Survive (Book 1): Salvation

by Veronica Smith

  “What’s M.C. Hammer?” Rick asked, puzzled.

  Chuck shook his head feeling old and everyone in the older generation laughed.

  Each and every one of them had tried to lift his club at one time or another but Chuck was the only one who could easily wield it.

  Not many were able to fall back to sleep after that episode. Some of the kids slept the easy sleep that only a child can. However, Tamar was wide-awake. She sat cross-legged on the ground in front of them, watching them as they slept. Antonio walked hesitantly up to her and asked, tentatively, pointing next to her, “May I?”

  She nodded and he sat down cautiously.

  “I know I thanked you, but I really do appreciate your having my back with that big guy.”

  She looked up at him and he was surprised to see a tear streak down her cheek.

  “What is it?” he asked her, and then bowed his head, thinking he knew the reason. “I know you hate me. Should you have let it live, should you have let it kill me?”

  She shook her head, then tilted it at the sleeping children. “That’s not it. I’ve kept them all safe since we escaped. I know we can all take any cannibal or Z.E.D., especially a Z.E.D., but I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  Antonio nodded in understanding, “If it makes you feel any better, none of us have either. Except Rick. He saw one turn into that a couple years back. But no one has seen one until now.”

  “I was scared for my kids,” she admitted, looking at their sleeping forms fondly. “They are my family; all of them. I brought them along for this mission. If any of them dies it’s on me.”

  “No, it’s not! I thought I had to blame myself every time I lost one of my team. It’s just this world; what it’s become. All life hangs on a thread, or a blade in your case,” he joked, pointing to all her blades, both seen and unseen.

  “It took too many deaths before I realized this,” he went on. “There will always be death. There is no way around it. Most everything in this world wants to kill us, you know.”

  “Or eat us,” Tamar spoke up in disgust.

  “You didn’t force anyone to come,” he replied. “They all wanted to come for the same reason you did. You want to help free innocents and get your revenge on the Z.E.D.s. I want those exact same things. For some of the same reasons—but also for my own reasons.”

  She nodded and wiped her eyes.

  “Try to get a little sleep,” he said. “You still have about an hour. I’ll keep an eye on them.”

  She smiled tiredly and lay down. Antonio stayed next to her until it was time for everyone to get up.

  The kids got up before the others and spread out from the camp. When they returned, they each had a bag with several eggs in them.

  “Breakfast!” Tamar called, waking up the adults, “We brought it, so you can cook it!”

  Susan rubbed her eyes, “I haven’t had eggs in years. Are you sure these are from birds that aren’t infected?”

  Tamar put her hands on her hips and tilted her head as if to say are you kidding?

  “Sorry, forgot who I was talking to,” Susan replied with a grin, “I’ll cook them up. How many we got?”

  After totaling them, they figured that everyone would get one fried egg with two left over. The kids decided that Tamar should get one of them. The other went to Chuck; he was such a big man, he needed it.

  “They should be just over that rise,” Tamar said, pointing to the northeast.

  She was alternately looking at the map and the horizon. Chuck waved over the brothers, Carlos and Rodrigo, “Time for the silent scouts to do their thing.”

  Antonio had told him that the brothers were the quietest scouts he’d ever seen. They’d be able to get to the camp and back without ever being detected.

  “Just verify they’re there, no matter what you see,” Chuck ordered.

  They immediately began emptying all items that clanged, jingled, or clanked from their bodies. They carried only their scouting bags, which contained first aid kits, some jerky, and lighters. Their canteens were filled and they were heavily armed with blades that fit snugly into their sheaths. Within minutes, they were gone.

  “How long do you think it will take them to get there and back?” Chuck asked Tamar.

  “Maybe an hour or two, unless they run into zombies. Also depends on how long they scope out the camp. They look like fast runners,” she replied.

  “Well, I don’t want us sitting out here in the open if one of the ghouls looks over that rise,” Chuck said, looking around to find the best place to make camp while the brothers scouted.

  “If we go back the way we came and turn west for a couple miles, there’s a small group of trees, what we call a forest,” Tamar grinned. “That’s an exaggeration of course. It’s maybe ten or fifteen trees and they’re pretty thin. But if all the vehicles are behind them I don’t think we’d be seen from the rise.”

  Chuck nodded to Antonio who immediately went around to all the others and got them moving to the trees. He then went up to a large rock next to the road and made a series of chips with the edge of his axe. Chuck bent down to look and saw a series of dashes and dots.

  “Morse code?” Chuck asked him.

  “Yeah I know, not really used anymore, which actually is to our advantage,” Antonio replied, chipping another mark on the top so it would be noticed. “I made sure all of my teams knew it. When they get back and see us gone, the first thing they’ll do is look for a message from me.”

  Chuck thought that was brilliant. He never even thought to teach the old code to Cocky. That was going to change as soon as this mission was over.

  They were behind the trees and already getting some dried meat and fish passed out while Steve, Em, and Rick spread out throughout the meager trees. Em and Rick were by a tree at each end and watching both directions of the road. Steve looked up and saw that the tree next to him looked climbable so he whistled for Edd to boost him up. Edd ran up and interlaced his fingers, giving Steve the step up to grab the first limb.

  “Thanks,” he said as Edd saluted and watched him climb higher and higher.

  “Wow!” Steve was awed as he reached the highest branch.

  He stood on it, holding other limbs to keep his balance, the entire tree swayed slightly from his weight. His head barely peeked out over the canopy but he could see for miles.

  “I got line of sight in all directions,” he called down to Edd, who gave him a thumbs-up.

  Since Em and Rick were watching the road and towards the rise, he turned so he had an unencumbered view of the other direction. Too bad trees of this size were in short supply near home. They could easily build small sentry stands in them and see far off. Imagine an eagle eye like Mason Henry in a tree with his binoculars.

  Steve wondered why they didn’t have a tall sentry tower instead of stands along the fence. He was good with his hands, both automotive and woodworking. Maybe he could help them build something when they got home. Home. That was a new thought. Since their home burned, he was afraid they would wander forever. He was happy when Antonio led them to Cocky’s compound. The compound felt like a home in a short time and he would die to protect it and all within it. Suddenly he saw movement in the distance.

  “What the hell?” he wondered aloud as he squinted, “Oh shit!” he swore softly.

  He picked out the landmarks and quickly climbed down.

  “Arms out!” he called as he ran up to Chuck and Antonio. “You’re not going to believe this. Zombie snakes.” Looking at the landmarks, not from the ground level, he pointed directly at the slithering horde.

  “How many?” Antonio asked, looking sick.

  Zombie snakes were the hardest to kill due to their size and movements. Even undead, they were fast and wily. No one could see them yet so they looked around frantically until Steve spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear, “A lot! At least two dozen; all slithering in this direction. Looks like sidewinders by their movement.”

  “We still nee
d the sentries in the front,” Antonio told Steve, “Go tell them what’s going on and boost them up into the trees if they need.”

  Rick was able to climb up on his own but Em needed a boost. They told Steve if they saw anything they would give out two loud whistles. He ran back just as the snakes got close enough to see.

  “Why are they coming straight at us like this?” JJ asked, “Did they smell us or something? Can they feel the ground vibrations?”

  “I think they’re just traveling,” Tamar said, “We’ve seen zombie animals travel together like herds. They pick a direction and just keep going that way. I don’t think they have any clue what they are doing.”

  “They will when they get here,” Chuck grimaced, hefting his hammer, he hated snakes the most of all zombie animals. A snake caused his being captured by cannibals.

  “Everyone ready?” Antonio called out. “Chop the heads off, but remember it can still bite you. If you can crush the head with your boot after, that would be safer.”

  Two of the snakes pulled ahead of the others and made a beeline for the fresh meat.

  “Oh gross!” One of the kids shouted as she saw that the snakes left behind trails of pus as their pustules on their bellies burst in their travels. They had their mouths open and the pus mixed with venom oozed from their fangs, their mouth pustules seen easily on their tongues, which were swollen and thick.

  When two of the vehicles’ engines sounded, they all jumped, startled, but didn’t take their eyes off the threat coming at them fast. JJ and Antonio had jumped in two of the trucks and pulled up next to each other.

  “Wanna drag?” Antonio laughed to him through the open windows.

  “Drag what?” JJ asked, confused.

  Antonio shook his head. God, I am so damned old!

  “Just run their asses over!” he yelled.

  They both gunned it and surged forward. A few snakes had reached everyone but when both trucks drove across, they managed to wipe out almost all of them in one shot. As soon as they passed over them, they pulled over and jumped out. Less than seven snakes remained mobile. The others were doing a great job smashing and chopping the mutant snakes’ heads.

  Everyone looked up at a childish scream. One of the Imperials had chopped off a head and stomped on it to finish it off but wasn’t wearing boots. The soles of his moccasins were worn thin, and a fang broke through and stabbed into the bottom of the boy’s heel.

  “Damn!” Antonio cursed as they ran to the boy, now sitting on the ground, violently tearing off his moccasins.

  The broken fang came off with the worn leather but there was the deadly hole, a single drop of blood welling to the surface. It wasn’t deep but it didn’t matter; the boy was already dead and he knew it.

  “What’s your name?” Antonio asked, kneeling down next to him.

  “Justin,” he replied, his voice never wavering even though his eyes were filling with tears, “I’m going to turn.” It wasn’t a question.

  Antonio looked at Tamar who kneeled on the other side of him.

  “Yes, you will,” she admitted, trying not to cry. “We can wait until after you turn to put you down.”

  “No!” he yelled, “No way in hell I’m turning into one of those things! Finish it, Tamar, please. Finish it now!”

  Antonio fell back at the intensity and language coming from this boy, who couldn’t have been more than ten years old, yet seemed so much older.

  “I can feel it already, Tamar,” he whispered, a pustule already forming at the edge of his eyelid, “Don’t let me go out as one of them.”

  “I love you, Justin,” she said, simply. “I will miss you. You won’t ever be forgotten. You are, now and always, an Imperial.”

  He smiled and closed his eyes. Both Tamar and Antonio got up and Tamar motioned for him to move back as she pulled out her sharpest blade. With a single, quick thrust into his brain, he was gone.

  The others used branches to move the infected dead further away from their camping area and scooped dirt and sand to cover the infected fluids. A quick check with Rick and Em told Chuck that the brothers were still not on their way back yet. He came back to find the rest of the Imperials, along with half the adults digging a grave under one of the trees. They lowered Justin down and buried him in silence. Words at burials were not the Imperials’ way. They lightly decorated the grave then would wait until their next meal. They would all toast him as one, each offering a bite of their meals to the fire in his honor.

  Chuck was impressed with this tradition and thought to bring it up with Cocky when this mission is over. When this mission is over? I keep thinking when and not if. Guess that’s a good sign. He decided to go check with Rick and Em again and heard Rick’s double whistle just as he got to them.

  “They’re on their way back,” Rick said, pointing.

  Chuck looked past the trees and squinted to see the brothers trotting back to their original location on the road. Trotting not running, that means no pursuit. They’d have to wait for them to see the marks on the rock. Something good for a change would be nice.

  As soon as they reached the rock, Carlos looked around for some kind of marker. “Where is it?”

  “Here it is,” Rodrigo spoke up, bending down to read the chips in the rock.

  Go back, then west, trees.

  “Good,” Carlos replied, “I could use some shade.”

  Rodrigo nodded as they continued to the others.

  “Glad to see you safe!” Antonio said, clapping them both on the back.

  Fresh water and fish jerky were thrust into their hands as if they’d been gone for days instead of hours. Carlos was about to take a bite when he saw some of the kids decorating an area under a tree.

  “Is that a grave?” he asked. “What happened?”

  “Mutant zombie snakes,” Antonio replied. “Over two dozen. We lost one of the boys. His name was Justin.”

  Thinking of their sister, Carmen, they both walked over to the grave and knelt down. The kids stopped their decorating and looked at them, wondering why they were there. The adults really didn’t know any of the kids or their traditions.

  “We wanted to pay our respects to Justin,” Rodrigo said.

  Carlos looked at the little tidbits of things pushed into the dirt. There were buttons and torn pieces of cloth, as well as more than a couple snippets of cut hair. He looked up and saw the uneven ends of hair of some of the kids. He pulled out his knife and cut off an inch or so of his own hair. He used a small piece of string he had in his pocket to tie it together and pressed it into the fresh earth. The kids looked at each other then back at him appreciatively. Rodrigo asked him if he had any more of that string, then he did the same.

  “It’s a pretty big camp,” Rodrigo told them as they sat around in a circle to discuss their next move. “Not very secure. They’re just kind of all around. A couple people look around once in a while for intruders but they have no standard sentries or guards.”

  Em and Rick were relieved of guard duty so they were sitting down, listening to the brothers. Everyone ate early, so the fires could be put out before the sun went down. They would attack at dawn.

  “There are around forty-five ghouls, including their own kids.”

  None of them wanted to kill children but they knew these kids would kill and eat them first chance they got.

  “We’ll take care of the younger ones,” Tamar offered, realizing the adults’ dilemma. “We’ve run into some in the past, and they are just as dangerous as the adult cannibals; I mean, ghouls.”

  Chuck nodded gratefully and motioned for Rodrigo to continue.

  “We saw a section with cages. It looks like they keep the women and children separate from the men.”

  “We saw Carmen,” Carlos chimed in, smiling with tears in his eyes. “She’s thin and dirty but still alive!”

  Immediately everyone started asking about their friends and loved ones.

  “Hold up!” Antonio broke in, “Let’s let them tell us who
they saw. We’ll find the rest when we get there.”

  They had also seen Alice, Bob’s wife, and Tamra’s sister and kids, Judy, Becky, and Brian.

  “We couldn’t get any closer to the men’s cage. It was further inside the camp,” Carlos apologized.

  “No apologies needed,” Antonio said. “You guys did very well.”

  “But there was a third cage...” Rodrigo said hesitantly after glancing at Carlos, “There were some people in it. It was closer to the... uh, cooking fire than the others. The people in it were hanged on the walls. Even from that distance we could see that they were . . uh . . parts.”

  Everyone was horrified at the thought.

  “We couldn’t tell who they were or how much was, uh, missing.”

  Chuck got up suddenly and walked away. Rodrigo stopped talking and Chuck stopped for a moment. He waved a hand at Rodrigo, telling him to continue as he kept walking away.

  Long before the sun began peeking over the horizon, they trotted to the camp. When they were closer to the rise, they split off into three groups. Savage had taken the information that Carlos and Rodrigo brought back and created a new map of the ghoul camp, copying one for each group. Antonio and those with him went to the left, Tamar and those with her went right, and Chuck took the rest with him right up the middle. It was an hour until dawn and they were all in position. Tamar hooted like an owl and heard the replies from the other groups. They’d seen quite a few owls in this part of the wasteland. For some reason, it seemed as though owls had never been infected, no one had ever seen a zombie owl. The ghouls didn’t even look up at the ordinary nighttime sound. All three groups crept down into the camp and spread out, strategically. When they were all in position, they flooded into the camp like a silent wave from an ocean that most of them had never seen.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chuck stopped when he came to a bed where a man was sleeping with two women. Slowly, he smiled. He had hoped with all his heart that this would be the same tribe that took his arm, even though the odds of that weren’t very high. As he recognized the scar on the forehead of the sleeping man, his smile widened. He glanced around and watched, as one by one, Cocky and the Imperials covered the mouths of the ghouls and drove their blades into their eye sockets. Every kill so far was quiet and efficient.