Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (13 page)

I
lightly smack his arm. "I don't snore!" I insist.

"You
do, too. How would you know, anyway-you being asleep and all."

"Prove
it. Until then, quit your lying!"

Will
chuckles and squeezes me tighter to him. "As I was saying before
you rudely interrupted me-we decided to wait until this morning to
put them up. We preferred to see what was coming for us."

"Yeah,
good idea. Although us girls could have done it in the dark. Unlike
you guys, we aren't such big weenies."

Will
moves his arm down and tickles my side. I scream and fight him off
me.
Damn him! I hate being tickled!

My
scream fills the porch instantly with people, all ready to kill. When
they see us, the men bitch and moan about how this isn't a good time
to be screaming, blah, blah, blah-then they turn and go back inside,
disgusted with us.
See me not caring?
The women either grin or
let out a sigh of relief.

Will
and I grin sheepishly at them and offer an insincere "Sorry."

We
hear a motor at the end of the drive coming toward us, then Jake's
Hummer bursts through the canopy of trees, heading for the front of
the house.

We
all walk over to them and watch as they get out, surprised when four
strangers get out, as well. They are all wearing military fatigues so
I think I can safely assume they came from the armory. Jake
introduces them to us. Toby, John, Norman, and Helen.
Yes,
Helen
.
Women
are
in the military now, don't you know?

Apparently,
she and Sam have gotten pretty close, if their hand-holding means
anything, plus Sam can hardly keep his eyes off her. And she can't
stop giggling every time he whispers whatever he's whispering in her
ear.

I
smother a laugh with a cough and hide my face behind Will's back.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for both, really!
But damned
if they don't make an odd couple!
Sam is about five feet tall and
Helen is at
least
five-eight.
See what I mean?
But, hey,
whatever works!

Once
I'm able to control my laughter, I step up beside Will. I study
Bianca and Jake, but I can't tell if there is a relationship there or
not. I groan silently to myself when the jealousy flares to life.
Get
the hell over it, stupid!
You...do...not...
CARE
!

Jake
starts handing out ammo, then puts a bunch in mine and Will's truck.
We tell him thanks, and he nods, without making eye contact with
either of us. Will and I go to the back of Jake's truck and are
shocked at the amount of ammo and weapons he has brought back.

Jake
hands Andy a bag of weapons and ammo to keep in the house and we take
them inside. Rose has the Ricky and Ryder go into her room and bring
out her large cedar chest, after she and I empty it. Then we store
the guns and ammo inside, making then inaccessible to the kids. It
has a lock, which she locks, then hangs the key up on a high nail so
that all the adults have access if needed.

I
go over and sit on the floor between my boys and hold baby Grace. I
haven't had time to spend with them and I missed them terribly. I
watch as Jake goes over to Sara and removes the gag. Immediately she
starts in with her bitching and Jake tells her to shut the hell up or
the gag goes back on. With a glare directed at him, she presses her
lips together. Then he unties her.
Damn.

He
tells her to get a shower and she whines she has no clean clothes.
Kally offers her a change of clothes and Sara tells her that she
can't wear an uncivilized country-bumpkin's clothes. Before I can get
up to lay her ass out cold, Kally does it herself.

Hell yeah,
little sister! Haha! I love my family. Have I mentioned that?

Most
everyone does their best not to laugh or show any happiness over her
situation...except me.
Hell yeah, I laugh!
Jake just stands
over Sara and shakes his head.

He
looks at Kally and says, "that bitch is never going to learn. We
may just have to put her on the other side of the gate and tell her
she can go find someone else to save and take care of her ass."
I happen to think that's a great idea!
From the others' nods,
I would say they agree.

My
mom comes in with a glass of water and unceremoniously dumps it on
Sara's face. Spluttering and cursing, Sara flails her arms and
screams as she flies into a sitting position.
That. Was. Frikken.
Awesome, Mom!
I want to act like a kid and bounce on the floor,
clapping my hands and shouting "do it again, do it again!,"
but I've got Grace in my arms.

Mom
looms over her and in a very mom-like voice once she's had enough,
says, "Listen here, little Miss Priss. This is my daughter's
home and now ours'. You can either straighten up and start acting
like an adult or I'll set your butt on fire with a belt, since you're
choosing to act like a spoiled child. You
will
treat all of
these people, who
saved
you, who have
protected
you,
and who have put up with your shit for far too long, with respect,
or...
you can leave. Do you understand me?"

Whoa!
It's usually me she talks to like that. It's fun to see her let
someone else have it, for a change.

The
room is deathly silent. Everyone's a little scared of my mom-and if
they'd seen her when she beat the crap out of that zombie in the
armory, they would be even more so.

Sara
obviously is feeling the fear, too. She just nods and lowers her head
in shame. Mom tells her to get her to apologize to Kally, then get
her butt in the shower-and Jake will give her a another set of
fatigues, since he has plenty. Jake nods and hustles to do as Mom
told him. Bringing then in, he shoves them at Sara's chest. Head
still lowered, she hurries to the shower.

When
Mom's back is turned, I grin at my sisters, who are all hiding grins
from Mom too. Mom takes Kally in to doctor her bleeding knuckles.
Damn! She really hit that chick hard!
The kids and I go back
to watching the movie.

I
play with Grace and talk to the boys every time a boring part of the
movie comes up. My nieces and nephews scoot closer to me and I'm
finally able to give them a hug-I haven't even had time to say "Hi"
to them until now.

Will
comes in and sits behind me, and I lean back against him and relax.
He coos and talks to Grace over my shoulder, and then he and Bo start
talking about Bo getting to shoot. Bo tells him how he's now a
teenager and should be allowed his own gun.

I
hear Will whisper, "Shh. Not in front of your mom." And I
roll my eyes. Ash scoots next to his dad and tells him all about me
letting him shoot all the guns.

"Oh,
she did, did she?" Will says, looking at me from above.

I
shrug. "We were bored."
Simple as that.

"And
Bo, I agree. You should have your own gun. But your dad or Jake has
to teach you all about cleaning it and all that." I surprise
both Will and Bo.

"
I
will teach you.
I'M
your dad."
Oops!
Insert my
big-ass foot in my big-ass mouth.

Getting
a big whiff of something nasty, I check Grace's diaper and wrinkle my
nose at the god-awful smell. I have Will grab a blanket off the chair
behind him and lay it on the floor in front of me. I lay Grace down
and pull her diaper bag closer to me. Then I get her cleaned up and
changed. The boys have scattered, apparently afraid of the smell,
although I've had to deal with their own smells.
Not pleasant!

Handing
Grace to Will and ignoring his protests that he might break her, I
get up and go help the other women who are make something to eat for
everyone.

After
making sure the kids have a plate, I bring mine and Will's in and sit
down beside him, noticing Grace is back on the floor asleep on the
blanket. Its amazing how something so tiny and helpless can scare the
shit out of full-grown men!
Pathetic!

As
everyone is eating, Coco asks for our attention. Once it's quiet, she
says, "As you may remember," she pauses, "or not,
tomorrow is Halloween―"

I
interrupt with a short bark of laughter, and now everyone's attention
is on me.

Looking
around sheepishly, I simply say, "When
isn't
it Halloween
now?"

A
few snicker and laugh, the rest roll their eyes and shake their
heads. Those are the ones with no sense of humor.
Bunch of
grouches!

Coco
continues, "Anyway, the kids have asked if they can make
decorations, but I want to make sure no one has a problem with it
first."

Before
any of us can say a word, the Queen of Bitch herself opens her mouth,
just as loud and annoying as ever.

"Well,
I
have a problem with it! How could you
possibly
think
that this would be a good idea with the way things are? Besides,
these
kids
need to learn to work, not play," Sara says in
her irritatingly whiny voice.

So
of course we tell Coco it's a great idea, mostly because of Sara's
protests, but we would have agreed to let the kids have some fun even
without Sara making an ass of herself.

Sara
stomps out of the house, slamming the door behind her, which puts a
grin on almost everyone's face.

"Let
it go, kids. She's just an angry, bitter young woman who needs our
prayers."
She needs a lot more than my prayers. Like maybe a
fist or two.
Everyone goes back to their food and conversations,
forgetting Sara and her drama.

Will
and I finish eating and he helps me off the floor. I throw our paper
plates away while he grabs our coats and then ushers me back out to
the porch, but this time, we don't stop there-he leads me down the
steps and across the yard. When we get to our truck, he helps me in,
goes around and climbs into the driver's seat, then starts the truck.

"Are
we going somewhere?" I ask him.

"No.
Just want to sit here and get the heater going," he explains.
Then his tone turns serious, "We need to talk."

No! No! No!
Crap. Here we go.

"Ok.
What's up?" I ask. My heart is pounding so hard and my mind is
spinning.
What do I tell him?
How
much
do I tell
him?

"We
need to talk to everyone about going out and getting what we can.
It's not going to be long before everything's taken by others, if it
hasn't been already." The breath I'm holding releases loudly in
relief.
Oh, thank God!
Easy talk.
No problem!

"Yep.
You're right. So lets get everyone together and discuss it." I
put my hand on the door handle but Will stops me.

"Has
Jake said anything to you since last night?" he asks me.
Ah,
damn. So close!

"Nope.
Not a word."

"He
stares at you when he thinks no one is looking. Knowing he kissed
you, saw you naked, and
held
you when you were naked, pisses
me off like you wouldn't believe. I know it wasn't your fault, but
all I see when I look at the asshole is him holding you like that. I
wish he'd just move on. Find his own damn place to live."

I
pull Will to me and wrap my arms around him. I kiss him but I don't
say anything.
I know how I'd feel if I saw some bitch all over
him. Only difference is, I
would
kill the bitch, and
no
one
will stop me!

Will
pulls back enough to see my face and I watch as his own face turns as
hard and cold as granite. "I need you to tell me now, and don't
you dare lie to me because when I find out-and I will-shit will be a
lot worse. Did anything else happen between you and Jake? Did you
sleep with him?"

"Hell
no, Will! Nothing else has happened except for when he tried to kiss
me in that town where we found you."
Well, I
didn't
sleep
with him!
I'm trying to keep my husband from murder. That's
the only reason I didn't tell him about the incident on the floor of
the truck...and the back of the store. Honest!

"Not
even when you thought I was dead?" I shake my head no.

"Alright.
Let's go in."

We
walk to the house together, his arm around my shoulders and my arm
around his waist. What we didn't see, was Sara lying in the very
backseat of our truck, listening to every word and wearing a big evil
grin. Revenge the only thing on her mind.

We
gather everyone in the living room except Ma, Lindey, and Coco who
are helping the kids make Halloween decorations at the kitchen table.
Will explains what we need to be doing and everyone agrees that,
first thing in the morning, we will go out and get what we can. They
also discuss getting more walls put up tomorrow after the trips into
St. Thomas, the large city southeast of here.

I
notice Sara come in the front door and she flashes me a cocky grin.
Great. What's that bitch up to now?
I glare at her and she
tosses her head back, still grinning. I roll my eyes and turn my
attention back to the others and our plans for tomorrow-and just that
easily, she's forgotten.
What is it they say, hindsight's
twenty-twenty?