Outbreak The Living (The Outbreak Series) (13 page)

Hearing the sounds of birds chirping, kids yelling and laughing, I turn over and snuggle closer to Mack. Taking my hand, I run it over his abs. I love the feel of the hard angles and planes of him. I feel him tense up under me. Giggling, I stop my hand. We really do need to be getting up.

“You better stop if you want to get out of bed anytime soon, Egypt,” he says chuckling. I sit up a little bit and rest my head on his chest. It’s so nice to hear all the activity going on outside. The dogs jump off the bed and head outside. We kept the patio door open last night letting the fresh air in.

Hearing a light knock on the door then a key being used. I looked at Mack, shit this ought to be good.

“They’re going to know sooner or later, Egypt. I can’t keep my hands off you, “he says laughing, nipping my neck.

“I know, Mack, and I don’t want to hide it,” I say, looking towards the door we wait to see who it is.

The door swings open and in rushes Tabby, Liam, and Nate.  I would have started laughing at the shocked look on their faces, but this is serious. Tabby is grinning from ear to ear. Nate and Liam, I think are shocked.

“UHM, Mom, what are you doing?" Liam asks. Before I can answer Tabby tells them to go wait on the porch for a few minutes. The boys go out but not before I see the anger on Nate’s face.

Tabby throws us jeans, laughing. “Get dressed,” she says and turns around. Mack is laughing too, so I smack him. We hurry up and get dressed and sit on the side of the bed. Mack grabs my hand and squeezes it.

“I’m going to go out and talk to the boys,” he says, kissing me on the lips before standing up and heading for the door. “Morning, Tabby,” he says smiling.

“Tabby, you should have knocked and let me answer the door.”

“NO WAY, Mom! I loved the look on your guys’ faces as we all came in," she says laughing. She walks over to the Keurig and turns it on. “So Mack, Mom?” she asks looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

“Yes, Mack, Tabby. I love him and I really don’t want to get into it about Sal. Other then he didn’t come get me, it was just Mack against them all,” I say, watching her make coffee.

She doesn’t say anything until she hands me a cup “I always knew it was going to be Mack. SO?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me. Throwing a small pillow at her she squeals and runs into my arms.  I almost spill my coffee. Holding her tight, I rock with her. Boy, she has gotten heavy. I hear the guys outside talking, I really hope it goes well out there. The boys have been through a lot and they just don’t get it like Tabby does. Smiling, I listen to her tell me everything that has been going on. The boys walk in with Mack behind them. They are all smiling.  Nate and Liam kiss me and tell me they will see me later. They look over at Mack.

“We will be ready in a few hours, Mack. See ya then,” Nate says as both boys leave the room shutting the door behind them. Mack walks over and grabs my coffee drinking it. Tabby gets off my lap and makes Mack a cup.

“Thanks, Tabby, how you feeling?” he says handing my cup back.  Tabby stands in front of us, giving him the evil eye.

“I feel great. Thanks for asking. But you better treat my mom right or I will cut you,” she says walking over to kiss him on the cheek and leaving. Almost spitting my coffee out, I start laughing really hard.

“Well,” he says laughing. “That went well, I think." Standing up he starts putting his boots on.

“I’m so sorry, Mack.” I do not get to finish.

“Egypt, I wouldn’t want it any other way. You guys are a close family and I know it is not over. There is still Pete, and I think I would rather fight a horde of zombies,” he says laughing. 

Shaking my head, I get my socks and boots on. Walking over to the patio, I sit in my favorite spot listening to the water in the fountain. Mack comes out a few minutes later and sits. We finish our coffee slowly. It is so nice not having to be out on the run.  Mack stands up and bends to kiss me. He takes his time moving a piece of my hair out of the way as he smiles.

“OK, I got to get going. I’ll see you later today sometime. You going out right?” he asks.

“Yeah, I don’t know who’s going but we need to see what’s going on that horde in Salem.”

“Please be careful out there, I’m going on a run with the boys and Todd,” he says.

The boys are going out? They will be with Mack. I know he will do all he can to keep them safe.

“I will, but you do the same. Keep the boys in line, I trust you. I rather you teach them out there than anyone else.”  Standing up, I wrap my arms around his waist. He grabs my neck and kisses me hard. There is my Mack.

“I love you, Mack,” I whisper. He grins at me and says it back, he closes the door behind him. I make my way to the bathroom and do my hair and apply some makeup. Looking at my head, it's swollen and angry looking. Touching it, damn it is sore.  Throwing some spritz on, I head out into the bedroom. Mack has made the bed. Damn I love that man. There’s a piece of paper on the bed. Picking it up, I read it.
‘Can’t wait until tonight, be safe. Love you, Mack’
Smiling, I put it on my nightstand table. Calling for the dogs, we head out into the rest of the house.  In the hallway, its quiet. The main bathroom door is shut. Stopping in the dining room, it is busy with activity. Mom and Aunt Nancy are getting lunch ready.  They see me and smile. Walking over to them, I give them each a hug.

“How’d you sleep, babe,” my aunt asks with a smile on her face. I could never keep anything from her.

“Good, like a baby,” I say laughing. Trying to change the subject, "Mom, what’s for lunch?”

“Oh, soup and salad,” she says. She looks good, a bit thinner, but happy. I thought maybe I was just seeing things last night, apparently not. I did notice she does not have the oxygen anymore.

“Oh, Mom, we got your meds," I say as I make my way to the command center.

“Yes, baby, I know. Thank you, that will last a long while,” she says.

Walking into the command center, Jim is at the monitors. He stands up and walks over to me. “Hey Egypt, I’m so glad you’re back and that you're safe. What happened to your head?” he asks.

“There was a bit of a scuffle, but it's healing good,” I say walking over to the monitors.  They are blank; there’s nothing to see, but the outside.

“Who’s up top on watch?”

“I think it is Renee and Gary,” Jim says. Nodding, I make my way up the steps, and it is who is up there. Renee comes over and gives me a big hug. I ask her how the girls are doing she tells me they are doing great. Gary hugs me next and I ask about the kids.

“Guys, I’m trying to touch base with everyone in the next few days. If there’s anything you need or something you think needs to happen or needs changed I’d like to know about it.”

They both think a minute.

“No, I believe things are good the way they are, and with you back I’m sure they will get better,” Renee says.  Gary agrees with what she says. 

“OK guys, I’ll see you later, love you both.” I head back downstairs and out the back door to the yard. Looking around the kids are playing and Samantha is watching them. She is so good with kids. Tara sees me and runs over and jumps in my arms. Spinning her around, we both laugh.

“How are you doing, Tara?” Smiling, I look down at the little girl as I put her on the ground.

“It’s great, Egypt! I love it here there’s other kids I can play with, can I stay here forever?” she asks.

“You bet, baby. I will work on a place just for you and your mommy today, I promise.”

“OK, Egypt, I’m going to go play,” she says as she runs off towards the other kids. I wave at Samantha and walk towards the back. We have three new RVs. Hank has been very busy while I was gone.  Behind the RVs, I see the garden is doing great. Opening the gate, I make my way to it. Hank is out picking, John is out there helping. It looks like everyone has something to do. That’s good. This will be the last of the crop for this year, until after the snow.

“Hey Hank, how’s everything?” He dusts off his pants and stands up, giving me a big hug.

“It’s good, we’ve had a good crop this year. We will not be not hurting this winter,” he says smiling.

“We will leave after lunch, I’d like you and Sal to go,” I tell him. The bell starts to sound and John kisses me on the cheek and runs for it. Laughing and shaking my head, the kid must be hungry. I loop my arm with Hank and we slowly make our way towards the house.

“That’s a good idea, Egypt. I won’t lie, this scares me about the zombies coming this way,” he says.

“I know, me too. We will know more later. Then we will call a meeting on what to do.” We make it to the house and go through the glass doors. Most of the line is down. My mom tells me to go sit that Gabby will bring it to me. Not going to argue with my mom, I go back out and sit at the table on the deck, there is no one there yet. Gabby brings me a bowl of soup and a huge salad. I take my time to pray over my food. I have a lot to say to Jesus. When I am done, I dig in not waiting for anyone else. The salad is wonderful and melts in my mouth. I watch all the kids sitting at a picnic table in the yard stuffing their faces. I never want to see them go without. Mack startles me out of what I was thinking. He kisses me and sits down next to me.

“Penny for your thoughts,” he says.  Laughing at what he said, I look at him.

“I just never want the kids to want for this kind of food," I say taking another bite of my salad.

“As long as I’m here, they never will, Egypt. Look you’ve made this place for them to still be able to be kids and play. They will not want for food,” he says, reaching over and squeezes my hand. We continue eating. Sal, Pete, Todd, and Hank all come and sit down. I sit back and listen while they all talk. It is good to have the whole gang back together. Finishing up with my salad, I start on the soup. It is beef vegetable, my favorite. I know my mom made this. Hank passes some bread over. Smiling, I take it and finish eating.

Aunt Nancy comes and takes everyone's bowls. I sit back watching my family. I know I am very lucky to have them here with me. The alarm starts blaring. I don’t wait for anyone, I quickly get on my feet.

“Get the kids in the house now,” I yell, running through the house I hit the front door fast and hard. Making my way to the gate, I climb up and look out. Off in the distance, I see what looks like two people running with zombies behind them.

“Jim, tell me what’s going on out there,” I yell. I know he can hear me through the mics.

I hear running behind me, looking over my shoulder. Everyone is standing in a group with guns at the ready. Nate and Liam come storming out of the house, they run up to me. Nate hands me my 9mm.

“Mom, it's Zach and Chris. We got to help them.” Looking at my boys, I know this has to be done.

Yelling, “Jim open up the gate now and close it behind us.” I look over at Mack, he’s tense. Nodding at him, I wait as the gates open. This is something I have to do with them.

“Shoot first ask later, boys,” I say. The gate opens and we run out. These boys can run, it takes everything I have to keep up. Damn, I am over 40. I just cannot move like I used to.

Stopping about 300 feet out, I yell, “Get your asses in gear boys, COME ON RUN, DAMMIT!” I take aim and fire dropping the two zombies on the left. “Liam take the shots, I can’t they're too close to the boys,” I yell. Liam is a perfect shot. Aiming at a few more, I take them the same way. As they get closer, I tell the boys to get ready to run. I know Mack is watching and will have the gate open with people on top picking off the rest of the zombies.

"Nate, Liam, go now,” I yell. “Take Chris with you GO, GO, GO!”  The three boys take off running, I run the last few feet to meet Zach. Shit! He’s bleeding from his leg, bad. We do not stop as I put his arm around my shoulder to help him. We are at a slow jog at most and that is not going to cut it. They are going to catch up with us. Looking forward the boys make it to the gate we got about 100 feet.

“Listen, Zach, I’m going to let go and you keep going FAST. You hear me? Don’t stop, don’t look behind you run!” I tell him. I let go of Zack and turn around.

I have to buy him some time or he won’t make it. Aiming, I shoot taking down two, but there is still a dozen coming right at me. Hearing shouting behind me, I know Mack is going crazy. I continue to fire until they are almost kissing me. Turning, I start running as fast as I can. I got at least ten feet on them. At the gate, the guys are firing at them behind me.  Looking up, Mack’s firing like there’s no tomorrow. Getting more distance from them, I get pulled through the gate. Looking up, I see it's Mack holding me. The gates close and the guys get ready to shoot the rest of them. Breathing hard, I shake my head.

“No, let them hit the gates, we need to know if it’s going to hold," I yell. We all stand back and watch as the gate shakes. It’s holding, but we need to reinforce it soon. It would never stand up to thousands of them. Looking at Tomas, I give him the go. Hearing the shots fired, I start making my way to the kids. Mack is next to me. Pete is already there looking at Zack’s leg. Mack goes in front of me and helps out. Liam hands me a bottled water and gives the boys one too.  After I drink the whole bottle, I bend down to talk to them.

“Zack, why the hell you out there running?” I smack him in the back of the head.” You could have been killed.” I hear a few of the guys laugh.

“Miss Egypt, our families are gone. The only place we thought to go was here,” Zack says. Looking down at him, I cannot stand the look of despair on his face.

Damn it, I cannot be mad at these boys. “You’re safe now both of you. Let these guys get you settled in the living room and we can talk later. I have to make sure things are taken care of." Standing up, I head to the house. Looking around it is jammed packed with everyone.

“The kids can go back outside its all fine.” The kids take off for the back and my dogs go with them.

“What’s going on out there? There was a lot of screaming,” my mom asks.

“Two of the boys' friends were out there trying to make it here. They’re not bitten, but they are banged up," I say walking to the refrigerator to get a pop. Cracking it open, I drink from it deeply and welcome the burning from doing that.

They bring the boys in and Mom and Aunt Nancy take care of them. They will be fine until we get back. I tell them to put more guards up. And to be careful.

“Hank, Sal, you guys ready to hit the road?” I ask making sure I have my extra clips with me.

“Yes, let’s head out,” Hanks says walking over to give my mom a kiss. Looking over at Sal he nods to me. Mack comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

"Be careful out there, Egypt. I know you can take care of yourself, but I’m still allowed to worry,” he whispers in my ear.

Smiling up at him, I say, “I’ll be fine, you do the same.” Moving away, I make it to the door to see Mack nodding to Sal. Rolling my eyes, I head out and into the truck once again to leave my home.  Sal gets into the driver’s seat while Hank gets into the back. We pull out of the gate and head down the road. Sal goes around the zombies that are laying on the ground. Looking behind me, I see the boys and Mack following us. I know they have somewhere to go, but I still do not like it. At the end of the street, we make a right and they make a left. I watch out the back window until I cannot see them anymore.

It does not take us long to get to Salem. Maybe 15 minutes. It is so eerie quiet that it is kind of spooky.

“Should we go the same way as last night?" Sal looks over and asks.

“SHIT! STOP!” I yell. Sal doesn’t ask why, but slams on the brakes. Looking out in front of us, we see thousands of zombies about two miles away.

“This isn’t good,” I say, jumping out of the truck. “They are closer to us than last night.” Hank comes out and walks to the front of the truck.

“How much closer do you think they are, Sal?" Hank asks.

“I’d say a mile maybe, not much more than that, but there looks to be more of them,” he says.

We watch them for twenty minutes and then decide to pack it up and go home. As we make the drive home, no one really talks. We are all caught up in our own thoughts. Sal turns on our road and we stop at the gate. Watching it come open, I know we will have to reinforce all this to keep them all out. And I still don’t know if that will be enough.

“Let’s keep what we saw to ourselves until the meeting tonight. We can meet up after dinner and discuss everything then. I’ll be in my office. I have some things to go over and get all the new people set in their own place.” Looking at the guys, they nod and we all get out. Hank goes into the back yard to start what he needs to get done. Sal walks over to me so I stop.

“Egypt, I’d like to keep the RV I’m in now. If you can please put Sally and Tara in another one," he says.  Looking at him, I think it’s best for now not to ask too many questions.

“OK, Sal if that’s what you want,” I say to him.

“Thanks, Egypt, see ya later,” he says. I leave him in the front yard and head into the house. Zach and Chris are sleeping in the living room, I keep walking into the dining room to I let my mom know where I will be and start to go down the hall. Once in my bedroom, I open the door to my office and go in. There is so much to do and little time to do it. First, I have to get everyone into an RV, after doing that we have two RVs left. I ended up putting Chris and Zack by my aunt so they can keep an eye on them.

I have about an hour before dinner to come up with a plan about the zombies and fence. With what we have coming at us, I think we need to hit an armory. That is going to be our only chance, and reinforcing the fence. Putting the papers on my desk. I leave my office and go to my patio and sit with my dogs for a while. I wonder where Mack and the boys went. He never did say. I do find it weird those three going, but what do I know. The dogs are running around being silly, so I just recline back and watch them.

Hearing the dinner bell, I must have napped a little bit. Getting up, I go into the bathroom and splash water on my face. Feeling more awake, I head to the dining room. It smells amazing.  Everyone is laughing and happy. Leaning up against the wall I watch everyone. I am glad that everyone is happy, I really am. I think it is because most do not have a clue of what we are facing.

I see Mack and the boys come in and get in line for the food. Mack looks over and smiles. Nodding and smiling back, I make my way over to the food. Hank comes and stands with me looking grim.

“We having that meeting after dinner?” he asks.

“Yes, I think it the smart thing to do.” Looking over at the line behind us, we are the last to go through.  Grabbing a plate, I help myself to all the food. It all looks amazing. There is fried chicken and mashed potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob, and salads. I can’t take everything, so I settle for the chicken, mashed potatoes, and a salad. Walking outside, Mack has saved me a place to sit down. Sitting down, he grabs my hand under the table.

“How was your run? Get what you need?" I ask, starting on my salad. Chewing, I look over at him and he’s got this crazy grin on his face.

“Yep, and then some. We got more supplies for everyone. Tabby will have a new list for you tonight. What did you find out about the zombies?" he asks.

“Nothing good. We do have a meeting after dinner,” I say taking a bite of my chicken.  Nodding his head, he starts talking to Todd as he sits down beside him. Sal walks over and sits down. Looking up, our eyes meet. I know he is thinking the same thing as I am. Mack stiffens a little beside me. I wonder what that is all about. Gabby comes by with peach pie. It is one of my favorites.  Walking in the kitchen, I make two cups of coffee. Mom and Aunt Nancy are eating at the table with Tabby and John. 

“Dinner was great you guys. Thank you.”  Hugging Mom, I walk out the glass doors, heading over to Mack I hand him a coffee and sit back down. He smiles over at me and continues to talk to Todd. Looking over, I see all the boys sitting together. Zack looks over at me, giving me a small smile. Getting up, I head over that way. The boys are laughing and having a good time. Smiling, I shake my head.

“Hey Mom, what’s up?” Liam asks.

“Not too much, babe, you like dinner?”

“Yep, it was great,” he answers.

Looking over at Zach and Chris, they look better. Still have cuts and bruises. All will heal with time.

“Hey, Zach, how you doing?”

“I’m OK, Miss Egypt, I’m sore, but that will go away,” he mumbles.

“I’m good too, Egypt. Nate tells us you will give us something to do every day,” Chris says.

“That’s right, but I’ll give you a few days to heal up and get used to the things here.”  Smiling at the boys, I walk out further into the yard. It’s nice to be able to just walk around and not worry about the zombies. I head over to the fire pit and sit down on a log. The dogs come running up and jump all over me.  Lying on the ground, I let the dogs jump all over me. I really did miss these little guys. Hearing footsteps behind me, I look up and it’s Sal.

Sitting up, I look over to where he sits down.

“What’s up Sal?” Looking over at him, he seems like he’s got a lot on his mind.

“Did I miss the chance with you and me?” he asks.

“Sal are you serious? You know that you did. I’m happy with Mack I really am.”

“I just had to ask, Egypt. I miss our closeness that we had,” he murmurs.

“Sal, you lost that right when you decided to go after a stranger, and you know it.” Getting up, I wipe off the grass and dirt that got on me. Not saying anything else, I walk back towards the others. Looking over to the table, I see Mack watching me. It looks like he was going to get up, but Pete stops him.  I feel a hand wrap around my arm and it stops me.  Whirling around its Sal

“Sal, let go of my arm NOW!” I say angrily.

“No, Egypt, you know we are good together.”  I see Nate walk over and I try to stop this before it starts.

“Just stop, Sal! It’s over and you know it,” I say.

“You better let go of my mother, you asshole!” Nate demands.

“Oh, what are you going to?” Sal starts to say but doesn’t get to finish Nate grabs him by the arm and pulls him away from me.  I stumble backward and fall on my ass. Shit! This isn’t going to be good. Sal gets right in Nate’s face and starts to yell.

“Little boy, what are you going to do stop me?” Sal yells.

Nate doesn’t say anything and suddenly his fist flies. He punches Sal right in the mouth.  By now they are both on the ground and fists are flying.

“STOP!” I scream. I try grabbing Sal’s arm, but get thrown back and land hard on the ground. I see the others running over to us, and the look in Pete’s and Mack’s eyes are like ice.  It goes on for a few more minutes and I don’t know why no one is stopping it. Nate is on top of Sal beating the crap out of him. Finally, Pete grabs Sal and Mack is holding back Nate.  Nate’s still trying to get to Sal.  I step in the middle of them.

“Stop Nate! It’s over,” I ordered.

“You ever go near my mom again, Sal. I will kill you,” Nate hissed.  Sal doesn’t say anything and Pete takes him over to his RV. Running my hands down my face, I look over to Mack. He shakes his head.

“Egypt, why don’t you go back up on the deck,” Mack mumbled.

Looking at Nate, he’s got blood down the front of him. Looking away, I head up on the deck where Hank and my mom are standing. My mom comes over to me wanting to hug me. Wrapping my arms around her, I lean my head on her shoulder.  I wish I can tell my mom everything that happened while I was away. I just cannot tell her all that horrible stuff. She has got enough stuff going on. Looking up at Hank, he just grins and nods his head at me. Letting go of my mom, I head over and sit down. Gabby brings me a pop. Opening it, I look back out at Mack and Nate. They are talking and the both have grins on their faces. Mack walks him over to a table and Tabby joins them with a med kit. My son defended me, and he was holding his own. Can a mother ask for anything more? He would have made a great Marine, he has the cockiness down pat.