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  Kate lets out of small sigh of contentment as Ben’s arms wrap around her. In spite of everything, she looks happy. Seeing them together makes me remember how much I miss Lila.

  “Here’s some towels and dry clothes.” Ash pulls out a handful of dry cloth from an overhead compartment.

  I grab one of the T-shirts, glad for a chance to dry my skin.

  Now what? The unspoken question rests on the tip of my tongue. Do we take a short breather then resume our run through the rain?

  Fort Ross. 75 miles.

  Up until this point, I’ve embraced the running. It hasn’t always been fun and it sure as shit isn’t easy, but there’s a quiet satisfaction in knowing I can make it.

  For the first time, I find my confidence wavering.

  Suck it up, loser. That’s what Lila would say. Don’t be a weanie.

  Tom wouldn’t roll over and throw in the towel, that’s for sure. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m cut from the same cloth as my big brother. He wouldn’t give up. Neither will I. Lives depend on us. If I have to drag my sorry ass another seventy-five miles, that’s what I’m going to do.

  I dry my glasses and return them to my face. That’s when I spot the CB radio.

  A jolt goes through my body. Leaving my sodden clothes in a pile on the floor, I shoulder my way into the front. Ben frowns as I wedge myself between the front seats. I’m too excited to explain.

  I snatch the CB microphone, my thumb pressing the switch on the side. My other hand reaches out to spin the dial on the display.

  “Dude.” Reed has seen what I’m doing. He leans forward, his body filling the tiny egress between the front and back part of the semi.

  “If we can get it working, we may be able to talk to Creekside.” Just saying those words sends a bolt of excitement through me. “If we can contact Carter and the others, they might have an update on Fort Ross. They may even be able to get a message to Alvarez and let him know we’re coming. Ben, did you check that zombie truck driver for keys?”

  “Do I look like an amateur?” Ben pulls a set of keys from his pocket.

  “Wait.” Kate grabs the keys out of his hand. “That could bring zombies. Semis aren’t exactly quiet.”

  “I think most of the zombies were burned up in the fire,” I reply. “You saw the big piles of them on the road while we were running.”

  She hesitates, glancing out the dark window.

  “I think it’s worth the risk,” I say. “Any information we can get could help us.”

  “The kid has a point,” Ben says.

  Still, Kate hesitates. “It’s not just zombies we could attract.”

  That sobers everyone. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I for one am thinking of Mr. Rosario. If any of her people are out here, firing up the semi would be equivalent to shooting off a flare gun.

  But that seems like a small risk. Fort Ross is seventy-five miles away. Presumably all of Rosario’s people are there. The likelihood of any of them being around here is slim. The chances of reaching Creekside are high if I can get the semi to fire up.

  “Okay.” Kate nods. “We’ll try it. Ben and Ash, you two take up a position on the north side of the truck. Caleb and Reed, you take the south. Protect this truck.”

  Wordlessly, everyone pulls on wet shoes before climbing out of the truck.

  Ben passes out Glocks to everyone. “Just in case,” he says. “Knives and zom bats are the first line of defense, but don’t hesitate to use the Glocks if shit goes south.”

  Kate gives a tight-lipped nod of approval. She dislike guns almost as much as she disapproves of engines. But if you’re going to use one, might as well use the other.

  The rain is still dumping as Ben, Ash, Reed, and Caleb exit the truck.

  Reed flips me a good-natured middle finger. “Next time, I get to mess with the radio.”

  As soon as the door closes, I count to one hundred, giving everyone a chance to get into position around the truck. Then I slide the keys into the ignition.

  I step on the break and turn the key. To my delight, the engine groans and turns over—then promptly dies.

  I turn the key again and pump the brake. Again the engine protests, snorting and murmuring like a sleepy teenager.

  “Come on, boy,” I murmur, turning the key a third time. “You can do it. Come on. Lives are depending on you, man.”

  The engine snorts and roars to life. Blue lights flare to life across the console.

  “Yes!” I slap the dashboard, grinning. “That a boy!”

  Kate doesn’t share my elation. She’s too busy staring off into the dark after Ben.

  I remember her reaction when he almost died saving my sorry ass. Having lost Lila, I understand her terror and anger.

  I want to apologize to her for nearly getting Ben killed. But when I open my mouth and speak, unexpected words tumble forth. “I don’t regret loving her.”

  Kate’s head whips in my direction. She doesn’t play dumb, but just looks at me. The fear is plain in her eyes.

  “It hurts like a motherfucker, but I don’t regret it. Not for a second.” Lila was, hands down, the most amazing girl I ever met.

  A shudder goes through Kate. “I already lost one love in my life. If anything happens to Ben, it will break me.”

  My throat tightens with emotion. “I’d do it all again, Kate. I’d take the pain all over again just to have one more day with her.” Tears press against the back of my eyes, but I hold them back.

  Kate looks away, but her hand reaches out and squeezes mine. “Thanks, Eric.”

  I furtively wipe a hand across the back of my eyes, then focus my attention on the CB radio. Time to phone home.

  24

  Phone Home

  ERIC

  “Creekside, this is Mama Bear and Company, over. Creekside, I repeat, this is Mama Bear and Company. Are you there? Over.”

  “Holy fuck!” The answer explodes out of the microphone, stinging my ears with its intensity. I recognize Johnny’s voice immediately. “Mama Bear, is that really you? Over.”

  Kate’s eyes widen. Her voice wavers with emotion as she says, “Wandering Writer? Is that you?”

  “Holy fuck. It is you! Where are you guys?” Muffled noise comes out of the CB speaker. “Guys!” Johnny bellows. “Wake the fuck up! It’s Mama Bear! She’s alive!”

  I feel a grin spread across my face. I snatch the microphone from Kate. “Wandering Writer, this is Fat Loser, over. You guys okay?”

  “Fat Loser! Oh, my God, man, we’ve been so worried about you. Where the hell are you guys? Is everyone okay?”

  “Mom?” Carter’s voice fills the speaker. “Mom, are you okay? Where you are?”

  Kate takes the microphone back from me. “I’m okay, baby. We’re in Mendocino.”

  “Mendocino? Are you on your way back from Fort Ross?”

  “Negative. We haven’t made it there yet. We ... ran into some obstacles.”

  Understatement of the year. I snatch back the microphone. “Any word from Fort Ross? Have you guys heard from them?”

  “Negative,” Johnny says. “I check in with them every two hours, but they’ve gone radio silent.”

  A chill runs across my spine. Just because they haven’t answered doesn’t mean they’re dead, I remind myself. It could just mean they’re in a shit load of trouble.

  “How are you communicating with us?” Johnny asks. “You must have found a radio somewhere.”

  “We’re using a CB radio in a semi-truck. Eric figured out how to get it working.” Kate flashes me a quick smile. The quiet pride in her eyes is enough to make me feel like I could run another seventy-five miles without breaking a sweat.

  “Are you okay, Mom?” Carter asks. “Is everyone else okay?”

  It’s our turn to be silent. Kate and I look at each other.

  “Mom?”

  “Who’s there with you, baby?” Kate asks.

  “It’s just me, Wandering Writer, and SoCal.” SoCal is Jenna�
��s call sign. She adopted it in memory of her family and her former life in Southern California.

  Kate draws a long breath. There’s no easy way to break the news.

  “Leo is gone.” Her voice is dry with grief when she speaks. “He was gunned down in Humboldt Bay. Susan is ... Susan stayed behind in another community farther north. She was injured and couldn’t travel anymore. Tell Gary we plan to go back for her. Tell Todd ...” Kate’s voice breaks. Todd is Leo’s nephew. She takes a moment to gather herself. “Tell Todd I’m sorry.”

  Silence.

  “We’ll let Gary and Todd know.” Jenna’s even voice fills the speaker. “Everyone knew the risk when they left. Tell us what’s happened to you guys.”

  Kate looks too upset to speak, so I take over. I give them a quick summary of the series of disasters we’ve encountered since leaving Creekside.

  “Now we’re seventy-five miles away from Fort Ross,” I say. “It’s pouring down rain and we’re freezing our tits off.”

  “You guys plan to keep going?” Johnny asks.

  Kate’s eyes flare. She snatches the microphone back from me. “Affirmative. We’re going to Fort Ross.”

  “Mom—”

  Someone muffles the microphone on the other end. We hear raised voices.

  It’s easy to imagine what’s going on. Carter wants his mom to turn around and come home. Jenna and Johnny are arguing with him.

  Johnny returns to the radio. “Gary and I made a ... discovery shortly after you guys left. The alpha recording isn’t as bullet-proof as we originally thought.”

  “Too late,” I say. “We used it and almost got ourselves killed.”

  “Shit,” Johnny replies. “Sorry about that. We field tested the alpha recording after you guys left. It did drive the zombies away from us, but—”

  “But it also attracted two nearby alphas,” Carter says.

  “But we have a solution,” Johnny says. “We—”

  “Man, it’s not a solution. You have to quit calling it that. It—”

  “Dude, Carter, just shut up for a second. Mama Bear, listen to me. If you can get rid of the alphas—”

  “By that, he means shoot them with a paintball gun—”

  “Shut up, man. Let me finish. We found a paintball gun and loaded it with some steel ball bearings we found in the maintenance department. They expel the bearings at almost two-hundred miles per hour. That’s fast enough to put a hole in a zombie brain. The side benefit is that paintball guns aren’t very loud.”

  “What you’re saying,” Kate replies, “is that we have to get rid of the alphas in order to use the recordings. And we have to do that without getting ourselves killed in the process.”

  Pause.

  “That’s exactly what he’s saying, Mom.”

  Kate exhales. To me, she says, “It was too much to hope for a simple cure-all, wasn’t it?”

  As though sensing our despair, Johnny pipes up again. “Do you guys still have the recorder? We have two new alpha commands. One brings the alphas toward you. The other one makes them scatter.”

  Kate’s eyes grow distant. It’s the look she gets when she’s coming up with an idea. Usually the idea is equal parts thrilling and equal parts what-the-fuck.

  “Play them for me,” Kate says. “I think we can use them.”

  “Any chance you can FedEx us that paintball gun?” I ask. “Maybe half a dozen of them? We could really use them.”

  No one laughs.

  “Are you guys really going to keep going?” Carter asks.

  “Yes,” Kate and I say together. “If Fort Ross has fallen, I’ll make sure Mr. Rosario falls, too.”

  “And you’re going to use the zombies to do it?”

  “Possibly. I’ll have to assess the situation when we get there. But I want to have the new recordings just in case.”

  Carter sighs. “Be careful out there, mom. I already lost dad. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

  Kate’s face softens, as it often does when she talks to Carter. “I’ll be safe, baby. Promise. You do the same, okay?”

  It takes us another few minutes to get the new alpha recordings on Kate’s tape player. It’s a miracle the small recorder hasn’t been crushed, broken, or ruined during our trip. The plastic ZipLoc doesn’t look like it’s going to hold out much longer, though.

  When we’re finished, Kate says, “I’ll find a way to make contact when we get to Fort Ross. I’m counting on you guys to hold Creekside together until I get back.”

  “Will do, Mama Bear,” Johnny says.

  “Be safe, Mom.”

  “You, too, baby.”

  As I switch off the CB, I reach for the keys, intending to turn off the semi.

  To my surprise, Kate stops me. “Don’t turn it off."

  I frown. “What? Why?”

  “We’re driving to Fort Ross.”

  “Driving? The semi? But that will draw every zom between here and the fort.”

  Kate’s eyes are fierce when she turns to look at me. “That,” she says, “is exactly the point.”

  25

  Zombie Train

  KATE

  I can’t believe we’re driving.

  I can’t believe it was my idea.

  I sit in the passenger seat of the semi beside Ben, watching the sideview mirror. My running pack sits in my lap; I clench and unclench my hands around the straps, fighting the anxiety that knots in my chest.

  “I can’t believe we’re driving,” Reed says, echoing my own incredulity.

  “Believe it, kid.” Ben doesn’t look up as he navigates the semi down the two-lane highway. Somewhere in his thirty years of military service, he’d learned to drive Class 8 vehicles. “It means we’ll be at Fort Ross soon. Get your head ready for battle.”

  The heater is on full blast, filling the cab with glorious warmth. It’s the warmest I’ve been since leaving Creekside. The drive to Fort Ross will give us all a chance to defrost and dry out.

  We’ve left the rain behind. I lean forward, squinting into the sideview mirror. A large moon sits in the sky, illuminating the train of zombies we’ve picked up over the last fifty miles.

  “What are we up to?” Ben asks me.

  “A hundred and fifty or so, give or take.”

  Considering how far we’ve driven, that isn’t a lot of zombies. If we were in an urban area, we’d have thousands of them on all sides of us. The section of road between Mendocino and Fort Ross is mostly open land.

  “That’s a fair amount to use against the fort. Have you sorted out the details of that plan yet?”

  I shake my head. My thoughts drift to Fort Ross, and what we’re going to do when we arrive.

  It’s been years since I visited the fort as a chaperone for Carter’s elementary school field trip. I wish I remembered more about the land surrounding it. There are a few trails, but I only explored them once or twice over the years. There was nothing substantial enough to draw me and Frederico there for long training runs.

  What will we find when we get there? The Fort is defensible, which presumably is the reason why Mr. Rosario set her sights on it. Thinking of that disgusting, cruel woman gets my hackles up.

  My plan is pretty loose at the moment. It’s impossible to plan specifics when we don’t even know the state of the fort. We’ll drop the semi five miles outside of Fort Ross. We’ll go the rest of the way on foot, recon the area, and devise a plan from there. If we need the zombies, we’ll have them, along with the new alpha recordings from Johnny.

  “How do our guns look?” Ben calls.

  Spread out on the narrow bed in the back of the cab are all the remaining weapons we have from Creekside. There’s also the generous collection of grenades from Medieval John. Caleb and Ash have been meticulously cleaning the firearms.

  “Almost finished,” Ash says.

  “Good,” Ben replies. “Start thinking about how we’re going to divide everything up and how you’re each going to carry them.”

  �
�There’s only two rifles,” Ash says. They’re folding AR-15s, which is the only reason Ben had been able to fit them into the weapons pack.

  “Eric gets one rifle,” Ben says. “He’s the best shot out here. I’ll take the second. I want everyone to have at least five grenades each. That includes you, Kate.”

  I don’t argue, even though I’d be more comfortable handling a live snake. It would be stupid to walk into this situation without weapons. Mr. Rosario scares me more than five grenades ever will.

  “My thighs and waist are chafed raw,” Reed announces. “They burn like a motherfucker even when I’m sitting still. I think it was almost better when I was running. At least then everything else hurt, too, so I didn’t really notice the chafing.”

  Caleb shoots him a quick look. “If it makes you feel better, my balls are rubbed raw. I’m pretty sure I’ll never have any children.”

  Reed gives him a lopsided grin. “Apocalyptic birth control, huh?”

  “We better get Ben on board.” Caleb cracks up at his own joke. “He’s the only one of us who’s gonna need birth control in the near future.”

  A rumble of irritation rises from Ben’s throat. He leans over the steering wheel, glaring out at the road.

  “Enough, guys,” I say, exasperated.

  The guys snicker in the back seat as we continue to rumble down the road.

  “How far back are they?” Ben asks me. His jaw has loosened.

  They are the zombies. He’s been driving slow, enabling us to gather the zombie train.

  “Quarter mile or so.”

  “We only have another few miles to drive. I’m going to speed up to put some distance between them and us. That will give us a good head start when we get out.”

  “Good plan,” I reply. We don’t want to risk getting bitten when we get out of the semi.

  I haven’t exactly figured out how I’m going to use the zombies. With any luck, I won’t need them at all. But if the situation at the fort is bad enough, having some undead at our command might be enough to tip the scales in our favor. I won’t know for certain until we recon Fort Ross.

  The engine of the big rig rumbles as Ben downshifts and accelerates. I absorb his profile, trying not to worry about what’s ahead of us. Ben has been fighting one war or another his entire adult life. If there’s anyone who can survive what’s to come, it’s him.