Not Dead in the Heart of Dixie

by R Kralik

  Dane was beside Elaine after two huge leaps. I swear, he karate chopped the HDI's arm and it fell at Elaine's feet to keep company with the hand already there.

  Dane shot the HDI point blank in the forehead. He and Elaine were both covered in a shower of thick, black goo. Elaine didn't even turn to thank him. She continued down the path. Dane watched her for a split second and then turned back to the battle.

  Mick, Rona, and Kevin ran to the back porch with me. We left Rebecca, Mr. Hobbs, Jeremy, and Jason shooting HDI's who were making their way past the outhouse and into the front yard. Dane ran around to the front to help them. You should have seen him. He moved like a giant cowboy ninja.

  Pop was trying to make his way to the motorhome for his rifle when an HDI came from the side and slammed into him. He fell to the ground and became tangled in the legs of the metal walker. The HDI was about to pounce on him, and I was about to take that suckers head off when I noticed that it was already taking bullets to the head.

  I looked to my left and saw Carisa shooting with her .22 LR. I almost fainted. She was standing there with a tie-dyed skirt hanging around her neck, concentrating on making sure the HDI didn't get Pop. She killed it for good. It took four or five shots, but she put that sucker down.

  Kevin ran into the yard and got Pop back on his feet. He practically shoved Pop and Nana into the motorhome and was trying to get in there with them when an HDI grabbed his leg and began pulling him backwards.

  He fell and slammed his face on the motorhome steps. He kicked the HDI in the face with his free foot and it stumbled back, letting go of his leg. He came up to his feet, raging like the incredible hulk, and used the palm of his hand to shove that HDI's “nose bone?” into its brain. It dropped like a fly. He jumped inside the motorhome and slammed the door because two more HDI's were almost upon him. Obviously, Kevin has acquired a few ninja skills.

  Gunfire began coming from the motorhome window and I knew that Pop had found his rifle. I was afraid to shoot toward the motorhome because a bullet might go through the thin walls and hit Pop, Nana, or Kevin.

  I told Carisa that she could continue shooting, but she had to do it from the kitchen door so she could retreat if HDI's made it to the porch. We had to send her to the basement twice for more ammo.

  Rebecca, Mick and Rona were taking out HDI's to our left and I screamed toward the motorhome for Pop and Kevin to shoot the ones on the right. I joined in, shooting right when I knew I had a clear shot past the motorhome, and shooting left when HDI's started getting near the edge of the backyard. Pretty soon, HDI's were stumbling and falling over the dead HDI's bodies.

  I could still hear a lot of gunfire coming from the front.

  HDI's were coming from the rear, going around the outhouse, and making their way into the front yard. Luke and Larson were on the front porch, shooting with the crew. I made them get their rear ends into the house and shoot from the front door. Hey, they may have been trained by military folks, but they are still only fifteen years old.

  I kept running back and forth between the front door and back door.

  Finally, the horde of HDI's began to thin. We shot until every HDI we could see was lying dead on the ground. I put an extra round in several “dead for good” ones when I thought I saw them move.

  No one was hurt except Pop and Kevin.

  Pop's injuries were from falling with the metal walker. He busted his nose, but it had stopped bleeding by the time we finished off the HDI's. He'll have some bruises pop up in various areas by tonight. His shoulder and thigh were hurting, so Hisa gave him some strong pain medication, checked him over, and sent him to bed.

  Kevin has a big black eye and swollen cheek bone from hitting the motorhome steps. He also bit his tongue when he hit, but it's not severe. Hisa made him put an icepack on his cheek and eye.

  Rona is cooing and fawning over him now. She told him that he reminded her of Bruce Lee. Geez! Actually, I was impressed with his skill. Don't tell him I said that. Ego... Ya know?

  I have a lovely bruise on my shoulder from shooting Marley too many times. I wasn't paying attention to my shooting stance. I was trying to send bullets through HDI heads as fast as I could.

  Rebecca called Ralph several times after the battle ended. I don't really consider that an injury, but I feel for her. Shooting at what used to be human beings is nerve wracking and plays with your emotions. Jeremy’s sitting with his arm around her.

  She says she doesn't want any supper tonight. I'll bet she changes her mind in a few hours. I'll tell Jeremy to take her to Clinic Diane so she can be with other people in a nice, clean atmosphere.

  Dane discovered that the HDI's had pushed through the makeshift chain-link fence we threw up across the back of the property. We didn't have a lot of time when we put that fence up and it wasn't stretched tight enough to hold back 78 HDI's. Yep, you heard me right. There’s at least 78 bodies all over the compound

  The men are loading them on the flatbed trailer and taking them to the power lines for a big ol' bonfire tomorrow. We covered the wooden trailer with tarps before laying the bodies on top because we don't want any HDI fluid seeping into the cracks.

  I thought Carisa would be crying and upset because HDI's had ruined her birthday. Instead, her eyes were open wide and her cheeks were flushed. She was jumping around all over the place, excited about the number of HDI's she shot.

  I think she's a warrior at heart, reveling in victory. She is one brave sixteen-year-old girl. She finished opening her presents and loves them all. She plans to wear the skirt at supper tonight.

  We are going to dance. We're not going to let a bunch of dead HDI's ruin this day for her.

  Every time we've come across a horde, there have always been stragglers. We're doubling up on watch duty until we're sure that no more HDI’s are making their way toward the house. I won't be surprised if I hear gunshots tonight.

  I'm heading out to read the directions on the chicken nuggets bag. See ya later.

  11:30 PM...

  We danced. Oh, how we danced. We need to enjoy times like this when we're able.

  Jesse was here, laying on the chaise. Carisa was happy, and twirled for him in her new tie-dyed skirt. Man, I can't believe she's growing up so fast.

  Clinic Diane was clear of HDI's. Elaine said she didn't see any after she got half-way down the path. She and Hisa ran from window to window, trying to see what was happening.

  The kids had a blast. They loved the “chicken nugget with french fries” supper and the cake to go with it. I should have made two cakes. I keep forgetting how many of us are here.

  Marisa and Jason took the kids home about 9:00. They were almost sleep walking. I think they danced every dance.

  Mick danced with Carisa while Billy Idol sang “Sweet sixteen.” I loved watching them.

  Valerie had a blast as well. She spent time dancing with Luke and Larson. Me thinks they both like Valerie. Uh oh.

  Tomorrow, we have to go out and clean HDI guts and goo off the outhouse, Pop's motorhome, and anything else they touched. I'm afraid we'll miss something that will attract flies later this spring and summer. It's not gonna be fun, but it has to be done.

  Mick just asked me to come to bed. I wonder if he wants to do what we did sixteen years and nine months ago. I'm game.

  Bye for now.

  Sunday, March 16

  I heard gunshots about 4:00 AM and went to see what was going on. Jeremy and Jason had to take out two HDI stragglers. Isn't that just dandy? I couldn't go back to sleep so I stayed up and gave the kitchen an extra scrub with bleach water.

  I also picked up a gazillion empty shell casings from both porches. There were so many shells that I decided to sweep them into a pile and use the dustpan to gather them and toss them into a five-gallon bucket. We're saving them in case we find reloading equipment someday. I bet we put a big dent in our ammo supply.

  Dane and Soo are at the power line clearing, burning HDI bodies. They loaded up the two extras in th
e back of the Silverado and took them along. I saw the large plume of smoke when I was sweeping the porch this morning.

  Dane plans to work on splitting logs in the meadow and Deuce will be there with Buttercup, dragging logs to the fence area.

  I want guards in the meadow with Deuce and Dane today.

  Dane suggested that Mr. Hobbs be one of them and asked me to let Carisa take Mr. Winchester and be the other. I was nervous about it, but I let her go. I will worry about her all day.

  Mick will be busy having his turn with the backhoe since he didn't get it yesterday. The sky looks a little dark and ominous, like rain is on the way. That won't stop him but it might hinder Kevin and Jeremy from going to the lumberyard. Rona is going with them. Luke and Larson will go as well. Hopefully, they can bring home a load of logs before the rain gets here.

  Nana says that Pop is aching all over and can't get out of bed. He's very sore from his fall yesterday. Hisa wants him to take a hot bath in the horse trough and he's all for it. He said he doesn't care who sees him, but we'll hang sheets on the tree branches anyway, just to protect innocent eyes.

  Carisa and Rebecca have breakfast duty this morning. I think they're making biscuits, scrambled eggs, grits, and bacon. I can smell bacon cooking.

  I think Elaine and Valerie have lunch duty, and Marisa and Carisa have supper duty. Yay! I don't have to cook today. I don't know what I'll do.

  I might be able to get Soo to take me back to the little neighborhood where the BIG, MEAN, DANGEROUS, DOGS live. There’s a lot of houses in that neighborhood. It's a little close to town, but we'll take the scenic route.

  Jason had watch duty most of the night and he's still sleeping. Maybe Marisa can go along if Soo agrees to take us.

  Elaine is moving Jesse to Marisa's house. Dane decided that they should stay on the hill and abandon the Hobbs house. Marisa is getting a houseful of company. I don't know if Dane and Elaine sleep together but it they do, they can use Jeremy's old bedroom.

  When the men took the outhouse off the trailer they also placed the second little wooden building on the path between us and Marisa's house. Jeremy has been staying there and says that Rebecca will be moving in with him. Okay, whatever. They're grownups and I can't stop them. Maybe its true love and I shouldn't worry about it.

  Jeremy wants one of the large propane tanks up there. Rebecca wants a gas oven and heater installed. Jeremy said he'll build rooms onto the building if he needs to.

  I pulled out one of my foxfire books that has directions for building a log cabin building. He wanted to stick his nose in it right away, but there's work to be done. He'll have to save it for later.

  Three words just caught my attention. Someone yelled “breakfast is ready.”

  See ya later

  12:30 PM...

  Elaine and Valerie made little sausages with BBQ sauce and honey in the crockpot for lunch. We had bowtie pasta with some sort of lemon butter herb sauce to go with them. We also had cornbread muffins. It was yummy.

  Soo agreed to take Marisa and me to the little neighborhood. Jason is up and wants to go along. We need to get back before dark, so we're heading out now. See ya later!

  10:00 PM

  It was an interesting day.

  Soo, Jason, Marisa, and I headed out in the Jeep with the enclosed goat trailer attached. We took a route that Jason knew, and came in behind the school and the park. I asked Jason to stop at the back of the school.

  We sat in the Jeep and observed for a few minutes. We saw no HDI's at the school or in the park. We tried the doors at the back of the school and they were unlocked, so we went in.

  It was eerie in there. It was completely silent and felt wrong with no children running up and down the halls, no bright lights, and no bells ringing. The “school smell” was gone and that surprised me. I've never been in a school that was missing the “school smell.”

  There are still colored pictures and Christmas decorations all over the walls in the hallway. Each picture has a child's name at the bottom, written in crayon. Looking at them made me sad. I hope the children who colored those pictures are safe somewhere.

  We split up into two teams and took four sets of textbooks on every subject from the classrooms of all twelve grades. We used rolling trays from the library to hold the books as we gathered them.

  The cafeteria smelled clean but was totally destroyed. Windows were busted out, tables were turned over, and chairs were all over the place. Soo and I went to the back to check for food, and found nothing. Obviously, the cafeteria has already been looted.

  We loaded books into the Jeep and headed toward the residential neighborhood.

  The back of the Jeep was so full of textbooks. Marisa and I had to ride with our emergency backpacks in the floorboard at our feet so we didn't have to juggle them with our weapons. We drove away from the school, surprised that we hadn't run into any trouble.

  We looted two houses and got quite a bit of canned and boxed food along with opened bags of flour, sugar, and cornmeal.

  We took dishes and wrapped them in towels to prevent breakage. We took silverware, serving utensils, large casserole dishes, pots, pans, cleaning supplies, and a fancy sewing machine. We packed everything in the goat trailer and still had room to spare.

  Jason wanted to try a couple of houses on the next street over, so we headed that way.

  The neighborhood was as quiet as it had been on the day Mick, Soo, and I looted the Guddy house. I saw daffodils coming up in several yards and was thinking about how much I dreaded summer when Jason stopped the Jeep in front of a nice brick house with a fenced in-ground pool in the back.

  There was a gold BMW in the driveway, and the garage doors were closed. I peeked in the garage window and saw a Cadillac SUV and saw yard tools and adult sized bicycles.

  The side door on the garage was locked and we couldn't get the rolling doors to go up manually, so we headed to the front door.

  We knocked and waited. No one answered, so Jason kicked the door open and I leaned in to take a peek in while he and Soo were getting ready to clear the rooms.

  I saw the barrel of a .38 special, and I had to look cross-eyed at it because it was less than an inch from my nose. I almost peed down my leg.

  “Just stop right there” the female voice said. I backed away slowly and put my hands up. Jason and Soo were staring at the girl like they didn't believe what they were seeing.

  Marisa stuck her hand out and said “My name's Marisa and this is my boyfriend, Jason. This is my Mom, and this is our friend, Soo. We didn't know anyone still lived here. What's your name?”

  The girl stared at Marisa, but didn't lower her gun. “What do you want here? We have no food. If that's what you're looking for, you'd best be on your way” she said.

  That .38 special stayed in the air, pointing straight at me while I explained who we were, why we were there, where we'd come from, and offered a huge apology.

  She asked questions for about five minutes before she lowered the gun and invited us in. I was relieved and couldn't believe that we were invited in.

  She told us to sit while she went to tell her sister it was okay to come out. I felt like I was in dreamland again. I thought about telling everyone to run for the door while she was gone.

  She came back down a long hall and told us that her sister and Grandpa would be there in a minute. She sat in a wing back chair to wait for them. She still had the gun pointed in our general direction and was waving it around while she talked.

  It wasn't long before we heard someone shuffling down the hallway and someone else, whispering as they came.

  A tiny little black man appeared from the hallway. He had the whitest hair I've ever seen and was dressed in silk pajamas with a matching smoking jacket. I remember thinking that he looked just like an older version of Nelson Mandela. He had a handkerchief in one hand and he was gripping a walker underneath it.

  There was a teenage girl walking beside him, encouraging him to keep going. He finally ma
de it and sat down in a cozy chair. The teenage girl sat on a piano bench beside him.

  He raised his hand and swept it across the room as he said “Welcome to my home. I am Edward Wilson and these are my granddaughters, Shawna, and Lisa. How can we help you?”

  I loved him immediately. He was so refined and gentle. He was proud of his home and his granddaughters. I could somehow see the kindness emanating from his soul. I wanted to take him and his granddaughters back to Kapper Hill.

  I told him our entire story from beginning to end. He listened intently and didn't look away. When I told him something sad, he looked sad. When I told him something happy, he looked happy. Finally, I finished my story and asked for his own.

  He started out by saying that he was ninety-two years old and still had his own teeth. He seemed proud of that and considers himself in great shape for a ninety-two year old. He says the only problems he has is that his bones and muscles get “stiff” and its “impossible to walk without support.”

  He retired twenty-five years ago. He had his own Architect and design business, and many of the buildings and homes in this area were designed by him. His mind seemed sharp and clear.

  His son and wife were killed by a drunk driver when his granddaughters were very young. He's been their guardian ever since. Shawna is eighteen and Lisa is sixteen. “Almost seventeen” she interrupted to say. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

  The girls have been looting houses in the neighborhood for food. They had approximately a month's supply of food in the house when the world fell apart. The girls have killed HDI's, fought off gang members, and “convinced” troublesome survivors to “be on their way.” They’re tough as nails and good with weapons. They've both had martial arts training and are good at that as well. I wanted those girls on my side.

  The houses around the neighborhood are almost empty and they have enough food to last three more days.

  He said he would be happy to visit our compound to see if it's a place he'd like his granddaughters to live because, obviously, they can no longer live here.