Dead 09: Spring

by T. W. Brown

  “Let me see if I got this right. We have sex until it is certain that you are pregnant. Then…we are done? And when the baby comes, you leave and I might never see you again?”

  The woman nodded. Danny had a stern expression for all of about three seconds. He turned to Jody with a huge grin. “This is probably the coolest zombie apocalypse ever.”

  He climbed back up into the tower whistling some tune that Jody thought might be “Oh What A Beautiful Morning” as he returned to his post.

  Selina threw her hands up in disgust and walked away. Jody watched her go until the rest of the women crowded in around him and started asking when they would get to view the eligible men.

  “Right this way, ladies,” he called out as he made a gesture of welcome with his hands and started off for the school.

  The word had already been sent that every man between the ages of eighteen and fifty be present. Glancing at the females in tow, he could tell that Pitts had not been quite so choosy. Well Jody was not ready to travel that road. While he had sent Kat, who was obviously not yet eighteen, as well as one other girl that he was pretty sure could be no older than sixteen, he was not okay with it. And as far as he was concerned, he would be separating these females as well as his eligible men. While it would still make him very uncomfortable, he could at least mitigate that feeling by trying to prevent some sort of Hugh Hefner-Bimbo Bunny hook up.

  They reached the school and Jody noticed a handful of the women who had been left behind staring with rapt scrutiny at these newcomers. He saw a few raised eyebrows and maybe even a hint of anger. He would need to keep a close eye on things for a while.

  Once they entered the school, he turned and had the women stop. “Wait here a moment, I’ll be right back.”

  Hurrying into the gym, he saw most of the men that fit his parameters present. He did notice a few missing. Hopefully that would not come back later to bite him in the ass.

  “Okay, anybody under the age of twenty, I want you to go over to the other side of the partition.” He saw some confused looks. “Listen…Pitts sent some girls in this batch. And when I say “girls”, that means they are obviously not yet eighteen.”

  He saw a few knowing nods, but he also saw what he was pretty sure were a few looks of disappointment. He would keep those few in mind for the next lousy detail that would take place outside the perimeter. As soon as the men had divided into the appropriate groups, Jody returned out to the ladies. He quickly explained what he had done and why. Oddly enough, it was one of the ladies who looked to be in her early thirties who voiced objection.

  “That was never part of the deal back home,” the woman huffed. “Do you know how energetic those younger men can be?”

  For the briefest of moments, Jody recalled an episode of South Park. In it, Kyle’s little brother’s kindergarten teacher has an affair with the young Ike. When Kyle discovers this and turns to the local police for help, he initially reports that a teacher was having a sexual relationship with a student. The officers all jump to their feet in anger, some pulling weapons as they demand to know who this despicable man is that could commit such an atrocity. When Kyle says that it is the kindergarten teacher and his brother, one of the cops asks, “You mean the hot one?” Kyle nods to which the officer holsters his gun and utters, “Nice.”

  “Personally I could care less, ma’am,” Jody said, shaking his head to clear it and return his attention to the situation at hand. “As long as you are here, you will do things our way. Our younger men will be available to your young ladies, and the rest…well…I am sure you will find somebody to your liking. And if not, I will gladly see to it that you are escorted back to your compound. Perhaps Sergeant Pitts will send someone in your stead.”

  There was an uneasy stillness, and Jody saw what he could only decipher as fear on a few of the faces. Had he said something wrong? Slowly, a thought began to ferment. Pitts had never really spoken of the women like they were people; it was more like they were possessions.

  “Okay,” Jody said after a moment where he took close stock of these women and their obvious reaction to his suggesting that he send them back, “I think we should make something clear. You are considered citizens of our little town until the day that you leave. You are free to go and do as you please. We have a list posted up by what I guess used to be the principal’s office. It has some of the community’s needs. If you can perform any of those tasks, feel free to volunteer. You are under no compulsion to do so if you do not wish.”

  “And if we decide we don’t want to do anything…you gonna send us back?” one of the women asked.

  “Nope.” Jody gave an exaggerated shake of the head. “Obviously that would create a problem for you judging by your reactions. So please feel free to head into the gym and take a look. If anybody suits your tastes, then I guess you know what to do.”

  With that, Jody turned to leave. He was not surprised to discover Selina waiting for him outside. He put his arm around her and pulled her to his side, kissing her on the temple.

  “Would you have done it?” she asked.

  “Done what?”

  “Don’t play games with me, Jody.”

  “Oh…you mean Margarita? Hell…I don’t know. It would seem kinda bad if I did not allow myself to be treated in basically the same manner that our women are being treated.” Jody rubbed his eyes, suddenly he was very tired. “I mean, if our girls are being sent to a strange place where they have to select a man with the sole intention of getting pregnant, then it would seem pretty hypocritical if I removed myself from the pool of selectees for the women from Pitts’ compound.”

  “And what about when my turn comes up? What about when I have to go over there?”

  “You’re pregnant right now, so we have time to figure something out.” Jody laughed and rubbed Selina’s belly. “Maybe I’ll just knock you up again and keep you out of the pool.”

  Selina’s expression darkened. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she spun on her heel, storming away. Jody watched in utter confusion as she left, her shoulders shaking as she obviously had started to cry.

  “What the hell did I say?” Jody muttered.

  ***

  Sean looked into the first apartment. The filthy room was worse than a slaughterhouse. It looked like maybe a handful of people had tried to fight with a hundred zombies. There were bits and pieces everywhere. The walls were a Rorschach pattern that would confuse Jackson Pollok. Bits of bone and brain had dried to a sinister form of stucco, held in place by generous amounts of dried blood.

  One man stood out from the rest. Of course the only reason that Sean could tell that it was a man was because his shirt had been torn almost completely off. He had bites on him and a few chunks missing from his shoulders as well as a rip where the flesh had been torn away to reveal the ribs beneath. He had dropped into a corner and put a double-barrel shotgun in his mouth and blown the entirety of his head off in a volcanic eruption of gore.

  The smell made him want to vomit. He had only peeked in for a second, but he was not sure he would ever be able to erase the image of so much violent death that had burned its imprint onto the memory slate of his mind.

  He wanted to find someplace for them to be able to hold up for a while. Outside, the screams of the children and the shouts of those people from the hospital had dwindled. If he went into one of the apartments on the left he would be able to see.

  Moving to the next apartment, he opened it to find the unit empty. Other than dust, cobwebs, something that scurried away as soon as he opened the door (probably rats), and a long dead bird that was on the floor just inside the busted window, the place was vacant. Sean went in and crept to the window. He doubted that anybody would be looking up, but he was still not going to take any chances.

  Peering out, he saw the streets crowded with swarms of the undead. He could not swear to it, but he thought that a couple of the faces might be familiar. What he did not see was any sign of that bitch Rose or the bigger bitch, Ca
tie. A small voice in his head tried to tell him that he was scared of them both, but he silenced it.

  From where he was, he could just make out the roof of the hospital. It looked like several people were out there looking down at the nightmare swirling below. If he looked down, the zombies that were passing were so bunched in that he could not actually see any of the street.

  Sean pulled the door shut and went to the next one. He was turning the knob when Deanna’s hand touched his shoulder. He spun, ready to vent more of his anger at this ungrateful bitch who could not see that he had saved her life…she owed him.

  “I’m sorry, Sean,” Deanna said in a hitching voice that still struggled to fight back the sobs. “It is just that I will miss those people. I loved them, and I think some of them loved me.”

  “Not like I do.” Sean had thought that those words had only passed through his mind. It took him a moment before he realized that they had, in fact, come from his mouth.

  “I know you do, Sean.” Deanna placed her hands on his face now. She pulled him close and kissed him. It was not meant as a romantic kiss at all. Just the briefest of touching between their lips as an acknowledgement of appreciation; sadly, it meant completely different things to each of them.

  Sean pulled Deanna close. At first, she yielded, wanting to be held. But when his hands began to wander and explore, she tried to pull away.

  “What are you doing?” she managed around his mouth that was starting to press hard to the point of painful.

  Sean drew back and looked at Deanna with confusion. “But…you kissed me. I thought…”

  “I just needed to be close to someone,” Deanna whimpered. A memory was starting to form, and if it was true, she wanted desperately to push it down.

  “Someone!” Sean spat, pushing her back in a mix of anger and disgust.

  “Sean, please, not so loud,” Deanna begged.

  “Why…you afraid the zombies will hear?”

  As if in answer, a rattling moan sounded from somewhere within the building. It was answered by another…and another…and another…

  7

  Geek Girls Gone Wild

  Aleah slipped over to the corner and watched the dozen or so walkers as they shuffled along. It was almost hypnotic and she could not help but be amused.

  CLANG-clang-Clang!

  The large can bounced down the road again as the lead zombie’s foot connected with the dented piece of tin. The zombies adjusted their course slightly to home in on the sound until they reached it and kicked it once more sending them on a slightly different trajectory.

  She was actually disappointed when the can became lodged in a pile of wood and rocks from a building that looked like it had been in the direct path of the tornado. Sure enough, the zombies trudged along until the debris pile made them alter their course and then the “game” of kick the can was over.

  Heading back to the warehouse where Rose was set up in a small office making some sort of soup using a bunch of unidentifiable greens that she had not the stomach to inquire the origins of, Aleah sighed and stretched as the warm glow of the morning sun crept over the roofs of some distant buildings and cast their glow on her skin. Today had the makings of what would normally be considered a beautiful day. Take out the part about the zombie apocalypse, no real food, only a pair of canteens left with any water in them, and the fact that the man she loved was probably in a medically induced coma where he was being used to procreate with other women who shared his immunity to whatever it was that turned a person into a zombie, and today was a beautiful day.

  Giving the “secret code” of two knocks, a pause and then another knock, Aleah opened the door to discover Rose sitting in the corner, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was so caught off guard by the markedly “un-Rose-like” behavior that she almost tripped over her own two feet trying to hurry to the girl’s side.

  “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Aleah knelt down before the sobbing Rose and took her hands. All she received in response was a stiff thrusting out of one hand.

  Aleah followed to where the extended finger pointed and saw a large, wet splat on the far wall. Rivulets of water had created a pattern that dripped down from the central spot where a large clump of what looked like grass and weeds stuck in an ugly clump.

  “I wouldn’t make my worst enemy eat that!” Rose managed through her tears.

  “That bad, huh?” Aleah stood and retrieved the small cooking pot from where it lay on its side at the base of the wall.

  “Vile,” Rose said as she scrubbed at her face with the cuffs of her shirt sleeves.

  “You know…” Aleah turned with a thoughtful expression that made the scar tissue around what was left of her nose wrinkle, “…there is another big neighborhood to the west of us. We could check a few of the houses on the edge. I’m sure we can find a little something.”

  “What about Catie?”

  “We will only be gone for a couple of hours. It is pretty early and I doubt that she will be coming at this hour.” Aleah paused for a second and a smile crept across her face. “Besides, I have feeling that we will hear her departure from that place.”

  Rose considered the idea and nodded just as her stomach gave a loud grumble. Within minutes, they had emptied their small knapsacks of everything to maximize the space available to return with as much as possible.

  Setting out, Aleah actually pulled up and called off the run before it began when they emerged from some brush to discover a series of train tracks with a scattering of derelict cargo cars interspersed randomly in either direction. It was like a deep fear came from her stomach and twisted at the core of her soul.

  “If we smell anything…we can go back,” Rose whispered, placing a comforting hand on Aleah’s shoulder.

  They made it across with no problem and climbed a small hill to get up to the first houses. Staying low and using every patch of shrubbery or abandoned vehicle for cover, they crept to the first house on the corner.

  After almost three hours, the frustration was starting to build. So far, it looked like this place was more like what they had expected when they had begun the search of the neighborhood by Eggers Grove. Every single house they entered showed the obvious signs of having been looted.

  “With crumbs much too small for the other Whos’ mouses,” Aleah recited after almost two dozen houses had yielded absolutely nothing of value—food or otherwise.

  “This is a waste of time,” Rose snapped as she stood in the entry of a kitchen that had most of the cabinets torn from their mounts. “If we are going to find anything, I think we have to head in a few blocks.”

  Aleah nodded her agreement as she stepped over a body that had decomposed to the point where it had started to meld to the hardwood floor in a dark pool of dried putrefaction. A door at the end of the hallway had seen a barrage of bullets and now beams of sunlight shone through and created a prism as it caught on the motes of dust drifting in the air.

  They exited the house just as a pair of walkers rounded the corner. The pair of undead turned in unison and let loose with the hair-raising sound of a baby cry. The sound had always bothered Aleah, but this time it stung her soul. Striding across the overgrown and litter strewn yard, she dropped them both just as they had started to cry out a second time.

  Without a word, she turned back and headed into the lattice of streets that made up this particular neighborhood. Rose hurried and fell in stride, but she was certain she had seen something moving in the shadows beside the house across the street. Several times, she glanced over her shoulder, but each time she saw nothing. Eventually, she chalked it up to a combination of nerves, frustration, and good old paranoia.

  ***

  At some point, Catie had dozed off. She had honestly expected some sort of visitation by Jordan or one of his goons, but nothing had come. The light of the morning sun woke her with a start as she realized that she had actually slept through the night.

  Sitting up and stretching, she was amazed at how refresh
ed she felt. It was like this had been the first actual night of rest she had been able to completely allow herself in ages. Despite having fallen asleep with the idea that she should be vigilant just in case somebody from the compound came, she had slept soundly.

  Rising, she was further dismayed when she discovered that a tray had been set inside her door with a bowl of still steaming oatmeal and another slice of bread. Once again she repeated yesterday’s ritual of enjoying the bread; however, she found it strangely difficult to toss out the hot oatmeal with a visible sprinkle of sugar glazing the surface.

  Eating the chunk of bread, she was only modestly disappointed that it was not warm like yesterday’s. It was still delicious, and she went so far as to hold her hand underneath to catch every single crumb.

  It was another few hours before the sounds of somebody unlocking her door intruded. Catie tried to look casual and disinterested from where she lay sprawled on the bed. She had forgotten what it was like to be bored and quickly remembered that she hated that feeling.

  “Come with me,” a man said as he stepped inside with a pair of armed companions who had their hands on the butts of the pistols holstered at their hips.

  “Where are we going?” Catie made an effort to sound more curious than concerned.

  “Just come along, all your questions can be asked when you see the doc.” Catie noticed that the individual who was apparently in charge of this detail was having trouble keeping eye contact.

  As Catie slung her small pack over one shoulder, she began to think that perhaps there was even more dissension amongst these people than she had initially realized. It was obvious that there was something wrong at the core of this group. The only thing she could not figure out at the moment was just exactly how she would be able to use that to her advantage.

  She allowed her escort to lead her as they exited the building and then crossed the compound. Her heart started beating a little faster as soon as she realized that they were obviously heading for that big building where she had seen everybody herded into the other day when she Aleah and Rose had been watching.