“Whoa, girl! I got you, I got you,” Darnell said, holding his daughter while she worked to get the shakes out of her system. He had to give her credit, she didn’t lose it when that thing in the grass was coming for her. If she had made even a sound they’d have been slaughtered.
Darnell made sure she understood that. He took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “Sweetheart, that was the bravest thing I had ever seen. You held it together when it mattered the most, and you saved us both. Do you understand that? You saved us both.” Darnell looked at the road. “And you got us to this road. Do you know what that means?”
Alison shook her head, her eyes gleaming with unspent tears.
“We made it. We got away. Now all we have to do is get out of the mountains before snowfall, find a place to spend the winter, and we can start over,” Darnell said.
Alison smiled, even though she knew her father was just trying to make her feel better. They had very little chance of getting out of the mountains before snow blocked the passes and roads, and they were on foot. Where would they go? They were alone in a sea of zombies, and no one was coming to save them.
“Come on,” Darnell said. “Let’s get moving down the road. If I remember right, there should be campsites along this road. We can spend the day in one and get some real rest.” Tibbles was really feeling his age and the cold, and hoped the nearest one wasn’t too far away.
“What if the zombies are there?” Alison said.
Darnell shrugged. “Right now, I’d fight a hundred of the damn things to get some decent rest.”
The pair moved steadily down the road. It was an old logging road which the state had taken over and maintained as an access road into the mountains for fighting fires and conducting forestry surveys. The campsites were places that the firefighters would go to rest during burn season. Hikers were allowed to use the sites as well, and they were a welcome change from sleeping outside.
As they walked, they heard the sound of running water, and soon it became apparent that the road was following the river. Darnell was amazed at his luck. If they got attacked, they had the perfect retreat right next to them.
The road was far from perfect, and three winters without maintenance had done a good bit of damage. But it was certainly better than trying to make their way through the rough country of the mountains, and with the woods on one side, a small but swift river on the other, they made ten times the progress they had made before.
A little before dawn, when the sky over the eastern ridge was changing from deep blue to a slightly lighter shade of blue, Alison pointed out the sign that hung from a tree. “Indian Hill Campground”. She gave her dad’s hand a little squeeze and together they walked over the small bridge that crossed the river.
The campground was mostly empty spaces under trees where people would set up tents or campers and then do their hiking or outdoor whatever. There were spaces for RV’s, and a small concrete building that looked like it was for taking showers and such. A small log cabin was near where the driveway made a big circle, and behind it Darnell could see the remains of an old plastic play set.
“Let’s try the cabin,” Darnell said. It looked abandoned, but then it was the middle of the night, and people with any sense were asleep and safe at this time of day.
The pair walked over to the small structure, carefully walking around it and trying to see in the windows. The fact that the ground around the building was undisturbed, and there was dirt and debris piled up against the door, told Darnell that no one was at home.
The door latch was interesting; it had a doorknob as well as a lever to lift the latch to open the door. That told Darnell that there should not be any zombie in there since they would never have figured out how to open that door.
Holding the gun out in the open, Darnell pulled up the lever and then turned the doorknob. The door hinges squeaked in protest as the dirt was moved aside. Darnell walked into the small foyer and took a look around. Apart from the slight layer of dust over everything, the structure seemed to be sound and in decent shape. Darnell couldn’t see any sign of activity, either from the two or four-legged kind, and that was actually a welcome relief.
The building consisted of a front room that held a desk, a small stand that held maps and flyer, and a couple of captain’s chairs. In the room behind the reception area there was a small kitchenette, a bathroom, and a back room that had a cot, a tiny wood burning stove, and a small writing desk. There was a phone on the desk that Darnell was tempted to pick up, but stopped himself when he realized that even if it had a dial tone, he didn’t have anyone to call.
“You take the cot, sweetheart; I’ll crash in the chairs up front,” Darnell said.
“Daddy, you’re beat. Why don’t you take the cot?” Alison argued.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll just push the chairs together and I’ve got my own cot,” Darnell smiled, thinking about it. “Well, more like a bathtub, but I can at least put my feet up.”
“All right, but at the next one, you take the cot,” Alison said.
“Deal. Go to bed, honey.” Darnell kissed his daughter on the forehead, and watched her go to the back room. She’d likely hit the cot sleeping despite the scare they both had gone through.
Darnell sat in one of the chairs up front and slid the other one close. When he put his feet up, his entire body just fell into a relaxed state, and he began to warm up. He thought about the situation and figured he could be a lot worse off. They had shelter, and pretty good protection from any zombies wandering around, as the house was made of brick and surrounded by thick bushes. The windows were all nearly six feet off the ground and were set in so they wouldn’t be easy to strike at. There was water right nearby, and fish and game were close at hand. The more he thought about it, the better Darnell liked it.
As he drifted off to sleep, Darnell’s thoughts wandered back to the report the scout had given. There was an army out there. But where was it? Who was in charge? And most importantly, could he turn it north?
Fayetteville, AK
“Did you know you have a zombie walk?” Sarah asked.
I shook off the bits of zombie goop that were clinging tenaciously to my pickaxe. Normally the stuff just slid off, thanks to a strange but useful discovery by Rebecca not too long ago. She found that if we sprayed WD-40 on our weapons before a fight, they didn’t get as messy as when we didn’t.
I stopped when it registered what Sarah had just said.
“I walk like a zombie?” I asked.
“No, silly. You have a certain way of walking when you are about to take on a Z one on one,” Sarah explained.
“Do tell.”
“Rebecca and I noticed it over the last few engagements.”
“Don’t tell me Charlie has one, too,” I groaned.
“He does, and it’s different than yours,” Sarah said. “When Charlie goes after a zombie, he goes straight in, no subtlety, all business.”
“And what do I do differently?” I asked, not being entirely sure I wanted to hear the answer.
“You tend to circle a little to either the left or right, and when you’re ready, there’s a burst of activity, and then there’s a dead ghoul,” Sarah smiled.
“And here I thought you two were just admiring our butts,” I said, giving her a quick kiss.
“How do you think we began to notice you two had zombie walks?” Sarah asked sweetly.
“Could we call it something else? Like ‘Zombie Stalking Technique,’ or something, anything cooler than ‘Zombie Walk?’” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Damn.”
We walked back towards the campsite that we shared with the other half of the army. We were three thousand strong and spread out in a place called Hobbs State Park. There was a huge lake in this area that twisted and turned and had branches going every which way. Duncan took one look at it and wondered why they didn’t name it Centipede Lake since that’s what it reminded him of. We’d been here a week, taki
ng a break from the campaign and enjoying what seemed to be decent weather. It was just over fifty degrees, and that was a welcome change from the cold we’d had from the previous few weeks. It was late November, and we were in a decent spot to start the Killing Season in the Zombie War. I’d sent half of the army south to make a run through Louisiana, and the reports coming back were pretty positive. I hadn’t heard anything from the group I had sent north, but I didn’t expect to see them until we met up again on the near side of the Rockies.
“Penny for you thoughts,” Sarah said, holding my side.
“A penny? Heck, my thoughts cost at least a nickel,” I said.
“That’s what I pay for your advice,” Sarah replied, giving me a pinch.
“Ow! Alright!” I rubbed my side. “I was just thinking about this area.”
“What about it?”
“It’s the perfect place for a retreat from the zombies. We’re surrounded by hills and water, there’s actually game enough to keep us in fresh meat and fish, and there’s enough level ground to raise some crops,” I said.
“But there’s no one here except us,” Sarah said. “I see what you mean. Think there’s a danger?”
I shrugged. “I’m not seeing one, but it’s odd. We’ve hit a few zombie strongholds, but the cold weather played that one in our favor. We’re missing one around here, missing something.”
“Well, talk to Charlie, and see what he has to say. This used to be his back yard, and if anyone can sense what’s in the wind, he can,” Sarah said.
“That’s usually Duncan’s breath,” I said. Lately Duncan had found some wild onions and had taken to chewing them. Last time he burped he killed a bug that happened to be flying by.
“Funny guy.”
We reached the perimeter of the camp, and I gave a quick report to the captain of the watch. He made a note in his book about it, and we went on our way. When we reached our campsite, I was glad to see Jake outside playing with a few other boys from other fighter’s families. There was a group of about six women who were sitting around a table just talking away. I slipped away from Sarah before she could snare me into a discussion and went to find Charlie.
After a good half an hour of playing “Where’s Charlie?” I located the man down by the lake teaching his daughter how to hunt for turtles. It was such an innocent thing to watch that I just waited an extra ten minutes while the huge zombie killer lifted lily pads while his little girl waited with hands folded to see if there was a little reptile looking back.
I coughed discretely, and Rebecca was the first one to notice me. She smiled, and went over to Charlie who finally looked over at me. He straightened up, and after handing Julia off, he wandered over.
“What’s up?”
“Got something I need to run by you; can you spare a minute?” I said.
“Sure. Come up to the trailer.” Charlie led the way through the trees, and we came up to his home. It was a trailer similar to mine, but a little shorter. He didn’t need the extra room since he only had one child with him.
“So what’s on your mind?” Charlie asked. “Is it the creepy feeling you get because there should be more people around here, but there aren’t?”
“That’d be the one,” I said. “I talked to Sarah about it this morning. We went and dealt with that single sighting south of here, but there’s something off about this area.”
“I hear you. Place like this in Arkansas, there should be at least dozens of communities in this area,” Charlie said. “On the other hand, maybe they went someplace else.”
“I don’t know. We’ve been doing this too long to believe that things just happen, usually there’s a—” I was interrupted by a loud banging on the door.
A voice was urgently following the banging. “Commander James! Commander James! There’s a situation, and we can’t find Chief Executive Talon!” The banging continued. “Commander James, are you in there?”
I opened the door, and the young man sent to find us nearly tumbled into the trailer. I put a hand on his chest to stop his movement and gently pushed him back out the door.
He recovered quickly enough. “Sir! What a relief to find you sir. I’ve been looking all over for you and was told you were over this way. No one told me you were in the trailer, but that’s okay, you’re here, and that’s what matters.”
“Situation, son?” Charlie asked politely, once the linguistic tornado had subsided.
“Sir! We’ve lost four scouts, sir.”
“Where, how? Dead?” I asked, not wanting to believe it. Our scouts were valuable members of the army, clearing the way for the larger group and avoiding any obstacles or traps. Oftentimes they had to act as ambassadors, smoothing the way for survivors to enter into the fold.
“Don’t know, sir. One pair went over the hill into an area that looked like it might be occupied, and they didn’t return. A second group went after them to see what had happened, and they never returned. Commander Hanley said he won’t risk any more men until we figure this one out.”
Smart man. This was a job for a small team or the whole army. Trouble was, with the area around us seemingly clear of zombies, the potential for a whole bunch of them nearby was possible.
“All right,” Charlie said. “We’ll go have a look.” He looked at me. “You want to grab Duncan and Tommy for this?”
I shook my head. “We’ll keep it simple. Look, learn, and leave. We’ll decide if we need more men once we figure out what’s going on.”
We dismissed the young man, and Charlie set about getting himself together. He put on his vest, his backpack with his tomahawks sticking out on either side, and his sidearm. He put his main knife in its place on his left hip, and put two knives into the sheaths sewn into his boots. He wrapped his neck in a wide scarf and left only his eyes showing.
“Rifle?” Charlie asked.
“May as well, I’m going to stop and get mine,” I said.
“AK or AR?” Charlie asked.
That was a good question. If I picked AR, then I only expected to hunt zombies. But if I picked the AK, then I had some thoughts about living targets as well. The AR was a great weapon, but the AK was a killer, pure and simple.
“AK,” I said.
“All righty. Let me talk to Rebecca, and I will meet you over at your trailer,” Charlie said.
I left his home and wandered over to mine. A brief conversation with Sarah left her nodding in approval for me going after the scouts. I took out the AK and that raised eyebrows.
“Expecting trouble?” she asked as I put extra magazines in my vest.
“Always. Something about this just makes little sense,” I said. “Our scouts are too good to be ambushed or overwhelmed which means they must have been tricked.”
“Do you think they are still alive?” Sarah said. The rest of the ladies in the group grew quiet at that.
“If they are, we’ll bring them back. If they aren’t, whoever killed them will regret it for a very short time,” I said, meaning every word.
Sarah and the rest of the women nodded. In another world, they would not have approved, but in the one we lived in, vengeance was not taken lightly.
Charlie joined me, and together we went over to where the army’s vehicles were being kept. We took a small car that was reasonably quiet. An electric car would have been great, but since they were rather difficult to keep charged, we’d stick with the gas ones.
We drove south, keeping an eye out for the vehicles our scouts usually used. The scenery was pretty much the same as what we had left, rolling hills and a lot of trees. We crossed two small creeks as we drove, and I kept on looking for any sign that they might have turned off the road or taken a different way.
The day was clear, and the high clouds off in the distance had the slight promise of rain, but it was far off. Charlie drove the vehicle with purpose, but we weren’t rushing. At every intersection and driveway we slowed down to take a look to see if the other vehicles had passed this way. Nothing we
had seen so far led us to believe that they had driven any other way than straight.
Suddenly Charlie slowed down. We were coming to a clearing in the roadsides, and the trees that had surrounded us were thinning out.
“What’s up?” I asked, scanning around for threats and not seeing any.
“Something flashed in the air up ahead,” Charlie said. “Pretty sure there’s nothing up there that should be flashing.”
“Right.” I waited until Charlie backed the car up and exited the same time he did. We picked our way carefully through the trees and brush and made our way towards the edge of the trees. I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then I saw a flash. There was a small grove of trees ahead of us, and the flash came from the air next to the tree.
“Saw it. Wonder what it is?” I asked.
Charlie thought about it. “Those trees are well placed to see anything coming for a long way off. Any bets there’s a lookout platform up there?”
“No bet. But we can’t approach it without being seen, and we left our scoped rifles at home,” I said.
Charlie smiled. “Duncan laughed at me when I tucked this into my backpack, but it’s worth it now.” Charlie shrugged off his pack and rummaged around a little bit. He pulled out a small plastic tube about five inches long and about an inch and a half wide. Taking off one end, he slid a brass telescope out of the tube. It extended out to about a foot and had leather covering the front tube.
“Very nice,” I admired. “Good picture?”
“It’s actually very good. I think this might be an original and not a cheap replica.” Charlie found a good tree for cover and kept the scope under a small covering of leaves. He looked through it for about a minute then handed it to me. “I can’t see anything, but I’m willing to get a second opinion.”
I took the scope and looked through it, keeping it under cover like Charlie did. The grove of trees leapt at me, and I could easily see the branches and leaves. I followed the base of the tree up, and looked for anything that hadn’t grown there. I did see the flash again, and looking hard, saw a thin line from the tree to some place over the hill and into the forest.
The Zombie Wars: The Enemy Within (White Flag Of The Dead Book 8) Page 8