Not needing to be told twice, Rayburn crawled up the embankment, grabbing Dan’s pack as soon as his feet hit the road.
Dan followed, retrieving his pack from the doctor. He started off down the road at a trot, dodging the dead who grasped for him along the way. Rayburn was right behind, doing his best to keep from being penned in or grabbed.
“What about the helicopter?” George asked, seeing it still hovering in the sky not too far away.
“I’m hoping they won’t look back,” Dan said, knowing that their luck could turn bad at any second.
“What are we going to do?” Rayburn asked.
“I have no idea. I’m making this up as we go.”
~*^*~
~35~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
Snake finished eating his dinner and went to do his nightly check of the building. He kept his eyes out for Ernie along the way, since he needed to talk to the janitor.
More survivors had come in that day, alerted by the flyers that had been put up. So far, the newcomers seemed to be fitting in well, relieved to have found shelter.
A few of the residents were worried about the hospital getting crowded again, but most were happy to be bringing in refugees. Someone had brought up the idea of taking a couple of buildings near the hospital and walling them all in together. Another suggestion had been to move outside of the city where they could find some vacant farm houses and build a community. The group seemed to be divided over the two options, and Jack made the point that if some of the residents moved, there probably wouldn’t be a need for more buildings near the hospital.
New playground equipment had been picked up, and some of the residents had installed it in the park area. Between the new playground, the growing library, and the large gaming room that had been set up inside, Snake didn’t think that boredom was going to be a problem for the children when they weren’t busy with their schoolwork and chores.
Outside the walls, work was being done, too. With the first frost usually occurring in mid-September, they knew that time was running out if they wanted to harvest crops before it got too cold. Billy had been working daily on clearing a route and moving cars to the sides of the road, creating a car wall to the edge of the city. A group would be heading out to check out the farms and bring back any produce they could find. Theresa had gotten her canning supplies and was more than ready to get to work.
They had found a large tank that was suitable for carrying fuel, and had made a couple of trips to the rental store to obtain gas and diesel for the vehicles and the generator. Snake knew that eventually the supply would run out and they’d need to find a new source for fuel. Of course, there was plenty of gas sitting in vehicles around the city. It was just going to be an ordeal to siphon it all out. He wondered if they could use some type of pump to make it a little easier.
Snake found Moose in the ER, showing off a new leather jacket and pants to some of the others. Clothing had been brought in by the truckload, and one of the newcomers had taken the job of sorting it out and making sure that everybody got something. Cloth and sewing machines had also been appropriated since there were a few people who preferred to make their own outfits. Moose was one of them. After procuring the necessary tools and materials, he’d spent several evenings working on the leather nurse’s uniform that he’d promised Marla. The RN was usually with him, looking over his shoulder as he created new garments. Just the previous night, he’d finished a jacket and a pair of pants for himself.
“Pretty fancy threads you’ve got there,” Snake said, looking at Moose.
A couple of the other men whistled, making comments about how sexy he looked. Moose just grinned and turned around to show them where he’d embroidered his name on the back of the jacket.
“Where’d you learn to do that?” Snake asked.
“My dad had an upholstery shop,” Moose said. “When I was a kid, he’d take me to work during the summer and let me help out. The man could sew anything, and he was big like me, so no one ever gave him any guff about it. After a while, I got pretty good, too, especially with leather. I can pretty much make anything out of leather.”
“Masonry’s a far cry from upholstery,” Snake said, scratching his head, “what made you change vocations?”
“When I was 16, my mom discovered Dad was doing other things besides sewing while he was at work. She found out about his girlfriends and divorced him. I didn’t want anything to do with the cheating bastard, so I moved away with mom and dropped out of school to work full time. The first job I found was packing mud for a bricklayer, and since then I just never found a better offer.”
“Well, I’m glad you’ll have something to do once you’re done building walls and stuff for us.”
“I’ve still got that garage to build, Boss,” Moose replied. He had finished building the two guard towers in the parking lot, and he’d added stairs to both of them. One was in the corner of the two walls, and the other was near the gate. Moose’s next project was to build a small garage for the bikes so they wouldn’t be forced to leave them outside in the elements.
“You guys are all working too fast,” Snake laughed. “I’m having a hard time thinking up new projects to keep you busy.”
“Without having to get permits and inspections, it gets done a whole lot faster than in the old days,” Moose grinned.
~*~
Near Oxnard, California
Hixson moved along at a quick pace, and Rayburn seemed to be keeping up well, though he was unusually silent. As they made their way north, the helicopter moved farther away, but not far enough to give Dan peace of mind. They finally spotted a farmhouse with a barn and a few other outbuildings. Unfortunately, there were a number of figures lurching about the yard and the road.
“I thought we could hide out for a while until the chopper moves on,” he told Rayburn.
“I’m not speaking to you,” George said, sulking.
“What was I supposed to do?” Dan asked. “We couldn’t stay in that tunnel.”
“I don’t know why not. We were doing just fine in there.”
“Maybe you were doing fine on your end, but I wasn’t doing so hot on my side.”
“You probably made noise or did something to attract them,” Rayburn said.
“Right, I made noise,” Hixson said, his attention on the farmhouse across the road.
“Well, I sure didn’t,” Rayburn said. “I was perfectly quiet.”
“I didn’t say you did,” Hixson said, in growing frustration.
“You insinuated it.”
“No, I just meant . . . never mind. Let’s just go. We need to get to that house.”
“Is this another one of your brilliant plans? It doesn’t look like a very good place to hide out,” Rayburn noted, peering around him.
“I know,” Dan said. Besides the numerous dead in the area, the front door of the house had been broken down, taking away some of the appeal. He was about to comment when he heard a muffled sound behind him. Turning quickly, he saw that Rayburn had been grabbed from behind and was fighting to keep a set of deadly teeth away from his neck.
“Could use a hand here!” Rayburn gasped, fighting to keep the ghoul back.
Dan finished it off easily, but he was shaken by another close call.
“I never even heard that one approaching,” he admitted.
“I’m starting to wonder if the day will ever come when we don’t have to look over our shoulders constantly,” Rayburn said.
“I kind of doubt it,” Dan said with a sigh. “Let’s go check out that barn. We won’t stay long enough to get trapped in there, but maybe we can find a knife or something for you to use besides the bat. You need something for when you’re fighting up close.”
“Sounds good to me,” Rayburn said, glancing over his shoulder.
Hixson took off across the road while Rayburn hurried to catch up. Before they even reached the other side, they’d already caused a few heads to swivel their way.
<
br /> “Aren’t you going to kill them?” Rayburn asked, trying to keep up.
“If the helicopter comes back this way, and the pilot sees a trail of bodies leading to the barn, it might look a little suspicious.”
“And you don’t think that a trail of live, well, sort of live, zombies leading to the barn will get his attention?”
“That’s another reason why we have to hurry,” Dan said, weaving around a couple more of the dead.
When they reached the barn, Hixson had to kill two ghouls, but he dragged the bodies inside. His plan to find Rayburn a new weapon was forgotten as his gaze stopped on an older model Ford pickup that seemed to be in decent condition. There were no keys, but he wondered if he might be able to find them in the house. He didn’t want to waste more time, but if they could procure a running vehicle out of the deal, he thought it might be worth it.
“Back outside,” he said, moving past his bewildered friend.
“Now what?” Rayburn asked, hurrying to catch up. “More surprises? What stupid thing are we going to do this time?”
“I liked it better when you weren’t speaking to me,” Hixson said. He approached the house with his knife pulled, having no idea what to expect inside. The screen door was still intact so he closed and latched it, hoping it would at least buy them a few minutes.
“Kitchen,” he said, moving through the house. “George, just keep your eyes open and let me know if we get company.”
Rayburn pulled a butcher knife from a wooden knife block on the counter.
“Might want something a little smaller to take with you,” Hixson said as he glanced at the kitchen walls, hoping to see the keys hanging there. When that netted him no results, he began to search through the drawers, but had no better luck.
George picked a smaller knife and went to the living room to look out the window.
“Dan?” George called, a short time later.
“Yes?” Hixson said, moving to another drawer.
“There are about ten of those things in the front yard.”
“Yell when they hit the porch,” he said, leaving the kitchen to run upstairs. He took the steps two at a time.
Dan closed two bedroom doors, having no time to check the rooms. The master bedroom was empty and he hurried over to the nightstand, finding no keys on top of it or inside the drawer. There was a pair of jeans on the floor, and he checked the pockets but found nothing. Shaking his head, he hurried back down the stairs.
“Can’t waste any more time looking,” he said. “Go out the back, George. Head for the barn.”
The two men almost made it to the building without being seen. They were entering the barn when they heard a loud moan coming from somewhere near the house.
Hixson let out a huff of air as they ran inside. “Back where we started,” he said. “This is getting old.”
“Should I close the door?”
“No, we’re not going to be here that long, and we don’t want to end up trapped inside.”
“Check under the truck for a key box,” Rayburn suggested.
“Good idea,” Hixson said, kneeling down to start his search. He stood up again when he heard the door of the truck open.
“Hey, guess what?” Rayburn asked. “I found the keys. They were right here under the floor mat.”
“See if you can start it,” Hixson said. “I’ll try to hold them off.”
By the time Rayburn got into the truck and began to turn the key in the ignition, the first of the shambling corpses were entering the barn. Dan rushed forward toward his first target. He dropped four corpses before realizing that he wasn’t going to keep them all back. The barn was filling up with the dead.
“Forget it, George! We’ll go on foot!” Dan yelled. There was a back door, and they were going to have to use it.
Seconds later, the engine roared to life.
Hixson ran to the passenger door but found it locked. Not wanting to wait for George to unlock it, he jumped into the bed of the truck, yelling, “Gun it!”
~*~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
Lindsey found Wombat and walked with him to the roof so they could talk privately. She explained the situation with Autumn to him, and he agreed to keep it quiet.
“I haven’t said anything to anybody,” he assured her.
“Good. I doubt the others have, either. Hopefully it will be all right.”
“It’ll be fine,” he said. “I know you’re worried about her, but that isn’t going to help.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I guess all we can do is to have a plan in place in case someone does show up, but there’s no point in worrying.”
He smiled at her and didn’t say anything.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re worrying, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she admitted with a laugh. “I can’t help it.”
“Maybe you need something to take your mind off of the problem,” he said, stepping a little closer.
“And what exactly do you think would help?” she asked. Her heart was beating faster than normal, and when his hands moved to her shoulders, she sucked in a breath.
He started to lower his head toward hers, but the roof access door opened suddenly. Wombat dropped his arms with a sigh.
“Am I interrupting something?” Hawk asked, lighting a cigarette. He grinned and looked back and forth between Wombat and Lindsey. “I can go to the other side of the roof if you want to be alone.”
“We were just talking,” Lindsey said. “I guess I’d better get inside, anyway. I promised Autumn I’d help her do something.”
“Good night, Lins,” Hawk said.
She waved at him and gave Wombat a smile before turning to walk away.
~*^*~
~36~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
A couple more refugees came in the next morning. Once they were out of quarantine, Lindsey showed them to their room. She was on her way to the stairs when she happened to notice Eric outside of Cheri’s room.
“Eric, what are you doing?” she asked, arms crossed.
The security guard jumped, moving quickly away from Cheri’s door.
“You’ve been told to stay away from here,” she reminded him. “Do I need to call Jack?”
“No, I was, uh, waiting for the kids. They’re supposed to be going with me to play video games downstairs.”
“Really? Because I could swear I saw them down in the cafeteria with Jessica and Michael.”
“Oh,” he said, stepping away from the door. “That explains it. They must have forgotten.”
“I’ll walk down there with you,” Lindsey said.
“You don’t have to . . .”
“Yes, I do,” she said, “because you’ll just go back to Cheri’s room. You know the routine. Let’s go.”
They walked down the hall to the elevator since Eric didn’t like to use the stairs.
“You know,” he said, after they started their descent, “Cheri and I aren’t all that serious. Maybe you and I could . . .”
“Not going to happen, Eric,” Lindsey said. She stopped when they reached the cafeteria. “Now please don’t go back up there.”
She knew it wasn’t likely, since she was going to ask one of the bikers to keep an eye on the elevator for a while, and Eric would never take the stairs.
“So if you want to hang out sometime . . .”
“No, thanks, Eric, I’m interested in someone else.”
The comment came out before she even had time to think about what she was saying, but it was true. Unfortunately, she had no idea if Wombat felt the same way or if she was reading more into it than was actually there.
“Well, I know you’re seeing Lee,” Eric said. “He and his buddy were talking on the flight over here. He called you his girlfriend, and he said he was going to be bringing you to live with him once you finally got tired of the hospital.”
“I didn’t mean Lee,” Lindsey said. “Just do me
a favor and stop stalking Cheri. Maybe if you’d back off a bit, she’d want to spend time with you again. Just don’t push her. That’s only going to scare her off.”
She turned to walk away, but as she did, she heard Eric say to someone, “Yeah, Lindsey’s got it bad for me. Coming on to me big time.”
Shaking her head, Lindsey just laughed and kept walking.
~*~
Near Oxnard, California
Rayburn began to pull forward in the truck, very slowly.
“No, George! Go fast!” Hixson yelled. “Go!”
Rayburn nodded and gave the truck some gas while Hixson did his best to hang on. When the dead began to reach for him from the sides of the truck, he stood as close as he could get to the back window, clinging to the top of the cab.
“Faster!” he yelled as Rayburn carefully made his way out of the barn.
The truck lurched to the side as the tires moved over a body, then another, and it was difficult for Hixson to hang on, though he managed. When Dan felt that they had enough of a lead, he banged on the top of the truck and told Rayburn to stop. He jumped out and ran around to the driver’s door.
“Move over.”
Rayburn complied, and Hixson slid into the driver’s seat, very aware that the helicopter was still in sight though it was now little more than a speck in the sky. He kept his speed just low enough so the truck wouldn’t kick up a cloud of dust on the dirt road. Once he turned onto a paved, tree-lined road, he was able to speed up.
Hixson and Rayburn managed to make it most of the way to Ventura without being spotted or running into trouble, but as they got closer to town, the road became too congested for them to find a way through. They ended up abandoning the old truck to travel on foot for about a mile, skirting the city. Like the area near Oxnard, it seemed that many of the homes had people still living in them. Hixson spotted several observers before a truck finally stopped to see if they needed help. The vehicle had people with rifles in the back, which made Hixson a little nervous until they explained that they were on zombie patrol.
Dead, But Not For Long (Book 2): Pestilence and Promise Page 31