The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (167 page)

“
Go,” Beth agreed. Bear
stepped past her, flicked his flashlight on, and stepped into the
tunnel. She smiled, but let it go. Bear was as bad as Billy when it
came to protecting her, and sometimes it was nice to be protected.
She followed Bear into the tunnel and they made their way through
the stagnant water heading for the hidden base that lay somewhere
ahead.

East of Watertown

Billy and Pearl

A pile of old moving pads sat in one
corner, and Billy had made a bed out of them on top of two desks he
had pushed together in the office area. A pallet of warm sodas sat
next to a beverage machine, a large plastic container of jerky
mixed with beef sticks sat on the counter. A quick look through the
drawers had produced a pint of whiskey: Half full, but half full
would probably be enough to kill him if he drank it. He had no
intentions of drinking it, but it should disinfect Pearl's wounds.
He soaked a torn piece of a uniform shirt with the whiskey and took
his time cleaning the dried blood from her face. The cut was
scabbed over, a long cut just above her right eye. The other cut
from earlier, the one just inside her hairline, had also opened up,
probably when the truck clipped the side of the house and she was
catapulted forward into the steering wheel. The gash on her leg was
closing over, but the leg was swollen and an angry red on the
borders of the cut.

They had lost their first aid kit
somewhere back in the field. It had been in Pearl's backpack, and
Pearl's backpack was gone. He checked the truck twice to no avail.
He tore the shirt in to long strips and wound them around her head,
tying them off. He did the same for her leg after cutting that leg
of her jeans away. It would have to be good enough, at least until
they found a place where they could get real first aid supplies. He
stripped her ruined shirt from her and dressed her in one of his
own from his backpack. Far too big, but clean She never moved, and
worry sat deeply in his soul as he redressed her and covered her
with another of the quilts. He opened one of the warm sodas,
smelled it first, and then took an experimental sip. It was fine,
or as fine as warm soda could be. He walked to the windows set into
the sides of the office and waited for the sunrise to
come.

Bluechip

Bear and Beth

The remains were skeletal. The flesh
had long ago been stripped away. Bits and pieces of a military
uniform still clung to the bones in places. Bear reached it and
stared down at the jumble of bones.

They had left the water that covered
the bottom behind them. Here the tunnel floor was dry and coated
with dust. They had found possessions, a few rifles, handguns,
backpacks abandoned along the way, but this was the first evidence
of a body... Or what was left of a body, Bear corrected himself.
The skull bore a large hole in one side, and two of the ribs where
shattered, the pieces resting inside what was left of the rib cage.
Neither spoke, and a few moments later they moved on.

They found a pile of jumbled bones a
few minutes later as they rounded a curve in the ducting and began
to feel the slope of the floor more fully as it fell away down into
the rock: They struggled to stay upright.

There were more than a dozen skulls
here, all of them with holes. The rest of the bones were a jumble.
It looked as though there had been a mass execution. Tattered
remains of uniforms were evidenced as there had been with the last
skeleton they had found. They both trudged quietly past, barely
pausing, unsure of what lay ahead, but sure that many of those who
had tried to leave had apparently been stopped.

Pearl had told them there had been
opposition to the leaving. In effect those soldiers that had left
had deserted.

They rounded the rest of the curve, but
before they reached the next straight section Bear could see a
light source spilling into the tunnel. He slowed, turned off his
flashlight to be sure of what he had seen, and then turned to Beth
and motioned for her to douse her own light. He waited for her to
step forward and see what he had seen. She nodded and they took
different sides of the tunnel before they moved slowly
forward.

The tunnel curve began to flatten and
then straightened out. A hundred feet ahead on the left side,
bright light spilled through a ragged hole out into the tunnel.
They stopped and looked over the tunnel in silence.

The Nation

Tom stepped out onto the ledge and
caught his breath. Snow fell silently, coating the valley in a thin
layer of white. Mike and Ronnie stood looking out over the valley.
They turned as he came out.

“
A boy,” Tom said. “And I
did good. I watched him being born! It was the coolest thing I have
ever seen.”

“
Really?” Mike asked. “It
didn't make you woozy?”

“
Quit making up words,”
Ronnie said now.

“
No,” Tom said. “Most of
the time my mouth was hanging open, drawing flies. I remembered to
tell her to breathe, to push. I did well. Steve said
so.”

“
See,” Ronnie said to Mike.
“There's hope for you yet.”

“
Maybe,” Mike agreed. “So,
what did you guys name him?”

Tom's face went blank. “Well. I don't
know, they kicked me out.”

“
The door opened and
Candace and Amy walked out, carefully carrying cups of coffee. They
both caught their breath.

“
The first snow,” Amy
said.

“
And the first baby,”
Candace added.

~

“
Eight,” Josh
said.

“
That's a lot of babies,”
Alicia said.

“
It is,” Josh agreed. He
held her on one knee as she looked down on the puppies squirming
around their mothers belly, or sleeping, or nursing.

Shar walked back from the tunnel, hung
her radio on a peg mounted on the wall, and walked over to Josh and
Alicia. She ruffled Alicia's hair and kissed her on the forehead.
She reached up and kissed Josh on one cheek. “How many,” she asked
Alicia.

“
This many,” she answered
holding up eight fingers.

“
Wow. That's a lot of
puppies,” Shar said.

“
You know, mom, I just said
that to dad too,” Alicia said and smiled. “Told him it was a
lot.”

Shar smiled and kissed her again.
“Well, I got baby news too. You know aunt Lilly?”

“
She's my teacher,” Alicia
said and nodded her head. “She's going to have a baby too like
Queenie.”

“
Yep. Well, she did. She
had a little boy today. Just a little while ago, in fact,” she
said.

“
Oh, she must be pretty
happy... Tom too,” Josh said.

“
Oh yeah, they both are,”
Shar agreed.

“
Only one though?” Alicia
asked. “Queenie had eight.”

Shar pulled Alicia onto her lap. “Yep,
only one, and have you looked outside lately, girly?”

“
Nope, been watching
puppies... Me and dad,” Alicia said.

Richard came running in from outside
all out of breath. “Holy cow, Josh, do you know how to make a
sled?” He asked.

His eyes were bright,
cheeks flushed and pink, and a huge smile rode on his face.
“Leesha
, it snowed. It's
still snowing,” Josh told Alicia excitedly.

She got up and ran to her
brother.

“
Hey,” Shar called out.
“Coats and gloves.” She looked back at Josh.

Josh chuckled. “Guess I better figure
out how to make a sled,” Josh told her. “Really coming
down?”

She pulled him to his feet, wrapped one
of her own arms around one of his and pulled him toward the door.
“Come see, come see,” she said excitedly.

~

Candace's Journal

Number one! The Mother ship has landed!
Lil and I have been kidding around calling each other that, Aim
too, because we are so big. Now it's just Aim and me because Mother
Ship number one has landed. He's big. He has blonde hair and gray
blue eyes and he looks exactly like Lilly.

Amy's Journal

The first baby and the first snow! We
have both. Lil popped! A beautiful little boy. Now it's me or
Candace next, maybe two months. It seems like the time just flew by
and here we are. Candace is the Mother Ship now, ha ha, a nick name
we've been calling each other. I think she's next, it will be close
between her and me. She's as big as Lilly! How can she get any
bigger?

The baby is beautiful. Blonde hair,
blue eyes, and he looks like her too. The snow is pretty too. The
entire valley is white and it keeps falling. Candace and I made
tracks on the way home.

~

Late Afternoon

“
Okay,” Ronnie spoke into
the radio,” We're set.”

He, Mike, Bob and David looked up at
the light fixtures mounted on the ceiling. They buzzed once,
flashed, and then came on. They were spaced evenly every fifteen
feet down through the tunnel. The gray-black of the rock sprang to
life as they came on and pushed the shadows away.

“
That did her,” Ronnie said
into the radio.

“
Yahoo,” came Tim's voice
through the tiny, scratchy speaker.

~

Jessie's Journal

It's late and believe it or not I am
writing by electric light. It is almost magical. The lights in the
cave are on, and that means they are also on in the main cave, the
tunnels and the clinic. Down here, up top and at the entrances. Not
dozens and dozens of lights, but enough to push back the dark. They
won't stay on all night, they'll have to be shut down until we get
the power plant up and working. But it is so nice, and I hope an
omen of the good to come.

I got to deliver the first baby today:
Steve, Sandy and I. It was really special and it all went well, no
problems at all.

We also had the seasons first snow
fall. All the kids were out playing all afternoon. Arlene was
covering school for Lilly, so she let them all out to celebrate the
snow and the birth of Lilly's baby.

And last, but not least, I tested
myself tonight and I'm pregnant. Incredible. Brad is ecstatic and I
am as well.

I was gone for a few moments there, of
course you wouldn't have known if I hadn't told you, but the lights
went out, so I'll finish this by candle light. That is only to say
it has been a pretty great day all around.

Bluechip

Bear and Beth

The hallway was brightly lit with
buzzing florescent lights. Not all of them were lit, but there were
enough to light the hallway up. Bear slowed and waited for Beth to
come up beside him.

“
This is too easy,” Bear
said tightly. “I just... I just don't like it at all.”

Beth nodded and then quickly slammed
her rifle into her shoulder. Bear was only a second behind her. The
hallway took a turn in the distance and a dozen soldiers dressed in
full combat gear had just stepped around the corner. Slowly.
Purposely. Their actions said they knew they were there. The
speakers that were embedded somewhere above them in the ceiling
crackled to life.

“
This is
Major Richard Weston. First, I want to welcome you to
this...
Sanctuary
, I guess is the best word.
I would like to encourage you to lay down your weapons. You have my
word that you will not be shot, forced to stay here or in any way
molested.” The voice stopped but a low hum still came over the
circuit. “Of course you could choose not to do that and then I
would be forced to have my men shoot you, and don't think any of us
want that.”

Bear and Beth stood a moment longer,
looked at each other, but didn't speak. After a few seconds Beth
bent and laid her rifle on the white tiles of the floor. A second
later Bear followed suit.

The soldiers took their time coming
down the hallway, weapons in their hands but pointed at the floor.
The lead soldier, a young woman with a slash of green in her black
hair behind her face shield, bent and picked up the weapons. “Smart
decision,” She told them. She straightened and motioned with her
rifle back in the direction the soldiers had come from.

Bear sighed, but got his feet moving,
Beth at his side.

Pearl after the attack

Billy and Pearl

She awoke with a gasp and sat upright.
The movement caused pain to flare inside her head and her hands
flew to either side of it as if to hold the pain inside.

“
Here,” Billy said from
beside her. “Drink this... Cola.” He handed her a warm can he had
just pulled the top on.

“
Oh my God... Billy, my
head is killing me,” Pearl moaned. She sat carefully for a few
seconds longer, holding her head steady, before edging open one eye
and looking around her. The blanket that had been covering her
slipped down and she reached for it unconsciously, catching it
before it could slip off and onto the floor.

She was laying on a table, soft
blankets beneath her, her own top was missing. A large shapeless
t-shirt had been slipped over her head. Her hair was caught inside
of it. She lifted it away. “Jesus,” she said softly.