In the morning, we made our way down to Nate’s house, where we would be planning the trip. Patty, Nate’s wife, was just finishing up breakfast and we all sat down to an excellent meal. We made small talk over the food, talking about the things we had done over the year, the winter campaigns and such. It was nice to see how much progress had been made. In some areas, progress was still slow.
“How’s the push to the city?” I asked, pushing my plate forward and resting a hand on Jake’s head, after he had come to see what I was up to.
Nate shook his head. “It’s still a dead zone. Two of Trevor’s men went up for a look-see last winter and they said it was wall to wall zombies. Even with a thousand men, we’d never clear it before they thawed. It’s still the source of a lot of zombies still haunting the secured areas.”
“That bad?” asked Tommy.
“That bad,” said Nate. “Ever hear of the town of Herret?”
Tommy shook his head. “First time.”
Nate continued. “It was a small town located on the east side of Rockford. Got overrun a few months back. We had set up radio contact with them using the shortwaves, but all we could hear was someone screaming for help. Then we heard nothing. We checked the map and found that of the three towns that had been hit over the last summer, they were all in line from the city. So it’s still a problem.”
I moved Jake in the direction of Julia and he toddled off happily. I watched him go and turned my attention back to the table. “We’ll deal with that later. Right now we need to figure out how to get from point A to point B and back without getting ourselves killed.”
We talked for a while, ironing our strategies out and weighing the pros and cons of each. Duncan initially thought a boat trip was a good idea, being safe on the water, but it was pointed out that Niagara Falls was a bitch to sail over. Especially coming back. Eventually, we agreed to a land route and it had the advantages of being able to resupply more quickly, more options for escape, and it allowed us to see what was left of the country.
It was simpler to choose a vehicle for travel. Nate told me they had a large RV they had been using for extended scouting. It had been fitted with chain-link fencing over the windows and a reinforced roof with a sniper’s fence. A plow had been attached to the front, hung low enough to keep the Z’s from flowing under the RV. The whole thing had been raised six inches to allow for more clearance and retractable gangplanks allowed for roof access. It was diesel, so it wasn’t as quiet as possible, but larger stores of gas could be found in trucks and distribution yards. It stood a good chance of taking us there.
The next part was harder. I knew I was going, but I needed someone else not to go. I motioned Charlie to come talk to me and we headed outside. Sarah and Rebecca looked at us quizzically, but didn’t say anything.
Charlie was confused but came along. When we were outside, he asked me what was up.
I didn’t waste time. “I want you to hang back from this trip, Charlie.”
Charlie stared hard into my eyes. If I didn’t know him as I did, it would have been unnerving. After a minute, he said, “Can I ask why?”
“I got a feeling about this one, bro. I got a feeling that if we both head off on this trip, our home won’t be the same,” I said. “I managed to get myself into this mess and I’ll get myself out. But I would rest a whole lot easier knowing my old partner is watching the home fires.”
Charlie turned thoughtful. “You think this Major fellow would come calling?”
I nodded. “If he’s half the bastard Simon made him out to be, he might just want to be the only wolf in the woods. That means taking us out any way he can.”
Charlie mulled that one over, then nodded. “If I was going, I’d want you to look after my family as well. All right.”
I smiled and shook his hand. “Thanks, brother. I feel a lot better.”
“Promise me one thing,” Charlie said as we turned back to the house.
“Anything.”
“Don’t hog all the action. I get to kill me some scumbagstoo.”
I laughed. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I’ll see what I can do.”
We reached the house just as a teenage girl came running up. Nate spoke with her for a minute and then sent her on her way.
“News?” I asked.
“Yeah. That Dan Winters took off this morning, stealing one of the recon cars and making off with a bunch of food and ammo. Looks like he left with a couple of his cronies as well,” Nate said.
“Good riddance, says I,” I said, not giving it much thought.
“Maybe,” said Nate. “I have a feeling that little punk will cause us trouble one way or the other.”
We planned for a little while longer, then set up a time table. We would leave the day after tomorrow, giving us a full day and a half to gather what supplies we needed and fully plan our route. I had been through the country before, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t recognize it now.
I went to visit my brother while I was in Leport and I was surprised to see how big my niece and nephew had become. Mike was very glad to see me, as was Nicole. We spent a good deal of time together and towards the end, I began to get the suspicion that Mike wanted to ask me something.
“Well, I need to get Sarah and Jake back to the house, they’re heading out in the morning, going back to Starved Rock. It’s been great seeing you all again.” I gave the kids and Nicole a hug, then gave my brother one as well.
“John…” Mike began.
I looked at him. “What’s on your mind, bro? You’ve been avoiding an issue since I got here. What is it?”
Mike looked at the ground, then looked at Nicole. Nicole broke the silence. “We were wondering if you had any room for another family out at your lodge.”
I was taken aback. After Charlie and I had rescued my brother and his family from the Visitor Center at Starved Rock, I figured they wouldn’t be in any hurry to return. “Of course, you’re welcome. We have plenty of room. Get your stuff and we can take you on the boat back.”
Mike gave me a big hug, then gave Nicole a hug and a kiss. Nicole hugged me and whispered “Thank you.” in my ear. Sarah smiled and I found myself glad that my brother was coming with.
“Of course, there is a condition,” I said ominously.
Mike looked at me, his eyes apprehensive. “What’s that?”
“You have to train with Charlie to get your skills up. You’re out on the frontier now and the only thing between you and living death is the skill and strength of your arm and the preparedness of your mind.” I slapped him on the shoulder. “I ain’t coming back to find you dead because you did something stupid.”
Mike nodded and it seemed like he was looking forward to the challenge. I hoped he was, because Charlie took no prisoners.
We walked back to the house and Sarah and I spent some alone time together. Jake took a nap, which was convenient as hell.
Holding Sarah in my arms, I told her about the decision to keep Charlie back and she agreed with me, “Rebecca will be happy.”
“I hope it all works out,” I said, playing with a loose strand of her hair.
“Anything you need for us to do while you’re gone?” she said, running a finger across my chest.
“When you pass the towns, pass the word on what we are doing and where we will bring the documents once we get them. Have each community send a representative here and we’ll start the government process over.”
Sarah sat up and leaned over me, her hair spilling across my face. “Are you serious?” she said.
“Very,” I replied, running a hand down her back. “Once we get this thing settled, we’re restarting our country. I’ve avoided it long enough, and we have to do something.”
Sarah kissed me deeply, then rolled over, pulling me on top of her. “You have knack for hope, my dear. It’s oddly arousing.” She said as she settled herself beneath me.
“Indeed.” I said as I kissed her, and then stopped talking for a while.
Joseph Talluto
America the Dead