For a long time most of them wandered around in small groups, but once they were brought together by the Connor Group, he emerged as leader. He was the strongest and as they moved toward their destination, he could feel others off in the distance. With a single thought, he called to them and felt them respond. By the time they reached their destination they would be almost unstoppable. Then they would quench their thirst again and again - and again.
Chapter 15
Cindy turned to Judith as Rose closed the shelter door and secured it. "Well, that takes care of all the kids and everyone who can't fight. Guess we should get over to the hardware store and get in position."
They both trotted down the hall and up the stairs where Harry was waiting for them. As they approached, he waved a walkie talkie in the air. "We're all set with these, use channel four."
Judith nodded and pulling it out of her backpack, fiddled with the dial. Cindy patted hers, which was clipped to her belt. "I'm going to be with Judith, so I'm leaving my settings where they are so either the twins or Mick can contact us if they ever break radio silence."
Harry turned and opened the door that led outside. Cindy peered over his shoulder at the apartment building across the street. Once again a meeting place, Dexter was doing what he did best, bellowing orders for everyone to find their places and get ready for an imminent attack.
"Guess I'll be leaving you ladies for now, I'm meeting Mark at the chopper, and we're going to move it to the McKenzie farm."
"You better get going," Cindy said with a smile as she gave him a nudge out the door. "We definitely don't want the Connor Group to get their hands on a helicopter, which would be a bad deal all the way around."
"Agree," Harry said solemnly. He gave them a quick wave as he turned to go. "See you soon!"
Judith followed Cindy out the door and they walked together along the back of the building then made a sharp left until they were at the street. They jogged the rest of the way down to the hardware store where they quickly made their way up the stairs to stand watch over their section of the street.
Judith rummaged around in her backpack and brought out the walkie again, carefully placing it on a windowsill and checking to make sure it was on the proper channel. Then she pulled out a large thermos and a paper bag.
"Coffee and homemade donuts," she said with a grin. "I come prepared."
Cindy chuckled. "Indeed you do, think I could use a cup right now."
Judith pulled a large metal mug out of her bag and waggled her eyebrows at Cindy, causing both women to laugh.
Cindy gratefully accepted the mug full of hot coffee and gingerly sipped. "Ah, that hits the spot!" she said with a happy sigh.
"Sorry it's black, I know you like cream and sugar, but I figured we could be here awhile and it would help keep us awake."
"No, it's fine," Cindy said agreeably, taking another sip.
Both women jumped and Cindy almost dropped her mug when Judith's walkie crackled to life. Both women listened quietly as the groups patrolling the town checked in. Once it grew quiet again, Cindy realized she was holding her breath and let it out in a whoosh.
"They all checked in," Judith pointed out as she filled her own mug and took a drink. She made a face and set it down on a nearby counter. "I hate coffee, give me tea anytime," she said with a chuckle.
Cindy nodded toward the window. "I hope this turns out to be nothing, it's getting dark and that will make it hard to see anything."
"Well, we do have one set of night vision goggles, courtesy of Lilly," Judith said as she bent down to retrieve her bag and pull them out.
"What else do you have in there?" Cindy said with a laugh.
"You'd be surprised," her friend quipped with a wink and a finger to her lips. "But it's a secret."
Cindy grinned and shook her head. She glanced out the window and turned away, only to jerk her gaze back toward the window again. "I think I just saw something."
Judith followed her gaze and stared out the window. They watched silently for several seconds before Cindy shook her head.
"Guess it was nothing..."
Judith stopped her by reaching out and grabbing her arm. "No, I see something - look over by the park!"
Cindy squinted, shadows were lengthening in the growing darkness and it was becoming difficult to make out anything. Then she saw it - something very dark and large was moving slowly down the street toward them.
"I think it's an SUV," Judith said nervously. She tucked a strand of curly blond hair behind an ear. She reached out and picked up the walkie.
"Wouldn't someone have called out if they were headed in?"
Cindy nodded, her eyes still fastened on the vehicle. "Yeah, they're supposed to."
"Dexter, come in," Judith said carefully into the walkie.
"I'm here," Dexter said in his gravely voice.
"Cindy and I are in position at the hardware store and there's an SUV coming slowly down the street. Do you know if anyone is out moving around?"
"Lemme check."
They both waited as Dexter roared out over the walkie to anyone moving in town to let him know pronto. Cindy shook her head as Judith rolled her eyes.
"Some things never change," Cindy said dryly. She bent down, fished around in her own backpack, and pulled out binoculars. Walking over to another window further down, she held them up and focused them.
"What are you trying to do?"
"I know the windows are tinted and it's still at the end of the street, but I'd like to see if I can catch any glimpse of who is in there before it's too dark to see."
"Gotcha," Judith replied. She started to turn away and go into the next room to take a look when Cindy held out a hand.
"Judith! Come look!" she hissed as she waved her hand frantically. "They've stopped!"
Judith hurried over to peer over Cindy's shoulder. They both gasped when several men in dark clothing exited from the vehicle and ran to their side of the street to take cover by the buildings. Both women knew immediately these were not people from Shady Oaks.
"Oh, this is not good," Judith said in a low voice. Still watching the street, she quickly called Dexter on the walkie.
"Dex! This SUV we're watching is not from here, about six men piled out and they're somewhere down the street!"
The walkie was silent for a moment. Cindy and Judith stared at each other until Dexter's voice came through again.
"Okay, you two hold your position and stay out of sight, we're on our way."
"Roger that," Judith said softly. She released the talk button and sighed loudly as she looked around the room. Shadows were lengthening and it was getting hard to see. "Guess we should hunker down by the windows and keep watch until they get here."
Cindy grabbed a nearby folding chair and sat near the window, her binoculars around her neck. Judith watched Cindy check her pistol before placing it on her lap.
Judith slid another chair over to her window, she had the night vision goggles in hand and the shotgun Cindy brought along was at her feet. Like Cindy, she was more comfortable with a pistol, but there had been no time to fetch hers, so now she had to use Mick's shotgun.
They sat silently, looking out the windows for almost half an hour before Cindy spoke softly in the dark room.
"I always thought that if anything happened, I'd have Mick by my side and that kept me from being afraid. Without him here, I'm really scared...I wish he and Charlie had stayed in town and were here with us now."
Judith leaned over and patted her friend's hand. "No reason to be scared, Dexter is coming with help, it will be all right."
"I hope so," Cindy murmured in a shaky voice. She suddenly sat up straighter when sudden movement from the park across the street caught her eye.
"I think I see them now. Look across the street."
As Judith turned to the window, gunfire and the resulting flashes erupted on the street below them. She heard Cindy gasp as she reached down for the shotgun.
"Can I be sca
red now?"
"Yeah," Judith muttered grimly as she released the safety and heard Cindy do the same with her pistol. "Now we can both be scared."
****
"I can't believe we made it back in one piece," Mick grunted as he helped deposit Jimmy onto the nearest cot. He had sweat dripping from his face and wiped it off as best he could with the back of his shirt sleeve.
Even with Jimmy in tow, they managed a slow trot almost the entire way back to camp and everyone needed a few moments to catch their breath.
Mick watched Jake disappear toward the back, muttering something about finding medical supplies. Charlie and Jenny were busy trying to secure the flaps to the tent so no zombie stragglers could easily get in, although the place appeared to be completely deserted.
Brooke found a chair and sat next to Jimmy, worry etched on her face. Mick decided to see if he could help Jake and found the doctor shining a flashlight into a cabinet drawer as he dug through the contents.
"Anything I can do to help?"
Jake looked up. "Sure, we need to take all this medicine back with us so see if you can find a couple of good size boxes; we can really use almost everything here." He picked up a bottle and gave it a shake. "I found some muscle relaxers, these should help Jimmy."
Mick held out a hand. "If you want, I'll take those up front while I'm looking for boxes."
"That'll work, thanks," Jake said distractedly. He straightened up and surveyed the area. "I can't believe they left so much behind, but it's great for us and especially good for my research. After I provided some of my information, they were in the final stages of synthesizing a new vaccine and if they left enough behind, I should be able to continue that work or at least see if they were able to fix their deadly problem."
Mick found a small battery-operated lantern and turned it on. He glanced around the room and was surprised to see how much equipment Malcolm left behind. He surmised that Malcolm was planning to come back and soon. His gaze fell on a large box in the corner.
"From the look of things, you may get your wish," he said as he retrieved the box and handed it to Jake.
"I hope so; if we can keep any more people from dying then we may all have a chance to have real lives again."
As he helped fill the box with medical supplies, Mick's thoughts turned to his sons. Brooke had the idea to leave a note on the tree, which they did and he knew they would see it when they returned. Lucky for them that Jake always carried paper and pens with him; he never knew when some idea would come to mind that he didn't want to forget.
"When do you think Sean and Scott will get here?"
Jake shrugged as he turned to pick up another box of what looked like syringes. "Well, let's say they've already made it to the truck and managed to get back up here. Then they would have gone on foot the rest of the way to the tree and found the note. They would drive both trucks back to the camp. So, I'm guessing they should be here in about fifteen or twenty minutes."
"Then we should probably hurry with this stuff," Mick huffed as he placed another box by the entrance.
They worked silently for several minutes before Mick stopped and looked around. "We could really use a dolly; think I'll see if I can find one."
"Good idea," Jake murmured while scanning various vials and tubes inside a small refrigerator. He turned toward Mick with a large smile on his face. He held up a small wire basket full of capped tubes.
"Look at this! They left a batch of the vaccine behind; I can't wait to examine one of these!"
Mick smiled back. "That's great news! If it works then all we need to do is replicate what's in there, right?"
Jake carefully placed the basket back into the fridge and closed the door. "Perhaps. I don't know if this is new or just another batch of the current vaccine."
Mick watched Jake pick up a large red and white cooler and return to the fridge to pack his precious cargo. "Okay, I'm going to find more boxes and a dolly or hand cart or anything with wheels to help us haul this stuff outside. Soon as Sean and Scott get here, we can load up and get back to Shady Oaks."
He didn't have a flashlight and the lantern he left behind with Jake cast such a dim light that when he walked through the plastic barrier he almost ran into Charlie.
"You two need any help? The boys just pulled up, Jenny's out there talking to them."
"They did? That's great!" Mick said with a wide grin. "Looking for boxes and a dolly, want to help?"
"Sure," Charlie said as he turned to follow Mick back toward the entrance. "There are boxes up front, and I haven't seen a dolly, but I'll look around."
"Sounds good, I'll get the boys to come help us load stuff and take a quick look outside while I'm at it."
He stopped for a moment by the cot Jimmy was now sitting on, with Brooke still by his side. Two large lanterns they found did a surprisingly good job of lighting the space and he could clearly see both of them. He tossed the small package of muscle relaxers into Jimmy's lap.
"Feeling better?"
Jimmy gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt as much now. Jake thinks I bruised my tail bone."
He looked toward his daughter. "Boys are here, we're going to need some help loading supplies Jake needs, think you can tear yourself away for a little bit to give us a hand?"
Brooke patted Jimmy's hand and jumped up. "Sure, now that I know Jimmy is feeling better, I'd be glad to."
Mick gave her a quick hug. "Okay Missy, go in the back and Jake will get you started."
"Going!" she said with a giggle and a small wave.
They both watched until she disappeared behind the plastic curtain. Mick turned to Jimmy.
"I see you have some water; Jake said to take two of those. Do you need anything else before I head outside?"
"No, I'm good."
Mick gave him a grin. "Well, take it easy and when we finish loading the supplies we'll be back to help you get out to the truck."
Jimmy nodded and began removing the tablets from their foil pack. Mick hurried over to the entrance and grabbed his bag. He quickly pulled out his flashlight and turned it on as he rushed outside, he was eager to touch base with his sons. He didn't like being stuck in Malcolm's camp when everyone in Shady Oaks was in danger. Once again he felt guilty for sneaking off with Charlie.
"Uh oh," he said softly, slowing down as the beam from his flashlight caught the worried looks on Sean's and Scott's faces. Jenny was standing next to them and her expression mirrored theirs. Mick sighed. Whatever news they had obviously wasn't good and he felt his heart sink down to his shoes.
****
He began to draw them back, they were becoming too scattered as they chased their very elusive prey. He felt a sense of urgency and tightened his focus and control. Slowly, they began to respond. He closed his eyes and waited. They gathered around him and when their minds quieted, he opened his eyes. He threw out an image to keep them centered on him and as he went forward, they obediently fell in behind.
He was learning, so as they continued on their journey he occasionally threw them an image of feeding, which kept them moving ever closer to the town below.
Chapter 16
"Where is Dexter?" Judith hissed impatiently. She cautiously peered over the window sill. After several seconds, she slowly sat back down and fiddled with the dial on her walkie.
Cindy watched her friend for a moment then closed her eyes, her thoughts drifting toward Mick and what he might be doing at that moment. She knew she should be angry with him, but his heart was in the right place and he was only trying to help.
Both women immediately tensed when they heard the wooden stairs leading up to their floor creak. Cindy let out a sigh of relief when, even in the darkness, she recognized the bulky shape of Dexter as he stepped onto the landing. He carried a flashlight and it briefly flickered on each woman's face. He turned it off and strode over to Judith's window to look outside.
“We have at least four suspicious vehicles in various places around town
,” he said softly while still peering out the window. In the full darkness it was nearly impossible to see anything since they didn't have the luxury of street lights for the time being. “We have them covered and so far nothing is moving, except for the men you saw earlier.”
“We don't know where they went,” Cindy said as she stood up and stretched. “My best guess is they're hiding somewhere on this side of the street in one of the buildings further down.”
“Well, I'm going back down where my men are waiting. We'll flush them out, so don't you two worry. Sit tight and I'll send someone up to let you know when it's safe to come down.”
Cindy frowned. They all knew how large and well trained the Connor Group was, and it seemed to her that Dexter was taking the situation far too lightly.
“Please be careful, sounds like they're just scouting the area. We have no idea where their main force is located. For all we know these vehicles could be diversions.”
“True, I've taken that into consideration. We should be able to handle anything they throw at us now that everyone's in position. They've lost their advantage and that should make them think twice about attacking or at least get them to rethink their plan, which will give us even more time to strengthen our defenses, such as they are.”
Cindy digested Dexter's remarks for a moment before nodding slowly in agreement. “I'm hoping they decide it's not worth the fight and move on out.”
“Okay, I'm out of here for now,” Dexter said with a grunt as he pushed himself away from the window and headed back toward the stairs. “If you see anything, let us know.”
“Will do,” said Judith. She was still straining to see out the window and didn't turn to watch him leave. She glanced at Cindy. “I hope this whole situation can be resolved peacefully.”
Cindy was about to respond in the affirmative when they both jumped at the sound of rapid arms fire close by. She cast a baleful glance at her friend as someone below in the street returned fire.
Zombified (Book 2): Shady Oaks Page 10
