The bottom of the abyss was a roiling stew of stomach-turning viscera with gore soaked infected clawing and fighting over the putrid remains. Some few were trying to crawl up the sides only to slide back down as their tenuous purchase gave way and they found themselves with nothing solid to hold on to.
Martin vomited loudly and violently while Kim looked at him with contempt. Her expression said she was more disgusted with him than the spectacle in the pit. The sound attracted the attention of several of the infected and they began making their way toward the observers.
“Whenever you’re done there,” Tom said, not unkindly, “we should get moving again.”
Martin nodded, wiped his mouth and straightened up, then stared in horror as he saw the infected were behind them, already moving past the vehicles. The others spotted them about the same time. Weapons were drawn, shots fired, blades slashed through flesh and bone and the noise attracted even more infected. The small group moved off to the right, away from the thickest concentration of infected but also away from the vehicles. There was no time to stop and make a stand; the infected were approaching from three directions and they had to keep moving to avoid being surrounded and overwhelmed. The trucks were several hundred feet away to the left now, the pit behind them and a throng of infected moving in from straight ahead. Martin spun around with the intention of making a mad dash for safety in the one direction left open, but it was too late; the circle was closing around them.
Kim screamed in fury and rage, the sound jarring to the ear. She clasped her Bowie knife in her left hand, a machete in the right and waded into the mass. Martin had no doubt they were all going to die and the perception had a strangely calming effect on him. He raised the aluminum baseball bat he carried and moved up beside Kim, swinging in great arcs, knocking infected aside to the left and right. The others fell in line behind them and plowed through their attackers like a wedge, separating them and passing through. They reached the trucks in a few minutes and Alan and Carolyn got into one vehicle while Martin, Tom and Kim fought to the last moment before climbing into the other.
They drove away from the carnage as quickly as they could manage given the condition of the roads and were about a mile away when Martin urgently told Tom to stop. As soon as they pulled over, Martin fairly leapt from the vehicle and vomited again by the side of the road. Once the heaving tapered off, he looked up to see Kim staring at him curiously. Her hair was matted to her head with sweat and blood, her face, her arms, the whole front of her body spattered with gore. There was no indication of friendliness in her gaze, but neither was the bitter contempt obvious anymore. She held his eyes for a moment longer, then turned back to the truck.
“I think there’s a stream a little further ahead,” Alan was the first to speak. “I think we could all stand to rinse a little of this off.”
Martin made it a point to get into the other truck and they drove a short distance until they came to a bridge spanning a small stream. They got out and began to splash water over their faces and arms, turning the slowly flowing water dark red. Kim was still rinsing her hair when a voice called out for them to stand easy and keep their hands away from their weapons.
A rifle barrel was plainly visible by the thick trunk of a willow tree only yards away. A second appeared over the railing at the far end of the bridge and the sound of a hammer being cocked drew their attention to a double-barreled shotgun pointed at them over the hood of one of their trucks. The first rifleman stepped into the open, weapon still pointed in a calmly competent manner.
“We heard the gunfire,” the man stated, looking at each one of them in turn. “From the way you looked getting out of those trucks, I’d say it was infected rather than bandits. Anyone hurt?”
“None of us,” Tom answered. “What do you want from us?”
“I’m not sure yet. We didn’t expect to run into anyone, we were just checking on the pit there up the road.”
“You dumped the bodies there?”
“A few days ago. It was already attracting infected when we left. I guess it still is.”
“Whose bodies did you dump?” Kim wanted to know.
“We didn’t murder anyone, if that’s what you’re asking. Infected found our home and we took care of business. Now, suppose you tell me what you’re doing here.”
“Recon,” Tom answered. “We’ve been looking for other survivors.”
“Is that so? What did you plan to do if you found any?”
Tom looked back at Carolyn before replying.
“We have a safe house. We’re part of a larger community. The more people we can get to band together, the safer we’ll all be and the sooner we can really start to rebuild.”
“That sounds good. Not saying I’m taking you at face value, though. Tell you what; put all your weapons on the ground and you can follow us back to our place where we can discuss it.”
Kim’s eyes flashed in anger, but she saw that the rifle was pointed directly at her chest.
“How about you go first,” the man told her. “You may be small, but I’m guessing you’re the most dangerous. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I don’t like taking chances either. Don’t make me pull the trigger.”
Fuming in irritation and frustration, Kim set both of her pistols on the ground, then her machete and Bowie knife. One by one, the others followed suit and were directed to step back while the second rifleman collected the weapons and the one armed with the shotgun checked the trucks, taking Kim’s bow and several rifles.
“You people were armed to the teeth,” Ethan acknowledged appreciatively. “Bailey, you and Karen take the car and these good people will follow you while I bring up the rear in the truck. Look, folks, if we meant you any harm, you’d already be dead on the ground and we’d be heading back with your weapons and supplies. Just don’t do anything stupid and we’ll iron this all out once we get back to our place.”
Half an hour of driving brought them back to the house Ethan’s group called home. Eric was already on the porch with a rifle and Lauren was waiting inside with a shotgun. Bailey and Karen stepped out of the car and waved, then turned to cover the party from Jake’s farm as they exited. Everyone gathered around the front porch and eyed each other cautiously.
“My name’s Ethan Tyler. This is Karen Monroe, Eric and Lauren Novak and the man with the shotgun is Bailey. I don’t think you need to point that at them anymore, by the way. From that angle, you’d probably take me out, too and maybe Eric.”
Bailey gave a sheepish grin and lowered his weapon, carefully uncocking both hammers. Kim noticed this, but also noticed Ethan’s rifle never wavered from pointing straight at her.
“Yeah, as I said, I judge you to be the most dangerous. Let’s start with you then. What’s your name?”
“I am Kim Nguyen,” she answered through clenched teeth.
“Relax, Kim. It’s no part of my plan to harm any of you. You look to be the leader,” he told Tom, “why don’t you continue with the intros?”
“I’m Tom Carroll, with Carolyn Henson, Alan Cruz and Martin Reed.”
“All right, Tom. You said you were part of a larger group and you were out looking for other survivors. How’s your luck been?”
“Actually, it’s not been terrible. We picked up Kim and a few others last winter, Bernie a couple of months ago and Alan and Martin in the last few weeks.”
“So, you’re one of the original members of this group?”
“No, I’m not, but Carolyn is. They took me in along with my wife and daughter last summer.”
“And you’ve all stayed together this whole time, from the beginning,” asked Eric.
“From the beginning,” Carolyn responded. “We’re all family.”
“Hey, you look familiar,” Eric said. “Your voice sounds familiar, too.”
Carolyn closed her eyes and sighed.
“You’ll have a happy household with a Happy Harry’s hot tub,” she sang, unenthusiastically.
“Yeah, that�
��s who you are! My uncle bought one after seeing you in that biki-, I mean, seeing that commercial.”
“Well, we have a celebrity among us,” smiled Ethan. “Listen, if we invite you in to wash up and take dinner with us,” he said to Tom while keeping an eye on Kim, “can I count on her not cutting our throats the minute our backs are turned?”
“Kim, will you give me your promise to play nice,” Tom asked.
Kim set her jaw and tightened her lips, but she nodded. Eric and Lauren led the newcomers around the back of the house where they could use the pump, a washtub and some soap and towels.
“No one’s ever taken her weapons away from her since she joined up with us,” Carolyn told Ethan. “I’m afraid you’re on her shit list for the foreseeable future.”
“I’ve been in the shit before; that doesn’t bother me. A knife across my throat is another matter.”
“She gave her word; she’ll keep it. You didn’t have any problem at all singling her out, did you?”
“I’m a quick study,” he shrugged. “The look in her eyes, the way she moves, the way that big knife was strapped to her thigh in just the perfect position; it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. I’m guessing she prefers the blade over the gun and I’d bet that was her bow in the truck.”
“Say, you are good.”
Over a quick dinner, each faction recapped their experiences since the infection and gave a brief description of their lives before it. Tom was particularly impressed that Ethan served overseas and had quite a bit of combat experience, though for his part, Ethan downplayed it as much as possible.
“This place where you all live, are there a lot of people?” wondered Lauren.
“At last count, there were over eighty of us,” Carolyn told her.
“Eighty people!” Eric was stunned. “I didn’t think I’d ever see that many people in one place again in my lifetime! Where do you put them all?”
“We have a secure compound,” Tom said cautiously.
“They don’t want to give us too many particulars until they know us better,” Ethan commented. “That’s a smart move. If I had to guess, I’d say you’re all up at the old Hollington Country Club.”
Carolyn stared at him.
“It has solid walls, enough buildings, plenty of land. You’ve probably plowed up and planted part of the golf course so you’d have plenty of food. As I remember, the water table was pretty high there, lots of artesian wells so you’d have plenty of drinking water. Don’t look so shocked. When I was a kid, I spent several summers at my aunt and uncle’s place near there, the Wilson farm off Wolf’s Run Road. I did a lot of caddying at Hollington.”
“What are the chances,” Tom marveled. “If you knew about this place why didn’t you go there before?”
“We found a secure place here and I didn’t want to take a chance on chasing after something that might not even be there anymore. Besides, Hollington is just too big for the few of us to defend. It was on my list of places to investigate, but other concerns were more immediate. How’s the old farm holding up?”
“Why don’t you come up and see for yourself,” Carolyn invited. Tom looked at her and she added, “He obviously knows about the place and about the area. There are only five of them here; I don’t think they’d constitute a grave threat if they came to visit.”
“I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” Ethan replied. “I’ll follow you in one of our four-by-fours. One of you can ride with me and fill me in on more of the details, if that’s all right.”
“I’ll ride with you,” Kim volunteered, her voice deceptively soft and smooth.
“I’ll ride with him,” Carolyn countered, at which Ethan appeared visibly relieved.
“Afraid of a little girl?” Kim asked sweetly.
Ethan didn’t rise to the bait; instead, he finished his cup of coffee and carried his plate to the sink.
“It’d be dark before we’re hallway there,” he said. “We can get a fresh start in the morning. I’m sure we can find places for all of you to bed down tonight.”
“Well, I sure wasn’t looking forward to driving back in the dark,” Alan said.
“How many women are there?” Lauren asked.
“I think there are somewhere around thirty-eight, maybe forty,” answered Carolyn. “You’d have a lot of other women to talk to, most of them at least a few years older, but some your age or younger.”
“It sounds like a wonderful place! Ethan, can I go along with you?”
“Let me check it out first, Lauren. If everything’s as nice as it sounds, I’ll come back for the rest of you.”
“It’s not a Paradise, let’s get that straight right now,” Tom spoke up. “We’ve had serious trouble with an outlaw gang and lost several people in a gunfight with them, the infected still make occasional appearances and there’s more than enough work to keep everyone busy, but we have food, water and shelter. We have a chance to start over, to take the first small steps toward rebuilding civilization.”
“That’s what we’ve been looking for the whole time,” Ethan said, “a chance to start over.”
They sat around the table talking until after dark when they all decided to turn in so they could get an early start in the morning. Ethan stopped Kim as she was heading for her assigned sleeping quarters with Carolyn.
“Peace offering?” he said, handing over her sheathed Bowie knife.
Kim silently accepted the knife and Ethan turned to leave the room. As he stepped into the doorway, a small throwing dagger buried itself with a loud thump two inches into the doorframe to his left at head height. He turned back to see Kim smiling pleasantly.
“Sweet dreams,” she told him.
Chapter 25: More Bandits
“I’m not sure I like the idea of you riding alone with Carolyn,” Karen told Ethan as they prepared to move out.
“Hey, it’s better than riding with Kim. At least I’m more likely to get there alive.”
“Well, just keep thinking of me, then.”
“You’re all I ever think about,” he said. Karen punched him in the arm and made a sarcastic comment.
Before they climbed into their vehicles, all their weapons were returned to the party from the farmhouse. Tom and Kim led in the first truck, followed by Alan and Martin in the second with Ethan and Carolyn bringing up the rear. Ethan had marked out a route on a roadmap that made a wide pass of the strip mine pit and the drive was relatively quiet. He got a chance to talk quite a lot with Carolyn who filled in many of the details about the dynamics between Hollington and Jake’s group and the compromise they hoped to be able to work out as well as a brief rundown of the members of her group. Ethan had misgivings about stepping into the middle of an ongoing dispute, but the more he heard about Jake and the other members of the group, the more he liked the idea of linking up with them.
About half an hour away from the farmhouse, Tom stopped the lead vehicle when he spotted Jake’s Hummer and another truck approaching from ahead. He got out and waved and Jake and Vickie exited the Hummer to greet him while Pete and Kate stayed near the truck covering them.
“Is everything okay, Tom?” Jake wanted to know.
“Everything’s fine. We ran into some other survivors and stayed the night with them. This is Ethan Tyler, ex-military, two combat deployments.”
“Good to meet you, Ethan,” Jake shook the other man’s hand.
Pete and Kate approached at a signal from Jake and introductions were made all around.
“We started to worry when you didn’t come home,” Pete told Carolyn. “We would have come looking for you last night, but we’ve had some problems.”
It was then that Carolyn noticed the bandage around Vickie’s right arm and the last two fingers of Kate’s left hand.
“Oh, my God! Bandits?” Carolyn cried out.
“They hit us not two hours after you left yesterday,” Pete explained. “It was just a hit and run raid, like they were testing our defenses, but they kept sn
iping at us most of the afternoon until we made a sweep of the area with Hollington’s help. We killed three outright and captured another two who later died of wounds. That seemed like it was enough to discourage the rest. It was getting too dark by then to go looking for you and a small herd of infected showed up as we headed out this morning and it was only about an hour and a half ago that we finished dealing with them.”
“We got hit a few days ago,” Ethan added. “We hauled forty three bodies to a strip mine pit. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake, but it was too many for the five of us to bury.”
“Were there any alphas among them?” Jake asked.
“Alphas? What, you mean like leaders? Are you serious?”
“It’s hard to believe you haven’t run into any of them. All of us have seen alphas lead an attack at some time. One of our guys insists that some of them have learned to use rifles, though none of the rest of us has seen that.”
“That’s just insane! No, we haven’t seen any sign of real intelligence among them, just a sort of herd mentality; when one of them attacks, it seems like all the rest attack at the same time.”
“You’ve been lucky then. A coordinated attack by a large herd of infected is a pretty frightening thing,” Pete told him.
“Things just keep getting better and better. Look, how about we head to your compound now? The quicker we can make arrangements to get the rest of my people there, the better.”
The farmhouse residents were overjoyed at the return of their missing members and, upon Carolyn and Tom’s recommendation, all agreed that they should open their doors to Ethan’s party. They were back on the road inside of an hour with the Transit van, one of the big Army trucks and, with Ethan’s truck in the lead, arrived at the house late that evening. Jake, Vickie, Carolyn and Pete made up the party that accompanied Ethan and they spent the next hour or so getting acquainted before retiring. Early the next morning they began loading up everything of any value into the vehicles for the trip back and were on the road again before noon.
The Complete Lethal Infection Trilogy Page 67
