Ch.62

I was unconscious when I landed from orbit while sleeping, hitting a building in Atlanta Georgia. When I woke up, I saw zombies trying to eat me and got annoyed. With a great blow the entire horde froze solid and with a clap they shattered like glass along with the windows of several buildings around me. Seeing nothing of use nearby, I went to a mall, changed clothes and killed several zombies with the katana I'd gotten from the assassin back in the verse.

I grimaced remembering what I'd lost and resolved myself to get stronger and kick the Presence in his jolly testicles when I take my family back…if possible. No matter how powerful I became, one thing was abundantly clear, I was just a human in the end and on that sour note, I zipped around like a human lightning bolt, beheading hundreds of zombies as I went until I found a group of survivors in another mall a dozen blocks away.

I pretended to be human and killed zombies at human speeds with peak human reflexes, garnering a dumbass cop's attention on a horse. I offed several dozen zombies and helped him into the tank while the rest of the zombies ate the horse. I killed the zombie in the tank and took it's gun, telling him not to shoot in a tank because the concussive blast of a gun can be deafening if it's echoed back.

He asked what next and I shrugged. "You stay here and wait for the undead party to chase me a block away."

He looked skeptical and I shrugged. "It'll be fun, just like call of duty only if I get caught there won't be a retry."

I put the safety on the gun and cleaned my sword before telling him. "Wait five minutes and check before hauling ass. Don't shoot unless you have to or it may call more to you. Weave and dodge, don't get bit and don't get scratched."

He nodded and I opened the hatch, scanning and hopping out before closing it carefully. I killed a few zombies and hopped off to a thinned out area, killing a few more with my sword before shooting half a dozen in the head, getting the horde's attention. I yelled for their attention, killed, kicked and ran, shooting as necessary to keep their attention on me. I got them five blocks out before doubling back through the alleyways and finding sheriff dumbass with an Asian guy named Glenn.

They seemed surprised I was alive and I shrugged, telling them. "I got them five blocks north before I ran out of bullets and circled back through the alleyways. I figured it was easier than being caught out here alone if I stuck with captain dumbass here."

I turned to the cop. "No offense, but riding a horse into an undead horde was the dumbest thing I've ever seen and I've seen some dumb shit. Done most of it myself in fact. The second most was running with a horde of undead on my ass while shooting a gun."

I held it to the sheriff and told him. "Out of ammo so it's useless to me. I'm better with a bow anyhow."

He took it and I cleaned my sword before we made it to Glenn's friends, killing two more walkers as Glenn called them. I told the group the main horde is five blocks north so they'd have it fairly clear I. The area so long as they didn't make a lot of noise. At that moment a riffle went off and the echo caused a problem.

I facepalmed and groaned. "I jinxed us. This is on me, I totally screwed us by revealing hope in a dark and dreary world. We're fucked."

Glenn cursed someone named Merle and T-Dog said it wasn't my fault. Andrea and Jacqui told us about the redneck coke head on the roof and Morales led the way up. When we got to the roof, T-Dog confronted Merle and Merle beat him down before midnight took his gun away and put my sword to his crotch. "I may not kill you, but I guarantee you you'll wish I had if you don't stop this now. You're move Neo-nazi crackhead."

He told me to give his gun back as he backed away and I handed it to T-Dog. "You can have it back when the drugs are out of your system and my life such as it is, doesn't hinge on you not shooting the damned thing."

Rick aka sheriff dumbass, handcuffed the redneck to a pipe and tossed his stash. I put away my sword and left it between them, not caring one way or the other. T-Dog thanked me and I shrugged it off before he asked my name. I smirked. "Oz, just Oz."

He thanked me and I nodded before telling the others we needed eyes on the walkers so we can find a way out. Glenn told them what I did, but I warned them I'd need another gun and a clear view of where I'm going so I don't get ambushed by an even bigger horde. Jacqui mentioned the sewer access tunnels and I shook my head. "Too dark and too risky. One wrong turn and you'll be lucky to have your back against the wall while fighting off a crowd of walkers. If you're unlucky they'll kill your from both sides. Any gunfire and they'll be coming from everywhere, it's a death trap."

I looked from the edge of the roof and frowned. "I can distract them and get most of them away if two of you can run for a cargo van and meet me at the loading dock out back in the alleyway once you've got the rest off your asses."

Glenn said I had balls of steel and I grunted before they agreed. I told them I'd need a gun with at least twelve rounds and since I don't carry guns one of them needs to cough it up. Andrea handed me her pistol saying she'd want it back because it was a gift from her father. I checked it before putting the safety on the Beretta and putting it in my belt.

I looked at the crowd of walkers and grunted. "Wait five minutes from the first gunshot then check and move. If you're not there in twenty minutes out back I'll get a vehicle and come looking."

They agreed and I played human packman where I'm the freaking power ball. I hauled ass for ten blocks west with a freaking horde the size of crazy on my ass. It wasn't hard to just dodge or kill them here or there, child's play really, but getting back without leading the horde to them or using my abilities was a bit trickier. I ended up clearing a police precinct and hitting the mall I'd raided for close to pick up a few sports crossbows all the arrows they had.

Yeah, seeing no other way, I jacked a random black '78 Dodge Charger and circled back with my haul. Luckily the keys were in it and it was in working order so I circled back and found Glenn driving a loud ass car to distract the rest of the walkers since the horde was away. Rick managed to get the rest in the hauling van or so I'd thought at the time, not that I cared. I followed them to the canyon where their camp was and met the others.

I pulled the alar wire to Glenn's car as soon as we were parked and turned off my own afterwards. I passed Andrea her gun and thanked her. "Damned thing saved my life when I went down the wrong damned alleyway. I had to climb up the roof of a mall to get away, but without it I'd be walker bait twice over."

She smiled and I grunted. "Only two bullets remaining I'm afraid. Couldn't save more when leading a horde ten blocks. If it helps I raided the mall and a police station so there should be ammo for it in the trunk. I got me a couple bows as well."

She nodded and Rick asked if I managed to pick up the gun bag or Merle and I frowned. "Yeah, no. If you wanted me to do something more than play bait you should've said so and besides, wasn't the redneck with you?"

He grimaced and Andrea said they left him. I shook my head. "That sucks cause I'm not going back to that city without a damned good reason. Now I've got ammo, a few police issued guns and a sniper rifle from the SWAT lockup, but if that's not enough, more power to you."

Rick met his wife and son while Andrea met up with her sister Amy. I went to the car and opened the back seat, grabbing a couple duffle bags and tossing them down in front of T-Dog. "Food and drugs from the mall's pharmacy. It's basic supplies and the food's mostly junk food from a machine I busted open with a walker's head, but it's free and all I could get on my way out of the mall."

Seeing tons of chocolate, chips, cookies and candy, T-Dog said I was a blessing. I shrugged. "I grabbed the necessities, food, water, medicine, clothes and weapons. There's three cases of bottled water for the rest of you all to share on the floorboard and a couple crossbows and all the guns and ammo you want in the trunk. The rest is my share besides the clothes. I didn't know how many or what to get you so you'll have to live with white T-shirts and jeans, five pairs of boots and some bags of underwear for men and women."

Andrea said it was thoughtful and I shrugged. "I tried to wait out the plague in an apartment duplex and ended up alone. I'm not even from this state. I was a Kansas farm boy and up until a eight months ago I was working farms while doing college part time for something better. I got into Atlanta after Kansas state to learn more about theoretical astrophysics. This-"

I waved a hand. "I wasn't exactly expecting."

They all had to agree so I shrugged and told T-Dog. "Besides, I figured the bigger and better the gifts I give the more likely I don't get chucked out on account of captain dumbass or the Nazi asshat."

Glenn said it wasn't like that and I'd definitely made a better impression saving their asses back there. I shrugged and Dale, the old man from the camper, said I was fine by him. I helped T-Dog get the clothes, water and ammo with twenty police issued glocks, two shotguns and a M24 sniper rifle with a variable scope and infrared lenses. Dale asked for the sniper rifle and I shrugged before passing it to him.

The ammo was all over the place and they divided it amongst themselves including Shane. I passed the extra crossbows off and kept two for myself with fifty bolts. The extra two hundred were all theirs to use so they were definitely happy. The drugs, bags of clothes and food went a long way.

The next day Dale asked about my car and I frowned. "If you strip it I'll have to get another one cause I ain't sleeping in a tent."

Jim said they could use the gas and parts, but the radiator hose from the van would be a better fit. Shane told them to leave my car be for now and I shrugged. "When I get an RV y'all can strip the car. Till then I'd appreciate it if you leave me something to work with."

Dale asked where I was going to get an RV from and I pointed to Atlanta. "I'm going back on my own to get the rest of the guns from the police precinct and to raid the mall for everything I can think of before getting a better home since life on the road is my new life. Better safe than dead in a tent."

Andrea said she'd come with me and I shrugged. "If you're up for it, being your sister as well. I can keep you both safe together even if we're cornered in an alleyway, just don't shoot your gun unless you have to."

Amy asked why her and I shrugged. "Extra hands to carry things and one of you is driving the car back. Basically so long as I keep you both alive your sister might not find a reason to leave me for dead if shit gets difficult."

Andrea told Amy she didn't have to and Amy said it was fine so long as I wasn't lying. I turned to Dale. "You mind holding into my stuff until we get back incase we have to ditch the car? I can pick up some things you may need if you do."

Jim agreed mentioning a belt and Dale went ahead and agreed. They soon realized my share of the food meant two bottles of water and a bag of funions. They gave me a list of things they needed and we left before the others even started on Glenn's car. Three hours, that's all it took to get into town, find an RV, sneak into the mall, kill a bunch of walkers and empty the mall of everything we needed or could carry.

They waited in the RV quiet like while I emptied out the police precinct's SWAT cages and all the armory. It wasn't much considering swat had been called off to fight the hordes but it was ten rifles, a thousand rounds of various ammo clips and assorted weapons from batons to stun guns and a grenade launcher for tear gas and shit. I took the body armor, raided a few cars for shot guns, ammo, a police scanner and a radio with walkie talkies.

We hit an auto shop on the edge of town and I sent them back in the car while I got the stuff Dale and Jim wanted with a whole tool set and floor-jack for myself. I had extra tires and all kinds of parts and supplies my RV may need. When I arrived, they'd just calmed down Daryl and I told them as I dropped Merle's hand with Dale's took set on the hood of the car. "Merle cut his own hand off, cauterized it on a stove top and made it seven blocks out before I lost his trail. As far as I can tell he's alive, pissed off and likely high on some painkillers he found in the cabinet of the apartment he killed three walkers in."

I turned to Andrea. "Sorry, couldn't have you two following me back to that place and getting stuck again."

She smiled a little and Daryl asked where I lost his trail. I grunted. "Near the tracks by the bridge this side of the overpass. The trail runs cold and no more blood drops. Best I can tell is he got grabbed by someone or he wished up and didn't want walkers or anyone following a blood trail. There's no tracks and I checked twenty yards in every direction so his trail doesn't pick up again anywhere near there."

I turned to Rick. "The bag of guns is still there, but there were too many walkers for a one man foot grab without wheels and the RV is too bulky for it. If you want them you'll have to go on foot and use the alleyway or use the van to back over half a horde before someone grabs it and you haul ass."

I lit a blunt and sat back against the hood of the car, turning to Daryl. "I don't know you, but what I do know of your brother is he's a tough asshole with a racist streak a mile wide. I don't owe him shit so I won't be going back, but if you need something, Andrea, Amy and I brought back quite a haul this time and you're free to take what you want except my crossbows and sword or RV."

He nodded wearily and thanked me so I just nodded before turning to Dale and telling him the rest of the stuff he wanted was in his bag or in the RV. I recommended he wash his hack saw because Merle used it. Dale nodded and I turned to Daryl. "FYI, no doctor in the modern world with the best surgical equipment around could reattach that hand to working order. He ripped through the nerves and from what little I know of anatomy, there ain't no reattaching those easily, let alone after a day of it sitting in the sun."

He grunted and wrapped it up saying he'd leave that to Merle. I shrugged and went to help distribute the stuff. There was more clothes, a washing board, basic supplies, tons of bottled water, food, the weapons which surprised them and the other things like decks of Uno cards, board games, a bunch of books, stuff to keep people sane. Best of all the auto shop had been tied to a gas station so there were canisters of gas, oil, tons of beef jerky, more chips and all the shelves items that hadn't gone bad.

Hell, the toilet paper alone made me a godsend and there was black garbage bags of it. The body armor the men appreciated including Rick and Shane. Daryl said he was going back for Merle and Rick said he would as well, asking Glenn to go with him when I told him no flat out. T-Dog volunteered and they took the van because Rick needed the bag.

They took the crossbows and bolts I'd shared with several machetes and night sticks I'd taken from the precinct. Dale and the rest of the guys stripped the car while I set aside the fuel tanks I needed, my tools, a single sniper rifle and two Glocks with extended mags and a hundred rounds, the jerky I split with them and the water was simply a case for me and twelve cases for them.

I pretty much emptied out the RV before putting my stuff and the tools away. The RV was brand new and after I filled the water tank, oil and the gas the rest of the way, it was sitting pretty. I took the cast net out and some steel wires, making a stainless steel cast net that weighed fifty pounds. I took it down to the quarry with a few buckets and caught more than enough fish for supper before cleaning and scaling them and packing them in an ice chest with seasoning while I showered before going down to the quarry again to wash my own damned clothes.

Andrea, Carol and Amy offered but I shook my head. "I ain't helpless nor crippled. I can do my own stuff without tossing work on others. If you ladies need help or simply don't want to do something you let me know and I'll see what I can do to help. I ain't got nothing better to do anyhow."

Andrea asked about the fish and I shrugged. "I figured I'd treat everyone to some Deep South cajun fish frying while the gas in the RV stove is full. It's seasoning at the moment in a couple ice chests. When I'm done washing up I'll fry us up some grub and we can relax for once."

Amy asked. "Why did you have two nets?"

I shrugged. "This is a quarry and I figured I'd snack rocks so I made a steel mesh net using the first one as an example. It's a bit heavy for normal people to throw, but no more than a couple hay bales I'm used to. Besides, if it gets caught I can pull the rock up and call it seasoning. I'm sure the rest wouldn't notice much with the frog talk and all."

They laughed a bit and I finished washing my clothes before helping Amy and Andrea. Ed, Carol's husband, came over and made a few too many rude comments. I looked up and told him. "If the next words out your mouth ain't an apology, I'm gonna beat you like a red headed step child. Now I won't kill you, but you can be damned sure you won't be any form of man by the time I'm done with you."

He sneered and told me to mind my own damned business. I stood up and one hit knocked the stupid fucker on his ass. I got over him and told him. "Fair warning, you can make what happens stop at any moment by apologizing."

That's all I gave him before I beat him into the dirt and left him a broken, bitch of a man. Carol begged me to stop so I did, picking him up with one hand by the shirt, off the ground. "Now, Carol here wants me to stop beating you. So I am. You can apologize to her and the ladies now before I castrate you and save yourself a world of pain and embarrassment or afterwards to keep me from making you eat it, cause trust me, I am that cruel to assholes."

I grabbed the knife on my belt, tapping it against his inner thigh. "You best be apologizing now if you can."

He coughed up teeth and blood before apologizing as best he could. I dropped him on his ass and turned to the ladies. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but I wasn't raised to let such disrespect to women go easily. Do let me know if I've done something wrong, but a few Tylenol and a nap will fix him up besides the teeth and his dignity. I've delivered enough ass whooping's to know he'll be fine since he was smart enough to apologize before real pain was given."

I turned to Ed. "I hear another disrespectful thing out of you or even hear about you laying your hands on your wife or daughter and so help me I'll finish what we started here."

He swore through snot and blood that it wouldn't happen while piss ran down his leg. I nodded. "They go get patched up and stay awake for the next hour so your concussion doesn't drop you in a coma. You can use my shower but if you mess with anything you'll wish I'd finished it here and now cause I'll tie you to the bumper and let the walkers eat you alive if you screw with my stuff."

He flinched and Carol helped him up while Shane got him back to camp while telling Carol he'd handle it. I apologized for involving myself in her family business, but I wasn't raised to let such thing slide. She said it was alright, she hoped and thanked me for defending her. I shrugged and sat down, washing the blood off my hands before continuing washing up the clothes. "I was told a long time ago the only time a man should strike a woman is on the ass and only with her permission in the bedroom."

Andrea and the others laughed lightly as the tensions eased. They told me things they missed and I told Jacqui. "The RV has a coffee maker and about twenty pounds of coffee grounds in the cabinet above it. Don't go telling anyone, but I might have gone insane without caffeine long ago. If you're feeling the need there's more than enough for a few people."

She thanked me and I shrugged before telling Carol and Andrea. "There's no easy way to say this, but the mall had a store with such items if you're feeling the need and seeing so many women I decided it was a gift I could give that wouldn't have y'all hate'n on me. They're in the bag under the sink and you didn't get them from me if the guys ask. I've known plenty of women and I know guys so it's only fair seeing as we can help ourselves near enough. Perpetual college is a hell of a thing that opens minds."

Andrea smiled and they realized I was serious. I lit another joint and smoked up before Andrea said she had places to be. I shrugged. "If you wait till Ed's out you can use the RV bed, just lock the door and put down a towel. I don't really care so long as it doesn't leave a mess I have to clean up."

She smiled. "Sweetheart, you can join me for all I care."

I chuckled lightly and continued washing clothes until she said she was serious. We got back to camp and Ned was laying down so we headed to the RV. I hung up my clothes real fast and joined her in the shower. She…didn't need a toy for what happened next.

She told me no strings and I agreed, enjoying her as much as she enjoyed me. I dressed an hour later and cleaned up while leaving her in bed. I fried up fish, some breaded and some not for the next half hour after carefully removing all the bones. I cut down a tree and made log seats, a rough picnic table and set plates on it.

Shane, Dale, Jim and Morales helped me set things up when I finished making the rough table. The two hundred odd fillets sat on paper plates across the table. I told them it was beer battered Cajun fried fish with some flat head catfish being breaded. Andrea finally made it outside and sat with Amy, Jacqui and Carol after Carol brought Ed his food.

Shane sat a good ways away from Lori and Carl while Carol's daughter sat beside her and the Morales girl with her parents. Dale and the rest thanked me but I just shrugged. "Eat what you want. I can catch and cook more when the others get back. There's ice tea in the cooler with iced coffee and kool aid. I took stock of what I had and figured I could make it a good day for some."

I ate my fill and cleaned up afterwards. Even Ned ate his share in the end with it smelling so damned good. I caught and cleaned more fish, teaching Amy how to use a proper cast net while Jacqui and Andrea gossiped about the sex. After I cleaned and cooked the fish, I stored them in the microwave in stacked plates while cleaning everything up.

A cool breeze blew through the camp gently as a cloud covered the sun for a time. The breeze got rid of the smell and the temperature lowered several degrees for a couples hours. I was doing it because I was getting tired of seeing them sweat and pant about in the heat. I played a game of chess with Dale and Jim simultaneously while the four kids played Uno with Lori and Carol.

I told Morales. "I heard on the radio just before the broadcasts stopped that Birmingham Alabama was a serious danger zone, worse than New York and completely overrun. The best advice I can give you all is to stick together, find someplace defensible and fortify it, make it your own. Sad to say, but people like cannibals, cults and the general worst of humanity are going to thrive and without a big enough group, weapons and defenses, this is going to end badly for a lot of good people."

I looked to him for a moment before taking Jim's rook. "Birmingham is a death trap and I'd imagine so is every major city. The more people concentrated in that area and the faster the virus or whatever it is spreads. Small towns can be swept of walkers, supplies and even made defensible, but the issue comes down to the basics. Food, water, supplies and manpower to defend what you have. Larger groups will learn to take from those that have, rape and murder them or make them pay in food taxes like kingdoms of old."

Dale said I was a bit bleak and I shook my head. "Without electricity, proper communication and supplies we've effectively been drop kicked back to the Middle Ages or the old west if you prefer. Your optimism will disappoint you without a stable government to enforce the laws you think modern man holds as morally right. There's a reason murder and rape, prostitution and other such things have survived since Sodom and Gamorah. Man, no matter how evolved, is still an animal, no matter the species. They serve their needs above others unless taught by example to be selfless."

I beat Jim and put Dale in check while Jim asked. "If that were true then what's left to us?"

I beat him and flicked his forehead to his surprise. "Hope. Hope is what remains. Viruses can be vaccinated, diseases cured, cities rebuilt and in time, walkers extinguished while the world recovers. So long as a single person lives, hope springs eternal that one day things will get better. So we endure the bad so that one day, days, months or years in the future things will get better, even if we have to slowly hunt the walkers to their extinction, burn the bodies and rebuild our world together with whoever remains."

I stood up and stretched before sighing. "It's getting dark so I'm heading to bed."

I turned to Dale. "I am an optimist, it's just that I know how groups of humans act in pack mentality. Most humans are sheep, easily led to do one thing or another because they believe it's in their best interest. It's sad, but most leaders are wolves looking to lead the sheep into death for their own greed. Why else would governments and big companies be led by power hungry sociopaths? Just remember that while the good sheep here survived, there are wolves out there pretending to be shepherds."

He grunted and I turned to Andrea, Amy and Jacqui. "Y'all are welcome to stay in the RV. There's a couch and a sofa bed you can use if you aren't interested in sharing the bed. Just lock the door cause dying in my sleep by wandering walkers isn't on my list of things to do and no amount of can strings will make me feel safe."

Amy thanked me and I turned to Lori and Carl. "Everyone not feeling safe out here is welcome where they'll fit comfortably, just don't expect me to give up my bedroom. I'm not that selfless."