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

by Simpson, David A.

  Before anyone could try to dissuade him, he gigged Popsicle into the river. Daisy followed. The current grabbed the big bears and pushed them down stream. They were powerful swimmers though and quickly crossed over. Tobias held onto the saddle horn and kicked debris away as the bears’ big webbed feet propelled them across. His face was set in stone and streaked with gore that the rain was slowly washing away. He had to find her.

  Once Popsicle clawed his way up the muddy bank, he turned downriver and waited for the bears to scent her. They found nothing. Undaunted he began picking his way through the greenery and disappeared from sight. He was certain he would be able to feel it if their connection had been severed. She was out there somewhere. Maybe hurt, maybe injured, but still alive. He knew it.

  “Harper, Vanessa, you want to hurry downstream a few miles, find us a place to hole up that’s on the water. We’ll be down as fast as we can but you’ll make good time on the roads.” Kodiak said.

  “Bert and Ziggy won’t bet much use in this thick stuff anyway.” Harper answered and started leading the giraffe out of the woods. “We’ll find someplace dry and gather up some towels and blankets. She might be hurt.”

  Swan wiped the rain out of her eyes and let the wolves smell Analise’s abandoned backpack.

  “Hunt.” She urged them. The wolves began scouring the ground for a trace of the girl.

  Donny was desperate. His emotions were all over the place. He cared for Analise deeply and he knew she had feelings for him too. He had to find her no matter what.

  Donny signed to them. “Yewan and I are faster on our own. We’ll go ahead a few miles and work our way back.”

  “Go”. Kodiak agreed. He was worried for Analise. The river raged uncontrollably and had already risen a few inches during the time they’d been at its banks. It was full dark, the cloud cover was thick and the storm seemed to be gathering strength. He hoped they found her soon.

  They searched for hours along both shorelines deep into the night but were unable to find a scent. Their flashlights danced but visibility was only a few feet.

  Analise was gone.

  She had vanished.

  The tribe met Tobias six miles downstream at a bridge. The water was still rising and already lapping at the bottom of the wooden structure. Lightning crackled across the sky and the tribe was drenched to the skin from the rain that blew in hard.

  “I can’t find her.” Tobias moaned.

  “Zero never picked up her scent.” Swan said. “Maybe she didn’t go in the water after all. Maybe she found another way.”

  Lightning hit a tree a few hundred yards away from where they were gathered. Animal and child alike flinched as it exploded and caught fire.

  “We have to get away from these trees and this water. It’s a magnet for the lightning.” Kodiak yelled into the wind. “The girls found a house nearby. This is useless, we’ll start looking again at first light!”

  “I’m not giving up.” Tobias screamed back, the wind whipping his hair. “I must have missed her, she’s gotta be somewhere!”

  “You won’t find her if you get fried by lightning. We’ll look again in the morning. Come brother, Analise wouldn’t want us to be out here.” Kodiak pleaded.

  “No.” Tobias turned his back and climbed on Popsicle. “You guys get safe. I’ll find her and join you.”

  The boy and the polar bears disappeared into the darkness.

  “He’s a stubborn fool. Analise is no dummy. If she’s not drowned then she’s safe and dry somewhere. We’re not doing her or any of us any good staying out here in this rain. There’s no trail, no scent, I want to find her as much as anyone, but we could walk right past her in the dark and not even realize it.” Swan yelled over the wind and rain.

  Donny disagreed, shook his head and tapped his ring. Yewan followed and they disappeared from sight. He was soaked and chilled to the bone, but he wasn’t ready to give up.

  Kodiak swung into the saddle and looked at Swan. “One more hour. After that, we’ll hole up and start again in the morning.”

  Harper and Vanessa joined them and went back up river as he urged Otis downstream. He didn’t know what else to do. Swan was right, but so was Tobias. He dreaded what would come if she wasn’t found. It would tear Tobias apart. Swan pulled one of Analise’s shirts from her pack and let the wolves smell it again.

  “Find her,” She whispered. “Please."

  23

  Tribe

  One more hour turned into the rest of the night. They slowly picked their way up and down the overflowing riverbanks. Swan urged the wolves to push through the underbrush closest to the water. Their low, sleek bodies glided through the thickets with ease. Each wolf had the scent strong in his or her nose, but there was nothing to find.

  Tobias fared no better on the other side of the river. His hair hung limp and exhaustion threatened to topple him from the saddle. For hours he had gotten excited over every piece of trash caught in the branches, every plastic bag snagged on a root, it might be a sign from her but it never was. It was just garbage. He was spent and felt hollow and worst of all he was starting to doubt she’d survived.

  The lightning had stopped before dawn, but the clouds were still heavy and gray. They continued to sprinkle rain with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

  He’d pushed hard, desperate to reunite with his twin but he was starting to give up hope. He’d been born five minutes sooner than her and that was the only time in his short life that he’d lived without her. Common sense told him that if she’d made it this far, she would have walked or crawled out of the muddy water. The river wound through a residential area of waterfront homes and became wide and lazy a half mile below the bridge. It was high up in yards, flooding basements and storage sheds and the hunt became easier without the thick brush to fight through. He was at least six or seven miles from where she’d gone in the water when he came to another bridge.

  He guided the bears to the middle, dismounted and watched the water roll by below him. Donny appeared from behind a fence and joined him. He held up a hand and signed, nothing. I found nothing.

  Swan and Kodiak came out of the mist a few minutes later, their boots squishing through muddy grass. Tobias noted the exaggerated limp of Otis. The night had been hard on the wounded bear.

  “I don’t know what to do.” Tobias said when they met in the middle. “I haven’t found anything. Not a shred of clothing, not a whiff of her.”

  Kodiak set his jaw. His fears were being realized. He knew that if he didn’t proceed carefully, he’d lose another member of the tribe.

  “Tobias,” Kodiak said.

  Tobias gripped his battle axe tightly. “Don’t. Don’t you say it.”

  “The others have no idea where we are. We need to go back, they may have found something. Analise could be with them for all we know. If she did go in the water, she’s not here now.” Kodiak met the steely gaze of his brother.

  He didn’t mention the possibility of her caught in a tree root, trapped beneath the surface. Or maybe she’d been bit and was wandering aimlessly through the woods. Or maybe the current had carried her body farther downstream and she was floating face down in someone’s yard, gently bobbing against a swing set. He didn’t need to.

  “He’s right.” Swan said. “She could be with Harper and Vanessa. Look, my wolves are better at tracking than those bears. I’ll work that side of the river back to the bridge. Maybe you missed her in the dark. If she’s out there we will find her.”

  “And if we don’t?” Tobias roared back. “We just gonna leave her for the scavengers?”

  “No.” Kodiak replied. “We search back up the river, all the way to the Walmart. We checked every house, we rattled every bush, and we looked up in the trees. You and Donny take this side. Swan and I will work the other. If we don’t find her, then she’s not going to be found. If she’s not with the others, we press on. If she’s out there, she knows where to go. We all do. We planned for this. We all knew something c
ould happen and we could be separated. We’ll take it slow; give her time to catch up. She knows the route by heart. She’s smart and resourceful, she’ll make it, but she’ll never find us if we aren’t where we are supposed to be. It’s all we can do right now.”

  “If we can’t find her, we have to be where she can find us.” Swan said.

  “What if she’s dead?” Tobias’ asked as his shoulders slumped and the fire went out of his eyes. “What if she’s gone?”

  Swan moved to Tobias and placed a hand on his arm. “We can’t think like that.” She whispered.

  Kodiak shook his head. “She made it to the water, she’s out there somewhere. She probably got out and is cozy and warm in one of these houses. The rain washed away her scent so we walked right past her. I’m sure she’s fine, probably making herself some herbal tea and she’ll call us all dummies for spending the night out in the rain.”

  Tobias gave him a sad half smile and nodded.

  “Yeah, probably. I’m gonna give her a piece of my mind if she is.”

  He pulled his hair back, straightened his shoulders and led the polar bears across the bridge. He didn’t really believe it, not deep inside, but he had to hope. He had to try to believe it.

  24

  Analise

  Analise opened her eyes slowly. She was being carried by someone she didn’t know. She heard him humming a tune she didn’t recognize. Panic seized her, her first instinct was to fight and run, but she was so tired, her leg was throbbing, her head hurt, her shoulder ached and his calming voice didn’t seem threatening at all. She was soaking wet, freezing cold and didn’t have the strength of a kitten. She closed her eyes and drifted off.

  Sometime later, she slowly became aware of her surroundings. She was laying on something soft and a warm blanket covered her. A bed. A real bed. She didn’t want to give away the fact she was awake just yet and inventoried her body. She felt the bandages wrapping her shoulder and ankle. She hurt all over, even her lungs felt like she’d swallowed fish hooks but she could fight through that. It seemed that some kind of pain was a constant in her world. She could ignore it. She flexed her ankle a little. The pain made her catch her breath. She hoped it wasn’t broken because she might need to run or fight. She wondered where she was and about the tribe, how far away they were. She thought about the nameless man that had saved her life and wondered who he was. She kept her eyes closed and strained her ears.

  She heard the creak, creak of a rocking chair and the sound of humming. She cracked her eyelids and tilted her head slightly. She tried to give the appearance she was still asleep but restless.

  The humming stopped. “Honey, I think our guest is awake.”

  “Be right there,” a woman’s voice answered.

  “It’s ok. You’re safe here.” A man said gently. “Would you like some food or something to drink? We have some pretty good rabbit stew and real lemonade I made myself.”

  She lay still, unsure of what to do. She wasn’t wearing her armor, she had nothing at hand to use as a weapon and it felt like she was wearing loose fitting pajamas. Injured and weaponless, she considered her options.

  “Boo!” a voice said inches from her face.

  She startled and her eyes flew open. Laughter filled the air and she saw a teenaged girl looking down at her.

  “Dad, she smells funny and it looks like someone drew all over her with a magic marker. Can I draw on her too?”

  The man chuckled. “That’s enough baby. Give her some room. She’s had enough excitement for one day.”

  The girl backed away and Analise studied her. She was pretty in a no-frills kind of way. Her eyes were large and kind. Her smile was filled with the innocence of a small child despite the fact she was older than Analise.

  “Hi.” Analise said.

  The girl squealed in delight and ran behind the man in the rocking chair. She peeked over his shoulder at Analise.

  She swallowed a groan, pushed herself into a sitting position and studied the man and the autistic girl as a woman walked in the room with a glass of lemonade. He was a big man. Tall and broad at the shoulders. He had a gray beard and most of his hair was gray too. He wore black rimmed eyeglasses that had tape around the middle. The kind her dad used to call BC glasses, whatever that meant. He wore cargo shorts, sandals and a t-shirt from a band she’d never heard of.

  The girl grinned at him from behind his shoulder and gave her a little wave. Analise returned it. The woman with the glass smiled at her. She was blonde and pretty with a sassy look about her that Analise instantly warmed to.

  She tensed when the man stood from the rocking chair and stepped towards her. He held out his hand.

  “I’m Tony Spivey, but you can just call me Spivey. That silly creature there is my daughter Sara and that beautiful lady there is my wife Laurie.” He said.

  She shook and his massive fist swallowed her tiny hand.

  “Analise.” She croaked and felt the rawness in her throat. Hacking up so much dirty river water had left it sore and tender.

  “We’re glad to meet you Analise. It’s good to see you awake, you had us worried for a while.” He said.

  “How long was I out?” She rasped.

  “Before I fished you out of the water? I don’t know, but you’ve been here for two days.”

  “Two days!” She threw the covers off, winced at the pain and went to stand.

  She had to get back to the tribe, they might still be waiting in a safe spot near the Walmart. Tobias would be freaking out by now. The Spivey’s didn’t try to stop her as she stood but the big man moved across the room in a flash when her ankle buckled. He caught her by her good arm and helped her sit down. A wave of dizziness washed over her and the pain from her injured leg was excruciating.

  “Easy there.” Laurie said. “Your ankle is swollen twice the size it should be, you’ve got bruises over every square inch of your body and a big hole in your shoulder. It took thirteen stitches to close the wound and you have a knot on the back of your head the size of a goose egg. Here, have a sip.”

  Analise took the glass and drank. At least her throat felt better with the cool lemonade coating it.

  Sara came over and sat beside her and stroked her hair, careful to avoid the knot on the back of her head.

  Spivey watched the girl with a mixture of fascination and sympathy. She was too young to be tattooed all over but there she was. The old scars that covered her arms told a story of pain and suffering. Was she a slave to one of the roving bands of marauders? He felt his anger rise at the thought of what heartless men were capable of when it came to pretty young girls. She couldn’t be more than fourteen at the most. Too young to bear the multitude of scars that covered her tiny frame.

  “Where are you from?” He asked her.

  “Iowa.” She said and tears welled in her eyes, threatened to spill over. “My tribe and I are going to Lakota. We had to leave, there was a fire, and we lost everything where we were staying. I have to find them. My brother and the others are probably going nuts. They probably think I’m dead.”

  Laurie sat beside her and placed an arm around her shoulders. “Your tribe?”

  Analise blinked her glacier blue eyes rapidly and savage pride took the place of the tears. She told them a little of their story, leaving out the whole episode with Gordon and Smiths Landing. She let them think the fire had been an accident, some things were best left unsaid.

  Laurie shooed Tony out of the room as she and Sara removed the bandages to check her wounds. The swelling in her ankle was going down, nothing appeared to be broken, and the gash in her shoulder wasn’t showing any signs of infection.

  “You do good work.” Analise said, admiring the straight, even stitches. It might not leave much of a scar. When she smelled the dinner that was simmering on the stove, she realized how hungry she was and determined that maybe she had time to eat, that she didn’t have to leave right that minute.

  Dinner was a languid affair with lots of talk, second hel
pings of food, and the Spivey’s had plenty of news to share. They had a radio and listened to Radio Lakota when the signal was good. She told her tale of survival and how a group of ragtag kids had beat the odds. It was the most incredible thing they’d ever heard and Spivey shook his head when she finished.

  “Wow.” He leaned back in his chair. “All this time I thought the wild children riding around on animals was just another tall tale.”

  She was a little confused, she didn’t know how so many people knew about them or had stories to tell. Bob was the only one they’d had any interactions with until they’d gone to Gallatin. She was pretty sure none of Gordon’s gang were spreading stories. She was pretty sure none of them were still alive after Swan had been up all night on guard duty and her armor had fresh blood on it in the morning.

  “That’s it exactly.” Spivey said. “They’re telling tall tales. If a retriever can get on the radio with Bastille, it ups his street cred. The more famous they are, the more they can charge for the work they do so they tell the stories of the untamed children. It’s good radio, even if anybody with a brain doesn’t believe half the stories they tell.”

  “Where are we?” Analise asked. “How far are we from that Walmart?”

  “That would be Norton. It’s about ten miles away. Nothing there anymore but a few undead that didn’t get swept up into a roving horde.” Spivey told her.

  “There’s a lot more there now.” She said. “They were fast, crazy fast. We had a plan, Kodiak always has a plan he makes us memorize. I’m the only one who didn’t make it to the lawn and garden section. They all went out the side entrance once the zombies were all jammed up inside.”

  “They might still be there, I can catch up to them.” She continued. “That’s where we were when we got separated. I went out the back of the store when we got overrun and jumped in the river to get away.”

  “I’ve got to get back before they take off, if they haven’t already.” She said and stood. “Thanks for everything but I need to find them.”