D. Walker - The Snacking Dead

2 In a bowl, toss together the cabbage, mayonnaise, red onion, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

3 Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Brush the insides of the bread with the garlic butter and broil, cut side up, for about 2 minutes, until the bread turns lightly golden at the edges. Transfer to a rack to cool.

4 Season both sides of the fish fillets with a fair amount of salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl, mix the buttermilk and egg together and season with salt and pepper. In another shallow bowl (or pie plate) mix together the cornmeal, flour, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Dip the fish first in the buttermilk, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture, being sure to cover the fillets completely.

5 Gently drop the fish in the hot oil and fry in batches until the fillets are golden, about 3 minutes; drain on a paper towel–lined platter or paper bag. Sprinkle with salt while the fillets are still hot.

6 To assemble the sandwich, lay the pickles on the bottom half of the bread, then top with fried fish. Spoon a small mound of the cabbage on top of the catfish and close up the sandwich with the remaining bread. Cut each loaf into thirds and serve with hot sauce and lemon on the side.

In desperate times you can reuse your cooking oil. When the oil cools down, repack it in its bottle before you de-camp.

“M uffaletta!” came a call far off in the woods.

The dog perked her ears and bolted away toward the call.

Daryl unslung the crossbow and followed as fast as he could. If somebody was trying to ring a biter dinner bell, they were doing a great job. It kind of made him hungry too.

“Muffy!” called the voice again. Then a scream.

He followed the clamor to a fallow field. Charlie stood beside a wisp of a woman with long hair and spandex pants, and was barking at the four biters in leather jackets who surrounded them. They all made that sickening slurping noise, except two who were muffled inside their motorcycle helmets. Charlie growled as the woman tried to hold her back.

One of them grabbed the woman by the arm but couldn’t do much damage through its biker gloves and helmet. She twisted away with strength that surprised Daryl, but she lost her balance and hit her head on a large rock.

He shouted to draw the walkers away. He fired the crossbow at the one in front but the bolt just bounced off its helmet.

He reloaded and got a bare-headed one through the ear. The biters in the brain buckets came at him, though he didn’t know what they thought they were going to do to him with their heads all bottled up like that. He pushed one’s head up and drove the knife up through its chin, then took the other’s head off with the hatchet. He left the head to roll in the drainage ditch, gurgling harmlessly behind its tinted visor.

When he looked up to deal with the last walker, the wispy woman had already taken the top off its head with a machete.

Charlie looked from the spandex lady to him, panting happily.

“Muffaletta, let’s go home,” she said weakly to the dog.

“This is your dog?” he asked her, squinting.

The woman touched her hand to her head. It came away bloody. Daryl caught her just before she fell.

serves 4

¼ cup finely chopped roasted bell peppers

1 tablespoon finely chopped peperoncini peppers

8 kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped (1 tablespoon)

2 teaspoons finely chopped capers

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

Coarse kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

One 8-inch round bread loaf, sliced in half horizontally and hollowed out slightly

¼ pound thinly sliced ham

¼ pound sliced mortadella

¼ pound sliced provolone cheese

¼ pound thinly sliced Genoa salami

1 In a small bowl, stir together the bell peppers, peperoncini peppers, olives, capers, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

2 Spread the pepper mixture over both halves of the bread. Starting with the hollowed out bottom loaf, layer the ham, mortadella, provolone, and salami. Top with the top half and press down to smash the two halves together. Wrap the entire loaf tightly in plastic wrap and weight down with a heavy skillet. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 1 day.

3 When ready to serve, slice the muffaletta into 4 equal pieces and serve.

Create layers of flavor and texture with whatever you can loot or hunt. Be resourceful, since almost none of the traditional ingredients will exist long after the outbreak.

T he woman in spandex leaned more heavily on his shoulder than Daryl thought strictly necessary.Charlie-Muffaletta seemed to know where they were going and pranced on ahead.

They reached a road and he soon saw a passenger van and five women. The women jumped up when they saw the trio approaching.

“Maria, what the hell?” said a woman with prayer beads clutched in her fist. She stared at Daryl.

“She was attacked,” he told her. “But she wasn’t bit.”

Maria spandex’s friends looked relieved and thanked him till his cheeks flushed. They tended to Maria’s head but gave particular attention to his nearly healed calf with their first aid kit. They all found some excuse to touch his leg.

“When the outbreak started,” the woman with the beads told him, “we were on a yoga retreat up near Chattahoochee. Guided meditation every day, no phones or radio. When we finally heard what was happening we jumped in the van with Maria’s dog and came home as fast as we could. But it took weeks to get through the chaos, and by the time we arrived the town was overrun.”

“You survived this long, just the six of you ladies?” he said.

“Yoga makes us strong,” said the bead lady.

“Also,” said another, “we looted a gun store.” She held up a semiautomatic.

“We’re heading for Fort Benning. We heard there’s still army there.”

“Yeah, we like soldiers,” said the woman with the gun.

The women stared at him a little too closely. He looked at his shoes.

“Well, I better get on,” he said after a pause. “You take good care of that dog.”

The bead lady looked disappointed.

“Have a little food before you go,” she said. “Maybe you can help a gal out with her fuel pump?”

Serves 4

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon prepared fresh horseradish

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Coarse kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

One 24-inch French bread loaf with sesame seeds, halved lengthwise

2 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce (about 1 head)

¾ pound sliced turkey

¼ pound sliced Swiss cheese