Z14 (Zombie Rules) (40 page)

             
“She’s a little confused. She said when they go to bed at night, Rowdy holds her close, but doesn’t do anything else. He’s very kind to her, so she said it’ll have to do for now.” Julie rolled over and pulled my head close to her in the dark. “That was a wonderful massage.” She said, and kissed me. “You’re very kind to me too.” After a moment, she spoke again in the darkness.

             
“I’m going to miss that crazy old man.” She said.

              Howard made clucking and grunting sounds as he inspected the machine guns. After poking and prodding them for five full minutes, he finally spoke.

             
“I can fix them. The plastic butt pieces and heat shields will have to be replaced, but I think I can fabricate something. All of my tools are at the tire shop. Do we have time to go there today?”

             
“Yeah, I want to find a generator, so we’ll kill two birds with one stone.”

             
I found one sitting behind a biker bar located on Antioch Pike. But it was not a freebie.

             
“Be careful, Rowdy.” I chided under my breath as we worked our way to the rear parking lot. He had gotten anxious and moved ahead of Howard and me. As we rounded the corner of the building, we spotted six of them standing around a bar-b-cue smoker. I’ve no doubt the remnant aroma of burning meat attracted them, but now they stared at it dumbly, as if the lid was going to magically open and a fresh pig or something would jump out.

             
They were all still wearing their cuts, which identified them belonging to a local outlaw biker club. When we exited the truck, they headed right for us. Rowdy shot one immediately, but his gun apparently jammed. He tried to run backwards, but he stumbled and fell. The five of them were within a couple of feet of him immediately. Howard and I shot as quickly as we could while Rowdy slithered backwards. Two of them fell on top of him and he let out a shriek.

             
“Get them off of me!” He shouted, while Howard and I watched him wiggling around like his pants were on fire. He managed to free himself of the bodies and got to his feet. He was breathing heavily.

             
“Holy shit, that was close!” He exclaimed. Howard chuckled, I shook my head.

             
“Rowdy, you’ve got to learn to move as a team. You got out ahead of us and you were in our line of fire. We could have accidentally shot you, and it’s not like we can carry you down to the local emergency room and get you patched up.” He hung his head, duly chastened.

             
“Since you’re already grimy with zombie goo, check them out and see if they have anything we can use.” I instructed. Rowdy looked at me as if I had just asked him to eat a fresh pile of shit. Howard and I worked our way to the back, and found it.

             
“How’d you know it was back here?” Howard asked.

             
“A couple of years ago, there was a wreck down the road. I had driven by and all of the power was out except for the lights in a tent behind this bar. When I started thinking about where to find a generator, the memory popped up in my head.” I looked down at the generator. It was a Honda portable, capable of 6500 watts, and ran on gasoline.

Howard tried to lift it. “It’s about three hundred pounds I’d guess. Good thing we’re all here, it’d be hard getting it into the back of your truck by yourself.” I agreed
. After getting it on the truck, I found some hand sanitizer for Rowdy.

             
“Did you find anything?” I asked.

             
“One of them had a Bowie knife.” He replied and showed it to us. It was a simple looking knife with a wooden handle and brass haft, but the blade was at least ten inches long and lethal looking.

             
“I’ve got some sharpening stones at the house.” Howard said. “I can put an edge on it so sharp you can shave with it.” Rowdy grinned with delight.

             
Before leaving, we checked the bar. There were no zombies, but there was nothing else either. Even the beer kegs were empty. We left them there, but I made a mental note of their location. They may come in handy for something later on.

             
“We better get moving.” I said. “Those gunshots might have attracted some more friends for Rowdy to play with.” Howard chuckled, but Rowdy was not amused.

             
There was the sound of a vehicle approaching as I sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and watching my beautiful love cooking breakfast.

             
“It looks like Howard.” I said, looking out the window. I fixed a mug of coffee and had it waiting for him when he came in. Lil’ H was with him.

             
“What are you guys up to this morning?” I asked as we walked into the kitchen.

             
“I gots something I want to tell you guys.” Howard said as he sat down. He nodded gratefully at the coffee. Andie came in and sat down.

             
“Rowdy is in the bathroom.” She said. “I’ve learned to give it about thirty minutes after he’s been in there.” Julie and Lil’ H laughed.

             
“What’s going on Howard?” I asked, but I felt like I already knew the answer.

             
“We’ve talked about it every day since Captain Steen and the First Sergeant visited. I think we’re going to move to Fort Campbell.”

             
There was a stunned silence from all of us. Well, with the exception of Rowdy coming into the kitchen. He scratched himself, and then belched loudly before sitting down. He looked us over.

             
“Good morning, have I missed something?” He asked.

             
“Howard just told us they’re leaving.” Julie said. They all looked at him in surprise, and an awkward silence ensued.

             
“What are you thinking, Zach?” Howard finally asked.

             
“I think you should do what you believe is best for your family, Howard.” I said. He nodded quietly. “I want you to know, if it doesn’t work out, you and your family will always be welcome back.” He nodded again in gratefulness.

             
“What do you think, Julie?” Howard asked.

             
“I don’t want you guys to go.” She said simply. “But, I’m with Zach. If this is what you think is best for you guys, I have to agree.” Her eyes watered up then, which caused Howard to tear up as well.

             
“How many pounds are each of you allowed to carry on board?” I asked. He showed me the list. I read it over and nodded.

             
“Clothing can take up a lot of weight, so minimize those. I would go with specialty food items, extra shoes, hygiene items, oh, don’t forget firearms and ammunition.” I said.

             
Howard shook his head. “They don’t allow that.”

             
“Conceal it, big guy.” I said. “Don’t allow yourself to be disarmed Howard. Put a handgun in each of the boys’ waistband with their shirts hiding it, and hide the ammunition in your luggage. Trust me on this Howard, you may never have use for them, or you may need to protect your family. Better to have them and not need them rather than the other way around.”

             
“You think so?” He asked. I nodded. “Alright, then.” He said quietly.

             
I sighed, and on impulse, got up and hugged the two of them. “We’ll keep the house ready for you guys in case you ever want to come back.” I said again. I have to admit, it was tough. I didn’t want them to leave. They were the last of our original group. It was going to hurt when they left, but I kept it to myself. I didn’t want them to feel guilty.

             
“Don’t those soldier boys fly in tomorrow?” Rowdy asked. Howard nodded. “Well, that don’t give us much time to throw a going away party, but we’ll sure get started.” He scratched his beard, started to hike his leg, and then remembered he was in mixed company. His face took on an expression of a person trying desperately to squeeze his but cheeks together.

              We all rode to the Smyrna airport together. Beforehand, Howard insisted I inspect their baggage to insure they had packed the proper items.

             
It was a cool, but sunny day. We sat at the hangar and awaited the arrival of the Chinook. The pleasant day had a calming effect. I was leaning against the truck tire and found myself drifting off when Andie spoke up.

             
“There’s someone coming.” She said. We all stood and watched as an older model Olds Cutlass approached. Other than being dirty, it looked like it was in good shape. I recognized the two in front immediately and stood.

             
“Those are the two who tried to ambush me, I don’t know about whoever it is in the back seat.” I said. Everyone followed my lead and stood.

             
They drove up slowly and stopped twenty feet away in a parking lot beside the hangar. I watched them warily. It was time to nip this problem in the bud.

             
“You guys stay back. I’m going to have a little talk with them.”

I could see the apprehension on their faces as I
approached them. The passenger in the backseat was a woman whom I did not recognize. She appeared to be in her early thirties, and with the exception of questionable hygiene, was actually quite attractive. I walked purposely up to the driver’s side. The two of them seemed even skinnier, but to be honest, the last time I looked at them up close was through a rifle scope.

“I believe it’s time for us to have a little talk.” I said through the open window. The driver glared at me and tried to raise a revolver. I yanked my Kimb
er out and stuck it against his head.

“Don’t you fucking move or you’re a dead man.” I growled. He wasn’t totally stupid, he froze. I reached in with my left hand and grabbed his revolver. “
You three get out of the car slowly with your hands where I can see them or else my friends and I are going to start shooting.” They didn’t like it, but they complied. I ordered them to stand beside the car while I searched them and the inside of the car. I found one additional revolver and tucked it in the small of my back.

             
“Remember what I told you two the last time we met?” They looked at me without answering. I continued staring at them until the passenger finally nodded.

“Explain yourself.” I said in a low snarl.

              “Explain what?” The driver responded.

             
“The last time we were all here, you accused me of murdering your wife.”

             
“You did! You murdered my wife and my buddy Vernon.” He responded. I hit him with a short punch with my left. He yelped and grabbed his nose.

             
“You’re lying. I don’t like liars. Were you there on that day?” I asked the woman in the backseat. She shook her head in confusion.

             
“What are you talking about?” She asked.

             
I waved my gun at the two men. “These two idiots, along with his wife and another man tried to ambush me a few weeks back. I reckon you shitheads thought I should have bent over and surrendered, rather than defend myself, right?” They stared at me, but didn’t say anything. I punched the driver again. It was a soft punch, meant only to sting his nose a little bit. “Am I right?” I asked again.

             
“Fuck you man.” He whined.

             
“Yeah, fuck me. So many of my friends have died and you two pieces of shit are still alive.” I said.

“What are going to do?” The woman asked.

“Why did you come here? Are you going to relocate to Fort Campbell?” I asked.

“We are.” The passenger said. “We don’t want any trouble here.
”

             
“Fair enough.” I said. “I didn’t want any trouble when I was driving along the road minding my own business, but y’all had a different idea, didn’t you?”

“We weren’t going to hurt you.” The passenger said. “We were hungry and just wanted food.”

I sighed. “You dumb shits. All you needed to do was wave me down and ask. I had plenty of food that day. Y’all could have had all you wanted.” The passenger hung his head. The woman looked at me curiously. The driver continued glaring at me. I pointed at the passenger. “Go ahead and get your bags out. I’m going to search for any other weapons, and then y’all walk over to the other end of the hangar. You can wait there for Captain Steen and his helicopter.” I said, and looked at the driver.

             
“Personally, I want you to try something so I can kill you without remorse.” I said as I glared at him. He returned my glare. There was a trickle of blood seeping out of his nose, and I fought the urge to finish the job. I searched their baggage while they watched quietly. They had new clothing with tags still on them. They had been shopping somewhere. I noted the store name on the tags. If they were able to go in there, we could do so as well. There were few hygiene items, which probably explained their dirty appearance. There were no weapons. I closed the bags and stood.