Tommy spoke up. “So what’s the plan then? You want me to head back with the truck or the plow?”
I considered it for a moment, then said, “Take the plow back. I want to take the truck for a small side trip.”
Tommy cocked his head sideways like a dog looking at something that doesn’t seem right. “Where you going?” he asked.
I decided to add to his confusion. “Home.” was all I said.
26
Sarah looked at me strangely, but she got into the truck’s cab. I guessed she wanted to see what I was talking about. “I’ll be back at the building in an hour, no later.” I told Tommy as he jumped into the plow. I winced as he clanged the big blade on the ground, trying to figure out the hydraulics controls.
I climbed into the pickup and moved out to the gate. Sarah asked which way we were going and all I said was “Straight.” Which was odd as the road only went left or right.
But it immediately made sense when I pulled into the subdivision across the street. I had driven this road so many times it was easy to forget the how the world was now. The homes I passed were as familiar to me as my own, and even though I saw the wreckage and decaying bodies, I didn’t really see them. In my mind’s eye I was looking at my neighborhood the way it was, the way it was supposed to be. Part of my mind warned me that this was a dangerous trek I was taking, that the truth might be harder to handle than anything I could ever have imagined. But the other part didn’t care. I needed to see my house, I needed to see the place where I had built so many memories.
I turned the corner and went down the side street, my eyes taking in the broken homes and the smashed cars. This neighborhood did not seem to have suffered too much devastation, and I began to get the hope that I would find my house intact and unlooted.
Sarah was quiet the whole time I was driving, and I could see her glance at me from time to time in the corner of my eye. What she had to be thinking was anybody’s guess. But with the events of the last day and losing Chelsea, something was pushing me towards home.
I turned around the bend in the road and I could see my house at the end of the block. From a distance, it looked untouched and I began to harbor the hope that it had been passed by looters and the waves of zombies looking for food.
I pulled up to the house and initially it looked okay. The windows weren’t smashed, and the door was still in place. I looked at Sarah and she smiled, although I could see she was troubled by this visit, for some reason. I got out of the truck and Sarah followed, the both of us instinctively scanning the area and looking for threats. Seeing none, I went to the garage door and turned the handle. Still locked. I reached down to my knife sheath and unsnapped the small pouch that held the sharpening stone for the knife. Pulling out the stone, I reached into the pouch again and pulled out the key I had stashed there months ago.
Showing the key to Sarah, she just grinned and shook her head at me. I opened the door and let the light spill into the garage. My car was still there, the tires a little lower, but still drivable. I signaled to Sarah to pull the truck into the garage, as I did not want to leave it outside in case someone went by and decided he wanted the generators more than we did. After I had pulled down the door, I looked around and went over to the tool wall. Grabbing an axe and hatchet, as well as a hand saw, I put them into the bed of the truck. As an afterthought, I put in the kukri machete I had bought to control the runaway English Ivy that tried every year to choke out the lilies. Sarah eyed that machete, and decided she liked it better than her knife. I smiled and said nothing.
I went to the garage door that led to the house, and using the same key, unlocked the door. I hesitated for a second, more by habit than anything else, then opened the door. I had my gun out, because the experience of the last several months had conditioned me to distrust appearances. On the outside, my house seemed the same way I had left it. But the inside could house horrors and I was fooling myself if I didn’t think it was possible.
I stepped inside and quickly looked around. The overcast skies did not allow much light in the best of circumstances, and my barricaded windows allowed even less. But even in the gloom, I could see that the house had miraculously survived intact. Everything was exactly as I had left it when Jake and I had fled, hoping to escape the worst of the zombie hordes. Looking at the house, I wonder if I had made the right decision.
I was prepared for the house to be destroyed, and I was prepared for the house to be looted. What I was not prepared for was the flood of memories and feelings that surged as I moved around the house. I went upstairs and looked in on the bedroom Ellie and I had shared. I gently closed the music box where she had always put her rings when she went to work. I stopped in Jakey’s room, looking at the small crib and dresser, and the rocking chair that I had spent so many nights in. I looked into the front bedroom that Ellie and I had planned to give to Jake when he graduated to a “big-boy bed.”
I went back downstairs to find Sarah looking around the family room, taking in the pictures and looking around.
“Nice place. Where did you find the wood for the windows and doors?.” was all she said.
I sighed. “It was, once. I used the wood from my porch. There’s a lot of memories here.”
“I’ll bet. Good idea, by the way. It explains a lot.” Sarah said. She was being more quiet than usual, and I had a suspicion about what was bothering her, but I wasn’t going to address it today. Not the time nor the place. But I did know what I needed to do.
“I am going to go downstairs and get what ammo and guns I left here when I bugged out. Do you want to come down and grab the food and water I left here?” I asked.
Sarah seemed to shake herself out of her mood. “Sure.”
We went downstairs and it was so dark we needed to use a flashlight. I led the way to the back area, pushing the cabinet aside and revealing the opening to the room under the garage. I used my knife to scrape away the caulk I had put in, and Sarah looked over my tools as I worked.
“I didn’t know you were handy.” She said, running a hand over my tool belt and miter saw.
I answered from the floor. “Yeah, I picked up a lot from my dad and grandpa. I was taught to try and fix something myself before I called a professional and spend hard earned money. I had a lot of unfinished projects that used to drive Ellie nuts.”
Sarah murmured to herself, but loud enough for me to pick up, “I never knew her name.”
Finishing with the caulk, I removed the first piece of wood, then went to work on the second. It came out in a minute and I slipped into the gloom of the room, lighting my way with the flashlight. I showed Sarah the water bottle supply and she immediately began bringing cases up to the truck. I went to my safe and opened it, after spending a minute trying to remember what the combination was. Opening the safe, I pulled out the cases of ammo for the M1 Carbine, all of the reloaded ammo for the SIG, and the boxes of .22 ammo. I hauled it all upstairs, bumping into Sarah on the way down, whose eyes opened wide at the haul.
Passing Sarah again on my way down to the room, I went and grabbed my Walther PPK and my GSG-5 .22 rifle. Tucking the Walther into my pocket, I put the GSG-5 into a rifle case with its extra magazine, and brought it out, bumping into Sarah once again. I put it in the truck and went back to grab the plastic bins of clothes that Ellie and I had for Jake which we had inherited from my brother. Jake was running out of clothes and these would be just about ready for him.
I passed Sarah one last time, grabbing my Winchester and bringing up my extension cords. I had four of them, and they should be enough for our purposes. Heading out into the garage, I realized we had seriously loaded the truck. The bed was full and the back seat was full as well.
I went back into the house and stood in the kitchen looking around. Sarah came in from the garage and stood by the door. Her eyes met mine and I could see she was impatient to go.
I didn’t want to leave, not yet. But I couldn’t stay. There was nothing for me here. Sure, I could live he
re and survive, and Jake could survive, but that would be all we would be doing. We wouldn’t be living, just scavenging an existence on the fringe of oblivion. And what would happen to Jake if I was to pass from infection or illness?
I looked at Sarah. “Anything you want from upstairs? You’re about the same size as Ellie, except a bit thinner.”
Sarah scowled for a minute, then a thoughtful look came over her face. She went upstairs and came down a few minutes later with an armful of clothes. I followed her lead and went and grabbed a lot of clothes for myself, mostly cold weather stuff, but also essentials like jeans and cargo pants and sweatshirts.
Heading out to the garage, I found Sarah stuffing the clothes into a garbage bag. Doing the same, we tossed our booty into the truck bed.
“We need to get going, the weather is getting bad.” Sarah said, pointing to the large snowflakes that were starting to come down.
“You got it. I have one more thing to do.” I said. I went back into the house with a puzzled Sarah following. I went to the fireplace and took down the picture of myself, Ellie and a two month old Jake. What we didn’t know then, I thought, my heart suddenly heavy. I stared at the picture then replaced it with a sigh. I straightened up and took my wedding ring off my finger. I put it on the mantle next to the picture and patted the picture, much the same way my grandfather patted the coffin of my grandmother when she passed away. It was a final goodbye, and I was doing the same to the life I once had. This was my house, but it would not be my home for a long time, if ever. I had work to do. My dad hated funerals, his thought on it being “The dead are dead. They don’t care about us and we shouldn’t cry about them.”
I turned around and Sarah turned towards the garage, but not before I could see her eyes were moist. I smiled to myself and noticed that my step was a bit lighter and I actually felt better than I had for a while.
27
Sarah was in the passenger seat and I went to the garage door. Opening it, I got a shock when I saw 6 people standing in my driveway. I recovered quickly and swiftly drew my SIG, taking a bead on the closest male. He was carrying a pump shotgun, and though it was pointed downward, I was taking no chances.
His eyes got wide and he threw up hand, the people behind him putting up their hands as well. Sarah had seen me throw down in the mirror and was out of the truck in a flash, drawing her gun and aiming at the group as well.
“Whoa! Whoa! We’re friendly! Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” he cried, stepping back and getting in front of the woman next to him. The family behind him tucked their children away and looked fearfully at Sarah and I.
I have to admit, we probably looked pretty fearsome in our gear, with knives and guns and backpacks with blunt weapons. I held my gun on the man with the shotgun, and looked him over. He looked to be about five ten, roughly forty-five or fifty, with a lean look about him and asked “Who are you and what do you want?”
The man with the shotgun swung it down so it was hanging by his side. “My name is Mark Wells, and this is my wife Teri.” His wife smiled weakly. “The family behind me is Bill and Sally Kowalski, and those two youngsters are Jenny and Tim.” Bill looked like he had held a desk job all his life, with a slight paunch and balding head. His wife was thin and haggard, like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. Their kids were thin and scared, and their clothes looked like they had been salvaged from a person two sizes bigger than they.
I lowered my SIG but kept it at the ready, Sarah following my lead. “I’m John Talon, and next to me is Sarah Greer. You’re not from around here, are you?”
Mark looked at me and said. “No, we’re from Chicago, and we’ve been on the run for a while. The cold weather seems to have slowed down our little friends, so we were going to be heading out again, but our vehicle died. We’ve were looking for another when you drove in.”
“Chicago, hey? Well, Mr. Wells, you and I have a lot to talk about, but now is not the time.” To accent the point, the wind picked up a bit and more snow swirled around. “Sarah and I need to get back to our base, but I will send a couple of vehicles to pick you up immediately. Good enough?”
Mark shrugged. “Don’t have much choice, do we?”
I shrugged back. “You could refuse and I could leave you here to fend for yourself.”
Mark smiled ruefully. “Getting a little tired of that. What cars do we look for?”
“It’ll be a couple of SUV’s. The lead driver’s name will be Duncan Fries. Don’t be offended by anything he says, he’s just a goofball.” I said climbing into the truck and firing it up. “Get out of the wind but stay visible. If anything besides an SUV shows up, it’s not us.”
The group waved as we pulled away, and I drove as quickly as I could back to the compound. The snow was coming down thickly, and I was more than glad we had made the effort to secure a snow plow. I was even happier about the generators we had found. God knows we needed them.
I pulled into the compound and saw the big plow parked underneath the building. I pulled the truck up and honked several times. Tommy, Jason, Duncan, Pamela, and Charlie all came out to help with the load. Charlie’s eyes lit up when he saw the generator, and he and Tommy wrestled it upstairs. We would figure out where we would put the things later. Jason and I pulled the other off the truck and Sarah began taking the personal items up to the condo. I waved Duncan and Pamela over.
“We found six more survivors in the subdivision. Apparently they’re from Chicago and have managed to live this long. They’re two couples and two kids. I need you and Pamela to take the Honda and the Ford and go pick them up.” Duncan nodded and to my surprise, Pamela nodded as well. I gave them directions and told them what to look for. “You’ve got about thirty minutes before things get really ugly.” I said looking at the sky and watching the flakes coming down. Off to the northwest, I could see a small glow where Charlie had been at work getting rid of homes and zombies.
Duncan and Pamela went off to the vehicles and I watched them roll away. I grabbed the rifle case, ammo, and headed upstairs myself. I had been away from Jakey too long and needed to spend some quality time with him. I needed to make another trip for his clothes, but I wanted to get in quickly.
After the clothes and everything we had pulled from the house had been brought into the condo, I stoked the fire and helped Jake walk around. He was shaky, but he was getting better, although when I let go of his hands, he would stand for a second, then plop back down on his butt. He was very happy, since in addition to his clothes I had grabbed a container full of baby toys that we were waiting to give him. When I originally left the house, there was no way I could have taken them with, so they waited there. I was just glad he could play with them.
Sarah watched me play with Jake for a while, then asked “What do you have in the cases?”
I looked up from Jake and said “The brown case has my old Winchester, and the tan case has a gun for you.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up and she went into my bedroom. Coming back out, she was cradling the GSG-5 like a kid at Christmas. Checking the action, she swung the gun up to the window to sight the red-dot scope I had mounted on it once upon a time. Smiling at me, she took it into her bedroom and I could hear her loading the magazine.
Coming back out into the living room, she bent down and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you very much.” She said
“You’re welcome very much.” I said, picking up Jake and bringing him over to the window to watch the snow come down. What I could see was already blanketed in snow, and I thought about all the zombies we might miss under the snow that we may have to deal with in the spring. I had no hopes that the virus would die in the cold. Viruses are so resilient it wasn’t funny. But I was getting the feeling we were actually getting a handle on things and could move soon to a much more permanent place.
Sarah sidled up next to me and watched the snow with us. Jakey noticed her and leaned over, wanting to be held by her. She took him with a grin and we all watched the snow for
a bit.
Sarah broke the silence. “My husband and I were in the process of separating when the virus hit. We got married so young and we had a lot of dreams that over time became burdens. I would have left a while ago except for the children. Sometimes I think maybe the girls would have lived had I divorced him. Who knows? All I know is I’m alive when a lot of people aren’t, and maybe I can make up for that mistake by saving a few here and there.”
I didn’t say anything. I knew the need for release.
“You know what’s funny?” she asked
“What?”
“I didn’t like guns a year ago.”
We stood in silence for a while, then Jake started to fuss. We smiled at each other and went to feed the baby and ourselves. Today had been a decent day.
Outside, the snow continued to fall.
28
The next morning, I met with Mark Wills and Bill Kowalski. There hadn’t been time to talk yesterday with getting them in and prepared. The ground was covered in about 6 inches of snow, and the sun was amazingly bright on the white ground. The world seemed so fresh and new it was easy to forget what we were about or how we got there. The conversation with the two men from Chicago reminded me soon enough. We used a conference room in one of the offices.
“I was on a call for the north side when things suddenly turned over.” Mark started. “We had been listening to the reports and such for a week, but we weren’t getting much information. The mayor had been on television a couple of times telling us to go about our lives as usual, but you could see the strain on his face. It was like he knew something was up but couldn’t talk about it. I guess it made sense. If he came out and said the dead were walking, we would have had anarchy sooner than we did. There was stuff all over the internet, so people were pretty well informed, but all of a sudden it came to a head.” Mark paused to collect his thoughts. “I got a call from my supervisor that a transformer had blown in Wilmette, and I needed to get up there. No big deal, standard stuff, thinks I. Well, I get there and there’s this weird silence, like the world had paused to take a breath before it screamed. I changed the transformer and got back in the truck. I radioed my dispatcher and got no response. Heading back, I see swarms of cars trying to get out of the city. There’s smoke everywhere and I could see lots of fires. Sirens are going off, and over it all I could hear screams and moans. Screams and moans.”
White Flag of the Dead Page 27
