The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (175 page)

~

Bob bent down and with George on the
other end, lifted the huge mountain lion up onto the bed of the
flat top wagon. George was in awe.

“
I can't believe you did
that,” He said.

Beth blushed. “It wasn't that big of a
deal. I just did what you and Josh showed me to do.”

“
You're about a hundred
pounds, that lion is close to two fifty I'd say,” Bob said. “That's
a big deal.”

She blushed again and shifted
uncomfortably on the big gray.

“
The gray didn't run off?
Even when you fired?” Bob asked.

“
No... In fact she stood
stock still, flattened her ears a little. I was surprised. I
remember thinking she'd run, throw me. I was thinking to hang on to
the rifle if she did. I guess I was readying myself for it, but she
didn't. She sat still,” Beth said.

“
She has to have been used
for hunting before,” Bob said, He walked the length of the horse,
patting her down as he did. “If she's used to a gun.” He walked
back to the wagon and looked back down at the lion. “What are you
going to do, Beth? We're going to take this up to the cave so
everyone can get a look... I guess then I'll have Tom skin
it.”

“
I'm going to give her a
run,” Beth said patting the gray's neck. “She's nervous. I'll let
her have her head and run it off. Then I'll spend some time rubbing
her down. The day's almost done. That will finish it,” she told
him.

Bob laughed and shook his
head.

“
See you back at the cave?”
George asked.

She smiled down at him. So that was how
you got a boy to notice you, she said to herself. Just shoot a
lion. Works every time. “Later on,” she agreed. She turned the
horse and walked it away. A few seconds later she turned her toward
the El, leaned forward over her neck, and let her go. She thundered
off down the valley as Bob and George watched.

~

Sandy was working at her computer,
finishing up a database she had started. Herbs, medicinal plants,
what they were going to try to grow and what they actually might
succeed in growing. She typed:

Chamomile
: Stomach aches. May have
an accumulative effect.

Licorice
: Helps to reduce coughing.
Helps produce flem.

St. John's
Wart
: Mood booster, anti
depressant.

Echinacea
: May prevent cold from
taking hold.

Garlic
: Inhibits cholesterol. Lowers blood pressure.

Valerian
root
: Sleep aid.

Clove
oil
: Tooth Ache. Antiseptic. Expectorant.
Can help with vomiting.

Red
Pepper
: Mixed with oil and rubbed into
skin to relieve pain.

Willow
Bark
: Half teaspoon for pain relief in a
tea, also wintergreen

Ginger
: Powdered, to treat and relieve pain.

Lavender
: Oil form, mix a few drops
with oil to relieve muscle pain.

Sunflower
seeds
: For pain relief. Eat a handful of
seeds.

Rosemary
: 3 teaspoons in a tea to
relieve pain.

Feverfew
: 1 to 4 leaves per day to
fight pain, headache, migraines.

Parsley
: Ground up into a wet, stiff mixture. Apply to skin to help
with bruising.

Ginseng
: Fatigue and depression fighter.

Tomato
juice
: Hangovers with peppers or
vegetables, cleans blood.

The phone on the wall rang, two short
trills: Stopped, then rang again. She sat looking at it and then
finally reached over and plucked the handset from the wall charging
station. She said nothing.

“
Sandy?” Janna's voice in
her ear.

“
Uh, yeah,” she
answered.

“
Shocked?” Janna
asked.

“
Yeah... Well, sort of,
yeah. It's been so long since I heard a phone ring... Or answered
one, for that mater. Sorry about that. I forgot what to do,” Sandy
admitted.

“
Well, Dear, the phones are
on. Your number is 23 there at the clinic. Your home is 15. Some
time later today I will have a printed list for everyone who has a
phone,” Janna told her.

“
It sounds so clear... Like
you are right in the next room,” Sandy said.

“
It's all F.M. As long as
those hand units are charged you'll get your calls. Mike and I just
turned it all on,” Janna said happily.

“
Okay,” Sandy said. She had
no idea what else she should say.

“
Bye, Dear, I'll see you
later,” Janna said. The phone clicked and then the dial tone came
up. Sandy listened to it for a few seconds and then placed it back
in the wall holder, charger unit. She shook her head.

Where was I, she thought as she turned
her mind back to the computer screen and the database she was
creating.

~

The bedroom was dark as the afternoon
sun drew the light away from the valley.

“
You spent the whole day
with me, Aim,” Candace said. Once again, Candace lay on her side on
the bed. They had both just finished dressing.

“
Because I wanted to,” Amy
answered. “And I could say that you spent the whole day with me,”
Amy said. She lay next to Candace and held one of her
hands.

“
I guess you were right,
Aim.” She smiled at her.

Amy smiled back. “I told you, Candace.
I love you.”

“
I love you too,” Aim,”
Candace told her.

~

“
That's a big lion. They're
not usually that big, are they?” Craige asked.

“
I don't really know, but I
don't think so,” Bob agreed.

“
Nowhere near that big,”
Josh added. “A hundred, a hundred and a quarter is a big cat. But,
that's where I lived. And a hundred pound cat is no joke, this one,
well, this one is a serious cat.”

“
Why, do you think, it is
so big?” Jessie asked.

“
Well,
it's from here. This whole area has been untouched for nearly two
centuries. The horses that are here are not horses I have seen
before. They have stripes. Faint stripes, but they are there. The
bison are different from what I'm used to seeing too. They're
bigger: Who knows what else we'll find here. This is exactly what
it was intended to be, a preserve, forever wild area, where things
are kept as they were. I think that lion is big because lions are
big here. They are probably more likely to survive and hunt
successfully with the extra size, and so they evolved that way, or
they
were
that way and stayed that way because this was all closed away
from human contact,” Josh said.

“
Makes sense to me,” Mike
agreed.

“
The dogs won't be a match
for anything that big,” Josh said after a few seconds of
silence.

“
Not alone, no, but five or
six of them would make it think twice. Plus, I think they will
learn quickly, these cats. This cat has probably got a mate
somewhere close by, that's my concern right now. We'll probably
have to kill her too. A few more killed, or even a few more that
escape, and they will learn to fear our scent again like they once
did. They won't come here.”

“
A cat that big has to eat
well. If it has to work too hard to get itself fed here, or it
considers it too dangerous it will move on. Makes sense, Josh,” Bob
finished.

Josh nodded. “But in the meantime we'll
have to watch for his mate... If he had one.”

“
Is it any good for
anything,” Mike asked.

“
We're going to skin it,”
Tom said.

“
The pigs will eat it,” Bob
added. “Pigs will eat anything at all.”

As they were talking Beth walked up
from the pathway through the valley onto the slope that lead up to
the cave where they all stood looking down at the cat.

“
There she is now,” Bob
said with a smile.

Beth flushed red.

“
Good shooting,” Josh
said.

“
I'm going to skin it and
cure the hide for you, but he's yours, Beth,” Tom told
her.

“
Will you show me how,”
Beth asked.

“
Of course... You have time
now?”

She nodded.

“
Well,” Tom said. “Best get
started right now then.”

~

As the sun began to sink behind the
mountains in the north, almost everyone gathered at the stone wall
along the ledge that fronted the cave and waited for darkness to
fall. One by one the sodium arc lights came on and slowly
brightened. By the time it was full dark, there was a small river
of light running down through the middle of the valley.

The mountain top above them shone, the
ledge they stood on was well lit too. The small park and cemetery
below them. The guard posts were also wired for light, but only
small lights within them, not the big sodium arc lights, but there
were sodium arc lights near each post to discourage night predators
and unwanted visitors. The big lights would come on automatically
at dusk from now on and shut off automatically at dawn.

Mike said his good-nights and walked
off down the lighted path to the valley floor and his way home.
Candace had a hard time doing anything lately. Steve Choi had even
talked about moving her up to the cave to make it easier for her to
get around. She was small woman and she was huge. Her legs gave her
trouble. She couldn't lay flat on her back without pain, lying on
her side was about the only position she could tolerate for long
periods of time. Even then, sleep was sporadic. She seemed to spend
more time awake than she did asleep. Amy was taking care of her,
but Amy was getting big herself. Soon it might be wise to follow
Steve's advice, Mike thought. If he could get it past Candace, that
was.

Mike opened the door and stepped inside
the little stone house. The lights were on in the living room. It
caught him by surprise for a moment. He supposed soon it would all
be taken for granted once more. Candace lay on her side on the
floor, her head in Amy's lap.

“
Hey, Babe,” Mike said He
squatted beside her, leaned forward and kissed her.

“
I got tired of the bed,
Honey,” Candace said. She looked up into his eyes and
smiled.

“
Aim,” Mike
said.

“
Mike,” Amy
returned.

Mike laughed. For a while Amy had
called him Michael, now it was Mike. She poked him in the side and
he smiled.

“
No better,” he asked
Candace.

“
No worse. Four or five
weeks, Honey, and we'll be there,” Candace answered. Her belly
arced out into the space in front of her. A life of its own,
Candace thought.

“
You ready to take over,
boss man,” Amy asked.

“
You betcha,” Mike agreed.
He peeled off his jacket and tossed it onto the couch.

Candace lifted her head and Amy kissed
her cheek. “I love you, Candace. I'll be back in the
morning.”

Candace kissed her cheek and hugged
her, Mike helped Amy to her feet, hugged her too, and shut the door
behind her. He walked back, dropped to the floor and took Candace's
head into his lap.

Amy breathed deep of the night air as
she stepped outside. It smelled like snow, she told herself. She
was none too small herself at this stage, so she was careful as she
walked down to the next house in line where she and Ronnie
lived.

~

The big cat paced the ridge for well
over two hours. Her mate had not returned and she had traced his
scent to this valley, but he was not here. She could smell his
blood though, something had happened to him. She nosed the air once
again, stopped her pacing and headed down into the
valley.

Tom watched from his post. He had been
watching the big cat for well over an hour now. He had no idea how
long it had been there before that. He was downwind, in a closed
shelter, and he had been very careful to make no noise, most likely
the cat had not smelled him or sensed that he was there.

He was positive that this was the mate
to the cat that Beth had killed earlier in the day. She was nearly
as big, seemed to be searching, and she was agitated: Sniffing the
ground, sniffing the air, staring down into the valley at the place
where the other cat had been shot. Tom didn't know how much scent
could tell the cat, but it was clear it was enough so that the cat
could follow the other cats trail. The cat stopped suddenly, nosed
the air, and then started down into the valley. Tom slowly rolled
the window down on the modified cab, staying as silent as he could.
He laid the barrel against the door-sill top and then aimed through
the scope. The cat stopped part way down the slope, lifted its head
to sniff the air, and then looked directly to where Tom sat in the
cab of the old truck. Tom pulled the trigger just as the cat tried
to leap away. The huge cat did a back flip into the air and then
crashed down onto the gravel strewn slope: She slid a few hundred
feet toward the bottom before she stopped.