Which made heading down Larch a very risky venture.
Unfortunately, if they wanted to search the restaurants and cafes they had to head up Durham, which linked the two streets, and head right down Larch.
This was the plan and the reason why they camped out in another small square next to a building where Elgin—the street that ran beside the rail tracks in a meandering fashion— wandered and their next move would be to salvage what they could from those restaurants.
Elgin and Durham met in a tight triangle and split at this point. Elgin would lazily make itself north and Durham ran straight and true to the north up to Elm—which was where the mall sat.
It was at least laid out in a reasonable attempt at a logical grid. Brady ran under an overpass that the trains ran over, as did Elgin. Durham intersected, awkwardly, at this point.
It was across this bridge and in the shadow of the office of one of the local newspapers where Daniel and his team were currently camped.
He wanted to check the building for survivors. He had an odd feeling that the reason they had not found any food in the delis and cafes close by was because someone within this building had already raided them.
The fact that they had not attempted to make contact with anyone worried him a bit but he also realised that if law and order had broken down and he had been them, he would have done the same.
As the night fell, their fire was noticeable. The door opened and a head cautiously poked its way around the corner. Noting the armoured and uniformed officers in full winter gear, a man followed the head and let out an audible sigh of relief and said, “I had thought when I saw the last reports from the AP that everything was gone.”
Daniel stood up and extended his hand. “Daniel Wither,” he introduced. “We’re out looking for supplies, survivors, anything of use that we can take back to City Hall. Of course, that’d be without stealing it from others.”
“I thought I saw signs of survivors that way but I didn’t know so I didn’t risk going over there. I saw and heard just as much fighting going on,” he answered as he took Daniel’s hand and shook it. “Denis Plouffe. I’m a reporter here, sometimes assistant editor when they let me.”
“What have you seen?” asked Daniel.
Denis shook his head. “You don’t want to know…” He noted Daniel’s expression and then sighed. “Or you’ve already seen it.”
“Probably the latter, unfortunately,” he answered dryly. “So, when we move on, are you coming with us?”
“Straight to the point, aren’t you?” Denis responded with a bark of laughter, and then he turned serious. “I don’t know if I want to follow you but I’ll head towards City Hall. I won’t be shot on sight, will I?”
“You shouldn’t be,” answered one of the others. “You definitely don’t look like the gang members that have been tearing up the place.”
“Fantastic,” he said in a tone mixed with relief and dry humour. “I think.”
* * * * *
Derek and Tyrell rode out to the bottom of the hill on the road leading up to the gate. Someone slid a heavy set of planks into the gate in order to seal it. It was not the most solid solution, but it was certainly better than nothing. Guns and bows were handed out, but it looked as if they were in short supply of weapons to fight off the raiding marauders outside the gate.
“We’re not ready for this,” said Derek, his voice low.
Tyrell blew out a breath. “What choice do we have?”
Those without guns armed themselves with whatever they could find, whether sharpened sticks fashioned into rough spears or, even, shovels to bash a person with.
There was no one on top of the gate, and when Derek rode up, the watchman said, “They have guns and they certainly aren’t afraid to use them.”
Tyrell grabbed Derek’s arm and said, “Listen!”
Just over the howl of wind was a sound of a motor running in the distance… the sound of very heavy duty engine noise. Derek looked over to the person on watch. “What is that?”
“A truck… SUV—I have no idea where they found it,” he admitted, looking worried.
Derek looked worriedly at the gate and then at the ground. “That gate isn’t going to hold if they ram it,” said Derek quietly.
“I know,” answered Tyrell, and he and Derek climbed up and just out of their view on the gate. “Hopefully Rick made it tough enough to hold out as long as we need it to.”
Derek was not all that sure what exactly the large Ford SUV was. Unlike his goddaughters’ family, he was not that much of a gear head to be able to positively identify it. It was possibly the same chassis and engine used in the larger ambulances. It certainly held the right passenger compartment reminiscent of an ambulance only it was far heavier duty and higher off the ground. The driver, who was then echoed by the others with him, let loose a long line of rude suggestions and expletives that would have left some people with blistering ears.
That is, anyone other than Tyrell, who simply rolled his eyes and turned to Derek, “I’ve seen some interesting things on the Internet but that last even suggestion I think it a bit… awkward.”
Derek took aim and with one arrow. He shot it and the front driver's side tire blew out. The sound of it blowing out exploded across the valley. With the full size SUV immobilized, it greatly evened their odds.
“Sir, I believe the proper term would be ‘You first’!” shouted back Derek. “One last chance!”
There was silence and then a wave of raiders came out. They grabbed ladders and slammed them against the snow walls.
“Archers! Fire!”
A hail of arrows rained their death on the hapless raiders, and another tire blew itself out.
For a long moment, everything was quiet till twenty more raiders ran out of the woods and to the wall.
“Fire at will!” shouted Derek. "Knock down those ladders. Shoot anyone that comes over that wall!”
The general of the raiders came out, and he wore a mix of chain and heavy modern combat armour that did not fit well but covered him completely. He held a riot shield in one hand and a combat shotgun in the other.
“Son of a bitch…” breathed Derek as he took aim and fired.
His arrow bounced off and only scratched the paint. He swore colourfully and pointed out, “Ty, we have a problem…”
Tyrell looked over, swore and drew his sword. Derek had only seen the blade once and that was on display. Even though it shook in Tyrell’s hands it still looked far more menacing and maybe even longer and wider than it had above the fireplace mantle. The hilt was clearly meant for two hands but Tyrell could wield it either one-handed or two-handed.
If he knew how to use it all.
The leader climbed one of the ladders, using his shield to prevent being shot off the ladder and his weight made it difficult to push the ladder back. He pulled himself over the wall and stood on the ledge behind. With a roar, he rushed at Tyrell, coming at him down the stairs to the ground. Tyrell swung his sword with both hands but the leader’s shield was in the way.
The raider swung and took Tyrell in the side hard enough for the older man to turn ashen at the strike and be thrown from the wall.
He landed in a heap and the crash of metal hitting the frozen ground rang out loudly across the valley.
Zachary took a shot, aiming at the part he hoped wasn’t protected. Unfortunately, the shell from his shotgun did not penetrate the first layer. Derek also kept up the pressure by firing off arrow after rapidly fired arrow until the leader of the raiders looked like some sort of psychotic porcupine.
Now the battle was fully engaged as more and more raiders poured over the wall, although only twenty five percent survived. The rest were shot down by the archers by the trees.
A downward swing towards Derek’s head was avoided by rolling backward. The raider then used his shield as a pummelling device to force him back.
“Get that gate open!” shouted the raider leader. “Rush them!”
&n
bsp; They had to end this before they were over run.
Derek found himself suddenly out of arrows, but he then spotted something. With a whistle, his horse came for him. He speed-mounted as she galloped towards him. A short ride later, he had a spear in his hand. The horse turned on a dime at his order and he brought the improvised lance down like a knight at a joust.
Zachary, at the very last second, jumped back and out of the way.
The raider was not as lucky as the spear—propelled by the force of the charger—went through his body armour and chain like it was nothing.
Derek could not stop the horse immediately. Thankfully he didn’t have to as he caught another spear thrown to him by one of their own men so he could catch it as he rode by and turned again.
At the sight of their leader being so brutally cut down in such a medieval manner, the other raiders turned tail and ran. Most were cut down by arrows but others slunk back into the wooded areas to lick their wounds.
Derek slowed his horse down to a trot, then a walk and finally to a stop as he pulled up beside Zachary.
“You there!” ordered Derek “Form up a hunting party! We’ll have to clear the bastards out before we can say it’s safe beyond the wall.”
He dismounted and ran over to Tyrell, kneeling on the ground as he did.
Tyrell looked up at him with thinly veiled amusement. “Thought… you couldn’t ride… a horse.”
“I learnt quick,” quipped back Derek. “Don’t try to talk.”
“Ribs are broken,” gasped Tyrell. “And I’m never going to walk again, can’t feel one of my arms. I didn’t think I’d be the fifth…”
Tyrell groaned, and then the tension left him. “Jesus,” breathed Zachary. “No.”
Derek leaned back and shook his head as he looked up at the grey sky.
“He’s gone.”
* * * * *
“All right, I’m here,” said Martin as Kaine allowed him through the door and into the office. “Now, what did you have in mind?”
Kaine motioned to the desk and the chairs. “I am certain that the other faculty will not do a thing until it’s far too late. Now, I have taken precautions in case, but I will need your help—and your expertise—in making sure the others don’t catch wind of what I have before it’s time.”
“Typical of your ilk,” Martin muttered softly but not softly enough to escape Kaine’s hearing. Louder he asked, “And why would you want to do that? Why not let them in on it now?”
“Because they are still all operating under the assumption that is simply business as normal, but you and I both know this isn’t true. I tip my hand now and the preparations I have made for such an eventuality as this will be twittered away,” answered Kaine.
“Do you ever speak normally?” asked Martin, rubbing his face.
“I am,” retorted Kaine.
“Maybe for your typical set, but not for mine. I prefer more direct speaking… such as what do you want me to do and where?”
Kaine sighed. “Just down the road from here, and close to the Laurentian Conservation Area, is a lab… specifically one of my labs. I had certain… supplies… shunted there when I had the chance. Typos that weren’t—that kind of thing, you understand?” asked Kaine.
“If it were before, I’d not like where this was heading. But since we’re dealing with a new reality now, I have to wonder if you knew this was coming,” said Martin. As Kaine nodded, Martin leaned back in his chair. “Son of a bitch, you did. How?”
“Mostly the obvious slow decline or knowing, from history, that eventually all things come to an end to be replaced by something else. It’s been an endless line of old empires that crumbled under their own detritus to be replaced by new… and the cycle will never end. But, a certain cadre I was involved with decided to make plans…” Kaine sat down in his chair. “We decided that if the world was to end, then at least we would prepare for it—beyond what the individual survivalists and ‘steaders do—in order to drag our own empire, back up out of its own ashes. Recover from a worldwide disaster that much quicker. But, we miscalculated just how quickly it would all happen. Certain other preparations could not be made. I have been cut off from the others and am now on my own. That being said I now recognize the need for a leadership prepared to drag itself up ‘by the bootstraps’, as it were.”
Martin stood up. “Is that everything?”
“Yes, just go to my lab and organize a way to keep the others out of it until I say otherwise. No one else—just me, are we clear?”
“Crystal,” answered Martin, and then they both turned when a soft knock sounded. “You expecting someone else?”
“No, I wasn’t,” answered Kaine, puzzled. “You have work to do, and I may as well see what the hell this person wants…”
Kaine pulled his door open and regarded the young woman outside. He had seen her before somewhere, but could not place her.
“We’ll talk more later,” said Martin as he left, nodding to the young woman as he went.
“Yes, thank you,” answered Kaine, and then he asked the young woman, “Can I help you?”
“My name is Niala,” she answered. “Are you Professor Kaine?”
“I am,” he answered as he moved out of the way to allow her inside. “Now, again, is there something I can help you with?”
“My father is the University’s president,” she began.
“You’re Neil’s daughter?” asked Kaine, surprised.
She nodded.
“What can I do for you?”
“My father, much as I love him, can be rather stuck in his ways. There’s something not right about all this and he just won’t see reason. I overheard the others saying you got into another fight with him about it,” she answered. “I came to see what you know that he refuses to listen to.”
Kaine paused for a moment as he tried to pick the pieces of his shattered brain back together. “I’m sorry, what?”
“What do you know about all this?”
“I’m afraid not much, but it’s more what I suspect that your father refuses to even entertain,” explained Kaine. “I don’t think anyone knows anything for certain.”
“Then what is it that you suspect? And if it ends up being true, what do you think we should do?”
Kaine hobbled over to the couch in his office and sat down heavily. “Forgive me, you’ve just taken me out in left field here. I didn’t expect you to show up here and want my input,” he answered finally, tilting his head. I could use this… I’m not sure how yet, but she could be very useful to me. He then turned his attention back to her. “All right, have a seat over there and I’ll explain my theory—mind you, it’s just a theory.”
She dragged a chair over to face him and sat in it before responding, “A theory at this point is better than nothing.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Derek stomped into the main room where everyone gathered. Instead of climbing up the second floor, he chose to stand within the crowd. “This was our first real test on whether we could defend our own,” Derek started, his voice carrying from the middle of the crowd. “Despite the odds being against us we passed. They failed.”
A cheer went up in the crowd but it quickly quieted when they realized that he was not smiling.
“The problem is just that. There are only two options in life now.” He took a moment. “Pass or fail. And something failed on our side.”
“The wall,” said Zachary.
“The wall,” agreed Derek, holding up a hand to get those who would protest at how very hard they had worked on the wall to let him finish. “I’m not saying you didn’t give your best with what you had on hand. You did. We all did. The problem is that it’s obvious we need that damn wall more than we thought and we need a bigger one, a stronger one. Unfortunately, that’s going to have to wait until spring.”
“So, what are you saying?” asked Zachary.
“Out there we fought with what we had on hand. And if someone else comes to take what we�
�ve got, we’re not going to have enough on hand to fight them off. That truck up there drove up to the gate which means there is a big, obvious set of tracks leading straight to our front door,” said Derek. “And that means even more attention directed at us and it’s obviously not always friendly. We need weapons and a way to fight them off, and we need to train so that we don’t accidentally kill ourselves or who we’re trying to protect by accident.” He paused and let that sink in. “We need a way to protect ourselves.”
He looked around and saw everyone looking around with uncertain glances.
“Is that truly necessary?” asked Emilie.
Zachary turned to her and answered, “Yes.”
“Who’s going to lead this militia... and train them?” asked Sheridan.
“I can,” answered Zachary. “And I will, but I need to know if anyone else has any combat experience or skills.”
A few held up their hands, and Derek saw Emilie raise hers as well.
“Well, it’s a start,” he admitted. “So we have a new team—and a new ministry—to add to our growing government.”
“We do indeed,” agreed Marissa. “Do you think now is a good time to go over that?”
Derek thought for a minute about what Marissa meant before he remembered. Grinning, he said, “Absolutely.”
Marissa nodded, and then waited. Derek chortled quietly from where he stood and looked quickly over at Sheridan, wondering if she knew what was about to happen.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she started. “We are alive and we all damn well know who we have to thank for that.”
There were murmurs of agreement through the crowd.
Once Derek was sure that they had enough time to think this over, he continued. “It’s readily apparent that things are not—ever—going back to the way they used to be. It’s time we accepted this and moved on with our lives,” he stated plainly. “And it’s because of this woman up here that we can even think of doing that. Like you, when this all started, I immediately knew that I had days to live… at most… but when I agreed to live under her rules and on her land I suddenly had a future again. A different one, sure, but it was better than wondering if it was starvation or freezing to death that was going to get me.
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