The
Zombie
Chronicles

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Finished works:
   Billions
    ---
   Outbreak
    ---
   Undead
     Advantage
    ---
   Found
    ---
   About a Woman
    ---
   Short Stories

Works in Progress:
   TZC2: Discovery

Works on hold:
   Zombie Nation
    ---
   Zombieboy

Found

Chapter 07

The next week fairly flew by. Kaylee made much physical progress towards recovering and while she was not out of the hospital in seven days, she was released on the eight day. True to his word Brian had come by every two days, to keep her up to date on his progress (very little) and to see if she remembered anything else that might help him find the man who had killed Stacey.

On the eight day it was not Brian, but Jay Smith who picked Kaylee up and drove her home. His car was a converted subcompact with two doors and in bad need of a paint job. The weather had finally turned into winter and there was at least four inches of snow on the ground when he brought the car around. In the cold January air it was much better than walking and waiting for a cross town bus.

“This old junker is the best the firm could afford, we had to wring a few arms to get a permit too, as we are only marginally in need of a private vehicle. It is a shared car and I am glad to have use of it today. Our main offices are up in Urbandale, you familiar with that area? No? Well it is across town, only a five minute drive these days with no traffic, but a forty minute bus ride. I have some papers for you to sign, so I can file them at the County Courthouse, for the property, you feeling up to doing some paperwork?”

Jay drove the car right to Kaylee's apartment and parked in a space that had been shoveled clear of snow. Most people cleared their own sidewalks still, it was silent dreary work without gas to run snow blowers, most driveways were never cleared anymore. The streets too remained covered except for the designated bus routes, the city would clear individual streets for a set fee as well, usually this was only for people who still had permits to run their vehicles. Jay had followed the main streets to Kaylee's apartment, and the bus ran right down her street, so it had been plowed.

“Did you shovel the space out yourself?”, she asked.

He nodded, “Yes, I came by earlier with some help and we did a quick clean up of your place, turned the heat up a little higher, emptied and restocked your refrigerator, did the dishes, that sort of thing. I didn't want you coming home to a cold house where chores needed to be done. I have Stacey's keys to get in an out, plus the management company knows I am allowed access from back when she signed on with them.”

After parking Kaylee made a slow dash into the entry hallway of the building and gingerly took the flight of stairs up to the six apartment units that made up the second floor. The building had six units upstairs, six on the ground floor and each unit had a garage space or covered parking space as well. Two of the apartments upstairs overhung a row of four individual garages that could only be accessed from the outside. These two apartments, of which one was Kaylee's, were larger than the other units with very large living rooms. The bedrooms of these two units stuck out on top of the garages about halfway out, which made them rather chilly in the winter, but cooler in the hot Iowa summers. Back when people still used their cars Stacey had told Kaylee the noise of people coming in and out was annoying, especially if they were going in or out of a garage directly underneath the bedroom. Now the lack of traffic made the two apartments the best in the building. A few nights during the summer Kaylee and Stacey had crawled out of their bedroom window to sit on the low slanted roof of the garage, to drink corn mash and look at the stars. Their neighbors an old retired couple with the last name of Harrison, had looked out of their bedroom window wistfully at them, but declined to come out, even when offered some corn mash. The old man had said he would, but his wife stopped him, telling him he would fall off and break his hip and then who would take care of her? She did let him take a swig of the mash through the window and was not above taking one herself before handing the bottle back.

All of these thoughts ran through Kaylee's head as she made her way towards her door.

“Ready?”, Jay asked. As they approached the end of the hallway the Harrison's door cracked open and Mrs. Harrison, seeing who it was, rushed out and embraced Kaylee.

“You poor, poor girl!”, she crooned, “You poor little thing.”

Tears in her eyes the old woman embraced Kaylee until Mr. Harrison pulled her away, “Now dear you have to let her be, let her get inside where it is warmer, she is still recovering, look at her she was thin when we last saw her, not she'd blow away in a good wind.”, turning to Kaylee he said, “You just knock on the wall if you need anything and we will be right there to help out okay? We will bring you over dinner until you get back your health.” As Kaylee protested he raised his in a classic 'Stop' gesture and continued, “No, now none of that we will help take care of you, it is the least we can do. Okay? Now mother tell Kaylee goodbye so she can go in where it is warmer.”

Mrs Harrison said a weeping goodbye and let herself be guided off by her husband. The other neighbors had heard the commotion and one by one reiterated what the Harrison's had said. They were there for her, they would help her, they would take care of her and get her the rest of the way back to health. Finally the reunion was over and Kaylee was ushered into her apartment by Jay. He led her to a chair by the dining room table where he had some papers spread out and a pen sitting at the ready.

“They are good people, your neighbors. Look if you don't feel up to this today”, he waved his hands at the paperwork, “I can come back tomorrow.”

“No, no, I do, I will be find, just let me sit for a second. Which papers should I start reading first?”

Encouraged Jay pointed to the short pile of papers to Kaylee's right and said, “When you are up to it, those are the ones I would like to have signed. These others are just details of Stacey's will, the real estate abstract and the bank account information.”

Kaylee started reading while Jay made himself busy in the kitchen. Soon the smell of coffee wafted through the air, bringing a startled look from Kaylee. Catching her eye Jay grinned and said, “Your friendly nurse at the hospital thought your recovery would be aided by a couple pounds of the hospital coffee, she sent it along with me when we left.”

Soon the coffee was in her hands, colored tan by milk and sweetened with granulated corn syrup. It reminded Kaylee of better days in the past, before Stacey, before Z-day.

“Hm, this is good!”, she said to Jay, really looking at him for the first time.

He winked over his own cup, “I took the liberty of swiping a mug from you, I figured you would be too weak to resist my coffee liberation.”

“Oh yes, go ahead by all means. I am saving those grounds though, they will last me a week!”

Jay laughed, “Curses! You just foiled my plan of going through your garbage for them tomorrow! Any questions so far?” Kaylee had signed about half of the documents, she had one set aside that she hadn't signed and was reading through another.

“Hmm? No, I just want to re-read that one again.”

Jay picked it up and looked it over himself, than set it down on the table again without a word. Kaylee read through the rest of the documents and signed them all. When she was finished she handed Jay back the pen and said, “Okay I think I understood most of that. If I have it right I have signed off on several documents that pertain to this apartment complex, some of some stock I should now own and on a bank account.”

“Yes, that is right, the will she left does not require a public reading, the assets were to be passed on quietly in accordance to her wishes. You now own this apartment building, the documents on that were for the title search, abstract, renewing the agreement with the rental company, insurance and taxes. Welcome to being a landlord. This place makes a decent income all on its own, of course almost everyone here is K-2 or 3, retired or unskilled, but the government does pay a stipend towards their upkeep. The rental company keeps about twenty percent and handles all maintenance and paperwork. You are responsible for any major breakages, they handle the small repairs. They deposit your share of the rent in Stacey's...your bank account, which you signed these papers for.”

Jay went through and delivered a detailed summary about what she had just signed without Kaylee asking many more questions. Stacey had left her the apartment complex and everything that was hers within it, plus about a ten percent holding in a company that farmed Chicory in Western Nebraska, an area mostly in control of the New Authority.

Chicory was the new coffee and the company had been doing very well since the fall when coffee became impossible to get. This was the longest most convoluted of the documents Kaylee had to read through. She owned non voting stock and had the right to maintain her percentage of the interest in the company when new stock was announced, buying up enough shares to equal ten percent or signing a waiver if she did not wish to maintain her share. Jay told her the stock paid very good dividends, as most non voting stock did, and was one of the few industries that had thrived. The company had relocated further east when the infected swarmed western Nebraska, but had been able to hold onto most of their equipment and had a truck load of seed to start with. Someone at the company had been thinking ahead to making the future better as well as making a profit. In addition the company had enormous amounts of good will from the general populace, chicory was not coffee, but it was the next best thing and the alternative, roasted dandelion root, was a much poorer imitation, even if it were free.

Finally there was the bank account. There was a sizable sum in the account, this would be reduced by Kaylee's hospital stay and paying for the legal fees and Stacey's cremation. Jay assured her that those bills would hardly dent her new found wealth. With the wealth came power. As partial owner of a commodity the New Authority had determined was essential for the moral and mental well being of the country Kaylee was no longer going to be a K-3. Jay was not sure what level her rationing card would come in at, but confided in her that Stacey had been rated at the E-2 level. A new identity card was already being processed based on the will and expected inheritance Kaylee was going to receive.

“I don't think you will rate as high as E-2.”, Jay said in a serious tone of voice, “Stacey had a lot of other assets, most of which are going to the Lutheran hospital. I would estimate you will come in as an F-1 or F-2. That will come in handy over the next few months as you recover fully from your injuries, you will need to eat better, more protein at the very least.”

Kaylee had gotten more tired than she knew traveling home and doing the paperwork with Jay, she was yawning when he mentioned something about making her lunch and then bowed out when he realized she need sleep more than food. He gathered up the paperwork in an old brown briefcase and waved goodbye as he left, telling her to call him is she needed anything at all. As soon as the door closed Kaylee went over to the couch, gathered up a blanket and arranged herself for a nap. Her eyes closed she inhaled deeply. Stacey. She could still smell her faintly in the apartment's air. It was with a warm feeling that she finally fell into a restful slumber.

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