Z-Burbia: A Zombie Novel (21 page)

“Whispering Pines is just his starting point,”
Big Daddy says. “His Poland. We let him have it and pretty soon he’ll roll over us all. He has the guns and the numbers to take us at any time.”

“Then how do we stand a chance if we go after him?” Milton
Scarborough asks. “At least we can take a stand on our lands. We know them better than he does.”

“You aren’t listening!” Critter shouts. “You don’t know them better than he does! This guy does not believe in chance!
I already said that, Milton, so keep up! He has every single working farm and ranch from here to the Tennessee border mapped out. He knows where y’all’s bunkers are. He knows where you have supplies cached. He knows every way into and out of these hills. He’s had nothing but time to study this while y’all have been busy playing farm, thinkin’ the Zs were your problem.”

“The Zs are our problem!” Ryan Craven shouts. “Just
because some sociopath is out to get us, doesn’t mean the Zs aren’t still everywhere! We have been surviving day to day for what feels like forever, Critter! Cut us some fucking slack, man!” He looks at Big Daddy. “Sorry.”

“Tempers and emotions are high,” Big Daddy says. “It’s to be expected. The one time.”

“So what have you found?” I ask Critter. “Now that your highway robbery days are over. Big Daddy says you find things. What have you found?”

“Ah, that’s the good part,” Big Daddy says
, “but I think what he’s found has to be seen, not heard.”

“And I ain’t sayin’ a word
more about it around you’uns,” Critter says. “No offense, but there’s only a handful of people that I trust in this world and it sure as shit ain’t a bunch of scared farmers.”

“Are you saying one of us is a spy?” Jessica Pickering asks, her face nothing but s
hock and offense.

“I ain’t sayin’ that,” Critter says. “Just like I ain’t sayin’ none of you
aren’t
spies. I don’t know. And until I do, I can’t trust none of y’all.”

“Then what’s the point?” I ask. “Why are you even here if you aren’t going to help?”

“Who said I ain’t gonna help?” Critter asks me. “Boy, haven’t you been listening? Vance knows everything,
almost
everything, about the area. Sooner or later, he’ll know everything about me and my crew. When that happens, it’s all over. I’m gonna protect what’s mine. And I can’t do that on my own.”

“So you’re in?”

Critter sighs and looks at his brother. “I take it back. The boy’s an idiot.”

“I’m just asking,” I say. “I want to hear the words out of your mouth, Critter. I’m not a guy that leaves things to chance either.”

“Yes, I am goin’ to help,” Critter says and stands up. “And if you want my help
, you better get your ass up because we have some ground to cover.”

Everyone looks confused and they all look to Big Daddy.

“Folks, you go ahead and mingle for a while,” Big Daddy says. “Eat your fill, then get back home. Meet back here in the morning and be ready to go.” Big Daddy looks at each of them. “If you choose to. No hard feelings if you don’t. I think we all understand. But those of you that do show up, know that we are going to march our way to Whispering Pines and take that place back for my Melissa and all the other people that lost their homes. There are people still trapped in there, we believe. We may be their only hope.”

They all stand and shake hands, talking about their fears and worries, but as far as I can tell
, all are committed. Big Daddy keeps me back as the barn clears out. Critter just sits there, watching them all go. When the barn is empty, Buzz comes in and closes the barn doors.

“The twins are outside keeping watch,” Buzz says
, “you figure it out?”

“Ed Chenewick,” Critter says. “He’s one, I’m sure. There could be others, but I know it’s Ed.”

Buzz nods and leaves quickly. I can see the twins, Pup and Porky, standing outside, looking like they’re having a casual conversation. The barn doors close and I turn on Big Daddy and Critter.

“Care to tell me what’s really going on?”

“I’ve been acquainted with Vance for a long time,” Critter says.

“I get that,” I say.

“No, you don’t,” Critter insists. “I knew the man before Z-Day and knew what resources he had. When it all went to hell, I sought the guy out, thinking he’d have a plan, maybe. This was before I got my head on straight. I found him in his house, crazy as a loon. He was feeding his wife and kids bits of people. Had them chained in his basement home theater. I got the hell out of there quick as I could.”

“I’m not following you,” I say.

“I haven’t let the man out of my sight,” Critter says. “Once I couldn’t keep my eye on him, I made sure someone loyal to me did. I have had Vance under surveillance since Z-Day. He went from lost his marbles crazy, to found his marbles in a pile of shit and put them back in his head without wiping them off crazy.”

“This day has been coming for a while,” Big Daddy says
, “I’m just sorry it hit you first.”

“Why didn’t you say anything to us? Get a message to Melissa and warn her? You could have saved Jon’s life?”

“Because Vance has spies everywhere!” Critter shouts. “Wake up, boy! You think all of these farms have survived because we’ve been holding hands and singing Kum Ba Yah? I’m the best scavenger there is and my crew is second to none. You think Melissa’s good? Who the hell do you think taught her? But even being as good as I am, I can’t find everything. Yet some of these farms have been replacing parts and equipment without me knowing how.”

“And we’ll know tomorrow morning who to trust?” I ask.

“Mostly,” Big Daddy says. “That was just a smoke screen. Critter has men trailing each family. As soon as the traitors send out messengers, they’ll be nabbed. I’m willing to bet that some of the back stabbers will still show up in the morning, playing their part. They’ll think their messages got through to Vance and he knows we’re on our way.”

“But we’ll have grabbed the messages and he won’t? If he’s as good as you think
, then he’ll know we’re coming no matter what. Gonna be hard to hide a group our size.”

“And we won’t be hiding it,” Big Daddy says. “We’ll let Vance see us coming. It’s you he won’t see coming.”

“Me?”

“And Critter,” Big Daddy says. He suddenly looks very tired, his eyes shifting to his brother. “You sure they’ll be on board?”

“I’m sure,” Critter says, “they owe me.”

“Who owes you?” I ask.

“You’ll see,” Critter says. “So let’s get going.”

“What? Now? Where?”

“Again, you’ll see,” Critter says as he goes to the back of the barn towards a small door. “Come on, boy. We ain’t got all day.”

I look at Big Daddy and shake my head. “What the hell is going on? I can’t just leave. I have to tell Stella!”

“I’ll make sure Stella and your kids are alright. You have my word on that,” he says, “but Critter is right, you don’t have all day. We played part of our hand by having this meeting. Everything is set in motion and can’t be stopped. You go with Critter. He’s got this part worked out. You’ll see.”

I stand there, frozen with indecision.

“Do I need to give you some countdown?” Critter asks. “Three, two, one. There, let’s go.”

I look back at Big Daddy and he answers before I can ask again. “They’ll be safe. So will everyone else. Hurry along now. Daylight is burning.”

I just go with it. I follow Critter out the back and he hands me a pack from the ground. He picks up one for himself and slings it over his shoulder.

“Food and water,” Critter says. “Plus a Browning .45 and three extra magazines, if you need it. May want to get that out and keep it handy.”

I do, slipping the slide on holster to my belt. I sling the pack over my own shoulder and we are off, hurrying into the tall grass and then slipping into the shadows of a grove of oaks and pines. I look back over my shoulder and my stomach clenches. God, I hope I’ll see my family again.

My guess is
, we have been hiking for about three hours, Critter not bothering to hide his disdain at the pace we have to keep because of my leg, before I notice we are going in circles.

“How many times are we going to pass that rock?” I ask.

“As many times as it takes,” Critter says.

“Are you lost?”

“Am I what? Boy, don’t make me smack you.”

“I don’t get it. Then why are we going in circles and doubling back on ourselves? You think we’re being followed?”

“We’re being watched. You’re about to see what I found.”

“By walking aimlessly?”

“Only aimless if there ain’t a purpose to it,” Critter replies.

“Care to let me in on the purpose?”

“Don’t need to,” he says.

“You are infuriating,” I say as I shake my head.

That’s when I see him, walking on my other side.

“Hey,” the man says
, “the water in your canteen filtered?”

I look at him for a second then down at the canteen hooked to my belt.

“Uh,” is all I can say.

“It’
s filtered,” Critter says, still hiking along like there isn’t some guy that’s made of muscle and armed to the teeth walking next to me.

Military. Not hard to tell. The way he walks, they way he’s dressed all in black, the smears and smudges of mud across his face and forearms, how he holds his rifle, which is a funny looking thing.

“MP-5,” the man says, reading my mind. “Quiet as all fuck. Unlike you.”

“The boy’s from suburbia,” Critter says.

“Don’t call me a boy,” I say.

“I’ll stop once I know you’re a man,” Critter replies. “How far we got, Stick?”

“Just over the ridge,” the man (Stick?) says. “Captain is wondering why you brought a gimp with ya.”

“You’ll see,” Critter says.

We get over said ridge and I see nothing, just a small clearing surrounded by maples. Critter just walks down to the center and takes a seat. He motions for me to do the same. I do and Stick relieves me of my Browning. In seconds, without a single leaf rustling or branch snapping, four men come walking into the clearing, all as in shape and equipped as Stick.

“Captain,” Critter nods
, “it’s time.”

The man Critter addresses looks at me and motions for me to stand up.

“Captain Walter Leeds,” he says, holding out his hand.

I shake his hand and he points at the rest of the men.

“You met Weapons Sergeant Danny ‘Stick’ Kim,” he says. “This is Master Sergeant Joshua Platt. Engineer Sergeant Dale ‘Cob’ Corning. Medical Sergeant Alex ‘Reaper’ Stillwater. And Weapons Sergeant, Sammy ‘John’ Baptiste is in one of the trees with crosshairs on the back of your head.”

“Temple,” I hear a voice call out. I have no idea where it is.

Captain Leeds rolls his eyes. “I don’t give two standing fucks where your bead is, John. And don’t give away your position like that again.”

“Roger,” the voice says. I’m pretty sure it has already moved.

“Smart ass,” Leeds says and turns to Critter. “So Vance is making his play?”

“Tell him,” Critter says as he lays back and rests his head on his pack. He closes his eyes and sighs. “And sell it good.”

“Sell it?” I ask. “Sell what?”

“The job,” Leeds says. “The reason we’re here.”

“Go on,” Critter says, not bothering to open his eyes. “Just start from the beginning.”

So I do. I tell the men everything I know while my mind tries to wrap around what I’m seeing. These guys are soldiers. Not just any soldiers, but like Special Forces or something. When I’m done talking
, I wait for a response. And wait. And wait.

“Platt?” Leeds asks finally.

“We’ll have to come in wet,” he says. “Circle around and hit from the back.”

“The cliff?” I say, shaking my head. “You won’t get through the wire. Plus there’s the cliff.”

“Oh, a cliff,” Cob says. “Well we better not go then. Cliffs are scary.”

You’d think I’d be used to being mocked by now, but I’m not.

“Night cover,” Platt continues. “We’ll already be in when the main group hits.”

“You think Vance will let them get to the gate before he strikes?” Leeds asks.

“Probably not,” Cob answers. “He’ll send out his bikes to start picking people off. Get them scared and harried before he hits them.”

“So we have to get him harried first
, or a lot of inexperienced people are going to die,” Leeds says.

My mind is on fire. I’m looking from one speaker to the next like it’s a fucking ping pong game. They are rattling off tactics and plans so fast I can barely keep up. Most of it is in abbreviations and soldier speak. I’m clueless.

“How close can we get before we have to be boots down?” Leeds asks Critter. “What gear can you provide?”

“Whatever you need,” Critter says. “I’ll take you shopping on the way back. We can Hum
vee it in for a good stretch. Take the old trails so we miss Vance’s scouts. But we’ll have to hoof it for at least a mile or two to the river. May be easier to go south and float down.”