Taking It Back (33 page)

The small commotion caused the second zombie to come over and investigate and I launched my brick. The zombie, a grayish, older specimen that might have been a black woman once, happened to look up at the last second and took the brick right between the eyes. The impact knocked her completely off her feet and drove her head to the ground. She lay there with a brick sticking out of her head and moved no more.

“Nice one,” Charlie said as we headed back down to grab some more bricks.

It took the better part of half an hour, but we managed to bring up a number of bricks and paving stones to deal with the zombies. We had a good pile by the side of the building and looking over the side, it seemed like our little swarm was starting to disperse. We needed them to get closer to the building as I had no illusions about my ability to hit a moving zombie at thirty yards with a rock.

“Any ideas?” Charlie asked as he hefted a brick.

“Just one,” I said. Leaning over the side, I waved my arms and yelled, “Oh boys! Lookee what I got here!”

Charlie smiled and leaned over. “Where the white women at?”That worked. Zombies came shuffling over, moaning and grasping at the air. Charlie and I both took aim and started throwing bricks. Meaty thuds and smacks reached our ears as assorted zombies fell to our missiles. Some took more than one hit, as our aim wasn’t perfect on every shot and we learned you had to actually throw the bricks, just dropping them didn’t do sufficient damage to permanently put them down. It stunned them and took them a moment to recover, but they got up again and clamored for our flesh.

After about ten minutes of playing Whack-a-Zombie, Charlie and I found ourselves without targets. We waited for another ten minutes to see if any of them moved, but they were still.

We moved quickly, pulling the truck around and moving the boat into position. I was glad to have Charlie with me, I had no idea how to hitch a boat and watched intently as he went through the process. I was paying such close attention to Charlie that I nearly got nailed by the two zombies we hadn’t accounted for earlier. They came shuffling around the garage door and I only noticed them when I saw a shadow moving that shouldn’t have been moving at all.

I turned around and lunged back as the first zombie reached for me. Its hands grasped empty air as I backpedaled. The second zombie turned and made for Charlie as I moved to place some insulation between the first zombie and myself. It was a gruesome sight. Fat maggots wiggled out of gaping holes in its flesh as its dead eyes fixed themselves on me. Yellowed teeth bared from blackened lips and it’s groaning was hampered by a large chunk out of its neck. Bluish dead veins spider-webbed its greenish-hued flesh, and lank hair swayed as it lurched forward.

I threw a bundle of insulation at the Z, knocking it over and giving me a second to unhook my crowbar. As it unbent I took a baseball swing and smashed it in the side of its head, spinning it around and dropping it on the floor. I stepped up quickly and delivered another blow to its head, finishing it for certain. I stepped back, ready to engage the second one, but on the other side of the boat, I saw a tomahawk rise and fall, then saw a dead zombie slump to the floor with a caved-in head.

I stepped over to the truck just as Charlie popped his head over the bed.

“That it?” he asked, wiping off his blade.

“God, I hope so,” I said, wiping of my crowbar and re-securing it in place. “Let’s get out of here.”

We started up the truck and pulled out just as another stray zombie wandered around the corner of the storeroom. Charlie didn’t even bother to try to avoid it, he just drove, crushing it to the pavement. If it was still moving after the truck, it was finished when the boat trailer pulverized it.

We stopped briefly at the condo complex for a quick reunion and a chance to burn off the zombie glop from our weapons. We exchanged stories and news and found out that the group had been especially active in finding other survivors and killing zombies. The entire area south of the complex was clear and I could see for quite a ways, as many buildings had been burned down. The fence was still in place, as there was the occasional roaming Z, but the people were happy and prospering. I told them about the other towns we had encountered and shared the belief that there was no reason not to think that far more people had survived than we thought.

33

Charlie and I drove back to Leport after another argument about the best route. We ended up taking the same route we took when we first headed out nearly a year ago. We got nostalgic as we passed the little house where Dot used to live and we shook our heads when we passed the home where we first encountered Dane Blake.

We reunited with Duncan briefly and there was lots of well-wishing and wishing in particular. I told Duncan he was welcome to join us when he finished and he said he was sorely tempted. He gave us a letter to give to Tommy and we rolled on to Leport. We ignored the burned out home where we first encountered the lunatics from the home improvement store who had eventually killed Kristen.

Charlie and I brought the boat to the dock and unloaded it. We got some approving glances and a few envious stares. But no one said anything, as we were the ones who went out and got the damn thing.

By the next morning, we had packed up our belongings and were ready to head out. Jake and Julia were happy as clams to wander around the inside of the boat and Rebecca and Sarah had their hands full chasing those two little demons and keeping them out of the cabinets. Just as we were about to pull out, Tommy came strolling by, with Angela in tow. Those two had become closer as the time had gone by and Angela rarely left Tommy’s side.

“Ready to go?” Tommy called as I gathered up the lines and Charlie worked the controls.

“Just about,” I called back.

“Nice place you’re headed to?” Tommy said.

I looked sideways at him. “Pretty nice,” I said carefully.

“Safe?”

“Needs work, but I’m bringing my son if that means anything.”

“Big place?” Tommy asked.

I grinned. “If you don’t get aboard, we’ll leave you behind.”

Tommy whooped and grabbed his duffle bags, which he had stashed out of sight. Angela hugged me as she passed and climbed aboard. Charlie slapped Tommy on the back and Sarah hugged them both.

I climbed aboard and gave Charlie the thumbs up, settling back into a lounge chair.

“What made you decide to come with?” I asked Tommy.

Tommy smiled. He pulled out the letter Duncan gave him. I opened it and it just said ‘Stay with John. I’ll join you later after the winter.’

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said.

My easy cruise was short lived, as we came up to the outskirts of Joslin relatively quickly. I kept my Enfield trained on the buildings on the West while Tommy kept his on the right. Sarah and Rebecca were below with the little ones and Charlie kept the big boat moving steadily. The chain had not been replaced and I did not see anyone watching us. We heard the undisputed cry of thousands of hungry ghouls and saw many of them lining the canal, watching us drift on by. I wondered if the ghouls had finally won against the holdouts in Joslin and the city was truly dead. Given the number of Z’s we were looking at right in front of us, trying to find the answer would be deadly.

We moved down the canal, joining the river and moving past the towns that Charlie and I previously passed. Since that visit and the one we were making, we had established communication via ham radio and had actually sent some trade envoys down. Apparently the town of Seneca had a surplus of bread products and we traded regularly for flour and wheat.

Sarah, Rebecca and Angela took advantage of the lazy trip and the sunlight to get a little tanning in. They surprised us by disappearing into the cabin and reappearing in very slight bathing suits. Charlie nearly ran us aground as he had a hard time keeping his eyes on the river. I didn’t blame him a bit.

Jake loved the river ride and laughed as the water slapped the side of the boat. Julia was enthralled as well and gave Tommy the fits as she repeatedly tried to jump into the river.

We rode for a while and the sun was reflecting off the water as it started to work its way into the evening hours. The warm day had begun to cool off and a breeze from the south promised a comfortable night. By my watch, it was about three in the afternoon when we finally made it to Starved Rock. Charlie steered us closer to the monument itself, bringing the boat into a small inlet in the shadow of the Rock. Tommy volunteered to jump into the water to secure the boat, and we maneuvered the big craft up as close as we could without grounding it.

Securing the boat and hauling off our supplies, after a brief wait for the women to gear up, we headed into the woods towards the lodge. I didn’t get the same creepy feeling I got the last time we were here, although I still walked with my rifle at the ready. Sarah let Jake walk beside her and he and Julia shared happy baby sounds as they toddled through the woods.

We reached the first clearing and I glanced up at Starved Rock. I thought I saw a flash of tan fur in the sunlight, but I couldn’t be sure. As long as he left me and mine alone, I had no problem with a cougar in the backyard. We did see another zombie that had been chewed up by the cougar, so as long as he earned his keep, I was fine with him.

We settled into the main lodge itself after taking a while to secure the rooms. By the time we had finished, the sun was nearly down, and the evening light cast long shadows over the countryside. I figured we would take rooms on the second floor, just in case, and use the restaurant’s kitchen for food storage and preparation. The huge common area, with its enormous wooden beams and massive central fireplace was reminiscent of a medieval hall. Just outside the main hall was the paved porch area, which overlooked the entire preserve and gave us unfettered views of Starved Rock, the Visitor Center, and Plum Island. The land dropped away just beyond the patio, falling straight down by more than fifty feet. On the east side of the lodge was a small canyon which had a waterfall not twenty yards from the lodge itself, solving our water problem and providing additional security.

The front of the lodge was surrounded by forest, with an open parking lot area immediately outside, providing an unobstructed firing zone if needed. There was ample room for growing food and the island across the way would be perfect for livestock if we decided to keep any. In a word, the lodge and surrounding area was perfect. Standing on the patio, as the sun cast pink and red hues across the clouds in the sky, I watched as Jake walked with stumbling feet around a wrought iron gazebo likely used in the past for weddings. Sarah was with me and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders as we took in the view.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked, nodding to Charlie and Rebecca who were sitting on the lounge chairs watching Julia roam around. Tommy and Angela were exploring the park with an express caution about the cougar.

“I feel like we’re in a fairy tale,” Sarah said. “We live in a manor and are surrounded by our fief. Across the river there are monsters.”

I hadn’t considered it that way, but I thought it sounded pretty good. “You know, in the old days of this country, whoever could back up and hold a claim to land eventually was titled to it. These days, I would think the same rule applies. If you can hold it, it’s yours. I’d say unless things change dramatically, this lodge and land is ours as long as we can defend and keep it.”

“No trouble there,” Charlie growled.

I hoped so. My gut told me this was the place to stay, that this was the place I had been looking for. My family was safe, my friends were close, and we had what we needed to get on with our lives.

The wind picked up suddenly, swaying the treetops and causing a rustle to pick up from the leaves. If I had been poetic, I might have thought the land was saying “Welcome home.”

34

We settled in relatively quickly and made several forays into Utica. The town had largely been abandoned when the Upheaval hit, so we were able to secure a decent amount of supplies. There were, of course, the usual skirmishes with zombies, but I have to say, we were getting fairly good at dealing with them. They weren’t the horrible boogeymen they were in the beginning and we treated them more like vermin to be exterminated. Large, smelly, kill-you-if-it-bites-you vermin, but vermin nonetheless.

Tommy managed to find an old style water pump which allowed us to pull up water from the waterfall basin near the lodge. Charlie got it in his head to try and rig up a waterwheel to a generator to try and provide some low wattage power, but by fall he was still working that one out, getting mostly soaked for his trouble.

When fall finally came, the forest was ablaze in colors, as far as we could see. Charlie and I took Sarah and Rebecca on a surprise trip to Seneca, where Josh steered us in the direction of the local minister. Charlie and I had picked up rings during one of our trips to Utica and eschewing tradition, simply told the women we were getting married. They made a half-hearted attempt to object, but once they realized we were serious, they lined up pretty quickly. After the vows were exchanged, we headed back to the lodge to break the news to the children, who really didn’t seem to care. Jake put a stuffed animal on his head and walked around the main room in celebration, at least we think that’s why he did it.