by Zuko, Joseph
“We should do… something about them before they draw any attention.” Leon balled up the blood-covered sheets and squatted down next to Karen. He leaned his head over into her line of sight. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. When my parents died I was across the Pacific Ocean from them. I never got to see their bodies.” Leon’s head dropped then he looked around the room as if something hanging from the walls or up on a shelf would trigger the right set of words for him to say to snap her out of this haze. Nothing helped.
He reached out and touched Karen’s knee. The physical contact caused her eyes to flick over onto Leon’s face. His forced smile greeted her gaze.
“I know you need time to mourn, but we have got to lock this place down before we end up… joining the dead.” Leon finished the sentence with a hard swallow.
They stared at each other for a while before she finally spoke, “I need five more minutes and a glass of water.” Karen’s voice was hoarse. She sounded like she was coming down with a cold. Leon nodded at her and stood up to get the water.
He dumped the bloody sheets into the trash can under the sink and washed the gore from his hands. Standing in front of the kitchen window he could see what was left of the police cruiser they destroyed on the ride to Penny’s home. The streets in this neighborhood were still clear of infected.
That’s good.
We take care of the two in the backyard and this place could be pretty safe, thought Leon.
He dried his hands on a towel that hung from the electric range and searched the cupboards for a glass. He found one, filled it with cold tap water and carried it over to her. Karen’s hand was up and ready to take the glass when he got close enough.
She took the glass and drained it into her mouth. It was going to take five more full glasses to kill the dehydration headache she had. The run to the house with Robin on her back and Troy on her shoulder was some of the hardest cardio Karen had ever been forced to do. Her mind had finally squashed the evil ideas of murdering her family and gunning herself down. It was about time too, she hated that her mind went straight to offing herself. The water was helping her system come back online. She was cleaning out the cobwebs and making space for new ideas to form. The gears in her head were starting to click and brainstorms were on the horizon.
How do we make this place safe?
That was the million-dollar question. Karen counted a dozen windows on this ranch style house. If one were smashed in they would be vulnerable and have to run.
How do we block up all of these damn windows?
She raised her empty glass high in the air as a signal for more. Leon picked up on her request and took the empty container back into the kitchen.
If the house gets breached we need a fast way out.
The knots in her back burned almost as badly as her dislocated wrist. The thought of Robin being strapped to her back again was horrifying. Carrying the girls would be nearly impossible until Troy was a hundred percent. They needed a new ride. Thank God Leon was skilled at acquiring vehicles that didn’t belong to him. They needed to find a four-wheel-drive truck and bring it back to the house. Get it fully gassed and ready to go. That way they could hit the road full throttle in a pinch. Leon was back with another full glass and Karen went right to work emptying it. This time she didn’t guzzle it down. She sipped at it and looked at the chicken coop into her mother’s backyard.
The idea had taken full form and the “Hows” that needed the most answering had come to Karen. Her glutes were begging her to get up off the hardwood floor. Her butt had gone numb.
“Can you help me up?” Her voice was clearer than before and she raised both of her arms. Leon took hold of them and raised her to her feet. She continued to sip her water as she stretched out her back.
“How handy are you?” Karen asked Leon.
“Pretty handy. Why?” he answered as his brow narrowed. He wondered where she was going with that question.
“Mama has-” Karen choked on the word and took a moment to gather herself. “There’s a ton of lumber in the garage. We can use it to block up these windows.”
“Okay, that’s good. What about them?” Leon pointed out the sliding glass door.
Karen pulled the Ruger out of its holster.
“Okay, we have to make it quick before more of those things show up,” Leon said as he reached for the gun.
“No.” Karen held the pistol close to her chest. “I have to do this.”
“You’re right. What do you want me to do?” Leon crossed his arms and pivoted so that he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Karen as they looked out the back door.
“Can you hold the door open a crack… just enough for the barrel to poke out?” The tears had started to fall again. Karen felt her body shake. This was it. When she pulls that trigger her Mama would be truly gone. Was she sure that there was no cure? Even if there was a cure how the hell would she get her Mama to the doctors without getting bitten herself? She knew the answer to all of these questions but her mind was stalling. It was still fighting the reality. Her sweet Mama was gone forever. The gun almost vibrated out of her good hand as she stepped closer to the back door.
Leon moved into position so that he could jam his foot into the runner of the sliding glass door and keep the beasts from pulling it open. Karen checked the magazine in her gun. She knew that it was full, she was stalling.
Maybe if I wait long enough I won’t have to do it.
Maybe Mama will walk away from the door.
The thought of her Mama walking the streets of the neighborhood, killing innocent people, tearing families apart, ripping the flesh from someone’s bones and destroying another life was too much. She could not let that happen. Penny would rather be killed than ever hurt an innocent person. Karen knew that as a fact. She took another step closer to the door and clicked off the safety.
Her Mama always had her back. No matter what. When Karen was a child and she had done something wrong and was about to get into trouble she would stretch the truth to her Mama. Just a little fib. No matter what she had done or how much she had stretched the truth Penny always believed her. She always had her baby’s side.
One time Penny had taken off for the weekend to visit her parents. Karen was a senior in high school and had been left home alone for the first time. Penny had an argument with her own mother that day and she decided to come home early. When she pulled up to her house it was pretty obvious what was going on. Parked cars lined the street. Music poured from the open windows and a steady stream of teens were coming and going out the front door. Penny pulled out her cell phone and called the house. She heard the music cut off from her car and then Karen answered the call.
“Hello sweetheart how are you doing? I was just checking in on you before I go to bed.” Penny’s performance was flawless.
The words slurred slowly out of Karen’s mouth, “Hey Mama. I’m just watching a movie and about to go to bed myself.” Karen clumsily covered the receiver and shushed her friends.
“Okay, Papa and Maw send their love. I love you too, baby. Have a good weekend and be safe. All right?”
“I love you too Mama and tell Papa and Maw I love them and I’ll see them at Christmas.” Karen faked a yawn. “Okay, I’m heading to bed now. See you tomorrow night. Love you.”
Penny’s child breathed heavily into the phone and awaited confirmation that this call was coming to an end. All Penny wanted to say was “Drink some water and eat some food so you don’t get sick tomorrow.” But she didn’t. She knew that Karen was a good kid and she would be safe. So she said, “Love you too baby girl. See you tomorrow night.” Penny hung up the phone. A few seconds later the music got turned back up in the house and the party resumed. Penny knew how hard her divorce had been on Karen and she also knew how important it was for seniors in high school to look cool. There were few things cooler than having a big party when your parents were out of town. If Penny truly thought Karen couldn’t handle herself or
that the party would get out of control she would have marched in there and shut the damn thing down. Instead she made a U-turn and headed for the closest motel. Some parents would have looked down on her for doing that, but moms that trust their children sometimes have to look the other way. Years later Penny confessed to Karen about the phone call and that she knew exactly what was happening. Karen couldn’t believe it. All those years she thought she was the clever one that got away with it, but the reality was her Mama was the best and always had been.
Karen pushed a tear from her cheek and then she raised the gun shoulder high. She held it there for a minute before she nodded at Leon.
What if they can’t find a cure?
Would Valerie or Robin have to gun me down in cold blood?
Do I await the same fate?
What was left of Karen’s Mama threw a hard blood covered hand at the glass door. The noise startled Karen. They were a team. The perfect mother daughter combo and now it was down to this. A broken woman holding a gun inches from the glass door and the empty shell of a woman, itching to feed on anyone and anything she could get her infected hands on.
“Ready?” Leon whispered.
Karen shut her eyes and nodded her head. She could hear the sound of the door opening a few inches. The metal chunk that protruded out of Penny’s torso ground along the glass as she moved towards the gap. Karen opened her eyelids, saw the blackness that was her Mama’s infected soul and wished it didn’t have to go this way, but what other choice did she have?
None!
“I love you, Mama.”
BOOM!
Chapter 3
Every muscle and joint in Jim’s body begged him to go back inside his neighbor’s apartment, take a seat and relax. Have another beer and get some real food. Drink a gallon of water. Take a hot shower. Wait for tomorrow when you aren’t so tired.
Why dive headlong into the abyss? Jim thought.
Why risk it?
No matter how convincing the voice inside Jim’s head could be, he had a job to do. He stepped up onto the lower railing and threw his leg over the top rail. He moved quickly to get himself onto the ledge of the landing. Frank reached out and held one of the straps on Jim’s backpack. It helped steady Jim as he inched his way over to the handrail that ran down the flight of stairs below him. The noise caused by his boots on the metal and concrete seemed to echo out into the parking lot. As Jim reached out for the stair’s handrail Sara made her move up and over to follow after him. Her toes snaked along the edge of the landing. She moved like a cat.
Despite Sara’s agility the noise was getting them some unwanted attention from the monsters below. A few of the infected that made up the horde were on their way up the stairs to greet Jim. The monster’s failing bodies moved slowly, one step at a time, hungry for the filet mignon in the leather jacket.
Jim’s boots touched down onto the steps and he whipped his body around to face them. His spear was ready to slice and dice the closest asshole that tried to take a bite. Sara was up and over the step’s railing and by Jim’s side in a quarter of the time it took him to do it. Now it was Frank’s turn.
For a man in his sixties, Frank was in great shape. He had owned a fishing and hunting shop for twenty years in downtown Washougal, Washington. Frank and his brother, Bob, opened the store with the money left to them when their father passed away. Frank’s father smoked a pack a day and even though he knew the Big C would get him someday as well, he couldn’t kick the habit.
Ten years into running the store Bob was done with retail. He wanted to try something new so he sold his half of the company to Frank. Bob went off to raise cattle on Government Island. Two years ago Frank was ready to retire and was able to sell his old shop to a young man that had just moved up from Los Angeles. The Californian had just made a killing selling his home in Hollywood to some new starlet and Frank got top dollar for the store.
The years he spent unloading heavy boxes of equipment into his store and the frequent hunting and fishing trips had kept him fit and trim. The pack of smokes and pot of coffee he finished off daily, along with a lean meat diet helped tremendously.
Jim thrust his spear into the face of a creep as Sara’s blade bat came crashing down on another one’s skull. Frank made the transition over the rail and was ready to jet for the car. He slid the bolt back on his rifle and the SKS was ready to fuck some shit up. Jim was pretty sure that the zombies, as Tina called them, did not care what kind of weapons his crew was toting, but he liked the idea that the sound of Frank’s bolt clicking into position sent a shiver down their dead spines.
Jim and Sara stepped to the side and let the man with the deadliest weapon pass. They followed him down the stairs. Frank wasted no time and opened fire. His rounds ripped the small horde to pieces. The methodical pop, pop, pop of Frank’s gun and the brass casings hitting the ground was the only sound the three of them could hear. When the last body dropped to the asphalt Frank paused for a moment and flipped his tapped banana magazine over for a fresh set of rounds.
“Leave a little for us next time,” Sara’s sarcasm helped to lighten the dark task at hand.
Jim hit the unlock button on his key fob. The tail lights flashed and the locks clicked. Jim swung the driver’s side door open and the undeniable smell of Burgerville hit him in the face. Oh baby, did it smell good. Jim would slaughter a whole horde of those zombies with his bare hands to get one of the famous pepper bacon cheeseburgers he loved so much. The oil stained paper bag was all that remained besides the odor. Karen had gone there for lunch earlier today and the wonderful smell reminded Jim of his family. He ached to be with them, but there was no time to sit and smell the burgers. They had to hit the road.
“You’ll have to sit in the back between the car seats,” Jim told Sara. She was the only one with a small enough butt to fit.
Frank opened the passenger’s door to find his seat covered in junk mail and overdue bills.
“Sorry, Karen’s arms are always full of the kids’ stuff and she doesn’t clean the car often,” Jim slid into the driver’s seat and negotiated a spot for his spear. Frank used his hand like a rake and pulled the loose papers off the seat and out onto the asphalt. Frank hated to litter but there was only so much mess a man could take.
Sara wiggled her slim body over Robin’s carseat and squeezed herself into the spot. A lost French fry sat in Robin’s car seat. Sara could tell it was not that old. She picked it up, blew on it and scarfed it down. She didn’t know if she would ever get a chance to eat another Burgerville fry? So why the hell not. It was still delicious. The floorboards were covered with children’s stuffed toys, extra jackets and shoes that had been left behind over the last few months. The seats to her left and right had hard chunks of plastic poking at her shoulders and ribs.
“Can I move these into the back?” Sara asked Jim as she pointed at the two seats, “If we crash again or I need to get out quickly these things might get me killed.”
Jim didn’t like the idea of unhooking the girl’s seats. It was like Sara wanted to confirm that the girls were gone and never coming back. He thought about it for a second and understood why she was asking to move them.
“That’s fine,” Jim grumbled the words out. Sara looked over the belts to see how they weaved through the seats and then hit the release button. It took a lot of effort to get the safety seats up and over the backseat and tucked into the little trunk area of the PT Cruiser.
The doors to the PT slammed shut and Jim worked the key into the ignition. As he backed the car up the weight of the vehicle pulverized what was left of the bodies in the lot behind them.
Cliff and Tina stood at their bedroom window and watched Jim, Frank and Sara pull out of the parking lot. It was the second time they watched a Blackmore leave the apartment complex that afternoon.
“You think we’ll ever see them again?” Tina said, her voice filled with sorrow. She hoped to God they would make it back with the equipment. She didn’t want that young ma
n in the living room dying on her. She had already seen enough death today.
“Maybe, they made it out of Portland,” Cliff said as he rubbed the back of his buzz cut head.
“If one of them comes back with a bite taken out of them, what are we gonna do?” Tina rested her head on her husband’s shoulder.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll figure that out if and when it happens.” Cliff tilted his head to rest it on top of Tina’s.
Sara tossed over the last car seat into the back. With them out of the way she had plenty of space and it felt so much better now that she had room to move. Jim had pulled out of the parking lot and crossed a street. The road was clogged with busted flaming vehicles. So he headed into the backlot of a shopping center. As they rounded the corner of the building Sara spotted a Black Rock Coffee kiosk. Sara worked at a coffee kiosks in Portland, close to where she and her parents lived. She had gotten the job about three months ago and liked it well enough. The other girls she worked with were fun and Sara had mastered the extra flirt it took to get the male and some female customers to leave a little more cash in the tip jar. She worked there part-time and was enrolled at Portland State University. For the last two years she had been studying history.
She wasn’t sure what career path she was going to take learning about ancient Greece, The Roman Empire and the last two World Wars, but she found them very interesting.
Seeing the ruined coffee shop caused her mind to rewind and replay the day. She had worked the opening shift and that meant she was there at four-thirty in the morning and got off at noon. The ride home was a little crazy. People were driving like idiots, they were all over the road and crashing into each other. She had no idea what was really going on.
