"Hi there," The man replied. He had a southern twang to his voice. In addition to the plain white tank top, jeans, and bald head, the man had a stringy goatee and mustache. He tucked the revolver he was carrying into the front of his jeans and grabbed Theo's right hand.
"Man oh man, you saved us back there. We can't thank you enough," The man said. He looked into the Blazer at the girls, "All y'all, thanks."
"Don't mention it. Uh, I'm Theo by the way. And this is Erica, Silvia, and Macey."
"I'm Philip T Jones. You all can just call me Jones. Come on in."
All five of them were standing in the back stock room of the market. Jones quickly pushed a small shelving unit up against the door, wedging it underneath the doorknob. Theo and Erica both brought their guns from around their shoulders and held them, Silvie pulled out her pistol as well.
Seeing this, Jones put his hands in the air, "Whoa! Take it easy there guys. I ain't gon hurt ya!"
"We've had a negative encounter with some survivors about a few days ago," Erica said. "We're a tad jumpy."
"I understand," Jones replied.
"So Jones, are you the only one here?" Theo asked. "You did mention 'us' after all."
"Yeah, it's me and two other people."
The group perked up a little bit. Maybe their search wasn't going to last as long as they thought it would.
"You wouldn't happen to have a 'Sonya' with you by any chance?" Silvia asked.
Jones nodded. "Yeah, I do. How'd you know that?"
Theo let out a huge sigh of relief, "Oh man, thank fuck for that. Is she still alive?"
"Yeah, why?"
"We're actually looking for her."
"Who sent you lookin for her?"
"Sonya's mother, Jennifer."
Jones nodded. "Sonya actually mentioned something about her mom. We were getting ready to try and get her back to Jen when them eaters saw us."
Erica looked around the stock room, "Where is she?"
Jones motioned for the group to follow him, "This way, come on." Jones led Theo and the others out of the stock room and inside of the market.
"Hey Sonya? It's safe to come out. You have some visitors," Jones said.
Out from behind a shelving unit emerged a young woman with a frightened expression on her face. She had long straight dark brown hair and the right side of her lower lip was pierced. Sonya was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and black pants with a small chain wallet in her back pocket. With her dark blue eyes, she stared at the floor of the market as she walked towards Theo and the others.
"These people are here to take you back to Jennifer," Jones told Sonya
"Really?" The woman said in a timid voice.
Theo nodded. "Yeah, we ran into your mom Jennifer and after talking with her for a little while, agreed to go out and try and find you."
The woman took a step backward, "How can I be sure."
Theo showed Sonya the shotgun, "Look familiar?"
"Yeah, but how do I know you didn't steal that from my mother?"
"We didn't," Erica jumped in and told Sonya. "She gave it to Theo for extra protection."
Theo offered Sonya the weapon, "You want it? I'm sure it's better than that wrench you've been using."
Jones looked at Sonya, "I think they're telling you the truth, Sonya."
"We gave your mom some supplies. Food and water mostly, "Macey said.
Sonya shook her head, she didn't quite trust the group. Not yet at least.
Silvia looked around the wrecked store, the windows were cracked and broken in some areas. Others had boards and other furniture nailed up haphazardly over them. In front of the entrance was a pile of shelves and shopping carts stacked floor to ceiling. It gave Silvia flashbacks to the CVS. "What the hell happened here?"
Jones shrugged, "Beats me. We found it like this."
"Anyone else in here besides you and Sonya?"
"Yeah, my buddy Howard. He's still up on the roof, I'll go get him." Jones left the group and went back out onto the roof to fetch his friend.
Theo looked at Sonya once more, "Look. Your mother misses you, and I'm sure you miss her. If you don't trust us and don't want to come along, we get it. I guess we can just go back and tell her that you didn't believe us."
"I'd suggest we try and convince Jen to come here. I mean we can always go and get her," Macey told Sonya.
"I don't know about that. That building she's holed up in us pretty damn secure," Silvie replied.
Sonya's eyes lit up, "My mom's still in that small office building?"
Theo nodded. "Yep. We were driving along and spotted her sign hanging out one of the windows."
"She really does miss you," Erica said. "We'll take you to her. "It's not that far away after all. If Jones and his buddy want to come along too, that's fine. Sure beats this place."
Sonya mulled it over for a couple of seconds and then said, "Okay, I'll let you take me back to my mom. Let me grab my pack really quick." Sonya ran to go grab her backpack and a few shopping bags filled with supplies.
Theo scanned the store, he was looking for something.
"What are you looking for, Theo?" Erica asked.
Theo scratched his stubble filled cheeks and face. "What do you think?"
The girls laughed. "Come on, stay a mountain man for us," Silvia said.
"Yeah, it suits you," Erica said.
"Are either one of you going to sleep with me later?" Theo asked Erica and Silvie.
"I think you already know my answer," Replied Erica. "What about you, Silvie? Are you gonna screw Theo tonight?"
"Nope. Sorry, Theo. This whole undead Armageddon thing really kills the mood."
Theo shook his head at the two, "Then I'm shaving this crap off the first chance I get. Gotta get me some black hair dye too."
Jones returned with his friend Howard and introduced him to the group. "You guys, this is my pal, Howard. Y'all can call him Howie if you'd like."
Howie was a short portly guy with thinning brown hair. He was wearing fingerless gloves and had some type of scoped hunting rifle slung behind him. "Hello there everyone. You guys really saved our asses. Another couple of minutes and we'd be those dead things' dinner."
"We're taking Sonya back to her mother. Are you two interested in coming along?" Theo asked. "The place is a lot more secure than this dump."
Jones and Howie both looked at each other. Jones whispered something to Howie, Theo couldn't tell what it was, however. "Well I guess we can stop there for a minute and catch our breath before we head back out on our own," Jones said.
"Gonna be a tight fit in the Blazer," Erica said.
"Are you calling me fat?" Howie asked.
"No, no. I swear. But now there's seven of us."
Howard smirked at Erica, "Just kidding."
Jones smelled his armpits. "It's okay ladies, I remembered to put deodorant on this morning. Least I think I did."
Howie chuckled, "Yeah, sometimes Jones forgets."
Sonya was ready to go, Jones and Howard gathered their things as well and all of them walked outside. Macey opened the back hatch of the Blazer, and Jones, Howie, and Sonya hopped inside of the truck. Theo drove away from the mart, heading back towards the office building.
"So were you all part of the group that headed out for supplies?" Macey asked Jones and Howard.
"No. We were taking a breather in that backyard across the street from the market. We saw Sonya over here being chased by them eaters and we tried to help her out," Jones answered.
"You really weren't that far away from your mom," Theo told Sonya.
"I know," Sonya replied quietly. "I can't wait to see her."
Theo drove the Blazer around the office building, "And here we are. That'll be twenty bucks plus a generous tip."
"Would a smack in the mouth be considered a tip?" Erica asked.
"That's kinda hot."
"I hate you, Theo."
The group slipped back inside the office building. Sonya could
hardly contain her excitement she was so glad to be out of that market. She charged up the steps ahead of the others and ran right into Jennifer's arms. "I'm so sorry mom," She said to Jen, sobbing.
Jennifer hugged her daughter tightly, "I thought you were gone for good." Jen looked past her daughter to the rest of the group, "Thank you," She mouthed to Theo and the others.
"You're more than welcome," Theo answered. "We have some guests for you as well. This is Jones and Howie."
Jones scanned the spacious upper floor, "Whoa, nice place you got here."
"Yeah, this place is the Ritz compared to where we've stayed," Howie said.
Jennifer giggled. "Please make yourselves at home."
"Mom, look what I found," Sonya said as she opened her pack. She handed her mom a pack of soap."
"Oh hell yeah, soap!" Theo joked.
"What happened to you out there Sonya? Jen asked of her daughter. "Did you get lost?"
Sonya sat down on her sleeping bag. "Me, Kevin, and Peter headed out to that market. We had to detour around a group of those eaters. There was only around ten of the things, but Kevin didn't want to risk drawing their attention. So we cut through a couple of backyards to get around the eaters, and we wind up getting lost."
"Naturally," Theo interjected.
"Yeah, exactly. We stumble into an alley where one end was completely blocked off by a crashed ambulance, and we can't get around it at all. And the other end was a few of the eaters, different ones, not the group we got around earlier. They see us and give chase. In a panic, Kevin began shooting at them."
Jen covered her mouth, "Oh no."
"The gunshots lured more of the dead right to us. They came running out of their backyards, out from behind garages, seemed like from all over the place. It wasn't long before we were surrounded by them. The eaters got Peter right away. Kevin and I had no choice but to leave him and head for the wrecked ambulance and try to climb. I made it up first, but when I turned to help Kevin up, the dead things grabbed him and bit down into the back of his legs."
Jen began to tear up. "Shit."
"I had a grip on him, but I couldn't pull Kevin up to me. He was grabbing onto my hands, mom, but I couldn't pull him away from those monsters...." Sonya stopped and began to cry herself.
"We saw your daughter running, that's when we helped her out," Jones said to Jennifer.
The group let Jennifer and Sonya be alone for a little while. Theo picked out a corner of the room and sat down, looking out of the windows.
"How are you feeling?" Erica asked him.
"That's some heavy shit Sonya went through," Theo replied. "Heavy shit."
"Theo, we've all been through the wringer."
"I can use some rest after all of that. Maybe we should try and get to the river tomorrow."
"I don't think you'll get any argument from us there."
Jones overheard Theo and Erica talking to one another, "That's where y'all were headed? The river?"
"Yeah, a place called Beakman's park," Erica answered. "Ever hear of it?"
"Oh yeah."
"What about you two? Where were you guys going?"
"We're tryin ta get ta Howie's family."
Howie nodded. "Yep. My sister and her kids."
"Where are they?" Erica asked.
"Hopefully still holed up in Garden City."
"I know where that is," Theo replied.
"Is it on our way to the river?" Erica asked Theo. "Maybe we can drop these two off?"
Theo shook his head. "Sadly, no."
"I take it you two don't want to come with us?" Erica wondered. "You both look like you can handle yourselves."
"Nope. I gotta find Sis and nieces," Howard answered.
"And I promised him I'd go along," Jones said.
Erica looked over to Theo, "Theo, you really think you should be sitting in the window like that? What if the dead pricks see you?"
Theo got out of the window and sat down on the floor immediately. "Good thinking."
Macey laughed. "Erica saving Theo's ass again."
Sonya retreated to her sleeping bag for some rest, she was beyond tired. Jennifer rejoined the others near the window. "Once again, thank you. All of you." Jennifer looked like the weight of the world had been lifted from her chest.
"No problem, Jen," Silvie answered.
"So you guys are heading out in the morning?"
"Yeah," Theo replied.
Theo and Erica looked at one another. They were both thinking about it, but Erica beat Theo to the punch. "Since Jones and Howie don't want to come along with us to the river, what about you two?"
Jennifer was taken aback somewhat by Erica's question. "Oh, I don't know about that."
"Why not?"
"Yeah, there's enough room in the Blazer for a few more, and we're not too far away from Beakman's park," Macey said.
"Strength in numbers," Theo added.
"I appreciate the offer guys. But I don't know. It's pretty safe here as it is," Jen answered. "I don't know how well I'd do out there anyhow."
"Yeah, until you have to venture out for some supplies that is. And you can't do it, right?" Silvia asked.
Jen nodded. "I'm an old bitch. No way I'm running around out there."
The group laughed. "Okay, well think about how many times you'd have to send Sonya out to go and get stuff. It was a pretty close call this last time, wasn't it?" Silvie said. "With all of us, you wouldn't have to worry about losing Sonya."
"Yeah, just sacrifice one of us," Theo quipped.
"You jackass," Erica said to Theo.
"I'm kidding of course. But I don't have any problems with Jen and Sonya coming along with us if they'd like. That's an overdose of estrogen, but I think I could manage," Theo said.
"You could come with us, Theo," Jones said. "We like to cuddle."
"You're starting to scare the crap out of me Jones."
Howie chuckled. "Damn Jones over there, he's been trying to cuddle with me since all this shit started."
"Well I get scared out there," Jones said.
"Jones, you killed at least a hundred of those eaters out there with a damn rusted ol' pickaxe. The only reason you stopped is because the thing broke," Howie replied. "Scared my ass."
Jones guffawed loudly. "I miss that damn ax."
Theo got up to get something to eat. "Well, whoever wants to come along is more than welcome to. We're not leaving until tomorrow morning, so there's still time to decide."
"You guys are trying to get to the Rouge River, right?" Jones asked.
"Yeah," Macey answered.
"Do you guys even know how to swim? There's a good chance that y'all might have to."
Erica raised her hand, "I know how."
Jones winked at Erica. "Ooh. You gonna wear a bikini or swimsuit? I wouldn't mind seeing that!"
Erica rolled her eyes and pretended to gag. "Please. I'm a lesbian anyway."
"That's hot."
"I quit."
When Sonya awoke in the late afternoon, she and her mother discussed going to the river with the others. Theo and the ladies left them alone so the mother and daughter could discuss what they wanted to do.
Sonya approached the group while they were finishing up their dinner, "My mom and I want to come along with you guys after all," Sonya said. "We won't be a burden on you, we promise."
"We know you guys won't," Theo said. "Glad you're coming along."
"We're heading out first thing in the morning," Erica said to Sonya.
"Jones and I like to get a move on about an hour before sunrise. Get a leg up on the dead people. They don't see too good in the dark," Howie said.
"So if y'all wake up and we ain't here, it's been a pleasure, and thanks for saving us," Jones added. "I'm gonna miss you the most, Theo."
"Erica, please hold me. I'm scared," Theo said.
"You're scared? I've been keeping my hands near my pistol just in case," Erica replied.
"Yeah, we have to use the bu
ddy system when Jones is around," Macey joked.
"Can we just get some rest? Sun's gonna be down soon and we have a big day ahead of us," Silvie wondered. "But seriously Jones, if you try anything, I'll cut your hands off."
"Ooh. I like it rough," Jones answered.
"That's it, I'm never sleeping again," Theo said. "Get me some damn coffee right now."
Chapter 24
Theo heard Jones and Howie talking as he tried to sleep. He came to and sat up. Jones was shaking Howie, trying to get him awake.
"Get up man!" Jones said. "Every damn time."
Theo rubbed his eyes, "What's up, Jones? Is Howie alright?"
"Yeah," Jones answered. Theo could tell that Jones was frustrated. "Fucker sleeps like a damn rock and we shoulda been outta here 'bout two hours ago."
Finally, Howie came too, "What is it, Jones? You about ripped my damn arm out its socket."
"We gotta get going, that's what."
Howie looked around the room and saw the bright sunlight shining through the second-floor windows. "Ah shit, I overslept again, didn't I?"
"Ya think?"
Theo couldn't help but laugh at the two. "You guys would make a great sitcom."
Howie got up from the floor and began to gather up his things. Theo decided that he would see the two of them out. He didn't want to wake up the ladies who were all sleeping soundly. Theo, Jones, and Howie headed down the stairs to the bottom floor.
"Once again, Theo, thanks for saving our bacon back there," Jones said. He gave Theo a hearty handshake.
Theo shook Jones' hand and then shook Howie's. "Who knows guys. With the way everything is nowadays, we might cross paths again sometime. Hopefully, it'll be under better circumstances too."
"I sure as shit hope so," Howie replied. "You guys get to Beakman's park safe and sound, ya hear me?"
Theo nodded. "Will do. I hope you make it to your family. And I hope they're alright."
Jones opened the office window, "Ladies first," He told Howie.
"Then why Ain't you going out there?" Howie replied.
Theo laughed. "You two...I swear. You remind me of Erica and I."
Howie exited the building first. While he stood there, waiting for Jones to get out of the lobby, a rotter wandered around the corner and spotted Howie just standing there. She was a short corpse, barely five feet. Her long sun dress was covered in dirt and grime. Bite marks covered both of her shoulders. Part of her scalp had been chewed away, and some type of kitchen knife had been firmly lodged in the right side of her chest.
Urban Decay Page 22
