covered and I really am not in the mood for a fight today.”
The effect of my words was interesting. The two men stiffened and spun around, hands streaking towards their guns. Their hands stopped when they saw I had my gun out and as one, they placed their hands up in front of them, keeping a wary eye on me.
Tattooed man looked me over and spotted my bicycle behind me. “Thanks for not killing us, you sure had the opportunity. Nice ride, by the way.”
“Thanks.” I said. “I figure there’s not enough of us left to be shooting each other, so there’s no reason not to try to get along. But everybody is jumpy as hell, so you can understand my precaution.”
“No problem.” Tattoo said. “Can I put my hands down?”
“Sure.” I safed my SIG and, looking Tattoo in the eyes, holstered my weapon. The move was not lost on Tattoo or the other man. By holstering without looking, I was showing them I knew where my weapon was and knew how to use it.
“Where you guys from?” I asked, curious as to the situation in other parts.
“We rolled out of Los Platos this morning.” Tattoo said. “The wave had hit us a day earlier and if we didn’t get out when we had the chance, we weren’t going to make it.”
“Wave?” I asked. Lack of power really had limited my informational sources.
“Wave of the dead. Many of the infected that were in the city started moving to the outlying areas in search of prey. They would kill or infect, people would die and reanimate, and move on to the next. House by house, they broke in, killed and consumed. Duncan, there,” Tattoo indicated with a flick of his thumb, “Saw two cops surrounded and killed by a mob of over a hundred of the things. They never had a chance to even fire their guns.” Tattoo sighed. “But I gotta give the man credit, he went back to the carnage after the zombies had left and got the cops’ guns for protection. We figured we needed to bolt as soon as possible, so we threw everything we had into his car and made a run for it.”
I thought for a second. Maybe this was what I had been dreading and was running from. Something had warned me to go and this just confirmed I did the right thing for me and Jake.
“Sounds like you did the right thing. Name’s John, by the way.” I said, holding out my hand.
Tattoo shook it. “Tom Carter. My friends call me Tommy. At least they would if…” His voice trailed off and I got his meaning loud and clear. He had lost everyone as well.
Jacob chose that moment to introduce himself by babbling fairly loudly. He did that from time to time when he felt he was being ignored. I went over to him and picked him up. He smiled at the two men, and buried his head in my shoulder again.
Tommy got over his shock to see a baby to say, “Holy shit. You’ve got a baby with you.”
Duncan seemed shocked as well, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared for a second, then went back to the car. He sat on the other side of the vehicle, away from us. I cocked an eyebrow in question at Tommy.
“Don’t worry about Duncan,” Tommy said, “He’s gonna be quiet for a while, but then he’ll be all right. He lost his brother and his brother’s family to the dead, just so you know.”
“That’s too bad.” I said. “Seems like everyone left alive has lost somebody.”
“You, too, it would seem.” Said Tommy, indicating Jake.
“Yeah, me, too. This is Jake, by the way.” I said, my tone of voice telling him I was unwilling to go into it further.
Tommy changed the subject. “Where are you headed? You can’t be going too far on a bike.”
“I figured to head south, maybe hook up with other survivors or a town that hasn’t been infected. Find a place to settle into while this whole mess works itself out.” Even as I said it, it didn’t seem realistic. But it was all I had at the moment until something else came up that sounded better. “What about you two?” I asked.
Tommy shrugged. “We had planned to hole up
The effect of my words was interesting. The two men stiffened and spun around, hands streaking towards their guns. Their hands stopped when they saw I had my gun out and as one, they placed their hands up in front of them, keeping a wary eye on me.
Tattooed man looked me over and spotted my bicycle behind me. “Thanks for not killing us, you sure had the opportunity. Nice ride, by the way.”
“Thanks.” I said. “I figure there’s not enough of us left to be shooting each other, so there’s no reason not to try to get along. But everybody is jumpy as hell, so you can understand my precaution.”
“No problem.” Tattoo said. “Can I put my hands down?”
“Sure.” I safed my SIG and, looking Tattoo in the eyes, holstered my weapon. The move was not lost on Tattoo or the other man. By holstering without looking, I was showing them I knew where my weapon was and knew how to use it.
“Where you guys from?” I asked, curious as to the situation in other parts.
“We rolled out of Los Platos this morning.” Tattoo said. “The wave had hit us a day earlier and if we didn’t get out when we had the chance, we weren’t going to make it.”
“Wave?” I asked. Lack of power really had limited my informational sources.
“Wave of the dead. Many of the infected that were in the city started moving to the outlying areas in search of prey. They would kill or infect, people would die and reanimate, and move on to the next. House by house, they broke in, killed and consumed. Duncan, there,” Tattoo indicated with a flick of his thumb, “Saw two cops surrounded and killed by a mob of over a hundred of the things. They never had a chance to even fire their guns.” Tattoo sighed. “But I gotta give the man credit, he went back to the carnage after the zombies had left and got the cops’ guns for protection. We figured we needed to bolt as soon as possible, so we threw everything we had into his car and made a run for it.”
I thought for a second. Maybe this was what I had been dreading and was running from. Something had warned me to go and this just confirmed I did the right thing for me and Jake.
“Sounds like you did the right thing. Name’s John, by the way.” I said, holding out my hand.
Tattoo shook it. “Tom Carter. My friends call me Tommy. At least they would if…” His voice trailed off and I got his meaning loud and clear. He had lost everyone as well.
Jacob chose that moment to introduce himself by babbling fairly loudly. He did that from time to time when he felt he was being ignored. I went over to him and picked him up. He smiled at the two men, and buried his head in my shoulder again.
Tommy got over his shock to see a baby to say, “Holy shit. You’ve got a baby with you.”
Duncan seemed shocked as well, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared for a second, then went back to the car. He sat on the other side of the vehicle, away from us. I cocked an eyebrow in question at Tommy.
“Don’t worry about Duncan,” Tommy said, “He’s gonna be quiet for a while, but then he’ll be all right. He lost his brother and his brother’s family to the dead, just so you know.”
“That’s too bad.” I said. “Seems like everyone left alive has lost somebody.”
“You, too, it would seem.” Said Tommy, indicating Jake.
“Yeah, me, too. This is Jake, by the way.” I said, my tone of voice telling him I was unwilling to go into it further.
Tommy changed the subject. “Where are you headed? You can’t be going too far on a bike.”
“I figured to head south, maybe hook up with other survivors or a town that hasn’t been infected. Find a place to settle into while this whole mess works itself out.” Even as I said it, it didn’t seem realistic. But it was all I had at the moment until something else came up that sounded better. “What about you two?” I asked.
Tommy shrugged. “We had planned to hole up
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