Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation (15 page)

“One
fell off the ledge in Ranching Valley Number Three,” answered Tony.

Briana took
a deep breath. “What happened? I thought they were safe there.”

“It
looks like he moved too close to the edge to get a better look at the zombies
and lost his balance.”

“Poor
guy,” she whispered. “What about with Renee? Anything new?”

“No
change. They have two wounded from when the raiders first opened fire, a third with
a sprained ankle. That was from jumping behind a tree and not realizing there
was a drop off on the other side. All should be okay. They succeeded in killing
two bad guys, with the other two running away. Renee’s still after them, and
more volunteers have headed to the ranching valley. Once they get there, they
will form firing lines on what’s left of the wall. She thinks those zombies
will be gone tonight, but Ronnie’s dropping food and water to the people on the
ledge just in case.”

“Any
other raiders?”

“Two
others, both alone, were spotted,” said Tony. “They are somewhere in the north
part of the Black Hills. So four total who are still alive, as far as we know.”

“I want
all of them found,” stated Briana. “Put more regular people on the valley wall
and get the more experienced out looking for them.”

“Already
have several teams doing that,” he pointed out.

“Then
make more teams.”

Tony
called for one of the runners and sent him to gather volunteers to man the wall
so those who’ve received training in marksmanship and tactics would be free to
go hunting.

*
* *

The
fighting began to calm later that afternoon. It took three hours to clear the
ranching valley of zombies and would take days more to gather the corpses and
haul them away so they could be burned. Custer was still infested, but that
would be dealt with later. As for the raiders, Renee caught up with the two she
was chasing. They died under a hail of bullets and were tossed on a trailer
with the same shamblers they had led into the Black Hills.

The
other three – a third lone raider had since been discovered – took longer to
deal with. The first was caught by a sniper who shot him in the leg. The man
lost his balance and tumbled from his dirt bike, sliding across pavement and
gravel. The impact tore through his jacket and pants, leaving him with deep
brush burns. In a few spots, bone was visible. A gunshot to the head ended his
screams.

Another,
a woman, was killed when she came around a copse of trees and nearly collided
with a search and destroy team. The seven members were being led by Thompson, a
rough speaking drill sergeant who was integral to the militia’s training system.
He’d lost a leg in an accident shortly after the apocalypse began, the reason
he’d been denied an active position in the Yellowstone war.

She
reached for a pistol, paused, and then reconsidered, trying to turn the bike
around instead. As surprised as Thompson and those with him were, she might
have accomplished something if she simply selected a plan and stuck with it. As
it was, the woman was shot several times and bled to death in the dirt.

The
third faced a similar dilemma. He went off road and sought to escape through a
box canyon. There was no exit, and the people who spotted him immediately took
up positions. He was trapped. An offer to accept his surrender was given, but
he told the militia to go “fuck themselves with a lead pipe” right before he
shot himself, placing the barrel of a revolver beneath his chin.

*
* *

“Johnny
likes Asher,” commented Steph.

The boys
were playing on the floor, and Johnny was allowing the toddler to climb all
over him.

“They do
get along,” agreed Briana.

The two
women were sitting in the kitchen. With things winding down, Briana was making
beef stroganoff for Tony and the teenagers who’d been sitting outside her door
all day. They were all tired, and while Briana was every bit as exhausted, she
felt it only proper to do something nice before they headed off to their
various homes to collapse.

I will
insert an editorial here and point out that Steph likely would have forced
Briana into bed if she had not been cooking for the others.

“Renee’s
upping all the patrols to make sure the area is clear,” continued Briana. “We
should have the last of the shamblers gone in a few days. Some wandered off and
have been seen in the weirdest places. Finding those will be fun.”

“How bad
were the barricades wrecked?”

“Interior
ones aren’t too bad, but the one on US-385 is all messed up. I got some
pictures on my laptop if you want to see. Renee had someone use a digital
camera and drop off the memory card. Anyway, Randall is going to take care of
that. He’s planning to construct a proper wall with a dirt berm in front to
make getting bombs right up to it harder.”

“Randall,
now that is a fine looking man.”

One of
Briana’s eyebrows went up. “Oh. Do you have some interest in him?”

“Six
foot five and built like the Incredible Hulk, how can I not have interest?”

“You’d
be squished if he ever rolled over in bed. I can see that putting a damper on
things.”

“Won’t
happen. Unfortunately, he’s got two lady friends and isn’t interested in any
more, not that I would be willing to share.”

“We’ll
find you someone,” said Briana, reassuringly.

“Don’t
bother. I rather not get into the cutthroat world that is a woman trying to
find a man, especially when they are so few and far between.”

“Time’s
a ticking on by, you know.”

Steph
laughed. “My biological clock is nowhere near running out. I don’t think I can
handle any more children anyway.”

“That
being the case, and since you don’t have anything more fun to do, I want you to
check with Alan and see if all the animals are okay. Any which were hurt will
probably be heading over to your kitchen. While you’re at it, see if there’s
any way we can spread out the livestock and gardens even more. I don’t like to
think what would have happened if the zombies had gotten into one of the farming
valleys instead and tromped all over the crops.”

“We have
enough that it won’t matter. The only thing that will have us going hungry is a
full scale drought, and we have enough stored, along with what we can get from
Yellowstone or airdropped from the islands, that it wouldn’t matter.”

“But…”
prompted Briana.

“But,
I’ll do it regardless.”

Chapter V

I
dislike chemical weapons. Honestly, I do. For real, I am telling the truth. It isn’t
due to some fanciful image of how the world should be – those thoughts are
limited to wishing the zombies would go away – nor is it based on a sense of
morality. After all, dead is dead. I see little difference in dying from gas, a
bullet, artillery, or having a meteor plummet through the atmosphere only to
slam into you at a gazillion miles an hour. My true gripe is that the prophet
was in possession of this new weapon, whereas I lacked any means to counter the
threat. We had helmets. We had body armor. What we did not have were gas masks.

As with our
less than stellar initial battle, we pulled back and spent the next few days
getting sorted out and reorganizing what we had left. The raiders did not
advance, and considering their own losses, I believed they were doing the same.
We were flailing in the wind and needed a new strategy, but no one cared for my
suggestion. I wanted to call in the bombers and have them drop incendiaries. So
what if there had been a lack of rain and I ended up burning down a good sized
portion of Idaho and Wyoming? There’d been fires before and would be again. The
trees will grow back. They always do. But no, the leadership in Yellowstone
vetoed that right off, probably a bunch of whiny environmentalists. As if a
piece of lumber is more important than a man’s life. Worse, Captain Briggs was
adamant about honoring their wishes.

Unable
to squeeze any other sort of help from the American military, which was still
preoccupied with events elsewhere, we were left with two choices: go after the
raiders directly or hunker down and let them come to us. The general consensus was
that it was best to take the fight their way and save our defensive positions
as a fall back point. Therefore, we were going to try yet again to find and
destroy the bastards. The captain had come to the supply base in order to discuss
this matter in more detail.

“I think
we should move in two groups, Yellowstone and Black Hills. You take your people
and head southwest. I’ll go northwest. We’ll put a few extra planes in the air
to scout and keep the military choppers on standby. Once contact is made, those
can be deployed, if the lay of the land allows for it.”

The
enemy was certainly making good use of the terrain, better than we had. Being
outnumbered was no fun either.

I
nodded. “About what I was thinking. However, I am going to be very careful
about pursuing the raiders. I want to avoid any other traps they might be
planning.”

“That’s
for fucking sure,” snarled Lizzy.

“I’ll
leave men behind to guard the base,” I continued. “Some of my wounded are out
of danger and don’t want to go home just yet. They can help cover things here.
Carlson will be in charge. I’m going to try for some more volunteers from
Clarksville too. I really want to take as many of the able bodied as I can, and
if I can park a few more here, more of my own will be able to go with me.”

“I’m on
the same wavelength,” replied Briggs, “and we do need to end this. I’m
receiving plenty of inquiries as to whether or not more women and children
should to be sent to the Black Hills. The people are worried.”

“We’ll
take them if they want to go, no problem there. Still, Yellowstone is huge, and
it’s hard to get around. Even if we blow this, I don’t think there will be any
immediate danger. Everyone is well armed, and the raiders will have a terrible
time just finding them.”

“Why
don’t we get even more to come and help?” asked Mary. “There have to be people
who can be spared from whatever else they’re doing.”

She was
sitting by the radio in case something came through. Otherwise it was just me,
the captain, and Lizzy under the tarp. Briggs still thought it strange that I
allowed my sixteen year old daughter to know everything, but I didn’t much
care. Mary was intelligent, trustworthy, and I knew I could depend on her.

“Because
it’s fucking hard to go out and fight,” snapped Lizzy. “Oh, it’s easy enough to
shoot if people are running at you. Any fucking idiot can do that. It takes
shitheads like us to go into the trees after them.” She stopped and took a deep
breath, forcing herself to calm down. “And we never got around to training
everyone. Most don’t have a clue as to what they should be doing, not outside
of playing defense. They’d hurt more than help.”

“We
couldn’t train everyone,” I countered. “Some just aren’t suited for it, either
physically or psychologically. Far less want to do it full time or even part
time. The best we could manage is a tiny permanent cadre and a solid group that
is ready to respond in a crisis. And even then, we have to plant crops, harvest
the crops, build cabins, make sure the kids learn to read and write. There are
other, important things that need doing.”

“Yellowstone
is the same way,” said Briggs. “We are more formal, but the essential structure
remains. It’s simply not possible to keep such a large portion of the
population under arms at all times or even a significant portion of the time.
And, while this is a crisis, the lack of training and sufficient gear for
everyone comes into play.”

“I hate
logic,” said Mary.

“It can
be a bitch,” I agreed.

“Only I
get to swear,” mumbled Lizzy, to herself. “Too fucking much of it too.” She
looked at the captain. “How soon do you want to move?”

“Day
after tomorrow, a couple hours before dawn. Let’s get close while it’s still
dark. Maybe that will throw them off.”

*
* *

“Mary,
say hello to Asher.” I handed her the receiver.

“Hello,
little brother.”

I could
just hear the cries of “Mary!” on the other end of the line. Asher adores his
big sister.

“What
comes after twelve?” she asked.

“Thirteen!”

The boy
loves number games too.

Lizzy passed
by. “Tell everyone I said hi.”

“Sure
thing,” I replied.

Today
was Asher’s third birthday, and I decided, with no hesitation whatsoever, to
abuse my position and place a call to Briana. We did go over official business
briefly, which mostly consisted of her giving me the status of the Black Hills
following the attack there. Defenses were being rebuilt and strengthened, and
patrols were triple checking to be certain there were no more zombies lurking about.
There’d been no sign of the raiders, but everyone was keeping a lookout. Every
so often, the planes would range much further than normal to determine if
another herd of the shambling dead was on its way. They hadn’t found any yet.

It
sucked missing my son’s birthday, especially now that he was old enough to sort
of grasp the concept of it being his extra special day. Briana, Steph, and the
others would be certain to give him lots of attention, and we had already
selected some presents which I wrapped prior to leaving for Yellowstone. He
should have fun, and there would be photos and videos I could watch once I
returned. This assumes I don’t get killed in the meantime.

“Tell
Briana that Lizzy said hi.” I patted Mary on the shoulder and headed to where
Harvey and the other squad leaders were waiting. There were a few things I
needed to go over, and I’d already spent an unreasonable amount of time
speaking with my wife and son. “Tell her that we’ll be back soon too.”

*
* *

When it
came time to get going, I departed with squads one through three. Four was staying
behind with Carlson, as were Michael and the others from Clarksville.
Accompanying me were Lizzy and the twins. Mary had wanted to come, and at first
I refused. She was good on the radio, as well as dependable, but my daughter
was quick to point out that with just the two big groups, there wasn’t any
reason for her to remain behind. Also, she could call the helicopters right to
us whenever I thought they were needed – Mary was equipped with her own satellite
uplink and GPS device. I received a whole lot of glares from Lizzy when I told
Carlson to man the radio in her place.

Captain
Briggs was taking forty men. I had thirty six accompanying me. We were armed as
before with the only exception being extra grenades and ammunition. We’d be
ranging further out this time, and I wasn’t as certain about Xavier flying in
to drop off supplies. It hadn’t really been a problem, but I was feeling
anything but confident. Additionally, everyone was equipped with night vision
goggles. It wouldn’t do to be walking into trees. That can lead to bruising,
concussions, and plenty of mockery.

The
first three hours were dull. Nothing happened, and there was no sign of the
raiders. I purposely avoided the spot where our people had been impaled. That
would be taken care of soon enough, mere hours after we were certain the
prophet was no longer a threat. Also, I didn’t want Mary seeing it. Well, I
didn’t want a close look either. That might be unavoidable, but I could hope.

“Captain
Briggs has engaged a group of them,” said Mary. “They just called in.”

“Where
at?”

She
checked the map. “About four miles away. The guy giving me the details said
they caught a huge band by surprise. There are maybe two hundred of them. Correction,
there were two hundred. The captain went quiet when they were spotted and got
everyone in place. That’s why I didn’t know until just now. They started off
with the grenade launchers and a pair of mortars. He had real soldiers fire
them, and they hit a big clump right in the middle. Two of the Pave Hawks are
going there now.”

“What
about us? Any sign of the raiders Kimberly mentioned?”

Mary
relayed that request and was quick with an answer.

“She
said there are definitely people ahead of us, but they all started moving west
once Captain Briggs began fighting. She thinks they got told about it through
their own radios.”

I
frowned. “They aren’t going to help their friends?”

“Nope.
They are moving away from us and nowhere close to the fight. Not very many of
them though,” she added. “Maybe they want to get together first.”

“Maybe. Lizzy,
what do you think?”

“I say
we follow. We can’t let any of fuckers get away.”

“Agreed.
Let’s keep moving.”

*
* *

Another
two hours of marching. We were moving fast, and Kimberly thought she knew where
the raiders were going. It was well away from the general area where we’d been
fighting, but people had been spotted there on and off, mostly with the heat
sensing technology. The tree cover was unusually heavy with only a handful of open
spots that might allow for visual detection. It was possibly a base of some
sort, maybe holding their own supplies. Since the captain had things under
control, I chose to continue.

Regarding
Captain Briggs, he was still engaged with the enemy. The initial strike killed
or wounded plenty of raiders, and while they tried to fight back, he was in the
superior position. Still, the resistance lasted until the choppers appeared. A
few took pot shots at them, but the prophet’s cronies lacked the weapons
necessary to effectively combat military helicopters. The pilots were able to
drop down low and really put their armament to effect.

The Pave
Hawks drove the enemy back, and the captain split his forces in two, moving in
a curving fashion so he could follow from the sides. If any traps had been
planned, they came to nothing, and the Yellowstone militia soon re-engaged.
Xavier ended up making a run to drop off ammunition and recover some of the injured,
our people only. No raiders were permitted to surrender, assuming the attempt
was made, and their wounded received a bullet to the head. I’m fairly certain
Captain Briggs is opposed, at last philosophically, to such behavior, but there
was no way he could prevent the Yellowstone militia from taking out their
frustration and hatred on the fallen. I doubt if he tried.

As far
as we go, did I mention there were two more hours of marching with the only
interesting thing being Mary’s updates, along with a report of how quiet it was
at the supply base from Carlson? I was getting tired, and my feet hurt. At
least we were almost to the spot Kimberly had indicated.

A man
hurried back from the front. “Jacob, our forward scouts found a campsite. Some
raiders are there moving gear around.”

“Okay,
let’s spread out. We’ll try to do like Briggs and get everyone in place unseen
so we can hammer them.”

My luck
being what it is, this didn’t work as intended. I managed to get squad two in
the center with one and three on the flanks in a U shaped formation. However,
before we could get everyone close enough, a raider spotted one of my guys and opened
fire. We, of course, did the same. None of us, not even the scouts, had gotten
a good look at the enemy’s placement. We didn’t know what we were facing. We
weren’t sure how many they had. There was nothing we could do about any of
this, so I ordered a general advance.

“Lizzy,
see if you can get an idea of what’s happening to the left.”