Generation Dead Book 2: What You Fear

by Joseph Talluto

  Uncle Charlie spoke up. “Sounds reasonable. We haven’t seen him or given any sign he’s seen us. How far ahead do you think, Aaron?”

  “I figure a good two hours. It’s a safe bet his method of transportation is a little more sophisticated and faster than ours on the railway,” I said. “Speaking of which, we’re about to crash into a train.” I pointed ahead of us and grabbed my pack.

  Chapter 53

  There were shouts of ‘Whoa!’ and general confusion as we scrambled to get off our ride. The big vehicle lumbered along, and a few seconds later, slammed into the back end of a small modified rail car. The very loud bang was amplified by the cavernous station we were in, and I only hoped that wasn’t like ringing a dinner gong to the nearest zombies.

  Uncle Charlie took the lead. “Let’s get out of here. There’s bound to be some exploration about this noise.”

  “Right,” my dad said. He took out his pickaxe. “We’re in serious shit here. No shots unless we have to. I’d rather not have two million zombies up my ass.”

  My other two uncles took their melee weapons out and slung their rifles over their shoulders. I took the hint and did the same, pulling out my falchion and looking the blade over. Duncan smiled and Charlie raised an eyebrow at me, but nothing was said. I knew I was going to have to show what I could do to be part of this team, and I was okay with that. For the amount of time I’d been in this city, this was more my territory than theirs.

  We went into the gloom of the train station, and I jumped a mite when I felt a nudge on my shoulder. Uncle Duncan smiled and pointed to a reception area just inside the main boarding platform. There were several skeletons and bones scattered throughout the seats and vending machines, but Duncan was pointing to the fact that all of the corpses were seated, either on a chair or on the ground. It was one of the creepiest things I had seen in a while.

  After a small inspection, we found that the exits to the street had been sealed off, and the underground passageways to other stations were shut off as well. The only way out was the way we had come.

  My dad spoke first. “We missed something. Ben had to come this way; there wasn’t any way to get off the track. Split up, use your radio, find out where he went.”

  I decided to go back to the track and do some scouting. Ben’s vehicle was there, and it was an interesting contraption. About thirty car batteries had been attached to a small railcar frame there was a small cab for a single passenger. The controls simply read forward and reverse. An electric powered engine moved the wheels, and with a small push, the cart moved along. There were two fans attached to the platform, and with the wires sticking out of them, I saw they were attached to a generator for replenishing the batteries. Pretty efficient.

  I looked at the ground and saw a faint pathway in the stones of the rail yard. Creatures of habit used the same easy trails over and over, and humans were no different than animals in that respect. I pulled out my flashlight and held it low to the ground, extending the beam along the stones. The pathway showed up as a shadow that led across the yard towards the far platform.

  That was interesting. Ben seemed not to have gone into the station at all, but instead headed towards the side of the platforms. I walked in that direction, and climbed the short ramp to the platform. There was a lot of debris around here, but no trains, other than the one we had run into, belonging to Ben. Some attempts by nature to reclaim the area were obvious, but those were futile. The sun didn’t hit this area for much past the early morning and early evening, and even then, it was slight. A mess of weeds was over on this side, and I could see that there had been recent passage by the broken stems down by the base of the plants.

  I walked on the platform, shining my light down and around. There were footprints moving back and forth to a small utility door tucked away in the corner of the platform. It was hidden from the main lobby and waiting area by a small office. I opened the door slightly and looked around. The windows of the office were broken and furniture was thrown around, like there had been a struggle. No surprise there, this town was full of struggles and broken windows.

  I looked over the door and there was a small handle down near the middle of it. Just a foot below normal, and easily missed. Not bad, Ben, not bad at all. Not good enough, though.

  I felt a hand on my right shoulder and I turned slightly to see which uncle of mine it was. Unfortunately, it was Uncle Zombie, and he didn’t look like he was happy to see me.

  “Jesus!” I said, ducking down and spinning away from the snapping teeth that aimed for my neck. I dove forward and rolled on my left shoulder, coming up out of my crouch with my sword up as the grey skinned, glowing eyed monster snarled at me and advanced in my direction. His skin was hanging off in decaying strips about his face, and his clothing looked like it had been meant for a much bigger man. His nose had decayed away, giving his looks a vicious appearance. His hands reached for me again and his eyes glowed with malice.

  I didn’t waste time with anything fancy. I just used the point of the sword and speared the ghoul through the left eye. I kicked him off my sword and swung the blade back, flinging black zombie brains out over the yard. I wiped the blade off and looked around, checking for other threats. I didn’t see any, other than my Uncle Charlie who looked at me for a second, then at the zombie. He nodded his head slowly and I felt a lot better, as if I had passed a test or something.

  My dad walked into the yard a second later and saw me with a dead zombie. He came over, followed by Charlie. Both of them looked puzzled.

  “What do you have, Aaron?” My father asked.

  “Chasing a rumor,” I said. “I went back to the cart Ben used and saw he had been there before and had worn a small trail. The tracks led to this door, which I would figure leads up to the streets.”

  My dad nodded. “Did you try the door?”

  “Not yet, I was interrupted,” I replied. “But here goes.” I pulled on the latch as Tommy and Duncan walked in. They shook their heads at my dad, who nodded.

  The door swung open silently, and I stepped back as my father and Charlie swept up the stairs. They were gone for a minute, and then they were back. My dad came through first, and he didn’t look happy.

  “What’s up? We heading after him?” Duncan asked.

  My dad shook his head. “We got to the street, and there was a passage to a ladder to the elevated tracks. But the way was padlocked and we can’t get it off without causing a ruckus.”

  “Would that be a problem?” Tommy asked.

  “Only with the thousand zombies I saw up there,” Uncle Charlie said.

  “That bad?” Uncle Duncan asked.

  “That was just on the left,” Charlie answered.

  “I need options. Aaron, you figured you knew where he was going. Now’s the time for a strategy.” My dad looked at me as he spoke, and I knew that tone of voice. Whatever he wanted, he wanted it now.

  Chapter 54

  I looked at the four men in front of me. I had known these men all my life and had heard countless stories of their bravery, lunacy, and determination. I felt a little intimidated by the experience before me, but I pressed on, confident in what I had to say.

  “I think I know where Ben went,” I said. “Given the territory, and the lengths he’s gone through to establish a base of operations, I’d say he’s at Navy Pier.”

  All of the men nodded, and Uncle Duncan winked at me, which encouraged me to go on.

  “It makes the most sense. The high-rises are good, but there’s no escape route. The Pier has water on three sides and an easily defended entrance. If he’s blocked off one of the sides, it’s even easier. He’d have the entire place to himself, a supply of water and food, and sustainable power with solar and wind,” I said.

  Charlie looked at my dad. “Why the hell didn’t we come here instead of the lodge?”

  My dad arched an eyebrow at his friend. “When you finish counting the zombies in the city, you’ll have your answer,” he said.

>   “Anyway,” I continued. “It makes sense that he went to the elevated tracks, and chances are pretty good there’s another one of those carts up there. The tracks go to the street just in front of the Pier, so it’s an easy commute. He could come and go all day, and no one could touch him.”

  “How do we get there without getting chased by a million Z’s?” Duncan asked.

  “We’ll have to fight a bit, but follow me,” I said, turning around and walking to the opening of rail yard. I swung my sword a bit to loosen up my shoulders and loosened my tomahawk. I adjusted the strap on my rifle and moved it to a more comfortable position. Behind me, I heard my dad chuckle and my Uncle Charlie say, “Good Lord, is he your son!”

  I knew once we reached the outside of the yard we’d be more or less in line with the streets. It was a good bit of a hike, but I stayed focused, looking out for the occasional zombie that might have gotten through the fence and wandered this way. As it was, I expected our little crash when we got here to have stirred things up a bit. I knew when we reached the streets we were going to stir them up something fierce. If Charlie thought he saw around a thousand zombies, then he probably did. Uncle Charlie was good for understatement, not exaggeration.

  As we approached the big opening, I started to step wide to look around the corner. I had been nearly caught before by lurking ghouls, and didn’t feel the need to repeat that mistake. The caution was rewarded, as a small zombie was bumping around the debris piled around the corner. There was a pile of tracks, a bunch of barrels, and some railroad ties that were loosely stacked. The zombie, a female by the color of her clothes, saw us as we stepped into the light. She hissed loudly and lumbered our way, reaching for the first person she saw.

  It was her bad luck that she chose my father. I had seen him kill zombies before, and this was no different. He simply waited with the pick on his shoulder for the former woman to get close, and then he pounded her head with his pickaxe. She fell like her strings had been cut, and he held the end of the pick handle as she fell down. A quick kick with his foot released the pick and a stroke and a twist cleaned it off. During the whole encounter, he never even used both hands.

  “Come on, we’ve got to move,” I said. “If we can get ourselves down the street and to the river before too many of them know we’re here, then we’ve got a chance.”

  “So we’re depending on luck, are we?” Duncan asked with a smile, taking a two handed grip on his sword.

  “Jesus, we’re screwed,” said Tommy, rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles.

  “Just lead the way, Aaron, we’re right behind you,” Dad said. “If we can’t keep up, just keep going. Do not stop for us. This bullshit with Ben ends today.”

  “Just move,” I said, stepping quickly into the light and letting my eyes adjust. I scanned the skyline quickly, looking for a quick way to get to the river. I knew I wanted to go west and I knew it was pretty close, but I hadn’t been to this part of the city before and there might be obstructions I didn’t know about. Couldn’t be helped. Right now, I had to believe we had the element of surprise, and we had to use it fully. Ben had been calling the shots for a while now and it was time to shut him down.

  I looked at the fence by the yard and decided it wasn’t worth getting tangled up in. Besides, there was a bridge a little further down that didn’t have any fence, so I decided to take the path of least resistance. Twenty yards down the rails and I was looking over a viaduct that had about fifteen cars jammed in it, and at least two trucks. Three zombies that were standing in a shadow slowly extricated themselves and starting moving in our direction. In about fifteen seconds, they were going to be directly beneath us.

  “Here goes,” I said, jumping off the bridge onto the roof of the truck. I tried to land as lightly as I could, but it seemed to be enormously loud under the rails. Deep in the dark tunnel, I could see several shapes moving about as they shuffled forward to see what the ruckus was all about. I knew it was just the start and it was going to get worse before it got better.

  I squatted down and jumped to the roof of the car, sliding a little on the dusty surface. I corrected and stepped off, directly in front of the three zombies. I slipped my tomahawk out of its sheath and hurled it at the nearest one, splitting his skull and dropping him. One of the nice things about the original ghouls is they were in a serious state of decay. The virus preserved them only so long, and then time and the elements worked on them to the point where they were nearly fragile. Nevertheless, they were still lethal of you weren’t paying attention.

  As the one fell, I jumped over his body and swung my sword with both hands, severing the head of the left zombie. She was an old woman, who was missing half her torso, but her other half was still wearing a flowered robe. The last zombie lurched forward and I hit him in the head with a backhand swing that took the top third of his head off. I pulled out my tomahawk and wiped it quickly.

  I looked for threats and saw plenty, but I was more concerned with the rest of the crew getting down off the bridge. I moved into the shadows of the tunnel, trying to keep between them and the advancing, eyeball-glowing darkness.

  I was just about to start swinging when a fourth set of boots landed on the car and jumped off.

  “Let’s go, we’re good,” my dad said, coming up behind me to help if needed.

  “Right. I got point,” I said, spinning around and running from the zombies, my dad right on my heels. We passed the three corpses and I thought I heard one of my uncles say out loud that he was glad I was on his side. Not sure which one, though.

  Chapter 55

  I took off to the north because there was a big damn building to the west. We ran between two tall buildings, and crossed a very crowded street. There were cars everywhere, and we had to be very careful around the trucks. Duncan would drop quickly, check for feet, and then yell ‘Clear!’ as needed. When there was a killing to be done, then either I took care of it or one of the others did. It was fascinating to watch them work together. No one talked, they just knew what everyone was going to do and they just did it.

  I hoped we were going to be able to make it to the river without too much trouble, but as we made our way through the trucks, cars, burned out vehicles and junk all over the street, we were slowed down enough that the zombies hiding out in the buildings and alleyways were becoming aware of our presence. It didn’t help at all to have a few of the more vocal ones let loose in the canyons of the city, moaning loudly enough to warn the ones ahead of us that we were coming.

  “Dammit,” I said as I looked over the cars and advancing zombies.

  “What’s the trouble, son?” My dad said as he walked up to my side.

  “Well, we need to be there, and they’re there, and it’s a headache from here,” I said, making sense to no one in particular.

  “Backtrack?” He said, looking back the way we came.

  “Side road, but we’re going to have to be quick. Come on,” I said, going back the way we came. I figured we could take the short route south and be able to deal with a smaller road than this wide one we were on. All we were doing was asking for trouble, and it was coming at us from both directions. I ran back the way we came and saw a good-sized horde bearing down on us from the east. Add to the zombies coming from the west we were right in between seriously screwed and royally boned.

  I raced past Tommy and Duncan, who started running with me and ran straight at the zombies coming from under the tunnel. When I was barely ten feet from them, I veered south, heading down a very narrow street. The buildings were tall on either side, and the whole corridor was darkened from lack of sunlight. Weeds and debris lined both sides of the street, and a number of very dark places were there that likely held very dark things. The light at the end of the tunnel was that we would be able to limit who came after us if need be, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I was also worried about the ones who might be in the stores and shops, waiting for a meal to walk by.

  I moved down the street an
d stole a look behind me. All four of the men were keeping up easily, watching the corner and shadows, careful where they put their feet as we moved past the buildings.

  “Look out!” Duncan called, bringing his weapon up. Three zombies came stumbling out of the ruins of a fast food restaurant. They looked grey to black in color, and their eyes were nearly white from the disease. What was left of their clothes was full of holes, dirt, and dried blood. The lead zombie, a tall man with holes rotting his face, stepped out at a rather quick pace towards Duncan.

  Duncan ducked under the zombie’s outstretched arms and got behind it. Thrusting his sword almost backwards over his shoulder, Duncan speared the dead thing through the back of the head. Not waiting for the ghoul to fall, he wrenched the blade out and used the momentum to cut a wide swing at the other two. The razor edge of his sword easily cut the heads off the two remaining zombies, and Duncan used the tip again to end the snapping of the still animated zombie heads.

  “Clear,” Duncan said, wiping his blade off quickly.

  “Keep moving,” Dad said. “You got a plan at the end of this road, Aaron?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, moving on. “But we can’t get there from here if we stay still.”

  We stepped ahead and I circled wide around a couple of cars that looked like something might still be in them. Behind us, the zombies swayed and pursued, lurched and chased. They were seeing a meal for the first time in years, and the hunger must have been insane.

  Ahead of us, two trucks were smashed together and blocked the whole street. Cars on either side blocked the sidewalk, and the decay of two decades filled in the gaps.

  I looked over the situation quickly, trying to figure a way around. We couldn’t go back, and forward was delayed. We couldn’t even go under the trucks without being blocked, as there were cars on the other side that had rusted to the ground.