Free Chaos Theory: A Zombie Novel by Rich Restucci

shoulder enough to take a drink and turn on the flashlight that my buddy had left. A note stuck in the canteen chain said: Back soon. Lost a lot of blood. Stay near the fire.
    It was time to man up, so I sat up. It was tough, but I did it. I drank half of the canteen and stood, panning the beam from the light around. My weapons were near, on a bench. I seemed to be in some type of metal structure. A shed or hangar, as the sides sloped down from the roof in a half circle. Draping the blanket around me, I was able to get my gun belt on, and checked my weapons to make sure they were loaded. The pistol was loaded, but the rifle mag was empty. Two loaded spares were on the dresser.
    I explored my little world and found out that I was at an airport. There were airplane parts and manuals all over and some old flight plans that I looked at. Even some tires sat in a corner. On a desk was a phone, and I just had to know, so I picked it up. Like most people, it was dead. There wasn’t much else to do, so I waited, probing my boo-boo for pain spots. There were plenty.
    I think the closest I came to death that night was when the door to the small hanger flew open and a hybrid sasquatch-Santa Claus ducked its head and stepped over the threshold. The humongous Saint Nick plopped his blue toy sack, which was actually a sleeping bag, on the floor with great care. The door closed, and Ship stepped forward, giving the prone form a nudge with his boot. It struggled weakly out of its tubular prison as Ship folded his massive arms. When its head popped out, it looked up and I was shocked to see a teenage girl staring at me with wide and terrified eyes.
    I was still smiling at Ship, and realized what I must have looked like to the girl. I probably looked hungry, with a bloody bandage and no shirt on. I immediately stood, and that was a terrible idea because I got woozy, and the kid probably thought I was drunk too. Sitting back down, I offered her my canteen. She just looked at me with those scared eyes.
    I took a drink. “We won’t hurt you.“  
    Ship stood there with his arms folded, giving me the stinkeye. “What?” I demanded. The look continued.
    “Relax partner, I didn’t go line dancing, I just checked the perimeter. You got shot in the damn head if I remember, and you were driving a snowmobile with my ever-so-sexy ass on the back the same night, so shut it.” I lowered my glance toward the kid. “Where did you find her?”
    He pointed at her, made a gun figure with his thumb and index finger, and then pointed at me.
    “No shit?” He nodded his giant melon. “She shot me?” I looked at her. “You shot me?”
    She started to cry. What a dick I was. Kid had probably lost her whole family, they might have even tried to eat her. She had been holed up who knows where in that crappy hick town, hungry, terrified, with redneck rapists and dead cannibals everywhere. Yup, a giant, heartless dick.      
    I was horrified. “No, no it’s OK, we aren’t going to hurt you, I swear. He brought you here because you were dead if you stayed in town. Eventually it would have gotten bad for you.”
    She looked at me with those teary doe eyes, and for one second I thought she was going to bolt for sure. It wouldn’t have done her any good, because short of an Olympic sprinter, or unless she had an Abrams tank handy, she wasn’t getting by Ship.
    “Look, did he scare you?” I pointed at you know who. “I know he’s big and scary, but he’s super cool, I swear to God. I’m cool too, right buddy?” I looked at him and he stuck his hand out palm down and wiggled it. Mezza mezza. I flipped him off and it hurt like hell. “He can’t talk, he was born that way.”
    She looked at him and sniffled, then looked back at me. I stood and took a step toward her. She stiffened visibly and I held the blanket out to her. “Take this and sit by the fire, you look freezing. I’m going to get dressed.” She took the blanket but didn’t move.
    I