Alaskan Undead Apocalypse (Book 4): Resolution (60 page)

Abdul and Jess were outside smoking
cigarettes they had found and laughing about something. Both Abdul
and Jess were separated from loved ones but still connected through
hope if nothing else. Neil wished that both could be reunited; Jess
with her daughter Syd, and Abdul with his wife and children back in
Africa. He didn’t know if any of that was possible anymore, but,
like Abdul and Jess, he fervently hoped.

William was outside chopping wood, which was
what Neil had just finished doing. William had done for them what
Neil had failed to do time and time again. William had gotten them
to safety. Without his knowledge of the area and his little
two-boat flotilla, none of them would have made it out of Whittier
or Shotgun Cove. Neil decided he was going to start calling him
Commodore William, commander of their navy. Well, maybe not to his
face. Neil hoped that William would be around for a long time.
William, Neil hoped, would be good at all the things he wasn’t:
hunting, fishing, and surviving in the wild. The list could go on.
Neil might have been able to get them alive through the zombie
apocalypse but he was ill equipped to feed or house them
afterward.

Emma plopped herself down next to and on
Neil. With a smile on her lips and something a little more than a
smile in her eyes, she said to him, “Sittin’ over here being a
Gloomy Gus?”

“No,” Neil said, shaking his head. “Quite
the opposite. I don’t think I could be happier.”

Scanning the room, Emma said, “I’d be
happier with a large screen TV and cable.”

“Well there is that.”

“No. I think you’re right,” said Emma, more
serious this time. “This is a good place for a while. We can wait
the winter out here, stay warm. We can eat our food we brought over
and find what we need later. I think we made it.” Emma leaned over
and kissed Neil’s cheek softly. “Thank you.”

The waters of the Prince William Sound were
still choppy but had settled quite a bit with the coming of spring.
Going back into Whittier was becoming easier with each trip. It was
Danny’s third outing to the city and he had yet to fire his rifle,
leaving him both relieved and frustrated.

Most of the zekes, especially the many which
had been left outside during the winter, hadn’t fared very well in
the elements. The harsh weather had exacted a toll on the handful
of undead still lurking around the seaside city. Danny remembered
that first one he, Jules, and poor Martin encountered all those
months ago and wondered why it had remained as intact. Maybe it was
the glacier that had encased which had preserved it for all those
centuries. Danny didn’t know for sure and figured it didn’t really
matter.

As it was, the only zombies Danny had
encountered were little more than immobile skeletons without the
strength to lift their bare bones, let alone pose a threat. The
filthy, bony wraiths lay in quivering piles, their muscle and other
soft tissue decomposing quickly. Dispatching the creatures had
become a hassle more than anything else.

Winter had also been hard on Danny and the
others. Despite their planning and their rationing, the food they
had brought with them did not last nearly as long as any of them
had hoped. The threat of hunger stoked fear and desperation almost
as much as did the undead. It wasn’t long into winter before the
forays began.

The first trip was made by Neil, William,
Emma, and Jerry. As they entered the harbor, the four of them were
taken by the apparent tranquility that had laid itself over the
diminutive city. William revved
Serenity’s
engines, letting her clear her throat to get someone’s…anyone’s
attention. Waiting for several minutes, they were all excited and a
little doubtful by the results. Nothing had happened. They were not
greeted by a mob of growling, hissing predators along the
shore.

The group of survivors suspected that
Colonel Bear’s militia, presenting itself as a tasty buffet of
sorts, had inadvertently attracted most of the walking dead into
Shotgun Cove, leaving Whittier a bountiful, low hanging fruit to be
picked when needed. Food, fuel, medicine, clothing, hunting and
fishing supplies, ammunition, and anything else they could want or
need was available for the taking.

Their supply runs were sparse and only
conducted when absolutely necessary through winter, but as the
weather improved and the seas became more predictable, the
excursions occurred more regularly. Neil recognized that the trips
were needed distractions and did serve a good purpose. On a fairly
recent trip Neil was satisfied to see seagulls fluttering overhead.
Gulls had always been special to Neil in that they signified the
true return of spring. When the gulls were back, winter was
decidedly over, and the pace and frequency of the trips increased.
They sometimes went into Whittier twice a day if a particularly
good stash of supplies was found.

It was sometime shortly thereafter that Neil
approached Danny about accompanying him into Whittier on an
upcoming excursion. Danny couldn’t have been happier to finally be
included in what was increasingly becoming an adult adventure.
Danny’s smile nearly eclipsed the sun and his jubilant nodding came
close to rocking the Earth off of its axis.

When William and Jerry returned with a Honda
four-wheeled ATV, the sport of the Whittier hunt was truly born.
Good spirited competitions helped with morale and led to some very
exciting finds. Soon, their remote cabin was well furnished and
equipped, making life in the apocalypse much more bearable.

The gathering warmth reawakened in all of
them a renewed sense of hope. They had survived and were now ready
to live again. Spring was truly in the air. They all knew that the
supplies in Whittier were a finite resource and eventually they
would have to decide on a more permanent solution to meet their
needs. For the time being, having full stomachs and a safe haven
was enough to help them to concentrate on their good fortune.

Accompanying Spring’s promising arrival was
a clutch of questions that could be boiled down to one sobering
query which, if allowed, often wandered into the philosophical and
its dour compatriot, the metaphysical realm.

Were
they
all
that
were
left
?

Walking down Whittier’s deserted streets and
through its empty buildings, sitting near the fire pit staring at
the forest surrounding their cabin, or riding the lonely currents
of the Sound aboard either
Serenity
or
Nostromo
, it was easy to believe that there
were no people other than themselves. There was no comfort in any
of those thoughts, and yet all of them had made peace with that
reality. If this was as good as it got...well, it could be much
worse.

That was all to change on this, Danny’s
third visit to Whittier. On previous runs, groups had swept through
specific buildings room by room, clearing every dark corner of any
and all undead. The fights were quick and brutal and always with
the same result. The creatures moved too slowly.

Those early trips had yielded necessities
and other odds and ends, but the cornucopia wasn’t truly picked
until later visits when most of the threats had been removed from
the city. Necessities as well as luxuries became the standard haul
in no time at all.

The search for new movies had become one of
those contests and Danny wanted to be a part of it. He had a pretty
good idea where to look too. He and Abdul were first supposed to
search one of the food shacks near the Inn at Whittier. It was a
single room building with no partitions. Danny and Abdul would be
in and out of it in five minutes. They could stack what they found
and then go check out Danny’s idea.

He wanted to go look in the vehicles,
especially the RVs, parked near the tunnel entrance in the ad hoc
lot created all those months ago. It was a veritable treasure trove
of potential creature comforts ready to be picked over, and Danny
was sure he would find some new DVD titles in the tourists’
vehicles.

From the lot, Danny and Abdul chose the
biggest of the recreational vehicles to search. The side door was
unlocked but Abdul and Danny both stalled. They were pretty certain
no one had been down to the lot to clear the vehicles of zekes, so
their senses were very alert. Gritting his teeth, Abdul threw open
the door. Danny leaned back on his heels, his rifle at the ready.
Nothing. Not a thing happened.

Abdul peeked in cautiously but didn’t see
anything. The vehicle’s passengers had long since departed, never
looking back. Hanging like a mystical veil, dust motes clung to the
rays of light finding their way in through the rig’s windows. He
panned his yellowish eyes from front to rear and back again.

He looked over at Danny and nodded. “I t’ink
we okay.”

Abdul grabbed several shopping bags sitting
on a bench seat. Little flies buzzed around one of the bags, but
the others looked unmolested. Danny, meanwhile, was emptying an
entire shelf of DVDS into his own backpack, giggling with
satisfaction. In the cabinet below the movies, he stumbled upon an
odd looking phone.

Spying the item, Abdul asked, “What’ya find
‘dere?”

“A phone, I think,” Danny said.

“Dat look like a sat phone.” Abdul’s eyes
glossed over and he repeated, “A sat phone.”

“What’s that?”

“A satellite phone, boy. Do it work?”

Danny turned the phone over in his hands and
shook his head doubtfully.

Encouraging Danny with an excited nod of his
head, Abdul suggested, “Try it man. Does she still have juice?”

The satellite phone’s battery was completely
depleted. Disappointed and feeling like he might have let Abdul
down, Danny felt like his bag full of movies held no merit
whatsoever.

“Dat’s okay, boy,” Abdul said. “She just
need a wee boost is all. We got just da’ t’ing back at da’
cabin.”

Hours later and after some nervous moments,
the phone’s face flashed alive. Momentarily silenced with a hushed
awe, no one made a move at first, but everyone looked at Neil.

Returning their questioning stares, Neil
asked, “Who should we call?”

Looking through the phone’s case, they found
a manual containing a worldwide emergency number.

Neil dialed slowly, deliberately, careful
that each number was entered correctly. When he pressed the Send
button, it was as if all the oxygen around them had suddenly
vanished.

Ringing.

Neil shook his head doubtfully, anticipating
the disappointment before its unwelcome introduction.

More ringing.

Neil knew the rest of the world had suffered
the same fate as Alaska. Humanity had been hunted to extinction.
The best they could hope for was to remain hidden and live out
their days peacefully.

Then the most amazing thing happened. Neil
heard a voice, a woman’s voice, on the other end of the line. He
was too stunned to speak, but then was afraid if he didn’t say
something he would lose the connection.

“Are you real?” he asked.

There was a long pause. Had he lost contact?
Had he imagined the voice in the first place?

“Yes. I’m real. Where are you?”

Neil’s tightening chest made it difficult to
answer. Emma placed her hand on his shoulder, massaging his neck
and shoulder gently.

Sounding worried, the woman on the phone
asked, “Are you still there?”

“Yes. Yes, sorry. It’s just... we’re in
Alaska. I...we didn’t think there was anyone left but us. We’re...
I’m just so...”

Neil could hear the woman’s smile when she
said, “You’re not alone... What’s your name?”

“Neil. My name is Neil.”

“Good. You’re not alone, Neil. We even have
operations going on Kodiak Island. How far is that from you?”

“I’ve got no idea. I can’t even concentrate
right now. I can’t begin to tell you what a relief it is to hear
your voice on the phone.” Neil’s words started to get muddled with
emotion again as he attempted to carry on the conversation.

“It may take us some time,” the lady said,
“but we’ll get you out. Just be patient and stay out of harm’s way.
Okay?”

“No wait. Hold on,” Neil insisted. “Where
are you?”

He looked at the others and nodded as he
listened silently for several long moments. Eventually, wide-eyed
and emotionally spent, he handed the phone to Emma, who pressed it
to her ear. She gave everyone else the thumbs up sign while Neil
retreated to the doorway to gather himself. Hearing buzzing in his
ear, Neil tensed for a second and then swatted in front of him,
opening his hand to reveal a mosquito carcass.

Geez
,
snow
hasn’t
even
completely
melted
and
the
little
blood
suckers
are
already
out
.

Emma listened for quite some time, on
occasion asking for clarification or answering questions, until she
decided to give the pone to the next in line.

In this manner, the story of the infection’s
spread and the war that ensued was shared. Cities along the West
Coast, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and everything in between,
were the first to face the undead plague and the first to fall.
Starting at the airports and metastasizing like aggressive cancers,
the mayhem devoured the cities with lightning speed, the hordes in
each respective city growing with each new victim. No one knew what
to do and nothing they did worked.

Terrified refugees fleeing the cities led
the pursuing masses to each new population center. The long parade,
sometimes stretching for miles, was an undulating, throbbing mix of
both hunter and prey.