“The crewmen managed to get the boat out of the slip, ans headed further up the St. Lawrence,” Sues said.

“Okay, okay,” I said. I had nothing else. Nothing.

“He been bitten, or is that a gunshot?”

We spun around. Spade was fast, Palmeri, too. They had guns aimed at two strangers, who in turn had rifles aimed at us.

The men wore long beards and flannel under Carhartt camouflage coats with matching pants. They were dressed for the elements as well as for hunting. I’d put money on it that these were locals.

“Shot,” I said. “He’s been shot. Not bitten.”

They eyed us for a long moment. “Lower your weapons.”

“You first,” Spade said.

The men didn’t move. “We don’t have to. We know your guns are all empty. All of you used every bit of ammo fighting them zombies inside the fenced area back there. Ain’t got a single bullet left between the lot of ya.”

Seemed no point to arguing. They’d been somewhere safe watching us. Had seen us up against the enemy. Why they hadn’t helped…would I have helped? I’d like to think I would have. Good chance I wouldn’t have, though. Damned good chance.

“Put them down, guys,” I said.

“Not until they do,” Spade said.

I hated to do it, take sides. “Guy’s right. We don’t have ammunition. You’re in a standoff with an empty weapon. How do you plan to win that? Put the guns down.”

Palmeri did as I asked, first, but Spade held out a few seconds longer. “Spade,” I said. I wanted him to understand that I wasn’t fucking around. My son was bleeding out over here.

Spade finally lowered his rifle.

As one, the two men lowered theirs. “We’ve got a camp. Not exactly close, but it’s better than trying to dig out a bullet here. Let’s get him transported,” the one guy said.

“We don’t know who either of you are,” Spade said.

“That’s enough,” I said. I wasn’t going to yell. Last thing we needed was to get all loud and rowdy, and end up attracting more zombies. We’d be fucked if that happened.

“Not going to be easy to move him,” Erway said. “Bullet’s in his side. If there isn’t internal bleeding, moving him could cause it.”

“And doing surgery out here won’t make him any better. You’re his father, so it’s your kid. Your call,” the man said.

I looked at Erway. “He has a point.”

I nodded. “I’ll carry him.”

No one argued. I walked on my knees closer to my son. I scooped him up the way I had a million times when he was an infant. Dave helped me up onto my feet. “I’ve got it now, thanks.”

“My brother will lead. You guys follow him. I’ll take the rear,” the man said. “We’ve got to move fast. There are herds scattered all around. Lot of them fast-running kinds, too. You know the ones I mean?”

We all did. “Lead the way,” I said.

Cash’s head, arms and legs dangled limp; dead weight in my arms. I’d spent the better part of yesterday with him on my back, arms around my neck. At nine, he wasn’t that light but light enough, I guess, and I was thankful. Carrying him this way, though, tugged at my emotions. I bit my lip hard to keep it all in check. I needed strength and the only way I’d get it was by not paying attention to what I was actually doing.

“He breathing?” Allison said.

“I don’t know,” I said, running faster.

“I don’t think he’s breathing,” she said.

“Erway,” I said. I stopped, set him down and put my ear to his lips. “I can’t tell. I don’t know.”

Erway dropped down beside me and pushed me out of the way. She lowered her head to his face. She seemed to watch for his chest to rise and fall while listening for breathing. “He’s breathing. Shallow breaths, but breathing.”

The man from the rear came up on us. “Why’d we stop?”

“How far is this camp?” Erway said. “Because I’m not sure we can wait.”

“Right up that hill,” the man said. He handed his rifle over to me, squatted down and lifted my son into his arms. “We’ll get him there. Come on!”

We all followed. I was now the one with the gun with ammo. I was last. Ahead of me was Charlene and Allison, they stayed right by the man with my son. Erway was behind them. Dave, Sues and Crystal were ahead of everyone, must have been right behind the other guy on point.

Didn’t want to jinx anything, but we’d not seen a zombie in a while. That was another thing that I suddenly found myself feeling thankful about.

Chapter Twenty-Two

0718 hours

The log cabin sat on top of the hill we’d just climbed. The horizontally laid logs interlocked at the corners, while the logs making up the purlin roof were notched into the gable-wall logs. Tall pines and a variety of trees were set back, but surrounded the patch of property.

“Get him inside,” the one brother said to the man carrying my son.

Everyone shuffled in.

“Pull the blanket off my bed, Jeremy. And someone, shut and lock that door,” the man said. He followed his brother to a room. Jeremy stripped the bedding as the other man laid my son down onto the mattress.

Erway set her bag down beside the bed. “Do you have a bowl I can use to sterilize my equipment? A jug of water and some clean towels, or sheets.”

“I’ll grab it, Jason. You stay here,” Jeremy said. “You stay.”

Jason gave me a pat on the back as he squeezed by me and out of the room. Allison, Charlene and I moved closer to the bed.

“I don’t need all three of you in here,” Erway said. “Chase, you stay. I am going to need your help.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Charlene said. She had her arms around Allison’s waist. They both actually held each other.

“Take her out of here, Alley,” I said.

“I’m staying, Dad! I’m not—”

“Get her out of here!”

Allison didn’t have to try too hard to remove my daughter from the room. Charlene was spent, emotionally, and physically.

Jeremy returned with a couple of porcelain bowls. “I brought rubbing alcohol, too.”

Jason took the supplies. “What should I do?”

Erway used scissors to cut away Cash’s clothing. “Pour the alcohol into the bowls. Set them on the nightstand by me. Chase, get on the other side of the bed. I’m going to need you to hold his arm and legs down. He’s passed out right now, but without any anesthetics, if he wakes up, any movement is going to be dangerous. We understand each other?”

I nodded. She took one of the towels and pressed it over the small hole in my son’s stomach, and mopped up far too much blood.

“You two, I’m going to need you to hold down his arm and leg on this side, without getting in my way. You, take the arm. And you, you have his leg,” she said.

Like me, they nodded.

“You’ve done this before,” I said. “Removed a bullet?”

She smiled. “I’m a paramedic.”

That was hardly an answer. Maybe I didn’t want an answer as bad as I thought I needed one.

Erway placed silver tools into the bowls of alcohol. “I need to wash my hands,” she said.

“That way, right around the corner,” Jason said.

“You hold this cloth tight on the wound,” Erway said, placing my hand onto the towel. “Don’t lift it to look at it. Got it? Hold it. Firmly.”

“Seems like the doc has it together,” Jason said. “That’s a good thing.”

Small talk wasn’t going to cut it. My mind ached. I looked over my son’ body. The towel seemed to do little more than keep blood from staining Jason’s bed.

Erway returned, removed plastic gloves from her bag and snapped them on over her hands. “I could use more light.”

It was the first time I noticed wood shutters on the inside of the cabin locked in place over the two windows in the room. “Can we open one of them?” Jeremy said. “Sun’s up. Be the best light.”

Jason nodded. They each went to a window. “My brother built this place so sunlight would hit the cabin whenever there was sunlight to be had.”