Zombie Rules (Book 3): ZFINITY Read Free Page B

good sign.
    “It caught the inner part of your thigh. You were lucky it’s only a grazing wound. If it went any deeper, it could have severed your femoral artery,” I looked up at him and grinned. “Any higher and he would have shot your balls off.”
    Terry chuckled nervously, I dropped my knapsack, retrieved a first aid kit, and went to work. I cut a larger hole in his pants, squirted the gash full of Neosporin, and tightly wrapped it with an Army surplus field dressing. I checked my work with satisfaction before standing.
    “It’ll have to do for now.”
    “It burns like hell, but you’re right, I was lucky. Andie would have been devastated if my balls were shot off,” he replied. Now it was my turn to laugh.
    “Our scavenging is done for the day,” I declared, “let’s go home.” Terry clenched his teeth tightly as I helped him back to the truck, determined not to cry out in pain.
    “What did the older one say?” Terry asked. “I saw you tense when he said it.”
    “Kifo na we we. It means something like ‘death to you’ in Swahili,” I said. Terry chortled.
    “Damn, Zach, is there anything you don’t know?” he asked sarcastically. There was plenty, I thought.
    “I had a friend on the track team who was from Kenya,” I explained. “He spoke Swahili and taught me a few phrases.”
    Terry nodded in understanding and I hurriedly checked their SUV for anything we could use. The Yukon was a fairly newer model, but it appeared to be poorly maintained and the interior smelled like B.O. There were some canned food products, a couple of cardboard boxes of ammunition, and four plastic Army surplus canteens. I took the food and ammunition, but left the dirty canteens.
    Before getting in the truck, I took a moment to look them over. The girl was dead now. All of them were lying motionless in pools of blood. I scoffed as I stared at them. They were nothing more than heathens. I guess I should have felt a pang of empathy, but I stopped caring long ago about the morality of killing people such as these. I got in the truck and we left.
     
    We radioed ahead on the CB and everyone was waiting on us when we arrived. Andie helped me get Terry inside and onto his bed. There were some towels laid out, along with our medical bag. Andie cut off Terry’s pants with a pair of scissors and then carefully removed the field dressing that I had applied.
    “I’m going to clean it up,” she said to Terry. “It’ll probably sting a little.” Terry nodded, and then she looked up at me. “Should we cauterize it?” she asked.
    “When did you have your last tetanus shot, Terry?” I asked.
    “I got all of my inoculations in basic training, about four years ago.”
    “Good, I don’t believe any cauterization is needed.”
    Julie glanced at me and I knew what she was thinking. A tetanus shot was only good for ten years, and little Frederick was not going to receive one, or any other vaccinations in the foreseeable future. What was going to happen to him if and when he falls down and scrapes his knee, or steps on a rusty nail? What would happen to the rest of us when the tetanus antigen was no longer in our bodies?
    My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a vehicle drive up and car doors slam shut. Looking out of the window, I saw Fred, Joe, and Tommy hurrying in. Right behind them was another car load, driven by Big Mac. Wanda was in the passenger seat, and Rhonda was sitting in back with the three little girls. Soon, we had a house full of people gathered around Terry, looking at him and his wound. Unfortunately for Terry, he was wearing a pair of skimpy, baby blue colored underwear.
    “Those sure are a fancy pair of panties,” Rowdy said offhandedly. We all laughed. Terry’s face reddened.
    “They’re briefs,” Andie retorted and looked warmly at Terry. “I think he looks sexy in them.”
    We all laughed again.
    As Andie cleaned the wound and applied fresh dressings, I quietly eased myself out the back door