The Apocalypse Fugitives
Page 38
"You don't need a knife," she said. "Those are plastic, they melt. Turn the truck back on and find something hot to melt them with."
The crowd cheered her. Despite the fact they were sixty feet in the air on a swaying hunk of bridge over a river filled with zombies, they were in a good mood. They were being rescued and by the look of the far western shore none of the River King's men were going to be able to do anything about it. There was still a cloud of smoke in the air where the bomb had gone off and everything was hazy and distant.
The people lined up one by one at the tailpipe of the running truck to get their zip-ties melted off. A few received minor burns, but no one complained. Neil, who was first to be freed, drug up the heavy, knotted climbing rope, being careful not to snag the thin twine on anything. He then secured it to the rail and asked, "Now what?"
"You climb down," Deanna yelled. "We have life vests and camouflage to keep you safe from the zombies."
"Camouflage?" Fred asked.
"It works," Michael gates said. "I'll go first and show you."
It seemed like a dreadfully long climb from way up on the bridge, but Michael didn't seem fazed as he shimmied down the rope. When he reached the bottom, Jillybean handed him a life vest and Deanna a green poncho. Everyone was quiet as he slid into the water at the front of the boat. From above he looked like a blob floating on the water, and from the zombies point of view, probably the same as they didn't seem to give him a second glance.
"You see?" Neil said to the others. "It's perfectly safe and perfectly..." The bridge groaned like a huge metal monster. "And it's better than being up here. Who's next?"
Each of them knew that there was no choice but to go and they scurried down the rope as quickly as they dared. Even Amy, who had barely come out of her shell, went down the rope without a problem. Mindy, who's arm was still too weak to tie her shoes, didn't even flinch shimmying down it one handed.
Neil went last and found the climb much easier than he had expected. Gravity did most of the work for him, while the knots along the rope kept him from being terrified of slipping all the way down and thus his grip remained constant throughout the climb.
When he set foot on the rickety little raft Jillybean hugged him and handed him a life vest, while Deanna gave him a poncho. "Where's Captain Grey?" Jillybean asked looking up for the next climber in line and assuming it would be the sturdy captain.
"He's fighting in the arena," Neil said, knowing he was supposed to be sad that his friend could already be dead, but not actually feeling it. "My hope is that during all the commotion you caused, he'll have found a way to escape."
The little girl was devastated by the news and was listless as she repeated the same instructions to Neil as she had everyone else: "Put the poncho on over your life vest. When you get in the water don't talk or try to swim. The monsters will leave you alone if you remain still. A half mile down the river on the east side is a white sheet on a tree. Get out of the river there and head to the first building. It's brick and it's safe."
Neil glanced at the black water which was as dark as ink and then sniffed the putrid looking zombies. The raft was free of them on the downstream side. He could just slip into the water and float away if he wished, only he didn't want to get anywhere near the beasts if he could help it.
"Why don't we just take this...whatever it is, down stream?" he asked. "You can be captain, Jillybean."
"I think you deserve it," Deanna said. "Come on." She cut the anchor rope and moved out of the way for Jillybean to pilot the boat.
She was silent for the entire trip down to the river exit point. Only once she ground the ugly raft up into the mud did she say, "I'm staying here until Captain Grey arrives. I know he'll make it and I know he'll figure out how we escaped on the river. He'll come looking and I don't want to miss him."
"Let me go talk to the others then I'll come back and keep vigil with you," Neil said.
He and Deanna left the little girl on the banks of a zombie infested river and neither worried for her safety for even a second. They followed the path to what had been an industrial complex and entered a brick building that was nearly as dark and forbidding as the river.
"Where's the girl?" Marybeth asked. "We wanted to thank her...is she alright?"
"She's sad about Captain Grey," Neil told the group. "She's going to wait by the river's edge to see if he escapes. I'm going to sit with her."
"And what are we supposed to do?" Fred asked. "Sit around and wait for the River King to come snatch us up?"
Deanna answered this. "We have a fueled up truck outside. It should hold about fifteen of us at a time. Our plan is to shuttle everyone to Fort Campbell. There are lots of supplies there. We can rest up and outfit ourselves for the trip west."
"And is our trip west going to be held up by waiting for Captain Grey?" Fred demanded to know. Marybeth Gates hushed him, but he only dug in his heels. "It's a legitimate question. We risked all our lives gambling on saving Neil's daughter. I want to know what he plans on doing if Grey doesn't escape. Are you going try some insane plan to rescue him?"
A few agreed with Fred's question and nodded like Baptists at a sermon; the remainder looked on apprehensively. "You are, supposedly, our leader after all," Fred added.
"He is our leader," Michael said, firmly. "And me and my family will follow him wherever he goes.
"I agree," said Mindy. "He's shown more heart than any of us."
That new fear struck Neil once again—the fear of being responsible for everyone and everything. It made him want crawl away and hide. "We wait for Captain Grey," he said. Most of the people looked worried over this until Neil added, "Or I should say I will wait for him, but only until morning. After that we follow the plan: we go to Fort Campbell and then to Colorado."
"You'll just leave Captain Grey?" Deanna asked, slightly taken back. "He's your friend."
Neil's jaw clenched involuntarily and he had to force it to relax. "My responsibilities supersede friendship, Grey would understand that. Michael, get the shifts ready for the truck and move them out as soon as possible."
He left Michael to sort out who left and when. He went back to the river where he sat with Jillybean cuddled up on his lap. They stared at the water, taking turns to hoot like an owl or make lame crickets sounds that they knew Grey would recognize as human in origin. When they tired of that Jillybean spoke, something she could do without letup. She went on easily discussing a hundred topics, but mostly she spoke of when Sadie and Eve and Captain Grey would be with them again. During the long chill hours, Jillybean's incredibly positive nature rubbed off on Neil and he discovered he actually did have a sensation to feel: hope.
There was hope for the future. Sadie and Eve were as safe as they could be under the watch of the River King. It would be a while but they would escape eventually. And there was hope for Captain Grey. Both Neil and Jillybean felt there was no one tougher and more capable than the hard charging ranger. While he lived there would always be hope.
Neil nurtured that hope all through that long night until dawn came and dashed it to nothing. There was no sign of Captain Grey.
With the sun reshaping the world out of the shadows of the night, Neil looked grimly at the water and horrid creatures in it. "We can't stay," he said, before turning his back on the river and his friend.
The End
Author's note:
I certainly hope you have been enjoying The Undead World series as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If so could you please leave a review for it on Amazon and perhaps a mention on your face book page. Review are the single best way to help an independent author.
I am currently on the next in the series and hope to be finished in early 2015. While you wait for the next book may I suggest The Trilogy of The Void
The first book in the series, The Horror of the Shade was inspired by one of the paranormal events that I've been connected with. Quite simply it was a two second ghost sighting, witnessed by me and two of my bro
thers. So how is that extrapolated into a trilogy? Step one: Remove me and my two brothers. Step two: Change the ghost to a demon, add a hot, but diabolical witch. Throw in a hunky seventeen-year old and his hell-powered schizophrenic sister and you're in business. Oh, I forgot to mention there will also be: Gypsies, exorcisms, blood, bullets, a nice sprinkling of sex, sin, murder, and a couple of trips into the wonderful vacation spot known as Hell...and did I mention sex? Right, check that off the list. Step three: Churn these all up into non-stop action, until you realize what you have is nothing more than a family in dire peril. What is this story about? What every story is about: people. People in love, people in danger, people fighting for their very souls.
Fictional works by Peter Meredith:
A Perfect America
The Sacrificial Daughter
The Horror of the Shade Trilogy of the Void 1
An Illusion of Hell Trilogy of the Void 2
Hell Blade Trilogy of the Void 3
The Punished
Sprite
The Feylands: A Hidden Lands Novel
The Sun King: A Hidden Lands Novel
The Sun Queen: A Hidden Lands Novel
The Apocalypse: The Undead World Novel 1
The Apocalypse Survivors: The Undead World Novel 2
The Apocalypse Outcasts: The Undead World Novel 3
The Apocalypse Fugitives: The Undead World Novel 4
Pen(Novella)
A Sliver of Perfection (Novella)
The Haunting At Red Feathers(Short Story)
The Haunting On Colonel's Row(Short Story)
The Drawer(Short Story)
The Eyes in the Storm(Short Story)