The blast hit the center of her blue dress and sent the undead horror flying back into the house. A microsecond later, the gas ignited in a flash, blowing out the rest of the windows in a wave of heat and broken glass.
“Whoa!” Jack turned his head to the side and laughed. “She blew up real good.” Too weary to stand anymore, he sat down hard in the grass to catch his breath.
“That’s just great,” Kate said, throwing her arms up in disgust at the flaming structure. “You blew up the house, too.”
“I’m okay, thank you very much.”
“Both of you are lucky to be alive. That was a stupid thing to do.”
“Tell me about it.” He turned to Max, lying by his side. “She’s right. From now on we don’t do stupid shit like that.”
“Agreed.” He sat up and spit onto the grass. “I wasn’t expecting a zombie ex-girlfriend to show up.”
In the interior of the dark barn, a vehicle’s engine started and a pair of headlights flashed on. Jack watched surprised as a cream-colored Winnebago rolled into the yard.
“Wow,” he said.
“Meet Natalie,” Max said with a chuckle. “I picked her up for next to nothing at Sara Simmons’ estate sale last year. I think the family just wanted to get the big girl off their hands. She’s old but still has a few good miles left in her. Kind of like me.”
“Natalie?”
“I gave the name to her. I’ve always had a crush on Natalie Wood.”
“I should’ve known.”
Telia and Doug jumped out of the vehicle and stared wide-eyed at the burning house. “What the hell happened?” Telia said.
“We went back inside to get the radio I needed,” Max said, showing the device to everyone. “Luckily, we got out before it blew up.”
“Granddad, are you all right?” Doug said.
“Yep. A bit singed, but I’m okay, thanks to Jack. He saved my bacon in there.” Max brushed broken glass off his camo shirt. “Son, guess who dropped by for a visit while we were in the house?”
“Who?”
“Sara Simmons.”
“That’s crazy wacked, Granddad. She died over a year ago. We were at her funeral, yo.”
“I’m guessing she walked all the way from the cemetery. Probably to bitch one more time about the deer heads on the wall. She always hated those.”
Jack scanned the dark landscape beyond the flickering light from the burning farmhouse. “Zombies don’t wander alone. Like us, they seem to be communal in nature and tend to travel in groups. More of them might be around,” he said.
“Then we’d better arm ourselves.” Max returned to the open hatch of the Jeep. “Jack, you seem to be pretty good with the Mossberg.” He tossed him the box of 12-gauge shotgun shells. “You get these.”
“Thanks.” He started loading rounds into the weapon.
Telia peered over Max’s shoulder like an excited child on Christmas morning. “Okay, Santa Claus, what you got in your sleigh for me?”
“These were supposed to be my backup pistols, but I think they’re perfect for you.” Max grabbed a pistol case and snapped it open. “Two Glock Model 19s with fifteen-round mags.”
“Twin Glocks, hell yeah. I must have been a good girl this year.” She pulled the pistols from the case and examined them. “You get a kiss if you got the shoulder holsters to go with these.”
“I’ll take that kiss now.” Max pulled out a leather harness and handed it to her.
“Thanks, Max.” Telia planted a quick peck on the old man’s lips. “You’re better than Santa.”
“According to Kate I’m a godsend.”
“No argument here.” Telia pointed at something in a sheath. “Can I carry that machete, too?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll feel like a bad-ass when I get all this strapped on.”
“What about me, Granddad?” Doug said. “How about that old 12-gauge pump you gave me for my birthday a few years ago?”
“Son, I know you don’t fire a gun all that well. Lord knows I tried to teach you. It’s just best to have the ones with experience carry a firearm, especially if we get into the thick of combat. But I did go to all your high school baseball games and see you swing a mean bat.” He pulled out an aluminum baseball bat and tossed it to Doug. “I figure you can crack some zombie skulls with this.”
“Thanks, Granddad.” Doug took a practice swing, which made a whooshing sound. “I’ll bust me up some dead heads good with this, yo.”
“As for me, I have my trusty .45 for short range and this bad girl for long range,” Max said, lifting a long rifle case. He unsnapped the fasteners to reveal a sleek rifle lying in a bed of padding. “My Remington M700 Marine sniper rifle. I had it modified to fit a night scope. I can shoot the balls off a fly at a hundred yards with this baby.”
“Nice,” Jack said. “I guess we’re ready to head to Watkins now.”
“What about me?” Brett said. “Don’t I get a gun?”
Max looked at Brett and scratched his beard for a second. “Son, you’re getting something much more important.” He put his arm around his shoulders. “Follow me.”
He led Brett to the flagpole.
“You get to be our flag-bearer, son,” he said.
“Cool.”
As everyone watched in silence, Max lowered the colors. It was a surreal sight against the blood-red moon and the flickering light from the burning house. A deep sadness gripped Jack’s heart as he watched. The nation he had known and loved his whole life probably didn’t exist anymore, at least not as he knew it. America the Beautiful was gone. It had been transformed into a massive graveyard populated by the walking dead.
Max unhooked the flag and placed it in Brett’s hands. “Every good squad of soldiers has someone who carries the flag. Do you accept the responsibility? A lot of good men died just so you could carry her colors.”
“Yes, sir,” Brett said
“Good, now let me show you the proper way to fold Old Glory.” Tears glistened in Max’s eyes as he folded the flag into a triangle and handed the bundle to Brett. “It’s yours to guard now, son.”
“Thank you,” Brett said, hugging the folded flag to his chest.
Max raised his hand in a salute. “Then carry on, soldier.”
“I will, sir.” Brett returned the salute and walked back to join Jack, his young face beaming.
“I’m proud of you, buddy,” Jack said, squeezing his son’s shoulder. “You’ve been so strong throughout all of this.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“So what do you think?” Telia said from behind them. “Is this bad-ass or what?”
All eyes turned toward her. She had strapped on the leather rig that holstered the twin Glocks under each arm. The machete hung in a sheath on her right hip.
“Super bad-ass,” Doug said. “Just like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider.”
“That chick’s just a computer simulation.” She drew both pistols in a flash of movement. “I’m the real deal.”
“I pity the zombie that gets in your way,” Jack said with a laugh.
“I’m not going down without a fight.” She re-holstered the guns. “I promise you that.”
“That goes for me, too,” Max said and nodded toward the RV. “Come on, Jack, I’ll introduce you to Natalie.”
He followed Max to the Winnebago and stepped up through the side door. He was surprised to find that the interior décor was the complete opposite of what the farmhouse’s had been: cream-colored shag carpeting, composite wood counters, and paisley flower designs that covered all the fabric, right down to the curtains on the side windows. Two high-backed swiveling captain’s chairs sat up front, and behind them was an area that doubled as a lounge and a dining room. A small kitchen took up the middle space with a wall-mounted refrigerator, a stove, a microwave, and a sink. The back of the vehicle housed twin beds and a bathroom complete with toilet and stand-up shower.
“What, no gun turrets or deer heads?” Jack said.
Max ch
uckled. “It belonged to Sara and she loved it. I didn’t have the heart to change anything. Natalie will be slower than the Jeep, eat gas like a beast, and be a bitch if we get her stuck, but I think she’s our ticket to Watkins.”
“It’s perfect, Max. You outdid yourself this time. Kate was right when she said you were a godsend.”
Max nodded out the front glass toward Kate, who was praying on her knees in the front yard. “You don’t seem to share her religious convictions,” he said.
“No. I guess I’m a man of little faith. Organized religion never appealed to me. Did you ever hear the parable about the five blind men and the elephant?”
“I think so. Refresh my memory.”
“Each blind man tried to identify the elephant by only using their sense of touch. One thought the trunk was a snake. Another thought the leg was a tree, and so forth. Religions of the world are like that to me. They’re blind men trying to understand something beyond comprehension to the human mind.”
“That’s a pretty astute observation.”
“Kate and I have argued this many times,” he said. “What about you?”
Max shrugged. “I thought there was nothing to it until this morning. Now I’m not too sure what to think. Seeing a zombie kind of shakes up your belief system.”
Telia stuck her head in the side door. “Hey, 1985 called and said they would like their Winnebago back.”
Max laughed as she entered and placed ammo boxes on the floor. “What you doing, girl?” he said.
“I’m unloading the Jeep of everything.”
“Good. Bring it all in. We’re going to need it.”
“I’d better go get my family,” Jack said and stopped midstep.
Doug entered with Kerri and helped her to one of the couches, where he wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. Jack realized that Doug had also taken on the role of protecting his daughter. He supposed it was instinctive for the young man to do so, given the fact that Kerri was a very attractive teenage girl. At that moment, Jack decided to put aside his fear about Doug’s being close to her. He comforted Kerri and brought her what little happiness the world had to offer her now. Already some of the color had returned to her face, and she seemed stronger in his presence.
“Hey,” Jack said.
Doug turned toward him. “Yo?”
“Thanks for being there for Kerri. I’m sorry I’ve been so rough on you.”
He smiled. “She’s pretty cool. I like her.”
“Just remember she’s still my daughter and only fifteen.”
“No problem, Mr. G.”
Brett entered with eyes wide. “Wow. Cool,” he said before sitting on the other couch with the folded flag in his lap.
“Why didn’t your mother come with you?” Jack said.
Brett shrugged. “She doesn’t want to, Dad.”
“What do you mean she doesn’t want to?”
Kerri took Jack’s hand. “Dad, I tried to convince her to come with us, but she refused. She said there was no reason to keep running from God. I’m very worried about her.”
“Well, I’m not leaving her behind, I promise you that. She’s your mother, for Christ’s sake, and I’m taking her with us even if I have to carry her onboard myself.”
“I know that,” Kerri said. “Just try to be nice to her.”
“I will.”
Jack stepped out through the side door and crossed the yard. The last thing he needed was Kate’s Church Lady craziness right now as they were about to leave for Watkins. The journey would have enough hazards without his having to worry about when she was going to go off on a religious rant. He reached Kate’s side and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“It’s time to go,” he said, keeping his voice calm.
Her tear-streaked face turned up to him and his heart broke at the sight. The woman he’d fallen in love with years ago was no longer in her eyes. The Church Lady had now completely possessed her.
“Go where?” she said.
“To the National Guard rescue station at Watkins.”
She shook her head. “Not me. It’s a fool’s dream. Don’t you realize that, Jack? The government isn’t going to save anyone.” She grabbed his hand and kissed it. “Stay here with me and pray for Christ to reveal his glory to us. Please, Jack.”
“I can’t.”
She released him. “Then you’ll burn in hell,” she said in an icy tone.
“Maybe so, but you can’t leave Kerri and Brett. They need you.”
She looked at the Winnebago. “They can stay with me. We will form a prayer circle and you can go run off with your little biker girl to Watkins or wherever. I see the way you look at her, Jack. It’s what you really want. Leave the children with me.”
“Kate, don’t be ridiculous. Do you even hear the stupid things you say? As for Kerri and Brett, they’re coming with me to Watkins.”
“They’re my children, too. You didn’t carry them in your womb for nine months. You weren’t there when I had to raise them while you were out drinking every night. How can you take them from me now? You’ve always stood in my way when I wanted to teach them about Christ. You told me to give them a choice about what to believe, but you averted them from the Word of God at every chance. Even now you intend to take them from me when they would be safer here praying for salvation.”
“This is what you call salvation? Look around, Kate. There’s nothing here but a burning house and more zombies. Ride with us to Watkins, and if angels appear along the way, you can gladly go with them.”
“No.”
“If you don’t get in the RV right now, I’m going to pick your ass up and throw you in it.”
“Very well.” She stood and brushed off her knees. “You don’t leave me much choice.”
“You’re right.”
She walked slowly toward the RV, and he watched her with a saddened heart. Would the Kate he loved ever return to him again?
In the glow of Natalie’s headlights, a glint of gold caught Jack’s eye amid the scattered debris on the ground. He bent down and discovered that it was the little embossed cross on the cover of Kate’s Bible. Jack stared at it. How had it ended up outside the house? The only explanation was that it had been blown free during the explosion. He picked it up and brushed soot off the cover. There was no charring or damage to the book. He flipped through the pages and found that not a single one was bent. How was it possible? Was it some sort of miracle?
His mind was too tired to grapple with the meaning, and he decided to chalk it up to another strange occurrence beyond comprehension on this incredible day. Bible in hand, he shook his head in dismay and walked back to the RV.
He met Kate at the side door before she entered.
“This belongs to you.” Jack handed the Bible to her.
The light of happiness shone again in her green eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered and clutched it to her chest. “Thank you so much.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
They pulled away from the burning farmhouse in solemn silence. Max swung the Winnebago onto the country road while Jack sat in the passenger seat with the Mossberg between his knees. He kept the box of shells on the floor beneath him. Everyone else occupied the couches in the little lounge area directly behind them.
“How long’s it going to take us to reach Watkins?” Jack said.
“It could be hours if the roads are badly damaged,” Max said.
“Try not to use any major highways,” Telia said. “They’re clogged with wrecked vehicles and crawling with zombies. I found that out when I rode to Blackwell.”
“We’ll avoid using Highway 11 as long as we can,” Max said. “The problem is that we need to get across the Salt Fork River at some point. That leaves only one bridge in the area that might still be standing. We’ll have to go through Harrison to get to it.”
“I don’t like that idea, either,” Doug said. “The place was major creepy before the apocalypse.”
&n
bsp; Telia leaned in. “Jack mentioned something about Harrison to me. I thought it was a ghost town.”
“Until recently,” Max said. “Families have started moving back there in the last year. Most are squatters taking up residence in the empty houses, and others have set up a small trailer park. There’s no law, streetlights, or convenience stores—nothing to make anyone want to live there except those wanting privacy. The place has been abandoned for so long that there are trees growing up through some of the houses. There is one church, however. The Victory in God Church run by a Reverend Aden Matthews. I call it a church in the loosest possible sense, because it’s more of a Christian cult than a Sunday place of worship. The congregation loves Jesus and hates gays, so go figure.”
“As if I don’t have enough bullshit dealing with my own wife,” Jack said as they came to the first country mile crossroad. “I did hear gunfire coming from there earlier in the day, so they’ve been fighting zombies, too. I wonder how well they’ve done against them.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Max said and turned left at the intersection.
* * * *
They drove another mile of dark, dusty road without incident. Jack kept a constant watch for roadside hazards, natural or undead. Several times, the Winnebago swayed like a ship on a rough sea due to the poor condition of the road. Max had been right about Natalie: She was slow and cumbersome and would have had trouble outrunning even zombies, but the protection and comfort she provided far outweighed her lack of speed.
“You know what I hate about this?” Doug said, breaking the tense silence. “I got no tunes because I left my iPod back at the station. It’s too damn quiet.”
“Let’s see if anyone’s still broadcasting.” Max turned on the vehicle’s radio and scanned the channels. To Jack’s surprise, the scanner stopped on a station, and a man’s monotone voice filled the interior.
“This is not a test or hoax. Homeland Security has issued immediate guidelines for survivors of the recent earthquake. There are reports that the bodies of the dead are indeed coming back to life—”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Doug said.
Undead Flesh Page 13
