Last Stand of the Dead - 06 (16 page)

“Daddy!”
Aaron shouted.

I had never heard sounds so wonderful in my life.  My heart suddenly flew open, and the tears flowed again as my children ran and toddled over. I pulled them both off the ground, holding one in each arm, trying to hug and kiss each face at the same time.

Charlie was standing, holding his beloved daughter off the ground, burying his face in her shoulder and neck.  He said nothing, he just held her as he sobbed in relief.

“John?  Did you see Mike?  Is he okay?” Nicole was standing off to the side, holding her children.  Her eyes were red and wet, and she stared at me with an intensity I knew all too well. 

I put my children down, and walked slowly over to Nicole.  I didn’t have to say anything, she could read it on my face, and see it in the weapons on my belt.

“He died saving all of
you,
” I said finally.  No greater epitaph could exist for a man who loved his family.

“Oh, Mike. 
Oh, no.”
  Nicole sat heavily, still holding her children.  She cried for a long time, and her children, when they understood what their mother was crying about, joined her in her sorrow.

We left the water park in silence, and I sent Charlie on ahead with Nicole over to the other lodge.  They left through a side door, and walked around the parking lot.  Charlie was careful not to let the children see their dead father and uncle.

I carried Mike all the way back to Starved Rock, ignoring the pain in my legs and arms.  My brother died for my sons, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to put him down now.  All the
way,
I talked to him, telling him about what I was going to teach his children, and how he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone looking after them.  I told him to tell Mom and Dad about Jake and Aaron, and that I’d see them in due time.  I wrapped him up in a blanket, and placed him in an unused room in the lodge. 

Chapter 28

In the morning, I took a large pickaxe and shovel, and with Charlie by my side, we hiked out to the Eagle’s Nest overlook, and spent the morning carving out a grave in the limestone.

I lay my brother to rest that afternoon, and with everyone gathered, spoke about my brother.  I talked about how we grew up, how we drove our parents crazy, and how we competed in a lot of things.  I spoke of his love for family, and how that love caused him to lay down his life to protect those he cared about.  Finally, I talked about how I was proud to know him, and honored to call him my brother.

Everyone else spoke briefly about Mike, telling small stories, relating bits of information to weave into a life narrative.  When we were done, everyone save
Charlie and myself
went back to the lodge.  We filled the grave, and Charlie placed a small stone marker with the name Mike Talon carved into it.

Two days later, Nicole left with the children.  She wanted nothing to do with the wilderness, or the place that had claimed her husband’s life.  Taking a spare boat, she barely
glanced
goodbye at us as she went upriver.  I didn’t try and stop
her,
I understood what she was doing.  There was nothing her
e
for her, and the thing that held her here was gone.

For the next three days, the phone rang, people calling us about attacks and little zombies.  I had given my report to Dot, and I was finished.  They had an army, they had veterans,
and I
wasn’t needed.

That didn’t stop Dot from trying.  Every day she called about a new attack, and how a huge horde of little zombies was making
its
way across the countryside, wiping out towns and getting larger with zombies kids.  The last report had the horde making
its
way through Joslyn, working its way up the river.  Dot told us that Freeman had quit, and sent his army home, leaving the capital defenseless.

I was unmoved.  This expedition had cost me my brother, and nearly cost me my sons.  I had done my part and wanted nothing more than to be left alone.  Sarah didn’t press me on it, and the rest of the crew felt the same way I did.  We had fought, bled and sacrificed, and it was time for us to be left alone.

Three days after Nicole had left, Sarah found me practicing with my hawk and a small sword Duncan had given me.  It was a single edged blade about two and a half feet in length, and had a metal basket that covered the hand that held it.  It was unsophisticated, designed to hack and stab.  It suited my style perfectly.

“John?”  Sarah asked.

“What’s up?”

“Charlie told me to tell you there’s a man standing by your brother’s grave.”

That was odd.  Mike didn’t really have any friends, and none that would make a trip from the capital just to visit his grave.

I belted on my pistol, and tucked my trench hawk in place. 
“Anything else?”

Sarah nodded.  “Charlie said the man moved well, like he knew how to fight.”

I grunted in surprise.  That was high praise from Charlie, who was the best fighter I knew.  “All right, I’ll go check it out.  Maybe it’s an old friend from before that ran into Nicole.”

I walked out onto the patio, and made my way over to the stairs that led to the river valley floor.  I had a decent hike ahead of me, and wasn’t really looking forward to it.  I was in a bit of a funk these days, and the damn phone ringing all the time didn’t help.  I felt a bit guilty about not running to the rescue of the capital, but I guessed I was mad at the way things turned out.  I was
mad
that Dot never once said she was sorry for Mike getting killed.

The hike up to the Eagle’s Nest took me about a half hour, and I could see the man standing up there as I worked my way up the western side. 
Thankfully,
there were stairs up to this point, and in my current
mood,
I would have been seriously put out if I had had to climb up here.

At the
top,
I was surprised as usual by the beauty of the region.  The morning sun glanced off the river bend, sending bright lancets of light over the trees and cliffs.  The flashing colors of the autumn leaves contrasted nicely with the pale blue of the sky.  Retreating clouds gave way to the sun, showing their pinkish backsides as they fled over the horizon.

The man standing at my brother’s grave was a bit shorter than
I was
, though just as broad.  His shoulders were slightly stooped, though from age or grief I couldn’t tell yet.  His head was slightly bent, and from my
angle,
I could see a hand covering a bearded mouth.

His head turned slightly at my approach, and I stopped about fifteen feet back.  I was slightly annoyed at the intrusion at my brother’s grave, but if this
were a friend,
I would understand.

“Name’s John
Talon,
” I said as a way of greeting. “Did you know my brother?”

The man turned his head slightly at the sound of my name, and I could see a bit more of his face.  The eye I could see looked tired, lined with both grief and joy.  The hand that covered his mouth was scarred, but looked strong,
as if
it had known a lifetime of good, hard work.  His longish hair was mostly grey, but there were dark areas as well.

His clothing was neat and clean, and there was nothing of the vagabond about this man.  His pack, resting at his feet, was of a military type, with dozens of pockets and places to store needed items.

At his belt was a single pistol, a 1911 style like mine, and a worn, leather-handled knife.  Three loaded magazines rested next to the knife.

“I knew him.  I knew him for a long time.”  The man’s voice was slightly raspy, and somewhat choked up.  I tried to place the man as a family friend, but was coming up blank.  I was very curious as to who this man was.

“How did he die?”  The next question came as a whisper.  “Was it the sickness?”

“
No,
” I said. “He was watching my sons and his family while I was away.  His home was attacked.  He died saving his family and mine.”  I began to get a little choked up myself, thinking about that night when I thought I lost everything.

The man shook a little, and I realized he was trying to hold back sobs.  I didn’t know what else to say, so I just let him have his moment.

After a few minutes, the man composed himself.  “So he died well. Good.” The man placed a hand on the marker and said. “God speed, boy.”

The man straightened himself up, and shook his head, probably trying to get his emotions in check.  I was extremely curious about the identity of this man, and waited for him to gather his pack and get himself situated.

The man stood for a long time, staring out over the river.  I didn’t know what to say other than
,
“How did you know my brother?”

The man turned and faced me.  His eyes were red and his cheeks were stained with tears.  But his bearing was straight, and as I looked, I thought I had seen this man before.  Something about him was extremely familiar, and my subconscious was screaming his name at me.

The man gave a half smile.  “I knew him the same way I know you.”

I couldn’t stop the sudden flow of tears, or the way my shoulders sagged at the man standing in front of me.  I don’t know how I managed to keep from falling to my knees.  All I could do was
hold
out a hand and say the first thing I could think of.

“Hey, Dad.”

C
hapter 29

My father sat at the big table, surrounded by the rest of the extended
family.  I sat next to him
, and hel
d Aaron in my lap.  As he
spoke, he kept reaching out and touching Aaron’s hand, almost as if he couldn’t believe he had another grandson.  Jake was sitting in his grandfather’s lap, snuggle
d in like only little boys can
do.  My dad’s arm was wrapped protectively around Jake, and every now and
then,
he would pat his first grandson on the side, keeping him safe. We had spent a good deal of time on introductions, and Dad was very kind to Sarah, thanking her for keeping me sane and giving him another grandson.  When Dad met Charlie, he shook hands like he’d known him all his life, and told Charlie he was honored to meet such a famous zombie killer.  Charlie nearly blushed.

“Well, I guess I could start at the
beginning,
”
my
dad said. “When we started hearing rumors of things going south in the big cities, I started to get my things together.  I had friends in the police force in Baltimore, and they let me know how bad things really were. 
The media, the ones that most people watch, I figure they could take the blame for a lot of what happened.
  People knew the truth a long time before the event, and they didn’t tell anyone.  Imagine what we could have avoided had they told us in the beginning what we were facing. 
Makes me sick.”
  Dad stopped for a minute to take a drink
and
then continued.

“I figured we could have made it work in Virginia, the house was pretty isolated and we had good water nearby with a well-stocked forest in the back yard.  My neighbor, Bill, was a Navy
man;
he and I spent a good deal of time going over what we would do and how we would survive.  Instead of building fortresses, we’d figure on stealth.  Let the dead walk by and leave us alone.

“That was the plan.  But when your mom got sick, well, the plan went with her.  I buried her with my own
hands;
after I had to make sure she stayed dead.”

I thought for a second,
and then
asked.  “Did you have to…?” I didn’t complete the sentence
,
but I didn’t need to.

Dad looked at me with sympathy. 
“No, son.
I didn’t wait for her to wake up.  I put a .22 into her head, ‘
cause
I knew she’d be getting up and coming after me.  She was dead, and I wasn’t hurting her.” Dad looked down.  “Still one of the hardest things I ever done.”

“Anyway,” he continued. “I buried you
r
mom and wrote those letters for you and Mike.  I couldn’t stay in that house, there were too many memories,
so
I packed up and left.  I kept to the woods, living in the wilds, working my way down the Appalachian Trail.  That was some deep country, let me tell you, and there were some strange folk out there, but they left me alone.  I did have to shoot one man for trying to stick a knife in me, but that was it.”

Charlie grunted and Dad smiled at him.  “Yeah, I can take care of myself, young fella.  Don’t you worry about this old
Marine.
”

Charlie grinned. “Wasn’t worried about you, just anyone you might take a disliking to.”

Dad laughed.  “So I was heading south, and I found myself wandering from community to community, showing people how to defend themselves and teaching
the basics of hand to hand combat to others.  I met some real good people out there, and some real idiots.  They’re probably all dead, since the waves from the cities pretty much wiped out anyone living, as you all figured out.”