by P. S. Power
“Her idea, to tell the truth.” He smiled, but it really was.
Tipper nearly sputtered, “Seriously? Wow, that's more open minded than I thought she'd be. Normally a bit of a prude that way. Alright...”
When they got behind the barn she pushed him into the wall a little roughly and started kissing him, her hands moving on his belt. It was really tempting to just let her do it, but that part hadn't been cleared with Vickie at all and while it would be fun for him in the moment, those two had to be sisters for the rest of their lives. Rather than push her away he leaned into her, which got him kissed again.
“Tip...” He tried to speak. For someone that thought he was a bit off-putting she certainly didn't seem to have a problem in the moment. Maybe she was getting bored with the people there already?
“We know where Derrick Holsom is. I'm here to see if you want in on the action. I know it might be hard for you, so say the word, and it's all good. We also have a side project. If you want in it's two things. It would be best if you didn't tell anyone though.” Waiting was a bit difficult, his pants half down and her hand on the front of his underwear. He was hard, but sighed.
“Um, that was what Vickie suggested, not this. You might want to let me go now.”
“Oh, well, this is awkward then, isn't it?” She sounded strangled.
Jake grinned, “Heck no. If I didn't care about both of you I'd be getting laid about now for certain. Doubtlessly finishing... now.” He took a beat and Tipper smiled at him in return.
She moved back a bit, but on the way took the time to squeeze him just enough to feel really nice.
Kind of a bitchy thing to do really. Still, better than rejection, which was probably her point.
He got his clothing around while she thought, neither took long.
“Fill me in on all of it?”
He did. She got the Christmas thing at least. Not one of her holidays, but she'd lived in the States most of her life, so she knew what the general idea was. Trees and decorations, then going broke trying to make people think you loved them.
A pretty accurate description, once you took religion out of it.
“Only, we're totally just stealing stuff. Way cheaper.”
Over the next several days Jake got to work, getting in two saw blades by doing them back to back, Sammi helping a lot with the timing on things, and then two large, broad and curved axe blades. The handles were just normal ones, extra from Burt's work shed. The only thing left, four days after that, was to get with Nate and explain. He already knew of course.
Telepath.
Kind of his thing.
“Go. But I want you all back in three days, even if Cam has to just bring you back without anything done. Longer than that and I'll worry too much. You're taking the best cleaners, what if we get hit by zombies or raiders?” It wasn't a real question, it was a guilt trip.
Jake raised both his eyebrows at the man, and shook his head.
“Nate... If that happens, you aim for the head and take charge. There are a lot of solid people left.” There really were.
It was basically Tipper and her team, with the addition of Darla and Cam, along with Carl and Barry the old war vet. When they got to the van they found Sammi sitting inside, holding a rifle, a nine millimeter on her side. Jake almost said no and kicked her out. Not because she couldn't pull her weight, she could see in the dark, hear things he just never would and heal so fast it was insane. Not take the damage that the Vals could, from what he'd gathered, but way more than him. Plus she was old enough to get the idea of what they were doing, it wasn't some little kid idealism.
No, he just didn't know that she'd get along with Cam, or that the red haired teen would let the whole attempted murder thing just go. It was kind of a big deal, taking a knife to someone like that.
For her part Cameron swallowed and looked away.
“Fine Bawdri. I'll get you back, if I can do it safely. No tricks or leavings. But if you mess with me, I reserve the right to change my mind. I mean name calling too. The bad stuff anyway. If you just want to call me a bitch or something I'll live.”
“Agreed.” Sammi said, only half as stiff as Jake thought she'd be.
Yay. It was almost like peace or something. Jake didn't trust it at all, but they both seemed to.
Good enough.
Carl was driving, and while he couldn't think of another word for what they rode in than van, it was really a four wheeled drive lightly armored vehicle done in a deep blue with the words police on the side. Not Jake's favorite possible paint job, but screw it, it was what they had. They all watched the sides, out the widows, as if it would do any good.
Zombies wouldn't care about even a slow moving automobile and they weren't going fast at all, about fifteen miles per hour on the snow covered road. If they were on one at all. Jake couldn't tell. Then, if it was the sidewalk it didn't matter as long as they got there alright, did it? If something more technically advanced, or God forbid, more powerful, than the undead came at them, watching also wouldn't make a difference at all.
Unless it did.
That was enough to keep Jake watching at least. They stopped two hours in, at a nice mall on the outskirts of Burberry. Jake had never been before, but it was kind of famous for being huge. For the area at least. It had about twenty stores in one place for their looting pleasure. Also about twenty zombies walking around inside. Crawlers really.
That was good. It meant that no one had cleaned the place before, which meant that a lot of the stuff was still just sitting there. The only thing that had been hit hard was the electronics store.
Someone was freaking brilliant, they didn't even have electricity... So obviously a giant flat screen would be just the ticket. Then people did a lot of stupid things, didn't they? They'd probably done it in the first hours after the announcement, figuring that the whole thing would only last a few days, maybe weeks, then everything would be back to normal. Only they'd have all that loot. If so, that plan hadn't gone too well.
It left a lot to choose from though. They decided to stay the night, after securing the place. It wasn't like people were going to just walk up on them, not in the snow with all the zombies out. They picked to crash in the furniture shop, which mainly had beds and sofas for some reason. Some with bedding. The light wasn't fading yet, so Jake started collecting the things they'd need. He was selective, but made a point of getting nice stuff. Only things that didn't take power, and made several piles, so that Cam could pick things up at her leisure.
Rolling her eyes she snorted at him and made a circle in the air with one hand, towards the sky.
“Now people let me steal. When no one cares if I have all the nicest clothes or shoes at all? The weight of this world is heavy. Heavy.” It sounded odd, but Jake smiled at it, getting that it was a joke.
They did find a few more frozen undead, which let him try out the new axe he'd brought for the purpose. I was easier. Not magically so, but three blows did the trick instead of closer to a dozen. Tipper could do it in one. Carl could too no doubt, but he left the beheading to other people. It just wasn't his thing.
Jake got it.
The whole process was disgusting. He only did it because he wouldn't ask anyone else to. It had to be sickening for them too.
It was as cold in the mall as it was outside, so he cuddled up in bed with Vickie, only to have Sammi tuck into his side after less than a minute. After that they all did. The last one in was Barry, who actually seemed a little put off by the whole thing, until Tipper grabbed him and pushed him into the pile, taking the outside. They had to push three beds together for it, but it worked pretty well. Of course he was in the middle of it all, so of course he thought so. Jake just worried about the others.
They were all warm enough to live though, and no one lost fingers or toes, so they were able to get going before true daybreak. The rest of the drive was quiet. It should have been a big deal to sneak into position and watch the place Holsom and his gang of rapists
had hidden, but it was just about the least protected place imaginable. Big, true, and nice, in a mansion-ish kind of way. It even had a swimming pool in the back yard. An empty one. The fence was cute, a four foot height wooden picket fence. It might keep out a shambler or two even.
Jill and George had hinted they got by mainly by just hiding. It was a decent plan, the same one most used. Be quiet and don't draw attention. It seemed to be working, if the lack of a small hoard around the place counted for anything. They watched for hours without anything happening. Finally zombies started to come to their position, hidden a few houses away. Jack wondered if it had to do with their scent, being warm in the cold air. Would that make it carry farther? Instead of shooting, not wanting to give things away, or charging in, Jake decided to simply walk into the house and see what he could find.
He murmured this to Vickie who shook her head. No one liked the idea at all. Darla solved the problem by simply walking over to the yard herself, right through the dead, who didn't seem to notice her at all, then the house, alone. She didn't even bother to take a weapon.
After about fifteen minutes she came to the door and waved them in. That would take shooting, but when he whispered this, she mouthed something back.
“It's empty.” Sammi said softly, so that he could hear her.
It was. Totally. The description and address was right and Sammi recognized the scent of Holsom specifically and Darla agreed that a massive pheromone load was still present.
There were bodies inside, but Derrick wasn't one of them. So either he'd run away again, or been taken prisoner. There had clearly been a fight. That or these people brawled for fun amongst themselves. To the death. Both of the other women seemed to be there as well as three men. All looked to be fresh kills, but being frozen, who really knew?
“Well. That's a bust then. Too bad. I was looking forward to finishing this thing.” Jake looked at the others and tried not to look too sad. They needed to keep morale up, he reminded himself.
“Let's see if we can find some Christmas wrap, ribbons and decorations on the way back? I don't want to leave the van if we can help it. At least not with fuel in it.” Even then.
“Got almost two thirds of a tank.” Carl's voice was smooth and low. It was conflicted sounding though. Relieved that he didn't have to kill anyone and, sad that Holsom might still be alive at the same time.
Barry suggested a few places to look for old Christmas stuff, but they didn't find much. No paper was left in any of the stores, it had been the wrong season for it when things had gone to heck. Well, they could do without, if they worked it right. Maybe wrap things in fabric, or just put bows on it?
They had evergreen trees and some decorations could be found. He'd need to get into town, but maybe he could bribe Cam to get him there, if it wasn't too hard on her. If not, maybe he could make a sled to pull things on? Jake didn't want to make too much work for the girl after all. Her trick was cool, but they only had the one of her. Almost everyone could shoot stuff like he did. More or less.
They were also going to need more bullets, or a substitute for firearms, and soon. Maybe make things they didn't have more of, like powder. They could recycle the bullets, sometimes, but most of them just got lost when used. Could he make air-rifles that would be strong enough? It was supposed to be possible. Jake didn't know if his skills were up to it yet. They may never be. Then if he didn't try, they certainly wouldn't, right?
More hunting had to get done too. A lot more. It was a lot to think about.
They managed to drive all the way home and report to Nate, who was relieved to see them so soon and kind of thrilled that they might manage something like a holiday for the kids.
“They're going stir crazy already. I don't know what to do with them...”
Jake didn't say anything about it until after dinner. Then he went to the head table and stood next to Nate, facing the room.
“Um, so OK, people have been doing pretty well so far, but things aren't done by far. We have some positions that need to be filled...” Then he began to get volunteers for everything he could think of, from building a new laundry facility, to extra patrols, and a new “forge team” that would learn to do that. Then he added a bunch of new builds, a large wood fired kiln, extra help for Julio in the greenhouse, and language lessons for an hour each day with Sammi. She spoke twenty-seven of them, so why not?
He went on and on, adding things that really he'd never even considered before. They needed an official barber for instance, and people to help act as babysitters so that the new moms wouldn't go crazy and have to be shot. He wanted at least one extra person per child for that. Carl sat taking notes the whole time, organizing what was said as if it meant more than just making work for everyone to keep them busy.
“Finally, I'd like someone to organize fun projects and events. If we just go by what I've been saying, everyone will go nuts inside a month.” Jake rolled his eyes and grinned, getting soft laugh from the room. Really, he was kind of shocked anyone was still listening at all.
Colleen stuck her hand in the air, a very prim looking thing.
“Yes Colleen?” Jake used her name, since it was one of the few he knew of the newest people off the top of his head. It wouldn't do for them to all think he didn't care about that kind of thing.
“I'll do that. If no one else wants to? We haven't had a lot of fun in... well, a long time. Too long.”
She sounded excited by the idea and no one jumped up to fight her for it, so Jake smiled and gave her a wink and nod.
“OK, that plus your other two or three jobs. Sounds like a plan.” Jake made the effort to smile. It was hard though. Everything felt hard. Like he was working and working to get things done and there was always more that had to happen.
A race with no finish line. One without a reason to be run, except the fact that if they didn't, the monsters would eat them. In the short term that was enough, but as things drew out, over the months, it just wasn't. The fact was, they were all doomed. Everyone was, yeah, but just surviving here, in the moment, didn't fix the world.
Being mopey wouldn't either, so Jake went for fake cheery instead.
“Great! So let's move on all this. If you want to head something up, come on up now and let us know. If you don't want to work or do anything, if you could get with Dave and Darla for a motivational speech and gentle encouragement, that would be good.”
No one laughed at that one. It was hard being funny at the end of the world. Then, Dave would freaking shoot people for real... Darla waved to the room and walked over to Dave, taking his hand in her own much smaller one. Her voice was low, but carried well enough, sounding innocent and harmless. She also had a rifle.
“We stand ready to assist you in all your motivation needs.”
That got a reaction, a low rumble from the room. It was freaking creepy. Funny though. Jake had to smile at the two and then waved at them.
They were working in near dark, which meant that almost everyone wanted to get ready for bed, rather than doing stuff, but they meandered up to Carl slowly, as the last person walked away from him. The kids had made small groups spread around the room and Cam was back with her kitchen team when Jake walked over. Even in the dark he noticed the cold looks from most of them.
“Cam, do you think you and Sammi can get along now? Not to be a pain, but it would be easier if we all just worked together. I know it wasn't your fault, but do you feel safe enough?” Jake kind of wanted to just go lie down himself. Alone. At his own house, not worrying about anyone else for a while. The strangely colored girl in front of him looked pretty normal in the dim and flickering glow of the candle set up in the middle of the room.
“Yes. She gave her word. It's enough. When you leave, can I come back with you? I'm not worried about the Bawdri, for all their faults, and there are many, they don't abuse Dehist, but if I know where you are, I can go back and forth, and maybe store some... things there?” The voice was low and casual.
Ne
xt to her one of the girls that Jake didn't know looked a lot more pissed off than not suddenly.
“No.” She sounded firm, angry and like punching Jake would be a good idea. “You don't have to do this Cam. That woman said we don't have to have sex with anyone we don't want to and that this guy is bad. Creepy. That he hurts people. I won't let him hurt you though. We won't.” She didn't make eye contact with Jake at all, but her voice hardly shook either.
Cameron made a face that seemed disgusted, “Who said that about the Dehist? I told you, he's safe. Maybe the last safe person anywhere. I offered to do him and he said I was too young. When was the last time you heard that Laura? Someone needs a sock to the jaw.”
The other girl shook her head.
“No he just has you fooled. She said you might feel that way, it's because he has mind powers and can make you believe stuff. People have to do what he says or he'll just kill them. I've talked to people, he's killed like half the people that used to be here!” She yelled the last bit.
Jake found himself staring at her down a firearm in his hand. She jumped back and screamed. Not too loud. Just enough he almost shot her. What saved her wasn't his kindness or even that he wanted to give her a chance to learn. Not now. They knew the rules. No, it was the clutch of people standing behind her.
“Control the sound level please.” He said gently.
The girls all froze in place and went silent. It was better. The room followed their lead. Jake put the nine away with a sigh.
“Sorry. We have to keep the human sounds down. Especially now. If you want to call me names and malign me, go ahead, but softly, please. Now, who exactly said that about me?” Jake looked around the room and saw Heather staring.
That got him to roll his eyes.
“Seriously? We're still on all that then? What the fudge Heather? I'd thought we came to a truce or something? You know, you stop sabotaging my entire existence and trying to drive me away and I don't...” The only thing that came to mind was shooting himself in the head. Or her.
