“Stewart?”
“Yeah Max?”
“You might be right about the earthquake thing.”
She laughed softly, “Max that was just an excuse for something I wanted. You.”
“So what now?”
“What do you mean 'what now'? Now we keep living, get ourselves set up somewhere and just keep going. We just do not stop.”
“This won't change anything?”
Stewart reached over and ran her hand down onto his groin, “Max, this changes everything. But it doesn't change our goals.”
The third time they made love it was a prolonged, slow session without the haste or roughness of the earlier times, however it was just as passionate. As they lay once again in each other arms Max suddenly started.
“Is something there?”
Max nodded, “Someone is out there. In the field. I didn't notice them until now.”
“Fuck.” Stewart rolled over and scrambled to pull on her clothing. Max joined her in the effort, pulling on the light shorts and shirt he had been wearing, but forgoing his shoes for his shotgun. Stewart didn't stop until she had all of her weapons back in place, which took another twenty seconds.
“Where is it?”
Max pointed out towards the road, about halfway between Tom's house and the next neighbor over. “There.”
“Too far for me, I can't see that far, not even with these eyes.”
“It isn't moving. I think there are two more of them back a little ways. Yeah I am sure of it.”
“What are they doing?”
“Just standing there. Should we go out?”
“No. How far away are they, a half mile?”
“Maybe. That seems about right, didn't Tom say he had neighbors a mile away on each side of his house?”
“Yeah, we better get them up. Then you and I can go out and investigate. I damn sure am not setting up another ambush in a house for them.”
“You go, get the others up, I will keep an eye on things here.”
Stewart turned and strode back into the house while Max watched their visitor with his mind. The thing in the field raised one of its arms, then dropped it. On impulse Max did the same thing. The creature did it again. Max repeated it. Then he raised his other arm and the zombie mirrored his action with its arm. The zombie retreated across the road and appeared to sit down just inside the cornfield on the opposite side.
Amelia and Tom came rushing up the stairs with Riley on their heels. Stewart was not behind them, to Max's glance Amelia said, “She had to use the bathroom. Said she didn't want to die with a full bladder.”
“There are three of them out there.” the other two nodded, “I think we are going to go see them. Maybe talk to them this time instead of trying to kill them.”
“Like Jimbo?” asked Amelia.
“Hopefully.”
Stewart came through the doorway as quiet as a ghost and Max explained what had happened with the zombie when she was gone.
“So it was signaling us? I don't like it.”
“Maybe it just wants to talk.”
“Maybe it just wants to lure us in and kill us on ground it chooses.”
“Not all of them are bad.” said Max.
“No just ninety nine percent.”
“Here is what I think we should do. Me and you go out.” Max said indicating Stewart with the tip of his shotgun, “and then I go ahead thirty feet or so, but stay far away from him and see what he wants. You will be close enough to cover me and you can see things better in the dark. Plus you are a better shot than I am.”
“I don't like it.”
“Tom, Amelia what do you think?”
“I don't like it. Every single time we ran into super zombies we got into a big fight. Only that one time did Jimbo and that other chick run away.” said Tom.
“Max you think you can talk to this one? If you stayed far enough away so Stewart could cover you, I think that would be okay, like in the center of the road. The zombies couldn't get close without you guys seeing them first. I take it Tom and I get to guard the house?”
“Well that is what I was thinking…” Max started.
“You guys are babying me.” Amelia said, “Tom and Stewart did the store, you and Stewart laid the ambush. I have fought my way through zombies before, I can hold my own against them.”
“It isn't that, just at night…well Stewart and I have the…I don't even know what to call it, 'talent' maybe or 'abilities' that make us able to handle this particular situation. Tom was just the one who went with Stewart last time. Next time we'll let you and Tom handle the ambush.”
Amelia snorted, “We'll see. I am not that stupid.”
“No really if you want on the front lines, we will put you there, no problem from me!” said Stewart.
“Okay. Tom and I will stay here, next time I go.”
“Fair enough.” with that Max and Stewart headed down the driveway towards the paved road. When they got to the end of it Stewart stopped.
“Fucking little manipulator!”
“What?”
“Amelia! We were talking about if we even were going out here to meet these guys and she turned it into an argument about her not going into danger, which sidetracked the whole argument, now look where we are. You and her must be pretty pleased with yourselves!” Max could tell she wasn't angry, if anything she seemed to grudgingly respect what Amelia had done. For Max's part he hadn't even noticed what had happened.
“I don't think that is what she did, I mean not on purpose.”
“Yeah, look where we are when the vote to go or not was tied. She subverted the democratic process. I tell you what if I get a clear shot at the zombie and it doesn't say exactly the friendly words I want to hear, I am plugging it.”
“Just let me talk to it first if I can.”
The two started walking down the paved road towards the waiting zombie.
“Waving your arms at each other might not mean anything. Or it could be a new age zombie trick to lure in hapless innocents.”
“We are not 'hapless innocents'.”
“I bet everyone thinks that, then…wham! You come to dead with your head deep inside your former best friend's guts.”
“Always the optimist. Okay you stay here, let me go up another thirty feet or so and call down to it.”
Max proceeded alone down the moon lit county road. He stayed near the dashed lines painted in the middle of the road and kept his shotgun aimed close, but not quite dead on to where the zombie was waiting. Once he reached the zombie's position on the road he turned towards it and called out.
Chapter 16
The human came forward, the delicious swirling colors that made up its body was a joy to behold, but not one that drove Red out of his mind with hunger anymore.
“Hello down there in the corn.” the guy called.
Was he the one? Would he care about what happened? Would he understand what Red wanted to tell him?
“I can see you fine there you know. I know you can hear me.”
Watching the two humans have sex on the porch a mile away had been fascinating. Their bodies had intertwined and glowed brighter during the coupling it had just about driven Hugh, the weakest of the trio, into a feeding frenzy. At first Red hadn't known what they were doing, after a moment's shock he figured it out. Then he laughed with the other two and sat down to watch the show. The three of them were much too far away to seen the details of what was going on, but the glow, it was a steady brightness that only grew larger as they proceeded. Red was caught up in his thoughts about it again when the man on the road called down a third time, “Did you want to talk?”