CHAPTER SIX
Zachary steadily improved over the next few days. We had been there close to what the humans call a week when Jessie again began to ask me if she thought we should stay here or move on. It was a daily occurrence; she changed her mind more times than I could count, probably even more than the cat could too.
“I want to see Justin, Riley. Do you think he’s alive?” Jessie asked me.
I hoped he was, he seemed like a good human. Being honest with myself though, I liked Faye a lot and I think I loved Winke. I’d never met a two-legger so happy; if he had a tail it would wag constantly. Ben-Ben hadn’t left his side since we got here, even got to sleep in their bed. Faye had complained that even their Dora hadn’t been allowed to do that.
Winke would always laugh and say we were guests and we could do as we pleased.
“Winke, don’t get too attached to that dog,” Faye said as I padded into the kitchen. Jessie was still asleep and I needed to go outside.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Winke had asked her as he held the small Yorkie up to his face. I think he could have fit all of Ben-Ben in his mouth without even trying.
“I don’t think she’s going to stay,” Faye said.
Winke turned to her. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s in her eyes, she misses that boy.”
“Then all the more reason I should love this little guy even more,” Winke said, gently pressing Ben-Ben to the side of his face.
“I just don’t want to see you hurt,” Faye said tenderly.
“Oh, Faye, I have so little time left myself, I might as well enjoy every minute of it.”
“Don’t you talk like that!”
“Come on, Faye, you have to be realistic. Even with the chemo the doctors were only talking about another six months to a year, tops. Hell, I’m thrilled the zombies came when they did or all this would be gone,” Winke said, pulling on his impressively long face hair.
“I should have been so lucky,” she said, getting on her toes for a lip press. And they called dogs’ rituals weird. I scratched on the door.
“Well, hello, Riley,” Winke said, “At least you know where to go the bathroom,” he said as he looked playfully at Ben-Ben.
“What?” Faye asked. “Where?”
“I cleaned it up,” Winke said cheerily.
“I’ve seen the way you clean—where was it?”
Winke looked out the door viewer first then opened the door for me. “Stay close, I’ll be right back, Riley. I’m in a little trouble.” He winked.
He walked off to show Faye where Ben-Ben had his accident. Dumb dog still hadn’t figured it out. When I realized I was outside all alone in the early dark with zombies, I thought maybe he had figured it out after all. I was midway through my stream when I heard the clumsy sounding fall of feet as humans walked, but this was even clumsier. Zombies were close.
So far the dead two-leggers had shown no interest in eating dogs or, unfortunately, cats. But if I had the choice between a hamburger and dry dog food, I’d eat the ground up beef every time unless there was no more hamburger, then I’d eat whatever I could. How long would it be before there were no more two-leggers for the zombies to eat?
I wanted back in the house, but I didn’t want to alert the zombies to my presence. They didn’t yet sound like they were on a hunt, but merely trying to pick up a scent. I waited by the door, occasionally lightly scratching at it, hoping to get someone’s attention.
“Well, hello there, Riley!” Winke said much too loudly as he opened the door.
I ran straight into his tree-like legs when I heard the zombie footfalls become purposeful.
Winke bent down to rub his shins. “Let me know next time if I’m in your way.” He smiled.
I barked vociferously in his face, “Shut the door!”
“Whoa, girl, it’s alright,” he said, mistakenly thinking I was barking at him. He slowly stood up and then noticed the real threat. “Shit,” he said slamming the door shut just as a zombie banged into it.
The door rattled, it did not look very sturdy to me.
“What is all this racket?” Faye asked as she shuffled into the room.
Winke and I were looking at the backdoor. Light was beginning to filter in around the edges every time the zombie walked into it. All three of us were frozen right until the zombie broke the door viewer.
“Gonna need a gun, Faye,” Winke said, never taking his eyes off the door; I guess he was hoping if he kept willing it shut it would stay.
Ben-Ben came back with Faye who had a very small fire stick.
“Why are they at Santa’s house?” Ben-Ben asked.
Wood was splintering when Faye sent the metal bee flying. The zombie fell backward. Jessie was in the kitchen by the time the next one took its place.
“Give me the gun, Faye. Go out the front and get everyone over to Sean’s house,” Winke told his wife.
“I’m not leaving you here,” she told him.
“Faye, this door isn’t going to hold much longer, get them over there now. I’ll be right behind you.”
Faye was looking suspiciously at him.
“I’ll be right behind you—go!” he shouted as he let fly another metal bee.
I couldn’t see how many zombies there were, but when one fell another immediately took its place.
“Riley, come on,” Jessie said a moment later. Zach was in her arms and Patches was at her feet.
“I’ll watch out for the girl and the cub,” Patches said.
“Go!” I barked at them much like Winke had earlier. Jessie turned to leave at Faye’s urging. Ben-Ben came up beside me; it was good to have him.
“Nobody messes with Santa,” he told me seriously.
“You two along for the ride?” Winke asked.
A car ride right now sounded like dog heaven, but when we didn’t move I figured he meant something different. Humans were funny like that. Their words did not always equal their actions.
Winke fired a few more bees, then rushed over to one of the wooden food containers. He grabbed a box of bees and quickly placed some in the small stick. More wood had splintered while he wasn’t shooting, zombies would be inside soon. I hoped Jessie and Zach were at the neighbor’s and the cat had kept her word, might as well have asked a squirrel to give up some of its nuts.
The door swung in just as he started firing again, the lead zombie came to a halt mere whisker-lengths away from my muzzle. Winke kept firing until he ran out of bees. “That’s it, guys. That should have given them enough time, we have to go.”
Winke turned to leave. A zombie came running into the house at full speed. It was later I would remember that until this point all the zombies had been slow but right then I had to help save Santa.
The zombie ran into Winke’s back and he probably would have fallen backward from the impact with Winke but Winke’s foot got caught up in the food room’s chair. He fell over, with the zombie on top of him. Ben-Ben was there before me; he bit deeply into the zombie’s neck. The zombie was trying desperately to get through Winke’s fake skins.
“Ben-Ben, watch the door, I’ll get the zombie on Winke’s—I mean Santa’s back!”
Ben-Ben was reluctant to leave but when I grabbed the zombie’s leg and had him half off he went to the door, there wasn’t much he could do because of his height except trip the zombies up, but that was enough. Winke was scrambling to get up on his knees as I was pulling the zombie off. Winke screamed as he turned and laid a ham sized fist into the zombie’s nose. Winke got completely up as I dragged the zombie a little bit away from him.
“Let’s go,” Winke and I said almost in unison.
Ben-Ben was limping but he didn’t say anything as we ran for the front door. Winke held it open for us as we raced through. He slammed it shut as zombies poured into his living room. I saw Faye frantically waving and tapping a home viewer from across the yard. She looked scared, we were in agreement there. We were halfway to the house when we were seen by the
hunters. Winke’s log legs were serving him well, he ran pretty good for a two-legger, Ben-Ben was having difficulty keeping up, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him much like I would my young if I had had any.
“This is better than running!” Ben-Ben said, his tongue lolling and his tail wagging.
“Stay still,” I mumbled.
“Come on, you damn fool,” Faye said to Winke, urging him into the house.
Winke fell onto the floor and we were right behind him. Faye slammed the door shut as Jessie placed a large metal bar in place to secure the door. The door shook a little but it was in no threat of giving like Winke’s.
“I got bit!” Winke said. He lifted the blue fake skins on his leg.
“Are you sure?” Faye asked, getting down to get a closer look at it.
“I think I’d damned well know if I got bit,” Winke said.
Faye had a sharp intake of breath as she looked at the bite. She ran her finger over its outline. “Thank God it didn’t break skin.”
“You sure?” Winke asked.
“I think I’d damned well know if I saw blood,” Faye said, throwing his words back at him. “You fool, you could have got yourself killed.”
“It would have been worth it to be sure you made it. These two saved my life,” Winke said, grabbing Ben-Ben and me. “These are some special dogs,” he told Jessie.
“I know,” she said, getting down to pet us.
“If it wasn’t for me they would never have made it over here,” Patches said indignantly. “I showed them how to walk quietly.”
“Now what?” Faye asked as she looked through the viewer to her domicile.
“Well, I guess this is home now,” Winke said as he got up and stood next to her. We could clearly hear things breaking and smashing across the way.
“Is this place any safer?” Jessie asked.
“This is a small fortress,” Winke said. “This was our neighbor, the survivalists’, home. We should have just moved in after… well, after they left.”
“You know I couldn’t,” Faye said. “That’s been our home for the last forty years. I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving our kids’ bedrooms, it would have been too final.”
“I know, Hon, I know,” Winke said, putting his arm around his wife. “We left most of their stuff here just usually came over and grabbed what we needed, kind of like a 7-11, I guess. I just always knew this day would come and it would be better to have everything here.”
“Come on, Faye,” Winke said leading his wife into the new food room. Sit—me and Jessie will get some breakfast going.”
“I’m staying with Santa, Riley,” Ben-Ben said.
The sadness wafted off Faye. I stayed with her.
Patches hopped up onto the ledge of the home viewer. “More zombies are coming,” she said.
My body shuddered; I hated the dead ones. Winke and Jessie came back a few moments later with their arms full of food boxes. “Faye, they have an indoor vented generator,” Winke said excitedly.
Faye didn’t respond.
“You know what that means, don’t you?” he asked. She still didn’t respond. “How does the idea of a hot shower sound?”
At least this time she looked up.
“Lights,” he said. That one word seemed to have a big effect as a grin spread on her face.
“I’ll be able to read at night?” she asked.
“Hell, you’ll even be able to plug in your e-reader.” He laughed.
“It’s at our house Winke,” she said resignedly. “And don’t you even think about going and getting it.”
“We’ll see,” he said as he pulled on his long face mane.
“Oh, a shower would be so nice.”
“Go take one. I’ll get some eats ready.