Generation Dead (Book 3): Beyond The Gates (11 page)

Chapter 25

The next morning I rose up feeling as refreshed as ever.  Julia was still sleeping, curled up into a little ball.  The morning light drifted through the building windows and cast a sweet glow over her face.  Her blonde hair fell in disorganized wisps about her face, and her nose wrinkled at the light.  Turning over, she stretched long enough to make a cat jealous, and it was enough to make me join her on the floor.

“Again?  I just woke up,” Julia complained as I moved gently against her.

“Good morning, then,” I said as I slowly entered her. She moaned softly in my ear, then wrapped her long legs around me, matching my rhythm with her own. Soon we were gasping again together as we moved faster.  Suddenly she arched her back and dug her nails into my sides, sending me over the edge as well.

I breathed heavily into her neck as we came down slowly together.  I held her tightly, trying to convey how much I loved her through the strength of my arms.  She snuggled in underneath me, content to be held and loved, holding me with her arms and legs.

After a short time of just laying together, I murmured that we needed to get moving.  She nodded and got up first, gathering up her clothes and heading to the bathroom.  I watched her naked body walk away and almost called her back for a repeat. 

I shook my head and got up for the second time, stretching out my back and arms.  I got dressed and gathered up my gear, which had been tossed around last night.  I was buckling my belt when Julia emerged, looking as beautiful as ever.

“I think some of your gear might have gotten pushed under the couch, but I haven’t looked there yet,” I said.

“I got it,” Julia said, picking up her things as she went.  I took my gun out and placed it on the table, checking the chamber and magazines.  I checked my ‘hawk and knife, then my pockets on my vest and pants.  I liked the cargo pants best because of the pockets, and the vest was a gift from my dad. It had a lot of pockets for just about everything, and fully loaded it could weigh nearly thirty pounds.  I didn’t weigh it down that much.

When we were both ready to go, we headed back up the hallway to the office where we had left Jake and Kayla.  The room was still closed, so I figured we’d let them sleep a little longer.  Passing up to the front counter, I suddenly ducked and dragged Julia down with me.

“Aaron! What…?”

I held up a hand and made a fist, pointing to the front of the office.  Julia’s eyes got wide, and she nodded her understanding. Looking up, I saw there were two packages on the counter.  I slid one away from the other about an inch and then raised my head until I could see through the gap without having my head seen over the counter.

Outside by the van, three zombies were slowly sniffing around.  They put their noses nearly against the handles and sides where we usually rested our hands. They were in rough shape, but there was something different about them.  They moved more cautiously and seemed to function as more of a team than just a group of individuals.  I had a hunch these three might have been around long enough to have evolved into more successful hunters.  If they were more problem solving, then I certainly didn’t want to face them alone, and I surely didn’t want to give them any chance whatsoever.

I ducked back down and faced Julia.  “I’m going to go outside and see if I can draw them off or kill them outright.  Wake up Jake and Kayla, let them know what’s going on, and then see if it’s okay to come out.”

Julia frowned.  “You’re not taking on all three?”

“If I have to, but I’m going to try to string them out and take them one at a time. If they won’t fall for that, then I’ll lead them on a loop and bring them back for you guys to kill,” I said, giving her a quick kiss as I crawled away to the back of the post office, staying out of sight. At the back I quietly opened the door and slipped outside after checking to make sure there weren’t four of the stinkers.

The mountains rose away to the north, and I could hear the river in the background as the world woke up in this part of the country. The sun was illuminating everything with a bright morning light, and I could even hear the occasional call of a hawk as it hunted the high grounds. I drew my sword and slipped quietly around the next building to the front of the post office, skirting the corner wide to keep from being ambushed.  My gut told me these guys were going to be trouble, and I wasn’t taking any chances.

I moved out to the street, keeping an eye on the van and the post office.  The three were sniffing around the door, trying to find a reason to break in.  Hopefully, the rest of the crew was awake and armed by now.

Sometimes I wished I was a bit wittier.  Here I was, about to face down three zombies, and instead of coming up with a sarcastic comment to start the ball rolling, all I could think of something stupid.

“Hey!”

The zombies spun around as if they were being pulled on strings, and as soon as they saw me they immediately hissed and moved in my direction.  When they had the room, they spread out, with two moving wide and the third coming right down the middle.

Clever, boys.  But my daddy taught me a thing or two about your kind. I launched myself into a sprint and charged the one on the left, covering the fifty feet between us in about four seconds.  Just as I came within reach, I leapt to the side, swinging my blade as I went.  The last eight inches of steel skimmed the top of the ghoul’s outstretched arms, and neatly severed his head from his body. The two parts fell to the ground as I slid to a stop on the gravel.  The other two had shifted positions when I had charged, and now they were lined up one behind the other as they faced me.  They spread out again as they charged, and I had to smile.

“You boys learned, but you don’t learn fast, do you?” I said, swinging my sword to fling off the zombie goop stuck on it from their companion. I was about to charge when the zombie closest to me suddenly opened his mouth.  A spear head sprouted where his tongue would have been, and he tumbled to the ground, dead for good.  The other zombie stopped moving to watch the fall of his friend, only to have black fletching replace his right eye.  He fell back to the ground as well, and I nodded thanks to the rest of my family that finally woke up.

Kayla walked over to the zombie with the spear in its head and braced her foot on the neck.  The spear came out with a squelch that made us both wince.

“Yuck,” she said.

“Nice throw,” I replied.  “I didn’t know you had been practicing that,” I complimented.

“Jake thought it would be a good idea.  Wasn’t sure I could hit a moving target, though,” Kayla mused thoughtfully.

I declined to respond, and instead went over to the van to clean my blade again.  I didn’t recall the last time I had cleaned my weapons so much. Jake yanked his arrow out of the other zombie’s head and looked it over before bringing it to be sterilized as well.

“You know what’s creepy?” Jake asked as he sprayed the arrow with fluid.

“Yes, but I have a feeling you’re going to add to my list,” I said.

“Watch.”  Jake held up the arrow, and I could see bits of the zombie’s brain still attached to it.  That was creepy, but what was worse was I swear I could see it move.

“Is it moving?” I asked, fascinated.

“Yep.   Dad said the virus so infects the brain that it just causes it to move.” Wiggles worse when it burns.”  Jake lit the arrow, and I could see as the flames danced along the shaft that the burning bits were indeed almost dancing in death.

“Okay.  I’m fully creeped out,” I said. “Thanks.”

Jake wiped off the blacked arrow with a different cloth that he threw away, rather than kept.  “My pleasure.  Can you imagine if the virus didn’t need the brain?”

That thought was unpleasant.  “We’d not be able to kill them,” I said.

“Thank god for little miracles,” Jake said. 

Chapter 26

We packed up the van and said our farewells to the town of Moran.  This time I was driving, and I hoped to make better time than Jake had.  I had no complaints against Kayla, but Jake drove like he was blind.

The map indicated I had two choices.  I could head north, and skirt the mountains that way, or head south, and accomplish the same goal.  Either way the distance was the same, and I wasn’t gaining anything.  The mountains weren’t going to move for my convenience. There was a large lake I had to go around to the north, so that decided it for me.  We would head south. There the road at least was indicated as going through the mountains and not just around them.

We drove south on 191, at least that was what the signs told me.  I thought it weird that several of the signs we passed looked like they had bullet holes in them.  There must have been some serious fighting going on around here at one point.

To the right of the van wound the Snake River.  I was used to rivers having bluffs and cliffs surround them. I wasn’t used to having rivers that just lay there out in the prairie, wandering around as if there was nothing better to do. The only indication that anything was there was a winding strip of taller grass and the occasional tree.

The scenery stayed pretty much the same for the first twenty miles. There was a small turnout to view a glacier, but since we could see it from the road, there wasn’t a point to stop.  I hadn’t seen a glacier before, but I knew what they were.

After another half hour, I slowed to a stop at a fork in the road.  Julia looked over her map and shrugged.

“It’s a road to go through the mountains, but there’s a note here that says it’s closed November through May,” she said.

Jake piped up from the back. “Sounds like a nightmare of wash-outs and rockslides.”

I agreed, and we pushed on through the flatlands.  I was all for going around mountains than over them.

Further south, a sign telling us that the Grand Tetons were off to our left showed up, and looking out over the valley, I thought the mountains quite lovely.  At the base I could see a lot of movement that I couldn’t identify, but I had a hunch I knew what it was

The further we traveled, the closer the mountains seemed to us.  Before it was like they were far off in the distance and still moving away. Now we were driving around the base of some pretty big hills.  Jake was looking out the window, lost in his own thoughts, and Kayla was quietly dozing in her chair.  Julia was looking out the window as well, and I left her to her thoughts.

We passed the Snake River again, and then suddenly we were in civilization.  A hotel resort popped up on our right just at the foot of the mountain, and further down there was a Dairy Queen and another motel.

We drove slowly past the buildings, everyone suddenly on alert.  I drove around several cars that had been left in the road, and we moved cautiously through town.

We passed several cafes and eateries, all abandoned and likely looted.  Several shops had their doors broken in, and most windows at ground level were smashed.  Here and there were dark stains, evidence of a town that had died hard.

Suddenly the van lurched, and I nearly lost control of the wheel.  The vehicle pitched hard to the left and I fought to get it under control. Finally I braked hard and stopped under some trees next to a place called the Trapper Inn.

“What the hell, Aaron?” Jake said, rubbing his forehead.  He must have been too close to a window when the van slewed sideways.

“Don’t know,” I said.  “But something’s wrong.”  I got out of the van and went to the front, and I knew something was wrong immediately.  The left front tire was jacked at a forty-five degree angle and trying its best to scramble up into the wheel well.

“Well, damn,” I said to no one in particular.  “We’re screwed with this van.”

Julia came out and the look on her face confirmed my assessment.  Kayla and Jake came out, and while incoherent, Jake’s reply was an additional agreement.

“All right,” I said.  “Let’s find a place close by to hole up and transfer our stuff.  We might be here a while.”

“A long while,” Jake said sourly.

“Not so much,” I said, trying to sound optimistic.  “We just blew an axle.  The rest of the van is okay.  If we can find another vehicle, our battery is still good, the gas is still good, and so are the plugs.  Chances are pretty good we could get another vehicle up and running quickly.”

Even Jake had to agree things could be worse, so he and Kayla reconnoitered the Trapper Inn to make sure we were not going to be sharing our accommodations with anyone living, or more importantly, dead.

A brief look into the Trapper Inn showed that we had to find another place.  The front of the inn looked fine, but the back end was completely blown out.  Jake figured someone must have fired the propane tanks in the kitchen or something.

All right then.  I decided to say the hell with it and got back in the van.  The axle was broken, but I could still move it forward.  I fired up the van and with the tires squealing in protest, I forced the van down the street.  I knew I was sending out an invitation to any zombies that might still be in the area, but I’d rather they came to us than waiting in ambush inside a building we wanted to explore.

We got as far as the next two intersections, and the van just completely croaked.  It wasn’t even a slow death, just a gigantic heave, and everything lurched to the side.  I had to be careful when I got out, because the tire was trying to get into the driver’s seat, it was that bad.

“Now what?” Jake asked, sliding out of the van behind Kayla.

“Now we go find another vehicle,” I said.

“Any suggestions?” Julia asked.

“Any car on the road is abandoned for a reason,” Kayla said. “So that rules out any we find there. I’d say we go to a car dealership, and see if we can find one that was on the showroom floor.  Daddy always said those cars were the best bet, especially after all these years.  Plus they’ve been inside the whole time, so no snow or anything to wear them out.”

“Good call,” I said.  “Let’s get ourselves armed and moving.”

“What about all of our supplies?” Julia asked.

“We may as well leave them in the van,” Jake said.  “No point in moving them twice.  Who’s going to take them?”