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The Warm Plague. Book Two. Chapter Two.

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 Jack. Sugar

Chapter two part one

 

                I turned away from Daisy and adjusted my coat; I could feel the slight heat of spring. I looked at the gravel road leading down the hill to the two other houses down from ours. We had found the house by chance it was the biggest of the three on the hill and it is well isolated from the main road. We hadn't yet gotten the chance to search the other houses or any of the local businesses on the main road. Finally hearing Daisy now rustling through the supplies in the shed I moved down the hill to the nearest house. My boots crunched as I walked down the gravel road, the wind was rustling the evergreens; the sound was nice. I looked at the parking area next to the house there were three cars, one SUV and two older Ford Taurus's. I walked up next to the SUV and tried the door, locked. I went and tried all the doors of the cars; also locked. 
"Just my luck." I said looking at the front door of the house.
                 I put my ear to the door and didn't hear anything, then I glanced through the window; the inside of the window was dusty and the curtains blocked my view of most of the rooms I could see into. Nothing seemed to be moving around anyhow and I moved back to the door. I heard the crunch of gravel behind me, I whirled around the wrench out of its sling in a second. Daisy stood leaning against the SUV a smirk on her face.
"You're going to give me a heart attack if you do that again Daisy. You sneak." I said putting the wrench back in its place. 
Daisy laughed lightly, "Sorry couldn't resist."

She moved towards me peering through the window with her hands against the glass.

"Anything lively in there?" She said pulling away from the window and looking at me.
I shrugged, "Not that I can see, it's pretty dark in there. Any luck with the shed?" I said trying the door knob to the house. 
"Found a few pieces of thick plastic cover sheets, should be enough to cover a few of the windows." She said shifting an empty back pack on her shoulder.

     "Alright it's a good start. What's with the backpack?" I said looking at it. 
"Bob gave me a note saying he needed some spices for dinner and to look around for anything we could use right now before we box up any other supplies." She said pausing for a moment. 
“Is Bob a mute or something?" She said shifting her weight.
I looked into her eyes, "No, when he was born his vocal cords weren't formed enough… They never healed. He can sorta talk if he has to but not for long.... We've known each other since we were kids so I always just kinda know what he is thinking." I said realizing her uneasiness. 
"Oh, ok sorry that was a dumb question I was just wondering." Daisy said blushing.
"Don't worry about it." I said turning back to the door. 
"I'm going to kick down the door now alright?" I said stepping back from the door and turning to face it for a good kick. 
Daisy took out a screwdriver from her pocket and nodded.
                My boot landed next to the door knob, I heard the lock break. Then slamming my shoulder into the door I felt the rest of the locks give way.  The door swung open, Daisy walked in behind me; with the door now open we had almost enough light to see around. Hearing nothing stir or growl we moved towards the nearest window of the room we were in, I opened the blinds. The scene inside was normal, we were in the living room.
"So what do you think?" Daisy said softly. 
"Be on guard, someone in the grasp of turning might of locked themselves in here." I said turning to face the door and looked at the locks.

"Especially since it’s kinda hard to lock the chain when you leave." I said, seeing the chain lock hanging broken from its holster. 
"Great." She said sarcastically moving down a hallway, I followed close behind her. 
She motioned for me to open one of the doors, I turned the knob slowly. It was a bedroom; red curtains covering the windows which left a red tint over the bed. In that bed was an elderly woman who was squirming around.

     She was dressed in clothes you would expect any person to wear in the verge of what felt like one nasty flu. Her face was pale and drawn; skinny from weeks of not eating.
"What the hell?" Daisy said about to move toward the woman.
I threw my arm across her chest to hold her back, "Don't she's infected." I looked back toward the elderly women; she was bound to the bed and gagged. 
I'd seen this before loved ones tying up their turning family members, unable to kill them but not wanting their empty shells walking around the world.
"Oh." Daisy said letting out a sigh of relief.
If the women had been a survivor the scene before us would be much more terrible. I moved towards the bed and opened the blinds, now light showed the room fully. There was a photo on the bed next to the women and I went to grab it, the woman jolted towards me but was stopped by the rope; she fell back down to the bed and I lifted the frame. It was of the women obviously in a better state, with a man, I presumed her son with two teenagers in front of them; they looked happy. 
"They must have gone out a window hoping the locked door would keep people out." I said putting the frame back down on the bed. 
Daisy looked at me somberly, "So what do we do with her?" She said frowning. 
I looked back towards the old women, "We have no choice, we don't know if these ropes will hold forever." I said thumbing the wrench in my hand.

     "Alright I'm going to check the other bedroom while you do that." Daisy said, I nodded and she left the room. 
The women was still squirming on the bed, I could see the old healed wound on her hand that led her to this fate. I raised the wrench above her forehead, brining it down quick and heavy before she could move out of the way; her temple caved in and she stopped moving. I wiped the wrench on the bed and put it back in the sling. Looking at the wound I took my gloves out of my pocket and put them on, I put my hands on her neck and twisted the bone. With a soft pop I heard her neck break, her head now fell oddly on her shoulder. I took off the gloves and put them back in my pocket, I was sure now that if the head blow wasn't enough, a broken neck would be, the sledgehammer was a more effective weapon and I'm still not sure how much of the brain was needed for the virus to wield the body. 
"Better safe than sorry." I heard Daisy say from the door way. 
I nodded and started searching the draws of the nightstand, "No keys here how about the room you searched?" I said.
                "Nothing, just a bunk bed and other random stuff." Daisy said crossing her arms under her chest. 

I couldn’t help but look down at her chest.
She let out a cough as my eyes focused for too long at the tightness of her tank top.

Darting my eyes back up to her, "That just leaves the dads room, must be at the end of the hall." I said smiling cheaply.

"I'll follow you." Daisy stepped out of the door way, I lead the way; I would take care of the body at another time.
We moved to the end of the hall and I opened the bed room door, nothing besides an empty bed and night stand; no keys in sight. I sighed and moved out of the room.
"So, to the kitchen?" Daisy asked walking out of the hallway to the living room. 
I nodded and walked to the kitchen with Daisy shortly behind me; I could smell the rot coming from the fridge and held my nose. My eyes looked over the counter and walls.
"Jackpot." I said my eyes finding a frame on the wall, below the phone that held keys.
"Finally." Daisy said as I picked up the keys, the ring held four keys.
Stashing the keys in my pocket I turned around to smile at Daisy, but saw motion near her feet. Daisy let out a small shriek as a white cat brushed against her boots. I sighed in relief as Daisy let out a girly string of awe’s as she picked up the cat. 
"Well hello there Mr. Kitty." She said scratching behind his ears. 
"Women and cats I'll never understand it." I said jokingly as I pet the cat.
The thin white cat let out a tiny purr, "I guess he heard us rooting around in the house and came to check it out." I said watching the cat. 
"Brave kitty, he must have been starving for human contact." Daisy said with a big smile on her face, her smile warmed me and I lifted the cats’ neck to look at his collar. 
"His name tag has fallen off." I said looking up at Daisy. 
"Do you want to keep him?" I said enjoying Daisy's still huge smile. 
"Really? Of course poor kitty has been alone for weeks probably." She said her eyes glinting with happiness. 
                The cat was purring now in her arms, lucky cat. 
"None of us are allergic so I don't see a problem with it, I'm sure Bob would enjoy the company as well. There's plenty of birds that go on the deck that the cat could catch." I said rubbing the cats head.
"I'll give him my scraps if it comes to it. Especially the spam scraps." Daisy grinned and held the cat close against her chest, very lucky cat. 
"So what will you name him?" I said moving past her to living room. 
"Sugary Joule Ion or Sugar for short. After my favorite candy bar, plus he looks like he's been rolling around in sugar." Daisy said following me to living room. 
"Sugar, sounds manly." I said teasingly, Daisy stuck her tongue at me. 
"Take him back to the house and give him any left-over spam, I’ll take the backpack." I said holding my hand out; she unslung the bag and handed it to me then gave me the note. 
"These are the spices Bob is looking for, but bring back any you find please, the spam needs some salt, lots of salt." She said slowly moving to the door.

"Alright be careful." I said, she ran back from the doorway and gave me a quick one armed hug, Sugar in her other arm. 
"Thanks Jack." She said looking up at me after the hug.
"No problem Daisy." I couldn’t help but blush. 
Daisy turned and left the house, I could hear her boots crunching on the gravel road. Smiling I looked down at my black tee, it now had an assortment of small white hairs on it. 
Still smiling I sighed, "Fantastic."

 I walk back into the kitchen.

 

 

Jack. Spice and Kick

Chapter two part two

 

                'Salt, basil, oregano, thyme, cumin, and allspice.' I read off the list Daisy gave me. 
"Hope this will make spam taste better." I said to myself. '
I opened the first cabinet; it was empty except for paper towels. I opened another cabinet, was bare except for some olive oil. I slipped it into the backpack.
'Why does scavenging for supplies always have to go so slow?' I thought while I opened the top shelf the spice cabinet it seems. 
There were ten small bottles of spices; I read some of the names. There was salt and pepper along with thyme and oregano. I put all the bottles into the bag and searched the rest of the cabinets; nothing of major use just basic pots and pans and pan nonstick spray. I took a pen out of a jar on the counter and wrote down what supplies were in the cabinets so we could keep track of what was available. I put the pen down and slipped the paper into my pocket. I walked out the front door and left the backpack on the hood of the car then slipped on my gloves moving back inside to the front bedroom. The elderly women's body still laid there on her bed, her arms and legs still tied. Her neck lay crooked lying on her shoulder unnaturally. The room smelled stale lacking of any fresh air even with the door open, I walked back into the hallway. I opened the bathroom door and moved towards the shower, I grabbed the shower curtain and pulled it free. Now that the women was dead she would start to stink up the place and we couldn't afford having bears or other wild animals snooping around near the houses. I moved back into her bedroom and pulled out my pocket knife, I cut all of her bindings free.
"I wonder what I will tell her son and grandkids if they end up coming back." I said while rolling her over onto her side then laying the shower curtain down under her.
"Well there's no saving the infected, and with the world the way it is now I bet they learned that by now." I said rolling her back onto the curtain.  
                I used the rope that was left by the door to tie up the curtain around her, I sighed. 
'How am I supposed to drag this lady out of here? ‘I thought while looking around.
I slid my arms under the curtain and lifted, "Talk about dead weight." I said holding up the corpse and walking her out of the room and into the living room I heaved the body onto the couch. 
 Fishing the keys out of my pocket I moved towards the cars in the drive way, I unlocked the door for the SUV and popped open the trunk, the gas tank read half full. 
"Good enough." I said looking around the car it was basically empty except for a pizza boy outfit on the back seat.
                I started the engine and got out of the car and moved back to the couch. I bent and picked the elderly corpse back up, her feet were slipping out of the curtain. I slipped her into the trunk and closed the door. I went back to the driver's seat and drove down the road; I passed the other house and saw some chipmunks scurry past the road. I reached the main road and drove a little further till I reached a ditch. The streets where basically bare, I saw a service truck that had crashed into the ditch. I pulled the car over and popped open the trunk. Slowly I rolled the body down the slope into the ditch. 
Looking at the service truck I took off my gloves, "Could be some good stuff." I said moving towards the truck, slipping around towards the driver's side. The driver was still there but wasn't moving, I tapped the glass with the wrench from my tool belt. The driver still didn't move.
       I opened the door slowly and stepped away as the body fell towards me, his seat belt holding him in. Dried blood was smeared across the steering wheel; I kicked the drivers shoulder and he still didn't move. 
I kicked him in the head; it bobbled around.                                                                                                       
 "Broken neck." I said leaning forward and clicking his seat belt he slipped out of the car and rolled down the ditch.
 I leaned over into the seat and looked at the gas meter, it was a full tank. I got out of the car and made my way up the ditch, the ground was muddy and slick. I wiped the sweat from my forehead when I reached the road; the sky was blue and cloudless above me. The picture perfect spring was something to behold, if it weren't for the insane cannibals running around.
I walked back to the SUV and searched the trunk, "little miracles." I said lifting the empty can. I walked back to the service truck and looked in the back, I found a small hose.
"Good." I said turning the corner of the car to get to the gas input.  I opened the cap and slid in the hose then opened the cap on the gas can. I sucked on the hose waiting, and then got a nice mouth full of gas. Quickly I shoved the hose into the gas can and spat the gas onto the ground; the foul taste still stung my tongue. I could hear the gas running into the can as I pulled a water bottle from my back pocket, rinsing the water in my mouth then spat that too on the ground.  I put the cap back on the bottle and pressed it against my back pocket but it slid out of my hands and rolled down the ditch toward the front of the car. 
                I slid down the hill annoyed and I bent to pick up the bottle, then felt something grasp around my ankle. I looked down to find a thin hand wrapped around it. I pulled my leg free startled but ended up slipping on the wet soil. I landed on the ground now eye level with the infected that had been trapped under the car, it tried to crawl towards me but its arm was trapped under the tire. It looked at me with hunger and anger, its skin pale and hard looking. Its mouth set open with a deep angry growl leaking from it, its teeth ready to bite. I watched, backing away as it ripped its arm from under the tire, I could see the skin rip and slit apart as it pulled. The muscles dividing, blood rushed from the wound at first but then it stopped as quickly as it had begun. Now free the infected crawled towards me, dirt and mud getting in its wound. It growled louder as it approached me its eyes dead set on me, I tried to stand but at the bottom of the ditch the ground was looser so I slipped again. The infected now out from under the car grabbed my leg and pulled it close to its mouth; I kicked and broke its nose. It didn't even flinch, it gripped hard on my pants with its finger nails but the jean material held. I kicked again and it lost its grip. I stood quickly the scene around me whirling as the infected reached up for me trying to stand. I brought my boot down hard on his head, at first it didn't crack so I brought my boot down again. Bliss rolled through me as his skull caved in and he dropped back down.

                I exhaled and brushed the mud from my pants. I walked back up to the side of the service car and picked up the now full gas can, I screwed the lid back on and gave the car one final once over. Not finding anything useful, I went back to the SUV with the can. Closing the door I drove back up the hill and parked the car near the front window giving myself enough space to install the panels against the windows. 
"Time to start work on fortifying this place." I said to myself looking at the windows and seeing Daisy play with sugar in the kitchen. 
'I have to keep them safe.' I thought to myself starting on the work ahead of me.

 

 

Daisy. Fencing out the sick

Chapter two part three

 

                I sat on the porch of the house looking down the hill. I watched Sugar stride towards me from the open door; reaching me he began to rub his head against my ankles. I stroked his ears and thought about the elderly women Jack and I had found in the house down the hill. 
'I wonder where my mother is, is she dead or infected.' I thought to myself.
I pictured my mother’s loving face but my mind warped it and I saw her face on the elderly women's body tied to the bed and growling at the healthy. I shook my head to get rid of the image, Sugar looked up at me with a face full of kitty concern.
"Oh Sugar can you put my mind at ease with your ocean of wisdom?" I said clearing my mind and stroking the fur down Sugars back. 
He just purred and stuck his tongue at me. I sighed and smiled. 
"Thanks." I said picking Sugar up and bringing him back into the house, closing the door behind me.
 Setting Sugar down he scurried off to greet Bob who was coming out of the sun room. 
"Hey what’s up?" I said, as he sat down at the kitchen island and petted Sugar. 
He lifted a book he had set down on the table and smiled, "Nice, keeping the mind fit." I said moving to the kitchen counter and looking at the platter of food he set out for us to snack on as we worked on the house, all food that were soon to expire. 
He nodded as Sugar settled onto his lap, I picked up a banana that was starting to turn black and put it into my back pocket. 
"Have you seen Jack?" I asked Bob glancing around the house and listening for Jack.
Bob pointed at the French doors leading to the porch. 
"Thanks I'll catch you later." I said walking around the kitchen counter and into the sun room. I didn't see Jack on any of the decks but opened the doors anyway and walked out. There was a slight breeze and it pushed my hair into my face.


                'I wonder if any barbers survived the apocalypse. We could all use a trim.' I thought pushing my hair behind my head and tying it in a ponytail. 
 Walking down the decks I heard a thud from under the lowest deck followed by a stream of curse words. Peering over the railing I saw Jack cradling his thumb in his hand. 
"Well hello there Mr. Handy Man, need a hand?" I smiled as he looked up at me and his mood lightened. 
"Well more specifically a thumb, but I'll take your hand any day." He said smiling.
I put one hand to my forehead and the other to my heart.
I laid on my thickest Texan accent, "Oh Jack how your courting skills make me blush."                                       
I smiled back at him.
"Miss Daisy you must believe I have the purest intentions for your hand and heart." He said grinning.
"For my heart I'm sure, it's for the rest of me that your intentions might be less pure." I said jesting.
"Well you can't blame a man of my era." Jack said.
"And what era might that be?" I said curiously. 
"The zombie apocalypse era of course." He chuckled and looked back towards what he was building. 
"So Ms. Daisy would you be so kind as to help me build this fence. So any roaming infected Romeo's looking to sing to you don't get stuck under the decks." Jack said.
"Hmm I do find the image of a zombie calling lines from Romeo and Juliet up to me quite amusing." I said picturing a zombie in a Romeo costume.
"I'll be right down." I said looking down at him, I was glad that the porch was high enough where the infected couldn't reach any part of the deck floor.
"Sure." He said looking back at the deck beams.
                I walked back up the three decks and slid open the doors walking past the large window seat in the kitchen where Bob was looking at a map with Sugar sun bathing next to him. I gave him a wave and walked out the door, then down the hill leading into the backyard. Jack greeted me by handing me a hammer.
"I just need help hammering in the frame for the chicken wire net I’m setting up. I got the first side done but my thumbs have become quite bruised from having to hold everything up." He said showing me his bruised thumbs.                                                                                                                                                             
 I then picked up a length of the wire and pressed it against the support beam for the deck. Jack had a thick strip of wood going over the chicken wire where it met the beam, so the wire wouldn't slip over the nail.
                 I pushed the nail against the wood pinning the wire under it and against the top of the beam. Preparing to swing the hammer, the bottom nail was already in.
"Where did you put the old lady from yesterday?"  I said as I swung and hit the nail halfway into the wood and beam.
"I moved her to the bottom of the hill." He said with a slight frown. 
I prepared the hammer again. 
"So many things ran though my head when I saw her tied up, I didn't think she was infected at first." I said pausing for a moment then swinging the hammer and putting the nail all the way into the wood.
"Is it bad that I was relieved that she was infected?" I said picking up another nail and looking at Jack. 
"I don't think so if she had been healthy the reason for her being tied up would more horrible then being infected." He put his hand on my shoulder comfortingly.
"Have you seen any bandits?" He asked looking back at me. 
"Thankfully no but I've seen the destruction they left behind when I was traveling." I frowned and looked at ground; Jack picked up my chin and looked into my eyes. 
"We're safe here Daisy, the bandits headed north from what I heard from the few people I met." He said while thumbing my chin, I smiled at the comforting gesture. 
"We do have it good here; I hope it stays that way." I said focusing back on the fence. 
"We can hope for the best but we need to plan for the worst, I have many ideas to make this house our strong hold. This is why we need this fence as step one." Jack said pointing to a notebook sticking out of his tool kit.
"Agreed, don't need any roaming Romeo zombies." I said preparing the hammer against the middle of the beam. 
"Tomorrow I'm going to be mapping the local businesses seeing which we should hit first for supplies." He said holding the fence back in place. 
I swung the hammer driving the nail into the wood.
"What do you want me to do tomorrow then?" I said swinging the hammer back at the nail and driving it in.  
"Well this fence is halfway done just the other side is left. You could finish it just have Bob help you hold the fence in place, I'm sure he wouldn't mind breaking away from the books he found in the office." He let go of the fence and started inspecting my work. 
                 "Sounds good I was thinking of doing a small wooden plank to the tree by the top deck so Sugar can go hunting without us leaving a door or window open." I said putting the hammer into the toolbox.
"Good idea, he seems to be adjusting well to the house. I think he just likes all the attention he gets from you and Bob." Jack picked up his tool box and moved the rest of the wire to the other side of the deck.
The left side was done and Jack had just finished the front of the deck.
"Yea, I was worried that he wouldn't come back when we first let him out to hunt. It feels nice having a pet a small aspect of normalcy." I said peering up at the railing looking to see if Sugar was out on the deck. 
"Just make sure to always be on alert. We can't afford to have our guard down just yet." Jack said walking up the right side of the house examining the deck beams.
"I know I can take care of myself." I said walking behind him.
'I survived in that bar by myself for who knows how many days with those fast running savages outside.

                Plus all that time on the road.' I thought to myself thinking back to the day Jack and Bob stumbled in upon me in that small town. 
'It doesn't feel like just two weeks since the virus took hold.' I thought. 
We reached the front of the house and walked around the cars blocking the front windows. Jack opened the door for me and we were greeted with the smell of rice and beans. Bob stood in front of the stove cooking; he glanced towards us and nodded. Jack gave him a nod back. 
'I'll never understand how they communicate so well, my conversations are always so short lived with Bob.' I thought taking a seat at the kitchen island; Sugar walked across the counter and came to lay in front of me.
I stroked his back slowly, while Jack got out plates and seasonings then came to sit next to me. Bob came over with dinner and served us.
"Thanks Bob that smells delicious." I said smiling as he filled my plate. 
 He gave me a smile then went to serve Jack; I picked up my fork and started to eat.
'Were doing pretty good we've got enough food for a while longer and we have somewhere safe to be. I wonder how much longer this streak of good luck will carry us. And what ideas Jack has to keep this place and us safe.' I thought with a mouth full of rice. 
I looked around at the island and at Jack and Bob. The sunlight was fading behind us from the big window seat facing the bottom of the hill.                                                                                                            
'Another day survived in this zombie apocalypse era.' I thought smiling.

   ©Copyright 2013 Property of WARMZOMBIE   

The second half to a book I wrote 2 years ago. I apologize if there are some error's, when I have more time i'll do a complete reread to fix any mistakes. I hope you enjoy! 
© 2014 - 2024 WARMZOMBIE
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