Dying To Live & Fighting To Live-Book One and Book Two (Zombie Overload Series) (15 page)

That's a relief to
hear. Some good news for once. The bad news? We aren't there, yet.
Ugh!

We say our goodbyes
and hang up. I dig through our cooler and find the ham and cheese.
After smelling the ham, (you never know with coolers) I make the four
of us sandwiches. Finding a packet of plastic silverware and a stack
of bowls, I open a couple cans of mixed fruit. We all savor each bite
of the sweet fruit and every sip of the thick sweet juice, yum! The
boys finally fill their bellies and are tired again. I get them laid
down with a pillow under their heads and cover them with a light
blanket. Brushing their hair off their foreheads, I give each of them
a kiss on their cheek and climb back over the seat to the front.
Sighing as I settle in, Will grabs my leg and nudges me to get closer
to him. I scoot over and lean against his side as he wraps his arm
around me and holds me tightly to him. I close my eyes, enjoying this
now rare moment with him. I'm not really seeing a whole lot of
privacy in our future.
WHOA!
WAIT ONE MINUTE!

I lean to my right a
little and snap my head toward him. My eyes are wide and my mouth is
dropped. He looks at me briefly, looks away, then snaps his head back
to me. Obviously, I have him freaked out and he's looking out all the
windows.

"What? What?"
He asks me looking around wildly.

"Honey. Do you
think we will ever have sex again?" What! You think we don't do
that? And do you really think it wouldn't be a concern of yours, too?
Quit your lyin'!

I watch as his face
turns red with embarrassment (it's so cute when he gets embarrassed.
So I do it often.)

"Jesus, Canada!
Seriously? We have dead people who aren't dead, well, I mean they are
dead, but they are alive, too, and,
oh hell
! You know what I
mean! And you're worried if we are going to have
SEX
again
?
Are you freakin' serious?" He looks at me in disbelief.

I stare back.

"Damn, you are.
Of
course
you are," Then he laughs so hard I'm afraid we
are going to crash into a car sitting on the side of the road.

I bring his
attention back to driving and, except for some explosive laughs every
few minutes, he manages to keep us from wrecking. We get another ten
or so miles further down the road, and I'm sitting back on my side
with my arms crossed, shooting him 'go to hell' looks every once in
awhile, and have only one thought....

He never did answer
me.

We have made it to
Missouri! At about the middle of the long bridge we had to go over,
is where the state boundaries are. I was so sure that that bridge
would be impossible to cross, but, surprisingly it's pretty clear. We
only have to maneuver around three vehicles, which is fairly simple
to do, and pass just six of the undead. They went for us, but with us
being able to drive faster, they have no chance of reaching us. I
look down over the side of the bridge and can't believe what I'm
seeing! In the shallower parts of the Mississippi, zombies are
walking into the deeper areas, past their heads. Others are walking
out
of the deeper areas and
it doesn't seem to phase them either way. I also see a tourist boat
floating in the river. Everyone on it is a zombie. It was so creepy!

We
get off the bridge and are immediately at the edge of a town. Since
the highway actually goes
over
the
town, we don't have many obstacles or surprises. Now we are on a
two-lane highway. This is going to be fun. NOT! And we don't have
long to wait for the fun to begin.

Up ahead we see the
brake lights of Mom and Dad's vehicle come on. And beyond them, we
see an eighteen wheeler on it's side, completely blocking the road.
Damn it! And we were doing so good!

All of us look
around, get out, and group up. We keep the kids in the middle of our
circle so they can move around a little. Little Kaleb is so cute with
his pretty little blond curls and chubby cheeks. He's smiling and
laughing at my boys while they play with him. I look at Baby Grace in
her carrier and, as usual, she's asleep. She looks like a little
doll. I figured Mom would probably like it if I took them back with
me, so I went to grab her and Kaleb's diaper bags. Mom follows and
tells me to leave Kaleb's. That she will keep him and I can take
Grace so just one of us won't have two babies to try to protect and
take care of. I open my mouth to tell her that I have the boys who
can help, when I realize she has gotten a bit attached to Kaleb. So I
offer to ask Bo if he wants to ride with her. She says ok.

I
grab Grace's bag and take it to our vehicle, asking Bo to come with
me as I walk by him. I ask him if he wants to ride with grandma and
grandpa and help with Kaleb. He never gives up a chance to be with
his grandparents so, of course, he says yes. I help him gather his
blanket, pillow, and other items he wants to take and we load it in
his grandparents Hummer. I hear, as I walk by the others, that they
are still trying to figure out another route. I go back to the group,
pick Grace and her carrier up, turn toward our vehicle, and start
walking back, calling out three letters that shuts them up and makes
the men hang their heads in embarrassment and shame for not thinking
of it first. GPS.
HELLO!

I change Grace's
diaper, put her a new outfit on, and feed her. As I'm doing all that,
everyone else is getting something to eat, something as in ham and
cheese sandwiches. Well, we gotta use it up before it goes bad!

As I was inside our
vehicle changing Grace, the men moved the vehicles into a box
formation using the semi to complete the square. Dad, Will, and Jake
had gotten inside the semi and found it was stuffed with boxes of
toys, everything baby, and some younger kids clothes and shoes.
Nothing to fit our boys but Grace and Kaleb are set! We take all the
diapers, wipes, formula, girl clothes and shoes that she is currently
able to wear and a lot she
will
be able to wear. Also, baby
items like teething gel, bottles, diaper rash cream, bottled water,
cloth diapers, and pins. We also took all the shoes and clothes that
would now and later fit Kaleb. The toys we took were enough for each
of the four kids to have four each. Baby toys for Grace, toddler toys
for Kaleb, and the older boys were able to get toys for their age
group.

I finish with Grace
and leave her asleep in her carrier on the driver's side back seat. I
leave the passenger-side door open so I can see and hear her and make
my way to the others in the center of the square. Will hands me a
plate of chips and a sandwich, and I kiss him in thanks. I sit on the
ground in front of him and lean back into his chest. He puts his arms
around me and I start eating, looking around at my family, Jake, and
Greg. I can't imagine losing any of them. It hurts to think I very
well could. And easily. I follow Jake and Dad with my eyes as they
walk the perimeter.
(See me using another military term!)
Finished eating, I set my plate to the side. Will brings his head
down toward me and whispers in my ear.

"We will
definitely have sex again."
YEE HAW!
Now that's what
I'm talkin' bout!

I turn my head,
(I
have just gotta see him turn red. And sure enough, flaming!)
and
smile up at him.

"I love you,
Baby." I tell him.

"I love you,
too, Beautiful." He responds, nuzzling my neck.

"Hey, you two
sickos ready to go?" My dad has a way of totally screwing up a
moment.

Will stands and
helps me up. Kaleb, Bo, and my parents get loaded into their vehicle
while the rest of us move to our own. Will starts to get in the
passenger seat to slide to the driver's side, when I tell him I will
drive for awhile so he can rest. He doesn't argue which lets me know
how tired he really is. I help Ash get in and buckled, then slide in
the front behind the wheel. Dad and Jake are able to just drive
straight out but I have to back up for room to turn back east. Soon,
we are all heading back the way we came, looking for the turn for the
new route.

I listen to Ash play
with his toys and after a few minutes, I hear a great big snore.
Looking over, Will has his head leaning against the door and is out
cold. He never snores unless he is completely worn out, so I'm glad I
had offered to take over driving for him. I feel bad about waking him
but I know he will get one hell of a cramp in his neck of I don't. I
tell him to lay down and put his head on my leg like I had done
earlier to him. He does and I think he's back out before he even gets
his head down, considering his head slams onto my leg, making me
grimace in pain.

I hear Ash playing
with the baby. I hear her cooing in delight and I can't help but
giggle when she does. Both my boys are good with babies and the
babies adore them. My heart swells so much I think it's going to
burst through my chest and right onto my hubby's head. God, how I
love my family. And how hard I'm going to protect them or, at least,
die trying.

Again, I have not
mentioned other living people. But they are around. When Will was
driving, I even helped shoot a few zombies that were about to have
some of them for dinner.
I am so lovin' this shootin' shit!
I
think Will's getting worried about how much I'm enjoying it, but he
hasn’t said anything, yet. Guess I need to play it cool from
now on.

So now we are on
some back roads that are covered in loose rocks. Trees from both
sides loom over the road, making a gloomy tunnel effect. Creepy.
That's all I can say about it. The sun is already setting so, pretty
soon, there will be complete darkness. I'm really not looking forward
to that. We can't travel very fast on these roads and that's
frustrating. All I want is to get to my sister's and get out of this
damn vehicle. We drive uneventfully for at least three hours. Then, I
see a truck up ahead, sitting sideways, and blocking the road. That's
not unusual in itself, considering we see vehicles blocking the road
constantly. It's rarely a problem either, as the keys are usually
still in them and we can move or push them if need be. What made this
one different, is the group of maybe twenty or so zombies surrounding
it. Which can only mean one thing, people are inside that vehicle,
otherwise the undead would have moved on. The windows are all busted
out and the undead are stretching into the truck, which is high off
the ground, as far as they can, but are unable to reach whoever is
inside.. The dead are also unable to climb up on the high hood of the
truck or over the tailgate in the back, though not from lack of
trying.

Mom, who took over
driving for Dad a few hours ago, pulls over to the right side of the
road onto the narrow shoulder. I pull onto the left shoulder and Jake
stops in between us in the middle of the road. A few of the zombies
give up on the unreachable food and start toward us. Jake rolls his
window down and sits on the frame, raising his rifle and aiming. Dad
in his truck, and I in mine, do the same. Will is whipping his head
all around trying to make sense of what's going on since he was
deeply asleep until I shook him awake and pushed his head off my leg.
I can tell when his head clears and he understands what's going on
from the sharp breath and 'oh shit' that comes from inside the
Hummer.

I raise my gun and
Dad raises his. Mom gets on her window ledge and raises her's. That
makes me hesitate for a second. I look at her wide-eyed and it kinda
freaks me out. I mean, think about it. If your mom is like mine
was,
then she's a gentle, caring person who has never held a gun in her
life, only swears when she's so pissed off she can't even see
straight (and even then, the most she says is 'shit'), and is one who
can find the good in anybody, even if she can't stand them. To look
over and see her holding a gun like a pro, fire and determination in
her eyes, and, not to mention, the zombie ass-kicking she did this
morning, makes me realize how easily she could have taken me out when
I was a teen. She's a totally different person than I had come to
believe she was. Not a very comfortable feeling, but then again, I'm
thankful she can take care of herself. She
is
my momma, after
all.

Movement to my left
jerks me back to the here and now and I swing my rifle in that
direction. Firing, I take down the zombie and aim for the next. The
four guns going off made a great deal of noise and I hear the baby
start crying and Ash tries to calm her. I bend down to check on her
and see Will leaning over the backseat, talking to her and giving her
a bottle. Satisfied that he can handle it, though she may still cry,
at least she knows she isn't alone with Ash and Will there.

I lift my head back
up and before I can get my balance stable again, I feel something
grab the back of my shirt and jerk me out of the window.

I fall hard on the
ground and the wind is forced from my lungs. My vision is blurred
but, even so, I can smell the damn thing. I feel the thing's hands
grab at me and, as hard as I try, I can't move! I'm screaming,
although I can't tell if it's out loud or just in my head. Vision
clearing, I look up and see an undead leaning toward my stomach, his
smell is foul and disgusting. His eyes have dark black rings around
them, skin so pasty and gray. He's an older man, maybe in his 70's,
probably someone's grandpa. He's a large man but not overly so. He's
wearing a pair of filthy loose jeans and a grungy t-shirt that may at
one time have been white. Over the t-shirt he's wearing a flannel
shirt. No shoes.