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Authors: Joseph Talluto
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higher order animals, but nothing as complex as an actual language, ” Duncan said.
Rebecca asked the obvious. “How do you know?”
Duncan smiled again. “Do you guys know that none of you ever asked me what I did before the Upheaval?”
I had to admit I was shocked. I thought I knew my friends , but this was actually a surprise and a little embarrassing. “I always figured you just did regular work like regular folks. You never talked about it.”
“I worked for Brookfield Zoo as a researcher in animal behavior and analysis. I was an intern there, working on field research for my eventual thesis.”
I didn’t take a step back, but I think everyone else did. We always thought of Duncan as a screwball , but a good man and fighter. Never did we associate him with higher learning.
“Okay then. Well, you were saying?” I asked, wiping off my pick.
“These guys are communicating using crude gestures and sounds to convey meaning. I wouldn’t doubt there is some kind of crude training that goes on for the new recruits. They have an overall objective, which is communicated , as in what commands to obey and when they should obey them. It’s not a perfect system, thankfully, but it is what they have, ” Duncan said.
“So how smart would you say they are?” Sarah asked, clearly intrigued.
Duncan shrugged. “I’d say Rebecca was right on in her estimate that they are probably as smart as cats, with the leader being as smart as a good dog. They may have more subtle communication among themselves, but we can see that the general overall plan is to keep moving east. The leader, whoever she is, will likely be the smartest zombie we have ever come across. I would not be surprised if she could actually speak.”
I nearly sat down at that one. Holy cow. The more I thought about it , the more I started to think I wanted to take her alive. But when I looked down at the bloodied and dead bodies of the small ones ripped from their homes and mothers, taken away by monsters? How much horror were the last few moments of their lives? No, I’ll kill any of these I find. Period.
“All right, well, we’re not getting any further ahead, and we’ve scored a major victory here. Let’s see if we can catch the zombies between here and the army , and finish them off for good, ” I said.
Everyone agreed, and it was going to be a fantastic thing if we could finally finish this and go home.
Aboard the truck, Sarah asked me a simple question. “Feeling better about our chances?”
“I think we got this one, finally.” I said. “ I really do.”
Sarah smiled. “Me, too. Thank God.”
“Let’s get moving.”
Chapter 15
It took us a while to find a survivor. I really wasn’t expecting anyone, but in the cab of a truck, huddled in a ball on the floor, was a live soldier. Tommy found him as we searched the remains of the battlefield for anything that might give us a clue as to what had happened.
Earlier in the day, we had taken on fifty of the little kids, a significant chunk of their forces, or so I had hoped. The rest seemed to be on a collision course with Freeman’s line.
As the sun began its long descent, we had come up from route 34 and were south of Kirkwood when we found the line. There were bodies everywhere, some twitching with the virus, and some dead from self-inflicted wounds. Brass casings were all over the road, and I seriously didn’t think we were going to find any extra ammo anywhere. Weapons were scattered and tossed. I could see from my vantage point that there were many soldiers out in the grass, run down by the zombies that never tired , and ran as fast as they did.
Sarah just shook her head, although I thought I caught a glisten of a tear in her eye. I didn’t blame her. This was a damn mess.
I radioed to the other van and truck. “Let’s head south and see if they got caught there as well. May as well see
Rebecca asked the obvious. “How do you know?”
Duncan smiled again. “Do you guys know that none of you ever asked me what I did before the Upheaval?”
I had to admit I was shocked. I thought I knew my friends , but this was actually a surprise and a little embarrassing. “I always figured you just did regular work like regular folks. You never talked about it.”
“I worked for Brookfield Zoo as a researcher in animal behavior and analysis. I was an intern there, working on field research for my eventual thesis.”
I didn’t take a step back, but I think everyone else did. We always thought of Duncan as a screwball , but a good man and fighter. Never did we associate him with higher learning.
“Okay then. Well, you were saying?” I asked, wiping off my pick.
“These guys are communicating using crude gestures and sounds to convey meaning. I wouldn’t doubt there is some kind of crude training that goes on for the new recruits. They have an overall objective, which is communicated , as in what commands to obey and when they should obey them. It’s not a perfect system, thankfully, but it is what they have, ” Duncan said.
“So how smart would you say they are?” Sarah asked, clearly intrigued.
Duncan shrugged. “I’d say Rebecca was right on in her estimate that they are probably as smart as cats, with the leader being as smart as a good dog. They may have more subtle communication among themselves, but we can see that the general overall plan is to keep moving east. The leader, whoever she is, will likely be the smartest zombie we have ever come across. I would not be surprised if she could actually speak.”
I nearly sat down at that one. Holy cow. The more I thought about it , the more I started to think I wanted to take her alive. But when I looked down at the bloodied and dead bodies of the small ones ripped from their homes and mothers, taken away by monsters? How much horror were the last few moments of their lives? No, I’ll kill any of these I find. Period.
“All right, well, we’re not getting any further ahead, and we’ve scored a major victory here. Let’s see if we can catch the zombies between here and the army , and finish them off for good, ” I said.
Everyone agreed, and it was going to be a fantastic thing if we could finally finish this and go home.
Aboard the truck, Sarah asked me a simple question. “Feeling better about our chances?”
“I think we got this one, finally.” I said. “ I really do.”
Sarah smiled. “Me, too. Thank God.”
“Let’s get moving.”
Chapter 15
It took us a while to find a survivor. I really wasn’t expecting anyone, but in the cab of a truck, huddled in a ball on the floor, was a live soldier. Tommy found him as we searched the remains of the battlefield for anything that might give us a clue as to what had happened.
Earlier in the day, we had taken on fifty of the little kids, a significant chunk of their forces, or so I had hoped. The rest seemed to be on a collision course with Freeman’s line.
As the sun began its long descent, we had come up from route 34 and were south of Kirkwood when we found the line. There were bodies everywhere, some twitching with the virus, and some dead from self-inflicted wounds. Brass casings were all over the road, and I seriously didn’t think we were going to find any extra ammo anywhere. Weapons were scattered and tossed. I could see from my vantage point that there were many soldiers out in the grass, run down by the zombies that never tired , and ran as fast as they did.
Sarah just shook her head, although I thought I caught a glisten of a tear in her eye. I didn’t blame her. This was a damn mess.
I radioed to the other van and truck. “Let’s head south and see if they got caught there as well. May as well see
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