Page 54 of A Wilderness Within

“Really?” Caroline picked up Ellie’s carrier and move closer to Lincoln, not out of fear, just nerves. She felt outnumbered by all these military men, regardless of how nice they might be.

“Yeah, you’re famous. We’ve run into some survivors on the roads. All of them are headed to Atlanta. They want to help.” Jason held out a hand to shake hers. “It’s a real honor to meet you, ma’am.”

Her heart fluttered with joy and hope. “People are really going? How many have you seen?” She couldn’t help but wonder why she and Lincoln hadn’t seen anyone themselves, but perhaps it was because he’d been keeping them on smaller highways, avoiding places he worried scavengers might be lurking in wait for innocent travelers.

“We’ve seen maybe two hundred or so in the last six days,” Jason said. “Probably more out there. We had a ton of extra radios, so we been passing them to anyone we can and telling them to listen for you. We managed to organize a couple of caravans out of the survivors so they had safety in numbers while heading south to the CDC.”

“Why didn’t you go straight to Atlanta?” Lincoln asked. “They could probably use the help.”

“We didn’t know you were with her. We were hoping to offer a military escort, but looks like you’ve got it covered.” Miles chuckled.

Lincoln met Holt’s gaze. “We can still use your help. We don’t know what lies between us and Atlanta. If all those people heard her broadcast, I fear some lowlifes might smell an opportunity.”

“I hear that. We’d be glad to tag along,” Julian confirmed. “You need help with supplies?” He looked at the baby carrier with curiosity. “You actually have a baby with you?”

“Yes, we do,” Caroline admitted and faced Ellie toward the men. “This is my niece, Ellie.”

“Cute kid.” Julian shot an amused look at Lincoln. “Nice to see you playing daddy.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Lincoln snapped in a mocking tone. Kirby bounced around, only knowing there were more people around to play with, and barked as everyone moved back out to the street.

“Julian, Huang, check the mall for baby supplies. Jackson, you’re with me. We’ll get food and gas,” Lincoln ordered. Caroline realized that Lincoln must have outranked all of them. Or maybe it wasn’t about military rank, but because he had been with her longer. She honestly had no idea, but watching them made her think of nature documentaries about wolf packs. Lincoln was clearly the alpha.

She carried Ellie out to the car, and Kirby stuck with her. She removed the baby from the seat and held her, letting her twine her tiny fists in Caroline’s hair as she watched the weak spring sun stretch the shadows of lampposts and the occasional abandoned car over the parking lot.

People were listening…to her. A girl from Missouri who had once worked in internet advertising. Hundreds of people were on the way, ready to help each other, all because she had tried to remind them what it meant to keep hope alive.

She stroked Ellie’s pale blonde hair and breathed in the child’s clean scent. This was what she was fighting for. Ellie’s future. These days of darkness, of shadows, fear and death… They had to end. The legacy of humanity was not going to be extinction, not on her watch. She knew what she would say tonight. While the CDC worked on the blood, she was going to get the power back on. After that she would find a way to reestablish law and order and find a way to assign people new jobs based on their skill sets so they could all work together to rebuild. She just prayed everyone would be willing to listen.

In just two days, Lincoln and Caroline reached the outskirts of Atlanta. Julian, Miles, and Jason were on their tail in the armored Humvee they’d taken from Fort Riley. Lincoln felt the hope that Caroline had created in him grow even stronger. He had assumed Julian was dead like all the rest when they had divided up before he’d accompanied Adam and Whitaker to Omaha. But Julian was immune. Ninety-five of a hundred people died, Julian had said, but still that was five men or women the virus hadn’t been able to take down, for every ninety-five who crashed and bled out. That meant there were a hell of a lot of survivors out there they needed to find and help.

“We’re close now,” Lincoln said.

Caroline was watching the window, silent and focused. Ellie and Kirby and even the chickens were asleep. Last night, he and Caroline had slept without any bad dreams, knowing that others now watched over them.

“I hope Erica Kennedy is still okay. We haven’t heard from her except that first time,” she said.

“I know.” He hadn’t wanted to worry Caroline about that, but it was possible the CDC had been compromised or that men who wanted access to a building with power had taken over. It had been risky to announce that the Centers for Disease Control had a backup power source in their building.

Lincoln turned down CDC Parkway and then hit the brakes when he saw the building and what was in front of it. A tall glass building created a shadow over the parking lot, which was full of hundreds of vehicles. A small town seemed to have popped up in front of the building.

He started to drive a little slower. “Holy shit.”

“They came,” Caroline whispered.

“Yeah, they did. You helped make this happen, Caroline,” Lincoln said, completely in awe of his woman and what she had done.

“There has to be more out there. Think of all those people who don’t have satellite radios. God, Lincoln, we have to get the power back on and the cell towers…maybe we can use the emergency broadcast system…”

“Easy, honey, we’ll find a way. One step at a time.” He cupped her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. They would have to see what the situation was before he’d let Caroline go running across the US trying to save the world. It was still a wilderness out there, and it would be a long time before it was safe. But this was a start.

A group of armed men stopped their vehicles before they could reach the makeshift village. A man in a sheriff’s uniform stood at the front of the armed group. He looked to be in his midfifties, but he was fit, and Lincoln would bet anything he’d be a bear in a fight.

Lincoln stopped the car. “Stay here. I’ll talk with him. If it starts to look like it’s going south, get in the driver’s seat and get Ellie out of here.”

“But” Caroline opened her tempting lips.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine, but I have to plan for every possibility. Do it for Ellie.” He waited until she answered with a nod, and then he walked over to the sheriff and his men.

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