Z14 (Zombie Rules)

by Achord, David

  “So far, so good. Let’s see if there are any inhabitants.” I said and started tapping on the ladder with a pry bar. The intent was to create enough noise to attract any zombies which may be lurking around inside.

  I kept it up for five minutes while the rest of them aimed their flashlights through the, watching for the appearance of any zombies. Finally, Fred looked at me.

  “I think we’re good.” He said.

  Fred, Andie and I went down into the hole. I went first. I bypassed the ladder’s rungs, grabbed the sides, slid down quickly, and landed in the dark on a hard concrete floor. I grabbed my flashlight and made a quick circle.

  “All clear.” I said. I stepped aside as Andie slid down. Fred was the last one to come down. He casually stepped down on the rungs as if he were on a Sunday stroll. Bo lit a lantern and lowered it on a rope. It wasn’t as bright as the flashlights, but it provided decent ambient lighting. We all looked around, shining our flashlights down the aisles of shelves.

  “Zach, you continue to amaze me.” Fred finally said.

  “How’s it looking down there?” Bo shouted down.

  Fred looked up at Bo. “We’ve hit the mother lode.” He said, with a small iota of excitement in his voice.

  There was everything imaginable, but I had prepared a list the night before with instructions only to concentrate on certain items. It went without saying any viable food products were going with us, along with all ammunition. When I broke into the gun room, Fred let out a low whistle. I conservatively estimated there were barrels containing at least a thousand firearms of different makes, models, and calibers.

  “It’ll take a while to sort out the good ones from the junk.” I said.

  “I agree. We’ll do a cursory search through these piles of weapons, and concentrate more on ammunition. We can come back again at a later time.” I couldn't argue with Fred’s logic. I left it to him to sort through the weapons while Andie and I walked down the many aisles, conducting an overview of the various and vast amounts of wares. There was a little bit of everything. Andie focused her flashlight beam on a bin containing multiple evidence bags. Obviously, it was marijuana, a lot of it.

  “Can I?” Andie asked with a hopeful grin.

  “You want all of it?” I asked in disbelief. “There has to be twenty or thirty pounds there.”

  “Well, maybe a pound, or two?” She asked. I shrugged and Andie squealed with delight. She dragged the bin to the ladder while I continued looking.

  I could not get over the wide variety of items. The first aisle I came to was a large quantity of alcoholic beverages, probably confiscated on a tippling house raid. I had no intention of telling Rowdy and left it behind.

  I also bypassed all electronic items. There was no need for them now. Instead, I focused on items more important to us. I found reloading supplies, black powder, blasting caps, squibs, and various assorted tools. I loaded them up in plastic tote bins the police seemed to favor for storing evidence, and had them hauled up out of the hole. Fred walked over to me while I loaded up a couple of cases of Coca Cola in a bin.

  “We’ve been here almost six hours now. I think we should head out and get some gas while we still have daylight.” He said.

  “Okay, I found a couple of cases of dog food. Let’s get those and get out of here.” I said. “Oh, I have a present for you.” I said as I tossed a pair of brass knuckles to him.

  He caught them in the air and looked at them. “Are these for protecting me from Big Mac?” He asked dryly. I laughed.

  We climbed out of the warehouse, tacked the tarp over the open hole, and helped load the last of the property we had retrieved. About the time we lashed down the ladders to the work truck, a black utility van approached. Three men got out. They were all wearing black vests with a cloth badge sewn over the left breast. They approached us warily. Their weapons all appeared to be Glock semiautomatics, and they were wearing nylon thigh holsters. Each man had their hand on their side arms. Fred and I walked out and met them halfway while the rest of our group stood by the vehicles, weapons in hand. They were muscular, late twenties or early thirties. Two of them looked like bulldogs. The third one was my height with a swarthy visage. He had a sour expression, like he was constipated. None of them had shaved in a while.

  “Hello.” I said. “My name’s Zach. We haven’t seen any other survivors around in quite a while.” The taller one stepped forward. He didn’t offer his hand.

  “I’m Detective McElroy with the Metro Police Department. We just observed you people burglarizing our property room.” He said with no hint of friendliness. Bo snorted in contempt.

  “I beg your pardon,” I said with as much diplomatic tact as I could muster. “We were under the impression this building had been abandoned.”

  “On the contrary dumbass, this is Metro property, as well as all of its contents.” He replied. Before I could respond, Fred spoke up.

  “Watch your mouth young man.” He looked at the self-proclaimed detective with coldness in his eyes. His friends puffed up their chests, much like gorillas do. I didn’t like these guys, but I tried to be diplomatic. I held my hands out in seeming placation.

  “Hey, not a problem.” I said. “We certainly didn’t mean to impose on your jurisdiction. Why don’t you fellows unlock the front door and we’ll gladly put everything back.” They didn’t expect my response. I picked up on it, and I’m sure Fred did as well. The two bulldogs looked at their peer with uncertainty.

  “You fellows are full of shit, aren’t you? You have no keys, nor do you have any claim on this property, right?”

  “Listen up, cocksucker, we’re…” He never got a chance to finish. Fred stepped forward in a blink of an eye and cold cocked him with his new pair of brass knuckles. I drew my weapon quickly.

  “Don’t move!” I shouted. “You’re outgunned. Either of you make a wrong move, you’re dead!” They froze in place, but stared at us angrily.

  “You guys call yourselves cops, but y’all don’t even see the man on the roof, do you?” Now they looked up. Rowdy was still up there, and even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could tell by the expressions on the men’s faces he was currently pointing his rifle at them. “Now, very slowly, you two take your handguns out and drop them on the ground.”

  “Like hell I will.” One of them said. I aimed my handgun at him.

  “I won’t say it twice.” I said.

  “Do it now!” Bo yelled. They saw the predicament they were in, and reluctantly placed their weapons on the ground.

  “This is our territory.” One of them said haughtily as Andie went around and gathered up their weapons. Detective McElroy was conscious now and rubbing his jaw. He sat up slowly. Fred continued staring at him.

  “Check the van.” I said to Andie, and then looked back at the man who thought we were in their territory. “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Chet Henry.” He said after a moment.

  “Well, Mister Chet Henry, if you’re claiming this as your territory, that means all we have to do is kill the three of you and this will now be our territory, right?” I asked. Chet stared at me silently. “Do you see how stupid your statement sounds now?” He nodded slightly. I lowered my weapon. Andie exited the van and looked at me.

  “They have three assault weapons.” She said.

  “Unload them and bring the bullets.” Fred said. Andie ducked back in the truck.

  “You three strike me as nothing more than bullies.” I motioned toward the tall one sitting on his ass. “He meets us for the first time and, let’s see, calls me a dumbass and a cocksucker. There’s no way y’all used to be cops. You’re bullies.” I said.

  “You got that right.” Bo added.

  Chet shook his head. “No, really, we were cops.” He pointed back. “We worked out of the East Precinct.”

  Bo spat in disgust. “That makes it worse. You men are supposed to protect society from bullies, but that’s all you are, bullies.” He spat again. “Fucking
punks.”

  “I have to agree with my friend.” I said. They stared at us sullenly. I shook my head. “We always try to start a positive relationship with survivors we meet, but you guys are not people we want to be friends with. Otherwise, we’d love to get to know you guys and hear your stories of survival. But, we have things to do. You guys get in your van and leave. We’ll leave your weapons here. You can come back for them after we’re gone.” I said. “Please don’t follow us. If you do, we’ll consider it a hostile act.”

  The one who called himself Chet, and his buddy who chose not to identify himself, turned to walk toward the van. The one who called himself McElroy started to get up and stumbled toward me. It seemed odd in the manner which he staggered. Before my mind could process it, he suddenly lunged and grabbed my tactical vest. He turned me where all of my friends were behind me. And then, he grabbed my handgun and attempted to wrest it away from me.

  I used my left thumb and jammed it in his eye. He grunted in pain and loosened his grip. I turned it toward him and pulled the trigger. The gun didn’t fire. He had managed to move the slide just enough to cause it to go out of battery. The only way to make it fire now was to rack the slide. I chose instead to hit him in the head with it. He staggered to his knees and punched me in the groin.

  It hurt, and it probably would have taken me out of the fight, but I was in a rage – again. I hit him with the butt of my handgun, and continued battering him until someone grabbed me from behind in a bear hug. I desperately fought to get away.

  “Easy Zach, easy.” I recognized Fred’s voice in my good ear, and stopped resisting. Fred walked backward until there was some distance between us and McElroy before let go of me.

  “Holster your weapon Zach. It’s over.” I did as he said, and looked at the other two cops. Chet and the other one were pale, but didn’t look any worse for the wear. I watched as Bo jogged up and checked on the downed man. He checked his pulse before looking up at me, and then at Fred. He slowly shook his head. I looked at the cop closely then. His head looked like freshly ground hamburger. For some reason, it took me a moment before I realized I was the one who did it.

  “Alright people, load up and move out.” Fred said in his usual deadpan tone. I caught my breath, walked over to my beautiful Ford Raptor truck, currently overloaded with new found wealth, and got in the back seat. Fred pointed at the two men and pointed at their van. They picked up their friend and without commentary.

  “Andie, you drive.” I said.

  Terry jumped in front, and Kelly jumped in back beside me. The windows were down and I overheard Bo speaking to Fred.

  “Holy shit Fred, that kid is a terror when he has his dander up.” Fred nodded without comment, and they got into the Volvo.

  We arrived at the fuel reservoir without any complications. I got out, but instead of helping get fuel, I walked over to the riverbank. I knew they’d figure out how to fill the tanker without me. Kelly followed me.

  “You’ve got blood all over you. Are you hurt?” She asked. I shook my head, and pulled a bandanna out of my back pocket. I fumbled with my canteen, wet it down, and began wiping my face. Kelly took it from my hand. “Here, let me do it.” She wiped my face off, rinsed the bandanna, and began wiping my hands.

  “That guy outweighed you by twenty or thirty pounds, and you beat him to death.” She said quietly. “I knew you were tough, but damn.”

  I didn’t respond. I was emotionally spent. I didn’t want to talk. I only wanted to look at the Cumberland River. It was quite a bit higher than normal, which led me to believe at least one dam had finally given way.

  Probably the Percy Priest Dam. It had been damaged back in the eighties when a couple of idiots had set off a case of dynamite in the bowels of the dam. They had hoped to flood downtown Nashville. Then, they were going to go in with scuba gear and loot the numerous businesses. Unfortunately for them, the dam held and they went to prison.

  I watched as various type of debris floated by, along with an occasional corpse. Kelly wrapped herself around one of my arms. I felt her breasts pressing against me. My thoughts were interrupted by a jostling. Andie had approached and pushed Kelly.

  “If you want to fuck him, you’re going to have to go get permission from Julie, you dumbass.” She said. “Go get in the truck.”

  Andie was three inches shorter, and probably twenty pounds lighter than Kelly. Nevertheless, Kelly was quite intimidated by her. Without a word, she walked back to the truck. Andie took her place and interlaced her arms through my right arm. She was wearing her tactical vest, so I didn’t feel any breasts this time.

  “So, what are we doing here, big guy?” She asked.

  “I’m just enjoying the view, Miss Andrea.” I said. “Why didn’t anyone shoot that asshole?” I asked.

  “Hell, Zach. You and Fred were moving so quick, nobody had a good shot.” She pressed her head against my shoulder. “Who would have thought that old man could move so fast.”

  “Really? You’ve seen him with those pistols, right? He’s like a rattlesnake, don’t underestimate that man.”

  “I certainly don’t underestimate you.” She said.

  “It looks like you and Terry are doing pretty good.” I commented, changing the subject.

  “You don’t mind that I’m sleeping with him?” She asked.

  “I want you to be happy. If Terry makes you happy, I’m happy for you.” I reached out and put my arm around her shoulders. “I want my little sis’ to be happy.”

  “Are you happy, Zach?” Andie asked. It was a long minute before I answered. These days, whenever I felt threatened, I went into a cold rage. It didn’t seem normal.

  “I don’t know.” I finally said.

  Chapter 56 – Weak Moments

  When we got home, Fred and I sorted out and inventoried our loot. Everyone had the compulsion to pick stuff up and play with it. It was very irritating and I wasn’t in a pleasant mood anyway.

  Rhonda, Wanda, and the three little girls drove up. Rowdy was standing with us by the truck, so they pointedly ignored us and went inside, hopefully to help Julie cook. I found myself on the edge of snapping at a few people, so I went into our bedroom, stripped, and took a cold shower. Changing into some clean clothes, I waited in the bedroom and massaged my temples until I felt like I was civilized enough to rejoin everyone.

  There were so many of us, some sat in the kitchen, others sat in the den. For some reason, we never used the dining room.

  Even though we had scored a major haul of loot, the conversation was hushed. I didn’t feel like talking, Fred didn’t talk much anyway, and Rowdy was worried about saying the wrong thing. I finally broke the silence.

  “All of you did great today.” I said, without any real emotion.

  “Yes, you did.” Fred added. “It was unfortunate about those cops, if they were really cops.”

  “Fuck those assholes.” Kelly said.

  “Kelly!” Wanda chided.

  Fred looked over at Wanda. “We found some good stuff. I believe we can now get you ladies properly armed, right Mac?”

  “Hell yeah!” Mac responded.

  “I hope you ladies are up for some firearms training.” Fred said.

  “We’ll do whatever you say, Fred.” Mac said, with a little bit of eagerness in her voice. Julie grinned at Fred. He responded with an arched eyebrow.

  It started the conversation. Everyone was now talking about all of the riches we found, and I ate my meal in silence. Julie looked at me occasionally, but I didn’t respond.

  Afterward, I shooed everyone out of the kitchen and cleaned it up by myself. Eventually, Mac took the women and girls back to the radio station, Bo went home, and Fred retired to the sleeper of the Volvo. I finished up and walked out onto the back patio. Andie and Terry were smoking a joint, while Julie and Kelly were still talking about the day’s events. When I walked outside, they stopped talking, which told me they were talking about the fight. Joe was sitting there quietly.

&n
bsp; “Where’s Rowdy?” I asked.

  “He’s in the bus.” I walked over and knocked on the door before opening it and going inside. Rowdy was in complete darkness, I could barely see him propped up in his bed.

  “Howdy Hoss, you come here for a drink?” He asked.

  “What are you drinking?”

  “This evening, I am enjoying a delicious and slightly expensive brand of Vodka. Svedka, I believe is the name of it.” He reached up, turned on a small reading light, and looked at the label. “Yep, Svedka.” He held it out. I stepped closer and reached for it. Taking a small swallow, I handed it back to him.

  “When are you going to stop beating yourself up?” I asked.

  “When are you?” He responded, and took another drink.

  “Touché.” I grabbed the bottle and took another small swallow.

  “It was an unfortunate situation today. I would have taken care of that dude but I didn’t ever get a clear shot.”

  “Was I justified Rowdy?” I asked.

  “You did what you had to do.” He answered.

  “I’ve had a couple of people try to kill me. They came pretty close. I guess I overreact now whenever I feel threatened.”

  “Perfectly understandable, I suppose.” He said and handed me the bottle. We sat in silence a moment before Rowdy spoke.

  “It looks like Andie and that soldier are hooked up now.” He said, changing the subject. I nodded.

  “His name is Terry, Terry Alexander.” I said.

  “Well good for her, I reckon. I guess I should have stuck with her rather than chase after Cindy. Andie kept me straight.”

  “You weren’t romantically attracted to Andie.” I said. Rowdy scoffed.

  “Does something like that really matter?” He asked. I shrugged and took the bottle from him before he drank again.

  “I’m going to bed. Before I do, I want to leave you with a thought. We need you Rowdy. You’re a part of our family.” I took one last, very small swallow, handed it back to him, and walked out. I heard him sobbing as I shut the door.

  Everyone got quiet again as I walked up to the porch. “I’m going to bed, goodnight everyone.” I said. Julie followed me inside. We stripped to our underwear, got in bed, and snuggled up together.