by Diane Butler
“I don’t think this is a good idea” Lucky said. “We are outnumbered at least fifteen to one. Not worth losing anybody. Let’s just turn around and hit some of the side streets out of town and start going from house to house. I think this must be what we are getting back at the park, the overrun of stragglers. If this herd and those pockets of Ze’s we drove through all merge into one and come to the park, we could be in for some heavy fighting.”
They had been cruising the backstreets while Cami and Lucky argued over whether the best ammo would be found in a redneck area or a rich neighborhood when Cami suddenly told Rick to stop. “Back up a minute. Think I saw something of interest.” They were at a brick wall of a gated community but Lucky backed up so they could see through the fenced gate. “There!” Cami pointed, “See that NRA flag in front of that house? That’s where we need to go.”
“Doesn’t feel right, Cami” Lucky said. “There’s a chain and padlock on the gates. Could be the folks who you said had hunkered down. And if he lives where that flag is flying he could easily pick us off out here like a sniper.” Against his better judgment Cami got out of the car and approached the gates. She continued to look around at the various houses spaced two acres apart from one another. When she got back in the car she told Lucky to keep driving further up the road. As they came to a small tree growing outside of the wall she said, “This looks right. Stop here.”
“Lucky, you and I will use the tree to go over the wall,” Cami suggested. “We should be opposite a house that will block the view of anyone in the NRA house. He won’t see us come over the wall and we can use the second house to get closer. From there we play it by ear and sight before we approach any closer, trying to stay under cover until we can look in the windows and assess the situation. But I want that house.”
Roxanne objected to the idea of Lucky and Cami going alone but no one knew if KC could drive and if either of them were injured Roxanne would need to drive them back to the park. She watched them climb up the tree and then over the wall but the waiting was intolerable so she turned to talk to KC. She put her arm across the back of the driver’s seat and turned to ask, “KC why haven’t you gotten out with the rest of us to do a search? You only went into the department store with us and then you looked at cosmetics.”
At first Roxanne thought that KC was stuttering in an attempt to get the words out to answer, but then she realized that KC was hissing at her. She quickly removed her arm from the driver’s seat, “KC, what has gotten into you?” She had never seen this reaction out of KC. “Is it the Ze’s we saw on the road or in town? Has this trip made you nervous?” KC did not answer but the snake-like look in her eyes put a chill down Roxanne’s spine.
Roxanne got out of the car and came around to KC’s door and opened it. “Get out of the car. If anyone is hurt it will take both of us to help them back over the wall.” She popped the trunk. “Get the bolt cutters out of the back.” KC sat for a few moments, then got out to do as she was told.
Cami and Lucky were looking into a window of the NRA house to see that two men were dead in the living room. One was a zombie but the other had been shot in the head. There was a shotgun and a rifle on the floor.
“If these two are the ones who hunkered down it looks like the isolation got to them” Lucky said. “The zombie is shot in the chest, the dead guy in the head. An argument that got out of hand possibly.”
“Or they decided to Opt Out” Cami said “And one of them is a bad shot. Why don’t you go back to the car and let the girls know that everything is OK. I know they must be worried. Use the bolt cutters and drive through the gate up to the house. We can search this one while they search the house next door.”
“Don’t like that idea,” Lucky said. “Why don’t you go back to the car and I’ll search this house?”
“Because you can get over the fence easier than I can.”
“Well if you’d take some of that gear off you could move around a lot easier,” Lucky indicated all the equipment strapped around Cami’s waist and chest. She wore a gun on each hip, a rifle in her hand, a knife in her boot, an axe dangling from her waist and two bandoliers of bullets across her chest.
“Don’t you be worrying about my equipment,” she said. “Just go. I can handle this.”
Roxanne’s heart jumped with joy when she saw Lucky come over the wall but that emotion was quickly followed by concern for Cami who did not appear. “It’s OK,” Lucky said. “Get back in the car. I’m going to drive back to the gate and use the bolt cutters so we can take the car into the community.” KC smiled and handed Lucky the cutters. He took them and said, “Why, thank you KC for being so well prepared.”
They got back into the truck with KC taking her seat behind Lucky. She had been staring at the back of his neck during the whole trip. She wondered what it would be like to touch his hair, his skin, to wrap her arms around him. She glanced over at Roxanne in the front seat and the hatred swelled to the point that she had to clinch her hands to make it go away. Soon, KC was thinking. Soon, soon, soon.
The two men had put such a massive lock on the chain that Lucky struggled for a long time to cut it. He got back in the car and wiped the sweat off his face while Roxanne handed him a bottle of water. “Jez, I hope these guys are as fortified inside as they were outside. But now I’m worried about Cami. They could have set some booby-traps.”
Cami had already put a Ruger, revolver, a 16-gauge shotgun, a Winchester and a Remington on the front steps of the house by the time they pulled up. As they got out of the car Cami told KC to come in and help her while Lucky and Roxanne searched the house next door. But KC objected to this, grabbing Roxanne’s arm and pulling her. “Go”, KC said as she looked at Cami. She continued to pull Roxanne away from the group, keeping Roxanne close to her, “Go.”
Cami thought this over and said, “OK go with Roxanne then.” But as they walked away she called out Roxanne’s name, causing her to turn back. “Just watch your back” Cami said.
“What did you mean by that?” Lucky asked as they walked into the house. “About Roxanne watching her back. Don’t you trust her skills at staying alive?”
Cami shook her head, “It is KC I don’t trust. She’s been spying on you and Roxanne when you sit on her porch at night. May not mean anything since I’ve seen her spying on Ed too through his window. Sally is scared of her. Said KC brandished a pair of scissors at her and hissed.”
It gave Lucky a cold chill to hear that they had been spied on. He had momentarily forgotten that no one had privacy in a ZA.
Following usual procedure Roxanne tapped on the door window to see if anyone or anything responded. KC reached across her and punched the doorbell. To their surprise it rang, giving them both a start. KC grinned when Roxanne turned to look at her. “Must be wireless,” Roxanne said. “Very good, KC.”
“There could be booby-traps, Cami” Lucky said. “You haven’t opened any doors have you?”
She shook her head, “No, I found those weapons that I put out on the steps in just the living room, dining room and kitchen. Haven’t gone upstairs yet, nor the basement.”
“Well, don’t stand in front of a door when you open it. May be a shotgun tethered on the other side of the door.” Cami came out of the bathroom with a Beretta in her hand. “Check the toilet tanks of the other bathrooms,” she said waving the gun. “That’s where I found this one. And there’s ammo under the sink.”
Roxanne was checking the living room of the house next door while KC went thru the kitchen. “If those guys were hunkered down for a long time, they probably already checked these houses,” she yelled out to KC.
KC came out with lighters, matches, candles, paper towels and put them in a trash bag. Then she went toward the back of the house where there was an office and a door leading down to the basement. When she opened the door to the basement she immediately heard the soft moan of a zombie. Shining her flashlight down the stairs she could see him down there, hardly able to stand due to l
ack of fresh food. She smiled. This is perfect, she thought. Zombie bait.
Roxanne was fixated with the cleanliness of the living room. It brought back so many memories of family life before the ZA. Nothing was out of order; the furniture had not been eaten by mice or rats, the curtains still retained an ironed look. She looked over at the mantle and saw a music box similar to one she once had. She walked over to pick it up and caught her image in the mirror above the fireplace. She was startled by the woman she saw there and reached up to touch her face. Long ago she had worn red streaks in her black hair, had exaggerated her eyes into the look of a sphinx, wore dark red lipstick and had a pale complexion. But all that was gone and this was a stranger looking at her. Her skin was still smooth but the complexion was darker from living outside for so long and had been kissed by the sun. But it was her eyes that gripped her. They were so haunted now and did not carry that sparkle of laughter that she once had. They were the eyes of someone who knew starvation, who had seen hell and hadn’t found their way back again.
She shifted her focus from herself to movement reflected in the mirror and was horrified to see KC coming up behind her with a knife drawn above her head…
“KC?” Roxanne quickly turned and threw her staff up to block the blow. “KC, it’s me, Roxanne.” The room was filled with the sound of KC’s knife hitting the steel of Roxanne’s metal staff in three quick motions. Just as quickly Roxanne warded off KC’s attempt to stab her. She began backing up to ward off the blows convinced that something had rattled KC and that she was in some sort of a trance. She kept calling out KC’s name, not trying to hurt or overcome KC but to defend herself until KC stopped. But KC’s only answer was to continue yelling “HA!” each time she swung at Roxanne. Then KC jumped and used one foot to knock the staff out of Roxanne’s grip and to send it flying across the room but Roxanne was able to catch KC’s foot in midair to throw her to the floor. KC landed on her back and Roxanne immediately put a knee across her neck to hold her there but KC was still holding her knife and managed to slash Roxanne’s arm before Roxanne’s was able to get the knife away.
They stayed in that position, both breathing hard and staring into one another’s eyes. Then Roxanne saw something change in KC’s eyes. Some confusion and reality was starting to seep back into them. “You OK now?” Roxanne asked. KC could barely nod with Roxanne’s knee across her neck. “You sure?” Again KC nodded.
Roxanne got up and taking the knife with her she put it in the sack of supplies. “You’ll get this back when we return to the Park. If we stop anywhere else you can stay in the truck so you won’t be in any danger.” She carried the satchel with her and went to retrieve her staff that had been thrown against a door off the living room.
As Roxanne reached the door KC pulled a hidden knife out of her boot and came at her again. Roxanne dropped the supplies and gave out a kick to knock KC off balance and used her staff to block another blow. She reached behind her to open the door with the intent of holding it closed between her and KC until the teen calmed down. But as soon as she opened the door she heard the growl of a zombie behind her. She knew she couldn’t continue to use defense, not with a zombie behind her and KC with a knife in front of her. This was no longer a matter of holding off KC this was now life or death.
She quickly spun around to stab the blade of her staff into the zombie’s neck and immediately withdrew it so the blunt end would hit KC in the stomach behind her. She stepped over the zombie and turned as she entered the room. KC threw a lamp at her and kept coming. Roxanne could not close the door because the body of the zombie was blocking it. She realized that it was KC’s intent to kill her. Whether KC saw her as Roxanne or some monster, KC was still going to kill her. The fight became more vicious as KC used every household item she could grab to throw at Roxanne hitting her in the temple with an alarm clock and causing blood to flow into Roxanne’s eyes. Roxanne managed to pierce KC’s shoulder with her staff while avoiding another injury from her knife. She pierced one of KC’s legs but KC kept coming. She was like a robot, not feeling pain from the blows that Roxanne dealt her.
Roxanne did not want to do this again. She had killed only one human while on the road with Mutt. It had destroyed her mentally and emotionally and she had never been the same. She did not want to follow that road into hell again. KC picked up a bat that was on the floor and used it to keep Roxanne’s staff from hitting her again, ignoring the blood flowing from the wounds Roxanne had inflicted on her. Roxanne could see that KC was very good in defense tactics and it appeared that she had some training before the ZA. She had tried several different kicks on Roxanne, some of them connecting. Once KC managed to get close enough to grab Roxanne by the hair and pull her head back to cut her throat but Roxanne punched her in the stomach forcing her to temporarily back off and giving Roxanne time to regain her balance.
“KC” Roxanne whispered, almost in tears. “I’m sorry I have to do this.” Roxanne dropped her staff and stepped back as KC swung at her face with the knife. She grabbed KC’s arm as it went past her face, twisted it up behind KC’s back and wrapped her other arm around KC’s throat. She tried getting the knife out of KC’s hand while choking her but she underestimated KC. With one swift movement KC bent over and Roxanne went flying over KC’s back to hit the floor. Roxanne quickly rolled over, pulling her knife out of its sheath at the same time and gave a blind upward shove of her knife as KC was leaning down to stab Roxanne.
The knife made contact with KC’s midriff, doubling her over. Roxanne stood up and shoved KC’s body backward into an upright position. Putting both her hands on the handle of her knife Roxanne whispered, “I’m sorry.” Then she quickly yanked the knife up, cutting through KC’s midriff into her breastbone. KC gave out a piercing scream and crumbled to the floor. Roxanne staggered backward until she hit the wall, blindly reaching out to find a chair and collapsed into it.
Movement in the doorway took her eyes away from the bloody mess before her to see that Lucky and Cami were standing there.
“Jesus” Lucky whispered. Cami walked over to KC’s body to remove the knife still embedded in her chest. She took out her pistol and shot KC in the head, immune to the splattering of brain matter on her jeans. “Damn you Cami,” Lucky said. “Did you need to use your gun?”
Cami shrugged, “Body is too fresh to get a knife through it. Besides, I have the ammo now and I’ve been anxious to use it.” She walked over and held the knife out to Roxanne who looked at it as if it were a snake. Realizing that perhaps she had been insensitive Cami wiped the knife off on her jeans then turned the blade around and held the knife back to Roxanne in her palm. This time Roxanne took it.
Lucky rushed to her side, “Let’s get you out of this room” he said trying to help her up.
Roxanne’s legs were shaking but she managed to stand, “She tried to kill me. Just went nuts, completely nuts.” He led her to the living room picking up her staff as they went and sat her down on the couch. Roxanne immediately took the staff as if it were a lost friend and held it to her. “I held her off for as long as I could.” She looked around the once neat room to see small furniture turned over and broken items on the floor. She touched her bleeding forehead and said, “She got me good a couple of times.”
Lucky retrieved his water bottle out of his backpack and tore a piece of the curtains off to clean the blood from Roxanne’s face. “Were you bitten?” he asked. “What?” Roxanne was startled by the question. He nodded toward the zombie on the floor, “your arm is bleeding too. Were you bitten?”
“Oh, no I wasn’t bitten.” Then she remembered and looked up at Cami who had dragged the zombie’s body out of the doorway and was closing the door. “Is this what you meant Cami? Did you know something was up with KC? You told me to watch my back.”
Cami shook her head, “No, I just didn’t trust her. Have never trusted her, but the Park is the first place we have been able to settle down for any length of time and I had the opportunity to observe her mor
e. She’s been watching you and Lucky, wanted to have her hair cut like yours and in the department store she was taking only cosmetics and clothing. I didn’t know if she wanted to be like you or if she envied the attention of Lucky. A teenager with a crush can get crazy. Add a ZA situation on top of that craziness and you have KC trying to kill you.”
Lucky tied the piece of curtain around Roxanne’s head. “I don’t think it will bleed for long. I’ll put a patch on it when we get in the truck. I never saw any of this that you are saying, Cami. I never encouraged that girl. Let me tear your shirt to look at your arm Roxanne.”
Roxanne looked at Lucky, “They will never trust me again at the Park. They will think that I’m dangerous. That I’m just as crazy as KC was. Ha, I probably even show signs of it.” She started to giggle and Lucky was afraid that she would go into shock. “Stop that Roxanne. Here have some more water.”
“We haven’t much time, not after that shot was fired,” Cami said. “And I want to finish searching the NRA house. We only have the basement left, but that shot could bring zombies and you left the gate open when you came through. Roxanne, could you have your breakdown after we get back in the truck and out of here?”
