by TW Gallier
Chapter 20
"According to the map, that island is the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge," Paul said. We'd just passed under a bridge over the lake. I was running the 20-hp Mercury outboard, which was probably older than either of us. He was the man with the map and SAW. "It takes up almost the entire intersection with another off-shoot of the lake."
Intersection? I thought with a grin.
We were in a johnboat together. Off to our right about thirty feet were Mike and Charlie in the other johnboat, and together we were scouting the long, narrow lake ahead of the others. The houseboat was far behind us.
The early morning air was chilly and humid. I was still a little tired, since I'd spent half the night on guard. No one felt comfortable sleeping on the water now that they knew violent men were also out there somewhere, so we kept four guards on duty at all times on the houseboat. We'd been on the water about two hours, and we were only about halfway to our ultimate destination. I estimated around a hundred miles round trip, so it would take all day just to scout out the river to Watts Bar Dam and lake.
Greg reported the others came at them from the south end of the lake, but retreated to the north. They didn't see them go back to the south end, but weren't really watching for it, either. My hope was they weren't camped anywhere to the north, but if they were then we'd have to deal with them first.
We were armed for bear with M-249 SAW and a M203 mounted on rifle in each boat. And lots of spare ammo. They fought half a dozen boats off armed with far less, so I felt the grenade launchers, M-4s, and SAWs would more than give us the advantage. I was worried about all of the 5-gallon gas tanks we had to take to make such a long trip. One bullet and boom.
While we were scouting ahead, Sean and others were going to raid the Island Cove Marina for more small boats. We wanted to post as many as possible ahead of and around the houseboat to protect the women and children.
We were supposed to scout up to the Wills Barr Dam and see if it had a lock that we could take the houseboat through. Sean, Terrel, and Larry all thought the river was navigable up at least to Knoxville, so that would require a lock system.
Then I saw it.
"Smoke," I said. "Take the motor, Paul."
I left him an M-4. I kept the SAW and the rifle with the grenade launcher. Waving Mike and Charlie over, I pointed out the encampment on the west side of the shore, across from Hiwassee Island. There were multiple very nice homes on the lake there with private docks. Two docks were pretty close together with lots of boats around them. Mostly johnboats.
We moved close to shore and sped across the water as fast as we could. Our little outboards were whining like crazy. I couldn't imagine they didn't hear us coming, so I crouched low in the bow with the SAW locked and loaded.
As soon as the two docks came into view again, I saw men racing to the boats. I opened up on them. Mike veered off to my right, and opened up as well. We charged in like the cavalry.
"Ski boat!" Paul shouted, pointing to the east.
Sure enough, there was another boat filled with men coming around the island. They started firing. Mike veered away to engage them, so I turned back to the men on shore. Return fire struck the boat all around me. They were poking holes in my only means of transport. We started taking on water.
"Run her up on shore," I said. I picked up the grenade launcher. They started running after the third grenade. "We have them on the run!"
A bass boat with four men took off from the second dock and headed straight at us at high speed. I opened up full auto with the M-4, and even Paul opened up on them. Men started falling on the boat, then it suddenly turned and flipped three times.
"Ha!" Paul barked. That surprised me. "I killed the driver."
I heard grenades off in the distance, behind the island. I couldn't see Mike and Charlie anymore, so had to trust they had the situation in hand. Two combat vets had to be more than a match for a boat load of civilians. We were definitely better armed.
Our boat was already a quarter-filled with water. Paul ran us up on shore between two other johnboats. He jumped in a 17-footer, pull-started the engine, and let it idle while we moved all of our weapons, ammo, and gas over.
"We take all good boats and gas tanks with us," I said.
"How many do we really need?"
"That's not the point. We are taking them so the survivors of this attack can't come back at us later."
Mike and Charlie came around the island and turned our way. I waved them over.
"Paul and I will collect all of the boats and gas at this dock, so you go take them from the other dock," I shouted. "We'll tow them to the bridge and tie them off in the middle of the lake."
As they sped away, I turned and pumped five more bursts from the SAW into the nearest house. Suppressive fire. I wanted any survivors, and there were quite a few, to be too afraid to engage us again.
"Take the boat over to the end of the dock," I said, shoving it back into the water. I also shoved the other johnboat into the water. It was a 16-footer. The engine cranked, and we moved over to collect more boats. "Tie up and look for gas tanks first."
I was surprised at how many of the boats we sank or damaged beyond repair. We grabbed the gas tanks off the sunk and sinking boats, placed them in the good boats, and then began tying them together in a long train.
We went in with two boats, had one shot out from under us, and then left with eight. We towed two strings of three boats to the bridge south of the island and tied them to the bridge.
"You know, all those guys need to do is run out to the middle of the bridge, jump in the water, and swim to the boats," Mike said.
"I know, but I'm hoping they don't know we tied their boats off here," I said.
Then we circled the island twice, looking for more survivors that could threaten us later. The men we attacked still hadn't returned to the docks, so we continued our trip north up the lake and river. There were other homes on the shores, but we didn't see any other boats. I guessed the men we attacked had been gathering them.
"And there's the dam," I said. "Damn."
It reminded me of one of those Mississippi River dams we encountered, including a lock on one side. We pulled up in the small "bay" below the lock to check it out.
"Does anyone know how to open it?" Paul asked.
"No," Charlie said. "On the Mississippi they were all opened by the Corps of Engineers before they lost power."
"It's not all bad," I said. "It's not very high, so we can drag the johnboats around it to the lake above and continue on."
"But we'll lose the houseboat," he said.
I shrugged. I would've liked to keep it all the way to Knoxville, but was grateful we could get it that far. The women and children might not be happy, but the trip on the lake and river was always planned to be a short one. Knoxville wasn't too much further up the river.
"All right, boys and girls," I said, looking at Mike when I said "girls." "Let's go back and report. We'll take the captured boats with us."
Chapter 21
"How long is it going to take us?" Jenny asked.
Most of us were all gathered on the roof deck. A few of the mothers were down below watching the children while we mapped out our strategy. The houseboat was anchored off the marina where we originally found it, hopefully away from prying eyes around the much larger and better known Island Cove Marina.
"It took us half a day to reach the dam in johnboats, and we were traveling faster than I expect the houseboat to go," I said. "So I'd say all day just to reach the Watts Bar Dam, and that's about the halfway mark."
"Since we'll all be in the johnboats from that point on, I don't see any reason to send anyone out to scout the rest of the route while the rest stay behind," Sean said. "The river will be too narrow below the dam for us to safely stay in the houseboat while the rest of the route is scouted out."
I agreed. Men could get close to the houseboat and unload on it from the relative safety of the trees on shore. We could al
l be butchered while trapped in the boat. Just thinking about it stressed me out. Of course, everyone on the water in johnboats was a recipe for disaster, too, but that was pretty much what the rest of the trip would be like.
"You're not exactly inspiring confidence in us," Larry said.
"I won't lie to you," Sean said. "This trip is going to be dangerous every step of the way. We won't all make it."
I grimaced. That was a little more blunt and honest than I would've phrased it, but true nonetheless. We would strive to ensure everyone reached Canada, but shit happens. Too many of us were too young to defend themselves, much less anyone else. Anyone who attacked us could use it against us.
Charlie and I led the way in a johnboat, with Sean and Mike in another boat. We had a total of eight johnboats, with two people in each. There weren't enough men and teenage boys to man all of the johnboats, so a few women came with us. Every other able-body person left was arranged around the houseboat, top and bottom, with M-4s, with Jenny and Kate manning .50 cals on tripods fore and aft on the roof deck. Selma Carr and her sixteen year old daughter, Haley, were even given M60s on the lower deck. Greg continued to drive the houseboat.
Three pairs of johnboats preceded the houseboat, with the last two acting as our rearguard. We moved painfully slowly, but steadily upriver. The houseboat was shallow-drafted, so I had confidence we'd make it to the damn. The johnboats could pass through anything.
As we passed under the bridge just below Hiwassee Island, I heard pap-pap-pap-pap from upriver. And then bullets start hitting the water around us.
"Fuck!" Mike cried.
We hit the gas and shot out of there. I crawled up to the bow with the SAW. The men firing on us were from that same group we fought the previous day. The survivors found their backbones, and were standing on the second covered dock. I began firing on that as Charlie zig-zagged our boat towards them. Mike was just as evasive, while charging into the fight. Sean was also firing their SAW.
A few of the others collapsed, and a moment later the rest bugged out and headed toward the large gray house a hundred feet from shore. We continued to fire until we reached the shore a little ways below them and protected from view by trees. Then we disembarked.
"How many do you think there are?" Sean asked as we moved up close enough to study the house.
It was a two story brick home on a hill overlooking the lake. It was probably worth a small fortune before our world came to an end. I would've given my left nut to own a house like that. I could see numerous open windows with weapons sticking out. That proved they had no real idea of how to fight, otherwise they wouldn't be showing us their locations in the house. And any combat soldier knew that siding would not stop a bullet.
They were all good as dead already.
"Looked to be around ten or so," Charlie said. "Only a few had automatic weapons."
"We have to take them out before the houseboat gets here," I said.
"Not necessarily," Sean said. "We can keep them in that house until the others pass."
"Wrong. Look at that elevation," I said. "They have a perfect view of the passage past the island from end to end. The other side is a lot narrower and shallower, so we need to bring the houseboat up this side."
"I hate killing men unless it's necessary," he said.
"They made it necessary by attacking us," I said. Mike and Charlie nodded in agreement. Sean reluctantly agreed, but he still didn't like the idea. "We have to act now. The others will be coming up shortly."
Sean nodded and all doubt left his features. Now we were all business. I sent Mike off to scout the area up to the road. The rest of us continued taking random shots at them. Distraction and suppression. Mike returned quickly.
"I think we can get pretty close in the trees higher up the hill and across the road," Mike said. "We'll have to swing around that house to the south for cover, but across the street it's all wooded. There's about thirty meters of open yard and driveway between the trees and house."
I paused. Mike had reverted back to military mindset. I hadn't thought in terms of meters in a long time. Took a second for me to convert to distance in feet. So, a hundred feet of open ground.
We left Charlie down by the shore with a SAW. If they tried to escape out the back he'd mow them down. Sean carried the other SAW with us.
We followed the shore south to the next dock, and into a wooded area. After that it was safe and easy to work our way up to the road. There was another large brick home there, with a swimming pool. We rushed across the road and into the woods, working our way back to the house full of armed survivors. I didn't see any open windows or indication anyone was watching the front yard.
Didn't mean there wasn't.
"Make sure you have a full mag," I told Mike. I'd seen Sean reload his SAW before we landed, so he had a couple hundred rounds left. "It's time to rock and roll."
We took off running in line, firing all the way. There was only light return fire. I think we caught them all looking out the back. While Sean swept his fire across all of the front windows and door, Mike and I fired full auto up into and around the two dormer windows above.
There was lot of screaming and footsteps inside, and a moment later I heard Charlie open up in back. I led the way through the front door at that time. There was blood and bodies strewn about the living room and kitchen. A glance showed Charlie had killed everyone who ran out the back, so I led the way upstairs to clear it. We found one dead man in back.
"Just in time," Mike said. He was looking out the window. "I see the others coming."
I looked out to see four johnboats heading our way, so the houseboat couldn't be far behind. We checked the house quickly, commandeering four Coleman stoves and six gallons of fuel. They didn't have much food or ammo. From the fly-covered midden heap it looked like they lived off hunting and fishing. Mostly fishing. They did have quite a bit of beer stockpiled in the garage.
"Leave it," Sean said. "I could use a beer, too, but we can't take the chance of getting drunk. We need a hundred and ten percent of our wits until we reach Canada."
He was right, but damn. It was hard to leave all that booze behind.
We returned to the boats, and then went out to meet with the next boats coming in to let them know what happened. They heard the gunfire, so were glad to hear we resolved the situation before their arrival.
"Oh my God, look at that," Charlie said, pointing back at the house.
Zombies were already there. The gun battle probably pulled them in. I looked away when they fell upon the dead and started to feast. Too gruesome to even think about.
We continued up the river to Old Washington before we spotted any more zombies. The town and bridge was filled with them. They crowded the shore and stared as we passed. A few tried to follow along the shore, but we easily outpaced them.
We stopped for the day next to the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. It was creepy, but there weren't any zombies around. The dam was just around the bend, with a road going over it so there was the possibility of zombies and other survivors, and we wanted to stay out of sight.
"Tomorrow morning we'll bring the houseboat up and disembark," Sean said. We were on the river just within sight of the dam and lock. "We can drag the boats to the other side, and continue on from there."
"Knoxville will be fun," Mike said. "Bet there are a million zombies there."
Chapter 22
Jenny brought my breakfast up to me as I stood guard behind the stern .50 cal. The elevated position gave me an excellent view downriver. Kate Thames was on watch at the bow .50 cal. I noticed Mike, Charlie, and Brett coming up to speak with her, and I assumed they took her something to eat, too.
"No cream or sugar, but I got you instant coffee," Jenny said.
I preferred both cream and sugar, but I was more than used to drinking it black. Not a problem. Better, though, was the breakfast sandwich. They toasted the stale bread in a skillet, with real butter they found at the Island Cove marina. She added che
ese and bacon bits out of a jar. No eggs or ham or real bacon. Still, it was great to have a hot meal.
"Sorry, but we gave the kids all of the cream of wheat," she said. "So we're out of that now."
Jenny shot a sharp look at the men gathered around Kate. I perked up, wondering why she was so mad. Kate was single, and so were the men hovering around her. Hell, they'd given her special attention all along. Personally, I thought Brett had the best chance with her since she'd known him the longest.
"Jealous?" I asked teasingly?
"Hardly," she said. "Why do men have to be such obnoxious horndogs? We're fighting for our lives, and they are thinking about repopulating the earth already."
"That's one way of putting it," I said. "Are they leaving Fiona alone?"
Fiona Daniels was just a year of two younger than Kate, and a drop-dead gorgeous blonde. She wasn't nearly as resourceful and competent as Kate, but that helplessness was a turn on for a lot of men. Yet, she lost her husband just two days back. I'd warned a couple of guys off already, telling them to give her time to mourn her husband.
"They aren't hitting on her. Yet. But Greg, Mike, and Charlie have been attentive, shall we say. I hate to say anything, because they are helping her and Fiona is hurting badly."
"I'll have a talk with them," I said.
"Don't bother," she said. "Sean pulled them aside a little while ago. Hence Mike and Charlie coming up here. Like I said, horndogs."
Kate got my attention by standing up and stretching. It looked like she was enjoying the attention. Fiona might be prettier by conventional standards, but I was more attracted to Kate's more athletic build and grace. She looked good in the brown tank top and tan cargo pants.
"Pig," Jenny said, and then punched me in the arm.
"I was just thinking she's not as pretty as you," I whispered, noticing Kate glance our way. How embarrassing. She looked confused, so that was good. "You're the one who pointed her out and made me look."
"So it's my fault you’re a pig?"
