Man Eaters (34 page)

“Get your buddy, then get in the bed of the truck. Move from there and that woman on the horse will put you down. Understand?”

He nodded as he leapt over the divider to help his friend to the truck.

Just as Butcher rode up on one side, Safety and Einstein rode up on the other.

Roper reached for Einstein as he leapt from the horse. “Where’s Peanut?” He asked, looking around.

Putting her arm around his shoulders, Roper walked away from the group with him. “There’s no easy way to say this, kid. Peanut turned.”

He managed a stoic countenance for a split second before wrapping his arms around her and sobbing. “No, no, no. Not her. Not her.”

“I know,” she soothed. “I know.” Tears sprang to Roper’s eyes as she stood there holding him.

Stepping away, Einstein wiped his eyes and drew himself taller. “Where is she?”

“Still in the Hummer.”

“I want to see.”

“No, buddy. That’s a bad idea.”

He started for the Hummer. Roper let him go.

“Butcher,” Dallas said. “If these assholes move, kill them both.”

“Roger that.”

“You shouldn’t have let him go,” Dallas said softly.

“We can’t treat him like a child, Dallas. He made up his mind. He’ll have to live with the consequences.”

“So, what are we gonna do with her?”

“We’re going to send the rest back down the road on horseback. Then we’re going to open the door and—” Roper looked down. “And kill her.”

Dallas swallowed more bile. “Yes. And kill her.”

“You want me to do it?”

A thick, sad silence hung between them. “Would you?”

“I reckon I’ve killed far more farm animals than you ever have. Sometimes, you just have to put a thing out of its misery. If I look at it like that, it’s not so bad.”

Dallas’s eyes welled with tears as she held Roper’s hand. “Thank you.”

“You get everyone out of here. I’ll take care of Peanut and Callaghan. It’ll be gross in the Hummer until we can clean it out, though. Come back after you hear the shots.”

“I’m staying with you,” Butcher said.

Roper nodded. “As long as you’re far enough away when I open the door.”

“I’ve got your back, Rope. What about these dickheads?”

Roper sent a disparaging glance at them. “Fuck ‘em.”

This made Butcher grin. “Good answer.”

“Wh-what about me?”

Roper cut her eyes over at Dallas and shook her head. “You screwed us, Cue-Ball, but you also inadvertently saved our lives. There’s a bizarre irony in that.”

“Please take me back, take me with you, I swear I can do this I didn’t mean what” his pleas tumbled out without pause and on deaf ears.

Butcher and Roper simultaneously said, “Hell no.”

“You made your choice. You get to live with it now.”

When Dallas, Safety, and Einstein were nearly out of sight, Butcher turned to Roper. “Let’s do this.”

“Get in the truck bed,” Roper ordered Cue-Ball, who continued to beg as he climbed into the back.

“Stay in the back.”

All three men nodded as they stood in the bed of the truck.

“How you want to do this?” Butcher asked.

Roper glanced down at Zeus, who had not left the Hummer since he’d seen Peanut inside. “I’ll open the door and run to that oil spot there. She’ll come right at you. When she does, I’ll take her out.”

Butcher swallowed hard. “If you can’t pull the trigger in the first five steps, I will.”

“You won’t have to. I know this is for the best.”

After walking back over the entire plan, Roper stood at the passenger side of the Hummer and waited for the nod from Butcher before yanking open the door and running to an oil spot twenty feet away.

As soon as Peanut emerged from the Hummer, Zeus began backing away, whimpering.

He knew.

In that instant, Roper put Peanut in her sights, blew out a breath, and said, “Forgive me, Peanut,” before popping her in the side of the head. She crumpled to a heap on the hot pavement.

Next, Roper ran over to the driver’s side and pulled open that door. Through the Hummer’s open doors, she could see Zeus tentatively approaching his owner.

“Okay, fellas, easy does it.”

Pulling out her knife, Roper kept it at the ready in case they were wrong about the genetic component to their blood lust. Carefully and slowly reaching over, she grabbed Callaghan’s bloody shirt and pulled him from the vehicle, where he landed at her feet with a loud splat. To be on the safe side, she put a bullet between what was left of his eyes. As she stared down at the mutilated and partially eaten body of a man who’d probably deserved his nickname, Roper felt no remorse. In that instant, she understood Dallas’s fear of them becoming as soul-less as the undead. She understood because she felt that way at this very instant. She was glad he was dead—glad he died a horrible, frightening death at the hands of someone he would have tossed away as someone too weak to concern himself about.

But this truly was about survival of the fittest, and the fit sometimes had to show no mercy. Mercy was a luxury they could no longer afford, and though Dallas had given Cue-Ball and the last two standing a free pass, Roper wasn’t so sure that was the best thing to do.

“You okay?” Butcher asked, lowering her rifle slightly.

“Yeah. Just thinking is all.”

Raising her rifle, she blew off half the passenger’s head. Checking the back, she said, “We’re clear.”

As Roper and Butcher pulled the body from the Hummer, Zeus laid down by Peanut and whined.

“Want me to get him?” Butcher asked.

Roper shook her head. “Leave him. It’s how it should be.” To the thugs she said, “Do you have a blanket to cover her up?”

“You want to cover up a fucking dead zombie?”

Roper walked over to the truck. “That fucking zombie was one of ours, Jethro. Show some respect.”

“Fuck you.”

Before Roper could respond, a shot came from behind her, as a bullet pierced Jethro’s thigh.

“Son of a bitch! She shot me!”

Roper nodded before killing both outlaws with a single gunshot to each head. “Assholes.”

By the time they covered Peanut and cleaned up the Hummer as best they could, it was time for Roper to say goodbye to her horses.

“I suppose these hills are as good as any,” she said, taking the bridles off the horses and spending a few minutes with each one. She murmured something to each of them, ears twitching as if understanding.

When she came to Merlin, she broke down and cried.

“You saved our lives, old buddy,” She whispered, gently caressing his soft muzzle. “As loyal as any dog, you’ve been the very best creature I’ve ever known. Thank you...thank you for everything. Take care of the others. Stick together and enjoy your freedom. If I can ever come back for you, trust that I will. I...I love you.” Slapping his hindquarters, she sent Merlin into the hills with the other three right after him, salty tears stinging here eyes.

Turning with a face stained with tears, she told everyone to get into the Hummer, including Cue-Ball.

No one questioned her as he jumped in, begging forgiveness while reminding everyone he probably saved their lives.

After Safety emptied the gas can into the Hummer, Dallas started it and glanced over to the hills.

“Roper, look.”

Trying to hold back the flood of tears, she looked up the hill. Standing shoulder to shoulder were her four beautiful horses looking down at her, tails swishing.

“If they could salute,” Butcher said quietly, “I’m pretty sure they would.”

Wiping her eyes, Roper nodded. “I’m pretty sure they are.”

****

The mini-mart was overrun with a number of zombies who seemed chained by an invisible force.

“I’ll pump the gas,” Roper said, opening her door. “Come on, Cue-Ball.”

“What? I’m not going out there.”

“Look, we need to clean this car out.” Roper shot a quick look to Safety, who also got out. “Safety, if you don’t mind grabbing some cleaning supplies and rags. Cue-Ball and I will keep the area clear.”

Safety struggled to get his big frame out from the back and waited for Cue-Ball. “Come on, dude.”

Slowly getting out, Cue-Ball held his hand out for a rifle.

“You’re kidding me, right? You pull a gun on Einstein and leave us to face a couple dozen dead kids? Uh uh. You pump the gas. I’ll make sure the area is clear.”

“But there’s no power.”

Roper shot two man eaters before Safety took off for the mechanic’s bay. “Generator,” he yelled from the garage. “Go for it.”

Roper shot another. She figured there were at least eight more coming toward them. The moaning grew louder, causing Cue-Ball to fumble with the gas nozzle.

“You’ll be fine.” Roper shot three more as Safety came running back with an armful of cleaning products and a bag of rags.

“How many?”

“At least three,” Safety answered, getting in the Hummer and closing the door.

He knew.

“Step away from the Hummer,” Roper ordered Cue-Ball.

“W-what? Come on, man. This isn’t funny.”

“No, it’s not. You pulled a weapon on a kid. Our kid. You gave away our Hummer. Our Hummer. You stood by while they set a bunch of kid zombies on us.” Roper shot two others who got too close. “You threw us to the wolves, Cue-Ball, but you’re lucky: Dallas has strong ethics and doesn’t believe you should be killed.”

Roper raised her rifle, then lowered it. The zombies were about twenty yards away and coming straight for Cue-Ball.

When the gas pump clicked off, Roper shoved the nozzle back in. “You sacrificed all of us, dickweed. I wanted to get rid of you long ago, but Dallas has a softer heart than I do, but you know what? Not any more.”

Cue-Ball held panic in his eyes. “Wh-what are you doing? Shoot them!” He started for the Hummer, but she pointed her M16 in his face.

“Away. From. The. Vehicle.” Roper enunciated every word as she put him in her sights.

Stepping away, he shook his head. “Please. Please. I didn’t mean—”

“Shut up. You left us there. After all we did for you? Fucking ingrate.”

The Hummer window rolled down slightly. “Come on, Rope, get in,” Butcher’s voice wafted from the two-inch opening.

Roper ignored her, even as the zombies closed in.

“R-Roper, please. I...I have money. I know people who have yachts on the Gulf. I can—”

“You can shut the fuck up is what you can do. Now, step away. More.”

He took two steps back, his eyes frantically scanning back and forth at the two groups of undead making their moaning way toward him.

“Further away.” Roper ordered her voice cold and hard, her finger tightening on the trigger.

“Roper, please. Don’t do this. I made a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake. Don’t do this.”

A man eater bumped into her as it limped by, arms outstretched toward Cue-Ball.

“Do what? Kill you? I told Dallas I wouldn’t do that.”

“Then what are you going to do...because...” He turned left and right. The zombies were closing in. “Shoot!”

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. “I’m going to give you the same chance you gave us.” With that, she shot him in the upper leg, knocking him to the ground, where he raised up on his one good leg, a mask of fear on his face.

“You shot me!” Cue-Ball cried, holding his bleeding leg. “You fucking shot me!”

Grabbing the door handle, Roper nodded. “But I didn’t kill you.” She smiled grimly. “They may not be so obliging.” She got into the now more spacious Hummer, the occupants sitting there in stunned silence.

“We’re burning daylight, Dallas,” Roper said. “Let’s go.”

Dallas’s hands never left the wheel as she stared out at Cue-Ball struggling to get to his feet as the man eaters surrounded him.

“In a way, he sorta looks like them,” Einstein said softly.

“And soon, he will be.”

****

They all decided that spending the night in the hills was safer, and the Hummer had no problem getting them there.

The rock formations were a perfect buffer from the slight wind that had kicked up and the oak trees gave them plenty of shelter from the night’s dew. Once settled atop the tallest hill in the area, they made a small fire and quietly ate a dinner of Spam, freeze-dried spaghetti, and topped it off with the multi-vitamins Butcher was always harassing them to take.

The mood around the campfire was somber, their losses felt too deeply to discuss.

“Well,” Roper said quietly, “at least we’re sure of one thing: They’re not interested in gay meat.”

“No, I think we’ve had plenty of confirmation on that score. Looks like science got it right. We’re born gay.”

“With a different genetic make-up, so whoever designed this virus, had no clue it would leave at least ten percent of our population alive.”

“That ten percent is going to be needed to keep this country going. Speaking of irony.” Dallas shook her head. “Did anyone know that Peanut had been bitten?”

Einstein bowed his head. “I did. I saw a mark on her upper arm, but I didn’t have it in me to ask her. I guess I sorta convinced myself it was a dog bite. She seemed okay, you know? I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Putting his face in his hands, he wept.

Roper pulled him to her and held him. “Shhh. It’s not your fault. I doubt I would have done anything differently. Not your fault.”

“But it is. I’m the one who always knows. I’m the one with the answers. I knew what could have happened, and I sat on it. I could have gotten us all killed.”

“But you didn’t. You’re also the one with a heart of gold and you cared about her. We all saw that.”

“Besides, Einstein, given what we know, we probably would have assumed she was gay…or going to be.”

Einstein sniffled and tried to pull himself together. “That was so...hard. So damn hard.”

Butcher slowly chewed the Spam. “Yes it was, and I nearly crapped my pants when that one came from behind us. She moved so fast, I didn’t have time to warn anyone.”

“I won’t let it happen again. I swear. I won’t let my emotions get the best of me.”

Safety patted Einstein’s back. “You done good, kid, really.” To the women he said, “Well, gals, if the homos are gonna save humanity, what are your thoughts about mocha babies?”