Read American Revenant (Book 2): Settlers and Sorrow Online

Authors: John L. Davis IV

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American Revenant (Book 2): Settlers and Sorrow (2 page)

BOOK: American Revenant (Book 2): Settlers and Sorrow
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Chapter 2

            Gordy
stood on the beach watching until he could no longer see the boats.  It took
him nearly as long to calm the rapid hammering of his heart.  He kept running
the entire scenario over in his head, examining it from every angle to see if
there could have been a different outcome.  He could picture only two.  Either
he could have denied all contact with them or he could have shot them all on
sight. 

            To
deny all contact with anyone outside of his group of survivors was an
uncomfortable thought to him.  People would have to come together to beat back
not just the zombies that now plagued the world but also the darkness.  It
would be up to good people, strong people, to remake and rebuild. 

            While
he found the idea of isolationism unpleasant, he knew he would never be able to
bring himself to shoot others on sight just to avoid the difficulties it might
present.  Life was often conflict and resolution; he just hoped that every time
he and his people were face to face with someone new that it would not always
be conflict first.

            “Hey
man, you ok?” 

            Gordy
turned to see Mike carrying a small silver-colored flask.  “Yeah, I’m fine. 
Hoping that every time we meet someone it’s not going to be like that.”

            Mike
handed Gordy the flask, “Have a pull on this, may help calm your nerves a bit. 
After that, I think we could all use it.” 

            Gordy
took the flask, taking a quick swallow.  The harsh liquor hit the back of his
throat, making him cough, but the heat going down felt good.  “Damn, what is
that?”

            “That,
my friend, is moonshine, the real stuff.  Not bad once you get past the burn. 
I packed a jar of it, hated to leave it behind.”

            “I
couldn’t drink it all the time, but it isn’t bad.  Did you make it?”

            “No,
a guy I used to know made it.  I would trade him homemade beer for this
stuff.” 

            “We’re
going to have to set up a still if we can ever get settled somewhere.  Alcohol
like that would be great for trading.  That is if we can find a place to
permanently settle, and if anyone is willing to trade and not just take what
they want.”

            “Good
idea, but for the moment let’s focus on getting everyone safe and secure.”

****

            Everyone
sat huddled around the campfire later that evening.  Families snuggled
together, drawing comfort from their closeness.  Parents did not want to let
their children more than an arm’s length from them, and the children, for once,
did not complain about being smothered by the adults. 

            Rick
Tillerman had propped himself up on a log in front of his tent, enjoying the
light and warmth of the fire.  Tyler Tanner sat next to him, head against
Rick’s shoulder.  Trish stayed close to her little brother, while still keeping
others at a distance. 

            It
broke Rick’s heart to see these once vibrant, laughing children broken and
silent.  Allen and Mary Tanner’s brutal deaths had scarred the children far
beyond anything Rick could help them with. 

            He
would often wake at night breathing hard, the sight of his friend’s bodies full
of bullet holes, bleeding and gory, filling his dreams with blood.  He had felt
ashamed of his reaction to finding them, vomiting right outside the shed.  Rick
had seen bloody and dead bodies in his time in combat, many of them close
friends and fellow soldiers.  He had seen human bodies torn to pieces from
roadside bombs, bodies that were barely identifiable as human remains.  He
could only attribute his reaction to shock. 

            Rick
had served with pride and honor, but there had come a time when leaving felt
more right than staying.  With honorable discharge papers in hand he tried to
leave the battle where he found it, but it had followed him home, as it does
with all soldiers. 

            Rick
returned to Hannibal, took a factory job and kept his head down.  He had few
personal relationships, preferring to keep to himself.  Romance was difficult
for him, getting that close to anyone meant letting them in.  He knew what was
inside him, the horrors of war and leftovers of combat life.  He did not like
looking at those parts of himself, letting someone else see them terrified him.

            Allen
Tanner was the first person since returning home that he developed a close
friendship with.  Despite Rick’s efforts to keep him at arm’s length, Allen was
persistent in his offers to join him for a beer or come to barbeques.  Rick
gave in, and over time they bonded, becoming good friends.  Slowly, Rick became
a part of a family. 

            Tyler
and Trish would never want for anything as long as he could provide it.  He
would keep them safe and care for them as if they were his own children.  He
owed that much and more to Allen and Mary, who invited him not just into their
home, but into their family.

            “Hey
Rick, you want to get in on this conversation?”

            Rick
had not been following the talk around the campfire, and Jack pulled him out of
silent contemplation into the conversation.

            “Uh,
yeah, what are we talking about?”

            “Were
you sleeping with your eyes open again?” Jack asked.  “We’re talking about long
term living arrangements.”

            “Tam
was right that we needed to get out here, on the river, when she first
suggested it,” Sam said, “but this won’t do for the long term.  Winter will be
coming soon, staying out here for that will be a death sentence just as much as
if we had stayed in town.”

            “So
what are our options, or do we even have any at the moment?” Rick asked.

            “Well,
not many options,” Jimmy answered, “especially if we want to stay close to the
river.  Which I think we should, by the way.  Saverton is obviously right there
across the river, on down there’s the Ted Shanks conservation area.  Ted
Shanks’ has that headquarters building, but it sits right out in the open. 
Lots of land out there, farmable and a lot of hunting land too.  It just
depends on how far we want to go and what we want to be there when we show up.”

            “I
don’t think we’re in a hurry here, not like when we left Hannibal.  We have
more than a few days to figure this out.”  Gordy looked around the fire,
engaging everyone.  “We know winter is on its way, we also know that staying
out here on this river during the cold simply won’t cut it.

            “For
me personally, I don’t think we should travel too much.  Finding a place close,
maybe buried in the woods with a few buildings, would be ideal.  We have the
know-how and manpower to make something defensible, we just need the right
place.”

            “So,
you’re saying you want Camp Oko Tipi, which we could probably hit with a rock
from here.”

            Gordy
gave Mike a puzzled look for a moment before it dawned on him what he was
talking about.  “You mean that kid’s camp, off Saverton road?  I had forgotten
about that place.”

            “It’s
not really a kid’s camp, more like a family camp.  You could rent the place out
for a day or a week, take your families there.  Place had a ball-field, pool, a
bunch of little cabins spread out all over.  Lisa and I have taken the kids on
a few hayrides out there; Jimmy’s been out with us before.”

            “Oh,
I remember,” Tamara said, “we talked about renting it for a weekend sometime. 
Get a bunch of us to go in on it together so it would be a lot less expensive. 
We all liked it out there quite a bit, didn’t we Jimmy?”

            Jimmy
nodded his head, thinking for a moment before answering.  “Yeah, we did like
it.  The hayrides were fun.  There were little propane tanks out there at the
cabins, as well as the larger meeting hall place.  The entire place is almost
completely surrounded by deep woods.”

            Jimmy
went quite, losing himself in thought while everyone kept talking around him. 
He thought that they might be able to make it work at that Camp.  It was close,
housing already available, and with a little work they should be able to defend
it fairly easily.

            “I
think we should go check it out, just a few of us.  See if anyone else has
moved in, or if we can even defend the place.  Probably wouldn’t hurt to start
scouting out Saverton anyway.”

            “Yeah,
I agree,” Gordy said.  “Saverton is small, probably less than one hundred
people, so scouting it now might be a good idea.  We can decide on who’s going
over tomorrow morning, I’m going to get some sleep.”

            Slowly
the camp quieted as people went to their tents.  Restless children dozed
fitfully, their dreams plagued by unseen things.  Parents held them close,
hoping to calm the sleeping fears that haunted their little ones.  Many of the
group would not sleep until exhaustion took them.

 

Chapter 3

            The
camp woke early and easily.  No matter how tired people were, everyone was
always up with the dawn.  The last people to stand guard had started a fresh
pot of coffee just before daylight, so that the earliest to creep from their
tents had a cup waiting for them. 

            Once
everyone was awake, with a cup of coffee in them, the group gathered around the
fire to decide on who was going across the river to Saverton and Camp Oko Tipi
for the initial scouting mission.

            Mike
and Jack were both staying at the camp, since they had stood final guard duty
that night.  Calvin wanted to complete the platform at the other end of the
island, and had asked his sister Anna to help.

            It
was decided that Jimmy, Gordy, Rick, and Sam would go over, until Lisa said,
“Oh bullshit.  Why is it always the men that go?”

            Mike
looked hard at his wife, shaking his head.  “Don’t start on this, Lisa.  It has
nothing to do with being sexist, and you know it.”

            “No,
I don’t know it.  Every time a group of people have to go somewhere it’s always
the men.  You can’t tell me that isn’t being sexist.”  She looked at Gordy, as
if demanding an explanation from him.

            “It’s
not sexist in any way, Lisa.  It has to do with skill and training, nothing
more.”

            “I’ve
spent nearly as much time at the range as Mike, and most of you.  I can
out-shoot half of you.” 

            Gordy
took a breath before speaking, “Sam spent three years in the Sheriff’s
department, and four more years on the Hannibal Police force.  Rick is
ex-military, with combat experience.   Jimmy is ex-military, though he never
saw combat.  Dean is skilled in martial arts as well as firearms.  Your husband
has run through countless drills with us, as has Dean.  I’m telling you it has nothing
to do with being a woman, Lisa.”

            Lisa
glared back at Gordy, then at her husband.  Just as she opened her mouth to
continue arguing Mike said, “Let her go.”

            Everyone
looked at him, not sure if he was serious or not. 

            “Everyone
has to handle surviving in this crapped out world now, so she might as well
go.”  Mike looked at his friends, “If one of you doesn’t mind staying back that
is.”

            After
a brief moment of silence, Sam said he would stay back so Lisa could go.  He
was not going admit that he did not like it, that he felt that women should be
back at the camp while the men did the dirty work.  He knew it was an
old-fashioned notion, but he couldn’t help it.  Was he being chivalrous letting
her go in his place or was he trying to force chivalry on the females of the
group by thinking that their place was at the hearth while the men hunted and
gathered?  He gave up thinking about it; it was giving him a headache. 

            “Thanks,
Sam.  Babe, you better gear up.  Don’t want to be late for the boat.” 

            Lisa
looked at her husband, glad that he wasn’t arguing with her about this.  She
wanted to go, wanted to prove that she was just as effective and important as
the men.  Not to the group, but to herself.

            Mike
looked back at his wife, holding her eyes while he spoke over his shoulder,
“Hey Jimmy, don’t let my wife get bit.  That’s my job.”

            “Your
job is what, to let her get bit or to do the biting?”  Jimmy was smiling hugely
as he said it.

            Mike
glanced at his closest friend, grinning back at him.   “Jimmy, you’re a bit of
a dick, you know that?”

            “So
I’ve been told.”

            The
scouting party dispersed, each gathering the gear they would take, including
the daypack they always carried when more than a few feet from camp.  It was a
suggestion that had quickly become a hard and fast rule.  Your daypack went
everywhere you did, no matter what.  Each kit held: water, food, small handgun,
ammunition, knife, and a fire starter.  This was the most basic kit; everyone
carried one, including the children though their kits did not have the
handgun. 

            Everyone
met down by the boats, and goodbyes were quick.  Lisa had slung a SOG Kukri
over her back, like a short sword.  She wore her Kel-Tech 9mm on her right hip,
and a hunting knife on her left.  She carried Mike’s suppressed DPMS Oracle on
a one-point sling.

            The
jon-boat they would take across the river was pushed out and ready.  The
scouting party climbed aboard and waved to those watching from the shore.  It
took Jimmy a few good pulls on the starter rope to get the motor to cough into
uneasy life.  He easily turned the boat towards the river, leaving those on the
island behind.

BOOK: American Revenant (Book 2): Settlers and Sorrow
13.1Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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