Before you get comfortable do you need to pee.
I grinned big that time and he handed me a can.
"Walking an average of two miles an hour it'll probably take us about an hour and a half to get there, two at the most. The RV dealership is at this end of town, thank God, so we should be able to find what we need and get back here in two or three hours. Does that sound about right, JD?"
"I think you may be right. We went through so many towns a week ago, that I'm not too sure but I can live with three hours. Don't talk too much, walk slow and watch for walkers. If I hear gunfire, you'll be the one nursing a concussion on the way back."
"What happened to manly man?" He said, smiling that killer smile. I grabbed him and took possession of his mouth. "Now, git before I change my mind."
Jill walked them to the road and watched for a bit before she returned to the semi. I showed her how to arrange the mirrors so we could see behind us, then Jill left again. Soon, she was back and explained what was up. "I don't see any reason why we can't bathe in that river and wash some of this dirt off. I think the coast is clear but we can take turns keeping watch for each other. Be quick, then we'll settle back into the semi."
That's just what we did. I needed a bit of help but still managed to get out of my clothes and wash the grime off. I detested the thought of putting my clothes back on since they had seen the better part of three days, but I had no choice. We finished up and returned to the semi where I wanted to go to sleep but no one would let me because 'I might never wake up again'. What a pain. George got to take a nap but Jill watched one side of the semi through the mirrors while I watched the other. Once we saw a walker downstream and when it waded into the river, the current swept it away. I could live with that.
I tensed when a walker came around the bend ahead. I nudged Jill, who pulled the curtain after making sure the doors were locked. I found a spot to peak out and watched it walk right up to the semi and stop. George was still asleep and I hoped she stayed that way while the thing seemed to inspect the rig. It walked all the way around it, sniffing everything. Once it tried the door but when it didn't open right away it just turned and walked back the way it had come. I thought we were safe until George cried out in her sleep. The walker stopped, then turned its head around to stare at us. I had visions of "The Exorcist" and whispered "Shit".
Jill quietly moved to Georges head, put her hand over her mouth and when George awoke, whispered to her to be quiet. Georges eyes were almost bugging out she was so scared. I could just imagine but had no time to explain.
The walker was walking back to the truck. I put my finger to my lips and watched. It tried to open the door again, then tried more forcefully. The truck was rocking back and forth from its efforts. George was making noises again like a scared rabbit and I knew the walker could hear it, but it couldn't get in. I was feeling sick to my stomach again from the swaying of the semi. Soon, I heard metal giving out and was ready to beat its brains out when I heard a dog bark. The walker turned when the dog grabbed its foot and tried to grab it back. The dog took off a little ways and barked at it again. The walker took off after the dog and at a narrow part of the river the dog jumped into the water and practically walked to the other side, then it ran back on the other bank barking at the walker. The stupid walker tried to cross before the narrow part and was swept away in the water. The dog watched it glide past him then looked at us, barked again and ran around the corner. Just like that the crisis was over.
I nodded to the other two women while I tried calm my stomach. I needed air, so I checked all the mirrors and rolled down the windows sticking my head out of the window to cool off.
"How long before they get back?"
"I don't know. My watch bit the dust after the event but I hope soon. I can't go through that again." She was hanging out of the door because her window was electric and wouldn't open. Both of us was drenched with perspiration. George was quietly crying in the bunk so I left her to it. The heat was like a wet blanket wrapped tightly around us and I felt on the verge of being sick again. Just then, like she was reading my mind, Jill handed me a bottle of water. I drank it all.
"How do you do it living in the open with these things? I wasn't exposed to them like that before. My 'men' kept them away from the main base, then we moved to the facility. The only ones I saw after that were Dr. May's playthings, and believe me that was bad enough for me. Damn, it's hot. I hope they get back soon."
Yea, my thoughts exactly.
The day gradually drudged on. I was tired and hot and felt like I'd crawled through a sewer. A nice hot bath, chicken fried venison steak, baked potato....oh yea, I was dreaming. We didn't see any more walkers and the dog disappeared over the hill. Still we waited. I knew it had been more than four hours since they left, and I was worried. George just seemed to cry a lot and although I had warned her about dehydration she didn't seem to care. I hoped Riley got back and took care of her, cause she was more than I could handle. Grief, I guess at losing her 'daddy' and then the misery of the day and taken a toll on her. I wasn't in much better shape myself and started thinking up ways to punish the guys when they got back.
A low rumbling noise brought me out of a nap. I thought at first it was my stomach growling but headlights broke the darkness and the biggest, prettiest RV I'd ever seen pulled up next to the truck. I started to get out of the truck but suddenly found I was too weak to stand. We were all three dehydrated from sitting in the closed up, hot semi, all day. Mason opened the door and I fell into his arms.
"Get ready to get your ass kicked buster. You were gone too long."
"Okay, brat. Let's get you settled in the RV and the air conditioning, then you can kick my ass tomorrow." I barely remember the events after that. I was told we were all three a mess by the time they got back. They had run into some trouble and had to hole up in the RV dealership for several hours until Ken found the owners hunting rifle and cleared a path to the RV. It had enough fuel to get away but they were afraid to try to come back to get us unless they refueled.
They found some food in a convenience store on the outskirts of town, and ran out of ammo trying to refuel there. We were back to no ammo but we had a fueled up RV and some food. Mason drove us out to the Arches National Park, where we stayed last year and Lacy had an encounter with the walker in the ladies room. We filled up the water tank and each of us took a shower. Then us 'ladies' climbed into beds and passed out. I was woke up every two hours because of my head injury until almost dawn when I grabbed a butcher knife and threatened to scalp the next person that woke me up. I wasn't surprised to wake up on the road mid-day the next day.
George seemed to be feeling better. She didn't let Riley get far from her side but she wasn't crying all the time either which was a welcome relief. I supposed I should be more sympathetic but I was too tired. Jill and Ken seemed to be really close and that was okay by me. He deserved someone and this someone knew how to shoot. He had spoken mentally to me several times but hadn't figured out how to narrow his conversations to just one person. He'll have to learn to edit what he thinks or everyone would know what was on his mind. Whatever I got, George, Mason and Lacy got too.
Mason was driving today. The motor home had four tip outs and a barbeque grill stored underneath. I was sorry I hadn't found one similar when I was on the run. It held us all comfortably and the ride was great so I was suitable impressed.
We stopped at every store and small town we came to, looking for food, ammo and electronics. Without all the accoutrements we had on the first trip to Montana, it was a tough trip this time. I was scared of every little thing and couldn't relax no matter how hard Mason tried.
Used to night vision cameras and infra red cameras and motion detectors, we felt naked and scared a lot of the time. Food was an issue and we were once again back to eating spam and pancakes, stale potato chips and tuna fish. We were in Idaho when we hit the jackpot on electronics and we piled them into the motor home until there wasn't anywhere
to stand. We unpacked the boxes, stowed the machines and threw out everything but the instructions,giving us a little more room. We stayed at a rest area two days until we had the motor home set up with cameras and motion detectors.
We barbequed the last day before the trip home. Mason had killed three rabbits and I was thrilled at the meal. I was ready to go home and vowed to never leave again, but we all know how that works out. I sat at the picnic table and watched everyone mill about. Jill came over and sat at the table with me.
"It's beautiful here. I could just stay forever."
"Best wait until you see our valley. Now, there is a forever kind of place. Oh, it's pretty here but the beauty there is something else." I squinted my eyes and put my hand over them as I looked at the top of ridge nearby. "The people help to. You'll love everyone and they'll love you too. We even have a dog that belongs to everyone.
"When will we get there?"
"If we leave in the morning we could be there in the afternoon. We're just getting our second wind right now. It helps in case we run into any trouble on the way. I hope not to but after the last ten days, I'm beginning to think anything that can go wrong, will."
"What on earth are you looking at?" She asked trying to see the ridge.
"What? Oh, Mason is up on that ridge, the tall one on the left."
"Why, what's he doing?"
"Hopefully talking to Duke. We have a satellite phone rigged up and we weren't sure if it would reach. I can't tell if he's talking to anyone or not."
"OK, who's Duke? Man, getting information from you is horrible."
I laughed then told her. "Duke is John Wayne Many-horses, a little person or dwarf (and you better never call him that or he will literally cut you down to size) of the Little Shell tribe of the Chippewa Indian nation. He likes to wear shirts of Hawaiian print and a ball cap to match. Oh, and he's crazy about cigars, although he hardly lights up. He is also our tech guy, you name it he operates or fixes it. He set up the phone. He's married to our cook, Sarah and ex-corporate lawyer and they have a daughter, Mandy. You'll love her."
"Sounds like likeable people. I can't wait to meet them."
"Let me say this before I forget. You are welcome to stay with us forever, but never get the idea we would make you stay. If you want to live elsewhere you let us know and we'll help you any way we can. But I think I can speak for everyone here. You are very welcome to become one of the Lions club."
"I don't know. I embarrassed about the way I behaved back at the facility. I can't believe I was so brain washed into believing the place wouldn't destroy us. It was our refuge and I refused to believe I would lose it. Trouble with that was all the lives I would've lost because I was just stubborn. That won't happen again, I'm telling you. I'm letting someone else take over for a while so I don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Don't let it make you think nothing you do will be right again. You were lied to by the others and fear caused you stand your ground. You'll get your confidence back, just don't push it."
Just then a squirrel came out and we watched as he chased another squirrel around the area. The birds were chirping and hopping from one branch to the other and butterflies darted to and fro. It was a nice thing to see after being inside that facility and not seeing or hearing nature. When you looked south towards Flagstaff there were dark clouds that seemed to be in a constant turmoil. I don't know what was going on but as long as it was going on down there, that was ok by me.
We were eating when Mason came back. "They're excited about us getting home tomorrow. Planning a big party. I told them some of what happened but left a lot out. It can wait. That looks good. I'm hungry." He looked at me with those eyes and I was suddenly looking forward to going home. Privacy, my own bed and good coffee.
Chapter 9
Getting home the next day was, in fact, a dream. He said they'd found weevils in the flour and needed more. We thought we'd just stop on the way in and pick up a pallet. Then we thought about it more and decided that we would hit towns on the way instead of our usual places so we didn't deplete the stores closest to home. Before we could that we'd have to get weapons and ammo. No problem, right?
Riley was concerned about George and Ken was worried about Jill being little ladies and all. Until I reminded them that one was a weapons expert and the other went rabbit hunting as a child, then they didn't have much to say. Yea, for our side. However, we still needed weapons to go shopping with. I always thought carrying a side arm to Walmart was a good idea but then you had rules, regulations and laws to contend with. Seems no one had a sense of humor. The way a lot of people dressed in the stores should be cause enough but that's just me.
It was with this thought in mind that we stopped at a large warehouse box store. Taking our only gun, two axes and a baseball bat, the guys entered the store. We stood watch outside with George on top of the motor home while I took the roof and Jill watched the door. It had to be left open for light and probably air from any indication of the smell wafting out. I was missing my trusty crossbow and hunting arrows not to mention the infra red camera to show me exactly where the walkers were in the dark.
Mason was out the door first with a pallet jack loaded with stuff. Jill helped him unload it into the motor home then he went back inside. I was looking at the stuff and thinking we were going to need another truck. Big, small or in between, we're going to need something else. The motor home was getting full. Jill was clearing out the boxes and tossing the empties out the door. Learns fast. I saw a case of ammo and one box that held a silencer. OK, we'll find room.
All three of the guys came out with pallets of stuff. Mason threw a box of black spray paint into the motor home while Riley helped George off the roof. I jumped from the roof to the top of the motor home then helped myself down while Mason distributed cans of paint to everyone with the instructions to "hurry". We hurried. The bottoms of all the windows were painted and the motor shut off when the first herd of walkers headed our way.
George was starting to get worked up again when Riley gathered her close and began to kiss her silly. I looked at Mason but he just smiled and blew me a kiss. I guess the honeymoon's over. Rolling my eyes at him I asked, Anything else in there we can cabbage? If there is, we're gonna need something else to haul it in. It's getting tight in here. I looked around, noting all the stuff.
I think I can handle that. There's several trucks in the rear parking lot and one is hooked to a trailer parked at a loading dock. Won't have to do much but start it up and drive away.
Sounds good to me. While we waited for the herd to pass we readied the guns. I fit the silencer on the rifle but I knew we wouldn't use it until we had no choice. Shooting at just anything wastes ammo and we didn't want to do that so we let them walk by. At the lodge we had an area in one of the outbuildings where we reloaded our own ammo. It was easier and we could control the amount of gun powder we used. We even had a lead mold so we could make our own bullets. That was Flynn's idea since he was a demolitions expert in the service. That man sure did love to blow up things.
The handle on the door jiggled setting my nerves on edge. I looked at George and although she was white as a sheet, she didn't go nuts. It was a sign of the times when you can used to nearly being eaten and not fall apart. I smiled at her and sent her images of Montana. She opened her eyes and smiled back at me. The motor home wobbled a few times but after a while we checked and it was clear. Mason and Riley had ammo belts wrapped around them but Kens was hanging over his shoulder. He'll figure out sooner or later that that probably wasn't a good idea.
They quietly opened the door and I climbed back onto the roof of the building and Jill onto the roof of the motor home again. This time, however, we were armed. Bring it on assholes, I thought. Ken even had on a military helmet, although, I wasn't sure what was he was planning to happen. George got out and started putting the stuff from the pallets into the motor home, and after she had a nice pile, she climbed over it and started helping Jill. I didn't have
the heart to tell her that if she kept it up she'd have to sleep sitting up tonight. She was doing something other than crying so who was I to say anything.
When I saw the empty box of night vision goggles hit the ground I was thrilled. I hate going into a building blind. The goggles made it look almost daylight and you didn't trip over things and get the hell scared out of you by mannequins. I lost count of the number of mannequins I left with arrows sticking out they ears. Almost looked like those gag gifts that was popular, well, way back when.
I was starting to get worried when I got a message from Mason. I'm in the truck and the trailer is bout half loaded. Get ready to go when Riley gets there. Ken is with me.
"Lets go Jill, they're coming out. Get things cleared out of the way George we're coming in." I yelled to the girls. Loud bangs emitted from the motor home and while George threw the last of the stuff into the motor home, Jill came in the back door. I followed George inside just as Riley sprinted from the building. Door locked and motor running we took out of the parking lot just behind the truck and trailer, blowing black smoke. Ten miles down the road we came to an area where you could see for miles every direction so we stopped. Everyone piled into the motor home but there was almost no room to move, so we had to take some of the stuff to the trailer so we could sit down.
One hour later, sweaty and thirsty we sat around in the air conditioning and discussed our next move.
"We got all the flour, rice, sugar both white and brown we could find. We got some clothes for the ladies though I'm not sure if they'll fit quite right."
"Thank God, I'd lost all hope of ever smelling good again." George whispered to Riley. He just smiled and nudged her shoulder with his. That sounded good to me to and from Jills smile, she agreed.
"Remember those contests the grocery stores used to have where the winner got a grocery cart and had so much time to see how many they could fill? Well, we had our own little race going in there. It hadn't been looted from what I could see but the place was lousy with walkers."
Walkers (Book 2): The Rescue Page 8