Refuge From The Dead | Book 4 | Dead Winter, page 6
part #4 of Refuge From The Dead Series
“I agree. I’m going to arc around like we originally agreed. I have to find Jonah,” Jack said while keeping his steady pace.
“I’ll go with you,” Jim said. “Nick, can you go back and alert the others? Tell Cam what’s going on and check on Angie for me?” Jim requested.
“Will do. Here, take my supplies,” Nick said, handing over his extra mags along with some food and water.
“Thanks. I don’t know how long we’ll be out here. They are only a day ahead of us. If we move fast, we may be able to catch up,” Jim said.
“I hope you find them,” Nick said, raising a hand to them as they walked away.
“Tell Jess I’ll come back as soon as I can,” Jack called back to him.
“Roger,” Nick called out.
◆◆◆
Nick made his way back to the cabin. It would be dark by the time he got there, even though it wasn’t yet five o’clock in the evening. He was going to need to plan with Tanaka, Mac, and Ed. They needed to fortify their cabin, maybe mount the fifties in the windows or out in the yard.
Damn, he wished Cam were here.
The sun had long since set by the time he made it back to the yard behind the cabin. He saw the glow of the fire barrel and smelled a horrible lingering burning smell at the back edge of the clearing.
The haze of smoke in the air told him they hadn’t just been burning dry wood back there.
“Nick, find anyone?” Ed asked as he came out of the tree line.
Ed was sipping something from a flask, occasionally passing it to Mac. He didn’t want to have to tell them the news.
“We found indications that our people may have been out there,” he said.
“What the heck is that supposed to mean?” Jean asked, slipping silently around the corner of the cabin. She was dressed in her winter cammies, obviously taking the first watch later.
“It means we saw two sets of shoe prints, long after we passed all the tracks left by the herd. We also found tire tracks,” he said, keeping the information about the bloody bandage they had found to himself.
“Damn. You think someone picked them up?” Ed asked.
“Not just someone. Someone with a Humvee,” he said, raising his eyebrows significantly.
“Shit,” Mac said with a sigh.
They were silent for a moment.
“So, what’s the plan?” Tanaka asked.
“Fortify the cabin and go get Cam,” Nick answered shortly.
“I guess I ought to be the one to go. You men are all needed here. I think I should take someone with me though…maybe Lane or Lily,” Jean said.
“Lily stays here,” Nick said, his fierce tone brooking no argument.
“Well, is that the way the wind blows?” Jean said with a sly smile. “Don’t you think she’s a little young for you?”
“She’s staying because she needs the rest. Lane is in better shape. She can go with you, or Cara. Ask them,” he said.
“Uh-huh, sure,” she said with a disbelieving tone.
“Believe whatever you want, Jean.”
“Oh, I do…I do.”
The girls came out of the barn. Cara was dressed for her turn at watch later. Lane carried a cup of something and was sharing it with Lily.
“Nick! What’s going on? Did you find anyone? Where’s Jack and Jim?” Cara asked him, looking around.
“They are still out there. We didn’t find anyone,” Nick said shortly.
“You better tell them,” Ed told him.
“I’m getting to it,” he snapped.
He faced the girls again and looked at Natasha specifically. “We found some shoeprints. We think they belong to Brad and Sasha. Trap could have been with them. The thing is…there were also some Humvee tracks nearby. We think they were picked up.”
Natasha covered her mouth. He could see her eyes tearing up and he wished he had something more to say, something positive. Cara and Lane put their arms around her, and Lily looked back at Nick with a questioning gaze.
“What are we going to do?” she asked him softly.
“Jean is going to get Cam and we are going to fortify this place as best we can.”
“Should we go with Jean to the prison?”
“No, you’re staying here. It’s safer here. They have a quarantine going on, and the road is dangerous.”
She just nodded.
“But Jean does need someone to ride shotgun. Cara, will you go?” he asked her over Natasha’s head.
She stopped stroking Natasha’s hair and shot a quick glance toward Tanaka. “I want to stay and help.”
“I’ll go,” Lane said. “I’m a better shot anyway,” she teased gently.
“Let’s hope you don’t need to shoot anything,” Nick said grimly.
Jack
Jack pressed on in the dark. He needed to find his son.
They had barely stopped to rest and eat a little while ago, and Jim tried to talk him into setting up camp for the night, but he couldn’t stop. He had to keep going.
The moon was at three-quarters, and they had enough of its illumination through the bare trees to see where they were going.
The deeper shadows seemed ominous. Anything could be hiding in there…watching…and waiting. It only made him walk faster. Jonah was out here, and maybe others too, and they needed to be found.
The wind kicked up a bit, and the creaking of the tree branches overhead covered the small nocturnal sounds of the woods at night. It bothered him that he couldn’t listen effectively, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
He walked on, confident with Jim behind him that they would find Jonah soon, or he would die trying.
◆◆◆
Later that evening, at nine-fifteen, or so his watch claimed…they reached the river.
The moonlight glittered off the smoothly flowing water. They couldn’t make out the other side, it was too dark— but they could see the banks well enough, and they turned right and followed the shoreline.
They had assumed the herd had dissipated and straggled off into the sloughs. They hadn’t come across any yet. Maybe their luck would hold out a while longer.
“Guess we’ll keep following the shoreline. Listen, Jack, we’re going to have to stop for the night soon. We could be missing tracks or signs in the dark. They could have turned off into the woods at any point and we could walk right past the place. At least in the daylight, we will be able to see their tracks,” Jim reasoned.
Jack sighed and slowed his steps. The rocks and sand under his feet crunched softly, and when he stopped walking, all was silent. He still had his back to Jim…he didn’t want him to see the emotion he was battling. He took a deep breath and smoothed the lines of worry and desperation from his face, then turned.
“You’re right. Let’s get up toward that tree over there and make camp,” Jack said.
Jim nodded and they did.
As they approached the large tree trunk that was lying part-way onto the shoreline, Jack spotted something then that gave him a tremendous amount of hope.
“Jim! A fire!” he said, rushing over and crouching down.
“Fucking A, we’re getting close,” Jim said with a grin.
Jack felt for heat over the top coals. None. He found a stick nearby and scraped the top layer of ashes over to the side. He saw nothing. He leaned down and blew a small amount of air gently over the newly exposed coals.
A flare of light!
“I’d say this was from lunchtime!” Jack said. “Quick, get me some small kindling.”
Jim brought him back some dried grasses and small sticks, and Jack brought the fire back to life. He fed it carefully until the fire burned steadily on its own.
“Yeah, I bet they stopped here around noon. Maybe they wanted to warm up, or maybe they needed to cook some food,” Jack said.
“They? You don’t think he’s alone?” Jim asked.
“No, I think Monica is with him. If he was alone, I don’t think he would have moved from this spot. He would have waited here.”
“Well then, I’m pretty certain we’ll be finding them both tomorrow,” Jim said with a smile.
Jack was elated and impatient. His son was close.
He could feel it.
Chapter Eight
Symptomatic
Cam
It was eight a.m. and Cam was sipping a cup of coffee delivered by Barnes herself.
He didn’t realize she even knew he was here, but it was good to catch up. Angie slept nearby, so they talked quietly.
“You’ll be staying with us for a while, yes?” she asked as she leaned back on a nearby bed.
Doc had instructed her to wear her mask and gloves if she got close to them. She had decided to just stay back so they could both chat, comfortably free of the protective equipment.
“Yeah, once we get out of this quarantine. We’ll stay another week or so after that, just to make sure she’s healing well. Probably not much longer than that though. I’m anxious to get back home.”
“I hear that. Some days I wish I could just go home, you know. Stay in my own house. I lived alone…before all this. Aside from my job, I was a hermit. It wouldn’t be so different, going back,” Barnes said.
“Less Netflix now though,” Cam said.
She smiled a bit at that and was about to answer when he heard a ruckus outside the tent.
“Where is he? It’s important that I talk to him right now, damn it!” the crotchety old voice said.
Jean? And was she cursing?
He jumped up and yelled. “Jean!” He set his cup down and ran to the flap of the tent, pushing it aside.
“Jean! What’s wrong?!” he shouted as she ran toward him.
Lane trailed behind nervously looking toward the armed guards. They didn’t look all that relaxed either. He needed to de-escalate this situation ASAP.
“Calm down!” he ordered Jean as he held up a staying hand to the guards.
One of them nodded and they backed off.
“Cam, there’s trouble. Nick came back last night from searching the woods for Jonah. They found shoe prints, two sets,” she huffed out.
“They didn’t find Jonah? Or anyone else?”
“Jim and Jack are still out searching but listen…they found tracks. Humvee tracks.”
Cam’s heart clenched in his chest at the thought of some outside element busting into his territory and hurting his people.
“Did they find bodies?” he asked, closing his eyes against the impending bad news.
“No. Jim said he thinks people were taken. He thinks it was Brad and Sasha. He said Trap could have been taken as well, but you know he only wears boots. There were a lot of boot tracks.”
He nodded and strode back into the tent. He needed to go. He needed to find them— right now.
“Cam?” Lane called out to him.
“I need to go. Angie’s here. Will you stay with her while I’m gone?” he asked.
Lane nodded and glanced around the tent. “Is this a hospital?”
“Close. A quarantine. They’re making us stay here a couple more weeks as a precaution. Some of their people were exposed too.”
“When are you coming back?” Lane asked him.
He was about to answer her when Doc walked into the room. “What’s going on here?” he asked, sounding a little angry.
“I got news. Some of my people were taken. I have to go,” Cam told him, readying his ruck and his weapons.
“Wait,” Doc said, holding up a hand.
Cam looked at him while mentally going over his supplies. That stopped the minute he processed what Doc was saying.
“Some people have become symptomatic, Cam. Fever, chills, all of it,” Doc said grimly.
“Is it the virus?” he asked.
“Probably. We’re waiting to see if the symptoms progress. We’re calling it the Z-virus.”
“Z-virus?” Cam questioned.
“I think it’s the same virus that caused the zombie…pandemic, yes. I think it has mutated in some way. Before, it was silently infecting people. I think it merged with a form of influenza or another common illness.”
“That’s bad, isn’t it,” Cam said.
“Yes. Now, instead of remaining hidden until death when it activates, it is killing its victims and reanimating them.”
“That’s just fucking great.”
Jean must have been as stunned by this news as he was because she didn’t even chide him for his language.
“The point of all this is: I need those vents. Now.”
“I don’t have my team, Doc.”
“I’ll go with you,” Lane said.
It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the offer. He did, and he knew he was going to have to take her up on it. He just wished he had a team with practice, not an eighteen-year-old girl with no combat experience.
Can this situation get any more fucked up?
“Jean, do they have things covered back at the cabin?” he asked her.
“Nick said he was going to fortify. Tanaka and the others are helping. Jack and Jim are staying out in the woods until they find Jonah.”
“And the girls?” he asked.
“Natasha and Lily are fine. Nick is taking care of them,” Lane answered. He nodded.
“Okay then. Lane, gear up. We’ve got a supply run to do. Jean, stay with Angie and Jess.”
“Where are we going?” Lane asked, heading out to get her gear.
“The hospital,” he said flatly.
Nick
Nick felt a cold hand on his arm, and he whirled around, hammer hefted back and poised to strike.
“Whoa! Sorry!” Lily said, holding her hands up, eyes wide in surprise.
“Damn it, Lil. Don’t sneak up on me again,” he said gruffly.
“I wasn’t sneaking. I just came to help,” she said, matter-of-factly.
“You can help by getting back inside. I don’t want you out anywhere alone. They could be out there right now, waiting to make their move.”
“Then you shouldn’t be out here alone either,” she said.
“I’m a grown man, sugar,” he said by way of explanation.
“And I’m a grown woman,” she answered right back.
He snorted at that. She may be a woman, but she was only barely grown— though she would like to think differently.
“What was that for?” she asked accusingly.
“What?” he said as he pounded in a few more nails.
He was boarding up the windows on the ground floor. Later, he would add barricade latches to the inside of the doors. They could put boards across and help stop another herd from moving through their home.
“That noise,” she clarified.
“What noise?” he said, pretending ignorance.
“That snorting noise you made when I informed you that I am not a child,” she said, crossing her arms.
He sighed and set down the hammer, then turned around and pulled her into the dim front room so they would have some cover. He nudged her gently up against the clean wall near the door.
“Compared to me, you’re a kid. I don’t even remember what it was like to be your age, for God’s sake! You girls are under my protection. You’re my responsibility. If I tell you to stay in the house, I expect you to stay in the damned house!” he said pointing at her and ending his lecture on a shout. The idea of her disobeying and getting caught by some marauding motherfuckers made him want to yell— and kill.
She looked taken aback by his vehemence. Her eyes were wide…and…were those tears?
Fucking hell.
He hated tears.
He saw the faintest quiver of her lip and that completely wrecked him.
“Shit. Look, Lily, I don’t want you hurt. Thinking about what could happen to you makes me insane. It makes me want to kill someone, okay? You weren’t there when Angie and Peggy were…well, you weren’t there to see it. You’ve already been…” he blocked out the mental image of her at the mercy of those fucktards back at the mansion. He didn’t know exactly what they did to her. She had never said. He knew it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t even close to what Angie and Peggy had endured. The thought of that happening to his…to Lily…
Never
He leaned his arms on the wall on either side of her head, caging her in. “I won’t ever let you get hurt that way,” he said through gritted teeth. “Even if you hate me for it, you will listen to me.”
She nodded and blinked back her tears. It looked as if he wouldn’t have to deal with any crying right now.
Thank God.
She licked her lips and he glanced at them. Her bottom lip shone in the faint light from the open front door. He wanted so bad to lean in and taste her.
She took a quick breath in.
Fuck. He was making her nervous. He was an asshole…yelling at her, then looking at her that way.
He backed off, furious with himself over his lack of control. He pointed upstairs and she gave him one last searching look, before running lightly up the stairs and out of his reach…where he couldn’t corrupt her.
He finished boarding up the windows and then went to install the brackets on the inside of the doorways so they could barricade them if necessary. He caught sight of Tanaka and Mac reinforcing the barn doors while Ed and Cara pulled security. Natasha was upstairs with Lily. They were watching out the windows for any signs of movement.
He wasn’t expecting an attack any minute, but he wanted to be ready, just in case. He knew it’s what Cam would do. It was the right thing to do.
He tested the strength of his work and found it to be good. Nothing short of a battering ram would be getting through there. He put away his tools and grabbed his rifle.
He wanted to do a patrol around the area and get those extra machine guns set up. He had thought about it and decided to assemble the extras from the basement. It would be better than taking the ones from the Humvee.
No telling when they may need to get the hell out of here, and he felt better knowing they had the .50 if they needed it.
Angie
Angie woke to shouting nearby.
