by Beus, Kris
Ted shook his head in agreement with Earl’s statement then looked at the nerdy gentleman and said, “Timothy?”
At the mention of his name the man looked at Ted’s face. “We need to develop a renewable power source, food source, and figure out a way to create a water treatment plant.”
After he finished the statement Earl began arguing as they had before we walked in, “How will any of that help us if the monsters jump over the wall.”
Timothy retaliated, “The wall will do nothing if we sit in her dying from starvation and thirst.”
“Guys, Guys, quit with the fighting. You both make great points and we will work on both equally. Security is pointless if we die in here and what good will food and water do if we are all walking around as zombies. Neither of these points should be dismissed and both have the same authority. On our next scavenge mission we will take you two along to pick out what you need. I know you two are brothers, but the constant bickering will get you nowhere.” Ted smiled at this last statement.
The two shook their heads in a positive fashion accepting Ted’s words as a suitable resolution. The two then stepped out of the hall giving Ted the chance to properly introduce us to the rules and customs of this new founded town. Slowly he turned looking at me, with a bit of nervousness. Yes we met and introduced ourselves, but what did he really know about us. After staring at me from head to toe he stepped forward around me toward the two women standing behind me.
“Well I have met Jake here, but have not met you two young ladies.” Sticking his hand out as he spoke.
With Jaime seeming overly cautious he first centered his attention to Amanda. Slowly she stuck her hand out stating her name “Amanda… Amanda Ankston.”
“Nice to meet you Amanda, I won’t even try to pronounce your last name.” He said this with a brash of flirtation and certain confidence.
He then turned his head slowly as if not to startle the terrified woman standing next to Amanda. Slowly he looked at her face and said, “What about you?”
Looking at me first as if to find some sort of idea what to say. I motioned my head towards Ted as if to say its ok he won’t kill us.
With assurance she slowly stuck her hand out, saying quietly and shyly, “Jaime”.
As he shook her hand he stared at her with a surprise. He couldn’t understand why someone would be so nervous to meet him. He asked, “Did I do something to frighten you?”
Once again she turned to me and in her expression it was easy to see she was asking for help. I turned to Ted saying, “She had a bad run in with a couple men who captured her and held her prisoner. She is a bit cautious of meeting new people, I am sure you can understand.”
He looked at me then looked back at her stating “Oh yes, the only thing I hate worse than those undead surrounding our town is the raiders who think without law they will not have to face punishment for their actions. Trust me Julie everyone here will treat you with the utmost respect or be thrown out of the city and left to fend for themselves.”
After speaking with Julie he turned towards me. I could see Julie’s face relax and the terror fade. She realized she would be safe here from the people who would do her harm. With that I relaxed a little bit as well. I knew we would be safe here since none of us was out to hurt others. In a few instances we have risked our own lives in order to save our companions. Perhaps Ted could see this and was why he believed in us and trusted us.
As he looked me in the eyes he asked bluntly, “What can you offer us here?”
Taking a moment to ponder the question in an attempt not to be thrown out on my first day I said, “I can fight, scavenge, and have some technical skills dealing with computers. I also learn quickly and am willing to take on any job you have.” With the confidence I showed, Ted’s face shook in agreement.
He said, “That is good we need those willing to fight and work. I believe both of the Dunham brothers will find use for you.”
This took me somewhat off guard. I asked, “Who are the Dunham brother’s?”
He said, “The two men you saw in here earlier. Earl is in charge of security both in and out of the city and Timothy is in charge of all town matters including housing, food, water, and anything else that pops up. I found the brother’s very capable and work well with anyone besides themselves.”
I shook my head in approval. He then turned to Amanda and asked her the same question. Much quicker than I she responded, “I can clean and cook, but would prefer to build. I do not have much experience, but I am strong and could help with the wall and houses.”
“Can you shoot?”
“Yes I can shoot, but prefer not to kill if I do not have to.” In her eyes I could see her go back to all the death that she experienced. “I know this may not help, but before the plague I was very good with finance and if this town has or is going to get any form of currency I could develop the banking system.”
Before answering Ted shook his head saying, “Well we don’t have anything like that right now, but down the road once we have taken care of safety and life sustaining matters a currency system may be helpful. You sound like you can be of use to the town.”
Before he was able to ask Jaime anything she blurted out, “I want to fight.” This statement shocked us all. We all turned and began staring at her with jaws open. She laughed a bit asking, “What?”
I said, “I don’t think you have to fight, they must have other jobs available.” I looked at Ted who shook his head letting me know I was right.
With the dismissal of her wants a bit of fury boiled inside her turning her cheeks bright red. This time she spoke with passion saying, “When I was captured by those men I had no protection and was unable to fight. They dragged me back to their camp and took turns on me. All I could think about was how weak I felt as they were on top of me. They at least allowed me to live, what will those undead do if I get caught in the same position. They will take turns, but turns ripping me apart. I want to learn how to fight, kill, and truly be protected. Let me fight… Please.”
The seriousness in her face as she finally spoke about what happened to her back in that pine grove shook me deep inside. The fury burned as I spoke up and said, “I want to protect these people as well. We have plenty of guns and boxes of ammo to contribute to your stores.”
He smiled as we finished our proclamations saying, “Two fighters? Yes I think Earl will be happy with that. Timothy is also always looking for anyone who is willing to help with town maintenance.”
Chapter 11
As we walked out of the hall, the sun hit our eyes seeming especially bright. We followed him down what looked to be a main road, though it was difficult to tell. The road brought us deeper into the quarry. The walls went straight up then on top of the stone wall which lined the quarry rested the metal walls. If these undead were able to find a way over the metal walls they would have to jump a hundred feet to get down to the people deep within the quarry. As we walked deeper into the quarry I asked Ted, “How long have you guys been building this place?”
“I have been working on this place since news of the virus. I knew it would only be a matter of time before we would need some place safe away from Denver and a place that was easy to contain. What you see I have been building for months, but all these people showed up in the last couple weeks. I have found work progresses much faster with the more good honest hardworking people we have living here.”
With that he remained quiet until we reached the end of the road. He pointed around to the different spots which had nothing built on them saying, “You three can make a house in one of these vacant cleared lots. To conserve space I recommend you guys build one house together. We have public stores of food and water with everyone receiving rations daily. To get extra food or water you must either be sick, or on a strenuous work detail. For the most part you will eat and drink well here. Sorry to say, but one thing we have had no time for is entertainment. There are a few novels roaming around the town and people will
be willing to share if you ask. Timothy has a store of building supplies only a few meters outside the camp. It is where we throw all building materials we scavenge from around the area.”
“Thank you for all your help.” Amanda said.
“Yes thank you.” I repeated.
He then pointed to one of the larger buildings which seemed be the most secure building around. “That is where you will find Earl when he is not out, and where our stockpiles of guns are. We have a pretty good supply of rifles and pistols as well as ammo. There are no military grade weapons. We are planning on raiding a base near Denver hopefully it will still be well supplied. For Timothy he will either be in the town hall hosting meetings, or walking around town working on all the different buildings. The man is very brilliant when it comes to building so if you struggle with your house be sure to give him a shout. Once you get your shelter up see one of them or me for work.”
“Should we give our extra guns to Earl?” I asked.
“Yes, he keeps track of our weapons. Our citizens here are allowed to carry one gun on them at any one time. We do this to keep track of all the weapons around town. We also prefer if you only take one or two guns when you leave the quarry so if you die we don’t lose a large amount of weapons. I know this sounds harsh, but we learned the hard way a man that dies with ten guns on him forces the population to suffer. This also ensures people that need a gun will have one.”
I smiled nodding my head in understanding. He then headed back up the quarry to the front of town. I stood in our new vacant area within the town. The area had been well cleared in anticipation of use. All loose dirt and gravel was scraped away leaving a nice flat stone floor. It would be difficult to build any type of foundation, but as I looked at all the other shanties throughout town it looked as though no one had dug into the rock. I slowly walked to the back of our lot which was only twenty or so feet long. We were in one of the deepest parts of the quarry and even though it placed us close to the town walls the stone wall at the back of our lot sprouted up at least a hundred feet. Anything falling from that distance whether dead or alive would not be getting back up.
I looked at the other two who stood behind me in the empty lot and asked, “What do you think?”
They seemed a bit shocked, but certainly pleased. Smiles from ear to ear crossed both of their faces. After a while of staring Amanda finally said, “I think for once I will be able to sleep.” Jaime added, “I am so excited to start our house.”
“Will you two be ok living with me?” I asked worried especially about Jaime.
She was the first one to speak saying, “I wouldn’t want to live alone, after everything that has happened.”
Amanda then added, “I would like us all to live together.”
For once since the journey began everyone smiled. We all shared success through the pain and anguish of losing so much. We had arrived at the city untouched by sickness and death. The heat of the sun told us we still had a few hours to set something up before our first night here. We began walking back up to the top first stopping by the large metal house which had “Security Office” painted on the door. I knocked softly then walked in. The walls were lined with an array of guns. All types of rifles were mounted to the walls and many pistols were placed on hand made counters.
Both the pistols and rifles were categorized by ammunition used. Under the counters held the correct ammunition for the types of pistols above the same with the rifles. There were other supplies as well which were used to fight the undead hordes. All types of melee weapons including crude swords, hammers, handmade maces, and bats with nails hammered through and wrapped tightly in barbwire. It was a mix of 21st century modern weapons and old medieval melee weapons. They also had an assortment of protective clothing. Only a few sets actually made out of Kevlar the rest were leather. As we looked around at the vast assortment of weaponry I saw Earl walk through the doorway from the back of the building.
“Quite a supply you have here,” I said gesturing to all the equipment.
“May seem like a lot, but for a population of 700 people this is not nearly enough.” He said looking at the weapons.
“We have a few to add,” Jaime said standing behind me.
“Are you guys planning on becoming security?” Earl asked with a hopeful tone.
“Jaime and I would like to join, but Amanda would prefer to work with your brother.”
“Two out of three isn’t bad. Welcome, as part of security you will be expected to always have a gun ready and will be issued patrol schedules. We also have security teams anytime there is a scavenge mission. We will teach you to shoot any weapon you would like to use.”
As the words left Earls mouth I could see Jaime getting excited at the thought of finally learning to defend herself. We handed Earl all our guns and he told us to pick a gun, either from ours or the ones on the wall. I kept my .357 and grabbed a few more bullets from the stockpile they had collected. Jaime wanted a new gun this time grabbing one of the 9 millimeters. As she attempted to fill a clip Earl noticed her fumbling with the bullets making it apparent that she had never touched a gun before. He walked over and asked to show her. She handed the gun and clip to Earl. He set the gun down then holding the clip in front of her he started filling it. She reached taking the clip then performed the action herself filled with a sense of accomplishment. Earl then showed her how to insert the clip into the gun and cocked it letting her know it was ready to fire. He then showed her how to work the safety.
Earl looked at us asking, “Are you going out the gate?”
“Yea we need to collect supplies for our house.”
He then looked at Amanda saying, “You need to take a gun with you.”
She looked at him somewhat shocked and hesitant. “I really don’t want a gun.”
Earl immediately countered with, “Well I can’t in good conscious let any citizen walk out the door without protection. It is fine that you would prefer not shooting, but for me to let you out of the gate you will have to take a gun for safety.”
Amanda first looked around at all the choices then picked up a small .22 pistol laying on the table. She loaded it quickly showing us she had some experience with firearms. Earl looked at her somewhat shocked at her ability then said, “That will work, but for it to have any effect you will need to hit whatever you are shooting directly in the head.”
Amanda shook her head in agreement. We walked out once again into the bright sunlight. The sun was beginning to fall in the sky letting us know we only had a couple hours to get out shelter up. We hurried back up the road still impressed about the progress the town had made towards rebuilding a modern society. As we walked about the small houses I made sure to take note of their building methods. This would be the first time I had ever put together my own house in its entirety.
As we came to the gate all carrying our guns the guards approached asking where we were going. We told them we needed supplies to build a shelter, but we were not sure exactly where to go.
“As you leave turn right, stay close to the wall. Our scrap is in a large pile about a fifty yards out. I will be sending Zack with you. He is one of the new security officers and needs some practice. Understand the dead may not be as intelligent, but they know we are in here and lurk on the outskirts attempting to pick us off. Do not under any circumstances travel away from the group.” The guard stepped back to the gate and began spinning a large wheel which lifted the chain link once again high above the wall.
As we stepped through the gate fear once again surrounded us. Zac stepped out behind us following us as we walked along the wall. The surrounding of the city was full of trees and brush giving anything out there cover. We walked slowly trying to remain as quiet as possible. As I looked back I was surprised to see the one who showed the most terror was Zack. Quietly I whispered back to Zack, “Are you ok?”
As I asked he gained composure giving the appearance of confidence. He looked forward whispering, “I’m fine, this is my
first assignment outside of the quarry, I am just a little anxious.”
Understanding his fear I decided to leave him alone. The walk seemed to take hours even though we reached the scrap pile within a matter of minutes. The amount of materials in the pile was overwhelming. I began grabbing large sheets of metal. I handed them down the line trying to avoid cutting myself. I then grabbed some pallets and began throwing them out of the pile. As they hit the ground the noise cut through the silence echoing throughout the dark forest.
After the loud crash we all quickly became silent trying to hear any dangers that had been alerted to our presence. The forest then answered with sticks breaking and rocks being kicked across the dirt floor. It was apparent that there was something out there and where we were sitting left us perfect targets. We grabbed all the materials we could. I carried four pallets, Amanda had three large pieces of sheet metal, and Jaime ended up grabbing some loose boards and a few long pieces of cord. It was a good start, but we would need to make a couple more trips for enough material to put a decent house together. As we began heading back to the doorway the noises which began deep in the forest were making their way towards us.
The sounds caused us to pick up our pace into a jog. We were unable to move any faster with the burden we had. Zack stood behind us every few steps turning back to see if whatever we stirred was beginning to catch up. We were twenty yards from the gate. A dead woman came running out of the forest between us and the gate. I threw my load on the ground and attempted pulling my .357 out. The beast was too fast and closed the distance within a couple seconds. I gave up trying to grab the gun and grabbed the woman by the shoulders as she slammed me up against the metal wall. As we began struggling all I could hear was Zac screaming then running in the opposite direction.
“What kind of security is that?” I thought.
Without missing a beat Jaime pointed her pistol at the Woman’s head and tried pulling the trigger not realizing the safety was still on. She began screaming, “My gun won’t fire.”
