After The End (20 page)

Forrest smiled gently as a single drop of
grief leaked down his face and disappeared into his gray beard.

Daemon put a hand on his shoulder. Sunny
burst into tears and almost knocked the poor man over hugging
him.

“This is the sweetest thing. Thank you so
much Bubba.”

After a couple of minutes, emotions were
muffled. We gathered at the table and our scheme unfolded. We’d
venture beyond the suburbs and vacation rentals and raid just
inside town. Although we needed little in way of food or water,
there was a great deal we still had to search for. The list was
debated for twenty minutes, shrinking and growing like Alice in
Wonderland.

Finally we narrowed it down: linens, a basic
tool set, coolers, storage bags or food containers, hunting knives,
crossbows, arrows, medicines, books on delivering and caring for
babies, axes, wind-up flashlights, rucksacks, another vehicle
capable of holding a significant number of people, fuel, laundry
soap, matches or lighters, a shovel, toilet paper, and canned foods
that hadn’t expired.

Our plan was basically to go to town, get
fuel and another vehicle, load the SUV or truck with as much of the
stuff on our list as possible, and come back with all of our people
unharmed. If we could get two vehicles and enough fuel, that would
be even better. No matter what, we didn’t want to interact with any
others we found; we had to avoid any of the other bands of
survivors who might harm or destroy our community. The group would
stay together. There could be no heroics.

Our camp had one real mechanic and three
others who knew enough about cars to help him. They’d been
maintaining our transportation in the event we had to use PLAN B.
PLAN B was simply to load up the camp into vehicles and become
nomads until we could rebuild a home should our current village
become unlivable. We’d created the backup plan after hearing how
many groups had been destroyed in the area.

Our business concluded and everyone rose to
continue his or her day. As the meeting broke, I brought up the
topic that had been in the back of my mind.

“There’s one other thing. Tomorrow is the
anniversary. We don’t leave for town until the day after. Should we
do anything to acknowledge the day?”

I was staring at a trail of statues as they
froze. Cal had already reclined on his bed, Daemon was actually
mid-air as he’d been flying himself towards his bunk — he claims it
was to practice control of his powers, and the others were in a
staggered line for the door.

“Any opinions? I just thought, maybe we
should do a small memorial for all we’ve lost. Or look towards the
progress we’ve made so far. It just feels like we should do
something to, you know, mark the occasion.”

I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans as
confused stares burned through me. Chase spoke first.

“We celebrate. We should have a small feast
like we do for the holidays or the kids’ birthdays. We need to kick
up our heels over the fact that we’re still here. This community
hasn’t gone nearly as bad as most of the others. We aren’t
harboring rapists, or pedophiles, or murdering others for their
stuff.

We’ve found a way to work together and live
to see these kids grow a year older and in another six or seven
months, we’ll even get to see a new life born. It may not be an
ideal world for this child to enter, but it could be worse. I say
we have a brief time of remembrance and grieving, then we push it
aside to focus on all the good.”

Smiles and nods answered his speech.

“Okay then. Let’s tell everyone at dinner
when we have our chill time. Until then, back to work all of
us.”

I joked as I prepared to do the least popular
chore in camp: tote the large tubs from under the outhouses to the
burning field for disposal with the day’s crop of fleshies. Sunny
handed me her work gloves and wished me luck as I prepared to drag
the first bin full of waste and vomit out the gate to be dumped and
over the bodies and lit. I prayed we found some small chemical
toilets on the raid as I opened the outhouse door.

Our remembrance time was somber and left me
feeling hollow. We announced our plans at dinner and found that the
majority of the village preferred to do the memorial immediately
and start the celebration in the morning. It was like trying to
leave the past losses behind us. The news that Sunny and Chase were
expectant parents lifted everyone’s spirits.

There was a good half hour of congratulations
and hugs and baby advice. Chase couldn’t stop smiling while his
wife worried about doing her part for the community. It took me all
through dinner to convince her that, although she wouldn’t be
scheduled on raids or latrine disposal, she would still be
contributing plenty to the group.

The night breezes blew out some of the
candles and even a lantern as we dispersed to bed or to guard duty.
Hopeful smiles and grieving frowns flickered as the shadows led
everyone to their dreams. I fell asleep hearing sobbing from Marley
Guy to my left and a recitation of stories to tell the baby from
Bubba on my right.

The morning brought a hearty breakfast, a
quick bustle of essential chores, decorations made by the kids,
clearing four fleshies and what looked like half a woman from the
traps, packing for the raid, and a noontime feast. We played card
games, had piggyback races with the children, wheelbarrow races, an
archery contest, showing off with weapons, an art contest,
sing-a-longs, and Sindbad displayed his tricks for a tin of treats
the Nurse found on the last raid. As the sunlight tapered away,
Daemon and Caelinus joined the fun with a display of sleight of
hand, flying stunts, and stories from ages past — Daemon started to
tell jokes, but was roundly popped by Jordy’s Mom after she heard
the one about a box turtle and a pimp.

Laughing and stretching our way to our beds,
I realized the only thing that could make the day better would’ve
been lying down with Daemon at the end of it. He gave me a peck on
the cheek before taking off for his patrol; Cal glared at each of
us before storming off to his cabin.

Maybe Troy or Sunny could lead and we could
be free to be together.

I checked my gear before falling into a
restless sleep. My sword and knife were sharp and ready. Canteens
were full. My quiver carried a dozen arrows and a crowbar.

I’d eaten my fill in case the next few days
would be scarce. I stowed a pen and small notepad in the bag in
case I needed to get info to someone. We’d grab our rations of food
before leaving. Something was forgotten, unplanned. I dozed off
racking my mind for the answer.

I dreamt about running through the dark,
hitting a cement and stucco wall. Standing along the wall, feeling
for a gap or a way over, holes appeared as shards erupted outwards.
Each hole echoed by the sound of gunshots; each tiny cavern in the
wall coming closer to me. Laughter grew from the obscurity as the
bullets taunted me. The laughter became voices. They hung in the
air beckoning me to feed them.

I woke drenched in sweat and on the floor
tangled in my blanket.

Of course!

I shook Forrest awake.

“Bubba, Bubba wake up.”

“Hummhhuh? What’s goin on?”

“Forrest, the guns. Are the guns okay to
fire? You’ve been keeping them in working order, right?”

He sat up and wiped the crust from his weary
eyes.

“Yup, they work fine. Why the Hell are ya
waking me up fer that? Are we in trouble?”

Bubba pulled on his hunting jacket and
reached for his machete. I laid a hand on his arm to stop him as a
low chorus of “shhhs” rumbled from the rest of the cabin. I lowered
my voice.

“It’s fine. I just forgot to make sure. If
we’re all gone and ransackers attack the camp, they’ll need real
firepower; whether zombies are in the area or not. Sorry, go back
to sleep.”

His camouflage jacket half-off, Bubba slumped
back onto his cot. By the time I got back in bed, he was snoring
like a rusty chainsaw.

We trudged up to the clearing and loaded the
trucks in good time. While Bubba and our mechanic double-checked
the vehicles, the rest of us drank some water and stretched. Cal
landed smoothly and immediately did a quick inventory of the arms
we carried; there would be no other chances to go back for them.
Satisfied that all preparations were complete, our team clamored
into the truck beds and readied ourselves for the journey into the
city outright.

As we drove at a snail’s pace, I found myself
thinking of how everything had looked just over a year ago. Disney
gift shops, timeshares, Lynx buses, and tourists had dominated the
scenery. Now there was stalled or overturned cars, scattered Dead,
feral dogs, busted windows, and forgotten cartoon faces gathering
dust in the stores. Stolen shopping carts laden with spoiled food
sat alongside a pile of bones at the on ramp. I wondered if they
were the remains of humans or fleshies.

A skeletal form dragged itself towards us.
Its leathery skin was pulled taut over its frame and half the teeth
were missing or broken. Troy signaled the driver to stop and leapt
out of the truck bed. I drew my bow and watched for others as he
stomped on the creature’s head one time, sending a loud crack and
dried up scalp fragments into the dim moonlight. As he climbed back
in, I gave the man a nod and lowered my weapon. He looked puzzled
and whispered to me.

“That thing looked almost starved to death.
Wonder if we could just wait for these corpses to rot to
nothing.”

“Doubt it, but maybe. It can take years for a
body to rot away to dust, depending on the environment. Dude, that
one was practically a mummy from sitting out here in the sun, but
if it was still here during a hurricane, who knows? For all we
know, some of them could get stuck somewhere and rooted up in a
decade and start things all over again.”

I shook my head and continued as we wove
between abandoned vehicles.

“I don’t think we can ever be sure they’re
all gone.”

“But there are fewer of them each day; you
have to admit that. We’ve only seen a few dozen this whole drive
and most of them have been so decrepit that we could put them down
just as easily as that last one.”

We stopped to check a Pathfinder to see if we
could get it running. A brief look told us to ignore it and press
on. Having gathered plenty of gas from it and the surrounding cars,
we mounted back up.

“Fair enough, Troy. But until we know for
sure if these things can starve out, anyone who wants to survive
will have to keep alert and prepared to fight them off.”

He smirked.

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to settle for
trashing zombies and flirting with you. Could be worse.”

I did a double take that popped my neck while
Jake snorted in laughter. Troy kept smiling and looked around for
any hazards. Blushing, I turned away and did the same. While we
slowly wound through the graveyard of traffic, I wondered if he was
serious. As we got out to check the sixth vehicle (thankfully an
acceptable one), Cal chimed in his two cents.

“If you are curious, yes, Troy is quite taken
with you. I recommend you consider that. He seems to be a good man.
More importantly, he is a human; not a vampire.”

As the Roman finished speaking he pulled a
gooey corpse from under a Buick and popped its head off like a
defective Barbie doll. It’s gnawed tongue lolled around in the open
mouth a moment before I drove my sword through the left eye socket.
I watched the primitive need to consume fade out of the remaining
eye. Wiping the tip of my blade on a nearby corpse in a McDonald’s
uniform, I ignored the comment and searched for more wandering Dead
to dispose of.

As the SUV turned over, extra fuel was stored
in the back and we split our party between our three vehicles.
After another hour of picking our way down the highway, we found
the remnants of an outlet mall. I remembered it being mostly
deserted even before the outbreak. Except for the drivers, we got
out and armed ourselves to explore the camping shop. I was hopeful
that we’d be able to find most of our list items here; I just
prayed that was all we’d find with such a small team.

Within the first three steps, the fleshies
took notice of our arrival and massed in a wobbly assault. Over
twenty were in view by the time our swords and axes were drawn. Cal
drew his own blade and charged into the sea of dismembered torsos
and rotted faces. Seth drove his spear through a rancid woman,
whose arms swung from shreds of skin and sinew, withdrew the point
and spun to kill the crawling teenager riddled with bullet holes. A
pocketknife was still embedded in the things neck, dripping thick
black muck down the handle. My blade stuck in the temple of the
ashen boy, forcing me to stand on his shoulder to pull the sword
out.

Turning in circles to destroy each new
approaching Dead, revealed each member of our party fighting but
unharmed. Cal stood surrounded by mounds of shattered remains one
moment and the next he was by Bubba driving his fingers through the
eyes and into the brain of a movie usher. Jake kept near the
trucks, swinging his crowbar and cursing the bloated top half of a
cop; grass and roadkill was tangled in its loose innards. Jake
retched as the scent hit him. With shaking hands he caved in the
thing’s skull, popping out a clouded eye and ripping off half the
scalp in the process.

Troy shot his arrows through lifeless faces
and reclaimed them to be fired again. He wiped out the zombies
without a sound or hesitation until our party stood alone in the
parking lot. The ground was littered with vomit and bodies in
various states of decay. Shuffling sounds grew closer as we moved
the vehicles next to the outdoor sports store. Our weapons hastily
cleaned, the eight of us took a silent moment before we’d take the
next step.