by Mark Clodi
“Deal.” said Dora.
They stood there for a moment then Jake said, “For a deal of this magnitude, I think we should all shake hands. I won't require a written contract, but I want a list of every person's name the morning we leave. So, shake?”
“Don't do it.” Steve warned as Dora started forward.
Casting a mischievous look over her shoulder she said, “What is the worst that can happen? He'll kill me and you will kill him.” Dora continued until she was next to Jake in the doorway, her hand right hand held out.
Jake took it with a tenderness that surprised her, he leaned in and whispered only to her, “I won't even charge you for the baby.”
Dora stiffened, “You can see that?”
“Yes, I mean it, I won't kill any more humans if I can help it. I won't even take any blood before you are ready.” Jake shook Dora's hand, then stepped inside the building, “C'mon in folks, the buses are right this way. I can offer you some of the latest models with air conditioning and individually heated seats. All ready to drive off the lot right now. And if you are in the market for some used vehicles I have a few of those out back too, so long as you aren't picky about windows and slight body damage.”
Dora laughed and called back to Steve, “I could like this guy. Too bad he doesn't know he just made a bad deal.”
Jake held the doors for the others and followed them as they went towards the front of the store, “Bad deal? Do tell? You don't think I am up to getting you to Des Moines.”
“Oh you will try, but we may have forget to mention we are surrounded by super zombies, who are keeping us pinned into a few square blocks and probably won't take kindly to their livestock trying to leave.”
They turned and faced Jake when they got to the showroom floor, seeing how he would react.
He laughed, “I’m pretty sure I had that figured out. I’m not too worried about them.”
“Not even a pair of little girls so cute you could just eat them up when you see them?”
Jake's face fell a little, “Oh, them.”
It was Dora's turn to laugh, “Well we didn't want to make it too easy on you!”
“Well, it is time for my little surprise in our deal, I won't have to get you to Des Moines. Not if you are looking for safety.”
“No?”
“No, when I checked last week the Iowa National Guard was fighting at Bethany, in Missouri. Only about a hundred miles from here. Unless you want to go to Maryville?”
“So who got screwed on this deal, Steve?” Dora asked.
“I think both parties bartered in bad faith and came out about even, objectively I have to say Jake is getting a worse deal than we are. What do you think Jake?”
Jake grimaced, “I lost on it, but at the end of the day I still get my blood, even if I have to kill the albino twins.”
“We call them the wonder twins.”
Jake nodded, “Good enough, the problem is they have a lot of super zombies. It’s no wonder I hadn't seen you around, I steer clear of their area, I tangled with some of their boys before.”
“Yeah? Who won?” asked Bob.
Jake looked at him and didn't say anything. Finally Dora said, “Bob, he won, he’s here.”
Bob laughed and said, “Yeah, right, I put my foot in that one, huh?”
Looking back to Dora and Steve Jake said, “I heard you had questions, I am willing to answer them, if I can.”
“Can you read the other zombies minds?” asked Steve.
“Minds? I wasn't aware they had minds as such. But what’s there I can't read.”
“How do you communicate with them?”
“It’s mental, I press my will against theirs, if mine is more powerful I win and I get to make them do what I want, which is why this place isn't crawling with the dead right now. Now I have made a zombie or two in my time and with those I can actually get what they are seeing and hear what they hear. I would know if they lied to me too.”
“Shit. Do you remember who you were before you turned?”
“Yes.”
“So if someone had created you, they could asked you questions and compel you to tell the true when you answered?”
“Yes, I suppose so, why are you asking?”
“Well most of our group knows we are leaving, so if the wonder twins kill any one of us they will be able to figure out our plans.” said Steve.
Jake thought for a moment, “Maybe, but not right away. You would have to approach the level of being able to think and answer questions again. If you were just a newly made zombie, you would not be much good to them. Do you think they keep tabs on you like that?”
“No, how much flesh does it require to gain your thoughts back? A whole person?”
“I don't know, I never brought any of my children back to that level, in fact I don't bring anyone back at all, if I can help it.”
“Why is that?” asked Dora.
“I never liked kids.”
“Oh.” looking towards Bob, Dora said, “Why don't you go get the others and bring them in here, leave the juniors out by the trucks as lookouts.”
“Okay Dora.” said Bob, grateful to be of some use.
After he left through the window Jake said softly, “Not the brightest bulb in the pack is he?”
“No. He is still alive and he survived this long so he has done something right.”
“Fair enough, there ain't anyone alive these days that doesn't have some trick up their sleeves. I think the last of the lucky ones died a couple of weeks ago; luck can only carry you so far.”
“I agree.” said Dora, rubbing the stock of her gun. The other adults came into the showroom, they were uneasy and Dora kept herself between Jake and them until she could explain the situation. Once she was done, she opened the floor for comments.
“I feel...well Dora I feel a little awkward about paying the price. It’s like we are conspiring with the enemy, paying that blood. I don't know if I can do it.”, this was spoken by an older woman named Melinda.
“No problem, Jake here is giving us credit anyone who doesn't want to pay, I will pay for. I wouldn't want anyone to do anything against their morals.”
“Why don't we just kill him and be done with it?” asked another man.
“Well, first there is no guarantee that we would be able to. If you don't believe me I think Jake has some used cars you should look at behind the building. He says he handled their acquisition all at once. There were more in that group than we have with us now.”
“But we have been through a lot, they might have been inexperienced, everyone here is, well, tough.” said another man.
“Okay that brings up the second point, Jake is going to help get us to the Iowans. How long we been here Bob?”
Startled Bob looked at his watch, “Um, twenty minutes?”
“Yeah? And how many zombies have caught up with us from the mob back there? Or gathered around us from the area? None. Jake claims he can push them away from us and he has agreed to get us to the front lines. Without him we might have to fight every zombie we come across and risk losing a lot more people.”
The group grumbled a bit, but finally one of the men, a younger man named Colton stepped up and said, “I'll pay my pint, you won't have to pay for me.”
One by one the other ones, even Melinda agreed to pay the price.
“So now that we are down to the brass tacks, why don't you choose some of the buses and we can get going?” said Jake.
“Well alright, that is what we are here for. Is there a shop here Jake? We need to take some of the seats out of the back to make room for the supplies we plan on bringing with us.” said Steve.
“Yeah they have a collision center, the bays all have buses in them right now, but the tools are free, if you just need ratchets and wrenches there are plenty to go around.”
“Okay, good, what about gas stations? Any that sell diesel in the area?”
“You won't need them, there is a tank and pump out back. Its g
ravity fed too, above ground, you should be able to drive the buses up to it and fill them from there.”
“Our day just got easier.” Steve said happily. Jake showed them where the keys to all the buses were and offered them the weapons he had taken off of the people laying behind the building as a bonus. The arsenal was fairly extensive, with everything from small twenty two caliber derringers up to a large fifty four caliber black powder carbine. All of the guns had ammunition ready for the taking.
Steve set Bob to choosing the best of the guns and then had him wrap the rest of it in some plastic sheeting and tuck the bundle into the furnace room out of sight as a cache. Removing the seats took the longest time, there were enough tools to go around, but it was a lot of work to take the last three rows of seating out of each of the three buses. About an hour and a half after arriving the buses were fueled and ready to go, the diesel tank was sufficient to fill all of the extra gas cans they had earmarked for that purpose. This left them with just a dozen empty cans to fill with unleaded fuel for the motorcycles and other vehicles.
Bob agreed to have Jake ride in the front truck with him, he put Seth into one of the buses with Ken to make room and the caravan set out back to Mark's Motorcycles.
When they arrived back at highway 7 Jake demonstrated his ability to get the zombies out of their way, the horde, which had spread out long the exit ramp by this time, parted from the vehicles like the Red Sea before Moses. After seeing his power demonstrated Bob positively warmed up to Jake, and the others started feeling like they had gotten a good bargain for the help he would be giving them too.
At the motorcycle shop, they picked up three off road bikes suitable for the fourteen year olds to ride, one was a spare. All of the bikes were fairly light weight and did not boast a lot of power. Steve said they would not go too fast either, perhaps eighty miles an hour at top speed. Seth demonstrated his ability to ride by taking his chosen motorcycle for a spin, which led to Becka having to show the group that she could ride too. She promptly crashed her chosen motorcycle into the side of an abandoned car. Dora thought Becka had killed herself, but the girl just rolled away from the bike and got up with a flushed red face. While a couple of the men ran to her aid, she stepped back over to the bike and jerked it up off the ground. By the time the men got to her she had it started again and was ready to ride, this time she didn't run into anything.
“So you think she really could ride a motorcycle?” Jake said softly from behind Dora.
“Yeah, she was just nervous, maybe a little rusty too. Did you see how she got it up and started it on her own? I couldn't have done that, I think she did something with her feet too, brakes or something?”
“Shifting with one foot, the back brake with the right foot.” Jake said.
“Still feeling like you got a bad deal?”
“Ask me in three days.”
Chapter 35
The caravan arrived back before sunset, stopping only to drop Jake off just out of sight in an abandoned house before getting pulling into Doraville. Dora and Jake thought it might be best to break the news of the deal to the town without him being present, in case there were some serious objections. Dora promised to return the buses if the council would not agree to the deal. Once inside the gates Dora immediately called a council meeting, where Mary railed at her for the head wound. Seth was also in the 'clinic' during the meeting and Mary disinfected his wound and wrapped it up again.
“Alright Seth you are good enough, go on, just rest tonight, no guard duty.” Mary said.
“Can't I stay?”
“No.” said Dora firmly, “I need you to talk to the other juniors and see if anyone else has spoken to Willy. We need to get in touch with him, so you go find out who saw him last and get back to me after the meeting. And keep your mouth shut about what happened today, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, you told me already!” grumbled the boy.
Dora and Steve had spoken to the other people who had helped get the buses when they dropped Jake off. They told them to stay quiet until the town meeting later that evening.
Paige had a huge pot of stew heating up on an electric heating element on the granite counter and most of the council members had a bowl in front of them. Mary helped herself to dinner and frowned when she saw Dora didn't have a bowl. She put the bowl she had down in front of the other woman and said, “Eat.”, then went and got another for herself.
The other council members watched the interaction, but didn't say anything. Dora grudgingly spooned a little into her mouth, then nibbled on some crackers they had taken in one of their food raids a while back. Everyone from the council was there Mary, Alex, Leon, Paige, Steve and Freddie. They all knew something had happened on the trip to get the buses and were wondering what had caused Dora to appear so animated.
“So,” started Leon, “You agreed to this?” He was the first to speak after Dora filled them in on the details of the deal she wanted to make.
“Well everyone there did yes.” said Steve.
“He is worth it. He can keep the shamblers off our backs and might be able to help with any of the super zombies we run into, what is wrong with the deal?” asked Dora.
“It’s because he is one of them. He isn't on our side.” said Alex, “I know I am not giving him Peter's blood, no way.” Mary nodded approvingly.
“No one has to, I will pay him off month by month if I need to, but I want him. Steve and I saw first-hand what he can do. It’s not even for the buses, we know we could get those somewhere else if we had to.”
“I’ll pay him. And help you pay for anyone who doesn't want to pay Dora.” said Freddie.
“Good, that makes three of us, so that is like fifty pints each at this point.” said Dora.
Steven nodded, “So Teflon Freddie, why will you pay? This is the kind of thing you normally get out of.”
“Well I didn't say I would pay with my own blood, but I will come up with something.” Freddie laughed at their expressions, “Look around, we are in charge here, we are the leaders, we lead by setting the example. I knew when I joined the council that I would have to make sacrifices for the people. That is how government is supposed to work, a thankless job for the leaders. When push comes to shove, I’ll do my part.” he winked at Dora, who smiled back.
“Okay, so that is three in favor for certain, Leon, Mary, Alex and Paige you have to decide where you stand, you could still kill this deal.” said Steve.
“I think we know enough to decide on it now.” said Leon, “I just didn't want to make a decision too hastily.”
“I vote with Dora, she has made some fucked up decisions, none more questionable than this one, but in the past she was right.” said Paige.
Dora nodded once to Paige, “Eloquent, thanks.”
“Then that is it, you have four votes to our three.” said Alex.
“When have we ever let you off the hook that easy, every one weighs in, everyone votes.” said Dora.
“Hah,” said Leon, “it’s unanimous, of course. We have to provide a united front to the others. It sounds too good to be true, a zombie to lead us through the other zombies, but I’ll pay the price. Alex? Mary?”
“Unanimous. It needs to be. It’s probably the last decision we’ll make as a council, after this trip we can lay the mantle of governance at the Iowan's feet.” said Mary, “Don't think for a second that I agree with feeding this monster, but if it means one more person gets through alive I’m willing.”
Alex nodded and said, “I’ll go along with it too, despite my reservations. When are you going to tell the others Dora?”
“The sooner the better. How about in twenty minutes before it gets too dark?”
“I’ll round everyone up, let’s do it half at a time. Maybe Seth will get back with news on Willy by then too.” said Paige.
As everyone went about their business Dora approached Mary, “How are Peter and Mike doing?”
“As well as we can expect. I am more worried about Seth. You
have someone watching him? If he turns, well we don't need that right now do we?”
Dora shook her head, “No, I don't have anyone watching him, but when he gets back with news on Willy you need to tell him to come back in the morning to eat breakfast here so you can change the bandages again. You should know if it is getting infected by then.”
“It has taken up to five days for the infection to show before, remember Kline?” Dora nodded, she remember the old man who was bite early on, the all thought he was going to make it, but he turned five days after a pretty terrible mauling during the height of the zombie tide, “Well, Seth barely got nipped, and the zombie didn’t even make it through his cloths. I won't stop wondering about him until the scratches are fully healed, but I think he might be okay. Do you know how you are going to tell the people?”
“Oh probably the brutal truth will be good enough. Are you going to be around for moral support?”
“Yeah, just let me run a bowl of this over to Tim.”
“You need any help with that?”
“From you? No. You are the last person he wants to see. He belly aches about you every time I see him. I only let him off his chain when I have someone else to cover me, so there is no danger of him pulling anything with me. Plus I am not even bringing the keys this time and I’ll tell him that when I see him.”
“Fair enough, but if you’re not back in five minutes I am charging over there with my gun out.”
Mary laughed, “Yeah that would be great. I am sure Steve would like nothing more than to bring Tim more fresh clothing. I’ll be quick.”
Dora puttered around her kitchen for a few minutes, it finally dawned on her that she would be leaving it in a day or two. She sat down and had a thoughtful look on her face when Mary and Paige came back through the front door together.
“What?” Paige asked.
“I am going to miss this place.”
“Oh, yeah, it will be your turn now, to go through what the rest of us have had to deal with. I hadn't thought about that.” said Paige.
