by Jake Bible
"What about the sports complex?" I ask.
"What about it?" he replies.
"If anyone messes with that, do they bring the heat?" I say. "Do they pull men from the farm to go help in town?"
"No," Jack answers. "I tried it once. Rigged a couple of bombs with timers. When they blew, I expected men to go rushing from the farm to help. They didn't. Men came from town to watch the farm. They know what they have and they plan on keeping it."
"But you don't give up," I say. "So one day you're going to have to make your move. Why not today?"
"No," Jack says. "Today isn't the day. Neither is tonight."
"No," I counter. "We go tonight. We rest now and go back tonight. It'll be too late tomorrow."
"Why will it be too late?" Jack asks.
I can tell he's starting to get tired of me. It happens. Eventually everyone gets tired of me. I'm exhausting. Not as exhausting as Long Pork was, but I can wear a person down. It's good to be self-aware. Self-awareness keeps the crazy thoughts away. Or off to the side. More like off to the side where they can watch the good thoughts do good things and maybe learn from them.
What?
"It'll be too late because that's a lot of men around a lot of women," I say. I make an OK sign with one hand then stick a finger through the hole over and over like my hands are doing it. "Men like to fuck women. All those new men around those women means some of those women are going to get raped. Doyles are rapey. When that starts to happen then my sisters will kill some of those rapey Doyles. If we stay here then we miss the killing of the rapey Doyles. I don't want to miss that. Do you?"
Jack blinks a couple of times.
"Shit," he says finally. "You and your sisters have really made a mess of things."
"Don't see it that way," I say. "I think we just put a boot in your ass and kicked you into gear. You been waiting in fear instead of acting. You think your daughter is being left alone in there? She ain't. The longer you wait, the longer she gets tortured. Best to be dead than raped and tortured by Doyles. Fuck the Doyles."
Muffin gives a sharp bark.
"He thinks so too," I say.
"Quiet," Jack says. I think he's saying it to me, but then I see him put his hand on Muffin's neck. "Hush, boy."
"Company?" I whisper. I didn't hear anything. I usually always hear something.
Jack puts a finger to his lips and picks up his rifle. He slowly, quietly pulls back on the action and chambers a round then walks towards the cave entrance. Muffin gets up and follows right behind, his body low to the ground, his hackles raised, and teeth bared.
I get one of my .45s and take a shooting stance, covering them both.
Muffin growls low then I hear something so wonderful I almost cry out and scream.
"Hey, twat? You in there?" I hear Audrey call from outside. "I can smell your ass from here."
"In here," I say and smile as Jack looks back over his shoulder at me. "Put down the rifle. It's Audrey."
He doesn't put down the rifle, but he also doesn't shoot Audrey as she shows her face through the cave entrance.
"Uh oh, look who has a new boyfriend," Audrey says as she comes into the cave and gives Jack a nod. Then she stops and stares and I think she's about to cry. "Is that a dog?"
"It's a dog," I say. "His name is Muffin."
Her hands go to her mouth and she drops to her knees. "Oh, my fucking god. It's a dog."
"Who?" Jack asks, rifle still trained on Audrey. "How?"
She pries her eyes away from Muffin and glances up at Jack. "Put it away, soldier. I'm friend, not foe."
"How the fuck did you get away?" Jack asks. He still doesn't put the rifle down.
I can see Audrey tense and I step forward.
"Nope," I say. "He's a SEAL. He'll take you before you can take him."
"I will," Jack says.
"Maybe," Audrey says and slowly gets to her feet. "But stop pointing that fucking thing at me or we are going to find out for sure."
Jack hesitates for a long time then lowers the rifle and takes a few steps back.
"How the fuck did you get off the farm?" he asks.
"Oh, that's easy," she says. "I played dead. They threw me out with the other corpses and medical waste. Good thing I found a creek on the way and got all washed up. Damn if clothes don't dry fast in this desert."
"How is it a desert if there's a creek?" I ask. "I've been trying to figure that out. You stop at the creek by those pine trees?"
"Yeah, exactly," Audrey says as her eyes scan the cave. She locks onto the stack of weapons and ammo. "Ooh, nice."
"We stopped at those pines for lunch and had egg salad," I say. "Damn fucking good egg salad. Tortoise eggs."
"Shit, really?" Audrey says. "Got any left?"
"Got any left?" I ask Jack.
He looks from me to Audrey and back then chuckles.
"I can't believe there are even more of you guys out there," he says. "The Doyles are fucked."
"Fuck yeah the Doyles are fucked," I say. "But not until tonight. Now we get Audrey some of that tortoise egg salad. Where do you keep it?"
"That was all," he says. "Sorry. No refrigeration. It only keeps for a day."
"Goddammit," Audrey mutters. "Oh, well."
"He's got bourbon," I say. "We can have some of that while you tell us what you know and we plan the assault."
"That I can live with," Audrey says. Then she lifts her shirt and shows us a really nasty wound in her side. "But can I get some bandages first? Had to let a Doyle stab me in order to play dead. Fucking hurts like a bitch."
"Jesus," Jack says and sets the rifle aside as he walks to a workbench and picks up a med kit. "How many of you are there again?"
Chapter Fourteen
"You're saying you let one of those guys stab you with a knife so you could play dead?" Jack asks as he pours us each a fuck ton more than just a shot of bourbon. "And they were stupid enough to actually believe you died?"
"Yep," Audrey replies as she takes her cup of bourbon from Jack and sips with a smile. Sisters like bourbon and like to smile while drinking bourbon.
"Fucking Doyles are fucking dumb," I say and sip my bourbon before I get to work on her knife wound.
"Not all of them," Audrey says. "Some are average. There's one or two that are above average, but not far above."
"You do that trance thingy?" I ask. "Slow your heart beats and shit?"
"That's exactly what I did," Audrey says. "They didn't know the difference. Good thing none of them are into necrophilia or I would have come back to life and ripped their dicks off."
Jack cringes. He should.
"Hold on," Jack says and refills his cup. He's about to take a drink, but I take the cup from him and set it aside.
"Need you sober," I say.
"I wouldn't argue," Audrey says as Jack thinks about protesting. "Now, what were you holding on about?"
"How the hell did you track us here?" he asks. "I am very careful about the routes I take. Doyles haven't found me yet."
"Doyles haven't come to kill you yet," Audrey says. "But they know where you are. You picked a good spot, hard to approach from any direction without being a sitting duck."
"You made it here," Jack says, his face red. I think he's a little angry.
"I'm not a Doyle," Audrey says.
"They know he's been watching them?" I ask.
"Oh, they know and they think it's funny as hell," Audrey replies. She finishes her bourbon and sets the cup down. "They have a betting pool on where you'll show up next and how long you'll watch them before you leave." She leans forward and puts her arms on her knees. That's her serious as shit posture. "They give your daughter an update each and every day."
"What?" Jack shouts and jumps to his feet. Muffin starts barking and growling. He makes a move at Audrey, but she snaps her fingers and snarls. Muffin sits his ass down and leans against Jack's leg, a little whine escaping from his lips. "Jesus."
"My folks were in agribusi
ness," Audrey says. "They made billions of dollars off corn and soybeans and all that shit. I've been around farms, and farm dogs, my whole life. One day I'm wearing a skirt at prep school, the next I'm wearing rubber boots and stomping through sheep shit. I can probably tell your dog to do things you didn't know he could do."
"I fucking doubt that," Jack says. "Muffin, down and set."
Muffin lies down, but I can see his haunches quivering with pent-up energy, ready to spring.
Audrey fixes him with a hard stare.
"Knock that off," Jack says. He looks around but his .45 is ten feet away on the plastic folding table.
Audrey keeps staring then clicks her tongue and gives a shooing motion. Muffin jerks and scrambles back a few feet. The poor thing looks shitfucking confused. So does Jack.
"Leave the pup alone," I say then focus on Jack. "Ignore her and listen to me. Tonight is the only shot you're going to have to save your daughter. You watch us leave and that's that."
"You said you were going to save all the girls," Jack says. "So, what, if I don't go with you, you'll just leave my daughter?"
"No, I didn't say that," I snap.
"She won't go with you," Audrey says. "You know why they give her an update every day? You think it's to torture her? Nope. It's because she ordered them to do it."
"What?" Jack asks.
"What?" I ask.
We stare at Audrey.
"She's not a prisoner of that farm anymore," Audrey says. "She runs it. She runs it for and with Doyle. The Doyle. The first one. Those two are sort of married with two kids, Jack. You're a grandpa."
"I know," he says. "That I'm a grandpa. I figured that out. But I didn't know about the other stuff." He sits his ass back down. I give him back his bourbon. "Thanks. She's barely in her twenties now. Two kids? Jesus fucking Christ."
"I thought Doyles didn't like ladies running things," I say.
"Oh, they don't," Audrey laughs. "They do not at all. But Kimberley is an exception. Turns out she may have learned a thing or two about how to take care of herself. If what I heard is right, after she had the first baby, they tried to take him from her, but she killed five of them before they could restrain her. Just gave birth and ripped some Doyles' throats right out with her bare hands. If what they say is true."
"That got the first Doyle to take notice," I say.
"It did," Audrey replies. "Way I hear it, he's got more than a few kinks in his closet. One of them is he likes to get beat up by the ladies. None of them could do it right until Kimberley came along."
"Jesus fucking Christ," Jack says again. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because if you want your baby girl back, and your grandkids, you'll need to be prepared for the worst," Audrey says. "It's called Stockholm Syndrome."
"I know what the fuck it's called!" Jack yells. Muffin gives a short bark, but stays right where he is. "Sorry. Sorry, you're just trying to help."
"Here's the good news," Audrey says. "I think she's faking it. I think she has been from day one. She's smart and she's strong and she knows that if she tries to get away, they'll take her second kid, the girl, and hand her over to the pervert Doyles that like them little and young."
"A girl? I have a granddaughter," Jack says. "Do you know her name? Do you know my grandson's name?"
"No," Audrey replies. "I'm just telling you what the sisters were able to piece together before they took me away to try to beat info out of me. Then they killed me and you know the rest."
"We go tonight?" I ask. "That's still doable?"
"It's doable and needs to be done," Audrey says. She looks at Jack. "Can you drive in the dark?"
"Sure," he says.
"Without headlights? Because that's the only way we'll make it even close to there," Audrey says. "They have sentries for miles around here. How you never noticed them before, I don't know."
"I noticed a few," he admits. "But since no one ever came here, I figured they never noticed me."
"You are the reason they have the sentries," Audrey says. "The smart ones know it's a one-man operation, but the dumb ones still think there are Heavies everywhere. The smart ones let the dumb ones keep thinking that. They stay alert and ready to fight that way."
"Fucking Doyles," I growl. Muffin growls too.
Jack looks into his cup of bourbon and sets it aside. He stands back up and nods towards his gear. "How much should we bring?"
"All of it," Audrey says. "We load everything that will fit into your Jeep and we go hit them hard right before dawn. Bring whatever else you can't live without because you aren't coming back here."
"I'm not?" Jack asks.
"No, you fucking are not," Audrey says. "What did you think was going to happen? You'd rescue your daughter and bring her back here? They know where this place is, Jack. We're hitting the farm and freeing the women there. But there are still a fuck-ton of Doyles in town. We aren't hitting them. Fuck them. We hit the farm and we're gone. You'll need to take charge of getting the women to safety."
"What about the kids?" I ask. "Where are the kids?"
"Girls stay at the farm and boys are in town," Audrey says. "But we're only dealing with the farm. You've seen the town, El. It's a shit show. Too many Zs and it's the Doyles' home turf. They're dumb, but they know that town way better than we do. We already lost Steph, we aren't losing more sisters. The farm and then we're gone."
"Where the hell am I going to take a bunch of women when most of them are pregnant?" Jack asks.
"Good thing you asked that question," Audrey says and smiles. "Because I know just the place. It'll be a bit of a hike, but the Doyles have plenty of trucks at the farm. We'll load you and the ladies up in them and drive north with you to make sure you get there safely. Then we're gone and back to our mission."
"What place?" Jack asks.
"New Mexico State Penitentiary," Audrey says.
"It's overrun with Zs," Jack says. "I've been there. The buildings and fences are sound, but we're talking thousands of Zs trapped inside."
"Not anymore," Audrey says. "The Doyles cleared it last year apparently. Sounds like they've been talking about moving the women there anyway, but the first Doyle doesn't like how far away it is."
"There's a lot of road between here and there," I say. "Lot of crazies and cannies in between."
"Exactly," Audrey says. "That's why they need us to get them there."
"I can't leave my grandson with the Doyles," Jack says.
"That's between you and the Doyles," Audrey says. "Listen, Jack, I'm not in charge, but I'm going to speak for the sisters here, okay?"
She looks at me and I nod for her to go ahead.
"We have a mission to complete," Audrey says. "It's more important than any of this shit we've fallen into. There is a very bad man out there that does very bad things to people. He changes them. If we let him change more people then one day the Zs will not be our nightmare. Neither will the crazies or the cannies. He'll make something even worse and try to kill us all."
"He's a shitfucker supreme," I say.
"That he is," Audrey says. "I promise we will get your daughter and her daughter safely out of that farm, along with the rest of the women. We'll get you to the penitentiary, but after that, you'll need to figure out if you want to take on the Doyles to get your grandson. You let the women rest and heal and you'll have one serious fighting force to train."
"Jesus," Jack says. "This morning I was just a guy in a hide watching some Doyles. Now I'm a going to try to lead a bunch of traumatized and brutalized women to the state pen? Fuck me."
"Shit sucks in the zombie apocalypse," I say. "Sucks full on shit balls."
"Full on," Jack says.
"We on the same page?" Audrey asks.
"Do I have a choice?" Jack replies.
"Not really," Audrey says and shrugs. "Ow. That pulls on my stitches."
"How are you going to fight while you're wounded like that?" Jack asks.
We laugh. That was funny. W
hat he said was funny.
"Just a scratch, trust me," Audrey says. She points at her face and all the swelling and bruising. "This looks worse than it is."
"I meant your side," Jack says.
"I know," Audrey replies. "But don't worry about my side. It's just fine. May slow me with the hand to hand, but I can still shoot straighter than both of you."
"Fuck you, you can," I say. "I'm just as good as you are."
"You're better with blades," Audrey says.
"Well, yeah, that's true," I say and look at Jack. "I am. I'm the best with blades."
"I believe it," he says. "I believe everything you two are saying. I know bullshit and I don't think either of you could sling bullshit if you tried. You're obviously so far past that point in your lives."
"You have no idea," Audrey says.
Jacks rubs at his eyes and face for a long while then rests his head back on his neck. He stares up at the dark roof of the cave and sighs.
"We better get to work if we're going to load all the gear up," Jack says. "We can't fit it all in the Jeep, but we won't need it all. Just the weapons. We'll snag food and water from the farm. Right now, we take only what is needed to kill Doyles."
"Now you're talking," I say. "I love killing me some Doyles! Fucking ass shitfucking Doyles need to die! Fuck yeah!"
They both stare at me and Audrey laughs.
"Yeah, she can get excited," she says. "But we love the shit out of her."
"Fuck yeah, you do," I say.
"Let's get to work," Jack says.
It takes a couple more shots of bourbon to loosen up my muscles and keep my body from just quitting on me. I've been going hard for quite a few days. Audrey looks worse than I do. I can tell she's being strong for Jack because we need him to make this all work, but she's not going to last long.
"You'll have overwatch," I say to her while Jack separates what we need to bring and what can be left behind. "I'll go in with Jack for the full assault."
"I know the farm, you don't," Audrey says.
"And I only have a shoulder wound," I reply. "You have a knife stab to the side and look like pure shit. I'll last longer in a head on fight." I sigh. "You're better with the Barrett anyway."
