The Feral Children [A Zombie Road Tale] Box Set | Books 1-3

by Simpson, David A.

  He pointed at Smoke who couldn’t defend himself. Once the lie was out, Gordon knew he had to sell it before Harper came back. He had to get them to let him go before she told what really happened.

  Cody held a hand up to Swan who had pulled her other tomahawk and was staring at Gordy with a smile.

  “Who is they?” he asked.

  “Them.” Gordon said, pointing at Smoke again. “It’s a big gang. When you threw me out, I found them up north. I told them about the animals and they thought it was cool.”

  “I bet.” Cody said. “How big is this gang and what did they want? Why did you come back?”

  “I told you, it was nothing bad. Honest. They couldn’t believe you were living with the animals, they just wanted to see, that’s all. They wanted to meet you.”

  “Why did you fire the gun, then?” Cody asked examining the pistol.

  “It was the savage ones.” Gordon said, thinking fast. “We went under the fence to get in and one of them must have followed us. It was going after Harper so I shot at it to save her. It spooked Bert though and he attacked.”

  Gordon looked completely sincere and he almost believed the story himself. It was a good story. Now he had to get away before Harper could come back and ruin it.

  “Uh huh.” Cody said doubtfully.

  “Honest, Cody. I’m not mad at you guys anymore. I found a good group. We’ve got electricity and everything, we just came here on a peace mission and one of our guys got killed. If you let me go, I can smooth it over. You don’t want trouble with these guys, believe me.”

  “Yeah. I think we’ll wait to see what Harper has to say.” Cody said and shrugged the buffalo hide cloak a little higher on his shoulders. The December winds were biting and the first of the big snows looked like it was moving in.

  Gordon kept talking but nothing he said could convince them to free him. He finally ran out of lies and stood there waiting for his judgement. When they saw the rest of the tribe returning, Harper riding high above the rest of them on Bert, Swan and Cody went out to meet them. He needed to hear her side of the story. As soon as their backs were turned, Gordon pulled the snips from his pocket and clipped the wire holding him in place. He was lucky Swan hadn’t put the cuff around one of the bars. He rolled under the fence and ran for the four-wheeler. He ran like he’d never run before and he heard their shouts behind him. He threw himself inside it, hit the switch and stomped the gas pedal. The machine roared to life and shot down the road. He had the pedal floored and was going fifty before he dared to turn around to look over his shoulder. The wolves were falling away fast but the panther seemed to be gaining on him, its’ sleek black fur a shadow on the road. Gordon urged the machine faster, willed it to hurry before he felt those claws rip him out of the seat. He hunched low over the steering wheel and when he looked back again, the black cat was nowhere to be seen.

  He didn’t slow down until he was miles away.

  38

  Murray

  There wasn’t much they could do about Gordon although Donny and Swan wanted to try to track him. Harper told them what really happened and they hoped losing one of their members would scare the gang off. They decided the best thing to do was stay vigilant and keep preparing for winter. When Gordon had stolen the golf cart, he destroyed all of their solar chargers so their trips into town took a lot longer and they could carry less in the saddlebags made for the bears and wagons they pulled by hand. In the spring they would figure something out. Murray thought they could rig up some big carts for the bears to pull if they worked with them through the winter to train them on the harness. On a few trips they came back empty handed. They had to abandon the run because of wandering hordes moving slowly down the main road.

  No one said much about the dead boy they had buried in a shallow grave. None of them knew anything about him so the makeshift service they held had been short. They didn’t have much, if any, sympathy for him. He’d come on their land, tried to kidnap one of their tribe and failed. He had paid for his mistake in a currency all too common in this harsh new world.

  The days got shorter, the nights grew colder and time went by quickly as they laid in supplies for winter and everyone started getting excited about Christmas. They didn’t talk about it but beneath the festive decorations and boisterous board games by candle light, there was a quiet fear of repercussions from the death of the boy. Gordon had found someone to take him in, maybe even the gated community he’d talked so much about, but he had returned for a reason. Scouting for an attack, most likely. They couldn’t have planned on taking Harper; it had been a crime of opportunity. She had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If they were the kind of people who would kidnap a thirteen-year-old girl, who knew what else they were capable of. Revenge for sure, especially with the tale Gordon would have spun for them. Cody had no doubt he’d told them some ridiculous story of slow murder and torture of their friend.

  How many more were there? Could they be reasoned with if they knew the whole story? Maybe. Maybe not. All they could do was be vigilant.

  Murray had expressed concern over the changes in the group to Cody but he shrugged it off, told him they had to be tough or perish.

  “Maybe we should try to tone it down a little.” he’d said. “Tobias and Annalise have been using that tattoo gun nonstop, they want to add some to their faces next.”

  “As long as they charge the batteries back up, I don’t care.” Cody said. “The old world isn’t coming back. Every time Vanessa leads some of the zom’s away from the front gate, she looks for other survivors. Donny and Swan have traveled for miles in all directions and we’ve been in town eight or ten times. Everybody is dead, there’s no one else around here except Gordon’s gang and they want to hurt us. They failed this time but they’ll probably try again when it warms back up. We need be fierce and look fierce. Maybe it will scare them off.”

  Murray was worried that they were becoming wilder, losing their culture, but nothing could be further from the truth. They were losing the twenty-first century culture of smartphones, unlimited channel TV’s and twenty-four-hour connectivity to social media but those were frivolous things. In the new world, they didn’t have time for electronic distractions. Murray had rigged a bicycle up to an alternator so they could charge the car batteries and it gave them a little power when they needed it. He’d had enough foresight to download tens of thousands of books on every imaginable subject and they spent free time reading. Each of them was rediscovering how their early ancestors had lived and survived by their wits and skills. Cody had Vikings, Indian and African warriors, a ninja, and a pioneer woman in his tribe. Murray was his mechanical wizard and he considered himself a mountain man like Jeremiah Johnson. They discovered new skills and taught each other. They learned from their cultures and brought ideas to the table from all of them.

  Every day was filled with work, patrols and training. Cody was learning how to hunt. Harper was teaching Donny to sew. Swan taught Murray and the triplets to become deadly accurate with throwing knives and the bond between them and their animals became closer. They honed their fighting skills, practicing for hours with spears, war hammers, battle axes, blades and arrows. They knew they were no match for a grown man in hand to hand but the weapons and the animals evened the odds. They hoped it would be enough. They hoped they would frighten anyone away who were looking for easy conquest. From the history they read and from what they’d seen so far, they didn’t think anyone they met would be kind and helpful. The world had lost its thin veneer of civility, there was no fear of the law and the strong would take from the weak.

  Murray tossed another log on the fire, rolled around the triplets and the foxes playing some strange game that included a lot of giggling and went to stare out of the window. It was nearly noon and still snowing, thick and wet, adding to the three or four inches already on the ground. It had moved in late last night and everyone was excited to have a white Christmas. They had given up on decorating a tree and putting pr
esents under it. Between the monkeys and the panther, it was constantly being knocked over or the gifts torn open. It and all the presents were currently in the garage and they were going to bring it in after dinner. If they were all in the room, they could probably keep the curious animals away from it and keep it standing for a while. At least until gifts were exchanged.

  Cody came in with another propane bottle, dusted the snow from his buffalo cloak and hurried it to the kitchen. The twins were beside themselves with worry and snatched it out of his hands to swap bottles. They had a cake in the oven and were afraid it would fall.

  Murray pulled out his inventory notebook and made a little check mark. They had four more full bottles. Enough to keep the converted stove working until maybe mid-February if the twins didn’t do a whole lot of baking. They were getting better with the dutch oven and cooking some things over the open fire.

  “There’s the same fifteen at the front gate.” Cody said, letting Murray know that no more of the undead had wandered in overnight. “But they’re barely moving. It’s like they’re frozen or something.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” he said, chewing on his ink pen and staring at the ceiling. “They’re probably like reptiles, they don’t move around much when it’s cold.”

  “They’re still really chompy, though.” Cody said. “Their mouths move well enough.”

  “You’re going to leave them at the gate, right? Not going to kill them?”

  “Yep. I think you’re right about keeping them as a little deterrent for Gordy’s Gang if they decide to come back.” Cody said and picked up his Warhammer leaning against the wall.

  “I don’t expect any trouble out of them until it warms up.” Murray said. “The roads are slick and ATV’s aren’t all that great in the snow.”

  “You’re probably right.” Cody said “but I feel better with them there.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him to try something on Christmas Eve.” Swan said, bundling up herself to bring in more firewood. “He’s a lowlife.”

  “Maybe.” Cody said. “It’s my turn to do a perimeter check, I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “Dinner is at early tonight!” Annalise yelled from the kitchen. “Before dark so don’t be late.”

  “Take Otis!” Clara complained. “He’s hogging all the heat!”

  “Yeah, take Otis.” Caleb and Landon chorused, adding their two cents. “Heat Hog. Heat Hog!”

  “Didn’t you just hear Ana tell me to be back before dark?” Cody asked. “I’ll be gone till January if I take him. You know he’s slow and grumpy in the cold.”

  “He’s taking up all the room!” Clara said as she scrambled on top of the big, lazy furball. “Make him move!”

  “You make him move.” Cody said and laughed when all three tried to push him.

  It was a game they played and Otis would probably amble off to a corner in a few minutes. Or not. He might ignore them as they climbed all over him.

  Murray watched from the window as Cody cut towards the gate and disappeared in the falling snow. He was aware of his own physical limitations and practiced for hours on end with his throwing knives to try to make up for it. He was far from helpless; he could use them to strike from a distance since close quarter fighting left him at a disadvantage. He had machetes strapped to his chair but they were last ditch weapons. His visit with the disabled Army vet was burned in his mind and kept him focused but he knew no matter what they did, if Gordons’ gang had firearms, their blades and hammers would be useless. They would be bringing knives to a gun fight. They had avoided guns so far; they got along fine without them and didn’t see a real need. Besides, nobody knew anything about them, the gun store in Putnam had bars on the doors and windows and the animals got skittish around loud noises. That would have to change. They were going to have to get some and learn how to use them and teach the animals not to be afraid of them. It was doable, it only took a little time. They were going to work on it over the winter and maybe by spring time they would be ready if the other gang came after them.

  He spent most mornings working in the house or, when it wasn’t too cold, at his shop in the converted gift store. He was making hard copies of all the most important information in his eBooks. He filled notebook after notebook with all manner of things he considered essential knowledge. He felt that learning to grow their own food was a critical skill. The stuff on the store shelves wouldn’t last forever and they needed to start now. He wasn’t a green thumb and doubted if their first or even second crops would do well. It was trial and error but the books would help. It was fall when the outbreak started and the hardware store didn’t have much of a seed selection. They would have to try and save seeds from the crops they planted next year. They had plenty of fertilizer from the animals and an ideal spot to plant along the fertile land on the banks of the Mississippi.

  He devoted a few hours every day to working with the capuchins. They were fast learners and picked up the new tricks and skills quickly. He trained them using the Halloween dummies to attack on his command, to bite and claw and harry their opponent, using their numbers to their advantage. He also taught them simple skills like retrieving things he couldn’t reach or placing items on shelves. They were eager to learn, mastery of a new trick meant a treat. Their new-found skills aided him greatly in managing his daily tasks, most importantly they made him laugh and gave him hope.

  39

  Gordons Gang

  It was late afternoon; the snow was still falling and everyone except Cody was back from their duties and chores. The twins were adding the final touches to Christmas dinner and had to keep shooing everyone out of their kitchen. Harper had the tree up in a corner and they kept a constant eye on it to make sure the animals didn’t go after the ornaments and tinsel. Murray watched out of the window for Cody. He wasn’t worried, not yet, but darkness was creeping in early and the snows were getting deep.

  The animals heard the sound of engines first and heads cocked at the noise, something they hadn’t heard in months.

  “What’s wrong with Mr. Ringtail?” Caleb asked when his fox ignored him and stared at the door, his nose high looking for a scent.

  Murray shushed everyone and they heard the high revving two stoke motors roaring into the parking lot. It wasn’t a friendly sound, and they heard shouts and laughter cutting through the twilight. Headlights arced across the walls and the wolves had low growls in their throats. Donny and Swan reacted first and dove into their armor. Clara tried not to cry but she knew something bad was happening. Everyone looked afraid. The twins came rushing out of the kitchen, tossed their aprons and grabbed their gear. The noise increased as the machines came to a halt and revved their engines, splitting the twilight with the angry mosquito noise. It was an aggressive sound. It was a challenge.

  “Got a little something for you!” they heard Gordon shout as the engines all cut off at once. “Better hurry!”

  There was laughter of young men. Drunken laughter with a mean edge. Donny and Swan flashed hand signs at each other at a furious pace then ran for the back door with weapons in hand.

  “We’ll flank.” she said to the twins as they disappeared.

  “Keep the animals inside.” Tobias said, as he and his sister strode out into the cold wearing their coyote fur cloaks, beaten leather armor and sawblade axes.

  “Hey, freaks.” Gordon said when the tattooed twins stopped just short of the iron bars. “Where’s the rest of the circus act? Too afraid to show their faces?”

  The undead at the gate had turned towards the sound of the engines and were in a slow-motion frenzy to get to the fresh blood. Their mouths ground and chomped at the air but their bodies moved like they were trying to walk through thick molasses.

  A dozen snowmobiles were lined up some twenty or thirty feet away and Cody was strapped cruelly across the front of Gordons. His face was battered and most of his armor was missing. Shirtless, arms tied wide to the handlebars, his head lolled to one side. Blood oozed
out of a gash that ran across his forehead and down one eye. Gordon stepped away from his machine and let a chain dangle from his hand.

  “Looky what we found.” Gordon said and yanked Cody’s head up by a handful of hair.

  The eye that wasn’t swollen shut popped open and he snapped at Gordons wrist, trying to sink his teeth into a vein. Gordon jumped back and swung the chain, lashing him across the chest with an ugly flesh tearing sound.

  “Stop it!” Harper screamed and her hands flew to her face in horror. “What kind of monster have you become?”

  The zombies made their slow way across the sidewalk, low moans in their throats and hands inched up, reaching for the fresh meat.

  “Sure.” Gordon told her. “I’ll stop. I’ll even let you have him back. I’m offering a trade. You for him.”

  Grins from the other riders. Rifles and shotguns were laid across their handlebars.

  “I have a better trade.” Tobias said “Cut him loose and I’ll let you live.”

  There were guffaws of laughter from the teenagers.

  “Shouldn’t you be playing with your Lego’s, kid?” one of them asked.

  They were unimpressed by the skinny albino twelve-year old’s, evil looking axes or not.

  “Better make up your mind fast, darling.” Gordon said. “At the rate these dead bastards are moving, I’d say you have maybe a minute to decide.”

  Cody found Harpers tear filled eyes and shook his head.

  “Don’t.” he told her between gasps.

  “Shut up.” Gordon said and stepped farther away as the deaders struggled forward on their uncooperating frozen legs.

  The mob pushed their way through the snow, inching closer and their hunger grew more intense. One of them toppled over and caused a chain reaction. More fell and struggled to find their feet again. Gordon shook his head, the teens on the snowmobiles laughed and drank from bottles as the other undead kept trudging forward.