100 Days of Death (41 page)

I rolled across the ground and came up into a crouch, disengaging the safety and pushing the weapon out in front of me. Immediately I saw my companions being held at gunpoint in front of the Expedition by three ratty looking people. Alison was holding onto Chloe, who was growling menacingly. This seemed to amuse our attackers more than worry them.

I heard someone to my left say, “That boy down there have anything to eat?”

I turned to see a fourth man in his forties aiming a shotgun at my friends. He wasn’t looking at me when he spoke, but turned to look at me when I didn’t respond. He clearly thought I was the guy I left down in the basement. His eyes widened in surprise.

Although I didn’t think about it at the time, I must have looked like something out of Dante’s Inferno, blood-soaked and rising out of a pit in the earth.

I didn’t hesitate. I shot him in the face and took aim at my next target before he fell. I shot a stocky woman in the back between the shoulder blades. Her gun clattered to the ground and she fell, face down.

To her right, a hillbilly in his twenties turned to see what the commotion was. My first round caught him in the stomach and the second burrowed into his chest, knocking him off his feet.

To his right, an old woman in a denim jacket was holding a bolt-action rifle. She dropped it and raised her hands. Her jaw worked up and down but no sounds came out. Finally, she found her voice.

“Don’t kill me, mister. We wasn’t going to hurt nobody. We was just looking for food. You don’t got to kill…”

The bark of my pistol cut her off. A chunk of her skull blew outward at an odd angle and she dropped in her tracks. I scanned the area looking for more targets. My ears rang loudly. Not seeing any immediate threats, I reached for a fresh magazine and dropped the old one out. I hadn’t been counting my rounds and didn’t want to take any chances. Reloaded, I clicked the safety on and holstered my Colt, switching to my CAR 15.

I saw movement to my left and took aim. An infected man scrambled over the rubble of the house next door. I dropped him with the second shot. I heard Alison yelling at me and I looked over. I hadn’t noticed her approach me.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, putting her hand to my bloody face. “It’s not mine.” I growled.

“We have to get out of here. There may be more of them.” Alison said.

I didn’t know if she was talking about the Infected or the rednecks. As I mentioned before, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was furious that these shitheads had trespassed on my father’s property and I was looking for a fight. I cursed in fury, daring anyone to incur my wrath.

I could see over a dozen undead running up the street toward us. I wanted to kill every last one of them. I wanted to retrieve the things from my dad’s safe. Somehow Alison convinced me to leave. I watched as everybody loaded into our SUVs and then opened the driver’s side door to the Expedition.

I whistled loudly and a moment later Chloe came bolting out from under the ruins. She had smartly run for cover once the gunfire had started. She leapt into the vehicle and I got in behind her, closing the door just as a plague victim slammed into it.

I honestly don’t remember the drive out to Loy Cutter’s farm. My dad had been good friends with Mr. Cutter and I had gone shooting in his fields as a boy. When Loy died, my dad purchased the property, but hadn’t done anything with it except gone hunting there occasionally.

The place is remote and sits on forty acres. Trees surround the property as well as a barbed- wire fence. The house itself sits up on a hill overlooking overgrown grassy fields. The front gate across the road was locked but I remembered where the key was hidden.

When we got to the house, it was empty. No note, nothing. It has been well kept, well stocked, and recently occupied. We searched the grounds but couldn’t find anything to tell us the fate of my father.

There is a working generator in the basement and blackout curtains around the house. I also noted the solar panels on the roof when we got here. At first, I was angry that everyone just made themselves at home, but realized that I was just out of sorts.

I tried to write in this journal to organize my thoughts and calm down last night, but that obviously didn’t work out very well. I finally fell asleep and didn’t wake up until almost noon today. Someone cleaned and dressed my stab wound sometime during the night. My shoulder is stiff and sore, but I can move it.

I walked into the kitchen and was in awe at the normalcy of the situation.

Cody and Grace were coloring at the table. Alison and Marion were baking what smelled suspiciously like cookies. Through the window I could see Albert and Jim unloading our gear out of our SUVs.

I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so peaceful. The monstrous rage I felt the day before was a fading memory. Alison looked over and smiled at me. Cody and Grace glanced up nervously, but both quickly went back to what they were doing, trying to ignore me. I’m sure I had been pretty terrifying to them; a blood-soaked boogey man to fuel their nightmares.

Marion called the guys in and we all sat at the table. Alison served us eggs, potatoes, and toast. Cody complained, wanting cookies instead, but Marion promised him they would have treats later. Albert grinned lamely at me but didn’t have anything to say, so he stuffed his face with food.

Everyone dug in except me. I felt ashamed at my behavior, depressed that my stepmother had passed, and that I had no idea where my father was. I was grateful to be alive and safe. My throat was tight as I looked around at my… family.

Jim glanced up and, after a minute of studying me, pointed a wedge of toast in my direction and said, “We’ll find him.”

I nodded and swallowed hard. We all ate in comfortable silence.

This afternoon Albert and I walked the perimeter of the property, making sure there were no breaks in the fence.

I cleaned my weapons and finally took Cody out to teach him to shoot. He was a little quiet around me until I sat him on a log and said, “What I did yesterday was terrible, but I did it to protect all of you. Everyone here is your family, Cody. That means we look out for each other, no matter what it takes. You understand?”

Cody thought about it for a minute and then nodded. He picked up the basics of marksmanship pretty quickly. I thought I would regret bringing him with us but I was wrong. He’s exactly what we needed.

Tonight after Cody and Grace were asleep we sat in the living room to discuss our future. We chanced making a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed the warmth and comfort it provided. We talked about the usual stuff - food, supplies, fuel, safety.

We skirted the thing everyone really wanted to talk about until I finally just came out and said it. “Unless any of you have somewhere else you want to be, as far as I’m concerned, we’re all home. We have a legitimate claim to this place and we can be safe here.”

Everybody looked at each other, but nobody spoke for a moment. A log crackled, and firelight danced about the room.

“That offer extends to all of us?” Jim drawled.

“Are you going to make me get all gooey on you and beg you to stay?” I asked. Everybody smiled.

Albert looked at me solemnly and said, “I’ve never really had something that was mine. I lived with Mom for a while, and I stayed in the back room at the security company when I worked there. Then I stayed with you after this all happened. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. I wouldn’t be anywhere…”

He opened his mouth to say more, but thought better of it.

We spent the next hour just enjoying the quiet. For the first time since leaving Kester’s preserve, we did not assign guard duties. I was a little nervous about it at first, but warmed to the idea the more I thought about it.

As I sit here writing this, Alison and Chloe are sleeping peacefully on the bed. I can hear a light rain pattering on the roof. After all that we’ve been through, have we finally found a place to call home? The skeptical side of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop. If my dad returns though, my life will be complete. It is almost too much to hope for.

DAY 99

I woke up early this morning before dawn.

I took Chloe outside and just stood on the dewy grass looking up at the stars. I could see my breath drift out in vaporous clouds. Chloe sniffed around and explored the area. An owl sat in a tree looking down at me. We stared at each other until it got bored and looked away.

I thought about my father and wondered where he was.

“Hard to believe, ain’t it?” Jim asked, his voice shattering the peace of the pre-dawn.

I had my hand on my pistol before I even realized it. My heart hammered in my chest. “You need to seriously stop doing that.” I said, regaining my composure. I didn’t bother turning to look at him. I heard him chuckle.

“Yeah, it is hard to believe.” I finally answered him. “Can’t sleep?” Jim asked.

I shook my head. “Got any plans for the day?” I asked him.

“Yep. I’m going to go find me some materials and make me a porch swing.” Jim replied.

I smiled. Chloe finally spotted the owl in the tree and her ears went up. She whined and looked at me for approval so she could bark at it. I ignored her. The owl had finally had enough of us and flew off. We watched it disappear into the twilight blue sky.

True to his word, early this afternoon, Jim started building a porch swing with some boards and planks he found out in the barn. Albert was servicing our vehicles and changing the oil. Alison was helping him and learning about mechanics. Marion has decided that the mind is a terrible thing to waste, and started home schooling Grace and Cody (they are not pleased).

I spent the afternoon unpacking my treasured books and reverently placing them on the bookshelf in the living room. There are some books here already. They are mostly reference books and gun digests (definitely my father’s editions).

Around 2 p.m., I heard a faint repetitive sound off in the distance. I went out onto the porch to listen. Jim and Albert joined me. It was a knocking sound. For a moment, I got a chill thinking about the creatures at the bunker and their wood knocking. Then I finally recognized it.

Someone was chopping wood.

We determined it was coming from the north somewhere over the rise of a hill. I remembered that a family named Goddard lived over on the next property. Jim came out of the house with his lever-action rifle in hand. He had my carbine and my ammo bag and handed them to me.

“Shall we?” he asked.

I nodded. I looked at Albert. He nodded, letting me know he’d keep an eye on things. Jim and I walked across the grassy field toward the sound. Chloe trotted along with us, dashing out to investigate something and then returning to my side.

Our destination was a little less than a mile away. As we approached the Goddard’s home, we stopped on the driveway in plain sight. We didn’t see anyone outside. I wasn’t sure how to proceed. Jim solved the problem and yelled out.

“Hello the house.” he bellowed.

There was nothing but silence for a minute and then, from the side of the shed, we heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun action being pumped.

Neither of us moved. Chloe’s hackles went up and she started growling. I snapped my fingers to quiet her.

“What do you want?” a gruff voice asked.

“Now that ain’t very polite.” Jim drawled. “We’re your neighbors, so we thought we’d come make a social call.”

I slowly looked over as Bill Goddard walked up to us. I hadn’t seen him since I was a kid. He hadn’t changed a bit; still stooped over and wrinkled as a prune. He had fire though, and used to scare the hell out of me.

He looked me over and then said, “You’re Dennis’ kid.” It was a statement, not a question.

I nodded.

He spit something onto the ground and then continued.

“Well, look who grew up all straight and tall.” he commented. He lowered his weapon. Chloe liked him right away and walked up to sniff him. He scratched her ears and looked around to see if we were alone.

“It was the damn wood chopping that got your attention, wasn’t it?” Goddard asked. Jim nodded to him.

Bill cursed, mumbling that next time he’d be better off freezing. “Your dad back yet?” Bill asked.

At the mention of my father, I could feel my heart skip. I asked him if he knew where my dad was. He told us that my father had left about a week ago and said he didn’t know when he’d be back.

“He figured you’d show up, though.” Bill finished.

He stepped forward and offered Jim his hand, introducing himself. I wanted to throttle both of them. They were introducing themselves and jawing with each other, while my dad was out in a world full of zombies, for God only knew what reasons.

“Where’s my father at, Goddard?” I snapped. Bill looked at his feet.

“Ah, hell. He didn’t want me to tell ya, ‘cause he figured you wouldn’t stay put until he got back. He wants you to stay at the farm.” Goddard explained.

I continued to glare at Bill. He ran his hand through his thinning hair and studied me.

“My granddaughter, she’s twenty six now. Well she’s got herself a ham radio upstairs. Couple weeks ago, she picked up a signal from some college kids up in Corvallis. They said they was trapped in a building and calling for help. Your dad, well, you know what he’s like. He decided to go up there and try to help them. That was about a week ago. We ain’t heard nothing since.” he explained.

I thought about it and then thanked Bill for the information. We talked about the plague, and about the conditions in the area. Bill held out under a siege from some bikers a couple months ago. He lost his son in the battle. He’d killed his fair share of looters and plague victims, but they were less and less nowadays.

We told him there were seven of us and that we were planning on staying. Bill nodded at that and didn’t press us for details.

We decided it was time to get back. We let him know the walkie-talkie frequency we operated on and told him to call us if he needed anything. As we walked back down the driveway, I stopped and turned back to Bill.

“You said your granddaughter is twenty-six? Is she single?” I asked. Goddard raised his eyebrow at me and then nodded.