Floyd & Mikki (Book 2): Zombie Slayers (Dawn of the Living) (21 page)

“Hop in!” Floyd shouted, steering the Doom Buggy over to Mikki.

She complied without saying a word. Instead of heading back to the Freedom Riders, he drove back to the military camp. He parked just inside the dilapidated fence and they both sat there for several minutes.

Eventually, Mikki broke the silence. “You hate me now, dontcha?”

“What? Hell no! I don’t hate you! I could never hate you. I love you! You made one helluva mess, alright, but frankly, that bitch had it coming. She kept begging for it.”

“Thanks, Floyd,” Mikki said weakly. “It’s just that…”

“What?”

“Nothin’. Skip it.”

Floyd got out of the buggy, opened the back door and leaned in next to Mikki. “No, what is it, baby? Tell me. We’re in this together, remember?”

Mikki loved when he called her “baby.” Almost made the world seem normal again.

“Well, it’s just that…dammit, I scared myself, Floyd! I totally lost it! I never been that angry since…” Her voice trailed off.

“Since you…took care of your old man.”

“Yeah,” Mikki answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Another asshole who deserved it, though, right?”

“I guess. Shit, Floyd, I love killin’ creepers and stuff, but they’re already dead. What if I get mad at you sometime? What if I get really pissed off and hurt you? I couldn’t stand that!”

Mikki started crying. Her shoulders tense as she sobbed deeply. Floyd put his hand on her back, rubbing it slowly and gently.

“Oh, baby, I ain’t worried about that. Not at all.”

“Why not? You seen what I can do, Floyd! I can be a real crazy person.”

“Yeah, you’re a crazy one alright! But you would never hurt me,” he said with a smile.

“How do you know that, Floyd? How do you
know
?”

“Well, first, because you had plenty of chances to do it before now. And second, because you love me. And you know I love you.”

Mikki started crying even harder, but it was a different kind of crying now. They were tears of gratitude rather than fear. Floyd really did love her. And he always knew what to say to her. How did she ever get so lucky to find him? What did she ever do to deserve a man like him?

He helped her out of the vehicle and they walked to the kitchen trailer. On the way Floyd promised again to mount the grenade launcher they had found on the Doom Buggy. That got Mikki to laugh again, and he dried her eyes with a handkerchief from his pocket. Then he handed her the two grenades that had fallen off during the fight.

“Try not to lose these again, OK?” he advised. “The pins might not stay in next time.” Mikki nodded with a slight smile. “You know we gotta go back there, right? Can’t just leave things like this.”

“No, I guess not,” Mikki agreed.

“I’ll go back alone at first, just to see how things stand. Then I’ll come get you, OK?”
“No, Floyd. This is my mess, and I gotta clean it up. I feel bad about runnin’ away. I ain’t no damn coward. I gotta go back and face ‘em all. Shit! I hope she ain’t dead! That’ll screw up everything!”

“Maybe, maybe not. I tell ya, Mikki, there were more than a couple people I saw there who didn’t like that bitch much. At least some of them probably thought you did them a favor.”

“Yeah, well, there will be enough others there who want my head on a stick.”

“Yeah, well, they’ll have to get past me and Clyde here to get it. And believe me, that ain’t gonna happen!”

Mikki hugged him tightly and nuzzled her head into his neck and shoulder. They remained like that for about five minutes, savoring the moment. Then Floyd pulled out a couple of hot dogs and buns, and fired up the grill again. After they ate, they brushed their teeth, flossed, paid their respects to the portable latrines, and then headed back in the Doom Buggy.

As the caravan came into sight, Floyd stopped. “Better put on your helmet,” he warned, looking up ahead.

“Oh, shit!” Mikki said, shoving her head into the helmet and locking the strap beneath her chin.

The Freedom Riders had finished passing out the treasures they had collected from the combat zone. All of the men were dressed in Super Z battler armor, except for a couple who were too fat to fit. A few of the women wore them, too. Everyone seemed to have helmets, although they probably had no idea how to use them.

Floyd and Mikki knew they had lost their advantage. If there was to be a war over what Mikki had done, it was going to be bloody. They still had superior firepower and fighting skills, but there were more than a dozen people in front of them that they didn’t want to have to kill. Floyd told Mikki to stay in the Doom Buggy until he made contact. If things went all to shit, Mikki had the 50-cal to remedy the situation. Both prayed that would not be necessary.

Jack took off his helmet and approached when Floyd got out of the car. That was a good sign. Several of the men were armed, but no one formed a defensive line or pointed weapons in Floyd’s direction. That didn’t mean they were exactly welcoming, though, either. Floyd took off his helmet, as well, and headed over to greet Jack.

“Well, that really sucked!” Jack began.

“You can say that again,” Floyd agreed, the tension easing away. “How’s Mya?”

“She’s in the ambulance. Doc’s pretty pissed, both at her and at Mikki.”

“Look, we’re both really sorry about that. I tried to break it up—“

“Forget it. We all tried to stop it. Except for a couple of numb nuts who egged it on. No one thought it would go that far, though. Mya’s always been a bitch. No one ever stood up to her before. Always seemed easier to just go along with her.

Still, she’s not a bad person, Floyd. She just had a shitty life. And she
is
one of our own. We just buried three really good men. That tends to set people on edge.”

“I reckon. Look, if you want us to leave, we will. I’d like to show you some things we found at the military camp, though. And Mikki would really like to apologize, if you think it would do any good.”

“Well, you’ve still got good friends in Raul and Carlos. They back you guys up, no matter what. A couple of the women probably want to shake Mikki’s hand. The others don’t really know what to think. They don’t like conflict, and we’re stuck fighting for our lives against zombie monsters most of the time.

“Even Crazy Joe isn’t really mad at Mikki. He’s more pissed off at Mya. I don’t know what those two see in each other anyway. They spent most of their time pissing each other off. And we aren’t forgetting that you literally did save all our lives against those Super Zombies.”

“What about Becky? I think she got to Mikki more than anyone.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty traumatized. Still hiding in the camper shell of one of the pickup trucks. I’d give her some time before saying hello again.”

“Right.”

Floyd turned to Mikki and waved her to come over. Having watched the two men, she took off her helmet, as well. She left it in the vehicle with Bonnie, although she kept her grenades, pistols and the Mini Uzi strapped to her back.

She could feel every eye on her as she walked slowly over to the two men. She walked tall, but not proud. “I cain’t tell you how sorry I am,” she said to Jack, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

“We’re all sorry, Mikki.”

“Mya’s alive,” Floyd reassured her quickly.

“Can I see her?” Mikki asked, her eyes desperately pleading.

“Well, she’s in pretty back shape. You’d have to get past Doc, and he’s not too happy with either of you, at the moment. He knocked her out, so she’s unconscious now anyway.”

“Please! I really want to see her. I have to know she’s OK. I’ll do anything to help, I promise. I know a bit about medicine myself. I studied to be a nurse before the creepers took over the world.”

Floyd knew the last part was a lie. Mikki’s ‘medical training’ had come from reading first-aid manuals and assorted medical journals she picked up along the way. That didn’t exactly hake her a nurse. Still, he knew from experience that she did know a lot about medicine—and that she was a supportive nursemaid.

“Well, let me talk to Doc. I’ll see what I can do.”

Jack Brady walked away, leaving the two alone for the moment. No one else took the opportunity to approach, although Floyd and Mikki could see people whispering, presumably about them.

“Studied to be a nurse?” Floyd whispered.

“Put a sock in it, Floyd!” Mikki whispered back.

“Hey, I’m not sayin’ anything. I’m on your side, remember?”

Eventually, Jack came back and said, “He’s not happy about this, but come with me.”

Jack led the two around several parked vehicles to the ambulance. The back doors were open and Doc glared at Mikki from inside. Floyd decided it would be best if he did the talking.

“How is she, Doc?” he asked.

“Stable, for now. No thanks to your friend there.”

Floyd choked back the urge to say they all would have been dead if it wasn’t for him and Mikki.
Mikki and him?
Whatever. Instead, he asked very politely if Mikki could see Mya.

“She’s on the gurney there. See? Now she saw her. That’s about as good a look as you’re going to get. She’s unconscious anyway.”

“I’m really sorry!” Mikki blurted out.

Doc glared at her again, maybe a little less hostile this time. “Well, you can tell her yourself if she ever wakes up. Although I doubt she’ll be thrilled to accept your apology. Mya’s pretty hard-headed. What is it with you women, anyway? Whole world full of undead and you have to go killing each other? Damn!”

Well, at least he wasn’t just mad at Mikki. And he did have a point.

Doc continued, “Lucky for Mya, you managed to miss every major organ. Barely missed the kidney, didn’t pierce the heart. You took out an ovary, but she had two. All in all, she’s pretty damn lucky. Should be awake in a couple of days, if infection doesn’t set in. Always worried about sepsis in these conditions. I’ve got her sutured and sedated so she can heal. That’ll take a while.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Floyd said.

“Yeah, right,” was his only answer.

Floyd and Mikki spent the night with the Freedom Riders. The group pulled their vehicles into a circle, just like in the old wagon train days, and posted a couple of guards on top of them. They took watch in two shifts. Floyd and Mikki offered to take the second shift to help out, then grabbed sleeping bags out of the buggy and laid them out away from the rest of the group.

They were the outsiders, and they knew it. Best not to get too involved until they were invited. They were saviors turned to shit, making for an awkward situation at best. Hopefully, they could rectify that in the morning.

Raul woke the two at a little after 2am. Even this early in the morning, he was smiling. For Raul, even in this toilet bowl of a life was better than the Waterworld Flotilla he had left in Lake Havasu. He stayed up with them for a while, talking and catching up.

Floyd and Mikki filled them in on NCH and their adventures since. He told them all about how Carlos and he had finally decided to hit the road. It seems that when Miss Adelaide wasn’t bossing him around and treating him like shit, she was trying to get him into bed. Not that Raul had anything against sex, but he always refused because there was just something too creepy about the older woman that turned him off. Her body was great, and she wasn’t bad looking, but the thought of making love with her made him want to barf. One day she got a little too insistent and when he refused, she slapped the shit out of him.

That was the last straw. He talked to Carlos and the two agreed to leave that night. It was pretty easy, since they always had guard duty on the roofs. They simply grabbed their rifles, a couple of pistols, and all the ammo and food they could carry, then took a paddle boat to shore and stole the pickup truck from the golf course. Soon enough, they were far away, never to look back.

According to the two recently freed servants, the place was going to hell, anyway. They had lost another solar panel, and there were no more replacements. One of their jobs was to keep them clean so they would be effective, but they had become brittle with age. They came with a 10-year guarantee and free replacement offer, but there was no one left alive to call about the warranty. It was only a matter of time before the little community collapsed, and there was nothing they could do to prevent it anyway. Better to move on while they could.

Of course, as luck would have it, the truck broke down on the highway a few hundred miles away. Neither Carlos nor Raul was a mechanic, so all they could do was sit there. At least they were stuck on a deserted highway with no zombies around, but as their food and water supply dwindled, they knew it wouldn’t be long before death claimed them, one way of the other.

Then they saw a cloud of dust rising up from down the road. It was a ragged group of vehicles that would have sent any DMV inspector into fits: the Freedom Riders. They invited Raul and Carlos to join them and the two quite happily obliged. Along the way, Carlos found an old motorcycle and sidecar, which is what Raul drove while he rode shotgun—literally. Carlos had a shotgun in the sidecar. The rest, Floyd and Mikki already knew. Raul and Carlos hadn’t been with the Freedom Riders very long before the two Zombie Hunters showed up.

Eventually, they said good night. Raul and Carlos were eager to see the military camp in the morning. Jack had been right. No matter what happened, Raul and Carlos would support Floyd and Mikki fervently.

Uncharacteristically, Floyd and Mikki said virtually nothing to each other all night. There simply was nothing to say. They sat on top of the tanker truck, scanning the horizon, shotguns in their laps, Mini Uzis on their backs, and Floyd’s arm draped around her shoulder.

This was where they felt most comfortable, nowadays. Side by side, looking out for zombies, weapons ready. Situation: Normal.

As always, they took comfort in each other’s presence. They really hadn’t been together all that long, but the adventures they shared had intensified their commitment to each other far more than the actual passage of time would normally warrant. Their relationship had to be measured in dog years: multiplying each day by about seven. By that reckoning, they had been together so long that neither one could imagine life without the other. They hadn’t had a break from each other since they met, and neither ever wanted one.

So, they sat in silence, Floyd’s left arm holding Mikki, his right arm cradling Clyde. Mikki leaned back into Floyd’s embrace, clutching Bonnie to her breast. Two star-crossed lovers on high alert for trouble to appear at any moment, even on a peaceful night such as this.

Not that there was much chance for trouble. The Super Zs had all been dispatched and the Zombie Town was on the other side of that camp, more than a mile away. Zombies get pretty active at night, but they don’t go out jogging for long distances. The road they were on was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, otherwise, and Nowhere was a pretty lonely road. The odd chance of a Raider Party or Road Gang coming upon them in the middle of the night (or morning) never materialized. So they enjoyed the cool, soft breeze together, occasionally daring to lift their eyes from the vista to enjoy the stars.

When the sun finally appeared, it did so with splendor. Only a few wispy clouds meandered through the sky, which was soon arrayed in a glorious spray of orange, yellow and red. Nature’s artistry on display. God’s own personal Today Show. Today and every day. Al Roker, eat your heart out.

“Another day,” Floyd said, as the camp below began to stir.

“More zombie shit,” Mikki answered.

“I reckon.”

They climbed down from the truck and looked for Jack. For the most part, the shock of the previous day had worn off and people were back to being somewhat friendly—if still a little wary. Several folks said hello as they went about their business. Jack came up to them and said they would be getting ready for breakfast soon. Floyd told him not to bother, reminding him that breakfast would be provided by the Floyd & Mikki restaurant inside Desert Station Zebra. Jack still wasn’t convinced that Floyd’s hamburger story was real, but he went along.

Doc refused to leave Mya in the ambulance alone, and Grover decided to stay behind with a couple of other men to keep an eye on the camp. Jack grabbed a radio to keep in contact, as everyone else loaded up into a pickup truck or jumped on a motorcycle. He handed a spare radio to Floyd, who promised to bring food back for those who stayed behind. Floyd made a mental note to show Jack and the others later how to use the microphones in the Super Z helmets they had stockpiled.

Leading the way in the Doom Buggy, Floyd radioed for the Freedom Riders to wait outside until Mikki and he entered to verify the place was still clean. After a few minutes of driving through the area, Floyd parked the vehicle outside and gave the
all clear
. Everyone followed him to the dining area. To everyone’s shock and delight, Floyd was soon handing out hot scrambled eggs, toast, English muffins, bacon, sausage, and even chorizo.

No one could tell if the food was as good as what they had before the zombie infestation, because it had been so long since anyone had eaten any “real” food. There was no denying that it was tasty, though. This kind of thing simply did not happen, so everyone enjoyed gorging themselves to the utmost. As promised, Floyd packed several Styrofoam take-out trays with food, which one of the men drove back to those who remained back at the camp.

When it was all over, Floyd explained the camp layout to the little crowd, as well as what useful items they could find. Nearly everyone was wearing the new Super Z armor, looking like the Floyd and Mikki Army. Some had brought the new helmets as well, so before moving on, Floyd gave a brief explanation and demonstration of how they worked. By the time he was done, Mikki and he were both heroes again.

The two then led everyone to the armory, where they let everyone pick whatever they wanted (other than the grenade launcher and ammo, which was reserved for Mikki). Old rifles and pistols dropped to the ground, abandoned forever, as the Freedom Riders grabbed top-of-the-line automatic rifles, tactical shotguns, handguns and grenades. They took as much as they could carry, and there was still more left. Now they
really
looked like the Floyd and Mikki Army! FMA! Mikki wondered if Chester had actually had a good idea. Maybe show
should
design FMA patches for the uniforms.

Although they looked the part, however, the newfound confidence that came with better gear did not make them an army. These were still untrained civilians, with little idea how to fight effectively. Floyd suggested they follow along in his daily workout with Mikki and everyone agreed. Floyd began right after breakfast, taking some time with everyone to demonstrate fairly simple moves, and then pairing people off to spar with each other. Everyone’s interest turned to Floyd and Mikki, however, when they started practicing more advanced moves with each other.

The audience was especially riveted when the two broke out the swords to practice. They couldn’t believe Mikki’s agility or Floyd’s stamina, as the two jumped and slashed at each other. When it was all over, Jack was ready to abdicate his position as leader, but neither Floyd nor Mikki were interested. They were just happy to be accepted by a group. They felt as if they had been voted Prom King and Queen, which was especially sweet, since Mikki had never been to a prom. In his younger days, Floyd had been too awkward to be nominated for anything other than Doofus King.

Keeping his promise to Mikki, Floyd used a number of power tools he had found in the supply trailer to mount the grenade launcher onto the revolving ring on top the Doom Buggy, opposite the machine gun. Now she could use either weapon at will. Raul and Carlos helped, mainly by holding things in place while Floyd drilled holes and bolted down the gun.

Mikki watched silently and sullenly from the sidelines as the men mounted the weapon. Even the addition of her new toy couldn’t raise her spirits. She kept thinking of the unconscious Mya, praying the woman would wake up soon. Of course, when she did, Mikki might have to kill her for real, this time. She shuddered, and brushed away the thought.