Deadrise (34 page)

"I don’t see any blood." Mac said as they scanned the area.

"I know I hit that bastard in the chest." Jenkins snarled. He stood at the waters edge, bathed in warm sunlight.

"Well it's gone now..."

"What the hell would a naked, unarmed superzombie be doing up here by itself?" Jenkins asked aloud. He stood over by the side of the house, smoking a cigarette and keeping an eye on the water while Mac and David rummaged around inside, looking for supplies.

"I know what you’re thinking." Matt said. "But is it possible?"

Jenkins shook his head in disbelief. "Thirty miles of hard forest on foot is a lot of territory to cover in less than twenty four hours. He would have needed to keep moving all night."

"He knew we were coming here. We've both been here before, several times."

Could it really have been Zack? They had feared he might continue on to Rainbow Lake should he elude the Park City Militia, and Matt figured they would deal with that bridge when they crossed it. He just hadn’t expected to cross it so soon. "That could also explain why it didn’t attack."

"Either way, this cabin won’t suffice. As soon as Mac and David finish up in there we’re going to scout another house."

"As soon as we get settled I’m coming back to bury Adam and Kelly."

"Whatever makes you feel better..." Jenkins said flatly. He finished his cigarette and tossed the butt into the water.

Mac and David exited the house, David with a box in his arms and Mac with two AR-15’s slung over his shoulder.

"Only a few canned goods." Mac said. "But we did find two more AR-15’s and two 9mm’s."

"We all bought the assault rifles together; Zack, Adam, Kelly and I, just a few days before they banned them." Matt said sadly.

"Let’s get back to the chopper." Jenkins said.

Once airborne Jenkins did a slow circle of the lakes perimeter but made sure to keep away from the estate occupied by the white robed militants. They counted eighteen homes ranging in size from small cabins like the ones they just left to giant, three story mansions. It was one such mansion in the northwest corner of the lake that caught their attention. It was situated back in a deepwater cove not visible from the center of the lake. Jenkins passed the chopper overhead slowly as they checked it out.

The private beach was over one hundred feet long with a doublewide, two-story, glass roof boathouse built out over the water. The back lawn was immense, half the size of a football field and grown wild without care. A large brown barn was halfway back on the northern edge of the lawn with the tree line of the forest just behind it. A covered, Olympic sized pool and a small brick pool house were connected to the back of the house by a large cement deck that also sported a covered Jacuzzi. As for the house itself, it was enormous, standing three stories tall with several balconies visible on the second and third floors. Large solar panels covered one section of the roof, with more built into the ground on the north end of the house. There was a set of sliding glass doors near the pool and a cement stairwell leading down into the basement at the north end of the deck.

Jenkins circled the chopper around the front of the house. There was a large fountain with a wooden carving of rearing dolphins in the center of the large circular drive, which could easily park ten vehicles. A triple door garage was set into the south end of the house, all three doors closed. Several wooden steps led to the railed front porch, which ran half the length of the house. A set of double doors and two large pane windows marked the main entrance.

"What do you think?" Jenkins asked as he circled the chopper back around to the rear of the house, climbing another one hundred feet. "It’s at least a mile to the neighboring house with nothing but dense forest between."

"It’s worth checking out." Matt said. Without another word Jenkins set the chopper down on the back lawn near the cement deck…

They moved methodically through the mansion, opening every cupboard and closet. On the way they found and killed four zombies, most likely the residents. The rooms and halls were wide and spacious, decorated in earthly tone with plenty of oak wood paneling and hard wood floors and contemporary furniture, which added to the overall sense of luxury that permeated the house. Aside from numerous bedrooms the mansion also had six bathrooms, a private study, a conference room, two living rooms (one on the main level the other in the basement), a craft room, a large kitchen and larger dining room with a beautiful chandelier, a workout room with weights, a treadmill, hot tub and sauna and to top it all off a theater room with fifty comfortable seats. The house was spotlessly clean. All of the bedrooms were made up save for the master bedroom. It was splattered with the dried remnants of blood and strewn across the bed was the headless, skeletal remains of a human being, picked clean of flesh from the waist down.

They entered the garage through a back stairwell built off the dining room. Inside they found a Cadillac SUV, a Cadillac convertible, and a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Several mountain bikes were suspended from hooks in the rafters. A door at the back of the garage led to a large room equipped with a workbench and vise, several power tools and a toolbox set that would make any mechanic jealous. A small window looked out onto the back deck and pool while a small door beside it gave access...

"It's perfect! More than enough space for us all." Matt exclaimed into the radio. He was standing out on the back deck near the pool. Jenkins had gone back into the house and Mac and David went to check out the barn and boathouse.

"I can see the shuttle bus now." Rick came back over the radio. "We should be ready to roll in about an hour. All we need is you to say it’s secure."

"It’s secure enough. Get your ass up here." Matt said with a laugh and put the radio away. Mac and David were approaching from the barn. He looked over his shoulder and saw Jenkins exit the house through the sliding glass doors.

Mac's eyes were wide with plunder lust. "There's a large ski boat, two jet-skis, and a canoe in the boathouse as well as a one hundred gallon drum of fuel, almost full. The top floor of the boathouse is a billiard room and bar, with a bedroom in the loft."

"What about the barn?" Jenkins asked.

"A pair of big motocross bikes, lawn and gardening tools, a big John Deere mower and some empty stables."

"The power is on in the house. I checked the solar generator and everything is in the green. I also started the water pump." He looked at Matt. "How long until they’re ready to roll?"

"Rick said about an hour."

"I’ll be at the tariff station by then. You three stay here. I don’t need any help flying the chopper, and if our neighbors get nosy, or anybody besides us shows up, three of you could discourage them much better than one of you." Jenkins walked toward the chopper.

"David, I want you up on that third floor balcony, front and back." Mac said. "You see any thing, you let us know." For a moment David looked as if he might challenge the orders, but he turned and ran into the house without a word.

Jenkins climbed into the pilot seat of the chopper and buckled himself in. Within a few seconds the blades began turning and Jenkins fit the headset radio onto his head.

"It’s just past 11:00, with any luck we should be back for a late lunch."

"That should give us plenty of time to drag those deadfucks out and burn them." Mac answered him on his radio. Jenkins gave a small salute and lifted the chopper into the air, over the house and out of sight…

Chapter 36

Monday, June 25, 2001

Rainbow Lake, UT

11:14 AM

Jenkins got clearing from the Park City Air Control to set down in the tariff station parking lot. He quickly shut the bird down and went inside the main station where he spotted Rick and Susan standing with the dock supervisor near a large floor scale.

"I’ve got something to tell you two." He led them away from the scale, out of earshot of the dockworkers. "We think the superzombie we saw was Zack. It didn’t attack us. It just swam away."

"He did know where we were going." Susan said.

"I sure as hell hope my brother didn’t turn into one of those." Rick said with a sad sigh. "If so he’s probably still alive."

"And under the knife of that butcher doctor."

"That’s that!" the dock supervisor exclaimed as he approached, cutting into their conversation. "You're making a quick turnaround." He said to Jenkins. They had bantered awhile yesterday while the freight had been inventoried. "Where are you headed?"

"Not too far." Jenkins said with a smile. "But don’t worry. We’ll be back."

"I’ll be in the rig." Rick said, exiting the dock out a side door.

Susan walked across the dock to where the bus was parked and got in. Her mother and ricks family were all aboard, ready to go. "Next stop, Rainbow Lake…"

The drive up was uneventful. The rig took point in the convoy of two and they made good time. Jenkins told them over the radio about the zombie infestation in the towns of Wanship, Coalville and Upton
,
but they stayed on the highway and only a few zombies that had managed to wander up the exit ramps blocked their way and these were easily crushed underneath the wheels of the rig.

"I wonder if there are any survivors holed up in those towns?" Rick inquired over the radio.

"I doubt it." Jenkins responded. "But I guarantee there’s some good salvage to be had; food, fuel, medicine, tools, lumber, spare parts for the vehicles…

As they came into the farm territory of Kittewa, Susan spotted several cows far out into a pasture and in another she saw a pair of horses. She wondered if the plague affected animals as it did humans? And if so, would they crave the flesh of their own species upon awakening from the dead? Those were questions for another time.

They took the exit for Kittewa
,
heading east towards the town, more farmland and pastures spread out to either side. To Jenkins in the helicopter above the two vehicles below looked like toys. As he passed over town he noticed there were several more zombies on the street than there had been this morning. Had their passing stirred them out from cover? He saw the rig mow a pair of deadfucks underneath its big wheels and send another three flying away like bowling pins as they passed through downtown Kittewa. Then they were through the town and Jenkins had to climb steeply while the two vehicles wound their way up the canyon road. They turned on the lake drive and Jenkins directed them by radio to the proper driveway. As they pulled into the circular drive with the wooden dolphin fountain in the center, Jenkins saw David waving at them from the third floor balcony.

Susan brought the bus to a stop and exited. Matt and Mac had come out front to greet them. She ran up to her husband and embraced him, kissing his face and head.

"We made it, we finally made it." Matt said into her neck, hugging her back even tighter. He looked around to see everyone had exited the bus and were congratulating one another. And in each of their eyes Matt saw hope. Hope of safety. Hope of a better tomorrow. He looked into his wife's eyes and he saw the same thing, burning brightly.

"I’m sorry about your friends." Susan said softly.

"At least now they are truly dead." He hugged her close once again, the pain of the losses they had suffered and his joy at being alive overcame him simultaneously. They had paid an overwhelming cost to finally reach this place and they had all lost loved ones in the struggle to survive. But now they were here…Alive. "But we are going to survive..."

Chapter 37

Monday, June 25, 2001

Rainbow Lake, UT

1:07 PM

They had just finished eating a meal of canned ravioli cooked on the spacious stove inside the kitchen when the word came over the radio that Park City was under attack by the living dead.

Jenkins had tuned his hand held radio through the military frequencies he had purchased from the Colonel who had sold him the chopper while lunch had been cooking. The kitchen had been fully stocked with dishes and appliances and within minutes they were all eating a nice hot lunch. Now it was churning in all of their stomachs.

They all listened intently to the military cross talk and with Jenkins and Mac there to decipher some military combat jargon they were able to piece it together. The attack began from the northeast just a few minutes ago when the Apache gunship out on patrol was shot from the sky with an RPG or missile. The remaining five Apache Gun ships of Park City were being scrambled and the alarm had been sounded throughout the entire city, putting everyone on alert. Now reports were coming in of hundreds, possibly thousands of zombies pouring out of the forest from the northeast. Then came the report of zombies in armor and armed with heavy weapons firing back at the city militia.

"Superzombies." Matt said. He had suspected as much when he heard of the Apache being shot down but now it was confirmed.

"Park City is well defended." Jenkins said. "If they keep their heads they’ll be ok. Nevertheless, I think I should radio them. Tell them what we know about superzombies."

"We told them yesterday in our debriefing." Matt said.

"I don't trust that asshead Captain to have gotten the news to the frontline troops yet."