by T. W. Brown
Her choice was made. She would return and join the others. They might need help with Kevin so incapacitated. Also, she had noticed a change in the man since his incident with the cat. He had almost seemed upset to discover his immunity.
Climbing down, Catie started the arduous journey back to the others. For better or worse, these people had found a place in her heart…and that really pissed her off.
***
“Figures,” Catie growled under her breath as she, Aleah, and Rose looked down on the well secured compound.
She had to give grudging respect for their fortification. The campus and its surrounding grounds were nestled in behind a barrier of literally thousands of large vehicles that had been pieced together like a Tetris puzzle on the highway roads that literally encircled the place.
From their vantage on the roof of some sort of ramshackle industrial complex that was a hodge podge of offices and warehouses, they could see the north end of the compound with its open fields and what looked like it might have once been a small baseball diamond. Everything was being converted to farmland by the inhabitants.
“What a weird place to set up house,” Catie said.
“One place is as good as the next,” Rose mumbled, scanning the walkways near one of the buildings where there looked to be a lot of activity.
“Not really,” Catie disagreed. “I am sure Kevin probably noticed, but these people are far too short-sighted. They have no real water supply. They look to be relying on rain. I give ‘em five years tops.”
Rose considered the statement. Five years seemed like a long time to her. However, she was more focused on all the activity increasing around one particular building.
“I think we have something.” She handed Catie the binoculars and pointed.
Catie took a peek. It looked like everybody was filing in to one main building that sat as a huge box set apart from the rest of the facility. However, her trained eyes saw a few things that Rose might have missed. Standing at the doors were armed guards. Also, more pairs of armed guards were around the perimeter of the building. Scanning out, she spotted an observation tower. The occupants were faced in, not out like they should be. Whatever was going on, it was obvious that whoever was in charge had some concerns about the general population. It was possible that it had something to do with Kevin and Heather, but she was only guessing. She passed the binoculars to Aleah who seemed absolutely lost at the moment. The woman had not said a word during the trek back to this place.
“So what’s the plan?” Rose asked bluntly.
“I don’t know if we have one big enough for all of that,” Catie admitted. “We may have no choice but to leave them.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am very serious.” Catie rolled onto her side and looked the girl in the eyes. “I have never seen so many people in one place since shortly after all of this began. There must be a few thousand. It would be like trying to take on an entire town. This is the real world, kid. And the facts are that sometimes you have to cut people loose.”
Rose had not so much as blinked while Catie spoke. She heard everything that the woman was saying, but she was also picking up on something else.
“But you aren’t ready to just give up on them.” Rose rolled onto her back and looked up at the gray sky. “If that was the case, you would have just said so. You say we may have no other choice…but you are not set on giving up yet.”
“Whatever you choose,” Aleah finally spoke up, “I won’t go. If I have to find those Guardians and bring them here myself…I won’t just leave Kevin and Heather.”
“That may not be such a bad idea on the surface,” Catie said. “Only, from what I saw, those folks are just as bat-shit crazy as these folks.” She got up and brushed herself off and motioned for the others to follow. “Nope, I think I have a plan. It is a little risky, but what isn’t these days?”
The trio headed back to the ladder they had used to climb up onto the roof. A lone zombie was standing at the bottom and examining it like he really wanted to figure out how to use the thing. Catie looked around and found a chunk of concrete that had broken away from the lip of the building and hurled it about twenty feet behind the zombie. Just as she predicted, the creature turned and began to stumble in the direction of the new sound.
The three made their way down and Catie rushed over to drop the lone walker just as it managed to turn once again to the newest sound. Heading across the mostly empty parking lot that fronted the complex they had used to scout from, they closed in on the vehicle barricade filling the roadway and encircling the compound. Catie got down on her hands and knees when she reached the first vehicle.
“Smarter than I thought,” she muttered.
“What?” Aleah came out of her reverie and looked down at the other woman with a curious expression.
“Gas tanks,” Catie grunted as she got to her feet. After checking a few more nearby vehicles, she confirmed her suspicion. “Yep…they took them off. Probably used as much as the fuel as they could.”
“So?” Rose cocked her head in confusion. “Kevin said that cars were pretty much useless anymore. Did you know that gas spoiled and went bad? I sure didn’t.”
“Yeah, well these people did. But even more, there is no way to use it against them. I was sort of hoping to start a big fire.”
“With bad gas?” Aleah asked skeptically.
“That was just Plan A…and I wasn’t really putting too much stock in it.”
“Then why bother?” Rose asked with a sarcastic lilt to her voice.
“Sort of like kicking in a door only to discover that it was unlocked.” Catie chuckled at the memory of just such a situation she’d had several months ago. “So…I guess it is Plan B.”
“Since you haven’t told us anything about what you have in mind, maybe you can take a moment.” Aleah was clearly annoyed and Rose could feel the tension between these two building once again. She’d hoped they had gotten past the petty crap. It didn’t look like that was the case as Catie’s expression darkened.
“Listen, Aleah, you have been in a freaking trance since I hooked up with you guys. I figured it would just be a waste of time to tell you anything. However, if you are done daydreaming, then I would be happy to share my plans with you.”
Rose was about to get involved when Aleah surprised her.
“You’re right, Catie. I’m sorry…it’s just that, with losing the baby, and then losing Kevin and Heather like this, I got wrapped up in myself. I know those are the ways of the Old World. I also know that is a luxury that we don’t have anymore. My head is in the game…promise.”
Catie considered the other woman’s words. She reached out a hand, but Aleah brushed it aside and hugged her. When the embrace was over, it was Catie who spoke first.
“And I am really sorry about the baby. I admit that it would have complicated things, but I don’t have to be such a heartless bitch. I am sure that it was very rough on you…physically as well as emotionally.”
“Okay…first you two want to kill each other, now you are practically kissing. Can we just get to the part where Catie tells us her plan?” Rose interrupted, standing with hands on hips and giving the two an incredulous glare.
Catie sighed and knelt down, motioning the other two to join her. She explained her plan; each time one or the other of the two tried to interrupt or protest, she cut them off with a raised hand. When she was done, despite the risk involved, they all agreed that it was probably the best shot they had.
They slipped back to the complex of buildings where they had been spying on the compound. After three fallback locations had been identified, it was nearing sunset.
Catie looked at Rose and Aleah. The two did a quick rock-paper-scissors and Aleah won—or lost as she saw it. She accepted Catie’s belt knife and sheath.
“Are you absolutely sure this is the right way to go?”
Catie gave a curt nod. “From what you guys have said, this will buy me time. T
hey will bring me in and give me the full work up.”
“But they kept me sedated. You don’t think they will do the same to you?” Aleah looked at the knife in her hand like it was a coiled snake.
“Of course they will, but that will also give them a false sense of security. They will do what they do, and on the off chance that I test positive for the immunity, they will offer me the chance to stay. If not, then I will be given the same deal as you and allowed to leave.”
Aleah flashed a look to Rose as if asking the other girl to take the knife, but all she received was a shake of the head, hands raised, and a dramatic step back.
“I thought you were some tough gangbanger type,” Aleah said with a sniff.
“Maybe I’m just going soft.” Rose took another step back.
“Just make sure you stick me right here in the meaty part of my shoulder,” Catie warned before stuffing the large rag in her mouth.
Aleah sighed and dropped her head in resignation. After a deep breath to steel herself, she focused on the spot where Catie had shown her. With a downward strike, she drove the blade home. Even with the makeshift gag, Catie’s stifled scream seemed to echo in Aleah’s ears. She yanked the blade out and cast it aside like it was burning her hand to hold it.
“Sonovabitch!” Catie hissed once she took the rag from her mouth.
“That sure don’t look like much,” Rose observed as she moved closer to take a look at Catie’s wound. Blood was seeping out slowly, but it was hard to see where this new blood began and all the stuff from before ended.
“Maybe I should stab you,” Catie snapped.
“No thanks.” Rose stepped back with her hands up. “Jeez…some people…” The rest of her comment died on her lips as Catie shot a hard glare and brushed the hilt of her remaining belt knife with her good hand.
“Now, you guys stay down. If they have patrols, and from what you guys have told me, I would guess that they do, the last thing we need is for you to be discovered.” Catie switched her travel pack to her good shoulder and gave Aleah and Rose one final wave before heading towards the compound.
She only got about ten steps before Aleah ran to catch her and give her one more big hug. “Just be careful,” she whispered before letting go.
Catie gave a non-committal grunt and resumed her trek, making sure that she turned away before the hint of tears that were building in her eyes could be spotted.
She made her way to the automotive barricade and started up and over. It was actually more difficult than she had originally imagined; and with only one good arm, things were even more difficult. At last she was rewarded with the words she had been hoping for.
“Stop where you are and place your hands in the air.”
***
“…bunch of Road Warrior wanna-bes,” Catie said, doing her best to sound as unimpressive as possible. For some reason, she did not want these people to have any idea of her military background.
“And you say they killed the rest of your group?” the woman who had identified herself as Latricia Jones asked.
Catie knew this game. You kept on making a person repeat their story in bits and pieces, and you mixed up the order and jumbled the facts from time to time. If the person did not catch your intentional mistakes, it would raise flags of doubt.
“No…I said I am pretty sure they killed most of them, but they totally took a couple. They tried to take me…pretty sure they were trying to get the women alive.” Catie did her best to not sound exasperated. She wanted to sound flighty, which was why she had made the last second decision to affect what she considered a bit of a ‘Valley Girl’ voice. If she came across as just a little vapid, then she would not be seen as much of a threat.
“And you just bailed on them?”
Catie had known the moment that she laid eyes on this guy that he was Jordan Cranston; the baseball cap just helped seal it. She knew the type—big and bulky with a solid gut that made you initially think he was fat. The thing was, there was no jiggle to that solid mass in the middle.
“We have always had the rule…when we come under attack from outsiders, the women are supposed to fall back right away. You have no idea what sorts of freaks are out there,” Catie said flatly. “But I don’t imagine you folks know much about that. This place looks like it has been here a while. Y’all probably don’t get out much.”
“We were out when we found you,” Jordan huffed.
“Yeah, but get a few miles away from the safety of that car barricade you got goin’ on…then you’d see.” Catie struggled not to sound like she was challenging the man. She had already decided that this guy topped her list of people to kill if and when it came to that.
“That should do it,” Latricia said, shooting a glare in Jordan’s direction. “Stitched up nicely. Maybe you should accompany us in to the compound. We actually have a few real doctors inside that could make sure there is no further damage.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble…besides,” Catie made a show of looking off in a direction that was not towards where Aleah and Rose were hiding out, “I should try to go see if I can find any of my friends…see if they made it.”
“Tell ya what,” Latricia took Catie’s hands in hers and gave them a gentle pat, “we have patrols out doing a check on the area…that tornado came pretty close and there are some other groups nearby that we like to keep tabs on. I will have them keep a look out for your people. Just give us some names. If our patrols come across any stragglers or new faces, we can bring them in as well.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble.” Catie hated how she had to pretend to be timid and afraid. She knew just by looking that she could take pretty much anybody in this little ten person patrol in a straight up fight; even the puffed up Jordan Cranston.
“It’s no trouble.” Latricia gave Catie a hand up, making sure to help her from the side that she had not just stitched.
“Well…I guess it couldn’t hurt to get checked out.”
“We can even throw in a hot meal.”
“Seriously?” At least Catie didn’t have to feign delight in that part of the offer. She could not recall the last time her meal had not come out of a foil pouch.
“In fact,” Latricia was in full blown salesman mode now, “I think today was bread day. We bake bread once a week. There is nothing like tearing off a chunk from a loaf fresh out of the brick ovens.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
Catie fell in to the midst of the group and followed them back to the compound. She noticed immediately the positions that the rest of the patrol took. They were not trying to look like she was under guard, but she noted the hands near the holsters and wondered just how this might have played out if she had shown even more reluctance to accompany them.
Of course Aleah and Rose had both stated that, in their initial meeting, these people had not shown any sort of hostility or tried to coerce them into coming along. Had something changed in the dynamic of the compound? Did it have anything to do with that assembling of what looked like the entire population she and Rose had observed?
As they arrived at the compound and entered through a gate, she noticed that the tower watches had their attention split both inside and out. If she didn’t know any better, she would think that the residents were as much prisoner as anything else.
The grounds were mostly deserted with the exception of what were obviously armed sentries. She was losing hope that any chance of even locating Kevin was going to be minimal. The possibility of getting him out of here was fast becoming an impossibility.
They veered towards a collection of buildings that, if her memory served her correctly, were in three rows running basically north-south. They entered one, and Catie had to give her eyes a second to adjust to the dimness. She recalled Aleah saying that these people had electricity in some capacity. If that was the case, why was this hall so dark?
She tensed a little, considering the possibility that this might be a trap of some sort. However, once t
hey rounded the first corner, she relaxed just a little. The corridor had doors all down the length. Each room they passed showed beds—some occupied. People were moving around inside, apparently going about their business.
“You guys suffer a big attack?” Catie asked innocently as they continued along. However, she was noticing the trend and feared what her mind was trying to get her to see.
“Nothing too terrible,” Jordan said with a coldness that sounded almost reptilian to Catie who was now hyper-alert. There was something very wrong going on.
At last they came to a room that only she, Latricia, and Jordan entered. Jordan said something to the rest of the group and only he and Latricia had remained once he was done.
“I will sit with you while we wait for the doctor,” Latricia said with a syrupy sweetness that did not sound at all right coming from her mouth and came nowhere close to reaching her eyes.
Jordan slumped down in a chair by the door and tried to act like he was simply taking a nap with his hat pulled down low. It was only a handful of seconds before Latricia was trying to casually get Catie to recount elements of her story once again.
If you people have this big of a trust issue going on…there has to be a reason, Catie thought as she did her best to not sound annoyed while she answered and re-answered the same questions as before that were only slightly re-worded.
At last, the door opened and a man came in. He looked like any doctor Catie had ever seen, all the way down to the scrubs and the stethoscope around his neck.
“I understand we have a new patient,” the man said with a smile that was even less convincing than Latricia’s.
“Just a little bit of a knife wound,” Catie said with a meek smile that she hoped did not look as fake as the smiles she was getting from these people.
“Catie was with a group that got attacked by raiders,” Latricia said to the doctor.
