Rotten (20 page)

I decided to stay at the cabin.  “Will will probably want to go, so I’ll stay here.” 

It didn’t take long to move the boats to the water and soon they were off, Highland and Will in one boat, and Rotten and Moonshine in the other. While they were gone Princess, Rebekah, Sarah, and I used all the duct tape to make a set of zombie-proof clothing for each of us.  With a knife and the grommets from the stack of tarps in the shed, Princess engineered the long sleeved shirts to tie snuggly on the sides, and we encased each shirt and each pair of pants with a heavy layer of tape.  “We’ve been doing it wrong and wasting tape each time we go out. These will be permanent, like our armor,” she said, adjusting a makeshift outfit to fit Sarah.  

The guys returned just as we were locking the chickens in for the night.  Mrs. Williams had dinner ready and we sat down to eat and listen to their story.  Highland said the water was moving faster than it had been the night we arrived at the cabin and that the trees and debris in the river had washed away making the water easy to navigate.  The supplies we left on the bank beside the pasture were gone, indicating that more survivors existed, and they had left trash on the shore, empty water bottles and cans. 

“I guess even the zombie apocalypse doesn’t change litterbugs,” Princess commented and rolled her eyes.

Most of the marsh on the high side of the Arlington was under water and a lake was forming where the collapsed bridge and the fallen trees and debris were creating a dam, so they were able to pull the boats up in the tree line and get out and look around.  Highland continued,  “We found a deer trail in the woods and followed it to the edge of town.  It opened up in a field behind a McDonalds and we saw half a dozen zombies in the parking lot.  They’re moving much slower than they did in Blacksport, just kind of ambling around as though they were waiting for the place to open.  There is a strip of fast food restaurants and convenience stores there, and we stayed in the tree line at the back of the field and it was much the same at each place, a handful of zombies standing around.”

“They are rotting pretty quickly,” Will said.  “I was looking at them through the binoculars and Sully might be right when he said we just have to wait for them to decay.  At the auto parts store was a woman zombie wearing a dress; she was real skinny when she was alive, but she was even skinnier now and as she was walking her leg just fell off.  She fell down and started dragging herself along.  It was pretty gross.” 

“Good, good,” Sully said, pouring the last of a bottle of wine into his glass.  “Maybe in a couple months it will all be over, it’s not like they can get any sustenance from biting, they don’t have a digestive system anymore.” 

“I don’t think they saw us, but I’m pretty sure they smelled us because they all started moving into the field and we got the hell out of there,” Moonshine concluded, crushing a beer can. 

Rotten laughed.  “Yeah, that was a pretty frantic run through the woods.  We came out on a different trail, above where we left the boats and had to run back down stream to find them.  I saw a couple deadheads in the water, but we didn’t shoot, we didn’t want to attract more.” 

“So getting into Arlington may be a little more challenging than we thought, from what we saw the zombies are everywhere.”  Highland pushed his plate away and picked up his beer. 

“Well, we have time.  We have what we need right now, so maybe waiting them out is the best idea.”  Mrs. Williams started clearing the table and Rebekah helped.  I stepped into the pantry, grabbing a box of snack cakes from the dwindling stack, and Rotten brought the radio up from downstairs, scanning the channels. 

When Mrs. Williams and Rebekah returned to the table I passed out the chocolate cakes like playing cards, sliding them across the table.  Rotten picked up his cake, leaving the radio on dead air, and Sarah clamped her hands over her ears.  I looked at her curiously, and then saw Rebekah do the same.

“Rotten, you’re killing us with that noise, turn the dial, dude,” Will said, dropping his cake onto the table and covering his own ears.

“What noise?”  I didn’t hear a thing and apparently no one else did either because we looked at the kids like they were crazy.

“Make it stop!” Sarah screamed in that high-pitched piercing tone only little girls can emit that jolts your bones inside of your skin.

We looked at each other with confusion, suddenly bordering on fear, and I yelled,  “What noise?”

“The radio!” Will and Rebekah said in unison.  

Rotten slapped the power supply.  “What the hell?” 

“It was squealing and it hurt,” Sarah said.

“Yeah, it did, but it doesn’t hurt now so finish your cake,” Rebekah said.

“I’ve heard it before while you were scanning channels, but usually you just pass right over it.”  Will picked up his cake.  “That sucked.  I don’t know how y’all could just sit there.” 

“I didn’t hear anything, did anyone else?”  Highland looked at us and we shook our heads.  “I’ve heard about this, there is a frequency that kids can hear, but those of us past twenty can’t because our hearing deteriorates as we age.  I read that you can download the sound to use as a ring tone so your parents or your teacher won’t know when you’re getting a text or call.”

“There was a kid in my math class that had that ringtone, I didn’t know what it was at the time, but then I saw him mess with the phone.  The teacher sure didn’t notice, but that sound on the radio was different, louder or sharper or something, made my head hurt.” 

“Mine, too.”  Sarah bit into her cake and stuck out her lower lip.

“I’ve read about this, too, I was talking to mom about it and she said I should write a report, but I hadn’t gotten around to it when everything happened.”  Rebekah paused and looked down at Sarah.  “Anyway, what I do know is that some businesses put little boxes on the outside of their buildings that broadcast the sound to discourage kids from loitering or vandalizing.  The adults don’t hear it, but the kids do so they go somewhere else.  I read that in some places they use it in the parking lots of schools for events like football games to discourage the kids hanging around after hours. There was some controversy about it with people calling it a weapon, but they still use them.”

“Why is it being broadcast?” Princess said.  “That’s weird.  Do they have a drive-your-kids-crazy radio station that I haven’t heard about?” 

“It is strange.”  Rotten turned to Will.  “Have you heard it every time we’ve been on the radio?” 

Will nodded.  “Pretty much.”

“Could it be some kind of signal?  F…” Moonshine barely caught the word from leaving his mouth and jumped to his feet.  “Could it be zombie repellent?” 

We looked around at each other with surprise. 

“Could it be…” I began.

“Maybe so.”  Sully rubbed his beard.

“It makes sense.” Highland smiled.  “We’ll have to test it to know.”

“It would make sense.  Whoever planned this zombie takeover would have to have some means to keep themselves safe.  I mean it doesn’t really work out for them if they don’t survive, right?  Maybe this is how, maybe they broadcast the signal wherever they are and it keeps them zombie-free.”  Rotten stared at the radio.

“Well they must not have any kids, that sound could drive you crazy,” Will said.

“That’s not necessarily true, wherever the kids are they could cancel the frequency with another laid overtop.  Or like if it’s a city you could keep the kids in the interior and focus the signal on the outskirts of town and create a perimeter.  I figure whoever did this will want kids to start the new world, young kids that are easy to train as they see fit and easy to brainwash.”  Rotten looked away from the radio to us and smiled.  “I know, there I go again being the crazy conspiracy freak.” 

“So we’re talking about the real undead zombie elite aliens that rule the world, right?”  Moonshine laughed.  “Dude, I used to think you were crazy with all that evil otherworldly rulers crap, but I don’t anymore.” 

“If it works, we could use it to get to places in Arlington, hell, if it works we could clean the town of deadheads,” Highland smiled and shook his head slowly.  “If it works.” 

“Well, that’s the question, isn’t it,” Sully said.  “And obviously it can’t be tested around the kids.”

“That blows.”  Will shook his head.

“We’ll need to hook it up to speakers so the sound will travel.” Rotten looked toward the TV and to the speakers mounted on the wall.  “I saw some nice compact speakers at one of the cabins, we could take it down in the boat to where we were today and try it.”

“You can wear the suits of armor we made for you today.”  Sarah smiled, exposing a missing front tooth.  “Show them Princess.” 

Princess retrieved the pile of stiff silver clothing and passed out each set.  “We’re out of duct tape, so add it to the list, but at least we can quit wasting it.” 

“They tie on the sides,” Sarah explained.

“Cool!”  Moonshine pulled on his shirt.  “I like it.” 

“I didn’t test it personally, but I think they’re pretty bite-proof.”  Princess sat down.

“It was a great idea, Princess,” Mrs. Williams said, holding her clothes to her chest. 

“It might be a little warm come summer, but we’ll worry about that then.”  Princess smiled. 

“Whoever is on watch should wear theirs.  Thanks, Princess.”  Highland examined the grommets. 

I took first watch and since I had about zero experience with a gun, Rotten stayed up with me.  You may have noticed Rotten and I spend a lot of time together, even sleeping in the same bed more nights than not, but we aren’t a couple.  It’s true that we’ve always been comfortable with each, but Rotten went for tall willowy blondes, not short half-Japanese girls and I was a sucker for geeky boys, not longhaired rock star wannabes.  I would say we’d never kissed before, but that would be a lie.  One night, one drunken night, we kissed a lot, and in the cold harsh sober light of morning we pretended it didn’t happen and never mentioned it again. 

We sat in the rocking chairs on the porch, wrapped in blankets to ward off the chill in the air, and stared at the stars through the bare limbs of the overhanging trees.  “I don’t remember when I’ve seen so many, maybe never.” I said. 

“No light pollution.”  Rotten rested his head on the hard wood and focused above.  “It’s pretty amazing, we forget how small we are down here.” 

“You don’t really think it’s aliens, do you?”  I turned to look at him.

“No, not how we think of aliens.  Hell, for all I know it is as simple as good versus evil.  What I do know is it has been going on forever and ever, the same thing over and over and we as humanity are caught in the web of what these things decide.  Don’t get me wrong, there are humans in this world pushing the buttons, but it’s the force outside and above the humans that are the problem.  This signal, that’s from man, but the man is just a puppet of this being.”  He sighed.  “It’s hard to comprehend and it’s even harder to attempt to explain, but no, I don’t think it’s little green men in flying saucers.” 

“How do you win against something like that?’

“By the looks of things no one ever has and I figure we need to focus on the things we can control.  Of course, that is probably the attitude that lets it win.”  He shook his head. 

“Do you think there has ever been a zombie apocalypse before?”

“Probably, not much new under the sun.  I think all legends, like vampires, werewolves, Bigfoot, even aliens, are based on some truth.  And it seems to me there’re not a lot of new ideas being introduced to the mainstream, there probably were zombies of some type at some point in our forgotten history.” 

“Hey,” I laughed, “maybe that’s why they had suits of armor back in the day.”

“Same as it ever was.”  He smiled. 

We were quiet for a long time and I was drowsy, I hadn’t had a day in bed since the world changed and the change was causing me to keep the normal hours of everyman.  I used to call it the sleeping sickness where I would spend a complete weekend in bed, sleeping for up to twenty hours a day, only waking up to eat and watch a little TV before drifting off again.  I attributed my ability to sleep for such long stretches to my naturally depressive nature and actually looked for reasons to escape into slumber, but now that I had every reason in the world to be depressed, I was sleeping less than I ever had.  Truth be told, sleep is a rare commodity during a zombie apocalypse, and frankly I was feeling less depressed than I could ever remember.  I suppose my life suddenly had meaning, even if it was as simple as staying alive.