by Diane Butler
Morgan stood up when he saw Mutt break from the woods at a run. Mutt barked twice and Morgan began to anxiously untie the cords from the fence. He had never heard Mutt bark and was very afraid for the group since Mutt had learned that barking would attract zombies. He opened the gate but Mutt stopped and turned toward the tree line, watching, whining. Morgan went through the gate and began to jog toward the trail but stopped when he saw Randy and Gene break through the foliage, soon to be followed by Roxanne, Lucky and Brandon. He could tell that they had been running for a long time. They were exhausted and barely able to keep pace with one another, their legs growing heavier with each step. Randy was dragging his rifle and Gene was holding his chest gasping for breath.
He ran up to Gene and put his arm around Gene’s chest to help support him. “Jesus, what happened back there? Are you alright?”
Gene nodded, “Yeah, just need to rest. We’ll have zombies tonight. Better move a vehicle up against this part of the fence.” They continued to walk together when he looked up to see Caleb, Cami and Sally come up to the fence. As soon as Sally saw Morgan helping Gene she ran towards them, afraid that he had been bitten or seriously hurt.
When Morgan saw the fear in her face he waved her down and called out, “He’s OK, just been running.” She caught up with them and Morgan moved away to let Sally put her arms around him. “You old fool,” she cried. “What are you doing running to push yourself to this point?”
“Fifty is not old. I just haven’t run that long a distance.”
“It’s OK Sally,” Randy said. “We’ve lost them behind we just didn’t want to slow down very often to take a break and allow them to catch up again. But once they start in a direction they keep going that way so they will probably show up tonight.”
Sally looked behind her at the others and asked, “How many are there?”
They had reached the fence and Brandon grabbed it to steady himself, “We don’t know. Stragglers mostly but they were circling from two different directions, and if they join up to continue this way we could have another herd of fifty. We were hoping that if we got far enough ahead of them that perhaps something would make them change direction again.”
After checking the fence that night and killing only a small group of four through the fence, Cami walked back to the Admin Bldg. to inform the group that so far their fears had not turned into reality. She saw Brandon sitting on a bench outside the window of the meeting room with a gas light reading the journal. “Find anything helpful,” she asked as she sat down beside him.
He shook his head and closed the book, “No, sad really. She was part of the family at the farm and describes watching her loved ones die. When it was down to just the couple of her married granddaughter she hatched this plan. Suicidal really. Think she sacrificed herself. She remembered the treehouse that her children used to play in and the sink hole that had opened up in the last year. She was convinced that the devil had opened that hole to let out disease and pestilence in the form of zombies. So the solution, in her mind, was to lure the zombies back there but I think she really wanted to keep them away from the farm and her granddaughter. With the help of her remaining family they nailed and tied all those things to the trees and she actually took up residence in the treehouse. She would go out on the trail every day to lead them to the pit. Looks like she did pretty well for an old lady because she lived in that tree for four months. Journal gets crazy toward the end. I think Ze’s had her pinned up in that tree and that she starved to death.”
They looked out into the night and didn’t say anything, lost in their own thoughts of what families have been through once faced with the ZA world. Finally Brandon dropped his voice and said “I’m worried about Roxanne.” Cami had never heard such sadness in his voice and she turned to look at him. “I thought she had become a team member but now I’m not so sure. I’m afraid she may be going down the same road as KC.”
Cami was shocked to hear this then Brandon explained how Roxanne had almost pulled a knife on him in the woods. She listened to the circumstance and then chuckled. “Roxanne was just protecting her man. All women have a beast in us, Brandon. It’s just that most of society has never seen it until now. When it comes to our children or our man in danger, women will stop at nothing to protect them. Roxanne has never had that rage swell up in her because she’s never had anyone to love. I’m sure the gesture of putting her hand on her knife even surprised her. You have nothing to fear from Roxanne. No comparison at all to KC. KC was bat-shit crazy from the start.”
“Then how do you explain Ed?” Brandon asked.
“What about Ed?”
“I saw how the back of his skull was crushed. Do you know how hard it is to smash the human skull with your bare hands? When we were leaving to climb the mountain she barely glanced down at his body and then just stepped over him to continue walking.”
“That’s the same thing, Brandon” Cami answered. “To me it was proof that we are her team, her loved ones and that she would kill to protect us. Ed brought that wrath down on us, was a traitor and she felt responsible. Shit, he was her husband for God’s sake and he set us up, set her up.” They were both silent as Cami remembered the scene. “I will admit though that the vengeance was brutal, different from when she was forced to kill KC. With KC Roxanne cried knowing she had to kill her. With Ed……I didn’t think she was going to stop.”
“Do you think we should watch her?”
“I do not.”
“Do you think I should ask Lucky to watch her?”
Cami turned to Brandon, “Do not go there with Lucky! Do not approach him on the subject of Ed. I saw his face. He was in a state of shock and I’ve never seen Lucky look like that.”
“He could be sleeping with the devil,” Brandon said.
“He can tame the devil.”
“I’m not sure even Lucky can touch the darkness that surrounds Roxanne’s heart.”
“You have let that journal depress you. We have nothing to fear from Roxanne.”
Gene had asked for everyone to have breakfast at 6:30 the next morning for a meeting. Sally had rabbit, goose eggs and stewed tomatoes ready in the cafeteria. They were a sorry looking bunch with Sally’s patched face, Morgan’s arm in a sling and Roxanne with bandages on both her arm and shoulder. She insisted that she did not need the shoulder patch but Sally was more concerned about infection putting a person down than a zombie bite. Mutt always came to meals with them and Roxanne would feed him part of her meal. Sometimes she would open a can of spam just for him and no one minded. They all felt that Mutt was an essential part of the group. Unknown to her Sally was doing the same when Mutt sought her out. He was well fed and no one knew they were being conned by a dog that had also learned survival in a ZA.
“I wanted us to meet because Chen Le’s visit changed our daily habits and priorities and we have so much to do. I don’t like spreading people out and want to get everyone’s idea on how we proceed from here. We all know that the bus is pretty much a permanent staple blocking the entrance. That leaves only one exit at the back. The fences were cut and we have only temporarily repaired them. We can’t move Chen Le’s jeep inside the compound unless we drive around to the back entrance to bring it in. That’s a ten mile trek and we don’t know what’s in those ten miles.”
“Also, do we need to change our spotters at night? Since the front entrance is so well secured do we need to watch it anymore? Should we change to guarding the back gate and the fence that was cut? We could also construct a new barrier. Move some of our vehicles to the front parking lot and construct a new barrier down on the road where we dumped the zombie bodies and turn into the park entrance. Something that we can open so we have access in and out to the circle, going through the bus with our supplies like we were doing.”
“I don’t like the idea of blocking the entrance down on the highway,” Sally said. “We need more people and constructing a barrier would prevent them from getting to us.”
“I
didn’t see any people Sally,” Randy said. “And I was out there alone for a long time. I was beginning to think I was the last person alive. I think everyone has found their own place by now and has hunkered down, fortifying it the way we have. No one is on the road anymore.”
“Still, I would like to leave that option open,” she said. “I would hate to think someone needed help and we didn’t know about it.”
“Caleb tells us that he has discovered a part of the park that we were unaware of,” Gene continued. He looked over at Caleb who tried to remain cool but couldn’t help beaming with pride. “Problem is that a ride has collapsed there and certainly can’t be moved manually. We could take some of the trucks and hook chains to them and try to drag parts of it out, at least so we can explore the area for another access road. If there is one, then we can concentrate on clearing more. Does everyone agree to make that our priority?”
Everyone agreed except for Cami who remained silent.
“Alright, what about changing our guard at night? Should we do so?”
“I don’t think the front entrance is as crucial as in the past,” Brandon spoke up. “The bodies we dumped down by the road seem to be deterring the Ze’s from coming up that way. They are still accumulating from the logger side and at the back gate and I think we should make that our point of concentration. We can hear any vehicle making the grade to the front entrance or anyone dicking around with the bus. We can still make a check, I just don’t think it should be our major point right now. It’s the most secure place we have on the park.”
“I don’t want anyone walking out to the back entrance,” Lucky spoke up. “It’s too far for someone to run back to give us a heads up if something goes wrong back there and they can’t take Chen Le’s truck or Roxanne’s car because its holding up the fence. Take one of your vehicles and drive it up to the bike tunnel and walk through the Zoo. No one will hear you approach from that angle.”
“Alright,” Gene continued. “Does everyone agree with that and changing our guard positions?”
Everyone agreed but again Cami remained silent.
“This last point, I know no one wants to hear it but it should be addressed. We need to set up meeting sites in case the place should be overrun and we are scattered. Those who make it out the back gate could go to Chen Le’s hold up. I realize that most of it is blown to pieces, but it’s just a check point until we can regroup. Those who go out the front entrance or the logging gate should go to the farmhouse where the old lady lived. We still need to check that place out but……I don’t think anyone is up for that right now. And for God’s sake, if you’re on the logging road remember to go around that clearing. Lucky how long do you think someone should stay at these places waiting for the rest of the group?”
Lucky hesitated then answered, “I would say two days in case someone is hurt it will give them time to catch up. And they may be in a place where they need to hide for six to eight hours. None of the places are far so after two days you need to make a decision to move on.”
“Move on to where?” Morgan asked.
Lucky shrugged. “If I was on the run again I’d try to make it to the South Carolina shore. Maybe find a marina where I can get a boat to drop anchor out in the ocean at night so I can sleep without fear of a zombie. Maybe just so I can watch the sun come up over the ocean and remember how things used to be.” Everyone went quiet in the room. No one wanted to think of running again or of being separated from the group and forced to live alone.
Finally Gene broke the silence, “Cami, you haven’t said anything. Do you have any ideas that you want to discuss?”
“Yeah. We need to get back to that NRA house” and everyone started to laugh.
They brought the trucks around to the area that Caleb had lead them to and stood looking at the damage.
“Think it would be easier if we used a blow torch on some of it to break it up into smaller pieces,” Lucky said. “It’s all one mangled mess as it is. Caleb, you’re sure the entrance is behind that?” Caleb pointed up to the sign post. “Beaver Creek. Maybe the duck ponds are being fed by that creek,” Lucky said. “Morgan do you know how to use a blow torch?”
“I was mainly into pouring cement and setting bricks into mortar, but I watched some of the guys on the job using one,” Morgan said. “This is something that Ed was good at, but I’ll drive back and see what I can find.”
While he was gone Randy and Gene connected a chain to one of the crossbeams and the hitch on the truck. Brandon warned everyone to fall back to a safe distance since the beam could snap and the pile could shift. He raced the truck motor as high as he dared without doing damage to the truck transmission, but the steel beam only slightly moved. It was enough to loosen the pile and a few pieces on the top of the mound fell in on itself, settling further down into the center.
He turned off the motor and Roxanne walked up. “Has anyone crawled over the stuff to see what’s on the other side? That one portion of the tracks that is sticking up, I think is up against the top of the fence. If I crawl up there I can see if there’s an easier way to get in.”
“Roxanne,” Lucky said, “that stuff is too dangerous to crawl over. The broken steel is sharp, there are bolts and nails sticking out and it could shift on you burying you under it.” She stood eyeing the wreckage then took her rifle from behind her shoulder and said, “Here, hold this.”
“Damn you Roxanne,” he shouted as she walked away. “Damn you all to hell and your stubbornness.” He kicked the sign post and then limped on one foot, regretting the action.
It wasn’t a tall climb, only 15’ but it was maneuvering around and under parts of the wreckage that was tedious. They could hear the squeal of steel as it settled under her weight and the “pings” of a few pieces dropping off below onto the concrete. Mutt started trotting back and forth looking up at Roxanne, anxious to find a spot where he could follow her. Lucky knelt down beside him and spoke words of comfort to him.
Roxanne stopped at one point and looked down. When they saw her freeze they thought perhaps she saw a body under the wreckage. “There’s a timber rattlesnake down below. I’m not in danger but be prepared if he decides to make a run for it and comes your way. Keep Mutt away.” She reached the top of the tracks that had settled above the fence and adjoining buildings. It teetered as her weight shifted its balance and she flattened against it to stabilize it again.
She looked to both her left and right but seemed to be studying the right side the most toward the area that the sign identified as the Craftsmen Area. At that point Morgan drove up and got out of the truck with Caleb. He saw Roxanne at the top of the mound and walked over to Lucky, “What the hell is she doing?” Lucky shook his head and said, “Just being Roxanne.”
While still flattened against the tracks Roxanne looked back at Lucky and asked, “Can you throw my staff over to the other side? I’m going over.” Lucky muttered under his breath, tired of arguing with her and refused to do it in front of others. This was a discussion that they needed to have in private. He picked up the shaft, balanced it in his fist, pumped it twice to limber up his arm and threw it as high and as hard as he could. It easily cleared the area and disappeared from view.
“Great shot,” Roxanne called out. “Go to your right to that third building down there and inspect the inside. Looks like the fence is partially down behind it but I can’t tell from here. I’ll use the staff to knock on the wall. If you don’t hear me then I have the wrong building. I’ll keep calling out to you. OK, going down.” They watched as she slid her belly over on the tracks and grabbed a beam sticking up, then she stepped on something out of their view and with a slight hesitation she disappeared.
Mutt started to whine at Lucky’s feet when he saw Roxanne disappear, “Come on Mutt. Let’s go find her”. Everyone followed the path to the third building where Lucky kicked down the door, more out of frustration than for any other reason. It looked as if it had been a weavers shop with rolls of wool, ribbons, thre
ad and a spinning wheel. Lucky immediately went to the back wall but Sally was captivated by the wares. Most were dry rotted and no longer of any use but she thought the needles could come in handy.
Lucky banged on the wall, “Roxanne, are you back there?” He waited without getting an answer and then banged again, “Roxanne?!”
“Tap, tap”, finally Lucky heard a response from Roxanne. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, “but there are snakes back here. I hate snakes. “OK, listen up. This is the building you need to take down. Forget about the collapsed ride. We can drive through here into a grassy area and then on a wide sidewalk that leads down to the area that Caleb saw. Behind this wall is a fence but it’s in disrepair and only the bushes are holding it up. You can use the truck to tear the wall out, the truck to tear the bushes out and to tear the fence down. Do you hear me?” she yelled.
“Yes, we hear you,” Lucky turned to look at Brandon. “Think the truck can do that?”
Brandon tested some of the beams and walls with his hands and saw that it was a very frail building. He smiled and said, “I think I can take the whole building down just by driving through it. It will remind me of my younger days in demolition derby. Better tell her to stand back.”