"That feels wonderful Charlie..." Maria sighed in comfort even with the pain still moving through her body.
"That's good, but the name's Dakota.." I whispered back while gently massaging her back. She stiffened for a moment but then relaxed as I continued to rub her back slowly. I did a silent count down until she realized that she was still naked from her sponge bath earlier and she beeped in surprise trying to cover her front.
"You still have the blanket over you except for your back, just relax." I said with some amusement. She slowly relaxed again.
"Perv!" she shot back laughing softly even as I laughed.
"I'm a man, I'm allowed.." I replied between laughs which only made her laugh until she gritted her teeth in pain.
"How much longer?" she whimpered as the wave slowly eased.
"Today should be the last day, we will stay two more days so you can recover and start to get use to the changes. I will admit that the changes will continue for up to a month. But they are minor and barely even noticed, the main thing is the pain will no longer be part of those changes. She nodded and leaned back into my hands as I slowly worked a knot loose.
Charlie and Tami were a sleep in the Livingroom after a descent lunch and a long night of switching off with Maria. I had taken a long shower after a five hour run to ensure the house and area were still safe from zombies and marauders. Now I was laying behind Maria who finally drifted off to sleep. Laying back I drifted off as well.
Waking up in a fully alert status meant something unusual had woken me up. I found Maria's naked body curled over mine, in any other situation I would have been very happy and welcomed anything she felt up for at the moment.
"Something feels wrong.." Maria whispered. I nodded and she slowly moved back while I stood up. It was definitely something, because it even affected Maria who probably would have been embarrassed to find herself draped over me in such a fashion. I slipped to the window with out making a sound.
It was dark outside but it didn't hinder me in the least as I watched several men moving through the tree's and sneaking up on several houses. Raiders were going through the houses in order to grab supplies. Houses were much easier then trying to go to downtown Zombie Central to raid stores.
"Raiders, they should be here in a few minutes. Depends on what they find in the other houses." I whispered to her and she nodded slowly. Charlie and Tami were already listening by the door. I continued watching the men, barely moving the curtain. Maria got up and quickly dressed. She was past the pain and I am sure she was feeling the after affects. She would need more rest before she would feel even slightly normal, well the new normal.
"The houses are empty for the most part, I already went through them, I'll send them on their way." I told them then grabbed the gun I had found hidden in the garage and my staff. I walked to the front door while Maria, Charlie and Tami waited in the Livingroom.
I opened the door just as a hand was reaching for it, the man jumped and pulled his knife. Then he noted the rather large barrel of the pistol pointed in his face.
"I don't care if you are selling Religion, we aren't buying." I said before he could think to say anything. His eyes focused on me and it took him a moment to realize I had actually spoken and was not growling at him or trying to bite his face off.
"Put down the gun!" a voice called out. I had already had time to check out their weapons and no one was carrying anything beyond edged weapons and a few bows with arrows.
"Naw, I think I will keep it and you all can continue down the road doing what you are doing, you all have a good night." I called back and started to close the door.
"How long do you think you can last alone?" the same voice called back.
"Longer then you all, you suckers are way too loud to be in your line of work. My suggestion, run and find a secure house while you can. All your yelling has already alerted the zombies down the street and they are coming to see what's on the menu." I called back.
"I mean how long do you think you can keep those women to yourself, you only have nine rounds, maybe twelve, we number much more then that." the voice sneered. I swiveled my arm while still staring at the man in front of me and fired. I saw the loud mouths head jerk and his body hit the ground.
"Who wants the other eleven shots?" I called out. Everyone was silent for about a minute before a voice called out Zombies. Now all of them were running down the street. I closed the door as a mass of twenty to thirty zombies were moving straight for them.
"That was close.." Maria mumbled softly.
"Naw once you remove the instigator, the followers will back off and horniness turns into self-preservation." I replied and winked. She laughed along with Charlie while Tami looked a bit confused. I had been tracking another sound as well, apparently they thought to try and use the front door as a distraction while someone snuck around the back. I moved to the door that led to the basement which had it's own door to the backyard area. As the handle started to turn, I plunged the blade of my staff through the door and heard the grunt of surprise and pain on the other side. When I pulled the blade free I heard the body tumble down the stairs.
I opened the door and looked down at the bottom. Some guy had been holding his own long bladed knife preparing to attack from behind. Now he was just dead meat. The sword had penetrated his chest and the fall broke his neck. Walking down I dragged his corpse from the house and into the tree line and then cut off his head, at this point I didn't take chances with dead bodies. Then returned after securing the doors and windows in the basement. I also set a few traps just incase the goon squad was stupid enough to return.
I kept an eye out through the night while Maria, Charlie and Tami took time out to rest and regain their strength. Smiling to myself I sat on the deck that faced the street and listened. I could still hear a few of the men who tired and fell prey to the Zombies still hot on their trail. Several yards away a few men had been able to get inside a house or shed and usually slamming the doors in the faces of those they had called friend at one time or another.
The stupid part was that it was easy to lead zombie's on a wild goose chase, unless of course you had no clue what you were doing when you tried it. Zombies have no way of bending down to crawl after you if you duck under something or leap over it. They will remain there bouncing against the object until you are either out of sight or the object falls over.
If you are out of shape never try to just out distance them, you will tire long before they do. For the most part, zombies do not crawl, they do not kneel down to look under something. They are like a blunt object trying to crash through anything in their way. Now with that in mind, it is no wonder children are of the highest survivor number, children will always try to hide under or crawl under and around things to get away. It will work, problem here is the down side.
Children did not see Mom, Dad, Brother or Sister as the enemy even with red eyes and growling. Against strangers, no problem they are out the door and down a rabbit hole. But against relatives or those thought close friends, they didn't run until it was too late.
Getting up I realize the men would not be returning. Most were caught by the zombies and those not caught, will be surrounded by them. They were now stuck inside the very homes thought to be safety, were now their prisons. Hunger would eventually drive them out into the streets, but for the most part they'll be dead within a block or two.
Walking into the garage I pulled over one of the bikes that had been hung on the wall by the family who had lived here. I ran a complete service and made sure the tires were in top condition. After that I hooked up the small bike trailer to Charlie's bike and got it prepared for the journey to come. We would not be staying for those two extra days, Maria would have to ride on the camper. I hated doing it, but if that raider group was just a small part of something bigger, I did not want to be here when the rest came looking for them.
In most of the strongholds women out numbered the men by nearly five to one. Men are stupid and tend to put themselves at risk more often then not. As long as they continue to take chances or allow bullies to make their choices for them, men will continue to die out while the women get taken advantage of by said bullies or left widow because their men were just idiots.
When morning arrived no one questioned why we were leaving and Maria didn't even argue about being put on the trailer. Part of finding the gun also had me stocking up on ammo for the gun from one of the sporting goods stores next door to the bike shop. More then five thousand rounds would ensure us being safe. At least until we found a proper place of safety. Turns out Maria is a marksman, she trained every weekend on a shooting range with her husband just for fun and as a stress reliever from her job during the week. So the extra ammo was inside the camper while the gun and an extra magazine remained with her.
"Where too?" Tami asked. I pointed North while closing the garage.
"We continue North, but thanks to the morons last night, the neighborhoods will be a bit more funtastic then I would normally like." I said with an exaggerated sigh. They all nodded.
"I will ride in the lead, then Tami and Charlie will take up the rear. Maria for the first hour I need you to stay awake and help keep an eye out. Now be aware you will see a lot of movement, most will just be small animals, squirrels, mice and even birds. We are watching for zombies and those idiots from last night." I explained to them all while they nodded and listened.
