back in a long blond pony-tail. The eyepatch was different; one of the traders who landed at the river had medical supplies for barter. Half a dozen eggs had gotten a new black patch, still in the container.
The horses scampered off the boat at the landing in Savanna. Wally said goodbye to Ducky and his deckhand. Folks on the island could run things for a week or two. It was pretty quiet so far. Pirates may well have moved on to easier pickings for awhile. Besides, if they over ran Wally’s group, they’d have nowhere to trade.
Dan turned his group and pointed them south out of town. At the checkpoint, they stopped and talked to the guards. Different set than the ones on duty when they came through. Two women this time, one with a white tee shirt stretched over her swollen belly.
“Seems like some of you are making zombie chow up here too,” Dan said to Cherry.
“Not me,” Cherry said from behind him. “This womb is not for rent.”
Dan chuckled as they stopped in front of the guards.
“Goin’ somewhere, Wally?” the pregnant guard asked. “Hi, Cherry.”
“Thought we’d take a trip south. Get some air. See how things are going in the rest of the world, Julie.”
“Wouldn’t call Snareville the rest of the world,” Julie said. “Comin’ back?”
“Yeah. Week or two.”
Julie looked up at the Raiders. “You be careful, Captain. Weather’s warmed up some since you got here. We’ve got reports of zeds on the move south and east of here.” She glanced over at Wally. “We’ve heard the Mongol Horde is on the move too, but they’re up north in Wisconsin. Martin’s Militia is north, on the other side of the river. Comin’ down from Dubuque.”
“Scouts?” Dan asked.
“We’ve sent out scouts, they’ve sent out scouts. Shots exchanged. Couple wounded on our side.”
“Tell Havers to button up his place and come in until I get back. Make sure the walls are solid and run roaming patrols inside and scouts out two miles. Make sure the Sabula road is blocked and they can’t get across the river here.”
“Yes, sir. You sure you’re leaving?” Julie asked.
“I’ll be back, Corporal. Sergeant Ducky will know what to do while I’m gone. Listen to her. You’ll get through like you always do.”
“Yes sir.” Julie saluted, swung the gate open and they were through. No man’s land opened up hundreds of miles in front of them.
“What the hell was all that about?” Dan asked. “You didn’t tell me you were the head man in charge.”
“Only militarily. Havers runs the political side of things.”
“So you are…?” Bill asked.
They crossed the bridge to the south that went over a rail yard. The Great River Road stretched out in front of them all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Two miles south, they would turn into the wilderness of wasted cornfields.
Wally grinned. He spat a wad of tobacco onto the pavement. “Lieutenant David Wallace, U.S. National Guard, 202, Battery E, Chemical Weapons Division, at your service.”
“I’ll be dipped in shit,” Dan said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Didn’t know it was important. I was cut off from the unit when all this started. It’s more than a hundred and twenty miles to my post from here. Nothing major on a clear day in the sun. Try it with swarms of zeds running around and it ain’t much use to leave home. I buttoned up here an’ pulled the survivors together. We do a decent job keeping the assholes out. The zeds, they come and go. Like the seasons.”
They rode in silence for a time. Bright early morning sun glittered on the windows of the homes. Dew shown on the grass as the horses’ breath plumed into the morning. Cherry stared straight ahead as they rode past the tavern, which only had a few bikes in front. Dan figured they were leftovers from the night before. Where they picked up the road the week before, they turned off into the fields.
Dan followed the compass on a south east tack, as well as the path they
Damien Broderick, Paul di Filippo