Mark Tufo - 'Til Death Do Us Part

“Somehow it does,” she said, laying her head on my shoulder.”

“We don’t have to cuddle now do we?” I asked. “I’d like get to get to work or something.”

She smacked me upside the head. “I love you, Michael Talbot.”

“I love you too, woman.” I kissed her long and hard, and we could have rapidly found ourselves back in our earlier predicament (not that I was complaining), but it would have to wait.

Then I probably soured the mood anyway as I pulled away I asked the very last question anyone should ask while in bed with the one they love. “Where’s Deneaux?”

“She was in the kitchen right before you got there. I really wasn’t paying her all that much attention when you came in, why?”

“She’s got some unanswered questions I like some further explanation for.”

“About?”

“I’m pretty sure she has some culpability in Brian’s death and possibly in Paul’s,” I told her as I got up and grabbed some clothes.

“Please tell me you’re kidding?” Tracy asked, as she pulled off the covers and stood.

“Wow.”

“What?” She was looking around.

“You look more beautiful than the day we met.”

Tracy was slightly self-conscious, but even she had to admit that the apocalypse had done wonders for her body. “Thank you, Mike, but right now I just want to beat some answers out of that battle axe.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” I quickly dressed, as did Tracy.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Mrs. Deneaux

“Fuck me.” Mrs. Deneaux said under her breath as Mike walked in the back door. She uncharacteristically panicked as the behemoth BT picked up Mike and twirled him around. She stayed in the shadows of the living room for a while listening, then quickly retired to her room so that she could make sure that her stories were all consistent.

She knew Mike might be saying all his greetings now, but that he would be trying to sniff around and under her many lies. He somehow knew she was lying, and it would only be a matter of time until he tripped her up.

And then what? she thought. “He’ll probably kick me out.”

She had her ear to the door and could hear the merriment down the hallway. She waited until it died down and mostly became celebration among those that were already at the house.

“...so good to see him.”

“...thought he was dead.”

Yadda yadda, blah blah , she thought. This was her worst case scenario. She exited her room just as she saw Tracy closing the door to her bedroom. She heard the soft hiss of the shower that Mike must be taking. She moved quickly down the hallway to see if he had possibly said anything to anyone else. Then her first chance at an alternate plan revealed itself as she looked down on the four silver chains that each had a small ornate vial filled with an amber colored fluid sitting on the kitchen table.

“Is this the zombie repellant?” she asked as she quickly snatched one off the table. “It just might be my ticket out of here.” She thought about taking all of them, and just might have if Angel hadn’t taken that most inopportune of times to walk in.

“You look guilty of something,” Angel said pointing her finger at Mrs. Deneaux.

“It’s that obvious is it?” Mrs. Deneaux asked. She wasn’t playing with the girl, if her guilt was so apparent to the little rapscallion, then she would never be able to fool Mike who already had her tried and convicted in his mind.

“Ryan! The mean lady is up to no good!” Angel screamed into the other room.

“Well aren’t you just a little darling,” Mrs. Deneaux said through clenched teeth. “I would just love to squeeze the little life out of you.”

“Ryan!” Angel screamed again, looking into the other room for her brother.

“I’m leaving and I’m going to make sure that you get what’s coming to you,” Mrs. Deneaux said as she placed her stolen chain and vial into her pocket.

Angel waited and watched as ‘the Mean Lady’ left the room. Then, when she was completely sure she was gone and not coming back, she stuck her tongue out at her.

Mrs. Deneaux went back to her room and grabbed her revolver and her bullets and quickly went down into the basement. It was cool, dark, and quiet down there. She paused long and hard, rationalizing out everything she was about to do. Mike still had no concrete evidence against her and never would. As for the vial, just because Mike had made it through that didn’t mean it actually worked. It was mere minutes after she heard the whoosh of the shower turn off before she got moving. The man had changed significantly. He might not need proof to throw her outside, and he would make sure that she didn’t have a vial. No, she would take her chances outside. That way at least she would have one , she thought.

She undid the heavy bar lock on the reinforced door and stole out into the night. She stayed hidden under the deck until she got to the back of the house. She waited patiently, listening to see if anyone was over her. When she was confident no one was watching from the deck, she walked purposefully across the yard. She was thankful that Mad Jack had been thoughtful enough to create a small draw bridge to get across the spike filled trench. She grabbed the handle and spun it counter-clockwise, the two foot wide beam eight feet long began to descend rapidly; within twenty seconds it spanned the death canal.

She keyed in a code to the electric fence, shutting off current to the gate which she hesitated to open. Zombies were now within an arm’s length of her. She almost decided to turn around and try her luck with Michael. She hadn’t done anything tonight that she could not recover from. Her foot turned in the loose soil as she looked back at the house. The girl Angel was on the deck watching her.

“Fucking brat,” Mrs. Deneaux said as she opened the gate. Her eyes were closed as she waited expectantly for the bite of death. She opened her eyes as the first of the zombies that was doing its best to avoid her clipped her shoulder as it moved on past.

“Zombies!” Angel shouted.

Gunfire erupted, Mrs. Deneaux did not know from which side, and she didn’t really care as she forced herself through the gate while zombies were pouring into the yard. Most were being forced into the pit, but a lucky few had found their way across the beam and into the Promised Land. Mrs. Deneaux did not look back as she cut a path through the horde.

She made it all the way through to almost be shot.

“Stop!” a nervous, gun-wielding man told her.

She put her hands up halfway. “You caught me,” she said sardonically.

“Bernie, I’ve got a live one here!” he yelled to his left. “Barely,” he added, looking back at her.

She flipped him the bird. Her pistol still safely tucked in her holster, she thought long and hard about pulling it out and killing the nervous little man, but there were more men in the woods and if she wanted to save her hide she would play the game by their rules for the time being.

“Bring her to the boss, dumbass,” Bernie said as if he too could not stand the man.

“Right, let’s go,” Beans said to her as he motioned to his right with the rifle. “And keep your hands where I can see them.”

“Why…are you afraid I’ll do this?” she asked as she drew her pistol out and aimed it squarely at his chest.

Beans raised his hands up in the air, rifle included.

“Tell you what…you don’t point your weapon at me, and I won’t point mine at you. Sound fair?” she asked.

“Fair, very fair,” Beans answered apprehensively.