by Greg Dragon
“So, George. It seems we have a problem. I feel like I should be worried about your group taking over the hunting camp. You have a lot more people than I do—and I’m not all that sure that Connor wouldn’t be more than glad to help, if that’s what you decided to do.”
She stopped when George put up a huge hand.
“I know we look kind of rough, Dara. I can understand where you’re coming from, but I need to say something here.” He paused for a deep breath.
“I’ll be the first to admit that not all our members would qualify for a heavenly choir. Some of them don’t have the cleanest records, having served time in places from the local jail to a federal maximum security prison. But, it was never for anything violent. Drug smuggling, a couple of dealing charges, one for embezzling from his grandmother’s estate.”
“No murders? Rapes? Stuff like that?” She should have been more skeptical, but something about the big man said he was being truthful.
“No, ma’am. Nothing like that at all. They wouldn’t be members if there was anything in their past that was violent. Most of these guys have regular jobs. They just like to ride bikes and have some fun, play around the edges of the criminal element.”
Dara pursed her lips and looked down at the ground. She studied the toes of her sneakers. There was something that looked a lot like brain matter on one, and she scraped it off in the gravel. Nothing would take care of the red smears and splatters, though.
A small frown tugged at her eyebrows as she thought about the situation. It was too late to hide their destination, not that they could have anyway. Showing up at the camp after the motorcycle club got there wouldn’t have done any good, even with a legal deed to show.
They couldn’t turn the club away, either, because they knew where the camp was, and they had more people and more weapons.
It felt the same as when she’d decided to bring Janet and Connor in, like there wasn’t any good answer, she’d just have to choose the less-bad option and hope for the best.
Dara looked past the biker and took in the sight of all the pickups, campers and RVs that now waited silently a distance away from the motel. Some people had gotten out of the vehicles and stood in small clumps, talking and watching her. A few kids leaned out windows, wondering what was going on.
After thinking about it some more, her mind just going around in circles and worrying over things like a hungry mouse, Dara made up her mind.
“Okay. I guess there really isn’t much choice here. You all know about the camp, and there’s a heck of a lot more of you than us.”
George nodded, but stayed silent.
“I think we should all join up and live at the camp. But there will be some rules. First one, Ted and I own the place, so we’re the ultimate judge of what happens.”
She put up a hand to stall any comments.
“Secondly, we’ll need some form of leadership, something that gives everyone a voice in what goes on. None of us know what’s going to happen, whether this thing blows over or if we’re all in a big pot of shit. I don’t want to end up spending my last days fighting other human beings, while this—” Dara motioned to the dead bodies behind George. “This tries to take us down.”
“I agree. We can sort that out after we get there. There’s still a lot of road between here and there, and I don’t think we should be wasting any more time getting going.”
George nodded back towards the motel, where a couple of people had started poking their heads out of the rooms, staring at everyone gathered in front of the building. They mostly couldn’t take their eyes off the dead infected people, whose blood was still seeping into the sparsely graveled parking lot.
Dara turned and looked, watching to see if there would be any trouble from the other motel guests. The last thing they needed was a confrontation with the living.
“Okay. What say you and I be co-leaders for now, until we can get settled in at the camp? Will your people agree to that?”
“I’ll see to it,” George said. He didn’t think there would be any arguments about the agreement he’d struck. They still had a place to go, after all. Four more people, who were armed and supplied, wouldn’t make a difference, and it might help.
Dara reached out and George took her hand, shaking it before they turned away and headed to their own people, to spread the news.
* * *
As George made his way towards the area where all the vehicles had parked, he stopped only long enough to set a few guys to watch for more infected. He didn’t want to get ambushed while he was laying out the facts to all the members and their families.
Most of the people were out of their trucks and campers by now, standing clustered by the largest RV, where his wife Clarice was handing out bottles of water. George decided that was a good a place as any, so he gathered people as he went.
“Listen up, everybody,” he said, waiting until the noise had settled down and his people were focused on him. “I know we’d said we wouldn’t be helping people on the road, that we’d take care of our own, first.
“I couldn’t go by and ignore what was going on here, though. Good people needed our help, and I’m not sorry about that at all.”
There was some muttering around the edges, and George could guess who it was coming from. But those members didn’t have many backers, so he let it go. Most of the group was nodding, smiling.
“So, I was talking to those nice folks back there, and it turns out that one of the couples actually own the hunting camp we were heading for.”
George put up his hands to quell the upset club members, and after a moment they quieted down.
“I explained what we’d planned, and how we needed a safe place, and they’ve agreed to let us join them. They feel—and I’m with them on this—that there’s more safety in numbers in their situation, there only being four of them. So we’ve agreed to some basic rules, and I know you all will think I’ve done the right thing.”
“What rules?” someone shouted out.
George looked for the speaker, but he couldn’t put a name to the voice. “First of all, Dara and Ted—they’re the property owners—have final say over any decisions about the property, and any rules that are made.”
There was some chatter at that, but it soon faded as the club waited for him to go on.
“Secondly, we’ll be setting up a form of representative government, where everyone will have their say in whatever rules we come up with.
“Thirdly, while we’re on the road, Dara and I will be in charge. We’ll decide on what’s best for all of us, until we reach the camp and get everyone settled. After that is when we’ll work on whatever leadership and rules we end up with.”
George gave the group the floor, and listened as they knocked the ideas around. Finally, all eyes turned to him, and he knew the decision had been made. He dusted his hands together, and smiled.
“Okay, then. How about we get this train moving again before we end up with more infected, or too many curious eyes following us?”
Chapter Nine
When Dara got back to where Ted, Janet and Connor were waiting, she filled them in on the details of her agreement with George.
“I know it might be a bad idea,” she explained. “But they know all about the hunting camp anyway. They’d been planning to go there for days, and they have their club members and families packed up. They’ve left their homes, families, jobs. There’s nowhere else for them to go.”
Connor was frowning like his brows were trying to meet up with his chin, but he didn’t say anything. It was a miracle, Dara felt, that he could hold his tongue so well. Someone must have taught him to hold things in unless he was in the best position. Probably with a belt.
With the motorcycle club so close, and her with a gun in her hand, she knew he realized he wasn’t top dog here. Yet. She still didn’t trust the man as far as she could spit.
“I understand,” Janet said. She gave Dara a small smile that darted across her lips and disapp
eared almost as quickly as it came.
“I’m glad. I had a good talk with the group’s leader, George. He seems like a good man, and frankly, I think we need more people. If we had to defend ourselves, four of us won’t be enough, and Ted isn’t at his best right now.”
Connor snorted at that, but didn’t say anything. Dara let it go. Ted was going through a phase right now, what with all the stress and excitement, but once she got him settled in at the camp and resumed his therapy, people were going to be surprised. The old Ted was still there, and he would come back.
Then Connor would have someone just as tough as he thought he was to go up against. Dara was betting on Ted to come out on top of that fight.
Well, that was a battle for another day. It was going to be soon, but there were enough things to deal with right now, so Dara moved on.
“George and I both agree we need to get going as soon as possible, before more infected come. And, we’ve got an audience now. I don’t want to have to answer two many questions about where we’re going, or what our other plans are. I think it’s best to keep that to ourselves.”
Janet nodded, and even Connor gave grudging grunt of agreement.
“I’m going to get Ted settled in the van, and then I think we should move out. If one of you will return the room keys, we can be on the road in a few minutes, if our friends up there are ready.”
Connor surprised her by taking her room key and turning away towards the motel office. He gave Janet a little shove as he went by.
“Get the tarp tied down tight, and be ready. I ain’t waiting on you, even if the others will.”
Janet just put her head down and began pulling the tarp tight before threading the strap through a slot on the truck’s side.
Dara watched for a minute before turning away to see to Ted. She didn’t know much about Janet, or why she was in the relationship with Connor, but if she was any judge, things were shifting around in the brain under that pale blond hair, and Connor wasn’t going to like how it all worked out.
She just hoped they could all live through it when the eruption came.
* * *
“Aw, hell no!” Connor said, slamming his hand against the truck’s tailgate after he’d returned from the motel office. “No way am I going to go along with this. Those bikers will just shoot us in our sleep, and take our stuff. They’ll probably keep you and Dara alive, for a while, though.”
Janet dropped her head and bit back a sigh. Why did he have to be so hard-headed?
“I know, Connor. But it wasn’t my decision to make. Besides, they already know about the camp. They were heading there when they saw we were in trouble.”
“Bullshit. We could have handled it. Wasn’t that many zombies.” Connor spit against the peeling paint on the motel’s wall. “Now I have to deal with a bunch of motor head crooks and the niggers.”
Janet couldn’t hide the wince when Connor said the word. She’d never gotten used to how freely the man used all sorts of insults and hateful words when talking about other people.
Connor stared at her, his eyes narrowed as he studied her face. “Just like I thought. You’re just a damned nigger-lover. Probably can’t control yourself, you slut. Do you want to put your face in Ted’s crotch? I don’t think he’d have much for you, the shape he’s in, but you’d suck it anyway, wouldn’t you?”
“Jesus, Connor! Why do you have to talk like that? Ted’s like a child. Just because I want to help him and Dara doesn’t mean anything. Or have you forgotten that they own the place we’re running to?”
Connor raised a hand to slap her, before he remembered they had a growing audience as more guests woke and came to check out all the commotion.
“I ain’t forgot anything, you bitch. I had some plans about all that, until that black bitch went and invited that group of assholes. Now that’s all gone to shit, and to top it off my bitch of a girlfriend has forgotten how to behave.”
Janet thought her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. She was surprised at how scared she was at this moment, with Connor’s hand raised. The look on his face told her there would be payback for her later, and it was going to be bad.
After all these years, she’d gotten accustomed to her boyfriend’s behavior, his casual racism and disdain for women. It didn’t really register any more, but something had changed, she realized. What it might be, she couldn’t be sure; maybe the threat of death at the hand of some pandemic scared her far more than Connor ever had.
He was just a man. She could deal with him, could understand him, on a basic instinct level. But whatever this thing was, this disease that was turning ordinary people into walking, ravening beasts, that she didn’t understand.
An image of the biker who’d offered to help with Ted flashed in her mind. She could clearly see the compassion in his eyes when he looked at Ted. A look that didn’t change when he saw her.
Janet felt a flush of shame, because it seemed the biker had seen all the sordid history of her life in that one look. She bit her lip and pushed that memory away.
She couldn’t let herself think about another man. It was too dangerous. If Connor guessed she had even spent one second thinking about that biker, the man was as good as dead. And he wouldn’t be the first man who’d looked at her in a way Connor didn’t like, and paid for it.
None of that mattered now. She needed to get Connor to agree to stay with the newly expanded group. She didn’t want to end up alone with him, looking for another place to go, to be safe.
“I thought you liked bikers?” The words were out of her mouth before she thought about how he would react. God, she needed to focus, or she was going to get herself killed before the day was out.
“I like real bikers, the kind who would have put a bullet in that black bitch’s head before letting her tell them what they were going to do. Bikers like that would have killed ol’ Ted where he sat, shitting himself in that damned chair.”
Connor chuckled at that imagery. His eyes glazed over, and his hand began tapping his gun holster where he’d strapped it on his hip. It wouldn’t surprise her if he was getting a hard-on, just thinking about it. Janet shuddered.
“Well, it wasn’t our place to decide what to do. Dara and Ted were nice enough to let us come along, so we can either stay with them, or go out on our own.”
Connor slammed the side of the truck again, and growled with frustration. He knew she was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. Janet waited him out, watching as he worked through the problem, searching for another way. When he couldn’t find one, he gave a huge sigh.
“Well, fine, then. But as soon as there’s one problem, I’m out. Nigger tells me to do some dirty job she thinks she’s too good for, and I might put one between her monkey eyes before I go.”
Without a glance at her, Conner strode over to the delivery truck, unlocking the door and pulling himself up into the cab. The engine started with a deep rumble, echoed by the motorcycles just up the access road as they roared to life.
Janet finally released the pent up breath she’d been holding and loosened her grip on the truck’s key ring. For a minute, she was afraid Connor might snap, and pull out his gun. If he had, she knew he would save her for last, make her watch as he shot Dara and Ted.
She glanced over the truck’s cab at the bikers as they began moving slowly towards them, waiting to follow Dara’s small group back up onto the highway.
Maybe George and his friends would take Connor out before he did any damage, though. She had the strangest feeling that this was one biker club that wouldn’t take kindly to watching innocent people get gunned down.
She couldn’t help the happy feeling that thought gave her, or the little smile that lit up her face.
* * *
Micah Cavanaugh slicked back his hair before putting his helmet back on. While they’d waited for George and the woman—Dara—to come to an agreement, the light breeze had mostly dried the sweat. It had felt good to sit for a while without th
e constant vibration of his bike between his thighs.
After settling the helmet, he happened to glance over to the old pickup truck where the blond was about to get into the cab. His fingers stopped trying to fasten the chin strap when she looked over the cab top and smiled.
The brief stretch of lips turned her from a drab, meek woman into a beautiful goddess. Micah could only sit, stunned, as something flared in his heart. He couldn’t explain it, but if someone were to ask him, he would have only been able to say one thing: there was the woman for him.
He felt like he was under a spell as he watched the woman turn away and get into the truck. He could faintly hear the engine start, and watch as she pulled out behind Dara’s old moving van. He knew the food warehouse truck was driven by the other man in the group, who was probably her husband.
And that was the thing that finally got him moving, before the club left him behind. She was spoken for. It didn’t look like a happy relationship, but that wasn’t his business. He was going to stay far away from her, and mind his own business.
It didn’t matter how much the thought hurt his heart. He couldn’t have her, so that was that. With a sigh, he turned the key and gunned the engine before turning out into his place among the other bikers. There was a long road ahead of them, and he needed to focus.
Within minutes, the motel was behind them, and the club was rolling towards their new home. They’d be sharing it with Dara, Ted and the two others, but that was okay. Micah didn’t mind having new people join up, though some of the club members had expressed rather different opinions.
All he wanted was a safe place where they could ride out whatever this disease was. Most of the others felt the same way. They had their families to think of, children to protect. Micah was alone, having lost his close family years before, but he understood how they felt.
You took care of your own, you watched your brothers’ backs, and you did what it took to survive. That was what his older brother had always said, right up to the day an IED took out his convoy in Iraq. Nine soldiers survived because Roy had their backs. They came home to their families, messed up, but alive. It didn’t matter that Roy came home in a body bag. He’d lived his code, and Micah was proud of him.
