Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 2): A New Darkness

by Josh Vasquez

  Jeremy cut his worrying short as they turned around one last bend of trees. The two-story farmhouse came into view once around the curve. It was bigger than Jeremy expected. What a house this size was doing in the middle of the forest was beyond Jeremy. It had a wraparound porch on the lower level, rocking chairs lining the front side.

  As Josh pulled the truck to a stop, several figures stepped out onto the porch. They stood there for a moment, staring at the truck that had just pulled into their driveway. Josh shut off the engine and stepped out. Jeremy watched as the man’s face lit up and he took off running towards the house. One of the people on the porch, made their way down the steps.

  Jeremy looked back through the rear-window at Lexx and Tori. Lexx shrugged and they three of them exited the truck. They watched as Josh ran towards the person who hobbled in his direction.

  “Laura!” He cried out.

  The woman threw open her arms for him.

  Jeremy, Lexx, and Tori all watched as he tightly embraced the brunette woman, kissing all over her face. She returned his affection and buried her head into his chest, tears streaming down her face. The other figures from the porch made their way towards the reunited couple.

  Tori nudged Lexx in the ribs.

  “What?” he said.

  Tori tried her best to keep a calm face.

  “Is she… Is she…”

  Lexx looked at his stammering friend and then back to Josh’s wife. His jaw dropped open. Jeremy noticed it too and also tried to keep his smile in place.

  Josh’s wife was very pregnant.

  Chapter Four

  The hot water beat against Jeremy’s bare chest. He lowered his head, letting the shower soak his hair, and let all the dirt and grime wash away.

  Oh, man… I thought I’d never feel hot water again.

  This was not the first time that he had taken a shower since the one at his own house the day everything started. The day he lost his mother. The day he was washing off her blood. They spent their first night with Josh in a small, little country home. The water there was well water, so it was fresh, and cold. Freezing cold. And it smelled off too. Kinda of like old eggs.

  This water on the other hand, it did not have that funky smell. Jeremy did not care why; he just enjoyed it.

  Not sure how they got hot water too. Maybe a generator on a water heater?

  Again, he didn’t really care, but just enjoyed the luxury of the steaming hot shower. He offered to go last in the line to the shower, so he was not expecting warm water at all. Maybe he would ask later, or maybe, it just didn’t matter.

  They were safe now.

  At least relatively, other than the zombies near the tanker, the group had yet to see anymore living dead wandering around. Josh’s family only said a small group was found nearby, but Josh’s nephew, CJ, dispatched all three.

  The thirteen-year-old boy stood almost as tall as Jeremy did. Jeremy was slightly taller than everyone else his age, but he seemed to think he had hit his maximum height. CJ seemed to be the same way, except where Jeremy was kind of scrawny, CJ was solid. The boy had been mostly quiet too. He stayed to the background as the new arrivals became integrated into the group. He was most likely sizing them up, the same way any thirteen-year-old sizes up a group of adults.

  The rest of Josh’s family had been welcoming, his brother-in-law and wife more so. The in-laws seemed nice, but Jeremy could tell by their facial expressions that they were unsure of Josh bringing strangers to their safe haven. Fair enough. Jeremy could not blame them for that. Josh’s sister-in-law was strangely quiet. When introduced, she simply nodded and turned back to the house. Jeremy did not take offense to this either; the woman just lost her daughter. Her lack of hospitality could be waived for the time being. Besides, it’s not like Jeremy was so turned off by it that he would want to leave.

  Josh had introduced all of them by name, but Jeremy struggled to remember them all. He was terrible with names to begin with. The one he was sure of, only because Josh talked about her all the time in the truck, was Laura. Josh made sure to clarify that his wife’s name was pronounced, “Lar-uh,” not “Loor-uh.” Jeremy had simply smiled politely at the time and nodded. Now, he would have to remember that nugget of information when it came time to talk with her.

  The thought of talking with her brought something to the forefront of his mind that had been nagging him from the back burner.

  She was pregnant.

  Sweet Jesus, Jeremy thought. A baby? How in the world is that going to work?

  Probably the same way it has for thousands of years Jeremy, his sarcasm answered.

  Yeah, I got that. What I meant is, how is she going to have it?

  He didn’t think any of them were doctors, much less the baby-kind of doctors. The thought of her giving unassisted birth here in the house sent a shiver down Jeremy’s spine. So much to go wrong. And what if another group of zombies finds them here? How are they going to escape with a pregnant woman? Or hell, a baby?

  “Hey, you still alive in there?”

  A voice from the other side of the shower curtain interrupted Jeremy’s whirlwind of thoughts. He peeked around to see CJ standing there with a folded up towel. He sat it down on the small counter.

  “Brought you a towel,” he said. “Sorry it’s Spongebob. It was the last one.”

  “Not a problem,” Jeremy said. “Thank you. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  CJ nodded and walked back out. Jeremy ducked back into the shower and finished scrubbing all the yuck that past few days had accumulated on him.

  ***

  Jeremy walked into the upstairs bedroom, the Spongebob towel wrapped around his waist. Over on the bed, the clothes he laid out earlier awaited his arrival. Another pair of jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, socks, and his only pair of shoes. The shoes were caked in mud before he got in the shower, but somebody had washed the majority of it off. This made him smile.

  The weather had shifted drastically from the past week. Was it only a week ago when Jeremy was out, sweating his balls off, collecting shopping carts at the grocery store? Now, it was cool outside, sometimes downright chilly in the mornings. He was sure that being out in the country made it cooler, the more they moved away from the warm air coming in off the Atlantic.

  Jeremy dressed and when he was finished, there was a knock at the door.

  “Yeah? I’m dressed; you can come in,” he said.

  The door opened and CJ poked his head in.

  “You good?” The boy asked. “You need anything else?”

  “Nah man. Thanks though,” Jeremy answered, smiling.

  CJ entered the room and made his way over to the dresser, picking up a picture frame and inspecting it. Jeremy noticed the picture earlier. It was one of CJ’s family, his mom and dad and sister. He watched as the boy looked at the portrait and then sat it back down in its spot.

  “I went ahead and washed your shoes off for you,” CJ finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence building in the room.

  “Yes. I saw that. Thank you,” Jeremy said.

  A few beats of silence passed again.

  “So, CJ, is there something I can help you with?” Jeremy asked.

  CJ looked Jeremy in the eyes. The blue-eyed, sandy blonde-haired boy was no doubt the undoing of his female classmates at one time, but now there was a shadow of darkness that covered the boy.

  “My sister is dead.”

  His gaze never left Jeremy. It was unsettling at first, but Jeremy realized that he was the closest person in age CJ had seen in days. The boy had nobody to talk to his own age. He was looking for a friend.

  “I’ve heard and I’m sorry CJ. I lost my mom the first day everything went bad,” Jeremy responded, his smile turning sympathetic.

  CJ nodded.

  “Yeah, me too kinda,” he said, breaking his eye contact to stare out the window. “Mom hasn’t been the same since it happened. It was weird. Like, she just shut down. That’s not like her at all.”

 
; His gaze returned to Jeremy. For the first time, the boy smiled.

  “So, what do you do for fun CJ?” Jeremy asked, changing the subject.

  “Well, I use to play football…”

  A sound at the door interrupted CJ. Jeremy could have sworn it sounded like snorting. CJ smiled at Jeremy, seeming to enjoy his confusion.

  “It’s okay Bacon. You can come in. Come on boy!” CJ said, leaning in and clapping his hands.

  A small pink snout poked in from the doorway. The brown-haired piglet it was attached to made its way into the bedroom, snorting and galloping on its tiny legs. It ran up to CJ, who picked it up and turned back to Jeremy.

  “This is Bacon. I found him after his mother was attacked by some zombies. Well, he found me technically.”

  Jeremy smiled and reached out to pet the pig. The small hog closed its eyes in enjoyment as Jeremy scratched behind its ears.

  “He seems to like you,” CJ said, noticing how relaxed the pig seemed in his arms.

  “Well,” Jeremy said. “Us guys who lost moms got to stick together.”

  ***

  “You shouldn’t have brought them here.”

  Josh locked eyes with his mother-in-law. He knew this conversation would be a part of bringing Lexx, Tori, and Jeremy with him.

  “And why is that Mom?” He asked.

  “You don’t know these people-”

  “Actually,” he interrupted. “I’ve spent the past few days with them, so I know them pretty well. We’ve fought for our lives together and I don’t know of any better way to get to know someone than that.”

  She had no response to that, but he knew this would not be the end of the conversation. She turned and walked away, leaving him standing there alone in the hallway.

  Chapter Five

  Laura and her mother prepared dinner downstairs. The rationing was uplifted for the night, because tonight was a celebration. With Josh’s return and the joining of other able-bodied help, tonight was not a night for the earmarking of food.

  Josh walked into the open kitchen area, both women not paying him the least bit of attention. A casserole dish full of spaghetti sat cooling on the island countertop. Josh picked up a fork, readying to sample some of the dish. She swatted his hand away as he went in for the bite.

  “Hey!” He said.

  “Not yet!” Laura said. “You’re gonna have to wait like everyone else!”

  “Aww man, but I thought tonight was for me?” He asked, sticking out his lower lip in a pouting manner.

  “Please,” she said, as she pushed him out of the way. “I don’t care how long you were gone. That look will never work on me.”

  Her mother smiled as she mixed the sweet tea.

  Josh grinned and leaned in to kiss his wife on the cheek.

  “And that’s why I need you,” he said, planting the kiss before kneeling down.

  He put his hand on her belly and leaned in.

  “We’re going to have to stick together princess or Mommy isn’t going to let us have any fun,” he whispered into her abdomen.

  Laura pushed him with her hip, knocking him over.

  “Oh please! Get out of the kitchen you!”

  He stood up and smiled wide.

  “Geez, I’ve only been back a few hours and I’ve already worn out my welcome? Tough crowd.”

  “Oh, you think this is your welcome back?” She started. “Just you wait until later-”

  Her mother cleared her throat, to remind the couple that she was still very much in the room. Laura gave her husband a quick wink and went back to preparing the Caesar salad. He returned the wink and made his way to the front porch where Lexx and Tori were talking with his father and brother-in-law.

  ***

  Lexx had a hard time believing his eyes. The scene before him was completely surreal. Chris, Josh’s brother-in-law, and their father-in-law, who they called Pops, sat in rocking chairs, swaying back and forth as they drank sweet tea. Tori and he were leaning against the porch banister, a cool autumn breeze blowing. It was like something off a postcard, big letters scrawled across the top, “Y’all come back now!” Compared to the chaos of last week, this setting almost seemed to be strange.

  His daydreaming session stopped as Josh made his way out onto the porch. The guy had barely stopped smiling since they arrived. Lexx couldn’t blame him though, the guy was lucky enough to have his whole family survive. Josh gave Lexx the masculine head nod as he entered the porch, which Lexx returned with a smile.

  “Dinner will be ready shortly,” Josh said. “It smells so good in there.”

  “Great, cause I’m starving,” Lexx said.

  He thought maybe he shouldn’t have used the word, “starving,” because it might not be long before they had a better understanding of that word.

  Ah, c’mon Lexx, he thought to himself. Don’t be so damn pessimistic. Things could be fine here. We can survive here.

  It seemed that Josh was sharing his thoughts, because his smile seemed to falter for a moment. It returned and he looked at Lexx.

  “Well, good, because we have plenty of food! And being out here in the woods, I’m sure we’ll have more than enough wildlife to choose from.”

  Lexx nodded. They were in a good location. Deer, rabbit, and other game were sure to wander the surrounding area and Lexx had already heard the story about CJ and the hogs. Hogs were good eatin’ they would just have to beat the zombies to them.

  “So, what y’all been talkin’ about?” Josh asked, as he settled against the banister on the other side of Tori.

  “Well these two were just introducing themselves to us,” Chris said. “They explained how they met each other, and how they met Jeremy and… and, um, Ben? (He looks at the couple for confirmation; they both nod.) Ok, I thought so. Then they told us about the adventures they went through to get out of Savannah, all the way up to where you rescued them.”

  “Ha, I would barely call it a rescue!” Josh laughed. “Tori here had to put a gun to my head in order for me to turn around and go get Lexx!”

  He turned to look at Tori.

  “Which was the right thing to do. I’m sorry to put you in that position.”

  Lexx could tell that she was somewhat uncomfortable accepting the apology, but did so with a smile.

  The night before, as they were lying in bed together, she told him that she was still somewhat angry with Josh for the whole incident. She tried to explain to Lexx that she was very grateful that Josh did pick them up, but the fact that he was willing to leave someone behind like that, well, that just did not sit well with her. Lexx understood both sides of the equation, but had sided with Tori, because she was naked. That settled that.

  “Hey man,” Lexx said. “It’s all good. We made it and I’m not sure we would have without you showing up. I doubt I could have taken on all the runners.”

  Chris and Pops share a confused look.

  “Runners?” Chris asked.

  “Wait. You guys haven’t seen any of the fast ones?” Josh asked.

  They both shook their heads no.

  “Oh, jeeze,”Josh said. “You’ve only dealt with the slow zombies then?”

  “There are different kinds?” Pops asked, a worried look on his face.

  “Yeah. There’s the slow ones that you’ve seen, what most people would consider the “classic” type of zombie.”

  “Those are the slow ones?” Chris asked.

  Lexx watched as Josh nodded slowly. Everyone had noticed the hint of frustration in Chris’s voice. Lexx didn’t know all the details around Hailey’s death, but he assumed that Chris felt the full responsibility of it. What father wouldn’t?

  “Yes, unfortunately,” Josh picked up. “There’s another kind out there. They’re fast. Really fast. They don’t look as dead, minus the fact that they are normally coated in fresh, bright red blood.”

  “The Lumberjack, the guy we were telling you about earlier, he said that the runners were the fresher dead and that they eventually
tire out and turn into the slower ones,” Tori added.

  Lexx nodded.

  “We don’t know how true that is, because we have yet to see it, plus we don’t know how much of his story we can trust either. The guy had issues,” he said. “Major issues.”

  “Yeah, that brings up another point too,” Josh said. “The Lumberjack turned into some kind of monster. We don’t know for sure if it’s the same infection that’s bringing the dead back to life, but I think it’s safe to assume they’re related. Y’all mentioned something about a ‘rage’ or something?”

  Tori glanced over at Lexx. Her eyes said she was unsure about how much to tell them. Lexx gave her a nod before speaking.

  “Yeah, the rage,” he started. “Jeremy said he experienced a fit of intense anger when his mother was killed. He said that it gave him extra-human strength, speed, and fury, making it easy to slaughter the three zombies responsible for his mother’s death. We were all unsure of his story until we met the Lumberjack. He explained experiencing similar things, but his brain blacked out a good portion of his memory. It wasn’t until later that we realized, in a fit of rage, he murdered his friend and the other people around him. In the process, he was bitten. And when he came back, he came back as something nasty. Like Josh said, a monster.”

  Lexx noticed the relief in Tori’s eyes when he decided to leave out the part about himself experiencing the effects of the rage. His muscles grew tight just thinking about it. He could feel the weight of the heavy-duty pipe wrench in his hands, swinging it into the head of a runner. Shattering cheekbones. The head coming clean off. The blood shooting upwards like a rancid geyser. A smile curled in around his lips.

  “Do you think the rage and the infection are related Lexx?”

  Josh’s voice brought Lexx back from his dark thoughts.

  “Huh? Oh, I don’t know. Yeah, I think so,” he said, Tori eyeing him cautiously.