Running Wild (8 page)

She let out a ragged sigh and shook her head. “Those darn free samples of Viagra. Some salesperson dropped off a bunch during Bingo last week and Henry got his hands on some. Now he won’t keep his mitts to himself.”

He took out his chew tin again and started pinching more of the brown stuff between his gnarled old fingers. Before he placed it in his mouth, he smiled wickedly and said, “Good times are coming your way, Mary. You ever hear that expression “save a horse and ride a cowboy?” I haven’t put my horses out to pasture yet, by golly, I am one
mean
steed.”

“Okay,” I said raising my own hands; this whole conversation was making me queasy. “This is interesting and all, but if everyone’s okay, I really should be going.”

Mary looked at me and frowned. “Are you okay, dear? You’re looking a little pale.”

I was indeed getting very lightheaded. “Actually, I’m not feeling so good.”

The last thing I remember before the darkness set in was the sound of Henry, groaning in dismay.

Chapter Thirteen

I woke up in the back of their Cadillac, listening to Johnny Cash. The air conditioner was on and the leather felt cool against my warm cheek. Trying to ignore the urge to puke, I slowly sat up.

“Oh good, she’s awake,” said Mary, smiling brightly at me from the front seat.

“Water, please?” I croaked. My throat was so dry it hurt to swallow.

“Of course, you poor dear,” she replied. She bent down in front of her legs and came back with a large bottle of water.

“Thanks,” I whispered gratefully. The cool water soothed my dehydrated throat and I couldn’t stop drinking the bottle until it was completely gone.

“I hope you don’t mind,” said Mary. “We had to take you with us on account of some zombies that were heading our way right when you were passing out. Don’t worry, though, we grabbed your gun and cell phone. There didn’t appear to be much more than that.”

Henry muttered. “No, mustn’t forget the girl’s cell phone.”

I ignored his sarcasm and thanked both of them instead. “Where are we going?” I asked as Mary handed me the phone and Ruger.

“We’re heading towards Nashville,” said Henry. “Meeting my grandson, Tiny, out there.”

Tiny?

“Well, where are we now?” I asked, looking out the window. The roads were all identical, nothing but farmland.

Henry pulled out an unlit cigar from his mouth he’d apparently been chewing on. “We’ve just passed through Canton and are heading south on interstate seventy-four.  We should be in Nashville in… oh… roughly eight hours. If we don’t run into any more trouble or crazy assed drivers,” he answered with the hint of a smile.

“Honey, is there somewhere we can drop you off? I mean, you’re certainly welcome to stay with us,” said Mary. She bit the side of her lip. “That is…if you don’t have anyone left.”

“My dad and some close friends are heading towards Atlanta,” I said. “I suppose they can just meet us in Nashville; if you don’t mind me tagging along, that far.”

Henry opened his mouth to say something but Mary cut him off. “Listen, we’d love your company. What’s your name, honey?”

“Cassandra Wild,” I said. “You can just call me Cassie.”

Henry snorted. “Wild, huh? Well, if that just aint another sign from God to stay off the damn road.”

“Now Henry,” murmured Mary. “Don’t be such a fuddy-duddy.”

My stomach growled. “You…you wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat?” I asked. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had food.

“Actually,” said Mary. “We were on our way to find something to eat ourselves. We didn’t exactly have time to prepare for a road trip.”

“There’s a diner coming up soon. Might be some food there,” said Henry.

Mary snorted. “Or we might
be
the food.”

I sat back and called my dad to let him know what was happening. He agreed to meet up in Nashville; they were also, finally, on the road.

“You talk to mom?” I asked.

He released a ragged breath. “I did. She said your sister’s in some kind of coma. Allie woke up once and was acting very erratic, so they had to subdue her by putting her to sleep. Now she’s in a coma again and hasn’t woken up.”

“Oh, poor Allie,” I whispered. “Is there anything they can do for her?”

“Well, I guess there
is
some kind of experimental drug, but the scientist who was working on it is missing. They aren’t sure if he’s alive or what the hell is going on.”

“Did he get the vaccine?”

“No, he didn’t. In fact he was against the vaccine from the very beginning. That’s why he initially began experimenting with some of the components in the drug, to find something that might counteract any negative effects the vaccine created.”

“Great, and now
he’s
missing?”

“Yes. They’re searching for him, though. He has an underground bomb shelter located somewhere in Atlanta, but he was always secretive about its location. The good news is that he was still alive when the zombies started waking up. Unfortunately, nobody’s heard from him since.”

“God, I hope he’s still alive and they can locate him.”

“Me too and we aren’t the only ones. I guess the facility where the CDC is located is getting bombarded with survivors and their family members needing help.”

“I’m sure they’ll figure something out.”

“Hope so.”

“Dad…can I call mom?”

I just wanted to hear the sound of her voice, to know she was really alive and not just a voice in my dreams.

“Sorry honey, maybe later. The cell phone she’s been using is being shared by a number of people, so calls are limited.  Your mom told me to tell you she loves you very much and to stay safe. Don’t take any risky chances. She wants
both
of you girls alive,” his voice cracked. “So do I.”

“I’ll do the best I can,” I answered.

Dad cleared his throat. “Call me when you get to Nashville and we’ll meet you somewhere, safe. Also, thank that couple for me too. I owe them, big time.”

“Okay,” I said. “Dad, can I talk to Bryce really quickly?”

He paused. “Well, he’s driving the other vehicle right now. He gave me his cell phone to use, just in case you called.”

“Oh, okay. Um, who’s driving with him in the van?” I asked, biting the side of my lip. I know it was petty, but the thought of Eva being anywhere near Bryce still irritated me.

“Let’s see…Eva, Paige, Kylie, and Kristie,” he answered then snorted. “I think there’s a romance brewing in the mist.”

My heart thumped loudly in my chest. “What…what do you mean?”

“Well… Eva and Bryce. She follows him around like a puppy dog and if I didn’t know it any better, he’s eating up all the adoration. Every time I turn around she has her hands on him and they’re laughing.”

I closed my eyes and tried not to throw up all over Henry’s backseat.

~~~

We sat in silence as we drove the next several miles to find edible food. Eventually, we came to a truck-stop diner called “Gramma’s Grub”.  Although there were a few cars in the parking lot, it looked pretty uninhabited.

“This place use to serve
the
best steak and eggs,” sighed Henry as he shut off the ignition. “It’s surely a shame that I’ll probably never get to enjoy another meal here or tease one of those purdy little waitresses. Yessiree, the owner sure knew how to keep his customer’s happy.”

Mary’s eyebrows raised and she punched him playfully on the arm. “Purdy waitresses huh? I thought you were saving yourself for me, Old Timer.”

He turned to her with such a startled look, that I thought he may have filled his Depends. When he eventually composed himself, he let out a deep raspy chuckle. “Mary,” he said clearing his throat. “I just love it when you talk dirty, my little puddin’.”

Mary laughed heartily and patted him on the back. “Hen, you better stop. You’re going to make me pee my pants and I don’t have any spares!”

He rubbed his jaw and smirked. “Speaking of getting out of your pants…”

I interrupted him before he could finish. The banter between them was making me a little ill. “Hey, I have a great idea. Let’s go inside that restaurant and see if there’s any food left.”

“Now that sounds like a good idea,” replied Mary.

“Let’s go ladies,” said Henry as he opened his door.

We all got out with our weapons raised. I still had the Ruger with a few bullets left, Henry had an old Winchester shotgun and Mary took out some type of Samurai sword. I chuckled as she removed it carefully from the scabbard and raised it, ready for battle. 

“Where’d you get that Katana, Mary?” I asked.

She winked. “From this wonderful garage sale last summer. It’s a beaut isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Yes, very impressive. Have you used it on any zombies?”

Mary nodded proudly. “Oh yeah, things so sharp it’s like cutting through butter.”

“You better at shootin’ then you are at driving, young lady?” asked Henry, eyeing my gun.

I nodded. “Probably. I do miss my war hammer though. It came in handy when I ran out of ammunition.”

He nodded. “War hammer huh? I’ve seen those things before. Yes, they
would
certainly do the trick and right nicely, I reckon.”

The smell in the diner was a mixture of spoiled food, feces, and death. I raised the gun and looked around nervously.

“Mary, get down on your knees!” shouted Henry, raising his own gun.

She gave him a disgusted look. “I told you before, I don’t…”

Henry’s gun went off a second after I pulled her to the floor. There was a loud thud as the zombie’s body dropped. Mary let out a low moan and her entire body began to tremble.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, squeezing her shoulder.

Henry cackled loudly and spit out his chew.  “Gotcha…you son-of-a-bitch.”

I stood up and limped over to the zombie who was now resting in peace on the other side of the room; a naked bald man with a swastika tattoo on his chest. His body was so rotted and gnarly that I had turn away before I added to the disgusting sight.

Henry came over and stood next to me, staring at his kill. “You know, I always said that a good Nazi was a dead Nazi,” said Henry as he scratched his whiskers, “but even that’s fucked up now.”

“Henry!” screamed Mary.

We both turned to find two ghastly zombies stumbling towards her, growling and smiling with wicked intentions. It always amazed me that they could feel happiness but not one speck of remorse for such gruesome eating habits.

“Hold on, Mary!” hollered Henry.

“Behind you, Henry!” I screamed as another zombie stepped out of the shadows behind him.

He turned around and paled at the horrific sight. The ghoul was dressed in a tattered and bloodied waitress uniform. Her face was so rotted and grisly that the skin around her mouth was all but gone. Patches of red hair was missing from her putrid decomposing head.

“Jesus, who hired this homely one?” he mumbled, cocking his gun.

Her skeleton mouth curled into an evil grin that I knew would haunt my dreams for months to come, if I ever survived that long.

I turned away as he fired his gun at the dead waitress and limped towards the other two zombies. My gun was raised but I was fearful of hitting Mary.

“Lord have mercy!” Mary moaned as she slid the katana into the stomach of one of the zombies. Although it was still alive, the sword prevented it from getting any closer to her as she held the zombie at bay.

As the second one tried to reach out for her, I raised my good foot and hit him with a sidekick to the face, sending him crashing to the floor.

“OW…OW…OW…!” I howled in agony. I really needed to ice my ankle, badly.

The zombie’s red eyes burned with something close to hatred as he growled angrily at me.

“Drop dead, maggot,” I said, glaring back at him. Then, I raised my gun and shot him in the face.

“Stand back Mary,” demanded Henry as he raised his shotgun again. She let go of the sword and the skewered zombie took a bullet between the eyes.

“Are you ladies alright?” asked Henry as he shuffled towards us.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“Oh, I’m okay too,” said Mary. “Just a little disappointed with the service.”

Henry laughed and then hugged her tightly.

“You rocked with that sword Mary,” I said and she smiled.

Henry shuffled over to me and touched my shoulder. “Well, I have to admit…you handled yourself pretty good there too, Cassie.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

With a gleam in his watery blue eyes he said, “What you did with your leg…that was impressive! Could you teach Mary to get her leg up that high?”

Mary and I looked at each other and started laughing.

Chapter Fourteen

Fortunately we didn’t run into anymore zombies, probably because food was slim pickings, for everyone, living or dead.

“You find anything?” asked Henry, who was resting in one of the old vinyl booths. He was an old geezer with a lot of fire but even he wasn’t immune to arthritis, which I guess was now flaring up in both of his knobby knees.

“Unfortunately, everything is spoiled in the cooler. Good news, however, there is plenty of canned food,” said Mary.

“I found several bags of chips and pretzels too,” I called out from behind the counter. “Oh, and some bottled water.”

He nodded, looking weary. “Let’s stock up on that stuff and get rolling. Mary, you might have to drive; it’s going to be dark soon and my eyes don’t particularly work their best at night.”

Mary raised her eyebrows and looked at me. “He never wants me to drive,” she mumbled. "He’s very narrow-minded when it comes to women and controlling things that move.”

“Oh, you mean he’s chauvinistic?” I said.

“I heard that, kid,” said Henry as he shuffled towards the bathroom. “I’m old, not deaf.”

“Do you want one of us to come in there with you Henry?” asked Mary.

“Not unless you want to watch me drop some kids off at the pool.”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” said Mary. “Just be careful in there.”

“Woman, I’ve taken a dump alone for more years than I can count. When I can no longer do it all by myself, do me a favor? Take me out back and shoot me once in the head and a second time in the ass.”