Winter's Salvation (41 page)

             
The morning was incredibly cold and billows of smoke rose with each breath fogging their sun glasses and as Sam and Drew walked to the stable, frozen grass crunched beneath their feet.  “I’m going to hook up the hoses before we kill the zombie.”  Drew said as he shook off the cold.

             
“Won’t the hose just freeze?”  Sam said being the pillar of wisdom. 

             
“I have to find a valve for the end and then we can let it trickle out.”

             
“Does that actually work?”

             
Drew shrugged, “How the hell should I know?  Eric said it would work.  He said if you let water run out, it won’t freeze.”

             
“I don’t think it’ll work?” 

             
Sam walked toward the stable, but Drew began to walk toward the well.  She didn’t turn around and was completely focused on the white building and Drew began to think about her going in there without a weapon.  He dropped the length of hose and then called out, “Do you want me to go in with you?”  He didn’t want her going in unarmed and he was the one holding onto the bat. 

             
Sam thought about it for a second and then shook her head in approval.  She opened the door and the undead stood in the middle of the stable facing away from them.  The sun was shining through the windows from the double doors across from them and square beams of sun light shined down around her black shoes.  They approached her slowly and cautiously.

             
Drew took his bat and tapped it on the top of her head.  He let out a laugh, “She’s frozen stiff.”

             
They walked in front of her, but they were unable to see through their sun glasses in the dark stable.  Sam opened the double doors the ghoul faced, allowing the sun to fully enter the stable and created a wind tunnel that blew hard through the isle and caused them to pull their jackets tight against them.  Sam quickly ran to the other side and closed the opposite doors. 

             
As she walked toward the ghoul she saw Drew looking at it closely.  He was standing in front of her examining her.  Sam stood next to him and studied her.  “She has no sign of a bite or those black veins that run up their neck or anything.”  Sam said examining her flipping up her hair.                           

“I’ve never seen one with such pretty eyes.”  Drew said.  He rubbed his fingers over her cheeks.  “You are a pretty one aren’t you.”

“You got a thing for undead now?” Sam said and pulled his hand down from her face. 

“Yeah that’s it.”  He handed her the bat, “I’m hooking up the hose.”  He walked out without saying anything else to her.    

  The ghoul’s eyes drew her closer and she caught herself gazing into their still orbs.  She stood directly in front of her now very close to her cold pale face.  Sam whispered, “You are pretty.”  Her heart started to beat a little faster and a little harder.  “You’re so fucking pretty aren’t you.”  Her body became warm and her sun glasses started to fog even more.  “You’re fucking dead.”  She said a little louder and then jumped back startled by her own excitement.  “You want to eat me don’t you bitch.  You want to fucking bite me.  Bite this!”  She let her anger out and then swung the bat at her left leg.  The bat moved freely into the thick frill of her blue dress and then struck her solid leg causing it to fall to it’s left.  Sam was surprised with the shock that went through the bat and she alternated holding onto the bat as she opened and clenched her free hand working the shock from them.

This is what Sam wanted.  She wanted to hurt one of them and this was her chance.  The undead girl was face down, but she swung the bat again at her legs.  She wanted to look at her face as she beat her, so she rolled her over.  The blond haired girl was stiff, but now her hair covered her face.  She moved the blond strands with the end of the bat, that hid her beautiful young features and revealed those striking eyes that made her hate her even more.  She beat on her hips and stomach taking pleasure in the shock that she received from each blow of the bat.  She watched her emotionless face with each hit and with no emotion Sam was not getting the satisfaction of inflicting pain to her. 

She heard footsteps moving around the stable and then Drew appeared.  Sam stopped hitting her and stepped away from the ghoul.  “Hey I need to look for that valve and don’t really want to go without something, like a bat.”  He pointed to the one she had in her hand.  “Did you kill it or what?”

“I think so?”  She said, lying.  “I’ll be out in a second.  I wanted to cover her up.” 

“We should probably pull them out eventually because as soon as it gets a little warmer their going to start stinking.”  He walked toward her and looked down at her.  “She’s not dead.  You didn’t hit her in the head.  You want me to do it?”

She held onto the bat and pulled it from his reaching fingers.  “Nah I’ll do it, just not now.  Lets cover her up and we can do it when we pull them out.” 

Sam grabbed hold of her hair and tried pulling her into one of the stalls, but her hair pulled from the scalp causing her to fall backward into a pile of hay.  Drew laughed out loud and Sam covered her embarrassment by cursing and then throwing a grey wool blanket over it’s body.        

             
“You want her to be comfortable while were gone?”  Drew said mockingly. 

             
She began to walk out.  “I’m going to get something to eat first.  Fuck your valve.”  She began to close Drew in the stable, but he jumped out before she latched it close.

             
Drew began to mock her, but Sam closed her mouth and tried to ignore him, but he began to press on her last nerves and she took a slow swing at him with the bat that he easily dodged. 

             
“God no wonder that thing in there isn’t dead yet.”  He was jumping around her laughing.  “If you are going to swing at her like that she’ll thaw out, take the bat from you and beat you with it before you do any damage to it.” 

             
“If I wanted to hit you I could.  Stop being such a dick.”  She walked in silence the entire way back to the house fighting her urge to scream at him.   

**********

              Breakfast turned into a late lunch and a search through two other houses not far from their new home, looking for tampons and other women toiletries.  Naomi didn’t find exactly what she needed, but was able to find some things, she felt she could not do without.  On the way back to the house carrying paper towels, toilet paper and body wash, Drew realized by the setting sun, that night would soon be on them and he had to find a valve to attach to the end of the hose.  Getting the opportunity to clear a house like Eric used to, made him forget all about finding the valve.                  

             
As soon as they walked through the front door Drew stopped Sam.  “So you ready to go?” 

             
Sam was looking forward to going back, but not for a valve.  She wanted to go and see that undead ghoul.  “Yeah sure lets go.”  

             
Naomi over heard their conversation and turned to them.  “Where are you going?”

             
“We got to find a valve to put on the end of the hose.”  Drew said excitedly.  “I’ll take the pistol, so we’ll be alright.” 

Sam nodded her head in agreement and smiled.  “I’ll take the bat.”

Drew was walking fast and Sam was traveling right along with him.  “I’ll clear that overhang with all the heavy machinery and then we’ll start looking for what we need.” 

“I’m going to the stable.”  Sam refused having her own agenda
.

“We got to find the valve before it gets dark.”  Drew could not believe what he was hearing.  He believed she wanted to find this just as much as he did, but this was obviously not the case.  He had to complete this mission, this one valve was completing something that he could take pride in.  Finishing this hose would mean just taking a short couple steps out of the front door to get water.  This mission was important to him.  This was his portion of contributing to his new family. 

“Drew, I have to kill that girl.” 

“What if I just go in there and shoot her?”  He said aiming the pistol

“No I’ll do it.  I really want to do it.” 

“Will you be ok by yourself?  She’s probably still frozen.” 

Sam really didn’t want him in the stable when she was in there with her.  She didn’t want Drew to see her anymore.  The girl was pretty and Sam believed the ghoul was prettier than she was.  “Yeah she’s probably frozen anyway like you said.  I’m going to go in there and bash the back of her skull.”

They came to the overhang
that stored the tractors and other heavy equipment to their right, while they walked the main path from the house.  The stable was directly in front of them and the sun was to their backs casting long shadows before them.  Drew stopped, “I’m going to be right in here.  If you need anything just holler and I’ll be right there.” 

“I got to go in through the back.  I locked the front doors and left through the back ones, remember.” 

“I can walk you there.”

“I’ll be fine.”  She responded and started walking finishing their conversation. 

Sam walked slow listening to the birds and other sounds that surrounded the farm.  The singing of birds chirping in the distance was more now than in the morning and the wind picked up as the day went by, but something was different.  The sound of grass cracking from the morning frost was missing.  As the sun rose and beat on the farm the temperatures had increased enough to melt the small puddles of water and dry up the moist earth. 

Sam began to think, maybe she wasn’t going to be lying under that blanket and as she walked up the front window, she stood on her toes to look into the front windows on the door
.  She leaned the bat on the door and cupped her hands to block the sun, so she could see into the stable.  The blanket was balled up in the middle of the aisle between the stalls.  

She began to walk around the stable and opened the double back doors.  Sun shined through the front windows and the smell of old manure and death was strong.  The cold morning air had masked and hid the smells, but the smell of rot now assaulted her nostrils.  She stood in the back entrance and waited for her to come, but nothing moved.  She stepped in a few cautious uneasy steps and raised the bat over her shoulder.  “Hey bitch.”  She wanted to say it a lot louder, but it came out as barely a whisper.   

A few deeper steps and she looked at the dead boy in the blue overalls, imagining it raising up and reaching out for her.  As she watched the boy, movement from the stall directly in front of her made her jump back and hit her back against a pillar on the opposite side of the stable.  A silhouette was moving toward her and as it crossed the barrier of the stall and hands emerged from the darkness and grew into arms. 

She took a hard swing at the emerging hands and made contact with the left one.  The swing felt good making solid contact with her target.  The sound of a crack coming from the ghoul’s wrist filled her with confidence.  She slowly walked from the shadow and she was revealed as if the darkness was a thick blanket slowly rolling off her smooth features of a young face. 

Sam wanted to hit her, but could not.  It was moving slowly, as if she were not completely thawed.  Something inside of Sam could not make her kill it, but that didn’t keep the ghoul from coming at her.  One clawed hand grabbed at her and a mangled hand attempted to.  The blunt end of the bat was outstretched and pressed against the girl’s forehead.  Sam pressed hard on the bat pushing the undead back, making it stumble to the side and she repositioned herself, so that her back was to the open door.

The ghoul’s face didn’t change.  No expression, but just a drive to reach her shined in her blue eyes.  It continued to take slow steady steps toward her.  The bat was raised and placed on her face.  She bumped it slightly against its cute nose.  The ghouls head was pushed back, but it kept moving forward.  She bumped her a little harder, rocking her head back a little more.  Sam had to step back from her approaching and she tripped, forcing her to spin around to regain her balance. 

She did not fall, but had to move quickly to maintain her balance.  The bat went back up and she struck her hard with the blunt end, this time ripping her cheek reveling black blood that leaked from a loose piece of skin.  Now she was no longer a cute girl.  Now she was no longer this adorable unfortunate little girl.  Now she was just an undead zombie and Sam began to feel as if she really could do this.  With the sun behind the ghoul, it turned into a dark silhouette moving toward her.  She pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head, so she could see the creature better. 

The bat swung hard into the hip of the girl making her fall flat to the ground.  It began to crawl on her hands and knees and Sam swung down on the top of her head right at the base of the neck.  The creature’s head snapped down and smashed into the earth.  The ghoul began to press itself up and it looked up at Sam.  A golf swing to it’s face snapped her head around knocking it off its kneeled base.