We planned for another two hours and then called it a night. I went to the classroom I shared with Sarah and sat down next to my son, who was just getting finished with his bath.
Sarah rubbed Jake’s head dry and put him in his jammies. “How’s Nate?” she asked, slipping Jake’s arm through his sleeve.
“Doing his dead level best to make me age.” I told her about the town and what we needed to do.
“What about Jake and me?” she asked, passing him over to me so I could help him practice his walking.
I held Jake’s hands and walked backwards while Jake waddled along, babbling the entire time. We moved around the room, edging away from the desks, which Jake liked to latch on to when he wanted to cheat. “You’ll be coming with. I wouldn’t expect you to just stay at home with my son, fraught with worry and crying yourself to sleep each night, wondering if I will ever come home.”
I had my back turned to Sarah and I tensed. Sure enough, I got punched in the back. I let Jake grab the desks and turned around, blocking the second punch Sarah aimed at me and wrapped an arm around her waist. I hoisted her up and trapped her arms with my other arm. She glared at me and tried to bite my nose.
“Easy, I was just kidding.” I lightly kissed her forehead. She struggled for a second, then stopped, softening against me. I sat down with her in my lap, and she put her arms around my neck. “I need you and Jake there.” I said, rubbing her back.
Sarah smiled slightly. “Really? Why?”
“If I leave you two behind,” I explained, “then I might not be as careful as I normally would. If you’re there, then I do everything I can to stay alive and protect the two of you. I know you can take care of yourself and there isn’t anyone I would rather have watch my back.”
Sarah leaned in and kissed me and I returned her kiss with the same enthusiasm. If a couple of little hands hadn’t started pulling at my leg, things might have gotten interesting. I broke the kiss and Sarah and I both looked down to see Jake smiling up at us.
I sighed. “Jake, someday you need to learn timing.” I lifted Sarah off and picked up my boy. “It’s all in the timing, my son.”
Sarah laughed and walked saucily away. Dammit.
4
The next morning I rolled out of bed and commenced my morning exercises. I included weapons exercises, and Jake watched with a bemused look on his face. Charlie showed up with Julia and the two babies played with some toys on a blanket while Charlie and I sparred. Sarah joined in and after an hour the three of us were sweating and sore from unblocked strikes and kicks. Sarah was a limber little thing and often managed a kick to the head when you weren’t looking.
“Did Nate talk to you?” Charlie asked as he drank water from a bottle.
“Yeah, last night he and I went over a few things. We’re going to need supplies and plan to get there.”
Charlie nodded. “I saw the maps this morning and I have an idea you might like.”
“Does it involve a boat?” I asked.
Charlie cocked his head and looked at me. “You’re very good, you know that?”
I smiled. “I’ve been told, but I never believe butt kissers.” I ducked as both Sarah and Charlie threw their water at me.
I stood up and thumped Charlie on the back. “Let’s get moving. I want to get what we can from town today and start our supply buildup for the trip.”
Charlie stood up and picked up Julia. Jakey protested until Sarah picked him up as well. They both went down to Charlie’s room to drop off the kids with Rebecca, who loved watching them. They came back and we all went down to the school yard. Nate was training a man in the center of a circle of men. I was pleased to see Carl Witry again, taking up his role as trainer/zombie actor. As I watched him go through his motions, I noticed he had refined his actions and varied his approach in several ways. It wouldn’t be so easy to get one past him.
Nate held up a hand as Charlie, Sarah and I approached. All heads pivoted our way as we made our way across the yard. I stopped in the ring and shook Carl’s hand, happy to see him again. Carl moaned at me and I bopped him on the head with my fist.
“Nice to see you, Nate.” I said, looking around. Nineteen men sat cross legged in a circle, dressed in various outfits and festooned with a variety of weapons. Not many had guns but they all seemed capable.
Nate waved the man he was training over. He was a thin young man, roughly twenty-five, with short-cropped blonde hair and light blue eyes. I was sure in the day he was pretty effective with the opposite sex. I saw him sizing me up as we came over and I smiled. Some things never change.
Nate introduced us. “John, this is Trevor Jackson. He was the leader of the group we picked up on our way here. They were holed up in an old warehouse in Molena and were running low on food when we bumped into them.”
I shook Trevor’s hand. He had a firm grip and looked me in the eye. Somebody had raised him right. “Nice to meet you, Trevor. Good work in keeping your men alive through the mess.”
Trevor shrugged. “Just did what I thought I should do. These guys elected me leader, though I ain’t sure I deserve it.”
Wow. Deja vu. “I’m sure you did.”
Trevor shrugged again. “Well, they’re your men now, Nate says you’re the leader of this group. And since we joined up that means me too, I guess.”
I chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. With the group you have here I’ll likely be sending you out on your own to clear homes and hunt for supplies. I can’t be everywhere and groups that are used to working together are a huge asset. As a matter of fact, I have a job for you right now.”
Trevor perked up and stepped closer as I pulled out a map. “We’re here,” I said. “The trench is here.” I pointed to a line that circled the area. “I need you to take seven men and clear this area here, and send seven more to this area here.” I pointed to two opposite sides of the map. “Work your way through the homes, and remove any zombies you might find. That means closets, basements — everything has to be checked.”
Trevor nodded, memorizing the locations. I continued. “Meet up here, then work your way back. Don’t take any unnecessary risks and don’t take anything from the houses except food and weapons if you find any. The homes are going to be occupied, so no damage if you can help it.”
Trevor nodded, then motioned at his group. I stopped him and said, “I need five men to come with me for a supply run. Who’s steady?”
Trevor pointed to five men who stood up and came over. “This is Jim, Kyle, Carl, Steve, and Bryce,” he said. Charlie, Sarah, and I shook hands with all of them.
“This is Sarah and Charlie. They’ve been with me since the beginning and I trust my life to them,” I said. I looked at Trevor. “You still here?”
Trevor grinned and jogged over to the gate with his men. I watched them go, then addressed the five men. “I’m John Talon and I will never ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I will fight with you and for you and I only ask that you try not to do anything stupid that gets you killed or more importantly, anyone else killed. Deal?”
The men agreed as one and I outlined the plan for the day. “We’re taking the truck over to the strip malls on the main road past the trench. We’re looking for supplies for the town as well as the trip south we’re going to be taking in a few days. I figure we stand the best chance along that area. Let’s go.”
We went over to the side of the building where we kept the vehicles. The school had a tall chain link fence around it which served as a barrier in case of attack. A large number of zombies could tear it down, but for the occasional Z it was fine. I hopped into the Nissan Xterra with Sarah and Charlie jumped into the pickup. The men split up and we had Carl and Bryce with us, while Jim, Kyle, and Steve rode with Charlie.
We pulled out of the school and moved towards State Street, which would take us directly to where we wanted to go. We passed a number of homes and businesses and I hoped Trevor and his crew would have good luck clearing them out and we could move our people in before too long. The homes were in pretty good condition and didn’t seem worse for wear for the winter. We would have to see. We also passed a lot of cars that had been
