I scoured the room for my katana but came up short in my search. I did find my clothes at the foot of the bed. Someone had washed them, folded them, then set them in a neat pile for me. They were still warm to the touch. They smelled like fabric softener.
Maybe it was the same person who changed you into pajamas while you were sleeping, I thought. At least they hadn't changed my underwear. It was unnerving to think I had been so exhausted that I slept right through it. I didn't like being at the mercy of other people, much less being completely helpless in front of total strangers.
You need to pull it together. Remember your training.
Cautiously, I cracked open the door and looked out. I could hear people walking around downstairs, glasses clinking, women laughing. Then it hit me full in the face—the smell of someone cooking breakfast. It was like a dream come true. I opened the door and walked out: down the steps, past the living room and into the kitchen. A large, older woman in an apron was cooking scrambled eggs in a cast iron skillet. On the table were orange juice, milk, a pile of buttered toast, and a plate overflowing with bacon. I could feel myself salivating and my stomach gave a loud rumble in response. The woman turned to me and smiled.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” she said in a chipper tone. “Glad to see you’re up.”
“Where am I?”
“You're in the safe zone in New Lompoc,” she said. “You were out cold when the men got back last night. At first I was afraid of waking you up. By the time I got you changed and into bed I realized that wasn't going to be a problem.”
So she was the one who put me in these pajamas, I thought. I was grateful it hadn't been one of the guys from the truck. There was a motherly quality about this woman that seemed to make it less embarrassing.
“I'd ask you how you slept but I already know,” she continued. “Whole house could hear you snoring up until about twenty minutes ago.”
God I hope I wasn't screaming in my sleep, I thought. I didn't know why but I wanted this woman to like me. She had a kindness that hung over her, like grace. She wiped her hands on her apron as she took the eggs off the stove.
“My name is Carol.”
“I'm Xander,” I said. She stuck out her hand and I shook it.
“Nice to meet you, Xander” she said.
“How many people live here?” I asked.
“Usually not more than the three of us,” she said, nodding her head toward the door where the two other women who had congregated to eavesdrop on us quickly scattered. One of them was around my age and cute as hell. She had soft brown eyes like melted caramel and long auburn hair tied back in a ponytail. She had lingered just long enough to make eye contact with me before vanishing into the house. “But on special occasions when we rescue a group of kids off the highway the number goes up a little bit.”
I stood there staring at the food.
“You hungry?”
“Yes ma'am.” I could barely control myself. The smell of the bacon was driving me mad. I hadn't had anything remotely as good as bacon since weeks before I saw my first zombie.
“Go ahead and dig on in,” she said. “Eat as much as you like. Everyone else has already had their fill.”
I sat down and began to tear into the bacon with both hands, shoveling it into my mouth. It was delicious. My fingers and tongue burned a little from the hot grease. Carol laughed.
“Slow down and chew your food now,” she said softly. “You're going to choke to death.”
Ignoring her I shoved a full piece of toast into my mouth. I poured a glass of orange juice and downed it in a single gulp. The sugary sweetness hit me like a jolt. I could feel the life returning to me. Carol brought the cast iron skillet over and scooped a hearty serving of cheesy scrambled eggs onto my plate.
“Thank you,” I managed in between bites.
“You are welcome,” she said, smiling. “We're glad to have you here. We can use all the help we can get.”
“Where are my friends?”
“The little one slept here last night,” Carol said.
“Benji?”
“That's the one,” she nodded. “The twins stayed down the road.”
“Where did Benji go?”
“John came for him this morning,” Carol replied. “Benji wanted to check out the neighborhood and John said he'd take him around. I believe they’re at his house now.”
“Which one is John's house?”
“It's just down the block and around the corner,” Carol explained. “Third house on the left. You can see for yourself when you're done getting cleaned up. I know John wants to talk to you. He was asking about you this morning before he took Benji on their walkabout.”
Suddenly I didn't feel so hungry anymore. I didn't know why but the way she said it made me nervous, like a kid being told he has detention. There was something about John I didn't trust but I couldn't put my finger on it. After all, he had saved us the night before. He’d given us safe passage into a dangerous town. He had given us a place to sleep, food, water . . . what was not to like about this guy? Still, I knew I had to trust my instincts. They’d kept me alive so far while a whole lot of people I knew had died. That had to be worth something.
“Where is my sword?”
“I honestly don't know,” she said, turning away and cleaning a dish. “You will have to ask John.”
I pushed my plate away defiantly.
“You finished eating so soon?” Carol turned back toward me. I nodded in reply. They had no right to disarm me. My katana was a part of me. The thought of someone else touching it made me uncomfortable down to my core.
“Poor thing,” Carol cooed, touching my face. “You just ate too fast, that's all. You probably haven't had food this rich in some time. The way you were shoveling it in, I’m surprised you didn't get sick.”
There was no malice in her tone, only motherly concern.
“You’re right,” I lied. “It's been a while since I had any real food much less bacon.”
“That's all right. You go on up and take a nice hot shower,” she said in a soft voice, taking the plate away from in front of me.
“You have actual hot water?” I couldn't hide my surprise. I hadn't taken a hot shower since before I got to Vandenberg. The base only had group showers like something out of physical education back in high school. We took turns with the girls. The girls always went first. Some days the water was lukewarm, but most days it was just a few degrees above ice cold.
“You take as long as you need,” Carol smiled. “When you're all dressed and ready, come back down and I’ll tell you how to get to John's.”
I stood up and walked out of the room in a state of near shock. My feet carried me back upstairs. I went into the room and found my freshly washed clothes on top of my now made up bed. Without questioning it, I picked them up and marched off to the bathroom, locking myself inside and turning on the water. Sure enough, hot water flooded out, steaming up the room quickly. I undressed and got under the beaded stream. Within seconds I felt like I was melting away. The pure pleasure of that shower was so decadent I felt a pang of guilt shoot through me. I could still taste the bacon in my mouth. What was this place? Hotel California?
I didn't get out right away. After all I had been through, the least I could do was enjoy one moment of peace and happiness. I sat under the water and let it run over my body for a long time, clearing my mind of all thoughts.
When I came out of the bathroom, fully washed and in clean clothes, I can honestly say I felt like a changed man. For the first time in a long time, I had a belly full of good food. For the first time in a long time, I was clean. For the first time in a very long time, I felt fully human.
I put the pajamas back on the bed in a neat pile then bounded downstairs. Carol was just finishing up dishes in the kitchen.
“Thank you so much for the wonderful breakfast,” I said politely, finally finding my manners again. I looked down at my hands, surprised not to find dirt beneath the nails.
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“You are very welcome,” she said pleasantly. “You ready to take a walk then?”
Carol gave me a long, thorough description of how to get to John's, then wrote down his address for me on a scrap of paper for good measure. I walked out the front door, feeling three sets of eyes on my back even though I'd only seen one. I was curious about that cute girl, but I didn't bother to turn and look back. There were far more pressing issues at hand.
Walking down the street felt surreal. Armed guards paced up and down the streets with automatic rifles and dark sunglasses, ignoring me. It reminded me of pictures I had seen of Israel back when I was still in school.
I wouldn't want to get on their bad side, I thought, feeling the hair on the back of my neck involuntarily stand on end.
Other than that, things looked eerily normal—as in pre-Zombie normal. There wasn't a biter in sight. I should have felt relaxed but I didn't. A knot of muscles in my stomach contracted as I rounded the corner, passing a beautiful garden in someone's front yard, and headed down to John's.
I looked at the slip of paper in my hand, then back up at the house and laughed. There was no way in hell anyone could mistake this place for anything but John's place. Armed guards were posted in front of the residence as well as across the street. Two more guards stood watch at the door. I easily walked past the first set of guards but was stopped by the guys blocking the front entrance.
“Name?” One of them barked at me.
You've got to be kidding me, I thought. Like anyone here doesn't know who I am by now? Apparently John had a flare for the dramatic.
“Name?” He said again growing more impatient, if that was possible.
“Xander Macnamara,” I muttered through clenched teeth. Nothing happened for a minute, then both men stepped aside. “Hell of a way to greet people.”
“John is waiting for you up in his office,” the guard answered, ignoring my taunt. “Go straight on up.”
I stepped into the house and the door shut behind me making me feel more and more like a prisoner. The place wasn't all that different than the last house I had been in. The kitchen and living room were on the opposite side but I had a feeling that when I got upstairs I would find two bedrooms and a bathroom, just like where I'd woken up. I heard what sounded like a video game going off in the other room. It all sounded so familiar. Cautiously, I approached the room and saw a big flat screen television nearly the size of the wall. On it, Mario and Yoshi were flying through a rainbow star.
“Awesome!” A small voice said from somewhere among the cushions. That could only be one person.
“Benji?” I walked around the sofa to find him sitting in a pile of comic books with the Wii controller in his hands and a half chewed piece of red licorice sticking out of his mouth. He hit pause the second he recognized me.
“Xander!” He jumped up and gave me a welcoming hug.
“What's going on?”
“You fell asleep last night in the truck,” Benji said. “I guess the shock of it all just knocked you out.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.
“John brought us back here and dropped us off,” Benji explained. “He came by this morning, but you were still sleeping. He said you needed your rest and not to bug you.”
“A woman at the house told me that John has been taking you around, showing you stuff. What has he been saying?”
“You mean Carol?” Benji asked. I nodded, impatient for his answer. “Isn't she great? And who ever thought I'd get to have fresh squeezed orange juice again in my life? And bacon? Did you get to have some of the bacon or was it all gone by the time you got up?”
“I had the bacon,” I assured him. “It was good. Now spill. What does John want?”
“Nothing,” Benji shrugged. “So far as I can tell. He drove me around and told me about the boundaries and which parts of the city the Unity Gang has already captured. Most of it is over to the west of here. Oh, and he took me to an old comic book store and stood guard while I scoured for some new stuff. I got an original Spiderman in pristine condition! I know you have no idea what that means but it is a big deal. Well, it would be a big deal, if anything still mattered in the world, but it's still a big deal to me!”
I hadn't seen Benji talk this much since the base. I know it's petty, but a small part of me resented John for that as well.
“Where are the twins?”
“They slept on the other side of Ocean Boulevard,” Benji said. “This street is for VIPs and stuff like that. John called it the Command Center. He says the twins were over in the soldiers housing.”
“So you haven't actually seen them?” I asked. “He just told you?”
“Well, I watched as we dropped them off last night while you were sleeping,” Benji said, a note of sarcasm infecting his words. “But I haven't seen them since then. No.”
“What did John say about me?”
“He talked a lot about you,” Benji said excitedly. “I think he really likes you. He asked all sorts of questions about you and your training and all about your brother.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Not much,” Benji said. “Truth is, I don't know much. All I know is the stuff about you looking out for me at the base. John said he thinks you are a natural born leader, a protector. That's what he called you.”
“He did?” I didn't mean to sound so shocked. I just hadn't expected flattery. Was I becoming so jaded that I couldn't trust anyone anymore? This guy took us in and looked after us, but I was still looking for something wrong with him, some reason not to trust or like him. Maybe I was wrong.
Give him the benefit of the doubt, I thought, relaxing a little again. If only for the hospitality he's shown you, the hot shower, and the delicious bacon.
“It's just like you said it would be,” Benji smiled. “They’re taking back the city one block at a time. Once they get Lompoc turned around they plan on taking on other towns, cleaning them up too.”
I was glad to see Benji happy again, even if I didn't know how long it was going to last this time.
“Cool,” I said. “I'm gonna go talk to him. Be back down in a minute.”
“Okay,” Benji replied, turning back to his game without a care in the world. It was nice to see him finally getting to be a kid again. I could hear the sound of gold coins being snatched up as I hit the top of the stairs. There was a hallway with an open door at the end. My instincts told me that John was in there, but I stopped at the first door and pulled it open anyway. I imagined that I'd find a bedroom just like the one I slept in the night before. Sure enough there was a bed in there. The rest was not at all what I expected.
Huge red and black flags hung from the ceiling with swastikas in the middle of them. I stood there in shock and looked around the room, seeing that it was stuffed from floor to ceiling with Nazi war memorabilia. There were SS soldiers’ uniforms, weapons, even books. My eyes came to rest on the spine of one sticking out of the bookshelf —Mein Kampf.
Maybe this is why they hate the racially diverse Unity Gang so much, I thought. John and his friends are white supremacists!
The tiny little spark of suspicion that I had been harboring quickly blossomed into a fire of distrust. A flurry of wild thoughts ran through my mind as I tried to recall if I had seen a single person who wasn't white since we'd hooked up with John. None came to mind.
I knew there was a reason not to like this guy. He's a racist! That's why he called the war with the Unity Gang “Helter Skelter.” It's a code phrase for a race war! He's like Charlie Manson or something. All those women are probably his sex slaves. I've got to get Benji and get out of here as fast as I can.
I knew I couldn't leave without my sword. I'd need a plan. We couldn't just bolt without attracting attention. This was bad! Cold chills ran down my spine as I felt a warm hand clasp me by the shoulder. I was totally screwed!
“So,” John said in a deep, steady voice. “You've found our secret room.”
Chapter Seven
I spun around to look directly into John's clear, cold, blue Irish eyes.
“Your secret room?” I sputtered. “You're into this stuff?” The words were out before I could take them back.
So much for playing it cool, I thought.
John laughed so hard his whole body shook.
“It's a joke,” he said when he recovered. “Lighten up.”
“So why is it here?” I asked.
“We didn't put it there,” he roared. “I promise you that. These aren't our homes. We took over this whole block after Z-Day. We are still finding surprises.”
“So why haven't you cleaned it out?” It seemed like an innocent enough question to me, but I could see I was starting to push John's buttons.
Good to know I can, I thought. That might come in handy later.
“Believe it or not, we've got plenty to worry about right now,” he spat, trying to hide his obvious frustration. “We'll get around to it when things slow down. I promise.”
“Got it,” I said, trying to act like a dumb kid as I turned and looked down at my sneakers.
“Come on then,” he ordered. “My office is at the end of the hall. I wanna talk with you a spell.”
We walked to the back of the hallway and into his office. After the Nazi war room, it was a bit disappointing how humdrum the place was. There was a map of the city with a bunch of stuff scribbled on it and crossed out. From the looks of things it had been a hard month. John sat down behind the desk and motioned for me to take a chair as well. I sat and stared at him.
“So how do you like our fair city so far?” He said with a grin. “Not so shabby? Must be nice waking up without worrying that a zombie was gonna chew your head off.”
“Where is my blade?” I didn't hesitate. I was prepared to go to war to get my katana back.
“It's safe,” he casually countered.
“Why did you take it from me? You had no right.”
“It's been decided that the citizens of New Lompoc shouldn't be armed,” John said, casually trying to brush it off.
Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde Page 6
