by Gary Chesla
I got down on my stomach and began to crawl towards the edge of the field, Bear crawled next to me like he always does, staying by my side.
It only took us a minute to cover the fifty-foot distance to the edge of the field.
From under the brush, I looked out into the field. We had covered most of the two hundred yards I had intended to go in order to set up my first shot. I had planned to make it to this point so that I would be able to cut the distance between me and the dead in half, in order to increase my chances of reaching the group with one of my flaming arrows. However, it had either taken me longer to get out of the fort than I thought, or the dead were moving faster than I had anticipated. It was probably a little of both, because the front of the group heading straight for the fort had almost reached a point in the field directly out from where Bear and I were lying in the brush.
The good news was that my target was only about a hundred feet from me and getting closer by the minute. The bad news was that my target was only about a hundred feet away and was getting closer by the minute. At this range I couldn’t miss what ever target I selected, the only problem was being this close, there was a good chance that the dead would spot me or where the arrows were coming from. When shooting at the dead, I always preferred to have some distance between me and them, to aim high and let the arrows drop down out of the sky into their midst so they would be unable to determine where the arrow came from.
I know if the dead saw the arrows and started moving towards this side of the field, I would be long gone before they got here. But they would make this spot their target and any dead that survived the flames would come this way.
If they did come this way, chances were that they wouldn’t find their way to the fort. But I knew how the dead could change direction at the drop of a hat and the slightest change could again put them on a direct course towards the fort. I would feel a lot more comfortable with this plan if the dead hadn’t made it this far up the field.
As I saw it, I had two options. I could move back closer to the fort to increase the distance between me and the dead in order to make the long arching shots that I preferred, or I could just take the shot from here and hope the dead didn’t notice where the shots came from. But I decided the safest option was to take the shot from here. If the dead detected where the flaming arrows came from and they came in this direction, it would be better for the fort, rather than taking the other angle that could lead them closer to the fort.
My only other option was to do nothing at all, but that option would leave the fort dead center in the group’s current path. The goal was to deflect the direction of that group in order to protect the fort, so even though this wasn’t the ideal solution I was hoping for, it was the best option I had left.
I pulled out the three good arrows and squirted oil on the rags I had wrapped around the end of the arrows. I made sure I had saturated the rags in order to get a good flame that would survive the flight out to the dead. I then found a good spot behind a large clump of brush and studied the dead as they staggered up through the field, I was looking for a target that when ignited was most likely to set the others around it on fire.
I remembered the first two times I had tried this maneuver I had only managed to set three of the dead on fire, and to get the rest of the mob in a frenzy. I knew I would only get one good chance at this and I intended to make the most of it. I had since learned that by selecting the right targets, I could take out hundreds of the dead with one shot. I just had to pick a dense area, preferably an area where a few of the dead had fallen, causing the group to bunch up at that spot. When the dead were jammed up, their dried bodies would go up like they had been soaked in gasoline and would quickly spread among the others who were too dumb to move away from the flames.
I studied the dead and looked for the most likely target to hit with the first flaming arrow. Fifty feet out from me I saw my opening, it seemed like few dozen of the dead had just fallen over, causing the others behind them to fall on top of them.
I pulled out my lighter and was about to light my first arrow when I noticed other bodies falling across the field in an almost straight line. The pattern of the falling bodies was too unusual to have been a coincidence, I hesitated to light the first arrow until I could understand what I was seeing.
Then I noticed what was causing the mayhem out in the middle of the field. I almost laughed, Barry and Albert’s brush barrier was jamming up the dead. They apparently had laid branches and stones across the field and covered them with grass and light brush to camouflage the obstacles. I had asked them to build this obstacle course, but I had become so consumed with getting the tunnel dug that I had forgotten all about it. It appears that this diversion would come in handy after all.
With the dead falling on the ground and too confused to figure out what was going on, I lite my first arrow and put in in the middle of the sprawling pile of the dead out in the middle of the field. I picked two more piles of the dead along the line of fallen bodies across the field and hit them with my last two arrows.
I stayed down in the brush and watched as the fire spread. I was happy to see the flames spread across the field, as the pile of grass and brush caught and created a fire line across the field.
Soon the flames all along the line grew as the dead walked into the flames and caught fire. A wall of black smoke rose up into the sky, soon blocking out the sun as the horrendous smell of burning flesh filled the air.
After watching the flames for a few minutes, making sure that the flames and the confusion out in the field had kept the dead from determining from what direction the arrows had come, or impossible for them to come towards me even if they had seen where the arrows had come from, I decided to get back to the fort. I didn’t think there would be much else that I could do by staying out here.
That night, Bill, Ed, Ken, Dave and I sat up on the wall and watched the fires out in the field burn. Bodies engulfed in flames staggered across the field until they dropped to the ground and burned until there was nothing left to burn. The grisly show continued throughout the night as the horrific smell drifted through the fort.
Only the morning light would tell if we had accomplished what we had set out to do, or if we had only managed to buy a little extra time.
Chapter 15
The next morning the few rays of the sun that had managed to get through all the dark smoke that just hung in the air around the fort, startled me out of a light sleep. I normally didn’t have too much trouble staying awake at night when the situation called for it, but the last few days had been frustrating and exhausting and I couldn’t fight off the sleep any longer.
I quickly looked around to make sure nothing was about to sink their teeth into me, then I looked out over the wall, not knowing what to expect, but I was hoping for the best.
What I saw was a few of the zombies that had managed to escape the flames and were now staggering by the fort, but their numbers were too small to be of much concern.
As I looked further out into the field, I was surprised to see that most of the large group that was coming directly towards the fort had been destroyed. Even more surprising was that the two larger groups that had been crossing the far-off edges of the field were now little more than a trickle of bodies.
I didn’t know if they had all staggered away or if they had also been destroyed by the fire, but whatever the reason, I was glad to see that they were no longer flooding across the field. What I was seeing this morning turned out to be better than I had hoped.
The view across the field, however optimistic, was still overwhelming. The sky was dark from the smoke that still hung in the air and the land was black and smoldering with the charred remains of the dead. I had seen things like this before at the beginning, but it had been almost a year since I had seen anything as devastating as what I was seeing now.
Time would tell, but my first thoughts were that we had just managed to dodge a bullet. I was going to add, no thanks to the peopl
e here at the fort, but that would be wrong. I couldn’t have done it without the help of Ken, Dave, Barry and Albert. Of course they were crazy bastards, but they had given me the first signs I had seen in over a year that maybe not all of the people that had managed to survive the zombie apocalypse were worthless. Of course, they weren’t shining examples of what mankind had been, but they at least showed me that maybe under the right circumstances that mankind still had a chance.
I turned and looked to my left as I head footsteps coming up the ladder. Charlie, of all people, crawled up on the platform next to me and looked out over the wall.
“I think we are going to be OK,” Charlie smiled.
“I hope so,” I replied. “Those that didn’t get destroyed by the fire seems to have wandered off. I think if everyone stays inside for another day, hopefully what’s left out there will also end up going somewhere else. There will be a few stragglers that will have to be dealt with, but if we stay quiet until most of them drift off, what’s left should be manageable.”
“I’ll go make sure that everyone stays in their quarters for another day,” Charlie said, “They’ve done it before, they can do it again. Stay out of sight and wait them out, it’s has always worked for us before.”
I restrained from shaking my head at Charlie’s comment, but instead I just replied, “Sounds good to me.”
Charlie went back down the ladder and walked across the courtyard.
I was just happy to still be alive and didn’t feel the need to debate Charlie on the best ways to protect the fort and help these people survive.
I had nothing against these people, and I did hope they would somehow manage to survive, even if only by being lucky. But I knew that despite the system here at the fort and not because of it, we had managed to survive for another day. But I also knew it was time for me to move on. If today went as I expected, and if the dead were mostly gone by the end of the day, tomorrow would be a good time for me to leave. I planned on coming back this way in the spring to see if I would be able to go back home, at least for a short visit, and I would make it a point to stop by the fort for a visit to see if they had managed to survive the winter. I had my doubts about that, but I also knew that there wasn’t anything else that I could do by staying here any longer other than getting myself killed. If I thought I could really make a difference, I might just reconsider, but I knew I would just be kidding myself. Maybe somewhere out in the world I would find another group that would be serious about surviving and making a new future. I also had my doubts about that too, but I would never find out by staying here.
I also felt a sense of disappointment that I hadn’t been able to solve the problem of what had happened to the women that had disappeared. I found it unbelievable that there was someone here at the fort that had been able to pull that off right under Bear’s nose, but I had better things to do than stay here and play detective with these people. It had been an unfortunate situation, but that was a problem for these people to solve on their own. I still believed that Charlie was the culprit, and I figured the disappearances would stop after I left. I also felt there was a good chance that the women would also mysteriously be found by Charlie after I left, at least for the women’s sake I hoped that would be true. Charlie would then be the fort’s hero and undisputed leader and life at the fort could go on as it had been before I arrived. But I felt I no longer had anything to prove by staying here to expose Charlie. As long as the women would be returned safely, what had happened here was their problem and not mine.
I watched as Bill studied the area outside the walls of the fort.
Finally, he crawled over next to me and sighed.
“I can’t believe what I’ve seen the last few days has been real,” Bill said. “It feels like I just woke up from a bad nightmare.”
“It was a nightmare,” I replied. “But I’m not sure we have been able to wake up yet. I think the last year and the year that’s yet to come is all just one big nightmare.”
“I guess you’re right,” Bill said. “I feel my entire life has been one big nightmare. I’m afraid to think about what will come next.”
“We just have to take it one day at a time and hope we can deal with it,” I replied. “However, I can shed a little light on what comes next.”
“You can?” Bill said looking surprised. “You can see the future? Is that how you knew the dead were coming towards the fort?”
“No, I can’t see the future,” I chuckled. “But that would be interesting, only in a way I’m glad I can’t see what’s coming. I think I prefer not to know.”
“Then how do you know what’s coming next?” Bill asked.
“Because I’ve decided that I’ll be leaving in the morning,” I replied. “At least I know that much about the future. Are you still coming with me or have you changed your mind and have decided to stay here?”
“No, I haven’t changed my mind,” Bill replied. “I’m excited about leaving this place, but now that I know it is really going to happen, it feels kind of scary.”
“It will be a big change for you,” I said. “But I think you will learn a lot of things that you never knew before.”
“What kind of things?” Bill asked.
“Hopefully, how to survive,” I replied. “I need to teach you how to hunt and a lot about the dead. You will need to learn how to shoot a bow and you’ll get to see what the world is really like.”
“It sounds like I have a lot to learn,” Bill said.
“But it won’t be that hard, it’s just learning to do what comes natural,” I replied. “I think you will also like the feeling of freedom you’ll get by being away from the fort.”
Bill nodded.
“What time are we leaving?” Bill asked.
“Tomorrow morning after we get up and get our things packed,” I replied. “Midmorning sometime.”
“Have you talked to Ed?” Bill asked. “I wonder if he has changed his mind and is going to come with us?”
“No, Ed has decided to stay here,” I replied. “He said maybe he will think about going with us when we come back for a visit next spring.”
“That’s too bad,” Bill said. “I was hoping he would go with us. Say, what should I pack to take with me?”
“A blanket, some eating utensils, any extra clothes you have and any little momentos you might want to take that will remind you about the things that have been important to you,” I replied.
“Like that little duck timer you have,” Bill said.
“Yeah, things like that,” I replied as Nicole’s face flashed through my mind. “Just remember, you have to carry whatever you take with you all the time, so don’t get too carried away.”
“OK,” Bill smiled sadly. “I just want you to know I won’t let you down. I really want to get away from this place and I never thought I would ever leave here alive. I really appreciate you taking me with you.”
I smiled. I knew how he felt.
We sat quietly for the rest of the day and kept watch on the field behind the fort. The others stayed in their buildings, leaving the place feeling eerily quiet. By the end of the day, only six of the dead remained outside the fort. I would take care of them tomorrow morning before I left if I they were still here.
I had made a few friends during my time at the fort, I knew I would miss that, but the feeling of sadness soon faded and was quickly replaced by a feeling of anticipation. This had been an experience that I wouldn’t soon forget. The good things I would try to remember, hopefully the bad would fade from my mind within a few days.
It had been nice in many ways, but I also knew that it was time to move on. If I intended to find my future and if there was anything left of the world, I needed to do it now. I didn’t know how much time I had left in this world, but I did know that I didn’t want to waste any more of it by hanging around here.
Chapter 16
The next morning, I was awakened by the usual sound of people talking and moving around in the courtyard.
When Bear saw me open my eyes, he started to dance around excitedly, apparently sensing that we were doing something different today. I reached out and rubbed his head and he responded by licking my face.
“My old buddy,” I smiled. “Where would I be without you.”
Bear just whined as he sat down and looked at me, waiting for me to give him instructions.
I had always enjoyed Bear’s company, but it had taken the last year’s struggles to really appreciate what a loyal friend he was and had always been. I knew without Bear that I wouldn’t be here today. It’s just too bad that it had taken the end of the world for me to understand how loyal he was. It made me think back and feel sad to realize that all the stray animals that had roamed my old neighborhood were probably no different than Bear, just wanting to be loved and in return would have devoted their lives to their owners. But in Bear’s case, I didn’t consider myself to be his owner, he was my one true friend.
In today’s world I couldn’t offer or ask for anything more, but as far as Bear was concerned, thankfully it was enough.
When I heard the morning meeting start, I decided to go over and say my goodbyes. I knew Charlie would be happy to see me go, but there were a few others that I owed it to them to say thanks and tell them goodbye. I’m sure Ken and Dave would not be allowed to dig anymore tunnels once I was gone, but knowing those two, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear in the future that they decided to dig a few secret tunnels on their own.
Barry and Albert wouldn’t be making any more obstacle courses for the dead, and they probably have no desire to do it on their own anyhow, but I wanted to thank them for their efforts and wish them well.
As I approached the group, I heard them voting on something, I didn’t hear what it was, but of course the vote was unanimous.
