by J. W. Vohs
Fort Wayne had flooded so badly in 1982 that the city had undergone a massive flood-prevention program that had included the building of massive walls along the banks of the rivers that flowed through the area. A trail system called the River Greenway had eventually been constructed along the tops of the flood walls, and now hordes of hunters ran along these beautiful trails following the humans floating on the water below. After what seemed like hours they finally found a waist-deep sandbar near the headwaters that allowed the fighters to climb wearily into the canoes and begin to dry out as they rested. They were in no hurry, as they were now literally trapped on a three-mile stretch of the Saint Joe River between two dams.
David though, was in his hometown, and he had hope that they could regroup and plan for the next dam crossing. He felt terrified even thinking about the next portage, but the realization that their river journey would almost be finished, and the danger greatly diminished by escaping the city, gave him hope that somehow they could figure out a solution to the pickle they were in. The trails that now held thousands of deadly, howling hunters had once been among his favorite biking paths when he was in high school. His parents had moved to the city to be closer to their auto dealership when he was in the eighth grade, and the few years he’d spent here before obtaining his driver’s license had allowed him to learn all the best ways to get about town on the trail system.
They were passing a large, concrete viewing post on the left, so David knew that they would soon be approaching the State Street bridge. After that the trail on the right would end at a high school campus, and the trail on the left would actually move away from the river a bit, trees and heavy shrubbery blocking easy access to the water. He remembered that about a half-mile from that point was a long, thin island that was big enough to hold trees and brush. The channel on the right was narrow, but on the left ran the main body of the river. David was pretty sure that they could land on the island’s left side without being seen by any hunters on the right side of the channel. In any event, the hunters on both banks would be experiencing a great deal more difficulty in keeping the group in sight than had been the case since they made the portage.
David called the group out into the middle of the river where he explained the plan, and after making sure everyone understood they broke out the paddles and added their strength to the power of the motors. He hoped that they were leaving most of the hunters behind as they closed on the island, and when they’d reached what he thought was close to the middle of the land mass he motioned for everyone to beach their canoes. They all had the routine down pat by this time, and in less than a minute both the boats and humans were well hidden in the brush. David took Luke along on a quick inspection of the small island, being careful to remain hidden from any prying eyes on the right bank.
The island was free of hunters, and David sent Luke and Gracie to keep an eye on the narrow channel while he waited with the main group. In spite of everything that had happened this day, the sun indicated that it was only about noon. Everyone ate and rested as David spent time with Christy and Trudy. They were both crying silently and holding one another close, and David just sat beside them to let them know he was there, shedding more than a few tears himself. He had known that the trip would be dangerous, but deep down he’d thought that he could get everyone to Jack’s compound without any losses. They could have stayed on Middle Bass Island. They could have worked there to prepare crops for the following spring and tried to make a life for themselves there. But he’d wanted to be with his family, and in doing so he’d lost Christy’s father and Jerry Seifert, who’d become as close as a brother to him.
He spent the long afternoon with his thoughts, eating to maintain his energy up but otherwise keeping to himself. He kept asking himself why he’d been so determined to reach Jack and his other siblings, and also why he didn’t demand that everyone else stay on the lake while he tried the trip on his own. He could have come back for Christy and her parents once things were safer and he had plenty of backup. There were so many things he could have done differently, and Jim and Jerry would still be alive. Finally, Lori must have realized that leaving David alone with his thoughts all day was not a good thing, because she crawled over and began quietly talking to him.
“I never told Blake about it, but I was good friends with a couple of infantry lieutenants over in Iraq. Officers and sergeants always want to buy you drinks after you patch up their men. Anyway, sometimes we’d get drunk together, and for some reason they just liked to talk to me. I learned a lot from those guys. I think leadership, at least in war, is more of a burden than a privilege. I mean, when you’re a supervisor at your business you get a nice office with a fancy desk and everyone kissing your butt all day. But when you lead people in combat, their lives are your responsibility. Sometimes, there aren’t any good choices.
“We could have eked out an existence back in Westlake, but we never would have been happy there. And how could we have farmed, or stopped thousands of smart hunters trying to ambush us every day? Or we could have stayed out on Middle Bass and probably have created some type of long term life for ourselves. But I would have grown bored. Luke would have left eventually, and Gracie and Jerry would have followed him. Most of all, we’d have had no idea about what was going on in the rest of the world.
“I’m pretty sure, and Luke is downright certain, that there are pockets of survivors all over the world fighting to survive this disaster, and most of us want to do our part in this war. We want to help others, not just cower on some island while the rest of the human race fights for its existence. You didn’t ask us to follow you, David, we did it because we wanted to follow you. You didn’t ask to be a leader, you just are one. In my opinion, you’re one of the best combat leaders I’ve ever known. We’re going to find your brother’s people. Then we’re going to form an army. Kids like Luke and Gracie are going to become champions of the human race, and they won’t be alone. They’ll find others, and eventually, probably after decades of war, we’ll win back our planet.”
David looked at her and grimly whispered, “Or die trying.”
Lori nodded her head slightly, “Many of us, maybe most of us, but a hard core will survive and go on. The people who live through this war are going to be the toughest, hardest bastards the world has seen in thousands of years. Natural selection at its finest.”
She grew quiet for a moment, and when David didn’t reply she went on. “Look, Jenny and Addy are going to be a part of that world. So are the Martinez boys. You are going to lead us to your brother’s place, and these kids are going to train and learn how to survive, no, to conquer in this new world. Do you understand?”
David just nodded so Lori grabbed his arm and squeezed it hard. He looked up in surprise and she snapped, “That isn’t good enough, David! Now, are you going to lead us to your brother?”
David looked into her eyes for a long moment before replying, “Damn right I am.”
Lori wasn’t finished, “And even if we lose most of this group you are going to lead the survivors to him. Nothing is going to stop you, nothing! You tell me that you understand that!”
The fire was back in David’s eyes as he promised, “You’re right, I’ll cry and question myself after we reach The Castle. Until then I’ll be focused, and so will Luke.”
“And so will I,” she whispered fiercely. “Now is a time for warriors, and martyrs. Don’t you forget that. Now it doesn’t matter how many we lose, only how many make it to fight another day!”
David took her hand in his as he smiled grimly, “Thanks, Lori, you see things straight.”
She smiled back, “That’s what those officers in Iraq always said.”
As nightfall approached the group still huddled together under the trees, doing their best to keep quiet as the almost continuous howling of nearby hunters reminded them that they were still surrounded by flesh-eaters. A waning moon came up that did little to penetrate the darkness, and David announced that he had a plan.
“We’re trapped,” he began, “so in my book we’ve got nothing to lose by being audacious. We can stay here and die, eventually, either through hunger and exposure or the hunters finding a way over here. I spent enough time on the greenway to get a good look at this area when I lived here. There are fords all over the place on this stretch of the Saint Joe, and it’s just a matter of time before the flesh-eaters figure it out.”
Luke was impatient, “So what’s the audacious plan?”
David’s teeth flashed in the darkness as he almost snarled, “We’re gonna go right through them.”
Christy sounded alarmed as she demanded, “What are you talking about, David? You know we have little kids and my mom here; we can’t fight our way out of this mess!”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, babe. What I mean is, we’re gonna break most of the rules we’ve learned on this trip.”
Lori spoke up, “Lay it on us, Captain.”
David sounded more confident than ever as he laid out his plan. “All right, listen up, we’re less than a mile from the big dam I described to you all earlier. The best way around the thing will be to go ashore about a hundred yards away, on the left side. That’s in the park.”
Blake objected, “David, we’ve lost two of our people on ten yard portages; how are we gonna survive the kind of distance you’re suggesting.”
“It’s simple, Blake, we’re gonna do it in the dark!”
An hour later everyone was informed and ready to move, wearing their gear and carrying weapons, and each adult was allowed a pack that couldn’t weigh more than ten pounds. David couldn’t check the weight of course, but he trusted that everyone understood that they might have to try to outrun hunters, and no one could afford to be slowed by a heavy pack. Basically they grabbed a bit of food, water bottles, water filters, and ammunition that they prayed they wouldn’t need. Everything else was left behind.
When all was ready David and Lori used the NVGs as they motored back downstream to the State Street bridge. As David had hoped, there were piles of driftwood and other dry flotsam lying up against the foundation. Before they’d left the yacht back in Toledo, David had filled a small bottle with gasoline with the vague idea that a Molotov Cocktail might come in handy at some point along the trip. He’d then promptly forgotten about the gas zipped up in a neglected pocket on the outside of his pack, but now he was thankful that he hadn’t found a use for it earlier during the journey.
Part of David’s escape plan called for a diversion, in this case using the hunters’ senses against them. He quickly prepared the cocktail and lit it, throwing it into the pile of wood and debris where it exploded with more of a “whoomp” than a bang. That was for the hunters’ vision. Then he immediately tossed several handfuls of shotgun shells and pistol cartridges into the flames to engage the flesh eaters’ hearing. The instant the bullets left his hand Lori turned the canoe around and headed upstream as fast as the little motor would carry them. David was using one of the two paddles kept in each boat to add to the speed with which they fled the dangerous surprise for the hunters.
They had almost reached the island before they began to hear the ammunition exploding; David had given up on the shells but realized upon hearing the steady explosions that the fire must have needed more time than he’d thought to get through to the powder. They pulled up near the shoreline to see that everyone was in their canoes and waiting to go. David tossed his NVGs to Blake, who would be piloting the last boat in the column, and told Lori to continue upstream.
The closer they got to the dam the slower their progress became, but they finally reached a point Lori thought was about a hundred yards away and she guided the group into shore. As soon as they landed Blake gave the NVGs back to David, who along with Lori stepped carefully up onto the rocks at the waterline and began moving inland. The rest of the group pulled the canoes back out to waist deep water where they stood with weapons drawn, ready to fight or flee depending on the numbers if they were attacked.
David and Lori slowly and carefully walked toward the calm water behind the dam. They hadn’t gone twenty yards when they saw three hunters walking toward them. The flesh eaters seemed to be blindly heading in the direction of the gunshots that had ended at least twenty minutes earlier, snarling in frustration as they stumbled over rocks and uneven ground several times while the two humans simply waited for them to come closer before shooting them down. David saw seven more hunters heading away from them in no apparent hurry, right before Lori grabbed his arm and pointed toward a small building between them and the river where four hunters were apparently sleeping.
Even through the greenish hue of the NVGs they could see that the hunters had apparently fed recently, their faces and chests smeared with what they assumed was blood since one of the creatures was cuddled up to what looked like the remains of a deer-leg. None of the monsters even stirred as once again David and Lori simply walked up and exterminated them with the suppressed pistols.
They finally made it to the brush line along the shore behind the dam and found a clear spot where the group could put in the canoes, but there was a lot of foliage along most of the path they would be portaging. Any number of hunters could be sleeping or resting among the trees and bushes, and David called Lori close and whispered in her ear.
“It might take us hours to move through all that crap and make sure it’s clear, and every step could lead to noise that might bring more this way.”
Lori whispered back, “And the longer we’re away from the group the more likely some hunters are gonna stumble onto them. Let’s just get our people moving and hope that nothing’s in that brush, or we don’t make any noise.”
David knew it was entirely possible that there were no more hunters nearby, and completely impossible that they would be able to cross the entire length of the portage without making any noise. Still, Lori’s suggestion seemed to be the best course of action so he quietly agreed, “Let’s do it.”
As they rounded a small copse of trees on their return to the group, Lori and David saw four hunters standing on the edge of the river, perfectly silhouetted against the ambient light of the clear night sky while the flesh-eaters couldn’t see the humans beyond them standing chest-deep in the current as still as statues. The greenish hue of the NVGs lent the scene and other-worldly-feel, almost as if the two shooters were viewing the situation unfolding in a science fiction film set on another planet.
The sound of the water rushing from the dam’s spillway prevented the hunters from hearing any sounds the people holding the canoes might be making as they struggled to keep the kids and Chewy above water, and it also muffled the slight noise of David and Lori’s footsteps as they approached the monsters from behind. Four whispered shots later and the creatures were on the ground—another silent volley ensured that they would stay there.
Luke led everyone to the shore as soon as he saw that the hunters were dead, his young eyes a bit better than twenty-twenty and his natural night vision sharper than that of anyone else in the group. David and Lori called the group into a huddle where they quickly and quietly reminded the group-members of their roles during the portage. A minute later they lifted the canoes and set off for the placid water behind the dam.
Lori led the column, helping Blake carry the first boat across the rocky beach and onto the hard-packed ground above the bank. They were followed by Luke and Gracie, and Trudy and Vicki, all with canoes over their heads, motor and batteries left behind. The children carried Chewy and the paddles, walking below the light craft that they were to hide under in the event of an attack. Sal carried a boat by himself, balancing the long vessel on his shoulders with the help of the one padded portage yoke they’d been lucky enough to find attached to one of the canoes they’d discovered on the Maumee. David brought up the rear, holding up the back end of a canoe that Christy carried in front.
They walked the first fifty yards of the portage without incident, but not silently. People stumbled on
the uneven, rocky ground, and Chewy whimpered a few times with what should have been interpreted as a warning to the nearby adults. As it happened, nobody saw the seven hunters run out of the tree-line along the river until one of the monsters fiercely howled and David looked up to see the attacking creatures through the NVGs. He assumed that Lori was able to view them too, but knew that nobody else, including Luke, could see the flesh-eaters emerging from the darkness of the brush that had been hiding them. This time the humans were the ones backlit by the stars and slight moon, and the hunters wasted no time moving in for the kill.
CHAPTER 23
David saw all of the canoes come down and the children go to ground beneath them as everyone just had time to pull daggers free to meet the threat they couldn’t see. They had discussed this possibility, and the group members knew they would have no choice but to grapple with any hunters coming out of the trees. This fight would be close combat at its deadliest.
The creatures ran right at the middle of the column, the exact location where the group had placed their most vulnerable members. Trudy and Vickie were the first two hit by the racing hunters. They were immediately taken to the ground, struggling to bring their blades into play against flesh-eaters who had successfully killed and eaten many humans before. Sal, Blake, Gracie, and Luke were down a second later as the rest of the pack caught up with the leaders. A final hunter reached under one of the canoes for a screaming child.
David was moving before the first members of the group were attacked, but he knew that he had only seconds before some of them were infected or killed. He had no choice but to believe his small-caliber bullets wouldn’t exit the hunters’ skulls as he shot the two on top of Sal and Vickie, who had been marching directly in front of Christy. As his wife pulled a dead hunter from the petite doctor and Sal tossed a corpse off of himself, David continued down the line and killed the flesh-eater that was trying to rip Trudy’s helmet off as she flailed about blindly with her knife. The monster collapsed on top of the small woman but David had no time to stop and help her at the moment.
