DEAD: Darkness Before Dawn (35 page)

These people must have scoured the city to bring in every
semi, city bus, and other type of large vehicle to park bumper-to-bumper on the roads all the way around this location. Then they had gone to work on a proper wall. This was not pieced together; it was constructed. The lower ten or so feet was concrete and even had windowed watch towers set all the way around the site. Then there were strands of coiled razor wire at the top.

“They are building wind turbines,” Kevin noted. “Probably have those babies up by summer. That means they have some people in there that know what they are doing.”

“So are we changing our plan?” Rose asked innocently.

“Not a chance,” Kevin answered, although it was clear his mind was elsewhere.

He could see people moving around down there. In fact, he had not seen that many living people in one place since this whole thing had begun. Only, what he was seeing had him a bit curious. It almost looked as if…

“They are sending out a large party,” Kevin said to nobody in particular.
“Holy crap…they’re armed to the teeth.”

“You don’t think they would be stupid enough to try and fight that zombie horde?” Aleah asked, glancing back towards the CTA lot and the now steady stream of undead shambling across it.

“No…they probably don’t even know that the mob is close. And they are not in its path…so that should not be an issue for them. I have a feeling this has something to do with the bodies hanging under this overpass.

“What do you mean?” Heat
her asked.

Kevin explained what he found as well as the fact that they all looked to have been bitten and showed immunity. Heather and Aleah looked to be considering this newest revelation with concern, but it was Rose who spoke.

“So why would people just start killing folks that don’t turn, seems to me that they would want those types around for lots of reasons. They would be in less danger out on supply runs…heck might even be able to make babies that are immune.”

Kevin looked at the girl with admiring appraisal. These were all thoughts that he had entertained with the exception of the idea of reproduction. There was no way of knowing what factor genetics played—if any—when
it came to immunity; however, there might be something in the girl’s logic.

He returned his attention to the compound. There were plots that looked like preparations for crop planting. The only thing he didn’t see was a ready water supply, although he did see three r
ecently constructed towers that looked like they might be for water storage. Also, it looked like there were a series of rain catching troughs (that was the best way he could think to describe them) atop all the buildings. He simply did not think that was a sustainable manner to maintain the most vital resource. Also, when it came to irrigation for those future crops, they might be in a real bind in the event of a drought.

Finally, Kevin came to a decision
on what to do. Going down there might satisfy curiosity, but he did not see any real reason to do so. They had a long road ahead of them and needed to get moving.

“Why don’t you all just put your hands in the air where we can see them,” a voice called.

Kevin and the others turned to discover a group of a dozen heavily armed individuals with some very impressive weaponry pointed at them. Try as he might, Kevin could think of nothing else to do except comply with the demand.

18

Road Trip to Hell

I’d never seen so much shiny new firepower just wrapped up in a box waiting for me to lay claim to it. There was body armor, a cool helmet with a visor, a pair of gloves that looked surprisingly thin and light, but were supposedly puncture proof. (A statement that I proved by attacking them with my belt knife.) There was a pair of combat boots, black fatigues that were lined with chain mesh and a camel pack that held four gallons of water.

As for weapons, the M4 came with five thirty round mag
azines (all loaded and ready) as well as a canister holding a thousand rounds for reload. There were twin Navy Colt .45s with two hundred rounds, a KA-BAR and the utility belt to carry it on. Also there was a personal first aid kit and a small tool box with the usual assortment of universal tools. To top it all off, there was a TenPoint crossbow and a case with fifty bolts.

“These folks don’t screw around,” Katrina said with a hint of awe in her voice.

I didn’t say a word, but that was because I was basically stunned speechless. I felt like Christmas and my birthday had come all at once. It was not that I was super into guns and all that, but to receive all of this in a box with my name on it was really cool.

I dragged the box into the
ground floor bathroom and suited up. When I came out, everybody was waiting for me. I guess somebody must have gone up and roused the crew because a few of them were still rubbing their eyes and yawning.

Honestly, it was really hard not to strut wearing this gear. I was surprised at how light everything was compared to what I expected. I knew it would start to feel heavier over time, but it really wasn’t that bad.

I hated taking it off, but the next morning, I slipped into it like a comfortable pair of shoes. After a brief meeting with Dr. Zahn and my own private farewell kiss for Katrina (which did not hold a candle to her “goodbye” to me the night before), I was ready to roll.

I swapped everything into the field pack they had given me. I looked at my beat up old knapsack and almost felt sad that I would probably never sling that baby over my shoulder again.

“You look…” Thalia pursed her lips as she stepped up to me and considered her next word. Her eyes lit up. “Mean! Not like mean to me or Melissa, but mean to any zombies.”

“Thanks, pal,” I said as I knelt and took her hands in mine.

“Don’t get eaten.” Suddenly she became very serious.

“I’ll do my best,” I said with a laugh. Only, she did not laugh in return; her face was grave and full of worry.

I gave her a hug and then headed out the door. It was still an hour before sunrise, although today we would probably not actually see the sun come up. A heavy cloud cover had the area blanketed and a fine mist was in the air that promised to turn to rain later.

I arrived at the rally point and was introduced to the rest of the people that made up our ten person squad—three women and seven men in addition to four “civilian” scie
ntists. I had already forgotten everybody’s name by the time introductions were over and fell in to the rear of the line as we headed out. Before we left, everybody topped off their camel packs and were issued a dozen MREs to stuff into their field packs.

The morning was uneventful and surprisingly zombie free. After the past few days, I’d expected more, but it looked like perhaps they had wandered off to wherever it is that zombies go when they are not coming to investigate the latest noise.

We walked in a loose formation. There were scattered conversations, but since I was the “new meat” on the team, none of it was directed my way. I actually felt a little self-conscious. Everybody else was wearing the same gear, but theirs was worn and faded. Mine was still new and fresh looking.

When we stopped for the first meal break of the day, it was up
on top of the trailer of a huge semi that was in the midst of what had been a pretty nasty wreck. I tried to imagine what would cause a crash like this out in the middle of nowhere. The five cars involved had to have been the only vehicles on the road in either direction for miles most likely.

As had been the case all morning, I was pretty much left to myself. It was fine, not like I had much to say to any of these strangers. Still, it made me miss my own group a bit more.

I remembered back to when I’d gone out on my first missions with the soldiers of Serenity Base; the experience had been entirely different. There was teasing and joking, and by the time we got back, I knew everybody’s name.

We got back on the move and I tried to walk close to a few people to see if anybody would say anything or even flash a p
olite smile. I gave up on that after an hour or so and just decided that I was here to do a job and nothing more. If these people didn’t want to get to know me, that was their choice.

By the time we stopped for a late day meal, the rain had started to come down steady. Also, I was beginning to notice an increase in walking dead. None were close, but you could see their dark shapes in just about every direction.

“S’up?” a voice said. I had to look up since I was squatting down under the limited cover of a roadside billboard.

The person looking down on me with a crooked smile was perhaps the ugliest man I’d ever seen in my life. He had a smashed nose that looked like his hobby was chasing walls and parked cars. His eyes were just a little bit crossed and he had s
evere acne scarring on his face that made the surface of the moon look smooth as glass.

“Just enjoying lunch…or whatever this is supposed to be.” I waved my foil pack at the guy for emphasis.

“Enjoying?” the man said with a dubious tone and raised eyebrow that almost seemed to slide off his face. Like I said, this guy was ugly.

“Well, maybe that was the wrong word,” I agreed. I sat the package down and got up
, wiping my hand. “Name’s Billy…Billy Haynes.”

“Frank Porter.” The man took my hand and shook it. “And it seems that I was elected by the group to come check
out the new guy.”

“Not here of your own free will,” I said with a tight-lipped nod. “I get it…sort of. I mean I get that I’m the new guy, but out in the field don’t you need to make sure everybody can handle their business? Shouldn’t there be some sense that we are a team?”

“It’s not you…it’s the guy you replaced. It was tough on the group…he was…” Frank’s voice actually caught in his throat and I thought that the guy was going to cry.

“It’s tough when you lose somebody, especially if you lose somebody that you like,” I commiserated.

“It wasn’t just losing him…it was how we lost him.”

I decided that this would be a good time to just be quiet. If he wanted to tell me, he would; if not, it really was no big deal to me.

“How much were you told about this run?” Frank asked, glancing over his shoulder at the others who were trying to watch while looking like they weren’t.

“Powe
r supply stuff…wind farm. That’s about it.”

“But they didn’t tell you we have made this trip four times before…each time ending in failure?” Something crossed Frank’s face that I was almost certain had to be anger. “We have lost people each time. The last time we got off lucky. We only lost the one…although it might have been the worst.”

“So is there a lot of zombie activity?” That seemed like the most logical answer.

“
Sort of.” Frank leaned in close and his voice took on an eerie tone. “The place is cursed…maybe even by Satan himself.”

I did my best to keep a straight face. So this was how they would prank the newbie. Whatever made them happy, I guess. Personally, I thought that they could come up with something better than
demons.

“How do you mean?” I decided to at least play along for a while and be a good sport.

“The little ones,” Frank breathed. “The place seems to be empty, and then, out of nowhere…the dead kids just appear.”

I felt a cold shiver work its way up and down my spine. If he was saying what I thought he was saying, I had news for them…the place wasn’t cursed. This was so much worse.

“Child zombies?” I asked.

“Demons from hell is more like it. They ain’t like no zo
mbie. These ones…they are thinkers.”

So much for the idea of this being a prank on the new guy. I knew exactly what they were dealing with. I suddenly wished that Dr. Zahn were here. She would be able to explain things to this group. As it was
, I couldn’t even remember enough of what she’d said to give a half-assed explanation.

“When was the last time you made a run on this place?”

“About five weeks ago.”

“Well the
n maybe they have moved on by now,” I said hopefully.

“That’s just it. They haven’t. First few times we come here, we lost people and didn’t know to what. This last time, it was like they wanted us to see them. They pulled down Tommy and I swear they just toyed with him…like a cat. Kept letting him get up and try to limp away only to knock him down and swarm him and nip at him. But they would not tear him apart…not until we all got there. Then, it was like they hid behind him so we couldn’t shoot the little bastards. And they kept biting at him, making him scream anytime we would try to get close. But the creepiest part was whenever one of us would try to bring up our gun and end his misery, they would snatch him down and attack with ferocity for a
few seconds to make him really scream.”

Now I could see why they were spooked. That was the creepiest thing I’d ever heard. Sadistic child zombies? This was not shaping up to be a very enjoyable trip.

“So,” I decided to change the subject, “what is this big deal with you guys basically freezing me out. I mean you are the first to talk to me, but I can’t even get anybody to make eye contact.”

“Folks are just afraid to get to know you. You seem like a good kid, but—”

“If you get to know me and then I end up like that last guy, you’ll all feel terrible. And since you have no idea if I can handle myself in the field, I am the unknown quantity and therefore the most likely to die,” I finished for Frank.

I understood their reason. I’d always
thought that was kind of silly when it played out in a movie, but now that I was in the moment, I understood their reluctance. The haunted looks on their faces spoke volumes.

Frank seemed to want to talk some more, but the order came for us to get on our feet and move out. I shot a look at the three scientist types. They had not said much of anything the entire time and even more impressive, they had not bitched, griped or moaned.

We walked the rest of the day and I was about to ask how much further to this location when we came to a halt. I did not need to ask. The sudden quiet told me everything. We topped a small rise, and in the fading light of the late afternoon, made even dimmer by the dark clouds that had not broken for a moment, I spotted a non-descript collection of buildings. It could be any business complex with an adjoining warehouse facility in the world.

I realized why it had probably been spared by raiders and looters. It just did not look like there would be anything there except defunct computers and plenty of office supplies. There were no big signs that would even give a clue that the future of electric power might reside somewhere within. And seriously, the average person would not know how to assemble a wind power grid from the ground up even if all of the components were laid out before
them. At least that was my thoughts on the subject.

“We make camp here,” one of the females announced.

Up until that point, I was not sure if there was actually a person in charge, or if this was some sort of committee-based leadership. Since everybody seemed to get right to work on setting up camp without question, comment, or discussion, I assumed that woman was the boss.

“So do we have a watch rotation?” I asked her after I found a spot and allowed my quick-release tent to pop open where I would be spending the night.

“Yep, you got first watch,” she said, not even bothering to look over her shoulder at me as she knelt down and crawled inside her own tent to unroll her sleeping bag. “Take a spot on that big brown rock on top of the hill across the road. It will allow you to see down into camp, as well as get a full view of anything that might come from any direction.”

So it was obvious that this location was the spot they camped at the previous times that they had made this run. I wai
ted to see if she would say anything else…like who would relieve me and when, but she climbed in her tent, zipped it up, and that seemed to be the end of the discussion.

I cast a longing glance at my own tent, but in all honesty, I was glad to get the first watch. That meant that, provided not
hing crazy happened, I would get an uninterrupted night’s sleep.

The climb was mor
e difficult than it looked, but eventually I made it to the top and took a seat on the big flat rock. The lady had been right, I could see for miles in every direction. We were at the base of the foothills of a mountain range, but the ground was flat with that single exception. I looked back the way we’d come and saw a few stragglers here and there; none that looked to be making a bee line for our location.