by Brown, TW
“They have horses,” I finally managed to say once I found a drop of saliva in my mouth.
“Horses are easy to spot, plus, they make noise. A good bicycle is pretty quiet,” Rodrigo insisted.
“So I take it you are one of the volunteers,” Cricket said, and then turned to the others. “Who else thinks they can do this?”
There was a moment of silence, and I saw Nat start to open her mouth, but Kayla blurted, “I’ll do it.”
Now it was my turn to give dirty looks. She and I needed to stay together. We still did not know how we could rescue Jackson. And if we were going to bring in a herd of zombies, then getting him out was even more important. It would be like I was putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger.
“Well then we best get a move on. The more we talk, the further away them walkers get.” Cricket turned to me. “You and I will pick teams. You go first.”
Pick teams? I thought. This wasn’t some sort of game. My friend’s life was at stake. Still, if he was willing to help, and since I did not have a better plan, I guess I would have to make do with what I had at my disposal.
Also, beggars can’t be choosers. I was not so foolish as to believe that I was going to somehow pull off a miracle. In fact, if I gave it too much thought, I began to wonder about my sanity. This plan had lots of flaws, but it was simple at its very core; and one of the things that I had learned in my relatively few years on this earth was that simplicity was often best. Too many times, things were botched because we made them much more difficult than necessary.
“Nat?” I finally said once Cricket gave me a nudge.
Once we had finished, it was also decided that the odd person out, the other girl who went by the name of Nadine, would post up on top of the old Island City Elementary School. A forty foot tower had been built on top of the building that gave at least some sort of vantage point. Nadine was told to slip into one of the houses and find some sheets. If it looked like any serious activity was taking place in the encampment, she was to hang the sheets from the tower. Again, it wasn’t a perfect system, but it would have to do.
We all headed out once a pair of bicycles in good working order was found. Kayla would stick with me and Rodrigo with Cricket once we had to go our separate ways.
By the end of the day, I was beginning to wonder if we would ever find the zombies. It was obvious that they had come this way as the ground was littered with things best not looked at too closely. Also, there were the occasional creepers that could not keep pace. Those were easy to spike as we traveled all that day and then the next.
At last, on the third day, we could see the tail end of the herd. Fortunately, it looked like we had caught a bit of a break. A small town had acted almost as a natural jetty for the zombies. They had sort of scattered a bit and diffused. I did notice that a few structures had large mobs of the undead gathered around them, and I had to wonder if we might actually be saving some strangers as we went about our business.
It was not easy to get the zombies’ attention. With so many of them moaning and crying, they were really quite loud. We banged on the hoods of cars using the pommels of our machetes, but that only generated a limited interest from those closest. It wasn’t until Rodrigo appeared with a huge sledge hammer that we finally managed to start pulling a good number away. It was far from the majority of the herd, though; and as we moved away leading the chunk that had been enticed, I noticed two locations in particular where the mobs of the undead had not been drawn away. There had to be somebody or a group inside. I would try to make it a point to come back here if we managed to pull this off.
And free Jackson.
And survive.
It took the better part of the next four days to get half the distance covered. At this rate, I did not think that we would ever get back to the La Grande area. Cricket sent Rodrigo ahead on his own after the second day just to get a visual on Suzi’s people and ensure that they were still encamped in the open valley.
I had to wonder why she had yet to occupy Island City. It made no sense to remain out in the open. The second time that Rodrigo was sent was also the day that our groups separated. That proved to be quite a chore and my herd ended up being the smaller of the two by almost half. It was still a very large group numbering in the thousands, but the group following Cricket back along the La Grande-Baker Highway stretched on for at least a mile and were shoulder to shoulder across all four lanes and then some as they trudged along.
The early days had been a simple matter of all of us moving ahead far enough so that we could make camp and get some rest. One person was tasked to stay with the herd and keep them coming, and we rotated out of that position regularly. Once we got closer to the valley, we knew that sleep was going to be a luxury that we could not afford as we needed to try and keep the herds on track after the split.
Cricket had the unenviable task of looping them back around and actually leading his bunch in a massive circle before re-directing them back towards the encampment. As the sun set, on this, the sixth day, I knew that tomorrow would see things happen fast and furious.
I was excited as well as scared. It had already been agreed that once we knew the herd was moving towards the encampment and riders were sent out to whichever one of our groups came within sight of their patrols to employ the noisemakers, I would be going off on my own to see if there was any way that I would be able to save Jackson.
Oddly enough, it was Kayla who pulled me aside. We had moved ahead far enough that I would be able to catch a final nap before embarking on my mission. Nat was currently down the road a ways and leading the zombies along by banging on a huge garbage can lid with a rather nifty looking spiked club she usually carried on her hip.
“Thalia, don’t do anything foolish. Jackson would not want you to die trying to save him. It would sort of defeat the purpose. If you can do this, great, but if not, you need to be smart enough to run. Just promise me that you will keep that option open.”
I was actually a little choked up.
“I promise,” I finally answered.
I had no idea if I was being honest, and I don’t know if she believed me, but it would have to do. Things were about to get crazy.
13
Vignettes LXV
The next several days, Juan continued to test out his leg. The swelling was almost gone, leaving only some nasty discoloration behind. The girls liked to tease him and say he had a deader leg because of the ugly greens, blacks, and purples.
While there were moments when he would feel the pull of sorrow at the loss of Mackenzie, it would usually end up being a short-lived dip as his daughters filled his heart with a happiness that he had not realized until now that he had taken for granted.
One morning, Juan woke to absolute silence. While that was not all too uncommon, there was also something else niggling at the back of his mind. He sat up in bed, his eyes going over to where Denita and Della slept.
Empty.
“Girls?” he called, pulling on his boots.
There was no answer, and Juan reached over for his crutches. Making his way to the door, he opened it to discover a slight drizzle beginning. The sky was overcast, and a breeze made the chill morning air seem that much colder.
Juan stepped out onto the porch and looked around. He didn’t see anything. Listening, he heard nothing except the sound of raindrops hitting on the corrugated metal roof of the smokehouse.
Juan called again, still not alarmed. After all, it wasn’t the first time that he’d woken up to discover that the girls were already up and about. They’d become very good at keeping themselves busy. Juan had decided to steal a page from Gerald’s book and shown them the game of “who can pick the most weeds from Gerald’s garden” one afternoon. Oddly enough, it hadn’t caught on. Still, the girls were receptive to the idea that it would be nice to keep things taken care of for the man in his absence and had made it a point to pick weeds despite its lack of a fun factor.
By the time he�
��d made a complete circuit of the cabin’s grounds, occasionally calling out Della and Denita’s name, Juan was beginning to grow concerned. The one rule that he had stressed repeatedly was the one about not going out of sight of the cabin unless he was with them.
While the girls were both smart, that did not give them all the necessary tools to deal with an unforgiving Alaskan wilderness that still sported bears, wolves (living and undead), as well as zombies. A shudder rippled through Juan as a few other ideas still ingrained in his mind from the days of the old world made an appearance. The main problem with those thoughts resided in the simple fact that, if anything, people had gotten worse.
After two more circuits around the cabin, and a third where he hugged the tree line, Juan was overwhelmed with dread. He’d gotten lazy. He’d let himself believe that the girls would be fine and that they would not get into any trouble.
“They’re freaking seven years old, you idiot!” he cursed himself. “Of course they are going to disobey…get into trouble.”
Juan looked skyward. “Is this how it goes, God? I find happiness with Mackenzie, so you take her away. I come to the realization that I still have my girls to live for, so you take them from me too? Are you trying to tell me something?”
Juan raged and swore. He said things to God that would have made his mother cry. He alternated between challenging any deity that would listen, to begging for their help. He was still kneeling in the mud when the snap of a stick made his head pop up. He looked in the direction that he was certain the sound had come and hoped for a very specific outcome. He wanted his daughters to come through that brush…alive. He knew it was important that he specify. At this exact moment, he doubted his ability to do anything but accept a horrible fate if the zombified versions of Della and Denita emerged.
As luck would have it, it was not his daughters in any form. A rabbit made a meek series of hops until it was out in the clear. Juan looked at the animal, its nose twitching and eyes trying to scan everything at once for any sign of a predator. After a moment, a second rabbit joined the first and the two made a hopping scamper for the lush green shoots of Gerald’s garden.
Juan sighed and dropped his chin to his chest. A moment later, there was a louder commotion from the woods. Juan barely had time to register that the rabbits had taken off in response to the new and sudden noise. Another tremendous crash came, and the dense woods seemed to rip open and give birth to a moose!
The creature was easily a foot taller than Juan if Juan had been standing. From his knees, the animal looked even more massive. It snorted once and pawed at the ground with a mighty hoof before its head swung so that it could look over its shoulder.
Juan knew what fear looked like in an animal. He’d seen it before when he managed to bring down a deer but the pathetic thing had been wounded but still alive, unable to flee, and thus, helpless as he stood over it with his knife. He remembered hesitating to finish the job. Keith had been on hand and had to nudge him, reminding him that he was only making the poor thing suffer.
After Juan had slit the deer’s throat, he’d gone about the normal routine of field stripping it and bringing it back to camp. However, he’d never been able to take a bite of the meat from that kill. Something about it had seemed too personal.
His eyes scanned the moose for any sign of injury. He didn’t see anything. That was a relief as well as a bit unsettling. A few seconds later, the huge beast took off in an awkward but deliberate run. Thankfully, it was running at an angle away from him, because Juan doubted his ability to get out of the way in time had things been different.
Then his troubles grew exponentially. There was that single moment of silence that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. And then, there was a crash as the woods right by where the moose had emerged a moment ago just seemed to fold down flat.
“Holy crap,” Juan breathed.
***
“So you are saying that some group of crazies is outfitting the stench bags with noisemakers and then somehow herding them to someplace where they just march into the water and come up on the shores of your little island paradise?” Paddy sat on a log with his feet dangling in the air.
When he had in fact pulled out a small corn cob pipe and lit it up, Vix had reached her limit. “Oh, come on!” she exclaimed. “You can’t really be doing this. Is this on purpose? Are you toying with me?”
“What on earth could you be meanin’ there, lassie?” Paddy’s lips curled up in an impish smile, his eyes glittering with mirth and mischief.
Using her arms in a head-to-toe gesture; she had indicated the man’s garb and striking resemblance to every cartoon leprechaun she’d ever seen. “You look like you just fell out of a child’s box of cereal.”
“You wouldn’t be meanin’ the frosted oat variety with sweet surprises, now would you?”
“Alright, cut that out!”
There was a moment of silence, and Vix felt the giant introduced as Seamus take a step closer. She felt her mouth go dry. She was about to die because she’d offended an Irishman who refused to accept that he was dressed like a caricature.
“You have to let her off the hook now, Paddy,” a deep voice that sounded like gravel being crushed spoke from behind her.
“Okay. When you are right, you are right. But I believe that I have now paid my losing bet and we are square.” Paddy still had the Irish lilt, but he ripped the hat off and glared at the thing before tossing it into the tall grass. “Now, back to this very interesting tale you have shared about some sort of zombie apocalypse version of The Pied Piper. You say that they are attaching noise makers to some of the beasts and then somehow luring them to the ends of England where they are willingly walking into the sea, only to come ashore at your little island settlement?”
Vix nodded.
“I would be willing to bet that it is Dolph and his gang of criminals,” Seamus muttered and then spat as if he’d just tasted something foul.
“Dolph has been making quite a name for himself the past few years,” Paddy said when Vix simply looked from one man to the other with a blank expression. “He and his band of miscreants came across the channel from France as best anybody can tell. Apparently he has organized some sort of make-believe Nazi thing and has been making a point of finishing what that idiot Hitler failed to do. He has been leading what his broadcasts claim as the New Blitzkrieg in his quest to conquer Great Britain.”
“Wait!” Vix held up a hand. “Did you say broadcasts?”
“Oh yes, he has managed to power up a transmitter and everything. He has his army—or whatever they call themselves—slip in close to populated settlements and mount these horrendous PA systems. The poor bastards wake to Ride of the Valkyries, and then they get the German, French, and finally the English translation of his rousing speech, most of which he very blatantly stole from the original German lunatic, Adolph Hitler.”
Vix was at a loss for words. She looked from one man to the other. Each simply stared back at her and smiled.
“This is another joke. Which one of you lost the bet that has you saying this?” she finally asked, breaking her silence after what felt like forever.
“Sadly, this is not one of our little wagers,” Paddy replied.
“And is nobody doing anything to stop this guy?”
“I think your little tale of zombies with noise makers actually answers the very question we have been asking for quite some time. You see, nobody has survived to tell the tale of how he has conquered everything in his path. There were rumors of course, but who wants to believe that somebody would mobilize an army of the undead?”
“We have to tell Mike,” Seamus said, rising to his feet. “Would you be kind enough to join us and let our commander know everything that you have shared with us?”
“Do I really have a choice?” Vix asked.
“Actually,” Paddy hopped off the log and scrubbed his hands together to clean them off, “you are more than free to go. We are not the sort to tak
e people prisoner. However, I do believe that it would be a benefit to us, your people, as well as any other settlements that might yet remain if we were to perhaps do something to put a stop to this lunatic once and for all.”
Vix had to admit, going it alone was not likely to yield her much results. Also, now that she knew more about the possible enemy, she was more than certain that she would need all the help she could find. Besides, the people of New England had grown soft in her opinion. They had become too reliant on their island as the primary source of their protection. They were ripe for the picking for somebody like this Dolph person.
“I’ll come with you,” Vix finally agreed.
“That would be splendid,” Paddy said with a clap of his hands. “And would your hidden friend like to join us? Or do you plan to leave her behind?”
As if that were a cue, three more men emerged from the tall grass. Each of them wore a variety of blades and held some rather exquisite looking bows in their hand. Also emerging with a gag tied around her mouth was Chaaya.
***
Luck was certainly with Chad. He hit the water and stopped just shy of the river bed, the force of his body impacting with the churning surface almost knocking the wind from him. A second later, he brushed past the giant rock that he had missed by inches. As he emerged, he coughed and sputtered, his body still dealing with the shock of the icy waters, but his lungs needing to be free of liquid overriding everything at the moment.
Chad spun, his neck craning up to the ledge that he’d just thrown himself from a few seconds ago. Two people on horseback arrived just as he went around a small bend in the stream. Once he was out of sight, he made for the shore. It was a bit more difficult than he expected, and by the time he was able to stand up and walk, he was panting like he’d just finished a mile long sprint.
Taking a quick personal inventory, Chad was not surprised that the only weapon he still possessed was a belt knife. He was going to have to proceed with extreme caution. He knew that there were a large number of zombies to be wary of; but those did not hold a candle to these mysterious people that had come from out of nowhere.
