“I think I have to.”
“Then I don't think we will see them again. No.”
“We?”
“Yes. We, our stupidity is like a multiplier, alone we are equal to one plus one stupidity. But put us together and we are like eight stupidity. We can't let our talent for misadventure go to waste.”
Max smiled and sat back in the passenger seat. His smile faded when Stewart asked, “What about your kids Max?”
“I got a friend in Iowa, a good guy, I will have to leave them there. I don't want to, but can you see any other way?”
“Not unless we run into someone else who can do what you do. That is alright I will cover your ass, I have been since I found you pissing your pants at the MAC Co. building in Denver.”
“I wasn't pissing my pants!” Max protested.
“Near enough. You know I almost shot you?” Max shook his head, “You were covered in blood and looked like one of them, in a way you owe me your life for not shooting you. I could have gone either way.”
“Like I've never saved your life before or something.”
“Yeah, when?”
“In my house when you got hit with the table leg by…uh, Veronica? I thought you were dead and drove the zombies out the back door.”
“Max! That does not count! We were only there because of you! That'd be like me making you grab onto a rope and dangling you over the edge of a building, then pulling you up and saying 'I just saved your life!' Lame.”
“You know I sort of miss Steve.” said Max, mentioning the man who had made the trek with them to his house in the suburbs only to be killed in Max's back yard by a shotgun blast.
“He was an asshole. But he did grow on me. He died well. I mean if you have to go, it seems to me you could find a worse way than fighting for your friends or the ones you love.”
“Yeah…I guess you're right.” Max leaned over and gave Stewart a chaste kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for?”
“I am glad you are here.”
Up ahead the road split, they could head south on highway two seventy five or continue east on highway twenty. To Stewart's unasked question Max said, “Head east.” And they did.
Chapter 24
Red lugged the body of the deputy off the road towards the river and hid on the far bank as another police cruiser went by on the highway with its lights flashing. It stopped at the cars that were lined across the road and the two men inside got out and started looking for ways to get by. There was no chance the police officers could see him, the vegetation was so thick that Red had barely seen the police car. He lowered the body down into the grass and looked it over. It was still full of life giving energy, sometimes it took awhile for a body to fade and become unappetizing to a zombie. Looking west he could see the horde traveling south again, he wondered what Nita and Hugh would say when he got back to them, they had to have a reason for doing what they did. Still he had time to get a meal in, if he hurried. Stripping off his clothing he hung it out of the way in a low crook on a tree then started in on the body. He was not incredibly hungry, that had seemed to fade as he regained his memories, but the taste was still fantastic and he felt the energy coursing through his body as he fed. He pulled the choicest parts out of the corpse to save time; he knew that if he gorged himself he would end up vomiting. Turning the body slowly he went after only the organs that held the most life energy. Grasping the head in both hands he forced his fingers into the eye sockets and then pulled forcefully, removing most of the eye sockets and nasal cavity, some splatters of blood still managed to hit his clothing where he had placed it. Red sighed and dug into the hole in the man's face with his long, lean fingers, fishing the brains out. As he went he wiped the exposed mucus that drained into the hole from the sinus cavity onto the deputy's shirt. Red was young enough that he could remember times when he was not so discriminating. When the hole constricted his hand he broke another section of it off so he could scoop out what was left. These days when he fed he made certain that the dead would not rise again, plus the brain was the best part.
When Red finished with the he reached down and pulled up the deputies shirt, and then pressed his hand inwards at the bottom of the rib cage. He pushed until his hand broke through the skin and tissue, it was like pushing through a child's balloon, the skin gave away slowly with some resilience at first, then suddenly split and tore in a long cut, allowing Red access to the internal organs. He moved his hand up through the diaphragm to grasp and pull out the heart, the large muscle was tough to chew but the taste was second only to the brains. Moving down his list of good parts to eat and subsequently further down into the body Red wrapped his hands around the liver and pulled it from the body, even more than the heart the liver was held in place by suction, releasing only with a loud, wet popping sound that was both amusing and disgusting to his ears. By the time he finished with the liver the colorful glow from the body was almost gone. Each person was different, each person seemed to die at a different pace, some people, after death could be eaten a day later, others faded within minutes. Red had no idea why this was so, but he had learned to eat fast. The thought of feeding didn't sicken him anymore, not like the first few times he had fed when he was smart enough to know what he was doing. Now he just took it as a fact of his new life that this is how he ate and how he always would until he died again. Standing he almost slipped as his foot came down on a loop of intestines that had been pulled out when he took the liver, the slippery flesh flattened in an unpleasant manner and Red quickly pulled his foot back. Looking himself over he noticed his feeding hadn't gotten any cleaner despite constant practice, his chest and stomach were streaked with blood that was dripping down his belly onto his legs. He was glad he had taken the time to disrobe before eating, if he encountered any humans they might not shoot him immediately, but a bloody zombie, or human for that matter, was sure to be fired upon. Getting down into the river Red washed up, making certain to rinse out his hair, forgetting to do that was a mistake he had made before and one he would not make again. He skirted around the body when he made his way back to his clothing and got dressed despite still being wet. The clothing clung to him and Red hoped it gave him the appearance of sweating, which would add to his 'human-ness' and make sense given the heat and humidity. As a zombie he didn't sweat anymore, all of his bodily functions were turned upside down, nothing was the same. He knew in a few hours he would have to squat and expel the meaty parts of the body he had just eaten, they would come out looking like chewed up pieces of meat, but not digested as far as Red could tell. Whatever he expelled never smelled that bad either, maybe faintly rotted, but no worse than that. Shrugging into his shirt Red set off to where he had left Nita and Hugh.
He was crossing highway two eighty one a few miles south of town when a stray dog caught his scent and jogged up to him. It growled a bit and Red growled back. When he set off again the dog followed, growling at odd intervals. Red kept an eye out, he didn't dislike dogs, but he didn't want this one jumping him when he was unaware, so he had to either kill it or make friends with it. Looking around he concentrated, trying to find something to feed it. Finally he located a rabbit burrow that was close enough to the surface that he could see the cowering creature that was a foot underground. Standing over the rabbit he thrust his hand into the soil and broke it's neck in one smooth motion. He tore the things fur open along the back, then turned towards the dog, which had tags on it. Kneeling he coaxed the dog towards him. It came forward, growling and hungry looking, wanting the rabbit, but obviously not trusting Red. Inch by inch it crept closer, until Red snapped his hand forward and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck. The dog started struggling and Red held it away from his face with almost no effort, then lifted it off the ground. He dropped the rabbit and reach for the mutt's collar, using his faster reflexes to avoid the thing's snapping bites.
“Riley huh?” Red said after looking at the name on the collar, “If I was named that I'd be mad too. Who gives a dog a people name? Poor mutt you gotta be confused out of your fool head.”
Talking seemed to calm the beast and after a few minutes and a couple of sharp shakes the thing stopped trying to bite Red every time he tried to pet it.
