Roads Less Traveled (28 page)

Chapter Sixteen

October 14
^th

“No,” Ben said as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, shaving. Kyra sat on the edge of the bathtub, putting on her best ‘I’m-helpless’ look and arguing her point. Everyone had kept their heads down for the past day and a half after the ruckus in town. Unbelievably, their siege on the zombie horde hadn’t drawn any more undead attention. Kasey had announced just last night that she and Jake would be traveling into Gibson this morning, and the rest of them would be staying at the house. Kyra was all for this idea and had actually been working on Ben since killing the swarm.

“Please, Ben. I don’t feel safe here. You know Kasey has it out for me. And this would be the best time to leave, while she’s gone and can’t talk you into staying,” she said again. So far, Ben hadn’t been buying into it. He was more loyal to Kasey than Kyra had thought, but she was determined to get her way.

Ben paused mid-shave and looked at Kyra in the mirror. He seemed to be considering the idea, leaving with Kyra and striking out to find a survivors’ colony. He sighed, rinsed his razor under the running water, then wiped his face dry with a towel before turning to her.

“Alright, listen. I agree, Kasey doesn’t like you. I know this, and in a way, I understand it. But that’s not a reason to pick up and leave, especially when this isn’t an ordinary situation. Kyra, there are tens of thousands of zombies out there. Just how far do you think we’ll get? This place is safe, for now. If you care about me like you claim, then you’ll wait, stick it out, and see what happens. Maybe we’ll leave after they get back from Gibson. But don’t pressure me about it,” he warned as he watched her carefully.

Kyra sighed, lowered her head, and stared at her hands. After a long moment, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Yes, she was quite the actress.

“If Mia dies, Kasey will kill me. Do you understand that?” she said and abruptly stormed out of the room. Ben threw his hands in the air, called out to her a couple of times, then gave up and leaned against the sink.

“Shit.”

* * *

I was busy loading supplies onto one of the horses when I saw Kyra run off the porch and head towards the woods. I was about to call out to her, tell her not to go out alone, but she stopped at the tree line. She looked upset, stomping around and kicking the dirt, mumbling to herself, but I didn’t concern myself with it. Too many other things to worry about, such as making sure we had everything we might need for the trip, making sure Nancy would have everything she would need while I was gone, and getting Jake on the road. That was a job in and of itself.

“Hey, Boss, ready to go yet?” Speak of the devil.

“Yeah, I’m just loading the last of the supplies. Our horses are saddled and ready, all we need to do is grab a quick bite. I want to go over everything with Nancy one more time, and then we can head out,” I said as I tied the last strap. Jake nodded, then turned and went back to the house.

“C’mon, Gus,” I said to the dog sitting ten feet away from me. “You know, you’re going to have to get over this little fear you have, if you ever plan on traveling with me.” I laughed and patted his head as I walked by, looked over and saw Kyra still pouting by the trees, and headed into the house myself. I could already smell the bacon frying.

“Just in time,” Zack said over his shoulder from the stove as I was shutting the bars across the front door. I smiled, saw Jake getting his gear together at the bottom of the steps, and walked into the kitchen. Nancy was putting together our bacon sandwiches for the road, and Shannon was at her usual spot at the dining room table, still coloring. At least we had found something for the girl to do to pass the time.

“Thanks, Nancy. I really appreciate it,” I said, patting her on the shoulder as I squeezed past her on my way to the coffee pot. She smiled, said no problem, and went about her task.

“Where’s Ben?” I asked. They both shrugged.

“I think he’s upstairs,” Jake said. He had finished piling his gear next to mine and was sauntering into the kitchen. I nodded and went upstairs.

“Come in,” Ben answered when I knocked on his bedroom door. I cracked it open and stuck my head inside.

“We’re getting ready to leave,” I said. He was sitting at the window, watching Kyra from what I could tell. When he made no indication of having heard me, I opened the door a little farther and stepped inside.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked. He turned his head slightly, then turned to face the window again. I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He was indeed watching Kyra, who was now sitting at the base of a tree with her knees drawn up, her forehead down, and her arms wrapped around her legs.

“You two have a fight?” I asked. He snorted a chuckle and nodded.

“Yeah, you could say that,” he said. I looked at my watch, felt bad for not having more time to talk with him about it, and patted his shoulder.

“Why don’t you walk me to my horse and tell me what it was about?” I offered. He just shook his head, but stood and turned to face me.

“Nah, it’s nothing important. You’ve got enough to worry about,” he said and smiled faintly. I returned it, suddenly feeling very uneasy, and embraced him tightly.

“You’re not mad because I’m leaving you here, are you?” I asked.

“No. I understand why you are. You need to keep a low profile, and you need Zack and me here to help protect the girls,” he said, his words muffled against my shoulder. I squeezed him one last time, then pushed him away from me, my hands gripped tightly on his shoulders as I stared at him intently.

“You know what to do if there’s trouble. You know where to go. If you need us, or we need you, there’s the radio. Don’t hesitate to use it. You’ll be okay, and I promise not to be gone long. Three or four days, max. Get in, get what we need, get out. I won’t make any side trips,” I said, knowing he was thinking about my family. “I promise I won’t look for them, Ben.” His face firmed, confidence rising within him, and he nodded once.

“Alright,” he said, then took my arm and walked me into the hall. I stopped to check on Mia before heading down; she was sleeping deeply and still running a fever. I kissed her forehead, told her I would see her down the road, then left before I could start crying.

* * *

With Jake in his saddle, and the gang gathered around, I gave out last minute instructions. Actually, it was the same thing I had been saying since the night before, and yes, I have a tendency to beat a dead horse, but I’m a control freak. It comes with the territory.

“We’ll hold down the fort. You just get in and out as quickly and quietly as you can. You and Jake are the best ones for this, so don’t go second-guessing yourself,” Zack said, hugging me tightly before stepping back next to Nancy. I looked around, smiled and nodded to all of them, then climbed in the saddle. I turned Daisy down the driveway and led us out. The pack horse was tied to mine, and Jake was bringing up the rear.

We both had rifles and sidearms, and we were both dressed in my hunting camouflage. Lucky for Jake, he was about my size. We still had electricity, so the night before I had washed our clothes in more of the scent-blocker; this time the laundry detergent, not the spray. It probably wouldn’t make a difference, but it couldn’t hurt either. We would take whatever steps necessary to limit the odds of the deadheads winding us, then sighting us, then following us home. And we all knew Gibson would be loaded with them.

In the back of my mind I also wondered about those prisoners from Cedartown. Nancy had been faithfully monitoring the radio for the last couple of days, when she wasn’t busy tending to Mia or Shannon. There had been occasional chatter from one stranded survivor to another, but nothing regarding the escaped cons. Maybe they had left our area, or maybe they had been killed. I hoped we wouldn’t find out.

“We goin’ cross-country, Boss?” Jake asked as we entered the woods and began down the driveway. I looked around and listened; as usual, the forest was quiet except for the rustling of squirrels and a slight breeze. I once again thought about football season and was struck with sudden sadness and longing. I know, it sounds ridiculous to long for a game, but it was more than that. I longed for normalcy, stagnancy, and the daily grind of everyday life.

“Yeah, we’ll cut through the woods about halfway down the mountain, then head north ‘til nightfall. We’ll cross the main road in a bit, just east of Matias, then we’ll be back in the woods again.” I glanced off to my left as I spoke; Jake had sidled up alongside and was listening quietly as I explained our route. “I don’t think we should travel at night, so we’ll try to make camp somewhere reasonably safe. What do you think?” I asked as we approached the gate. I turned Daisy and led us off the road, around the gate, then back onto the gravel drive.

“I think you’re right, probably shouldn’t be travelin’ at night. Of course, if we have an uneventful first day, we could always continue on. Actually might be safer to keep movin’, know what I mean?” he said, giving me a funny look. I laughed because I knew this was his rational face, and because it was so foreign on him, it made him look like he had been sucking on a lemon.

“Ok, let’s see how it goes.” I finally stopped chuckling as we passed Mr. Crousley’s house. We rode by in silence, studying the empty home and noting the silence that hung over the place. I took a deep breath, heard Jake shift in his saddle, and turned my focus back on the road. Up ahead I could see where we would head into the woods, so I spoke a few words to him letting him know what to expect.

Jake fell back and into line behind the packhorse as I led us through the trees, then eventually, as the terrain grew rougher, across hog-backs and occasionally through low-gaps, which was a subject of great disturbance to Jake. Sure, he was a country boy, but the terrain he was familiar with was different than this, not as sharp and drastic. I just laughed, held on tight, and let my horse take care of the rest. She was bred for this country, all my horses were. I repeatedly reminded my nervous companion of this, but it didn’t comfort him.

Finally, much to Jake’s relief, we reached the main road on the other side of Matias. I reigned in my horse just along the edge of the pavement. There was a foul smell in the air, and I assumed it came from the swarm we had dispatched a couple days ago. That is, until I noticed the direction of the breeze.

“Jake,” I said quietly. He had already brought his horse alongside mine and was looking up and down the road. Our eyes met for a moment, and I knew from the look on his face he was realizing the same thing I was: there were deadheads nearby.

“That stink is comin’ the wrong way to be from Matias,” he said. There was no need to state the obvious, but I was too concerned about our predicament to be a smartass.

“Yeah.” Seeing nothing in either direction, I got Daisy moving again and led us directly across the road, through a meadow, and towards the adjacent tree line. The smell grew stronger, but not overpowering like it had been two days ago when the horde had arrived in Matias. We rode in silence; unhurried, alert, and aware of our surroundings, but definitely not screwing around to smell the roses either. We broke through the tree line and started up the hill, winding our way along the steep incline, at times looking back over our shoulders, until we came upon a rock ledge overlooking the valley below.

“Holy shit,” Jake whispered. I stared in shock and, I’ll admit, fear. At this vantage point we could see the road into Matias very clearly through the treetops, and what we saw chilled our blood. The horses weren’t too keen on it either; they were snorting and pawing at the ground. But otherwise they were quiet and didn’t offer to buck us off and take flight.

“How many, do you think?” I asked him as I pulled the binoculars from my saddle bag. Jake shook his head, rubbed his forehead, then shook his head again before finally answering me.

“Least a hundred. But does it really matter?” he said. Alarm was starting to slip into his voice, something that was uncharacteristic for him. We shared a look, and then returned our gaze to the scene below. There were indeed dozens upon dozens of deadheads down there, but they didn’t seem to be heading in any particular direction. I made a hand gesture to Jake, pointing out the way they were moving. His eyes narrowed and his head tilted slightly to one side, studying them intensely and trying to understand what they were doing.

“I don’t think they’re trackin’ anyone. Look how they’re millin’ around and bumpin’ into one another. They haven’t seen us yet either, and I’m hopin’ that cover job we did a couple days ago worked. Cause if not, they’ll be headed to the house,” he finally said. I was thinking the same thing, and was as alarmed as he was, thinking they might find the house. There were too many for Zack and Ben to fight off, but if we made a move to get back home and warn them, I feared that would attract them quicker than anything.

“Let’s stash the horses, call the house on the radio, and watch them. Pray they keep moving,” I said. Jake considered this only a moment before nodding and slowly backing his horse away and down the bank. I turned mine and followed, the pack horse following close behind, until we reached the flat below. I dismounted and tied off to a tree, then dug through the saddle bag for the walkie. Jake had also tied his horse and was standing next to me when Nancy answered.