Dead Texas (Book 3): Lonesome Road

by Slaton, Derek

  DEAD TEXAS: LONESOME ROAD

  BOOK THREE

  BY DEREK SLATON

  © 2018

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Everybody,” Rufus said as he got to his feet, holding up his full cup of coffee. “I’d like to propose a toast.” He looked around at the breakfast table, meager servings of toast and half-pancakes on plates in front of his friends.

  “Wait, aren’t you supposed to have alcohol to make a toast?” Sparks raised an eyebrow. He simply smiled and winked down at her. “You wily old bastard. Holding out on us, for shame.”

  The white haired man pulled a flask out of his back pocket and handed it to her. She poured a nip into her coffee and passed it to Jeff, the skinhead to her left.

  “Now, as I was saying,” Rufus continued as Principal Dan added a little to his cup and passed it to Mary, who poured for both her and Ricky. “I’d like to propose a toast. To our fellow traveler Ben, who at this moment is flying high above the shitshow that each and everyone one of us is trapped in. May that smart little bastard enjoy his new life at sea.”

  Ricky snorted. “And maybe he can come up with a cure, and stuff.”

  “Hell I’d settle for a can of zombie spray,” Rufus replied. “Take them bitches out like roaches.”

  Jeff chuckled, imagining the sight. “Realistically that’s probably the best we can hope for at this point.”

  Silence fell over the table and they all contemplated the fact that this little breakfast was likely the best thing in their lives for the foreseeable future.

  “Well, that got kinda dark quick.” Sparks pursed her lips. “Who needs more of Rufus’ special coffee?”

  Jeff and Ricky both shoved their cups forward emphatically, and Rufus put up a hand. “Hey now, I got a limited supply.”

  “Don’t worry there bubba, I got a bottle of Jack in the glovebox,” Ricky replied, wiggling his cup expectantly. “I’ll hook you up.”

  Rufus grinned and produced his flask. “Round two it is!”

  Principal Dan knocked on the table as everyone passed around the booze, to get their attention once again. “I’m glad everyone is having a good time, Lord knows we need it after the last five days or so, but we can’t be getting drunk.”

  “Looks like someone is underestimating our alcohol tolerance,” Jeff retorted.

  Sparks glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. “Be that as it may, Principal Dan is right. So this is the last round of the morning.”

  “Last round of the morning,” Mary said good-naturedly. “Man, feels like I’m back in college again.” There was a round of chuckles.

  Rufus clapped Ricky on the back. “You gots yourself a keeper there, bub.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Ricky said with a grin.

  “Pretty sure you left that one off of your job application, Mary,” Principal Dan said, leaning on his elbows.

  She blushed. “Sorry, Principal Dan.”

  “I mean, I would have still hired you, but if I had known that I would have toasted your hiring,” he replied with a glint in his eye. Another round of chuckles.

  “Alright y’all,” Sparks said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s get serious. Dan, what’s the situation with the survivors and transport?”

  “As far as transport goes, we have two busses that have about three quarters of a tank, so that should get us to at least Junction,” he replied. “Not including the people at this table, we have a head count of thirty-eight.”

  Jeff blew air through his teeth. “Holy hell, that’s a lot of people to take care of.”

  “It gets worse,” Dan cut in. “We only have food and water for about four or five days, and that’s with heavy rationing. We may be able to get to Junction with that, but we aren’t getting much further.”

  “Not meaning to sound ignorant and all,” Ricky piped up. “But where exactly are we headed?”

  “Not ignorant at all,” Sparks assured him. “Unfortunately I don’t think there’s an answer yet. Once we get past Junction it’s about two hundred miles of nothing. Just spitballing, but maybe we should target a place like Fort Stockton?”

  “Not a bad idea,” Dan said, chewing over it. “Small town, isolated from pretty much everything, and enough buildings that we could set up some greenhouses and get a sustainable source of food.”

  “So my choices are: get eaten by zombies or become a vegetarian?” Rufus looked horrified. “Man, that’s a tough one, anybody got a coin?”

  “Wait, wait, back up a second,” Jeff cut in, putting up a hand. “Greenhouses sound like a great idea, but do we have the material to pull them off?”

  “It could be difficult,” Dan admitted. “But I think there’s enough ingenuity at this table alone to pull it off.”

  Jeff nodded. “So I guess we need to add seeds to our shopping list?”

  “More seeds wouldn’t be a bad idea,” the Principal agreed. “I packed everything they had at the school for the horticulture club, but it might not be enough.”

  “Jeff does bring up a good point,” Sparks added. “Before we head west we’re going to have to do some shopping.”

  Mary shrugged. “Well we know we need food, water and seeds. What else could we need?”

  “Bullets have gotta be at the top of that list,” Rufus spoke up. “We can handle a couple of them fuckers with blades, but if we run into a pack or a horde, we’re gonna need somethin’ with a little more punch.”

  “We need medicine,” Dan added. “Cold and flu medication especially. We’re all going to be living in tight confines with unsanitary conditions. One severe flu outbreak could wipe a lot of people out, especially the older ones.”

  “Speaking of the older ones, how many senior citizens and young kids do we have in the group of survivors?” Rufus wondered. “Just tryin’ to get a feel for our operational capacity.”

  “Out of the thirty-eight?” Dan pursed his lips. “About thirty of them wouldn’t be much help in a fight.”

  Rufus deadpanned. “Jesus H motherfucking christ, you telling me there’s only eight people in that group that can handle themselves in a fight?”

  “Afraid so,” the Principal admitted. “Between the militia and the zombies, a lot of good people have died in the last couple of days.”

  “Christ man, do we need to add wheelchairs and kiddie leashes to the fucking list?” Rufus barked, running a hand through his snow-white locks.

  “Well, there are some medications,” Dan replied.

  Rufus scrubbed a hand down his face and tittered a humorless laugh. “Of course there are.”

  “We have a couple of people with heart issues and they need nitroglycerin,” the Principal continued. “It’s not exactly a popular recreational drug, so I’m hoping that the pharmacy at the grocery store in Fredericksburg will have some.”

  “Well, looks like you have our target picked out for us,” Jeff said with a sigh.

  “I’m totally open to different ideas,” Dan protested. “But I think this is going to be our best bet. Fredericksburg is about ten miles north of here, and the grocery store is in the southern part of town. My hope is that you’ll be able to sneak in and secure the store without much resistance.”

  Jeff leaned back in his chair. “How big of a town is it?”

  “About twice the size of Comfort,” Dan replied.

  “So we have what?” the skinhead scoffed. “The potential for a few thousand of these things? Yeah, that sounds like a breeze.”

  “Well, it’s either that or we starve to death,” the Principal snapped.

  Sparks put up a hand. “Not necessarily.”

  “What do you mean?” Dan raised an eyebrow.

  The redhead took a deep breat
h. “I mean the militia compound.”

  “Holy hell girl, you wanna go back there?” Ricky blurted. “I know we put a whoopin on ‘em and all, but they might not take kindly to us showing back up.”

  “It’s not going to be an us,” she said firmly. “It’s going to just be me.”

  “Sparks, are you joking?” Jeff burst out. “We beat them and they don’t know where we are. Let’s just do the Fredericksburg run and get the hell outta Dodge.”

  “I agree that y’all should do the Fredericksburg run, but the reality is we don’t have a lot of time and we can’t dismiss a potential source of supplies,” she said calmly, putting both palms on the table and standing up. “They raided Center Point and Comfort and presumably had stockpiles of stuff when we hit. If we can get our hands on that, we’ll have enough to get us to Fort Stockton or wherever the hell we’re going. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I want to make sure we don’t have to spend this entire trip looking over our shoulder, wondering if Elijah and his wannabe soldiers are after us.”

  “Sparks is right,” Dan piped up. “If they have supplies, we can certainly use them.”

  “Well hell, girl, if you’re gonna go,” Rufus said, eyes softening, “let me come with. If you run into those tiny dicked militia bastards, you could use another gun.”

  “These guys need your infiltration skills, Rufus,” she said to him. “And besides, once I hit Comfort I’m going to be hiking on foot. If they are still out there it’s too dangerous to be driving around. Last thing I want is to end up in a car chase in the country.”

  The older man sighed. “I see your point, and would just like to add that I appreciate the fact you complimented me before taking a giant shit on my ability to keep up with you.”

  “Don’t take it personally Rufus,” she said with a glint in her eye, “not too many men out there can keep up with me.”

  “Like I told you girl,” he said with a playful wink, “I’m willing to give it a go if you are.”

  She couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Not until you’re ready to die.”

  “Well, according to our current plan, it’ll be when we get out to Fort Stockton and I have to eat salad for every meal,” he muttered, and everyone chuckled, breaking the tension.

  “Well, looks like we have us a plan,” Dan cut in. “So, this is what I’d like for y’all to do. Go to these locations and secure the supplies, then radio back and I’ll send a couple of trucks to load up what you have and bring it back here.

  “Thanks to our military friends, we have the ability to communicate with each other now. Looks like I’ll have the command module and each team can reach me on their earpiece. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to communicate with each other.”

  Jeff furrowed his brow. “So how are we supposed to let you know where stuff is?”

  “The cell service looks like it finally crapped out a couple of hours ago, so the maps on the phones won’t be much help,” the Principal explained. “There are a couple of dedicated GPS systems in the busses, so we’ll grab those. Might be a good idea to program in this place just in case the path you came from gets blocked.”

  “Which brings up the next question,” Sparks piped up. “What’s our timeline? I mean based on what the military guy said, San Antonio is going to be emptying out soon, if it hasn’t already.”

  “I’d say we go as soon as we’re ready,” Jeff said.

  Dan nodded. “I agree with that wholeheartedly, but I also think we need a drop dead departure time.”

  “Forty five hours,” Sparks declared.

  Ricky blinked at her. “Well, that’s an odd choice of time there.”

  “Not really.” She shrugged. “It’s nine AM now, so in forty-five hours it’ll be six AM. The sun will be coming up and we’ll have the maximum amount of daylight to make it to our next destination. Which I know we said is Junction, but it might be prudent to stop at the exit before it.”

  “That’s a good call,” Dan agreed. “It’s the last stop for gas for a long while, so everybody who has the same idea we do is going to be stopping there.”

  “And as them militia boys found out,” Rufus added, “we don’t really play nice with others.”

  The Principal eyed him warily. “Ideally, we’d like to avoid bloodshed if possible.”

  “But if it comes to that, we’ll be ready,” Sparks added.

  “So as a contingency, how long are we staying at the meeting spot in Junction?” Jeff asked. “We’re all essentially going into a war zone, so some shit can happen that will throw us off schedule.”

  The Principal took a deep breath. “Even the best case scenario is that we’re going to have limited supplies, so I wouldn’t recommend staying longer than necessary.”

  “Stay one day,” Sparks decided. “If nobody is there by six AM the following morning they’ll be on their own, with the ultimate plan to reach Fort Stockton. The good news is that once you get past Junction, there are only so many places the group can go, so even if we get separated it’ll be easy to find them.” She downed the last of her lukewarm coffee and set the cup on the table. “Alright, we should get ready to head out.”

  “Sorry, but I have to veto that idea,” Dan argued, putting up a hand. “You are all exhausted and need rest.”

  “We don’t have time for that,” Sparks countered.

  “Yes, you do,” he said firmly. “Sleep for two hours, that’s all I ask.”

  She pursed her lips. “I’ll give you one.”

  “Fair enough,” he conceded. “In the meantime we’ll get your travel pack ready to go. Food, water, and whatever else you may need.”

  “Cell phones,” the redhead added.

  “Why?” Dan furrowed his brow. “The cell system is shut down.”

  “That may be,” Sparks agreed, “but they still have alarms on them. Those things are attracted to noise, so having a phone can potentially save a life.”

  “I’ll collect all that I can,” he said, “is there anything else?”

  The officer nodded. “I need duct tape and a pair of binoculars.”

  “Should be able to dig up the tape, but I’ll be surprised if I have a set of binoculars.” He cocked his head in thought. “Although, if you are going through Comfort, that truck stop is pretty well stocked. They might have a set for you.”

  “That was going to be my first stop anyway,” Sparks told him. “If the militia is still active, they’ll probably have men stationed there. Guess I’ll do a little shopping while I’m there.”

  “You ladies and your shopping,” Rufus cut in with a laugh, “not even the apocalypse can keep you from it.”

  She punched his arm playfully. “Watch it, old man.”

  “Alright, everybody, there are a couple of rooms upstairs with some beds and cots,” Dan said loudly, pushing his chair back from the table.

  “Everybody be safe,” Sparks said as the group rose to their feet and shuffled towards the stairs. “I’ll see y’all in a couple of days.”

  “We’ve got a full strike team,” Jeff replied, smiling though his eyes were concerned. “You’re the one who needs to be safe.”

  “Aw hell, Jeff, you’ve seen the shit this woman can do.” Rufus clapped the skinhead on the back. “If I had to bet, I’d say she’s gonna have to come rescue us before it’s all said and done.”

  Sparks laughed. “Appreciate the confidence there Rufus.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sparks strolled out of the house, shaking off the grogginess behind her eyes from the too short sleep. She secured her sidearm and and slung the AR-15 over her shoulder.

  “Hey Sparks, over here!” Dan called, and she turned to see him waving at her from the back of Ricky’s truck.

  “What’s up Dan?” she asked as she walked over to him. “You got my bag ready?”

  “Yeah, I got you food and water for the next couple of days,” he said. “And some duct tape, and a couple of cell phones.”

  She pursed her lips. “Only a coup
le?”

  “Yeah, it was slim pickings on those, so I gave each group two of them,” he explained.

  She nodded. “It’ll have to do.”

  “Need you to do one more thing for me,” Dan said, turning fully towards her.

  Sparks looked up at him expectantly. “Sure.”

  “Need you to give the boys here a lift down to the school,” he motioned to three men heading over from the nearest bus. “There are a couple of pickup trucks we need to secure. I know you’re going on foot, so Hale here is going to drive Ricky’s truck back.”

  She nodded again. “Shouldn’t be a big deal to do that.” She took the bag from him and opened the driver’s side door, tossing it inside before climbing up herself. After closing it up she reached out the window and smacked the outside a few times to signal to the guys to get in.

  Two men hopped into the bed, waving to Principal Dan, and Hale climbed into the passenger seat. Sparks nodded to the robust middle-aged farmer.

  “You be careful, Sparks,” Dan put a hand on the truck, looking her straight in the eye. “And stay in touch.”

  “Will do, Dan,” she agreed. “Once I scope out the gas station and the grocery store in Comfort, I’ll give you an update.” She leaned out the window. “You guys secure back there?” she called, and both replied in the affirmative. “Alright then, we’re moving!” She waved to Dan, who stepped back to allow them room to bustle off.

  She punched the accelerator and sped off towards the school.

  “Thank you,” Hale said, clasping his hands together in his lap.

  Sparks furrowed her brow. “For what?”

  “For everything you did for us yesterday,” he replied, swallowing hard. “If you and your friends weren’t there, then we probably wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “No thanks are necessary.” She shook her head. “I’m doing the same thing you’re doing, just trying to survive this nightmare.”

  “Still,” he said, “thank you.”

  She nodded as opposed to replying, and soon they were pulling into the parking lot of the school. She stopped next to two sitting pickup trucks, and hopped out of the driver’s seat, leaving the vehicle running.