by Damon Novak
“Yeah,” I said, “luckily most of the snowbirds went home after Easter.”
“Which leaves the idiots who thought vacationing in Florida in summertime was a good idea,” said Lilly.
“Idiots make the worst zombies,” said Georgina, without cracking a smile.
We all looked at her. She turned her head and said, “What?”
“Was that a joke, Georgina?” asked Danny.
She smiled. “Stream-of-consciousness. It was the first thing that came to mind.”
“If they shuffle how they drive, we’re in for a reckonin’,” laughed Danny.
We all got a good chuckle out of that. I finished my pancakes and put the plate aside. “How’s the kid doin’?” I asked, changin’ the subject. “Terry’s gotten pretty close to him.”
“Liam’s good,” said Georgina. “I was having a look at his bruising, and he’s clearing up fine. He was responsive when I asked questions. Doesn’t seem too down, but he still won’t talk about his family. I haven’t learned anything other than what he first shared.”
“Does he still seem stable enough to handle the responsibility of a weapon?” asked Lilly. “I know he seemed okay yesterday when he shot the one on the dock, but he is still just a kid.”
“He seems to be a typical boy,” said Georgina. “I’m no psychologist, but nothing alarmed me about his demeanor. I suggest we all watch for any signs that he’s struggling anyway. Things could turn on a dime.”
“Good call,” I said. “Sadly, I don’t have a lot of faith in the backbone of today’s youth, ‘specially when they’re raised up north. Anti-gun, anti-this, anti-that. I got no idea what those folks are for, I only know what they’re against.”
“No matter,” said Danny. “Once that zombie apocalypse smacked ‘em in the face, I guaran-damn-tee you, they’re all for guns now.”
“Seems they’re all red states now,” said Lilly. “Unfortunately, they’re dyed in blood.”
I turned to her. “Fuckin’ Debbie Downer. I was waitin’ for the waa waa waaaa sound effect.”
“Drive the boat and shut up,” said Lilly, gettin’ up and slappin’ me on the back of the head. “I’m going down to wake Liam up. He needs to eat, then help me with the dishes.”
“Paper plates at the next stop,” said Georgina. “We need the fresh water, and we’ve got enough to do without dishes.”
“A girl after my own heart,” said Lilly. Danny followed her.
“Thanks for hangin’ out with me,” I said.
“My pleasure,” said Georgina.
“Any ideas on how we’ll find a gun store in Fort Walton?” I asked.
“Believe it or not, something’s still working, because when Roxy tells Google to navigate on her phone, it does.”
I considered the satellites flyin’ high over the planet and figured there’s no reason they shouldn’t still be workin’. “Will it find points of interest?”
“It might suggest options from a database or something. I don’t really know how it all works.”
“Nobody does,” I said. “Maybe they did once, but now it’s a tangle of technology. Kinda like modern cars.”
“You miss Red Rover?”
I laughed, but only half-heartedly. “Hard to believe I’ll never see her again.”
Georgie squeezed my shoulder. “Well, she sure saved us. Maybe you can make a run back to Key West when this is all over.”
“Hell, by then, some rainbow-haired freak will be livin’ in it.”
Georgina laughed, and I loved the sound.
The time crept by and before long, the fuel gauge was down to a quarter tank and the shoreline to our north was in full view. It was the Florida panhandle, and our destination. The boat’s GPS showed we were about a twenty-minute run to reach it.
We all stood up on the flybridge, including Liam, and stared out at the dozens of hotels that lined the beach. They looked to me like giant Lego buildings, all designed in the same rectangular block shape.
“Are those people on the beach?” asked Danny.
I turned, and Lilly was already reachin’ for the binoculars. She scanned the coastline.
“Not people,” she said, her voice like ice. “Not unless they’re drunk.”
“What do you mean?” asked Roxy.
“They’re … staggering. And they seem to be all moving toward one another.”
“Lemme see,” I said.
She handed them over. I raised the glasses to my eyes and noticed right away what she meant. Like steel to a magnet, they all appeared to drift toward one another. Once they met, they just wandered the exact same way, but together.
“They’re pushin’ together,” I said. “Like they’re drawn to one another.”
“Maybe it’s the motion,” said Georgina. “But when it involves cancer cells, we call it clustering.”
“They are a cancer,” said Danny, his voice low. “As deadly to us.”
“Only much more quickly,” said Georgina.
“Are we going over there?” asked Liam. His voice sounded small, and I knew he was beginnin’ to understand that his family was just the start.
“You don’t have to go,” said Terry. “Right? I’m not sure I want to go.”
“I think we’ll make this excursion voluntary,” I said. “But we’d better pick our entry point, and that ain’t it.”
I swear I heard sighs of relief behind me. Georgie wasn’t one of them. I glanced up at her, and her eyes met mine. “You don’t have to go either,” I said.
As we motored closer to the shore, she said, “I want to help, Cole. It’s just that I’m not sure I’m ready to face them again.”
“Me and CB’ll go,” said Danny. “We’ll be faster with just two of us.”
I was about to concur, when Danny said, “Is that a marina over there?” He squinted his eyes and pointed northwest, and we all followed his finger. “If it is, there’s a couple miles of pretty empty beach between there and that herd of dead cannibals. Give us a little buffer.”
“Looks like it,” I said, lookin’ through the binocs.
“Who’s up for a quick lesson drivin’ this boat?” I asked. “Danny’s gonna hold some quick lessons. We got a lot of daylight ahead, so we’ve got the time.”
“I will,” said Terry. “You showed me the controls the other day, so I’m the logical choice. Like I said, I worked on my dad’s sailboats, so I have a good feel for wind and current conditions.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Danny?” I got out of the captain’s chair and motioned toward Terry. “Take a seat, Ter.”
He sat down and examined the helm. “Okay,” he said with a sigh.
“First off, we’re anchorin’ and takin’ the skiff out, but if we get in trouble and can’t get back to where it’s docked, you might need to motor this thing to where we end up,” said Danny.
Terry nodded his understanding. “Okay, what’s the first lesson?”
“Backing up,” said Danny. “Then we’ll go over the thrusters, just in case you need ‘em.”
The lesson went really well, and before long, Terry was changin’ from forward to reverse, stabilizin’ the boat and engagin’ the thrusters. We used a channel buoy as his target, and after two failed attempts, he was successful the next four tries, bringin’ the boat’s port side right up against it.
Then, just to fuck with him, we had him come up on it from the south side, which reversed the wind conditions. He still got it twice in a row.
“You think you’re ready?” asked Danny.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, like I said, we’ll take the skiff to the dock, but if somethin’ goes wrong and we can’t get back to it, you might have to bring it up to another dock. Lilly knows a bit about drivin’ boats, too, so she’ll be your co-captain.”
“So, I’m not driving now?” asked Terry.
“No need,” said Danny. “But things change. We’ll let you know by radio if we need you to save our asses.”
Danny shook his head, smilin’. “Just one’ll do, CB, ‘cause I ain’t leavin’ your side. Thought you were dead once, and that ain’t happenin’ again.”
“Likewise, but some of those deadheads might come between us, and both of us need to be able to get hold of the boat if we have to.”
“Point taken,” he said, hoistin’ a nice AR-15. I grabbed the DP-12 and a Glock 22. We had a good amount of the .40 caliber ammo, and it was good and deadly.
“Take a handgun, too,” I said. “There’s a few nice nine millimeters in there.”
I hadn’t noticed Lilly leave, but when she came back, she had two bright-colored fanny packs, straight out of the 1980s. “Here,” she said. “Radios are inside. They may be a little gay, but they’ll hold –” Suddenly she stopped and looked at Terry. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by –”
Terry burst out laughin’, and almost doubled over tryin’ to control himself. Pretty soon, we were all laughin’ along with him.
I’d never heard the kid laugh before, and it was infectious – this time in a good way.
Roxy wiped the tears from her eyes and said, “You don’t even know how often I joke about how flamboyant Terry is. If you’d ever seen him dressed up for a night out in Key West, you’d get it. It’s like a glitter explosion.”
“Even I wouldn’t wear that sissy pack,” Terry said. “But in the 80s? I imagine I’d have rocked that thing!”
“Well, crank the disco, ‘cause it’s a good idea,” I said. “Let’s load up and get our asses to shore. Roxy, see if that phone GPS of yours can find us a close gun store. Also, make yourselves a list of shit we need to get, and we’ll do our best to accommodate.”
“What about fuel?” asked Georgina.
“Let’s see,” said Danny, takin’ the binoculars from me again and scannin’ the dock he’d spotted. “Damn. There’s no fuel station on that dock, but there’s bound to be somethin’ for the larger vessels nearby. They get some big boats comin’ in here, which means there should be some pumps on docks that extend out into deeper water.”
“Either way, we’re just under a quarter tank now,” Lilly said. “It’s enough to do what we need to for now.”
“Terry,” I said, “You can practice with the forward, reverse and thrusters while we’re gone, but don’t let it get below an 1/8th tank. If we find fuel pumps and clear ‘em, we’re going to need you to motor in, maybe test those thrustin’ skills of yours.”
He just looked at me and smiled.
I knew I’d messed up and opened a door.
“I’ve been thrusting since I was sixteen,” he quipped.
I know I blushed, and I ain’t a big blusher.
“This is gonna be a regular thing with you, ain’t it?” I asked.
“If I like you, yes,” he said. “And so far, I still like you.” He batted his eyes.
“Smokes are on the list,” said Lilly. “But please don’t kill yourselves trying to get them.”
“Yeah, right,” I said. “You’d kill us if we didn’t.”
“We’ll head down to the skiff,” said Danny. “See the T dock with the red boat on the right? You stay in at least 20’ of water until we get back.”
“Shit,” said Lilly.
“What?” I said.
Lilly shook her head. “Can’t do it,” she said, looking up at me and Danny. “I’m going. I have to.”
“Lilly, like I said, we’ll be faster if –”
“And if you end up dead, I’ll never forgive myself. I shoot better than both of you.”
“I shoot better than Danny,” I said. “There’s that.”
Danny looked around. “I … yeah, I shoot better than Liam.”
Lilly and I shook our heads. “Nice. You taught him,” said Lilly.
“Then I’m going, too,” said Georgina. “I’m a better shot than I’ll ever admit. I can help, plus I know what kind of medical supplies to get if we come across a clinic.”
“You ever heard of makin’ a list?” I asked, starin’ at her. “Georgie, you don’t have to do this. Neither do you, Lil.”
“CB, you know it’s not a matter of having to do anything. I made the decision. Terry, drop anchor. We’re heading out.”
“What am I going to do if you guys can’t get back to the little boat?” asked Terry, his eyes panicked.
“It’s called a skiff, and don’t drop anchor yet,” said Lilly. “Practice like they said, then anchor. Keep the radio on and loud.”
“Okay,” he nodded, but I knew he wasn’t convinced he was ready. I knew he was.
“C’mon, Georgina,” said Lil. “Let’s go get some guns.”
“We’ll meet you out there,” said Georgie, followin’ my stubborn sister down the steps to the main deck.
Now, another thing about me; I don’t dictate to women. Never have. I don’t think I’ve ever told a woman what to wear or how to do her hair, even when I had opinions about it. Call it male intuition. That’s what I call the ability to shut the fuck up when it’s the prudent thing to do.
I had mixed feelings about Georgie goin’, of course. I found myself wantin’ to spend every second with her, and just bein’ on the boat wasn’t enough. I swear, I wanted her right beside me. I felt goddamned lovesick, if y’all wanna know the truth.
That ain’t me and I suppose it could just be the situation, but the more my mind turns to her when she’s not with me, the surer I am that I’m kinda hooked on Georgie.
So, while I’m too smart to actually say it out loud, I will be playin’ the part of protector on behalf of Dr. Georgina Lake once we step off this boat and into the danger zone.
And it ain’t my choice, either; it’s just built inside me from the time I was a little boy, watchin’ out for Lilly. I was taught that boys never hit girls and boys and men took care of what they once called the fairer sex.
I don’t know what’s wrong with that. I mean, femininity ain’t a bad word, right? Hell, I know I can bench press more than Lilly and Georgie combined, but that don’t mean I’m better’n either one of ‘em.
I’m more capable in some areas, and those two women are more capable in others. Most of this shit is common sense, but I’ll just finish with this: Whether Georgina wants me to do it or not, and whether or not she even figures out I got one eye on her, that’s the way it is.
I’m lookin’ out for my girlfriend.
That’s kinda strange. I didn’t even want a girlfriend until the zombie apocalypse.
Ω
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Climbing Fox Wattana
Henomawi Indian Reservation
Wattana sat up in his bed, his body drenched in cold sweat. He glanced quickly toward the window, seeing beams of bright sunlight filtering in through the blinds.
How long had he lain here? What had awakened him?
He swung his legs off the bed and put his feet on the faded wood floor. Eyeing the shotgun leaning against the headboard, he stood.
The blinds were drawn, but a shadow passed by one curtained window, then another. He took a quiet step toward the gun and curled his fingers around it.
The stock against his shoulder, he walked softly into the living room and saw the shadow again, pass by the south window. Wattana raised the gun.
As he reached the sliding glass door, Dancing Rain ran into view, her eyes panicked. He rushed forward to flip the lock lever and slide the door open, but as Wattana reached it, several figures emerged from the distance. His hand froze in place. As the things moved toward Dancing Rain, he staggered backward and fell against the wall opposite the door.
“Mundunugu!” she cried, pounding on the thick glass. “Help me! Let me in!”
Her face was bright red, her eyes wide with panic. Behind her, two filthy men and a woman, all with ravaged, pustuled skin, staggered ever closer behind her.
Do I have time to help her? Will they reach the house before I c
an let her in? Even as the desperate thoughts passed through his mind, Wattana didn’t move toward the door. He couldn’t.
The questions he had asked himself were nothing more than stalling; giving him an excuse for later, after the things killed her.
His weakness prevented him from taking action to save the terrified girl; he knew that in his heart. He felt his own paralysis, brought on by the realization that the ceremony he had conducted from the ancient texts had somehow borne fruit.
Putrid, tainted fruit.
Frozen with fear, he knew he would never open that door. He had clear view straight ahead, but no way of knowing what might be approaching from the left or right of her, and as the only human being alive who had any hope of reversing the curse, could not be killed.
If only he knew what to do about any of it! If he were being honest with himself, he’d admit that before the ceremony, he had lost much of his faith in the ancient spirits. While the old text had been intriguing, he really hadn’t though it would work.
In his mind, it had been a way of bringing his people together. Maybe that’s all he ever thought it would be; something to inspire the young people in his tribe to actually do something besides waste away on the reservation.
Even as he’d gone through the ancient blood-curse in front of his entire trible, he’d felt a bit foolish. But that feeling was nothing compared to the guilt that burdened him now.
One of the monsters reached the girl, his splotchy, peeling arms extended out before him. The filthy fingers caught and tangled in Dancing Rain’s long, black hair, and she spun around, screaming.
She clawed at the thing’s face, her badly bitten nails tearing its rotting skin away, peeling down bloody tatters, exposing rotting muscle and sinew beneath. Climbing Fox wanted only to fire his shotgun through the glass door and stop everything from happening, but if he did, he would be their next victim.
Wanting to close his eyes but finding he could not, Wattana watched the other two skinwalkers converge on Dancing Rain, and she spun back around to stare through the glass at him, accusations of betrayal clearly visible in her terrified eyes.
Her mouth opened wide as she let out a shrill scream that only died when two of the creatures converged on her, tearing out both sides of her throat. As her dark eyes rolled back in her head, she collapsed, and the feast began in earnest; the creatures fell upon her, and with hands and mouths, bit and clawed, gripped and tore her limbs from her body until she was only a macabre torso.
