win.”
Simon and Charlie looked at me, then looked at each other. Charlie spoke first. “Now do you understand?”
Simon nodded. “I certainly do.”
“What?” I asked, only to be ignored.
Simon headed for the door. “Thanks again. I’ll probably be back this way someday, so look for me.”
“Will do,” I said.
Charlie went over to Julia and scooped her up. He motioned me to take Jake and picking him up, we followed Simon out onto the patio. “You have to see this,” he said.
I was vastly curious, so I followed the three of them down to our drawbridge and watched as he lowered a section of the winding staircase down into place. Any zombies chasing us from the river would make it halfway up the stairs, then fall forty feet to a broken existence on the rocks below.
When we reached the bottom, we walked a ways towards the dock where our boat was tied up. When we had gone about halfway, Charlie put Julia on the ground and motioned that I should do the same with Jake. Curious, I put him down and watched him toddle over to Julia. The two of them walked together for a minute before settling down on the ground. Jake squealed as he played with a couple of sticks and Julia rolled a rock around.
A deep growl from the forest ahead caused me to whip out my SIG and train it on the woods. As I stepped forward to get the kids, Charlie held out a hand. “Hold on. Keep your gun out, but wait. You won’t believe it.”
I was doubtful as I waited and then turned incredulous as a huge cougar stepped from the shadows of the forest. It was ten feet long from nose to tip of tail and looked incredibly fit and healthy. It looked at me with deep green eyes and then looked at the other two men. After that it walked slowly towards the two children. I tensed, but Charlie shook his head. “Wait,” he whispered.
The kids saw the big cat and laughed with delight. They walked and stumbled over to it and to my complete amazement, the big cat lay on its side as the kids came within reach of paw and fang.
Simon was just as stunned as I was. Charlie looked at the two of us and grinned as Jake and Julia played with the big cat, crawling on its side and tugging at its ears. The cougar was as gentle as a house cat with the babies. Charlie walked slowly over to the big cat and held out his hand. The cat sniffed him then let him rub its head. The deep grumbling I heard was a cougar equivalent of a purr.
Charlie motioned me over and I walked slowly over to the big cat, its eyes never leaving me as I reached out with my left hand, keeping my SIG in my other. The cat flattened its ears a little at me, but once it smelled me and recognized the scent from Jake, it was fine with me petting it. I shook my head in disbelief as I rubbed the fur of the great cat.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Charlie asked as the kids tumbled over the cougar. It rolled onto its back, stretching its great legs and flexing the hind claws, hooks that could disembowel a human in an instant.
“Yes, she is,” I noted, discovering for the first time that our cougar friend was a female. I withdrew my hand from a yawning head, two inch fangs were not my favorite playthings. I was still amazed when the big cat leaned over and licked Jake across the face. He giggled, then buried his head in the cat’s shoulder.
Suddenly, the cat rolled to its feet, tumbling the kids to the ground. I picked up Jake and Charlie grabbed Julia. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but the cat suddenly growled and lowered its head, bearing its fangs and growling. I looked back and saw the problem. Simon had come closer and since his was an unknown scent, the cougar had dropped into a defensive pose.
“Just step back slowly, Simon,” I said, stepping away myself. Charlie was backing away with Julia, who was struggling to be put down again.
“No shit,” said Simon, who stepped back quickly. The cat relaxed a bit, then with a final glance at Charlie and myself, disappeared into the woods.
I looked over at Charlie, who shrugged. I shook my head and said, “Well, its nice to know we have a kick-ass babysitter, although I sure won’t leave the kids alone with her.”
“No kidding,” Charlie said. “But did you see her get protective? It’s almost like she was getting ready to attack.”
“Yeah, I saw that,” Simon said shakily.
I laughed and we kept walking, heading down towards the river. When we reached the edge, I pointed to the west. “Follow that trail until you get to the north/south road. Head north across the river and you’ll be in Utica. Keep going north and you’ll hit I-80. Head west and you’ll hit I-39. Take that as far north as you want. If you want to, Galena is a nice place. Head west on 20 until you hit it.”
“Is it like this?” Simon asked, looking around again.
I shook my head. “More remote, more hills, lots of valleys and farms.”
Simon considered it. “Maybe I’ll head there. Look for me if you’re up that way.”
I nodded. “We’ll be on the river if we do. Good luck.” I shook his hand and he shook Charlie’s. Shrugging his pack into a more comfortable place, Simon headed off down the trail, his long legs eating up the journey. Charlie and I watched until he rounded the bend in the river, then we turned back to the lodge. We had to get ready for a journey of our own.
8
We debated for a couple of days as to what we were going to do. I favored going up to Leport by myself and talking with Nate, while Charlie and Tommy thought it would be a good idea for more of us to go. Eventually it was decided that we all would take a trip to see old friends and acquaintances. Sarah and Rebecca were delighted to be heading back to Leport and I had to admit, I was looking forward to seeing some familiar faces as well. It had been a long winter and we needed to shake off the cabin fever that always came from too much cold weather.
As we carried our belongings down to where the boat was docked, a telltale moan wafted across the parking lot. All of us tensed as we looked for the source and Charlie finally spotted the lone Z working its way through the dense brush at the western edge of the main parking lot.
We waited for a moment and determined that it was alone. I waved on the rest of the crew and put my supplies down. I took off my backpack and rifle and after a moment’s consideration, I put down my trusty pickaxe. Drawing just my knife, I walked quickly to the stumbling zombie. It groaned loudly and raised a hand in my direction. It was in better shape than some I had seen, making it a more recent convert to the undead. As I approached, its mouth opened in anticipation of a meal, baring dirty white, chipped teeth.
I dodged its outstretched arm, sweeping it aside with my left hand while bringing my knife hand up to bear. The zombie stumbled and in the second it took for the Z to regain its balance, I slammed the heavy tanto blade into its skull. The ghoul stiffened and I twisted the blade, scrambling its eggs. The corpse dropped and I pulled out my knife as it fell. Walking back to my stuff, I wiped off the blade and set flame to it with a lighter, burning away the virus.
Picking up my things, I noticed my entire crew was watching from the boat dock. Charlie was standing on a small rock, lowering his rifle as I came nearer.
Duncan spoke first. “Nice one. You make it look almost easy.”
I nodded ruefully. “I wish I didn’t. “
Tommy looked at me. “Why not?”
I tossed my gear into the boat. “Because it means I’ve been killing them for a long time. Takes something from you, you know?”
Everyone nodded, then boarded the boat, stowing gear below decks and making sure there wasn’t anything for the kids to get into.
We pulled away from the dock and pointed the bow north and as we passed Eagles Nest, I was reminded of the note that first brought me here, over a year ago. I was searching for my brother and we managed to figure out he was here, waiting for me. Charlie and I realized what a great home this could become so we packed up our women, our kids, and the few belongings we had and made it our home. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else and as we pulled along the river, I began to think more of why we were making this journey and what the future might bring.
