Deadland's Harvest (10 page)

Tyler sat down and examined the map before sliding it to me.

I looked at the small island toward the east side of the river, and not far south of a four-lane bridge. I much preferred the idea of being on the riverboat casino. From what I’d seen of the
Lady Amore
, they had plenty of space to take on more survivors. Hell, the boat was so large it was like a mountain on the water. The idea of being stranded on an island made me feel like a sitting duck. If any herd spotted us, there’d be no running. “So, zeds can still get to the island?” I asked after sliding the map across the table to Jase and Griz.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Sorenson said. “They can’t swim, but any that fall in the water could wash ashore easily enough. The towboat also likely had a crew of ten or twenty on her when the outbreak hit. That she ran aground isn’t a good sign. She might have been evacuated because I didn’t see any zeds on her deck. Even if she’s not empty, with enough firepower, it shouldn’t take you long to clear her out.

Tyler sighed deeply and leaned back, closing his eyes. I placed my hand over his and he gripped it.

“It could work,” I said quietly, as much to support Tyler as to convince myself.

“Oh, it can work all right. Trust me,” Sorenson said. “Once you get the towboat cleared out, you’ll only have to deal with zeds that get to the island from the water. I’m sure the barges are all clear. I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t start moving your people and supplies over right away. From what I’ve seen of the herds, you have about two weeks before they make it this far down the river. You’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then.”

“Except there’s a herd already coming straight through the center of the state,” Tyler said. “We have to be over here within a couple days or else we risk getting cut off.” He paused. “It can work. We’ll make it work.”

“You’ll need to get moving then,” Sorenson said.

Tyler nodded and motioned to us. “Agreed. Thank you for your help, Captain. I don’t have any marine experience, but I’ll take you at your word that this towboat and barges will make for a defensible position and that I’m not condemning sixty souls.”

“Aye, she’ll be safe as long as you’re discreet and don’t do anything to draw attention,” Sorenson said. “I’ve kept an eye on her for just this sort of need. I’ll make sure there’s a pontoon or two for you to get to her by tomorrow. Be sure to bring enough folks to clear out the boat and possibly do some patching. The towboat is named the
Aurora II
. She’s built for a small crew, so she won’t hold sixty people. Maybe thirty if you push it. You’ll have to use the barges to house the rest of your people and supplies.”

“Fair enough.” Tyler looked at his watch. “Sunlight is half gone. We’d better head back. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay the night on board the
Lady Amore,
” Sorenson said.

Tyler smiled and held out his hand. “Thank you, but we have to get started on preparations. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Sorenson shook Tyler’s hand before he headed over to the door and opened it. “Otto will see you back to the bridge. I’ll see if a couple of my people will volunteer to help you patch up the barge once you clear it.”

Suddenly feeling a hundred pounds lighter, I came to my feet and followed Tyler into the hallway. For the first time since seeing the massive herds, I felt like we stood a fighting chance to make it through the fall.

After Pedro, Otto, Griz, and Jase joined us, Sorenson shut the door, staying in his room. I wondered how much time he spent in his quarters to avoid having to deal with all the problems of having people living in a floating hotel.

Our trip back to the plane was uneventful. The sun had warmed the air, and I enjoyed the afternoon breeze blowing through my cropped hair as the boat cut through the water. When we reached the bridge, we said our good-byes and cautiously climbed the ladder, and Otto and Pedro pulled away.

Fortunately, no zeds had come across the plane or blocked our takeoff path. In fact, the countryside was still wide open. We piled into the Cessna, and I started the engine. It coughed and sputtered and growled. On the third attempt, it kept running but was rough. “Keep your eyes peeled for zeds. This could take a while,” I yelled over the engine as I throttled up and checked the mags. The right mag had been running rough but now both sounded like metallic beasts about to explode. I leaned the mixture, trying to clean the spark plugs, to no avail. For several more minutes I tried to smooth the engine, all the while cursing and begging the plane.

After I knew it was hopeless, I pulled the mixture all the way out and the engine quit. I leaned forward, resting my head against the panel for
a moment, knowing I was about to let everyone down. I hated times like this. My first urge was to cry, but I refused to be the weak one, the one the guys felt sorry for.

“What’s the problem?” Tyler asked quietly at my side.

I leaned back and opened my eyes. “You heard the engine. This plane’s not going anywhere. With both mags running rough, it’s not going to be running for much longer. If the engine goes out while we’re in the air, we have to land, and it doesn’t matter if there’s a town of zeds below us or not.”

“Will it help if you let it sit for a while?” Jase asked.

“I don’t think so.” I scratched my head. “Fuck, I don’t know. I’m a pilot, not a mechanic. I have no idea how to fix it. I just know it’s not safe to fly it like this.”

“Then we won’t risk it,” Tyler said. “We’ll find another way back home.”

We climbed out of the plane and stood on the bridge.

“Can I see the map?” I asked Jase.

He dug into his cargo pocket and pulled out the folded sectional.

“Thanks.” I knelt and spread it out on the pavement.

Tyler came down on a knee next to me while I could feel Jase and Griz at my back.

I pointed to a spot on the map. “The closest small airport is here. It’s not far, but it’s on the edge of town. If we can’t get to the airport, we should at least be able to find a car. Jase has been marking the routes on the map.”

“Too bad Otto didn’t stick around,” Griz said, looking out over the river. “A lift could’ve saved us hours.”

“That would make things easier,” Tyler said. “But I’m not seeing any boats around here that we can use, so it looks like we’ll be hoofing it. There should be a few farms between us and the next town. One of those farms is bound to have a vehicle we can use.” He came to his feet. “Take five, and then we head out.”

I was already dreading how much my leg would ache tonight. I headed back to the plane. I tried to reach Clutch on the radio but had no luck. Giving up, I rummaged through the baggage compartment. I pulled out a plastic bag and handed it to Griz to add to his rucksack. “There are a few protein bars, a couple bottles of water, and a first aid kit in there.”

“It’s time,” Tyler said. “Let’s get a move on. We’ve got less than four hours of sunlight left to get back to Camp Fox.”

After an hour of jogging, we switched to walking once we realized there was no way in hell we’d make it back to the park before dark. My calf had ached for the first forty minutes until pleasant numbness finally settled in.

The rural road was rough but wide open, with trees to our right, where the river was, and fields to our left. A group of four zeds emerged from the trees and blocked our path. Luckily, only one of them was fresh enough to be halfway fast. Tyler took it down with a heavy swing of his sword. I pulled out my machete, and the rest of us each took down one without firing a shot. The zed I killed had been a man, wearing stained khakis and a golf shirt. My first swing knocked it to the ground. My second swing put it out of its misery.

Sounds came from the trees, but thankfully, no more zeds emerged. Still, we made haste to continue on. The first farmhouse we came to we didn’t dare approach. Jase had counted at least three zeds inside, and we had no intention on riling them up. The truck in the driveway sat with the driver’s side door open and no keys in the ignition. When Jase tried to hotwire it, nothing happened. The battery was dead.

We fared no better at the second farmhouse. A zed was enclosed in the SUV in the open garage. When it saw us, it pounded on the glass. Jase checked it out, but the SUV had been left running and had long since run out of gas. So, we moved on.

It took us another thirty minutes before we found a vehicle we could use. The white sedan we found sat in the attached garage of a newer looking farmhouse that showed no signs of zeds lurking within its walls. The four of us stood in front of the split-foyer house. Griz and Jase had already run around it, looking through each window. Luckily, the garage door was one of those with windows in it, making it easy to see the car as well as telltale signs of notoriously clumsy zeds.

“It looks clean inside,” Jase said.

“Should we try the house or the garage first?” I asked.

Tyler stood quietly for a moment, his sword in one hand. “I’d say we waltz right up and try the front door.” And he did exactly that. He cut through the lawn and onto the pebbled path leading to the doorsteps. Large bay windows were to the left, making it easy to see if any zeds came from that direction. To the right of the door was a wall, so we were going in half-blind.

Griz, Jase, and I followed. Tyler stood at the front door and knocked. A short pause later, he grabbed the door handle and turned but didn’t open the door. He glanced back at us. “It’s unlocked.”

As I gripped my machete, I noticed both Griz and Jase tense as well. They stood a couple steps behind Tyler and me, in case we needed to jump out of the way. I stood off to the side, careful to avoid making myself a target through the windows. I peeked through the edge of the bay window.
All clear,
I signaled with my hand.

Tyler nodded. He threw the door open and then jumped back.

No zeds came at us. After taking a deep breath, I met Tyler at the door, and we stepped into a large living room. Griz and Jase came in behind us. I sniffed the stale air and picked up the telltale putrid sweetness of decay.

“It’s not clear,” I said softly.

Tyler motioned for him and me to take the left half of the ground floor, and for Griz and Jase to take the right. A couple minutes later, we met back up in the kitchen.

“All clear,” Griz said.

“Same here,” I said. “Other than the smell, there aren’t any signs of zeds up here.”

Tyler frowned as he looked at the basement door. “That means the smell is coming from down there.”

We pulled out our headlamps and put them on. One by one, we headed down the stairs. As soon as I was off the last step, I saw the source of the odor curled up against a door. It was the corpse of a woman dressed in jeans and a sweater, and she still held a picture against her chest. A glass and empty bottle of pills lay next to her. With the rate of decay and her clothing, she’d likely killed herself not long after the outbreak.

Griz emerged from the single bedroom and covered the corpse with a sheet. “May God grant you peace,” he said.

A thump against the door behind the body answered.

I jumped.

Tyler and Griz moved first. Griz grabbed the corpse’s jeans and pulled the body to the side. Tyler stood at the door and knocked. The thumping became fevered. He gripped his sword in one hand and held the doorknob in the other. “Ready?” he asked Griz, who nodded in return, his machete held out in front of him.

Jase and I stood to each side, each holding our machetes ready. Tyler turned the knob and kicked the door open, sending the zed tumbling back. Stench wafted from the room. A zed, who’d been a teenaged boy, tried to pull itself up by grabbing on a black comforter. It looked to be about Jase’s age. Its hair was even the same color, and a lump formed in my throat.

Griz rushed forward and slammed his machete through the zed’s skull and it collapsed face-first on the floor, and I refused to look at it again. Tyler entered the room and looked in the closet and under the bed. “Clear,” he called out.

Griz and Tyler hustled from the room, and I slammed the door shut behind them, as much to block the smell as to close us off from the zed that reminded me a bit too much of Jase. I breathed through my mouth, but the stench of putrid death always seemed to burn through my pores.

“All right. The house is clear. We’ll camp here for the night,” Tyler said. “Let’s secure the perimeter. Griz and Jase, you guys check the doors and close all the curtains. Cash and I will check the garage. Once everything is secure, we can scout the house for supplies.”

No one lingered in the foul-smelling basement. My leg was beginning to ache, but I forced myself not to limp as we walked through the small kitchen and toward the garage. On the wall near the door, a key rack hung on the wall, and I smiled. I shuffled through the sets of keys and pulled off a key chain that had a Chevy logo on it. I held it up and gave it a happy little shake.

Tyler returned my grin. “Let’s hope the battery’s not dead.”

Undeterred, I followed him. Dead batteries had become a common occurrence, and I’d grown adept at jumping cars, but I’d always had a running car with me. We didn’t have that tonight, and I suspected there weren’t any new car batteries lying around.

Tyler opened the door slowly and carefully, just in case we’d missed a zed while checking the house earlier. Fortunately, silence and fresh air greeted us. A white four-door car sat in the shadowed garage.

I opened the car door and slid the key into the ignition and turned. The engine started without a hitch, and the gas gauge climbed halfway. I let out a whoop. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a ride.”

I turned off the car and stepped out. Tyler gave me a high-five. “It’s about time we got a break.”

He checked the garage door to see that it would open easily, and we headed back in the house. In the kitchen, Griz had several cabinets open and small stacks of canned food sitting on the counter.

Jase emerged from the bathroom with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. “I’ll have a camp stove built and going in no time.”

“The car runs,” Tyler said. “We’ll head out at dawn. If the airport isn’t viable, we’ll drive back to the park.”

“Fingers crossed the airport is clear and has something I can fly. It will save us time.”

Tyler wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gave me a hug, and I found myself leaning into his warm comfort. “It will,” he assured. A moment later, he squeezed before letting go, and then led the way down the hall.

As Jase worked on making dinner, we searched every room for anything that could be of use. Over the next thirty minutes, we loaded the trunk with all the food, pills, and supplies we could find.

After we dragged two mattresses from the upstairs bedrooms into the living room, I plopped into a chair at the table and sighed as I rubbed my calf.

Tyler took the chair next to me, grabbed my leg, and massaged it. “How bad is it hurting?”

I shook my head. “Not bad. It just feels good to sit.”

Even though Tyler touched me often, I knew he had no romantic feelings for me. Physical human connections helped ground him, and his touches didn’t bother me once I realized that he was just seeking comfort and wasn’t flirting. I was surprised that he hadn’t taken any women to bed yet. It wasn’t for lack of admirers. Tyler had plenty of those.

Tyler rarely touched me when Clutch was around, which was wise. Clutch wasn’t in any way the jealous type, but it didn’t take much for the two to get on each other’s nerves. With their tense relationship, even something as simple as a harmless touch could set them off.

We
watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon. With the smell of food cooking overpowering the ever-present scent of decay, the tension in my muscles slowly bled away.

“We’ll rotate two-hour single shifts tonight,” Tyler announced. “That will give everyone at least six hours of sleep.”

“Dibs on first watch,” I said.

Griz grumbled. “Just because you’re a woman, I’ll let you have it. I’ve got second shift, then.” He put down a plate in front of me.

I leaned forward. “Spaghetti?”

“Yeah,” he said, taking a seat across from me. “The pantry had a pretty good selection. Jase cooked the noodles in sauce and water, so it might be a bit gummy."

Jase guffawed. “You’re lucky to have a hot meal.” he handed Tyler a plate and then sat down with his own. “I’ll take third watch, I guess.”

Griz clasped his hands. “Lord, thanks for this food that we’re about to eat. And thanks for another day where we get to eat food and not get eaten.”

“Amen,” we all murmured.

Silverware clinked against plates as we all dug in. Sitting around a table, eating spaghetti, felt like home. It almost felt like the apocalypse hadn’t taken place around us.

Almost.