American Revenant (Book 3): The Monster In Man (10 page)

Jimmy knew he only had a
moment left as the truck crested the rise.  He thumbed the trigger once more,
not letting up, spraying the area with a .50 caliber stream. 

The effect was
unexpected, causing Jimmy to sit back on his heels when the tank exploded. 
Bodies and pieces were flung high into the air, as the pressure and flame
flattened an area nearly fifty feet in diameter.  Bodies fell like the high
grass beside the highway, and ignited just as easily. 

The remaining horde
stumbled through the burning carnage, continuing to catch and spread the fire. 
Though Jimmy couldn’t see it, as the truck had crested the hill and picked up
speed on the down-slope, over half the horde burned, only those that went
around the flaming mass of flesh were unharmed, and they too were quickly left
behind as the men hurried home to revel in their spoils.

Chapter 16

“This is awesome,” Gordy
said, sitting in a wheelchair that someone had appropriated from one of the
empty houses in Saverton.  He sat looking into the dark trailer full of
ammunition, MRE’s, guns, clothing, and bottled water. 

“We had to leave a few
pallets behind,” Dean told his father.

“I think we’ll be ok with
this, especially all the ammo.  Damn, there’s a lot of five-five-six in
there!” 

“Yeah,” Mike said,
nodding, “enough to last a long while.  Might want to think about an ammo slash
armory building.  Someplace we can store all of this stuff.”

“We can work on that,”
Gordy told him, “for now we’ll just pack most of it into the sports building
with everything else.”

Excited voices babbled
around the truck, people exclaiming over everything the men had returned with.

“Ok everyone, Alex will
pull the truck up to the warehouse.  Everything will have to be unloaded by
hand.”  Gordy spoke loudly to be heard over the hum of the crowd. 

All hands pitched in, and
the work seemed to help people not think about Garret’s death.  Working
together as a community helped dull that pain.

Several hours and many
sore backs later Alex drove the truck to the church lot.  Calvin volunteered to
sleep in the truck that night, concerned about leaving the heavy machine gun
mounted unguarded.

Tamara sat next to Jimmy
and the girls during dinner, though she said little.  She was aware that they
would be leaving on yet another mission for supplies in the next few days, this
time to the hospital, and could not bring herself to talk about it with Jimmy. 

She gazed around the
room, watching as everyone chatted about the day.  They talked about the wall
being nearly completed, or how several of the children were becoming adept with
bows under Alex and Evie’s tutelage.  They shared stories of the day, mundane
things that would have meant little pre-catastrophe. 

Tam was unable to engage,
wrapped up in thoughts of Jimmy, and how unlike himself he had become in recent
months.  She feared losing him, not just to a zombie attack or the bullet from
a gun, but to that darkness that seemed to be eating at him since their world
had changed.  She did not understand how the other families could simply ignore
the changes around them.

As her eyes roamed the
gathering of her friends and family Lisa caught her eye, holding her look for
several long seconds.  It was the cold glimmer in Lisa’s eyes that sent a
shiver through Tam.  Lisa felt the same way that she did, it was obvious. 
Lisa’s eyes told her that, as well as telling her to enjoy every second she
could, because this was their life now.

Tam nodded, affirming
that she understood what her friend was saying with eyes that seemed to be
fighting tears, even then.  The corners of Lisa’s mouth turned up, almost
imperceptibly, recognizing Tam’s nod.  With that she turned back to Mike,
smiling, laughing at something he and their three girls were saying.

Tam slid closer to Jimmy,
resting her head on his tightly corded shoulder, drawing in his warmth.  He
turned and kissed her on top of her head in reflex, after a moment twitching
his shoulder, signaling her to move.  She sighed, lifted her head and asked
Ashley and Miranda if they wanted to play a board game after dinner, to which
they both exclaimed “Yes!”  “You going to join us, babe?”  She asked, looking
at her husband.

“My arms hurt from
shooting that damn gun, then unloading all that stuff.  Probably just going to
sleep in a little while.”

She simply frowned and
nodded in response.

****

Jimmy drew back in sheer
terror, while searing rage pushed him forward, which left him rooted in place,
unable to make a move, to kill the zombie now coming for him. 

He had time to study its
face closely, the gray-green peeling skin, flaps hanging in places to reveal a
slick blackness underneath.  Its lips were nearly gone, appearing to have been
chewed away, possibly as it devoured another human being.  One ear seemed to
hang lower than the other, until he realized that it was pulled away from the
head, dangling by mere shreds of flesh. 

The creature locked eyes
with him, its blank cataracts causing him to shrink inside, as if they were
looking beyond him into his very heart, sharing in his darkness. 

Opening its mouth the
thing began to moan, a long low droning that seemed to come not from its chest,
but someplace otherworldly.  Through a wide rent in the skin, Jimmy could see
the cords in its neck vibrate with the atonal noise.  He wondered, briefly, how
it could produce sound like that when its chest did not rise and fall with
breath. 

He threw his hands up as
the thing came close, grabbing his arm, pulling him in.  With his free hand he
reached across, grabbed the zombie’s wrist, locking his fingers in a
death-grip, squeezing until the mottled skin broke and began to slide away
beneath his hand.

The creature never looked
away, though its moan became a keening cry as its flesh tore.

Jimmy woke to Tamara
crying out, trying to pull her wrist free from his painful grip.  He looked
down at his hand, the one gripping his wife’s wrist and jerked it away as if he
had just been licked by a flame. 

He jumped out of his cot,
pushed next to Tam’s, and slipped into a shirt, shoved his feet into boots, and
headed out the door, pausing to glance back only once at his wife, both sharing
a plaintive look before Jimmy shut the door behind him and ran for the ball
field.

He could hear Tam calling
out behind him, her voice high and tearful.  He ran, ignoring her pleas, until
he came to the unmanned gate with the large Camp Oko Tipi sign.  He stopped,
leaning against the cold steel of the gate, a chill shivering through him that
had as much to do with his emotional state as it did with the brisk night air.

Slowly Tam stepped up to
him, hand out, saying nothing.  He twitched once as her hand brushed his
shoulder, then allowed her hand to rest, squeezing him gently.

“Talk to me,” Tam said
softly.

“Nothing to say, is
there?”

“Whatever’s eating at
you, you can tell me.”

“Don’t want to talk,
Tam.  I.. fuck…I don’t know.”  Jimmy’s chin dipped to his chest, head hung in
shame.  It was easier to look at the ground than it would be to look at his
wife.

“Jimmy, I’m not going to
force
you to talk to me, but you need to know you
can
.”  She kept her hand on
his shoulder, letting him know she was there.

“Had a fucking nightmare,
and I hurt you in the process.” Tam had to strain to hear Jimmy’s voice, he
spoke so quietly. 

“You didn’t mean to hurt
me, and I know that.  If you would just talk to me, maybe you could get rid of
some of the shit that’s eating at you, Jimmy.”

“What if it was one of
the kids, what if I didn’t stop, did something worse than bruising your arm?”

Tam spun him around, eyes
boring into his.  “Quit looking for “what-ifs” damn it!  When you’re not out
there, be here, totally here; when you’re out there, then pay attention and get
home.”

Jimmy stared back, not
breaking his wife’s heavy gaze, the preternatural silence of the night filling
the space between them.  After a moment he nodded slowly and without another
word headed back to the cabin holding Tam’s hand.

Chapter 17

Dawn broke over the
horizon to find several people sitting on the porch of the main house, having
taken an early breakfast.  Jimmy straddled the porch rail, smoking a cigarette,
sipping steaming coffee, along with Mike, Dean, Lisa and Louis.

Intimate conversation was
replaced with mundane chatter.  No one wanted to discuss Garret’s death, or
what happened at the armory.  Mike pointedly avoided questions about Greer, and
the way he handled the situation.

Dean refilled everyone’s
cups from a thermal carafe before sitting on the porch, his back against the
railing. 

“Where’s Becca this
morning?” Lisa asked.

“She’ll be up in a little
while, wanted to sleep in a bit this morning.”

“I can’t blame her for
being tired,” Lisa said, “going through the houses is hard work.”

“You guys finding what
you need?” Jimmy asked.

“Yeah, but not enough. 
We still need jars, lids, everything else you can think of to can all of the
stuff coming out of the gardens.  Seems like we use it as soon as we find it.”

“I still don’t like you
going out there without me,” Mike told Lisa.

“Yes, well you big strong
men are out there taking care of other things, and someone has to do it.”  A
faint lilt of sarcasm could be heard in Lisa’s tone.

“I know, I know, is what
it is.”  Mike knew better than to argue with his wife, especially if would come
across sounding sexist.  That can of worms would quickly turn into a can of
whoop-ass, and he wanted no part of that.  Besides, he knew Lisa and Becca both
were more than capable.

“Maybe we can check out
the Wal-Mart or Farm and Home Supply one of these days soon,” Dean offered,
“I’m sure we could find a ton of canning supplies in both of them.  Probably
something most people never even think of.”

“Oh God, man, don’t start
volunteering us for another mission yet, we still have the damn hospital to
take care of, and I won’t lie to you, I’m not looking forward to it.”

“Oh come on Jimmy, I
thought you were all hardcore and gung-ho ready to go.”

Jimmy eyed Dean for a
second before telling him, “I’m all for blowing the shit out of some zombies,
any time, but it’s a lot of risk, especially this hospital trip, for what we
don’t even know.”

“Jimmy’s right guys, but
just the medicines alone out there could make a huge difference in life or
death around here.” 

All eyes turned to see
Gordy hobbling toward them on crutches.  “Where’s your wheelchair, Dad?”

“Piss on that thing, I
feel like an old man being pushed around in it.  Besides, my ass-sores are
getting ass-sores from sitting in the damn chair.  Your Mom bound up my knee
pretty snug so I can get around on these.”  He rattled one of the crutches as
he slowly lowered himself to the top step, sitting with his left leg stiff,
resting on the stairs.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to
go after a pharmacy for medicines?”

“It might be, Lisa, but
we also need equipment from the hospital.  Jan has a few surgical items in her
kit, but not the stuff she would need for more severe injuries.”

“There’s a lot of stuff
we need, Gordy.  These run-and-gun ops are just risky as fuck.  You ever think
that we should really consider relying less on the stuff we can scavenge and
more on living a little bit old school?”

Gordy thought carefully
before answering Mike, sucking the chill air through his teeth, absentmindedly
rubbing at his knee.  “Yeah, I have thought about it, but I also think there’s
a whole town of stuff we need, we can use to make our lives easier.  There’ll
be a time when we can’t get it anymore, and I don’t see manufacturing coming
back for at least a decade or so.  I say we get as much as we can, while we can
get it.  Then we can look towards a life without it.”

“I understand that Gordy,
I just hate that there’s so much at stake every time we go out.”

“We’re getting stronger,
Mike, you know that, everyone sees it.  With the weapons and ammo you guys
brought back, and the truck with the heavy gun, we’re in a much better position
to take the risks.”

“Yeah, I know Gordy, I
just hate that any of us has to go out there.  Fucking zombies.”

Gordy understood Mike’s
feelings.  Sending these people, his friends and family, out there made him
sick to his stomach.  He wanted to join them, always believing that he would be
able to protect them should something happen, though he knew that was a lie he
told himself just to make it easier.

Louis stood up,
stretching his back, “I’m going to make some more coffee.”

Lisa jumped up from her
chair, “Uh, I’ll make it, Louis.  You sit here and talk guy stuff with the
guys.”

“It’s ok, Lisa, I can
make coffee.”

“No you can’t, Louie. 
I’ve had your coffee; somehow it tastes like burnt water.”

Louis shot Jimmy a
withering look before sitting back down.  Having had Louis’s coffee, Mike
grinned, saying nothing. 

Gordy’s face grew red
with laughter.  “Louis, everyone has talents and skills.  Sadly, one of yours
is not making coffee; don’t take it so hard son.”  Gordy gave the young man a
big smile, letting him know that no harm was meant. 

Lisa went inside to make
the coffee, and Louis took the opportunity to leave quietly, slipping over the
rail and walking around the building, unwilling to feel the eyes of people on
him.

“That boy is going to
have to develop a thicker skin,” Dean told the others.

“Yeah, true, but he’s
also feeling pretty rough right now over Garret.  Wouldn’t hurt to let up on
him just a bit,” Mike said, sending a glance toward Jimmy.

“Fine.” Jimmy said
nothing else, waiting in silence for the Lisa to return with freshly brewed
coffee.

“So have you worked out a
plan for the hospital?” Gordy asked.

“Yeah, we have a plan,”
Mike said, “but you know what Rick says about a plan.”

“Never survives first
contact,” Gordy said, imitating Rick’s voice.

Mike laughed at the poor
imitation, “Yep, that’s it.  We leave tomorrow morning, taking the big truck
and the De Soto.”

“Why two vehicles?” Gordy
wanted to know.

“A little extra mobility,
in case something happens.”

“You sure you don’t want
to recon the area first, see if it’s even feasible to do this?”

“No point in wasting
another day; we’ll give it a look from a distance before going in, adjust the
plan as we go if needed.”

“Essentially we have a
plan that isn’t really a plan,” Jimmy said, holding out his cup for the pot
Lisa was bringing around.

“Jimmy’s kind of hit it
on the head there, Gordy.  We really don’t know what to expect, so we’re
keeping it fluid, with our end goal in mind.”

“And that is?”

“Get everything we can,
put it in the truck, come home,” Dean interjected.  Jimmy and Mike nodded in
assent, saying “Yep, that’s it,” in unison.

As early morning woke the
camp others began to join the group on the porch.  Talk of the hospital mission
was set aside, everyone choosing to focus on the moment, leaving tomorrow to
wait on them instead of rushing towards it.