The Rising of the Dead

by Lindsey Rivers

  ~

  The radio crackled to life a little over an hour later.

  "You there?” The first voice asked.

  “Yeah,” the second voice replied.

  “What do you figure to do if we do team up with you? What I mean is, who gets what? Like the cave… them women?” the first voice asked.

  “What I understand, it’s a big cave. We could share it, I guess,” the second voice said.

  “No… Can’t do that. That’s like making us all one people. My people are my people. We got the North side sewn up. You can have the cave. We got something over here. But, let’s say you get the cave… Should be a better split for us on the women, is what I’m thinking... See?” the first voice asked.

  “…That sounds fair. But, we don’t know how many there is,” the second voice said.

  “Don’t need to. We only need to know the split. First off, we get the first three picks… Then… Let’s say there’s twelve women, we get eight you get four,” the first voice said.

  “Sure… Sure… When pigs fly. I was born in the day time, but it wasn’t yesterday, you know what I mean? … No… Listen… You get the first two picks. If it’s twelve we go fifty, fifty, like that, ‘cause you know you’re gonna take the best looking bitches anyway. You know it, so do I. Probably there’ll be six ugly or old ones and we’ll get stuck. You wouldn’t want them anyway. This way it’s fairer. And it ain’t like the cave’s an issue. You said you don’t want it,” the second voice said.

  The radio hissed static.

  “When,” the first voice asked?

  The other voice laughed. “That’s good… What say we get together tomorrow... Early… Talk out what to do and how to do it?” the second voice said.

  “Okay… Peace out,” the first voice said.

  “Peace out,” The second voice repeated.

  Bob and Mike looked at each other.

  “That’s that,” Mike said.

  “Yeah,” Bob said.

  Mike stood, “I’m going to make the walk, let everyone know.”

  “Everything they said? About… About the women too?” Bob asked.

  “… Yeah,” Mike decided. “Everything. About the women too. Everyone’s in it. They should all know the truth,” Mike finished as he began to walk to the front entrance.

  “Okay,” Bob said softly.

  Mike walked off into the darkness.

  ~ March 25th ~

  It was three hours before dawn. Everyone except Kate, Ronnie and Tom were up and gathered in the cave. The three of them were still at their posts, but Mike had talked to them earlier. They knew what this conversation would be about. Mike had also spoken to Bob, and Bob and Tom had spent part of the night finishing the work on the remaining four trucks, three pickups, one other Suburban. Now everyone was waiting quietly for Mike to speak.

  “We’ve decided what to do. When I say we, I mean all of us. I’ve been around and talked to everyone. I listened to every idea that came at me. I know you look to me to lead, and I do, but this is not a decision I could make on my own. It affects all of us too much.”

  “If you noticed that Kate, Ronnie and Tom weren’t here, be assured I got their feedback and opinions, and it weighed into the decision. Here’s what we’ve decided to do...”

  They listened while Mike spoke, and when he was finished, there were no questions. Mike had thought there might be. There were also no dissenters... at least no vocal dissenters. If anyone thought it was a bad idea, they kept it to themselves.

  “Alright then,” Mike concluded. “Let’s go get them.”

  Everyone had a job to do, and they got to it. They talked to one another in subdued tones as they did.

  ~ Overheard on C.B. Channel Eighteen ~

  “They’re moving,” the first voice said.

  “Check… uh…Check,” The second voice said.

  “Looks like… Two Jimmies or Chevy Suburbans… Two people in each one… Looks like they’re heading back out… Back out Washington Street… … Lost them, they… …Shit… Okay… Okay, got them… That’s four; two pickups coming by also. Okay… That’s me… Six will pick them up in a little…”

  “Uh, yeah, good… Anything yet, Six? Look like they’re up to

  anything?”

  “Still waitin’,” Six replied.

  “Um hmm… …”

  “... Six... Yeah, um, okay this is Six... Two and two... Nope. Looks like they’re going out to the dealerships… Maybe... I don’t see nothin’ funny… Looks legit.”

  “Yeah. I read you, but two and two and another two and two… So eight… Eight out of thirty, thirty five? What kind of sense does that make? Does it make any kinda sense?”

  “Naw. It don’t… Maybe, though, they just want more a them batteries…?”

  “Okay… Eight? … Eight?”

  “Yeah… I hear them but I don’t see them yet.”

  “Okay Eight… Just let me know. Uh… Keep advised.”

  …a few minutes later…

  “Uh base this’s Eight… Just passed me… Blew by the boat place and went right up the hill… We ain’t got nobody out there.”

  “I know that… Don’t matter. Just watch for them to come back…”

  “Uh base this’s one.”

  “Yeah, one?”

  “Holy shit this’s good… Go to channel ten… They’re talking on channel Ten, Base.”

  ~ Overheard on C.B. Channel Ten ~

  “Well… Just keep your eyes open while you’re going,” Bob said. “Those guys could be anywhere, anywhere at all.”

  “Got you… Listen… You care what kind of trucks we get?” Mike Asked.

  “He said he don’t care. Just pickups. Trucks is trucks. Those Suburbans are too hard to handle bringing stuff back…. What ever runs, I guess,” Bob said.

  “Got you," Mike Agreed.

  ~ Overheard on C.B. Channel Eighteen ~

  “Okay… Okay, good One, good… You guys watch for them to come back… Sounds like they’re just swapping out trucks. I could see where those bigger Suburbans could be a pain in the ass, I suppose… Let me know when they’re on the way back again… I’ll monitor them here too… Base out.”

  “One, got you.”

  “Six standing by.”

  Base clicked once to acknowledge both.

  ~ Overheard on the VHF Band Radio ~

  “Okay,” Mike said, “We’re here … We’ll be coming back at you in about a half hour with two pickups… Is everything okay back there?”

  “Seen nothing at all,” Bob said. “Like there’s nothing going on.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Mike said. “I’m standing by… Switching to the hand held.”

  “Okay,” Bob said. “I’m here when you need me.”

  ~

  Mike pulled the trucks off the pavement and headed towards the tree line about three hundred yards behind the dealership they had chosen. There were many game trails, snow mobile trails and off road tracks that cut through the woods at random. Some of them were well used off road trails that had been established for years.

  He found a trail that would be easy to locate again from the dealerships rear lot, and nosed the Suburban down the trail and out of easy sight from the tree line. He drove about a quarter mile down the trail and pulled the suburban off to one side. The second Suburban coasted to a stop behind him and shut down. Nell, Patty and Molly climbed out of the Suburbans along with Mike.

  “Let’s go,” Mike said as he started back down the trail at a trot. “We’ve got to find two more Suburbans and then two more pickups. And we can’t take too long, they’ll get suspicious.”

  The others fell in behind him as he made his way back down the trail to the dealership.

  Finding two pickup trucks was easy; finding two more white suburbans was not so easy. They settled for a white one and a light gray one. Mike and Patty pulled the two trucks to the rear of the lot, side by side; took the keys they had located inside the dealership and tosse
d them into the nearby field. If anyone came checking, it would look like the two suburban’s they had driven out from the caves and abandoned. Mike paused, took one of the hand held VHF radios from his belt and keyed the mic. Button. ”Ninety nine," he called.

  Tim’s voice came back. “We’re fine,” he said.

  “Hang tight,” Mike told him.

  “Okay,” Tim answered.

  Mike re-clasped the radio to his belt and he and Patty hurried over to the pickup trucks where they idled waiting for them. A few minutes later they were making their way back down the hill into Watertown.

  ~

  The posts observed the trucks on their way back into Watertown. The groups in the pickups were unable to hear them on the way back, but Mike heard from Bob who was keeping track of the conversations concerning them from the front seat of one of the pickup trucks parked outside of the cave.

  There were no problems, and they pulled back past the two truck blockade and onto the front asphalt area that fronted the cave and shut down the newly acquired pickup trucks. Mike walked over to Bob.

  “And then there were seven,” Mike said and smiled.

  “And then there were seven,” Bob Agreed.

  Twenty five minutes later, the remaining suburban rolled off the end of Old River Road. Behind it the two pickup trucks re-blocked the road. Mike pulled away from the mouth of the road and headed into the square, around the traffic circle with its cracked and missing pavement, and headed out of the square onto Washington Street.

  ~ Overheard on C.B. Channel Eighteen ~

  “Uh, Base…?”

  “Go.”

  “Uh, Base. They’re at it again… And they’re talking again too… You copy?”

  “Yeah… I got it… We’re listening… Stand by One… You also Six.”

  “One clear,” One said. “I mean standing by…”

  “Six standing by,” Six said.

  ~ Overheard on C.B. radio Channel Ten ~

  “… Okay… One more new pickup coming up,” Mike said.

  “Okay. Everything back here is good… Nothing going on,” Bob said.

  “All the lookouts too?” Mike asked.

  “Quiet,” Bob repeated. “We’ve seen nothing all day.”

  “Okay… I’m heading out Washington… I’ll be standing by.”

  “Four,” Bob said.

  ~ Overheard on C.B. Channel Eighteen ~

  “You North side boys there?” Base asked.

  “You know we are,” a voice replied.

  “It’s business as usual for them, looks like,” Base told them.

  “You been watching them?”

  “Yeah… They’re just swapping trucks… Something easier to get around in,” Base answered.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Suburbans or Jimmies… Ditching them for pickup trucks. Earlier four went out, four came back. This time two went… Two will come back.”

  “So… Tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow,” Base affirmed.

  ~

  Mike keyed the mic. on his VHF unit. “Okay. We’re here.” He said. “Give me a little time to find something that’s not all smashed to hell and back,” he said.

  Bob keyed his own mic. “Got you… everything’s good back here.”

  ~ Over heard on C.B. Channel Ten ~

  “Okay… Got a good one… We’re going to head back, but we’re going to cut cross country… Come back Massey Street or maybe Coffeen. See how everything is there. Might be something out that way we can use,” Mike said.

  “… Okay… Base standing by.”

  … A few minutes later…

  “One check in,” Bob called.

  “One here… Nothing… All clear,” Kate said.

  “Two?” Bob asked.

  “Two clear… Dead here,” Ronnie said.

  “Three check in.”

  “All clear here too. Has been all day,” Tom said.

  “Base standing by,” Bob said.

  … About a half hour later …

  “Coming in the back door, Base,” Mike said.

  “Be careful of that section; it’s not stable,” Bob warned.

  “Already past it… At the front door,” Mike called.

  “Base standing by.”

  Silence on C.B. Channel ten...

  ~Overheard on C.B. Channel Eighteen ~

  “They’re back,” One called.

  “Good… What’s all that coming in the back way shit? … Had me worried,” Base said.

  “Well, they’re back,” One repeated.

  “You see them?” Base asked.

  “Of course not… We ain’t got nobody where they went… But… You heard them same as we did… Right?”

  “Right… Right… Just called their posts again… Little while back. … Listen… Keep your eyes and ears open, okay? … You heard… We’re taking them in the morning… I was just concerned they’d be out getting more weapons, people, something, but they’re just gonna sit there and wait for us I guess.”

  “Well… Maybe they think they can get away with what they did to us,” One said.

  “Yeah… Well, they got a surprise coming if they think that,” Base said. “Come tomorrow… Anyway… You hear something you let me know… Base standing by, One.”

  “One clear... Shit… Standing by, Base... Goddammit You know what I mean.”

  Base laughed. “I hear you.”

  ~

  Mike sat in the suburban as it idled behind the dealership listening to the exchange on channel eighteen. When they signed off, Mike hit the power button on the hand held C.B. and turned it off. He looked over at Bob sitting in the passenger seat holding his own C.B.

  “I guess that’s that,” Bob said. He switched his own unit off.

  ”Okay folks.” Mike turned to the back of the Suburban. “All clear. Looks like they bought it. Let’s go. We got stuff to do.

  Nell, Patty, Kate and Molly popped their heads out from under a tarp in the back, climbed over the seat back and stepped down onto the parking lot.

  “There are three G.M.C's with the keys in them over on the other side of that garage.” Mike pointed. “Keys are under the mats... didn’t want to make it too obvious,” Mike finished.

  Kate and Nell stayed behind. The other three were back with the three G.M.C’s a few minutes later. Lining up behind Mike's own.

  Mike looked around the field once, dropped his own truck

  into drive, rolled off the broken pavement onto the grass and dirt and headed towards the trail hidden at the tree line. The three pickups followed behind him.

  ~ Earlier that day: The cave before sunrise ~

  Mike looked around. Everyone was quietly waiting for him to speak.

  “Here’s what we’ve decided to do. They’re going to come for us… Some of you have heard that because you were listening in when they discussed it. They’ve decided they want the cave… and more… And some of us have discussed that.” Mike didn’t think it bore repeating with the two children there and listening to every word that he said. And there was no place to put them where they wouldn’t hear.

  “This is their fight. Those two groups of men will fight it out. They each want to control this area, and us too.” He paused.

  The silence held in the cave until Mike began to speak once more.

  “So… Do we fight? It’s not our fight. It’s their fight. And, we already decided we were going to leave the cave in just a week or two anyway, so there’s nothing to fight for. I can’t see any of us getting hurt… Or worse… And all for something we don’t even want… Didn’t ask for.”

  The heads started to nod.

  “We can’t surrender though, and we can’t give up, that’s equally stupid. They’ll hunt us down and kill us… Most of us...” He deliberately didn’t look at anyone, but focused on

  the hanging tarps at the entrance to the cave for a few moments.

  “So, we decided to be as sneaky with them as they’ve tried to be with us. Everyt
hing we need is pretty easy to get on the road. Believe it or not, almost all of you in here right now are going in these two suburban’s, hidden in the back… under tarps of course. We’ll pack some stuff in with you. It’ll be tight, but we’ll be able to do it. We're going to drive out Washington Street and make it look like were going to trade these two Suburbans in. What we’ll really do is run you all out one of those trails where you’ll wait for us to finish setting them up. Ronnie and Tom know about the trails and where you’ll be waiting for us. We’ll leave you there and get two other trucks. Then we’re going to do it one more time. While you wait on us, we’ll go back and get the ones we left behind at the cave…”

  He looked around at the cave. “We’ll leave this place empty… We’ll, empty of people. Oh we’ll pull the trucks back across the highway. Make it look like we’re still here, but we’ll be heading for you.” Mike paused.

  “Lilly, Sandy, you two drive the Suburbans. Tim, You’ll let them know when it’s clear. When Bob calls for Ninety Nine, that’s you. Just answer and go.” Mike waited. Each of the three nodded.

  “Well. That’s the plan. Maybe it seems too simple… Maybe it seems like running. Hell, maybe it even is, but it’s what we got. By the time they wise up, we’ll be long gone… Safe,” Mike finished.

  “Where do we drive to?” Lilly asked.

  “That trail you’ll be on just runs through the back woods,” Mike said. “It comes out by Adams Center near Route Eleven. We have no idea what shape it’s in. We’ll have to wing it. We don’t know if there’s anyone out that way either. Keep the F.M. and the C.B. on as well as the VHF. We’ll be about two hours behind you. Wait for us in the woods at the end of the trail.”

  ~ Present Time ~

  Mike came into a small clearing about an hour later. The two suburbans sat waiting. Everyone gathered around. There were pats on the back, hugs, and more than a few kisses too.

  The C.B.’s and the F.M.’s had remained silent. They had left their own VHF units silent as well; although Mike was convinced that if they had been listening on the VHF channels they would have attacked them already. It wouldn’t have been hard to figure out that they were up to something, if only by the fact that they were talking on the VHF systems. Everyone split up between the trucks. They had bottled water, food supplies, but they would have to pick up other things as they went along. They had not been able to pack anywhere near as much into the trucks as they had wanted to. They would head for Adams Center and hope to pick up some of what they needed there before they moved on to somewhere further along where they would spend their first night.