Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 2): A New Darkness (5 page)

Jeremy looked back through the
rear-window at Lexx and Tori. Lexx shrugged and they three of them exited the
truck. They watched as Josh ran towards the person who hobbled in his
direction.

“Laura!” He cried out.

The woman threw open her arms for him.

Jeremy, Lexx, and Tori all watched as he
tightly embraced the brunette woman, kissing all over her face. She returned
his affection and buried her head into his chest, tears streaming down her
face. The other figures from the porch made their way towards the reunited
couple.

Tori nudged Lexx in the ribs.

“What?” he said.

Tori tried her best to keep a calm face.

“Is she… Is she…”

Lexx looked at his stammering friend and
then back to Josh’s wife. His jaw dropped open. Jeremy noticed it too and also
tried to keep his smile in place.

Josh’s wife was very pregnant.

The hot water beat against Jeremy’s bare
chest. He lowered his head, letting the shower soak his hair, and let all the
dirt and grime wash away.

Oh, man… I thought I’d never feel hot
water again.

This was not the first time that he had
taken a shower since the one at his own house the day everything started. The
day he lost his mother. The day he was washing off her blood. They spent their
first night with Josh in a small, little country home. The water there was well
water, so it was fresh, and cold. Freezing cold. And it smelled off too. Kinda
of like old eggs.

This water on the other hand, it did not
have that funky smell. Jeremy did not care why; he just enjoyed it.

Not sure how they got hot water too.
Maybe a generator on a water heater?

Again, he didn’t really care, but just
enjoyed the luxury of the steaming hot shower. He offered to go last in the
line to the shower, so he was not expecting warm water at all. Maybe he would
ask later, or maybe, it just didn’t matter.

They were safe now.

At least relatively, other than the
zombies near the tanker, the group had yet to see anymore living dead wandering
around. Josh’s family only said a small group was found nearby, but Josh’s
nephew, CJ, dispatched all three.

The thirteen-year-old boy stood almost as
tall as Jeremy did. Jeremy was slightly taller than everyone else his age, but
he seemed to think he had hit his maximum height. CJ seemed to be the same way,
except where Jeremy was kind of scrawny, CJ was solid. The boy had been mostly
quiet too. He stayed to the background as the new arrivals became integrated
into the group. He was most likely sizing them up, the same way any thirteen-year-old
sizes up a group of adults.

The rest of Josh’s family had been
welcoming, his brother-in-law and wife more so. The in-laws seemed nice, but
Jeremy could tell by their facial expressions that they were unsure of Josh
bringing strangers to their safe haven. Fair enough. Jeremy could not blame
them for that. Josh’s sister-in-law was strangely quiet. When introduced, she
simply nodded and turned back to the house. Jeremy did not take offense to this
either; the woman just lost her daughter. Her lack of hospitality could be
waived for the time being. Besides, it’s not like Jeremy was so turned off by
it that he would want to leave.

Josh had introduced all of them by name,
but Jeremy struggled to remember them all. He was terrible with names to begin
with. The one he was sure of, only because Josh talked about her all the time
in the truck, was Laura. Josh made sure to clarify that his wife’s name was
pronounced, “Lar-uh,” not “Loor-uh.” Jeremy had simply smiled politely at the
time and nodded. Now, he would have to remember that nugget of information when
it came time to talk with her.

The thought of talking with her brought
something to the forefront of his mind that had been nagging him from the back
burner.

She was pregnant.

Sweet Jesus
, Jeremy thought.
A baby? How in the
world is that going to work?

Probably the same way it has for
thousands of years Jeremy
,
his sarcasm answered.

Yeah, I got that. What I meant is, how is
she going to have it?

He didn’t think any of them were doctors,
much less the baby-kind of doctors. The thought of her giving unassisted birth
here in the house sent a shiver down Jeremy’s spine. So much to go wrong. And
what if another group of zombies finds them here? How are they going to escape
with a pregnant woman? Or hell, a baby?

“Hey, you still alive in there?”

A voice from the other side of the shower
curtain interrupted Jeremy’s whirlwind of thoughts. He peeked around to see CJ
standing there with a folded up towel. He sat it down on the small counter.

“Brought you a towel,” he said. “Sorry
it’s Spongebob. It was the last one.”

“Not a problem,” Jeremy said. “Thank you.
I’ll be out in a minute.”

CJ nodded and walked back out. Jeremy
ducked back into the shower and finished scrubbing all the yuck that past few
days had accumulated on him.

***

Jeremy walked into the upstairs bedroom,
the Spongebob towel wrapped around his waist. Over on the bed, the clothes he
laid out earlier awaited his arrival. Another pair of jeans, a long-sleeved
t-shirt, socks, and his only pair of shoes. The shoes were caked in mud before
he got in the shower, but somebody had washed the majority of it off. This made
him smile.

The weather had shifted drastically from
the past week. Was it only a week ago when Jeremy was out, sweating his balls
off, collecting shopping carts at the grocery store? Now, it was cool outside,
sometimes downright chilly in the mornings. He was sure that being out in the
country made it cooler, the more they moved away from the warm air coming in
off the Atlantic.

Jeremy dressed and when he was finished,
there was a knock at the door.

“Yeah? I’m dressed; you can come in,” he
said.

The door opened and CJ poked his head in.

“You good?” The boy asked. “You need
anything else?”

“Nah man. Thanks though,” Jeremy
answered, smiling.

CJ entered the room and made his way over
to the dresser, picking up a picture frame and inspecting it. Jeremy noticed
the picture earlier. It was one of CJ’s family, his mom and dad and sister. He
watched as the boy looked at the portrait and then sat it back down in its
spot.

“I went ahead and washed your shoes off
for you,” CJ finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence building in the room.

“Yes. I saw that. Thank you,” Jeremy
said.

A few beats of silence passed again.

“So, CJ, is there something I can help
you with?” Jeremy asked.

CJ looked Jeremy in the eyes. The
blue-eyed, sandy blonde-haired boy was no doubt the undoing of his female
classmates at one time, but now there was a shadow of darkness that covered the
boy.

“My sister is dead.”

His gaze never left Jeremy. It was
unsettling at first, but Jeremy realized that he was the closest person in age
CJ had seen in days. The boy had nobody to talk to his own age. He was looking
for a friend.

“I’ve heard and I’m sorry CJ. I lost my
mom the first day everything went bad,” Jeremy responded, his smile turning
sympathetic.

CJ nodded.

“Yeah, me too kinda,” he said, breaking
his eye contact to stare out the window. “Mom hasn’t been the same since it
happened. It was weird. Like, she just shut down. That’s not like her at all.”

His gaze returned to Jeremy. For the
first time, the boy smiled.

“So, what do you do for fun CJ?” Jeremy
asked, changing the subject.

“Well, I use to play football…”

A sound at the door interrupted CJ.
Jeremy could have sworn it sounded like snorting. CJ smiled at Jeremy, seeming
to enjoy his confusion.

“It’s okay Bacon. You can come in. Come
on boy!” CJ said, leaning in and clapping his hands.

A small pink snout poked in from the
doorway. The brown-haired piglet it was attached to made its way into the
bedroom, snorting and galloping on its tiny legs. It ran up to CJ, who picked
it up and turned back to Jeremy.

“This is Bacon. I found him after his
mother was attacked by some zombies. Well, he found me technically.”

Jeremy smiled and reached out to pet the
pig. The small hog closed its eyes in enjoyment as Jeremy scratched behind its
ears.

“He seems to like you,” CJ said, noticing
how relaxed the pig seemed in his arms.

“Well,” Jeremy said. “Us guys who lost
moms got to stick together.”

***

“You shouldn’t have brought them here.”

Josh locked eyes with his mother-in-law.
He knew this conversation would be a part of bringing Lexx, Tori, and Jeremy
with him.

“And why is that Mom?” He asked.

“You don’t know these people-”

“Actually,” he interrupted. “I’ve spent
the past few days with them, so I know them pretty well. We’ve fought for our
lives together and I don’t know of any better way to get to know someone than
that.”

She had no response to that, but he knew
this would not be the end of the conversation. She turned and walked away,
leaving him standing there alone in the hallway.

Laura and her mother prepared dinner
downstairs. The rationing was uplifted for the night, because tonight was a
celebration. With Josh’s return and the joining of other able-bodied help,
tonight was not a night for the earmarking of food.

Josh walked into the open kitchen area,
both women not paying him the least bit of attention. A casserole dish full of
spaghetti sat cooling on the island countertop. Josh picked up a fork, readying
to sample some of the dish. She swatted his hand away as he went in for the
bite.

“Hey!” He said.

“Not yet!” Laura said. “You’re gonna have
to wait like everyone else!”

“Aww man, but I thought tonight was for
me?” He asked, sticking out his lower lip in a pouting manner.

“Please,” she said, as she pushed him out
of the way. “I don’t care how long you were gone. That look will
never
work on me.”

Her mother smiled as she mixed the sweet
tea.

Josh grinned and leaned in to kiss his
wife on the cheek.

“And that’s why I need you,” he said,
planting the kiss before kneeling down.

He put his hand on her belly and leaned
in.

“We’re going to have to stick together
princess or Mommy isn’t going to let us have any fun,” he whispered into her
abdomen.

Laura pushed him with her hip, knocking
him over.

“Oh please! Get out of the kitchen you!”

He stood up and smiled wide.

“Geez, I’ve only been back a few hours
and I’ve already worn out my welcome? Tough crowd.”

“Oh, you think this is your welcome
back?” She started. “Just you wait until later-”

Her mother cleared her throat, to remind
the couple that she was still very much in the room. Laura gave her husband a
quick wink and went back to preparing the Caesar salad. He returned the wink
and made his way to the front porch where Lexx and Tori were talking with his
father and brother-in-law.

***

Lexx had a hard time believing his eyes.
The scene before him was completely surreal. Chris, Josh’s brother-in-law, and
their father-in-law, who they called Pops, sat in rocking chairs, swaying back
and forth as they drank sweet tea. Tori and he were leaning against the porch
banister, a cool autumn breeze blowing. It was like something off a postcard,
big letters scrawled across the top, “Y’all come back now!” Compared to the
chaos of last week, this setting almost seemed to be strange.

His daydreaming session stopped as Josh
made his way out onto the porch. The guy had barely stopped smiling since they
arrived. Lexx couldn’t blame him though, the guy was lucky enough to have his
whole family survive. Josh gave Lexx the masculine head nod as he entered the
porch, which Lexx returned with a smile.

“Dinner will be ready shortly,” Josh
said. “It smells so good in there.”

“Great, cause I’m starving,” Lexx said.

He thought maybe he shouldn’t have used
the word, “starving,” because it might not be long before they had a better
understanding of that word.

Ah, c’mon Lexx
, he thought to himself.
Don’t be so
damn pessimistic. Things could be fine here. We can survive here.

It seemed that Josh was sharing his
thoughts, because his smile seemed to falter for a moment. It returned and he
looked at Lexx.

“Well, good, because we have plenty of
food! And being out here in the woods, I’m sure we’ll have more than enough
wildlife to choose from.”

Lexx nodded. They were in a good
location. Deer, rabbit, and other game were sure to wander the surrounding area
and Lexx had already heard the story about CJ and the hogs. Hogs were good
eatin’ they would just have to beat the zombies to them.

“So, what y’all been talkin’ about?” Josh
asked, as he settled against the banister on the other side of Tori.

“Well these two were just introducing
themselves to us,” Chris said. “They explained how they met each other, and how
they met Jeremy and… and, um, Ben? (He looks at the couple for confirmation;
they both nod.) Ok, I thought so. Then they told us about the adventures they
went through to get out of Savannah, all the way up to where you rescued them.”

“Ha, I would barely call it a rescue!”
Josh laughed. “Tori here had to put a gun to my head in order for me to turn
around and go get Lexx!”

He turned to look at Tori.

“Which was the right thing to do. I’m
sorry to put you in that position.”

Lexx could tell that she was somewhat
uncomfortable accepting the apology, but did so with a smile.

The night before, as they were lying in
bed together, she told him that she was still somewhat angry with Josh for the
whole incident. She tried to explain to Lexx that she was very grateful that
Josh did pick them up, but the fact that he was willing to leave someone behind
like that, well, that just did not sit well with her. Lexx understood both
sides of the equation, but had sided with Tori, because she was naked. That
settled that.

“Hey man,” Lexx said. “It’s all good. We
made it and I’m not sure we would have without you showing up. I doubt I could
have taken on all the runners.”

Chris and Pops share a confused look.

“Runners?” Chris asked.

“Wait. You guys haven’t seen any of the
fast ones?” Josh asked.

They both shook their heads no.

“Oh, jeeze,”Josh said. “You’ve only dealt
with the slow zombies then?”

“There are different kinds?” Pops asked,
a worried look on his face.

“Yeah. There’s the slow ones that you’ve
seen, what most people would consider the “classic” type of zombie.”

“Those are the slow ones?” Chris asked.

Lexx watched as Josh nodded slowly.
Everyone had noticed the hint of frustration in Chris’s voice. Lexx didn’t know
all the details around Hailey’s death, but he assumed that Chris felt the full
responsibility of it. What father wouldn’t?

“Yes, unfortunately,” Josh picked up.
“There’s another kind out there. They’re fast. Really fast. They don’t look as
dead, minus the fact that they are normally coated in fresh, bright red blood.”

“The Lumberjack, the guy we were telling
you about earlier, he said that the runners were the fresher dead and that they
eventually tire out and turn into the slower ones,” Tori added.

Lexx nodded.

“We don’t know how true that is, because
we have yet to see it, plus we don’t know how much of his story we can trust
either. The guy had issues,” he said. “Major issues.”

“Yeah, that brings up another point too,”
Josh said. “The Lumberjack turned into some kind of monster. We don’t know for
sure if it’s the same infection that’s bringing the dead back to life, but I
think it’s safe to assume they’re related. Y’all mentioned something about a ‘rage’
or something?”

Tori glanced over at Lexx. Her eyes said
she was unsure about how much to tell them. Lexx gave her a nod before
speaking.

“Yeah, the rage,” he started. “Jeremy
said he experienced a fit of intense anger when his mother was killed. He said
that it gave him extra-human strength, speed, and fury, making it easy to
slaughter the three zombies responsible for his mother’s death. We were all
unsure of his story until we met the Lumberjack. He explained experiencing
similar things, but his brain blacked out a good portion of his memory. It
wasn’t until later that we realized, in a fit of rage, he murdered his friend
and the other people around him. In the process, he was bitten. And when he
came back, he came back as something nasty. Like Josh said, a monster.”

Lexx noticed the relief in Tori’s eyes
when he decided to leave out the part about himself experiencing the effects of
the rage. His muscles grew tight just thinking about it. He could feel the
weight of the heavy-duty pipe wrench in his hands, swinging it into the head of
a runner. Shattering cheekbones. The head coming clean off. The blood shooting
upwards like a rancid geyser. A smile curled in around his lips.

“Do you think the rage and the infection
are related Lexx?”

Josh’s voice brought Lexx back from his
dark thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, I don’t know. Yeah, I think
so,” he said, Tori eyeing him cautiously.

Josh noticed the interaction in between
the two. Lexx flashed a smile.

“Whatever it is, it’s bad news. That’s
for sure,” he said with a laugh.

Everyone on the porch seemed to agree.
Chris pulled on his goatee, until finally sitting forward in his chair.

“You said Jeremy felt this rage?” He
asked.

Lexx slowly nodded.

“So,” Chris said. “Should we need to
worry about him?”

Silence lingered as the question hung in
the air.

Lexx didn’t mean to insinuate that Jeremy
was going to lose his shit eventually, but was it possible? The kid didn’t seem
to show any signs of freaking out. He had been a great asset to the group. Tori
seemed to be having the same thoughts, judging by her facial expressions. It
wasn’t what Lexx meant. But what if it did happen? They only knew so much about
it to begin with and what it was fully capable of doing.

Just look what it did to LJ
, Lexx thought.
Could that happen to Jeremy?
Hell, could that happen to me?

Before Lexx could answer Chris’s
question, or his own for that matter, Jeremy walked out onto the porch. The kid
smiled, something Lexx had not seen much of in the past few days. He took Ben’s
death pretty hard. It was good to see him coming back around.

“Hey everybody,” Jeremy said. “Dinner is
ready.”

“Good, I’m hungry,” Josh said, not
missing a beat. “We’ll finish that conversation later everybody. Now it’s time
to eat.”

***

Jeremy felt like his stomach was about to
burst. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms up, trying to open up
any free space left in his abdomen. In doing this, he yawned, suddenly feeling
the tiredness that follows a big meal.

“I am so full,” he said. “My stomach must
have shrunk from not eating, because I feel like I barely ate anything.”

“Haha, yeah, that sounds about right,”
Josh said.

The rest of the group seemed to be in
agreement, even Bacon, the piglet, and Opie, the Boston terrier, who both
gorged themselves on scraps. The two small animals lay on their sides
underneath the table, too full to move.

“Dinner was very good ladies, thank you,”
Josh said.

Everyone else began to chime in his or
her gratitude.

“Yes, thank you so much for dinner and
for your hospitality,” Tori said. “Please allow the three of us to clean up.
It’s the least we can do.”

Jeremy and Lexx both nodded in agreement.

“No, it’s okay we can handle it,” Laura’s
mother said.

“No, seriously. We’ll clean up. Y’all are
doing so much just letting us stay here,” Jeremy insisted.

“It’s okay Mom, they can help,” Josh
added.

She nodded and smiled.

“Thank you,” she said.

Jeremy was so full; he was unsure if he
would make it to the kitchen, much less be able to do dishes. But Tori was
right, it was the least they could do. It sure beat sleeping out on the road
again.

“Thanks guys,” Josh said. “We have a lot
of work ahead of us. Tomorrow we’ll begin beefing up the defenses around here.
If we’re going to be staying here a while, we better make it zombie-proof. But
tonight, let’s rest. We’re alive, we’re safe, and we have a lot to be thankful
for.”

With this, Amy stood up and walked out of
the room without a word. Chris looked at her, sadness in his eyes. He too stood
up, and pushed his and her chairs in.

“I, I’m sorry man. I didn’t mean-,” Josh
stammered.

Chris shrugged and gave him a small
smile.

“It’s okay bro, you didn’t mean it,” he
said, turning to look towards the sound of the slamming door upstairs. “She
just hasn’t been the same since, since we lost Hailey.”

With that, he turned and went after his
wife.

Jeremy looked at Josh, who seemed to be
on the edge of tears himself. He looked around the room and noticed that the
rest of the family seemed to be fighting off crying as well.

They were broken. Weary.

“Why don’t y’all go ahead and head
upstairs. Get some rest. We’ll take care of this mess,” Jeremy said, his voice
soft and gentle.

They all nodded and left the table. Josh
mouthed a “thank you” as he and Laura left the room. Then, it was just Jeremy,
Lexx, and Tori. The three of them shared worried glances.