by J. Thorn
“Startin’ to be quite a few.” Jack looked nervously in the big side mirror.
“That’s okay.” I glanced in my own, seeing a handful of the creatures emerging from the dark shadows of a tiny convenience store with all its windows busted out. “I’ve got a plan.”
“You gonna share it?”
“Nothing to share. I’m gonna take this truck to our site, have everybody unload it in a big hurry, afterwards, I’ll double back and drive this baby to a hill we passed not too far back and let it drive down. It will crash on this road and hopefully take most of the bastards away in the deal.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Then we put a dent in that brand new supply of bullets,” I said. I smiled big and glanced over at Jack, but I guess he didn’t get my sense of humor.
I took what was basically a U-turn that put me on a steep, winding road that led up into the timbered foothills. I hoped the ride wasn’t too rough on Aaron and Jamie in back. The road ahead stayed clear; a giveaway cloud of dust rising in our wake that further helped the walking dead—and any living lunatics for that matter—get a decent fix on our travel route.
“You get everybody out here if they’re not already outside the second we pull in,” I said. “You got that?”
“Yeah,” Jack said with a nervous nod.
I looked in my side-view mirror again. They were back there. Way back there, but still on our trail. I’ve seen their single-mindedness enough to know that we’d have company at our little forest Fortress of Solitude. The winding nature of the road eventually blocked us from their sight…and vice-versa. Finally our turn-off came into view.
We drove up the long, pine-canopied road. I went as slow as I dared, trying to minimize the amount of dust the truck kicked up, along with the amount of jostling inflicted on the boys in back. Every so often I heard something thud, followed by a muffled curse.
Like the light at the end of the tunnel, I saw the opening of the clearing ahead. It was only late afternoon, our expedition taking less time than I’d anticipated. A feeling churned in my stomach and I realized how anxious I was to be back with the group, with Thalia. On some level I knew there was anxiety when I left her for any extended period, but I hadn’t realized how strong my attachment had grown until today.
Exiting the tree line, the road forked; left leading to the campgrounds and right going uphill to the site’s caretaker’s quarters. I was pleased to see Barry and Randi at the top of the hill, rifles trained on us as we rolled into sight. Even better was seeing Thalia, Teresa, and Emily pop into view from a cluster of trees near the top of the hill.
I couldn’t help but smile when Thalia broke for the truck, mouth open in laughter, arms already extended in anticipation of the hug she knew I had for her. Teresa was on her heels, obviously trying to rein the girl in. Behind them both was Emily, arms folded across her body, eyes focused on the ground as she came slowly in the wake of the other two.
Sunshine, Chloe, and Dr. Zahn came out of the long, forest-green and dark brown building as we pulled in. I heard Jamie and Aaron saying something as they piled out. Jack was out before I’d set the brake, passing on the instructions about getting the truck unloaded. Everybody fell in, Jack and I opening the tailgate and then climbing in. We started handing things down in a hurry, urging everybody to simply set stuff aside. We could worry about storage later. The flurry of activity was impressive and we had the back empty with a half an hour.
I climbed back into the truck, explaining to everybody what my plan was. Pulling out, I’d only started rolling when a hand slapped on my window causing me to slam on the brakes. It was Teresa. I rolled down the window.
“Don’t you dare pull out of here without letting Thalia say goodbye,” she snapped.
“I’m only going to the turn off and then letting this thing drive down the embankment,” I said, trying not to sound like I needed to defend myself from the wrath of a teenaged girl.
“Papi!” I craned my neck to see the tear-streaked face of Thalia as she struggled to break free of Randi’s grasp.
Dammit. I set the brake and opened my door, nodding to Randi that it was okay to let the tiny girl go. She dashed to me and I turned, catching her hands and swinging her up into my lap. She was actually trembling, and her speech had reverted to Spanish at a pace that I couldn’t make out so much as one syllable. I held her close, stroking her hair and making gentle “shushing” noises in an attempt to get her to relax.
I looked up, realizing that everybody had crowded around in a semi-circle. I felt a teensy bit self-conscious. And I took a moment to scan the faces. What I saw was a mixture of everything from attempted detachment…Aaron; loss and longing …Barry and Randi; loneliness…Emily…dammit, dammit, dammit; to what could only be some sort of protectiveness…Teresa.
“C’mere, Emily,” I whispered, but loud enough to be heard over the idling truck engine.
The girl glanced uncertainly at the others before dashing over to my outstretched arm. She was so petite; it was with no effort that I brought her up as well. I made soothing reassurances that I would be right back.
“Promise?” Emily’s face came up and her eyes seemed to drill into my soul. I noticed everybody’s eyes widen in anticipation as to how I would answer.
“Well…I can’t actually say I promise to something like that, Emily,” I finally answered slowly. “But I can promise that I won’t do anything dangerous beyond getting rid of this truck.”
“But why do you have to take the truck?” Thalia joined in the discussion now. Great.
“Because,” I kissed both their foreheads, “if I take it away, those monsters are stupid. When the truck rolls down the hill, they’ll just think that’s the direction to go.” Both girls nodded, seeming to accept my answer.
“Plus,” Aaron said as he climbed in the passenger side of the cab, “I’m going with.”
I handed the two girls down and pulled my door shut. I waved as I began inching forward. The group began to dissolve, everybody turning to the task of putting our newly acquired supplies away.
“I love you, Papi!” a tiny voice called.
“I love you, too!” I called back. After a brief pause, I added, “That goes for you as well, Emily!”
We rode in silence, back through the canopy of interwoven pine branches. We reached the road, but still saw no sign of the zombies that’d been following us. I turned left, deciding that the sooner I changed their course, the less likely any would end up finding us.
“Hold up!” Aaron grabbed my arm.
“What?” There was still no sign of any zombies, but we were coming up on another bend in the road.
“Down below,” Aaron rolled down his window.
I stopped the truck, rising up in my seat to try and get a look, but couldn’t really see much past the open air. The embankment was steep, falling off sharply only a few feet past the edge of the narrow road. “I can’t see a thing,” I said, giving up and sitting. “Shit.”
“What?” Aaron turned back and discovered what had prompted my expletive.
The leading edge of the zombie mob was rounding the corner less than twenty feet away. I shifted into reverse, getting some distance. I reached the previous bend we’d rounded.
“Get out!” I said. “Make for the brush and head up the hill. I’ll be right on your heels.”
Aaron jumped out and I brought the truck back, aiming the nose for the edge of the embankment, hoping the truck would roll all the way down to the road below and make enough noise to draw he mob with it. I tapped the gas and jumped out my open door. As quickly as possible I scrambled back, skirting the rear bumper. I dove into the thick brush and moved up the hill. I caught up with Aaron and selected a tree close by to hide behind. The crashing sound of the truck seemed insanely loud. We were up enough that we could see part of the highway below.
“Jesus Christ,” I breathed.
“Yep,” Aaron agreed.
The largest mob I’d ever s
een was moving along the highway. There were hundreds…thousands. And now, they were all looking up. Up at the truck I assumed was rolling their way. Some had already changed course and were veering up the hill. About that time, I saw the leading edge of the mob that had been pursuing us.
“C’mon,” I whispered, “take the bait.”
Slowly, they began to turn. At first I thought they might hesitate, balk at the steepness of the slope leading down. Then, the first one took a step and tumbled from view. A moment later, it was like a zombie waterfall. The stream was changing course!
After an hour, Aaron and I began to trek back to what I hoped could be our home for a while. Just before sunset we emerged into the clearing at the base of the gentle slope where the caretaker’s building sat.
A pair of little girls squealed in delight and came running at us down the hill. I glanced over to see the beginnings of a smile curl Aaron’s lips.
10
Digging In
“How do you think we’ll keep this from caving in?” Aaron asked.
“I am going on blind faith.” I shrugged.
“How’s that been workin’ out for you so far?” Barry snickered.
“Look,” I planted the tip of my spade in the ground, “I’m not the master ditch digger of the universe, but if we dig this trench about five or so feet deep and make the sides as vertical as possible, we might have a safe place for the winter.”
“Like Serenity Base?” Jamie quipped.
“Don’t be a jerk.” Teresa elbowed Jamie in the ribs. “You say something like that around Emily…”
I nodded in agreement with the sentiment, but all of this talking was burning daylight. I set my foot and used it to plunge the spade into the ground. “I’m gonna get started. If any of you plan on staying here, I’d grab one of those manually-operated-earth-removal devices and get busy.”
“Huh?” Aaron scratched his head.
“A shovel, idiot.” Jamie took his frustration over being elbowed by Teresa out on his friend with a not-too-gentle slap on the back of his head.
“Hey!” Aaron yelped.
I continued to dig, ignoring all the grab-assing. My late grandfather had used that trick on me. After a little guilt-tripping about the lack of work ethic in the “younger” generation, he’d set to whatever task needed doing and ignore me. Eventually, I would be right there with him doing whatever needed to get done. He was like the Pied Piper of unpleasant jobs. He’d died of a heart attack about seven months before all this madness…in his back yard splitting wood
“Steve?” Randi tapped me on the shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“How wide are we looking to make this ditch or moat or whatever you wanna call it?”
“I’m thinking about four feet ought to do nicely.”
“Perhaps I can wrangle the girls to help me and Chloe mark off a route. I saw some stakes and string in the tool shed,” Dr. Zahn offered.
“That’d be great, Francis,” I said, catching that slight narrowing of her eyes, letting me know how much that really bugged her. So far, I was the only person bold enough to call her by her name and not her title.
“Yes, Doctor,” Randi emphasized the word and shot me a look of disapproval, “that is a great idea, plus, I know that the girls want to feel like they’re helping.”
I went back to work, and within twenty minutes, everybody was busy. It was actually kinda nice. Things hadn’t—nor would they—felt normal, but this was as close as it gets. We’d had that sense back at Serenity. Still, no matter how nice things got, there was that nagging threat in the back of your mind. As if to illustrate the point, Jack, who was currently on watch at the moment walked past me, drawing the big sturdy blade he kept at his hip in a leather sheath.
I glanced up, quickly spotting the pair of zombies wandering out from the trees on the far side of the now overgrown picnic area. One of them was no bigger than Thalia. That made me immediately seek her out with my eyes.
She was kneeling beside Chloe, holding a small wooden stake with an intense look on her face. She watched as Chloe picked up a nearby hatchet and used the blunt end to tap the stake into the ground. I expected her to flinch or move her hands, but she never did. They moved several feet, and this time Chloe helped steady Thalia’s hand, then gave her the hatchet. I felt that old, pre-zombie apocalypse objection race the fear that was blooming in my stomach.
“Don’t you say a word.” Teresa nudged me.
“I wasn’t gonna,” I grumbled.
“Liar.”
“Can’t I be a little protective?”
“Sure,” Teresa shrugged and tossed another spade full of dirt, “but she isn’t gonna get to grow up like kids her age used to.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. I resumed digging. Teresa was right. Thalia would grow up sort of like the pioneer children. I remembered seeing pictures in history class in school and feeling sorry for them. Granted, they were in dingy black and white. And everybody always looked so grim. But didn’t they have to stand still for a few seconds back then?
By late afternoon, we’d actually made some good progress. Of course, once everybody climbed out of the moat and looked at how much we still had to do, shoulders slumped.
“Papi!” Thalia ran up to me with a huge grin on her face.
“What is it, sweetie?” I knelt to catch her.
“Pew!” She coughed and waved her hand in front of her nose, stopping short of jumping in to my arms. “You’re stinky!” A ripple of titters rolled through the group. I glanced up in time to see Melissa sign something to Chloe who immediately joined in on the laughter.
“Yeah,” I agreed, trying unsuccessfully not to blush. “I’ve been working hard.”
Like a light coming on, Thalia’s grin returned and she thrust a hand in my face. “So have I!”
At first I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then I noticed the blisters. A couple had already popped and were now nothing more than little white skin flaps. One, in the soft part between the index finger and thumb looked kinda nasty. The skin was stretched tight and the bubble was full of fluid.
“Uh…good?” I said, rising to my feet since there was obviously not gonna be any hugs at the moment.
“Silly, Papi.” Thalia rolled her eyes and shook her head like I absolutely did not get it.
“Everybody down to the river,” Dr. Zahn called, waving a red plastic basket of soap and shampoo.
Like obedient children we all trudged down the easily discernable path that led to the river and cut through the camp-ground behind the big picnic area. Other than the drag marks, there was no sign of the pair of zombies Jack had taken down earlier.
The peaceful sound of rushing water grew louder once we crested the rise. Down the slope, crystal clear water rushed by. Large rocks smoothed by ages of being hydro-blasted, dotted the surface in places. The stream or creek—whatever it qualified as—rushed past, oblivious to the changes in the world.
“Holy crap!” Melissa yelped as she waded in to where the water was almost knee deep.
That’s one thing about rivers and streams in the Pacific Northwest. All that water comes from the snow-melt in the beautiful mountains that make it such a special place to live. It doesn’t matter one bit that it is the height of summer. That water is ball sack-shriveling cold!
It didn’t take long for a good-natured water fight to break out. Pretty soon everybody was laughing and splashing. Even Dr. Francis Zahn. I had Thalia under one arm and Emily under the other as I waded out to where the water came just above my waist.
“One…” I bounced up to squeals from the two little girls. “Two…”
“No, Papi!” Thalia pleaded unconvincingly as she giggled.
“Please!” Emily joined in.
“THREE!” I leaped up and forward, plunging all three of us underwater. I came up, both girls spluttering and spitting.
“Again!” they yelled in unison.
I took a breath and plunged under. This time, I paused a c
ouple of seconds before erupting through the surface.
“You didn’t go one, two, three!” Emily managed between coughs.
“I didn’t?” I pretended to be confused. “Well—”
“Steve!” Barry’s voice cut me off, but it was his tone that made everybody—including Thalia and Emily—go silent.
“We got four people coming,” Barry said from where he’d been standing watch with a shotgun on his hip.
“You mean zombies?” Sunshine asked.
“No,” Barry’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I mean people.”
“Teresa, Jamie, Aaron, slip around the backside of the hill and haul ass up to the house,” I ordered. “Stay out of sight, but pick a target and be ready to start shooting if it goes bad.” The trio didn’t wait to hear anything else and took off at a run. “Doc, Chloe and Sunshine…stay here with the girls. If you hear shooting head up that trail on the far side of the river. There’s a spot a few hundred yards up where you can get a look. Randi, Barry, Jack, and Melissa…come with me.”
I set both girls down when I reached the bank and kissed them both on the forehead. “You two stay quiet and do what Dr. Zahn says.” I received obedient nods. “I love you, girls.”
I heard their replies as I scrambled up the hill with my welcoming committee. We were all fastening and checking our belts and doing cursory self assurances that our weapons were loaded. That was one thing about this new world; you never went anyplace without a weapon.
I reached the top and saw them. There were four—that we could see—and they’d come to a sudden stop in the middle of the road that led up to our new home. They’d seen us. Five people drawing handguns from holsters and heading their way. One of their group turned and said something to the others, then handed off the rifle he or she was carrying. From this distance—all of them were wearing hats, sunglasses, and bandanas around their faces—it was hard to tell if they were men or women.
“Everybody stay close and calm,” I said as we began walking towards the new arrivals. “When we get across the picnic grounds, you all hang back.”