“We could easily and quite justifiably terminate the Brotherhood.” I continued and let that hang in the air for a minute.
Then I added, “That is not our intention or desire. We want to peacefully co-exist with Hinsdale. We might down the road find it necessary to band together to fight a common foe, or just to survive. So spare the bullshit and let’s get to the meat of the issue.”
Charlene picked up on it and did a great job of joining into the conversation and doing the good cop to my bad cop. She put me in my place, “Calm down Tom you may be the Head of Security but I’m still in charge. I think Anthony sees the dire situation that is surrounding us all and wants to work with us.”
At this point she placed the military ID on the table. For Anthony, Major Anthony Barkley, the game was really over at that point.
The Major did see the situation for what it was. The negotiations began. I must admit that Charlene was a very skillful negotiator. She bent in the wind, but always seemed to come back to the point and obtain what was best for our people yet at the same time taking care to give something in return. He started by giving up the location of the 50 Cal that they carried as well as the information on some of other special equipment that they had brought with them
During the breaks in negotiations I would caucus with her. She was in contact with Teckla and Henry making plans and discussing our interests. In the end they agreed that we should be neighbors sharing certain resources from the rail lines and in the individual towns. Each camp would supply its own food, but there would be a barter system set up since we would have the farming abilities and they had access to the stores in Hinsdale.
Propane and fuels would be shared as would information and gained intelligence. But we would not join or band together for at least 4 months. We needed to get to know each other first before that union. And if one camp was going to “visit” the other, there would be permission granted.
During one of the breaks in negotiations I had the chance to talk with the Major. He was not a bad guy and seemed reasonable. He gave me an outline and of what had occurred during the early stages of their arrival in Hinsdale. The Lt. Colonel who was heading the unit was a good old soldier and played by the book. He was going to run the show with the townspeople and that was the end of that. The townspeople decided that this was basically a government takeover of their rights and freedoms and they were not buying it.
Initially there was a guerrilla war that took place that reduced the Army from a unit of twenty to a group of six. The army was holed up in the rail warehouse. The Lt. Colonel wanted to fight on but was out manned. There had been many casualties on both sides, and in the early days of the conflict the townspeople believed those shot dead were dead. The army picked up on it and to their shame did nothing to correct that misconception. This failure of information sharing helped bring the odds a little more even. The problem with it was that it also set a new “army” against the townies.
The Major, being a doctor more than a soldier saw the insanity of it. He had repeatedly objected to the course that the Lt Colonel had set and tried to get information to the townspeople to prevent further creation of the undead. These efforts led to big arguments with the Lt Colonel with accusations to fly on both sides. Finally, the Colonel had the Major arrested for treason, and insubordination.
One night a more reasonable soldier, Corporal Wilkes freed the Major. The Major took the insignias from Wilkes and set out to talk with the leader of the townspeople. He allowed himself to be captured and was brought before the leaders of the town. He told them about the need to destroy the head of the undead. The hawks on the council responded by locking him up, and trying to get him to give intelligence on the remaining military personnel in the rail warehouse. They wanted to finish off the military once and for all.
The townie militia had been reduced in numbers to about twenty-five. Among the twenty-five there was the Brotherhood. It was still a quiet and almost secret society. Brother Gabriel had been slow and methodical in his efforts of recruitment.
In his efforts Brother Gabriel saw an advantage to including the military guy who he believed was a lowly enlisted man into his group. Gabriel figured that he could win the mind and heart of the prisoner. I wonder which direction he would have gone if he had known that Anthony was actually an officer.
So as The Brotherhood spread it’s tentacles in the townies, Gabriel was able to access the soldier. He spoke with him and planted the seed of escape and acceptance into his group. The results were not stunning. Of course ‘Anthony’ followed along.
This gave Brother Gabriel access to the military and logistical knowledge of what and who was in the warehouse under the control of the Lt. Colonel. But more important was that it tipped the balance for Gabriel to take control of the townspeople. He now had the larger number of people.
After Corporal Anthony was released Gabriel started by seizing control of the council that was ruling the townspeople. In some cases there was resistance and that resistance was removed. Gabriel took a couple of the senior council members for a walk to discuss the issues at hand. Unfortunately they ran into a group of the undead and only Gabriel was able to escape, “praise be to God”. This further strengthened Gabriel’s status and also gave him a strangle hold on the council.
Over time other members that did not fall into the ways of Gabriel’s thinking met unfortunate situations that cost them their lives. Some of these events took place during attacks on the military. Some were killed by enemy fire and some in a mistimed movement into the line of fire of certain members of the Brotherhood.
Corporal Anthony played his role very well. He knew that if he didn’t he was dead, and that the death would be very unpleasant. When the Brotherhood, with three or four of the townspeople finally defeated the military, the five remaining soldiers were paraded through town and taken to a rail car. They were forced inside as a holding cell. The remaining non-believing townspeople were also put inside.
To his credit Anthony said that he had tried to save Corporal Wilkes, the man who had helped him escape. He pitched Wilkes as a good man, a brother in arms and someone who could be trusted. But Gabriel did not go for it.
Major Barkley said that the townspeople and soldiers who were locked into the rail car were forced to clean the bodies in the area of the warehouse and load them into two other rail cars. It took several days and each night they would be given a meal and then locked into their rail car. Each morning the clean-up would start again.
This did not go badly at first by as the days wore on the stink of the bodies grew worse and more sickening. Occasionally the prisoners would find a body that had re-animated. Those were killed quickly to prevent contamination. But somewhere along the line, one of the people, no one ever knew who had been infected. In the middle of the night there were screams, and shouts from the rail car. In the morning it was quiet until someone went to unlock the door. Then it was just the noise of growls, moans and grunts.
After hearing the story I clearly saw the nature of this religious nutbag who called himself Brother Gabriel.
Major Barkley and Charlene resumed the discussion of how we could survive side by side in the future. I had a better understanding of the Major’s perspective on the entire negotiations. In listening to him his main concern was to prevent a recurrence of the events with Brother Gabriel. He needed to see that we, the Peru crowd, were good people and had no such foul plans for the remainder of the Brotherhood. This was where Charlene shined as a negotiator. She demonstrated a high level of empathy and compassion for their plight. She left lots of wiggle room to give each side places to show their positive side, yet tempered it with firmness that keeps us apart and separate, for now.
When it was all said and done, the finalized pact had separation of the two groups yet a link of survival between them There was a promise that somewhere down the road there could likely be a joining together of the two groups. Some of the steps for that uniting were laid out. For example there wo
uld in three months be some exchanges of members if there were volunteers to do so.
But there was still a small yet critical part of the negotiations. We had to sell the idea of the man the brotherhood knew as Corporal Anthony was in actuality Major Anthony Barkley and that he was the best person for the role of leader among the Brotherhood. I was not sure if this was really going to be an issue. But we had put the cart in front of the horse, working the deal before we had Hinsdale on board.
We set up a meeting for that evening at about supper time. As the members of the Brotherhood sat down to eat, the Major showed up and joined them. But now instead of a somewhat “Sad Sack” looking person the Major was in his proper uniform, in fact it was a full dress uniform and walked with the air of command presence that he possessed. The group was stunned. The Major asked if we from the Peru Group could give them a few minutes alone.
I am not sure what happened while he was talking with them. It was not a very long discussion. In the end it seemed everyone was pleased with his stepping up and taking the leadership role. They took the time to vote on the pact that we had negotiated with them. It passed unanimously.
We were summoned back to the little dining hall where everyone was and the Major formally told Charlene that the group formerly known as the Brotherhood had accepted the agreement. “We are now the Hinsdale Survivors.”
I do not think that any of us realistically believed that this agreement would not have a little hiccup or two along the way. But it was a good and sane beginning.
April 21st
After we returned from Hinsdale the Peru Group had the chance to talk about our new neighbors. Charlene had already briefed Henry and Teckla. At the noon meal we filled in the rest of the group as to what we thought and felt about them. The overall assessment was that the Hinsdale Survivors could be an asset to us as we could be for them.
After lunch I took Matt and Margo aside for a little while. I wanted to sort of debrief them regarding the incident with Brother Gabriel. I will honestly admit that although it was a necessary shot to take him out I was not really happy about the closeness to my ear that the 50 Cal projectile had passed.
I actually became a little animated in dressing down Matt for the shot. He took it well and when I was all done ranting he smiled and said, “I will be more careful in the future if that situation arises, but remember, I was busy talking to Brother Gabriel on the radio and setting him up into position so that someone else could take the clear shot.”
I realized it had been Margo who had taken the shot.
I started to say something to her but she just stopped me, “You once told me that you would do anything to keep me safe and unharmed. You would have done what I did if the situation was reversed.”
She was right.
After Matt left the room she said, “I was never so scared in my life. I was afraid I would mess it up, but I remembered everything that you and Captain James and my dreams taught me”. She hugged me and said “I had to save you Dad”.
April 22nd
We are back to fully operational. The propane truck is hooked up and we are good for power for what we believe will be about 3 months. The food and farming supplies we brought back were all set and stored for the time being. We got the water purifier on line so it was no more boiling water. The idea that we actually had a doctor reasonably close and available was a great relief. Charlene has done a great job.
I chuckled when I heard Arcelia grousing at Cyril that maybe he should make an appointment with the Doctor to get some minor ailment checked out and actually that might not be a bad idea. When Teckla or Charlene head over to meet with the Hinsdale Survivors again, it might be a good idea to barter with them for some preventative medicine in exchange for something.
April 24th
It was a quiet day yesterday (missed a day in the journal). Today has been about the same. We caught Cyril trying to skip his shower. We do not have adequate resources for us all to get a hot shower daily. So what we came up with is that plan in which on the even days the men got showers, on the odd the women. You can take a cold shower anytime you wanted but that doesn’t cut it for me except in the direst of circumstances. So you learned to plan your schedule well. If you are feeling social you might be careful in your activities on any given day. A number of the group had taken to growing beards. Personally, I find that shaving, like working on this journal is a way I keep in touch with the old ways.
April 27th
It has been quiet. There is really not a whole lot of things to do, or should I say that need to be done right now. Henry is doing a little work to prepare for the farming season and Matt is helping him. There have been a few radio contacts with Hinsdale. But they have been minor in nature, mostly testing the equipment in various weather conditions. Anne has been talking about trying to get out there when we have our May 1st meeting with them so that she can talk with Major Barkley about the research she had completed to check it’s validity against what he had.
April 28th
There was dissension in the camp this morning. It seems that Biter has really annoyed Rosie the cat to the point where she hauled off and whacked him in the nose. He has apparently decided that the cute kitty plaything was not so cute and has given her a wide berth since.
April 29th
People are starting to get excited about the pending meeting with the Hinsdale Survivors. There is curiosity about who will come here to visit us, and also who from our camp will get to go to Hinsdale to meet with them. Charlene is definitely going, she was the main contact person. Teckla is also going for her part in the negotiations via radio. Of the original group that was at the first meeting Matt is going. That leaves three slots. Those slots will be filled with Nick, Anne and Lance. Anne is going to share her information on the Zom research. Nick is going to scout our food supplies and offer suggestions on mass meals and Lance is going to explore the possibility of some form of land line communications and camera surveillance systems. We do not know who we will get to visit us.
April 30th
The apprehension and preparation continues for tomorrow’s visit. It will be interesting to see the reactions on each side. Based upon my observations from my trip to Hinsdale I think that they have a greater supply of untapped resources and infrastructure. But I think that our people have been better at getting into an organized and livable system and it may be an unfair assessment because of the conflict that was taking place between The Brotherhood and the Military Containment Team.
May 1st
This is the big day. We have our vehicles set and ready to go. Everyone was loaded and it was off to Checkpoint Charlie, which was what I call it. It was West meeting East and as such I made the reference to the old days of the Cold War with the Soviets. Our Checkpoint Charlie was on the causeway bridge that ran across part of Lake Ashmere.
Our team moved out at about 9:45 to make the 10:00 meeting. Charlene, Anne and Matt were in the first HumVee. Nick and Teckla were in the second HumVee and Lance was following behind in the Kia. The plan was that they would meet on the bridge and then head to the respective town. The reason that both HumVees were going was that although we had claimed them both initially we felt that in fairness we should return one of them to the Hinsdale Survivors. It was an act to show good faith.
About forty-five minutes later the Hinsdale people arrived. They had sent Ethan, the college kid, Alexander, the accountant, Larry, the truck driver, Pedro, Grace and Michelle. We returned to our camp and we paired people up with our people. In doing so we tried to make a match as much as we could so that they would be coming from a similar place.
Henry hooked up with Pedro. It would give them both the opportunity to share notes on farming type stuff. Ethan was teamed with Fred thinking that the college thing would be a bond. Grace was assigned to Cyril and Arcelia since they were all talkers. Mark took on the task of Alexander and Frank took Larry. That left only Michelle, the stripper. We hooked her up with Jan and Margo. I figured a
little girl time might be good. I kept out of the mix and hid in the security monitor room while Lance was away.
The visit was basically a show and tell for the Hinsdale group. We wanted them to understand what we had done and that they could do the same. But more importantly it gave a little chance for everyone to get to know each other. I think in the back of many of our minds was that eventually the two groups would join together.
I was more curious about how things were going on the other end of the exchange. What was being found, bartered for and talked about. But that is all information that would have to be shared later in the day or tomorrow.
I just re-read part of this and hope that the impression is not that the Hinsdale folks are lesser than we are, because they are not. They were just not as far along in their planning and development of their community because of the battles with the military and the leadership and lack of foresight by Brother Gabriel.
At about five o’clock the Hinsdale folks packed up and it was back to Checkpoint Charlie. By six everyone was back in their own community. Teckla and Charlene were talking about what they had discovered and their talks with Major Barkley. They met with Henry to fill him in also. At supper which was a little less fancy than usual because Nick had been away most of the day there was a lot of individual sharing of thoughts, feelings and impressions of the Hinsdale folks.
The Event Series (Book 1): Life After the Meteor Page 14
