Chapter 14 The Road Home

They needed maneuverability since they were using mainly cold weapons to fight and not bullets that needed reloaded. They were not tied together this time they are counting on the time magic if something goes wrong it was a pure fight. Where they may practice with both their powers and the machete there should be no reason for the pistol but over preparing was better than under preparing and the weapon did not weigh much.

They followed the road cutting down wandering zombies that had spotted them and were getting close to the highway onramp. The number of zombies randomly walking around without a sense of direction increased. Between the on and off ramps on both ends of the overpass there were four ramps the zombies could use here to walk up from the highway.

The road's overpass had cars hanging from them; others could be seen on the highway below that had flipped upside down when they fell from the overpass. None were still burning though, but the zombies had made their way up as predicted. There were still plenty of zombies below on the highway too.

When the group was spotted by the zombies, they growled loudly getting the attention of the other zombies nearby. They started to push towards them.

Brenda sucked in a breath at the number there were around thirty on the overpass and they could be facing more as the zombies below noticed them and moved their way up.

She regretted taking a deep breath as the smell of rotten flesh hit her.

Richard was instinctively using a bit of manna to push away the smell though Kristy was not sure he even noticed he was doing it.

Matty looked like he was ready to puke but held it in. This amount of zombies was similar in number to the ones they shot down yesterday but this time they needed to get close to them to kill them or use their manna.

This would not be an easy fight. Kristy was the first to strike; she sent five fireballs the size of baseballs to the zombies' heads and steadily approached another that was closer to her to smash with her machete. "Just don't stop moving, we are still faster than them." Kristy reminded her family.

Brenda tried using the water whip. She did not need skills in using a real whip to use a water whip. Since the water moved according to her will it always hit, but the problem was the density and sharpness. Brenda had no experience making sure her water did not disperse when it hit the zombie so finding the right level of manna needed to slice through the zombie was hard for her. As her skill has a semisolid ingredient, she remembered the speed of a saw and tried again this worked better for her so she switched from the whip to watermelon sized water blades that were flat like that of a blade of a knife and turned fast like a saw.

Matty scattered a handful of flower seeds in the air onto the road and willed them to grow around the zombies' feet. The zombies were strong though so they were breaking them. He remembered he determined the strength of the seed by the density of the manna so he kept focusing on the seeds growing and getting stronger till some of the zombies were held in place for him to cut down with his crow bar.

Richard was a bit faster with forming his wind blades that looked a bit like boomerangs they sliced through the heads of the zombies on the first try but he felt he was wasting more mana than necessary so he thought of the vacuum in the wind around a turning bullet. The boomerang shaped wind turned into smaller sharp tornados that shot out like bullets. Richard smiled. He found a way to fight he was comfortable with that did not waste much manna.

The battle they were expecting to be epic and go on for at least ten minutes and they would be forced to deal with the zombies coming up from below was over in three minutes.

"That's it!" Matty asked. He was out of zombies to practice on. It was a disappointment they had killed them too quickly. He was just getting a good feel for his manna.

Richard had taken out most of the zombies, as wind magic was fast. He was smiling like a kid who found a new toy.

Kristy shrugged and pulled out the bikes for them to continue. They could wait for the zombies below to come up but it would be a waste of time. They had a route planned for them to loot, before things expired and were covered in mold. So, the first few days were scheduled for acquiring what they need; they will have years to fight zombies.

Right now, it was time to hoard as much food as they can. Most of the population had died and they were not taking too many non-perishable items since they could make most things, they wanted with ingredients they planned to grow in the space.

In comparison they were taking a lot of what would go bad before anyone else could eat it anyway. they would not have a huge impact on the other people.

Except for the candy that Kristy was hoarding. It was not like they could not make sugar candies or fruit candies but they had no cocoa seeds or a way to get them so coco and chocolate would sadly run out.

Kristy was pushing for a lifetime supply stash for five people at least of chocolates.

On the outside of Portland, in a private security company base a jet touched down.

Jacob came out of the Jet "Map out all the areas She can land a VLJ in near her cousin's apartment and a roadmap to the other houses for Kristy's family she will be stopping there for pictures knowing her these will be our way of catching up."

"What if they are traveling in a car?" Jessica asked.

"The roads are too blocked for a car in most places so they would have to abandon the car eventually." Berry pointed out.

"Just map the area, the sun will be going down soon. I'm sure they would stop so they can see better when fighting. There are only four of them." Jacob threw out his orders. "Have the pictures of Kristy and her family been sent out to the boys?"

"Yes boss, eyes are looking for a match as we speak." Berry confirmed the relay of the order.

"Good job, get some rest, the search begins tomorrow." Jacob replied to them. He had tried calling both numbers today but the call would say the phone is off or outside of service. 'She must not have charged the phone now that she is with her family'

Jacob made his way to the car that would take him to his penthouse in the base. He was exhausted from killing zombies and moving broken cars off the road to make a runway. He hoped to find Kristy by tomorrow.

This was not Utah he had plenty of his own people here he would find her.

Back on the road in Portland, Kristy had finished taking all the food from the walk-in fridge in the Taco Bell. She took the food that was not opened to the air for two days and all the soda syrup.

"There is a gas station before the next corner." Matty told her. This was the next stop they had in mind.

Jacob was wrong; they found stopping to be a waste of time since they had the space to rest in and lights for their bikes. When in combat Kristy leaves some fireballs floating for them to see there was no problem fighting in the dark for them. This was also since their manna cores were level five instead of level zero.

However, they stopped to pick things up so often it was definitely slowing them down.

A zombie cat rushed at Matty's bike before it could reach a wind bullet hit it in the head. then it fell to the ground.

Kristy swooped her bike around to kick it into the space. She could never be certain the levels of zombie animals by looking at them since the speed is always different but she was hoping to get a core from the ashes.

A zombie that fast must have eaten some people so if it happened to eat a power user it would have a crystal.

She was right after kicking it the space informed her that it had a level one wind crystal! The zombies are still pretty stupid it could have put up a fight if its death was not so fast. Level one versus level five eat shit cat.

"We just acquired our first level one wind core." Kristy informed them of the happy news. granted they need almost two thousand of them to get their next level up, but everyone starts somewhere.

They got to the gas station and went to go in. The doors were locked.

"This place is occupied, move along or get shot." came from inside.

Well surprise this is the first time they came across humans that had stopped moving to rest for the night.

Brenda shrugged and got back on the bike; they continued to the next spot on the list.

It's not like they're running from zombies and need a spot to crash for the night. They are just looting and moving. the things there had been claimed by someone. ok they will get more from the next place.

They continued down the road. Every couple hours or so they would stop to eat and feed Serenity. If she stayed awake to play, they made sure to spoil her; she now had a vibrating baby bouncer. That she enjoyed falling asleep in.

They tried to get her to play with a rattle and a stuffed plush but she was bored.

They were making an effort not to hold her the whole time she was awake. She needed space to wiggle and relax so she did not become too used to being carried. She needs to crawl and walk still they had heard holding the baby too much will slow the learning curve.

However, there were not many things to play with a baby that can't even crawl yet. They didn't want to overwhelm her. So, half the time they would sit with a drink and watch or talk about when they were younger, and the things that Serenity needed to experience despite the apocalypse.

Richard told them many habits the three of them had growing up that were too far back for them to remember.

"Kristy, you remember the baby zombie from the other night?" Matty asked, Brushing Serenity's gums for her. "Was that zombie even dangerous, babies have no teeth?"

"It could have had one or two teeth but the human baby zombies are not too dangerous till they get stronger. The shapes and bones deform at level two the Jaw of a level two baby zombie because there were no teeth through the gums yet it will look like a shark's mouth. They have two sets of teeth waiting to come in. same with the kids that still had baby teeth they get both sets in their mouth it is weird."

"I have not seen this myself, just heard others talk about it. I wish I was a hunter last time. I could tell you more to look out for but to be honest this is my first time out here and the information I have heard, some of it could have been boasting I don't know." Kristy explained not to assume because she didn't have firsthand experience with any of this.

"The ones to fear are the zombie mice and rats. They still travel together in packs; they can travel through the ground or walls and their heads are a small target. They can eat a living man to the bone before they even have a chance to turn into a zombie." Kristy explained the scariest zombies.

"There was a man at the base back then, who was wind powered. He thought he had run fast enough to survive with a few scratches but the mouth of the mouse was so small he was bitten and didn't know till he turned into a zombie." Kristy looked at them

"I was told that fear and adrenaline can block most small pain from registering. He thought he was clawed a few times but was bit by one of the mice before escaping. He killed twenty-two people in the base when he turned before he was stopped."

"Should we go to a base?" Kristy asked them while Brenda helped Serenity into her baby bathtub. And Matty played with the tiny rubber duckies trying to get her attention.

Richard Looked at her. "I thought you didn't want to?"

"Time magic has to be said out loud to work. Dying before I can say it is very unlikely before the zombies reach level two in four months. But if an accident happens later the space will collapse and if Serenity is in here, she will die with me." Kristy explained her fear.

"That won't happen, we won't let you die." Matty denied the possibility outright.

"She will also never play with other kids if she is here her whole life." Kristy pointed out. "Bases are easiest to get into for the next two weeks after that they get full and are more selective who they let in. Just something to think about."

"It would be weird if we go to a base for her with a child her age after four months in the zombie apocalypse people will question why we were carrying a baby around the infected for so long." Kristy said

"Ok we heard your new reason for wanting to go but what were the original reasons to not go?" Brenda asked.

"The base keeps track of people. they charge manna stones for rent, there is a lack of maneuverability. think how much time we would waste when the gates are locked for the night. My biggest problem is the way they treat the space users as thieves. Now that I know excessive exercise can give you super strength and speed, I think it would irritate me seeing weak adults hiding there. And eventually the zombies will break down a base. This is a different city and we're killing a lot of them so we won't know when it will happen. There is also the chance that with how many zombies we will be killing, there will be nothing left here for us to hunt if we stay in one spot. we could be affecting the other power users' levels with how fast we can move in comparison. Essentially weakening the base, we are at." Kristy named a few things.

"I also don't want to get caught with other food, people are starving around a month after the apocalypse, the expiration date for most foods hit and a hunt for non-perishables begins. The problem of cannibalism gets big at this time especially towards children. Most bases will keep kids safe but there are some that advocate for it saying the children were better off not living in this hell as they would never get stronger because the zombies were too strong for them to fight. Around three months in the apocalypse they find this ugly purple oat that is safe to grow and eat but most plants mutate and carry a bit of the zombie virus so even if it looks safe don't touch it." Kristy went on a list of all the things that she didn't want to happen.

"I think I'm also afraid of losing touch with other people and cutting ourselves off from them. I want nothing to do with them but it could be feelings towards others. Not everyone can be bad right?" Kristy looked down "Will I be able to trust someone who is not family again?" Kristy asked, crying now.

"You're afraid we won't find a lover and Serenity might die so you want to go through all that hell for that small chance? With how nuts these people are, I'm ok with being single till the zombies die off then we can see who survived to find friends." Matty summed it up: the base was not good for them in so many ways.

"A four-man squad is still too small to be safe later." Kristy said. "There are mercenary groups we could join that move around to other bases. But once again we would need to sneak Serenity around them."

Richard looked at Kristy. "So, in reality all we need is some kids her age group and their parents to add to our mercenary squad. If you can trust them to come in here, we could be saving their and the kids' lives. As you said pumpkin if you can trust another with your secret. But there is no way to test that till the secret is out. You still have time magic as a big secret."

Kristy thought about what he just said Uncle Richard was right she won't know if it was a problem to tell someone till after it was done. "Thanks, I think I needed that wakeup call I was starting to hide from myself."

Brenda and Matty sat down to think about who they knew that fit the bill for a mercenary squad.

Brenda had Serenity wiggling and crying from the cold now that she is out of the warm water and being dried off. "My friends are still too young to have kids." she commented "and they are most likely sticking with the crowd or their family."

Matty took a breath. "I have two friends that became dads. However, they are not the most responsible people assuming they even survived. I don't think I want to trust my life to them."

"I lost touch with people when I was dating Jacob. I don't know what they are doing now." Kristy supplied information they already expected.

They looked at Richard. "My friends are as old as I am and if they have kids they are as old as you are." Richard sighed his plan was not getting off to a good start. "We will keep an eye out for good people while they are headed to the bases. Maybe we can get them to join us first."

"How many people are needed for a mercenary squad?" Brenda asked

"12 to be safe at the least. There was one squad that had 8 and were really strong but most have more members than that. 62 at the most I have seen or heard about." Kristy said.

"I thought we could only get one house to keep room for plants. Does that mean we have to share a room?" Brenda asked disappointed.

"Or build an apartment complex." Kristy said, "What should we do if they betray us and tell others about the space?"

"Let's hope we have a good judge of character." Richard said "I don't want to kill some kids' parents."