Kevin marched out the front doors, bow and arrow gripped tightly in his hands. He couldn't see anything that could have bothered Razor enough for the firing of the flare, but he trusted the survival instincts of the former scavenger. The clans were all about survival, so Razor wouldn't be the type to panic at something small. Whatever was wrong, it was serious.

George lingered to assist Isabella, taking her pack to lighten the load she carried and increase her speed. He brought up the rear of the expedition, making certain no one fell behind.

Kevin adopted the brisk pace of a slight jog. It was quick enough for the others to keep up, but it offered a slow enough velocity to allow sufficient time to stop if a threat were to appear in front of them. Truthfully, Kevin never expected it to come from all sides at once.

Taking a different route than the one they'd used coming in, Kevin had hoped to reduce the amount of time required to reach the boat. As he took a step, the ground under the leaves wasn't there to stop him, and Kevin lost his balance. The leaves covering the ground suddenly erupted around him, exploding into the air as the zombies underneath reached up to grab hold of him. He realized he was in a small hole filled with zombies.

Kevin had lost his bow in the stumble, and it rested on the ground out of reach. Reacting quickly, his training as a police officer kept him from hesitating despite being severely startled, and he pulled out his shotgun, dropping two zombies with a close range blast. They vanished back under the cover of dead leaves.

A zombie on his right was about to lay hold of him when its head vanished and the thing kicked over sideways. As the headless zombie fell, the sound of a rifle shot reached Kevin's ears, and he knew Razor and Red had him covered.

George and the team attacked the zombies between them and Kevin, using guns, knives or baseball bats to clear the way.

Although the initial five zombies who'd ambushed Kevin had been put down, the leaves all across the orchard were beginning to stir. Kevin had no idea how much of the movement was caused by the wind and how much was a result of zombies underneath. One thing he knew for certain was they couldn't wait around to find out.

"Move!" Kevin shouted.

The people who'd originally defended the orchard had dug pits across the landscape, hoping to trap the zombies inside. Although it'd worked, too many zombies had attacked for the holes to capture them all, and the zombies had reached the main building. As the seasons changed, the autumn leaves covered over the zombies trapped in the holes. The humans had wanted to stop the zombies, but they'd created the perfect ambush points.

Kevin understood why the animals hadn't returned. It was because the zombies had never left; they were still here, hidden everywhere around them.

A decayed arm, more skeleton than flesh, reached out from the base of a tree and snared Isabella by the ankle, causing her to trip. Her fall landed her near the edge of a zombie hole, and the living corpses inside were quick to grab hold of her in an attempt to pull her in with them. Larger and deeper than the hole Kevin had fallen into, the pit held far more zombies, and the depth put them out of the line of sight for Razor and Red on the ship, preventing them from helping.

Kevin and George heard Isabella fall and skidded to a stop, the loose carpeting of leaves almost causing them to lose their balance. They raced back to the pit and began firing. Headshots dropped one after another, but more than three dozen of the rotting dead existed in the hole; Kevin and George couldn't kill them fast enough. Adam and Three Scar lunged into the pit without hesitation, using their own bodies as a barrier between the undead and Isabella. They lashed out at the undead with ferocious abandon, striking them down on all sides.

George ceased the use of his gun and drew his sword as he jumped down into the hole. His sword cut through flesh and bone with equal ease, slicing corpses in half or removing their heads. George was desperate to protect Isabella, and his strength of will coursed down his arms and into the blade he held, making it a part of him; his attacks flowed one into the next without the time for conscious thought. He moved through the undead like a farmer gathering wheat, cutting down everything in range.

George grabbed the last zombie and pulled backwards as he spun in place, hurling the thing up against the earthen wall of the pit. Continuing his turn, he speared the corpse through with his sword, pinning it to the wall and killing the vile thing at the same time. Leaving the sword in place, George turned his attention to Isabella.

"Thanks for the assist," Isabella told the three men in the pit with her. "Would you mind helping me out of this hole?"

George couldn't help laughing slightly. Isabella had always managed to keep a positive attitude no matter how dark the world became, and now she was cracking jokes after coming close to being eaten alive. George was immensely glad she was still with them.

Retracting his sword from the wall, George stepped back as the zombie he'd pinned wilted to the ground. He drove the blade into a high point on the wall, closer to where Kevin was standing at the rim. He offered a hand to Isabella.

When Isabella came over to George, he lifted her up by the waist, and Kevin knelt down and grabbed her hand. George pushed her up while Kevin pulled. The sword George had implanted in the wall served as a foothold, allowing Isabella to assist in the efforts to draw her out of the pit.

Adam went next, followed by Three Scar. George was last, jumping to grab the sword handle and pull himself up to where he could get one foot resting on the grip while he balanced against the wall. Kevin and the others helped drag George out of the pit, and he leaned back down to retrieve his sword. Cleaning it off on the grass, George secured the flawless weapon in its sheath.

Collecting the bags of supplies they'd dropped when the fight started, the group continued on its way back to the ship. They moved slower than before so as to avoid another incident.

***

Razor watched the survivors climb out of the pit through the scope of his rifle. After seeing Three Scar and the others dive in, he couldn't help feeling relieved when they emerged unharmed. He still remembered the loss of his family seven years ago. The Snake Eye clan had never been his family; he could never see them as anything other than murderers, but Three Scar had been a friend and ally.

After teaming up with this small band of survivors, Razor had found people worth protecting, those he could see as family. Losing people was common in the broken place the world had become, but Razor was glad he hadn't lost any today. Redirecting the aim of his rifle, Razor looked for a way to protect his adoptive family from further danger.

***

The expedition group returning from the orchard climbed up the ladder and back onto the ship. A refuge from the troubles of the world, the ship filled each of them with a sense of relief to be back upon its deck.

"Did you get what you needed?" Razor asked as he and Red climbed down from their sniper nest to join the others.

"We did," Isabella answered, pointing to one of the bags George had taken from her and still carried. "All we need to do now is to establish a base in the treetops. Piece of cake."

***

The forest selected to be the location of the survivor's colony was a few miles from the orchard, so it took less than fifteen minutes for the ship to reach its new anchor point.

Kevin checked the fuel gauges on the bridge and was relieved they'd appropriated extra supplies from the Coral Blade clan as the ship was running on empty. They never would've made it this far without bolstering their stockpile.

As the engines powered down, Kevin looked out at the jungle where they would be going. The lush color of the trees faded off into a greenish-gray haze on the distant horizon. The sun was already descending in the west, and Kevin knew they had better hurry, or they would be forced to find their way around in the dark.

Doing a final check of the controls, Kevin left the bridge and climbed down the ladder to the main deck. George was waiting for him.

"Are we about ready?" George asked.

"You tell me," Kevin replied. "Can you fly a helicopter? No one else onboard can."

"I previously did a check on the helicopter," George stated. "Aviation fuel is different from the standard kind the ship uses, and the chopper is running low. I can fly it, but we'll need to be quick and precise about what we're doing because it won't stay in the air long."

"Understood," Kevin accepted. "Once we drop the net over the trees, I'll descend from the chopper by a cable and tie off the net to the trees to keep it stable."

"What about the inflatable life rafts collected from the military base?" George asked.

"Once the net is secured, you can drop them into it," Kevin stated. "We just need to make sure the cargo net can take the weight without slipping."

"If you'll open the hull doors, I'll start warming up the helicopter," George suggested.

"Will do," Kevin consented.

As George vanished through a side hatch and went down to the lower level, Kevin walked over to the helipad and turned the key to power up the control panel on a stand beside it. Pressing the illuminated green button, he activated the doors.

Built into the forward deck, the large doors were virtually invisible until they began to open. Lifting into the air, the huge sections of reinforced metal raised into vertical positions and cleared the way for the lift system in the hold below deck.

The mechanical system resembled a three pronged forklift. Two of the metal forks were under the main body of the silver and blue helicopter, and the third supported the tail. The lift raised the aircraft out of its protected hold and extended out over the helipad before setting it gently in place. Retracting the forks, the lift withdrew into the hold once more, the doors closing down on top of it.

George, having made good time to the lower level, had managed to get into the helicopter before its reposition to the helipad on the forward deck. He currently sat in the cockpit, going over his preflight checklist.

Kevin went over and opened the rear compartment behind the pilot's seat. Conscripting Razor and Three Scar into service, Kevin had them assist in the loading of the supplies they'd need for the first stage of the base. They started with bundles of cable and rope and packed them beside a large collection of inflatable rafts. The massive cargo net serving as the foundation of the base was loaded last so it would be closest to the door and the easiest to deploy when the time came.

After the helicopter had been filled to capacity, Kevin climbed into the crammed rear compartment and noticed a familiar face in the cockpit.

"When did you get the new copilot?" Kevin asked.

"I figured you could use an extra hand," Adam said from his seat beside George.

"I'm alway glad to have help," Kevin said. He settled back against the lumpy cargo since extra room for sitting didn't exist anymore after they'd filled the space with equipment.

The main and tail rotors began turning and spinning up to top speed, becoming faster and faster until only a blur of movement. The aircraft, out of service for years and badly in need of a tuneup, shook its passengers as George increased the throttle. Slowly, the helicopter lifted from the ship in a cloud of dust kicked up from the deck and soared into the air.

As the helicopter headed away from the ship and over the jungle, Kevin directed his gaze toward the passing scenery. The tops of the trees flashing by below him reminded Kevin of the appearance of broccoli.

"You'll need this," George said over his shoulder while handing back a walkie-talkie. "It doesn't have the range to reach the ship, but I can talk to them on my radio and reach you through this."

"Good idea," Kevin complimented, taking the radio and clipping it to his belt beside his badge.

The chopper flew a fair distance inland. Although it made getting the survivors to their new home more difficult if having to go by land, it gave the colony more protection if a storm were to sweep in from the sea as the outer trees of the jungle would absorb the brunt of the high winds and punishing surf. The helicopter slowed as it neared the designated location.

"Here we are," George announced. "You ready?"

"I don't think I ever will be," Kevin said only partly in jest before sliding back the side door and preparing to deploy the cargo net.

George flew in low and slow over the jungle, and Kevin kicked out a portion of the cargo net, succeeding in entangling one of the many trees below the helicopter. As the chopper continued ahead, the net unfurled and spread across the treetops. When the last of the net whipped out the door, Kevin reported it to George.

"Net is deployed," Kevin shouted to be heard over the sounds of the helicopter and the wind screaming past the open door.

"Turning around for second run," George responded, pulling the control stick to the side and banking hard around to cross back over the net a second time.

Rather than passing straight overhead as George had done on the first run, he slowed his craft to hover over what he estimated to be the center of the cargo net.

Wrapping a smaller net around the life rafts, Kevin connected them to a cable and winch mounted on the outside of the open door. He threw a pack full of rope and connecting clips onto his back. Dropping a cable, Kevin put on some sturdy gloves before sliding down the cable and landing roughly atop the jungle canopy.

Some of the branches, new and covered in more leaves than bark, accepted his arrival well enough, but the older branches didn't bend as much and offered painful impacts upon landing. Leaves were dislodged in great numbers and showered the ground below.

Kevin clipped his safety line to the cargo net and began the difficult process of connecting the cargo net to the trees in order to prevent it from slipping off. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a portion of rope and a pair of metal clips. Securing the clips to either end of the rope, Kevin wrapped the rope around one of the tree branches, including some of the cargo net in the loop. When the two connectors clipped together, the first one was complete.

As he looked for where he should go next, he found Adam had also dropped from the chopper with his own gear, securing a different part of the net.

Choosing a direction, Kevin followed the edge of the net to where he would be making the next connection. The branches shifted and swayed beneath him, making his footing difficult, and the cargo net had the unfortunate ability to stretch, making every hand and foothold give slightly and impart the feeling of being about to plunge to his death.