After he came back down, the four of us sat around the kitchen table, munching on a little dinner and discussing the events of the day. The zombies managing to turn doorknobs was a hot topic and in the end, we decided to see if it happened again. If not, it could just have been a freakish incident. The ambush had us more worried, because that was not something that could be dismissed as easily. That was group behavior focusing on a common goal and not a good thing. Again, we had a lot of questions and not enough answers. Would only large groups of zombies work together that way? Or would smaller groups hunt in such a fashion? We’d have to be more careful than we’d been before to find out.
When our conversation turned to Thorton, the mood got considerably darker. We believed nothing had happened to our loved ones yet, but there was that nagging doubt. How had Thorton heard about me? I had no clue. I was feeling pretty glum when Tommy reminded me of a simple fact.
“Charlie’s not a fool and he knows about Thorton and his men. If they came calling, they’d pay a heavy price before they got past him. I doubt anyone would want any more after that particular kind of hell,” he said.
I thought about it for a minute, then had to agree that Tommy was right. Charlie would be on alert and would shoot first. I freely admitted the man was a ghost in the woods, despite his size. Anyone trying to tackle him on his home turf would be dead before he knew what hit him. We’d lived long enough in the park to know every rock, canyon, tree and gully.
Reassured, I suggested we hit the sack. We had more long days ahead of us and we had to start thinking about our plan of attack when we reached the capital.
In the morning, after a restless night because my mind kept wandering back to my wife and son, I climbed up onto the roof to take a look around. The small lake at our back was as still as glass, with morning steam rising off the water’s surface. The woods were alive with sound, making it pretty clear there were no dead wandering around unwanted. I listened carefully to the sounds around me, turning an ear to the wind and closing my eyes, sorting out the sounds that drifted my way, identifying them, placing them as normal or not normal. Charlie had taught me that particular method of listening, using it as a means of hunting. Find the sounds that fit and the ones that don’t. After a while you’ll know whether or not you’re alone, or if you have company you need to take care of. It worked well in the dark..
Not finding anything out of the ordinary, I went back down to find Duncan had awakened and Nate as well. Eating a granola bar for breakfast, I spread out a map of Ohio and looked around for passage around Dayton. I saw a bunch of lines and circles on the map that weren’t there yesterday and I looked up to see Nate looking at me from across the table.
“Sorry about that. I had a notion last night and spent some time sorting it out,” he said.
“What kind of notion?” I asked, looking at a heavily circled area outside the town of Fayetteville.
“Thorton’s broadcast had to have come from somewhere nearby. Those government stations were set up all over, with overlapping ranges so nothing could get by on any frequency. But listening is different from broadcasting and if the government wanted to keep these things quiet, they had two options. Hide them far away from prying eyes or hide them in plain sight. In this area, they had to be away from sight. Given the range of most radios and equipment I’m familiar with, I’d say Thorton has to be somewhere within a hundred miles of us, give or take twenty.
“Before you get any notions,” Nate cautioned, “Thorton has you outmanned and outgunned. Chasing him down would get you killed”
I shook my head. Nate knew me pretty well. “Why did you circle Fayetteville?” I wanted to know.
“Best guess as to where he might be. I imagine he found one of these stations and was able to determine where others might be located. He’s probably jumping from one to the next, sending out his message, impacting as many people as he can.” Nate said.
I thought about that one. We had to find a way to shut him up before he managed to demoralize half the country.
“You don’t think there might be a way to link those stations, be able to send out a broadcast over a wider area?” I asked, thinking about a general message.
Nate pondered that for a bit. “Might be possible if you had someone at each station, but we don’t have enough men for that. Not sure about the power of those stations, either. I’d know more if we were able to take a look into one.”
“Fair enough,” I said, looking down at the map. “We need to think about a route around this town. It’s too big for a run through.”
“No problem. Have fun with that. I’m going to stretch my legs a bit and look around.” Nate pulled on his gear and stepped outside. Tommy watched him go, then took out his rifle and climbed onto the roof. I’ll bet Tommy didn’t even think about what he was doing. We were so used to backing each other up it was second nature.
Duncan strolled out of the back, yawning and stretching his arms. He popped his neck, then dropped down to do about forty push-ups. His morning routine was pretty close to mine, although I tried to do pull ups on the roof access ladder for variety.
Duncan thumped me on the back as he passed by, settling into the driver’s seat and staring idly out the front window. I buried myself in the maps, pausing every now and then to think about Jake and Sarah, wondering if I was doing the right thing.
My reflections were interrupted by a strange voice coming from the front. It wasn’t Duncan, so I looked up. He had opened the compartment with the CB in it and turned it on. He had been flipping through the channels when a voice came through loud and clear.
“Good Morning, Americans! At least what’s left of you. This will be my last broadcast from this area as promised, until I can reach everyone at the same time. I have some system linking to finalize, then I will be able to speak to everyone. Right now, anyone who has heard me in the past can hear me now.”
I looked over at Duncan. So there was a way. Interesting.
The voice continued. If it was actually Thorton, I expected a more threatening presence on the airwaves. His voice was somewhat nasally and higher pitched than I thought it would be. It deflated him somewhat, making him more vulnerable in my estimation.
I moved up to the passenger seat as Tommy thumped on the windshield, wanting Duncan to open the driver’s side window so he could hear too.
“As I have stated before, being the sole military authority left, I am declaring martial law in the United States, with myself as the authority until such time as a new Congress and President may be elected to lead. Some of you might be tempted to question my authority. Be advised that such defiance will be considered treason and the punishment for treason is death. Anyone helping someone commit treason will be subject to death as well. As of right now, anyone helping John Talon or someone associated with him will be considered committing treason as well.”
I looked up at Duncan. “Guess that means you,” I said dryly.
Duncan grimaced and flipped the radio the bird.
The voice continued. “John Talon is not to be trusted and avoided. He is a known outlaw and is currently under a mission to destroy the founding documents which made our country great. As an officer in the United States Army, I am duty bound by oath to prevent him from succeeding.”
I had taken just about enough. I grabbed the microphone, not really sure if he would be able to hear me and clicked the send button.
“Christ, what a load of bullshit,” I said, actually speaking to Duncan.
The voice went nuts. “Who said that? Who the fuck said that? I am in charge and I will make whoever said that suffer!”
I smiled at Duncan. This was better than I hoped for. I hit the button again. “I said that, you murdering, child-raping fake.”
The radio was silent for a second. I wondered if I had caused Thorton a case of apoplexy.
The voice came on again, low and deadly. “I will ask one more time, then I will find you and make you suffer. I’ll carve you into lit
tle chunks and feed you to the zombies one piece at a time.”
I found myself getting angry and less diplomatic than I normally would have thought. “This is John Talon, the so-called traitor. I am guessing I am speaking to Ken Thorton, a self-proclaimed major in the military, while never actually having been in the service. I am sure I am speaking to the same man who ran a concentration camp in California, enslaving survivors and forcing them to hear their babies cry, see their women and children raped and kill them out of hand. The same Thorton who thinks he can run the country after destroying the original Constitution and Bill of Rights. Did I miss anything, you worthless coward?”
This time, the delay was longer and I was pretty sure Thorton was kicking himself for setting up the relays so everyone could hear us. When he did get back on, his tone was much more controlled.
“Well, John. You seem to think you know a lot about me. But that sword has two edges. For example, I know you set up a community in Illinois and you left behind your wife and son to try and stop me. Where was it? Oh, yes. Starved Rock. Interesting name, that. I sent ten of my men up there to make an example out of dissenters, just so you know. If you hurry back, you might arrive just in time to see my Captain put a bullet in your son’s head. By the way, Dan Winters says ‘hi’.”
My emotions spun. I was first afraid Thorton had already been to Starved Rock, but when he said he dispatched men to go there, I was both relieved and terrified. Oh, God. Jake, Sarah. What had I done? I gripped the microphone so hard the casing cracked. I struggled to control my emotions. Charlie, Charlie, please be okay. Save my family, I prayed with everything I had. Anger then gripped me. Winters, you bastard! When I’m through with Thorton, you’re next! I swore silently.
I clicked the send button. “If you have any way of calling your men back, I would do so. If they have made it to Starved Rock, they’re already dead. I did not leave my family defenseless, as you will find out.” I took a deep breath. “But for you, Thorton, I will not be merciful.”
“Do tell,” Thorton mocked.
“You and I will meet, Thorton.”
“I look forward to it, Johnny.”
“I will look back on it, Kenny.” I spoke again before he could. “America! This is John Talon! I am trying to save our founding documents from this imposter. Do not let him into your communities! He is not military, he is a fake and his men are nothing more than criminals. Do not engage him or try to stop him!”
“You wound me, Johnny,” Thorton said in a condescending voice. “Why don’t you want people to stop me?”
I spoke coldly and deliberately into the microphone. “You’re mine to kill. Talon out.”
I put down the microphone and turned off the radio. My hands were shaking and I stood up, trying to walk away my rage and fear. I went outside, not caring if anything was out there. I walked to the front of the RV and kneeled down on the grass. I prayed like I had never prayed before. Charlie, please, don’t let them hurt my family. Please, I prayed. Not my family.
I thought about my brother and his family and I prayed he was up to the task of defending them. My heart ached with worry over my loved ones. Unbidden, the memory of my nightmare came to my mind and once again, I looked down at my fallen friends, my dead loved ones, my son’s lifeless face.
“NO!!” I screamed at the sky, clenching my fists in fury at a god who would allow me to survive the Upheaval, only to lose everything. I stood up, unable to contain my rage and heard sweet music to my ears. The wind carried the sound of moaning zombies who had answered my call.
I scanned the horizon, and saw three of them cresting a hill to the south. I smiled grimly in anticipation, welcoming the battle. I had given in fully to the battle rage I fought so hard to repress, lest it get me killed. The threat by Thorton on my family had finally released it from its prison.
I walked slowly to the group, letting them see me, letting them advance. I loosed my knife, wanting this to be close combat, welcoming it. The rational part of my mind was screaming at me to pull my SIG, shoot and run, but I ignored it. The zombies moaned fiercely, I snarled in reply. The killer had awakened and wanted to smash and destroy.
I ran to the closest zombie, a severely decaying specimen and jumped in the air, bringing my fist back and punching as hard as I could as I came down. The Z flipped over and I landed in a crouched position as the next one, an older woman with flesh hanging off her arms, reached a slow, skeletal hand at me. I laughed and swept the arm away, swinging my leg out and catching it behind the knees, dropping it to the ground. The third was quicker, a younger guy with no scalp, but not quick enough by half. I reached through its grasping hands and grabbed it by the throat, sinking my fingers into its decaying flesh. I ignored the hands that grabbed at me as I turned it around and sank my other fingers into its eye sockets, spurting fluid out as the eyeballs popped. I reared my head back and roared as I brought my hands together, snapping its neck like a dry tree branch. I threw the motionless zombie onto the ground as the other two regained their feet.
I didn’t wait for them both to attack, I kicked the nearest one in the knee, cracking the bone backwards and sending it tumbling down. I punched down with the knife, spearing the old woman in the back of the head, ending its life among the unliving. I tossed the knife away as the first one charged again and I dodged to the side, catching it by the wrist and spinning it to the ground. I kneeled on its back, amused at its struggles. I stood up, keeping one foot on it to keep it from getting up. When I had my balance, I stepped high with my other foot, slamming it hard into the back of the zombie’s neck. I was rewarded with a wet snap and the ghoul went limp.
I looked for more adversaries, but there were none. Pity. I retrieved my knife and walked slowly back to the RV, each step bringing me back from the abyss, each footfall a step back to sanity. By the time I reached the RV, I was spent. My rage was dissipated, leaving only fear and apprehension. I went to the back and unhooked a bucket. Scooping up some water, I washed the zombie shit off my hands. I wasn’t about to wash in the pond itself. When I had washed five times, I returned the bucket and sprayed a little kerosene on my blade. The metal burned brightly for a second, then faded. I extinguished it by plunging it into the ground.
After I put my blade away, I turned back to the RV. The simple tasks had brought me back to normal and I was ready to think more rationally. Inside the RV, I sat down at the kitchen table. I shook my head, trying to clear it. I had given in to my internal rage only once before, at the battle of Coal City.
Duncan sat down across from me, placing his hands on the table carefully, as if he feared making any sudden moves. I just stared down at the fake wood surface, trying to send my thoughts out to my wife and son.
After a few minutes, Duncan said quietly, “Next to you, Charlie’s the best there is. He’s got your brother as a back, not to mention Sarah and Angela and Rebecca. They’ll be fine. I promise you.”
I looked up slowly. I took a deep breath. “I know. But they can’t prepare if they don’t know what’s coming. Even I can be ambushed. So can Charlie. So can anyone.” I dropped my head down to stare back at the table.
Duncan was silent as Tommy came back down from the roof. He moved his wiry frame in next to Duncan.
“John?” Tommy asked.
I looked up. “What?”
“If you want to head back, I’m with you. This whole mission can go scratch if it means we lose our loved ones,” he said.
I thought about that. Losing our loved ones. Losing everything we held dear. My mind made connections without my intent and I was reminded of an essay I read years ago about what happened to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Various accounts abound, but the gist was they knew what they were getting into and they knew what the penalty might be for failure. They put their lives and the lives of their loved ones at risk because they believed in a cause greater than themselves. I thought about what we were doing. Was this a cause greater than ourselves? Was this the only chance our
country would have?
On the outside, I had to think yes. We had to use the founding documents to forge a new future from the ashes of the Upheaval. We had to say once and for all we would fight. We had to have something to fight for and those documents would cement our belief that we were a country worth saving.
I must have looked calmer because Tommy looked at me quizzically.
“What?” he asked.
“We’ll go on. We’ll have to have faith that Charlie will be vigilant and be able to take care of things back home,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Duncan asked.
I nodded. “If something happens, then we have a new mission.”
Tommy and Duncan nodded. They knew exactly what I was talking about. If Thorton succeeded in hurting our loved ones, there would be nowhere on earth he could run to.
Our little powwow was interrupted by Nate slamming open the RV door. “Talon! Get your dumbass out here, right now!”
Confused, I got up and went over to the door, stepping outside and away from the RV. Nate was standing about fifteen feet away, taking off his weapons and gear. When he finished, he turned back to me and crossed his massive arms, glowering at me the whole time.
“Before you try to deny anything, shithead, I will tell you that I saw you take down those three zombies on the hill,” he started.
I began to speak, but he interrupted.
“Shut up! I ain’t done here. This is a lecture, not a fucking debate! When the hell did you get so damn stupid? You had firepower, but you still took on three zombies in close quarters!” Nate’s voice rose. “What the fuck were you thinking? Are you trying to die? You got people counting on you here and people counting on you at home. You ain’t no good dead, you hear me?”
America the Dead Page 17