by Joe Kelly
And then they were hauling ass back down the road. and for once Logan wasn’t worried about sliding. He was worried that that damn zombie in the bowler hat, that had pointed at him, was right on their tail. He didn’t relax till they passed the wall at the farm and crossed the bridge to safety. “did you see that thing?” he asked finally.
“what thing?” Jared asked, as he drove up to the visitor center.
“That zombie that was staring at me back there, He pointed right at me as we drove off.” Logan said, the fear still crawling across his nerves.
“Zombies don’t point” Jared said.
“This one damn sure did”
“Maybe he was missing all but one finger so it looked like he was pointing.” Jared suggested as he parked the plow in the parking lot. Logan had to admit that sounded more plausible than pointing zombies. he gathered his gear and threw open the door leaping to the ground as Chad, Chris and Jill rushed out.
Logan shut the door of the plow “we found ammo” he told Chad who was looking past him at the cab of the plow.
“What the hell did you guys hit” Chad asked. Logan turned and saw a large sized dent in the door, and suddenly believed again that zombie had been pointing no matter what Jared said.
Jill only glared at Jared as he pulled off his coat and settled into a chair. The others clustered around waiting to hear what they had found if anything. Jared told them quickly about how they had gone all the way to the Raiders camp and found it empty.
“I can’t believe you risked your life to check out that camp” Jill said suddenly. “You should have taken a team” she glared at him, calming her down this time was not going to be easy.
“didn’t need a team, I had Logan.” Jared replied wondering exactly what her problem was totally unaware he was being a typical male at the moment.
“nothing went wrong, we even beat the zombies to the truck. there was only one close enough to have done anything, and thanks to Jared’s gut feeling, I got in on the driver side of the truck instead of the passenger side or that creepy looking fuck would have had me for lunch.” Logan commented as if that made everything all right, he fell silent when Jill turned a glacial glare on him.
Mary sidled up to Jared and pitched her voice low “you might want to consider the fact, the lady is in love with you and you ran off like a damn fool with only one other guy.”
He sat there silently for a moment, I am a freaking idiot, That is getting to be a really bad habit old son he chided himself. He stood suddenly and walked over to Jill. “I’m sorry, It’s the way I am. I’d rather take chances myself than to send someone else to do it for me. But for you, I’ll try to hold it down to a minimum okay”
She nodded, her anger fading by a degree or two. “about time you hairy lump” she said wiping at her eyes. Jared squatted next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
✽ ✽ ✽
Jason woke with a start grasping for his rifle, the realized that the noise had been Ori wiggling into the cave. “Sorry, next time I will wake you before I come in” Ori said as he stacked the logs he had pushed into cave next to the fire. Jason ached; his arms felt like they would beat him to death if he tried to do anything other than sit here.
“You should have woke me up before you left” Jason said.
“Figure you were beat. So, I let you sleep.” Ori said as he warmed his hands over the fire.
“It’s still snowing its ass off out there, so we get to stay put for a while longer.” Ori said as he dug thru his pack and pulled out a baggy of Jerky. He opened it and Jason felt his mouth water at the smell. He reached out to take the piece that Ori offered him and winced at the pain in his arm and back.
“might have something for that” Ori muttered as he detached the first aid kit from his pack and dug thru it. “damn thought I had some muscle rub, so you have two choices, start moving and see if they loosen up or Ill have to massage your back and arms and probably your legs too.”
“Rob and Warren would pay good money to watch that” Jason laughed as he flexed his arms and tried to turn side to side and almost passed out as the muscles in his back cramped. Ori shook his head, but said nothing letting Jason deal with it.
After a few minutes Jason gave up and leaned back and started to chew on the jerky. “Here.” Ori said offering him a silver hip flask. “apple cinnamon shine, smoothest stuff you’ll ever taste. Hope the old guy that makes this stuff is still alive. Would be a waste of talent if he wasn’t.”
Jason accepted the flask as he unscrewed the lid he asked. “isn’t this stuff illegal. Or wasn’t it. Oh, hell you know what I mean.”
“he didn’t sell it, only gave away a bottle here and there, and sometimes the guys he gave it to, would clean his barn out, or cut his grass. And since all the idiots that made the idiot laws are now well and truly dead. Or mostly dead it doesn’t matter.”
Jason couldn’t argue with that, so he tilted the flask and took a sip, and almost moaned in pleasure at the taste, it tasted just like apple pie. And it barely burned going down his throat. He felt a lot warmer to. Ori grinned and took the flask back. “More than three shots of that stuff and you’ll be dancing naked in the snow screaming at the shine fairys to call 911 before you feet fall off.”
Jason laughed, but had to admit; just from that one sip he could see how fast that stuff would put you down for the count.
“He made some peach shine once, I had six shots over two hours and was so messed up, I lost my pants at his house and my underwear somewhere on the drive home. Thank god I wasn’t driving at least. Jared still won’t tell me what happened to my underwear. He just laughs when I bring it up.” Ori said as Jason started laughing.
They sat there in companionable silence for a while. “I wonder how Linda is taking this?” Jason said suddenly.
Ori shrugged “about as well as Beth I’m sure.”
“I never thought she was all that strong till this shit.” Jason said after a minute. “ we were vacationing in Chattanooga and liked it. We talked about possibly moving there. So Linda headed to one of the hospitals just to see if they might be hiring. She was there when those things rolled over the hospital.” He paused for a moment. “I got worried and headed there when I heard about the ‘riots’.” He took another sip of the shine, enjoying the heat the rolled down his throat. Ori was right, this stuff was smooth and the taste was incredible. Like an apple pie right out of the oven. “I pulled up and saw the undead roaming around taking down anyone they could catch. There were patients, staff and visitors that had barricaded themselves into rooms, They had broken out windows and were screaming for help. The undead were everywhere and I was going to go into that to save her.” He shook his head slowly. “Anyway I was just about to try and get inside to get to find her and get her out when my phone rang. She had escaped the hospital, even got two other patients out and to their families and had worked her way across town till she found a car that she boosted. She saved my life with that call. The phones lasted long enough for us to set a place to meet and after that it was just escape and stay alive.”
Ori poked at the fire, thinking of Kelly. He loved Beth, but sometimes he felt like he had betrayed Kelly not once but twice, first by not finding her when the world went to hell and then by moving on.
“I was at home, when it all went down. My girlfriend and I saw the news, laughed about it. she headed home to get ready for work and I never saw her again. I even managed to get to her apartment building. But the undead were so thick I couldn’t get past them. Turned around and headed to Jared’s. Sad part is, I sometimes have trouble remembering her name now.” Ori said with a shake of his head. “that bothers me.” He said softly.
Jason didn’t know how to respond to that, so he stayed silent for a bit. “I don’t know about you, but I only have three days’ worth of food in my pack.” Jason said finally, changing the subject.
“Figured, I have about six. Which if we share food we can both it make about seven days to
tal. And I have Vitamins” he said then dug thru his pack for a moment before pulling out a plastic container with compartments. He opened it and extracted two pills. Passing one to Jason. “Vitamin D, medical grade. We can both use it.” he said then popped the other pill in his mouth and dry swallowed. “so basically, we have two days of waiting, then we have to leave regardless if we want to have a snow ball’s chance in hell of getting off this mountain.” Ori said thoughtfully.
By the next day Jason was still stiff and sore, but he could move a bit more than before. Ori taught him as much of the basics as he could and by nightfall was satisfied that Jason wouldn’t accidentally fall down the mountain or make some beginners mistake and get killed. They sat around the fire talking about their lives before the Day and found they had more in common than they had first suspected.
By dawn they were awake and geared up. Jason shifted uncomfortably for a moment. “not used to wearing a climbing harness under my pack.” He muttered. “its going to pinch off my nuts.” Ori just flashed him a grin.
“in this temperature, that’s okay we can put them in a baggy and your wife can sew them back on.”
“Funny har har” Jason said but smiled.
It was just after dawn when they broke camp. The Snow was back but not as bad as it had been. The going was slow and tough, but Jason doggedly kept up with Ori as they made their way along the narrow track, that was more often than not slabs of slick rock, Here and there a tree grew up in the middle of what Ori optimistically called a trail.
“just do it slow, it will be fine.” Ori said as he started down the narrow shelf that clung to the side of the mountain. Ori moved cautiously setting up the Stoppers for forty feet then stopped and set the belay before he tugged the rope to get Jason started across the trail, Removing the protections as he went. Even in the driving snow and wind, there were times that Jason could see the trail was barely wide enough for his feet. Inching around a tree, he was thankful, as hell for the Stoppers Ori had set out or his ass would be half way down the mountain by now. Finally, he reached Ori’s position and clipped himself in and rested.
“same as before its only thirty more feet to the saddle” Ori said and set off.
Jason was tired, but when the rope jerked he set started forward, slowly and carefully working his way down the trail using ever crack he could find for a grip. At one point, he felt the wind grab his pack, and somehow he managed to ram his hand into a crack as he was forced to twist at the waist as the pack pulled at him. Then it was over, and he hugged the rock face.
Eventually he reached Ori, who motioned for him to unhook. The saddle was a low lying area between two modest peaks, the ground fell off sharply to either side. wait till I get over and Ill set the belay so if you slip I’ll be able catch you.”
“What if you slip” Jason asked.
“cut the rope so you don’t go with me” Ori replied and started walking carefully across the saddle. Once across he set the belay device and tugged the rope. Jason made it across fairly fast.
“Okay we have maybe three more hours before we need to start looking for a campsite.” Ori said, then led the way into the snow shrouded dead trees.
✽ ✽ ✽
“what are you looking for.” Lloyd said as he pulled up a chair and set next to Jared who was studying a topo map of the area. “just thinking about what the conditions are and responses.” Jared said. “it been four days now”
“I know Jared, its possible they are still alive.” Lloyd said reassuringly.
“well I know Ori, he always carries enough food for six to eight days. And Jason packed the normal three-day emergency load according to Linda. So that means they had around eight to nine days’ worth of food. Ori would have chosen the fastest route.” He said tapping the map, “and the only place he could rappel down would be between the Sharrif tunnel and the rattle snake mountain tunnel. Ori knew there were zombies on the other side of the Barricade at Sharrif. So, this is the only place he could have gone down. Trouble is its pretty steep almost sheer. And Jason has never climbed or rappelled anything like it and damn sure not in almost blizzard conditions.”
“so, your saying they are still on the road somewhere.” Lloyd asked, frowning as he thought over how likely either of the two men could survive in the open, unless they sheltered in one of the two tunnels.
“maybe, but I know Ori. He would have chosen to go up, and around. Its not as steep going up, at this point” Jared said pointing. “and from there they could make it along this path across the saddle here and eventually reach this spot were there’s a decent grade to make their way down and check the big cove road. or…” he paused for a second and looked at Lloyd. “ make for this old road just on the edge of Cherokee.”
“ but that would mean more climbing around. On a map its only a couple of miles but in reality it could take days to reach there.” Lloyd said, eyeing the map
“I know but that’s where I think he is going. Think about it, that’s an easier path, than trying to rappel down with a man who has only rappelled a few times in good weather”
“assuming they aren’t still on the road.” Lloyd pointed out. “and you really think climbing around up there is easier than rappelling down?”
“it’s only vertical in a few places, mostly its just steep slopes, with boulders, trees and plenty of handholds and places to shelter. Ori knows there is or was undead on the roads, so rappelling down in a snow storm could drop them right in the middle of a horde, so yes I think he would risk the climb.”
“But just in case we are going to check out the road today. Right after breakfast, Me, Jill, Logan, Chad and Eric. Id like you to go along too.” Lloyd nodded, today might be their only chance to get up there. the snow had slacked off and was barely falling. But the wind kept driving sheets of snow around, that almost blinded a person.
“maybe tomorrow the storm will have passed.” Lloyd suggested.
“maybe, but Im not waiting on the off chance that the weather will improve. We will check the road past the barricade. Then wait a day or so and hit the unpaved road in Cherokee and take it all the way up. spend a night or two if we have too.” Jared paused. “after that if we don’t find them, I’ll have to rethink whether I believe they are alive or not.”
Lloyd didn’t respond, he knew how hard that would be for Jared, and he wasn’t going to say anything that might sound like he didn’t care or didn’t understand. “ if you can wait till I get my gear I’ll be glad to go with you.”
“An hour then, that way we can all eat breakfast.” Jared said as he folded the map up and slipped it back in the pouch.
✽ ✽ ✽
Chris drove the van, following closely behind the snow plow. “Look at the view” Jill said staring past Chris to the snow-covered river valley and the ridge beyond. “it would be nicer if we didn’t have two guys lost out here and possible zombies.” Chris responded.
She felt a moment of chagrin, then let it pass. She knew Chris wasn’t being an asshole, he was just worried and wasn’t about to get side tracked.
As they pulled up to the barricade, there were four zombies standing in the thigh deep snow. Seeing the vehicles, the dead tried to walk but didn’t seem to be able to force their way thru the snow. Jared hopped out of the plow with his crossbow and took aim.
With the undead dispatched, Chris pulled the van up next to Ori’s truck and parked. It had been a hell of a ride up, even with the plow clearing the way, and the snow chains on the tires, they had slid a few times.
Jared had everyone gear up and then had them check each other over one last time. Jill had wondered why they needed all the gear till Jared had pointed out, that if something happened and they couldn’t get back to the Vehicles it was better to have this stuff with them than to not have it when the shit hit the fan. She didn’t argue, she remembered how long it had taken to get her stuff together when the zombies came, back in June. And she wasn’t in a mood to repeat that little performance again.
The flickering red light lit didn’t illuminate much of the tunnel but the area it did light looked like a scene from hell. They could see twenty zombies slowly trudging towards them. Jared let fly and his first bolt took one in the nose. It must have hit the spinal column on its way through because it pitched over and lay still. Lloyd and Chris loosed almost at the same time and two more zombies went down. Lloyds second shot took his next target in the throat. But it didn’t fall. Chris and Jared’s weapons were slower to handle over all so they got off their second shots as Lloyd was loosing his third. This time the zombie dropped. Jared’s bolt took another in the shoulder and Chris’s target fell to the ground.