Snareville (20 page)

“
Danny?” she whispered, her lids struggling open.

“
It’s me, Pepper.”

“
Danny!” She wrapped him in a bear hug. “You’re okay.”

“
Are you?”

She sniffled a little
yes
into his shoulder. He gently pressed her into the cot and covered her back up with the blanket. He eyed the bandage over the bite on her neck. For a few long minutes, they said nothing. He simply held her hand in his.

“
Doc says I’ll be okay, but I’ll be in quarantine for a week. Everybody else, too.”

“
Dog here?”

For a moment, she didn't answer. Her eyes welled with tears. “He didn’t make it, Danny.”

The tears burned. Danny swallowed hard. Dog was a good man. They’d known each other five years now. One of the first guys he met back when he moved to Snareville.

“
How many others?" he asked. "Do you know?”

Pepper shook her head. “No.”

She paused, unable to meet his eyes. Finally, she looked up as emotions chased across her face.

“
Danny, I lost the baby.”

“
What?” His guts twisted into a knot.

“
Doc Leary said it was the shock.”

Danny wrapped his arms around her as she began to cry. He stroked her head, rocking her back and forth.

“
It’s my fault!” Pepper sobbed. “It’s my fault, Danny!”

“
Shh," he managed. "It’s not your fault, Baby. You lay down and get some rest. Heather’s here. She’ll watch over you. I’ll be back.”

Pepper sniffled miserably as she eased back onto the cot. Danny tucked the blankets up around her chin. With a single backward glance, he strode from the room. As he stepped through the door, he drew his pistol from its holster.

Leary worked on Star’s leg in earnest now. The bitch just lay there, drugged out but conscious, as the nurses washed her leg and prepped her for surgery.

Danny didn’t see Tom anywhere as he shoved his way past the doctor. He cocked the gun, brought the muzzle to Star's eye, and squeezed the trigger.

The hammer fell on the web of Tom’s hand. Danny looked up.

“
Let go of my gun.”

“
Are you fuckin’ nuts? Get away from her.”

“
Let go of my gun.”

Tom grabbed his brother by the wrist. By now, the surgical staff stood back, screaming at them both. Tom dragged Danny away from the table and jerked the pistol free.

“
Have you lost your
mind
?”

“
Dog’s dead," Danny hissed. "Pepper lost the baby. All because that
bitch
and her boy led all those Zeds up here.”

“
Dan… I’m sorry. I know how you feel.”

“
How do you know?" Danny cried. "
You’ve
never lost a baby!”

Danny felt his brother’s grip tighten on his wrist and realized his error.

“
Tom, I’m sorry. I… I forgot about Savannah. I didn’t mean it.”

Tom didn’t relax his grip. He pulled his brother closer as Danny tried to yank away.

“
Both of your wives and your babies are alive," Tom snarled. "Get out of my sight before I shoot you. That’s an order.”

Danny stumbled back a step. Lost for words, he turned and left the building. Outside, he gathered his crew in a daze. Together, they helped the work crews load the dead into the trucks. The creek was still plugged. Water flowed down the street into the storm drains. They’d have to start the generator out at the treatment plant to help clean up the mess. It was midnight before Danny showered and fell into bed next to Jenny.

At ten the next morning, he met with Kenny, Tom, and the other commanders for an after-action report. Twenty people from town and from Tom's unit had been quarantined. Ten people from Snareville would be buried by nightfall, as would a squad of five soldiers who'd been cut off and overwhelmed as they tried to ward off the Zeds from the firehouse. It was the Raiders' biggest loss to date.

After the meeting, Danny walked quietly to the school. Jenny held his hand as the sidewalk unrolled under their feet. Tom trotted up beside them.

“
You okay, Danny?” he asked.

“
Lost a lot of good people yesterday, bro.”

“
Yeah. We both did.”

“
Hard to take. I knew every one of them. Hell… some of them were buddies long before this started. One of the gals was an old girlfriend.”

“
I know. We all know everyone in this fight. I knew those troops I lost. I’ve served with them for at least four years. They were
my
men.”

“
How do we keep doing this?” Jenny whispered, her eyes stuck to the sidewalk.

“
Like all troops do. We do it until we can’t.” Tom sighed. “You people stood down a swarm of twenty thousand Zeds yesterday. That’s no small accomplishment.”

“
Without your equipment, it would have turned out a lot differently.”

“
I know, but that’s just it. We’re getting more organized. We’re getting better. We’re able to stand these things down in a fight. Small towns like this are perfect for defense. It’s the huge urban centers like Chicago that are a problem.”

Together, the three continued on to the school. Danny kicked a stone ahead of him for a few steps.

“
I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I know you haven’t found Kathy or Savannah yet.”

For ten paces, Tom said nothing. When he spoke, tears clogged his voice.

“
I found Vannah this spring when I was out on patrol. She was with a pack of kid Zeds. They were eating a dog down in Rock Island. She’s at peace now.”

Danny's breath stopped. He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Damn, Tom. I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

“
Don’t worry about it. I’ll live.” Tom drew a deep breath and steadied himself. “Just stay clear of Star. She told me yesterday that your meetings this past winter with her and the other Savages didn’t go well. She’s more valuable to us alive than she is as a corpse. Just leave her alone, okay?”

They walked across the old schoolyard. Six horses raised their heads to watch them from the soccer field. Deciding these people weren’t a threat, the animals went back to grazing.

“
Yeah, okay. She’s all yours.” Danny pulled open the door, and the three of them stepped inside.

Pepper rested in the old history classroom, third door on the left. Star slept in the biology room halfway down the hall to the right. That way, if the bitch did make her way out of bed, she faced an equal distance to run past the guards on either end.

Danny and Jenny turned left; Tom turned right. They went their separate ways for a time.

A week later, Danny worked a mound of earth growing around the south side of town. Buckets of dirt were passed up from the bottom of the trench to be added to the top. The mound followed the border of town between the homes and the fields of vegetables growing in the old cornfields. He remembered learning long ago about ancient, fortified cities encircled by moats and mounds. As he dumped another five-gallon bucket into place and trod it down flat, he mused over the full circle humanity had turned in history. Out on the north side of town, backhoe tractors did the work. It would soon be his turn in the trench.

The moat would be six feet wide and at least eight feet deep. Only where the road passed through would an opening remain. Wire stretched around the acres of vegetables on both sides of town. On the southwest side, where the hill ran hard against the homes, they'd constructed a palisade wall of downed trees ten feet tall. Peeled and sunk into the ground, the trees were lashed together at the top. No one felt comfortable about removing the wire fences, though, so where the leaders felt the mound was weak, the crew stretched barbed wire tight between posts.

Danny was about to climb into the trench when a young soldier trotted up on the inside of the wall.

“
Captain Death.” The young man saluted. “Your presence is requested at headquarters.”

Danny returned the salute. “What’s going on, Private?”

“
Major One Shot called a meeting. Major Jackson is expected in town within a half hour, sir.”

Danny pulled the watch out of his pocket. Four thirty. He'd known Tom was coming to town, but time got away from him. He handed his shovel to the young man as he climbed down from the mound.

“
Take over for me, Private.”

The young man saluted and jumped into the trench with the shovel. Danny heard its blade bite into the earth as he walked away. He hoofed the two blocks home. The water should be running now. They finally had a system in place. For two hours a day, generators would fire at the water treatment building. Every house would have water pressure for that time to run laundry or a bath.

He peeled off his clothes as he mounted the front steps. By the time he hit the bathroom, he was undressed. A quick twist of the knob, and he stepped into a hot shower.

“
You’re home early, baby,” Pepper remarked as she stuck her head inside the shower curtain. “If you’re here for some afternoon delight, you’ll have to wait. Mikey wants to be fed.”

Danny grinned. It was good to have her home. “No. I’ve been summoned. Kenny called a meeting, so I’m on the run. Jen around? She should go.”

“
In the garden. I’ll tell her.”

Danny watched her leave the room, his son on her hip. Moments later, as he rinsed his hair, Jenny stepped into the shower with him.

“
You should have called me sooner. We wouldn’t have wasted the water for two showers.”

Danny kissed her lips, wet from the spray. “Didn’t know where you were. We got a meeting with Kenny.”

Ten minutes later, they walked out the door in clean uniforms. Jenny’s long hair, pulled back in a soggy ponytail, swayed with the rhythm of her steps. As they entered Kenny’s office, the other commanders followed. Danny nodded a greeting to his brother. Soon, everyone had gathered. Kenny turned the floor over to Tom.

“
Yesterday, at zero six hundred, Marines and Navel personnel left the Great Lakes Training Center," the Major began. "They made it to Northwestern Illinois University at twenty-three thirty last night. It’s chaos up there. They confirm what we've heard from the people in Chicago and what Star has told us of Peoria. The Zeds are more vicious and aggressive since the spring thaw.”

“
Doesn’t help that those assholes in Peoria didn’t burn them when they had the chance,” Danny grumbled. “They'd rather kill each other than work together to kill the Zeds."

“
Happens a lot in the bigger urban areas, Captain Death. People aren’t used to working together.” Tom paused. “But that isn’t our concern today. Our concern is the last thousand refugees from the Chicago area. The troops will escort them from Northwestern to our depot in Glen Ellyn. We’ll load people and equipment onto the train there and come back to Princeton. We leave tomorrow at zero six thirty. Any questions?”

“
The rails are clear between here and there,” Kenny said, “There should be no delays. It’ll be a straight shot there and back. Danny, you’re in charge of our people involved. Pick a squad from each platoon. That’ll give you a heavy crew to assist. Major Jackson has one hundred troops waiting in Princeton to depart in the morning. There will be three hundred Marines and Navy personnel escorting the refugees. They’ll join you when you leave.”

“
If we’re loadin’ their equipment on flatcars, are we gonna have time to cover
and
load?” Danny asked. “If the deaders are as aggressive as you say, it’s going to be hard to shoot and load the train at the same time.”

“
That’s why we’re taking as many people as I can spare,” Tom said. “The troops from the Navy base will help out, too. I don’t know how many shooters there are among the civilian population. We’ll have to take that as it comes.”

Grumbling rose among the commanders. It was a risky mission. Still, they needed the people and the research from the CDC. So far, refugees had settled in small towns along the Illinois, Rock, and Mississippi Rivers. The last batch would move into the towns along the railroad tracks. Towns that now sat empty like Princeton, Wyanet, and Sheffield would house small populations trying to rebuild their lives. Snareville would take in the people from the CDC. Remote and protected, it was the best place for them to continue their work.

The meeting broke up. Danny went with Jenny to notify his platoons. First, he would take Jenny, Bill, and Sandy from his house. He’d add Jinks and Hunter from Dog’s old squad. He would also take Catfish’s squad. Two other groups joined the mix, and all the troops began preparations. Guns were cleaned. Magazines were topped off. Extra ammo was tucked into ditty bags. Water and MREs were packed up for the trip. Buckles were taped up. Boot laces were checked. No one knew what contingencies they might face on this rescue trip, and few of them had been into Chicago on trade missions.

“
I want to go,” Pepper mumbled against Danny’s shoulder as they lay in bed that night. Moonlight lent the room a low, silver illumination. “I don’t want to stay here. I’ll worry about both of you.”