Cupcake threw a mock salute and pulled back out onto the road. He drove at slow speeds of thirty or so as not to miss the turn off. We continued another half mile when signs of a dirt road came into view. Cupcake slowed even more and turned onto the dirt road. Well, calling it a dirt road was being overly nice. Really, it was two ruts heading in the same direction. The truck bounced on its suspension. Cupcake had his hands full but seemed to be taming the new Beast. Senshi, Apache, Brian, and myself decided to walk beside the truck to make sure the going was safe. We never had to speed our pace up from a leisure walk since the truck had to maneuver over the uneven ground and continue slowly. After three miles or so, we came upon a copse of trees and backed the truck into them to hide it from prying eyes.
Kuppers climbed from his seat and made his way back to the road. “Senshi, Doc, I want you two to move out to the river and look for safe passage. Brian, Apache, you two head back to the road and work your way to the river crossing by the town of Bridgehaven. Be careful, and watch out for zombies, Ridder, or unhappy townfolk. Report back every two hours.” The four checked on their supplies and headed out on their missions.
Cupcake and I put up all the tents we had and organized the food for the kids to eat. Vic and Kuppers took off to recon further up the trail to look for water and check out the safety of our immediate area. I sat down and rested my back against a tree, sighing out loud and letting my body relax. Angel grabbed her MRE of heated food and sat between my legs, resting her little body against my torso and mimicking my sigh. “You doing okay, little lady?”
She turned her head up and gave me a tired little smile. “I’m okay, just tired, hungry, and my bottom hurts.”
I ruffled her hair and folded down her MRE package of warmed spaghetti. She took her spork and devoured half the package before I knew it. She handed it to me so I could put aside. In the meantime, she used her napkin and my hand sanitizer to clean up. She arched her back, yawned, and stretched her little arms in the air. “You want to go to bed, sweetie? You can share with me and Brian tonight.”
She yawned again. “Yes, please.”
I stood up and gathered her into my arms. I caught Cupcake’s eye and motioned toward the tent. He nodded ok and went back to eating with the kids that had gathered around him. I made sure our tent was on a nice, flat spot next to the truck and within sight of the communal area. I unzipped the tent and crawled in with Angel. She went in, opened her little pack, and changed into her pajamas. I looked away and watched Cupcake and kids to give her privacy. Little hands cupped my cheeks and turned my head to her. She scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out at me.
I giggled and kissed her forehead. She threw her arms around me as best as her little arms could and gave me a bear hug. “Goodnight, Dan. I love you.”
Her words made me blush, and it took me a second until I could speak again. “Goodnight, little Angel, sleep well. And I love you, too.”
She smiled and crawled into her sleeping bag and promptly passed out as I stroked her hair. I sat there for ten minutes until her snoring took on a solid rhythm. I kissed her forehead, retreated from the tent quietly, zipped up the screen but left the flaps open so I could see her from where I was going to sit.
I grabbed a warmed-up MRE, found my tree, and sat back down to enjoy my supper. Enjoy is probably a stretch, but fill my stomach is more of what I was doing. I poured the entire packet of hot sauce from the MRE package into the chili, squeezed the bag a couple of times, and squeezed the contents into my mouth slowly. The hot sauce made it taste a little better but still wasn’t on the level of canned chili. I listened in on Cupcake telling the kids a heavily edited story of our escape from San Francisco. My eyelids grew heavy, and I found that the harder I tried to keep them open the heavier they became.
I felt something hit my forehead, not hard mind you, but enough to bring me out of my light slumber. I opened my right eye slightly and watched Cupcake pick up a pebble and prepare to throw it at me. I snaked my left hand down and picked up a handful of little pebbles and waited. The second Cupcake brought his hand back to throw his pebble I launched a preemptive strike of my own pebbles. They collided against his chest, shocking him. I opened both eyes wide and rolled behind the tree laughing hard.
“I will get you back, Dan.”
“You started it, buddy. I just fought back.”
“Fine. Look, my hands are up! No more, I promise.”
I picked up three pebbles and slowly brought one eye around the trunk of the tree until I could see Cupcake. His hands were indeed in the air, but I noticed one of the young ladies, Tessy I believe her name was, missing. I kept my body behind the tree and looked around for her. “Where is that girl Tessy?”
Cupcake hunched his shoulders and shook his head, “I don’t know. She was here a second ago.”
I heard a sound behind me and turned fast. I almost pulled my Kabar, thinking it was a zombie. Thank God I didn’t. Tessy was there, smiling at me and holding a handful of pebbles. I laughed at her and fake attacked her. She flinched and took off back to the group. As I turned, Cupcake and the remaining kids threw more pebbles at me. I threw up my hands and surrendered. “Ok, I give up! You win.”
They all laughed at me, and Cupcake motioned me over to them. I slowly made my over, wary of them ambushing me. I sat down next to Cupcake, “Okay, what’s up?”
Cupcake reached out slowly and took my radio out of its pouch. He hit a small switch, and I heard a static-filled squelch fill my earpiece. “Kuppers called trying to get a hold of you, but your radio was off and you were asleep. You might want to let him know you are back on the air.” He punched my shoulder playfully. I thanked him and headed to the front of the truck before hailing Kuppers over the radio. “Kuppers, I heard you called.”
“Dan, all of us except Apache are coming back to the truck. She is going to spend the night doing recon on the only passage we found over the river.”
“Great to hear, but why are you radioing this in instead of waiting to do it when you come in? Over.”
“Because I want you to grab your pack and weapons and go back to the main road to meet up with her. You need to learn to do what she does. Brian will come back and help with Angel and the kids. Hurry up, but on your way down the dirt road pay attention. Over.”
I stood there, shocked a little for a second. “Roger that, Kuppers. Over.” I went back to our camp and started collecting my supplies.
I slid my Zomgo pack onto my back and almost died from the pain that radiated up my spine and into my neck. Cupcake noticed my discomfort and came over to help me get situated. He handed me a little white pill. “Take this, Dan. It’ll take the edge off your pain. I want you to remember something, though. If you are feeling pain, be thankful ‘cause it means you are not dead yet. Be careful out there, buddy. I’ll watch Angel and the kids.” I noticed that his voice would slip into an accent every now and then. I wonder if he even knew he was doing it.
I clapped his shoulder and thanked him before moving down the dirt road. I stayed to the side and on the grass since it gave me better footing. I jogged most of the time, but when I thought I heard sounds I would slow down and sometimes stop to try and attune to the environment. It wasn’t completely dark yet but enough that I could not see more than fifty yards or so.
“Hey, Boss,” the voice almost scared me to the point of pulling the trigger on my MP5. I did, though, drop to my left knee and brought the MP5 to my shoulder. Brian stood there in my sights with his arms raised. “Whoa, Boss. You don’t need to shoot me.”
“Oh shit, Brian! You scared me!” I dropped the gun onto its sling and got up from my knee.
“Looks like you are getting pretty comfortable with that thing. Did you remember a round and to take the safety off?” He was looking down at the gun with his eyebrows raised.
I reached down and brought the MP5 up to examine. I indeed did have the safety off. I opened the bolt and ejected the round. I closed the bolt, making sure to chamber a round again. I automatically ejected the magazine and replaced the one I ejected.
“Wow, you did that well. Alright, head the way you are going for another four hundred yards. Apache is right there behind a small copse of bushes waiting for you. Listen to her closely and do exactly what she says. This could be dangerous, and I really want to see you in the morning.”
“The last thing I want to do is piss that woman off. I think she’d just knee cap me and leave me for the zombies. Rest assured, brother. I’ll see you tomorrow. Angel is in our tent in her bag. Keep her warm and safe.” I gave him a hug and headed off in the direction of the road. Brian stood there and watched me for a bit before turning and trotting away.
After about ten minutes of jogging and walking, I made my way to the road and found Apache waiting for me. She put her finger to her lips, motioning me to be quiet and stopped me. She spoke quietly but not whispering, “If you have to speak, this is how we will communicate. Do not whisper, the S sounds can be heard farther then just quietly talking. We are going to move up the road five miles to a little area I have already scouted. From there we will rest and watch the town limits. If we find nothing, we will make our way through the town slowly and methodically. I need you to do what I say when I say it without question or argument. Got it?” I nodded my head yes.
She turned and took off at a faster jog than I was used to, but I worked hard to keep up. Apache noticed my hard breathing after three miles and slowed to a walk. I slowed down but was having problems catching my breath. Apache turned and made her way behind me. She raised my arms above my head. “Breathe through your mouth. I’ll give you three minutes, then we will run again.”
I shook my head okay, closed my eyes, and continued to breathe until my lungs felt like they would not burst. “Okay, I’m ready.”
She turned and took off again, but this time at a slightly slower pace. I was able to keep up with her with no real problems. We followed the road for a little longer, then she left the road to the left and onto a small dirt path between some trees. She held up her hand, and I took it to slow down and follow. She pulled her rifle to her shoulder and started walking slowly, heel to toe, taking small, measured steps. I tried to copy her the best I could. We made it to an area between two buildings. I watched as Apache slung her rifle to her back and then jumped up and grabbed onto a metal pipe sticking out of one of the buildings. She then did a pull up and looked down at me.
Yeah, that ain’t gonna happen is all I could think. I am carrying an almost fifty-pound pack, plus assorted weapons, a wrenched and bruised back, and a bullet wound in my right bicep. Even if none of this was wrong with me, I know I could never do that. Apache rolled her eyes at me and motioned for me to hurry. I tightened the strap on my shotgun and adjusted the MP5 and its sling. I took a couple of steps back and then ran at the wall and jumped up into the air. I grabbed onto the pipe and hung there, trying to do a pull up. An arm appeared coming down and latching onto my pack and pulled. I came up higher and dug down deeper inside myself, pulling more strength then I knew I had. I made it to my chest and then swung a leg up and made it the ledge Apache was on.
I sat there, breathing hard and trying to make sure I don’t lose my grip and fall. “Good job, Dan. I knew you could do it. Now follow me. We have a little further to go before we can rest.”
I dropped my head in defeat and worked my way to my feet on the ledge. I hugged the wall and followed Apache over to a window ledge slightly above us. She reached up, grabbed the window frame above, and stepped onto the lower part of the frame, giving herself a step up to reach the roof. She grabbed the edge of the roof and pushed her feet against the frame to help with getting her to the top. She slid out of my sight, then reappeared a second later.
I reached up, grabbed the higher part of the frame as she did, and made my way up to the lower part with my boot. I looked up and found Apache lowering her arms and hands over the edge down toward me. “Take my wrists, Dan. I’ll help you climb up here.”
I reached higher and grasped onto one of her wrists, then the other. She started to pull as I got my foot on the outside of the frame and started to pull and push myself higher. The glass below shattered and a hand shot out, grabbing onto my left ankle in a vice grip. My eyes went big as I looked up to Apache for help. “Don’t let go of me!” Somehow I was able to keep myself from yelling, but just barely. I let go with my left hand, and she grabbed my right wrist with both of hers. I moved my sweaty hand down to my belt and tried to pull the baton free. The hand on my ankle pulled it closer to the window and whatever was inside. I kept trying to grip the baton, but my hand was too sweaty to grip tight enough. I quickly wiped it on my pant leg and then gripped the baton, freeing it from its holster. I snapped my wrist out, causing the baton to pop out. I swung with all I could at the wrist attached to the hand gripping onto my ankle. I heard bone break, but the hand was still pulling me in. I looked up, and I saw Apache pulling with all she had. She was losing the battle to keep ahold of my wrist. I kept at the hand breaking fingers. I kicked my foot hard and suddenly was free. I kicked the frame hard, gaining purchase, and slid my baton back into its holster. I reached up with my free hand and gripped Apache’s hands tight. We both put the last of our energy into our effort and pulled me onto the roof. I lay there on my side, panting from the effort expended. I looked over and saw that Apache was also close to her limit and was taking a little time to lie on that roof and rest. My ankle, back, arms, hands, and head hurt. Hell, even my new, stubby hair hurt.