Zombies Vs Aliens: Respawn

Chapter 13

"Does this feel right to you?" 

J.D. raised one sardonic eyebrow at the question, snorting through his nostrils as he hefted the largest working gun he had left over his still oozing bicep. "We left Fred in charge of watching the inglorious she-bitches with a feral child and your deranged pets as back up. Nothing about this feels right to me." 

"Why, I think Fred's wit is rubbing off on you."

J.D. went quiet, keeping his eyes on the road. "You know, Li, I could have done this alone."

He had me there. We spent the better part of an hour arguing in loud whispers as Ginger and Princess pretended not to listen. Well, Princess probably wasn't listening since she kept inching toward the Muppets. Wolf Girl remained stationed across from her, growling whenever she got too close. 

"I don't trust them," Fred muttered, glaring pointedly at Ginger as he spoke. His statement would have held more weight if he gaze didn't keep slipping southward. 

"None of us trust them, but if she's telling the truth, this is an opportunity to learn more about the enemy." J.D. ignored both 'ladies'.

"Really, because after Rochester, I kind of agree with Princess," Fred pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe I just said that."

"What do you think, Li?" 

There it was, the decision laid in my lap. Personally, I wanted to tell them both to go to hell. How, out of the three of us, was I the one qualified to make the big decisions? I wasn't a soldier. I wasn't that great a fighter, not after that brutal beat down in the city. Wolf Girl had more kills under her belt and she ate squirrels. 

Yet, once again, the two stubborn idiots turned to me like I knew what the hell I was doing. A few days ago, my biggest worry was finding new shoes. I stared at the greatly soiled pair on my feet, the red covered by dried muck. 

"You're both right." I said slowly. "I'll go with J.D., check it out. You think you can handle things here for a couple hours?" 

It felt off the second the words left my lips. Despite Fred's reassurances he would be fine, my eyes kept wandering to the two of them. Princess had given up on the Muppets in favor of scraping mud off her boots. Ginger's face was blank, staring blindly into the small fire. Of the two of them, the red head bothered me more, though I couldn't explain why. Nor did I feel comfortable leaving Wolf Girl and the Muppets in their company, but it had to be a safer alternative than another tangle with the space invaders. 

Princess didn't bat an eye when we announced our plan to scout. She pointed a painted nail off toward the highway. 

"About four miles heading west. Town's called Surwich. You can't miss it."

"We'll be back by dawn. Fred, keep an eye out." Was that a smirk on her lips? Ginger gave nothing away, didn't even look at us as we armed up to go. The Muppets however, started loping after us as we left. 

"No, boys, you need to stay here and guard the fort." I tried to shoo them back towards the camp. Their black threaded eyes remained fixed on me until Wolf Girl gave an odd little whistle. To my surprise they turned, heading back to her side. Bert glanced over his shoulder once, but they obeyed her. I couldn't help but smile. They would look after each other. 

"You know, I Falcon punched an alien yesterday." Fred's voice carried as we picked our way through the woods to the broken highway. The last we heard of the group was Princess's burst of laughter before the distance swallowed the sound between us. 

Aside from the occasional short conversation, J.D. was a quiet companion. It was a one eighty from Fred, who chattered nonstop. The big guy was like a comfortable wall at your back, silent and sturdy. The problem was when he did open his mouth, every drop of comfort evaporated as he dropped another offhand comment like a landmine in my path. 

"She was definitely lying about something. I don't know what or why, but she kept a lot of information close to the vest. You see the way she kept looking at your boys?" 

No, completely missed her repeated attempts to poke and prod at the Muppets. Instead I asked, "What do you mean?"   

"She looked excited." 

Well that was unsettling.

It was still too dark to clearly see our surroundings, which is why I almost missed it. 

"Hey do you see that?" It was a cabin, quite similar to the one Fred and I found the wagon at, except this one appeared intact. 

"It's a house. How is that different from the dozens we've passed." 

I forgot J.D. wasn't with us at the time, the days kind of bled into each other without the break of sleep between them. Did Princess and Ginger sleep? They were so surprised we didn't.

"Li?"

"Sorry, it just looks familiar." I shook myself, wondering why I felt so scattered. So what if the cabin looked similar? There wasn't even a vehicle in front of it. J.D. kept glancing my way after that. It was a relief when we stumbled on the rusted over sign for Surwich, the sky glowing pink by the time we made if off the highway. 

  The closer we got to town the more J.D. slowed down. By the time we passed the first crumbling houses of the suburbs, he had his gun up, moving forward in a half crouch while his dark eyes scanned everything. 

What was wrong with this picture?

"J.D.?" I whispered, frowning as we approached the remains of Surwich's main street. The soldier ducked into the doorway of a brick built post office, gesturing for me to follow. I walked to the center of the roadway, listening hard, spinning around to study every direction. I looked up. 

There was no tell tale hum, no scorch marks, no shadow overhead. Nothing had graced the streets of Surwich in years. 

"J.D." His head whipped around at the volume of my voice. 

What are you doing? He mouthed. He hadn't put it together yet.

"There's nothing here."

"Shit." He took off the way we came, combat boots kicking up chunks of asphalt as he ran. I was close on his heels, dread blossoming in the pit of my stomach. A dozen scenarios played through my head, trying to reason why Princess would lie to us about this. None of them ended well.

An upside to being dead, neither of us needed to breathe during our frantic sprint back to our campsite. The sun steadily rose in front of us, mocking us as we sped over the uneven terrain.

We were close when Fred's yells reached our ears. J.D. cursed, putting on a burst of speed that left me in the dust. I made it to the clearing a second behind him, slamming into his back, and bouncing to the ground. The vantage point revealed our ransacked campsite. They took everything, the last of J.D.'s weapons, the cans of gasoline, even the piddly supplies I had left in my purse. Cripes, they took Fred's bent bat. 

Our camp fire was a smear of cold ashes, the log benches scattered. One was cracked in half several feet away. I eventually found Fred. He was plastered against a tree, held in place by a car bumper crumpled into the trunk around his arms. It took me a moment to realize he was calling my name, he had been for several minutes.

"Li! They're gone. All of them are gone."

He was telling me what I already knew. Princess and Ginger had tricked us, vanished with our meager supplies. So had Wolf Girl and the Muppets. 

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