“We had a generator we found in the home of a carpenter, and we hooked the radio up to it. Jim worked on it for a while, then we heard the voices. We were pretty excited about that, until we started to seriously listen to the people on the radio. We got broadcasts from all over the place, all kinds of languages.” Nate paused. “There’s survivors all over, but not much else. Some people are screaming for anyone to help, others are just trying to find a link to keep themselves from committing suicide. Several times, we could hear the dead moaning in the background. After a while, we just turned it off.”
“Must have been bad, hearing people and not being able to help or even let them know you could hear them.”
Nate looked down again. “I actually felt guilty knowing what we have and hearing about people starving or about to be overrun.”
I tried to be reassuring. “You can’t save everyone. We’re on our own as much as anyone else. We got lucky, but we fought for it too.”
Nate turned cryptic. “Maybe we can save some.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking at his maps for a clue.
“We got a broadcast we actually answered, and they know about us, and we know about them,” Nate said. “Turns out they managed to escape the virus itself, and have barricaded themselves against the hordes. But they know they can’t hold out forever and were wondering if we could lend a hand.” Nate looked at me questioningly.
I chuckled at his look. “Phase three.”
Nate’s face turned quizzical. “Phase three?”
“Sure. Phase one was to survive the Upheaval. Phase two was to establish a safe zone we could live in permanently. Phase three was to go out and see who else might be out there and either bring them in or establish communication and increase the size of our community.”
“Is there a phase four?” Nate asked.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“You’ll see.”
“You haven’t lost your wonderful sense of humor” Nate said.
“The secret to a spicy relationship is a little mystery. Didn’t you know that?” I grinned at Nate who rolled his eyes. “Tell me about our new friends.”
“Okay. Here we are.” Nate opened a map of Illinois and indicated our position with a pencil. “We know that State Center Bravo is located here.” He pointed to an area located about ten miles southeast of Morris in a spot that looked like it was surrounded by waterways and state parks. “The town that contacted us is located here, called Coal City.”
I looked at the map. “How have they managed to survive? They’re in between two interstates and a major road passes through their area. Not to mention having a state center nearby with who knows how many infected that might have headed that way, not knowing they had the virus until it was too late.”
“Actually, they did it pretty much the same way we did. They are a junction of rail lines, so they used cargo containers. One of their people was a train driver and he made the run to this rail yard here,” Nate indicated a spot north of the town, “and grabbed train movers and flatbeds, along with a mess of cars. They made a fence like we did.”
“So what’s the trouble?” I asked. “Far as I can see, they should be all right.”
Nate nodded. “They were, but the situation changed and they’re seeing a lot of zombie activity and they just don’t have the resources to take care of it.”
“And we do?” I arched an eyebrow at Nate.
“You’ll think of something, I’m sure. Did I mention half the town is under the age of 10?” Nate said.
“You really fight dirty, you know that?”
“Call it revenge for my ribs, which are still sore by the way.” Nate said, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
We planned for another two hours and then called it a night. I went to the classroom I shared with Sarah and sat down next to my son, who was just getting finished with his bath.
Sarah rubbed Jake’s head dry and put him in his jammies. “How’s Nate?” she asked, slipping Jake’s arm through his sleeve.
“Doing his dead level best to make me age.” I told her about the town and what we needed to do.
“What about Jake and me?” she asked, passing him over to me so I could help him practice his walking.
I held Jake’s hands and walked backwards while Jake waddled along, babbling the entire time. We moved around the room, edging away from the desks, which Jake liked to latch on to when he wanted to cheat. “You’ll be coming with. I wouldn’t expect you to just stay at home with my son, fraught with worry and crying yourself to sleep each night, wondering if I will ever come home.”
I had my back turned to Sarah and I tensed. Sure enough, I got punched in the back. I let Jake grab the desks and turned around, blocking the second punch Sarah aimed at me and wrapped an arm around her waist. I hoisted her up and trapped her arms with my other arm. She glared at me and tried to bite my nose.
“Easy, I was just kidding.” I lightly kissed her forehead. She struggled for a second, then stopped, softening against me. I sat down with her in my lap, and she put her arms around my neck. “I need you and Jake there.” I said, rubbing her back.
Sarah smiled slightly. “Really? Why?”
“If I leave you two behind,” I explained, “then I might not be as careful as I normally would. If you’re there, then I do everything I can to stay alive and protect the two of you. I know you can take care of yourself and there isn’t anyone I would rather have watch my back.”
Sarah leaned in and kissed me and I returned her kiss with the same enthusiasm. If a couple of little hands hadn’t started pulling at my leg, things might have gotten interesting. I broke the kiss and Sarah and I both looked down to see Jake smiling up at us.
I sighed. “Jake, someday you need to learn timing.” I lifted Sarah off and picked up my boy. “It’s all in the timing, my son.”
Sarah laughed and walked saucily away. Dammit.
4
The next morning I rolled out of bed and commenced my morning exercises. I included weapons exercises, and Jake watched with a bemused look on his face. Charlie showed up with Julia and the two babies played with some toys on a blanket while Charlie and I sparred. Sarah joined in and after an hour the three of us were sweating and sore from unblocked strikes and kicks. Sarah was a limber little thing and often managed a kick to the head when you weren’t looking.
“Did Nate talk to you?” Charlie asked as he drank water from a bottle.
“Yeah, last night he and I went over a few things. We’re going to need supplies and plan to get there.”
Charlie nodded. “I saw the maps this morning and I have an idea you might like.”
“Does it involve a boat?” I asked.
Charlie cocked his head and looked at me. “You’re very good, you know that?”
I smiled. “I’ve been told, but I never believe butt kissers.” I ducked as both Sarah and Charlie threw their water at me.
I stood up and thumped Charlie on the back. “Let’s get moving. I want to get what we can from town today and start our supply buildup for the trip.”
Charlie stood up and picked up Julia. Jakey protested until Sarah picked him up as well. They both went down to Charlie’s room to drop off the kids with Rebecca, who loved watching them. They came back and we all went down to the school yard. Nate was training a man in the center of a circle of men. I was pleased to see Carl Witry again, taking up his role as trainer/zombie actor. As I watched him go through his motions, I noticed he had refined his actions and varied his approach in several ways. It wouldn’t be so easy to get one past him.
Nate held up a hand as Charlie, Sarah and I approached. All heads pivoted our way as we made our way across the yard. I stopped in the ring and shook Carl’s hand, happy to see him again. Carl moaned at me and I bopped him on the head with my fist.
“Nice to see you, Nate.” I said, looking around. Nineteen men sat cross legged in a circle, dressed in various outfits and festooned with a variety of weapons. Not many had guns but they all seemed capable.