"Like I said, we'll be on our way…" Johnny began.
"I know you will, we just like to get to know our company before they take off." The man replied, looking at both men over his sunglasses.
"Let's start with an introduction. I'm Bud." He said, looking toward Johnny.
"I'm Johnny."
"Good. And..." Bud continued, his gaze moving to meet Roosevelt's.
"I'm Roosevelt."
"Alright Johnny and Roosevelt. It's sure a pleasure to meet you both." Bud said
"Likewise," Johnny replied.
"Is it really though?" Roosevelt scoffed.
Johnny's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as his gaze shot daggers toward Roosevelt.
"What? I mean we're out in the freezin’ cold, hungry, and handcuffed. I'm sorry, Bud, if I'm not as pleased as my friend." Roosevelt growled.
"Sorry about the cuffs, can't be too safe. Under normal circumstances we're a lot more hospitable here in Sweetwater." Bud said.
"Herd!" A loud voice shouted from behind them. Johnny and Roosevelt spun around, scanning for the new voice. A second later Johnny spotted a previously unseen man, perched on the nearest rooftop, a pair of binoculars pressed against his face.
Bud paused, removed his shades with one hand and held the other above his brow, scanning the horizon.
"Forty yards." He said, seemingly to himself. Before turning toward the empty street behind him.
"You heard him! Get on out here and handle it!" Bud shouted.
At that, doors flung open and a flood of seemingly regular people burst out onto the street beelining for the barricades. There had to be a hundred of them by Johnny's best guess, all armed with one weapon or another. Some carried assault rifles and others, shotguns or pistols, and even the odd longbow or crossbow, a few teens even ran out, slingshots in hand. The man on the roof had dropped his binoculars, letting them dangle from his neck, and was now peering through the scope of a rifle.
"Take our friends here somewhere safe, don't uncuff em just yet." Bud said to one of the men standing next to him.
“Wait a minute, uncuff us and we’ll help take these things out.” Roosevelt said as the man ushered them away. Bud didn’t reply. He simply flipped the cylinder out on his pistol and popped out the two spent rounds he had fired at their feet before dropping two more fresh rounds into the chambers. Johnny and Roosevelt were taken to a small home down the street and locked in a room. They found seats on the edge of a small bed and sat down just as gunshots started to fill the air.
“Jesus Christ, where the hell did they get all of that ammo? I bet they’ve fired at least a thousand rounds already.” Roosevelt, trying to find a comfortable position for his cuffed hands.
“Who knows. Let’s just focus on making a good impression with these people. I don't want to end up in the pile with that herd they’re taking out.” Johnny replied. Twenty minutes later Bud stepped into the room, his mustache turned up in a smile.
“Comfy?” He asked as he stepped in the room.
“Been in worse situations before.” Johnny replied. Bud pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and used it to wipe the sweat from his face. He looked at them both as he stuffed the white cloth back in his pocket.
“So, Johnny, Roosevelt, if I have one of my men take them cuffs off are you going to play nice?”
“Of course. We aren’t here to cause any trouble.” Johnny said.
“What about your friend here? He don’t seem none too happy with us.” Bud said.
“He’s harmless. He gets cranky when he's hungry.” Johnny replied.
“That right? You get cranky when you're hungry?” Bud asked, looking Roosevelt in the eye.
“Yeah. That’s right.” Roosevelt replied in an annoyed tone.
“Well you boys are in luck! Miss Mary just finished making a huge pot of stew and some homemade bread. You play your cards right and you just might get a nice heaping bowl full.” Bud said. Roosevelts mouth started to salivate at the thought of a hot meal.
“Hey Will, get in here and take the cuffs off these men. They can help us pack the dead over to the hole.” Bud shouted over his shoulder.
“We don’t like free loaders here in Sweetwater either so here’s the deal, you help me and my men haul the dead off, and we’ll let you boys stay for dinner. After that, you have to go. We have a deal?” Bud asked as Will removed the cuffs. Johnny rubbed his wrists as he thought about the deal, but Roosevelt was on it. He shoved his hand out toward Bud and said.
“You got yourself a deal!” Bud chuckled.
“I figured you’d see it our way. Come on then. We have work to do before supper.” Bud said standing up to leave the room. When they got outside, they saw a ton of people carrying the dead out of the road and around the back of a house.
“Just jump in there and start helping out. You can get a shower when you’re finished.” Bud stated as he ran his finger and thumb down the length of his thick mustache. They walked up to the pile of mangled bodies and grabbed the arms and legs of the thing and then fell in behind another set of men packing limp bodies around the house. When they made it around to the back of the house, they spotted a small bridge curved over the top of a small creek. A massive hole had been dug out on the far side of the creek and then men were tossing the dead down into the pit one at a time.
“You have to burn them to kill the disease completely. Once we get that hole full, we’ll pour diesel over it all and light it. By morning it'll be nothing but a big pile of bones.” Bud said as he and another man tossed their own corpse
