangler all alone in the forest,
but Lizzy was correct. Preventing anyone from discovering our home was far more
important.

*
* *

Thank
our Heavenly Lord, several times over, for the inspiration that led to the
creation of four wheel drive. Mary was telling the truth when she said the snow
had begun to melt, Still, there was more than enough to conceal holes, ditches,
bumps, fallen branches, patches of ice, and so forth. It was thick enough that
I could barely follow the trails and service roads we’d come to know so well.
As a result, it took nearly two hours to reach Chadron.

Passing
through a field, we stopped for a few minutes and cut a section of barb wire.
We’d been doing so on and off to make it easier for animals to move about
freely. Bear in mind, this was a purely selfish action. I, for one, did not
want a future meal starving to death in an enclosed pasture. Healthy animals
are tasty animals.

“What a
mess.”

We were
standing on a rise about a mile and half from the edge of town. Our immediate
surroundings were clear, but Chadron was filled with corpses.

“Look at
that,” continued Steph. “There’s so many wandering about the streets that the
snow is all smushed down. They’re moving at normal speed even.”

The dead
generally shambled at what most would consider a fast walk. This made them easy
to outrun and avoid, provided you didn’t get swarmed or were caught unawares.
Zombies make almost no noise, and being grabbed from behind was always a
danger.

“A bunch
are naked too,” said Mary. “Way more than last fall. We should take pictures.”

When the
change struck the Earth, it had been in the middle of the night throughout
North America. A great many of those who promptly died and returned, along with
any they killed in the initial hours, were in pajamas, nightgowns, or buck
naked. These flimsy items had quickly begun to tear, fray, or simply rot away.
Even those who reanimated later were steadily losing their clothing to
exposure. It wouldn’t be long before the last pair of jeans and the final
T-shirt were gone.

“Click
away if you want,” I murmured.

“Left my
camera at… Hey! That one looks familiar.”

I tried
to follow Mary’s outstretched hand. “Where?”

“By the
wrecked tour bus with the broken windows, to the left near the street sign.”

“He does
look somewhat like… Kirk?” Lizzy fiddled with the focus on her binoculars.
“It’s not him.”

“That’s
good.” Oh, how good it was. “I really don’t want to find anyone we knew
wandering about.”

“Haven’t
yet,” said Steph, “thank God. Pity there won’t be any looting anytime soon.”

“We have
the guns to clear Chadron,” pointed out Lizzy.

“Steph’s
right,” I said. “We need a lot more shooters if we want to tackle that. We’ll
give the forest another go through first.”

“Fine,”
snarled Lizzy, clearly disappointed. “The town can wait, but we should hit the
farms too. Might as well get one of them today. After all this driving, I don’t
want to go back empty handed.”