Death Has Fallen: Freedom Rock Chronicles: Book 1 (8 page)

              The fire burst into flames quickly and I could feel it pushing back the cold slowly at first.  After a few minutes the fire grew warming me and seeing this the other two joined me.  It took a while before the chill of last night was replaced by the warmth of the fire.  We ate another can of corn mainly for the energy so we could cover a lot of ground today.  Once again sharing the can equally and now having quite a bit of clean water with us we set off thankful to live safely through the night.

              Once we covered a mile or so the physical activity warmed us.  We were a bit exhausted from the exertion, but happy we no longer laid on the cold ground.  The journey was full of thick woods forcing us to take our time navigating.  Even though the brush was thick we still put mile after mile behind us.  We began climbing a large hill.  The incline was not very steep, but forced us to slow our pace so we didn’t pass out from exhaustion.  Stopping only a couple times we reached the top and were thrilled to see a highway passing through the valley ahead.  With the excitement that we may be one step closer to our goal we were also fearful of more undead.

              Taking a short break before the trek down the mountain we drank one of the gallon bags we had filled earlier dry.  Slowly we descended the hill and began walking down towards the road.  The area on this side of the hill was not nearly as thick with brush and trees making our journey a bit easier.  The sky had an oceanic blue quality without a cloud in sight.  As we came closer to the road our party immediately became noticeably quieter.  The road was lifeless, but this did little to ease our worry.

              Stepping foot on the road was a joyful experience.  We were all feeling as if the quarry was finally within reach.  All of us began walking down the right side of the road thankful to be out of the bushes.  The flat land made travel easier and without any trace of undead, Jaime sparked up a conversation.

              “What do you think the quarry will be like?” She asked quietly.

              “I hope full of good people, safe from the disease, and still somewhat civilized,” I smiled thinking about the chance at a life without violence.

              “I would love it if they had real food.  Steak, baked potato, and a fresh garden salad.  Perhaps my expectations are a little high, but I can hope.” It was easy to tell Jaime was smiling, happy in her own little world as the thought of such delicacies crossed her mind.

              “No blood, no death, no hate, would be what I want.  Just being able to live without the horrors we have now would be wonderful.” Amanda finally joined in.

              “Maybe we could build our own little house within.  Finally safe from all this.” As I finished my sentence I raised my arms gesturing towards all that surrounded us.

              “How much further do you think it is?” Jaime asked.

              “We have to be getting close.  When we left the last town we made it quite a ways before we had to get out.  Denver can only be 60 or so miles away so the quarry should be coming up within the next 10 miles maybe 20 miles.” I tried sounding confident, even though I couldn’t remember exactly how far we had come past the town.  I figured after the last town we drove a little over an hour knocking seventy or eighty miles out of the 100 mile goal.  Even though we had not walked north the entire time, I figured we still have gone at the very least 10 miles and possibly even 20.

              “That sounds about right,” Amanda said gently seeming much happier now that we were within reach of safety.

              Within reach of our goal the entire group seemed to be revitalized.  It is amazing to see what hope can give a person even when everything is screaming stop.  I checked the compass and the road was heading in the right direction.  It was not directly north, but close enough to get us closer to the quarry.  Most of the trip was peaceful giving us time to contemplate our situation.  Every couple of miles we would see a car stopped by the side of the road, but no one in it or around it.

              After putting a few miles behind us, I froze when I saw the chaos down the road.  There was a building on far with people walking around the blaze.  I knew the only way we were going to find the quarry was by sticking with the road, but we couldn’t walk through that area until we knew if those    people were infected or normal.  I am not sure when it happened, but it seemed I had become the undeclared leader of our little group.  I realized this when Amanda came up slowly behind me and whispered, “What should we do?”

              After staring for a minute, I turned around and Jaime was looking to me for guidance as well. I told them we would go into the forest, but stay within sight of the road.  We needed to investigate the area ahead without attracting any unnecessary attention.

              Walking into the forest once again we all seemed a little disappointed.  Advancing through a wooded area is much more difficult than following a nice flat road, but the woods offered safety the road could not.  As we came upon the fire there seemed to be screams.  The closer we got the more clear the screaming became.  It was not people being torn apart, or burning alive.  The screams were of men ecstatic.  With the screams gunfire echoed throughout the forest.  We were finally within visual range and were shocked at what we saw.  A group of fifteen or so men had a pile of bodies all burning in the center of the road.  They all looked extremely well geared and all of them were in cowboy gear. 

              In my previous life I had not much experience with cowboys mainly sticking with geeks and gamers.  One thing I did know about them though was real cowboys should be respected.  They lived honorably, not causing pain where it wasn’t due.  They were the few that stuck up for what was right.  They also knew how to kick ass when there was ass needing kicked.  I began walking toward the group and instantly Julie grabbed my arm pulling me back.

              “What are you doing?” She asked with a terrified look in her face.

              For the first time I saw the damage those two awful men inflicted on this poor girl.  Confidently I assured her they would not hurt her and to keep her gun at the ready if that made her feel better.  Looking at me I could see the trust in her eyes, something I was very glad to earn.  We began making our way through the forest towards the mound of death in front of us.  Even with the good time these men were having burning bodies of the dead, they were keenly aware of their environment.  As soon as we stepped out of the tree line giving an unobstructed view between them and us one of the men yelled “Company,” my guess is that was a universal sign for danger.

              They looked at the man yelling to see where the danger lurked.  As they saw us every man pointed either a large hunting rifle or pistol at us.  Amanda and I held our hands up to signify we meant no harm.  Julie a little unsure of the situation kept her gun in her hands, but pointed it at the ground.

                Another scream came out from the group, “Halt!” I was unsure who gave the order, but we all complied.  Seeing they had not given us the same courtesy of lowering their weapons I placed my hand behind me on the handle of my .357.  Amanda did the same with her 9 millimeter.  As we did this the group approaching screamed “stop, show us your hands.”

              The large pistol in the back of my waistband boosted my courage allowing me to answer, “We are not a threat nor infected so lower your guns.”

              The group looked around noticing they all had their guns pointed in our direction.  A few seconds or so past till one of the larger gentlemen who seemed to be in a leadership role made a motion to those behind him to lower their weapons. They were only twenty or so feet away all of them nervously pointing their guns towards the ground.  The large man who gave them the order walked up close to our little group.

              “Are you guys insane? What the hell are you doing out in this area alone?” He asked shocked anyone could survive with such a meager group.

              “We came up this way because we heard the stories of a quarry that was considered a safe haven from the infection.” I said with hope they would know something about it.

              “No shit,” The man spit black on the ground after finishing his statement then turned facing the group.

              “Looks like word about our little town has grown and we have some new recruits,” the man said to his group.

              At this the entire group seemed to be enthused.  Understanding that the rational normal healthy people were becoming more and more a commodity rather than the norm. 

              “The three of you look like you can handle yourselves.  We have a higher need for men rather than women since the men tend to die more frequently, but anyone willing to work is welcome in the quarry.”

              I stuck out my hand responding, “Thank god we found you, my name is Jake.  Jake Olsen”

Chapter 10

              Shaking my hand he told me his name was Ted Barnes and started filling me in on their situation.  Yes they had a quarry under their control, but a safe haven it wasn’t.  They had been attacked frequently, usually by large hordes of undead rather than easy to kill stragglers.  They were in desperate need for anyone who was willing to help defend what they built and were willing to give protection.  Amanda, Jaime, and I jumped in the back of a truck finally getting a break from the labor of walking.

              As we continued along the road with the wind in our hair I sat absolutely stunned.  I had feared the men would be desperate for any and all females, but they looked at me as if I were the prize.  This had gone against the majority of horror literature I read and movies watched.  It then came to me that the only reason they did that was for the fear factor.  It made sense that if there was an extreme danger the men of our species since they would jump at any threat imposed to their partner and would be willing to die for them given the need.  Every Great War in American history has led to more male deaths than female.  I would guess this would fall into line with most countries in the world since the armies are filled with men.  It was very interesting that women would have to worry more about finding a man rather than being the victim of sexual assault.

              The thought gave me great relief in worrying about the protection of my two traveling companions.  I also knew that in Amanda’s case she would fight or work and Jaime with her ever optimistic attitude would be found as a productive member rather than a burden to our new society.  Ted joined us on the drive and began telling us about some of the rules the community had put in place.  The first one he seemed to stress the importance of.

              “The most important thing you need to understand is in our town we have no jail or punishment.  If you are a thief, liar, murderer, rapist, or anything else we either kill you where you stand or kick your ass out of our town.”  He looked down as if contemplating what he just said.  Sadness came over his face and I could see the regret in his eyes.

              “Either way it is pretty much a guaranteed death.  In the beginning we tried to establish some remnant of the criminal justice system, but with so little space and in an area so dangerous we were unable to realistically impose anything even close to what we had.  Understand we do not throw you out for a simple mistake and if the offense is minor we let you choose between an extra work detail or banishment.  It may not be the best system out there, but from the stories I have heard our system is not the most gruesome either.”  He looked down the road, finished speaking for the moment.

              “There are more places like yours then?” I asked.

              “Well sure there are, the human species can’t be snuffed out like a candle.  We are some hard headed sons of bitches.”  He smiled as he said this and the two other man laughed in agreement.  Down the road a ways there was a large sign made out wood with a massive letters stating “Freedom Rock Quarry” and in smaller letters under it said “Welcome Travelers”.  It was nice that the good feelings I had meeting Ted were reaffirmed with the sign. The sign had a large arrow pointing right.  We turned off on a dirt road that brought us a through dense forest. 

              The ride was extremely bumpy and I almost flew out of the truck a couple times.  I glanced over to Amanda and Jaime who both seemed to be having a difficult time staying in the back of the truck as it barreled down the busted up dirt road.  Amazement glazed over my face as the quarry came into view.  The wall surrounding the quarry stood at least fifteen feet high and was an assortment of flat metal pieces scavenged from an array of busted up vehicles and structures.  The large door was made out of chain link and on the outside two guards stood in normal looking clothes with large rifles.  They walked out to the convoy acknowledging Ted first then seeing us asked, “Found some stragglers huh?”

              Ted just shook his head in agreement then calmly asked, “Any more attacks today since this morning?”

              The man shook his head no then replied, “No attacks, but our scouts have seen more dead walking south from Denver.”

              “We will need to have a meeting discussing how to improve our defenses and minimize casualties.”

              After speaking the guard turned around yelling into the wall, “All clear open up.”

              The chain link fence rose straight in the air sticking up above the wall allowing enough room for the trucks to get by.  The road in stopped shortly after the gate forcing us to get out and walk through our new home.  Seeing the makeshift town the girls and I were blown away.  There were people all over doing an array of normal everyday tasks.  Both women and men were pounding on houses, cleaning their laundry, cooking food, working on the city walls, and doing other tasks you would see in a town two hundred years earlier.  Again I was surprised at how outnumbered the men were.  When the towns people saw us pull up they looked pleased.  The quarry was at least a half mile by half mile dug out a bit more for the town.  The wall in the front was a bit deceiving since a lot of the wall only stood seven or eight feet high allowing dead to possibly jump over depending on their size and strength.