The Feral Children [A Zombie Road Tale] Box Set | Books 1-3

by Simpson, David A.

  Bob tried to stay out of the way of the comings and goings of the kids and finally wandered into the kitchen where Tobias and Analise were getting ready to start breakfast.

  Tobias acknowledged him with a grunt and told him to get on the butter churn. It was a tedious job and if the albino boy was going to slave over the stove to feed the stranger, then he was going to get some work out of him in the process.

  The delicious smells from the kitchen greeted the tribe as they came in from their chores. Harper and Bert had done a hurried perimeter check while Kodiak fussed with Millie. He finally got the harness on the old rhinoceros and filled her hay bin. She snorted and bumped him out of the way with her massive shoulder. He gave her a rub between the ears. She hated the harness and always made it as difficult as possible to get it on. She knew it meant they wanted her to pull something for them.

  Donny, Swan and Vanessa cleared the front gate of undead. Vanessa, astride Ziggy, lured them down the road and deep into the woods where Donny, Swan and their companions put them down. Killing and leaving them at the front gate wasn’t an option. No one wanted piles of rotting, stinking bodies so close to the house.

  Murray rolled around looking for a pen to finish up his supply list. Elmo had snatched one from his hand and ran up the stairs with it chittering loudly. The other three chased him, eager to fight over the bauble. In minutes, it would be reduced to a disassembled piece of chewed up plastic and they would all have blue teeth. He’d need the tribe to grab him some more. I’d put pens on the list if I had a pen to write with he ironically thought to himself,

  Even though there was still a lot of merchandise sitting on the shelves in Putnam, they weren’t things they could use. The small town was drying up as a resource and before long they would have to start venturing further for the things they needed. The garden was producing better than expected and with the foaling of the herd animals, their need to venture outside of the gate was greatly diminished. All of the stores that didn’t have undead stumbling around inside had been raided for toilet paper and Swan had started gathering it from the houses she explored. Tobias had told them they could use corn shucks when the supply was finally exhausted, but the girls had some very strong opinions on that. He’d just shrugged and shook his head. He didn’t understand girls, not even his sister.

  A big bowl of scrambled eggs was set on the table alongside the thin strips of fried venison back strap. Freshly churned butter, courtesy of Bob, was smeared on chunk of thick flatbread. Tomatoes and cantaloupe were sliced and glasses of fresh milk were poured. The raw milk had taken some getting used to, but now every drop was drained by the hungry children. Breakfast was devoured and the dishes piled high in the sink for later. Excitement was high about a trip to town as weapons were gathered and Murray went over the list with Harper and Kodiak one more time.

  They passed through the gates to the chorus of Landon, Clara and Caleb telling them to be safe and how much they would miss them and to bring back candy. Lots of candy. And toys.

  Kodiak spoke to Bob in a low voice. “No guns. I don’t care if you carry them, you know, just in case there is some kind of extreme emergency, but if you shoot them, you’ll spook the animals. They’ll run off. We’ll lose them. You understand?”

  “Understood.” Bob said. Kodiak watched as he pulled the pistols and cleared the chambers. He dropped the rounds in his pocket and slid the guns back into their holsters.

  Kodiak heard Otis moaning from the fence. He was leaving him behind this time. Millie was difficult and would require most of his attention to keep her plodding along. They’d be lucky if she didn’t stop and refuse to move or decide to turn around and drag him back to the zoo at least once. He had a pouch full of her favorite treats slung over his shoulder though so he wasn’t too concerned about keeping her motivated.

  The trip to town passed without incident. No undead stumbling out of the woods or signs of the Savage Ones. Swan kept an eye on the sky. The carrion birds usually gave away the location of the strange band.

  Vanessa scouted ahead and came back with news that the truck was still there and the area was clear. The fleet footed ostrich couldn’t be caught once she started running and Vanessa loved the thrill of tucking down low, giving her free reign and urging her to go faster. Ziggy could easily hit forty miles an hour, faster than most horses and way faster than any zombie could run.

  They hid in a copse of trees and waited for Vanessa to make one more pass through the area around the grocery store. If there were any undead hanging around, she’d draw them out as she and Ziggy raced between the derelict cars and abandoned shopping carts. Satisfied that they were as safe as they could be, Bob and the tribe made their way over to the truck. Vanessa sat on the hood, beaming a radiant smile. Bob smiled a crooked smile back at her then motioned her to scoot off so he could raise it.

  The tribe conversed in whispers or sign language even though there didn’t seem to be an immediate threat. They were careful not to do anything to draw the attention of any undead that might hear them from blocks away.

  Donny, Swan and Vanessa scattered with their animals to keep watch at the cross streets. Harper tied her giraffe’s reins to the shopping cart corral and joined the twins to raid the store one last time. Tobias kept a sharp eye out, battle axe ready, while the girls checked the small piece of clear tape near the top of the sliding glass doors. It was intact, no one had been in or out since the last time they’d been here. They pried the doors apart and slipped inside. A quick walk thru confirmed nothing had been disturbed, the back door was still locked. They relaxed, grabbed carts and started loading up. Tobias wanted to try experimenting with different seasonings. The spice shelves had been cleared of salt and pepper, chili powder and paprika but the less common ones, the marjoram, the dill weed and rosemary were still there. He’d come across some recipes that called for them. The air inside had a stale, musty scent with just a hint of decay from the meats and dairy that had spoiled long ago and rotted away. Analise filled the cart with different spices while Tobias loaded powdered marinades. Satisfied with their selection, they walked the aisles one last time, taking everything that was still good. Most of the shelves were empty. It was the only grocery store in town, the only one they’d been shopping at for the past nine months. Rodents had gotten to a lot of the boxed and bagged foods before they had a chance to take them. When they met at the front of the store, instead of the half dozen overflowing carts they normally took back, the three they had were barely full. Harper tossed in a handful of magazines and a few cat toys for the monkeys. There was plenty of room for extras this trip.

  Kodiak kept watch as Bob examined the truck. He muttered under his breath, shook his head at some of the things, nodded in approval at others. He crawled underneath and Kodiak figured he was looking for damage or oil leaks. He didn’t know much about cars, but he remembered there was always an oil stain in their driveway and his mom had shown him how to check and add oil to the old Subaru she drove.

  Bob finished his inspection and slid into the cab. The key was in the ignition but nothing happened when he turned it. He shrugged, they hadn’t really expected it to fire up, it had been sitting for nearly a year. Kodiak led Millie over to the truck and together they started rigging up the ropes to the bumper. She snorted at him, tried to pull away but a carrot from his satchel settled her down.

  Tobias and Analise slid the grocery store doors closed, reapplied the tape then helped Harper finish loading the supplies into the bed of the truck. It was the smallest haul they’d made. Analise signed to Kodiak they were ready. He signed back and the crew spread out to take their places for the trip back.

  “Plenty of room for more.” Bob whispered.

  “That’s the last of it.” Kodiak whispered back. “We’re going to have to go farther next time, to the next town. Donny is going to scout it soon, we just haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

  “There’s food warehoused down by the river.” Bob whispered.

 
“How do you know?” Kodiak asked.

  Bob shook his head. “I don’t. Some places used to, back when there was river traffic. I guess they’re long gone now. Do you want to try to get some guns so you guys can practice?’

  Kodiak shook his head and got another nagging feeling that the stranger knew more than he was letting on and his attempts to change the conversation didn’t go unnoticed. The older boy was hiding something.

  “Not this time,” he whispered. “Not with Millie dragging the truck. We’ll have to break in and if the noise draws any of them, we’ll have to leave her, she’s too slow.”

  At the strangers raised eyebrows, Kodiak added

  “They don’t bother her, we’ll come back and get her but it might take a day or two before it’s safe if they get riled up and start wandering around.”

  Bob nodded and made himself comfortable behind the steering wheel. He eased the door closed and dropped the truck into neutral as Kodiak gave a gentle tug on the reins to get the old rhino plodding back toward home.

  The clop of Bert and Millie’s hooves and the truck tires crunching the sticks and leaves littering the road were the only sounds to be heard on the slow walk back towards the zoo. Donny and Yewan were a half a mile ahead scouting the way and Swan moved silently through the woods with her pack. Harper walked alongside Kodiak and Millie. Vanessa let Ziggy nibble at the wild berries on the side of the road while Tobias and Analise brought up the rear of the strange procession.

  Kodiak brought Millie to a halt when he saw Donny and Yewan racing back and signing the word for zombie at them. This was bad. It took a lot to spook the boy and his shadowy companion. Bob braked the truck, slipped it into park and moved beside Kodiak. He watched as they flashed signs back and forth in in their silent language.

  “Big horde moving down the road.” Kodiak translated for him. “Massive. We’ve got to hide, circle around them. I’ll tie Millie up, they won’t bother her. She’ll be okay for a while. The walkers will be gone in a few hours, the crawlers by tomorrow at the latest. We can’t let them get wind of us, we’re too close to the park and they might follow us in.”

  “How many?” Bob asked.

  Kodiak had already started unhooking Millie from the truck. “Too many to fight.”

  “Yeah, but how many?” Bob asked him again.

  Kodiak was annoyed at Bob’s persistence. They needed to be moving, getting to safety, not arguing about whether it was one or a thousand. It didn’t matter. The odds weren’t in their favor. He cursed himself for leaving Otis behind. He’d have to double up with Analise and Bob would have to ride with Tobias if the bear would allow it. If Donny’s estimate was right, it might already be too late. The undead could be spread out wide in the woods. It only took one to scent them and he’d alert the rest. His mind raced, considered the options. If they got spotted, they couldn’t run back to the sanctuary, they’d have to lead them away. They might be stuck out in the wild for days trying to lose them.

  “More than you got bullets for.” Kodiak almost snarled. “They’re not a bunch of kids with blunted weapons, you can’t take all of them on. Stop wasting time and help me get her untied.”

  Kodiak turned his back on Bob, and went to work on the ropes holding Millie to the bumper.

  Bob grabbed Donny by the arm. “How many?” he asked.

  Donny went to jerk it loose, but Bob had an iron grip. He signed to him. Bob didn’t understand.

  “Twenty? Thirty?” Bob asked.

  Kodiak was getting pissed. The older boy was being reckless now and endangering the tribe. Maybe helping him had been a mistake. He was going to get them all killed.

  “He said there’s over a hundred. Too many to fight. We don’t have machine guns and rocket launchers.” Kodiak said angrily.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Bob said then took off at a run.

  “He’s crazy.” Harper said, fighting the reins to get her giraffe under control. Bert was skittish. He could smell the undead on the breeze.

  “Should we help?’ Swan asked as she jogged up and whistled her pack in close. She’d love for her and the wolves to do battle by Bob’s side, even against overwhelming odds.

  “And get torn apart? No, he’s an idiot. He’s on his own. Help me get Millie staked out so she doesn’t wander off.”

  Popsicle and Daisy both reared up to scent the air as the twins cursed in Norse and held on. Daisy dropped and started bouncing up and down, eager to fight. Eager to destroy the unnatural things. The ostrich was side stepping, flapping her short wings and clucking as Vanessa readied her spear. They could all smell the horde even though it was still out of sight around a bend.

  The wailing and moaning of the undead started up as soon as the stranger rounded the curve in the road. Their keening dinner cry. They’d seen Bob.

  “He’s dead.” Kodiak said. “But he bought us some time. Hurry!”

  They dragged Millie to an old oak and lashed the ropes to its trunk so she didn’t wander off and they lost her forever. She’d be ok. The zombies would storm right past her. She had plenty of room to wander around and forage. She’ll be ok, Kodiak reassured himself. He’d come back for her as soon as he could. They should mount up, they should run, but his feet didn’t move. Donny and Swan should have already been gone but they waited and watched, weapons in hand.

  He was torn. He liked the stranger, he seemed like a really decent guy but his duty was to the tribe, not an outsider. He scanned his people as they waited for him to tell them what to do. They were ready and willing to fight if he ordered it and that weight was heavy on his shoulders. Would he risk any of them for a guy they barely knew? For a guy who didn’t do what he was told, who brought his death down on himself? No. Absolutely not.

  “We need to go.” He said, but didn’t move from his spot on the road. Didn’t sling the Warhammer across his back so he could ride.

  Harper struggled with Bert. Vanessa was mounted on Ziggy but the big bird was dancing around and flapping her wings frantically. She sang softly to calm her and listened to the screeching zombies as they attacked the boy. She grasped her spear tighter. She’d fight for Bob if Kodiak gave the signal.

  Kodiak stood rooted to the asphalt. The twins had their battleaxes at their sides, ready to charge. Donny watched him with hooded eyes, a calming hand on Yewan.

  They should run.

  They should run.

  They should run!

  It was the way of the tribe, it was how they survived. Stealth and cunning, not brute force and bayonet charges. They didn’t go into unwinnable battles, they couldn’t afford any casualties, not one.

  They should get to safety while the undead were busy reducing the stranger to scraps.

  They stood, weapons at the ready, waited for his command. The battle raged just out of sight, just past the curve in the road, barely glimpsed through the trees. The undead screamed and roared and the sounds of breaking bones and splintering skulls carried to them. The splat and splatter of soft tissue, the hungry keens cut off in mid screech.

  They waited, sick with fear and sick with worry.

  The screams became fewer and fewer. Had they taken him down? Had they turned the only decent person they’d met since the outbreak into one of them? Run! he thought. Run! Tell them to run!

  But he didn’t and neither did they. He stood in the middle of the road, white knuckling his war hammer and his tribe stood with him. The fight raged on, they caught flashes of it through the underbrush. Graying corpses, flashing steel, sprays of black blood, a leather clad wraith slicing through the wall of flesh, bodies dropping and moving no more.

  The wall of noise faded, the hungry cries of a frenzied horde, the cacophony of a hundred starving monsters lessened and lessened until they could hear them as individuals. Each screech distinctive as it abruptly ended.

  There was one last scream, a crunch of bone, then silence. They looked at each other. They strained their ears to hear the sound of flesh being stripped from bone. Of h
ungry teeth feasting on fresh meat. Nothing. There was utter silence. No birds chirped. No insects hummed. No squirrels chattered warnings.

  A lone figure came around the bend. Tobias and Analise fought the urge to race ahead and engage. There could be more following. Many more.

  The figure drew closer and Donny recognized the gore-soaked stranger first and threw a sign. They didn’t believe it. It was impossible, but they were seeing it. Swan wiped the unwanted tears from her cheeks. She was torn between racing to hug the blood-stained boy and bashing his skull with her tomahawks.

  “All clear.” Bob said. “There weren’t that many of them.”

  They all looked at Donny, who signed furiously. He knew what he’d seen. There had been a lot of them. There had been a hundred if there had been one.

  Bob untied Millie and brought her back to the truck as they watched. He hooked her up quickly, ignored the stares and open mouths of the tribe.

  “Did you get bit?” Kodiak asked, his Warhammer still at the ready.

  “No, they were pretty slow.” Bob answered and tossed his dripping jacket in the bed of the truck. He showed them his arms and they could see no rotter’s teeth had torn through his leather pants.

  “Break time’s over, old girl.” He said as he climbed back into the cab.

  “How many were there?” Swan asked Donny and he signed again. He was getting frustrated that they doubted him.

  “Yeah, right,” she snorted. “Maybe you should sit in when Harper is teaching the little ones about math.”

  He signed at her again and slammed his spear in frustration.

  “No way. One guy can’t kill a hundred zombies. Maybe you need glasses.” Swan said.

  She lost count at seventy as the slow parade passed through the carnage. No one could take on that many zombies with just their fists and knives. They were piled haphazardly atop one another and there were more in the bushes alongside the road. She stuck out her tongue when Donny flashed an I told you so sign at her. Swan looked at the slaughter then at the boy with one hand slung over the steering wheel, the other hanging out of the window. She was certain that Bob’s story about being from a sleepy little village in Canada was a Millie sized pile of crap.