The sounds of several vehicles on paved roads could be heard building through the trees. They were close, and getting closer. There was no way to know if it was a group of people on their way the to the house of bodies, but the timing was eerily suspicious.

Sam stepped back from the wall, almost skewering himself on what seemed like a broom or a rake handle.
“That wouldn’t be your mob, would it?” He looked at radio boy.

"Dunno, cracky, the bastids ain't using the rad-dio." The youngster said in terribly failed Aussie imitation.

Another boy slapped him across the back of the head and then said, "We don't know. There wasn't any radio talk. Could be. It is on the way to the fort too."

"Everybody just stay quiet 'til they are gone."

Gene catches Casper's collar and holds on. "Quiet Caspah...Quiet.." He watches The road and waits hoping the cars will pass without incident.

The kids showed two things; amazing discipline in keeping still and quiet and a remarkable ability to slip into the tiniest of concealed spots. They had been trained well and, most likely, drilled to hard. But it was paying off in spades now.

Minutes passed by. The first car rolled by. Through a break in the trees they could spy a blue Chevy sedan go by. moments later another vehicle, a Dodge Pickup, sped by. Others were approaching still. The radio remained silent, although the siren still wailed in the distance.

Casper twitched, sniffed, gave a low growl. Gene shook him lightly trying to break the dog's mood, sooth him with a familiar feel. But Casper was having none of it. He looked into the nearby tree line and gave deeper, longer growl and a very short, gruff bark.

The smell of walking death filtered into the area around the house with a hot summer breeze.

"Well this may be about to go to shit huh boy..."

Troy whispered to the dog.

A child screamed, then several bolted from a hidden spot to Troy's right, very near to Gene, as a pair of undead emerged. The undead themselves were small; one was child missing enough of its outer surface to be indistinguishable as male or females and short undead woman whose clothes were still quite clean save a blood-browned spot where her arm was gnawed off. With such commotion it would only be a matter minutes before the other undead in the area  began coming that way.

“Touch woo-“ Sam started, but was cut off by a shrill scream and a flurry of commotion.
Two undead appeared, one horrifically disfigured; moreso than usual. Most of its skin had sloughed off its face, revealing raw and slimy flesh.

Sam reached for the rake.

11:32, Today: Sam Clifford rolled 5 using 3d4.  Combativeness.

11:33, Today: Sam Clifford rolled 7 using 3d4+1.  Athleticism.

14:50, Today: Troy Roberts rolled 11 using 3d4+3.  Combativeness To Hit w/ .22.

Troy rotated and fired several relatively quiet shots into the diminutive zombies craniums with his pistol held almost directly under his chin in both big hands.

"Grab your shit kids we're about to be running."

The undead toppled. The gunshots that struck came, seemingly, out of nowhere. Panic set in immediately as kids took off in small groups running away from the encroaching undead to seek new cover. Shreck made his dislike for the undead known as Casper growled out a new warning. Half a dozen undead emerged from the trees to the north end of the backyard. It was very rapidly shaping up into another scene of maximum up-fuckery.

Gene pulls his Vaquero and taps his thigh with his left hand to signal casper to follow. He grabs Sheck's lead and moves out with Troy trying to keep Shreck between the kids and the zombies. Shreck's kicks are devastating and have helped them get through many close calls in the past.

Moving away from the house as best they could, the men tried to keep as many kids as they could muster moving along. It had been several days of non-stop move, fight, move again and it was beginning to take its toll on them. Even Shrek was more ornery than usual. After an hour of slowly drifting through the trees and scrub brush they came to a small cleared are around an old cell tower. The chain link enclosure was only about forty feet on a side with a small shack that a fifty foot tall relay tower stood up from, but it was clear of undead and still locked up. Looking about the little building it was clear is was little more than a prefab building built around the base of the tower. It didn't even have windows or doors, just openings where they would be normally.

Checking their back trail, again, it was obvious that they had out distanced the undead migrating through the forest near the house. But, there was no reason to believe they had slipped away from the risk. It wasn't lost on the men that nearly half of the kids were not with them. Hearts could sink later, there was still work to do for now.

Oh how nice it would feel to be fenced in for the night, Sam thought.
“If we could clear a gap in the barbed wire, we could give each person a boost over the fence and then do the same to get out”. Sam suggested as he paced along the fence.
“I mean, I haven’t checked if it’s locked, but one would imagine it would be”.

He weaved his fingers into the chain-link fence, tugging at bits and inspecting the barbs that curled along the top. His mouth twisted in thought.

Sam's efforts were rewarded with two discoveries. The first was that the gate closed with an unlocked master lock hanging in its cradle. The other was that once he opened the unlocked gate there was a small table just inside the fence with an old maintenance log and a playmate cooler of the size used to carry lunch in. Inside the cooler he found the second discovery; half a box of twinkies and a nearly full pint of peach schnapps. 'Yanks were wankers at times, but they knew a thing or two about getting pissed' Sam thought.

The place looked long forgotten and there wasn't the usual signs of undead; shambling, rasping corpses hell bent on devouring him whole.

"Good a place as we're likely to find to rest for a minute. I'll check the shack."

..and he did just that.

It was truly abandoned. The enclosure seemed to have been a forgotten nook of time. The magazines laying on an upturned crate were months old before the dead rose. They were all about cars, motorcycles, firearms, and tattoos. 'Man's' stuff. But, the enclosure could be locked up. It was secluded. And there didn't seem to have been any activity by the living or the dead in a month or more.

“Ah-ha! Meal of champions” Sam opened the cooler and admired the newfound bounty.
After kickstarting his senses with some spicy water, he held the bottle out behind him for the next person while he tipped out the box of Twinkies across the small table.

The handful of kid still with them flooded in around Sam. They were all smiles and quiet giggles as they flat out assaulted the little confections.

"Thanks mister." A young boy said. Five more thanks followed.

Shrek seemed to approve of the enclosure. Shade, space, and a chance to rest in this heat.

Gene unloaded Shreck and frowned slightly as he rubbed down the mule and studied the surrounding area, looking for a potential water and vegetation suitable for forage. He handed Casper some jerky one of his favorite snacks.

Gene smiled as the kids swarmed Sam and the twinkies.

He gestured toward Troy and Sam, "Any objection to me scouting around for a bit. I'd like to see if there is any water nearby."

Gene walked around Shrek to give the animal a quick look over. No sense in having the animal suffer a septic infection because he was to lazy check it for cuts an scrapes. Especially after the recent terrain conditions; fences, ditches, inclines, smashed cars, crowded barns, etc., etc.

He no sooner asked about looking around for water than when his foot cracked a board underfoot. Giving it a kick he was pleased to see a water access. It was a main, complete with pressure regulation valves, off-main lines, and a big gauge showing nearly sixty pounds of pressure. It almost made him feel like this spot was just waiting for them.

Or was it there because someone else knew enough to keep it hidden?

Gene grinned at his luck and started wishing for a pulled pork sandwich. He made sure everyone got enough water to drink before settling fora quick meal consisting of jerky. He offered to share with anyone who had no food. "How far are we from your mountain? Is it doable on foot with the kids joining us?" 

“I’m not sure how far exactly, but I reckon once we rest here for a bit and drink plenty of water we’ll be set to trek there”. Sam ducked his head through the strap of his satchel, shedding himself of all his gear before flopping onto his back with his hands behind his head.

“Ahhh, feeling better already”.

"About two days and a  it with a good pace." Troy said. "About twenty miles straight line, but up some steep mountains."

The wind picked up, thunder boomed in the distance, and temperature thankfully dropped a degree or two. The upcoming rain seemed to be another in a long series of heavens draining storms that occur every couple of days.