How strange it was to be back after so long trying to forget.
“What's the game plan?” Andrea asked.
“I'm sorry?” Kell said, shaking off the flood of recollections.
She pointed to a map unfolded in front of her, perched against the steering wheel. “Who'd have thought these things would come in handy, right? I never looked back once I had a smartphone. What I was asking, before you drifted off into another emo trance, was what route we should take through the city.”
Kell looked down at the map, putting images to the lifeless lines. “It's better if we cut west around the city. We need to be on 71 in Kentucky if we want to keep on the trade route. We'll take 75. It's what the traders have been using, though it comes closer to the surface streets than I'd like.”
“How bad was the city?” Andrea asked. “You sound like you're at a funeral.”
“It was a nightmare,” Kell said. “I spent months moving through it two or three times a week. At first the zombies were so thick, this being ground-zero, that I had to avoid entire neighborhoods. Crashed cars, buildings burned and falling into the streets. One road could look like a civil war was being waged there, and the next one over as if nothing had happened. The National Guard rolled in for a while, but that just made things worse. The best thing would have been to call for an evacuation. Eventually they did, but by then it was too late.”
Kell closed his eyes. “I can point to where my cabin is. I remember walking the streets wearing that cloak, covered in gore to mask my scent. I spent days at a time in the library and at campus. I learned so much, lost myself in researching everything I could think of to survive.”
His eyes opened. “Then I'd walk back out in it. Smell the soot and death, fight the zombies who saw through my disguise, have to see the bones of thousands. Every time it was the same. And do you know in all those months I never went back to my own home? Didn't go back to where they died, either. I couldn't.”
Andrea started the truck. “We can go back, if you want. We're not on a schedule. You could grab a photo album or something.”
The old wound was torn open, raw, but Kell shook his head. “No. I'm ready to leave this nightmare behind for good.”
“Orange, again,” Evan said, having resumed his post riding shotgun.
Kell had spotted it at the same time, their experience with the car reminding him to look for signs. This time it was literal; a road sign held a small symbol, one that told them to take this exit. It was a tag used to imply life-or-death, and the only people that could have used it were his friends.
“Take this exit,” he told Andrea. “Go down the ramp slowly, there should be more directions.”
“But the 71/75 split is only a little way ahead,” she protested.
“I know, but if Kate and Laura left this, it was important.”
Andrea complied with minimal grumping. At the base of the off-ramp another symbol pointed them east, which led them under the overpass. A third directed them to a massive truck stop where, hidden from view of the highway on the eastern side of the building, was a sight that made his heart grow three sizes that day.
It was the RV. His RV.
Sitting in the passenger side with the door open was Laura. She was reading a book. Probably one of the infinite number of James Patterson novels he found everywhere. Though it took him a few seconds to see her, Kate was sighting at him through an absurdly large rifle scope from the roof of the RV. Laura didn't look up at the sound of crunching gravel, only finally putting her book down with an exaggeratedly annoyed motion when Kell threw open the door and ran to her.
Laura jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and raining kisses onto his cheek. “You complete bastard,” she said, squeezing his neck until his eyes bulged. “We were starting to worry you were dead.”
Setting her on the ground, Kell raised an eyebrow. “It hasn't even been a week,” he said. “How did you think I was going to travel 350 miles so fast?”
From above them, Kate chimed in. “You're resourceful. We figured you'd be here in two or three days, tops.” She handed the rifle down and slid her legs off the roof, landing gracefully on the gravel. “So is that what took you so long? Had to take time out to rescue some puppies?”
Andrea and the kids stood a few paces away. Michelle looked deeply suspicious while Andrea was only guarded. Evan was squinting at the RV curiously. “Smaller than ours,” he said.
Kell motioned his new friends toward the old, introducing them. When the hand-shaking was done, he turned to Kate. “I didn't save them. They saved me. In fact, Andrea infiltrated an enemy camp in the dead of night and freed me from captivity while avoiding men who wanted to kill her and zombies wanting to eat her.”
Andrea, to his astonishment, blushed. “Come on, Kell, when you say it like that it makes me sound awesome. Then again, I guess I kind of am. So that's fine.”
He laughed, joyful at the sudden reunion. Snatching Michelle into his arms and resting her on his hip, he stage-whispered in her ear. “Your mom is very humble.”
“I don't know what that means, Kell.”
Clearing her throat, Laura said, “I can't help but notice these fine ladies are using your name. Did you fill them in?”
Feeling oddly as if he'd cheated on them, he nodded. Michelle slid down his side but stood leaning on him, one tiny fist tangled in his belt. “Yeah, I did,” he said. “A lot has happened since we split up. We need to sit and talk.”
Laura opened the door to the living compartment. “We do. You tell us yours, and we'll tell you ours.”
“I don't like your tone of voice,” Kell said. “Is something wrong?”
Laura grimaced and brushed a wayward red lock out of her face. “Given the truck you arrived in, I think your news and our news might be related.”
“We made it to Frankfort safely, which was when we found out about these strangers on the road.”
The adults sat in the dining nook of the RV, crammed into the small booth. Laura explained the situation to them while Michelle and Evan sat in the front, idly playing a hand-slapping game.
“The crazy thing is, we even passed them on the road. Didn't think much of it, the people in the truck you stole just pulled over while the convoy went by. Didn't wave, left their windows up. We were cautious but they didn't do anything but sit there, so we figured them for traders. Then we get to New Haven and talk to the man in charge. Will something or other. He asks us if we've seen anything on the road, we tell him about the yellow SUV, and he swears us to secrecy. Turns out his scouts have been watching these people for a month, maybe longer.”
Laura took a sip of water. “At first they don't seem like much. A few odd shipments here, hunting camps there. They don't get close to New Haven and aren't causing problems, so he files it away as just another group. Then a small community to the southwest of New Haven gets wiped off the map. Hidden supply caches in outlying communities all over the south and southwest get picked clean. The little town that refines gas for New Haven and the communities they trade with? Their fuel shipments get hit.”
Andrea leaned in, hands against her chin. “And Will thinks these things are all related.”
Laura nodded. “They appear to be. There is a lot of guesswork here, but they appear to be working with a large group. No one knows where they're based, and since that week-long wave of attacks everything has been quiet. Except for one thing, which is the radio chatter we picked up on our way back up here. Whoever you took that truck from didn't make it back, and all hell broke loose. The people in charge figured you were headed for New Haven, it being the biggest settlement anywhere close to here. They set up an ambush at the split. Thirty seconds after you hit 71, you'd have been under attack.”
“Damn,” Kell said. “So what do we do?”
“We take another route,” Kate said. “Whoever these people are, they're pissed and they're packing serious gear. Laura and I left New Haven about six hours after we got there. The way w
e traveled is a back route New Haven keeps maintained for their scouts. It takes a lot of back roads and we'll have to circle around quite a bit, but it'll get us home.”
“What do you think?” Kell asked Andrea. “Sounds dangerous. You still want to come along?”
She nodded. “I'll follow in the truck. Don't suppose you have a two-way radio we could use, do you?”
Laura grinned, slapping Kell on the arm with the back of her hand. “I like her! What is it with you making friends with women smarter than you are?”
Kell shrugged. “Lucky, I guess.”
“We'll need to leave as soon as possible,” Kate said. “The longer we wait, the more the people manning that ambush are going to wonder where you are. We do not want them to come looking. As it is, we'll be passing close enough that they may hear our engines. If it gets down to a chase, you and Andrea will need to have a map of the route we'll take. I've got a copy for you.”
Kell was taken aback. “What do you mean, me and Andrea? I'm going to ride with you guys.”
“No,” Kate said. “If we get chased, this thing is going to be a death trap. There's no way we can outrun or outmaneuver an elephant, much less another vehicle. If things go bad you need to be in the smaller vehicle. It'll have the best chance to get to safety.”
“I don't get a say in this at all, then?” Kell asked, his voice heated.
Laura shrugged. “You can argue. If you want to fight about it, Kate will knock you out, I'll tie you up, and between the three of us we should be able to lift your big ass and put you into the back of that truck. You're going with Andrea one way or another.”
For her part, Andrea looked torn. Not the kind of emotional turmoil he was hoping for, but he could see the unease at how his friends were treating him clash with—and he knew he was right—an urge to laugh out loud.
With a disgusted sigh, Kell threw his hands up. “Fine. You win.”
The devil was in Kate's smile. “We always do, honey.”
“Your friends are pretty intense,” Andrea said as they sped down the road. “Not a bad thing, I guess, but it was unnerving how much they emphasized us not saying anything to anyone about these people.”
“It makes sense. Don't want to panic the populace, and the more people who know, the more chance the enemy will find out you know about them.”
They followed along in silence for several miles, easily keeping pace with the RV. Every few minutes Laura—who had taken over for Kate manning the rifle, would send an all-clear across the radio. Worst case scenario was firing through the windshield if a threat came along, though for now she only watched ahead through the scope.
“Will she really shoot from inside the cabin?” Andrea asked.
Kell nodded. “But only if she has no other choice. There's a ladder inside leading to the roof hatch. If she has to, she'll tie herself off and shoot from up there. Moving or not.”
Andrea whistled appreciatively. “That's kind of nuts. Where the hell did she learn to shoot like that?”
“She was kind of a nerd,” Kell said with a laugh. “She and Kate grew up together. Married brothers. Kate was always learning how to fight, how to shoot, all that. Laura wanted to but her parents were very against it. So she turns eighteen and goes into the Marines. Spends her leave with Kate, whose favorite pastime was going down to the range. Laura ended up being scary good with a rifle. And most other guns, I suppose.”
Andrea shook her head. “Wish I'd have done the same.”
Kell's eyebrows shot up. “I took you for military, the way you fight and the whole camouflage thing.”
“God, no,” Andrea said. “I worked for a home health agency. Studied some psychology. Did a lot of things, really, but never touched a gun or suffered anything worse than a violent patient before all this.”
Kell leaned back in his seat. “Shouldn't be surprised. I was a lab nerd. No one is a better example of how much the end of the world changes people.”
“Do you really think so?” Andrea asked. “I tend to believe it just showed us who people really are.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. There are bandits out there. A lot of them. Do you think they just lost their minds when everything went bad? I don't. I think the lack of law and a society just gave them free reign to act the way they'd always wanted to. Just like it brought out other qualities in the rest of us. Bravery, toughness, creative thinking. Terrible as it sounds, it's a sort of silver lining to all the craziness.”
He considered that statement. “True enough, as far as it goes. Being more self-reliant is small compensation for children having to grow up in a world without proper medical care, any sort of comforts like electricity, and having to learn to defend themselves from bloodthirsty monsters.”
Andrea punched him in the arm. Really hard.
“Hey,” he said, trying to duck away from a second punch. “What was that for?”
“I could almost hear you blaming yourself. Call it negative reinforcement. You do that, I'm gonna punch you.”
Which made him shut up for a while. That only lasted until they ran right into the second ambush.
Fifteen
The radio crackled. “There are vehicles hidden in brush about an eighth of a mile ahead,” Laura said. “We have two roads we can turn off on, but no idea where they go. It's risky. No way to gauge the strength of the enemy, but I spotted at least one sniper. Not a professional, but it means there are probably several I didn't see.”
Kell keyed the radio. “What's the plan?”
“Running seems like the best option,” Laura said. “We're slowing down enough that they're going to realize something is up. I think we have to take the second road. Make it look like we're just looking for the right turn. Might buy us an extra few seconds.”
Andrea grabbed the radio. “Laura, can you hit the shooter you can see?”
A brief pause. “Yeah, when we get closer I can. Probably when we start to take the turn. But the rest of them will know we're aware of them.”
“Do it,” Andrea said. “Even if you miss him, it might make them think twice about following us. Slow them down.”
Another pause. “I won't miss.”
Kate slowed the RV down to a crawl, moving into the middle of the road as she took the turn wide. The hatch was a sliding piece of plastic, the original hinged cover removed. It gave Laura an extra second of surprise as she popped up through the roof, took aim, and fired off a volley of shots loud enough that Kell's ears rang with them forty feet away and behind glass.
The ambush was close enough for him to see the spray of blood, an indistinct smear of red across the withered bushes. There was movement as hidden enemies ducked and dove, and flashes of light and sound as others returned fire. Laura dropped into the RV like a stone, a bolt of fear shooting through him.
Then the front end of the RV dropped several inches. One of the tires must have been hit. Kate gunned the engine, causing the huge vehicle to tilt as she powered through the turn. Andrea kept close behind, the dust from the unused road billowing across the SUV in an obscuring cloud.
The RV shot down the country road at a terrifying speed, oscillating back and forth as the ruined tire quickly shredded against the ground. Pieces of it slapped against their vehicle as they were run over, causing Andrea to slow down and create some distance between them. It was lucky; a minute later the RV screeched to a halt.
“Road's blocked,” Laura said over the radio. “We're trapped.”
Kell didn't hesitate. He turned in his seat to face the kids, both terrified. “Michelle, take your brother and run past whatever is blocking the road. You run and don't stop until you find somewhere safe. Climb a tree, find a house, just hide and don't come out until we find you.”
He turned to Andrea. “Go with your kids. The three of us will hold them off.”
She shook her head. “You'll need me.”
Kell didn't argue, there wasn't time. “Fine. Get them running. Then grab your g
un and get to the RV. Laura will tell you what to do.”
“Wait, where are you going?” Andrea asked.
“No time, just go!”
Already strapped with his other weapons, Kell pulled his spear from the floorboards and ran into the woods. It wasn't much of a trip; the road was so overgrown that the unkempt foliage bowed out over it. In seconds he was gone, another shadow in the late-afternoon forest.
His cover wasn't as complete as he would have liked. Without his cloak and armor and the painstaking camouflage he'd added to both, it was much harder to blend in with the winter-thin brush and trees. Only the density of the undergrowth kept him hidden, and if there was an observant person among the approaching enemies Kell was screwed.
Crouching next to a tree, Kell set his spear on the crumbling leaves coating the ground. He unhooked the bow folded up on his hip, thankful Kate and Laura remembered to give it to him in the short time he had with them. The limbs extended, hooked the string. Still hunkered low, Kell grabbed the spear with his free hand and hustled through the brush, putting himself (hopefully) behind their pursuers. He wouldn't be much of a flanking force on his own, but any distraction he could provide would help the others.
Seventy-five feet from the back of the RV, he stopped. If the enemy decided to make this a ranged fight with rifles, they were going to be sorely disappointed. Kate and Laura had the RV set up with a dozen modifications for that scenario. Laura would be able to shoot freely.
They didn't. Three vehicles stopped within fifty feet of the RV's rear, a fourth further back, almost right in front of Kell. His view of the front three was obscured, but fear raced with every beat of his heart as he watched the men exiting in front of him. There were three of them, all in military uniforms and with the bearing of soldiers. All three were raising rifles when a voice cut through the air.
The Fall (Book 2): Dead Will Rise Page 15
