Z Plan (Book 3): Homecoming

by Lerma, Mikhail

  “Wait right here,” he comanded JoLynn. “Lock the doors and don’t open them for anyone but me. Honk if you’re in trouble.”

  She nodded. Cale stepped out onto the pavement. The electronic locks clicked as soon as he closed the door. He walked amidst the corspes that were left behind. Some of them were crushed. He was scared he wouldn’t recognize Lauren if he did find her here. Cale circled the mummified bodies a second time. All varieties of fauna had taken their share of meat from them.

  Cale thought he saw something move in the tinted window of the main office. He pulled out his knife and headed for it. It was a push door from his side, so it meant the animated corpse was trapped inside. Cale was greeted immediately with a hungry moan. The oafish creature stumbled to the floor in his excitement to get to Cale. He flailed in the loose pieces of paper beneath him as Cale pinned him down. A quick thrust of his knife and the man slept once more. He listened for more noise.

  “Hello?” he called.

  An undead croaked its reply from the back. Cale stood and looked for its origin. The animal beckoned to him again. She knocked over a fake plant as she stepped out of the hall. Cale waited for her to attack. She shrieked loudly, like a banshee. He jabbed his knife into her head. The woman let out one last blood curdling wail and died. Cale didn’t recognize her, but knew that it wasn’t Lauren. He couldn’t even be sure that she’d been here.

  He opened each of the three doors down the hall. A set of restrooms and a janitor’s closet. All empty. Cale stepped over the woman as he went back to the main office. Posters advertised the benefits of choosing U-Haul over its competitors. A white board displayed the layout of the entire compound. Three main structures. An office and two storage buildings. Each building was divided into units. In each square were names. In one of the units it read food storage. Cale skimmed over the names, jumping randomly back and forth in an uneffecient way.

  “Slow down, bud,” encouraged Zach. “Focus.”

  Cale closed his eyes and collected himself. He read the unit numbers and names. The first building was numbered one hundred through two hundred. He didn’t see either of their names. He moved to building two which was the south structure. Most of the names were smudged and wiped off since the board was lower to the ground. Units two hundred one through two-twenty were completely gone. Smudged off by the dead fucker on the floor. He methodically combed over the names. When he couldn’t find them he let out a heavy sigh.

  “You could always try the fairgrounds,” Zach recommended.

  “And look for what?” snapped Cale. “Should I be looking into the face of every corspe I come across? Just hoping I don’t see her?”

  “At least by seeing her you’d know!” shouted Zach. “Isn’t that better than just wondering if she’s out there?”

  “I don’t fucking know,” he grumbled. “Maybe.”

  “I’m sorry to say it, but at least if she were dead she wouldn’t be suffering,” Zach reasoned.

  Cale shook his head in frustration. He kicked one of the piles of papers across the floor. The place was a mess. He moped across the room and leaned on the desk.

  “I don’t even know where to start looking,” muttered Cale. “Part of me just wants to—”

  A car horn interrupted him.

  “Shit!” he shouted as he ran for the door.

  There was a man hitting the passenger side window.

  “Open up, you little bitch!” he punched the glass again.

  He howled in pain when his hand bounced off. Cale raised his rifle and walked slowly enough to maintain a steady sight picture of the man.

  “Hey!” shouted Cale.

  The man looked over his shoulder at Cale. He raised his hands above his head.

  “Look man,” he choked. “I don’t want any trouble.”

  “Back away from the car,” Cale ordered him.

  “Come on, man,” he half smiled. “Everything is good here.”

  JoLynn was crying.

  “You were hitting that window pretty hard for not wanting any trouble,” stated Cale.

  “I thought she was locked in,” he chuckled uneasily. “I just wanted to help.”

  “Sure he did,” commented Zach.

  “Look,” the man continued to speak. “This was all a misunderstanding. I thought she needed help, but here you are. Just let me go.”

  “Who are you with?” Cale asked him. “You must be with a group. Where are they?”

  “I’m alone,” he answered.

  “Bullshit,” replied Cale as he moved closer to the man.

  “No really! Please don’t shoot!” he begged. “It’s just me. I saw the car. An-an-and I was gonna take it, but the…the girl was in there. I was going to leave her here man. I just wanted the car. I…I wasn’t going to take her. I swear! Please don’t shoot!”

  “There are plenty of cars around,” stated Cale.

  “Most of em don’t run. And none of them have enough fuel,” he explained.

  “How long have you been here? Where are you from?” Cale inquired.

  “I’m from here. I just came back to check the units for food, man. We were all held up here awhile back,” said the man.

  “I’m looking for someone who may have been here. Her name is Lauren. She’d have been with her daughter. Name is Marie,” Cale told him.

  “There were a lot of people. I can’t say for sure I knew them,” he confessed.

  “What about the Wal-Mart? Do you know who’s there?” questioned Cale.

  “Na, man. The Wal-Mart is empty. After shit went down here, some of us stayed there. Over the summer the Zs got worse. We were trapped. Nearly killed each other on the inside. By the time winter rolled back around we abandoned the place. But we set up windchimes and shit to make noise. The Zs don’t even know the place is abandoned,” he smirked.

  “Where’d everyone go?” asked Cale.

  “West. To the mountains, man,” he stated. “The Zs freeze in the cold. Lots of people started forming communities up there. Zs are only a problem for them four months out of the year.”

  “Why are you still here?”

  “I’m a trader. I’ve been going around to where I heard there were supplies. I take them and give them back to the people,” he explained.

  “For a price,” added Zach.

  “Look, my van crapped out on me. All I wanted was the car,” he repeated. “I’m sorry I scared her.”

  Cale analyzed the man’s face. He looked like he was telling the truth.

  “I’ve got stuff in my van. You can have some of it,” he bargained. “Just don’t shoot me. Please?”

  Cale thought about what the man was saying. An idea formed in his mind.

  “If you are what you say you are,” began Cale. “How far do you go to trade?”

  “All over man,” he answered.

  “I don’t need any of your supplies. We have plenty. What I do want from you are names,” Cale informed him.

  “I told you. I don’t have any names,” retorted the man.

  “First, let’s start with yours,” prompted Cale.

  “Jeffery. Jeffery Munn,” he replied.

  “Okay, Jeff,” started Cale. “I’m Cale. Have you got notebooks in your supplies?”

  “Yeah,” said Jeff. “I don’t trade those often though. I use them for my ledger.”

  “Good,” Cale slowly lowered his rifle. “I want you to start taking names. Write down the names of the people you do business with. Try to get the names of everyone in each community. You could help reunite people with their families.”

  “I can’t do any of that without a set of wheels,” he explained.

  “There’s a National Guard Armory here in town,” began Cale. “If their trucks are still there—”

  “I don’t have keys for that shit,” interrupted Jeff.

  “You got bolt cutters? Then, no keys required,” Cale informed him. “Those trucks should be all fueled up for you. There’s a group of people in Holdrege. Just came
from there. They have local traders there. Lots of fuel. Won’t even cost that much, depending who you talk to.”

  “Okay?” said Jeff. “And what’s all this get you?”

  “Names,” he replied.

  “Great, but how am I going to find you?” Jeff asked.

  “Just do it. And if we ever meet again, you can repay me for not shooting you today,” answered Cale. “Now go.”

  “Thanks,” said Jeff as he walked away.

  “Think he’ll do it?” inquired Zach.

  “Don’t know,” confessed Cale. “But it was worth a shot.”

  “So what’s the plan now, boss?” his hallucination asked.

  “Not sure,” he admitted. “I suppose just stay put for a bit. JoLynn could probably use a break from the road.”

  “What about the people up on the mountains?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, shit. Everything I do will be a longshot,” he pointed out. “It’s probably best to slow down and weigh my options now.”

  Chapter 39

  A SPECIAL BOND

  Cale opened his eyes. Even though he’d been waking up in his own bed for two months now, he still felt disoriented. The first question he always asked himself was, am I really here? He stretched and yawned as he sprawled out on his bed.

  “Holy shit,” he chuckled. “She made it the entire night.”

  Ever since their first night here, Cale had been trying to get JoLynn to sleep by herself. He could hardly blame her for being scared. Some nights were more difficult than others. Monsters were real now, and it was a strange new house. But somehow, she managed.

  He grabbed the shirt that was hidden under his pillow. It was Lauren’s. Every few days he’d spritz some of her perfume on it. It was his coping mechanism. He heard a door creak. It was JoLynn waking up. Her little feet hit the wood floor like bricks as she scurried into his room. Without asking, she climbed into bed with him.

  “How’d you sleep?” he asked.

  “Like this!” she clasped her hands under her head and pretended to snore.

  Cale laughed. She’d really come out of her shell. JoLynn was born to be an entertainer. She was always telling jokes, dancing, singing, or just being plain silly. It seemed like she always had a smile on her face. Occasionally, she’d be in a rut. She missed her parents. Cale always encouraged her to cry if she needed to, or to just talk about them. He wasn’t sure if she knew it or not, but she was there for him when he missed Lauren and Marie. It helped that she was always making him laugh.

  “So,” she made a funny face. “I stayed in there all night.”

  Cale knew what she was about to say. He’d promised her a treat the night before if she could go the whole night sleeping alone.

  “You did! I’m proud of you girlie,” he smiled.

  “Does that mean I can have a treat?” JoLynn asked.

  “You never forget anything, do you?” laughed Cale.

  “Nu uh,” she grinned.

  “Go ahead,” he replied.

  JoLynn was down on the floor and gone before he could blink. Cale sat up and stretched. The floor was cold on his bare feet as he climbed out of bed and walked into the living room. JoLynn was already unwrapping a sucker.

  “A sucker? For breakfast?” he exclaimed.

  “Yeah dude,” she said in a goofy way.

  “Just make sure when you’re done brushing your teeth you put your toothbrush in your bag,” said Cale. “You don’t want to leave that behind.”

  “I won’t,” chimed JoLynn.

  She would. It was okay, because Cale would remember for her. He hadn’t heard from Jeff since he’d sent him on his mission. Mrs. Davies suggested that he go find these communities to the west himself.

  “Put your trust in love,” she’d encouraged him.

  “We can’t just leave you here,” he’d replied to the old woman.

  “Come back and get me then,” winked Mrs. Davies.

  Cale grabbed himself something to eat before returning to his room to change out of his pajamas. He’d retrieved a few pairs of BDU pants out of the tote in the basement. It was more convenient for him to wear a summer pair than to wear shorts. He still wore the diving suit under his brown T-shirt. He pulled on his boots and joined JoLynn in the living room.

  She’d already picked out her clothes and laid them on the futon. His mother-in-law had been such a shopaholic that she had Marie clothed all the way up until she was ten. Anything that fit JoLynn belonged to her now. There was a knock at the door and Mrs. Davies let herself in.

  “Did I miss breakfast?” she teased.

  “Nope,” answered JoLynn.

  “Are you eating candy for breakfast?” Mrs. Davies asked rehtorically.

  JoLynn proudly held up her sucker.

  “Okay,” laughed Cale. “Hurry up and go brush your teeth. We gotta get going.”

  With a crunch she finished her treat and threw the stick in the trash on her way to the bathroom.

  “You spoil that girl,” grinned the woman.

  “A deal’s a deal,” he shrugged.

  “She’s got you wrapped around her little finger,” Mrs. Davies added.

  She did. There was no denying it.

  “Alright,” Cale changed subjects. “You know where the key is. Everything we have here you are more than welcome to use or take.”

  “I probably won’t take anything,” declared the woman. “I’ll just keep an eye on the place for you.”

  “Well if you do need anything,” he offered. “just take it.”

  “Okay. When do you think you’ll be back?” she inquired.

  “Depends. If we find anything, maybe two or three weeks. Might be sooner if we don’t,” he explained.

  “Take your time,” she suggested. “And have faith.”

  The rest of the morning was spent saying goodbyes and getting them ready to leave. JoLynn and Cale were crossing into Colorado within two hours.

  “You want to hear a knock-knock joke?” asked JoLyn.

  “Sure,” he replied.

  “Say knock-knock,” she comanded.

  “Who’s there?” asked Cale.

  “No!” she whined. “You say knock-knock.”

  “Oh. Knock-knock,” he obeyed.

  “Who’s there?” inquired JoLynn.

  Cale looked at her. She was smiling at him, waiting for him to answer.

  “Who’s there?” she repeated.

  He laughed. “I don’t think you understand how this works.”

  “Who’s there?” JoLynn asked again.

  “Interrupting cow,” he went with a classic.

  “Interrupting co—”

  “Moo!” he teased.

  JoLynn giggled. “You tell all the best jokes.”

  He laughed at her. “What do you mean? That’s the first one I’ve ever told you.”

  “I know,” she continued to giggle.

  Silence gradually settled over them. He looked at her occassionally. JoLynn looked out her window.

  “I miss my mommy and daddy,” she said solumnly.

  “I know,” he held his hand out for her.

  JoLynn took it. Her little hand fit in his palm. She leaned on him and cried. He searched his mind for the right words to say.

  “They loved you very much,” he comforted her. “I didn’t know them, but they had to have been some amazing people to have a little girl as perfect as you. They’d be proud if they saw you now.”

  “I love you,” she said softly.

  Tears gushed out of his eyes without warning. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her.

  “I love you too,” he managed.

  She embraced him and cried softly. He’d have given up by now if it wasn’t for her. To get home and find nothing would’ve devastated him. It would only have been a matter of time before he turned his gun on himself. JoLynn kept him from going to that dark place.

  “Do you think they’d be mad at me if I called you dad?” she asked.

 
; He squeazed her. “I don’t think they’d be mad at all, girlie.”

  Cale held her till she fell asleep. Zach smiled at him from the rearview mirror.

  “You’ve known you loved her way before now, right?” he asked.

  Cale nodded. The Rocky Mountains got closer with each mile. A sign displayed the miles to Denver, but someone spraypainted the word “FUCKED” across it so he couldn’t read it. The next sign, a billboard, welcomed him to Wray, Colorado. The town was blocked off using shipping containers and semi trailers. A man ran a yellow flag up a pole while another waved for Cale to slow down. He obeyed and halted outside their perimeter.

  “Welcome to Wray,” said the salt and pepper haired man.

  His glasses and bushy mustach made him appear jovial.

  “Name’s Kevin,” he introduced himself.

  “Cale,” replied Cale.

  “What brings you to our town?” asked Kevin.

  “Well Kevin, I’m looking for someone,” he said.

  “You and everyone else,” the man smiled. “Come on in.”

  He waved to the armed men who protected the gate. They removed the wooden beams that secured the entrance and opened the doors to him.

  Chapter 40

  BACK IN THE GAME

  “He really likes you,” smiled Kristie as they followed the children outside for recess.

  Lauren rolled her eyes. “I’m married.”

  “I know,” replied Kristie. “And I don’t want to overstep here, but it’s been, what? A little over two years since the last time you saw your husband. Damn, woman!”

  “I can’t,” argued Lauren.

  “Lauren, honey,” Kristie grabbed her by the shoulders. “I love you. It’s okay to move on. It’s time to move on. Two years is more than enough time. You’ve got to get back on that horse. And by horse I mean dick,” she teased.

  Lauren laughed.

  “I mean come on!” Kristie continued. “It’s not like there isn’t a line of guys waiting. But at least Taylor loves Marie and Callum. And they love him. He talks about you all the time! He isn’t bad looking either, ya know?”

  “If he’s so perfect why aren’t you with him?” Lauren suggested rhetorically.