The Demented Z (Book 2): Desolation

by Derek J. Thomas

  “Let’s fan out and check around the shop and house for stragglers.” Tom said. “That seemed semi-coordinated.”

  Hank and Rachael stepped up next to him, both holding their loaded AKs. “Some of the demented are smart little rascals.” Hank said.

  “I’ll cover the front, while you two sweep around the buildings.” Rachael said.

  Tom nodded in agreement and headed off around the shop. Hank took off for the side of the house. Within a couple minutes they were all back in front of the shop, no shots fired.

  “I don’t want to burn any more daylight, let’s get moving.” Tom said.

  Rachael nodded to the shop and said, “There’s a bunch more weapons and ammo in the safe...let’s at least grab what we can carry and lock it up.”

  “Good idea.” Tom replied.

  It only took a few seconds of the three of them standing in front of the safe before it turned into what looked like a Black Friday free for all. Each of them began grabbing pistols, holsters, magazines, and ammo. Rachael swapped out her AK47 for a 12 gauge pump shotgun. Not having the precision aim that Hank and Tom had, she felt much more comfortable with the point and shoot technique offered by a shotgun. Hank swapped out his AK for a .308 hunting rifle with a scope. Taking two rifles was both cumbersome and heavy, so they all opted to grab pistols as their secondary weapons.

  “Everybody good to go?” Tom asked after a bit.

  Hank chuckled, “Unless you have a shopping cart, I think I’m good.”

  Rachael nodded her head. “Let’s roll.”

  After closing and locking the safe back up, Tom said, “Help me out real quick Hank. Let’s lay this thing back on its side...maybe cover it with some junk. Might keep it out of prying eyes.”

  A few minutes later the two of them had the safe back on its side, and covered up with some odds and ends, helping it blend with the mess. With everything that had happened it had taken longer in the shop than any of them expected and they all agreed they had less than an hour of daylight left. There was no way Tom was going to let any more time go to waste. Kelly was more than capable in the woods, but woods filled with zombies and demented was a different story.

  Tom slung his rifle over his shoulder. “Kelly would have wanted to get to the safety of the forest as soon as she and Sam hit the ground, so I think we should start over there.” He said while pointing to the trees just to the other side of the house.

  Arriving at the edge of the tree line, Tom and Hank began examining the ground while Rachael kept a lookout. Even in the fading evening light they could make out trampled weeds and grass, but they didn’t know if this was from Kelly and Sam or some of the demented and undead.

  “Looks as good as anything. Let’s follow these back into the trees and hopefully we can determine who left them.” Tom said.

  “I like it.” Hank replied.

  With that, they stalked into the thick trees. It did not take long for them to realize that their hour of daylight would be cut significantly shorter by the trees’ thick canopy. Tom resisted the urge to yell Kelly and Sam’s names, knowing at best it would do nothing and at worst it would draw more infected.

  As if reading his mind, Rachael said, “If your family was close, I think they would have showed up after all the gunfire.”

  “I agree...would have at least watched from the safety of the trees until they could determine who was here.” Tom said. “As overran as this place was, I think she would have tried to get as far away as possible.” He added.

  Hank slowed and kneeled down, eyeing something close to the ground.

  “Watcha got?" Rachael asked.

  “Look at this. I think we’re on the right track.” Hank said.

  Tom bent down next to him. Even in the dim light, he could see the small shoe print in the soft ground. Making it even more promising was the fact that it was headed in the same direction they were going, rather than toward the house. “I think we’re on it. Let’s hurry.”

  The three of them moved as quickly as they could, while still watching for signs of Kelly or Sam. Luckily the line they moved in was fairly straight and since Kelly made no attempt to cover their tracks, they were easy to follow. Hank was able to track them right up until it was nearly full dark. Tom was impressed with Hank’s ability to quickly find traces left by their movements through the woods. His years in the military were paying off well.

  “Like hunting black frogs at night while blindfolded. I can’t see a thing. I bet they kept going in a straight line, but if they veered off at all, we won’t know it till morning.” Hank said.

  “In all the excitement I never thought to grab a flashlight. I’m sure there was one in the house...stupid.” Tom said. The thought of Kelly and Sam spending the night out in the woods made him sick to his stomach. There was some consolation knowing they were still alive, but he could never handle losing them now that they were so close.

  Between being completely exhausted and unable to see in the dark, they skipped building any kind of shelter, and instead just curled up under a nearby group of fir trees.

  “I’ll take first watch.” Rachael said.

  Trusting fully in her capabilities, Hank and Tom didn’t argue one bit and quickly fell asleep.

  It was sometime in the morning when Tom woke to Hank tapping on his shoulder. Blinking a few times, he said, “Anything?”

  Whispering, Hank said, “Noises...grunts, snapping branches...nothing close, but they’re definitely out there.”

  “Time?”

  “It’s nearing morning.”

  “Ahhh...I coulda took a longer watch.”

  “No worries, you need your beauty sleep way more than me.” Hank said.

  After Hank got situated next to Rachael on a pile of pine needles, Tom scooped up his AR and stood. The darkness was deep, only the vague silhouettes of trees were visible. Rather than straining his eyes in the dark, Tom sat up against the base of a large pine, knowing his hearing would be a much more reliable alarm. He had spent many nights in these woods and knew the sounds they made.

  While listening, his thoughts went back to the helicopters they had seen over the last couple days. Once he got Kelly and Sam back, they had to find a way to talk to the pilots or crew. They knew something about what was going on and maybe a way to stop it. How do you get a helicopter to stop for a talk...probably not a hitchhiker’s thumb? He thought. After this, his mind wandered to Lincoln and his gang. They would be in for a surprise when they returned to their school. He had killed the one outside his shop, but Lincoln, Mikey, and his dad still remained. They would be pissed and looking for revenge. Tom figured a return home was probably out of the question, other than a quick trip to gather more guns and ammo from the safe. Tom thought back to all of the supplies Lincoln had piled in the gymnasium. Not worth the risk he quickly decided. Sam...boy I miss the little guy. Tom was having a difficult time picturing his face. How could that happen so quickly?

  A branch snapped from somewhere behind Tom. Sitting still, he continued to listen intently. A grunt. It was a ways off, maybe forty or fifty feet. Not wanting to draw anything closer to their camp, Tom stayed in his position, taking steady breaths. He knew whatever it was would never hear his breathing, but in the near silence it sounded deafening to him. Another grunt. This one sounded closer. Tom slowly rose to his feet. He took a couple slow steps around to the side of the tree.

  Peering into the darkness, he couldn’t see a thing. He tried using his peripheral vision and was just able to make out the vague shapes of trees. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning in that direction, he focused hard, but saw nothing. Tom cocked his head to the side, both listening intently and watching in his periphery. He heard a soft moan, followed by a grunt, and then a branch breaking. It must be one of the infected, stumbling its way through the dark.

  Tom slowly sat back down near the side of the tree, rested the rifle in his lap, and kept an eye on the dark trees. Over the next thirty minutes or more, he could he
ar low grunts and snapping branches, but they never got any closer, and eventually faded into the distance.

  Just as the faint light of pre-morning began making its way through the foliage, a thick fog settled down between the trees. Conditions must have been just right, because the fog formed a strange low lying layer, hanging a foot off the ground and extending just a few feet above Tom’s head. It was a strange phenomenon, but not the first time Tom had seen it in these woods.

  The silent stillness of morning was broken by a distant scream. Not an infected’s scream, but the scream of a person...a child. Tom instantly knew it was Sam. Looking down, he saw Hank and Rachael were already climbing to their feet.

  “Sam?” Rachael asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “How far you think?” Hank asked.

  “Half mile maybe.” Tom said.

  Hank grabbed his rifle. “Let’s roll.”

  The three of them raced off through the dark fog, hurrying as fast as they could in the near darkness.

  Tom listened as the screams continued. His stomach knotted up with their fear filled urgency. After a few agonizing minutes the silence of morning returned. As much as Tom wished for the screams to end, it was far worse when they had. Not only was it more difficult to know which direction to maintain, but the fear of what ended the screams created a deep pit in the bottom of his stomach.

  Just a few minutes later, the morning sun was beginning to filter through the trees, burning off the low lying fog. They were moving quickly now that they had more light. After sliding down a steep embankment they slowed to a stop. Having covered a lot of ground, they needed something to tip them off on a direction to go.

  “Which way...we have to be close.” Hank said.

  “I know it. Keep quiet, let’s listen.” Tom replied.

  Listening intently they heard low grunting noises from nearby. They all raised their weapons and began stalking through the woods in pursuit of the noise. As they got closer they could hear branches rustling and cracking. Just ahead lay a large fallen tree. It was clear the sounds were coming from within its sheltering branches.

  Tom swept around the side of the downed tree while keeping his rifle trained on the source of the noise. Vomit rose in his throat when he saw a small section of limbs cut back for an entrance. His worst fears were coming to realization. Dropping to his knees, he peered into the opening and saw the backside of a mangled boot, shifting and scuffling at the dirt.

  Using one arm to hold his rifle out in front of him and the other to help crawl through the small opening, Tom entered the makeshift shelter. Relief flooded over him when he saw only one body, and it was one of the infected hopelessly tangled in the branches. The thing’s back was turned toward Tom. Rather than waste a bullet, Tom drew his knife and plunged the blade into the back of its skull.

  Back out in the open, Tom said, “They were here.”

  Chapter 2: Reunion

  “Kelly! Sam! I’m Here!” Tom shouted as loud as he could. The time for subtlety was long past. “Kelly!” He repeated.

  Tom stood in the small clearing, listening for a reply.

  “Tom. Looks like they took off this way, probably flushed by the infected.” Hank said from somewhere on the other side of the tree.

  Tom and Rachael raced around the tree and found Hank was already jogging away from them. They quickly followed after him. The trail Kelly and Sam left must have been easy for Hank to follow, because Tom was having a difficult time keeping up. It was only when they reached a steep hillside that Hank slowed enough for them to catch up.

  “They went right up this.” Hank said between labored breaths.

  Tom continued past him, following the scuffs on the ground. Reaching the top of the hill, he could see it sloped away into a rocky ravine. Partway down, climbing through the rocks, were two people, a woman and a little boy. Just seeing them brought tears to his eyes. Emotions that had been pent up for so long flooded out, almost dropping him to his knees. “Kelly!” He shouted.

  Both Kelly and Sam’s heads turned around, looking up at him. “Daddy!” He could hear Sam say. Kelly collapsed to her knees and began sobbing.

  After Tom climbed his way down to them, Kelly said, “I love you...I thought I had lost you.”

  “I didn’t give up. I’m so proud of you baby...both of you.” He said while pulling both of them in for a hug. Kelly buried her head on his chest and Sam squeezed tight to one of his legs. Loud grunts somewhere in the distance brought all of them back to reality.

  “Let’s get up the hill...I have a couple people I want you to meet.” Tom said.

  Wiping tears from her eyes, Kelly nodded her head. Tom scooped Sam up in his arms and started climbing back up.

  “What took so long Daddy?”

  Tom let out a chuckle. “Traffic buddy...traffic was real bad.”

  Arriving back at the top of the hill, they found Rachael and Hank waiting with huge smiles on their faces. Tom made introductions all the way around. Before they were done, all the adults had tears streaming down their faces. A loud grunt, followed by several growls put all the introductions to a halt.

  “That sounded close. We better get moving.” Tom said.

  There was sudden movement from the other side of the ravine. Two people burst out of the tree line and stood on the edge, looking over at them. They were both covered in filth and wore torn up camo pants and shirts. The bigger of the two wore a hunter’s orange vest and the other had a pair of mirrored, aviator sunglasses on. Aside from the choice of sunglasses, the two would normally fit right in out in these woods.

  They both spotted Tom and the group. Sunglasses let out a loud growl and began an uncontrolled charge down the hill into the ravine. Safety Vest lifted his eyes to the sky and let out several loud huffs into the sky. From several directions around them came what sounded like return huffs. Tom had always thought the demented communicated to some extent and this was proof of it. Most of the sounds were fairly distant, but there were a few that were terrifyingly close.

  Watching as Safety Vest began a charge down the hillside after his companion, Tom said, “Go. Go. Let’s get moving. Hank, lead the way, I’ll cover the rear.”

  “Where to Chief?” Hank asked.

  “Not positive exactly where we are at, but North along this ravine should lead to a tiny town.”

  Before they could even get moving, a nearly naked man came crashing through the brush behind them. He made enough noise that Tom had time to pull his AR up to his shoulder and sight through his scope. With a loud boom, one side of the demented’s head blew away and he dropped to the ground well short of Tom. The rifle shot echoed loudly through the trees, surely not helping their situation.

  “Go, go, go!” Tom shouted.

  Kelly grabbed her and Sam’s backpacks and raced after Hank and Rachael. Tom glanced down the ravine and saw the two in camo beginning to work their way up the near side. Their angry, determined faces stared up at him, eyes filled with hatred. Rather than waste time and ammo, Tom turned and followed the others.

  The hillside made for uneven terrain, but lack of trees and brush making the path relatively clear. Frequently loud huffs were heard from behind them, and then answered by more huffs in the distance to the sides and some in front. Tom was easily able to keep up with the others, so from time to time he would stop and check behind them to see if any of the demented were in pursuit. It was one of these times that Tom heard screams from Kelly and Sam, followed by rifle shots.

  Rushing back to the group, Tom saw Kelly and Sam lying on the ground. A bleeding corpse lay next to them, and Rachael stood in the background, her shotgun still pressed to her shoulder, smoke trailing out of the barrel.

  “Cover me.” Tom shouted. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and ran over to Kelly and Sam. Grabbing Sam, he lifted him up to his side and used his other hand to help Kelly to her feet. “I’ve got him, let’s stay tight with Hank and Rachael.”

  Kelly nodded in agreement.

&n
bsp; Tom did not like his rifle being slung on his back, but they were making much better time and he knew Hank and Rachael would do everything in their power to keep them safe.

  The morning was still cool, but Tom found himself dripping sweat from exertion. Sam clung to his neck, but was still extremely awkward to pack, and felt heavier and heavier every minute. He knew he could not go on much longer like this.

  Hank pulled to a stop and raised his rifle. He fired a shot and worked the bolt to rack another round. Hesitating only momentarily, he continued sprinting ahead. Over his shoulder he yelled, “How much farther?”

  Tom really had no idea, but instead said, “Almost there.” For all he could remember it might be several miles off, but hope kept people moving.

  Several minutes later, Tom could see multiple demented rushing up the hillside just ahead of them. Hank was just past their position and did not notice. Rachael on the other hand, noticed them and pulled to a stop. Lifting the shotgun to her shoulder, she fired a shot into the nearest demented, hitting it in the in the chest. The large man fell over backwards, rolling down the hill. Directly behind him came three more.

  Rachael racked another round and shouted, “Keep going...I’ll catch up.” With a loud boom she fired off another shot.

  Tom felt helpless packing Sam, and hated to leave Rachael, but knew they had to keep moving. He and Kelly ran past her. Hank was just ahead looking back at them. When he saw them still coming, he turned and continued forward. Another boom from Rachael’s shotgun sounded. Just ahead, Hank came to a stop, pulling his rifle up to his shoulder. Boom. He fired a shot, quickly loaded another round, and fired again. They were getting pinned in. Everything was happening too fast.

  From behind them, Rachael fired off another shot, and then another. Hank was moving again. Kelly screamed from just ahead of Tom. There was a demented crawling over the lip of the ravine, reaching for her ankle. Tom drew one of his pistols, pointed it at the thing’s head, and pulled the trigger. It was too late, but Sam used his hands to cover his ears. No longer holding on to Tom’s shoulders, his weight shifted away and Tom nearly lost him over the edge.