CHAPTER TWO
“Can’t leave them alone for a few hours without them getting themselves into a mess,” my dad muttered as we looked down onto the scene below.
“I’m sure Riley did it,” I responded and got a scolding look in return. Well, it was true. Knowing her, she probably saw a snake while they were picking fruit and let out a scream that brought the undead down upon them.
“Think they were after the wine or the grapes?” Viktor asked as he leaned against the highway railing. The small town that Interstate 70 ran above had a winery and inn that at one point in time must have been quaint. Now, with peeling yellow paint and overgrown vines, it was a sad sight. It hadn’t been hard to find Paulina, Melanie and Riley. The sight of a couple dozen or so zombies in a furor surrounding the tasting room clued us in real fast.
Alexi and Justin got out of the truck and joined us. Alexi laughed at the sight. “I’m thinking Paulina looks too tasty up there for a distraction to work. Serve her up with some chips and salsa and they’re good to go.”
“Dude, that’s my grandma. Serve you up with some chips and salsa.” Justin grimaced at his own lack of wit, while pushing up his slipping glasses. Not that he didn’t have extra scavenged pairs in the leather fanny pack he always wore. At the end of the world everyone had that one item that was most precious to them. For Justin, with his bad eyesight, that was lenses that fit his prescription.
I still didn’t know what my most precious thing was.
“Let’s just start picking them off from here,” Alexi suggested.
“And risk hitting the girls, dumbass?” Viktor shoved Alexi in the shoulder.
As we watched a zombie crawl out of the second story window in pursuit of Riley, Melanie kicked it in the head until it fell to the ground below. Several more were already trying to squeeze through the same broken out window.
Viktor let out a disgusted grunt. “Whatever we’re going to do, let’s speed it up.”
“Load up and let’s head down there to lend a hand. We’ll drive back and forth in front of the building taking them out. Alexi and Justin will drive the vehicles while the rest of us shoot.” My dad’s plan was as good as any.
When I climbed back into the Suburban, Kyle immediately asked what the plan was. Once I’d explained it, he looked disgruntled at not being able to help out. Kyle never liked being kept out of the action. He and Viktor often took the initiative in situations like this.
When Alexi climbed behind the wheel, I had a vision of us crashing into the side of the building and being massacred by the horde. Good thing hardass Viktor was riding shotgun. Justin would drive the truck while my dad sat in the truck bed, shooting at targets.
Suicidal plan intact, we made our way down the highway off ramp and sped into the winery parking lot. Alexi, swerving to hit the straggling zombies like an idiot, incurred the wrath of Viktor. My older brother was already halfway hanging out the window and barely managed to avoid soaring from the vehicle altogether. I wondered what bothered him more, nearly getting thrown, or the fact that the last zombie splattered chunks in his face.
“What the hell, Alexi? That almost got in my mouth!” roared Viktor.
“Sorry I didn’t see that one,” replied a bold Alexi. He sure didn’t value his life. Most likely to become a zombie out of sheer stupidity: my little brother.
We were finally in range and the world’s worst drive-by began. At first only a few of the crazed zombies noticed us as we neared, but now the entire swarm turned and began chasing. It seemed almost comical as the zombies pathetically pursued us, arms waving wildly, teeth bared. It felt like I was riding a horrific merry-go-round. Viktor laid out a few on the first lap, and from the looks of it my dad fared about the same. Soon there was a mini dust storm as we kicked up red gravelly dirt, only adding to the mayhem. It was our third lap when Justin hit a pothole that sent my father from the truck bed.
Immediately I started screaming, “Stop! Dad fell from the truck!” Alexi flipped a u-turn so fast Kyle slid across the seat, the dirty child we’d acquired screamed behind his gag and an obese zombie got butted by the back fender and flew across the parking lot. I watched the punted zombie roll to a stop and regain his feet, to join the melee again. My dad was already shooting his way back to the truck, blowing off the head of the nearest biter. Justin had reversed, but zombies were standing between my dad and safety. As we neared, Alexi slowed down and Viktor jumped out and helped my dad eliminate the last few zombies blocking his way.
Once my dad was back in the truck bed, Viktor climbed into the suburban and they finished off the remaining undead. The last one to get a bullet to the brain had a bone sticking out of his decayed arm and a half-detached jaw on one side. It must have made chewing difficult. The mental image of another zombie chewing his food for him and feeding him like a mama bird made my stomach roll. Or perhaps that was Alexi’s stunt driving.
The bright May sun illuminated the Jackson Pollock scene of zombie blood and guts littering the ground. Justin and my dad pulled up alongside the building so the girls could jump into the truck bed. I watched as Melanie vaulted down without hesitation. Paulina, who was pushing sixty, sat down at the edge and then kind of flailed off the roof.
I rolled my eyes in disgust as Riley crossed her arms and refused to make the jump. It was so typical of my little sister to make a big deal out of everything, thus gaining attention. I could see my father trying to negotiate with her in his usual patient way. This went on for what seemed like an eternity.
When I could take it no longer, I jumped out of the car and yelled, “Riley, I swear to God, we’ll leave your princess ass here if you don’t jump down right now!” My dad gave me a reproachful look as Riley daintily made a show of leaping. Of course Viktor was there to catch her a mere four feet away, but she made it seem as though she’d leapt from a plane at twenty thousand feet in the air.
I hugged Paulina, who was a head shorter than me, and then Melanie, almost a head taller.
“Melanie, Kyle’s in the car, he’s hurt and he needs you,” I said breathily, trying to avoid Paulina’s earshot.
“Bitten?” she asked quietly.
“No, he was shot,” I whispered back.
Not softly enough.
“Hay dios mio!” exclaimed Paulina nearby and immediately set off toward the Suburban’s backseat as she muttered in Spanish. Melanie quickly followed suit, shaking her head at Paulina’s antics. Justin ushered his grandma out of the way and led her to the truck, following her in.
I walked over to dad and Riley as she was explaining how they’d gotten a flat tire on their way back to the interstate. The Jeep was parked down by the vineyard, a couple hundred yards away. My dad looked engrossed as she detailed how scared she’d been. I wouldn’t say Levi Donovan had a favorite child, however, he was definitely more lenient toward the youngest, and brattiest, of his children. This only became more pronounced as Riley aged and began to look increasingly like our mother.
My dad still missed her. We all did.
“Where’s Nacho?” Alexi called out, scanning the area.
“Nacho!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. It was convenient in a zombie-infested world to have a dog trained not to bark, but the little punk was hard to find sometimes.
“And here he comes, not a care in the world,” Viktor muttered as Nacho, our black Labrador, came into view, tearing out of the orchard. With a dead rabbit gripped in his teeth and his tail wagging furiously, Nacho strutted proudly up to Alexi, showing off his kill.
From the sound of the moaning and groaning undead in the orchard, Nacho had also picked up a few friends along the way. With my powers still flat-lined, we needed to get on the road, and somewhere safe to tend to Kyle’s wound. Melanie was standing in the open door of the Suburban when I came up behind her.
“Is it bad?” I asked her back.
“Hmn,” she answered noncommittally, her attention on my boyfriend lying in the backseat.
“Well,” my dad asked as he
came up beside me.
“The bullet is deep. I’m not sure I’m skilled enough to dig out all the pieces if it shattered,” she explained. Melanie was in nursing school when the world ended, but her expertise was limited.
My dad turned to Viktor. “What do you think? Take him to Eden?”
I spoke up before Viktor could. “I say we take him there. They have that weirdo doctor who’ll dig it out if we trade him some supplies.” Smirking, I called over my shoulder, “Hey Alexi, do you think we could borrow some of those condoms you’ll never use to trade for medical services?”
Viktor snorted and shook his head. It was easy to guess who the condom culprit was since Viktor stocked up when we busted into a Costco a couple years ago. Alexi’s response to my teasing was to flip me off, but with a settlement like Eden, condoms were a type of currency. If they would buy Kyle a doctor, they’d be put to real use.
Riley screamed, but it didn’t immediately alert me to the danger since it wasn’t uncommon. My dad hollering Watch out! did. Spinning around, I saw two small figures lumbering toward Riley, who was climbing into the large empty fountain to avoid them. Chubby cheeks and happy smiles on the little boy and girl had been replaced with sunken-in faces and grotesque movements. I turned away and heard the shots go off. The zombies that’d been following Nacho were just beginning to show up at the edge of the orchard.
Riley rushed past me and got into the front passenger seat. “Who’s he?” I’d almost forgotten about our little prisoner.
My dad peered in at the glaring little boy. “We don’t know his name yet, but the company he was keeping was questionable, so we brought him with us.”
My little sister scrunched up her nose. “He smells bad.”
“Well, you can help get him cleaned up,” I offered. “But can we get out of here before my boyfriend bleeds to death and we have to play shoot ‘em up zombie again?”
My attitude finally lit a fire under everyone and my dad took over driving the truck while Viktor got behind the wheel of the Suburban. Driving to where the Jeep was parked, they changed the tire and Alexi drove it with Nacho sitting passenger.
Eden was a quirky settlement about an hour away, in what used to be Glenwood Springs. Renamed Eden after the fall of civilization, we avoided it when possible. They were friendly people, but not the type to raise children around. Unfortunately, none of the settlements in Colorado suited us for long, which was why we had our mountain getaway where we could make our own rules and hide my strange ability.
Since Melanie was now in the backseat using the first aid kit on Kyle’s wound, I sat next to stinky in the middle row. When Paulina got her hands on him she’d straighten out his hygiene situation. As for the bindings, I was thinking we’d maybe have to resort to chaining him like we sometimes did with Nacho.
I turned around in my seat to look at Kyle. “You okay, honey?”
He made an effort to smile. “I’ll be fine once we trade for some real painkillers.”
Melanie reached into the first aid kit and pulled out a flask. “This will help some.”
Kyle’s sly smile was more genuine as he uncapped it and took a long drag. As a group, we rarely drank except for the occasional wine with dinner. This instance called for the hard stuff. Some of the pain left his expression and I was glad for it.
“Love you,” I told him softly.
“Love you more,” he replied.
Being headbutted was a surprise. Hurt like a bitch, too. “Ow!” I yelped and moved away from the little demon. He was lucky to be a kid. If one of my brothers or Riley had done that, I’d punch them in the stomach. Rubbing my forehead, I eyed the kid warily, wondering how hard it’d be to convince the others to drop him off on the side of the road. We’d untie him first, of course. I wasn’t a monster.
Viciously, I pictured Paulina putting soap in his mouth when he cursed. She’d done it to Justin a time or two growing up, even chased Alexi around a year or so ago when she’d heard him swear. That was hilarious.
The brat watched in satisfaction as I rubbed my forehead. Catching my glare, his expression turned to fear and I started to feel sorry for him. I imagined life with those ruffians couldn’t have been easy. He probably expected me to retaliate.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I reassured him, feeling bad for my earlier unkind thoughts. “Just don’t do it again.” When he turned his head away to stubbornly look out the window, I took that as a sign that I was safe from his violence for now. That tiny head was a lethal weapon.
Once the pain dulled down, the pang in my stomach made its presence known. I reached under the seat to pull out the lunchbox full of sandwiches and homemade corn chips that Paulina had packed for us last night. I missed the processed food of my childhood, but Paulina was able to recreate some things from the ingredients in our large garden and foodstuffs we traded for.
Passing out lunch to the others, I contemplated the skinny urchin next to me. He was eyeing the food in my lap like a zombie would a fat lady. Would he bite if I removed the makeshift gag? I couldn’t very well scarf down this food in front of him. From the looks of the kid, he didn’t eat enough.
I held up a wrapped sandwich. “If I take the gag out and feed you, will you behave?”
He nodded eagerly.
Untying the cloth at the back of his head, I let it drop to the seat and peeled the saran wrap from the thick sandwich. Giving him chips in between bites of the sandwich, I finally asked him the obvious. “So what’s your name?”
His untrusting look was followed by him saying, “Ezekiel.”
I held back my laugh. Riley did not. When I kicked the back of her seat, she whined, “Hey!”
Ignoring her and giving Ezekiel another bite, I told him, “Huh, you look more like a Timmy.”
This got me his meanest glower yet. “Do I look like a damn queer, you dumb blonde?”
Shocked at the derogatory term, I pointed a finger at his face. “You stop that potty mouth right now or Paulina is going to stuff soap in it.”
The kid shot me a repulsed look. “Figures you’d be a damn liberal.” He nodded his head towards Melanie. “Especially with the company y’all be keepin’.” Eyeing Melanie in a different and very grown up way, he added, “Even if she is hot as hell.”
“Oh my, aren’t you the cutest little klan member ever?” Melanie sarcastically countered.
“Listen here,” I told Ezekiel to get his attention. “You stop with the swearing and the racism or the gag goes back in.” I stuffed some chips in his mouth before he could offend further. Those losers created a monster in this child. Kid probably couldn’t even read.
After swallowing, his mouth was running off again. “Actually, ‘cept for the old lady and the assholes, y’all are a hot group of gals. I’m thinking I mighta just hit the jackpot, surrounded by you three beauties and getting fed like a king and all.” Jesus, the kid puffed up his puny chest. The others were going to have their hands full with this one, because I'd given up on this brat developing manners.
Riley snickered and I kicked the back of her seat even harder.
To distract him, I changed the subject. “I’m not calling you Ezekiel. How about a nickname? Zeke sounds less. . . .”
“Redneck,” Riley supplied.
Ezekiel shrugged his small shoulders. “Sounds all right to me, kinda badass.”
“Zeke it is,” I declared.
After I ate my own food, I turned in my seat to check on Kyle. His eyes were droopy and he’d eaten only half his food. “Is it okay for him to fall asleep, Melanie?”
“Yeah, I’ve got the bleeding to stop, so he should be fine. The doc in Eden will have something to prevent infection.”
Shoving our trash into the lunchbox with the leftovers, I tucked it back under the seat. Zeke had fallen asleep with his head against the window and his mouth hanging open. It’d almost be cute if he wasn’t covered in filth. Our best and easiest option would be to throw him in the hot springs at Eden before atte
mpting a real bath.
“How much further, Viktor?”
“About fifteen minutes,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the road and my dad driving the truck in front of us. Alexi followed in the Jeep and was probably itching to go faster than the speed limit we were coasting below. My dad was a big stickler for acting civilized despite anarchy. Until someone messed with us first, of course.
The rest of the ride was quiet, with Kyle either passed out or asleep and neither Zeke nor Riley mouthing off. When we neared Eden, more cars congested the highway, some showing fire damage. The zombies we passed reached out as if they could catch our vehicles through will alone. My dad hit one or two along the way, which is why the guys had installed grille guards on all our vehicles.
Such is apocalyptic life.