Hunting Party
Still Alive Series #3
By Leigh Ann Scott
For Tami
©L. Michele Scott/Leigh Ann Scott
Cover Art by J Ash B Design
Published by Leigh Ann Scott
[email protected]
https://lmichelescott.wordpress.com/
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents are fictitious and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, actual events, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
This is the third volume of Still Alive: A Lesbian Love Story in an Undead World, which is in serial format. Each part can be purchased individually as they become available for sale.
Chapter One
The car vibrated and hummed, lulling Jaimee into a restful sleep while she lie next to Diane in the back of the SUV. When the motor unexpectedly cut off, they both awakened, Diane quickly sitting up and looking for the reason why the vehicle had stopped. Jaimee winced while attempting to roll onto her side to peer out the window. After the vicious beating the man had given her the day before, she was surprised she could move at all.
Or has it been two days? More? I have no idea. Time blurred together for Jaimee since the attack and she was not positive how much had passed. She knew that she had been unconscious on and off.
Sitting up and draping an arm over the front seat, Diane asked, “Tori, what’s going on? Why have we stopped?”
Putting the car into park and pulling up the emergency brake, Tori pointed through the windshield at a group of vehicles blocking any further progress along the freeway.
Jaimee pushed herself up onto her elbows. Pain lanced through her ribs and she fell back onto the nest of clothing and blankets. Muttering, “Ok, that’s not going to work.”
Diane placed a hand on her shoulder, caressing it. “For now, stay put. It looks like we need to clear some cars blocking the way. We’re in that hilly area on the map and there’s very little to no shoulder space on the road. Be back in a little bit.”
Tori opened the driver side door and grabbed a few small weapons from the front seat. “Gotta bring these as there are some zombies shuffling around still. Just relax Jaimee. It’s best for now if you don’t move around too much.”
The two able bodied women exited the car and closed the doors behind them leaving Jaimee to ponder what had happened since her run in with the violent enemies near the fire station in Riverside. Clearly, they had abandoned their old safe hold, but Jaimee was not sure if the others drove them out, or if her group of survivors left on their own accord. She remembered being caught by three men near the firehouse with Diane and trying to buy time for her to escape.
It obviously worked since I’m here and not dead in a ditch somewhere or worse, a captive. She recalled seeing Diane round the corner and head out of sight with one of the men yards behind. I don’t remember a whole lot after that. Just flashes of pain and waking up on and off. I feel like shit right now, and could use something to make me feel less pain. A stiff drink? Some meds? At least I’m alive.
Jaimee found she could push herself up from her right hip without an excruciating amount of pain if done slowly. After long moments, she propped an arm below her and could see over the lip of the side windows in the car. Nothing much was happening on one side of the car. She could see the cement center divider and the tops of cars on the other side of the highway. In the other direction sat a burnt out car and hill. The grass and wildflowers grew green and bright yellow from recent rains, giving the hillside a fuzzy, colorful glow. From her viewpoint, she could not see what was going on directly in front of the SUV she rested in, but heard voices and the metal grinding against metal and asphalt.
A warning throb of pain made Jaimee lower her body back down, sighing and wishing she could do more than simply lay there like an invalid. “I’m not used to having to rely on anybody, but damn…I don’t have much choice.”
She considered her short history with Diane, Tori, Henry, Tom, Blanca and Bobby in comparison with others she met up with after the world went to hell. At least I think this group is pretty capable. We’ve been in some tight spots together and survived – unlike others.
Eventually she heard footsteps outside the car. The backdoor opened and Bobby popped his head inside.
“Hey Jaimee! Nice to see you awake!” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “How ya feeling?”
She shook her head and smirked, “Like crap, but better than before.”
A car started and Bobby glanced outside. “I better move it. Henry’s impatient to get going again. We had to shove some cars out of the way. Had to kill off a couple walking corpses too. They didn’t like their cars moved I guess. Whatever!” He waved as Tori and Diane entered the car, and shut the door. “Talk to you later!”
Bobby never failed to bring a smile to Jaimee’s face. She never had a sibling, but felt that if younger brothers were as easy going as Bobby was, she would not have minded having one.
Peering over the front seat, Diane asked, “Everything ok? Did you want to try sitting up front or…?”
Jaimee shook her head negatively. “Not yet. I tried sitting up and it hurts like a bitch. In fact, laying here isn’t comfortable either.”
“Give her a couple Tylenol Diane.” Tori started the car. “I’d give you something stronger, like Vicodin, but I’m afraid of giving you something like that right now. You had a concussion, and I’m not sure you should be taking those just yet.”
Climbing into the back, Diane rummaged in one of the haversacks and pulled out a bottle of pills. She handed Jaimee a bottle of water and two tablets. “These should at least take the edge off.”
Taking the medicine and a long drink from the water bottle while sitting up once again, Jaimee watched as Tori maneuvered the SUV around the stalled and abandoned cars on the freeway. Progress was slow and halting at times, but with a little luck, she believed they might make it out of the hills before sundown.
Diane helped her recline once more and joined her lying down. The bruising on Jaimee’s face was still fresh, but not as swollen as it was when they left the fire station with the cars earlier in the morning. Hours spent on the road had gotten the little party into the hills beyond Moreno Valley along the freeway with the goal of making it out before nightfall.
So far, there was no sign of pursuit. Chances are that we made it out of the area before any of the enemy came scouting for us. One of the guys that attacked Jaimee and me got away. I’m sure he came back to the area by now with his buddies. I doubt they’d come looking for us this far out, unless they had seen where we went. Diane flopped on her side and propped her head up on her hand.
“Jaimee,” she said softly. “You saved us back there. Thank you.”
Taking a short breath, Jaimee reached out to touch Diane. “I’m just glad you got away. If you hadn’t…”
“I know. We’d be dead, or worse.” Diane gazed at the sky through a side window. “It was close though. Too close. I…I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Forcing herself to look back at Jaimee’s battered face, she continued. “You were hurt so bad – you still are. This is the first time you’ve been conscious enough to carry on a conversation.”
Jaimee nodded, “I know. I made a stupid mistake and that lapse almost cost us our lives.”
“A mistake?”
“Yeah, we shouldn’t have been screwing around – especially since we knew that other group was out there.” Jaimee stopped and waved a h
and when she saw Diane’s hurt expression. “No. No, I don’t mean us making love was a mistake. I mean that we should have been smart about it and waited for a safe area. I blame myself, always thinking with my…”
“There is no safe area! Not anymore.” Diane cut her off. “I agree we probably should have been cautious because of running into those guys a few days earlier, but there’s never going to be a safe and secure area. Well, if there is, it will never be private.”
The car thumped loudly over something in the road, making Jaimee grimace as she felt it through her sore ribcage.
“Sorry!” Tori called from the driver’s seat. “Rotting corpse roadkill!”
Jaimee began to rub a hand over her face and stopped. It was itching and driving her mad, but she knew the more she kept from touching the cuts and bruises, the faster they would heal. “Ah hell. We shouldn’t argue. You’re right and we have to tell people, that is if they haven’t already figured things out. I didn’t live through a fricking zombie apocalypse to go back to living in the closet. No thanks!”
Snickering, Diane agreed and turned to find the box with first aid supplies. “Definitely. We’ll have a sit down with everyone after you heal up some. I need to clean up your cuts again. Trying to help them not get infected.” She pulled out clean cloth and hydrogen peroxide. “I only wish we had ice to put on that swelling and get it down more. All I can do is a cool compress.”
As Diane pressed the peroxide saturated cloth onto her wounds, Jaimee flinched and complained as it burned any infection away. She sucked in her breath and waited until the sting faded.
“How bad is it?” she asked. “My face I mean.”
“Well, Tori said once we have the swelling under control, we’d know more.” Diane gingerly patted the wounds dry with a dry, clean cloth. “You look very purple and blue right now, but I bet you heal up nicely.”
“No scars to brag about then?” Jaimee said, half-teasing and half-serious.
“Oh, maybe a couple, but you’ll still be pretty hot looking.” Diane quipped.
Trying not to laugh, because of the soreness in her ribs, Jaimee smiled and let herself relax into the motion of the vehicle. Even though she was sure she had plenty of rest in the last twenty-four hours or so, she already felt her energy waning. It was warm and comfortable in the car, lulling her into a restful state.
“You look as tired as I feel.” Diane said nestling against Jaimee. “Do you mind if I join you for a short nap. Until the next road blockage?”
Softly, Jaimee responded and traced fingers along Diane’s neck and shoulder. “I’d love that.”
*****
Hours later found the convoy of three cars on the other side of the hills with failing daylight. The asphalt widened again to allow more shoulder space to maneuver around obstacles. The sides of the road slanted down into green copses of trees and underbrush, some muddy with recent rains, some dry with better drainage. Bursts of yellow wildflowers peppered the meadow.
A short, paved side road exited the freeway and hid behind oak trees and brush before looping back to rejoin the main artery to head east. The sun was setting behind them, lowering its warmth onto the tips of the tall hills. They parked their three vehicles behind the trees and cleared the area of any wandering undead before setting up camp. Bobby and Diane walked off into the trees and underbrush, gathering branches and twigs to start a campfire while Blanca hefted large rocks and arranged them in a circle to contain the wood while it burned. Henry checked the cars and carried a gas container to each, doling out a gallon or two in each tank.
Tori led Jaimee to a chair near the fire and made her sit while examining her ribs and other injuries. “Does it hurt when I press here?” she said while prodding fingers into various locations along her torso.
“Ow – yes!” Jaimee squawked again. She lost track of how many sore spots Tori had managed to find. Some were down right excruciating. It was frustrating to Jaimee not being able to help as she was used to doing with the group, but she knew that until her ribs at least mended, she would not be of much use to anyone. Tori’s poking only served to remind Jaimee of this uselessness. “Ok, ow – ok stop!”
“Hmmm…” Tori paused and watched Jaimee pull her shirt down. “It’s going to be a few weeks before you can move without a lot of pain. In fact right now, it’s going to hurt no matter what you do.”
“I feel fine right now. Well not really, but sitting doesn’t hurt much at all.”
“For now.” Tori agreed. “But in a little while that will hurt, then you’ll have to either lie down or get up and walk a little. Then that will hurt and you’ll have to sit again. Rinse and repeat.”
Jaimee sighed and tried not to look as miserable as she felt.
Tori stopped herself from laughing. She knew Jaimee felt wretched, but with time, would heal and begin to feel like her old self. She is one of the strongest of us all and the day we teamed up with her increased our chance of survival so much. I’m just glad she wasn’t beaten any more than she was. This was bad, but could have been so much worse. The first few hours were scary. I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it or not.
“Just let me know if the pain gets really bad. We have plenty of pills that will help with that. Ok?” She shook a small bag, rattling the medicine inside.
“I will.” Jaimee eased back into the camp chair and watched as they lit a small fire and brought out pots for cooking and canned items they brought with them. The fire flickered and leapt as they added more wood. The conflagration was mesmerizing, and she felt her attention wander as she gazed into flames as it licked up and around the cooking pots. She was surprised at how tired she felt, even though she had done nothing but rest. Her stomach growled loudly and she placed a hand across it, embarrassed that everyone would hear. Shocked at how hungry she was, she eagerly accepted a bowl of chili and blew on a spoonful, waiting impatiently for it to cool down enough to eat. Eventually, Jaimee was able to wolf down the food and afterward settled into a satisfied doze.
Marshmallows. That’s what I need. A good, roasted marshmallow. She dreamt of past camping trips until a hand on her shoulder brought the idyllic scene to a halt. The fire was low now and no one was bothering to stifle wide yawns.
“Time for bed…such as it is.” Diane moved her hand from Jaimee’s shoulder and wrapped them under her arms, helping her to stand up from the camp chair.
“Ok, but only for sleep. No monkeying around.” she whispered back and smirked.
Diane rolled her eyes, and helped the brunette climb into the back of the SUV to their make shift sleeping pad in the back.
The others in the group stretched out in back seats and the cab of the truck. One person kept watch for two hours, before waking up another to take over. It was a cool night and clear with no fear of rain. Except for the sound of distant frogs, it was quiet. The distant croaking eventually lulled them to sleep.
*****
In the early hours of the morning, most of the camp was awake and shuffling around, not too much unlike the undead that plagued the world, doing their morning ablutions. A breeze ruffled the grass and branches of the trees, filling the air with whispers.
“Welp. What’s the plan for today?” Henry asked as he gave a jaw-splitting yawn. “Just keep on driving or…?”
Jaimee walked on her own volition, but very slowly, from the car to the morning gathering around a new small campfire. “What are our supplies like?”
“Good, but we will need more food soon.” Blanca responded as she mixed a can of powdered eggs in water and poured them in a pan. Opening a packet of beef jerky, she tore them into little strips, tossed them into the mix along with some precious cooking oil and spices, and whisked them quickly with a fork. “I really wish we had some vegetables.”
Bobby sat on the ground nearby, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. “Do you think we can start a garden where ever we end up? If I can find seed, I can grow you a lot of great stuff Blanca.”
They all smil
ed at Bobby. His youthful enthusiasm always brought out the best in the group. Technically, he was only six years younger than Jaimee, Diane and Tori, but gave the impression of being a great deal younger.
“What do you say to just driving until we find a place that looks good enough to stop– to check out and see if it has anything we can use? Food or otherwise?” Tom suggested. A tall man, he struck an imposing figure, mostly of lean muscle mass. In the beginning, if he had any fat on his body at all, it had all melted away with the demanding life after the zombies appeared.
Everyone had lost weight in just the past month since they met and joined resources. For some, dropping pounds proved beneficial to their health, for others, not so much.
Blanca portioned out breakfast, “This will have to do. We don’t have any bread or tortillas.”
Meat and eggs, even powdered eggs, sounds like a luxury. Jamie thought as she scooped the food into her mouth. A sharp twinge of pain forced her to slow down and chew gently. My jaw must be pretty bruised. This sucks.
She caught a reflection of her face earlier that morning in one of the car side mirrors. Two black eyes, one still swollen, a puffy jawline and split lip with a variety of cuts and lacerations. Even though she thought she looked like a raccoon, Jaimee knew she was lucky. The likelihood of a few scars was great, but Tori said that nothing structural was damaged too badly; nothing that she could not heal from. Diane had told her that she was already looking far better than she did just twenty-four hours ago.
They all agreed to progress along the highway and stop for anything worth looking at or scavenging. The original plan was still in place to eventually attempt to find another safe place to create a home in to the east. The map showed a couple small towns coming up, but the consensus was to get a little more distance between them and what they left behind in Riverside.
Hunting Party (Still Alive; A Lesbian Love Story in an Undead World Book 3) Page 1
