by TW Brown
“We have different protocols based on the number of refugees that show up at our gate. Plus, it is quite likely that you passed at least a dozen of our perimeter sentries. If even one of them had considered you a threat, they would have signaled back to the gates and a welcoming party would have been here instead of just me. Hell, if you would have been a woman, then Sheila or Annette would have been the person to greet you. We even have a few of the younger folks trained in the off chance that a kid arrives at our gates.”
As Chad walked back to Caroline and Ronni, he could not help but be impressed. Every step saw his nervous excitement grow. By the time he reached the highway and could see the area where the ladies were supposed to be camped, he was a bundle of nerves.
It was all too simple. Too convenient. How was it that they had gone this long and found nothing even remotely resembling Green Springs? As he crossed the highway, a new feeling replaced his excitement.
Fear.
Surely Caroline and Ronni would have seen him cross the interstate. Yet, he was almost all the way up the hill and not only did he not see any sign of them, but Caroline would have made her presence known and come to greet him and ask what he’d found.
Suddenly, the feeling that he should have never left them behind hit him with the force of a fist to the gut. How could he have been so careless?
***
“What!” Jody actually staggered backwards a step. He was not sure if he was relieved, or even more suspicious.
“I overheard a couple of them talking about it last night in the tavern. Didn’t recognize either of them. I guess I thought that it was just a lot of big talk from a couple of guys who had too much to drink.” Jody’s expression had obviously changed to reflect his thoughts. Danny threw up his hands. “I swear, pal, I never once gave it a moment of credence.”
“So why the sudden change?” Jody spat, his distrust showing clearly as he took a step back, his hand absently drifting over one of his belt knives. “Seems awful strange that you are here all suited up out of the blue if you didn’t take these bastards seriously.”
“Because I told him to meet me here,” a voice called from behind.
Jody spun in a flash of movement that had his knife drawn and in hand before he completed the hundred and eighty degree spin. His hand shot out quick and he had this newest arrival by the throat. With one swift sweep of his foot, he knocked the new arrival’s legs out from under him and was straddling the man’s chest before the person could do anything to defend himself.
“Jody, no!” Danny barked.
“Stay the fuck back!” Jody growled. The he turned his attention back to the man on the ground with a razor sharp blade to the throat, just a hint of blood already trickling from where the skin had been nicked. “As for you…”
“Jody, I am here to help,” Tracy Sasser said in a hoarse whisper. His eyes were wide with fear and a single bead of sweat was already beginning to trickle down the man’s temple.
“Is that right?” Jody said, his lips curling up in an ugly snarl. He allowed just a slight hint of an increase in pressure as his hand flexed on the grip of the bone handled hunting knife.
“Yes,” Tracy managed, although it was a strangled sound as his ability to swallow was now becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second.
“He was working in the bar last night,” Danny called. “He heard everything after I left. He came to my house this morning and told me that those guys had not been kidding. He said they snatched little Alana from the back yard this morning.”
“And just how would you know that?” Jody pressed just a bit harder. It was now a simple matter of sliding his hand to the right and the man’s throat would be slashed, his jugular sending a geyser of blood across the sidewalk.
“Because I live behind you and over to the left one house,” Tracy squeaked. “I heard Selina’s cry.”
Jody stared into the man’s eyes once more. He saw fear, uncertainty…and honesty? If the eyes were supposedly the window to the soul, these were wide open.
“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” Jody eased the blade away revealing a long thin line of blood that was seeping from the three or four inch cut.
“Because I am afraid this is bigger than anything I can handle. And I needed somebody who could convince you that I wasn’t part of the plan. You don’t know me from Adam. Danny has been staying across the street from me since his rehab. I knew you guys were buddies once.” Tracy climbed slowly to his feet, brushing himself off as he did.
Jody gave the man a once over and realized that he was obviously not a soldier. And if he was, then he was a supply type and not a front line sort. Nobody ever looked more out of place with his weapons than Tracy Sasser.
That made Jody recall how they met. The two of them had helped lower Danny when he’d been in that cage after the women had hobbled him. Tracy had gotten sick at the sight of Danny’s injuries. He had demonstrated obvious distaste for what George and Margarita had inflicted upon Jan Sieber, the woman they were supposedly going to question about the tower deaths.
“I’m coming as well.”
Speaking of Jan, Jody thought as he looked to see the woman come up from behind Danny. He was only a little concerned that she had her own crossbow loaded and pointed in his general direction.
“Okay…and how did you know?” Jody sighed, sliding his knife into its place on his belt.
“Tracy and I have been roomies for a while,” Jan said with a shrug.
“Now let’s get rolling,” Danny spoke, clapping his hands together once for emphasis.
“Yeah…” Jody let that word drag out a bit. His eyes drifted down to Danny’s feet and then snapped back up as soon as he realized what he was doing.
“Oh no you don’t, Rafe,” Danny protested, turning and starting up the road. His limp would have been comical any other time but this.
“Sorry, Danny,” Jody apologized as he trotted to get ahead of his friend. “I would love to have you at my side for this, but you know as well as I do that you are a liability.”
“Kiss my ass.”
“He’s right,” Tracy added. Jan nodded her agreement as she patted the man on the shoulder and walked past him. Jody quickly realized that they obviously knew exactly where they were headed.
“You could do me a solid and go sit with Selina. Partially so she has somebody to talk to, partially because I need somebody to watch her and the baby. I could not think of anybody better.” Jody squeezed his friend’s arm and then jogged after Tracy and Jan.
“As I understand it, you know where they took my girl?” Jody asked as soon as he caught up.
“Yep,” Jan answered. “They took her to Pitts’ place.”
***
Entry Nineteen—
It has rained for three days straight. I am wet and cold and miserable. If I feel like this, then either that woman has already killed the child, she is long gone, or I simply went the wrong direction when I tossed my coin.
I admit, it is not the most scientific method to use on a search for a missing person, but I am not nearly skilled enough to sniff a footprint or see a crease on a leaf. Finding a person who does not want to be found is damn near impossible these days. This is a big chunk of land, and you can be a hundred yards from another person and not have even the slightest clue.
As I sit under this rocky overhang where about forty percent of my body can stay out of the soaking downpour, I realized that I am probably not as smart as I like to believe. Take the guy who recognized me back at the settlement. I figured it might be because I am a pretty big dude. Not for a moment did it cross my mind that the huge tomahawk I wear on my hip might actually give me away.
While handheld weapons are simply a part of everybody’s outfit these days, not many people sport a yard long ‘hawk with an ornately hand carved handle. That is probably the sort of thing that stands out in a person’s mind.
I think I will double back in the morning. There is a trade route not far. I
might be able to hear something from a passing merchant or settler.
Entry Twenty—
I was just waking up from almost no sleep, when I heard the sound of a baby cry. The thing is, back in the early days, that sound probably got a lot of people killed. I think we have all heard that noise at least once and been scared into a brown streak when we happened upon the undead source.
The thing is, all these years later, you can actually tell the difference without hardly even trying. This was an actual baby crying. I had no doubt.
I didn’t even finish putting my gear into my pack. I just yanked my tomahawk free and took off. I would not say that I am much of a runner. I am like a bear crashing through the woods, only, not quite as graceful.
I was damn near killed when I reached an embankment. The ground was soaked and I made the rookie nature boy mistake of grabbing a small sapling to hold my weight as I started down. The sapling came out by the roots—something that might have just as easily happened if the ground hadn’t been saturated considering it was so small and I am so…not.
I ended up falling head over heels down the embankment and ended up in a trench about twenty feet long and a few inches deep that was full of muddy water. Of course, when I stood up, it was damn near empty. I had become the human version of SpongeBob Dirtypants. What my clothing did not soak up, I must have swallowed or snorted up my nose.
By the time I quit hacking and throwing up mud, the only sound I heard was that of my own labored breathing. I was now cold, completely soaked…and pissed. I try my best never to let my emotions get the best of me when I am out on these runs. The woman better pray that I don’t find her in the next day or two.
Of course I can’t even say for certain that it was her and the missing child. In my mind, I am at least eighty percent sure; but that does not cut it. Nor does it make me any warmer or drier.
Entry twenty-one—
I spent most of today walking in a growing circle outwards from where I found the camp this morning. I will give the woman credit, she knows what she is doing out here. She had a nice Dakota hole dug which is why I never saw a fire.
The only mistake, if it truly was one, was that she did not make any effort to hide the fact that a camp had been here. Sure, there is a chance that the place was not even her old camp, but I go off my gut. My gut says it was her.
Besides, there are not a lot of women just roaming the countryside with babies these days. Zombies aside, the wilderness is thick with outlaws and bad guys. Of course I am being general, but that is a simple fact.
No, not every single person out in the world is an evil bastard waiting to victimize others, but those numbers are much higher now percentage-wise than they were back before zombies wiped out the infrastructure. It is a fact.
And for those who might say that perhaps I am just jaded considering the types of filth that I deal with on a regular basis, I would like to point out that we as a species have always had that disposition. And when allowed to run free and unchecked by any sort of law or authority, we are downright evil. The old history books are full of horrors that are hard to imagine.
That was something that Americans really put on blinders to back in the day. The horrible things happening to the oppressed were just bits and blurbs on a newscast. We could ignore them because they were so far away. We only really took offense or became outraged when a single person would commit a horrific act and get caught. Then we acted all surprised that a person could be so base and terrible.
I maintain that it has always been there. Don’t believe me? Find a book about the Holocaust or even some of the ethnic cleansing that took places in Yugoslavia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa.
8
Geek Wife on the Edge
Catie moved down the side street. She might be a few months pregnant, but she was still surprisingly light on her feet and capable of stealth. Still, as happy as she was with her own ability, that did not hold a candle to how surprised she was at Melvin’s ability to be just as quiet.
Melvin was Marty’s “little” brother. Catie had not been all that surprised to discover that the two were, in fact, twins. Melvin had been born second; thus the whole thing about him being the little brother.
Catie raised a hand. They were at an intersection. The residential neighborhood they were currently moving through was supposedly the location of the Beastie Boys’ main hideout. They had spotted a pair of men in hooded sweatshirts walking down the middle of the street about ten minutes ago. They had stayed just about a block behind them, yet, somehow, the two had managed to disappear after rounding a corner. At no time had they given any indication that they knew they were being followed.
Melvin tapped Catie on the shoulder and pointed to the right. Catie’s gaze followed the direction the man indicated. Sure enough, the two men were on the roof of a building across the street. By the looks of it, the building had been a school. The signage had long since fallen or been ripped down, but most schools were easy to identify.
Catie spotted the second team just a block over. The man leading that group was obviously not paying attention. Of course that was not a big surprise. He had a real burr under his butt about the fact that Dean had made it clear that Catie was in charge of this mission.
Clarence Carson was the second in command for the security teams in the community of Montague Village. He was a stout man in his own right. Not the size of the Wilson twins, Marty and Melvin, but not a small man by any sense of the imagination. He had long blond hair and a baby face that, despite the man’s age, looked like it might seldom have the need for a razor. His blue eyes were hard and cruel, and Catie did not think the man capable of smiling.
Catie stifled a chuckle when the man stopped suddenly and staggered backwards. Marty gave a wave after he made a point of trying to offer the man a hand up. He did not seem the least bit bothered or offended when Clarence slapped the offered hand away.
“How do you want to do this?” Melvin whispered.
Catie considered things a moment before answering. “You two,” she pointed to a pair of men she had not bothered to learn the names of, “go scout the perimeter. Do it fast, but do it quietly. Take notice of any type of roving patrols or anybody that you might see stationed on the roof. Once you do a full circuit, one of you report back here and the other report to the other team. Let them know they will be staying back in reserve if we decide to venture in.”
The two men nodded and disappeared into the darkness. Catie gave everybody the signal to stand down, but she grabbed Melvin by the sleeve and took him out of hearing range. After making certain that nobody would be able to listen in, she filled the man in on her plan. He remained silent and did not interrupt with any questions. Once she finished, she waited. If she made a mistake, then this was going to be over before it began. She hoped to God that she was not wrong in her assumptions about the twins.
“You need Marty to be in on this,” the big man finally rumbled.
Catie hid her sigh of relief and said, “Yes, but I drew you on my team, so I told you first. I will leave it to you to let him know. I don’t imagine you guys have some sort of creepy twin telepathy?”
Melvin laughed, covering his mouth with one hand. “You’re funny. You know that crap just exists in the movies, right?”
“It was worth a shot.”
“Anybody else in on this?”
“Not officially,” Catie said with a shake of her head. “We do have two others who I am pretty sure are on board.”
“The older lady and the little girl?” Melvin’s expression darkened. “You aren’t giving us much to work with here. And if this don’t work, then we are screwed nine ways to Sunday.”
“I know, but I am willing to take a chance. The question is whether you and your brother are, and if so, how likely do you think it will be for others to follow suit?"
“If me and Marty are in, all we need to do is say the word. You ain’t the first one to think of this. Just seems funny that you are
the first to act. You been in Montague…what? A week?”
“Something like that,” Catie said with a shrug.
“I’ll go pull Marty aside and fill him in. I think it is best we do that before you put phase one of your little scheme into action.”
Catie nodded and the man vanished into the shadows. She could not help but be impressed. A man that size should not be able to disappear so readily, she thought.
She waited for him to return. He did so only a moment ahead of the patrol, nodding in affirmation that his brother was apparently on board.
“Nobody on the roof and no sign of any type of roving patrol,” the man reported.
“They are either very confident, or very stupid,” Catie muttered. She was not sure which she preferred. “Okay, bring everybody in,” Catie said after appearing to consider the situation for a moment.
The other team was signaled over and they retreated around the corner from the school just to be certain that they would not be detected. Catie scanned the faces and hoped that this next part of her plan went smoothly.
“This is where it gets dicey, ladies and gentlemen.” She let her gaze drift around to the faces staring back at her. Not surprising, Clarence was visibly scowling at her. “I need a few volunteers to join me. The plan is for me and those who step forward to go inside. They could be anywhere, so we will be conducting a room-by-room search.”
“And how does that assure that you find the leader?” Clarence challenged. “You just gonna kill everybody you encounter and hope you eventually find the right man?”
“Nope, but applying the right pressure to whoever we do find will likely yield results,” Catie answered with a smile and a wink that made Clarence bristle. “Since this will likely be the most dangerous part of the operation, I don’t want to force anybody. I will only take volunteers.” Before anybody could speak or step forward, Catie raised a finger. “Except for you, Clarence. You are coming.”
