The Complete Deadland Saga

by Rachel Aukes

  Jase stood on the crate, which was an impressive feat in the rough water. He pointed to the hull. “I might be able to get a hold right up here.”

  “It won’t take long to get a basic dock built,” Wes said. He’d been a handyman before the outbreak, so Tyler had considered him critical to have on this mission. The rest of us were Wes’s manual labor. At least the guys were. My job was to squeeze into small spaces, to do tasks like looking for broken cables, if needed. I didn’t enjoy my job, but someone had to do it, and I was the smallest of all the scouts.

  Tyler throttled all the way back just before we bumped up alongside the hull of the Aurora. The deck of the towboat was nearly ten feet high in the water. Sorenson was right. As long as we were careful, it’d be a good place to hide during the zed migration.

  We were all pitched forward as the front of the pontoon slid up against the sand. I looked over the side and saw something bloated with scraps of clothes floating just below the surface. “Possible eater here,” I said. I poked at it with my machete. A chewed up hand rose to the surface, but the zed’s most dangerous feature—its mouth—remained underwater. I swapped my machete for my knife and slammed the blade through the zed’s skull. I rinsed the blade in the water and reclaimed my seat. “Nothing to worry about.”

  We all scrambled to grab ahold of the towboat’s hull to steady the pontoon. Jase hopped up and lassoed the towboat’s railing. Tack, Nate, and Griz climbed off the pontoon and onto the beach. While Tack helped Jase secure the pontoon to a fallen tree, I jumped off and watched the woods. Wes joined me a few seconds later while Tyler stayed on board at the wheel.

  “This island looks pretty empty,” Wes said. “There’s nothing here but trees and a shipwreck.”

  Of course, at that moment I saw movement in the trees. “Way to jinx us.” I slung my rifle over my shoulder and pulled out my machete. I walked toward the tree, careful to make sure nothing else waited in the shadows. The zed that emerged was ugly—horrendously ugly—bloated with river water and weathered. Its balding head was the only thing that hinted at its gender when it’d been infected. It came toward me, arms outreached, as though it wanted to embrace me. It moved slowly and stiffly. I swung and took the top of its head off. It collapsed, and I immediately looked for more.

  When no more zeds emerged, I headed back to the small beach to put space between the trees and me. By then, Jase had the pontoon securely tied to the towboat, and Tyler was checking his rifle. A pile of grain had poured out of one of the barges that had crashed onto the island. “I wonder if all the barges are full of grain,” I thought aloud.

  Tyler glanced up, and his brow lifted. “We can only hope.”

  “Yeah, hope that it’s not rotten already. My uncle had a farm, and I helped him clean out a bin once. Man, rotten corn is nasty,” Griz said as he walked around the towboat, with Tack at his side. He was searching the Aurora, though I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Nate stood, watching the water.

  Tyler looked around. “I know it sucks, but we’re down to an hour of sunlight left. Once we’re aboard, we’ll need to secure the towboat for tonight. In the morning, we’ll clear out the barges so we can unload the supplies and get set up for Fox’s arrival.”

  We’d left before sunrise this morning, while it was still dark, because we knew well the roads in the Fox River valley. We needed all the sunlight we could get for the long, slow drive over here. We’d known it would take several hours, but none of us had figured it would burn through nearly all of our sunlight hours coming here.

  Griz went back to the pontoon and rummaged through a crate. He pulled out an armful of nylon cables and rappelling hardware. Tack helped while we watched him throw a hook over the first railing. He tugged on it and then turned to us. “See you on top.” He climbed the short distance in under five seconds flat.

  “I’ll go next,” Jase said, rubbing his hands together.

  “Be careful,” Tyler said. “No unnecessary injuries.”

  “I got it.” He slung his rifle over his shoulder and grabbed the rope and made his way up to the deck.

  I swallowed and glanced at Wes who looked like he was thinking the same thing. “Friggin’ spider man,” I muttered.

  Tyler motioned to us. “Who’s next?”

  “I guess I’ll go,” I said, and I heard Wes let out a sigh. I dragged my feet over to the rope and snapped my sheath shut. I grabbed the rope.

  Tyler pressed a warm hand against my back. “Use your legs and walk up. You’ll find your rhythm soon enough.”

  If I hadn’t had over twenty pounds of gear on me, it would’ve been easier. I definitely never found the “rhythm” Tyler had spoken of. Even though I was diligent with my workouts, I never had much upper body strength. Every vertical foot was a clumsy struggle, especially as I approached the railing and there was less slack in the rope. Two pair of hands reached down. I grabbed ahold of Jase and then Griz, and let them pull me the rest of the way. Below me, Wes was just getting started, and he was faring only slightly better than I had.

  “Geez, Cash. I thought you were going to take a nap on the way up,” Jase joked.

  I flipped him the bird.

  Griz helped me to my feet. “Don’t listen to the kid. You did good, girl. It takes a while to get the hang of rope climbing.”

  I knew he was just being nice, but it still made me feel better. I unsheathed my machete. “Help the others. I’ll stand watch.”

  A couple minutes later, we all stood on the deck of the Aurora II. It had three windowed levels above the deck, the second level half the size of the first, and a small high-sitting bridge on top. Anyone could see there were no zeds on the deck.

  “The bridge will give us a three-sixty view of the area. It should be the most secure place to hole up for the night,” Tyler said as he set down a huge duffle bag with a thud.

  “The crew quarters should at least be comfortable when it gets colder,” Griz said.

  “Where’s that?” Tyler asked.

  Griz pointed. “I’m guessing either the first level or below decks. I’ve been on bigger boats. Towboats are new to me.”

  “This boat wasn’t empty when the outbreak hit,” I pointed to the round, first-level window as a shadow lumbered by.

  “We’ll start on the top and work our way down,” Tyler said. “I’m thinking we’ll set up common housing in the barges. They’ll be drafty, but open enough to have fires running for heat should we have to stay into the winter. Our first imperative is to get this boat cleared so we can get some power turned on.”

  “Then, let’s do it,” Griz said.

  “Yeah, I’m getting hungry,” Nate added.

  “What are you making us tonight?” I asked.

  Nate scowled. “MREs are all we have for tonight. The real food is still boxed up.”

  “C’mon, then,” Griz said. The seven of us walked across the deck and climbed the first stairs.

  “This room looks to be a good area for Doc’s clinic hospital,” Tyler said as he peered inside.

  “It was probably the captain’s quarters,” Griz said.

  The sun was beginning its descent, casting a softer glow on the wide river. Except for the road and bridge to the north, all I could see was water and trees for miles. “The view is really beautiful from here,” I said, climbing the second stairs.

  “Yeah, a regular vacation getaway,” Jase said drily.

  I grinned at his sarcasm but my smile faded as I kept focus on the task at hand. We slowed as we approached the bridge. It was a good sign that I saw no zeds in the windows. Since zeds rarely sat down, it meant that if there were any in there, they were either under three feet tall or in bad shape.

  Tyler was the first to walk up to the window. He stood for a moment, and then turned to face us. “We don’t want to stay in the bridge tonight.”

  “Why not?” Wes asked, and we all moved closer to look through the window.

  Inside, three bodies lay sprawled on the floor, each one with
a gunshot wound in the skull. A single revolver lay in the hand of one. They’d been dead for some time, with how their discolored skin clung to their emaciated forms.

  Zeds were easier to deal with than corpses. I could convince myself that their humanity was gone, but corpses…they reminded me of what I was doomed to become someday.

  “All right. Let’s check the next level,” Tyler said.

  At the bottom of the stairs, we all went up to the glass to peer inside.

  “Looks fine to me,” Wes said, his nose pressed against the glass. “I wonder if the captain is one of the fellows we came across in the bridge.”

  Inside, the table and couch seemed undisturbed with no signs of violence and no place for zeds to hide.

  “Good. At least one room that shouldn’t stink like a shit storm,” Griz said.

  I glanced at the stairwell. “Ready for the galley?”

  “We don’t have much time until we lose our sunlight,” Tyler said. “Let’s go. Tack, you take point. Griz and I will cover. Everyone else, stand back until we clear this level.”

  Tack was Tyler’s go-to guy for taking point, so he was used to it. He moved smoothly and rarely talked, but more important, he never freaked out. The slender man walked up to the door, held up his hand, and then motioned forward. Griz opened the door and Tack swung. A zed that had been on the other side of the door went down. Tack headed inside, followed closely by Tyler. Jase held the door when Griz followed.

  I watched through the window as Tack and Tyler finished off the lone zed in the room.

  “All clear,” Griz called out, and we entered the large room. “Ready to check below decks.”

  “It’d be nice if there were only four in the crew,” I said.

  Tack was already at another door. Tyler and Griz joined up with him. He opened the door, and after a quick second, he touched his nose. A signal we’d come up with at Camp Fox for scouting runs.

  The smell that caused Tack to signal us wafted through the air from below decks. The all-too-familiar rotten stench of zeds.

  Damn it.

  There were more than four in the crew.

  Chapter XI

  Tack held up four fingers. He turned to face us. “They’re all at the bottom of the stairs.”

  Four zeds. Relief blanketed my nerves. Four more zeds we could handle.

  Tyler looked across our faces. “Griz, since they can’t get up the stairs, you want to clear out these one at a time?”

  Griz nodded. “No problem, Maz.”

  “Okay then. Splitting up will save us time. Wes, you stay up above deck and start figuring out what needs done to get this boat ready for Camp Fox,” Tyler said. “Tack and Nate are with me. Jase and Cash, you’re with Griz. Griz, your team will clear this room. Move slow. It’s going to be dark down there, so we have to be extra careful. We have sixty-plus souls counting on us, so there’s no room for mistake. Tack, Nate, and I will start at the back and work our way toward you from below decks. Come to the deck if you hit 1900 and we haven’t come across each other yet. Everyone clear?”

  We all voiced agreement. Tyler, Tack, and Nate headed toward the back of the towboat.

  I paused as I walked toward the door. Lying on the table was an open journal. On its cream pages was a beautiful drawing of a cloudy sky. I turned the page to find an ink sketch of a landscape. I flipped through pages of stunning art, and seeing it panged my heart. The outbreak had taken so much talent. It had murdered gifted people and criminals equally, children and the old. All that was left behind was remnants. I didn’t have any special gifts. Before the outbreak, I was just one out of billions. Now, I was necessary.

  The loss of a single life could bring us one step closer to the brink of extinction.

  Ha. Who was I kidding?

  We were already there.

  I snapped the journal shut and looked up to find Jase watching me. His gaze questioned me, and I noticed that both he and Griz had their headlamps on; I clicked on mine. “I’m ready,” I said quickly. The band rubbed uncomfortably against my stitches, but it was better than going in blind. Griz stopped outside the door, and I refocused on the mission.

  As we stood behind Griz, I thought on Tyler’s words. He didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. We all knew that this boat was Camp Fox’s best hope. That’s why I’d come along, even knowing it was a political play on Tyler’s part. I sure as shit wasn’t here because I enjoyed walking into the dank interior of a towboat with who-knew-how-many hungry zeds waiting around every corner and in every shadowy nook.

  Griz glanced back at us. “We stick with the usual plan. I’ll be on point. Jase, you’re at my six. Cash, you’ll be sweeper in case we need to break out the artillery.”

  “Yeah, got it,” Jase said.

  I nodded. “Just give me a minute to set up before you make contact.”

  Griz opened the door, his homemade machete ready. The stench wafted out. He stepped onto the top of the metal steps that led into the dark bowels of the towboat. Jase followed, and I brought up the rear. It didn’t matter if it was Griz or Tyler. They both always put me in back. They kept Jase in back, too, if any of the other soldiers were involved. I figured it was because we didn’t have military training, and they had some kind of idea that the military was the first line, that they were there to protect us civilians. I didn’t waste the breath explaining that Clutch had been training Jase and me since the outbreak.

  Griz paused at the top step, and I could hear a rustling below. Jase gave him plenty of space to retreat, but he didn’t move back. Then, he descended a couple steps and waited. I stepped onto the first step in the darkness and looked down. My headlamp shone on the four zeds waiting at the bottom of the stairs, clawing out at us. Unable to climb the steps, they were almost comedic. Almost.

  I lined up the sights on my M24. “Ready,” I said.

  Jase moved around me, and the two men descended down the steps. Griz swung first, taking down the closest zed. Jase stayed behind. The second zed tripped over the first zed and tumbled toward Griz. Jase swung, and then kicked the lifeless thing away. Griz brought his sharp blade onto the head of the other zed the same time Jase finished the final one with a dramatic swing.

  He held up a hand. “Stay here.” He jumped over the bodies and paced around what looked to be the crew quarters. After he checked every shadowed corner and around every bed, he called up, “Clear.”

  I lifted my rifle and moved down the metal steps. With only our headlamps for light, shadows danced around the lockers and beds. We gathered around the next steel door.

  “We can wait here, or do you guys want to keep going?” Griz asked.

  “Keep going,” Jase said quickly.

  “I want to get this boat cleared,” I added.

  Griz smiled and then opened the door. A zed lunged at him. “Agh!”

  Jase lunged forward and slashed the badly decayed zed across its face. Griz shoved the body off him and rolled to his feet, slamming his machete into the zed’s head.

  Moans erupted from the darkness. Jase jumped back and Griz slammed the door shut.

  Ah, hell. We weren’t even close to being done yet.

  Chapter XII

  Once we had a chance to regroup, Jase opened the steel door, and Griz tossed a snap light into the room several steps below. A green glow lit up the open space. Several dark shapes clumsily and erratically ran into one another to pounce at the light.

  Jase whistled. “There’s got to be a dozen of them down there.”

  Griz let out a sigh. “It’s too dangerous to take them out hand-to-hand. We could wait for Maz’s team, but either way, sweeping the area is our safest option.” He turned to me. Shadows danced across his face. “Cash, you’re on. Jase, stand by the door. I’ll yank Cash back if they get too close, and you shut the door.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jase said, and he squeezed past me to the door.

  I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or obedient, but I also didn’t care. I had a
job to do. Griz would never put me face to face with a zed where I could get hurt, but he had no problem with me taking them down from a distance. I didn’t mind as long as I didn’t feel useless. I was actually looking forward to some target practice. I still remember the first zed I killed. Hell, I remembered all of them, but when I killed them, I’d learned to compartmentalize. What I killed wasn’t human or even feeling. It was a target, nothing else.

  I ran a thumb over my M24. It showed some wear, but it shot true. After checking the stability of the handrail, I leaned onto the metal bar and aimed. “Don’t worry. This won’t take too long.”

  The zeds had begun to disperse from the snap light, having discovered that it brought no flesh that they craved. As soon as the first one sniffed us out, they all headed toward us. Still, I fired only when I was sure I had a kill shot.

  My personal motto, get ‘em where I want ‘em, repeated over and over in my mind.

  One. A zed fell. The shot resounded off the metal walls.

  Two. Another fell. Three. Four. My ears rang.

  I fired eleven shots in total and killed ten zeds. No one spoke while I fired. It was kind of like talking in someone’s back swing. It just wasn’t cool.

  When I lifted my rifle, Jase smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

  “Like fish in a barrel,” Griz said with a pat on my back. “Good job, Cash.”

  He motioned forward, and then headed down the four steps and into the room holding what I assumed to be the mechanicals of the boat. I swapped my rifle for my machete; even though noise no longer mattered, ammo was a precious commodity. We checked the bodies to make sure they were good and fully dead. Not that I was worried. Each one was a solid head shot.

  “God, it stinks down here,” Jase said.

  I nodded. “We need to find an air freshener warehouse.”

  “Boats need to be well-sealed or else they’d sink,” Griz said, holding his forearm over his nose. “It’s a good thing if we have to stay here through the winter. But damn, it’s going to take a while to air it out. Jesus.” He gagged and bent over. I thought he was going to throw up, but after a moment, he stood, pulled a scarf over his nose and stepped over a zed carcass.