Zombie Road: The Second Omnibus | Books 4-6 | Jessie+Scarlet Simpson, A. (pride and prejudice read txt) 📖

Charlie caught his eye and Jessie looked away, stared at the majesty of the mountains towering above them.

“What is East?” she asked and pulled out a packet of hamburger from their propane refrigerator. “You like chili, Scarlet? Charlie show me good Tex-Mex recipe.”

Jessie let the question go unanswered and the subject changed to who was doing what and which treasures had been recovered and the good news about a thriving settlement Eric the Blackhand had discovered in Nova Scotia. He’d led a team far to the north for an extended retrieval mission and traveled across Canada to avoid the massive hordes east of the Mississippi. They didn’t go far enough north though and barely got away from a horde they ran into outside of Quebec. Some of them didn’t. The survivors found a fishing village on one of the islands and the residents had voted to move the entire population to a warmer climate.

Jessie had met Eric a few times, the man was intense. He was generally a loner but worked with a crew if he needed extra muscle. He’d hire on a few guys that had the equipment or the skills he needed for a particular job. He’d gotten his name from one of his arms being burnt during a desperate battle at the beginning of the outbreak. He didn’t talk about it but rumor was that he set a building on fire as a last-ditch effort to escape a horde that had broken down his groups’ defenses.

“So I heard they were going to settle down on the coast in Texas.” Charlie said, continuing his story. “Going to transplant an entire town, a few hundred people, down to someplace a little warmer. They’re too far out up there to be on any trade routes and who wants to stay up there anyway? Too dang cold. They’re going to make the trip down in fishing boats, clear a town and set up a container wall like Lakota.”

They whiled away the afternoon talking cars and tactics, cleaning guns and swapping stories as the Chili simmered over the flames. Ting disappeared into the woods with Bob to “water the flowers” and a squeal from her brought them all to their feet.

“Sorry!” she yelled. “I okay. I find berries!”

With a yellow cake mix and butter from the crew cab, cinnamon and brown sugar from the Mercury and a pail of raspberries from Mother Nature, a half hour later they had a cobbler baking in the coals for dessert.

It was a peaceful, enjoyable fellowship and laughter came easy. For Jessie, it reaffirmed why he was fighting, why he was trying so hard to make the world a better place. It was just a simple meal with friends without the threat of raiders trying to kill them or a cult forcing them to join. It was people being free to do what they wanted. It was something worth fighting for.

The zombies were slowing down, falling apart and in another decade, they’d be mostly gone. He believed in what his dad was doing, knew they had to set up a strong union because without it, Casey’s band of outlaws or the Anubis Movement would swallow up separate communities. They had to stick together and fight for each other or they would all fall one by one.

The war had started in the north and the Anubis armies had been defeated. They were at their weakest and the time to finish them off was now, before they could rebuild. Cobb had hinted that his dad may have infiltrated the Raiders and was trying to take them down from the inside, their army was too strong to fight head on. He and Scarlet were going to do something similar to the Cult after they met with the doctor there. The medicine from the Tower didn’t seem to be doing much good. Maybe Stevens would help, all they could do was try. If not, they would finish their business then get back to the Tower in time to get their results from the blood tests. The runners on her arms seemed to be getting darker and spreading faster and her eye had the dark lines burrowing into it.

He smiled and shared stories, laughed at Charlies jokes and ate the chili but he watched her. Watched her movements as they seemed to pain her sometimes. Watched her as she seemed to be a part of them but separate. Watched her and worried. Watched her and ached to know how to fix her. The doctor that created the inoculations might be their only hope.

Time was running out. Everything would be over in another week. They’d be victors or they’d be dead. It was a price he was willing to pay because he didn’t think he could go on if she didn’t make it. If they couldn’t stop the spread.

“Right Jessie?” he heard her say and snapped back to the conversation.

“What?” he asked.

Scarlet ruffled his hair.

“I said Charlie can make us married. He can be the preacher at our wedding.”

“I’m not ready to settle down.” Jessie said and hid a grin. “I might want to date more girls.”

Scarlets eyes narrowed.

“Silly Jessie. How you date more girls when you have no man parts?” she asked, drew close and pointed her knife between his legs.

“Well, since you put it that way.” Jessie said and rubbed noses with her. “But only if he dresses like Elvis.”

They laughed but he noticed the cold sheen of sweat on her brow and the heat coming from her. He needed to get her to the headquarters.

No more delays.

They needed to go.

Scarlet wouldn’t hear of it. They were going to camp on top of the heads, have a campfire and drink wine. Jessie caught a look in her eye, almost a pleading that she tried to hide behind a smile. He didn’t know if it was because she needed to put off killing her father for one more day or if she needed to laugh and be happy and enjoy