Dead Chaos - Book 1 - Zombie Apocalypse

Dead Chaos - Chapter 10

“See you soon, cheater!” I yelled back, picking up the pace and entering the hollow at a full sprint. On the other side of the glen Melanie was disappearing back into the Aspen trees. A startled rabbit burst across the path, almost making me trip. Any other time and I would’ve stopped to kill the furry bastard. Paulina made a good rabbit stew with dumplings.

Once in the Aspens again, the trail gained a steeper grade. This was the stretch where I could always catch her. I steadily gained ground until I heard her shallow breaths. Instead of falling into pace beside her, I smacked her on the ass and kept pushing ahead.

“You’re gonna pay for that, punk,” she wheezed in a flirtatious tone.

“Looking forward to it,” I replied over my shoulder.

I stopped at the top of the trail to wait for her and catch my breath. The stream to my right and her footfalls were the only sounds in the world at the moment. The fish in that stream had been left in peace for far too long. That would be remedied soon. Melanie finally caught me and attacked my ribs with her long fingers.

“One of these days I’m gonna beat you. You just wait,” she promised and gave me a kiss on the chin. We walked the rest of the way to the pond, stopping once or twice to admire the views of the valley below us. Tranquility in every sense of the word, but there was still restlessness inside me. I’d always preferred order and hated that there were no guarantees in life anymore. Maybe there never was.

Dead Man’s Lake, at least that’s what we called it, acquired its name from the old man we’d found sitting in his boat, stark dead, still clutching his fishing pole. Naturally, we removed the body and buried him beside the shore, along with his fly rod and the picture of what we assumed was his family we’d found clinging to the bottom of the boat. It appeared he died of natural causes. That wasn’t common these days. Some might say he was lucky. Many of the elderly weren’t strong enough to survive in the early days.

We passed the old man’s grave and I said a silent prayer, as had become routine each visit to the lake. The water was particularly tranquil this morning, a vivid blue-green hue that reflected the mountains, trees and cloudless sky like a painting on a canvas. Melanie grabbed the fishing rods and tackle box while I untied the rowboat. We sat on the lake for a couple hours, casting lures and the last bit of PowerBait. Melanie caught three rainbows and I caught a few snags. Ever-conscious of daily chores, we cut our fishing trip short before either of us wanted to. Stringer of fish in hand, she walked with extra swagger on the way home, my sexy master angler.

The sound of hammering met us as we neared the house. Alexi and Justin were building a new auxiliary fence along the interior perimeter. Incorrectly, but at least they were trying. Levi had a renewed sense of anxiety since the night of the party. It was about damn time. He’d grown far too comfortable in the past year, not striving to improve the defenses and letting Alexi and Riley run rampant. We had no room for their immaturity and he needed to get them in hand.

Alexi wiped his brow and looked up at us with a sour, frustrated look. Good, get angry. Hard times breed hard men, the kind suited to surviving in this shit world. Alexi showed no signs of the mental toughness needed to stay alive.

Now came the fun part. “Alexi, Justin, you’re supposed to get all your posts planted before attaching the barb wire! Before that, you’re supposed to dig all your holes!” I bellowed, trying to conceal my enjoyment. “Now start over!” I left them there, dumbfounded, and jogged to catch up with a giggling Melanie. Before long I could hear angry curses in my wake.

“I know how much you’re enjoying this,” Melanie chided when we were out of earshot.

“More than you know, baby,” I answered with a grin.