Z Plan (Book 3): Homecoming

by Lerma, Mikhail

  “I’ve got Simon,” she replied proudly. “It’s just a small party. Some music, a little dancing, then some homemade liquor to get the blood flowing. Just see where the night takes you. And if you end up naked together, then so be it.”

  “Why are you so interested in playing matchmaker?” asked Lauren.

  “Right now I’ll just settle for getting you laid,” laughed Kristie.

  “Is aunt Flo visiting? Is that what’s got you in ‘fuck mode’?” Lauren teased her.

  “Simon and I don’t fuck,” she said defiantly. “We make love. He stares into my eyes, and it’s like he looks right into my soul. It’s amazing. And no, Aunt Flo was last week.”

  “What you have with Simon is exactly what I have with Cale,” explained Lauren.

  “It’s what you had. And I’m not saying you need to find that with Taylor, I’m just saying give it a chance,” urged Kristie. “Those kids depend on you. Wouldn’t it be nice to share the weight?”

  “I do,” smirked Lauren. “With you.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” Kristie growled frustrated. “Simon is Gert’s father. Shouldn’t Marie and Callum have a father?”

  “Where is that husband of yours?” asked Lauren in an attempt to change the subject.

  “He’s watching Gert back at the house. We’re not done talking about this!” she declared. “Taylor is sweet. You’ve even admitted that!”

  “Alright!” objected Lauren. “Yes, he’s sweet. Yes, I find him attractive. And yes, he’d make a great father I’m sure. But not all of those things mean I’ll be happy with him. I just don’t feel it, ya know?”

  “Look,” explained Kristie. “I understand your reluctance. He will never be Cale. But he’s only going to wait around so long. He’s a catch, Lauren. And if you take too long to realize it, some other girl will have snatched him up by then. I may joke about getting you laid, but really, I worry for you. I know you’ve made it this far without a man’s help, but one day you may be thankful to have someone there for you.”

  Lauren thought about Kristie’s words as the children played. Perhaps it was time to move on. She thought about raising Marie and Callum alone. Callum would be particularly difficult if he didn’t have a proper male role model. Her issue was that Cale didn’t feel dead to her. It was like he was out there somewhere, still alive. She imagined the army recalling all of its troops and purging the dead in one last push. It was an optimistic, but futile fantasy.

  “Alright,” she conceded. “Tonight. I’ll ask Stacy if she can watch the kids—”

  “Already done,” interrupted Kristie. “Double date tonight!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

  “Who let the trash in?” asked someone.

  Kristie and Lauren looked to see what they were talking about. A bearded man in fatigues watched the kids play.

  “Is he a pedophile or something?” another voice asked.

  “What is he looking at?” asked Kristie.

  Lauren could see Callum and Marie playing with another child. The man was walking toward them.

  “Oh fuck no,” hissed Lauren as she went to protect her children.

  Taylor emerged from the crowd and followed her. The man was hovering around Marie. Staring at her like a predator.

  “Excuse me,” she said hostily.

  Chapter 41

  PRESTON

  With a frown, Cale returned the crinkled picture of Lauren and Marie back to his pocket.

  “I wish I could say yes,” the vendor said apologetically.

  “Thank you for your time,” Cale said out of habit.

  It was going on a week and a half of showing their picture to anyone willing to look. This was the sixth or seventh village and still no leads. The folks at Wray had been nice enough to draw him a rough map with all the known safe zones. One community had been the catalyst for organizing them. Cale hadn’t been there yet, but it was perhaps the most promising. He felt like he’d been all over the state by now. It was dead end after dead end. On top of the disappointment of not finding any leads, JoLynn craved being around kids her own age. And her discontent was obvious as he told her they had to go each time. He looked around for her. She was exactly where he’d left her, on the playground. She idly swung on the swings while the other kids played on a slide a few feet away.

  “JoLynn,” he called to her as he approached.

  She’d been crying. Her eyes were puffy and red.

  “What’s wrong, girlie?” asked Cale.

  “They didn’t want to play with me,” pouted JoLynn.

  “Well,” he walked behind her and gave her a push. “That’s their loss.”

  “I told them my name,” she explained. “But they didn’t tell me theirs.”

  “It’s okay,” he comforted her.

  Cale gave her another gentle push. He looked at the other kids take turns on the slide. Occasionally, one of them would look at him and JoLynn. Then he noticed the parents farther back staring at them.

  “Those bastards probably told their kids not to play with strangers,” scoffed Zach.

  “I don’t blame them,” confessed Cale.

  He let her swing for a few more minutes before stopping her.

  “We gotta go,” he informed her.

  “Aw,” she whined.

  “I’m sorry, girl,” he apologized.

  She’d already learned that it was pointless to argue against leaving. What Cale said, went. But he was still nice about it. It helped that he was always offering her a treat of some kind. She hopped off the rubber seat and grabbed his hand.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “There’s no room for us to stay here, and the next place may not have room either, but they did say that there was a safe place to camp,” he explained.

  “I don’t like to camp,” she said with a tone of fear in her voice.

  Every time they had to camp for the night the infected always wandered close by. Cale would set up trip lines and booby-traps at their perimeter. Simple devices that alerted them to a breach of their security. Often times he’d deal with it, and then spend the next hour convincing her it was safe to sleep.

  “This place is different,” he clarified. “It’s in a post office. Travelers and traders use it on occasion.”

  “So it’s inside?” inquired JoLynn.

  “Yes,” he chuckled.

  “Good,” she declared.

  The pair walked toward the main entry control point. Men armed with bows and hunting rifles opened a small door for them. This had been the most elaborate layout Cale had seen. They’d erected an actual security shack where they required travelers to check in their weapons as well as their vehicles.

  He’d been warned that his attire might be received with some hostility. A rogue group had been traveling up the interstates attacking and taking supplies from each of the communities. These little incursions had declined lately, but were still common. Cale just happened to be wearing their unofficial uniform. He knew if they were in BDUs, then there was a chance that they’d been military at one point in time. Some of them at least. It worried him a bit.

  “Cale,” he said to the man behind the desk.

  The man didn’t have to scan his list for the name. He already knew which weapons were his.

  “Here ya go,” the man replied as he slid Cale’s belongings to him.

  The other guards stiffened as Cale put his weapons back in their holsters and slung his rifle over his back. The next man held open the door to their parking lot. Cale nodded to the man as he lead JoLynn back outside. They entered a fenced in area. Additional security walked along its perimeter, stabbing the undead through the chain-link fence. This approach was surprisingly effective. At the end of the day, the bodies were dropped into a pit where they were set on fire. The fire would then draw more infected to it. Causing them to fall in and burn also. It looked as if mankind was finally winning the war against the dead.

  He opened her door and helped her in. Cale tossed his rif
le and bag into the back seat before getting behind the wheel.

  “One going out!” shouted a woman.

  “Close your eyes,” Cale told JoLynn.

  She obeyed without hesitation. Three men at the gates hurriedly opened the large chain-link door while two others fought off the shambling corpses that tried to enter. Careful not to run over the men, Cale exited through the opening. As soon as he was through the gate was closed and the men were safe. He helped lighten their load by running down a few undead in his path. They hit the hood and then were pulled under the car. The sound their bodies made as he drove over them was sickening. After the car had finished bouncing and they were clear of the rotting crowd, Cale tapped JoLynn’s shoulder.

  “You can open them now,” he informed her.

  JoLynn opened one to peek first before opening the other. Trees zoomed past her window.

  “Zach, you can open your eyes now,” she said to the empty back seat.

  “Was Zach scared too?” he asked.

  “Yeah. But it’s all better now,” she replied innocently.

  Cale laughed. It was only five or so miles before their drive south brought them into a small town. A sign displaying its name, “Preston,” and its elevation was posted. It wasn’t large by any means. In fact, it was only a few blocks before they were on the other side of town. Cale saw the familiar blue bins that sat outside next to the curb. The brick building had boards over its door and windows. A large black mark blemished the center of the street. Charred remains and ash sat at its center. The post office had a ladder propped against it. Someone had spray painted the word “safe” with an arrow going toward the roof. He could see the faded letters from previous tags. Anytime it became too difficult to read someone would renew it.

  “This is the place,” he said as he brought the vehicle to a stop.

  JoLynn stayed in her seat while Cale made sure the area was safe. Two corpses stumbled out of the wood line and into the road to the north. They were far enough away that they didn’t matter. He opened JoLynn’s door. She put her backpack on and he brought her to the base of the ladder.

  “Up there?” she sounded scared.

  “Don’t look down. I’ll be right behind you,” he assured her. “It’s just like at a playground.”

  Slowly she climbed up the metal rungs.

  “Very good,” Cale coached her. “Keep going, girlie.”

  He kept watch and waited until she had almost reached the top before climbing. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck at halfway when an infected came to grab him.

  “Go on over!” he called to her as she reached the top.

  Cale scurried up the ladder after her. She waited next to the ledge for him.

  “See?” he said to her. “Not so hard.”

  He walked toward the broken skylight. Another ladder descended into the darkness of the building. Cale could barely see the bottom.

  “Hey!” he called into the open chasm.

  They waited for any kind of reply. Nothing.

  “I’ll go down first,” he said to her.

  JoLynn nodded. The ladder shifted from side to side as he lowered himself down. At the bottom, dried leaves crunched under foot. Cale dropped his bag and pulled out his flashlight. Instead of aiming the beam, he placed it on the floor, shining up. This enabled him to see the room as a whole, rather than one section at a time. Cobwebs draped down in swaths from the ceiling. Loose papers and leaves littered the checkered tile floor. He kicked a clear plastic tube on the floor. An old chem-light. Behind a counter were empty shelves. At the back was a blue door marked “RESTROOM.”

  “Hello?” he shouted.

  The only sound was JoLynn moving above him.

  “It’s okay!” he yelled to her. “Come on down!”

  He steadied the ladder as the six-year-old girl made her way down. Cale pulled her off the ladder before she reached bottom and sat her down. She looked around the room.

  “There are spiders in here,” she stated.

  “Probably,” responded Cale. “but that’s better than the monsters outside.”

  JoLynn agreed. With his knife ready, he led her behind the desk. A burn pit had been crafted below another broken skylight.

  “Get unpacked. I’m going to build a fire,” he told her.

  She went to work getting her sleeping bag out and he collected some cardboard from a pile. Someone had been kind enough to leave large chunks of wood in a pile to add to the fire. That’d provide a nice long burn for the night.

  Soon the fire was crackling and JoLynn was snuggled up with her Tygee. Cale stoked the fire and watched her play. He pulled the can of chili away from the flame.

  “Dinner is served,” Cale presented her the can. “Careful, it’s a little hot.”

  “Okay,” she smiled.

  She lightly tapped the side of the aluminum can then looked at Cale. He nodded for her to take it. JoLynn smiled and began to eat. A thump on the barricade gained his attention.

  “Sit tight. I’m going to go look around,” he told her.

  He left her by the fire and walked across the room. Chairs and shelves were pushed up against the doors. The monster outside struck the barricade again. The wood panel shook slightly. Bony fingers reached through a gap in the barrier. Cale clutched his knife and moved closer to the opening.

  “Right here,” he whispered through the gap.

  A rotted figure pushed its face to the crack to get him. Cale jabbed his knife through the opening and the creature slid down the exterior of the building. He slid the goo-covered blade back into its holster and walked back to the light of the campfire. The glow revealed something he hadn’t seen before. Travelers had left personal messages on the wall for their loved ones to find. Cale scanned the writings. “Jared was here.” “So was Trent.” He moved to another section and skimmed its contents. “Had to move on. Waited two days–Gabe.” “Safe zone in Canada. NO INFECTION!” “SAFE ZONES ARE A LIE!” Cale read a few more before settling back down.

  “I’m full,” proclaimed JoLynn as she pushed the can of food away.

  She’d eaten maybe half of it. Exactly what Cale had expected her to.

  “You sure?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she replied. “Tygee and me are tired.”

  Cale smiled. He tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

  “I love you,” he whispered to her.

  “I love you more,” she debated.

  “Get some sleep,” encouraged Cale.

  “Okay,” she yawned.

  Cale grabbed the half-full can and proceeded to eat the rest of it. He watched JoLynn attempt to fall asleep. Cale sat the can aside when he’d emptied it. He added another block of wood to the fire.

  “When are we going home?” asked JoLynn.

  He sat for a moment and thought about his answer. The life of a nomad was hard for her, he could tell. She needed something stable and constant. Even though he wanted to find his family, he had to do what was right for her. He was her guardian now.

  “Tomorrow,” he answered.

  “Good,” she replied. “I miss my bed.”

  Cale chuckled. “Go to sleep, girlie.”

  “Good night, Dad,” she said softly.

  It was the first time she’d called him dad since she asked if it would be alright. Cale had noticed that she’d been avoiding calling him anything directly. She hadn’t even uttered his name. Within minutes, she was snoring softly. Cale stared into the fire. Déjà vu took hold as Zach walked up and took a seat facing the fire. The pair sat in silence long enough for the fire to require another chunk of wood. Cale nestled it into the ash. Orange embers took flight up into the night sky.

  “This is it huh?” implied Zach.

  Cale nodded without looking at him.

  “After all this,” he lectured. “You’re just done?”

  “Yes,” Cale whispered.

  Zach stared at him.

  “Tomorrow we’ll go into town. I’ll show their pic
ture and ask around,” Cale paused. “but if no one recognizes them, I’m taking JoLynn and going home.”

  His hallucination didn’t reply.

  “I don’t know where they are. But she is right there,” he looked at JoLynn. “Right here. She needs me. That’s why I couldn’t save you. Or Adam and Matthew. I couldn’t save anyone because I was trying to get me home. But when I got home I realized it had been an empty goal.”

  Zach listened contently.

  “What if…what if I made it through all that shit,” Cale said softly, “just for her? With the dead rising and everyone dying around me, I quit believing in a higher power. But what if I had to go through all of that for her? What if destiny put me here for her?”

  JoLynn stirred but remained asleep. Cale searched his thoughts for his next words.

  “It’s time to quit being selfish. It’s time I started acting for someone else. She is that someone else.” The fire reflected off the tears in his eyes. “She is everything I’ve been looking for.”

  “Are you sure?” questioned Zach.

  Cale didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  “Then you’re done,” Zach smiled. “You were searching for your family and now you’ve found one. I won’t argue with that.”

  Cale smiled at his friend. “Man, I really wish you were here,” he said.

  “I am,” smirked Zach with saddened eyes. “Get some rest. You’ve got a long day ahead of you.”

  Chapter 42

  WELCOMING COMMITTEE

  The dead scratching on the barricade woke him. A faint wisp of smoke was all that remained of the fire he’d built. JoLynn’s tiny body lay in his arms. She’d gotten scared in the night, so Cale offered to cuddle her. Birds chirped outside. Through the skylight, he could see a clear blue sky. JoLynn stirred when the infected moaned loudly. She jerked herself awake in fear.

  “It’s alright,” whispered Cale. “They’re outside.”

  She relaxed, but was still alert. Cale jumped up and went to the boarded window. The wood shook as each of them took a turn hitting it. If they all hit at the same time, they’d have a better chance of getting in. He tried to count them through the crevice, but couldn’t get a solid number.