Morbid curiosity made me look down at Katy as I went by her. Her left eye was open, a tinge red, staring at me. The right side of her face was missing. A trail of blood scattered from the opening and was slowly seeping into the floor. Why was she so fast and so hard to kill?
I closed my eyes in prayer and memory of her before going into the living room. There, Charley and I saw the aftermath of their encounter. Brittany and Jones had blood on them, they stood over the bodies of Don and Ruthie.
We had gone through so many zombies, it was a daily thing. We hadn’t had a chance to change, so we had green blood piled on top of a darker, greenish-black, dried blood. We were alive, but looked a mess. At least we weren’t dead.
Don had a huge chunk torn out of his neck. Ruthie’s head lay smashed in pieces. Brittany’s once bent rifle, was now in the shape of the letter ‘V’ and lay discarded among the bodies.
“We need something hard,” said Jones. He was looking down at the bodies.
“What?” I asked.
Brittany looked up at me. “Don got bit. We lost both guns and need something to finish him off with.”
I must have been in a fog, because I didn’t get it. Brittany had a pipe in her bag, why wasn’t she using it. I must be missing something. I looked at them for an answer. Brittany and Jones looked at me funny, as if something was wrong with me.
“He’s going to turn, Zee Zee.” Jones gave me a hard look.
All right, I will give him that one for free. If he calls me that again, it’s on. I broke the mutual gaze we shared to look at Don. He moved. They were correct. I didn’t think he was still alive. “Oh, I forgot about that part.”
We looked for something. I remembered my hammer and went back to the bedroom to get it. I stopped when I looked at the window. I went to it, double-checking the locks. It hadn’t been opened. Scanning the room, I saw no zombies. There were no holes in the walls from them breaking in; we would have heard that at least. How did they get in?
With confusion, I took the hammer and went back to the living room. I gave it to Jones, he was our leader and I didn’t want to do it myself. It’s time for him to do the parts of the job that make him the boss.
I stepped back and turned my head. Jones was quick. It only took one blow to remove Don’s brain. He was a nice guy. I should have spent more time getting to know him. Like Katy, I closed my eyes tight and remembered him.
“Poor bastard,” said Jones. “She was damn strong. She knocked me down and was about to rip into Dushell when —”
“He saved me, Zee.” Brittany finished for him. “He sacrificed himself for me. He said he was sorry. That’s the last thing he said to me, he said he was sorry.”
Brittany whimpered. I didn’t have to turn around to know it and didn’t want to see it anyway. She was tough as nails in a fight, better than half the guys in our squad. Still, she was human.
“How did they get in?” I wanted to change the subject.
“They must have come through a window.” Jones guessed.
“No,” I turned around. “I checked. The window in the bedroom is locked. And we were all in here with the front door locked.”
Brittany had the answer. “They were bitten before they came here, before we met them. I guess that’s what Don was sorry about.”
“Let’s check.”
I turned around and went to Ruthie’s body. She was covered in blood. I lifted her bloody dress because I saw nothing on her legs. On her right back leg was a bite mark with deep teeth impressions. Above that, a huge chunk was missing where the leg meets the hip. I saw bone. “Damn. She could have told us. How could she do that to her own child?”
“Love is blind,” said Brittany.
Charley scoffed. “Not for everyone.”
“Let’s cover them with sheets from the beds,” Jones said. “I doubt if any of us are going back to sleep.”
We covered the bodies and all four of us sat without talking. Brittany held my hand and now and then squeezed softly. We sat on the couch with Jones and stared at the front door. The sun would come up soon and we would be off. Charley sat across from us in a swivel chair. He would turn this way and that and the chair would creak. It provided most of our conversation.
It began to get light outside.
“What do we do about Thompson?” I asked.
“Leave him,” Charley blurted. Talking about Thompson made him angry. I can only assume he hated pedophiles. When I thought about the word, it brought up memories of Doctor Blake touching Simon’s shoulder. Anger wailed up in me.
“Fine, we leave him.”
“No, we don’t,” said Brittany. She looked appalled at my suggestion.
“We are not leaving him,” said Jones.
I was floored. “You’re the one who wanted to leave him in the first place. Weren’t you the one kicking him?”
“We are taking him,” said Jones. “End of discussion. We don’t leave our people behind.”
“Whatever,” I scoffed.
Charley, Brittany, and Jones went to the basement to get Thompson, I refused. I stayed in the living room, staring at their backs as they descended the stairs. Nothing fazed me, not even the smell that inflamed my nostrils. I stood looking at the door, waiting for them to return with Thompson.
It was just as I imagined it would be. Thompson’s smirk greeted me with an unbelievable force. I steeled myself and determined I would not crumble. I met his malicious grin with one of my own.
“Zee Zee, how are you? I hope you slept well.” Though he didn’t laugh, he was close to it.
Charley hit Thompson in the back and knocked him forward, causing the others to have to catch him. “Oops, sorry.”
Charley winked at me. I appreciated it, but showed no reaction.
“I said we don’t leave our people behind and I meant it.” Jones stared at me. “Thompson, you are free to go. If you come with us, you will be on your best behavior. And I will not tolerate mocking my people. If we find some ammo, I will shoot you myself. Are we clear?”
Thompson’s eyes were on me. “Of course.” Another smirk.
Being the closest to the door, I left out first. During the early hours, Brittany and I had packed. We marched down the road carrying packs. My stomach rumbled lightly. Very soon I will satisfy it.
Chapter Nine