Ragnarok Rising: The Crossing (The Ragnarok Rising Saga) (7 page)

I could see the cabins across the spring from us. There weren’t any cars and they all looked locked up for the winter. I didn’t see any signs of violence or any damage to the buildings.
Sweeping back to the north, I froze when I saw the public restrooms. Bullet holes completely riddled the south wall. I could see dried blood on the wall, but I didn’t see any bodies. The little hairs on the back of my neck started standing up and alarm bells began ringing.

I handed the binoculars to Spec-4 and pointed at the restrooms. She took them and began adjusting the focus, silently studying the building for a long moment. When she lowered the glasses, I could see concern in her eyes.

“What the hell happened there?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“I’m not an expert,” I replied, “but it looks to me like someone was put against that wall and executed.”

“Firing squad style,” she added, nodding.

“The question is who did it and why?” I said, taking the binoculars back.

“The answers are down there,” she said, pointing farther into the park.

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of,” I replied. “Let’s try to get a little closer.”

We took our time and picked our way through bushes, going around the perimeter of the parking lot. At the north end of the picnic area was an old flagstone building, not much larger than a small shed. I wasn’t sure what it had been originally, but it had been there as long as I had been coming to the park. We crept into it and crouched down by the little windows that looked out into the park and over the spring.

Instead of using the binoculars, I propped my M-4 up on the window ledge and started sweeping the area. The ACOG
[9]
was a 4x magnifier, so it would serve just fine to scan the area. It also gave me the added advantage of being able to fire if I needed to. I swept the bathrooms again, just to be sure. We were fifty yards closer and the view was better. It still looked like a firing squad had used the wall.

I still couldn’t see any signs of bodies. That meant that whoever shot them had taken the time to haul off the corpses. I didn’t see any signs of fortifications, though. Other than the sign on the road that said the park
is closed, there was nothing to keep people or zombies out of the area. Not even so much as a rudimentary fence. The feeling in my gut was getting worse. Between the lack of sound, lack of movement and lack of bodies, I was starting to get very worried.

As I swept over the
Nature Center building, I could see more signs of bullet-ridden walls and dried blood. There were still no signs of movement or life. Even the parking lot was empty. The building looked to be intact. All of the windows looked unbroken and the doors closed. For all I could tell, it appeared closed for the season. Well, with the exception of the dried blood and bullet holes. That changed things.

I continued my sweep as far as I could see. I cut back to the north and panned towards the bridge that crossed the spring and led to the Visitor’s Center. I could only see as far as the bridge, but th
ere wasn’t anything there. I still didn’t see any vehicles, any signs of the dead or the living, no movement at all. My gut instinct was screaming out a warning, but I couldn’t see anything that would be a problem. There was simply nothing there.

“Alright,” I said, lying back down on the floor of the little building. “I don’t see a damned thing. There is something wrong here, though. I can feel it.”

“Everyone will understand if you want to abort,” she said, softly. “We’ve all learned to trust your gut.”

“That’s the problem, though,” I added. “I can’t find anything
wrong. It’s just a feeling.”

“Your feelings have been right in the past,” she replied.

I paused for a moment as I let that sink it. My instincts had saved us before. This time was different, though. We desperately needed those supplies. Without them, we didn’t stand much of a chance to last the rest of the summer, let alone through the winter that would inevitably follow. With a sigh, I resigned myself to the decision I knew I had to make.

“We’re going in,” I said, almost under my breath. “We can’t turn back, now.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, smiling. “We’re all with you, no matter what. We’ll get through.”

“Let’s go get the others,” I said, slipping back out the door
of the little building.

Spec-4 stayed on my heels as we retraced our route back to the Humvees. We took our time and listened for any sounds or movement along the way. It was still as quiet as the proverbial tomb. Only the sound of the wind in the t
rees broke the eerie stillness.

Southard was outside the Humvee when we arrived. I whistled like a whippoorwill as we approached, to let him know
who we were. He still brought his weapon up to his shoulder as we approached. He looked nervous until we emerged from the bushes. Then he visibly relaxed and lowered his weapon.

I could tell that the stillness was taking its toll on Chuck, too. He was a deer hunter, just like
me. He knew that it wasn’t natural for the woods to be this quiet. The silence only meant one thing. There was some kind of predator around. The only question was…what was it?

“Find anything?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

“Not a fucking thing,” I said, glancing around the area. “Why aren’t you in the Humvee?”

“I had to stretch my legs and take a leak,” he replied. “Besides that, the silence was really bugging me. I didn’t want to make everyone else nervous, so I decided to wait out here.”

“Stay on your toes, Chuck,” I said, meeting his gaze. “I don’t know what it is, but something is
very
wrong here.”

“My gut’s telling me the same thing,” he replied, nodding.

“Looks like the water's over the bridge,” he said, gesturing down at the water. “We gonna try to cross?”

“I’d guess it to be
three feet or less,” I said. “I’m pretty sure we can handle it. I’ve taken Humvees through worse.”

“I wouldn’t try it if we weren’t above the spring,” said Spec-4. “At least the water isn’t moving very fast.”

“Just wait until you see where the spring hits the Niangua,” I said. “The water is going to be rolling.”

“Let’s find the cache and get the hell out of here,” said Southard. “I don’t like this place.”

“I’m with you there,” I replied. “I’ll take the crossing first. You drive across, next. I don’t think Elliott is quite ready to drive through floodwaters. Stick to the right side of the road.”

“Copy that,” said Southard, heading for his vehicle.

Spec-4 and I returned to ours and climbed back inside. Becca was shook up but seemed to be holding it together. She just looked at me and smiled tightly. I gave her a reassuring smile and started the engine. I let it idle while I studied the water in front of us. It wasn’t moving much, so I wasn’t overly worried about the water sweeping us off of the slab. However it was murky and dark, so I was concerned about anything that might be on the bridge that I couldn’t see.

“You guys might want to hang on,” I said. “This might get a little bumpy before we’re through.”

Slipping into gear, I started slowly towards the edge of the water. Just as I reached it, I stopped completely. I thought I had seen movement out of the corner of my eye.

“Wilder,” I said, “hand me the binoculars.”

“What did you see?” she asked, handing them over.

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “I just caught a glimpse of something moving.”

I took the binoculars and started sweeping the area where I had seen it. It was right near the restrooms, so I focused in and swept slowly from left to right and then back again. I still didn’t see anything, but the knot in my stomach had doubled in size. It was still and quiet, with no sign of movement whatsoever. Not even so much as a squirrel.

Handing the binoculars back to Spec-4, I turned back to the water ahead of me. It looked no more inviting than it had before, but now I was
looking for anything at all that might be out of place. Nothing seemed wrong and nothing was moving. With a heavy sigh, I took my foot off the brake and started into the water.

I felt my way
in, slowly. Water was coming steadily up the sides of the Humvee and starting to splash up onto the hood. I knew we would be fine so long as I didn’t let off of the gas. The raised air intake on the Humvee would keep us running as long as I didn’t let the engine flood out.

We made it across without incident, and I was glad to see that I had been high on my estimate of the depth. Although we were in over the wheels, it never made it over the doors. It was less than three feet deep across the concrete bridge. As we safely pulled out of the other side, I reached for the radio mic.

“All clear, Chuck,” I said, keying up. “Take it slow and steady. Stick to the right.”

“Copy that,” he said, and began his run.

Less than two minutes later, we parked side by side in the parking area next to the bathrooms. I decided that I wanted a closer look at the bullet holes along the walls, just to see for myself. When I climbed out of my Humvee, Spec-4 followed me and readied her weapon. Becca stayed inside the vehicle, but watched us intently. Southard and Elliott climbed out of their vehicle, weapons in hand.

“What’s next, dad?” asked Elliott.

“I want to take a closer look at the bullet holes on the wall,” I said, pointing. “Something about it just doesn’t seem right.”

The four of us headed around to the side of the building, away from the entrances to the bathrooms. Behind us, I heard the door of a Humvee open and close. I turned around to see Jensen standing beside the vehicles, adjusting his weapon.

“Don’t wander off,” I said.

“I won’t,” he replied. “I just wanted to stretch my legs.”

We headed around the corner and I could see the numerous bullet holes that pockmarked the wall. There was also quite a bit of blood on the wall and the ground beneath it. In the grass, I could see expended brass. Kneeling down, I picked up a piece and examined it. It was 5.56mm NATO. That meant it came from either an AR style weapon or the military. I selected a number of other rounds to check, just to be certain.

“Multiple shooters,” I said, looking at Southard. “Firing squad deployment. Military, I think.”

I was about to say more when I heard the scream. It came from around the corner in front of the buildings. We all spun and sprinted around the corner. Jensen was on the ground right in front of the men’s room entrance, his legs still inside the door. He was lying on his stomach, clawing at the ground trying to drag himself out of the bathroom. Before we could reach him, something dragged him back inside and the screaming began, again.

Activating the tactical light on my M-4, I swung around the corner and illuminated the interior. What I saw sent chills running down my spine. Two of the dead were savagely tearing flesh from the still screaming body of Jensen. One was female and the other was a male
. They were both wearing the tattered remains of military style ACU’s.

They were biting into his thigh and lower back, heedless of his struggling and screaming. When my light fell on them, they did something I had never seen before. They reacted by crouching lower and snarling at me. I was shocked by their reaction and almost didn’t register that they were about to come at me. I managed to squeeze off a round, hitting the
male in the forehead and blasting him back into oblivion.

The zombie
woman leapt at me with shocking speed. Unlike a
Sprinter
, it leapt at me like a tiger attacking its prey. Spec-4 shot it in the air, knocking it to the side instead of into me. It hadn’t been a kill shot, but it was enough to put it on the ground. It hissed and snarled as it rolled back to its feet. I shot it in the face before it had the chance to jump again. This time, it didn’t get back up.

Jensen was done. He was bleeding heavily out of the wounds in his legs. One of the bites must have severed an artery.
I could see his spine through the ragged holes in his lower back. His wounds were severe enough that we couldn’t have saved him, even without the zombie virus running through his veins. It was lucky that he had blacked out from the pain and would never know his fate. At least there was that mercy for him.

I didn’t wait for him to regain consciousness, either as Jensen or as one of the dead. I whispered a silent prayer for him and shot him in the back of the head. While the others collected the gear from Jensen, I took a closer look at the dead
woman. The front of her uniform dripped with blood and gore.

“Wilder,” I said, “shine your light over here.”

She lit up the corpse in front of me as I sat my weapon to the side. I grabbed the front of the woman’s shirt and ripped the buttons off as I tore it open. Beneath the shirt, she wore a black bra and a St. Christopher’s medallion, in addition to a set of army issue dog-tags. That wasn’t what interested me, though. I was more concerned with the dark spots that covered her abdomen and chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” asked Spec-4, surprised.

“You see these dark circles,” I said, pointing.

“Yeah,” she said, “so what?”