The Dead Rise

Chapter 38

"Where did they take him?" Skylar asked Edge
"I don't know but he'll be back and he'll be ok." Edge said
"You got that right." Noah said
Grace ran over and hugged Noah.
"I hope he's ok." Grace said
"He is." Noah said
"I don't know if I can handle this. With the baby and everything." Lucy said
"We'll get you through it." Marcus said
"Ok while we're waiting for Carter to come back I wanted to tell you that the Aquarium is gone. There's nothing left it was burnt to the ground by those bastards who took Carter." Edge said
"Now I don't have a doctor!" Lucy said crying
"It'll be ok we'll figure it out." Edge said
They heard a truck driving to the gate.
"Yes he's back." Noah said
"Don't get your hopes up kiddo." Edge said
The trucks drove in and Dalton got out.
"Thank you for allowing me back into your home." Dalton said
"Where's Carter?" Edge asked
"Oh he's dead." Dalton said
"Dead?" Skylar asked
Noah started to cry.
"You killed him?" Edge asked angrily
"No I didn't but I left him in the woods pretty disfigured chances are he's not gonna make it back." Dalton said
Dalton walked in front of the group looking everyone up and down as he went past.
"Are you guys ready to be my finely tuned fighting machines, you see after the apocalypse happened I started living my life to the phrase Vincere est vivet. Any idea what that means?" Dalton asked
No one moved
"Well it means to conquer is to live. So with the help of you people we can go and conquer other settlements around the area and rule this place as our own. Wouldn't that just be fun?" Dalton asked
"How about you just leave us alone, you killed one of our own. Just leave." Edge said
"Ok ok. I'll give you some time to let that settle in. Your bulletproof, fearless, unkillable leader is gone." Dalton said
Dalton and his group got in the trucks.
"I'll be back now Edge don't be leaving or I will track your ass down and hang you from a tree just like Carter." Dalton said
The trucks drove off.
Noah walked off into the school. He walked to the gun storage and grabbed a Glock and his bat. He put a strap on his bat so he could sling it onto his back. He walked out and was walking to the gate when Skylar stopped him.
"Where are you going?" Skylar asked
"I'm going to find my dad." Noah said
"You can't just go out on your own like that." Skylar said
"Then come with me." Noah said
"Ok give me a minute." Skylar said
Skylar ran into the school. Grace walked over to Noah.
"Be careful." Grace said
"I will." Noah said
"I love you." Grace said
"I love you too." Noah said
Noah kissed Grace.
Skylar came back out.
"You ready?" Noah asked
"I guess." Skylar said
Noah and Skylar walked out of the gates toward Denver. They made it into the outskirts of Denver when Noah realized Skylar was slowing him down. He started walking slower than her and ducked down an alley and started running. He ran until he got to a back road north of Denver. He was walking down the road.
"Dad! It's Noah!" Noah yelled but no response.
He walked for about five miles when he heard the sound of a two stroke dirt bike coming fast over the crest. He had no time to get out of the way. The bike came over the crest and the rider slammed the brakes making the bike slide to a stop and shut off. The rider pulled out a 357. Magnum and aimed it at Noah.
"Are you alone?" The rider asked his voice muffled by the helmet.
He had a white and black leather riding jacked covered in blood. The bike had two machetes duct taped to the handle bars.
"No. Yes, I am now." Noah's said still surprised about what's happening
"What's that mean?" He asked
"You see I'm looking for my dad, I was with his girlfriend but I figured it'd be quicker just to ditch her and go on my own." Noah said
"I like that, rebellious aye." He said with his Canadian accent now showing
"So where you going?" Noah asked
The rider took of his helmet, now it was obvious he was a bit younger than Noah.
"I heard about some place called the Thorton safe zone or something? Some guy named Jim told me about it." He said
"Yeah that's where I came from, my dad runs it." Noah said
"So is it safe?" The rider asked
"Well it was some people named the clowns came and said we have to work for them but as soon as we find my dad we're gonna kill them." Noah said
"Oookay. Do you need a helping hand, I've gotten pretty good with this gun and this bike." He said
"Any help we can get, what's your name?" Noah asked
"I'm Jake and you are?" Jake asked
"I'm Noah." Noah said
"Just like out of curiosity hold old are you?" Jake asked
"15, you?" Noah asked
"Crap I'm 13 I thought I had you beat." Jake said
"You look older than 13." Noah said
"I get that a lot." Jake said
"Ah." Noah said
"So let's get to that not so safe, safe zone." Jake said
"Ok I'll see you there." Noah said
"No ride bitch trust me I can handle it." Jake said
"What?" Noah asked
"Get on the back." Jake said
"Oh ok. Once we get back if Skylar's back we can just go out and look for my dad." Noah said
Noah got on the back of the bike and put his arms around Jake holding on.