Dead End (Book 2): A Very Good Neighbor

by P. S. Power

  Not if he could help it.

  He also wasn't going to mention his plans to any of the women that might be affected in the future. So, that left... Sammi and Vickie. That he knew of at least. Then there were the guys. True Tipper hadn't been technically influenced by the man, but she'd slept with him anyway without batting an eyelash. That was a gray area.

  Jake got that he was still pissed at her, so it might not be her, and maybe she could kill the guy, now that he was proven to be a threat. Or not. He decided to see what Vickie had to say first. She was the real expert on Vals at the House after all. Well, the one he could trust.

  He pulled the cart, along with Carley, who favored her left arm a bit, but didn't complain about it. Sammi walked point, rifle at the ready. She took down the first three dead they saw. Each taking multiple head shots, like they'd all been taking. She was accurate though, until they got too close, then the shaking got the better of her and she kind of diminished in skill. When that happened Jake took care of it. Each time they stopped and hacked up the bodies, like he had been doing, then left them, not having anything better yet.

  It was both oddly easy and hard to do. They broke, down to the bone sometimes, but it shook his arm with each blow. Way worse than wet flesh normally did. Really he needed to switch to an axe for the winter, he decided. One with a very broad sweep, so he could take heads with it too. That could be made on the forge at least. If he ever got a chance to try.

  He'd have to make it happen he decided, as he hacked up the last one, in the backyard of the House. Because otherwise this stuff was going to get old fast.

  His arm was sore already.

  Chapter Six

  Carley walked straight to the back door of the place while he worked, which would have been fine two weeks before, but now meant he didn't have cover as he finished work on the lone z under his machete blade. As he worked Sammi fired again, and then over and over slowly, as more of the things came from the freaking woods. Sighing Jake took aim and made sure he was clear, and backed her up. There weren't that many of them, just seven, and they weren't even moving fast yet, just walking towards them, as if smelling something delicious on the wind.

  For a second Jake remembered the scent of King's burgers again, and wondered if it was really like that for them. Probably not, since that evoked memories for him and he kind of thought that zombies, no matter what was left going on in their heads, didn't think much about the past. Not in any complex way. If they did, it would be too cruel. He fired, reloaded the nine and kept going, taking turns with the small, strange looking woman-girl. Her light hair and skin looking odd with her Asian eyes and high cheekbones.

  When they finished Jake just walked to the field and took the heads, leaving the bodies in place. They got no backup from inside the House, but that was just protocol. No one would come out... It was a rule he'd made up after all, so they'd better not.

  Suddenly a single shot came from the second story window in the back. Jake glanced at the woods and saw the next three coming towards him, one falling about twenty meters away, then struggling back to its feet. He sighed and shook his head, because really, this was just getting old. He and Sammi got the remaining stragglers, who may not be the last ones at all, and then got themselves inside.

  If nothing else they needed to get more ammo.

  At the door they were met by several people, Burt first, who looked slightly tense, but grinned when he held the door for them. Ken, who looked larger somehow, growing even with all the crud going on around him, ran to Sam as she walked in and hugged her tightly. It was a bit more than just “I missed you” but less than “let's ditch this crowd and do it”. The look was right, Ken being about twelve, and even decently attractive, but Sammi was too old for him. Then, what were the rules there?

  She looked about the boy's age, younger really, and claimed to be eleven, but at a hundred and thirty-something over that, who was she supposed to date? If anyone? It was such a tough call. If she went out with Ken, it would look right, but be creepy. If she got into bed with one of the older guys, even if she wanted it... Jake would probably kill them. It just didn't have a balance point. Now that he considered it, the whole thing didn't seem fair to her at all. Should she have to be alone forever at the end of the world just because of his prejudices?

  Maybe he should just let her sleep with whoever she wanted, or not, and call it good?

  He jarred out of those thoughts when someone hugged him from the side. At first he figured it might be Jill or George. Maybe Billi. Kara didn't seem that cuddly now that he thought about it. It wasn't them, or even Vickie.

  It was the baby bump that caught his attention as he turned.

  Heather.

  He restrained the growl that wanted to rip through his throat, and didn't lash out at her or even frown as he turned. Instead he froze for a second. This was weird. They hadn't hugged or anything for months. When he looked she had tears in her eyes and was shaking. Real fear.

  No one was speaking, which was smart, but Tipper walked in behind the brown haired girl and shook her head sadly. It meant something, but he didn't get the idea. Awkwardly he patted her on the back. At first he thought that maybe Randy had bought it. Her chosen boyfriend, but he walked in, a flash of red hair and heavy clothes like a cleaner, looked at the scene and...

  Joined in the hug.

  OK...

  Now it was just bizarre. Jake patted them both. When they backed up, Lois grabbed him, then some guy he vaguely recognized from having been around for months. Samuel, the guy last in charge of cutting and splitting wood. It sounded like a minor thing, but it was needed to keep everyone alive. The guy was, as far as Jake knew, straight.

  Nate didn't hug him but looked relieved to see them all, smiling, strained and tight. Taking a deep breath Jake smiled and pointed to the weapons.

  “Spare rounds and anyone that can shoot.” He muttered softly. Quietly. Making noise would draw in a hoard which...

  He grinned.

  It made more sense than going to them after all. He set everyone up and found Molly, and looking around, Spence, Vickie's team screamer, he winked at them both as if it were a game and gestured for them to come with him, and Vickie. After a second, realizing that cutting Tipper out at a time like this just for lying to him before was stupid, probably insanely so, Jake waved and got her to follow too. He'd have gotten Dave, or Barry, the old vet, but both were actually good on rifle, so held sniping positions on the upper floor.

  He could count on them to not “accidentally” shoot him at least. No, if they did it, it would be on purpose.

  “Alright. We're the forward team. Molly, Spence, you two scream on command and then shut the heck up when told. We let the people inside do the heavy lifting, we take anything that gets by them and act as bait otherwise. Then we take heads. Um, not to be making assumptions here, but Tipper and Vickie will get the heads first, Spence and I backing them up if we get an overage. Molly...” He shrugged.

  “It's a pain getting the frozen heads, so don't bother, I doubt you have the arm strength. Pay attention to what we do, because you and Sammi are taking over for the night shift. We need sharp minds then...” He held up a hand and ran to the House. They'd need light. That meant Burt and Justine.

  Neither of them could shoot for fudge anyway.

  Hmmm.

  Fudge.

  Jake laughed silently and didn't explain, which had to make him look either badass, or insane. Tipper smiled back wryly and Vickie actually winked, as if it was all just a game. Which it was. Like a giant video game. Except they all only got one life each and it took time to reload.

  The zombies didn't stand a chance.

  There was a slight bit of panic when a few got in on the south side of the building, not because they could get in, but because Julio stood there, to protect his greenhouse, holding only the same shotgun he normally used, only that wasn't enough to take down the zombies once frozen. No one had told him that, due to the language barrier. Th
e small man didn't flinch when he ran out of shells, but he did look freaked. Terror in his eyes so plain that Jake saw it from just from the guy's profile.

  They took out the three shamblers that approach from that side and got Samuel and Ken out with handguns to help back the farm boss up, and traded his weapon out for something with a bit more knock down power.

  It took hours, but by dark they had a nice collection of silently flapping bodies in the fields. Too many to clean up given the time, but no more came out at all. Not even when they screamed.

  Jake shook his head.

  They didn't need this right now, but it was more fun than watching the plants not grow. Shrugging he got everyone in for dinner. Making a point of slapping people on the back. He really needed to wash up. It was pure psychology at this point, but just taking heads made him feel dirty, even if the black frozen blood didn't get on anything at all. He gestured to people as he passed and smiled at them, winking in the dim light and generally acting like it was all a good fun time. Better than a rock concert.

  Tipper gave him a really funny look, almost worried, but Vickie got it and pushed her sister's shoulder a little, playfully. Then she gave her a one arm hug and winked.

  “Good times.” She muttered.

  Tipper tilted her head ever so slightly, and then... chuckled a little.

  “Kicked their asses so hard!” She said with a bit of glee in her voice, low and almost sultry.

  Jake filed that away. The Vals had a code word for “fake being happy so everyone can keep high morale”. Dang. They really were professionals, weren't they? Good times.

  Jake walked over and put an arm around Molly's shoulder and winked at her, not knowing if the woman would get it at all. She might just slap him for touching her.

  “Yep, good times indeed!”

  To his surprise the dark haired, formally chubby girl laughed a little and... grabbed his butt. It made Jake jump and squeak a little. Not enough he'd have to shoot himself, but it got Spence to giggle and grab at him too.

  He stopped to wash up before dinner, which got everyone else to as well, even the people that had never closed with the dead. The water was barely lukewarm, but a small fire got started under the five hundred gallon tank, so that people could brush their teeth without cracking enamel off.

  When they went in, the people inside were acting scared and tense still. Jake just smiled and stuck his tongue out at the room, the tables arrayed in the normal fashion. People filling seats in about the same places they always took. Like little cliques in high school. Jake nearly took his normal place, but shook his head and moved off to the back of the room and sat between Heather and Randy. Leaning over, he kissed the pregnant girl on the cheek gently.

  That made Randy give him a hard look.

  “Hey!” The young man said, a bit gruffly.

  Jake nodded and then, not knowing why, kissed him on the cheek too. It got a low laugh from the room. Vickie and Spence sat on either side of Rita, the lady that made and repaired clothing and worked with Molly sometimes and Tipper moved to sit with Len and his girlfriend. A slightly dumpy looking woman that was a lot stronger than her size said she should be. Probably stronger than he was. Maybe by a lot.

  A few other people got the idea and moved places, Sammi did, and to Jake's surprise, Ken, who moved in by Billi and put his arm around her. Little horn dog. The woman grinned though, so she didn't seem to think anything was out of place with the move.

  They ate quietly, but Jake made a point of getting up afterward and walking to the center of the room, near the front.

  “Nate?” He spoke quietly, but “normal” for the new world. A low thing that sounded dark at first, but he lightened with a playful tone.

  “Alright, we need to get back to logging tomorrow, so early part of the day, we clean the woods and then get the needed lumber. Carley and... Who was doing that when we were gone?”

  Nate looked pleased enough, nodding to the correct people.

  “Team effort, Dave and Molly. Len and Burt on the buildings themselves. Justine on ammo during the day.... Molly at night.”

  “Right. Good people. OK, tomorrow, Dave, will you keep doing that? Carley I want you to run a second team. We need to move fast. The rest, well... volunteers. After we fix the area around here, we need to go into town and make sure that isn't too bad, then go and get the women and kids from the police compound. I know that it sounds a bit rough but-”

  Jake blinked.

  Half the hands in the room went up. Even people he knew for a fact couldn't shoot their way out of a damp paper bag. They didn't even wait to be threatened.

  Holy fuck.

  Tears came to his eyes then. Real ones. He held them back, but grinned like an idiot at the same time.

  People were actually volunteering to go out and fight. Even homebodies that had pretty much hidden for nearly eight months. He nodded.

  “Good, um, Carl? Would you get the names please?” The black man grinned and pulled out a pad and pencil, writing quickly, not asking who was who. He actually knew everyone. Jake just didn't.

  He noticed that Heather had her hand up and one of the other pregnant women did too. He pointed and shook his head.

  “No.” He moved from the front of the room to where the other woman sat, alone. She looked all alone, which shouldn't have been the case. He didn't know her name, or...

  “Holly?” He asked, a little tentatively.

  The black haired Asian woman nodded. She wasn't hot, but she hadn't voted him out of the House, even though she was having one of Holsom's many children. The rest had. Small and slight by nature, it meant she was tiny now. When he got to her she made a face, a hard one.

  “Howard died. He was, you know, my partner. I... Don't have anyone now and will probably have to leave if I can't pull my weight. So...” The brown eyes went to the table.

  A lot of eyes around the room did.

  “Sorry about Howard, but we don't have time for the dramatics on the rest. In other words, fuck that. Hands, who can work that doesn't have a partner. It doesn't have to be a guy. Paws up in the air people. We don't have time for this anymore.” Jake put his own hand up and looked around. He'd take her if it came to it. He could add food to the stores, which he already was and maybe some other things. It would take extra work, but...

  A lot of hands went up. Including, to his surprise, Nate. And Ken. And... Dave.

  He smiled and gestured to the room.

  “So, no, you can't go out yet. Pick someone, or Nate will start assigning people. Anyone else in the same boat? Pregnant with no partner?”

  Two women were. Neither were Holsom's even, but people had died and some of the men hadn't been with just one woman. They didn't even know who the father was. One was Cisco, the other a woman named Karen. Jake gestured at them.

  “Got it. OK. Don't be shy. We're all family here, right?”

  Then he pointed at people. The ones he wanted for the mission into town. Basically the cleaning teams.

  Who else would they take? But still, they had a few other people...

  “OK, um, Darla...” The girl looked like she was about to come punch him again if he didn't include her.

  “You're with me and Dave. Tipper's team. Molly's squad is the house guard while we're gone. Vickie, Carl, fill any gaps in your teams. Uh... Carl? Let Vickie and Sammi help you with that selection, will you?”

  Carl looked down, shook his head and sighed.

  “I hear you man.” Carl was a good cleaner, super-humanly strong and tough, smart enough to use weapons against zombies anyway, and a really sweet guy. Too much so, Jake realized now. It had meant that he'd picked the wrong people in the past, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings. It had gotten a lot of them killed. They couldn't afford that now.

  Nate stared at him and Jake didn't know why at all.

  “Um... Jake? Darla, she's a little girl...” He gestured to her with his head quietly.

  Jake shrugged, “Smaller target? We can't
afford to be prejudiced anymore Nate. She can do the job, we need to use her. It's not good, or nice and certainly not fair, but...”

  “Can I go too? I'm not good at fighting, yet, but I can learn, and I think it will help if people see me at the base.”

  Jake looked around and saw the girl in the dark. Robin. The Police Chief's daughter. He'd forgotten about her almost altogether. Looking at her now he realized that had been a mistake. Everyone counted now and she had a real point. Just like they needed to keep the mood up here, they had to do it for the new people too. A friendly, familiar face counted.

  He smiled and walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders, standing next to her chair. Giving her a gentle squeeze. She even leaned into him slightly.

  It was nice.

  “Good plan. Can you handle a rifle?”

  Nate cleared his throat, “She took out at least a dozen out there today, from the North-East window.” He sounded proud. Given that had to be close to seven percent of the total, Jake could see why. He hugged her a little tighter for a second a single pulse of his arm.

  “Good. Anyone else that thinks you should really go, get with me in the morning and tell me why. I'll listen. Wood and finishing things tomorrow, cleaning the area, the day after for the first trip. Before the snow comes...”

  Jake spun slowly, and found the farm boss who sat at the head table, where he belonged.

  “Julio? What can we expect weather wise?”

  Nate translated quickly. Snow in three days, probably four inches, maybe more in places. Jake thought for a few moments and reconsidered the time schedule a bit.

  “OK, we need to get all the way to the compound and start moving people the day after tomorrow. We can do this.” He sounded confident. No one else seemed to be buying it though.

  Jake shrugged.

  “Now, it's bedtime, so who do I sleep with? I'm not planning to stay up all night. Sammi and Molly won't let anything get us. That's not some small comfort either, I'm planning to sleep pretty well. I won't hog all the covers, I promise.” Jake couldn't really back that though. He was really a bit of a cover hog, he thought. Especially in the cold.