by Joe Kelly
“Yes, barely.” Jared replied as he walked towards the doorway he had missed when he had entered the room. “just cover me in case I do something stupid again.”. The room beyond the door was small, almost cramped. A few boxes stacked in one corner and a fold down couch that was currently unfolded into a lumpy bed. A shirt, bra and pants lay beside it. There was a large dark stain in the tan carpet beside the clothes. His eyes lingered on it for a moment then he tore his eyes away from sight. There was little else in the room besides a few scattered odds and ends that had been knocked to the floor.
He had no doubt now exactly what wound the manager had received. He shivered at the thought the turned to see half the team crammed into the office doorway, staring over Ori’s shoulder at the two zombies and then at him. Yes, I broke the rules, yes I was an idiot, he thought seeing the relief and accusation in their eyes. He looked once more at the corpse of the girl. rest in peace, he said silently.
“What, I got tired of playing last of the Mohicans” he said as the adrenalin shakes set in now that the immediate danger was past. “let’s grab what we can and get out of here” he brushed past them and headed outside with Jill at his side leaving the others to scavenge.
“That one shook you up,” she said, she was also angry he realized. She had every right to be, they all did, he had gone in alone and almost had paid the price for it. He nodded slightly. “I shouldn’t have been alone, and I let myself get distracted and missed that doorway, that damn thing got right behind me without my even knowing till the last second. Almost got my ass to be honest.” She was silent as she watched him, there was more to this situation than just that she thought.
“Okay having to shoot that girl got to me. I mean Jesus she was just a kid. I don’t care what she was doing at the time she died. she had a life ahead of her and… damn it, I cant believe I feel like grieving for a girl I never knew. When damn near the entire world has been slaughtered” he fell silent, knowing that all the horror and dismay he had felt since this shit went down was there, deep down and trying to break free.
He stood there for a moment rigid as a board then suddenly relaxed and flashed her a smile that didn’t fool her in the least. “Anyway, I promise not to be an idiot again, or at least not to go wondering off alone again.”
“Good.” She said softly. “Because I am just starting to get used to you and losing you would be—” She stopped as if searching for the right word or words. “inconvenient to my sex life” she said making her tone light when what she really wanted to say was I love you and losing you would be too much after all that we’ve gone through. But that was the problem, she thought. We distance ourselves hoping, praying it will make dealing with loss easier and it won’t. “Hopefully Logan will be single if you get yourself killed or maybe Clay.”
“I think I see a few people dying in their sleep rather suddenly.” He commented, then leaned into her and kissed her gently. “I’m sorry.” He said as the kiss ended.
“I see how it is,” Steve said as he walked past carrying a box. “you come outside to make out, leaving us to finish up.”
“Guilty” Jared said. “and it looks like my plan is working.” He looked towards the street and shook his head. “how much is left?”
“This is it.” Steve said as the others, carrying boxes and bags, exited the building and headed to the deuce to load their haul.
“Then let’s head back to camp. I have some making out to do.” Jared joked.
“really, after that stunt. I think your grounded.” Jill said placing both hands on her hips.
“she will fold by bedtime” Jared whispered to Steve.
“want to bet.” Jill said with a stern glance, then turned and headed for the van.
“Better hope she doesn’t talk to Mary, if she does you’re not going to be able to sit for a week.” Steve said almost but not quite smiling. Being exposed and this close to the growing number of undead had a curious way of killing a sense of humor.
“Let’s mount up” Jared called out.
“Flight apocalypse, how’s it looking up there?” Ronny jerked in surprise at the sudden voice in his ear then snorted in amusement at his own reaction. As soon as the teams had been on the way back to the campsite Jared had Ronny refueled and in the air again to scout out another few miles of the route and to take a look at the store, just to see if the undead were still lingering in the area once the living had gone. Every bit of knowledge they could gather on the undead and how they acted was invaluable to any future plans.
“so far, the route looks good, haven’t seen but a couple of undead on the road.” Ronny replied with only the briefest of hesitation.
“Roger that. Jared wants you back soon.”
“Return soonest, I copy. Changing course now” he said putting words to action and heading back towards the camp.
A little later he flew over the strip center and changed course snapping a picture of the parking lot so they would have a good idea of how many zombies had shown up after the team had left. Just in case Jared wanted to return for something. He altered course once more, watching the land roll away under his ultralight. It was pretty country down there, or would be if the dead were gone. Time ticked by with the landscape spotting a section of road he recognized he consulted his compass and lined up for his approach. He began to shed altitude and made a minor course correction.
“What the hell?” Off in the distance, just on the horizon he saw an aircraft. Stunned he hesitated for a breath then scooped up his binoculars one handed and looked again. “Son of a bitch’ he said excited beyond words. Letting the binoculars drop and hang by its cord he keyed his radio. “You’re not going to believe this, I just spotted a Chinook 20 mile east southeast of my position. It’s heading east. See if you can hear anything on your sets” he told base.
The only people who flew the tandem rotor heavy lift helicopter was the military, or usually flew them. Maybe some helicopter pilot had survived and taken one to use now that the government and the military were gone.
“roger stand by.” Sharon responded, she was manning the RV radio shack with Gary today. He pulled back on his stick and gave the engine more power as he quickly climbed hoping to spot the helicopter again, but it was gone. An Ultralight really didn’t have the power to intercept a seagull much less a helicopter.
“Sorry Flight, no joy” Sharon reported several minutes later.
“Roger that, coming back on approach” he said, wishing he had a real plane, he would have gone after that copter if he had been in something a bit faster and with a lot more fuel.
When he landed, most of the camp were waiting for him. The mystery copter was going to inspire a lot of speculation for the next week or three, Ronny thought. He pulled the memory stick from the Camera then climbed from the cockpit passing the stick to Rob, who rushed off hoping there was a picture of the mysterious Helicopter. Jared walked up and shook his hand “welcome back. You stirred everyone up with that news” Jared said, unlike the others Jared looked more thoughtful than hopeful.
“You think they are stirred up, I got wood watching that chopper fly off. If I had been in a real plane I would have tried to catch them. And I want to talk to you about that later.” Ronny said with a laugh, wondering what Jared was thinking.
“All right but much later tonight okay” he said jerking a thumb at Ben and Ian who were so excited they were bouncing. “You seem to have some flying lessons to give”
Ronny laughed, “the only flying they are going to be doing for a bit is sitting in the back seat. There is a lot to learn before they even touch the stick. And I will be honest Jared, they aren’t touching a stick till we either find another ultralight with two control systems, so I have a way to take control if they screw up or we find a real plane.”
It can never be easy can it Jared told himself, first an ultralight and now He wants a plane… Wait… “You had this planned. Didn’t you? Get me to agree to let the kids fly then tell me we need a real aircraft
to teach them in” Jared said gruffly, Ronny smiled beatifically
“Me, mislead the supreme El commandante, lie to the glorious leader. Me have ulterior motives. I’m wounded sir. Wounded I say, But I do have an idea on where to get the plane I want.” Ronny said. Jared glared at him for a moment.
“Couple of problems with a real airplane we can’t just haul them around in a truck bed and there is the question of fuel.” Jared commented with the air of a man who thought he had the upper hand.
“true, but they can be pulled behind a truck and AV fuel is sitting around in tanker trucks at hundreds of small airports just waiting to be picked up.” Ronny said with a grin. “Foiled again Jared. Face it, the ultralight has been an incredible help to us, and a real plane will be even better”
“I’ll admit that, but a real aircraft is a whole other can of beans” Jared replied.
“Let me get fueled up and I will take the boys up but when I get back we can talk after dinner” Ronny said as he motioned Ben to meet him at the ultralight. “tell Ian he is next.”
✽ ✽ ✽
The temperature dropped that night with it came a light snow that coated the area in white. The soft white flakes began to pile up quickly. Old man winter was putting in an unwelcome appearance. The undead unbothered by the falling white stuff, moved as silently as the snow, approaching the camp where they had been drawn by the ultralight earlier.
Jared woke from a sound sleep to the scream of the perimeter alarms. The battery-operated motion sensors had just proven their worth.
He and Jill untangled themselves and rolled out of the bed instantly awake and hauled on their clothes. Outside the alarm stopped. Yanking open the door of the van, Jared leaped to the ground and ran for the gate the snow crunching softly under his boots.
Spotting Ronny and Steve, he angled over to them. “What’s up?” he asked.
“About thirty of the damn things just showed up out of nowhere.” Steve said as rifle fire began. The sound loud in the night.
“Damn it” Jared swore both at the noise and the appearance of the undead as he climbed the ladder on the side of the nearest RV and looked out over the wall. The zombies were coming across the campground in a ragged line, behind them he saw more, staggering, lurching shadows in clumps and knots. There were a lot more than thirty of them out there, he decided
His mind raced as he considered what to do, then snapped out orders. Sharon would lead a group to get the walls down and loaded while he led the defense team in slowing the undead down. Really, need to come up with a better way to camp, that will hold off large numbers. He thought
The night was torn again by the sound of rifle fire as the group began clearing away the zombies they could see. A few of the dead almost got close enough to get at Brian and Chad but Ori spotted the undead at the last moment shambling along in the wood line next to the edge of the bluff about twenty yards out and called out the alarm.
Five minutes later zombies were lying sprawled in the snow, oozing what for them passed for blood. Jared crouched in the snow, ignoring the soft cries of the scared children as they were loaded onto the bus, scanning the shadows.
A cold wind blew up the bluff and across the campground sending snow spiraling into the air obscuring their sight. They were going to have to find a snowplow to make life easier. Though usually the Snow in this part of the US was light, He thought. On the upside the zombies will have a hard time walking on slick surfaces. At least I think they will. he amended
The dead came on the clumps and knots gradually merging into a mob that advanced slowly across the old campground converging on the survivor’s camp. Hand held spot lights blazed into the night lighting up targets for the shooters. Bodies littered the snow, foul black, congealed blood stained the pristine white snowfall.
“Walls are loaded, we are up and ready.” Sharon hollered several minutes later.
“Let’s blow this taco stand” Ori said over the radio. The shooters turned and ran for their vehicles, and as they did Jared saw undead down towards the back end of the campground, they must have come up thru the woods on that side. They were still too far away to be of any threat he knew but it bothered him none the less. It appeared that the attack had been coordinated, but that was flatly impossible. That was how it looked, even if it was impossible. One group of zombies sent in to get, and hold their attention while a second group came in behind the camp. He wanted to believe it was impossible, but he couldn’t afford to assume it was.
Jared got into the van and slammed the door, turning on the dome light he looked in the back and counted heads making sure everyone that was supposed to be in the van was there. He didn’t want to leave any one behind. Everyone accounted for he thought after a quick count. He picked up the microphone “let’s roll” he said then flipped off the dome light.
The line of vehicles pulled out of the campground and drove slowly down the winding road to the highway below. The forest on either side pressed close. Headlights flashing over snow, sending sprays of light into the darkness. There were a few zombies along the road, but not many. The bulk of the undead had come through the woods, not up the road which was also odd. Almost as if they were trying to stay hidden till the last moment. He tried to dismiss the thought, but he couldn’t not after the events he had witness in Bergstown and especially the Walmart in town.
If we had stayed this place would be crawling with hundreds if not thousands of undead very soon, drawn to the camp by the Alarms and it’s not something I want to hang around for, he thought as he turned onto the highway. Jared had no desire to stay and see just how many that might be.
Chapter 4
“what do you think?” Steve asked over the radio as the small convoy moved slowly down the side of the state highway. The undead on this stretch of road were thin on the ground but woods to either side might hold far more than they could deal with. “if that Costco Trailer is loaded, there is no telling what might be inside that we can use.”
Jared nodded in agreement, since they had left the camp in Bergstown they had taken any opportunity to search abandoned Semi trucks with trailers, usually those belonging to big chain stores. The practice had scored them food, clothing and other necessities. The problem they faced was limited storage, the RV’s could only hold so much even with the cargo racks they had rigged on top of the RVs. At some point those racks would have to go in order to place the solar panels they found along the trip.
At least the two Deuce’s they had scored back in Bergstown could carry large loads if anything those two trucks were the most valuable in the convoy, aside from the fuel tankers, he added silently.
As State Highways went this one was smaller than average, it cut through the hilly countryside under the looming misty blue mountains called the smokies. The abandoned vehicles were not as numerous on this road as on the main roads. But where wrecks had happened they were clumped together, a mass of metal and plastic blocking lanes and exits. Like the area where the Costco trailer sat. Forty vehicles clogged the both lanes of the road behind the twisted mass of scorched metal and melted plastic that had once been a RV and dump truck. The Costco rig, near the center of the jam, was stuck in the right lane with vehicles on both its bumpers.
There were twenty undead scattered throughout the mess, and so far, not one to be seen on the sides of the highway. Which meant nothing, since hundreds could be just inside the tree line stumbling towards the sound of motors.
“Ground Control to major Tom, See anything.” Jared transmitted to Ronny who was scouting the area in the ultralight.
“That’s a negative,” Ronny replied. “for the record I hate that song”
Jared made his decision to be honest it was the only possible answer. “I think it’s worth the risk.” He told Steve. “The Deuces can move up and push the vehicles behind the trailer off the road, then one of them can back up to the trailer door.” Jared told Steve then lowered the microphone. “Jason get out the Lock cutters.” Jared said turning to lo
ok at Jason who sat with the others in the back of his van. “Let’s do this fast. I want Team’s one and two on the ground to clear out the undead in the immediate area. Team Three will clear the trailer, anything worth keeping, load in the back of the deuce.”
There were tricks to making the odds of surviving better, one of them was never let the undead gather and run like hell if there’s a mob. As slow as most of the dead were, a small group of people who didn’t panic could take on ten or so without a sweat, if you kept them spread out. If the whole group managed to pin one or two people down, then it was over for the poor doomed bastards.
Both Deuces moved on ahead, the first one turned and drove straight into the passenger side of a Dodge pickup. With a roar the Deuce pushed the truck into the opposite lane, using it to batter the vehicle in the next lane into the ditch. The Kelly-green Lincoln town car, hit something and rolled into the ditch crushing two zombies.
Rob driving the second Deuce pushed a compact car into a ditch then quickly backed up turning to put the bumper of the deuce against the Tractor trailers bumper.
