The Wilder Side of Z

by S A Ison

  “Mommy!” Shay buried her face into Zahara’s neck. Zahara wrapped her large muscular arms protectively around her daughter and the women stopped screaming. Xander stood now beside her.

  “Give me Shay, I’ll let you take care of this bastard. I’ll get these women out of here,” he said in a low deadly voice. Zahara handed Shay over to Xander and watched as he went to a beam that held a set of keys. Picking up the keys, he walked over to the women and unlocked their shackles. The man was on the ground, he was under an old scarred up desk that had stacks of toilet paper, soap and other cleaning supplies. Beside each bed was a five-gallon bucket and she could detect the stink of their toilet needs. Shay’s legs were clamped around Xander’s middle and she still whimpered but Zahara thought it was from relief.

  Xander escorted the women, who had blankets wrapped around them to cover their nakedness. This bastard needed to die. When Xander had taken the women out and their daughter, Zahara turned toward the man. She was going to make this slow, she was going to rip him apart piece by piece and she would make it last as long as she could.

  Xander walked the weeping women up the stone steps and he moved them around the house and away from the cellar door. He carried Shay; her warm arms secure around his neck. She was trembling and his heart was breaking at what had nearly happened. If they’d not been werewolves, they may never have found her.

  “Thank you, mister, thank you. My sweet Lord, he was crazy. He said he was goin’ to rebuild the world anew. Said we were to bring in the next generation,” the tall slender woman with brown hair said, and wept harder.

  “He was our handyman. He had worked for us for several years. We didn’t think he was crazy,” the other woman, solidly built with short blonde hair.

  They all stopped as they heard the man screaming in agony. Shay didn’t react to this; she kept her head on his shoulder and she felt her hand stroking his beard. The screams were music to his ears. The two women looked fearful toward the back of the house.

  “That’s my mommy,” Shay said and the women looked at her.

  “My mommy will make sure he don’t hurt nobody again,” Shay said softly and he heard the steel in her quiet voice. Xander squeezed her hard and kissed the top of her head.

  “That’s right, your mom will make sure that bad man never ever hurts anyone,” Xander said softly. The women walked over to an old station wagon. The short blonde opened the tailgate and sat down on it, securing the thin blanket about her. The cicadas were buzzing loudly but could not mask the screams coming from behind the house. Xander stood rocking Shay as he waited for Zahara to finish. Then it was quiet and slowly, the birds began to chirp questioningly. Xander turned when Zahara walked around the house, bloody and naked. The women gasped and then looked at Xander for explanation.

  “Werewolf,” he said and shrugged, the hint of a smile playing over his lips. When Zahara reached him, Shay let go of him and reached for her. Zahara took her daughter in her arms and hugged her to her, her face buried in the child’s neck. He heard Zahara’s soft weeping and felt his own eyes tear up. He’d never seen or heard Zahara cry and he swallowed hard.

  “Thank you, for saving us,” the tall sender woman said.

  “You’re welcome to come to the place we found to stay the night. Maybe get cleaned up,” Xander offered.

  “No. Thank you, we’ve a farm about seven miles east of here. Mr. Lister was our handyman. He invited us here, said it was safer if we banded together. He said he would take care of our stock and we could survive better. We were hesitant at first, but then we kept seeing more of those zombies. He invited us to come check out his place. He drugged us and chained us down in that hole,” she said and a sob tore through her.

  “He won’t be bothering anyone else,” Zahara said, a soft smile on her face as she wiped at her cheeks.

  “We’ll go and see what we can salvage from his house and we’ll head home. Thank you again,” the blonde said.

  “Look, the place we’re staying is empty. I’m not sure what’s there but you might want to scavenge all that you can. Whatever has happened to this country is long term. I suggest you start gathering supplies in bulk over the next few days. I think the power grid is about to go down. We’ve seen indications that say it will,” Xander said.

  The women looked at each other and then nodded.

  “We will. We’ll look for others and maybe we can band together,” the blonde said.

  “Just be careful who you bring into your fold,” Zahara said and turned with Shay in her arms. She began to turn back into the wolf, walking barefoot in the forest was painful and the two women watched as the vicious monster took her baby into the woods and the blond man followed. Xander smiled when he heard the tall woman whisper.

  “Dang, I wish I could do that. I’d have torn that old asshole to pieces.”

  Ž

  Reggie and Ethan were at the front of the property, reinforcing the fence. It was late morning and they’d been working since just after dawn. Later, they would begin building platforms for the new solar panels. Last night the lights had flickered in the house and had dimmed. All agreed that the power would be dying very soon. Perhaps a day or two but then their part of the country would go dark. That meant that the living who didn’t yet have their shit together were in for a painful wakeup call. As if a zombie apocalypse wasn’t enough, now, the ability to draw water, cook and use appliances was going to end. If they didn’t have enough fuel stored, transportation was going to be a problem.

  Ethan stopped and pulled a rag from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his face. He looked at his truck and smiled. There were seven five-gallon fuel cans in the bed of the truck. In the barn were even more fuel cans. At least for the foreseeable future, they had gas for the trucks.

  “Here Uncle Ethan,” Mike said as he held up a bottle of water. Luke and Mike were helping with the fencing.

  “Thanks, Mike,” he said and took the proffered bottle and drank deeply. It was hot as hell and muggy. He was not used to this heat and humidity and Rose had warned him to drink plenty of water. Reggie had also picked up sports drinks to help augment with the loss of fluids. Last night on his patrol he’d found an eighteen-wheeler. He’d found the rig empty. It took a bit of time and he had to use his wolf’s night vision but he got the rig hotwired and started. There was roughly a quarter of a tank of fuel left and he drove the rig home. He gritted his teeth while he grinded the gears and nearly stalled three times. He’d never driven one and it was nothing like driving his truck.

  He wished that there had at least been keys but the vehicle moved along. He wasn’t sure of the gears but when the truck began to whine, he shifted and it seemed to smooth out. He probably should have gotten Reggie to help him but he wanted to get it back to the farm. He’d run over a few zombies as he went. He didn’t bother slowing down and bumped along. He had to slow when he came to turns since he’d never moved such a massive vehicle. He held his breath at each turn but made it. He didn’t want to try to back the damned thing up. It took him nearly an hour to get back and he was surprised that he was nearly twenty miles away from home. He didn’t think he’d gone so far, but running as a werewolf was exhilarating.

  Getting out of the rig, he’d opened the gate and driven through. He was climbing out of the rig to shut the gate when Reggie came running up with his AR-15. The mutt from the neighbor’s home was with him. The boys had named him Rufus. The dog had shown up a day after Xander had set him free and hadn’t left. His wolf wasn’t sure how he felt about the dog.

  “What in the hell?” Reggie asked, a wide smile on his tired face.

  “Found it out on the highway. Figured I’d bring it back and park it near the barn. We can break into it later and see what we have. Then we can fill it with our nonperishables and lock it up,” Ethan said smiling. Reggie had laughed and smacked him on the back. Ethan climbed back into the rig as Reggie closed the gate. Then Reggie climbed up onto the running board and Ethan drove to the barn. Etha
n was brought out of his daydreaming by the boys as they ran toward Rose, who was followed by Lauren. Rose carried a tray of sweet ice tea and it looked wonderful.

  “Miss Rose, you sure know the way to a man’s heart,” Reggie said and took off his work gloves.

  “Is it always so damned hot?” Ethan asked and both Reggie and Rose laughed. He looked at them confused.

  “Son, this is mild weather. This ain’t even near hot,” Reggie said, taking a glass and drinking the dark sweet liquid.

  “Ah shit,” Ethan said and then looked at the boys, who were wearing the large work gloves, ignoring the adults.

  “Sorry, got to watch that,” he said and grinned. Rose shrugged and smiled.

  “No, today is mild. Sometimes you can’t hardly breathe it’s so hot. With no air conditioning, we’ll all be gettin’ used to sitting around when it’s too hot to move,” Rose said and set the tray on a large spool of wiring. Ethan thought she looked pretty in the light cotton blouse and shorts.

  “Maybe later go for a swim in the pond?” he asked and the boys crowed and hopped around.

  “I expect we’ll be doing a lot of that as we head into July and August. I think we’d better get the solar panels up sooner rather than later and maybe pick up a few more fans on our next trip out,” Reggie said.

  “I think you’re right. I think if we can keep air movin’ through the house, it won’t be as bad. I’m also setting up an outdoor kitchen. Lauren is helping,” Rose said and they looked at Lauren, who blushed, a smile hovering on her lips.

  “That’s a good idea. Let me know if you need me to build you some kind of structure, especially for the rain,” Reggie offered.

  “Thank Reg, maybe after you boys get done with the fencing and solar panels, you could do something. For now, I’m fine.” They stood in companionable silence and drank their tea. Then Ethan turned his head and looked at the other two.

  “What?” Reggie asked.

  “I hear a truck, someone’s coming this way,” Ethan said.

  “I don’t hear anything,” Rose said. Ethan lifted an eyebrow and she laughed with an oh yeah, expression. Ethan picked up his waist holster with the Walther PPQ and stuck it into the back of his shorts. Reggie picked up his AR-15 and slung it over his shoulder and they waited for the truck to reach them. In the distance they saw a plume of road dust lift. The truck wasn’t going fast.

  “Boys, you come stand with me,” Rose said and backed up a few steps. Mike and Luke went immediately to her, knowing her tone. The children had learned quickly how to follow orders. Though young, they inherently understood their lives depended on them listening to the adults. Lauren went to stand by Rose, her arms going around the older woman’s waist. Rose put her arm around Lauren’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. Ethan smiled and turned his attention to the truck that was now in sight. He saw that there were two men in the bed of the truck and they were standing and there were two men in the cab. The men standing held weapons, hunting rifles, from what he could tell. He couldn’t see what the men inside the truck carried.

  The man driving lifted a hand out the window, waving. Both men standing in the bed of the truck lifted their hands in greeting. Ethan examined their faces, looking for signs of ill intent. He trusted no one, especially when it came to the lives of the ones he cared about. He calculated the time it would take to change and attack. He knew Reggie would take care of any that he couldn’t get to. He smiled remembering when Reggie had said wolf at the dealership. Wolf indeed.

  “Howdy, how y’all doin’ today?” the man in the passenger’s seat called out of the window. The old gray Ford pulled up in front of the fence they were augmenting.

  “Fair ta middlin’. You?” Reggie asked. Ethan kept his mouth shut; he didn’t want his northern roots to show.

  “Is this Richard Duncan’s place?” the man asked, his tone still friendly and Ethan put him to near sixty-five. His face was weathered by sun and working out in the fields or garden.

  “Yes sir, it’s my Uncle Dickie’s place. He was killed by those zombie things. Is that you, Mr. Jenner? It’s me, Rose,” she said, coming forward with a smile. Ethan felt his shoulders relax a fraction.

  “Rosy? Good Lord girl, it’s been a minute. You’ve grown,” Mr. Jenner said and laughed. He opened the door and the old door squeaked loudly in protest.

  “Yes sir, it has been a bit. We were in Huntsville when everything went to hell in a handbasket. My friends and I came here but we were too late,” she said softly.

  “I sure am sorry. This here is my boys, Larry, Howard, and Ronny. We’re out seein’ what’s what. Some folk been sayin’ there’s a wolf or animal in the area. We’re huntin’ it,” Mr. Jenner said and Ethan felt a cold chill wash over him.

  “Oh, we seen that wolf,” Reggie said, a wide smile on his face.

  “Mr. Jenner, this is Reggie, that’s Ethan and they are Mike, Luke and Lauren,” Rose said and she looked to Reggie. He nodded slightly.

  “Yes, we saw the wolf a few miles from here. It was killing those zombies. The creature seemed to hate them. We just left it alone,” Ethan now spoke up. The men looked toward him and he wondered if it were his norther accent.

  “He’s right. It was a thing of beauty. That wolf just tore through them zombies like they was paper. It saw me and Ethan and heck, was about thirty feet away but didn’t seem to want to bother with us,” Reggie said.

  “We saw the wolf,” Mike and Luke chimed in and Ethan’s heart froze in his chest. Would the kids divulge the secret?

  “I saw the wolf here,” Lauren said, her hands on the boys’ shoulders and Ethan saw her squeeze. The boys shut their mouths.

  “You did? Were you afraid, young lady?” Mr. Jenner asked.

  “No sir. I saw it was out in the back field. There was two of those zombies back there. It tore them apart. The wolf came close and I let it sniff me. I petted it,” she said, a sweet smile on her face. The four men in the truck looked stunned.

  “Well, sounds like that wolf is a good thing to have around maybe,” Larry said from atop the truck, his brother Howard, standing beside him nodded.

  “Yeap. It seems this wolf creature hates the zombies and is tearing through them. Maybe let folks around these parts know that if they see a wolf creature, to let it be. It might clear up our zombie problem,” Reggie suggested.

  “You don’t think it might try to get our livestock?” Ronny said from the truck, his large hands on the steering wheel.

  “We were at the next property over and saw the wolf in the horses’ pasture. There were zombies in there and they’d killed one of the horses. The other two horses were trying to keep away from the zombies. That wolf killed the zombies and left the horses alone. Our cow and goats haven’t been bothered. I’d say the animals are safe enough, it’s just the zombies that have to worry about getting torn to pieces.” Ethan took a drink of water. He was sweating hard but not from the heat. He really didn’t want to get shot in wolf form. He knew from Xander that he would heal, but still.

  “Alright then. That’ll save us on ammo. We been killin’ them things right and left. Be nice not to have to waste a bullet when we got somethin’ that’s takin’ care of the problem,” Mr. Jenner said rubbing his jaw.

  “That’s a good idea with the fence,” Ronny said and nodded to the wire and the solar set up for the electric fence.

  “Thanks, we’re hopin’ to discourage the zombies should they wander down this way,” Reggie said.

  “Got that right. My boys moved in with me and their momma. Brought grandkids too. The house if full but they’re all safe and that’s what’s important. Our place is ten miles due east of here, over on Ducklet Road. Big farm so it’s nice to have the extra hands,” Mr. Jenner said and grinned up at his sons. Ethan smiled. They had neighbors of a sort.

  “Rachel Abila, over west of us is alone. Zombies got her family. Reggie and Ethan have been checkin’ on her and she’s doin’ okay. Maybe y’all could swing by?” Rose suggested.
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  “Well sure, we can do that. Y’all need anything, just swing on by. You’re welcome anytime and I’ll spread the word ta leave any dogs, wolves or foxes alone. Whatever is out there killing zombies will help in the long run,” Mr. Jenner said and lifted a hand in farewell. He got back in his truck and the men waved. The dust rose around them and they watched as the vehicle turned around a curve and disappeared.

  “Think I’ll be okay?” Ethan asked cautiously.

  “I think so. If they think the wolf is workin’ for them, I’m pretty sure they’ll leave you alone. You also know where they live now. Just stay away from that area,” Rose said.

  “Maybe I’ll keep my patrols to a five-mile radius. I don’t think I need to go any farther than that.”

  “Good idea. I know Xander said you’d heal, but I don’t think I’d want to test that theory,” Rose said and picked up the tray off the wire bundle.

  “Thanks again for the tea, Miss Rose,” Reggie said and put his work gloves back on.

  “Lunch will be in about an hour. Make sure you wash up,” she called over her shoulder. The twins were running ahead of her to the house. She now wore a holster around her waist. It held her uncle’s .38 special. They would be teaching Lauren how to handle a weapon and start practice. Once the boys were a little older, they too would be taught weapons safety and handling. It was a new world and even children had to know how to defend themselves.

  “I think I had ten years just scared off my life,” Ethan said as he picked up the wire cutters.

  “I dang near shit myself,” Reggie said and laughed.

  Ž

  They were getting close to home and Zahara was weary of the road. Now that she had a place to call home, that was all she wanted to do was to get there and never leave. Shay was asleep across her lap and she looked out the window into the rural North Carolina landscape. Shay had a nightmare the previous night, her run in with Mr. Lister had shaken the little girl. She’d slept between them last night. She felt the heat of rage try to bubble up but she tamped it down. She didn’t need to change in the truck. A soft smiled pulled at her lips. Shay had called her mommy. Her heart ached and swelled at the same time. She’d also called Xander, papa. Xander had gotten a funny look on his face and a sweet smile had lit him up from within.