The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (83 page)

~

Once the fires were going the night and
the concerns seemed held back by the flames along with the
darkness. Soon the smell of roasting beef filled the air. Mike
found himself leaned back against one of the vehicles, sipping
coffee. Debbie sat next to him.

She sat her own coffee cup down,
reached over and covered his hand with her own. His eyes met hers.
She leaned closer to him.

“
I was wondering what a
woman has to do to get you to notice her,” she said. Her eyes were
red, her smile vague.

The Nation

When they had thought about setting
aside an area for burials they had discussed it as a committee.
They had chosen the enclosed area for a reason. The rock walls went
straight up on all sides. The entrance was an iron gate specially
built and kept locked. The soil went deep, but nothing grew here.
What soil there was, was in near constant shade except when the sun
stood straight up in the sky. It wasn't long enough to encourage
anything to grow.

The first times they had used it they
had been unsure whether the dead they put here would stay dead. The
radio waves were filled with horror stories, but they had listened,
followed advice, and the dead had stayed dead. The sheer rock walls
were an added protection they had not yet needed.

It was early morning and Arlene was
tired as she and Sandy carried the body through the gate and set it
down. Lilly had spoken words over it from her Bible earlier.
Looking at the dead man, knowing what could become of him, Arlene
had an uneasy feeling about her baby. She shrugged it off, pushed
it to the back of her mind.

“
I got it, Sandy.” Arlene
told her.

Sandy looked relieved to be able to
leave. Susan peeked in through the gate. Nothing had stopped her,
but her own unwillingness to step through the gate and into the
cemetery. Sandy slipped out through the gate, stood momentarily
embarrassed, unsure, and then walked away with Susan. Craig came in
through the gate. He took the shovel from Arlene.

“
I have to... I have to
make sure,” Arlene told him.

Craig looked at her.

Arlene sighed. “They almost
always come back now... They never used to... Even so I would... I
would have to make sure... You probably don't want to see this...
Be
here
for
it.”

“
Out in the world, this is
part of life. I know that sounds crazy, but after you do it a few
dozen times it becomes part of life. I don't want to say a normal
part of life, but in the sense that it is an ongoing
routine,
it is
a
normal part of life now. Who knows if there is
any
thing
that can be done for them... Some people believe there is.
That is the biggest problem I have seen. People unwilling to do
what must be done...” He smiled, a small smile, sadness riding with
it across his face. “I can dig or I can take care of him... It
shouldn't all be on you,” Craig told her.

Arlene nodded, tears threatening.
Whether from emotion, the exhaustion she felt; the acknowledgment
of what needed to be done, or just the simple act of kindness from
Craig, she didn't know.

“
In fact,” Craig told her.
“Just rest... I got this.” He took the pistol from her hand. She
had been unaware that she had drawn it. The tears escaped and
streamed down her cheeks and he pulled her close, whispering in her
ear as he hugged her close. “Just go out and sit. Close your eyes.
Let the sunlight fall on your face. Feel alive... I'll be there in
a few minutes... Okay?” Arlene nodded against his chest. She pulled
back.

“
Thank you,” she managed.
She turned and walked out of the rock enclosure and into the soft
sunlight of the morning beyond the gate. A few minutes later she
heard the shot she had expected. She leaned her head back against
the rock, feeling the warmth of the sunlight upon her eyelids and
fell into a light sleep.

On The Road

Mike smiled. “I have a woman in my life
that means everything to me, but if I didn't...” He let his words
trail off.

“
Oh sure,” Debbie said, a
little embarrassed. “The old
'But if I
didn't'
brush off.” She smiled to show she
was kidding. “So, everything, huh?”

Mike nodded. “Everything... And we'll
have our own child running around by this time next year. She's
pregnant. I miss her and I can't wait to get back.”

“
I'll have that, I hope.”
Debbie said.

“
I think you will. I wasn't
kidding. You remind me of Candace. Straight forward. No Bullshit,
real,” Mike said.

Debbie laughed. “I'll take that as an
endorsement. Anybody asks I'll tell them what you said.”

“
Hey,” Chloe asked.
“Anybody join this party?”

She sat down on the other side of Mike,
but she only had eyes for Debbie. Mike saw it immediately, and he
didn't know what to think about it. After all she had just come on
to him, did Chloe stand a chance in her pursuit? You don't even
know if that is her intention, Mike told himself, but inside he
knew it was true; felt it. She was interested. It was the way she
spoke to her. The way she looked at her. It was probably just
attraction right now, but given time. A second later Ronnie sat
down across from him.

“
Those little cows are
fast,” he said. “And mean too.” He held up skinned
knuckles.

“
Maybe they have a little
cow complex,” Mike joked. They both laughed.

Lisa came over and sat down a few
minutes later. She was nothing like what he expected. He wasn't
sure what it was he did expect, but it wasn't the pleasant, well
spoken woman in front of him. Even knowing Candace's past he had
still had certain misconceptions, he thought unhappily.

Ronnie caught his eyes and
shrugged as if to say, '
Who
thought
' Mike shrugged back. At least, he
told himself, he was not alone in his misconceptions, but that
wasn't really a comfort.

They ate their dinner of fresh beef and
corn, washed down with coffee. The night air had a chill in it and
Mike reminded himself that everyone would most likely need jackets
and probably even heavy coats for the coming winter. As he got up
to exchange post duty to let Josh come and eat, he noticed that
somehow during dinner Debbie had apparently noticed that Chloe was
interested in more than talk. It looked to Mike like maybe Debbie
was discovering her own interests, or at least reexamining what she
believed her own interests were.

The way Chloe looked at Debbie reminded
him of the way he found himself sometimes looking a Candace. The
way he had seen Molly look at Nellie. All the happiness in the
world, yet you felt you could burst into tears in a moment. Your
heart just couldn't contain it.

It made him sad immediately. He would
be missing Molly and Nellie for a long time. They had become part
of him, his world, just that fast. He hoped Chloe found happiness,
and he allowed those thoughts to remain. She had been through so
much that happiness was something he felt she deserved. He was only
glad to see that it had not killed the love inside of
her.

The Nation

“
Littlejohn. I knew some
Littlejohns when I was a kid,” Bob said. “Mohawk
Nation?”

“
My Grandmother on my
Mother's side. My dad was African American. I have his skin on her
features. I never really got too far into any of the culture on
either side though... I guess I considered myself no race, really,”
Craig said. “Either way, Bob, it's good to meet you and I like what
you have here.”

They had been back for about two hours.
It was heading toward evening and they were up on the ledge
watching the sunset. The smell of cooking food came to them,
venison, Tom had shot a small deer on the way back, the seafood
they had bought back, and fresh corn roasting in the
husk.

“
You lost two,” Tom said.
“I was sorry to hear that.”

Craig nodded. “I knew Sissy was gone. I
just didn't want to face it. John surprised me....” He met Tom's
eyes. “I'll tell you though, we're all of us lucky to be here at
all,” Craig said.

“
From what you said I would
have to agree,” Sharon said.

“
I had no idea there were
those kinds of crazies running around,” Craig said. “I guess
that
sounds crazy... I
mean I knew there
are
crazies, did someone say Death and Taxes are the only two
things you can count on? Well, no more, but I didn't know how deep
it goes. Didn't expect what happened.”

“
Oh yeah,” Arlene agreed.
“Them and many more... But there's none of that here... We've had
about close to fifty parties come in... Like you, maybe not as
dramatic or as hard a road to get here. A lot call and talk to us.
Come in that way... Right here it's good, Craig. You couldn't do
any better,” she told him.

“
I can see that... It's
funny, ironic, but we came looking for something like this... The
whole thing started that way... If you're offering a place to
stay,” he paused.

“
I can't speak for
everyone. We don't do things that way here,” Arlene said. “We have
a committee. We talk it over, but if you want to stay I'm sure you
can,” she finished.

“
That's the way of it,
Craig,” Tom said.

“
Yeah. We all met on the
way out of the north,” Patty said. “We didn't know each other at
all. We grew as we came along. If not for that what you see
wouldn't be here. Most of us either. I don't know where we would
be,” she finished.

“
There are more on the
way,” Annie said. “And more of ours who are out in the world who
will be back in a few weeks... We hope.”

“
We've been through a lot
together,” David said. “But we have a way to go too. We need other
people. There is always room for more.”

“
What about Roberta and
Bonny. Do you think they'll want to stay,” Lilly asked. She was
sitting next to Tom.

“
Like me,. This is exactly
what they signed up for. We just signed up with the wrong man... Or
the group was wrong... I don't know. I think Carl had the right
idea... I don't know why it went the way it did.”

“
I think it did because
this is not a thing you do lightly,” Bob said. “People think they
can survive anything... Well, most people do, but the reality is
much different...” Bob paused, seemed to gather his
thoughts.

“
Some people fell apart
right away. They couldn't deal with it. Too radical. Too much
change, too fast, but most people bounced back and were sure they
could do it. The problem is, all the things you take for granted
are gone. No grocery stores. Gas stations. Cash, money, none of it
is any good. I suppose the barter system we've seen spring up will
be useful eventually, but if you have nothing it's hard to get
something. If you don't know how to get fresh meat, hunt, recognize
edible plants... Stay warm... It's a lot. It's not a simple
thing... I think your man had the right idea he just didn't have
the information he needed. Or, he may have had that too. From what
I understand he had some knowledge about this area, but maybe it
was simple bad luck. And bad luck in this world is very bad. There
is no one to help... To call,” Bob shrugged.

Craig nodded. “I think that is it
exactly. He believed it. He sold us on it. We believed... But
things are so bad out there that we would have jumped at just about
anything,” he shrugged. “At least I would have.”

“
What is it you used to do,
Craig,” Cindy asked. She had come back out on the ledge just a few
moments before.

“
Marines...
Communications,” Craig said. “Phones. Radio networks, I mainly
hustled equipment from one spot to the next on special details.
There were four men on my team. We could each walk forty miles with
a ninety pound pack on our back. Seems like we did it all the time.
Started in basic and we thought they were just pushing us to show
us what someday might have to happen... Like a one time thing, but
it became the norm. We'd hump it out to where it needed to be,
setting up relays along the way. Did it for a few years,” he met
her eyes.

“
You don't seem the type...
I met a few,” Cindy said.

He nodded. “Yeah, so did I.
I'm not
that
kind
of guy. Never have been that kind of guy,” he said.

“
You carried that girl even
though she was in such bad shape. Even though it might have taken
you down too,” Cindy said. Everyone else had stopped talking,
listening to the conversation between the two. Cindy didn't talk a
great deal. Bob, Tom sometimes, but she was shy and preferred to
remain in the background, but here she was at the lead of a
conversation. A conversation she had initiated.

“
I couldn't do that. I
couldn't leave her. You don't do that to people, otherwise you're
like those others you and I have dealt with,” Craig said
quietly.

Cindy blushed. No one would have told
him about what she had gone through. He had guessed it from what
little she had said. “I hope you stay, Craig. I'd like that,” she
said every bit as quietly.