Every time one of the zombies split the defense, Nelson followed the interloper to the middle of the water. This time he poked Koko and Dave so they both saw it. He mouthed the word, “watch” and turned, pointing.
Afterward, Dave mouthed the words “What the fuck?” and Koko just shook his head. He pointed at his wrist and Nelson turned his watch to face them.
Suddenly, an anguished shriek sounded from far off to the north, redirecting their attention below. With that, the attackers broke contact, turning to stagger fifteen or twenty feet away from the defenders.
Then it was like the fight had never happened, except for all the prone bodies and masticating heads. Heads that Nelson knew would never die in a place like this, where the very steam coming from the hot springs would energize them.
Land mines.
It felt as though an end point had been reached. The faraway call had clearly instructed whichever Red-Eye that had received it to order her decimated horde to stop their attack.
With utter silence, the creatures turned to stagger north once again. They moved no differently than before; like robots under the control of somebody else.
To the winners go the spoils. The spoils in this case were singular; the life-giving gas leaking through the fissure in the earth’s mantle, immersing them all and recharging them.
It was four o’clock AM when the main horde slipped back into the water for what appeared to be the last time. They had lost a hundred or more of their own, judging from the size of the remaining horde as it spread out within the geothermally heated water.
But not before they dragged each and every zombie they had decapitated – head clutched in one hand, body in the other, not necessarily matched – back into the forest. They did it with relative ease, which told Nelson something he didn’t want to know:
They were strong, too. All of them. Thin, just skin and bones in many cases, but still uncannily strong. He wondered if that was the influence – or injection of strength – from the Red-Eyes.
Mental pushes. Go. Do as I say. Do not stop.
When it felt safe to climb down, Nelson checked his watch again. Looking at the others, he whispered, “It’s time to go. We’re all expired. We can’t risk climbing down there unless we’re on WAT-5.”
“I’ll fall outta the fucking tree,” said Koko.
“I’ll hold you,” said Dave. “Just put your back into that notch. One at a time.”
Koko nodded. Nelson passed each of them a wafer. After getting situated, Koko took it and went out.
“We’ll give him a minute. One minute of WAT-5 sleep’s like two hours of regular sleep.”
“Yeah, why’s that?” asked Dave.
“No clue. Maybe it’s pure or something.”
After gently shaking Koko awake again, Dave took his. They gave him a minute, too. Nelson finished the process, and they climbed down in silence.
When they reached the lowest branch, they had to avoid a dead, headless rotter hanging over it like drying meat.
Each man successful, they retreated down the trail, careful to watch for chewing heads.
*****
The thin figure, once known as Lilith, turned in the center of the steaming pond, shrouded by the steam rising from the water. Her keen eyes followed the three creatures moving down the path, away from them.
Amid the battle she had caught their scent; had looked up to see their wide eyes looking down at them as she and her kind slaughtered the weaker invaders. She averted her eyes before they realized she had noticed them.
She fought on.
Something in her ravaged mind understood the humans had changed before leaving. From the tantalizing scent of fresh blood and meat, they became … nothing. They could have passed within feet of her and her followers, and she would not have known.
Whatever this ability was, it made them more dangerous. Since the extinction, her kind had taken every precaution to avoid them when the world was bright, only moving in to kill and consume them while darkness covered the land and they fell still.
They were vulnerable then.
Along with the irresistible scent of bloody meat, she could smell the burnt steel, oil and brass that always accompanied them. It was a faint odor, not detectable from any substantial distance, but these intruders carried it.
The same troublesome scent always preceded the many echoing explosions that tore through her kind and shredded their bodies.
This smell did not go away with the scent of flesh. The three carried it with them even as they moved away into the night. It faded quickly.
They had not attacked. Lilith understood why; they were too few and her kind, too many.
But they surely would. Now that they had discovered she and the obedient ones still lived. They always had in the old times.
She longed for the days when they wandered endlessly, sweeping through cities and towns, consuming those who lived there before moving onward to more bloody meat.
They had remained largely invisible until now. Moving and feeding at night was tedious, but necessary. Her vision was excellent, and the obedient ones could be pushed where needed.
There was a hierarchy among the silken-haired ones. She had heard the words “Red-Eyes” uttered by the savage ones, and she understood the meaning, but saw no color. She recognized her kind from a distance by their hair and the thoughts they pushed to her.
The longer the silken-haired ones lived, the stronger they became. The more they honed their skills at silent communication. All could do it, but she could send messages for miles just with her mind.
The distant cry that ended the battle had been the result of a silent agreement, not a surrender. She and the leader of the weaker horde had reached a truce.
Lilith and her growing horde had survived since the extinction and she had no intention of being annihilated by them now. She still had the power of control over the minions, along with her powerful sisters. Lilith again recalled the ancient strategies and battles in which they had taken entire cities.
She smiled, exposing her rotten teeth.
She and her kind must overwhelm these humans before they could organize. To do so, she would have to join with those she had just engaged.
And possibly, others. Perhaps thousands more.
*****
The three men jogged along the trail, Nelson’s keen memory guiding him in the right direction at every fork in the path.
When they emerged, Flex and Gem were the first to reach them, with Charlie, Isis, and Max close behind.
“We should’ve gone,” said Max. “I knew it. We could’ve learned stuff you might have missed.”
“Bro, I can tell you what you missed,” said Nelson.
“You missed sitting your ass on a rock-solid branch for hours until your testicles went numb,” muttered Koko.
“It wasn’t that bad, Koko,” said Dave.
Koko and Nelson stared at him.
“Okay, it was that bad.”
“Guys, we told you two big hordes were going at it. Well, after a few hours, they just broke. They were killing one another, and I mean fast. Just ripping heads off and moving to the next one.”
“They have no fear of being bitten,” said Hemp, walking up behind Charlie, putting his hands on her shoulders. “They may fight with abandon.”
Charlie shook her head. “But why are they fighting at all? They’re the same.”
Nelson looked doubtful. “The one horde was just hangin’ in the pool, sucking in the vapors. Next thing we knew, here came a horde almost the same size, from the north. It was game on.”
“They are protecting their resources,” said Isis. “Max and I talked about this. We didn’t discuss it with any of you, but it had to be when these two hordes got closer to us that we began to hear them.”
“Hear them?” asked Flex. “Like … words?”
“Simple words,” said Max. “Lie, enemy, feed. Stuff like that, but lots more. Some don’t make much sense, but maybe if we wrote the
m down, dad could figure it out.”
“Lots of those men did not look very emaciated,” said Koko. “As though freshly turned. It seems while the gas coming from the earth is not enough now to turn those who die, their bite will still change a human being into them.”
“Speaking of that, were you all on WAT-5 the whole time?” asked Gem.
“We expired,” said Nelson. “But in our defense, it was kinda like watching a movie you don’t want to look away from. And plus, it was a way longer fight than we thought when we heard –”
“Dumbasses!” said Gem. “You know you need to watch the time. Did they see you?”
“Nobody ever looked up that I saw,” said Nelson.
“One did, for a second I think,” said Dave.
Everyone turned to stare at him.
“What? There was nothing we could do about it, so I didn’t think it was important. It was just for a second, then she was back directing the fight.”
“So, it was a Red-Eye,” said Charlie. “Double dumbass!”
Dave looked hurt. “It’s not like I had a top hat and a cane, doing a little tap dance. But don’t you think they would’ve done something had they known they were seen?”
“If nothing is different in their abilities, aside from needing concentrated levels of the gas to recharge, they still recognize firearms. A Red-Eye would be cautious.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“Burn the forest,” said Manuel.
“Bullshit!” said Charlie. “There are deer, wild dogs, a shit ton of animals. Even if I didn’t love animals, they’re still food for the zombies that keeps their disgusting bellies full on meat that isn’t us.”
“No need to panic yet,” said Hemp. “But it can’t be ignored. Let’s return to Lula and make a plan. Manuel, Sarah, Koko? You stay vigilant. They might decide now that you’re aware of them you’re too great a risk to let live.”
Manuel turned to Sarah. “I told you this was a mistake. You’re the one who said to take them to where we found the zombies.”
Before Sarah could defend herself, Flex said, “You’ve still got an advantage. So far they’re still only night dwellers.”
“They can overrun us at night as easily as they could in the daytime,” muttered Manuel.
Hemp interjected: “Manuel, we didn’t mean to create dissention among you, but we’ve always had a motto; No zombie left alive. It still applies. The zombies are not natural to our species, and they are a threat to all of us.”
“Why are we just noticing them now, eight months later?” asked Taylor.
Hemp nodded. “When the earth gas first dropped to a level that would no longer sustain them continuously, our final battle in Kingman was their answer. They attacked out of a mistaken belief it was food – our flesh – they lacked. The surviving Red-Eyes have clearly learned. They’ve adapted. Become nocturnal and recluse.”
“And they also learned they can still bolster their numbers,” said Isis. “That they can still change humans into their kind.”
“How do they pick?” asked Nelson. “The ones they eat versus the ones they bring into their hordes? I was wondering that watching them from the tree when I saw how fresh some of them on both sides looked.”
“It could be a matter of physical attributes,” said Max. “Maybe mental acuity or something, too, since they have to control them.” He looked at the group. “Unfortunately, I think we need to capture one for Dad to examine in his lab.”
“An unfortunate fact, but yes,” said Hemp. “Sooner rather than later. Also, keep in mind their selection of which to change may come down to whether the leaders feel their horde is adequately nourished.”
“So, when they’ve all had their allotted human entrée, it’s time to convert the rest rather than consume them?” asked Charlie. “Who the fuck monitors that? The lunch lady?”
Gem’s eyes narrowed. “We know how dangerous they can be. Flex Jr. found that out – we all did. I don’t want to lose anyone. The people in Lula are family to me now, and after all these months, I just couldn’t take that.”
Flex looked at his wife and knew she was like a mama grizzly when one of the people she loved was in danger. And hearing her say she couldn’t take it, Flex translated that in his mind.
She wouldn’t take it lying down. She would become the badass Gem Cardoza Sheridan she had been for years. She, and everyone else she saw as family, would rise to the occasion and fall back into the battle for survival.
But now they were not in a walled city like Kingman, Kansas; they were back in Lula, a peaceful, wide-open area surrounded by woods and natural beauty.
He recalled the battle in the woods around his home that forced them away, all those years ago. This time he would not run.
They would defend it at all cost.
Flex reached out and took Gem’s hand in his, squeezing it. She smiled at him and squeezed back.
Hemp said, “Let’s look at the advantages we have. Based on just the little we know about this new generation of dead, they burrow or otherwise find ways to immerse themselves in the earth gas. This means they must do so to remain strong.”
“Whatever fissure’s letting this minimal gas out could widen again,” said Trina. “They could start to multiply like in the old days. Walk around getting stronger and stronger. All bets are off then, and we’re back to what our lives were before.”
Hemp put a hand on Trina’s shoulder. “I understand your concern, but that is an eventuality we cannot worry about right now, Trina. We will begin to closely monitor the earth gas again, perhaps using a magnifying glass tube, so the bubbles are readily visible. We locate the nearby hordes during the daytime, set up our defenses at night until we can make a plan of attack, and then destroy them.”
“Right,” said Flex. “Then we move onto the next. One horde at a time.”
“Yes,” said Hemp. “To use a comparison, they are something like solar batteries now, so far as I’ve discerned. They only have so many hours after a recharge to attack. That would mean if they intended to overrun a particular location, they would have to set up very nearby in order to minimize travel.”
“So they’d be close to their intended target the day before,” said Sarah. “That would give us an opportunity to find them before the attack.”
“So daily searches,” said Dave. “And when we find them?”
“Fire has to be our first option for their mass destruction,” said Isis. “We know it kills them and with enough fuel, we could box them in, light them up and pick off the runners, either with our urushiol blend or our weapons.”
“Speaking of that, tomorrow we need to gather more poison ivy,” said Hemp. “I have a small amount of urushiol oil remaining, but we will need much more to arm everyone with the high-end water pistols as we did before.”
“Do we even know if it works on them now?”
“Their physiology could not have changed,” said Hemp. “That’s not how nature works.”
“Are you listening to what just came out of your mouth?” asked Gem. “I don’t think we have any fucking clue how nature works anymore.”
“Touché, Gem,” said Hemp. “Touché.”
*****
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
After some more planning and discussion with Sarah, Manuel, Koko, and several others who had come to the sandwich shop to strategize, the two-car caravan left Athens, making quick time back to Lula.
When they were around three miles north of Athens, Gem said, “Stop the car, Flex. Now.”
“What’s up?” asked Flex, as he hit the brakes hard. At the same time, Trina got on the radio and alerted the vehicle ahead. Both vehicles stopped.
As was their custom, everybody got out, weapons at the ready.
“Look at that path,” said Gem, pointing. “Flattened.”
They looked off to the west of the highway, and sure enough, the low vegetation was smashed down in a swath at least a hundred feet wide, and for as far north and south as the
y could see.
“It had to be the horde that attacked those at the hot springs,” said Hemp. “So now we know their origin.”
“Their origin seems to be closer to Lula than I’d like,” said Flex. “Still thirty or so miles away, but anything less than a thousand and I get uncomfortable.”
“What about other hot springs? Are there any others around Lula, Flex?” asked Gem.
“Nothin’ public, but I recall there was at least a warm spring up in Demorest. Private property. Back in the 50’s I guess it used to be a destination for old folks – like sulfur springs. Closed when somebody bought the land.”
“We had better check it out,” said Hemp. “We’ve driven through Demorest on supply runs. It’s about 16 miles to our north, right?”
“Yep, thereabouts,” said Flex. “We’ll run up there later today, maybe.”
After a few moments thought, Gem said, “We’re wrong. They didn’t come from another hot springs. If they had, there would have been no reason to move in on the other horde’s territory. They had to be burrowing like that group did before finding the springs.”
“That is an excellent point, Gemina.”
“Why do you use my full name when you’re complimenting me?”
“Because that was an obvious fact that had not yet crossed my mind, and you deserve to be addressed in full out of respect.”
“Fuck off,” laughed Gem. “So, we still going up to the hot springs in Demorest?”
“Hell yeah,” said Flex. “Maybe that big horde went south knowing there’s another bigger horde in Demorest. Maybe they chose the weaker horde.”
They all piled back into their respective vehicles and made their way back to Lula with a bit more haste than before.
*****
Agreeing to stay at the Lula complex for the night, everyone gathered on the large porch.
“I’ve been doing some calculations,” said Hemp. “According to statistics compiled during the initial outbreak, both by me and others, these creatures, as a moving horde, travel at an average of just over one mile per hour. That can depend on terrain, but overall, it is a good baseline.”
Dead Hunger | Book 10 | The Remnants Page 11
