Chapter 10:
"Annie?" She was shocked. She didn't get the chance to hug her daughter with the crowd surrounding her. She had been worried about her since the outbreak hit. It was bad enough she thought George was dead. Annie was her eldest daughter to her late husband. Annie looked like her but had her late husband's brown hair. Unlike her younger brother Alex her hair was curly and had also grown since the outbreak began. Unlike her eldest son Alex, Annie didn't live in South Park. She lived in Moore, Oklahoma with her husband Val and two children. She'd been worried about them since it all started.
"Nana!" Her young grandchildren. Twins Selena and Quincy almost knocked her over when they flew into her arms. She couldn't believe it. Her whole family were together again.
"What's going on mom?" Annie looked confused. She knew she was asking about Randy Marsh and why Denny Hughes felt the need to hit him with a tree branch.
"Why don't you kids help your cousins pack huh?" She didn't want them to hear it and Katherine had already started packing her bags.
"Why are we packing?" Katherine asked as she searched the command tent for her favourite pink plush toy. It was a cat doll Big Gay Al – Katherine's Godfather had made for her along with her Kitty Litter costume.
"I can't take the gossipy women in camp or Randy Marsh any longer." She just wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
"Has anyone seen Marie?" Katherine was a typical pre-teen and she'd named this toy after one of the kittens featured in the Artistocats film.
"Who's Marie?" Annie asked as the panic became visible on Katherine's face.
Katherine described the toy and she also couldn't find her fluffy white kitten Snowflake. "I don't know where they are." She was on the verge of tears. The coffee withdrawals hadn't been doing her any good. "I'm not going until I find them!"
"Oh boy." She knew she would have to look for them. Katherine would have a meltdown if they left without them especially the kitten. Her other two cats were safely curled up on the makeshift bed she shared with Barbrady.
"Where was the last place you saw them?" Annie offered to help her. She was good with her kids and she knew Kat looked up to her.
Before they went anywhere the kitten came back covered in mud and dropped a dead possum at Katherine's feet. It rubbed mud all over Kat's clean jeans as it seeked attention and pats for a job well done.
"God damn it cat! You scared the hell out of me!" Kat picked the kitten up and proceeded to give it a bath in a clean bucket of water Kenny brought over from the river.
She was amazed by her adopted daughter's ability to control the cats. The kitten hated every minute of its bath and it certainly didn't like being dried off with a towel. Despite this the kitten didn't bite or scratch Katherine. He just looked pissed at her when bath time was over. To add insult to injury Katherine locked all her three cats in pet carriers.
"What?" Everyone was staring at Katherine with amazement. She looked at the carriers and then at everyone else. "I know it's mean and we're not leaving until dawn, but I don't want them to get eaten."
It was fair enough. She was glad she didn't have to worry about George's old dog Barney who never wandered far from the tent. Barney stayed with her or Barbrady and the dog was never alone in camp. The animals and their safety were another reason she wanted to leave the camp and Randy's control. Just before Barbrady returned Randy and his councillors had discussed eating the animals as they shouldn't be wasting food on them. She was grieving at the time and wasn't about to let Barney go and Randy would experience Katherine's wrath if he were to even think about turning one of her cats into food.
"Can we please just pack everything up so we can go in the morning?" Nothing had been packed and the command tent – which they would dismantle and take with them – was a mess.
"Not until I find Marie." Kat added to the mess looking for the toy. She'd start pouting if she didn't find it soon.
"Seriously poser?" Pete had the toy in question. He threw it at her. "Keep a better eye on your stuff."
"We can go now." Katherine hugged the toy. She hugged her adopted daughter. She was relieved for her.
"Thank God!" She sighed with relief. Her family was back together. Her daughter found her missing toy and cat and they could finally leave. She just wished it were later as they wouldn't be leaving until everyone in camp was asleep.
XXXX
It was early evening just after sunset. She couldn't wait until it was time to leave. She hoped she could get the big command tent down in the middle of the night without Randy and his minions noticing.
"Marsh wants to go on watch." Johnson explained to her annoyance. "I tried telling him it was my turn. He wouldn't listen."
"We need to do something about this Mary." Even Barbrady didn't want him awake. Everything had to be quiet. "He can't know we're going."
"What do you suggest?" They just had a large fish fry feast and most people were drunk already. Liane, Maggie and Laura retired early and the kids along with Alex and the remaining police patrolled the perimeter.
"I don't know. Distract him?" Freddie shrugged. She was shocked when they all looked at her.
"You can't be serious?!" She wouldn't do it. She couldn't put herself in that position again. "No fucking way!"
"You don't have to have sex with him, just distract him." Blake suggested. "Get him drunk. He'll pass out and he won't notice we're gone until morning."
"I don't like it." Barbrady seemed nervous and she was disgusted. The thought of it made her feel sick. He wrapped his arms around her in a big bear hug. "She's my wife."
"We can't afford to get caught robbing this camp blind, which is basically what we're doing." Foley added when he returned from his perimeter check.
"Oh hell!" She grumbled with irritation. "Fine! But you assholes owe me big for this!"
XXXX
She found Randy sitting alone by a tree. He looked drunk enough already, but she wanted him to pass out. She had to know it was safe to leave camp and they were going before sun up.
"R-Randy?" Sweat dripped down her brow. She brought a case of beer with her and reluctantly sat next to him.
"What's this?" He seemed surprised when she handed him one. He hesitated before taking it from her. "What are you doing?"
She had to think of something so he wouldn't get suspicious. She didn't know what to do. She shuddered. Flirting with Marsh was the only thing that came to mind. "Maybe you weren't such a bad leader after all."
He looked at her incredulously. "Aren't you with the bumbling fat idiot? I thought I wasn't in charge anymore."
She wanted to choke him for insulting her husband. She wished she didn't have to do this. "We had a fight." She lied and noticed this peeked his interest so she continued to lie to him. "He's pissed at me for what I did. What we did."
She shuddered when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. To feign interest in him she had to resist the urge to push him away. "We had a good time Mary and I was sure he was dead. That's not cheating."
She chugged her beer. His voice was like fingernails on a chalk board and his touch made her skin crawl. How did Sharon put up with him? "I guess not."
He kissed her suddenly and passionately. She didn't want it to go any further. She was only there to get him drunk. "I knew you liked me. What do you see in that idiot?"
She laughed nervously. She desperately looked for a way out. "How about we finish these beers huh?"
He drank most of them. She was stunned as he still hadn't passed out yet. He moved in and grabbed her again. Kissing her and caressing her chest. She felt around for something to hit him with and clutched the handle of a frying pan. She struck him over the head with it as soon as his hands moved up her shirt and yanked her bra down. She hit him three more times for good measure so she knew for sure he'd passed out and would remain unconscious until morning. "I never liked you idiot!"
XXXX
She panicked as they were taking the command tent down and packing bags of stuff into cars. They moved quietly around camp collecting stuff. Food, blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, tents, cooking, fishing and hunting gear and weapons were packed into cars and the two RV vans Blake and Denny owned.
It might be a dick move to take half the weapons and food, but as far as she was concerned Randy and the gossipy women in camp deserved it. She was only taking people she trusted with her.
"Mary?" She froze when she heard Jimbo's voice behind her. She had a large box of ammunition in her arms that belonged to him. "What are you doing?"
She slumped and sighed heavily. "I can't take this shit anymore."
"Can I come?" He asked to her surprise. He seemed to know she was abandoning camp.
"What?" She asked incredulously. She was sure he was on Randy's side.
"I'm sick of Randy and his shit. He crossed the line when he suggested eating the pets." Jimbo explained. "I mean. I know they could be food if we were all desperately starving, but I can't do that to Stanley."
"Me too. I want out." Ned added as he handed her another box of ammunition and attempted to take down the tent he shared with Jimbo one handed.
She knew she would need them. Jimbo and Ned were seasoned hunters and they were capable of taking out the undead. They set up the perimeter and did most of the security work while Randy pretended like he was in charge of camp.
"Randy's your brother isn't he?" She wasn't going to stop them if they wanted to come with her, but she was surprised that Jimbo would turn his back on his brother.
"Half brother." He reminded her. "I can't deal with Randy anymore." Jimbo seemed guilt ridden as he spoke. "His behaviour during the PC movement, you're election campaign and Mitch Conner and now. I don't know what's got into him and I don't even like being around him. He treats you and Sharon like crap."
"Okay, fine." She could use his Jeep and the rest of his weapons and ammunition anyway. Jimbo also had fishing gear and the dinghy Katherine and Kenny were fishing in the other day belonged to him. "Just be quiet about it."
She had taken steps to ensure no one in camp who wasn't on her side would notice. People she trusted volunteered to go on watch so Randy wouldn't. She hated herself for it, but she spent the night plying Randy with booze so he'd pass out before dawn. She knocked him out with a frying pan when he got too grabby and went to kiss her.
XXXX
"What's up dad's ass?" Shelly asked when he informed her that their father and the councillors wanted to turn the pets into food.
"We can't let him eat Sparky." He panicked. Sparky was his best friend. The dog was loyal and he was very protective of him. "It's sick dude!"
"I'm sick of mom." Shelly agreed. Their parents had been squabbling a lot more than usual. "She keeps calling the Mayor a slut and wants to get back with dad."
He didn't understand why she wanted their father back. He saw his mother hit Mayor McDaniels. She didn't hit her she bitch slapped the Mayor. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting out of here."
It was late. Everyone apart from the Mayor's aides – who were on watch – and a couple of cops who patrolled the perimeter were asleep.
"Where are you even going to go turd?" Shelly asked curiously. She seemed interested in going with him as she quietly started packing a bag.
"I heard Kat and Kenny talking." He explained. "They're going to the Mayor's fancy cabin in the mountains."
They both looked to see if the coast was clear. He pointed to Denny's RV. "There. We can hide Sparky in there."
Once they packed as much stuff as they could and they were sure Sharon was asleep they quietly sneaked into the RV. It was just a matter of keeping Sparky quiet so they could leave.