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

Purgatory (Chapter 5)

"Where's Bill?" Clutch asked as Jase and I piled into the Cessna. I dumped my gear onto Jase's lap and pulled the door closed.

A distant scream broke through the silence.

"He's not coming," Jase said as I started up the plane without taking the time to go through any checklist, let alone buckle my seat belt.

Clutch didn't say anything else, but I could feel his eyes on me as I tried to smooth out the engine as quickly as I could. As soon as its rough grumble of fouling spark plugs cleared somewhat, I throttled full power and started my takeoff roll.

"A shitload of zeds coming in fast at our two o'clock," Clutch said loudly at my side.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," I muttered, pulling back on the yoke, trying to force the plane into the air. With the tanks only half full and one less passenger, the Cessna lifted off at the edge of the dorms. Zeds came running around the buildings and onto the street below. I leveled off my climb to build up speed just out of reach of the zeds below, because I didn't want to risk stalling and losing what little lift I had.

Once I could manage a decent rate of climb, I looked down at the crowded street below. If we'd been five seconds later, zeds would've collided with the Cessna, and we never would've gotten off the ground. I let out the breath I'd held on takeoff. "That was close."

Clutch craned his head to watch the scene below, and then turned to me.

I put my headset on, and he did the same.

"What the hell happened back there?" he asked.

"No one made it out of Marshall when the herds passed through," I said.

"They were still at the student center," Jase added.

His lips tightened and he looked over both of us. "You two okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"That was too close," Jase said before sighing heavily into the headset.

After getting the plane set up on its heading back to Camp Fox, I turned on Jase's music. No one spoke the entire flight back to the park. We passed over the herds again, as they chewed their slow but relentless path toward our home. One herd had stopped at a farm and had all of its buildings surrounded. I hated to think what they were after.

Poor Marshall had never stood a chance, and it'd had a hundred times the population of Camp Fox. The herds could eat right through us and barely slow down. Seeing what had happened at the student center made me realize one thing. We couldn't defend the park against the herds like we'd done before. We had to run, and we had to do it soon. Because if we waited until the first herd was in sight, it'd be too late.

Clutch, Jase, and I could fly somewhere far enough north that we'd be safe easily enough, but I'd never be able to get the others out in time. Tyler, Tack, Griz...they'd all be doomed to certain death. No. I couldn't live with myself knowing I'd stranded fifty or sixty people for execution.

I spent the rest of the flight trying to think of viable escape plans that included everyone and our livestock at the park and the only solution that came to mind was a tall building. But I quickly dismissed it as too risky. No skyscrapers existed anymore after all major cities had been bombed. If any had survived, they wouldn't be structurally sound. As for tall buildings in smaller towns, most buildings wouldn't be more than five floors high. Sure, a herd could likely not reach us on the top floor, but if they knew we were inside, they could have us surrounded until we all starved to death. Or, worse, eventually they'd climb over one another to get to us.

We needed a better option.

When the park came into sight, Clutch radioed Tyler. Clutch simply said, "Come out and meet us."