The coldest days of winter were the hardest. The sun would be out but the bitter north winds would rip at clothing, and claw at exposed skin with fingers of ice. We stayed indoors for the worst of it, but we went out at every opportunity because this was our one chance to drastically impact the zombie population. A small part of me thought about the city and the area to the north of the canal, but I realized that the zombie population up there would be in the millions, and I realistically could not hope to finish all of them in one winter.
If all went well, maybe next winter, when I could return with a larger contingent of people and weapons, but right now, that was impossible.
We cleared out several subdivisions and homes and we warmed ourselves on several burning homes. We stayed away from the city of Oakland Park proper, working at the fringes and gathering supplies where we could. I absolutely forbade anyone from trying to go to the mall there, as I figured the cavernous building might have enough residual warmth to keep hundreds of zombies moving.
The winter wasn’t all work. Jake had his first birthday, and Sarah and I invited everyone to the party. We managed to put together quite a feast from the food and supplies we had scrounged, and the generators provided us with light and music for a while. Jake loved the attention, and Sarah even managed to get him a present. She and Charlie found a baby store and picked up a little walk-behind car. Jake was moving around pretty well, and the car let him practice his walking skills. He gave a squeal of delight when he used it, and Sarah said it was the best ‘thank you’ she had ever received.
The party was a welcome relief from the stress of our situation, and it was also the opportunity for Charlie to bring out the little girl he had unofficially adopted. She had recovered remarkably well, and her brilliant blue eyes took in everything around her. Jake was fascinated with her, and was constantly trying to give her toys to play with. Charlie had decided to name her Julia, which Sarah received with a small smile. I gave her a hug and she assured me it was all right. Julia had a host of admirers, not the least of which were the women from the adult center, most of whom had lost a child or more in the Upheaval.
The winter brought out some interesting changes in our group as well. I was as surprised as anyone when Pamela moved into Duncan’s room, and Tommy began hanging out with a young widow named Stacey Wood. Charlie was getting friendly with Rebecca, our resident nurse, and Kristen was complaining about her lack of prospects.
A week later, I decided it was time to hit the town of Leport. It was a river town and older than most towns in the area. As a river town, I wanted to make sure it was going to remain intact, as it was going to be another community after we had cleared it out and declared it safe. I just hoped we had the population around to make it work.
Charlie came with me, as well as Tommy, and the three of us rode in silence, taking in the snowy landscape and each of us lost in our own thoughts. As we passed the forest preserves, I could see several herds of deer moving like ghosts among the trees. The lakes were frozen and swept by winds that created drifts like whitecaps on top of still waters. The road was clear, since we had been this way several times with the plow, but a drift or two was still blocking the way, making travel difficult as usual.
We passed a subdivision of enormous homes, an area we had already been through. We had managed to secure a large amount of supplies from several of those homes, as well as some interesting vehicles. Tommy found a Mercedes convertible he was proud of until Charlie asked where he was going to put the supplies. We didn’t burn any of the homes, as they were made of brick and likely able to survive for a while. There was a huge estate on one side of the road, and we decided to stop for a look. Charlie navigated the truck into the driveway and Tommy whistled at the size of the home. We got out of the truck and spread out. I took the front door while Charlie checked the windows and Tommy started towards the back. I checked the door and found it unlocked. Pushing it open, I held my new M1A rifle at the ready, not expecting trouble, but not relenting in my vigilance, either.
The place was huge, and expensively furnished. Polished hardwood floors peeked out from beneath oriental-style carpets, while a marble fireplace commanded attention in the ornate living room. High ceilings added to the overall effect and the whole place reeked of money. Nice digs in a regular world, not so great in the current one. The only detriment to the place was the fact that the expensive furniture was tossed around, like someone had been stumbling around in the dark, bumping into things.
Movement out of the corner of my eye showed Charlie making his way to the front door, and I expected Tommy to come rolling in from the back. What I didn’t expect was gunshots from the side of the house. It was too cold for zombies to be moving quickly but this was something else.
I ran past Charlie, and he looked at me in askance. “That wasn’t Tommy’s gun.” I said as I flicked off the safety of my M1A and followed Tommy’s footprints to the side of the house.
I could hear the snarl of engines as I raced to the edge and rounding the corner, the distinctive whine of snowmobiles. Tommy was taking cover behind the fireplace and getting ready to engage when I burst around the corner. Swinging wide, I circled out into the lawn and was able to see three snowmobiles racing away, two of the riders with rifles strapped to their backs, while the third had a large duffle bag. They were roughly two hundred yards off and moving fast, but I decided to take a shot anyway. Bringing up the barrel, I sighted in the retreating figure and pulled the trigger. The rifle punched the air with sound and I was rewarded with one of the retreating figures swerving sharply and nearly colliding with a tree. But he corrected in time and sped away.
Bringing the gun down, I went over to where Charlie was helping Tommy to his feet. “Did you get hit?” I asked, checking him for any blood.
“No, they missed me by a mile. More like surprise shots, than anything else. I came around the corner and we stared at each other for a second. I was about to hail when one of them whipped up his rifle and fired at me. I dove for the building and was getting ready to return the favor when you came around. Wonder who they were?”
“No clue, but I actually am surprised we hadn’t run into some other survivors like that until now.” I said, looking off to where the snowmobiles had gone. Southeast, by the look of it, and if memory served, there wasn’t anything really off in that direction except a couple of home improvement stores.
Charlie broke off our reflection with his usual charm. “I’m going inside, you two hens can talk out in the cold all you want.” He said and stomped off towards the front door.
Shaking my head, I followed him, with Tommy coming in behind.
We went back inside the house, but with the likelihood of the place being already visited, we didn’t expect to find much. Tommy went to the kitchen, while Charlie headed to the basement. I decided to take the upstairs and look around. Maybe I would get lucky.
I went upstairs and checked the rooms to the east of the main stairwell. There was a nicely furnished library and I picked up a few books to take back to the condo. Many books were on the floor, as if someone was looking for a safe or something, but nothing serious. Another room had a home theater set up in it with a huge plasma television mounted on the wall. Useless now, but fun when it was working, I’d bet. There was a nice suite near the stairs that looked like a guest area, and it was nicer than any hotel I ever stayed at. It even had its own small kitchen.
I moved to the bedrooms and checked them out one by one. The first two were unremarkable, just your standard bedroom with a sofa, television, and bathroom. After seeing the other rooms, I was actually looking forward to the master bedroom.
I opened the door and immediately when into combat mode. There was blood splattered over the walls and furniture, and I could see a pair of legs sticking out from around the corner. They weren’t moving, but I took nothing for granted.
Checking behind the door and moving in with my rifle up, I edged around the body and looked at the rest of the bedroom. I cursed when I saw what was on the bed. A woman in her late forties had been stripped and tied spread eagle face down on the bed. Her husband had apparently been forced to watch her be raped by her attackers until they were both killed. Seems like they had been caught trying to survive here and paid a brutal price for it.
The way they had been killed struck a familiar chord in my memory, but I brushed it aside and cut the woman’s bonds. I turned her over and saw the bruises and scratches that mapped a horrific experience. I laid her to rest and struggling, managed to heave her husband up next to her on the bed. I then covered the two of them with a sheet and looked up to find Tommy staring at me.
“What happened here?” he asked, looking around.
“I’m not fully sure, but I would guess these two were trying to survive and happened to get in the way of a few animals who relished the idea of a lawless nation.” My voice was grim and hard, thinking of the others I had encountered who used the Upheaval as an excuse to satisfy their baser instincts.
“Well, that matches what Charlie found in the basement.” Tommy said, stepping out into the hallway.
I followed him. “Why? What did he find?”
Tommy shook his head. “Charlie found three bodies down there, two of them children, the third likely a teenager. All of them had been killed, none of them infected.”
I felt a familiar rage starting to build, frustrated that I had no one to vent it on. I headed downstairs and stopped at the landing. Tommy bumped into me. “What’s going on?”
I pointed at a portrait on the wall. “If there was a family here and they have been all killed, then we’re one short.” The family photo showed four children, two teenagers and two kids under twelve.
Tommy looked thoughtful and we mulled that one over in silence as Charlie came up the stairs. He was holding a small hatchet which was covered in dried blood, which he held up to us.
“I’m guessing this was what killed the kids in the basement. Came from a McCard's home store.” Charlie said without preamble.
“We’re missing one.” Tommy said, pointing to the wall portraits.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed and he looked at me. “Parents?”
“Dead upstairs.” I replied. “Mom worked over pretty badly, looks like Dad was forced to watch.”
“What do you want to do here?” Charlie asked.
I looked around. As nice as this place was, it was a tomb. “Light it up.”
Tommy and Charlie nodded and went to work. Twenty minutes later, we were driving away. In the rear view mirrors, I could see flames starting to lick at the edges of the windows. Rest in peace. I thought darkly.
We pulled into the outskirts of Leport and immediately could see that there was something wrong. The first subdivision had another pile of headless zombies, and all of the houses had been broken into. We split up and checked a few houses each. I found a few corpses in a couple houses, and none of them had been infected when they were killed. Charlie and Tommy reported finding similar things. The three of us looked at each other and it was pretty clear what we all thinking. There was a group out there that was not only killing zombies, but killing survivors as well.
We got back into the truck and proceeded into the city proper. Devastation was all around us, and we had a difficult time navigating around some of the blocked intersections. Many of the homes had been burned to the ground, and large swaths of devastation covered much of the town. We passed a grocery store but didn’t even bother looking in, as the doors had been smashed in long ago. We headed down the hill towards the river, and could see from the top of the hill the line of cars that choked the road and doomed many people to the rampaging dead.
Turning down the side road to the older part of town, we parked the truck and got out. There were several streets but oddly there were no cars. I wondered if they were on the road above us but was shaken out of my reflection by Tommy jostling my arm.
“Look over there” he said, pointing to the river.
I looked and smiled back at him. A small marina was tucked up next to the river, and a boat landing was evident. There weren’t any boats, and I hadn’t expected any, but we had our waterway access. Looking back to the town, I realized that the older homes and businesses had been spared the devastation, and the newer part of the town up the hill had been destroyed. A cathedral was still standing, as well as a large school. Either would make a good defensive point if necessary, and the bell tower was perfect as a watchtower. The lands around would do nicely for farming and raising animals, if we ever found any, and the woods would provide shelter and materials.
All right, then. I waved Charlie and Tommy over and we spent the next two hours going through businesses and houses. We found no survivors, but we did find quite a few zombies frozen in the snow and ice. We dispatched all that we found, fifty-six total. We found signs of violence here and there, but this part of the city seemed to be mostly abandoned. Charlie found a child’s clothing store, and came out with armloads of clothes for little Julia. Tommy checked every bar he found, but there wasn’t a drop of liquor in the town. I happened across a construction company and found a back hoe and a bulldozer, which would be useful later if we could get them running.
Getting back in the truck, we headed back to the condo complex. Our mood was sobered when we passed the burning mansion but lightened as we came within sight of our condo complex. I wouldn’t call it a good day, but it was productive.
Sarah and Jake met me and I told Sarah about the mansion and what we had found and what had occurred. She looked thoughtful for a second, and then asked, “Do you think there might be a connection between this incident and the one you had at the drugstore last year?”
I thought about it and realized that was what had been nagging at my mind when I came across the scene. “Now that you mention it, it does seem similar. I guess it would be too much to hope for that I had stopped them back then, wouldn’t it.?”
Sarah nodded and handed me a hot cup of coffee. “Nate called in and wanted to know how things were going. I told him you would get back to him later tonight.”
I sipped the coffee and nodded. “I made it to the river today.”
Sarah suddenly smiled. “You did! I knew you would! How did the town look?”
I turned serious. “There’s a lot of work to do, but it will serve. It most certainly will.” I spent the next hour talking about what we had found and what we were going to do before Jake demanded to be fed and played with. Duty called.