America the Dead (18 page)

“Think these people would hear me if I hit that switch?” Major Thorton asked his private.

Ransom shrugged. “Can’t see why not. If we can hear them, I imagine this place was set up to transmit as well and have the power to do so. How are these people talking to each other, anyway?”

Ken gave a wry smile. “If I had to guess, many of them are talking on CB radios, with a few short waves thrown in for luck. This little device seems capable of sending a message out to all of them, although I sure couldn’t tell you how.” He ran a large hand over the large black box humming quietly. “Interesting. I will have to see how this can be of use to us. For now, monitor these broadcasts and I’ll get a report from you later.”

“Yes, sir. Oh, by the way, sir?” Ransom asked.

“What is it?”

“Could you see if the rest of the place has power? My flashlight batteries are at half at best.”

Thorton laughed. “Sure thing.” He walked over to the stairwell and ran his hand along the wall. Sure enough, there was a light switch and not really thinking anything was going to happen, he flicked the switch. An old bulb weakly came to life, but it was enough to light the room and both he and the private stared at it for a moment before Thorton went back upstairs.

In the small living area, Thorton looked around and figured this would be a very useful system to have in place, if he could find out where the other stations were. Chances were pretty slim they would be untouched like this one, but it was possible. The possibilities were pretty encouraging, but he didn’t have the manpower at present. Still, it was helpful to know there was a communication network available.

Outside the small bunker, Ken walked back to the road and stretched his legs a little, looking around at the forest and listening to the small sounds that nature generously provided. Insects were making their presence known and in the distance, Thorton could hear a couple of squirrels chattering away as they bounced around from tree to tree. It was probably April, but no one would be sure for a while. Hard to believe they had been on the road for nearly a month and likely had a month more to go, but overall, their progress had been pretty good.

Major Thorton was enjoying the quiet when he began to hear the sound of a truck laboring up the road. He was pretty sure any vehicles nearby belonged to him, so he casually leaned up against the building and waited for the truck to arrive.

It didn’t take long. A few minutes after he had leaned on the wall, one of the trucks came around the bend and up to the top of the hill. Ken could see his captain in the passenger seat and was amused when he saw the puzzled look on Tamikara’s face. The truck swung into the small area and parked next to the one already there. The captain swung out of the cab and walked over to Thorton.

“What are you doing up here?” he asked without a salute or so much as a ‘sir’.

Thorton’s face flickered with irritation, but he hid it well, tucking it away for future use. “Discovering a lot more useful things than you, I’d wager,” Ken said, enjoying the not-well-hidden flash of anger on Ted’s normally impassive face. Ken had been suspecting for a while that his captain was on the verge of a break and he was going to have to deal with that soon, before he managed to recruit others to his side. As it was, he had no idea if Tamikara had been recruiting all along.

The captain shrugged. “Possibly. But you might want to hear what I have found out from one of our guests.”

Thorton’s eyebrows raised. “You caught a couple? How interesting. Let’s see.”

They walked over to the back of the truck and flipped over the edge of the cover. Two of the patrol soldiers got out and stepped aside for the two young men who jumped out afterwards. They were dressed in casual clothing, jeans and sweatshirts and each carried a heavy backpack. Both were wearing belts that had knives and guns, but they were careful to keep their hands away from their weapons. Both of them looked around and the taller of the two, a lanky kid with longish brown hair, roughly six feet in height, addressed Major Thorton.

“I take it you’re in charge,” he said.

Ken took a moment to answer. The kid looked capable and he held himself in a way that indicated possible flight if the opportunity presented itself. Thorton stepped closer, looking down at the kid, who returned his look without fear.
You will be fun to break
, Ken thought to himself. He looked over at the other kid, who seemed to be of a similar age, although not as sure of himself. He was shorter than the first and had longish, dirty-blonde hair. He kept looking around at the assembled soldiers, eyeing their weapons and looking back the way they had come. A runner if he had ever seen one.

“My name is Major Ken Thorton. You have already met my captain, Ted Tamikara. You and your friend will come in out of the sun and explain what you are doing here and where you came from. I have a lot of questions you will need to answer.” Ken believed in establishing relationships early and determining who was in charge. He noted as he said this last there was a small frown on the taller kid’s face. Typical, Thorton thought, as he went back to the door of the building.

Tamikara was right behind him and looked around as they entered the small building. “What is this place?” he asked.

“Later. I want to talk to our friends, first,” Ken said. He motioned to the pair to sit on the aged sofa while he and Tamikara remained standing. He signaled for the other soldiers to wait outside.

“So let’s begin with you.” Thorton looked down at the blonde kid. “What’s your story?”

The kid looked over at his companion, then looked back to the major. “Not much to tell. We’ve been on the road for a while, coming south from the suburbs of Chicago, avoiding the dead and living off the land. Our car crapped out about a week ago and we managed to find a small bass boat which has been taking us down the river. We were looking for some supplies when your men found us. That’s it.”

Thorton digested this for a moment, then said, “Okay, you’re useless. Outside.”

“W-What?” The blonde stammered.

“I hate repeating myself. Go outside. Your information is useless,” the major motioned for the kid to leave and he stood up slowly, looking back at his companion. His friend shrugged and the blonde went outside. He was immediately grabbed by the soldiers and secured, his cries shut off by a sharp punch to the face. He slumped and was trussed up to a tree, just within sight of the big window in the building. His friend jumped to his feet in protest, but kept silent as Tamikara smoothly drew his Browning Hi-Power and aimed it at his head.

Thorton didn’t even bother to look outside, as he already knew what was happening. He affected a bored look and addressed the other kid.

“What’s your story?” he asked in exactly the same way he had asked earlier. The brown haired kid sat sullenly, but realized he was a prisoner much more quickly than his companion, who still slumped against the tree he was tied to.

“We came from a community that had established itself along the canal near the outskirts of Chicago. About a year and a half ago, maybe more, a guy had banded a bunch of people together and they set up a new town, taking it over from the zombies. There’s a bunch of people there now and they are all trained to kill zombies if they need to. Everyone has a weapon and everyone knows how to use it. There are crops for food and we all pitch in to work. About a year ago, the same guy went south to some other towns that had survived and were in trouble. Rumor is he took on about thousand zombies on his own, but I ain’t sure about that. He went to one of the state centers to see what happened to the military and the government.”

Thorton looked over at Tamikara. “Sounds like a real bad-ass.” he chuckled.

The kid spoke up. “You have no idea. He could easily take anyone you have to offer and the crew he runs with are first rate killers.”

Ken’s pride took a hit. “I imagine I could deal with him if I had to.”

“Pray you never have to. He and his crew ran through my gang like we weren’t even there. If it wasn’t for the fact he was in a hurry, he probably would have killed us all.”

“Why was he in a hurry? What is his name?” Tamikara asked, intrigued by this mystery man.

The kid looked them both in the eyes. “His name is John Talon and he was in a rush to stop you.”

“What are you talking about?” growled Thorton.

“John knows what you are trying to do. One of your prisoners escaped last winter and made it to where John has his home. He talked to John and John went and talked to the community he set up and they decided he and his crew should try and stop you.” The kid was talking freely now, seeing his friend still slumped over at the tree.

“Stop us from doing what?” The major was concerned now, hearing that a prisoner had escaped so long ago.

“Taking the Constitution,” came the reply.

The admission was like an icy punch in the gut. If someone knew what he was doing, he was going to have to step up his plans, especially if it came to a race to the capital with a very capable individual. If this person was allowed to talk to other communities, it would take some force to bring them into line. He was going to have to be creative.

A notion occurred to Ken and the more he mulled it over, the better he liked it. He turned his attention back to the kid.

“You said John went to the community he had started. He doesn’t live there?” Ken asked.

“No,” the youth answered. “He and his friends found a place in Utica, on the river. Place called Starved Rock. His wife and his kid live there. “Rumor has it he managed to save his son from the Upheaval and kept him alive through everything else. His first wife died and his second is one he met when he had saved a bunch of people in a school or something.”

Ken smiled.
Too perfect
, he thought.
Exactly the motivation to come home
. He looked over at Tamikara and smiled. “Better and better. Two problems solved.”

Ted looked curious but kept his attention on the kid. He wasn’t sure what was going on in Ken’s mind, but he was sure he was not going to like it.

“How did you get here? Your car stopped working, I believe you friend said.”

The kid’s eyes flickered to his still unconscious friend tied to the tree. “We hit the river and managed to find a boat. We were working our way down river and had just loaded up on fuel and supplies when we ran into you.”

“Lucky me,” said Thorton, meaning every word. “By the way, we never got your name.”

“Dan. Dan Winters.”

“Well, Dan. You’ve been much more helpful than your friend, although I am curious as to why you seem to be choosing to sell out your so-called savior and friend.” The Major said.

“He’s not my friend, but I respect what he’s been able to do. Fact is, we were going to try and head back to see if we could rejoin the community,” Dan said, starting to regret what he had spilled so far.

“Well, we’ll see about that. You have given me a lot of useful information, especially on how to deal with your benefactor and I am grateful to hear of where he lives and all, but I do have a concern over your loyalties. I will need to talk to my—HEY!” Thorton yelled as the coffee table suddenly flew up into his and Ted’s faces.

Winters wasted no time. When he realized he had spoken too much to avoid the same fate as his friend, he came to the conclusion he had just condemned John and his family to these renegades. When the Major’s attention was low, he had flipped the table up and bolted out the door, slipping around the corner and running flat out for the woods. The soldiers holding his friend had no time to react as he ran past and dove into the trees.

Thorton and Tamikara ran from the building and quickly looked around. Ted spoke first to the soldiers.

“Find him! Eliminate him! Go!” he shouted. The men ran off, leaving the two who were guarding the prisoner.

Thorton addressed them. “Take him down to the river and up the road until you spot a zombie. Cut his tendons and leave him to get eaten. Go.”

The men nodded and cut down the groggy prisoner, dumping him into the back of the truck and driving off on their deadly mission.

Tamikara and Thorton listened to the sounds of pursuit as they watched the truck pull away. The major spoke first.

“We need to talk about how this harms us. Let’s get back to the lodge,” he said.

Tamikara nodded. “What about the men?”

Ken waved a hand dismissively. “They know to come back successful or not at all. That kid’s a dead man. Besides, they know where the lodge is and I don’t feel like waiting.”

The two climbed back aboard the truck and lumbered away, forgetting about Private Ransom, who was about to stumble on some very interesting information.

Back at the lodge, Ken talked to Ted privately.

“I want you to take ten men and head north. I want you to find this ‘Starved Rock’ and kill everyone there. From there, I want you to head to this community Dan was talking about. Take over and wait for me to get back from DC. From what I have heard, this sounds almost too good to be true.” Ken settled into a chair at a table in the main room. He kept his right hand in his lap, near his holster, unsure of what his captain might do in response.

Tamikara considered it and realized there was an opportunity for him to supplant Thorton once and for all.
Let the fool go after the Constitution. If he gets it, he can be shot as soon as he shows his big head in Illinois.