We made it back to the boat and returned to Leport later in the day. Nate came down to the dock to greet us, bringing Jakey and Julia along as well as a large number of other people. There were a lot of questions, not the least of which was why we were three people short. After hugging Jake for a while, I explained to the people what had happened, what we had accomplished, and what had happened to our lost companions. There were head shakes all around, but no looks of blame. I downplayed what Charlie and I had done at Coal City and only briefly mentioned what Tommy and I had done. Everyone was excited about the prospect of new people and possibly being able to communicate and trade. We had realized on the trip up that the tracks that ran through Leport ran all the way down to Streator. We could set up a line of communication or we could get a train or something running.
While we were away, Duncan had been sending people back at a steady pace, with the list of incoming survivors reaching over two hundred. Tommy realized he was going to have to dig another trench, this one farther out as people moved into homes outside the safe zone. Everyone had to be quarantined for a bit to make sure no one was bringing the infection into the area, but no one complained.
One real piece of good news was the town had running water. Our plumbers and engineers had rigged up a pump system using a big water wheel and a whole lot of garden hose, not to mention the judicious use of gravity, and there it was. Not a ton of pressure, but it beat walking to the river with a bucket every day.
I spent the next few weeks just taking things easy, dealing with minor problems as they came up in the community, talking to newcomers, working out on the farms. I spent three interesting days with Nate as we scouted the local area, trying to find a suitable place for livestock. Eventually, we settled on a spot north of the farms. It had decent water, plenty of grazing and was surrounded on three sides by water. The only way any zombies would get at the livestock would be to come through a narrow gap and we had posted men to keep an eye on it. Charlie took off into the country side and came back later with a few cows, a horse, and several goats. It was a start and the animals actually seemed to be glad to have human company again.
Charlie and I spent a little time with our doctor because she wanted to run some tests on us. We shrugged and gave a vial of blood each, not thinking about it, or questioning her motives. I figured she’d tell us in time.
Summer was getting closer and more and more I was finding myself looking up the river, wondering about things that had no answer. On one such occasion, I was holding Jake, rocking him gently in the evening breeze. His little head rested on my shoulder, while his feet occasionally kicked at the SIG on my hip. I kept my eyes on the north and began to formulate an idea which refused to let go. It was one of those things that stayed with me. No matter what I was doing, during any down time my mind went back to it.
I whispered to Jake and he smiled sleepily, his little hand hooking into the collar of my shirt. I felt a ghost of a touch on my shoulder, and turned to see Sarah at my side. Jake saw her and reached out with a hand, wanting to go over to her.
“Hey, big boy,” Sarah said quietly, rocking Jake and putting his head on her shoulder. In her arms, Jake looked twice as big, even though he was still tiny. He was roughly fifteen months old, give or take, and was walking around and getting himself into all kinds of trouble. I didn’t mind any of it, I was just glad to have him with me.
“How’s the school coming along?” I asked, curious as to its progress. Sarah and three other women were getting the school in shape for classes. We had several teachers and they were willing to pick up where they had left off after the Upheaval. We had enough children to actually have a couple of classes, although the children’s ages varied widely, it wouldn’t be anything different from turn of the century schools. Being a former administrator, I had been asked to head the school, but I declined. That was something I did before, not something I did now. Besides, it was my opinion that the best teachers did their best work when they were allowed to be creative and have few administrative restrictions.
“It’s fine,” Sarah said, settling Jake on her hip. He played with her hair, which looked lighter in the waning sun, then leaned his head into her neck and shoulder. “We’ve finished the classrooms and the teachers have the textbooks, getting themselves familiar with the lessons and what they want to teach. Nate says he wants to run P.E.”
I thought about that for a second and let out a short laugh. “Sweet Jesus, those kids will learn a new language as well as physical education.”
Sarah smiled. “Nate thinks it would be good for the kids to be trained to defend themselves, like we train everyone else.”
I thought about it for a second, then nodded. “In ancient times, the Spartans did not bother with any walls or fortifications, relying instead on the strength of their people to be the wall. I can see his point. Let’s do it.”
Sarah looked at me funny. “I used to teach world history before I became an administrator,” I said to her.
“Can I ask a question?” Sarah said after a while. Jake was falling asleep, his little hands curling his hair and his eyelids were struggling to remain open.
“Sure. Anything.”
“When are you leaving?”
I smiled. “Is it that obvious?”
Sarah didn’t return the smile. “I’ve known you for a while and when you get that faraway look in your eyes, you’re thinking about heading out to some other place, looking for God knows what.”
I couldn’t deny it, I was thinking about another trip, and this time I was heading into the mouth of the monster. I decided to be candid. “I need to know what happened to my brother. The last time I spoke with him it was a year ago. I would like to try to find out what happened, if anything.”
Sarah contemplated in silence, then her eyes got wide and she shook her head. “No!” she whispered, since Jake was asleep. “You can’t go there! You know it’s suicide!” A tear began to form in her eye. “You can’t, please don’t.”
I took Jake from her and put him to bed, covering him with his blanket, watching him for a moment. I went back outside where Sarah was sitting on the porch, watching the river as tears fell down her face. I pulled her to her feet and held her close. She held me tight, burying her face in my chest.
“Please tell me you’re not going.” She said.
“I have to. For a few reasons, not the least of which is my brother. I need to see what’s left and I need to see if there are any survivors. Duncan cleared the road on this side of the river and the only thing we have on the other side is our farms. We don’t know anything else. Lastly, I will not send anyone else on this mission. I can’t and you know it.” I kissed her on the top of her head and she raised her face to mine. “You couldn’t be with a man like that, could you?”
Sarah stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. “If you were anyone else, I probably would have killed you by now.”
I smiled. “That’s my girl.”
In the morning, I called a meeting with the council, a group of people elected by the populace to voice their concerns and to keep people informed as to the goings on. I tried to have a meeting once every two weeks, but sometimes things needed to be discussed earlier.
Nate was there, as was Charlie and Tommy, and various others representing parts of the community. Trevor was there and so were Rebecca, Dot, and Sarah. I headed the council and gave the general direction of the agenda, but I had passed over my full leadership role for a more democratic one. Except in times of emergency, then I was the sole authority. That was something Nate put in there, since he realized that a council cold not effectively make timely decisions when needed. Besides, Nate told me, nobody else was stupid enough to take the job.
We met in the town’s old community center, the newer one having been burnt down by yours truly. It was a nice old brick building that once had been a high school. We gathered in the conference room and I got things under way.
“I know we weren’t supposed to meet for a couple of days, but I am going to be heading out and I wanted to make sure everyone knew the where’s and why’s.”
Charlie looked at me with a knowing eye and Tommy just rolled his. Nate shifted his chair and I was sure he was curious.
“Things have been going pretty well here. We’ve established communication and trade with the towns on the rail line, except for Joslin, and we have taken a number of steps to ensure our long-term survival. What I am going to do is both for the community and for myself.” I paused, keeping the attention of everyone in the room.
I took a deep breath and let loose the bomb. “I’m going to the city.”
Everyone tried to speak at once and I managed to hear tidbits here and there. Words like ‘suicide’ and ‘dumbass’ assailed my ears, as well as ‘crazy’ and ‘stupid’. I had thought this out and didn’t really believe it was going to be too bad. Of course, that’s what I thought about Coal City and nearly got chewed in that one.
When the commotion died down, I raised my hand for silence. Nate was glaring at me and Charlie was sitting with his arms crossed. Tommy was shaking his head and Trevor was eyeing me funny.
“Look, I know it sounds crazy, considering there are likely millions of zombies in the city. But I’m not asking anyone else to go, not asking anyone to risk themselves in what may be a wild goose chase. But lately I have been getting the feeling my brother is still alive and I need to try to do something about that. I am not abandoning the community, nor am I asking anyone to understand why I need to do this. But I need to be able to look myself in the eye and believe I tried my best to see what happened to him and his family.” There were understanding nods. “Besides, it’s been over a year since the Upheaval and things may not be as bad as we believe regarding the city. We just don’t know.”
Things calmed down a bit after that and we hammered out the details. Sarah insisted and got a concession regarding timelines. I was to be gone three days, no longer, regardless of what I found or didn’t find. I was not going alone, as Charlie and Tommy were coming with me.
I wanted things done as well. I assigned Trevor and five of his crew to go out to State Center Alpha and see if there was anything left. They were to seek out and report, find out if there was anyone else out there, maybe find some more answers about the state of the country, if possible. They were going to be going cross country, but since it was in the middle of farm country, they should actually have little problems. Trevor had come a long way and his men worked as well together as Charlie, Tommy and I did. I could have sent more of them, but in all honesty, if the expedition went south, I wanted to minimize the losses.
Charlie, Tommy and I would head out first thing in the morning, and we would take the pontoon boat. I had looked over the map and saw that the canal was the way to go. We would head north until the canal forked, then we would head north farther until we could see what we could see. The eastern portion of the canal made more of a direct route to the lake, which might have been useful later, but not now. The northern route actually led near where my brother used to live in the city, so if he made it out, he made it one of two ways: he took the canal or he took the railway. I wasn’t sure about the railway, since it went underground and in a zombie infested city, the last place I would go is underground. My brother and I tended to think alike in a lot of things, so I was hopeful he made the right choice. I was going to find out.
I spent the rest of the day getting ready, making sure I had enough ammo and supplies. I spent a brief time with Trevor, talking to him about what I found at State Center Bravo. Trevor was all ears, taking in each detail and committing it to memory. I drew him a route that should take him to the center without too much interference. I warned him about what we had found on one of the farms and what we had done to the renegade group. Trevor’s eyes had widened, it was something that Tommy and I hadn’t talked about. I also warned him about the glowing eyes of the zombies and he was sufficiently seasoned enough to appreciate what kind of effect that could have on his men.
When I had finished, Trevor and I shook hands and he gave me what amounted to high praise. “You sure are one high-octane son-of-a-bitch.”
I waved off the comment. “I just do what needs to be done, nothing more. You’d have done the same.”
“Not sure about that, boss. Walking at night with sixteen women through dark country-whew! No thanks.”
“Get moving,” I said with a smile.
While I was getting things together, Sarah, Jake, and I had a visitor. Dot came by to talk. We caught up for a while, then Sarah went off to feed Jake his lunch, leaving Dot and I on the porch.
“Been busy, hey?” Dot asked.
“Yeah, it’s been a trip. Several, as a matter of fact,” I said, shaking my head at the rush of memories.
“You’re doing fine,” Dot said. “As a matter of fact, I’d say you’re doing ten times better than anyone could have hoped for.”
“Thanks.”
“Tell me one thing, though, John.”
“Sure, anything.”
“Why haven’t you told Sarah the other reason why you are taking this trip?” Dot asked, seeing through me better than anyone had ever done before. It was downright creepy.
“It wouldn’t be fair to her and might cause feelings to get hurt. Besides, I need this closure. I thought I had it at my house, but over the last few months, it’s been like a cobweb in my head, tickling me from time to time, never letting me forget it’s there.” I looked down. “I hope you won’t tell Sarah,” I said.
Dot smiled at me. “I won’t on one condition.”
“What’s that?” I asked, giving her the same look I give a zombie right before I plant a chunk of metal in its frontal lobe.
“That you marry that girl before you get much older,” Dot said, standing up and patting me on the arm. “No telling how much time you have, especially these days.”
My mind was paralyzed for a moment, then I managed to speak. “Deal,” I said, before I fully understood what I was saying.
“Good. Tell Sarah I’ll be by to help her with Jake while you’re gone.” Dot walked off, whistling an old Irish tune, her rifle slung over her shoulder like she was heading off to war.
I had the feeling I had just been bamboozled, but in all honesty, couldn’t find a downside. I finished packing up and joined Sarah and Jake, trying to squeeze in as much quality time as possible before I headed out. I was sure Charlie and Tommy were doing the same.