Infected

by Rolfe, Michael I

  Lee did not hesitate “Yes that is true!”

  David then call Salim as a witness: -

  “Did you leave me alone with the injured Lee?

  Salim answered “Yes.”

  David said, “I would like to point out to the court that I could have also escaped, but I chose to stay and keep pressure on Lees wound!” Then to Salim he asked, “Did you take my rifle with you?”

  Salim Answered, “Yes I did.”

  David asked, “Had my weapon been fired!”

  Salim responded “No, it was cold to the touch, the magazine was full, and the rifle had no carbon build up as a result of being fired, it was still clean, so the weapon had not been fired during the attack.”

  David Peterson then called Amanda as a defence witness: -

  He asked, “In your opinion, would it have been likely that Lee have bled out if I had not stayed?”

  Amanda thought about it and then said “Yes, he may have.”

  David Peterson then went on to explain how he had ended up with John Smiths gang, he told the court how he had been on his own after the outbreak of the infection and joined a group of four other survivors. He explained how that group had not been “model citizens” and how they had stolen from other survivors but had not killed anyone, he told them that being with that group was far from ideal, but he had no other option, to survive he had to stay with them. The same was true once this group amalgamated with John Smith’s crew, only things got worse, and a lot worse! “John Smith is an animal, and his men were little better.” he told the court.

  David finished his defence by saying “I was trapped within this group, if I had shown any weakness, or opposition to Smith, I would have been killed. I was trapped in hellish existence with no way out. I would like to finish by saying that I am very sorry of my involvement in the attack on your camp, and I would like to request “asylum,” I would like to join your group.”

  Pamela was impressed by how David Peterson had conducted his defence, and she thought that perhaps Defendant D would like another opportunity to put forward his case. She asked him if he would like another chance, but her enquiry was just met with another tirade of abuse, which prompted Salim to finally gag the man.

  Pamela said “Okay, we with leave you all to deliberate, then we will have a secret ballot. The question you must answer it a simply guilty or not guilty for each of the two defendants. Kevin and I will guard the prisoners while you deliberate.”

  From where they were guarding the prisoners, they could hear the murmur of conversation as the rest of the group debated the fate of the captives. Defendant D glared at his captors, but due to his restraints and the gag he could do little else. David Peterson looked nervous, he was wondering if he had done enough, would this group execute him, or would they let him live? If they decided not to kill him would they let him stay or would they banish him? If they made him leave and go out on his own, he was not sure if he could survive. Although he was restrained, he was not gagged so he tried to engage both Pamela and Kevin in conversation, but Pamela said, “We would rather not converse until we know the outcome of the vote.” To David this made sense “Why would they want to talk to a man who they may well have to kill in a very short time?” he thought to himself, and this brought home to him the enormity of his situation.

  The jury had been debating for hours and it was well past first light when Kevin said, “So much for not wanting to take a risk by holding onto these two over night!” but Pamela did not answer, she was worried about Dan. He and Janet had set off in pursuit of John Smith immediately after the battle, but they still had not returned and with each minute that passed Pamela’s concern grew. She was distracted from her anxiety when Salim approached, “We are ready to vote.” he said quietly…

  Dan was driving as fast as he dared, he had a strong desire to catch John Smith, but he knew that to have an accident in the 4x4 could spell disaster. Normally he restricted his road speed to twenty-five miles per hour but now at time he was doing three times that speed and still they did not have Smith in sight, and they had been driving for miles, “I think we have lost him.” said Janet in a matter of fact way, and Dan had to reluctantly agree, “I think you are correct, we have lost him. However, I don’t think he saw you, so he does not know that we know where his camp is, so there is a chance that he will return there. But I don’t think he will stay longer than it is necessary to grab some supplies before running again, because if he knows we have taken prisoners, then he would also know that we would question them as to where their camp was.” Janet said, “Then let’s get to his camp fast!”

  The Infected were everywhere, sometimes in one and twos which did not cause any problems, Dan simply drove around them, but sometimes there were larger groups which could not be driven passed or driven through, these caused more of a problem because Dan had to detour or hide and wait for the herd to go past, this delayed their arrival at Smith’s camp. They drove straight through the open gate and in to the camp, but Smiths pick up was not in sight, they had missed him, he had grabbed some supplies from the camp and left in a hurry, not even bothering to close the gate as he left, why should he when he had no intention of returning.

  Dan said “Smith could be anywhere by now, we will just have to accept that he has got away, but I have a feeling that one day we will find him. Let’s get those gates closed and see if we can salvage anything.” Some Infected had made their way into the camp but there were not too many and they were soon neutralised, then Dan and Janet carefully looked around the camp and collected anything that could be of use.

  If Dan had been empathic, he would have picked up that Janet was subdued as she walked into the building where she had been held and raped by Smith. She was reliving the ordeal now as she stood in the room, and she was remembering her friends that had also suffered and died at Smiths hands. Janet knew that she could fall to pieces there and then or she could steel herself, the choice was hers. She stood up straight and blinked back the tears that were starting to form in the corner of her eyes, “I will not let this affect me, I will not be a victim again!” she thought. Then another thought materialised in her brain, she looked around the room, there was no trace of her or the other girls ever having been there, the chains that had held her and the girls were gone, and the place looked tidy. Janet knew that Smith and his men were anything but house proud, and they had “enjoyed” the women, “So why had Smith suddenly, got rid of the girls and any evidence that they were ever there?” thought Janet. She conveyed this thought to Dan, He considered this for a moment that said “I don’t think Smith suddenly grew a conscience! Something or rather someone, must have spooked him, someone with authority and the firepower to back it up.” “So, you are saying that perhaps there is still governmental authority out there like the police?” asked Janet “Possibly, but I would think it would be armed military rather than the police who for the most part would have been unarmed and would have borne the brunt of dealing with the initial outbreak of the infection.” replied Dan. Janet said, “Perhaps we should try to find them?” “Perhaps.” said Dan in a noncommittal way. Then to change the subject he said we should stay here tonight and leave for home at first light.”

  The occupants of the garage had debated all night, and it was two hours after first light before the ballots had been cast, there were two boxes each labelled with the name of the defendant. The ballots, either “Guilty” or “Not guilty” were placed into the boxes by each member of the group, it was now Pamela’s job to counts the ballots and pronounce the verdict. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her throat felt strangely tight as she decided which box to delve into first. She decided to select a box at random without knowing which one she had picked, only once she had selected one did she look at the name, it read “David Peterson”.

  Pamela knew that there would be eight ballots in the box, and for the first time she realised that in the event of a tie she would have to cast the deciding vote and her heart beat a l
ittle harder. She reached into the box and pulled out the first piece of paper, unfolded it and looked at the text, she turned it around, so everyone could see it and said, “That is one vote for Guilty.”

  David Peterson, tried to stop himself but despite his best efforts he was shaking, and his foot was drumming on the floor. Pamela had retrieved the second ballot and as she turned it around to show the assembly she intoned “That’s one vote for Not Guilty.” She reached back in to the box and pulled out the next piece of paper, “Guilty, that’s two votes for guilty and one for Not guilty so far.” She said. David Peterson was panicking, this was all going too fast and there was nothing that he could do about it, he wanted to shout “Stop!” but he knew that it was pointless, he had no choice but to let fate take its course, there was nothing more he could do. He felt like he was trapped aboard a runaway train heading for a precipice and there was no emergency brake. He had a roaring in his head and he was finding it hard to hear or even concentrate on what was being said, the whole situation felt unreal, almost medieval. Somewhere in the in the distance he heard a posh woman’s voice saying, “That is five votes to three in favour of Not Guilty!” but it did not really register in his brain, he sat there tied to his seat, convinced that he would be killed. Pamela said, “Mr. David Peterson, you have been found Not Guilty, but we still have to decide what to do with you, so for the time being you will remain in custody.” David was still too shell shocked to fully comprehend what was going on, so he just nodded dumbly and said nothing. Then the runaway train careered onwards almost without check as the posh lady reached in to the box labelled “Defendant D”.

  Pamela intoned “Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Not guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. That is seven votes to one in favour of guilty.” She hesitated before continuing “Defendant D, you have been found guilty by an overwhelming margin…” but then her voice faded out she could not bring herself to pronounce the sentence. She said “Salim, would you kindly remove the gag from the defendant?” and then she continued “Defendant D, you have been found guilty, do you have anything to say before the sentence is passed?”

  Defendant D was no stranger to the criminal system, he had been to court more times than he could remember, each time the limp wristed lawyers would play their games, pretending to give a shit and try to make a good show of being confrontational with each other when two hours later they would all be having lunch together with the rest of the old-school tie brigade at some overpriced yuppie bistro. When they all got bored, the judge, who tried to look superior but was in fact just as namby-pamby as the rest of them, would speed things up so that that he could get to his car in time to listen to “PM” on Radio Four and avoid the cities rush hour traffic. They would usually find him guilty, which never bothered him. The sentencing guidelines where written by some left-wing liberal arsehole, who had taken the human rights act and the fact that the prisons were over crowded into consideration, and so most of the time he would not get a custodial sentence, and when he did it was just like go to a hotel, free food for a few months, what was not to like?

  Defendant D sneered “So I’m fucking guilty, what you going to do about it?” It was the worst thing he could have said, his tone and attitude infuriated Pamela beyond belief! Here was a man that had murdered her friends and he was taking this kind of attitude and had absolutely no remorse. Pamela continued where she had left off with renewed vigour and little regard to the defendant’s feelings, “You have been found guilty by an overwhelming margin. Your whole attitude is appalling, you have shown no remorse and have been non-cooperative during these proceedings, I have no hesitation in pronouncing the only sentence left open to us and that sentence is death!”

  Defendant D laughed out loud and shouted “You posh bitch! You and your bunch of wimps don’t have the bollocks to kill me, so why don’t you just fuc…” His voice tailed off and he looked down at an arrow that had materialised in his chest, with a confused expression on his face, he looked up in the direction that it had come from and saw Janet standing there, still holding her bow, and in a voice full of incomprehension he said, “You bitch, how the fuck are you still alive?” Janet did not bother to answer, but even if she had he would not have heard her, his head sank to his chest and he died without getting an answer to his last question.

  Dan and Janet had arrived back at the garage just in time to hear Defendant Ds last tirade, Janet instantly recognised his voice. It was the voice of Jake McKendry, rapist, murderer and all round bad guy, and Janet knew him intimately from the room where she had been chained, raped and abused. Janet had an arrow nocked even before she saw him, she stepped through the door, located her target and without hesitating let the arrow fly, and the arrow hit McKendry square in the chest with sufficient force for the point to emerge from his back, and once he had died, Janet looked at the others in the room and with a calm voice said “Problem?”

  Dan walked passed Janet and without even looking at the body that was still tied to the chair he said, “Why is there no one on guard, we walked in here without being challenged?” No one answered his question and if they had a problem with Janet expediting Defendant Ds demise no one said so, they were all too transfixed by the sight of his body that had the bloody pointed head of an arrow protruding from between its shoulder blades.

  Dan had let his genial mask slip as he inquired about the lack of guards, and David Peterson recognised a killer when he saw one, this coupled with the fact that the woman had just killed Jake McKendry without compunction, made him very nervous as he sat there still tied to his chair. Dan quickly brought the camp back under control and dispatched people to man the roadblocks and a lookout to the roof. He then asked Salim and Pamela to bring him up to speed. They told him about Frank’s death, and Lee and Toms wounds, then described the trial and the verdicts. Pamela pointed towards Peter Davidson, told Dan his story and said he was found Not Guilty by a margin of Five to three, she finished off by saying “He says he wants to say with us, but we have not discussed that with the others yet.” Dan did not say anything, John Smith had got away, Frank and Helen were dead, two men were wounded, and he had returned to find his own camp unguarded. He was in no mood for further discussion! He drew his knife and walked towards Peterson. David Peterson looked at Dan’s face and he knew now what the reaper looked like, death was approaching and there was nothing he could do about it.

  Dan stood next to Peterson, but he looked at Janet and said, “Do you know this guy from your time at Smith’s camp?” Janet answered in a matter of fact way “No, if I had he would be dead already.” Dan nodded in understanding, then looked back towards Peterson.

  Dan did not try to intimidate Peterson with the knife he simply held it at his side, looked into his eyes and quietly said “You can stay with us, on a probationary basis, but the first time you let us down, I will kill you. Do you understand?” David did not trust his voice, so he just nodded. “Not good enough. Say the words!” said Dan. David nodded again and said “Yes, I understand.”

  As Dan cut him loose he quietly said, “I will be watching you.” then he walked away without another word. David Peterson knew that he had looked death in the eyes and survived, but now the reaper would be his constant companion. He watched the man that carried death in his eyes and a sword on his side walk away, then he looked towards the Amazon woman who was pulling her arrow out of McKendry’s chest and he wondered if he would have been safer with that violent murdering bastard Smith?

  Dan’s reasoning for letting Peterson stay was twofold but simple, the group had two people injured and had lost two others and they needed to boost their numbers, so this new guy could stay but he would have to pull his weight. The second reason was that the group had voted to let him live and it was better to have the guy close where Dan could keep an eye on him. The adage “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer” sprang to mind. Besides if this Peterson gave Dan any pause he would simply dispose of him quietly and not think twice about it.

&n
bsp; David Peterson had got his wish, he could stay at the garage with this group, but Dan and the woman with the bow scared the shit out of him. In addition, he was acutely aware the three out of the eight voters had found him guilty and probably wanted him dead, David had no way of knowing who they were, and he found this most unsettling. He had told the truth about how he came to be with John Smiths group of criminals, David was just a normal decent guy and he hoped that in time this new group of people would see that and accept him as one of their own, he just had to survive long enough for them to start trusting him.

  Dan called a meeting with Pamela, Salim and Janet, while the rest of the group were on guard or recuperating from their injuries. He said “We have to decide what to do next, John Smith is still out there, and as far as we know he is now on his own. That means we have the advantage of numbers and fire power, but don’t know where he is, he however knows exactly where we and that is his one advantage. If he has any sense he will leave us alone, but I don’t think he is the kind of man to do the sensible or decent thing. I think he is the kind of idiot that will hold a grudge and try to retaliate in some way, he is still a serious threat to us, and so we need to be on our guard. We are out growing the garage, so this coupled with the fact that Smith knows where we are makes this a good time as any to start looking for a larger, securer and more long-term place. I suggest that Janet, Peter, Amanda and I investigate potential sites, and we will take the new guy with us, so I can keep an eye on him. Salim, you take charge here and keep everyone safe until we return.” Salim nodded but Pamela looked disappointed and started to say something but Dan cut her off and said “Pam, I know you want to come with us but you are needed here to look after the wounded, besides, as I have said before, it is dangerous out there and as a doctor your skill set is irreplaceable and the group cannot afford to lose you! And nor can I!”

  There was no point just driving off without a plan or a destination in mind, so every member of the group was consulted and most had ideas of where a good permanent base should be, they spent the next two days discussing the merits of each site. Some sites were quickly disregarded on the grounds of being too far away, not suitable, too vulnerable or did not have a reliable fresh water supply. By the third day four potential sites had made the cut and on to the final list and were arranged in order of preference.