Green Acres: A Zombie Apocalyptic Story

Chapter 3

The sound of a rooster's crow awoke the brutish man. He had fallen asleep while watching the fire and now, looking at the fireplace, noticed coals and dying embers. He rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. What exactly had happened yesterday? He and Doug had gone to get corn feed from the barn, but when he came home to begin relaxing... He turned toward the couch and that was when everything came flooding back to him. The little girl, Sophie, still appeared to be asleep on the couch. Stoking the fire, he was able to start a small flame. RJ knelt in front of the fire and carefully held the cast iron coffee pot over the licking flames. The bright orange firelight illuminated his weathered face as he poured a scoop of finely ground beans from a burlap sack into the pot. "Sophie, come on get up," he called from the kitchen as he set the pot back over the flames.

His voice startled Sophie awake, and in her disoriented state she slipped off the couch and crashed to the floor with a thud. She groaned in pain as she rubbed her head, and RJ crossed the room with a chuckle. "Hey girlie, no blood stains on my floor now," he said as he headed to the sink and turned on the faucet. After filling the pot with cold water, RJ carried it back to its place on the grill rack above the fire and gave Sophie a questioning look. "Do ya like coffee?"

The small girl stood up and stretched right before picking up her lifeless bear friend. "I don't know. I never tried it." She stated before going to her bag, placing the bear in it carefully. She gave it a good, long look before zipping it up halfway to the zipper break and following the giant to the fireplace. "Does it taste bad? Or is it one of those things where adults like it but children do not?"

He stabbed at the dry grass to make sure it burned as he waited for the coffee to perk. He knew that making the coffee this way would take a while, but it did not really bother him. RJ was a patient man, he knew to never rush a good thing, and this morning was a good thing. "Well, how about this, I'll pour ya a cup, and ya try it. If ya don't like it, I'll drink it for ya." His voice held a giddy tone. It was as if he knew she wouldn't like it.

Standing now, the tall brute walked to the coat hooks and retrieved his hat. "It's gonna take a bit. Come on." He nodded toward the front door before unlocking it and pulling it ajar. The open door showed a beautiful scene.

The rising sun's awakening rays danced across the brightening sky. The songs of spring's birds seemed to echo through the masses of trees. This area, though cursed by the times, seemed serene. It was nearly story-like in a way. RJ stepped onto the porch and went for the padlock that kept his dog chained to the railing. "We'll have to take Doug with us. He'll keep us safe from the walkers."

Sophie watched him carefully. She liked learning how to make new things, coffee might be a good thing to know how to make. "Sounds like a deal to me." The young girl quickly followed behind RJ. She didn't really think about putting on shoes but she didn't like them anyway. She'd rather go around barefooted then run around in shoes. When he said to follow him she tilted her head slightly. "Where are we going?"

RJ looked at Sophie before smiling at her. "We're gonna go get some things for the house that aren't in the city. Ya know, corn, peas, potatoes. We need foodstuff if we're gonna survive. I may got venison, but yer a growin' girl. Ya need veggies." He chuckled and produced a set a keys from his belt. Using a strange looking grey key, he unlocked the padlock from Doug's chain. The dog lunged at RJ, but the man just simply laughed and tapped the undead dog on the nose. "No Doug. We don't attack. Don't make me remove your damn claws." It was no wonder he hadn't already. The survivors of a few years ago would have called him crazy for just keeping Doug around. Too bad they were dead now. Shaking his head of any negative thoughts, he wrapped his dog's chain around his right fist and began to lead the beast toward the fields. "Come on girl. I ain't gonna wait for ya."

Sophie was very curious about how the man was able to control the beast. It was strange for someone to try controlling the walking dead. Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Wouldn't it be better if he just killed it? To end its suffering? RJ was a strange man. A very strange man. Sophie quickly put her hair up into a ponytail. She never went outside without putting her hair up. It was too long. If a zombie got a hold of it, she wouldn't be able to get away. But she never had time to cut it either. "Why don't you cut his claws?" Sophie asked with her head tilted. "It's only going to cause problems. Wouldn't it hurt if you got scratched?" The redhead began following RJ. She didn't want to be left all alone at the house while it was empty. "And why get up so early in the morning?"

The man smiled down at the child. "Ya got much to learn." He looked down at his dog and smiled. "See Doug here saved my Abigail, my daughter, after her Momma turned. Doug ended up gettin' bit in the process. Not long after, he turned. I broke his bottom jaw off so I wouldn't get bit." He stopped and pulled the chain so Doug would stop. "But it ain't just the bite ya gotta worry over. See Doug still has his claws so he can protect me. Without the mouth, the dead know they can't eat, so they become tame. Take their nails and they can't hurt what is hurtin' ya." After he was done talking about Doug, he began to walk again.

The front yard was littered with metal tipped spikes of thick wood. Most of the wood looked like oak or dogwood. "Now as for why I get up early." He stretched his unoccupied arm outward and to the field of corn. "That there corn has been growing for three seasons. It's now ready for harvestin' and yer gonna harvest it while I take Doug through it to make sure none of the dead walk in it." He looked at her and smiled. "Now being a city girl, I know ya don't know nothin' about harvestin' corn. So listen close. Brown stalk, yellow corn, harvest. Brown stalk, brown corn, dead. Green stalk, yellow corn, wait. Ya got that?"

Sophie was satisfied now with the answers she's gained. But it did annoy her a little bit that she had to help with harvesting stuff she's never harvested before. "I got it. But shouldn't you wait till all of it is done?" The child looked around for a second. "And where do I put the things I get? Do I just make a pile or do I put it in something?" Sophie felt like she was being annoying while asking so many questions all the time. But she couldn't really help it.

RJ laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, we'd usually wait till it was all done, but we can't just eat deer meat all autumn girlie. And don't ya worry about pilling it up. I gotcha a surprise." With that out of his lips, he tugged on the chain that held the dog and brought his left hand to his lips. Using the thumb and index finger, he blew through them and created a whistle. It was then that the sound of thunder could be heard toward the back of the farmhouse.

Powerful muscles shook beneath a thickening coat of ashen tone. Waved tresses of onyx sway in the wind it created as the majestic creature rounded the corner of the house and showed itself. Standing a mere fifteen hands high, was a gorgeous equine. Its honeysuckle color irises seemed bright in the morning sun. Speeding up to a canter, the horse jumped over the wooden guards that surrounded the home and soon slowed down to a walk. Bobbing its head some, the equine nickered and stopped only five feet from Doug. "Sophie, this here is Windrush. She will carry the corn yer to harvest." It was apparent now, that the horse was closer, that two saddlebags were attached to the bare back of the horse. The brown leather hung loose across her back and with a snap of RJ's fingers and a motion, the mare moved to the child slowly.

The child's eyes grew and she backed away. She had no idea what the creature was and it was huge compared to her. "W-what is that?" Sophie was nervous about the creature. She didn't know if she liked it or not. Was it going to jump at her? She had no idea. When the horse slowly moved to her, she froze. She didn't really know what to do. "Will it bite me?"

Sophie thought that maybe she was overreacting slightly. Why would he show her something that might hurt her? It looked familiar to something. Maybe something she seen on the discovery channel before the TVs stopped working in the city. She slowly put her hand out to the animal to see if it would hurt her.

RJ didn't stick around very long. Hearing her concern, he sighed. "It's just a horse, Sophie. She ain't gonna hurt ya. Her name is Windrush. She was to be Abigail's... But, well things are what they are." With that RJ left the girl and entered the cornfield with Doug. The horse looked at the child with eager eyes. It was apparent that this mare had not been used in a while. Her coat was covered in a light layer of dust and her body was full of energy.

As Sophie grew closer to the equine, Windrush simply bobbed her head and nickered softly. The outstretched hand was welcomed with a warm nose. The long head of the horse would easily swallow the arm of the girl, but Windrush just peered down at the child as if speaking to her. Of course, horses can't actually speak, but the gaze the horse gave was almost human. Intelligent in a way, with a sense of maternal instinct.

Sophie's scared expression soon turned into a friendly and curious gaze as the horse touched her hand. "Hello, Windrush. My name is Sophie." She said softly and began petting the horse carefully. She was slowly growing to the horse and gave a smile. "You are an interesting creature. I would love to learn more. But we have work to do." She turned to the field while keeping a hand on the horse. "Let's get started." She walked to the first stalk in front of her and followed the directions RJ gave her.

Windrush seemed to know exactly what to do. Using her teeth, the mare began to take the ears of corn right off the correct stalks. Bending her neck to the saddlebags and dropping the corn into it. Eyes of honeysuckle kept upon the child as cone-shaped ears were kept high in alert. This definitely wasn't the mare's first rodeo out in the open lands. It was no question as to why RJ kept her locked away though. Sophie had seen it with her own eyes. Abigail loved horses, and RJ had even said that Windrush was supposed to be his daughter's filly. This must be why Windrush was so charming toward Sophie. RJ could have trained the mare to be sweet toward little girls. Though it wasn't surprising for an animal to have a dark side in this day in age.

"Windrush! Get Sophie home!" RJ's voice shouted over the corn just before the sound of his revolver went off. The cone-shaped ears of the horse shot straight up before pulling backward. Gunshots meant walkers, and walkers meant unsafe. Whinneying, the ashen mare tried to alert Sophie to the danger before nudging her toward the house with her nose.

Sophie's head peered towards where the gunshots could be heard. She didn't want to go back to the house without RJ but she didn't want to leave the horse either. When the horse started nudging her, she followed through. She let the horse lead her back to the house. "You're a sweet horse but we need to help RJ," Sophie said as she petted the horse but she knew it would be a bad idea to run towards danger. It always was a bad idea. Sophie was expecting the worst to happen. Ever since she became alone she always expected the worst causing her to cry from panic. "What's going on?" She said quietly. She sat outside instead of going in. She had to wait.

Windrush was loyal, while Sophie stayed at the porch, the mare stood in the yard. Ears erect and pointed toward the cornfield where RJ and Doug fought what could only be assumed as five walkers. Stalks could be seen swaying in the battle. "Damn it to hell! Get off my property." RJ yelled before another gunshot rang through the air. The sound of what could only be assumed as a dog growling was soon heard after. RJ soon popped out of the harvested corn and sighed. Dragging behind him on a taut chain was a limp and lifeless Doug. "Fuckin' bastards killed my dog." He dropped the chain and checked his revolver. Soon counting out loud. "One, two, three, four." He cursed under his breath. Looking up, he saw Sophie and the mare. "Y'all alright?"

Sophie wiped her face off and nodded quietly. She looked down at the dog. "Sorry about your dog," Sophie said quietly. She was glad they were okay... Well, he was okay. She knew he loved his dog but she couldn't feel bad about it. "We are okay. What happened?" Sophie was still in a small stage of panic. At least it wasn't as bad as the city was.

RJ moved to Windrush and took the saddlebags off her back. Clicking his tongue, the equine trotted back to her stall in the barn. "Eh damn dead bitches were hiding out in the good corn. The corn I told ya to harvest. Glad yer slow at harvestin'. Five of them fuckers. Surrounded me and Doug. Thankfully, pa taught me to save bullets. Soft skulls on the dead anyway. Shot two at a time. Doug was able to wound the last before I bashed the fucker's head in." He didn't want to reveal his secret yet, so he just shrugged at the mention of her apparent insincere apology. "Eh, he was dead anyway. Lost his personality when he became a dead dog. Doug was a tool and a damn good one."

Sighing, he touched the top of her head and nodded toward the house. "Come on, coffee should be done by now." He went to the front door and opened it. The aroma of freshly-ground coffee welcomed RJ as he opened the door to the living room. Sophie, with her tiny feet still bare, stood transfixed in front of the window of the house. Her eyes widened and a wide grin stretched across her face as she watched the horse amble away in the distance. As she slowly turned around to walk into the living room, she let out an excited "I like the horse." With the wonder of a wild animal still lingering in her mind, she tiptoed towards the couch and sat down on it with her legs crossed. "Windrush is very nice and pretty." she grabbed the pillow beside her without realizing, and hugged it to her chest.

He smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah, she's the best filly I ever trained. Never had the heart to cook her, so she and I usually go out together to pick everything we need for the meal. Ain't never had a horse like her, and ain't ever gonna have another like her." He moved to the kitchen as he talked, his hands running over the rough wood of the countertop with familiarity. It was by the time he had the corn washed and two cups ready for coffee that he looked at Sophie and sighed. "What's yer view on walkers?"

Sophie didn't know how to answer that question. It was simple - but it also wasn't simple. She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I don't... Really know," she said hesitantly. "I guess it depends on the zombie."

It seemed like there was something on RJ's mind. He nodded multiple times and brought the cups to the living room. "What do ya do when ya first see a walker? How do you react?" He knew it was a lot of questions for a child of her age, but he was curious and they needed a new guardian for the front door.

"Personally..." Sophie sat back where she was sitting to think. She honestly didn't know how to answer the question. "I always ran away. Anything that looks like a person I ran away from. Not from being scared. I just don't like looking." Sophie hoped that made sense. She didn't know how to explain what else she thought.

RJ just nodded and poured coffee into the two cups. "Let it cool down a bit before ya drink it. If not, yer gonna burn yer tongue." He sat the cups on the floor and placed the coffee pot back on the grill rack. The fire had died down now, and the sun was barely in the seven o'clock position. The male stood though and went back to the kitchen. The corn she and the horse had harvested, now rested on the dining room table. "Wanna learn how to shuck corn?"

Sophie finally stood up to follow RJ into the kitchen. The first thing she looked at was the corn she had gathered with the horse. "What does shuck mean? That's a funny word." The child picked up one of the pieces of corn just to look at. The pillow she once had in her hand, now laying in the vacant spot where she once sat. Not only was she curious about what 'shuck' meant but she also couldn't wait to try coffee since she's never had such a thing before.

The man began to peel the green skin from the ear of corn. Pulling it back to show the yellow of the cob. His blue eyes gazed at the child before he began to laugh. "Shucking is the act of removing the green from the cob. You do so like this." He grabbed at the skin and simply pulled it back. Thin hairs flayed as the skin of the corn cob was removed.

"Looks easy." The child took the cob she picked up from the table and pulled back some of the green. A spot of yellow shown and she smiled a bit. She found this rather entertaining for something so simple. Maybe it was because she's never done it before. "I like this....." Sophie stated and gave a small grin to RJ. She didn't know why but she felt as though he was acting as if she was family. It was strange since they just met last night. They've only known each other for a few hours. Not even a full day. Sophie might have enjoyed doing simple things because she was doing it with someone else, not all by herself. "I like having a friend." She said before continuing to pull back the greens from the yellows.

The man smiled and nodded. "I kinda figured ya would like it. Tell ya what, once we're done in here, we can go outside again. I just wanna make sure those five were the only ones first." RJ watched her as he continued to remove the covering of the corn. He had done this for years, so, of course, he was much quicker, but he made sure to leave her a few ears to do herself. "Make sure to take the hairs off the corn too. We don't want them in the corn." RJ soon grew quiet after that statement. His mind drifted to the times before the world turned to s**t. In his mind, Sophie had become Abigail and RJ was teaching her to shuck the corn. He remembered how she laughed as the hairs of the corn tickled her palms. Slowly, he put the corn down and lowered his head. It was as if he had admitted defeat.

After finishing the last one she gave a small laugh of approval. This was one of the funnest mornings ever. It took her a minute before realizing RJ's strange behavior. She didn't know if she should say something or straight up hug him. He looked like he was in that kind of mood. Sophie slowly moved to RJ and tugged on his shirt. "Are you okay? You look distressed." The young girl stated as she gently tilted her head to the side, like always. Sophie didn't want her only friend to become sad... Not again. "I give free hugs..."

"I'll be alright. Are ya done?" His face seemed to relax as he looked at her. His crystalline blue eyes radiated with light before he hugged her close to him. "Yer so much like my Abigail." Letting her go, he wiped his eyes and he gave her a smile. "If yer done, we'll go outside now."

Sofie nodded softly as she hugged him. Her grip was very soft but firm. This mainly came from her muscles from fighting zombies and running all the time. "Yes. I'm done. Maybe outside is what you need anyway." She gave a soft smile before she began jumping a bit. "Oh, What about the coffee? I haven't tried it yet. It must be cool by now." Sophie was a little excited to try it. Maybe it will be another thing she will quite enjoy.

RJ had nearly forgot about their coffee. The two cups still sat upon the living room floor. "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about'em." He stood from the kitchen table and walked to the living room. "Now be careful with your cup. If it is too hot, don't drink it." Taking his coffee cup into his hands, he brought it to his lips and slowly sipped. The warm drink seemed to heat his body from the inside. "Mmmm so good."

Sophie picked up the other cup and stared at it. She didn't know if it would taste good or not, but she was excited to try it anyway. The child copied what RJ did and slowly took a sip of it. Instantly she spit it back out and made a sour face. "That tastes funny." She said while sitting the cup back down on the floor. "Kinda gross."

The tall man started to chuckle as he watched this eleven girl take her first drink of coffee. "Well if ya don't drink it, I'll have to go into town for more pop." He took another drink of his coffee before moving to the front door. "Ya ready to go out?"

The child quickly stood up on her bare feet and nodded quickly. "I'm always ready to go outside." She decided to bring something useful this time. She went to her backpack and began digging through it. She grabbed a switchblade her sister gave her. It was really shiny but also rusted from being used a lot. It was also stained from walker blood when she last defended herself with it. The handle was silver just like the blade. But much shinier because she constantly cleaned it. It was important to her to keep it in good condition so it stays useful and still holds its personal value. She put the blade into her pocket and quickly zipped up the broken zipper. "Alright. Now I'm ready." Sophie stated happily with a small grin. Even though she was tired from being in danger, she still enjoyed the rush. Even for a little girl. So going outside was her bit of adventure.

She was the first one out the door even though RJ was the first to the door. Sophie stood on the porch while looking at her blistered feet before looking up at trees and fields. She liked the view. It wasn't something she was used to. To normal people, she seemed too happy about being in danger. But she was so used to it that she started getting bored in the house. Even if the only entertainment was being traumatized and harassed by the walking dead.

RJ stepped out of the door and shut it behind him. Walking off the porch, he turned the corner of the house and nearly vanished from view. Though, he stopped short and looked back at her. "Are ya comin' or not?" It appeared that he had something to show the child. The smile he held from the house stayed on his face as he looked at her. It was nearly mid-day now and the sun was high in the blue sky. Plumes of white cloud appeared like balls of cotton merged together in the air. RJ thought it was hard to think the world nearly dead with such beauty around him. But like always, every time he thought of a lovely thing, it was soon taken from him by an image of the past. This time, it was an image of his wife.

RJ could remember her beautiful brown hair. The way her smile always seemed to bring light to his eyes. Though, the night she became one of "them" everything changed. Tufts of her long hair fell from the scalp. Skin still clinging to the hair follicles. Her hazel eyes glassed over and the pupil clouded with blue. RJ had no clue what was happening until she went after Abigail. Her well-kept nails, trying to claw at her only daughter. The man shook his head just as the memory went to Doug attacking his wife and saving his daughter. He looked at Sophie now and smiled once more. "Come on or ya can go back inside."

Once again, Sophie noticed the sad look on his face and his strange reactions. She felt as though she did something wrong but knew she didn't. Then she started thinking that RJ could be traumatized. If he went through what she's gone through growing up then he might as well be. "Me? Go inside? Never!" She stated with a hint of sarcasm before quickly running to RJ to keep up. She could feel the grass between her toes and she loved it. "I'm learning all kinds of new things today. What else are you going to show me, RJ?"