by J. W. Vohs
The teen slammed his dagger through the back of the head of the sole uninjured beast, disgusted to feel the creature fall away with the knife still stuck in its skull; then he grabbed the monster Lori was carving up from the inside out and tossed it off of his exhausted friend. He pulled her up so that they were sitting with their backs against a Hummer and shouted, “Did they get through your armor?”
Lori shook her head in response, taking several deep breaths before mumbling, “Just bit the hell out of me and wrenched my left arm; it might be out of the socket, I can’t really move it.”
With the sound of battle still raging on the other side of the laager Luke decided, “I’m gonna help you into this vehicle. Lock the door and stay outta sight. I’ve gotta get back in the fight!”
Lori nodded her understanding, so Luke helped her up and pushed her into the passenger seat of an SUV. David was still in the circle, worried about his friends but too busy fighting for his life to try to do anything about their situation. Then he made a killing thrust and pushed a dying hunter away just in time to see Luke leaping over one of the vehicles and hitting the monsters from the rear.
With room to maneuver, Luke’s true abilities with the axe quickly became evident against the massed hunters surrounding the humans. Heads, arms, and truncated torsos soon littered the blood-soaked ground around him. By the time that Jack, David, and the rest of the fighters finished off the attacking hunters, they found a gore-splattered Luke striding purposefully across the corpse-strewn killing ground, using his boot-heel to calmly crush the decapitated heads he’d left in his wake as he’d cut through the hunters moments earlier.
Gracie was already at his side, and when David reached him he clasped the teen on the shoulder before pulling him into a crushing embrace, then the three of them quickly walked over to the Hummer where Lori waited and checked on her condition. Jack watched this interaction as his people thoroughly inspected all of the bodies to make sure they were truly dead, noticing how David, Gracie, and Luke acted as if what had just happened was normal for them. He slowly moved across the ground where Luke had fought, and then checked out the area around the vehicle the teen had been defending. The kid had left three more dead hunters where Lori had been attacked, bringing his kill total to at least nineteen in this engagement.
Jack was thankful that Luke had been there, but as he did the math he became a bit disconcerted. Somewhere close to a hundred hunters had attacked his twenty-five fighters. They’d failed to hold the laager, and had found themselves waging a desperate struggle to defend their circle from the frenzied beasts. At least twenty percent of the dead hunters had been killed by a sixteen-year-old kid with a bow and an axe. His own soldiers were the best he’d ever known, and he’d been to war with a Ranger battalion. Granted, Luke was tall and strong for his age, but how in the world was he so efficient at killing the infected? His thoughts were interrupted as Bobby walked over and suggested, “We should get these people to The Castle, that was a loud fight and I’d be surprised if more of the creatures aren’t already headed this way.”
“How’s Bill?” Jack asked.
“His wrist is sprained or broken, lucky it was just that. One of those bastards landed on the tip of his halberd when we were overrun at the laager and broke the shaft in two. Bill held on just a little too long. Most of our people are bruised and exhausted, and everyone’s thirsty, but we did all right. Who in the hell is that kid your brother brought along? He’s a stone-cold killer! I’ve never seen anything like what he just did!”
Jack just nodded, “Set up a defensive perimeter and I’ll get the bishop to move his people out. Hopefully some of their vehicles will start. And yeah, I noticed the kid too. I really don’t know a whole lot about him, but I’m gonna find out.”
CHAPTER 4
By nightfall all of the Mormon congregation was safely billeted inside The Castle, enjoying cool showers and good food before collapsing on cots and air mattresses in the large tents set up for them. For the bishop and a number of others, however, rest would have to wait until they had shared everything they knew with Jack and his people. Basically, the bishop repeated his son’s story from earlier in the day, except at the end he dropped a bombshell on them when he introduced a young man named Dan Reed who had some important information for Jack and the others.
A sandy-haired, tough-looking, short man of about thirty stepped forward and began to speak, “When we decided to head into the church after learning that the virus had spread to Columbia City, my dad told me he’d meet us there but never showed up. I think he decided to ride it out at home with Mom and the dogs. Of course I’m really worried about them, but the important thing for all of us is that Dad is a ham radio operator. He has a top of the line rig too. He can definitely chat with anyone in the lower forty-eight, and probably most of Canada and Mexico as well. If we could get over there, and if he’s still alive, we might be able to find out what’s going on in the rest of the world.”
Excited about the possibility of establishing long-distance communication with other survivors around the country, Jack jumped to his feet. “That’s some great news! A ham radio set-up was next on our list here, but the outbreak happened before we could do more than set up tactical coms and buy up old Army phones and wire. Where’s your dad live?”
“Just off Washington Center Road, near the county line. Probably about fifteen miles from here.”
Jack made eye contact with Carter before turning back to Dan, “Carter will help you gear up so you’ll be as protected as we are when we head over to your dad’s place tomorrow. Once you’re set up I want you to get a good night’s sleep; I imagine all you folks were exhausted even before we dropped in to say hello.”
Dan chuckled and grinned, “Thank you, sir, I’ve been worried to death about my parents!”
“Hey,” Jack cautioned, “we’ll do what we can to help people track down loved ones as soon as possible, but I’m not doing this out of kindness; we need that radio.”
Dan’s expression immediately turned serious, “Oh, absolutely. I’m just relieved that you’re taking me along, and I’ll get to find out if they’re alive. Don’t worry, none of our people are going to be expecting your folks to rush off and find their families for them.”
Jack frowned, “Don’t get me wrong, Dan, we’ll do what we can within reason. We’ve been hunting for people since we won the battle here, but plenty of folks are too far away for us to risk it. Anyway, go grab some shut-eye, and we’ll head over there tomorrow.”
After Dan walked away the bishop explained, “We saw again today how dangerous it is out there, but I thought this trip might be worth the risk.”
Jack nodded thoughtfully before asking, “You ever see his dad’s radio set-up?”
“Oh sure, Joe and I go way back, and Dottie and me played euchre over there every couple of weeks. Yeah, Joe was always proud of that radio and had to show me every new piece of equipment he got. That radio’s been his only real hobby for twenty years; if he’s still alive, he’ll be able to talk to anyone else in the country who happens to share his interest. What do you have here in the way of radios now?”
Jack frowned at what he considered to be one of his more significant oversights, “Basically, besides our small tactical radios, we have a few decent CBs. We’ve kept them monitored, and picked up plenty of chatter early on, but they’ve been quiet for weeks now. Besides my brother and his group from Cleveland, we’ve had no contact with anyone outside the immediate area till Gabe came riding up today.” Jack cracked a small smile, “I knew that your missionaries pedaled all over the country to spread the word, but I sure never expected one of your guys to show up here on a bike during a zombie pandemic.”
Once the bishop and his congregation were down for the night, Jack pulled David aside for a moment and asked, “What’s up with Luke? Did you see what he did during that fight today?”
David looked a bit confused, “He did his part; he always fights hard.”
&nbs
p; Jack looked incredulous, “His part? No, he saved one of your best fighters from three fully evolved hunters, and then he single-handedly destroyed twenty percent of the enemy force while my soldiers were just struggling to survive. David, that wasn’t just his part—that was incredible.”
David shrugged, “All of the people I brought from Ohio are pretty deadly, but Luke is definitely the best of us. He never panics, and he’s so good with that bow of his . . . I was with him in a Dick’s Sporting Goods store when he found that axe, so he hasn’t had it that long. He practices with his weapons constantly, and he’s incredibly fast and athletic. And Jack, I know I’ve always been the skeptical one, but that boy walks with God.”
Jack looked frustrated, “Yeah, so I’ve heard, but what does that have to do with him turning into Chuck Norris during that fight today?”
David scratched his head as he struggled for words, finally explaining, “He’s not afraid of anything. He talks about this quiet place in his heart where he’s connected to God, and he really does have some sort of intuition about a lot of dangerous situations—I’ve seen it for myself. He has a faith and a confidence that are hard to ignore. I mean, he does worry about the rest of us; he obviously threw caution to the wind today for Lori’s sake. And he worries about Gracie; I suppose that, like the rest of us, love leaves him vulnerable to hurt. But otherwise he’s fearless.”
“Fearless isn’t necessarily a good thing,” Jack commented. “Does he understand, I mean really understand, what we’re up against?”
David nodded, “Yeah, he does, maybe more than you or I do. You should have seen him after Jerry died. He hates the infected with a righteous passion. He wants to destroy every last one of those creatures and the people who made them, but he never loses his focus. I think he believes that killing hunters is God’s mission for him here on Earth. And you can make fun of me if you want to, but I’ve grown to believe that as well.” David shrugged in frustration, ran his fingers through his hair, and sighed before continuing, “I know I’m doing a piss-poor job of explaining Luke to you. He seemed like a pretty normal teenager when we initially met him and his father. The first fight we got into though, he turned out to be a killing machine. He’s only gotten better since then. I used to try to protect him, you know, leave him behind when we’d go out on missions, but he was our best fighter. And his instincts are incredible, I’ve never seen anything like it. I guess I can’t really explain it, Jack; we just have to go with it. He’s a one in a billion type of person, and he’s joined our family. I love that boy with all my heart, and so does everyone else who gets to know him.”
Jack cracked a small smile, “Yeah, I’ve noticed. Your little group is pretty special. It’s like you all know your roles perfectly, without any resentment or conflict. I can tell that they’ll follow your orders without hesitation, but I get the feeling that you would know when to step back and let any of them lead if the right situation arose. And Luke lights up the faces of everyone he’s near; even your dog loves him.”
David smiled as he thought about the people he’d led here from Ohio, “Love and trust, man, love and trust. I don’t know exactly how it came to be there, but it did.”
Jack nodded, “At first I planned on integrating your people in with mine, but I think you guys should stay separate. I mean, you need to train with our fighters and get to know everyone, because I’ll almost certainly use some of you in command situations involving my soldiers at some point in the future. But basically, you guys are your own little squad with your own chain of command. For lack of a better term, you and your team are essentially my special forces unit.”
David looked a little surprised until Jack explained, “Like my Rangers, your team can get in and out of places quietly and efficiently. All of you are expert killers if you end up in a fight somewhere. But unlike any group I have here, except maybe for me and Carter and some of the Rangers, your team is the most cohesive unit in our little army. And I can’t afford to join up with Carter or any of the other Rangers, we’re all split up with our own squads and RRTs, and those guys are my leaders. No, I don’t think we should split your team up.”
David nodded, “I think you’re right, at least for now. I suspect that this war will be a generational conflict, and if he lives long enough Luke will become a great general or something, but at this point in time I agree that we’ll be more useful to you as a single unit.”
Jack clapped his brother on the shoulder, “Glad you see it that way. If you wanted something different, I would eventually build squads around you, Christy, Lori, and Luke. Maybe Blake and Gracie too, but I just have a feeling that for the time being you guys should stick together as much as possible.”
“Sounds good,” David agreed, “sounds really good. I’ve kinda gotten used to those goof-balls. So when do we head back to Middle Bass Island so I can keep my promise to Father O’Brien?”
In his mind, Jack heard Carter’s voice: . . . it’s not my secret . . . it’s Christy’s . . . David don’t even know yet. “Uh, let’s put off any decisions until we find out about that ham radio. Who knows what kind of equipment or expertise we may run into tomorrow?”
David seemed satisfied with Jack’s answer, “OK, I’ll meet you for breakfast at seven and you can fill me in on plans for the day.”
The new unit received their first assignment the next morning: the search for, and with luck, rescue of, Dan Reed’s parents. Christy and David would each drive an SUV, and Bobby Crane was coming along with his M1A in case they encountered a situation where they needed a sniper. Dan was also going with them, as were Jack, Luke, and Gracie. Jack had originally planned on sending Blake instead of Christy, but David’s wife insisted that she had more experience driving and that she was going too, no matter what. When Jack started to object, Christy’s eyes narrowed, her voice dropped, and she pointedly asked him if he was intending to be a sexist ass. David jumped in to smooth things over, encouraging Christy to drive the second vehicle, pointing out that there were plenty of female soldiers among Jack’s troops, and noting that Gracie was certainly a girl. With no reasonable excuse to exclude Christy available at the moment, Jack clenched his jaw, forced a smile, and agreed that she was an excellent addition to the team.
They headed out after breakfast, the plan being to drive fast and non-stop till they reached the house. The two-vehicle convoy followed a route they’d charted back at The Castle, avoiding any small towns or subdivisions as they traveled the Indiana countryside by driving along county roads bordered by corn and bean fields. They needed nearly an hour to reach their destination, but were fairly confident as they pulled into the drive that they hadn’t been followed by any hunters. Nevertheless, as soon as the SUVs were parked, Gracie and Luke assumed firing positions on the roofs of the vehicles while the rest of the team escorted Dan to the back door.
The house appeared to be closed up tight, until they noticed a piece of plywood pulled away from a large picture window on the opposite side of the building. A few minutes of investigating told the sad tale of what had happened to the old couple. Brass casings and empty shotgun shells littered the floor just inside the window, and six badly decaying corpses of slain hunters scattered on the ground outside indicated that at least some of the rounds had found their mark before the people were overwhelmed. The only sign of Dan’s parents was a large, brownish blood stain on the windowsill where it looked like the hunters had pulled their prey out of the house. Christy moved over to Dan and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder until they heard the unmistakable sound of someone jacking in a shotgun shell and a rough voice demanding, “What are you people doing here?”
As they raised their hands and slowly turned around, Dan called out in a voice muffled by his helmet, “Dad? Dad, it’s me, Dan.”
The old man lowered the shotgun and began to tremble as he asked, “Danny?”
Dan quickly unstrapped his helmet and pulled it off, then ran over to his now-crying father and pulled him into his arms. “It�
��s all right, Dad, I’m here now, it’s gonna be okay.”
His father finally stepped back and sputtered, “Your mom’s gone, son, those monsters killed her!”
He then began to sob again as he motioned for the group to follow him into the house. Once inside, his legs seemed to give way underneath him as he dropped down on the sofa. Dan tried to comfort him by throwing an arm around the old man’s shaking shoulders. “Hey Dad, we can see that you did everything you could here. C’mon, talk to me.”
Finally, the grief-stricken old man explained, “About six weeks ago they must’ve heard us in here because they started working hard on that plywood over there. I told your mom to hide in the basement but she wasn’t having none of that. She used my old forty-five and I used the shotgun. Those bastards just kept comin’ until we finally figured out that only head-shots would stop ‘em, but by then they were pullin’ your mom out the window. I killed all of ‘em before they could take her away, but she was dead before I got out there. She bled to death from where they tore out her throat.”
Then he began to cry again before finally composing himself and explaining, “I went into the house to get something to wrap her in, and by the time I headed back outside more of those creatures had come up and started eating her. They just kept coming, dozens of them. I hid in the basement, Dan, I’m sorry, but that’s what I did.”
“It’s okay, Dad, you did what you could do.”
“I eventually went out and buried what was left of her, but ever since then I’ve just stayed quiet down in the basement.”
With tears in his eyes, Dan patted his father’s hand and assured him, “Dad, most of the survivors in America have been through similar situations. You did the right thing. Mom knows you did the right thing. You saved yourself for me and your grandkids. We both know she would have wanted you to do that.”