by Nelson, Kip
“I promise you, we don't mean you any harm. We don't want a fight, all we want is to live in peace. We're willing to work out a trade agreement, just don't treat us like criminals. We haven't done anything wrong,” Tillman said.
The more he spoke the more his voice trembled with anxiety. He knew he shouldn't be showing any sign of weakness to this people, but it was impossible when faced with their dark forms. It was as though they were minions of death, come to claim the lives that had been forfeited.
“This is ridiculous,” Simon huffed, frustrated at the lack of communication from these intruders. Tillman glared at him to get him to stand down, but Simon was focused on the men in front of him.
The mercenary who had given the order was flanked by two men. The others had gone around the neighborhood to pillage the houses. Tillman looked back and saw that one of them was making a beeline to his home. Fernando started to move, but Tillman held him back. He turned to try stopping Simon, but Simon already was standing before the mercenary.
“Who the hell do you think you are, coming into a place like this, walking around like you own the place? You might be wearing guns and that uniform, but you aren't in control here. This place isn't subject to your rule. You have no right to do this! We're all humans. These are our homes. You can't just come here and ignore us. At least take off your damn mask and negotiate with us!”
Simon's nostrils flared, and his body was rigid. Tillman stepped forward to stand beside him. Simon was a troublemaker, but it was important to show unity.
“Please, all we want is to talk. There's no need for this, and you have to understand we're prepared to defend ourselves. Aggression won't be tolerated,” Tillman said.
“Damn right it won't be tolerated!” Simon said furiously.
“You think we're just going to stand around and put up with this? You've got another thing coming. I bet you're nothing under that mask, are you?” he said, and promptly reached up to pull the mask off the lead mercenary.
Tillman's heart was in his throat as Simon did this, but there was nothing Tillman could do to stop him. Simon's hand was on the man's face, groping at the mask, but it was fastened too tightly for Simon to pull it off. The man thrust an elbow into Simon's face, making him stagger backward. The mercenary followed this up with a swift kick in the chest. Simon fell to the ground, anger flaring. He was just about to push himself up when the unthinkable happened. The mercenary casually fired a shot into the middle of Simon's forehead.
“No!” Tillman cried out.
Simon was dead.
The man pulled off his mask.
“I'll say what's tolerable,” he growled. Tillman stared at the man's face. Tillman hadn't known what he had been expecting, but this man could have been any random person Tillman passed on the street. His skin was pale, and his eyes were ice blue.
Suddenly more shots were fired. People around the community fought back after this attack on one of their own. Others grabbed whatever weapons they could find, but the mercenaries reacted quickly and fired back themselves. The air exploded with gunshots. Tillman crouched down and looked desperately at Fernando and Jack as people were killed all around them. From the forest around the neighborhood other mercenaries came forth, three more squads of about ten men each.
They were hopelessly outnumbered.
“Hold your fire!” Tillman yelled, straining his voice to be heard over the cacophony of weapons.
People were screaming in panic and fear, his people anyway. The mercenaries were cold and calculating. They were trained in this, and they would end it before the neighborhood could. Tillman took a risk and stood to his full height, shouting at the top of his lungs for people to cease fire.
Moments later, the staccato gunfire stopped.
Tillman breathed heavily as he looked down at Simon's fallen body, the surprised expression now permanently etched upon his face. A dark hole had been drilled into the middle of his forehead. A precision shot. Dark liquid oozed out slowly.
“There's no need for this. Just tell us what you want. What are your terms?” Tillman asked. He used his cane for support as his knees were weak. The mercenary standing before him showed no sign of remorse or pity, no hint about what they really wanted.
The only thing Tillman knew was that the neighborhood was in danger from a threat more powerful than anything they had faced so far. They were unprepared, outgunned, and at first glance there was no way they could do anything but capitulate to this overwhelming force. Tillman scanned the area and saw other people who had died.
It was unnecessary, and Tillman would see that these men paid for their crimes.
Chapter Fifteen
A thin smile tugged at the mercenary’s face, although it looked unnatural on him. This man didn't look like one who was prone to smiling. Tillman tried pushing down all the anger and rage that festered inside him. Every instinct was telling him to throttle this man for the havoc he had brought to the people of this community. But he knew that if he lashed out, he would end up just like the rest, dead.
The blitz of chaos had faded. The echoes of gunfire hung in the air, but the mercenaries remained, ominous demons in what had been a realm of peace. Only the leader had had his mask taken off. He sighed as he picked it up and held it in his hands. He didn't seem to care that Simon had been killed. That anyone had been killed.
He snapped his fingers and another mercenary came forward, handing him a piece of paper, which the leader then handed to Tillman. Tillman opened the list of demands and exhaled slowly, shaking his head. He handed it to Jack, who proceeded to hand it to the rest of the council.
“This is...it's going to be difficult. We are a small community. We do not have much to offer. We barely have enough to get by ourselves,” Tillman said.
“I have faith that you will deliver what we ask. You do have a few less mouths to feed, after all. You have time to gather the items. Do not fail us. Failure will be met with punishment. Do not resist. Resistance will be met with punishment.” The mercenary then raised his voice to address the watching crowd. “The world is in chaos, but we are here to bring order. Obey us, and you shall thrive. Resist, and you shall find yourselves regretting your actions. We shall return.”
With that, the leader held up his fist and the mercenaries all flocked to his position. Then, in unison, they marched away from the neighborhood like a receding hurricane, but like a hurricane, the chaos they wrought still was visible.
“Was that a promise or a threat?” Fernando asked.
“I think a bit of both,” Tillman said tersely.
They waited until the mercenaries were completely gone before people began wailing and gnashing their teeth. Many of them came up to the council, a hundred questions on their tongues. Others fell to the dead and lamented more needless death. They wept and called out, and Tillman found that he wanted to join them. It all was getting to be too much to take. Once he had made one difficult decision, something else came to tear him apart. The neighborhood was the only thing he lived for, but it was being threatened from every side.
Would there be no end to this?
Tillman stood with his feet planted firmly on the ground as people swarmed around him. His lips were pressed together, and he remained quiet as the barrage of questions hammered against his mind. The rest of the council were doing their best to answer the people, but all eyes were on Tillman. He was the one they looked to in a crisis. He was the one who always managed to drag them out of tricky situations, but those were becoming relentless.
Rage simmered in the pit of his stomach. It felt as though something was pressing on his ribs. His entire body went tense and his hands formed tight balls at his sides. Tillman had endured a great many things in his life, but he had reached his limit. He threw back his head and let out an almighty roar, one that made his throat raw. It was so furious that nobody there would have been at all surprised had fire burst out of his mouth.
Tillman's eyes blazed with anger as he looked at the people around him.
The sheer fury of his words took the neighborhood by surprise. Most of them had been used to him being measured and compassionate. Very few of them had seen this side of him. For a long time he had tried pushing it away, ignoring it. But it could be ignored no longer. He would have to tap into every ounce of his strength if he was to fight against the plague that had festered in the area.
“You won't have to do it alone,” Fernando said. Jack agreed, and everyone around him were nodding.
Tillman smiled maliciously. Those mercenaries didn't know what was going to hit them.
But before that there was plenty to arrange. He assigned Mr. Fox and Annabelle to help people with the bodies and the wounded, and just to recover from the shock.
“What are we going to do?” Fernando asked as he and Jack walked away with Tillman.
“First, we're going to talk with Tony and Tanya to see what they can tell us about our new neighbors. Then I'm going to have a word with Khan. I think he's finally going to get the fight that he's been wanting.”
Neither Jack nor Fernando questioned Tillman's instinct, but Tillman knew the questioning was going to come. Khan was imprisoned for murder, awaiting trial. There would be many who wouldn't trust fighting alongside him, but Khan had skills, he had men, and those would be sorely in need if they were going to put up any fight against the mercenaries.
As soon as Tillman and the others reached home they were greeted with tight embraces and tears of relief. Tillman briefly told them all what had transpired and what the mercenary leader had said. The color drained from their faces.
“Holy shit,” Greg said.
“I was hoping that people just would live and let live in this world. I guess not,” Penelope said.
“No, they aren't. It's time to live and let die. I'm not going to let them win. I can't,” Tillman said, a terse edge to his voice. “Where are Tony and Tanya? I need to speak with them.”
“They're upstairs with Jessica and Anthony,” Ana said. “But I'm not sure they're ready to talk.”
“They'll have to get ready,” Tillman growled.
“Dad, Jack, I want you to take an inventory of all the weapons we have. Jack, I want you to train people just like we did before with Khan, except this time harder. They're going to have to up their game. Mom, Morelle, Penelope, Greg, can you look at the maps and see if there are any safe areas nearby where people who can't fight can stay? I'm going to need everyone's help on this. This is more desperate than anything we've faced before. But we're going to face it together. We're going to fight back.”
With that he spun on his heels and left everyone to their duties while he walked upstairs. Major came with him. Tillman wished they had more animals, more people, more guns. Just more of everything. He stomped upstairs and went into the room where the others were.
Tony was lying on the bed, looking extremely pale and weak. Tanya was sitting with Jessica at the edge of the bed, still looking haggard. Anthony was in the corner, looking small and afraid, like he didn't really know what he was supposed to be doing. Tillman knew that Jessica would appreciate his presence.
“How is everything up here?” Tillman asked.
“Tony seems to be okay, he's just resting. Tanya is pretty shaken up. What's going on out there? We heard gunshots. Is everything alright?” Jessica asked.
“No, Jess, it's not alright, which is why I'm here. I need to talk to Tanya, if she's up for it. I'd like to talk to Tony as well, if we can wake him up,” Tillman said.
“I don't know. He seems pretty out of it,” Anthony said.
Tillman moved into the room and got down on his knees, crouching in front of Tanya. The girl seemed even more afraid then when Tillman had seen her previously. She trembled like a captured bird. Her eyes darted this way and that, and her breathing was short and sharp.
“Tanya, hey, it's Tillman. Remember me? I just wanted to ask you a few questions about what happened, about why you were running,” he said gently. Tanya's head jerked painfully.
“No...no!” she gasped.
“Tanya, please, I just want to talk. It would help us greatly if we knew more about them. Please, can you just try telling me what happened when they arrived?”
For a moment Tillman thought Tanya was indeed going to tell him, but it was as though a switch went off in her mind. She winced and then shook her head vehemently, then crawled over the bed to lie beside her father.
Tillman gave Jessica an imploring look. His niece slowly moved toward Tanya and placed her hand on Tanya's arm, caressing it gently.
“Hey, Tanya, it's just Jessica. You don't have to talk about anything if you don't want to, but the same men who threatened you are threatening us. We just want to know anything you can tell us. It doesn't matter how small.”
“Get them away,” Tanya said.
“They just want...everything. Get them away. Don't let them touch you. Don't. That mask. They never take off their masks,” she said, and then collapsed into sobs. Tillman exhaled slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I'm sorry, Uncle. I don't think we're going to get anything out of her,” Jessica said.
It was at this point that Tony began stirring. His eyes cracked open and his dry lips whispered for help. Jessica quickly poured him some water and helped him into a sitting position. Once he had taken a few long sips he looked down at Tanya and looked ashen. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She whimpered and moved closer into him.
“Tony, are you able to talk?” Tillman asked. Tony nodded, although it clearly was hurting him to do so.
“Who are these men?”
“They came out of nowhere. There were just a few of them at first. Said they were stationed at a military base nearby and they were here to take stock of survivors. They told us there was nothing to worry about. We were desperate enough to believe them. They said they were going to establish order. We all came out of our houses to meet them. Soon enough they were roaming around the streets, and we believed them. But then more came, more and more, and they started enforcing rules. They started taking things that didn't belong to them, and before we knew it they were running the town. It was too late to form a resistance, although some of us tried. They all were killed.”
“Was it Jerry?” Tillman asked. Tony nodded. Tillman staggered backward, hit by the weight of all this senseless death.
“They told us the only options we had were to fall in line with their regime or die, and then it only got worse. They ousted people from their homes and took them over. And they, well, they started taking things other than food,” he looked down at his daughter. Tears swelled in his eyes.
“I couldn't take it anymore. I can take a lot, you know? I was laid off a long time ago, struggled for work. But there are some things I can't stand, and one of those is people threatening my daughter. As soon as one of them laid a hand on her, that was it. I took her away and we tried running, knowing you were somewhere out here. I had to try warning you. I'm just sorry it came so late.”
“It's okay, Tony. You're with friends, but I can't tell if you're safe or not. They weren't as subtle as when they came to town. They've given us their demands.”
“You can't meet them, Tillman. You can't give them what they want. They'll only take more, until they've taken everything you have,” Tony said, in the voice of a haunted man.
“I don't plan to, but I need your help. I need to know everything you can tell me about them.”
Tony nodded again, then gasped as he adjusted his position. Tony was a brave man, T
illman decided, and it was for men like these that they would have to fight these mercenaries.
“There are about forty-five of them. They're all armed, and from what I can tell one is as sadistic as the next. They want food, housing, and women. They're never satisfied either. They'll keep taking until they have everything. They take their orders from one man, and he's the cruelest of the lot. They won't stop, Tillman. I think they want this entire area under their control. They just consume everything from one place and then move on. Everyone in town is too scared to fight back. It's useless. What kind of life would it be under them? I'd rather die than give them what they want.”
Tillman had a rueful expression on his face. It was likely a lot of them were going to die before this was over. Tillman often had pondered death ever since the end of the world had occurred. Even though the sky had fallen around him, he always had imagined himself living to see a new world flourish. Today was the only time he doubted that thought. Today, he actually felt as though death was walking beside him.
Tony's head fell back, and he told Tillman he didn't think he could say anything else of use. Tillman thanked him and told Jessica to see that he and Tanya had anything they wanted. Tanya was still frail and forlorn. He hoped she would be able to regain some strength with the help of her father and her best friend.
Tillman's biggest fear had been the approaching threat of winter. But if they didn't deal with these mercenaries, it was unlikely the neighborhood would be around to see winter. This was going to take everything they had, and Tillman was willing to sacrifice anything to keep his people safe.
Chapter Sixteen
Khan was brooding in his cell. It was a room with a reinforced door. The lock was on the outside, of course. He shared it with Jeff Holden. The man was pathetic. He kept babbling on about how they shouldn't have done this; how he was right; and how his imprisonment only would lead them down a dark path.
Khan had become tired of telling Jeff to shut up. Jeff seemed to think he would have made a better leader for this community than Tillman, but Khan knew that to be a lie. Khan had had his differences with Tillman, but at least he respected the man. Jeff...nobody would respect such a weasel.
