by David Achord
She shook her head abruptly. “I wouldn’t go that far. Anthony never treated me cruelly, but his behavior was always, awkward, and Tonya, she micromanaged everything we did. If I balked at any of her directives, she would make it clear we were indebted to her. We always had to do things her way and we didn’t’ dare act on anything without first getting permission from her. She’s still micromanaging everything at the school.”
“Sounds pretty tough,” I said.
“Yeah. Anyway, we were married for a little over a year. I was in the process of talking with a divorce attorney when this plague thing ruined the world,” she held her hands up in surrender then. “Tonya’s a domineering woman, but she and Benny are incredibly smart. We’re still alive because of them.”
She pushed herself off the car and stretched, causing her breasts to push against the fabric of her shirt. I had no idea if she did it on purpose.
“I don’t have anyone now,” she said quietly. Sadness was etched on her face and a tear fell down her face before she quickly wiped it away.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know what to say.”
We were both silent for a few minutes. Carla had leaned against the car again, looking at nothing in particular.
“Do you want to join us for lunch?” I finally asked. “We usually eat outside at the picnic tables. It’s a little hot today, but still pleasant enough.” She quickly shook her head.
“Your wife and I don’t get along, and I’m not sure I can be around Jessica right now.”
I nodded in understanding. “Yeah, bad idea I guess.”
“I guess I should be going,” she said. She started to get in her car but stopped. “It was nice talking to you, Zach.”
I said goodbye and gave Hank a nudge. I was about a hundred yards away when I heard a single gunshot.
Chapter 41 – Suicide
I spurred Hank into a gallop and raced back to Carla. She was sitting in the driver’s seat, unmoving. I stopped Hank beside the fence, stood on the saddle and jumped over. I landed without twisting an ankle or anything, jogged over to the car and looked in.
“Oh, Carla,” I said sadly. There was a hole in her temple. Blood was seeping out and the handgun had dropped into her lap. I stared at her for several minutes before I rode back to the house. Andie and Terry came back with me. We wrapped Carla in a blanket and drove back to the school. I casually noticed most of the zombie corpses we’d dumped on the bridge had been pushed into the creek.
I tapped on the horn a couple of times when we entered the parking lot. It didn’t take long before they all came outside, including a few people I’d not seen before.
“Hello, everyone,” I said.
“Hi, guys,” Marc replied, “what brings y’all over this way?”
“I’m afraid we’re bringing bad news,” I said and lowered the tailgate. When they saw the wrapped body, there was a collective gasp. Benny hurried forward and started to open the blanket, but stopped short.
“Is it Carla?” he asked. I nodded.
“She shot herself while sitting in her car,” I said. Tonya ran up then and roughly yanked the blanket aside, exposing Carla’s head. Everyone else stepped forward to look now. Tonya stared at me balefully.
“How do we know that’s what happened? Are we just supposed to take your word for it?”
I returned her stare with scorn. “Quite frankly, I don’t give a shit if you believe me or not,” I turned my attention to Benny.
“She had come by a few times and we would talk. She seemed very sad today,” I stopped and thought briefly of our chat. If I had known how depressed she was, I would have insisted she come home with me. I cleared my throat.
“I had no idea it was going to come to this. You have my sincerest condolences, Benny.”
Benny looked at me with tears in his eyes. “Thank you, Zach,” he wiped his eyes with a trembling hand. “She was acting different lately. I tried to talk to her yesterday and find out what was troubling her, but she wouldn’t speak to me.”
He looked around. “I am going to carry my sister-in-law to the church and bury her. I would appreciate it if all of you would give me some privacy.”
Everyone murmured their agreement, while Benny carried Carla to his vehicle, put her in carefully, and went inside. He returned a minute later with a pick and shovel, put them in the car, and got in. Tonya started to get in with him, but he stopped her.
“You’ll stay here,” he said angrily before driving off. Tonya stared at the car until it disappeared from sight before angrily storming off. We were about to get in our truck and leave, but Marc and Ward walked up to us.
“We’ve missed you,” Marc said. Ward nodded. “We’ve missed all of you,” he leaned forward. “How is Jessica doing?”
“She’s doing much better now. How about you guys, how’re you doing?”
Ward put his hand on his partner’s shoulder. “We’ve been okay, Zach,” he said. “We have some new people with us, as you can see,” he said with a wave to the new people standing off to the side. They waved back tentatively.
“Our gardens have done wonderfully and we’re making improvements every day,” Marc added, “but, to be totally honest, it hasn’t been the same without you guys.”
“We also never got a chance to express our condolences about Rowdy,” Ward said. Marc nodded in agreement. “We loved that man. He was so funny and full of life.”
“I appreciate that,” I said.
“Have you had any zombie problems?” Terry asked. The two men shook their head.
“Our only recent encounter was a group of four of them walking down Franklin Road one day. We were out riding our bicycle and were going to visit Bo and Penny. When the zombies saw us, they thought we were going to be their lunch, but Bo made quick work of them.”
We talked some more while I kept Tonya in my peripheral vision. She was sitting in a chair off to the side, glaring at us. At least she wasn’t trying to shoot any of us.
“Well, guys, we’ve got to be going,” I finally said.
“So soon?” Ward asked. I leaned close to the two men and lowered my voice.
“I’m not so sure about Tonya,” I said, “maybe we should leave before there’s another unpleasant incident.” They nodded their heads in unison.
“We totally understand,” Ward said, “and for what it’s worth, we feel really awful about how things turned out last time. We hope you’ll accept our sincerest apology.”
“I hope you accept mine as well,” I said. I held out my hand. The two men were tempted to hug me but settled on handshakes. I thought for a second and made a decision.
“I have a suggestion though. Why don’t you two come join us for lunch tomorrow? We can talk and catch up. Julie would love to see you two.”
Their faces lit up. “Oh, that’d be wonderful!” Marc said.
“Good, tomorrow it is. We’ll see you guys at about noon. Ride in a car,” I admonished, “not that bicycle, it’ll be safer.”
We shook hands again and left.
We went home then. The conversation on the ride was muted. As I waited for Terry to open the gate, I looked at Andie.
“I guess we’re going to need to tell everyone what happened,” I said. Andie agreed. We gathered everyone under one of the shade trees and I went over the details.
“How did Benny and Tonya take it?” Julie asked.
“Benny was deeply upset, Tonya’s opinion was she thought maybe it wasn’t a suicide and maybe I had something to do with it.”
Julie scoffed. “What a bitch,” she then looked at me. “So you just happened to run into her?” she asked. I looked at her to see if she was accusing me of anything.
“She figured out I ride the fence lines every two days. She made a point of meeting with me and apologizing for her previous behavior.”
“What else did the two of you talk about?” Janet asked. Her question may have been sincere, or she may have been implying we were up to something else, I didn�
�t know.
“I asked her if she knew about Anthony.” Everyone waited in anticipation. “She claimed she had no idea of his true nature, but after thinking about it, she realized we were telling the truth. She said in hindsight there were some odd behavior traits.”
I went on to tell them what she had to say about their marriage and Tonya.
“There were no warning signs, Zach?” Julie asked.
I frowned. “Before we said our goodbyes, she made a comment saying she didn’t have anyone now. I felt sorry for her, but it didn’t seem like there was anything dire in the statement,” I shook my head. “I guess I wasn’t paying attention. I’ve been told many times that I know nothing about women. I suppose this is just another example.”
To my surprise, Julie walked over and hugged me. “You had no way of knowing,” she whispered.
Later in bed, Julie and I were lying on our backs, hoping for a cool breeze to blow in through the screened window. I reached over and found her hand in the dark.
“Thanks,” I said.
“For what?”
“For what you said earlier. Tonya tried to blame me for what happened and I wasn’t quite sure what kind of reaction I’d get from you.”
She was quiet for a few minutes before she responded. “I was wrong when I blamed you for Tommy’s death,” she said quietly. I squeezed her hand in acknowledgement. I could have made a smart assed retort, but wisely chose to hold my tongue. Instead, I turned my head and kissed her on the cheek. She continued.
“I’m also glad you weren’t having an affair with her, she could be a snooty bitch, but, if you had of hooked up with her she’d probably still be alive.”
“I don’t know how to respond to that,” I said.
“You know I love you, right?” she said in the darkness.
“I know I love you, and I know it wasn’t so long ago when you said you weren’t certain if you were still in love with me anymore.”
“And you believed me?” she scoffed. “You don’t know anything about women.”
“Yeah, you’ve told me that many times. You’ve called me a sexist too.”
Julie chortled. “You don’t realize it, Zach, but a lot of things you say and do are condescending toward women. You remind me of Rick quite often.”
“Well, maybe one day you can get me straightened out.”
“Oh, trust me, I intend to. You can start by getting some lotion and rubbing my belly,” she moved my hand to her stomach. I grunted, got out of bed, and found some lotion in the dark bathroom. Squirting a liberal amount in my hand, I began rubbing her prominent bulge softly. She moaned in pleasure.
“In spite of your rough hands that feels really good. I’ve been hurting lately.”
“It’s only going to be a couple of more months now.”
“Yeah,” she responded, and then was quiet for a minute. I thought she had drifted off to sleep when she turned her head toward me.
“This pregnancy has been rough, Zach. I’ve got pains I’ve never felt before. I’m not sure I want to go through another one.”
“Does this mean no sex at all?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” she replied. “Mom said there are other methods of birth control, but I’ll be honest, Zach. I’ve not had any of those urges in quite a while, and I don’t even know if they’ll return after I give birth. It’s been feeling weird down there lately. I don’t know how to describe it any better.”
I stared up at the ceiling for a minute before answering. “We’ll deal with it when the time comes. For now, I only want the Julie I fell in love with,” I said. “As long as I have her, nothing else matters.”
I rolled over and kissed her deeply. It had been an awful day, but it was one of the better nights I’d had in quite a while.
Chapter 42 – Lunch with Old Friends
“So, why did you only invite those two?” Terry asked. He and I had hurried through our morning chores and were now waiting by the front gate for the arrival of the two psychologists. I shrugged at Terry’s question.
“I thought it’d be a nice gesture and I’d like to get an idea of how they’re doing.”
“Well, they’re nice guys I guess,” Terry said, “but I’m not so sure I like them very much.”
I nodded in understanding. I was still a little miffed at them for the Big Bastard incident, but I was attempting to put it behind me. Marc and Ward arrived a little after noon. When they stopped, both of them looked a little apprehensive.
“What’s got you two spooked?” I asked.
“When we turned onto Nolensville Pike, we spotted a car,” Marc said nervously, “and they’ve been following us.”
No sooner had he said it, than a SUV rode into view. It looked like a Toyota, very dirty, and covered in dried mud. Terry and I instinctively retrieved our assault rifles and took up positions on either side of our truck. We watched as the SUV stopped at the end of the street for a long two minutes before slowly driving toward us. There were four people inside, three men and a woman. When they covered half the distance, they stopped again. I offered my standard wave. One of them immediately waved back, and soon, the other three did as well. I looked over at the Docs. I didn’t see any weapons.
“Do either of you two have a firearm?” I asked. They nodded and Ward pointed downward.
“We didn’t want to alarm anyone, so we put them under the seat.”
“Okay, no problem. I want you two to reach down and get them out. Don’t point them at anybody, but keep them handy, just in case.” I watched them nervously try to act casual, which would have been amusing at any other time. When they straightened, they both looked at me with the expression of waiting for their next instruction.
“You guys stay calm, they might be friendly, but be ready to act accordingly if they’re not, okay?” I got another pair of nervous nods. “Alright, here they come. You two get out and keep your car between them and yourselves.”
They complied without complaint and the four of us watched anxiously as the SUV finally drove up and stopped about ten feet away. The driver stayed in the vehicle as the rest of them got out. We waited as they approached.
“Hello,” I greeted while looking them over. All of them were in their early twenties, rough, dirty, mixtures of mismatched clothing, long dirty hair. Each of them had a sidearm tucked into their waistbands. “We don’t get many visitors these days.”
One of them, he looked like the oldest one of the bunch, stepped forward and stuck out his fist.
“Yeah, we had no idea anyone was living in these parts. My name’s Michael,” he gestured toward his other friends. “I don’t shake hands because of the plague, only a fist bump.” I nodded in understanding and bumped fists with him. He smiled and pointed at his friends. “This is Sue and Kelvin, and the cautious one sitting in the car is Felix.”
I froze when I heard the name and peered intently at the SUV. The sun was reflecting off the windshield, but I could see enough. I started walking toward the car as the driver opened the door and got out. We stopped a foot from one another, staring at each other. He was still wearing his thick glasses, which had some black electrical tape holding them together at the bridge. It was the only familiar thing I remembered about him. He was a little taller now, still skinny and as dirty as his friends were. There were thin patches of whiskers on his oily face. It was the Felix I knew, but he looked much older now.
“Zach,” he exclaimed and the two of us grabbed each other in a tight hug. I couldn’t help myself and started laughing.
“Holy shit, bro, I thought you were dead!” I said and hugged him again.
“I thought you were dead too,” he replied quietly and looked closely at me. “You’ve picked up a few scars.”
I instinctively touched the scar on my cheek. “Yeah, I’ll tell you all about them,” I said and looked at him with a grin as he pushed his glasses back up on his nose. Patting him on the shoulder, I turned back toward everyone else. They were watching us curiously.
The tension level dropped significantly then. Everyone took turns introducing themselves to each other, and then I insisted on them joining us for lunch.
Janet and Jessica were sitting in the den when we walked inside. Janet looked at the new arrivals and scowled. “You said there was only going to be the two fags,” she said with a scoff and an angry flip of her hair. “Who are all these other people?”
I glared at her. “Did you really have to go there, Janet?” I looked over at Marc and Ward. “I apologize for our resident bigot.”
“Yeah,” Julie said, “I apologize for my mother too.” She walked over and gave the two docs a hug. “I’ve missed you two,” she said and then looked at the other four. “Okay, I have no idea who you guys are. I’m Julie, Zach’s wife.”
I took turns introducing everyone, even Janet, although it was with great reluctance. When I got to Felix, Julie gasped.
“Are you Zach’s old high school friend?” she asked. He nodded as he looked at her dumbly. Julie grabbed him in a tight hug. Felix looked over at me in astonishment.
“You’re married?” he asked. I laughed as I nodded my head. Janet apparently felt like she needed to assert herself.
“You four stink!” she said in a scornful tone.
“Mother!” Julie exclaimed scornfully. The two women made eye contact. Janet apparently thought she could brow beat her daughter into submission. It didn’t work this time. Julie pointed toward the hallway.
“Excuse us, everyone,” she said to the rest of us, “my mother and I are going to have a little talk.”
We all watched as Julie encouraged Janet into the hall with a hand strongly gripping her upper arm. I turned to everyone.
“Again, I apologize,” I said and focused on the new arrivals. “Everyone, Marc and Ward happen to be gay. They are also our friends. If anyone has a problem with it, keep it to yourself or please leave.”
