Every Saturday a small farmer's market sprung up in front of the grocery. Fresh milk, eggs, and produce were the most popular items, with beef and chicken a little harder to come by, the farms offered meat only twice a month so far. In exchange, everyone in town had to pitch in at the farms; even the older children had chores.
He was hopeful that they would continue to expand out from Shady Oaks and prosper. Perhaps one day they could attempt to clean up Ambrose, but he feared that would be years away.
Mick was so deep in thought he almost collided with Charlie at the door.
"Whoa there, partner!" Charlie said with a laugh as he put a hand on Mick's chest.
"Sorry about that," Mick said with a shake of his head. "Curiosity was getting the better of me so I decided to come by and see if anyone's heard anything."
"Nothing yet," Charlie said. "Guess what?"
Mick eyed his friend. "What?"
"We have a new deputy."
"And you want me to guess who it is, right?"
Charlie chuckled. "Yep."
Mick decided to play along. "Okay, is it Judith?"
Charlie shook his head.
"Reggie or Travis?"
Reggie was the sheriff's son and both men knew the teen had no interest in law enforcement.
"Funny, you know they're too young, and Reggie isn't even in town right now.."
Mick rubbed the scar on his right cheek, a permanent reminder of his stay at Dave's Place. "Oh yeah, I forgot he's in Ambrose. I give up, who is it?"
"Hey, I'm not gonna let you off that easily," Charlie quipped. "I'll give you a hint - it's someone I butt heads with quite a bit."
Mick's eyes widened. "No way!"
"Yes way," Charlie said. "My old buddy Dexter was just sworn in as Shady Oaks' new deputy sheriff."
Mick groaned and Charlie chuckled at his reaction. He grasped Mick on the shoulder and gave him a light shake.
"Well, there's no news right now, want to walk some more? I'm going up to the grade school to help them finish the repairs and then check the inventory.
All three schools were small so making repairs wasn't difficult, just time consuming. When school started in the fall, Charlie wanted to be sure each child would have the books and supplies they needed.
"Sure," he said while reaching for his walkie. "Let me tell Cindy where I'm going."
Charlie started to reply when he heard a familiar voice coming from his own walkie. He quickly removed it and pressed the send button. "Hello? This is Charlie. Jenny, is that you?"
"Dad! Yes! This is Jenny!"
Charlie frowned, she sounded frantic. "I hear you; honey - what's going on - is everything okay?"
After a few seconds of static, her voice came through and this time she was whispering.
"We're in trouble," he heard her say breathlessly. "There's some kind of camp up here, a big one. Jake thinks it must be the Connor Group and they spotted us when we came up the hill. We're hunkered down behind some trees, but it's only a matter of time before we..."
Charlie heard a faint shout and groaned when only static filled the air again. He waved the walkie in the air and turned desperate eyes toward his friend. "What do we do?"
Mick was deeply worried. "Let's tell Mark and see if he can get hold of Captain Sears, maybe they could head that way."
Before he finished the sentence, Charlie was already headed back inside. Mick followed at a slower pace, wondering how he was going to tell Cindy that Brooke and the others were most likely in the hands of the Connor Group.
Absentmindedly, he rubbed the scar on his cheek and squared his shoulders. He knew they were capable of doing anything to get their daughters, Jake, and Jimmy back safe and sound. Anything.
****
Sean pointed over the small ridge they were sitting behind. "I can finally see the guys that walked up," he whispered to his brother. "I'm glad we got to ride most of the way, they look tired."
"They look out of shape," Scott remarked dryly as he got on his knees to take a look for himself.
Sean chuckled and Scott grinned. "True, but they probably haven't been able to do much training. All they've been doing is chasing after the Connor Group," Sean replied. He sat down again with his back against the mossy wall of the ridge and Scott joined him.
"We should be hearing something soon from the scouts," Scott said. He pulled two energy bars from one of his BDU shirt pockets and handed one to Sean.
They silently chewed and watched the other soldiers sprawled out around them. Sean noticed a young soldier strolling their way. He realized it was the same one with Captain Sears at Dave's Place, but couldn't remember his name. Quickly swallowing, he nudged Scott in the ribs.
"Heads up," he said softly.
Scott looked up and nodded. "I see him. Sears' little messenger."
"Yep."
They both remained seated and looked up when the soldier stopped before them. Sean looked at his name tag and thought to himself; yeah he looks like a Private Dooley. "Any news?" he asked.
Dooley nodded vigorously. "Scouts spotted a large camp a mile up. The Captain is certain it's the Connor Group. He said to tell you to come with me; we're leaving in five after the group that hiked up here has a chance to catch their breath."
As they rose to their feet, Scott muttered, "They need more than five to catch their breath."
Sean laughed and gave Scott a shove. "Play nice," he said with a chuckle. "These guys have been good to us."
"True, they have," Scott agreed. He slung his weapon over a shoulder and eyed Dooley. "Lead the way."
As they approached, Scott saw several men focused on a map spread out on a small folding table. Captain Sears looked up as they approached and waved them over.
Once at his side, he pointed to the map. "I'm hoping you two can shed some light on this since you're more familiar with this area. The scouts came across this large meadow and lake here," he said, jabbing a finger at the map again. "They're telling me that on the north side there's a huge camp with military style tents and even a few small wood structures. The scouts couldn't get too close because of sentries posted all around, and even with binoculars they couldn't identify who they are, but my guess is that it's the Connor Group"
Sean frowned, still staring at the map. "So you've decided to go in?"
He nodded. "We need to find out what's going on up there. Do you two have any knowledge of this area so we can surround them without being seen?"
Sean shook his head while Scott scratched his. "Sorry, we've been so busy cleaning out Harris we haven't had time to do any exploring," Sean said. "I do know it's a popular place for folks in both Shady Oaks and Harris to fish and picnic at, even though it's not that easy to get to."
Scott snapped his fingers. "Wait a second! To get up there from Shady Oaks, you have to go up a deer trail and it runs all the way around the meadow." He grinned. "One of the old timers in Shady Oaks was talking about it when Jenny and Jake were planning a picnic up there." His grin suddenly faded. "Which was today." He turned to his brother. "Sean, wasn't Brooke and Jimmy supposed to go with them?"
Sean's eyes widened. "No idea, I didn't hear anything about it. Maybe we should contact Dad and find out."
Sean quickly reached for his walkie. The moment he adjusted the frequency they heard Mick Carter's frantic voice loud and clear.
****
Mick almost dropped the walkie when he heard Sean's voice. "Good to hear your voice, son," he almost shouted into the walkie. He took a deep breath to calm down. He keyed the walkie again and looked around at the sea of worried faces before him. After he let Cindy know what they heard, she quickly appeared, followed by several townsfolk.
"We need your help, we got a weird call from Jenny and we think something's going on up at the meadow."
There was silence for a moment before Sean replied. "Dad, we're just outside the meadow, we've been following the people we saw at Harris. From the looks of it, they've set up a large base camp here. Y
esterday I heard Jenny mention something about coming up here and I was hoping it wasn't today."
Mick sighed. "Jenny said there were people up there and we heard shouting, then nothing.” Mick glanced at Cindy, who was standing next to him, and gave her a reassuring hug. She gave him a small smile, worry thick in her eyes. "Sean, do you think these people have them?"
"Probably, Dad," Sean replied. "We're going up there and as soon as we know anything I'll radio you. Try not to worry; if it is the Connor Group, they haven't had time to do anything to them."
Cindy held out her hand for the walkie and Mick quickly handed it over. "Sean, this is Mom. Will you ask all of the men there to do one thing, if it's at all possible?"
"Sure, Mom," Sean said softly.
"Please, bring them all home safe and sound. That's all I ask," she said with tears in her eyes. She handed the walkie back to Mick and wiped her eyes.
"Sean, this is Dad again."
"Okay. Dad, I have to go, we're heading out."
Mick swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn't believe all his children were probably in very grave danger. "Be careful, Mom and I love you. Tell Scott we love him, too."
"Will do, we love you too! I promise to contact you the minute we know anything."
Mick slowly lowered the walkie and caught Charlie's eye. Unspoken words passed between them as they both had the same thought. Mick gave a slight nod of his head toward the exit and Charlie nodded back.
Mick glanced at Cindy, who was now talking in hushed tones to Rose and Judith. He tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "I'm going outside to get a breath of air and talk to Charlie, meet me out there when you're done?"
She gave him a curious look before nodding. Mick gave her a quick kiss and headed for the door. Charlie was waiting for him under the large oak tree next to the flag pole.
Charlie spoke first. "We're going, just the two of us."
"Agreed."
"We need to get things together and quickly. I'm hoping we can get up there unseen, check out the situation, and find a way to get our kids out of there."
"Captain Sears and his men create the perfect diversion, but if we tell them we're up there, he'll send us packing."
"Okay, so we don't tell them until they can't do anything about it," Charlie rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Think I'll see if any more flash bangs are left. We need a list," he muttered. "Be right back."
Mick watched Charlie hurry over to his office. Within two minutes he was back with a small pad of paper and a pencil.
"After we figure out what we need, we can divide the list up so we can get everything faster," he said with the pencil clenched between his teeth as he flipped open the pad.
Charlie wrote quickly as they brainstormed what they needed. When he finished writing, he tore the list in half and gave the bottom portion to Mick.
"I'll get right on this," Mick said, waving the small piece of paper in the air. "Should we try to meet back here in about an hour?"
Charlie nodded, stuffing his half of the list into his shirt pocket. "What do we tell everyone?"
Mick frowned, he hadn't thought about a cover story. "Let's tell them that we're going to check the perimeter of town, just to be sure there's nothing unusual going on, and not to expect us back until late."
"But we have patrols that walk the perimeter."
"True, but we want to make sure for ourselves that everything's fine," Charlie said with a grin.
Mick grinned back and waved a finger at his friend. "That will work."
"Yep."
Chapter Five
Sean and Scott watched the activity at the mysterious camp through binoculars. They were about three hundred yards into the tree line on the backside of the camp, hidden in deep foliage right off a small animal trail. They spent the last two hours slowly and carefully circling behind and it was up to them to call in anything important. Once everyone was in place, Captain Sears planned to make his presence known and then negotiations would hopefully begin.
There seemed to be no activity on their side so Sean busied himself studying the buildings and tents. There were two large white tents with camouflage netting on top; Sean guessed it was to keep anyone who might come down from the mountain from spotting them right off. Both had generators and central air units humming away. From experience, Sean knew the tents could house just about anything in a climate controlled setting. Smaller tents flanked them on both sides.
Next he turned his attention to the buildings on his far left. One was a regular square building, probably where central command was housed. He could see only one window on the right with a small air conditioning unit jutting out. Sean knew those units tended to be noisy so any sound from outside, like Scott and himself sneaking up, would not be heard.
The next building was huge and had him puzzled. Long and rectangular, he had no idea what could possibly be in there, perhaps it was for supplies. He couldn't see any windows or a door so he assumed there was only one at the front. He nudged his brother and pointed.
"What do you think that's for?"
Scott turned his way and glanced over at the building before shrugging. "No idea, it is a weird shape, though."
Before he could reply, Sean was certain he heard a banging noise emanating from the strange building. "Scott," he hissed, nudging him again. "Did you hear that? What do you think is banging like that in there?"
Scott turned again, lifting his binoculars to his eyes. "I heard it, but still don't see anything. Do you think they're keeping Brooke and the others in there?"
Sean shook his head, eyes still fastened on the building. "Nah, they're most likely being held in one of the big tents. Do you think it could be animals? If it's the Connor Group, we know they're probably experimenting with different vaccines so they could have animals up here."
Scott lowered the glasses to look at his brother. "Could be. We should probably let Captain Sears in on this."
While Scott was on the walkie explaining what they found, Sean continued to scan the area. When he heard the banging again, louder this time, he began to grow uneasy. He had a growing suspicion that animals weren't responsible for the noises.
As he continued to watch, he saw movement at the front of the building. He swung the binoculars up in time to see two men carrying what looked like cattle prods, followed by another man in full protective gear and carrying a large black suitcase quickly enter the building. He heard the door clang shut behind them, which meant it was metal and probably reinforced.
Scott was still on the walkie and Sean scooted over to him. Tapping him on the shoulder he whispered, "Tell him I believe they're keeping zombies in that building."
Scott eyes widened in surprise, but he did as Sean asked and relayed the information. "He wants to know why you think that," Scott whispered back.
Sean filled him in on what he observed and Scott passed the information on. Scott nodded a few times then lowered the walkie.
"He wants us to keep eyes on it for now, he told me everyone's almost in position. He's very curious as to how they would get a whole building full of zombies up here."
"They had to use the main road up here, it's an old wood hauling road and rough, but a small semi could probably make it up here." Sean shrugged. "Don't really know, maybe they even herded them up here. They do have cattle prods."
Scott chuckled softly and shook his head. "Wish you could see the picture that idea put into my head. Zombie herders. Do you think they even rode horses and rounded 'em up?"
Sean made a face at his brother and they both grinned. Sean's grin quickly faded when they heard muffled shouting, then a familiar-sounding long and drawn out wail. "Oh yeah, there's definitely zombies in there."
"Wonder how many?"
Sean shrugged. "No idea, but judging by the size of the building could be a hundred or more."
Scott whistled softly then settled in next to his brother to continue their uneasy watch.
An hour slowly passed and Sean began to f
eel antsy. Everyone should be in position, but they'd heard nothing. He and Scott were still watching the backside of the camp and everything was quiet. Earlier, they'd heard banging and other noises coming from the long rectangular building in front of them, and they were fairly sure it contained zombies, but even that had settled down.
"What do you think is taking so long?" he asked his brother.
"Could be anything," Scott replied. He was sitting with his back against a large tree and had his eyes closed. "Take a chill pill; you know how these things go."
Sean sighed and got up on his knees so he could stretch his back. "You know how I am, I hate waiting."
A rustling sound off to their right brought them to full alert. Sean quickly scooted over behind a tree and Scott got to his knees to do the same. Both relaxed when they spotted four soldiers threading their way toward them. Sean slowly stood and gave them a quick wave. Once they reached the brothers, they quickly filled them in on what was going on.
Complete radio silence was in effect while final tweaking and placement of soldiers took place. The four soldiers would help Sean and Scott secure the back in case anyone tried to leave that way once they revealed themselves to the camp.
Once the soldiers were in place, Sean and Scott settled in again, but this time they were sitting together so they could talk.
"What do you think is happening up front?" Sean whispered.
"I'm hoping we're ready and the Captain is on his way to confront them."
"Do you think they'll give us Brooke and the others back without a fight?"
Before Scott could reply, the sound of a single gunshot rang out.
"I think that's your answer," Scott growled as he grabbed his rifle.
"Damn! I was hoping this was going to be resolved easily," Sean muttered. He walked on his knees over to another tree and looked out over the camp with his binoculars.
"See anything?" Scott asked as he joined him.
Zombified (Book 2): Shady Oaks Page 3
