Free Time of Zombies (Book 2): The Zombie Hunter's Wife by Jill James

turned to her. “Why don’t you go
open the gate and let them know what happened?”
    Edward Gonsalves stepped away from
firing. He was a sweet man who played his guitar around the campfire for
special occasions and the closest thing the group had to a peacemaker. “I’ll go
get the gate.”
    She glared at Juan before she turned
to Edward. “It’s fine. I’ll go do it and report to Jack. I’ll check on the kids
and the others too.”
    Running down the stairs she felt Morales’
eyes on her the whole way. A shiver ran over her skin that had nothing to do
with the February wind.

Chapter Nine
     
     
     
    Rule #4    Don’t trust too easily
in the zombie apocalypse. Not everyone is who they appear.
     
     
     
    End of March, 1 AZ (after
zombies)
    Field outside RV yard
     
     
     
    "See if they have any spices
this time," Michelle yelled down to Teddy. The field beside the RV yard
was awash in color. Red and blue striped awnings covered tables full of canned
goods, bolts of fabric, and a myriad of items that before were picked up
randomly at Walmart and Target. Things you threw in your cart without even
thinking about it. Socks and books sat next to moisturizer and sunscreen.
Hairbands and brushes lay tangled with disposable razors and soap. The remnants
of the disposable world they'd lost.
    "You could go down and find out
for yourself," Emily huffed out after climbing the stairs. One hand
cradled her enormous stomach and the other rubbed her arched back. "Fruitful
Harvest has been setting up here for over a month and nothing has
happened."
    "Yet," she replied,
tracking Teddy's every movement. Every few seconds she scanned the road beyond
the field, but the skinbags remained by the red line. Her aching fillings meant
the hum was firmly in place. Since the broken generator, her first stop every
morning was to Jed's trailer to confirm the machine was working. Her second was
atop the scaffolding to view the surrounding area to double-check that the
walls still held and the zombs stayed away.
    "Since you sent him out there,
did you remind him to look for cocoa butter? Unlike Reverend Bennett, I do not
believe stretch marks are a sign of true womanhood." Emily's face screwed
up as she stared out to the field. She followed her friend’s line of vision to
spot Bennett for herself.
    "He didn't really say that, did
he? He looks like a nice man."
    Her friend turned away as if even
looking at the Reverend upset her stomach. "Last week at the church
meeting he smiled at me and pointed me out as the, and I quote, epitome of the
perfect woman, breeding and docile." Emily wiggled like a bug ran down her
spine. "The man gives me the creeps."
    "So why do you and Seth keep
going to the church?" Michelle tore her gaze away from the field.
"You can't be enjoying it."
    "Seth, Jack, and Paul feel we
need to keep up appearances. It's better to know where a snake is so it doesn't
bite you on the ass while you're sleeping."
    "See what I mean?" Emily
nodded her head toward the crowd in the field.
    Michelle turned and looked but she
didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Bennett strolled along the booths of
trade goods. Nodding and smiling at members of his congregation. You couldn't
miss the stern, unsmiling men and the women with their chopped off hair and
enveloping clothes. In a T-shirt and jeans she was perspiring on a rapidly
warming day.
    At first she was sure the woman the
man was talking to was one of his own, but the maternity jeans gave her away.
Beneath some kind of hair wrap was Beth's beaming face as she looked up to
Bennett. Jed stood scowling behind her.
    Her gaze shot right and left over
the field. All she spotted was caps and hoods and various other head garments
on every woman she saw. The few girls walking around were noticeable by their
long hair blowing in the warm breeze. But they were little girls, none more
than ten or eleven. Turning to check out the camp, she breathed a sigh of
relief when she spotted several women