My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road

by David Powers King

  My first reaction was to reach for my .45 when I saw the people walking around. A few boys looked at me. They had school backpacks on. An officer saw us coming and directed us down the street. Men and woman followed as we passed. Some ran off and came back, holding rifles or shotguns. We were soon guided to a partially fenced, car-barricaded health care center.

  The place was a fortress. They had a sniper on the roof. The second we stopped in front of the entrance, half a dozen people surrounded our Explorer with their weapons drawn. Cody jumped off. The car bounced.

  Chloe growled again. “Put those guns down, people!” Cody told them. “You’ll scare the kids.”

  I glared at him. Who was he calling kids?

  “Cody, get Sam,” one of them said, a man with a black bandana around his head. He was as old as my dad, with a lot less hair. “She’ll want to talk to them.”

  Two thoughts ran through my head right then:

  Who’s Sam? and Sam’s a she?

  We waited. Each of us did our part to stay calm—except for Jewel. She was listening to her music again. With no A/C running, it was a tense sit in the crowded car. From what I could tell, these people hadn’t bathed in some time. Their skin had a grimy, grungy look to it.

  Dad leaned his arm on the window. “Nice place you have here.” No one said a word to him.

  They just kept staring at us.

  “Are we in trouble?” Mom asked.

  “Nah.” Dad shook his head. “We’re strangers. They have every right to be cautious of us. I’d be disappointed if they didn’t have some kind of protocol.”

  Moments later, Cody came out with two people: a short, redheaded woman in a collared shirt and large sunglasses, and a tall black man in a sheriff’s uniform. The woman walked right up to the front of our Explorer without looking at any of us first. She then came back around to Dad’s door, put on a friendly smile and leaned a suntanned elbow on the side mirror.

  “Illinoise, huh?” she said, smacking gum. “You’re a long ways from home.”

  I had to glare at Sam, for she had triggered one of my many pet peeves. The s in Illinois is silent!

  Dad laughed. “Chicago’s not exactly the best place to raise a family these days.”

  “It never was . . .” Mom uttered.

  Sam, or who I assumed was Sam, gave the rest of us a glance through the windows. She chewed on her gum like a cow’s cud. “Two adults, three kids, and a dog . . . I’m surprised you made it this far.” She leaned on Dad’s door, stowing away the wad in her cheek as she flashed a bigger smile. “What’s it like beyond the state line? Seen any others hunkered down like us?”

  “One man in Iowa,” Dad said. “He turned on us.”

  “Come out. Keep your hands where I can see’em.”

  Like a hostage, I opened my door and stepped out. Kaylynn and Jewel followed, only my sister took the instructions a little too far. She stood on her toes and stretched both hands as high as she could, just like a desperate pupil waiting for a teacher to pick on her—holding her 30.06. Dad came around, retrieved her rifle and stowed it inside the car through his open window.

  “Hand’s up means unarmed, Jewel,” he said.

  “I didn’t want to leave without it,” she replied.

  The weight of the .45 in my pocket came as a reminder that I still had my weapon. I was almost compelled to pull it out, but I was never so happy to see so many survivors at once—and never so terrified to see so many survivors at once. Black Bandana man had a weird, unyielding scowl, and this one large lady with a big fedora had her pudgy finger on the trigger of a double-barreled shotgun. We weren’t in Illinois anymore, and this sure as hell wasn’t Munchkin Land.

  “You gave your kids guns?” Mr. Law Enforcement had a deep voice. I could barely see the name Mason above his Deputy badge. “That’s a mighty big risk.”

  All my dad could do was shrug. “Don’t blame a guy for wanting to save his family.”

  “A man with half a brain would’ve done the same. That’s how we’ve kept this city free from the Dead.” Sam paced in front of us, hands on her hips. “We have the county under control. It’s a matter of time before the military comes. Until then, we hold fast.”

  Most of the people within earshot of us gestured their agreement in one form or another. Some of them nodded. Some of them shrugged. Sam was their leader. Nobody had to point this out to me.

  Kaylynn had her arms crossed, cool as a cucumber. She also had a frown on her face that said are we done?

  Sam’s blue-gray eyes stopped short at Chloe.

  The dog ruffed. Her cheeks puffed a little.

  “Keep that dog on a leash,” Sam said. “Barking mutts attract the Dead.”

  “No worries, ma’am,” Kaylynn said without skipping a beat. “She’ll do nothing unless I say.”

  “Good. Best keep it that way.” Sam turned to Dad. “It’ll be dark soon. The Dead tend to stay away if we turn the lights off at night and keep the noise down. We have no choice but to let you stay the night.”

  “You can expect no trouble from us,” Dad said.

  “Under one condition,” Sam added.

  Dad cocked his brow. “What condition?”

  The look in Sam’s eyes unsettled me. Her smiling at me didn’t help. “Your kids must hand in their guns.”

  “Hand in our guns?” Jewel cried. “Are you out of your mind, lady?”

  That was exactly what I was thinking. I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or call Sam a nut, so I flipped a coin in my mind. Guess which side it landed on?

  “A certifiable nut . . .” I added.

  Sam didn’t take that well. Her face went a shade of red that matched her hair. Even her freckles stood out like sunspots. I turned to my dad, hoping that he would have my back. That’s when his eyes told me to shut up. He hadn’t given me that look on this trip yet. Those who had guns raised them and aimed right at us. Jewel’s eyes doubled in size, her arms reaching for the sky.

  I did the same. But not Kaylynn. She didn’t move an inch. She wasn’t afraid or concerned at all. So cool.

  “Want to run that by me again?” Sam asked.

  I swallowed. And I think my sister did, too.

  Dad faced us. “I’ll handle this, capeesh?”

  Silently, Jewel and I agreed. You don’t mess with Dad when he does his Italian mafia bit. The sooner he talked us out of this place, the better. From our close encounter moments ago, it was clear to me that some Vectors were still lurking around town—no thanks to Cody. He smiled one of his cocky smirks while clinging to his bowstring. How come he had a weapon?

  “Will you stop pointing at my family?” Dad said.

  Sam nodded. “You heard him.”

  The others lowered their arms. Creepy. No dictatorship had ever run so smoothly. The others pulled back as Sam stepped in, both of her hands on her tight jean hips. I lowered my hands and breathed easy.

  “If you want to stay, collateral’s a good way to start,” Mason said.

  So that was their game. If they took possession of our weapons, we wouldn’t be a threat. They could order us around and do whatever they wanted to us, and we couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  “If you have spare gas, we’ll trade,” Dad said.

  Sam and Mason shared a considering glance.

  Dad handled people well. Being the owner of a hunting goods store, he had to. It looked like he was measuring the situation, checking for anything he could use as a talking point. More people had gathered around then I’d realized. Each of them were staring at us like we were a newly arrived circus act—a bunch of skeptical adults and excited kids pointing fingers.

  “I hear you’re on your way to Colorado,” Sam said. “What’s out there?”

  Dad put his serious face on. “The mountains.”

  Jewel laughed through her nose while I did my best to hold back a snort. The woman had fallen for Dad’s secret weapon, the pinnacle of his super powers.

  Captain Obvious had stuck aga
in!

  Sam’s cheeks flushed. “You think it’s safe there?”

  “Not yet, but we’re hoping to find out,” Dad said. “We have a place in the mountains, but let me put it this way—by taking the high ground, with winter later on, the elevation and cold will keep them away.”

  “I see,” Sam said. “Smart. Foolhardy, but smart.”

  “What do you mean foolhardy?” Mom asked.

  “Let me put it this way . . .” Sam spat her wad of gum on the curb. “We have radios. We’ve been listening for weeks. And we’ve heard nothing from Colorado. We’ve met no one from Colorado. Truth is we’ve heard nothing from anyone.” Sam slowly stepped behind us. “You’re the first group of survivors we’ve seen out of Nebraska. If you’re to reach the Rockies, you’ll need an army to get through dozens of overrun cities.”

  The woman came back around and joined up with Mason again. I was fuming, my eyes locking with Sam. No one likes to have their plans mocked—case in point, mine—except I couldn’t ignore the sound reasoning behind her logic. If we were the first they’d seen out of Nebraska, the pandemic was far worse than we thought. Was David City the last refuge left in the world? I glanced at the hygiene-less people. It depressed me.

  “If you’re set on leaving, what do you have to trade before you go?” Mason asked.

  “Guns mostly,” Mom answered. “And services, if you need them—if you’re willing to let us stay.”

  Sam scowled at her. “We need food and fuel more than anything. What services can you offer?”

  Mom furrowed her brow. You don’t mess with my mom. That’s just a bad idea. “I’m a nurse.”

  “And I’m a National Guardsman,” Dad added. “And I know a thing or two about guns.”

  Sam tipped her head and smiled at him. “A little military training could do us a world of good.” Her eyes shifted back to Mom. “There’s little need for nurses, but I’m sure the elderly will appreciate a new face. They have no idea what’s going on. I’m keeping it that way.”

  “Do any of us know what’s going on?” Dad asked.

  “No,” Mason said. “Unless the Doc can figure—”

  Sam gave Mason a warning look, and he stopped cold turkey. “Doctor Sanders is using what medical resources we have to understand what these things are and why they’re so hard to kill—using blood samples and such. Think of it as our little Center for Decease Control, if you will. Hopefully he’ll find us some answers—maybe a cure.” Sam had a strange expression on her face now. She was holding something back. “Having you around might get us what he needs.”

  Sam held her hand out to Dad.

  He looked at it and shook it. “You still want my kids to give up their guns?” he asked.

  Sam gave him a brisk nod. “That’s the price of admission.” She then turned to the girls. Her blue-steel eyes lingered on Jewel. Despite the warm evening, a chill ran down my back. I wasn’t sure why, but Sam truly gave me the creeps. “What about you three? What can you do for this compound? This is no playground.”

  “I thought I saw one around the corner,” Jewel said. Some people laughed at that, including myself. My sister can be quite the comedian when she wants to be.

  “Are we allowed to have any weapons?” I asked.

  “Well, we can’t exactly stop you from carrying something like a bat around.” Sam winked at Kaylynn. The unexpected sweetness in her voice made me shiver. Just then, Kaylynn was staring at my hand, holding Jewel’s. She looked sad. I didn’t know why at first. Then it occurred to me that she had no one’s hand to hold, no one to look after her—just a homeless retriever. Being alone had to be the worst feeling in the world.

  I could fix that.

  Sam held her hand out expectantly, waiting for me. I knew what she wanted. Reaching in my pockets, I gave up my .40 and .45. In turn, Dad reached into his window and handed Jewel’s new rifle over to Mason.

  He then opened the back and allowed the others to see our collection. I was about to go for my backpack, but then stopped. Besides Dad and me, no one else knew what was inside my backpack. Dad glanced at it with a slight headshake. He did the same for Jewel. She was about to go for the .22, but she pulled back and whistled. My heart was at ease. Whether we needed them or not, we wouldn’t be completely defenseless.

  A woman in her late forties stepped out of the crowd and neared Sam. She was wearing a summer shirt and an old sun hat. “There’s a vacant house right next door to mine. They’re welcome to it.”

  Sam agreed. “That will work fine. Thank you, Candice. Mason?” She waited for the sheriff to turn around. “Take the children there. I’ll show our headquarters to the—what’s your name?”

  “Barnes,” I said. “We’re the Barnes Family.”

  She gave me a warning look. “I’ll show the Barnes Family our headquarters.”

  “Thanks all the same,” Mom said. “I would like to stay with my children.”

  “You care if I have a look, Honey?” Dad asked.

  Sam smiled, but it was more like a full grin, hidden with secret intentions. “I’ll have him back in no time.”

  Oddly enough, Mom changed her mind. So would I if a guy was being an obvious flirt to my girl—if I had one—but I knew Dad’s obliviousness would save his butt. The thought of Mom and Dad being away from us unsettled me, but I didn’t want to act suspicious. I looked forward to sleeping easily that night. Hopefully, we would move on soon and head for the cabin again.

  I mean, that was our original plan.

  I hate deviating from the plan.

  Grabbing my backpack, I loaded it with as many snacks as I could carry. Jewel kept her pillow and blanket over her .22, and then she gathered everything else. Dad made sure to close the car doors before he locked the Explorer with his remote. Mom told us to mind our manners and do what the deputy said.

  As our parents entered the health care center, Candice and Mason guided us to a sheriff’s car. Mason drove us a short distance to a single-story house, painted sky blue. Flowerboxes full of parched flowers hung from purple windowsills. More than half a dozen pink Flamingos and a few red-capped gnomes decorated the edge of a once well-kept garden.

  Cozy setup—so long as the gnomes stayed put.

  We opened the gate of a white picket fence and passed under an arbor overrun by ivy. On either side of the front steps was a fountain that doubled as a birdbath; it would have been idyllic if both fountain and bath weren’t filled with foul-smelling brown water.

  I wondered if the place used to be the house of someone’s grandma. The door wasn’t locked, and Mason opened it. The orange shag carpet and floral wallpaper reminded me of the 1970’s. I took a big whiff and gagged. Yep. It was definitely a grandma’s house.

  “Who lived here?” I asked.

  “Jessie Cunningham,” Mason said. “She was the first to turn.”

  Okay—maybe it was more than a grandma that I smelled. Was she a Vector inside the house? A nasty sensation, like bugs crawling over my skin, made me want to sanitize the place. Good thing Kaylynn was outside showing Chloe the front yard. No need to look like a lunatic in front of her. The deputy left us and went into the bathroom. The bath turned on. They had running water? If you think going without a shower after a few days is bad, try a week. Make that three weeks. I was in serious need of a nice, long shower.

  I called first dibs.

  “Hey!” Jewel cried. “What about ladies first?”

  I tousled her brown hair. “That’s for ladies.”

  She knocked my hand away. “You big jerk.”

  A minute after the water stopped, Mason came back, walked out the front door and went to his car. He opened the trunk and pulled out a box, and then he came to the porch and left it on the last step.

  Canned stew and baked beans, more than enough food to keep us afloat for a day or two.

  “That should do for now,” Mason said. “You’ve already met Candice. She’s your area warden. She’ll visit you in the morning, give you a tour of the
town, tell you how we run things here. You may hear gunshots at night. If you hear a lot, head for the healthcare center.”

  “Okay,” we said. Jewel followed that up with, “Thank you!”

  Mason tipped his hat and headed for his car. I liked him. I entered the front yard while Jewel went back inside. Chloe was sitting on a patch of tall grass beneath a willow tree, and Kaylynn was cleaning her bat on the lawn. It was just us three, at this house. I didn’t know how long it would be before Mom and Dad came back. If Kaylynn planned to stay with us, then this was my chance to get to know her—to ask the big questions.

  I hadn’t taken two steps when Mason called for me. He was waving a book over his head. “You’ll want to read this.” He threw the book at me like a Frisbee. I caught it and was about to read the title, but it was upside-down. “It’s practically scripture around here. Everyone’s had a chance to look at it. So should you.” He climbed into his patrol car, turned the engine on and looked at me again. “It might just save your lives.”

  The deputy left.

  Scripture?

  Maybe I didn’t want to read the title . . .

  “Hey,” Kaylynn said. I don’t know how she snuck up on me. “Mind if I take a couple cans of stew?”

  This surprised me. “Where’re you going?”

  “I don’t know.” She nibbled on her lower lip, a habit that was, in a good way, driving me crazy. “I need time to sort a few things. Clear my head, you know?”

  “Our chances are better as a group.”

  “Your dad trusts me. You should, too.” Kaylynn raised her bat and let it rest on her shoulder. Her eyes held me like a prisoner. “Promise you won’t follow?”

  “You think I’m some kind of stalker?”

  She smiled. “The quiet ones always are.” She went to the porch, snagged two cans from the box and called for Chloe. She obeyed without delay. “Take care, Jay.”

  A moment later, she was gone. Again.

  Every part of me screamed to go after her, don’t let her leave your sight, lock her up if you have to! But I couldn’t.