Nate stared hard at me. “Why?”
I was brutally honest. “You’re not good enough. You used to be, but not anymore.”
I could see the flash of pain cross Nate’s eyes before it was replaced with anger and worse, pride.
“Think it’s time we found out just who was best.” Nate snarled, uncrossing his arms and flexing his big hands, stepping away to give himself some room.
Duncan and Tommy started from the RV, but I waved them off. I circled with Nate, keeping an eye on his feet and hands.
I tried to talk him out of it. “Doesn’t have to be this way, Nate. We start fighting each other, Thorton wins.”
Nate spat on the ground between us. “This ain’t got nothing to do with Thorton. It’s about respect.”
I considered that, then abruptly pulled my SIG, firing a round in between Nate’s feet. He jumped back and put a hand on his gun, but I stopped him.
“ Don’t! Don’t make me kill you, Nate.” I pointed the gun at his head. It hurt like hell to have to pull a gun on one of my closest friends, but I needed to shock him back to reality.
“We can’t fight, Nate. You’re still very good and one of us would get killed. How would either of us go on after that? I couldn’t face your wife and tell her I had killed you in a stupid fight any more than you could face mine. I’m better than you because I always went out to face the zombies, I went to Coal City, I went to State Center Bravo. I brought those women back from the slavers in the dead of night. I’ve led the assaults to clear the land of zombies so families could live in safety. I’ve spent the last two years fighting nearly every day. I don’t fear the zombies anymore, Nate. They’re just a part of the landscape I have to deal with.
I holstered my gun. “But what I did was easy. You stayed behind and dealt with all the bullshit that rebuilding a community takes. You kept the people going, kept them fed, kept them trained so they could live. Your job was harder and I know I couldn’t have done it. But we can’t fight, Nate. We need each other to make this work. I clear the way and you bring the community in to retake what was lost. Without you, I’m just killing zombies for the hell of it.”
Nate’s eyes lost all their anger. He looked down, then back up at me. “Don’t know what came over me. Guess I just worry about you, sometimes.”
That was as close to an apology as I was going to get. I offered one of my own. “We’re all stressed. Let’s save it for Thorton.” I walked over to Nate and offered my hand. He looked at it for a second, then shook it. I drew him in for a quick hug.
“Like a brother,” was all I said.
Nate nodded. “Same here, man.”
We let go and walked back to the RV. As we were climbing aboard, Duncan whispered to me. “Would you have shot him?”
I looked over at Nate, who was chatting with Tommy up in the front of the RV.
“Yes.” Nothing more needed to be said. I knew deep down, fundamentally, my friendship with Nate just changed.
20
Thorton chuckled as he put away the microphone, but that was purely for the men who were in the room with him. Inwardly, he was seething. The broadcast had not gone as intended and John Talon had quickly usurped his plan. Major Thorton was hoping to continue his broadcasts, now that his men had figured out how to interconnect the radio stations and broadcast all at once. But most of his plans just got thrown in the crapper because of that miserable son of a bitch.
How dare Talon call him out? Thorton had never been threatened in his life and the thought of someone not being afraid of him was a new one. When I catch you, you’ll suffer. I’ll kill you so slowly you’ll think it’s the new normal. Thorton thought to himself.
Outwardly, it was another story. “Well, that wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it did serve a useful purpose.” The Major said.
“Sir?” Corporal Ransom asked, moving one of the headsets.
“We know he’s within hearing distance which puts him… where?” Thorton asked.
The other soldier quickly scanned a map, did some mental calculations, then drew a circle on the map. “Rough guess would be within this circle, about fifty miles,” the soldier named Golat said.
Thorton scanned the map. “Best guess as to location?” he asked Ransom.
Ransom looked at the map, checked a larger map on the wall, then took the pencil and circled the top quadrant of the circle. “Up here, given where he came from. Makes no sense to be any further south. But I’m guessing.”
Thorton nodded. “I had the same notion. All right, we’re going to be pulling out of here soon, set up the relays like the others, then we’re moving on.” Ken walked over to the stairwell which led down to the ground floor. “Two hours,” he said with finality.
Thorton climbed down the stairs and walked across the small living space, his face momentarily clouding with rage. He had never been insulted, never been threatened and did not know how to react to it. He wanted to smash something, destroy anything, just to vent his rage. After a few minutes, he calmed down, remembering his Captain’s mission. By now Tamikara should be getting close to Starved Rock. I’m sure Talon will appreciate his homecoming. That is, if I don’t kill him first, he thought.
As he started to feel better, he went outside and looked around. He was standing outside a small barn, tucked away behind a row of pine trees. There was one access road and his men were camped around the three trucks and two cars they had with them. They had picked up the cars along the way, using them for short range reconnaissance and scouting. This barn was one of several they had encountered that were not barns at all, but government listening stations. The giveaway was the radio tower, but that was not unusual in these parts. Several could be seen in any direction one chose to look. In each station, there was a map with the locations of all the posts, which allowed for Thorton and his men to use them for their purposes. Each station had its own water supply and power source. This one used two windmills to recharge a bank of batteries for power. In all, the system was brilliant and perfect in its secrecy. No one would look twice at a barn in farm country and Thorton was sure the rest were similarly camouflaged.
At his presence, the men rose to their feet, whispering to each other about what they were going to be doing today. Fortunately, none of them had heard Talon call out the major, so he didn’t have to worry about any dissention or disrespect. It did bother him that other people might have heard and altered his ability to bring them into line, but that would not be a serious consequence. Already there were groups that were ready to swear their loyalty to him, survivors who did not have much to look forward to than the daily fight to live. If Thorton could bring some sort of order to their world, they were all for it. By last count, seven communities were willing to submit to his order, with the provision he provide security and some sort of future for them.
Thorton grinned. Naturally, such security came at a price. And the price was high, but the people were willing to pay for it. Fools for the fleecing.
As the camp began packing up, men were moving about, checking provisions and weapons, Thorton brought himself back to his current situation. How was he going to deal with Talon? Thorton mulled over a few possibilities, thinking about what and who he had on hand and what he knew about Talon.
Truth be known, Ken wasn’t a very intelligent man. He had what could be described as animal cunning, but when it came to overall strategy, he was severely limited. He tended to react as an animal would, biding his time, waiting for an opening, then striking with brutal efficiency. He was limited in patience and refused to admit defeat, even when it stared him in the face.
Thorton decided that Talon needed to be punished and punished now for his impertinence. He had no idea where Talon might be, just a vague notion of the direction the man might be in. But those were details and he wanted results. Looking over his men, he decided that ten men should be sufficient to take out Talon and whoever might be with him.
He walked over to a parked truck and hopped up onto t
he lowered gate. His massive size seemed even more impressive and men slowly began to realize their leader had something to say. They quickly dropped what they were packing up and gathered around the truck.
Major Thorton addressed the men. “I’ll get to the point. You’ve heard me talk about John Talon.” There were many nods and some frowns. “Turns out he might be close enough to where we might get a shot at him.” The frowns turned to grins. “I need ten men to head north and teach this fucker a lesson as to who’s in charge. Who wants the job?”
Thorton was gratified that all men present raised their hands. They were a motley bunch of criminals and losers, but they never hesitated to fight, especially when they thought the odds were on their side.
The major looked over at one of his sergeants. “You’re in command of this mission. Pick nine men and see me in ten minutes. Thorton jumped down from the truck bed. “Finish off this Talon and I’ll make you a lieutenant,” he said to the sergeant, who grinned evilly at the spoils to be his.
Thorton went back into the little barn to retrieve one of the many maps stored there. As he entered the building, he literally ran into Corporal Ransom, who bounced off the larger man and fell backwards over a chair. Thorton’s flash of anger changed to amusement as he watched the soldier flip over the recliner and crash down on the other side.
Ken placed his hands on his hips and waited for the soldier to scramble upright. “Got a hot date with a zombie?” he asked sarcastically.
“Sir! Sorry, sir. Needed to tell you something right away, sir. Hoped to talk to you before you spoke to the men, sir.” Ransom said quickly, brushing dust off his uniform.
“What is it, corporal?”
“Sir! Overheard a conversation between a couple of roamers, sir.” Roamers was the soldiers term for people who just wandered about, surviving by living off the leftovers of the Upheaval. “They reported a recreational vehicle outside of Lafayette, heading east.”
Thorton was skeptical. “What makes you think they saw Talon?” Even in a world where the dead walked, this seemed way too coincidental.
“Sir. They talked about passing a group of heavily armed men, people they said looked like they could handle themselves or anyone who got in the way. Said the leader looked like a cold-eyed killer, no question about it. Got to be Talon, sir.”
Thorton was a bit tweaked that people might think Talon was tough, maybe tougher than him and he let his irritability show. “We’ll see how tough he is. You have a map with his location on it?”
“Right here, sir.” Corporal Ransom handed over a small map of Ohio, which had their location marked and a small town outside of Columbus circled.
Thorton took the map, glanced at it, then chuckled as he went back outside. “Excellent,” he said to himself. Over his shoulder he barked “Set up for linking, we’re out in two hours.”
Corporal Ransom saluted Thorton’s back and headed back to the radio unit to link with the rest of the system.
Outside, Sergeant Rod Milovich had assembled a crew to carry out the major’s orders. There were nine men of various backgrounds, but all looked capable. They were lounging around the truck bed when Ken strode up to them. He signaled to Sgt. Milovich, who waved over his second, Corporal Tim Kazinski. Kazinski was only six inches above five feet in height, but was nearly that wide in the shoulders. He suffered from a massive case of short-man-syndrome and made sure he compensated for his stature by being stronger than everyone else and more brutal to anyone who crossed him. In fact, he was only a little less sadistic than Thorton himself.
Ken spread out the little map and the three men leaned over it. “Ransom says he figures Talon to be here, based on some chatter he overheard on the radio. It makes sense to me, but I also figure our boy will not want to try and cross a major population center. So I figure him to head south. The roads lead to here.” Thorton pointed to a little town called Harrisburg. “If you take Route three and haul ass, you should get there in time to set up a nice little ambush.”
Sgt. Milovich and Cpl. Kazinski smiled and straightened up. This was the sort of thing they enjoyed. Inflicting damage without risk to themselves.
Thorton stopped them before they went back to gather their men. “Don’t take risks. This one is a survivor and if you don’t get him right away, you’ll take damage.” This was as close as Thorton was going to get to admitting Talon might be a bigger threat than he previously thought.
Thorton looked over the men as they tossed their gear into the truck and clambered after it, finding comfortable seats to check their weapons and prepare themselves. He nodded as they saluted him and watched as his sergeant and corporal climbed into the cab of the truck and started away. Nothing will be stopping me now, he thought as the truck moved out.
Turning back to the rest of the men, he shouted out his orders. “Pack it up! We’re moving out! I want to be gone in two hours!” Thorton walked back to his own vehicle and checked his personal supplies. Need to hit a supply station soon, he thought, looking over his meager horde. We’ll see what the next stop on the map is.
Joseph Talluto
America the Dead
21
An hour and a half later, Thorton and his men were moving out along Route 50 again, passing several miles of unused and run-down farmland. Nature was taking back much of the land and Thorton could see a lot of growth of new tress and grass. Off in the distance, he saw a few tilled fields, indicative of someone making a go of it alone, but he wasn’t interested in loners like that. They were all over and the fact they were alone and still alive made them very suspicious and very capable of defending themselves. Two of Thorton’s men discovered that fact in Kansas and they nearly died as a result.
The first town they came to on the road was Allensburg and the initial impression Thorton got was pretty dismal. There were several homes along the main road, but if they had been abandoned during the Upheaval or years before, it was hard to tell. Some homes were boarded up, some were broken into, some were intact. There were several buildings and businesses, but the central industry seemed to be alcohol consumption, based on the number of bars the single main street boasted.
As the two trucks rumbled into the town, Thorton signaled a halt. There was a hardware store off to the left, a small gas station down to the right and a little way down the street, was a grocery store. It was the only building with a paved parking lot, Thorton noted. He climbed out of the truck and looked around. There was no zombie activity that he could see, so he figured the town was pretty safe. He went to the back of the truck and talked to the men sitting back there.
“You two,” he said, pointing to the two nearest men. “Check out the hardware store, see if there is anything of use in there or for trade goods.” That was a trick that Thorton had come up with for towns that were reluctant to open up. Offer them something and when their guard was down, that was the moment to strike. “You two,” he said to another pair. “Head up the street and check out the grocery store. There might be something to restock with. Get moving.”
The major walked back to the second truck and talked to the men there. “You three,” he said, talking to the men who poked their heads out the back. “Run a quick check through the homes here, see if there is anything we can use. Make it quick. If it looks like it has been abandoned for a while, leave it. Go.”
The men jumped out of the truck and headed back the way they came, looking to do a quick sweep of the homes they had already passed. The men from the first truck spread out and went to their various objectives, looking to finish as quickly as possible.
Thorton watched them go and turned his head north, thinking about the surprise that was going to be waiting for Talon. He grinned and turned his attention back to his men and the town they were in. Something was tweaking the back of his mind, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. No matter, they’d be out of here in a little while anyway.
Private Ellis and Private Barnes walked quickly over to the hardware store. They liked missio
ns like this because it gave them a chance to prove what they could do and perhaps get a chance at promotion. The building was a steel structure, with two small windows in front and two standard steel doors. The front doors were locked, so the two men walked around towards the back. Private Ellis noticed a set of skylights that were open, so if they had to, they could get in that way. Around the back of the building there was a dumpster turned over on its side and garbage was strewn all over. The ground was dark under the dumpster, like something that had been thrown away leaked oil.
Barnes reached the back door and tried the handle. “No luck,” he said to Ellis.
Ellis shook his head. “Damn. Guess that means we gotta go on the roof.”
Barnes looked at him. “What do you mean?”
Ellis stepped back and pointed at the open skylights. “We just have to get up there.”
Barnes looked and smiled at the other private. “Nice one. Course, this works out well another way.”
“What’s that?”
“Locked all around means there’s a good chance something worthwhile might still be in there.”
“Truth. Let’s get up there. Still got your cord?”
Barnes checked his pack. “’Bout fifty feet. That should be plenty,” he said.
Ellis went over to the dumpster and grunting, heaved it back up onto its wheels. He pushed it over to the side of the arching structure and stood on top, trying to reach the skylight. He was about a foot short, so climbing down, he picked up a couple of stray cinder blocks and threw them up on the dumpster lid, hitting the side of the building with a deep booming sound.
Climbing up, Private Ellis was able to reach the skylight, so he grasped the edge and pulled himself up, hooking a leg in the opening and straddling the window as he pushed open the skylight to allow easier access. Barnes pulled his rappelling cord from his pack and secured an end to the bottom of the heavy dumpster. He then tossed the bulk of the cord to Ellis, who sent it down into the gloomy interior of the hardware store.
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