Southern Zombies 4: Southern Revenge

by Ann Riley

  “You see anything?” I ask.

  “Yeah. A big fucker walking around out here.” Marc says.

  “By big fucker, do you mean a man?” I ask, snorting.

  He nods.

  “I saw him too. He apparently came to change a battery pack for a camera that they have planted in a tree.” I say.

  Marc gives me a confused smile.

  “They are watching activity out there. I don’t know why, but they are. They are still trapping too.” I say.

  “They have weapons and ammo. I wonder what else they have out here?” I ask.

  “Let’s get back home. Then we can think about how to handle this. I know they are up to something, but what? I know they will be paying us a visit, but when?” Marc says.

  Trey and I nod and get in the truck.

  Chapter 9

  Upon returning home, we notice a white van in the driveway.

  “What the hell is it now?” Marc asks.

  I shrug.

  We stop, gather our stuff and exit the truck. Bobby is waiting on me when we get out.

  “How did it go?” He asks.

  “We saw a man and a camera.” I say.

  “What?” He asks.

  “I will explain later.” I tell him.

  “What is going on here?” I ask.

  Bobby then proceeds to tell me about the visitor, his sick wife and Tammy and the Doc helping her.

  Riley comes barrelling out and runs over for me to pick him up.

  “Aww, you miss momma?” I coo to him.

  Yes, I talk to my dog who happens to be my baby.

  He gives me a big wet kiss on the cheek.

  When we go inside the house, I can smell that Diane and Kelley have been cooking. They are both in the kitchen with a glass of wine.

  “When did you start drinking wine?” I ask Diane.

  She shrugs.

  How in the hell can she not know when she started drinking wine?

  And to my delight and shock, on the counter, in a glass cake plate is… a pineapple upside down cake. I have died and gone to heaven. I open the refrigerator to get a Pepsi, and lo and behold, Kelley has made a cheesecake. I almost shed a tear.

  Tammy comes in about that time and spies the cheesecake.

  “Holy shit, did we do something to get this reward?” Tammy asks.

  Kelley shrugs.

  “Are y’all drunk? What is with all the shrugging?” I ask.

  Again, they shrug. I go into the bedroom that Bobby and I have before I let loose with a string of expletives for them.

  I start taking off gear. Riley sits on the bed watching me. I get a treat from the table and give to him and he sits and eats while I shower.

  When I finish, I can hear Marc in the kitchen talking to Bobby and Mitchell. Yes, the kitchen is our meeting place. I don’t know why, it just is.

  I join them. Marc is telling them about our day and they tell Marc about their day.

  “When do you want to go back?” Bobby asks him.

  “In a day or two. If they watch that video from the camera, they will see Tracie. I don’t want to go back out there for a few days to give it time to settle hopefully. They will be watching closely.” Marc says.

  Bobby nods.

  “We’ve been checking for weak areas in the fence, reinforced the barn stall doors, gathered walker bodies up for burning and checked the perimeter of the woods.” Bobby said.

  “And we will continue fortifying so we can withstand an attack.” I say.

  “Yeah.” Marc says.

  Everyone nods in agreement.

  I sit down and get Remington, my great-great niece, out of her walker. Yes, Trey and Gabby named her after a gun. Go figure. She is such a sweet baby. Beautiful blue eyes, dark brown hair like her mom with red highlights in it like her dad. She is spoiled. As she sits in my lap blowing spit bubbles, I look around at all our family. Kelley, Tammy, and Marc who is Diane’s kids and just like siblings to me, Trey, Brittany and Brad who are Marc’s. Taylor, who belongs to Kelley and Preston, Hayley and Aidan who belong to Tammy. Marc’s grandchildren, Remington and Langley, Kelley’s grandchildren, Maddie and Mason. And more who are not with us. My brother, who passed away a few years ago has four children, Cheryl, Tommy, Angie, and Melissa. Cheryl has four children and five grandchildren, Tommy has two children and Angie has two children. Melissa has none. Gosh our family has grown over the years.

  Bobby wants to go look for his family. I guess we need to plan that. He has three brothers and one sister who live in Memphis, TN. So maybe that will be our next trip. I know he is worried about them. He is the oldest and he always feels like he has to take care of them, even though they are well into their forties too.

  I want to check on his cousin Marilyn. Her and I were always close so I have to know if she is ok.

  This shit storm has destroyed so many lives. Still no one is any closer to a vaccine. The Doc has been working on something, however, he won't tell us until he is sure it is a perfect. Doctors are scarce these days and we are lucky to have him and the three nurses we have.

  Remington starts yelling and crying so I find it is time to hand her back over to Gabby. I have no children and I love children, don’t get me wrong, but the wailing and crying gives me a headache.

  Looking at the clock it shows 1 one a.m. watching the clock is not something we do too often these days. Why should we? It isn’t like we have appointments and jobs to get to. We go by sun rise and sun set now. We are literally back in the days of the horse and buggy. Well, almost anyway. We are fortunate to have electricity, but for how long? How long until we don’t have that? Until gasoline evaporates from tanks? Until everything that was being manufactured runs out? There are no answers. We can only live one day at a time and protect what we do have. Which reminds me, I need to check out the setup in the barn for guards. I am claiming a spot in that loft before anyone else.

  “Come walk to the barn with me.” I tell Bobby.

  “Why?” He asks with a questioning look.

  “I want a spot in the loft.” I say with a smile.

  “That figures.” He says.

  “What the hell does that mean?” I ask.

  He smiles and we head out to the barn. Twenty-four years with this man. We made it this long when everyone doomed our relationship from the start. You see, Bobby is black. And in the south, that is not done often. Interracial dating, I mean. So of course we went through our share of troubles from the small minded people but we made it through when others said we would fail. They can kiss our asses. You can’t prevent falling in love with someone, regardless of race.

  We arrive at the barn and I start the climb up the ladder leading to the loft. Bobby comes up behind me. As I put a foot on the floor of the loft, Janice, the young lady that tried to hijack Diane and I right after Diane was scratched by the zombie, stands up from a bale of hay and scares the shit out of me. If you have forgotten, she is the aggravating little piss ant that whines all the time. But she has proven to be an asset to us. She does her share and has been doing well since we brought her home with us. She still whines though.

  “What the hell Janice?” I yell.

  “You scared me. I could have shot your ass. I do have my gun. Next time, let someone know you are here.” I say.

  “Don’t be so dramatic.” She says.

  “Oh. So had I shot your ass, would that be too dramatic for you?” I say.

  I should kick her ass.

  “What are you doing out here?” I ask her.

  “Nothing. Just looking at the stars.” She says.

  I shake my head. The one thing you don’t do these days is sneak around. You risk the chance of getting shot or stabbed. It’s best to let someone know where you are and where you are going. Will she ever learn this? Doubtful.

  I walk around looking for my spot. I make my little nest in the corner where there is a window on the left and right wall. Well, the window may be the wrong word. Not a window in the normal sense of
the word, but an opening that has a door that is capable of opening and closing. Would that be a window? Hell, I don’t know. I am not an architect or a carpenter. Anyway, I will be able to see in two different directions. I brought a few items from the house with me. Three knives, my 30 30 rifle, and a few flash grenades. Should I bring my Molotov cocktail accessories up too? No. I would more than likely end up setting the whole barn on fire. Best to leave those for the non-combustible areas of the Foxhole.

  “Help me pull a couple of hay bales over.” Bobby says.

  I look questioningly at him.

  “For a place to sit your ass?” He asks.

  “Oh, right.” I say.

  I make Riley a little nest too, as I know he will be up here most of the time with me. It seems I can’t get a few feet from him these days and he howls and whines like I have ditched him and may never come back. He is spoiled, I know.

  “Janice, get your ass back inside the house. I don’t need to spend the rest of the night worrying about you.” I tell her.

  She gives me an eye roll.

  I give her a growl.

  She climbs down the ladder and heads inside.

  Bobby shakes his head.

  “What?” I ask.

  “That’s how you do it. No arguments. I don’t have time to argue. She knows to get her ass inside now.” I say with a smile.

  “I see why we have no children.” Bobby says.

  “Smart ass.” I say. As we make our way back down the ladder.

  I may not make mother of the year, but my concern and care is always there, even though I may not show it. Everyone tells me I am just like my daddy who could never show his true feelings. I guess it prevents you from getting them hurt too often when you act as if you don’t care. My personality type is that of if I love you, I will harass and aggravate you and often times make you angry if it means you will be safe. If I never have anything to say to you, ignore you, and never try to help you along the right path, then my concern level is not that high for you. Is it harsh? Yes. But, I’ve been told numerous times through the years that I always look like I’m angry or that I just don’t like people. I think the proper term for that now is resting bitch face. Or so I read. I’ve never been a people person so that is the easiest way for me to keep people at a distance. But, it doesn’t mean I don’t care. It means that I am not up for any bullshit or drama.

  Chapter 10

  At four in the morning, we are jolted awake by a loud boom booming bang . I sit bolt upright in bed and Bobby falls off the bed trying to get up. Riley is barking and growling by the time I finally get my leg untangled from the comforter.

  We make our way to the kitchen, rifles on our shoulders, and see Marc has already made it up from his house. Damn, he must have nitro in that Pioneer.

  Bobby, Marc, Diane, Burrell, Kelley, Mitchell and I are planning our defense defence when Becky walks in with an arm load of grenades.

  “Thinking about blowing something to hell and back?” I ask her with a snort.

  “Hell yeah!” She exclaims.

  She has been married to Marc for too long.

  Bobby, Marc and I head out to the Pioneer so we can get to the barn and get a window seat. Kelley, Burrell, and Diane take up various window seats in the house so that they can keep the kids safe. Becky and Mitchell head out the front and to the guard tower where Trey is supposed to be on watch. I hope he is alright.

  Marc and I pile into the Pioneer and Bobby jumps onto the small trailer Marc has hitched to it.

  When we get almost to the barn, we hear shots being fired from the woods. We all jump out of the Pioneer and leave it to roll to a stop.

  “Fuck.” Marc says.

  “Which way did that come from?” Bobby asks.

  “To the left of the barn in the woods.” Marc says.

  Fucking shit.

  We low walk our way to the barn and finally make it inside. As soon as I climb up the ladder to my nest, what do I see?

  Janice.

  And she is not moving.

  “Janice, are you ok?” I ask her.

  Not a word. I reach down and feel her neck for a pulse. She has one but barely.

  Mother fucker I told her to stay inside. Hard headed ass brat. I feel around on her and finally see why she is not moving. She is gut shot.

  “Oh fuck.” I yell.

  “What?” Marc and Bobby both say.

  “Janice has been shot. In the gut. She isn’t responding to me.” I cry.

  Damn it all to hell.

  I take my top shirt off, roll it up and press it to her stomach. Not that I think it will do much good, but I can’t not do anything. I sit down and put her head in my lap as Bobby and Marc lay down cover fire for Mitchell and Becky running to the guard tower.

  “Why didn’t you listen to me, you little aggravating ass girl?” I ask between sobs.

  She is only eighteen years old. She had no one when we brought her home with us and she fits in nicely with the family. She was of the typical smart mouth, sarcastic eighteen year olds of the present day. But she was a good person who did not deserve this.

  I looked down at her and her eyes fluttered open for a minute.

  “I’m sorry.” She whispered.

  And then she was gone. A few days later, we will have a small memorial for Janice. We will place her on the funeral pyre and each of us will take a minute to say something. We didn’t know her that well, but she was a part of our family.

  When we are done, Mitchell will say a prayer for her and we will light the pyre. I hope she is at peace.

  My wails got louder as Bobby and Marc continued to fire. I kissed her forehead and laid her down on the hay when she had fallen. I got up, walked over to the window and began to fire at anything moving that was not friendly. I only had rage in my heart at these bastards who thought they could come in here and destroy us and take anything from us. Rage at this new world. Rage at the government for being self-serving jack asses who never cared about anyone except themselves.

  I continued firing and heard a loud grunt as my round hit home. I hope it gut shot them like Janice had been. I hope they bleed out slowly as the zombies come and dine on their innards.

  Gross? Yes. Hostility and hate laced? You bet your ass. Do I hate people now? For the most part, yes. Why? How can you trust anyone now? You can’t.

  A line from my favorite movie of all time, Scarface, with Al Pacino, “Who do I trust? Me, that’s who”.

  You didn’t see people running over and taking from Tony Montana, did you? Hell no you didn’t.

  We continue to fire and of course, the zombies came out of the woodwork. Like cockroaches hiding until the lights go off, then come out to scurry about.

  I hear a few explosions go off. Becky is apparently having fun with the grenades. I hope she blows them to hell.

  The shots finally start to die down and we turn and look at each other. I shake my head at Bobby and Marc as they glance down at Janice and back up to me. They both drop their heads in sorrow for the loss of her.

  Marc walks over and scoops her up in his arms. I start my descent down the ladder and Bobby waits midway to help Marc get Janice down. Finally, they get to the floor and Marc carries her toward the house while Bobby and I keep a watch and cover our asses.

  When we get to the house, Doc comes out and takes Janice from Marc. Marc shakes his head at Doc and Doc sighs.

  He takes her into the infirmary and places her on a bed and covers her.

  Robert is sitting with Rosa as Doc brings Janice in. Rosa starts saying a prayer for Janice. Rosa is apparently Catholic since I hear Hail Mary and see her holding a Rosary.

  Bobby, Marc and I head around to the front and out to the guard tower. Mitchell and Becky are walking back. Mitchell has Trey over his shoulder.

  Marc runs up to Mitchell.

  “He was shot.” Mitchell says.

  Becky is crying as Marc takes Trey from Mitchell.

  Marc trots back to Doc and hands Trey over
to him. We go into the infirmary and wait as Doc checks him over.

  Trey is groaning now, so that is a good sign, right? I mean he is awake.

  My nephew is a man who is like me to an extent. He doesn’t show his feelings easily, but I can see tears streaming as he carries his son.

  “He was hit in the shoulder.” Doc says.

  “It looks to have ricocheted off of something and struck him. It didn’t go in, it just tore the skin open and made a small path across his shoulder.” Doc tells us.

  We all breathe a sigh of great relief.

  “Oh God, it hurts.” Trey moans.

  “Boy you scared the hell out of me.” Marc says.

  “Well, daddy it didn’t exactly give me the warm and fuzzies.” Trey snaps at Marc.

  I should kick his ass for scaring us.

  Becky stops crying and blows her nose.

  “I should whip your ass for getting shot.” She tells Trey.

  “Momma, that sounds stupid, you know? To whip me for getting shot, like it was my fault.” Trey says.

  “Shut up.” Becky exclaims and grabs Trey in a momma bear hug.

  “Oh momma you are killing me.” Trey whines.

  “Not yet, maybe later on.” Becky tells him.

  Oh the joys of family life.

  Chapter 11

  “You know this means war for them?” I ask Marc.

  “Yeah, I figured.” He says.

  “I am going to walk out by the woods and see if we killed anyone. I heard a few rounds hit home out there.” Marc says.

  I nod.

  “Take Bobby and Mitchell with you.” I tell him.

  He nods.

  Kelley, Diane and Tammy are in the infirmary with Trey. Tammy is going to sew his wound up and Trey whines.

  “I haven’t even touched you yet boy.” Tammy tells him.

  “Aunt Tammy, it hurts.” Trey says.

  Tammy pulls her syringe out, pushes Trey to the side and plunges the needle in him.

  “Damn that hurt.” He yells.

  “Not in a minute it won’t.” Tammy says with a snort.

  A few minutes later, Trey is laughing, snorting and slurring words. High on Demerol and not whining now.