by James, Jill
“I promise. I won’t say anything unless she decides to trust me enough with her story.” He put his hand on his heart and bowed his head.
She hugged him. At least as far as she could with that big belly of hers. “You are a good man, Teddy Ridgewood.”
Seth coughed from behind his wife. “Can we get out of here now? I’ve had enough church for one day, and I never thought I’d say that.”
Emily snuggled close to her husband as they walked down the aisle to the open doorway.
Feeling a stare on the back of his neck, Teddy turned to find the Reverend and his ‘young’ wife behind him. A quick glance showed the ‘old’ Mrs. Bennett still sat on the stage, her head lowered in prayer.
Teddy bowed slightly. “Mrs. Bennett, it was an honor to hear your husband speak today.” The words lay on his tongue like burnt rubber for the lies they were. He glanced up, waiting for a bolt of lightning to strike him.
“So nice to meet all of you, also,” she replied, arching her back until her breasts threatened to spill over the top of her low-cut blouse.
Teddy stared over her shoulder with heat rising in his face. He’d joked with Michelle about not being old enough to be her father, but he was definitely old enough to be this teenager’s father and Bennett had a good decade more.
The man twirled a strand of the girl’s hair around his fingers and yanked. She looked up at him and her lower lip pouted and her eyes watered. “Go sit with Roberta and behave yourself, or would you like to join the other wives?”
The underlying tension between the couple vibrated in the air surrounding them. The girl wrapped a shawl around her shoulders, covering up as she rushed to sit on a chair on the stage.
“Women,” Billy Joe commented with a laugh. “Such willful creatures. You must constantly remind them of their place.”
Teddy flinched as if the man had thrown a punch at him. He gritted his teeth. “And where would their place be?”
“Why, at a man’s feet, of course,” he said, laughing as he turned and walked away.
He shuddered, rushing to leave this place and these people far behind. The damned apocalypse and people still needed to degrade someone to feel superior. They were fighting the skinbags. Why did they have to fight each other?
Spotting Emily, Seth, and Jack Canida, he took a big breath of cold, clean air. Just some people, he reminded himself. The zombie apocalypse didn’t pick and choose who lived and who died.
Walking to the cars and trucks, Teddy kept his eyes on the ground as they passed the cages full of skinbags. His hands fisted at his side as he itched to pull his gun and put the poor bastards out of their misery. The moans grew in volume when they walked between. He shook his head. For some reason known only to the undead and the church people, the ones in the cages pushed toward them but the bars held them back and at the same time the ones on the outside pushed against the cages instead of just walking around them and having the group for lunch. He sighed. He didn’t know how the repel sound worked at their own camp either.
***
“What do you mean the repel sound isn’t working?” Michelle slid to a stop at Jed Long’s trailer. He and Beth were with the group at the church. She took a deep breath, but before she could talk, Aiden opened his mouth and pointed to a silver filling.
“It’s not hurting. The sound is off.”
She inhaled and choked on the air. No hum buzzed in a constant bombardment of her ears. The boy was right. The sound was off. Her heart raced in a painful pace against her chest. Over the pounding in her head she heard them. The moans of the undead carried through the under-populated camp as they neared the walls. They were pressing against the walls. Their rotting weight against the cinderblocks. Trying to get in.
Trying.
Trying.
Trying.
Aiden grabbed her arm. “Breathe, Mom. We’re safe in here. We were in here for months with no repel sound. I think it’s just the generator. I don’t hear it running either.”
No, this could not be happening. She shook her head. “No, Jed filled it before he left.”
“Well, maybe it broke.”
Broke? She knew what the word meant, but it wasn’t filtering through to her brain. Like a hamster running mindlessly on a wheel, her mind turned in circles going nowhere. She caught her runaway thoughts and shoved them away. She could do this.
“Get your brothers and the rest of the kids, Aiden. Put them in the storeroom of the office. Then spread the word to the others. I’ll meet them on the wall. Once you tell everyone, you go to the office too.”
She held up her hand as his mouth opened to speak. “No, you can’t come with me. You and Bryant are the oldest kids right now. You have to take care of the little ones.”
“Okay,” he mumbled.
Michelle grabbed the boy and hugged him tight. “I’m depending on you.”
He smiled at her praise as he turned and ran to do his job.
Pulling an elastic from her wrist, she twisted and secured her hair into a ponytail. At a quick run, she reached her motor home and retrieved Mitch’s service revolver. The moans from outside rose in intensity as she neared the outer wall. Her feet flew up the steps to the scaffolding against the gray barrier.
She stuttered to a stop as her gaze swept what had been empty fields this morning, filled with random garbage and tumbleweeds, tossed by the ever-present wind in this town. Her mind saw thousands. Her quick count came up with a little over one hundred and fifty. Sweat coated her palms and loosened her grip on the gun. Wiping her hands, she closed her eyes and counted slowly to ten. As she reached the last number, a pounding vibrated the wooden platform.
Juan Morales ran to her side to look out over the wall. She scooted away. She didn’t know the man very well, but what she did know wasn’t pleasant. He’d been stranded in a car on the freeway with his wife, Lila and their little girl Selena when Jack and a scavenging party found them a few months ago. The man was a braggart and a bully. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but the man just irked her. He reminded her of some of the cops she’d known who took their job home with them. They thought they could control their families just like they had control with a gun and a badge.
“We’re here now if you want to join the kids and women in the storeroom.”
The other men shuffled their feet and looked away. Heat rose to her face, but Michelle refused to back down to this asshole. Her body vibrated with anger.
“Oh, I think I’ll stay. I could use some target practice.” Her glare held his. Silent seconds passed until he looked away and muttered under his breath. She wanted to make him repeat his words aloud, but it just wasn’t worth it. Something told her he would wait to catch her unawares and alone. Bullies always operated that way.
When he started to order the other men around, she turned and looked over the skinbags below. The scratching of bones and fingernails on the cinderblocks made the hair on her neck rise. She shuddered as they threw themselves into the concrete walls, the thumps ending in a sound like an overripe melon hitting the ground. Blood and body fluids painted the walls below and the stench of dead flesh poured over the wall in waves. They hadn’t seen this many in months.
Juan organized the men to space them several feet apart along the scaffolding. Since it was what she would have done, she didn’t say a word. He ordered them to fire and the barrage was deafening. As she shot, she wished for the ear protectors she’d worn at the shooting range. She was rusty, she thought as one shot hit a shoulder and she needed another to put the zomb’ down for good. Twelve shots, ten skinbags. Not bad, but no need to pat herself on the back either.
Over the sound of yells and guns firing came the roar of racing motors. She lowered the weapon to her side and glanced at the road. Trucks and cars sped down the asphalt. At the red line a horn went off in the approved signal. Juan turned to her. “Why don’t you go open the gate and let them know what happened?”
Edward Gonsalves stepped away from firing. He wa
s a sweet man who played his guitar around the campfire for special occasions and the closest thing the group had to a peacemaker. “I’ll go get the gate.”
She glared at Juan before she turned to Edward. “It’s fine. I’ll go do it and report to Jack. I’ll check on the kids and the others too.”
Running down the stairs she felt Morales’ eyes on her the whole way. A shiver ran over her skin that had nothing to do with the February wind.
Chapter Nine
Rule #4 Don’t trust too easily in the zombie apocalypse. Not everyone is who they appear.
End of March, 1 AZ (after zombies)
Field outside RV yard
"See if they have any spices this time," Michelle yelled down to Teddy. The field beside the RV yard was awash in color. Red and blue striped awnings covered tables full of canned goods, bolts of fabric, and a myriad of items that before were picked up randomly at Walmart and Target. Things you threw in your cart without even thinking about it. Socks and books sat next to moisturizer and sunscreen. Hairbands and brushes lay tangled with disposable razors and soap. The remnants of the disposable world they'd lost.
"You could go down and find out for yourself," Emily huffed out after climbing the stairs. One hand cradled her enormous stomach and the other rubbed her arched back. "Fruitful Harvest has been setting up here for over a month and nothing has happened."
"Yet," she replied, tracking Teddy's every movement. Every few seconds she scanned the road beyond the field, but the skinbags remained by the red line. Her aching fillings meant the hum was firmly in place. Since the broken generator, her first stop every morning was to Jed's trailer to confirm the machine was working. Her second was atop the scaffolding to view the surrounding area to double-check that the walls still held and the zombs stayed away.
"Since you sent him out there, did you remind him to look for cocoa butter? Unlike Reverend Bennett, I do not believe stretch marks are a sign of true womanhood." Emily's face screwed up as she stared out to the field. She followed her friend’s line of vision to spot Bennett for herself.
"He didn't really say that, did he? He looks like a nice man."
Her friend turned away as if even looking at the Reverend upset her stomach. "Last week at the church meeting he smiled at me and pointed me out as the, and I quote, epitome of the perfect woman, breeding and docile." Emily wiggled like a bug ran down her spine. "The man gives me the creeps."
"So why do you and Seth keep going to the church?" Michelle tore her gaze away from the field. "You can't be enjoying it."
"Seth, Jack, and Paul feel we need to keep up appearances. It's better to know where a snake is so it doesn't bite you on the ass while you're sleeping."
"See what I mean?" Emily nodded her head toward the crowd in the field.
Michelle turned and looked but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Bennett strolled along the booths of trade goods. Nodding and smiling at members of his congregation. You couldn't miss the stern, unsmiling men and the women with their chopped off hair and enveloping clothes. In a T-shirt and jeans she was perspiring on a rapidly warming day.
At first she was sure the woman the man was talking to was one of his own, but the maternity jeans gave her away. Beneath some kind of hair wrap was Beth's beaming face as she looked up to Bennett. Jed stood scowling behind her.
Her gaze shot right and left over the field. All she spotted was caps and hoods and various other head garments on every woman she saw. The few girls walking around were noticeable by their long hair blowing in the warm breeze. But they were little girls, none more than ten or eleven. Turning to check out the camp, she breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted several women with ponytails and braids.
"What in the hell is going on? Why doesn't he just demand burkas? And why are our people going along with it?"
Emily shook her head. "He doesn't demand anything. At least I haven't heard him do so. He just spouts all this Scripture and makes it sound right. That women should want to be honorable and cover themselves. He reminds me of those slick televangelists. You know the ones," her voice deepened and developed a Southern accent as she continued. "God has come to me. You need to give all your money to save me. God wants me saved."
Her laugh died as she gazed on Bennett and Beth with bowed heads and clasped hands as if the man was giving the pregnant girl his blessing. Her skin crawled as the man reached out and rubbed Beth's enormous stomach. Jed’s hands twisted into fists at his sides.
***
"Look what I found," Teddy yelled as he tramped up the wooden steps. He stopped at Michelle and Emily's grave faces.
Michelle's face lit up and her eyes brightened as she looked at him. A grin broke out on his face. She put her hands on her hips.
"Better not be another kitten. I just got Hope eating regular food and litter box trained so he wouldn’t contaminate anything."
"Nope. Better. Cinnamon," he said, handing her the familiar red and white container. Her smile and hug made the K-bar knife he'd traded for it worth it.
"You didn't pay too much, did you? I'll pay you back."
"The only payment I need is the waffles you promised me. Jack not only got some eggs, but a couple of hens and a rooster as well."
She stepped in to kiss him. Her sun-warmed lips slid along his mouth. Her tongue rubbed along his lips and he swept it in to tangle with his. She tasted of honey and tea. His heart pounded as her breasts pressed against him. They broke apart at a groan from Emily.
"Miss Emily, are you okay?"
The woman bent over, her hands clutching her stomach. His breath caught in his throat. It wasn't anywhere near her time and it wasn't as if they could just drive to an emergency room in a hospital. Hospitals had been the first places to become infected. They swarmed with zombs. Even making a scavenger run was tricky; they'd lost six members of their group in a medical run last month.
Teddy heaved a sigh as Michelle jumped in and took charge. The woman may be afraid of the outside, but she wasn't afraid of much else. "I'll go get Dr. Shannon and you get her down the stairs and to their motor home."
He let her run down the stairs first before he moved to Emily's side. "You can do this, Miss Emily." He wrapped his arm around her and held her up. She cried out and blood puddled on the wood between her feet.
"Oh, the hell with this." He scooped her up into his arms and walked down the stairs with care, stopping as she writhed in pain. The coppery scent of blood filled his nostrils and her cries filled his ears. His heart stopped when she lay unmoving in his arms. With relief, he noted the shallow movement of her chest.
He planted his feet as Seth came at a run and slammed into him. The man tried to pry Emily out of his arms. "I have her. Go open the door."
Getting into the motor home and to the bed wasn't easy. He was out of breath by the time he laid her down and Michelle returned with the doctor. Shannon pulled her hair back into a bun and shoved Teddy and Michelle out of the bedroom. He sat on the fold-out couch and hung his head.
"Emily can't die. Not now. Not after living through everything." His ramblings cut off as Michelle knelt in from of him with a rag and started wiping the blood from his arm.
She started to cry and his heart broke. He scooped her up into his lap and held her. Sobs shook her small body. Clinging to him, she wet his shirt with her tears. They both looked up as the bedroom door opened and Seth came out, his face wet with tears and his hands covered in blood.
"Shannon needs rags and warm water. She doesn't think it's the baby. She's not sure yet, but she doesn't think so."
Michelle jumped off his lap. "I'll take care of it. You go on back in there, Seth."
She got a pan and filled it with water. Turning on the burner, she looked over at him. "Go find Mrs. Morales, Lila. Petite, with blonde hair. She helps me with the laundry. She'll find you some new towels and sheets to use for rags."
He jumped out of his seat, glad to have something to do as Emily's screams came again from the back of the m
otor home. Going out, he shut the door behind him. Spotting Rogue Vantage, he waved them over. The boys knew everyone in camp. They would know this Morales woman.
With Dylan and Connor leading the way, Teddy found Lila and was handed a pile of towels, sheets, and blankets if needed as well. On the way back everyone tried to stop him for news until he growled and they opened a path to Seth and Emily's motor home. He'd apologize later.
He barged in and found Seth cleaning up at the sink and Michelle out of sight. Cries still filtered out of the back but the decibel level had gone down quite a few notches. Seth took the towels and handed them in to the room before getting the pan of water and handing it off as well. The door shut.
Seth collapsed onto the couch and Teddy joined him. "It'll be okay. The doctor is with her. Right?"
"Sure, I think," Seth replied. "She thought it was nothing big. A bunch of medical mumbo-jumbo, but the gist of it was something like a cyst or a large blister. Man, I don't know. Women stuff."
He laughed weakly, gagging at the thought. "Woman stuff, huh? That covers a lot, you know."
***
Michelle held Emily’s hand and looked away as Shannon finished her exam. The doctor wiped bloody hands on a bright-yellow towel. She swallowed the bile in her throat. Fingers squeezed her hand.
“Hey, you’re back with us.” Tears continued to fall down her face. Happy tears this time. Color was back in her friend’s face and she looked much better.
Shannon leaned over her shoulder. “I’ve got you all cleaned up. But I want at least three days in bed for you. Any cramps, any pain, you send someone for me.”
They heard her as she talked to the men in the front of the motor home. Emily squeezed her hand again.
“I’m so afraid. I can’t lose this baby. This is God’s gift. He wouldn’t take it away, would he?”
