Moms Against Zombies Read online

me, keeping the gun aimed chest high at the door.

  I yank the door open and the person on the other side

  falls through to land on the floor.

  “Don’t shoot!” I yell. “It’s Cooper.”

  “Glad to see me, babe?” he asks as blood drips from a

  cut on his forehead.

  “What happened?” I demand as I survey his bruised and

  battered body.

  “It looks like you’ve been through a war,” Jessica says

  helpfully as she lowers the gun. “Why don’t we get you

  into the kitchen and I’ll get some coffee started.”

  “I need a shower first. I’ve got to get the blood off of

  me,” Cooper whispers.

  “Trish, take him into my room. I’ve got some of Billie’s

  clothes left he can use.”

  We both help him up as he groans from the pain all

  over his body.

  Twenty minutes later, the three of us gather in the kitchen so he can tell us what’s going on.

  “You’ll never believe the things I’ve seen in the past

  twenty-four hours.”

  If his body is any indication, things weren’t going to be

  safe for our family for quite a while. Now that he’s here

  and alive, I can face anything, even a zombie horde, with

  him by my side.

  Chapter 4

  Emma

  The sun is just setting as I pull into the mountains,

  thankful that my drive is almost over. I tried to dial Nana’s

  number again, but got the same message, “All servers are

  busy. Please try again later.”

  Knowing cell service is spotty in the mountains

  anyway, I don’t worry about it because I’ve been driving

  for hours now. I keep expecting Pierce to wake up, but the

  little guy is still asleep. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean a long night for the two of us.

  The roads narrow as I pull off the highway to travel the

  last few miles into the country. I turn the lights on as the

  trees grow thicker, and the daylight fades into darkness.

  Nana and Pop live a few miles from town, but only a

  short drive from the highway. I let out a relieved sigh as I

  spot the sign over the drive announcing their farm, The

  Home Place.

  Even though I slow down as I go over the cattle guard,

  Pierce lets out a cry, announcing his consciousness. “Hang

  on, baby. We’re almost there.”

  The tree-lined drive winds on until it suddenly opens up

  to their home with a small view of the lake that can only be

  seen in the daylight.

  The porch light flips on as Pop comes out to

  investigate. The farm dogs surround the car so I roll down

  the window. “Hey, Pop. It’s Emma and baby Pierce,” I announce, because out here in the mountains, most

  landowners have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions

  later. It’s not terribly late in the evening, but spring tends to come late in the mountains so dark covers things around

  five in the evening.

  “Nana, its Brad’s Emma. She’s done brought the baby.”

  Pop walks out between the dogs. “Girlie, it sure is good to

  see you. We got a message this afternoon from Brad, but

  didn’t know if you’d make it out before morning.”

  I turn the car off and open the door, knowing that the

  dogs won’t hurt me as long as Pop is standing here in such

  a friendly manner.

  “When he called me, I packed and got out of the city. I

  tried to call, but the phones haven’t been working since this

  afternoon.” I groan as the blood rushes to my legs after two

  hours of sitting still.

  Pierce lets out another wail.

  “Who’s pinching that sweet baby boy?” Nana walks

  past both of us and opens the van door to get Pierce. “You

  knew Nana was nearby, didn’t you?” She unbuckles and

  cradles him as she has many grandchildren before him.

  “I’ve got him. Emma, you bring his bag in and then you

  can help Pop unload your stuff into the shed.” Nana doesn’t

  even look back to see if we follow her instructions.

  Shrugging it off, I move to do as she said, because

  nobody leaves Nana hanging for long. I sling the diaper bag

  over my shoulder and collect my purse and phone from the

  front seat.

  “Looks like you were prepared for trouble,” Pop comments, looking at the empty holsters strapped to my

  legs.

  “I took them out and put them in my purse while I

  drove so I didn’t hurt myself. I’m still not used to carrying

  weapons around.”

  “That might be changing if the rumors turn out to be

  true.”

  “Now, Pop, you stop that. There’s no need to scare

  Emma or talk that way in front of the sweet baby.” Nana

  frowns until she turns back to face Pierce. “This boy needs

  a new diaper and some love from his Nana.” She takes the

  diaper bag from me and disappears down the hall, toward

  the spare bedroom.

  “I’m never going to see my baby again, am I?” I grin

  over at Pop, who simply shakes his head and goes back

  outside to start unloading my vehicle.

  The sorting doesn’t take long, and Pop carries the few

  things inside that we need immediately, but I don’t want to

  unload things into the shed because this might be a false

  alarm, and I can go back to the city after a long weekend.

  “Why don’t you just drive into the barn? It will keep

  any unwelcomes out until you decide what you want to do

  about things,” Pop suggests kindly, seeing the tired lines on

  my face.

  “That would be wonderful. I didn’t realize how relieved

  I would be to get here. Your farm just seems to exude

  safety. I also haven’t slept in over five weeks since Brad

  went back overseas.”

  “A new baby will do that to you. Why don’t we get some supper in you, and then you can take you a little nap

  while we get reacquainted with the little man.” Pop finishes

  locking the barn up after I drive my van inside.

  “It’s an offer I can’t refuse.” I smile wearily.

  -----------

  My eyes open to sunlight peeking through the window

  and I jerk upright.

  Where is Pierce? Frantically looking around, I spot the crib in the corner and a contented baby looking over at me.

  Whew.

  “You worried me, little man. I can’t believe I slept

  through the night and didn’t hear you. I must have been

  exhausted.”

  The only answer I get is the contented thumb sucking of

  my beautiful new baby. Since he seems to be happy, I’m

  going to grab a quick shower.

  I dig through the box of my clothes we had brought in

  last night, but stop when I hear voices out in the hallway.

  “That poor child, doing everything by herself with a

  new baby just wore her out. We won’t wake her until we

  have to.”

  Nana’s voice fades as she and someone else move

  down the hall.

  Unable to resist a look, I crack the door open and catch

  the back of another woman walking toward the kitchen

  with Nana.

  “They said you were sleeping.” An accusing voice startles me. I look down and see one
of Brad’s nephews

  standing in the room across the way.

  “I was asleep, but now I’m going to take a shower. Is

  that okay with you?” I ask the boy, crossing my arms over

  my chest. How old is he, four? Five?

  “Don’t bother me none if you want to waste your time

  in the shower. Me, I’ve got more important things to do.

  You do what you’ve got to.” His little face seems so

  serious.

  “Levi,” I call out as I remember his name.

  “Yeah?” he responds with all the attitude inherited from

  his older brother, Owen.

  “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking out loud.

  “Hmph. Well, don’t go around saying my name if you

  don’t need nothing. Can’t have you crying wolf.” With that

  parting comment, Levi leaves me to shower.

  Assuming that more of the family had arrived last night,

  I hurry through my shower, wishing I could take my time.

  I’d already rudely slept through the evening and needed to

  pull my weight with breakfast. I don’t want them to feel

  like I’m being a mooch.

  I shouldn’t have worried, though, because by the time I

  get done and change Pierce, the table is set and all the

  adults are gathered around the kitchen, waiting for any last

  instructions from Nana.

  “Let’s sit down before it gets cold,” Nana announces,

  and the rush for everyone to take their seats begins.

  Two of Brad’s sisters are there with their husbands and children, but the rest of the family live nearby and would

  stay in their own homes unless things got really bad.

  “Ah, there she is with the baby.” Nana doesn’t even ask

  if she can have him as she scoops Pierce from my arms and

  starts talking to him.

  “Go ahead and say the blessing, Pop. I’m gonna hold

  onto this little bundle for a while.”

  I can’t say I complained too much. I haven’t eaten a hot

  meal since Brad left. The adults pass the baby around the

  table through the meal so that no one person is missing out

  on their meal.

  I’d seen some of this while Brad and I had been dating,

  but didn’t realize the amount of help it really provided to

  have a large family, and this isn’t even half of them. I

  might have to rethink living in the city after this

  experience.

  -----------

  After breakfast, the rest of the local family start arriving

  and making their way into the large family room that can

  hold at least thirty adults comfortably.

  “If you’re a youngin’ under the age of thirteen, you

  need to make yourself scarce while the adults talk,” Pop

  commands as the family continues to gather.

  “Aw, Pop. I’m big enough to help kill some zombies. I

  can shoot rabbits or a coon from just as far back as the

  adults,” Owen whines.

  “Now, none of that, son. If things get bad we’ll need

  your gun skills, but for now, you can go play with your

  cousins and enjoy a day free from school.” Allen, Owen’s father, admonished him.

  Within minutes, the children are playing outside,

  oblivious to the issues that are being discussed. I’d grabbed

  the diaper bag so that I wouldn’t have to leave the

  conversation.

  “I’ll take him back from you now.” I stand in front of

  Nancy, Allen’s wife, extending my arms to take Pierce

  from her. “He needs to eat, and this is the perfect time.”

  “Just give me the bottle and I’ll feed him,” Nancy

  pleads.

  “I didn’t feed him all night and really need to do it the

  other way.” I motion at my boobs, hoping the other adults

  won’t overhear.

  “Oh, yeah. I can’t do that, but when you’re done I’ll be

  glad to take him back.” Nancy places Pierce in my waiting

  arms. “We would love to have another one, but it just

  hasn’t happened yet. So, I’m going to steal yours so I can

  get my baby fix.”

  “I think that can be arranged.” I smile at her as I walk to

  sit in the corner, behind the recliner, trying to block most of what I’m doing from view.

  Pop calls the meeting to order. “I believe everyone is

  here that lives close enough, so let’s get started. What do

  we know?”

  “Not much yet. The news here in Tennessee is reporting

  things as usual,” Allen informs the group.

  “I believe our extended family are the only ones not at

  school today,” Nancy adds.

  Kellie, Brad’s other sister, chimes in. “So are we just crazy?”

  “Emma, what did you see out there yesterday?”

  Kathryn, Brad’s mom, turns the room’s attention on me.

  I adjust the blanket to make sure I’m decent, and think

  about how to answer such a loaded question.

  “My doctor’s appointment was yesterday and the nurse

  checked me in, telling me the doctor would be right there,

  but he never came. I waited about twenty minutes and

  things got almost eerily quiet.”

  Everyone is still staring at me, and while I’ve gotten

  used to Brad’s big family, it still bothers me to be stared at, but I continue. “There was no one in the building. I grabbed

  baby Pierce and headed out to the parking lot, but didn’t

  see anyone at first. This guy came around the corner,

  walking kind of funny, and then I saw the blood on his

  clothes. I took off running to the van, got Pierce buckled in

  and got out of there. It wasn’t until I was on my way here

  and got gas that I saw he had followed me and smeared

  blood on the side of the van.”

  “Did he attack you?” one of the men asks.

  I’m still not sure who everyone in the extended family

  is, so I answer him as best I can.

  “Once I got in the van I didn’t see anything, and he was

  moving too slow to really say that he attacked me. He did

  follow me, which really freaked me out when I saw it at the

  gas station.” I take a deep breath and squeeze Pierce a little closer to my chest.

  “There wasn’t anyone around panicking or screaming.

  In fact, you would have thought it was the weekend

  because the complex I was in was completely empty. If it

  hadn’t been for the unlocked building, I would have

  thought I was imagining things.”

  Pierce makes a protest at the way I’m holding him, so I

  try to fix him without being obvious.

  “Honestly, I wouldn’t have worried or come out here if

  Brad hadn’t have called. Stranger things have happened in

  the city with shootings and stuff, so I didn’t think much

  about it,” I assure them. “Brad just didn’t want to take a

  chance with it being just me and the baby.”

  “Sweetie, I appreciate that you’re trying to downplay

  this, but if Brad thought it was worth a call from overseas,

  then we can’t take this lightly,” Kathryn states.

  “Grandma, I’ve been monitoring social media and the

  less monitored black sites. Everyone is scared. The only

  real events have been in large cities here in America: Salt

  Lake City, Utah, Springfield, Missouri, and Charlotte
,

  North Carolina,” Andi explains while fiddling with a tablet.

  “There’s nothing in those cities. Why would they have

  a zombie scare? Doesn’t make sense,” Pop grumbles

  loudly.

  “Actually, Pop, these cities all have one thing in

  common that we know of; they’re all international flight

  cities or have major national flights going through them at

  any given time.” Andi turns her tablet to face the room.

  “Major cities, but not big enough to cause a national panic.

  The only cities that have gone on lockdown are these three.

  All the other cities are anxiously awaiting to see if there are

  any more outbreaks, or if there are any reports of

  “zombies” wandering the streets.”

  “Well, if Brad called, then that means the government

  is preparing for it to hit America in full force. Could there

  be instances occurring overseas and the news stations just

  aren’t covering them?” I pipe in. “On the way here, there

  was a brief mention, and then the station went back to

  playing music. What if there’s a blackout on actual news so

  that people don’t run through the streets screaming and

  bring the “zombies,” or whatever after them?”

  Now that I’ve spoken in front of everyone, it seems I

  can’t stop making comments.

  “So you didn’t run into any problems on the way over

  here from Knoxville?” Pop questions Kellie and Clayton.

  “The roads were clear, even though we left early this

  morning. People were getting ready for a regular day.

  There hadn’t been any school cancelations or closings.”

  Dawson and Haley, Andi’s parents, walk into the room.

  “Great, it’s the ’rents. Yo, what’s up?” The simple head

  nod explains so much as to the reason Andi had come to

  Nana and Pop’s instead of heading home to her dad and

  stepmom’s house in Charlotte.

  While everyone in the room waits their turn to get a hug

  from the newcomers, I finish nursing Pierce and place his

  tiny head on my shoulder to burp him.

  The room slowly settles down again, and everyone

  waits for the newcomers to fill us in on what the world

  looks like.

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense. I haven’t got that many years left. What’s happening in Charlotte?” Nana

  prods her youngest son.

  “The congestion is terrible. Worse than hurricane

  weather because everyone is leaving the city. Normally, the