I didn’t hear the rest, because Julia had turned around, and had slipped her hands in between my vest and my shirt, stroking my sides and back.
I swallowed before I spoke. “I think they’re planning a jump after we leave. You can come out from there.”
Julia looked up at me and smiled slightly. “I like where I am, Aaron.” She hugged me tightly, resting her head on my chest. “I feel safe with you.”
I was stunned. Julia had never expressed any kind of feeling for me before, even with all we had been through. I always thought she had feelings for Jake, seeing as she knew him longer and was closer to his age. I didn’t know what to do, so I brought my arms together around her and hugged her back. Julia sighed and melted against me, and I suddenly felt better than I had for months.
Chapter 30
“Get a damn room!” A harsh voice barked across the room and I turned slightly to see it came from the table with the troublemakers.
I turned back to holding Julia, and the voice came again. “Shit, boy, you want a piece of that ass? Crack it open so we all can have a turn!”
Rough laughter broke out from the table and the entire bar went silent. Jason looked hard at the men at the table, but he wasn’t in a position to interfere. Jake was nowhere to be seen, and I had Julia to worry about.
I don’t know why I decided to push the issue. I guess I really was my father’s son. I pulled away from Julia and turned towards the men at the table. They were still laughing, but they were a little more cautious, as I was still large, and still well armed.
I walked up to the table and stopped at the edge. The men looked me up and down with contempt, and the one who had originally went up to the bar spoke first. “Tell you what, boy, I’ll be generous. I’ll give you a copper a screw, and you can keep the change!”
The rest of the bar took a breath. That wasn’t even the rate for the worst of whores and to suggest giving change for a copper was enough to get you killed in most parts of the country these days. No jury would convict you for dealing with the insult.
I chuckled slightly, and shook my head. I put two hands on the table and shoved downward, the far edge lifted up and when it was even with a very surprised big man’s mouth, I shoved it forward, jamming it into his face and removing a couple of his teeth. I didn’t stop there. As the two men closest to me stood up, I swung my fists outwards, smacking both men in the nose and dropping them to the floor. I grabbed the edge of the table and twisted it sideways, knocking it into a fourth man, and spilling the two of them to the floor. The final man charged from the side, but went down in a heap when I kicked him in the crotch.
In a matter of seconds, I had cleaned out the table and men were slowly picking themselves up off the floor, several leaving blood behind from busted noses and teeth. I stepped back to see if anyone wanted any more, when I stopped dead.
Something cold was pressed against my neck, just below my ear, and it didn’t take much imagination to realize someone was jamming a gun against me. I put my hands up about chest high and held them out slightly from me.
“Nice moves, boy, but knowing who your father was, I’m not surprised. Before you think you’re fast enough to take me, understand I’ve been killing zombies and men years before you were born, and I know how to kill.” The voice sounded old and raspy, like someone who had been gargling with gravel every morning for twenty years.
“Now then, let’s talk about what you’ve done here. You’ve interrupted my business, and whetted my appetite for some different business, so how might we work this out?” The voice came from about my shoulder, so I figured that if he had his arm fully extended, I could get him if moved right. But I had to get it perfect the first time.
“Motherfucker! I’ll kill you for this!” The big guy I had hit in the face with the table rushed forward and I couldn’t do anything as he brought his fist back and slammed it into my gut. I tried to tense against it, but I still wound up doubling over. I recovered quickly enough, only to find the gun pressed against my head again.
“Aaron!” Julia started forward, but stopped when the voice spoke again.
“Stay there, missy. You’ll be coming with us soon enough, don’t worry. Your boyfriend is getting a lesson, that’s all.” The man cackled and I felt the cold fire building in me again. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, the man who hit me took a step back. He recovered quickly enough and this time he shifted his aim, looking to land a punch square in my face.
It never made it. When his fist was past my hand, I slapped his wrist, driving the punch away from me and into the arm that held the gun. I spun and grabbed the wrist holding the gun and pressed the elbow with my free hand, shoving the old man across the floor and crushing him face first into the bar. I didn’t follow up right away, as I had a score to settle with the big man. He punched at me again, and I took the blow on the shoulder, bringing up a fist that started at my knees and ended on his chin. The sound was like a rock hitting a log, and the man’s head snapped back from the impact. He took a step back, and then fell forward on his face. I didn’t think we’d have any more trouble from him.
I walked over to the bar where the old man was trying to get up. He still held his gun, a small, stainless semi-automatic, but it hung loosely at his side. His other hand gripped the bar and he was using it to pull himself upright.
I didn’t waste time, I grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and hauled him upright, giving him a brutal punch to his kidney that elicited a short scream. The gun went off reflexively, and the bullet buried itself harmlessly in the old wood floor. I twisted his arm until he dropped the gun, and then spun him around to face me. He was a tough old piece of jerky, with black eyes and snow-white hair. Even in the face of certain doom, he was defiant. The sneer never left his face as I described what I was going to do to him and his men if I ever saw them again.
I was just finishing when I saw his eyes narrow, and then Julia screamed out.
“Aaron! Look out!”
I jerked to the side, and turned around, seeing the old man’s men charging from the first scene of violence. I nearly jumped over the bar to put something between us when a dozen shots rang out, driving all of the men wounded to the floor.
The bullet holes were all in their legs and they bled everywhere. A single voice cried out from the outside of the bar. “Aaron, Julia! Let’s get the hell out of here!
It was Jake. Apparently, in the middle of all the fun, he had decided to climb out the bathroom window and cover us from the rear.
I still held the old man, who made the mistake of opening his big mouth again.
“We’ll meet again, boy. I look forward to screwing your girlfriend in front of you.” He cackled again and ran a wet tongue over thin lips.
I slammed my fist into his chest, and watched his eyes bug out as he tried to take a breath. I squeezed his neck as I brought his face close to mine.
“That was just about half of what I can do. I just want you to know that next time I see you, I can and will rip your heart out.” I threw the old man into the corner where he held his chest and neck. I picked up his gun and walked around the bleeding mess of toughs on the floor. Jake must have emptied the clip at the men, for everyone was shot at least twice.
Outside, Julia was waiting with Jake, and together we jogged away from the scene. We didn’t need to answer any uncomfortable questions, and we didn’t want to be delayed while the old man with the white hair called for reinforcements. Thus far, we hadn’t need to kill anyone, but I had a feeling it was coming.
Chapter 31
We ran for a few blocks, and then walked slowly the rest of the way. Not anyone watching us would think we were running from anything, just out taking a stroll, and wouldn’t pay much attention to us.
At the truck, Jake remembered he wanted to get some supplies from the store, so we drove to the edge of town and stopped at the indoor market. This was the place where merchants that were more affluent displayed their wares, being able to
keep the weather off of them. Prices soared in the winter, but not so much that they lost business.
I asked Jake what we needed, and he told me to mind my own business. He’d said it would take just a minute. I wasn’t in the mood to argue. I was tired and emotionally confused. All I wanted to do was go home, and unfortunately, that was a two-hour drive away.
Julia and I sat in silence for a few minutes. I was still processing what had happened at the bar when she leaned against me and took my hand.
“I wasn’t acting at the bar, Aaron. I do feel safe with you.”
“I’m glad, Julia. I’d hate to think we’d been in as many situations as we have and you thought I was useless.” I had no experience talking to women. Growing up where I did, I had my mom, my aunts, and Julia, who up until now, always gave the impression that I wasn’t measuring up. Suddenly, I was safe, and it was very confusing.
Julia processed that for a second, and then shifted herself. In an interesting maneuver that required a move forward, then up, then sideways, she was suddenly sitting in my lap, locking her hands behind my neck. Unbidden, my hands went around her waist, as if it was the most natural thing to do.
“I know I’ve been a shit sometimes, but I was always worried about the chances you take. Sorry,” Julia said, looking down.
“It’s okay. Nice to know you care,” I replied.
“Thank you for sticking up for me back there,” Julia said, changing the subject. She leaned in and placed her head on my shoulder. Her gentle breath on my neck was causing the truck to feel very warm all of a sudden.
“I was saving lives,” I said. “If I let you at them, they’d have been killed.”
Julia laughed and settled in a bit more, and without thinking, I turned my head and kissed her on the forehead. She responded by turning up her face and looking me in the eyes. I moved my head down and kissed her mouth, gently, hoping I wouldn’t be rejected.
Julia responded in kind, her lips slightly parted to meet mine. We kissed for a long time, just taking in each other’s breath, not wanting to do anything more than savor the moment. It was my first real kiss with Julia, and one that I would remember forever.
Right up to the point where Jake opened the driver door and said, “Jesus. I leave you two for five minutes and you’re practically eating each other. What the hell?”
Julia and I broke our kiss and she slid off my lap to take her spot on the bench seat between us. She still held my hand, and managed to elbow Jake as he settled in to drive.
“Ouch. Well, do you want the good news or the bad news?” Jake asked.
“The bad.” I knew Jake met with a merchant who was his contact for various collecting jobs. Typically, the jobs that no one else could do we were given, and we did that because they paid so well. Sometimes we collected stuff for merchants, turning it over for a percentage of the sales. Rare stuff that no one else had access to paid really well, especially if another merchant wanted it.
“Guy wants us to do a job in Joslin,” Jake said.
“Dear God, I hope you said no,” I said, shocked. Joslin was a killing ground, more so than Chicago was. Dozens of collectors had gone in there over the years and barely a handful had made it out. Joslin was legendary for its zombies, and very few people knew why. The zombies were said to be…not like zombies. They were faster, smarter, stronger; you name it. It was a bad place, and no one went there without a hugely good reason.
Jake smiled. “I said yes, and that’s what brings us to the good news. The pay will be two hundred gold pieces, a quarter of which I got in advance.” Jake held up a money tube, and sure enough, there was a pile of gold coin in there.
I had nothing to say. It was more money than I had seen in my life, outside of what my father had left me. We would be so well established we could stop working for five years and never want for anything. Maybe that was why Jake was willing to risk our necks for this little adventure. It was to give us some thinking room to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives. Or in my case, what I was supposed to do with my life.
“What are we going after?” Julia asked. I was curious about that, myself. What would merchants want so badly that they would be willing to spend a huge amount of money to obtain? What kind of potential profit would they see from it that made the bill worthwhile?
“I wasn’t told what it was, exactly,” Jake said, uneasily. “I was given very specific instructions to a very specific place, and told to take a very specific item.”
“That’s it?” I was extremely suspicious. After what we had just gone through, I didn’t put it past the man in the white hair to have an ambush set up and we would be walking merrily right into it, dreaming of spending money instead of paying attention.
“That’s it. Something called a ‘server’, whatever the hell that is. The guy started talking to me about the internet, but I really wasn’t paying attention.” Jake shrugged as he started the truck and we pulled away. We were still avoiding trouble from Jake’s firearms show, and we needed to be gone.
“Well, if you’re sure, then I guess it’s a go. After this, though, we need to stop for a while, anyway. I need to straighten things out about what I’m going to be doing and where I’m going to be headed with my life,” I said. Julia squeezed my hand but didn’t offer any help.
We drove west, then south. The big highways around here were clear, save for a few errant travelers, and we made decent time. About an hour after we started, we were in the town of Mayfair, and Jake announced he was too tired to go on and we should spend the night in the lovely community of Mayfair. I wasn’t about to argue, as I was dead tired and couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer. Julia had already nodded off once or twice, snapping awake when her head slumped onto her chest.
Jake pulled into the town and found a small farmhouse out at the edge. It was unoccupied, and we stepped in carefully, checking the rooms for any unwanted guests. The house was sparsely furnished, with just the essentials in place for short visits. I didn’t bother arguing about the master suite, I simply took my gear off and stretched out onto the floor. Jake wasn’t so indiscriminating, announcing that he was going to have the master bedroom. Julia settled for one of the other rooms upstairs, and I have to admit her leaving me by myself put me off a little. I began to wonder if the truck episode had anything to do with anything, or if I was just being nuts.
I told myself it didn’t matter and I just stretched out on the floor and went to sleep. I doubt it took me more than five minutes to slip into slumber, that’s how tired I was.
Chapter 32
In the middle of the night, I awoke to a strange sound. It seemed like there was something sliding slowly around the house. It was a soft sound, as if someone was gently touching the walls as they walked around. The room I was sleeping in was pitch black, save for a thin strip of moonlight coming in from outside. If I remembered correctly, Dad used to call this Rustler’s Moon. It was too dark to get a bead on anyone who was stealing the cows, yet it was light enough to avoid pitfalls as you went in to steal other people’s cattle.
After a couple more minutes of scratching, I heard nothing, so I went back to sleep, deciding it must have been the wind or something. I didn’t know much about old houses, but I suspected they creaked and groaned a lot, just like the lodge did from time to time.
I went back to sleep, and figured I would be able to get to morning without any more interruptions.
What seemed like a long time later, I woke suddenly to a small hand on my chest. I looked up and saw that Julia had come down and was lying next to me, her hand on me. Her leg was thrown across my legs, and she was wearing a simple t-shirt and what mom used to call “running shorts.” I shifted my arms and managed to wrap her up and keep her from leaving. She used my left arm as a pillow and we both went back to sleep, comforted by the feeling of the other. It was a strange, sweet, wonderful feeling.
I awoke in the dark hours of the morning, when the sun hasn’t yet turned the sky to grey, but was wor
king on it. I had no reason to wake up, but something pulled me awake. Julia had turned herself in the night and was still using my arm as a pillow, but had her back to me. I rolled to the side and wrapped my free arm around her. She sighed and scooted back into me, and we lay there for a while. I will admit my thoughts were all over the place and many of them were not to be repeated in polite company.
I heard a step outside and something hit the house. It wasn’t a hard hit, but I was instantly awake. Julia felt me tense and turned her head.
“What is it?” She asked, bringing her right arm up to stroke my neck.
“Something’s outside,” I said, getting up on one elbow.
“Probably a dog. “ She shifted onto her back, which put her directly beneath me and she still lay on my forearm. Julia pulled me down for a kiss, which I wasn’t about to refuse, even though there might be a horde of zombies outside.
We kissed for a while, and might have done more, when the noise repeated itself. I disengaged from Julia and got to my hands and knees. “No dog does that twice. Better get upstairs and dressed, we might have to move fast,” I said.
Julia pouted, but knew better than to argue. Of the three of us, I had the best instincts for trouble. Jake just plowed into it, Julia dealt with it, but I had a way of knowing it was coming. I had that feeling right now.
I stayed on the floor, and got myself ready. I didn’t want to be seen from the windows, and hoped Jake and Julia wouldn’t make too much noise coming down. I put my gear on, and crawled over to a window on the side of the house I thought I heard the noises coming form. I stood up slowly by the window, keeping myself out of sight. The good news was that no one on the outside would be able to see in very well unless we did something stupid like turn on a light. The bad news was we couldn’t see very well outside either.
I leaned against the wall and slowly brought my head away. I could see outside, and in the graying dawn, there was definitely something in the yard. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but it was something, and it was moving slowly.
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