Deadland's Harvest (part 2 of the Deadland Saga)

Lust (Chapter 25)

LUST: The Seventh Deadly Sin

We made it back to the Aurora just before sunset. Once we'd killed and disentangled the zed in the prop blades, the motor had started. It had run rough—some things were probably bent up inside—but it'd gotten us back to Camp Fox.

We'd returned to receive five minutes of fanfare, but then it was right back to work. Our problems were nowhere over yet. We found ourselves in an endless debate about what to do next. The herds had moved on, but a couple hundred zeds had stayed behind, watching us from the bridge that crossed the river. That number wasn't even counting the hundred dead or nearly dead scattered on the ground that had been trampled by the herd. Those would be easier to clean up but still posed some risk to walking to the vehicles.

The next morning, Griz led another Pied Piper boat, but the zeds we'd dubbed the "bridge bastards" remained undeterred. Over the next few days, we tried scouting runs to the north using the river since we couldn't get to our vehicles. Traveling under the bridge was dangerous, and we had to speed under each time. With no land vehicles parked to the north, we were limited in our search radius, and the riverfront had been picked clean by other boats on the river like the Lady Amore.

We'd brought a pontoon full of scouts to the nearest river town to empty the grocery store, but bandits had beaten us to it. They must've been right behind the herds because every place we went showed signs of being recently picked clean. Every vehicle we came to that looked like it could run was missing its keys. Likely, the only reason bandits hadn't come across our vehicles yet was the bridge bastards.

Without access to vehicles, we were running on borrowed time. We couldn't get the fuel or food we needed without making land runs. Relocating from the Aurora was deemed not an option. Tyler had queried the residents, and no one had wanted to leave. They felt safe there and were tired of looking over their shoulders.

So another option presented itself, one the residents embraced and the scouts balked at. Of course, none of the residents planned to get their hands dirty. They planned on watching us from the safety of the barge.

"We'll have to burn them at sunset, so the smoke won't be seen," Griz said before leaning back in his chair.

"It's risky," Clutch added. "We could set the whole countryside on fire."

Tyler shook his head. "Not if we control it. We'll set up boundaries."

Clutch's eyes narrowed. "Tell me. Exactly how are we going to dig up ground and not get torn to shreds?"

"Fine," Tyler replied. "We'll skip the boundaries. So what if the fire spreads? It won't reach the Aurora."

My eyes widened. "It could spread over miles and miles. We could destroy everything around here. Any food, animals, everything."

"Why does it matter?" Kurt asked. "There's no one left out there but bandits, anyway. A fire would destroy a lot of the rotting corpses and clean up the countryside."

Clutch clenched his fist but stopped himself before he hit the table. "Sure, the fire will take out all the zeds in this area, but it could also destroy any plants and wildlife. We'd be dealing with the same issue we have now, and that's no food."

"We still have the grain," Tyler said. "Deer are faster than zeds and can run. We'll hunt them later."

"It sounds too dangerous," I said.

"It's safer than using up our ammo on them," Kurt said.

"I disagree. We can't waste our gasoline," I said. "I think it's safer to shoot them, but I'd prefer to find a third option."