Life After Z

Chapter 21 - Lucas

About an hour after Everett left with Ivy, Jen decided to continue her outburst of righteous indignation. Life wasn't fair. Ivy's group had no right. She deserved better. Blah, blah, blah. I took Sebbie to read some of his new books under the trees and left Jen to Coop. I tried my best to tune them out, but I couldn't help but hear everything because that wretched woman was screaming her bullshit at the top of her lungs.

How either Everett or Coop had the patience to actually have a relationship with that harpie was beyond me. I was at the end of my rope with Jen and I couldn't believe the way that she had talked to Ivy earlier. Ivy didn't owe us anything and life was the farthest thing from fair. Hell, my son was inheriting a world riddled with zombies. Jen didn't get to spout off about life not being fair. We had done too much to keep four study walls around her and food in her belly.

And now she was screaming at Coop, ordering him to start driving around town, looking for Ivy's group so that she could demand that they let her in. She only stopped when Coop spotted a couple of Zs making their way through the field. Jen was quick to scurry into the truck that she so cavalierly condemned earlier.

The whole display was disgusting.

I fingered the small jar of eucalyptus-infused balm that Ivy had spent time making and compared the two women. They couldn't be more different and right now I was so damn happy that I never fell prey to Jen's bullshit. Everett and Coop could have her. My patience was going to finally pay off. While they figured out a way to convince Jen to act civilly, I was free to woo Ivy.

Coop burned the Zs and Sebbie took a nap. Then we ate the amazing salad that Ivy had made for us and I was tempted to eat Everett's share because he was getting to spend time with Ivy, but I found I wasn't that cruel.

The sun was low in the sky when Everett came riding up the long driveway on a different bike and without Ivy. He was visibly upset but was quick to tell us that Ivy was okay. That she had told him she had things she needed to get done and had to return to her people.

"Did you see where she was staying?" I asked, tamping down my disappointment that she wasn't here.

"She made me leave her on Main street, near the pharmacy," Everett grumbled.

"And you let that fly?" Coop accused.

"She didn't really give me a choice. Told me that she would stand in the middle of the street attracting Zs until I left. I planned on just going a block or so and doubling back, but she must have guessed my plan. The second my back was turned, she disappeared. I searched for a fucking hour but couldn't pick up where she went. Ivy is smart. Like scary smart and she isn't ready to let us in yet."

"Did she tell you any more about her people or where they are staying?" I asked, feeling a little lost. A sinking feeling was taking root within my chest. Something bad was going to happen and I wanted Ivy with us. I couldn't protect her if she wasn't here.

"Not really. She talked about how the gardens were set up with automatic watering systems but refused to talk about her group. It doesn't feel right to me. Something is up. I get not telling us where they are but why haven't we met any of them? If another group rolled up on my safe spot for a few days, you couldn't stop me from checking that shit out personally. It almost feels like Ivy hasn't told them that we are here. But why the fuck would she hide that fact? The only thing I can come up with is that she is either afraid of what they will do to her when they find out she has been sharing with us or she is afraid of what they will do to us," Everett replied, only making the feeling in my chest grow.

"So what now?" I questioned, hoping that either Coop or Everett had thought of a solution I wasn't seeing.

"Short of hunting this group down and risk setting off a chain of events that could end in violence I think the only thing we can do is wait for Ivy to come back to us," Cooper reasoned.

"She told me that she would have an answer for us tomorrow. That they would discuss things and decide one way or another tonight," Everett added and I felt a little sick. I was sure that if it were up to Ivy, she would choose us. But I hated the idea that this choice was in some strangers' hands.

Without a sure fire way to communicate to Ivy about our new location if we moved, we decided to stay at the farm. Not to mention that the sun was starting to set. Cooper spotted a couple of deer while on lookout and took one out with his rifle. Sebbie and I gathered wood for a fire and Everett cleaned the deer, sectioning out parts to be cooked and others to be dried into jerky.

We fell into a well known routine, the only real difference being that we used the fire pit under the trees instead of on top of the truck. Even with the boone of fresh meat, the atmosphere was solemn. My thoughts were on Ivy and this mysterious group, and if I had to guess I would say the others were in a similar boat.

About an hour after Sebbie had gone to bed, the peaceful sounds of the crackling fire were interrupted by the loud purr of engines. Coop shot out of his chair and pressed the binoculars to his face while asking Everett what he could see in the night vision scope. "Three vehicles. Looks like two pickup trucks and a hummer. Must have seen the fire. They are turning down the driveway," Everett replied and my blood ran cold.

I ran to the truck and hauled myself into the shipping container, closing and locking the doors after Jen followed me in. I moved to one of the peep holes that we had cut into the side of the shipping container and palmed my hand gun. I glanced over at Sebbie's bunk and saw that he was still asleep. The bad feeling that had started earlier expanded until it was difficult to breathe.

This wasn't going to end well.

Even if these were Ivy's people, it was a bad sign that they were approaching us at night. And I had a gut feeling that this wasn't Ivy's group. The trucks were fortified like our big-rig was, meaning that the people driving them expected to run into trouble. I was guessing this was a raiding party.

Everett opened up the hatch to the roof and Jen handed him two bullet proof vests and a duffle bag filled with guns and ammo that we had prepared for this type of situation. I secured the iron bar into place, ensuring they couldn't get through the back doors and I heard Cooper and Everett take their positions behind metal outcroppings on the roof. I returned to the peep hole and watched as the three trucks parked in front of the semi, all three shining their headlights towards us making it hard to see.

Then nothing happened for a long five minutes. The trucks idled before us, taking time to analyze the situation and we waited with our fingers on the trigger.