Earths Survivors The Zombie Killers: Origins

by Dell Sweet

  ~

  “So, look.” Billy jabbed his finger at the map and Beth leaned across and looked at the map. “Teddy Roosevelt Lake... Tonto National forest... Connected to Gila National forest... Cibola National forest. Pretty isolated.”

  Beth turned her eyes back to the desert. There was little to see, but twice she had hit bushes that popped up out of what seemed like nowhere. They had passed under the truck, but there were cactus out here too in places, and she was pretty sure a cactus wouldn't just pass under the truck.

  “So... Why there?” Beth asked.

  “Just a place to get our shit together: Breath for a few moments, really look the map over and pick a destination.”

  “Isn't that taking us closer to Yellowstone, or whatever is causing the problems to the north?” Beth asked.

  “It is... But,” Billy checked the scale and did some quick measurements. “Still close to a thousand miles away from there.” He looked up. “I think it is Yellowstone. I heard something just before the shit hit the fan, something about the park in Yellowstone.”

  “What was it?” Beth asked.

  “I don't know,” Billy answered. He shrugged. “I wasn't paying attention... Wish I had been... Something like everyone in the park went off line... Like they couldn't reach any of the stations, rangers, whatever you call them... Something like that. And seismic activity, like an earthquake centered there.” He shrugged once more and shook his head.

  “So it's a good place to stay away from,” Beth said.

  “Yeah... I would say so, but we'll be a thousand miles away.” Billy shrugged once more.

  “So?”

  “So, head north... We'll have to cross a few highways... Just keep out from the cities... I mean Phoenix turns to suburbs that spread out a long way, at least that's what the map looks like. Like it just kept spreading and so they just kept adding names.”

  Off to their left the city was easy to spot. There were fires all through it. In some places huge sections were on fire, in others it was scattered fires. There were no areas that didn't seem to be affected, and with the fires it was easy to track the edge of the cities as they drove.

  Beth laughed. “So they just added names. Well, couldn't the same be said about New York? About any large city as it grows? Isn't that the way it works?”

  “I guess... I hadn't thought it out, I guess.”