by J. W. Vohs
David spoke up again, “Maybe so, but . . .”
Christy held up her hand, “I’m not done yet. You wanted evidence for my faith, and so far I have only given you evidence of humanity’s failings. To me, faith resides where the mind and heart meet. It isn’t all rational, but it isn’t irrational, it is simply beyond rational. We have survived incredible odds, we have experienced unspeakable hell and yet we persevere. You have an inner strength that radiates out and envelops each and every one of us. Take a minute to look at Gracie—she probably has more in common with a mythical superhero than the average American teenaged girl. Then there is Luke. Words are not adequate to explain what I sense about that boy, but you and I both know we are very lucky to have him with us.”
“Yeah, we are.” David agreed. “And I’ll give you that in a world of death they’re still alive, we are still alive, because we are in this together.”
Christy started working on the sore muscles in David’s neck; she leaned close and spoke quietly, “See, nobody really has much of a choice now. We’ve been through too much together, and everyone believes that their best chance of survival lies with us working together. And honestly, I think they’re right. We are a family. And there is something going on here that is bigger than any of us can understand right now.”
David murmured, “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Just keep rubbing those sore spots and wake me at midnight for my shift.”
She kissed his matted hair and whispered, “I love you so much . . .”
All she heard in reply was gentle snoring, so she laid her head against his and joined him in peaceful slumber.
A series of thunderstorms passed in the night, and the next day was still cloudy and threatening. David consulted with Jerry and Christy and decided that the group could use a day of rest. Jerry believed that they were on the southern edge of the weather front judging from the winds and the fact that the temperature really hadn’t dropped much after the storms passed, so they weren’t worried about flooding upstream. David reduced the guard from five people to three, and made sure that everyone spent the day eating and resting. Gracie reported seeing a zombie on the northern shoreline, but no hunters appeared and everyone enjoyed a day free of the stress of knowing that packs of infected were actively hunting them.
Luke spent a few hours high in a tree with a pair of binoculars once the clouds began to lighten. He sat perfectly still once he reached a place high enough to see into the farm fields stretching from the river bank to the horizon. David considered calling up to him a few times out of curiosity over what was holding the teen’s attention for so long, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth taking the chance of alerting any nearby hunters of their presence on the island.
Finally Luke climbed down and waved David over to the base of the tree he’d been in, sitting with his back against the trunk and patting the ground at his side, as an invitation for David to do the same.
“I’ve been watching a pack of infected eating a calf,” he explained. “They weren’t hunters, at least not yet. They were zombies, but I couldn’t see any massive trauma on their bodies. They did appear weak, though. There were eight cows in the field, and the zombies spread out and herded that calf into a corner where two fences met. They all just fell on the poor thing and started eating, just like a pack of wolves. When they were done with it, I swear they seemed more coordinated and faster when they stood up. I really think that protein is fueling their development, just like we all discussed the other day.
“The strange thing is that they ate that calf with as much gusto as I saw them eating people when we were hiding out in that Day’s Inn during the early days of the outbreak. Anyway, I have some new ideas about what this virus is doing to the infected.”
David motioned for Luke to continue, listening to the teen’s observations with a morbid intensity.
“Okay,” Luke began, “the bottom line is that early on the easiest prey to catch was human. Seven billion of us on the planet, most of us too dumb or fat or tired to get away from the zombies. The infected needed protein, and they went after the easiest choice, just like a big cat will do once it gets a taste for human flesh, or gets injured and can’t catch normal prey any longer. The bad news for us is that we’re gonna continue to see more hunters developing. My guess is that if a badly wounded zombie can lay up near a food source for a few days it’ll recover, and then, if all goes well, it’ll grow up into a full-fledged hunter.
“Now, I don’t think their hunger for protein explains everything. I mean, humans are scarce now, and most of the ones still alive know how to kill the infected. If the hunters were just the result of some sort of natural selection the ones with a special taste for humans would be disappearing. But they aren’t going away, and every time we’ve come into contact with them they go absolutely crazy trying to kill us.”
“Why?,” David asked.
“I think the virus creates a desire to destroy human life! I mean, think about it; if USAMRIID or whoever was trying to create some type of super-soldier they would have wanted it to be aggressive toward people. Obviously the whole experiment went wrong in ways they didn’t foresee, and maybe part of the mutation is an all-consuming desire to kill humans. But that’s not all, if the zombies can continue to develop separate from those that have already turned into hunters the human race is in more danger than we thought.”
David looked confused, “How can that be?”
“Well, natural selection is the result of competition for limited resources. Those members of the species that are best adapted to the environment will survive, and the weak die off. We thought we were seeing the strongest and fastest, and the least-injured zombies get to the humans first and develop into hunters. At some point I thought that the strongest would dominate the environment so completely that the less well-adapted zombies would steadily weaken and eventually disappear. But now I think that most of the infected will be able to find their own niche for obtaining protein. The hunters will eat people and larger animals they can catch, while the weakest zombies will lay in a ditches eating rats and bugs until they grow strong enough to move up to bigger animals.
“When we first talked about the evolution we were seeing we thought that maybe ten or fifteen percent of the infected would actually develop into hunters, but what if most of the zombies eventually evolve into their highest form? We could see more than a hundred million hunters in North America. David, we aren’t gonna be outnumbered ten or twenty to one; it’s gonna be more than a hundred to one, and every one of them is gonna be a high-functioning hunter.
“I could be wrong about this, but while I was watching those creatures at work it seemed like the entire scenario I just explained became crystal-clear. I don’t want to tell anyone else, at least not until we reach Jack. Everyone has enough to worry about as it is. But David, the human race is in even worse danger than we thought.”
David considered the information for a few moments before replying, “I think you’ve probably figured it out, son. You make a lot of sense, and your theory fills in some of the gaps in our earlier ideas. You’re also right about keeping it to yourself; we do have enough to worry about as it is.”
He was quiet for a moment before continuing, “We sure were right to speed up our plans. Hard to see how people are going to survive the next year unless they live in a fortress.”
“Or an island,” Luke added.
David grimly smiled, “Thank God the hunters hate the water.”
Luke shook his head, “Most mammals know how to swim. I think the hunters are so focused on reaching their prey that they don’t even try anything other than running right at it. Eventually, some of them are gonna figure out how to swim.”
David agreed, “Yeah, but they’ll definitely be easier to kill while they’re doing it. No matter what, I think that water is going to be one of humanity’s best weapons in this war.”
CHAPTER 20
By afternoon the clouds had cleared and a bright sunlight had
emerged from the misty gloom, lifting everyone’s spirits as David called a meeting to discuss the travel plans for the next day.
“We’re about fifteen miles away from Independence Dam near the town of Defiance. This time we’re going to have to portage around it on the mainland. Looks like there’s a clear trail around the north end of the dam, but Defiance is a decent sized town and there’s bound to be thousands of infected within a few miles of where we’ll be very exposed while we move our gear. The dam is a few miles from the town, so maybe we won’t have any infected nearby, but we’ll have to be ready for anything. We need to have a plan in place for how we’re going to conduct the portage, as well as what to do if we get separated. We could face that possibility if we’re attacked before we get everyone on the other side of the dam.
“There’s an island less than two miles from the portage, and another about twenty miles upstream from Defiance. If we get separated, the first one will be our rendezvous point. If it’s got hunters on it, then go on to the next. As far as the portage goes, we’re going to have Lori and Christy keeping a look out. All of our weapons will be laid out and ready for instant use. Then me and Sal and Jerry will wait on the bank. Blake, you pull your canoe up first, and you and the girls hop out. All four of us guys will lift the boat, gear and all, and put it in the water on the other side of the dam. Luke, you’ll then bring the Martinez canoe up and we’ll repeat the process. Once the kids are safely on the other side I’ll feel better. Then Gracie, Trudy, and Jim. The second we have all the boats in the water those of us on the shore will swim out to you and we’ll limp along until we can find a shallow spot for us to climb in. Any questions?”
Luke raised his hand, “Can we have Jim pilot the canoe with the Martinez kids and let me come in last? That way if there’s any trouble I’ll be there to help out.”
David knew the question was asked with humility and concern, and that Luke knew that he was the best fighter among them. He probably wondered why he wasn’t on the bank keeping the lookout, but didn’t question that part of the plan. He just wanted to make sure he was there with Jerry and the rest of them if they were attacked.
David smiled and nodded, “Sure, buddy.”
He expected to see a smile or some sign of satisfaction on Luke’s face over his small victory, but nothing was discernible except a look of deep sadness in his eyes. Jerry must have recognized something in his son’s expression because he moved over to Luke’s side and sat down beside him, at which point the young warrior laid his head on his father’s shoulder and stared out into the gathering dusk. David and everyone else in the group knew that Luke was like that sometimes. He would grow quiet and thoughtful, almost as if he was seeing something through a dark curtain the rest of them were blind to. They knew that he would share when he felt moved to do so, and not one second before, so everyone slowly moved off to their tents to prepare for a long, tense day on the river. Eventually, they all heard the father and son open their tent and climb into their bags, and everyone breathed a somewhat uneasy sigh of relief as they drifted into sleep.
The dawn came slowly through a cloudy but dry morning as the group quietly broke camp and loaded the canoes. They took their time moving upstream, approaching Defiance a bit before noon as the sun was finally beginning to peek through the clouds. David had everyone hold in the middle of the river about four hundred yards from the dam while he and Jim motored up to the portage site. They looked it over before drifting slowly back to the others, staying within ten yards of the shoreline to see if they drew any attention. The place was quiet, but David definitely didn’t feel as if the silence was a good thing. He felt uneasy.
They maneuvered their canoe up to Luke’s, and David asked the teen in whispered tones if he was experiencing any of the intuitions he sometimes felt. Luke just shook his head slightly and replied, “I’ve been feeling strange for the past few days, but that could just be due to the fact that we’ve been out here on a hot, buggy river for so long. I guess I’m feeling anxious, and I just can’t put my finger on it. As for this portage, we just need to get it over with.”
David nodded his understanding and turned to face the rest of the group who’d drawn near in their canoes. Without a word he pointed at the bare ground near the dam mouthed, “Go!” to the lead craft. A few minutes later Blake pulled silently into the shallows, allowing Lori to wade over in the knee-deep water and wait for Christy to join her. The two then slowly worked their way to the top of the bank in a low crawl, looking around for several minutes before waving the rest of the group into the portage.
David, Sal, and Jerry then got out of their canoes and quickly set their weapons on the ground behind them as they prepared to lift the first boat around the dam. Vickie and the kids pulled up, hopped out as quietly as possible, then jumped back in as soon as the men carried the canoe to the sluggish water above the dam. They immediately motored about forty yards out into the river and waited for the rest of the group.
Jim pulled up next, and this time as the men were carrying the canoe across the portage Jerry stumbled over a large rock and fell to one knee. The edge of the loaded craft struck the ground with a loud “thump” before he quickly scrambled to his feet and picked up the canoe again. A minute later Jim was out on the water and Gracie was pulling up with Jenny and Addison. Right before they lifted this boat out of the water Christy hissed down at David from her observation point, and he held up a hand for everyone to keep still as he crawled up the bank to take a look at what had the women concerned.
He could tell by the expressions on their faces as he neared their position that they were very worried, and when he peered over the top of the tiny hillock he felt a lump of panic rise up in his own throat. Hunters and zombies were everywhere, at least thirty of them. More were streaming from nearby fields and tree lines and joining the packs milling behind several leaders who were standing still, facing the direction of the river and listening for any more noise from where they’d heard the canoe strike the hard bank. David watched for only a moment before backing up a foot or so and whispering, “If they head this way, drop down to us immediately.”
He slid down the short distance to the water as quietly as possible and urged everyone to hurry. They quickly moved Gracie’s canoe around the dam and had her and the girls back on the water in less than a minute. Next came Trudy, and again they had her over the portage in just a few minutes. Luke was waiting for them with the final craft, standing in the water with the back end of the canoe in his hands as Christy and Lori came sliding down the bank.
By the time they turned with their pistols pointed the way they’d come, several hunters appeared at the top of the small hill only to be immediately shot down before they could howl for the rest of their pack-mates. Unfortunately they both fell forward and began loudly tumbling down toward the shore, setting off tiny landslides that made more than enough noise to draw the attention of the rest of the infected gathered above the portage. David urgently whispered, “Sal, help Luke get that canoe in the water!”
Sal had been staring in open-mouthed fear at the growing mob of hunters, but he followed the order without question. He and Luke picked up the boat and carried it over the rocky ground even as the howling infected began jumping off of the bank in a frenzied attempt to get their hands on the humans below. Lori and Christy were firing rounds into the monster’s faces as they landed at their feet, while Jerry and David used the beasts momentum against them as they speared the creatures in mid-air with their halberds before contemptuously tossing them aside and killing the next to jump.
Luke had pushed Sal into the canoe as soon as they dropped it into the water on the other side of the dam, shouting for him to get it away from the shore as he pulled the ever-present bow from his back and began slinging arrows at the hunters who’d now pushed the fighters into a small half-circle standing thigh-deep in the river. Luke managed to kill two creatures with arrows before pulling his axe to fight the pack that was now upon them. As he began to s
mash the weapon into the faces of the monsters he heard David shout for Lori and Christy to swim for the boats, and from the sound of the splashing he knew they were on their way out.
Now he was shoulder-to-shoulder with his father and David, and there was no other way to describe the situation than that they were being overrun. In the confusion it seemed as if at least thirty of the infected were down, but more than that were tumbling down the embankment and flinging themselves at the fighters. Finally David shouted, “We gotta get outta here! Just go!”
Luke turned and dove head first into the murky water just as David did the same, kicking away the strong hands that grabbed at his boots as he moved out into deeper water. Suddenly he realized that he didn’t hear or sense his father on his left side, and he immediately stopped and turned to see what was going on. His dad was in water up to his chest, using his short sword to stab into the faces of the hunters fighting to pull him back to shore. His left glove had somehow come off, and one of the hunters had bitten into his forearm before Jerry viciously stabbed into its eye socket and shook it off of him. He stabbed one more through its open mouth and suddenly turned and dove after the others as he realized he had the room to do so.
Luke and David had both been on their way back to Jerry, and now they helped the injured man out to the canoes as hundreds of frenzied hunters prowled the bank behind them, more than a few running out into the deeper water until the current caught them and washed them over the dam. The three men reached the canoes and wearily held onto the gunwales as the boats were motored over into the shallows on the other side and they were able to climb in.
They tossed Jerry into Jim’s canoe and motored out to deeper water before allowing Vickie to pull up beside the stricken fighter. She immediately tied a tourniquet above the terrible bite wound and then tied a pressure bandage over the damaged flesh to slow the bleeding. She gave Jerry two hydrocodone tablets and told him not to loosen the tourniquet no matter how uncomfortable it became. Then she told David, who’d pulled up close to watch the treatment, “Get us to an island or someplace safe. I can’t do anymore out here.”