Zombies - A Love Story Ch. 11

"Teddy seems to have calmed down again," Zack observed as they continued their westward trek.

She smiled at him. "He has, but I don't know why."

He offered, "I have a theory."

Caria perked up. "I'm listening."

He cleared his throat before starting. "That yellow smoke that seeps up from the ground, I think it happens selectively. I mean I don't think it happens all over the world at once, I think it happens in certain areas. Maybe we were in an area where it was going to happen, but once we moved further south Teddy sensed this and he calmed back down. I really don't know, just a thought."

"It's a good thought, Zack," she reassured him as she pet the dog who was resting on her lap. "Teddy is proof of that."

"Maybe," he conceded.

"Are you okay with last night? You said, well, you made it clear you weren't all that into it."

Zack hit the brakes, bringing the SUV to a stop. He leaned towards her, their gazes meeting. "Thanks for making that bet. I never thought I'd be saying this, but it was great."

Their eyes closed and lips kissed. She smiled afterwards. "You kiss pretty good for a chick."

"A chick with a sweet ass," he added with a laugh.

Caria laughed next. "Yeah, a munched-on ass."

They watched the passing scenery. When Zack slowed down she looked forward as they approached cement barricades. Survivors who had passed through earlier, possibly those who had left the signs, had apparently tracked down a large bulldozer and used it to create an opening. The yellow steel beast was parked on the shoulder but was silent. He passed by carefully, accelerating to normal speed once they'd gone beyond.

Feeling bored Caria turned on the radio and scanned the AM band to no avail. Then, in keeping with her habit, she did the same to the FM band. But this time the radio locked onto a carrier wave set at a specific frequency -- 89.9 to be exact. Her eyes widened as she wondered why they weren't hearing anything before realizing the volume might be turned too low so she quickly raised it.

"...will be expected to participate by sharing in the work. Follow the signs."

Caria looked up at Zack in disbelief. He was no less stunned, suddenly feeling bad about ridiculing her for constantly checking the radio when it never resulted in anything... until now. This was huge!

The male voice went silent for several seconds but repeated again. It was a constantly-looping message that was reaching out to any ears within its listening range.

"We are broadcasting from Survivor City. We have electricity, running water, and fresh food. Friendly survivors are welcome to join with us, but you will be expected to participate by sharing in the work. Follow the signs."

It didn't matter that they'd heard the message and could expect nothing different, but to them it sounded like the sweetest of music to their desperate ears. It gave them both renewed hope and inspired a powerful excitement. They were giddy from this discovery.

"Survivor City," Caria repeated as the message repeated over and over in the background. "There must be a lot of them. Hundreds, maybe even thousands."

Zack reached a hand over, hating to have to do this but feeling the need to temper her enthusiasm.

"It's very exciting, but that's a looping message," he cautioned. "It's just... let's get there first and see what we find. If the radio is on a generator it could be powered for hours or days, even after... well, you know."

His words had the intended effect as her excitement became more guarded. She wanted to lash out her frustration but Caria understood he was trying to protect her emotionally the best way he knew how, while the look in his eyes expressed that he shared her optimism. They were content to keep driving and listening to the message. It was so good to hear another voice.

"It's like a beacon, luring people in with promises," she realized a half hour later as her mind began mulling over what they were hearing. As one hand unconsciously coddled her belly in a protective gesture she decided, "It could be a trap."

He was glad she was thinking like this. The new world they were finding themselves in was nothing like the one they had left behind. For some reason the words Arbeit Macht Frei came to mind, which was about the only thing he remembered from his high school history class. It meant Work Sets You Free, which was contained in a banner-like sign over the entrance to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe he was remembering this for a reason. Because the promise of work hadn't turned out so well for those unsuspecting victims.

"If you were an evil person, what would you do?" he questioned.

Caria considered it for several miles. "I'd let them think they were still a ways off when I sprung the trap, to catch them off-guard. You know, leave a sign like 'Survivor City in 20 miles' and then attack them before they thought they were getting close."

He nodded his agreement. "We're both thinking alike." Stopping the SUV he turned to look at her. "I love you, and what you're carrying, more than life itself. We should find a town soon, get you settled in, and let me go there alone. I'll have a better chance that way. If they're bad I can pretend to be too and get away as quick as I can. But with you tagging along I'd be worrying too much."

Her nervousness was readily apparent. "But we don't know how much further it is, Zack. Could be they went all the way to the California coast for all we know and we're just now in Texas. You can't expect me to wait alone for days. What if somebody else finds me?"

He knew she had a good point, and so they both returned to thinking up a plan that was palatable to them both as several miles of roadway traveled under their tires.

"We could do it in stages," he suggested. "You know, find a town, drop you off, and then I go ahead but no more than three hours. As I do I'll scout for another town, then go back and pick you up, move you there, and the next day we do it all over again. It'll take time, but time is all we have, and it's the best way of keeping you and the baby safe while still staying close."

Her expression was hesitant but she couldn't offer another alternative. Caria admitted, "To be honest I don't like it."

"I don't either, I never like leaving you, even less now, but your safety is a bigger concern," he admitted. "If you have another idea I'm all ears."

"I wish I did," she confessed, indicating her lack of one as her eyes filled with tears. "Oh Zack, if you don't come back what will I do? I'll be pregnant and all alone."

He forced a reassuring smile to his lips. "You'll have Teddy."

Yap! Teddy suddenly barked in agreement as if he understood the serious nature of the conversation being discussed and felt it important to offer his vitally important input.

She smiled through her tears as she leaned down and kissed the dog on the top of his head. "Yeah, me and Teddy against the world."

Yap-yap! Yap!

"Unless we figure something different out, I guess this will be our plan," Zack decided.

* * * * *

They explored the small town until locating a cheap motel, which was all that was offered. After getting Caria and Teddy settled in and the generator set up to power the heat and air unit in the wall, he left them there to scout out gas stations as she kept the shotgun close at hand. Those straddling the main highway had already been drained and it took awhile before he located a station off the beaten path that had yet to be tapped. Using the usual procedure he topped off the SUV tank and gas cans before stowing it all away on the trailer.

With the gas situation well in hand once again he found the business district and drove slowly as he checked it out. Most of the storefront windows had been smashed and it appeared had been looted several times. It was an older town, he decided, as he passed several antique shops, a couple of diners, two clothing stores, and a shoe and optical shop, which struck him as an odd pairing. He stopped here and took a moment to glance down at his walking shoes, which had seen better days.

On a whim he parked and, with his assault rifle in hand, he shopped for a new pair and thought to grab a box for Caria as well. It would be a nice surprise for her as she'd complained on occasion that he could be selfish at times. When he saw a selection of baby shoes he knew he had to grab a pair, which he did. Finding large white plastic bags behind the checkout counter he shoved the three boxes inside of one and left.

"Keep the change," he said to nobody and quietly chuckled at himself.

Less than an hour later he returned to the motel as the sun was disappearing behind the horizon, throwing up an orange hue that was strikingly beautiful which he paused to savor. Then he went inside.

"Any luck?" Caria asked from the bathroom as she heard him walking inside.

"Yeah, finally found a station that still had gas left but it took some hunting to locate it," he said in answer. "And I got you a surprise as well."

"Fresh food?"

"Well, it depends on what your idea of food is," he replied. "It did come from a cow."

This piqued her curiosity and she joined him in the bedroom dressed in only a pair of white bikini-style panties. "What's that?"

"Shoes," he answered. "Three pair, to be exact."

Her expression turned confused. "You found a pair for Teddy?"

Hearing his name being called the dog, who'd been resting on the carpet in one corner, immediately stood and joined in on the conversation. Yap-yap! Yap!

After removing the two larger boxes and tossing them onto the bed, he retrieved the third, smaller box. As she watched he opened it up and showed her the baby shoes he'd picked out.

"Oh Zack, they're so cute!" Caria cried out, emotionally touched by what he'd brought back.

"We'll need them eventually, and they won't take up much room," he told her in explanation of his logic.

Smiling widely, eyes glistening with tears, she approached him and moved her arms around his neck before planting her lips on his. His hands quickly found her bare boobs and he cupped them. At the same time his tongue extended deeply into her mouth. The kissing and petting lasted for the better part of a minute, leaving them both sexually aroused.

"I'm trying not to be selfish like you sometimes say I am," he whispered.

Her cute face brightened. "On Zack, I only say that when you make me mad. You're not a selfish person, but every once in a while you do selfish things, that's all. We all do, even me. Thank you so much for thinking about me and our baby, that's really sweet of you."

Glancing behind him to see where the edge of the bed was, he backed them up to it and he sat down, pulling her onto his lap with her widened legs straddling his. With the setting of the sun the room was getting dark but there was still enough light for them to see one another's eyes. After they shared a deep gaze their lips once again reconnected in heated kissing.

As their writhing tongues embraced, Caria reached her right hand down and started squeezing on his stiffening cock through his jeans. In response he followed her lead, rubbing along the puffy folds of her labia through the thin panty crotch. The humid heat of her sex began to warm his fingers.

"Hang on for a second," he told her.

When he stood up her arms coiled tighter around his neck as her knees and thighs clutched his waist. With her hanging onto him Zack kicked off his shoes and lowered his pants and undershorts down below the knees before sitting back down.

"I'm not quite ready yet," Caria told him.

He smiled and pointed out, "When you are there won't be anything stopping us."

As he leaned in for what she thought was for another round of kissing, his lips instead advanced toward an ear. Caria eagerly turned her head to give him better access and quietly moaned as she felt his mouth and tongue teasingly exploring it. The heat of his breath rushing over the sensitive skin made her nipples and pussy tingle and sent a chill down her spine. It tickled her but in an erotic way, and even as her shoulder lifted upward her head pressed against his probing mouth.

"Oh baby, that gets me so hot," she groaned.

Zack reached a hand back down between her legs. When he pressed the fabric against her pussy and felt it up he could feel her flowing wetness soaking into the garment. Her body anxiously writhed against his caressing fingers as her arousal heightened. His fingers gently tugged the cotton away from her pussy and moved a middle finger into the juicy canyon.

When she removed her right arm from around his neck and reached the hand down, Caria clearly noticed the full rigidity of his throbbing manhood. She urgently stroked him several times and felt him thickening slightly more. They were both more than ready so she lifted up and shifted forward, holding his cock as she lowered herself down on top of it. The smooth, straining tip easily lanced between the wet folds and entered her slit, and after a few minor adjustments were made she placed him at her hungry opening.

He gripped her sides right where her thighs extended outwards. As he pinned her body against his lap Zack thrust upward, both of them moaning as his stiff shaft penetrated a third of its length inside of her welcoming center. Pulling back slightly he rammed several more times and widened her lush cunt until all of him burrowed inside.

Her nectar soaked his shaft as he moved within her hot core. They ground their gyrating bodies together for several moments before falling into an agreeable rhythm they could both enjoy. She rocked up and down as he drove upwards at a comfortable pace. Each time she lifted up, his hands pulled her lithe body back down, plunging upwards into her heated core. After a series of these movements they were both moaning and breathless from the intense pleasure they enjoyed from this intimate coupling.

With her knees resting against the edge of the mattress she used this foundation to leverage her knees, raising and lowering the rest of her body. Her mind focused on the sensation of his stiff, thick shaft pumping in and out of her juicy core, sliding all the way in before retreating two-thirds of its length, and then driving back deeply inside once again. Her nipples were hard and pulsing with every rapid beat of her young heart.

For Zack this expression of love was as beautiful this time as it had been every other. He loved the feel of her warm silky body, those rigid nipples scraping up and down his chest, and most of all the way her pussy so nicely hugged the length of his cock. Her muscles intermittently flexed and gripped even more tightly, squeezing on his driving shaft as nectar coated his hardness with its slick wetness.

Their bodies merged as one in the darkness encompassing the room, bed frame slightly squeaking as their movements intensified. His hands moved up and gripped her jiggling boobs, thumbs prodding the swollen tips. This added stimulation had Caria rocking up and down at a frantic rate and his hips kept pace with the urgent change. Her moans became louder cries as her arousal heightened.

Her body clenched hard as she savored her ecstasy. As she bucked against his lap a surge of female cum flooded her cunt and soaked his genitals Her loosely wrapped arms tightened around his neck, crushing her breasts against him as she relished the sensations of intense delight coursing through her form. For several glorious moments she was magically transported to a different realm where nothing but pleasure existed, returning a short time later. And when she did her rigid form relaxed with a sigh of relief.

He wasn't far behind, and a short time afterwards he felt the tingling pressure in his balls multiplying. He enjoyed the tingling as his semen commenced its rise, the tip of his cock growing increasingly sensitive in the final few seconds. The joy he received from feeling his cock moving within her pussy was far greater just as his own spasms of ecstasy began. The familiar ejaculations arrived coupled with loud grunts as he squirted his thick cum deeply into her womb, which was already filled with new life.

They remained coupled as they were for several more minutes, Caria clinging tightly to him as their mouths found one another. Eventually she moved off his lap and they lay down together, him spooning her.

After she fell asleep Zack got up, stepped outside, and killed the generator to save the gas. It was chilly but they wouldn't be requiring any heat. They could make enough of their own.

* * * * *

The next morning arrived much too quickly to suit either of them. He woke up at first light and dressed in jeans and a pullover shirt in the weak light of the rising sun as she slumbered. Then he put on his gun belt with the two holstered semi-automatic handguns and pouches containing two extra clips.

He walked out to the trailer and removed a box of water and another open box containing a random selection of snacks and canned goods. Spotting a car parked near the motel office he'd broken into earlier to grab the keys of an available room gave him good reason to pause.

I have every intention of coming back, but what if something happens and I don't? I can't leave her stranded here like this. She'll need the SUV and what's on the trailer more than I will. No, I won't do that to her. With that thought on his mind he carried the boxes into the room but then checked out the car. It was locked but it didn't take much of a search to uncover a set of keys on the desk inside.

After unlocking the driver side door he got in and turned the ignition just enough to power the instrument panel. The warning and brake lights turned on and the fuel tank needle began rising to indicate the gas level. Luck was with him, it was nearly full. He could grab a five-gallon tank off the trailer and take it with him along with a little food and he'd be set for the day.

Caria was stirring when he returned to the room.

"Don't leave me yet," she spoke up groggily as her arms and legs stretched. "Let me wake up first."

"I found a car parked at the office that has a nearly full tank," he explained as she moved under the blankets in an effort to shake the fog of sleep from her brain. "I'm leaving you the SUV and trailer, just in case. I fully expect to be back later this afternoon but I don't want to take any chances."

Teddy sensed something unusual was going on and he got up from what was turning out to be his favorite corner and looked warily at Zack from a few feet away.

Caria sat up and looked down at the dog. "He knows you're leaving us. I really don't like this at all. It scares me, Zack, being left here all alone, even with Teddy to keep me company."

"It scares me too," he admitted. "But I'm doing this for all of us. It's for the best, for the baby."

Tears formed and spilled down her cheeks. "I know, but that doesn't change how I feel. Three hours, promise me that you'll head back after three hours."

"Not a minute longer, I swear it. There's food and water," he pointed to the two boxes he placed on the small round table next to the window. "I'll grab a few bottles and some snacks off the trailer, along with a little extra gas. And then I'll be on my way."

She got up and they hugged. "Please come back to me."

They kissed briefly. As he gazed into her eyes he promised, "I will. Three hours, and then three hours back. I'll stop and find you a place to stay for tomorrow night, and we'll leave in the morning. And we'll do this for however long it takes, but that can't be long. I don't think an FM broadcast as clear and strong as what we heard could possibly travel more than a few hundred miles."