American Revenant (Book 2): Settlers and Sorrow (21 page)

Chapter
30

            Gordy
leaned against the front bumper of the old Dodge truck Jonathan had left them. 
He, Jimmy, Rick and Mike had parked on the overpass near Frankford, and they
all looked south down Highway 61, towards Bowling Green.  They could see thick
black smoke far in the distance.

            “Think
Bowling Green is on fire?” Mike asked.

            “Looks
like it could be,” Gordy answered.

            “Gordy,
do you really think we need to go out there, to Bowling Green and Louisiana,
and farther, looking for more people?”

            “I
do, Rick, really.  If we want to rebuild something of the American heartland
we’re going to need people to do it.”

            “More
people means more trouble, more bastards like Richard,” Jimmy growled.

            “It
does, and that’s something we’ll have to deal with, but not everyone out there
is bad people, Jimmy.  Guys, I believe that it’s vitally important that we go
out and look for others.  Not just because we need people, but because we need
skills. 

            “Jan
can do a lot, but I would love to find a doctor, especially a surgeon, for
those things she’s not able to handle.  We need people with engineering
experience, both mechanical and electrical, because I think with the right
materials we might be able to get electricity back up

            “We
can all garden, but what do any of us know about large-scale farming, or animal
husbandry?  Yes, we have a small library of books that we can get a lot of that
knowledge from, but wouldn’t life be that much easier if we had people that
were already familiar with it?

            “We
can survive, this group, this family that we have now.  I have no doubt about
that.  We’re strong and capable, and because of that we can survive.  But I
want to do more than survive.  For you guys, for all of us, I want to make
something more.”

            “I
understand, Gordy, I really do, we all do, but it’s going to be rough out
there,” Mike said.  “We haven’t been back to Hannibal yet, and there’s no
telling what we’d find there.  But imagine getting closer to a city.  We can
handle zombies without much trouble, because we don’t usually find more than a
few at a time, but what happens when we get close to an area that used to be
densely populated?”

            “Everything
out there is an unknown, Gordo,” Jimmy said.  “You think we need to go out
there and find more people?  Fine, I’m with you, you know that, but we need to
be smart, get ourselves ready.  Ready means more guns, more ammo, and I really
wish we had an MRAP or two, or even better, a tank.”

            “I’m
with Jimmy on that, Gordy.  If we’re going out there,” Rick said, sweeping his
arm in the direction of the black smoke, “then having some armored vehicles and
heavier guns would be ideal.” 

            “That
makes me wonder if anyone has been able to get into the National Guard Armory
in Hannibal.  If I remember correctly, there wasn’t even time for most states
to mobilize their Guard units when everything went to shit, it all happened so
damn fast.”

            Gordy
and the others looked at Mike.  “So you think we should go back to Hannibal
before we move farther out?” Gordy asked him.

            “If
there’s a chance that no one has gotten in to the Armory, then I say we
should.  And if someone has, then we see if they deserve to keep it.”

            Gordy
looked at Mike for a moment before asking, “See if they deserve to keep it?”

            “Would
you leave that kind of stuff in the hands of people that would use it to hurt
others, or even worse, attack the Camp, if they found out it was there?  You
keep talking about finding others, and rebuilding, and I think part of that is
pulling the masks off monsters.”

            The
other three men thought about Mike’s words and they knew he was right. 
Fighting back against those that would do harm would not always be enough.  To
defend against evil, they would sometimes have to take the fight
to
it.

            Jimmy
interrupted their silent contemplation when he said, “Zombies at six ‘o clock.”

            Weapons
coming up, the other men turned to see what Jimmy was talking about.

            Three
gut-suckers were shuffling down the highway, drawn to the sound of voices.  Their
rotting limbs lifted slowly when they came close enough to see the men standing
by the vehicles, fingers twitching, hands grasping at the air.

            Mike
shouldered his rifle and took aim, sighting on the first zombie, watching the
rotting face for a moment.  “I know I’ve seen this movie before,” he quipped.

            Gordy,
Rick, and even Jimmy laughed at Mike’s remark, even as they all brought their
rifles to bear on the approaching dead.   Together the men fired their first
shots of the day.

           
People, Places, and Things

You survived!  I hope you enjoyed American Revenant:
Settlers and Sorrow.  Looking forward to the next book?  Me too, so check out
the following links to stay updated on the series, or just to start a
conversation, (I love to talk books). 
Facebook
,
Twitter
,
American Revenant Series website
. You can also subscribe
here
to receive updates on the American
Revenant series direct to your email inbox.

The following links are to people, places and things I
think are wonderful, and that you may enjoy as well.  Check them out, Like, Follow,
let them know I sent you.

http://www.tigcarson.com/
- Go here, get A Space Story, read
it and fall in love with a great book!  Tig is an awesome guy, too, so say Hi
to him. (Do you recognize that title? If not, check Chapter 19)

https://twitter.com/fox_emm
- Not only is she a wonderful
writer, Fox_Emm is also a champion for the indie/self-published author. 

http://zadf.org/
- A wonderful site for all things Zombie and Horror.

https://twitter.com/ZombieManifesto
- Need more Zombies?  Check out the
Zombie Manifesto!

https://twitter.com/DeadReviews
- The ZombieCast podcast is the most
fun you can have sitting in chair with your pants still on!  A great cast, as
well as an awesome group of people.

https://twitter.com/RJARome
- A very cool guy who’s in some
movies and stuff.

https://www.facebook.com/emily.jemphotographics-
Emily is the excellent artist that
delivered another amazing cover.  She’s great to work with.  If you need some
design or graphic work done, give her a look.

http://geekyantics.net
– Great fun for the geeky guy in all
of us.  Visit the site and join the G.A.N.G.

http://zombieresearchsociety.com/
- This is one of the best sites, and
groups, out there for those who love all things Zombie!

http://planettees.com/home/
- Need a shirt?  Have your own
design you’d like to see people wearing?  This is the site for you.

            I
won’t take up any more of your time.  Thanks for reading American Revenant:
Settlers and Sorrow, and thank you for supporting the people and places I’ve
listed here.