Dying Days 4 (7 page)

"I'm not scared of him."

"I'll let him know," Russ said. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it."

"You're an asshole," the man said but didn't fight off Russ dragging him away. "And Jeff will be pissed you're too busy for him. Just so you know. He doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"If it's so important, tell him to meet me at Dirty Harry's in fifteen minutes. I have to go there anyway," Russ said. He didn't, but he also didn't want Jeff anywhere near the garden. "But he needs to hurry."

"He's not going to be happy."

"That makes two of us," Russ said.

*   *   *   *   *

Jeff didn't like Azrael. He wouldn't call him the stupid name, either. "Russell… didn't my man tell you I wanted to see you?"

Russ nodded. "You can see me." He waved his arms. "I'm standing right here. I thought even you would figure it out."

"I'm going to beat the shit out of you," Jeff growled.

"No, you aren't. Lay a hand on me and the Lich Lord will destroy you. I'm his right hand man."

"Bullshit. I was here first," Jeff said.

Russ laughed. "This isn't a competition. If it was, I'd be the winner. Since the Lich Lord released me, seeing how I could help, he's relied on me for actual intelligent work. I'm the brains and you're the brawn, although I haven't seen you do much more than drive around on your Harley and try to scare the people we're trying to help."

"I don't give a shit about these people, especially you. I'm doing what I have to do so the Lich Lord survives long enough he's wiped out the rest of his kind. Then I'll be in charge," Jeff said.

"In charge of what? Without the living, you'll be the last man on earth."

Jeff smiled. "I like that. And the goal is to be the last man on earth, but surrounded by all the women. I'm going to remake this world in my image. Literally, because I'll spread my seed and have a shitload of kids."

"God help us all," Russ said.

"You can't believe in that bullshit anymore. Do you?"

Russ glanced at the ceiling of Dirty Harry's. "I sure do. What else should I believe in? This is a test of our faith. God has set this in motion."

Jeff waved his hand. "Crap, all of it. I think the world is fucked and there is nothing we can really do about it, except rebuild and procreate in my image."

"Who died and made you God?"

Jeff laughed. "Everyone died. And I'm going to be especially happy when you go, because you're just in my way. Lucky for you I need every breathing person right now."

"Lucky for me you have no real authority around here," Russ said. "You can feel free to boss your goons around when you leave the gates, but no one on the inside takes you seriously."

"Is that a fact?" Jeff balled his fists and Russ was lucky he was on the other side of the bar area. He had no delusion he could take the bigger man in a fair fight.

"Yes. But we could easily work together. You choose not to. Handle everything outside the walls and I'll worry about the survivors and maintaining whatever you scavenge. Deal?"

Jeff wanted to gut him and toss him over the wall but knew the Lich Lord would kill him for it. He needed to go through the motions with this idiot and play the game for now. "Fine. I have no beef with you," he lied. "But I'm going to need a bigger home."

Russ laughed. "For what?"

Jeff grinned. "For my stuff and my wives."

"You don't have a wife. You certainly don't have more than one. Have you lost your mind?" Russ asked.

Jeff could see Russ was flustered. He liked it. "I went to the Lich Lord before I came here and told him we needed more structure when it came to family dynamic. He agreed."

The distressed look on the face of Russ was priceless.

"I've already submitted a list of the women of age I will be taking as my brides," Jeff said. "And once the Lich Lord agrees to them there is nothing you or anyone else can do. The goal is to procreate and keep the human race alive. I intend to knock up as many bitches as I can before I die. It's my right as a living, breathing person."

"Who did you put on the list?"

Jeff smiled and slapped the bar top. "Just a few eligible females. I didn't go for the cougars. Sure, they would be a great ride in the sack, but they are too damn old to squirt out some puppies. I went for the younger chicks who haven't been touched. There is nothing like popping a cherry, you know? A nice, soft little girl under you, moaning it hurts and crying as you're sticking it to her."

"What you're talking about is illegal," Russ said, panic in his voice.

Jeff shook his head. "What law are you referring to? The United States is dead and gone. The Constitution and every system you know about it null and void. Shit, the Ten Commandments aren't even worth the stone they were carved on right now. We live in the here and now. I intend to make the most of it."

"Who is on your list?" Russ asked again.

"I think you already know my top pick. She's been getting her hands dirty in the garden with you. That will change once she's my bride. No wife of mine is going to get dirty with anything but my underwear cleaning and fixing me dinner. Oh, and having my babies."

"If you touch her, I will hurt you."

"No, you won't," Jeff said. "You won't be able to, because the Lich Lord is the only law now. He's going to agree to it. He said I could have two of them. I chose Bri and Taylor. Both of them will make me quite happy. I'll add a few more to the list, since there really isn't a limit. This will make my recons a bit more interesting as well. Instead of finding people so the Lich Lord can eat them, I'll also find another few concubines."

"I swear…"

Jeff pulled his unloaded .357 from his waistband and aimed it at Russ. "You can swear all you want. It won't make a bit of difference. And if you try to get in my way, I will put you down like the dog you are."

"You won't get away with it."

"I beg to differ." Jeff took three steps back to the door before putting the gun away. "I don't know why you're so worried. They'll both be fucking thrilled. Shit, maybe we'll name our first son after you. Or our first girl."

Jeff turned and walked out before the little bastard got up enough courage to do something stupid.

Now he needed to actually go to the Lich Lord with the names of the two girls and hope he'd agree to it.

Chapter Nine

Tosha had no choice but to eat as much of the food as she could and bury the rest in the dunes fifty paces away, knowing she'd never come back for any of it. She managed to find four pistols with ammo and put them in her backpack, along with three dented cans of soup. She was sweating her ass off, and the long walk south wasn't going to be fun.

She decided to leave the road and follow the beach, which might be dangerous with zombies coming out of the surf, but still nicer than being trapped on the road. If she were lucky, she'd find some shade or an intact house to hide in and rest.

And a hot shower and some hot food. Maybe air conditioning and a bottle of rum.

Tosha was starting to rethink her stroll on the beach because it wasn't easy going. The sand was loose and her feet were getting buried with each step. She was sure her left shoe had a hole in the bottom because she could feel the sand between her toes and it wasn't pleasant. Her backpack and gear were heavy as well, but she needed everything she'd recovered from the van: the shoes, some food and a pair of thongs that didn't fit right but was better than nothing.

She began taking a hard look at the houses to her right, just past the dunes and walls. Tosha needed a place to crash at some point, and she might as well check out the neighborhood. Maybe she'd get lucky and find something she could use.

Her initial goal had been to find the stilt houses Darlene and her man had told her about, but when she'd finally gotten around to Matanzas Inlet she saw the ruin, the smoke still lingering. They'd all been dead for weeks or months, and there was nothing much to salvage.

There were several zombies on the beach ahead but they looked like stupid ones, shuffling in random directions. Nothing to worry about. She thought how odd the notion was, but the smart zombies were the real threat. The dumb ones had been just practice.

Tosha easily wove in and out of the zombies, not even worrying about putting them down. It would be a drop in the bucket if she killed any of them. And a waste of her time.

She could see a few coming from the surf in the distance and wondered for the hundredth time where they were walking from. Had they washed in from another location, or actually crossed the Atlantic Ocean? Oil rigs? Cruise ship passengers? Japanese zombies?

Up ahead she saw what looked like a man-made barrier and she sighed. Where there was a wall there were people, and usually people who wanted to trap you and take your shit. Or your life.

Tosha went up and over a sea wall onto the back lawn of a dilapidated two-story home overlooking the ocean. It must've been something special back in the day, but now it was a mess. Weeds choked through the back brick patio area, and the doors and windows were destroyed on both levels. Seagulls had built a sizeable nest on the upper deck and there were so many piles of animal shit scattered around she thought she'd be sick.

While she didn't want to venture back onto A1A, Tosha didn't think she had a real choice. As she came around the house, she heard a car engine. Could it be Cowboy again, driving around looking for her? She squatted behind the dead bushes near the front of the home for a better vantage point.

The engine died in the distance. It wasn't as close as she'd first thought, thanks to the echo between the two homes. Confident she was, once again, alone, she slipped into the house through the gap where the front door used to be.

It had been trashed. The furniture was either gone or in tiny fragments on the patchy carpet, which looked like it had been pulled up and burnt in several spots.

The kitchen was gutted and a raccoon scampered out of the open back door before she could catch it. She might need it for food later, as gross as it sounded right now. You ate whatever and whenever you could.

Tosha decided to go upstairs and find a corner to hide in for awhile. She was getting tired despite it not being late. The worst thing she'd learned is thinking you could press on and the sun dropping, exposing you without shelter. She'd rather travel for a few hours, rest, and get moving at first light. It had saved her ass so far.

*   *   *   *   *

The kick came so hard and so unexpectedly, Tosha was stunned at first.

"Get up, pretty lady," the man standing over her with the shotgun said. His three buddies laughed.

Fuck
, she thought, and scampered into a sitting position. She glanced for her stuff but they'd already moved everything behind them.

"You do know you're trespassing, right?" the man said and smiled, his rotting teeth looking like they were about to fall out of his mouth between his cracked lips. He looked sick but his eyes looked crazy.

"My bad," Tosha said slowly. She didn't want any trouble but knew she wasn't going to be able to avoid it. How stupid had she been to lie down on the floor and fall asleep? It was getting dark out. She'd only been out an hour or two. She must've been in deep sleep to not hear this sorry lot come up the steps.

"There's a price you have to pay," the man to the leader's right said. He was younger but no less dirty. The four of them all wore filthy trench coats and wide-brimmed hats, like they'd shopped at the same cheesy store before the world went to shit.

"Name the price so I can go," Tosha said. "I don't want any trouble. I'm just trying to make my way to safety. I don't want any trouble."

"I think you know what the price will be," the leader said with a black-tooth grin. "And you have to pay the price to all of us. At the same time."

"There are four of you," Tosha said and snorted. "There's only so much of me to go around, no matter how awesome it looks right now." She slowly stood up and looked at all four men, one at a time. "I'll let all of you fuck me, but it won't be in some gangbang."

"You really don't have a choice."

"I really do. We can do this the easy way: I fuck you like you've never been fucked before, you get your rocks off, and we go our separate ways. Or… I kick and scream and hopefully bite your dick off before you bash my brains in. But this way won't be fun for any of us."