Tanith got out of the truck and brought her rifle to the low ready while scanning the right side of the road.
“Tim, watch the right side, Lexi the front. Guess what that leaves you, dad?” she smiled as she handed out security zones. She checked on her three youngest in the back of the extended cab and found the baby asleep and the older boys bored. There was nothing she could do about that at the moment. Walt pulled the atlas from under his seat and started studying it intensely.
“Hmm. I hate to say it, but for a little while the interstate keeps us further out from towns than the backroads do. I think we should stay the course for a while and slip on to the backroads only when we have to. At least for a while. What do you think?” he asked Tanith and handed her the atlas. She studied it for a couple of moments before nodding her head and handing it back to her father-in-law.
“Looks like he’s right. Dad?’ she said and he looked at the road system surrounding them.
“Yep, looks about right. What the hell?” he asked pointing off to the left side of the road as a wood chipper fired up. The man that had started it suddenly walked to the loading side and jumped in head first. Tanith gasped and went to cover Nate and Everett’s eyes, but the guy went through very fast, coming out as a red mist with solid parts on the other side.
“Oh, holy SHIT! Get in the fucking truck! Now!” Tanith yelled, jumping in the passenger’s seat. She glanced out the back and made sure everyone was sitting just as Walt slammed his door, dropped the gearshift into drive and floored it. The kids were all trying to talk at once and Walt, to his credit, was able to block them out and concentrate on driving around the stalled vehicles. He breezed through the outskirts of Okawville without even having to touch the brakes, but everyone kept him informed as to what they saw. What they were saying he was having a hard time believing. People setting each other on fire and then jumping into the flames.
He wanted to mash the accelerator to the floor and just hold it there until they were far away from whatever was happening to people, but he knew better and slowed the truck to a respectable eighty once the wood chipper wasn’t even a small dot in the rearview mirror. Walt looked around and could tell that his entire family was shaken to the core and he wasn’t sure how he was going to fix it.
It was twenty-three miles from Okawville to Richview, IL and at about the halfway point, Walt again slowed the truck and brought it to a halt in the middle of the interstate.
“Why are we stopping?” Tanith asked, more than a little alarmed.
“We have to figure this out before we hit the next town so that we know whether or not to take side roads around it or just blast right through it and hope for the best.” Walt informed her.
“I’m scared.” Tanith said simply, there was no need to explain why because he understood the gravity of the situation. Walt looked at her.
“Me too, but we can do this.” He returned his attention to the road and what was directly to the right and left of them, hoping the others would clear the other quadrants.
For once Tanith was glad her husband and best friend was an outdoorsman. He loved to hunt, fish, and camp, so if they had to leave the truck, he would be in his element. An element that she was no novice in herself. She wasn’t big on hunting, but she loved fishing and she’d made sure the fishing gear went with them.
The rest of the morning was fairly boring, with the family passing small village after small village.
“Honey, could you look at the map and tell me what town’s next? We could all use some lunch and a break while we try and sort stuff out.” Walt asked and Tanith quickly pulled the atlas from the dash where he’d tossed it in their haste to leave Okawville.
She studied the map for a minute, finding where they were relatively fast.
“Next town up is Lynnville. It’s a small farming village of a little over a hundred people, according to the sign the last time we went through here. The interesting part is that there’s a lake and a wilderness area. Take the Lynnville exit, turn right onto Highway 61. The lake will be on our left. If it looks vacant, I say we take a break there.” She said.
“Got it.” Walt said, hoping their luck would hold out a little longer.
Five minutes later, the Lynnville exit appeared and he took the ramp and started slowing down. One California stop later and he was on Highway 61.
“How far?” he asked.
“Take the first left if we don’t see anything.” Tanith answered. He kept the truck at forty until he had a better feel for the area. A quarter of a mile later and he came to the intersection of Highway 61 and West Lynnville Road to the right and West Tecumseh Road to the left. He slowed the truck.
“Left, make a left.” Tanith said and he dutifully turned onto West Tecumseh. He drove another quarter of a mile before spotting what he was looking for; a driveway in a wooded plot of ground. He quickly slowed the truck and again turned left. Praying there wasn’t a locked gate, he drove up the dirt road that had obviously been used by farming equipment. When he figured he was out of sight of the road, he did a three-point turn, pointing the truck the direction they’d entered and shut off the ignition. The truck let out a collective sigh as everyone relaxed somewhat for a minute and bailed out of the truck.
First things being first, Walt hopped out and grabbed a ten-gallon fuel can and started refueling the main tank. He figured that if he was able to do this every time they stopped, they’d never hurt for fuel and be able to save the twenty-gallon auxiliary tank in case they needed it. Tim, Lexi and his dad had taken up security while Tanith tended little Curtis, who by now thought he was starving, and Nate taking Everett over to the nearest tree to relieve himself. Walt saw this and smiled thinking that kids always have smaller bladders. When he heard the fuel start to rise up the filler tube, he lowered the can, screwing the cap back on and putting it back into the bed of the truck. He looked at Tanith, who was sitting on the back-bench seat, giving Curtis a bottle.
“I’ll make the kids and us some lunch. What’s in the cooler?”
“Sliced ham, some cheese and mayo. The breads in one of the bags back there too.” She replied, making sure everyone was in eyeshot.
“Let’s take an hour and get everyone taken care of and figure things out.” He answered, opening the cooler.
As he was digging for the bread, he heard a branch snap on the right side of the truck.
“Freeze! Drop your weapon and come out slowly!” Lexi yelled, bringing her rifle to bear.
“Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing on my land!” an older male replied.
Katie
Hopewell, TN
Zack snatched up his rifle after making sure that Katie and Kenna were tucked away in the hidden basement. He hated doing that, but he desperately needed to patrol the grounds because he felt the video equipment didn’t show the whole picture and until more people arrived, Katie felt better being out of sight. Not knowing made him feel less secure, even though they’d heard nothing since arriving. He did a quick radio check with Katie and slipped out the back door with his head on a swivel. His heart was hammering in his chest for a couple of minutes until he told himself to calm down. This wasn’t Afghanistan. This was Everywhere, USA. And yet for some reason he was twice as scared as any night in the sandbox. He shook his head clear and worked his way to the fence. Looking at it he shook his head. He’d asked Pops if he could improve on the nine-foot reinforced chain link design with some ideas, but Brad being Brad hadn’t seen the need. Zack had put the materials in the barn anyway, but now he’d have to risk drawing those things in just to make what he thought were necessary improvements. He squatted and listened for a few moments. It was so much quieter, it really reminded him of the sandbox. No traffic, no buzzing of powerlines, just nature; the wind rustling the tall grass, the birds, and that was about it. He didn’t even hear any dogs barking.
He slowly stood and started making his way around the fence, always looking for breaks, but also looking for any sign
s that the ground had been disturbed on the other side. When he made it to the side closest to the street, he took a knee and listened for about five minutes. If there was going to be anyone or anything out and about, this was the likely side for it. Hearing and seeing nothing, he continued on. The security cameras that viewed 360 degrees around the farm had shown nothing.
He had just rounded the corner when a sudden rustling made him freeze. Something rushed at him, making him almost lock down on the trigger and definitely making him jump back a little. A very large German Shepherd jumped up on the fence, barking and snarling, looking like it wanted to do nothing more than kill him. When Zack had caught his breath, he approached the snarling beast.
“Easy boy. Easy. I’m not here to hurt you. Just relax a little before you draw those things over here.” He said calmly and the dog instantly backed down, whining as it sat. Zack held his hand against the fence, hoping like hell he wouldn’t lose a finger in the process and the dog inched forward and sniffed it. Apparently satisfied, it licked at it. Zack let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“I can probably guess what happened to your people. Do you want something to eat? Maybe some water?” Zack asked. The dog just looked at him so Zack stood.
“Come on, boy, let’s go to the gate.” He said and walked back to the gate. Surprisingly, the dog followed him. Zack looked around, making sure that he wasn’t being fooled and quickly let the dog in. The dog was all too happy to be inside. Zack quickly secured the gate and as much as he wanted to go back to the house, knew he had to finish the patrol. He just hoped the dog would understand. He pulled the radio mic from his collar.
“Hey hon? You there?” he asked.
“Yeah. You okay?” she sounded worried.
“Yeah, just fine. Just thought I’d give you a head up, we’ll be having a guest for dinner.” He smiled.
“Um, sweetheart, you know how dad feels about bringing in others.” Katie reminded him and he chucked while he rubbed the dogs head.
“Trust me, he won’t mind. We’ll finish this part of the fence and head back. See you in a few.” He said and clipped the mic back to his collar and looked at the dog “We’re going to have to figure out your name. Sorry though, I know I promised a feast, but we’ve got to finish work first. Come on boy.” He said and then thought for a minute, realizing he hadn’t checked to see if the dog was male or female. He glanced under it “Yep, boy. That would’ve been embarrassing.” He smiled and started back on patrol, feeling a little more confident with the big dog at his side.
When he’d finished walking the fence line, Zack walked back to the house with the dog in tow. He radioed the all clear to Katie, who quickly came up the stairs carrying Kenna, but froze when she spotted the dog.
“Who’s your friend?” she asked, putting the girl down. Kenna lit up when she saw the dog and ran to give it a hug. Katie tried to stop her, not knowing if the dog could be trusted around her child, but Kenna was quick. She gave the dog a hug, the dog looked at Kenna’s parents to see if it was okay, then smothered the girl with kisses.
“Quit dog.” Kenna laughed as she pulled away from it. “He’s got kisses.” She smiled.
“To answer your question, I don’t know. He charged at me from the other side of the fence, but I think he thought I was one of them. He seems okay.” Zack said and Katie went over to pet him. She looked at the collar and found a standard rabies tag, but nothing else to identify him.
“What the hell do we call him?” Katie asked.
“His name’s Wolf.” Kenna said and hugged the dog again, who just as quickly, licked the girl’s face.
“Seems like he’s okay with that, so Wolf it is.” Zack said.
“Well, come on, Wolf. Let’s see about getting you something to eat and some water.” Katie said and the dog’s ears perked up before he followed her into the kitchen. Zack just shook his head, scooped up his daughter and followed them.
That he would have to get dog food wasn’t even a question. How he would get it was. The nearest store was some five miles away, and while by car it took no time, on a bike, that would be a different story. Not only would he have to use the Kenna’s kiddy trailer, but he would be stuck taking the roads. If he needed to take a shortcut through someone’s yard, that was out. He’d have to stick to the main roads, a prospect that didn’t thrill him. Add to that he’d have to leave his girls behind, and he was suddenly not happy at all. Then there was the risk that he’d be seen and followed back, not just by crazies, but by normal people looking for a safe place. That meant keeping Wolf just might be a problem, but then, he couldn’t really turn the big guy away; neither his wife or his daughter would put up with that. He’d have to come up with a plan and he knew damned well Katie wouldn’t like it.
Zack sat at the kitchen table and sighed.
“What?” Katie asked as he watched Wolf swallow the contents of a number 10 can of corned beef hash and started in on half a pack of hotdogs.
“I was going to cook that up with some eggs for breakfast tomorrow.” He explained and she smiled.
“There’s a whole case downstairs. You know dad loves this stuff.” She said.
“Yeah, but it points out that we need dog food, and we need it really soon.” Zack said.
“So, what were you thinking?” she asked.
“I was thinking about taking a bike and Kenna’s trailer to the Dollar General and loading up a few bags and scooting on back.” He answered and she frowned.
“And just what are we going to do with Kenna? You can’t do that by yourself.” She said, not looking happy at all.
“Yes, I can. And it’ll be safer and quicker. If anything got looted, and it probably did, it would be food. Maybe some of the medicines, but definitely food. Not dog food. People are fucked up that way, dogs come last on the list of things to get fed. I’ll ride in tonight, snatch a couple of twenty-pound bags and high tail it back before anyone even notices.” He explained, but Katie didn’t look to impressed with his plan.
“And if they do? What if people start shooting at you?” she asked.
“Then I peddle faster. I’m not looking for a firefight. I will if I have to, but I’m hoping a little speed on the way back will help.” He said.
“I don’t like this one damned bit.” Katie said.
“It’s either that or Wolfgang here eats us out of house and home. It’s five miles each way. I should be back within an hour. You three can hide in the basement.” Zack told her and she shook her head.
“Nope. How about this; you and Wolfie there go to the Dollar General while we wait in the basement? You already said he doesn’t like those things.” Katie said and he knew that she’d already won that argument.
Zack oiled every moving part he could find on both the bike and the trailer, making sure nothing squeaked. He figured it would be his luck to get a squeaky tire and have half the crazies in the county running him down.
“Are you sure about this? I could call dad on the radio and see if he could raid someplace on his way here?” Katie asked.
“Hell no, I’m not sure! This scares the living shit outta me! Really. I’ve got to dodge the infected fuckers and the not infected. This is in no way good.” He looked at Wolf “But the big guy’s gotta eat too.” Zack replied as he hitched up the wagon. “Just make sure that you plug the radio into the external antenna, like I showed you. If anything happens I’ll try like hell to let you know.”
“Fair enough.” Katie said, kissing her husband and leading Kenna back into the house. Zack grabbed the bike, donned his night vision goggles and looked at Wolf through the green glow.
“Your choice, boy; you coming with me or are you staying to guard? I prefer you to guard, but that’s your call.” He said and Wolf walked towards the gate. “Figures. It’s a goddamned conspiracy. I’m betting you’re only going because she gave you my breakfast.” He muttered as he walked the bike out the gate, stopped and secured it behind him.
The quiet
ness still freaked him out a bit. The fact that it was getting foggy didn’t help. He made his way as quietly as he could down the rough driveway and stopped where it met with Dais Lane. He quickly cleared both directions and headed to the left. He was thankful for the night vision but had a deep wish for bionic hearing like the six-million-dollar dude. He figured, probably be six billion in today’s dollar. Wolf followed off to his left side and seemed to have no problems navigating.
He turned left at the stop sign and whizzed almost silently past the Baptist church. The only noise other than the occasional light gust of wind was the sound of the tread on the road, which sounded too loud to Zack, and the clicking of Wolf’s nails on the pavement. Fifteen minutes later he was at Georgetown Road and he made another left. The fog thickened, shortening his vision, but he kept the pace up. Two miles later he wheeled in to the deserted Dollar General parking lot and stopped. Better to get an awareness before charging in.
After hearing nothing, he rode the bike up to the front doors, hoping like hell they were unlocked. He debated between taking the bike into the store and leaving it outside. Taking it in won over, because the thought of toting back a couple of twenty-pound bags wasn’t very appealing and who knew if anyone would take the bike. Just because he hadn’t seen anyone didn’t mean they weren’t out there and watching.
He, as gently as he could, tugged on the front door, almost yelling “Yes!” as it opened freely. He held it opened for a few seconds and hearing nothing, quietly eased the bike and trailer in, followed by Wolf. No sooner than he’d put the kickstand down than Wolf went on alert, growling at something. The green glow of the night vision revealed nothing. The place looked empty. Noting that Wolf was facing the back of the store, he made his way to the pet food aisle.
He grabbed two twenty-pound bags and quickly putting them in the wagon, he turned to see what Wolf was doing, surprised to see the dog still looking at the back of the store.
Three Days From Home Page 11