Taking It Back Read Online Free PDF

Nate and I needed to catch up, and to plan our next move. I winked at her as she left and she flashed me a quick grin. I looked back to see Nate looking at me.
    “What?” I said, starting to feel defensive.
    Nate smiled at me. “Nothing. I was just thinking it was about time you two got together.”
    “Why does everyone say that? Was it that obvious?”
    Nate laughed. “You might not have been obvious, but she sure was. You were her pick from the first and I don’t know what happened out here, but a lot of people are rooting for you two. I’m glad in this messed up world, someone has found a little happiness.”
    I thought about it. “Thanks, man. I kind of needed to hear that.” I talked about the trip I had taken to my house and how I broke away from that old life, leaving my wedding band behind.
    Nate nodded. “Good for you. At least you got the chance.”
    “So, getting back to the situation at hand, how are we set up?” I asked, changing the subject. I sat in a chair and pulled a table close. Nate pulled up another chair and dumped the contents of a small bag on the table, It contained some maps and lists of names, as well as a candy bar and juice box. Nate shrugged as he put the last two items back.
    “We pushed hard for the river, coming up through Freeport. We managed to use all of the cargo containers from the depot.” Nate said.
    That raised my eyebrows. “Really? There had to be a thousand of them.”
    Nate laughed. “One thousand, three hundred, and forty-six. We spread out not only west but east. There was a lot of farmland to the southeast.”
    I nodded. It was sound move. “If ever we decide to tackle the city, there’s another storage depot near Chicago.”
    Nate shuddered. “No thanks. I’ll do that when I’m bored with life.”
    I smiled, wondering when that might ever happen.
    “We managed to free up an additional seventy-eight people in our push west and would you believe it? Twenty of them are young guys, between nineteen and twenty-five years old who had banded together to save each other when the crap went down.”
    I whistled. That was a good force to send against the Z’s if they were trained right. Who was I kidding? They had Nate. Of course they were trained. I motioned for him to continue.
    “We have quite a few families, lots of kids, and we are in a good position for food and supplies right now. We will need to forage until the first crops come in, and we will have to start some animal raising, but I imagine we have the land for that.”
    I nodded. “The forest preserves we went through to get here have a lot of clearings surrounded by heavy woods. Once upon a time these were farms, so they can be farms once again. There are enough homes nearby for people to manage the herds and protect them as needed. We can trench them for defense and also to keep the animals from straying.”
    Nate seemed impressed. “Always looking ahead, hey?”
    I shrugged. “Looking back these days puts some strain on your soul, you know what I mean?”
    “Amen, brother. Amen.” Nate shifted his position. “Any troubles?”
    I looked at him. “Depends on your point of view.” I told him about the problems I had with Pamela and Dane Blake. Nate’s eyes darkened when he heard we were set up for an ambush. I told him about Sarah and Kristen’s kidnapping, and Kristen’s subsequent murder. Nate dropped his eyes at that. I told him about Kevin and Frank.
    “Holy shit! A pit full of zombie heads! Who comes up with shit like that? Not that I’m sad to see those two gone, but that’s a hell of a way to go.”
    I nodded. “We haven’t been back since, so I’m sure there are a lot of supplies there, but I have no rush.” I talked about leaving Duncan in charge and his standing orders to leave a corridor open to refugees, and also what happened to Chelsea.
    Nate shook his head. “Maybe you should have stayed put.”
    I thought about it for a second. “No, we needed to make the push to