Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation (43 page)

Chapter XV

“Both of
you,” began Renee, as she barged into our living room uninvited and
unannounced, “we have a problem.”

“It’s
nice to see you, Renee. How have you been?”

Briana
stopped picking up Asher’s toys. “What problem?” She was clearly feeling more
businesslike than me. “What happened?”

“We
spotted more riders, two of them this time, both in denim, although they were
too far off to determine if they were raiders or not.”

That was
serious. I got off the floor where I had been playing with my son, trying to
put together a puzzle – suitable for three to four years old my ass – and took
a seat. I gestured for Renee to do the same.

“Where
were they?” Briana retrieved a map of the area and set it down on the coffee
table.

“Just
outside of Belle Fourche, north of the Black Hills.”

“North?
I thought every sighting had been to the south, mostly near the roads leading
to Custer.”

“That
has been where we’ve been focusing,” agreed Briana.

Asher,
apparently every bit as incapable of doing the jigsaw puzzle as me, grabbed a
plastic dinosaur and wandered off to his room. Based on the noises he was
making, I surmised that Mr. T-Rex was busy eating the stuffed animals.

“That
may have been the problem. It’s far enough away that we don’t really focus on
it. We’ve never looted it, having found it easier to reach stuff to the south
and in Rapid City. The town has just been sitting there, ignored.”

I looked
at the map, trying to do calculations in my head. “They could take several highways,
skirting the Black Hills, so to actually approach from our south. This could be
done in a couple hours. That would give them plenty of time to spy on us
without giving an indication of where their base might be.”

“We
should have seen them,” protested Briana. “Our planes fly all over the place,
and there are too many open areas.”

“Not if
they travel at night,” pointed out Renee.

“At
night?”

“Think
about it, Jacob. They are on motorcycles, so they can easily get around wrecks
or zombies. If they use night vision goggles, they wouldn’t have to worry about
headlights. They couldn’t go full speed, but fast enough. And if we did manage
to chase one in the southern area, they would only have to evade until dark.
They could then return to their base, which is located in a place we would
never think to check.”

“Do they
know we’ve spotted them?” Briana was pulling on her hair.

“No. It
was one of those environmental flights the guys in Hawaii have been harping
about. The pilot just flew in a big circle with the mounted cameras taking
pictures. He was up so high, he never saw them. We didn’t know until the photos
were run through the computer. Almost missed it even then.”

The government
in Hawaii was concerned about the effects of forest fires, pollution, and the
decay of cities. That being the case, they had given us special equipment to
mount on the underside of several of our aircraft. The pilots would take off,
switch it on, and fly their predetermined course. The digital pictures would
then be uploaded into a computer and bounced over to Oahu via satellite for
their analysts to examine. I didn’t see the point, since they could already
view much of this from space, but it made them happy.

“You
need to check this out,” decided Briana. “If they are regular survivors, they
should be brought in, especially with winter almost here. Maybe they recovered
lots of supplies in Belle Fourche and are well situated, but there is no way to
know. Even if they do want to stay, we should know who they are, seeing how
they are just beyond our doorstep.”

“And if
they are raiders?” inquired Renee.

Briana’s
face turned grim. “Then you and Jacob will kill them, all of them.”

*
* *

There
was no reason to delay, so I quickly began making preparations. We would leave
at dusk, going straight up the center of the Black Hills and out our northern
exit. We planned on arriving in the middle of the night. Assuming they were indeed
traveling a few hours prior to sunrise or a couple following sunset, that
should hopefully guarantee all were back at their base. We wanted to face the
entire lot at once. The entire worrying about those we’d missed thing was
getting old.

Accompanying
me were both of our militia captains. I probably should have left either Lizzy
or Renee behind, but I found the situation grating. Something was wrong. It
would be best to have the extra firepower. Tara and Dale would be there of
course. Briana insisted on it, but I would have taken them anyway. Their
accuracy and unnerving calm is simply too valuable. Mary would tag along as my
assistant, same as always. We’d also have two full squads of militia, twenty
well armed, well trained, and very experienced men and women at our side.
Finally, if need be, the combat choppers could be called in.

*
* *

“Renee!
Wait a second.”

She turned
and promptly scowled. Rudy was hurrying her way.

“Jerk,”
said Mary, as he passed her.

My
daughter was heading toward me and Lizzy. The two of us were going over the
maps we had of the city trying to determine the most likely spots where
somebody might be holed up. We would have a plane fly overhead before we got
there using the heat sensing equipment that proved so useful in the war outside
of Yellowstone. Hopefully it would spot something. The place was too large for
a house by house search.

Rudy ignored
the teenager completely, if he even heard her. The man seemed to be focused
solely on Renee.

“What do
you want?”

“I just
wanted to bring you these.” He held out a small bouquet of wild flowers, likely
that last anyone would see this year as the nights had dipped well below
freezing several times. “And to wish you luck.”

“I don’t
need luck. I have skill. I also don’t need anything from a liar like you.”

“It was
all a misunderstanding.” Rudy gave her his most charming smile. “You were
mistaken by what you thought you saw, and I was a little upset at being accused
of misbehaving, which is why I said those unpleasant things.”

At this
point, Mary, Lizzy, and myself had stopped doing anything productive and were
watching the proceedings with interest. Both Renee and Rudy appeared oblivious
to our presence.

“Misunderstanding?
You mean you weren’t kissing that tramp?”

“It was
just a goodnight hug. She’s a friend. I am allowed to have friends, aren’t I?”

Renee
might have begun to grind her teeth. I couldn’t tell.

“So, you
think I’m stupid or blind, is that it?”

“Not at
all. You are the most beautiful, observant, and intelligent woman here.” He
stepped closer. “But it was late, and you were tired. Like I said, it’s just a
misunderstanding.”

“Rudy,
you haven’t even apologized to me. What makes you think flowers are more…
persuasive?”

He
frowned. “Why would I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong. You were the one
not paying attention, the one who threw a fit and sent my own emotions all a
twirl.” The smile returned. “But I forgive you for all of that.”

If
someone spoke to me that way, I think I might have killed him. Mary’s fingers
were brushing the grip of her pistol. Only Lizzy seemed confused. I guess she
hadn’t heard what happened that night. Actually, I’m not sure if anyone other
than Mary and I knew, and we were only in the loop because Renee had to explain
why Rudy would never again go on a militia mission with her, under any
circumstance.

“I’m
done with you.”

That was
all Renee said. She turned and walked away. Rudy moved to follow, but the woman
gestured at Tara and Dale. The twins stepped between them, rifles in hand. Rudy
seemed undecided for a moment, a very short moment. Then he turned and
slithered away, the flowers still gripped in his hand.

“What
the fuck was that about?”

“Lizzy,
I don’t even know how to begin.”

“Remember
when Rudy was beginning to act nice to Renee,” said Mary, more than ready to
jump in. “Well, when Renee went off to find the Canadians in Rapid City, he was
busy messing around with another woman. She caught him, and he blew her off
because she wasn’t putting out.”

“Really?”

“Basically,
yes,” confirmed Renee. “A little more complicated and far more vulgar on his
part, but that’s what happened.”

“And
after all that, he comes and blames you for everything.” Lizzy was seething.
“That piece of shit has just been struck from the militia volunteer roles until
the fucking end of time. Immoral behavior. I’m having that made public before
we leave too.”

I said
nothing. While I held overall command of the militia, I wasn’t inclined to
interfere with the day to day operations of my captains, including on issues concerning
discipline. As to the punishment, being thrown off the militia temporarily was
bad enough. It was a mark of shame and treated as a such by the entire
community. It also led to a person being ostracized. A permanent dismissal was
so much worse. It was rare, and most thus punished ended up relocating to
Yellowstone or the islands. There had never been a case of immoral behavior as
the reason before, and we generally stayed out of people’s personal business. I
suspect the residents of the Black Hills would assume the absolute worst about
Rudy. Obviously it wasn’t rape or we would have executed him, but they will
think, rightfully so, that he had crossed the line in a big way. His social
life was over. I would make certain to get the word going in Yellowstone and
Hawaii as well. No reason for the piece of shit to have an easy time starting
over, should he decide to move.

“I’m not
sure if his behavior merits that,” said Renee.

“He is
purposely destroying unit cohesion,” I pointed out, before Lizzy could get
started.

“Fuck,
yes!”

“I agree
too,” said Mary. “He’s a bad person, and you know that lots of others don’t
want to work with him either, even if they don’t like saying why.”

“The
matter of Rudy is closed,” I declared. “Mary, go ahead and call Major Briggs.
Let him know that we are doing a night run to check out some suspicious
motorcycles. Possibly nothing, but we will let him know either way.”

“Sure
thing.”

I have
to give Renee credit. She didn’t look like she wanted to argue, and her
attention shifted to our upcoming mission.

*
* *

It was
after midnight when we reached the outskirts of town. Our plane had spotted no
living people, but it did identify a delivery van whose engine was still hot.
This was parked near a three story concrete building. More telling were the
bodies on the ground. All were naked with most bearing visible bite marks. Someone
had killed the shamblers and was likely inside. The question was who. My bad
feelings had not diminished in the slightest, so I continued to assume the
worst.

“Everyone
sit tight,” I ordered.

We were
in a nearby alley. The entrance gave us a clear view of the building with
plenty of debris and a wrecked car providing cover. The rear led to several
streets which would permit us to quickly encircle our target.

“Tara,
Dale, both of you take the high ground and let me know what you see. Renee, select
eight people and pair them up. They are to circle around to these spots.” I
indicated them on the street map. “That will cover all possible exits. I don’t
want them doing anything, just getting into position.”

“Roger that,”
she whispered, before moving off.

“I’m not
seeing any movement,” commented Lizzy. She was on the ground staring through a
pair of binoculars. “Think they are somewhere else and are using this spot for
storage?”

“Don’t
know.”

“Dad,
Tara just called in. She says there is a sentry on the building’s roof. He’s
walking around, not paying much attention.”

That
answered Lizzy’s question.

“Advise
the pairs of the situation. Tell them to keep out of sight. Ask Tara if she has
a clean shot and if there are any others.”

“I can’t
see the sentry,” advised Lizzy. “Must be focusing on the other side of the
roof.”

“Tara
can take him,” confirmed Mary. “Dale says there is someone asleep inside by an
upstairs window. Looks to be passed out. The back of his jacket is against the
glass. He is definitely a raider.”

Mary
sounded scared, disappointed, and determined, all at once.

“That
settles that. We are going in. Renee, you take squad one and enter from the
back. Have the pairs on that side join you or cover any key spots. It’s your
call. Harvey, take squad two and hit the front door. Try to enter quietly. Kill
or disable as you see fit. If the prophet is in there, I want him alive, if at
all possible. Don’t let any of our people get hurt taking him, but if he can be
captured, do so.”