White Flag of the Dead

by Joseph Talluto

  It was my turn to shake my head. “I can’t believe that, Sarah. Yeah, we’ve taken a hell of a hit, but this can’t be it. We can’t end this way. What about the kids following us, what about the world they inherit? They can’t live the rest of their lives in a school. That’s like living in a cave. What if the zombies last twenty years? Fifty? We have to take our world back. One way or another, we have to take it back.”

  Sarah looked at me for a second, then placed a hand on my arm. The physical contact was like a jolt, and I nearly jerked my arm away, I was that surprised. Sarah generally avoided contact with people unless she respected them, and that respect usually meant you had to kill around fifty zombies single-handed.

  “I can see why they wanted you to lead them, John.” She said softly.

  “Oh yeah, why’s that?” I was seriously curious to know why they wanted me to be the leader.

  “You never stop looking forward, no matter what gets thrown at us, you keep going forward. Thank you.” Sarah’s voice was as gentle, and I was pretty sure she smiled behind her scarf. With Sarah you never could be sure. She could be pulling a knife on me as well.

  “We need to get moving. We have about five hours of daylight left, and I want to see what I can see.” I regretted ending the relatively nice moment I was having with Sarah, but I needed to do some things. I walked over to Frank and kicked him in the foot. “Rise up, Wheezy. We’re not done yet.”

  Frank grumbled and rolled to his feet, but he was smart enough not to say anything with Greer standing behind him. We crossed the road and headed up to the overpass, figuring it to give me a good idea as to the nature of the road. Since a major intersection was just a few hundred yards away, that should give me clear idea of what to expect on the road.

  We climbed the over pass and looked out on the interstate. For the most part, it was empty, with a few cars here and there. The cars were empty, and I guessed they just ran out of gas. The highway had a fence running alongside it, which limited access by the zombies. The problem came from the on and off ramps. There wasn’t any real protection there and I could see even from that distance there were many cars that looked like they had been attacked. Not a pretty way to go. It seemed like a bunch of ghouls had just wandered into some stalled cars and the slaughter began.

  I was looking east when Sarah, who was looking west, got my attention. “We’ve got movement.” She said, pointing towards a car that was slowing moving down the road. I could see it had a flat tire and was not going to make it much further. It was being chased by a group of about six zombies, and they were going to catch it the second it stopped. I sighed. Here we go. Frank started squirming and grabbing at my pack. I elbowed him in the gut and he backed away.

  “Come on, Frank, we have work to do!” I called as I jumped the guard rail. I slid down the hill, bumping my shin on a root that I didn’t see. I could hear Frank groaning all the way down, muttering to himself and generally being a nuisance. He rolled the last five feet and landed on his face. I managed to see that and reminded myself to tell Nate when we got back. Karma’s a bitch, Frankie. Sarah set herself up on the overpass, resting her rifle on the rail and providing cover for our efforts should it prove necessary.

  The car was sliding forward, and I could see that two of the tires were gone, and the car was rolling on rims only. I could see three people in the car, and the vehicle wasn’t going to make it another fifty yards. We were about three hundred yards away, so we were going to have to move. I ran forward, unslinging my carbine and making sure the safety was off. Frank stumbled along behind me, trying to keep up. I’m sure he would have stopped, but the fact that Sarah was behind him with a rifle trained on his ass probably motivated him better than anything I could have said.

  As we ran the car finally came to a stop about a hundred yards ahead of us. The zombies, seeing their meal finally stop, let out a collective moan and shuffled a little faster forward. The people were about forty yards from the zombies and had about two minutes to live. I moved as quickly as I could, noting that Frank had fallen behind. The doors of the car flew open, and a man and woman got out. The woman dashed to the rear of the car and opened the door, intending to get the back seat passenger out and moving. The man never looked back, he just ran towards me. The woman screamed at him, but he ignored her and kept running. She struggled with the back seat, and I could see she wasn’t going to make it. I tried to run faster, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it, either. The man, a smallish specimen, ran right past me and didn’t stop until he reached Frank, who was about twenty yards behind me.

  The woman pulled on the seat belt, but it refused to budge. I was close enough to try a shot to distract them, but the odds of a hit at that distance were slim. Besides, the woman was between me and the zombies. I just kept running and hoped she could get the seat belt undone.

  The woman screamed again and the seatbelt finally came free. She pulled her passenger out, and I could see it was a small child, maybe ten years old. She started to run forward when the first zombie hit her from behind. She went down to her knees, and screamed as rotten teeth sank into her neck. Blood spayed and another zombie came from behind, grabbing her arms and tearing into shoulder. She screamed at her child to run, then stood up and swung at her attackers, knocking one down and kicking at another. She didn’t have a chance, but she bought enough time for the child, a small boy, to get to me. His face was streaked with tears and he was yelling for his mother. I grabbed him and started backing up; keeping an eye on the group as they took the woman down again and began feeding.

  She screamed for a long time before she finally died. I was headed back when I head another groan behind me. I looked and saw the group had finished with her and what was left wasn’t pretty. She had been completely gutted, and her blood stained the road. Long strips of flesh had been torn from her arms and legs, and I could see bits of flesh hanging from the ghouls as they began walking towards us. I could have killed them all, but I was hesitant about shots this far from home. I didn’t feel like a running fight all the way back.

  Scooping up the child, I ran back to Frank and the man who had run. “We have to get out of here. They aren’t going to stop until they get us. Move.”

  “What about my wife?” the man squeaked.

  I pointed down the road where his wife’s body lay. “Not sure why you care now, but there she is. Help yourself. The zombies are finished with her. There might be enough of her to reanimate in a little while.” I had a vivid picture of this man saving himself and leaving his family behind, and if it wasn’t for the little boy I was carrying, I would cheerfully have left him for the zombies.

  I didn’t stay any longer. If he wanted to stay and die, fine. But this little boy didn’t deserve that, just like he didn’t deserve to have such a coward for a father. I ran to the overpass hill and scrambled up. The boy followed me without a word, and I could see his mind was retreating to a state of shock. That’s fine. Shock works, as long as it’s quiet. I had seen this before, and in time he would be better. But for now, we needed to move. Frank and his friend crawled up as well, and Sarah kept her rifle on the zombies the whole time. She had seen everything, and when the man reached the top, she fixed him with such a withering stare I thought he would catch fire. He was clueless, and chatted away with his new best friend, Frank. The boy came out of his fog enough to take Sarah by the hand, and I saw a slight shudder go up her arm when he did that.

  Time for that later. The zombies were under the bridge, unable to climb the embankment to reach us. They reached up with bloody hands and opened blood stained mouths. I had the urge to throw the man down the hill at them, but I couldn’t do that to the boy. I had killed in vengeance before, and I didn’t like what it did to my soul.

  I headed back to the school, moving quickly. The man complained about the pace, but I was deaf to him. I needed to get back to the school and talk to Nate about some plans for the future, and that couldn’t get done out here. We moved swiftly, stopping only on
ce to catch our breaths. The boy was a trooper, never leaving Sarah’s side. His father went over to talk to him, but the boy jerked away and hid behind Sarah. The man looked angry and started to move for the boy, but Sarah brought her rifle up and shook her head. The man wisely decided not to push the point.

  We made it back to the school as the sun started to head down, throwing long shadows across the ground. A cold wind came up from the north, stirring the leaves and reminding me that I was running out of time.

  Nate was at the entrance to greet us, and raised his eyebrows at the fact that we had left with three, and came back with five. “Busy day?” he asked.

  I glanced at him. “We need to talk about a few things.” I looked pointedly at Frank, who was in an animated conversation with the man we had rescued. I could hear him say ‘What could you do?’ and making conciliatory gestures. The man hadn’t gone near his son, and Sarah was still trying to kill him with her eyes. She walked off with the boy after shrugging off her gear.

  Nate nodded and went over to Frank and the man. “Get yourself out of your gear, I’ll take care of this.” Frank clearly did not want to leave his friend, but Nate’s look did not brook argument. Nate turned to the man. “Welcome to the fort. Who are you and how can you be of use to us?”

  Nate’s twist on words was lost on the man. He stuck a hand out and said “Kevin Pierce. Pleased to meet you.” Nate shook his hand and I could see he wasn’t impressed. I took off my goggles, gloves and balaclava, and reslung my rifle over my shoulder.

  Nate gave him the standard speech. “We’ll give you a room, you can decorate any way you like. We have clothes if you need them, and food is prepared three times a day. We eat together, and each person is responsible for cleaning up after themselves. If you have children, we have a sort of school…”

  “I have a son.” Kevin interrupted.

  “…which meets for four hours a day. You are expected to attend training to defend yourself and the community. If you are worthless or useless, you will not eat. Any questions?” Nate had given the speech before, but I always found it amusing to hear.

  “Who’s in charge? Is it you?” Kevin wanted to know. “I was a superintendent of a pretty big district and can lend leadership advice.”

  Nate pointed at me. “He is. He’s saved more than half of us. Fact is, this place probably wouldn’t exist without him. Superintendent, huh? John here used to be a principal before the Upheaval.”

  Pierce actually tried to look down his nose at me. Which was tough, since at six-two, I was a full head taller than he was. “Just a principal, hmm?”

  I looked at him. “What I was is irrelevant. What I am is disgusted by your presence. The only thing that is keeping me from throwing you to the zombies is the fact that your wife managed to save your son before she was eaten. If he had been killed as well, you wouldn’t be here. I saw you leave them. I saw you run. You can’t change that. What you were was a superintendent. What you are is a coward and a bastard.”

  Kevin actually took a step back under my onslaught. Nate’s eyes hardened and he dropped a hand to his gun.

  I spoke again. “We’ll keep you safe only for your son’s sake. But cross me, and I’ll throw you out. Run from a fight in here, and I’ll kill you.” Kevin sputtered but I cut him off. “Learn the rules and don’t speak to me. You might actually live. Right now you need to find your child and beg his forgiveness for leaving him and his mother to die.”

  I turned on my heel and left him, signaling Nate to follow me. Frank came scurrying up and he took Kevin away. Sarah had left with the man’s son, and in all likelihood was getting him something to eat and drink.

  Nate followed me up to the Day Care, and I picked up Jakey. I remembered that boy running from his mother’s killers, and I gave him an extra hug and kiss. He grinned at me and buried his face in my shoulder, making squeaky baby noises. He noticed Nate standing there, and reached out to be held by the big man. Nate was Jake’s guardian when I was not around, and I knew without hesitation that Nate would die to protect Jake. Nate tickled Jakey’s chin, causing him to laugh and causing Nate’s features to soften. I could see how good of a father Nate probably was, and I was saddened his children were no longer around.

  We went back to my room and as I fed Jake his dinner, I outlined my plan. Nate asked a lot of questions, and we talked long into the night, poring over maps by candlelight and making adjustments. Tomorrow was going to be a long one, but it was the first step in taking back what we lost.

  18

  The next day, I called the community together in the commons. Since I had only done this a few times before to discuss rules and such, people tended to take these things seriously. Everyone showed up on time, except for Frank and Kevin. They strolled in five minutes late and huddled together in the back. Charlie James wandered over to where they were and casually sat down next to them. Frank looked at Charlie like he was a bug, and Kevin was talking animatedly and gesturing with his hands, his fingers sticking out at weird angles. It was so distracting that Nate had to bump me to get me started.

  “Good morning. I’m grateful all of you came down to the meeting. First of all, I want to bring you up to speed on our newest members. Kevin Pierce, sitting there next to Frank Stearns, and his son Phillip, joined us yesterday. Sarah, Frank, and myself rescued Kevin and Phillip from the interstate. His wife did not make it.” There were murmured condolences, and that bastard Kevin actually had the nerve to look sad. I considered spoiling the moment for him with the truth, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. The man’s true nature was easily seen, and I doubted anyone would be fooled. Besides, Sarah and Nate had already spread the word about Kevin, so it was done.

  “Second of all, we need to talk about winter. We are relatively sheltered here, but heating a place this size is going to be difficult. Food we have no worries about, thanks to our raid on the Big Circle,” There were a few cheers at this. “But we need to think about leaving the school behind.”

  There was a stunned silence as people took in what I had told them. Then the questions began to flow and Nate raised his hands for silence.

  “I understand you are reluctant to leave, considering what we went through to get to this place and what we go through to keep it. But in reality, what did we win? We bought ourselves a little time, that’s all. We bought ourselves a little security. We can sleep somewhat easily at night, but we always have to be on guard, always have to be ready for the next attack. Ask yourself this question. Do you want to grow old here? Do you want your children to grow up here? We don’t know how long the zombies will last, be it a year, two years, ten years? All the time stalking us and waiting to devour us. We’ve regrouped, yes. But we need to move out, reclaim the world that was ours, and tell the zombies we will not just lay down to be their dinner. We need to strike out and start taking it back. I have a feeling there are a lot of survivors out there, and they will not make the winter without help.

  “Nate and I have been planning, and we think we have come up with a viable plan. First of all, we will move out of this building and into another facility. One that is more secure and allows us to move about freely outside.” That struck home. Many people hadn’t been outside in months, and they often talked about their yards, their gardens, whatever.

  “We don’t think it is possible yet for everyone to go back to their homes. If you did, you’d face the survival problem on your own. We think staying together as a community will ensure our success and survival.” There were several nods at this.

  “Secondly, we need to establish secondary posts, manned by essential personnel and self-sufficient. I have figured out one perfect location for such a post, and it is there I will be heading in the near future. We figure to have five or six of these posts set up next spring, and from there we will begin the final part of our plan, which is to begin clearing the area of zombies, securing it completely, and establishing ourselves in a permanent home to rebuild what was lost.

  “It’s go
ing to take a lot of work, but right now time is of the essence. It’s October now, and we all know what winters are like in the Midwest. I figure we have two months before the really nasty stuff comes after us. If we are really lucky, the zombies will freeze in the winter and allow us to establish our posts unmolested; however, nothing in our short history tells me we have much in the way of luck.

  “I’m not asking you to believe in the plan. I’m not asking you to believe in me. What I am asking is this – In forty years when you look back on your life and the Upheaval, don’t you want to be able to say to your children “I stood and fought. Not I ran and hid.”

  I didn’t know what I expected. I half expected to have a lot of shouted questions and epithets. I half expected to be threatened. What I did not expect was to have one person, Jim Bigelow, our oldest community member, stand up and address me personally.

  “John, you’ve constantly put this community first, and many people have wondered why. You never asked for anything in return and you have fought for us at every turn. Some people here owe you more than they could ever hope to repay. You’ve never made a move you didn’t think through first. If you tell me we need to move, then I’m with you. Where are we going?” He sat down and people started to clap. I have to admit I was touched. I never realized that people noticed what I did. I thought I was being selfish, doing what I thought was best for my son and his future. I guess everyone got caught up in that as well. That’s okay, they can come with.

  When the clapping died down, Nate stepped up and addressed the assembly. He had a map of Illinois tacked to a piece of cardboard, and there were areas outlined in red, blue and green.

  “The red areas here, those are the ones John and I consider too hot to attempt any penetration. We just don’t have the manpower or resources. Maybe later, but for right now, it’s out of the equation. It is not, however, out of the realm of containment, and we can use natural terrain to our advantage. We will begin by sectioning off one area at a time, eradicating every zombie in the area, and moving on to the next area. We expect to increase our ranks as we find survivors. The blue areas are considered to be areas of little zombie activity, and the green areas are what we consider to be relatively safe zones. These are the rural areas and outlying towns and farms, and we think in all likelihood there are entire towns which have been spared the devastation. The end goal is self sufficiency, and we have the resources at our disposal to rebuild better than we had before. We just have to go and get them, and establish ourselves at points where we can support each other and combat the threat.