Encounters (12 page)

“Ta Da! Do you like?”

Tim gave a low whistle. “I like. You look amazing.”

“Too bad we can’t go out clubbing. This would be a perfect dress for dancing on a bar top
don’tcha think?” While she said this she did a little shimmy and Tim felt his heart beat pick up a little.

“You can shake it for me any time” he replied.

“I just might do that sometime.” She turned back to go into the dressing room and he could have sworn that she arced her back in his direction a little as she went. When she came back out they collected any other essentials that she might need and left back out the front.

“What now” she asked while he locked up.

“Well’ he started with a gleam in his eye, “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Like, in a theater?”

“Oh yeah. There is a tiny little theater in town and I hooked up a generator to watch movies. There might even be a little popcorn left.”

“It’s a date” she said while linking her
arm though his. “Lead the way.”

While they walked Cassie looked up at him and asked “If you’ve worked so hard to keep this place clear of zombies why haven’t you tried putting up a fence or a wall around it?”

“I don’t know” he replied. “It never occurred to me I guess. That’s kind of a big job for one guy though. I’m not sure I could do it alone.”

“You’re not alone now” she told him. “I bet two people could come up with something.”

“That’s not a bad idea. But, for now, we are here” he said indicating the theater. They let themselves in and he led her to where the reels were stored. He was a little surprised when she picked a raunchy comedy over something romantic.

“It’s been a long time since anyone in this world laughed I bet” she said at his questioning look.

He cranked up the generator in the projector room and set their reel up. It had taken a little trial and error on his part to get this right. When it was running they used the light it provided to find some seats in the middle of the theater. Cassie giggled and laid her head on his shoulder. He felt his heart skip a beat and tried to focus on the movie. He simply couldn’t ignore her presence though. He turned his head in her direction as she was turning in his. Their lips met lightly and briefly. They pulled back a second and then both gave in. Her lips were hungry against his. His hands went to her face pulling them in tighter and it was no time before they were roaming over her back. She left her chair and straddled his lap. The seat was uncomfortable, but neither of them cared.

Tim broke off saying “Let’s go home.”

Cassie just nodded. She was breathing too heavy to answer him. Her eyes were dilated and he could tell that she was as ready as he was. They killed the generator and almost ran back to the truck. The drive home had never felt so long to him. It didn’t help that Cassie was constantly nibbling on his ear and neck. When they were back to the cabin Cassie darted out of the truck and up the ladder. Tim almost slipped on a rung trying to keep up. When he reached the deck the first thing he saw was her shirt lying by the door. Just inside were her pants. In the afternoon light he saw her form sprawled out on the bed propped up on one elbow. He walked towards the bed pulling off his shirt as he went. As he slid onto the bed her hands reached for him. Pulling at his clothes. Pulling him down to her. Then they were skin to skin and all thinking went away for a while.

****

He woke up the next morning to the sound of bacon frying. Sitting up and stretching slowly he felt rested. Rested in a way that he hadn’t felt in longer than he cared to remember.

“Something smells delicious” he said.

“It’s not much” Cassie replied.

She was standing in front of the stove in one of his oversized T shirts. He took an admiring glance at her legs starting at her feet. When he reached her back he realized that he hadn’t been quite as subtle as he had thought. Cassie was staring over her shoulder at him with an amused smile. He grinned sheepishly and quickly asked what he could do to help.

“Just sit and try not to enjoy the view too much.”

He sat. He couldn’t keep from enjoying the view however. He realized that she was several years younger than him but she was definitely a grown woman. She moved around the small kitchenette cooking for a few more minutes before bringing over steaming plates of food and coffee. They dug into the food but he still couldn’t help glancing at her often. He noticed her glances in his direction as well. He supposed that
she had decided to trust him. When they were done they wrapped up in blankets and moved out onto the porch to finish their coffee.

They sipped in silence for a few minutes before Cassie sat up and cocked her head to one side like she was listening to something. Tim started to ask, but she held up a finger to hold him off. He froze and listened as well. Slowly he realized that he could hear it as well.

“Is that Radiohead” he asked after a minute.

“I think so. But where is it coming from?”

“I think it’s coming from town. The only thing I can think of that would be that loud is the PA system at the football field.”

“Isn’t that where you burned all the bodies?”

“It is. Who could be playing music and how did they get it working?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like this. Something doesn’t seem right.”

“It could be survivors” he said excitedly.

“If it’s survivors why are they blaring music like that? It would draw those things from miles around!” She was chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

“Either way we have to check it out. If its survivors then we need to know who they are, what they’re doing, and get that music shut down. As you say it will draw zombies like a magnet. If it’s them then we need to know that too. That’s a threat that we can’t afford to ignore.”

He shuddered at the thought of zombies smart enough to hook up generators and work a sound board. Adrenaline start flowing in his veins and his knees felt weak but he forced himself to move inside to get ready. Cassie followed him. When he looked up at her she was almost white with fear. He gave her a smile that he hoped looked confident and trooper that she was she returned it. It wasn’t long before they were armed to the teeth and ready to go. It could have taken longer as far as he was concerned.

They drove most of the way to town before ditching the truck in the woods and traveling on foot the rest of the way. It was a calculated risk. Neither of them wanted to be caught on foot with no chance of escape, but they also didn’t want to alert anyone, or thing, that they were coming. They crept through the woods behind the school. As they got closer the music pumping through the PA system at the stadium became louder until it was almost deafening. Tim thought that much longer and one or more of the speakers might blow from the abuse. Underneath all of it all he thought that he heard the rumble of a generator.

“Where did they get the generator” he wondered out loud.

Cassie looked at him questioningly.

“They were all locked up and I have all of the keys. Where and how did they get one?”

“I’m sure that’s the least of our concerns” she snapped. She couldn’t stop fidgeting and was barely making eye contact.

“I guess you’re right. Follow me.”

They crept to the edge of the school grounds. Luckily the grass had become very overgrown giving them plenty of cover. The stadium lights were all on but the main building was completely dark. Moving along the chain link fence around the back of the stadium they took what cover they could find. The small group of aluminum bleachers was empty as were the larger concrete stands on the home side. The grass on the field was beginning to grow back but was still blackened in areas from the piles of burned bodies.

“It looks empty” Cassie said. She tried to whisper it but she ended up having to shout directly into his ear to be heard. “Should we go up to the press box and turn off the music.”

He shook his head no. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. This feels like a trap. There’s no sense letting them know that we are here if we don’t have to. I think we need to get back to the cabin and hole up for a bit.”

“Is that going to be enough? Maybe we should just pack the truck and run.”

“And go where?”

“Anywhere away from zombies that can set
freakin traps!”

Tim looked down for a second while he thought before nodding his head. He jerked his head back towards their truck and they started crawling back through the high grass. They made if almost twenty yards before they ran head long into a zombie crawling their way. Cassie shrieked involuntarily while scrambling backwards. She fell on her butt and whipped out her pistol putting a round between the ghoul’s eyes before Tim could stop her. The gun blast could be heard even over the roar of the stadium speakers.

“That’s it. We gotta run” Tim yelled while pulling Cassie to her feet.

The two took off at a dead run as more zombies popped up all around them. Their appearance on all sides of them brought them to a sliding stop. With a few choice words they started taking aim and firing all around them. All hope of stealth was long gone at this point. Tim concentrated his fire in the direction of their vehicle trying to open up a hole in the circle around them. He dropped three of the oncoming zombies giving them enough room to run.

He grabbed Cassie’s arm and pulled her along with him as he started to sprint. In no time their breaths were coming in harsh sobs of air but they continued to pump their arms and legs. The truck came into view and Tim felt a moment of relief before a small horde shambled out of the woods surrounding their means of escape. The two slid to a stop trying to reverse direction. Cassie put out an arm to catch herself as she almost over balanced.

“Damn” exclaimed Tim. He jerked his head back and forth looking for a way out. The group behind them was closing in. They were about to be sandwiched between the two groups. The only clear exit he could see was to their right back towards the school.

“We need to make a run for the school” Cassie shouted. She jerked her head towards the building for emphasis.

Tim froze in place feeling his hard thunder in his chest.

Cassie stopped and looked back towards him. “What is it?”

He shook his head frantically. “It’s a trap, don’t you see? We’re being herded towards the school.”

“Where else can we go? If we can get inside we can bar the door and hold out.”

“Hold out for what? No one is going to come rescue us. These zombies aren’t going away either. They set a damn trap for us and we’ve played into it every step of the way!”

She gently placed a hand on his arm.

“We don’t have a choice! I know you’re scared of this place but you aren’t alone this time.”

She started back towards the building. He swallowed hard and followed close behind her. They slipped inside and slammed the door. The sound echoed throughout the dark empty building. Quickly Tim slipped his belt off and ran it through the door handles before tying it off.

“This way” said Tim gesturing down the hall. “If we hurry we can….” He trailed off as the figures began slipping out of the classrooms on either side of the hall. There were a half dozen of them at least. Cassie barely paused before bringing her 9mm up to take aim at the lead ghoul, a man in a faded blue work shirt. It was covered in grease stains and a name tag sewn to it proclaimed his name was Dylan. The first shot echoed deafeningly in the hall. At the same time the damage it wreaked to Dylan’s head left it a ruined stump. His body fell against the wall and slid down leaving a gory trail. Cassie had already shifted her aim to the next target, a large woman in a pink moo-moo with hair curlers and a filthy bandage on her neck. She caught her right between the eyes. Bits of plastic curler showered the hall.

“Any time you’d like to join in” she yelled while keeping up the fight.

Tim’s ears were ringing as he shouldered his rifle and put down his own target. He quickly worked the bolt and fired again. The ghouls were close now moving slowly but steadily. He didn’t have time to wonder how such obviously inferior zombies had managed to get inside. Work the bolt, aim, fire, and then rinse and repeat. That was all that he knew for what seemed ages but was most likely less than two minutes. He spotted an opening down the side hall leading to the elementary wing. Grabbing Cassie’s arm he pulled her towards escape. When he touched her she spun around and he saw the barrel of her gun line up with his left eye. There was a loud click audible over even the ringing in his ears.

“Oh my God” she exclaimed.

He felt a tremor starting in his legs and working its way up but he forced himself to gesture to his right before taking off at a run. He could hear the sounds of her shoes and breathing behind him in the dark hallway. They rounded the corner to the cafeteria and slid to a halt. There were at least a dozen zombies standing shoulder to shoulder blocking the hallway.

“Dammit” Tim swore. “This way” he yelled as he shoved a door open to the courtyard.

As they ran they heard the zombies slamming through the door behind them. Immediately across from them was another door leading to the auditorium. They wrenched it open and he thanked his stars that it had been left unlocked. The keys to the high school had been left in his truck. An epiphany hit him hard.