Only The Dead Don't Die (Book 3): Last State

by Popovich, A. D.

  “I’m looking for Zac Padilla’s place,” the soft-spoken woman said hesitantly.

  Shari shook her head and smiled. “Should have guessed. You look like Zac’s type. How’d you get here?” She eyed the young woman. Shari had long given up keeping track of Zac’s complicated personal affairs. He had a great heart. But that young man was a mess. No doubt he had many more hard lessons to learn before Spirit relieved him of his duties in this lifetime.

  Lewis offered a wary nod. “By horse. Zac said I could stay here if things didn’t turn out.”

  Shari smiled knowingly. “I saw that coming. I told him it was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose with all that estrogen in one place. He’s got enough wives to start his own World Order.” Zac had a peculiar habit of collecting wives, which was odd for a man who valued his independence so much. Women in need always seemed to find him.

  Lewis gave her a questionable look.

  “You must be his latest wife. I take it you didn’t care for life in the Zone?”

  Lewis flashed a tense smile. “So, this is the right place?”

  “That’s one way of putting it. Better here than twenty miles west of here.” Shari pointed to the faded sign hanging over the lodge’s front porch. “Welcome to Ghost Creek Hunting Lodge.”

  The wailing wind sweeping across the grasslands took over the stalled conversation. There was something about the woman. Something she should see.

  “Well, uh, Zac said I could stay—” Lewis hinted as if waiting for an invitation.

  “To set the record straight, do you happen to have your marriage cert on you? Or I can scan you in the office.” Shari grabbed the woman’s hand. A red streak had sealed over where the ID chip had been cut out. A common occurrence in Zhetto. For the most part, people only lived in Zhetto if they had to: Smugglers who risked breaching the borders for black market items, plain ordinary citizens who refused to conform to Last State’s rigid rules, and outlaws. “You’re on the lam,” Shari said matter-of-factly.

  “Where’s Zac?” Lewis shook her arm free.

  “On one of his top-secret missions. He left three days ago.”

  The woman’s faltering façade eroded into desperation. “He told me to wait for him in Boom Town—”

  “Ah, and you didn’t. I take it you aren’t married to him yet. Now I get the picture.”

  A faint smile of acknowledgment wisped across the young woman’s face as the restless wind whipped at her braids. She was an attractive woman with mesmerizing aquamarine eyes. Eyes that saw? Did she still have the Gift, or had it been stripped from her, too? Shari had a feeling this one wasn’t just another dire woman in need of rescue. There was something else going on behind those startling eyes.

  “Please, I need a place to stay until Zac returns. He would want me to be safe,” Lewis said firmly.

  Shari recognized the fear in the woman’s voice. “Follow me. And put on that sorry excuse of a hat. I can’t risk my guests knowing I’m harboring an unmarried woman. Take the cabin next to the creek. It’s not visible from the lodge and the plains. I don’t want trouble with Last State. When Enforcers patrol this Sector, it hurts business.”

  “Pardon me, but who stays out here in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Smugglers mostly. How long have you been in Last State?” Shari probed.

  “After the quarantine. Uh, a few days.”

  Shari was relieved when they reached the cover of the cottonwoods. She had three guests sleeping off a hangover poolside. “Harboring fugitives buys one a one-way ticket to Zoat. But, I understand where you’re coming from. In my heyday, I bucked the system as often as I could.”

  “When’s Zac due back?”

  “He doesn’t tell me the details. The less I know, the better. All I know is, he didn’t go back to California. They aren’t letting any more immigrants in.”

  Her eyes clouded over at the news. “So, you and your husband run the lodge for Zac?”

  “You could say that.” Shari stopped to study the woman’s expression. She’s going to love this. “I’m one of Zac’s wives.” Shari swore she detected a shockwave sweep over the young woman. It made her miss the Gift.

  The young woman’s eyes went blank. The old soft-focus trick, studying her aura. Shari knew it well. Invading my privacy to see if I speak the truth. Well, let her. Shari didn’t have much left to hide. Except from the Elites.

  “That one’s got a good heart. He’d marry a ten-year-old if it saved her from those Elites.” Shari motioned. “The cabin’s further through the trees.”

  They walked in silence.

  “How many wives does he have?” The young woman’s throat went hoarse.

  “Darned if I know. I lost count after twenty.”

  “How is it legal?” Lewis blurted.

  “The Elites have their own ideology of what’s legal. And what’s not. Mind you, keep a low profile until Zac returns. He’ll obtain your official citizenship, chip you, and bribe a marriage cert from one of his sources.” Shari stopped. Did she just get a flash of insight? Suddenly she knew this woman was head over heels in love with Zac. “Let me guess. After quarantine you wound up in Amarillo. For sale. And you somehow managed to escape.”

  Lewis nodded.

  “Good for you.” The young woman had moxie. “And you love him. That’s what I’m getting. Am I right?”

  Lewis replied with a heartfelt sigh, confirming Shari’s suspicion even without the Gift of Sight. “It’s good timing—you arriving like this. I could use help with my tinctures and greenhouse. My old back isn’t what it used to be.”

  “I’ll be glad to help.”

  “The Zhetto open-air market is the first of the month.” This might be a good thing, Shari decided.

  Lewis held out her hand. “Without a chip?”

  “Sure, I’m savvy enough to implant a temporary chip. Zac has spares in case of emergencies. Mind you, it labels you as a gypsy.”

  “As long as I’m legal. Is the market like a flea market?”

  “Yes, we rely on bartering.”

  “But, is it legal?” Scarlett asked.

  “For now,” Shari said. The Elites were probably coming up with a way to shut it down. “It’s dissident heaven.”

  “Who exactly are dissidents?”

  “Gypsies, smugglers, rebels, a beautiful runaway woman . . . whoever those douchebags deem to be. Most live in a tent city near the northern border.”

  “If they know where these people live, why don’t they clear it out?” The young woman seemed surprised.

  “Enforcers don’t waste their manpower that close to the border.”

  “Why aren’t you living in the city?” Lewis asked.

  “I’m too liberal for that World Order nonsense. A born-again nonconformist. Bra-burner, sage-burner, pot-burner, whatever you want to label it. I believed. Believed in the United States of America and the women’s lib movement in the seventies. And we’ve lost it all. Women can’t even own property on account we are the bleedin' property,” Shari ranted.

  “Is Texas really that bad?”

  “Worse!”

  “Did you know Zac before the pandemic?” Lewis asked.

  “No, we first met in Boom Town.” Shari thought back to that fateful day. At the time she had been desperate to get into Last State, thinking it was Shambhala. Due to her age, she hadn’t been able to find a respectable man to marry. “I signed up for the degrading Find a Husband program. Didn’t realize it was an auction. But there I was in the middle of Main Street up for bid.”

  “Jeez Louise, I didn’t know they auctioned women in Boom Town. I was lucky.”

  “In the beginning they did. Texas doesn’t want old hags like me. The only reason I had two men haggling over me was they wanted a housekeeper for their Boom Town shanty. Fate stepped in when a rugged-handsome stranger sauntered in on his horse. He bought me for ten grand.”

  “Fate,” Lewis whispered. “Zac has a habit of showing up at the right time. I t
hink his Soul Mission is to save women,” Lewis said unexpectedly.

  Soul Mission? A Lightworker here, of all places? It reminded Shari the multiverse worked in mysterious ways.

  “I remember thinking, what kind of deranged young man would buy a woman of my age? I tried to back out of it by telling him I had the evil flu bug the first month it came out.”

  Her aquamarine eyes widened in response. “You had the Super Summer flu?”

  “Barely survived it.” Shari didn’t want to think about it. “Anyhow, since technically I was an Infected, Zac snuck me across the border through a tunnel, bought my LS papers and marriage cert. By the way, why didn’t you wait for him?”

  “I was a bit pissed about the multiple wives thing. And then there was a horde attack at Last Chance. We—I, barely escaped. He probably thinks I’m dead.” The woman was close to tears. “When I made it to Boom Town, I thought everything was going to be great. I was stuck in quarantine for three flipping months. Imagine my surprise when I ended up on the auction block in Texas.”

  “Women lost nearly a hundred years of rights with one flu bug.” Shari kicked at the loamy soil. Don’t start stewing over it. Anger was a low-vibe emotion, she told herself. “Not too many of us made it. The last I heard, men outrank women ten to one.”

  “Unbelievable! So, you have to live out here since you aren’t legal?” Lewis questioned.

  “Oh, I’m about as legal as they come according to the paperwork. I tried city life in the K-zone building Zac owns. Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice. All the modern conveniences. My problem is I can’t keep my mouth shut and head down for more than two minutes. As rough as it is in the Zhetto, I’ll take my chances out here any day, Lewis.” Not to mention the neighborhood had been full of smart meters, which wreaked havoc with her auric field. She had always been sensitive to electromagnetic fields, but smart meters made her ill. And she hadn’t found any shungite to protect her from the harmful EMFs.

  “Call me Scarlett.” She let out a lovely dimpled smile. “Do you run the lodge by yourself?”

  “Pretty much. I get help here and there. The people around here tend to barter for room and board if they don’t have gold. I can always use firewood, produce, dairy, and meat for my customers. I have one handyman who works on my roof when he’s in the area and another customer who used to be a plumber. It all works out.”

  “Are your guests really smugglers?” Scarlett almost whispered.

  “Put it this way. People don’t stay here if they don’t have to. If there’s a breach in the panhandle, those dead-souls trapped in Zoat will make us their first fast food stop.”

  “Do they ever”—Scarlett winced—“escape?”

  Shari nodded. “Elites never admit to it,” Shari said. “Every now and then I see one crawling across the plains. They don’t run in packs. I call them Thinkers. I get these creepy dreams that Thinkers have plans of their own.”

  “Like what?”

  “Darned if I know. That’s why I always carry a shotgun. Hence my nickname, Shotgun Shari. I’ve come across carcasses ripped apart. So, don’t go wandering off. Avoid the other side of the creek. I stopped wild-harvesting after I saw one over there. It just stood there, staring at me while I aimed the shotgun at its rotting face. I didn’t have the heart to release it from this world. My intuition said it was on a mission of importance.”

  That seemed to spook Scarlett. “And Zac’s all right with you living out here with creepers?”

  “Ha, what makes you think he can stop me?” Shari rattled off. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m humbly grateful he lets me run the place. As a wife, I get a monthly stipend of his Last State Credits, as do his other wives.” Shari laughed. “Poor guy has to work twenty-four seven to pay for his wife habit. It takes a lot to maintain this place, so I make money on the side at the flea market.”

  “Does he really have twenty wives?” Scarlett said with doubt.

  “His marriages are in name only. That being said, he is a man. A good-lookin’ hunk of a man. I’m not saying he’s a saint. I’m sure he was upset when he didn’t find you at Last Chance or Boom Town.” Perhaps that was why Zac had been so moody. The man did like to brood. She had assumed he was tired of dealing with the Elites. Zac walked a tightrope, playing both sides of the fence. One day he would meet his match.

  Scarlett shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows. I came to Texas thinking life would be great.”

  “Didn’t we all,” Shari lamented.

  “Well, it’s my own fault for falling for him,” Scarlett said with a guilty grin curling the edges of her lips.

  “That one’s got charisma. He can talk his way in and out of anything. But don’t judge him too harshly. We all have our flaws.” Shari pulled a keychain from her pocket and unlocked the door to the cabin.

  “Do you rent the cabins?”

  “I used to rent this one to a nutty professor type. He disappeared several months ago. The other cabins are too rundown, and I can’t afford to renovate the plumbing. My guests prefer the security of the lodge. The heated pool is a big draw. Will you be okay on your own?”

  Scarlett stepped inside the wood-paneled cabin. “I’m used to it. This is perfect.”

  “I’ll flip the switch to the electrical breakers for you. We run on wind power. And there’s plenty of well water. The water table is high in this part due to the underground springs. Ghost Creek runs about two-hundred yards behind the cabins.”

  Scarlett’s eyes lit up. “Any fish?”

  “Probably not. The creek appears and disappears, depending on the rains. Folks ’round here eat whatever varmints they can catch, prairie chicken, mule-deer, rattlesnake . . . I’m a vegetarian myself.” Since the flu, the sight of meat made her ill. “The river tributary about twenty miles south has bass. But the water is used for the wheat farms. You’re bound to run into Enforcers out there. You don’t need to worry. I’ve got a small greenhouse. And I receive weekly deliveries of whatever’s in season.”

  Scarlett walked from room to room and eyed the shower longingly.

  “You’re welcome to take a cold shower. It will take a few hours for the hot water tank to heat up.”

  “Wonderful!”

  “Why don’t you rest and get acquainted with the place. I’ll bring by food and clean clothes later on. Then we’ll go over everything. Better go attend to my guests. Lie low.”

  “And my horse?”

  “Better keep him tied up by the cabin for the night. Saves me from explaining a late arrival. After my guests leave, you can take him to the garage. It houses more horses than vehicles these days. If anyone ever asks, I’ll say it belongs to Zac.”

  “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “Trouble’s afoot. We women have to stick together.” If Shari still had the Sight, if she could see into the future, what would it tell her about this woman?

  The last time Shari had glimpsed into the future, she had witnessed the horrific downfall of humanity. Of course, she had been delirious with fever. She didn’t remember anything, but she had reread the pages she had unconsciously channeled while lost in delirium. Was the prophecy true? Was this the same woman mentioned in her automatic writings?

  “Namaste.” Shari bowed before realizing it. But, the young woman didn’t return her gesture. Had Shari read too much into their chance encounter? Perhaps destiny hadn’t intervened, and their meeting was merely a random event.

  ***

  Scarlett Lewis watched Shari leave under the cottonwoods. The older woman’s words “trouble’s afoot” worried her. Did Shari have the inner vision? What a stroke of luck. Then again, the Silver Lady would say it was not a coincidence. Another helper, Lightworker? Still, she would remain vigilant. She hurried back for Twila.

  “She’s a nice lady, huh, Mommy?” Twila said.

  “Shh, no talking until we get inside our cabin.” Scarlett glanced from side to side.

  She rushed Twila inside the cabin and then tied the stallion to the cabin’s porc
h post. “I’ll take you to the creek again before sunset.”

  Onyx neighed.

  She joined Twila inside. “Shari’s turning on the electricity. We can take showers soon.” A nice, long, hot bath sounded enticing. She eyed the clawfoot tub. Our own cabin! It seemed like heaven after the basic quarantine quarters they had endured, followed by days of riding and camping on the blustery plains.

  “She’s bringing food and clothes,” Twila exclaimed. “Oh no, you forgot to tell her I’m a vegetarian?”

  It was nice to see the chatterbox side of Twila. “Sweetie, you know we have to keep you a secret.” Twila crossed her eyes into a frown, no doubt thinking Scarlett was behaving overly paranoid as usual. But her paranoia had kept them alive.

  Scarlett and Twila explored the two-bedroom cabin, complete with a kitchen, dining area, bathroom, living room, and woodstove.

  “What’s up there?” Twila elated.

  “A loft.” I can turn it into a playroom for Twila. That way, Twila would be out of sight when Shari came by.

  “Thank the cosmos for miracles,” Twila bemoaned.

  Oh, Twila.

  Chapter 5

  Estella Marie Vasquez-Chen blocked the intense noon sun with her UV-safe black-laced parasol while waiting for the tram. The October southern sun was more intense than she was used to. UV-safe parasols were the latest trend, and her Citizen Adjustment Counselor had gifted her one. Ella used it all the time. It reminded her of the Spanish black-laced parasol her mama used to have.

  It was weird having an Adjustment Counselor. All immigrants had one during their initial year in Last State. Which was a good thing. Life in Last State was peculiar—like living in a different country. She was still trying to learn all the loco rules. And what was even stranger, people followed the rules. Not like before the Super Summer flu when people only followed the rules when a police officer was around.

  All the men living in the Zones were required to have jobs and were paid electronically. Women weren’t allowed jobs, except for a few scientists and doctors. How stupid was that? She expected women would soon organize a protest for the idiotic rule. Still, Ella earned a few LS Credits based on her interactions in the CitChat Groups she was required to participate in.