Snareville II: Circles

by David Youngquist

  “Ouch. Cindy, that’s enough.”

  “Sorry, Danny. I know this’s strange. It’s a holdover from when I was locked up in Johnson’s lab. I guess this’s how I proved to myself I was still alive.”

  I grinned. “Great sex and an orgasm isn’t proof enough?”

  She giggled and kissed my chest. “It is, best way to prove it I know. It’s just when I get to thinking. You know, afterwards and I’m coming down from that high. That’s the only time I do it now.”

  “Okay, so what were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking we need to know more about what’s out there. We found Doctor Towne is still alive in England. What about the rest of our country? What about the rest of the world?”

  “You must have been reading my mind. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but we at least need to know what’s going on here.”

  “How?”

  “Don’t know. We’ve got some time to work it out, though. I want to discuss things with Wally and his people. Maybe we’ll stop and see Tom on the island on the way home. I’ll drop Pepper a line so she won’t worry about us.”

  We went downstairs to the smell of sausage frying. Like a lot of the rest of us, they made their own in Savanna. Some of the towns in the Alliance raised stock and butchered their own animals. The Mennonites did and we hunted a lot of deer and feral cattle. Kept the town fed and made good for trade. Breakfast was a time to catch up on what needed to be done for the day and the latest news from the area. It was quiet in the area. There were no marauders close. On the Iowa side of the river, Sebula gained a small band of a dozen additional survivors that came in from Council Bluffs. Wallace wanted to go over in the afternoon and debrief them.

  “E-mail me a report when you get done, would you?” I said. “We’ve got to start putting together a better view of what’s out there.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Wallace said. “My trip really brought that up. I don’t want people like the Mongols wandering around doing what they damned well please. I want to find out where the zeds are too. We’ve got other delivery systems to get rid of them.”

  “You’re right and we need to get it out there and start fumigating.” I turned and glanced at Cindy. “We’re going to stop by and talk with Tom on the way home.”

  “Speaking of which, we’ve talked it over. We’d like to be part of this Alliance.”

  I grinned. “I was hoping you were going to say that.” I dug through the briefcase I had next to the chair. In a folder was a copy of the treaty that all members signed to become one of the cities in the Northern Midwest Alliance. We both signed, he got a copy of the laws that we had written specifically for the group, including trade agreements. With a shake of hands, the deal was sealed.

  “I’m starting training like you folks do this week. We need to keep our edge. I’m not letting any more businesses operate beyond the fence either. I respected Havers enough to let him keep his doors open. It cost us a good man.”

  “I’m sorry about that, Wallace. He seemed like a good sort.”

  “He wasn’t a bad guy.”

  “Tom has those rifles and such on the way. Hundred and fifty AK-47’s, never issued that came from Hussein, along with two pallets of ammo. They’re coming up the river by boat. Ought to be here in the next of couple days.”

  “Thanks. They’ll be appreciated. We’re always low on weapons. Defense is a hard thing.”

  “Let’s hope we can fix that.”

  He grinned as we stood, gathered our things. It was a short ferry ride across the river to the landing. We drove south through town as small groups of people jogged along the sidewalk. Two troops saluted at the gate as they rolled it open for us. I returned the salute and continued our drive. Havers’ place was shot full of bullet holes where it wasn’t burned.

  “Poor guy,” Cindy said. The building passed out of sight behind us. “We ever going to be back to normal?”

  I thought for awhile. A couple miles passed under the wheels. “I hope as normal as we can get. Maybe in our kid’s lifetimes, it’ll be better, but you’re right, Honey, we need to start getting things cleaned up now that we’re pretty safe and secure.”

  She slid over to my side of the truck, snuggled up against my side. I wrapped my arm around her as we eased down the road. It was an empty, lonely drive south. What would have taken us two hours three years ago, took us almost four hours. No maintenance on the road left it crumbly in places. We eased over these loose spots as we came to them. I guided the truck and trailer around a number of downed trees. More than once I stopped and we dragged a larger branch off to the side.

  “Those State boys really need to earn their pay,” Cindy grinned.

  “Yeah, all that tax money we pay in. You wonder where it goes.” We both laughed. At least the zombie infection cleaned out the rotten politicians in the state.

  As we rolled into Moline, Cindy slid over to her side of the cab and pulled her rifle from the backseat of the truck. We hadn’t seen another person, zombie or human on the trip down. There were little neighborhoods of people in Moline, along with the occasional swarm of zeds. The people weren’t an issue; the zombies we’d take care of depending on the size of the group.

  But nothing stirred as we rolled through town and headed for Rock Island. I radioed ahead and they were expecting us at the gate. I handed my ID to the young lady at the gate while her partners inspected the truck and trailer. After we were cleared, she saluted and we headed for Tom’s office.

  I gave Tom a salute as we stepped into his office. He smiled, returned it and stepped out from behind his desk to welcome us.

  “What’re you two doing here? Thought you were up north?”

  “We were. Cindy got me thinking and I figured I better come down and bounce some things off you.”

  We sat and Cindy and I told him what was on our mind. He agreed things were spotty out there. We had twenty towns in the Alliance, now counting Savanna. Not much in the way of representing the whole country. Grand total of about ten thousand people. Not much against millions of zombies. We needed to organize better and link up with more survivors, but we hadn’t been able to get much in the way of communication.

  “From the military network, I know that we lost a lot of troops and bases. The Marines from Great Lakes are with us,” Tom said. “What troops were left at Fort Bragg and Fort Knox have folded back to Fort Leonard Wood in Kentucky. Tankers and the rest of the infantry at Fort Hood have folded back into Fort Riley in Kansas. The Marines are at Twenty Nine Palms in California. Marines and Navy are in Virginia Beach. All ships at sea have come home.”

  “What’s the rest of the world look like? Have you heard from the Navy boys?” Cindy asked.

  “Worse than us. Most of the rest of the world has little defense. Reports have trickled through that Russia is in about the same boat we are, but we don’t have direct communication with them.”

  “So we need to start getting our people back together,” I said. “We need to send people out to make contact and get a better idea of where we stand.”

  “I agree. Ideas?”

  We talked awhile more. Tom poured coffee. We had lunch, then headed for his quarters. Tami met us at the door, signaled for us to be quiet as she kissed Tom on the cheek. She gave me a smile and a nod.

  “Baby’s asleep.” She whispered. The girls hugged, started chatting about children and Cindy’s progress. Tami led the way into the house, went with Cindy into the kitchen to get tea and lemonade. Tom was still on duty.

  “How’s her leg?” I asked Tom as we sat.

  “She’ll always have the limp. Doc says her right leg is a half inch shorter than her left. Hard when she’s eight and nine months along.” Tom stretched into his chair.

  “I shouldn’t have shot her.”

  “If you hadn’t, I’d have never met her.”

  “True. Still…”

  “Look, Danny, we can’t keep second guessing ourselves. You’re head man in Snareville now. Y
ou’ve got a lot of people who depend on you, not just your family. You’ve done well so far. You’ve learned how to make a decision and stick with it. Command is harder in a way than serving in the field. You need me, call.”

  The girls came back. They passed out the glasses and Cindy started giving Tom a hard time. Turns out Tami was pregnant again. They would have a set of Irish twins by the end of the year. Something else we could celebrate tonight. I e-mailed Pepper we’d be home tomorrow morning.

  Chapter 27

  We rolled back through the gates of home around ten o’clock. Interstate 80 was still in pretty good shape. It was our county and state roads that were starting to crumble pretty bad. I didn’t know of any way to fix them, other than get a lot of road crews to work, but in some ways, the bad roads worked for us. It was harder for someone to come busting down a road ninety miles an hour to pull a raid if the roadbed was falling apart.

  I parked the rig alongside the old railroad depot where our motor pool had grown. A young mechanic walked over, wiping the grease from her hands onto her coveralls. I handed her the keys. She’d drop the trailer, fuel the truck and give it a check over. I asked her to send the honey to the warehouse. Cindy and I pulled our gear and headed for home.

  Pepper stood at the sink, hands in soapy water. Ella dried. The babies played with their toys in the other room. We were swept up by hugs and kisses as we walked through the door. I hated going on trips. I knew I couldn’t go out on this recon trip myself. There was no way I was going to be away from home for that long. Tom was right, I had too many people depending on me.

  Pepper insisted on cooking us a late lunch. Both Cindy and I protested, but she shut us each up with a kiss.

  “You stay off your feet, Wife. And you, Husband, tell me about your trip.”

  “Wow, Sarge, you’re getting awful domestic.” I grinned.

  “Shut up and spill. You know when the last time I was out of town? When we went to Christmas at Tom’s on the Island.”

  I hadn’t thought of it, but Pepper hadn’t been further than Princeton for months. I’d have to make it up to her one of these days soon. I told her about the trip. How Savanna was now in the Alliance. Both Tom and I had copies of the treaty papers, as did Wallace. Told her about the quiet towns. About the honey we’d found in Thompson. Fulton was so empty now. It had been a busy crossroads on the River Road for years and we hadn’t even seen a dog when we passed through town.

  “We’re sending out a long range patrol, ASAP,” Cindy said. “It’s spooky quiet out there.”

  “I wonder what the official butcher’s bill is?” Pepper asked. “If what Doc O’Shea said is accurate and this virus was based on an Ebola strain, we might have less than five percent of our total population left alive.”

  “That’s what we’ve thought too,” Cindy said.

  “Another reason we want to get some boots on the ground and check things out,” I added. “But I’m not making this trip.”

  Pepper’s shoulder’s sagged. She leaned forward against the counter. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear that. I’d let you go, but I wouldn’t be happy about it. So who you sending?”

  “It’s going to be a small patrol. Heavy squad. We have to have someone reliable. Someone who knows how to run a computer and make reports. Got to be someone with some diplomatic skills and battle skills.” I took a sip of coffee. “Figured I’d put Henry Hawk in charge of this one.”

  For a moment, no one said anything. “Makes sense, Dad,” Ella said, “But he just left town for Geneseo.”

  “So I heard. Stacy’s pregnant. She’s not going to like the idea either, but I’ll have him back before she pops.”

  Cindy nudged me. “You’ve got such a way with words.”

  I made a call to Long Tom in Geneseo. Henry wasn’t back yet. I’d send a Humvee to get him when he landed. The Cock Blockers were slowly adjusting. Some of them had paired up with his group, so they were integrating well. They were still getting used to having homes again that had lights and other amenities though. Some of them still slept on the floor.

  Pepper sat our plates on the table in front of us as I hung up. I asked Ella if she and Billy Jaques had set a date yet. They hadn’t, as I’d been so busy they hadn’t had time to discuss it with me. I told her they better set a date. I asked Pepper if she knew anything about Jinks and Rick Cody. Pepper arched her eyebrow at me, told me they’d moved in together while I was gone. I figured it was only a little time before they would.

  After breakfast, I cleaned up, shaved and changed into my uniform. I figured it was time to tackle the job of setting up my office. As much as I loved Kenny, I needed to have a place where everyone could come find me. I knew some days I’d regret having everyone at my door. I’d seen Kenny on days he wanted to tear his hair out, but we needed to get back on track.

  I walked through the library. Doss, the librarian, sat at her desk like this was a normal day in a small town. Several kids were inside, looking at books or quietly watching animal movies. One of the parents, Josie, was keeping track of the mixed bunch. I nodded to them as I stepped into the office. Someone had brought boxes in to pack Kenny’s things, but had gotten no further. I knew the feeling. There wasn’t much that was personal stuff, but what was there, meant a lot.

  I wrapped his silver-framed picture of his wife, kids and grandkids in newspaper and slipped it into a small box. His books went with. A mug full of pencils and pens he had gotten on some long ago Father’s Day was wrapped up. It had a chip in the rim and a hairline crack ran the length of one side. “Best Dad Ever” was written in blue beside a man with a fishing pole. I didn’t even realize I was crying until a tear fell onto the paper. I wondered what ever happened to his kids. His wife, Jessica, had passed away five years ago, that much I did know. Now, I didn’t even know who to take his things to.

  I knew he had a house near the post office. He’d never mentioned if he had found a girlfriend. We never pried. He’d kept to himself for a long time and in these last three years, he met and talked to more of us than he had in the twenty before. I’d have to take a walk over to his house this afternoon.

  I sent for Jinks, Cody and my commanders. While I waited, I straightened up the desk, laid out some books I wanted to get at. One was the book of deaths. People we’d lost since the outbreak began. People we were sure of at least. I flipped through the pages. Found people’s names I had nearly forgotten about. A lot at the beginning, fewer as time passed.

  I found the annotation where Jennifer had been killed. The date was entered, followed by the fact she was assassinated. We didn’t like the idea of future generations to think someone had become a zombie when they hadn’t. Directly below her names were the names of those who had killed her. Her ex husband, Richard and the other conspirators. Their goal was to kill me. They fucked up. They left me alive. The note behind all their names said they were executed.

  I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I flipped to the back of the book and entered Kenny’s death. I found a ballpark for the date. At least the computers could tell us what time and day it was. My scrawl looked strange next to his neat curves. Cause of death: cancer. This was one of my jobs now. I closed it up. A simple yellow spiral notebook, filled with so much history.

  The second book was the counter to the first. Book of births. Another spiral notebook, the kind a kid would take to school. This one was less full. We had a baby boom going on, but birth rate had yet to overcome the dead. It was steady though. More every year were being born. I found Rachel and Mikey’s entries. Found our names listed as parents. Made my heart ache to see Jenny’s name linked to mine this way and not have her around. But Rachel would always be here; always be a part of her mother that I’d never lose.

  I flipped down and entered Jennifer Danielle’s birthday. Someday soon, I’d enter the child Cindy and I were going to have. I closed the book as Jinks walked in with Cody. Gibson was behind them, as was Hunter and Bill. I asked them all to have a seat as I shut the doo
r. The two younger sat as if they were in the principal’s office. You don’t often get called to meet with the commander and other officers unless you’ve screwed up.

  I assured Jinks and Cody they weren’t in trouble and proceeded to lay out the plans I’d discussed with Tom. We talked for two hours. I told them the direction I wanted them to take. I wanted them to go south. All the way to New Orleans if they could. I’d send them out in three Humvees. Nine people in a heavy squad. The trucks would have the American flag on one door, our patch on the other. I wanted them to touch base in Fort Knox, make a link up. Theory was and word was, that since the South didn’t have harsh, freezing winters like we did, the zeds were active all year.

  “Why us, Boss?” Jinks asked.

  “They’re going to need a medic. That’s where you come in, Jinks. You’re about the best field doctor we have.”

  “But, what about town?”

  “Heather’s a nurse, so is Pepper. Cindy and Tess were med students before all this. I’ll have them both start training with Leary again. We need you out there. Cody, I’m sending you because I need someone trained in reconnaissance.”

  Cody nodded. This would be his first real chance to use the skills he’d been taught in the Corps. He was a great fighter. He’d proven that since the day he came out of Great Lakes Training Station, but he’d always been out with larger units fighting. This was his first total recon mission.

  “Who’s going to lead this?” Gibson asked, his fingers steepled under his chin.

  “Staff Sergeant Henry Hawk.”

  “Hawk?”

  “Yes, Hawk, not you, Captain Gibson. Sorry. I need you here. Hawk was out a year and a half before he settled here. He knows his way around, knows where there’s pockets of survivors, knows how to survive in Wild Indian Country. Us, not as much. We’ve concentrated on saving our people and our homes. We haven’t gotten around much. Hawk has.”

  Everyone agreed it made sense. We discussed a few more issues. They’d take laptop computers with satellite link and send reports with photos to both me and Tom on a daily basis. Hawk would pick the rest of his team when we got him back from Geneseo. Stacy, his girlfriend, was too pregnant and too inexperienced to go with him. She wouldn’t like staying home, but she’d have to live with it.