Zombified (Book 2): Shady Oaks (3 page)

Chapter Four

"I'm thinking of heading over to the sheriff's office, want to come?" Mick asked Cindy as they pulled carrots from one of their garden plots in the back yard.

He straightened and arched his back to work out a kink. The yard was filled with raised beds of lettuce, potatoes, beans, onions, and carrots. He enjoyed looking at them and the young apple and pear trees they planted. He liked the yard's privacy fence even more, he felt like it offered them more security while they worked.

"Are you going over there to check on the boys?"

"That and to see if there's anything new."

Cindy looked up. "I think I'll stay here. If there's any news, tell me right away though, okay?"

Mick kissed her then smiled into her eyes. "Will do. I won't be gone long."

After checking that both their walkies were on and set to the same channel, Mick headed out. As he walked, he glanced around and smiled. Everyone worked hard to bring Shady Oaks back, and the casual observer would probably never guess what had transpired in the small town.

Homes were filling up and yards were mowed regularly. Places like the hardware store were open, but business was conducted a little differently now. They used a barter system for most items being sold, but borrowing an item was allowed, as long as it was returned in good condition. The grocery store was now used for stockpiling their non-perishable food, recently canned jars of fruits and vegetables were being added daily.

Every Saturday a small farmer's market sprung up in front of the grocery. Fresh milk, eggs, and produce were the most popular items, with beef and chicken a little harder to come by, the farms offered meat only twice a month so far. In exchange, everyone in town had to pitch in at the farms; even the older children had chores.

He was hopeful that they would continue to expand out from Shady Oaks and prosper. Perhaps one day they could attempt to clean up Ambrose, but he feared that would be years away.

Mick was so deep in thought he almost collided with Charlie at the door.

"Whoa there, partner!" Charlie said with a laugh as he put a hand on Mick's chest.

"Sorry about that," Mick said with a shake of his head. "Curiosity was getting the better of me so I decided to come by and see if anyone's heard anything."

"Nothing yet," Charlie said. "Guess what?"

Mick eyed his friend. "What?"

"We have a new deputy."

"And you want me to guess who it is, right?"

Charlie chuckled. "Yep."

Mick decided to play along. "Okay, is it Judith?"

Charlie shook his head.

"Reggie or Travis?"

Reggie was the sheriff's son and both men knew the teen had no interest in law enforcement.

"Funny, you know they're too young, and Reggie isn't even in town right now.."

Mick rubbed the scar on his right cheek, a permanent reminder of his stay at Dave's Place. "Oh yeah, I forgot he's in Ambrose. I give up, who is it?"

"Hey, I'm not gonna let you off that easily," Charlie quipped. "I'll give you a hint - it's someone I butt heads with quite a bit."

Mick's eyes widened. "No way!"

"Yes way," Charlie said. "My old buddy Dexter was just sworn in as Shady Oaks' new deputy sheriff."

Mick groaned and Charlie chuckled at his reaction. He grasped Mick on the shoulder and gave him a light shake.

"Well, there's no news right now, want to walk some more? I'm going up to the grade school to help them finish the repairs and then check the inventory.

All three schools were small so making repairs wasn't difficult, just time consuming. When school started in the fall, Charlie wanted to be sure each child would have the books and supplies they needed.

"Sure," he said while reaching for his walkie. "Let me tell Cindy where I'm going."

Charlie started to reply when he heard a familiar voice coming from his own walkie. He quickly removed it and pressed the send button. "Hello? This is Charlie. Jenny, is that you?"

"Dad! Yes! This is Jenny!"

Charlie frowned, she sounded frantic. "I hear you; honey - what's going on - is everything okay?"

After a few seconds of static, her voice came through and this time she was whispering.

"We're in trouble," he heard her say breathlessly. "There's some kind of camp up here, a big one. Jake thinks it must be the Connor Group and they spotted us when we came up the hill. We're hunkered down behind some trees, but it's only a matter of time before we..."

Charlie heard a faint shout and groaned when only static filled the air again. He waved the walkie in the air and turned desperate eyes toward his friend. "What do we do?"

Mick was deeply worried. "Let's tell Mark and see if he can get hold of Captain Sears, maybe they could head that way."

Before he finished the sentence, Charlie was already headed back inside. Mick followed at a slower pace, wondering how he was going to tell Cindy that Brooke and the others were most likely in the hands of the Connor Group.

Absentmindedly, he rubbed the scar on his cheek and squared his shoulders. He knew they were capable of doing anything to get their daughters, Jake, and Jimmy back safe and sound. Anything.

****

Sean pointed over the small ridge they were sitting behind. "I can finally see the guys that walked up," he whispered to his brother. "I'm glad we got to ride most of the way, they look tired."

"They look out of shape," Scott remarked dryly as he got on his knees to take a look for himself.

Sean chuckled and Scott grinned. "True, but they probably haven't been able to do much training. All they've been doing is chasing after the Connor Group," Sean replied. He sat down again with his back against the mossy wall of the ridge and Scott joined him.

"We should be hearing something soon from the scouts," Scott said. He pulled two energy bars from one of his BDU shirt pockets and handed one to Sean.

They silently chewed and watched the other soldiers sprawled out around them. Sean noticed a young soldier strolling their way. He realized it was the same one with Captain Sears at Dave's Place, but couldn't remember his name. Quickly swallowing, he nudged Scott in the ribs.

"Heads up," he said softly.

Scott looked up and nodded. "I see him. Sears' little messenger."

"Yep."

They both remained seated and looked up when the soldier stopped before them. Sean looked at his name tag and thought to himself; yeah he looks like a Private Dooley. "Any news?" he asked.

Dooley nodded vigorously. "Scouts spotted a large camp a mile up. The Captain is certain it's the Connor Group. He said to tell you to come with me; we're leaving in five after the group that hiked up here has a chance to catch their breath."

As they rose to their feet, Scott muttered, "They need more than five to catch their breath."

Sean laughed and gave Scott a shove. "Play nice," he said with a chuckle. "These guys have been good to us."

"True, they have," Scott agreed. He slung his weapon over a shoulder and eyed Dooley. "Lead the way."

As they approached, Scott saw several men focused on a map spread out on a small folding table. Captain Sears looked up as they approached and waved them over.

Once at his side, he pointed to the map. "I'm hoping you two can shed some light on this since you're more familiar with this area. The scouts came across this large meadow and lake here," he said, jabbing a finger at the map again. "They're telling me that on the north side there's a huge camp with military style tents and even a few small wood structures. The scouts couldn't get too close because of sentries posted all around, and even with binoculars they couldn't identify who they are, but my guess is that it's the Connor Group"

Sean frowned, still staring at the map. "So you've decided to go in?"

He nodded. "We need to find out what's going on up there. Do you two have any knowledge of this area so we can surround them without being seen?"

Sean shook his head while Scott scratched his. "Sorry, we've been so busy cleaning out Harris we haven't had time to do any exploring," Sean said. "I do know it's a popular place for folks in both Shady Oaks and Harris to fish and picnic at, even though it's not that easy to get to."

Scott snapped his fingers. "Wait a second! To get up there from Shady Oaks, you have to go up a deer trail and it runs all the way around the meadow." He grinned. "One of the old timers in Shady Oaks was talking about it when Jenny and Jake were planning a picnic up there." His grin suddenly faded. "Which was today." He turned to his brother. "Sean, wasn't Brooke and Jimmy supposed to go with them?"

Sean's eyes widened. "No idea, I didn't hear anything about it. Maybe we should contact Dad and find out."

Sean quickly reached for his walkie. The moment he adjusted the frequency they heard Mick Carter's frantic voice loud and clear.

****

Mick almost dropped the walkie when he heard Sean's voice. "Good to hear your voice, son," he almost shouted into the walkie. He took a deep breath to calm down. He keyed the walkie again and looked around at the sea of worried faces before him. After he let Cindy know what they heard, she quickly appeared, followed by several townsfolk.

"We need your help, we got a weird call from Jenny and we think something's going on up at the meadow."

There was silence for a moment before Sean replied. "Dad, we're just outside the meadow, we've been following the people we saw at Harris. From the looks of it, they've set up a large base camp here. Yesterday I heard Jenny mention something about coming up here and I was hoping it wasn't today."

Mick sighed. "Jenny said there were people up there and we heard shouting, then nothing.” Mick glanced at Cindy, who was standing next to him, and gave her a reassuring hug. She gave him a small smile, worry thick in her eyes. "Sean, do you think these people have them?"

"Probably, Dad," Sean replied. "We're going up there and as soon as we know anything I'll radio you. Try not to worry; if it is the Connor Group, they haven't had time to do anything to them."

Cindy held out her hand for the walkie and Mick quickly handed it over. "Sean, this is Mom. Will you ask all of the men there to do one thing, if it's at all possible?"

"Sure, Mom," Sean said softly.

"Please, bring them all home safe and sound. That's all I ask," she said with tears in her eyes. She handed the walkie back to Mick and wiped her eyes.

"Sean, this is Dad again."

"Okay. Dad, I have to go, we're heading out."

Mick swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn't believe all his children were probably in very grave danger. "Be careful, Mom and I love you. Tell Scott we love him, too."

"Will do, we love you too! I promise to contact you the minute we know anything."

Mick slowly lowered the walkie and caught Charlie's eye. Unspoken words passed between them as they both had the same thought. Mick gave a slight nod of his head toward the exit and Charlie nodded back.

Mick glanced at Cindy, who was now talking in hushed tones to Rose and Judith. He tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "I'm going outside to get a breath of air and talk to Charlie, meet me out there when you're done?"

She gave him a curious look before nodding. Mick gave her a quick kiss and headed for the door. Charlie was waiting for him under the large oak tree next to the flag pole.

Charlie spoke first. "We're going, just the two of us."

"Agreed."

"We need to get things together and quickly. I'm hoping we can get up there unseen, check out the situation, and find a way to get our kids out of there."

"Captain Sears and his men create the perfect diversion, but if we tell them we're up there, he'll send us packing."

"Okay, so we don't tell them until they can't do anything about it," Charlie rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Think I'll see if any more flash bangs are left. We need a list," he muttered. "Be right back."

Mick watched Charlie hurry over to his office. Within two minutes he was back with a small pad of paper and a pencil.

"After we figure out what we need, we can divide the list up so we can get everything faster," he said with the pencil clenched between his teeth as he flipped open the pad.

Charlie wrote quickly as they brainstormed what they needed. When he finished writing, he tore the list in half and gave the bottom portion to Mick.

"I'll get right on this," Mick said, waving the small piece of paper in the air. "Should we try to meet back here in about an hour?"

Charlie nodded, stuffing his half of the list into his shirt pocket. "What do we tell everyone?"

Mick frowned, he hadn't thought about a cover story. "Let's tell them that we're going to check the perimeter of town, just to be sure there's nothing unusual going on, and not to expect us back until late."

"But we have patrols that walk the perimeter."

"True, but we want to make sure for ourselves that everything's fine," Charlie said with a grin.