Rotting to the Core (Keep Your Crowbar Handy Book 2) (13 page)

Jake noted people were pushing folding tables
away from the center of the room while still others collected
bowls, empty glasses, and the odd utensil. “What's on the
addenda?”

“A house meeting, if that's the term you
prefer.” Rebecca waited for Jake until he finished his American
Spirit. “Any new members are presented to the group the evening
they arrive, and we advise them of community expectations. We've
stuck with the basic rules of law here, so theft, rape, assault,
murder, and any other types of violent acts are not tolerated. We
have added a few guidelines the group has voted on as well, but let
me tell you the rest once we get going.”

Her people had finished clearing the area at
the warehouse's center and, while most had taken seats on folding
chairs, lawn chairs, even just on the floor, a few stood watch near
the back still holding various firearms. Jake did a quick head
count and realized there were just over seventy-five other people
in the echoing room, discounting Rebecca and himself. Over
two-thirds of that number were female, ranging from perhaps age
sixteen into the late thirties, which he found interesting if not
very surprising. It stood to reason there would be more women alive
at this juncture than men. Any
real
man would fight the
zombies, even give his life, to protect his wife, girlfriend,
mother, daughter, or even just a woman in general.

Jake understood the mindset. He'd crossed
nearly the entire Columbus metroplex on the day the zombies rose to
reach Laurel with Allen and Kat. A bonehead move, he knew, but in
his mind there hadn't been any other choice. She was an amazing
woman, and he'd had a full-blown case of 'Caveman Want!'
syndrome.

Rebecca moved in front of the gathering and
put up one hand for attention.

“Everyone? I'm sure most of you know we found
a survivor today, so I wanted to introduce him. Jake would you come
over here?”

Wow. Love-fest time. Yay,
Jake
thought, and moved up with Rebecca to face the others. He could see
Jerry to the left, sipping at some kind of hard cider and looking
bored. A little farther back Roy sat next to a pair of college-age
girls, splitting his time between glaring at Jake and trying to
steal discrete looks down the closer one's shirt. Penny remained
alone at the rear, arms crossed and leaning against the nearby
storage rack, looking totally at ease.

Rebecca gestured towards the writer as he
stood beside her and lit another smoke. “We've built a life in this
place since the world changed. It's not an easy one by any means,
but we're reasonably safe here and that's no small blessing. Now,
since Jake will be staying with us, he'll need some help adjusting.
He'll need time to find his place and choose a way to contribute to
our continued survival, while observing our rules. That being the
case, I'm asking for a volunteer to help him acclimatize. Is anyone
willing?”

O'Connor frowned. Rebecca was effectively
trying to assign him a babysitter in such a way that Jake couldn't
refuse without coming across like an ingrate. Having someone watch
his every, waking move would make leaving the grainery extremely
difficult, even when (or if) Cho managed to trace him here. That
was something he was beginning to feel more than a little nervous
about, actually. While Kat more than had the ability to take care
of herself, she
was
out there all alone at the moment. She
had to sleep sometime, and there was no one else to guard her back
since he was basically a prisoner. Jake half hoped she'd just make
for the airport, link up with the others, and bring George back
with a few of his toys. Like say, his Longarm sniper rifle. The
gray-haired veteran could sit on a nearby hill somewhere, picking
off target after target if need be, until this group released
him.

Since he was deep in thought, Jake didn't see
some of the women's hands raise throughout the crowd at first. Lost
though he was for the moment in his mental machinations, Jake
didn't miss the wolf-whistle one of them let loose. Shaking off his
reverie, he saw expressions on many appealing female faces that
were just shy of predatory. They were a bit grungy, a little
disheveled, and most in serious need of some really good shampoo,
but each was reasonably attractive considering the conditions
they'd been living in. And all of them had eager smiles.

Who'd have thought a job babysitting would
be so popular after the apocalypse?
he wondered.

“Thank you, each of you.” Rebecca was beaming
as the five women rose one by one and moved to the front of the
gathered crowd. Ben looked none too pleased, maybe because the
young woman whose cleavage he'd been fondling with his eyes was one
of the volunteers. Jake noted that for future reference, but he
wasn't that concerned with Mullet-head just then.

Rebecca turned to face him. “Please choose
one to be your companion.”

“Yeah, thanks for the offer, but I won't be
staying. Things to do, places to go.” Jake looked around for the
nearest door. “Thanks for the meal. And the kidnapping. I'll be
leaving now if someone will show me to the exit?”

“Where would you go?” she asked gently.
“There's nothing left out there. You've seen that for yourself.
What did you plan to do, hope to continue avoiding the creatures
indefinitely? Search for another sanctuary that managed to
withstand the end of our world? Live out the rest of your life as a
vagabond? A scavenger? Why not remain and build a life here, with
us?”

Jake felt the lure of it. Community. A
semblance of normality amidst the abject horror of the apocalypse.
But he didn't know these people. He had p
romises to keep and
miles to go,
etc. Besides which, the way Rebecca's 'volunteers'
were looking at him made the writer decidedly nervous.

“I'm not much of a joiner. Besides, I want to
keep moving.” Jake crossed his arms over his chest. “I don't know
if there are other survivor groups out there, and neither do you
evidently, so I'd like to find out on my own.”

Rebecca shook her head. “You're talking about
suicide. You realize that, don't you?”

“Look,” Jake was done with the conversation,
“just give me my weapons back and you'll never see me again. You
people can sit here eating granola stew, or whatever the hell that
dinner was supposed to be, till Hell freezes over for all I
care.”

An unhappy murmur rippled through the
gathered crowd, but Jake noticed the smiling volunteers weren't
part of the quiet conversations. Their expressions never
changed.

A middle-aged man in a worn, tweed jacket
raised one hand.

“Yes, Martin?” Rebecca waved him to the
forefront.

“It seems that we'd be better off just
holding his initiation now, wouldn't you agree?” Slim Martin looked
a bit uncomfortable under the gathered eyes, but pressed on. “I
mean, that would give him a valid reason to stay, wouldn't it?”

As Ms. Lewis frowned and considered it,
Martin stepped back into the crowd. “I wanted to give Jake time to
become acclimatized to our home and our decision-making process
first. That would allow him some insight as to not only how, but
why we put our Laws in place. Why we've adopted the specific
customs—”

“Oh, for fuck's sake! He doesn't wanna hang
around, fine! Put him out the front gate and forget him!” Benjamin
stood and threw both his hands in the air, still staring hard at
the blonde who'd vacated the seat beside him. “I been here for two
months and still ain't been initiated! What's so damn special about
this guy?”

Rebecca gave him a calm gaze. “Jake has been
on his own—alright, alright—Jake and his supposed
companion
have been on their own out there. He's managed to survive the past
months without our walls and protections, without our numbers, and
without any kind of support system whatsoever. Wouldn't that imply
to you, Benjamin, that he's in possession of skills we as a
community are in dire need of?”

Jake watched as the man struggled to get his
brain-box into first gear.

“You mean he's better than us at dealin' with
those things?” Ben finally demanded. “Cause I'll tell you
what—”

“Whether he is or isn't, is not the question,
Benjamin. It's a simple fact.” Rebecca told him gently. “We've
managed to last this long by using every last resource we could
gather. Wouldn't having someone who's had no choice but to become
adept at doing so, all by themselves, make it easier on all of
us?”

Ben looked confused. “I guess?”

“That's why we need Jake to stay, and why
we'll make him one of us formally immediately,” Rebecca told him
slowly, as if attempting to explain what algebra was to a four year
old.

While realization finally dawned on Ben's
face, he still didn't seem to like her reasoning.

“Well that's fine, I guess. But why does he
get brought in right now?” he pressed, and glanced towards the
youngish blonde again. “I mean, you initiated Jerry last week, so
why do I have ta wait for—”

“Ben, we've been over this.” Rebecca's voice
became tired. “It's just not something we want you to rush into.
You need to consider what initiation would mean not just for
yourself, but for everyone. You would be committed, from that
moment on. Not a free agent any longer.”

While Benjamin mulled over her words, Jake
decided it was a good time to quash her offer.

“Look, I get you want to look out for your
group, but you're barking up the wrong tree here. I'm not good with
commitment.” Had he really just said that? “What I mean is, I'm
used to being on my own. I like it that way. No one to slow me
down, no one to worry about, you know.”

“I have no doubts you'll be an excellent
addition to our group.” Rebecca smiled, turned to the gathered
crowd, and asked, “All in favor?”

Everyone but Benjamin, who was sulking over
her rebuke, raised their hand. Penny was giving Jake a thoughtful
look from where she stood in the rear.

“All opposed?” Ms. Lewis called.

Not even Ben raised a hand or called out.

Rebecca was beaming. “The motion is
overwhelmingly passed.”

Jake thought this was all getting decidedly
creepy. Rebecca's disregard of his repeated and emphatic protests,
at the thought of sticking with her group was beginning to piss him
off, too.

“Uh-huh. Let me tell you something here.
Taking into account you're ignoring everything I've said you about
wanting to move on, I'll use small words so you can understand.
I'm not interested
. Oh, yeah. If you think I'm getting any
kind of tattoo from anybody here, which I can see would be
extremely
unsanitary—tetanus and all—or you're lopping off
any of my favorite body parts so I can be 'one of the family',
you'd better be prepared to lose some people. Are we clear?”

That drew another dissatisfied murmur from
Rebecca's followers. Jake could see they took everything she said
nearly as gospel, because there'd been no shortage of nodding heads
as she explained why adding him to their community was a vital
move. She was clearly intelligent and, even though the moo-moo
clad, matronly woman might actually believe her line of argument,
trying to maneuver Jake into remaining through rather obvious peer
pressure told him everything he needed to know about her. Rebecca
could likely justify insisting he remain to herself as something
that would “benefit the tribe.”

That made her dangerous.

Dangerous and armed, and backed by even more
dangerous people with weapons of their own. Looking about, Jake
noticed Jerry, Benjamin and four other men with various rifles
giving him very pointed looks, none of which seemed particularly
friendly. He flicked his gaze back to where Penny leaned against a
column to see she didn't appear to have the same mindset as the
rest of Rebecca's followers. The dark-haired woman looked decidedly
uncomfortable and was giving those closest to her covert nervous
glances.

Rebecca pursed her lips. “Jake, you must know
we can't allow you to just leave.”

“I kind of figured that.” He took a step back
and turned away from her slightly. This prompted the men with an
upsettingly larger number of weapons than he currently possessed,
to shuffle closer within the crowd. Rebecca waved them off.

“You're under the wrong impression, Jake. Our
intention isn't to hold you captive, or maintain you as a servant,
or anything to that effect. You'll be one of us.” Again with the
nodding heads. Rebecca had them all totally quelled. “That means
you'll have the same rights, responsibilities,
and
privileges as everyone here.”

Jake eyed the men still fingering their
weapons. “And what would those be?”

“You'll have freedom to go anywhere within
our home and access to all our resources—under the moderation of
everyone as a group—as we all do. Once you've rested for a few
days, you'll be free to join our search parties if you so choose,
or take on another productive job. There is no shortage of work, to
be sure, so everyone has to put forth some effort for us to
maintain and eventually grow our community,” Rebecca explained.
“Many of us have seen far too much of the creatures outside and
choose not to go beyond the fences, which is our choice. No one
will be forced to confront those things if it isn't necessary. We
leave that up to our scavenging parties and those who choose to man
the fences, like Will whom you saw on the way in. While our
community isn't vastly numerous, a few men with good rifles on our
roofs have managed to maintain our overall safety, at least without
too much difficulty. The extra firearms Deputy Carson was able to
acquire last week went a long way in that respect.”

Towards the rear Penny shuffled
self-consciously from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable and
Rebecca smiled broadly. Jake could almost see the gears turning
behind her eyes as she went on, barely pausing for a breath.