The Emissary (Horse Women of the Zombie Apocalypse) (8 page)

The filly liked being first. Beth gave the filly a pat on the neck. It was the only way Lil' Stinker was going to learn.

When Beth took point again, Lil' Stinker ignored the trash on the road.

The sun was mid-way to the horizon when Alexis came up beside them.

"You've got your hands full," Alexis said.

Beth patted Lil' Stinker. "She's hyper-sensitive. A timid horse needs a bold rider." Beth grinned because they'd both heard their father say that a thousand times.

"Tyler says we're only a couple of miles from Fort Chatten. I'm going to call a halt so we can get cleaned up before we go in. I never knew I was so vain." Alexis gave a little laugh.

Alexis was covered in dirt, slime and sweat. Her face was streaked red from caustic muerto slime. The day was warm, and they were dressed in leather for protection from muerto. The horses were sweaty and slimy as well.

If Beth could smell her sister, she had to be just as ripe.

"Hmmm, bathe in a cold creek and look good or wait for a hot bath?" Beth laughed. "Either way, I want clean clothes."

"Ew, put the same dirty clothes back on…" Alexis shuddered. "Gag me."

Beth itched all over. Just thinking about a bath made her to feel just how filthy she really was, and how awful she smelled. Beth scratched her head. She didn't want to arrive at Fort Chatten that way either.

Lil' Stinker raised her head and snorted. Movement on the opposite side of the creek, high on the hill, caught Beth's eye.

A horse and rider silhouetted against the skyline.

Beth shaded her eyes to see better.

The horse was light-colored with a huge red star painted on its shoulder. The rider was dressed in a multi-colored leather vest, carrying a spear with streamers tied to the shaft. The rider looked like an Indian.

"Hey! On the ridge!" Beth held up her hand for a halt then pointed at the rider. The rider brandished the spear. They all heard the yip and ululation over the rush of the creek. Some part of her leaped in recognition and welcome, at the same time she feared a hostile force.

The rider appeared to be alone. Even if he wasn't, there was no clear road off the cliff. His group would take time to get down, cross the creek, and so forth. Her group could be long gone.

She heard the collective reaction: excitement from her sisters, a long, low whistle. Zack swore, Hector swore in Spanish.

"Oh for god's sake! Overreact much?" Beth said. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." She turned around and repeated it so the others could hear. Then she stood in the saddle and shouted it to the Indian on the hill.

"The enemy — of my enemy — is my friend!" Her voice echoed - striking the cliff and mocking her a hundred times a second. The rider brandished the spear a second time, as though in reply, turned the horse and vanished into the trees.

"What the hell was that?" Zack shouted at Beth.

Beth snapped, "Diplomacy. No doubt you've never heard of it." Her sister's snickered, which made Beth smile.

"Beth is a peace maker. She's our emissary." Alexis explained with a grin.

Emissary - Beth savored the word. It felt right, like a purpose and a title all in one. The was exactly what she wanted to do - bring people together so they could take the world back from the stinking muerto.

"Step it up," Tyler ordered.

Beth moved Lil' Stinker to the left, off the pavement, before asking for a canter. Her sisters followed, so the truck pulled up to the right. Tyler was level with Alexis.

Beth saw the way he smiled at Alexis and smirked. Love was in the air all right.

"Heads up," Hector called from the back of the truck. "We got muerto on our six." He was looking through binoculars, studying the road behind them.

"How many?" Tyler looked in the rear view mirror.

Hector replied, "More than usual. I've got a dozen already. They're still coming down the hill."

"We'll get the girls to the creek before we get rid of them," Tyler said. He turned to Alexis. "We'll stop up ahead. The muerto will take about an hour to catch up. This isn't a big deal. We always have a few clinging to our tail." He pointed toward a cleared area where the road forked. "That's the place. The left hand fork goes right to Fort Chatten."

"Okay." Alexis exchanged a look with Beth.

The creek took a bend there, leaving a rocky but shallow area. The girls dismounted. They stripped the horses of their saddles and hobbled them to graze and drink. Beth put Mist in the stream, her hind legs in deep water to soothe her wounds.

The guys parked the truck and reloaded weapons to take care of the muerto. Tyler walked to the grassy bank where the sisters were cleaning up their horses.

"I want a bath," Dani said wistfully.

"Is it safe?" Julie asked.

"Ah — well — no." Tyler gestured at the rocky area. "There isn't any privacy."

Alexis laughed. "Clean mind or clean body - take your pick."

"Somebody has to stand guard. I can't expect my guys to stay on task while you're bathing. We're only human," Tyler said with a grin.

"Go shoot muerto. We'll be fine. Keep your eyes on
those
stinkers, eh?" Alexis raised an eyebrow and shoved Tyler toward the truck.

"Yeah, right," Beth muttered.

As Tyler walked away, Dani turned to Alexis.

"What ever happened to playing hard to get?" Dani asked.

Alexis shrugged. "Why play games? There's no point to it."

"You hardly know this guy."

Alexis gave her an exasperated look.

"I want a bath," Beth said. "Who's standing guard while I get my bath?"

"Who said you're going first?" Dani rose to the bait.

"I just called it."

They bickered amiably until they had it sorted out. They went by youngest first because Alexis would take the longest.

"I don't want to get caught naked," Julie said.

"Oh, but I do?" Alexis complained.

"Hurry up and you won't," Dani teased.

Gunshots sounded from the other side of the valley. Alexis all but shoved Julie in the water.

Beth stood guard - arrows ready - until it was her turn to bathe. The water was cold. The dirt came off in layers. She scrubbed herself three times before she tackled her hair. Once she was clean, she came out, chilled to the bone, toweling dry as fast as she could.

Alexis didn't linger in the cold water. She got clean and got out when she heard the truck engine fire up. By the time the guys got back, the sisters were dressed in clean clothes with their hair neatly braided.

"Twenty-two," Tyler reported. He grinned at Alexis. "You sure smell good."

"You don't." Alexis wrinkled her nose.

"I can fix that. I need a bath myself." Tyler shed his shirt.

"We'll stand guard," Alexis offered.

"Fine. Just one thing," Tyler said, still shedding clothes. He stripped off his boots and socks. "I don't care if you watch." He laughed as he stripped off his jeans. "Hey, guys! Come on in!"

"Ew!" Julie blushed and turned away. "That's just rude."

Beth snickered, caught Alexis frowning at her, and turned away. The guys stripped to nothing and laughing, all but daring the girls to turn around. Beth waved at them, then found a big rock with a nice view of the valley for a guard post.

After two days of tension and constant travel the mood was festive. The guys were glad to be back on home turf; the girls were glad to be clean. The girls saddled their horses and piled all their packs into the truck.

The last leg of the journey was short. They took the left hand road, away from the creek, and climbed out of the valley to a plateau where the trees had been cleared away.

The first thing Beth saw was a pile of charred bones. Flies buzzed thick over the pile. Burned stinkers. A familiar sight, since there was a pit back at Dunvegan where they burned theirs.

Next were piles of uprooted trees, broken slabs of concrete and construction debris. Scattered around those were piles of brick, gravel, stone, tires and more concrete. There were lengths of corrugated pipe stacked neatly next to rusted shipping containers. Everything was 'decorated' with last year's weeds.

The road took a right. An unfinished wooden palisade flanked a set of chain link gates. Beyond that unpainted shipping containers, stacked two high and three across in an open square, made up the Fort itself.

Beth had to blank her face to keep from showing her dismay. She gave Alexis a sidelong glance. There wasn't a trace of disappointment on Alexis's face. Beth wondered how she managed it.

Never had Beth felt so homesick.

Dunvegan was a two-story Earth-ship - with round turrets, plastered walls, a build-in green house and it's own power source. The concrete and tire structure seemed to grow from the earth. It looked like a hobbit house with a plaster roof instead of grass. The high stone wall surrounding Dunvegan was guarded by climbing roses that bloomed all summer.

Compared to Fort Chatten, Dunvegan looked like a fairy-tale castle.

"Tyler said it was a mess," Alexis spoke first.

"You could build a village from the stuff lying around," Beth muttered.

"Welcome to the land of Unfinished Business. Oh, sis, you got your hands full." Dani said with a snicker.

"No shit?" Alexis gave Dani a bland look.

Beth thought they should turn around and run like hell.

End of Part 1

About the Author:

K. A. Jordan is a refugee from the Rust Belt of Ohio who escaped to the Blue Grass of Kentucky in 1992. She writes and blogs from 'Jordan's Croft' a small farm where she lives with her husband, a retired Army Staff Sergeant and three horses.

She holds a degree in Applied Science, rides American Quarter horses, gardens and can often be found on the back of her husband's Suzuki M109 motorcycle.

She says of her writing: "I write the stories that I want to read, stories written for the head as well as the heart. There are no 'ripped bodices' in my fiction but you will find complex characters, twisty plots, strong women, charming criminals, wounded heroes, mad artists and an occasional haunted motorcycle."

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