by Josh Hilden
“We know almost all the noncombatants made it out.” She said it, and she believed it, but she still wanted to know where Nancy and Charlie were. She’d never felt so intensely for another human being, if she was going to make it in the insanity they had all been thrust into, she needed Nancy and Charlie by her side.
They stood silently side by side and watched the rising sun shining bright in the cloudless sky, and for a minute Kyle could almost believe the events of the last couple of months had not taken place. Six inches of bright white snow covered the landscape as far as the eye could see, on the shore line the first lake freeze of the season was beginning. Just maybe the universe, or God, or whatever was out there was going to give them some breathing room.
Far in the distance, the sound of concentrated gunfire could be heard. When all of this started, the sound of gunfire outside of the shooting range would have terrified him, but now it was comforting. The surviving Park Rangers and White Harbor Militia Troops were clearing out the comparatively few Dead on the island.
The groups did not fully trust each other yet. Kyle thought if they spent a little more time fighting side by side that would be rectified. The groups were going to have to be welded together into a unified defense force if they were to have any type of safety bubble within which they could start rebuilding. They’d already taken the all-important first steps in the direction.
Dr. Jason Aten theorized, and his theory was subsequently confirmed by the Park Rangers who joined with them on Isle Royale, that the Dead present on the island were the remnants of the people who made their way here during the first few days of the Rising. He believed they inadvertently brought seriously injured survivors with them. When they had been told by the Rangers to move to the other side of the island they’d been swiftly overrun by their own dead as they rose up. The Rangers had been fighting the infestation when the advance team from White Harbor arrived and thrown in with them to secure the island for the civilians.
Chief Ranger Lawrence Preston estimated there were less than 300 of them on the island. They should be able to deal with them with relative ease, now that the Mainland fighters had moved the last of their supplies from the coast.
In the distance he could see the Freighter being unloaded onto the beach, Captain Chen was planning to run it up onto the sandy beach without compromising the hull after everyone was offloaded. The plan was to convert it into a bastion that would be the hub of the fortress they were planning on living in until they could convert the preexisting structures. Nobody wanted to be without strong walls at night. But nobody wanted to live forever in the bowels of a freighter indefinitely either.
The sound of the three tired and hastily repaired White River helicopters returning could be heard in the distance. Lisa and Kyle both turned their heads to watch as they appeared, emerging from the smoke like insects. He made a note to himself that they were going to need to secure as much oil and fuel for the three priceless choppers as they could. With the helicopters under their control, they had a level of mobility that would make the island refuge almost unassailable.
The choppers began to set down in the clearing near the beach prepared by the advance party. He made another mental note. They were going to need to construct shelters for the helicopters to protect them from the vicious lake fed winter weather. The plan was to keep two on the island and one at the base at White River.
He looked to his left at the helicopter just landing and saw Benny and Jennifer. Benny was the first to exit the chopper, his pike in lieu of a cane helping to support his frame. Doctor Aten said his leg was going to have to be opened and pins put in place, if he ever wanted to be able to do more than hobble again.
A delicate hand took Benny’s arm and helped him move away from the helicopter. Jennifer was making sure everyone gave her man a wide berth. Of course the fighting pike strapped to her back and the look on her face would have given even the densest individual reason to pause. As she stepped down onto the ground, the soldiers there snapped to attention and saluted her as she passed by. They would be talking about the battles of the Perimeter Line and the Docks for generations, and it was an unspoken given that the newly minted Major Jennifer Millette would be playing a big part in establishing the new unified defense command on Isle Royale.
Even with her belly bulging and the slight waddle the impending birth gave her, Jennifer Millette was one intimidating bitch on wheels. The soldiers who’d already arrived from White Harbor ahead of his Sister and Brother-in-Law were telling the tale far and wide, about how she’d stood off the insane army of Death Worshippers and the horde of Risen Dead they commanded. She was becoming a legend on par with Joan of Arc, a woman to be loved by those following her, and feared by those facing her. Kyle thanked God she’d made it through, she was his good right arm and he did not know what he would do without her.
As he watched the others disembarked, counting the heads and noting the faces to confirm how many more made it out of White Harbor before the final fiery trap was sprung. He heard Lisa clear her throat behind him. And then he heard the footsteps.
“Hello General Hart.” He said to the man behind him without even turning around. He’d recognized the sound of the general’s walk.
“You’re getting pretty damn good at that.” Hart said, and the admiration Kyle heard in his voice seemed to be genuine “I’m glad you made it out.” Hart said. The older man had been here preparing the island for the occupation by the refugees, before he returned to his command at White River.
Kyle thought he saw the Acting Mayor and the rest of the emergency council climbing from the belly of the chopper. Right behind them was Rich Paulson was wrapped in a swath of bandages. At least they still had an intact command structure. The rumor had been that the council had been cut off during the escape. Kyle cringed a little at the memory, as he looked down at his heavily bandaged forearm, it had been so close. If he hadn’t kept pulling the pages…but he didn’t want to think about that.
General Hart spoke next, “Hall turned out to be a brilliant and heroic guy after all. When he realized there was no way we were going to be able to hold the barricades around the harbor any longer, he blew it all to hell. That took guts. I don’t know if we will be able to go back to White Harbor before the snow makes it impossible. But it’s probably full of the Dead now. They swarmed in there when you guys bugged out. They are all probably frozen stiff without that evil bastard to keep them moving, but there are tens of thousands in the area now. Thank God we got almost everyone out before hand, and most of the supplies we needed were located in structures we could safely get to during the pull out.”
Kyle turned his head back to the chopper. That was when he noticed a fast little long boat from the freighter had arrived at the small docks. His heart did a small leap when he finally saw what he’d been looking for. Scarlet Parker, all five feet three inches of her, was standing on the deck of the small dirty craft, holding the still small form of Andi as she stepped down onto the battered dock and started walking toward the encampment. If he’d lost them, he was pretty sure he would have finished himself off rather than going on. But there they were, and he was happier than he had ever been in his entire life.
“They made it out, kid.” Lisa said. She was grinning at him. They’d shared something at the end that had bonded them closer than anything else could. She loved him like a brother, and he loved her like a sister.
Kyle nodded at her without speaking. Then turned fully toward General Hart and asked, “What do we do now?” He wanted to run to Scarlet, to kiss her and hold her and swing Andi around in his arms. But he needed to finish the conversation. With Liam gone, the Rangers listened to him. They had made that very clear at the bridge, and with the I-75 Rangers a major faction of the new group coming together on Isle Royale, he was going to be very involved in what happened next.
“Fuck if I know, we aren’t going to be able to stay here forever without sending people back to the mainland for supplies. We can fish, a
nd this soil will grow some crops if we are careful about it, but we need things in the abandoned cities.” He glanced at the freighter, with its thousands of tons of corn destined for the East Coast, “but we should be OK through the heart of the winter, when hopefully these fuckers will freeze solid.”
“And then?”
General Hart didn’t say anything at first, he just stared South at the smoke cloud once the town of White Harbor and shook his head. When he finally spoke he sounded as if he still had some hope left in his battered and bruised body, “If you and Lisa are right, then nobody is going to Rise anymore unless they are bitten by the already Risen Dead. If that is true, then this becomes a game of attrition, and all we have to do is be very careful until they rot or we kill all of them again.” He could feel his heart beating irregularly, but that was something he wasn’t going to talk about, “But we are going to have to deal with the threat of raiders and would be warlords as well. What is left of the government is a series of fragments spread all over the country.”
“If I had my druthers, I’d align with the Government in Denver, he was the President when it started, and since we couldn’t have an election, he still is, I think.” Kyle said.
“Yep, I agree with you Kye, but we are a long way from Colorado, and we have a lot to deal with here. Hell Kye, technically, I’m still a General in the United States Army, but I don’t think I’ll be heading to the new capital to take up my post anytime soon.” Kyle unclipped the canteen from his belt and took a long pull of the warm water.
“As far as I’m concerned, we are still Americans and that means we follow the Constitution.” Kyle said, and Lisa could hear the defiance in his voice. This wasn’t a question or a suggestion. The young man was planting his flag in the ground and daring anyone to side against him. She had to hide the grin from Kyle. “But I think we should be very careful about siding with anyone for the time being. There is a lot of Chaos out there, and I think that it’s going to be a fight just to make it through the winter.”
“Alright Kye, I’ll back your position when the council meets.” General Hart said.
“Me too,” Lisa said and took his hand in hers.
2
Scarlet walked off of the boat and planted her feet on the dock of her new home. Andi squirmed in her arms, but she’d been pretty quiet since the boat pulled away from the White Harbor Docks. They’d spent a long time zigzagging across the lake to throw off pursuers that never materialized.
“Is the baby OK?” Amy Waters asked Scarlet as she hopped down from the deck of the fishing boat. Her eyes were puffy and ringed with red. She had been crying ever since the docks exploded, thinking of the last conversation she had heard between Amy and the Chief made Scarlet want to start crying herself. The sling that held her broken arm, the last gift that Arn Jacobson would ever give her, was blackened and stained.
“Andi is fine, she slept the entire way here. Are you OK Ms. Waters?” She asked the older woman.
“I’ll be alright,” she said wanly. “David died saving all of us, and I got to forgive him before the end. He knew I never stopped loving him.” She looked back at the rising pillar of smoke that had been her home for her entire life before she turned back to the young woman and the baby. “We have a lot of work to do here, the weather is already damn cold, and it’s gonna get colder before too much longer.” Scarlet smiled, her Yooper accent had gotten thicker as she talked about the weather.
The conversation between them stopped and they both turned their heads, when they heard a young high pitched voice wail, “I WANT TO GO OUT!”
“Charles William you stop right there!” A stern female voice yelled back. Charlie and Nancy Harrison climbed up from the below deck of the boat and stepped out onto the dock. Charlie started running for the rail, and was quickly snatched back by his mother who swatted him once on the ass. The boy looked as if he were about to begin throwing a tantrum, but one look at his mother’s tired and irritated face quieted him in an instant.
“Everything under control up there?” Amy called to them.
Nancy laughed and hopped down onto the deck with Charlie in tow, “He’s been cooped up for hours and has a lot of energy to burn off. Of course there is a lot of unloading to be done, so I think he will probably sleep well tonight.”
Nancy and Scarlet both scanned the shoreline back and forth, searching for the familiar outlines of those that they loved. Almost immediately, they both saw the two slim figures standing with the hulking dark man in Army fatigues in the distance. They both let out nearly identical breaths of relief at nearly the same time, and then burst out in fits of giggles when they looked at each other.
“I guess we’re home now.” Nancy said, and then led the young boy down the dock to the woman waiting in the distance.
“I guess we are.” Scarlet agreed, and then hoisted Andi up on her hip and headed in the same direction. Over there the man soon to be her husband waited for her.
Epilogue
1
“The American Republic of Michigan”
Village of New White Harbor
Isle Royal Refuge, Lake Superior
March 21, 2013 AD
10:55am EST
Charles William Harrison, Charlie to all of his friends at the school house that served children ages three to 16 in the Village of New White Harbor, ran up and down the beach chasing the Canada Geese who’d made their annual return to the island. There was a four foot cyclone and razor wire fence separating the beach from the surf. The fencing, like so much else, had been salvaged from the lakeside towns and cities during the long cold winter that officially ended today. The fence served to protect the people on the island from the Dead that occasionally walked out of the lake. The current theory was that they were attracted by the light and sounds from the growing community. There were also guard platforms every hundred yards up and down the coastline of the island, to spot the Dead and to keep an eye out for ships on the water.
They’d been excused from the six day a week school today to celebrate the first day of spring in their new homes. Charlie liked it here, there was a lot to eat and the monsters never got into their town with its high walls. But Charlie was still sad sometimes, he missed his Grandpa. Mama Lisa told him Grandpa helped save the world and that was pretty cool, but Charlie still missed him a lot. He knew Mama missed him too, sometimes he heard her crying.
The sounds of people working would have filled the air if it hadn’t been for the holiday. Up and down the beach, families were having picnics and playing games. It was cool out, but it was still a lot of fun for the kids, who had been cooped up most of the winter.
“Hi Cap’n Richie!” Charlie called to the heavily scarred man with the eye patch. Charlie liked Richie bunches when they had been on the bus all of the time, he always made Charlie laugh. He’d been badly worried that his friend wouldn’t survive the burns he’d gotten, but there he was with his new wife Kelly, who was pregnant under that sweat shirt. At least that was what his Mommies said. Richie was talking to his Mommies, Kyle and his Sister, and Mrs. Waters the new Mayor.
“Hey Charlie, haven’t you caught a bird yet?” Rich called back, smiling a very summery and friendly smile that seemed to make the scars disappear. That made Charlie laugh, and he ran harder after the birds.
In the distance, he could see the big form of the Lake Frog, forever beached like a giant whale on the sand. The mass of steel frightened Charlie, not because it was scary by itself, but because it was the biggest thing on the island. If Charlie looked at it too long he thought that it was moving. When he had gotten within 100 feet of the Frog, he turned around and headed back toward the party in front of the town. It felt good to be able to run, and he relished the sweat springing up on his young brow.
New White Harbor was a really neat place, and Charlie thought it was cool to be able to watch it grow. He had drawn pictures of what it had looked like in the beginning, the Rangers’ station that now served as the Village Hall, and what it
looked like now. There was a new pier stretching out four times further than the original. Mr. Rowland and his people were building what he called a “Stone Breakwater”, Charlie thought that it would calm the waves so the boats wouldn’t be hurt. When he had asked Mama Lisa about that, she had said he was right and hugged him.
He liked it when she hugged him.
There was a huge log and dirt wall around the new village too, Charlie and his friends liked to climb up the dirt ramp on the inside and look out at the lake and the big boat on the beach. During the winter, that was as far away as they had been allowed to go. Inside the walls were all of the new buildings alongside the ones there before they arrived: stores, houses, the clinic, the soldier buildings, and the school. There were more buildings being built, but those were the ones Charlie liked best.
