Beginning of the New Beginning Vol 3

by W. Joe Taylor

  “Wait, the other day, you said I looked like I had cancer.”

  “Yea, you have lost a lot of weight, but all those years of flying a desk have not been good to you.”

  When they saw the horde headed towards the gas station, Bill put his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistled loudly. They saw several hundred heads turn towards them. They ran to the edge of the nearest field and set one of the packs of Saturn Missiles. Once the fuse was going, they ran out to the middle of the field and set up a second one. Next stop was a road that ran north to south, four hundred yards from the hospital. Bill lit a package of one hundred firecrackers. They took off to the south, down the road, and kept several hundred yards between them and the thriller horde.

  They jogged back, and the convoy was only filling the third set of vehicles.

  “How much longer is this going to take?” asked Bill.

  “Probably another hour. We’ve only been here for thirty minutes,” Mike replied.

  “Fuck. How much diesel are in the Roamers and Behemoth?”

  “All six are reading over half-full still.”

  “Ok, we’re going to skip them this trip. It’s a good thing they have such large tanks. I like to keep them full in case something like this comes up, but between the horde and those other fuckers, I don’t believe they won’t come back later.”

  “Yea, I agree. If we only do the trucks, we will be out of here in less than fifteen. Abe and Alex are the only two gas trucks that haven’t filled yet.”

  “Sweet.” Bill pressed the talk button on his comms. “Listen up, everybody. We are Oscar Mike in twelve. Make sure everyone has peed and refilled drinks. We’re not stopping again until we get to the overnight spot.”

  A round of affirmatives, and they were out of there on time.

  “I figure we have an hour’s head start on the buttholes from Butte. We gain extra time because Dennis thinks his trailer is on fire and won’t slow the fuck down.”

  “Hey, man, we have places to do and people to be,” replied Dennis. “Besides, there aren’t any Smokey’s to slow the Bandit down anymore. This is fun for me”

  “HAHAHAHAHA! Ok, you got me there, man. But anywho, we need to be on the lookout in case they decide to take the Lambos for a run.”

  “Lambos, huh? How many of those do you think they had in Butte?” asked Q.

  “Pretty sure there are at least a couple. Celebs and the stupid rich used to buy all kinds of property up here,” said Bill.

  There was small talk and chitchat for the next hour. As the convoy was passing through Missoula, Bill broke the chatter.

  “Dennis, we need to get off the freeway now. That is the biggest RV dealer we have seen since we left Texas. I bet they have some good shit down there.”

  “Roger. So, what happened to not stopping?”

  “Yea, I know I said we weren’t stopping, but I have another idea to keep the Butte Buttholes from catching up to us.”

  “Rog. Exiting now.”

  Dennis led them under the overpass to the west side of the freeway, and they pulled up to the RV dealer.

  “Mike, do your magic, man, and find us the good shit. I need a few people to go with me. We’re going to rig the overpass to blow up. I don’t want to be here for more than thirty minutes, tops,” said Bill.

  Cootch, Q, and Abe went to help Bill while half the team helped Mike. Everyone else was on guard duty.

  Cootch, Q, Abe, and Bill grabbed a couple of boxes of C4 and blasting caps and then drove Bill’s 4Runner back over to the overpass. There were twelve pillars that supported both directions of the freeway, six per side, two at each end and two in the middle. Bill only wanted to blow the four easternmost pillars. That would render the overpasses unusable without wasting a lot of their resources. After they had the C4 attached and detcord strung out, they headed back to join the group.

  “What’s the status, Mike?” Bill asked.

  “We found a good deal of what we want, man. You are not going to believe this. These guys had the flat wall heaters I was telling you about.”

  “You’re right. I don’t believe it. But I guess, since we are in Montana on the cusp of winter, it’s possible.”

  “Fucking right, doggie. We’ll be all loaded up in five.”

  “Badass. Next, I need everyone not already driving to get the keys to an RV. We’re going to block the on and off ramps up ahead.”

  “Sweet. I’ll have some folks start looking for the keys.”

  Ten minutes later, the main convoy was all parked on the freeway, just past the on ramp. They were waiting for the extra RVs to be parked according to Bill’s plan. Once everyone was back over by the convoy, Abe wired up the firing device and walked around the berm up by the freeway. At the thumbs up from Bill, he set it off. There was a loud explosion, clouds of dust, and finally the sound of something very large landing on the ground.

  “FUCK YEA! That shit actually worked! Good job, everybody!” Bill shouted in excitement.

  Most everybody ran up the freeway to look down into the chasm they’d just created. Bill looked off to the distance and saw a few thrillers headed their way.

  “Cootch, will you please grab some Roman candles, bottle rockets, and an aerial bombardment thingy.”

  “YES! Be right back.”

  Q ran off with him, and they came back a minute later with armloads of fireworks. Everyone got several Roman candles. Bill went around and lit the fuses. Half the group was instructed to shoot them to the west, the other to the east. It was just after sunset, and it was getting dusk out. Everyone was having a grand time shooting off fireworks. The thrillers were beginning to amass by the thousands.

  “Well, that’s a wrap, folks. We have about an hour and half till we stop for the night. Let’s get out of here before we get caught by them things.”

  They pulled into the parking lot of Lookout Pass Ski Lodge and parked as close to the building as possible. The freeway was cut into the mountain and much lower than the ski lodge. Parking next to the lodge prevented them from being seen from the freeway.

  “I want to clear the lodge so we don’t get any surprises later,” said Q.

  “I think that’s a stellar idea, homie. I’ll go with. I haven’t done a clearing in a while. I don’t want to get rusty.”

  “Really. With everything we’ve been through in the last two weeks.”

  “I know. I was being facetious.”

  “Ah, yea, I missed that one.”

  “It’s all good.”

  Chapter 10. Road to Wenatchee (wen-ATCH-ee).

  Bill looked out the window to his camper to discover it had snowed several inches while he’d slept. He and Charity had last watch again. They bundled up and headed out to relive Mike and Shannon.

  “Thanks, man. It’s colder than a witch’s tit out here.”

  “No worries, man. Go warm up and get some rest. I have a bad feeling about getting through Spokane today. I’m excited that we will be home soon, but I don’t want us to get sloppy thinking we’re almost there.”

  “It’s all good, man. It’s probably just excitement anxiety. We’ll discuss this in a few hours when everyone is up.”

  “Cha, rog.”

  A couple of hours later, when everyone was up and getting ready for the day, Bill called everyone for a meeting inside the lodge. He gathered everyone around the stove in the kitchen. He had turned it on earlier, during his watch, to warm up the room. It was a gas stove, and the propane tank outside was full and ready for the winter season.

  “If we see a grocery or bulk savings store that looks easy to get to, we need to check it out. According to Memaw and Doris, at our current rate of consumption of food, we won’t make it through spring, let alone summer. Now, there is a Costco and a few other places we will look into cleaning out once we get there. But I don’t want to depend on it in case someone beat us to it. I have no idea what to expect when we get there. We probably should have stopped more on the way here, but we were trying to ki
ck ass and take names.

  “So, if anyone sees something that looks promising along the way, let us know. We need to be especially on our toes while passing through Spokane. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about it. It could just be plain old anxiety and paranoia being so close to the prize. But Interstate 90 goes right through the heart of the city. Any questions?”

  “I want to piggyback on what Bill said,” announced Cootch. “Keep your head on a swivel, and if it feels wrong, we will talk about it. Maintain situational awareness at all times. Know who’s with you and where all your teammates are.”

  “Uh, thanks Cootch. If there is nothing else, let’s shoot for being on the road in, like, twenty minutes.”

  The convoy was slowly making their way down the other side of the pass. The road was slick but not too bad, as it was a wet early snow. They passed by a few towns, and within thirty minutes, the snow gave way to rain.

  "Hey, Dennis, if you see a good place to gas up, go ahead and pull off. I'm down to a quarter of a tank already," said Bill.

  "Yea, man, no worries. I'm sure everyone is getting a little low since we only fueled half the vehicles back in Missoula."

  “True that. I’m also under a quarter,” added Shaun.

  Dennis exited the interstate at Idaho State Highway 3 after he saw a sign that said Rose Lake was three miles to the south. There was also indication that there would be two gas stations to the south. The convoy split into two smaller groups and was once again, able to fuel four vehicles at a time.

  Bill and Charity walked around to the underground tanks. She removed the lid while he got the hand pump off the roof rack and then begin filling the 4Runner.

  "It sure is quiet here. So peaceful. Why don't we just stay here? You and me. To hell with the rest of the world," said Charity.

  "Hmmm, that does sound nice. We can come back up here after we get things settled in Wenatchee if you want.”

  “How long do you think that will take?”

  “Not until next summer at least. Once we know the valley is safe and the crops are growing, we can take a little vacay. Come back and relax for a week or so.”

  “You got a deal, cowboy.”

  Bill's half of the convoy was on the third pair of vehicles when they heard a car approaching. D announced that she’d seen it exiting the freeway. Bill and Charity walked out of the convenience store and hustled over to the side of the road. They saw a small black economical SUV coming down the road towards them.

  "Let's wait for them to come to us. See if they want to be dicks. I have a feeling that whoever is driving that car is more afraid of us than we are of them," Bill said.

  Before he could complete the sentence, the SUV stopped in the middle of the road about two hundred yards back. With the morning sun in his eyes, it was very difficult to see the occupants. After a minute’s wait, the SUV began to move forward. It drifted off to its far left, as far away from the convoy as it could get and still be on the road. The passenger window rolled down, and Bill saw a woman with long brown curly hair. The driver, he noticed, had blond hair.

  "Excuse me, we don't want any trouble. We just need some gas. We've been driving for the last three hours."

  "Where are you going?" Charity asked.

  "Um, we're not sure. Towards Montana, I guess."

  "Oh. We just came from there. I wouldn't recommend it. Besides, you can only get as far as Missoula on I-90 anyway. We uuuh, we blew up an overpass to keep the Butte Buttholes from following us."

  "Who? Never mind. If it's all right with you all, can we get some gas when you're done there?"

  Bill had been watching the road back to the freeway to make sure it wasn't a decoy. For the first time since the SUV had arrived, Bill leaned over far enough to look into the car at the driver. He was absolutely perplexed by what he saw.

  "Candice? Is that you, Candice?"

  "Billy? BILLY!"

  She threw the car in park, jumped out, ran around the front, and threw herself into his arms.

  "Candice, what the fuck are you doing here? Is everything ok at Dad’s?" Bill's mind was reeling.

  "Oh my God, we were so worried about you and your friends. We left early this morning to come look for you."

  "Look for us? Why the…? What? I don't understand. What's going on? What happened to everyone else?"

  "No, no, no, no, everything is fine. We haven't heard from you in over two weeks. So, we decided to come look for you and see if we could help you. I guess it's silly now that you're so close to home."

  "Candice, so I guess this your brother?" asked the lady in the passenger seat.

  "Oh my God, yes. Billy, this is Jenn. Jenn Moreau. She and I have been besties for years. And our other friend back there is April Gillespie."

  "Bill? What's going on?" asked Charity.

  "Oh, yea, sorry. I'm still in fucking shock. This is my sister, Candice Rice. Candice, this is Charity."

  They walked back over to the rest of the convoy, and after another round of introductions, Bill turned back to Candice.

  "So, let me get this straight. You all just left the safety of the ranch and drove here hoping to find us?"

  "Yea, pretty much."

  "See, Charity? Badassery runs in the family."

  "We were tired of being cooped up in the house. Dad won't let us do anything. He and Uncle Walter have been going house to house checking on the neighbors, but they are treating us like we’re china dolls or something."

  "Ah, yea. That's going to have to change. And wait, Uncle Walter? Who else came from Spokane?”

  “A couple of the cousins, but he said most of them didn’t make it. ZomPoc started around 7 am here, so most people were still in bed. Only single people and early risers would have survived here. Imagine lying in bed next to your significant other while you’re sleeping and that person wakes up undead. They would begin eating you before you had a chance to fight. That’s what Uncle Walter said anyway. He said that happened to most everybody he went to check on in Spokane.”

  “Oh man, that sucks. But it might give us a better chance of survival. I know most of the U.S. is completely overrun with thrillers. What else has been happening back home?”

  "We've barely eaten in, like, seven days now. Everyone in the coulee is running out of food."

  "How many people?"

  "Uh, as far as we can tell, about twenty. That's not including who all is already at Dad’s."

  "Fuck. You're shitting me. Goddamnit, that means we definitely have to make a couple of stops before we get there, then. Ok, I'm still trying to wrap my head around you being here. This is unbelievable. You three just fucking left? Did you tell anybody?"

  "Well, you see, Dad and I had an argument about some things yesterday. I told him that we were going leave and find you. He thought it was a terrible idea. But we got up early this morning, and here we are."

  “Damnit. So, tell me how you all survived?”

  “Well, my husband was up for work. He was getting more overtime in, and I heard him bumping around in the kitchen. I went down there to find out what the hell was going on, and well, I managed to get him locked in the bathroom. Jenn and April both lived alone. They are quite badasses with swords. They had been going to martial arts classes for the last few years, so it was no biggie for them to come over to my house before we headed out to Dad’s.”

  “That’s cool. Hey, Jenn, if you’re such a comic-book badass, then why aren’t you running around in just leather panties and a corset?”

  “I like to live dangerously, but I’m not stupid.”

  “HAHAHAHAHAH! I’m just messing with you.”

  “Are you coming back with us? Or are you going to continue on your Thelma and Louise plus one trip?”

  “We’re definitely going back with you. Honestly, I figured we would drive for a day, see if there was any sign of you, and then head back.”

  “Oh, so, I’m guessing you didn’t have any trouble getting through Spokane?”

 
“No. There was a roadblock, but we turned around and went around it on the access road.”

  “What caused the roadblock?”

  “It looked like a bunch of crashed cars. It was by the Spokane Valley Walmart.”

  “Ok, good to know. We will have to make sure we go around it, then. I want you to fall in behind us in the lineup.”

  “Yea, sure.”

  The convoy rolled into Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Everything was calm and quiet, and there was hardly a stalled-out car on the road.

  “Dennis, it looks like there is a Costco a few blocks to the right at the next exit,” Charity said. She was looking at a tourist brochure she’d picked up at the ski lodge.

  "Oh no, not another Costco," Kathrin groaned.

  “Hang in there, kiddo. You knew this was coming. It’ll be all right,” Bill said.

  Dennis led them off the freeway, and three blocks up North Government Way was their next target.

  “Look, there is a sporting goods store here too. I want a group of folks to head over and grab as many bows, arrows, crossbows, and bolts as they have and anything else you think will be useful. We're all going to learn how to use them over the winter. Charity is going to lead that party. Kathrin, why don't you go with her?"

  "Yes, that sounds much better."

  Bill, Cootch, and Q walked up to the doors of the Costco and discovered they were boarded up from the inside.

  “Shit. Looks like someone doesn’t want company. Ideas?” asked Q.

  “I say, like we did before, we find an alternate way in, but this time, we have the master key here. So, we don’t have to hope some dummy didn’t leave the door stopper in,” said Bill.

  “Sounds good to me,” Q replied.

  They walked around to the right of this Costco. Its layout was the opposite of the one they’d entered in Baton Rouge. They found the door they were looking for at the loading docks. Two of the bays were empty.

  “When we come back out, we will have Dennis park here so it will be way easier to load,” said Bill

  “Now who’s being Captain Obvious?” asked Cootch sarcastically.

  “Hardy har. Open the door, chucklehead.”