The Lambda Resistance - Outpost Keating II: Expedition
"What took you so long, Tripper?" Ty asked.
Tripp was dragging a gutted deer behind him as he entered Outpost Keating. The sun was setting behind him and Ty was 30 minutes from sending out a rescue party. "I think things are getting worse. I saw three deer skeletons and twice as many zombies while out hunting. I guess the dead have been eating the deer for us. It took me all day to find this one. Can you take it from me? I think my arm's about to fall off," Tripp said.
Ty grabbed the strap tied around the deer's antlers and pulled the game down into the hole in the ground they called a cellar. He hung it up and looked back at Tripp.
"I'm putting an extra guard out tonight. We had eight of those bastards stumble upon Keating today alone," he said.
"What do you think's going on?" Tripp asked.
"I dunno, but it's gettin' harder for us to eat. A day's hunt used to bag us three or four of these, reliably," Ty responded, his voice trailing off near the end. "Part of it's the water situation. Deer need water as much as us. No water, no deer," he said. The streams and creeks around Outpost Keating had dried up years ago. No one understood the reason why, but everyone blamed the Combine.
Ty led Tripp out of the cellar and to the dining area. A venison and barley stew had been simmering for hours and nothing smelled better to Tripp. Ty poured each of them a bowl and they sat down next to Jackie and Feathers, who were in the middle of a conversation.
"If that were true then we still wouldn't be needing to move members of the Resistance; there would be no place to go," Jackie said.
"That's what I'm saying Jack! We ain't been moving members like we used to. They're slowing down because all their destinations are becoming zombie country," said Feathers.
In the twilight Ty could make out Jackie's dark skin and Feathers' white, short hair. At the brink of an argument, they had hardly noticed Ty and Tripp sit down.
"Tripp, where you been man?" asked Feathers.
"I had a hard time finding deer today much less killing one," he responded.
"Man I thought you fell down again!" Feathers laughed at his own joke.
Tripp didn't acknowledge Feathers. He looked at Jackie instead. "What were you two talking about?" he asked her.
"Feathers here is just peddling his latest conspiracy theory. This time it's about how all the surrounding villages and towns have been overrun by zombies. As usual, he's full of it," answered Jackie.
Feathers shot back. "Why do you think we aren't being sent Lambda members, Jack? Why do you think we've been running into more of the moaners?"
"There could be any number of reasons. Or there could be no reason. It could just be happenstance. We just don't know enough. Out here we hardly know anything Feathers. You're passing off speculation as fact," Jackie explained in a soft voice. Feathers waved her off.
"Jack I'm putting you on guard duty tonight," Ty said, changing the subject.
Jackie protested. "But sir, Maddy, JL, and Kat are on duty…"
Ty cut her off. "We're gettin' busier defending this place and I need another set of eyes out there. You're fresh," he insisted. Jackie went back to her stew without protest.
Ty was going over the following day's work with them when a loud bell began to ring. They all dropped what they were doing, jumped from the table, and ran for their bows. "Hit the lights!" Ty shouted.
A bright burst of light shone down from the walls of Outpost Keating. They illuminated the surrounding woods and when Ty climbed to the walkway lining the walls he could see a zombie lying just outside the outpost with an arrow through its crab-devoured head. Out farther there were more approaching, the light just reaching them. Their screaming moans were getting louder. Ty guessed there were about ten slowmen who decided to pay them a visit. "JL what do we got?" he asked, raising and drawing his bow towards the closest zombie.
"I thought it was just a lone crab-walker, chief. But then I heard that... that sound way off. The good news is they only seem to be coming from this one direction. Easier to fill 'em with carbon that way," JL said.
Ty let the bowstring go and his arrow took flight, planting itself in the zombie's head. The zombie shrieked, took one last half-step forward then stumbled over, its body twitching until it was still. On the corner of the outpost's walkway, Tripp fired his crossbow. His skinny arms wouldn't allow him to hold a drawn bow for long so Ty had let him use his crossbow until he was stronger. The bolt soared, impaling a zombie in the chest. It screamed and Tripp thought he could almost make out words being spoken. It fell over and the headcrab dismounted from the host's head. The human lay motionless, finally dead, but the headcrab jumped towards the outpost and when it landed an arrow landed on top of it, the yellow fletchings sticking out from its middle.
Tripp looked over at Maddy who was loading another arrow into her bow. She did not say a word.
They continued to fight the onslaught of zombies, their numbers dwindling but steadily getting closer to the outpost's walls.
When there were only three remaining, the lights cut out and Keating's crew were left with only the horrible sound outside.
"Who the fuck shut those off!?" Ty screamed, his anger palpable. When no one responded, Ty climbed down the walkway, turned on his flashlight and ran toward the south side of the outpost, where the generator lay. He could smell what had happened before he saw it.
Next to the generator a zombie was sprawled on the ground, smoke rising from its cooked body. Judging by the damage down to the generator, Ty guessed the zombie had attacked the noisy machine with its long arms until the generator fought back. Ty swore under his breath and pointed his flashlight at the generator to assess the damage.
As he rounded the machine, he felt a sharp pain throw him five feet across the ground. His bow and flashlight went flying and Ty heard that awful, familiar groan walk towards him. He felt around the dirt for his equipment but came up empty. As the sound got closer Ty knew he was on his last legs. Reaching for his holster, he pulled out his .357 Magnum. He didn't like what he was about to do, but saw no other choice. When the sound was right on top of him he cocked the hammer back, squeezed the trigger and the night went silent.
Ty was blinded by a flashlight and shielded his face with his hand. "Get that thing offa me! Who is that? Are we still under attack? Any wounded?" he asked.
"Yes sir, it's Jackie, no, and no with the possible exception of you. Are you alright?" She answered as quickly as Ty had asked.
Ty was now uncomfortably aware of the zombie lying next to him. Its spidery arm was draped over his chest like they were sleeping mates. He groaned and threw the body off of him. "I lost m'bow and torch," he said as he stood up and holstered his gun.
Jackie's flashlight swept the ground around Ty and he found his gear. Ty turned on his light and checked himself over for any injuries. Jackie checked too. "Looks like a lot of blood but none of it yours. That was a pretty loud bang sir," she said.
"Let's just hope an unfriendly ear didn't hear it," Ty said, shining his light on the generator. "This here zombie got zapped when it attacked our generator. Whole thing's fucked. I don't think we can salvage it. That means no electricity: no lights, no electric stove, and no radio. And if we can't make our transmission to Outpost Candi tomorrow they're gonna start worrying 'bout us. I know they got an extra generator or two lyin' round. I guess it turns out you're getting some rack time tonight after all, Jack, cause in the mornin' we're headin' out to pay Candi a visit," he said to her.
"Yes sir," Jackie responded.
The sun hadn't yet risen when Ty was up and getting ready for his journey to Outpost Candi. Tripp walked in his room as he was sharpening his arrows' broadheads.
"What are you doing up, Trippster?" Ty asked him.
"I still don't understand why you're taking Jack and Maddy instead of me." Tripp complained. "It's not because of my incident with that Combine patrol, is it?" he asked.
Ty smiled to himself. "No, it ain't that. I need Jack and Maddy cause I trust 'em."
"You don't trust me?" Tripp sounded slightly offended.
"I do trust'ya Tripp. I trust'ya right here." Ty pointed down as he spoke.
"I understand Jack, but Maddy? She hardly says a word. She's got the greatest poker face I've ever seen, it's like she's hiding something," said Tripp.
"Tripp, you know Maddy's nickname, right?" Ty asked.
"'Mad' Maddy. Why?"
"You know how she got that name?" Ty continued.
"No. I just thought it was because she was a good shot."
Ty smiled again. "Not exactly. Maddy don't talk a lot 'bout her past, but that don't mean she ain't got one. When she came here from Outpost Candi it was 'cause I specifically asked for her. They told me what she had done and I wanted someone like that down here to help man the base.
"See, two months before Maddy was sent to us, she showed up at the doorstep of Candi unannounced, with rags for clothes and covered in blood, some dried some fresh. No one knew who she was or where she come from, but she had a bandana tied around her arm with the Lambda symbol on it, so they took 'er in. They asked whose blood that was on 'er. Combine, zombie? 'Both,' she responded. They quarantined her ass for 15 days. To make sure she weren't infected and to see if she really was a member of the Resistance. She never said a word in protest.
"Candi's man on the inside confirmed the disappearance of a violent, red-haired woman wanted for the murder of three Combine soldiers workin' Civil Protection in City 9. She didn't talk much 'bout her time in City 9 nor 'bout her trip to Candi, but that's a trek upwards of 200 miles westward she made with just a bowie knife and the rotting clothes on her back. Candi's crew started calling her 'Mad' Maddy after that. When I learned of 'er, I knew we needed 'er. Someone with a fire in the eyes like hers is good to have around when shit gets rough. So I'm taking her with me in case it does."
Tripp was staring at Ty.
"Yeah, so don't get on her bad side, okay?" Ty said.
Ty, Jackie, and Maddy left for Outpost Candi as the sun was rising. To appease Tripp, Ty left him in charge of guarding Outpost Keating and told him to put up two more guards than usual at night because they had no spotlight. Feathers had asked them to "bring back a souvenir from your trip" with a grin on his face. Jackie offered to cut off his manhood, wrap it up, and give it to him as a gift. Feathers stopped smiling after that.
From Keating, Outpost Candi lie 20 miles north and slightly east. The terrain was mountainous and difficult with their heavy packs and bows slung over their shoulders. They each holstered a pistol in case it should ever come that they needed to kill a foe or, in a dire situation, themselves. Maddy insisted she bring her SPAS-12 shotgun and Ty said not a word in protest. He knew the trip would take them two days for he'd done it himself several times now.
They walked slowly and apart from one another. Ty had Maddy on her left and Jackie on her right. He walked slightly in front of them so if they should meet any threat on their way, Ty could signal to both women before they could be seen.
They brought dried venison and oats to eat for their meals, but they only stopped after the sun went down.
Before the sun had risen on the morning of the second day they packed their bags and continued northbound. As the day went on the foliage of the trees turned the infinite blue sky into a glowing green ceiling over their heads. It brought relief to Ty knowing they couldn't easily be seen overhead. They spotted two zombies before noon and elected to take them both out. Maddy sent her arrows clean through their skulls. By late afternoon they had killed two more and by early evening they were in sight of Outpost Candi.
Ty spoke out. "Let me lead on this," he said. Jackie agreed and Maddy nodded.
He walked towards Candi and Ty could see the guards turn their weapons on his party as he approached. More guards appeared before he was within hearing distance.
He shouted, "Open d'door you ugly sons of bitches! Ty's come to pay a visit to your sorry excuse for a fort! I got friends wit'me too!"
For a while nothing happened. Ty could hear Jackie whisper "dumbass" to him under her breath, but he paid her no mind. Finally the gate opened and three armed guards came out to escort them into Outpost Candi.
Outpost Candi made Keating look like a tent city. It had about 50 or 60 residents and most of it was buried underground. Candi served as the central hub for all the surrounding outposts, and Resistance members on the lamb usually reported here first before being sent off to other outposts. Ty looked at the dining hall, which was actually a building rather than the series of picnic benches they called a "dining area" back at Keating.
"When d'we eat?" Ty asked the escorts, smiling.
"We got someone who wants to see you first," one of them said back.
They took them inside a small building and slid a false wall back to reveal a set of stairs leading down. "After you," one of the guards said.
Ty led his party underground and down a long hall just bright enough so they could see where they were about to step. At the end of the hall Ty opened another door and looked through. On the other side was a small underground town. Some of Candi's residents looked at them with curiosity, then returned to their work. Some were washing clothes by hand while others were preparing food, some were cleaning weapons and some were standing guard. Jackie looked on in awe. Besides the workers' centers, she could see a network of tunnels leading out in every direction.
"How big is this place?" she asked no one in particular.
"You don't wanna get lost in here. This place was made to confuse the Combine should their sorry hides ever make it down this far," Ty answered.
The escorts led them down a tunnel and after walking for close to ten minutes they stopped at a big green door with the doorknob in the center.
"He's behind here," one of the escorts said, motioning towards the door.
"Thank you gentlemen," Ty said sarcastically. He opened the door for Maddy and Jackie to walk through, then entered himself.
A vortigaunt was sitting at a desk messy with paperwork and drawings. Jackie saw he had skin like leather and an eye like the setting sun. She had never seen a vortigaunt until now and the sight put her at unease. Ty could see the televisions on the wall were showing live video feeds from inside and outside Candi. The vortigaunt was writing something and didn't look up at them.
"We were worried when we heard no word from your outpost yesterday," the vortigaunt said.
"Nice ta'see you too, Alaria," Ty said.
"Now tell me. What is your secret, Ty?" The vortigaunt Ty called Alaria asked.
"Which secret'cha talkin' 'bout?" he said.
"What is the secret to speaking with those marbles in your mouth?" he asked as he turned around in his chair, smiling. Ty and Alaria burst into laughter. Even Jackie cracked a little smile.
The leaders of their respective outposts embraced. "It's been awhile. I see you brought Madeleine with you," Alaria said.
Maddy smiled.
"I'll tell you all 'bout the fun we been having at Keating. But first, let's eat," Ty said.
In the dining room Ty and the others feasted on seasoned venison steaks and potato soup. He heard the banging of utensils on plates and bowls and idle chatter meant to pass the time. He even heard a few people whisper "Is that Mad Maddy?" a couple times but ignored them. Maddy didn't seem to notice. Or care. Ty spoke up first.
"I need your help Alaria. The zombies seem to be growing in number round here. We didn't transmit yesterday cause one of them killed our generator. We can't defend ourselves without a power source and I know y'all got one you can give us," he said.
"This is true on both counts. I will supply you with a new generator. But I have a favor to ask in return. A favor you are best equipped to fulfill, I am afraid," said Alaria.
"Okay, shoot," Ty replied.
"I am afraid yours is not the sole outpost to lose communication with us. Do you remember Outpost Maxfield?" Alaria asked.
"Sure, I know a couple guys from there. What happened?" Ty seemed concerned.
Jackie chirped in. "Well, seeing as they lost communication with them, I'd wager the vortigaunt doesn't know."
"This here vortigaunt's name is Alaria, and you'd do well to call 'im that, Jack," Ty shot back.
"No, she is correct. We last heard from Outpost Maxfield four days ago. The timing is exceptionally poor," Alaria said with worry in his voice. "I fear our loss of contact from both your outpost and Outpost Maxfield is not a coincidence. Sinister forces may be behind all of this unpleasantness. This is why I am asking you impart this heavy burden upon yourselves. You, Ty, Maddy, and Jackie I'm sure, are the best equipped and qualified to investigate the matter of Maxfield's fate."
Ty took a sip of his potato soup and stared into the bowl, his face expressionless. "I don't like it. Not at all."
Alaria consoled him. "I understand, Ty. If I thought it would be reasonable to simply cut away our loss and move onward, I would. However, whatever force posed a threat to Maxfield may likewise pose a threat to us here at Candi. And you down at Keating. It would be foolish not to try and gauge this. In addition, you are still under the command of Outpost Candi, which is to say, the command of myself." Jackie sensed a smile from the vortigaunt at that last part.
Ty continued to stare into the emptiness of his soup. "Well, what if something were to happen to us?" he asked.
"I am confident in your abilities, know that. But there will always be risk, know that too. To aid in minimizing this risk, I will send my best marksmen to accompany you. His name is Shoot Ogawa." Alaria said.
Ty raised his head at that and smirked. "Shoot Ogawa? Well then I guess we're in good hands," he said. "Well, when do you want us to head out?"
"It would be best if you all left in the morning. It would be imprudent to waste any more time." Alaria responded.
Jackie groaned at that. "No rest for the weary," she said out loud to herself.
"You don't know weary, Jack," Ty said, looking at the vortigaunt.
"I will put you all up in your own sleeping quarters for the night and have Ogawa come by and introduce himself. You will be in Sleeping Quarters 14A. Please, sleep well tonight." Alaria picked up his bowl and left the table.
After supper, Ty, Jackie, and Maddy returned to the underground maze and asked directions to Sleeping Quarters 14A. They were pointed along different corridors until they saw a sign reading "SQ 14A" next to a door. Ty opened the door. Behind it was a small room with two sets of bunk beds on opposite sides of the room. In the back was a small one-burner stove with a tea kettle lying on top of the burner. Next to it was a small cabinet filled with cups of all different materials, sizes, and designs. Whatever they could scrounge up, Ty figured. On the shelf under the cups was a bag of finely cut green leaves labelled "Sassafras" and a tea strainer. Ty lifted the kettle and felt the water inside slosh around.
"So nice of room service to have accommodated us," he said.
He turned the stove on and put some of the sassafras in the strainer. When the kettle whistled he poured everyone a cup of the tea and took a sip himself. The hot, mild flavor was relaxing.
"Jack, are we walking into a minefield blindfolded here?" he asked her after they had all settled in.
"I don't know sir, but I don't want to go. Couldn't Alaria have found some other 'highly qualified' people to scope out the trouble?" she responded.
"He coulda, but he wants us. He knows we can handle ourselves. Maddy, what do you think 'bout all this?"
"Nothing wrong with putting this to use." Mad Maddy patted the shotgun on her bunk like she was petting a faithful dog. "I want to meet this marksman."
Jackie was smiling. "Maddy, I know you're going to like him," she stated matter-of-factly.
"How?" Maddy asked.
Jackie took a sip of her tea. "Maddy, if it's got a trigger or can pull a trigger, you're going to like it. I know that."
Maddy blushed, then took a sip of her tea to cover up her rosy cheeks.
Ty was lying in his bunk and looked at his watch. The sun had gone down, but they had no way of knowing that from their underground quarters. Alaria's man, Shoot Ogawa still hadn't arrived yet and Ty's eyelids were growing heavy. Still he stayed awake, staring up at the top bunk.
"Hey Maddy, first thing we do we win this war, let's kill all the lawyers," Ty joked. Something soft and wet hit him in the face. He looked down to his side and saw an orange peel next to him. From the top bunk at the opposite side of the room, Jackie was glaring at him.
"You better watch it, sir. That's not the only projectile I got aimed at your head," she said, her voice grumpy and agitated.
Just then they heard a knock. "Come on in, door's open," Ty said.
In walked a man with tan skin and black hair down to his neck. He was relatively short but looked muscular. He made eye contact with everyone when he spoke. "My name is Shoot Ogawa. Alaria assigned me to aid you in your expedition to Outpost Maxfield, I understand. I hope I can be of the utmost help," he said.
Ty looked him over. He had a scoped rifle slung over his back and a look of seriousness in his eyes. "Well, you make a good first impression, Ogawa. I just want to know how useful you're really gonna be to us on our little fact-finding mission seeing as you brought a gun to a place you knew it wouldn't likely be used. That thing ain't just for show, is it?"
"No sir Mr. Ashfield, I..." Ogawa started to say.
"Just call me Ty, Ty's fine," he interjected.
"Yes sir," Ogawa quickly said. "As you said, I have no plans to fire this weapon at this point. I brought it instead as proof. I did not have this gun when I arrived at Outpost Candi. I had to earn it. As Alaria mentioned, I am a sharpshooter. I can hit an acorn at 200 yards with this rifle," said Ogawa, maintaining eye contact with Ty.
"An acorn won't fire back. You ever been in a fight with that thing?" Ty asked Shoot.
"Only simulated firefights. I assure you though, the training was very thorough," Ogawa answered.
Ty concentrated on Shoot and licked his teeth. "Thoughts, ladies?" he inquired.
"He might be of use. Shoot, if we come across any Combine forces or crab-heads, are you firing that thing?" Jackie asked him.
"Not unless I have to. Like you all, I have a bow and am more than competent in using it. This rifle can be heard upwards of one mile away when fired. The risk of attracting further transgressors is too great for it to be used in anything but the gravest of circumstances," he answered with confidence.
"Good answer," Jackie said with a smile.
Ty was still staring at Shoot when he asked, "Maddy, you cool with Mr. Ogawa here?"
"He can come," she said.
Ty looked at Shoot. "Well you got the two votes of confidence you needed so meet us bright and early tomorrow morning," he told him.
"Thank you," Ogawa responded. He bowed his head and left, gently closing the door behind him.
After Shoot Ogawa left, Jackie got up and blew out the candle that dimly illuminated their room and Ty's drowsiness returned. His eyelids started drooping and his mind began to wander once again when he was snapped back to reality.
"You said he had two votes of confidence," Jackie said, a bit of perplexion in her voice.
"Yeah, and?" Ty said, annoyed at the disturbance.
Jackie got straight to the point. "Well, are you confident in him or not?"
Ty thought for a second. "I've seen boys that I thought were men cry and fall on their hands and knees at the things they saw in this war. There are horrors that no training can prepare you for. I am confident he is trained well. If he can handle himself when the horrors present themselves in the field is a whole 'nother question. You and Maddy got my vote of confidence and that's enough. Now let me sleep."
And Ty was disturbed no more that night.
Ty dreamt of fire. A small campfire in the night that grew outside the stones meant to contain it. It consumed all it touched and expanded farther outward. The twigs and undergrowth of the forest fed the flames and yet still it was hungry. It consumed the bushes and yearling trees. Everything it touched died and it grew unyielding. The trees too became victims of the flames, their bark popping in the intense heat. The forest became the servant of the fire. As its dominion grew, the fire came upon a base populated with Lambda Resistance members. They saw the terror and knew there was no hope but still they ran, for it was all they knew. The flames chased them with all the fury of the woods and one man turned around and ran into the high flickering columns alight with orange and yellow. He screamed loudly once as he passed the threshold. The others continued their sprint but they too were overtaken, the flesh melting from their bodies and their bodies becoming charred piles of bones crackling in the heat. The fire paid no mind to the men for its ruthless death was all it knew and could not be quieted.
Ty awoke in a cold sweat and looked at his watch. Just after 3:00 in the morning. He tried to go back to sleep but he was not tired. With a groan he sat up in his bed. "Fucking Keating," he said under his breath. "Only an idiot would do something like that."
He laid back down and thought about the day ahead. He decided he and Ogawa would walk across from each other as they traversed the woods with Maddy and Jackie off to either side and slightly behind. He wanted to keep an eye on Ogawa and should they be spotted with overwhelming force, give the women a chance to flee back to Candi to report on what had happened. Maddy and Jackie would also be able to keep watch over their rear from where they were. When they got to Outpost Maxfield, they would first try to make contact with its members. If there were none to be found, they would spend only as much time as needed to assess what happened. Ty didn't want to spend a second more in what he already perceived was a death trap.
At 4:00 Ty woke up Maddy and Jackie. Maddy sprang to life and Ty suspected she had been up at least as long as he had. Jackie was groggy was usual but packed up without protest. They made their way above ground.
When they breached the surface they could hear crickets chirping. It was still pitch black out, but Ty saw Ogawa standing out in the open. He signaled for Shoot to come and they went in the mess hall where they ate and Ty told them of his plan. He asked if there were any objections and there were none. They would reach Maxfield by midday and if everything went smoothly they would be back at Candi by nightfall. Ogawa pulled out a hand-drawn map of the area encompassing Outposts Candi and Maxfield and pointed out an old highway they would intersect on their way.
"Shit," Ty said looking at the map. The highway went on for too long in both directions to be circumvented. "We're gonna have to cross this fuckin' thing twice today. Now I know why Alaria was going on about that 'highly qualified' bullshit."
"Are we endangered because of the openness?" Jackie asked.
"That's pretty much the whole of it," Ty said. "Even in their disrepair the Combine's vehicles can travel over and above the road system. And if they're the ones responsible for Maxfield, they might be waiting on them or us. When we cross, we run like hell, got it?"
Everyone nodded their head at Ty. Ty nodded to Ogawa as to show his gratitude for the valuable piece of information.
When they finished eating Ty stood up. "Now there ain't nothing to do but put the ground beneath us behind us. Let's move."
They hiked westward as Ty had planned. He let Ogawa hold on to the map since it was his creation and no one knew it better. And he wanted to know where the road was before they saw it.
As they walked the sun rose and the morning light reached across the forest making its features known once again and the animals came to life, filling the quiet. An hour into their expedition they had gained sight but lost their acute hearing so they continued on at their deliberate pace.
Not thirty minutes after the sun's light came, Ty spotted two zombies off to their left walking with their usual drunken stupor and he signaled for everyone to go around them. The crab-walkers didn't have great eyesight and their constant wailing meant it wasn't difficult to avoid them. Twenty minutes after that, Ogawa spotted a zombie on their right. Ty signaled for everyone to cut left. And twenty minutes after that, Maddy signaled that she had spotted two zombies a couple of ridges over on their left.
This kept up for the next three hours. The numbers of zombies they came across seemed as plentiful as the trees. Only once were they unable to avoid the crab-walkers when one appeared from the brush and tried to run towards them, its legs still tangled in branches. Its wails were like desperate screams, like it hadn't eaten in months. They could have walked around it, but Ty didn't like the idea of something that noisy being kept alive. So he drew his bow and fired an arrow. As they walked by it they saw its body's small twitches signal that life was leaving the two creatures come together as one. Ty took back his arrow.
When the sun was about halfway to its peak, Ogawa signaled to the group to come to him and they did.
"The road is up ahead, less than 200 yards," he said, looking towards Ty, Maddy, and Jackie.
"Alright, I'mma go scout it out. You all wait here. If I ain't back in ten, come and get me, but if some shit breaks out you'll hear it alright," Ty said.
Ty split from the group and a couple minutes later he caught sight of the road. When he saw it he squatted down to just look and listen. He heard nothing besides the occasional bird call and slowly approached the side of the road. Peeking his head out, Ty looked northbound, then southbound, then straight up.
The road had held up surprisingly well in the fifteen years or so since it had last been cared for. There were few potholes and only a couple large splits that ran along it, and the guardrail on his side was still up. Trees lightly lined the side of the road as far as he could see in both directions. The only thing on the road itself was an old rusted-out sedan. Ty wondered what would make the people in that car abandon it in the middle of this inhospitable forest. Were they out of gas? Under attack from the early Combine? He would never know. He waited a minute more, then headed back to Jackie, Maddy, and Ogawa.
"The road is clear. Here's our game plan: We're gonna walk real slow till we get to just outside the guardrail. On my signal, we jump the rail and sprint across till we're clear in the woods on the other side. Got it?" Ty asked.
Everyone nodded their heads. They made their way to the edge of the road and Ty held up his hand to stop everyone. He turned his head left, right, and then up. Then he threw down his hand and everyone ran like hell, their feet pattering on the old gravel.
On the other side of the road they collected themselves.
"Hope it's that smooth on the way back," Jackie said, her breathing a little heavier than normal.
They continued their expedition to Outpost Maxfield. On the other side of the road, the density of zombies seemed much greater, and Ty and his crew had to weave much more in order to avoid them.
A few hours later Ogawa waved at Ty, Maddy and Jackie to get down. Ty saw it too. Outpost Maxfield was just in sight. Its structure was similar to Outpost Keating's. Good eye Ogawa, Ty said to himself. Ty signaled for Maddy and Jackie to crawl over to them.
Ty said, "Jackie, Maddy, you come with me. We're gonna sniff around and see what we see. Ogawa, you stay here and keep us covered."
Ogawa found a comfortable prone position and the three others walked to the outpost in an alert state, looking from left to right.
It was a massacre. Zombies and humans alike. Boney limbs were strewn all over the remains of the outpost. Tables were flipped over and lockers knocked on their sides. Flies covered the dead bodies and they reeked of old death. Ty could tell it had been a least a few days since whatever happened here happened. Some of the corpsified zombies were full of arrows and bolts, while others had crusty blood-soaked bullet holes in them. The Lambda Resistance members had long and deep wounds all over their bodies, signalling that the zombies had slashed them with their long, thin appendages. To Ty it had seemed as if the members of Outpost Maxfield had defended themselves against a horde of crab-walkers with arrows and crossbows only to resort later to their noisy guns. And even after all that they had lost.
"Over here," Maddy said in a hushed voice. She was outside the outpost, on the side opposite of where they had came in.
Ty and Jackie made their way over. Maddy was standing next to the corpses of two Resistance members. She squatted down and pointed at the bloody spots on their bodies. They were bullet wounds. "These guys weren't taken out by zombies," she said.
"Maybe they lost it, started shooting at each other," Jackie suggested.
"Maybe after they started firing their guns the Combine caught wind of their location," Ty suggested back. He picked up a pistol lying next to one of the bodies and took out the magazine, inspecting it.
"It's full. Not a round fired. Look at these guys. They're face down, pointed away from Maxfield. They weren't shooting at each other, they was running. This was the Combine, they were cleaning up the work the damned zombies left unfinished," he said staring at the corpses. He tucked the gun in the back of his pants. "We need to leave here, now! Grab anything you might find useful, but make it snappy," he said.
They left with some food, water, and weapons and found Ogawa. "The Combine been here, we need to get back to Candi, doubletime," Ty told him.
They went back the way they had came, moving eastward. The number of zombies seemed staggering to Ty. Had there been this many coming in? Were they so focused on Outpost Maxfield that they hadn't noticed this anomaly? Ty didn't allow Maddy or Ogawa to fire their guns. "If they found Outpost Maxfield from a little gunfire, they'll surely find our sorry asses," he reasoned. There was no argument on that point.
Two hours after they left Maxfield they were just beyond sight of the road. Ty had them all gather again.
"Same game as last time. I'm going to check and make sure the way is clear. I'll be back, you all wait here," he said.
He walked carefully towards the road. He thought he heard a high-pitched beep and someone say "In position" but he couldn't be sure. He put himself in a prone position and continued to make his way towards the road. Rounding a tree, he saw what looked like two Armored Personnel Carriers parked on the road and about a dozen Combine troops standing next to them. He waited there for a minute with the false hope that they would pack up and leave, allowing his crew to cross the road and head back to Outpost Candi, but he knew better.
He backed away and slowly made his way back to his crew.
"They got the road blocked off, about a dozen Combine soldiers," he said in a whisper.
"Did they know we were here? How did they know? What are we going to do?" Jackie asked, breathing real heavy.
"I don't know Jack. I don't know, and I don't know," Ty responded. "Four against twelve ain't gonna go well for us, even with you a sharpshooter. We don't got the element of surprise either, they're alert and waiting for us I'd say."
Maddy spoke up. "It's like they say, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"
"Say again?" Ty asked.
Maddy was staring straight ahead with a slight smile. "I know how we can kill them. We can kill them all."
It had been an hour since Maddy went back west towards Outpost Maxfield. The three of them were keeping a close eye out for her. When she came back, it was going to quickly turn into a shit show.
"Do you really think this will work?" Ogawa asked Jackie.
"It's going to be messy, but if there's one person who can pull this stunt off, it's Maddy," she returned.
"That woman is nuts," Ty added. "So it's probably gonna work."
"I mean, do you really think she'll be able to bait so many of them?" Ogawa asked again.
Just then, they heard a sound. Like sticks being hit together. And it was getting closer.
"I think it's her, get in position," Ty told Jackie and Ogawa.
They made their way to the side of the road, just out of sight of the Combine soldiers. The sound was getting louder, like a percussive beat riding up on them from behind.
Before long, Ty heard the rhythmic crunching of leaves underfoot. He could tell those feet were running. This was going to happen. Then he caught sight of Maddy.
"Holy fucking shit," he whispered to himself.
Maddy was running like a crazed woman with sticks in her hands. She was beating the sticks above her head like she wanted to attract every damned thing with a pair of ears in a 10 mile radius. Behind her was a horde of about 30 zombies giving chase to her. The bait was set. This was really going to happen.
Ty saw one of the Combine soldiers nudge another and point to the source of the noise.
"You hear that?" the soldier asked.
"Yeah. What do you think it is?" he asked back.
Maddy ran past Ty and the rest as if they didn't exist. The zombies trailing her didn't notice them either. She ran straight for the road and when she reached it, it took the Combine troops a second to process the madness they were perceiving. Here was a woman acting as a ringleader to this circus of zombies. It was a second too late though, because right behind her the zombies caught sight of easier prey than this woman they were chasing. They turned their attention to the Combine.
Ty saw the zombies start attacking the Combine as Maddy dived over the guardrail on the other side of the road. The zombies had forgotten all about her. Instead, they attacked the Combine in an unorganized chaos.
The Combine in the back scrambled for higher ground on their APCs while those in front fired their MP7's continuously, almost swinging them from side-to-side. The zombies screamed and flailed their deadly long limbs about, throwing some Combine down. One soldier had his gun knocked from his hands. Ty spotted one of the soldiers on an APC take aim towards the zombies ready to pounce on his helpless comrade. He drew back his bow, aimed it towards the Combine's head, took a deep breath in, and slowly exhaled to steady his aim. Before he put any pressure on his quick release though, the back of the soldier's head erupted with a blast from the other side of the road. Chunks of brain matter littered the ground and the soldier fell from his elevated spot down onto his fallen comrade. The zombies tore into them both. The two Combine soldiers screamed helplessly as the others worked just to defend themselves.
Ty looked across the street and saw Maddy wielding her SPAS-12 shotgun, wisps of smoke rising from the barrel.
Ogawa fired his rifle at another soldier standing atop the APC. A stream of red jetted from the back of his head and he fell over, sliding down the vehicle.
Ty saw the last soldier standing on an APC pull out a grenade and look towards their direction. The soldier may not have been able to see them, but could hear them fire. And Ty knew that close enough worked well with hand grenades. He pulled the pin as Ty pulled back his bow string. Aiming it at his head, he took one more deep breath, and released it. So slowly. With just the slightest pressure put on his quick release, the arrow flew. His bow made a thwong as the arrow pierced the forehead of the soldier. His head flew back and he dropped the grenade, arming it.
"GET BACK!" Ty shouted to Maddy. He grabbed Ogawa and Jackie and thrust them away from the road.
The grenade exploded. The fuel tank of the APCs caught fire, which exploded in a damning fury. The force of the blast threw off one of the APC's five-foot wheels in their direction. Ty had only enough time to dive out of the way. He could feel the ground under him rumble when the tire landed.
"Ty! Ty! Help me!" Jackie was shouting. She was trying to lift the massive wheel up. It had crushed Ogawa.
Ty scrambled over and helped Jackie tilt the wheel on its side to free Ogawa. He bellowed out a cry of strain as he lifted.
When they got the tire upright, Jackie shrieked. Ogawa lie motionless, his back curved in two different directions. He was dead.
Maddy approached them and when she saw Ogawa's body, a look of sorrow crossed her half-bloodied face.
"Oh my god, Maddy, are you okay?" Jackie asked.
"Is he…?" Maddy managed to ask, seemingly unaware of Jackie's concern.
"Nothing more we can do for 'im," Ty said. He reached down and took Ogawa's scoped rifle. "They're gonna be wanting this back. Right now we need to hide this body. The Combine might believe this squad we just took out fell victim to a bad zombie attack if we don't leave any evidence of our being here. We'll let Candi's members worry about getting him back."
"I hate to leave him here like this," Jackie said.
"I know. Me too. But trying to move this body to Outpost Candi would take us two days, and that's two days we don't have," Ty replied.
They carried Ogawa's body 100 yards from where he died and covered it with leaves.
"One for twelve, and it still wasn't a fair trade," Ty said, shaking his head.
On their way back across the road, Ty looked over the bloodbath. He could see the dancing flames and the upper-half of one zombie weakly trying to pull itself away from the heat, its human carcass burned to black ash.
They hopped over the guardrail. Ty spoke to break up the uncomfortable silence.
"I can't believe you pulled that maneuver off, Maddy," he said.
"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"
The sun was close to setting when they returned to Outpost Candi. The guards were waiting for them this time and let them in with no trouble.
"Alaria wants to see you all," one of the guards said to them on the way in.
"We lost Shoot Ogawa. Tell Alaria he can find us in the mess hall. It's been a long, messy day and we're hungry," Ty said for the group.
They sat down and Ty offered to get everyone food. He left and came back with their suppers. They wolfed down stale bread, nuts, boiled corn, steamed potatoes, and rabbit.
Alaria came in after they had had their fill. He sat down with the crew.
"What happened?" he asked them.
Ty explained to Alaria what they had encountered at Maxfield, the Lambda Resistance members mowed down trying to run from Combine forces. He told him of the soldiers waiting for them on the road, and their APCs, and the explosion, and Shoot Ogawa. Ty laid down Ogawa's rifle on the dinner table and Alaria touched it.
"The death of Shoot Ogawa is naught but an oscillation for him. He is elsewhere now, and he believed in the cause," Alaria said, reassuring them.
"Is that part of your Vortessence crap?" Ty asked.
"Ty, what I believe is the truth. It is a truth that remains hidden to your people. Life does not end at death, it begins anew. Still, we will miss him dearly. First thing in the morning we will send a team to retrieve his body," Alaria said.
Ty didn't reply.
Alaria looked at the members of the Outpost Keating and said, "I have found out something on my own that may shed light on what happened to Maxfield. As you know, rather large numbers of zombies have been present in and around our outposts for the last several months. Our man on the inside in City 17 was able to contact us today. He informed us that this influx was the work of the Combine knowledgeable to the existence of our operations, but not our locations. They're trying to force our err..."
"Why couldn't your man have told us this earlier?" Ty interrupted.
"He's not at liberty to communicate with us whenever he wills it," Alaria responded. "You must understand the position he is in requires a great deal of sensitivity. But he was able to tell us that the Combine forces are trying to find our operations centers and crush our network of Lambda Resistance members. They're harvesting headcrabs and abducting citizens in cities around the Earth to create zombies, or 'necrotics' as they call them, then dropping them in strategic locations all around the forests of this area to flush us out, so spoken."
"Ty, didn't you tell us that you and Tripp saw Combine forces walking together on a patrol not too far from Keating?" Jackie asked. "That would explain why they were walking so close. They knew the area was littered with zombies and stayed close for greater protection from them."
"Hmm," Ty said, putting it all together. "Well how did they anticipate us at the road?" Ty asked to no one in particular.
"They might have used scanners, similar to the ones present throughout the remaining cities," Alaria reckoned. "For wilderness environments they have models, Scanners Type III & IV, made for covert surveillance."
"All of this shit better have been worth that damn generator. And we're keeping the goods we found, too," Ty said.
"I would say you have earned your generator and the right to what you found," Alaria responded.
"Have it ready for us, we're leaving in the morning," Ty said, leaving the table.
"Very well," said Alaria.
Dragging the generator behind him, Ty and his crew reached Outpost Keating. The sun was setting and beads of sweat covered Ty who was huffing his way past the gate. Tripp was guarding the entrance, waiting for them.
"What took you so long? Did you get Ty'd up?" Tripp asked with a huge grin across his face.
"Take this thing from me or I'll tie you up," Ty replied, handing the generator to Tripp. "Did you have any troubles while we were gone?" he asked him.
"A few zombies, but nothing I couldn't handle," Tripp answered with a pride in his voice.
"I'm proud of you, Tripp," Jackie said, smirking a little.
"Well thanks, Jack," Tripp responded, rolling his eyes. "What happened over at Candi?"
"It wasn't so much what happened at Candi as what Candi made us do for this damn thing," he said, motioning towards the generator. "I'll tell you all about our fun later."
"You want me to go attach this and flip on some lights?" he asked.
"Hook everything up, but we're gonna have blackout tonight 'cept a nice campfire for us. I got a story I want to tell y'all," Ty said.
"Sounds fun. What story is it going to be this time?" Jackie inquired.
"Well, back at Candi I had another dream about Keating. Thought I would finally tell y'all 'bout him," Ty said.
Tripp installed the generator while JL and Feathers started the fire. The sun had set and the creatures of the night chirped, hoo'ed, and howled. When the flames were tall and warm to the members of Outpost Keating sitting around them, Ty spoke.
"This is the story of how of how I gained this outpost, but lost a friend. Brad Keating. I've been dreaming 'bout him too much over the years to keep it bottled up anymore and seeing those APCs erupt into flames killing a man on our team just pushed me over the edge. So here goes: this is a story about a fire in the night."
The campfire burned bright and Ty told them his story.