Z14 (Zombie Rules) (20 page)

             
“Ah yes, zombies. It seems to be a popular term to describe them.” He turned and pointed out of the window. “At one time, Tinker was home to the 72
nd
Air Base Wing. The number of our personnel was well over ten thousand. Now, all that is left is twenty-two people, five of whom are civilians.” He swiveled and looked back out of his window. “There was a mass infection of our personnel. Several people died in an attempt to contain them. Then, we sadly realized it was better to kill them, which we did. But, there were too many. Hordes of them would come on post. They never slept, there were no discernable tactics. They simply – came.” He turned back around and faced us.

             
“We realized later of course they were attracted to the lights, and the noise of the aircraft, so I ordered them grounded. We also lost a lot of lives before we realized shooting them center mass was a wasted effort.” He leaned forward. “You have to kill the brain. That is what is infected, the brain.”

             
“Yes sir, we learned that as well.” Fred said. General Shoemaker leaned back in his chair and studied Fred.

             
“The very first thought I had when Major Fowkes said you wanted a plane ride was the cost of the fuel. Aviation fuel is very expensive and I am, was, responsible for the operating costs of the base.” He rocked in his chair with his hands forming a steeple in front of his face. Finally, he looked over at the Major.

             
“What do you think, Major Fowkes?” He asked.

             
“The odds are pretty good his daughter is dead, or worse. But, we’ve not conducted any aerial reconnaissance since you grounded me, sir.” She said.

             
“You’re itching to get some flying in.” The General commented.

             
“We have a C130 set up with video surveillance equipment. It has an auxiliary fuel tank in the cargo hold, so we’ll have enough range. Also, the GPS satellites are still online. We might gather some good intel.” She glanced over at Fred. “Besides, the fuel is going to go bad eventually. We may as well use it while we can, sir.”

             
General Shoemaker swiveled in his chair and resumed staring out the window. “File a flight plan with the Master Sergeant. Give me a briefing when you return, Major. Dismissed.”

             
We encountered over twenty trees across the roads leading to Bernie’s house. We started with handsaws in order to minimize noise, but there were too many. Reluctantly, we resorted to chainsaws. Otherwise, it would have taken a week to clear them all. We cleared the last tree about a tenth of a mile from Bernie’s house.

             
As I suspected, the noise of the chainsaws attracted some zombies. Not many, only five. They moved so slowly it was easy to forget how deadly they could be.

             
“Who wants to try their hand with a machete?” I asked.

             
“I will!” Macie said. She took the machete and approached the one leading the pack. He appeared to be a middle aged, diminutive man, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. She raised the machete in the air, and brought it down in a tomahawk chop on the top of his head. He dropped to the street.

             
“It’s stuck!” Macie shouted when she could not pull the machete free. The other zombies closed in on her. She yelped and ran back toward us. I laughed and took out the rest of them with my revolver. We dragged them to the side of the road, got a fire going and stood watching them burn

             
“I’m not used to this manual labor.” Macie lamented. “My arms are going to be so sore and I have two blisters.” She rubbed them tenderly. Julie concurred. I chuckled.

             
“I think we caught a lucky break. There have been very few zeds in this neck of the woods, nothing like downtown Nashville.” The girls agreed.

             
“The good thing about it, we’re going to have plenty of firewood.” Then I added a comment. “Besides, I don’t want my girls to be wimps with toothpick sized arms. This is a good workout.” I got a couple of groans in response.

              There were wisps of smoke curling out of the chimney of Bernie’s house as we approached. I pointed.

             
“That’s a good sign.” I said. Bernie met us at the door as we got out of the truck. He did not look very well. The overalls were hanging loosely on his scrawny frame and they had the appearance of not being cleaned since last summer. He grinned at us with toothless gums as we walked up.

             
“My gums are hurting too bad to wear my dentures.” He explained. I nodded. He was displaying symptoms of nutrition deficiency.

             
“Have you been sick Bernie?” Macie asked.

             
“I have been feeling unfavorable of late.” He said before he was wracked with a coughing fit. The three of us looked at each other.

             
Macie put on a cheerful smile. “Bernie, you and Zach sit down and get caught up. Julie and I will cook up a hot lunch.”

             
“That would be most appreciated Miss Macie.” Bernie said. He walked into his den, shoved some bric-a-brac out of the way, and sat heavily on his couch. It seemed to take the wind out of him. His breathing was coming in phlegm filled, erratic pants. The winter had taken a toll on him.

             
I looked at him quizzically. “How old are you Bernie?” I asked.

             
“I’ll be eighty-seven on my next birthday.” He paused a minute, as if searching for an elusive memory. “What month is this?” He asked.

             
“It’s January.” I said. He looked at me as if surprised, and then nodded. I wondered if he even knew what year it was.

             
We said our goodbyes and left after lunch.

             
“Bernie wasn’t looking so good.” I said.

             
“You didn’t see the kitchen.” Julie said. “It was disgusting. His cleaning habits are even worse than before.” We talked about him as we made our way to the Allen’s residence. Every so often, I’d have to stop due to a tree lying in the roadway. We’d get the chainsaws out, cut enough of the tree to move it out of the roadway, drive a few miles, and repeat the process. It was slow going, and took over an hour to make it to the tire shop. Lil’ H and Derry ran outside to greet us as we drove up.

             
“Holy shit you two are growing quick!” I said. We all took turns hugging. Howard and Lashonda met us at the door and we all hugged again.

             
“I brought some steaks.” I said cheerfully and brought the cooler in.

             
“Oh, those look good Zach.” Howard said when I opened the cooler. “We’re getting low on meat. Lil’ H killed a deer last week and we’ve done a lot of fishing. If it wasn’t for that, we’d have turned vegetarian by now.” I laughed.

             
“You sure are in a good mood. What’s got into you?” The two girls burst out in laughter. Derry interrupted when he came running inside.

             
“Daddy, we got zombies again!” He shouted. Howard and I looked at each other.

             
“We get about one or two a day.” Howard said. “They don’t move so well. We had a few of them wandering around when the ice storm hit. They were frozen solid.” Howard pointed. “They were standing like statues out in the middle of Old Hickory. It was kind of funny looking. Then, one day they were up and gone. I guess they came back to life when they thawed out.”

             
“Let’s go take a look.” I said. We went outside and Derry pointed them out. There were three of them slowly moving down Nolensville Pike. I got my twenty-two revolver and approached them. Howard and Lil’ H followed with rifles in hand.

             
“Let me do the shooting with this gun. It’s a lot quieter.” They nodded in agreement. They were three men of indeterminate age. When I got to within thirty feet of them, I could hear their breathing. It sounded like a phlegmatic embrace of two pieces of sandpaper. They were nothing more than rotting skin hanging loosely over their skeleton. Their eyes were a cloudy blackish color. They turned toward me as I approached. I swear they could see me with those weird eyes. I tried circling them. As I sidestepped, they would turn toward me and struggle to close the distance. Howard, who was standing several feet away, coughed. They immediately turned toward him. So, they could still hear too.

             
Okay, enough playing, I thought. I took aim and shot each one in the head. When I was sure they were dead, I walked up close to them. The group, except Lashonda, followed suit.

             
“Did you see how they acted? They can still see and hear.” Julie said.

             
“The eyes definitely look different from what I’ve seen before.” I said.

             
While we were standing in the street looking them over, I saw Macie cock her head.

             
“I hear something.” She said.

             
“I do too.” Derry added.

             
The noise was faint at first, but then it became obvious it was a motor vehicle of some sort. And then it came into view. A vehicle was approaching.

             
After a second, I recognized it. “I believe that’s Andie’s jeep.” I said. She wasn’t alone. “The Captain is with her.”

             
“What should we do?” Lashonda asked.

             
“If you want to take the boys inside, I’d understand.” I replied. “I’m going to say hello.” Lashonda agreed and hurried her two sons inside as the jeep approached.

             
There were four of them. Andie was driving, and there was no mistaking the Captain’s burly frame in the passenger seat. There were also two men sitting in the back. I waved as they approached. The Captain exited the jeep last and stood there with an air of owning the entire intersection. Andie stood quietly while taking turns looking at Julie and Macie.

             
“Hello Captain, Andie. This is a pleasant surprise.” I said. It was a lie. I never wanted any of these people to see the girls. I walked toward him and shook his hand. As expected, he squeezed my hand hard enough to let me know he could break it if he wanted.

             
“Zach, it is so good to see you.” He said warmly with a broad smile. I couldn’t tell if the emotion was genuine or superficial.

             
I turned my attention to the other two men and looked them over. They were scrawny runts in their early twenties, unshaven, rough looking. They looked like blue collar workers who had gone straight to the bar after a long work week, tied one on, and then fell asleep in the gutter. I held my hand out.

             
“I’m Zach Gunderson.” The two of them ignored my outstretched hand, brushed by me, and headed straight toward the girls.

             
“Well, well, well!” The taller of the two of them said. “You two sure are some fine looking fillies. My name is Barry and this is my cousin Eli.” He held his hand out to Julie. Julie wrinkled her nose.

             
“You smell like shit. Get away from me.” She said. His smile was instantly replaced with confusion, which then quickly turned to an ugly scowl.

             
“You better learn some fucking respect.” He snarled.

             
Julie’s hand lingered by her sidearm. “I have no respect for you. Now get away from me and take your little inbred cousin with you.” Now the two of them were scowling at Julie. Eli, sensing he was the better charmer, tried his tact with Macie.

             
“Hi! What’s your name?” He asked her.

             
Macie rolled her eyes. “Not interested.”

             
Barry, with his freshly bruised ego, was not finished. “I’m going to teach you some manners bitch.” He growled as he stepped toward Julie. His hand was raised as if he was going to backhand her. My hand went for my sidearm. Julie was just as quick. She had hers out in a flash. Fred would have been proud. Barry froze when she pointed the barrel at his groin.

             
“You wouldn’t dare shoot me. Don’t you know who we are?” He said menacingly. His hand was slowly moving toward his own sidearm.

             
The Captain and I were standing together, approximately ten feet away. I glanced at him and then at Andie. He had a small amused smile. Andie was staring intensely at Julie. I think she was secretly hoping they’d kill each other.

             
“If Julie doesn’t shoot him Captain, I will. I’m asking you to tell your men to stand down.” I said. He glanced at me and frowned. He then smiled amicably and let loose with a loud whistle.

             
“Mind yourself Barry.” He said loudly. “Zach here is liable to tan your hide if you keep messing with his women.” They stopped immediately at the Captain’s command. He walked over to Julie and Macie while I cast a baleful stare at Barry. He returned my glare and spit on the ground.

             
“Please accept my apologies.” The Captain said to Julie. “The boys have been cooped up since that bad ice storm. This is the first time we’ve gotten out of the compound. We’ve all been going stir crazy. Right, Barry?”

             
He spat again before answering. “Yeah, don’t mind me.” He said as he stared at Julie.

             
“Everybody calls me the Captain. I believe we’ve never met.” The Captain said as he smiled amicably and held an outstretched hand to Julie. Julie shook his hand reluctantly.

             
“I’m Julie, this is Macie. Let’s clear the air right away. Zach may like you, but I don’t.” She glanced at Barry. “Especially now that I see the company you keep.” Before the Captain could respond, Julie jerked her hand back and walked over toward Andie. I watched curiously. Well okay, I watched nervously.

             
“You must be Andie.” Julie held out her hand. Andie shook it tentatively. “Macie and I were talking about going shopping over at the Walmart. Do you want to come with us?” She looked over at the Captain, and then me. “Girls only.” She said pointedly. Andie glanced over at me again. I nodded slightly.

             
“Okay.” She said.

             
“We’re taking the truck.” Julie said and the three of them drove off a moment later without waiting for an answer.

             
“She’s certainly – feisty.” The Captain said.

             
“Yep.” I said, and immediately realized it was the same word I had used when describing her to Andie. I wondered if Andie was telling the Captain about our meetings.               “Captain, let’s take a look at these zombies. I’m seeing something different.” We walked over and I pointed out the eyes. “Have any of you guys seen zombies with eyes like these?” I reached down, and with my knife gently opened the eyelids of one of them. The Captain crouched down beside me.

             
“I’ve not seen this.” He looked up at his companions. “Boys, how about it?” They each shook their head. “Is it some type of decomposition, Zach?”