by Dave Lund
“Yeah, me neither. We can leave in the morning if you want, or we can wait.”
“We need to leave now,” Jessie said. “What if that biker comes back, what if he brings the undead, what if we can’t defeat them next time? We need to go, but I don’t know where to go anymore.”
“Jess, the only place I can think of now is Groom Lake, and hope that Cliff wasn’t lying to us. The radio is still on top of Emory Peak, but I don’t want to hike back up there to get it. We’ll be on our own and out of contact, but we can do it.”
Fort Bliss, Texas
Russell came roaring into the biker’s camp at the rundown hotel outside of Fort Bliss near midnight, the lone survivor from the botched raid at Big Bend. Walking towards the club vice president, Russell pushed the naked woman dancing in front of the VP to the ground. “Those fuckers killed everyone. Saddle up, we’re going back!”
The VP looked at the nude woman on the ground, then back up at Russell. “It can wait ‘til tomorrow,” he said.
Russell drew his pistol and shot the VP in the face.
“Okay assholes, load up, we roll in thirty minutes. If you don’t like it, take it up with your VP!”
CHAPTER 60
February 14th
Big Bend National Park, Texas
Physically and emotionally drained, Jessie and Bexar startled awake before sunrise to the rumbling sound of a large group of motorcycles. They grabbed their rifles and bolted out of the RV.
“Holy crap!” said Jessie, “that was fast, they’re back already!”
“Yeah, but it sounds like they’re heading up into the Basin. Get Keeley and get in the Jeep, I’ll get the RV ready to move. We’re leaving now. We’ll head towards Terlingua and try to miss them.”
Bexar cranked at the leveling jacks and broke out the trailer’s tail lights while Jessie returned to the RV to carry a still-sleeping Keeley to the Jeep. With one last glance up towards the backside of The Window, Bexar climbed in the Wagoneer and put it in gear. Driving to the paved surface, Bexar turned his new convoy to the right on Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and towards SH385 and Groom Lake, Nevada.
Holding Jessie’s hand as he drove, Bexar just hoped that this major trek would be easier than the last two. He looked at his wife beside him, and said, “By the way, Happy Valentine’s Day. I love you, Jessie.”
Smiling tiredly, she replied, “I love you too, babe.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Dave Lund. I hail from Texas and am a former Texas “motor-cop.” My family and photography round out my usual day-to-day passions, but post-apocalyptic zombie stories really fire me up. Before my previous stint as a motor-cop, I was a full-time skydiving instructor and competitor (in Canopy Piloting, aka swooping) with over 3,000 skydives. I am no longer an active skydiver so I can focus on my family, photography, and writing.
The characters in the Winchester series comprise some personality composites of people I have known or met in my life, but no character is based on a single real person or even two people combined. They are a complete work of fiction and do not represent any actual people, living or dead. Yes, that includes Bexar! Many of the themes, objects, weapons, tactics, and locations in the Winchester Undead series are pulled from my past and experiences, as many writers are apt to do, including my love of Big Bend National Park in Texas; although I have to admit there is no secret cache site in the small Texas town of Maypearl. At least none that I had any hand in creating.
The locations in Big Bend are real locations, with some minor artistic license taken, as are the cities and towns visited throughout the book. The jury is still out on the presence of the secret facilities that “Cliff” finds himself in, and the truthfulness of Chemtrails really depends on whom you speak with. If the writing about Cliff’s found Type 2 VW Transporter sounds a little detailed to those not acquainted with air-cooled VWs, that’s due to my love of air-cooled German autos, including the 1973 Superbeetle that I built and drive.