Zombie Fallout 4: The End Has Come and Gone (11 page)

“
I
t’s locked,” Paul said, turning back to the throng.

“Were you expecting a ‘Welcome’ sign?” Mrs. Deneaux asked him in her usual acerbic manner.

“You really are tough to get along with,” Mad Jack said, stooping to get a closer look at the lock.

“Do you have a hammer?” Alex asked Mad Jack.

“Even better,” Mad Jack told them. He patted down all of his pockets until he came across what he was feeling for. It was a lock picking device that looked much like a small pistol. “Working for the DoD sure had its perks,” MJ said, placing the picking device into the lock. He began to rapidly pull the triggering mechanism.

“That standard issue?” Paul asked skeptically.

After another ten seconds of fiddling with the device, Mad Jack stood up with a satisfactory ‘Aha’ sound.

“Is it open or not?” Mrs. Deneaux asked. “Do you need all the theatrics?”

“Oh, put a sock in it,” Joann told Mrs. Deneaux as she pulled the door open.

“Hold on!” Alex told her. “We don’t know what it’s like in there.”

“It’s a furniture store. And an inexpensive one at that. So unless zombies have started eating vinyl we should be fine,” Mrs. Deneaux said, although she did not volunteer to go in first.

Joann’s initial haste to get indoors was quelled at the idea that the dark store could be hiding a variety of nightmares.

“We should be safe,” Paul stated. “No food means no people, no people…”

“No zombies,” Little Eddy finished the sentence.

“You got it,” Mad Jack said, pulling a flashlight off the utility belt he was wearing and heading into the murkiness.

The majority of the group huddled behind that one light as they checked furniture display after furniture display looking for anyone or more importantly anything that didn’t belong. The only notable exceptions were Joann and April who were standing guard by the front doors and Mrs. Deneaux who had found a Lazy Boy Recliner and had fallen fast asleep.

It took over an hour to go through the entire showroom floor, the loading bays and the offices, but it was well worth it. There were four fully stocked vending machines with all sorts of snacks from nuts to licorice. Eddy was at first ecstatic to come across an ice cream machine and then severely depressed when he realized he was standing sneaker sole deep in the melted treats.

“Do you think anything’s still in there?” Eddy asked
Erin .

“Oh honey, I don’t think so,” she told him and then hugged him before he started to cry again, something he had been doing a lot of since his mother had executed his family and then turned the gun on herself.

“You going to use your fancy lock picking device on this?” Paul asked, pointing to the vending machine.

“Step aside,” Mad Jack told him. The loud splintering crash as he threw
a display vase through the glass awoke the slumbering Deneaux.

“What the hell is going on in there!” she yelled from across the floor.

“Everyone’s fine!” Paul yelled. “You old bat,” he said much more softly.

Mad Jack giggled like a schoolgirl. “She really is, isn’t she?” he said, stating a fact more than formulating a question.

“See,” Paul started. “Mrs. Deneaux is proof to me that God has one hell of a sense of humor. End of the world, and the crankiest 75 year old bitch that can’t shoot, can’t run, can’t fight, couldn’t make a friend in a whorehouse on payday and she survives. Armies of the finest men and women on this planet have been ground to dust and yet that cantankerous hag still mouths on.” “Don’t hold back Paul. Tell us how you really feel,” Alex said, coming up to pat his friend on the shoulder.

“She just gets under my skin.” Paul shook his head.

“Like a rash?” Eddy asked.

“A lot like that,” Paul laughed. “Come on kid, grab the stuff you like the most,” he said as he lifted Eddy up to a bird’s eye view of the treats in front of him.

“I think we’re safe for the time being,” Mad Jack stated. “I’m going to lock the front doors, unless anyone has an objection to that.” He waited for a few beats before heading off.

Alex cleaned up some of the stray glass around the machine and started surveying what his kids might want and that might be somewhat healthy, not an easy task when dealing with vending machine food.

“Alex, can you hold the baby, I’m not feeling so well,” Alex’s wife Marta asked.

Alex was midway between deciding on licorice or peanuts when he turned to honor his wife’s request.

“Marta, what’s wrong?” Alex asked in alarm. The lighting was not good but it could not hide the fact that his wife was as pale as a cold winter moon. Black crescents ringed the bottom of her eyes, and her eyes themselves were as dark as craters.

“Mi Dios!” Alex exclaimed as he grabbed the baby and almost simultaneously his wife as she very nearly collapsed.

Erin
quickly took the baby as Alex eased his wife to the floor. “Marta, what’s the matter?” Alex fairly cried. Marta did not look well and the transformation from bad to worse was happening right before their very eyes. Paul was watching it too, he thought it looked like those time lapsed photographs they sometimes showed for some special effects make-up make-over. This was much scarier than watching Lon Chaney become a werewolf, this was real.

“Alex, let’s get her to a bed,” Paul said.

Alex looked up and nodded, then picked his wife up in his arms. “You’re so cold, Marta. Talk to me mi amor.” “It’s in my head,” she whispered in his ear.

A spike of iciness plunged down the middle of his back. “Who’s in your head Marta? Eliza?” She shook violently, with a force that almost caused Alex to drop her. “Much worse, it’s Tommy!”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
– Tracy’s Car

“That guy was huge!” Dizz was telling Sty, as if Sty hadn’t been there to witness it himself. “His bicep was bigger than my thigh,” Dizz added with amazement, as he sized himself up.

“Yeah, like that’s hard to do? Mrs. T’s arms are probably bigger than your spindly legs.” Tracy
and Dizz simultaneously yelled out, “Hey!”

“I meant no disrespect to you Mrs. T,” Sty added slyly, leaving Dizz out of the response.

“Hey pretty lady we should have taken the doggie,” Angel said to
Tracy . “I would have been able to hold him in my lap.” Tracy
looked over to the small girl. “Honey, I think he’s bigger than you. You would have had to sit in his lap.” “Dogs have laps?” Angel asked in wonderment.

“It’s a figure of speech,” Ryan said from the back seat.

“I’ve got your finger of speech right here!” Sty said, flipping his friend off.

“Oh, I’m telling!” Angel said, catching a glimpse of the ‘dirty finger,’ as her mom used to call it. When she realized there was no one she could tattle to even though she was only playing, she started to go back down the path of sadness.

Tracy
watched the girl’s head bow. “Plus it wouldn’t have been safe to bring Henry in this car,” Tracy told her.

“Why, is he mean?” Angel asked. “Does he have big teeth?”

“No, way worse.”

“Way worse?” Dizz asked with concern. “Does he have rabies or something?”

Tracy
shook her head in the negative.

“Come on Mrs. T, what gives, does he turn into a werewolf or something?” Sty asked, getting sucked in.

Angel sat up straighter so that she could look through the windshield at the car they were following. Henry was seemingly staring straight back at them. Angel ducked down under the dash to be out of his line of sight. “I think he knows we’re talking about him,” she whispered to Tracy .

All three boys followed Angel’s lead and peered into the lead truck. “Does he know?” Dizz asked, getting himself a little spooked.

Tracy
was a moment away from dismissing the thought, but the more she looked at Henry the more she thought that maybe on some level he did know.

“Is that why he’s dangerous?” Angel asked. “Because he can read thoughts? If I think of dog biscuits will he like me?” Angel scrunched up her face.
Tracy imagined that she was thinking hard about dog cookies.

“Henry’s dangerous because of his
farts
!” Tracy said, emphasizing the last word.

Angel’s deep thought lapsed as she started to laugh out loud. The desired effect
Tracy was shooting for was met.

“Really?” Dizz asked. “Because right now he looks mad,” he added, pointing to the back of the truck.

Of course they couldn’t hear him but Henry was barking up a storm.
Tracy was left to wonder if maybe the dog had another trick or two up his sleeve.

Meredith’s Car

“We really should have made Henry ride in
Tracy
’s car,” BT lamented as he pulled his shirt over his face. “You should call your dad and let him know we’re coming back.” “You do realize I’m driving, right?” Meredith told him through clenched teeth, hoping that she would be able to filter some stink that way.

“Fine, but if I pass out from the fumes, it’ll be on you,” BT said, turning around to fumble with the radio.

“I’m willing to take that chance,” Meredith told him.

“Yo, crazy Talbot number one!” BT yelled into the handset.

“Damn! You get any louder and he’ll pick up your echo.”

“Sorry,” BT said sheepishly.

“BT? This is Ron, you’re early, everything okay?” Ron asked.

“Yeah,
Tracy
found us out and is bringing some kids back,” BT told him.

“What? Okay BT, let’s start as if I’m not there and I have no idea about what you’re talking about.” BT spent the next few minutes laying out all that had transpired that day.

“Man, I’m glad you’ve got Henry,” Ron said.

“I’m not,” BT said.

“I’ve been looking for him for hours. Mike would have killed me. How long before you get back here?” Ron asked.

BT turned to Meredith for an answer. “Three hours tops according to your pain-in-the-ass daughter.” “Yeah, try living with her for the better part of twenty-three years,” Ron voiced.

“Dad?!” Meredith exclaimed.

“Love you honey,” Ron said. “See you guys in a few hours. Out.”

“I think I can come to like that guy,” BT said with a smile on his face as he sat back down. “Wake me when we get there.” He folded his arms and rested his head against the headrest. As his eyes closed he was nearly asleep, Ron’s pain pills taking full effect.

“BT, wake up!” Meredith said, shoving his arm as hard as she could. He barely moved. “BT, get your ass up!” Meredith yelled this time.

“Damn girl, you made good time, we there already?” BT asked as he stretched his arms out.

“Not quite. We’ve only been driving about an hour and a half.”

“Why isn’t the car moving?” BT sat up straight. He followed Meredith’s line of sight. About a quarter of a mile up the roadway was a roadblock.

“It’s cops,” Meredith said.

“Doubtful,” BT finished.

Tracy
had pulled up alongside Meredith’s car on BT’s side. She rolled down her window. “What do you guys think?” Tracy asked. Angel was peering over Tracy ’s lap to get a better look at the mountain of a man.

“Even if they were cops once, which I’m not inclined to believe, I don’t think that they are out right now ‘to serve and to protect.’” “Kind of what I thought,”
Tracy
agreed.

BT thought she looked scared. ‘Makes sense,’ he thought, ‘I am.’

“Any ideas?”
Tracy
asked hopefully.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Meredith asked.

“I know you didn’t just ask that,” BT said.

“BT, I don’t want to go guns all a blazing with the kids in the car.”

“Hey pretty lady, the policeman turned his lights on,” Angel said, pointing up the road.

“Yeah and the other one is waving for us to come up there,” Meredith noted.

BT turned to the backseat and grabbed a rifle to make sure it was loaded, then turned the radio back on. “Ron, this is BT, over.” A few moments later a response came forth. “Hi BT this is Mark, did you find my sister yet?” Ron’s youngest asked.