by Diane Butler
Lucky reached up and with difficulty opened the helicopter pilot’s door. It had so many bullet holes in the door that rust had set in and jammed the lock. The pilot zombie reached for him and Lucky had to chop off both of its’ arms before he could reach up to grab the pilot’s helmet and yank his head back to stab him in the throat. Lucky unfastened the seatbelt and pulled the carcass out of the seat then climbed in to study the gauges.
Everywhere they looked were signs of gunfire. Whether the people panicked thinking that they were going to be left behind and began to fire which caused the military to fire back, or the military saw danger approaching and locked them in to flee themselves. The story would never be told since there was a mixture of zombies wearing uniforms and those who were civilians.
The group approached the buses that were on the outskirts and concentrated on zombies emptying out of the vehicles when they heard the chopper sputtered several times behind them.
***
Caleb was on Jenny when he saw the dark shadow in the water and at first he thought it was an alligator. Morgan had just come back with Smokey and was helping him aboard the riverboat when Caleb called him over. They studied the shadow as it circled the canal to return to Jenny’s hull and bypass once again. “I don’t think it’s an alligator,” Morgan said. “It has the snout like one but the body is more of a torpedo shape and doesn’t have the same type of tail.”
Smokey leaned over to see what they were looking at and recognized it right away. “It’s an Alligator Gar and too big for our fishing rods to catch it. That one looks to be about 7’. Would feed a lot of people but don’t waste your time on it.”
Caleb loaded a bolt into his crossbow and took aim. “I don’t like how it keeps coming back to Jenny and rubbing up against the hull. It’s creepy, like he’s waiting for someone to fall in.”
“He’s waiting for a crane or some bird to land on the water. His jaw is like an alligator and I’ve known people to lose a hand trying to catch one,” Smokey said. “Your arrow will just bounce off of it Caleb. His scales are like steel.”
But Caleb let a bolt fly only to see it ricochet off the fish and skim across the water. “I’ll get the grappling hook,” Morgan said. “Maybe I can hook it behind the gills when it comes by again.”
“I’ll stay,” Smokey said. “Not that I believe that you will catch it but it will take the two of us to pull it on board. Must weight 200 lbs., but I’ll watch your folly.”
Morgan practiced swinging the grappling hook and wrapping it around one of the pier pilings several times before he attempted to snag the Gar. On his first try he only succeeded in hitting Jenny’s hull. “For God’s sake, don’t put a hole in her!” Smokey pleaded. After that the Gar stayed further out in the canal, not coming up against the riverboat.
“I think I can still reach it from here,” Morgan said, “if my accuracy is right and then we can pull it to the boat to haul it aboard. Caleb if I manage this I suggest you shoot it in the eye as we pull its head out of the water.”
At that moment they heard a helicopter and all activity stopped. Everyone in their home or going about their duties ran out into the street to look up. No one had heard a helicopter in years and their hearts pounded with hope. Suddenly it came in low over Jenny and followed the canal out toward the Bayou.
The women were in the cabin when, in the distance, they could hear the sound of a motor. They knew it was not a motorboat by the low thumping sound it created against the water. The tree tops began to sway and Shoes became frightened. “It’s not a tornado! The weather isn’t right.”
Roxanne put her arms around Shoes and they all went out on the porch as the sound became deafening. Lucky was coming in so low and fast that they only caught a glimpse of the chopper and it was suddenly gone. The sound started to diminish and Shoes heard Roxanne swear under her breath. She turned to Roxanne and asked in a sarcastic tone, “Friend of yours?”
CHAPTER 11
Roxanne would soon be returning to the Town of Mamou after seeing that Shoes had her health back. “You’ve been spying on me, using up all your strength. Don’t deny it. I have felt you there in the trees, the wind, the moonlight,” Roxanne said one day. She turned and looked at Shoes, “Did you scare off Lance? He was not a threat to me.”
“Spying is a harsh word to use for someone who gave you life again. Did you think I was going to deplete my supplies keeping you alive and then send you out into the world without protecting my investment?”
Roxanne put her hand on Shoe’s shoulder, “You have taught me well momma and I know how to survive.”
“Yes, but can you make the right decisions that involve people? I didn’t teach you how to spot a liar, how to tell good people from bad, those who would take advantage of you, evil from good.”
Roxanne looked at her and sat down. “It’s strange that you should mention evil for I seem to have the ability to sense it now. I can stand outside a building and tell if evil is within. Or watch a person and not feel any evil from them. I can tell which roads to avoid because evil is up ahead.” She shook her head, “I don’t know where the ability comes from but I have listened and heeded its warning.” She looked away, “People find me strange so I try to stay away from them. I don’t want their superstitions or fears of the unknown to be my downfall.”
Shoes smiled and reached over to pat Roxanne’s hand. “Then I taught you well without realizing that I had. If you keep that ability and the ability to hear an animal’s thoughts, then you will be safe in your journey. I have watched Mutt while he watched you and he is one with you. His spirit has joined yours and he is more aware of it than you are.”
Roxanne changed the subject, “What do you know of the people who I have met?”
“I know nothing of the people who you have met. You give me too much credit. I am not a witch I am a priestess of potions, that’s all. A medicine woman. Sometimes I would take a potion before I sleep and it would give me visions of you, whether true visions or not I do not know. But I do not travel the night,” she lied “and I am not spying on you.”
Later Roxanne asked Mary to accompany her when she went for firewood but Shoes asked that the girl stay behind, saying that she would teach Mary how to prepare a squirrel. Roxanne hesitated, suspicious of Shoes motive and saw that Mary was nervous. “It’s alright,” Mary said. “Go.”
Shoes watched Roxanne pick up her machete and walk to the woods behind the house then she turned to Mary who was setting the table. “You know that I care about the girl and that she was my ward for the winter.” Mary stopped and put her hands on the back of wood chair. “Yes,” she answered as more of a question than a statement.
“Has her innocence of people led her into danger? I feel confusion coming from her and a lot of it. She’s in turmoil. Was that fool who flew over here looking for her? Is he tracking her?”
Mary hesitated, “I can’t betray Roxanne and the things she doesn’t want to talk about.”
“Are you afraid that she will put a hex on you?”
Mary laughed, “No, but I have heard…..I have heard…” she looked away and lowered her voice, “that she can be ruthless if she feels that she is crossed.”
Shoes smiled, “Oh, have you? That’s good to hear. A woman must be ruthless in this new world. Knowing that, I won’t worry about her as much. Has she found out what happened to her, who did it?”
“Yes, but you don’t need to worry about them either. They’re dead but Roxanne is still being cautious, not believing all that she is told. She suspects everybody and everything. It’s very hard to earn her trust. She will take in loners, like she did with me, but she will not join others as a group. She will not let anyone take her in no matter what kindness they show her. There are some who fear for her and her stubbornness.”
Lucky had buzzed the Tackle Shop in the helicopter and then continued south into the bayou. The chopper was low on fuel and he knew he would need to put it down soon. The controls did not respond properly an
d he was not able to gain much altitude, staying just above the treetops. He hoped to catch some sight of a shack in the bayou with smoke coming out of a stove pipe, or someone in a pirogue but he was fighting with the controls too much to get a good look at anything, and he eventually turned back.
He flew back up the north road past Lance’s old house and set the chopper down near the marina where he had followed Roxanne. It’s only use would be to help block the road between the businesses on each side. He had given Brandon instructions to watch for his return and to pick him up in a jeep that they were able to get started at the fairground. He took his gear from the seat and started walking back toward town hoping that he would not need to walk the ten miles and that Brandon was able to follow close behind.
There was still wanted to inspect more at the fairgrounds in the following days, but the place spooked his men. Some of his crew was ex-military and it saddened them to see zombies in uniform and there was the suspicion that the army had fired on innocent civilians. If Lucky went back he would need to select a crew of lesser emotion
.
Morgan may be interested in going after he heard of the circumstance since he wanted to keep a log of people who did not turn after dying. He would have plenty of bodies in one place to inspect if he could stand the smell of death.
Lucky had walked a mile when he saw the jeep approaching. He thought it strange that he had not encountered any zombies after the noise of the chopper, but both Roxanne and Lance had said that the town went against the norm when it came to zombie activity. He believed the town was void of more danger because the citizens had either been moved out of town or had gathered at the Mansion. It appeared that no one had hunkered down in their own home to wait it out because many of the stores had not been ransacked. The fewer people who were left behind resulted in fewer gangs and fewer humans to turn zombie. If Earl was right about the bridges coming out of Baton Rouge then all they had to worry about were stragglers coming through the woods. He liked this place and with more investigation maybe it could be the first village to repair itself and thrive again.
Brandon pulled up and turned the jeep around on the highway to let Lucky get in. “Well, did you find her?”
“What?” Lucky was startled.
“Roxanne. Did you find her? You didn’t take the chopper over the town to search for hot spots of zombies or to look for good places to scavenge or to get the layout of the town. You went directly to the bayou. Did you see what you were looking for?”
“I was fighting the controls the whole time. Could barely hold it above the treetops and didn’t want to take the chance of a forced landing in town. If I was going to go down, I’d rather it was in the swamp where the trees and mud would cushion my fall.” He shook his head, “We’re not going to be able to use it, I’m sad to say.”
“Morgan and Caleb caught some damn thing called an Alligator Gar,” Brandon said. “Smokey said it tastes like catfish. The whole group will be fed tonight and we’re building a make-shift grill for community gatherings instead of everyone cooking on their own. Come join us and forget about the helicopter and fairgrounds for tonight.”
Shoes woke up in the middle of the night and saw that only Mary was still on the pallet on the floor. She threw a small blanket over her head and shoulders and saw Roxanne standing in the moonlight on the porch. She waited to see if Roxanne was communicating with night creatures but Roxanne must have felt her there for she turned her head to look to the side. The movement told Shoes that Roxanne was not in deep concentration and she walked out to join her.
“Worried about tomorrow?” Shoes asked. “You made it here safely. I’m sure you can make it back without Cowboy to guide you.”
Roxanne smiled, “Oh, she let me make my own errors when I first left here, circling the same cabin twice, letting it take weeks to find my way out and she never complained. I won’t have a problem this time and we have a much lighter load.”
Shoes lit a cigarette from one of the packs that Roxanne had brought her. “What’s this man’s name? The one you cursed as he flew over in that contraption.”
Roxanne hesitated and turned to look at Shoes although she could not see her face between the blanket folds at night. “Lucky,” she answered.
Shoes was still, then she reached up to take the cigarette from her mouth. “Lucky?” They were silent, both knowing about the four-leaf clover tattooed on Roxanne’s back.
“I’ve seen what’s there, Shoes. I had Mary describe it to me”
“Do you think he put it there?”
“No,” Roxanne shook her head and turned to look out over the bayou. “Even without memory I would feel evil seething from him and it’s just not there. He said that we once had a relationship and now he is pursuing me.”
Shoes started to chuckle and together they both burst out laughing. The sound of laughter woke Mary who listened in on the conversation. “A man pursuing my girl! How interesting,” Shoes said. “Don’t let him frighten you, young one. Men are easily handled and most are fools when it comes to a woman. You could use him to your advantage and he would never know it.”
“I have no interest in him. There is another who is kinder, gentler; I can feel the compassion in him. I’m uncomfortable around Lucky and have seen him make too many mistakes. I like the rest of his group, or at least the small portion who I have met. I would in fact like to travel with them but that would mean traveling with Lucky. I have not decided if I could tolerate him for a long period of time. They have a riverboat named Jenny and it seems to beckon to me. I would like to be on her but that would mean close quarters with Lucky. I have Mary to think of and want what is best for her. I was not going to board Jenny as long as I had Cowboy with me, but now that she’s gone the possibility is greater. Cowboy belongs in the wild and that’s where she has returned.”
“You have a lot to think about. If this man Lucky led you into danger once, he could do so again. But perhaps you were too trusting of him before.” She paused before continuing, “Don’t get yourself pregnant.”
Roxanne gasped, “For Heaven’s Sake, Shoes! Taking on a man is not how I see surviving in this world! I am not interested in any man as a lover.”
“Shit happens. I’ll give you a potion to take with you but if that should ever happen, try to get back here for the birthing. Here is the only place an infant would be safe.”
Morgan walked among the bodies piled up on the ground where the helicopter had once been. He was looking for bodies that had not been shot in the head and had not been consumed by zombies but was finding it to be a lost cause. The zombies that were still standing or roaming the area had been locked behind the fence for so long that they had continued to feed on the pile of bodies. He could not tell which had been attacked by Z’s and had died because the bodies were consumed, leaving only bones and clothes. There was some movement within the pile, but that was from the bodies on the bottom that had turned and he saw no reason to dig through.
Lucky came out of one of the buildings and said, “Looks like that one was used for Blue Ribbons in Bakery. Nothing there of any use.”
“I don’t think that you are going to find a military stash of supplies, Lucky. The fairgrounds was to be used for pick-up, evacuation and the military wasn’t planning on staying here to store in supplies. I’m coming up with nothing, too,” he said and kicked at the bodies. “Can’t tell if any of these people died and didn’t turn.” They heard the grinding of a motor and turned to see Ivan behind the wheel of one of the buses.
“Would be nice to get something out of this place that works other than the jeep” Lucky said. “Looking at the map last night, Route 123 is the main street that goes past the Mansion then leaves town and eventually goes into Texas. Some are talking about Texas as a back-up plan, but I’m not going further west. My back-up plan has always been Jenny.” They heard the motor grind a second time and almost catch. “I know that’s why Ivan is working so hard on a bus, even a small one. I don’t think th
ey want another situation like the one at the paper mill, backed up against the river with no working boats to be had. To be quite honest, that’s fine with me if they want to split off. I liked having just a small group on Jenny, just the few of us traveling.” He stopped and looked at Morgan. “Does that sound selfish, cruel or insensitive?”
“It’s a big responsibility, all those people,” Morgan said. “We always thought that we needed more people to be a better fighting force, but I found that it just gave me more people to worry about. So I know where you’re coming from. If you think that sounds selfish, then we both are. Toby no longer has his tugboat but I still consider him to be the leader of the paper mill folks. That’s where he sent everyone and that’s where we eventually went, so I consider the mass majority of these people to be his responsibility. Don’t get me wrong. These are good people, but if this place is overrun and the group splits up, me and Caleb are still with you and Brandon on Jenny.”
