Page 34 of Resurrection
We’ve been walking all damn night and the sun’s just now cresting the horizon as we, finally, walk onto the driveway of the first and only fucking house we’ve seen on this Godforsaken highway. I’ll be the first to say that I love living in the country but damn, there’s fuckingnothingout here.
The small farmhouse looks to be abandoned from the outside, but we can never be too sure. We still have to clear it to see if this place is even habitable before we turn in for the night. Last thing we need is to run up on someone or, God forbid, a group of people and end up getting shot for trespassing. In this day and age, security is everything. Encroach on a person’s property when they’re protecting it—and possibly their loved ones—and you’re just about as good as dead.
Giving the signal for Aly to remain behind and stay hidden, me and the guys drop our packs and lift ourweapons. Resuming our designated arrow formation, we approach the house, stalking up the porch steps and surrounding the front door. I knock three times and wait for a response, but get nothing but silence in return.
Turning to Hawk and Cole, I remain quiet, not wanting to give anything more away than we have to. I lift my wrist and perform a set of hand signals that have been instilled in us since basic training, instructing Hawk to go left, while I take point and clear to the right. Cole’s directed to remain outside, keeping post by the door in case anyone is waiting to ambush us outside. Once everyone is satisfied and ready, I dip my head to Hawk, indicating the go-ahead, and turn the door handle. Luckily, it’s unlocked and saves me the trouble of having to kick it in and ruin a perfectly good barrier. We fan in, with Hawk immediately going left and myself heading to the right, staying close to the perimeter walls as we go. Just like I assumed from looking at it from the outside, the inside of the dwelling isn’t large at all. Just a small, two-bedroom, one-story home with a kitchen, one bathroom, and a living room. Upon further inspection, there seems to be no broken windows or doors and it’s, thankfully, vacant and—
“Clear!” Hawk calls from the other side of the house. I echo him, returning to the front door to give Cole and Aly the ok to come in as well.
It’s not much, but it’s good e-fucking-nough for me. And it ticks enough boxes that I feel confident about keeping Aly safe here, at least for the time being. I don’t worry about pleasing Cole or Hawk too much. Theycould probably sleep under a bridge if they needed to; they’re not usually picky when it comes to amenities.
The urge to sleep has turned overwhelming. I don’t even care if there’s a bed or a couch, I’ll sleep on the floor at this point. Put aDo Not Disturbsign on my ass. Or, fuck, anOut of Orderone would do just as well. Both are applicable at this point.
Choosing not to linger and look around like everyone else, I lock all the doors and make a beeline to the couch, flopping onto it when I’m close enough to do so, and depositing my weapon within reach on the coffee table. Dust plumes around me from my disturbance but I couldn’t care less about that or the fact that I’ve left my boots on. I don’t have it in me to remove them, so they’re fine where they are for now. Turning on my side, I fluff up the pillow while patting my thigh. A second later, Sadie comes springing up onto my lap and curls around a bit before tucking in behind my bent legs. A contented sigh escapes me as I melt into the cushions beneath her weight, and her soft pants against my thighs lull me to a deep relaxation. Within seconds, I’m out.
???
Whispered voices rouse me sometime later, stirring me to reach for my gun on instinct until I realize whose they are. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep, but I’ll take what I can get.
“Where do you think they all came from? I’ve never seen a grouping that large before.”
“I honestly have no idea. I’m just as confused as you.”
“You don’t think they were all there when Jax went to base last year, do you? He couldn’t have fought off all of them and stocked his truck. There’s no fucking way.”
“What if… What if these were the ones that were trapped on base? Remember? When everything went tits-up they locked down the base, no one in or out. Jax said he had to avoid them WITHIN the gates. He never said he had to fight any on the way there.”
I did say that. Hell, I remember it like it was yesterday. I took my truck, fully intending on helping evacuate or isolate or whatever the fuck they might haveneeded me for, but when I arrived, it was too late.Everyonehad turned. The number of undead went on for miles and miles, deep within the gates. An enormous horde of jacked marines as far as the eye could see. During the Vietnam War, there was a unit, 1stbattalion 9thMarines, that endured the longest sustained combat as well as the highest KIA (killed in action) rate in Marine Corps history, earning them the name “The Walking Dead.” Ironically, and unfortunately, I guess these guys earned that title too.
The only way I managed to steal the gear, ammunition, and other such ordnance was because I found a gap in the ranks, so to speak. While the vast majority of the undead were focused on the fence lines, the gates, and staying far away from the river, I found another way in. Thanks to my four-wheel-drive, raised suspension, and a kick-ass set of mudding tires that were straight out of a redneck’s fetish catalog, I drove right on base—well… not on anyroads, that is. I found one of the munitions bunkers I used to use, backed the truck up to the doors, and made myself at home. I figured, since I was in a big ass truck, if I did come across any on my return journey, I could always just run them over. Luckily, I was able to get in and out undetected with all kinds of stuff. But they’re right, I didn’t run into anything crazy outside the base. Definitely nothing like what we saw earlier. Not even close. And I certainly didn’t enter or exit by any avenues the zombies would have followed through. At least, not with the amount of water I had to dredge through to get to where I needed to go.
“If that’s the case, then how the hell did they get out? It was locked up and sealed. Contained,” one of them continues.
“Someone must have let them out,” I say in return, letting my awareness be known. I’m still groggy as fuck, but I manage to sit my tired ass up. They’re correct to want to talk about this, something’s not right at all. Did we miss something? We haven’t used our radios since we got to the cabin. Why would we? We always stayed together from then on, never going off on our own or even in pairs. We did it all as a unit. Not to mention we only had one left after the other ones got blown up at the old house.
But just for shits and giggles…
“Did we happen to pack the radio?” I focus on Hawk and Cole in front of me. I know for a fact I didn’t pack it, and I didn’t see it in any of the larger packs when I was rescaling everything in the wagon, but maybe they stashed it in one of their smaller bags for some reason.
“Nah man, didn’t even think about it,” Cole says.
Hawk tilts his head, mentally going through his pack inventory, “You know? I think I might have it in my bug-out bag. Probably dead since we haven’t swapped out its batteries, but I’m pretty sure it’s in one of the pouches.”
There’s a quiet nagging in the back of my mind that screams we’re missing something huge here. Or maybe not. Fuck, the fences could have just broken underthe pressure of thousands of bodies and they simply filtered out over the last half a year. But still…
“I think we better get it juiced up and ready to go. I’ve got a feeling we may need it. We can keep an ear out in the new area around Tryon, make sure we’re alone, and even if there’s nothing broadcasting, at least we’re being vigilant. Last thing we need is to be caught with our pants down, you know?”
They both nod, agreeing with me. I look around the living room. “Where’s Aly?”
Hawk points a thumb over his shoulder. “Oh, she’s crashed out in the bedroom, hugging a cookie box and her new baseball bat. She said she, and I quote, ‘Needed some sugar therapy to deal with this apocalyptic bullshit before she started swinging daisies,’ end quote.” He lowers his finger quotes with a large smile and a snicker of laughter.
“Swinging daises?What the fuck does that even mean?”I can’t help but laugh. It’s ludicrous but it sounds exactly like Aly.
“No fucking idea but she looks cute as fuck up there with her snickerdoodles,” Cole supplies, chuckling and shaking his head right along with me.
“He’s right, bro. I went in to check on her not too long ago, and even in her sleep, she pulled that box in closer and closer to her chest. It was as if she knew I was watching and was begging me to fuck around and find out.” Hawk adds, popping an oyster cracker—probably left over from his MRE—in his mouth. “Look, there’smountains you climb, then there’s mountains you don’t. Them’s called volcanoes. And fuck me if Aly isn’t exactly like one of those. Stunning. Picturesque. A rare beauty... Only one second away from cataclysmic destruction.” He gives a stern look to me and Cole. “I dare you to prove me wrong.”
We all laughed at Hawk’s comparison and continued talking for hours after that, rehashing what happened, contemplating what might still come to pass, and deciding if we should alter our plans or just make more backups in case shit hits the fan. We end up doing both, in the end, mind-mapping all kinds of different scenarios we may find ourselves up against in the near future.
