Revelations - 02 (31 page)

The house was divided up into three parts. There was the entry. It was a huge room with assorted pictures—some black and white from the very early 1900s showing rugged men with huge saws. Others were aerial shots of the lush forests that were so prevelant in this part of the country. There was a huge counter made of some sort of dark-grained wood. The whole room was made to look as rugged and woody as possible. On one wall was a blown up map of the campgrounds. Beside it was a map of the surrounding area. This was the map we’d used to choose our target for the supply run.

Off to the left of the entry area was what had served as the actual living quarters for the Forestry Department person who worked here. It was a rather nice one-bedroom apartment. The best feature was the generator. We’d have power if need be. The only drawback was the noise. We’d started it once and it had scared us half to death. There was a wonderful wood stove in there as well that was worth more than the generator in my mind.

To the right lay an open kitchen—now useless—and a couple of large storage areas. Both of those turned out to be a good find. There was a decent amount of dry goods like sacks of beans, rice, sugar, and flour. In the other were cases of toilet paper, assumedly for not just the worker, but also the porta-potties located around the grounds.

The beauty of this place is all the open space. So far, everybody has been able to stake out a spot with at least a little bit of privacy. One of the tasks on the list of things we want done soon is partitions. Currently, any sorts of amorous liaisons are achieved by going out into the campground portion of this place. Several of the sites have a picnic table. The couple of times that Melissa and I have slipped away have been interesting, but everybody agrees that it is just a bit dangerous. It would be tragic to lose somebody because they were so engrossed in sex that they didn’t hear the approach of a zombie.

Melissa and I crawled into where our twin sleeping bags lay in a corner of the defunct kitchen. We’d chosen this spot for two reasons. The first was that its windows didn’t catch any direct sunlight since they were all facing north. The second was because, at least up to this point, nobody else chose to sleep in here. Surprisingly, falling asleep proved to be no problem.



“Five days tops.” I squeezed Thalia and Emily close. Neither one seemed inclined to let go any time soon. “You two stick close to Teresa and do as she says, okay?” Weak, barely perceptible nods were the only indication that they’d heard.

“I don’t want you to go,” Thalia sniffed, pulling back to reveal tear-streaked cheeks.

“I know, sweetie,” I said, and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead. “And I promise that I will not make this a habit, but I have to make this first run.”

I smiled and eased my way out of the tangle of arms. Emily shifted over and pulled Thalia close to her. Where was I that I’d missed this sister-like bond building between the two of them? A nod to Teresa passed on all that needed to be said between us.

It was a perfect night. The moon was bright in the clear sky and thousands of stars sparkled. We cut across the open ground towards the darkness of the trees. Each of us equipped with a handgun, shotgun, and assorted “quiet” weapons like axes and machetes. We all had a backpack and a trio of boda-bags full of water. The packs were empty save for enough food for us to snack on and hopefully get us to our destination. Of course we were all looking forward to coming across some wild-mountain blackberries that are plentiful in these parts.

Just before we ducked into the darkness of the woods, I looked back. I could see the dark outline of the building I hoped we could call home…at least for the upcoming winter. It was too dark, and we were too far away for me to see anybody, but I knew that if they were still watching us leave, I was visible in the wide-open of the field under the moonlight. I raised an arm and waved.



“Why don’t we just get down there and maybe find a spot to hide until nightfall?” Lee asked. “I’m hungry and that handful of berries didn’t do a damn thing for me.”

“For one,” I turned my head, not hiding my annoyance, “I want to have a good idea on what to expect as far as the zombie population is concerned. Second, I want to see if there are survivors down there. Staying here for one day isn’t gonna kill us. Walking down there unaware of the potential dangers will.”

Lee scowled and muttered something under his breath. Jack and Melissa sat quietly, staring down into the tiny town that was spread out below us. Bringing up my binoculars once more I began a slow scan. This had been the fourth or fifth argument with Lee in the thirty or so hours we’d been gone. I was beginning to think that Lee hadn’t volunteered for this run on purpose. He’d opened his mouth in front of the group and now it was some sort of idiotic, youthful, macho-pride thing. So far he’d complained about moving through the woods instead of the roads; he was hungry and we hadn’t brought enough food; the water was warm and tasted flat; and we hadn’t taken a long enough rest yesterday.

“I count at least thirty private residences,” Jack whispered, “None of them have crowds around them. So it seems possible that they are empty. At least of living, breathing types.”

“There looks to be one grocery store, a small convenience store and what looks like a sporting goods or maybe hardware store.” I pointed each out in turn.

“I’ll tell you what,” I dropped my binoculars to my chest and faced the young man, “if you’re so anxious, and if you are really starving like you keep saying…go.”

Everybody was silent. Jack and Melissa sorta stepped back like they were afraid that this confrontation might get physical. I doubted it, but my body had tensed in anticipation. I felt a slight tremor as adrenaline dumped into my system.

“You think I’m scared?” Lee shot back.

“Actually,” I stepped up to the younger man, almost nose-to-nose, “I think you’re a big mouth and an idiot.”

I don’t know what it was. Maybe I was being the idiot. Perhaps I was puffing up a bit because Melissa was watching. Or maybe I’d just had it with people like Lee. I’d never told anybody that they had to stick around. People chose to join our group. Yet, time and time again, I found myself being challenged. It was like some damned nature documentary.

Lee glared, but, and I’ve got to be honest when I say I was relieved, he backed down. At least to a point. He turned and stomped off to a big pine and flopped down at its base.

I looked over at Jack and Melissa, they were both making a big point of looking the other way. They’d found something absolutely riveting down in the town below. I walked over and brought my binoculars back up to my eyes.

“I think that was what the soldiers, Wimmer and his men, did wrong,” Melissa finally said after several uncomfortable moments of silence.

“Well…” She swallowed and took a deep breath. Was she nervous about telling me her opinion because of my scene with Lee? “They moved in and basically took over a town. Even though it was small, it still sat on a road and probably showed up on a map.”

“I still don’t follow.”

“Those raiders,” she began to relax, “they were probably doing similar to what we’re doing right now. Find a small town and clean it out. Only, this group was bigger and obviously well-equipped.”

“I’m still not sure I follow,” I said, feeling a little bit dense.

“That place we’re setting up camp at,” Melissa said, obviously trying to search for the right way to put things. “It’s off the beaten path. Sure, it might show up on a map, but not as having anything useful. We’re in a good spot to avoid bad guys. Whereas, if we went down there,” she pointed, “we’d be spotted more than likely. And maybe not by people like Fiona and her little group. But maybe like whoever attacked Serenity.”

I had to admit it, she had a point. And her point was her way of telling me I was doing the right thing. She was telling me that I was the leader and she believed in my decisions. As scary as the prospect was, I think I could seriously consider falling in love with Melissa.

I looked her in the eyes, and I saw a spark there that I hadn’t noticed up till now. Not even when we’d laughed or joked or slipped away to have sex out in the woods. Up until now, we were companions and survivors relying on each other to deal with the unthinkable. I briefly contemplated telling her what I was feeling until—

“We got trouble,” Jack said, breaking the spell.

“What?” I turned and could tell that he was not comfortable. He’s a smart kid. He probably had a good idea what was going on in that moment.

“Lee,” Jack said, pointing down the hill.

I moved up and looked. Sure enough, creeping through the tall grass was young Mister Lee James. There was plenty of scrub, plus, the wild brown grass was about thigh high. He was crouched low and using cover. I didn’t doubt that he would be able to get down there. Hell, he might even avoid being noticed. But every so often, he kicked up a little dust. Any living person couldn’t help but see it.
If
there were any survivors down there, they might see. If there were any survivors on any of these surrounding hills…we were screwed.

“Nope,” I brought my binoculars up and began to scan the ridge across the small valley that this one-stoplight town rested in. “He’s on his own until nightfall. And if somebody else sees him and moves in on him, he may be completely burnt.”

“Isn’t that kinda harsh?”

“How many other groups of survivors have you actually come in contact with?” It was time to set this guy straight. “I’ve seen some fairly nasty stuff out there, and just a few weeks ago, I had to listen to people I know get overwhelmed by a group that actually led a horde of those walking sacks of death to the gates. They
used
zombies as the leading edge of their attack. And they may or may not have been the same people who took out one of our recon-rescue-and-supply-run teams that included a couple of friends of mine.

“I can understand losing people to zombies. It is the world we live in. What I can’t wrap my mind around are these animals who are now running around, taking advantage of the chaos and lack of law and order to victimize others.

“So now I have two little girls that are my responsibility. My first and only objective is their care and well-being. I’ve made it clear that nobody, you included, are obligated to stay. But, if you do, then somebody has to make the tough choices, and around here, that is me. You are welcome to go your own way anytime, but if you stay in my camp, then I am mayor, sheriff, and all-around head honcho. It is only a limited democracy, are we clear?”

Jack nodded.

“Then we wait till nightfall.”



I don’t know when, but at some point, I’d dozed off. Something was poking me in the ribs, and I woke up just a little annoyed.

“You need to see this.” Melissa was kneeling beside me. Her expression had a bit of excitement and…happiness?

I climbed to my feet, a slight wave of dizziness washed over me. My stomach grumbled as a reminder that it would be nice if I ate something soon. I popped the stopper on a half-full bag of water and took a long drink.

“What?” I trudged up to the edge of the tree-lined overhang and joined Jack and Melissa. “Did Lee get himself eaten?”

“No,” Melissa said with a scowl, obviously hearing a trace of inappropriate hopefulness in my voice. “Look down by the lake, the gray building.”

I brought my binoculars to bear where she’d indicated. I didn’t see anything. Wait…one of those windows was wide open and a pair of military-style field-packs were leaning up against the wall. We’d seen Lee duck into a rickety two-story house on the edge of town. Since neither Jack nor Melissa said anything about our wayward companion, I guessed this was not related to him in some way.

So who are these mystery guests? I stayed focused on the open window. I imagined that, whoever this was, they were making sure the place was clear. Eventually, a shadow flitted around the window. A hand appeared, then another, followed by a head as this person pulled themselves up and out just enough to look around before climbing all the way out, grabbing the packs and handing them in to the person inside. I dropped my glasses and turned to Melissa.