The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (51 page)

Just past midday, they stopped at a
truck stop complex that featured a diner, a huge garage and a gas
pump area. A cluster of other stores, mom and pops and fast food
outlets filled out the complex.

While they filled the trucks, Mike
found a handful of maps in the cashier's booth between the islands,
all Kentucky.

Everybody lunched on smoked meat and
packs of peanuts, washed down with vitamin water or sports drinks.
The stores were pretty well picked over by what looked to be
foraging animals. A few were little better than flattened,
splintered wrecks.

Behind the gas pumps, a raw red crater
had opened in the earth, and it looked to Mike to be well over
fifty feet deep. As he peered over the edge down into the hole, he
saw, sitting at the bottom, a new Ford pickup truck. It didn't
appear to have a scratch on. Things were strange like that
sometimes. He pointed it out to Bob and Ronnie. The three of them
had a little laugh about it, and then they went to work opening up
the fill pipe to the underground gas tank.

~

They got back on the road and found
their first sign just before dark. Mike pulled off into the
national forest preserve ten miles further down the road. They
stopped within a quarter mile of the highway and set up camp for
the night.

They set up the vehicles in a loose
perimeter and posted the first watch of the night. Bob got out the
map as Janet and several others began to get the evening meal
going.

Mike made the rounds of all the posts
while Bob dragged two picnic tables together and waited with the
map. He didn't specifically mention the conversation they had all
overheard on C.B. channel seventeen during the day, but he did say
he felt they were being followed, and maybe by some folks who were
not so nice. Privately, he, Bob, Ronnie, Tom and Jeff had discussed
the transmissions. The people on channel seventeen were looking for
someone. They were staying within broadcast range, although only
barely, so it stood to reason they had to be traveling in the same
direction. The second time they had heard them, they had mentioned
Jessica.

If they were behind them and they had
found Jessica, it could only mean that they were following. It had
given each of them an uneasy feeling. After the map, they intended
to discuss it in detail.

Mike sent Tim and Annie up to the top
of a small rise where the highway could be seen for over a mile in
either direction. He told them to watch for headlights and get on
the radio system as soon as they saw any. It was quiet, and Mike
was sure they would also hear the hum of the big tires on the
pavement long before they would be able to see the trucks. He'd
done what he could. He walked over to the tables, got a cup of
coffee and sat down with Bob and a few others. The smell of cooking
food was already wafting on the air, causing his stomach to
growl.

“
We're there,” Bob said as
Mike sat down.

They studied the map that was laid out
on the table.

“
How are we there?” Mike
asked.

“
We're as close as we need
to be,” Bob said. “Some of that depends on where we're going to end
up, but really, no matter the direction, we can start from
here.”

“
Southwest will take us to
a large area that includes Tennessee, Alabama and part of
Mississippi and Arkansas. East gives us the Carolinas, Tennessee,
Alabama and bit of Georgia,” Bob said.

“
Isn't that more than what
you said before?” Mike asked.

“
Yes, but it's because
those wilderness areas are usually backed up against state forest
preserves, logging lands, State park areas, and all that really
means is all that land is now empty. So it has added more to the
whole. I got to thinking about that and re-figured it. It only
makes sense.” He paused, drawing a wider circle around the one he
had previously drawn.

“
See? We can stay in our
smaller circle, build our life, build The Nation outwards and have
all of that other land as a safety zone.” Bob said.

A portable C.B. radio sat on the table
nearby squawking intermittently. It did so now.

“
... eey one,” it said. And
then more clearly, “We keep going.”

“
Gotcha, Death, gotcha,” a
new voice responded.

Bob and Mike looked at each
other.

“
That fucks that,” Bob
said.

“
It does,” Mike agreed. He
turned around and looked at everyone. Some on post, some helping to
prepare food. He raised his voice:

“
Listen
everybody....”

~

Reference over heard on C.B. Radio
Channel Seventeen earlier that morning

~

“
They was here, Death.
There are tracks, they was here,” the voice said.

“
I can see that, Shitty,
but what was they here for?” Death asked.

“
Buried something, Death...
There's a covered up hole with rocks and shit and a little cross
marked out in stone's on top of it,” Shitty told him.

Lilly had read over the body, and Lilly
had laid out the simple outline of a cross over the grave in small
stones once it was filled in.

“
Dig it up... see what the
fuck it is, or was,” Death laughed.

“
Dig it up?” Shitty asked.
“But, well, it's probably another dead body, what the fuck sense
does that make?”

“
Dig it up,” Death
responded calmly.

“
Damn, B, you ain't
supposed to fuck with a dead body after they have been buried,
Death. Everybody knows that. Bad fuckin' luck is what it will get
you.”

“
Dig it fuckin' up. Now!”
Death shouted into the radio. “Or do I have to send Murder? Maybe
you're just a straight up pussy?” Death asked.

Silence on the radio...

“
Did you hear what I
said!?” Death asked.

“
I'm fuckin' digging,”
Shitty said. “I'm fuckin' digging, and I ain't no pussy,” he said.
The radio had fallen silent.

~

Mike talked for more than twenty
minutes when the C.B. radio once again crackled to
life...

~

“
There are fresh tire
tracks here, they was here. And not long ago either,” a voice
said.

“
The map says a state park
is about 10 miles ahead,” A second voice said, “We keep
going.”

~

The V.H.F. crackled. “That's him,”
Annie's voice said. “That second voice, that's Death. And the other
guy sounds like one of his boys that used to come around.” She
sounded scared.

“
Okay, Annie, thank you,”
Mike said.

“
He's crazy, Mike,” Annie
said.

“
I know. But believe me, he
won't touch you. Annie, you and Tim come on down here,” Mike
finished.

~

A few minutes later the radio crackled
back to life.

~

“
It's a fuckin' old lady,”
Shitty said. “Why'd they fuckin wanna kill an old lady,” he
asked?

“
It doesn't matter,” Death
said. “Let's Go, We're movin' on.”

~Divided we stand~

Mike turned around, handed Ronnie one
of a hunting rifles they had bought with them and then picked up
his own. The one he had handed Ronnie had a 10 round clip,
camouflage paint, and looked more like an assault rifle than a
hunting rifle. It was also fitted with a night scope. He unclasped
his V.H.F. unit and handed it to Ronnie.

“
Take over okay, they're
going to be here soon. If they turn in, try to take out the lead
vehicle. Let me know as soon as you see them, Ronnie,” Mike
said.

“
What about Patty?” Ronnie
asked, concerned.

Mike shook his head. “I'm putting them
all in the Suburbans and sending them down the trails. We'll catch
up with them after this shit is done,” Mike said.

Ronnie nodded and left. Mike turned
back to the camp. Silence came down upon the clearing as they
waited. Mike tried to hold every pair of eyes that searched him
out.

“
Tom... Bob... David... And
Jeff...” He hesitated, “Candace... You five are staying here.
Patty, Janet, get the Suburbans ready to go now. Everybody else is
going with you two.” he looked at his watch and then looked back up
at Patty catching her eyes and holding them. Her face was careful,
set, hard. Little blotches of color dotted her cheeks. Her lips
were thin and tightly pressed together. “Like, ten minutes, so get
moving.” Mike finished. Patty nodded, and then she and Janet
hurried off.

He had wanted to send Candace as well,
had even told himself that he was going to do it, but when it came
right down to it, he couldn't. She was probably the best shot they
had. And he knew she would see it as him being overprotective...
unreasonable. There was no valid reason to send her
away.

He looked up and saw that Candace was
standing in front of him. “I wouldn't have gone,” she said
quietly.

“
That too,” he said. “How
are you with a rifle?”

“
Good,” Candace said. “Jeff
is also good,” she said.

Jeff walked up just as she finished
talking and nodded his head. “What do you need?” he
asked.

Mike handed both of them a hunting
rifle like the one he had given to Ronnie. “I want both of you up
there with Ronnie. If they turn in, try to take them out. We have
to stop them so the rest can get away onto the logging trails.
After that, we'll try to take out whatever of them are left,” he
finished.

They both nodded; Candace met his eyes
and then they both turned away at a run towards the hill

~

The three Suburbans were packed and
ready to go in five minutes. There had not been much to pack. The
tents stayed; what food they had unloaded stayed. They offloaded
some water and then loaded the rest of the camp into the three
vehicles.

Bob gave Janet a small rubber encased
compass. “Southwest... Eventually you'll run out of logging roads.
Drive until you're out of gas. Make your own road as far as you
can. Keep fresh batteries in the V.H.F. radios and listen in. We'll
find you. We'll be fine. This may take us a few days, but we'll be
there,” he finished.

Patty took her foot off the brake and
then put it back on and leaned across Janet to look at Mike. “Bring
her back,” was all she said. Mike nodded. She took her foot off the
brake and the three trucks moved out.

A few minutes later they were out of
sight. A few minutes after that they were out of hearing. The
sounds of the big trucks soundproofed by the trees. Ten minutes
after that the V.H.F. radio in Mike's hand crackled back to
life.

“
Headlights...
Headlights... They're coming,” Ronnie told him.

~

The lead truck drove right by the turn
off moving at a good clip. Candace felt a rush of relief as it blew
past, but a second later, the truck locked up its brakes and
shuddered, hopping across the broken pavement on the huge tires to
a rubber, screeching halt on the asphalt.

The other trucks were behind them
spread out, coming fast. Four all together.

“
Four trucks,” Candace told
Mike.

The other trucks locked up their brakes
too. One slid off the roadway into the ditch, the other two
shuddered to a stop on the blacktop as the first one
had.

“
What's happening?” Mike
asked.

“
It's going down, Baby...
Wish me luck,” Candace said.

Just as the lead truck began to reverse
towards the exit all three rifles opened up.

Holes punched through the darkened
front windshield and the truck suddenly veered, flipped onto its
side and rolled over into the ditch.

A second truck began to reverse. Ronnie
opened up on that truck, punching holes into the windshield and
front end. Smoke rolled from the hood. The doors flew open and
machine pistols opened up on them; returning fire. The third and
fourth vehicle opened fire as well.

The machine pistols were not accurate.
Great for a close up weapon, but over even a short distance they
were virtually useless. All three ducked at first, but when it
became clear that nothing was coming near them, they shot full
clips home and popped back up.

Ronnie was game, but not the shot that
Jeff and Candace were. Ronnie picked a target and fired a short
burst finding his range as he went.

Candace zeroed in on a man standing by
the second truck, highlighted by the headlights of the trucks
behind him. She squeezed the trigger and the man spun away in a two
shot burst. The guns would fire as fast as you could pull the
trigger.

Beside her, Jeff lined up his own shot,
a man running from the wreckage of the first truck. He pulled the
trigger twice in quick succession and the man collapsed in mid
stride and skidded to a stop on the broken pavement.

The two remaining trucks, the one that
skidded into the ditch, and one that had remained on the roadway,
suddenly reversed and started backing down the highway at a high
rate of speed. The one in the ditch launched itself up out of the
ditch, into the air, and then slammed back down on the highway. The
engine screamed as it flew backwards down the roadway.