The roads were rough, most of the town was a shamble, but the streets were quiet and darkened by the overgrowth of trees. The downtown section was full of abandoned cars, Mike spied a garage up ahead and angled into the parking lot. A little work and they managed to cut the locks off the garage doors and raise them. An hour after they had driven into the lot they were hidden away inside the garage. They had left the trucks and were gathered quietly looking through the dirty glass at the deserted streets.
“They will follow our tracks right off the road,” Mike said.”
“And if not they had got us on the road with no safe place to fight from,“ Ronnie said. “We have concrete block at our back here. They don't know this is where we went.”
“Maybe,” Mike allowed.
“There,” Candace said and pointed.
One of the trucks they had seen on the other side of the highway idled down the street in low gear. The load exhaust reaching them inside the bays.
“How in hell did they find us so fast,” Alice wondered aloud.
“I don't know,” Mike said.
“Maybe mud... Wet spots on the road from where we crossed out of the fields and headed down this way,” John offered.
“Dammit,” Mike agreed. “That's it.”
“Nothing for it now,” Ronnie said quietly. “Well, do we bring it to them or let them bring it to us?”
John Frowned, Candace spoke up, Cathy right behind her. “I say take it to them. That's one truck we can take out, out of three, right now. Might make the others think twice about it.”
“You're sure it's one of them?” Alice asked.
“Positive,” Mike said.
“Then we got to do it,” Alice agreed. “How?”
“We can't shoot through this glass... Go around back, out the back, I mean. We'll take him as he rolls out of the other street corner,” Mike decided at last. The rest followed him out the back door and around the building to the overgrown weeds and shrubs that hid the corner of the building.
A few moments later the truck rolled through the intersection on the opposite side of the garage and they opened up on it. The driver floored it and the truck scorched the pavement as it jumped ahead, but a split second after that the motor died and the truck bounced as it slammed back down to the pavement; drifting across the road headed for a small playground on the opposite side of the street and a construction area just beyond that.
A second went by, another, and the front passenger door opened and three people jumped from inside, stumbled, rolling onto the ground, trying to get to their feet and then began to sprint off down the street as the truck continued on, mowing over the chain link fence of the playground, and then hanging up on a small concrete barrier just inside the fencing line.
Mike led the first man and carefully fired. The man collapsed to the pavement like a rag doll, arms and legs flopping as he tumbled to an awkward stop. The second runner stopped, turned, and opened up on them. Candace felt the wind as a bullet zipped past her face before she heard the shot. At the same time she was pulling the trigger on her machine pistol. A notoriously bad weapon for long distance shooting, but a killing machine in full auto mode. The man seemed to start a slow tap dance for a second and then slowly toppled forward onto the pavement. A pool of blood spread quickly from under him. The last runner turned, a woman, threw down her weapon and raised her hands. A shot rang out and she topped over into the street.
“Oh my God,” Cathy said. She choked back a sob. “I didn't mean to kill her. I didn't mean it.”
“Doesn't matter,” Candace said. “If you hadn't, I would have.”
“But she surrendered,” John said. “She was surrendering to us.”
“Well, too late. She never should have come after us. We can't take prisoners. Do you think they would have? No. They would have killed everyone. Maybe not us... Me, Cathy and Alice. That would have been worse. Don't cry for her she made her bed and she's dead now. Fuck her,” Candace finished quietly.
“It is what it is,” Alice said softly.
“Hey... Hey, hey, hey,” John said. “More!”
A second later the whole day seemed to come alive with noise. Gunfire crashed non stop as the other two trucks rolled onto the street and began firing. The battle was short lived. The last truck never fully turned onto the street. One of them got it with a lucky shot, the two front tires blew out and it dove for the ground. The huge tires making it seem sloped at a steep angle down onto the rims. The men inside the truck scrambled to get away as the men inside the lead truck continued to fire.
Eventually the gunfire fell off. No one moved. They had seen three men run from the last truck, back down the street. Two had lurched while they were running. They seemed to have been hit, the other might have made it, Mike thought. The silence held. Nothing. No sounds. No shots. Mike looked around and saw Cathy sprawled on the ground, the side of her face missing. He looked away quickly, watching the street carefully. From somewhere farther away they heard a motor turn over slowly, grinding to life. It caught, quit, and then caught again. The idle evened out and a few minutes later the engine rose to a higher pitch, almost screaming as it fled from the small city, east, back toward the highway.
Mike drew a deep breath. “Bring her inside,” He said tersely. Inside they laid her out on one of the work benches, but it was clear in just a few moments that she was dead.
Mike paced back and forth in front of the windows, pausing to listen. Across the street the first truck popped loudly and then burst into flame, a trail of fire running away from the rear of the truck toward the street and the garage where they were.
“Great... Okay, listen, we have got to go. We have got to go right now before that fire turns real bad.” As he spoke a car at the curb in front of the garage caught fire as the pool of gasoline found its way under it. Old oil on the motor, something, it caught fast and began to burn right along with the other truck.
“We should bury, Cathy,” John said.
“We should, and any other time we could, but this time, no,” Mike said. “Either of those tanks could blow at any second. Then we'll be forced to run. On foot, because there will be no way out,” as he spoke he began yanking up the closest garage door. Ronnie wrenched another up close to him. Candace shoved up the last one.
“But it's wrong,” John said.” He was frozen in the middle of the floor, glancing back and forth to Cathy's body. Mike walked quickly from the door to John. He didn't hesitate, but threw a quick punch at his jawline. “Ronnie,” he called as he caught him. Ronnie was there a second later and together they shoved John's unconscious body into one of the trucks.
Candace, Ronnie and Mike himself drove. Screeching out of the garage and across the pavement out into the street. The trucks jumping and diving, motors growling, the tires spinning and screeching as they fought for purchase. They were less than two blocks away when something back at the garage blew up. Mike sighed and followed Candace as she made her way out of the small city and southward once again.
Conner
On The Road
September 28th
The camp was up early. A quick breakfast of leftovers from dinner the night before, coffee boiled over the campfire, and everyone was ready to go. Even the dogs seemed impatient to be moving. Pacing back and forth around the herd, watching for the gate to come off and the ramp to come down. Listening to Josh for the signal to put the herd on the truck.
The sun was barely beginning to rise over the tops of the mountains to the south and they were underway.
Valley opened into valley as they wound their way through the foothills, closer and closer to the Nation. The cool air of pre-dawn bled away to be replaced by a warm, early fall morning. In the distance some color was already working its way into the landscape. Yellow, a few oranges and reds. Scattered now, but in a few weeks time the colors would dominate the entire landscape.
In the lower valley they were traveling through, green was still the predominant color, at least on
the trees. Mixed hardwoods and pines. Yellow-gold and grays dominated the tall grasses of the fields as they stood in the morning sun. Small streams crossed the valley floor in many places: Scant inches of water covering their smooth rock bottoms; easily driven over.
The land they were traveling was easy for the four wheel drive vehicles. It was actually easier, Conner thought, than some roads they had traveled in the last few weeks. Those roads were quickly becoming reabsorbed into the earth. Nature tending to her wounds. Smoothing them over. Flattening the man made roads with their skyward tilted slabs of asphalt and concrete, and washed out sections of gravel and roadbed. Little by little nature was covering them over.
Conner had vowed he would never go to the outside again, and he hoped that was a vow he would never have to break, but if he did he was sure he would find a world where roads, towns and cities were a thing of the past, and grass, trees and the ever present Kudzu were the things of the future.
“How long do you think these vehicles will last,” Conner asked Aaron now as they drove along.
“A few years... Maybe as many as ten if we take care of them. We'll run out of parts first though. No one's running the plants in Michigan, or Japan, or wherever the parts were made. So we'll run out of ways to fix them,” Aaron said.
“Look at those cars in Cuba, though... From the nineteen fifties. All those years later and they were still driving them. More than sixty years after the fact,” Conner said.
Aaron nodded. “True, but they had parts. Not the right parts. I mean, I saw a program on television where they said they were using Russian parts, tires, finding ways to make the parts fit. So they looked like the same American cars on the outside, but they weren't at all. They would have, like, a rear end from a Russian truck in a fifty-nine Buick. Tough to do, but I bet James or Jake could do it, the thing is, we aren't going to have a Russian truck or two to cannibalize. When the rear end goes, the rear end goes... I bet fifteen years tops, we're riding horses. And all these things are just rusting curiosities sitting out in a field that used to be a highway. Someday someone finds a piece of plastic from a taillight and marvels over it. Or digs up a rear end or equally dense piece of cast iron and wonders what in hell it could have been,” Aaron finished.
“You're probably right. And all the horses will be descended from what we bought with us. Maybe a few wild ones we catch one way or the other,” Conner said.
“Yeah... Probably. And there will probably be plenty of horses to catch too, but it will be that way with everything. The horses will devolve back into a few breeds of wild horses. Ours will probably settle out to a few breeds. The big draft horses and smaller riding horses. And our dogs as well. We've already bred Angel with a wolf. Those pups will probably breed with the pups we're bringing back with us. We'll end up with a shaggy wolf like species of dogs that has herding and socializing with humans as traits,” Aaron said.
“Same with the cows,” Conner said. “James wants to continue to interbreed cows and bison. Bigger, more muscle. And the meat is leaner. Higher protein. Bigger means more muscle to work for us and also means more meat. We have two different types of sheep there, Josh says. And the goats are a mixed lot too.”
“And,” Aaron said. “People. A couple of generations and we will be our own people too. Our own race.”
Conner nodded. “I'm for it. I'm mixed race, so I've never really been anything at all... It will be nice to be part of something.”
Aaron nodded. “But outside? We'll be different from them. And who knows how they'll view that. A good thing? A bad thing? We'll have to deal with that eventually,” he said.
“In our lifetime?” Conner asked.
“I think so. They'll know we're here. They'll know we've got something better than what they have. I mean they have to deal with the dead, up close and personal... And maybe something will come our way from that too... It would be naive to think that the dead will never come here... Never guess we're here. Maybe even be bought into our midst through the most common circumstances... Even mistakenly.”
Conner shrugged.
“All it takes is one body not taken care of. A group headed for us that dies on the way... Who's to say that hasn't already happened?”
“Jesus,” Conner muttered.
“Sorry,” Aaron told him.
“No... No. You are my balance... Or I am your balance. Either way it completes the picture. I can see those outside taking a look at this and seeing how good it is and wanting it... Do you know what Adam talked to me about? He said we need a military branch. A part of us that keeps them away. That does the dirty work, makes the runs to the outside world. That makes sure paradise stays paradise forever. Or something close to forever,” Conner looked at him.
Aaron raised his eyebrows. “Well... I think the man has a good idea... We need that exactly. That would make me worry less. And I would bet it wouldn't be all that hard to get people who want to do it either... Starting with Adam. Take it to them before they bring it to us.”
Conner nodded and shook his head. “Jesus... Where's the old non-talking Aaron?” He laughed again. “You are right on it though. I can see it. We have to be ready for it... Adam had a name picked out even... The Outrunners.”
“Outrunners?” Aaron asked.
“Simplistic... They're out there running down what we need. That's the public viewpoint anyway. How we sell it, but they're also doing the other jobs. The jobs that have to be done if the rest of want to live safely.”
“Good name... Makes sense... So it will be a private and a public business,” Aaron said.
Conner frowned. “Yeah... Sounds like the old world, I know.”
“Yeah, but we're not the old world sort. We're not trying to hurt our own people... That's the difference,” Aaron said.
“So if we kill to keep our people safe?”
“Will you kill a zombie? Same thing. It's a preemptive strike. And I'm not saying we have people out there to kill anyone. I'm saying if the fight comes to us we be prepared. These Outrunners, be prepared. That's all it is... Right?”
Conner nodded. “Just reminds me of the kind of shit I hated about the world... But I see your point,” He gazed out the window and they drove in silence for a while. “Okay,” he said at last. “When we get back we'll set it up... I'll talk to Adam... You too. We'll get the council in on it. Get it in place before winter kicks in.” He looked over at Aaron. Aaron offered his closed fist. Conner touched it with his own.
The Nation
Katie woke up next to Amy. Gray light crept into the room through the windows. She reached over and pushed Amy's hair from her forehead, smoothing out the frown lines that appeared as she did. Amy's eye opened. She rolled up on her side and faced Katie.
“Morning, Aim,” Katie said.
Amy smiled. “Morning, Kate.” She reached over and pulled her closer.
“Conner's going to think I look like a house,” Katie said.
“He doesn't know right? You couldn't tell him, right?”
“Nope. I'll tell him tonight. A girl's got to have some secrets, Aim,” Katie told her. “I love you, Aim.”
“I know you do, Kate. I love you too,” Amy said.
Home In The Valley
The long procession of trucks rounded the final curve in the foothills where they marched into the mountains, and a long narrow valley opened before them. In the distance a notch opened in the low mountain chain that was outlined against the light blue of the morning sky. Ahead the valley floor swept up to meet the level of the notch. Several tiny figures stood silhouetted against that notch. The entire top of the ridge seemed to be filled with people. Arms raised, waving as the caravan grew closer and began the slow climb to the top of the notch. As they reached the top, the stone ledge leveled out and stretched away towards another ledge and the rise that lead up to the cave.
The livestock truck pulled around where Conner had stopped: Reversed, and then lined up on the notch where it gradually slipped down into the va
lley. Josh shut the truck down and the other trucks pulled up and shut down as well.
The dogs jumped out of the cab as Josh climbed down. A dog barked from the top of the ridge. It sounded like Angel to Conner. The dogs below woofed back and then followed Josh around to the back of the truck where he and Adam pulled out the ramp, set it up, and then opened the wide rear doors. The two dogs herded the sheep out and followed Josh as he walked down the ledge into the valley below. “Looks like we're home, dogs,” he said, as he walked down the slope.
Conner and Aaron walked up to the top of the notch. The sun in their eyes. The others following along behind them.
Conner's eyes fell on Katie as she stepped forward. Amy brushed by him on her way to Aaron.
“I can't tell you how much I've missed you,” he told her.
“Just kiss me, Baby,” Katie said. “That will show me. You can figure out how to tell me later.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her.
Mike and Candace
Fort Deposit Alabama
October 15th
It was early morning. One moment the road had been there, and the next it had been gone, angling away down into the water. They all stopped, shut down the motors and looked over the water.
Mike fitted a pair of binoculars to his eyes, as did Ronnie.
“Way out,” Mike said as he passed the binoculars to Candace.
“Yeah... Yeah, hardly see it,” Ronnie agreed. He passed his own binoculars to Alice.
Candace lowered her binoculars and then passed them off to John. John had been quiet lately, but he was speaking to them. “So we're here,” Candace said.
“We are here,” Mike agreed.
They had stopped two days earlier when they had found a small marina and picked out three boats, trailered them, and hooked them to the trucks. It had made the going slow as they finished the last few miles into Alabama looking for the place where it ceased to exist, but it had been worth it. After all, they had decided, they would have to have boats. Get them now or get there and have to back track to get them.
Earth's Survivors: box set Page 104