Nobody even looked at us twice as we meshed back into a group of them. Apparently leeches don't communicate. A couple of guys that bore a family resemblance and a third headed off to check out one of the base houses.
"Hey, do you mind if we come?" I asked the person that I assumed to be the leader of the trio.
The guy spit out a wad of tobacco, turned to look at us both. "You don't get all weak in the knees with killing do you?"
I shook my head in the negative.
"What if its women or kids?"
I shook my head again and even added in a lip scrunching to get my point across.
"What about him? He already looks a little queasy." The guy asked pointing to Justin.
"Naw, he's fine." I said. "He just had a bad can of Spam for breakfast." I proxied.
"I hate that shit. Either of you get in my way, I'll kill you." And with that he turned back around and headed towards the house.
The third man of the trio brazenly walked up to the front door and kicked it in. I more than half expected a shotgun blast to send him reeling back down the steps. I was more concerned the vial around his neck would get broken than the douchebag’s neck getting busted. When nothing happened we all walked in. The first man walked straight down the hallway like he had just come home from work. The leader quickly followed but got halfway down the hallway and took a left into the kitchen. His brother would have followed except for the seven-inch blade I stuck in his rib cage and through his lungs. You could barely hear the small 'thud' as he slipped out of my arms on the way to the floor or you might have never known about his passing.
"Bollie! Get in here man, they have your favorite." The leader shouted from around the corner.
I never did learn what his favorite was.
"What the fuck man!?" The first guy through the door had made a circuitous route and was now coming in from the living room. Tough not to figure out what was going on considering I was standing over the dead body of his friend with a bloody knife in my hand.
"Earl!" He yelled. "Get in here, these fuckers killed Bollie."
Justin's MP4 jumped in his hands as he fired a burst at close range into the man. The first round caught him square in the chest. Subsequent rounds neatly climbed up his body as the gun recoiled. The second bullet ripped out his carotid artery and the third would have made any Mohawk Indian proud as the top of the man's skull plate was neatly sheared off. Zombie pate.
And yes that did go through my mind. My errant thought nearly got me killed as Earl had come around the corner, his AK-47 ripping through the siding next to me. I pushed Justin into the living room. We toppled over his fresh kill. We would never be in a position to defend ourselves in time. Divine intervention, sheer luck, fate, I don't know. I don't have the answers. Bigger things than my mere life were going on. I sometimes felt like we were on a cosmic chessboard and far superior beings than myself were playing a game for our survival. Who knows, maybe it was nothing more than 'Trading Places' and the whole screwed up thing was based on a wager of a Narflack, which basically translates to one American dollar. The distinctive chatter of the 7.62 lead shedding dispenser was cut off by a much smaller almost fire cracker sounding weapon.
"That a .22?" Justin asked me. We both scrambled as far away from the doorway as possible. A loud thud, presumably Earl, hit the floor. We were safe for the moment.
"You in there." A voice trying to be bigger and bolder than it really was, rang out. "Your friend is dead and you're next if I don't see your guns and then your hands."
"Jesse?" I asked.
"Who is it?" His voice cracked and he immediately attempted to recover thinking this might be a ruse. In a much deeper tone he said, "You should get out of my house before I do to you what I did to your friend."
"You keep saying that but I can assure you that he was far from my friend. Jesse, its Mike Talbot and Justin."
He wasn't prepared to give in quite so quickly. "Why are you with these guys?"
"Jesse we weren't. We took out two of them before you got the third. Is your dad around, I might have found a way to get off this base?"
"No it's just me, Blake, Porkchop and Rachael."
"What are you doing Jesse, what did you tell him that for?" Blake admonished his older brother.
"Jess, it's me Justin." All the boys had become fast friends during my days of rehabilitation. If anyone could break through this détente my money was on Justin. "I'm gonna slide my gun out and then come through, don't shoot me," he threw in for good measure.
The relief on Jesse's face as we all made our impromptu reunion was evident. His dad and mom were getting some supplies when the invasion had happened. Jesse was assigned with babysitting duties. He was under the distinct impression that it wasn't going to involve gun play though.
"You did good." I told him as he did his best to avoid looking at the man he had shot. Blood was beginning to pool in the foyer.
"Eww, gross." Rachael said as she stepped into the hallway.
"Cool." Porkchop said. "Hey Mr. Talbot, Justin, did Dad send you guys?"
"Someone did, Porkchop, but I don’t know who." I told him cryptically.
He understood about as much of that sentence as was possible, so basically none.
"Holy shit!" Porkchop yelled.
"Dad says you're not supposed to swear." Rachael told him.
"Sorry." He said absently, but he wasn't. His vision was fixed squarely on the gun by Earl's head. "Can I have that?"
My first inclination was to say absolutely not. But more guns meant more chances of freedom. Actually, wasn't really my call, I wasn't in charge here. I deferred to Jesse, after all he was watching them and had already proved adept at the task.
"What do you think Jesse?" I asked him.
I'll give him this, he thought about it for a few seconds, then he handed Porkchop the .22 and grabbed the AK for himself. Porkchop couldn’t have been any more pleased. Blake grabbed the hunting rifle off of Earl's brother. Rachael started to head for the man in the living room. Jesse, Blake and Porkchop in unison, told her 'no way' in three different manners. She stomped her foot and turned away. I could guarantee if we got through the next week together she was going to make their lives a living hell.
I was happy we had saved the Doc's kids and they had saved us but not at all thrilled this now meant we had to kill another nine humans. As any soldier can attest, man is the most cunning, devious prey out there. Zombies were a mindless killing machine. They wouldn't be doing any trigonometry, ok scratch that, bad analogy, I wouldn't be doing any trig either. You get the point though, killing something that has an equal chance of killing you, that's hunting. It's not like a white tail deer is going to hide behind a tree waiting for you and then clobber you on the head with its hoof. I guarantee a lot less people would be trying to get a license come hunting season, although redneck population growth might be kept in check if deer could even the odds.
Alright, I'm off course, I had a major dilemma. If no one got too close I could pull off the illusion that Jesse and Porkchop were fellow fighters. Blake, because of his size would be stretching plausibility, but no way was I going to be able to pull off that a 10 year old girl would be in this fight. Our chances of success depended wholly on being able to blend in. I couldn't leave them here though. Sooner rather than later somebody else was going to come into this house and with the dead bodies and blood everywhere they would not be caught unawares.
"Dad, we should get moving." Justin said as he peered out the window.
"Tie her up." I said without any further clarification.
"Tie who up?" Rachael asked indignantly. "Me?" She asked pointing to herself. "Nobody is tying me up, I'm a woman!" She roared.
"Mr. Talbot?" Porkchop asked querulously.
"Cool. Been wanting to do that since they brought her home from the hospital." Blake said. Rachael looked as if she was going to explode.
"Probably you too." I said pointing to Blake. Rachael smiled, sticking her tong
ue out at her middle brother.
"What's going on Mr. Talbot?" Jesse asked moving closer and closer to a defensive posture.
"Jesse, we'll never be able to convince those guys out there that these kids are combatants."
"I'm not a kid!" Blake said, his lip trembling.
"You look like you're about to cry." Rachael laughed pointing her finger at her brother.
"I'm sorry Blake, but we have to make it look like you and your sister are our prisoners."
"Dad, it looks like we might be getting some company." Justin said stepping away from the window.
"Alive or dead?" I asked.
"Both."
"Shit, drag Bollie further down the hallway get the pendants and hand them out."
"What are you going to do?"
"Welcome our guests."
Two zombies were halfway up the steps when I opened the front door. Two men trailed a few steps behind, guns at the ready when they saw me.
"Don’t shoot." I said holding up my hands.
"What are you doing in there?" The guy on the left asked.
"Getting some food and a little on the side." I laughed. "There's a feisty one in here."
The zombies approached the front door. It was all I could do to not slam the door in their decaying faces and blow large holes through the faux oak paneling. The two paid me no attention as they bumped up against me trying to get through.
"Can you call off your dogs, I'd like to finish up in here and then they can have the scraps."
The guy on the right licked his lips. "How old?" He fairly drooled.
God forgive me. "Ten," I leered. Inwardly I was repulsed.
"Mind if I watch, maybe get a piece when you're through?" He asked. He was already coming forward. I would spare the lives of these zombies before I would spare his worthless existence.
"We don’t have time for this, Rax. There'll be plenty of that shit when it's over." The smaller guy on the right said.
"Oh hell Haggart, this shit's over 'cept for the fat lady singing. And I want some now." Rax said grabbing his crotch.
The zombies were still pushing up against me, fluids of varying viscosity and color where being transferred from them to me but still Rax was making me sicker.
"Seriously Haggart, nobody's getting anything if these two dip shits get in here." I said pushing one of the zombies back. My hand went nearly four inches into a corroded chest cavity. I did vomit a little in my mouth. Haggart walked up the steps, got to the side of the two zombies, pulled out a colt .45 and took out both zombies with one shot.
I was in shock and doing my best to disguise it, which is nearly useless considering I can't even play poker because I'm so readable.
"What?" Haggart said putting his gun back in its holster. "It's not like they obey commands. 'Sides, we have thousands more," he said laughing. "Anything in there a little older? I mean in a pinch I'll fuck anything." And I believed him. "But them kids can be a little unaccommodating when you're carrying something as big as I am." He leered.
What the fuck is wrong with these people???!! "Yeah there's a 15 year old too." I didn't tell him what sex, by his not asking I took that as a sign that he was an equal opportunity rapist. I backed up into the hallway, making myself appear as large as possible to hide any incriminating evidence. Rax nearly bowled Haggart over trying to get in.
Rax was busy fumbling with his pants when I shut the door. Haggart was first to notice the blood trail.
"The dad." I told him when he looked at me. "Knife through the ribs."
"Hardcore man." Haggart said clapping my shoulder while making himself at home.
Rax was almost finished undoing his belt buckle. I wanted to slice his throat open but Haggart wouldn't put his damn rifle down. I was hoping to avoid a gun battle as the enemy soldiers were entirely too close and would most assuredly investigate.
Haggart was about five feet in front of me, with Rax in between the two of us, when Rachael stepped into the hallway from the far end.
"Please make them stop." She cried. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks.
"Oh she's hot!" Rax said as his pants fell to the floor. I thanked all that was holy that he had underwear on even if there was more brown than white to them. All's fair in rape and pillage I suppose, as Rax pushed the smaller man out of his way. Rachael cowered as the man headed down the hallway. My chance had come. I grabbed the K-Bar out of my leg sheath and dragged the honed bladed across Haggart's neck. I barely felt any resistance as his skin parted under the pressure. Blood shot out like a fountain. I sliced across the width of his neck cutting deeper than was necessary. I just wanted to hasten his journey to hell. Rax, who was breathing entirely too heavy to hear the final gurgles of his friend, lurched on.
I let Haggart hit the ground. I was in no mood to make his final moments on the planet any more pleasant than they had to be.
Rax turned when the floor under his feet jumped. "What the fuck is going on?" He said angrily.
"You want to mess with my sister? You sick fuck!" Jesse said coming out from the kitchen. "Nobody messes with my sister except for me!" He screamed.
Rax turned from imminent death into the waiting arms of demise as Jesse plunged a butcher knife hilt deep into his stomach. Rax roared from the pain. A back hand sent Jesse skidding across the kitchen linoleum. Rax placed both hands on the hilt and screamed as he pulled it free. I hammered my K-Bar home through the right side of the neck, the point of the blade emerging an inch past the left side of his neck. Blood flowed into his mouth and onto the floor as he fell to his knees, dropping the knife. I pulled my knife free just as he fell face forward. By the sound of the crunching noise his last few moments on this plane of existence were with a broken nose.
"What the hell are you two doing?" I said trying to yell at both kids simultaneously.
"My mom always said I was a good actress. I wanted to see if she was right." Rachael said. She tried for a smile, but even as good an actress as she was she couldn't pull it off with such a gruesome scene in front of her.
"Piece of shit wanted to rape my sister." Jesse said standing up, rubbing his rapidly reddening jaw line.
"You alright?" I asked as I pulled his hand down to get a better look. He nodded.
Blake came in behind his sister. "Don't blame her, Mr. Talbot. It was my idea. I figured you were going to need a distraction."
"It's okay, nobody's hurt," I said. "Just one bruise and 47 accumulated years of therapy and everyone should be fine."
"Dad, we have to get out of here. We're running out of hallway space." Justin said.
"That's funny." I told him. "Sick but funny."
"Got it from you."
"Might have to include you on that therapy time scale." I was worried about Rachael. Sure, she appeared tough and she probably was, with three older brothers, she had to be. But she was still only ten. As a ten year old if this had all unfolded in front of me I probably would have pulled a 'Tommy,' and not our kindly other-worldly Wal-Mart greeter. I'm talking about The Who's rock opera “Tommy.” I'd be catatonic.
"You alright Rachael?" I asked. My heart bled for her. I'll give her this, she was pretty upset, but extremely resistant to letting her brothers know.
"I would like to see my mom now," she said, while coming through the rooms to my right to completely avoid the hallway altogether.
"What if Dad tries to come back here?" Blake asked.
My honest answer was that he'd die trying. There was no way he'd be able to get through. I was happy that I was able to give a more politically correct version of that response though. "We're not going to give him the chance. It'll be easier for us to get to him." That might not be completely true. If he did try and succeed, what then? He'd find a blood bath in his house and his kids missing. I know that would drive me over the edge. I had to hope that Doc was lying low, looking for a chance to come back. There should still be time to get to him before he did anything truly foolish.
"Okay, original plan. Get som
e rope, we'll tie you and your sister up and we'll go get your dad, my family and get the hell out of here."
A couple of minutes later and we were ready to go.
"Geez we got it, Mr. Talbot, these are slip knots. If we run into any problems we pull on the piece of rope in our hand and the knot will fall away." Rachael said with the disdain that only a pre-teen girl can pull off.
"And then what?" I'd been drilling them the whole time I had been tying them up. It was bad enough when I had my own kids to protect. This was brutal.
"Then we run." Blake said nervously.
"That's the plan, Mr. Talbot?" Jesse asked.
A little thin on the meat side. In fact, 'the plan' was mostly filler, McDonald's would be proud. I shrugged. "It's all I've got."
"Eh, okay." Jesse said stamping his approval on the whole venture.
"Dad, we should get going, the last of the enemy is coming and then it’s the giant truck and I'm pretty sure she's on it." Justin said as he visibly paled.
"Who's she?" Rachael asked.
"The bogeywoman." I said stepping up to the door.
"There's no such thing." She shot back.
"I wish you were right sweetie. Justin, Jesse you two out first, then Blake and Rachael, I'll bring up the rear."
"Dad, aren't they going to wonder why the zombies aren't attacking our prisoners?" Justin asked.
We were actually plus one in the 'Zombie Off' department. "Let's just hope the zombies are far enough ahead that's not going to be a problem." A heavy vibration began at my feet and worked its way up. The Terex was getting close. "Let's go, and stay close."
There was a time when the world was still 'normal.' I had been driving with Tracy to check out a Black Friday sale. I was going 60 miles per hour in the fast lane and still a black Hearse was crawling up my ass. I immediately moved over two lanes because it felt like death was fast approaching, that was how I felt right now. That same unsettling churn of bile in your guts, the kind that threatens to make hot butt mud. Sorry about the graphic nature, the truth is gross sometimes. There was, however, no way to change lanes this time. We were on a one lane highway and it seemed like this one had two way traffic.