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 08

She awoke in the late afternoon when the Harrison's were knocking on her door. Mrs. Harrison came in with a tray full of food and set the table for three and Mr Harrison soon joined his wife around Kaylee's table. The food was good, better than normal and better than the Harrison's could reasonable afford. Kaylee was still famished and ate heartily, despite the fact that this had to be the best of the Harrison's monthly food ration.

While they ate dinner they spoke of what had happened in general terms, Kaylee did not have any firm details and knew the police were investigating as well as they could. Mrs. Harrison was, as usual, a font of knowledge on the gossip of the area and Kaylee listened with rapt amusement about what had gone on while she was in the hospital. The Harrisons had also attended Stacey's funeral and gave her the sparse details of that occasion. Her remains were interned in a cemetery in Indianola, the pastor had delivered them after the service. The only thing strange about the situation was that there were far more people there than Mrs Harrison had expected.

“Young people especially, kind of snooty too. Most of them came by private car, some of them laughed! No, not during the proceedings, but after during the reception they seemed too joyful if you ask me.”, said Mrs. Harrison.

“Aw, now mother, that is just because they gave you the cold shoulder when you went to snoop out who they were.”, the old man interjected.

“Maybe so. Maybe so, still they could have been a lot more somber, it would have shown more respect.”

“Did you ever find out who they were? I never saw Stacey hang out with people like that since I have been here. Maybe distant relatives?”, asked Kaylee.

“No, not relatives, you were about all she had Kaylee, one of them I think was that boy, what was his name father? Ted? Teddy?”

“Theodore. Her ex from years ago. I remember him, didn't like him much, he was the only one I recognized. He is fatter than before Z-day.”

'Fatter than before rationing began?', thought Kaylee, 'that said something.'

“Oh that's right, had to be Theodore, not Ted or Teddy. I think I recognized one of the other girls, she might have come over years ago. They all did look pretty healthy, people with connections, you know how it is honey.”, said Mrs Harrison with a knowing look.

The rest of the evening was spent on small talk, with Mrs Harrison gently trying to pry more details out of Kaylee about the attack, then switching to the details from the lawyer and her overall health. She was a pro, Kaylee had to give her that, she never said anything that crossed the line, she was just subtly pervasive, like a cold mist on a cloudy day. Kaylee had known her for over a year and knew how she was, she had been expecting the velvet third degree, yet was still amazed at how good Mrs. Harrison was at getting information out of her. Finally her husband suggested they clear the table and do the dishes, his missus bundled up the left overs and put them in Kaylee's refrigerator, then marveled at how full it was. Glancing over Kaylee saw that Jay had restocked it and he had done a very good job of it too. Kaylee stammered out that the lawyer must have even better connections and more money than he knew what to do with, if he could stock her refrigerator so well. It was all Mrs. Harrison could do to restrain herself from going through Kaylee's pantry. Once the Harrisons had gone home Kaylee did go through the pantry. There were things in there Kaylee hadn't eaten in years. Canned soup, potato chips, beef broth, real flour bread!

After snooping in her own cupboards she felt content enough to sit on the couch and watch the local news. There was the usual news on the state of the war; a standstill, the local crime; rising, and the local conditions; deteriorating. Despite all the seemingly bad news the show held an overall tune of optimism, the commercials seemed vibrant and there were not so many heaping praise on the New Authority, most were about buying products or services again. One was from a local pizza chain which had just won the right to deliver pizza again. Kaylee didn't even want to ponder how much THAT would cost.

This got Kaylee to thinking about the state of the world since Z-day. The phones still worked, including the wireless network, though you still had to be in a service area. The land lines were absorbed into the government, though there was a lawsuit from various private phone companies pending. The cell towers were still private. The television network still worked. All shows were either re-runs or produced locally, some of the local talent was pretty good. Reality shows were still pushing the limits. The catastrophic 'Survivor' type show had put an end to the most extreme shows and prompted more direct government intervention. The most popular television show followed a group of scavengers who would raid into zombie territory to pick apart grocery and other stores for goods no longer produced. The show was called “Hunter”, one of Stacey and Kaylee's favorites. Each week showed the crew raiding a different part of the old United States. The whole scavenger idea was a popular one among the more adventurous of the remaining populace. Licenses were issued in an attempt to regulate the activity, if the scavengers used fuel they had to be self sufficient, pumping old fuel out of abandoned gas stations or out of cars found along the way. The whole thing was fraught with danger, the entire crew following one scavenger team had disappeared, assumed dead, four months into the show, and there had been many, many attacks on the shows stars, some of them made themselves rich, most just made a living at it.

Among the other remaining services that still functioned was the Internet. The local state governments had banded together and gotten that up and running again within months of Z-day, some places, like Des Moines, never lost service at all. True the 'net had grown smaller as trunk after trunk of the services went off line. There were no more Amazon's or Ebay's, however copies of old websites were archived at many universities and a lot of information was still available, as were chat clients, social websites and, of course, pornography.

Electricity had been rationed in the beginning too, when the grid was finally re-wired everyone had power again. Getting materials to keep the electrical plants going was both hard and easy at the same time. Coal powered the cities now, not that it had ever really stopped providing power. Iowa was awash with coal, most of it was contaminated with too high of a sulfur content, but that was better than having no coal at all. And then there was the nuclear plant, the lone plant still running provided about a quarter of the nations electrical needs, keeping the plant safe was a very high priority until more coal plants could be built. Things were better than they were a year ago, despite the bad news on the television. There were less zombies too, the ones who were left were much stronger and smarter than the ones who had died, the battle was still in doubt. Here, hundreds of miles behind the front lines people had an almost normal existence.

After the news Kaylee got ready for bed, it would be a lonely night, something she would have to get used to. After brushing her teeth she locked, bolted and barred the front door before turning in. As she lay drifting off to sleep she woke with a start, stumbling to the light she switched it on and looked at Stacey's dresser. The keys were still there. Somewhere in her mind Kaylee had been thinking about the apartment and the garages during the day and her mind connected on the fact that one of the garage spaces should have been Stacey's, she kept a key to open it on her dresser. Kaylee had never been in it, nor had Stacey, at least not since Kaylee had come along. Holding the key chain in her hand she traced the cool metal and wondered what she would find when she investigated the garage.

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