Nikki shrugged. “I’m fine. You want to rest up for a little bit? I’ll tend to the horses and keep watch.”
“Yeah. Wake me in a couple of hours.”
Fred took both blankets and wrapped himself, leaning against a wall. Nikki glanced over a minute later and he already seemed to be asleep. That was fine with her. She was too keyed up to sleep. She’d give him a couple of hours of uninterrupted rest before waking him.
She unsaddled the horses and then sorted through a pile of shop rags. Finding a couple that were relatively clean, she used them to rub down the horses. Both of them were nodding off while standing. She knew she wasn’t the most knowledgeable person around, but she knew horses, and these two needed food and rest. She walked out and looked around until she found some more grass under the snow. She pulled up several handfuls and brought them back inside. The horses eagerly nibbled from her outstretched hand.
“I know it’s not much,” she whispered. “But I promise we’ll make up for it.”
There was a chair in the office, and she moved it over near Fred and sat. The business had a total of four bay doors, two on each side. From her vantage point, she could see out of them, but visibility was diminishing with the growing darkness. She glanced over at Fred. He was breathing deeply. She was cold and hungry, but she didn’t regret coming on the mission. She was learning from him and she was growing used to him.
She had to pee and made her way outside. Looking around first, she dropped her pants and squatted. It was cold and whatever body warmth she had instantly disappeared. But she wasn’t the type of person to complain, finished her business, and went back inside as quietly as she could.
“We are in a quandary,” Fred said from under his hat, which surprised her.
“I thought you were asleep,” she said.
He straightened and readjusted his hat before speaking. “I was, but my gut is telling me they’re aware of our hidey-hole. If we try to go back to it, they’ll try to ambush us again. Or they’ll wait until we’re inside and surround us. Had that happen to me back in Tennessee.”
“How did you get away?” Nikki asked.
He thought back to that incident and remembered the tactic he and Julie had used. Fred felt uncomfortable describing the specifics and chose his words with care.
“We were on top of a building and surrounded by zeds. We used fresh blood as bait to lure them to one side of the building. When they were preoccupied with the blood, we escaped on the other side. I don’t think it’ll work this time,” Fred said.
Nikki grunted. Fred scanned the area while the horses pawed at the ground and ate the sparse amount of grass they uncovered. After a moment, he turned to her.
“This isn’t something I can teach you. It’s called intuition. I guess I’ve had it since I was a kid. My father pointed it out to me when he was teaching me about horses.”
“How?” she asked.
“Even though I was young, I was able to tell immediately when a horse was about to throw a hissy fit and I was able to calm them down. It’s the same with shooting. Sure, I’ve put in hours and hours of practice, but I have an intuitive ability to put a bullet where I want it to go.” He turned his head and stared at her a moment.
“Do you drink and smoke that weed?” he asked.
“Sometimes,” she admitted.
“Well, I used to drink. My first wife put a stop to it. That’s probably the only reason why I still have good intuition. These days it’s saved my bacon more than once. I’m not saying you should quit, but don’t let it get the better of you.”
“You’re saying your intuition is telling you the zeds are waiting for us?” Nikki asked.
“Not only waiting for us, but they’re also searching for us. I don’t know why. Maybe they don’t want anyone to know that so many of them are out here.”
Nikki considered what he said for a moment before responding. “But zeds don’t think at that level, right? That’s what I’ve been taught.”
“That’s how they used to be. They used to have a simple, primitive aggression. Kill and eat. Nowadays, they’re doing a lot more.”
“So, what do we do?” she asked.
“There’s too many of them to confront them. I don’t believe you’re going to like what I believe we’re going to have to do.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re going to have to abandon the truck and ride back on the horses,” Fred said.
Nikki’s eyes widened. “Wait a sec, that’s about a seventy-mile ride, right?”
“Yep,” Fred answered. He then stood and stretched. “Get some sleep. We’re going to have a long couple of days ahead of us.”
Chapter 33 – A Cold Night for an Oil Change
“It’s cold,” Nikki said between chattering teeth.
In addition to being fully clothed and wearing her overcoat, Fred had given her the blankets to wrap herself in so she could sleep, but it didn’t work.
“Back before either of us were born, Buddhist monks in Tibet learned how to raise their body temperature and could sit outside in the freezing cold without succumbing to hypothermia. The scientists called it neuroplasticity. It’s the ability to change the neuron pathways in the brain. You can do a lot of things if you master it. Before you ask, I haven’t mastered it.”
“So, you’re saying if I meditate, I’ll get hot?”
“That’s what they did,” Fred said. “I can do it, to a small extent. You can train yourself to do it too.”
“How do you do it?” she asked.
“You have to will your body to relax and eliminate distracting thoughts. It is a good tool for a number of reasons. There are a few books back at the Mount Weather Library. I would encourage you to
