Generation Dead - 07 (5 page)

“Do you think he’ll do it?” She asked.

“Only if he’s half awake, and the layout is the same.” I said, thinking about it.

“
I was laughing so hard the last time that
I peed my pants
,
” Julia said, giggling.

I moved away slightly.  “Thanks for the warning.”

Julia punched me on the arm, and we stood quietly, waiting to see if Jake would be sleepy enough to use the toilet.  Plumbing systems relied on gravity and these systems had degraded from lack of use over the years.  If you flushed one of the ‘lost johns’ the dry-rotted fixtures usually gave up, sending foul water everywhere.  Jake did that once before and wound up smelling like a sewer for a week.  I got a month’s worth of teasing material from that episode.  Even our dad thought it was hilarious.

The thumping sounds continued and we watched the ceiling to see if history would repeat itself.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and a heartfelt “
Ow
!  Dammit, who the hell put that there?”  Followed by a
calmer,
“Oh, wait. Not my house.”

Julia and I shared a look.  Our fun wouldn’t be happening today.  It sounded like Jake had knocked himself fully awake.  Of course, that meant he was going to be grumpy about bumping into something.

Ten minutes later, Jake thumped down the stairs, carrying his backpack, weapons, and a serious grouch.  He dumped the gear on the floor, while he went out the back door.  The yards in the suburbs had grown so much they had become a forest, with homes hidden in the brush.  Two steps off the porch, Jake had effectively disappeared.

Five minutes later, Jake came back.  He seemed to be in a better mood, and took a moment to wash off his face and rinse out the sleep from his eyes.

“Well, that wasn’t too
bad,
” Jake said to no one in particular, referring to the events of the last two days.

“Not
really,
” I replied.  I wasn’t too talkative as a rule, and didn’t feel the need to start
changing
that trait now.

“Never saw you use that blade so well
before,
” Jake said, eyeing the hilt that stuck up over my right shoulder.  “I’ve seen you cut apart a lone zombie, but that group thing was pretty amazing.’

“I do what I need
to,
” I said casually.  On the outside, I was calm, but inside I was a bit nervous.  Besides my dad, I always wanted to have Jake’s approval.  I wasn’t sure why,
but
maybe it was because he was my big brother.  We were equal fighters, with different strengths and weaknesses, but I still felt a need for Jake to think well of me.

“You did
great,
” Julia said.  Jake glanced her way while I smiled at her.  It meant a lot to have Julia’s approval, too, but it wasn’t quite the same.

“Plan for today?” I asked, changing the subject.  I was never comfortable as the center of attention.

“Finish our business and be on our way.  See if there’s any more jobs for us, and if not, head for home.” Jake said, taking a bite of his own biscuit,
and then
wetting it down with his canteen.  He’d keep that chunk of biscuit in his cheek for a while.

“All right
then,
” I said. “Let’s get moving.”

Chapter 9

We grabbed our stuff and Jake showed me a handful of gold and silver jewelry he had found in a hidden place in the house.  I nodded in approval, thinking this trip was already profitable, and Jake’s find was making a good thing better.  Hopefully the Melting Pot will be open today at the capital.

We walked the short distance from the house to the canal and climbed into our canoe.  I pushed us off the side of the canal and we slipped quietly into the water.  I guided us out to the edge of the shadows, experience teaching us that while we took our own risks for our business, others weren’t so brave.  They were, however, willing to steal your treasures if they got the chance.  Most of the
time,
we were left alone, but we never stopped being cautious. 
A competing group did attack us once on this route
, but Julia sliced the hell out of the leader before the attack was fully underway, and the rest lost their nerve after seeing how much blood the human body could lose if opened correctly.

The riverbanks were
well grown
with trees and brush.  Many trees had branches that touched the water, narrowing the usable part of the channel and creating underwater hazards.  Fortunately, our canoe was aluminum, so we were pretty safe unless we hit something metallic or rocky.

The mist on the water parted for
us, swirling in time with the who
rls on the water as we moved quietly by, disappearing as we travelled
west
.  Little blips of water betrayed curious fish, and cranes hunted the shallows in side canals and channels.  Here and there rusted forms slowly disintegrated by the water’s edge, remnants of a time when the world was very different.

We had
been down this canal several times before, and I could point out numerous reference spots that I used to mark our passage.  Some were safe harbors, some were good hunting grounds,
and others
were good fishing grounds. 
A couple were
places to avoid, as people moved away from population centers to start their own towns, they had different notions about what laws to enforce.  When our dad was around, these places couldn’t have existed.  Now, they seemed to be popping up more often.  One such place,
Zoomertown
, it was called, built itself right up to the Wall.  They were fairly lawless, and
was
a good place to go if you were looking for trouble.  A lot of youngsters from the capital came up that way to get their first drink, sleep with their first whore, and look at their first zombie. You had to have money though, and it was rumored that someone died every week from a knife wound or a bad drink.  A lot of kids didn’t come back, and it was rumored that agents from
Zoomertown
roamed the capital, looking for young girls to steal.  When we passed these places, Jake would put down his paddle and pick up his rifle until we were clear.

Once we cleared the heaviest of the suburbs, I could see the capital lands.  Soon we would be passing the orchards and the grazing lands, and finally, the farmlands for the capital.

Around
mid-morning,
we reached the outskirts of
Leport
, the capital of the New United States.  In the twenty years since
its
renaming, the population had grown from several hundred to tens of thousands. 
Dad had said it
was one of the few places
around, which
looked like a city used to look.  None of us had any clue what he was talking about.  Going to the capital as kids used to be such a treat. 
We would
ride up the river, waving at the stray zombies on the canal edges, coming up to see old friends and play with new ones. 
We would
see a movie and go to dinner, and spend some time with people our fathers called the ‘old guard.’  They would talk about the Zombie
Wars;
drink to fallen friends, and in a couple of days, head back for home. The capital now, for us, was a place to do business.  Lately, it was trouble, too.

At the docks, we slipped into a small opening and Jake tied off his end while I took care of mine.  I helped Julia out and she carefull
y pulled up the duffle bag that
carried our precious cargo, the thing we went through miles of zombie territory for.  We left our heavy melee weapons in the
boat;
they’d be safe until we returned.

Walking up the dock and onto the street, we threw waves to people who knew us, had known our parents, or had done business with us.  Several people looked us over, unused to the gear we were wearing and the weapons we were carrying.  They knew what we were, but seeing one of us up close was different.

“Lots of new
faces,
” Jake said, looking over at a group of men standing outside a wine-seller’s place.  One man noticed Julia and jostled another, causing that one to notice her as well.  Both men openly stared until we passed from view.  Julia couldn’t help herself. She was, for lack of a better word, stunning. She was also completely
oblivious;
her attention was always focused on the children that ran around the town.  She loved kids and they loved to be with her. She was a natural
mother;
caring, compassionate, and fiercely protective.

“
Yeah,
” I said, looking at the men, who stared back defiantly until we rounded the corner.  “Let’s get done and get home.”

“Sounds
good
,
” Jake said.  “You guys get the business
done,
I’ll see the
Melter
and check to see if there is any new business worth looking at.  I’ll meet you back here in an hour.”  Jake turned down a side street and was off without another word.

I looked down at Julia and she shrugged.  Jake was like that, and there was no changing him.

Chapter 10

“What’s the address?” I asked, looking up at the homes on the hills.  I hoped it would be a short walk.

Julia looked at the piece of paper attached to the duffle bag. 
“Says here
that
it’s up on fourth, on the other side of the cemetery.”
 

I thought a minute,
and then
groaned.  “Damn.  It’s up the hill and another half mile walk besides.”

Julia started walking.  “Never knew you disliked exercise.”

I followed a second later. “I dislike
extra
exercise,
” I said, defending myself.  I kept
up,
but also kept an eye on our surroundings.
The
habit that served me well in our excursions, and did well when we were in supposedly friendlier territory.

We walked up the hill, rounding the bend in front of the old school that was used as a legislative building.  Congress wasn’t in session right now, so the building was quiet and had minimal activity.  Supposedly, the original Constitution and Bill of Rights were housed within, but I hadn’t seen them myself.

At Fourth Street, we walked over a small ditch and past a small grassy rise.  The little hill was about four feet high, but combined with the
ditch;
the barrier was actually over eight feet.  Once upon a
time,
Julia’s dad had helped build that barricade to keep out the zombies that had been all over the place.  Now it was a place kids played in and others cursed for
its
inconvenience.  It was funny how quickly people forgot the effort that went into trying to save the world from extinction.

Two small rights and then a left found us standing in the door of a small, yet cozy home.
Leport
was like that.  There were big
homes,
and right next
door,
there were little homes. People tended to go where their tastes and their egos
took
them.  When the power was off, people stayed in the small houses because they were easier to heat in the winters.  When the power came back on, there was a bit of a scramble for the bigger homes.  These days, things seem to have settled down. 

Julia knocked on the door and a small, older woman answered the door. 

“Yes? Can I help you?”  She asked.  She looked at me a little apprehensively, and then kept her eyes on Julia.

“Ma’am?
  We’re the collectors you hired.  We found what you were looking for.” Julia opened up the duffle bag and pulled out two large books.  One looked like a photo album, and the other looked to be an ordinary book.  She handed them over to the woman, who surprised me by suddenly tearing up and crying. 

The woman held the books tightly and didn’t say a word for a moment.  “You got them.  I thought they were gone forever.  I can’t believe you got them.”  She just kept saying it over and over again, tears falling off her face and splashing on the front porch.

Julia smiled and put her hand on the woman’s shoulder, which seemed to shake her out of her moment.

“
Oh,
my God!
  You did it!  I can’t thank you enough!  Oh, God!  Charles will be so surprised.  Charles!  Come up here!  I have a surprise for you!”  The woman called into the house and then turned back to Julia and myself.  “Thank you so much!”  She hugged Julia and gave my arm a squeeze, her teary eyes filling with joy.

“We lost so much when we fled, and I thought we’d never get anything we had back, not after the city had been closed.  Thank you again.” The woman was nearly delirious, and I think I understood why Jake tended to avoid this part of the job.