"Let him go," Kevin ordered. The people surrounding him backed away, clearing his path to the north.

"Good luck to you, Cop," Adam said in parting, slowly backing away. When the positioning of the buildings allowed, he ducked behind one and vanished out of sight.

"Those supplies he took might be needed," George commented.

"We're not scavengers," Kevin responded, sparing a quick glance toward the scavengers in their group. "We don't kill simply because we have a need. Isn't that right, Priest?"

George nodded, a knowing smile on his face. He flipped his curved sword over, dragging the smooth top of the blade across the back of his hand holding the sheath. When the tip of the sword reached the lip of the sheath, he changed the angle of the sword, lifting up on the grip before putting the weapon away inside its covering in a single fluid motion.

As George walked away, Kevin watched him for a moment. Nagging questions lingered in Kevin's mind as to who George really was under those priestly garments he wore.

Setting aside his unease for a later date, Kevin focused on getting everyone back on task. They still had a significant amount of work to do; the battle between the scavengers and zombies could end at any moment, and Kevin didn't want to be around when the winner stopped by for a visit.

***

Adam strolled along the roadway leading from the survivors he'd encountered. His pack was slung over his shoulder, and he adopted a brisk pace he'd be able to maintain for hours.

As he continued his chosen course, the empty road and clear skies let his mind return to what the cop had told him about finding a place out of the reach of the zombies. It was a nice idea, but he'd run into many people over the years with the same train of thought. Safe places, infection free zones, and even fortified cities capable of keeping out anything, he'd heard it all before.

One by one, they all died off, the people and their hopeless dreams. Adam knew the truth others refused to see. The world and everyone in it was doomed. They could cling to their fanciful ideas and daydreams of escaping the horrors of the world if that was their way of coping, but Adam faced it directly.

Death would come for him one day; it traveled with him every step he took. If he only had a year, a month, or a single hour remaining to him, he'd enjoy his life and not waste time chasing some delusion.

Rounding a gentle curve in the road, Adam skidded to a stop. He looked but couldn't believe what he saw for he'd never seen so many undead before. Crowded together shoulder to shoulder, the undead completely blocked all four lanes of the road, spilling over into the surrounding countryside as well. Adam assumed the road continued through the woods, but he couldn't see any of it, only the unending ranks of walking corpses.

"This could be a problem," Adam muttered.

Adam would have liked to run in the opposite direction before being spotted, but the undead were already headed down the road in his direction, so he'd been detected immediately. Grunts and moans erupted from the corpses as their decayed organs and barely functioning minds tried to sound out words and alert the others to having found food.

Adjusting his pack to a better position, Adam turned around and sprinted away from the slow moving zombies. He was grateful he hadn't used up his energy earlier in the day when he'd left the military base as he'd have none left for the return.

His strong boots thudded against the old and untended asphalt of the street while his mind considered different options.

Going around a zombie group of such massive size would be impossible. Narrowed by the four lane road, the zombies had been compressed down into a roughly rectangular formation. Some of them had spilled over the edges of the road into the tangled trees and shrubs of the adjacent woods, but most stayed contained.

Even if Adam managed to get around the leading elements, the length of the zombie horde was so great, the tail end could swing around and trap him. He'd be cornered with no chance to escape, no matter how fast he ran.

East and west were available, but Adam's thoughts kept turning back to what the cop had told him. Walton, a fortified city in the east had been surrounded, so a mass zombie force was coming from that direction as well. If these mass hordes were coming in from the north and east at about the same time, it stood to reason the south and west zombies were probably not too far behind.

The cop had said the undead would join together and converge on the last remnants of the living. It looked as though Adam was going to get to see it firsthand. He smiled humorlessly. The death he'd been expecting had arrived.

Adam knew running back to the military base with the zombies in tow would surely lead to a conflict between the horde and survivors. Considering the numbers of undead he'd witnessed a moment ago, it was unlikely the small band would survive such an assault. Going back to the base might mean the deaths of everyone there, but his other options didn't look any better.

Maintaining his speed and long stride, Adam raced back with his message of impending disaster.

***

Kevin, George, and Isabella worked furiously to gather whatever they could from the abandoned military base. Three Scar, Razor, and the scavenger woman had teamed up to load everything onto the transport ship's main deck as Kevin's group brought the items in and pilled them on the dock. Adam had taken the last of the medical supplies, but enough remained of the other essentials for them to make a start on their treetop colony.

The gunfire, a near constant since the zombies had engaged the nearby scavenger base had been dwindling, and it suddenly stopped. A few distant screams were heard, but they also went silent.

"I think the scavengers were just overrun," George commented.

"The horde will be coming for us next," Kevin replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "We're running out of time."

"You have less than you think," Adam told them as he ran over to join them. He leaned heavily on his knees in a bent over position, trying to catch his breath. "Zombies on the north road."

"How many?" Kevin asked.

"I didn't stop to take a census," Adam grumbled. "But, I'd guess triple digit thousands, perhaps a million."

"The northern zombies," Kevin breathed in horror, his eyes wide.

"The east surrounded Walton, the north is up the road, no more than an hour or two behind me, and you can guess where the west and south hordes are currently," Adam explained between gulps of air.

"Get everyone on the ship!" Kevin yelled, pointing in the direction of the docked vessel in the harbor. He motioned for the others to follow, and they did.

"We haven't cleared it yet," George pointed out. "We've been collecting our supplies on deck because we haven't had time to check the ship; we don't know what could be in there."

"I doesn't matter," Kevin insisted. "We know what's out here. A mass zombie horde is approaching from the north, and we're fresh out of scavenger bases to hold back the one from the east. There's no telling how long the south and west hordes will take to get here, so we need to move now!"

George didn't object further; taking an armful of supplies, he hurried up the gangplank of the ship. Kevin followed at his heals with his own bundle of items. Adam brought up the rear, keeping pace with the other men in spite of his exhaustion.

***

When the last of the survivors were onboard, Kevin pulled the lever and retracted the gangplank, cutting the ship off from the incoming hordes. Neither the living nor the undead could cross between the dock and the ship.

The initial numbers of zombies staggering into view had been marginal, as the buildings and chain-link fences had blocked some of them from immediately getting in to chase after the living. As the incoming zombies put more pressure on the fences, the chain-link partitions began to yield under the increasing volume of undead until they collapsed in a rattling crash of metal against concrete. The walking corpses, no longer held back, poured into the base in a rancid and slow moving flood.

They gathered on the edge of the dock, silently staring out at the ship and the living sheltered on deck. The eyes of the zombies were lifeless white orbs, and the corpses stood as still and quiet as grave markers. Although the leading elements halted at the edge of the dock, those behind, still eager to reach their next meal, pushed forward. Because of their tremendous numbers, the closely packed undead were a solid wall, and those pushing from behind were unable to make any progress or push off the dock those in front. All movement ceased, and the zombies stood still.

Kevin felt unnerved by the focused attention of the horde; there was something inherently unsettling about being silently watched by a motionless predator, and the undead made neither a sound or the slightest of movements; they might as well have been statues. Their quiet malevolence sent shivers up his spine.

"Does anyone know how to get this tub moving?" Kevin inquired loudly enough for those on the main deck to hear him clearly.

"I have some experience with ship engines," George spoke up. "I'll need help as I can't do everything in the engine room by myself."

"We can help," Three Scar offered. "But, I would suggest we clear the ship first. We don't want any nasty surprises after we put to sea."

"Agreed," Kevin replied.

Isabella sat down near their accumulated cargo. Adam leaned on the railing as he walked to the prow of the boat and flipped a release to let go of the rope line securing them to the dock. The rope splashed into the water as it fell away. Adam returned and took a seat beside Isabella, breathing deeply.

Kevin left them to rest while he went with George and the three scavengers to scour the ship for hostiles, living or undead. It took time for them to check every place a threat might be hiding, but with five of them working on it, they made swift progress. When they were finished with their search, George and the three former scavengers took over the engine room and prepared for departure. Kevin headed for the bridge, picking up Isabella and Adam along the way.

***

Smoke billowed out the exhaust pipe atop the ship as the unused engines surged back to life. A deep vibration coursed through the deck plating on every level as the powerful motor revved up. When certain the engines would be able to power the ship without breaking down, George used the intercom to call the bridge.

"Kevin?" George said into the microphone.

"Yeah," Kevin's voice responded from the speaker on the wall mounted panel.

"We're ready when you are," George reported.

"Understood," Kevin acknowledged. "All ahead one quarter."

"One quarter, aye," George repeated. He motioned to his people, indicating who needed to be doing things and silently directed them in their tasks. As the proper controls were adjusted, the old engines engaged the propellers and began to gradually move the vessel out of port and into the bay.

The bridge had an expansive view of the surrounding area from its lofty position above the main deck. As the ship moved away from the dock, Kevin saw the undead slowly turning to keep their unblinking gaze centered on the vessel when it drifted past them. He glanced over his shoulder and out a rear window to see the corpses begin to move, shuffling forward and following the ship.

With the hordes in pursuit, preparations needing to be done on the ground at the new colony site would have to be completed in haste to prevent the undead from catching up and interrupting their efforts.

Redirecting his focus forward. Kevin concentrated on steering the ship on a straight course. Once further out to sea, he could increase speed and put some distance between the ship and the lifeless predators stalking it.