He told me that he had dragged us up to a nearby ledge that he had found, beyond the reach of the Dead, built the fire and then gone back to search through the chopper. He had managed to recover our supplies, what little remained of them, and had tended our wounds. Archer told me to go back to sleep, we would talk more in the morning.
February 27th Year 1 A.Z.
morning
By the time I awoke, everyone else had already risen. Archer had shared his limited supplies with us, but we still needed to boil some snow for water. I was loath to drink it, and it tasted like it had radioactive particles of Dead people in it, but it was wet at the very least. He had made some of his own jerky on the road, having found a kangaroo or three to shoot in his travels, but said that since the snow had begun to fall game had been scarce indeed. He told of seeing a massive pillar of smoke by day, fire by night a couple of weeks ago and had headed towards it, and laughed upon finding out we were responsible for it. After seeing the chopper flying to and fro from the same area, once he got a little closer, he figured it was worth his while continuing onwards.
“What happened to you after you blew up the bus?” Apocalypse Girl asked him. “We figured you were toast,”
“I've been around enough explosions to know to hit the fucking deck, which I noticed none of you did,” He chided us, “anyway afterwards, I was knocked senseless for a while.” He told that he had been unconscious for a couple of days, and if it had not been for The Kid coming along and helping him out, dragging him to safety and finding food and water for him, he would have no doubt died long ago. After spending nearly a week nursing Archer back to health, The Kid simply disappeared, though Archer told me he still carried The Bommyknocker, using it to brain any Dead he comes across, when he isn't getting all vague and losing himself among them.
Pilot asked Archer to show him exactly where we had crashed, so he could get some sense of where the road to The Think Tank was, and they wandered off for a while together. Junior moaned in his drug induced slumber, and I hoped for his sake that we could make it back to Doctor in time.
noon
Archer and Pilot returned before long, Pilot telling us there was news both good and bad. The good news was that we had crashed almost at the base of the roadway, the bad being that it was choked now with almost as many Dead had been there when we first arrived. I suggested to Apocalypse Girl that she get in touch with The Think Tank and ask them for help. She nodded, and went fishing in her pocket for her phone, pulling it out in triumph. We patiently waited while she turned it on...only it wouldn't turn on, the battery had died on us.
“
FUCK!!!!!
” She shouted at nobody in particular, then put her phone away. More composed, she turned back to us asking, “Don't suppose there's a plan B at all?” I assured her that The Think Tank knew where we were anyway, they would have seen the chopper go down on the satellite images. Plan B was to rely on them sending out help when we go up that fucking road tomorrow. She nodded, and we moved out.
evening
We reached the wrecked chopper soon enough, and dispatched the few Dead that wandered about it. Archer and Pilot led us towards the road, Junior and the girls in the middle, with Redbeard and I bringing up the rear.
After a while we reached the point where the two groups of newcomers had set up their camp, and since it was free of Dead, and provided relative shelter from the elements, we chose to camp there overnight as well.
Apocalypse Girl and I stood first Dead-watch, followed by Pilot and Archer. Redbeard and Sister would provide the last watch, towards the dawn, giving Junior extra time to rest and hopefully recover somewhat.
February 28th Year 1 A.Z.
morning
We awoke to the faint strains of gunfire off in the distance, and made for the road immediately. The sooner we were able to get Junior to Doctor, the better, as he had gotten worse overnight. Sister and Apocalypse Girl supported him while Archer, Redbeard, Pilot and I carved a path through the Dead that blocked our way. At first the going was relatively easy, as there were fewer Dead, less densely packed. Later on however, we despaired upon seeing the massive horde that lay before us. Then we looked upward, and were heartened anew at the sight of an enormous plume of black smoke rising from into the sky. A black exclamation mark saying “Behold, here we are!”
With renewed vigour, we sliced away at the Dead before us, killing those in our path. The head of one near Redbeard exploded, showering him in tiny little bits of brain and skull. The main horde was still focussed on the group of Living at the top, gunning them down with glee, and virtually ignoring us. Only those nearest us, those who had smelled fresh flesh, who paid us any heed at all. Another Dead head, near me this time, exploded into chunks. I spied the glint of a scope off in the distance, and saluted The Twin with my blade before slicing apart yet another Dead.
Hearing a sharp, shrill whistle, we glanced upwards to see The Colonel and Foreman had come out to assist us back home. I charged in, blade first, to clear the way for the girls to get Junior up to relative safety. Sister followed him up, then Apocalypse Girl and Pilot. Redbeard climbed up next, followed by Archer. When everyone else was safe, I grabbed hold of Foreman's hand, letting him haul me up.
noon
Once on the ledge we could rest for a while, though The Colonel required a full report, of course. She was visibly upset to learn that I had fucked up a potential alliance with a larger group than ours, but accepted that it hadn't really been my fault. Junior was carefully being packaged away, and carried by Foreman and Redbeard along the narrow part, which had been significantly widened. I mentioned this to The Colonel, and she nodded, simply saying that they had considered that if we actually made it back, we would likely have wounded.
I asked her what had been happening in our absence, she replied that Firecracker had been able to take control of the situation below, the new groups had banded together, most of them at least, to try to overthrow The Colonel and Firecracker, taking The Think Tank for themselves. This little rebellion lasted all of two hours, with Firecracker being taken hostage, and bludgeoning her captors into submission with words laced with superior intelligence and logic. Most of the rebels had chosen to live topside with access to the food stores, occupying the buildings in the compound above rather than face the alternative, that being total exile. The Twin had, consequently, recruited all of those former rebels into her highly effective militia that was now gunning down the Dead below us with precision.
We strolled along the walkway that had been carved out of the rock face, looking at the ocean of Dead alongside us. Apocalypse Girl suggested using these heads as mines. The Colonel stared long and hard at her. She shook her head, saying that with the snow deepening, they weren't very practical as a defensive measure. Too many survivors would have several layers of thick clothing for the Dead-heads to bite through, and most would have found themselves decent boots by now. If the snows went away, however, it might be useful, but that was a long way off, if it would happen at all while the lot of us lived.
evening
The Twin was ecstatic to see Archer, running up to him as soon as he dropped down from the walkway, wrapping her arms around him warmly. Firecracker greeted us at the doorway to the main building, with a firm handshake of welcome for each of us. The Colonel told her about The Family and what had transpired with The Son, and Firecracker thought long and hard, furrowing her brow in deep concentration. She said, after a while, that there was likely nothing to worry about, as with the deepening winter it was unlikely that anyone would leave a place of certain safety to wage war against another group.
We were greeted warmly by The Smart Couple, as we exited the elevator, and The Children waved at us shyly from behind Auntie, who was beaming broadly. Nurse flew out from the medical wing, grabbing my wrist, quietly but firmly telling me that her husband had no other option than to amputate Junior's arm above the elbow. He had fractured the bone, and infection had gotten in, along with the frost. His forearm was quite literally rotting from within.
After a dinner the likes of which I never thought I would eat again, I went into the main computer lab with Apocalypse Girl, Firecracker and The Smart Couple. The Colonel, Redbeard and Foreman were within already, watching the main screen.
“She took a copy of your map, the leader of this new group, yeah?” Firecracker asked me. I simply nodded. “How much did you tell them about us?” I replied that I hadn't told them much, but that we had plenty of food, water and impenetrable shelter. “So they know where we are, how best to get here, and some idea of our supplies. Plus their leader hates you because you killed her son.”
Smart Girl brought an image up on the main screen. Thermal imaging showed a large mass of warmth massing near The Farm. We had no way of warning them of the danger they faced, as close to a hundred individual heat signatures of Living enemies gathered in a camp maybe three kilometres from their location. “Oh, yes,” Firecracker continued, “She wants her farm back as well.” She would have that done early tomorrow morning. The Farm had only five people in residence at present, and without a helicopter we were more than a week away on foot instead of two days flight time.
I hoped, as we all hoped, that The Mother would be content with retaking her Farm, but we all knew otherwise.
“Looks like we've got a war coming, then.” The Colonel stated, flatly, then silently stalked from the room to prepare.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dave Rowlands is the author of a moderately successful Zombie survival handbook, and is currently working on more fiction. Hey, maybe you can even read that when he is finished? Wouldn't that be awesome?