The Clock Runs Down_The Servant

by Joe Kelly

  “And then back here,” he continued “where the Blue Ridge comes down and joins Newfound gap at the bridge we can throw up a barricade for the short term and later build another wall and gate” Jared said touching another spot on the map. “Then the next spot we barricade will have to be south of where Raven fork joins the Ocanaluftee and …” Lloyd found himself agreeing completely with Jared’s ideas as the man talked. Those positions, for the most part would stop the raiders a good distance from the farm, but it also meant that their people would be spread thin.

  The first wall was the one to the east, where the raiders had been prowling around and the only likely direction they could attack from. If they came up from the south, they would have to pass through Cherokee. Using more old cars from the parking lot he could block off the gap road which would stop any undead or raiders who got smart and looped around and came down the Gap or past the yard. well stop the dead, any raiders might be able to get past it, but the time it took would allow the farm to redeploy to face the threat.

  Unless they crossed the river, but that would deprive them of their vehicles, which would keep them from making a fast escape if needed and he doubted they would risk it. Which left the Center as the last defense against any attack by road. At least zombies couldn’t get across the river till the bridge at the visitor center. He hoped so anyway, zombies didn’t breathe so there was no real reason they couldn’t just walked into the water and walk out the other side but so far they seemed to avoid water.

  If they built a line of DFPs, Defensive Fighting Positions, a fancy phrase for a small bunker and also post a guard in the upper north field, they could watch the Newfound gap road for any threat before it even reached the road block.

  That left only the hiking trails that dropped down to farm from the wooded ridge line to the east, but there was only so much they could do in a short time and like the North field the answer was a string of fast easily constructed DFP’s and maybe a stake wall could be erected in the time they had. It was the best option for the moment, but they would somehow need to close off that area as soon as they got the primary defenses up in the biggest threat zones.

  Chapter 8

  Mattie was happy that Kevin had offered to help her with the ten teenagers, five of which were girls, in making the stakes that would be placed before the wall that half the adults were working on. It allowed her to spend more time with him.

  She watched Kevin working with one of the boys, showing him the proper way to whittle the stakes so he didn’t stab himself or cut open his hands with the knife he was using. He was patient with the kids and she found herself drawn to his confidence. Some of the others on the farm thought she was insane for liking, in their words, a cripple. Not that it was any of their business. Kevin had more guts and determination than any other man at the farm, except possibly Jared and Lloyd.

  I wonder what excuse they would come up with not to date someone like Kevin before the dead, she thought almost angrily. Yes, she was fully aware of the dangers his disability could pose, but she also saw the benefits Kevin brought to the table. He was smart, educated and driven. Jared might have come up with the stake wall idea, but it had been Kevin and Jill who had been the ones that had worked out the designs, and the best ways to utilize them.

  Kevin had also suggested using dropped trees to block off trails and whole wooded areas to try and limit areas that the raiders and the undead could access the farm. It might not seem like much, but he had been the only one to even think about it and it was far easier to drop those trees than to try and build walls in the time they had. As Kevin had point out, it was full proof, but it would help buy the farm time if the worst happened. And over time more trees could be dropped and pulled into positions that would cut off, or at least make it very difficult to get down to the field and the line of DFP’s. Jared’s friend Steve and three others were up there right now with chainsaws and winches, dropping the tree’s right now.

  At least today the sky was clear, and the snow was melting under the gentle sunlight. Lloyd was expecting the temperatures to drop way down tonight. Which meant there would be nothing but a sheet of ice on the ground tomorrow, once the melting snow froze again.

  Kevin finished giving the boy instructions and popped a wheelie in his wheel chair as he turned towards her and dropped the front wheels. “Have I mentioned your looking nice today?” he said. She blushed. She had gotten so used to wearing that old-fashioned 1800’s style dress, that she was almost embarrassed to be wearing a pair of tight ski pants that Mary had given her along with snow boots. The pants not only showed off everything she had but emphasized it. It was not something she would have considered wearing before the dead, but clothing choices were limited these days and they were warm, very warm.

  “Thanks” she said, “you’re not looking so bad yourself” she remarked.

  “I washed my wheel chair last night” he joked, trying to ignore his self-doubts, hoping that maybe this time things would be different. To him she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and the thought that she might like him, when he was stuck in this damn chair was almost more than he could believe.

  “oh please” Tim Mears one of the teen boys said under his breath while rolling his eyes. Mattie ignored him. Kevin only smiled at her.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Mikhail wiggled up to the ridge top and peered out from under a bush. Satisfied that his vantage point offered him a good view of the Farm, he slowly lifted his rifle to his shoulder and peered thru the scope on his rifle.

  It had been easier to find his quarry than he had thought it would be, whether it had been luck or something else, he had stumbled across a group that on inspection had not been his quarry but following them had led him to a place higher in the mountains where he had found those he sought.

  The raiders, he assumed, had found a park facility that held a multitude of parts, and equipment as well as fuel. When their scouts had raced away to report it to the main body. Mikhail had slipped in and filled up gas cans for his vehicle. Thankfully the falling snow had filled in his prints quickly, because on his return trip, the Red head and his people were on scene. They were efficient, he thought, they had dispatched the undead inside, undead Mikhail had not even seen, then stripped the place of everything of use in an hour and a half.

  Mikhail had followed their tracks as soon as the last vehicle was out of sight. Once he knew where they were located it had been easy to find a way to come up on them from a different direction. It also helped that what few undead he had seen along the way had not noticed him or at least felt no desire to rip him apart.

  They were building a wall, he saw, walls won’t stop me, he thought. Earthmovers had been brought around and driven across the Raven fork bridge and into the farm itself and were busing digging shallow holes every hundred yards along the riverbank. He scanned them for a minute then saw the low log bunkers that had been built over earlier holes, a narrow entrance in the rear was protected by a low wall kept people like himself from shooting straight into the DFP’s that faced away from him. American bases in Germany and other places had used DFP’s to protect the fence lines in the more remote areas of the bases.

  DFP’s were fast and easy to build, all you needed was to dig a hole large enough to kneel or stand in, then form the actual bunker with logs over the hole and cover with dirt till only the firing slits and the door were left open. They only had three built that he could see, two covered the point where the Raven fork and Ocanaluftee joined and where Big Cove road and the Blue Ridge crossed the combined river and one on this side of the bridge.

  Near the barn, a group of Teen-agers were whittling stakes, nearby was a man in a wheelchair talking to a dark-haired woman dressed slutty ski clothes. She was an attractive woman, all things considered, good for a roll or two for a man like himself but not much more.

  He settled the cross hairs on the woman. It was no good for his purposes to shoot the man; people just considered it the cost of doing b
usiness with hard bad men like himself. Shoot a child and you might end up with a mob that would not stop till he was dead and at the moment he didn’t want a mob.

  But a woman would shock them, horrify and anger them and that’s what he wanted. Far too many men let themselves become enthralled by women, he thought, it made them weak. He lay there watching her talk, seeing the light in her eyes, He loved the thought that he was about to put that light out, watch her sink into the darkness of death and then hopefully she would get back up and bite a few of the teenagers. A twofer horror moment if there ever was one.

  For one moment, the image of another woman, a goddess in moonlight with skin like alabaster filled his mind. His anticipation built as he watched the woman down below, he savored the feeling, Alcoholics would understand, but not many others would. He held the power of life and death in his hands and it was a heady thing. Now! He thought squeezing the trigger.

  Mattie was laughing at a joke that Kevin had just finished. He was grinning like a school boy, her warm hand on his shoulder, her eyes gazing into his, the moment lingered then she bent suddenly and kissed him lightly on the lips, it was electric, Kevin’s thoughts soared at the promise in that kiss and then she stiffened eyes going wide, the sound of a gunshot rang out almost at the same moment in time. She gasped as blood gushed from her side.

  Kevin didn’t really have time to think, no one would have, pure reflex made him snatch his rifle up even as he flung himself out of the chair with one arm and took Mattie down out of the line of fire, yelling at the kids to hug the ground. He lay across Mattie and lifted his rifle peering thru the scope but saw nothing but densely wooded slopes and ridges. Fear for Mattie filled him, she lay unmoving under him, her face pale. The possible future he had seen when their lips had met, had just been crushed, ground under foot by a capricious universe.

  Mikhail swore, his aim had been off, I must have bumped the sight against something on the hike up to this position. Oh well no big deal as the Americans say, he could adjust for that. He scanned the area rapidly thru his scope then settled his cross hairs on a Boy that had leaped to his feet and was running for the distant Barn. He was about to take the shot when he saw two women and a man running towards the screaming group of kids. He smiled and settled his sights on the new targets.

  Kevin heard another shot and heard someone scream behind him, back towards the cabins. Mattie was crying in pain under him. His concentration was total as he scanned the only area that the shooter could be in. A third shot rang out, and he saw a flash of light up on a ridge. “Bastard” he growled as he pulled the trigger, twice.

  Mikhail choked back a scream as something tore his rifle out of his hands. Fire erupted in his eye and raked across his nose and the left cheekbone. He couldn’t see, blood cascaded down his face blinding him. He made himself slide back out of the brush till he was lower than his hiding spot, only then did he stagger to his feet. Pain washed thru him at the movement and he reeled slamming against a tree with vertigo. He slid to his knees and stayed there in the in the snow till the realization that they would be after him shortly got through to his pain muddled thoughts.

  He forced himself to get past the pain and finally brought his mind under control. Need to hurry, he thought as he ripped a strip off his shirt and wrapped it around his head, covering the damaged eye. Bozhe moi, it hurt he thought as he got to his feet once more and started off into the woods each step sending a spike of pain into his ruined eye. Only two thoughts driving him, escape and revenge on the cripple.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Jared stood silently watching as Nancy Carson and her Husband Bill were carried away to be buried. Like Lloyd he was furious, but no one that looked at him could see it in his eyes or body language. It was a cold, hard, fury and when he found the sniper the man would pay. He glanced at Lloyd and saw the same anger reflected in the other mans eyes, Lloyd didn’t try to hide it, couldn’t hide it. Nancy and Bill had been his people and they had been cut down for no reason. Their son Tyler, fifteen years old, just sat by the barn refusing to talk to anyone. Together the family had made it through the end of the world, and now the kid was left alone, adrift in the land of the dead. Bridget and Rachael finally got the boy to his feet and led him towards the visitor center. He stumbled off like one of the undead.

  Thank god, Mattie would be fine, according to the Doc. It had been a close thing, another centimeter or so and the bullet would have punctured her lung. She was, barring infection, expected to recover, which was a miracle, Jared thought glancing at Kevin who sat in his chair near the graves just staring at the mountains that loomed over the river valley, looking lost and furious in equal measure, his eyes were suspiciously bright.

  “Give me a moment Lloyd.” Jared said touched by Kevin’s pain. He walked slowly over and knelt in front of Kevin, Logan who stood next to the chair gave Jared a grateful nod and stepped away to give them privacy. But close enough to be there for Kevin if he were needed.

  “How are you holding up?” Jared asked gently, the budding relationship between Mattie and Kevin was well known and approved up by the entire group. The surprise attack had hammered Kevin badly, Jared could only imagine how Kevin felt, if something happened to Jill, He would lose it. My life for hers, he said silently.

  “like a damn cripple?” Kevin said bitterly, nostrils flaring as angry self-contempt consumed him “I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop her from being shot, how do you think I feel.” He snorted contemptuously then said. “I let myself believe she liked me, a cripple” He said caustically, “and then someone shoots her.”

  Jared couldn’t relate to being stuck in a wheel chair but he could understand loss and self-blame. “She does like you and she didn’t die did she?” Jared stated his voice gentle. “the only person to blame for her shooting is the bastard that did it. And I think you did save her, if you hadn’t taken her down the second shot would have been for her too.”

  Kevin, his eyes burning locked eyes with Jared. Pain flared like a nova in those hazel eyes. “Maybe I’m not supposed to… you know… have someone in my life.” He said. But it was a question as well, born from past experience, self-pity and doubt.

  “Maybe I should beat your butt for being stupid,” Jared said. “Kevin, considering what we are facing out there, if you find someone that likes you, take the chance, because one or both of you could be dead and gone an hour later.” He said wincing at his own words. Way to drive the point home you idiot, Jared told himself then plunged on. “I was wrong about you Kevin, you’ve proven yourself not just to me to everyone the camp and on the farm. Don’t give up on her or on yourself.” Jared said resting a strong hand on Kevin’s shoulder. Behind them the rumble of snow mobile motors could be heard as Steve and the men that had gone out to scout for the sniper returned.

  Steve, bundled heavily against the cold, stopped beside Jared and shut down the snowmobile. Brushing back his hood he lifted his goggles, his face was cherry red from the cold. He slid off the machine and looked down at Jared who was still crouched beside the handicapped man.

  “did you find him, the bastard who shot Mattie?” Kevin asked. Steve shook his head, glancing at Jared who remained silent.

  “We found the sniper hide he used, but whoever he was, he was gone by the time we got there. There was however a lot of blood” Steve said, as he pulled a damaged rifle from the basket mounted on the handle bars of the snow mobile. “Looks like you hit his weapon, the fragments must have hit him in the face.” Steve was guessing at that part, but it made sense if the shooter had been aiming at the time Kevin’s round had struck the rifle.

  “I hope he bleeds out and comes back as one of them” Kevin replied angrily. Jared didn’t comment what could he say, the truth was that there was not a thing Kevin could have done to stop Mattie from being shot, but he wasn’t ready or willing to listen to reason.

  “Let’s double our patrols up there,” Jared said. “I know, we are shorthanded, to few people with training, but we can’t
afford to let this happen again.”

  Jared glanced at Kevin one more time thinking, you’re lucky, that Mattie didn’t die Kevin, because she would have come back and killed you easily since you were laying on her. He wouldn’t mention it and Kevin had probably already thought about it. Both of you were lucky today.

  By night fall it was 18 degrees outside and dropping, and the snow was falling once more. Lloyd had moved their livestock into the barn, having earlier in the day hung blankets and tarps around the sides of the Drovers barn to keep heat in, hoping that would be enough to keep the animals inside from freezing to death. Groups of men patrolled the pastures keeping an eye on the roads along the river and the forested slope up Mt.Richland while patrols combed the foot hills and the ridges above them.