Generation Dead (Book 3): Beyond The Gates (10 page)

Chapter 23

About midafternoon we came across a large structure on the side of the road.  The sign read ‘Togwotee Mountain Lodge’, and it was a large, two story structure that looked like it had seen better days.  A large portion of the side was burned out, and black timbers poked out from the remains of the fire.  Through the trees I could see several cabins tucked away, but none of them looked like it would be a good idea to stay in them.

“Yea or Nay?” Jake asked.

Kayla quickly said nay and pointed to the building.  Stumbling out of the lodge were three zombies, two of which had half their bodies burned away, leaving skeletal arms and ribs sticking out.  The other was a bit fresher, telling us that the first two had gotten hold of the third when it was still living.  Not a fun barbeque.  I wondered if the fire was started by the victim or the previous owners?  Maybe I was looking at the previous owners. Who knew?

“Moving on,” Jake said, stepping on the gas and leaving the lodge behind. Tall pine trees surrounded the road, and I hoped we wouldn’t find any obstacle as we left the crunchy twins behind.

We couldn’t see much because of the trees, which blocked our sight of the mountains.  The only view we had was to the front, and the mountains up there looked truly daunting. The road curved this way and that, and then suddenly we were on an open area, looking out to mountains to the south on the other side of a valley.

The valley looked beautiful until one looked closely.  Then the truth finally came out.

“Look down there,” I said, pointing to the valley.

“Oh, my god.  How many do you think there are?” Julia asked.

“Best guess?  Thousands.” I looked back out the window into beauty and horror.  Above, the mountains were beautiful against a backdrop of blue sky and white clouds.  Below, the valley was home to hundreds, if not thousands of slowly walking zombies.  We had wondered where they were, and suddenly we knew.  The sides of the mountains were too steep for them to navigate, and they couldn’t reach the road from where they were for the same reason.  So they milled about the valley, waiting for something to come to them.  Eventually they would rot to pieces and stop moving, but even then they would be dangerous. 

We drove along the side of the mountain, and I wondered aloud if we were ever going to descend where they could get to us.

“I’ll try to stop before then,” Jake said sarcastically.

“Maybe you should let Kayla drive,” Julia retorted.

“Not yet,” Jake said.  “Not yet.”

We passed over a bridge, and I could see the fast moving water underneath.  My fears were stilled as I realized that the zombies wouldn’t cross that, and if they tried, they’d be swept downstream in a second.

On the other side of the bridge was Blackrock Ranger Station, and Jake decided to pull in for a break.  The van crunched on the gravel as the sun began casting long shadows with the trees. The ranger station was a simple, one-story building, with a single entrance in the front facing the road. The building was solidly built, with a stone foundation that reached up over three feet from the ground. A small lean-to served as a cover for a signboard outside the structure, and two small outbuildings flanked the rear of the station. 

From the outside, things looked normal, but as we learned fast, nothing was usually as it seemed.  The small building nearest the road was open, and there was a dark look about the entrance.  I nodded my head in that direction and asked the group the obvious question.

“Any takers?” I knew what the answer was but had to ask anyway.

“All yours, Aaron.  Be careful. Julia and I will check out the other one,” Kayla said sweetly.

I shrugged. “All right.  Jake, you get the big building.  Watch your ass.”

“That’s
my
job, brother-in-law,” Kayla said, with an affectionate swat on Jake’s rear, making him give her a half smile. Julia laughed at Jake’s discomfiture, and the two sauntered off, leaving the two of us men again.

I walked down the worn path to the small log cabin at the edge of the station property.  It was a little  building, not much bigger than twenty feet on a side, but it looked like it was used as a residence for the rangers when they used to be assigned here.  Two windows were seen from my side, and they were both covered by heavy shutters, which actually functioned as shutters.  If I had to guess, the winters here were fierce.  As I got closer I began to notice a lot of things that began to concern me.

The shutters were dinged up pretty badly, as if someone had hammered at them for a long time.  As I got closer, I could see what looked like scratches in the wood.  Some of the wood had been picked away, and I thought I saw what looked like teeth marks.

Walking around the building, I saw the same marks everywhere.  If I had to make a guess, I’d say the zombies had trapped someone inside, and they spent all of their time trying to get in.  With the door open, either the person inside out-waited them and left, or the zombies finally broke in.

Stepping to the door, I stooped and picked up a stone.  Tossing it in the cabin, I waited to see if it caused a reaction. 

Nothing.  Next part of the plan was to go in.  I pulled out my sword and let it lead the way, stepping into the cabin and letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.  Inside the cabin was neat, if a little dusty from the door being open.  There was some interesting mold growing out of the kitchen, and I was careful not to disturb it.  The cabin was laid out with a little living room, a small kitchen with a dining area, a bathroom down the hall, and a bedroom.  It was in the bedroom I found the man.  He was laying on the bed and had been there for a long time.  The gun in his hand and the splatter on the wall told the story.  His ranger uniform had faded from time, but the man died well.  The look on his face was one of peace, not pain.  I took the gun from his hand and folded his arms over his chest, not an easy task as he was pretty stiff.  Covering him with the blanket on the bed, I left the man alone.

Back in the living room, I looked down at the gun I had retrieved, and was surprised to see it was an old-fashioned silver-plated, engraved Colt Single Action. I checked the cylinder and saw it was loaded only with the one spent round.  Ejecting the casing, I looked at the gun for a second and went back to the room.  A quick look found the case the gun came in, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found a second Colt that matched the first one in there.  Placing the used one back, I took the case out with a small gesture of thanks to the man who chose his own route to the grave.

Outside, I walked back up the path to the Ranger station.  Jake and Julia were waiting for me.

“Anything?” Jake asked, looking at the case.

“The last ranger on duty when the crap hit the fan,” I said.  “Killed himself before the zombies could get to him.  Looks like they must have surrounded him for a while before they got in.  Found these in there.” I showed the two revolvers to Jake, who nodded appreciatively. 

“Not the best choice for fighting zombies, but pretty.  What did you want to do with them?” Jake asked.

“Don’t know.  Figured I’d bring them back with us to Starved Rock, maybe display them, maybe give them to the old men, since they’re pretty much two of a kind as well,.” I said.

Jake snorted.  “And how.  They’d probably like that.”

“Where’s Kayla?” I asked.

Julia pointed to the station.  “She had to use the bathroom. She’ll be along.”

“Gotcha.  I’m going to put these away.  I’ll see you at the van.”  I walked back to the van, and as I got there I thought I heard something.  For a minute I thought I was imagining it. But after a second, I heard it again. It was a low, humming noise, like someone was running a small engine far away, maybe on the other side of the mountain.  I couldn’t be sure.  I shrugged to myself.  Maybe I was hearing things.

The trio of delinquents wandered up the path, and I asked them if they heard anything.

“What, like a small engine humming or something like that?” Julia asked?”

“Yes!  Just like that.”

“Sure.  Heard it twice before you came out of the cabin.  Not sure what it could be.”

Jake replied, “Might be some sort of engine, but who knows with these mountains?  There’s back roads all over the place, and cabins buried way the hell back in places even zombies won’t go. Remember the old guy Dad talked about when they finished at Denver?”

I nodded at the memory.  “Yeah, he talked about how he and his friends weren’t going to come down from the mountain no matter how many zombies wandered around.  Maybe it’s them. Well, whatever.  Let’s get moving and find a place to stay for the night.  It’s getting dark, and all I’m thinking about is a valley full of zombies right now.”

“In that case, I’ll drive,” said Kayla, slipping into the driver’s seat ahead of Jake.  Jake scowled but accepted the situation.  Kayla was the better driver, after all.

Chapter 24

Back on the road, we surprised ourselves when we saw that there was a resort just up the street from the ranger station.  Hatchet Resort sounded like a place that could successfully repel a zombie horde, but a quick drive through the parking lot showed otherwise. The main lodge was destroyed, with doors ripped off and windows smashed in.  The other buildings looked the same. Stacks of corpses and skeletons piled up near each entry, and it was obvious that someone had made a stand here before falling.  We didn’t bother to check the inside, we knew what it was going to look like. A single car parked in front of the restaurant, oddly out of place.

“May as well check it for gas,” Jake said, leaning over and looking at our gauge.  We were still at about a half a tank, so we were good for a bit, but he was right, it wouldn’t hurt.

Kayla stopped, and Julia and I got out.  I went over to the car carefully and looked around.  It didn’t seem like the owners were still around, and then I saw the back seat. 

“Aw, damn,” I said quietly.

Julia looked up from the gas tank.  “What?”  She looked over at what I was staring at. “Oh, no. The poor thing.”

In a baby carrier in the back seat was a little body.  Its face was shrunken, and there were little white flakes of salt from tears that had dried up a long time ago.  I carefully took the little one out of the back and brought it over to the small grove of trees.  Using my ‘hawk, I dug a small grave and placed the baby in it, saying a small prayer my dad taught me long ago.  I placed a stone as a marker, and went back to the car, running into Jake as he came out of the restaurant, his pickaxe in hand.

“Parents are inside, torn to pieces.  Must have stopped here for supplies and got caught.  Baby must have dehydrated.” Jake’s face was taut.  For some reason, he hated to see kids suffering.  It sometimes drove him to do reckless things.

“Yeah, too bad,” I said.  “But we need to keep moving.  Julia, any gas?”

Julia nodded. “Got nearly nine gallons.  That should help.”

“Great, let’s get out of here,” I said.  I was getting a little worn out from the stress of this trip.

We moved on and followed a swiftly moving river on our north side.  It was pretty with the mountain as a backdrop, but the last stop kind of put everyone in a bit of a mood.  We needed to find a place to stay, and quickly.

“Kayla, if you find a road with a mailbox, take it, might be a place to spend the night,” I said.

“Will do.”

Julia held my hand.  “You okay?”

I shook my head.  “Just wondering if I would have made the same mistakes as those parents did, leaving their child to die.”

Julia shook her head.  “You know they were trying to escape the mess of the coast and probably wanted to see if there was anything in the restaurant they could feed their child.  Probably got surprised, and when one fell, the other fell coming to help.  It happens.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” I said. “I guess I should be grateful the child died a better death than being torn apart and eaten.”

“There is that.”

We passed the Grand Teton Park and RV resort, but whoever named that place had a hell of a sense of humor. It was a small gas station with a big parking lot, and a building with a multicolored roof.  I didn’t want to even contemplate what we might find in there.

“Pass,” Jake said, and I wholeheartedly agreed.

The sky was getting progressively darker, and I was hoping we didn’t have to spend the night in the van.  I had done it before, but I preferred to stretch out, even if it was on the floor of someplace.

The road wound around several bends and across three creeks, and Kayla deftly steered us around several deadfalls and small rockslides. 

“Town of Moran, on the right!” Kayla called out suddenly.

“Go for it,” I said.  At this point, and the way the sky looked, I was ready to kill for a place to sleep.  I could tell Jake was ready, too.

Kayla drove swiftly up the side road and into the small town. 

Small was actually generous.  The town consisted of eleven buildings, one of which was a school.  The others were a post office, a general store, two trailers, and six homes.  One of the homes looked to have doubled as a church.

Jake spoke up. “Which one do you like?”

After the third trip around Moran Town road, which just circled the town, I figured one place would do as well as the other.

“Post office.  Usually not a choice to make a stand during a panic,” I said. “Especially when there’s a school nearby.”

“Let’s find out,” Jake said. 

Kayla parked us next to the building, and we got out quickly, ready for anything.  I looked over at the school and other buildings, but I got the feeling this place had been abandoned long before the zombies came roaming through the hills.  It made sense.  Why stay in a place that literally couldn’t be defended?

Jake went over to the post office and with a bit of work got the door open.  Julia and Kayla went inside to see if it was clear while I stayed out to see if our arrival had attracted any attention.  Nothing seemed to move, so I waited until the all clear and went inside.  Jake moved the van to block the entrance, then joined the rest of us.

The post office was big, much bigger than it should have been, given the size of the town.  Julia pointed out that it probably had served as the hub for the entire county, which made sense.

“Dibs on the office,” Jake said, tossing his gear into the small enclosure.

“Have at it,” I said.

Julia explored a bit and came back smiling.  “Yes, please have the office.  All yours, no argument from us.”

Kayla frowned.  “What did you find?”

“Nothing.  Go enjoy your office.” Bye now.” Julia grabbed my hand and took me down a back hallway to a small room.  Inside, it appeared that the room used to be a break room.  There was a couch, a table, several cushions for whatever purpose, and a bathroom.

“I like this better,” I said.

“Good, I’m glad.  Now let me cheer you up.” Julia grabbed me and kissed me fiercely, driving all thoughts of the day out of my head.  The cushions on the couch were very comfortable as I sat back heavily with Julia on top of me.  Her hands made short work of my gear as weapons and supplies fell to the floor.  My shirt went last, and Julia ran her hands up and down my chest.  I took my time removing her gear, letting my hands roam gently over her soft curves as I took off her shirt as well.

“I love you, Aaron,” Julia said, staring into my eyes. 

“You too, sweetheart. You too.”

Her next moves made me nearly forget we were in a post office in the middle of the mountains in practically the center of zombie-infested territory.