I was frowning into the breeze when Tommy came up and sat down next to me. We were passing the nearby towns and making our way to the big turn which would take us past Joslin.
“Gonna be nice to see some people again,” he stated, watching the edge of the water. His blue eyes narrowed slightly and I looked to see what had attracted his attention. We both relaxed when a squirrel leapt from a tree to the water’s edge.
I nodded, keeping my eyes to the shore. “Seems like we’ve been gone a long time, but when you seriously look back on it, it wasn’t so much.”
“Yeah,” Tommy said. “But it’s been busy. Listen, can I ask you a question?” he queried.
I turned to look at him. It seemed odd to me that Tommy was hesitant to talk to me. Normally he just shot his mouth off and took the consequences as they came. It was one of the things I liked about my friend. “Sure, fire away.”
“What are we going to do after this is over?” Tommy looked intently at me and for once, I didn’t think he was goofing around.
“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding his question.
“I mean, what are we going to do after we travel thousands of miles through zombie infested territory, encountering who knows what kind of survivors, heading off this ‘Major’, and rescuing the Founding Documents? What then? Assuming we survive, of course.”
I had to admit he had me stumped. I hadn’t thought that far ahead and told him so.
Tommy shook his head. “Not good enough, brother. You can hold off the rest with answers like that, but you and me have been through too much for me to even think you haven’t thought ahead.”
I smiled and looked back to the passing river shoreline. “All right. You got me on that one. I did think a little about it and I do have something that resembles a plan, but we got a whole lot to do first.”
Tommy stood up and clapped me on the shoulder. “I figured. Knowing you, it probably involves some sort of fire.”
I laughed. “Ain’t tellin’.”
9
The rest of the trip was uneventful, save for a lot of zombie activity around Joslin. Dozens lined the shore, moaning and grasping. They looked to be in pretty sorry shape, although I found it grimly amusing that some were wearing what looked like gang banger clothing and jewelry. They weren’t moving too well since their pants were around their ankles. Remembering what the family we rescued from the river near here told us about what the gangs had been doing, I found it fitting that the scum had joined ranks with the Z’s.
Passing Joslin and the groaning groupies, we made our way upriver to the dead town of Romeoville. The zombies had been cleaned out of here last winter and the streets were silent. No one had wanted to try to set up another town here, so it just sat, content in its slow walk to decay and ruin. Many towns were in the same position, I would bet.
We moved past Freeport, throwing waves at the people who were out taking in the spring air. There were shouts of recognition and by the time we had passed, at least a hundred people had come down to wave hello. I had to admit, it felt good to be back in this area.
Rounding the bend, I got my first look at the improvements made by Nate in the community of Leport. The hills to the north were covered in small farm plots and there was ample grazing for the herds of animals found on the slopes just slightly to the south. I could see many people working their small plots of land, turning over the soil with hand tools, getting it ready for planting. I noticed two small buildings near the animal pens that hadn’t been there before. I also noticed several guard towers on the tops of the highest hills, manned with two people each.
Pulling up slowly through the canal, Charlie eased the boat along the waterfront. I had picked up Jake and was standing with him on the front of the boat. I saw several people stop what they were doing to stare at the unusual visitors. I waved at one of them and he waved back, not really sure of who we were.
There was a shout and from a lookout tower I saw a figure running like hell towards a house. There was a small commotion, then I saw the huge form of my old friend Nate come outside, look in our direction, and even from this distance I could see him smile. He shouted back into the house, then began heading to the pier, yelling as he went. A small crowd was forming and working their way down to the docks.
Charlie pulled the boat up alongside the dock and a group of about forty people was waiting for us. I saw many familiar faces and I couldn’t help but smile at them all. The boat was secured and we disembarked carefully one at a time.
I gave Jake to Sarah, who handed him back to me after I had left the boat. I was immediately swamped with greetings and spent several minutes shaking hands and meeting people. Sarah and Rebecca were hugging nearly every woman there and they spent a few minutes showing off their left hands to the giggling flock. Charlie came out last and he got as much attention as the rest of us, although he seemed shy about the attention.
Suddenly a shout cut off conversation. “What the hell’s going on here? What’s the matter with you people? Ain’t you never seen a traveler before?” Nate strolled up, came within inches of me and growled into my face. “We got rules here, slick.”
I was about to reply when Jake literally jumped off of me and wrapped his hands around Nate’s neck, pulling him off balance and tumbling him to the ground. Nate twisted and landed heavily on his back with Jake sitting happily on his chest.
I laughed with the crowd and when the noise died down I said loud enough for everyone to hear, “You’d better be more polite or next time I’ll find a five- year-old to seriously kick your ass.”
Nate laughed out loud and I helped him to his feet. He handed Jake back to me, and I shook Nate’s hand with all the enthusiasm I could muster. “It sure is good to see you again, old friend,” I said warmly.
Nate smiled. “You too, buddy. You, too. C’mon, we’ll get you guys to our visitors lodge, then I’ll take you on a tour.”
“Good enough,” I said, as I shouldered my gear and set Jake down. Sarah came up beside me and took Jake’s other hand. Together we walked him down the street and up the hill. We waved to a number of people and a lot of people came out to shake hands and say hello. It was nice to be back.
On our way through the town, I noticed a lot of improvements. The homes were well-kept and there were lots of small garden plots in the lawns of many homes. A lot of homes had coops for chickens and areas for rabbits. We didn’t have chickens at Starved Rock, so I actually began to hope we might get some eggs this trip.
One group of people caught my eye. There was a well-armed gaggle of what I assumed were teenagers sitting outside a building. They were watching us with undisguised interest and one of them, the leader, I guessed, looked over with as much insolence as he could muster. I didn’t return the favor, figuring to leave well enough alone.
“Trouble, you think?” Charlie’s barely audible voice reached me from behind.
“Maybe,” I said. “We’ll see what happens.”
We reached about midpoint of the hill and Nate took us into a three-story building that looked like it once had been a business of some sort. It had been worked over and now looked like a decent place. Nate showed us our rooms and we stored our stuff. We talked for a minute and Charlie, Duncan, Tommy, and I decided to go with Nate on his tour, while the rest went to find old friends. Sarah took Jake with her and Rececca took Julia, so the kids were happy.
We walked over to Nate’s place where he backed a large pick-up out of the garage. We climbed aboard and began our tour of the town.
Nate took us all the way down to what used to be Archer Avenue. We passed a thriving community, with several hundred occupied homes and places that looked like actual businesses. Charlie looked askance at Nate and he laughed.
“We trade, mostly. There’s stuff to be had if you’re willing to risk your neck getting closer to the city. But everyone gets what they need,” he said.
I looked around and smiled to myself. This is a nice place, but I think I’ll take my lonesome lodge over fences
