Zombie Rules (30 page)

             
“Like hell. You and that drunk are the ones who kicked us out, or don’t you remember?” Janet’s tone indicated she thought she was somehow the victim of a terrible sin committed by Rick and me.

             
I nodded. Oh sure Zach, you just say we want Tommy to go with us and his mother will drop to her knees thanking the heavens for our generosity. Yeah, right. I raised my empty hand in a placating gesture and walked over to her. When I was close enough, I spoke in a low voice.

             
“I thought that would be your response. I know you don’t like me, and quite frankly I don’t like you.” I looked around. Corporal Hart walked closer and was listening intently. I spoke loudly for everyone to hear. “We met recently. Her, her family, and her lover. They were lost and starving. We took them in and they plotted to kill us in our own home. We made them leave. Julie and I have since reconciled. Janet has chosen to be vindictive. She plotted with some people to kill us.”

             
I looked at her pointedly. “It didn’t go so well for them.” Leon arched both his eyebrows in surprise and looked over at Janet for some type of denial or confirmation. He got neither.

             
I gave a placating shrug. “So, here is my offer to you Janet. Tommy comes and lives with us. That’ll free you up. Without a kid to care for constantly, you’ll be free to be, well, you.” The implications of the statement, I hoped, were clear. “Whenever we come into town, it’ll be our priority for him to visit with you. In addition, I’ll make it worth your while.” I was now close enough to lean forward and whisper so Corporal Hart would not hear me. “I think you know what I mean. We can give you extra food and supplies. You can keep it, trade it, hell, you can throw it all in the garbage if you want. With extra food, you’ll have bargaining power, much more than you do now.” I straightened.

             
Janet glared at me, and then she glared at Julie. She had no idea who Fred was, but she glared at him too. She waved a dirty finger at all of us. “You would really like that wouldn’t you. You’ve stolen Julie from me, you got Don killed, and now you want to take Tommy from me. Are you fucking crazy?”

             
I stopped myself from shrugging again. There was somebody here who was crazy alright. I did not want to do this, but felt I had no choice. “Alright, fair enough. You are welcome to come back with us too. You and Tommy. We’ll all be together. We’ll get you set up in your own house near where we live. Oh, and by the way, don’t try to blame us for Don’s death. I know what really happened.”

             
She answered quickly, but it wasn’t quite the answer that I expected. “All of you can go straight to hell!” She grabbed her child by the hand and dragged him along as she walked back to the Humvee.

             
Little Tommy kept looking back at his sister as he was being dragged along. Tears were falling on his cheeks. It was hard to watch. Tears started flowing down Julie’s cheeks as well. After a moment, she walked back to the van and shut the door quietly. I sincerely doubted Janet was crying.

             
Corporal Hart snorted and grinned in amusement. “Hoo boy, she doesn’t like you at all!” He seemed to take great pleasure in it. Janet shouted at him and ordered him to take them back. He grinned at me again with those yellow teeth, ogled Julie one last time, and hurried back to the Humvee without bothering getting permission from the Lieutenant.

             
We spoke a few moments more with Lieutenant Hart and made tentative arrangements to visit again and hopefully work out a beneficial trading arrangement.

“I’m going to get back to the barracks. The walk may work the kinks out of my back. I wish you all well.” We shook hands with Lieutenant Ward and Private Dawson and watched as they walked away. Private True was already walking ahead of them. He did not bother saying goodbye.

              When they got out of earshot I sighed. “Our first encounter with live human survivors. Seems like it could have gone a little better.”

             
Fred snorted. “It’s not your fault. The Lieutenant is a decent sort, but he’s injured. Corporal Hart senses weakness in him. He has no respect for him. Probably the others as well. He’s not going to be able to hold them together as a cohesive group for much longer I’m thinking.”

             
I agreed with Fred’s assessment. I could not see Julie. She was in the van out of eyesight. I knew she was upset. It was time to leave. “Hart is definitely a loose cannon. Let’s load up the van with whatever we can and get out of here before he gets some ideas and does something stupid.”

              The thunder awakened me with a start. At first, I thought someone was trying to break in, but once I realized what it was, I lay there and listened to the patter of rainfall on the old fashioned metal roof. It reminded me of past thunderstorms. Back then, it was relaxing, soothing. I tried to let it relax me now, but I couldn’t. I kept thinking about the day’s work awaiting me.

             
Among all of the other chores, I would need to check the farm to insure no damage had been caused as a result of the storm. I’d also need to check on the livestock. I’d need to do a lot. I did not think I had anything to worry about, but at some point during the night the storm was intense enough for the mutts to jump into bed with Julie and me. I was thankful we had given them all a bath just yesterday.

             
I glanced at my wristwatch. It was just after four in the morning, which coincidentally was the number of rear ends, three ugly dogs and one beautiful woman, currently snuggled up against me. I was glad we had found a queen sized bed to replace the old twin size.

             
It took some finagling to work my way out of bed without waking Julie. I debated on an early morning shower, but realized I was going to be spending a few hours outside in the rain and mud, so settled for washing my face, brushing, flossing, and coffee.

             
I stoked the fire, got the tea kettle going and walked out on the porch. The boys were awake now and followed me. They needed to do their business, but were reluctant to step off of the covered porch and into the heavy downpour. I helped Larry by nudging him, not so gently, off of the porch with my boot. The other two followed grudgingly. They ran out, quickly sniffed out a suitable spot, did their thing, and were back on the porch before I had gotten seated.

             
The three of them looked at me expectantly. “I know. I know. You bastards want to go inside and jump your wet asses back on the bed, but it’s not going to happen.” They gaped at me with those big puppy dog eyes and acted like they didn’t understand, but I knew better.

             
The dawn sky was a dark shade of gray, almost black, but not completely. The sun, even though it could not be seen, still had its omnipotent presence.

             
I rocked contentedly while looking over the front yard. It was a muddy mess. I wondered if it would be worth the time and effort to seed and fertilize it when the weather warmed, or should I leave it looking worn and bare. A well-kept lawn would shout out to anyone the house was occupied. I made a note to ask Fred’s opinion and wondered if he was going to join us this morning. He loved to take Prancer out on morning rides, but I didn’t see it happening today. The rain was really coming down. I heard the door open and Julie joined me a few minutes later with two mugs of coffee. She was wearing sweatpants, sneakers, and a jacket. One morning she came outside with nothing more than a blanket casually wrapped around her, only to find Fred sitting in one of the rocking chairs. Since then, she got dressed first.

             
“Thank you beautiful.” I said as she handed me the mug.

             
“You’re welcome, handsome.” She replied. “Is Fred going to join us today?”

             
“I don’t think so. I don’t believe he’ll get Prancer out in this rain. He dotes on her like a teenage boy and his first love.” We chuckled, but my statement had inadvertently made me wonder about Macie. Lieutenant Ward had said she did not arrive with Janet and Tommy. She would be in her second trimester by now. I hoped she was okay.

             
I stood up and stretched. “Why don’t we grab some eggs and stuff, and just drive over to his house? I want to check out the creek anyway and I can feed the livestock afterword.”

             
Julie agreed and it was decided. We drove in Rick’s truck, or I should say Julie drove, which allowed me to run out in the rain, disarm the booby traps, move the backhoe and wire, and then move them all back again before we left. One day I was going to need to build a sturdy gate. Fred was sitting on his own porch when we drove up. “I tried to raise you two on the CB.” He said to us as we walked up. None of us had extensive knowledge of the Ham radio system, and the repeaters had gone down several weeks ago. Channel one on the CB radio was 26.965 Megacycles. We opted to use that channel for talking and scanned the other channels for any radio chatter. It was much simpler.

             
“I didn’t have the radio on. Sorry about that. I unhooked the antenna cable last night to prevent a lightning strike from frying it. We brought some breakfast, are you hungry?” Fred nodded hungrily. Or, more accurately, he gave his typical curt nod and led us inside. His furnishings were of the pseudo rustic farm style, a product of his wife’s decorating tastes, Fred had told us. It gave the house a homely ambience. We all migrated into the kitchen and then worked as a team preparing a nice country breakfast. Julie cooked up the eggs, Fred worked on the country ham, and I made biscuits. Fred had a milk cow and a pasteurizer, which was a nice luxury nowadays.

             
We got everything ready and sat down at the table. Fred insisted on prayer before we started. He told the Lord we were grateful and thanked him for his kindness. We had a good meal in front of us. I supposed, all things considered, I was indeed grateful. I had lost a lot, but I had survived, I was healthy, I had a home, and I had Julie. “I was not a religious man before I met my wife.” He said a moment after he had finished.

             
“Oh yeah?” I sort of asked, but I did not think we’d get any more of a response. Fred did not talk much, and he definitely did not talk much about his family.

             
He proved me wrong on this occasion. “I was a bit of a hellion in my younger days. After graduating High School, I got on with the rodeo circuit and was a trick shot artist.” It certainly explained why he was so quick and accurate with those pistols. “My father had taught me how to ride and shoot. He was a former Texas Ranger. I was pretty good at it if I do say so myself. One day, I was in a rodeo at the agriculture center here in the county. I had gotten myself thrown off of a bronco and was cussing up a storm about it when I saw her in the stands. I was dumbfounded. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I was in love right then and there. Then the damn horse kicked me.” We laughed, and even Fred smiled. “Yeah, he caught me on the side of the head, just enough to knock me silly.”

             
We continued chuckling.

             
“What happened then?” Julie asked.

             
“That’s when I met Connie Sue. They had carried me to the back area where they had an ambulance and paramedics standing by. I had a knot on my head the size of a softball. She left the stands and came to see me.” Fred smiled again at the memory. “I said hi, and she told the paramedics they needed to wash my mouth out with soap.” We laughed harder now. “She was the daughter of a preacher and cussing was taboo with her.”

             
His smile faltered and he looked out of the kitchen window at the rain. “We would have been married twenty-three years this spring.” He looked down at his plate of scrambled eggs and then at us. “We only had one kid, a daughter. There were complications and Connie Sue couldn’t have any more kids afterward. So, needless to say we spoiled Betsy rotten.”

             
Julie reached over and put her hand on Fred’s. “Fred, where’s Betsy now?”

             
Fred’s demeanor changed, the muscles around his mouth tightened just slightly. If you blinked you would have missed it. Like I said, Fred was not a man of emotion.

             
“She wanted to be an actress. She moved to Los Angeles. It was hard on us having our little girl grow up and move out. She’s a good girl though. She called her mother and me on Skype every morning. She had actually landed a small role in some kind of romantic comedy type of movie, but that was just before, just before all of this started.”

             
He was looking at a blank spot on the wall, but now focused on Julie. “You remind me of her.” I smiled, but inwardly I was concerned about the location. Los Angeles was one of the first U.S. cities Rick and I put a red thumbtack on. He squeezed Julie’s hand before letting go. “I have to place my faith in the good Lord she’s doing okay. Maybe one day she’ll come back home.”

             
“Have you ever thought of going out to Los Angeles and finding her?” She asked.