Joseph Talluto - Taking It Back

Charlie and I were still looking for a boat after three days and it was becoming frustrating. We had found several small boats, but we didn’t want to take more than one trip. So we were looking for something a little bigger. I had suggested we try some of the boat storage facilities, but lacking a trailer, we had no way to get the boat to water. Which left us with searching many homes, usually finding bass boats and small fishing boats, but nothing useful like the boat we took to Starved Rock in the first place.

We were driving down 191 ^ st street, very close to the Condo Community we had started in Frankfort after we had left the school when I had a bit of inspiration. “Pull in here!” I shouted to Charlie.

Charlie cursed and hit the brakes, causing us to swerve slightly as the tires squealed in protest. We came to a stop and Charlie swore again.

“Dammit, are you trying to kill us?” he said, irritated.

“You’re driving, you’re the one who nearly caused an accident. I was just navigating.” I tried to sound contrite, but I didn’t think it would work.

Mollified, Charlie asked, “What are we stopping here for?”

I pointed to the small industrial park. “Sometimes the guys who own the businesses store their toys in their unused space. I remember a sealant company having a large boat in the warehouse owned by the same guys who owned the business back when I worked for a living as a kid.”

Charlie shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt to look, we’ve struck out so far.” He pulled the truck into the parking lot and cruised to a stop in a parking space. I smiled when I saw he had avoided the handicapped space.

Old habits never really go away, I thought.

We got out of the truck and I looked around. The little industrial park was laid out like a couple of squares with a road passing in between the buildings. There weren’t the usual signs of violence or infestation, so I took that as a positive sign. Across the road was an identical business park, but it looked like it had some problems. Several windows of the businesses had been broken into and there was an abandoned van slewed across the front of one area. I nodded to Charlie in the direction of the van and after a moment’s look he nodded. We’d keep an eye on that area. In our experience, a vehicle parked in front of a door like that meant someone was trying to keep something out.

I pulled my crowbar and went to work on the nearest door. It was a paving business and the door opened easily after some persuading. Taking a quick look around, I made my way past decorative piles of brick samples and to the back room. I knocked on the steel door and held my ear to it.

I heard nothing, opened the door and looked around. There were large pallets of bricks and other types of paving rocks, as well as barrels of tar and repair kits for driveways.

I met Charlie and shook my head. No dice on this one. We checked the next two in line and found nothing of interest. The businesses were actually interconnected, so one business could actually occupy two or three spaces. It also allowed us to access each business without having to go outside every time.

On the last business, we got hopeful. It was an insulation company and Charlie noticed a lot of stuffed fish on the walls. I looked around and saw a couple of family photos that showed several smiling people sitting on a largish boat.

“Maybe, maybe,” I said, working my way to the back door. I opened the door and shined my flashlight around. At first I didn’t see anything except piles of insulation, but tucked out of the way was pay dirt. It was a beautiful Bayliner Express Cruiser, thirty two feet long with twin engines. I moved over and climbed aboard. It had two cabins, one fore and one aft, a full galley, and a small dinette area. The deck had a nice U-shaped lounge area, and a low diving platform. It was, in a word, perfect. Well, almost. It had been christened “Wetter Dreams”, obviously by someone who thought they were being clever.

Charlie came over and inspected the boat, giving me an approving nod and the name of the boat an eye roll. We inspected the trailer and we were pretty sure we would be able to tow the boat, but as to the route back to Leport to put it in the water, we weren’t so sure.

We argued back and forth about possible routes and alternates, each one having its merits, although none easy, since there were still hundreds of cars blocking easy access.

I was about to make a remarkably poignant argument when a knock on the garage door stopped us cold.

I looked at Charlie. “Did you order take out?” Another knock.

“Not me. I hate Chinese food.” More knocking.

“Hmm.” I went over to the back door and put my ear against it. Sure enough, there sounded like a few people were walking around out there. The door didn’t have a window, so I couldn’t see what was happening. I didn’t worry about anyone on the outside getting in, since these warehouses generally had doors without handles on the outside, offering only a deadbolt for entry.

I started to leave the warehouse when something caught my eye and I ducked back into the darkness. Charlie was right behind me and we collided in the gloom. Shaking his head, he assessed the situation correctly. “How many?” he asked.

“At least four by the front windows and if they see us they’ll be on us in no time,” I said.

“Four isn’t too bad,” Charlie mused.

“That’s just what I could see. I’m pretty sure there’s more out back.” I said, trying to keep quiet.

“What’s the plan, then?”

“Hold on. I’m going to see if we can get to the roof.” I headed back to the storeroom and looked around. No luck. We checked the other storerooms, being very careful to avoid being seen. The last one in line had roof access, so we headed up and carefully looked around.

The roof was a simple affair, with a three foot false front around the front and sides of the buildings. There was nothing of note on the roof except for a couple of bodies in the corner. I approached them carefully and Charlie did the same, but we relaxed when we saw they were dead and staying that way. I looked closer and couldn’t see a cause of death, although they were both just skin and bones. They were lying with their arms around each other and judging by their clothes, they were just teenagers.

“What do you think?” Charlie asked, tilting his head towards the couple.

“If I had to guess, they got chased up here and died of dehydration. Not a pretty way to go. Wonder why they didn’t hole up in the storerooms until the zombies lost interest?” I mused.

“They were just scared kids. They weren’t thinking all tactical like you do,” Charlie jibed.

I ignored the barb. “Let’s take a look at our friends.” We walked over to the front side and carefully looked over. The four I had initially seen had been joined by four more, making the equation a little more untenable.

Moving over to the side of the building, I looked over and my shoulders slumped. There had to be twenty of the fetid things wandering around and bumping into each other, standing by the wall, and generally making a mess of things. I could smell the nasties all the way up on the roof, and ducked back before they could see me. Charlie looked over and shook his head.

“Where the hell did they come from?” Charlie asked. “They weren’t here twenty minutes ago when we pulled up.”

I shrugged. “My guess is they were over in the other building, saw us pull up, and located us by our conversation in the storeroom.”

“Are we shooting?”

“Don’t know as we have much choice, except we’ll attract every Z in the neighborhood and we still have to get the boat out of here, not to mention the truck.” I looked over the roof edge again. I checked my ammo supply. “I haven’t got enough ammo for a long fight,” I said.