Love in the Time of Zombies

In the early morning before twilight Vickers woke up to find Wren snoring lightly, curled into a fetal position facing him, with her face buried in his chest and his arms around her. It was his first good night's sleep in ages. He went back to sleep.

***

The world had ended about four years back on a Tuesday just before lunch time. In an instant normal people started to turn into raging, mindless psychopaths. No one had any idea why. Most people turned very quickly. Within a few days it had spread into a pandemic. Perhaps a little less than half the population was left untouched by whatever force had done this. But not for long, the new monsters raged against all humans. They killed, shredded, and mutilated the unchanged people around them. It seemed only by sheer luck that individuals survived. Every survivor had a story of having been using a restroom at the time then ducking out the window or being in the car and just mowing down anyone in their way. The key for everyone had been to escape the cities. Sadly, almost no children made it. More than likely they were in school when their teachers and classmates changed. In that environment they stood no chance to escape.

The first phase of the collapse only lasted a few weeks. The demon converts seemed to burn up and die quickly. Unlike the zombie movies, they didn't die and return as zombies, they were zombies here and now and anyone who wasn't changed in the right away was not going to change, even if they were bitten. The zombies got very hot and their hearts raced like a rabbit's. Their bodies couldn't handle the change for long. Elderly people had died in minutes. Middle aged lasted days or weeks. The adolescent lasted several months and the very young lived a couple years at most.

The cruel joke was that the ones that lasted a six months or more had a chance to breed. The little zombies and their offspring matured at an accelerated rate but stayed small, never more than fifty pounds, and they bred like rabbits. Gestation time was only six weeks. Time to breeding age was six months. Despite their size, the little zombies were dangerous. Although they were too small to handle an adult human one on one, they hunted in packs.

After the initial zombie onslaught, people had a several month lull in which loot every sporting goods store and market. Had Vickers known the beasts would be back with a vengeance, he would have been more systematic in his looting. He did well though in gathering firearms, ammunition and ammunition reloading equipment and supplies. He had an armory large enough to equip several generations of the small group living at the house.

Vickers had fallen in with this group of twenty-one on his initial escape from the city into the wilderness. No one knew each other before that day. Together they had found this well built house and begun to gather supplies. Some were assigned to find farming implements, others clothing and fabric, some to find hunting gear and weapons and so on. Everyone was assigned to look for things that they knew about and everyone looked for food. Their plan was to start a sustainable little world for themselves until some order could be restored.

When it became obvious that the monsters were coming back around, they built a watch tower on top of the house. Then store houses in a ring around the original house and a wall around everything. Then another wall around that about a hundred yards farther out and cleared the forest for 50 feet beyond that. Between the inner and outer walls they planted food and keep pigs and chickens. They were very industrious those first couple of years.

Of course, with society in a spiral there were roving gangs and outlaws. But with their fortress commune and being armed to the teeth, the hoods gave them a wide berth. It only takes a couple of one sided massacres to dissuade thugs it turns out.

***

Sometime not long after sunrise Wren and Vickers were startled awake by an explosion. "That's two. One more later today." He told her.

They got out of bed and ate breakfast. "Let's go up and see the damage." They went up to the watch tower. Smoke was still rising from the second blast site. It was a half mile further off than the first blast location.

Wren nudged Vickers, she was pointing to a small cottage of to the north. It was sitting about three quarters of a mile away in a large meadow just beyond a small lake.

"Yeah, that's the Cooper's place. They were an elderly couple so they died of the change where they sat at the kitchen table together. We buried them out back of it." Wren nodded in understanding. "It's a nice little stone cottage. The kind of place I dreamed of getting for vacationing in the summer, before the world turned to shit." Wren nodded again. "Too bad it's a one bedroom place, not enough room to house enough people to defend it." Vickers took on a quiet conspiratal tone even though there was no one around to overhear. "Sometimes when I tell everyone that I'm going out scavenging I lay low there for a few days. It's a nice place to get away from this crowded drama filled house."

Wren looked at the cottage imaging what it would be like to live there. She was considering if they could live there. Her and Vickers, alone, like they were a married couple. She surprised herself by thinking that would be nice.

"We'll stay in today. Wait for them to return." Vickers told her.

Wren was happy to stay in. She used this time to stay close and catch Vickers' eye as much as possible. She would smile and pose for him. She even batted her eyelashes at him while they ate lunch. She was not going to let him slip from her grasp.

Vickers was dumb struck all day long. Wren was very distracting. She was beautiful in the dress and seemed to like to remind him just how beautiful. The fact she was deadly killer just added to her mystique. When they ate lunch it took all of his will power not to reach across the table and kiss her.

Just after lunch the third distinct explosion occurred. "Well let's now hope everyone comes back whole. That should make the woods a bit safer for a while."

By blowing up the dens, it would keep them from being reoccupied. In the past they would clear the bleeding mothers from a den only to find it used by a new troop a few weeks later. This repeated clearing out of the dens had prevented the packs of monsters from getting large. It was the only reason it was safe to be out at all. In other areas the zombie packs were as big as 30 or 40. Here they rarely got bigger than ten and usually only four or five. Maybe blowing it up would make it even safer out there. Having twenty or more of these things coming at a well armed group of humans in the open would like result in heavy losses on both sides. When facing only five demons a very skilled individual or two could kill them without incident. The trick to survival was to keep the packs thin.

Maybe as the compound population grew they could expand their area of influence and perhaps, a long time in the future, totally eradicate the pests from the area. But that was a goal so far off no one thought much of it.

***

When the hunting party returned they tumbled into the main house. Wren and Vickers had fixed a large meal of pasta. They also boiled many gallons of water for washing up and cleaning possible wounds. The group as a whole stopped and gaped at Wren and Vickers working together.

There were twenty besides Vickers. Ten men and ten women. The group was larger when they started in the city and mostly men. But as they went along the men seemed to have taken more risky actions and died at a higher rate. When they reach the house they were almost even in number. Vickers was the odd man out. Recently, a few of the women had hinted that they would move to his bed if he wanted. He didn't want to cause a rift so he had declined for now, although he had participated in a few discrete trysts time to time.

Vickers made a quick introduction referring to Wren as a new friend he found. He was vague about the details of their meeting. They were amused. Vickers had always been solitary not taking much interest in the females of the group as they had paired up with other men. Now he was openly bemused by his new 'friend'. The group did not think Wren seemed to mind his attention.

The tension came when they tried talking to her and found out she was mute. In the early days and weeks when the zombies looked human, the ability to talk was the biggest distinction between human and not-human. They knew she was not a zombie but it still made everyone a little uneasy. Those early days had conditioned everyone to fear the silent.

The men got over it quicker, a few of the women were icy towards her. Wren had been shadowing Vickers before they arrived but now she was glued to his side.

Clement, always valiant, tried to change the subject for Wren's sake, "Vic', I see you've been playing with the katana while we were out. Are you planning on adding it to your arsenal of skills?"

"No, I gave it to Wren."

"Interesting gift to give a girl. No flowers in bloom?"

"She is very good with it. She helped me dispatch a few demons that got in by the chicken coop."

Everyone suddenly became interested in the conversation. Bradley voiced for the group "How did they into the yard?"

"A tree fell against the outer wall."

Clement again, "Must have been a big one to bridge the gap from the woods. How many got in, did they get the chickens?"

Vickers replied, "It was a very big tree. There were five of them but we got them before they did any damage." Vickers went on to relay the story of how the two of them got rid of the demons.

Everyone stared in disbelief.

She didn't look like an efficient killer the way she was hiding from the eyes of the crowd by hugging his side and bashfully burying her face in his ribs. She looked like a scared child. He soothed her by placing an arm around her tiny form.

Vickers moved the conversation along by adding, "We need to clean up the mess still. It's probably starting to stink. And we should break down the tree for firewood."

Clement came to the rescue again. "Dori, Bill, John, since they did the hard part, let's go bury the buggers."

John protested a bit saying he was beat. Clement was not having it. "We should do it before we wash up and before the stink attracts wild animals. Besides we have to live here, who wants decaying zombie parts lying around the house?"

Clement had other reasons too. He wanted to see what the scene looked like to discern if Vickers might be embellishing the story of Wren's skill, as he was clearly smitten. Vickers suspected the true motive but didn't mind Clem' looking over his shoulder on this.

Wren had been watching the women to see if any of them displayed any claim over Vickers. Two of them look at her through jealous eyes. Vickers seemed oblivious to their attention. She thought to herself, she would have to secure her place in his bed before one of them could do anything rash. She decided she would make her move at bedtime.

After getting over the initial shock of finding Vickers entertaining a beautiful young women everyone rotated through the washroom and to the dinner table. The burial party returned just in time to take their baths and eat, and then everyone went to bed early.

***

Wren had been trying to seduce Vickers all day and he did not bite. She was tired of waiting so when they got ready for bed she shrugged off the pajama top he had put on her while he was looking the other way and she threw it at the back of his head. When he turned to look at what was going on, he was greeted by a beautiful naked woman who grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bed on top of her. She thought, "If he can't take this hint, he has no hope."

Vickers kissed Wren for several minutes caressing her breasts with his hands. She was not used to having someone take their time or use a gentle touch on her. In the past it was always rough if not violent and over somewhat quickly. What Vickers was doing felt nice, but she wondered why he didn't just get down to business and put his thing in her. She tried to help him along by grabbing his cock and placing it against the entrance to her womb.

As he pushed to enter her, Vickers noticed that she had stopped responding and she had retreated within her own mind, so he stopped his penetration and pulled out. Her eyes opened when she realized he was not going to rut into her.

Looking into her eyes, "I want you here with me if we are going to make love." he said. She just stared in response. "We need to do this together."

Wren started to cry. She didn't really know what to think. She wanted to please him more than anything but love making was a foreign concept. She just expected him to take care of his needs. Wren thought she was not good enough for him. She didn't know what to do to make him happy. She felt like a failure.

Vickers tried to kiss away her tears. "Now, now, no crying. We are going a bit fast anyway. We've only met yesterday." Wren wondered how long he would need before he could find her pretty.

He kissed her long and hard and she started to respond to him again. Wren was enjoying the kissing. She did like the attention. He moved his face down to her chest and began to lick her nipples. A bolt of lightning short from her nipples down to her pussy. She let out a sharp gasp. It was a first for her. He spent a long time alternating between her breasts. She wanted something more though. She grabbed his cock again and tied pulled it into her. But Vickers was not going there yet. He reached down and played with the moist folds of her sex with his fingers.

As he probed her opening and teased her clit, she became lost in the sensations. All the while she continued to pump his cock with her hand. The feeling between her legs was becoming so strong she began to writhe and arch her back. The pleasure was building to a level she had not felt before. The pleasure was becoming too acute for her to contain. She let go of his organ and tried to dislodge his hand from her sex, she couldn't take any more. But Vickers continued unabated. Just when she thought she might explode if he didn't stop, she was overtaken by her first big orgasm ever. She squealed out uncontrollably and flopped around like a fish. When the crescendo of her orgasm began to ebb Vickers moved his fingers away and he began to kiss her again.

She returned his kiss with animalistic need. Her hand found his cock again and she started to pump vigorously. She wanted to do for him what he just did for her. It was the most amazing thing she had ever felt.

Vickers leaned back between her legs and looked down at her cute little body as she masturbated him quickly. It was a beautiful sight. He didn't take long to reach his own climax. He hosed her little body down with several ropes of cum. He coated her from pelvis to chin.

After mopping up the mess, they laid next to each other and slept soundly.

***

The next morning Vickers was woken up by Wren kissing him. It was a chaste kiss light and caring. When he opened his eyes, Wren sat back and regarded him with a blank expression. He wondered what she was thinking.

Wren knew exactly what he was thinking. He was an open book for her. He had a warm and caring sense about him as he gazed back.

They spent the next couple of days preparing for a trip out into the ugly world. Even though the commune brought necessary security, Vickers always felt closed in, almost trapped. It was much like being a bird in a cage to him. Vickers always longed for open skies over his head.

With Dori's help they measured and sewed pants and shirt for Wren to wear. They didn't have any boots to fit her though, so Dori made some deer hide moccasins for her, they would have to do for now. He would have to go in search of some boots while they were out. They also modified a ghillie suit for Wren. It consisted of a coarsely woven multi layer dress of sorts. It had an outer loose mesh layer with earth colored rags and yard pieces tied to it to act as camouflage. They tailored it to her short height. Vickers camouflaged the sword sheath with paint and rag bits as well and tied it to the outside of the suit. "This should replace your dirty dress."

At night Wren and Vickers would lie and kiss. They would masturbate each other to completion. Vickers wanted to go further but he didn't think Wren was ready even though she seemed willing. She was obviously scarred from sexual abuse. Vickers hoped she could be rehabilitated, he wanted her badly. When he did make love to her he wanted it to be mutual, with her actively enjoying participation. Her laying there letting him to get his jollies with the enthusiasm of waiting in line at the DMV was not very appealing.

Wren didn't understand why he would not just use body. He was letting her use her hand on him after all. She didn't mind the feel of his hand on her though. She hoped she could get him to keep doing that even when he did start putting his thing inside her. She didn't understand his reasoning for wanting her to be part of screwing, how was she not going to take part, it was her body he would be using. She was happy to find that he showed no interest in the other ladies. Two of the other girls seemed angry that she was able find her way into his bed where they obviously wanted to be. She didn't plan to give up her place, even if he couldn't figure out how to use her properly.

***

After a two of days of prep, Wren and Vickers ventured out. Several people were concerned that Wren would be too vulnerable or she might be a liability. Vickers ignored them.

They walked silently through the forest, blending in almost invisibly. Vickers intended on dropping in on the local thugs to gather some information. They usually knew about who was coming and going. He would bring them a fresh deer kill. That should be a good trade to get their mouths loosened up and flowing with everything they could think of. It would also serve as a reminder that Vickers still had bullets and could kill easily. Although the thugs like to wave their guns around, Vickers didn't think they had any ammo left.

The going was slow. The zombies responded to noise and out where they were that could mean large zombie hordes. Silence and cover was the primary rule. They finished the day by camping in a small brick pump house. It was perfect because it had no windows. The remaining journey to the raider's camp was only another 2 miles.

***

Early the next morning they stalked a deer near the pump house. Once it was shot they would need to drag it in quickly. The noise of the gun would surely bring many zombies. If they could avoid contact by silently hiding in the pump house, the little monsters would only snoop around for a few hours before being distracted and wandering off. For this reason, they killed a smaller deer that could be dragged easily and quickly. Once back inside they sat and listened to a zombie mob outside scouring the woods for them. The little things ran about squealing and snorting. Luckily, they were too dumb to think their prey would hide in a building. If they couldn't see you, you weren't there and they had bad eyesight thank god.

They cleaned and quartered the deer. They would take the shanks to the thugs and scatter the rest in the forest for the critters to clean up.

***

It was late morning when Vickers and Wren got within a half mile of the hovel the raiders lived in Wren suddenly became very apprehensive. Vickers couldn't figure out what was eating at her.

"What's up?" he asked.

Wren shook her head to say nothing, but Vickers could tell there was definitely something.

As they approached the gate to the yard around the small house, Wren stepped behind Vickers and hid from sight. Vickers quietly knocked and went through the gate. The lead raider claimed that his name was 'Cobra'. No one alive had any idea what it really was, so that was what everyone called him.