4 Hardcore Zombie Novellas by Cheryl Mullenax

up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’”
    Randy ponders this a moment, then barks an order to the others to gather wood for a big fire there on the beach.
    “Here come two more,” Levy says.
    Magda says a silent prayer to the Holy Mother, asking for the strength to do her Son’s bidding. Then she steps forward to receive more of the sea’s rising dead.
29
Meat and Greet
    “Mmm,” Amanda said.
    “Um-hm,” Todd said.
    Their mouths were bright red with dripping sauce.
    “Y’all look like a couple of fresh zomboids feeding,” Jake said as he wiped his lips with a napkin. “Use your napkins. Just ’cause the world’s gone to hell don’t mean we have to eat like pigs. It’s up to us to maintain good manners and such. If we’re lucky enough to live through these times, we’ll need to make a good restart.”
    “Reboot,” Amanda said, belching into her hand.
    “There you go.” Jake took a swig from his bottle of pop. “We’re not in Kansas anymore but we’re still in America. It’ll be up to folks like us to keep it someways alive.”
    “We ain’t been to Kansas,” Todd said with a mouthful of barbecue.
    “He means like in The Wizard of Oz, dummy,” said Amanda, delicately dabbing her lips with her napkin.
    Jake winked at her. He dropped his napkin in his plate, leaned back in his chair, took his pistol off the table and stuck it in the hand-tooled leather holster on his right hip. He sucked on his teeth with a whistling noise and said, “What we’ll do is put the rest of the meat in a cooler and head east. Ain’t that much left no way. If I hadn’t found that deepfreeze in their basement next door, we wouldn’t a had any. Joints like this get looted right quick with so many survivors on the move.”
    “We ain’t seen that many,” Todd said, finally using his napkin.
    Jake nodded. “Me neither. Not really. But enough to where restaurants get raided right off the bat. Everybody left alive knows what’s coming. And it ain’t gonna be pretty. Only the strong will make it. And the lucky. So, children, be strong and make your own luck. And don’t forget to say your prayers.”
    Amanda smiled for the first time since Jake had met her. It was a pretty thing to see. “So,” he said, lacing his fingers over his flat belly, “you kids hooked up for the duration or what?”
    “What now?” Todd said.
    “You in love?”
    Amanda quickly said, “No.”
    “Hey,” Todd said, jerking backward and making his chair legs screech on the floor.
    “Whoa,” Jake said. “That ain’t no reason to—”
    Todd raised his arm and pointed his finger like it was a gun. “Dead guys walking.”
    Jake turned his head and looked out the eatery’s storefront window. Three men in suits and ties were crossing the street, coming toward the entrance. He stood, drew his Magnum and said, “Stay here.” Then he went outside to wait on the sidewalk for the well-dressed trio to get close enough to shoot without wasting ammo.
    The tall man in the middle raised his hand and said, “Hold on there, friend, we ain’t dead. We’re Christians.”
    Jake kept his gun out. He said, “Reckon you must be pretty pissed you didn’t get raptured up to heaven already.”
    “There’s no reason to be insulting,” the tall man said. “We come to thank you for the work you’ve been doing and to ask you to join our church. Right down the street there. Church of the Holy Ghost.”
    “The work I’ve been doing?” Jake cocked his head.
    “Disabling the dead. So they’re not so dangerous.”
    “Hell, that ain’t work. That’s too much fun to be work. Besides, I just stayed for the barbecue. Fixing to move on. But thanks for the invite. How many you got holed up in that church?”
    “Ain’t but thirteen of us,” said the short guy with tinted glasses.
    “Lucky you,” said Jake. “If it was me, I’d be moving on. Get as far from Arizona and her bordering states as possible. No offense but this little town ain’t no more