“I'm okay now. I wouldn't have been if you guys hadn't come along. I'm sure I'd be dead.” Chloe and Liz led her to the bathrooms. “My name is Kya.” She said when they got to the bathroom.
“I'm Chloe.” “And I'm Liz.” The blonde held out her pale hand, and Kya took it. Kya thanked both of them constantly. After she cleaned up they shuffled through a trunk at the end of a bed. Chloe pulled out some jeans and a T-shirt when Kya started to talk about how she came to be in the woods. “My friends and I were traveling to California, yanno to the coast.” She sniffed. “We were students at the University of Nebraska.” She paused. “Medical research was my major. Ha! We never saw anything like this coming. Anyway…They were part of that mob chasing me.” She pulled over the blue T-shirt with the fire department's logo on it and stepped into some pants. They were baggy at the waist, but she folded them over a couple of times to make them fit better. She sat on the cot with her hands on her knees. The orange and cream cat jumped onto her lap. “We stopped at a gas station looking for some fuel. This was well after everyone starting turning into meat eating monsters. Jana got bit, but she didn't tell anyone.” She mumbled swears and then continued with her story. “Well the rest is obvious. When she turned, she attacked us. Penny crashed the car into a ditch and was killed on impact. I crawled out of our wrecked Focus and passed out. When I came to there were dead people everywhere…they were eating Penny...God…I ran and hid in some shack until they found me...” Her voice trailed off.
Chloe sat on the cot across from her. “Most of us have pretty depressing stories like that. So you're not alone.” Kya nodded. Her kinky black hair fell into her face. Lucky purred, and then rolled on his back for her to scratch his belly. The black woman’s face lightened. “How 'bout some food, Kya?” Chloe asked.
When she nodded her head vigorously Chloe led her to the pole that stuck through the floor. Kya put a hand on her chest. “I think I'd rather take the stairs.”
“I'll show you the staircase.” Liz said happily. Chloe wrapped a leg around the pole. “Suit yourselves.” She disappeared through the hole in the floor. When Chloe reached the truck bay she headed straight for the mess hall. She sat in her usual place between Damon and Marco. Riley sat next to Harper and across from Marco. The open seat next to Harper was for Liz. Kya and Liz came through the door a second later. The guys nodded their heads in acknowledgement. “Guys, this is Kya.” Chloe introduced. Liz sat down next to Harper with a smile and a peck on his cheek. Kya hesitated until Damon urged her to sit. She chose the spot opposite Riley. She lowered her gaze blushing when Riley wouldn't stop staring.
Chapter 40
Only a few days went by when the first snowflakes flew. The group split up into teams to watch the perimeter. Riley and Harper took the morning shift and Marco and Damon took the afternoon shift. Chloe and the other women helped out cleaning up the streets while they guys did their watch. They would drive along the chain-link and make sure there were no more zombies or holes in the fence. Every now and again they had to kill a few zombies on the outside of the fence that would relentlessly try to get in. They would dispose of them before they could draw the attention of other zombies in the area.
The women cleaned up the inside of buildings too. They filled the dumpsters with broken glass, stale food and anything not salvageable. This way they were able to check every building for anything useful, and they could keep a tally of food and other items that they found. Damon watched everything through the security cameras that Riley installed around the safe zone.
Damon watched the monitors while eating his granola bar for breakfast and drinking his black coffee one frosty morning. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a car pull up to the gate. A man and two children got out. The mechanic called Harper on the walkie. “There's a car at the gate.”
“What?” He sounded just as astonished as Damon. “Meet me there.” “Roger that.”
Damon grabbed his leather coat and gloves and headed out the door. He heard footsteps behind him. “I'm coming too.” It was Chloe. “I want to add them to my book.” Chloe had been working on a log. The Book of Survivors, she called it. She took down names of the people that came into the safe zone and where they came from.
“Get in the truck then.” Damon was fighting the nerves in his stomach. These were the first official survivors coming to the safe zone. Their headquarters was in the middle of the safe zone so it took a few turns to make it to the gate. Harper was waiting for him when he and Chloe showed up.
Together they approached the fence. The man was the first to speak. His voice was nasally. Damon pictured him as a computer tech support phone operator. “Hello. Can you help us?” His question froze on the air.
“If you're looking for food, water and shelter then you came to the right place.” Damon responded. “First things first...We have to make sure that you're not infected.”
“How do we do that?” The man stepped in front of his children. “You have to stay in our watch tank. It is the only way we can keep possibly infected people out of the safe zone, but still safe from out there.” He pointed beyond the fence. Reading the man's face Damon quickly added. “Before you freak out it's just a room that you sleep in for a day to make sure that you don't turn.”
The man was quiet for a few minutes; it seemed like he was having an internal battle over his decision until he heard the moans of wandering zombies. They were attracted to the puttering sound of the gray Cavalier. Milky eyes targeted the family and their dead limbs shuffled and staggered faster. “Okay, okay...we'll do it.”
Harper shot the three zombies with expert aim. “Get in the car and come through the gate slowly.” He didn’t need to warn the man of what would happen if he didn’t obey.
The man corralled his kids into the car and got behind the wheel. Damon heard the engine wind-up; Riley opened the gate while the car pulled through. He half expected the man to step on the gas and plow through all of them when more zombies came across the interstate. The man rolled down the window to ask where to park, and Riley instructed him to pull next to the Welcome Center. It had been transformed into their watch tank. The boys converted the old gift shop into a glorified jail cell after they finished with the fencing. Chloe added some paintings to help lighten the mood. Damon met the man as he helped his children out of the car under Harper and Riley's supervision. “What's your name?”
He brushed back his speckled gray hair with his dry cracked hands and then extended his right hand to the mechanic. They were red from the cold. “The name's Hank.” His grip was weaker than Damon expected. Hank pointed to the small boy with shaggy black hair and then to the girl that could have been the boy's twin. “This is Keagan and Marley.”
Damon nodded his hellos to the children and led them to the cell where the children ran and jumped onto the cots that were placed against the beige walls. It was obvious to Damon that it had been a long time since there were out of the car. In that moment Damon felt the satisfaction for building the safe zone. This is what it's about. He thought to himself. Even though the man and his family had to spend the night in the watch tank under suspicion of being a man eating freak, he was still grateful. He watched his children play with a smile painted on his face, but Damon saw sadness in his dark eyes. The mechanic knew that flavor of sadness...Loss.
Chloe bounced over to the window with her ponytail swinging back and forth, and the composition notebook in her hands. Damon watched as the teenager took down his name, birthday and where he was from. She asked the same information of his children. The children started talking about their mother as soon as she was finished with their information. The pain was apparent on the man's face. Their mother died from an infection not caused by the zombie outbreak. With no hospitals open to get medical care he had to watch his wife die from a completely avoidable condition, pneumonia he thought the man said. Damon realized that they were going to need medical professionals to make his safe haven a success. “Chloe. Come on. Let's give them a bre
ak.” He looked at the father and his children. “Liz will be down with some food.” The father nodded his thanks. Damon held out his arm for Chloe as a sign to follow him out.
The teenager bowed her head and sighed. “Oh okay.” She trudged closer. “Why are you making me leave? I haven't seen new people in a long time.”
“Kya just came like a week ago.”
“I mean kids...”
“There will be more. They need a break right now. It’s obvious they've been through a lot.” Once outside, Chloe clicked open the door to the Silverado and hopped in. “I sure hope so.” Damon drove around the perimeter of the safe zone checking to see if they had to make any adjustments. What they found was a pack of zombies...five to be exact. The mechanic's heart leapt into his throat. They were all supposed to be dead. Damon radioed Harper to tell him the news. He thought it was wise to radio Harper instead of Riley because the tall marine was currently in charge of watching the family that night. He didn't want his new guests in a panic.
“We got these ones, but we are gonna have to be on alert tonight. We can't blow this when it's just getting started.” “Roger that. I'll take downtown.”
“Chloe put those zombies down would ya?” “I'd be happy to.” The teenager jumped out of the truck when Damon stopped. With the speed and accuracy of an expert gunman she lodged bullets in each of their skulls. She got back in the truck. It amazed Damon how much Chloe had grown up. He wished that she didn’t have to, but the world was a different, more barbaric and horrifying place.
“Done.” “Good shooting. Now to get rid of the bodies.” Damon and Chloe tossed the bodies in the back of the Silverado. Luckily they were all mostly skeletons because Damon had to do most of the lifting. “We got a long night ahead of us.”
For hours they drove around the safe zone without seeing another zombie. Harper reported the same. Between both of them they covered every street. Damon decided it would be wise to watch the hospital and apartment building. When Damon and Chloe told Harper they were going back to the fire station Harper let them know that he was staying with Riley just in case something went down. Riley was working on a Ham radio they found in one of the houses. The tall marine was trying to get the thing functioning. All he could get was static.
Hank watched the marine work on the radio. “You'll never fix it like that.” “What do you mean?”
“The antenna output is bad. You'll have to find another one.”
“You know about these things.” Riley got up from his steel chair and walked over to the glass. He showed the radio to Hank. “Yeah. I'm an electrical engineer.”
Riley nodded his head. “Once you get out of there, then you can fix it. How does that sound?” Hank bobbed his head up and down, happy to have purpose. “Sounds like a plan.” Riley was seeing an upside to having more people around in the safe zone.
Chapter 41
Snow fell over Vail covering the street with pearly fluff. The winter air silenced the sounds of the safe zone. The small amount of survivors walked the streets dressed in gloves and hats watching their children throw snowballs at each other playfully. Some even played with dogs that they had found on their way to the safe zone. Chloe made Damon let them in. ‘Don’t be so cruel.’ She told him. Damon watched from his place on top of the fire station. The space between the air conditioning unit and exhaust ducts had become his hangout when he needed a moment to think. Running the safe zone had brought with it more stress than Damon had imaged. Now he had to worry about feeding more and more people. After Riley had gotten the Ham radio operational they started broadcasting a message to anyone listening. Survivors showed up on a somewhat regular basis. Their numbers had swollen to nearly one hundred in just two months. Damon could not have been happier and neither could have Chloe. A teenage boy showed up with his older brother just a week before. Timmy or Taylor or some shit like that. Damon didn't care his name, just his intentions. He wouldn't admit that was the real reason he was up here.
Damon pondered what a group of survivors were talking about that walked in front of the fire station. They had no idea that he was up there, nobody except Chloe. Every group that came through had a story. Some came with stories about other so called safe areas. One in particular disturbed him. A safe zone in Pennsylvania at a baseball stadium fell because of one infected man. He was bitten on a supply run and turned when he got back inside the walls. Only a few got away. Damon prayed that wouldn't happen. He looked down at Chloe who just threw a snowball at her new ‘boyfriend,’ which clocked him in the side of his head. Damon chuckled. He had to keep them safe...all of them. Even Taylor or whatever his name was.
He slapped his red hands together and blew a puff of smoke from his lips. He got up from his spot and turned to head back down the steps. It was then he saw something on the frozen horizon. He narrowed his mahogany eyes, shielding them from the white glare. There were black dots speckled across the snow...a lot of dots. It was time to get Riley and Harper.
Damon jogged down the steps two at a time. It wasn't hard to find either of the marines. They were playing poker with their lady friends. From the looks of it, the game was strip poker. Liz was down her bra and pants, Harper to his boxers, Riley was still wearing his jeans and white tank top, and Kya was still fully dressed. Damon laughed a little when he saw the big marine's predicament. “Guys we got a situation.”
Both stopped mid laugh and looked at Damon seriously. “What is it?” Riley questioned anxiously. Harper was already putting his clothes back on.
Damon snatched up his leather jacket off a coat hook. “I'm not sure yet, but whatever it is...it can't be good.” He didn't want to alarm the girls any more than he had, so he didn't go into further detail. The guys grabbed their coats and guns and went for the door.
Liz kissed Harper on the cheek before he disappeared out the door. He smiled and left her and Kya in the doorway. He looked at Damon. “We're taking the blazer.” The big marine was smiling ear to ear.
Damon laughed. “Just as long as you keep your clothes on.” On their way out of town they passed Chloe. Harper stopped the blazer and Damon rolled down his window. She perked up. “Where are you guys going?”
“Checking something out. You wanna open the gate for us?” Chloe popped her hip out to one side. “What am I? Your servant?” Damon gave her a harsh look. Her time with what's his name was so valuable now. “Oh alright.” She turned to the teenage boy standing next to her. “Bye Tyler. I'll catch up with you later.”
Tyler. Wow he was way off. “Thanks Chloe.” Damon rolled his window back up. The gate closed behind the gray blazer silently leaving the three to whatever was lurking outside the walls. Harper and Riley hooted like maniacs as the blazer barreled through the snow. Damon even let out a few shouts. The ride was exhilarating. Damon watched as the dots came into view. It was just like he expected...zombies, but there was something wrong with them. They weren't moving. A field of frozen scarecrows stood immobilized in front of them. Harper stopped the blazer and jumped out, but not before grabbing his rifle. Damon and Riley followed. Freezing wind whipped around the three. “What the fuck?” Damon asked out loud as he came face to face with a zombie Popsicle. The frozen zombie tried to move its feet and arms but managed nothing more than a budge. Icicles hung from its nose and chin.
“How freaking cold did it get last night?” He plucked an icicle from its left nostril. “They're froze.” Riley stated the obvious. Like Riley called to Mother Nature, it started to freezing rain. The drops of water were needles of ice against Damon’s exposed skin. He wished like hell he grabbed a stocking cap back at headquarters.
Harper pushed one over with the butt of his gun, and it fell hitting the ground with a poof of snow. “No shit...” He brushed the frozen drops of water from his black hat.
“Do you think they're dead?” Riley corrected himself. “I mean dead, dead?” Damon inspected another one. This one lifted its arm with chilled rigor mortise. “Nope.” He said knocking the limb away with his s
hotgun.
“This is gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel.” Riley popped one in the head.
Harper used the butt of his gun to smash the head of another. “Save your ammunition.”
“Then like wack-a-mole.” He laughed swinging his gun and hit the zombie in front of him in the brain. “Look at this.” Damon was staring at two zombies that stood side by side. Harper and Riley came up behind him. “This zombie looks like it has been dead a long, long time. It is almost all bones, and this one over here looks like it just turned yesterday.”
“Yeah so?” Riley shrugged. “I wonder if they will eventually die off on their own. I mean come on they’re dead. The blood stops flowing. What happens when we die? We turn to dust...eventually. ”
“Makes sense.” Harper nodded his head.
“But when?”
Damon stroked his goatee. “That I don’t know.” He smashed both their heads without another thought. Damn it was cold. The ice nipped at his red ears.
Another zombie was wading through the deep white powder. Harper met it with a blow to the head. The three finished off all the icy zombies quickly and headed back to the safe zone with their hands frozen before the sky turned a deep shade of gray.
When they got back to the gate there was three covered wagons pulled by two horses each. “How retro…” Riley joked. “Where’s John Wayne?”
Damon was positively curious. As they got closer Damon could hear Chloe arguing with a woman. “I told you I can’t let you in if Damon’s not here. He has to meet all the survivors at the gate first.”
“How dare you keep us out when it’s safe in there? And leave us out here with zombies all around us?” Her voice was harsh and accusing.
Zombie Revolution Page 24
