“I do expect it to be safe,” I replied. “But I think we should make sure that all those zombies that tried to follow us out on the water, or jumped off the bridge, didn’t end up washing up here on the island. I doubt it, but we should keep our eyes open for a day or two before we let our guard down.”
“I was also wondering what we are going to eat on this island?” Donn asked.
“I’m hoping that my fishing poles are still where I left them,” I replied. “I also left a stash of canned soup, a few dozen cans that should hold us for a few days until we get organized. If nothing else, there is some wildlife on the island, but I would prefer that we didn’t have to kill them unless we have no other choice.”
“Where would we find those fishing poles?” John asked.
I looked up in the tree branches above us. “Right above our heads,” I smiled. Everyone looked up to see the three poles and a tackle box resting in the branches fifteen feet above our heads. I walked over to the tree, grabbed the lowest branch and pulled myself up.
“This brings back old memories,” I said as I lowered the fishing poles down to John.
“When was the last time you were out to the island?” John asked.
“I think it was about five years ago,” I replied as I climbed down out of the tree. When I hit the ground, I took ten paces to the right of the tree, then three paces to the left before I dropped down on my knees and began to dig into the dirt with my hands. After digging down about six inches, my hands hit something that made a metallic thump. After clearing out the extra dirt, I opened the top of the aluminum milk box that I had buried here over ten years ago. In the box was a dozen cans of Campbell’s chicken soup. Four of the cans had corroded and the soup inside had run into the bottom of the milk box, but eight cans still appeared to be good. The soup had expired years ago, but I knew they were always too conservative with their ‘eat by’ dates.
“It’s a start,” I said as I looked at everyone, “it will keep us from starving until we get ourselves organized.”
“I needed to lose some weight anyhow,” Donna smiled.
“Where do we find this power plant?” John asked.
“It’s near the center of the island,” I replied. “It’s a small island, so it won’t take us long to get there. I’ll lead the way. Like I said before, just keep your eyes open until we’re sure we are the only ones here.”
Before starting in towards the center of the island, I walked over to my old hiding spot and looked out across the river. From here I could see the point. The fountain was no longer spraying water up into the air, but I could see that the point was crowded with bodies and that more bodies were coming out of the downtown area to join them. I glanced over towards PNC Park and Heinz Field, the roads around the stadiums were also crowded with zombies.
“The entire city probably looks like this now,” I said.
“I think you made the right choice to come out here,” John said as he stood by my side and looked over at the city. “I hope you weren’t offended by my questions about why you wanted to come here. I just didn’t understand what was happening, but I think I learned a few things today.”
“I don’t think we will ever understand it all,” I replied. “I think the best we can do is hope to learn how to survive in all of this. Being out on the island isn’t going to be easy, but at least I’m hoping it will give us a chance.”
“It is a lot more than I thought I would have when our car was attacked this morning,” John added.
I turned and led our small group back through the trees. Everyone was surprised when we came out into a large grassy field.
“From the city or even by boat, the island looks a little intimidating, but once I got through the trees we just walked through, I found it wasn’t anything like I had expected, as you can see. If you keep alert, you might spot a few deer grazing near the edges of the field.” I said. “If you look at the other end of the field, you will see the top of the power plant through the tree branches.”
“What’s on the other side of the power plant?” John asked.
“Another field, then more trees around the edges of the island,” I replied. “It’s not a very large island, but the trees keep it well concealed from any prying eyes. We should be well hidden out here.”
“It looks deserted, but do you really think some of those zombies could have washed up on the island.” John added.
“I feel certain we are the only ones here,” I replied. “I noticed the current split about two hundred feet before we reached the island. I saw the muddy water from the Mon River was directed around the left side of the island and the blue water from the Allegheny River was directed to the right side of the island, so I assume that any zombies being swept down this way by the currents would also be directed away from and around the island.”
“That makes me feel better,” John smiled, “you had me worried before by saying we needed to make sure there weren’t any zombies on the island.”
“I still think we need to keep alert, after the last week I don’t think we should take anything for granted,” I smiled. “Let’s go check out the power plant and see if we can get a room for the night.”
We finished crossing the field, then passed through a small section of trees before coming out in a clearing by the powerplant buildings.
“How long ago did you say you were last here on the island?” John asked shortly after we crossed over to the grassless area around the plant.
“Why” I asked, detecting concern in John’s voice.
“Look at the ground,” John replied quietly. “How long will footprints in the dirt last with no one else walking around?”
“Until the first good rain,” I replied as I knelt down to examine the tracks in the dirt that led towards the main building.
“Zombies?” John asked nervously.
“No, Zombies drag their feet, these are the tracks of a normal person walking,” I replied.
“Whoever it was, they had kids,” Donna added looking down over my shoulder. “Two adults and two little kids. The adults were on the outside, the two kids were walking between their parents.”
I looked up at Donna.
“I was a girl scout,” she smiled. “My tracking badge is home in the closet.”
“OK, thanks,” I smiled. “I want you to wait here, I’m going to walk around the building to see if there are any other footprints around here before we decide to go inside the powerplant and find out who else is here.”
“Anyone with two little kids shouldn’t be dangerous,” Donna said.
“I agree, unless they are here with twenty members of some motorcycle gang,” I replied. “Just kidding but wait here until I get closer and make sure who else might be around here. I didn’t expect to find anyone, but these aren’t normal times, maybe someone else decided that the island would be a good place to go to get away from what was happening in the city.”
It was a small complex and it only took me five minutes to walk around the powerplant. I spotted the same tracks in a few different locations, but the small tracks always were accompanied by the two larger pair of footprints. I had to agree with Donna, it looked like a family with two young children had found their way out to the island.
When I had completed circling the entire way around the building, I stood near the front of the building and signaled for the others to join me. When they reached me, I said, “I’m going to look inside the main building. Wait here until I come back out,”
“Did you see any more tracks? John asked.
“No new tracks, but it looked like the people with the two smaller set of tracks have been out looking around,” I replied. “Just wait here for a few seconds and let me get a quick look inside before we all go inside.”
John nodded and moved closer to Donna and Kenny.
I walked over to the main door of the building and leaned my ear against the door and listened for a second, then I slowly began to open the door. Before I had the door open more than a fe
w inches, a strong smell flowed out through the crack. I stopped for a minute and sniffed the air, it was a familiar smell, but it was a smell I hadn’t experienced for some time. It definitely wasn’t the smell of death that had overwhelmed all the other smells for the last few days. In a way, the smell was pleasant, reminding me of better times.
I quietly pulled the door open further. I was surprised when I saw a young couple, sitting on office chairs in the entryway, smoking a joint. On the floor were two little kids sleeping on a blanket.
The couple’s eyes grew large, with both surprise and fear showing on their faces, when they saw me. The man stood up and took a protective posture in front of his family.
“Who are you?” he asked nervously.
“Hi, my name is Mike,” I replied. “I didn’t expect to find anyone else around here. What’s your name?”
“My name is Ed,” he said. “What do you want?”
“I was just looking for a safe place to get away from all the zombies in town,” I replied. But I could see that Ed was still afraid and suspicious of my intentions.
“Ma,” I called out, “Would you come in here?”
I could see Ed’s features begin to relax when he saw my mother come through the door, clutching here crossword puzzle book in her hands.
“Yes, Mike,” Ma replied. When she saw the two little kids lying on a blanket on the floor she brightened up, “Oh my, look at those beautiful little ones, they are so cute. The little boy reminds me of you Mike, when you were little.”
When Donna and Kenny looked in through the door, Ed seemed to relax even more.
“I used to sneak out to this island when I was a kid many years ago,” I smiled. “So when we needed to find someplace safe, I thought of the island and brought my mother and neighbors, John, Donna and Kenny with me. We don’t mean you any harm, we are just trying to find a safe place to stay.”
“I’ve been coming out the island for a few years now myself,” Ed replied. “What did you do when you came here?”
“I just liked to get away from everyone,” I replied. “I used to sit down at the far end of the island and fish while I watched the people and cars over in the city. It was a neat feeling knowing I could see them and that they couldn’t see me. What did you like about the island?”
“I always came to the island from the other side,” Ed replied. “I brought my family here to find a safe place to get away from all those crazies.”
“When did you get here?” I asked.
“We came here yesterday,” Ed replied.
“What are you going to do for food?” I asked.
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Ed replied.
I reached into the pillow slip on the pillow I had wrapped in my blankets and took out two cans of chicken soup, “Care for some soup?”
Ed’s eyes lit up, “Sure, Thank You.”
“The soup has been here for a few years, so make sure it still tastes OK before you eat it all,” I smiled. “I plan on going fishing after we find someplace to settle into. You and your family will be welcome to eat with us when I get lucky.”
Ed’s wife moved up next to him and smiled at us. “I’m Malissa and the two rug rats on the floor are Pete and Paula. Forgive our surprise, but Ed told me there wouldn’t be anyone else here on the island, but I think you people look OK. It’s been hard to decide who you can trust anymore after the last few days.”
“I didn’t expect to find anyone else here either, and I know what you mean about people the last few days, but you guys look OK to us too,” I smiled.
“Thank you for the soup,” Malissa said. “We haven’t eaten for two days. When we came here, we didn’t have time to bring much with us.”
“Yeah, our neighborhood was being attacked and they were killing everyone they could find. We had to get out before those monsters got to our house and killed us too,” Ed added.
“I lived in the Overbrook area, where did you live?” I asked.
“We lived over on the north side,” Malissa replied. “Don’t tell anyone, but we had to steal our neighbor’s canoe to get over here.”
“I won’t,” I smiled. “Besides, I don’t think there is anyone left that would care.”
“Do you know what happened?” Malissa asked. “We don’t understand why everyone is running around killing everyone else. It’s crazy.”
“I know a little,” I replied. “After we find a place to stay, I’ll be happy to tell you what I know. But if you don’t mind or feel threatened, I would like to take my friends and see if we can find a place to bed down in one of the other buildings.”
“Why don’t you stay in this building with us,” Malissa said. “We looked in the other buildings, but they are all either trashed or are just filled with smelly machines. This building has a lot of clean offices here. I think it was the main building and you would like it here a lot better. Right, Ed.”
“Yes, please make yourself at home,” Ed added. “Besides, I think we would all feel a lot more comfortable with some other normal people around us for a change.”
“That sounds great,” Donna said. “Thank You.”
“Let me show you around,” Malissa smiled, walked over and took Donna and my mother by the arm. As they started their tour, Ed walked over next to me. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer you,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “I didn’t expect anything from you. I just hope we can all work together to find a way to survive on this island for a while.”
Ed had a sheepish grin come over his face, “I can offer you something that might help you relax.”
“I think I know what that something might be,” I smiled.
“You’re not DEA or something like that are you?” Ed asked nervously, “I only use it for medicinal purposes.”
“No, I’m nothing like that,” I laughed. “In fact, I’m pretty sure the DEA doesn’t even exist anymore. Your secret is safe with me.”
Ed grinned.
“When I discovered the island a few years back and found that it was deserted and no one ever came out here, I decided to plant half of the field on the back side of the island with Marijuana plants,” Ed smiled. “I’ve had my own private stash for a few years now. The island was a great place to sneak out to and smoke a joint to relax, but I have to admit, sometimes I did have a difficult time finding my way home.”
I could hear John laughing behind me.
We all found our own room in the plant’s main office that day and made ourselves at home.
I must admit that I had my doubts about Ed, especially after my first impression that day, but Ed turned out to be a team player and always held up his end of things. I found him to be hard working and a reliable member of our team.
He also liked to fish and was happy to light up a joint and patiently fish for hours as often as I wanted him to. He seldom returned with fewer than eight fish. Sometimes he would lose track of time and I would have to go find him, but he always had fish, so we all ate well.
My mother enjoyed playing with Malissa’s two little ones and spent most of her time visiting. Donna and Malissa enjoyed doing things together, so everyone was happy, or at least were able to make the best of a tough situation.
John and I patrolled the island to make sure we were safe, collected firewood for cooking and to get the chill out of the old concrete building. We also enjoyed going fishing with Ed every few days. We slowly developed into a family.
Wilson arrived a full week after I brought the others to the island. He excitedly told his harrowing tales of zombies and survival that he had been through in his effort to get to Pittsburgh and then out to the island. The others were fascinated with his stories. They were also amazed at his stories from our time in Roswell. In fact, Ed and Wilson would light up a joint almost every night and discuss UFOs, little green men and stare up into the night sky, searching for aliens. When it came to alien conspiracies, Ed was a true convert to the cause. I thought about giv
ing him the nickname of Wilson Junior, but I figured it would only confuse my mother even further. She was still having a hard time with us calling Mickey by the name of Wilson.
Wilson and I had also started watching the eb and flow of zombies that continued to go through Pittsburgh. When we found the zombie population in Pittsburgh to be at a low point, he and I started making runs to Giant Eagle and a few of the other grocery stores located near the river down on the southside. We had a few close calls at first, but we soon developed a system and managed every few weeks to bring back a canoe load of snacks and canned goods to give us a break from a steady diet of fish.
We felt safe and secure on our island home, but we continued to watch the city and the river. There didn’t appear to be any let up to the zombie invasion of the city, as an endless parade of the dead staggered around the city streets and through Point State Park. Every day we watched the gruesome sight and every night we would listen to the eerie chorus of groans that drifted across the river in the darkness. We were certain that there wasn’t anyone else left alive in the city, no one would have been able to survive in an environment like that.
Even though we felt safe for now, we were beginning to get nervous as the days passed by. We knew that there was another date, in the near future that we had to face, and we wondered how much worse things were going to get. According to Wilson, Professor Johnson told him that he felt when the red brain implants were activated, that we would be faced with a new breed of zombie, a super zombie that would be created to finish the job that the other zombies were unable to complete. If the job was to eliminate mankind, it didn’t appear there was much remaining for the super zombies to complete.
I didn’t know how it would be possible for zombies to be anymore terrifying than they already were, but an image of a zombie doing the back stroke as it swam towards our island kept flashing across my mind.
Chapter 27
Today’s date: October 20th
Apocalypse- the Plan Page 22