Apocalypse Asunder (2 page)

That counted for a lot in Jessica’s book.  That he didn’t give the slightest indication of expectation for his continued presence sealed it as far as she was concerned.  She liked him.  Quite a lot.

“Then I’m glad.” Candice decided.

Jessica shook herself out of her thoughts.  “It doesn’t bother you?” she asked her daughter.

Candice shook her head.  “No, I like Austin.  I’m glad he likes us.”

“Okay then.” Jessica said, hugging the girl.  “So let’s get downstairs.  We’ve kept him waiting long enough I guess.”

Candice slung the backpacks over her shoulders, and Jessica carefully lifted the heavy water stick with its six gallons of boiled water into place across hers.  Austin had told her a gallon of water weighed something like eight pounds, which put the stick’s total weight around fifty after all the rope and wood were added in.

She wouldn’t want to carry it far, but the water was critical, and she’d gotten used to fetching it about as the weeks had gone by.  There were a lot of things she was used to now; physical exertion was probably the least of them these days.  She was still grateful for the thick padding of towels taped around the stick that cushioned the load.  Even though the last two months had been hard, carrying six gallons of water was quite a chore for her.

Maneuvering down the stairs required walking mostly sideways as she eased down between the wall and railing, but she was used to that too.  When she got back to the garage, she found Austin had opened the big rolling door in preparation for departure.  He had a pistol in his hand though, standing next to the big SUV and watching for any sign of trouble.

“You two okay?” he asked without turning as she set the water stick in the back of the SUV with the rest of their supply cache.

“Fine.” Jessica answered as Candice went past and put the backpacks in the back seat.  “So, let’s see, three boxes of food, six gallons of water, one box of toiletries and bleach, three bags of clothes, weapons, ammo, gas cans, tools and miscellaneous stuff . . . is that everything?”

“Sounds like it.”

“Okay then.” she nodded unconsciously, pulling the back hatch down and making sure it latched properly.  “We’re off.”

They took their seats; Jessica driving, Austin in the passenger seat, and Candice climbing into the back seat behind Jessica.  The SUV started as smoothly as ever, the big engine rumbling to reassuring life.  She adjusted the holstered pistols on her belt – the stainless steel Taurus on her right hip and the black M&P Shield at the small of her back – so she could sit comfortably, then pulled slowly out of the garage.

“Which way?” Austin asked as they bumped down the dirt driveway of the rural house toward the paved road.  She was trying to avoid the worst of the potholes in the poorly maintained drive, but the going was too bumpy for her to give him a completely smooth ride.  He gave no sign the jouncing and juddering was bothering him, even though she knew it had to be causing him pain.

Taking two bullets that left wounds running right through someone from front to back was going to hurt until they finished healing; and those kinds of wounds needed a
lot
of healing.  The bruises from the other bullets that had been stopped by his gear harness and armor vest were long since faded, and even his cracked ribs seemed almost completely normal . . .  but the two bullet wounds were continuing to mend.  Seven weeks had helped him recover quite a bit, but the wounds were still there.  Inside, beneath the circles of scar tissue on his skin, where they weren’t readily visible; but there.

“I still like south.” Jessica said, turning left in that direction.  This was their eighth house in six weeks, and she had been steadily drifting south and southwest with each change.  She never said why, and Austin never mentioned it, but she still wanted to put more distance between them and Knoxville Georgia.  It was as simple as that.

She didn’t like thinking about Knoxville, and she liked thinking about running into the people who’d started all the trouble there even less.

The frequent changes were partially due to the need to keep scrounging up food, but mostly because without water pressure, they kept going through bathrooms in the houses and turning them foul.  Closed doors, air fresheners, and even liberal use of cleaning supplies could only hold the smell of an unflushed toilet at bay for so long.

One of the
many
problems the zombies had caused in the collapse of society and civilization was services Jessica had used to take for granted.  Being without power was one thing; she’d endured that on occasion in the pre-zombie era the same as everyone did from time to time.  Dealing with a lack of electricity wasn’t that bad, once you got used to it.  She would prefer it be working, but she could manage without it.  At least, for the basics of day-to-day living.

But not being able to just turn a faucet and get water out was a massive chore.  Even with only her and Candice and Austin to supply, she needed to come up with at least three gallons a day for drinking and cooking.  Usually more like four, truth be told; and at least another couple gallons was needed for cleaning and washing the dishes and utensils.

And every drop of it had to be boiled at length to render it safe for consumption; which had the effect of requiring her to carry and fetch a decent bit
more
than actually ended up in the water jugs and pots.  Their supply cache included several gallons of bleach she’d found along the way – a few drops of that into a gallon of water would render it safe to drink – but she was trying to save it for emergencies where boiling the water wasn’t practical.

Fetching water meant going outside and running the car to whatever creek or pond they’d found that was close.  And doing that meant having to run the car some more to fill it back up with gas.  She was having to do enough of that just for the basics without also needing to find an extra five or ten gallons a day to cover toilet flushing.  Coming up with a few extra gallons every couple of days for sponge baths was already taxing enough.

Every trip was a risk.  The area was fairly quiet, zombie-wise, but rarely a day went by without seeing at least one or two.  On the trips, they usually spotted a handful along the way.  Filling and loading water jugs while zombies were around was not her idea of fun.  Stressful didn’t even begin to describe how nerve wracking it was to keep alert and observant while squatting and splashing around near a stream.

“You still up for some more scavenging while we look for another place to stop?” Austin asked her, his breath coming easier once they were on smooth pavement rather than lumpy dirt and gravel.

Jessica nodded as she accelerated to forty miles per hour and held the vehicle’s speed steady there.  Even though the zombie count out here was pretty low compared to what it had been back in Atlanta, she didn’t want one appearing in the road unexpectedly and possibly damaging the vehicle.  She and Candice and Austin
needed
a working vehicle, and the SUV was a good one to have on hand with its tough construction and roomy interior.

“Okay, you’re the boss.”

Jessica glanced at him briefly, giving him a narrow eyed look, though she smiled slightly.  “You like saying that too.”

He grinned at her.  “It helps take my mind off having been shot.”  She groaned, and Austin laughed carefully, clearly going easy on his ribs.  “I was you know.  Twice.”

“We know.” Candice said from the back seat.

“Oh great, double teaming me again.”

Jessica rolled her eyes.  “You started it.”

* * * * *

“That looks pretty good.” Jessica said, bringing the SUV to a halt in the middle of the road.  Everyone looked out the left side windows.  The house was another rural two-story structure, of a sort with the others they’d been staying in.  This one looked a little better maintained than most; fresh paint, tight gutters, a roof that showed no loose or dislodged shingle sheets.  Like someone had taken care of it before the apocalypse got in the way.

It was comfortably far back from the road, but had only a faded stretch of weedy overgrown grass outlined with rocks for a driveway.  If there had been wheel tracks through the grassy ‘driveway’, they had yielded to the unchecked growth of grass and weeds.  The usual scattering of trees was present across the large expanse of land surrounding the house, mostly old growth trees that towered above the structure.  Leaves were on the ground, with those still hanging on in the trees showing the browns and rust reds that foretold they would soon start letting go as well.

“What about the cars?” Austin asked.  There were two vehicles parked in front of the house.  While neither was late model, they matched the house in that their bodywork and general appearance seemed to indicate regular maintenance.  Except . . .

“They look abandoned to me.” Jessica disagreed.  “See the leaves piled up across the roofs and on the windshields?  If they’ve been driven anytime in the last couple of weeks I’ll eat both of those cans of okra we’ve been hauling around.”

Austin smiled when she glanced at him, but his eyes remained on the house.  Jessica studied him a few moments, recognizing he was thinking hard.  His color and energy were better these days, and he had more to say when she sought advice.  That, she understood.  Pain had a way of getting in the way of thinking; and he had been in a lot of pain during the initial stages of healing.

“Okay, that’s a point.” he finally said.  Austin moved his gaze from the driver’s side window to look directly at her.  “But we should start with a long knock before just busting in this time.”

“I always knock.”

“Hah!” he laughed.  “Sometimes your knocking is rather, ah, energetic.”

“It’s not like I can kick the door in.” she protested.  “I have to shoot through it.”

“Let’s start with a normal knock though.”

Jessica nodded and turned up the grass drive.  She considered for a few moments as she got near the house, then curved to one side and drove slowly around the house.  The back yard was as empty as the front, though there was a brightly colored playset with swings and a slide, along with a sandbox and a large open topped wooden box with plastic yard toys piled visibly up in it.

Stopping near the back doors, she set the brake and put the transmission in park.  “Okay Candice, you play lookout from the car.  Hit—”

“—the horn if I see any zombies or people.” Candice finished.  “I know Mom.”

“Good.”  Jessica put one hand on the door handle and the other on the holstered Taurus pistol on her side before giving Austin a serious look.  “Don’t suppose you’re willing to sit out here too?”

“I can walk.” Austin said, lifting the MP5 from the seat next to him.  “I can back you up.  Two sets of eyes are safer than one.”

She nodded, her expression slightly exasperated, but secretly relieved.  She was concerned for him, not opposed to help when she had to go into a strange house.  “Okay, we’ll take it slow then.”

“Slow and careful.”

“Those are two of Austin’s middle names.” Candice remarked.

“Two of many.” Jessica grinned.  “Stay in the car Candy Bear.  Okay Mr. Slow and Careful, etcetera, etcetera, let’s do this.”

She looked around the yard one more time, then popped her door and glanced back along the side of the SUV before stepping out and moving quickly away from it, slamming the door behind her.  Taking a careful full turn in place, she studied everything, especially under the SUV.  She didn’t
expect
a zombie to have materialized beneath it, but she was not taking any chances.

Everything was quiet now though; nothing with teeth and no dietary scruples was in view to cause problems.  Austin was doing the same on the other side, more slowly, then he eased around the front of the vehicle.  He wasn’t limping, but he moved gingerly, holding himself carefully.  She knew the bullet wounds in his side looked better on the surface, but that they were still healing within him.  It was obvious in how cautious he was with his movements, trying to avoid straining the mending tissue.

Jessica waited for him to join her on the concrete slab that fronted the double doors leading into the back of the house.  They weren’t glass, which she was a little surprised to see, but they had glass panes that still made them somewhat inviting.  Drawing the stainless steel pistol from her holster, she double checked the safety, then reversed it in her hand and used the side of the grip to bang loudly on the wood.

Stepping back, Jessica worked the pistol’s slide to load the first bullet, then waited.  Seconds turned into half a minute, and nothing happened except a steady rustling of wind in the trees overhead.  The yard was littered with leaves, not as heavily as a lot of yards in Georgia got in the fall, but that was probably more due to the fairly open expanse giving the wind more to work with to move them along than was usually the case.

“Knocking again.” she said, moving up and pounding louder and longer on the door.  The metal of the gun’s frame hitting the door created an unmistakable sound that reverberated across the yard.  Jessica glanced around the open space behind the house as she stepped back, but nothing moved except grass and leaves.  This time she waited a full minute, counting in her head, and still all was quiet.

“Okay, let’s take a look.” Austin finally said.  He had the MP5 at the ready, though he hadn’t slung it into place across himself.