“That Colonel made us burn them. We were going to bury them, but we haven’t had a chance yet.”
“Yeah, I see y’all have been really busy with other priorities.”
I walked over to Felix as he stared at me in fright. The blood was still running down his nose, which was now mashed and bent to one side. I gestured toward the pile.
“The count is short. Where the hell is Janet?” I asked. Felix shook his head unknowingly.
“I don’t know. The bodies, those that we found, those are the only ones we saw, except for Terry and Konya. We haven’t had a chance to get to them yet.”
I grunted. They probably had every intention of simply letting them rot where they died.
“What about the people at the school?” I asked. Felix looked at me and shook his head.
“They had no idea, man.”
Felix, when I looked at him, I was heartbroken. He was my best friend. I spoke quietly.
“Just a few weeks ago we were part of a cohesive group. Now look at you, a bunch of disgusting pieces of shit. So, Felix, you’ve never said why you betrayed me. Let’s hear the truth this time, you owe me that.”
He wiped his face, but all it accomplished was smearing blood everywhere. He shrugged, and then he started crying.
“You had everything, Zach. You had a home, a wife, kids, friends, food. You had everything. I had nothing.” He shuddered, then inhaled and tried to compose himself. “I can’t explain it any better than that.”
“Is that it?” I asked simply. Felix slowly nodded his head.
“You forgot a few things.”
“No, Zach, that’s it. I swear,” Felix replied pleadingly.
If he was waiting for some type of reprieve from me, it was not forthcoming. I shot him between the eyes and watched him as he slumped over. I then looked over at the other three.
“He forgot to tell me about chasing the truck and shooting the hell out of it, didn’t he,” I demanded.
“We didn’t know who it was,” Sue said quickly. “We were…” she bit off her words. I prodded her with my rifle barrel. “We were burning the bodies when we heard the truck start. We jumped in our car and caught up with them on the road. We weren’t sure who it was, so we started shooting. They ran us off the road and got away.”
I nodded solemnly. It matched up with Kelly’s story. “You just saved yourselves a bullet,” I said and stared at them a long moment. I finally gestured at Felix.
“If you don’t want to end up like your friend, take your shoes off and get in the back of the truck.” They were confused at the demand, but complied anyway. I gestured at Michael. “Give him a hand, and put Felix in the back too. I don’t want his body anywhere near this place.”
Sue and Kelvin muttered under their breaths, but lowered the tailgate and helped Michael get in. By the time they were finished, both of them were wheezing from the exertion. They were pathetic, and yet they managed orchestrate a mass murder.
“Why don’t you idiots try to tend to your friend’s wound,” I said. They looked at me blankly.
“We don’t have a first aid kit or anything,” Sue replied. I was beginning to wonder how in the hell they had survived this long.
“Well then, why don’t one of you remove an article of clothing and use it to bind the wound. Damn you people are stupid.” My response seemed to have sparked a brain cell or two. They looked around and finally decided to use Michael’s tee shirt. Sue shoved the shirt down Michael’s pants where the bullet had struck him and cinched his belt around it tightly. Michael groaned in pain. Looking at her work, and apparently pleased at her first aid skills, she looked over at me with a helpless, pitiful, puppy dog expression.
“What are you going to do with us?” she asked plainly.
“I’m going to take you folks on a little ride,” I answered. They looked at me in blank puzzlement. I wasn’t going to bother with an explanation, but then changed my mind.
“I was never going to forgive Felix, he was supposed to be my best friend. You three though, you really had no allegiance to any of us, if you don’t count how much we helped you guys when we first met. So, I’m going to take y’all for a ride.”
“A ride?” Kelvin asked.
“Yeah. I’m going to take y’all far away from me and drop you off. After that, you’ll be on your own.”
“That doesn’t sound very promising,” he quipped.
“I’m giving you guys a chance, so don’t push it.” The fact I didn’t kill them outright actually had nothing to do with them. It had everything to do with how many people I had killed in the last couple of years. Sometimes, when I lay awake at night, I wonder if I have turned into a cold blooded killer, which is what Julie had called me once. I looked them over, sitting in the bed of the truck, looking at me as if I were being terribly unfair to them. I had no sympathy though. They were despicable pieces of shit, not worthy of any compassion. Killing them would have probably been the most compassionate act of all, but I kept that thought to myself.
“Sit there and enjoy the ride. If any of you jump out of the truck, I’ll kill you all.”
The interior stunk like hell, but it had almost a full tank of gas.
“Good,” I muttered, started the truck, and put it in gear. I took back roads and drove around in circles before ending up at Henry Horton State Park. I drove deep into the woods before stopping. If they paid attention, they would have made mental note of road signs and landmarks, but I somehow doubted they had the forethought to do it. Putting the truck in park, I jumped out and waved the M4 at them.
“Get out,” I demanded. The three of them looked at me questioningly.
“I not asking, I’m telling.”
“Where are we?” Kelvin asked.
“Your new home,” I replied.
“Are you leaving us here?” Sue asked.
“Yep,” I responded.
“But, we’ll be killed,” she exclaimed with borderline panic in her voice.
“Maybe, maybe not. I’ve been through worse and came out just fine.” I said and tossed the pair of fingernail clippers on the ground, along with the pocket knife. “You’ll need these, that’s what I had when I made my escape.” I gestured at Michael.
“Well now, Michael, here is where the real test of friendship is going to be put to the test.” Michael stared at me sullenly. His face was ashen and the effects of the gunshot were taking hold.
“What do you mean?” he asked. I pointed at Kelvin and Sue.
“At some point, these two are going to start contemplating their own survival. They’re going to look at you and your gunshot wound and wonder if they’d be better off without you. The question is, are they going to be true friends and take care of you, or are they going to leave you for the zombies?” I watched in amusement as he slowly began to understand and realization struck him. I chortled.
“My guess is they’ll leave you when you’re sleeping. You’ll wake up and they’ll be gone.”
“You’re really going to leave us out here?” Sue asked weakly. I nodded.
“You can’t do this to us!” Kelvin shouted angrily. He was on the edge of panic as well.
“You should have thought of that before you fucked my life up,” I retorted angrily and looked around. “By the way, you might not want to yell so loud, you might attract monsters.”
I got back in my truck and drove off, but not before throwing the bong out of the window, hitting Michael in the head with it.
I stopped the truck near the Volt and got out. The dark tinted windows made it difficult to see inside, but I didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary. I knocked on the window and gave the password. She peeked out from under a blanket before sitting up and unlocking the door.
“Did you have any problems?” I asked when she stepped out.
“No, everything’s been real quiet. Something walked by the car, but I don’t know if it was a deer, a human, or a zombie. I was covered up and didn’t move. It walked on by without stopping. So, what happened?”
I gave her the rundown on what happened.
“So, you killed Felix but let the rest of them live?” she asked. I nodded and explained.
“They’re dead,” I said, “it’s just going to take a while longer.”
“That’s cold, Zach,” she said. I shrugged.
“It’s their problem. Does that offend you?”
Kelly shrugged a shoulder. “They’re indirectly responsible for the deaths of our family. They’ll get what they deserve.” I nodded in satisfaction. It was the answer I was hoping for.
“Alright, I’d like to check out Fred’s house. Get in the truck, we’ll come back for the Volt later.” I started walking while she was standing there about to ask me more questions. She limped behind me and got into the passenger seat.
“What are we going to do next?” she asked. I ignored her and kept driving. She asked again and I continued to ignore her. She repeated the question a couple more times before finally screaming at me.
“Zach!” she screamed. I hit the brakes and glared at her.
“If you’re going to continue to treat me like a second class piece of shit, take me back to the Volt. I’ll find a way to make it on my own.”
“Is that what you want?” I asked. Her big brown eyes stared at me.
“No,” she exclaimed pleadingly, “I want to be with you. I want to be your partner, but I don’t want to be treated the way you’ve been treating me these past two days.”
I gripped the steering wheel tightly and breathed heavily for a good solid minute before I responded.
“You know what? You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I owe you, I really do, and I apologize for my behavior toward you. I’ve been…no matter, I apologize. I’ll take you back to the Volt.” Kelly reached over and grabbed me by the arm.
“Zach, I want to be with you,” she said plainly. I stared at my hands tightly gripping the steering wheel and forced myself to relax. I looked over at her.
“Yeah, I’d like that. You’ve been a good friend and I’d hate to lose you. I promise I’ll be nicer, but if you want to head out on your own, maybe go back to the school, I totally understand.”
“So, what now?” she finally asked. I sighed and thought for a minute.
“If Fred’s house is in good shape, I think that’s where we should stay, at least for the time being. It’s set up pretty good, and if it hasn’t been looted there should be plenty of food, but, at some point, I’m going to pay a visit to the school and see if they had any involvement in this shit. So, what’s your decision?”
“I’m going with you,” Kelly said with finality. I shrugged and put the truck in gear.
Fred’s house was untouched and the hidden key had not been moved. The interior was clean and very neat. Even the bunk beds were made with military efficiency; the blankets were smooth and pulled tight, as if waiting for Tommy and Joe to show up at any time. I went directly to the gun cabinet. Fred had a good inventory. He had an assortment of weapons, including a few I’d never seen him use before, and ammunition for each. Good, I thought, but we were going to need more eventually. We made a quick inspection of the rest of the house. There wasn’t a speck of dirt anywhere. Unlike my old buddy Rick, Fred was a very neat, yet utilitarian person.
“He should have let us decorate this place,” Kelly observed. “It’s very Spartan.”
“His original house was really nice and beautifully decorated,” I said and looked around. “I would guess he purposely kept it like this so he wouldn’t be reminded of his wife,” I said.
She looked around and pointed at the walls. “Why did you guys build this house out of concrete? I mean, I’m sure it’s very sturdy, but it looks awful. I feel like we’re back in the parking garage.”
“Simple, we built it with defense in mind, not aesthetics, but I see your point.” I stood staring at the walls, deep in thought.
“What are you thinking?” Kelly asked. I pointed at the walls.
“The walls, they’re thick enough against small arms fire, but those marines had heavy weapons, chain guns, I think. They’d be able to penetrate these walls.” I looked up. “Hell, they can penetrate the roof with mortar fire. The basement is fortified, but it only has one entrance. We’ll have to work on it. If those bastards decide to pay us another visit, we’ll need to be able to survive the assault.” I wanted my kids back, I thought. I caught myself looking for a notepad, but Kelly interrupted my thoughts.
“Well, if we live here, you better believe we’re going to decorate it.” She tried a cheerful smile. I frowned before catching myself.
“I know I’m not being a pleasant person.”
“You’re not yourself lately, I understand.” She squeezed my hand and looked pointedly at me. “You asked me earlier what I wanted and I told you, but you didn’t tell me what you want.”
I smiled glumly. “The only thing I know for sure that I want is my kids,” I finally said, “other than that, I’m not sure what I want. I mean, Julie was the love of my life and the mother of my children.” I rubbed my face. “She’s now a burnt corpse in a pile of burnt corpses and I’m – I’m not sure about anything anymore.” I looked down at my shoes and fought to keep from crying again. Kelly held out a hand and lifted my chin.
“I have a great deal of admiration and respect for you, Zach. I know you loved Julie. I’m not trying to replace her, okay?”
“Okay,” I replied and drew a breath, “but before you declare you want to partner up with me, be forewarned you may not like or agree with some of the things I’m going to do, and my actions are more than likely going to put our lives at risk.”
“Dog fart mode?” she asked sarcastically. I nodded.
“If I get the chance, I’m going to kill them all,” I said. She looked deeply at me with those dark brown eyes before responding.
“Then I suggest after we unload the truck, you get out a notepad and start planning.”
I stopped her and pointed at the couch. “Have a seat. You’re not doing any unloading until that injury heals. I need my partner at one hundred percent.”
Kelly smiled, which was nice.