Age of Z: A Tale of Survival (20 page)

When they were finished, Lewis took the list, along with a written note of permission bearing Blake's personal seal, and handled the transactions downtown for them. Over the next two days he obtained everything they needed from supply caches and trade merchants around the island, while allowing Alexa and Casey to rest up for the journey.

By the time those two days were up, a large collection of preserved food and myriad other supplies were piled in the corner of Blake's cottage, waiting to be packed away. True to his word, Lewis had also supplied them with a package of ripe, fresh strawberries out of his own pocket, which just proved that he cared no matter how much he enjoyed imitating a scowling rock these days.

They packed everything up carefully, and when one last check of the weather satellite showed nothing but sunshine for the next week, Alexa decided it was time to take off. They stayed one last night as Blake's guests, getting the last night of guaranteed solid, refreshing sleep they could, and the last filling, relatively fresh dinner.

Lewis woke them bright and early in the morning and offered to personally escort them down to the gates, so they could leave without any hassle.

Which left them at the most awkward part every time Alexa left New Avalon: the goodbyes. Alexa hated the goodbyes, because she really did enjoy Blake's and Lewis's company, and for all New Avalon's crowds and strict rationing and fortress-like setup it really did feel almost like home.

She hated leaving it and her friends behind, especially when she knew they would be worrying about her once she was outside the safety of the walls and water. But she couldn't stay, either. Until she had answers about her family, she couldn't stop searching for them, not even for safety or what passed for a home these days.

Blake and Lewis both knew that as well, which was why they never objected to Alexa's leaving when she announced she was searching again–just made sure she was as well prepared for it as she could be. Alexa respected them for it, which was why it was almost harder to leave now.

“Thanks for everything,” she said to Blake, who had insisted on being woken early enough to see them off, since he couldn't come with them to the gate. “Really. Both of you guys.” And she nodded to Lewis as well, who nodded silently back in his own taciturn but meaningful gesture.

“Anytime,” Blake said. “I mean it. And Alexa–I'd better see you back here again at some point. You'll have to report to me on that settlement, after all.” Alexa caught the underlying message easily:
Don't die. You're not allowed to die, got it? No matter what you find out there.

“Sure,” Alexa said with a grin. “I'll write a whole essay on it for you. My teachers would be jealous.”
If they weren't already dead. But don't worry–I'm not going down for anything, I'll be back.

Casey hefted his own large pack easily–it was too heavy for Alexa to budge, but he made it look like it was stuffed with cotton–and nodded to Blake and Lewis as well. “Me, too,” he said after a moment. “Thanks for finding those answers for me.”

Blake smirked. “Are you kidding? It was nice to have a challenge for once! And hey, if it helps somebody out, so much the better.”

Lewis shifted forward subtly a moment later, indicating that they really needed to get moving, and they finally–if somewhat reluctantly–headed for the door. There was one last set of shouted goodbyes, and then they were outside in the generator complex once more, leaving Blake behind.

Lewis paused only a moment, to give instructions to the guards he trusted to keep an eye on Blake until he was back to personally handle the unofficial leader (Alexa noted with distaste that Joanne was among them–she'd seen her around a few times and they never seemed to get along). Then he led them relatively silently away from the complex, through the semi-permanent streets of New Avalon's grounds, and to the towering gate they had first entered by.

Casey growled a little when they caught sight of the gate and all the guards swarming it; even understanding the necessity of it, he still disliked his last experience with it, and it clearly made him uncomfortable. Fortunately, getting out was a lot easier than getting in.

There was no need for complex search procedures or dog checks. Everybody in New Avalon was already zom-free, which meant the guards just had to do a quick identity check to make sure people leaving weren't on a watch-list trying to escape, or attempting to make off with stolen supplies.

With Lewis with them, they wouldn't even need to deal with that procedure either, since Lewis's word was law as far as security was concerned and all of his guards both trusted and respected him to make the right calls.

Lewis stopped them before they were in ear-shot of the wall shift, though, and turned to the both of them. “Thanks,” he said, and at their questioning looks he added, “For helping him out. He seemed a little happier this week than he has been in a while. I don't know what it was... knowing you were still alive,” he glanced at Alexa, “or learning that there still are a few miracles out there,” his eyes flicked to Casey, “but, either way, thanks.”

“Admit it, Lewis, you were happy to see us too,” Alexa said, grinning broadly.

“Maybe I was,” Lewis shot back, “But you'll never catch me admitting to it.” And to Alexa's surprise he smirked, just barely, and for a moment he didn't look like a hardened bodyguard or a head of security, but just like a relaxed young twenty-something joking with his friends.

“Stay alive out there,” he added a moment later, and the kid was gone, replaced by the bodyguard once more. “I mean it. Blake isn't the only one getting tired of everyone disappearing on him.” And before Alexa or Casey could respond to that, he strode forward between them, barked an order to the wall guards, and stood impassively as the gates began to creak open.

Alexa clapped Lewis on the shoulder as she passed him to head for the gate. “Thanks, really,” she said. “And you hang in there too, Lewis, and I mean that. Zoms aren't the only danger these days.” Casey nodded in agreement as he too passed the bodyguard, following Alexa, and after a moment Lewis nodded slowly back.

“Yeah. I know.”

And then the gate thudded shut behind them, leaving them with safety at their backs and a beautiful view of the broken, dead skyline ahead of them across the water. And all Alexa could think was,
This is crazy, going out here again, but all the same, it feels like it's just where I belong.

Chapter 11

Now that Alexa had a specific destination in mind and renewed hope in her goal, she wanted to get moving as fast as possible. And at first, for a little while, the trip went smoothly and according to plan, just the way she'd wanted.

It started almost as soon as they left New Avalon. Peter had been waiting for them on the end of the dock, and informed them that Blake had contacted him to make sure he was ready to transport some passengers.

Upon learning his passengers were none other than Alexa and Casey, he had reiterated his promise to take them where they needed to go, and not just across the water to the docks.

Alexa had felt a little bad about possibly taking Peter away from his duties, but Peter insisted it wasn't anything for her to worry about, so Alexa gave him a brief explanation on where she'd like to head for. Peter agreed immediately and guided them into the same boat as before, detouring them only long enough to find some of his companions, apparently off duty but preferring the ocean-side to the crowded island.

A woman with reddish hair and a young man with a ponytail answered his call, and the three had a hasty discussion in Russian (“He's asking them to take his patrol shift for him.” Casey murmured). Then Peter nodded, and the other two offered polite greetings in English for Alexa's benefit, before moving up the dock with purpose.

Peter was no slouch either, and set a breakneck pace over the water with the use of his sailboat. A trip that would have taken the two of them at least a day on foot–maybe two, if the zom packs had picked up–took Peter an hour and a half by water.

He finally pulled the boat up to the dock of some unknown town to let them off. By then they were some thirty-five miles from New Avalon but still safely far enough away from New York City's outskirts that they wouldn't risk hordes of zoms upon landing.

“Thanks,” Alexa told the Russian, as Peter helped them out of the boat and onto the old dock. “This is... amazing. You saved us a lot of time, it means a lot.”

“Think nothing of it,” Peter answered. “I am happy to know I have been of service. All I ask is that you remain safe, and return to the island in the future. I believe humanity requires more people like yourself, if we are truly to survive this undead plague.”

“No pressure or anything,” Casey said dryly.

Alexa laughed at that. “No offense, Peter, but if we're supposed to be examples of the best humanity has to offer in order to survive, then I'm thinking we're probably doomed.” It was intended as a joke, but it was a little on the dark side all the same.

The Russian merely shrugged. “A few months ago I might have agreed,” he said, sounding perfectly serious, “But these days I am not so sure. The world we live in is quite dangerous, and yet people like yourselves, or New Avalon's leaders, are enough to convince me that maybe there is still a little hope yet. And if we can continue to hope, then perhaps we, too, can make a difference.”

“At least somebody believes in us,” Alexa said, and this time her smile was more genuine. “That means a lot, Peter.”

The Russian bade them farewell and left them on the dock to continue their trek on foot. Blake had provided them with the most up-to-date maps he could manage, using satellites and scouting reports to give them a decent lay of the land, for both physical landmarks and recent zom pack sightings.

Between that and Alexa's own knowledge of the country from all her time traveling, she had a pretty reasonable idea of where they needed to go next, and sketched out a rough outline of her plan to Casey as they made their way out of the tiny town.

The travel plan was relatively simple at its core. The mountain range Blake had hinted there might be a settlement in was located in the southeast corner of the state of Missouri, in central United States.

But it would be foolhardy to head straight there from New Avalon; even without the increased number of zombies in the center of the country, the wilderness and the mountains could be dangerous without proper preparation.

So Alexa intended to aim for another settlement a little closer to their actual objective: a converted military base located in southern Illinois that she'd traveled through once. It was a secure safety zone, not quite as well equipped as New Avalon but backed up by some military support, and was one of the few military colonies in central/eastern United States that still had the trust of the civilians.

This was probably in a large part due to the way civilians had been integrated into the military community even before Z-day, and when the outbreak hit both military and civilian factions had been able to effectively function as a team to provide safety to the residents of the base.

More importantly to Alexa, it was located barely a hundred miles from the mountain region, making it the closest safe zone to her objective. They'd be able to stop in and resupply before beginning the search. Also, if winter hit before they could find the mountain settlement, they'd be able to hole up in the base for the duration of it in exchange for trade or labor–colonies were always looking for willing workers.

Getting there would be trickier. Alexa intended to stick to freeways and roads as often as possible for this stage of the journey.

“Back when the outbreak first happened, it was best to avoid major roads whenever you could,” Alexa explained to Casey, on their second day of land travel. “They were packed with people trying to escape to anywhere that wasn't infested. Better to travel on less populated roads or even cross country.

“Now, though, it's better to use the roads when you can, especially with the center of the country so badly swarming with dead heads,” Alexa continued.

“The roads are relatively open and it's a straight shot wherever you need to go. A lot of the high-rises and bridges will keep us out of zom territory too. We'll still have to skirt around cities and big towns, and break off the freeways for shelter and scavenging, but this'll make travel a little faster at least. Just, um... just stay away from abandoned cars. Sometimes people die and reanimate still strapped into the seats and... well... just don't go near open windows.”

Alexa shuddered slightly as she finished. She'd seen two unfortunate travelers yanked into open vehicles by reaching, pale arms, kicking and screaming; it was just another bit of nightmare fuel for her. Casey, fortunately, heeded the warning, and gave plenty of notice when they approached any vehicles with sounds of movement within, letting them give the rotting cars and trucks wide berth.

Caution aside, their first two weeks of travel went smoothly–as smoothly as any form of travel through zombie-infested territory could go, at any rate. They crossed over Connecticut's border, passed briefly into New York state, and were well into Pennsylvania within the first week.

There were still plenty of zombies everywhere, but they were easy enough to avoid, especially since they typically avoided the cities and more crowded towns and stuck to the freeways when they could.