The Feral Children | Book 3 | Nomads

by Simpson, David A.

  “HEY!” he yelled and realized everyone was ready to go and waiting on him.

  “What? A guy can’t listen to music with a pretty girl?” he demanded then turned red when he realized what he’s said.

  “You’re having turnips for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next month!” he said in exasperation as he tried to disentangle himself. They’d been twining their hair together in a little braid.

  “Better than your cheese.” Swan said as she jogged by, her wolves bounding along beside her.

  “Come on lover boy.” His sister said as she rode past on Daisy. “Kiss her goodbye and let’s go.”

  “You guys suck!” he yelled after them, his face as red as a tomato.

  “Wait.” Kassie said softly and pulled out her knife.

  She cut the braid close to her scalp and they came apart. “You can keep it if you want, you know, so you don’t forget me.”

  “I won’t ever forget.” Tobias whispered as he turned away. He didn’t want her to see his embarrassed face.

  He took the knife and cut out a small braid with a polished bone in it. “This is from the first fish I caught, from my first net. I knew we wouldn’t starve when I caught it, it meant life.”

  She took it and no one was watching so she stood on her toes and kissed him. On the mouth. Then ran back to the ice cream truck and her ride back to town.

  “Thanks again.” Kodiak told the three adults. “I won’t forget what you did for us.”

  He turned and walked after his tribe, Otis beside him as Harper circled around to keep watch on their rear.

  “That boy is the King of the Wild.” Denny said, still in awe of the easy way the children handled the creatures.

  18

  The Road

  The tribe traveled throughout the night. Whenever Kodiak asked if they wanted to call it, to find a house and get some sleep, they elected to keep going.

  “Just a few more miles.” was the general consensus whenever they stopped to rest. They trusted Rye but who knew if the Mayor had friends that might seek a little revenge. Best to put some distance between them. It was slow going with Otis favoring his foreleg. The bear groaned and moaned when he realized it elicited sympathy from Kodiak or a treat from one of the girls. The big bear played it for all it was worth.

  Kodiak walked beside him. “It’s really just a flesh wound you big baby.”

  He was thankful and relieved. Thankful for the people who helped him and the tribe. He’d begun to fear that the trip was a mistake. Feared that everyone they would meet was like Gordon or Moretz. It was a relief to know that there were still good people out there like Kassie, Linda and Rye. He thought about Bob, wondered where he was and what he was doing and if they would ever cross paths again.

  Tobias was still going on about Rye.

  “Did you see his ride when we were heading for the gates? That thing was a beast. Maybe I’ll get me one of those someday.”

  Swan snorted. “Hope you can drive better than you cook.”

  He shot her a dirty look. She never complained when she was stuffing her face with his culinary creations. Except for the cheese. They all hated his cheese.

  “Oh yeah?” He shot back. “Must not be too bad since you are getting fat.”

  Swan bared her teeth at his bad joke. None of them had an ounce of fat to spare on their lean bodies. “Keep talking blondie.”

  Donny and Yewan were somewhere ahead of the rest of the tribe. He was scouting for a place to hole up so they could rest. Somewhere off the main road that wouldn’t be too obvious.

  Ziggy and Vanessa came trotting over to Kodiak and Harper.

  “Donny left some sign up ahead. We’ll need to get off about a half mile further. Single brick mailbox by a dirt road.” She said.

  “Thanks.” Kodiak nodded.

  “I’m gonna let Ziggy run.” She said as the bird danced from side to side. She moved effortlessly on her back in rhythm with the huge bird. “I’ll check our back trail for a couple of miles and make sure no one is following us.”

  “Be careful. Take no chances.” Kodiak said.

  She raised her spear in acknowledgement and nudged Ziggy with her knees. They were gone in a flash.

  Kodiak called out to Tobias and Analise. “Cold camp. No fire. Sun will be up soon, and we all need some rest. Let’s see what you can whip up with what they gave us.”

  The twins nodded. The saddlebags were nearly full with dried meat and canned goods.

  Swan had kept a sharp eye out for any signs of game trails beside the road, but the wolves hadn’t scented anything that was fresh enough for pursuit.

  They followed the signs that Donny had left to a two-story house a couple of miles down a dirt road that was slowly being overcome by nature. They made sure to remove the crossed sticks marking the way when they came to them. No need to be obvious if anyone happened to come along.

  When they reached the house, Donny lay in an old porch swing with one leg on the floor pushing himself back and forth. Yewan was curled up by his side.

  Harper and Vanessa turned Bert and Ziggy out in the fenced in backyard. There was a plastic kiddy pool full of rainwater, a couple of sad looking dog houses and the grass was thick and tall. Ziggy wasted no time seeking out bugs while Bert surveyed the trees for tasty leaves.

  When they gathered around to eat, they realized they didn’t have many utensils left. Everything had been unpacked when Otis got shot and they didn’t have a can opener, any pots and pans and only a few of them had an extra spoon in their pack. When they went inside to raid the kitchen they discovered they only had one flashlight and the batteries were weak. Instead of wasting the last of their light rummaging through drawers Donny pried up a few bricks from the walkway. They rubbed the cans back and forth until the lids were worn down enough to pop off with a knife. They ate quietly and watched the first hints of gray lighten the eastern sky. They were tired from the long night and looked forward to catching up on sleep.

  “This place stinks.” Tobias said and opened a few of the sticky windows. “Smells like some old cat lady lived here.”

  Harper took first watch, she’d ridden most of the night and had even gotten a little sleep dozing in the saddle. The others dragged couch cushions and mattresses into the living room and settled in. It was how they’d spent every night in Piedmont house and the closeness of the tribe always brought comfort and peace.

  When she woke Kodiak for his guard shift, he walked out on the porch to a watch the storm clouds gathering. From the size of the thunderheads forming in the west, it looked like it might be a big one. Otis could use a break and the house seemed solid enough even if it was pretty dirty. He scratched idly at his head, it itched. Maybe he’d collect some water and wash his hair, there would be shampoo inside. It looked like they’d be camping out for another night, nobody liked traveling in the rain where your gear got soaking wet and chafed.

  19

  Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers

  “Would you look at that?” Tobias whispered to his twin sister. “Ripe for the picking. I bet there’s all kind of stuff in there just waiting to be plundered. Gonna grab me a brand-new Xbox for sure.”

  “What are you gonna do with that? Popsicle got a power plug in his butt you haven’t mentioned?” She snapped.

  “No but that big mouth of yours could power a town.” He snapped back. “We’ll be in Lakota soon, they have power.”

  “Right. I almost forgot. I’m sure he won’t mind carrying around another fifty pounds of useless junk for the next hundred miles.” She sniped right back.

  “Quiet, you two.” Swan hissed.

  Tobias flipped her off then turned his back to his sister. He hated it when she was right.

  Everybody was in a foul mood. The house had been infested with fleas and lice and every other type of burrowing and biting chigger and crab. By the time they realized what they were everyone was itching and scratching and ate up with the annoying little bugs. They left the farmstead an
d trudged for miles in the drizzle towards the next town, a pharmacy and some relief. They were on the outskirts of an old town with a new industrial district that had been built on what had been farmland a few years ago. They were in a grove of trees across from a strip mall with a Walmart and watched for any signs of movement. The drizzle was constant, it hadn’t let up since they started walking hours ago. Big, fat drops dripped down from the trees and ran down their necks. Their clothes were soaked and they were surprised the little biting insects hadn’t drowned.

  “I just remembered an ancient Indian secret of how you can get rid of those crabs, Tobias.” Swan said as he squirmed in his clothes.

  “Don’t keep us waiting, Pocahontas.” He said. “How?”

  “You have to shave off half your hair down there.” She answered. “Then you set the other half on fire. When the crabs jump across to the shaved part, you stab them with an icepick.”

  The others snorted laughter and Analise told him she had one he could borrow.

  “You first.” He said. “I’ll help. But let’s start on your head so as I can stab you in the face.”

  “Quiet!” Kodiak said again as Donny darted across the road and slid in beside them.

  Front of the store is all clear he signed. Doors are broken but nothing inside.

  “You’re up, Vanessa.”

  The dark girl nodded, pulled down her goggles, swung onto Ziggy, tucked in low and raced around to the back of the buildings. The ostrich flew across the asphalt and at the speeds they were traveling they circled the entire strip mall in a few minutes. She pulled up in front of the store and raised her spear. All clear.

  “Okay.” Kodiak told the tribe. “We know what to do. Let’s get in, get the stuff and get out fast. I don’t like being this close to a big town.”

  “You worry too much.” Tobias grumbled and scratched at his privates. Then under his arms. Then at his head. They were driving him nuts. “Everybody knows their job, we’ve gone over it a thousand times.”

  They slipped across the road and splashed through the mostly empty parking lot to the front of the store. There had been a fight of some kind a long time ago, the glass doors were broken and shopping carts were tumbled. A car was buried in the Game Stop and many others had open doors. While Harper loosely tied Bert’s reins to a rack of potted plants at the far end of the store, they rest of them ducked inside. After hours of walking in the rain they welcomed the roof overhead as they pushed dripping hair out of their eyes and resettled their gear.

  Swan volunteered to be the look out and held her wolves in the lobby as the rest of them disappeared into the gloomy interior. She positioned herself by a Redbox filled with DVD’s and a soda machine. It was good to be out of the weather and her wolves shook themselves vigorously, spraying everything. From there she had a good view of the parking lot and the road. The tribe was alert but not too concerned about the undead. Donny had been inside, had made some noise, and nothing came running out after him. There were smells in the air but they were old. Rotted meat and spoiled vegetables from a year ago, nothing like the stench of rotting corpses.

  Skylights let in enough light to see even with the heavy gray clouds and never-ending rain drizzling down. Everyone knew their assignments and fanned out to grab the things they needed. Medicine was the priority and Harper made a beeline for the pharmacy. She was going to fill her satchel with every kind of bug killing shampoos and soaps they had. Daisy followed Analise back to the rear of the store and the shoe department. She needed a new pair of boots, her Doc Martens were nearly worn through. The big polar bear detoured at the cereal aisle. She smelled the Cap’n Crunch from a mouse nibbled box and Analise let her go. She didn’t need help finding the right size shoes.

  A few hundred yards down a side street behind the Wal-Mart was a cluster of warehouses and small industrial buildings. One of the buildings was still full of milling people. Before the end of the world the company was a parts supplier for a defense contractor. Their production line made injection molded plastic widgets that were packaged, boxed and shipped to another little industrial building where they were assembled with other parts then were sent on to somewhere else. Nearly one hundred people had been at the company’s sixth anniversary employee breakfast early one September morning. Attendance wasn’t mandatory but bonus checks were being passed out so no one wanted to miss it. The production floor had been filled with plastic tables, a catered buffet was brought in and the CEO was making jokes and passing out their annual bonuses. Spirits were high, the checks were generous this year and the food wasn’t bad either. Everyone was having a good time until Tony the Janitor started attacking people and ripping chunks of flesh out of them with his bare teeth. Miss Candace Wilson was a vegetarian and steered clear of the bacon and sausage on the buffet. She was near the entrance and ran when the chaos started. She barely made it out of the front doors before her coworkers slammed against them, teeth gnashing at the glass and bloody hands smearing gore. She watched in horror, too petrified to scream until the barista from the coffee shop near the Wal-Mart slammed into her and tore out her throat.

  The horde had railed against the doors in their effort to get out and spread the infection that coursed through them. They had almost succeeded by the time the people of the town were either turned or had fled. With nothing to draw their attention they stopped their ceaseless struggle to escape and stood swaying side to side or wandered aimlessly around the plant. Patient and single minded they waited. Months later a winter storm toppled the shady oak through the side of the building. They could easily climb across the branches and over the tumbled blocks but none bothered. There was no need. There was nothing outside that interested them just like there was nothing inside. More time passed. More storms came and went as the milled around, their heads completely empty.

  One of the creatures lifted his nose as he shuffled past the broken wall. He still wore his steel toed work boots, his bonus check tucked into his back pocket. The once yellow safety vest was stained dark brown from the hole in his chest where the secretary had torn a chunk from him. There was a new scent carried on the breeze. The smell of fresh, untainted blood. The living were near. It had been long since he’d sensed the uninfected but time had no meaning for him or the others. Without the elements and scavengers taking their tolls, the group was still day one fresh and they hungered. Most had been denied the opportunity to spread their deadly infection.

  He let out a keening cry that was echoed by the rest and scrambled over the tumbled wall, forced his way through the opening. Damaged flesh and broken bones didn’t matter, only spreading the virus did. He tore at the blocks, shoved through the branches and spilled out onto the ground. He jumped to his feet day one fresh and ran for the scent of the living. A hundred others followed him and like a relentless line of predators they made a beeline for the front of the Walmart.

  Her wolves alerted moments before Swan heard the keening cries and wails. She slipped outside to get a better view and heard the sounds of work boots and bare feet slapping against the wet asphalt. It came from the far end of the building so she sprinted down to see what they were up against. They were coming up a side street they hadn’t investigated. They didn’t think there was any need, it was only a bunch of warehouses. There weren’t any houses, nobody had lived there. There were a lot of them running right for her and it was too late to hide, the horde knew where they were. There were far too many for her and the wolves to take out. She whistled the pack to her and raced for the Wal-Mart.

  “We’ve got company!” She yelled as soon as she was inside. “They’re fast, we can’t fight them!”

  Swan cursed the undead under her breath and started shoving rows of shopping carts in front of the shattered doorway. She had really wanted a chance to do a little shopping, to get some dry clothes. She needed new arrows and maybe they had some freeze-dried ice cream in the camping section. What they’d had a few days ago had reawakened her appetite for it. The carts wouldn’t slow those
things down for long but it would buy them some time for everyone to get down to the lawn and garden part of the store. Kodiak’s meticulous, relentless planning was finally paying off. Everybody knew where to go if there was an emergency. She was pretty sure this qualified. She watched as they drew closer, picked out the fastest runner and knocked an arrow. She let it fly at the leader of the pack who was outdistancing the rest. It struck true at the base of the creature’s nose and it tumbled to the ground and caused more to trip and plow into the blacktop. She yelled the tribe’s battle cry and found her second target, an old woman in a dress. She was mad eyed and screeching, hands out stretched and hungry. Swan thought she was pretty fast for an old lady before she dropped her with a well-placed broadhead through her cheek. More stumbled and fell as they tripped over the tumbling body and she sent two more to their permanent death before she retreated into the store. She hadn’t seen the end of the line at the far end of the building, she had no idea how many there were still coming but she knew they’d be fine. They’d get them all inside the store then run out the other entrance. They’d gone over it a hundred times as they war gamed different scenarios. As long as nobody panicked, they’d be just fine and the tribe was beyond panicking at the sight of a bunch of zombies. She’d have to rub it in tonight, she officially had more in the wild battle kills than Donny now.

  The undead crashed into the barrier of shopping carts and shoved them aside. Swan saw it and swore louder. That wasn’t supposed to happen, they were supposed to jam up against them and have to crawl over the top. With so many packed so tight together, it was supposed to be like crabs trying to climb out of a bucket, the others would pull them back down.

  “They’re in!” she yelled, her voice going up an octave. “They’re in!”

  She wasn’t panicking, she was still cool, but she was a whole lot more concerned than she had been a few seconds ago. Maybe she should have been running for the safety of the lawn and garden section instead of racking up battle kills. The horde poured into the store. The scent of the uninfected was strong in the building and they raced hungrily to be the first to attack.