The Radius | Book 2 | Living In The Radius

by Muga, D. M.

  They were three Deputies shorthanded, due to Ben and the others going down the mountain for livestock. Livestock that would help their survival, and hopefully the town’s survival.

  I can’t tell how big this crowd is, but if they get unruly, that could mean some major trouble for us. What if they don’t like what Steven has to say? She thinks as she surveys the growing crowd of people outside the former grocery store across from the lake of the small town of Crestline.

  Eileen hears a megaphone spark to life behind her, somewhat startling her out of her train of thought. Her focus shifts to the crowd, watching and waiting to see what their reaction will be.

  “Good afternoon, ladies and gents! For those of you that don't know who I am, I'm Steven Reilly and the newly appointed Sheriff of our small town.” Steven says over the megaphone.

  Eileen can hear murmurs throughout the crowd, but no one yells or speaks up.

  After a short pause, Steven continues. “Your Council Members and your Deputies asked for this meeting to address our small town, together. As some of you may likely have already heard, the good Sheriff Patterson was murdered recently.”

  This gets some gasps and “I told you so’s” from the crowd, but no one steps forward to address Steven directly.

  News travels fast in small towns. I guess some things never change.

  “Whereas, it was a great tragedy and I'm sure that you all have a great deal of questions, rest assured, the murderer has been apprehended and executed. However, this has left us with more complex problems to think about.” Steven explains.

  “How do you know you got the right guy!?” A voice from the crowd asks.

  “Good question, sir! We know we have the right guy, because he admitted it to two Deputies and we also have a witness to the crime.” Steven answers.

  This response gets some hushed murmurs.

  Steven continues. “This tragedy has shown us some major flaws in the current ways we are doing things. We are following the old ways of the world, before the Blue Hole Radius. That should no longer be the case. Your mountain communities have divided up and delegated leaders of the separate towns to run the day-to-day operations. Currently we have eight Deputies and three Council Members for Crestline to make the major decisions.”

  “So, we’re just supposed to listen to you now?! Just like that?!” Another voice shouts from the crowd.

  “I see your concern, my fellow American, and I understand it completely. The quick answer is both yes and no. We are still talking about how to find three more elected council members to fill the empty spots and we are certainly looking for more Deputies to fill our ranks. So yes, you are supposed to listen to law enforcement and your elected officials. On the other hand, if you all feel it fit to do so, you have the power to remove us.” Steven pauses and no one interrupts him. So, he continues on, “There are only 11 of us at the moment and there looks to be several hundred of you here today. By our estimation, there are still close to 7,000 souls left in our small town. If we do a crap job and treat you unfairly, you have more than enough manpower to remove us.”

  This gets some nods and more hushed murmurs from the crowd.

  “That being said, we don’t think it’ll come to that. We plan on being as fair as possible and as swift as possible with punishments. It’s a strange and dangerous new world that we live in. It’s in all of our best interests to come together so that we can survive and begin to rebuild everything that we have lost. That’s why we are here today.” Steven says and pauses.

  You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but he sure has a way with words. They seem to be staying relatively calm. She thinks to herself.

  “So why are you here?!” Another voice shouts and this gets some questioning “yeahs.”

  Steven answers the crowd. “We are here to start up that process again for us. We are here to start a defensive force for our small town, a type of militia. The other towns are doing the same, and we believe it will assist all of us with fighting any more groups of people that intend to do us harm. We were lucky with the MS13 battle. Next time, that may not be the case. Therefore, we are here to ask for volunteers for our defensive force. Some of those volunteers may even have the opportunity to become deputized, to help with the day-to-day.”

  Steven says and then pauses gesturing over to the council members. “We are also here to find out who’s interested in filling the three empty positions upon the Crestline Council.”

  “Does this have to do with those transmissions and this so-called Leviathan showing up soon?!” A voice yells from the crowd.

  This catches Eileen’s attention and she looks back to Steven to see what his reply is going to be. She knows he’s worried about it and so is she.

  It definitely does… but what will he tell the masses?

  “Great question! The truth is, we don’t know. We don't know if this Leviathan and this Captain Abraham Jackson are coming or not. If they do, we certainly don’t know their intentions. But what we do know… what I know… is that we need to be prepared for the future. We need to plan long-term, and this is a good start down that path.” Steven explains.

  He waits for a few moments for the crowd to calm down and talk about the new information provided and their proposals. “Alright then. That’s about all we have for you all. If you are interested in the defensive force and/or becoming deputized, step over to your left and see me. If you are interested in running for one of the empty seats on the council, step off to the right and see your council members. Please don't rush and push. We’ll be here as long as you all need us to be. Thank you for coming out... and stay safe out there, ladies and gents.”

  Once Steven is done talking, Eileen sees the crowd simply stay put for a few moments. There are some hushed “was that it?” and “I came all the way out here for that?”

  After a few awkward minutes, the crowd begins to disperse, and they go about their daily lives. That’s when Eileen sees men and women start to make their way to the trucks.

  Without the megaphone, Steven speaks again. “Alright, please form nice and orderly lines, so we can get your information.”

  “Deputy Bradley and Rivera… here.” Steven says.

  The two of them turn and they each take a notepad and pen.

  “Write down their names and send them over to me afterwards.” Steven explains.

  “Will do.” Todd replies.

  “All of them, Steven? What if there are a lot?” Eileen asks.

  Steven points toward the direction of the line forming. “My guess is that there’s only going to be twenty, tops, for starters.”

  She looks back, astonished. She then looks back at Steven. “Is that it? I thought there would be a lot more. Didn’t you say we had close to 7,000 people in this town?”

  Steven grins. “Yup, roughly. But we only had around two hundred here today, and we should consider ourselves lucky if we get at least 20 from that. People always talk a big game about wanting to join up. But when the opportunity presents itself, many are hesitant.”

  “Oh…” She looks back to the line that had finished forming, noticing to be filled with right around twenty men and women. “That doesn’t seem like a lot for a real defensive force, Steven.”

  “More, will come. News travels fast in this small town and more will show up. I’m sure of it.” Steven replies.

  Todd chimes in. “He has a point, Eileen. Let people think it over and more will come out to lend their support.”

  She looks back to the line and the dispersed crowd behind the line. She then glances over at the line for the council members and sees only two people, a man and a woman.

  “If you two say so…” She says, as she begins to take down the information of the people in line and send them off toward Steven.

  Eileen and Todd make quick time with the short line of volunteers. They write down their names, date of births, addresses, and their previous careers and/or skills. After about 40 minutes, the line of 18 men and women are stand
ing over by Steven, with 12 men and six women. She was surprised and even excited to see a good percentage of them being women. She hadn’t said anything yet, but she was worried that it was just her and Janice with badges.

  Well actually, I don’t even have an actual badge yet… Do I need one? I’ll have to ask Steven when he’s done. She thinks, as she stares at the small crowd formed around Steven Reilly, now Sheriff Reilly of Crestline.

  “Alright, ladies and gents. All volunteers are accepted into our defensive force of Crestline. The goal is for our defensive force to be ready and easily assembled in the case of an attack or any sort of disaster that we may need help with. We can start up with simple tactics and some training in two days. I have a good feeling we may have some more volunteers by then. As for the deputizing, we’re going to have to do some background checks and interviews, to start off with.” Steven explains.

  One of the younger men chime in. “Hey, Sheriff Reilly? What do we call ourselves?”

  “Hmmm, that's a good question.” Steven replies and scratches the back of his head.

  “Hey, Sheriff…” Todd interrupts. “You already have a good name for the defensive force, the Defensive Force of Crestline or DFC, for short.”

  Steven laughs. “Well I'll be damned. Good point Deputy Bradley.” He then looks to the others. “Well there you have it. The DFC. Now go spread the word and we’ll see you all back here in two days, at noon. Any questions?”

  “Do we need to bring anything?” The same young man asks.

  “Good question, young man.” Steven says, smiling. “Bring your go to weapon, some water, and some lunch to snack on. If you don’t have or own a firearm, raise your hand, please.”

  Eileen watches as seven of the men and women raise a hand.

  Wow, there are still people without guns? That seems crazy, and rather foolish in this new world of ours.

  “Fair enough. I’ll see what I can round up for you guys and gals. No promises, but I’ll see what we can do for you.” Steven replies.

  This gets some nods and thanks from the small and newly founded DFC, some of which are apparently unarmed.

  “Any other questions?” Steven asks and gets no responses. “Alright, our new DFC members, have a great rest of your day and we’ll see you back here in two days.”

  The group chats for a moment and then is gone within a few minutes. After they are all gone, leaving just Steven, Todd, and her, she asks, “How have they gotten this far without guns, Steven?”

  Steven scratches the back of his head. “Likely with being very careful and a lot of luck, to be quite honest.”

  Todd whistles, “You can say that again. Sheesh! And you know they aren’t the only ones that are without.”

  “You are likely right, Todd. But I think we can rectify a good amount of those that are without. That murdering POS Richard Clark had a good amount of firepower with him. We can likely get those seven of our newly formed DFC armed up with those weapons.” Steven explains.

  “What about the rest?” Eileen asks.

  “Yeah… our best and first bet would be the Sheriff Station, over in Twin Peaks. After that, we’ll just have to see what we can spare and give up.” Steven adds.

  “Steven, we are just supposed to give up our weapons to others. That seems a tad bit unfair.” Eileen interjects.

  She didn't feel comfortable giving up the guns that her father had acquired over the years.

  He may be gone now, but they were his… because he prepared for this kind of crap.

  Steven puts up his hands in a clam down type of motion. “Eileen, you don't have to give up anything that you don’t want to. I completely understand and agree with you. However, if we have… say over a dozen guns to each of us… can we even carry that many guns at once?”

  “Well, no… but.” Eileen starts and then stops to think about it.

  “I'm not saying all of them or even most of them. All I'm saying is that we may be able to spare a few to help people defend themselves. I know that I can’t carry 10 or 12 guns at once. Hell, it’s hard enough carrying a sidearm and rifle.” Steven explains.

  “Maybe… but I don’t know Steven. What if we need those guns? Ben did already get one of his destroyed.” Eileen replies.

  This gets a chuckle from Steven. “He sure did, didn’t he? We’ll just see how things play out with the Sheriff’s Department over in Twin Peaks.”

  “Alright then… did you want me to head over to the Sheriff’s Station and see what they have?” Eileen asks.

  “I was going to head over there now and check it out before too many other Sheriff’s get the same idea that I just had. You are more than welcome to tag along.” Steven replies.

  “Sounds good.” Eileen says and the two of them start walking to his Blazer.

  “Uh, Sheriff… maybe I should follow you guys out there as well, so that they know you two are the real deal. You guys may be deputized but have no badges or identification to back it up.” Todd says to Steven and then looks at Eileen.

  “Another good point, Todd!” Steven laughs. “Would you mind following us out that way? If I remember correctly it’s only about 10 to 20 minutes away from here.”

  “Sounds about right, Sheriff Reilly. I’ll follow you guys out there and then head back here to keep an eye on the marketplace. We are still spread pretty thin, until Joseph, Ben, and Alexander return.” Todd replies.

  Ben… She pulls out her phone, seeing it read 1:10 PM. I hope that they are alright. They should… hopefully… be on their way back home pretty soon. But they haven’t checked in for a good while.

  “Good thinking, Todd. And when nobody else is around, Steven is just fine.” Steven says as he winks to him.

  “Maybe so, Sheriff… but you may as well get used to it sooner or later. Plus, it helps with chain of command. If others see us calling you Steven, it kind of portrays favoritism and even fraternization.” Todd explains.

  “I suppose you are right… Deputy Bradley. It’s going to take some getting used to this whole formality thing.” Steven replies.

  “Eh, I bet it only takes a couple days or so. You get used to it real quick and it becomes second nature.” Todd responds.

  “Fair enough. Well… let's get to the Sheriff’s Station before they run out of badges and guns.” Steven says as he laughs at his own joke.

  Eileen smiles and shakes her head at the man, following him to his Blazer.

  The drive out to the Sheriff’s Station is uneventful. Once reaching the station, Todd talks to one of the other Deputies. After some discussion, Todd’s able to acquire a dozen extra Sheriff’s badges for Steven, Eileen, Ben, Alexander, and any other future Deputies.

  Once Steven and Eileen are introduced, the two thank Todd and he leaves and goes to head back toward the Lake Drive Marketplace in Crestline.

  “Now all that’s left is to see if we can’t try to acquire more firearms for our little community.” Steven says to Eileen.

  Steven heads back over to the Deputy, talking to him and a couple other Deputies at the station.

  After a few minutes of discussion, Eileen’s amazed that Steven is able to procure five sidearms and three rifles from the Sheriff’s Station.

  “How the hell did you manage that, Steven… I mean Sheriff Reilly?” She asks him.

  “When it’s just our small group, Steven is always fine, Eileen… and I just used logic and patience with them. They were actually rather understanding about people needing to protect their own. It also probably helps that I wasn’t greedy. I only asked for a few and they turned out to be more generous.” Steven explains to her.

  “Generous… I’ll say.” Eileen replies.

  He definitely has a way with words and a way with people. It’s almost like he was made for this Sheriff thing, and possibly for this new world of ours. Eileen thinks to herself as she loads up the firearms into the back of the Blazer.

  She places some blankets under them and on top of them.

  After a few m
oments, Steven returns carrying multiple boxes of ammunition to go along with the recently procured firearms.

  “You sure do have a way with people, Sheriff Reilly.” She says, smiling at him.

  “It sure appears that way, Deputy Rivera.” He says in return and laughs lightly.

  Eileen and Steven finish loading everything into the back of the Blazer and head back to the front, opening the doors, they both climb back into the vehicle.

  “We headed back home or to the Lake Drive Marketplace, Steven?” Eileen asks.

  Steven doesn’t respond and simply stares out of the windshield, up toward the sky.

  “Steven? Are you alright?” She asks him.

  He nods, and slowly says. “Yeah.”

  “So where are we headed to next? Home or the marketplace?” She asks him again.

  With his eyes still on the sky, “Neither, Eileen…”

  “Okaaay. Where to then, Sheriff Reilly?” She says grinning.

  “Welp… I think it’s in our best interest to follow that thing and see where it’s going.” He says, as he follows something in the sky.

  “What thing?” She leans forward, toward the windshield to look to the sky. “What the hell is that?!”

  Steven turns on the ignition, roaring the old Blazer to life and pulls back onto the highway, but heading further away from Crestline, further away from home.

  “The Leviathan...” The words come out of her mouth, but sound foreign to her.

  “It sure appears to be that and the same.” Steven says as he guides them along the windy road.

  “Are we following it? Following them?” She asks.

  “I think it’s in our best interest to see where these guys are headed and see what they want.” Steven answers.

  “Do you think we should though? Especially after what we heard out of Edwards. Or better put, what we didn’t hear out of that area.” She adds.

  “We’ll do our best to keep a safe distance, but I think it’s important to see who they are and if we should be worried.” Steven says to her as he guides them back onto the old 18 Highway, heading east.