the ot h ers.
“Everybody seems to be at each other ’ s throats,” Kevin sighed and sat down across from the young man.
“You have to admit, it’s been a pretty intense few weeks.”
“And it isn’t going to get better.”
“Sure,” Matt drew the word out.
“Go ahead,” Kevin urged. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“You obviously are the man with the plan,” Matt began. “Nobody is questioning the things you say; it’s just that they could use a break.”
“And when we get this place secure—”
“Is there really such a thing?” Matt interrupted. “I mean we might be fairly safe from the undead, but what about people…you know better than most that there are some bad guys out there that are ta k ing advantage of things.”
Kevin and his friends had run afoul of just such a band of men early on. The men had killed one of his friends and abduc t ed Shari, her two sisters, and her mother for their own purposes.
Oddly enough, it was while he was searching for those men when he encountered another ind i vidual who’d taken Heather and several other girls prisoner to use for his own deviant d e sires. Even more twisted, the man had intentionally turned the girls by exposing them to a single bite on the arm or leg . That was how he had discovered that the bite didn’t guarantee a pe r son would turn. Heather was immune. Near her ankle was a healed bite.
“I just don’t want the weather to do what zombies and crazed mad men haven’t been able to do as of yet,” Kevin said as he shuffled through the completed sets of gloves.
“But it is going to drive everybody crazy,” Matt pressed. “The gang needs something to take their minds off of the last few months.”
“So what?” Kevin set the gloves down. “You suggesting that we throw a party?”
“Not exactly,” Matt replied. “Maybe just take a day, dig through our stores for some of the del i cacies you have managed to bring in like candy bars and stuff, and roast one or two of the chickens we have running around from that trip you and Aleah made last week. Seriou s ly, dude, how do you keep finding this stuff?”
Kevin reached in his pack and pulled out a big, black notebook. “Found this at an abandoned military post. It has Google map images of the surrounding area for miles in every dire c tion.”
Matt took the book and thumbed through it. He paused on a page and tapped it. Kevin looked at the unremarkable section of the image.
“There is a huge farm here,” Matt said. “I used to go out there with my girlfriend. She was into all that natural crap. They had all kinds of farming stuff. I bet if you hit that place, you’ll find everything that you need for us to start that garden you are so hot about. Plus, you might even find some food. They had a big produce stand that had crap all year round. I think they might’ve ev e n had g ree n hou s es.”
“Why didn’t you bother telling me this before?”
“Honestly?” Matt shrugged. “I really didn’t give it much thought until I saw the map. See the le g end?” Matt tapped the image with a pencil.
Kevin leaned in and read. “Sage Farms?”
“That was the family that owned the place.”
“So much for house crawling,” Kevin said absently as he leaned in close to study the page more intently . By his best guess, the location was at least fifteen miles away. That would mean being gone for a few days. He immediately regretted making the decision to bring Shari. He would feel much be t ter having Heather or Aleah with him. At least he was confident that they could handle themselves in a serious crisis.
Oh well , Kevin thought as he began to trace a route with his finger, it was time the Pop Princess got her hands dirty .
Death and a B irthday
“ W e have a problem,” Dr. Zahn’s voice cut through the chaos of six people checking gear and preparing to
“Everybody seems to be at each other ’ s throats,” Kevin sighed and sat down across from the young man.
“You have to admit, it’s been a pretty intense few weeks.”
“And it isn’t going to get better.”
“Sure,” Matt drew the word out.
“Go ahead,” Kevin urged. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“You obviously are the man with the plan,” Matt began. “Nobody is questioning the things you say; it’s just that they could use a break.”
“And when we get this place secure—”
“Is there really such a thing?” Matt interrupted. “I mean we might be fairly safe from the undead, but what about people…you know better than most that there are some bad guys out there that are ta k ing advantage of things.”
Kevin and his friends had run afoul of just such a band of men early on. The men had killed one of his friends and abduc t ed Shari, her two sisters, and her mother for their own purposes.
Oddly enough, it was while he was searching for those men when he encountered another ind i vidual who’d taken Heather and several other girls prisoner to use for his own deviant d e sires. Even more twisted, the man had intentionally turned the girls by exposing them to a single bite on the arm or leg . That was how he had discovered that the bite didn’t guarantee a pe r son would turn. Heather was immune. Near her ankle was a healed bite.
“I just don’t want the weather to do what zombies and crazed mad men haven’t been able to do as of yet,” Kevin said as he shuffled through the completed sets of gloves.
“But it is going to drive everybody crazy,” Matt pressed. “The gang needs something to take their minds off of the last few months.”
“So what?” Kevin set the gloves down. “You suggesting that we throw a party?”
“Not exactly,” Matt replied. “Maybe just take a day, dig through our stores for some of the del i cacies you have managed to bring in like candy bars and stuff, and roast one or two of the chickens we have running around from that trip you and Aleah made last week. Seriou s ly, dude, how do you keep finding this stuff?”
Kevin reached in his pack and pulled out a big, black notebook. “Found this at an abandoned military post. It has Google map images of the surrounding area for miles in every dire c tion.”
Matt took the book and thumbed through it. He paused on a page and tapped it. Kevin looked at the unremarkable section of the image.
“There is a huge farm here,” Matt said. “I used to go out there with my girlfriend. She was into all that natural crap. They had all kinds of farming stuff. I bet if you hit that place, you’ll find everything that you need for us to start that garden you are so hot about. Plus, you might even find some food. They had a big produce stand that had crap all year round. I think they might’ve ev e n had g ree n hou s es.”
“Why didn’t you bother telling me this before?”
“Honestly?” Matt shrugged. “I really didn’t give it much thought until I saw the map. See the le g end?” Matt tapped the image with a pencil.
Kevin leaned in and read. “Sage Farms?”
“That was the family that owned the place.”
“So much for house crawling,” Kevin said absently as he leaned in close to study the page more intently . By his best guess, the location was at least fifteen miles away. That would mean being gone for a few days. He immediately regretted making the decision to bring Shari. He would feel much be t ter having Heather or Aleah with him. At least he was confident that they could handle themselves in a serious crisis.
Oh well , Kevin thought as he began to trace a route with his finger, it was time the Pop Princess got her hands dirty .
Death and a B irthday
“ W e have a problem,” Dr. Zahn’s voice cut through the chaos of six people checking gear and preparing to
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