In the Lone and Level Sands (68 page)

“Yeah. Better than ever.” Zoe smiled as she
watched a movie with another human being for the first time she
could remember.

****

The next morning, Zoe woke up first. Derrick
had insisted she sleep in the master bedroom, and he slept on the
couch. She woke him and they gathered some supplies, including
medical items and some extra clothes, and then hit the road.

“So where are we going?” Derrick said.

“Well, the best map I could find in that
house says we’re in Iowa.”

“Iowa.” The sun was shining, and both were
wearing sunglasses that looked ridiculous, but that made them all
the more worth wearing. “What’s there to do in Iowa?”

“Jack shit,” Zoe said. They laughed.

“Well, maybe that’s a good thing. Less shit
to do means less people… Things to run into.”

“Yeah. We stick to the desert states, and we
should reach California in a few days.

“And we can see the ocean,” Derrick
said.

“Yeah.” Zoe brushed hair from her face, but
the wind from the open windows pushed it right back. “We can see
the ocean.”

They were outside Boone, Iowa, when they
stopped before a gigantic tag in the middle of the road:

BAZK!

Carroll, Iowa

6/30/13

Admission is free! All ages show!

“Bazk,” Zoe said. She leaned against the
hood of the car.

“Wonder what that is,” Derrick said.

“Says it’s a show. Could be a band, a
comedian, maybe? But it’s tonight, and not too far, whatever it
is.”

“Might be worth checking out.”

“Might be.”

“Let’s find out,” Derrick said. “It’s on the
way.”

Zoe and Derrick arrived in Carroll a few
hours later. They stayed on the outskirts of town, avoiding the
zombies, and eventually found a flyer taped to a traffic light. Zoe
read it from the window.

“‘Bazk in the glory of the last rock band on
Earth! All ages shows. Protection provided. Want a taste of your
old life? Come see BAZK, the last rock band in America. We’re not
the best, but not so bad that you wouldn’t come see us if we were
the last band on earth.’”

“Cute,” Derrick said.

“Let’s go,” Zoe said. She looked at Derrick.
“It’ll be fun!”

“Sure.” Derrick put the car in gear and
drove past a zombie, who shambled after them but gave up as the car
faded away.

****

The show was being held in a small
amphitheater. Derrick and Zoe watched from a line of parked cars,
surprised to see there was actually a large crowd. Perhaps a
hundred people were gathered in the grass, and a huge ring of men
with shotguns circled them, facing outward, keeping things covered
all the way up to the stage. There were several buses in a lot
behind the stage, and musical equipment was being set up.

“It looks like a real show!” Zoe said.

“Except the bouncers are keeping the crowd
in
, and they have guns,” Derrick said.

“Can we stay and watch it?”

Derrick grimaced. “To tell you the truth,
I’m feeling a bit anxious about getting back to Mara.”

Zoe sighed and looked away. “Yeah, you’re
right. Sorry, I’m being selfish.”

Derrick started the car, but then stopped it
again. “Know what? Let’s take a break, see this show. We’d be
stopping in a few hours anyway. It won’t hurt anyone.”

“You sure?” Zoe said.

“Yeah.”

They made their way into the crowd, which
was cheering because the band was taking the stage. Two of the
bouncers parted to let Zoe and Derrick in, and then formed a solid
line again.

“Hellooooooooo, Carroll!” the band’s lead
singer said. Despite the fact that probably few people in the crowd
were actually from Carroll, they all cheered. “We are Bazk, and as
far as we know, the last touring rock band in America!”

The crowd cheered some more. A few shots
rang out, and Derrick and Zoe nearly jumped as they looked off to
the far left side of the field. A few of the bouncers were shooting
at some oncoming zombies, but quickly took care of them.

“Tsh,” a young man near Zoe and Derrick
said, “what a couple of winkies.”

“‘Winkies’?” Derrick said.

“Yeah. Jumping like that. You’ve never been
to a Bazk show, it’s obvious. Dudes, chill out. Really. You have
nothing to be afraid of. These guys have played shows in far bigger
areas with far more zombies, and have never suffered a single
casualty. You’re safe. Chill out before you get booed out of the
crowd.”

“Oh, okay!”

“Whatever,” the man said, and then moved
away from them. Zoe and Derrick looked at each other, then burst
out laughing.

“So we’re all here to have a good time,
yeah?” the lead singer said into the mic. The crowd cheered. “We’re
all going to be badass out here, and not a bunch of winkies, yeah?”
More cheering. “We’re here to take part in what just may be the
world’s last rock tour, yeah?” The cheering was growing louder and
louder. A few more shots rang out, barely audible over the crowd.
“Let’s get on with it, yeah?” The cheering grew even louder, and
then the band began to play.

They made their way through several songs.
Gunshots were heard from time to time, but few paid attention to
them. A mosh pit erupted near the front of the field, by the stage.
A few more songs were played, followed by an encore, and then the
band began to pack up.

“Remember, guys, we do this for free, and
these big, lovely gentlemen with the guns keep you safe for free,
so don’t be a bunch of winks, and make sure to tip on your way out.
We’ll take whatever you can part with. Clothes, food, guns, water…
We have a lot of people to take care of on this tour. But take care
of yourselves first, and don’t give us anything you need to live.
We wouldn’t be a band without any fans, after all!”

The crowd cheered, several people began to
leave.

“Thanks for coming out, and keep on being
badass!”

****

As the car pulled into the driveway, the
four ears within were still ringing.

“That was a good show,” Derrick said.

“Yeah. They don’t lie, they aren’t great.
But they aren’t awful, either.”

“Yeah.” Derrick stopped the car. “Hey…” Zoe
turned to him. “Thanks for convincing me to stay. That was a lot of
fun.”

“Thanks for going with me,” Zoe said.

They grabbed their guns, now a bit shorter
on ammo than they had been (and Derrick switching from a handgun to
a shotgun he’d been saving), loaded up, cocked their weapons, and
headed to the house. Derrick knocked a few times, heard nothing
inside, then kicked the door in. Zoe and Derrick went inside,
cleared it of the zombies, and then got ready for bed.

61

At Jordan’s House

Jordan and the other survivors made sure to
block all the doors and windows as best as possible. Luckily, there
was some lumber in the garage that would have been used for a
future project by Jordan’s father. Since that likely wouldn’t
happen now, the wood was put to better use. The survivors also
closed the shades and curtains.

When they were done zombie-proofing the
house, they took turns showering since Jordan’s house still had
water and power. The water went cold before all of them could
finish, but it was still a welcome improvement. Afterward, they
unloaded their baskets of groceries to make dinner.

Jordan opened the fridge and found the
meatloaf his mother had made the night everything had changed. It
was hardly touched. What was left was huge, more than enough to
feed the six survivors. Jordan pulled it out and turned to the
others as they finished unloading the Ferrington baskets.

“How does meatloaf for dinner sound?”

“Damn,” Christian said. “That looks good
enough to eat! Sure beats sandwiches.”

“Heat that baby up!” Aiden said.

“I thought you’d approve,” Jordan replied.
He unwrapped the meatloaf, took it off the plate it was on, and
placed it in a pan. He preheated the oven, then went to the fridge
for some ketchup. After he added some more to the top of the
meatloaf, he placed their dinner inside the oven.

When it was finished, everyone ate in the
kitchen with the light on; they had nailed a thick comforter up
over the French doors. Ashley was sitting close to Jordan.
Christian sat where Jordan’s father normally would, and Jordan
hoped his parents were okay.

He put an arm around Ashley and hugged her
against his side. He noticed Alex’s arm resting on the table as he
gulped down some of his pop. Two rubber bracelets hung on his
wrist. One was lined with green 1-Up Mushrooms, the other was white
and in big block letters read:
FNP
.

“Hey, Alex,” Jordan said.

“Yeah?”

“What’s that bracelet mean? ‘FNP’?”

“Oh, the letters stand for ‘Free Norman
Peters’.”

“Who’s that?” Ashley asked.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “You had to have
heard about the guy who was thrown in prison a while back for
voodoo.”

“Nope, never heard of that,” Jordan
said.

“Sounds like horseshit to me,” Christian
said.

“You don’t think people get put away
unfairly?” Alex asked.

“No, I didn’t say that, did I? Look, I
know
people get locked up without much cause. I know better
than any of you, but this voodoo crap you mentioned? That’s all
kinds of kooky, and I’m having myself a meatloaf while people out
there are going batshit crazy and eating each other.”

“I’m just saying what I’ve heard,” Alex
said. “I didn’t know anything until a friend of mine made me aware
of the situation anyway. His name’s Jonathan David. I knew him for
a few years, but only on the internet. He’s been running this blog,
freenormanpeters.wordpress.com. It was dedicated to this guy. JD
worked on it for a while, trying to clear Norman’s name. I wish I
could show it to you. I was actually working with JD, trying to
help his cause. I wonder how he’s doing now.”

“Well, whoever his judge was, or jury for
that matter,” Evelyn said, “they must have been borrowed from the
local loony bin.”

“It’s funny actually. Norman apparently
confessed. It wasn’t necessary. It doesn’t make sense. I just want
to know why he’d confess.”

“Well, maybe he wasn’t innocent,” Jordan
said. “Who’s to say the guy didn’t just dump gasoline on those
victims?”

Alex shook his head. “There’s no way.”

“How’s that?” Aiden said.

“Kid, you seem just a bit conflicted,”
Christian said. “You on this Norman guy’s side, or not?” Alex
looked away, took a bite of his meatloaf.

“Look, honestly, I don’t know what to
believe anymore. I’ve read some pretty convincing shit in the past.
Like voodoo zombies—”

“Oh, now are you going to tell us those
things out there are caused by a curse?” Christian said.

“I was just going to say that was how real
zombies were created, but they were nothing like this. They were
mindless and used for labor by witch doctors or whatever. They were
harmless. I don’t know if I believe it or not, but look at what
we’ve got. Norman is put away for voodoo and then eight years
later, we have zombies.”

“Of all the cockamamie!” Christian’s cheeks
were a brilliant shade of red. “Those things aren’t so harmless!
I’m not drinking this damn Kool-Aid, kid. I’m telling you, this is
crazy shit! There are no such things as curses. If I were to
believe that, I might as well give ol’ Saint Nick a ring!”
Christian made a phone receiver with his thumb and pinky, then he
picked up his coffee and slurped the rest.

“Well, how do you think they got here?”

“Don’t know, don’t exactly care. Those
things out there are
real
, and whatever makes ‘em tick is
real, but frankly, doesn’t matter. What matters is how we deal with
them. What matters is survival.”

“My Aunt Flora would tell me about all the
Egyptian curses that were said to fall on thieves for
grave-robbing,” Evelyn said. “It’s all just silly, really. The
‘curse’ was either the guilt of stealing, or more likely just some
story to discourage people from doing it. But I can tell you, some
of the things she told me convinced me never to steal.” She
chuckled.

“What about the things you took from the
Ferrington?” Jordan said with a smirk.

“You got me there. But before that, I’ve
never stolen.”

“Don’t worry Evvy, I’ll protect you from any
‘curses’,” Christian said. He laughed.

“Thanks.” Evelyn laughed as well.

Conversation took a dive back to less heated
waters after that. Pretty soon, Christian yawned, stood up, and
went to clean his plate.

“I’m sorry that I got all in your face
earlier,” he said to Alex. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“It’s fine. You’re right. We need to worry
more about what’s going on, not something we’ll probably never get
the answer to.”

“You know,” Jordan said, “I wouldn’t mind
checking out that website anyway. I bet I still have internet. Want
to show it to me?”

“Sure,” Alex said.

“After that, can I check my Facebook?”
Ashley asked.

“Yeah, me too,” Aiden said.

“Sure, if it works,” Jordan replied. The
teens all headed off. Christian smiled, and he and Evelyn gathered
the plates from the table.

“Are you going to go check it out with
them?” she asked.

“Nah. Never got too far into that internet
business. Besides, I don’t know about you, but I think I’m gonna
hit the hay. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in days.”

****

That night, Jordan was the only one who
found himself unable to sleep. He and Ashley were lying in the bed
in his room. Ashley was fast asleep. After a good half hour of no
luck, Jordan climbed out of bed and headed to the living room. They
hadn’t seen any zombies when they arrived, and he wanted fresh air,
so he armed himself, then opened the sliding back door.