"I was following the highway and decided I didn't want to deal with any crap in Cheyenne, so I set out across country and ended up here."

Jimbo chuckled. "As good a reason as any. What are you going to do with yourself?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, let me rephrase that, what do you want to do?"

"I want to go back there and kill the son of a bitch who killed my friend."

Jimbo's eyebrow rose, "You haven't seen enough killing?"

"One more won't make much difference."

Both men stared at each other for a moment in silence. Red didn't feel the other man pressing against his head and he refrained from trying any form of mental push as well.

Finally, Jimbo nodded, "You know I could help you."

"Jimbo!" the woman spoke for the first time, in a sharp voice.

"Ah, Veronica, why do you think everyone who comes along is out to get us? The Nancys of the world are few and far between."

"Your mother?"

Jimbo nodded, "Yes. You're not the first super zombie we've run into after killing her. You're the first one we haven't successfully put down."

"You haven't seen enough killing?"

Jimbo laughed, "Touché. We think of it more as self-preservation. Besides you're the first one who offered to talk to us. It's the god damned wind, it threw my shot off, otherwise we'd be digging you a new spot in the garden out back."

"That's cold."

Outside they heard a boy's laughter, followed by some barking. Together they rose and peered out the window into the yard, where Bobby and Reilly were running around a tree in the long grass.

"That's the first time the boy's done anything but play his damned video games since we got here."

"I thought the power was off?"

"Shit. Veronica, he is going to get all our secrets out of us with my big mouth. The power is off, but there is a generator in the garage. We don't need the major appliances, but having the video games for the boy and lights at night is pretty nice."