บท 45: Scout The Path Ahead
It took a week to gather everything we needed in order to go to Vincent's. Trevor, Dustin, and Dad worked closely together to formulate a plan, one that I wasn't very knowledgeable in, however, one that I played a very, very major part in.
Yesterday, Mom, Dad, Skylar, and I had a conversation about going to Vincent's location. Mom was all for us staying behind, and letting her and Dad move up... but we came to a better conclusion.
Mom, Dad, Skylar, and I would all go. The best way to keep your family safe is by staying close together, and being there when they needed it. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing in hindsight, but what it would do for us would be better than being split apart.
Mom, Dad, Skylar, Jason, Uncle Brandon, myself, and Cody's entire family went with Trevor and Dustin to scout The Horde and the path it would take to plan for the future. The back of the Truck was full of empty space, allowing us to take shelter from the dead in case of anything bad. It was open to the front, so we could see Trevor and Dustin, and look ahead to see what was going on.
We left from the right side of the base, following the curved road that would lead us almost directly to the high school after a few intersections. The High School was in the north-western direction from the Elementary School, and after going through two intersections, we could see it in the distance.
I even peered my head above the two seats to see what was going on, to see what this talk about The Horde was all about...
And they weren't lying.
All around the first intersection, houses were demolished, charred with black ash. I could see the bricks, wooden planks, and burnt insulation crowding the grass where the houses were built. They reeked of an unfortunate incident, and even though I tried to avoid watching the dead families burnt to ash as well on the cement, some of them with bullet holes in their heads to prevent the process of turning into a zombie, I couldn't help but look.
The world terrified me, thoroughly... the corpses of rotting zombies were crushed everywhere, with broken bones sticking out, and splattered limbs and appendages following near their bodies. It was weird, hearing that the pressure from the size of The Horde could take out houses, I didn't believe it until now. Pressure so intense it would implode the bodies of other zombies, I had no reason to think it was a lie anymore. There were so many zombies in The Horde that I would be crushed from pressure if I was surrounded, not even being eaten alive.
"What the hell... this place is a wasteland... so, he leads The Horde through here? But how does he do that?" Dad asked Trevor. He tapped his headrest while peeking around, trying to see what he could.
"You see that senior home right there? With that destroyed wall? That bell right there, that's what attracts the zombies. Somebody has to stay ahead of The Horde and lead them around in the circle. It's kind of weird, you know? How Vincent is so proficient in this apocalypse, but it only really started around six months ago. Really makes you think, how does he do it?" Trevor asked everybody out loud. Dad kept his mouth shut and his eyes ahead, watching the bloodied road glimmer in the sunlight.
"I don't know, he must've been a really smart guy. Maybe he still can be," Dad suggested, letting Trevor drive down the path where The Horde would walk if they were on this side. They destroyed nearly everything, only leaving a gas station at the intersection before the High School standing.
"How close can you get us? Can you drive us up to the front door?" Dad asked Trevor. I noticed he was swerving a lot, he must've been avoiding potholes in the road, or something of the sort.
"You want to go up to the front door? Are you sure? It seems a little... weird, doing that with your family here and all, I'm telling you, Vincent is really dangerous," Dustin asked Dad next. I agreed with him, I didn't want to be put in danger... but I also wanted to see what this Vincent guy was all about.
"We should not do anything of the sort. We'll ask Vincent if he'd like to discuss trades over at our place, and that's it. Is he ever outside? I don't want to go in to see him," Mom asked Dustin next, but he only shrugged.
"I don't know, I'm not nearby... but we might be able to talk to one of his guards to see what Vincent would say. You guys stay in the back... we'll try the talking," Dustin told all of us. It was weird, hearing this all play out when I thought we had already discussed the plan. It seems they were improvising now. Skylar and I just stood quietly in the truck, feeling it swerve against the potholes.
"Thank you, for working with us. It'll be worth it in the end, I know it will," Dad shortly clarified, putting his hand on his hip.
To all of our surprise, he put the gun against Dustin's head and clicked off the safety as Trevor came to an instant stop in the truck. It threw us all forward by a little bit, and Mom reacted perfectly when she took out her gun and put it on the back of Trevor's headrest. Without fail, she was on board with what Dad was trying to do.
"You two seem to know this road very, very well for not driving on this path ever. Every pothole, I mean. On top of that, you're awfully confident in talking to Vincent, a 'really dangerous man', and I find that... intriguing. I'm sorry to say, whatever your names are, but I'm a hundred times more dangerous than you'd think," Dad politely said.
Cody's Dad, Jason, and Uncle Brandon racked their guns and held them up in the truck, and I followed right behind as well.
"The bells, the road, your willingness, the fact the zombies never ran through our property, the one kid named Jack Waters that strangely looks a lot like Trevor. Let me guess, Trevor Waters?" Dad asked. He turned his head, staring at the driver of the truck who apparently had been with Vincent this entire time.
"There's no way you guessed that... there's absolutely no way! We never gave anything away!" The man I thought was named Dustin screamed out.
"You're right, you didn't, but you just did. Do you know those bells? How could Vincent know that? I know a thing or two about that trick. It was in a zombie show, you ever heard of Dead Walkers?" Dad asked him.
I could see Dustin's face warp in confusion as he looked at Dad. His eyes widened. This was something I didn't understand, but if Connie were here, she would instantly know what was going on.
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