The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (46 page)

“
Please,” she said, “Don't.
It doesn't have to be this way.”

~

Arlene turned into the corner of the
building to find a private spot to use. The other ladies had been
coming back here all night long. It was about as private as you
could hope to get. She was just about to step into the fenced in
area when she heard the voices of a man and woman.

Oh Damn, she thought, looks like I'm
about to interrupt something. That made her smile, but her next
thought was a little less charitable. So where am I supposed to
go?

She turned to leave when the voices
came again. And something about the woman's voice stopped her in
her tracks. Something about the woman's voice sounded, well, wrong,
she told herself, upset. She waited a second but heard nothing
more. Maybe it was just a little argument between the two of them,
she thought. Either way it's not my business.

She had made up her mind to turn
around, was actually on the brink of walking away, when she caught
movement over by the wreck of a big rig truck. The woman's voice
came again, crying out in pain, but was quickly muffled as she fell
to the ground. She was pushed, Arlene's mind told her. And then she
saw the shadow of the man kick the shadowed form on the ground and
then fall on to her.

Arlene unsnapped her 38 caliber pistol
as she ran to where the couple struggled on the ground. The woman's
jeans were around her ankles. A split second later she recognized
Candace and realized the man was ripping at her panties dragging
them down, a pistol pushed into her neck.

Arlene pushed the muzzle of her own gun
against the base of the man's skull. “Let her go, Mother Fucker,
let her go.” She was fighting to control her anger.

The man jerked in surprise but
recovered quickly. He fumbled with his own pants zipper trying to
get it back up. “I'll fucking kill her, you bitch. I will. Fuck
off, I'll do it,” the man said. His gun hand twitched, pressing the
barrel hard into Candace's neck.

“
Don't,” Candace cried,
“Don't.”

“
Get that gun off my neck
you fuckin' bitch, or she's done, I'll do it!” His gun hand
twitched again and the barrel left Candace's neck. Arlene pulled
the trigger. Both guns went off.

~

Candace screamed, scrambled backwards
and away. Arlene went with her pulling her along, away from the man
whose blood began to fountain up into the air. “It's okay, it's
okay,” she told her.

Arlene managed to gather Candace into
her arms ignoring the blood that was splattered across both of
them. Seconds later the back area was full of people as everyone
came running. They all came to a fast halt as they came upon the
scene. Mike among them.

It took a few heartbeats for him to
take it all in and then he ran to Candace, pulled her from the
ground and gathered her in his arms. He was still holding her a
minute or so later when Patty came with a blanket and covered her
up. Mike gathered her up in the blanket, and she burrowed her face
into his chest as he walked out and around to the front of the
building, away from the body of the man.

The rain began to pick up in a faster
patter again. As the Moon slid back behind the cloud cover, the
rain began to pour down once again.

“
It's okay,” Mike whispered
to her as he walked. He had no idea if anything was okay. But it
was what you said, he told himself. Candace sobbed against his
chest as he carried her. There was no protection from the rain as
they walked across the front and they were both soaked by the time
he stepped beneath the metal roofing that covered the gas pump
area.

Sandy went ahead of them, opened the
back door of one of the Suburbans, and Mike tried to place Candace
on the seat but she refused to let go of him.

“
She just wants to make
sure you're okay.” His voice was choked with emotion and tears
spilled freely down his cheeks.

Candice shook her head “I just want you
to hold me, Mike. I'm okay. Just hold me.” Mike climbed carefully
into the back seat holding Candace and Sandy shut the
door.

~

Arlene stood, grim faced, the rain
pouring down, her pistol back in its holster.

“
What happened?” Patty
began.

“
Exactly what it looks
like,” Arlene said. Her voice was high and shaky. The adrenaline
was still running through her body. David slipped an arm around her
shoulders, and she let him hold her.

“
Did he,” Patty couldn't
finish and burst into tears. Ronnie grabbed her as she began to
kick the man's body in the pelting rain. He pulled her away and
held her tight, speaking in quiet, soothing tones.

“
He didn't,” Arlene said
loudly. It was nearly a scream. A yell. A declaration! “I couldn't
let him. I had to shoot. He would've... He would've done that, or
killed her. I had to kill him,” she finished. Her resolve fell
apart, and she folded into David's arms.

Tim looked up at Bob and then down at
the dead man. Jeff moved with them, and the three of them wrestled
the man's body out through the fence and splashed across the muddy
field for nearly a quarter mile before they came to the treeline.
They were all out of breath. They all took a few deep breaths, and
on three heaved the man into the tree line.

“
I wouldn't bury that
bastard if I could,” Bob breathed. He was still trying to catch his
breath.

Tim suddenly bent over and threw up on
the ground and then dry heaved several times. He finally caught his
breath, cleared his throat and spat into the mud. Bob and Jeff
stood quietly for a second.

“
Come on, Son, let's go
back,” Jeff said, laying an arm around his shoulder. The pounding
rain followed them, seeming to make the muddy water at their feet
jump straight up into the air as they splashed their way back
across the field.

When they got back, the back area was
empty. Janet and Lilly, along with an anxious looking Annie, met
them under the steel roof with dry towels, clothing and hot cups of
coffee.

“
I made a big pot of it,”
Janet said. “Looks like we're in for a long night.” She put one
hand to her mouth and choked back a sob, clearing her throat. Bob
pulled her to him and hugged her. He looked around at the blank and
worried faces, and spotted Tom.

“
Tom, let's get some bodies
on lookout.” Bob said as he held Janet.

Tom nodded

“
And, Tom?” He waited until
Tom looked back at him. “Nobody goes anywhere without a guard.
Nobody goes anywhere alone.” Tom nodded and walked away.

“
Shh, Darlin',” Bob told
Janet. “Shh.”

Chapter five

Pennies & Armies

~ March 30th~

She awoke with a start and jerked in
his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. “It's
okay,” he said.

She raised her head, eyes puffy. “Is
she okay?” She asked.

David held her eyes with his own.
“She's better off than she would've been without you, Arlene,” he
told her. “She finally let Sandy look at her. Some scratches, one
cut on her leg, probably a piece of metal. That's it. Everybody
knows, Arlene; she told them. If it hadn't been for you...” he let
his words fade away.

“
But I killed someone,
David,” she said.

“
And you had to. Sandy says
she has a small powder burn on her neck. He fired. It was that
close,” he told her. “And I'll say it, he would have raped her. He
would've. She made that clear as well. He told her. There's no
doubt in anyone's mind what would've happened if you hadn't been
there,” he said.

“
He did rape her. It's not
just the sexual part, I'm glad he didn't get that far, but it's the
whole act. He did. I'm glad he didn't get to the... the physical
act though. I'm trying not to be vulgar. I hate what I saw. You
know, I almost turned away. I thought it was somebody... A couple
spending some time alone together. It was that close.” She held her
fingers a quarter inch apart. “I almost turned away,” she
repeated.

“
But, you didn't. You
didn't, and you stopped it. Now it's you I'm worried about, and
Candace, and Patty. She's taking it hard too, but they're together
right now so I think they'll make each other okay,” he placed his
hands on her face and tilted her head up to his own. “I'm worried
about you right now though. I need to know that you'll be alright.
He was a piece of shit. Blunt, I know. To use your terminology,
Vulgar. But he was. He's dead, and he needed to be.” He kissed her
eyes. “No courts. No cops. It's just us, and somebody like that has
to be dealt with. What else could you have done? What if he had
gone further? What if he'd taken her? None of that happened because
of you. You shouldn't feel guilty about a man like that. You
shouldn't.” He kissed her eyelids again and pulled her close to him
once more.

Mike, Bob and Patty had cleaned out a
small corner of the truck stop diner, hung some quilts and blankets
and made a quiet area for Candace.

She was clean and dry, a small pink
band aid on one side of her neck, another on her knee. The powder
burn hurt more than anything else did. Candace lay back on a pile
of blankets, Patty beside her, arms entwined. They were talking in
low tones.

“
I've been that scared
before,” Candace said. “But not exactly like that. Not in that way.
I ran with a bad crowd for a long time... did some bad things. A
guy raped me once. That was really bad, but I knew he wasn't going
to kill me... hurt me past that. I know that doesn't make sense,
but this guy meant to hurt me.” She pulled Patty closer to her and
sobbed, trying hard to get her emotions in check.

“
This girl tried to kill me
once. She scared me that bad... maybe that bad,” her fingers
twisted together in her lap. Patty placed her own hands over them
and brought them to her chest. “I guess this was worse. What he
would've done... And I'm sure he would've killed me after... after
he.... He would've killed me anyway,” she said. Her voice was
hoarse. She had no more tears to cry.

“
But he didn't, and he
can't ever do anything to you or anyone else ever again,” Patty
said. “Not to anyone. And you're going to be okay...?” She said,
asked.

Candace nodded. “I'm going to be fine.
I've got you. I've got Mike. I'm going to work it out in my head.
I... I just wonder how they're gonna look at me... think of me,”
she said.

“
The same as we always
have. No pity. No disgust. Don't be afraid of that. Everyone here
loves you. It's going to be the same, Candace, the same,” Patty
said. She sat up, wrapped her arms around Candace, pulling her into
her, and held her. And although Candace was sure she could not cry
anymore, she did. She let Patty hold her as the hot tears coursed
down her cheeks.

~

The rain was still falling. There were
some periods of heavy downpour, some periods where it slacked off
to almost nothing, but it never stopped; it continued to
fall.

Mike stood, his feet in the muddy water
of the field where it met the tree line. His hands were in his
pockets. Ronnie splashed up next to him, but Mike continued to
stand, staring down at the man where he had been dumped at the tree
line. He didn't react at all to Ronnie’s presence.

The man lay face up, one side of his
face missing, the remaining eye clouded over and dully reflecting
the gray of the skies above them. Rain puddled in the cup of one
ear. The water rose, reached some magic level and then it spilled
from the ear and into the man's hair. A second later, it started
all over again. Mike watched.

“
You okay?” Ronnie
asked.

“
Looks like anybody,” Mike
said after a long pause. “Nobody special.”

Ronnie nodded, unsure where Mike was
going or exactly what he meant.

Mike sighed. “I had to look. See if he
was some kind of freak. But I can't tell. He looks like anybody,”
Mike said softly.

Ronnie cast worried eyes over Mike. His
body was hunched against the rain. His face like gray stone. His
eyes bloodshot and bleary. He blinked raindrops away from his
eyelashes.

“
He could be anybody, Mike.
You know that. Just a fucked up guy. But he's dead now, Man. He's
dead now, Mike,” Ronnie told him.

“
Good thing,” Mike said
softly, almost too faint for Ronnie to hear.

“
Hey, Man. Let's go back.
This is no good, Mike. We'll get some coffee, warm up,” Ronnie
said.

“
It's my fault, Ronnie. I
let her leave without her gun. I could've gone with her. I should
have gone with her. Hell! I let things get lax. I did. And I know
better. It's my fault,” Mike finished.

“
Hey. You can't be serious,
Mike. You were gonna go with her? No way. No, Man. You weren’t.
None of us had thought of that or done that. Why would we? No,”
Ronnie told him. He looked out over the field which was quickly
turning into a lake, then down at the man, then back up where Mike
stood looking down. He spoke a little quieter, yet just as
insistently when he began again.