Zombie Crusade II: David's Journey Read online

  The former cop moved forward carefully and looked over the scene with an experienced eye for several minutes before offering his analysis, “Unless the hunters have learned how to tie knots and shoot guns, these folks were murdered. Looks like a man and a woman from the scraps of clothing lying around here and the sizes of the corpses. The woman was shot in the forehead; my guess is that someone was trying to get the couple to tell them something, and threatening to shoot her was the last trick they had to get the guy to talk. The killers either got tired of messing around or one of them got an itchy finger. Anyway, that’s pure speculation, but I don’t see any bullet holes on the man. Hopefully they killed him before the hunters got here.”

  “What do you think they wanted?” Christy shakily asked.

  Jerry just shook his head, “Who knows? They may have been after money for some reason, or jewels, or drugs . . . there’s a thousand different reasons why this might have happened. I suspect that these folks had a nice boat here and the killers took it, but with luck the pack of hunters that did this scared them off before they took everything of value. Let’s look for that gas we need and get the hell out of here.”

  David suggested, “Let’s look outside first; they might have had a gas tank on the premises.”

  Sure enough, they found a one-hundred gallon tank on the back side of the building, but unfortunately it was hooked up to an electric pump. Jerry shook his head and snarled, “We’re just having a great morning.”

  David stood mutely staring at the tank until Christy walked over and asked, “Is there any gas in there?”

  Jerry shrugged, “Ain’t gonna do us any good.”

  Christy was insistent, “Just check for me, will you?”

  David shrugged and tapped on the side of the tank in several places. “Seems to be at least half-full.”

  Christy sarcastically responded, “Too bad there’s no way we could punch a hole in the tank and catch the gas as it leaks out.”

  Jerry and David just stared at each other for a moment before the cop wearily remarked, “Hey, seeing those two in there must have fogged up my brain. Yeah, as long as we don’t create a spark we could get through this metal.”

  Luke finally broke in, “I know that padlock on the cap is huge, but why don’t we try to cut that off so we don’t blow ourselves up? In fact, I’m not letting you two blow me up with you. Let’s look for bolt cutters or something.”

  In the end they had to settle for taking turns with a hacksaw, which required a blade change halfway through before they were able to cut the lock. Then all they had to do was stick a hose in and begin filling the cans they’d brought along. They used their small hand-pump to spare themselves the distasteful task of using their mouths to create the suction to get the gas flowing. They also found an old but serviceable gas can for a motorboat on a shelving unit in the building, which reminded them to check the bass boat down at the dock. One hour and two trips back to the yacht later and the group had a full tank and twenty gallons in reserve.

  Fuel was no longer a problem, but as the morning and early afternoon passed dark clouds could be seen building to the west, and Father O’Brien finally announced after lunch that a storm would catch them before they could reach Toledo.

  “Can we ride it out?” David asked.

  “I wouldn’t recommend trying that.”

  “Well, what do you suggest?”

  “There are a number of places to dock around Sandusky, but all of them that I can think of are connected to land, and that means they’re accessible to hunters.”

  David shook his head, “We can’t do that, especially with nightfall coming on.”

  “Well,” Father O’Brien mused, “we could try one of the islands.”

  “C’mon, Father, those places are packed with people in the summer.”

  “True, but the outbreak began in May, and I doubt that many people headed out there, or stayed there if they had an early vacation. There’s only about a hundred year-round residents on Middle Bass, and they have a marina that faces east; maybe they were able to keep the virus out, or kill the infected before they overwhelmed the humans? Anyway, most people go to Put-in-Bay on South Bass.”

  David looked at the sky again, noticing that the towering storm clouds in the distance seemed to be closer than they were just a few minutes before. “How far is the island?”

  O’Brien shrugged, “If we open this baby up we can make it in an hour. That should get us there before the storm hits.”

  “All right,” David decided, “take us to the island.”

  A little over an hour later the yacht was nosing into the marina on Middle Bass Island, dusk coming on quickly with the cloud cover at the edge of the storm. The winds had picked up to at least thirty miles an hour, and raindrops were beginning to splatter into the lake around them. David had told everyone what they were doing, and they had all worked together to quickly come up with a plan before reaching the marina. They were going to tie off to a dock and use the night-vision devices to watch the approaches to the yacht, with all of the fighters fully armed and ready to defend the others if the observers reported the presence of any hunters. Vickie and Trudy were keeping the kids in the cabin. They all agreed that there was nothing they needed on the island, and hoped to experience no contact with anyone or anything there while they waited out the storm.

  As they pulled up to the outer dock they could see enough of the place in the waning light to determine that very few boats were still on the island. They saw no people, no hunters, and no sign of either as the storm bore down on them from the west. They set up their observation post under a tarp on the side of the yacht facing away from the wind, huddling together for what promised to be one of the more miserable nights of their lives. Once everything was arranged and the rain began to increase in intensity, Trudy slid open a window from the cabin and began passing around paper cups filled with hot coffee. Sipping the steaming liquid lifted everyone’s spirits, but moments later Jim called out in an incredulous voice, “There’s a truck heading our way!”

  They all tossed aside their cups and climbed to their feet as quickly as possible, squinting into the rain as they watched a set of headlights moving along a narrow road fronting the docks. Twenty seconds later a Hummer pulled up about a hundred feet from their boat, and a man hopped out with a flashlight in his hand. The stranger saw them all standing on the yacht in their black biker gear, and just stared in silence for about ten seconds until he finally shouted, “You can come up to the Marina office building if you want! We’re the only people still on the island, and we’d definitely like to hear some news from the outside world.”

  Nobody on the boat said anything, all of them basically shocked that a stranger in this zombie infested world felt safe enough to shout in the night. Everyone turned to see what David’s reaction would be, and he held up his hand in a calming gesture and muttered, “Don’t say a word. We have no idea what this guy’s about.”

  The man turned the light on his own face, revealing a disarming smile and loudly calling out, “There’s just three of us here, please, come up when you’re ready to.”

  Everyone on the yacht remained quiet as the stranger jumped back into the passenger side of the SUV, which reversed course until it finally found room to turn and speed back to the office. As the taillights disappeared into the storm everyone started to talk at the same time until David held up his hand and ordered, “Everybody quiet!”

  In the silence that followed he forcefully explained, “We don’t know these people, and they don’t appear to need our help. I can’t see that we have anything to gain from associating with them.”

  “David,” Christy argued, “we haven’t seen another live human for over a month! He wants news from us, but I want news from him too. They might have a radio here . . . maybe they’ve heard from Jack’s place. You know as well as I do that we’re not gonna leave here without talking to these guys.”

  David just shook his head because he knew tha
t Christy was right. Everyone in their group, himself included, wanted to find out who these people were and how they’d gotten here. He knew they needed a compromise, “All right, listen, either that guy’s a complete lunatic or there are no hunters on this island. I suspect that if he was a complete lunatic he’d be dead by now, so this place probably has seen few, if any hunters. Still, there may be some stray infected roaming around, so we need to keep our guard up. If nothing’s changed by daylight, we’ll send a group up to meet with these folks. Can everyone live with that?”

  When nobody said anything David finished, “Okay, let’s keep our eyes open tonight, and as soon as we have enough light to see we’ll find out what’s going on here.”

  The storm blew over during the night, and by dawn the sun rose bright and clear over Middle Bass Island. Everyone on the yacht was standing on the deck and looking to David for instructions. “Jim, you mind going up there with Sal and Lori and finding out what these people know?”

  Jim smiled broadly, “Love to, son. How do you want us to approach them?”

  “Wear your gear but carry your helmets. Weapons on belt but none in hand. If you have any trouble hit the deck; we’ll be covering you with the ARs. If we do need to provide covering fire, roll out of the line of fire and get back here as quick as you can so we can shove off.”

  Sal spoke up, “I’ve been thinking about this situation all night. I really don’t think we’ll have any trouble here; if these people wanted to hurt us they would have used a surprise attack in the middle of the storm.”

  David nodded, “I think you’re right about that, but there’s always the possibility that they want to feel us out first before they make their move. Just be careful.”

  They all assured David that they would be fine and wasted no time in grabbing their gear and hopping out onto the deck. Jerry and Luke were well-hidden on top of the cabin with the rifles, carefully watching their friends walk up toward the marina office. When the trio reached a point about fifty yards from the building they stopped and Jim called out, “Hello in the office! We decided to come up and meet you folks if the offer still stands.”

  Nothing happened for about twenty seconds, then the man who’d hailed them the night before opened the door and stepped out in a pair of boxers and an oversized T-shirt, squinting against the morning sun but still wearing the broad smile. “Hey,” he shouted, “glad you guys came up to see us. Come on in and have some coffee.”

  Then the smiling stranger turned and walked back into the office, leaving the door invitingly open behind him. Jim looked over at Sal and Lori who both just shrugged and started slowly walking forward. When they reached the building they hesitated, but then an attractive young woman looked out at them from a few feet inside the door and forced a smile.

  “C’mon in,” she suggested reassuringly, “I’ll get you something to eat if you’re hungry.”

  Sal and Jim looked over at Lori, who just nodded and stepped inside. They found two men sitting at a table nursing cups of coffee, both smiling weakly. The one who’d invited them over the previous night said, “We celebrated the arrival of other humans with a bottle of Southern Comfort last night. Now we’re trying to get rid of the headache.”

  “And stomachache,” the second man added.

  The guy in the boxers explained, “I’m Lyle Molsen, and this is Cleve Dunn.”

  Jim stepped forward to shake hands with the men as he introduced himself, then Lori and Sal did the same.

  “What’s up with the biker gear?” Cleve asked.

  “Keeps the monster teeth out of our flesh,” Lori smirked.

  Lyle sat up a bit, “So the zombies are still out there?”

  Lori just shook her head and frowned, “How long you guys been here?”

  Lyle looked her over in a way that gave her the creeps before he shrugged and answered, “We were cruising the lake for a week when the news of the outbreak started coming in. Decided to stay on the water as long as possible. Came in here about a month ago after we ran out of food, and we found this well-stocked marina and about ten of the creatures. We killed all of them, and haven’t seen anything or anyone else since. That’s why we were so excited to see you guys pull up last night.”

  Lori looked at the girl and asked, “What’s your name?”

  She quietly replied, “Brittany.”

  Cleve interrupted, “She’s our little sister. She hasn’t been right in the head since all of this started going down, but we’re taking care of her. Ain’t that right, Brittany?”

  The girl just nodded as she stared at the floor until Lyle suggested, “Why don’t you get our guests some coffee, Brittany?”

  As she sullenly walked away Sal asked, “You sure she’s all right?”

  “She’s fine,” Cleve declared, “she just needs time to accept the fact that the world’s ended.”

  Lori nodded, “Yeah, plenty of that going around.”

  When Brittany brought the coffee in they all took seats at the table and shared what they knew of the world. The two men solemnly listened to everything before Kyle exclaimed, “Wow! So the zombies really aren’t zombies?”

  Sal explained, “We don’t know what they are, but they aren’t dead in a biological sense, and they are evolving. You can’t let your guard down around here; for all we know the creatures will be swimming by this time next month.”

  The men looked worried when they considered that idea until Jim tried to reassure them, “So far they don’t seem to like water much.”

  Cleve finally asked, “You guys sure that trying to get through to Indiana is a good move right now?”

  “No,” Jim answered with a grim smile, “but we’re going anyway.”

  Lyle finally suggested, “Hey, you guys should at least stay one more night. Bring the whole group up here and we’ll have a big dinner and sip some whiskey!”

  Lori’s intuition was telling her that something was off with these people, and she was ready to get out of there for a while. She offered, “We’ll head back to the boat and see what the group wants to do. I know everyone’s anxious to meet you folks, but I don’t know if they’ll want to spend another night out here on the lake. We really need to keep moving to get where we’re going.”

  “All right,” Lyle accepted, “but make sure you tell everybody we’ve got steaks! Plenty of gas out here and we’ve found ten generators so far, and we have a freezer full of food.”

  Jim smiled as he stood to leave, “Well, I’ll sure try to talk them into staying. We’ll be back soon to let you know what our plans are.”

  When the trio returned to the yacht they found that convincing everyone to stay for a good meal wasn’t a hard sell, though Lori admitted some reservations about spending too much time with the strangers. “They haven’t expressed any interest in joining us,” she said, “but I don’t want to feel obligated to them. We don’t have any extra room, and to be honest I just don’t like these guys. They’re pompous asses.”

  David tried to consider what Jack would do in this situation. He decided that they would share lunch with the three survivors, but not stay overnight. The plan was to try to make Toledo by nightfall. That turned out to be a compromise everyone could live with, though Father O’Brien decided to remain on board and keep a watch out for any hunters or zombies that might come around. Gracie declared that she would be staying with her father’s old friend, arguing that if the people on shore did try anything shady she would use the AR to provide covering fire. Luke’s first inclination was to stay with her, but she wanted him to go along with the group and bring back a steak for Chewy. Blake said he would stay behind as well to provide further back-up, and he suggested the children stay on board the boat also in case there was a need to beat a hasty retreat. Jenny, Addison, and the Martinez boys all whined at the same time, but a sharp glance from Blake silenced his daughter, while the others were pacified by Gracie. The teenager knelt down by the children and earnestly asked if she could count on them to help her keep watch
. She drew them close and whispered, “I know Father O’Brien is staying too, but he is old and his eyes aren’t sharp like yours—we could spread out with the radios and cover all corners of the ship. Jenny, your dad is still recovering so I am counting on you to do two jobs: keep an eye on him and maintain general guard duty. Can I rely on all of you?” Four heads bobbed in unison.

  In spite of a lot of complaints, David demanded that everyone venturing in to the marina office for dinner wear armor and carry weapons, arguing that they could never be too safe in the new world. By the time they arrived, Lyle and Cleve had two charcoal grills fired up, and Brittany was in the kitchen working on side dishes. Trudy offered to go in and help the girl but the two men wouldn’t hear of it, insisting that she have a seat along with everyone else and enjoy their hospitality. Cold beer and soda were distributed while the meal was being prepared, and when everything was ready they all sat down at several picnic tables that had been pulled together in the shade. Everyone, even Lori, appreciated the hot food and cold drinks. On this island, sharing steaks around the picnic tables, life almost seemed normal again.

  CHAPTER 15

  Vickie had told the two men that she was a doctor and asked if they had any medical needs she could help out with. Cleve joked that he might need checked for a hernia, but a hard elbow from Lyle forced the smirk from the man’s face and he returned his attention to his plate. Lyle did most of the talking, explaining what they had done before the outbreak and providing the details of how they’d ended up out on the lake, and eventually the island, while the rest of the world collapsed.