“On it.” Norm said. The back gate couldn’t close fast enough for any of them and the whirl of the pump starting was music to Walt and Paul’s ears. Walt led his father to the door.
“Tim, Lexi, back to the boat, we’re right behind you!” Walt radioed and waited until his father was out of the door and locked it using the lock in the center of the doorknob, slamming it shut and jogging towards the ladder. He could see the whole boat now, Tim, Lexi and Norm were all armed with their rifles. The kids were covering them and Norm had the front of the boat. No sooner than Walt’s feet had hit the deck when Norm gunned the throttle just as a large group of infected made it to the top of the Lock. Tim, Lexi and Walt quickly set about making sure that none of them made it into the boat. Tanith stood by the salon door with the twelve gauge to handle that issue, if had occurred.
Walt made his way to the flybridge.
“So how far are we from the marina?” Walt asked.
“Oh, a couple of miles. We should leave those assholes in our wake. At least I’m hopin’” Norm grinned. Walt went below and grabbed a bottle of cold water from the fridge, downing about half in one gulp. Tanith walked up and put her hand on his arm.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Nope. I was somewhere between pissing my pants and sharting my drawers down there. It was so dark, and when I rounded the corner to find the generator room, I stepped right on a dead guy in the hall. I almost lost all bodily functions at that point.” He admitted grimly. Tanith chuckled at the thought of it.
“Good thing you’ve not only got clean clothes, but there a small washer/dryer combo thingy if it happens at the next dam.” She smiled and went below to find something to fix for dinner. Dolores had taken over babysitting Curtis to give Tanith a well-earned break.
The sun was just starting to set behind them when they neared the marina.
“I’m gonna cut the throttle way back so that we don’t alert everyone in the area that we’re around.” Norm said and pulled both chrome levers almost all the way back. The big boat slowed almost immediately, which seemed to make Norm happy. As they pulled around to the backside of the marina, Walt spotted the fuel dock that held four pumps.
“What if there’s no power to the pumps?” Walt asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that. All we really need to do is run some wire from our generator to the fuel pump that we need. I’ve had to do this a time or to back on the farm, so it isn’t anything we can’t do. The trick is that we need to shut the engines down while we refuel. You’ve got a diesel on your truck, so you know that idling a diesel produces a lower burn in the cylinders and can cause more damage. Plus, it’s a safety factor. Besides, if we have to start in a hurry, we don’t have to let it warm up.” Norm said.
“Yeah, I read somewhere that diesels warm up better under a load.” Walt said.
“Exactly. Plus, it’ll keep the noise down. These tanks hold 444 gallons of diesel empty. I’m guessing we’re down to our last hundred gallons, so anything we can get will help. If all goes well, it’ll probably take us fifteen minutes to fill it up. If you guys wanna raid the store at the head of the dock while I do that, we can be out of here even faster.” Norm said and Walt went below to get everyone ready.
The big boat was barely audible as Norm docked it right next to the diesel pumps. Walt and Paul leapt off the gunnel to provide security while Tim and Dolores tied her up. Once that was done, Paul and Dolores took over security on the dock while Walt, Tim and Lexi made their way to the store. It was eerie, none of the normal sounds were there, just the slapping of the water against the moored boats, the occasional buzz of a bug, and the creaking of the dock.
Walt wanted to clear the outside of the store before entering, so Tim took a knee behind the door and Lexi and Walt walked around it. Walt paused for a second and, not hearing anything, turned back to the door with Lexi in tow. Tim jumped back when the door suddenly swung open and an older, tall bald man wearing khakis marched out on the pier and pointed a shotgun at Norm, who had just finished starting the pump.
“I hope y’all don’t think that gas is free!” the older man said and Norm smiled.
“No, sir. I have money.” Norm said.
“I hope it ain’t that worthless paper shit or a card. That ain’t no good no more.” The old man said.
“I have some gold coins. Two hundred dollars about do it?” Norm asked and the man guffawed.
“That’ll buy you a gallon.” He smirked and waved the shotgun at Norm.
“From the look of this pump, I’d say that’s more than enough. Besides, it’s all I have.” Norm protested.
“Then we’ll have to find something else.” The old man said and started to walk to the boat. He stopped when the pistol touched the back of his head.
“I’m thinking he’s right. Two hundred dollars in gold should cover it.” Walt said, stepping out from behind the door, “We’re not trying to rip anyone off. We also need some supplies from the store.”
“Nope, nothing in there’s for sale.” The old man complained and Walt nudged him again with the pistol.
“Look, we’re trying to be civil here. We could’ve just tied you up and cleaned you out. You might want to take the cash before things get worse.” Walt said as Norm continued on with refueling.
“Kill me if ya gotta, but that stuff’s mine!” the old man said as he suddenly turned around with an open pocket knife in his hand to slash Walt. Tim, being faster, brought the butt of his rifle down on the old man’s arm, knocking the knife into the water. Walt stopped all further conflict by placing the barrel of his pistol between the man’s eyes. The man’s eyes went wide for a second.
“We’re making a fair offer.” Walt repeated and the old man finally nodded, cussing at them the entire time. Walt walked around the store while Tim had the man sit in the middle of the floor at gunpoint. Walt was reaching for a couple loaves of bread when he heard the old man mutter about cocksuckers and their whore, when he stopped and walked back up to the old man, who leered at him in return. Walt said nothing as he brought the rifle butt down, knocking the old guy out.
They’d just finished loading the supplies onto the boat when Norm turned the pump off and disconnected the wires from both the pump and the boat’s generator. Tim covered the dock again as Walt and Paul untied the boat and Norm was just about to reverse them away when the old man came back out of the store, a small bit of blood trickling down the left side of his head. He fired off a round that went wild, missing the boat altogether and fell straight back on his ass. Norm chuckled and gunned the engines. Just as the boat cleared the fuel dock, Norm brought the boat to a stop.
“I hate assholes. Especially when you try to be nice to them.” Norm yelled at the old man, “Hope you have a good day!” Norm yelled again and laid on the boat’s horn for a couple of minutes before getting them out of there.
“You do realize the infected heard that and are going to be all over him?” Walt said.
“Yep. Contrary old bastard.” Norm grinned.
Delores carried up some Spam and cheese sandwiches that turned out pretty good. At least Walt’s grumbling belly told him they were appreciated. Norm took them past a small island and throttled the engines back to a slower, quieter speed.
“What say we continue on at this speed until we get to Goose Pond Colony and shut her down for the night? Been a long busy day and we can all use the rest. We’ll set up a two person watch again, in four hour shifts until daybreak.”
“What about the cabin lights?” Walt asked, “Do you think the shades will black them out?” Norm sighed and thought for a minute.
“Probably not, but we can keep the lights to a minimum and a close watch on the radar.” Norm answered. Twenty minutes later Norm brought the boat to a stop and dropped anchor. Walt stayed on the flybridge listening to the water slap against the hull and the wind. Those were the only sounds he heard and it unnerved him. It was like man had never existed; no car sounds, no barking dog
s. Nothing. It should have been relaxing, but it had the opposite effect on him. Paul and Tim came up to take the first watch.
“Keep an eye out on the radar for boat traffic. I was just thinking, keep an ear out too to canoes or rafts as well as jet skis.” If anyone tries to make it aboard, shoot first. They have no business being onboard without permission. One of you come wake me in four.” Walt said and walked below deck, crawled into the bed and went to sleep.
It seemed like he’d just closed his eyes when a sudden shaking of his leg woke him.
“Dad! Get up! We hear motors!” Tim said and Walt sat up, rubbed his eyes for a second while trying to digest what Tim had said. When he did, he jumped up, grabbed his rifle and ran to the flybridge.
“What’s up?” he asked his father.
“Listen.” Paul said. Walt had to strain to hear it but the distant whine of jet-skis were approaching from somewhere astern. He grabbed his NVG’s and switched them on. Nothing. Yet he could hear them. He looked around in a complete circle and still saw nothing. He picked up a thermal imaging camera and turned it on. The image flickered for a moment and then stabilized to reveal a pair of white spots on the water approaching them from the stern. Gauging that they had a few minutes, Walt sent Tim below to wake Norm, Delores and Lexi. He wished he had more people to man weapons, but he had what he had. While Tim was doing that, Walt made his way to the stern and found himself a good place to get a sight on the incoming vehicles.
He flipped on the thermal sight on his rifle, an expensive birthday present from his dad and centered the crosshairs on the lead jet-ski. He didn’t want to fire until he knew for sure their intentions. He heard the boats engines start, so he knew Norm was at the helm. He couldn’t hear it, but he knew that Norm was weighing anchor to at least get them moving, where they stood a better chance than sitting still.
Walt saw the flash of the gun on the jet-ski before he heard it. He didn’t hesitate. Taking a deep breath and holding it, he snapped off a round, knocking its rider from the jet-ski. The second one slowed and stopped abreast of the first one. Norm saw what was happening and stopped the boat, swinging it around to bear down on the jet-skis. Walt made his way through the salon and to the open bow, lying prone and keeping his rifle centered on the single figure on the jet-ski. Norm turned the floodlight on, immersing the single figure in bright white light.
Walt looked up to see what appeared to be a teenaged girl using her arm to shield her eyes from the bright lights. Norm expertly brought the boat to a stop ten yards away from the girl while keeping the light aimed at her.
“Hold there! Who are you and what do you want?!” he heard Paul say through the megaphone.
“Ppplease don’t shoot me!” the girl called out.
“What do you want?!” Paul repeated.
“People!” the girl shouted and Walt sighed, suddenly feeling very bad. Norm edged the boat closer and Tim helped the crying girl aboard. Norm sent Lexi to tie the jet-skis to the boat as Walt kept glassing the area with the thermal. After a few minutes, Norm turned the boat around and began following the river eastward while Walt watched a little while longer from the stern. When he finally figured out no one was following them, he retired to the salon.
“Okay, what the hell went on out there?!” he asked as calmly as he could.
“We were just trying to find regular people. We were scared.” The girl said and Walt sighed again.
“Then why in the hell did the other person with you shoot at us?” Walt asked.
“I don’t know. He was a friend of mine. Our families were camping out in the state park back there when people started dying. Others started going crazy. We hid in an empty camper for a while. When we heard your boat, I thought about the jet-skis at the beach. We took them.” The girl stopped and sniffled.
“So, neither of you were infected?” Tanith asked.
“I’m not. He started running a fever earlier today and started acting a little weird. That’s probably why he shot at you.” The girl said.
“Let’s start from the beginning; first, we won’t hurt you, so, what’s your name?” Tanith asked as the girls slowly calmed down.
“Elizabeth. Elizabeth Perry. Everyone calls me Beth. I’m sorry he shot at you.” She said between sniffles.
“That’s okay. No harm done. Except to your friend. For that I am sorry.” Walt said, “I never would have returned fire, but things being what they are, well, he shot at us first. I took that as a threat.”
“I don’t blame you, mister. What are y’all going to do with me?” Beth asked.
“First, my name is Walt. This is my wife, Tanith, my kids; Tim, Lexi, Nate, Everett, and the baby is Curtis. That’s my dad, Paul, and Norm and Delores Phillips. We aren’t going to do anything to you. Where’s your family?” Walt asked.
“Dead. They all died from fever.” Beth started crying again.
“So, you have nobody?” Tanith asked and the girl shook her head no.
“Well, we can let you off wherever you want, but honestly, I’d feel terrible about it. It’d be like setting you out in a field full of infected. I won’t feel right about that.” Delores said and Tanith nodded.
“But I’ve got nowhere to go. My grandparents are dead, my parents were single children, so I’ve got no aunts or uncles. I don’t even have brothers or sisters.” She cried and suddenly Walt felt even worse.
“Let me make you an offer.” Tanith said, “We’re going upriver to get to my dad’s farm. There’s enough room and we’d love to have you.” Tanith offered and Beth thought about it for a minute and then nodded. Another twenty minutes and Norm had the boat anchored off the shore and the lights turned down inside the boat. Walt and Tanith took the watch, since Curtis would sleep for a while.
“I don’t trust her yet.” Tanith said and Walt nodded in agreement. They would have to let everyone else know not to tell where the farm was until they could trust Beth.
When they’d finally reached a spot that Norm deemed safe enough, they anchored again and shut the boat down as much as they could. Walt and Tanith took the Watch so that everyone else could get some more sleep.
Brad
Benton, TN
At first Brad didn’t think anyone was at home. It was possible that Sam, knowing the route his wife would take, backtracked it to get to her sooner. That didn’t go with the plan, but the plan was just that. Maybe he felt that this was worse than anything they’d ever talked about. It was dark, with all the drapes pulled, so he took the Mag-lite off his vest and turned it on. The living room looked undisturbed. He felt that was a good sign because at least Sam hadn’t gone crazy. He took two steps in and then the smell hit him.
“Damn.” He muttered and radioed everyone, “Everyone stay out there for a minute.” No one replied, but he hadn’t expected one. He worked his way back to the master bedroom and found Sam in the bed. From the looks of it, Sam had just gone to sleep and never woke up.
“Donna, I’m sorry. You’d better get up here.” He told her and a few seconds later could hear her running down the hall. When she reached the room, Brad heard her gasp.
“Sam! Oh, Sam!” she cried, but didn’t step forward. Brad led her out and closed the door behind them.
Out on the porch, she collapsed, taking it about as hard as he thought she would. Not knowing anything about the virus, Brad was just glad that she didn’t rush over and hug him. He was prepared to stop her from doing that. He sat next to her and put his arm around her.
“I’m so sorry.” He said, “Do you want us to bury him?” She thought for a moment and shook her head.
“No, losing Sam is bad enough. I don’t want to lose any of you guys to the virus too. We’ll just shut the door. He loved this house and I think it’s a fitting tomb.” She sniffed.
“Yeah, he really did,” Brad said as Julie came to take over. Brad walked over to the horses, where everyone had dismounted.
“What happened?” Dillon asked.
“Looks like he got t
he virus and just went to sleep.” Brad told them.
“That sucks. I really liked Sam.” Dillon said, echoing what most were thinking. “So, do we need to dig him a grave?
“No, she wants to leave him where he is. We just don’t know much about the virus and she thinks it’ll make a fitting tomb. He really loved this place.” Brad said.
“So, how do we get to the farm without going through that group of locos?” Dillon asked.
“Once again, Dillon, full of questions. I don’t know until I look at the map, unless one of you has an idea.” Brad said.
“I know about a hundred ways to get there from here.” Diane said, “Problem is that most are highly populated.”
“Like what?” Brad asked.
“Well, Upper River Road goes to Charleston. Then we could hook up with 11 and head south. But Charleston has a sizable population in places and we’d have to go through the center of Cleveland.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to do that.” Jessie said.
“If we take Benton Station, it’ll be fine for a while, but then we go right back to the middle of Cleveland again.” Diane added.
“Sure is beginning to look like I didn’t plan this for shit.” Brad said.
“I got nothing.” Dillon said. Brad got out his maps, and with Diane peering with him started tracing routes.
“The problem is that we’re approaching this wrong, we’re still thinking like everyone’s alive and none of this shit has happened. The old rules don’t apply anymore. We don’t have to stick to streets and stay out of people’s yards. Look, if we take Benton Station to Benton Pike, towards Cleveland, we can cut across golf courses and a couple of parks to get us to Mouse Creek Road. We stay up next to I-75 and follow Mouse Creek until we get to Paul Huff. There are no houses until you get to Georgetown Road. We make a left on Georgetown and go down to Candies Creek Ridge, from there it’s nothing but fields until we get to the back of the farm.” Brad pointed out.
Three Days From Home Page 24