Life After Z

Chapter 23 - Lucas

I understood that Coop was trying to change the narrative of the situation so that we would have a chance, but everything felt wrong about this situation. I hated everything about what was happening. Hated that this was what our world had been reduced to. Not only did we have to deal with the dead rising and trying to kill us at all hours of the day, but we also had to fight the living. I hated that this was the world that I was raising my son in.

Hated that I might be holding my sweet boy for the last time because these high-handed criminals wanted to take what we had cobbled together to survive this harsh world.

Coop and Everett dropped into the trailer from the roof and I quickly stuffed a couple of inhalers into my pockets after making Sebbie take a hit. This was the definition of a stressful situation that was likely to set his asthma off. "I know it goes against who we are, but we will play the part here. Keep your heads down and do what these guys tell us to do without giving them any lip. We need to wait until they let their guard down and then we will strike. Keep your head on a swivel and your eyes peeled for our opening, but do not act until you are sure. We will only have one chance at this," Coop said in a low serious voice as he worked to undo the bar blocking the back doors.

"Everett, I need you to channel your prison persona. Get these guys to believe that we are just like them. Lucas, your only job is to keep Sebbie safe and calm. Jen, you need to stick close to me. They are going to single you out and I will do what I can, but this is going to get bad. You need to play along as much as you can," Coop said while taking a moment to cup Jen's face in his hands. His voice broke on his next words, telling me just how much this was tearing him apart inside. "It's going to be bad babe. I am so fucking sorry. But I will make it right. I swear to you, I will make it right."

And then he turned away from us and opened the doors to our possible death.

"Weapons on the ground. All of them! And you can bet your ass that we are going to check so don't even think about trying to play the hero. Hands in the air and come out of that tin can nice and slow," their leader barked, sounding like a cop.

I swallowed heavily. Whispered fake reassurances to Sebbie and set my handgun and two knives on the floor. The guys were also disarmed and as a unit we slowly made our way out of our sanctuary with our hands in the air. Hands grabbed me as I went to step down and shoved me violently to the ground. My cheek was pressed to the hard dirt by a heavy boot and I died a little inside seeing these men do the same to my sweet boy. I was frisked and the inhalers in my pockets were confiscated.

After we were thoroughly searched, we were hauled to our knees and I kept my eyes on Sebbie. Right now his breathing was erratic and starting to turn shallow. When I caught his eye, I took big exaggerated breaths, reminding him that he needed to focus on his breathing. I kept this up, coaxing him to breathe with me as the men tore through our trailer looking for supplies that they wanted to claim as their own. They smashed through everything that we had worked so hard to get without a single care for everything they were destroying.

"So, where are you guys from?" the leader asked and Cooper replied in the same happy, easy-going tone he had used with him earlier.

"No one place in particular. We recently came from out west. Down from the Dakotas and through Nebraska. Staying mobile. Hunting for supplies and looking for a place to call our own. Don't want to step on any toes. Our group is too small to take from anyone else. That's why we would want to join up with a bigger operation like you. There is safety in numbers."

"Isn't that the truth? We got three times this back at the compound. Study walls too. You would be lucky to be taken in by us," the leader said, eyes scanning us as we kneel at his feet.

"We understand that. As I said, we are willing to put in the work to earn our keep. Not looking for a free ride," Cooper continued, trying to convince this heartless man not to kill us just for the ease of it.

"This scrawny little kid is going to be able to do all of this work you keep talking about? Little guy doesn't look too good. We don't have the time or patience for weaklings. They are a drain on resources. Survival of the fittest and all. You and Mr. Tattoo over there look like you might fit the bill, but I am not feeling the gingers," the leader said while sounding almost bored.

Sebbie was not weak! My son had grown up without a mom and had survived our hellish circumstances and still found a way to be sweet and curious. That took strength. Not to mention the fact that his own lungs were hell-bent on making everything in his life more difficult.

"He's small. Doesn't eat much and knows to keep quiet and how to follow directions. He might not look like much now, but living this life will toughen him up. I think of it as an investment. Once he is a little bigger he will owe me. Then I can put him to work," Coop stated in that same easy-going tone and I had to remind myself that this was all for show. Coop didn't really feel that way about Sebbie. Coop loved my son and had gone out of his way countless times to protect him.

"And this one?" the leader asked and pulled Jen off her knees and against his chest. "How is this one going to earn her keep?"

I will be the first one to admit that I didn't particularly like Jen, but my blood ran cold at the possessive and liberal way that his hands ran down her body uninvited. "Well, I guess she would continue providing stress relief," Coop said but this time his voice didn't quite hit the happy and carefree mark.

"Mmmm I like the sound of that. Okay, you guys have bought yourselves a chance. Get off your knees and let's enjoy that dinner you offered earlier. The bitch can sit with me," the leader decreed and pulled Jen roughly into his lap as he took Everett's chair around the fire. As soon as the guy holding Sebbie released him, he ran straight into my arms. I scooped him up, crushing him to my chest, and murmured reassurances into his hair.

Cooper and Everett stood slowly and very pointedly didn't look at each other as they moved logs to sit on around the fire. I sat on the ground slightly behind Everett, keeping Sebie in my arms. It took a couple of minutes but eventually, all nine men gathered around the fire, most holding something they had pilfered from our truck.

They all seemed to be waiting for some sort of signal for what to do next. Every single one of them was armed and watched us warily. I felt like we were existing on a knife's edge.