The Wilder Side of Z

by S A Ison

  Ethan moaned and she took a cool cloth and laid it across his brow. He’d not woken up since Zahara had knocked him out with the dart. She was glad the woman had done it. Ethan had been willing to take the bite without pain killers. She didn’t even want to know how bad that would hurt. The wounds on his chest were large and angry red. She’d given in and put antibiotic ointment around them.

  She could hear the others below and heard Reggie’s laughter and one of the boys was giggling. She smiled softly. Children were so resilient. She wiped a tear from her cheek. It seemed like a nightmare that would never end. What if Ethan died? She was just getting to know him and he’d gone and done something like this. She shook her head again. If he did turn into a werewolf, would she want that here? Would Ethan have the ability to control it? She thought of Xander and he was quiet and easy going. He didn’t seem like a raging monster. Zahara was a little wild but she’d seen how she was around the children. Very protective and with Shay, she was like playdough and this caused Rose to snort and grin.

  She took Ethan’s hand and held it up. He was pale and the color of ash. She looked out the window and it was dark already. She could smell fish frying; someone must have gone fishing in the large pond. She looked up at the IV and knew she’d have to change it soon. She got up and opened the window and let the evening breeze blow into the room. The windows on the opposite side of the house were open to draw the air through. Her uncle had never put in air conditioning, he said it made you weak. She wiped the sweat away from her face. It might make them weak but it felt a hell of a lot better than roasting.

  Ž

  The silence was pierced by the deep croaking of a bullfrog. The smaller peepers chirped happily in the humid night air. Everyone in the house was asleep except Xander and Zahara. She lay along his body on the porch swing, several pillows helping to soften the hardwood. There was a slight breeze and it was so good to be alone. Xander’s hand stroked Zahara’s dark mass of hair. He was thinking about their drive into town earlier that evening. He’d planned to pick up the grain and cans for Reggie and some for them as well, though he was sure he could find a few feed stores on their way to North Carolina. Reggie also suggested picking up a dog carrier, to put the chickens in. It would be easier to transport them that way. Along with a watering container.

  His phone still worked as did the internet, for now. Rose had told them the name of the feed store and he’d used his phone’s GPS to guide them there. It had been a hell of a drive, walking dead all over the road. Zahara had shot them or leaned out with her sword and decapitated them as they went. There were vehicles that littered the road and the silence of their world was nearly overwhelming. It struck Xander anew, just how quiet it was without constant traffic. No aircrafts in the skies, no hum of distant machines. Nothing but the buzz and drone of insect life.

  When they got closer to town, they saw more evidence of destruction and death. Dogs ran the litter strewn streets as bodies lay decomposing. The smell was horrific and both tied bandanas over their faces. The streets and sidewalks were littered with the dead and it was difficult to tell if the dead had been zombies or some poor soul killed outright by a bullet. Dead was dead. Neither saw living people and he’d looked into windows of homes and shops but saw nothing move.

  They’d made a brief stop at a bookstore and went in. The lights were flickering and Xander wondered if the power would die soon. Their world would end once the power was well and truly gone. No internet, no access to fuel, unless he siphoned it out and that would only last for so long before the fuel went bad.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Zahara said in a sleepy voice. He shifted on the swing and she looked up and smiled.

  “I was thinking of our little adventure in town today.” He felt her body vibrate with silent laughter. He smiled.

  “I somehow doubt those assholes will challenge anymore strangers,” she said and chuckled softly.

  After the bookstore and gathering the books on gardening, they had made their way to the feed store. It was also a hardware store and Xander had wanted to look for a few extra supplies they might need. They had pulled into the surprisingly empty parking lot of the store and had gotten out. They had started walking toward the store when two men stepped out from behind stacks of pavers, long guns aimed at them. The door to the hardware store opened and a man with apple red cheeks came out, a wide smile on his face.

  “That’s far enough. This here is our store. In fact, all these stores in town are ours. If there’s something you want, well, you’ll have to pay in gold. Real gold, or silver,” the man said, the smile never wavering on his face.

  “I take it you’re the owner?” Xander said, his voice even.

  “I am now. Since there ain’t hardly anyone left alive, figured I’d step up to the plate and take control. You know, power vacuum and all.”

  “What happens if folks just don’t have the gold you want,” Zahara asked.

  The smile on the man’s face widened even more as he looked Zahara up and down. Xander had groaned internally. This wasn’t going to end well.

  “Well, I do believe in a barter system. For you little lady, I’d gladly give you what you want for a little bit of your time,” he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead, his face becoming an alarming shade of red. Xander thought the man might stroke out.

  “And what if little ol’ me doesn’t want to trade?” she asked sweetly. The weapons around them lifted and the man’s eyes narrowed.

  “Well, now that you’re here and sounds like you’re a tease, maybe I’ll just take what I want while your man watches,” he said in a nasty tone. Xander sighed and waited, he’d let Zahara deal with this since this was her favorite sport. He watched as she smiled her smile and then he nearly laughed when she began to strip in the middle of the parking lot. The men around her goggled, their eyes going to her shapely body and her assets. The apple cheeked man’s eyes widened and his mouth formed an O as she began to walk toward him naked.

  “Tell you what, you let us have anything and everything we want and I’ll not kill you all,” she said in a seductive voice. It took a moment or two for her words to register. The man’s eyes narrowed until Zahara began her change. Then the screams filled the air as the werewolf attacked. She jumped on the man in the doorway, knocking him backwards and he screamed as she clawed at his middle. Intestines flew out, landing in bloody splats around them and the other men stood frozen, horror and incredulity stamped on their faces. They started to raise their weapons and Xander shot each one of them, in their hands. Both men fell to the ground, screaming. The man with the apple cheeks lay eviscerated, body parts scattered all over the parking lot.

  Zahara stood with the man’s head wedged in her mouth and began to walk toward one of the down men. He was screaming now and he’d pissed himself as he scrambled backwards away from the creature coming at him. Zahara towered over the cowering man and dropped the bloody head in his lap.

  “My girlfriend wants you to know she didn’t appreciate being treated less than human. Anyone else comes to do some honest trading, maybe you should remember that not everyone is as nice as my girlfriend.” Xander had sauntered over to the massive werewolf and took her large hand and they went into the feed store.

  “It really was a fun ending to a shitty day,” Zahara said lazily. He lifted his head and kissed the top her of her head and eased back down on the swing. He used his hand to push off the porch floor to move the swing. It creaked pleasantly.

  “It was, I have to admit, it was very satisfying. I wonder how Ethan is doing? Rose said she had to start him on antibiotics. He has a really high fever.”

  “I’ve got a feeling he won’t live, Xander. But he was bound and determined to do it. At least Rose has Reggie and won’t be alone to manage this place.”

  “I feel really bad. Can you imagine if the government tried to turn people into werewolves? Weapons. We’d be used as weapons,” Xander said softly.

  “I think that’s why were told wh
en we first start to walk, never to tell and never to talk. I’m just as glad we can’t turn a bunch of people into what we are. I think it makes us rare and special. I’m just sorry that Ethan is paying that price,” she said.

  “It was his choice and his wish. He was correct though; it would be one hell of a weapon in his arsenal. I’ve a feeling that those idiots we dealt with in town earlier today is just the beginning. I think as time goes on and whatever supplies are out there will become coveted by the living. There’s gonna be another war, between the living for whatever they can lay their hands on. It’s going to get ugly. Werewolves are nearly indestructible,” Xander said and shifted, his back hurting from the prolonged position. He sat up and pulled Zahara in his lap.

  “We’re also damned cute too,” she laughed and snuggled up to him. His hand went up her shirt and felt the warm flesh beneath. He kissed her and grinned when he didn’t feel her bra. A soft laugh rumbled in his chest that was mixed with a soft growl.

  “I like when you growl,” Zahara said and he could taste her smile.

  Both jerked apart when the screen door opened and they saw Rose come out, her shoulders slumped.

  “Ethan died.”

  Ž

  Avery drew deep on the cigarette and coughed. He wasn’t much of a smoker but he had to do something with his hands. He could hear Bobby’s snores. He was out on the porch and his foot jiggled and he wiped at his sweating face. They had commandeered a house just before dusk. They were heading north and the trailer behind the Humvee was packed with supplies and fuel cans. After Bobby had shot his ex-wife, they had left Huntsville behind and stopped periodically through the rest of the day to gather supplies. Avery had moved like an automaton, doing as ordered. Fear was like a second skin now and Avery was torn with staying or leaving.

  They were in a gated residence and he could hear the soft moans and shuffling just outside the gate. Out there were monsters that would easily rip him apart, but inside was a monster that would surely kill him without a thought. The problem was that Avery was a coward. He didn’t want to be by himself and he was afraid of what awaited him out there in the zombie infested wasteland. Either way he was a dead man. He looked over his shoulder and his lips thinned. He had to get away from Bobby. He felt his backbone stiffen. He got up slowly and threw his cigarette into the grass. Opening the door to the house the fumes hit him. Beer.

  Bobby was a beer drinker and Avery looked over at the coffee table. The moonlight streaming through the windows glinted off the numerous empty bottles on the table. The snores filled the house and Avery smiled. He walked to the kitchen and found the keys to the Hummer. He took them and went back to the front door and left it wide open as he went to the vehicle and got in. He would have to leave quickly, if Bobby heard the Hummer’s engine, he’d be out and shoot Avery in the head or maybe in the leg like his wife. He’d leave Avery for the zombies to finish up.

  He looked on the visor and saw the gate remote. He smiled, Bobby had attached it to the visor so when they left in the morning, they could easily open the gate. Bobby had made Avery climb the gate earlier and had laughed when the zombies clawed at Avery’s legs.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll shoot ‘em in the head if they get a good grip on you. Quit your cryin’, Mary,” Bobby said and laughed as Avery scrambled over the gate. Avery felt the heat of impotent rage wash through him at the memory. He started up the Humvee and locked the doors. He pressed the remote and the gate at the end of the long driveway began to move. That drew the zombies and Avery pulled ahead. He flashed the lights and this drew more moving corpses. A grin flitted across his face. He waited until there were roughly a dozen zombies surrounding the vehicle and he slowly pulled away from them. When he got past the gate, he closed it and trapped the zombies within the property.

  He was sure with all the snoring that was going on in the bedroom, the zombies would be drawn to the noise like moths to a flame. It would only be a matter of time before the zombies found their way into the open door of the home. Avery thought it was perhaps poetic justice. He’d never been a vindictive man, he thought of himself as easygoing. Go along and get along, but what Bobby had done to his ex-wife was unforgivable and Avery couldn’t let it pass. There had to be some kind of justice and he couldn’t let Bobby out there doing that to himself or someone else. He didn’t know if the zombies would get to Bobby or not. But it would at least keep Bobby busy and maybe think about what he’d done to Esther.

  A giggle ran through him when he thought about Bobby waking up in the morning and walking out of his bedroom and finding zombies roaming the house. He sighed happily and turned down the street and away from the monsters.

  EIGHT

  Xander sat up slowly in the swing, moving Zahara off his lap. His heart thudded heavily into his chest. He had felt the world shift a bit and sorrow seeped into him.

  “He’s dead?” his voice cracked. He couldn’t believe it, though he knew it might have been a possibility when he bit Ethan. Rose nodded jerkily and turned, going back into the house. He followed her up the stairs and into the bedroom. There was a lamp beside the bed and it illuminated the gray man on the bed. Xander could feel Zahara behind him, her hands on his waist.

  “His temperature never went down and when it got up to 105, Ethan began to seize. There was nothing I could do for him. He never regained consciousness,” Rose said and began to weep. She sat heavily in the chair beside the bed. Ethan’s face was sunken, his eyes seemed to have sagged into his skull. His face and torso were drenched with sweat the fever had cause. The sheets around him were saturated and the air smelled of death and waste.

  Xander stepped forward and laid his hand on the still warm body. Rather, it was hot from the high fever. He shivered and his throat felt tight.

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work Ethan. I’m sorry you paid the heavy price,” he said softly. He took the damp sheet and pulled it up over Ethan’s still face and turned to Rose.

  “You did all you could Rose. Go to bed, I know you’re exhausted. We’ll bury him beside your uncle in the morning,” Xander said softly and helped Rose to her feet. She nodded weakly and left the room. Zahara sat on the side of the bed, placing her hand in the middle of Ethan’s chest and looked up at Xander.

  “He was an idiot. He should have left well enough alone,” she said softly, with no heat.

  “I think all agents are stubborn, that’s what makes us so effective. Agent Vector was no different. After we bury him tomorrow, I really think we need to think about heading to North Carolina and home. The power grid will be going soon, maybe another week or two but it’s gonna go. I want to be home before it does.”

  “I feel bad for leaving Rose, she’s been so nice. She’s the first woman I’ve ever liked. But she does have Reggie and Lauren is a big help as well. Alright, after we bury him tomorrow, let’s start making our plans and pack the truck. We can divide the ammo and just hit stores on the way home,” Zahara said softly and she patted the dead man’s shoulder and got up.

  Xander turned off the light and they went to their room. As they walked past Rose’s room, they heard her soft weeping. Xander felt bad for her. He wasn’t sure he would have done it any other way. Ethan was well aware of the risks and wanted it anyway. Zahara wrapped her arm around his waist and they went to their room and softly shut the door.

  It had been a solemn affair and quick. Reggie and Xander had dug the grave and the men had started digging right after breakfast. Xander had made toast and the others just sipped coffee, no one had an appetite. It took the men nearly three hours in the humid morning to get the grave deep enough that animals wouldn’t dig it up. She and Rose had washed Ethan’s body and had wrapped him in an old blanket. Reggie and Xander had lowered the body into the grave and Xander had said a few words. The children watched on silently, but there were no tears this time. Then the dirt had been thrown back into the hole and that had been the end of Agent Vector.

  Zahara wasn’t sure how she felt about it and it was a
n odd feeling. She wasn’t even sure if she liked the man, especially because he’d been sent to kill her. But he hadn’t and that had said a lot. He’d also fought beside them and it had been fun harassing him. Now he was gone and Zahara just didn’t know how to feel about it. It was so weird, because she’d never had any friends and the death of others had never bothered her. Now she had Xander, he was her friend and her lover and her animal thought of him as her mate. Had Ethan been her friend? Could they have been friends? She sighed and sat back in the rocker.

  The others sat around her, staring into space. Rose had gone upstairs to lay down. She looked torn up and Zahara felt a twinge for the woman. She had all these feeling swimming around in her and she was having a hard time processing them. Before the zombie apocalypse, her life had been fairly simple. Go to work, kill. Go for a ride, kill. No real interactions with people. No getting to know them. Now her life was tied to Xander and Shay. She was now understanding the feelings as some form of love. She didn’t love Ethan, but she did like him, after a fashion. Now he was dead and it was just weird.

  The boys were over at the swing and she heard a giggle from time to time and she smiled. Little by little, the twins were becoming children again. She’d seen Shay smile and that lightened her heart. Reggie and Xander were talking over at the end of the porch. They were planning their strategies and later, they would haul out all the ammo and see what they would keep and what they would give to Reggie. They would also divide the weapons. They would leave Ethan’s weapons here and that was good because Reggie would need the suppressors. Noise from the shots drew the zombies and they needed it quiet when it came to killing.