Roads Less Traveled (14 page)

“I’ll show you all around then,” I said and began the tour.

* * *

Nancy and Kyra helped me prepare supper while the guys finished hauling the supplies into the house. And I think the only reason Kyra helped was because Nancy browbeat her into doing so. They brought more than what they would need, but Nancy explained she didn’t want to assume what I would and wouldn’t have here. The things I didn’t need were taken to the basement, while the other stuff was either divided up amongst the five and put into their bedrooms, or taken to various rooms of the house, wherever they might be needed.

I was setting the table when I looked up and caught Jake staring at me from the opposite side.

“Yes?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. He smiled and shrugged.

“Just wonderin’ what’s to eat,” he said.

“Well, I thought for your first night here we would have steak. Plus I’m trying to eat everything in the freezer. I don’t know how long the power will stay on.”

Jake closed his eyes and sighed, smiling and making me a little more uncomfortable than I already was. Ben walked up behind him just as he spoke.

“Will you marry me?” he said. I snorted, then laughed hard when I saw Ben’s face. Jake turned and saw his friend, who had suddenly turned pale.

“Oh shit, dude, didn’t know you were there. I’ll uh, I’ll be upstairs,” he said and took off up the steps, chuckling all the way. I just shook my head and smiled at Ben.

“He’s funny,” I said. He smirked and followed me into the kitchen. Kyra and Nancy were just taking the last of the steaks off the George Foreman.

“We need to talk about sleeping arrangements,” Ben said to the three of us. I put down the silverware I had been holding and leaned on the counter.

“Ok, what’s up?” I asked.

“Well, there’s no problem. We sorted that out pretty well amongst ourselves. The thing is, there aren’t enough beds, and Jake kicks like a damned mule,” he said sheepishly, as if he were afraid to bring it up. Understanding crossed my face and I nodded.

“Ah yes. Did you notice the house a couple miles down my driveway? Just before the big gate,” I said. All three nodded. “I figured we could go down there and steal some beds from them.” I said and held my hand up before they could protest. “Don’t worry, my neighbors won’t mind.”

The other two had come downstairs and joined us in the kitchen by this time. Even Gus was sitting by the dining room table, the smell of steak tearing his little doggy heart out.

“What do you mean, they won’t mind? Were they, like, away or something when all this went down?” Kyra asked, her eyes wide with disapproval. I shook my head and sighed, fixing her in place with my steady gaze.

“No. They weren’t, like, away or something. I killed them and burned the bodies a few days ago. And yes, before you ask, they were already dead. Well, already dead when I shot them, that is,” I smirked. “So no, they won’t mind if we take a few of their beds. They had kids, so I know there’ll be various sizes to choose from.” My smirk faltered greatly at the memory of killing those children. Zombie kids are the creepiest things there are, next to zombie animals, of course.

“Oh,” Kyra answered softly. She turned her eyes to the floor and started carrying food into the dining room. Nancy smiled comfortingly and patted my shoulder as she passed, also carrying a tray of food like a waitress. The guys stepped forward, closing in next to me. Zack spoke up first.

“It’s too late today, but we can take care of that in the morning,” he said. That calm, cool, collectedness practically oozed from him, and I wondered how much of it was an act. He seemed to be coming around, but I still didn’t trust him. Hell, I’d only just met him. I was starting to realize, however, why he had been so hesitant and stubborn. He had just met
me
, so of course he didn’t trust me. Yet. We were the same, Zack and I. Or at least we had a similar distrust of people in common. Either way, I was starting to understand where he was coming from, and decided to keep that in mind.

“Yeah, we’ll take the pickup down, load ‘em up,” Jake said. Ben and I nodded.

“Until then, I guess you guys will just have to deal with sleeping together,” I smiled and turned towards the dining room. Ben and Jake punched each other in the arm, and Zack snorted.

“Man, I’m glad I got a room to myself,” he said, bringing up the rear. I grunted and took my seat at the table. Gus fell into place beside me, finally giving up and lying down next to my feet. I watched with a satisfied feeling as the others gathered around the table, talking and laughing as they sat and started filling their plates. Ben must have noticed the look on my face because he rested his hand over mine and squeezed. I caught his eye and smiled back. He nodded and we all dug in.

Chapter Ten

October 6
^th

I woke with a start that morning. The nightmares were creeping back, no matter how hard I fought them. I’d assumed having other people under my roof would help me rest easier. But given the level of tension that existed between Kyra, Zack, and me, I don’t know why I was surprised. We all know what assuming does anyway: it makes an ass out of you and me. And I felt like an ass that morning. I’d always been an early riser, but I could already smell coffee brewing downstairs.
Probably Nancy,
I thought. Gus raised his head and blinked his sleepy eyes. I sat up and leaned forward, reaching out and stroking the old dog’s nose.

“You can go back to sleep buddy. You deserve it,” I crooned. As if on cue, he lowered his head and almost immediately began to snore. I chuckled quietly and slid out of bed. After washing up at my bathroom sink (I was so grateful to have my own bathroom now), I jerked on my robe and slippers and started for the door. I hesitated just as I was about to open it and walked backwards to the window. I peered outside, squinting my morning eyes against the first light of day, and saw my side of the perimeter was clear. I nodded and headed back to the door, glancing at the now-drooling dog on my bed.

I tread quietly down the steps, not wanting to wake anyone else up. I was rubbing my eyes and yawning when I came into the kitchen, then stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it was not Nancy who had beaten me to the coffee pot. I clamped my mouth shut mid-yawn, pulled my robe closed, and tied the belt around my waist.

“Morning,” I said groggily. It suddenly dawned on me I would have to tone down my usual morning crankiness around these newcomers. The only one who really knew me was Ben, but the others might get a little perturbed if I started biting heads off their very first day in a new home.

“Morning,” Zack grunted. He sat at the small kitchen table in my favorite chair. This fact alone would have been enough in the pre-Z days to set me off. But I merely smiled and took a cup from the cabinet. He sipped his coffee quietly while I poured my own and leaned against the sink.

“Sleep well?” I asked. It felt odd talking this much in the morning, and to a stranger who had made it obvious he didn’t trust me.

He shrugged and tilted his head. “Yeah I suppose...as well as can be expected.” He forced a faint smile, then went back to his coffee. I studied him in silence for a moment and caught myself wondering if he was trying to smooth things out between us. Maybe sleeping on it had helped?

“Want breakfast?” I asked softly. He looked up and nodded, then started to slide the chair back. I held a hand up and shook my head.

“No, it’s okay. Drink your coffee. Just tell me what you want and I’ll fix it.” I wanted to focus my attention on something other than the relative stranger sitting in my kitchen, and I also wanted to meet him halfway; put the fire out on the bridge I’d almost burned. He was easy on the eyes, that much was obvious. And he also seemed to have a similar hatred of mornings, which I could certainly appreciate. But I was hungry, and he didn’t know where anything was yet.

“Nothing much. I can’t eat a big meal when I first wake up. Something sweet would be good,” he answered. I smiled and walked to the corner cabinet. I opened it and revealed several boxes of assorted donuts and Danish.

“Zack, I think we have something in common,” I said. He chuckled and rubbed his face with one hand when he saw all the sweets, then nodded and smiled. Mama always said food was the way to a man’s heart. Yeah, he was starting to come around. I’d have to worry about Kyra next. I pulled a box of cheese Danish down and set it on the table in front of him. He opened it and took one out.

“That’ll do,” he said and began eating. I walked into the dining room and carried a chair back to the kitchen table. We sat together in silence, eating cheese Danish and drinking coffee. When I saw he was running low, I took both our cups and refilled them, then sat back down and enjoyed the quiet.

“This is my favorite time of the day,” I said after we had had our fill. “Well, other than the whole waking up part. Hate that.”

He smiled faintly. “Yeah, tell me about it. I usually wake up pissed off at the world, but I’m good to go after a couple of cups. I like the quiet of early morning, before anyone else is awake and generally irritating you,” he said softly. His low voice was very smooth and soothing, and was starting to lose the edge it’d had with me the day before. I nodded my agreement with his assessment and finished my own coffee. After scooting back from the table and carrying my cup to the sink, I closed the box of pastries and set it on the counter, then patted him on the shoulder as I passed and headed upstairs to get dressed. With any luck, the others would be awake and ready to go by the time I was finished.

* * *

Nancy stood on the front porch waving to us as we drove down the drive. Jake was driving, with Kyra and I in the front with him. Zack and Ben had opted to ride in the bed instead of us sitting on their laps. He stopped at the gate and I hopped out to open it. I waited until he was through, then I walked it back and hung the chain over it instead of locking it. Ben was shouting at me teasingly to hurry up, which I immediately shushed him for. He shrugged his shoulders in that “oops” way and covered his mouth. Zack hit him in the shoulder and made a ‘you’re-an-idiot’ face at him. I slid in beside Kyra and we were off. I tried talking to the girl a few times on the way down, but she apparently didn’t have much to say to me. Jake, however, did. And he didn’t shut up until we hit my neighbor’s driveway.

We came to a stop just in front of Mr. Crousley’s garage. His front door stood wide open and a strong breeze was banging the screen door against the house. I knocked on the back glass and motioned for the two fellas to stay put, then pulled my sidearm and opened the door.

“Jake, you’re with me. We’ll check it out, just to be sure it’s empty. Kyra, you and the guys stay here ‘til we get back,” I said as I got out. Jake met me on my side and had his pistol drawn as well.

“Hey, we’re going with you,” Ben whispered harshly. Zack closed his hand around Ben’s upper arm and pulled him back when he tried to stand. My gut told me this was it; would Zack argue Ben’s point, or would he relent and follow my lead? Zack looked back and forth between me and Jake for a long moment, every so often biting the inside of his lip with his eyebrows drawn low. I kept quiet and hoped Jake would as well. Zack needed to think this through on his own. He had a good, solid head on his shoulders from what I could tell, and he would make the right decision.

“No, we’re staying here and keeping watch. Kasey and Jake can clear the place. Face it Ben, they’re better with weapons than we are. If we see any trouble, we’ll have Kyra blow the horn,” Zack said firmly. Ben pleaded with his eyes on me, but I shook my head and turned towards the house. We walked up the sidewalk, half crouched, with both our hands on our weapons and pointing them at the ground. I had to bite my lip to stay focused; the sudden change in dynamics between Zack and I had thrown me a bit, no matter how relieved I felt.

We eased up to the front door and I caught the screen with my foot, the sudden lack of slamming a little disarming. I nodded once to Jake and he walked through the opening, gun raised and braced for an attack that did not come. I followed closely behind, and we cleared the first floor: approaching a door, one of us would open it, the other would enter with the other following behind. It occurred to me how odd it was that the two of us were so in sync, considering we that had never met and the only things we knew about the other had come from Ben. Maybe this stemmed from our similar backgrounds, having grown up around weapons and hunting our whole lives. Maybe we were just more alike than either of us, or even Ben, had realized.

There were obvious signs of a violent struggle; blood splashed over the walls and on the carpet, pieces of what we assumed were flesh here and there. Jake motioned for me to stop when we hit the staircase going upstairs. He held up one finger, put it to his closed mouth, then to his ear. I nodded then jumped when he spoke.

“Hey, any of you dead fuckers up there?” he said. He didn’t shout, just talked in a normal conversational tone. But it still almost made me pee my pants. Right away his finger went back to his lips, and we listened. He smiled and raised both eyebrows when we heard nothing. He jabbed me in the side with his elbow before starting up the stairs.