Fade to Grey (Book 2): Darkness Ascending by Brian Stewart Page B

den.” Eric watched as Walter gently patted the
pump shotgun in his grasp. “So the answer is ‘yes’ we have guards. Are we safe?
Probably not, but until we can come up with an effective, coordinated plan,
it’s what we’ve got.”
     
    Eric looked at Michelle, and then back around the
room, stopping again at Walter. “What happened here?”
     
    With a tilt of his head towards Mike, Walter said,
“You were there, you tell ‘em.”

Chapter 10
     
    Mike looked at Dave, and then over towards Doc before
beginning. “Well the last time I saw you two,” he indicated Eric and Michelle, “was
the day we cleared out the campground loops. After you left, things were pretty
hosed—people kind of floating between the extremes, I guess. Some of ‘em were
celebrating like they just won the lottery, others were acting like they just
came from their aunts funeral.” He looked again at Doc and Dave, “Feel free to
jump in here at any time, guys.” Both of them nodded, but remained silent.
     
    “So anyway,” Mike continued,” Amy got a bunch of
volunteers for different jobs. I was on the guard team—daytime.”
     
    “Glenda and I volunteered for the firewood teams that
were supposed to start the next morning. Our shift was supposed to be from 8:00
AM until 2:00 PM. We were called the ‘comfort’ team, although I can’t say I was
very comfortable pushing the wheelbarrow. My wife grew up on a farm though, and
I think she kind of enjoyed it,” Leonard added.
     
    Dave cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck as he
spoke, “After you left, Rebecca was still helping with the medical team, so I
told Amy that I’d lend a hand anywhere she needed. I was put on the daytime
guard team, but before I went to bed I ended up doing a midnight church service
at the soccer field.”
     
    “And I,” Doc chimed in, “finally made it back to my RV
about 2:00 AM—but I still couldn’t sleep—I was worrying about Emily.” Doc looked
over at Eric and nodded in appreciation. “Thank you again for getting her.”
     
    “As far as I know,” Dave looked around, searching for
confirmation, “the rest of the night was uneventful, with the exception of the
guy that tried to bully his way into the campground, but VW took care of him.”
     
    Eric’s questioning stare produced a more detailed
explanation about the incident from Dave, and then Mike began to relay the
events from their morning patrol, up to the point where they had seen the walkers
coming out of the forest near the bike riding children.
     
    “What time was that?” Michelle asked pointedly,
continuing before he had a chance to answer, “Because Andy and I were at the
campground around 9:30 AM. Heck, we were in Doc’s RV for at least an hour . . .
probably closer to two. And then we spent another fifteen minutes or so getting
. . .” Michelle trailed off as Samantha’s name, and the violent fate she met
with welled up in her memory.
     
    “Getting what?” Callie asked.
     
    Michelle closed her eyes and steadied herself, feeling
every molecule of the cool barn air as it passed her lips. After a moment, she
heard Eric stand up and step over. She felt his hand settle on her shoulder as
he sat down and scrunched himself tight against her. He didn’t say a word. He
didn’t need to. The calmness and silent inner strength that radiated from him
like a blast furnace was the lifeline that she needed to continue.
     
    “There was a . . . young couple . . . at the
campground. Samantha and Garret. She was supposed to be good with computers, so
we took them to Andy’s cabin. They were going to try and find information about
what’s going on . . . tapping into satellite feeds or something like that.”
Michelle paused again as the memory of the first time she had seen
Samantha—sitting at a picnic table in the campground playing computer games
against Garrett in the frosty, late morning air—flashed in her mind. It was
shortly after that that she and Andy had told