by Geo Dell
“I'm guessing thunder,” Mike said. “But, I didn't really hear it.”
“Maybe,” Ronnie said. “But to me it sounded like automatic gunfire... Like Annie said, far away firecrackers.”
“Yeah... I'm pretty positive,” Molly said.
Mike nodded. “What are we close to?”
Ronnie shook his head. “No way to know what's gone on in the last five months or so in this area... Nothing we can do, but we should be really careful when we go tomorrow... Could be anything.”
Silence spun out. The drumming of the rain on the canvas the only sound. Mike nodded after a short time. “Then we'll be very careful.” He sighed. “Well, on another note it's going to suck having wet canvas in the trucks for the next whatever amount of time... Nice start to the trip.”
“Yeah... Moldy canvass,” Tim agreed.
“No way to dry it out,” Molly said.
“Well,” Annie threw in. “If it stops in the morning we could wrap them over the cargo up top on the racks. That should allow them to dry out as we travel, right?”
Nellie smiled. “She has a brain. That's brilliant. It really should work. I hate the smell of moldy canvas. I remember leaving Watertown and having to smell it all the way to here because it never quit raining.”
“Well, I had thought of that,” Ronnie said.
“Really,” Molly asked.
“Nope. Never entered my mind...” He laughed. “Sat there smelling molded canvas too.” He turned to Annie. “It really is a good idea. We'll do it in the morning and they should dry out pretty quick.”
Mike dried his hands and then threw some towels to the others. He unfolded the map as the others talked back and forth.
“Down and over,” Mike said a few moments later. The others crowded in closer. The air steamy in the tent, but small gusts of breeze coming through the tent flap seemed to help a little. Mike smoothed out the map. “That will take us into what used to be Georgia. It's a little more travel, but it was more populated and that should make it easier for us to find what we need. But, before we turn off into Georgia, I think we should try to get that sawmill first. If it's there we can determine whether it's worth our time or not.”
“Car plants in Georgia,” Molly asked.
“Several,” Ronnie said. “And two of them used to build the ones we want, if we can find them... If they're there, or still there.” He shrugged.
“Alabama's next door. Sawmill might be easy to find there. The top of the state had a lot of logging,” Mike said. “Ronnie says so.”
“Tech stuff further down in Georgia,” Nellie said. “We should try to stay away from the cities, at least the bigger ones. But we should still easily be able to find everything Tim wants.”
Tim nodded. “I think so too, but will we be able to find big trucks there like we have here?”
“We can just grab a couple from right here,” Mike said.
“Yeah... It's not like we have to pay for gas,” Ronnie joked.
“That...” Annie started to say.
The VHF radio squawked. “Hello, hello, hello... All intelligent life... Hello, hello, hello!”
Mike looked down at the VHF radio. “That's not us,” he said stupidly.
Molly reached down and picked up the radio. She cleared her throat... “Hello to you too,” She said.
Silence for a few beats and then...
“Uh... Hi.... You probably think I'm nuts, but I'm not... I guess that makes me sound even more crazy... No one ever answers,” The voice said in amazement. The voice sounded like that of a young boy.
“Well,” Molly said. “This time someone did.... Where you at,” she asked.
“Hey... Hey, hang on, okay? I gotta get my Dad up... Wake him up...” Static filled the air for a few minutes then a deeper male voice came on the radio. “To the woman who has been talking to my son,” the voice said.
“That's me,” Molly answered. “I heard his voice and asked him where he was... You sound close,” Molly said.
“You too,” the voice said... “You in the little town?”
“Nope,” Molly answered. She looked around and raised her eyebrows.
“Doesn't matter, we're well armed,” Ronnie said.
“Yeah... If they're trouble we'll have to deal with them anyway, and they don't sound like trouble... I have to wake up my dad? … that doesn't sound like trouble to me,” Mike said.
“Yeah,” Nellie agreed.
“Okay,” Both Annie and Tim said.
“We're back in the woods a bit,” Molly said.
“The town... Does he mean the one with the farm store? The Jeep dealership,” Ronnie asked.
Mike nodded. “Good question.”
“Are you talking about the little town with the Farm store and the Jeep dealership,” Molly asked.
“Yeah... Yeah,” the man said. “We're in the field across from the Jeep place,” the man said.
“Ah,” Mike said.
“Do you know where the State Park is... Used to be,” Molly asked.
“No... I don't,” the man said.
“Well, we'll be coming your way in the morning,” Molly told him. They hadn't actually intended to go to the other side of the town, but they would now.
“There are... Well, there are some bad people around these days,” The man said. “I heard some shooting back to the west somewhere earlier... I got kids... Wasn't you?”
“Yeah,” Molly said. “We're too far out... But We did think we heard something earlier... West? West puts whatever that was between us... We're northwest from you if you're across from that Jeep place,” she left the sentence hanging.
“I would say... Yes... I believe that is the direction... We have not yet traveled in that direction.”
“We're not bad people,” Molly said. “I don't know what that was … Or where... I suppose we'll know tomorrow because we have to come that way... We can leave it up to you. We'll be there sometime tomorrow, if you are there... When we heard it, it was far off... Sounded like automatic gunfire... Heavy.... I'm asking because we have to come through there tomorrow... I'd like to know what, or as much about what we can expect as I can.”
“It sounded like rapid firing to me, a few miles away, but how can you tell with the way the world is? None of the old noise is there. Sometimes things sound closer than they really are. Sometimes farther. Lasted just a bit... Maybe a minute... Maybe less... I'll be honest... It didn't really alarm me that much... It was far enough off. And you hear it so much, you know? If it ain't a clutch of living dead, it's fights between the living... Makes no Goddamn sense. But I guess you know that...”
Molly looked around. Mike and Nellie both shrugged. “We haven't had to deal with it... We've been out of it for the past five months or so... I don't want to say a lot more. But we don't have a clear idea about what's going on out there... None...” She stopped and looked around.
Ronnie nodded as did Annie and Mike. “Even so we're coming through whatever is going on tomorrow morning. We could stop and see you and yours,” Molly said.
“Just worried about bad people...”
“Yeah... I know that... But we're not bad people though. And I hope you're not either.”
“How many are you,” The voice asked.
Molly looked around once more but no one warned her off. “Six,” she said. “Six of us.”
“There's five counting me,” he said. “... We'll be here... If you wanna stop... We have weapons... I suppose you do to.”
“We do... I imagine everyone does these days,” Molly said. “Molly,” she said.
“What?” he asked.
“Molly... My name is Molly,” she said.
“Josh,” he said. “Nice to talk to you, Molly... I guess we'll see you in the morning?” he asked.
“You will,” Molly said. “We'll see you then.”
“I don't know where you might run into whatever that was or even if you will, but be careful,” Josh warned her.
“Oh, we wil
l, Josh... We'll see you sometime late morning, early afternoon,” Molly said. She clicked off but left the radio on.
“Well, let's hope Josh and his are as friendly as they sound,” Mike said.
“Amen to that,” Nellie agreed.
They looked over the map for a few minutes and then Mike rolled it up and put it away. They set up posts a short time later, banked the fire so it would burn through to morning and then turned in.
~
“What do you think, Dad?” Richard asked.
Josh was not really his father any more than he was Alicia's father. But it was Josh who had found them, wandering the streets in a small town in South Carolina. A few more days and they probably would have joined the ranks of the dead. They had found each other but they had been to deep in shock from the loss of their families to be able to cope on their own.
At nine Richard had been able to think far enough ahead to hide them in the nights and keep them safe, but he had been unsure where and how to find food.
Twice in the last few days, before Josh had found them, Richard had seen the dead beginning to wander the streets at night, feeding on the bodies that were everywhere. And he had wondered to himself when they would think to climb the stairs to the top floor of the hotel that Richard had chosen for them to hide in and find them. He wondered how long the lock would hold. He wondered where he might be able to find a gun, and if he did if he would be able to use it.
He had seen Josh from the window and called out to him. They had been together since then. At nine Richard had memories of his family that were still bright and clear. For Alicia, at just six, she seemed to have forgotten about her past and the life she had had before. There was only Josh, and she believed the sun rose and set on him.
“Yeah, Dad... People,” Alicia said.
“Come here, Baby Girl,” Josh said. Alicia giggled but came to him and wrapped her arms as far around him as she could. She looked up into his eyes and then kissed him.
“I think they sound okay to me. I think they do, and we'll find out in the morning. But don't you worry, because if they're not okay they're down the road and we're no worse off, Right?”
“Right,” Alicia agreed.
“Right, Dad,” Richard agreed.
Josh had seemed to attract all the strays as he had wandered through the smaller towns around his own small South Carolina town. He looked across the fire at the young girl and the young boy that sat there.
“James, what do you think? You talked to her first,” Josh asked.
James shrugged his shoulders. “She seemed okay... She freaked me out is all.” He shrugged again and then smiled. “I wasn't really expecting anyone to answer.” He laughed nervously. “No one ever does.” He looked from Josh to Richard to Katherine who sat beside him, and then at Alicia who sat on Josh's lap and fixed him with her serious eyes.
“I know,” Alicia said.
Josh nodded. “Surprised me too. All of us I'd bet.” He turned to Katherine. They had met the girl here. She had somehow managed to stay alive on her own. He had wondered more than once how she had managed to do that. And that had been just a few weeks back.
She had decided to stay with them, but Josh had the feeling that might not be a permanent decision. She didn't talk much, but she loved the children. “Kat,” he asked.
She turned her hands palm up and spread them, then turned them over and glanced at the black nail polish. “I... I usually hide,” she said. She looked up at him. “I always hide... But if you think it's okay... Alright, Josh,” she said.
“Kat.” He waited until he met his eyes. “I said I won't let anyone hurt you... Anyone, Kat,” Josh told her.
“Foolish, I know,” Kat said. Her hands twisted together in her lap. Warring with each other. “She said... She said they came from the woods,” she asked.
“She said they were in the woods,” Josh said. “I don't think she said they came from the woods,” Josh added after a second of thought. “But I guess it would make me wonder where else they could have come from if they're in the woods and they didn't come from somewhere in the woods,” Josh said.
Kat nodded her head. “I might know them. I mean not really know them, but know of them, who they are... If so, they're good people... Good people, I think, but I don't know what they'll think of me,” she added quietly.
Josh nodded. “I have to say that I don't understand, Kat... Can you explain? How is it that you might know them and they might know you and they maybe... What? Not like you?”
Tears began to spill from her eyes. There was no planning. No artifice in it. It just happened. “The people who... who took me.” Now she began sobbing, and the two younger children were getting upset.
“James,” Josh asked. “Could you take Richie and Alicia for a little while... Maybe let them play a disc in the van or something?”
“Sure... Sure, Josh,” James said. He collected the two little ones and walked over to the custom Chevy van they were living in. He herded the children inside and then closed the door with a soft chuffing sound. A few minutes later the Chevy started and sat softly purring in the twilight.
They had cleared the field for a quarter mile in each direction. Really just drove the van over it, back and forth, until they had flattened the standing hay. Just in case something tried sneaking up on them. The dead or the living. He looked around now. The light was fading fast. Soon they would have to call it a day.
They spent the nights in the Van. With steel bars welded across the glass and a cage of heavy steel wire wrapped around the windshield it was about the safest place. He had cut gun ports into the van at every side and the front and back areas. He had taken his time building the van. It ran on diesel and more than once he had gotten by on vegetable oil in between finding diesel supplies. Kat seemed to get her weeping under control as he waited.
“I'm sorry, Josh,” she said at last.
“Kat, it's okay... I don't know what's wrong... What's happened... But we don't have to see these people tomorrow. We don't have to do anything... We can get in that van and drive tonight,” He finished quietly.
She nodded and seemed to get herself under control. She took a deep breath. “Josh... Josh, my name's not Katherine... Kat... It's Chloe.... And what happened is...”
Tom's Journal.
This still seems a little funny to me. A man keeping a diary. I know it's called a journal, not a diary, but what's the real difference. Is a journal less personal, if so I'm doing this wrong.
I was the guy, at the beginning, who didn't want this. I wanted to stay in Watertown, I didn't want to leave.
I think something happened to me when Lydia was killed. It tipped me over, if you get what I mean, but not all the way. I held it, and when I righted myself I was not the same man. And then along came my Lilly. And now a child on the way. I know it isn't my child but I don't care. The next one will be. And I will still love this one every bit as much.
I guess I wanted to write about how happy I am. How... Complete? I think that's a good word. I never thought of, or used that word in that context before. I feel.... Complete, and that's funny because I never even knew that I was incomplete. But I most definitely was.
I worked with Bob most of this morning.. We got both engines out of the trucks and using a chain fall and a pair of Oxen we got them into the power house where we wanted them. Then we hooked them into the system; hooked up the fuel lines to the big tanks in the power house. The kid even figured out a way to use the small automotive alternators on the trucks to power some low voltage lighting along the pathways. Who would have thought of that?
Tim is a smart kid. There was a time when it seemed he would stay in his shell, but Annie bought him out. And, really, he did the same with her. They're good for each other.
So the motors are in, now we have to finish stripping out the trucks right to the frames. We picked potatoes all afternoon though so we'll have to get back to it tomorrow. But Tim has a place for every part. The steel and wood f
latbeds? Bridges to cross the stream in two different places. The heavy steel frames? Retaining walls. The cabs? Look out post shacks for the ridge tops. Where does he come up with these ideas?
Our world is going well, or as well as it can be. We have babies coming and that has made us start to wonder about death. It's going to happen eventually. We are in contact with other communities via the radios where it has happened already. We have talked about what we will do, but only as an aside. We voted Bob and Arlene to take charge of it.
We built a small cemetery, in truth it's a dismal place, just a wide gash in the rock. Like a prison for the dead. Only one way in. Bob and I built a gate, closed it in. Installed a lock. We haven't had to use it yet though... I haven't... Have they? It could be, because they don't speak about it. We have people come in. Some close to death from being on the run, the trip, lack of food, medical care. One could have died and I wouldn't know about it at all. It's not hidden... I could ask... But maybe I don't want to know. Maybe that's the truth of that. But I'm still worried about it, them, the dead...
What if, God forbid, I shouldn't say it, but what if a mother dies in childbirth? Will she turn that fast? How fast then? What should we do? It has to be dealt with. I guess some of it can't be answered because we have no way of knowing the answers to it yet. I have heard from others, over the radio, a few that have come in too, but I have not seen any deaths, and so I have had no experience with the turning. Really, here for six months, it is hard to believe what I hear on the radio. I have yet to see a zombie, living dead, what ever they should be called. I'm not saying I don't believe. I do. I listen to the radio. I have listened when places have fallen. There was a little place in Texas. We heard them when they fell. Nothing since.
We hear what they say in New York and L.A. They have strongholds there and yet they worry about the dead over running them. Jesus... Can there be so many? I guess there can be. And what do we do if they find our little valley here in the middle of nowhere? Bob says impossible, but I have been to New York City. I have walked the streets there. They go on forever. How on earth could there be so many dead that they threaten to over run that city? A city that big? And L.A. Too. How?