Dead To Rights_HZA, Vol. 4

by Marty Brockschmidt

  Emma shook her head. “Mister, I can sew, but I don't know if I’ll be any good at stitches.”

  “You'll be fine Miss, the hard part will be taken em back out.” Turk took a pull from the mason jar and again, used the moonshine to sterilize a needle and thread.

  Turk took some antibiotics from his med kit. “These are a might old, hopefully they still got some kick in em, we got a bit of work to do, no time to brew a batch of remedy.”

  “Have both of you driven a car?” Both Emma and Will nodded, not quite sure where Turk was going with this.

  “That feller acted like there could be more of his like pokin around. I mean to leave a false trail for them, before we try to meet up with those other folk. We gotta make it look like they never made it back to this campsite, but got waylaid a ways from here.”

  It took quite some time, several buckets of water from the lake to wash away the blood, and sweeping the ground with branches to eliminate footprints, but eventually, Turk was satisfied they had done enough. They took anything of value and moved it to Turk's car, including a sizable cache of guns and ammunition. With Turk leading the way, they headed south back into Tennessee and then a considerable distance to the east end of the state. Finding an out of the way back road, Turk and Will moved the men's bodies, back into their vehicles. Shot the vehicles up a bit and then set them on fire.

  Turk and Will had barely slept or eaten in the past few days and the adrenaline rush from the mornings fight, had long since faded. Turk still wanted to put as much distance, between them and the bodies they had left to burn. Turk kept himself awake, by thinking of the radical shift his life had taken. Even before the outbreak, Turk had avoided people and since his divorce, women in particular. Now he had made a vow to the man he'd killed, that he would protect these children. To make matters even more out of character, he intended to find a woman that he had barely known half a day.

  Chapter 3 - Kids

  They were gathered around the cabin’s small table, looking at the drawing the recon team had made of the amusement park. The park was roughly a half mile wide and a mile deep. To insure the main road was not backed up by visitors to the park, a long drive led up to the parking lot. The main entrance to the park, led directly to ticketing and a series of turnstiles. Nearest to the turnstiles, was a long building combining the information, security and first aid offices. Extending back nearly a quarter mile, strategically placed, were rides for younger children, a couple of restaurants and a couple of theaters to present an array of performances.

  Somewhat hidden away was a large building, providing storage of food carts and maintenance equipment. Also in the front quarter was a cabin rental, with its own entrance. Located next to the wall, separating the cabins from the park, was the signature ride, the Smoky Mountain Flyer, a roller coaster claiming a seventy five foot drop. Also located along the wall, was a multi-purpose building of administrative offices, guest services and staff break room.

  Centered in the next quarter, was the parks brilliant white water tower, emblazoned with red script, reading 'Smoky Mountain Playland'. The water tower was centered in a roughly quarter mile by quarter mile area, fenced off, preventing quests from entering the largely wooded square. Large pumps were in the vicinity of the water tower, circulating the water for the water rides, running on either side of the water tower square.

  The parks greenhouse, was also tucked into the water tower square. The elevation continued to rise, as the park was built into the side of a mountain. The final half mile of the park, was divided into themed amusement areas. To make sure people couldn't have free access to the park, it was entirely surrounded by a ten foot fence.

  Tim stood staring at the diagram, trying to wrap his head around securing the park. Tim puffed out his cheeks with air and let it out in a loud exhale. “Damn, I just wasn't thinking about how big this place could be. We'll be patrolling all the time, we won't be able to do anything else. From a tactical sense, it already has a secure perimeter. The parking lot gives us a long open stretch, making it hard for anyone to sneak up on us. It would be a bitch of a climb, but we could post a lookout on top of that roller coaster and see a long ways out.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Miri stated.

  Tim shook his head. “Didn't you hear the part, about everyone being on patrol?”

  Sam took out a pencil and drew a couple of lines, from the lower corners of the water tower square. “This center part, has its own fence. What if we closed off these openings, leading up to the rest of the park? We could follow some of the defenses. they lined up for these cabins. There are plenty of abandoned vehicles, we could pull in and make a quick fence, until we could build something, more long term. The place has security cameras everywhere, give me some time and I'll figure out what circuits they are on and get em goin again.”

  “Turk is coming back to, he'll help.” Lizzie piped up.

  “Yeah, that is another can of worms. We don't know if he and the kid we're playin us, like those two brothers tried. I wish you hadn't of told him, where we were going.” Tim said.

  “Turk’s not like them.” Lizzie argued, in defense of Turk.

  “I understand you think he’s nice Lizzie, but we don’t know anything about him.” Tim countered.

  “Hmm, like you knew so much about me or Sam, before asking us to throw in with you.” Red threw back at him.

  Tim convinced he was right, continued to try to make his case. “You were all alone and obviously needed our help. Sam here risked himself to help, when we got into trouble with those zeds.”

  Color began to rise in Red's face, causing Pete to step in and try to defuse the situation. “Tim my boy, you are not going to win this argument. Red is no frail flower, you know that. Turk proved his worth, tracking and rescuing Lizzie, stopping that confused young man from shooting Red and giving us a large amount of his food stores. I got no idea what you feel is wrong with the man, but in my opinion he was entirely forthright with us and presented himself as a gentleman.”

  “Alright, we'll figure this out if Turk returns. Jeff, have you done the math on Sam's proposal?” Tom interjected bringing the conversation back to the problem at hand.

  Jeff nodded. “Based on the rough dimensions, we need sixty to seventy cars.”

  Tom turned to Tim. “Tim, if we reduce the size of the park, are we gonna be able to defend it?”

  Tim looked at Sam and then the rest of the room. “Yeah, Sam makes a good point.”

  “Raise your hand, if you think we should take the park.” Tom requested.

  Each of the children's hands, shot up immediately. Of the adults, only Tim and Tom kept their hands down. Tom respecting the decision of the majority and Tim, more comfortable with what had been working for them, the past few months. The dog had no idea what was going on, but gave a single bark.

  Jimmy patted the dog on the head. “See Dad, even dog wants to go there.”

  Tom gave a short laugh, before getting serious. “Tomorrow, is going to be a long, hard day. Tim, you take Red and Tracey, make sure we're not going to run into any zeds, inside. Sam, I want you to go with Tim, figure out how to secure the gates. Everybody else, you're helping to move cars. Pack up, if it works out, we'll move into the park by nightfall, tomorrow. James and Jackson, high time you two learned to drive.”

  Jack and Jimmy, shared a fist bump as everyone moved off to pack up the few belongings, they brought into the cabins. Red was helping the children pack, when Lizzie stopped her. “You want Turk to come back, don't you?”

  Red chuckled. “He made quite the impression on you, didn't he?”

  “Well yeah, but do you want him to come back?” Lizzie pressed.

  Red nodded. “Yes, I think he would be a help to us.”

  Lizzie shook her head. “That is not what I am asking. Do you want to see Turk again?”

  Red sighed, realizing she wasn't going to be able to deflect Lizzie's question. “It's not all that simple. I agree with Pete that Turk is a good
guy and Lord knows, they seem to be in short supply.”

  At the crack of dawn the following day, Tim pulled the u-haul truck up in front of the gate, accessing the rental cabins. Sam got out with the bolt cutters and first, cut off the lock holding the gates latch from moving, then cut a secondary lock on a length of cable, fixing the gate to the side rail. Sam rolled the gate open, allowing Tim to drive in the u-haul, followed by Red and Tracey in the Focus.

  Sam rolled the gate shut and using the cable and a piece of wire, secured it shut, at least from zeds. Tim opened the back of the u-haul and took out four of the M-16’s, they had recovered from the Inferno. Handing out the automatic weapons, to each of his team.

  Tim handed one to Red last. “I know you prefer your rifle, but if we run into something, these will give us a lot more firepower.”

  Red took the offered weapon. “Okay.”

  Tim shuffled his feet,for a second. “You know I didn’t mean to say you’re not capable of taking care of yourself. I’m sorry for the way that came out. It’s just that fella showed up so convenient like, I need to be suspicious of things like that.”

  Red smiled. “Apology accepted. We’ll worry about Turk, if he shows back up.”

  They started with a search of the cabins, finding them empty. The rental cabins were separated from the park by a solid wall, reducing the noise from the park. The gate in the wall, located near the front of the park, was built to open wide enough to allow vehicles to enter, presumably for maintenance purposes. Sam cut the single lock holding the latch and the team entered the main park.

  “I thought I had gotten used to, the world being empty, but this place feels like a ghost town.” Red expressed.

  Sam smiled, remembering happier times. “I hears ya. For his last birthday, we scraped up enough to take Caleb to Six Flags, there in Atlanta. You couldn't turn around, without bumpin into somebody. Every ride we waited in line. Caleb kept goin all day, so happy. Fell asleep though, two minutes after we got back to our car.”

  The building along the wall, combined park administration, guest services and an employee break room. Tim got them in formation and room by room they certified the building was clear. Just beyond the admin building, was the parks, signature roller coaster. The nooks and crannies were checked, before Tim allowed Sam to examine the ladder giving maintenance people access up the structure.

  “I know you're thinking this place is empty and this is all an exercise. It may very well be, but the moment you let your guard is the minute this all goes south. Keep alert, look into every hole and don't nobody take off alone.” Tim warned sternly.

  As civilization crumbled, people would congregate together to wait out the end. The best places to find a number of cars were bars, churches and hospitals. Jeff had gone through the phone book and assembled a list of likely spots, closest to the park. Their first stop was a dive bar off of interstate 321.

  “Looks like a lot of people came to wet their whistles and never left. We should be able to get at least half the cars we need right here.” Jeff commented.

  Tom and Jeff did a quick sweep, making sure there were no zeds in the vicinity, before letting everyone get out of their vehicles. “Okay, everyone pair up. We need to make a quick assessment, of the cars. If the tires are flat, or there is a zed inside, we’ll skip those. Make sure to check underneath, before approaching to close, we don’t need any surprises from zeds, or wild animals.”

  Jeff went around and handed each of the children, a few strips of paper. “If the car is clear, but locked, slip a piece of paper under the wiper. If clear and unlocked, pop the hood.”

  Jackson teamed with Jeff, Jimmy with Tom. Arianna with Sue, Caleb and Lizzie with Miri and Mitch with Pete. The dog happily moved from group to group, playing no favorites. Jeff and Tom started on a faded green pickup and a black Cadillac, nearest the road. The pickup had its keys under the visor. With none in evidence for the Caddy, Tom inserted a screwdriver into the ignition and a couple solid taps with a hammer, broke the ignition, allowing the screwdriver to turn it.

  A few minutes of charging and the pickup and Caddy were running. Jeff and Tom, backed up the vehicles to the next two cars ready to go and attached tow straps, taken from the u-haul to those cars. Jimmy and Jack, were preparing to get behind the wheel of the towed cars, when Tom stopped them. “Without the motor running you boys are going to have a bitch of a time, steering and braking. Do your best to stay in line behind us and don't let much slack, get in the line.”

  Tom and Jeff took off on the short drive to the park, Jack and Jimmy gradually getting the hang of controlling the towed cars. Sue and Arianna followed in the van to give them a ride back. Back at the bar, Pete and Miri worked on getting the next vehicles ready to move out. Tom and Jeff parked the cars in front of the gate leading in to the rental cabins. Climbed into the van with their sons and returned to the bar to repeat the process.

  Two hours later and they had twenty eight vehicles, lined up at the gate. The van was returning to the bar to get the last four cars. Miri was charging the battery on a Honda SUV. Pete had just broken the window of a Ford Taurus, Mitch waiting at the front to lift the hood. Pete opened the door and pulled the hood release. A droning noise started and Pete called out to Mitch, too late. “Mitch don't.”

  As soon as the hood was released Mitch reached in, pushed the catch to the side and shoved up the hood. Hundreds of angry wasps, poured out of the engine compartment and descended upon the boy. Mitch turned and ran, but the wasps chased him, stinging him mercilessly. Before Pete could reach the boy, Mitch clapped a hand over his mouth and then collapsed to the ground. Pete ran headlong into the cloud of wasps, ignoring the stings.

  Mitch’s face, was beginning to turn blue as he struggled to breath. Pete fell to the ground, gathering the boy into his lap and protecting him from further stings, with his body. “Hang in there son.”

  Pete forced Mitch's mouth open, seeing his tongue swelling like a sausage, from the stings of a couple of wasps. In desperation, Pete placed a finger into the boys mouth and flattened Mitch's tongue, opening the airway. Sue pulled up in with the van, seeing Miri, Caleb and Lizzie running around Pete waving their hands, trying to shoo away the wasps. Even the dog was joining in, running in tight circles around Pete, occasionally twisting its head to bite a wasp, that managed to penetrate his coat.

  Miri saw the van approaching and screamed. “Bees.”

  Tom didn't wait for the van to stop, jumping out with a couple of blankets. One, he threw around his shoulders and the other, he threw over Pete and Mitch as soon as he reached their side. “Can you get up?”

  Pete nodded his head under the blanket and with a helping hand from Tom, got to his feet carrying Mitch. Sue greeted them at the van and helped to get Mitch laid inside. “Benadryl quick.” Pete directed.

  Sue dug through the first aid kit, pulled out a couple of benadryl tabs and mixed them with water, then handed the glass to Pete. “Come on son, drink this down.” Pete encouraged.

  Mitch managed to get the liquid down and when he finished, Pete shoved the glass at Sue. “More.”

  “Pete?” Sue questioned.

  Pete nodded. “More, now.”

  Sue took the glass, mixed up another batch and handed it back to Pete. Pete encouraged Mitch, once again, to drink the benadryl. “Do we have a straw, anything to help him get air in?”

  “I'll find something.” Sue promised.

  Rummaging around, Sue found a pen, after taking it apart she handed the tube to Pete. Pete worked the tube into Mitch's mouth and gave a sigh of relief, listening to the tube whistle, with every breath in and out. “Thank you Sue.”

  Sue handed Pete a couple of the benadryl and some water. “Here, you better have some to.”

  Towing cars behind the van, Suburban and the Honda SUV, Miri was last working on, they arrived at the rental cabin entrance. They were met at the gate, by Tim and Sam, Caleb excitedly running to his father. “Mitch got stung, real bad Daddy.”
/>   Tom directed his attention to Tim, as Sam went to help with Mitchell. “How are we looking in here?”

  “It’s clear, buttoned up tight.” Tim answered.

  “Can we use the cabins? We need to get Mitch and Pete somewhere to lay down.” Tom continued.

  Tim replied quickly, watching Pete walk up with Sam's help, the mottling of the stings obvious on his face. “Yeah. Yeah. Their good. What happened?”

  Tom shook his head. “It all happened so fast. Near as I can make out, there was a wasp nest under the hood and when Mitch opened it up they swarmed him. His tongue got stung and is swelled up, he's having trouble breathing. Sue improvised a breathing tube for him.”