Age of Z: A Tale of Survival (34 page)

He made note of every face he passed, paid close attention to every head of brown or bright red or gray hair, and searched for minute details that he'd never seen before in real life but was rapidly becoming intimately familiar with anyway.

Unfortunately, he found nothing. The Base was huge, but not so huge it would take that long to familiarize himself with the locals. After a week and a half of keeping an eye out Casey was forced to grudgingly admit the Winters were not present. The mountain settlements were rapidly becoming their only option, and while they were only a week into September, it was still painfully clear Alexa would not be making the trip there before next year.

Casey mused over it for days. He hadn't been lying to Alexa earlier; he really did want to make sure his friend reunited with the rest of her family. His near-scare with Alexa's disappearance, and how his friend–his sister–had come so close to death, had been terrifying–and that had only been a matter of a few hours and a few days.

He could barely imagine how terrible it must be, to be separated from one's parents or kids or nieces for not a few days, but a few years. To wonder if they were even still alive, or if they were hurt, or if they were wandering the world as mindless, twisted undead aberrations.

It was difficult for him to try and comprehend–he had no concept of 'family' outside of Alexa, and maybe Blake and Lewis–and he still wasn't used to dealing with how he felt, which made it even harder. But he'd seen how much it hurt Alexa to not know, and to wonder, and to be forced to push her search back still further, and Casey wanted to put a stop to that. To fix it. He had to be able to do something, right?

So he thought over travel plans, read maps, asked the locals quietly about the weather and conditions while playing it off like he was from farther south (and he supposed that last part wasn't a total lie–he had technically been 'born' in D.C.). But nothing seemed to work out.

Alexa wouldn't even be able to travel until mid October, and according to the locals it would be much colder by then; there was even a possibility that it could snow that early, although apparently it was more common in November.

The threat of zoms would diminish with the freeze–a rare weakness of their undead state meant they had no body heat to protect them during them colder months, although they would thaw when temperatures grew warmer again. But it also meant animals would be scarce and most edible plant life would be dead.

Between the severe temperature drop, difficult traveling conditions due to snow and ice, and lack of food, travel would be treacherous and potentially deadly for anybody. And then it became painfully obvious what Casey had been missing the whole time, to the point when he wondered how he'd been to blind to see it: it was potentially deadly for anybody
human
.

Casey wasn't human, at least not completely. He'd already proven he could travel in grueling conditions with little food or external support. He also knew he could make the one hundred miles to the mountain range relatively easily, and he wouldn't even have to push himself as hard this time because Alexa's life wouldn't be on the line, so he could take it a little easier on himself.

He'd never seen snow before, but he knew heat and cold didn't impact him the same way it did normal humans, and he doubted the weather would make much of a difference now. Snowstorms and blizzards might be an inconvenience, if they were anything like the thunderstorms they'd encountered on the way here, but at most they'd just slow his travel; he wouldn't get sick or hurt from them the same way Alexa might.

The more he thought on the matter, the more he realized that once he got to the mountains he'd have an easier time searching than any pure human would. He'd listened to Blake and Alexa discussing the dangers of mountain searches, when they recalled old stories and news reports about lost hikers or children in the wilderness to try and remember how the mountain rangers and volunteers did it.

The mountains could be hazardous and deadly–that much Casey understood. But he had advantages that normal humans didn't. Also, he had no fear of zoms, or even opportunistic bandits; the former he could smash easily, and the latter had little hope of stopping him, no matter what weapons they brought into play.

He could do it, Casey realized. He could be there and back before serious winter even set in. he could find news, search out potential campsites, make the journey there easier on Alexa when they did set out in the future.

Maybe even give his friend hope, something to look forward to, cheer her up. It would be a viciously rough journey, even with all his numerous advantages, and maybe it was a little crazy, but so what? So maybe he wasn't intended to be a hero for the American people anymore, but that didn't mean he still couldn't do the impossible.

It was what he was made for, after all.

Chapter 16

In the end Casey decided to do it.

He spent the better part of the next two weeks working overtime, building up enough credit and trade to start collecting necessary supplies for the journey. He wouldn't need too much–food and water, mostly–although he made sure to purchase some warmer clothing just to avoid suspicion.

The commander might have covered up his unnatural displays, but that didn't mean he needed to advertise them more than necessary. People would definitely start asking questions if he wandered off into a snowstorm in nothing but his–now extremely worn–
Washington Redskins
t-shirt and cargo pants.

But most of his work overtime was for Alexa, because his friend would have to be left behind at the Base, and she wouldn't be fit to work for her own trade for a while now. So Casey did much like Alexa had back in New Avalon, establishing a line of 'credit' with the Base's commander directly.

He worked hard, often taking projects the commander specifically requested of him to utilize his strength, and earned enough in trade in return to ensure Alexa would be able to live at the base comfortably until Casey returned. And he would–there was no way he would abandon his 'sister', not for anything.

He was also careful not to tell Alexa where he was going, or what his plans were. It felt uncomfortably close to the stunt Alexa had pulled on Casey when she'd tried to run for it, but in this case Casey felt his choice was justified. He didn't want to raise Alexa's hopes or get her worked up over what could potentially be nothing, after all.

The mountain settlements might not exist after all, just like Blake repeatedly warned them about, or they might just not be the place where Alexa's family was at. Or they could be dead, or worse–there was no denying that the more gruesome possibilities were still possibilities, and Casey didn't want Alexa getting excited only for him to bring back devastating news.

He also didn't want Alexa worrying over him, and it wasn't the same as the reasoning Alexa had used before, because Casey knew he wasn't running off to die–he was going to come back, and nothing would stop him from doing so, so there was no reason to worry. Better for Casey to return with confirmed news one way or the other before he let Alexa in on the secret.

Besides–if he did find something good, it'd be a great surprise, something that would really cheer Alexa up. She could probably use a little cheering up, after everything they'd been through recently. She put on a good show of being excitable and happy, but Casey knew her well enough by now to know his friend was miserable on some level.

So he prepared everything on his own, and was careful not to tell anybody else in the colony where he was really going. When it was finally time to leave and Casey had to come up with some excuse for his extended absence, he told Alexa that he'd offered to go on a final hunting trip for the colony to collect food for winter.

Alexa looked distinctly put out about her friend being gone for potential weeks, but she didn't seem to suspect any ulterior motives. Casey repeated the same story to the medical staff as he pointedly paid them off in trade to make sure Alexa was well cared for in his absence and not harassed or threatened by other citizens or officials when he wasn't there to protect his family.

The nurses had cheerfully agreed and did not seem terribly upset with the task–most of them had come to enjoy Alexa's presence.

With everything arranged and his own supplies collected, Casey decided he'd wasted enough time. He made sure he got a decent night's sleep, and took off bright and early at dawn the next morning, in the last week of September.

The Saint Francois Mountain Range was approximately a hundred miles southwest of the Base, based on the maps Blake had supplied them with ages ago. Casey planned his route accordingly, and although he knew he could make it easily in the span of just a few days, he was careful to take it a little easier this time.

He still traveled far faster than any human could, but he paced himself and allowed himself to rest more often than he had when he'd force-marched himself for Alexa's sake. He was also careful to locate potential shelters at reasonable stopping points.

He prepared them for protection against zombies and memorized very carefully where each one was, leaving himself clues and reminders and marking them on the maps for later. He'd definitely have to come back this way to get back to the Base, after all, and it would be useful to know ahead of time where his safe zones were.

Plus, if he came through again with Alexa later on, it would be good to know where his friend could rest. Casey was all too aware now just how fragile human life could be, when conditions turned poor, and he wasn't risking those circumstances again if he could help it.

Even at a slower pace, Casey was still able to make it to the mountain range in just over a week. But that was where things became trickier, and Casey began to realize that this would be no easy task. Mountains, it turned out, were a lot bigger in person than they looked on maps, and they were tall, too–there was practically no limit to where people could hide.

It's just a scouting mission
, Casey told himself repeatedly, and after a few days he gave up on trying to search out every cave. It was simply impossible to do, and he only had so much time.

It was October now, and Casey had only collected enough credit to pay for Alexa's care and protection through the end of November–if he spent all his time searching every nook and cranny he'd be here all winter and Alexa could be in trouble. She'd be healed by then, but there was still no need for her to push herself after being so sick.

A week later he gave up even more, and resigned himself to broad sweeps and searches, often risking jumping into a tree and potentially being spotted in favor of getting a better lay of the land. A week after that Casey began to realize how daunting the task really was, when the only humanoids he'd encountered had been the walking dead, and there was still no hint of the living.

He was sure the only reason he hadn't gotten lost in the mountains was due to his orientating from the trees–without that he was sure he'd have long since lost his way and been destined to die of starvation or zom attack. Or maybe the cold–he thought it was probably quite cold, the way his breath misted in the mornings and some afternoons.

He was glad he kept his decision to go hunting for Alexa's family to himself, because at this rate he was going to have nothing to show for it, and Alexa would definitely be disappointed then.

In the end, well into his third week of October, it was sheer dumb luck that let him catch any sort of lead at all. There had been a light dusting of snow overnight, and Casey had woken from his perch in the fork of a large tree to find himself covered in white powder, much to his bewilderment.

His breath was even more visible than usual, and the sky looked almost blindingly clear, without a hint of a cloud in sight, which made the entire skyline look particularly sharp and empty. That was the only reason Casey caught it at all: the faint wisp of smoke, trailing from behind the trees many miles distant. That could mean a campfire–and that would mean people.

Re-energized, Casey barely spared time to wolf down a few bites of food before making his way for the smoke. It vanished within a few hours, but Casey had marked the location carefully in his mind and made for it unerringly.

The closer he came the more signs he saw of potential human habitation: footprints, precise and non-dragging, areas where trees had clearly been marked or carefully cut back, and well-hidden signs of platforms above or strung wires and traps to act as early warning signals. There were definitely people here. The question was, were they friendly?

It was close to mid-afternoon when he finally came across them. A small band of people were trying to fend off a pack of zombies that had gotten past the tripwires and alarms. There were only about ten of them, but the people were having trouble with them all the same, and looked frantic and desperate.

Casey didn't even think about it before leaping into the fray, almost casually beating them to death with a tree limb he'd broke off a tree moments before. After taking out more than thirty dead heads in the dark when Alexa was in danger, beating ten of the things in broad daylight was almost laughably easy.

When he confirmed all the zoms in the area were dead, he turned to the people and said without any preamble, “Hey. I'm looking for somebody. Do you guys have a camp around here?”

The group looked stunned, and one woman stammered, “W-w-what are you?”