I wonder if any of this is poison ivy?
He was deathly allergic to the stuff. His mind was doing its own thing again. It liked to go on walkabout when Liam's body was under a lot of stress.
“Bobby!”
The child's scream was a panicked one.
They were nearly back up to the trail, when the young boy Bobby, went running full speed by them, further down the hill. He had dropped his spear and never looked at Liam or Drew as he went by. He tumbled but got back up and continued until he was out of sight into more dense foliage.
“Grandma!”
As Liam arrived back on the scene, he was shocked to see Preston locked in a struggle with a zombie girl—about the same age and size as Preston—who seemed particularly angry and bloody.
“Hang on, Preston!”
Liam covered the distance to his young friend in just a few seconds and gave the girl a powerful kick to her side. The momentum of the kick broke a few ribs in the zombie, that much was plain to hear, and the girl rolled off her victim. Liam noticed his shoe was slopped with the girl's blood. It evoked anger for reasons he couldn't explain.
He knelt on one knee over Preston, pulled out his pistol, and put two shots directly into the face of the menacing threat. She had regained her feet and thus fell backward and down the hill when Liam's shots ended her attack.
Preston, now lying motionless below him, started to quietly cry.
His anger for Bobby was boiling over. He shouted, “Bobby! You left Preston to die!” He followed up with some expletives, which weren't normally in his vocabulary.
Liam wasn't blessed with a loud voice, but his anger amplified what he had. They probably heard him in the camp.
Good for them.
“If I ever see Bobby...”
He felt a hand on his arm. “Liam. It’s OK. I'm OK. He's just a little boy.”
His anger went from boil to a medium simmer.
“Are there more zombies up here?”
He scanned the wooded hillside, but none were visible.
Drew and Preston checked each other for bruises and broken bones while Liam and Grandma continued their conversation. “Liam, things are going to continue to get dangerous no matter where we are. You should leave me here in camp so I'm not a liability weighing down every decision you have to make to get home.”
“I can't give up on you that easily. We've come so far. What would I do if I left you here today and the camp was overrun and destroyed tomorrow? I'd never forgive myself for leaving you.”
She chuckled at his statement. “Oh, Liam. There isn't any place on Earth you could put me where there isn't a chance of zombies overrunning it. It's just the gamble we all have to take now. At least until we see who comes out the other side of this thing and can begin to pick up the pieces. Then maybe we can rest a little easier.”
“No! I'm not leaving you.” And then to leave himself some wiggle room for the day he knew would arrive eventually, “At least not here. Not today.”
Grandma seemed to relent.
The older boys put the spears back into the stretcher and resumed carrying Grandma off the hill. Preston wouldn't walk in the front, so Drew took the lead while holding the stretcher. It seemed to be the only workable solution.
They all passed the two dead boys off to the side of the trail, but no one seemed to have the energy or desire to look at them. Two more souls claimed by the zombies.
3
The journey down the hill was slow. Several times, Drew and Liam nearly lost their grip of Grandma's stretcher as they slipped on dirt and gravel on the steep trail. A few times, they had to stop for breaks to rest their hands.
At long last, they could see the colorful tents in the valley through the trees.
“We should put Grandma in her tent and let her get some sleep. You and I should go see the council so we can figure out what she and I will do next. We need to leave the camp. Maybe they'll have advice on the best way to do it. Preston, you can go to your parents, if you want.”
The younger boy said nothing. Liam didn't know if that was good or bad, but after what he'd just gone through, he was inclined to cut him some slack.
They were almost at the clearing of the valley when they heard movement in the woods to their right. Liam judged they should keep moving no matter what came out of the trees. Preston started to run ahead of them, and was quickly into the tents. The two litter carriers made the safety of the valley just in time to see the tall weeds separate right behind them.
A small female deer squeezed through.
Liam nearly fainted. Drew never looked back.
“It's OK. Just a deer!”
But just as he said it, he heard more rustling.
This time Liam looked behind him in time to see—another doe pop out.
“Hold up!”
He nearly pulled the stretcher out of Drew's hands he slowed down.
“Sorry about that. Look behind us.”
As they paused on the edge of the tent city, several more deer popped out, heading toward the campers. He noticed a few more deer further down the line had also come out of the woods. One savvy hunter must have had a bow at the ready. He downed one of the females; it would be a nice meal for someone.
He actually scanned the ground for mice and rats. Those were what he expected to see fleeing a sinking ship.
“OK, let's get moving again. I've got a bad feeling here.”
They returned to the loaner tent without incident. Marty was more than happy to have a place to lay down in relative comfort, even though the late afternoon heat was pretty intense. More so for those who were fighting and carrying burdens. Not that anyone was complaining.
After explaining to Grandma where he was going, and after shaking off a dozen questions from other Scouts in nearby tents, Liam and Drew headed to the administration building at a slow jog.
“How do you think you guys will get home from here? How far do you have to go?”
Liam had to think about it. He'd been in a car several times on the windy county roads between here and his home, but he never had to be concerned about mileage. Surely not more than twenty or twenty-five miles as the crow flies. In better times, that would be a long day's hike, or a couple hours on a bike.
On a bike.
That would work, wouldn't it? He recalled something from one of his favorite zombie books—the hero used a bike and trailer to pull his infant son to safety. If he could find a bike and a kid's trailer, he thought he'd be able to get Grandma into the small seat so he could pull her along behind him. A book might just save their lives. With any luck, they'd be home in just a few hours...assuming the streets in the county weren't as bad as those in the city.
“I live due east of here, near the Mississippi River. Say thirty minutes by car, however far that is.”
“If things work out, I'd like to volunteer to come with you guys. We make a good team.”
“No doubt!”
Liam was pleased to have someone volunteer, but he had to wonder what would drive a boy to leave his mom and dad here to go back out into the world. Risk it all for someone you didn't really know. Was that good or bad on balance? Was he suicidal? On a vendetta? Mad at mom and dad? He realized how complicated relationships had become now that every decision was colored by the lens of the end of the world.
He had an inspiration. He paused from his run to speak with Drew. “Will you do me a favor? While I'm at the admin building, go make sure your parents are OK with you leaving the camp with me. I'm not sure when we'd return, though I'd like to come back. You might be out for a long time.”
“Cool, Liam. I'm on it!” He took off into the maze of tents, lost immediately from view.
Liam resumed the short run to see the council, and he let himself in and walked right up to the crowded table. The line of people waiting was shorter in the late afternoon than it was in the morning, but there were enough people to intimidate him on any normal day. Today was not a normal day.
; “I need to talk to the council. Now!”
He took the steps to the second floor two at a time.
Near-death battles give me courage.
He had a few moments to himself to look out upon the tent city from the second floor. He was looking south down the valley, the shadows of the late afternoon were well formed by the surrounding hills, and he was amazed again how many people were there. They had plenty of water, but food—
“Hello, young man. You and your grandma have caused quite a commotion.”
Liam watched as the council made its way up the steps. The oldest gentleman had to be helped up by one of his younger comrades. The sight made him think of Grandma, and his bravado drained away.
“Hello. I'm sorry for barging in, but it's really important I see you.”
“Of course.”
“We sent Lee up to find you. I assume he arrived in good order? Did he tell you what happened down here?”
Oh my. Where do I begin?
“Well, yes. Mr. Lee found us and told me Mr. Hayes said he'd be back tomorrow.”
Liam kept the part about the tracking device to himself. He had a vision pop into his head, and he saw his dad doing one of his silly skits where he pretended to be a conspiracy theorist—tinfoil hat and all. It was his subconscious informing him of the need for OPSEC. Operational Security. Only tell them the bare minimum of facts to get what you need.
“Mr. Lee is still out in the woods. We found a large group of zombies in the next valley and he said he wanted to try to lead them in a different direction to protect the camp. His team went with him. You all should know that we saw some zombies on our way into camp, not far up the hill. We killed three of them, but they killed two youngsters before we could get them.”
The council woman looked like she was going to say something, but Liam pushed on.
“Look, I don't want anything to happen to this place. In fact, I want to bring my family here when its safe. If Hayes is coming back tomorrow, I want to be gone before he gets here. If you can get me two bikes with child trailers, I can pull my grandma and leave you in peace.”
“Why do you need two of each?”
“The second bike is so I can bring back a crapload of guns.”
4
The council seemed to consider his offer. He didn't really expect much in the way of resistance. He wasn't asking for much, and getting him out the door would do more for them than it would for him.
The oldest member of the council turned to Liam. “Why don't you just take a car? I'm sure we could get one for you. Can you drive?”
“I don't have too far to go. A few hours on a bike. I want to ride in the very early morning, hopefully when most people are asleep. If we took a car, we would be heard for miles and would be a target. I saw cars ransacked on the highway, and was in a military convoy that ran into lots of roadblocks out there.”
“Hmm. Smart kid.”
The deliberation didn't take long. Liam could hear them discussing other options he hadn't even thought about. Horses? The camp did have horses, but they agreed they were too valuable to give up. A boat? There were a few canoes in the chaos of the camp. People brought all sorts of gear. The Meramec River wasn't far away, and a casual float down the river would take the boat very near Liam's house. But not close enough. Grandma would still have a long walk from wherever the boat ride ended. ATV's were too loud. Liam couldn't operate a motorcycle. Someone even brought a small plane, an ultralight, but that was wrong for all sorts of reasons. In the end, the bikes seemed to offer the safest method of travel for Liam and his fragile passenger.
As expected, they allowed him to go, and provided the bikes and trailers. They scared up a map of the area, which Liam realized was critical to his plan because there were so many twists and turns in the hilly country. He would never have thought of that.
They seemed hesitant to allow him to return with weapons, but Liam explained how the two young boys could have been saved if only they had real weapons, and not just sticks. He bent the truth just a little, they really died because they let themselves be surprised by the zombies...
It all happens so fast in real life.
Liam had two items on his agenda for the evening. The first was to talk to Drew about an idea he had for getting both bikes safely on the road. The second was to get a few hours of sleep.
He caught up with Drew back at Grandma's tent.
“Hey, Liam. I kind of lied to you about my parents. I'm here by myself.”
“Are your parents outside the camp?”
Drew had a look of embarrassment. And sadness.
Oh crap.
“They're dead, aren't they?”
The other boy nodded.
“I'm so sorry. But why didn't you just tell me that when we met?”
“It feels better to pretend they're alive.”
Liam considered whether that was true. Was he pretending Victoria was still alive? Even thinking about her now made him wince with pain, but what about all the other hours of the day when he wasn't directly thinking of her? “I lost my friend, too. I don't know what to say about your parents, but you can hang with me however long you want.”
Drew lit up slightly at that. He was clearly trying to put on a brave face.
“OK, wingman. I want to go over my plan with you. Step into my office.”
The two boys sat on the ground in front of Grandma's tent, talking in the hushed voices of a palace coup. It was dark by the time they had everything fleshed out. When they were finished, Drew seemed impressed. “Where did you think of such a complicated plan?”
“It's called maskirovka. A Russian word for deception. It's one of the odd things about history my dad taught me. I'll tell you about it when we reach my house and we're high-fiving.” He laughed at the thought. Willing it to be true.
“For the next part of my plan, I'm going to sleep.”
He crawled into the tent next to Grandma, sprawling on the open floor since he had no sleeping bag. It didn't matter to him in the least. He set the alarm on his watch for 3 a.m., and immediately dozed off. It felt as if a moment later his alarm was ringing. He turned it off, but lay there for a few minutes in a dreamy fog. He'd been having a dream about Victoria. He was stepping on her hand over and over and he couldn't make himself stop.
He sat up in the tent, and asked Grandma if she was awake. She started in, like she had also been thinking in the darkness. “Liam, I heard some of your plan while you and Drew were discussing it. Even if it doesn't work, I'm proud of you for trying it. Getting us all the way home on bikes would be an amazing feat. Hayes would never expect you to do such a thing.”
Inwardly, he smiled. He knew Hayes would be tracking some dead zombie up on the north side of the camp boundary. They'd slip out the south. Dad would call the deception a force multiplier.
See dad, I did listen.
“Well Grandma, should we get to it?”
It wasn't long before they were organized and moving. Liam walked Grandma down the path to the main road, where the bikes were waiting. Two of the council members were there as well. Making sure they really left, perhaps.
Drew was a few minutes late, but he arrived in good order. He was carrying a small rifle on his back. He saw Liam eyeing it. “It was my dad's. I only have a couple rounds, so it isn't much use.” He started that statement happy, and ended sad. Liam figured it was because he couldn't pretend his father was alive while he said that.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” was Liam's reply. He wanted to keep things positive with Drew.
Liam carefully loaded Grandma into one of the trailers. It was built to hold two children sitting side by side and facing backward, but the diminutive lady fit in the same space rather well.
“You kids don't have a pillow handy, do you?” She said it as a joke, but the female council person ran back inside the administration building and retrieved a small camp pillow. It wasn't much, but Grandma was grateful. “I'll make sure it makes its way back to you w
hen I'm done.”
“No, you keep it. I don't do much sleeping here anyway.”
There were no crowds to see them off. As they pulled away, Liam looked back and only saw the two leaders waving goodbye. Mr. Lee hadn't returned from his task.
Liam whispered over to Drew as they glided down the gently grade of the valley road. “I guess I expected more people. I don't know why.”
Drew nodded, but focused on his driving.
They passed tent after tent, weaving in and out of parked campers, only stopping once to adjust their bikes. Soon enough, they were at the front entrance and heading for open road. Lots of cars were parked in the fields nearby. There was no room inside the camp anymore. If there were guards at the front gate, Liam didn't see them.
Fifteen minutes later, they were huffing up and down the hilly back road. The moon was bright enough, but still low on the horizon. It would give them enough light to ride the paved roads with nice yellow lines down the middle.
They pedaled without incident to the first intersection. It was a Y-split giving them two options in the proper direction toward home. Liam's plan kicked in. “OK guys,” he was talking loud enough so Grandma could hear as well. “This is where we go in different directions. Drew and I have been over the routes and we're both taking a different way to my house. If anyone is following us, they won’t be able to get us both.”
“I trust you Liam. Lead on.”
“Me too, Liam. I'll reach your house. I promise.”
“You know what to tell my parents if you find them?”
“Don't sweat it. I'll tell them what you told me.”
I trust you too, Drew.
Liam reached out to shake Drew's hand. He didn't know why he did it, but it just felt proper given the gravity of the situation. Drew reciprocated with a big smile. “We got this!”
Liam watched as he pedaled away to the left. Looking right, he knew his journey would take him on the alternate path. Hayes couldn't be on both.
Like Grandma said, everyone had to take chances in the new world. Liam knew he was taking a big chance now.
5
Riding on the back roads was uneventful for the first hour. It had been a long time since he'd ridden a bicycle and the trailer added some heft on the hilly terrain. It also tended to sway if he got going too fast and he was worried about having an accident on the dark roadways.
Since The Sirens Box Set | Books 1-7 Page 52