Zombified (Book 2): Shady Oaks (4 page)

Mick grinned back and waved a finger at his friend. "That will work."

"Yep."

Chapter Five

Sean and Scott watched the activity at the mysterious camp through binoculars. They were about three hundred yards into the tree line on the backside of the camp, hidden in deep foliage right off a small animal trail. They spent the last two hours slowly and carefully circling behind and it was up to them to call in anything important. Once everyone was in place, Captain Sears planned to make his presence known and then negotiations would hopefully begin.

There seemed to be no activity on their side so Sean busied himself studying the buildings and tents. There were two large white tents with camouflage netting on top; Sean guessed it was to keep anyone who might come down from the mountain from spotting them right off. Both had generators and central air units humming away. From experience, Sean knew the tents could house just about anything in a climate controlled setting. Smaller tents flanked them on both sides.

Next he turned his attention to the buildings on his far left. One was a regular square building, probably where central command was housed. He could see only one window on the right with a small air conditioning unit jutting out. Sean knew those units tended to be noisy so any sound from outside, like Scott and himself sneaking up, would not be heard.

The next building was huge and had him puzzled. Long and rectangular, he had no idea what could possibly be in there, perhaps it was for supplies. He couldn't see any windows or a door so he assumed there was only one at the front. He nudged his brother and pointed.

"What do you think that's for?"

Scott turned his way and glanced over at the building before shrugging. "No idea, it is a weird shape, though."

Before he could reply, Sean was certain he heard a banging noise emanating from the strange building. "Scott," he hissed, nudging him again. "Did you hear that? What do you think is banging like that in there?"

Scott turned again, lifting his binoculars to his eyes. "I heard it, but still don't see anything. Do you think they're keeping Brooke and the others in there?"

Sean shook his head, eyes still fastened on the building. "Nah, they're most likely being held in one of the big tents. Do you think it could be animals? If it's the Connor Group, we know they're probably experimenting with different vaccines so they could have animals up here."

Scott lowered the glasses to look at his brother. "Could be. We should probably let Captain Sears in on this."

While Scott was on the walkie explaining what they found, Sean continued to scan the area. When he heard the banging again, louder this time, he began to grow uneasy. He had a growing suspicion that animals weren't responsible for the noises.

As he continued to watch, he saw movement at the front of the building. He swung the binoculars up in time to see two men carrying what looked like cattle prods, followed by another man in full protective gear and carrying a large black suitcase quickly enter the building. He heard the door clang shut behind them, which meant it was metal and probably reinforced.

Scott was still on the walkie and Sean scooted over to him. Tapping him on the shoulder he whispered, "Tell him I believe they're keeping zombies in that building."

Scott eyes widened in surprise, but he did as Sean asked and relayed the information. "He wants to know why you think that," Scott whispered back.

Sean filled him in on what he observed and Scott passed the information on. Scott nodded a few times then lowered the walkie.

"He wants us to keep eyes on it for now, he told me everyone's almost in position. He's very curious as to how they would get a whole building full of zombies up here."

"They had to use the main road up here, it's an old wood hauling road and rough, but a small semi could probably make it up here." Sean shrugged. "Don't really know, maybe they even herded them up here. They do have cattle prods."

Scott chuckled softly and shook his head. "Wish you could see the picture that idea put into my head. Zombie herders. Do you think they even rode horses and rounded 'em up?"

Sean made a face at his brother and they both grinned. Sean's grin quickly faded when they heard muffled shouting, then a familiar-sounding long and drawn out wail. "Oh yeah, there's definitely zombies in there."

"Wonder how many?"

Sean shrugged. "No idea, but judging by the size of the building could be a hundred or more."

Scott whistled softly then settled in next to his brother to continue their uneasy watch.

An hour slowly passed and Sean began to feel antsy. Everyone should be in position, but they'd heard nothing. He and Scott were still watching the backside of the camp and everything was quiet. Earlier, they'd heard banging and other noises coming from the long rectangular building in front of them, and they were fairly sure it contained zombies, but even that had settled down.

"What do you think is taking so long?" he asked his brother.

"Could be anything," Scott replied. He was sitting with his back against a large tree and had his eyes closed. "Take a chill pill; you know how these things go."

Sean sighed and got up on his knees so he could stretch his back. "You know how I am, I hate waiting."

A rustling sound off to their right brought them to full alert. Sean quickly scooted over behind a tree and Scott got to his knees to do the same. Both relaxed when they spotted four soldiers threading their way toward them. Sean slowly stood and gave them a quick wave. Once they reached the brothers, they quickly filled them in on what was going on.

Complete radio silence was in effect while final tweaking and placement of soldiers took place. The four soldiers would help Sean and Scott secure the back in case anyone tried to leave that way once they revealed themselves to the camp.

Once the soldiers were in place, Sean and Scott settled in again, but this time they were sitting together so they could talk.

"What do you think is happening up front?" Sean whispered.

"I'm hoping we're ready and the Captain is on his way to confront them."

"Do you think they'll give us Brooke and the others back without a fight?"

Before Scott could reply, the sound of a single gunshot rang out.

"I think that's your answer," Scott growled as he grabbed his rifle.

"Damn! I was hoping this was going to be resolved easily," Sean muttered. He walked on his knees over to another tree and looked out over the camp with his binoculars.

"See anything?" Scott asked as he joined him.

"No. Wait. I do see something." Sean adjusted the glasses. With the binoculars he could make out several figures standing between the tents. To his dismay, one man had a firm grip on Brooke's arm, another man had Jenny by an arm, and both had their hands bound together behind their backs with plastic handcuffs. Two other men stood guard on either side, one balanced a rifle on his hip and Sean figured he must have been the one that fired the shot.

He raised the binoculars slightly and refocused. Now he could make out the Captain, who was standing several feet away with his hands out.

He felt a nudge and Scott asked in a loud whisper, "What do you see?"

"Four men, two have the girls, and there are two guards. Captain Sears is apparently still trying to talk to them," he whispered back.

"I'm moving to another tree so I can see what's going on," Scott said before moving off on all fours.

Sean focused back on the man holding Brooke's arm. He seemed to be doing most of the talking so Sean assumed he was the one in charge. Sean could only see him from the back and occasionally caught a glimpse of his profile. He was very tall and every part of him seemed long and thin. When he turned, Sean could see that even his nose was long, but shaped more like a beak than a nose. He had wavy dark brown hair tied back in a long ponytail that went halfway down his back. His clothes and watch were expensive looking, and he was wearing dress shoes.

Sean took another quick look at the man holding Jenny; he was nicely dressed and clean shaven, but a lot shorter than the man next to him. Most likely the bodyguard or second, Sean thought to himself. The other two men flanking them were obviously former military and he gave them an even faster once over. Nothing new there.

He zoomed out so he could view the entire scene. The situation didn't seem to be getting any better. Captain Sears looked perplexed and was shaking his head. Abruptly, he swung around on his heel and headed for the jeep behind him. The four men turned and led the girls back into the white tent on their right.

"Damn," Sean muttered to himself. Obviously there was a stalemate and that was bad for everyone involved.

****

Charlie was waiting at his truck outside City Hall when Mick showed up carrying a large backpack slung over his shoulders and a rifle hanging from one hand.

"Sorry it took so long," Mick apologized as he carefully placed the rifle on the grass and wriggled out of the backpack, swinging it into the back of Charlie's pickup with a loud grunt. "I'm not sure Cindy bought all this, but she didn't come right out and say anything."

"Same here," Charlie said. "Judith was giving me the look that says you're up to something. When I told her we'd be back before dark she relaxed, but not completely."

"They know us too well," Mick remarked as he opened the passenger side door and climbed in. After Charlie hopped in he said, "Cindy and I are always honest with each other, but she and Judith have enough to worry about. They're trying to locate Megan and Darrell to let them know what's happened to Jimmy and the others. If we tell them what we're going to do, they'll insist we either stay or take more people."

Charlie nodded and started the engine. They were going to take the road as far as possible before hiking the rest of the way in. Most of the town's inhabitants rode bikes or walked, but those in office still needed vehicles to be able to get around quickly if needed, so Charlie still had the pickup he inherited when he first came to Shady Oaks.

"Did you manage to get everything on your list?" he asked Mick.

"Almost," Mick said. He pulled his piece of paper out and scrutinized it carefully. "Wasn't able to get three flash bangs, but I did get two."

"Two's good," Charlie remarked as he passed the soccer field on the way out of town. He waved at a couple of kids kicking a ball back and forth and they waved back. He sent up a quick prayer that things would continue to go well for them at Shady Oaks, but the way things were progressing he wasn't so certain.

Until they were stronger with more people residing there to help defend the town, their entire situation was tentative at best. The Connor Group could bring them all down, but at least with the military around they had a fighting chance.

Mick interrupted his train of thought. "Do you hear that?" Mick stuck his head out the window, then back in again. "That weird thrumming sound?"

Charlie slowed down and stuck his head out the window. He could clearly hear it and it was getting louder. He glanced at Mick, who had his head out the window again. "What is that?"

Suddenly Mick stiffened in his seat. "I see it! You're not gonna believe this, but it's a helicopter!"

Charlie pulled over to the side of the road, slammed on the brakes, and jammed it into park. They both jumped out of the truck.

"Over there!" Mick pointed toward the soccer field.

"I see it," Charlie said as he watched the helicopter swoop in and hover over the soccer field. He didn't know too much about helicopters, but knew it was a dual-bladed Huey Cobra, and a fairly beat up one at that.

The two kids playing there had already fled the field and were talking excitedly to one another in the parking lot.

As the chopper began a descent, clearly intending to land on the field, Charlie reached into the truck and turned off the ignition.

"Looks like our little trip will have to wait for just a bit, let's go see who that is and what they want," he yelled over the roar.

Mick nodded and together they slowly trotted toward the now stationary helicopter. They were almost there when the pilot shut down and after a moment, stepped out and waved.

"Do you know him?" Charlie asked.

"Never saw him before," Mick replied.

When they reached the stranger, he thrust out a hand and both men shook it. He was well built with a rugged look to him and of medium height, with short curly black hair and brilliant blue eyes. The women in his family would always tell him that he looked like the kind of guy who should be on the cover of some outdoor magazine. Beside that, he immediately reminded Charlie of someone.

"I'm Harry Jones," he said with a smile. I've come to Shady Oaks to see if I could find my niece."

"Ah," Charlie said with a grin. "I know who you remind me of now; you're here for Bitsy, aren't you?"

Harry nodded. "I sure am, is she all right? Her parents made it to our place, but we ran into problems and unfortunately I'm all she has left in the world now."

Charlie returned the nod solemnly. "Sorry to hear of your loss, but yes - Bitsy's fine. She's quite the firecracker and had to manage on her own until we found her or as she tells it, she found us."