"That might help," Joelle said. "Why don't you two get inside now, we heard a voice on the CB."

Sarah and Alex exchanged glances and then raced back to the Winnebago. Joelle stepped aside to let them in, and locked the door once they were inside.

Candy sat near the kitchen table drying her hair with a towel and listening to the CB connected to the ceiling.

Static hissed and man began speaking frantically: ". . . Everything is gone. Raiders . . . kidnapping . . . the entire Upper East Side is still under attack. Stay away from the area. Lookouts have reported . . . thousands of zombies still functional . . . dangerous . . ."

Static hissed again and his voice was swallowed.

They waited for ten minutes but they never picked up the signal again.

"Do you think they meant the Marauders were kidnapping and attacking people?" Joelle said, but her voice betrayed her. She knew the answer before she finished the question.

"It certainly isn't the zombies, unless they've taken to stealing their prey and saving them for later," Alex said.

Candy wiped her eyes and sniffled.

Sarah smacked Alex's arm. "Don't even try to bring him up," she said, in relation to Kermit's past habit.

"Who are they fighting?" Candy asked.

Joelle went into the kitchen and began sifting through their leftover food supplies. She ignored the conversation, unwilling to believe that her adoptive family of nomads was up to no good.

"We don't know who they're fighting or why that man said thousands of active zombies are milling around. Last year, all the zombies in the North were frozen and could barely move," Sarah said.

Alex nodded. "We almost had them all destroyed didn't we? If all of humanity would just unite we could stop them."

"Don't hold your breath," Sarah said, and sat down near on a chair. "If the Marauders are at war it's because they need to get more supplies for the winter before going to the cabin. They might be closer than we think."

Candy crossed her arms and sat down beside her. "I don't really want to meet them. Can't we go somewhere else?"

Joelle slammed a can of canned peas on the table.

"Why would you say that? Just because they traded with the Watchers and are killing people over food doesn't make them bad. They're just trying to survive like all of us," she choked, and headed toward the bathroom. "Make your own dinner."

Sarah grabbed the can of peas and gave it to Candy. "Keep this away from Alex, he's always stuffing peas down his throat and never saves any for the rest of us."

"Sarah . . ." Alex said, drifting off, "maybe Candy is right. Maybe you should find somewhere else to stay besides this cabin. I'll go ahead and see what they're up to," he said, getting up.

Sarah raised her eyebrow. "We're a team, you're not going anywhere alone, especially without me," she said, and headed for the cabinets. She pulled out three cans of spaghetti and meatballs. "Open these up, Alex. I'm going to talk to Joelle."

Alex took the cans from her sheepishly. He found the can opener in the top drawer by the sink and went to work opening their dinner.

"I just thought all of you would be safer if I went to investigate alone," he said.

"We're safer as a team," Sarah said, and slapped his butt. "Don't forget that."

Sarah went to the bathroom and knocked gently on the door.

"Joelle, it's me. I want to talk."

The bathroom door unlocked and slid open.

Sarah stepped into the small enclosure and found Joelle sitting on the toilet seat. Her pants were still on and tears spilled down her cheeks.

"They treated us like shit, didn't they?" Joelle said.

Sarah leaned against the door and sighed. "Yeah, the Marauders are assholes. But they were all we had at the time."

Joelle latched onto Sarah's legs and stuffed her face into her friend's thighs. Her body went into spasms as she cried. Sarah held onto her and combed her long blond hair with her fingers.

"I don't know what to do anymore," Joelle sobbed. "If we go back to them, Graves will make me his again. I don't want that any more. I'm happy being here. Here, we are free."

"It's okay," Sarah comforted her. "You don't have to go back to him. That part of your life is over. I have a feeling that Alex is planning something against them. I don't know what but I'll find out soon enough."

Joelle cleared her eyes on Sarah's jeans. "I think he wants to kill them. Sometimes I see him sneaking out of your bunk at night and sitting by the window with that knife."

"He's sneaking out on me?"

"I've seen that knife before, Sarah. Graves used to leave it on the dresser just before I let him have me. It was his."

Sarah pondered this for a moment, letting all the information sink into her mind.

"How could Alex possibly get that knife? And why would he . . ." Sarah sucked in her breath. "He's trying to kill Graves so he'll become the new leader. That must be it."

Joelle wiped her hair away from her face. "I don't think it's that simple."

"Are you sure that's the same knife?"

"It has a wolf's head at the base," Joelle said.

"Yeah, that's the one," Sarah affirmed. "I took it from him one day and he went crazy."

"I remember," Joelle laughed.

Sarah gave her a quick hug. "Be strong, we'll come out on top."

"I hope you're right. I got a feeling like we're headed toward our own deaths," Joelle quivered.

"Then make sure we go out with a bang," Sarah grinned. She left Joelle in the bathroom and found Alex using the last of the Winnebago's fuel reserves to turn the heat on and use the microwave for their meal.

"Good thinking," Sarah said.

He offered a slight nod.

"Is Joelle coming?" Candy asked.

"Of course," Sarah answered. "Where else would she go?"

After dinner, Sarah urged Alex to go outside with her. She took him away from the Winnebago and behind a snow bank.

"What are we doing out here?" He asked her.

Sarah lifted her shirt, exposing her pink bra.

"What do you think we're doing out here?"

They kissed and fondled, sucked and licked. Alex pushed himself inside of her and Sarah moaned in pleasure. The snow around them melted and somewhere in the distance wolves were howling.

Afterwards, they slipped back inside and fell asleep together.

Chapter 26.

In the morning they packed up all the supplies they could carry: four cans of corn, one can of beef ravioli, six rolls of toilet paper, thirtysix shotgun shells, three shotguns, and eightythree bullets. They were forced to leave two shotguns and the rocket launcher behind, but in searching the Winnebago they had discovered a hidden compartment housing a signal flare gun, rope, and a small tent. They took all of it, packed everyone's backpack to the limit, and ventured into the cold.

"What about the radio?" Candy asked, trying to pry it from the ceiling.

"It doesn't run on batteries, we have to leave it behind," Alex told her.

Candy lagged behind him carrying an unloaded shotgun, backpack, and two long kitchen knives. Sarah came next, her backpack crammed with canned food. Her shotgun and .357 loaded and ready, it was decided that Joelle carried the lightest load due to her broken ankle. They fitted a trash bag over her cast to keep out the snow, and let her carry the lightweight tent on her shoulders, and a shotgun in her hands. Alex led them, sporting his sniping rifle, machete, and a backpack stuffed with whatever equipment was leftover.

The second they stepped outside they were greeted by an uncanny sight.

Hundreds of paw prints were imprinted in the snow. They surrounded the Winnebago and then trailed off into the distance.

"They look like wolf tracks," Candy said, and bent down to put her gloved hand into a paw print. Her fingers could barely cover the large track.

"They're probably a pack of wolves that combined with wild dogs," Alex suggested.

"What about coyotes? We did hear howling last night," Sarah said.

"Coyotes don't form packs with wolves, and if they did, I've never heard of it."

"How do you know so much about wolves?" Joelle asked.

"My uncle and I would watch Animal Planet together back when television still existed," he explained.

"I miss television," Candy said.

"You're not the only one," Joelle agreed.

Sarah moved in front of Alex, stomping a few of the paw prints into the snow.

"Let's stay focused people. We'll stay as far away from these tracks as we can. I don't want to deal with a hungry pack of dogs or wolves; the zombies are bad enough. And stay together, we're a team," she said, eying Alex.

The first half hour of marching through the snow was relaxing at first. The air was cold, but the wind wasn't blowing, and it beat the hell out of being crammed inside the Winnebago. They trekked past cars covered in three feet of snow, and even spotted a zombie frozen solid, standing on the outskirts of the forest. Alex wanted to shoot it, but Sarah insisted it would alert other mobile zombies to them or any raiders in the vicinity. The area was a snow covered wasteland, houses were far and in between, and oftentimes they heard faint howls in the distance. After an hour they reached a desolate barn and decided to take a break.

The barn was an old style red and white typical of farmers and had a flimsy tin roof. It only had one entrance they could see and it was locked. They couldn't see any houses around, only sparse forest and a thick blanket of snow.

Alex withdrew his machete.

"What are you doing?" Sarah demanded.

"I'm going to hack through the door and get us inside," he said.

Sarah shook her head. "There are easier ways." She walked around the barn and whistled when she found what she was looking for.

They quickly joined her and discovered a regular door on the other side.

"Good thinking," Joelle said.

"My family lived on a farm. I should know my way around a barn." She slammed her foot against the handle until the door broke free.

A terrible stench issued out of the barn; it smelled like decayed, rancid meat.

Sarah waved the others inside with her handgun.

They couldn't see much of the upper level of the two story barn, but on the ground floor they discovered something large in the dirt.

Candy clicked on her flashlight and screamed.

In the middle of the barn was a dead horse, a swarm of squirming maggots feasted on the dead flesh banquet, and a large dark stain was near the animal's exposed belly.

Candy dropped her flashlight and ran outside. Joelle followed.

"What do you think?" Alex asked Sarah.

She held her nose to keep from gagging. "I'm not eating that."

"Neither am I," Alex laughed. "What I meant is that do you think this barn is safe? The horse might've died from starvation," he added.

"Yeah, let's drag that mess outside once we get a good look around here," Sarah said. "I don't want anything jumping out at us."

Alex nodded and walked past the rotting carcass. He took Candy's flashlight off the dirt floor and noticed a pink bow in the horse's mane. He choked on a lump in his throat.

"Keep moving," Sarah urged and stepped over the dead animal. She scanned the lower level, noted the two horse stalls, and continued. "So far, so good."

Alex went to the ladder leading to the loft. The ladder wobbled as he climbed and Sarah ran over to hold it steady. He reached the top and found three bales of hay and a man in coveralls gripping a double barreled shotgun and missing his head.