by Chris Lowry
“Let’s get it over with.”
He was polite as he asked the wounded to step outside.
Bem and Anna volunteered to help them clean off with rags and water.
Almost two dozen people in the house, eight bitten. For as many folks as he wanted to save, he took out more than a few once he turned Z.
He died in his sleep. One of the women nursing him told us.
The one with the neck wound screamed the rest awake, and he bit, chomped and chewed on the rest as they made their escape.
The signs of infection were progressing. Sweats. Fever.
“Say your goodbyes,” I told them and let them linger with the others for a few moments.
It was hard to ignore the tears.
“I’ll help,” Brian offered, but I shook my head.
“You can do it here,” one of the men said. “We can bury them here.”
“You don’t need to see this,” I told him. “You can bury them after.”
After a few moments of saying goodbye, I walked them into the pasture, out of sight of the house and barn.
Eight shots later, I came back alone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Are you okay?” Anna asked.
I stared across the barn yard to my kids huddled by the door.
“I thought I would be,” I said.
She ran her hand across my scarred head and held the back of my neck cupped in her palm.
“This isn’t how I imagined the reunion going,” I confessed.
“Can’t write a script for this,” she told me.
“You have to leave,” the man who spoke up earlier stood at the head of the group. “We don’t want you here.”
I glanced at my group. Still the walking wounded, but we had the van.
Hurt from the loss of Byron. Hurt from the crash.
We still needed a safe place to rest, to recover.
But this wasn’t it.
These people wouldn’t give us rest. They would resent us and I didn’t want to kill all of them just for a place to sleep.
“We’ll take food for a day or two,” I told him. “We’re leaving as soon as we do.”
He nodded, seemed satisfied with that arrangement.
I radioed Tyler to come on down. Sent Bem and Anna to get supplies, knowing they would be smart. Judicious.
They were going to bury their dead.
We were going to keep going.
The van was packed tight. I stopped at the door and stared at the people inside. My kids. My people.
They looked like zombies too. Wiped out. Exhausted. Worn.
My cross country trek had exacted a toll.
Bis and the Boy sat on a seat beside each other with Bem in Tyler’s lap.
It was worth it.
I checked the load in a magazine, ready, just in case.
Peg sat in the passenger seat, back seat driver’s license at the ready.
“Where are we going?” Brian asked from behind the wheel.
“West,” I told him. “Stop when you hit the water.”
The Adventure Continues
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More work by the author:
Lunar Hustle- Prequel to The Dipole Shield
The Dipole Shield - The Dipole Series
Planet 9 - The Dipole Series
Planet 10 – The Dipole Series
Phalanx - Invasion Earth
Pyrrhic - Invasion Earth
Beachhead - Invasion Earth
Bridgehead - Invasion Earth
Lodgement – Invasion Earth
Ultima Thule – Invasion Earth
Infiltrate – Invasion Earth
Dustoff – Invasion Earth
Riki Tik- Invasion Earth
Snakebit – Invasion Earth
Defilade – Invasion Earth
Moon Men
Epoch - The Future Templar
Eon- The Future Templar
Era - The Future Templar
Super Secret Space Mission
The Herd Shot Round the World
High Steaks
Conscripted - the Shadowboxer files
Mission One - the Shadowboxer files
Shadowboxer - the Shadowboxer files
Decreed - the Shadowboxer files
Suspect - the Shadowboxer files
True Nature – the Shadowboxer files
Nominee
Disavowed
Credible Threat
Attache
Tin Trooper – a Shadowboxer story
Nazi Nukes - a Shadowboxer story
Witchmas - a Marshal of Magic story
Witchmas Eve - a Marshal of Magic story
Witchmas Day- a Marshal of Magic story
Small Medium at Large
Low Elf Esteem
Big Trouble
The Holy War – Blood Bound
The Holy War – Oath Bound
The Holy War – Honor Bound
Fort Smith – Judged by Twelve
Fort Smith - Carried by Six
Evasion - Destruction Earth
Omnibus Collections
Battlefield Z Collected Adventures Volume I
Battlefield Z Collected Adventures Volume II
Battlefield Z Collected Adventures Volume III
Invasion Earth Collected Adventures Volume I
Invasion Earth Collected Adventures Volume II
Sanctioned – Shadowboxer Files
Unsanctioned – Shadowboxer Files
Incursion
Mobilize