Moms Against Zombies

by Alathia Paris Morgan

  Cole gives me a condescending smirk. “Sweetie, I

  could make it to the mountain on foot. It might take about a

  week, but that place has a homing beacon and once it’s in

  your blood, you always know the way home.”

  I feel my eyes tear up as I think of Brad and really hope

  that he can find his way back to us on the mountain really

  soon.

  The trip to the less traveled highway only takes about

  thirty minutes, but we can see several areas where entire

  sections of streets have police barriers keeping anyone from

  entering.

  Once on the highway, Cole becomes a chatty Cathy and

  starts to regale me with tales from his, Dawson’s, and

  Brad’s childhood growing up on Jackson Mountain.

  “So why didn’t I see you around when Brad and I were dating, if you were the three amigos?” Since I have him all

  to myself, I can ask him questions about the family.

  “I couldn’t get back from a time-sensitive mission

  overseas. They had me hopping from one thing to another

  before I got out. I think they wanted to make sure they got

  their money’s worth before I went to work in the private

  sector.”

  While it appears that Cole isn’t paying attention to the

  road in front of him, I know from watching Brad drive that

  he could give you a description of everything important

  we’re driving past.

  “So what do you do now that the military has finally

  allowed you to terrorize the civilian population?” I have no

  doubt that Cole is a playboy who has women falling at his

  feet constantly.

  “If I told you, then I’d have to kill you,” he teases me.

  “Nah, I do security work for a couple of warehouses in

  Nashville. I’ve been called in to work a concert on

  occasion, but mostly it’s keeping people from wandering

  onto their property.”

  “That must be quite a change of pace. Do you miss the

  military?”

  “Nope. I don’t like someone telling me what to do. I

  know, wrong career for that, but this way, I’m my own boss

  and choose which security project I want that week. We’ve

  had to chase kids out that were trying to use the empty

  space for raves or parties,” Cole explains, seeming glad to

  talk to about anything.

  “Worried about what Brad will do once he retires from the army?”

  “I would be lying if I wasn’t concerned, but I know

  he’ll find something that fits who he is and hopefully, it’ll

  keep him happy. I know after years of action, the downtime

  will seem like its own version of prison.”

  “Emma, you don’t have to worry. He’ll find something

  that makes him want to get up in the mornings. You and

  baby Pierce will be a huge part of that.”

  Dusk has changed to dark as we continue along the less

  traveled highways.

  We’re just leaving the Chattanooga area when someone

  runs into the road in front of us, causing us to swerve onto

  the shoulder.

  The truck doesn’t even slow down as I look on in

  horror. The person gets up and starts to crawl after us.

  “I almost told you to stop, but then I realized it must be

  an infected person.” I give a shudder.

  We continue on, but about ten minutes later, Cole starts

  to have trouble holding the wheel straight.

  He slows down and pulls over to the widest spot on the

  shoulder of the road and picks up the radio. “Jackson Team,

  we have a problem. Standby for info.”

  “I’m going to see what’s wrong. Get your gun out and

  cover me.”

  Within seconds he’s back, just as I strap my holsters

  onto my legs.

  “We have a flat tire on the trailer.” He speaks into the radio, updating them and me at the same time.

  “Hayley, continue on since you have extra cargo.

  Dawson, I’m going to need help changing this out. Emma

  can stand guard while we get it taken care of.” Cole gives

  me an encouraging look.

  “I’m not sure about that. What if I freeze because it

  looks like a person?” My voice shakes with just the thought

  of it.

  “Emma, this is where the rubber meets the road. You’ll

  do just fine, but I can always let you change the tire while

  Dawson and I stand watch.” Cole smirks at me again.

  “Stop laughing at me.” I square my shoulders and scoot

  over toward the door he’s holding open for me. “I’ve got

  this. Besides, you’ll never let me live it down and I can’t

  handle the years of stories.”

  The headlights of an approaching vehicle can be seen

  and we both watch as first, Dawson, then Haley drive past

  us and make a U-turn, pulling up in front of our vehicle.

  “Haley, I told you to keep going,” Cole admonished

  her.

  “Tough! I’m here now. Get over it.” Haley sticks out

  her tongue.

  “Really, Haley. I don’t want two more people to

  protect. I know you’re good, but they won’t be. I need you

  to keep going and get home so Nana and Pop know that

  we’re coming.” Cole motions her back to the truck.

  “He’s right, babe. The less people out here, the better.

  Worst case, we can run to my truck and take off and come

  back in the daylight for this truck,” Dawson says, trying to reason with her.

  “Then let’s all get in the two trucks and keep going.”

  Haley won’t be moved.

  “Look, just stay in the truck with it running and we can

  use the lights to see what we’re doing. If something

  happens, you can take off and we’ll be right behind you.”

  Dawson relents.

  I feel funny holding my gun, ready to shoot anything

  that moves as the two men start jacking up the trailer to

  change the tire.

  Getting the tires switched out, we’re tightening the lug

  nuts when I hear something on the other side of the truck.

  I peer around the hood. “Uh, Cole? Dawson? You

  might want to grab your guns.”

  I hold my gun up as movement along the fence rustles

  the trees and struggles to get free of the barbed wire.

  When a deer appears, I lower my gun and take a deep

  breath, only to swing the gun up and fire a shot as a person

  moves to attack the deer.

  “Nice shot,” Dawson says from behind me as the deer

  escapes the zombie.

  I had instinctively swung around with the gun held out

  in my hand. He catches it before I point it in his direction.

  “Down, tiger. You got him. Cole’s almost finished, so

  I’ll help keep a look out.” Dawson has his gun out as well,

  but he looks more relaxed than I do with a gun.

  “I’m finished over here, and I’ve put the stuff up so we can get on our way now.” Cole comes around the front of

  the truck to admire my handiwork.

  The trees start rustling again, and all three of us race for

  the trucks, knowing that we don’t want to deal with any

  other things that might appear out of the darkness.

  A few shadows come toward the truck as it pulls out.

  “You just m
issed three of them. They must have come

  to the sound of the gunshot,” Haley informs us on the radio.

  “Let’s just get home. We’ve only got a little over an

  hour left,” Dawson responds.

  “Fine by us.” I agree. Arriving at Jackson Mountain

  can’t happen soon enough for me.

  Chapter 8

  Trish

  Deciding this might be the last day we get to have as a

  family, I suggest a picnic for dinner.

  “Oh, that sounds wonderful. We won’t have to cook,

  and the kids will be able to play outside,” Jessica responds

  enthusiastically.

  “I would like to work on your fences and make sure

  that you don’t have any openings. I’m not sure these things

  are smart enough to crawl through, but at this point, it will

  prevent them from just walking up to your house.” Cooper

  makes it sound like he works on fences and a farm every

  day.

  “Honey, I’m sure that Jessica knows more about her

  place than you might anticipate.” I don’t want him to insult

  her.

  “No, Trish, I completely understand. He’s trying to

  make sure that we’re safe. Let me call Linc and see if he

  can come over to help you and the two boys with that this

  afternoon.” Jessica easily rounds up her children into the

  truck as we leave to go back to her house.

  “We can start closing the main gate when we leave or

  get home. The cattle guard keeps out the animals, but I

  don’t think it would stop the zombies,” Drew suggests,

  overhearing our conversation.

  “Good idea, honey. It’ll be your job to hop out and pull it close once we go through.” Jessica winks at me as she

  congratulates him.

  “Aw, geeze. I walked into that one, didn’t I?” Drew

  asks sheepishly.

  “I’m afraid you did, son, but I’ll have Carson get out to

  help you so you can show him how it’s done.” Cooper grins

  at the frown on Carson’s face.

  Jessica is on the phone with Linc before we get all the

  kids loaded and buckled into their seats.

  She waves and gives me a thumbs-up as she peels out

  and makes us eat dust all the way to her house.

  Linc and his truck are sitting in the driveway as we pull

  up. He’s about thirty, and stands a good six-two, if Jessica

  is a good person to measure by. His blond, shaggy hair and

  tanned lean body show that doing farm work isn’t always a

  bad thing as the muscles on his crossed arms make me

  blush.

  “Um, babe?” Cooper waves a hand in front of my face.

  “You might want to close your mouth.”

  “Huh? Oh, sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to stare, but

  wow.” I wipe at my mouth, just in case there’s drool

  coming out.

  “If I hadn’t seen him for myself, I might be jealous, but

  he’s certainly the better-looking man,” Cooper

  acknowledges. “And from the looks of it, taken by your

  sister already, even if she doesn’t realize it yet.”

  “Dang it. I hope he’s good enough for her. I don’t want

  her to get hurt again.” I take my time before exiting the

  truck so that I have time for my face to resume its ‘I’m not interested in your man’ pose.

  “Well, I could always be eaten by zombies, then the

  two of you could share him,” Cooper says as my hand starts

  to open the door.

  “Stop that!” I swat at him playfully. “I choose the man I

  wanted to love, and even a younger man won’t make me

  want you dead. Besides, that could really happen, and I

  should kill you myself for even suggesting it.” I scowl at

  the thought of losing him to those horrible things.

  I pull him toward me so I can give him a kiss. “I’ve just

  spent the past two days hoping that you were alive and I’m

  going to take every advantage of the fact that you came

  back to me in one piece.”

  “So we’re on for a roll in the hay later?” Cooper asks

  seductively.

  “I think under the circumstances, that could be

  arranged, but it would have to be covert because our

  children are getting smarter.”

  “Well, if the plan is to be covert, then smooching in the

  car with all the children and your sister looking at us is

  probably not what you were going for.” Cooper turns to

  face the crowd staring at us through the truck’s windshield.

  “Right. Now I’m blushing again. Great.” I get out of the

  truck and walk over to our audience.

  “Sorry about that. I’m just glad that he made it back to

  us safely.”

  “No worries. It happens around me a lot. I think I might be Eros the Greek god who made people fall in love.” Linc

  waves off our apology.

  “So Jessica said something about checking the fences to

  make sure they’re secure?” Linc stands up straight, and I

  have to reassess my earlier measurement; he’s closer to six-

  five in height.

  “Kids, why don’t you go play for a little while and

  around five, we’ll start the chores and get the picnic ready.

  I think we could talk your dad into a game of baseball or

  kickball.” I try to bribe the children out of earshot of the

  discussion that’s about to follow.

  Cooper waits for them to leave the area before

  answering Linc. “Yes. We need to make sure there are no

  holes that zombies could come through. I know it sounds

  crazy, but the less the girls have to watch out for, the

  better.”

  “I know we don’t know each other, but I live in a small

  cabin on the back side of Jessica’s property and in

  exchange, I help her out with stuff that she can’t do, or

  when she needs an extra farm hand. I’m within helping

  distance if things get bad. I’ll bring a sleeping bag to the

  barn and camp out in there.”

  There goes our plans for a roll in the hay.

  “I’ve got it for the moment, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll

  get a call to leave in the next day or so and I really will feel better knowing there’s another adult to help protect the

  kids.” Cooper holds out his hand. “I’m Cooper, by the way,

  and this is my wife, Trish.”

  “Hi.” I don’t even try to shake his hand now that Cooper has marked his territory. I know if I touch him, the

  heat from my face blushing will cause a meltdown.

  “I’ll go put this little guy down for his nap, then help

  Jessica with the berries the kids picked earlier.” I manage

  to excuse myself from the conversation.

  Trevor’s been playing in the dirt by the porch and will

  need a quick bath before he’s allowed to lay in any of

  Jessica’s beds.

  Since bath time is never a fight with a boy that loves to

  play in the water, I have no trouble getting him in, but

  when it comes time to get out, that’s always difficult.

  “Look, if you’ll get out and come lay down with me,

  then we can play outside with daddy this evening. Don’t

  you want to play ball?”

  “So if I lay still for tree minutes, then I can get up?”

  He’s checking becau
se he wants to lay down the ground

  rules for how this negotiation is supposed to work.

  “If you lay down for ten minutes and don’t fall asleep,

  then you can get back up.” I watch as my own personal

  little terrorist thinks about my proposition.

  “Deal.” He holds out his soap covered hand to shake on

  it.

  Since it’s covered in soap, I figure it must be relatively

  clean.

  “Deal. Now, let’s get you dried off so that we don’t

  flood Aunt Jessica’s bed with water.” I hold the towel out

  to wrap him up as he climbs carefully over the edge.

  “We’re gonna drain the tub so the water won’t make it all the way to her room, Mom.” He puts a chubby little fist

  on his naked hip.

  “I guess you’re right, sweetie,” I agree, drying his hair.

  “Now, there’s no chance of even a drop following you.” I

  pop him playfully on his Pull-Up as I open the door so that

  he can run to the bedroom.

  I was hoping that I would get the chance to sneak in a

  quick nap. Trevor’s trying to climb up into Jessica’s bed,

  but it’s too far off the ground for him.

  “Hold on, mister.” I stop him from pulling the

  comforter off the bed. “There you go.” I lift him up and

  place him in the middle.

  I close the door to help block out any noise and crawl in

  to keep my little tired man from getting up.

  My head hits the pillow and by the time I turn to check

  on him, he’s asleep. Seconds later, I am as well.

  -----------

  The picnic idea had gone over well. The chores were

  done and the four of us adults were just sitting on the porch

  having a last drink of the day while the children tried to

  catch lightning bugs.

  Cooper’s phone goes off and we all turn to face him as

  he answers it.

  “Hello?” After he confirms it’s Martin, he walks around

  the side of the house for privacy.

  “Is he always secretive about his phone calls?” Linc

  asks, joking around.

  “Pretty much. Most of the work he does is classified, and someone tried to steal it using this zombie thing to get

  their hands on his project.” I catch Linc up without really

  telling him anything about my hubby’s work.

  We chat about casual, everyday things as I wait

  nervously for Cooper to return. It’s almost thirty minutes

  later when he comes back on the porch and the yard is