Z14 (Zombie Rules) (24 page)

             
“So, Rick dies. Then Fred comes along. He’s been like a father-figure to all three of us. Now, he’s gone and God only knows if he’s alive or not. Howard is our friend and he treats you with deference, but he’s busy with his own family. So what’s left is
The Captain
.” She had held her fingers in quotation marks and said it in a derogatory tone.

             
“We should kidnap Andie away from him. There’s no telling what kind of emotional damage he’s inflicting on her. Did I mention he’s a creep?” She shuddered and turned the heat on high.

             
I stopped the truck. “That reminds me.” I fished the paperback book out of my jacket pocket and thumb through it until I found the Tell Tale Heart story. There was a small scrap of paper wedged between the pages.

             
“What is it?” Macie asked.

             
“It’s a note from Andie.” I said. “She wants to meet this Sunday. She says it’s urgent.” I told Macie of the dialogue between Andie and the Captain.

             
“Who were they meeting with?” She asked.

             
I shrugged. “I have no idea, it seemed odd though. Why didn’t he say they’ve met some people? Maybe Andie will tell me.” Macie had been eating while I talked. When she was finished she let out a small burp and giggled.

             
“Excuse me.” She said. I smiled. “What are we going to do now, Zach?”

             
“Let’s go check on Toby and his sons.” I suggested.

             
“Okay, but I’d like a favor from you first.” I looked at her. “I need to use the restroom and then I want to shoot a zombie with the rifle. I’ve only ever shot at paper targets with it.” She said.

             
“Right now?” I asked.

             
“Yes, right now.” She said, grabbed a paper towel, and got out of the truck. I waited inside while she did her business. When she got back I handed her the hand sanitizer, and then the two of us drove to the bridge overlooking I-24.

             
“Alright, here we go. You can start with binoculars or use the scope to find a target. I’m betting there is at least one zombie stuck in an abandoned car out there.” I pointed toward the sea of automobiles and tractor-trailer rigs sitting motionless on the interstate.

             
“What’s the advantage of binoculars over the rifle scope?” Macie asked as she peered through them.

             
“You’re using two eyes with binoculars and your field of vision is greater.” She picked up the binoculars and after only a moment she grinned.

             
“I found one!” She said excitedly. “Oh, I found another one, they’re sitting in cars. One of them is sitting in a semi.”

             
“Are they still moving?” I asked.

             
“A little bit.” She looked at me. “Can I shoot them?” She asked hopefully.

             
I made a quick scan for any threats nearby. Seeing none, I nodded. “Sure. You know what to do, right?” She nodded at my question, swapped the binoculars for the rifle, and laid it across the bridge railing. I put my fingers in my ears a mere second before she fired. I saw the starburst explosion of the semi’s windshield, grabbed the binoculars and looked.

             
“Right in the forehead, nice shot.” She looked at me and grinned before finding her next target.

             
“Oh my God, what a rush!” She said breathlessly after she shot the last one. I stored the rifle behind the back seat and we both got in. When I got seated, Macie took her jacket off and straddled me. She kissed me passionately, her tongue probing deep. Then she started working at my belt buckle. “Let’s make love, Zach.”

             
“Right now?” I asked between kisses.

             
She huffed, grabbed my face, and kissed me. “Yes Zach, right here, right now.” I didn’t need to be told three times. Somehow I got my jacket off and we crawled into the back seat. We tore at the rest of our clothing and went at it with an urgent fury. I was glad I had taken a power nap.

             
Afterward, we were lying together in the back seat breathing heavily. When our pulse rates returned to normal, I leaned closer and kissed her.

             
“How are you Macie?” I asked.

             
“Wonderful.” She responded.

             
“Well, I guess what I was wondering is, we’ve not talked much about your baby. I mean, I’ve no idea what to say or a tactful way to ask you how you’re coping with his death. If there is anything I can do…” I was interrupted by Macie. She grabbed my hand and squeezed.

             
“You and Julie have been good to me, Zach. I love you both. You know that, right?” I nodded. She rubbed my chest and was quiet for a long minute before she spoke again.               “This may sound cold or cruel, but the first time I held my baby I somehow knew he wasn’t going to live. When I’m alone, I think of him and cry. When I’m around you two, I’m happy. It’s a different life now, but I’m happy Zach.” I kissed her again. I was happy too.

             
“Is it wrong for wanting you to myself, without Julie, just once?” She asked.

             
“I don’t know. I guess not.” I said quietly.

             
Los Angeles Air Force Base was a ghost yard of aircraft. Some had crashed and burned. Many more were parked in military fashion, but otherwise they sat silently. Major Sarah Fowkes pointed, but Fred had no idea what specifically she was pointing at. He leaned forward and looked anyway.

             
“Do you see? There is one landing strip relatively clear.” Fred looked hard, but he didn’t see it. Sarah began a descent. “The great thing about a C130, they don’t need much room to land.” She looked over at Fred and grinned mischievously. But, only a brief moment, her expression quickly changed back to her game face and concentrated on landing.

             
Fred watched in growing concern as she lined up on a runway with multiple wreckages all around it. She touched down smoothly and brought the plane to a stop without a spot of trouble. She began the step-by-step process of powering down the engines while she talked.

             
“If we find any fuel, we can take on several pounds and still be able to take off. I’ll have to make some calculations.”

             
When she shut down the engines it was quiet again. Fred took his helmet off. “I can’t thank you enough.”

             
“Don’t mention it cowboy. What are you going to do for transportation?” She asked.

             
“I’ll try to find a car with a little fuel in it and a good battery.” Fred said.

             
“Are you going to ignore the Humvee stored in the back?” She asked sarcastically. “Why do you think I had them load it up?”

             
Fred looked at her in appreciation. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Sarah.” She scoffed and made her way down the ladder.

             
“Alright you two, make a perimeter sweep of the area, and then find a fuel truck.” She looked back at Fred. “Help me get the Humvee unloaded.” She said with the voice of someone used to issuing commands.

             
Fred looked at a map of Los Angeles and found the street. He backtracked the route with a pen, measured it, and pointed it out to Sarah.

             
“It’s not far from here, about ten miles as the crow flies. I’ll take the Humvee. If I’m not back by dark, go ahead and leave without me.”

             
“Fred, do you actually think I’m going to let you go by yourself?” She asked. Fred looked at her blankly. “I’m going with you.”

             
“I can’t let you do that.” Fred replied.

             
“Quit being all macho on me, Fred. It’s a major turnoff.” She tossed the map back at him. “I’m driving.”

             
“How did it go?” Julie asked when we arrived home.

             
“The Captain showed up with Andie. It seemed to go well. He’s going to set up at the truck stop. Oh, and Andie passed a note saying she needed to meet with me.” Julie chortled.

             
I let out a short sigh. “For your information Miss Smart-Aleck, I have no intentions of going alone. You and Macie are free to join me.” Julie snorted again. I blew her a kiss.

             
Macie changed the subject. “There is some bad news.” She said. Julie looked at us questioningly. “Toby and his sons are gone. They weren’t home when we got there and there was a lot of dried blood on the back porch.”

             
“We drove around looking for them. No luck.” I added.

             
“Oh shit.” Julie said. “But, there were no bodies, right?” She asked. Macie and I both shook our heads.

             
“Well, the only good news I have is the new radio antenna is working. I made contact with Howard and Macie’s boyfriend.” I looked at her questioningly. “The old dude who lives on the Cumberland Plateau. He seemed really excited to know there was another live woman on the planet.” Macie laughed.

             
“Anyway, we chatted for almost an hour. He’s had a cold winter as well, but he had plenty of food stocked up. He said he’s only seen one other live person in the last three months, and to tell you he can’t wait to meet you.”

             
“What’s his name?” I asked.

             
Macie laughed. “He only calls himself Hillbilly.”

             
Julie grinned briefly, but then looked downcast. “I tried raising Fred.” She said and then shook her head slowly. We understood.

             
Later, we had dinner by candle light and discussed tomorrow’s meeting.

             
“I’m thinking the two of you meet with Andie in the morning instead of me.” I said while we ate. “We’ll head out early and you two drop me off. I’ll find a good sniper position and watch out for you. We’ll use the standard hand and radio signals. Afterward, we’ll pay Bernie a visit and check on him. Then, if there’s enough daylight left, we’ll do some scavenging. What do you girls think?” They nodded in agreement.

             
“We always like it when you do the planning. Will you be wearing a diaper?” Macie said with a coy smile.

             
We went to bed early and got up well before daylight. We worked up a plan where the girls would meet with Andie and I’d be their security.

             
The girls dropped me off a couple of miles from the store.

             
“I’m going to walk my way in and find a spot to set up a decent distance from the store but I’ll stay close to the road.” I said. “If you hear gunshots, it means I’ve encountered zombies or those assholes who tried to ambush me.” They nodded. “I can’t risk leaving the radio on. We really need to find some ear pieces for these things. But anyway, if you girls have any problems while we wait, fire some shots or use the hand signals.” They agreed.

             
I made my way toward the store and finally chose an abandoned car to hide in. It was approximately three hundred yards from the store. I positioned myself so I could sit in the back seat and aim the rifle out of the passenger side. Adorned in my newly fashioned Ghillie suit, a casual passerby would only see a clump of rags in the back seat.

Looking at my watch, I was satisfied to see
I was in place two hours early. It seemed futile to go through this precaution at this point, either they had no cause to try to set us up, or whoever their guy was, George maybe, was really good. If he was out there, he was better than me because I never saw him.

             
The girls drove by me promptly at sunrise. I watched as Andie arrived from the opposite direction.

*****

              “There she is.” Julie said as she pointed at Andie driving up in her jeep. Macie nodded and parked. All of the girls got out. Andie was startled and flinched when they hugged her.

             
“How’ve you been, Andie?” Julie asked.

             
She shrugged. “It could be worse I guess.”

             
“We’ve brought some food. Are you hungry?” Andie nodded. The three of them ate cold hard boiled eggs dipped in honey while they talked.

             
“Where’s Zach?” Andie asked.

             
“Oh,” Julie said between mouthfuls. “He’s around. He left out early this morning and said he’d catch up with us later.”