Animals Read online

  Cody came in with another propane bottle, dusted the snow from his buffalo cloak and hurried it to the kitchen. The twins were beside themselves with worry and snatched it out of his hands to swap bottles. They had a cake in the oven and were afraid it would fall.

  Murray pulled out his inventory notebook and made a little check mark. They had four more full bottles. Enough to keep the converted stove working until maybe mid-February if the twins didn’t do a whole lot of baking. They were getting better with the dutch oven and cooking some things over the open fire.

  “There’s the same fifteen at the front gate.” Cody said, letting Murray know that no more of the undead had wandered in overnight. “But they’re barely moving. It’s like they’re frozen or something.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” he said, chewing on his ink pen and staring at the ceiling. “They’re probably like reptiles, they don’t move around much when it’s cold.”

  “They’re still really chompy, though.” Cody said. “Their mouths move well enough.”

  “You’re going to leave them at the gate, right? Not going to kill them?”

  “Yep. I think you’re right about keeping them as a little deterrent for Gordy’s Gang if they decide to come back.” Cody said and picked up his Warhammer leaning against the wall.

  “I don’t expect any trouble out of them until it warms up.” Murray said. “The roads are slick and ATV’s aren’t all that great in the snow.”

  “You’re probably right.” Cody said “but I feel better with them there.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him to try something on Christmas Eve.” Swan said, bundling up herself to bring in more firewood. “He’s a lowlife.”

  “Maybe.” Cody said. “It’s my turn to do a perimeter check, I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “Dinner is at early tonight!” Annalise yelled from the kitchen. “Before dark so don’t be late.”

  “Take Otis!” Clara complained. “He’s hogging all the heat!”

  “Yeah, take Otis.” Caleb and Landon chorused, adding their two cents. “Heat Hog. Heat Hog!”

  “Didn’t you just hear Ana tell me to be back before dark?” Cody asked. “I’ll be gone till January if I take him. You know he’s slow and grumpy in the cold.”

  “He’s taking up all the room!” Clara said as she scrambled on top of the big, lazy furball. “Make him move!”

  “You make him move.” Cody said and laughed when all three tried to push him.

  It was a game they played and Otis would probably amble off to a corner in a few minutes. Or not. He might ignore them as they climbed all over him.

  Murray watched from the window as Cody cut towards the gate and disappeared in the falling snow. He was aware of his own physical limitations and practiced for hours on end with his throwing knives to try to make up for it. He was far from helpless; he could use them to strike from a distance since close quarter fighting left him at a disadvantage. He had machetes strapped to his chair but they were last ditch weapons. His visit with the disabled Army vet was burned in his mind and kept him focused but he knew no matter what they did, if Gordons’ gang had firearms, their blades and hammers would be useless. They would be bringing knives to a gun fight. They had avoided guns so far; they got along fine without them and didn’t see a real need. Besides, nobody knew anything about them, the gun store in Putnam had bars on the doors and windows and the animals got skittish around loud noises. That would have to change. They were going to have to get some and learn how to use them and teach the animals not to be afraid of them. It was doable, it only took a little time. They were going to work on it over the winter and maybe by spring time they would be ready if the other gang came after them.

  He spent most mornings working in the house or, when it wasn’t too cold, at his shop in the converted gift store. He was making hard copies of all the most important information in his eBooks. He filled notebook after notebook with all manner of things he considered essential knowledge. He felt that learning to grow their own food was a critical skill. The stuff on the store shelves wouldn’t last forever and they needed to start now. He wasn’t a green thumb and doubted if their first or even second crops would do well. It was trial and error but the books would help. It was fall when the outbreak started and the hardware store didn’t have much of a seed selection. They would have to try and save seeds from the crops they planted next year. They had plenty of fertilizer from the animals and an ideal spot to plant along the fertile land on the banks of the Mississippi.

  He devoted a few hours every day to working with the capuchins. They were fast learners and picked up the new tricks and skills quickly. He trained them using the Halloween dummies to attack on his command, to bite and claw and harry their opponent, using their numbers to their advantage. He also taught them simple skills like retrieving things he couldn’t reach or placing items on shelves. They were eager to learn, mastery of a new trick meant a treat. Their new-found skills aided him greatly in managing his daily tasks, most importantly they made him laugh and gave him hope.

  39

  Gordons Gang

  It was late afternoon; the snow was still falling and everyone except Cody was back from their duties and chores. The twins were adding the final touches to Christmas dinner and had to keep shooing everyone out of their kitchen. Harper had the tree up in a corner and they kept a constant eye on it to make sure the animals didn’t go after the ornaments and tinsel. Murray watched out of the window for Cody. He wasn’t worried, not yet, but darkness was creeping in early and the snows were getting deep.

  The animals heard the sound of engines first and heads cocked at the noise, something they hadn’t heard in months.

  “What’s wrong with Mr. Ringtail?” Caleb asked when his fox ignored him and stared at the door, his nose high looking for a scent.

  Murray shushed everyone and they heard the high revving two stoke motors roaring into the parking lot. It wasn’t a friendly sound, and they heard shouts and laughter cutting through the twilight. Headlights arced across the walls and the wolves had low growls in their throats. Donny and Swan reacted first and dove into their armor. Clara tried not to cry but she knew something bad was happening. Everyone looked afraid. The twins came rushing out of the kitchen, tossed their aprons and grabbed their gear. The noise increased as the machines came to a halt and revved their engines, splitting the twilight with the angry mosquito noise. It was an aggressive sound. It was a challenge.

  “Got a little something for you!” they heard Gordon shout as the engines all cut off at once. “Better hurry!”

  There was laughter of young men. Drunken laughter with a mean edge. Donny and Swan flashed hand signs at each other at a furious pace then ran for the back door with weapons in hand.

  “We’ll flank.” she said to the twins as they disappeared.

  “Keep the animals inside.” Tobias said, as he and his sister strode out into the cold wearing their coyote fur cloaks, beaten leather armor and sawblade axes.

  “Hey, freaks.” Gordon said when the tattooed twins stopped just short of the iron bars. “Where’s the rest of the circus act? Too afraid to show their faces?”

  The undead at the gate had turned towards the sound of the engines and were in a slow-motion frenzy to get to the fresh blood. Their mouths ground and chomped at the air but their bodies moved like they were trying to walk through thick molasses.

  A dozen snowmobiles were lined up some twenty or thirty feet away and Cody was strapped cruelly across the front of Gordons. His face was battered and most of his armor was missing. Shirtless, arms tied wide to the handlebars, his head lolled to one side. Blood oozed out of a gash that ran across his forehead and down one eye. Gordon stepped away from his machine and let a chain dangle from his hand.

  “Looky what we found.” Gordon said and yanked Cody’s head up by a handful of hair.

  The eye that wasn’t swollen shut popped open and he snapped at Gordons wrist, trying to sink his teeth into a
vein. Gordon jumped back and swung the chain, lashing him across the chest with an ugly flesh tearing sound.

  “Stop it!” Harper screamed and her hands flew to her face in horror. “What kind of monster have you become?”

  The zombies made their slow way across the sidewalk, low moans in their throats and hands inched up, reaching for the fresh meat.

  “Sure.” Gordon told her. “I’ll stop. I’ll even let you have him back. I’m offering a trade. You for him.”

  Grins from the other riders. Rifles and shotguns were laid across their handlebars.

  “I have a better trade.” Tobias said “Cut him loose and I’ll let you live.”

  There were guffaws of laughter from the teenagers.

  “Shouldn’t you be playing with your Lego’s, kid?” one of them asked.

  They were unimpressed by the skinny albino twelve-year old’s, evil looking axes or not.

  “Better make up your mind fast, darling.” Gordon said. “At the rate these dead bastards are moving, I’d say you have maybe a minute to decide.”

  Cody found Harpers tear filled eyes and shook his head.

  “Don’t.” he told her between gasps.

  “Shut up.” Gordon said and stepped farther away as the deaders struggled forward on their uncooperating frozen legs.

  The mob pushed their way through the snow, inching closer and their hunger grew more intense. One of them toppled over and caused a chain reaction. More fell and struggled to find their feet again. Gordon shook his head, the teens on the snowmobiles laughed and drank from bottles as the other undead kept trudging forward.

  “Tick tock.” Gordon said, and smiled, throwing the phrase back in their faces. “Times a wasting.”

  Vanessa came out of the petting zoo and ran to the gate with machetes unsheathed, her dark, scarred features seething with rage. She looked fierce and wild but she was only ten and the guns that came up went back down again. She was just a kid playing dress up.

  “Damn, Gordon. When you said there were some babes here, I didn’t think you meant babies.” Maggot said and there was more laughter.

  “The wolf girl is older.” Gordon said peevishly. “But you’ll have a hard time taming her.”

  “Challenge accepted!” Skull said and raised his bottle high.

  The undead grew closer to Cody, they were only feet away.

  “Stop them Gordon!” Harper yelled “This has gone far enough; they’re getting too close!”

  “The gate isn’t blocked anymore. Come on out and I will.”

  Cody struggled with the ropes but they cut into him and he couldn’t get leverage. He was draped across the windshield and cowl, his arms spread wide and his legs stretched behind him and tied viciously tight.

  There was a whisper of the air being disturbed then the zombie reaching for him toppled to the ground with an arrow sticking out of its head. There were shouts of surprise and the guns came up again and aimed in the general direction where they thought it came from. There was another whoosh of air and the head exploded on the next zombie and a long spear imbedded itself into the cowling of Jester’s snowmobile. He jumped in shock and fell off the seat as chunks of blood and brains splattered across his windshield. Guns pointed the other direction and but there was nothing to see. It could have come from anywhere.

  “I’ve got your ugly face in my sights.” Swan’s voice rang out and guns moved back towards the shadows to their left. The laughter stopped and the teens gripped their rifles tighter. Fingers rested on triggers but there was nothing to see, just shadows on shadows in the gloom and falling snow.

  Another spear whispered through the air and another of the undead tumbled to the ground.

  “Where the hell are they?” Gargoyle asked a little panic in his voice, his pistol jumping from one building to the next, looking for a target. They were supposed to kill all the animals when they showed up. It was supposed to be like shooting fish in a barrel with the gates separating them.

  Tobias shoved the gate open and the four kids strode out.

  “Put a spear through the first persons’ head that aims a gun at us.” Tobias told the shadows, as the nervous men glanced at each other. Guns wavered and didn’t know where to point.

  Vanessa and Harper went straight for Cody as the twins ran for the other undead and started swinging their axes. The sawblades tore into them, ripping through legs and sending arms flying with syrupy thick blood painting the snow. The teens sitting on the snowmobiles didn’t know what to do, the spears and arrows coming from the shadows could be aimed at any one of them. The voice didn’t say which ugly face had an arrow in its crosshairs. Gordon seethed and itched to pull his pistol but he knew where Swans bow was pointed. He knew who Donny was ready to spear next. The black rune tattoos stood in stark contrast against their pale white skin and blood splattered faces as the little kids moved like half sized demons through the undead. Tobias ripped the legs from a woman in threadbare, graying rags and Annalise spit her skull with an overhead swing. She pulled her jagged blade out with a sickening slurping sound and half the woman’s hair ripped out and dangled from the saw teeth. The teens sitting on the snowmobiles didn’t think the kids were so funny looking or harmless anymore. Before most of them had time to react, while they were still trying to figure out where the others were hiding, the babies tore through the undead in seconds leaving grizzly, mangled corpses in their wake.

  Gordon backed off further when Vanessa slashed the ropes holding Cody in place and watched with impotent rage as her and Harper slung his arms over their shoulders and hurried back to the gate.

  His superior numbers and firepower had been rendered useless by a bunch of tweenagers. His crew sat helplessly on their machines and looked on as his prize was taken away.

  “This isn’t over.” he told them, as they latched the gate behind them. “You killed Smoke. We owe you.”

  “You killed him.” Cody said and separated himself from the girls, used the bars to support himself. “You killed him when you came back.”

  “I could gun you down right now.” Gordon said, his voice cold anger. “I could shoot you all.”

  “Then do it.” Cody said and pulled himself taller, the feeling in his legs starting to return. “Go ahead, Gordon. Grab for your gun.”

  The snow fell thick between them as they stared at each other, bitter hatred and cold anger. Cody had been so easy to capture it was almost laughable. They had been at the back gate with plans of sneaking in when Mr. High and Mighty came strolling along. He didn’t even see them until he had a dozen guns in his face. It was easy to strap him to the front of his snowmobile like a big trophy then put the fists to him. Easy and fun. It galled him how fast he lost control of the situation.

  “I can finish him now.” Swans voice came faint but clear from somewhere off in the shadows, maybe from a rooftop.

  Gordon’s eyes darted toward the sound and he hunched his shoulders.

  “Let’s go.” he finally said and straddled the machine.

  He had no doubt an arrow was centered on his back until he was out of range.

  40

  Gordon

  Gordon was livid and embarrassed and knew they were laughing at him. At his grand plan that was supposed to be foolproof. It had been so perfect. They should be taking home their Christmas prizes of animal trophies, new servants and Harper. He knew she would come around and grow to like Smiths Landing after a little while. She’d get over her stupid giraffe in a week or so and everything would be fine. Instead of a victory celebration, there would be derision and ridicule from Richard. He ground his teeth as they flew down the road, past the abandoned golf cart and the first house where he’d spent the night after they ran him out. As he flew past the little church, he suddenly braked hard and cut his engine. At first, he didn’t think the others were going to stop but when they did, he had a smile of his face.

  “Yeah, it might work.” Skull said, slipping away from the stained-glass window. “But who’s going to bell
the cat, Gordon. Who’s going to lead them in?”

  Gordon looked around at their hostile faces and knew none of them would volunteer. They didn’t trust his plans anymore.

  “I will, of course. You just make sure the hole is open and you’re far enough away they don’t smell you.”

  They looked at each other, shoulders shrugged and nodded. It might work and since none of them were going to be in danger, why not? It might knock some sass out of those brats.

  He and Skull looped the chain through the front doors and hooked it to the back of Gordon’s snowmobile while half the gang went to cut the fence and the others filled empty beer and whiskey bottles with gas. They stuffed rags in the necks then circled the church to wait for the signal.

  “Throw ‘em hard so they break!” Skull yelled at the others. “Then ride like the devils on your ass. You want to be out of hearing distance by the time he rips the doors off.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” Jester said. “We’ll be long gone. We’ll meet back up at the cutoff to the Rolling Hills Estates a few miles north of here.”

  It only took a few minutes to toss the firebombs through the windows and start the blaze. They ran to their snowmobiles, rushed to get away and Gordon was alone again, sitting on his machine and getting ready to do something really brave or really stupid. He wasn’t sure which. He was having second thoughts. Something could go wrong. Anything could go wrong. Hell, everything could go wrong. He tightened the helmets chin strap, looked at the lighter he’d stolen from Cody months ago and his resolve hardened. His hatred was stronger than his fear. He took off a glove, flicked the zippo and the flame burned strong. He stared at it for a moment then lit the rag on his bottle. The wick had been in too long, was soaked with gas and his whole hand went up in flame. He yelped, nearly dropped it in panic then threw it as hard as he could against the doors. There was a crash and a whoomph as the bottle smashed and covered the ancient wood in hungry fire. The dead inside had been milling around but like the others, they moved slow and listless. The fire would thaw them out and he would lead them to the kids’ front door. Fast, aggressive and hungry, they would ruin any celebrating the brats were doing.