by catt dahman
“We are running out of time, even barely using the generator, and the morgue, it’s bad, if you get my meaning,” Mark said, shivering since he and the rest had just delivered two of their friends to the foul place.
“Where would we go?” Bryan asked.
“Beth had this weird thought: Norman Pope’s compound…Popetown.”
Most laughed, “Popetown?” Mark was chuckling, “Seriously?”
“Crazy people are there,” Misty said.
“It’s big,” Johnny ticked off the points with her fingers. “It’s defendable, it has the things we need for a place to live, for now.”
“What if ole Norman is just fine and doesn’t want us taking over?”
“Then we find a new plan,” Len said. “Beth hopes he’s a zed so she can shoot him; he is a nut.”
“I think it’s a good plan. I’m in,” Bryan said. Everyone else agreed quickly.
Mark grimaced, “I hope he’s a zed, too…evil, thieving jerk. Gonna take some serious hauling, lifting, and moving, but we can do it. Out-fit one of those big four-wheel drives with a trailer, and we’re good to go.”
They took a vote; it was unanimous; it was decided.
Kim found Beth in the hallway, “Why are there different people in our room and where is our stuff? I had to track you down.”
Beth smiled and crooked her finger for him to follow her. Down a second hall, she opened a door, and Misty jumped up from a chair. “G’night,” she called as she left.
“She was babysitting.” Beth pointed at a second door in the room. Kim opened it quietly, unsure what to expect, but in there, he saw Katie asleep, her little room comfortable and decorated as best they could. It wasn’t a perfect set-up, but it conveyed the message that Beth had for him.
“Our daughter looks warm and comfy,” he said, putting his arms around Beth. He was a tough man, but almost choked when he referred to the little girl as their daughter. The love he felt for Beth still amazed him with its depth.
“I love you.”
“That’s good ‘cause I love you, too, and I have something for you; I mean I hope I do, damn; I don’t know if I do. But I hope I do if you want it.” Kim brushed at the brim of his grey felt cowboy hat, as he did when he was unsure. The big, quiet, cowboy was looking uncertain now.
“Hmmm? What do you have?”
Kim was blushing, which Beth found sweet. What was he up to?
“It’s what Tink sent me.” Kim nervously brought the little purple bag out and poured two objects into his palm. The man’s ring was white gold with three diamonds marching across the top in a simple setting, pretty fancy but classy as well.
Next, the ring he showed Beth was a woman’s ring, thick and heavy with an emerald-cut, large diamond set way down so that it wouldn’t hang on things, and was surrounded by smaller diamonds that filled the wide band. It was stunning, not gaudy in the least.
“He said the rings had worked for him and his wife for many years. He wanted you to have them,” Beth said.
“I know he knew what I wanted…I mean…well…this.”
“This what? Are you asking me something, Kimball?” Beth couldn’t resist teasing him just a little.
Kim smiled. “I guess I have to get on my knee?”
“Save it; the answer is yes. But what do we do now? How is marriage done?” She was so excited and happy that she wanted to cheer.
“With this ring, I thee wed,” he vowed as he slipped it on Beth’s finger; it was a perfect fit.
Beth took the other ring and put it on Kim’s finger, “With this ring, I thee wed.”
“So we are wed, in sickness and in health, zombies and bombs, until death do us part.” Kim took her into his arms.
“Fast courtship, fast wedding, fast family.” She looked at Katie’s doorway.
“You think she’ll sleep through?”
“I do. And I do.” Beth turned off the light, holding her man.
10
Preppers
Len petted Bennie’s Border collie, Dallas, as he made another adjustment to his list of teams. He had worn through three pencil erasers so far.
“You do this every time,” Julia scolded, “we can handle our teams.”
“We were down to three and then Tink and Jeff; it’s hard to fill the teams now,” Len said. He made another note. “Juan is on light duty, and I want seven on each; we barely have five on each.”
“And erasing names a hundred times won’t give you ten more people. So there,” Johnny said as she joined them.
“I hope you put me with Andie; she and I work well together,” Hannah told Len with a big smile.
Hannah held a hand up, “I’m too young, I know. I’ve heard. But was I too young to put my parents and family down? And the neighbors? And was I too young to split open zeds and smear guts to hide us.”
“No one, especially a child should have to deal with that.”
“True. ‘But it is what it is’, as they say. I did it, Len. How many others here can bash in a skull without flinching? I can. I have. But more than that, I’m very clever as you’ve no doubt seen.”
Len rubbed his chin. “I’ve noticed, and heard that you are very bright.”
“And brave,” Julia added, “but…you can’t want to go back and fight those things.”
“Unfortunately, with the world’s population, the odds are if I survive and grow up, then I will have to fight the zeds a lot since they don’t seem to be dying; I mean dying, really dead, and there are so many. I shudder to imagine my having to depend on others to protect me, not knowing how to fight them and win,” Hannah said.
“That kind of sucks, yanno?” Len said.
“Kids born now won’t know any other way,” Hannah told him as she looked over his list of teams, “Oh, good, Andie and I are with Beth; I can’t wait to tell her, and I need to get an outfit like you have.” She turned quickly and ran down the hall.
“What just happened?” Len asked.
“I think she said she wanted on Charlie team.” Julia laughed.
“Is she right? Do I allow it?”
Johnny bit her lip, “I dunno, Len; in some sick way, it makes sense to me.”
“Kids fighting?”
“Vietnam, Len,” Johnny said.
When he had them all around, Len explained his plan. If the horde didn’t stop them, Delta was going to get a trailer and transport.
Bravo would provide support and guard the hospital, giving Henry and Randy, from the school, a chance to work with the team.
Len was to lead Alpha to the compound from the east with a circle through town to see if anyone needed them. Charlie would approach from the west and get the first look at the property.
When they moved out, it was exciting to be doing something proactive.
Hannah kept up a running narrative as they drove across town and back into the open country.
On the country roads, they saw a few nasty car wrecks, very few zeds shambling aimlessly along the road, some homes boarded up that might house survivors who didn’t want to be social, and a few little stores that looked as if only minor battles had been fought close by.
A small wooden-framed church stood with boards across the windows, and Hannah claimed she could feel people inside, peeking out at them as they drove past.
Kim said he thought they might check it on the way back.
The emptiness was eerie as no cars or people moved; everything was at a standstill, a reminder that things had changed and that most people were gone.
Right before they got within view of Popetown property, Kim had to stop suddenly as the Range Rover slammed to a halt. “Is everyone okay?”
“I’m fine,” Earl said. “Now, what in the hell is up with that?”
A black man was running in a diagonal toward the road, waving his arms. It was more his outfit than anything that caused stunned silence: he wore faded jeans with an orange, fluorescent tee shirt, matching expensive sneakers and a bright orange bandana on his head.
His movements indicated he was tired from running.
Kim, Earl, and George stepped out of the vehicle to watch the man, guns ready if he made a violent move, but his hands were empty, and he had no pack.
Andie used binoculars to see if this might be a set-up for raiders, scanning all directions carefully. From behind a house, the living dead moved quickly, some at almost a jog, following the man.
“He’s being chased is all I see,” Andie said.
Kim motioned him to move forward to them.
“I sure am glad to see you people.” He huffed as he came up to them, leaning over, hands on his knees, catching his breath. “If you’re the bad guys and are gonna kill me or something, then just do it, ‘cause I’m too damned tired to run anymore.”
“You got lucky. We’re the good guys,” Earl said. He and the other three men took aim and dropped all the zeds quickly, although it took a minute or two as more than a dozen filed out. All of them looked like Reds but were fast moving.
“Are you doing okay?” Kim asked the man.
“I am now, Brother,” he said. He sat down right in the road, still wheezing. “I’ve been running two-three miles now, trying to lose those bastards. I’m too old for running games.”
“Aren’t we all?” George asked. “You too old, my wrinkled ass. Try being my age and running from them.”
Kim took out two more that came shambling out. “Well, you can catch your breath now; we have ‘em.”
Andie, Hannah, and Beth, got out and looked curiously at the man. Andie handed him water; he thanked her for it and gulped it down. He appraised Andie. “You look like some fantasy warrior princess in that outfit.”
“You look like street warning cones in your outfit, bright orange?”
He laughed, “Why, thank you. Hey, it may be the end of the world, but a man can look good.And thank you gentlemen for savin’ my bacon from the walking freaks.” He rose to his feet and shook hands, introducing himself as TG, and although he didn’t say what it stood for, he told them they could call him TG or Teeg.
“What are you doing out here?”
“Car broke down; I was with a small group, and we got separated; then, I got chased by those things, been hoofin’ it, trying to get away and wondering how I’d get back to my group. Maybe they left me; anyway, I’ll just hook up with them tomorrow morning.”
“Maybe we can help you after we do what we came here to do,” Kim said.
“What’d you come here to do?”
“Check out Popetown. We want to see the compound.”
“Ah, makes sense. You want some back up? I’ll join you if you think I’d fit into your group; I can tag along and then go away if ya don’t want me with ya.”
“We are a part of a new militia, US Militia, the remains of the military, on search and rescue missions and part of a larger group with about a hundred now. Our aim is to reunite survivors.”
“Oh, man, that sounds good…organized?”
“Very.”
“I’d like to fall in with you guys since you have the numbers and the guns,” Teeg laughed, “and maybe I can help you out, too.”
“We have little room, so you’d have to sit with me in the back,” Hannah said, “you’re not too big, though.”
“They recruiting little girls, now?” he asked Hannah with a big grin.
“They’re only recruiting little girls who can swing an axe like I can,” she mimicked swinging, making him chuckle.
“You’re a bad-ass little girl, huh?”
“You better believe I am,” Hannah promised him.
Andie got TG settled in the back seat and took the place in the back with Hannah, eyeing him warily. There was little room left, and if they found anyone else, they would have to get another vehicle.
Kim drove again, more cautiously, watching for strangers who might dart out in front of him or come running to them.
From the bridge, they scanned Popetown, a sprawling landscape of trees and empty pastures, grass and ponds, and buildings on hundreds of acres; it was all protected with a tall razor-topped fence. Inside, roads and another fence were around the buildings and a pond.
Beth pointed out things as she looked through the binoculars:a huge main house, a mansion actually, and another building that might house the staff were the closest.
A gigantic meeting hall or cafeteria, having both indoor and outdoor facilities; tennis courts; a rodeo arena,and an archery range all could be seen a little farther away.
A smaller, outdoor auditorium that resembled a fancy outdoor theatre concluded the buildings near the house.
Further away, huge garages, several barns, and more buildings than she could count or figure out what they were, stood alone, waiting to be used.
A spring fed pond and little stream that ran off from it, provided plenty of water. Another enormous building looked to be his church.
“We could house a few thousand here,” Kim said, in awe.
“I see horses, too, and cattle, looks as if way over there, I see a chicken farm. There are goats and pigs? Unreal,” Andie said as she looked. “It looks like a whole village right there.”
“It would be great to live there,” Kim said.
“This was a whole church compound where people came to live. They had educational facilities and everything here,” Beth explained.
Teeg groaned, “So, are there about a thousand of the dead-head freaks, too?”
Beth grinned, “Remember, the Feds just shut the compound down and cleared the place out, what about a week before Red hit? The happenings were always on the news, and then the stuff about Red took over the airwaves and Internet.”
“I see one…one zed…wow,” Andie said as she handed the binoculars to George. “Could there be so few?”
“I bet there are more, but right after Pope was cleared out and Red hit, I saw him on TV, and Normie was saying he and his group were going to an undisclosed location; he alluded to the fact that he and his people were being targeted by Red, as another way the Feds were trying to ruin him.”
“What a nut,” Earl said. “They said it was a cult.”
“I hate to say it, but this place looks perfect,” George said. “He was making a fortress here, can’t imagine what he has now that is more secure.”
Kim pointed out the roads along the fences on the perimeter and towers set every several hundred feet. There were buildings at the gates.
“They said he was cultish and making a siege-proof compound, but he was amassing weapons and that got the Feds on his ass.”
Teeg pointed, “Look at all the windmills in a row. Ya know what I think that is? They have a power generator…wind power.”
“It isn’t always windy though…so…” Hannah tilted her head, “look at those building again…those are solar panels.” She was excited now. “They were harnessing their own power supplies!”
“I bet it’s enough for lights for a while at night…or maybe to pump water…maybe not like we’re all accustomed to...but some power.” George was grinning from ear to ear.
“Clean power, too,” Hannah added, “because gasoline has a shelf-life of only a few months.”
“Huh? No…doesn’t gasoline last forever?”
Kim laughed, “She’s right…and with no one running the power plants now…”
“Smart kid,” Teeg said, “bet you always made A’s in school.”
“Always. Our brains and ability to use intelligence is what really sets us apart from the zeds.”
“That and our food choices,” Teeg said.
“And most of us smell better,” Hannah added.
“And I know I drool less.” Teeg made her giggle.
“I hope so,” Hannah said, “and we do have better eating manners; they let food just fall out of their mouths.”
“And we have better bowel habits.” Teeg laughed. Hannah let loose peals of laughter.
“And we can use weapons. That’s what gave mankind the ability to go further…the opposable t
humbs...we went further because of the ability to use tools and weapons.”
“I have to disagree though about the bombs being good weapons,” Andie added.
They finished up surveillance and climbed back into the Range Rover. Beth broke out bottled water, beef jerky, crackers, tins of fruit, and aerosol cheese. “So this group you found…are they okay people?” she asked Teeg.
“They seem to be great people. You remember that movie star…Cinder Montaine?”
“I ask only this…take my land, my possessions, my every cent, but do not take what is not mine to give…” Andie quoted from a movie.
“Robert...Robert...is that you, Robert? If it isn’t…please don’t tell me…” George quoted from another.
“Well, her daughter is with them…Jilly Montaine, but she says she’s Cinder half the time and acts like her mother…all the way from California.”
“They came here from California? How? Why?” Beth almost spit out her cracker.
“Why? They said an old woman, who advised Cinder, read tea leaves or looked at her stars, or something told them to. How is… very painfully, picking up people and losing them on the way…Cinder Montaine died on the trip, they said; anyway it’s just Jilly and a guy named Mike who looks at her like he’s afraid of her half the time.” Teeg laughed. “Guy called Rev, and there’s Jake, Pan, and Josh, three hookers.”
“Hookers?” Hannah piped up.
“Hannah. Teeg, please, did you have to say that?” Andie scolded him.
“Okay, three ladies of the night,” he amended with Hannah laughing harder at him. “I’m not calling ‘em names; they just still dress like…well…like that yanno… like they did when they were on the streets. I mean they told me what they did before; it isn’t like I’m just calling them that. But they’re nice ladies; all of them are good folks.”
Kim drove, following Teeg’s directions. If they were being set up, he was going to make sure Teeg got the first bullet to his brain, but he didn’t have a hinky feeling this time. Down a side road, he found a small mom-pop convenience store where they stopped to look around.
