The Honeymoon

  The Honeymoon

  Zombie Horde Prevention Task Force, Volume 4

  L. A. McGarvey

  Published by Trouble Twins Publishing, 2022.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  THE HONEYMOON

  First edition. July 22, 2022.

  Copyright © 2022 L. A. McGarvey.

  Written by L. A. McGarvey.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dave and Vivian

  Mitten Strings

  Ranger Station

  Murphy tells a Story

  Vivian

  Dave

  Help Arrives

  COMING SOON: ACQUISITIONS MANAGER

  How Bryant met Serena

  Bryant Gets a Pocket Watch

  Commissioner Stone Alerts Bryant to the Raid on the Restaurant

  Bryant Gets the Call the Source has Been Compromised

  Sign up for L. A. McGarvey's Mailing List

  Also By L. A. McGarvey

  About the Author

  Dave and Vivian

  “Are you sure your mom and dad are coming to pick up the truck tonight?” Dave asked Viv anxiously.

  She laughed. “You’re such a worrywart. Dad will come out here when he gets off work. He has two sets of spare keys and mom is going to water the plants. Relax, will you? A vacation is supposed to be fun, remember?” She punched his arm playfully. “Besides, he knows this old truck is your pride and joy.”

  Dave smiled at her, taking her hand. He rubbed his thumb across the new ring on her finger. “How did they take the news?”

  Her expression turned serious at the question, and she huffed out a breath. “Mom was annoyed we eloped, but not surprised. She wants to plan something a little more traditional and formal when we get back.”

  Holding hands, they crossed the gravel parking lot to the trailhead.

  “I hate crowds,” Dave said.

  Viv laughed. “I know. Why do you think I agreed to stop at the courthouse on the way here? I wasn’t at all surprised you had everything planned out ahead of time. How did you know I would agree to it, anyway?”

  He shrugged. “Just lucky I guess.”

  “That you are,” she said.

  They signed the logbook at the trailhead and started their adventure of a lifetime together.

  The woods were dark and cool. The pine sap smelled sweet. Trails in this section of the Reserve were well maintained, with no brush on them, and good footing. They walked at an easy pace, getting used to their heavy packs, making minor adjustments as they went.

  Well into the afternoon, but hours before sunset, they reached their first planned campsite. They were still in the more public and easily accessible area of the Reserve.

  Setting up camp, Dave got a fire going in the small fire pit. They cooked their first meal of the trip over the fire. They’d splurged, carrying the extra weight of steaks and potatoes for the celebratory meal. All of their other meals from now on would be reconstituted from freeze-dried, pre-packaged meals and whatever they scrounged up from the forest. Viv’s knowledge of botany was perfectly suited for this.

  They sat snuggled by the fire well into the evening when Viv got up and went into the tent. She emerged a few minutes later wearing a white nightgown. Dave sat staring at her, drinking in the sight.

  “I know you’re not keen on wedding traditions,” she said. “But there is one thing I think we should do.”

  “And what’s that?” he asked.

  Instead of answering, Vivian hiked up the hem of her nightgown to reveal the wedding garter on her leg. She looked at Dave and held her hand out to him. He didn’t need to be asked twice.

  Mitten Strings

  They spent the next few days on easy hikes, exploring the trail system. Sometimes they set up a base camp, returning to their tent only in the evenings.

  Finally, they exhausted the groomed and easily accessible trails; it was time to head into more remote areas of the forest reserve.

  Dave retrieved the map from his pack. It was a map of the entire Reserve and was his own design. Several sections were plasticized and joined in such a way that it could be completely unfolded like an ordinary paper map or folded up like a book. It was waterproof, and the plastic had a special fire retardant additive, so it was fireproof as well.

  “Too bad it’s not wind resistant or impossible to drop and lose it,” Viv said as she watched him checking their coordinates.

  Dave, not looking up from the map, lifted his wrist, displaying the cord attaching the map to him. There was also a thin cord attaching the map to his belt.

  Vivian laughed, “Mitten strings!” she said, delighted.

  “Cable. String wouldn’t do it. Not strong enough.”

  Ranger Station

  The next few weeks flew by. They checked in at the Ranger Stations as they found them. Viv called her parents from there to let them know they were still okay and having a great time.

  Forest Ranger Murphy, an old friend from high school, held them up one morning. They’d stopped at Murphy’s Station the day before and the three had caught up on old times, staying up late and telling ghost stories around the fire. Curious, they waited as he came out of the Station, calling for them.

  “Glad I caught you before you left. I just got a radio dispatch. I was wondering if you guys might help me out.”

  “Sure. What’s the problem?” Dave asked.

  Murphy cocked his head. “Not really a problem at this point, but, the researcher you guys said you ran into?”

  “What about him?” Viv asked.

  “He was in area fifty-one, right? The guy that was irritated we were there?” Dave clarified.

  “Yeah, that’s the guy. Well, it seems he failed to report with his daily check-in. Hasn’t been heard from in a couple of days, apparently. Not since you guys saw him. It sounds like you two are the last people to have had contact with him.”

  “So, what are you saying? Something’s happened to him?” Viv asked, clearly concerned.

  Murphy shrugged. “I hope it’s just a radio malfunction. Did you guys see his camp?”

  “No, but I know the general area he was in. He also said something about mushrooms and weird fungus. Said he was looking for new varieties for medical applications. Viv gave him locations for some we’d seen close by.”

  “You mind going with me to check on him? Viv’s nursing skills might be needed and if something’s happened well, I might need help to get him to the Station for an Evac.”

  “No problem,” they answered simultaneously.

  Murphy sighed in relief. “Thanks. Over the last couple of years, we’ve had a few people disappear, but we’ve never found anything conclusive as to what happened to them.”

  “And you still work out here all alone?” Viv asked, visibly shocked by the foolishness of it.

  “Not usually. My partner, Bart got a call about a family emergency and went home a few days early. We only have a few days before our relief comes to replace us. I stayed by myself since it’s such a short time.”

  Murphy helped them finish packing up their gear, then followed Dave as he led them back towards the place they’d encountered the scientist.

  Dave pushed on at a gruelling pace. Murphy had taken Vivian’s pack, so it was easier for her to move fast. They only took breaks if it was absolutely necessary. Although it had been a little over two days since they’d seen the researcher, it wasn’t really that far. Dave and Vivian had continued on with their leisurely pace after running into him. Now, their slow travel speed worked in their favour. Setting a much faster pace back, they covered the same distance by the end of the day.

  It
was dark by the time they reached the site. Murphy shone his flashlight around the wrecked camp. “You guys set up your gear and I’ll have a quick look around. Don’t think he’s here though.”

  Vivian looked at the wreckage uneasily. “I don’t think we should split up.”

  “Neither do I.” Dave agreed with her.

  Murphy replied, “We’re not. I’m just going to take a quick look to see if he’s lying injured close by. I’m not keen to go on my own, believe me. Something bad happened here.” He shone his light around again. “Really bad.”

  “This is giving me the creeps,” Vivian said, shivering.

  “Me too,” Dave said, agreeing with her.

  “Me three.” Murphy agreed. He checked inside the flattened tent and other wreckage. True to his word, he didn’t go out of visual contact with the other two.

  “There’s no one here. We’ll get up early and see if we can find him. Right now, it looks like a very pissed-off bear wrecked the place, but we’ll know better in the daylight. I hope he’s just hiding up a tree or something.” He came back to where Dave and Vivian had set up their tent.

  “I don’t know what’s happening here, but I think we should take turns sleeping,” Dave said. “Just in case.”

  Murphy agreed. “I’ll take the first watch.”

  They agreed to a schedule over dinner of freeze-dried, reconstituted meals. No one said very much. They were all uneasy, surrounded as they were by the ruined camp. There were no ghost stories around the fire that evening.

  The morning found the trio anxious, edgy, and grumpy. No one had slept well. They searched the camp thoroughly in the morning light, but found nothing pointing to the fate of the researcher.

  “Hey! Found some tracks over here!” Murphy shouted. “Looks like he went this way quite a bit. There’s a path here.”

  They set off, following the tracks, Murphy in the lead.

  “Don’t you think it’s weird there’s no bear tracks in camp?” Vivian asked.

  “Yeah. But that’s how the other camps were too when we found them. No trace of the occupants either. Maybe we got here soon enough this time and we’ll find something.” Murphy said but didn’t sound hopeful.

  Dave crouched down beside a bush. “There’s some fabric here.” He pointed to a scrap of plaid.

  “The same colour as the shirt the guy was wearing when we saw him,” Vivian said.

  “Got it,” Murphy said, plucking it off the branch. They went deeper into the woods, following the tracks. They found a few more scraps of fabric hung up on branches as they went.

  “The tracks seem to circle around. See?” Murphy pointed to a rock outcropping they’d passed that morning.

  “Maybe he’s got a head injury, and he’s disoriented, just wandering around?” Vivian surmised.

  “I don’t think we need to keep looking for him. He’s over here, under this bush.” Dave said, looking grim and pointing down. Murphy and Vivian were beside him in an instant.

  “I don’t even really need to check his vitals. He definitely looks deceased,” she said, getting on her knees and moving some branches out of her way. She felt for a pulse and breathing anyway, to be thorough. “I wonder if he hit his head or if...” she trailed off, thinking.

  “What is it?” Murphy asked her.

  “You said there have been other incidents like this?” Vivian asked, looking up at the Ranger.

  “Yeah. We assumed it was animal attacks, but we never find any actual evidence of that, other than the wrecked camps. I’ve never found one so soon before. Find a victim, I mean. There’s usually only scattered bones and no way to tell what really happened to them. If we ever find them. More often, they simply disappear.”

  “I’d like to take a better look at him, but I think it’s not an animal attack,” Viv said, squinting up at the men.

  “Well, we have to get him out of there and get him back to the Ranger Station for pickup.”

  No one seemed too happy at that prospect.

  Dave sighed. “I saw a tarp back at his camp. We can rig something up and transport him back.”

  “How far back is it to his camp?” Vivian asked, not wanting to separate or leave the victim unattended now that they’d finally found him.

  “It’s just around the rock. I’ll be gone fifteen minutes, tops. You guys get him out and I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Murphy and Vivian both looked unhappy but agreed. It was practical, and the camp was well within earshot, if not in sight. And it would take two people to get the body out of the bushes. Dave knew where the tarp was, so it would be faster for him to go. The sooner they got back to the Station the happier everyone would be.

  Dave came back with the tarp faster than expected. He had also found a roll of duct tape and a couple of long poles. They’d be able to make a stretcher and carry the deceased out more easily that way.

  Working together, they got the scientist rolled up in the tarp and taped him securely onto the poles.

  Vivian said to Dave and Murphy, “Before we go there’s something I’d like to check at his camp.”

  Dave suppressed a groan. He was eager to be rid of this mess.

  “What’s that?” Murphy asked.

  “He said that he was researching mushrooms and other types of fungus. I wonder if this isn’t some kind of poisoning. I want to see if there’s any samples to take with us for testing. If he was collecting and cataloging samples, we might get lucky.”

  “Yeah. Makes sense.” Murphy said.

  “I’m willing to bet your disappearances have more to do with a toxic effect from a mushroom or fungus, than bears or cougars.”

  “But won’t we be affected?” Dave asked, alarmed, thinking of whatever had happened to the dead guy happening to Vivian.

  “We’ve probably already been exposed if it’s an airborne thing. We’ve been in and around his camp since last night and handled him. Not to mention those weird-looking mushrooms we walked through before we ran into him.” Vivian said matter-of-factly, which did nothing to allay the fears of either man.

  They reached the camp, with Dave and Murphy slugging the dead weight of the corpse between them.

  They helped Vivian search for what she was looking for. They found a case of vials in a torn pack, with samples in some of the specimen jars. The researcher had carefully labelled most of them with the name of the specimen, the date and location where he found it. One was simply labelled f451. The date and location gave Dave the chills.

  Vivian looked at him, a worried frown on her face. “Isn’t that?”

  “Yeah. That’s where and when we saw him a couple of days ago. And I’m assuming this is from an unknown fungus. See? There’s only the number. All the rest are labelled with names.” Dave confirmed.

  “We’ll take that with us,” she said firmly. Dave just nodded and taped the pack to the stretcher on top of the body.

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think we’re going to be stuck here for the night,” Murphy said.

  “Wonderful.” Dave grumbled, “But better than bumbling around the woods at night, trying to cart this guy around.”

  “Yeah. Same deal as last night? One of us stays on watch while the rest sleep. We’ll leave as soon as it’s light enough.” Murphy said.

  Murphy tells a Story

  The next morning, the sky was hardly light enough to see when they left the wrecked camp and headed back to the Ranger Station, following the direct route that had brought them to the researcher’s camp.

  The going was slower and a lot rougher carrying the stretcher with the dead weight of the scientist slung between them.

  “I’m really glad this guy isn’t bigger. Who knew such a little skinny guy could weigh so much?” Dave complained as they wrestled the stretcher around a tangle of deadfall.

  No one replied. Vivian carried her own pack again since time wasn’t so vital on the return trip. The pace was necessarily slower because of the cargo they were bringing back
with them.

  “What are you reading?” Dave asked Viv at a rest break. He wiped his face with the tail of his T-shirt and took a swig of water.

  Whatever she was reading made her frown. “It’s some kind of journal. It doesn’t make much sense to me since there’s a lot of shorthand or some kind of private code, but it seems he was looking for a cure for some disease. Testing fungi for medicinal purposes. And immortality or age-defying properties. Weird. Everyone knows the Fountain of Youth is wishful thinking.”

  Murphy took the bottle of water from Dave and said, “There’s an old myth about these woods. Might be some truth in it after all, apparently.”

  “What myth?” Vivian asked, curious.

  Dave and Murphy picked up the stretcher again, changing positions, with Dave in the lead this time.

  Murphy talked while they walked. “You’ve never heard about the Shamblers?”

  Dave snorted. “Zombies? They don’t exist.”

  “Maybe not. But the myth centres around some kind of full moon magic combined with special mushrooms. Supposedly, if protectors were needed, on a full moon, the chosen sacrifices would be sent to a place where special mushrooms grow. They would, I don’t know, eat them? Smoke them? Snort spores? Something, anyway, to change them into a creature called the Shambler. Which, according to the legend, became an unstoppable, unkillable force that destroyed the enemies threatening the local natives. Supposedly they never aged either, and serious wounds would heal.”

  “Okay. Great. How did they stop them? I assume they would have to stop them after their protection was no longer needed.” Dave said sarcastically.

  “Fire? Shoot them in the head? Don’t ask me how. That’s all I know. Same way you have to take out any zombie, I would assume.” Murphy said.

  “Stupid legend,” Dave said. “There’s no such thing as zombies, ghosts or any of that stuff.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, it passed the time and we’re back at the Ranger Station.” Vivian said.