Revenence: Dead Silence, A Zombie Novel (6 page)

"Yeah, I'll keep doing that," she replied softly.

"Good.  Now let's get you some target practice, honey."

Shari took the weapon and regarded it the way a virgin would regard a condom.  It was a look that said,
I think i get the gist of it, but...

"You right-handed?" Fauna asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, so take your right hand and put it right here on the bow."  She pointed.  "That's called the riser.  Now take your left hand, the one with that funny little glove I gave you, and put the little notch on the tail of the arrow in between those two little points on your string.  Those are your nockin' points, that's 'nock' with an N, not a K.  Those will help hold your arrow steady.  Me, I choose to have two nockin' points, at least when I'm teachin' a beginner to shoot.  Holds it steadier than the standard single point.  Now take your left hand and pull that string back.  This is the part where you'll be glad you got that glove.  Protects your hand from the string, especially after you been pullin' the damn thing back all day long.  Now to draw that arrow, what you wanna do is push forward with your right arm at the same time you're drawin' your left arm back.  Draw that sucker back 'till you touch your face with your left hand," Fauna said, demonstrating on her own bow.  "I touch the corner of my mouth, like this.  Now you wanna simply look where you want the arrow to go.  Don't look at the bow, don't look at the arrow.  In archery, we're goin' for intuitive shootin'.  Just look where you want the arrow to go..." She pointed at one of the targets.  "And release."  The arrow flew and hit the target dead-center.  "Now you try it."

Shari drew back until she was touching her mouth with her left hand, trembling from the difficulty of the task.  She looked at the center of the target about fifty feet away, spent a handful of seconds meticulously aiming, and let the arrow fly.  She hit the lower edge of the target.

"That's real good for your first try.  You just sit tight for a little bit and get used to the feel of holdin' the bow and shootin'.  Just get comfortable with it.  I'll just be on the deck over there, sharpenin' and tendin' to some arrows.  Lord knows we're gonna need a whole lot more of 'em."

"Okay, will do," Shari said, taking another arrow out of the quiver on her hip.  She nocked it the way Fauna had shown her, then drew the string...
Look where you want the arrow to go,
she thought, and released the arrow.  A inch or so closer to center this time.

"I think you're gonna do real well," Fauna said, patting Shari on the back.  "You just practice for awhile."

"Damn, how many arrows is that?" Shari asked.

Fauna looked into the box she was taking the shafts from.  "Well, there was three-hundred in here when I started, and now there's about a couple dozen left.  Cost a fortune when I bought all these arrows a couple years back.  They been sittin' in the shed ever since.  Now I'm glad I have 'em."  She attached one more arrowhead, set the arrow in the pile, then leaned back into the lounger.  "Saw you practicin'.  You're doin' real good.  I'd say you got a knack for archery, girl."

Shari nodded.  While she had been practicing, she had felt that same disembodied feeling she'd been experiencing lately.  Like she was running on autopilot.  "At this point, I think it feels pretty natural.  But I still don't know how I'd do on a moving target."

"Lotsa white-tailed deer on this property.  We'll go into the woods, see if we see any for you to practice on."

A week ago, Shari didn't think she'd be able to kill a living deer.  After all that had happened, though, she didn't really see the moral dilemma.  Practice was practice, after all...at least until some more undead wandered onto the property for her to shoot at.

"By the way," Fauna said uncomfortably, "I think it's time we burn them bodies we heaped up.  Ain't nobody comin' to collect any of the dead.  The world as we knew it is gone.  I guess it's best we stop bein' in denial of the fact and get on with it."

Shari nodded. 
What happened with Mitchell changed her mind,
she thought.  "Yeah, I guess if we're gonna do it, it'd be better now than when they start to smell even worse than they already do."

"Let's walk up there together after we get ourselves somethin' to eat.  I don't think we should be on separate sides of the property.  Don't seem safe.  Strength in numbers, you know?"

"You're right," Shari said.  "Mind if I take this bow with?"

"Mind?  I insist.  Might as well get used to havin' it on you," she said.  "Let it be a part of you."

Shari snapped her head in Fauna's direction.   "Oh, I'm sorry, I...I didn't know..."

"Of course you didn't, 'cause I didn't say nothin' about  her," Fauna said matter-of-factly.  "She was fifteen when she died, four years ago.  Name was Eveleen.  It was a car crash.  She was spendin' the night at a friend's house, was on her way back.  Her friend, and her friend's mom drivin' the car, they were hurt real bad.  But the truck that hit the car, he hit on the passenger side where Eveleen was sittin'.  She never saw it comin', from what they told me.  Damn truck ran a red light.  They said he had to have been doin' over sixty miles an hour." Fauna gazed straight ahead while she talked.  "She was a wonderful child, and I ain't sayin' that just 'cause she was mine.  Capable and intelligent, and a sweet girl."  Fauna turned to look at Shari.  "You remind me a lot of her.  I guess that's why I've taken such a liking to you.  That, and like I told you, it's our responsiblity in times like these to help other human beings in any way we can.  Anyway, I want you to have her bow.  Use it to keep yourself alive, as I'm sure she would if she were here today."

"Fauna, I'm so honored...thank you."  Shari stopped and hugged the other woman.  "Thank you.  You're a good woman, and I have a feeling you were a great mother."

"Not 'were,' actually.  I still got two sons out there somewhere, too.  One's 26, the other'll be turnin' twenty-three in July.  This may be hard for you to understand since you don't have kids, but my motherly intuition is tellin' me they're still alive out there...somewhere.  My older one, Luke, was downstate at an archery expo.  My younger one, Travis, just kinda hops around.  Last I knew of, he was in Missouri, doin' guitar lessons.  You should hear him play, he's nothin' short of amazing on that guitar of his.  I ain't holdin' out hope that I'll ever find 'em, though.  It's chaos out there.  The chances of anyone findin' any particular person, even if they are alive, are slim to none.  Ain't no tellin' where the winds scattered any survivors to.  I just hope they remember everythin' me and their daddy taught 'em.  I hope they put it all to good use to stay alive, and to help others do the same."

"If they're anything like you, I don't think that'll be a problem," Shari said.  "They're the kind of people we need out there."

They reached the pile of bodies, starting to rot in the sun, flies swarming around.  Fauna reached into her pack and took out a bottle of lighter fluid, dousing the corpses. 

"I think we should have a moment of silence," Fauna said.  "Say a little prayer.  We didn't know these people, but they were people all the same."  Shari nodded solemnly, lowering her head. 
Sorry.  I hope you're all in a better place,
was all she could come up with.  After a minute, Fauna took a lighter from her pocket and set the bodies on fire.  They turned away and started to walk back south toward the house.

"What the hell is that?" Shari whispered, perturbed.

"I don't know, but I think it's best if it doesn't see us."

They moved closer to the treeline on their right for cover.  After they had closed about half of the distance, Fauna took out her bow and an arrow.  "Now this must be about fifty yards.  It might be awhile before you're hittin' targets at this range."  She nocked her arrow.  "Now let's get their attention, give 'em a shot to live, if by chance they're human."

"Hey!" Shari shouted, cupping her hands over her mouth.  The figure began waving its arms, and shouted back.  The two began to approach the garage again, but Fauna didn't lower her bow.  Shari took hers out too, just in case some intimidation was in order.  They didn't yet know what type of person they would find when they got up close, only that it apparently wasn't undead.  Fauna glanced at Shari, and they both saw the seriousness on one anothers' faces.  They nodded slowly at one another.  The non-verbal exchange conveyed the shared mistrust the two had for this new stranger, at least for the time being.  They advanced on the figure, who they could now see was a man, their bows drawn.

"So who are you?" Shari demanded.

"And who the fuck are you, lady?" the mystery man returned.  He appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with stringy, dark blonde hair that hung in his eyes and an unkempt beard to match.  He started to reach his hand into his pocket.

"Hey asshole, the lady asked you a question!" Fauna roared back, arrow pointed at his head.  "This here ain't your property, and I'd say you're mighty bold for a man with two arrows pointed at his face."

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said more gently, hands above his head.  "Can we please start over?  I'm Nick.  I'm sorry if I came across as rude.  With all that's been going on, I haven't been myself lately.  I'm sure you ladies can understand that.  Also, I can't help but feel vulnerable, staring down those arrows."  They continued to glare at him, and declined to lower their bows.  "I came in off the highway.  Road's jammed.  I was on my way to Harrisburg up in Illinois, to see if I can find my brother.  But those things...they're everywhere!  Please, please, don't make me go back out there!  I swear, I'm not violent or anything.  I'm very sorry for the first impression I gave you."

Fauna looked him over, bow still drawn, unwavering.  "You know Nick, the thing about first impressions...you never get a second chance to make one.  And I gotta be honest, I don't know if I feel comfortable lettin' you stay with us."

He looked around nervously.  "So what, then?  You gonna send me back out there, down to the killing floor?  Send me to my death?  You feel comfortable with
that
?"

"Not really," Fauna replied.  "Tell you what.  We're gonna put you up in the loft for now.  I got a panic room up there.  You're gonna sit tight up there for a little bit, and Shari and me are gonna talk it over real thorough, figure out exactly what we want to do.  We'll go from there."

"Fauna!" Shari protested.  "Do you really think we should trust him?"  Fauna held up her hand to her, as if to say,
Let me handle this
, never taking her eyes off Nick.

"Bu...but...."  Nick sputtered.  "I can help you ladies out!  Come on, you know you could use a man around to keep you safe.  I'm a real good shot.  Come on, girls, lower those bows!  You're freaking me out pretty bad."

"You been bit, Nick?"

"No, no!  I haven't been bitten, I promise!"

"You better not be lying to us," Shari said in a low growl, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Set that pack down on the ground," Fauna instructed him, arrow still aimed between his eyes.  "Shari here's gonna search you."  Shari lowered her bow, re-quivering her arrow.  "I'll be honest, Nick.  My intuition has never failed me, and right now my intuition is sendin' my brain a real clear signal.  And that signal says that, frankly, I don't like you and I don't trust you.  Now maybe if you play by our rules, you can earn our trust."  Shari pulled a pistol out of his pocket and continued to pat him down.

"Hey, I need that!  What the hell did I ever do to you?!"

"You mean besides try to pull that gun on us?" Shari mumbled, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Listen real carefully," Fauna said.  "That panic room I got up in that loft...the good news is, it's safe as safe can be.  Ain't no zombies gettin' in there.  Now, the downside is when I put you in there..." She chuckled.  "You're not gettin' out 'til we let you out.  Now as I said, I don't trust you.  But on the other hand, I was just tellin' Shari a little while ago that I really believe it's our job as human beings to do what we can to keep other human beings alive in times like these.  But to tell you the truth, I don't feel any more comfortable turnin' you loose out there than I do lettin' you roam free in the loft with us.  For all I know, you could be the type to hold a grudge and come back to fuck our world up.  So what's it gonna be?  You wanna reasonable, let us do you the same favor?"