The Omnivore Wars Page 18

  She frowned in concentration. One of the zombie Tuskers turned and stared at her.

  “I think…it’s hard, but I can sense him,” she said. The zombie crouched, lowering its head.

  Napoleon emerged from the cave. Dozens of zombies surrounded them; he remained in firm control. Marie came to his side, still shuddering at the nearness of the creatures.

  Protect us, Napoleon ordered. The zombies surrounded the cave and turned outward in a protective circle.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Enrique went into the barn, ignoring everyone, even his son. He went to the living quarters in the deepest recesses of the barn, lay on a cot, and turned his back on the world. He wouldn’t respond to anyone. Barry and Jenny didn’t know what to do.

  Jenny took Felix under her care and tried to distract him with activities, but the child was silent, unresponsive. Every few minutes, he turned his head to the back of the barn, as if expecting his father or mother to return. Jenny doubted he really understood his mother was gone, and was more concerned by how Enrique was acting.

  Barry told Jenny what he’d seen.

  “Zombies?” Jenny repeated doubtfully.

  One of the soldiers who had accompanied them spoke up. “Yes, ma’am, that’s what it looked like.”

  It wasn’t long after that that the rest of them saw the first zombie Tusker for themselves. It staggered into the yard on what was left of its legs. Both tusks were broken off into jagged shards, and one eyeball was dangling from its socket, yet the creature still tried to attack the soldier on guard duty.

  After that, the arrival of zombies became a regular occurrence; they seemed especially attracted to the torches.

  “Shouldn’t we take those things out?” one of the soldiers asked, deferring to Barry while Enrique was incapacitated.

  “I’m not as worried by the zombies as I am by the live Tuskers,” Barry answered. “We’ll barricade ourselves in the barn at night and take care of the interlopers in the morning.”

  Things were quiet at first, but by the second morning, the yard was swarming with both human and Tusker zombies. Barry took a rifle up to the crow’s nest and systematically took them out with headshots. Jenny joined him.

  “If that many show up every night, we’ll run out of ammo eventually,” Barry grumbled.

  “I suspect that there are more zombies than living people at this point,” Jenny said. “I wonder if any Tuskers have survived at all. We’re going to have to find another way.”

  They were still discussing it that afternoon when Enrique finally emerged from the back of the barn.

  “Papa!” Felix cried out from the table where he was working on a jigsaw puzzle. He ran to his father. Enrique swept his son up in his arms and hugged him fiercely. He looked over at Jenny and Barry with an expression that made them look away. It was a combination of grief and anger so strong that it repelled anyone who dared look back.

  Barry was the only one who dared approach him. “Glad you’re back,” he said, extending his hand.

  “I still have to protect Felix,” Enrique answered, ignoring his gesture.

  The other soldiers and civilians gathered around Enrique, as if knowing he had something important to say.

  “I don’t know why this is happening,” he began. “I don’t know why the Tuskers suddenly appeared, or how they control the coyotes and ravens. I don’t know what the rest of humanity is doing. I just know this isn’t the same world it was a few days ago. Everything has changed. Now there are these new creatures, these zombies.

  “What I do know is that we can’t wait around to be attacked again, slowly dwindling in supplies and numbers, never knowing when they’ll appear, barricaded behind closed doors. We need to search and destroy. Kill them until they’re gone or no longer a threat. Kill…every…one…of…them.”

  This was met by silence, but whether from agreement or opposition, Barry couldn’t tell. “We don’t have enough ammunition to kill every zombie we find,” he said.

  “True,” Enrique said. “But if we just stay here, we’re going to run out of supplies of all kinds eventually. We are going to need to extend our range instead of letting it shrink around us. While we still have ammo.”

  Barry wanted to argue the point, to say that they were safer inside—but Enrique was right. Eventually, they would have to seek out resources. Things were probably only going to get worse, so it made sense to forestall that day and make their explorations while they were still able.

  “We’ll start with getting supplies from Saguaro,” Enrique said.

  “There might be a problem there,” Barry answered. “They won’t let anyone take supplies out of the town.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Enrique said.

  #

  Enrique was firmly in charge. No one questioned it. He left a skeleton crew at the barn. The rest of them started marching into town. Along the way, they checked the subdivisions for supplies, but most of the houses had already been cleaned out. They did find some vehicles of various makes and models that still had gasoline in them.

  One of Enrique’s men was either a former car thief, or the Army was teaching some strange skills. “I might be able to cannibalize enough parts to get a few of these working,” he said. “The EMP affected different parts in different vehicles.”

  After a few hours, he managed to get three pickups functioning. They piled into the cabs and backs and drove the rest of the way to town.

  The same barricade was in place, but there was only one man on duty. He held up his hands, his eyes wide with surprise at the approaching convoy. Enrique didn’t stop, just steered the truck he was driving up onto the sidewalk and drove on by. The man stared at Barry, open-mouthed, as he followed Enrique’s example.

  They stopped in front of the courthouse. Before they could get out of their trucks, the doors opened and two sheriff’s deputies and Herb Jensen, wearing a dark tan suit, emerged. It was strange to see a man in a suit and tie carrying a semiautomatic rifle.

  “I’m glad you came, Mr. Flannigan,” Herb said. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you. I feel that we should be banding together in one place, for safety’s sake. I would suggest that you people bring your stuff down here, where it can be rationed out to those who need it most.”

  Enrique stopped at the foot of the steps and looked up at the mayor. His soldiers took positions behind him. Herb looked down at them nervously.

  “Barry tells me you wouldn’t let him take supplies from the hardware store,” Enrique said evenly.

  “He can take whatever he is entitled to, when it is his turn.”

  Enrique turned his head slightly. “Harvey, would you step forward?”

  Harvey Johansson was hanging back, as if knowing that it was coming to this. He moved to the front reluctantly.

  “Are you saying the owner of the hardware store can’t take what he owns?” Enrique asked the mayor.

  Herb glanced at each of the deputies as if reassuring himself that they were still there. “I’ve declared an emergency,” he said. “We are requisitioning and rationing vital resources.”

  The door behind the mayor opened. Andy Wallace, the owner of the local diner, came out onto the steps, followed by a striking woman. A smaller man followed, holding a camera.

  Kathy Comfort, Barry realized, was still in town. Herb Jensen looked behind him at the sound of the courthouse doors opening, and when he turned back around, he looked annoyed.

  A stream of people emerged from the courthouse, apparently deciding that if Andy Wallace and Kathy Comfort could come out, so could they.

  “How many people do you have here?” Enrique asked.

  “How’s that any of your business?” Herb demanded.

  “Just tell me,” Enrique said in a flat voice that nonetheless conveyed a cold ruthlessness.

  “One hundred and fifty-three people in the courthouse. We’re trying to talk another twenty-three into leaving their homes.
Forty-three people are…missing.”

  Enrique turned to Barry. “What do you think? Can we take them all in?”

  Barry decided not to argue, but to just answer the question. “If we bring enough trailers and motor homes, sure. Maybe a few tents. Plenty of room within the perimeter.”

  “I don’t think you understood me,” Herb said. “I meant that you should join us down here. Why on Earth would we abandon our homes for a piece of dirt?”

  “Because we’ve built defenses already,” Enrique said, still not raising his voice. “Because we’ve been planning for this for a long time. Because someone has to be in command who knows what he’s doing.”

  Herb straightened up, jutting out his chin in defiance. “I’m mayor of this town, and these deputies are under my authority. I simply can’t allow that. Are you denying that there should to be state of emergency?”

  “On the contrary,” Enrique said. “I agree. There needs to be a central authority, and I believe I’m best qualified to be that authority.”

  “Who elected you?” Herb laughed. “Look, we aren’t a police state. Not yet.”

  “Maybe we should be,” Enrique answered. “Maybe the military is exactly who should be taking over.”

  He raised his arm. “HUP!” Enrique shouted. As one, the line of men behind him presented arms and stepped forward. In response, the deputies stepped backward.

  “You’re bluffing,” Herb said. “If you do this, you’ll be in big trouble when this is all over.”

  “That’s just it, Mayor. It isn’t going to be over. Not the way you think it will. Things have changed. This is the way it’s going to be from now on, and if you don’t understand that, you shouldn’t be in charge.”

  Bart Hoskins, the local banker, and the rest of the county planning commission who had holed up during the attack at the Pederson barn took this opportunity to step forward.

  “You’d better listen to him, Herb,” Bart said. “He isn’t fooling around.”

  Surprisingly, the mayor didn’t back down. He didn’t look intimidated in the slightest. He raised his right arm, and the windows on the second floor of the courthouse flew open, and then two .50-caliber rifles were pointed down at them.

  “I thought something like this might happen,” Herb said grimly. He raised his voice, speaking to the civilians surrounding them. “If I were you, people, I’d step back from Mr. Flannigan and his mercenaries.”

  The civilians murmured among themselves, and a few looked around as if checking to see what everyone else was going to do, but none of them broke and ran.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Herb said, using his most reasonable voice, the one he used in City Council meetings to try to get his way. “We’ll call it a draw. You go back to your little barn, and we’ll stay here. When you come to your senses—or run out of food—you can come back, and we’ll take you in. Just as long as you take my orders.”

  Kathy Comfort moved down the steps toward the mayor, with Andy by her side and her cameraman following. Perhaps because she was a famous media star, everyone expected her to do an interview, no matter that the timing seemed a little odd. She had a microphone in her hand. But before she could say anything, Andy drew a pistol from his belt and whipped it down on Herb Jensen’s head. The mayor fell forward and would have hit the concrete sidewalk face first if Barry hadn’t caught him and lowered him to the ground.

  Everyone looked up at the barrels of the machine guns pointing out the windows. Barely visible, the men behind the machine guns were animatedly arguing with other. Meanwhile, Enrique’s men spread out, guns pointed at the windows.

  “Hold your fire!” Enrique called out.

  Everyone was running for cover except Kathy Comfort and Andy, who stayed at her side. She turned and shouted up to the men, her brassy voice breaking the impasse.

  “Sergeant Flannigan is right. We need a military authority until this emergency is over.”

  More quietly, she addressed Enrique. “Andy and I have talked about it, and we’d like to join you at your compound if you’ll take us.”

  Enrique nodded, looking at Andy curiously, as if seeing him for the first time.

  “We’re coming down,” came a voice from one of the windows above. “Don’t shoot!”

  And just like that, it was over.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Marie was going to give birth any day now. Napoleon searched for a safe place to stop. They traveled slowly but steadily away from the battleground, seeking shelter wherever they could find it, in caves and hollows, sometimes just at the bases of trees or amid rock outcroppings.

  On the second day, a wave of human zombies surrounded them. Napoleon summoned his zombie Tuskers and nearly sent them into battle. At the last second, he held back. Instead, he reached out tentatively with his mind.

  The zombies stopped moving; their groans subsided. They awaited instructions. To Napoleon’s utter amazement, the humans were as easy to control as the Tuskers, if not easier.

  After that, the zombies, both human and Tusker, followed Napoleon and Marie. Napoleon needed to be conscious of their presence at all times, for the moment he forgot they were there, they became aggressive again, ready to attack any living thing. It was exhausting.

  Napoleon stumbled as they trudged up a sandy embankment. His hooves sank into the sand. He couldn’t get traction. Beside him, Marie had her head near the ground. She was now so big of belly that he had to help her over obstacles.

  For the first time in a long time, Bonaparte spoke in his mind: Courage isn't having the strength to go on—it is going on when you don't have strength.

  In two days, they hadn’t come across another Tusker or human who was still alive. When they settled in at night, guarded by the zombies under Napoleon’s control, he allowed himself to cast his net wider, trying to find a sign of his own kind, even the smallest spark. He didn’t dare fall asleep, afraid of losing control of his terrible allies.

  He woke up to a zombie Tusker sniffing his feet.

  “Get back!” he commanded. “Never come near again!”

  The zombie recoiled, and when Napoleon commanded it to approach, it stayed away, circling its master, unwilling to come closer.

  Napoleon felt a surge of hope and energy. To each of his remaining followers, he gave the same commandment, including Marie and a vision of the little piglets they would soon have.

  Only then did he allow himself to sleep.

  He awoke to the roars and snarls of his subjugated zombies tearing apart a human, one who was still alive. The man had a gun, but no ammunition. By the time Napoleon pulled his charges away, the man was dying. He looked up into Napoleon’s face with such terror that Napoleon felt pity.

  Such a useless war. It should never have been started. The Tuskers should have hidden, never revealing their intelligence, and waited until they were equals to the humans.

  That would never have happened, he heard Genghis’s voice say.

  The Great One was gone, of that Napoleon had become certain. Genghis was too powerful to be silenced by anything less than death. Those who had surrounded the leader, who were the most powerful of the Tuskers, were also gone. Sometimes Napoleon thought he felt a glimmer of Tusker consciousness, but it was far, far away.

  There were Tuskers out there, but they either weren’t responding to him or they were too far away to establish contact.

  The land north of Genesis Valley was flat, barren desert, with few places to hide, so when they stumbled across a small cave in a valley on the third day, Napoleon decided to stop. He investigated the interior of the cave, which went in about twenty feet, then narrowed to a small exit on the other side of the embankment. It was really a crevice more than a cave, but the ground was soft, and there was enough grass outside to forage for bedding. He decided that this was as good a place as they were likely to find for Marie to have her litter.

  Napoleon summoned enough zombies to surround the cave. His powers
over them were growing with every day. When new zombies joined them, the ones already under his control must somehow be communicating their submission, because Napoleon found than he already had control of the newcomers. He now had dozens of zombies under his command.

  He made Marie as safe and comfortable as possible. He made the bed of grasses for her, and she watched him quietly. When he was done, she heaved her heavy body down on the soft material with a satisfied grunt.

  One of the zombie pigs started to come into the cave, and she tensed up. Napoleon turned and glared at the mindless creature, who seemed to shake with fear and then retreated.

  “What are they?” Marie asked. “Where did they come from?”

  Napoleon had been thinking about it ever since they’d run into the first zombies on their journey to Genesis Valley. He remembered the van with its viral equipment and the fever that had overtaken Pigstown after their first encounter with the humans.

  “I think the humans created them,” Napoleon answered.

  Marie nodded, as if she’d already figured that out. “But why? Why would they do such a thing to themselves?”

  “I don’t think that was the plan. I believe the human scientist that Genghis brought into Pigstown brought with him a virus to kill Tuskers. It’s something humans do: create diseases and poisons to use against other species, as well as their human enemies. But I think the virus mutated, so that instead of just killing Tuskers, it also revived the dead, both human and Tusker.”

  “It was a mistake, wasn’t it?” Marie murmured.

  “I’m not sure we had any choice,” Napoleon answered. Admitting his own doubts wouldn’t help Marie come to terms with what they’d done.

  “If I’d known we would detonate the humans’ nuclear bombs, I never would have helped build The Machine,” she said sadly.

  Are we any different than humans? Napoleon again wondered. Humans too had created weapons for defense, only to find that those weapons were turned against them. It was a stupid, vicious cycle, which they seemed unable to break away from.