We gathered around Charlie and Rebecca started crying. Sarah took her to the van and told her it was going to be okay. I looked at Charlie.
“Where do you want to do this?” There wasn’t much else to say.
Charlie looked around. “That parking lot is as good a place as any.”
“All right. Your call.” I waved over to Tommy and Duncan. “Keep them off us, all right?”
Duncan looked down while Tommy answered. “Will do. I think they’re gone, though.”
I listened to the wind blowing, and thought I heard some clicking to the east, but chances were it was just stones.
Charlie and I walked over to the parking lot, and Charlie took the time to take off his weapons. His ‘hawks, he placed gently on the ground, and then he removed his knife and pistol. Charlie then faced me and shook my hand one last time.
“Good luck,” I said.
“Thanks. You’ll be okay?”
“I will. You’ve been a good friend and brother.”
“You too. See you on the other side.”
Charlie lay down on the asphalt, his injured arm held away from his body. I stood watch, making sure we had no surprises when things came to their inevitable conclusion.
While I waited for Charlie, I looked around at the landscape. In the lean hours of the morning, I could just make out the dark shapes of the hills to the north. The setting moon provided just enough light to see, but not enough to be useful in finding targets.
After twenty minutes of lying still, Charlie began to twitch slightly. His arm spasmed and jumped a little and I knew it wasn’t going to be too long, now. I checked my pockets to make sure I had what was needed, then waited some more. Sure enough, the heavier spasms hit, and Charlie’s back arched briefly. His body clenched itself, with his arms and legs bending, bringing him to a fetal position.
Slowly, slowly, his body straightened out, and I could see his arm was very red, with black where the zombie had bitten him. I reflected on all the things we had been through, all of the fights we had survived without so much as a scratch. It always seemed to happen this way. I started to get angry at the whole situation. First, I was angry at Dot, then I was angry with the people sent out here, who couldn’t handle the problem, then I was mad at the townspeople who had died, and finally I had just enough anger left for the little shit that had bitten Charlie.
After an hour of Charlie lying perfectly still, his hands began to move. After a minute, he rolled over onto his stomach and carefully put his hands by his head. Pushing up, he got his legs under himself and stood very slowly, bits of rock that had clung to his clothes falling to the ground. I placed a hand on my sidearm and waited.
Charlie brought his hand to his head and shook it slightly. He turned and spotted me standing there. Moving in my direction, one-step at a time, Charlie opened his mouth.
Chapter 36
“Ouch.”
“No doubt. Aspirin?” I held out a small bottle of the pills and a canteen.
“Please. Jesus, I have a headache.” Charlie shook out six of the pills and tossed them down his throat, chasing them with large gulps of water.
After a minute, he took a huge breath and gathered up his things. He put his gun and knife back, and replaced his ‘hawks. Steadying himself, he opened his pack and pulled out a packet of penicillin. Crushing the pills, he scattered the powder over his wound, and wrapped it up with some gauze.
“How do I look?” Charlie asked.
I looked at him critically. “Your eyeballs are glowing.”
“What?”
“Just kidding.”
“That wasn’t funny.”
We walked slowly back to the vehicles and I could see the crew waiting in the vehicles. As soon as they could see us, Rebecca came racing out of the van and nearly toppled Charlie over. I swear her hug almost popped his head off.
Sarah came out to meet me and I gave her a hug and kiss as well.
“All good?” she asked, looking over at the other couple.
“Yeah, this one wasn’t as bad as the last,” I said. A long time ago, we had a doctor who decided, for whatever reason, to take blood samples of everyone who was living in the community. I thought it was for transfusions should the need arise, but the good doc had figured that anyone surviving the Upheaval, given how contagious the virus was, had to have some kind of immunity. As it turned out, Charlie was immune. I was informed that I was probably immune as well, but I had never tested it, and wasn’t really willing to try. Charlie first got bitten in Nebraska, then a second time in Denver. Each time the virus tries to take over and each time Charlie manages to fight it back. Every once in a while he makes a trip to the capital to donate some blood for testing and an attempt at an anti-virus. So far, no luck. Charlie gets to suffer through some serious headaches, and his spasms once broke a window, which is why we moved to the outdoors when the bite in Denver occurred.
Charlie said the fight royally sucked, and his head felt like someone had shot him in the forehead, but other than the bitten area becoming little black teeth marks, he was none the worse for wear.
Rebecca redressed the wound and Charlie settled into one of the back captain’s chairs in the van. Tommy was going to drive for a while.
I looked at the corpses surrounding us and then at the lightening sky. I decided we needed to rest a bit, so I climbed aboard the truck and we pulled out of town. I moved north until I hit 34, then pulled over onto the driveway of a small farm. Radioing back to the van, I said we needed to catch up on sleep, so we would stick around there for a few hours. Everyone agreed, so we slipped back into the sleep we left, after what seemed so long ago.
Sarah practically fell onto me and we dropped the seats back to rest. As I fell asleep, I swore I could hear clicking in the wind.
Chapter 37
“What’s the link?”
“What?”
“Oh, sorry. Talking to myself. Did I wake you?”
“No, I was up.”
I leaned over and kissed Sarah good morning, and then turned back to my map. I had a large Iowa map spread out over the steering wheel and I was staring at the marks we had made.
“I’ve been over this map, and over it, and I’m trying to figure out what is linking these communities together,” I said, tracing a finger over the towns we’d marked and the ones we had been to, frustrating myself.
Sarah leaned over to look at what I was doing. “There aren’t any clear roads that travel that way, and there’s a river that the zombies would have to cross.” She looked up. “Huh. That is curious. How are they able to get to these towns and then get away? Somebody should be able to track them, especially if there’s as many as we think there are.”
I put the map away and got out of the truck. The morning was giving way to noon, and the sun felt good on my face. The grasses around me whispered gently, and the breeze stirred leaves ready to start turning and falling.
I went over to the truck to see how Charlie was doing and ran into Rebecca.
“Whoop! Excuse me. Good morning. How’s Charlie doing this fine day?”
Rebecca smiled. “I worry like hell, and the big doofus pulls through. His arm is infected from the bite, so we’ll have to keep an eye on it, but I think he’ll live.”
I smiled. “Figures, even zombies can’t kill that goof. Sarah’s up, just so you know.”
“Thanks.”
I looked inside the van and Duncan was still sprawled across the floor on the other side. Tommy was up and stretching, and Charlie was sitting in a chair, flexing his hand and looking at his bandaged arm.
“How’s the wing?” I said as a hello.
Charlie’s face smiled a little. “Hurts, but I’ll be fine. The headache is the thing, though. That sucker will knock you out. How’s Sarah?”
“She’s fine. We were going over the map today, trying to find the link between the towns, hoping to be able to get a line on where our little friends might strike next, but damned if I can figure it out
,” I said.
“What kind of link?” Tommy asked, thumping Duncan on the side to wake him. Duncan responded by turning over onto his other side and snoring into the base of the sidewall.
“I don’t get how these things are making their attacks. They are not staying in one place, but they’re not following any roads. They’re crossing rivers and streams with ease, and nothing seems to slow them down. I’m actually afraid of where they might be today.” I was concerned, since we were deep in Iowa, and I didn’t want to chase my tail for another day.
Tommy looked thoughtful while Charlie answered. “Do we have a plan for today, anyway?”
I nodded. “I figure we’ll just try to get ahead of them, make sure people are defended, and have some communication, and triangulate their position by their attacks. If people know what they’re up against, they can prepare for it. “
“When are we moving?” Charlie asked, getting out of the chair and grabbing Duncan by the belt. Duncan let out a sleepy squawk as Charlie hauled him out of the van and dumped him out on the ground.
Duncan opened his eyes and looked up at me. “When’s breakfast?”
“Lunch is on the road. Get ready, we’re moving fast. You’re on communication. I need you to get in touch with anyone out there. We need a starting point and I’m sick of being down ten points after the first quarter.” I headed back to the truck and passed Rebecca on the way. She was smiling and I figured she had a right to be.
We moved out of our camp about twenty minutes later, munching on supplies as we followed Brooks road on its winding path towards 34. Once we reached 34, I headed east, and in a short amount of time, we reached the outskirts of Corning. Corning was the county seat, so it was a little bigger than the other small towns. That was either a good thing or a bad thing. More people usually meant increased chances of infection, while at the same time, having more defenders was always a good thing.
Unfortunately, Corning had gone down in the Upheaval, and it didn’t look like anyone had tried to make any attempt to relocate there. We slowed long enough to see that the place was abandoned and empty, and then we moved on. There might have been people on the other side, but I had to keep moving. I had a feeling the answer to my dilemma was right in front of my nose, but all I could see was brick walls.
Trying to make up for the rest that we took, I moved along 34 as best I could, and waited for any contact from Duncan from any towns. Prescott was quiet, as far as I could tell, so we moved towards Creston. Creston once boasted a population of over seven thousand, but it was limited to a little over five hundred these days. In the upheaval, the northern portion of the town was gone, but the southern section held their ground and managed to fight off the mess from the north. The southern Crestons were tough people, used to fighting and unafraid of zombies. We were lucky to have two hundred of them join us in our fight across the country.
Just before we reached the outskirts of Creston, Duncan radioed in.
“John! John! Talk to me! Over!”
Sarah grabbed the radio as I navigated around a particularly deep pothole.
“Sarah here, what is it?”
“Creston’s in trouble! They’re calling for help. Sounds like they’ve had an outbreak and it’s a bad one!”
“Got it. Get ready. Over.” Sarah looked at me and I just shook my head.
“Dammit. We shouldn’t have rested,” I said.
“Nonsense. Charlie was bitten and we were exhausted.” Sarah tried to make me feel better, but I still felt like it was my fault. Seemed like every decision I was making this trip was leading to disaster.
“All right.” I grabbed the radio. “Duncan, everyone. Gear up, we’re going in fast and heavy.” I pushed the truck a little faster, hoping we could make it in time.
Chapter 38
We rolled into the south end of Creston and raced along Taylor Street. Duncan radioed in that the fight was on the north end, so I took the first road that turned in that direction. We flew up division, passing a few people who were moving south. I saw three women herding a group of small children, and they gave hopeful glances our way as we passed. I began to feel the old rage start to rise again and I gripped the wheel tighter.
At Lucas Street, I stopped and jumped out of the vehicle, grabbing my weapons as I went. I heard firing to the east, so I headed that way. In our world, shots meant someone was still alive, so rescues started in the general vicinity of flying bullets. Running in was risky, because in the heat of battle people didn’t necessarily ask your pardon before they took a shot at you.
Charlie was right behind me, and Tommy and Duncan, close behind. Sarah and Rebecca were bringing up the truck and van, using them as high points to fire from should we need cover.
A short, younger looking man saw us coming over and he sprinted towards us.
“Who are you?” he panted. He was carrying a lever action rifle and had a small bag slung over his shoulder. As he sized us up, he took a moment to reach into the bag, extract a handful of bullets, and start loading them into the magazine of his gun.
“John Talon. Need help?” I kept it short.
“Hell, yes! Had an outbreak last night. No idea how the hell it got started. Suddenly, people woke up to zombies in their houses. We lost twenty three in the first attack, then forty more for sure when they left their homes and started hunting.” He finished reloading and pointed the rifle to the east. “We’ve got people stuck in the post office, and we’re not set up for this!” He started running back in the direction of the post office and we jogged to keep up. “I’m trying to get reinforcements, but we sent most people south to save kids!”
“How many are trapped?” I asked.
“About two dozen, and they’re unarmed!” The man ran further and as we cleared Oak Street, I could see the Post Office. I could also see the horde of zombies that had it surrounded. They were a nasty looking bunch, covered in bright blood and gore. They hadn’t seen us, yet, and we could use that to our advantage if we kept our heads.
“Kill them!” Our guide opened up on the zombies and dropped one with five shots. At the firing, most of the zombies turned our way, a few turning and starting to stumble in our direction.
So much for keeping our heads. “Duncan, Tommy, let’s split them up. Nothing fancy, let’s just shoot them.”
Tommy checked the safety on his rifle and nodded. “Got it.” He and Duncan ran up the street a ways, drawing the attention of a number of zombies. About twenty started moving in their direction.
Charlie and I stepped away from the man with the lever gun and waited patiently. The zombies that had seen us were advancing, slightly faster than normal, which was to be guessed, seeing as how fresh they were. Our guide emptied his gun and grabbed another handful of cartridges from his bag. As he was reloading, the horde got closer and closer. A little bit of mental calculation figured the man would be dead before he managed to get his gun firing again.
“Close enough. Outside in?” Charlie asked.
“Works for me. I’ll start with Fatty over there.” I pointed with my rifle barrel a fat zombie making his way over. His entire shirtfront was covered in blood, and his jowls wobbled as he took each laborious step.
“Got it.”
Charlie started firing on the right side of the horde and I started on the left. We worked our way deliberately from the edges, knocking down Z after Z. The ones we knocked down tripped the ones still coming, so our next line of firing was a bit more erratic as the zombies we were drawing a bead on suddenly fell from sight.
After putting down ten zombies, I checked on Duncan and Tommy’s progress. They had put down as many as we had, and it looked like things were not going to be all that bad, here at least. Charlie had put down nearly the same amount, so we were in pretty good shape.
Fifteen minutes after we had arrived at the scene, Duncan put the last zombie away. I did a quick look around of the Post Office, and made sure we hadn’t missed any, or there weren’t any that might have been h
iding in the tall grass.
I went back to my comrades. “That ought to do it. Tommy, you take the van and scout around the area, make sure there aren’t any surprises waiting for these people when they go back to their homes. Duncan, you go with Sarah and check on the people to the south. Make sure they don’t have any problems they need taking care of.”
Tommy and Duncan nodded and were about to head back to the vehicles when Charlie stopped them. “Here,” he said, handing them his rifle. “We should be done with the heavy stuff around here.”
I thought that was a good idea, so I handed Tommy my rifle as well. No point in lugging the thing around when the threat was finished. When they had gone, I looked around and didn’t see our guide. “Where’d he go?” I queried.
“Who?” Charlie asked.
“Our buddy.”
“Oh, he’s by the side door of the Post Office. Looks like he’s trying to get in.”
I looked over and saw the man was pulling at a door, trying to open it. He seemed kind of frantic, which I could understand, given the circumstances. He shouted something, listened at the door, and then started pounding on it. He listened again and then the door burst open, knocking him backwards and away from the building. Two dozen zombies spilled out, falling on the man and tearing at him with teeth and nails. He screamed once, and then went down in a heap of torn and bloody flesh. He was dead in seconds and several zombies knelt to feast while others clawed at the body, trying to tear off pieces, which they stuffed in bloody mouths.
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