Zombie Fallout 2 (3 page)

There were no zombies in sight, but that could change at any moment as I helped my wife, Tracy, down from the top, she seemed a little perturbed that I had got Henry safely to turf before her. You know how it is, man’s best friend and all, that and I think he had to take a piss, and I’d known him long enough to know he’d go anywhere and on anyone once the need was there. Brendon, my daughter’s fiancée helped his fiancée down. They were still in that new love phase when chivalry ruled. That would die as soon as he ripped his first big fart in front of her, but for now it was all still tea and roses. My best friend Paul had alit from the far side of the truck, I could hear his wife Erin as she was trying to rub the circulation back into her arms. My son Travis had scrambled off the truck and was patrolling our perimeter, bless his heart. My other son, Justin who was still suffering after effects from his zombie scratch was helped down from Tommy into Paul’s waiting arms. Justin was both relieved and embarrassed, relieved that he had made it off the truck in one piece and embarrassed that he needed the help in the first place.

The biggest enigma, both literally and figuratively, Tommy, was the last person off the roof. I think I had saved the kids ass back at Wal-Mart so many days ago, but the more I think about it I think he was meant to save us. In his previous life he had been a Wal-Mart greeter, all stickers and smiles. What his so called ‘normal mind’ lacked was more than made up for in the infectious grin and overwhelming heart that the kid possessed. But that was not everything about Tommy, not by a long shot. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the kid for those reasons, but there was something way above my pay grade going on with this kid. For starters he has a spirit guide that by all accounts sounds and looks like Ryan Seacrest. There’s that and then there’s things he knows that he just can’t know about and then there’s this fucken truck. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled Alex showed up when he did, but it wasn’t by coincidence. Alex’ wife Marta is related to Tommy on his mother’s side, somehow he was able to hone in on that connection and summon them for help. I almost always had to shake my head at the dichotomy that was Tommy. I laughed as I saw the savior of the human race jump down from the small ladder. He looked at me smiling with a huge glob of peanut butter on the tip of his nose. This did not go unnoticed by Travis as he rounded the corner of the truck on his circuitous patrol route.

Travis stopped his motion, now staring straight at the offending heap of gooey goodness on Tommy’s nose.

“What?” Tommy asked wondering why he was now the center of Travis’ attention. Travis kept staring, finally Tommy’s eyes tracked down to the tip of his nose. All he could do was sheepishly smile and shrug his shoulders.

“What was it?” Travis asked, a small measure of wonderment and envy in his tone.

Tommy looked like he was having an inner debate with himself, whether to come clean or just deny the whole thing, of course good won out. “Snickers.” He said hesitantly.

“We have peanut butter Snicker’s? They don’t even make those anymore!” Travis said pleadingly, looking to me.

I just shrugged my shoulders in reply to Travis’ imploring look. At this point I wouldn’t doubt that Tommy went to an alternate universe where they still make peanut butter Snickers and just snagged himself a few. Ok well actually I don’t believe that, because he would have paid for them.

“Weef did.” Tommy said as he wiped the peanut butter off his nose and popped the near dime-sized morsel lovingly into his mouth.

Any doubt to the authenticity of Tommy’s food choice was immediately set asunder as I pulled a slightly worse for the wear peanut butter Snicker’s wrapper out of Henry’s mouth. I was heavily tempted to see where that candy bar had been made but if I turned the wrapper over and it said something to the effect of proudly produced in the United States of Columbia I would be wasting more precious minutes than I had trying to puzzle this piece out. The world had gone to hell and there was no hand basket, but I still couldn’t find it in myself to litter. I put the Henry slime covered wrapper in my pocket, the germ-a-phobe in me shuddered as I pulled my goo covered hand out of my jeans pocket.

“Fucken gross.” I said to no one in particular. My diatribe was cut short as I looked over lovingly at my Jeep. A week or so previously Brendon and I had stowed our cars. His was a huge Ford explorer and mine was a Jeep Wrangler, they were loaded with camping gear, ammo, food and water, so much so that fitting us all in, was going to look more like a Ringling Brothers event.

Alex was waiting until both SUVs’ started before he was going to place the big rig in gear. Some of the passengers in the back of the truck were loudly protesting that they had stopped so close to the now defunct Little Turtle housing community. I wouldn’t begrudge them that. I was still amazed that they had let the truck turn around at all.

Tommy disengaged himself from his aunt’s arms. “Are you sure Tommy?”

I hadn’t heard the entire conversation but I got the general gist. Marta wanted her nephew to go in the truck with them. Marta had finally pulled herself out of the shell-shocked near catatonic state the zombies had placed her in. She did not want to jeopardize the progress she had clawed for and losing any more family would be unacceptable. I completely understood her distress, when Tommy answered her.

“No auntie, I can’t.” Tommy said sadly.

“But why Tommy, you’re all that’s left of my family.” She pleaded.

I knew this struck a truly tender cord with the kid and I was more than half tempted to tell her to leave him alone, when I realized how in the wrong I would be. They were family after all. I was the outsider in all this. Hell I’d only known the kid for three weeks or so.

CHAPTER 2

I would later ask Alex how he hadn’t recognized Tommy on his work crew and he answered me “Never met him, Mike.” It seemed that he was going to be content with that answer. As God is my witness, I wanted to pry so badly but discretion got the better of me, I was going to leave it at that.

Alex it seems had delayed his answer for fear of how I might react.

“I did some time when I was 18.” Alex said with his face pointed down, embarrassment strangled his words. My mouth may have dropped a little but he couldn’t see it from his vantage point. “Marta’s family hated me and disowned her because she married a convict.” He looked up at me a nervous smile played across his lips. He continued. “Her parents are or were.” he corrected himself, “Strict Catholics, which actually makes no sense, because of all religions don’t they preach forgiveness?” He looked like he was getting ready to blow a gasket. This was apparently a sore spot for him.

“Uh, Alex.” I said as I put my hand on his shoulder. I wanted to tell him we had bigger fish to fry at this point but he quickly realized that small little tidbit of a fact.

“I know Mike, I know. Her parents and the majority of her family are probably gone but they caused my Marta so much pain. Her parents never EVER came to see our kids. For Christ sakes Mike 12 years ago I did time for boosting some cars.”

Whew, I was so happy he didn’t say rape or child molestation or something heinous like that, because no matter how much I liked him now I would never be able to look at him the same way. There are some transgressions in life you just don’t get over and those were a few of them.

“It didn’t matter to them that while I was in jail I got my degree and then when I got out I got my masters, none of that mattered to them. I was always going to be that convict that corrupted their daughter. Hell I hadn’t even met her when I got in trouble, to hear them talk you would have thought I had her out there watching for cops while I was popping ignitions. I had just started at an engineering firm after getting my degree. She was the HR Generalist. We dated we fell in love, at my first dinner meeting her folks I told them about my past just to make sure everything was out in the open, that there would be no surprises down the road. Her father flipped out. He kicked me out of the house and forbade his daughter to ever see me again. So the first thing we did was elope, at that point her parents disowned her. She was upset but she didn’t truly think it would be a lifelong ban. Surely after our baby was born they would come around. The staunchy bastards never even called, a little piece of my Marta died the day she realized her parents were fully done with her. After Vera, our second, was born she slipped even deeper into her, self imposed, despot of despair. When the zombies came clawing at our house she went over the edge. I at first thought she had become one of them.” I shuddered. “She was slowly pulling herself back out of her depression but when Tommy did whatever he did, sending a signal, lighting a beacon? Whatever, that was the first time in the 7 years I’ve known her that she has been completely free and clear of the shackles that her parents put on her.”
“Yeah, I know, Tommy can have that affect on people.” I said without really thinking.

Alex just looked at me like I was loco. I didn’t clarify my outward thought, thus leaving him thoroughly confused.

“So when she told me to turn the truck around I didn’t hesitate. I would have driven to hell on two flats to see that spark of life back in her eyes.”

“Shit, Alex you kind of did.” I said, he nodded in agreement.

“I mean so back to your original question she had told me all about her family, her sisters and brothers and nieces and nephews but she didn’t have any pictures of them. The day we eloped, her parents threw everything in her room out. She was forbidden from going and getting any of her belongings and her siblings were told if they so much as mentioned her name the same fate would befall them. So for all intents and purposes she was an orphan. You know now that I think about it, I caught Tommy looking at me a lot while we were working, do you think he knew who I was? Maybe he had a picture or something.”

“Oh I’m sure he knew who you were, and no, nothing quite as mundane as a picture.” I answered. Again Alex looked at me hoping that I would elaborate. “Ever been on Idol?” I asked casually.

“Aw shit Alex, you might as well ask me how the universe was created, or which came first the chicken or the egg, or even better what is a woman thinking at any given moment. Those I could give you some sort of informed bullshit answer. I don’t have a foggy clue in Hades what is going on with Tommy. All I know is that whatever it is, it’s powerful and it has a purpose, beyond that…” I shrugged my shoulders.

CHAPTER 3

Tommy’s next words jolted me to a stop as effective as a two-inch thick chain around my neck. “I have to stay with Mr. T, Auntie, he’s going to need me to save him. Eliza wants him dead and I have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

I had an inkling who Eliza might be. I hoped I was wrong. The mere vocalization of her name sent worms of fear crawling across my spine, which is not a sensation I would begrudge on anyone. I know it is naïve of me but I was having faith that by leaving Little Turtle behind we were leaving the worst of this new world behind too, apparently that wasn’t to be the case. Sweat had broken out across my brow and I wasn’t attempting anything more difficult than standing erect. A cold breeze turned the moisture on my forehead into tiny daggers that laced across my head like an angry bee’s nest to a honey bear’s sensitive nose.

Marta tsk-tsked Tommy. I knew better. “Tommy how could you possibly know who needs help? And who’s Eliza? Tommy, I’m your aunt, I used to change your diapers. Your mom would want me to watch out for you.”

That was kind of funny her saying that, there’s this little waif of a woman saying she’s going to look out for this 250 pound hulking bear of a kid. But Tommy brought that out in you. It was almost instinctual that you wanted to go out of your way to make sure he was happy and safe. Was it because he was so called ‘slow’? I doubt it. The kid definitely had some vulnerability but on the flip side of that…his powers might be limitless.