Nobody even looked at us twice as we meshed back into a group of them. Apparently leeches don't communicate. A couple of guys that bore a family resemblance and a third headed off to check out one of the base houses.
'Hey, do you mind if we come?' I asked the person that I assumed to be the leader of the trio.
The guy spit out a wad of tobacco, turned to look at us both. 'You don't get all weak in the knees with killing do you?'
I shook my head in the negative.
'What if its women or kids?'
I shook my head again and even added in a lip scrunching to get my point across.
'What about him? He already looks a little queasy.' The guy asked pointing to Justin.
'Naw, he's fine.' I said. 'He just had a bad can of Spam for breakfast.' I proxied.
'I hate that shit. Either of you get in my way, I'll kill you.' And with that he turned back around and headed towards the house.
The third man of the trio brazenly walked up to the front door and kicked it in. I more than half expected a shotgun blast to send him reeling back down the steps. I was more concerned the vial around his neck would get broken than the douchebag’s neck getting busted. When nothing happened we all walked in. The first man walked straight down the hallway like he had just come home from work. The leader quickly followed but got halfway down the hallway and took a left into the kitchen. His brother would have followed except for the seven-inch blade I stuck in his rib cage and through his lungs. You could barely hear the small 'thud' as he slipped out of my arms on the way to the floor or you might have never known about his passing.
'Bollie! Get in here man, they have your favorite.' The leader shouted from around the corner.
I never did learn what his favorite was.
'What the fuck man!?' The first guy through the door had made a circuitous route and was now coming in from the living room. Tough not to figure out what was going on considering I was standing over the dead body of his friend with a bloody knife in my hand.
'Earl!' He yelled. 'Get in here, these fuckers killed Bollie.'
Justin's MP4 jumped in his hands as he fired a burst at close range into the man. The first round caught him square in the chest. Subsequent rounds neatly climbed up his body as the gun recoiled. The second bullet ripped out his carotid artery and the third would have made any Mohawk Indian proud as the top of the man's skull plate was neatly sheared off. Zombie pate.
And yes that did go through my mind. My errant thought nearly got me killed as Earl had come around the corner, his AK-47 ripping through the siding next to me. I pushed Justin into the living room. We toppled over his fresh kill. We would never be in a position to defend ourselves in time. Divine intervention, sheer luck, fate, I don't know. I don't have the answers. Bigger things than my mere life were going on. I sometimes felt like we were on a cosmic chessboard and far superior beings than myself were playing a game for our survival. Who knows, maybe it was nothing more than 'Trading Places' and the whole screwed up thing was based on a wager of a Narflack, which basically translates to one American dollar. The distinctive chatter of the 7.62 lead shedding dispenser was cut off by a much smaller almost fire cracker sounding weapon.
'That a .22?' Justin asked me. We both scrambled as far away from the doorway as possible. A loud thud, presumably Earl, hit the floor. We were safe for the moment.
'You in there.' A voice trying to be bigger and bolder than it really was, rang out. 'Your friend is dead and you're next if I don't see your guns and then your hands.'
'Jesse?' I asked.
'Who is it?' His voice cracked and he immediately attempted to recover thinking this might be a ruse. In a much deeper tone he said, 'You should get out of my house before I do to you what I did to your friend.'
'You keep saying that but I can assure you that he was far from my friend. Jesse, its Mike Talbot and Justin.'
He wasn't prepared to give in quite so quickly. 'Why are you with these guys?'
'Jesse we weren't. We took out two of them before you got the third. Is your dad around, I might have found a way to get off this base?'
'No it's just me, Blake, Porkchop and Rachael.'
'What are you doing Jesse, what did you tell him that for?' Blake admonished his older brother.
'Jess, it's me Justin.' All the boys had become fast friends during my days of rehabilitation. If anyone could break through this detente my money was on Justin. 'I'm gonna slide my gun out and then come through, don't shoot me,' he threw in for good measure.
The relief on Jesse's face as we all made our impromptu reunion was evident. His dad and mom were getting some supplies when the invasion had happened. Jesse was assigned with babysitting duties. He was under the distinct impression that it wasn't going to involve gun play though.
'You did good.' I told him as he did his best to avoid looking at the man he had shot. Blood was beginning to pool in the foyer.
'Eww, gross.' Rachael said as she stepped into the hallway.
'Cool.' Porkchop said. 'Hey Mr. Talbot, Justin, did Dad send you guys?'
'Someone did, Porkchop, but I don’t know who.' I told him cryptically.
He understood about as much of that sentence as was possible, so basically none.
'Holy shit!' Porkchop yelled.
'Dad says you're not supposed to swear.' Rachael told him.
'Sorry.' He said absently, but he wasn't. His vision was fixed squarely on the gun by Earl's head. 'Can I have that?'
My first inclination was to say absolutely not. But more guns meant more chances of freedom. Actually, wasn't really my call, I wasn't in charge here. I deferred to Jesse, after all he was watching them and had already proved adept at the task.
'What do you think Jesse?' I asked him.
I'll give him this, he thought about it for a few seconds, then he handed Porkchop the .22 and grabbed the AK for himself. Porkchop couldn’t have been any more pleased. Blake grabbed the hunting rifle off of Earl's brother. Rachael started to head for the man in the living room. Jesse, Blake and Porkchop in unison, told her 'no way' in three different manners. She stomped her foot and turned away. I could guarantee if we got through the next week together she was going to make their lives a living hell.
I was happy we had saved the Doc's kids and they had saved us but not at all thrilled this now meant we had to kill another nine humans. As any soldier can attest, man is the most cunning, devious prey out there. Zombies were a mindless killing machine. They wouldn't be doing any trigonometry, ok scratch that, bad analogy, I wouldn't be doing any trig either. You get the point though, killing something that has an equal chance of killing you, that's hunting. It's not like a white tail deer is going to hide behind a tree waiting for you and then clobber you on the head with its hoof. I guarantee a lot less people would be trying to get a license come hunting season, although redneck population growth might be kept in check if deer could even the odds.
Alright, I'm off course, I had a major dilemma. If no one got too close I could pull off the illusion that Jesse and Porkchop were fellow fighters. Blake, because of his size would be stretching plausibility, but no way was I going to be able to pull off that a 10 year old girl would be in this fight. Our chances of success depended wholly on being able to blend in. I couldn't leave them here though. Sooner rather than later somebody else was going to come into this house and with the dead bodies and blood everywhere they would not be caught unawares.
'Dad, we should get moving.' Justin said as he peered out the window.
'Tie her up.' I said without any further clarification.
'Tie who up?' Rachael asked indignantly. 'Me?' She asked pointing to herself. 'Nobody is tying me up, I'm a woman!' She roared.
'Mr. Talbot?' Porkchop asked querulously.
'Cool. Been wanting to do that since they brought her home from the hospital.' Blake said. Rachael looked as if she was going to explode.
'Probably you too.' I said pointing to Blake. Rachael smiled, sticking her tongue out at her middle
