Evening came on in silence.
~ Runners In The Darkness ~
Two hours after sunset the fires were still burning, casting the parking lots in yellowed shadows. The thick, cloying smell of burning pork hung in the air, mixing with the smells of burning gasoline, rubber and hot metal.
The last gunfight came then, directed at them.
~
Ronnie saw the first one coming and nudged Mike. The shadow of a runner broke from one crazily titled building and ran towards the tree line and Mike and the others.
As the runner grew closer, they could see one of the machine pistols clutched in his hands. As he jumped the curbing, heading for the tree line, Mike, Lilly, Tim and Ronnie all opened up on him. He spun off to one side, fingers squeezing convulsively on the trigger, and collapsed just past the curbing. His shots went wild into the air in a short burst, breaking the silence, stabs of bright white light stitching the yellowed shadows where the four hid in stark relief, painting their faces in washed out white.
The radio squawked, “What’s going on up there?” Kate called. In the brilliant stabs of bright white, all of them had seen the dozen or so men hiding in the shadows of the buildings. They knew for sure they were here now and where they were.
“Send two up the road to back us up,” Mike called. “But don’t give up your positions down there. Keep your eyes peeled. We got about a dozen of them on us up here.”
He clicked off and turned his attention back to the parking lot. All the men he had seen were gone now, hidden once more by the shadows. The would be assassin lay crumpled partway onto the sidewalk, hanging over the edge of the curbing, his legs still in the parking lot. The machine pistol lay next to his open hand. Silent. Everything was silent. But the silence only held for a moment, and then the men they had seen in the shadows opened up on them.
They returned fire as they threw themselves into the dirt, but after a few short seconds, those hidden away on the other side of the parking lot stopped returning fire. They faded away, either deeper into the buildings or out of them and off into the square somewhere. Mike suspected they hadn’t intended to run into them in the tree line, that they had assumed there would be nothing between them and the cliff face down to the cave. They had sent only one man, after all, and he had run directly at them, as though he seemed not to be aware that they were there.
Three or four men in one building at the edge of the parking lot began to suddenly return fire. For whatever reason, they decided not to retreat along with the others.
Mike, Tim and Lilly shifted further to the right. Ronnie moved off to the left, running hard for several feet then crashing to the ground and reloading, preparing to return fire.
Answering fire crashed into the tree line where they had been. The four held their own fire, waiting. When no return fire came, the gunmen rushed from the shadows, running the hundred yards or so towards the tree line.
Mike slammed a fresh clip home and took aim on the runners. Return fire came from Lilly and Tim to his left, and Ronnie off
to his right. Now, because of the change in position, they were firing into the side of the running line of men. A second barrage of fire came from the far right. Most likely, Mike thought, whoever had been sent up to help them.
All four runners were cut down before they reached the tree line. Silence descended again, and the third and final gunfight of the day was over just that fast. Smoke hung over the parking lot from the gunfire, drifting into the tree line with the light breeze that was blowing through the empty, tilted buildings.
“Cover me,” Mike said. He ran quickly out onto the blacktop, using the drifting smoke as partial cover, and retrieved the machine pistols and clips. No gunfire came from anywhere. He collected the four weapons and hurried back into the tree line.
~
Two hours later Mike sat sipping coffee, replaced up top with a two man guard that would immediately call on the radio for backup if anyone showed up, and before sunrise a fresh team would be sent up ready for a fight. Kate sat next to him. Tom, Ronnie and Patty sat with them too. Sleeping on the far side of the cave were the two young women from the day before. Kate filled Mike in on their story.
“They had been doing their best to avoid those guys for four or five days... maybe longer.”
“How could they not know how long they had been avoiding them?” Mike asked.
Because they think the men were spying on them for a few days before they became obvious,” Kate explained.
“Okay,” Mike answered.
“They finally made their move. These two women were part of a group of six, two men and four women, living in some railroad cars out Massey Street.”
“There’s an old rail yard out there,“ Patty said.
Mike nodded. He remembered playing along the tracks as a kid. The rail yard had been a major employer at one time, but like everything else, its time had come and gone. Trains became too slow, too expensive, at least here, and the yard had closed.
“They attacked them. Killed the two men outright and one of the women. They think killing the woman was an accident…“ She paused. “The three remaining women managed to get away, but they had been tracking them down. They finally caught them two days ago. They had thought things would immediately be bad, and in some ways they were, but not like they expected. Not rape, not that, but what was about to happen was that they were going to be traded off for something big. They didn’t know what, just something big,” Kate paused.
“So, something happened yesterday and suddenly everybody is shouting. And in the middle of that they decided to run. They thought they might never get another chance. They had talked it over and agreed if the chance did come they should take it. They knew what was coming after all. Rather than face that, being sold and used like a piece of meat, they decided they’d rather take the chance. If that meant death… well, they were ready to accept that.”
“So,” Kate continued after another pause, “they ran and the men chasing them didn’t want to damage the merchandise, so they chased instead of just shooting them dead. Molly, that’s the one that nearly ran into you, said when you suddenly appeared in front of them, they thought it was over. But they knew about us. They knew where we were. That’s where they were trying to get to.” Kate rubbed at her eyes and then the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were streaked with red, Mike noticed. He supposed his eyes didn’t look much better. It was also obvious that talking about what the two women had told her angered her.
“The other woman, Susan, had overheard them talking about us. She told the others where we were, how to get there, which way to run.” She paused again.
”So they were discussing us?” Mike asked.
“Afraid so,” Kate said. “They want to take us over. They want the cave. They want us too… the women,” she finished.
“No doubt,” Ronnie said, “But that won’t happen. As my Daddy used to say, that dog won’t hunt.”
“Yeah, but it’s a problem,” Mike said. “And it tells me they were coming for us. No doubt about that at all.”
“So?” Patti asked.
“So… I don’t know. But we’re not going to stand by and wait for them to take us out. Now that we know… Did they say how many? Any idea how strong they are?” Mike asked.
“They couldn’t tell. They were locked up and kept away from
the others most of the time. Even so, they said they saw over twenty different men. Maybe twice as many when both groups were together. But now the two groups are fighting, so…“ She stopped.
“Women?” Mike asked.
“Not too many. Maybe a dozen, but most of them are with them… I mean, down with them. I know that sounds crazy, but they’re in it with them. They knew of one other woman they sold to the group on the north side, but none that are being forced to be there except that one and themselves.”
“Well that’s something at least,” Mike said. “I’d say we’ve put away a few ourselves, and of course they’ve
been killing each other all day long. If there were a little more than twenty, there can’t be more than ten after today, maybe twelve… Can’t be. We can handle that. I’d rather not handle that, but we can. And they’ve had their asses kicked a few times today. I don’t see them coming back for anymore surprise attacks tonight, maybe even tomorrow. So we sleep tonight. We only have a few hours to do that, then we have to relieve the others, I’m sure they’re beat too.”
“We sleep, and tomorrow we try to contact them by radio. See if they want to end this before they lose more. At least what they’re bringing at us,” Mike finished.
“What made you think of radios?” Kate asked.
“Because,” Ronnie answered, “It was like they were listening to the other guys and us too. They knew what was going on… Where the others were… Where we were too. Why else did they come at us up top? They might just be laying back, playing stupid, but I think they’re listening,” Ronnie finished.
“I think so to,” Mike agreed. “I don’t think they thought we’d be up top. If so they would’ve come at us harder. They didn’t expect us to be there, but I know they were looking to sneak up on us. They thought they had us. I hope they take out each other. They started to do that today.” He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I think they’re listening on the radios too. They showed up way too fast to not have, and why would we think of radios and not them? The other group was using it too. It makes no sense that they wouldn’t have been. But if they tried it, why weren’t they talking today?” He shook his head. “I’m convinced they were using it as a tool to catch the other group out there, us too. So, I say tomorrow we test that theory out. Prove it, or disprove it. That’s easy enough to do. We can decide what to do from there,” Mike finished.
Everyone nodded thoughtfully.
“Good. I’m beat. Let’s get some sleep while we can,” Mike said.
Janet ~ March 24th Early Morning
I spent the entire day in fear, nonstop. It almost would’ve been better to have been in the fight yesterday. Instead, I was on the sidelines always wondering what was going on.
I volunteered to go up top tonight and watch. I spent four hours and saw nothing, heard nothing. Well, almost nothing. I guess it depends on what your view of nothing is. I saw nothing to do with the men who have attacked us. But there are packs of wild dogs, or dogs that have gone wild. I don’t guess that would be the same thing.
It was dark. I could hear them, but I couldn’t see them well. I suppose they even could’ve been wolves or some other wild animal. It was just dogs that came to mind, because I have seen packs of dogs running wild from time to time, down along the river bank, weaving in and out of the shadows of the buildings almost everywhere we go. Right there, but hidden too. Sneaky. And they sounded like animals... like I imagine ravenous dogs would sound.
They came for the bodies. They fought over them, and it was bad. The sounds, snarling and ripping in the darkness. Sometimes they sounded almost human in their frenzy. It was horrible. I wasn’t sure I could take it, but of course I did.
I hadn’t even known there were bodies up there. I mean we would take care of our bodies, why wouldn’t they? But there were bodies. I could see some of them just laying in the moonlight. There were some in the burned out cars and trucks too. I didn’t know those dogs would come for them like that. And I didn’t know you could smell blood like that... when there is so much. I’m no drama queen; I write what I feel.
I dealt with it. What else could I do? I find myself dealing with a lot of things lately, and I don’t know how I do it. Even with the dogs, or wolves… the bodies… I wasn’t as scared as I was today… down below… safe (ha ha). It’s not funny, except I only meant relatively safe. There is no such thing as really safe. I was more afraid earlier than I was up top because of not knowing, not seeing. I was with the kids, the little ones, reassuring them. Still, I would’ve rather been in it. I would’ve rather known.
This place has gone so bad, and it seems the more we plan, the worse it turns out. Maybe we should just leave. But no one is going to listen to me. I’m not strong willed. I don’t argue my points. I don’t really stick up for myself or my ideas.
When I was a girl, my uncle Delbert and my aunt Edna would sometimes come over. He was fine, except when he drank, and he drank all of the time. Maybe you could say he was fine for those first few hours between smashed and gone.
He would run my aunt Edna down, call her names. Bitch... worse... In front of everyone, even us children. Sometimes my father would say, “Delbert, you can’t truly mean that,” and he would answer that he did. He did truly mean that; that she was a silly bitch, and, when he was really drunk, a silly cunt. That was what she was, and there was nothing else to say about it as far as he was concerned.
She had no back bone. Neither do I. And I have no self confidence either. Bob treats me well, but I wonder, does Bob ever think that way about me? I ask because I do. Sometimes I pity myself the same way I did Aunt Edna, and I think I’m just a silly bitch. Maybe even the other word… Sometimes.
I’m upset. I shouldn’t write when I’m upset. I hope I’m not stuck inside and afraid when anything goes on.
It’s probably only a few hours before dawn. I’ll try to sleep. I don’t want to be a silly bitch, but I don’t want to be afraid either. I don’t know if I can sleep. I guess I’ll try…
~The outskirts of the city~
They stood in the shadows and listened to the night. The living were at war, and it could only mean good for them. The moon rose high into the sky. The sounds of fighting from the city had ceased, but fires burned in the distance. Fires were heat. Fires were bad. Fires frightened them all, and they wanted nothing to do with them. Several times they had been tempted to go down into the city and feed, but the fires had been too frightening, too frightening even with the smell of so much fresh death on the wind. So tempting... So tempting, but the fire was fierce, a pain of its own. Heat was for those who lived. For those who were dead yet lived, heat was an enemy.
Pain. Corruption.
They stood and silently waited, sniffing the wind. Some whining lightly, deep in their throats, others growling, salivating in their own dry way, eyes running as they scented the air and waited.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Morning of the Day
March ~ 24th
The plan was simple enough; it just took a little while to set in motion.
They had guards posted above and at both ends of the road. While not entirely sure of either of the two new women, Mike split them up and allowed them to work with some of the others. It was probably clear to them that he didn’t entirely trust them, but they had to know what was at stake and probably wouldn’t think much of anyone who would allow two outsiders to come in and be given weapons, trust and the responsibility of helping to guard their territory.
In the best of circumstances, they probably wouldn’t be guarding anything at all. But these were not the best of circumstances, and were not likely to be any time soon, Mike told himself. So he’d split them up. He didn’t really believe that the other side could be so deceptive as to plant them, especially the way they had come to them. The fear he had seen in their eyes had been real.
While they had been working on Janet Dove's master list, radios of all types had been collected and brought back. Some had been tested, some had not. The idea they had thrown around was to have a system they could depend on once they began to travel. Base units and hand held units, everything they had found came down to just a few different choices, either centering around an F.M. system, or on a C.B., Citizens Band radio system.
Both offered several channels and two way talk. And both could reach and remain clear for well over a mile. Mike had been unable to conceive of any circumstances where they would need more than that. So it was a matter of portability, and what everyone else might have. That had become much more important after what had happened to the two groups, both of which had been able to eave
sdrop on the others broadcasts.
Most people were familiar with Citizens Band, but not with the small hand held mobile F.M. Units, so they had decided to switch from the F.M. units they were using to the more familiar C.B. Radios.
What Mike suspected was that they were using one of the C.B. radios, but without knowing what channel they were using, it seemed it would take a lot of trial and error to locate them. But a hand held scanner had solved that problem.
Bob had also installed five mobile scanning units in the vehicles they were going to take. They operated like a standard Citizens Band radio, or they had a scan feature. They flipped from channel to channel looking for activity, probably good for long haul truckers looking for conversation to keep them awake at three A.M.
Bob also had a few scanning F.M. models. They could pick up, or used to be able to pick up, most fire, police, taxi, rescue, things like that. They also scanned a great many channels used by cheap hand held F.M. Walki Talkies, even some cell phone conversations and, in this area, Military conversations. Now, all the bands were silent.
Bob and Tom installed the units. Less than an hour after sunrise both types of radios were up and running, scanning the channels for conversation.
There was still some time involved to scan every channel. Twice the C.B. stopped on channel eighteen but caught only a click before it moved on. At first it had seemed like it was all static, but the second stop convinced them. Bob stopped the scanning and set the radio on channel eighteen. Twenty two minutes later a voice spoke and let them know they had chosen the right channel.
Overheard on C.B. Channel Eighteen
“Nothing yet,”
“’Kay,”
“Good job, Bob,” Mike smiled.
A few moments later the F.M. caught the end of another conversation…
“…Can’t tell…” Answered with only a click.
Bob isolated that channel as well.
The Rising of the Dead Page 20