by Brown, TW
Peter climbed off the snowmobile and headed for the pile of vehicles. “They did this in the last few days,” Peter called out. “The road is snowed over again, but look at the difference. Plus, the cars are covered with a few inches instead of a few feet.”
Kevin had already made that deduction. He had actually considered it obvious to the point of not needing a mention. That was when it struck him. Peter really hadn’t been out in this for quite a while. If his story were true, he’d made the trip south from Cleveland by himself when this had begun. Shortly after, he’d been captured by Shaw’s men. He had lived in The Basket and acted as their doctor until orchestrating his, Shari’s and Erin’s escape. Ironically it was while Shaw and most of his men were out in search of Kevin and his small group after they rigged a roadside bomb and ambushed a foraging party that allowed for Peter to make his big escape.
“Whoever this is,” Kevin whispered, suddenly feeling very exposed standing in the middle of the snow-covered highway, “I don’t want to meet them.”
“So which way do we go?”
Kevin inspected the scene. I was impossible to tell from which direction the individuals responsible had come from, or in which direction they had departed. From where they stood, the river was right off the highway to their left and some sort of industrial complex that had suffered a horrendous fire was to the right. Ahead of them was an intersection. The shot up sign that still stood, albeit on the verge of falling when the next good wind blew through, announced the crossing road as “E. Main St.”
After some thought, he turned to Peter who appeared ready to defer this decision to Kevin without question. “The river is a natural barricade. I think, if anybody is lingering in the area, they are north of us…on the right. So, we need to make our way down towards the river.”
Peter nodded his agreement and reached under his coat. He drew his .44 Magnum and handed it to Kevin. “This has some wicked stopping power. The four bullets in the cylinder are all I got, but if somebody pops up, you put a round in the body. The entry hole is small, but it will make a mess coming out.”
“And you are giving this to me why?”
“Because I will be driving,” Peter explained. “You need to be ready if things get ugly.”
“And if we get separated,” Kevin made to hand the pistol back, “you will be unarmed and defenseless.”
“Not true, my friend.” Peter opened his coat to reveal a bandoleer of red shotgun shells crisscrossing his chest. “I have a sawed off double-barrel strapped to my leg.” He unfastened the Velcro straps that had kept the cuff of his pants snug around the ankles of his boots.
Kevin hadn’t really paid attention to the man; not back at the country club as they got ready to leave, and not when they’d departed. When he saw the shotgun that wasn’t much larger than a big handgun attached firmly to the man’s calf, his opinion of the man was raised considerably. Perhaps he had underestimated the doctor.
The two men got settled on the snowmobile and resumed their journey. Weaving in and out between the barren trees that dotted the banks of the Licking River, they kept their eyes peeled for anything. Once they were clear of the roadblock, they arced back to the highway. As they crested the ridge, Kevin spotted it first.
In a sprawling field were several tents. The flagpole in the center of this vast encampment of well over a hundred tents was a modified American flag with one single star in the center of the blue field. A tall fence encircled the field and figures bundled in white camo gear walked inside the perimeter with large spears.
A group of soldiers had obviously heard their approach and were sitting on top of a tank parked in the middle of the west bound lane of the highway. Kevin appreciated how the individuals responsible for this encampment had used the terrain to maximum advantage. They had set up around the bend in the highway and behind a gently rising ridge. Closer inspection revealed piles of sand bags or something to that effect along the ridge. That meant they’d been observed for quite a while during their approach. In Kevin’s mind, this was a good sign. Had these people been hostile, they probably would have taken them out while they were walking around that pile up of vehicles.
“So, what’s the call?” Peter asked.
“Stay here,” Kevin said as he climbed off of the snowmobile. He waved to the individuals on the tank as he held the big handgun up and handed it back to Peter. “I am going to go see what we have. If anything happens…take off. Don’t go straight back home just in case these folks can follow you.”
“You think that is a good idea?” Peter asked. “I mean the whole going over and talking to them.”
“I think it is the best choice. And whatever happens, don’t tell them you are a doctor.”
“Why not?”
“They may decide they need you more than anybody else. Even if they are the, quote, good guys…they may still keep you for themselves if they feel you fit their needs.”
“Gotcha.”
Kevin started across the white expanse towards the tank. He reached the median and paused. So far, the people on the tank hadn’t made a move toward him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. The closer he got, the easier it was to start making out some details. As soon as he could see their faces, he noticed right away that there was something very peculiar about the soldiers. He finally came to a stop about a dozen feet away from the tank.
“Ladies,” Kevin said in greeting.
One of the soldiers climbed down and made her way to him. She had a few attention-grabbing items dangling from her belt. One of the ones he noticed first and found the most interesting was the TASER hanging from a leather thong.
“You and your friend are either really brave, or really stupid. Considering how long you’ve lasted…I have to assume it is the former,” she said with as close to no expression as Kevin had ever seen on a human face.
“I’d like to think that,” Kevin replied. “So this is where I guess I ask you if I am going to be taken prisoner or allowed to continue on my way.”
“And where would you be going if I let you be on your way?”
“Into Newark.”
“So then you are stupid.”
“Not at all, just desperate.”
“Really?”
Without giving away where they were staying. Or any other details that might lead them to Aleah, Valarie and the others, Kevin explained what it was he was doing and why he had to go into Newark.
“So let me get this straight,” the woman said. As Kevin had been explaining what he was doing, the other four soldiers, all women that he guessed to be between the ages sixteen and fifty, gathered around. “You are out in this weather, the two of you, and you are going into Newark. The place is crawling with those things, but you are gonna slip in and get some medication so this girl stops hallucinating about her dead grandmother?”
When she said it like that, Kevin imagined that it probably seemed a bit ridiculous. Still, what they were missing was the emotional aspect. They didn’t know Valarie, and they hadn’t known his sister.
“Pretty much,” Kevin finally said. “So if you are gonna detain us or anything, I hope you will take into consideration that we have somebody depending on us…and we would be missed.”
“Lots of people had folks counting on them a few months ago…didn’t help much,” one of the women quipped.
“Never mind Lucy, she hates everybody,” the woman who had first met him said. “Well, I’d like to make some sort of grand gesture and offer to help, but the reality is that those days are gone.”
“I understand,” Kevin said. “Just so long as we are being allowed to go?”
“Oh…we wouldn’t stop you. We won’t do anything so stupid as go in there with you, but we aren’t a bunch of monsters.”
“Okay then.” Not sure what else to do, Kevin offered his hand. The woman took it and shook it with a smile starting to curl on the corners of her mouth.
“Do me a favor…what was your name?” she asked.
> “Kevin.”
“My name is Willa. So just do me a favor and stop in here on your way back and let us know you are okay.”
“I can do that.”
“I hope so. We plan on going in once the weather turns. The south end of town has a nice section bordered on three sides by the river. We plan on securing that area and walling off the fourth side. The zombies don’t seem to go into the water willingly. And if we do it right, we could have the start of a community by next summer.”
“So what is so important about knowing if I make it out?”
“Because if you don’t, I will look for a zombie in an ugly purple jacket and blow its brains out.” She tugged the sleeve of his coat with a smile. “Plus, I have to admit, I’m curious. You are one of those feel good stories we don’t get enough of these days.”
“I promise to swing by here,” Kevin agreed. “But can I ask a question?”
“Yep,” Willa said. “All women. Fifty-three at last count.”
“Hey!” a couple of the women gathered around protested. Kevin understood; she’d just given away some pretty vital information.
“Started out with just seven of us from a National Guard unit from Springfield. When things went bad, some of the men in our company went a little crazy. They started thinking the rules didn’t apply any more. There was a fight and a lot of good soldiers died. Many of them died trying to protect us…not from zombies, but from our fellow soldiers.
“A few weeks in, we tangled with some creeps that set up in that picnic basket factory. We lost a few of the gals and the last of the guys. A few weeks ago we found out what happened to that place and that is sorta what brought us back. We wanted to see it for ourselves, but we also wanted to take care of our own. One of our girls was out in front of that place on a cross. She was one of those zombies. We put her down and buried her. Then we searched the grounds for the others.”
Willa looked over her shoulder at the camp in the open field, then back to Kevin. A couple more of the women were headed out. Kevin imagined it was to check on the situation and make certain their comrades weren’t in danger. Both of them were carrying large machine guns that looked like something from a video game.
“We haven’t let any guys join us since the last one died, and instead we have been sort of collecting women. Most we have saved from terrible situations…some we just run across and they stick around.”
“Understandable,” Kevin said with a nod.
“You make it back and we will let you warm yourself by the fire, grab a bite to eat…we might even offer to give you an escort home if you like. Of course, seeing how vague you were…making sure we had no real idea where the rest of your people are, you may not want that.” Willa gave him a knowing wink.
Kevin blushed at how transparent he’d been. He thought he’d been clever, and it bothered him that this woman saw through it so easily.
“We will definitely do that,” Kevin agreed.
With that, he turned and slogged back to where Peter waited. The man seemed more than just a little agitated.
“When that pair came out packing those big freakin’ machine guns,” he made a none-too-subtle look over Kevin’s shoulder, “I thought you were done for.”
“They were actually real decent,” Kevin said. He explained the whole thing to Peter as they got back on the snowmobile and resumed their journey. Peter just about wrecked when he heard that the entire camp was women.
“And they invited us to swing back through on our way home?”
“It isn’t what you think, Romeo,” Kevin said giving the young doctor a smack on the shoulder.
“We’ll see,” Peter said with a laugh. “Sounds to me like that Willa chick had the hots for you.”
Kevin had no idea how Peter could deduce such a thing from his recounting of their conversation. He was beginning to think Peter was a bit of a sleaze. After all, he knew Kevin had Aleah waiting back home for him. Maybe Shari was right for dumping the guy. The situation between those two had seemed more off than on in the past several weeks. They rode in silence until they came upon a familiar landmark.
“Stop!” Kevin demanded. “Turn in here and find the river. Follow it and we should eventually come up on that big park.”
Peter did as he was bid and angled into the open field. It was slow going as they dodged all the debris along the wooded shore of the river. Their journey kept them south of the bulk of the city’s outskirts. As they continued deeper, Kevin realized that they were passing a point of no return. He began to see movement anytime he dared to look over his shoulder. They were coming out of every street now. They were even beginning to see a few coming out in front. Thankfully, Peter was able to avoid them.
Finally, the snowmobile came to a halt in the middle of the baseball diamond. This wasn’t the same field he remembered. The stadium press box had suffered a collapse of the roof. Also, the other field had four diamonds with the press box in the center. He was already feeling lost.
“Let’s stash the snowmobile and hike in from here,” Kevin suggested. “If this place is as thick with the undead as Willa says, let’s bring minimal attention to ourselves.”
Peter drove them to the nearest set of bleachers. As they were climbing off, the first zombies began to arrive. The knee-deep snow was hampering their advance, but they were persistent.
“If I remember, this street takes us into the main part of town,” Peter said. There was enough uncertainty in his voice for Kevin to know that he was guessing.
“We would be better served if we hung close to the river.” Kevin wished he had Heather with him. She had a freakish knack for remembering where things were located. “I remember it was on Main Street before that big courthouse. So we need to find Main Street.”
“Then we’re just gonna mosey into town? Oh…excuse me zombies, we will be passing through if you could be so kind to just stay back for a while.” Peter stopped as the one closing in would obviously cut him off before he reached the water’s edge. Drawing his machete, he let it get close and then swung down hard. The blade sunk deep and almost pulled him off his feet when the woman fell. “I was hoping you had some sort of master plan. Just wandering around is not exactly the best choice. I thought you knew where this place was.”
“Everything looks the same under all this snow,” Kevin admitted. “Now, we just have to find the big courthouse. I know it was just a few blocks up.”
“Then we best get moving.” Peter pointed with the tip of his machete at the twenty or so zombies starting to hit the fenced edge of the field. It wouldn’t take them long to find the opening and fall into pursuit.
Kevin started off, but he realized very quickly that they were in just a little bit over their head. Trying to avoid zombies was difficult. Trying to walk through deep snow was difficult. The two together were a nightmare. They hadn’t gone very far when Kevin was forced to stop. His lungs were on fire and he felt like his legs were nothing more than kindling to that flame.
“How far do you think it is?” Peter’s question came in between short gasps.
“I wish I knew.”
“You aren’t making me feel very good about this.”
“You wanted to come out from behind the safety of the walls.” Kevin spun to face the man. He’d heard enough out of him and it was time to put an end to it. “This is what we go through every single time. You think that working on a damn wall, having to take down one or two of those bastards is something dangerous? When Heather or Aleah and I go out, this is what we face until we come back. I’ve made runs that last for days. When you are out here, you don’t sleep, you may not eat. Death is around every corner or behind every door. So…next time you ask to come, be sure that is what you want because it doesn’t get any easier.”
That had dumped enough adrenaline into his system to get his legs moving again. Kevin started walking. He came to an uneven stretch of ground and slowed. The last thing he wanted to do was break his leg. There was something odd here. Loo
king around, he finally figured it out. He was at a set of train tracks. He crossed and discovered a fence that would put them on the outskirts of a street lined with two-story townhouses. He climbed over and noticed that Peter was right behind him. He had a scowl on his face, but at least he was keeping his mouth shut.
He started up the street, and jumped when a hand slapped on a window that was mercifully too smeared to be able to see inside. There was definitely something moving on the inside, but it was in there and he was out here. Kevin wondered briefly who the bigger idiot was at that moment.
Eventually, he came to a tee-intersection. He briefly wished that he had a coin. Lacking that, he turned left to put the wind at his back for a while. He passed the first street that led north when he looked up it and saw at least a dozen undead roaming his direction. Doubtless that even from this far away, they’d heard the snowmobile. How many had they mobilized? How many might be waiting on them back at the snowmobile? Kevin didn’t have any of those answers and, if he were being honest, really didn’t want to think about it until the time came.
“One crisis at a time,” he whispered.
A sound to his right as he was passing another collection of small homes that looked like they might not be standing if he came by this time next year drew his attention. A blue house with a fenced yard stood with all its windows and the front door open. Painted in big red letters on the front were the cryptic words “WAIT HERE JILL”. A black dog had its face pressed against the fence. At least that was what he first thought he saw.
Kevin actually stumbled when the scene revealed itself. The dog’s head was through the fence. The mouth was a wreck from chewing on the hard wire. Chunks of who-knows-what hung in clumps. The poor thing had torn most of one side of its scalp away and the right ear actually looked to be dangling from a thick clump that had gathered under the creature’s muzzle.
“Holy crap,” Peter breathed from beside him.