The Infected (Book 3): Nightfall (19 page)

By the time he had the lip
mounted firmly to his liking Sara had gotten the first of the fences out of the
frame and the crew was draping it over the windshield of the van. Rich grabbed
an air powered grinder and worked the hand held tool over the edge of the metal
lip. He grinded at the length of metal, back and forth until it formed a sharp
edge. It was not a razor blade, but at thirty miles an hour it would take a
short persons head clean off. Rich repeated the process on the PT Cruiser.

The team had the second
fence cut out and bolted down just as Rich was finishing the horizontal
guillotine on the front of Jim’s ride. Both cars looked like wasteland works of
art.

“We were at the end of our
lease on that van too,” Tina said as she rubbed her tired sore hands together.

“Yeah, baby I think we
just bought this bad boy. No dealer is taking that van back.” Cliff put his arm
around Tina’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze.

Rich circled the vehicles
once more and checked everyone’s work. “Ladies and gentlemen they look good. I
mean they look like shit, but I think they will work.” A loud bang at the metal
bay door grabbed Rich’s attention.

“Everyone ready to roll?”
Jim asked as he picked up his spear and loaded it into his car.

“Hold on, hotshot. We have
a problem here.” Rich folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against
his work bench.

“What?” Jim snapped. He
was tired of all the delays. He wanted so badly to get home to his family.

“The bay doors.” Rich
snapped back.

Cliff’s head dropped, he
already knew what Rich was going to say.

“What’s the problem with
the doors?” Tina ran her hands through her thick black hair and pulled it back
into a ponytail.

Rich pushed himself off
the workbench and walked over to the controls to the bay doors, “You gotta press
and hold the son of a bitchin’ buttons to open the damn doors.”

“As soon as we open the
doors the infected are going to storm the place!” Sara rubbed her temples.

“There has to be something
we can do?” Cliff took a step closer to the controls and looked them over.

Jim could feel Sara and
Frank’s gaze upon him. They were turning once again to the idea man. Jim closed
his eyes and concentrated. Someone had to hold the buttons to open the doors
and let the two rides out, but that meant they would have to sacrifice
themselves to the growing horde outside.

Goddamn it! Nothing is
ever easy!
Jim thought as he gritted
his teeth and forced the tired old gears to turn out another idea that would
keep everyone safe and get them out of the garage in one piece.

Karen woke to the smell of
brewed coffee. Her body ached all over. Every muscle begged for mercy as she
rolled over in bed. Yesterday was the most physical activity she had
experienced in her life.  She reached out like she did every morning for
the last five years and checked for both girls immediately. They were gone.

She snapped out of bed.
Sore muscles be damned.

Where were the girls?
How did I not notice they were missing?
Her
mind scrambled as she fought to get out from under the sheets. The digital
clock on the nightstand said it was eight seventeen in the morning. She had
gotten less than three hours of sleep. It would have to do.

Karen navigated her sleepy
body out the bedroom door and down the hall. Something in the air smelled
sweet. On top of coffee there was another odor she could not identify.

She called with a rough
morning voice, “Girls!”

Karen entered the kitchen
to find both little ladies and Troy sitting on barstools at the kitchen
counter. Steaming plates heaped with flapjacks covered in maple syrup sat in
front of each of them.

“Mama!” both girls
announced Karen’s presence.

“You’re awake?” Valerie
asked the obvious question.   

Leon stood at the range,
spatula in hand, with Penny’s favorite apron wrapped around his thin hips and a
classic Leon smile stretched across his face, “Good morning sunshine.
Breakfast? Coffee? Both?”

Karen was not a morning
person. Never had been. Never would be. The deep lines on her face and the dark
circles under her eyes spoke for her.

Leon noticed and turned
down his good morning smile, “Coffee?” he asked quietly as he reached for a cup
and the full pot.

“Black.” the frog in
Karen’s throat croaked.

Leon poured her a cup and
handed it to her, “I didn’t want to wake you. You were sleeping so soundly. I
heard the girls get up half an hour ago and they claimed to be starving.”

“Thank you,” Karen cupped her
hands around the mug and brought the lip of the cup to her mouth. She blew on
the hot black liquid, tested it and when it was the correct temperature,
guzzled down the coffee.

Troy swallowed his
mouthful of pancake, “Leon and I discussed your plan to search the area for people
and supplies. You need more rest, so the two of us will head out after
breakfast. You stay here with the girls.”

Karen carried her coffee
around to the extra stool at the kitchen counter and took a seat next to Robin.
She finished off the coffee and sat her empty mug down on the counter. Leon
slid a plateful of flapjacks in front of Karen and picked up her empty mug. The
brown, butter soaked, circles in front of her were perfectly shaped and
colored. They were full on restaurant quality.

“Don’t tell me you were a short
order cook too?” Karen’s voice had cleared up a little.

Leon spun around as he
poured her a new cup of coffee, “Three years as the head chef at Johnny’s
Original Pancake House just outside of Bend.”

“They are delicious, Mama,”
Valerie shoved a fork full into her hungry mouth.

Karen used the edge of her
fork to carve out a square of her first victim and lifted the buttery, syrupy,
chunk of heaven to her starving face. The flavor was everything the wonderful
smell promised it would be.

Leon’s right eyebrow
hovered high on his forehead as he waited for confirmation that it was
delicious.

“Mmm.” Karen moaned.

His eyebrow relaxed into
its natural position, “Thank you,” Leon said as he placed her fresh coffee next
to her plate.

“Where do you plan to
search?” Karen took a sip of her drink.

“We’ll take the Subaru and
hit the neighborhood. We’ll be gone for an hour, tops.” Troy answered.

“Have you looked outside?
Is it still clear out there?” Karen questioned.

“I saw a few earlier, but
nothing us two manly
men
can’t handle.” Leon showed off his powerful
bicep as he curled the spatula like a heavyweight.

“Are you feeling okay?”
Karen asked her brother. She knew it was a loaded question, but she needed to
know that Troy was solid before she let him step outside.

Troy straightened his
back, readjusted his baseball cap to cover the cut on his forehead and wiped
the syrup from the corners of his mouth. “It’d be good for me to stay busy.”
His answer sounded a little rehearsed.

Karen devoured her pile of
cakes and sipped her coffee. She considered telling them just to stay here and
wait it out, but they were grown men capable of making their own decisions.
Maybe it would be better to scout out the area now instead of waiting 

What if it gets worse
out there in a week? We will need more supplies.

Karen’s thoughts were
conflicted and there was absolutely no correct choice to pick from. Starve to
death in a month or step outside and possibly become an appetizer for an angry
horde of the undead.

“Don’t be gone for too long.”

“Just an hour.” Troy
reassured her.

“We’ll run a good old
fashioned snatch and grab job.” Leon cleaned up the kitchen counter and loaded
all the dirty dishes into the sink.

Karen continued to eat her
breakfast and drink her coffee in silence. Her mind was a whirlwind of doubt,
fear and sorrow.

Jim still was not here.
Every hour that ticked by darkened the grief cloud looming over her head.

He should be here by
now. Walking from his store in Portland to Mama’s shouldn’t take this long.

Either he is stuck
somewhere or…

Or what?
Karen’s mind argued against itself. She had to change
the subject or the tears would start to trickle.

The girls!
That would get her mind off the negative thoughts. She
needed to spend quality time with the girls. Karen planned to play with them as
much as she could today. Whatever the girls wanted to do, dolls, wrestling, coloring
or snuggling. Karen needed the girls to feel safe and she needed the
distraction.

Troy geared up with his
bandoliers full of shells for his trusty old shotgun. Both of the men covered
their shins and forearms with sewing magazines and duct tape they found in
Penny’s sewing room. Leon tucked the revolver they found last night at the
neighbor’s house into his jacket pocket along with the extra box of ammo. He
picked up the fire axe that he got from the police station.

“Here. Something to load
the supplies into,” Troy said as he tossed six canvas shopping bags into the
backseat of the Subaru.

Leon took his position
behind the wheel and Troy hopped into the passenger’s side. Karen waited for
Leon to start the car before she opened the garage for them. She rested her
hand on the Ruger strapped to her hip. She was ready to blast down any infected
that stepped into the garage. The Subaru’s engine turned and Leon revved the
gas a few times, then he nodded at her to open the door. Karen pressed the open
button that hung on the wall and the garage door shuddered as the motor pulled
it up.

The street was clear. Leon
punched the gas and the tires barked as he backed the Subaru out of the garage
and out into the street. Karen closed the garage door and entered the house.

Karen needed a fresh set
of clothing for the day. She remembered the backpack full of Lizzie’s clothes.
She carried the pack into the bedroom and laid the dead woman’s clothing out
across the bed. She had to psych herself up before she could slide her legs
into the jeans she had looted. Karen was minutes away from putting stolen
clothes on that belonged to a woman she and Leon accidently killed. The more
she thought about being clothed by the belongings of a dead person the creepier
it felt.

I can’t run around in
my underwear all day. Suck it up and just get it over with!
Karen pumped herself up to get the deed over with.

“Come on, quit being a
pussy,” Karen grabbed the jeans and pulled them up her long legs. She hoped
wearing them would not be bad karma. As she finished dressing, the soft and
expensive fabrics felt amazing on her skin. Karen stepped into the bathroom and
looked at herself in the full length mirror. She did a three sixty in front of
her reflection.

“Oh my god! My ass looks
amazing.” Karen prayed that this was a good omen.

Why would the Universe
give me the opportunity to wear jeans that make my butt look this incredible if
it was a curse?
Karen’s logic seemed
sound and she hoped Jim would get to see her in them.

Karen could hear her girls
playing out in the living room as she walked down the hall, “What should we do
today?” Karen asked as she rounded the corner.

A heavy knock at the front
door stopped Karen in her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Who is it Mama? Is it
Daddy?” Valerie asked as she continued to play.

Karen wished and prayed
that the next sound she heard was that of her beloved husband.

“Ma’am! I need you to open
the door!” The man’s voice was deep and he spoke with authority, but it was not
Jim.

Karen quietly stepped to
the door as she pulled her gun from its holster. She gently pressed her face to
the peephole. A clean-shaven man dressed in all black stood on the other side
of the door. His recently cut hair was combed to perfection and black
sunglasses covered his eyes. Karen could see beyond him. Out in the driveway
was a new pickup truck with five armed men sitting on the edge of the truck’s
bed. They watched over the neighborhood with shotguns and assault rifles pulled
tight to their shoulders. The hood and front grill of the pickup was coated in
the blood of the infected. It was clear that they had been out killing all
morning.

“Open the door and let
just me in or the six of us will force our way in. Believe me…you don’t want us
to do that.” The man in black raised his chin and turned his head. It looked
like he was trying to hear any movement inside. “I know you’re alone. We
watched the two men leave. I know it’s just you and your girls.” The cadence of
his voice was off. He sounded like a door to door salesmen who was pitching
doom as his product.

Karen finally found her
voice, “I have a gun!” Her words trembled.

“So do we.” His calm
demeanor was unnerving.

“Go away!” Karen pleaded.

“If you let me in right
now, I promise no harm will come to the children. If I have to wait another
minute. Well…I promise you will regret it.”

Karen panicked. Her mind
raced. The man in black’s demand seemed unholy.

What does he want?!

There was no time to
ponder it or come up with a plan. The only two choices as Karen saw it were,
open the door and most likely get murdered or don’t open the door and
definitely get murdered.

FUCK!

Karen unlocked and opened
the front door. She aimed her pistol through the screen door. The man in black
pulled off his sunglasses and hung them from the collar of his shirt. His eyes
were cobalt blue.  

“Put that down. It
wouldn’t do you any good.” He reached for the lever on the screen door and
popped it open. Karen kept the gun on him as he stepped into the house. She
backed away from him and blocked the entry into the living room. She was
absolutely going to drop this asshole if he made the slightest move for the
girls. “I said you can put that down.” The man in black pushed the front door
wide open and made sure the screen was unlocked. “Let us leave this open,
okay?” He sniffed the air and before Karen could answer he asked. “Do I smell
coffee?” The man in black stepped past Karen and entered the kitchen. “May I
have a cup?” he asked as he pointed at the coffee pot.

The girls charged in from
the living room. The stranger’s voice was too much for them not to investigate.

“Mama, who is it?” Valerie
asked as she ran into the back of Karen.

Karen blocked them from
getting by her, “Stay in the living room!” she shrieked at them.

“My name is Eric and I’d
listen to your mother if I were you little girl.” Eric reached for a mug and
poured himself a cup.

“Don’t talk to my girls!” Mama
bear was ready to kill someone. “Valerie take Robin back into the living room
right now!” Valerie jumped from fright at how her Mama was talking to her. She
took her sister by the hand and led her out of the foyer and back to the living
room to hide.

“Valerie and Robin. Those
are very pretty names.” Eric sipped at the coffee. “Do you have any sugar or
cream?” He pointed at the refrigerator.

“What do you want?”

“Sugar and cream,” he said
with a smile as he opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk.

Karen was sick of his
game, “What are you doing here?”

Eric poured a little milk
into the coffee and then placed the carton back in the fridge, “Sugar in the
cupboard?” He stepped back across the kitchen and opened a few cupboards before
he found what he was looking for. He served himself two scoops of sugar before
putting it back. Eric found a spoon in the drawer next to the sink and stirred
the contents of the mug.