Mail Horror Bride (One Nation Under Zombies Book 1) (22 page)

“You don’t know that. Before we met Damian and Cruz you thought we were all alone too.”

“Jeremy, I hadn’t seen another human being for two weeks before I saw you that day. We’ve been on the road for a long while now and haven’t encountered anyone else. We were lucky to find these guys when we did. I’m not sure our luck is going to get any better.”

“She’s right,” Damian agreed. “I was on my own for a while before I ran into Cruz and y’all were a surprise that happened at the best time possible but I don’t expect many more good surprises. If anything, I expect bad.”

“Oh that helps,” Raven commented.

“What I mean is that if we do run into anyone, they might not be the kind of people we want to run into. We got lucky with each other.”

Raven nodded her head in agreement, understanding the direction of his thoughts. Being in a world gone mad had a bad effect on the mind and if there was a word to describe the state the world was in now, mad fit pretty well.

“Bottom line, we don’t have the luxury of waiting on help that may never come. We could starve or die of thirst before that happens. We’d planned on driving this thing straight to Kansas, then going on to Nebraska. We had enough supplies to get us there with minimal stops. Camping out here for however many days it would take for help to come through, if it even does, wasn’t in the plan, neither was getting off the expressway and having to take back roads. We’re strong, healthy and armed. We need to move now while we are in the best shape to do so.”

“Then you all go. I’ll stay here for help. I’d rather die of hunger in this thing than walk right up to those things and be their dinner.” Jeremy turned around, giving them her back as she burrowed her way as deep into the corner of the seat as she could.

Raven and Damian exchanged a sigh.

“We gotta move,” Damian said. “As much as I hate the idea, we’re making the right call.”

Raven looked at Jeremy and felt a pain in her chest as her words echoed through her brain. She didn’t want to walk right out to those monsters’ arms like Raven was telling her to do, just as she’d told Sky to do. She’d thought she’d made the right decision then and it had been wrong. Was she making the wrong decision now?

“I’m going to see if Cruz needs help.”

“I’ll guard the perimeter. I think she just needs some time.”

Agreeing, Raven emerged from the SUV and walked to the front where a frustrated Cruz fiddled with things under the hood.

“That bad?”

“That bad.” He slammed the hood down, wincing at the sound before glancing around.

Raven scanned the area as well. “Nothing out there for now.”

“Good thing since we should leave as soon as possible. Better chance at finding shelter before dark. We’re not going anywhere in this thing.”

“So you think our best option is to travel on foot?”

“Don’t you? We haven’t seen anyone else in how long? I can’t remember.”

“Jeremy doesn’t want to go. She said we should just leave her here, she’d rather stay in the SUV hoping for someone to pass by in a vehicle.”

“Yeah, pass by and do who knows what to her. Not every stranger is a good one.”

“We told her as much. I don’t know what to do. We can’t drag her out kicking and screaming. She’ll draw those monsters from who knows how far, and we can’t leave her behind all alone.” Raven put her hands on her hips and surveyed the area. All she could see was the road and a bunch of trees, for miles. “Maybe two of us should scout ahead, maybe find a car and come back for the other two?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Damian said, joining them, his rock hammer resting over his shoulder.

“What if there’s nothing for miles?” Cruz asked before shaking his head. “No. we’d waste time traveling one way then doubling back all for nothing. And what if we got attacked? Four of us are better than two, especially when one of us is just a scared kid. We all go and we go now.”

He separated from them and walked to the back of the vehicle to retrieve Raven’s soiled Metallica T-shirt.

She and Damian approached him as he shook it out and pulled it over his head. “Let’s pack what we need first, then deal with Jeremy. If we’re going to be dragging her with us, we might as well save the hard part for last.”

“You two pack what we need to get by. We’re only taking what we can carry and she can’t carry much so focus on food and water. String some gallons together with cord to make them easy to carry. I think we can each take about three or four, right?”  He asked Damian, getting a nod in reply. “Use your pockets. I’ve been keeping mine full of matches, bullets, essentials. Four packs, those two fanny packs, and at least six gallons of water. I’ll take care of Jeremy.”

He left them at the trunk.

Damian frowned. “What’s he think he’s gonna say that we didn’t already? Hell, if she doesn’t trust you, she’s not gonna trust anybody. She’s known you longer.”

“Not by much,” Raven advised, “and it’s not so much what he’s going to say as what he’s going to do.”

“What’s that?”

Raven sighed, remembering their conversation the first night they started to get along. “He’s going to do what he does best. His job. He’s going to play the part of the hero and save the damsel in distress.” Even if he hated it. Even if he would feel the weight of Jeremy’s life on his shoulders for the rest of his days. Raven knew all too well how heavy that weight could grow. “He’s a good guy, Damian. Yeah, he’s a little crazy right now. Who the hell isn’t, really? We just slaughtered a bunch of dead people. We get to be crazy. Cut him some slack on his moods and just be happy he’s one of us. Even in his worst mood, he’s got our backs. We need to have his.”

Damian raised his hands. “My apologies, Miss Raven,” he joked. “I didn’t mean to talk about your honey man.”

“My honey man?” Raven couldn’t help cracking a smile. “Even if I was interested in him, he wouldn’t be my honey man, whatever that is.”

“Surrrrre. Let’s just get this stuff together so we can get moving. I may have grabbed a tent for emergencies but I sure as hell don’t intend to use it if at all possible. We need to find a building before dark.”

Raven grabbed a pack and started filling it with food. “I’m going to make this the lightest pack and Jeremy can carry it. We’ll distribute everything else evenly between the three of us.”

“Yes, Mrs. Thomas.”

“Damian?”

“Yes?”

“Go to hell.”

He laughed before serenading her with a surprisingly good rendition of
Stand By Your Man
.

“How long does this freaking road go on?” Damian whined.

“We’re all tired,” Raven snapped. “Reminding us that we’re on the world’s longest road every five minutes isn’t going to make our situation any better.”

“Yeah, well, it makes me feel better.”

“Does it?”

“No,” he mumbled.

“Well then, shut up.”

“Look at you all snippy now that your man has another chick.”

“I swear I’m going to slice your head off before we find shelter,” Raven growled, the jokes having grown more irritating by the mile.

“See, that’s why I don’t date women. You’re always talking about cutting somebody.”

“I thought you didn’t date us because we were nasty.”

“Well, that too, but I’m trying to be nice.”

“How kind of you.”

“I try. So are we there yet?”

“Ugh. Shut up.”

Damian laughed, having succeeded in his mission of thoroughly getting on Raven’s last nerve, a game he seemed to enjoy. The laughter didn’t last long.

“Our boy seems a bit jumpy again,” he murmured, keeping his voice low enough not to be overheard. “What happened out there in the woods?”

Raven looked up ahead , observing Cruz walking with Jeremy’s hand in his. The little girl was beyond tired, as they all were, but determined to walk on her own two feet. He periodically jerked his head to the right and sneered.

“Nothing,” she replied, wondering what figment of his imagination currently walked alongside Cruz and what it was telling him.

“So he just went for a stroll without bothering to tell us?”

“Sometimes people just need some time alone.”

“That a hint?”

She smiled at Damian. “You know I adore you,” she said before smacking a kiss on his dirty cheek.

“Ew! Girl cooties.”

“Don’t worry, I hear there’s a shot for that.”

Jeremy stumbled and Cruz swept her up without a word, carrying her and the added weight of her backpack as they continued on.

“Cruz, do you think we’ll find a building soon?”

He looked over at her as she approached his side. She silently wished that she was stomping whatever imaginary person he’d been looking at earlier in that same spot.

“According to the map, we should within the next couple of miles.”

“I don’t know if we have a couple miles left in us,” Damian commented, coming up along Cruz’s other side. “Jeremy’s done tapped out and I’m right behind her. My feet are screaming.”

“Maybe we should stop and rest,” Raven suggested. “Damian has a tent for shelter.”

“That’s for emergencies only,” he said.

“Damian, you said it yourself. We’re spent. Walking all day has taken too much out of us. We don’t know when the next building is going to pop up and we need to recharge now. We haven’t eaten and we’ve drank very little. We need to set up camp.”

“We’re exposed out here,” Cruz interjected.

“A tent isn’t the same as a building,” Damian added.

“We haven’t seen anyone, infected or not, since we left the SUV this morning. It’s going to be dark soon and it’ll be hard to see where we’re going. We’re tired, sore, and hungry. If we stop and rest now, we can be moving again by morning. Come on guys. We’re dragging right now, and you can’t carry Jeremy the rest of the way. You’re already packing heavy.”

“I can walk.” Jeremy raised her head from where it had been resting on Cruz’s shoulder. “I just need a little break.”

“No, you need a good rest, and better shoes,” Raven adding, looking at the girl’s flats. “Your feet are probably covered in blisters now.”

“We haven’t seen any zombies,” Damian said, almost to himself, and Raven wondered if he was trying to convince them or himself. “Raven’s right about that. And it makes sense they would stay in more populated areas since they want to eat people. We’re probably safer out here than anywhere. I’d just feel a lot safer in an actual building, something we can defend, and keep them out of.”

“On
Walking Dead
, they camped out,” Jeremy advised.

“Sweetheart, this ain’t no television show.” Damian tried not to sound annoyed but Raven still picked it up in his voice.

“No, but we can still learn from it,” the younger girl said. “They always had someone on watch and they would set traps, kind of like alarms.”

“I remember that,” Raven added. “We have cord and we’ll have empty cans after we eat. We can set up an alarm system by stringing the cans on the cord, then wrapping the cord around the trees around our tent. If anything hits the cord, the cans will make noise. We’ll know we’re about to have company and be ready for them.”

“What if it’s a lot of company?”

“We could run into a lot of company anywhere at any time,” Cruz said. “Raven’s right. We’re dragging ass right now. If we keep walking and find a town there’s a good chance there will be zombies there because they’d stay closer to a food source. They’d be on us in seconds and we’re too whooped to do much. We need to rest here so we’ll be better able to defend ourselves once we do reach a town. We’ll do this alarm thing the girls are talking about.”

“Fine,” Damian said, too tired to put up much fight. “Where are we setting up camp?”

They left the road and entered the woods. It didn’t take long before they found a clearing big enough to set up the tent. Damian and Cruz set the tent up as Raven and Jeremy collected twigs and logs for a fire.

“Anyone know how to start a fire?” Raven asked as she took two sticks from the collection and tried to figure out how exactly she was supposed to rub them together to form a spark.

Damian took a break from setting up the tent to remove a matchbook from his fanny pack and toss it to Raven.

“Smartass.”

He laughed. “Be glad this smartass planned ahead for such moments.”

“Believe me, I am.”

Raven got the fire going and used the can opener Damian had also been smart enough to grab to open up cans of beef stew.

Jeremy gave her the pot they’d stored in her backpack and she set to work cooking dinner.

“We don’t have bowls,” Jeremy said.

“We have the ladle. We’ll all eat out straight out of the pot. I think everyone’s too hungry to care about sharing germs.  Get started on our alarm system while I make sure this doesn’t burn.”

Finished with the tent, Damian kept watch while Cruz helped Jeremy string the empty cans on the cord, then the three of them partitioned off an area of the woods circling their campsite with it.