Taking It Back Read Online Free PDF Page B

re-establish a workable zone for survival and re-taking what was lost, and we couldn’t do it from just one place. So how about you?” I asked.
    Nate held up his hands. “Nothing so dramatic. We had a few bands of zombies to deal with, some survivors to train and acclimate. Most of them are anxious to meet the great John Talon.”
    I rolled my eyes. “The only reason I keep going out to risk my neck is because I haven’t any useful skills like plumbing or electric work.”
    Nate laughed. “We’ll get you elected yet. Anyway, in our push to the river, we happened across this home that had a ham radio set up in it.”
    That piqued my interest. “Really? Anyone know how to use it?” I knew ham radios were used to communicate all over the world, and if we could get one working, we might actually be able to communicate with other people and find out if there was anyone left in the world.
    “As a matter of fact, Jim Bigelow knew how to work it. We didn’t have a power source at the time, but we took it with us anyway.”
    I got the idea Nate was holding something back. “What are you not telling me?”
    Nate leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. He looked down and it was a long time before he looked up. He sighed and said, “We’re not alone.”
    I leaned back in my chair and stared at him. When I found my voice I asked, “How do you know?”
    “We had a generator we found in the home of a carpenter, and we hooked the radio up to it. Jim worked on it for a while, then we heard the voices. We were pretty excited about that, until we started to seriously listen to the people on the radio. We got broadcasts from all over the place, all kinds of languages.” Nate paused. “There’s survivors all over, but not much else. Some people are screaming for anyone to help, others are just trying to find a link to keep themselves from committing suicide. Several times, we could hear the dead moaning in the background. After a while, we just turned it off.”
    “Must have been bad, hearing people and not being able to help or even let them know you could hear them.”
    Nate looked down again. “I actually felt guilty knowing what we have and hearing about people starving or about to be overrun.”
    I tried to be reassuring. “You can’t save everyone. We’re on our own as much as anyone else. We got lucky, but we fought for it too.”
    Nate turned cryptic. “Maybe we can save some.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked, looking at his maps for a clue.
    “We got a broadcast we actually answered, and they know about us, and we know about them,” Nate said. “Turns out they managed to escape the virus itself, and have barricaded themselves against the hordes. But they know they can’t hold out forever and were wondering if we could lend a hand.” Nate looked at me questioningly.
    I chuckled at his look. “Phase three.”
    Nate’s face turned quizzical. “Phase three?”
    “Sure. Phase one was to survive the Upheaval. Phase two was to establish a safe zone we could live in permanently. Phase three was to go out and see who else might be out there and either bring them in or establish communication and increase the size of our community.”
    “Is there a phase four?” Nate asked.
    “Yes.”
    “And?”
    “You’ll see.”
    “You haven’t lost your wonderful sense of humor” Nate said.
    “The secret to a spicy relationship is a little mystery. Didn’t you know that?” I grinned at Nate who rolled his eyes. “Tell me about our new friends.”
    “Okay. Here we are.” Nate opened a map of Illinois and indicated our position with a pencil. “We know that State Center Bravo is located here.” He pointed to an area located about ten miles southeast of Morris in a spot that looked like it was surrounded by waterways and state parks. “The town that contacted us is located here, called Coal City.”
    I looked at the map. “How have they managed to survive? They’re in between two interstates and a