by Brown, TW
They came to a halt where a group of four more men were putting the finishing touches on a hole that the tall pole sitting on the ground a few feet away would slip into with no problems, He was led over to the pole and pushed down to the ground hard. He cried out when he felt his wrist snap as he landed awkwardly on a rock. He was rolled over and the tie was attached by a large steel ring on the back to a bolt that stuck out from the pole.
“Hoist him!” Erin commanded.
13
Fallen
“They’re so big!” Kayla gasped as she and I stood beside the silver bus that had come to rest on its side over a decade ago. “Four or five of these would be enough to move everybody in Platypus Creek.”
She was right. That is why this smashed up train of eleven seemed so impressive. I climbed up onto the entry step behind her and my nose wrinkled automatically. There were a few mostly decayed and dried out husks of the dead. One stuck out from the rest in that it was missing just about everything above the chin. A dark stain gave evidence that this person had blown their brains out. I only briefly wondered what the person who had come and obviously relieved the body of whatever weapon it had used must have been thinking. Did they simply rejoice in the find? Or, did they give a moment’s pause and consider the horror that had taken place here?
“C’mon, you two,” Jim said as he walked past. He didn’t even give this scene a second glance. How many times had he passed by this spot? Was this all so boring to him like he made it seem?
I hopped out, Kayla right behind me. She was being very well-behaved. That little scare had done its job. I still thought that Paula had somehow arranged it. That zombie had just been in too perfect of a place to not only give Kayla the scare of her life, but also for Paula to drop it with next to no effort.
We had moved to the south and were coming in to La Grande from a different route than we did the last time. I was having a real hard time acting like a “seasoned” veteran since so much of what we were seeing on the way in was just as new to me.
“Don’t go sticking your head into places like that,” Jim whispered as he allowed me to fall into step beside him. “It is a rookie move. You are supposed to be the example.”
I didn’t see the big deal. It was an empty old bus. All we did was take a peek inside. It wasn’t like we had gone nosing around a roadside stop like he had done just this morning. Sure, when he did it, it was because he was looking for specific items in order to make one of his explosives. When I did it, I was being a rookie. It was starting to get under my skin how adults always had a pretty obvious set of double standards.
Of course, if Kayla was having it rough, then Dorian was probably never going to sleep through the night again for the rest of his life. Somehow, it seemed that zombies always came on his watch at night. And even worse, there was usually one just about an hour before his watch and then again about an hour after. He was probably not getting more than two or three hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. It was showing on his face and this was only the second morning away.
That was another thing. This route we were taking was almost twice as long. We would be out for over two weeks. It would take us four days to reach La Grande.
“Dorian!” Paula called out. I swear Jim snickered. “You and Kaplan get up that hill and see what is on the other side of the ridge. And keep your eyes peeled, there were a few small clusters reported in the area by the forward scouts.”
When I heard Jim reciting the exact same words under his breath, I knew it was just another set up. We hadn’t done anything of the sort on the run I’d made. She was sending him up and down hills as a form of punishment…or torture.
Kayla moved up close to me. “When are they gonna send us on a ridge run?” she asked. I glanced over and saw that she was being serious. Since I did not want her doing anything stupid, I decided to let her in on the secret.
“That’s mean,” she huffed. “That poor guy is going to collapse or get himself killed.”
“Yeah.” I turned and shielded my eyes to get a look at him as he and Kaplan wove their way up the steep incline. In just the few seconds I watched, Dorian slipped and fell twice. “Well, he wanted this run.”
There was a long silence, and I thought that the conversation was over. Then Kayla opened her mouth again.
“And so when will it be my turn?”
“What?” I actually stopped and turned to face her. I had no idea what she was talking about.
“When do you make a fool out of me? When do you start in on me like you all are doing with Mr. Watkins?”
“Why would we start in on you?” The pop-up zombie flashed in my mind, but I quickly stuffed it away.
“I didn’t actually think you would be able to get me on this run. When you told me I was coming, I still did not believe it until the walls disappeared behind us.” Kayla was near tears. I absolutely did not have time for this.
The scream ended the conversation.
I had spun with my crossbow unslung before I actually realized what I was doing. Later, I would allow myself to be proud of my reaction, but at the moment, something was wrong.
My eyes went to the hill and just up a bit from where I’d last seen Dorian and Herb Kaplan. Herb was probably the best field cook ever. You could bring him a handful of dirt and some leaves and he could probably make a feast that would make you ask for more. He was also the one screaming.
I brought up my crossbow. Not because I could do anything; Herb and Dorian were well out of actual range, but I could use my scope to get a better view. That was probably not the best idea.
From the looks of it, a small pack of zombies had managed to get up the backside of that hill. They had obviously seen the pair (or more likely heard Dorian’s bitching). Zombies are not tacticians or planners; unless you believe all that you hear about the child versions, they simply act. These had fallen from a small ledge just above the unwitting pair. Even worse, another dozen or so were now at that same ledge and would be flopping down on their prey in the next few seconds.
There were two wrapped up with Herb. I could see the dark stain growing just under his chin. Despite all the protective gear, one of the zombies had gotten in under the chin strap of Herb’s helmet and torn at the tender flesh.
Dorian was doing the only thing he was probably qualified to do: he was running and screaming. Actually, running is overstating it. He was sort of jumping his way down the hill, using gravity and the loose scree to aid in his rapid decent.
“We have to help him!” Kayla suddenly started to scream over and over.
The thing was, I don’t think even she knew which of the men she was talking about. One was basically a dead man walking unless he was fortunate enough to be one of The Immune. Only, with the amount of blood loss, it was doubtful he could survive the attack. As if on cue, I watched as a solid series of pulsating jets of blood shot from what I had to assume was now the ruined throat of Herb Kaplan.
By now, Dorian was almost halfway down the hill. He took a tumble and was now coming head over heels. The detached part of my brain wanted to enjoy the humor, but a fall like that could be a bad deal.
“Thalia!” Jim barked.
I pulled my eye from the scope and looked. Crap! Kayla was running for the hill. She was still screaming like an idiot and actually managed to spook a team of horses pulling the lead wagon.
I let my crossbow fall to the end of its tether as I took off after the stupid girl. I was closing when I felt something flash by my head. It was too quick to see, but with my senses heightened, I sure as hell felt it and dove, tackling Kayla. My hand was on the hilt of my knife almost before we hit the ground.
Rising up, I shoved the stupid girl’s head down. Sure enough, two zombies had just stepped out of the thick brush that ran along what had once been a highway road and was now little more than a well-defined nature trail as the years of weather had buckled and washed away a lot of the actual pavement, leaving a huge scar in the earth that made travel jus
t a bit easier.
The closest zombie had a bolt from a crossbow jutting from its chest. This was one of the ancient zombies. You could tell because they were almost impossible to determine gender due to the years of abuse, weather, and even vermin that whittled away at anything loose or dangly.
I hopped up and took two long strides, jabbing my knife into its eye, yanking my wrist back quick to avoid the weight of the fallen body snatching the blade from my hand. The second one obliged by stepping right up to be next.
By now, Dorian had stopped falling, and Herb had stopped screaming. Both were blessings in their own right. My pulse was pounding in my ears, which is why it took me a few seconds to realize that I could hear a moaning from the nearby brush.
“Don’t move!” I turned and snarled at Kayla. She nodded vigorously, and I wondered if she was still as excited about her first field run as she had been just moments ago.
Knife at the ready, I held up a hand when Paula called for me. I knew she probably thought that she was the only one who could do anything, but I was closest to this sound.
Of course, by the time I had ducked into the foliage, I realized what I was hearing. I shoved a branch aside and stepped into a grassy patch where Dorian lay sprawled. Without even taking that close of a look, I could see that his left arm had a nasty break and his left foot was turned very awkwardly to the right much further than it should.
“Thalia,” he moaned as I bent down to get a better look.
He had a variety of cuts and scrapes. His ugly nose was busted, and that gash on his forehead was turning his face into a crimson mask made all the more creepy when he opened his mouth to reveal more than a couple of missing teeth. He spat a wad of swirling crimson that had chunks that could be dirt and gravel…or teeth.
“Shut up and stay still,” I hissed.
My head went on a swivel, searching for any signs of movement. There could be a few more zombies. Plus there were the ones that had stepped off the ledge. No telling how many of those had joined Dorian in the tumble down the hill.
On the plus side, if they suffered serious damage to their legs, they would be severely hampered. On the bad side, they did not need to recover from those injuries, they would simply start creeping. A few moans and cries from the woods told me that there were a handful that were close.
“I’m not supposed to move you.” I reached under Dorian’s armpits. “But if we stay here, we are in trouble.”
I started dragging him backwards. I had only taken a few steps when Paula exploded through the brush. Without waiting, she moved to his feet and picked him up. To his credit, Dorian had not made a sound. I was impressed until I looked down and saw that he was unconscious.
“We make camp here,” James was announcing as Paula and I carried Dorian’s limp body into the midst of the flurry of activity.
“You sure being out in the open like this is a good idea?” Jackson White asked.
I had been glad when he insisted on coming along. In fact, with the exception of Cynthia Bird, we had all the same people from the last field run in addition to the others that brought our total to twenty; nineteen now with the loss of Herb Watkins.
“We will be fine for one day.” James pointed out a place for the two wagon drivers to park. “We make camp here for the night and then we turn around and head back for home at first light.”
“We are going back?”
Everybody turned to look at Kayla. She shrunk away from the sudden and intense scrutiny.
“And what would you have us do?” Paula asked as she and I laid Dorian down in the back of one of the wagons. “Dorian needs medical attention that he can’t get out here. He will be lucky if he survives the ride home.”
“But the salvage—” Kayla began, clearly not getting the gravity of the situation.
“Was a fool’s errand to begin with,” Paula snapped, cutting the seemingly clueless girl off. “We have no need to make this run. Platypus Creek is not in want of anything. Going down to Island City does nothing but expose us to the possibility of being spotted by that army and followed home.”
There was a moment of silence. That is probably why we heard it. It had to be far away, but there was no denying the scream.
“Thalia, you and Jackson come with me,” Jim Sagar said as he took off at a jog. A plume of black smoke could be seen to the southeast of our location. It looked to be just beyond two gently sloped foothills.
“James!” Paula called. “Whatever that is, it isn’t our problem!”
I had fallen in beside Jim. Jackson was right on my heels. I started to slow down and felt the big man’s gentle hand urge me to keep going. I had to sort of agree with Paula, but my curiosity was much louder and shut out the demands that were chasing us as we rounded the first bend that mercifully put itself between Paula and the three of us.
***
“Just down there,” Jim whispered as he handed me his binoculars.
I looked to where he pointed. At first I didn’t see anything. I was ready to give up when I caught just the briefest of movements in the midst of a massive blackberry patch that looked to have completely engulfed what Jackson said was once a trailer park; whatever those are.
Sure enough, seconds later, several dark figures scurried through a small clearing amidst the briar patch. It was difficult to make out exact numbers, but I had to guess there to be at least five individuals.
I let my scan drift to the right. Beside a small creek was a walled community of perhaps fifty. They were on full alert, but two of their buildings were burning out of control already.
“I don’t get it?” I handed the glasses back to Jim.
“Tribal dispute,” Jim said. When my expression made it clear that he had not helped any with his two word answer, he continued. “There are probably fifty or more small communities in the area. Tribes. For whatever reason, it looks like two of them are at odds.”
“Which will be the downfall of both,” Jackson added.
He was still looking to the south. A constellation of campfires gave away the location of what could only be the same army that had wiped out La Grande for whatever reason.
“Who are these people, and why are they doing this?” I could not hide my confusion and frustration.
I had heard all about Island City and some of the crazy stuff from way back when all of this started. Honestly, none of it made sense. Humanity was facing extinction and people were fighting and killing one another. If anything, I would have thought that this was the time to come together.
“Man is a selfish and greedy animal,” Jackson said with a sigh. “It is a sad truth, but history has shown time and again that we will leave a path of destruction wherever we go.”
“Whoever these people are, I think they are trying to take the entire valley and want to ensure there are none left to dispute their claim.” Jim rolled onto his back and opened his pack. He handed me and Jackson a hunk of dried meat.
“Why?” I asked. That was simply not a good enough answer.
“Why not?” Jim shrugged. “This valley is excellent for farming. It has a multitude of streams, creeks, and small rivers. The mountains surround it and act as a natural barricade. This place is a paradise.”
“But there was plenty of it that was not claimed or settled,” I insisted. “They didn’t need to come in and wipe people out. They don’t need all of it.”
Neither man spoke. I don’t think they really had any answers. And who knows, maybe there wasn’t one beyond Jackson’s claim that man is selfish and greedy.
“So what do we do now?” I asked. Neither man had a chance to answer.
“Chelsea!” a voice called from a mound of rocks to our right.
I stiffened. Whoever this person was, they had managed to get within a hundred or so yards of our position without us seeing anything. That meant they were probably trying to stay hidden.
“Blake?” a female voice replied from the shadows of a clump of trees that were just below the lip of the
ridge we were on. “Stay put, I heard somebody just a few seconds ago.”
“How ‘bout you come out and make this easier on all of us,” there was a slight pause before the oily-sounding voice wheezed and finished, “Chelsea is it?”
There were the sounds of a struggle and then a meaty smack followed by a yelp. All of that came from the direction of the voice I had to assume to be Blake. Only, it was obvious that he had some company.
“Don’t do it, Chel—” Blake’s voice yelped, but was quickly muffled.
“That’s right, Chelsea. You just stay put and let old Blakey here take some pain on your behalf.” There was an evil laugh and then the sounds of violence.
“You can’t just sit here while all of this is happening,” I whispered into Jackson’s ear.
“And what would you have us do? We don’t know how many or what the hell we stumbled into the middle of. Ain’t that right, Jim?” Jackson peeked over me. “Jim?”
I turned my head and was stunned to find Jim Sagar gone. How he had managed to slip away without me having felt or sensed it was astounding. We’d actually been touching at one point we were so close. I guess I had been distracted to the point where I had lost track of him.
“Dammit,” Jackson swore, peeking up and over our little ledge towards the rocky area where Blake had been. “C’mon, Thalia, we better move.”
At first I thought that he meant to abandon Jim, but when he eased back down our little bluff and then started off in a crouch towards some cover that would get us close to those rocks where the beating was still taking place in between taunting calls from whoever it was that wanted Chelsea to “just stay put, Blake won’t miss them pretty teeth of his one bit!”, I felt a ripple of excitement course through me. This was way more than I had bargained for, but somehow, I was more excited than I was scared.
We ducked into some tall grass that cut into my exposed skin better than any razor sharp knife when I just haphazardly went to push it aside. From that point, I was more careful and made my way up beside Jackson who had caught up with Jim.