Zombies! (Book 5): Greater Love Hath No Man

by Merritt, R. S.

  Another screech from the interior of the boat house warned Kyler. He pried his eyes off the fight Randy was in and peered into the inky darkness of the interior of the boathouse. He heard another screech followed by the sound of pounding feet. Rather than wait for the Zombie to get there he tried to slam the door shut again. Once again, the Zombie slamming into the other side of the door had all the momentum and rocked Kyler back on his heels. A second later he felt himself falling backwards as the door swung open.

  He landed on Randy who used the extra weight to drive the ax blade stuck in the Zombie’s mouth all the way through its head. Kyler stuck his boot int the stomach of the second mold covered Zombie to come out the door and tried to kick it away from them. The Zombie ignored the pain of getting kicked and tried to wrap itself around Kyler’s foot to bite his leg. Kyler felt the teeth close down on the ankle of his jeans. He jerked his leg back as hard as he could pulling the Zombies head forward.

  Randy rolled away from both of them standing back up with his ax back in his hand. Kyler scrambled to his feet as well and tried to get away from the Zombie who was holding onto his ankle with both hands trying like crazy to bite a hole through his jeans. He remembered he was holding a machete and started bringing that down over and over on the back of the Zombies head until the hands finally let go. Breathing hard he looked over and saw Randy also looked wiped out. Both of them had blood covering their hands and arms. A loud screeching came from inside the boat house. Kyler went to shut the door again.

  “I’ve got a better idea.” Randy said tugging Kyler off to the side.

  Kyler instantly got the idea when Randy made a pushing motion with both his hands. They waited with the door open. This time when the Zombie came out sniffing and looking around, they both stepped forward and kicked the door hard enough to knock the Zombie backwards. With the Zombie unbalanced and close to the edge of the dock it was easy enough to knock him the rest of the way off. They both watched as the Zombie flailed around in the deep water for a few seconds before sinking out of sight.

  “Good thinking.” Kyler said to Randy appreciatively. Randy nodded and once again they went through the door into the boathouse.

  This time they moved forward cautiously with ears perked up listening for the slightest hint of a sound that may indicate another Zombie coming after them. Kyler took out a Maglite and shined it around the interior of the boathouse. They saw an expensive looking yacht sitting in the water on the right side with the water lapping at it. There was a complicated looking array of pulleys and straps suspended above it for pulling the boat out of the water to winterize it. The bow of the boat was pointed towards the large aluminum door on the side of the boathouse facing out into the lake.

  “How do we get that open?” Kyler asked.

  “First things first let’s see if the boat even works before we get all excited about the doors.” Randy answered.

  “We should probably make sure there are no more Zombies playing hide and seek in here either.” Kyler said playing the flashlight beam into every corner of the boathouse before bringing it back to rest on the boat itself.

  Randy had a light out now as well. They both jumped over to the boat to clear it then check to see if it still ran. The yacht had an open hatch leading into a sleeping area below decks. Based on the smell emanating from the below decks area it was a sound bet that’s where the Zombies they’d just been attacked from had been spending the bulk of their time. A quick search showed there was nothing else down there to be worried about beyond the smell and the mold.

  “We’re going to need Clorox wipes and a couple gallons of Febreze.” Randy joked holding his nose.

  Not finding any additional Zombies they got to work on figuring out how to get the boat started. Neither of them knew how they were going to get the door open either, but they figured one thing at a time. Luckily the Zombies who’d been sleeping below decks must’ve turned as they were trying to get the boat ready to leave. Otherwise it would’ve been even more difficult as they would’ve had to figure out how to get the boat down out of the straps with no power. As it was if they could figure out how to get the boat started, they were pretty confident they could work out a way to get the big aluminum doors open.

  Randy and Kelly had spent a good deal of time on the boat with Tony learning how to navigate and operate the controls so Randy had a basic understanding of how a boat this big should work. Kyler was completely lost as most of his nautical skills were derived from two-man sailboats and canoes. Both of them had gotten cars and trucks running that’d been sitting around for far too long though so they both knew they needed to find and check the battery foremost.

  Seeing the unstrapped battery in sitting in the immaculate engine compartment made Randy want to do a back flip. Based on what he was seeing there was a really good chance that once they figured out how to hook it up and what to press to get the engine started that they’d be in good shape. If the battery had been hooked up that would’ve led to a whole bunch of time needing to be spent either trying to charge it or trying to find another battery. He wasn’t sure if driving the van down the rickety dock and hooking up jumper cables would’ve worked or not. More than likely it would’ve just ended up with him trying to swim out of a sinking van surrounded by the pieces of a broken dock.

  “Got it figured out yet?”

  The unexpected voice from behind them in the small compartment had Randy and Kyler both spinning around and scrambling for weapons. Weapons they belatedly realized they didn’t need once they saw the source of the question was a smirking Kelly.

  “You do know it’s a really bad idea to scare the crap out of two armed men, right?” Randy asked her. Kelly ignored the question.

  “What’re we looking at here? We’ve been sitting in that van for a long time. Is this one going to work, or do you think we should go find another boat?” She asked.

  “I’ll let you know in a second.” Randy said as Kyler finished tightening the bolt on the battery terminal.

  “Let’s give it a try.” Kyler seconded as Randy led the way up the stairs through the hatch to the bridge area. Randy located the levers and buttons he needed and after a few false starts had the yacht purring like the big, expensive beast it was. Kelly clapped then asked how they were supposed to get the door open.

  An hour and a good chunk of the skin off Kyler’s knuckles later they had the doors open to the lake. Kelly had been periodically going and checking on the kids out in the van to make sure they were ok. Caitlyn was sitting in the driver’s seat in case something came up where she needed to get the kids out of the area fast. Rodriguez was still passed out in the seat behind her. Myriah and the little kids were playing a very quiet game of chutes and ladders in the back of the van. Kelly came out and got them and they started transporting all their gear out to the boat. Kyler and Randy came out and carried Rodriguez down to the boat where they put him on the couch in the stinky hold.

  Once they had everyone aboard, they considered heading out right away. Kyler had an idea on a better way though.

  “This thing has a nice radar and charts and a depth finder so do you think it’d make sense to wait until dark then drive slow with all the lights off? Since we’ve got all the bells and whistles, I say we go for it. I’m thinking that way we avoid being seen if the Brotherhood has anyone stationed on the bridges.” Kyler said.

  They discussed it and everyone thought it made sense. Randy was a bit concerned they’d end up running into a sandbank or something in the middle of the night since they wouldn’t be able to see where they were going but the rewards did seem to outweigh the risks in this case. They settled down to wait for sunset to make their run.

  Chapter 33: Lake Lanier

  The stars and the moon glowed brightly in the early evening hours. The water lapping at the bow of the boat on an almost breezeless night.

  “How come the weather is always crap when we don’t want it to be then when we need it to be. We get this! It might as well
be noon outside.” Kyler complained. He was standing on the bridge with Kelly, Caitlyn, and Randy. They’d found some rags and cans of cleaning spray in the boathouse and used those to wipe down and disinfect the cabin area. It now smelled liked a musty, mold filled truck stop restroom someone had spilled a gallon of lemon pledge in. It had taken some work, but Kelly had finally felt it was good enough for the kids to sit in as long as they kept the hatch open and didn’t breathe a lot. They had stuck Myriah down there to watch over the kids and make sure Rodriguez didn’t roll off the leather couch onto the floor.

  After one final check to make sure they weren’t still tied to anything Randy gently pushed the throttle forward. The big boat slid effortlessly out of the boathouse into the lake. Kyler had his eyes glued to the depth finder. He was in charge of making sure they didn’t run aground. Kelly was staring at the radar and Randy was driving. It was light enough out on the lake for him to see clearly thanks to the cloudless night and big bright moon hanging in the sky above them. Caitlyn tapped Kelly on the shoulder and pointed back to the shore. Squinting they could just make out the shapes of a couple of Zombies who’d showed up and were busy sniffing the air around the van.

  “Looks like we need to go down for a while then we can turn back north.” Randy said pointing at the chart spread out on the table behind him. He and Kyler had taken a look at the charts of the lake earlier. There were a lot of twists and turns. Randy’s biggest concern now that they were actually moving was that they were going to get lost. He hadn’t realized exactly how big and confusing this lake was until they actually got underway.

  “Slow and easy babe.” Kelly calmed him down. “We’ll mark off where we are on the map and go nice and slow and we’ll be fine.”

  “How long do you think it’ll take for us to get as far north as we can?” Kyler asked. He was starting to worry this plan hadn’t been considered as well as it should’ve been. In the time they’d taken getting everyone on the boat plus the time they were going to lose having to go south before they could turn north Krantz and his people were going to have plenty of time to catch up to them. The scouts were probably already past them at this point. That meant they were back inside the net.

  “A day or two?” Randy said. He was guessing. “If we don’t get lost and we kick the speed up a few notches we might be able to get pretty far before the sun comes up. I’m really not sure.”

  They cruised along in silence. Each lost in their thoughts and mired down doubting if this had been a good idea. Caitlyn was especially miserable as she’d been the one to bring the whole boat thing up in the first place. She kept her eyes on the land around them looking for any sign that they’d been seen. She left the bridge to go stand in the bow periodically to get a better perspective for her self-imposed lookout duties. Her mom joined her up in the bow on one of those trips.

  “I love you.” Kelly said wrapping her arm around Caitlyn. She’d intuited that Caitlyn was worried this was a mistake and blaming herself prematurely. Caitlyn stared off into the darkness with her upper lip quivering. A feeling of total inadequacy washing over her. The trauma of all that she’d seen catching up to her as they cruised through the chilly night air. Her mom’s embrace and hearing her say she loved her made the dam break. She cried silently letting the big tears roll over her cheeks unimpeded. Regardless of the tears she didn’t take her eyes off the water and lands around them or lose her focus for more than a second or two.

  Once the tears dried up Kelly kissed her on the forehead and handed her a bottled water. They couldn’t really talk out here in the open since they were scared the sound would carry and there could be outposts anywhere. She still took the time to tell Caitlyn in whispers how proud she was of her before heading back to the bridge. Once inside she took over her position at the radar again. She continued trying to guess where they were based on the radar blobs so she could mark it off on the map.

  After more than a few wrong turns they finally broke out into the main part of the lake. Or, at least they assumed it was the main part of the lake considering how wide it was and the location of the islands they were seeing. They were all exhausted. Randy was trying to figure out the last time he’d gotten any decent sleep as Kelly fought back big yawns. Kyler was completely wiped also. He could remember the last time he’d gotten a good night’s sleep. It was pretty much all he could think about at this point. Caitlyn had fallen asleep on the bench in the bridge covered by a jacket Kelly had tossed over her.

  “I can barely keep my eyes open.” Randy admitted. He was staring straight ahead into the dimly lit water. Kyler had already seen Randy’s head nodding a few times. He opened up some windows to flood the bridge with the chill outside air. They’d been running with the heater on to stay comfortable. Kyler glanced down at his watch.

  “Why don’t you go sleep for a few hours. I’ll wake you up at three then I’ll crash for a few. Kelly stays up as navigator for me then we wake Caitlyn up to be your navigator.” Kyler offered. Randy thought about it and seemed like he might challenge the idea for a second before nodding.

  “Sounds like a plan. You good with staying up babe?” Randy asked Kelly. She nodded and ripped open a sleeve of Oreo cookies she’d been hoarding for when they were truly needed. She was hoping some sugar would keep her from doing a faceplant into the radar screen. She was glad Kyler had opened the windows to let the cold air in. She’d actually caught herself snoozing with her face pressed to the radar screen a few times. She kissed Randy as he headed down the hatch to snuggle in with the kids. Kelly fought back a surge of jealousness that Randy was going to be sleeping with the kids while she was up here trying to keep her eyes open staring at this little screen that she honestly hadn’t really figure out yet.

  “Any idea where we’re at?” Kyler asked her. He was smiling to take the bite out of it. Kelly and Randy both had about a million times more nautical experience than he did. Especially after all the time they’d spent with Tony in the boat headed from Rhode Island down south.

  “Not really. The one on the coast guard boat must’ve been the high-priced model. Either that or it’s just harder telling what’s what in a lake. We came out of the place where I could see both sides and now the only land that I see is in front of us and around us so I’m guessing we’re finally good to head north.” She didn’t need to say that she’d already thought they could head north twice before only to discover that they weren’t actually far enough into the lake yet to make the turn. Both of those times they’d been forced to back track losing precious time.

  “Works for me. Let me know if we’re going to crash into anything. In case the depth finder doesn’t beep at us this time.” They’d already been saved from running aground once by the depth finder giving them that warning beep. They were also going so slow that even if they did run aground, they’d probably be able to just back up and go the other way. At least that was the plan. Kelly hadn’t bothered telling Kyler that the last time her and Randy had run aground the boat they were in ended up exploding and they had to swim for their lives from a massive horde of Zombies. That seemed like a tale best left for another time.

  Kelly nodded and continued watching the radar. They cruised on in a comfortable silence with Kyler slowly opening up the throttle a bit more so they could make better time. It was obvious now they were in the middle of the lake so less likely to end up on a sandbar or anything. Kyler really wanted to try and get past the bridge before the sun came up. If they didn’t speed up that wasn’t going to happen. Kelly raised her eyebrows a bit as he sped up but didn’t say anything. Speeding up caused more of the cold air to whip through the bridge as well which was helpful in keeping them both awake.

  With nothing on the radar Kelly took a break to go below and check on everybody. She was down in the hold for long enough that Kyler started to wonder if maybe she’d fallen asleep down there. She finally reappeared with Randy behind her holding her hand. Kyler started to make a joke about them disappearing together like that when the
look on her face stopped him. Kelly let go of Randy’s hand to walk over and give Kyler a hug that he awkwardly accepted.

  “Rodriguez passed sometime in the last hour or so.” Kelly’s voice started to break up. “The last time I checked on him he seemed fine. I just checked him again and he’s cold. I’m so sorry. I know he was your friend.”

  Randy gave Kyler another awkward hug and slid in to take over steering the boat. Kyler stood off to the side in shock. He’d lost another person he cared about. He didn’t know why he was still alive. It seemed ridiculous that all these people around him kept dying and he was still standing. Rodriguez had been a survivor to the tenth degree. The only reason he was dead was because he’d decided to befriend Kyler. At least that’s what kept echoing around in Kyler’s head.

  “We wrapped him up in a tarp. We didn’t know if you’d want to leave him in the boat or maybe do a burial in the lake. We’re good to help you with whatever you need. Whatever you think he would’ve wanted.” Kelly said quietly.