White Flag of the Dead

by Joseph Talluto

  I had had a meeting a few days before, outlining the plan and asking if anyone was willing to come with Jake and myself. I certainly couldn’t force anyone, and it was going to be difficult for anyone to leave the relative safety of the new community, but I had to ask.

  To my surprise, Sarah agreed to go, along with Charlie and Tommy. Tommy said he would get lonely without me, and Charlie said someone had to watch my dumb ass. Duncan certainly was not going to get left behind without Tommy, and I was secretly glad the three of us were hitting the road again.

  Jason Coleman and his wife Lisa agreed to come with us, and to everyone’s surprise, Kristen Larkin wanted to come with, and her friend Chelsea Forbes wanted to go as well. I could understand it. When the condos were doled out, the girls in the little dorm room had been ‘adopted’ into other families, and I think these two were having the hardest time adjusting. No trouble to me, the more the merrier. I figured Sarah could look after the girls, and they would be well taken care of.

  We spent three days getting ready for the trip, and I was vague as to the details of the location. I knew where I wanted to go, but I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up in case the place turned out to be a bust. If it was, I had a small backup plan, but that was for worst-case scenario.

  We decided to take cars for the trip north, as the cold weather did not make taking bicycles a possibility. We had a lot of bikes, and used them frequently on foraging trips to the nearby homes, but no one wants to take a bike trip in snow. I was driving a small Honda CR-V, with Charlie riding shotgun and Kristen in the back seat with Jakey. Tommy and Duncan were in the next vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee, along with Jason and Lisa. Sarah and Chelsea brought up the rear in a Ford F150, with all of our clothes and personal stuff. Our weapons we carried with us, and we drove in full gear. We couldn’t take the chance of not being armed. In a perfect, uninfected world, this trip would take us thirty minutes, depending on traffic. Today, I had no idea what I was going to hit, so I needed to be ready.

  Nate caught up to me about an hour before we were supposed to leave. It was a cloudy day, with a brisk wind out of the West. The trees were devoid of leaves, and the ground was that light green color with a lot of yellow mixed in, letting you know that the world was going into hibernation. There were still some people out and about, and I could see two of the towers were manned. The fence was the only indication anything still was wrong with the world, its patchwork of colors and corrugated steel interrupting the landscape.

  “You all ready?” Nate said gruffly, always getting to the point. His breath came out in a thick mist.

  “Pretty much, just need to get people in the vehicles and rolling.” I replied, checking my gear and clothing. I was grateful for the heavy clothing as the wind tried its best to find every way in to freeze me.

  “You know you’re leaving me the two biggest problems I never want to deal with.” Nate said cryptically.

  I knew what he was talking about. Kevin Pierce and Frank Stearns had taken up residence as roommates, and one could only guess at the depth of their conspiring. More than once I had regretted not letting the zombies kill Pierce and Stearns, but I wasn’t one for outright murder. I shrugged. “Can’t be helped. I can’t take them with, as they are nothing but leeches, but I may offer you a solution.”

  Nate was all ears. I explained about how Frank seemed to be calculating when he learned what was in his pack, and I suggested that Nate send Frank and Kevin out on long-range recon. “Chances are, they will think they are being clever, especially if you and others ride them pretty hard here at home.” I said.

  Nate seemed to consider it. “What about Pierce’s boy?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Not a factor. He knows his dad abandoned him and his mother, and wants nothing to do with him. He’ll be glad his dad is gone. In all honesty, the way the boy has taken to training, I’d say he was looking to take dad out at some point.”

  Nate snorted. “Can’t argue with that. That kid fights like he’s possessed. More than once Carl has complained of bruises and cuts from that little guy.”

  “Just keep him focused and try to get him to forget about revenge. He’ll only get killed.” I warned, placing a second handgun in the door basket on the CR-V.

  “Got it. By the way, I got something for you, if you want it.” Nate reached into his rucksack and pulled out a radio. “I found these in that old guy’s house we checked out last week. The batteries are good, and the range is supposed to be fifteen miles.”

  I looked over the radio. It looked like a Motorola on steroids. I tucked it into the center console. “Thanks, man. I was wondering how we were going to communicate. Hopefully it will work.”

  Nate held out his hand. “See you in the spring, Chief. Take care of my little buddy.”

  I shook Nate’s hand. “You got it. Remember the plan. Push out the fence at every opportunity, and take out the houses one at a time. If the zombies freeze, hunt them out and kill as many as you can. With any luck, you’ll be at the river before I will.”

  That was essential to the plan. Nate was to push out West as far as he dared, and I was going to make my big push in the North. The idea was to expand our bases as much as possible, clearing as much territory of zombies as possible. We wanted to have rivers as our borders, and it could be done, but in order to contain the contagion, we were going to have to implement a burning policy. Any homes not made at least half of brick were to be burned to the ground. There weren’t enough people left to occupy them, and they were going to decay anyway. Removing the homes gave the land back to nature, which would provide us with food and materials we needed to rebuild. A pipe dream, but it was all I had. Homes were to be stripped of anything useful, but if they were filled with infected, they were to be burned immediately. Rivers were to be our highways, since most of the highways were choked with cars we couldn’t get out of the way. We were lucky with the route to Joslin, but I doubted the way North would be clear. We would have to see.

  I went to the condos and stopped at the second floor one. They were a family that was watching Jake for me while I was getting ready. I found him playing with a small set of cars, laughing as he knocked them together. He smiled as he saw me and offered me one of the cars.

  “You ready to go, little guy?” I asked Jake as I picked him up. He smiled again and tried to eat the car. I snared his coat and thanked Mrs. Bose for watching him and headed out to the vehicle. Charlie was there, and the other vehicles were filling up as well. I buckled Jakey into his car seat and he squeaked when he saw his traveling companion would be his beloved baby sitter, Kristen. She smiled at him and made peek-a-boo motions, which made him laugh.

  I waved at the other cars and the drivers waved back, indicating they were ready. I jumped into the driver’s seat and headed out, waving at the people who had come out to see us leave. Everyone smiled and waved, except for two of them. Frank and Kevin were standing together near the gate, and they just glared at me as I drove past. I decided to stop the car and address the issue.

  “So long Frank. I’ll see you in the spring.” I said.

  “Good bye, Talon. Its been a slice.” said Frank, snickering. Kevin giggled as well.

  “Nate’s in charge, Frank.” I said, enjoying the look on his face. “I told him to keep order here any way he saw fit. Sucks to be you.” I figured helping the cause a little wouldn’t hurt.

  Kevin and Frank didn’t reply, they just turned away and I could see Nate glowering at them in my mirror. Let the games begin, I thought. I motioned to the gatekeeper, and he signaled the watchtower, who gave him a thumbs-up. The gate swung open, and we drove through, heading towards the interstate and hopefully a new home.

  21

  We drove out and I reflected on the past few months. Sometimes I joked with Tommy that had I known the world was going to end up like this, I would have just shot myself and saved myself the trouble. But I was never one to give up that quickly. Besides, I found myself thinking less and less about wha
t life was like before and found myself looking forward to the challenges that faced me now. Gone were the tedious duties of school administration, gone were the meetings and parent phone calls and the conferences. We have been driven to the brink of destruction. The only question remaining was “Will you die today or tomorrow?” I thought about the rest of the world. I had no idea what had become of the government, the rest of the country, the rest of the world. For all I knew, we were the last.

  We moved quickly down I-80 and I took the exit to I-355. I was taking a long detour, but the hope was to reach our destination quickly by avoiding population centers. The last time we moved through a town, a thousand ghouls followed us. I wasn’t keen on a repeat.

  We moved north and slowly came to a halt. The road was jammed with cars, running about a mile back from the toll booths. So much for the Open-Road Tolling concept. I looked left for a way around as Charlie looked right. He shook his head at me at the same time I shook my head at him. We would have to go back. There was no way to get through, and we could see many of the cars were occupied. It would be suicide to try and move through that mess. Maybe if I had an interstate snow plow, but not a mini-SUV.

  We turned around and headed back down the on-ramp and back onto the west-bound lane of I-80. It still felt weird driving on the left side of the road, even though I knew no traffic was headed my way. I got back onto LaGrange road and headed north. Oh, well. Nothing is ever easy. Charlie had Kristen pass up his rifle, and he stuck it out the window to signal to the cars behind us that it was time to be ready. We were moving into potential hostile territory, and we needed to be prepared.

  On my right was a subdivision, and we could already see dozens of zombies moving in between the houses. Many of the homes were burned out-husks, and many had windows broken in or doors torn from their hinges. I could see smoke coming from a few homes that were still smoldering. This neighborhood had been hit hard. I doubted anyone was alive in there. Nearly every home had a mailbox with a white flag on it. It made sense. Lots of these people commuted to the city where they likely picked up the virus. We moved by as quickly as we could, but we were running into some traffic that we had to go around. I angled onto the shoulder, and managed to avoid some of the worst snarls. But I couldn’t avoid them all. A big SUV was jammed on the shoulder, and I couldn’t go any further unless I moved the stupid thing. I parked the SUV and got out, Charlie coming with me. Jakey was sleeping, so I told Kristen to get in the driver’s seat to be ready to move if needed.

  There was a big forest preserve to West, and Charlie eyed it for a minute.

  “If we had a place in the middle of that, the Z’s wouldn’t ever get close ‘cause of the brush.” he said.

  I chanced a glance. “If you like that, you’ll love where we are going.” I said, moving towards the SUV. I was hopeful we could move it without too much trouble. I came up on the driver’s side, unholstering my SIG, just in case. I checked the mirror, but didn’t see anything. I looked over at Charlie, but he couldn’t see anything on his side either. When I got within reach, I tapped the glass, trying to activate any “sleepers”, zombies who had gone quiet and were just waiting for stimulus.

  No response. I tried the rear door, but it was locked. I went to the driver’s door, and was surprised when it opened. I was even more surprised when a female zombie fell out and started crawling towards me, scrambling to get to her feet. She had blood over her face and hands, and it completely covered her clothes. I could see a crude bandage on her arm, indicating how she got infected.

  I danced back, bringing up my SIG. She followed me, rising to her feet and shuffling forward, her blood-covered mouth opening in a deep moan. She raised her hands towards me and reached out with blackened fingernails to rend and tear.

  I sidled backwards and was about to fire when I managed to trip and fall on my butt. I kept my gun, but the zombie had closed in and was about to fall on me. Shit and damn. I thought. Gotta move, NOW! I hooked the zombie’s ankle with my left foot while I pushed on her knee with my right. That was a trick they taught us in administrator’s school to keep uncontrollable kids from getting on top of us. She fell backwards and gave me a chance to get to my feet and back away. I was about to shoot when Charlie stepped up and put a round through her head. Her face was a mask of rage and would stay that way forever.

  “Graceful.” Charlie said, lowering his rifle. “Can I get dinner with the show?” he asked.

  I flipped him off. “Only if you kiss me first, sweetie.” I said, smiling.

  My smile faded as I looked at the subdivision across the retention pond. Zombies were literally pouring out from between the houses, falling over each other as they stumbled down the retention walls in search of prey. Their collective moan was disturbing to say the least, and we needed to get the hell out of there right now.

  “Get the car, I’ll move the SUV!” I yelled at Charlie. He bolted for the driver’s side while Kristen dove for the back seat and I ran for the SUV. I jumped into the seat and looked for the key. Thankfully, it was still in the ignition. I turned it, not expecting anything, and was proven right. But the key allowed me to put the big vehicle in gear. I signaled to Charlie to push with the CR-V, and he bumped me in reply. I steered the vehicle while being pushed, and Charlie came to a stop and let me drift out of the way. I glanced at the back seat of the SUV as I climbed out and immediately wished I hadn’t. There were two car seats back there and a lot of blood and bits of decaying gore. Two small heads were slowly rising out of the cargo area, and I wasn’t sticking around.

  No time for commiserating. I ran back to the CR-V and saw that the zombies had closed the distance and were starting to swarm through the cars at us. I shot one in the head that was too close to the car and shot another that was starting to pound on the windows of the truck. I missed his head, but hit him in the neck, severing his spine and dropping him in his tracks. A hit’s a hit. I dove for the passenger door and managed to close the door almost completely. Another zombie got his hand in the door and was trying desperately clawing at me. I was holding the door closed and shouting at Charlie. “Go, go, go!” The zombies were starting to surround the cars, and I could see they had the numbers to overwhelm us and get a new meal. Charlie hammered the gas, and shot away, knocking over two smaller zombies and flattening a third. The other cars followed our lead and escaped through the hole we made. The swarm howled in protest and started a shambling pursuit.

  We raced away as fast as we could, still dragging a corpse with us who refused to let go. I shifted in my seat until I was facing backwards, then pushed the door open. The zombie, a skinny kid in black clothing, hissed and snapped at me and tried to claw with his other hand. I shot him in the face and he fell away, spinning under the wheels of the Jeep behind us. Jakey screamed in protest at the noise, and Kristen had a time comforting him.

  “Sorry, little buddy.” I said, returning to my seat. I glanced at Charlie and he just shook his head. I told him to take the next turn left. We needed to avoid population centers as best as we could. I figured the side roads might be passable. If not, at least there was less chance of a swarm. I exhaled loudly and Charlie just nodded.

  We headed down the side street and I motioned for Charlie to head north again at the second road. There weren’t any cars there, and the community to the south was gated and fenced, so the zombies in there were effectively trapped. If anyone was in there, they were trapped as well. Not that we could do anything about it at this point.

  We headed through a wooded area, and I once again hoped to hell I was right about where we were going. I had a backup, but it was going to be tight if it came to that. We passed several houses, and a few more high-end subdivisions. I could see several occupied homes, but none living.

  I saw a small home tucked away in the woods and told Charlie to head for it. It was away from the road for a bit and something about it made me want to take a closer look. Maybe it was the handwritten sign that said ‘If you can read this: Welcome.’ The
two vehicles behind us swung down the same driveway. The driveway was flanked and gated by two stone pillars, and the property was ringed by an unkempt hedge. It made as effective a fence as our cargo containers. Any zombie horde would never get through that, only adding to its strength with their numbers. Charlie pulled to a stop and turned off the CR-V. We all got out, and stretched a little. I used the small rest to replenish the magazine in my SIG.

  Tommy and Duncan strolled up from the Jeep. “So what’s up? You planning another gymnastics show?” Tommy said, punching me on the arm. Duncan snickered.

  “No, moron, I just wanted a closer look here.” I said, indicating the property with a sweep of my hand.

  Duncan scowled. “Why? There’s nobody here. Don’t matter what the sign said.”

  I pointed to the chimney. “Then who lit the fire? Zombie’s don’t feel the cold.”

  That changed the equation. Duncan and Tommy went to alert and Charlie started a slow recon around the house, stopping when I held out a hand. “Wait here.”

  I walked toward the small dwelling, taking off my hat and gloves. I started whistling, and was rewarded with a moaning from out back. I looked back at Tommy, and he and Duncan circled around the garage, guns at the ready.

  I continued walking towards the house, and when I was about fifteen feet away, spoke out.

  “Hello the house! Anyone in there?” I didn’t want to yell too loudly, but I didn’t want to get shot by mistake, either.

  The door opened and a woman stepped out. She was roughly fifty years old, wearing a big flannel jacket and work boots. Her hair was curly red, and she had calloused, work-hardened hands. A big smile lit up her face when she saw us, and she set aside the rifle she had been carrying.