morning, keeping to the back roads. We were hopeful in finding more people out there, but after two years in the post Upheaval world, it was anyone’s guess as to their state of mind. I had the feeling some were going to have to be brought back kicking and screaming.
I was standing on the dock, looking downriver at where my family went, when Tommy came up to me.
“I heard you were sending word that the towns should send up a representative, that we are going to start government again.” He pitched a rock into the river.
“I did. Sarah got me thinking about it and I figure its time we did before too many ‘Thortons” spring up and completely ruin what’s left of this country. We need the good people to get up and fully make a stand. We need to wipe out the zombie threat and get our lives back once and for all.”
“What’s our role in that?” Tommy asked and I realized that Tommy and Duncan were at loose ends, looking for some definitive meaning to what they were doing. I had thought about it and had come up with a solution.
“To be honest, if we get the manpower, you, Charlie, Duncan, and I were going to lead the charge to get rid of the zombies once and for all. We’ll turn over every rock, root out every Z we can find, and obliterate this damn virus once and for all,” I said.
Tommy mulled that one over for a minute. “You know, a year ago, I would have thought you were crazy. But given how far we’ve come, you actually manage to give me hope that it can be done.”
“Thanks. A year ago I would have thought I was crazy also, but since then I…what’s that?” I stopped midsentence and pointed to what seemed to be flickering lights coming up from the south on the far side of the canal.
Tommy stared for a moment then cursed. “Shit. Zombies,” he said.
I realized he was right, the flickering lights were several pairs of bioluminescent eyeballs headed our way. Their path would take them up the hill to the overpass which would bring them down into the town. How the hell they got past the guard tower was a mystery, but irrelevant now.
I ran back to the town, stopping at Nate’s to yell into his yard “Zombies reaching the bridge!” I bolted down the street towards the guest house where my gear was still stowed. Tommy was right on my heels and we both grabbed our favorite fighting tools.
Running out into the street we nearly collided with Nate who was rushing our way. He was armed with a. 45 and a crowbar.
“What the fuck?” he growled, running alongside us to the intersection that would bring us to the long bridge that crossed the river.
“Tommy and I were on the docks when we saw the little dancing lights of zombie eyes across the way. They were headed for the hill to get across the water,” I said, running at a steady pace. We passed several onlookers, who ran when Nate yelled out at them.
“Get inside, zombies inside the perimeter! Spread the word and arm yourselves!”
We reached the bridge and began the long run to intercept the zombies. I hoped like hell there weren’t any of the little fast ones. Fighting them during the day was bad enough, but at night it was ten times worse.
We crossed the highest point and started down the other side. At the bottom of the hill were about ten dark shapes moving up from the shadows of the brush. I shouted to get their attention and to keep them from spreading out too far. I wanted them to come to us. I had no desire to go chasing down a zombie in the dark in the brush.
Nate and Tommy and I spread out as we slowed down and approached the zombies. There were eight of them, not too difficult a fight for the three of us. Their glowing eyes locked on us and the group as one sounded a chorus of moaning that echoed over the hills of the town.
Nate reached the zombies first and drew a bead with his. 45. The heavy gun barked once and the nearest zombie’s head turned inside out. Nate fired again and dropped a second. I had pulled my SIG out at this point and was firing. I killed two in short order, then heard Tommy open up on his side. We all retreated a step as the remaining three zombies moved around their fallen comrades and came towards us, oblivious that they looked death in the face. We all fired as one, the crashing volley reverberating over the hillside. Three zombies dropped in their tracks, staining the road with dark fluids.
I held up a hand and walked forward, looking for further signs of more enemies. I waited at the road’s edge and listened intently. Sure enough, there was a dragging sound and the snapping of underbrush. I fished out my flashlight and shined it into the bushes. I caught a flash of grey moving behind the shrubs and I backed away, waiting for the inevitable.
The zombie fell through the bushes with a crash, then slowly began dragging itself to its feet. I could see why it was slower than the rest, one leg had been broken and was forced into a weird angle, keeping it from its speedier brethren. I shined the light in its face and noticed its neck had been torn open, explaining why it wasn’t groaning. Its eyes were also not glowing, so this one would have been a nasty hunt in the dark if it had been whole. I lined up a shot and fired as it straightened to take a charge at me. It toppled back into the bushes, spreading out as if it had decided to lounge there all day. I turned the light off and listened again, but in the quiet I heard no movement.
I walked back to Nate and Tommy and they were just finishing up piling all the corpses for a fire.
“That the last of them?” Nate asked.
“Don’t hear any more, although you might want to send out some searchers to make sure that wherever these got through, they’re aren’t any more on the way,” I said, holstering my SIG.
“Got that, right after I kick the shit out of whatever guard let them through without warning.” Nate grumbled.
“There is that,” I said, looking over to the dark guard tower. Whoever let this happen just opened a fresh can of whup-ass.
We walked back over the bridge and found ourselves facing a crowd of about ten men with rifles trained on us. When they saw who we were they lowered their weapons, although there were questions in their eyes.
Nate spoke up. “Clean-up tomorrow! Check the lists to see whose turn it is. Search team beta needs to cross the river tomorrow and do a sweep of the whole area. Search team Alpha needs to check the guard tower first thing in the morning and find the breach.”
There were nods as people packed up their weapons and headed back to their homes. I was impressed with the efficiency of these people and told Nate so. He waved off the compliment.
“We do what’s necessary. We’re all the fence that keeps the demons at bay. You taught us that, John,” Nate said. “You insisted everyone train for battle. If we didn’t have the barriers, we’d still have the fence of arms.”
I was glad to hear it and very glad that this community was destined to survive. All we needed to do was to make sure the country survived so we could make up for the mistakes of the past.
In the morning, we piled about our battle wagon and pointed it south. I sat next to Nate who drove. Tommy and Duncan sat at the little kitchen table and cleaned and sharpened weapons. Boxes of ammo were open and extra magazines were loaded.
Nate fired up the big RV and looked over at me.
I nodded and said, “Strap yourselves in, its gonna be a bumpy ride.”
13
(TWO WEEKS AGO)
Major Thorton was bored. They had been on the road for several days and had passed several small towns. None of the towns had been inhabited and Thorton was itching for some kind of action. Any kind of action.
The convoy had been following Route 6 out of California and had made their way to Ely, Nevada. There they picked up Route 50, which according to the maps, should take them all the way across the country. But they had to make some jogs through some more inhabited country, so Thorton was confident something would happen soon.
There had been the occasional dead walker, but the convoy chose to ignore the minor threat rather than stop moving. They had been making pretty good progress, all things considered. With most of the world dead, the road crews were not out to clear the debris from the roads that accumulated every spring from thawing hills and falling rocks. Several times the convoy would stop while men cleared the way.
