Zombies were roaming around, lost in their own world. They never seem to have an actual goal until they come into sight with something they want. Staying out of sight wasn’t an issue. Logan stood by and watched over me as I slid my knife into their brains one at a time. He even shouted as one took notice and became too close. My elbow sunk into the facial bones of the roamer and it stumbled backwards to the ground. I turned around and placed my boot further into its skull until the twitching stopped.
“I hope you can clean all of that off your boot. It’s going to stink,” Logan chuckled.
“I would rather have the brain matter on the bottom of my boot instead of its teeth in my skin,” I replied.
“Who wouldn’t rather have that, but just remember that scent is going to stay with you unless you wash it off,” Logan said.
“I will worry about that once we check out the church. Kiere could have been here.” I kneeled down toward the grass and said, “From the tracks left around here, they weren’t placed by zombies. They are more placed than stumbled. The footprints are a bit faded. All of these zombies are adults but right here, there is a smaller footprint keeping pace with the others. It seems they were here possibly three days to a week ago.”
Logan kneeled down next to me and asked, “How do you know for sure, when did you become a tracker?”
I looked up at Logan and answered, “You learn a lot in the military, and plus providing food for a whole community forces you to track animals.”
I looked closer at another set of footprints and noticed they were fresh. They weren’t more than a couple of hours pressed. I pulled my gun from its holster and aimed it towards the church. Slowly treading through the tall grass, I kept my focus on the weathered building with a broken steeple. I rested upon the wall near the door as Logan stood next to me.
“Are you going to do your countdown thing before you go in,” Logan asked.
“Shut up, I don’t always do that,” I said.
In my head I did count to three. Logan began laughing. “What’s so funny,” I asked.
“You counted,” Logan said.
After a short gaze of disapproval to Logan I slowly pushed the door open and stepped in. The sun shined through the dirt covered windows and the church smelled of mildew. The roof contained gapped holes and birds flew across the corridors. The pews were covered in blankets. Piles of pillows, clothes and tents were across the floor. They seemed to not have been used in a week except for a pile that was neatly folded located at the altar.
“Logan, you go around the far wall, I will cut through the middle. Someone has been staying here recently,” I whispered.
Carefully taking steps while looking around the room I saw bibles tossed around, old crushed empty cans scattered and loose flowing paper. Logan walked along the wall sliding his hand across the mahogany wood. The big golden cross shimmered as he passed it and he halted with half a step to go. His arm rose from his side and he pointed to the back door that was slightly open. A shadow was passing through the small crack. I aimed my gun towards the door and steadily walked towards it.
I stopped just before I reached the door and Logan said, “Don’t you dare count again.”
I took a deep breath and forcefully pressed my foot against the door. I pushed too hard and too fast because the door fell off its hinges.
Logan and I stormed in and I yelled, “Put your hands up now!”
The woman’s hands rose to the air and shards of porcelain scattered across the floor. A short squeal came from her voice as she shook in fear.
“Who are you,” I asked as my gun stayed pointed at her. She didn’t answer. “Turn around slowly,” I demanded.
The woman turned and faced me while keeping her head down. She wasn’t older than twenty-five with scars down her arm and burgundy hair covering her face. Her slender body gave shape to the tight shirt that caressed her. As her body halted, I noticed the bracelet she was wearing. It was a black braided wrist band with a Celtic Infinity charm on the top of it. Kiere was wearing the exact bracelet before she was taken from me. My hand gripped tighter around the handle and my finger began to tremble on the trigger.
“Where is my daughter,” I yelled, and it echoed in the room.
The woman jumped in terror and began to cry.
“That is Kiere’s bracelet, where is she,” I yelled once again.
“I don’t know who Kiere is,” she stuttered.
“You are wearing her bracelet!”
“I just found this yesterday on the floor,” she replied.
“Don’t lie to me,” I yelled as she covered her face with her hands and screamed.
“I swear I’m not lying,” she said behind her cry.
Logan ran up to my side and said, “Atlas, she is telling the truth.”
“How do you know she’s telling the truth.”
“I am telling you the truth,” the girl said.
“I’m not talking to you,” I yelled at her once again.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” she replied.
I turned to Logan while keeping my gun aimed towards her and said, “If you can honestly tell me how you know she is telling the truth then I will listen.”
“You know me; I was always good at reading people. That is why I was always able to not allow rejection to get to me. I knew it was coming. Even though it was a joke tactic and I just like to have fun with it. It was still a talent I had none the less and was ninety nine percent correct. This girl does not know where Kiere is. She is just alone and scared. She is a scavenger,” Logan replied.
“Yes, Logan I know what your talents were, but she is wearing Kiere’s bracelet,” I yelled.
“You aren’t seeing the truth Atlas. She is a scared woman. How would you feel if a strange man pointed a gun at Kiere or Aurora and demanded answers they didn’t know,” Logan asked.
“Please sir, don’t kill me. I’ll do whatever you want, just please don’t,” she begged.
I looked at her face as tears ran down her eyes. Her fingers clutched into fists as she continued to shake.
“Stop crying. I’m not going to kill you. I just want to know where you got my daughters bracelet,” I informed.
“Like I said before, I found it,” she answered.
“Where did you find it?”
As she pointed towards the makeshift tent in the corner she said, “Over there.”
I walked towards the tent and opened the zip door. There were molded peaches spilled onto a blanket. Clothes tossed around a sleeping bag and a busted battery-operated lantern. I surveyed through the tent, but there was nothing else there.
“So, you are looking for your daughter,” she asked.
“Yes. She was taken from me by the people that were here,” I replied.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized.
I walked back towards the girl while placing my gun to the holster. “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry for pointing my gun at you. I’m just looking for Kiere,” I replied.
As I walked past the woman and into the room she said, “My name is Farrah.”
“Atlas,” I replied as I pushed old boxes and containers onto the floor.
“Nice to meet you Atlas,” she replied. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” I answered while searching around the room for more clues.
“Who were you talking to when you said you weren’t talking to me,” Farrah asked as she kept her distance from me.
“I was talking to Logan,” I answered.
Farrah looked around the room and stared back to me. “I don’t see anyone here but us.”
I proceeded to point to her right where Logan was standing, but she seemed to not acknowledge his presence. I looked at Logan and he smiled while shrugging his shoulders.
“Right,” I said and changed the subject. “Do you know where the people that were here went to?”
“I don’t know who they were. I just came across this place,” Farrah answered.
“Are you on y
our own,” I asked while searching through more things in the room.
“I have been alone for a while. Never found a camp I liked. When it started, I was with my family in Nashville. The city become overrun with the dead, but there were also some really weird things going on,” Farrah replied. “Me and my family escaped only to be separated during a raid in a small town called Celina. We had never been there before, but it was a little community.”
“So, you’re from Tennessee? I used to have family there,” I replied.
“Yea. Born and raised,” Farrah replied.
“So, what happened to the other people,” I asked.
“Unfortunately, a group of people with red crosses painted on their faces came in and tried recruiting people. Took a lot of them. Killed the rest.”
I stopped searching through the room and stared at Farrah. “Red crosses?”
“Yes. It was a tattoo. All of them had one. After they raided the town a man in a black trench coat looking like a dirty cowboy approached everyone in the group that was rounded together and began demanding that we join him. He kept saying it was God’s will,” Farrah explained.
“Was this man named Warren Cross,” I asked.
“I honestly don’t remember, but that sounds familiar,” Farrah answered. “I swore I also seen him when we left Nashville, but I wasn’t certain. My father snuck me into the countryside in the middle of the night when they came and I have been on my own ever since,” Farrah said as she began picking up clothes.
“Why didn’t your parents come with you,” I asked while watching her search through items in the church’s main hall.
“They had my little brother in a different housing and couldn’t leave without him. My dad said he would find me again, but I never saw him. That was over a year ago. So, since then I have just been walking not knowing where I was going or what happened to them,” Farrah said as she stuffed her bag with a shirt.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied.
“It’s okay. I just believe they are out there looking for me. I may one day find them again,” Farrah said.
I looked over at Logan which was standing near her. I could tell why he was staring at me. He raised his eyebrows and pointed his head towards Farrah. I shook my head no, but Logan kept insisting without using words.
“Farrah, the same people that took my daughter are the same ones that captured your family. This location seems to be one of their resting points,” I explained.
“So, this is where they stayed,” Farrah asked.
“Yes. That bracelet you’re wearing was my daughters. They had her here and now I’m going to track them farther south. I believe they are heading back towards Tennessee,” I replied as Farrah stared at me.
“I can join you if you’d like. I’ll help you look for your daughter and maybe I can go back towards the south to find my family,” Farrah offered. “Walking alone for so long becomes lonely and can make you go crazy. Plus, I am a decent tracker. My grandmother was a hardcore Cherokee Indian, so she taught me a couple things.”
“Did she teach you how to shoot a weapon,” I asked.
“No, but my father did. He was a cop in North Carolina before I was born. He took me to the gun range every day during the summer before college,” Farrah added. “He said I’ll never need a man to protect me. But it doesn’t hurt to have one around is what I told him.”
“Your father is a smart man,” I replied. “Here, shoot this can,” I said as I placed an old soup can on a far pew towards the wall. I walked back to Farrah and handed her my pistol. “If you can hit that then...” The gun shot interrupted me as the can fell to the ground. “Not bad. Get your stuff together.”
Farrah handed me my gun and began gathering more clothes until she ran her hand across her shirt. “This shirt is a bit nasty.” Farrah gripped the bottom of the shirt and lifted it off her body. I quickly turned my head away from her and stared at the wall where Logan was standing. His eyes never averted from her.
“Logan, have some respect,” I whispered.
Logan smiled and whispered, “Dude she’s hot. I wish I weren’t dead because I would definitely be on that. Do you think she would actually say yes to my hypothetical question?”
“Dude, seriously,” I said while chuckling.
“Oh, I’m sorry. This is your daughter’s bracelet,” Farrah said as she handed it to me over my shoulder.
I gripped the bracelet and traced the Celtic pattern with my thumb. Kiere always loved that bracelet. She said it was a sign of infinite wisdom between God and man. “If there was no wisdom, then the world would be lost” was her quote. Very smart girl for her age. I believe she gets her knowledge from Aurora more than me. I placed the bracelet into my bag. After Farrah got dressed, we all walked out of the church. We journeyed down the hill and began tracking the men again. Weeks passed as we tracked further south searching for Kiere. I thought it was only going to be me and Logan for the longest time. As much as I love having conversations with Logan, it was good to have someone else with us. Logan kept the chatter between us on low key so Farrah wouldn’t think I was truly crazy. I’m certain he was smitten by her, and just remained speechless because he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.
Chapter 14
“You have got to stop watching her all of the time,” I said as I cleaned my gun.
“It’s not like she can see me staring at her. She is one fine looking woman,” Logan said.
“You are not real. She is. There is literally nothing you can do with her,” I replied.
“Think of it like this. Me watching her is me protecting her. Wherever she goes, and if she becomes in danger, then I am there to help her.” Logan replied.
“That is called stalking Logan.”
“I see it more as protective shadowing without her knowing,” Logan corrected.
“Do you need a bush to hide behind or a pair of binoculars to watch from a far,” I asked as I assembled my weapon.
“Atlas,” Farrah yelled from the river. “There are a lot of fish down here. Maybe we could catch some lunch.”
“You see how that works. She yelled my name,” I said as I patted Logan on the shoulder before standing from the rock.
“That’s only because she doesn’t know I’m here. Once again! Protective shadowing,” Logan replied.
I stepped closer to the riverbank as Farrah stood in the water. “Look at all of these fish. Do you have a pole or a spear we can catch them with?”
“You don’t need anything to catch a fish,” I said as I walked into the water.
I watched the movements of the fish as they swam all around my ankles. I reached my hands into the water and one slid through my hands.
“You’re going to catch it with your bare hands,” Farrah asked.
“Yep. Didn’t your grandmother ever teach you how to fish without instruments?”
“She was really old. All she did was sit in a rocking chair and talk about the good old days,” Farrah replied.
“Well, part of them good old days was learning to fish with just your hands,” I said before gripping a fish. “Here catch.”
Farrah reached for the fish as I tossed it in the air. It slid through her hands and landed back in the water.
“You have to do better than that Farrah.”
“Oh, come on. I didn’t,” Farrah said right before she disappeared in the water.
“Farrah,” I said but didn’t see her. “Logan! Where’d she go?”
“Under the water,” Logan yelled.
I searched around but I couldn’t find her. “Farrah!”
“Atlas,” Farrah yelled from downstream.
I turned and saw her struggling to keep her head above water. I stepped onto the bank and ran further down the river along the shore. Farrah’s head would submerse from the water only to be dragged back down. Our distance between each other became shorter, and I dove into the water. As I swam downstream to catch her, I saw what caused her to go under. A zombie had
been floating under the surface and grabbed her ankle as it past. I swam to Farrah and saw her struggling to kick the zombie off of her. I swam behind it before I gripped its head and shoved my knife into its skull. Its grasp loosened and Farrah swam to the top. I shoved the floating body towards the bottom of the river and swam to the surface. Air hit my lungs as I broke through the water and grabbed Farrah’s hand. We swam to the shore and rested against the muddy bank.
“Holy shit,” Farrah said as she was catching her breath.
“Yeah. Holy shit is right,” I replied.
“I did not expect that,” Farrah continued.
“That is something I did not prepare for. Those bastards can survive in water,” I said while resting my hand on my chest.
“Thank you so much,” Farrah said just before jumping onto me and wrapping her arms around my neck.
“Don’t mention it,” I said as I kept my arms resting on the mud.
“Atlas, can I ask you something,” Farrah asked while she was hugging me. “Is there a reason I’m feeling something move inside your pants?”
“What?” I moved Farrah off of me and looked down to see my pocket moving frantically.
Farrah rested on her knees as I reached into my pocket only to pull out a fish trying to swim away.
“Oh wow,” Farrah said as she laughed uncontrollably. “Not what I expected, but at least you caught us some food.”
“Yep. I’ve got skills,” I said as I tossed the fish above my head to the grass. “All right. Time to go back to camp and cook that baby up.”
Farrah stood from her knees and reached her arm to grip my hand. As she lifted me from the ground, she gave me another hug. “Thank you again.” She placed a subtle kiss on my cheek before grabbing the fish and walking back to camp.
Z.E.D.S. Series (Book 2): Z.E.D.S. Wayward Son Page 12
