Zombie Rules (Book 4): Destiny

by Achord, David

  “Sounds a little bit like a military operation,” he said. I nodded again. “Very impressive.”

  “We used a lot of ammo, but it was necessary. Have you and your people done anything similar?” I asked. Hillbilly shook his head.

  “No, we had something else working to our advantage.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “The second winter was a cold one. Without a few billion people expelling carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, we had a brutal cold snap starting about the middle of January. It got down to twenty below for two nights and the rest of the week it got down to ten below every night. It was hard on the livestock and even harder on those infected things. Every one of them that were outside died.”

  “Really?” I asked. Hillbilly nodded.

  “You didn’t have anything similar?”

  “No. We saw quite a few freeze solid, but when they thawed out they came back to life.” Hillbilly looked thoughtful.

  “It sounds like when the temperature drops down to a certain level for a prolonged period, the effects are irreversible.”

  “Yeah,” I said and thought a minute. “If this is not a phenomenon for only the plateau, it means up in the northern areas, the zombies are all but eradicated.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Hillbilly said.

  “How many survivors are there on the plateau?”

  “The first year was about a hundred that I know of. Now, there’s maybe a dozen people left. Some died, others moved on.”

  “What about your family?”

  “All dead,” he said. “I’ve been on my own since almost the first. People up on the plateau are friendly folks but a bit clannish. Once it went bad, people became, shall we say, stand-offish.”

  “You know, you’re welcome to stay here,” I said. “Nobody’s related and there’re plenty of vacant houses around here that’d be easy to fix up.” I pointed at the horse farm as we drove by it. “You could even live there, if you’re inclined.”

  “I appreciate that, Zach, I really do. But, I’m fifty-years-old now and pretty set in my ways. I’ve lived up on the Cumberland Plateau all of my life and I believe that’s where I want to die.”

  I really believed he’d be a valuable addition to our group and wanted to push the sales pitch, but I knew he was too much like Fred. If he said he wanted to live out the rest of his life on the Plateau, that’s exactly what he was going to do.

  “Zach, I’ve been meaning to ask you, have you come into contact with any older survivors lately? You know, like over the age of sixty?” I thought about it and shook my head.

  “Sadly no.” I told him about Bernie the Beekeeper. “He was the last one I know of and he died last year.”

  “Yeah, the mortality rate isn’t very good these days.” We drove the rest of the way back to the church in silence.

  Chapter 34 – Farewells

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked. Floyd nodded.

  “About as sure as I’ve been about anything since the world changed.” He looked at me as if we knew something he didn’t. He asked me as much.

  “We just want you to be happy, Floyd,” Kelly said.

  “They seem like really good people,” I added. “If Gigi’s the one for you, we’re totally behind you.” He smiled gratefully.

  “Thanks, you two. That means a lot.”

  “Have you got everything loaded up?” I asked. Floyd nodded.

  “Once I get to Dickson, I’ll find me another ride, so if you want my Toyota, you’re welcome to it.” After he’d busted one of the struts, he left his FJ Cruiser sitting on the side of Franklin Pike. It had low mileage and was otherwise in good shape, so, yeah, I had every intention of claiming it. Kelly and I walked with him over to Big Country’s truck where a lot of the school group was patiently waiting. Gigi had a grin on her face as big as Cheshire cat’s.

  “Well now, young Mister Gunderson, this was a mighty fine rendezvous,” Big Country declared. “I reckon it’s going to be a yearly event?”

  “That’s our hope,” I answered and gave him a folder with papers in it. “Here’s some instructions on building a dipole antenna so we can chat more often.” We shook hands and hugged and told each other how much we were going to miss each other. I thought Big Country was going to start crying. All four of them waved vigorously as they drove away.

  “I’m going to miss Floyd,” Rhonda said as they drove off. “He was a sweet man.”

  “Me too,” Marc and Ward said in unison. Gus didn’t have much to say, but he nodded at Rhonda’s statement. I noticed throughout the rendezvous the two of them had always stayed close to each other and idly wondered if they had started some kind of relationship. I looked over at Tonya.

  “He had his uses,” she finally admitted. I guess that was the closest thing she could come to saying she was going to miss him as well. She looked around.

  “That’s the last of them. Quite frankly I’m ready for some peace and quiet around here.”

  “They sure did eat a lot of food,” Gus commented.

  “Yeah, so did you,” Tonya retorted. Gus glowered at her but said nothing.

  “I think it went rather well,” Ward said. “Except for that one little mishap.”

  “Cutter’s claiming he got sucker punched,” Ward continued. “I didn’t see what happened, but I’ve heard a few variations.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you what happened,” Ruth answered. “The dumbass got drunk and was making rude comments to Julie. That was stupid when you consider that she’s married to Sasquatch.”

  “So, Big Country got jealous,” Marc concluded. Ruth scoffed.

  “Julie told him to back off and so he called her a bitch. Jealous might not be the right word, more like defending the honor of his wife.”

  “Cutter’s lucky,” Justin said. “If that man had hit Cutter with everything he had, I sincerely doubt he’d be still walking around.”

  Cutter must have sensed we were talking about him. He emerged from the church as we were walking in. His left eye was blue and swollen shut.

  “What are y’all talking about?” he asked.

  “We were just saying how much we’re going to miss Big Country and his family,” I said innocently.

  “Yeah, well he’s banned from ever coming back around here,” he proclaimed. Everyone got a good chuckle out of that. Cutter’s face reddened and he walked off.

  “Where did Hillbilly go?” Kelly asked.

  “He left last night,” Ruth said. “He came by before leaving and said he didn’t want to say goodbye and he’ll try to get back by here soon.”

  “That’s odd,” Kelly said.

  “He was a little bit aloof the whole time,” Marc said. “I think the only person he really talked to was Zach.”

  “We think the crowd made him a little nervous,” Ward added. Marc nodded in agreement.

  “I’d say you’re assessment is on the money,” I said. “He said all of his family are dead and he doesn’t have very much contact with other people. He’s become somewhat asocial, I’d guess.”

  “Will he come back?” Kelly asked.

  “Probably so, he just needs some time,” Ward said.

  While everyone chitchatted, I walked in the church and looked around. The sheet of plywood had all kinds of notes tacked to it with messages to the lost. There were even some photographs. I heard the door open and looked to see Tonya walking in.

  “I must admit, it went better than I thought it would,” she confessed. “I thought nobody at all would show up, or it would be a bunch of freeloaders looking for handouts.” She continued staring at the bulletin boards.

  “You were right.” I glanced at her in surprise. She continued. “This is the way to rebuild a society.”

  “We’re off to a decent start,” I replied.

  “Do you believe the President?” she asked.

  “About what, sending a delegation down here?” She nodded. “Yeah, I suppose they’ll do that at some point. Especially now that they
know I’m alive.”

  “Yeah, they’ll come down here and screw everything up,” she surmised. I chuckled.

  “Yeah, most likely.”

  “So, what’s next?” she asked.

  “We’ve got a doctor and two nurses living here now, we need a clinic.”

  “Where would we put it?”

  “Either here at this church or at the school.”

  “I’d rather it be here. There’s more room and I’d rather not have outsiders wandering around where I live.”

  “Fine by me,” I replied. “Let’s make it Grant’s project. It’ll keep him busy.”

  Chapter 35 – Flu

  It took a full day to clean up everything from the rendezvous and almost everyone pitched in, some with more enthusiasm than others. At the end of the day, we found ourselves sitting around, discussing the clinic. Someone pulled out a gallon milk jug of moonshine and someone else, I actually think it was Tonya, pulled out some weed. The only ones who didn’t imbibe were Sarah and myself. Even Kelly and Justin had joined in. It got everyone good and loosened up and there was a lot of smiling and laughing.

  The bad side of it was, what started out as a thoughtful conversation about the clinic slowly but steadily devolved into a lot of silly arguing. Rachel found a partner in crime with Kelly. They drank some moonshine, smoked some of Tonya’s weed, and they soon began mimicking everyone and laughing uncontrollably. Sarah had been sitting quietly across from me, and when she saw me looking she rolled her eyes. I smiled in agreement.

  “You’re not saying much,” she remarked. I closed my notepad and set it down.

  “I was hoping to get some constructive input. You know, maybe somebody would have thought of something innovative, but in the end, Grant, Mike and Mary are going to build their clinic however they want it built.” Kelly, sitting beside me and giggling and who knew what, suddenly focused on us.

  “What are you two talking about, pumping your weights?” she asked and started giggling again.

  “Naked weightlifting,” Rachel added, which caused more giggling from the two of them.

  The endless opinions about the clinic became background noise and I amused myself by watching the kids playing with each other. Well, except for Sammy. He was listening attentively to the adults acting like children. I felt a light pinch on my earlobe and turned quickly to see one of Rhonda’s little girls running away, screaming.

  “Brittany likes you,” Kelly said with a grin. I frowned, Kelly noticed it, and began giggling. “He still doesn’t know their names,” she said to Rachel.

  “Uh, well, I always get them mixed up.” Rhonda, who had walked up, heard my response and looked pointedly at me. I shrugged apologetically.

  “Okay, busted.”

  “The one who is sweet on you is Brittany. The other two are Clair and Emma. Clair is the one in the pink shirt.” The kids were running around the cafeteria playing tag or something, with Callahan and Zoe happily joining in. Clair ran up and tagged Frederick, and as I watched, she chose that particular moment to sneeze all over him. Great, I thought.

  By the time we got home, both kids were fussy and complaining of not feeling well. Kelly was having a hard time keeping her eyes open and as soon as we got home, she went straight to the bedroom. Janet tended to the kids while I hurried through some of the chores.

  “They’re both running a fever,” she said as soon as I walked inside. She’d found the thermometer in our first aid kit. “Both of them are reading a hundred.”

  “Where’s Kelly?” I asked.

  “Passed out, she drank too much of that moonshine.” Damn, I thought.

  “Alright, you’re a mom, what do you think?”

  "They’ve definitely come down with something. Let's get them in bed and put some wet rags on their foreheads.” I agreed and grabbed a bottle of baby aspiring.

  “They’re expired, but it’s all we’ve got.” Janet nodded in agreement and got each child to swallow one with some sips of water.

  “I’ll sit here with them, I think you need to go get Grant.” The worry on her face was obvious and I no doubt looked the same. I nodded.

  “Good idea.”

  I drove as quickly as I dared over the rough roads. By the time I’d arrived back at the school, all of the kids were showing symptoms.

  “We’re going to quarantine them,” Grant said. He had a look of genuine worry and for a moment it made me forget my disdain for him. “I strongly suggest you do the same.”

  “What is it?” I asked. “Do you know?” He looked at me grimly.

  “Could be anything. A common cold, a childhood disease one of the visitors was carrying, or it could be worse.” I understood what he was implying.

  “We’re going to put them in the radio house,” he continued. “Justin and Ruth agreed to stay at the school until it’s over.”

  “Okay,” I replied. “We can keep them in their bedroom.”

  “Nobody else should come into contact with them,” Grant added. “I myself will be wearing protective gear, but even that may not be enough.” I think my face may have paled when he said that last statement. Grant put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder.

  “We’ll try to come by in the morning, that’s all I can do for now.”

  I sped back to the house in a somber mood. Once I got the gate secured, I knew what I had to do.

  “Quarantine,” I said to Janet and related my conversation with Grant. “We’ll keep the kids in the bedroom. I’ve got respirators and nitrile gloves we can use when we check on them. I think we’re going to need to sterilize everything we can. It’ll be a precautionary measure, if nothing else.” I heard the sound of retching and hurried into the master bathroom. Kelly was bent over the toilet bowl.

  “The next time I take a drink of moonshine, I want you to bend me over and whip my ass.”

  “That bad?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah.” She straightened slowly, a little unsteadily and moved to the sink to rinse her mouth.

  “Did Janet say anything?” Kelly nodded and then grabbed her mouth again and bent back over the toilet.

  “Grant isn’t sure what it is?” Kelly asked. I shook my head. “Could it be…?”

  “The plague? It could be. I don’t know.” Kelly’s lower lip started quivering. I didn’t know what to say to calm her.

  “You know, it could be something else, like, I don’t know, the mumps or something.” It didn’t help.

  “I’m sorry, Zach.” she said weakly.

  “Don’t worry,” I replied. “Why don’t you get back in bed, Janet and I will take care of them.” Kelly started to argue, but she realized she was worthless at the moment. I got her tucked in and quietly closed the door.

  “It may be a case of drinking too much, or it may be something more,” I whispered to Janet. She looked at me steadily and then handed me the thermometer.

  “If she has a temperature…”

  Kelly protested when I woke her back up, and even went back to sleep while the thermometer was still in her mouth, but thankfully she didn’t have a temperature.

  We spent the rest of the day fervidly cleaning everything and worrying over the kids. Janet finally drifted off to sleep around midnight. I couldn’t. I checked on them throughout the night, making sure they stayed hydrated, cleaning them up when they soiled themselves, and keeping a cold compress on their foreheads. Their temperatures were up to a hundred and two and by morning their sheets were soaked with sweat.

  I can’t begin to express the torment in my soul, watching my two kids, too exhausted to cry, their bodies being wracked with painful sobs. Kelly peeked in the door as the sun was coming up. I waved her off and came out a moment later.

  “Okay, don’t come near me,” I said when I took off the respirator, headed toward the bathroom and washed up. Kelly watched from a distance.

  “They’ve gotten worse,” I said. No need mincing words. “They both have temperatures and they’re having a hard time keeping anything down. How a
re you feeling?”

  “Like shit,” she said. “I’m sorry, Zach. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk.”

  “No need to be sorry. We had no way of knowing this was going to happen. You were enjoying yourself, that’s all.”

  I sat down and realized I was absolutely exhausted. Kelly began pacing, much like I would do when I was thinking deeply about something. I would have laughed under any other circumstances. When I saw something change in her expression, it didn’t register.

  “I think they have the flu,” she said.

  “It’s possible,” I replied.

  “I think I’ll try to fix them something to eat, maybe some broth or soup.”

  “Good idea,” I said and then my tired brain finally remembered I had a few books on illnesses sitting on the shelf. I took one and began thumbing through it. I walked into the kitchen and plopped down in a chair.

  “This book lists, fever, chills, nausea, and diarrhea as some of the symptoms, as if I didn’t know that already.”

  “You’re exhausted, get some sleep.”

  “I’m too keyed up,” I said and watched as Kelly opened the refrigerator for some milk.

  “Shit,” she muttered.

  “What?”

  “The milk is warm.” She stuck her hand in the fridge. “It’s warm.”

  “Shit,” I said a little more indignantly as I realized what I’d done.

  “I turned on the water heater and well pump last night and forgot to turn them off. It drained off the batteries, so now we don’t have any electricity.” I smelled the milk, it was spoiled. I muttered a few more expletives, hurried outside, turned off the circuit breakers and checked the gauges. As I suspected, my error had drained the batteries and they were going to need a full day to recharge. Kelly and Janet met me at the door as I walked back inside.

  “I think you’re right,” Janet added. “They’re not the first sick kids I’ve seen over the years.” Our conversation was cut short by the sound of a horn honking.

  “Someone’s at the gate,” I said. “I’ll get it.” I hurried outside before either woman objected.

  I jumped on one of the bicycles and headed for the gate. For the first time, I was actually glad when I saw it was Grant. One of the nurses was accompanying him.