These weren’t zombies, then. These had to people that just ‘disappeared’. I added this to the list of offenses these people had to answer for. I wondered what I might find if I went inside one of these buildings.
“Over here.”
I heard the voice and quickly ducked back out of sight. I took Jake’s bow off my shoulder and put an arrow to string. I wasn’t great with it, but I could hit a man-sized target at twenty yards.
“Thought I saw a light.” The voice was young, not at all what I expected a killer to sound like.
“Better be something for you to wake me up.” The second voice was deeper, harder. I figured the owner of that voice to be more likely to cut up the people who came to this place. A second look at the pile of meat, and I wondered if the people were alive when they started cutting.
Two men came around the corner, and I could barely make out any details. One was tall and thin, the other was short and slightly stocky. They were dressed in black, which made their features indistinct in the dim light, but I could see the whiteness of their faces. It looked like two specters of death strolling around it the morning.
“What kind of light was it?” the shorter of the two asked.
“Like a candle or something.”
“Well, there’s nothing here, so knock it off. I’m going back to sleep.” The shorter man turned back towards the buildings. “We might be getting a new batch this evening, so we need to clean up the blades.”
The taller, younger sounding man slumped his shoulders. “Great. She really likes to hear them scream, doesn’t she?”
“Better not say that too loud, or it might be you I’m cutting up next.”
The rest of the conversation drifted off into the darkness, and I released the tension in the bowstring. I could have only got one of them, and getting the other required either shooting him or cutting him down with the tomahawk. Neither action was guaranteed to be successful, so I stayed in the shadows and waited until the sounds of their retreat were distant.
I slipped away, staying in the trees and moving as quietly as I could. I didn’t want to leave potential enemies alive behind me, but I had little choice.
Chapter 52
Half a mile further into the valley, and I came across a road. It went in the direction I wanted to go and looked like it went up and over the mountain. It looked like little more than a trail, but it was well maintained down here, and I was willing to bet it was well maintained all the way over the hills as well. This would make a good escape route if we needed one. I stayed in the trees and followed the road. It went south and curved around a small pond, going past what looked like an estate.
A large, two story home sat apart from four out buildings. A huge barn north of the house sat in the middle of pasture and corrals. A large black vehicle sat in front of the main house, and everything seemed still in the morning air. If I had to guess, this might be where the leader of the Clan lived. I guess she liked being near enough to the sawmill to hear the screams off her porch. I had a sudden urge to send an arrow into her yard, just to give them something to think about, but then good sense overcame my impulse, and I decided against it.
The sun was beginning its rise, and the valley was filling with light. Pretty soon I was going to either make my presence known or stay hidden in the hills. I ducked back into the trees and moved away from the house and barn. If there were horses there, they would smell me and set up enough noise to get someone investigating.
About an hour later I was up in the hills, about a hundred yards from the bottom. I was looking down on a couple of clearly occupied homes. Light showed from two of them, telling me that the valley was waking up. I needed to get moving, and quickly. From my vantage point, I could see the town of Wallowa, and from what Sheriff Conners told us, that was where the hunters trained and lived. No one who was ever taken there as a prisoner was ever seen again. I didn’t doubt there was an express line from the town to the sawmill.
Suddenly, from where I was sitting, I could see a lot of activity. Cars were driving around, and there was a lot of movement. I couldn’t see everything, but there was definitely activity. I needed to get further out of sight. A quarter mile south I came across a canyon and used the opportunity to get up the hills in a hurry. A huge pile of fallen trees blocked the access to the canyon, so I knew it wasn’t used for anything but keeping people out, or in this case, in.
The sun was a good piece over the far hills when I finally started to descend the ridge. I came through the trees at another road, and this one had been blocked as well. I was beginning to think that all of the exits out of this valley save for one were blocked. But I caught a piece of luck right when I wasn’t looking for it. Power lines had been strung through this area, and the towers were set well back in the trees. I could move quickly without being seen, and there wouldn’t be much outside of tall grass to get in the way. I checked my gear for anything that would rattle, and I stuffed a cloth into the quiver to keep the arrows from rattling around.
I fairly ran down the grassy lane, skirting around an open area across the way from several large farms. The lane ended at the foot of several hills, and to the south were some serious mountains that I had no thought of climbing. I knew there was a road to the east, and decided to head that way. If I was a traveler, it made sense to go where the people were.
As I stepped out into the open area, a voice behind me made me spin around, drawing the arrow back to my ear. I released the tension and put the bow on the ground, raising my hands.
Chapter 53
“You look a little lost.” The owner of the voice was a man about forty years of age, thin and slightly grey at the temples. He was dressed in black, with strips of green sewn onto his clothes. The effect made him nearly invisible against the shadows and the trees. He was also holding a large rifle, which was pointed right at me. At that range, I’d be killed instantly.
“I am,” I said, holding my hands up. “Where am I?”
“All I’m going to tell you is you’re in Oregon. Was that where you were headed?” The man’s eyes never wavered, and his rifle remained steady.
I shook my head. “I was trying to get to Idaho, maybe get to Wyoming or beyond.”
The man lowered the rifle, but kept it pointed at my middle. “Well, you’re out of luck there. Everything outside of this valley is dead and gone. We’re all that’s left. You may as well come with me. You’re big enough that we can find a use for you.”
I picked up the bow again, putting the arrow away and slinging the bow across my back. The man relaxed a bit more when he thought I wasn’t going to use it, but he insisted on taking my pistol. I guess he didn’t think my tomahawk was much of a threat.
We walked for a while, and as we did, the man filled me in on the goings in the valley. He was a bit of a talker, and I gave him an audience. He told me about how things had gone bad, they had found this place and turned it into the paradise that it was. Everyone got along, everyone contributed, and it was all thanks to the vision of the Magistrate.
When I asked about the Magistrate, he told me a few things I didn’t know, like she was a woman that had survived the Upheaval, brought a few people together, and they founded this town. She was some politician before the zombies came, which made her a natural to run things. He was just a carpenter before the zombies, but he had liked to hunt, so she made him a tracker and hunter for food. That was why he was out in the woods, and me running by him startled the hell out of him.
“Nearly shot you there at first,” the man said. “But then I realized that elk don’t walk upright or carry backpacks.”
We moved on in silence for a while, and I was curious as to why he had never asked me my name or offered his. It was a small thing, but I did notice it as strange.
As we walked, I saw dozens of people out in fields tending to crops and harvesting what could be eaten. Some of the people looked up as we passed, but quickly looked down again when they saw my walking companion. I could feel e
yes on my back as we went by, curious eyes, but by no means hopeful.
Several homes and homesteads were visible, and all were in decent shape. In better times, these people would have had a great thing going if it wasn’t for the people in charge. I chuckled to myself when I thought about how often my father had said the same thing about the old political system he knew before the world went dark.
A truck came rumbling in, and we stepped aside to let it pass. The driver slowed down, and I could see he was dressed similarly to my captor, only he wore a green stripe on his chest instead of patches of it.
“Give you a lift, Trapper?” the man said, looking me over.
“That would be kind of you, thank you.” The Trapper waved me over to the bed of the truck, and we hopped in. There was a moment when the Trapper’s head was down that I could have taken him, but I didn’t feel like opening the ball just yet. Right now I was harmless, just passing through, and if they wanted to believe that still, I wasn’t going to argue.
We drove along the road, bouncing around with the vegetables and the wheat. The road followed the river again for a bit, and there were some impressive cliffs directly to our left. I saw one group of people moving a pile of rocks out of the road under the supervision of a man wearing black with a grey stripe across his back. I began to think that people with some sort of authority wore black and a corresponding color to their responsibility. I did see that the people working wore any color but black.
We passed a small house on the outskirts of town, and it looked like it was abandoned. It may have been a business once upon a time, since no one would build a house that close to the road when there was ample space all around. As we passed by, I looked back. For a second I thought I saw a face in one of the windows, but when I looked again it was gone.
“What was that building?” I asked my host.
“Used to be a veterinary clinic,” he replied. “Not much use for it these days. No one has any pets. Too bad, really. They were delicious!” He laughed at his own joke and then fell silent again, watching the land roll by. As we moved closer in, I could see more and more houses in the valley. The hills had a few homes, but they had tall watchtowers built next to them. I asked about the towers, and my host got serious.
“You may want to save your questions for the Boss. He’ll set you straight, no worries.” The man known as a Trapper looked me square in the eye and under other circumstances I may have pushed the issue, but I needed to know what was going on in this place and what I planned to do about it.
One of the things that occurred to me was that these people had a system they were used to living under. If we took that system apart, would it all come crashing down? Would I just create a system of people fighting each other to survive, rather than working together, forced as it may be? For all the faults of the Clan, they did run things pretty efficiently. The roads were clear and the crops yielded enough food. I could see in the distance little black dots that moved along at a slow pace. It looked like these people had managed to raise a few herds of cattle and possibly sheep.
We turned a corner and suddenly we were in town. Enterprise looked like any other town I had been to. There were stores, shops, gas stations, and businesses like any place else. Only difference was here there was no one in any of them. Every single place was empty of people. I could see items on the shelves, but no one was even minding the store. It was if they all had been called away for some reason.
The Trapper noticed it, too, and thumped on the side of the truck to get it to stop. He got out, and I followed. He went up to the cab and asked the driver where everyone was.
“You were busy, so you didn’t hear the call. Everyone is over at the arena,” the man said.
“What happened? I was busy with this guy coming over the south ridge,” Trapper said.
“Guess somebody got in, caused a ruckus, killed a Guard.” The man smiled. “This may be a little more interesting than the last one. Maybe they’ll let a hunter out.”
“Man, that would be something. Those guys are crazy.” The Trapper turned to me. “Let’s go see what this is about. You didn’t have any appointments, did you?” He cackled at his own joke, then led me down a street. I didn’t’ know what else to do, but I was formulating a plan. There was a enough cover around here to make an escape, and I could easily slip away before my captor could get a shot off.
The Trapper must have thought the same thing, because he suddenly stepped behind me and poked my back with the rifle. “You head in, straightaway, and we’ll see what we can see. “
I didn’t argue, since I still had my knife and tomahawk. I kind of wanted to see what was going on, anyway. If there was another person causing problems, great. That would make me more innocent by comparison. Or at least, less guilty.
Chapter 54
We followed the road, and eventually reached a cleared space in the middle of the homes. It was shaped like a small oval, and had a set of bleachers erected on the other side. A fence ran all around the area, and there were more bleachers on this side, only less of them. There was a low building on the other side as well, and the floor of the arena was just grass. There was a small road that encircled the grassy area, and that road sparkled in the morning sun. As we got closer, I saw that the sparkle was caused by sunlight reflecting off the water condensing on thousands of spikes set into the small roadway. Each spike had to be six to eight inches long, and anyone stepping onto that would immediately regret their mistake. Anyone falling onto that would likely be killed.
A box was set up next to the fence, and a man dressed in black stood on top of it, holding a rope. Something was in that box, since every once in a while the box would shake.
On the other side of the area another box was waiting, but that one didn’t have anyone on top of it. The bleachers were filled to capacity, and every single person sat silently. A man stood on a balcony on top of the small building, and he spoke out over the crowd. He was a big man, dressed all in black, with two golden armbands breaking up the monotony of his uniform.
“Citizens of Enterprise! We have rare entertainment for you this morning! An intruder was captured trying to steal from one of our storehouses. During his apprehension, he killed a Guard.” There was a collective intake of breath from the people of Enterprise that I could hear even across the street. We stood alone on the far side, just me and my Trapper.
“The penalty for such is death!” The man with the armbands continued. “Rather than a simple execution, the Magistrate has decreed that this man face public execution in the arena!”
The man clearly enjoyed what he was doing, and the crowd gave him a small round of applause for his efforts. I looked at the faces, and none of them seemed to want to be there. It was if they had seen this sort of thing many times and were going to be forced to endure another. I had a few questions, though.
“Who is that guy?” I asked, pointing to the man with the golden arms.
“That’s the Boss. He’s the one that runs things around here for the Magistrate,” Trapper answered, his eyes on the arena.
“Where’s the Magistrate?” I asked.
“She spends a lot of her time at the school for the kids, making sure they turn out right, become useful.”
“What if they don’t?” I asked, wondering about the sawmill.
“Then they get re-educated in other ways, and we find a use for them,” Trapper said. “Some of them have become hunters.”
“What’s a hunter? Do they go after game like deer?” I asked innocently.
“They do, but sometimes they go after other prey. They never come back empty handed. They always get their kill,” he said. “Shush, now! Here comes the show.”
I looked, and the man on the balcony raised his hand to the man out on the box. The man waved back and pulled hard on the rope, opening the box he was standing on. Out of the box shuffled a huge zombie. He had to be over six feet tall, with long arms and sloping shoulders. He took stumbling steps through the spikes, i
mpaling his feet several times, and then a few steps onto the grass as it looked around. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise as I guessed what was going to come out of the other box.
The door to the box was opened, and out walked a shorter man. I couldn’t see his face from where I was, but he was thin and seemed to move well, his movements fluid and light. He didn’t waste any time, he just walked out onto the grass. The zombie saw him immediately and focused in for stalking him. The Boss threw something over the balcony and onto the grass. The man walked over to it, seemingly unconcerned about the zombie that was advancing towards him. He picked up the object, and I could see that it was a simple knife.
“Not very fair,” I said absently. I had no ability to interfere, so I was stuck watching.
“No, usually they get an axe or something,” Trapper said. “They must really hate this guy.”
For some reason that set off a warning bell in my mind. I looked closely at the man, but his face was away from me. He walked along the edge of the road, keeping an eye on the zombie. For his part, the zombie followed along faithfully, like a dog after his master. The crowd watched intently, wondering as I did what was going to happen. The man just kept walking, and the zombie just kept following. If the plan was to wear out the zombie, he had a long walk ahead of him.
When the man was almost in front of the box that held the zombie, he suddenly stopped and waited. The ghoul, for his part, kept moving along at a steady pace. Just as he was about to grab him, the man suddenly ducked, stepped to the side and shoved the zombie in the hip with his foot. The zombie fell over like a tree, toppling into the road and impaling itself on the spikes. Several of the points had penetrated the zombie’s skull, killing him where he fell.
There was stunned silence that the man on the grass took full advantage of. Whipping his hand forward, the guard on the box suddenly toppled over, his left eye having sprouted a knife hilt. The man used the zombie body as a bridge to cross the spikes. Swinging himself up into the box, he jumped down over the fence and ran away from the arena, straight towards us!
Generation Dead (Book 3): Beyond The Gates Page 19
