by J. W. Vohs
Realizing that her voice was rising as she declared her intentions, Gracie stopped talking and blushed as she noticed that all the adults were looking at her. Christy was smiling from ear to ear as she asked, “Do you have someone in mind for this future husband and father of your children?”
Gracie nervously scanned the deck to see who was in earshot. Reassured that Luke wasn’t nearby, she just sighed and asked, “Couldn’t we girls have kept that secret for a while longer?”
Jerry and David were chuckling as well, and David added to Gracie’s embarrassment. “There aren’t many secrets in a group like this, and I suspect we’re gonna get to know each other even better over the next week or two. Look, honey, Luke is without a doubt the most amazing teenager I’ve ever met. There is no better catch in the new world; heck, there was no better catch in the old world!”
Gracie kept her eyes on the water as she spoke, “We’re just friends. I mean, he doesn’t think of me like that.”
Lori was now following the discussion with an amused expression, and she simply couldn’t help adding her two-cents’ worth. “Girl, you are beautiful, athletic, brilliant, as good a fighter as we have, and you have no competition!”
Gracie shook her head uncertainly, “There will be a lot more people where we’re going, and besides, I wouldn’t want someone to love me just because I was the only girl around.”
Christy was still smiling, “Here we are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, about ready to head into a wilderness full of hunters on canoes, and we’re having a Doctor Phil session during our last moment of relative safety!” She went over to Gracie and gave her a hug, “I can’t speak for the men here, especially my goofball husband, but I’m sure Lori has seen the same expression on Luke’s face that I have when he looks at you. Don’t you worry, he’s yours if you want him.”
Jerry finally spoke up, “I’m his father, Gracie, and as you can tell, we’ve always been close. We kept him near us all the time; I suppose we were too protective of him to tell you the truth. He doesn’t really know much about dating or anything like that, and I don’t know how well he would have done with the high school social scene as serious as he is about everything. But he believes, with all of his heart and soul, that God led him to St. Bernadette’s the day we found you. He’s protective of all of us, but even more so with you. Trust me, he’s head over heels for you.”
David added, “Yeah, he is. But I need you two to be focused on this mission every moment of every day until we reach The Castle. Once we get there you two can have a picnic on the walls and watch the sunset, but until then you kids are soldiers.”
Gracie looked up with alarm, “Of course! We’re best friends right now, watching out for each other, but it hasn’t gone past that. We have our priorities in order, I promise you that. I guess I was just feeling like kind of a jerk, that’s all.”
Christy nodded and declared, “Ahhh, I get it now. Luke rescued Brittany and her sister, and you were happy that he did but also worried that he might be attracted to them.”
Gracie’s cheeks reddened as she confessed, “I was actually worried that we’d be taking them with us. How lame is that? I mean, their safety and well-being is all that really matters, but I still had this nagging concern that Luke might like one of them more than me.”
Christy patted Gracie’s arm, “Any girl would feel the same way about the guy she loves. The important thing is that you did your job back there on that island, and a bunch of people have a chance to make it because of us. Listen honey, you have a heart of gold. People feel and think all kinds of things at times, but it’s your actions that matter. You DID everything right in spite of how you FELT. That’s all anybody can ever really do in life. Okay?”
Gracie nodded and gave a little smile, “I’d let him go without a word if that’s what he wanted. I’ve never considered myself a jealous or selfish person, and I was disappointed in myself when I realized what I was feeling.”
Christy smiled back and explained, “Welcome to the human race. Now, how about we go over your pack one more time before we land?”
Father O’Brien kept the yacht at an equal distance from both shorelines as the bay slowly converged into the river and Toledo grew closer. David was still standing on the deck when Luke peered over the from the cabin roof and hissed, “Infected on both banks watching us.”
“Hunters?” David worriedly asked.
“About fifty-fifty. They aren’t acting like they’ve spotted prey, but they’ve noticed that we’re moving and checking us out. I think we should all crowd into the cabin until we reach one of the islands.”
David agreed that Luke had a good idea and asked everyone to move inside while O’Brien navigated the river. The old priest admitted that after more than thirty years he didn’t have the clearest recollections concerning the Maumee, but he remembered that the long island about eight miles upstream actually had a pier. He was now looking for that particular island as he explained, “I remember that it was on the east side of the river. The pier was on the east side of the island, and there were a few buildings there too, so it must not flood. If it’s still like I remember it that’ll be a good place to dock while we search for a few more canoes.”
David liked the idea, especially when told that the island was heavily wooded. He found the landmass on one of the maps he’d printed from Jim’s computer, and it did look to be as big as Father O’Brien remembered. They could use the yacht as a base from which to search for the items they still needed, but having some room to spread out before they re-inventoried and packed their gear for the trip to Indiana would be a much better option. The cabin was cramped and beginning to smell like the unwashed humans who occupied it. Finally, about eight miles upstream from the mouth of the river, Father O’Brien quietly declared, “There it is. Now I need to be careful moving over into the channel on the east because I have no idea how deep it is over there.”
David squinted as he looked ahead, “Are you sure that’s an island?”
The priest chuckled, “Yeah, I’m sure. But it is about a half-mile long.”
A few minutes later the channel became apparent on the left side of a long strip of wooded ground that David couldn’t see the end of as it stretched upstream. As O’Brien had remembered, there was a pier stretching about forty feet into the channel that looked as if it would hold the yacht fast in the sluggish current. They carefully approached the dock with everyone wearing their armor and the fighters holding their weapons. As soon as they pulled within jumping distance Luke leapt out upon the pier and quickly tied a rope to one of the supports before hopping back on the yacht as the engine was shut off. When the current began carrying the vessel back downstream the rope played out to a distance of twenty feet, at which point it held fast and they gently swayed in the water in relative safety as they waited to see if anyone, or anything, on the island came to investigate the noise.
Half an hour later all was still quiet, and David led his normal fire-team ashore while the rest stayed on the yacht. The island was long but thin, so the group spread out at the north end and carefully moved southward. An hour later they had walked the entire length of the land mass and found no sign of humans or the infected. They did find several buildings as they did their sweep, and one was a medium-sized barn with a big loft and doors that were solid. Only about two hours of daylight were left by the time they returned to the boat, but everyone looked at David as if he was crazy when he presented the option of remaining on the yacht for the night or camping out in the barn.
Vickie declared, “I think I speak for most everyone here when I say I’d rather face the infected than spend another hour in that stinking cabin!”
Everyone smiled and nodded their agreement as David said, “All right, I feel the same way, but I didn’t want to force it on anyone. We can set up camp in the loft, and keep a strong guard rotation through the night. I really think we’ll be all right in there. The infected just don’t seem to like water.”
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nbsp; Full dark had set in by the time everyone had prepared the camp and eaten a hot meal prepared on the several small camp-stoves they had brought along from Jim’s supplies. Guards were posted at each end of the barn where they could look out of windows set high above the ground. Another guard was placed at the doors even though they had been locked and barricaded. All of the group members had radios so they could communicate with one another, and the two up top used the night vision goggles. Overall, David figured they were nearly as safe as they would have been on the yacht, with the only drawback being that they didn’t have an easy means of escape if attacked. Still, when he thought of all the dangers they would be facing while traveling upstream with nothing but their tents for shelter, he decided that their accommodations for the night here were nothing to be overly worried about.
When dawn broke the following morning, David sat down with all of the adults and discussed their plans for the day. Father O’Brien believed that finding canoes large enough for their trip wouldn’t be difficult, but probably would take some time. They finally decided that David, Jim, Christy, and Lori would go out scavenging, while everyone else would stay in the barn until they returned. They saw their first hunter appear on the opposite bank as they were lowering the motor boat from the yacht, and it began to howl and snarl until eight more joined it from the nearby tree line. No others showed up while they were preparing for their mission, and once again, they showed no willingness to enter the water. Jerry had been helping get the boat ready, and David sent him back to the barn before they headed downstream to get around the northern point of the island. As he’d hoped, all of the hunters followed them along the bank until he turned the craft out into the main body of the Maumee, at which point the monsters simply howled their frustration and showed no sign of returning to their original spot.
David knew that would have to be good enough, trusting that even if the creatures did head back to the bank across from the yacht they still wouldn’t be able to cross the channel. Plus, if they did somehow manage to reach the island, he knew that Jerry, Luke, and Gracie could, and would, lead a successful defense of their position. He pushed the group out of his mind and focused on the task at hand.
A number of houses were visible along the bank of the river, and most of them had small piers stretching out from the shore. David and his crew didn’t even leave their own boat when they pulled up to the piers that had canoes, choosing instead to cut the craft free from their mooring lines and tow them along as they continued with their search. They needed nearly three hours on the water to find suitable craft, at which time they began the slow trip back to the island with three canoes strung out behind them.
They were back at their pier before noon and had seen no further sign of the hunters they’d left behind that morning. David figured that plenty of them had to be in the area near the island, but hoped that their dislike of the water kept their food-searching efforts far from the river. Father O’Brien had spent the night in the yacht with a shotgun and a radio, and he was there now waiting for them as they returned with the motor boat and its load.
“I see you found what you were looking for,” he declared as they pulled up next to the much larger vessel.
“Yep. Mind calling up to the barn and asking everyone to head down here with all the gear?”
Ten minutes later the entire group was on the ground above the pier with all equipment and supplies laid out for a final inspection before they repacked everything in a canoe-friendly manner. The most important item, besides armor and weapons, was the food they had on the yacht. They’d packed enough for two weeks before leaving Westlake, and after being well-fed from stores on the islands they had more than they would need for the trip up the Maumee. David and Jerry had estimated that they would need no more than five days to reach Fort Wayne, and less than three more to cover the forty miles to Jack’s compound. They finally decided to take ten-days’ rations and leave the rest on the yacht for anyone lucky enough to find it.
According to the map, a large island that held the Audubon Nature Preserve was about two miles from their current position. That was as far as the yacht would be able to travel because after that the water turned shallow and swift according to both Blake and Father O’Brien. They decided to spend the rest of the day packing the canoes and towing them to the island. Once they had everything ready for departure they would spend one last night on the yacht and set off at first light the next morning.
As near as David could tell from the maps he had, as soon as they began their journey they would be facing shallow water and rapids for most of the first ten miles. The plan was to use the motors where possible, and walk against the current while pulling the canoes when they had no other option. Once they cleared Grand Rapids, ten miles away, they would need to motor fourteen more miles to find a suitable island for the first night’s camp. Everyone had been informed of the strenuous trek awaiting them the next morning, but David suspected that the travel would be much more difficult than any of them could imagine. If they didn’t make it to the next island by nightfall they would be stuck on the water in the dark, a scenario he didn’t want to think about.
Moving the canoes and gear to the nature preserve island had gone smoothly throughout the afternoon. Most of the fighters had stayed at the beachhead while the yacht continued to ferry equipment and supplies upstream. By late afternoon all was in place and ready for the next morning, so David ordered everyone to board the yacht for what would be their last night of relative security for at least the next week. They ate well, stuffing themselves from the food being left behind. With all of the gear now unloaded the vessel seemed much roomier than it ever had, and members of the group spread out over the deck and the cabin roof to enjoy the breeze and sunset. Finally, with the sun dipping below the horizon, David called everyone inside to discuss plans for the next day.
As soon as they were comfortable he began, “In case you hadn’t figured it out, there will be places on the river, especially during the first day, where we will be moving into shallows where we’ll have to wade the current and pull the canoes behind us. Those will be the times where we’re most vulnerable.”
Gracie asked, “Aren’t the hunters afraid of the water?”
David shrugged, “I don’t know if they’re afraid of anything. The best of them learn quickly and the stupid ones die. My guess is that they are quickly learning to avoid water that could drown them, but those creatures not living around deep water probably don’t view the Maumee as much of an obstacle. We need to be prepared to fight off attacks at all times, so we have to establish procedures for traveling the river.”
In every canoe we will have a motor operator and a fighter who will watch the shoreline at all times. One child will be mixed in with supplies in four of the boats, with at least one parent in there with them. I’ll leave it up to you to decide who gets to carry Chewy. I suggest you rotate him to keep the kids happy and prevent him from getting too bored. If he barks too much I call a rear leg on the night we eat him!”
Jenny Alberts pulled Chewy close and cried out, “You’ll have to eat me first!”
The dog seemed to understand that he was being discussed and he burrowed even closer into Jenny’s embrace and looked up at David with his usual big-eyed, sad-victim expression designed to gain maximum results from his incessant begging.
Even David had to grin as he held up a hand toward the kids, “All right, we won’t eat him, but you kids better keep him quiet!”
A chorus of agreement rang out from the children, and Christy looked at David with an expression of mock disgust and a shake of her head.
Luke was sitting nearby and gave on simple, “mooch” sound and Chewy sprang from Jenny’s lap, ran over to Luke, and rolled over on his back for a belly rub. Luke gathered up the little dog, laughing with delight as it licked his cheeks and panted in his face. The teen looked seriously at all of the children and promised, “Don’t you kids worry, nobody’s gonna hurt Chewy while I’m still a
live.”
Everyone smiled as the kids gave a little cheer, their feelings for Chewy only upstaged by their love for Luke. David finally continued, “We keep the canoes as close together as we can at all times. When we’re towing the boats, the motor operators will have the ropes tied around their waists. If we’re attacked I want all of you to pull in the slack and put all of the canoes into a tight formation with the kids in the middle. I don’t plan on anything getting through us, but if we’re overrun, get back in the boats and let the current carry you back to the last place we camped, as long as it’s safe. If nobody comes for you within two days, float back to Toledo and find a larger boat to take out into the bay and anchor. If nobody shows up after a week, try to make your way back to Middle Bass.”
Father O’Brien raised his hand and cleared his throat, “I suppose that now is a good time to tell all of you that I won’t be heading to Indiana with you.”
After a few moments of people crying out their objections the priest again raised his hand for quiet before continuing. “Look, I’m in my seventies and very overweight. I can’t fight. What I do know how to do is operate boats on this lake and be a priest. I’m going back to Middle Bass and helping them establish a viable settlement there. Soon this lake will be teeming with fish, and I’m gonna teach them how to harvest them. I’ll stay anchored in the bay here for ten days until I’m sure you made it, and after that I’ll still come over here once a week for a few months. When you send a team with a radio I’ll find them. Tell them I’ll be out here every Monday until mid-October.”
Gracie looked over at her last link to the pre-virus world, “Father, I can’t leave you behind.”
“Sweetie, we all know that I’ll be safer on the island than trying to travel upstream in those canoes, and I’d like to be around for a few years yet. As soon as things settle down a bit you can come out for vacations once in a while.”