road, and a mess of wild bushes on the right side, where the railroad tracks ran alongside. A bit further east , we could see the tracks and road split into north and south directions.
There were also several small zombie corpses lying about, and dozens of brass casings shining in the rising sun. Four cars had been parked in a rough diamond shape, and there were four zombie corpses draped over the hoods and roofs of two of the cars.
Charlie was looking around, and I le ft him alone while he read the signs. He was the best woodsman I had ever met, and his tracking skills made much more sense than my uninformed guessing.
After a minute , he straightened, and looked over at me. “Well, any idiot could figure out what happened here.”
Sarah pulled up the truck and Tommy shouted down from the roof. “Looks like a fight here.”
I gri nned and ignored Tommy when he asked, “What?”
“Go ahead, ” I said.
Charlie wiped the smile off his face. “They set up this post as a fall back position from the trucks, but something distracted them at exactly the wrong moment. What it was, I couldn’t tell you, nor could I tell you why the soldiers from the trucks would abandon their safety to come here. Just doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe more than you think, ” I said cryptically , as I pointed eastward.
“What’s that?” Charlie asked as he brought up his rifle with its scope.
“The only thing ever to get men to abandon their posts, since the dawn of warfare, ” I said.
Chapter 5
As we waited, a small car came rolling down the road. One of the tires was very low, but that didn’t deter the driver from trying to get here as fast as humanly and mechanically possible.
The car hit a large bump, and there were several squeals from the passengers as the driver corrected badly , and nearly wound up in the ditch. I had my doubts as to the ability of the driver, and I moved into the relative safety of the four vehicles as the car came careening up and screeching to a halt. Charlie was collecting the weapons of the soldiers and checking for any spare ammunition. He kept a small bag around his shoulder for that purpose, and when he started doing it, he had to endure a lot of ‘man-bag’ ribbing, but the little bag had proved in valuable over the past few months.
The car stopped and the occupants spilled out, four girls and two guys, none of which was a day over nineteen. One of the men eyed Charlie and I with a more than a little belligerence, and I cocked an amused eyebrow at Charlie.
“My God, are they all dead?” One of the girls asked.
“How many were there?” I asked, hoping to have some survivors.
“Ten, my God, are they all dead?” She asked again.
“Yes, they’re all dead. When did you leave them?” I asked.
The girl stopped looking at the dead soldiers and looked at me directly. She was a pretty, thin girl with long brunette hair that looked to be recently styled. My suspicions were becoming more confirmed as to what got the soldiers down this way. I matched her gaze and waited, trying to hold down my impatience. If the little zombies had hit recently, we might be able to catch them and deal some serious damage, or direct the army to the correct spot to set up an ambush.
“I’m sorry, but who are you? Did you kill them?” She said directly.
I noticed the other kids were milling about the car and the men were talking in low tones. I stuck a finger in the air and made a circular motion, and then answered the questions.
“Look miss, yes we killed them the second time. The first time it was done by zombies. See those bites and tears? Bullets don’t do that. These guys were attacked and recently, by the amount of fresh blood that’s around here , ” I said . “When did you last see them alive?”
The girl thought for a minute, and then looked back at her friends. One of the boys shook his head at her and she turned back to me.
There were also several small zombie corpses lying about, and dozens of brass casings shining in the rising sun. Four cars had been parked in a rough diamond shape, and there were four zombie corpses draped over the hoods and roofs of two of the cars.
Charlie was looking around, and I le ft him alone while he read the signs. He was the best woodsman I had ever met, and his tracking skills made much more sense than my uninformed guessing.
After a minute , he straightened, and looked over at me. “Well, any idiot could figure out what happened here.”
Sarah pulled up the truck and Tommy shouted down from the roof. “Looks like a fight here.”
I gri nned and ignored Tommy when he asked, “What?”
“Go ahead, ” I said.
Charlie wiped the smile off his face. “They set up this post as a fall back position from the trucks, but something distracted them at exactly the wrong moment. What it was, I couldn’t tell you, nor could I tell you why the soldiers from the trucks would abandon their safety to come here. Just doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe more than you think, ” I said cryptically , as I pointed eastward.
“What’s that?” Charlie asked as he brought up his rifle with its scope.
“The only thing ever to get men to abandon their posts, since the dawn of warfare, ” I said.
Chapter 5
As we waited, a small car came rolling down the road. One of the tires was very low, but that didn’t deter the driver from trying to get here as fast as humanly and mechanically possible.
The car hit a large bump, and there were several squeals from the passengers as the driver corrected badly , and nearly wound up in the ditch. I had my doubts as to the ability of the driver, and I moved into the relative safety of the four vehicles as the car came careening up and screeching to a halt. Charlie was collecting the weapons of the soldiers and checking for any spare ammunition. He kept a small bag around his shoulder for that purpose, and when he started doing it, he had to endure a lot of ‘man-bag’ ribbing, but the little bag had proved in valuable over the past few months.
The car stopped and the occupants spilled out, four girls and two guys, none of which was a day over nineteen. One of the men eyed Charlie and I with a more than a little belligerence, and I cocked an amused eyebrow at Charlie.
“My God, are they all dead?” One of the girls asked.
“How many were there?” I asked, hoping to have some survivors.
“Ten, my God, are they all dead?” She asked again.
“Yes, they’re all dead. When did you leave them?” I asked.
The girl stopped looking at the dead soldiers and looked at me directly. She was a pretty, thin girl with long brunette hair that looked to be recently styled. My suspicions were becoming more confirmed as to what got the soldiers down this way. I matched her gaze and waited, trying to hold down my impatience. If the little zombies had hit recently, we might be able to catch them and deal some serious damage, or direct the army to the correct spot to set up an ambush.
“I’m sorry, but who are you? Did you kill them?” She said directly.
I noticed the other kids were milling about the car and the men were talking in low tones. I stuck a finger in the air and made a circular motion, and then answered the questions.
“Look miss, yes we killed them the second time. The first time it was done by zombies. See those bites and tears? Bullets don’t do that. These guys were attacked and recently, by the amount of fresh blood that’s around here , ” I said . “When did you last see them alive?”
The girl thought for a minute, and then looked back at her friends. One of the boys shook his head at her and she turned back to me.
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