He moved up the stairway and kept the rifle in front of him. Suddenly, something large moved through the trees, startling him and making him jerk his weapon around. The barrel knocked against a support hard enough to wrest the weapon from his grasp and Tamikara watched helplessly as his rifle fell down a small cliff to clatter against the rocks at the bottom and settle in the water of another creek. You gotta be kidding me. Seriously? Tamikara thought as he stared at his now useless rifle. He could go down and get it, but he didn’t want to have his pursuer gain any ground on him, if he had indeed fallen for the false trail.
He shook his head and drew his nickled Browning and continued climbing the stairs, moving closer to the source of the kid sounds he was now hearing clearly.
Chapter 9
Nicole was worried. She had made it to Wild Cat Canyon with the four kids, but the boys were getting restless and Jake had just discovered that the canyon walls echoed. He alternated between bird calls and train whistles and Logan, his cousin, wasn’t helping by laughing every time Jake did it. Julia kept wandering by the water and Anna was pouting something fierce and whining about wanting juice and not water.
“Jakey, shush, sweetie, we need to play the quiet game again,” Nicole admonished as she kept Julia from wading into a deep pool. A small rivulet of water coursed its way down the canyon wall and a cave beckoned more than once to the boys. Logan was all for exploring, but Nicole knew he would rush ahead and get himself stuck if she let him look. She managed to hold him off by promising his father would explore the cave with him, but she saw him more than once looking at the cave and looking over in her direction, calculating whether or not she was actually paying attention.
“Whoo whoo!” Jake called, to the delight of Logan as the sound travelled down the cliff faces.
“Jakey, honey, you need to be quiet. Logan, would you please help mommy?” Nicole had decided to break out the snacks and handed a small bag of peanuts to Logan. She set Julia down and the toddler wandered over to Jake where she began tapping him on the head.
Jake giggled and moved away, heading over to the mouth of the canyon. He was on the trail, knowing enough to stay out of the woods, but his three year old mind would let him wander if sufficiently distracted.
With Nicole busying herself with the snacks and sulky kids, Jake found himself able to wander farther and farther without rebuke. He looked once over his shoulder and he moved cautiously down the path, his little feet unsure on the uneven surface, but he cheerfully pressed on.
Jake picked up a shiny rock, looked it over for a moment before flinging it ahead of him. He watched the rock bounce on the trail ahead of him, laughing as he moved to pick it up and throw it again, happy with his new game.
The rock bounced down the trail and a booted foot covered it. Jake scampered forward and looked up at a man staring down at him. “Throw rock?” Jake asked, looking around and not seeing his new toy.
Captain Tamikara stared at the little boy in front of him, stunned at his sudden appearance. He recovered quickly and realized this was one of the kids he had been looking for. “Hey little man. What’s your name?” Ted asked.
The little boy looked up with big brown eyes and puffed out his little chest. “I’m Jake!” he said with all the pride of a toddler.
Tamikara smiled. He couldn’t believe how his luck had changed. First he lost his squad, then his rifle and now the son of his adversary lands in his lap.
Jake hadn’t noticed the smile on the man’s face, he just squatted down and patted Tamikara’s shoe. “Throw rock, peez?”
Captain Tamikara lifted his foot and saw what Jake wanted. “Oh! You want your rock! Sure, little buddy, go ahead and take it.”
Jake reached down and picked up the rock, then cried out as Tamikara shoved Jake onto his back, stepping cruelly on his chest, pinning him to the ground. Jake yelled in fear and pain and Tamikara grinned as he leveled his gun at the little head.
“Get off of him!” screamed Nicole, as she aimed her rifle at Tamikara. When she had noticed Jake was gone, she hustled the kids down the adjacent path and came down this one.
Tamikara eased the pressure of the child but didn’t let him up. Jake squalled and squirmed, trying to get free.
“I’ll kill him right now if you don’t drop that rifle,” Ted said, staring at Nicole.
“Pull that trigger and I have no reason not to kill you,” Nicole retorted. “But I’ll do you one better. Hurt that boy and I’ll just wound you and keep you alive until his father comes home and then let him have you.”
Tamikara mulled that one over and decided he didn’t like that scenario at all. If John Talon did somehow live, everything Ted knew about the man did not paint a picture of someone overburdened with restraint when it came to protecting or avenging his family.
Jacob yelled again, louder this time as he struggled to get out from under the man’s boot. He had gone from scared to angry and Tamikara was amused at the boy’s frustrated antics.
He faced the woman again, noting the steady barrel of the rifle she continued to point at him. “We have a problem. I let him go, you kill me. I kill him, you kill me . Seems like the only thing keeping me from being harmed is this boy being alive, but in my control. See where I’m going with this?” Ted cocked his head to the side, grinning nastily.
Nicole’s eyes narrowed and her finger caressed the trigger of her rifle ever so gently. She had never wanted to kill anyone as badly as she wanted to right now. But she was afraid if she fired, the man holding Jacob would fire by reflex, wounding or killing Jacob. And she would never forgive herself if something happened to Jake. She had to stall and hope someone would show up. Charlie, Mike, anybody.
“You’re not going anywhere with that boy.” Nicole said firmly, readjusting her aim so her front sight was on Tamikara’s face.
“You know, I was hoping you’d be more reasonable. As it is…what?” Captain Tamikara bent down slightly. The boy had said something very clearly and he was suddenly smiling.
Jake looked over Tamikara’s shoulder and said loud enough for both Ted and Nicole to hear, “Kitty!”
Ted looked over his shoulder and screamed. He tried to bring his gun up but it was knocked out of his grasp by a tan-furred beast of fang and claw that leapt out of a tree on top of him. Tamikara was slammed to the ground and the big cougar quickly fastened its fangs on Ted’s neck, immobilizing him except for his mouth, which continued to scream for help.
Jacob scrambled to his feet and went over to the big cat, rubbing his head on it’s back. The cougar released Tamikara long enough to nuzzle Jake, who laughed as he was knocked down by the big head.
Nicole shouldered her rifle and went to retrieve Jacob, thanking the big cat for settling the situation. She hurried to get the other children in her charge, again hoping someone would come and tell her the coast was clear.
The cougar, excited by the prospect of fresh meat, again clamped its teeth on Tamikara’s neck and dragged him down the trail. She was going to her den, a cave in Tonti Canyon. No one save Charlie knew where it was and he kept it to himself.
Mike Talon, cursing his leg, was making his way to the big set of stairs when the cougar came bounding down, dragging a still screaming Tamikara along with it. Mike blinked twice and after making sure he had seen what he thought he had seen, hurried up the stairs to reach his family and the other kids. When he reached the top, he met up with Charlie, who had come from the other direction. Between the two of them, they realized they had successfully accounted for all of the attackers. Charlie’s eyes grew wide at the description of the cougar and Nicole later confirmed that the big cat had indeed saved Jake.
Marveling at fate, the group scooped up the kids and made their way back home, to stand vigil until their other loved ones made it back.
Back in the caves, Captain Tamikara was barely conscious when the cougar set him down. He realized he couldn’t move, as the cat had punctured his spine when she bit him. His last thought before the dark c
laimed him was a futile wish to have just stayed at the other lodge.
The cougar, unaware of the man’s passing, proceeded to shred his clothing, tearing it away so it could feast on the flesh beneath. Sending a growl into the darkness of the cave, she summoned three cubs who came bounding out to feast as well, justice taking the form of a cougar family in the forest of Starved Rock.
Chapter 10
“You better back up and get the hell out of here, Thorton, or we’ll blow your ass to hell!”
The voice was full of fury, although still unseen. Major Thorton and his men had travelled early in the morning and it was a full day since they had torched that small community outside of Parkersburg. The going had been slow, there were several roadblocks that needed to be cleared, cars to be pulled out of the way, zombies to be eliminated.
Thorton and his men had discovered a network of roads in the hills to the north and south of Route 50 and buried in those hills were a number of communities and subdivisions that were still very much alive. But at their first contact, instead of the weepy welcome they were used to, two of the communities had opened fire at the first sign of the convoy and at the last one, one of Thorton’s men had been shot dead by an unseen sniper when the man tried to sneak over the makeshift fences the people had erected.
Ken Thorton was outwardly calm, although he was raging inside with indignation and confusion. Several things were confusing him. How did they know my purpose and more importantly, how in hell did they know my name? Unless they had a radio. Son of a bitch. These towns maintained communication and somehow one of the men from the town they torched got a warning out.
Not to be turned away so easily, Thorton called out. “We’re leaving, but sleep with one eye open, because we’ll be back and when we find you, we’ll burn your houses down around your ears. You hear me, you men with families? We’re coming back and we’ll remember you!”
“Here’s something to remember us by, Thorton!” Another shot rang out and one of the men near Thorton suddenly threw his hands up and fell back. He lay on the ground with a neat smoking hole in his forehead. “Move on and don’t come back!”
Major Thorton refused to be hurried, so he deliberately walked back to his trucks, his men cursing under their breaths at the loss of another of their number. Right now, they had a crew of seventeen men, when they had started with forty. None of them could have known that the men they sent to Starved Rock were dead. If they had, Thorton would probably have had a mutiny on his hands. As it was, several of the men cast sullen looks at their leader who just left their comrade to lie dead without retribution
Thorton had other things on his mind. If this community was informed against him, how many more would be the same? He was losing men too quickly to suit him and he would need as many hands as possible for the long trip back.
Rolling backwards, the convoy made its way back to Route 50 and rumbled east again. Thorton didn’t really have a plan that went outside of getting to Washington. He wasn’t entirely sure where the documents were that he wanted, but he had managed to convince himself that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were in the Capitol Building, so that was where they would start.
Thorton brooded over the lack of understanding and cooperation and decided to change course and head south. South would allow him to travel more anonymously and this close to the goal, he couldn’t afford any more setbacks.
“Turn here and follow this until I tell you differently,” Ken said to his driver, as they approached the turn to 31. The plan, at the current time was to take the 31 until it ran into 16, then take that south until they found Interstate 33, which would take them to D.C.. Not as direct as route 50, but it was far enough south that it eliminated the chance of a broadcast from the survivor towns reaching anyone else.
The road signs pointed the way to a little town called Cairo and Thorton was as blind as anyone else when it came to seeing what the town was about. In the eastern part of the country, towns and communities tended to be buried within forests, with travelers coming upon them quite suddenly. The road itself looked like it made a couple of ninety degree turns through the town, so it would be impossible to see what resistance there might be. Major Thorton pulled his sidearm and held it in his lap, checking the loads. His driver glanced over and saw what Thorton had done, so he reached back and banged three times on the rear window. There was a scuffling as men readied their weapons. They weren’t going to be caught unawares again.
The convoy rounded the corner and crossed a small river. Immediately, Ken knew this town had nothing. The buildings were run down, windows had been smashed in, garbage was scattered about.
The trucks passed between two large brick buildings, but they had ground-level windows that had been smashed in, indicating that anyone forting up in those buildings had experienced unwelcome visitors.
Continuing on, Thorton looked to his right and saw a rickety bridge spanning the river. Christ. He thought. Even without the zombies, this place was a shithole. He shook his head at the places people had lived in, although he was tactician enough to appreciate the potential of this place. Surrounded on three sides by water and a forest to the east, people with some fortitude could have made this place a decent spot to wait out the zombies. Just block the bridges and set up a fence and voila! Zombie-free living.
Thorton chuckled. Should make a brochure, he thought. He chuckled again when they passed the second bridge and something caught his eye. “Wait,” he ordered. The big vehicle came to a stop, causing a stir with the occupants and the following vehicles.
Thorton got out of the vehicle and stared hard at the second bridge that crossed the river. This one used to be a railroad bridge, judging by the beams on the sides, but when the rails were taken out, it became a footbridge. But that wasn’t what had caught the Major’s attention. He walked through the small gate that kept vehicles out and over to the bridge.
Lashed to the bridge was a fishing pole and by the looks of the string and pole, it had been tied recently. He looked down at the water and sure enough, he could see a bobber making lazy trails in the slow moving river. The water was shallow enough that he could see the lure had not yet caught anything.
Suddenly more alert, he walked back to the truck and looked around with more focused eyes. That was when he felt it. Someone was watching him and his men. He had no idea where they were or what their intentions were, but they were out there somewhere. Perhaps someone had realized this town could be made safe.
“Sir! In front! Quick!” the driver yelled.
The major, still outside the vehicle, spun around and saw something small and dark race across the road ahead of them and disappear between two homes at the point where the road turned its second ninety-degree angle. He stared hard at the homes and his eyes caught a ghost of movement within a house further up the hill. Scanning the tree tops, he could see several more homes tucked away in the hills.
“Should we investigate, sir?” The driver wanted to know.
Major Thorton climbed aboard the truck. “No point. If they wanted to talk they would have called out to us. As it is, I’m guessing its just some hand to mouth scavengers, probably kids, who could disappear into the woods without a trace if we tried to follow. Let them go. We’ll round them all up later. Let’s go.”
The trucks continued on, with the soldiers breathing a sigh of relief. This place looked like trouble and there were a million ambushes waiting for them if they had tried to head up the hill.
Rounding the bend, the convoy moved past a dozen or so homes, some of which had their porches only a few feet from the road. All of the homes were in various states of disrepair, but Major Thorton couldn’t tell if that was because of the Upheaval or that was just the way all the homes looked to begin with.
The trucks rounded a small bend and the lead driver suddenly whispered, “Jesus.”
“What’s the problem? Oh.” Thorton saw what had elicited the blasphemy from his driver.
On the right side
of the road, there was a large steel building. Thorton couldn’t tell what it was used for, but that was only because his sight was blocked by zombies. Hundreds of zombies. They filled the parking lot and were scattered around the building and surrounding property. There were all kinds of zombies milling about, from dead men in suits to teenage girls in shorts. There were little zombies and big zombies and even a toddler roaming about.
That wasn’t the disturbing part. The part that got Thorton nervous was when the trucks heaved into view, every single zombie swiveled its head to look at the source of the sound. When they saw the trucks, they throated a collective groan and surged forward, their hunger driving them towards the trucks, their arms uplifted and their mouths opening.
“Move it, get around them!” Ken yelled as he watched zombies move to try and cut off the road.
Thorton’s driver gunned the engine and the truck leaped forward, causing a commotion in the back as soldiers were tossed around by the sudden acceleration. The trucks behind surged forward as well, trying to close the distance between the vehicles to keep the zombies from separating the trucks. With the number of zombies in the area, there was a real danger of them stopping the truck through sheer numbers. After that it was all over.
The last truck was in the worst danger, being far enough behind that it was going to have to try something different. While the first trucks moved forward, battering their way through the zombies that headed their way, the last truck swung wide, to circle around where the zombie numbers were thinner. This was a dangerous move as well, since there wasn’t much room to get past them. The trucks couldn’t go to the left, since there was heavy forest on that side and to the right was unknown territory.
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