Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place (32 page)

"See you tomorrow, Mick Carter," Sullie said before signing off.

"You'll be coming with them?"

"I'm coming, but not going back with you."

"Like I told you before, the backpacks are going to weigh about 50 pounds each," he said with concern.

"No problems," Sullie said with a laugh. "I am going along to help keep the zombies off of us if needed and to help with the children that are coming."

"Ah, alright, tomorrow then. Good luck," he said before signing off.

"Same to you and yours," she replied.

Mick turned off the walkie and handed it back to Curtis. So it was settled. Tomorrow he would venture out with his son and friend on a very dangerous trek. He began to silently pray that they would all make it back alive. How he wished they could drive over to the armory, but the consensus was that it would probably draw fatal attention.

As everyone began to go off to take care of their own business, a thought he had been toying with for a while resurfaced and glancing Cindy's way, he decided to talk to her about what he was thinking.

"Can I steal Cindy away for a bit?" he asked with a smile as he approached Lindsey and his wife.

Lindsey smiled back. "Certainly, she's all yours."

Cindy gave her friend a pat on the shoulder and turned toward Mick. He gently grasped her by the elbow and walked her away toward the door.

"I have something I want to run by you," he said in a low voice. "Let's go up to our room."

"Okay, is it something serious?"

"Not too, I think you'll like it."

Once inside their room, he guided her to the bed and together they sat down. He turned to face her. "I have gotten to the point where I can't stand to be here anymore. Everywhere I look, I have bad memories and my attitude is starting to really suck. After I help get these people here, what do you think about packing up and heading to Shady Oaks? I'm going to try and get Scott to bring his family, too. I'd like to have us all together again as soon as possible."

Cindy threw her arms around her husband's neck and squeezed him tight. "Do I want to go? Are you crazy? I've wanted to leave for awhile now, but felt the time wasn't right, with Lilly and all. But she's doing much better and I wouldn't feel guilty leaving now."

He leaned back to look at her. "Okay, it's settled then. Let's wait to tell Brooke and Scott after we get back." He smiled at his wife and hugged her tightly to him. "I'm feeling better already; this is what we need - a new start."

"Things won't be easy in Shady Oaks," Cindy warned. Mick released her and she stood up. "You know they're still having zombie problems too and it's going to be a lot of work."

"I realize that," he replied. "I think it will be good for us. Instead of sitting around waiting for things to happen, we can make things happen."

She walked over to Mick and gently caressed his scarred cheek. "I agree and I know Brooke will be thrilled to see Jimmy."

"Don't remind me," Mick groaned then laughed, rolling his eyes as Cindy chuckled with him.

Chapter 35

First thing the next morning, Travis led a small group up to the treatment plant, and at the last moment Jenny decided to go with them. They hadn't returned yet and Charlie was beginning to feel the first stirrings of unease.

He helped Dexter set up the recorded message and the music in the park, both would play for only a few minutes. Much longer and they would attract more of what Bitsy had coined "test zombies" than they wanted. Dexter got a big kick out of the phrase "test zombies" and used it tirelessly. Charlie was ready to shoot him and use him for zombie bait.

They retreated to the hardware store across the street and went up to the second floor. They had plenty of time since Sean had put a delay in so they would have time to leave the area. Dexter raised the window and leaned his head out, looking both left and right. The recordings began and he ducked his head back in so quickly he smacked the windowsill.

"Damn!" He straightened up and rubbed the back of his head. "That hurt!"

Charlie frowned and shook his head. "Will you be quiet?
We
don't want to attract them, remember?"

Dexter muttered, still rubbing his head as they watched the park. The two minutes seemed like two hours; they scanned the area continuously but nothing moved. The recordings snapped off and Charlie heard only silence; no moaning zombies and no growling, yipping dogs.

"How long should we wait?"

"Let's give it a couple minutes," Charlie responded. He was keeping his fingers crossed; they needed this to work so they could clean up the town. More people would die if they couldn't get a handle on this problem now.

To his surprise, a small group of zombies seemed to appear from nowhere. He tapped Dexter on the shoulder and pointed. "Did you seem them come in?"

Dexter's face registered surprise. "No! Where'd they come from?"

They both watched in silence as the zombies wandered around. Charlie saw another zombie appear and he grinned.

"I see how they did it," he whispered. "Behind that picnic table there's a narrow ditch, you can't really see it unless you look hard. That's why we didn't see them until they were up and out of there."

Dexter nodded. "Good. Was beginning to think those bastards had some new tricks up their sleeves."

"That would be some trick," Charlie agreed. He glanced around the park and down both sides of the street. "No dogs."

"Not too worried about that. I think if we can draw enough zombies the dogs will follow."

"Probably," Charlie agreed. He decided they'd seen enough. "Ok, if we can attract zombies with that, we should be able to get them all to shuffle on over to the football field if we really blare some tunes."

Dexter laughed and slapped Charlie hard on the back, causing him to stumble forward. He put a hand on the wall to stop himself from smashing into the window frame.

"Easy there Dex!"

"Hey, that was funny though! So you do have a sense of humor."

"Yeah, although it's not as demented as yours."

"That's for sure!" Dexter slung his rifle back over a shoulder. "Ready to head out?"

Charlie took one last look outside before lowering and locking the window. The zombies were still there, staring off into space and swaying slightly.

"Yep, lead the way."

As he followed Dexter's broad back down the stairs his walkie clicked once. He breathed a sigh of relief. The click signaled that Jenny and the others were back. He nudged Dexter.

"I heard it and you're gonna tell me to hoof it outta here so don't worry, I'll pick it up."

"Thanks."

They hurried down and through the building and out the back door. As they exited, Charlie shot a quick look around to make sure all was clear before breaking into a trot. He wanted to get back as soon as possible to get everything going. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to rush, but it was there none the less.

They quickly joined the group at the apartments to hear about the water situation. Jake jumped onto the back of a nearby truck and held up a hand. All talking immediately stopped and every eye was fastened on him.

"We managed to get up to the plant with no problems, didn't see a thing. When we got there, we found some bodies but none inside the water. We removed them, cleaned up the area, and locked the gate. I will be testing the water samples as soon as I'm done here. I took them from the main reservoir our water is currently coming from. What we really need to do is get the pumps going again up there and keep the plant maintained."

A tall, extremely thin man around fifty years of age and wearing farmer's overalls and a cowboy hat raised his hand. Jake nodded toward him.

"Most of you know me, some of you don't," he drawled. "Name's Morgan O'Shea and my family have been farming these parts for nigh on eighty years or so." He cleared his throat and glanced around nervously. "Our farm is totally self-sufficient, which means at a young age my pa taught me how to keep our water goin' and I'm purty sure I can git those pumps runnin' - that is if you'd like me to give it a try."

Someone clapped Morgan on the shoulder and there were several smiles and nods. Morgan nodded back at them and grinned.

"Well, looks like that problem is solved," Jake said. He climbed down gingerly, still favoring his side and carefully picked up a backpack which Charlie figured held the water samples. "Off to work then, if you have any questions, ask Jenny. Soon as I have the results will let everyone know." With a wave of his hand, he hurried off toward the apartments.

Jenny turned toward her father and Dexter. "Your turn."

Charlie shot a look at Dexter. "Go ahead."

Dexter didn't need telling twice, he hauled his carcass onto the bed and turned to face the crowd. "Ok, here's the thing. We got some zombies, but no dogs. Figure it doesn't matter though, pretty sure when we get all the zombies in the field we'll attract the dogs."

A young woman holding a red-haired little boy about two years old raised her hand. Charlie remembered meeting her in the shelter and was fairly certain her name was Sandy and the child's name was Rusty, which fit him perfectly. "I know we already decided, but is it really a good idea to battle it out with the zombies on that field again?" She glanced around and licked her lips nervously. "I mean, I need my George to take care of us, especially now with the way things are and I don't want him hurt."

Dexter puffed out his chest and smiled. "Don't you worry one bit, your George will be fine." He glanced around. "Everyone will be fine. We follow the plan and it will work."

Charlie began to lose interest in the discussion, which was turning into a rehash of the previous night's meeting. He wandered over to Jenny.

"I'm starving, want to sneak off upstairs and grab something to eat?"

"Sounds good to me, we can make Jake a sandwich too."

Once inside the apartment, Charlie began rummaging through the cabinets while Jenny spread peanut butter and grape jelly on thick slices of homemade bread. "Once we get the zombies taken care of, we can start growing our own vegetable gardens, would be nice to have fresh produce," she said as she worked.

"There are lots of things we can do," Charlie remarked. He found a half-eaten bag of chips and laid them on the counter, followed by a round plastic bin full of chocolate chip cookies. Another cabinet revealed a stack of paper plates and he pulled out three. Once the plates were loaded with food, Jenny picked one up.

"Since Jake's working in the bedroom I'll take it to him."

Charlie handed her a bottled water and followed her to open the door. She gave him a grin and went inside. He closed the door behind her and hurried over to get his plate, he really was hungry. Jenny returned and sat across from him. Together they ate in silence, glancing out the window at the people below.

Jenny pointed her sandwich toward the window. "Looks like they're loading the trucks already," she said with her mouth full. She swallowed and took a quick swig of water. "Looks like we better hurry and eat."

Charlie grunted and nodded, his own mouth full of the sticky sweet goodness. He forced it down with a drink of water, wishing it was a frothy cold glass of fresh milk instead. Maybe someday, he thought. He chewed as rapidly as his jaws would allow. Once finished, they quickly discarded the soiled plates in the trash. Jenny fished three apples from the fridge and handed one to Charlie.

"Surprise! They're not looking too bad at all, so enjoy," she said as she tossed one in the air and he caught it. "Going to give this one to Jake and tell him we're heading out soon."

Charlie now gnawing on the apple, nodded. "What did he say about you going again?"

Jenny tossed her head. "He didn't say much, told me he loved me and to be careful."

"Sounds like he's learning," he teased with a wink. He waved and turned toward the door. "Meet you downstairs."

Soon as he was in the hall, he could hear voices below and over them all he could hear Dexter bellowing orders. Déjà vu, he thought as he tromped noisily down the stairs. He'd eaten way too fast, making him feel sluggish and heavy.