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KATE
I hike toward the Creekside common room, glancing at my watch. It’s time for a check-in call with Alvarez. We missed the last check-in due to the alpha attack, and he missed the check-in before that. I’m anxious to catch up with my young friend.
Upon reaching the main dorm, I find Carter and Jenna there. They collect their library books to make room for me at the kitchen table with the ham radio. Carter gives me a firm hug, something he’s taken to doing every time he sees me. I hug him back, grateful for my son, then settle down in front of the ham radio.
“Mama Bear to Foot Soldier. Are you there? Over.”
“Mama Bear, this is Foot Soldier. Good to hear your voice. You missed our last scheduled check-in. Over.”
Alvarez. I sigh in relief at the sound of his voice, tossing a few coffee beans into my mouth. “I wasn’t the only one to miss a check-in. You missed the one before that.” I dispense with the official radio jargon.
“It couldn’t be helped. A few of my people were nabbed by some bandits that came through the area.” His voice turns harsh and brittle. “No way those assholes were going to get away with taking my people. I went back to the fort and pulled together a full platoon. We got them back.”
“Is everyone okay?”
Silence drags through the ham radio for long moments. “We lost two. Two more were shot, but they’re on the mend. On the bright side, we acquired a doctor. He was being held captive by the raiders.”
“Maybe your doctor can talk to Ash, our medic. We have a man recovering from a shark attack.”
“How did one of your people get attacked by a shark?”
“He wasn’t one of mine when he was attacked. He and his wife own a charter boat. They were at sea when the shit hit the fan. Survived out there for months.” I lay out the rest of the story, including our rescue of Gary and Susan.
“Shit. That’s bad luck. Shark attack during the zombie apocalypse. Let’s set up a time for our doctor to talk to your medic.”
“Thanks, Foot Soldier. I owe you one.”
“You can pay me back with another trip to the library. Can you find me a book on fish farming and fish management? One of the women in our group wants to start a fish hatchery. She used to work for fish and game and knows how to run one, but not how to build one.”
I stare at the ham radio, not sure how to tell Alvarez that we lost the library. It hurts to think about all that knowledge buried in rubble. It doesn’t help that it was my idea to blow it up.
“Mama Bear? You still there? Over.”
“I’m here, Foot Soldier. I’m sorry to tell you this, but the library is gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”
“We had a ... situation up here. It’s the reason I missed our last check-in call.”
I relay an abridged version of the last week and a half. From the appearance of the alphas, to our battle to protect the university, and to our work on the new fortifications around the dorms.
Alvarez lets out a long whistle when I finish. “And I thought things were fucked up on my end.”
“Have you guys seen any alphas in your area?” I ask.
“No. Not yet. I’ll be sure to warn my people and let you know if we see anything.” His voice sharpens. “Can you back up to the part where you guys blew up the library? That’s a big loss for all of us.”
“I know. We didn’t have a choice. We created a barricade that buried half the horde and diverted the rest away from the campus.”
“So you have a primary wall on the south end of campus? And you’re building a secondary fortification around the dorms?”
“Yeah. We’ve been working from sun-up to sundown for the last week. We have another few days of hard work in front of us, but it’s getting there.”
“Damn, Mama Bear. Sounds like you’re going to have your own fortress up there. Is everyone in your group okay?”
My throat tightens as I think of Jesus and Lila. All I can bring myself to say is, “I lost two of my people, too.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I know how hard that is. Are you sleeping?”
I snort. “Right.”
His commiserative chuckle rolls out of the receiver. “I feel your pain, Mama Bear.”
I close my eyes, comforted by his empathy. Like Ben, Alvarez knows how I feel. He’s lost people, too.
It’s one of the reasons I look forward to our ham radio chats every three days. Alvarez and I both lead our small communities; it’s nice to have someone in my same position to talk to. He knows what it means to have people depending on him.
“Don’t let the grief and the guilt distract you from your primary mission,” Alvarez says. “Focus on the living.”
“Is that how you get through the days?”
“Yeah. Sometimes, it’s the only thing that gets me through.”
I inhale deeply, flinching away from the memory of my knife as it slid through Jesus’s skull. Of Lila’s ruined head when her body hit the ground. I summon a mental image of my living family: Carter, Jenna, Johnny, Eric, Reed, Ash, Caleb, and Ben. I let their presence fill me, pushing back the darkness.
“Mama Bear?”
“I’m here.”
“I’d take your alphas over my bandits. You know when I said they kidnapped a few of my people?”
A sick lump forms in my stomach. “Yeah?”
“The people they took were women, one of them just a teenager.”
“Shit,” I breathe.
“We found them, but not before they ... it was a long forty-eight hours, Kate. The worst part is that two of the fuckers got away. I’d feel better if they were all dead. Knowing they’re still out there makes me uneasy.”
I understand how he feels. I couldn’t live with the threat of Johnson hanging over us. If these bandits hurt his people, Alvarez must be chomping at the bit to even the scales.
“Don’t give up,” I say. “Double up on watch. They might show themselves again, especially if they’re short on supplies.”
“I almost wish they would.” Alvarez’s laugh is hollow. “I’d like nothing more than to gut those fuckers with our fish hooks. Have I told you about those?”
Even though I can’t see Alvarez’s face, I can tell by his tone that he wants to change the subject. “You haven’t mentioned the fish hooks.”
“Big fucking things. Like, the size of a small baby. Apparently they’re used for tuna fishing. We found some on a scavenging run. We’re getting pretty good at fishing.”
“My son and his girlfriend want to figure out a way to fish for oysters in Humboldt Bay.”
“Oysters, huh? I wouldn’t turn my nose up at that idea.”
“Yeah, except there’s no safe way to navigate downtown Arcata right now. We have no way of knowing how many alphas are out there.”
“You’ll figure something out, Mama Bear. You always do. If you could figure out how to run two hundred miles through a zombie apocalypse, you can figure this out.”
Alvarez and I talk for another few minutes before Johnny shows up. He’s been interviewing people from Fort Ross for one of the many books he’s writing. I say my goodbye to Alvarez and pass the ham to Johnny.
As I exit the room, chewing on another few coffee beans, my gaze travels across the room to the shrine Jesus built to St. Roch. Reed hung his pendant inside. I stare at the pendant, something Alvarez said tickles the back of my mind.
If you could figure out how to run two hundred miles through a zombie apocalypse, you can figure this out.
I pause, my exhausted mind spinning. When running, how many times have I faced an unknown? Why should this situation be any different? All I have to do is break it into manageable chunks. That’s what I always did with a long, hard race. Dissected them. Developed tactics for different terrains, weathers, and altitudes.
An idea takes shape in my mind. Alvarez is right. The alphas are a challenge to be overcome. I just need to develop a complex training plan to deal with them.
And I know just how to start.