The Complete Deadland Saga

by Rachel Aukes

  My throat tightened and I stepped back. Then Jase and I ran back to the plane, leaving Bill behind with a theater full of zeds.

  Chapter V

  “Where’s Bill?” Clutch asked as Jase and I piled into the Cessna. I dumped my gear onto Jase’s lap and pulled the door closed.

  A distant scream broke through the silence.

  “He’s not coming,” Jase said as I started up the plane without taking the time to go through any checklist, let alone buckle my seat belt.

  Clutch didn’t say anything else, but I could feel his eyes on me as I tried to smooth out the engine as quickly as I could. As soon as its rough grumble of fouling spark plugs cleared somewhat, I throttled full power and started my takeoff roll.

  “A shitload of zeds coming in fast at our two o’clock,” Clutch said loudly at my side.

  “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” I muttered, pulling back on the yoke, trying to force the plane into the air. With the tanks only half full and one less passenger, the Cessna lifted off at the edge of the dorms. Zeds came running around the buildings and onto the street below. I leveled off my climb to build up speed just out of reach of the zeds below, because I didn’t want to risk stalling and losing what little lift I had.

  Once I could manage a decent rate of climb, I looked down at the crowded street below. If we’d been five seconds later, zeds would’ve collided with the Cessna, and we never would’ve gotten off the ground. I let out the breath I’d held on takeoff. “That was close.”

  Clutch craned his head to watch the scene below, and then turned to me.

  I put my headset on, and he did the same.

  “What the hell happened back there?” he asked.

  “No one made it out of Marshall when the herds passed through,” I said.

  “They were still at the student center,” Jase added.

  His lips tightened and he looked over both of us. “You two okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “That was too close,” Jase said before sighing heavily into the headset.

  After getting the plane set up on its heading back to Camp Fox, I turned on Jase’s music. No one spoke the entire flight back to the park. We passed over the herds again, as they chewed their slow but relentless path toward our home. One herd had stopped at a farm and had all of its buildings surrounded. I hated to think what they were after.

  Poor Marshall had never stood a chance, and it’d had a hundred times the population of Camp Fox. The herds could eat right through us and barely slow down. Seeing what had happened at the student center made me realize one thing. We couldn’t defend the park against the herds like we’d done before. We had to run, and we had to do it soon. Because if we waited until the first herd was in sight, it’d be too late.

  Clutch, Jase, and I could fly somewhere far enough north that we’d be safe easily enough, but I’d never be able to get the others out in time. Tyler, Tack, Griz…they’d all be doomed to certain death. No. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I’d stranded fifty or sixty people for execution.

  I spent the rest of the flight trying to think of viable escape plans that included everyone and our livestock at the park and the only solution that came to mind was a tall building. But I quickly dismissed it as too risky. No skyscrapers existed anymore after all major cities had been bombed. If any had survived, they wouldn’t be structurally sound. As for tall buildings in smaller towns, most buildings wouldn’t be more than five floors high. Sure, a herd could likely not reach us on the top floor, but if they knew we were inside, they could have us surrounded until we all starved to death. Or, worse, eventually they’d climb over one another to get to us.

  We needed a better option.

  When the park came into sight, Clutch radioed Tyler. Clutch simply said, “Come out and meet us.”

  I had no doubt it got the point across.

  Sure enough, by the time we landed, Tyler was waiting for us. He watched from where he sat on the Humvee’s hood as I taxied to my usual parking space.

  Tyler jumped down and started tying down the plane as soon as I cut the engine.

  I opened my door, and Jase squeezed out from behind me. “I’ll get your chair, Clutch,” he said from outside before opening the baggage compartment and pulling out the folded wheelchair.

  After checking everything, I grabbed Clutch’s and my gear and climbed out.

  With Jase’s support, Clutch lifted himself out of the plane by holding onto the spar and lowered himself onto the chair. I handed him his rifle and backpack.

  Tyler came over and scrutinized each of our faces. “Well?”

  I opened my mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words. I searched for something to say, but nothing coherent formed. How could anyone describe what was headed our way? No one else spoke either, likely unable to find the words as well.

  After a long pause, he clenched his fists and kicked at the ground. “Shit!” He took a deep breath and looked back up. “How bad is it?”

  “Imagine your worst fucking nightmare times a million,” Clutch said bluntly.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jase said. “Huge herds. Each one has thousands and thousands of those things.”

  Tyler was silent for a moment. “Do any pose a risk to the park?”

  I swallowed. “We have a week, maybe two, until the first herd gets here. If we were a hundred miles east, we’d have longer. But the park is right in their path.”

  “God,” Tyler muttered.

  “Camp Fox is not equipped to hold off that many zeds,” Clutch said. “The park’s hills and waterways will slow them down, but they’ll still plow right through the park. We’d burn through all of our ammo, and there’d still be more.”

  “We have to run,” I added.

  “Where will we run to?” Tyler asked quietly.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. We can keep ahead of the herds for a while. Maybe Montana or Wyoming where they’re building those super-cities we keep hearing about.”

  Tyler shook his head. “The herds could already be hitting through those areas now.”

  “Okay, then. We could go gypsy. Keep on the move until they pass through,” I said, frustrated that I had no better answer. “As long as I have a plane I can scout out areas and make sure that we’re not heading straight for another herd. Or, we can try the Pied Piper plan and lead them away from the park. That plan has never failed. If we’re lucky, the herds will stick to the roads and steer clear of the park completely. After all, it’s pretty secluded.”

  Even I didn’t believe my words. Hungry zeds had a knack at sniffing out prey. A few dozen people in a small area would be a tasty snack for a herd.

  “But if the plan failed, we’d be doomed,” Clutch said.

  “We can’t sit on our asses and hope they bypass the park. I’ve already reached out to all my radio contacts. We have one potential option,” Tyler said finally. “How’d Marshall fare? Did Bill find his family?”

  I shook my head. “It’s been completely wiped out.”

  Tyler sighed. “I was afraid of that. It’s going to devastate Manny’s people.” He scratched his head. “And Bill?”

  I gave him a slow shake of my head. He didn’t need to know the ugly details.

  “Damn it.” He kicked a pebble on the concrete. “I need time to think. We’ll talk more after dinner. I’ll meet you all at the square,” he said and took off.

  As though we hadn’t just seen the Grim Reaper headed our way, a grin grew across Jase’s face and he hustled toward the truck. “Good. I’m starving.”

  Food, the best temporary medicine for a shitty day. It was the only time I knew Jase wasn’t faking his happiness. Everyone loved food now, likely because we all knew how precious it was. Without the convenience of drive-throughs and grocery stores, food took on a whole new meaning. That, plus all the hard physical work we did each day, made mealtime an almost religious experience.

  I glanced back at the plane. “I’ll refuel in the morning.
I didn’t see any zeds worth worrying about in the area,” I said when I saw Jase already loading Clutch onto the back of the truck. I hopped in, and Jase started the engine and stepped on the gas.

  As we drove back into the park, many of the residents were outside working on their assigned tasks, such as gathering food, tending to gardens, and doing laundry. All were completely oblivious to the horde of death headed straight for them.

  Jase headed straight for the park square and parked next to Tyler’s Humvee. In front of the log building, three of the park’s older residents were busy cracking walnuts, hazelnuts, and acorns that the kids had found. Everyone had a chore. No one got a free ride. Even the kids’ games had a purpose. Flag football was a popular one, where we taught them how to escape zeds. There was no football involved. One kid started without flags, and they played the role of zed. Every kid whose flags the zed took had to join its herd and go after the others. It sounded a bit morbid, but we had to train them to protect themselves. For little kids, running and hiding were their only real options.

  I forced a smile and waved at the trio cracking nuts on my way into the park square.

  Tyler held the door open for us. “I should warn you. They’ve been waiting here since morning,”

  Clutch rolled himself in first, and Jase and I followed.

  The chow area was empty except for Manny and his people. The moment we stepped inside, all eyes turned to us. Manny stood with a wide smile and headed our way. “You’re back!” He slowed down as he looked past my shoulder, then at me. “Where’s Bill?”

  I’d been expecting the question and didn’t hesitate. “He decided to stay behind.”

  Faces lit up. Except for Manny, whose smile had been replaced by a dubious squint of his eyes. I tried not to make contact as I followed Clutch to the food line. Jase had somehow found his way to the front of the line. A woman hustled to me and held a picture in front of my face. “Did you see my husband?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t see him.” I picked up a tray and grabbed some leftover potatoes, nuts, and berries.

  Manny’s people quickly surrounded us.

  “Are they okay?”

  “Did you talk to Lyle?”

  “What did you see?”

  “Did you give them our letters?”

  “Please tell us more!”

  The woman who’d showed me the picture of her husband grabbed my arm. “Please take me north like you did Bill. We don’t have to land, just look for Mike. I know he’s out there. Please help me.”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you,” I said, not wanting to be the one responsible for crushing their precious hope. “The chance of seeing anyone from the air is so miniscule that—”

  “You took Bill there. I need to get back to my husband!”

  Clutch wheeled between us, forcing the woman to loosen her grip. “Cash can’t help you. None of us can,” he said.

  Even though he had to look up at her, he still radiated strength. The woman’s lips pursed in anger. She spun on her heel and left us, mumbling, “Assholes.”

  “Will you go back tomorrow?” someone else asked.

  “No,” Clutch and I said at the same time.

  “There’s no place to go back to,” Tyler said from behind us.

  His words smothered the room. Even the sounds of silverware on plates silenced. In a rush, Clutch and I grabbed the rest of our food and headed to a picnic table in the corner.

  The man who’d asked the last question followed. “What do you mean, ‘there’s no place to go back to’?”

  I glanced down at Clutch, and then took a deep breath. “It’s not safe there.”

  “What do you mean? Why won’t you tell us? What happened? If it’s not safe, why did you leave our people behind? Those are our families back there!”

  I ignored him, eating with one hand while holding my Glock on my lap with the other.

  “Because there was no one left to get out!” Tyler bellowed out as he sat down.

  Manny clenched his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again and speaking. “We were too late.”

  I pursed my lips before I finally spoke. “Some had to make it out. If they made it to cars and stayed ahead of the herds, they could’ve made it.” I wasn’t lying; I believed my words. After all, someone had to have locked the infected in the theater from the outside. Whether they got away in time…chances were no one would ever know.

  “I thought they’d be safe,” one of the newcomers muttered without any inflection. “I thought the herds were following us.”

  “God,” someone else said. “So many kids…lost.”

  “We should’ve gone back for them.”

  “My Ginny,” a man said, pulling at his hair.

  “Maybe they got out in time.”

  “We have to try to find any survivors,” the woman who’d first showed me a picture said, though the picture was now crumpled in her grip. “Manny, we need to go back.”

  “We have to go back and find anyone we can.”

  The man who’d been pulling at his hair screamed, “Stop it! Stop it! You all know they didn’t get out. They’re dead! We left them there to die! They’re all dead or they’re zeds!”

  Manny held up his hands. “Whoa. Enough. We don’t know that for sure. Some might have gotten out. Even if they did, there are all the herds between us and them. We can’t search for them if we’re dead. We have to look out for ourselves first. Once the herds pass through, then we can go back.”

  “How will we survive the herds? If Marshall couldn’t survive, we have no chance here!” a woman cried out.

  Tyler stood up. “I have an idea, but it’s a long shot.”

  Chapter VI

  The following morning’s flight was a bumpy one, and I had to keep both hands on the yoke. The weather was unseasonably warm, and the heat caused thermals to pop up in the air. Tyler was strapped in next to me in the Cessna 172. Sitting behind us, Jase scanned the countryside for anything useful while Griz slept soundly, his snores coming over the intercom every once in a while.

  Clutch, as Tyler’s second-in-command, was in charge of the park whenever Tyler was offsite for longer than a few hours. When Camp Fox had relocated to the park, the pair had reached an agreement to never ride in the same vehicle because the park couldn’t risk losing both of our seasoned military officers. Even though their knowledge and leadership had saved our collective ass many times over, I suspected the other reason they didn’t ride together was because they pissed each other off as much as they needed each other.

  Clutch couldn’t come along today for three reasons. First, the air was too turbulent for his back. Second, Tyler was the only person who’d spoken with the guy we were meeting today. Third and most important, Clutch was shit as a diplomat. He was great at getting people in line—and was likely running all the residents through the training wringer right now—but when it came to begging for help, Tyler’s smooth personality was needed.

  Tyler currently had his head propped against the glass, looking outside, his hand tapping to the beat of the music piping through our headsets. He had his iPhone plugged into the plane’s audio system, and the connector charged the device while it played. Right now, music from the Nadas filled my headset.

  “The zeds around here aren’t showing any signs of migrating yet. I wonder if they do leave, how far south they’ll go,” he said without looking up, the music volume auto-muting while he spoke.

  “Who cares as long as it’s a long ways from us,” Jase replied from the backseat.

  “I don’t get it,” Tyler said. “The zeds are rotting away. Why would they migrate when they’re probably going to be dead within a year, anyway?”

  The zeds still owned the area, but their bodies had slowed down as the plague ate away at their flesh and muscle. With how decayed many were, that they hadn’t died off already made no sense. Then again, that anyone could have their throat ripped out and yet return as a zed made no sense either. The virus, in it
s cruel effectiveness, was terrifying.

  Still, on this trip, our greater risk was survivors, not zeds. Most zeds remained near towns, with only herds roaming the countryside. If only I’d flown over these roads before and mapped out any roadblocks or signs of raiders, we could’ve driven today. This was the first time Tyler was meeting with this radio contact. I would’ve preferred to drive so that we could have taken more reinforcements.

  Tyler’s contact, a riverboat captain named Sorenson, had a community roughly the size of Camp Fox on a riverboat casino. He’d told Tyler he was confident his people would make it through the migration unscathed, and Tyler had believed him. The question was, would Sorenson take Camp Fox under his protection as well? That he had offered to meet with Tyler gave us all hope.

  Right now, everyone at Camp Fox was busy packing up their belongings and pulling together all the food, livestock, supplies, and weapons for winter under the assumptions that Tyler’s diplomacy would succeed and we could temporarily relocate to Sorenson’s riverboat. If Tyler failed in gaining Sorenson’s help today, our only option was to run. I hoped to God Tyler wouldn’t fail.

  On the ground, a few zeds dotted the landscape. Nothing like the herds Clutch, Jase, and I had seen north of us. Every hour I hoped the herds would stop their migration or at least pass through without coming near Camp Fox, but I knew better. I’d seen the herds and the paths they’d trampled. They moved like locusts intent on a mission. “Maybe the zeds in Chow Town will head out with them,” I said, thinking of the only possible benefit of the migration.

  “We can only hope,” Tyler said. “It would be great to be able to get into town and clear out the stores before bandits get to them.”

  Right now, around three thousand zeds lurked in the streets of Fox Hills, now called Chow Town. I’d made the unfortunate mistake of getting myself stranded in town not once but twice, and I’d barely gotten out alive each time. No one was crazy enough to venture near Chow Town. Zeds had laid claim, and no one dared challenge them for it.

  Every day, a few more would trickle out of Chow Town, and our scouts would put a quick end to them. Still, at that rate, it would take years to clear out the town that had once been Fox Hills.