The Complete Deadland Saga

by Rachel Aukes

“Can I see the map?” I asked Jase.

  He dug into his cargo pocket and pulled out the folded sectional.

  “Thanks.” I knelt and spread it out on the pavement.

  Tyler came down on a knee next to me while I could feel Jase and Griz at my back.

  I pointed to a spot on the map. “The closest small airport is here. It’s not far, but it’s on the edge of town. If we can’t get to the airport, we should at least be able to find a car. Jase has been marking the routes on the map.”

  “Too bad Otto didn’t stick around,” Griz said, looking out over the river. “A lift could’ve saved us hours.”

  “That would make things easier,” Tyler said. “But I’m not seeing any boats around here that we can use, so it looks like we’ll be hoofing it. There should be a few farms between us and the next town. One of those farms is bound to have a vehicle we can use.” He came to his feet. “Take five, and then we head out.”

  I was already dreading how much my leg would ache tonight. I headed back to the plane. I tried to reach Clutch on the radio but had no luck. Giving up, I rummaged through the baggage compartment. I pulled out a plastic bag and handed it to Griz to add to his rucksack. “There are a few protein bars, a couple bottles of water, and a first aid kit in there.”

  “It’s time,” Tyler said. “Let’s get a move on. We’ve got less than four hours of sunlight left to get back to Camp Fox.”

  Chapter VIII

  After an hour of jogging, we switched to walking once we realized there was no way in hell we’d make it back to the park before dark. My calf had ached for the first forty minutes until pleasant numbness finally settled in.

  The rural road was rough but wide open, with trees to our right, where the river was, and fields to our left. A group of four zeds emerged from the trees and blocked our path. Luckily, only one of them was fresh enough to be halfway fast. Tyler took it down with a heavy swing of his sword. I pulled out my machete, and the rest of us each took down one without firing a shot. The zed I killed had been a man, wearing stained khakis and a golf shirt. My first swing knocked it to the ground. My second swing put it out of its misery.

  Sounds came from the trees, but thankfully, no more zeds emerged. Still, we made haste to continue on. The first farmhouse we came to we didn’t dare approach. Jase had counted at least three zeds inside, and we had no intention on riling them up. The truck in the driveway sat with the driver’s side door open and no keys in the ignition. When Jase tried to hotwire it, nothing happened. The battery was dead.

  We fared no better at the second farmhouse. A zed was enclosed in the SUV in the open garage. When it saw us, it pounded on the glass. Jase checked it out, but the SUV had been left running and had long since run out of gas. So, we moved on.

  It took us another thirty minutes before we found a vehicle we could use. The white sedan we found sat in the attached garage of a newer looking farmhouse that showed no signs of zeds lurking within its walls. The four of us stood in front of the split-foyer house. Griz and Jase had already run around it, looking through each window. Luckily, the garage door was one of those with windows in it, making it easy to see the car as well as telltale signs of notoriously clumsy zeds.

  “It looks clean inside,” Jase said.

  “Should we try the house or the garage first?” I asked.

  Tyler stood quietly for a moment, his sword in one hand. “I’d say we waltz right up and try the front door.” And he did exactly that. He cut through the lawn and onto the pebbled path leading to the doorsteps. Large bay windows were to the left, making it easy to see if any zeds came from that direction. To the right of the door was a wall, so we were going in half-blind.

  Griz, Jase, and I followed. Tyler stood at the front door and knocked. A short pause later, he grabbed the door handle and turned but didn’t open the door. He glanced back at us. “It’s unlocked.”

  As I gripped my machete, I noticed both Griz and Jase tense as well. They stood a couple steps behind Tyler and me, in case we needed to jump out of the way. I stood off to the side, careful to avoid making myself a target through the windows. I peeked through the edge of the bay window. All clear, I signaled with my hand.

  Tyler nodded. He threw the door open and then jumped back.

  No zeds came at us. After taking a deep breath, I met Tyler at the door, and we stepped into a large living room. Griz and Jase came in behind us. I sniffed the stale air and picked up the telltale putrid sweetness of decay.

  “It’s not clear,” I said softly.

  Tyler motioned for him and me to take the left half of the ground floor, and for Griz and Jase to take the right. A couple minutes later, we met back up in the kitchen.

  “All clear,” Griz said.

  “Same here,” I said. “Other than the smell, there aren’t any signs of zeds up here.”

  Tyler frowned as he looked at the basement door. “That means the smell is coming from down there.”

  We pulled out our headlamps and put them on. One by one, we headed down the stairs. As soon as I was off the last step, I saw the source of the odor curled up against a door. It was the corpse of a woman dressed in jeans and a sweater, and she still held a picture against her chest. A glass and empty bottle of pills lay next to her. With the rate of decay and her clothing, she’d likely killed herself not long after the outbreak.

  Griz emerged from the single bedroom and covered the corpse with a sheet. “May God grant you peace,” he said.

  A thump against the door behind the body answered.

  I jumped.

  Tyler and Griz moved first. Griz grabbed the corpse’s jeans and pulled the body to the side. Tyler stood at the door and knocked. The thumping became fevered. He gripped his sword in one hand and held the doorknob in the other. “Ready?” he asked Griz, who nodded in return, his machete held out in front of him.

  Jase and I stood to each side, each holding our machetes ready. Tyler turned the knob and kicked the door open, sending the zed tumbling back. Stench wafted from the room. A zed, who’d been a teenaged boy, tried to pull itself up by grabbing on a black comforter. It looked to be about Jase’s age. Its hair was even the same color, and a lump formed in my throat.

  Griz rushed forward and slammed his machete through the zed’s skull and it collapsed face-first on the floor, and I refused to look at it again. Tyler entered the room and looked in the closet and under the bed. “Clear,” he called out.

  Griz and Tyler hustled from the room, and I slammed the door shut behind them, as much to block the smell as to close us off from the zed that reminded me a bit too much of Jase. I breathed through my mouth, but the stench of putrid death always seemed to burn through my pores.

  “All right. The house is clear. We’ll camp here for the night,” Tyler said. “Let’s secure the perimeter. Griz and Jase, you guys check the doors and close all the curtains. Cash and I will check the garage. Once everything is secure, we can scout the house for supplies.”

  No one lingered in the foul-smelling basement. My leg was beginning to ache, but I forced myself not to limp as we walked through the small kitchen and toward the garage. On the wall near the door, a key rack hung on the wall, and I smiled. I shuffled through the sets of keys and pulled off a key chain that had a Chevy logo on it. I held it up and gave it a happy little shake.

  Tyler returned my grin. “Let’s hope the battery’s not dead.”

  Undeterred, I followed him. Dead batteries had become a common occurrence, and I’d grown adept at jumping cars, but I’d always had a running car with me. We didn’t have that tonight, and I suspected there weren’t any new car batteries lying around.

  Tyler opened the door slowly and carefully, just in case we’d missed a zed while checking the house earlier. Fortunately, silence and fresh air greeted us. A white four-door car sat in the shadowed garage.

  I opened the car door and slid the key into the ignition and turned. The engine started without a hitch, and the gas gauge climbed halfway. I let out a
whoop. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a ride.”

  I turned off the car and stepped out. Tyler gave me a high-five. “It’s about time we got a break.”

  He checked the garage door to see that it would open easily, and we headed back in the house. In the kitchen, Griz had several cabinets open and small stacks of canned food sitting on the counter.

  Jase emerged from the bathroom with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. “I’ll have a camp stove built and going in no time.”

  “The car runs,” Tyler said. “We’ll head out at dawn. If the airport isn’t viable, we’ll drive back to the park.”

  “Fingers crossed the airport is clear and has something I can fly. It will save us time.”

  Tyler wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gave me a hug, and I found myself leaning into his warm comfort. “It will,” he assured. A moment later, he squeezed before letting go, and then led the way down the hall.

  As Jase worked on making dinner, we searched every room for anything that could be of use. Over the next thirty minutes, we loaded the trunk with all the food, pills, and supplies we could find.

  After we dragged two mattresses from the upstairs bedrooms into the living room, I plopped into a chair at the table and sighed as I rubbed my calf.

  Tyler took the chair next to me, grabbed my leg, and massaged it. “How bad is it hurting?”

  I shook my head. “Not bad. It just feels good to sit.”

  Even though Tyler touched me often, I knew he had no romantic feelings for me. Physical human connections helped ground him, and his touches didn’t bother me once I realized that he was just seeking comfort and wasn’t flirting. I was surprised that he hadn’t taken any women to bed yet. It wasn’t for lack of admirers. Tyler had plenty of those.

  Tyler rarely touched me when Clutch was around, which was wise. Clutch wasn’t in any way the jealous type, but it didn’t take much for the two to get on each other’s nerves. With their tense relationship, even something as simple as a harmless touch could set them off.

  We watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon. With the smell of food cooking overpowering the ever-present scent of decay, the tension in my muscles slowly bled away.

  “We’ll rotate two-hour single shifts tonight,” Tyler announced. “That will give everyone at least six hours of sleep.”

  “Dibs on first watch,” I said.

  Griz grumbled. “Just because you’re a woman, I’ll let you have it. I’ve got second shift, then.” He put down a plate in front of me.

  I leaned forward. “Spaghetti?”

  “Yeah,” he said, taking a seat across from me. “The pantry had a pretty good selection. Jase cooked the noodles in sauce and water, so it might be a bit gummy."

  Jase guffawed. “You’re lucky to have a hot meal.” he handed Tyler a plate and then sat down with his own. “I’ll take third watch, I guess.”

  Griz clasped his hands. “Lord, thanks for this food that we’re about to eat. And thanks for another day where we get to eat food and not get eaten.”

  “Amen,” we all murmured.

  Silverware clinked against plates as we all dug in. Sitting around a table, eating spaghetti, felt like home. It almost felt like the apocalypse hadn’t taken place around us.

  Almost.

  Chapter IX

  I could barely keep my eyes open after my watch, but unfamiliar surroundings and dreams of massive herds made sleep fitful, and I woke up every hour or so. I finally passed out sometime during Jase’s shift.

  “Cash.”

  I lunged awake, grappling for my machete.

  “Whoa there,” Tyler said and pressed me back. “There’s no emergency. I just thought I’d wake you.”

  It took a moment for the night’s fog to clear from my mind. I rubbed my eyes. “Time to head out?”

  “Soon.” His features softened. “You were having a nightmare.”

  “Yeah,” I said breathlessly, my heart racing, remembering flying a shiny airplane with gold stripes. I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees.

  He kept a hand on my shoulder. “Want to talk about it?”

  I thought back to the dream. Clutch, Jase, and I were flying somewhere. The engine stalled over endless fields filled with zeds. Tyler had woken me just before we crashed. “Just the usual stuff,” I said after a bit.

  He rubbed my shoulder and gave me a gentle look. “It was just a dream. We’re all haunted by them. Don’t let it get to you.” He cupped my cheek before coming to his feet. He strolled over to Griz who was sprawled out on the mattress we’d dragged into the living room and nudged him with his foot.

  Griz grumbled, and Tyler nudged him again.

  I made out the words “go away” this time.

  “Wake up,” Tyler said. “There’s some oatmeal on the table. We’re heading out in ten.”

  I rolled off the king-sized mattress we’d taken turns sleeping on, stood, and stretched with a groan. With its cracks and pops, my body sounded—and felt—like it belonged to a fifty-year-old rather than one who wasn’t even thirty yet. “I could’ve used another hour of sleep.”

  “I could’ve used another five hours,” Griz said as he geared up.

  I pulled all my things together, and we ate standing up at the table. A few minutes later, Jase lifted the garage door, and the four of us climbed into the car. Tyler backed the Chevy out of the garage and into the quiet darkness of early morning. We drove down the long winding road parallel to the river until the sun was halfway above the horizon.

  Tyler turned at an intersection that had a green airport sign pointing to the left. “If you see anything that seems off, we’ll abort and drive the two hundred miles. We’ll find a fuel stop on the way.”

  “Let’s not,” Griz said, with his eyes still closed. “We need to get back to the park today if we’re going to make a mass exodus to a shipwrecked boat before the herds arrive. We’re on borrowed time already.”

  “We can’t help our people if we’re dead,” Tyler replied a bit too quickly. He inhaled before continuing. “But, yes, I also agree with you. We don’t have time for delays.”

  “There’s the airport.” Jase pointed. “Looks okay from here. No cars around. That’s a good sign.”

  Tyler slowed as we approached the small municipal airport. Up ahead, the road became a roundabout, with turns in three directions. To the right were two large corporate hangars. To the left stood a row of T-hangars, each one large enough for a single airplane. Straight ahead was a single building surrounded by a wide tarmac that was unfortunately empty of aircraft. The pickings would not be so easy here.

  Tyler stopped at the roundabout. “Which way do we go, Cash?”

  I sighed. “Straight ahead. We need to hit the terminal building first. Lucky for us, it’s a small enough airport that there probably weren’t many people around when the outbreak hit, so there wouldn’t be much reason for zeds to stick around here.”

  “Except for the ones still stuck in buildings,” Jase tacked on.

  I nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we find at least one in the FBO building.”

  “FBO?” Jase asked.

  “Fixed Base Operator. Whoever ran the airport.”

  “Can we skip the FBO and go straight for the hangars?” Tyler asked.

  “The keys to get into the hangars will be in there.” I pointed at the building standing ominously alone just beyond the open airport gate. “We have to check it out.”

  “You sure?” Griz asked.

  I shrugged. “I’ve never seen hangars left unlocked before.”

  “All right. We’ll take it slow.” Tyler stepped on the gas ever so slightly. The car crept through the open gate and he parked about forty feet from the FBO. It was an escape trick we all knew well. Zeds kept getting slower as they rotted away. If we had to leave in a hurry, putting a little distance between us and them made it easier.

  I climbed out and breathed in the fresh morning air. No one moved far from the car. We took our time to
scan for zeds. Jase was the first to head toward the building after taking several steps in a wide three-sixty. I followed him across the tarmac, crossing the white T-line marked for airplane parking and stepping over cracks in the old pavement. He stopped at the red door and looked through the glass pane.

  “How’s it look?” I whispered as Griz and Tyler joined us.

  “Not sure yet. Give me a minute,” Jase replied, taking a step back. “I’m going to check the other windows.”

  With that, he took off at a run around the building. Jase was Camp Fox’s fastest runner. He was his high school football team’s first-string tight end and a state track hurdler for a reason. Nothing could catch him.

  I looked through the window and saw some papers scattered on the floor by the front desk. No blood or stains marred the walls or floor.

  I heard a rustle and turned to find Jase returning from the opposite direction he’d left. He slowed down and then stopped. “I couldn’t see any zeds through the other windows.”

  “We’re burning daylight,” Tyler said.

  I grabbed the door handle. “You guys ready?”

  “You open, I’ll go in first,” Tyler said from right behind me.

  I twisted the handle and pulled. Fortunately, the door was unlocked, and Tyler went in, holding his sword before him. Griz went in next, followed by Jase. I stepped inside and closed the door with only the quietest click to signal someone had entered.

  The air didn’t stink of death, which was a good sign. Still, we moved through the building to make sure no zeds or bandits were lurking in shadows.

  “This wouldn’t be a bad place for a small group to hole up,” I said after we cleared the building. “I mean, there’s the fence on the side facing the road, which would deter looters, and on the other side gives a full view of the airport to see zeds coming from a mile away.”

  Glass shattered, and I jumped around to see Griz rummaging through a vending machine broken wide open.

  “Not a bad place as long as you always had scouts on guard,” Tyler said before joining Griz at the machine.