The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (87 page)

Violet Hodecki was Japanese and had
worked as a website designer. She was in her late
twenties.

Pamela Glasse was twenty-two and had
the rosy cheeked good looks of a mid-western farm girl. She had
been in college working towards a degree in accounting.

The group was heading towards the
middle of the country, somewhere around Kansas or Nebraska, they
said, and they invited them to come along with them.

“
Everything we hear on the
radios says there are no dead there. They tend to stay in the
bigger cities anyhow,” Steve Choi said.

Bear shook his head. “Maybe, but don't
believe that only-in-the-big-cities talk.”

Mike talked about The Nation and how it
had been working. The houses. The crops. The animals: Candace and
the baby.

“
I can see in your eyes how
much it means to you and your Candace,” Jess told him. “I hope for
the same thing in Kansas, or Nebraska. It's encouraging hearing how
well your Nation is working.” She looked over at Bear. “I want you
to tell me about what you have seen... Know... More than we have, I
would guess. What do you know that we don't. That is what I need to
know if you will share it,” she told him.

“
Glad to,” Bear said. His
bass voice rumbled out. Jess went over and sat next to him as they
talked. The contrast was stark, Mike thought. Like a picture he had
once seen of a tiny kitten sitting and looking up at a huge Great
Dane that towered over it. But from what he had seen of Jess she
was no timid kitten.

By the time everyone was patched up it
was late afternoon.

“
I'm going to need a new
vehicle,” Jess said, looking at her own vehicle where it sat
leaking fluids at the side of the road.

“
About a mile up the
road... Take a left. There are two places there. A heavy duty truck
dealership, it's at a farm machinery place... Seed... Machinery,
you name it... On the other side of the town is a Jeep dealership.
We've been to both places. The keys to the Jeeps are inside the
building. You'll see where we dug in to get them,” Mike
said.

Jess nodded.

“
The dead are there also,
though. So you'll have to keep a sharp eye out,” Mike finished. He
held up his hand.

“
They got you?” Jess
asked.

“
Cost me a finger... Maybe
that confrontation with us will keep them gone... Maybe not. I just
haven't had much experience with them.”

Jess nodded. “Sobering... I'll be
careful... Let me look at that?”

“
Sure,” Mike agreed. A few
moments later his hand was re-wrapped. Jess was concerned about
infection so she made him take penicillin she carried with
her.

“
Next nine days, Michael.
Like a religion. It's so easy to get an infection. Antibiotic
ointment is good, but it is no guarantee.” Mike nodded as he
listened, and when she finished he went back to telling her how to
get to the Jeep dealership.

Brad, Beth, Darren and John, the other
four that had fallen in with Debbie’s group were in deep
conversation with the rest of Jessie’s group. As Jess was getting
directions to find another truck, Brad walked over to Debbie and
began talking to her. She shrugged her shoulders, nodded a few
times, and then walked over to Mike.

“
Sorry to interrupt,” she
looked at Jess and smiled. “Mike, Brad wants to know if he and Beth
can ride with one of you.”

Mike looked confused. “Sure. No
problem,” he said.

“
Well. It's just that
Darren and George want to go to Nebraska or Kansas,” she
elaborated.

Mike nodded. He had seen the looks
between the two girls and Darren and George as they talked. “Well,
why don't we do this. Jess needs another truck. We'll just show her
where it is. Get ourselves another truck, and then head to the
campground. Call it a day. Start out tomorrow,” Mike
suggested.

“
Would you mind if we
joined you for the night,” Jess asked. “That will allow us a break
and we'll start out fresh in the morning.”

“
Sounds good,” Mike agreed.
He looked around and caught Chloe's eye as well as Tim's. They both
walked over.

“
Can you two get everyone
else to the campground? Get it set up? Make sure none of the dead
came back... We'll be there for the night; leave in the
morning.”

They both nodded.

“
I'm going to take Jess
with me... Bear... Beth and Brad will follow me. We'll get a truck
for them. Ronnie is pretty messed up. He'll go back with you.” He
realized they didn't know what the plans were, that Darren and
George were going with Jess, so he filled them in. “A truck for
Jess too. To replace the one she wrecked. We shouldn't have too
much trouble back there... Then we'll catch up with you,” Mike
finished.

They both nodded. A few minutes later
everyone began to pull out. A few minutes after that and the road
was empty: The smashed truck sitting just off the road; the dead
horse laying in the field.

~

They were back at the campground
shortly before dusk. They had not run into any problems at all at
the Jeep dealership. They hadn't bothered with the farm machinery
place. Mike had found a heavy duty truck sitting at the back of the
lot that he had noticed before. A new battery and a little work had
got it going. Jess had found an SUV that suited her
purposes.

The sheep and the goats were grazing
down by the stream, the dogs keeping watch over them.

Chloe had pulled into the campground
earlier and surprised a small herd of deer. They had stood staring
back at her, unafraid, until she had taken one down with a shot
from the her machine pistol. She had, had help to gut and dress it
out, and by the time Mike, Jess and the others were back the deer
was roasting over a fire, and a large pot of rice was cooking from
supplies they had on one of the big trucks.

Mike checked on Ronnie who was feeling
better, but looked much worse, his eyes blackened and puffy. The
dogs bedded down with the sheep, and Mike set the posts for the
night.

Jess came to him later on as he sat his
post. She made small talk for a few moments and then got to her
point.

“
I don't know if everything
will be the way we want it to be,” Jess said. “I guess I'm saying,
if we can't make it work we might come back this way.”

“
I have a feeling the snow
will be tough up there in those mountains. But if you can get there
you will be more than welcome,” Mike told her.

“
Tell me how to get there,”
Jess asked.

Mike took a small pad from his pocket
and wrote the directions out along with a crude map. She took it,
folded it, and tucked it into her breast pocket. She looked up at
him. Rose to her tip toes and kissed him on one cheek. She turned
and walked away.

~

Jessie's Diary

We are on our way. Today was something
else. I hit a horse, didn't kill it, but I had to finish it. It was
a tough thing to do, but because of the accident it afforded me the
opportunity to meet a most remarkable man.

His name is Michael Collins, and he and
a group he leads have already done what I hope to do. They chose a
huge tract of forever wild lands to do it. They call themselves The
Nation, as we have planned to call ourselves The Fold.

From what he said it is working out
very well; much the way we hope ours will work out. Three of his
people decided to come with us. So we are nine now.

He has a woman. He says he loves her.
That she is everything to him, and I believe him. Too bad. I will
admit I was instantly drawn to him, but he's going back and I am
going on to whatever there is in Kansas or Nebraska, but I know how
to get to his mountains. Who can tell what the future may
hold?

~

September 25th

The air was crisp. Not exactly cold,
Mike thought. But there was cold in it. Maybe a promise of what was
coming.

Mike had taken Ronnie, Chloe and Bear
and looked over every one of the trucks. They had managed to pick
up heavy winter clothing: Jackets both heavy and light. Trees,
seed. All the things on the wish list and then some. Extra bedding.
Clothing. Even some furniture items.

There were four of the big trucks.
Three loaded with goods, one for the livestock. There were also the
four small pickup trucks, and each of them was towing one of the
electric four wheel drive vehicles. There were also two larger four
wheel drive pickups, one they had picked up the day before, the
other Debbie had been driving.

There were ten fifty five gallon drums
of diesel fuel, five more of gasoline. Almost six hundred pounds of
bagged rice, and several hundred pounds of flour, sugar, salt, oats
and so many other things that they had lost count.

The truck with the computers and
electrical gear held nearly twice what Tim had wanted. Ronnie had
joked that there was enough wire to wire the entire valley twice
over. Mike had agreed. Tim had said, in a serious tone, that he
wasn't so sure about the second time. Then he had realized that
Ronnie had been kidding and they had all three laughed bout
it.

They had lost one more person late last
night. Lisa Stevens had come and talked to Debbie; she was also
going with Jessie Stone. She had been holding John Steele's
hand.

They were about as opposite as they
could be. Lisa, tall, with her dancers body and movie star good
looks. John, pale, thin and studious, but it was obvious to Mike
that something had clicked there.

He had thought that Lisa's brother Joe
would probably go to, but they had said their goodbyes this morning
when Jessie's group had pulled out.

They would be fourteen people going
back: They had come with only six. Mike and Ronnie, Tim, Bear,
Josh, James, Richard and Alicia. Chloe and Debbie; Joe Stevens, and
Steven Choi. Brad Jefferies and his sister Bethany. And they were
leaving Nellie and Molly behind, and it didn't feel right, but Mike
knew there was nothing he could do.

Mike took one more look around the
campground. Everything on the trucks had checked out fine. It was
packed and ready. He reminded himself that he would never come
back, and besides having to leave Nellie and Molly somewhere that
he didn't want to leave them, he felt no sadness that he would
never see any of it again. He looked at Ronnie: His nose was taped;
both eyes swollen nearly shut. He shook his head.

“
What,” Ronnie asked. He
still sounded nasally.

“
Patty is going to kill
me,” he said. “She warned me after the ear thing if I bought you
back messed up again I was done.”

Ronnie grinned and then grimaced.
“Hurts to smile,” he said. “A little anyway... Don't worry. She'll
feel bad, after all you lost a finger.”

“
Yep, but I bet she's gonna
kick my ass as soon as she sees you.”

“
Yeah, and you'll be
getting your ass kicked by a pregnant woman too,” Ronnie
joked.

“
You're not going to help
me out? Tell her how it's not really my fault,” Mike
asked.

“
Nope. Take it like a man,
Bro, take it like a man. Besides, she hits like a girl... Unless
she's mad and then she has one hell of a straight right. Smacked me
in the arm once when I wouldn't quit screwing with her. Arm hurt
for a week.” Ronnie smiled and then grimaced again.

“
Sorry,” Mike told him. He
turned around; everyone was waiting. “Let's go,” he said quietly.
“Let's go.”

The Nation

“
Okay,” Candace said. “What
do you think?” She held up an off white outfit. A small pair of
booties and a long gown. She was working on a second gown, but a
second pair of booties rested on the quilt beside her.

Lilly took it from her. “It's nice,
Candy. I like it,” Lilly said.

Patty's needles click-clicked as she
added a blue and pink border to her gown.

Lilly held hers up, the yarn still
attached. She had used the same off white yarn, but a different
pattern of stitches, so that a pattern radiated out from the center
to the edges. Candace looked at it closely.

“
How did you do that,” she
asked.

“
I made two separate
pieces,” Lilly told her. “Then I just joined them at the sides,
see?” She showed her where the pieces came together.

“
Clever,” Candace
said.

Patty held hers up. The yarn she had
used for the bottom was a variegated pink and blue. “Works for
either or,” she said. She had also made little ruffles around the
ends of both sleeves, and sewn small mittens to the end of each
sleeve as well; capping them.

A slit on each side allowed the baby's
hands to be free of the mittens.

“
Wow. Too cool, Pats,”
Candace said. “You have to show me how you did that.”

“
Yeah, me too,” Lilly
added. “I mean, what made you think of that?”

“
How cold it might get. See
the slit is right at the wrist. The ruffle overhangs it. It's
really only about another half of the sleeve. It can be on or off
the baby's hand. When it's on? You know, like going outside?
There's a button hole.” She showed them the hole. “All I have to do
is add the button. But you can button it closed so it stays on, or,
I'll add another button to the other side that will allow me to
button it open, but big fat plastic buttons with soft edges...
Baby's like to chew,” she told them.