Dead in the Water

Speaking of dangerous roads, you hear the sound of an engine roaring in the distance! It’s like a gun going off, and you understand now what the others must have heard when Richard fired his weapon earlier today. The motor barks, and the sound reverberates through the trees, even all the way to camp. You suppose Big John had eventually turned around and is making a show of passing the spot you had met in the most intimidating fashion he can manage right now!

Surely he is speeding his way back to New Haven as you stand on the waterside!

You throw your lives into the riverboats in a hurry! Eva and Selena grab as much as they can from the waterfront and race it to the boat. Some of the others work on getting the bikes up into the thing; throwing the mountain bikes onboard, but being more careful with Billie-Faye’s ride! The work is silent, and sweaty. Rain comes down, but you don’t trust it to cover the noise of you talking as you work.

What if someone was listening?…

Goodbyes are said, and left unsaid, to random knick knacks you’d have to leave behind you. The pizza car, and its mouthwatering menus, primary among them! You’d done the best you could in the few minutes since you’d heard the car roar by!

You pile on; Martin ushering each of you on like some captain on a Mediterranean cruise ship! Using some of the longer sticks you’d found to try build a ramp, you push off. It’s slow going, as the raft unsticks itself from its place. With a sudden jerk, the vessel pulls itself free and begins to drift downstream.

Later…
"Jesus Christ!" a man calls, pulling his hand up to cover his mouth. He looks as if he might vomit at the sight.

"Jacob! You know we don’t take the Lord’s name in vain!" a woman chides him immediately, as she too surveys the grim discovery. Her face is tight, her hair grey!
"They cut Joe’s fucking head off!" the man says back, by way of explanation for his lapse. The small gathering of men and women on the road grumble! Several ball their fists, while others turn away.

"I told you…" Big John’s voice booms so that all those gathered can here! "… that these people were sick freaks!" he says, spittle flying! A white bandage covers the place where Richard had got him earlier!

"They’d have got me, too! Joe held them off long enough for me to get away…

He… He saved my life!" the man goes on. A ripple of pride goes through the group assembled.

The woman with the grey hair puts a hand to John’s shoulder, nodding her head.

"You did good to get away, John! These people… We are going to find them! And we are going to exact our retribution on them!" she says, louder and trying to rile up the crowd.

It works, as the assembled mob begins to hoot and holler, as they swear revenge on Joe’s killers.

While the pontoon starts to move, it’s a group effort to guide it safely out of the nook you had landed in for the summer. All hands on deck, and even Eva and Selena call warnings as the craft inches out and into open river water.

Before long, you’re motoring. Every moment you spend on the river, with the map showing it diverge from the road, is a moment further away from the New Haven group you had butted heads with this morning. Owen’s ever-steadying hand is at the wheel, and you watch as the trees pass you by with increasing pace. As the immediate danger passes, you settle in for the long ride down river, to be doubly certain you’ve wriggled free from any pursuit.

Hours pass, and the storm only seems to nip at your heels. Or maybe it’s wasn’t all that bad as it seemed to begin with. Eventually, the afternoon sun starts to hit you.

You pass small groups of walkers, shuffling through the wilderness. After god knows how long roaming the woods, they finally have something to home in on. By the time they drag themselves from the brush, you’re long gone!

"Land ahoy!" Emma calls, throwing her hand up against the sun, and pointing out a building a ways down the river. The bridge you had spotted on the map is coming up, as well as what you suppose is…

"That’ll be the Thumbs-Up Diner we saw on the map!" Martin butts in, also pointing it out.

The others all crane their necks, wondering if the diner might be somewhere worth checking out. All save for Owen, who had let his mind wander back to the scene on the road.

…kkkkkkrrrrrrrriiiiihhhh…
The ear piercing sound of metal scrapping against river rocks screeches out, sending hands to cover ears! The pontoon shudders, and it’s immediately apparent that the thing has bounced off something large on the river bed.

You hear the gurgling snarls of some walkers unseen, responding to the sudden eruption of noise. Then, you hear two distinct splashes, as both Tracy and Eva lose their footing from the impact, and go tumbling over the side of the craft and into the river!

"EVA!" the young newcomer shouts, and her call is met with more vicious snarls from the walkers somewhere in the bush! The young woman frantically looks about the hurriedly packed boat!