Floodwater Zombies (5 page)

“Hey, I’m not the one who has a problem with it, but I think tonight might be my shot. I’ve been getting this weird vibe from her ever since she dumped her boyfriend last month.”

“So it’s settled then,” Rory replied, waving to the man, who waved back. “I’ll go for Kate and you get Ashley.”

Woody’s jaw dropped. “What now?”

Rory nodded to the backyard and began walking.

Woody sat on the trunk for a moment longer, watching the tall man disappear through the funeral home’s grand front doors.
“
Speakin
of creepy.”

Rory glanced over his shoulder and followed Woody’s gaze.
“Connor?
He’s okay.”

“Bet he puts lipstick on dead people with his pants off.”

Rory laughed out loud and resumed his course to the backyard. “Why do you say that?”

Woody took a couple of hurried steps to catch up. “My sister said he was stalking some chick she worked with at the Longhorn.”

“Your sister talks shit about everyone,” Rory replied, unlatching the gate in the wooden privacy fence.

“Said he was waiting by the chick’s car when she got off work one night,” Woody continued, following Rory into the backyard, where the German
Shepherd
immediately began bounding around the pool and into the plush green grass.

“Seriously?”
Rory said, kneeling down to greet the large dog. “That’s a good boy!” he laughed, as Scout flicked his wet tongue across his cheeks.

“I guess he drove off just before she got to her car,” Woody said, scratching Scout behind his long furry ears.

Rory stood back up and started for the large patio door. “Come on, boy,” he said, tapping his leg. Scout trotted along at his side, his tail wagging back and forth a million miles an hour.

“Then she died.”

Rory stopped and turned. The sun bounced off the blue pool water, casting dancing sparkles onto their faces while a lone siren howled in the distance. Scout took a seat in the grass and patiently waited, his tongue lolling out the corner of his mouth as he looked around the yard and panted. Rory frowned. “She died?”

Woody nodded.

Rory shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand. “And what, your sister thinks Connor had something to do with it?”

“No, the girl had some kind of brain aneurism or something. Probably from eating too much of the Longhorn’s shitty food.”

Rory’s expression fell. “Bullshit.”

“Swear to God.”

“Do you want me to sick Scout on you? Is that what you want?”

Woody chuckled. “That old joke again? That dog runs from bunnies.”

Rory turned to Scout and pointed hard at Woody. “KILL!”

Scout stared at Rory and panted, unable to grasp the concept of pointing. He nudged Rory’s hand with a cold nose and barked once.

“See?” Woody smiled.

“If I had given him the
real
attack command, you’d be…”

Woody held up a hand to stop him from going any further. “Dead before I hit the ground.
Yeah, yeah.”

Anger stole across Rory’s face. “He could stop a Terminator if he wanted to!”

Scout yawned and ran his tongue around the edges of his snout.

Woody arched an eyebrow. “There is no attack command and there never has been. When are you going to give it up?”

“Oh, there’s an attack command. Just pray you never hear it,” Rory said softly, tapping his leg and crossing over to the patio.

“Oh, I’ll pray all right.”

Chapter Four

Stu stopped running and bent over, gasping for air. He squinted down the shoreline in the late afternoon sun.
“Boomer!”
The black lab stopped frolicking in the water and turned, his ears lifting into the air as if Stu might have just said something about a doggie treat. “Come on, buddy!” Stu yelled with a wave. Boomer hesitated and then galloped into the hot sand, his tags jingling around a red collar. “Let’s walk it out for a while, huh buddy? I’ve got a major cramp.” He rubbed the black lab’s shiny wet head and stood back up. Boomer shook back and forth, spraying him with lake water.

“Hey!” Stu laughed as a flock of geese flew over the tree line and swooped down, honking and splashing into a tranquil Lake Darling. Boomer watched the waterfowl with engrossed eyes, somehow resisting the urge to leave his master’s side.

 
“Oh wait a minute, I think we’ve got a live one here, Boom,” Stu whispered, causing the lab to look over to the approaching silhouette of someone with a small dog. When Stu noticed the long brown hair and short shorts on the woman coming his way, he was happy to be wearing sunglasses. He started walking towards her, acting like he wasn’t staring at the way her plump breasts bounced inside a little red tank top as she power walked across the sand. “Just remember, Boom,” he murmured. “Play cute and cuddly until I get her number. Then you can go back to your normal self. Okay?”

Boomer barked one time and shook more water from his coat.

“Atta boy,” Stu whispered, trying to round up his best opening line. This was the hard part. At least in a bar everyone had some of the liquid courage worming through their veins. It didn’t matter if it was the grocery store, or the gym, or the bookstore, he always felt like a creep approaching women without at least a good four-beer buzz swirling around his head. But he was tired of meeting women in the bars. They were always the same old sloppy drunks with shady pasts who didn’t know when to leave the next morning.

Unfortunately, women weren’t exactly falling head over heels to date a balding insurance salesman, but at thirty-seven time wasn’t on his side. Most of his friends already had kids in high school and in a town this small, the good ones went quick.

Boomer couldn’t restrain himself for another second and took off running down the sandy beach, quickly closing on some geese drifting closer to shore. The brunette’s tiny dog jerked backwards on its leash and released a panicked round of high-pitched yelps as Boomer zipped past.

“Sorry
bout
that,” Stu said, watching the black lab leap into the murky water and scare the large birds into flight. “That dog is nuts. I should probably have him looked at.”

The pretty brunette turned and watched Boomer with a hand shielding her eyes from the sinking sun. “Aw, he’s so cute. What’s his name?”

Stu tried not to stare at the nipples poking through her tank top, knowing it would only fluster him. “Stu, I mean, Boomer. He’s Boomer, I’m Stu,” he said sheepishly, sticking his hand out.

Her eyes dropped to his extended hand and hovered. Stu cringed, knowing he had just officially
creeped
her out because, after all, he was a stranger. And strangers were bad.

“I’m Tanya,” she smiled, taking his hand and shaking it with a firm grip.

Relief washed over him as he held her onto hand for a few seconds too long. “And who’s this?” he asked, releasing his hold and looking down at the fluffy Pomeranian dancing nervously around their feet.

“This is Chloe,” Tanya replied warmly, untangling the leash from her toned legs.

“Wow, she looks dangerous.”

Tanya giggled and brushed a long strand of hair from her mouth. “She likes to think she is.”

“Looks like she’s been working out.”

Tanya laughed harder, making her boobs bounce. “She keeps me in shape, that’s for sure.” Tanya bent over and pet Chloe on her furry head. “Don’t you, girl?” Chloe licked her lips and returned her attention to Boomer.

“Hi Chloe,” Stu said in a high-pitched voice, bending over to pet her. Chloe viciously snapped at his fingers. “Holy crap!” he yelled, pulling his hand back as the dog charged him, barking like hell.

Tanya yanked on the leash, her face folding.
“Chloe no!
Oh my God, did she get you?” she asked, covering her mouth and trying not to laugh.

Stu studied his fingers and exhaled a relieved breath. “No, but that was a close one.”

“That is a bad girl!” she scolded, glaring at the dog. Chloe stopped barking and sat in the sand, watching Boomer sniff the water now up to his belly. “I’m sorry; she’s not very good with strangers yet.”

“Man, you need to get her to the Dog Whisperer or something. That guy will have Chloe doing dishes in an apron before you know it.”

Tanya chuckled, squinting at him with beautiful brown eyes that reflected the bright sun in the western sky. “Now that would be a trick! She’s only two, so I guess it’s not too late to teach her some new ones. How old is Boomer?”

“He’s six, going on three,” he smiled. “He’s a big baby but he’s a really good dog.” Stu took a deep breath of the fresh country air and trailed off into an awkward silence. Small lake waves lapped at the shoreline while his mind worked double-time, trying to scrape together something witty to say before she told him to have a nice day and went on her way.

“I think I saw you two out here last Friday about this time.”

His heart skipped a beat. “Yeah, we were out here on Friday,” he said, shocked that he had not only missed this brunette beauty, but that she remembered him as well.

The wind gently tugged on her long hair, making her look like she was posing for a swimsuit catalog. “It’s so beautiful out here,” she smiled, gazing across the placid water.

Stu turned to the small lake he had grown up fishing and swimming in, along with everyone else in town. It definitely held a certain charm but one he had come to take for granted.

“We just moved here last week.”

His eyes jerked back to Tanya, who was smiling at Chloe. Stu’s blood began pumping louder in his ears. It was a Christmas miracle come early, or late. Regardless, God had given him first crack at a new transplant to town and he would not let God down.
“Oh yeah?
Where from?”

“Rochester, Minnesota.”