Fred said nothing. We both knew why I did it, I did it for Julie.
Breakfasts were awkward these days. If something was said the wrong way, Julie would start crying and go to our bedroom. Janet used it as a way of reinserting herself into Julie’s life. She would rush after her and tell her everything was okay while holding her in her arms. It bothered the shit out of me. Maybe I was jealous. I assumed Julie would rather seek comfort in my arms, and I was angry when she chose her mom over me. Normally, I would have understood, but it was Janet, and Janet was not the All-American mother.
It got to the point where I’d get up early every day, fix my own breakfast, and then spend the rest of the day away from the house. This was my routine for almost two weeks now. The deaths of our loved ones had acted as a negative catalyst, which undermined the group dynamic we had tried so hard to cultivate. We interacted with each other only when we had to. Even then our conversations were short.
It was on one particular cloudy day in mid-April when things finally came to a head. Konya, Bo and I were on horseback, rounding up stray cattle. We were slowly but steadily moving twenty head down Kidd Road and were within sight of Nolensville Pike when we saw them.
“Looks like there’re only four of them,” I said. Konya’s dogs started growling and he went for his rifle, as did I. Bo started moving his horse forward but Konya stopped him.
“Hold up!” he shouted as he aimed his rifle toward a dilapidated barn on the edge of the roadway. I watched in confusion as the group of zombies at the intersection started moving toward us. Their gait was slower than a healthy human, but definitely faster than any I had previously seen before. The one in the lead closed in and started panicking the cattle. I took quick aim and shot it. The gunshot caused a full panic now and they ran forward, knocking over the three remaining zombies in the process. Konya pointed vigorously.
“No, watch the barn!” he shouted in warning. It was then I saw them. A dozen of them poured out of the barn. It was a very clever move. The bastards waited for the cattle to pass by, therefore having a straight shot at us.
We began firing quickly. Unfortunately, the staccato of gunfire caused my horse to panic and rear up. It caught me by surprise and I fought to stay on, but it was no use. I went head over heels and landed firmly on my ass. They were on me quickly. I had the wind knocked out of me, but I still managed to get on my feet and butt stroked the nearest one. Her skull split open with a resounding crack. I desperately tried to suck in air as I shot twice more, hitting my mark on one of them and missing completely on the third shot.
The one I missed was now inches from me and I was getting a good close-up of him. Any hair he might have had was long gone. Now his entire head was covered in scabs and scars. He eyed me malevolently with his black eyes as I struggled backwards. I was seeing stars from the lack of oxygen and my legs were threatening to collapse on me at any moment. I fired again, striking him in the throat. He lunged forward and grabbed the barrel of my rifle, jerking it violently, causing my legs finally to give out. I fell on my ass again, and would have been a goner, but Number Two appeared from nowhere, lunged onto my adversary and bit down on its arm so hard I could hear the bones break. It was enough for the thing’s grip to weaken. Jerking my rifle back out of his grasp, I concentrated on my aim and shot him right under the nose. The kinetic energy of the 5.56 caliber bullet blew out the back of his head with a fine spray of brain matter and black mist.
I was finally able to suck in a breath of air, which cleared up the cobwebs a little, and looked around as Number Two barked at me anxiously. I forced myself to inhale again, got into a sitting position, and looked for a target. Konya had dismounted and was surrounded by four of them. He and I shot simultaneously and two of them went down. I made quick work of the third one, but the fourth one was too close to Konya for me to shoot. It was able to grab Konya, and the two of them went to the ground. I looked at Number Two and pointed.
“Get ‘em boy!” I shouted. Two needed no further encouragement. He took off at a run and knocked the zombie off of Konya like a linebacker going after a quarterback. Konya brought the barrel of his weapon up against the zombie’s chin and fired. The thing’s skull must have deteriorated, because the blast caused his whole head to explode.
We seemed to have gotten a tempo going then and our firing took on a rhythmic pulse. My breathing slowly returned to normal about the time the last zombie fell.
“Red!” I managed to croak out as I reloaded. I fumbled a little more than I should have before getting the magazine seated and getting to my feet.
“Green!” I said and scanned the area. When Bo and Konya reloaded, I checked myself for injuries. Bo kept watch as Konya checked his dogs. Satisfied his kids were uninjured, he pointed at the barn. The dogs circled the barn, sniffing for any other occupants, and then made their way inside. They returned a moment later to Konya’s side. He looked at us and shook his head.
“There’s none left.”
“Did anyone get bitten?” I asked.
“Not here,” Konya responded, “but it was close for a second or two.”
Bo shook his head also. “What happened to you?”
“My horse bucked me off. I got the wind knocked out of me when I landed and one of those things was on me quick.”
“Did you get bit?” Bo asked.
“No, but I have Number Two to thank for that,” I said and scratched him behind the ears while I explained. We stood together, catching our breath and warily looking around.
“We were lucky,” Bo said after a minute. “Those sons of bitches set up a pretty good ambush.”
“Yeah,” Konya said, “being able to think out an ambush and act in tandem, that’s downright concerning.”
I walked over to each corpse and looked them over. They had many of the same character traits as the other evolving zombies, so there were no new surprises.
“Is Big Bastard one of them?” Konya asked. I shook my head.
“He’s not, but for some reason, I feel like he was involved in this somehow.”
“I’ll go get your horse,” Bo said and mounted up. He returned a few minutes later leading my mount. “He’s still a bit skittish, so be careful.”
After recovering our brass, it took us another hour to round up the cattle again before heading home, but we still made it in time for dinner.
Julie was unusually quiet when I got home. I tried to give her a hug, but she pushed me off.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“While you’ve been out playing around all day, like you’ve been doing a lot of lately, I’ve had to deal with all of the shit going on around here,” she walked out of the room before I could say anything and I followed her into the bedroom. She started to change the diaper on Frederick.
“Why don’t you relax and let me do it,” I said. She sat down on the bed without making eye contact. I started in on the dirty work and cast a glance at Julie.
“I don’t go out and play around and you know that, so I’m wondering why you’d say such a thing.”
Julie did not respond. Hell, she barely watched me change the diaper. “You’ve not been yourself lately. Every time I try to talk to you, you shut me out. I’ve tried to be understanding, but I have no idea why you’re treating me this way.”
“What way?” she asked defensively.
“Just now is a good example I believe. There was a time not so long ago when I could expect a hug and a kiss from you after being away from you for more than an hour, but not lately.”
I waited for a response, but didn’t get one. I finished with the diaper, went into the restroom to clean my hands and returned to find Julie had left the bedroom. I found her in the kitchen talking to her mother, never once making eye contact with me.
The dogs sat attentively at our feet during dinner, putting on their best starving dog faces and begging for food scraps. The dinner conversation was subdued but not unpleasant, and then Konya mentioned the ambush.
“What happened?” Rowdy asked.
“Those danged things set up an ambush on us, about a dozen of them. Zach got thrown off his horse. It was hairy for a few minutes. We were lucky.”
I groaned inwardly as Julie looked at me sharply.
“Sounds like another case of poor judgment,” Janet remarked. I glared at her. She pointedly looked back at me and it was all I could do not to grab her by the scruff of her pants and throw her out of the front door. Before I could say or do anything, Julie spoke again.
“She’s right,” she said. I looked back at her, but she wouldn’t make eye contact. The rest of the table was quiet for a moment and then Konya spoke up.
“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but I was a part of it and I didn’t see any poor judgment. Perhaps you could explain how we could have gone about it differently.”
“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Janet said.
“That’s because you weren’t there and you have no idea what you’re talking about,” I retorted and continued staring at her hard.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Julie said and I redirected my attention toward her. She was looking at me now and it was not with any amount of warmth. “She’s right, it was poor judgment and it’s not the first time.”
Her words hurt, and the hurt caused anger. The table was quiet now. Andie started to say something but I held up a hand. Everyone looked at me, wondering what I was going to do. I wanted to throw something, put my fist through the wall, something physical. I also had some things that I was sorely tempted to say, but I didn’t. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t hit anything. I pushed myself away from the table, stood, and walked out.
Walking to our bedroom, I grabbed some things, shoved them into a knapsack and quickly exited. Andie caught up with me as I made my way into the barn.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m going to see if Fred wants a roommate for a while,” I responded and grabbed some things off the shelf.
“So why are you getting the ghillie suit?”
“I think I might do some hunting,” I pointed my finger at her. “That’s something that’ll stay between you and me.”
“I’m going to cut her throat in her sleep,” Andie said. “I’m sick and tired of that bitch.”
I shook my head. “Although it’s a pleasant thought, Julie would never forgive you. Or me.”
Andie sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. How long are you going to stay with Fred?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Julie’s been distraught ever since the explosion. I had hoped things would be better by now, but they seem to keep getting worse.” I sighed. “Part of it may be her pregnancy messing with her…”
“But that bitch is causing most of it,” Andie finished my sentence and scowled. “I’m going with you.”
I shook my head again. “Would you mind staying here and keep an eye on things? I’d be most appreciative and will make it up to you somehow.”
Andie looked at me a long moment and then nodded in understanding. “I’m warning you though; if the bitch crosses me, I’m going to take a knife to her.”
I hugged Andie tightly before leaving and watched her walk back into the house. I halfway hoped Julie would come running out, apologizing and begging me to come back inside. It didn’t happen. I don’t think she even bothered looking out of the window.
I slapped the steering wheel in frustration as I exited the driveway. Things haven’t seemed right in a while and this latest debacle was yet another example. My anger was more of sadness and frustration, and I didn’t know what to do about it. One thing was certain though, if Julie thought I exercised poor judgment by rounding up stray cattle, she was really going to be pissed about what I had planned, but at this point, I didn’t care.
I tried Fred several times on the radio, but he didn’t answer. I wasn’t surprised. Oh well, I was going to tell him what I had in mind, but I guess it didn’t matter. There was something I didn’t tell Andie, I had no plans of going directly to Fred’s, I was going hunting tonight.
I stopped when I was a few hundred yards away from Kidd Road and urinated beside the truck before donning the ghillie suit. As the sun set, I left the roadway and walked through a field overgrown with weeds and an old corn crop. I circled the area of the barn where we had been ambushed, scanning the area constantly. I saw no movement but I didn’t expect any. For some reason, I had a strong instinctive belief there would be no activity until well after sundown. I found a suitable spot, hunkered down, and waited.
I was armed with my Kimber handgun and a Winchester sniper rifle equipped with a scope. I also had some night vision gear, which I fully intended to use in a few hours. I sipped some water from my camelback, but only a sip. I didn’t want a full bladder interfering with my business.
The sky was a dusky, purplish hue when I saw a figure in the distance ambling down the road. I expected more than one, or maybe I was all wrong and this lone zombie had nothing to do with the group who had ambushed us.
I wasn’t wrong. I waited patiently as he walked directly toward the barn. No coincidence there. I scanned the area, but there was nobody with him. The lone zombie took his time and looked at each individual corpse. He was so focused on them he didn’t notice when I stood and began working my way toward him. He stood there, motionless, with his back to me and seemed so engrossed in his dead friends that he didn’t hear me until I was less than ten feet from him.
His appearance was much the same as other zombies. This one had a severe stooped posture. His was clothed in a ragged hunting jacket, camouflage pants and combat boots. It made me curious. I wondered what he had been doing before he became infected.
He must have finally sensed me somehow because he turned slowly and faced me. He had a big nose, and it was smashed to one side of his face. He made a weird rasping sound as he breathed through it.
“Well, you’re not Big Bastard, but I bet you two are friends. Why don’t you tell me where he is?” I asked rhetorically. He snarled and began moving toward me. I sat the rifle down carefully before running at him and tackling him. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, my back was still aching from being thrown earlier, but I didn’t care. When he fell to the ground, I turned him on his stomach and then used my weight to keep him in place.
“I’m sick and tired of you motherfuckers,” I said as I unsheathed my knife. “I don’t know how far along your kind has come in communication, but I’m going to send a clear message to your friends,” his snarling became more agitated as I yanked his head back and began cutting his throat.
It took about a minute to cut his head off, because I was careful not to be bitten in the process. I used some barb wire to tie it to a nearby fence post, positioning it so that he was looking at the direction he came from. I looked at my work and he stared back at me, gnashing his teeth.
“Be sure to tell your buddies who did this to you,” I said with a wink.
The zombie’s eyes watched me as I dragged the rest of the corpses into the dilapidated barn and set it on fire. I hoped Big Bastard understood the message. I admired my work for no more than a couple of seconds before walking off into the darkness.
I sat in the field and watched the fire burn until well after midnight. No other zombies made an appearance. No strangers showed up to inspect the fire either, so I had a reasonable belief there were no humans in the area that we were unaware of.
Looking at my watch, I decided it was time to go, got up, and made a slow crouching walk back to my truck. My cautiousness paid off. When I was within fifty yards, I checked my truck with my night vision goggles.
There were two of them, and it seemed like they were waiting on me. They were crouched down behind my truck, unmoving. I was pretty sure they were zombies due to the signature in my scope, but I wasn’t positive. Nevertheless, whoever, or whatever they were, they had ill intentions.
I did a slow three-sixty, looking for any other possible threats. Finding none, I focused back on my new adversaries. I had to stand in order to get a good shot, but it was okay, they didn’t see me. The first shot was deafening and it was still echoing in the hills as I fired the second time.
I moved quickly now, jumped in the truck, and turned on the lights. The two dead ones were indeed zombies. I paid them no more attention and ran over them as I drove off. I felt like I partially accomplished my goal for the night, now it was time to find somewhere to sleep.