“Daddy!” She screamed wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Tears drained from her eyes as she sobbed against his hard chest.
“Chloe it’s me…Damon.” He said quietly and patted her head. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yeah, yeah…I knew that.” Damon wisely chose not bring up the ‘daddy’ thing again. She pushed away from Damon's grip and picked herself off the ground. She steadied herself against the Silverado and placed a hand on her head. “James is a zombie.” She said weakly. She turned to the trailer but Damon stopped her.
“Not anymore.” He said. She bobbed her head. She felt sad for James. She didn't even know who he was, and he kinda sorta saved her life. She shivered. “Vincent...?” Her voice was hollow.
Just then they heard a shot ring out. “Dead.” Harper jumped over the hitch followed by Riley. Both marines looked equally concerned for the girl.
“Looks like James had himself a full meal before he died.” Riley said.
Chloe held up her hand to show the marine that she didn't want him to go any further. “Serves him right. What a creep.” Damon touched her shoulder. “What happened?” He mumbled the question into her ear so Harper and Riley couldn't hear. He asked even though he already had an idea.
Chloe pushed Damon's hand off her shoulder and climbed in the truck with her head shaking. “I don't really want to talk about it. I'm sure you can guess what almost occurred.” She took a deep breath. “Let's just say that he tried some things, and then he got ate.”
He'd kill the son of a bitch again if he could. He was suddenly angry that Harper got to do the honors of ending Vincent. When he saw the Latino come around the trailer to join their group, he immediately went for him. “Your friend was a fucking pedophile!” He lunged at Marco. “You didn't say anything!” He slammed the small man into the side of the truck. The metal bent under the impact. It wasn't enough for Damon though. He strung his arm back and punched the Latino square in the jaw. Marco spit out some blood. He touched his split lip. “Hey Homes! Just because we were in the same prison doesn't mean we all shared what we're in for.” Damon let his grip loosen, but the fury remained in his mahogany eyes. “Prison's not a fucking slumber party man!” Damon released his hold on Marco just in time to avoid Riley's fist. The marine landed a hard blow to the Latino's jaw, just where Damon had. More blood was spit to the ground. He massaged his jaw and looked at the three, hoping that Harper didn't want a piece too. “Damn Homes. I really didn't know. I'm not okay with that shit either.”
While Damon held Riley off from trying to land another punch, Harper leaned into the truck. “You okay, Kid?” He asked simply. Chloe weakly smiled and nodded her head. That was good enough for the big marine. “Glad you're fine.”
When Harper rejoined the group Damon was talking to all of them. “Well I guess we are going to be spending the night. We can't do all this work in the dark. I guess you guys better get comfortable in the blazer. Me and Chloe are going to be in the truck tonight.” He didn't want to leave Chloe alone.
Marco wasn't thrilled with the idea. He looked at Riley. “We alright? I don't want you to be stranglin' me in my sleep.” “You better be fine with it Riley because if they got out of the prison, I'm sure zombies can get out too.”
Riley only nodded but Marco raised his eyebrows. “Good point. There are a lot of them too.” Harper, Riley and Marco went back to the blazer, and then climbed in. Damon got into the truck and reclined his seat. He was almost positive that he would not be getting any sleep tonight. When the dome light clicked off Damon spied Chloe making a bed in the back seat. She was lying on her back and staring at the ceiling of the cab. It was likely she wasn't going to be sleeping either. Damon didn't know what he could say to reassure her that something like that would never happen again, and he felt partly responsible. He decided not to say anything and just gazed at the moon until sleep eventually claimed him.
Chapter 21
Damon awoke at dawn staring at the dew covered windshield. Sparkling silver dots raced each other along the diamond shapes of the chain-link. When his head finally cleared the morning fog, he decided the group would go back to the area where they left off the previous night. Before they left Damon looked at the teenager who still sat in the back seat with her arms crossed; her green eyes staring blankly at the prison grounds. “Chloe...”
Without taking her eyes from wherever she was staring she responded. “Yeah...no worries. I'll stay in the truck.” “That's not what I meant.”
“I'll be fine. Just hurry up so we can leave.”
“We will. Someone will be back to move the truck soon.”
Chloe wasn't listening anymore. “Uhh huh...” Her voice trailed off absently. Damon shut the door and followed Riley, Harper and Marco who were already moving in the morning sun. When Damon left, Chloe reached over the seat and locked the doors. She pulled a dirty coat over her to go back to sleep. It smelled of oil and axle grease, but she didn't care. She felt comforted by the smell. She closed her eyes with her mind drifting elsewhere while she waited for the guys to return.
The mechanic shuttered to think about all the work they had to do. Now they were one man short, not that Damon minded at all, but it was going to take even longer to complete the mission.
They worked through the day and finished another side. Damon was sure they were going to have to spend yet another night at the compound. He returned to the truck when he couldn’t cut another pole. All he saw was metal in his brain and sensed vibration in his hands. Chloe wasn’t happy about having to stay an extra day. The teen silently stewed in the back seat of the Silverado. He still had no idea what to say to her about Vincent.
Damon collapsed on the full trailer again. The sun was setting again, his arms were dead. The sawzall blades had broken and the batteries died. The hacksaws were taking forever. Damon guessed it to be about 7 o'clock. All his muscles were useless, brain numb. The group had worked since sunrise and the full day yesterday. They had actually finished taking down the entire fence. They weren’t going to have to spend the night after all. Chloe gave a hallow whoot whoot for that and went back to stewing. The trailers were mostly full only a small amount of fencing still lay on the dusty ground. Harper and Marco were rolling it up. He had just finished gathering the security cameras. Riley told him that he would be able to set them up around the safe zone to keep an eye on things. Riley was off finding whatever supplies he could around the prison. First he managed to bring back enough gasoline to fill up both the blazer and the truck. He found some flash lights and batteries too. Damon returned to the truck frequently to check on Chloe. She stayed curled up on her side facing the seat never saying much when he came. Damon worried that more happened than what she led on, but he would not force her to talk about it.
Harper and Marco were attempting to load the last of the chain-link onto the trailer when they heard Riley yell. The big marine dropped his end of the roll, Marco collapsed under the weight, his right ankle pinned. Harper was already moving towards the sound. Damon flew off the trailer with his shotgun in his blistered hands. Riley appeared around the corner of the prison running at full speed; his rifle bounced against his back. He had something in his arms. Damon narrowed his eyes. It was an orange and cream cat flopping up and down as the tall marine ran. Its eyes were wide with fear, and its claws were dug into his chest. A horde of zombies in green jumpsuits chased marine and feline. Damon's adrenaline pumped when he saw it was a majority of sprinters. At least the marine didn't look behind him, he only pumped his legs faster. It was almost like he could feel their undead breath on the nape of his neck. Harper put down two zombies that reached mere inches from the marine. Damon fired off a round and took the head off a tall zombie that lumbered closely behind. “Start the trucks!” He was shouting. Damon heard the Silverado's engine fire up. He smiled inwardly knowing that Chloe was thinking ahead. A few seconds later he heard the blazer come to life.
The horde moved closer stumbling over the bodies of the spri
nters. Marco struggled to push the chain-link off of his ankle, but it wouldn't budge. “Someone get this roll off me!” He shouted from the ground. Riley ran passed the roll and jumped into the blazer tossing the cat into the backseat. The moans of the dead sounded like a roar in their ears. Damon looked back at the horde with the shotgun still in his hands. It was much closer than he would have liked. He even contemplated leaving him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. “Don't leave me, Homes.” Marco pleaded. “Come on, man!”
“We can't leave him!” Chloe cried. “Damnit.” He swore. He bent down and hefted the chainlink until the muscles in his forearms bulged. Marco felt the weight of the chain-link disappear, and he immediately got up and tried to put his full weight on it. The ankle gave way, but Damon caught him and half dragged him to the blazer. Harper was there ready to drag him inside. He grabbed the inmate by the back of his pants and yanked him inside. Damon had to give him a leg up because the damn thing was so tall.
“Hurry up!” Chloe screamed. The zombies were close...too close. Damon could smell them. He could hear their feet on the ground.
Damon dashed for the truck when he felt a zombie graze its hand on his shoulder, but Damon was already gone. He ducked between the blazer and the truck. He heard a shot ring out but didn't look. Chloe threw the truck door open, and Damon jumped in. Zombies of all shapes and sizes beat their hands relentlessly against the death machine. Thankfully for the two of them, the window barricades held. Damon shifted the truck into drive and started to pull away from the horde. It was slow going because of the weight on the trailers. Chloe remained silent as Limon Correctional Facility, and the horde disappeared in the rearview.
“Tell Chloe that I have a present for her when we get back to Vail.” Riley said through the walkie. He was still out of breath. Damon looked back at the teen. “I will let her know.” He knew she wasn’t interested, even if it was an animal. He would let it be a surprise when they got back to Keith’s.
Damon was afraid to pull over even after they had been driving for an hour. Zombies always seemed to find him. He guessed Chloe wouldn't let him even if he wanted to. She had remained silent for the trip home so far. They had to make a pit-stop so the blazer could refuel. Both Damon and Harper cursed its gas mileage. Damon chest prickled with unease while they were stopped since they were dangerously close to Denver. If it wouldn't have been for the orange glare of the low fuel light bugging Harper, Damon wouldn't have stopped. They didn't waste much time stretching their legs because he swore he could hear moans of the dead in the distance.
Eventually, Vail peeked over the horizon. They passed the abandoned Humvees and cement barricades. He heard the walkietalkie chirp. “Yanno we should really come back for these.” Riley's voice came through the black box.
Damon snatched up the walkie-talkie. “The Humvees or the barricades?”
“Duh. The Humvees, but I guess we could use those too.” “Maybe when we get the fence done…. We already have a lot of work to do, but they would be pretty kick ass though.” He put the black walkie-talkie back and turned into town. He figured it was time to start thinking about what to say to Keith. The older brother was never thrilled to see new people that Damon brought home. He could only imagine how pissed he was going to be this time. Damon had been unable to determine the reason why. You would think that with mankind being as endangered as the Australian numbat someone would like to see as many people as possible. He shrugged. He picked up the walkie-talkie again when he came into town. “Let's drop the fencing at each corner of the safe zone before we head back.”
“We aren't going to be able to make the perimeter as big as you originally wanted it.” Harper said honestly. “And we left the last roll at the prison.”
Damon sighed. He wanted the safe zone as big as he envisioned, but he was kidding himself. There was only seven of them, and Keith and Juleen would never step foot outside the cabin property. He hesitated with his thumb over the button to speak. “I suppose you’re right. As long as we can include the fire station, hospital and river we will be okay.” We can use the fence behind the apartment building as part of the perimeter to save some fence...and time.”
“You guys drop loads off at the apartment building and the hospital. We’re goin’ to the river and Keith’s road.”
“Roger that.” “Oh…and be careful.” Damon turned down Main Street. He was surprised to see the streets were free of zombies. He split from Harper to head up to Keith’s road, and Harper was heading towards the apartment buildings. He parked the truck at the mouth of Keith’s road. He glanced in the rearview. Chloe was still curled up in his work coat. “Stay here I’m going to try to unload some of this shit by myself.” He said, not expecting a response. He shrugged and popped the driver’s door open. The smell of evergreens filled his noise when he took a deep breath. It smelled so much better than the prison. Damon always loved the scent of the outdoors, something about it made him want to enjoy the Earth, but not in the hippie tree-hugging way. The pyramid of chain-link was daunting, but the faster he got it over with, the faster he could get Chloe home and relax. He climbed up the cool metal jungle gym half way to the top. He heaved his shoulder against the side of the top roll. It rolled off with minimal effort. Nodding in satisfaction, he jumped back into the Silverado and drove to where he thought the first roll would run out. He pushed another roll off the trailer.
He repeated the steps at two more stops and ended at the river. The mountain water ran over the slick black rocks creating a soothing atmosphere for Damon. He caught sight of glittering scales when a fish darted by. It was truly beautiful how the water split the green earth in two not caring what was happening in the world. The only normal thing Damon had seen in a long time. He took a moment to breathe in the smell of moist earth and lush grass. There was even a scent of fish in the air. In the past Damon wouldn’t have hesitated to cast a cane pole into the flowing water in hopes of catching a suitable trout for dinner.
He radioed the other guys to see how far they had got dropping rolls. They were working their way from the apartment building to the hospital. Damon started dropping rolls on the road leading to the hospital. The Silverado passed through the residential area that would be part of the safe zone. The homes reminded him of his own back in Arkansas. His heart panged when they went by the white house on the end. The black shutters were flapping in the wind. The garage door was open and a car was inside. A blonde haired body lay face down in the driveway. He looked back to the road. Even though he knew it would be hard to see suburbia again, Damon thought it was a good idea to include the residential streets because it would provide more comfort for Riley, Harper, Marco and himself with Chloe after the fencing was up, and they wouldn’t need the safety of the fire station’s strong walls and small windows. He stopped the truck again. Another roll bounced on the ground with a metallic jingle.
At the last stop when he got out of the cab he heard gunfire pepper the sky. He dropped the roll as fast as he could, and then jumped back in the truck. “What the hell is going on!?! You guys okay?” He shouted in the walkie.
Marco’s smooth voice came over the walkie. “We ran into some trouble next to the hospital.” Damon heard him tear away from the radio and shout to Harper. Static filled the speaker as if Marco had put it in his pocket. The Latino yelled out. Damon heard something slamming into what had to be the blazer.
Damon white knuckled the walkie. “What is going on!?!” Chloe woke up from her nap and was staring wild-eyed at the mechanic. Her ponytail was a mess from sleep.
“We’re taking care of business.” It was Riley. He was out of breath. Another break of static and some gun shots. “Take that you undead maggot bags!” Damon heard. If the walkie had a neck he would be ringing it while waiting for details. Before he could respond, Riley came back on the radio. “Alright, well that's done. Just some problems with some deaders.”
“Deaders.....?” Damon crooked his eyebrow. There was a laugh from the radio. “That's
what I decided to call them. Harper thinks it stupid, but I told him to suck it.” Damon heard Riley squeal followed by a curse. Harper obviously didn't like being told to suck anything.
“You didn’t make that shit up…” He faintly heard Marco say in the background.
Damon shook his head. “Well, just meet us back at Keith's. We're all finished here.”
“Got it.” He responded not really listening to Damon. “Damnit Harper now my nip is gonna be purple.” Damon dropped the trailer at the fire station and turned the Silverado around towards the road that would lead up to the cabin. He wanted to make it back to Keith's before the others to hopefully soften the blow to his brother. He knew that Keith wasn't going to be happy about this. Taking a deep breath, Damon maneuvered the truck up the dusty road with his stomach turning over the rocky bumps and dips.
Chapter 22
“Absolutely NOT!” Keith roared. He was wearing his classic lobster face. “No other outsiders...especially a convict!” Damon stood in the doorway trying to explain the situation, but Keith was having none of it. “What am I supposed to do, Keith? Leave them out there to die? That's blood on my hands!”
“I don't give a rat's ass about those people.” Keith slammed a fat fist against the oak dining table sending a glass tumbling to the tile floor. The shattering glass echoed in Damon's ears. “In fact I'm tired of all the extra mouths to feed. Tonight is everyone's last night in my house.”
Zombie Revolution Page 18
