Dead End Stories From the End of the World

by P. S. Power

  They loaded everything as fast as possible, which wasn't quick at all, because they were loading cows. The women helped, but it was still a pain. Especially the last, since that one wanted to keep falling off.

  Jake grinned when it was finally balanced right.

  Yep, his early career playing video games sure got him ready for this.

  Luckily it wasn't that far to home, about two miles.

  Unfortunately, part of that was up hill. A small hill, but still, a pain in the behind for sure.

  Jake just put his head down and kept pulling as hard as he could.

  That was life anymore, wasn't it?

  Chapter Five

  It was two days after that when Jill came to him in the barn, alone, but so uneasily that Jake wondered for a few seconds if they'd decided to vote him off the island or something. He'd been pretty successful hunting, he guessed, which should count in his favor, right? Of course the cows added up fast, representing about two tons of meat, and the sheep they'd found, that Kara had noticed the day before, made a nice bit too. Hundreds of pounds at least. They were flighty, but not hard to trick into dying. Two of them had just run into the river and drowned, saving bullets. It was freezing cold, trying to get them out, but possibly worth it, when little kids weren't starving later.

  The meat was solid in the morning, frozen all the way through, which was the plan, and Jake had just finished tucking a tarp over the top when the woman, still looking a bit drab, for all she'd upgraded to a nice, bright red, coat to go with her new clothing.

  “Um, Jake?” The words caught his attention, so he turned and smiled, half expecting her to have a weapon out still. She didn't.

  “I... we... know that, well, you've been really nice to us and we all wanted to thank you and, we know that we need to...” Her words halted, stumbled really. Jake knew he was supposed to get the meaning from context, but really had no clue what she was getting at.

  Finally she continued.

  “We know we need to do our part. We aren't trying to get out of it, but, um, who do you want to... use... first?”

  “Um, sorry? I don't get you.” Jake felt slow for some reason, awkward.

  Jill stared at the ground.

  “For sex. Who do you want first?”

  “Oh.”

  That. Was that even a thing? He'd just figured they didn't want him and that was the end of it, right? It's what had happened at the House. After a while she looked up at him and he shrugged.

  “It's not an issue. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're all great and I really want to have sex. But, you know, if none of you are ready, then you aren't ready. I thought I'd made that clear. It sounds like you all had a really tough time of things that way though, so I just figured it wouldn't be happening at all. That's all.”

  Which of course meant that they'd probably hook up with the first person they met or something, because that's how it worked in his life, but whatever. As it turned out, Jake realized, he was starting not to care anymore. It had really kind of shocked him that they'd all come back the other day. That, and really, forced as it was, this was about the nicest, most genuine offer he'd ever had.

  Oh, Jake had a more blunt offer once, but then she'd promptly tried to knife him in the back. It kind of took the allure out of it.

  Jill still stared at the ground, her head lower now.

  “Really? I know that, well you haven't said anything, but all the other men, Derrick made us... It doesn't seem like a lot, but he said we couldn't sleep with him if we didn't service the others and... It was like we couldn't help ourselves. I know it sounds crazy, but...”

  “But it was like you didn't have control over it? You'd do anything to get close to him, even if it didn't make sense at the time? Like an addiction to drugs? Didn't even matter that you had to share him, as long as you got your 'fix'... that kind of thing?” It wasn't really a question, after all he'd seen it before. Jake just shrugged and continued.

  “It's his power. A chemical or pheromone that he releases to enslave women. He had more than half the women at the House going at one time. It nearly destroyed the whole thing. Apparently he learned to include the other men. Doesn't sound like he's learning to be a better person though.”

  The woman's feet shifted, “Um... like that, yeah. I... wouldn't believe it, except, yeah, that's exactly what happened. He used it to control us all, the women like you said, the men by controlling who got to have sex. Still is probably, but with only two women left...”

  Jake nodded and finished tucking the tarp around the meat, covering it completely. It was a heavy blue plastic thing, but it looked like it might snow. After he finished he turned and looked at the dowdy woman again.

  “So, yeah, when you're ready, or not. Whatever. You've all been mind-fucked, and seriously, you're all going through withdrawals now. It will take about a month or two to really kick it, so, until then, I don't expect anything. Even after. My track record with women has not been...” He was going to finish with great, but just stopped and smiled.

  “Not been. Yep that about describes it. Sigh.” He shook his head, comically enough the woman actually smiled.

  “I'll... tell the others all that. Um, thank you Jake. I think you may be the best person I've ever met. We got very lucky when we came to your door. I see that now. Anyone else...”

  He waved that away and started trying to pull the cart out. He had enough meat for two trips, but was really glad he hadn't overloaded the thing. It was freaking heavy enough, he could barely get it to move, the hard wheels rolling only slowly on the concrete of the barn floor. Jill stood for a bit, then moved in beside him, which made it marginally easier.

  The others came out after that, since they'd already eaten and put a lot of wood in the stove, way over full really, then choked off all the air. If they got back inside two days, they might have a coal or two left. It would be worth the jog over, just to tend to it, he decided. Worth it just to save the matches.

  They trudged for nearly an hour and a half, going faster than he'd figured would be the case, when he felt it hit all at once, the fear, the nearly crippling sense of terror that hit him right in the middle, just before zombies showed up. Really, Jake figured it had to do with the smell. Some hint of rot and corruption that he'd associated with them. He stopped pushing the cart, which caused it to stop without warning, moving out from under the wooden bar smoothly, drawing his nine just as he heard the first one.

  The first of many.

  Shamblers thank God. Slow, rotting hard enough that bits of body parts looked to be sliding on some of them. He didn't hesitate, just taking them with head shots carefully, one by one. At a distance. Until his clip emptied. Then he drew the forty-five from the back of his waist and kept going. Taking time to aim, he only had to shoot one of them twice.

  When he had no more bullets, there were still six of them left, and three of them surrounded Billi, who'd whimpered earning their attention.

  He had a rifle in the back of the cart, in case they needed to hunt anything. It was loaded. Only four rounds left though. Shaking his head he walked to it quickly. Falling down wouldn't help Billi at all. Getting the land sharks away from her would. She'd gone still, eyes closed. Not even trying to run. He saw the plan then. She was sacrificing herself... so the others could run away.

  Brave.

  “Hey! Over here! Come on now, ignore her, right over here. Tasty and well fed Jake buffet...” That got attention, and the three on Billi shifted toward him instead. Of course that also meant the others did too. They did love the idea of a Jake meal, apparently. He had to admit, compared to the very thin women, he probably did look tasty.

  When they moved off, Jake started firing, and took out the three closest to him as Billi opened her eyes and figured out what was happening enough to run. Shooting would have been better, but Jake kind of thought that the women didn't actually have any bullets. At least none had tried to shoot so far. If they could, they would have, if only in panic.
/>   He missed once, just a total flub, which made him wince. Then he shrugged and grabbed the machete from the back of the cart. It was stupid to try and fight a walking zombie with a blade. But if he could get them to try and feed... He skipped back, past the largest clutch of fallen bodies. They still moved, but as long as they didn't stand and he didn't get too close it would be fine.

  The dead didn't like zombie flesh. But when they saw something human looking on the ground, they'd normally try a few bites, just to make sure it wasn't a snack. When they descended on the first one, Jake jumped in and took a reeking woman from behind, which meant a half dozen blows to the neck. Funnily enough, the other z, realizing something had changed when her body flopped over the downed corps, tried to eat her instead.

  That let him get the next one, but the last stood, turned and came for him just as he finished. Jake nearly hesitated, then remembering something he'd seen Burt do once, he kicked the z in the knee, hard, taking it to the ground. Dancing back first, Jake hit its right arm at the elbow with the blade. It didn't lop it off, but broke it badly enough it wouldn't support weight. The left got the same. Then, carefully he jumped in, hitting it in the neck. It was close a few times, as it tried to grab him with its ruined bloody arms, but he didn't get scratched or anything.

  He just sat for a second after that. The bodies flopping around on the ground got him to move, still breathing heavily.

  He had to be careful, there were so many of them, but he also needed to make them safe. Safer at least. So, one by one, he took their heads. It was gruesome work, his least favorite part of all this, taking the heads. But unless it was done, they could still infect someone. Well, they could anyway, but if you stuck your hand in their mouth, you kind of deserved to be turned, didn't you?

  He was just finishing up when he realized that the women had come back, three of them, standing there, waiting nervously. He got the last head before saying anything. First thing after all.

  “Where's Kara?” It was just possible that she'd been bitten or scratched, and had taken off. Or might have been killed outright.

  “Here.” She said softly from under the cart. “Is it safe?”

  “Looks like. We need to move along though. I'm out of bullets. Um, no bites or scratches?” It had to be asked, there were more here than he'd seen at once since the first weeks. He'd never gotten caught by this many out in the open before. Few people did and lived.

  George sounded shaky and horrible, but spoke clearly. “I'm good.”

  The others all allowed that they were too, and all sounded freaked. Jake could see that. This was weird. He got the path ahead of them cleared and the cart moving as quickly as possible. Jake really hoped he could get some spare ammo at the House. If this was what the winter was going to be like, they needed to be ready for sure.

  And they just weren't. Not for this. It was as bad at the first weeks again. Only with all the resources already depleted.

  Great.

  They moved as silently as possible. They already had been, but the only noise now was the squeak of the loaded cart. When they got to the House it had just started to snow. Also great. Hopefully it wouldn't last, since they still had to get the women and kids from the police compound. All their remaining gear too. At least they had vehicles and some gas left. That would make it easier. Only part of them would have to walk the fifteen miles. The kids and slow people could ride. Of course if the dead were this thick in town...

  He shook his head and pushed the bar harder.

  At the House they found everyone inside again, this time there was a meeting going on, which meant Dave, of all people, came to let them in. The rest were hotly, if quietly debating something.

  The living room was packed and Carley sat with her left forearm bound, a clear bite mark showing through the pale gray bandage in blood. Jake sighed, but didn't shoot her in the head immediately. No rounds left. He pointed though.

  “So, Carley, why are you still alive? Really should have put a round through your head, you know?”

  She winced and made a face, as if disgruntled. It was Sammi who spoke though, her voice sounding far more adult again. It was something she did from time to time. She also lapsed into a slight British accent of all things. Then, she was from there, originally, so it kind of made sense.

  “She's a Killgrade, Jake. She should be immune to bites just like I am. That really isn't the problem. The difficulty here is that as her system fights off the infection, she could go into a full release, spewing toxins and poisons into her environment as a protective measure. Think weapon of mass destruction. We can't have that here, obviously. None of you would survive.” Her words were dark, as if she planned to just kill Carley anyway.

  The idea didn't bother Jake nearly as much as it should have. Turning to the blonde woman as she sat in the chair he shook his head. It was a stupid thing, what he was thinking, but had to be done. They didn't kill people if they could help it, wasn't that one of Nate's rules?

  “All right, we take her to my house then.” He looked behind him at the ladies that had come with him. “We need a team to bury the zombies we took out on the way here, about a mile from here. I need replacement ammo too and some spare rounds if you have them?”

  Molly stepped forward and nodded, looking happier than he'd seen her. Ever. It looked good on the girl.

  “We have a lot more now. The loading operation is going well. I'm in charge of it.” She sounded proud. Then, if she had good ammo, she should be. Jake smiled at her, which made her blush for some reason. It was the first time she'd ever done that because of him.

  “OK, so I guess if she goes all toxic, I just put a round in her head and set my house on fire if I can, before I die?” That didn't sound fun, but if it was what had to be done...

  Sammi snorted lightly.

  “No. I go and stay with her and put a bullet in her head if she turns or goes into an uncontrolled release. We might still have to burn your house down, if she goes toxic, but it won't hurt me. It's the best plan I can think of. Really, I'd imagined we were going to have to just kill her right now. So bonus all around, Carley, don't you think? You may actually survive this.” The girl smiled, a vulpine thing, and wrinkled her nose a bit. “Thanks to Jake.”

  Carley stood, shakily, but nodded after a second.

  “Right so we... Go now? I should be fine, but I can't promise control if I really start to turn. Even if I fight it off, so... Yeah.”

  Jake waited, but no one said anything for a while so he shrugged and started pointing to people, getting a team to take care of the zombies, another to unload his cart and come back for the next load too and arranged a place for the women to stay for a week while they waited to see what was up with Carley and her magical stew of spewing death.

  Vickie volunteered to come with him, but Nate shook his head.

  “No, we need you to stay close in case of another attack. Really Jake, we need you to come back too. There were nine in the attack in the woods. Luckily the guard team was able to take them, but it was close, and we have a person down.”

  Jake shook his head, counting the numbers.

  “So nearly thirty just today? That's a lot.”

  “Thirty?”

  “Yeah, it's why we need that team to bury the ones I got. There were... I really don't know, to tell the truth. I lost count.”

  Behind him Kara spoke gently, “Twenty-three. Jake stopped them, all by himself.”

  The way she said it sounded like Kara expected to be called a liar, but Vickie just nodded and so did Tipper. Dave blew out a stream of air and shook his head mournfully.

  “You get all the fun Jake. I need to hang with you more, instead of little girls and retards.” He stopped and gestured across the room, backtracking what he said by winding his right hand in a circle. “By the way Len, I don't mean you in that last bit, I used the wrong word, you can be on my team any time. You too Darla. I meant the others.”

  He scowled at Rita and Carley in turn. Then a
dded a few of the other people. Jake guessed they hadn't done that well when it came to taking out z. Well, that's why they had the guards. The boy continued.

  “Even Molly got one. Carley should get a bullet just for the way she spazzed out. She yelled, Jake, and not on purpose. Damn sloppy. I, for one, expected better from her.”

  Carley flipped him off.

  “Fuck you too Dave. I wasn't expecting to get bitten. Won't happen again. It freaking hurts though.”

  Jake had to fight a smile. It wasn't funny, but something about the situation made him want to laugh. He covered by getting everyone else out and moving.

  It made for a busy day. That and three trips to the House before he finally got to settle in for the evening. It wasn't something he wanted to do at all, but just in case they lost the little house, he wanted to have all the meat at the larger place. Well, most of it. Not the stuff for him and the ladies, but enough so that if everything had to be burned, everyone would still be able to survive. Even if he and Carley died. They still ended with more meat in the barn than he'd thought they would, another load at least.

  Just as it got dark Jake got Carley into the first bedroom, the one that Jill and George had been using and pushed her into bed. Helped her get her shoes off and tucked her in firmly. Then he laughed at her for a bit. She didn't look pleased about the whole thing. Not at all.

  “What, me almost dying is that funny to you?” It was sour and a bit harsh sounding, as if she cared what he thought.

  Jake shook his head.

  “Nope. It's just that you had to get bitten by a zombie for me to finally get you into bed. Though, just to point this out, notice that I never asked you to? All your refusals were just you deciding to preemptively be a bitch.” Which was just true. Then early on he'd just thought she was a lesbian, and later, well, she just came out and called him creepy and put him down so often he didn't think too highly of her. It was still funny now though.

  “I know. I'm... Thanks for letting us use your place like this. Given everything I didn't think I'd get more from you than a bullet.”