As I got out of the truck, Sarah made a comment about feeling as if she was at the bottom of a well, but Charlie nodded approvingly at my choice.
“Good control of access points. Four bottlenecks that we could hold for a long time. Nice one,” he said.
I shrugged. “When in Iowa…” I motioned for everyone to gather around, and I spread a map onto the bed of the truck. It was the one with the black circles. “Here’s where we are,” I said, pointing to a spot outside of Red Oak. Red Oak was one of the black circles, and it was a concern, because it was one of the larger cities in the area. “We have to figure that the band of little zombies has been through this area and are fast moving east. Chances are they aren’t after anything specific. They are just building their army with more and more little ones. That would explain why the only ones left in the last towns were adults.” There were murmurs at this, but I pressed on. “What I think our best course of action right now is to get ahead of them, warn the towns to re-fortify against the threat, and maybe get a chance to strike at these things.”
I put away the map and Charlie and Sarah nodded. Tommy had that look on his face and Rebecca was thoughtful as well. Duncan was the first to break the silence.
“What I don’t get,” Duncan began, “is how these little bastards came into being in the first place? It flies in the face of everything we know about the zombies.”
Before I could answer, Rebecca spoke up. “Actually, it doesn’t,” she said. “We’ve known for a long time that the virus took out the host and reanimated the body. One of the things we’ve also known is the older the host at the time of infection, the slower and more limited it was. The younger the host, the faster and more capable.”
We all nodded and waited for her to go on. We were familiar with this stuff, Rebecca continued. “The thing we didn’t realize was the body resisted in layers when it came to the brain. Typically, the brain will shut down non-functioning systems in an effort to save itself. This isn’t new. However, what happened was the layers were responsible for different aspects of a person’s development. The deeper the destruction, the less capable the zombie. What I think happened with these zombies, and is happening with the ones they are infecting, is the layers aren’t being completely stripped away, and what’s left is infected, but relatively intact.”
I had to speak up. “Okay, you lost me in the layers, there. What are you saying?” Charlie nodded in agreement. Apparently, he was lost, too.
Rebecca smiled. “Okay, think of a brain as being capable of certain things based on size. A lizard is capable of limited functions, no learning capability, and no emotion. A cat has limited functions based in instinct, limited learning capability, and limited emotion. A dog has increased functions, superior learning capability, and the ability to feel true emotions. What I think happened with these zombies is they have had much of their brains wiped out, but a good portion remained, albeit infected. They are probably as smart as cats, but unable to feel any emotion. They are exhibiting pack behavior, and probably have a leader.”
We all let that sink in. It fit with everything we had seen so far, and possibly gave us a chance to predict future behavior. It seriously changed the rules of engagement, and we would have to hunt them, while being hunted ourselves.
Duncan suddenly spoke up. “The school!”
Sarah looked over. “Explain.”
Duncan smiled. “Remember the school in Glenwood that looked like it had been occupied, but a door was open? Anyone want to bet that’s where our little band of marauders came from there?”
Duncan had a point. During the Upheaval, a lot of schools had been used as safe points for keeping kids out of harm’s way. It wasn’t inconceivable that a group had been holed up at a school, got infected, turned, and eventually figured out how to get out of the school.
“No bet. My guess is we need to skip these towns here, move as fast as we can to find an uninfected town, and start the warning process. Then we can alert the army and get them out here. The only thing we have going for us at this point is we’re able to move faster and we have the river to keep them from Illinois.”
We broke apart and went to our various places to rest. Sarah and I stayed in the truck while Duncan and Tommy slept in the van. Charlie and Rebecca went up to the tower across the way, with the notion of being in a high spot in case of attack.
Chapter 27
In the morning, we got back on the road and moved into the town of Red Oak. Red Oak was a big town with a decent sized population. The upside was it had weathered the Upheaval pretty decently, and a lot of people from surrounding areas had come here for protection and to escape the isolation of the farm country. Instead of a fence or border, they had gone the route of everyone being responsible for protection, and had built observation towers around the town to warn of any dangers. They relied on communication and everyone doing their part. You couldn’t live there if you didn’t want to contribute or participate.
As we approached the town proper, a man standing by a tower on the side of the road hailed us. The tower was a mixed-build affair, with concrete walls reaching ten feet up, made higher by a wooden structure that extended another fifteen feet in the air. A small, solid shack that had a little water tower, a stove, and several antennas topped it. I had been in one of the towers a few years back and it was a cozy little place. I stopped the truck alongside the man. I recognized him from the earlier years, and he hadn’t changed much, just a little grayer on top and a little more wrinkled around the eyes.
“How do? You all just passin’ through? Holy Shoot! John Talon! Sarah! Git out here!” The man stepped back and the two of us got out shaking hands and giving hugs.
“How you been, Jason? Good to see you’re still kicking.”
“Can’t complain, can’t complain. Who’s in the other van?” Jason squinted and suddenly turned serious. “Is that Charlie? Who else you got in there? Duncan and Tommy?”
I nodded and Jason gave me a look. “You here about the outbreak?” He asked.
“What outbreak?” I decided to see if Jason would confirm our theories.
“We’ve had an outbreak on the south end of town, can’t explain what the hell happened. People went to bed just fine, and then the next day they’re attacking their neighbors. We’ve been under a lot of stress just keeping it under control. We’ve been sweeping daily for a couple of weeks, and we think we’ve gotten it handled, but it’s been tough. The last couple of days have been quiet, so we think we may have it covered,” Jason said.
“Did you call anyone about it? Maybe get some help?” I asked, wondering if the third team had been here.
Jason shook his head. “Our equipment got blown up when a zombie caught fire and walked into the generator gas supply. The radio was next door. Now that you mention it, a team did show up from the capitol, but they didn’t stick around.”
Jason looked at me hard. “What’s going on, John? This is my home now, and if there’s something happening related to these outbreaks, we should know.”
Jason was right and I quickly outlined what we knew and suspected. He listened, and his eyes got wide at the description of the attackers, especially at their behavior.
“Dang. Well, you got work to do, so I won’t keep you from it. Thanks for the heads up, and we’ll keep our eyes open.” He went back to his tower and threw a wave to Charlie and Rebecca as they drove past. I figured this town was going to be okay, unless the little devils came back. The part that was eluding me was how they were traveling from town to town. I couldn’t find the connection.
We drove fast to the next town, but since the road wasn’t the greatest, we took longer than I was hoping for. What should have been a twenty-minute drive actually took nearly an hour.
I pulled down the road to Stanton, and drove up to a water tower. As we got out to stretch, I had Charlie drive over to the tower and Duncan managed to get the ladder from the roof of the van. He quickly scampered up and he was gone for about ten minutes. W
hen he came down, he had familiar news.
“Town’s gone. Looks as if a last stand was made at the school, but there’s nothing but corpses around here,” Duncan said.
“Any good news?” Charlie asked.
“If I had to guess, the attack came from the south again, but I can’t be sure. There’s a good number of little dead zombies, so they made a good fight of it.”
“Survivors?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Nope. I did see what looked like the remains of some heavy vehicles, so I’d say this was the last stand of the last team out here.”
I did some mental math, and figured we were probably a week and change behind the last team out here. With the fight here, we were probably four days behind our little marauders.
Four days, and we were about two hundred and fifty miles from the border.
We were way too close to being out of time.
Chapter 28
At the junction of 34 and 71, I turned south to check out the town of Villisca. It was the only town in the area of any size, and with the way things were going; we couldn’t just drive away from it. Sarah had rightly pointed out that, if it was untouched, they deserved to know what was headed their way. If we found several towns unharmed, we could at least know we had somehow gotten ahead of the threat and could prepare to meet it.
Villisca was only five miles away and the roads were actually pretty good, given the winters in Iowa, so we made decent time. At West High Street, we turned into the town proper and it was easy to see it was still alive. There was a lot of activity, and a lot of people moving around. A kid on a bike rode up to us, and gave us directions to the High School, where efforts were being coordinated to deal with the current outbreak.
We found the high school and a small, round, and heavily tattooed woman came out to meet me. She was about five feet tall, five feet wide, with bright red hair and a cigar hanging out of her mouth.
“Who the hell are you?” She demanded, placing a hand on her hip where a revolver sat in a worn holster. A bandolier of ammo ran over her shoulder and I could see several loops were empty.
I scanned the area quickly, and noticed a couple of men lounging nearby, well-armed and waiting for instruction. To the south and west, I could hear occasional shots and shouts.
“Name’s John Talon, this here’s Charlie James, Tommy Carter, Duncan Fries, and Rebecca and Sarah. Looks like you’ve got an outbreak on your hands,” I said.
“Ain’t you brilliant? Yes, dummy, we’ve got an outbreak.” She paused to listen to her radio, which had an ear bud in her left ear. “Cliff! Jenkins! They need help down by the bar and grill! Git movin’!” She turned back to me. “Heard of you. First president after the Upheaval. Nice to meet you. Heard about Denver, too. You and that Mr. James ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
Charlie had the decency to look away before he laughed, but I just let it go. I liked this woman, and I had no idea who she was.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sarah straighten a little. “And what’s your name, sweetie?” She asked, staring at the presumed leader of the town. Sarah didn’t like anyone who was rude, especially to me. I guess I should be flattered, but I swear I got into more fights over it.
The leader turned her little black eyes on Sarah and stared back. “My name’s Crystal, and you’d better watch that ‘sweetie’ bullshit, missy.”
Sarah stepped forward and would have started a serious argument, but I put up a hand. “Enough. If you need help, ask. If not, don’t be rude, we’ll be on our way.”
Crystal put both hands on her hips and started a ‘Who do you think you are?’ tirade that lasted a full minute. I let her run out of steam before I decided to end the conversation.
I stepped close and looked down at her, letting her know I now wasn’t in the mood for nonsense. “Now, you listen for a change, because you have a question to answer…’Will I run your ass out of this town as a rogue threat to the country?’ Before you think to answer that, yes, I have that authority, and yes, my crew here is fully capable of taking care of any objections you or your men might have. If we leave you here in charge it is because I allow it.” I paused for a breath and Crystal looked shocked.
“I don’t want to deal with this. I have bigger problems on my mind right now, and frankly, so do you. Answer my questions and we’ll be on our way if you don’t want our help.”
Crystal was much more subdued, and answered my questions honestly, even if a bit sulkily. It seemed they had things in hand here. Since it was a recent outbreak, it took a few people by surprise, but they were getting it under control and were doing okay. I was glad to hear that, because I didn’t want to spend time in a place I wasn’t needed. When I asked about communications, she gave me a noncommittal grunt.
“We never had any. All we ever did was to send someone over to Stanton when we wanted to talk or get any messages,” she said.
Well, that fit. “What’s the nearest town to here, going east?” I asked as I climbed back in the truck.
“Nodaway, about four miles up County Road 54.”
“Thanks. Good luck.”
“Would you have run me out?” Crystal asked as I started the vehicle.
I looked at her for few seconds. “Not really. I’d have just shot you.”
Chapter 29
County Highway 54 was little more than a two-lane road, with gravel driveways leading off in the distance to farmhouses and silos. There were spots of trees here and there, and I knew enough about farmland to know that was typically, where the creeks and waterways were. There were ponds scattered about, and the remnants of crops long forgotten and gone to seed. I saw there were still some patches of corn, but they went to feed the crows and critters that roamed freely over the land now.
The road took a sharp turn to the north, and before I knew it, I was riding up on Nodaway. The town was seriously in the middle of nowhere, and as we drove along the western edge, I could see that it wasn’t much, even in its heyday. Several homes looked like they were in some dire need of paint, and it was old enough to show that it was like that even before the end of the world. Many homes were small, four or five room affairs, but they were sitting on three-acre lots littered with outbuildings, children’s toys, and rusted out cars.
Sarah looked at me and shrugged, and I had to return the gesture. We hadn’t seen anyone, alive or dead in this burg, and it was a little creepy. The roadmap said there was a population of one hundred and thirty two, but none of them was out and about.
I started to get that old familiar feeling when something was seriously wrong, and I was feeling it now about Nordaway. I called Charlie on the radio to see what he thought.
“Charlie?” I winced, as we went over some seriously nasty railroad tracks.
“Ouch. What’s up?” Came the strained reply.
“What’s your take on this place? Over.”
“We’re being watched. Over.”
That was the feeling. I looked over at Sarah and she nodded, pulling out her handgun and checking the magazine at the same time. There was something wrong about this place, and I wasn’t going to give it a chance to nail us. One thing I had learned over the years was to trust my instincts and this place was telling me to get the hell out now.
“All right. Let’s pull out of here. If there is anyone here, they’re holed up pretty well, and if they’re dead, they’re not going anywhere.” I told Sarah to make a note of the place for the army when they came back to sweep this area.
“John.” Charlie’s voice came through again.
“What’s up?”
“Duncan says he heard something funny when he stuck his head out the window.”
“What is he, a dog? Talk to me, what about it?”
“He says to stop the truck, and roll the windows down.”
“All right, just a minute.” I rolled to a stop on the road just north of Tenth Avenue. There was a house off to the east and a grain elevator further down the road, its grey
tubes reaching for the noon sky.
I opened the window and listened intently, marveling again how quiet the world had become since the Upheaval. I could hear some insects in the grass, and a small rustling of the corn stalks as the breeze played around the leaves, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just as a started to pick up the radio to tell Duncan he was an idiot, I heard a sound that didn’t belong there. I looked over at Sarah and she confirmed what I had heard.
“What the hell is that sound, and why is it familiar?” She asked.
“Don’t know, but you’re right, it is familiar.” The sound died down, was quiet for a minute, and then it started up again. It was a weird clicking noise, as if someone was tapping two small stones together. Only there was a lot of the clicking, as if fifty people were clicking the stones together. It started, stopped and started again.
I opened the door to the truck and Sarah nearly had a heart attack.
“What are you doing?” She hissed. “You don’t know what’s out there!”
I waved her off as I stepped away from the truck. The door was still open and I wasn’t planning on going any further than a few feet, but I wanted to find out if there was anything to see.
Looking over at Charlie and Rebecca in the van, I could see Charlie mouth ‘What the hell?’ at me, but I didn’t think I was in any real danger, not yet anyway.
As I stood there, the clicking noise started again and this time it didn’t let up. It seemed to be coming from the fields, so my first thought was it was insects. I had seen some serious grasshoppers out here on the plains, so that wasn’t outside the possible when it came to the noise.
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