Authors: Ann Riley
Everyone seems to be in good condition. Diane checks them over for injuries and finds none. Marc enters the home with Todd and looks around to make sure all the zombies are out. The house is still in great shape with no damage inside. Todd leads Marc to the larger garage and shows him the supplies they will use to fix the doors and windows. We get started on that.
Pretty soon we have the windows boarded and Marc has reinforced the inside of the doors with a piece of sheet metal that was found in the garage. Diane and I help Kate clean up and get the zombie stench out. The zombies have a stench like…… well, imagine someone walking around eating raw meat all day, then urinating on themselves, and finally having bowel movements in their clothes all day every day. Now magnify that time twenty and throw in some rotten meat and maggots. That’s what they smell like. Not a nice smell. It gets in your nose and it feels like if you open your mouth you will be eating the stench. Yeah, disgusting, I know. But true, nonetheless.
We tell them what they need to do to stay safe, such as fencing, firearms, and being careful on who to trust. Diane tells them about her gardening and makes suggestions of where to go and find seeds for planting and when to plant them. They do have some food stocks in the pantry and plenty of water. They also have a couple of vehicles for use when they need to go on supply runs. Todd was also in the military and has a shitload of weapons. From military rifles to Ka bar knives. But of course, no 50 cal in sight. So we stay all night so we can get everything together and make sure Todd and his family are ready for the new world.
The next morning, Marc gives them our address and lets them know we will help when we can if needed. Trey and Bobby load up the Pioneer as our payment as Marc and I load the weapons. Two 2 M4 Carbines, an M224 60mm Mortar, 4 serrated blade Ka bars, and holy hell, a Ka bar Kukri machete that I claimed. Bobby shakes his head at me.
“What?” I ask him.
“Nothing.” He says, smiling.
Look, I have gone from a fascination with electronics such as cell phones, ereaders, computers, Apple and Roku TV to a fascination with weapons. A girl has to have a hobby. And since we have no electricity now, my aforesaid hobbies are of no use to me anymore. So I changed my hobby.
We get everything loaded and are headed back home. We have been gone two days, so we are all anxious to get back. We take our seats back in the truck and get started. I tell Marc if he wants me to drive, let me know. He just looks at me like that would be the last thing he would ever ask me to do.
We make it back into Mississippi and come upon…. Yep, you guessed it. A roadblock. The same ass hat and more friends this time. It looks like he has gathered up about thirty people to help him with his road block this time. We should have shot his ass to kill the first time. We are clearly outnumbered. This is a zombie apocalypse. Is it really necessary for dumbasses to attempt a heist when they could easily go and find their own shit?
“What are we going to do?” Bobby asks.
“Hell. I don’t see much of an alternative here. We are outnumbered. We can shoot, but I don’t want any of us to get shot or killed or both. Let me ask him what the hell he wants this time.” Marc says.
Then we hear, “Exit the vehicle, now.” This comes from Ass hat.
“Well, that was just rude.” I say.
“What do you want this time, our supplies again?” Marc asks asshat.
“Oh no. This time we want you. You and your friends shot up our vehicles and shit before and shot us and we want your asses now.” Asshat said.
“Are you kidding me? These fuckers tried to steal from us and they have the attitude?” I say.
“Here is what we will do. Get out of the truck. Let them have all this shit. There are too many of them to shoot our way through. We don’t have any other choice unless we want to get shot up.” Marc says.
“Fine.” We reply to Marc.
“We’re getting out.” Marc yells.
So we get out. We are asked to put our hands on the truck and stand there. Asshat sends six of his friends over to us to check for weapons while three others keep a bead on us. They remove Marc’s weapons first, then Trey. Bobby is next then me. Diane glares at the dumbass about to search her and he tells her, “Mam, please remove your weapons.”
Well, it seems her glares are scary enough to warrant a grown man to question himself.
Now I know this is heading to hell. They have no plans of letting us go. So at this point, does it matter what I say or do? Nah, I don't think so.
“What now?” I ask Ass hat.
“Well, we will be moving y'all to the holding area of the camp. Then we will make y'all work to earn your keep. We have various jobs for our guests.” Ass hat says.
“Guests? You don't really think you will be able to keep us here do you? I mean, do you think we are as stupid as you and your band of idiots? Do you think no one will come looking for us?” I ask.
I can see ass hat turning red now, which tells me I am pissing him off. So I continue.
“If you had any idea of all the shit you are getting yourself into, you would have thought twice about stopping us. When it's all done, I am going to slice across your throat until I see your spine. And I'm going to watch you lay there a gasp for your last breath. Then when you take your last breath, I'm going to cut your black heart out, if you have one, that is, and feed it to the zombies. Remember, you don't scare me. And if I'm going to die, I will die causing as much hell as I possibly can.” I tell ass hat.
“Are you done bitch?” Ass hat asks.
“You haven't seen a bitch yet you fucking dumbass. Kiss my ass.” I tell him.
Then I give him the universal sign used by people all over the world. I flip him the middle finger. And I see nothing but darkness after that.
I wake up and try to get my bearings and figure out where I am. Everything is blurry and I try to focus my eyes so I can look around. My head feels like it is splitting open. So I lay there for a minute and try to remember what happened. I go back in my mind. Leaving our home, coming to Alabama, Todd and his family, leaving and, oh yeah. A fucking road block. Where are the others I think to myself? I roll over on my side and open my eyes to look around. Concrete under me. I push up on my elbow and my head spins like I am going to pass out again. I finally get raised up and am sitting straight and I start looking around. There is one window directly in front of where I am sitting and one on each side. It looks like a jail cell. Really? They have a jail here?
I slowly stand up and walk over to the window that has a view of the outside area. I see…. Zombies. Just a few ambling around. I pull my face from the window before they see me and come to investigate. Walking over to the window on the left, there is no glass in it, only bars. So I can see into the next cell. And I see Bobby laid out on the floor.
“Bobby.” I whisper. No answer.
“Bobby, wake up.” I say.
This is a man that claims he can hear everything while he sleeps. Well, that has been proven a lie, right here, today. Yeah, I know he was knocked out, but really? Is that an excuse?
“Bobby, wake your ass up or I give away all your clothes and shoes.” I tell him.
Bobby is a clothes and shoes fanatic and when I get rid of clothes he can’t wear, or maybe are worn out, I have to sneak around like I am a drug smuggler trying to get into interstate trafficking.
“You already do that when I’m not home, so threaten with something else.” Bobby tells me.
“Oh, it’s good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.” I tell him.
“What happened? My head is killing me. Damn, I can’t see straight.” He says.
“Well, I think they may have hit us and knocked us out. Did they hit me? I was the first out so I am not sure what happened.” I tell him.
“Yeah, the bastard hit you in the back of the head after you flipped him the finger. Was it necessary to poke the bear?” Bobby asks me.
“Well, not necessary. But they were going to do what they did regardless of what we said. So I wanted to get a kiss my ass and a fuck you all in before they did.” I say.
“I remember they hit Marc and Trey, then they came to me. I don’t know what they did to Diane though. I was out before they got to her.” He tells me.
“Fuckers.” I grunt.
Bobby gets up. He goes over to the other window of his cell.
“I see Trey.” He says.
He starts calling out to Trey through the bars. Finally, he wakes up. He stumbles around.
I ask him if he is ok. He says yeah, but he looks like he is still stumbling. I tell him to go to the window of his cell and see if he can see Marc or Diane.
“I see Daddy.” Trey says.
“Try to wake him Trey.” I tell him.
I hear Trey calling Marc’s name through the bars and I ask Bobby, “What in the hell have they done with Diane? If they hurt her I will kill every last one of the bastards. One by one.”
“We will find her.” Bobby says.
“Did he wake up Trey?” I ask.
“Yeah, but he has a gash in his head.” Trey replies.
“Damn. This is shit.” I tell Bobby.
I walk over to the door leading out of my cell and start yelling.
“We need help in here please. Get your asses in here and let us know where my sister is.” I scream.
“Not helping.” Bobby says.
I hear a lock click and someone comes into the hallway outside of our cells. We can hear heavy footsteps coming down the hall.
I back up from the cell door and wait for the idiot to make an appearance. And he looks like a gremlin. Short, greasy looking with pointy ears and a really bad tooth problem.
You have to be shitting me. I think.
“What do you want?” Gremlin asks.
“Where is my sister? What have y’all done to her?” I ask.
“She has been giving medical attention to some people that needed it.” He answers.
“I want her in here with us. I don’t trust y’all.” I say.
“You need to talk to Max about that.” He says.
“Well get Max’s ass in here so he can tell us what the hell is going on.” I say.
He turns and walks away and I go over to check and see if Marc is ok and has gotten up. He says he is ok, but his head wound looks bad. But of course head wounds always look worse than they are.
We hear someone else coming into the hallway. I move back towards the door again.
The door opens and in steps Ass hat.
“This is Max.” Gremlin says.
Well, shit.
“So what are you holding us here for? You have all our supplies and truck. What else do you want?” I ask.
“Well, you see, hot head, we want y’all for free labor. We have everything we need to survive, but we need someone to keep it going for us. Like farm work, cooking, cleaning, and we have a special place for the men. They entertain us in fights. We have an arena set up so we can have matches and see who come out the winner.” Max says.
Are you fucking kidding me? What are we, back in the medieval ages where they have gladiators and the coliseum packed to capacity daily?
“First, I want my sister in here with me. Second, you can kiss our asses. They aren’t going to fight for y’all’s entertainment you jack ass.” I tell him.
“Oh, but they will. If they don’t want to see y’all beaten and killed, they will. They don’t have a choice and if they don’t, when we kill y’all women, we will feed their asses to the zombies.” Max says.
“Trey is a young boy you son of a bitch. And if you touch one red hair on his head, I will rip your nuts out and shove them down your throat before you die.” I scream at him.
“Now, bring my sister back in here or so help me, I will make your death as long and slow as possible you bastard.” I tell him.
“Well, now aren’t you a demanding little bitch? I’ll bring your sister back, but you tell the men to get ready for their matches. They have two days to prepare.” Max says. And he walks out.
Marc and Trey are looking through their windows at me and Bobby.
“What the hell are we going to do?” Marc asks.
“We don’t have a choice man.” Bobby tells him.
“I know y’all have kicked a few asses in your lifetimes, but you aren’t professional fighters.” I tell Bobby and Marc.
We hear the door opening and look up to see Diane is coming into my cell. She is carrying a bag that looks like a medical bag.
I run over to her and hug her and ask if she is ok.
She assures me she is that they just had her giving medical care to some people who are sick.
“Are y’all alright?” Diane asks.
“Well, Marc isn’t. But the rest of us are. He has a gash on his head that needs attention.” I tell her.
She digs in her bag and takes out some bandages and antiseptic and walks over to Bobby’s window bars. She tells Trey how to clean up Marc’s head and apply the ointment as we can’t reach Marc from where we are. Bobby takes the proffered supplies from Diane and takes them over to Trey so he can get started on Marc’s wound.