.eight.
“Hold out your hands,” Ava told Zac with an air of authority.
No girl had ever told him what to do like that without him getting defensive, but Ava’s every move seemed to intrigue Zac. He wasn’t quite sure why, but he thought maybe it had something to do with the fact that Kate was gone.
Zac knew he should be feeling bad for having such thoughts, but for once in a long time he finally felt free. Free of guilt, of burden, of regret, of everything that brought him down in life. Seeing Ava with such a strong spirit was like breathing in a breath of fresh air.
Holding out his arms, Zac watched as Ava piled on 2 shotguns, 3 semi- automatic rifles, and a crossbow. She even filled his empty hands with rounds of ammo and a bundle of arrows. Then, after picking up a few choice guns herself they sat them all on the front counter.
“So, do you know how to shoot all of these guns?” Zac asked her curiously.
“No, but there’s no better time to learn than now.” Ava replied quickly loading the cartridge of a machine gun. “It’s all pretty much the same, just slightly different. Zac is it?”
He nodded loving the way her southern accent pronounced his name. His family was from the south as well, but none of them talked like she did. Her accent was deep but her grammar was in good condition. Further making Zac wonder where this girl came from, what her background consisted of, and who she was when she wasn’t playing superhero.
“Well Zac,” there it was again, his name coming from those lips. “Zac?”
He had a goofy grin on his face as he thought about fighting crime in the city as Ava’s sidekick. Where that came from he had no clue! He broke his daze when she waved a hand in front of his face.
“Yeah, yeah sorry. You were saying?”
“If you want, I’ll teach you how to shoot.”
“Now?” Zac looked at her incredulously.
“Got anything better to do? I don’t know about you kid, but there’s about 50,000 of those zombies out there, and it is a little nerve racking for me being the only one with the gun here.” Ava grinned as she sat the machine gun down.
“Good point.”
What could he say, she was right, and as far as he was concerned anything she said at that moment would be right. This woman was every man’s fantasy. Tall; thin; long athletic legs that went on for days; hair as fine as satin; teal, blue eyes that could pierce your soul, and on top of her looks she knew her shit when it came to heavy artillery. To make her absolutely perfect all she needed was . . . .
Pop! Phsssshht! The bottle cap fell to the floor as Ava handed the Bud Light to Zac. Grabbing another brown bottle from the fridge under the counter, she popped the cap and took a nice, long swig. She sat the empty bottle down, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and burped loud enough for the others to hear across the room. Zac’s jaw dropped to the floor. If he could’ve he would’ve slid across the countertop, took her in his arms and made passionate love to her right there in the store, but alas the timing was not appropriate.
“Do you like cars too?”
Ava gave him a look as if wondering where that question came from.
“Yeah, I own about 4 of them, but horses are my thing.” She told Zac loading a handgun and placing it next to him. “My dad sent me here to gather supplies and bring them back to our horse farm actually. The longer we’re out here though the more I’m beginning to lose hope that we’ll get anywhere. It’s taken us hours just to get to the store.”
“What’s wrong?” Isaac asked overhearing their conversation.
Zac ignored him. “Where is the farm?”
”About ten minutes south of Louisville. I came into town on my motorcycle, but a zombie chick walked out in front of me and I ran her over.” Ava grimaced.
Motorcycle? Woah this chick was not only hot but obviously too loaded for her own good. With Zac’s previous experiences with girls, there had to be a catch. This girl was just too impressive to be true. He decided he would figure her out later.
“Horse farm eh?” Isaac raised an eyebrow and Zac shot him a look as if to say, “Back off the poor girl already!”
“Yeah, you guys could come along with me if we ever get out of here,” she offered loading another handgun. “My dad owns this huge piece of property out there and I left him and my stepmom and my little brothers in the shelter under our barn.”
“What’s going on?” Taylor interjected catching only half of their conversation. “We need to be getting home though.”
“How do you propose we get to Tulsa right now, Tay?” Zac asked somewhat irritated at his older sibling. “On foot? The highways are jammed with cars.”
“No sweat. Come with me, and my dad owns a personal helicopter. We’ll take you guys wherever you need to go. We keep the thing in the backyard,” Ava told them. “He hardly uses it anymore since we only breed local now.”
“Horse racing?” Isaac inquired.
“Home of the Derby son,” Ava chuckled. “Now, boys let’s do some target practice shall we?”
Zac picked up one of the preloaded handguns and followed Ava to the front entrance. The other two boys followed suit while Natalie just stood by not wanting to even touch a gun.
“You don’t wanna try?” Ava asked her handing over her gun.
“No, thank you. I don’t like weapons,” Natalie told her, but it was a lie. She wanted to know how to fire one but she didn’t like this Ava girl. She especially didn’t like how Zac kept looking at her. How dare he even think of liking someone else after what just happened to Kate!
Natalie glared at him as she watched the pair exit the building together. If only she could get them back for what they’re doing to Kate. Even though she was technically dead it just didn’t seem right.
“Ok, you hold it like this, with one hand firmly holding the handle and the other is placed underneath like so,” Ava showed them. “Wrap your finger around the trigger, take your thumbs and lock this down, aim, fire!”
A zombie fifty feet away was hit in the head, a shower of blood and brains sprayed across the street.
“Now you guys try while they’re all a pretty safe distance away.”
Zac, Taylor, and Isaac lined up in a row and began shooting at random zombies as they slowly approached the store. The more they fired their guns, the more the walking dead came after hearing the loud noises. Pretty soon all three boys were shooting the zombies, striking them in the heads if not in the approximate area.
Ava stood by and just grinned. She gave them tips every time one of them missed or advised them on how to stand properly to have enough balance for the backfire.
Natalie then noticed Ava come up behind Zac and run her hands down his arms trying to position them a certain way. Slyly, her fingertips slid from his arms down his shoulders and to his waist. She whispered something in his ear and he grinned. Natalie couldn’t take it anymore. She walked outside to talk to Taylor when she noticed that there were more zombies approaching from the opposite direction of where they were standing.
Taylor shot at the zombies in front of him, not noticing that his wife was now where they stood. He suddenly heard a yelp and without paying attention he turned and shot. That’s when he saw the blood begin to seep from her chest.
There was Natalie standing beside him, zombies coming from up behind her. She put her hands to her chest and touched the bullet hole. Blood oozed from the wound.
“Nooo!!!” Taylor screamed. “Natalie!!! Oh God no, please don’t do this! No, no Natalie!”
He fell to his knees and caught her as she collapsed into his arms. The look on her face was of pure horror at the fact that her own husband had shot her in the chest. The burning sensation she had felt was beginning to release as Taylor rocked her back and forth in his lap.
The others crowded around them, but then suddenly had to defend the place against a swarm of new zombies from the opposite side of the building.
Natalie felt weightless and all of the noise around her was numbing. She just stared in Taylor’s eyes, the man she loved. Even if he did shoot her, it was an accident and she forgave him. The love she had for him surpassed any human feeling. She would take that with her on her journey home. Light surrounded Natalie and she closed her eyes.
“Good bye, Tay,” she whispered to him. “I love you.”
“Natalieeee,” he cried. “No, God no, not her please not her! Don’t take her away from me, God! What have I done to deserve this?! What have I done to you?! This is all my fault!”
Taylor held her, swaying from side to side now as Zac and Isaac tried to pry him from her lifeless body.
“Come on, man! They’re coming we need to get inside!” Zac yelled trying to pull Taylor by his arms.
He wouldn’t budge. “No, I’m staying right here. I don’t deserve to live. I’m going to die right here with my wife!”
Taylor put the gun to his head.
“Oh no you don’t!” Isaac came running up, tackling him and picked him up by his waist.
Throwing his younger brother over his shoulder, Isaac carried him inside as Ava held the door open. Zac picked up Natalie’s body and set her down on the floor. Taylor crawled over to her as the other two stood and watched Ava slam the door in the faces of the awaiting zombies outside.
“They definitely know we’re in here now,” she announced breathlessly.