Rachel Aukes - Deadland's Harvest

Deadlands Harvest

By

Rachel Aukes

Part 2 of the Deadland Saga

The seven deadly sins, with a shambling twist

The Deadland Saga

100 Days in Deadland

Deadlands Harvest

Deadland Rising (coming late 2014)

Table of Contents

PURGATORY (Ch. 1-9)

PRIDE (Ch. 10-12)

ENVY (Ch. 13-14)

WRATH (Ch. 15-16)

SLOTH (Ch. 17-18)

GREED (Ch. 19-21)

GLUTTONY (Ch. 22-24)

LUST (Ch. 25-27)

NEW EDEN (Ch. 28-33)

Authors Note

About the Author

Acknowledgements

For myparents.

Thank you for letting me read all the comic books I wanted.

PURGATORY

Chapter I

Cash!

I tried to open my eyes, but they were glued shut. I opened my mouth to respond, but my tongue was too parched and swollen. I couldnt even move through the shivers that racked my dew-drenched body.

Cash! Damn it, where are you, girl? Cash!

I willed strength into my arms to push myself up, but could barely lift my head.

I wanted to tell whoever was calling to me to be quiet, that the herd had disappeared only a few hours earlier. Instead, I could barely force out a rough, garbled syllable. Here. Trying to speak choked my sandpaper throat. Blood trickled from my cracked lips.

Cash!

The voice was closer and louder now, echoed by other voices, each one calling my name. I pried my eyes open, but the world remained a cloudy blur.

Up here, I called out louder this time, though the words still came out as only a coarse whisper.

With the last of my strength, I rolled over the backpack that had been propping me up on the angled roof, and let myself roll down. As I picked up speed, I clawed at the shingles to slow my descent, but it did nothing but scrape the skin from my fingers. I fell off the edge and plummeted to the ground ten feet below. Agony shot through my abused body, and I collapsed, my head hitting the ground with a thud.

A pleasant numbness followed, and crystalline stars glittered through my vision. They were the first things in over a day that I could see sharply. As the stars faded, I could make out a man-like shape moving toward me.

A gunshot fired, and the shape collapsed. The acrid stench of plague and rot hit me.

Zed.

Another shape approached, and I tried to kick away, but my limbs weighed a ton, my movements sluggish. Arms wrapped around me, holding me in a relentless grip. I whimpered as I waited for dull, broken teeth to shred my skin.

Cash, Ive got you. Youre safe now.

Once the words sunk in, the tension in my muscles gave way, and I inhaled the fresh soapy smell of a man whod recently bathed. Through my blurry vision, I could barely make out the blond clean-shaven soldier in full gear. Tyler?

Yes, its me. Ive got you. Everythings going to be okay.

I felt myself lifted off the ground and I held onto his shirt. My leg that had a gunshot through it throbbed with each sway of Captain Tyler Masdens steps, but I welcomed the pain. It meant I was alive.

They found me!

It was hard to think, with black clouds drowning my happy thoughts as quickly as they came. I was jostled around and found myself laying on a cold hard surface. The rumble of a big engine starting reverberated through my body. My consciousness ebbed against the soothing engine vibration, but I didnt mind. I was safe now.

Holy shit, shes alive. I heard Grizs familiar deep voice off to my left, sounding a million miles away.

Here, Tyler said, lifting my head. Drink this.

Something pressed against my lips. Cool liquid poured into my mouth and streamed over my tongue. I tried to gulp the water, but it burned, and I choked. I coughed out nearly everything I had drunk. When Tyler held the bottle to my mouth again, he only allowed a trickle of water to pass through. I took a tiny sip. Then another.

Youve been up on that roof for two days? Tyler asked while I forced down the water my cramping stomach threatened to heave.

I tried to nod, but that sent more water dribbling down my chin and neck.

Tyler pulled the bottle away. Whoa. Thats enough for now. You have to take it slow, or else youll get sick.

More, I said, reaching for the water again.

Someone touched my calf, and I hissed. Pain from the gunshot wound burned up my leg, causing me to wince. Blackness tunneled my vision.

A whistle. Thats a nasty infection. Youre damn lucky we found you when we did.

Hurts, I muttered. I didnt feel lucky. I felt like hell.

Everythings going to be okay, Tyler said, rubbing my shoulder. Youre safe now.

Were safe. Doyles dead, I said, finally able to get out more than one word just as I felt my body fade into a colorless place between day and night.

I know. You did well, Tyler said. We drove through the area yesterday, but the place was still crawling with zeds. A pause. Damn. Id just about given up on you, but Clutch was convinced you were still alive.

My jumbled mind tried to process words that made no sense. Clutch couldnt have said those words. It was impossible. That Clutch couldve spoken anything was impossible. A vision of when Id last seen Clutch cut through the clouds in my head. But Clutch

Tyler gripped my shoulder. Clutch is alive. And hes pissedwere all pissedyou went after the militia on your own.

* * *

Thankfully, the next few weeks went by in a blur. When I remembered the flight over Doyles camp and my attack on his Dogsthe militiathe memories were so fresh that they seemed like yesterday. I could still smell the smoke from the grenade blast, and I could still hear the never-ending moans of the zeds surrounding me as I waited on the roof. Had I waited up there to die? To be saved? Hell, to be honest, it was a bit of both.

Fortunately, I didnt have to dwell on such things for long. After three days of being confined to bed and on IVs, Doc had cleared me to return to my cabin. It took me another ten days before Id been able to walk without using crutches, but that didnt stop me from signing up for any tasks to keep busy.

Doc had said Id gotten lucky that the bullet from the Dogs rifle had been a through-and-through and that it hadnt hit an artery or bone. I was even luckier that the bullet hadnt been dipped in infected blood as the Dogs had become notorious for doing.

Several times a day, Id rub my leg to remind myself that it hadnt all been a just a bad dream. By some miracle, Id gone into the pit of hell and came out alive.

Clutch hadnt been so lucky. It had taken another two and a half weeks before Doc had cleared him to leave the infirmary. With the injuries hed sustained during the Camp Fox attack, he had a long battle ahead of him. No one said anything when Clutch went through painkillers and booze a bit too quickly. He was angry most of the time and a muted version of himself the rest of the time. His injuries had pulled him into a dark place that I hadnt yet been able to reach. But he was alive. That was what mattered most to me.

While we recuperated and worked on physical therapy, Fox scouts cleared out Doyles basement that Id discovered after killing him. The large underground space chock full of military surplus, weapons, ammo, and food was exactly what Camp Foxs morale needed. With those supplies and the militia no longer a threat, people finally felt like they had a shot at getting through the winter.

Youre wasting daylight, Cash. Cmon, rise and shine! Jase yelled before jogging out of the cabin the three of us shared, the creaky screen door slamming behind him. Our cabin was the most hidden of all cabins at Fox National Park, which was why Clutch had chosen it when wed first arrived here. Wed been alone at that time. Now, it was nearly impossible to find a place where we could be alone since the park had become the temporary Camp Fox until the zeds evacuated the real Camp Fox National Guard Base nearly thirty miles southeast of here.