Resource Economies

by Traverse Davies

  "Relax babe, your boss isn't going to say anything, and the camp held together okay. I would have let you keep going, but you are needed. I woke you as soon as that was true."

  "Yeah, I guess so. So, boss, what's the emergency?"

  "No emergency, I'm just trying to convince Wayde to wait at least another few hours before he heads out. It's too soon and he's too tired."

  "Yeah, well, good luck with that. The man is not exactly what I would call amenable to suggestion."

  "You're his boss, you make him listen."

  "Okay, but I already gave my word. I'll do what I can. You're right, he does need to be convinced of it, for our sake as much as for his."

  Bennett walked outside, following Naomi. She led him to the armory, where Wayde was getting his kit together. The large man looked like a stiff breeze would knock him over. His eyes were hollow and glassy, and he was swaying slightly as he stood. "Wayde, no. Absolutely not."

  "Look, a deal’s a deal. You promised me."

  "Nope, look, right now you probably couldn't take me in a fight. Me. So, you have no chance if you go out there. You will get eaten alive long before you ever manage to find anyone, and if by some miracle you aren't eaten you will fall off a cliff or something. Either way, you need at least another twelve hours of sleep before you are of any use to anyone. So, fuck off, stop being a martyr and accept reality."

  "Okay."

  "Okay, you won't go?"

  "Okay, if you can take me in a fight I won't go. I'll sit down like a good boy and listen."

  "No, I'm your CO, this isn't negotiable. You do what the fuck I tell you. Go back to bed. Also, you just offered to fight me. I suspect your judgement isn't what it should be."

  "That's. Wait, yeah, that's a good point. Okay, fuck it. I'm sorry sir, I'm not myself right now."

  One crisis averted. Time to move on to the next one. Bennett went to check out the perimeter. The smell of the zombies was a serious issue, but he had no idea how to deal with it. The camp was filled with the stench, it was nauseating everyone, and the risk of disease was huge.

  "How the fuck do I deal with this?" he muttered under his breath.

  Naomi looked up at him, "What was that?"

  "Nothing, just, how do I deal with thousands of rotting corpses? We can't leave them there. The smell, the risk of infection to the living. I have no idea how to deal with all of these bodies."

  "Yeah, that's an issue. I mean, a big fire maybe?"

  "No way, this is what, ten thousand people. It would have to be a volcano, a forest fire. I don't know how we can deal with that. It's already started too, you see the crowd of crows?"

  "It's called a murder."

  "What?"

  "A group of crows is called a murder. It's a murder of crows."

  "Oh, yeah, biggest murder I've ever seen."

  "I know we have to deal with it, and I'm not doing much better in that regard than you are. It's too many to burn, we sure as hell can't bury them, no real idea how to get rid of them. Might be easier to move the camp."

  "We don't have the resources. It would sink this project, we'd be done."

  "Yeah, that's true. I don't know. Maybe we can't do this. Maybe this place, with whatever is going on here, is just too much for us."

  "Wait, I have a thought. There's an agricultural supply warehouse, still reasonably intact. Lye. If we get enough lye maybe we can saturate the bodies. Dissolve the bodies."

  "Yeah, that's a lot of lye, and it's a risky operation. I mean, our armour is good, but it's not proof against that. Also, the air quality will suck."

  "It's that or let ten thousand corpses rot next to us."

  "Okay, yeah, the lye might be the best option."

  Bennett got a squad together to investigate the warehouse. It was already on the list for potential salvage, this just moved it up the queue to the top. It was a fairly intact building and not the kind of building where much looting would likely have taken place. Nothing really edible, nothing really immediately useful. Long term incredibly useful though.

  The squad came back saying there was a huge amount of lye, pallets of it. Maybe even enough to do the job. There were sprayers as well, intended for use with insecticide, but they would work when the lye crystals were mixed with water. It was a few days’ work to get it all together. Ammunition was also a major crisis. They had almost no ammo left. Of course, another horde showed up before the ammo did. This one was smaller, quite a bit smaller. Only a few hundred. They showed up a couple of hours after Wayde took his squad to search. Bennett was standing on the wall, surveying the surrounding area, when the call came out. "Zombie, lots and lots of them!"

  Bennett and Naomi ran as fast as they could to the section of the wall the call was coming from. Bennett had a moment of panic when he saw the horde, they were coming from a narrow gap between buildings, and the end wasn't in sight. A moment later the horde ended, it was a huge group, but manageable. "All hands, we have to take this horde out, fast as we can. Armour and machetes. Right now."

  Even Bennett and Naomi went out this time, leaving only enough on the wall to keep watch. Bennett hadn't been in the field in years, he wasn't used to the grind, the proximity of the dead. The group of them stood in the narrow path, swinging machete's over and over again. As they were taking out the group a bang followed by a shout came up from inside the wall, "Breach, we have a breach."

  Bennett ran in, getting the man next to him to take his spot. It was instantly clear where the breach was. There was a steady stream of zombies coming in from a hole that was blown in one of the walls. Somebody had opened a path, leaving zombies to come inside. "We need some men inside the walls, right now!"

  As the zombies started shambling around the camp, a steady stream of them coming towards him, Bennett raised his machete, again and again, swinging at slow moving corpses. The first strike split a rotted skull in one, brains and viscera leaking out onto the creature's shoulders as it fell, then into the hard-packed dirt and broken asphalt of the enclosure. His blade stuck for a moment, just a moment, but it was almost too long. He managed to get it raised barely in time to take down the next zombie, a strong sideways strike that took the dirty corpse's head off. He couldn't tell much about the original owner of the head. It was probably a woman, based on the breasts that showed through rotted clothing, but it could just as easily have been a fat man, the state of decay was too far along. He moved to the next, an overhead strike down into close cropped hair above grey, empty eyes and gnashing teeth full of filth.

  There were dozens in his line of sight, and more every moment. There was no way he could win here. Not by himself. A minute, another zombie down, and then he felt hands grabbing at his back, pulling on him. He turned, there was a large zombie, in life this man must have been enormous, a wall of muscle. In death, it was weak, slow, but still stronger than the rest. Bennett swung his blade down on the creature's arm, cutting it off. The other hand still gripped, still pulled, and now there were more hands. He was being pulled down, losing his balance and his grip on his machete.

  A Hunting Trip

  Junie looked at the swarm around the camp. Luring zombies was hard work, but they'd made an art of it. Fresh meat, preferably human, provided the right smell. Moving in rapid ways, staying in sight but avoiding repetition. He'd had to move three hordes in, a hell of a lot of work, and balancing the two hordes so they didn't join up but hit at almost the same time, he didn't think even his dad could have done that.

  The invaders were going to pay, this was his island, his and his families, and the godless had no place here.

  The strangers were skilled fighters, and their armour was formidable, but the big horde had left them depleted, he knew it had. No way they had enough ammunition to deal with a horde that size and have lots to spare. When they started taking the second horde, the smallest one, close range with blades he knew that he was right. Blowing the wall, that was pure good luck. The fertilizer in the agricultural warehouse was what made it possi
ble. He hadn't even thought of explosives, but nitroglycerin was easy, and when he saw the strangers go into the agricultural warehouse it came to him. In a way, they were the cause of their own fate. God provided, as he always did.

  Junie found a high vantage point to watch the carnage. He smiled as the zombies poured through the breach he'd made in the wall. That was the only variable he wasn't sure of. He'd had to remote trigger the explosives, or else be caught in the midst of the horde, so they could have turned. They didn't.

  The fight outside was going well for the strangers, but that was okay, it was a distraction, a way to deny them their safe haven. The godless got no succor, no respite. He wished he could see inside, but the walls were too high. All he could see was his horde outside getting smaller and smaller. It was the last big one in the area. A thousand or so, should be enough.

  Satisfied that things were going as expected he moved away. Even if this didn't finish the issue he had other plans in the works.

  A Trip to the Shore

  Chad and Tamra were outside the town again. They had varied up their positions. Ammo was low, but there were still a few shots left. If Tamra kept her near perfect record they should be able to hit this place twice more. It was less than ideal. They had managed to take a rabbit with the bow the day before, so they had some food in their stomachs, but not nearly enough. Chad was making sure that Tyson got the most food, followed by Tamra. It wasn't just protecting a pretty girl, he needed her hands steady.

  A shot rang out in the still night air, and a tall man in the middle of town dropped, like a stone. The spray of blood was from his chest. A moment passed, and he stood up, turned instantly as those who died by trauma usually did. Another shot, another body, another walking corpse in the middle of the village. Time to go again.

  They met up at the shelter, exhausted from the walk through the woods, the sneaking and skulking. The three of them were approaching a level. Tyson was healing from his wounds. He was probably going to keep his arm, although it would never be the same as before, never be capable of hard work. As he recovered, grew stronger, the two of them were growing weaker. Exhaustion, lack of calories, lack of nutrition, lack of bathing, lack of sunlight. It was taking a toll. They would need to act soon, or they wouldn't have the resources left to act at all.

  "We need to step up the schedule. I don't think we have all that much longer."

  "I can help, I'm recovered enough."

  "No. I know you feel a lot better, but you aren't as much better as you think. You getting actively involved would jeopardize all of us."

  "Yeah, well, you need the extra hands and I have them, so either you tie me down to this... I was going to say bed, but let's be honest here, it's a bunch of sticks woven together, or you let me help."

  "Okay, yeah, you can help. I don't know how yet, I'll figure something out. I don't have enough spare rope for the alternative."

  "Also, I want me some payback. I want to make that fucker pay."

  "Well, that's not a primary goal. We can make it a secondary, but our people have to come first."

  "Of course, man. What can I do?"

  "Well, what do you know how to do?"

  "I worked reclamation. I'm really good at breaking things, that's pretty much it I think. I know how to smash shit really well."

  "Not a useless skill set in this case I guess."

  They planned the next stage. Tyson's plan was too crazy for Chad to even think about, plus it would require a lot of gear they had no way to get. He wanted to take out the cliffs under the town, something that would require explosives. After some back and forth, and some harsh words from Tamra, Tyson gave the idea up, realizing exactly how difficult it was likely to be. They settled on a more conservative plan. They would wait until that night and do the same thing they had done twice before, but instead of coming back to the shelter Chad would make some noise, give them something to follow. Tyson and Tamra would make their way into the village and free the prisoners. They were almost certain they were all in the same hut Tyson had escaped from, they kept seeing Clyde and the others make their way into the hut.

  Chad went out during daylight, something he'd been avoiding doing, and found a route that would allow him to lead the villagers astray and double back to the village after losing them. It was going to be a long trip, demanding work. He was just starting to head back to the village when he saw a figure standing in the woods, just a few feet away. It was a little girl, one of the villagers.

  She turned towards him just as he noticed her, spotting him. She was young, maybe eight or nine from Chad's guess. Blonde hair in pigtails, wearing a gingham dress and black shoes. She saw him and started to open her mouth. Chad ran forward, as fast as he could, taking her off her feet and to the ground, a hand covering her mouth and nose before she could even get the scream out of her lungs. He held his hand there, cutting off her air as she thrashed and kicked. He didn't want to do it, hated himself for it, but he didn't know what else to do, so he kept the pressure on until she stopped moving, until her chest stopped spasming as it looked for air that wasn't coming. He didn't let go until she started moving again, differently this time. Could he lose her? Set her on the path back to the village as a zombie? Another piece of chaos to add to the equation?

  Inspiration hit him. He gagged her, so she couldn't bite and bound her arms and legs. He threw the tiny zombie over his shoulder and walked back to the shelter. As he came inside Tamra said, "What the fuck?"

  "She saw me in the woods, I had no choice."

  "Killing her, yeah... taking her back here?"

  "Well, I wasn't going to. Hell, I was thinking of piking her brain, but instead, I'm going to drop her on the path behind me tonight, untied. If I do it right, if I time it so she goes after the villagers it will make it harder for them to follow me, give me maybe an extra couple of seconds to vanish, and it will make them angry enough to prolong how long they try to follow me."

  "Yeah, okay, but dammit, that thing stinks."

  "Sorry, not much I can do about that."

  They rested, trying to take their mind off what they were going to have to do that night.

  Finally, night fell and it was time to go. Tyson was moving steadily, stronger than Chad had expected. The three of them found vantage points that did what they needed. Chad’s point was a little ways from the village, Tamra and Tyson were together. When the shot rang out Chad did his usual counter shot, delayed by a moment, but then he fired a second shot, this one on its own. It was much easier to pinpoint, especially because there was no echo where he was. He waited until he started hearing pursuit, close enough that there was no easy way to avoid it and started running. He ran, full tilt, for a little bit. Paused, slamming the ground so if someone was paying attention the pause sounded like a trip, and took off again. The sounds of pursuit were clear, obvious. He was only managing to stay a little bit ahead of them because this was a pre-scouted route.

  The little girl came into sight, tied to a tree with knots that were easy to break, but that she couldn't reach. He pulled the knot free and went up the tree she was tied to. This was the risky bit, the scariest part of the whole thing. There was a large boulder, not exactly near the path, but Chad had tried jumping to it, and he was able to. It was a stretch, near the limit of his ability. If he fell here he was getting captured, and probably eaten. The gap, it seemed so much easier when he was doing it without the time pressure of the villagers. The little girl was heading towards them, not standing at the base of the tree, so that was good at least.

  Chad tensed up his muscles, gather himself up, and froze. The rock was so far away, it was so long to the ground. He tried again, but he couldn't make his muscles obey him. He said, quietly, "five, four, three, two, one" and leapt, putting all of his strength into the jump. His body left the bounds of earth for a moment, the apex of his jump feeling weightless, effortless. He kept his eyes on his goal... and realized he was just a tiny bit short of it. He was going to only be half on the boulder
when he landed. Panic hit, and he stretched out as long as he possibly could, getting as much of himself on the rock as humanly possible. His chest hit, mostly on top, followed by his chin, jarring his skull deep in his brain. He was rocked, seeing stars, but he started to scramble anyway, pulling with his hands, and pushing with his feet. He slipped, a tiny bit lower, on the edge of falling.

  The Raid

  Tyson knew he was in worse shape than he had let on. His body was wrecked, he'd always been physically strong. He didn't think he'd ever be able to work again. Was he being stupid insisting on coming along on this trip? He didn't know, maybe, but at the same time he had to do it, had to reclaim some of what these people had cost him, or else this was forever. He crawled behind Tamra, every movement agony, he could feel the bone grating against bone. It was something to be ignored, if they didn't get their people out now they would never get them out.

  Tamra. A TV star, maybe the biggest in the world now. That was unexpected. Tyson watched her ass in front of him, crawling through the dirt. He was happy for her and Chad, they were so cute together, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to look. It's not like she became a huge star by being ugly. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was his mind constantly in the gutter?

  Oh well, he kept going, the pain in his arm taking his mind off the horniness he was feeling. They made it into the town, not empty quite, but close. One guard on the prison hut, a good sign that there were still people alive inside. That was something, a starting point. Tamra flowed up in front of him, lithe and fast. She wrapped one arm around the guard's neck and plunged a blade upward into his back, coming up between two ribs. The man let out a soft sigh, Tyson could barely make out the pink, frothy blood that came out of the wound, and then, as he fell, out of his mouth and nose. His eyes were full of panic, desperation, but he couldn't make a sound. He died in silence, clawing at his throat trying to draw air into lungs that were already filled with blood. The night filled with stench as his bowels let go. Tyson jammed a knife into his temple. No good allowing him to come back this close to them.