Z14 (Zombie Rules) (8 page)

             
We waited for them as they made their way back to the front yard. Fred looked at all of us and gave a reassuring smile. “I guess it’s time for me to start off on this journey.” He said. Bernie grunted in agreement, Julie and Macie nodded with tears streaming down their pretty faces. I was feeling a little emotional as well. I held back the tears and shook his hand instead. Bernie did as well. Fred hugged the girls and walked over to his truck. He opened the door and looked back.

             
“I would be most appreciative if all of you would look after Prancer. She’s never been alone before and she might get a little apprehensive.”

             
“I promise I’ll take care of her.” Julie responded. Fred looked at us and nodded. I thought I detected a bit of sadness in his eyes. Bernie untied his bicycle off of the back of the truck and moved out of the way.

             
Without further ado, Fred got into his semi, started it up, and drove away. The exhaust noise of the large diesel engine concerned me. It was loud and was bound to draw unwanted attention, but there was nothing we could do about it.

             
We all stood together, waving at Fred as he drove out of sight. The ensuing silence was heavy, awkward. I think we collectively missed Fred before he was even out of sight.

             
“I believe I’ll ride around and see a bit of the countryside on this end of the county.” Bernie said quietly. “That’s how I met Fred you know. He’s a fine man.” He hopped on his bike and pedaled away.

              With no small amount of trepidation, Fred got into his brand new and highly modified Volvo truck, waved to his friends, and headed out. He caught one last glimpse of them in the driver’s side rearview mirror before they disappeared from sight, and wondered if it would be the last time he ever saw them.

             
Surprisingly, Fred encountered very few obstacles, other than numerous potholes, as he made his way to Harding Place. When he got to Bellevue, a once thriving section of west Nashville comprising a rich mixture of commercial enterprise and residential neighborhoods, there was a substantial increase in the number of corpses. They were everywhere, hundreds of them. No, there were thousands of them. They were strewn in the roadways, in the front yards of houses, sitting immobile in abandoned cars. They were in the advanced stages of decomposition now. Even so, the stench was still nauseating. Zach would be hard pressed to fulfill rule number eight (burn the corpses), Fred thought with a wry smile. The big tires of the Volvo squashed a rat as he continued west on Highway 70 and made his way toward the city of Dixon.

             
It was at the intersection of Sawyer Brown Road when he spotted a group of zombies. There were approximately twenty of them standing in the road. They had massed together, as they seemed to do, and were already working their way toward him. Fred decided this would be a good test for the cattle catcher Howard had mounted on the front of the truck. He slowed to five miles-per-hour and barreled through them. It worked as intended, all of them were pushed to either side of the truck. None were caught under the tires or undercarriage.

             
Several miles seemed to have gone by quickly. It wasn’t until he got to the city of Waverly when he encountered another human.

             
“Mister truck driver, do you have your ears on?” It was a voice on the CB radio. It was a deep baritone, like it was emanating from the diaphragm of a very large man. The strong southern twang left no doubt this man was a country boy. Fred looked at the radio in surprise for a moment, and then hurriedly grabbed the microphone.

             
“I am, and hello.” Fred replied.

             
“What’s your handle?”

             
“The name’s Fred. Fred McCoy.”

             
“They call me Big Country, Mister McCoy, and I am pleased to talk to you. But I have to ask, what are you doing in our neck of the woods?” Big Country asked.

             
“I’m passing through sir, on my way to find my daughter.” Fred explained about his dilemma with his missing daughter and using side roads in order to avoid the massive traffic jams on the Interstates.

             
“Yes sir, Interstate 40 is clear here and there for a few miles, and then you have major roadblocks. Mister McCoy, would you like to park a spell and socialize with us? We don’t have a lot, but we can feed you.”

             
“I am much obliged sir, but I believe I’ll wait and catch you on the flip side.”

             
“I understand Mister McCoy. Have you encountered any other survivors?”

             
“I have.” Fred told Big Country about Zach. “If you’re ever in the south Nashville or Franklin area, give him a shout on the CB. If he’s around, he’ll answer. Tell him you know me and he’ll take care of you.” Fred also gave him the HAM radio frequency they monitored.

             
“I appreciate that Mister McCoy. You’re going to be good until you get to Huntington. When you get there, you’re going to encounter a roadblock. You tell those fine folks you and I are friends and you’ll be just fine.”

             
After dinner, the three of us spent the rest of the evening preparing and canning vegetables. The summer had been relatively mild with lots of rainfall. The result was a bountiful crop.

             
“What time do you meet the dyke?” Julie asked. Macie giggled.

             
I frowned at the both of them. “Sunrise.”

             
“Are you going to take her a present?” Macie asked teasingly. Julie laughed this time. They ganged up on me frequently these days.

             
“Yeah, go ahead and yuk it up.” I said. We finished canning at around nine and went to bed.

             
I was snuggled up against Julie. I was comfortable, tired, and about to doze off, but she decided this would be a good time to talk.

             
She turned around and started kissing me. “Zach.” She said.

             
“Yes sweetheart?” I mumbled.

             
“Let’s talk about Macie.” I opened my eyes now and looked at her.

             
“You want to talk about Macie right now?” I asked.

             
“She thinks you’re going to kick her out after she gives birth.” She said. “Are you?”

             
In fact, I remember suggesting it not too long ago. “Wasn’t that the plan?”

             
She started rubbing my chest. She knew how much I liked it when she did that. “She has nowhere to go.” She said.

             
I smiled in the dark. “You want her to stay here?” I phrased it as a question, but I already knew the answer.

             
“Don’t you? She’s been really helpful and I’ve seen how you act around her. You’re nice to her. You’re a little aloof toward her sometimes, but you’re nice to her. You don’t mind her being here and you know it.” She stroked my chest some more. “She’s going to need help raising her kid too. Don’t you want to be a surrogate daddy?”

             
I snorted. “With Jason’s kid? I’d rather not.”

             
Now she sat up, causing the blanket to fall, exposing her breasts. I always stared at them, they seemed to have a hypnotic spell on me.

             
“It’s not the kid’s fault Zach. Besides, what if it’s your baby?” My eyes widened, and my jaw probably dropped. I lost all interest in her breasts, which I thought would never happen.

             
Julie put her hands on my shoulders. “Do the math Zach. You two hooked up in late November, right? Perhaps, about nine months ago?”

             
I was shocked to the point where my brain was going into vapor lock. I had to count on my fingers, and then counted twice more. “What does Macie say? Does she know?”

             
“She doesn’t know, and she’s scared to death of how you may react.” Julie said.

             
Julie lay back beside me and put her head on my shoulder, which caused her breasts to be pressed up against me. Okay, I liked her breasts against me even better than my chest being rubbed.

             
“Do you want her to stay?” I asked. I felt her head nod. “Okay.”

             
Julie sat up again. “You mean it?” I nodded again. Julie responded with another kiss. “You won’t regret it Zach. Fate has thrown all of us together you know. We’re a family now.” She snuggled closer now, kissed me harder, and put a leg over my waist. As tired as I was, I could not resist her wiles. When I finally did go to sleep, I was out like a light.

             
College Grove was a sleepy little community in between Eagleville and Nolensville. It grew up in a fork in the road, and eventually became the intersection of two state highways. I sat in the parking lot of the old country store watching the sun come up. There were approximately a dozen corpses on both sides of the road. I drove close to a few of them and saw distinctive bullet holes in the head. None of them had been burned though. The putrid stench had all but abated.

             
I got out, stretched, and waited. Someone had spray painted “W-E.” on the front of the store. I peeked inside, and as expected, the store had been completely looted. Andie drove up as I poured a cup of steaming coffee out of my thermos. She parked a few feet away, looked around everywhere, and then stared at me.

             
She was driving a Jeep Wrangler with a few modifications. There was a rack of large lights mounted on top, a winch mounted on the front, and everything had been spray painted flat black. There were the same letters stenciled on the doors. I saw a couple of radio antennas as well. I waved. She got out and tentatively walked toward me.

             
“Would you like some coffee?” I asked as she walked up. She was wearing the same clothing she had on a couple of days ago, camouflage pants, boots, black tank top, and no bra. Her breasts were small, but the taut fabric left little to the imagination. At least her face was freshly scrubbed, and without those stupid looking black streaks under her eyes. Her hair was a little longer now. I kept from staring at her pert breasts as I held up my thermos.

             
“Sure.” I refilled my cup and poured a second. She nodded in thanks and was quiet as she blew into her cup and took small sips.

             
I motioned toward the graffiti. “W-E. What does that stand for, do you know?”

             
“Ward’s Empire. It’s the name of our group. The Captain ordered us to start marking our territory.” She said. “It’s his last name. Ward. Charles Ward. I used to call him Uncle Charlie, but nobody dares call him by his name anymore.”

             
I grunted. Any opinion I had of them claiming territory I kept to myself. I changed the subject and pointed toward the back of my truck. “We got lucky with our gardens this summer. I brought a basket of assorted vegetables and a few watermelons. I hope you brought some stuff as well.”

             
She smirked at me. “Yeah, I figured you’d want something in trade. I brought some reloading equipment and some weed. Do you get high?”

             
I shook my head. “I don’t get high, but I can always use reloading equipment. Fred believes marijuana would possibly be a good trading commodity. How’s that working out for your group?”

             
Andie set her cup down on the hood of my truck, fished a joint out of her cargo pocket and lit it up. She inhaled deeply and offered it to me. I shook my head again. It got a laugh out of her.

             
“You’re such a square.” She said and took another long toke.

             
I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, I guess so. C’mon, I’ll show you the vegetables.” We walked to the back of the truck and I pulled the tarp off. She picked up a plump tomato and sniffed it. She then aimed for the front door of the store, threw it, and giggled in glee when the tomato splattered all over the door’s new markings. I laughed at her antics and walked over to her jeep. She had two large plastic bags full of cartridge casings and primers.

             
“It’s all in twenty-two caliber. I saw the way you were shooting that pistol the other night, so I took this out of the armory. You like?”

             
“Oh yeah, I like.” I said. “Will the Captain miss this stuff?”

             
“Yeah, probably.” She inhaled and held it in as long as she could before exhaling.

             
“Wait, does he not know you’re here meeting with me?” I asked. She shook her head.