The Mound Builders part 5
by demented20

Thick ropes of twisting muscle flexed along the length of Anna's thighs. Wood creaked and cracked as she pressed the soles of her shoes into the battered wall. The wood popped and nails pinged as Anna's legs began to straighten. Her knees had started near her chest, but in seconds Anna's legs were causing the wall to bow outward. She clenched her jaw. Thick veins throbbed in Anna's neck. A network of veins and arteries were forced to the surface as Anna's thighs thickened. Inch by unstoppable inch, Anna's legs straightened. The heads of her quadriceps flexed high above her kneecap despite the fact that her legs weren't nearly straight.

Ethan lay on the roof of his house picking off zombies that tried to climb out of the windows to get to him. His house was full of the things, and there had been no way to get into the house. Anna had seen the attic vent over the garage and climbed into it, but it was too small for Ethan to fit through. Anna was in the process of taking care of that problem.

As he lay with his rifle tucked into his shoulder, he felt the roof rising beneath him. Anna was directly below him and she was actually causing the roof to bulge behind her back. Even with Ethan's two hundred pounds laying on the roof she was still raising him up.

His weight was helping actually. It was clear that the fight was between the roof and the wall, and Ethan's weight gave the roof just enough of an edge because Anna's legs were going to straighten one way or the other. Fiber by fiber the wood cracked, broke, surrendered. Anna looked at what her legs were doing. She was almost there. She took another breath. It was only a matter of time. Now only the heavy framing nails were holding. Light from the garage glinted off the shiny steel of the nails that had been buried in the wood for two decades. No weather or air had been able to rust or corrode them, but now Anna was pulling the wood apart around the nails. The compression of the wood couldn't hold them anymore. In the moment of failure the last vestige of resistance disappeared. Her legs straightened completely. A four by four foot section of the wall, siding, and remaining slats from the attic vent cover fell to the ground.

Anna took no time to admire what she'd done. She rarely did. She shifted and stuck her head from the now enlarged hole. "Ethan!", she yelled. He turned his head away from the back and down over the edge of the roof. "Hurry up!"

He unslung his rifle and handed it down to her before tilting over the edge and climbing into the hole. He was a little more than twenty years older than Anna, but he was still limber enough to worm his way inside. They crawled along the joists towards the center of the garage. Anna jumped down first, barely attempting to slow her fall. For an instant, when she hit the ground, muscles flexed from her calves to her chest in order to absorb the impact. For Ethan above it was like watching a fleeting moment of female perfection. She moved aside and Ethan took a bit longer to lower himself down, extending his arms all the way before his boots had to fall the two or three inches to the concrete.

They stood still in the garage. An incessant drum beat of undead hands hitting against the house made it seem as if Anna and Ethan were fighting fate itself. Anna felt that doubly. Her son had already been bitten by a monster and his young life was now measured in hours. Ethan could feel his own fear, but a look at Anna's exotic face only showed resolution. What ever happened she was going through with this.

Ethan checked his trunk to make sure everything was in place before he sat in the driver's seat. Anna was already in the car waiting silently. Ethan started the engine then pushed the button that activated the powerful garage door opening engine. The motor wined as the armored garage door opened. The zombies began pressing forward as soon as the door rose, but Ethan slammed the car into reverse and pushed the pedal to the floor. His old Speedster rocketed backwards and ran over bodies creating a temporary void in the sea of monsters. Ethan pointed the front of the car down the street then hurried. As they moved through the throng, the numbers of undead thinned before finally Anna and Ethan left the creatures behind. They were in the clear and both could finally exhale. There was an unobstructed path to the house where the entrance to the underground was waiting.

Jack stood at the door to the huge over the road bus as people filed in. Men were keeping the zombies as far away as they could, but the monsters were closing in despite their efforts. There were two lines of people, a shorter line going into the idling school bus, and the longer line was for the big over the road bus. People cried and clung to each other as they stood in line. Some had suitcases while others had only themselves. Some people had brought items from their homes that were stuck either inside the burning safe house or in Ethan's zombie filled house. They were just trying to get out of the Glen with their lives.

"One at a time", Jack bellowed as a group of survivors pressed towards the open bus door. "Fill the bus from back to front", he ordered and kept a look out for anyone who might cause problems. He was more than prepared to shoot any asshole who might make this job harder than it already was. With the problems already laid out and rolling across Jack's brain, something happened that made this situation terrifying. There was a buzz in the air just before they were plunged into darkness. All the lights simply went out like somebody had flipped off a switch. People screamed and prayed and prepared for the end. Men fired into the darkness with blinded defenders firing at shadows.

Anna and Ethan were a mile from the house when the power went out. Many houses had lights, appliances, and even televisions that been left on since their occupants had died the first night of the zombie attack. In an instant it all went dark. The only illumination was the yellowish light coming from the Studebaker's headlamps.

"Oh my God", Anna exclaimed and looked around. "We might need to go back."

"Settle down", Ethan deadpanned and kept driving. He seemed a little amused at her concern.

"But… but its dark back there. Zombies don't need to see." For the first time Anna started to regret her decision to leave in such a hurry. Her thoughts instantly went to her husband and son.

"I have a generator."

"What?"

"I have a back up generator installed. It's on about a thirty second delay." Anna sighed in relief and sat back in her seat.

After a moment of panic a couple of the electricians who had helped wire the sodium lights started yelling that there was a generator. The people heard them, and a glimmer of hope flickered in the darkness until finally the lights came on. The zombies were closer and people's already worried faces looked even more haggard, but they were all still alive.

Inside the house though, Bruce was not. His half eaten body lay in the closet where the monsters had dined on him. His blood covered the floor and leaked through the doorway into the hall. His mouth was open in an unending scream. His left eye stared at a blank wall while the place where his right eye had been was a tooth marked wound on the side of his head. His transformation to zombie had already begun. He'd died in pain, but with the knowledge that his death was temporary. The change would come and he would live again, live forever.

Outside the house Alex tried not to scratch the bite on his arm. It was itching, itching in a funny way. He peered over his shoulder at the people getting on the big bus and quickly looked away. He didn't want to see their faces. They didn't have the expressions that they used to have. They looked at the young boy like he was no longer one of them. He wasn't quite a zombie, but he was no longer human either. An hour ago Alex had known that there were lots of people who would have risked their lives to save him. Cindy, Mary, and Curtis had already done so, Jimmy and Eddie too, but now those same people wouldn't have been so quick.

Alex was a child and had a hard time understanding death, but he was getting better at it. He didn't know what his mother planned to do, but whatever it was probably wouldn't affect him much. Maybe she'd finish saving everybody else in time to see her son again before he died. Alex hoped that would happen. He wanted to hug his mother one more time. He expected to start crying, but he didn't. He just stared, waiting for Mike.

Finally his stepfather came into view. He dropped his burden and hurried to Alex. Mike had been gone for what seemed like forever, but it had really been ten minutes or so. "Were you in the house when the lights went out?", the boy asked.

Mike grinned in his usual mischievous way. "Yeah."

"Were you scared?"

"No, you don't have to see a zombie to kill one. They stink so bad you just follow the scent."

Alex managed a laugh and held out his hand. Mike took it without hesitation while others were reluctant to touch the infected boy. They'd taken a couple of steps when Alex stopped walking. Mike felt the boy tug on his hand a bit and he stopped too.

"When I die", the young boy began with a steady voice, "I want you to make sure I don't become like them." He pointed over his shoulder at the creatures getting closer. "I don't think Mommy can do it."

Mike shook his head, instantly realizing that he might have been wrong about Alex all these years. The boy was facing death better than any grown man he'd ever known. "Alex, I don't know if I can do it either", Mike replied.

"I just don't want to hurt anybody. I've seen… and felt what those monsters do." Now Alex did start to tear up. "I don't ever want to do this to anybody." He held up his wounded arm and started crying.

Mike went to a knee and wiped Alex's tears. "We're not going to think like that. This isn't over yet. Your mother rushed off. She must have a plan. She's a heroine right? We'll all get through this."

Alex smiled and slowly wrapped his arms around Mike's neck. "I hope you're right."

'Me too', Mike thought but didn't say.

Outside the Glen, the General and his units were almost prepared. "Are the utilities off?", the General asked.

"All of them, Sir", a subordinate announced proudly.

"Very well. What's your status, Paul?", the General asked the old foreman who had helped construct Hidden Glen twenty years earlier.

Paul just folded his arms across his chest and snickered. In a few short hours his earthmover had nearly cleared the outside tunnel entrance. A survey team was already inside with an EOD group inspecting another set of explosives at the far end of the tunnel. It looked as if someone was preparing to breach the rubble on that side, but their plans were already disrupted. The General wasn't the sort of man to be trifled with. He took life seriously and whoever had caused the problems in Hidden Glen would be dealt with very very seriously.

Ethan and Anna entered a pitch black house with every sense strained to the ragged edge. Anna kept her machete in her right hand and her left hand on Ethan's shoulder. They stepped over rubble that Anna had helped create on the way to the basement. Ethan panned his flashlight left, right, up, and down as they moved, but there was so much darkness around that tiny spec of light that it did little to lessen Anna's fears. When they got to the basement, they found oil lamps and lit them. The steady yellow light of the burning wicks took away most of the shadows. They looked around quickly for zombies, but didn't see or smell any. "We need to get this cover off", Ethan said.

It had taken three men to move the sheet of inch thick steel over the hole, but Anna and Ethan managed to lift it. They couldn't, however slide it out of the way. No matter which why they tugged, it kept getting stuck on the basement wall. It needed to be lifted on at least three sides so it could be maneuvered around the corner.

"Fuck", Ethan exclaimed after they'd tried for five minutes straight. Using the heavy material had seemed like a good idea that morning. Of course the original plan had called for bringing more men when it was time to move it.

Anna was nearly as frustrated as Ethan, but she found the large concrete busting bit of the jackhammer that the men had used earlier in the day. She picked it up and quickly jammed the end of it under the edge of the cover. "We're going to have to prop this thing up so we can get down there", Anna said. "This'll hold up the edge while we climb down."

Ethan looked over and shook his head. "Sure it'll hold up the steel, but how are we going to prop up the edge when it takes both of us to lift it?"

Anna smiled for the first time in a long time, but it wasn't from amusement, more from frustration. "Ethan, I don't need your help to lift the edge of this cover. I can do that myself. I just can't lift it and climb under it at the same time. Now hold this bit and get ready."

Ethan felt the bruise to his pride the same a bruise to his face. He stepped next to Anna and took control of the bit. Her smaller hand rubbed against his as they transferred the bit. Standing there next to this woman he really took note of how much bigger he was physically, but once again Ethan was going to get an eyeful and a demonstration of female muscle perfection. Anna slid her fingers under the gap created by the jackhammer bit. Ethan watched the muscles of her bare arms flex in a sensational dance as she pushed her hands under the steel. He eyed the sweep of Anna's thighs as she bent her knees and shuffled her feet to get a good base. He also stared at the impressions of Anna's abs showing through the material of her shirt. He knew he shouldn't look or notice, but the coolness of the evening and the even cooler basement had Anna's nipples showing through her bra and shirt.

After shaking her hips from side to side to get her feet in place, Anna's body flexed from head to toe. Muscles jumped to attention, stitches on her clothes strained to contain her explosive growth. Sweat ran down the deep canyon created between the rising cliffs of Anna's surging pecs. Her back widened and the contours of each tightening muscle was etched deeply under her skin. The caps of muscle on her shoulders were thick and getting thicker by the heartbeat. Ethan had never seen anybody flex so completely in all his life. Anna always looked muscular and athletically sexy, but when she flexed her body grew, and strength emanated from her every pore.

He only really known Anna for a couple of days, but in that time he fully understood that she aside from being the only person in the Glen who could understand the ancient Mound Builder's words, she was a genetic freak of nature. Which is why it shouldn't have come as a shock when the sounds of steel scraping against concrete filled the basement. Anna legs began to straighten. A tear started at the seam of Anna's cut off jeans as her thighs grew. Her back widened even more. The exaggerated hourglass taper of Anna's body was impossible, unfair, and indisputably sexy. She got the steel cover up to her waist, but that wasn't high enough for Ethan to put the bit into place. She had to go higher, so now her arms flexed. Anna shifted her hands a little, and her biceps began to gather and congeal like the formation of twin hurricanes. More and more muscle rose from the depths until finally the storm was ready, and Anna's biceps burst to full hardness.

Thick softball sized dual headed monsters flexed up so hard that Ethan had to swallow a lump in his throat. Anna's breath came in short zips as she curled all the mass of steel with just her arms. Veins shot up her neck and down her shoulders, over the tops of her surging biceps and down her cable like forearms. Anna's entire body was flushing as blood rushed from her core towards her muscles. The arteries and capillaries throbbed with the rushing beat of Anna's heart, feeding her muscles making them grow harder, more ripped, and even bigger.

By the time the steel raised to the level of Anna's breasts Ethan was panting like a man running out of oxygen. She was trembling with the effort, but she refused to stop until her arms were fully curled. "Put it in place", Anna said calmly, but through clenched teeth.

Her voice snapped Ethan from his lust fueled daze and he carefully put the bar where he thought it would hold. Anna slowly lowered the cover down on the flattened head of the bit. The bar didn't bend under the weight at all, but the cutting end of the bit chipped into the concrete floor just from the weight that Anna had been holding in her two hands. Ethan looked up from the broken concrete to Anna who looked no worse for her efforts. She was sweatier and her muscles were more pumped and prominent now, but she didn't move like she needed time to recover. She grabbed up the bag that Ethan had given her and slung it over her shoulder. She shoved the flashlight in her pocket and grabbed one of the oil lamps. She took one deep breath before jumping down into the hole dug by her ancestors.

Ethan jumped down next to her and the past hit him like a club. His focus on the task returned and his temporary lust for his partner left his mind. He took up the point and started down the shaft that led deeper under ground.

The breaching explosives had been so well placed that the EOD guys hadn't moved some of them. They'd simply run the charge line the other way and used their own detonators. The breach was large and all the debris had been thrown away from the roadway leaving a fairly clear path for vehicles to exit or in the Army's case to enter the Glen. The General's men loaded onto trucks and armored personnel carriers before rolling through the tunnel. They reported that there was a half mile line of abandoned cars along the roadway. A group of soldiers went on foot checking the insides of the cars and saw that some of them had bodies inside. It was the first time they had conformation that there were deaths in the Glen, and to make it even worse all the bodies found had been shot in the forehead. Every soldier checked their weapon then, making sure they were ready for anything. They weren't.

Anna and Ethan felt the ground shake from the explosion at the tunnel, but neither gave much thought as to what had caused the ground to shake around them. Their minds had written off normal. For Ethan this had been a twenty year obsession. He'd been preparing himself for these moments and these actions for all that time. He hadn't cared about a life or about a family or a career. He'd spent every dollar he made on preparing to fight these monsters, and when both of his parents had died within six months of each other, Ethan had inherited what they had. It didn't make him rich, but it had given him the final amount of capital he needed. People who knew him growing up had thought that he was crazy to sell one of the best farming plots around. And maybe Ethan had really become crazy over the years. He didn't take time to self evaluate. Ethan was a man with a mission. He didn't think about distractions. Anna was another story; every thought in her head was a distraction.

Memories of her distant and recent past floated in her mind as if they'd happen moments apart. She could recall the feeling of being curled up against her father as a kid, and at the same time remember being kissed by her late first husband, and also the feeling of hugging and lifting her young son off the ground. Her emotions changed as quickly as her memories did. She wanted to laugh; she wanted to cry; she wanted to think; she wanted to stop; she wanted to move faster. The dank coldness of the cave-like tunnel made goosebumps rise on Anna's skin as they went deeper and further. Her eyes saw without her mind making sense of it all. She kept a hand on Ethan's shoulder because he knew what he was doing. He knew where they were going, but the further they went the less Anna understood about her purpose.

Tunnels went left and right, up and down. She could see small human sized tunnels leading to dozens or even hundreds of houses. Each one of those tunnels represented a lost family in Anna's mind. She could see the people living their lives in homes that were supposed to be safe. Families were sharing in their own small slice of the American dream, but beneath them death was waiting. The horrible evil of these monsters soaked through the ground into the homes as the creatures dug their way out. She thought she heard scratching, but she tried to convince herself that it was only in her mind. It was only her imagination trying to illicit even more fear from a terrifying situation, but as they moved the sounds moved. The darkness closed in and the shafts of light from the flashlights seemed smaller and smaller by the step. Ethan could feel it too. She had her hand on her shoulder and she could feel his tension building. His hand slowly reached closer to the grip of his gun, but he stopped short of grabbing it. Even if he hit his target the bullet might ricochet off the living stone wall and kill him or Anna. Instead he did like Anna was doing. He grabbed the hilt of his machete and pulled slightly up on the blade. The scratching and shuffling couldn't be ignored now. Anna wanted to press closer to Ethan, but she knew better. They needed space, so she let go of his shoulder and slowed putting distance between the two of them.

Ethan kept his light on the path while Anna swung her flashlight around the room searching for anything that didn't look like stone. Her fingers of her left hand shook, causing the light to quiver and shake, but her right hand was steady against the handle of her weapon. Ethan had his head cocked slightly to the side, keeping one ear out for sounds in front of him and one ear out for any trouble with Anna. She seemed to be moving behind him just fine, until she squealed.

"Oomph!", she exhaled as the air rushed from her lungs. She'd tripped on a loose rock in the path and fallen flat on her face. Ethan jumped from sudden shock, and turned. He shined his light on Anna as she pushed herself up. Despite the tension, Ethan laughed as Anna looked up at him with dust all over her rapidly blushing face.

"Now that was graceful", he told her and pointed his light.

Anna was sort of relieved to break the tension of the moment and embraced her embarrassment. She pushed herself up to her knees and tried to refill her lungs. She grinned as Ethan kept laughing at her. She looked up at Ethan seeing that he needed this laugh. Her grin widened into a painful smile. Her hand went to her still burning chest as she tried to get to her feet.

Ethan howled again as she coughed and dust flew out of her mouth. She was on one knee when she looked up at him again. Her smile fell away. Her eyes widened. Her lips moved and she pointed, but she couldn't speak! Her shoe slipped on the loose dirt as she tried to lunge forward. She fell again. Ethan laughed, but this time stepped towards Anna to help her up. That saved his life. Anna reached her hand up as Ethan reached his hand down. Their locked fingers and Ethan got his real first taste of Anna's strength. With the light in his other hand, and his eyes fixated on her, Ethan saw and felt the muscles of Anna's forearms tighten. Her fingers locked around his hand. Then her biceps contracted. Her deltoids flexed and Anna's arm bent quickly. Ethan was nearly snatched off his feet. He lost his balance as she continued to pull him. The zombie that'd been reaching for him missed, but there were more… all around them.

The busses were moving now. Jack and his men had loaded the two vehicles completely, squeezing every person into one bus or the other. There wasn't going to be a second trip. Jack would have strapped people to the roof if it had been necessary, but thankfully it hadn't been. The school bus had only one headlight and the street lights were out, but the drive didn't seem to be having any problems maneuvering through the zombie infested streets of the Glen. The driver of the larger over the road bus was however. He couldn't quite get into a rhythm with the dual shifters. The big bus never got over about twenty miles per hour while the school bus driver was pushing his yellow wagon much harder. He wasn't slowing to stay in convoy. He followed the planned route, but he was going so much faster that after a while he couldn't even see the other bus in his mirrors, and they couldn't see him at all either. At this point it wasn't every man for himself, but damn near, plus Robby the explosive's expert was on the school bus. He had to prime and detonate the charges to breach the rubble if anybody was going to get out of the Glen alive.

While they bounced along, some of the people thought about Anna and Ethan underground and wondered if they were going to live, while others were silently upset that they were being forced to make the trip in the dead of night. Many people were in favor of fighting to take back Ethan's house and holding up in there until the morning, but Anna had nixed that idea all because her son had been bitten. The people on the bus were quietly relieved that he was on there with them. As angry as they were with his mother, nobody relished the idea of putting a bullet through a child's head.

"This is Rover to base; we are in the neighborhoods and we see some damage, possibly from widespread looting or vandalism", a lieutenant reported as he rode in an Army M39 truck. He'd first thought about taking a Jeep for the speed, but they weren't going off road here in this well manicured and planed subdivision. The truck held soldiers in the back and could have had a machine gun mounted on the top, but instead they'd mounted a spot light. It was coming in handy in the dark neighborhood. The soldiers saw some houses that looked untouched and perfect while other houses were burned to the ground. They saw blood stains on some pavement, but no bodies. There was one pool of blood that looked like someone had squeezed every drop of blood a human body could hold, and yet there were no remains. It was like all the people who lived in Hidden Glen had killed each other then disappeared. The only bodies they'd seen were from the line of cars near the exit.

The soldiers were trying to be professionals, but there was no training for anything, and the quietness of the area was unnerving. The driver of the truck and one of the soldiers in the back had done a tour in Vietnam and even miles away from civilization it hadn't been this quiet. The only sounds they heard were from the engine under the hood, and of the big tires rolling over the asphalt. Some of the men in the back of truck perked up and cocked their heads when they thought they heard another engine off in the distance to their west, but they didn't say anything. It was probably an echo bouncing off one of the houses. They had no way of knowing that was a school bus packed with survivors of the tragedy that had happened here in the Glen. They pressed forward until they saw headlights in the distance on the same road. The lights were wide apart and whatever was coming towards them was big.

"Fuck", the driver of the slow moving bus breathed and tried to find a gear, but in his rush he missed it completely and had to start over like Anna had showed him.

Jack put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Don't worry about speed, son. Just get us there."

"I'm sorry Sheriff Walker."

"Bullshit son. You're doing a good job."

The driver relaxed a little and got the bus moving again. They were probably a couple of miles behind the school bus by now, but they were getting closer to the exit of the Glen. Then they saw head lights coming towards them. "What the hell? Is the school bus coming back?", the driver asked.

Jack leaned forward and frowned. "Unless they fixed that broken head light on the fly that ain't the school bus. Could be some more survivors."

"They're coming this way", Stevie said and his father agreed.

"We'll just tell them to follow us if they are survivors." But as the two vehicles go closer, the men saw the military markings. Some people cheered that the Army was here to save them, but then the deuce and a half pulled in front of them and blocked their path. Several soldiers jumped out from the back and aimed their weapons. A lieutenant pulled out a megaphone and ordered the bus to stop. The driver looked up at Jack who motioned for him to follow the command.

The bus door folded open and Jack stepped down slowly. He shifted the gun belt around his waist and smiled. "Good to see you gentlemen", he greeted the soldiers despite the fact that they had guns pointed in his general direction. "I'm retired Sheriff Jack Walker."

"What the hell is going on here sheriff?", the lieutenant asked without the aid of the bullhorn.

"Young man I couldn't begin to explain the situation, but I will put it in a nutshell. Most of the people who used to live in the Glen are dead. There are two busloads of people still alive. This is the second bus. The other is some ways ahead of us. One of the men on that bus was going to breach the rubble blocking our exit, but since you guys drove that deuce in here I assume the way is open. I and everybody on this bus are on our way out of this place. If you're smart you'll come with us."

"We saw bodies at the entrance to Hidden Glen, sir. Somebody'd shot them all in the head. We aren't letting anybody go until we get this sorted out."

"I don't think you quite grasp the situation. We're under attack by an enemy that you aren't prepared to face. You don't have enough bullets in those guns to kill the army that's all around us."

"Army? Sir, I think you should get back on the bus", the lieutenant said.

Jack scratched his chin and tried to think of a way to explain the unexplainable. "LT, there are monsters out here in the darkness. Where they hell do you think all the people went? You haven't seen one body have you?"

The lieutenant didn't respond, but the truth was written on all of their faces. Jack saw it and continued. "That's because the dead are walking. People get eaten by monsters and then rise up as monsters themselves. They might have no face or no arm, but they hunger. They can smell life. They eat people alive. They can smell life. They can smell us. They can hear our hearts beating in our chests. It's like a goddamned dinner bell to them. Soldier we have to get out of this valley before we all die!"

Jack's words shook some of the younger soldiers, but the officer was unmoved. "We aren't going to let you leave. Now get back on the bus and stay for processing."

"Damn it", Jack breathed under his breath and looked at the soldiers and then over his shoulder at the faces of the survivors huddling against the windows hoping that Jack could do something to save them. In his mind he saw the school bus reaching the exit to the Glen and already driving to safety. He saw Anna and Ethan underground in the passageways setting charges and dealing with the magic that created the monsters in the first place, and most importantly he saw the army of zombies getting closer by the second. The time for subtly was over. He took a deep breath and nodded his head slightly. The windows on the side of the bus opened and the barrels of eight Browning Automatic Rifles emerged. To the startled soldiers the bus now looked like the broadside of a damned ship of the line.

"Now, LT, why don't you boys get in your truck and follow us. I promise we'll sort out all of this once we leave this God forsaken Valley!"

"I don't think I can do that, Sir", the lieutenant replied.

Jack's grin was a little sinister. "Son, that wasn't a request. That's what you call an 'or else'."

Ethan snatched his machete from its sheath and rolled to his back while Anna jumped to her feet even thought she hadn't taken a single good breath since she'd fallen. Her flashlight lay on the ground shining its light so low that it only illuminated the monsters' ankles. That was good enough for Anna. Before Ethan could get to his feet, she attacked. Her blade swiped, making a deep whooshing as it traveled in a wide arc at a creature's head. He could just make out the monster's mouth in the darkness. That's what she aimed for and the freshly sharpened blade sliced right though the old skull. Bits of bone and surprisingly spongy brain matter were blasted against the wall. Anna aimed her backswing and roared as she took off another creature's head. Her body was on automatic as she pressed into the zombies, not willing to give them an inch. Her eyes narrowed as she swung her machete again, harder than she'd swung it before. Two zombies came at her. Anna aimed to kill them both. Her abs tensed and her obliques looked as sharp as the blade when she torque her body. Her pecs pressed out against her shirt ripping a few stitches at the seams. Her arms were petrified female muscle as the blade cut through the air. The first impact sounded like pure destruction. The blade hit in the middle of the skull and the top of the head exploded. The body had barely begun to drop before her blade, without deviating a centimeter, hit the second zombie right where the head met the spine. It sailed through the thinner bone and connecting tissue easily. The zombies fell next to each to each other, and Anna's machete whistled at another target.

She saw the one on her right, but couldn't have seen the one coming from the left. Ethan did, and reached into his waist for his gun, but it was too late. It was on her. Anna killed the zombie she'd seen, and felt the claws of the other creature touch her skin. While most would have rolled away from it, Anna stepped into it and delivered a shoulder block to the creature's bony chest. That gave her just enough room to turn and face it. It was too close for even a tight swing to do any good. The monster snapped at her like a snake. She twisted away from it quickly. It snapped again. It had one hand on her shoulder and the other on her arm trying to pull her towards his mouth. Anna forced her right arm up against the weight and momentum of the creature and twisted her wrist enough to get the blade between them. It snapped again, and the tip of her machete lodged deeply in its mouth. It tried in vain to close its mouth, allowing the sharp side of the machete to get a good bite into its lower jaw.

Anna didn't relax. She got angry that this creature had almost gotten her. She put both hands on the handle and used the machete to shove the beast away from her. When it was at arm's length, she turned her back to it. Her hand were behind her head and her arms were arced as the creature further impaled itself trying to get to her. Anna set her feet and was finally able to fill her lungs completely. She sucked in a massive breath, expanding her awesome pecs even more. Her face twisted into a frown and she pulled her hands forward. Every muscle in Anna body tightened as her arms moved up and over her head bringing the blade with it. Her motion was so mighty and her muscles so pumped that if the blade had been pointing upward that she might have sliced the skull in two. But the blade was pointing down. The dull side was facing up and instead of slicing through the creature's head, she was putting immense pressure on it. Its feet left the ground for an instant before the old ligaments and dried burlap like skin succumbed to Anna's strength. The head simply came off and traveled over and down to the ground where it cracked open like a walnut against the ground.

Ethan quickly picked up a flashlight and shined it around the area looking for any movement, but he didn't see any. Anna saw the relief on his face and she relaxed a little. Her hands went to her knees and she sucked wind while noting the pile of jumbled up dead monsters around her. Ethan had a few dead creatures around him, but it was clear that more creatures had attacked Anna than had attacked Ethan. She didn't dwell on what that might or might not mean. "You ready to go?", she asked between breaths. Ethan nodded and they continued down the path with him in front.

"Sir you are way out of line!", the lieutenant yelled and fought off the urge to take a step back as he looked up at the eight muzzles pointing down at he and his men. He'd seen BARs before, he'd even fired one. He knew what a hurting they could cause.

"I never thought I'd have to turn guns on boys wearing the Stars and Stripes, but these are desperate times. I'll offer another chance to follow us out. When we get out of this place, you can arrest me, or belt me in the mouth, or both. But I'm not staying in Hidden Glen, Lieutenant, and if we have go through you and your men. So be it."

The lieutenant looked through the windows at the faces of the men holding those rifles and he could tell when survival instincts had kicked in. The men with their fingers on the triggers were probably upstanding citizens in normal life, but this wasn't normal anymore. The Lieutenant didn't believe the mumbo jumbo about walking dead people, but he did believe that if he didn't handle this correctly that those men in the bus would shoot.

"This doesn't have to happen like this. Lower your weapons", he ordered his soldiers. Everybody relaxed a little, and the situation might have been cooling until a private near the rear of the truck shouted, "I have moment over here, Lieutenant!"

The LT's face got angry. "Are you trying to flank me, Old Man?", he yelled at Jack, but when the man on the top of the truck swung the spot light they saw a single individual in a pressed oxford shirt and dress pants staggering towards them.

"Oh shit", Jack breathed.

"Stop right there", the private yelled, but the creature kept coming.

"Shoot it!", some people yelled from the bus. "Shoot the damned thing before it bites you!"

The soldier put his finger on the trigger, but he didn't pull it. The man wasn't armed. His empty hands swung at his sides as he got closer.

"Lieutenant!", Jack yelled. "That's one of them!"

"One of what? A drunk guy in work clothes?"

"Look again!"

The Lieutenant took a step closer and his eyes narrowed. He saw a large stain of dried blood on the right side of the oxford shirt and possibly blood on the pants too. The spotlight played tricks with colors, but the man's skin looked ashen and as grey as a body in the morgue. The eyes had no color and the mouth hung open like an animal intending to feed.

While the soldiers looked at the staggering man coming towards the truck, Jack pulled out his .44 revolver and unloaded six shots into the zombie's cotton covered torso. Soldiers flinched and even gasped as the first shot left Jack's barrel. They saw the impact of the big rounds hit the staggering man's torso, but the man monster moving. He didn't even slow.

"What the hell? How can a man take six shots from a fucking hand cannon like that?"

"Cause that ain't a man no more", Jack said as he dumped the spent shells from his cylinder and used a speed loader to put in six fresh bullets. He slammed the cylinder closed as the soldier closest to the zombie was giving ground. The soldier finally opened up with his M-16 hitting the creature from his legs all the way to his chest. The rifle bullets tore through the zombie's dead flesh. Chunks of meat and clothes flew off the monster like rags, but it still came. The soldier fired his last bullet as the thing opened its mouth. Other soldiers were turning to help their comrade when Jack took careful aim and fired a single shot to the creature's forehead. It dropped to the asphalt like a sack of bricks.

"What in the name of Christ is that fucking thing?", the Lieutenant asked, clearing shaken to his core.

"That… young man is a zombie. It doesn't do anything except eat living flesh like it was going to do to that young private over there. It don't fear. It don't get tired, and it don't die unless you take out its head. Oh and there are thousands of them in this valley, and if you see one, there are more coming."

As if on cue, three more zombies appeared from the darkness of the Glen. They moved more quickly than the zombie with the oxford shirt. These three had just fed. They ran at their targets. The lieutenant ordered his men to open fire, and they unloaded on the creatures, shooting off arms and chunks of flesh and finally taking them down with shots to the head.

The lieutenant turned back towards Jack, but the retired sheriff was just stepping on the bus. "I still didn't say this bus could leave. It looks like we can stay right here until my CO arrives. If that's the worst these so called zombies can do."

Jack ground his teeth in anger. He had no idea what he had to do to convince this idiot to let them leave. It turned out that he didn't have to do any convincing at all.

It looked at first like a trick of the eyes, something was causing the darkened horizon to move. A soldier shook his head and wiped his eyes, but when he looked again it was the same thing. The man on the roof with the spot light shined it around in a circle, but stopped when he saw another zombie. This one was old, very old. He could see the remains of tattered native clothing on it. It's dried up face still showed the strong features of a man who had at one time been handsome. This one didn't shuffle. It didn't lumber. It moved towards the soldiers like a commander leading troops, and when they shined the light left and right they saw his army. There were hundreds and hundreds of them. The soldiers opened fire. Some zombies fell, but not enough. Then more came from the other side, and more poured from around the back of the bus.

Jack hurried into the bus and pulled the lever to close the door. His heart was racing as he looked at the battle raging outside the windows of the bus. "Drive!"

"Shouldn't we help them?", a pleading voice yelled from somewhere near the middle of the bus.

Jack looked out the window and exhaled. "We can't", he answered like a rock was crushing his chest. "Maybe some of them can get away. Let's go." The soldiers heard the shrill sound of the airbrakes releasing and the mechanized grinding of the driver finding the gears just before the twin diesel engines roared. The lieutenant watched the tail lights leave wishing that he had listened.

"We just lost contact with one of our advanced units", the communications soldier told the General.

"What? Is it the damned terrain again?"

"No Sir", the soldier replied hesitantly. "We heard yelled orders and gunfire just before the line went dead."

The General tried to keep his face neutral, but the soldiers saw the anger cross it. "Send in the tanks, and tell the APC's to button up. Do not let themselves be approached." He walked away from the radio and crossed his arms trying to figure out what the hell was going on in the Glen.

Ethan was picked up the pace as he recognized where he'd gone two decades before. He might have even seen some of his own footprints from back then in the silty bottom of the path. He slowed a bit when he saw the headless skeletons. He knew he was close to the central room. The tunnel opened up and Ethan shined his light inside. Everything was as it had been before.

Seven full skeletons sat around the ancient remnants of a fire pit. The soot and burned out coals were still surrounded by a ring of smooth stones. The bright colors of the skeletons' clothing remained over the centuries and even shined in the dim light. Each of the seven had been dignified and important in life and in death their look of austere authority remained. That was a special room and Ethan knew it, but he couldn't begin to understand how important. He raised his foot to take another step, but Anna pulled back on him. "Stop", she said simply and pulled out her flashlight. She shined it around the room marveling at everything she saw.

"This trail picks up on the other side of this room. We have to hurry through here."

"Not yet we don't. This is a gateway as much as a room, and we have to ask permission before we enter.

"What? Are you serious? We're just wasting time. Anna this is a tomb! I traipsed through here the last time without asking for permission."

"The Mound Builders forgave your ignorance, but they wouldn't be quite so nice to me. This isn't a tomb. It's a prayer circle. These Elders are doing in death what they did in life. Imagine them as still alive and still doing what they had intended to do. There's great power and wisdom in this room, and I need their help. I need it more than anything, and so do you if we want to succeed."

"Anna there could be more creatures behind us! We're sitting ducks here. You can stay here if you want, but I'm going through!"

Anna turned to face him quickly and anger flashed in her eyes light lightning across a dark sky. "You keep a lookout for monsters, but we can't go through here. Take two steps back and shut up", Anna waned.

"What's with you? You know what I came down here to do, and that I'm on a time schedule."

She didn't say another word to him. She turned her back and lowered herself to the floor at the edge of the doorway. She sat with her hands across her lap and her head slightly bowed as she tried to even her breathing. Finally she took a deep breath and began to sing. Her voice was clear and vibrant. The sound this song had at one time been heard throughout this valley, and had only now returned for the first time in centuries. The stone walls of the carved out room didn't echo her voice as much as enhance it. Ethan couldn't understand a word of what she was saying, but he didn't have to. He could feel the tender sincerity of her voice and emotions. She sang the song as if it was the most important thing she'd ever done.

After a while Ethan looked at his watch. Anna had been singing for five solid minutes. It felt like an hour, but he was trying, despite his earlier frustration, to stay open about her actions. He remembered vividly his encounter with the Mound Builders twenty years earlier, and Anna had probably forgotten more about this culture than he would ever know. Time was a luxury they didn't have though, and Ethan debated within himself whether or not to push past Anna while her eyes were closed and her back was to him. She wouldn't even be able to react until he was halfway into the next room. He'd been listening to her since he'd met her, deferring to her because he thought that she was the key to success. He'd truly felt that this woman's presence in the Glen was a gift, but maybe he'd put too much on her. Everybody had limits, and perhaps now she was just a mother in denial grasping at straws to save her only son.

Her voice rang and sounded through the tunnels, never wavering, never growing tired or weak. It was almost a chant in its cadence and melody, but when would enough be enough. Ethan checked his watch again before bending over and grabbing up both bags. He took a quick step towards Anna to walk past her but hesitated. His brow gathered and he cursed silently. He thought he heard a voice join in with Anna's, singing the same words. It sounded far off or muffled like it was coming through a closed door. Ethan's mind refused to grasp what he was hearing. His rational brain screamed that it had to be an echo, but he knew it wasn't. The voice that had joined the song was male.

The hairs on Ethan's neck stood on end and the blood drained from his face as more voices joined with Anna's like a choir singing in the depths. Anna eyes were closed and he could see emotions playing across her face, elation, awe, fear, and finally, worry. He had no idea what she was experiencing and she couldn't have explained it if she'd tried. She saw swirls of light and darkness and all the colors of the rainbow floating in three dimensions all around her. She could feel the advance of nature, and the structured chaos of it. She could feel the flow of time and the permanence of eternity. She felt her connection to all things, her little space occupying the physical world and the world beyond. She knew that the steps she took in life were mirrored in the world beyond and she could see those steps. She could see that every step she'd ever taken had led her right to this place. Then she saw herself sitting on the floor. It was the first time Anna had been able to look at herself the way others saw herself, but she turned around where the skeletons had been, but they were no longer dead. The circle of Elders were living, forever living. The fire in the pit was burning hot and the wood was crackling. The walls were covered in animal hides and the Elders' wise faces were turned towards her.

"We had hoped that you would arrive", an old man's weary voice said.

"I never doubted her", a female voice put in.

"Welcome, One Who Wanders. We have been waiting for a brave warrior like you to come and take up our battle", the female voice said.

"I hope I am worthy, Honored Elders", Anna spoke up for the first time.

"It is we who are honored. Your ancestors speak your name with pride. As you have honored them in life, they honor you. There can be no greater mark of distinction for anyone. The weight of your victories follows you, One Who Wanders. And now you must join us in a fight that started very long ago. If fortune is with us, this fight will end this very night. With your strength and courage added to our own, the evil in this valley will be eradicated."

"Do not be so quick to empower, One Who Wanders. She has not lived in balance. She has not kept our ways!", another Mound Builder exclaimed.

"How could she, Still Waters? Time has passed since we buried ourselves under this valley. Judge One Who Wanders by her actions… by her song."

"It smells of desperation to me, Little Deer. You have too long hoped and prayed for a warrior brave enough to finish the fight, and you do not hear it."

"You are too harsh in your critique, Still Waters. This is not a trial!", Little Deer rebuked her fellow elder.

"If we give the last vestiges of our power to a desperate woman who can not think with clarity of purpose and single minded focus, then what have we done? What have we accomplished, except to sow the seed our ruin and give our taint to the entire world?"

"You are right, Elder Still Waters", Anna said before Little Deer could come to her defense again. "I am desperate and without clarity of purpose. For the last several days I have fought with everything I have to protect those who were not killed and taken by the monsters. I have used every ounce of my strength and I have tested my courage to the limits. I have been forced to kill people I once called friend and neighbor in order to save people that I had never even met. It has not been easy, but I could always see hope at the end the journey. I believed that coming down here would be the last fight and then this all would be over, but I don't have that strength and focus in my heart. It is full of terror and grief. I need your help. I know that you saved Ethan Chase, the Outlander, from being turned into a monster when he was here. I need you to do the same thing. I need you… I am humbly begging you to do the same thing again!" Anna paused in an attempt to keep herself from crying, but the image of her son's face kept floating through her mind.

The Elders looked puzzled. "But, One Who Wanders, you are not tainted by the evil and neither is the Outlander. You are whole and alive. The steps of your life have brought you her, and you actions have shown that you have the best chance to defeat our enemy. How could you allow grief and confusion to doom our chances even before your final fight has begun?"

"Because, Elder Little Deer, one of those monsters has bitten my son! How could it matter to me how many I have saved when the one who I've spent my life protecting is dying as I speak?"

"Son? How was your son bitten?"

"There were many children in our refuge who had to be looked after, and my son took it on himself to help care for them. Since the first day he kept it up and when the monsters attacked, he got bitten by one of the creatures while saving the lives of all the other children. So you see, I have failed my son! I might have been failing him for his entire life. I always thought that he was timid and vulnerable. He isn't fearless like I was as a child. He is very emotional and tender, so I shielded him from everything that I could, but in the last few days I haven't been there to comfort him when he was scared. Instead he's been comforting others. I wasn't there to keep physical harm from him, instead he was protecting others from harm. I can't let him die! He is such a special boy. He's my heart. If it is in your power to save my son and pull this evil out of him, I will be forever indebted to you."

The Elders had been listening to Anna's story with their ears and their hearts. One in particular was very interested.

"What is this brave boy's name!?!" ,Elder Still Waters roared. "Why are his triumphs not written in the heavens? Why have we not heard of his deeds? His ancestors not speak his name with pride as they do yours. Why do they not honor him?"

Now Anna hung her head, tears dropping from her eyes to her the dusty stone floor. "They can not honor him because my son does not know the names of his ancestors."

The Ancient Mound Builders collectively gasped. For a member of their tribe, being cut off from the narrative of history was the same as not existing. The knowledge, the responsibility, and the love was always supposed to flow both ways from ancestor to offspring and back, from living to dead and back. Alex wasn't part of that circle because Anna hadn't done for her son what her father had done for her.

"This is more than troubling, One Who Wanders", Little Deer said sternly. Anna could feel the warmth of the Elder's sprits pull away from her slightly as they appraised her in a new light with their new knowledge. She felt the full force of the shame that had gnawed at her for years.

"Please do not punish my son for my mistakes, and do not judge him by what I have done. Take my life if you must, but use your skill and power to save my son." Anna collapsed to her knees, but the Mound Builders did not seem stirred by her genuine outpouring of grief and regret.

"A word without context has no meaning, One Who Wanders. It is the same for a life", Little Deer began. "Perhaps your son would have found more traction in his young life if you had given him the collective strength of everything that had gone before him. We can not change the past however, and the truth of Still Water's words ring true. You are not in balance, One Who Wanders. Your courage and victories have shown you capable to be the warrior we thought you were, but your choices have left doubt. There must be an account", Little Deer's voice boomed through the realms of the living and the dead. "Who will speak for you?"

"I will", a voice called from far away. It had been one of the voices in the song, but now it stood out from the rest. A vision coalesced around the voice, and Ethan saw that the building tension in Anna's body had release as this new presence came nearer. Tears streamed from her eyes as her beautiful face broke into the widest most joyous smile he had ever seen, and Anna finally said something that he could actually understand. It was just one word, but it was one that she thought she'd never say again. She fought back a sob and cried, "Papa."

The brakes of the school bus squeaked to a stop and Alex tightened his grip around his stepfather's arm. The bus was quiet now. The chatter had been increasing in volume as he bus had gotten closer to the exit, but now the bus was nose to nose with a Sheridan tank. Soldiers from two armored personnel carriers had fanned out in a defensive posture. There were seven guys with Brownings on the bus including Mike, but against a tank and two APCs those were no good at all. Instead Mike looked at the driver and then back at the suddenly terrified passengers before pulling the door open.

"What are you going to do?", Alex asked with fear written all over his face.

Mike grinned and mussed his hair. "Don't worry. I've got this." Mike stepped off the bus looking like a man in ill humor. Alex was petrified as Mike stepped away from the bus towards the nearest soldier. He didn't make it halfway before at least five guns were aimed at him. Mike saw them, but didn't look fazed. "Soldier! Who's in charge of this fucking dog and pony show?!?" More guns aimed in Mike's direction.

Alex had stepped to the very edge of the doorway and looked on with wide eyes as Mike stood in front of the rifles like they were a firing squad. The boy, already sure that he was going to die, jumped down from the bus ready to rush in front of his stepfather hoping that the soldiers wouldn't be so quick to shoot a kid.

Mike didn't see Alex creeping behind him. He stepped closer to the soldier he'd yelled at and yelled at him again. "Man damn it! Point out your fucking C.O."

"That would be me", a man called down from the top of the tank. "And who are you to be berating my soldier?"

Mike smiled again when he saw the captain's bars on the man's shoulder boards. "I'm Major Michael Bernhardt, and I'm in the process of evacuating these people from this valley. It's a good thing you showed up because I need you to get these people out of here. I assume you guys blew the tunnel so it's clear to exit. Mount up these infantry and let the APCs provide cover for the civilians on this bus."

"Sir, no one is to leave this valley until we determine what caused this entire subdivision to go off the grid, and who blocked the entrance."

"Captain, there is a biological agent loose in this valley that is spread person to person through open wounds. Most of the population has died, and there are two bus loads of people left alive. Now don't argue with me or I'll have you standing before a Board of Review so fast your damn head will spin off. Are going to argue with me?"

The wheels turned in the young man's head. "Mount up", the captain ordered his soldiers who jumped back into their vehicles. "I'll lead us out."

"Negative, captain", Mike said and climbed onto the tank hull. "The APC's will go on ahead with the bus. Oh, and tell your loader and gunner to grab a ride with the infantry. We won't need them, but I do need this tank."

Anna's father stepped out of the murky distance to stand in the room with the Ancient Elders, but he was not out of place. He was dressed as they were, in brilliant colors with the list of his accomplishments written in designs. He had been a teacher and important member of his Tribe in life, and so it was in death. His always long hair rested across his broad shoulders. The grey that had been in it when he'd died was long gone. It was raven black and regal just like his daughter's. His eyes were kind, stern, and wise, as they had always been, but now they also showed the added power and responsibilities he'd taken on in death. He stood next to his daughter and faced the Circle.

"Standing Bear, we are honored to have you speak for your daughter. There are doubts about her. We are near the end of our abilities, but some of us believe that she is not worthy of this task. How can a woman who does not embrace us by teaching her son carry on a fight in our name?"

"I will not make excuses for my daughter's failings", Standing Bear began. The rebuke in his tone was clear to Anna. "But you spoke of context earlier, Elder Little Deer and I can provide that."

He continued, "My child has always been good at surviving, and more than that she has an ability to thrive in situations that would render others hopeless. When she was a child her mother and I could not keep her in a crib. No matter how hard we tried or how many times I made it harder to escape, my little Lawé would find a way out. If we turned our backs for any length of time we would find her traveling around the house. That is how she got her name. She saw an advantage to being out of the crib and could not see one to being inside it. It was the same with card games and bets. My little girl could always see the correct angle and the correct card to play. She can always find an advantage in any situation, and she's smart.

She wanted to learn everything. As a girl growing up she listened to every word that came out of my mouth, so I was always careful what I said to her. She soaked in all the knowledge I had about our people and our history and our customs. She took it in as quickly as I could put it out. She would always tell me how proud she was to be a member of our tribe. When I lay dying, she thanked me for giving her the knowledge that I had. She said how it made her feel like she was home no matter where she went because all of our ancestors traveled with her.

"But our ways are not the ways of the land today. It is hard to live in balance… by our traditions in a place where what you possess is the greatest measure of what you are, and where you work is more important than what you accomplish. I know it hurt her greatly when her husband died, and she had to raise her son alone for many years. I also know how hard she worked to become a teacher, able to mold young minds with the knowledge she has gained, but she did all of this as Anna. It is very easy for others to understand Anna, the beautiful, educated woman who has a nice home, a great husband, a loving child, a good job, and so many other things that others aspire to attain. Just a few short years ago my daughter was trying to survive as a widow with a son, she has instead thrived. As I have said, my daughter as always been able to see the good angle to take in life, whether it be knocking a billiards ball into a hole, escaping from a constable, or forging a family and career. So while my daughter is proud of who she is, she has not seen any advantage in being Shawnee until this very day."

Anna fell to her knees and pressed her head to the ground. "I am so sorry Papa. I always thought that one day I would explain and teach him who we are. I never decided not to do it. I wouldn't have done that. I was too focused on the future. I couldn't look at the past. There was too much death, too much pain and I had to focus on where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be. It was the same for my son. It was so hard for him day by day that I just wanted him to be happy. I know I was wrong, please forgive me!"

Her father stooped down and took Anna under her chin and raised it. "I do forgive you. Besides, I would not be surprised if your son knows more than you think. If you are brave enough and strong enough, then you will have many more years to teach your son all of our ways", her father said and kissed her on the forehead.

"Thank you, Papa", she said then stood up to face the Mound Builders. "Does that mean you can help my son?"

"What is the boy's name, One Who Wanders?"

"Defender of Men", she answered.

The Elders nodded. "That is a strong and noble name", Still Waters replied and listened as the name was repeated generation by generation down Anna's family line.

"There is nothing certain", Little Deer began then approached Anna. Anna looked into the ancient's eyes as the woman smiled with her lips and her heart. She took Anna's hand and pressed a necklace into it. "This holds all our hopes, One Who Wanders. We trust it to you."

"Will it save my son, Elder?", Anna asked desperately.

"It will bend to your will and to your whims. You must do what you think is right. It is up to you to save us, One Who Wanders. The power is yours."

Mike looked down when Alex suddenly gripped his leg tightly. "You okay?", he asked the boy

Alex's eyes looked glassy and his face flushed. "I got really tired all of a sudden and my arm is starting to hurt worse", he replied.

Mike was worried. He could hear the change in the boy's voice. He'd been scared before but now there was a strain in his voice. It had to be the pull of the zombie's bite. There was no way to know that the pull of death had gone into overdrive.

The driver of the Army truck knew. They'd lost two of their soldiers and the Lieutenant had been wounded by the attack of those undead bastards. At first they thought that they had the firepower to defeat the creatures, but there were too damned many of them and they waded into the bullets like they were at a beach wading into surf. The first soldier had been bitten near the neck. A spray of blood had covered the grey skin of the monster who'd bitten him in steaming hot blood. The driver would never forget the sight of the long black snake like tongue come out of that zombie's mouth and lick off the blood. The bitten soldier was screaming for help, but before anybody could get to him he was bitten again and again. Each bite took with it a chunk of his flesh. Other soldiers tried to clear the creatures off of him, but bullets didn't even make them flinch. They continued eating the soldiers and he continued screaming until the screaming stopped. It could have been a stray bullet that shot him, or his body could have simply shut down from pain and blood loss. Either way the zombies ate him like a buffet. Three brave soldiers had managed to get what was left of the soldier onto the back of the truck. One of them had been bitten pretty badly in the process, but now they were on their way out of this fucking valley. That was until the dead soldier moved.

At first it was just a twitch of the finger. That could have been from the truck's jarring ride. The driver was pushing the engine for all it was worth, and throwing the truck around corners like a street racer. The big Army truck wasn't made for that sort of activity, but this was an emergency. They were about a half mile from where they'd been attacked when the dead soldier moved again. This time his mouth opened. A raspy grunt pushed the last air from his lung and he sat up. The other soldiers barely had a chance to piss themselves before he bit a man in the neck all the way to his spine. The untouched soldiers turned their weapons on one of their own and let him have it. A bullet struck the undead soldier's head and his brain blew out the exit wound. They kicked the soldier's body off the back of the truck, but it didn't matter. The soldier he'd just killed woke up and attacked two more soldiers before he too could be killed. The other soldiers fought with all they had, but it was already too late. The driver could hear the shooting behind him, and the screams, but he couldn't see what was happening. His fear was all consuming as he tried in vain to make the truck go even faster. A hand reached around to the driver's window and grabbed him. The wheel jerked to the right and then to the left. The big truck barely stayed upright as it went from one side of the street to the other. One last turn was too much. The truck's tire hit the sidewalk, then clipped a tree truck, then rolled over onto its side.

The driver hit his head, but not nearly hard enough to be knocked out. He kicked out the cracked windshield and climbed out. He couldn't see the zombies coming towards him but he knew they were moving. He could hear their feet shuffling against the ground and their anguished hungry moans. He took off running hoping that he was heading towards the exit, but not knowing.

Anna inhaled sharply and her eyes shot open. She wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist and looked down at the necklace of colored stones in her lap. A quick glance into the room showed that the stones that each of the Elders had been holding for centuries were gone. They were now in her lap. She put the necklace around her neck and tried to get her balance to stand up. Ethan was there to help her up.

"What happened?"

"I couldn't explain if I tried", Anna said shaking her head.

"So is it safe to go in now?", Ethan asked with sarcasm.

Anna looked into the room again and nodded. "Yeah, now it's just a room with human remains in it. The meeting is over."

They walked through the room and Ethan turned to his right. "The first storage tank is this way."

"I have to go this way", Anna told him and Ethan nodded grimly. That was the way he'd gone twenty years earlier and he'd nearly been eaten alive. He already knew that Anna understood the dangers. He saw the necklace around her neck and the old researcher in him had noticed that the stones that had been in the skeletons' hands were gone. Whatever the Mound Builders had wanted to give to Anna had been given.

"Good luck", he said and took off quickly towards his destination. Anna hesitated a bit, but not more than ten seconds. She shined her light down the path and started walking. It wouldn't be long until she found the end.

Ethan found the concrete wall right at the end of his path where it was supposed to be. He was directly beneath one of the two very large open areas in the Glen. There were no signs telling why there were no houses anywhere near here, but the schematics told the story. Years ago when he'd swiped a copy of the plans from city hall, Ethan had put his Ivy League education to use. It had turned out that the floor of this valley actually sat beneath the level of the gas mains and the holding tanks several miles away. They floor of the valley was so deep and the hills so high that it had been decided to put low pressure holding tanks underground in the Glen and use them to distribute gas to the houses. All the gas company had to do was pump in gas at low pressure to keep the tanks from running dry. Ethan hoped those tanks weren't empty as he set small breaching charges on the block wall and blew a hole in it.

The storage tanks and piping were right where they were supposed to be. He smiled and walked in stepping over the rubble and putting his foot down on straight steel catwalks instead of the uneven meandering path that had lead him here. It was dark in the space except for a few lit gauges and the exit sign far off over a door that actually led nowhere. The hatch that was supposed to be the entrance and exit to this place hadn't been used in more than a decade and had been covered over by grass. Ethan found the auxiliary power supply and flipped the breaker. The lights came on and the pumps started humming, preparing to deliver their natural gas to houses that no longer had occupants.

Ethan hurried to the control panel and turned the dial to manual. He then pushed the pumps to maximum. They were now putting out natural gas with more force than the pipes down the line were designed to take. The pressure kept building until something had to give. In one house it was the line leading to the oven. In another house it was the pipe leading to furnace. In another house it was a line that fed the gas logs in the fireplace. In one empty house a pipe weakened by rust simply burst allowing the hissing gas to fill the house. Ethan didn't care where the gas went. So far everything was going to plan. He just hoped the busses had gotten out of the Glen because he was about to light this place up like a gigantic roman candle.

"Stay with me Eli!", Steven yelled to his lifelong friend. Eli had been bitten by a monster and saved by Anna over an hour ago. He'd been doing okay in all that time, until now. Suddenly he'd started sweating and his eyes had rolled in his head. He had really high fever and he started to mumble. His body tensed up and he squeezed his hands into fists. After the third such fit Eli opened his eyes and looked Steven and Jack in the face.

"Put me out."

"No damn it!", Jack yelled and shook Eli hard. "You stay with us. Anna's gone down there and she's gonna fix all this. You have to stay with us."

Eli shook his head. The pain of it nearly made him vomit. "I hope she does fix it all, but I think it's too late for me." He donned a pained version of his shit kicker's grin and pressed the bell strip on the side of the bus. "This is my stop." Jack looked down at Eli and knew. He tapped the bus driver on the shoulder. The driver cursed under his breath at having to stop even for a moment. He'd just gotten a rhythm with the gears and now he'd have to start over again. The bus squeaked to a halt and several guys helped Eli off the bus. No one had the nerve to say good-bye. They didn't trust that they could have gotten the words out without crying. Eli could see it written on their faces just like it was plainly on his. He managed to drag himself under a tree off the road after the bus had driven off. The pull of death was almost too strong to resist, but he had to… just for a little longer. Eli sat with his back against the tree and he pulled out his pistol. He pressed the muzzle against his temple, but didn't pull the trigger. He decided to enjoy the serenity of this night for a moment longer before he died. He looked up at the stars and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could even make out the shadows of the leaves falling from trees down to the ground.

Eli turned his head when he heard footfalls and heavy breathing coming frown down the street. A man was running for his life. Eli watched the man turn the corner around a house. His arms were flailing and his legs were obviously tired. Eli knew why he wasn't pacing himself. Not three steps behind him were two creatures. The man ran in the darkness trying to get away away away. He stepped off a curb he hadn't known was there and the snap of a ligament popping sounded just before he yelled. The runner dropped to the ground and the zombies closed in. Eli used both his hands to raise his gun and he lined up the sights before he pulled the trigger. The muzzle flash lit up the area like a little sunrise, once, twice, three times until the zombies fell.

"Hey!", the injured runner yelled. He was at least a mile from his overturned Army truck.

"You better keep moving", Eli said to him in a voice that was hardly like his normal one.

The Army driver tried to stand up, but his knee felt like somebody had poured boiling hot lava down it. He stood up and hopped on his one good leg towards the sound of the voice he'd heard. "My leg's busted. I can't go anywhere", the driver lamented and moved closer.

"This is no place for the living", Eli warned again and sighed deeply.

"You from this neighborhood?", the driver asked.

"Yeah", Eli replied simply.

"Then can you tell me how far I am from the exit?"

"About a mile, maybe a little more."

"Thought so", the driver said then dropped down to the grass about three feet from Eli. "I'm Tom." He held out his hand.

"Eli."

"Damn Eli, your hand's burning up."

"I'm dying."

"You get bitten?"

"Yep", Eli said, thinking that he should have been feeling sorrier for himself. He handed Tom the gun. "There's six bullets left in that gun. I suggest you save the last two. One for me after I die, and one for yourself when more zombies come around the corner."

Tom chuckled. "Hey maybe we'll get rescued."

Eli managed to smile, but couldn't make himself laugh. "Yeah and maybe there's a tooth fairy."

Jack and the rest of the survivors in the big passenger bus didn't say much after they put off Eli. They were near the exit and freedom. Some people felt safer since Eli was no longer on the bus although they wouldn't admit it openly. They silently thanked him for being a stand up guy and facing his death. He'd refused to put other people in danger. It was too bad everybody wasn't quite so chivalrous. There was a man in the restroom who'd gone in there a minute before the bus had left the safe house and hadn't come out since. Jack had planned to check the people boarding the bus for bites or scratches, but in the rush and confusion they'd relied on the honor method. This man had none. When Bruce had opened the door to the safe house this guy had been bitten on the lower back. He put on another coat and hid the trickle of blood. He sneaked onto the bus and he was now dead in the bathroom. The acceleration of undead worked on him too, and his hunger was building by the second. It was time for him to feed. The bathroom door opened, and he chose his first victim.

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