The Missing

by Gary Chesla

  “I was hoping it would quack,” Ed grinned. “I haven’t heard a duck quack in a long time.”

  I should have known, the biggest question about what we were doing tonight would be about the duck. Honestly, even after being around these people for two weeks, I never saw that one coming. I must be slipping.

  “Now I want you to go to your stations,” I said. “You don’t need to stand on the wall, you can sit on the platform and lean back against the wall, just be careful you don’t fall off the platform in the dark. It will be dark, so you won’t be able to see anything, so just sit and listen for any sounds outside the wall where you are. I don’t expect we will hear anything until halfway through the night, I know if I was planning something, I would wait until I was sure everyone was sound asleep, but keep your ears open just in case. Remember, if you hear anything, toss a pebble down this way and stay at your post until I get to you. Good Luck. Ed see you in a half hour.”

  “I thought it would be an hour?” Ed asked, sounding confused.

  “It will be except for your first shift,” I replied. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you won’t know the difference. You’ll know it’s time to change stations when I show up to relieve you.”

  I laughed to myself when I heard Ed and George whispering to each other as they turned to take up their stations.

  Ed was worried that he was going to screw up because he didn’t realize that this was going to be so complicated.

  Chapter 6

  The first two lookout post changes went smoothly. So far neither Ed nor Bill had fallen asleep and even more amazingly, Ed hadn’t heard anything unusual. The fort was dark and quiet without any signs of anyone moving around.

  Halfway through my second watch down in the courtyard, I guess it would have been considered to be sometime after midnight if we still had used a clock, Bear began to get restless. It began when I noticed his dark silhouette, his noise pointing up to the sky, and the sound of him sniffing the air. I began to watch him carefully, as my ears focused on the courtyard around me. I hadn’t heard anything yet, but I knew if Bear was actively listening and a faint scent had him scanning the air, there was a good chance something was about to happen.

  I kept my eyes on Bear to see if he would continue smelling the air, or if he would finally give up and lie down. I got my answer a few minutes later when he moved in close to me a let out a soft whine.

  “What is it Buddy?” I whispered.

  Bear let out another soft whine, then a low growl formed deep down in his throat.

  Bear can’t talk and I can’t speak dog, but we had developed our own means of communication over the last year. Bear has learned to understand my facial expressions and hand signals, and I have learned to interpret his whines, growls and the look in his eyes when he stares intently at me. My interpretation of his actions tonight was that he was telling me that we were going to be receiving a visit by the dead.

  I decided I should tell Ed and Bill about what Bear had detected. In the dark of the night there wasn’t much we could do about the dead being outside the fort. But if we didn’t stay quiet, we could make the situation a whole lot worse, something that Ed and Bill were more than capable of accomplishing.

  “Come,” I whispered to Bear. He quietly stood and followed me as I made my way towards the ladder to go up on the front wall where Ed was the lookout. Normally I would have just signaled with my hand for Bear to follow me, but it was too dark. It wasn’t too dark for Bear, he could have easily seen my hand signal, but it was too dark for me to see what I was doing. I guess my whispering was more for my benefit than his.

  When I reached the ladder I whispered, “Stay!” before I started to climb the latter. I knew Bear would sit and listen and stay where I left him, even if I didn’t come back for an hour. Most dogs would have gotten curious and walked off after a few minutes, but Bear and I had developed a special trust in each other over the last year that went both ways. A lot of people in my past life said they could trust their dogs with their lives, but I can honestly say that I, unlike those others, have trusted my dog with my life in ways that those people could have never imagined, or would have dared to try.

  There is no questioning the communication between us, by him or by me, when one of us indicates there is danger, we both take immediate action. The trust extends to our daily routine, he always does what I tell him, and when he wants my attention, I drop what I’m doing and give him my full attention.

  It has worked so far and we are both still alive because of it.

  “Ed,” I whispered as I reached the top of the ladder.

  “Halt, who goes there?” Ed whispered back, then snickered. “Sorry, I always wanted to say that. What’s up and why are we whispering?”

  “I think we might be getting company,” I replied. “Bear has been sniffing the air and he just started to growl.”

  “Like he does when we are up on the wall together?” Ed asked.

  “Just like that,” I replied.

  “Are you going to come back up here and shoot at them?” Ed asked.

  “It’s too dark,” I replied. “We just need to be quiet and sit tight until morning. I just want you to stay down and keep listening and don’t do anything that might let the dead know we are here. We don’t want to get their attention or they might try to get into the fort. In the morning, if they are still here when it gets light out, we’ll decide what to do then. But I just wanted to let you know what is going on and tell you to stay down below the wall.”

  “Can the dead see in the dark?” Ed asked.

  “I don’t know for sure, but if had to guess from what I’ve seen, I’d say that they probably can,” I replied. “So just stay down until we get enough light to see what is out there.”

  “Do you still want me to get your attention if I hear anything?” Ed asked.

  “Anything but the dead, I already know they are here,” I replied to make sure Ed understood. “Just let me know if you hear them doing something we haven’t heard before.”

  “OK, I’ll try,” Ed replied.

  “I’ll check back with you in a little bit,” I added. “Just stay down.”

  I turned and crawled down the ladder, told Bear to come, then I started walking towards the back wall where Bill was stationed.

  I was halfway across the courtyard when a pebble landed next to me. From the direction I heard the pebble bounce after it hit the ground, I determined it had been thrown by Bill.

  I quickly made my way over to the ladder, told Bear to stay and I began to climb.

  “That was fast,” Bill said as I reached the top of the latter.

  “Whisper, keep your voice down,” I said. “I think we’re getting company.”

  “That’s what I wanted to tell you,” Bill replied. “I thought I heard something out in back of the fort.”

  “What did it sound like?” I asked.

  “Twigs breaking, then I thought I heard something brush up against the walls,” Bill said.

  “Bear was sniffing the air and then he started to growl,” I replied. “So there are probably some of the dead moving by the fort right outside the walls.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Bill asked.

  “Nothing for now, just stay down so they don’t see you and stay quiet,” I replied. “Hopefully they will just move on by, but we’ll handle that problem when we get enough light to see what we’re dealing with. Just let me know if you hear anything unusual and be quiet and stay out of sight.”

  “What do we consider unusual?” Bill asked. “I’ve never been out here when the dead were around before, I’ve always been inside my building, waiting until they left.”

  “Let me know if you think they are trying to get in the fort or if you hear any noises inside the fort,” I replied. “The dead walking around out there is nothing to worry about, but just keep down so they don’t see you or they could start charging the fort. We need to avoid that if possible, it would be hard to fight the dead in
the dark. I’ll be down below in the courtyard and I’ll check on you in another half hour, just keep listening.”

  “OK,” Bill whispered nervously.

  I started climbing back down the ladder. By the sounds of Ed and Bill’s voices, I didn’t think I would have to worry about them falling asleep any time soon, they both sounded terrified.

  When I reached the ground, Bear and I moved over to the wall and slowly sat down on the ground. I didn’t want to walk across the courtyard, there were large gaps between the posts that made up the walls of the fort and I didn’t want to be seen. The motion of me walking through the courtyard could attract attention, attention we weren’t ready to handle in the darkness. With this group, even when it got light out, I knew we may never be able to handle the situation if there were very many of the dead out there, but for now all I could do was wait.

  I sat and listened as Bear stared at the walls, seeing what my eyes were unable to see in the darkness.

  I hoped what was outside was the usual two or three bodies that managed to find their way to the fort each day, the small number we’ve usually seen everyday since I’ve been here. But whatever was out there, we would soon find out.

  I wanted to walk around the sleeping quarters to see if I could hear any sounds in that area of the fort, but that wasn’t possible right now. I would do my best to listen from where I was, if anyone inside the fort had any ideas about leaving the fort tonight, I’m sure they would quickly change their minds before they managed to get too far. But worrying about that matter would have to wait. I decided to skip changing posts with Ed and Bill in order to reduce the amount of movement inside the fort, then I just sat and listened.

  I sat in one location for the remainder of the night and listened to the sounds outside the fort until I could see the sky brightening off towards the east. The occasional moaning sound made by the dead echoed across the field outside the fort, scraping sounds against the walls of the fort and the nearby sounds of the dead tripping and falling told me that there was more than a few of them outside the fort.

  When the area around the fort began to appear bright enough that I felt I could see what was out there, I decided to go up on the wall for a better look. I could see dark shapes moving outside between the posts in the wall, but I couldn’t see enough to know how many were out there. I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like what I would see, Bear had been growling steadily now for about an hour, but I knew I had better find out what was outside before the morning activity started.

  “Bear, stay,” I said, “I’ll be right back.” I slowly moved over to the ladder below Bill and took each step carefully to avoid making any noise. When I reached the top, I saw Bill leaning against the wall, sound asleep.

  “Bill,” I whispered. But Bill was sleeping too deeply to hear me.

  I didn’t want to raise my voice, so I decided to let him sleep until after I took a look over the wall. If the situation outside required me to wake Bill, I would tackle that problem then.

  I crept over to the wall and carefully raised my head up to the top of the posts until I could see outside.

  “Oh shit,” I whispered under my breath. There were at least fifty of the dead staggering along the bottom of the wall. I could only guess how many of the dead were out in front of the fort.

  I carefully raised my head again to see what the dead were focused on. Were they focused on the fort or were they just passing by?

  I quickly ducked back down behind the wall after taking a fast look. From what I could see, the dead didn’t appear to be curious about the fort, they just seemed to be walking aimlessly in a southward direction. The dead bumping into the fort walls didn’t realize the fort was here until it stopped their progress.

  If we just kept quiet, hopefully they would just keep moving south.

  I settled back down against the wall, intending to wait, until a motion to my left caught my eye. I looked towards the motion to see what it was. It was then I noticed Ed waking up, turning and standing up on the platform at the front wall.

  I wanted to yell for Ed to stay down, but I knew that would be the worst thing I could do right now.

  I started to wave frantically, but Ed had already stood up and was facing away from me. He was facing the field in front of the fort and was stretching his arms out in the air, then he suddenly stopped. He must have just noticed what was out in front of the fort as he stood motionless for a minute before he confirmed my worst fears.

  “Oh my God,” Ed shouted and slowly turned back towards the inside of the fort. His eyes were as wide as saucers when he turned and saw me. I could see the fear in his eyes even from this distance.

  Before Ed could say a word, a loud chorus of groans began to grow outside the fort, then a loud pounding sound against the walls began to reverberate through the courtyard.

  Bill, startled by the loud sounds, opened his eyes and looked at me. “What is going on?” Bill asked, but by the look in his eyes, I knew he had figured it out.

  I looked back at Ed, who was still standing frozen on the front wall.

  “Ed,” I yelled, since I couldn’t make the situation worse at this point, but I intended to make it better. “Go wake up Charlie and the rest of the people and tell them I need them out here now!”

  Ed ran to the ladder and began to run down the steps until he reached the ground. He then turned and started shouting as he ran towards the fort’s sleeping quarters.

  Bill was now standing and looking over the top of the wall.

  He turned back towards me with his mouth hanging open.

  “Stay here,” I shouted over the noise, “We’ll have help in a minute.”

  I ran down the ladder and started to jog towards my lean to. When I reached the site, I scooped up the approximate fifty new homemade arrows that Bill and I had made yesterday.

  By the time I was halfway across the courtyard, Charlie and the rest of the fort’s residents were staggering out of their quarters and began to mill around the firepit.

  I ran over towards them. I knew if this was going to end well, we needed to act fast, so I decided to skip the morning council and voting and just take charge. I didn’t go into any long speech about what had happened, they should be able to figure that out on their own, beside there wasn’t any time.

  “Form a line here,” I shouted and pointed to a spot in front of the firepit.

  When everyone had formed a line, I walked down the line and said, “Barry, George, go up on the wall with Bill. Ken, Tim, up on the front wall with Ed. The rest of you, form two lines between here and the ladders that go up on the wall.” The men quickly did what they were told.

  “Charlie, Fred, start passing stones up your line, you men pass them to each other, the last man should take them up the ladder and hand them to the men up on the wall. When you are out of stones, start passing the firewood, when you are out of firewood, grab anything heavy and get it up on the wall. Don’t think about it, just do it, Now!”

  I ran back to the ladder and climbed up next to Bill and the men that I sent up to help him. Bear was already up on the platform, staring at the dead.

  “Take whatever the men below pass up the ladder to you,” I said. “When you have something, go back to the wall and drop it down on top of the dead. Take careful aim, we don’t have enough stones and wood to waste any of it. Try to hit two or three of the dead with one rock.”

  “Are you going to shoot them with your bow?” Bill asked nervously.

  “After we have run out of things to drop on the them,” I replied. “I don’t have enough arrows to do this by myself, so help me out and take out as many as you can.”

  The men down in the courtyard began to drag stones and wood up to the top of the ladder.

  I took the first stone and yelled for the others to get to work.

  The men lined up behind me and started taking the objects from the men on the ladder.

  I moved up against the wall and looked at the dead below. The dead we
re now three rows deep against the bottom of the wall. As I looked for a good target, I felt someone push in against me. I looked over and saw a huge furry body against me, looking down at the dead.

  “Stay,” I told Bear, I was getting concerned that he might decide to jump down and start attacking the dead. He had survived the wounds he received back home trying to protect Sandy and Nicole, but I didn’t want to push our luck. I knew he remembered his close encounters with the dead by the way he was baring his teeth, but Bear along with me were our weapons of last resort and I intended to wait as long as possible before getting into any hand to hand combat with the dead.

  Bear dropped back down onto the platform, but he was still tall enough to be able to look down over the wall.

  I dropped the rock I was holding and crushed two skulls below me, the bodies fell over, taking three other bodies to the ground with them. I thought I had seen Bear’s tail wag briefly when the stone slammed into the dead, but I’m sure it must have just been my imagination.

  Bill stepped in next to me, looked down over the wall, then dropped the rock he was holding.

  We both quickly ran back over to the ladder to pick up another rock and large piece of firewood.

  I looked across the fort to see that the men on the front wall were moving back and forth from the ladder to the wall, then dropping their loads down on the dead.

  Soon all the stones were gone, we ran out of firewood after another ten minutes. The men then passed up chairs and small tables, boards ripped off the doors, until there was nothing left to pass up to the men on the platforms.

  I looked over what we had accomplished.

  Only about thirty of the dead were still on their feet, Thank God.

  “OK, men, go down in the courtyard and find a shovel, hoe, rake or a pick and line up in front of the main gate,” I said. “I’m going to try and finish off what’s left with my bow. We will then have to go out and eliminate any others by hand. If I can finish them with the bow, then all we will have to do is drag them into a pile and burn the bodies. Just go get ready.”