Marionette Zombie Series (Book 5): Bones in the Road

by Poe, S. B.

  Cody and Vernon slowed as they saw Cotton standing alone in the yard. They walked up as he leaned against the pole.

  “Good thing it wasn’t a fire or something.” Cotton said. A few more people began to filter in from the surrounding yards.

  “Good thing.” Cody said flatly.

  “What’s going on Cotton?” Mildred Wilson called from the other side of the street.

  “Don’t worry Mildred. I just need these boys here.” Cotton called back as he motioned towards Cody and Vernon. She just waved her hands at him and turned back to her home. The others, hearing him, turned back too.

  “What do you need now?” Cody asked.

  “First I need you to stow that attitude. Second I need you to head out to the co-op building and find something for me.”

  “What the hell could you need from out there?”

  “Well since the weather is starting to turn it seems like we ought to start thinking about planting some vegetables. We need the seed. And if you’re feeling frisky, you could run out to the farm and bring the small tractor back. The plow too, if it ain’t too much trouble.” Cotton started laughing and it quickly devolved into coughing. He wiped the spittle off his lips with the back of his hand.

  “Seeds? You want us to go out for seeds? ” Cody asked.

  “Aw quit your cryin. The farm and the co-op are both between here and the crossing. The crossing’s been closed since before winter.”

  “Goner’s don’t use the road.” Cody said.

  “Just get it done.”

  “Or what, you gonna ring that bell again?” Cody said. He had quit holding his tongue when he disagreed with him but he would still do whatever Cotton told him. Cotton knew it too.

  Cotton looked at him perplexed. He looked up at the bell and back at Cody.

  “You don’t get it do you?” Cody asked.

  “Get what?” Cotton asked.

  “We’ll get your damn seeds. We’ll even get the damned plow. But you need to look around and figure out who else you have to answer that bell while we’re gone. Let’s go Vernon.” Cody turned and started walking back towards the bridge.

  Cotton looked around and saw Mildred standing on her front porch. He waved. She waved back.

  “Hey,” he yelled as Cody walked off. “Your sister is supposed to be coming home soon from up to the church. Make sure she finds her way there before you leave.”

  “Find her yourself.” Cody yelled back. “Just ring your damn bell.”

  Emma Grace crawled through the cab of the truck. She left the doors open and sat down by the tree waiting. The truck formed part of the barricade behind the church but the preacher had left months ago so no one came here but her. She could hear it struggling to follow her through. She giggled and stood. She wandered over and looked inside the cab. The thing had one arm caught in the steering wheel and couldn’t pull free. She giggled again.

  “Look at you. You are so stupid.” She said.

  The thing was oblivious to her taunting. It was almost serene as its nostrils flared to inhale her as she leaned closer. The things mouth was slightly opened and the faintest trace of rot filled drool slid down its chin. Finally the angle of the arm and the pressure applied from the things struggle met with physics. Snap. The arm broke and the thing silently slipped free from its momentary capture. She could see the bulge under the skin displaced by the splintered bone underneath. She smiled at it and turned.

  “Almost there. Almost there.” She looked around as the thing came up behind her.

  She slipped behind the church and went to the door of the fellowship hall. As the thing lurched forward it never quite stood straight. It was almost naked. It still wore a torn pair of pants but nothing else. The skin had become a sooty gray and appeared more like the thick skin of an elephant, Emma Grace had seen some at the circus in Birmingham once. The hair on its head was long and matted but large chunks were missing all the way to the scalp.

  “Shhhh” She admonished as the thing brushed against the grates on the defunct air conditioner as it tried to follow her between the two buildings.

  It didn’t respond to her but it did stop moving. She seemed surrounded by an invisible barrier that upon reaching it the thing would pause, bend forward slightly and inhale. The nostrils just two black holes, the skin and cartilage of its nose almost gone. She turned and looked back at it before opening the door. Its eyes were almost gone. She could still see the faint outline of what were once pupils at the very center of the yellowish opaque lenses that filled the eye socket now. The tilt of its head indicated that it led more with its ability to smell than its ability to see. She was fascinated.

  She had seen different goners before but since the day the thing by the creek bit her, she wasn’t afraid of them any more. She didn’t know if she was the only one in the world like her but she had seen enough people die and come back after getting bitten to know she was special. Something about that made her feel like a super hero and like all good super heroes she told herself she had to keep it a secret. Once she found the truck, and a way out of the barricades no one could see, she started seeking them out. The first time she went out she found one just outside the barricade. It was wandering between the houses that were now part of the outside world. She stepped in front of it and it stopped. The first reaction had been to tilt its head back and smell the air. After that it had shuffled closer to her but never more than a few feet. When the weather turned cold she found fewer and fewer. Then, a few days ago, she found this one.

  It was in the shed behind the gas station. She had almost walked right by it. She would have missed it if it hadn’t turned its head to sniff the air as she passed. She stopped. It moved its head and turned slightly. It was the first one she had seen in weeks. And it looked different. Most of the ones she had seen looked like dead people, ashen, stilted and clumsy. She had found a few during the coldest days almost frozen. Their skin looked more like the thing in front of her but they didn’t move at all. Those frozen goners had barely moved for weeks. She knew they moved some, probably during the day when she was tending to lunch, but by the time she came out to check in the evenings they were stiff again. This one moved.

  As she approached it the thing turned towards her. When she came close enough it moved slightly backwards. She paused. She backed up and the thing began moving towards her. Like the others, it followed her but this one was different. She could walk faster and it walked faster. The skin was thick but the muscles underneath were taught. The thing had a slight bend of its back when it moved but rather than making it awkward it seemed to stabilize it as its speed increased. It wasn’t able to run when she did but it could move surprisingly fast for short distances. She spent that first afternoon having it chase her around and through the gas station. For the next few days she would find it wandering around the gas station but today it was gone. She finally found it ambling towards the creek. Bringing it inside the barricade was the only way she knew to keep it from wandering away.

  She opened the door to the fellowship hall. The afternoon light cut a sharp angle through the few spots on the windows not covered in a film of dirt. She stepped through the door and the thing followed. She walked a circle around the floor and wound her way back to the door. The thing traced her steps. She smiled and clapped her hands.

  “EMMA GRACE!!” She heard Cody call out from a distance.

  “Oh shit.” She said to no one.

  She quickly pulled out the lancet she had in her pocket and pricked all four fingers of her left hand. She wiped the drops of blood on the wall. For the goner, it was overpowering. It put its face against the wall and opened it mouth to inhale as much of it as it could. She patted it on the back of the head.

  “Good boy. You stay right here. I’ll be back.” She stepped out the door and closed it behind her. She wiped her hands on the back of her pants. “EMMMMMMAAA GRAAACCE!” He called again.

  “Right here.” She said as she stepped around the side of the church. “No n
eed to yell.” She waved at Cody and Vernon.

  “What the hell are you doing back there?” Cody said as he walked up.

  “I was…” She started. He interrupted her. “Never mind. I don’t care. Cotton wants you home.”

  “Did he say why?” She asked.

  “Nope and I didn’t ask. Run along now.” Cody said.

  “Where are you going?” She asked.

  “We’re going out to the co-op and the farm. Outside the barricade.” Vernon said slightly puffing his chest.

  “Outside? Outside the barricade? Really? That’s scary.” She said smiling.

  “Well it needs to be done.” Vernon said smiling back.

  “Y’all braver than me.” She looked down smiling. “See you later.”

  She turned and walked back towards the house on Greene Avenue.

  “It needs to be done?” Cody mocked Vernon.

  “Just sayin.” Vernon said as he looked at his shoes.

  “It’s cool. You got the hots for my little sister. Gross but I guess the pickins are kinda slim.” Cody said.

  “You think she likes me?” Vernon asked.

  “I don’t think the pickins are that slim yet.” Cody smiled at him. “Let’s go.”

  5

  Seeds

  Sound at night is a funny thing. It can change direction as you listen to it and it can seem to come from two directions at once. Distance is shortened in the mind and far off noises sound like they are right outside. Last night he had listened as vehicle engines filled the sky. He even thought he heard a bus. He was sure that was in his mind because a burnt out bus surrounded him. Just simple association, he thought. Then it stopped. He sat by the fire listening for a long time, hoping to hear more. He hadn’t. Then this morning, as he was watering a nearby bush, he heard it again. This time he heard it moving and finally he heard the sound of two vehicles accelerating away.

  He finished packing his belongings onto the horse. He walked his makeshift camp collecting the wire and cans snaked around the trees for an alarm. After he loaded it all into the big duffle bag he tied it to the back of the saddle. The sword sat in a scabbard attached to the right side of the horse and the rifle was in a scabbard on the left. He was right handed. He had rigged another scabbard for the halberd using a piece of PVC pipe. He tied it so the heel would ride below the sword and when he put the shaft in it was just in front of his right hand strapped to the pommel. Just like a rider from the steppes, he thought. Proud of himself.

  The horse preferred the soft soil beside the asphalt. He did too. It was much quieter. They stopped. He leaned over in the saddle as the horse half turned. He could see the muddy tire tracks heading northwest down the pavement. He raised his head and followed them until they crossed the slight rise in front of him. He turned his gaze back down and followed the tracks back into the woods. He could see the muddy ruts cutting through the trees. He looked into the woods. He looked back down the road. To follow where it went or to see where it came from. Decisions, decisions.

  *

  “Well shit.” Bridger said as Jahda slowed the SUV.

  They stopped a few hundred yards back but they could clearly see that the way ahead was blocked. It looked like a bunch of logs across the road. Bridger pulled out the binoculars and scanned the area for a good while.

  “I don’t see anyone. Doesn’t look like anyone is manning that roadblock. Let’s pull up a little bit more and stop again. We’ll see if anyone moves.” Bridger said. He thumbed the walkie. “Josh?”

  “Yep.” Josh replied.

  “Stay here. Use your binoculars to watch the wood line. See if anyone is watching us. We’re going to pull up a little bit.” Bridger released the button.

  “Will do.” Josh replied. He turned to Jahda.

  “Nice and slow.” She nodded back and put the SUV in gear.

  The SUV rolled forward towards the pile of timber. There were a few cars stuck in the deep mud on either side of the road. All the car windows were covered over in a winter’s worth of dirt, grime, mud and blood. Bridger hit the button to lower his window. He raised his hand. Jahda stopped the car.

  “Wait here. I just want to check something.” He thumbed the button. “Josh, I’m getting out. Keep a sharp eye.”

  “Go ahead.” Josh replied.

  Bridger opened the door and swung his leg out. He stepped onto the running board and stood, raising his rifle as he did. He swung it left and right before stepping to the ground. He stepped to the side of the road quickly and reached what he wanted to see. He climbed up into the cab of the delivery truck. He looked in the ignition and retrieved the keys. He climbed down and started towards the end of the trailer.

  “Heads up. Deaduns coming from the woods other side of where you’re standing.” Josh’s voice crackled over the speaker.

  “How many?”

  “I see two.”

  Bridger knelt down and leaned over, peering under the trailer. He could see two sets of legs walking on the other side. He stood and walked around to meet them. He brought his knife out with his left hand and reached over his back and unsheathed the machete with his right. He let the rifle hang in the three-point harness across his chest. As he rounded the back of the trailer the first one’s head appeared from the other side. He took one hard downward swing with his machete. The head rolled forward a few feet beyond where the body fell. The other one stepped across the now still body and turned just as Bridger brought the knife in his left hand up to the deaduns temple. Pop. It fell backwards onto the body of the other deadun. Bridger wiped his knife on his pants leg and thumbed the walkie.

  “See any more?”

  “Nope but that was uh something.”

  He stuck his thumb in the air. He walked to the padlock on the back of the trailer and found the right key. He removed the lock, swung the latch and opened the door. The air that flowed from the enclosed trailer was stale and dry. He flipped on his flashlight. He smiled. He closed the door, replaced the padlock and walked back to the SUV.

  “Well?” Jahda said as he sat back down.

  “That truck. It says Meale Market. I used to see their trucks all the time back home. They’re a distributor from Nashville.”

  “What did they distribute?”

  “Little packages of vegetable seeds to co-ops and garden centers.” He turned and smiled at her.

  “So that’s it. We just load up here and head back. That’s really all we need.” Ed said.

  “We could.” Bridger said. He looked at Jahda and then at Devin. “But we still need to find some coffee.” He smiled at them. Jahda smiled back.

  “We’re going to have to find a way around these logs.” Devin said.

  “I think I found it. Look.” Jahda pointed through the windshield. Beside the road, just in front of the log pile, was a set of tracks cutting through the mud into the woods.

  “Looks like someone’s already been around.” Bridger said.

  “I think someone came out. See how the bushes have been dragged to the side of the road?” Jahda said. “Someone pulled through the woods to get out.”

  “And we’re going in?” Ed said.

  “How far down that road do we have to go?” Bridger asked.

  “It’s about five miles to the co-op. Another mile to the Wal-Mart and downtown is another couple more past that.”

  “Anything between here and the co-op?” Jahda asked.

  “Just a farmhouse. But it sits back off the road a little bit. Fella that lives there’s daddy has a house in town too.”

  “Rich guy?” Jahda said.

  “Rich enough. Asshole tried to get me arrested once for growing a harmless little flower on the back of his damn farm. Sister is kinda cute though. Or was. I guess.” Ed said.

  “Do you think we can get through that?” Bridger asked Jahda.

  “Only one way to find out.” She said.

  Bridger nodded and thumbed the walkie.

  “Come on up. We’re going to try and go around.
We think we found a way through the woods.” He released the button.

  “On our way.” Josh said.

  Jahda started forward. The ruts were fairly fresh. They bounced over some rough spots here and there and a few times had to back up to find the trail again but after a few minutes the road came back under them as they exited on the other side of the roadblock.

  “Let’s go real slow.” Bridger said as he put the binoculars back to his eyes.

  Cody stepped out of the truck and walked around the tailgate. He lowered it down and grabbed the empty backpack. Vernon stood outside the passenger door nervously looking around.

  “I don’t see any goners.” Vernon said.

  “Keep looking.” Cody replied.

  He walked past Vernon and started towards the front of the co-op. He had been here a few times. Wallyworld too. They didn’t go there much any more. The store had been pretty much emptied in the very early days when people still had the courtesy to pay for things. Anything left had been picked over by those leaving Collier after the barricades went up. The co-op had been picked over for anything you could wear or turn into a weapon you could carry. The rest of the stuff, the equipment and Cody was hoping the seeds, was still here. He hadn’t noticed if the seeds had been picked over or not and he was hoping that since he hadn’t noticed them maybe no one else paid attention to them either.

  The glass front door was still intact. Some of the windows were broken but none of the big glass plates had fallen out yet. He reached up and swung the door towards him. He held it with his foot and took the aluminum bat in his hand and tapped against the metal frame. He waited. He tapped again but louder. He waited. He let the door swing shut and walked over to the side of the building. He found a loose cinder block and grabbed it. He walked back to the front and swung the door open again. He placed the block against it to hold it open.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his flashlight. The showroom was divided into two sections but he knew the layout because he had been coming here since he was a toddler. All the stuff he needed would be in the back section. He walked through the empty shelves and found a few useful items. He found two rolls of duct tape, a package of shop rags and a pair of sunglasses. He put those in his shirt pocket. The rest he put in the backpack. He made his way to the back of the store.