I gathered our band together. Charlie had arrived early in the morning, riding nice and easy in a comfortable truck on the railroad tracks. After hearing what Tommy and I had gone through, he muttered something about the luck of fools again and thumped me for nearly getting killed.
We were heading out today, going back to Leport. We had a long way to go and with the stars in proper alignment, we’d make it without incident. I told Sheriff Harlan about our plans and he wished us luck, thanking us for all we had done. He promised to stay in touch and we would be setting up some sort of regular communications soon. As it was, several towns were now in contact thanks to our work on the rails and with good fortune, we’d be able to get more going.
As we gathered our things for the trip north, I reflected on what this trip had cost us. We lost three people, but we gained several towns. I’d take that any day.
We drove out of Coal City to the waves and gratitude of the town. I felt good about what we had managed to do, but I knew we had other things to take care of first. One thing had been nagging me for a while, ever since Tom Harlan had mentioned his brother.
Where was my brother? The question would not leave me alone, and when we got back to Leport, I intended to do something about it.
After I spent a lot of time with Jake and Sarah.
21
We made it back to the boat and returned to Leport later in the day. Nate came down to the dock to greet us, bringing Jakey and Julia along as well as a large number of other people. There were a lot of questions, not the least of which was why we were three people short. After hugging Jake for a while, I explained to the people what had happened, what we had accomplished, and what had happened to our lost companions. There were head shakes all around, but no looks of blame. I downplayed what Charlie and I had done at Coal City and only briefly mentioned what Tommy and I had done. Everyone was excited about the prospect of new people and possibly being able to communicate and trade. We had realized on the trip up that the tracks that ran through Leport ran all the way down to Streator. We could set up a line of communication or we could get a train or something running.
While we were away, Duncan had been sending people back at a steady pace, with the list of incoming survivors reaching over two hundred. Tommy realized he was going to have to dig another trench, this one farther out as people moved into homes outside the safe zone. Everyone had to be quarantined for a bit to make sure no one was bringing the infection into the area, but no one complained.
One real piece of good news was the town had running water. Our plumbers and engineers had rigged up a pump system using a big water wheel and a whole lot of garden hose, not to mention the judicious use of gravity, and there it was. Not a ton of pressure, but it beat walking to the river with a bucket every day.
I spent the next few weeks just taking things easy, dealing with minor problems as they came up in the community, talking to newcomers, working out on the farms. I spent three interesting days with Nate as we scouted the local area, trying to find a suitable place for livestock. Eventually, we settled on a spot north of the farms. It had decent water, plenty of grazing and was surrounded on three sides by water. The only way any zombies would get at the livestock would be to come through a narrow gap and we had posted men to keep an eye on it. Charlie took off into the country side and came back later with a few cows, a horse, and several goats. It was a start and the animals actually seemed to be glad to have human company again.
Charlie and I spent a little time with our doctor because she wanted to run some tests on us. We shrugged and gave a vial of blood each, not thinking about it, or questioning her motives. I figured she’d tell us in time.
Summer was getting closer and more and more I was finding myself looking up the river, wondering about things that had no answer. On one such occasion, I was holding Jake, rocking him gently in the evening breeze. His little head rested on my shoulder, while his feet occasionally kicked at the SIG on my hip. I kept my eyes on the north and began to formulate an idea which refused to let go. It was one of those things that stayed with me. No matter what I was doing, during any down time my mind went back to it.
I whispered to Jake and he smiled sleepily, his little hand hooking into the collar of my shirt. I felt a ghost of a touch on my shoulder, and turned to see Sarah at my side. Jake saw her and reached out with a hand, wanting to go over to her.
“Hey, big boy,” Sarah said quietly, rocking Jake and putting his head on her shoulder. In her arms, Jake looked twice as big, even though he was still tiny. He was roughly fifteen months old, give or take, and was walking around and getting himself into all kinds of trouble. I didn’t mind any of it, I was just glad to have him with me.
“How’s the school coming along?” I asked, curious as to its progress. Sarah and three other women were getting the school in shape for classes. We had several teachers and they were willing to pick up where they had left off after the Upheaval. We had enough children to actually have a couple of classes, although the children’s ages varied widely, it wouldn’t be anything different from turn of the century schools. Being a former administrator, I had been asked to head the school, but I declined. That was something I did before, not something I did now. Besides, it was my opinion that the best teachers did their best work when they were allowed to be creative and have few administrative restrictions.
“It’s fine,” Sarah said, settling Jake on her hip. He played with her hair, which looked lighter in the waning sun, then leaned his head into her neck and shoulder. “We’ve finished the classrooms and the teachers have the textbooks, getting themselves familiar with the lessons and what they want to teach. Nate says he wants to run P.E.”
I thought about that for a second and let out a short laugh. “Sweet Jesus, those kids will learn a new language as well as physical education.”
Sarah smiled. “Nate thinks it would be good for the kids to be trained to defend themselves, like we train everyone else.”
I thought about it for a second, then nodded. “In ancient times, the Spartans did not bother with any walls or fortifications, relying instead on the strength of their people to be the wall. I can see his point. Let’s do it.”
Sarah looked at me funny. “I used to teach world history before I became an administrator,” I said to her.
“Can I ask a question?” Sarah said after a while. Jake was falling asleep, his little hands curling his hair and his eyelids were struggling to remain open.
“Sure. Anything.”
“When are you leaving?”
I smiled. “Is it that obvious?”
Sarah didn’t return the smile. “I’ve known you for a while and when you get that faraway look in your eyes, you’re thinking about heading out to some other place, looking for God knows what.”
I couldn’t deny it, I was thinking about another trip, and this time I was heading into the mouth of the monster. I decided to be candid. “I need to know what happened to my brother. The last time I spoke with him it was a year ago. I would like to try to find out what happened, if anything.”
Sarah contemplated in silence, then her eyes got wide and she shook her head. “No!” she whispered, since Jake was asleep. “You can’t go there! You know it’s suicide!” A tear began to form in her eye. “You can’t, please don’t.”
I took Jake from her and put him to bed, covering him with his blanket, watching him for a moment. I went back outside where Sarah was sitting on the porch, watching the river as tears fell down her face. I pulled her to her feet and held her close. She held me tight, burying her face in my chest.
“Please tell me you’re not going.” She said.
“I have to. For a few reasons, not the least of which is my brother. I need to see what’s left and I need to see if there are any survivors. Duncan cleared the road on this side of the river and the only thing we have on the other side is our farms. We don’t know anything else. Lastly, I will not send anyone else on this mission. I can’t and you know it.” I kissed her on the top of her head and she raised her face to mine. “You couldn’t be with a man like that, could you?”
Sarah stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. “If you were anyone else, I probably would have killed you by now.”
