by Gallier, TW
"How long should we wait for Ralph?" Olivia asked.
"I don't know. It occurred to me earlier that he might be waiting at the intersection."
"Where we were attacked?"
"He was in the process of naming it a rally point."
"Jesus," she replied. "I worked my way back to the intersection, and then followed that cross road down to this old road. I didn't see him at the intersection, but I wasn't looking either."
We decided to give him until sunrise to rally with us at the house. We'd go check the intersection next. In the meantime, we returned to the pack and settled down for a long wait. We dug out a can of cream corn and shared it.
"Well, we at least figured out one flaw in the rally point thing," she said after we finished eating. "We never decided on how long to wait for each other."
The longer we sat there, the more I worried about Ralph. He had too much camping and hunting experience to take so long. If he wasn't waiting for us at the intersection, then it was unlikely he was still alive.
"What if he's been – "
She put her hand over my mouth.
"Don't say it."
We held each other through the long night. For a while she slept, head on my shoulder. Then she kept watch while I slept with my head on her shoulder. It was remarkably refreshing, but the worry returned the instant I woke.
"It's almost sunrise," I said. "Let's check the house to make sure he didn't sneak in from the other side. If he's in the woods watching the house, then he'll see us. Otherwise, we'll head up the road to the intersection."
We took our time checking the house, the outbuildings, and even looked around in the surrounding woods. Neither of us tried to be overly stealthy, so if anyone was watching they'd see us. It was dangerous, but we had to do everything possible to hook back up with him.
Ralph wasn't there in the area, so we moved into the woods across the old road. I tried to keep us within sight of the road, in case Ralph followed it down like Olivia. The woods were open enough to see a good distance. We stopped often to listen for him moving through the woods toward the house, too.
Our caution allowed us to avoid several small groups of zombies wandering southward through the forest. The intersection proved farther away from the house than I thought, but it was still early morning when we reached it. Ralph was nowhere to be found.
"Where's the last place you saw him?"
I pointed to a spot across the road. "I saw him go through the fence. There were zombies after him."
We were inside the treeline, looking across the road and into that forested hill. We watched and waited a long moment, looking up and down the road for any sign of zombies. It was clear, so I watched the road while she raced across. Then she covered me. No zombies were riled up by our crossing.
"I see some broken branches in the underbrush," I said. "I guess we try to track him down."
"His trail is going in the right direction, toward home."
A three round burst sounded off in the distance.
"Other side of the hill," Olivia said. "Sounds like an M16 to me. Our guns only shot three round bursts. Ralph?"
"That was my first thought. We have to check it out."
"If it's not Ralph?"
"Then we might be in trouble."
The hill wasn't too steep, so we headed straight toward that last burst of gunshots. Another burst echoed through the forest about half an hour later. The whole thing made me uneasy. It was possible Ralph was injured and was trying to guide us in, but those shots would also attract zombies. Of course, it could be him shooting zombies, too. The third burst sounded like it was on the other side of the next hill.
"Let's go to the top and work our way down," I said. "At least we'll have the high ground if there is trouble."
We got about halfway up that hillside before we were stopped in our tracks. That had to be the thickest patch of thorns I'd ever seen. And it wasn't just one kind, either. There had to be every imaginable type of thorny brush in there, including blackberry. We even ate a few handfuls.
The only way through was to hack our way with machetes, and that would make too much noise. Turning left, we started working our way around the hill. The thorn patch appeared to cover the entire hilltop. There was no getting past it.
"Kyle," Olivia whispered, grabbed me and dropped to a knee. I knelt beside her. "I see him."
"Ralph?"
"Yes. Is he tied to a tree?"
She pointed. It took me a second, but I saw him. Ralph was sitting against a tree. At first I didn't see why she thought he was tied. Then I noticed his arms were pulled back around the sides of the tree.
"Is Ralph being used as bait to lure us in?" I asked.
Chapter 15
"That sucks greasy monkey balls," Olivia whispered. "If you'll pardon my French."
That was the understatement of the decade.
"I thought you said you were a good Baptist girl?"
"I said I was a Baptist," she replied. "I never claimed to be good."
We backed away and found a covered place to discuss our options. Leaving Ralph behind wasn't one of them. We had to discover how many survivors were holding him prisoner, their exact hiding places, and then figure out a way to safely extract our friend.
The situation made me feel woefully inadequate. I didn't have the training necessarily to figure it all out, much less execute a successful rescue. We discussed trying to contact them and working out an agreement, but that broke down when we realized no one could be trusted. We'd lie to them. They'd lie to us.
"I guess the first thing to do is find out how many people we're dealing with."
She nodded, looking as grim as I felt.
I led the way back toward Ralph. We moved out from his location, with the assumption it would be best to sneak up behind any lookouts. I thought their lookouts would be out in front of him. We spent the better part of three or four hours doing semi-circles from the base of the hill outward and never found a single soul. During that time, I waited for another three-round burst, but it never came.
"They must all be up on the hill behind him," I said. "I bet they have that thorn patch to their backs to keep us from sneaking up behind them."
"I think we should watch him and wait for them to give up for the night," Olivia said. "Eventually they have to sleep, too. I bet they move him when they do."
"What time is it?"
"Just past two o'clock," she said. "Yeah, we're in for a long wait."
I didn't have a better idea, so we found a good concealed spot and waited. We took turns watching him, while the other rested a few feet back. I was on my second watch when Olivia spoke in a voice way too loud.
"Kyle, we have a problem."
"Shhh. What?"
"Me," a man answered. "I'll shoot this girl in the head if you make any sudden moves."
I released my rifle and held my arms out to the side. I tried looking back, but couldn't see him. I didn't want to do anything that would get either one of us killed.
"Sorry," she said in a tiny voice.
"On your feet, roadies," the man said. "Girl first." I heard a rustling as Olivia stood. "Hands up. Keep them up, girl. Make sure I can see your hands, boy."
"Hey," Olivia cried out. "Watch where you touch, moron."
A quick glance showed a man with pieces of brush tied all over him was next to Olivia. His rifle was aimed at me, but his free hand was rubbing her between the legs. I almost jumped to my feet right then and there, but realized he was just patting her down. Still.
"Face the tree, and then cross your wrists behind your back," he said.
I watched him pull a large zip tie around her wrists. He forced her to lie face down before moving over to me.
"Hands behind your back, wrists crossed, boy," he said. I complied, reluctantly. My wrists were bound with another zip tie. "Fucking roadies. How many more are there?"
He quickly patted me down, removing all of my weapons.
"Roadies
?" I asked.
"Road warriors. You godless bastards who roam the country killing innocent women and children for a few meager straps of food."
"We're not road warriors," Olivia pleaded. "We're just three people trying to go home."
"I bet you are," he said. "Just three innocent travelers, who happen to be armed like a fucking squad of Green Berets."
"She's telling the truth," I said. "We've just been using whatever weapons we find along the way. Road warriors have attacked us many times."
He collected all of our weapons, stuffing our pistols into the pack. Then he shouldered the back and ordered us to our feet. Olivia and I were marched up to Ralph.
"Crap," Ralph said. He looked so ashamed. "Sorry."
"Not your fault," I said.
I thought we'd be tied to the same tree, or adjacent trees. Instead, he untied Ralph, and ordered us to start walking around to the other side of the hill.
For a moment I worried he was taking us somewhere to summarily execute. Relief washed through me when he guided us to a torn up path through the thorns. The thorn patch surrounded a hilltop encampment, with rows of growing vegetables everywhere I looked and a flatten area carved out on the south side. There was a small campsite with two ATVs on that flatten spot. Then I noticed three recent graves, one adult and two child-sized, about twenty feet to the east and next to the thorn patch.
"Oh god," Olivia said. "D-Did someone kill your family?"
That brought back all he'd said earlier. Seeing those graves hit me hard. Our captor was hurting badly. All I could do was hope he hadn't lost his ability to think rationally and compassionately.
"About a week ago," he said, pausing to stare at the graves. "Road warriors." He turned to the ATVs. "I was out checking my traps when I heard their engines. I came home as fast as I could, but Leslie and the boys were already dead." He glared at us with hate-filled eyes. "I killed some of them, and then dragged their bodies out for the zombies to eat."
"That's why we're so keen to get home," Ralph said. "We have to go protect our families from the road warriors."
He just scowled at Ralph.
"He's right," I quickly added. "We've had some really nasty experiences with road warriors, too. We're lucky to be alive."
He said nothing. We were forced to walk around the edge of the clearing, with the trees and thorn patch to our right. He stopped us next to three young oaks, all about ten inches in diameter. Handcuffs sat on the ground behind each tree. Apparently, he'd put some thought into what he wanted to do with us. He pulled out a pair of wire cutters and snipped Olivia's zip tie.
"Sit next that tree," he commanded.
She glanced at the handcuffs behind the tree, and then looked toward the campsite about a dozen feet away.
"Is that a door?" Olivia asked.
Following her line of sight, I spotted it. There was a well-hidden door in the side of the hilltop. Looking around, I noticed pipes poking out the top.
"You have an underground house," I said. "Are you a prepper? Or one of those off the grid people?"
He didn't answer, but it was obvious now that I was looking at everything through the right frame of reference. Firewood was stacked in craftily hidden sheds all around perimeter of the cleared area. I spotted one of those old-fashioned water pumps I remembered from cowboy movies. I didn't see an outhouse, but figured it was on the other side of the hilltop house to escape its noxious odors.
"You have quite a setup her, mister," Ralph said.
"Shut up," he said. Pushing the barrel of his rifle into Olivia's face, he narrowed his eyes. "I said sit down against the tree."
She obeyed. I fidgeted, not liking where it was headed. Ralph and I shared a bleak look. He quickly pulled her arms back around the tree and snapped the cuffs on her. Then I was ordered to the next tree, just a few feet away. After I was secured, he handcuffed Ralph to the next tree in line.
"Mister," Olivia asked rather timidly. "Can I ask what you are going to do to us?"
He sighed, glanced at the graves, and then looked up and around. It was the first sign of uncertainty I'd noticed in him.
"Haven't decided," he said. The man looked Olivia over with a little too much interest. "I might keep you."
And then he looked at Ralph and me, with the most disgusted look.
Chapter 16
"Hey!" Olivia cried.
"You're no different than the road warriors," I said. He stiffened, turning hostile eyes on me, but said nothing. "Maybe worse. Is that what your wife would want you to do?"
"You shut up about my wife!"
He was bright red and shaking. We all shut up and watched him with big eyes. Losing his family might have unhinged him. His fists clenched over and over, until he turned and stomped away and straight into the house.
"Dudes, I'm telling you," Ralph whispered. "This guy's crazy. He accused me of all kinds of shit before you got here."
"The whole world has gone crazy," I replied. "Olivia, can you slip out of those handcuffs?"
"No," she said, even as she struggled with them. "He put them on too tight."
"I think it'll be impossible to escape this guy," Ralph said. "He's like a modern day Daniel Boone. He can track us down."
"Not if we take those ATVs," I said.
Everyone's eyes went to the two ATVs. Both were painted camouflage and covered in dried mud. The three-wheeler had two rifle cases mounted on it and another storage case behind the seat. The four-wheeler was one of the smaller ones, but it would carry two people one in front of the other like a motorcycle. It only had one rifle case, but two storage cases, front and back.
They weren't as good as the jeep we lost, but we could get home a lot faster on them. It might cut a week off the journey at the rate we were going on foot.
"We can be home in a couple hours on those ATVs," Olivia replied.
By my best guess we were south of Jackson. Maybe take an hour off on an ATV drive to Plano. And I thought that was being generous.
"You think we're that close?" I asked.
"Oh yeah," she said rather confidently.
I wanted to question her on why she felt that way. Maybe she'd figured something out I missed. She had to be over-estimating how fast those ATVs went. But our captor came out of the house minus his bushy camo. He was in jeans and a plain brown t-shirt. No shoes. I would've been jealous if he wasn't carrying a sawed off, double-barrel shotgun.
The shotgun was broken open when he walked through the door, but he snapped it closed about halfway to us. That was not a good sign. My heart started thundering.
"Hey, mister," Olivia called. She sounded unconcerned, but I noticed the stress. She spoke just a little higher than normal. "I really need to go to the bathroom."
She crossed her legs and wiggled, maybe hamming it up a little too much.
"I ain't stopping you," he said.
He wasn't even looking at her. His glared at Ralph and me, finger on the trigger. I had a bad feeling he was going to get rid of us, and Olivia was about to get the shotgun wedding of her nightmares.
"I can't do that. Girls can get infections," she said. "Without modern medicine, I could die of an infection. You should know that."
He did a double-take on her. He looked more exasperated than anything. She smiled up at him, acting sweet and unthreatening. I kept my mouth shut, and prayed she could distract him. If he could get past his anger then we had a chance.
"I'm like this close to bursting," she said, squirming and nodding. "Please?"
He watched her a long moment. The anger faded from his features. I'm not sure I cared for the expression that claimed his face. Olivia acted like she was oblivious to his lust.
"You better make up your mind fast," she said, voice rising. "Oh lord."
"Okay," he said. Pointing the shotgun at her. "No funny stuff, or else."
"Thank you! Please hurry!"
I started wondering if she was acting. She had me sold. He leaned the shotgun against the tree I was bo
und to. Our eyes met, and I saw the cruel humor in his eyes.
He fished a key out of his pocket and moved around behind her tree. I heard a click and her arms immediately swung forward.
"Thank you! Where's the bathroom?"
The man lifted his hand, pointing toward the underground house's door. "Inside. I have a septic system that's – "
Olivia rolled toward me. I was still looking at the door, so didn't see her snatch up the shotgun.
Boom!
"Holy crap!" Ralph cried. "Olivia?"
"Don't move, mister," she growled. "That warning shot was to prove we aren't here to rob or hurt you. But if you do anything stupid, I'll kill you."
"Fucking roadies," he muttered.
"Sorry you feel that way, mister," she continued. "But all we want to do is get out of here. We'll leave you to stew in your own misery. Promise."
"We won't hurt you if you cooperate," I said. "Live and let live is our motto."
He didn't look convinced. Indeed, he looked ready to take his chances and pounce on her. I had her move a little further away from him. She moved around my tree, keeping the shotgun on him.
"Unlock Kyle's handcuffs," Olivia commanded. He didn't move. "Now!"
"Why should I?" he said. "What are you going to do? Shoot me?"
"Kill him," Ralph shouted. "The bastard is suicidal. He doesn't care about anything anymore. Kill him and take the key."
I heard Olivia sigh. She must've come to the same conclusion. I felt sick for her. Just killing him like that was going to hurt her heart.
"Okay," he said. "I'll do it."
She took a step back. I tensed all of my muscles, afraid he was going to try to kill me out of spite. Some guys were like that. If he had to die, then take as many of the enemy as possible first. He crawled behind me, moving slowly. To my relief he inserted the key and opened the cuff around my right wrist.
"Yes," I cried as I threw myself forward.
"Toss the key to him," Olivia said. "Do it."
With supreme reluctance, he complied. I caught it and removed the other cuff. Picking up the handcuffs, I hurried around behind him.