Zombie Rules (Book 4): Destiny (6 page)

“This is the last of the fresh meat,” I commented. “We have some smoked meat, but maybe I ought to butcher a cow tomorrow.” Kelly responded with an unintelligible mumble.

I knew this was the part of a relationship where I was supposed to communicate and work out an amicable solution, but I wasn’t sure I cared about any kind of an amicable solution. I mean, I didn’t need any friends, and neither did Kelly. She had me.

After dinner the two of us cleaned up the kitchen, mostly in continued silence.

“I’m going to check outside,” I muttered. I saw a slight nod, but that was the only acknowledgement. I made the last rounds, ensuring everything was secure and there was no unknown threat, no hidden enemy lying in wait to attack us in the night. Locking the three deadbolts, I added some wood into the fireplace and watched as the flames took hold.

“Do you want to play some chess?” I asked. Kelly shook her head.

“I think I’d rather lie by the fire tonight, okay?”

“Sure,” I replied.

We brushed our teeth together, undressed, and got under the covers. In spite of the tension in the air, it seemed natural when we worked our bodies together into a spoon. I had my arm draped over her and she stroked it lovingly. I made several attempts to say something, but could get no further than a sigh. Kelly squeezed my arm.

“If you’ve got something to say, please just say it.”

“I’ve got trust issues,” I finally said. “I don’t know how much you remember, but it started with Macie’s boyfriend, Jason. He and his friends tried to ambush and kill me.”

“Julie told me about that. But, you killed them, right?”

“Yeah, they were stupid and didn't stand a chance, but Andie’s uncle, the captain, he came very close to killing me. Felix, my best friend at one time, turned on me. Colonel Coltrane abducted me, had everyone killed and kidnapped my children. And those people at the school, they act like I’m nothing more than a guest and seem to have totally forgotten I’m the one who came up with the original concept of the school and gave them a place to live.”

“I understand, Zach, but there’s something you’re not seeing.”

“What’s that?”

“We need to rebuild,” she said. She rolled around to where she was now facing me.

“Think about it. There’s only so much the two of us can do. Look at how much Tonya has accomplished with the group of people she has. A couple of psychologists, Floyd the crippled farmer, Rhonda was a nanny back in the day, she has no special skills. Gus, who knows what the hell he did, but it couldn’t have been anything special, right? So, with just a few ordinary people she’s accomplished wonders.” She gently reached out and stroked my face. “You did the same thing, you know. Back when everyone was still alive, you all accomplished a hell of a lot.”

She gazed at me with her dark sultry eyes. I felt my blood pressure rising as I pulled the blanket off of me and stood, feeling the sudden need to do something. I grabbed the poker and jabbed it at the burning logs. A spray of sparks erupted. Kelly stood and put the screen back in place before an ember set our blankets on fire. I put the poker back in the rack and placed both my hands on the mantel. The fire was warm against my torso. She pressed her body against my back and wrapped her arms around me.

“What’s troubling you?” she asked quietly. I sighed heavily.

“We lost, Kelly. Everybody in our group is dead and my kids are God only knows where. We lost.” I continued gripping the mantel tightly. “For all I know, when Colonel Coltrane had me locked up in that shitty little room, my kids were probably at the end of the hallway in another shitty little room and not only was I totally oblivious, I was powerless to do anything.”

“But, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes, it was,” I responded gruffly and turned around to face her. She tried to draw me close, but I held her at arm’s length. “But you don’t understand.”

“Explain it to me then.”

“Alright, it’s very simple really. I was arrogant, a know-it-all, and that arrogance blinded me. I did it with Andie’s uncle. I did it with the colonel and my supposed best friend, Felix. That’s a bad record if you ask me. Now, it’s over. This isn’t some kind of damn zombie movie where the plot ends with everyone living happily ever after. Our plight has taken its course. The only thing we have left is to try and survive for a few more years and not die a horrible death. Don’t you get it? The only thing we’re doing these days is existing, we’re not living. What is our endgame, have you ever asked yourself that?” Kelly stared at me in silence.

“I can answer for you, there is no endgame. There is no win. There’s nothing for us. One day, you may start having a pain that just won’t go away. Eventually, you’ll figure out its cancer. One day, I’ll have a farming accident, or I’ll be ambushed, or maybe while I’m tending to the crops the zombies will get me.

“We’re living under a fallacy, a mistaken belief that there is a happy place awaiting us. A light at the end of the tunnel and all that bullshit. It doesn’t exist.”

“Wow,” Kelly said quietly. I turned back toward the fire. After a minute, Kelly pressed herself against me again. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right. Henry Ford said that, I think.” She continued holding me and we stood like that for several minutes. In spite of myself, I chuckled.

“You amaze me sometimes with your insight.” She responded with a tighter squeeze and I sighed again.

“I can’t help but think you’d be happier living back at the school.”

“You’d be wrong,” she replied. “Besides, you need me.”

“Yes I do,” I admitted quietly. “We need each other.”

After my blowup the previous night, Kelly calmed me down with her tender ministrations and I ended up promising her I’d do everything I could to carve out a happy life for ourselves, which meant she won the argument.I grunted to myself thinking that one over and started sorting out the electrical equipment.

As I laid everything out, I was trying to plan out how I was going to upgrade our solar power grid, but I was distracted. By Kelly, of course. I remembered an episode of one of those scripted reality shows, the one with the ducks and all of the men with their long beards. There was a scene with the patriarch of the family in which he said all women have quirks and if you could put up with said quirks you’d have a happy relationship.

Kelly’s quirks were talking and sex. She loved to talk about anything under the sun and she loved sex. Sometimes she liked to have a conversation while we were having sex, but thank goodness it was only rarely. Any issue we encountered, any problem, any disagreement, invariably led to a long, mostly one-sided discussion, followed by lots of sex.

They were quirks I could put up with.

My thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar truck pulling a cattle trailer making its way up the drive. I grabbed my shotgun and was about to take cover behind my own truck when I recognized the occupants, Tonya, Ward and Gus, I relaxed a little and set my weapon down, although I wasn’t so sure I wanted them anywhere around my property.

Floyd had been relegated to ride in the bed of their truck and although it was a sunny March day, it was still quite chilly. The thermometer was hovering at forty and I could see he was cold and miserable.

“This is a surprise,” I said when they exited. I briefly wondered why they had a new truck, but decided I didn’t give a shit. Ward walked up and shook my hand, grinned foolishly and grabbed me in a hug.

“We’ve missed our old friends and thought we’d visit,” he replied with a grin. Yeah, I thought, and y’all just happened to bring a truck hauling a cattle trailer. I gestured at Floyd.

“You look pretty miserable,” I said.

“I’m a might cold,” he replied through chattering teeth. Gus scoffed at Floyd’s perceived softness. Kelly stuck her head out of the door at about that time and I motioned at her.

“Go on inside with Kelly and she’ll fix you a cup of good old fashioned stale coffee.”

Floyd nodded thankfully. She smiled warmly as he walked up, hugged him and led him inside while chatting it up. For a second, I experienced a pang of something, and when I realized it was jealousy it surprised the hell out of me. Before I could decipher my thoughts, I was interrupted.

“What are you doing over here?” Tonya asked as she looked over the electrical supplies laid out on the ground. I gave her a look, and then decided I wouldn’t be giving away any of my secrets.

“I’m going to upgrade our solar power grid,” I replied. She looked around and spotted the solar panels mounted on the roof. I watched as her eyes followed the conduits to a concrete block enclosure on the side of the house.

“Do you mind if I have a look?” she asked. I shrugged and led her to the enclosure.

“The enclosure is weatherproof but vented,” I said, pointing at the eaves. “All of the wiring is protected with conduits and the batteries are on a raised platform.” She looked over the set up carefully. I was proud of it, but I saw her frowning.

“Do you see something wrong?” I asked.

“It’s not a bad set up, but you have the wrong type of charge controller for these batteries and you need a shunt at this junction,” she replied while pointing at the grid panel. She turned and looked at me questioningly. “How much experience do you have with solar power and electricity, if you don’t mind me asking?”

I shrugged. “Not much. I’ve read a couple of books.” She nodded in seeming understanding. "It works well enough," I said defensively.

“Zach, for a novice you’ve done some good work. But, let me tell you something. I have a bachelor’s degree in both electrical and nuclear engineering, along with a master’s and doctorate in nuclear engineering. I’ve written so many treatises on alternative energy it’d make your head spin. You may be incredibly smart, but on my worst day, when it comes to this field of expertise I can run circles around you.”

“I believe you,” I said simply. I figured the next thing she was going to brag about was that her dick was bigger than mine, and if it were indeed true, Kelly was going to be devastated.

“So, let’s talk business,” she said. I looked at her quizzically. Here it comes.

“We need more cattle, she said plainly. “If you want to work out a trade, I’ll help you set up a power grid system that’ll increase your efficiency and storage capacity.” She pointed at the breaker panel. “You’re going to want a surge protector on that panel. I have all of the equipment you’ll need back at the school, plus, I’ll throw in some additional solar panels we found. They’re used, but they’re the latest generation and in good shape.”

I rubbed my face as I thought it over. “Beef cattle or dairy cattle?” Her eyes narrowed.

“There’s a difference?”

“You might say that. Floyd knows the difference and one of the things he’ll tell you is that dairy cattle require more maintenance. They need milking twice a day, whether you use the milk or not.”

Tonya frowned. “I didn’t know that.” I didn’t tell her about the cream separator we’d found but weren’t using, otherwise she’d probably want that thrown in with the deal. I continued.

“There’s a way around it, but I’ll let Floyd explain all that.” I thought for another minute as we walked back outside. The truth of the matter was I had too many cows to keep up with. I looked at the cattle trailer they’d brought with them. “Alright, a dozen head for now. If I like the way y’all are taking care of them, I’ll give you a dozen more in a couple of months.”

“Sounds agreeable,” she said after a minute and held out her hand. I looked at her stubby outstretched paw. I didn’t want to touch her. Hell, I didn’t like the woman, but I shook on it anyway.

“How’d it go with Floyd?” I asked as we shared a dinner plate.

“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say he’s smitten with me,” Kelly replied. When I looked at her she giggled. “I caught him staring at my breasts a couple of times.” Once again, I felt that pang of jealously. It irritated me. I thought I had my feelings for her firmly and narrowly defined. But, when she mentioned Floyd ogling her, I found myself staring at them as well. She was wearing a button-down flannel shirt with a few of the buttons seductively left undone. I’ve seen her breasts many times, but even so, her cleavage was very alluring. I forced myself to focus.

“Did he have anything to say?” She shook her head.

“Before I had a chance to ask him any direct questions, dumbass Gus invited himself inside and drank most of the coffee while talking about sports.” She rolled her eyes. “Why in the world he thought baseball would interest either of us is beyond me.”

“It figures,” I muttered.

“Yeah, he kept me from asking any prying questions, but I think if I can get Floyd alone again he’ll tell me anything I want to know. So anyway, how’d it go with Tonya?”

“I have reluctantly conceded she knows more than me about electricity and she’s going to help upgrade our power grid. In return, we’re going to give them some cows.”

“Is it going to be a good deal?” she asked. I nodded between bites.

“Yeah, we have too many cows for us to handle as it is. Besides, it couldn’t hurt to be nice to them, right?” Kelly expressed her approval by leaning over and kissing me on the cheek, causing me to look down the front of her shirt.

“I think we got the better deal,” she said. “And as for Floyd, I’ll have him telling me all of their little secrets in no time.” She punctuated her declaration with a cheerful grin.

“Alright, I have an idea which may help you along.”

“Oh, yeah? What?”

“Well, it involves Floyd, you, and me.”