Dead Legends (Book 1): R.I.P. Van Winkle (16 page)

CHAPTER 24

Twenty minutes later, they were out of sight of Utica, New York. It was a somber mood in the truck as they rumbled along. Knowing they had lost a man was a very disquieting revelation to everyone in the vehicle. They all knew that it might happen, but none of them was prepared for the aftereffects.

Rip decided they needed a few minutes to rearm, regroup, and reevaluate. Now on a long stretch of highway, he told Clay to pull the truck over to the side of the road. Trees lined the road on both sides, as were most of the back roads in upstate New York. Giant pine trees and newly green growth had sprouted up in the absence of human interference, giving the area a very lush, green glow. The trees were in stark contrast of what humanity was going through at the time. There had never been more death than now.

Clay pulled the airbrake on the truck, and then killed the engine. He sat back and took in a deep breath. Slowly letting it out, he relaxed his tense body and sagged his shoulders.

Rip got out of the passenger’s side of the truck and surveyed his map. As he did, Hacker, Colonel Patterson, and the rest of the men exited the rear of the vehicle.

Rip studied the map. After the disaster in Utica, he was leery of making another stop, but their fuel situation had not been resolved, and now two of the Jerry cans were gone, adding to the dilemma.

Rip ran his finger along the highlighted route that he had chosen. He had Poughkeepsie marked as a secondary stop, just in case, but it was going to take a hell of a lot of convincing to get the men on board with that idea. He turned to address the men, still staring at the map.

He stopped when he felt the pistol in his chest.

Rip slowly looked up at the man holding the Glock 17 9mm in his chest. It was Hacker, his face red and dirty; his trademark Brooklyn Dodgers hat was soaked with sweat. Disheveled was a polite way to describe him. Rip kept the map in his hand and raised both in surrender.

“All right, goddamnit. You’re going to tell us exactly what the fuck is going on here, or I’m gonna put a big enough hole in you to play basketball with. Do you understand me?” Hacker demanded.

Time to come clean. This isn’t going to be pretty.

Rip opened his mouth to speak. As he did, Hacker took the Glock away from his chest. Rip lowered his hands and took a deep breath.

“Look, there’s no reason for you to shove a fucking gun in my face. I will tell you everything you want to know,” Rip said.

The looks he got from his men were of reserved panic, as if they were trying to tell him…

There’s someone right behind me.

Rip heard a hammer cock behind him.

An unfamiliar voice spoke.

“All right, asshole. Tell me what I want to know.”

CHAPTER 25

On the plus side, Rip was pleasantly surprised to see that his men hadn’t thrown him under the bus. The negative side far outweighed that fact, though. As the unnamed gunman led him and his team off the road, he couldn’t stop the wheels from turning. The longer he stayed here, the longer it would be before he could get to his son and the closer the horde in Utica would be advancing. He hadn’t paid much attention to their exact location, but Clay had driven for a little less than ten minutes at around thirty miles per hour. That put them roughly five miles away from Utica. With the undead approaching at roughly five miles an hour, that gave him little time to dwell on the situation, and even less to do something about it.

“Keep moving, asshole.”

Rip felt the business end of the revolver poke him in the back, shoving him forward. Apparently he wasn’t moving at a pace conducive to keeping his captor happy. As he looked up, the rest of his group was about ten paces ahead of him, wandering into nothingness. The forest stretched out as far as he could see, the trees providing thick cover and concealment.

Rip quickly spun on his heels. He turned to face his captor. “So you mind telling me what all this is about? Or you just gonna go all
Deliverance
on us once we get off the road? Is that what you’re in to? You want to corn hole the locals?”

The scraggly man held the revolver to Rip’s forehead. He was dressed in denim overalls and looked to be about a hundred pounds overweight when the overalls were purchased. The overalls now looked as if they were four or five sizes too big, hanging loosely from a frame that had lost weight unnaturally. A scraggly, unkempt beard, a yellow trucker hat, and shit-kicking boots completed the backwoods persona. The man looked like he hadn’t seen a bathtub since long before the end of the world. The smell emanating from the backwoods redneck could have killed at thirty yards.

“Look, asshole, I don’t like this any more than you, but I’d like to eat some fuckin’ time today. So if you don’t mind…”

Rip looked up and down the bedraggled stranger. “You look like you’ve missed too many meals already, hoss. You mind telling me what you want?”

“I done told you, asshole. I’m fuckin’ hungry. Get to steppin’ before I lose my patience.”

Rip frowned. “You plan on eating
me,
motherfucker? I don’t think so.”

Rip moved forward ever so slightly, pressing the cold steel of the revolver against his forehead a little harder. The redneck backed off slightly.

“Do me a fucking favor. If you’re gonna kill me, do it now, and save me the trouble of having to beat the shit out of you later.”

The redneck inexplicably lowered the gun. By now, the rest of the group had taken notice of the goings on behind them. Clay, Colonel Patterson, and Casey approached; all three were leery of the man but noticed the ease in his hard-assed demeanor. They kept back, cautious of their new company.

“Look, if you’re hungry, we have food. There’s no reason why we can’t share some of it,” Casey said, stepping between Rip and the redneck. She pointed towards Utica, the way they had just came. “Look, there is a horde of undead coming this way. If you don’t let us go, then we are all going to be overrun.”

The redneck’s demeanor softened further. “Goddamn zombies. I don’t know what to say. My family and I are starving. We ran out of food a long time ago and just been scavenging what we can get since then.” The redneck looked away. “We had to do some things we ain’t real proud of just to survive.”

“Well you don’t have to go around pointing guns at people to get help. We will give you some food and be on our way,” Casey said.

“Where you guys headed to? Do you think you could give us a ride?” the redneck asked.

“Trust me, buddy. You don’t want to be going anywhere near where we are headed,” Rip said. He brusquely walked by the redneck and back towards their truck, now a little over a hundred yards away.

“What’s your name, son?” Colonel Patterson asked, stepping forward.

“Danny. Danny Murphy,” answered the redneck.

Colonel Patterson held out his hand. “Colonel Keith Patterson. How about we take care of you and your family? Where are they camped out at?”

Danny paused for a moment, unsure as how to proceed. After the events of the last year or two, he was a bit fuzzy at being cordial to guests. “They’re about a quarter mile from here, back in the woods a bit. There’s an old house we took over and been living in for a while now.”

Patterson looked over Danny’s shoulder. Rip was almost back to the truck, slowly making his way. Patterson drew his attention back to Danny. “Come with us, son. We will grab what we can spare and bring it to your family. After that, I suggest if you’re going to stay here that you lay low. That horde from Utica ain’t no joke. They will be here by the end of the day for sure.”

Danny nodded, and then looked over his shoulder as Rip distanced himself from the rest of the group. “What’s his problem?”

“His son is missing, got taken by the Horseman. We’re hot on their trail, headed to get him back,” Patterson answered.

Danny turned back and chuckled. “You’re not as hot on the trail as you think. They came through here two days ago. As fast as they were moving and as many people and undead as they had with ’em, I’d say they are looking forward to seeing you guys.”

Patterson’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen the Horseman only once before yesterday, and he wasn’t letting any grass grow under him. There were at least a dozen armed men on horseback, along with a couple hundred zombies. I saw one of the men on horseback with his hands tied and beat all to shit. I guess that is your man’s son they had. I don’t know much more than that, but like I said, they weren’t taking their sweet-ass time.”

Patterson looked to Casey. “There’s more to this than just good old-fashioned revenge. Crane has some sort of plan concocted. We just have to figure out what that is.”

“How are we going to do that?” Clay asked.

“I don’t know. But I bet Sergeant Irving does,” Patterson replied. “I think it’s time that we all had a little discussion with our leader.”

CHAPTER 26

Rip stood with his hands on the tailgate of the deuce-and-a-half, his head hung and deep in thought. He wanted to jump in the truck and haul ass down to Sleepy Hollow as fast as the ancient vehicle would take him. His crew seemed to be less interested in helping
him
and more interested in helping everyone else. The redneck asshole that pulled the gun on him was of no consequence to him. It was just another bump in the road. Another waste of time and resources that they didn’t need.

Rip closed his eyes and tried to clear his thoughts.
Let’s get this asshole some food and get the fuck out of here.
He turned to get back in the truck when he saw his group headed back towards him, the redneck in tow.

“Can we get the show on the road? Give the hillbilly a case of MREs and then we load up and get the hell out of here,” Rip said.

Casey stepped forward first. “His name is Danny and we are running out of daylight. I say that we go with him and camp out for the night. He said they have a house about a quarter mile from here.”

Rip’s brow furrowed. “And what about the horde from Utica? We just gonna act like those fuckers don’t exist?”

Colonel Patterson appeared from behind Casey. “Danny here says that there is a road just ahead that leads to the house. It’s about a quarter mile off the main road here. I think we will be safe for the night. We will take the truck and park it. That way we run less of a risk of it being taken or not being able to get back to it.” Patterson motioned to Casey. “She’s right, you know. We are running out of daylight and we are not going to make it to Sleepy Hollow at the pace we’re going. It’s best just to call it a day and get some rest. From what Danny here is saying, we are going to have quite a bit of company when we get there.”

Rip rubbed his forehead. “All right, goddammit. I don’t want to burst anyone’s fucking bubble, but have you people lost your ever-loving minds? Have you forgotten what is at stake here?”

Rip’s men surrounded him. The looks on the faces of his people told the story. Solemn looks of interest stared back at him. Without having to say it, he knew what they wanted to know. It was time for the truth.

All of it.

“I see. Well if you want the truth, you can shove it up your ass. To be honest, I don’t know what truth is and what complete bullshit is anymore,” Rip said.

Colonel Patterson crossed his arms. “Sergeant, I’ve been with the Tenth Mountain my entire career. I had to carry those goddamned skis as a butter bar, and I’ve sent men to their deaths as a colonel, but through all that, I have never lied to my men. I think it’s high time you come out with the truth.”

Rip started to speak but was interrupted by a howling in the distance. The steady moan in the air meant the Utica horde was approaching faster than anticipated.

“All right, colonel. You win. Get the truck and get us off the fucking road and I will tell you everything, but I’m not going to stand here and become zombie food. Let’s get to stepping,” Rip said.

Colonel Patterson looked towards the sound and nodded. “Mount up. Danny, you ride shotgun and lead the way. If you want any food for yourself or your family, I suggest you not bullshit us.”

Danny nodded vehemently. He knew what was going to happen if he stayed on the side of the road with his thumb up his ass. “I hear you, colonel. Go about a hundred yards up the road here and turn left onto the gravel drive.”

Clay piled into the front of the truck, as did Colonel Patterson and Danny. Patterson kept his eye on Danny. He wasn’t going to give the benefit of the doubt just yet, but they needed to haul ass off the road, and Danny was the man to lead them off it.

Rip, Casey, Hacker, and Seabass quickly jumped into the bed of the deuce-and-a-half. Clay fired the engine and rumbled the big truck forward. A hundred yards later, the turn to the left was where Danny said it would be, so Clay wheeled down it. The wash-boarded road looked like it had been washed out a long time ago, so getting any speed was next to impossible. After bouncing into several large holes in the road, it evened out some and opened up into a driveway. At the end of the driveway was the house that Danny had mentioned.

The house wasn’t much to look at, but it was an ample distance off the main road and kept the group out of sight for the time being. With any luck, the horde would stay on the main road and not bother to venture down the driveway.

But then again, there were far worse things to hide from.