The hungry voices from the pool started keening and reaching their arms skyward.
“You can’t do this,” he cried as he struggled up the steps and onto the bouncy board. “You can’t. It’s not right!”
“Tell that to Murray.” Kodiak said and two spears flew straight and true, both found their marks, punched through his chest and stuck a solid foot out of his back. Gordon coughed and toppled over.
Richard and his uncle were the first to reach him and tore into his flesh. The others joined in, pushing and jostling for position as Gordon tried to scream in horror. Harper pulled the triplets away, they had already seen too much. The rest of the tribe turned their backs, they didn’t need to see any more death either. Maybe this would be the last one.
Misty, Sasha and Trish watched until the end. Until he reanimated, staggered to his feet and turned a single hungry eye upwards. The children examined their animals for cuts and scrapes and hugged them tight, praised them for being so good. Misty hit the button and the cover closed slowly over the keening faces, locking them in darkness forever. Tobias leaned against Popsicle and idly stroked the big bear behind the ears where he liked it but his eyes were on the heavily tattooed and pierced Sasha. He thought he might be in love. Analise elbowed him in the ribs but he ignored her. He couldn’t look away from the beautifully inked woman.
40
Kodiak and Misty
Kodiak, Donny and Tobias went through the house as the girls talked to the older women and introduced them to the companions. The found blood trails and footprints leading away from the killing ground. Some went upstairs, some went out of the front. Some of the gang had survived.
“Should we go after them?” Tobias asked but there wasn’t any eagerness in the question. Now that the battle rage was over, he was sick of the bloodshed.
“No.” Kodiak said. “I’m done with them; they won’t come after us again.”
They joined the others on the patio and tried to imagine the horror the poor girls had been through. The scars from cuts, cigarette burns and the lost looks in their eyes told him all he needed to know about their ordeal. Each of them bore fresh bruises, many of them over old bruises that were yellowed.
“What will you do now?” he asked.
Tasha shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been made clear we can’t come with you.”
She cut her eyes to Swan who had an unforgiving look on her face. She didn’t have a whole lot of sympathy for the women. They hadn’t been chained up. They hadn’t been in a cage. They could have escaped at any time. “This place has fences, it keeps the zombies out.” Misty said “There’s nowhere else for us to go, I guess we’ll stay here.”
Harper stepped up beside Kodiak. “That’s not true. We’ve learned of a place. A safe place down south, a town, fortified and filled with good people. They have electricity and food and room for all of you. There are empty homes and jobs. It’s a fresh start and everyone is welcome.”
Trish and Sasha came in closer. “Really? There is really a place like that? Where? How far is it?”
“Not here.” Misty interrupted and gestured at the pool and the house full of bodies. “Let’s go someplace else.”
She headed for a house at the end of the block and the strange entourage followed her. She fished a key from underneath the doormat, unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. The children and most of the animals followed the older girls inside. Bert busied himself grazing the ornamental trees in the yard as Ziggy started snatching bugs out of the air that were attracted to the light coming from the house. It wasn’t lost on Kodiak that they hadn’t wanted to check on the dead or the injured. They hadn’t wanted to help any of the wounded in Gordon’s gang.
“Gordon kept this house a secret from the others. It’s fully stocked with food and supplies. He brought me here to…” she paused and didn’t finish the sentence.
“Anyway, this was part of his escape plan if things went bad. He was paranoid the others would turn on him, that’s why he didn’t let them carry guns. There’s a Hummer in the garage, loaded down with food and weapons and about a dozen gas cans on the roof rack. He’s been here a lot lately and he made me come most of the time. I had to cook and clean and… things. There’s one of those old timey radios in the basement, I think he called it a Ham, and I overheard him talking to some people on it a couple of times. They were from up north somewhere. He was trying to join up with them but he had to give them something first. They wanted supplies and people to work for them. I think he was going to give them you and probably us, too.”
“Is there a first aid kit here? Sasha interrupted.
“In the Hummer. I’ll get it.” Misty said and hurried off.
“Let me see to your wounds.” Sasha said. “I’ve learned a lot about nursing, we need to get you cleaned up.”
“So have we.” Swan said coldly and took the kit from Misty. “Mostly because of your gang.”
There was a moment of awkward silence.
“We weren’t part of them.” Trish said. “Maybe at first, in the beginning, but not since Gordon’s been in charge. It’s been hell.”
“Then why didn’t you leave?” Swan asked dismissively. “Why stay?”
“We couldn’t.” Misty said quietly. “We’re not like you. We’re not warriors.”
“Some tried.” Sasha said. “We don’t know if they made it or not. It’s dangerous beyond the gates.”
“Look, would you guys like something to eat?” Trish asked, changing the uncomfortable subject. “There’s some frozen beef in the freezer. I could make spaghetti.”
The cloud of mistrust lifted for most of them and they answered with a chorus of enthusiastic yeses.
Misty looked at the children and the animals spread around the large room. They were covered in blood and gore and stunk.
“There’s a pool out back if you want to clean your friends up a little. Maybe let them take a swim? Get some of the gunk out of their fur?” she asked hopefully.
“Also, there’s water if any of you would like a shower,” she said. “There’s four bathrooms in this house with body wash, shampoo and conditioner in all of them. The big garden tub in the master bath has a Jacuzzi. How long has it been since you’ve had a hot bath? You need to get cleaned up before you get patched up.”
Vanessa, Analise and Harper looked like they could kiss her and ran for the stairs.
“She’s right.” Harper yelled over her shoulder at the boys. “After you get your animals cleaned up, get all that dirt off of you before you get infected!”
“Dibs on the Jacuzzi,” she hollered up the stairs and she was gone.
“I need to get this smelly strawberry crap out of my hair,” Swan said, acting like she wasn’t all that excited about a hot shower, but she hurried up the stairs, too. She was sticky with blood.
Landon, Clara and Caleb had found some coloring books and crayons as they ran from room to room and were trying to color while the capuchins chattered, fought over the crayons and tried to eat them. Their foxes were still exploring, poking their sensitive nose into corners and hunting the mouse that had left his scent behind.
Tobias sniffed his arm pit, shrugged and relaxed into the deep comfort of the plush sofa. He wasn’t that dirty, he’d clean up in the pool with Popsicle.
Sasha sat at the other end of the sofa and looked over at him. “Thank you,” she said softly.
Tobias was tongue tied and couldn’t respond. She was actually talking to him! He tried to be cool and casual, but his pale skin burned red with embarrassment. He nodded, like vanquishing his enemies and freeing their slaves was no big deal. Just another day at the office, then turned to study the artwork over the fireplace as though a painting of flowers in a vase was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.
“Who did your tattoos?” she asked, as she took in the ink on the wild boy.
“We did them ourselves.” Tobias said proudly. He flexed his skinny arm to make the Nordic runes stand out.
They were crude, some of them were a little crooked, but Sasha complimented them anyway. She was free for the first time since the end of the world and this savage kid was part of the reason why.
“They aren’t bad. I could get my kit and clean them up some for you if you like.” she offered with a smile.
Tobias studied the ink that covered nearly every inch of her exposed skin. It was flawless. The lines clean and sharp. The colors vibrant and alive. The serpent on her forearm looked as it could strike at any time. Nothing like the crude ink he and his sister had done.
“Did you do those?” he asked.
She nodded. “Some of them, yes.” She pointed to the ones she had inked on herself with pride.
“Ok, but you’ll have to do my sister too,” he said.
“I’d be happy to. I’ll just head over to the old place and get my stuff,” she answered.
“I’ll go with you!” He jumped to his feet. “Just for security and all, since you aren’t armed.”
The older girl smiled at him and led him from the house. Tobias followed her. Admired the sway of her hips and felt mighty satisfied with his life at that moment.
She turned to catch him staring at her backside and winked. “You’re gonna need a bath first, hero. You smell like a wet bear that’s been rolling around in road kill.”
Misty tried to clean Kodiaks and Donny’s cuts and scrapes with peroxide as they waited for the girls to finish their baths and showers. They were taking forever. They sat at the dining room table and stomachs rumbled at the smells coming from the kitchen. The women needed to get to a safe place because they wouldn’t last much longer in Smiths Landing. If the undead kept coming they’d overwhelm the fences and there were already too many to kill.
“Gordon burned down our home.” Kodiak said. “He killed Murray. Our crops and livestock are all gone. We worked all year chopping wood and it burnt up with the house. There’s nothing here for us now and we don’t want to spend another winter up north. We’re going to Lakota, the walled city in Oklahoma. It’s a long way but we can make it.”
Donny nodded in agreement.
“Do you think it’s real?” Misty asked wistfully. “It sounds too good to be true.”
“It’s real.” Kodiak said. “I trust the man who told us about it.”
“I’m in.” Trish said from the kitchen. “I don’t want to stay here. We can all go together.”
Kodiak shook his head. “You have a heavy vehicle and plenty of fuel. We’ll be traveling by foot with the animals. Even if you could drive a semi-truck, I don’t know how we’d move Bert, he’s too tall.”
“But you can’t walk that far!” Misty exclaimed, slapped her hands on the table and leaned forward in her chair. “That’s halfway across the country! What would you eat? What about the zombies? It’s too dangerous! You’re just kids! My God, how old are you, fifteen? Who would take care of you?”
Kodiak stared at her. Grownups never thought kids could do anything but he kept his silence, he’d learned a thing or two from Donny. He let her think about her reaction. It would have been right a year ago. It would have been unthinkable. This wasn’t a year ago, though. She looked back and forth between the two children. Their faces were still painted and drying blood was splashed on their battered armor. They were scarred and both had fresh wounds they ignored. Her eyes filled and threatened to spill over as she really saw who they were for the first time.
Child warriors.
Savage, feral children who had just ran nonstop for thirty miles, had killed a dozen men and injured dozens more to help their friend. They commanded thousand-pound beasts and rode them into battle. Wolves and panthers obeyed them and protected them. They weren’t little kids. They might look like it but they weren’t. They were more grownup than most grownups. Her shoulders slumped and she sat back. The boy was right. They could take care of themselves.
“We can teach you a few things about avoiding the undead,” he continued “but if you stay to the backroads and take turns driving, you won’t have to stop except to refuel.”
“What about the little ones?” Misty asked. “We can take them. You have to agree, they’re too young.”
“She’s right.” Trish said from the kitchen when Kodiak hesitated. “You know she is. We’ll take care of them.”
Landon and Caleb were giggling and chasing after Mr. Ringtail. Elmo clung to his back and chittered happily until the fox ran under the coffee table and knocked him off.
They watched them play and wished they could put the whole episode behind them as easily.
“Maybe.” Kodiak said. “We’ll have to talk about it.”
The girls started trickling back down stairs. Harper was the first, her skin glistened and her hair shone after the first real bath any of them had since the world ended. She had on boys’ pajamas a size too big, but he’d never seen her more radiant. She came over and sat by Kodiak. He was suddenly self-conscious about the blood and dirt that covered his own body in front of the freshly scrubbed beauty beside him. Her hair was down and hung limply, water still dripping from the ends and she smelled like cucumbers and strawberries. She took his hand under the table and held it in her own.
Swan bounced down the stairs three at a time and she was almost unrecognizable. She immediately went to her wolves and dropped to her knees, ruffling their fur. It was comical to watch them tilt their heads from side to side as they sniffed her hair, almost as if they didn’t recognize her without a layer of dirt, grime and war paint covering her.
The rest of the girls returned from their baths and started ragging the boys on being so smelly. Analise pushed Tobias out of the way and sat down in front of Sasha when she saw her holding the tattoo gun. “Go bathe and use soap. You don’t want to get an infection.”
“I already told him that, but you know how boys are,” Sasha said with a laugh, and began the process of sharpening the lines and edges of the crude ink that covered the girl’s body. Analise didn’t flinch as the needles pierced her skin. She stuck her tongue at her brother. “Go!”
“You three with me!” Vanessa shouted at the triplets. “Bubble bath in the jacuzzi. Chop chop, right now.”
The food was ready by the time they were all cleaned up. The three women seated the children around the big table and huge bowls of spaghetti were brought out. They were grateful for what the kids had done. Each of them knew they would have died or eventually ended up in the pool if Gordon had won.
The tribe gorged themselves on the meal. Trish kept cooking until they were stuffed and made sure their companions each had a bowlful. She asked about Ziggy and Bert, she had no idea what to prepare for them. Harper and Vanessa assured her the two were just fine as long as the bug and leaf supply held out.
Eyes grew heavy and bellies were full. The adrenaline had worn off and fatigued muscles ached for rest. For the three women, it was the first night of hope they’d known in almost a year. Things were good and they were going to get better.
For the wild children, it was the first night they didn’t have to worry about Gordon anymore. In their fashion, the children drug mattresses and cushions from the bedrooms to the living room and nestled up with their animals. They weren’t too concerned about Gordon’s goons trying anything. Many of them had probably died from their wounds. The tribe hoped so, anyway. Donny and Yewan took the first watch and kept an eye on the fences. Even though this place felt safe, one of them would stand guard while the others slept. It was their way and it had kept them alive all this time.
41
Goodbye
They awakened the next morning to the smell of reconstituted powdered eggs, pancakes and warm maple syrup. Swan was the first to the table. She had last watch and was back in her armor and war paint. She felt naked without it and wanted to make sure any of Gordon’s gang hiding in the shadows knew who she was.
The others drifted in, wiped the sleep from their eyes and feasted on the breakfast Trish had prepared. Their clothes were clean
, actually washed in a machine and dried with softening sheets. Otis sniffed at the twins and sneezed.
“Sorry, there wasn’t any bacon or sausage in the freezer to go with it,” she said. “There hasn’t been any since the outbreak.”
They didn’t know how lucky they were that it had all been eaten. The infected breakfast meats were why every time the residents of Smith’s Landing thought they had the virus eradicated inside the walls, another family would turn.
The day was spent showing the women defensive moves with weapons scrounged from the slaughterhouse. They couldn’t get in the gun safe, the secret combination died with Gordon. When Kodiak and Donny entered the big house, they surprised some of the older boys scavenging through the kitchen. They were ragged and unarmed, badly bandaged wounds seeped blood and their eyes grew wide when they saw the children. They backed slowly for the door and ran as soon as they cleared it.
Storage sheds, basements and closets were ransacked and a collection of shin guards and pads became improvised armor for the women. They should be able to drive straight through, only stopping to top off the fuel, but Kodiak wanted them prepared for anything that might happen on the road.
The day went by too fast and after another meal of steak and lobster from Gordy’s private stores, the group sat scattered around the living room and shared hopes of what Lakota would be like. They’d put the battle behind them, it was the past and they were focused on the future. No one would shed a tear over Gordon or his gang.
Swan volunteered for first guard watch and Kodiak was annoyed when he woke sometime in the middle of the night. She hadn’t got him up for his shift. He threw his clothes and armor on then stormed out, he was going to give her a reaming if she fell asleep. Didn’t she know how dangerous it was? There were zombies at the gate and Gordon’s men were still out there. They were beaten but they could still be dangerous. He stomped out to the end of the driveway when he didn’t spot her snoring away on the porch and glared in both directions. The clouds were heavy as they moved across the night sky, the moon was hidden and the stars were spotty.
The Feral Children [A Zombie Road Tale] Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 54
