Red Rises (Book 2): Dead To Rights (HZA, Vol. 4)

by Brockschmidt, Marty

  By the time Lizzie and Chloe had the stalls cleaned, Margo had finished brushing out Bo and the greyish white mare, the kids had named Ghost. Lizzie went to brush out her colt, Blaze and Margo showed Chloe how to brush out the paint mare, they had named Sassy.

  Chloe had always attended to her tasks without complaint, but her movements were wooden and detached. As she began to brush out Sassy, her movements became more fluid and she would let her hands linger, as if she enjoyed touching the horse. When Margo was satisfied with her job, she let Chloe feed Sassy some of the vegetable scraps from their garden. Sassy, an affectionate horse by nature, used her head and neck to give Chloe a horse hug, bringing a smile of delight to Chloe.

  Abigail shocked by Chloe's smile, expressed. “My God, I thought I would never see that child smile.”

  Seeing Chloe beginning to connect with the other girls and show some emotion, Red would have expected Abigail to run to her daughter in tears and hold her close. Red started to question Abigail, but was interrupted by Margo. “Papa Bear, Bo needs some exercise, can we go for a ride.”

  “I guess it wouldn't hurt to patrol the grounds, I'll saddle up Ghost. Red, you good here for a bit?”

  “No problem, it will give Abigail and I time for some girl talk.”

  As usual, Margo rode Bo bareback, Jax anxious to burn off some steam, ran back and forth in excited circles. Turk, hurriedly, saddled up Ghost. “We'd better hurry, Little Ghost, Margo's gettin antsy.”

  As the two rode off, Abigail remarked. “He really adores that young lady, doesn't he?”.

  “More than he'll admit. If she was in trouble, he'd walk through fire to save her.”

  “Do you think it will come to that?”

  “You see that group camped out there, they are not here to hold hands and sing kumbaya.”

  “But you all have a plan, you can take care of them, can't you?”

  “They have us outnumbered three to one and we have no idea, what kind of fire power they have. All I know is, the people here are more than family to me, this place is more than a home. Anybody...” Red paused and leveled her gaze at Abigail. “...and I mean anybody, screws with that, there will be hell to pay.”

  Abigail nodded, taking a deep breath. “Red, can I tell you something?”

  Red looked at Abigail for a moment, trying to decide on her response. “I wish you would, you are a confusion to us.”

  “I don't mean to be, but I'm more than a little afraid of what you'll think of me.”

  “Let's start at the beginning and go from there.”

  Calling for the remaining two girls to join them, the two women headed back to the commons building. On the walk over, Abigail gathered her thoughts. When they reached the building, the girls were directed inside with instructions to help Pete, with dinner. The two women took a seat outside and Abigail began.

  “Okay, I need you to understand some things, so I am going to start a ways back. When I met Henry he was playing bass, in a bar band. I guess it was the bad boy attraction at first, but I began to miss him every time the band went on the road and we were together the whole time, he was in town.”

  A sad smile came across Abigail's face, as she recalled the next part. “Then... then I got pregnant with Zoe and when I told Henry, he didn't hesitate for a second asking me to marry him. I was so mean, he shared an apartment with the rest of the band, drove around in a van, what kind of life could he offer a baby? I stormed out and went back home, to my dad.”

  Abigail stopped a moment, to wipe some tears from her face. “I had just started working as a hygienist and the next day, Henry showed up to pick me up from work. Instead of his van, he was driving a small sensible car. 'We're going to talk to your dad.' was all he said. I hadn't ever seen Henry like this, he had pulled out all his piercings, cut his hair, and was even wearing a sports coat.”

  Red tried to interrupt to speed Abigail's story along, but Abigail was insistent. “I know, but I really want you to know me. I'm getting there, I promise.”

  Red settled back and resolved herself to hearing Abigail out. “Henry barely spoke, on the short ride. When we got to my home, Henry helped me from the car then strode up to the house and rang the bell. When my father answered, Henry extended his hand, 'Sir, my name is Henry Cross, I'm in love with your daughter and would like a moment of your time.'”

  “My father laughed, knowing how upset I was when I came home the night before and shook Henry's hand. 'Well this certainly sounds important. Come on in and lets get acquainted'.”

  “Henry nervously came in and took a seat, across from my father. My father stared at Henry for a bit, just to make him sweat, 'Well son, what is it you have on your mind?”

  “Henry cleared his throat, pulled an envelope from his coat pocket and began pulling pieces of paper from the envelope, 'This is my bank statement, its not a fortune, but its a nest egg. This is a purchase agreement, I traded in my van for this Fusion. It's used, but its a solid car and economical. This is a letter of employment, I'll be working security at The Scene. Finally, this is the lease on a house, its small, but in a good neighborhood not far from here or Gail's work. Sir all of this is to show you I have thought about this and I am serious about wanting to provide for Gail and your Grandchild. I'd be honored Sir if you gave me permission to marry your daughter'.”

  “Henry and my Dad talked for hours, long after I had gone to bed. Henry and I were married two months later and for the next three years I could not ask for a better husband. After Zoe was born he never missed a moment with her. When the outbreak came Henry always kept us together. We tried to join other groups and it may have been safer, but it always came at a cost. I wish Herny and I would of came to you when we first saw you, maybe then the price wouldn't have been my husband and daughter.”

  Red looked at Abigail trying to decide where this story was going. Was it meant to gain her sympathy? Abigail by her own admission was definitely not what she had presented herself to be. “It's a very touching story, but your not helping your case any.”

  Abigail became indignant, “Help my case, help.. my.. case? You think that I'm concerned about myself? My husband was killed just like I told you. Those men raped and abused me, just like I told you. Then they did deliver me to the True Believers and my daughter was taken from me. She was my reason for living, the only piece of Henry I had left. I was sent here with a promise I would get my Zoe back, but I don't for a minute believe that is going to happen. Refusing them though, was not an option I had.”

  Red was trying to make up her mind, was Abigail now an ally, or part of the threat? “This is a lot to take in Abigail, I'm sorry about the horrible things you've gone through, but I've got to ask, are you here to bring harm to us?”

  “Red, as much as I want my daughter back, I could never trade another child's life for hers. This is what you need to realize, the True Believers put Chloe and I here, because they are afraid of you. They have never encountered a group like yours. Not only am I not here to cause you harm, I know their weakness.”

  “You don't think, you could of started with that?”

  “Would you have believed me, if I had? I needed you to know me first, separate from the True Believers.”

  “The others need to hear this Abigail, I'll vouch for you and give them the condensed version of your story.”

  Abigail breathed a sigh of relief and then hugged Red. “Thank you, you have no idea what a load off it is to have this out in the open.”

  With Red's support, they made a quick consensus to hear Abigail out. Pete and Mitch kept Chloe occupied in the commons building, Sam and Caleb took up watch on the roller coaster, Prescott and Tracey patrolled the grounds on foot, while Turk and Margo continued to patrol on horseback. In the security building Jimmy, Jackson, Arianna, and Lizzie kept one eye on the monitors and one ear on the grownups conversation, in the adjoining room.

  “Hold on, hold on, hold on your all assuming I'm part of their plan, but I'm just a pawn, a nobody. I was ju
st in their compound a few weeks.”

  Jeff wheeled in the whiteboard, “You’re as close to an insider as we've had, start with telling us what they mean by True Believer.”

  “OK that's good. They drilled that into me as soon as I arrived. They teach that the dead rising is a curse from God, as a punishment for lack of faith. Those that truly believe, will be saved and allowed to go their eternal rest. A very few, blessed with the grace and protection of the Mother, will be safe from the appetites of the fallen. They call the dead the fallen, you see.”

  Abigail stopped and gave a wry laugh. “Of course, the only one you see moving among the fallen is Josiah. Rachel, the Mother, is always protected by her own guard. My take on it is, they came up with the religion to control people. Anyone who doesn't follow the belief is punished, even killed. Most of the people are scared silly, but about a third are zealots, you don't want a zealot, thinking your a non-believer. They have nasty ways of getting you in line.”

  Jeff made a line, down the middle of the white board. On the left side, he wrote,'True Believers – Cult, Control, Fear', on the right, he wrote, 'Josiah – Fallen Rachel – Zealots'. “This is good, we're starting to get a picture here. This will take a while, but you'll find you know more about them, than you think.”

  As Jeff worked on the profile, Tom spoke up. “We've seen them travelling with zeds and they were herding zeds at us for a while, any idea how they control them?”

  “Sorry, I can't help you there. They do have zeds, the fallen, everywhere, they are present at their services, they are kept in a cage surrounding their compound, and the group that brought me, staked out zeds around the perimeter of their camps. I do see them using sound, lights, and bright colored cloths to distract and guide them.”

  Tom started to form another question, but Sue jumped in. “Oh for heaven's sake the children, what on earth do they want with the children?”

  Abigail choked up for a bit, thinking of Zoe. “To be honest, they are real secretive about that and that really scares me. When they took Zoe from me, they told me that the Mother, Rachel, would be blessing Zoe with her teachings, so that Zoe would be prepared to inherit this world. The few times I was able to see Zoe after that, she has become more and more lost to me.”

  “Lost, what do you mean lost?” Queried an anxious, Sue Higgins.

  “You see how Chloe is, no emotion, almost like she's empty. Zoe would barely make eye contact with me, if I hugged her she would just stand there limply, letting me hold her. She had always been such a vivacious and loving child, it literally kills me to see her like that.”

  Seeing the horror in Sue's face, Abigail continued. “Today, at the stables, Chloe was actually smiling as she tended to the horses. I am hoping, once I get Zoe away from them, that in time I'll truly be able to get my daughter back.”

  “And your plan to get your daughter back is?” Tim chimed in.

  “For now, my fate is tied to yours, so whatever I can do to help you, is what I am going to do. Silas promised me, he would look after Zoe, that is all I got.”

  Jeff cleared his throat as he wrote, 'Silas - ?', on the board. “Let's stick to the children, is it fair to say the children are being programmed by Rachel?”

  “Uhh, hell yes.”

  “And how many children is Rachel, uhm teaching?”

  “I'm not sure, eighty to a hundred.”

  Jeff seemed to have a purpose to his questions and it allowed Tom a chance to gauge Abigail's responses. Jeff continued. “Okay let's focus on the people that came up here the other day, let's start with Zachary.”

  “I always see him with Josiah and Josiah will often refer to him as Brother Zachary. Anyone they call Brother or Sister, is part of the inner circle, one of the zealots. Zachary does Josiah's bidding, but I have a sense he is being groomed to be Josiah's replacement.”

  “How about the woman Red calls Terminator Barbie, Delilah?”

  Abigail chuckled, then trembled visibly as she recalled Delilah in action. “Don't be fooled by her looks, she is a heartless bitch. When the zealots go off on someone, she is at the center of it. It's not like she gets any thrill from it, she is stone cold, totally unmoved by cries for mercy, screams of pain, or the site of broken bodies. She is Rachel's favored companion, all of the other zealot woman dress plainly, no makeup and hair pulled back tightly. Delilah, well you saw how she looks, but there is not a man in the compound that dares to approach her, or even look in her direction.”

  “Now the man who seems to be at the core of our current problem, is the crazy preacher, Josiah.”

  “Josiah is a huge question, he is the embodiment of the True Believer religion. He leads the weekly services always with the fallen, uh zeds, present. Everyone has to go through an initiation service with Josiah, where he walks with you through a group of zeds. I don't know what trick he has to keep them at bay. Josiah is not approachable outside of those services, I think part of it is, he always has a smell of death about him.”

  Abigail paused, to collect her thoughts and then continued. “Other than my initiation service, the only time I met with Josiah, was when he told me I was coming here. He dropped his facade, but other than telling me I was to use my...my...uhm experience with those men as a cover story to get in, he gave me no instructions as to what I was to do, when I got here. There are, three things I can tell you about Josiah.”

  Abigail paused again, seeing the group in front of her waiting on what she had to say next. “First, he promised me a visit with Zoe, out of the watchful eye of Rachel's women. Somehow, he convinced Rachel to allow that. Second, Silas and I consider him a friend, Silas trusts Josiah.”

  When Abigail again paused, Jeff urged her on. “And the third thing?”

  “Josiah as much as told me that if he were to die and the True Believers witnessed him turn, the hold on those people would crumble.”

  Tim chuckled and then, in a mocking voice asked. “Oh, is that all we have to do, walk over to them, go up to their leader, kill him and then what, ask them to kindly wait for him to turn? Piece of cake. Sounds like this will be over, before its started.”

  Abigail was stung by Tim's comments, mostly because she expected better from him. “I'm sorry I can't give you a way out of this, all wrapped up in a pretty, little bow. Guess what, it ain't Christmas and I'm not Santa Claus. Get a clue, the world is gone to crap, any wannabe's can do whatever shit they want and nobody is left to stop them. People like me, just get chewed up and spat out. You folks can just load up, roll out of here and take your chances on the road. Me, I'm plum out of options, so believe me, lock me up or toss me out to them, just don't ridicule me.”

  Tom looked quizzically at the pair. “Alright you two, this is our home, we are not going to give it up that easy. Abigail, we appreciate the information you're giving us, but we've been through a lot. Trust will take some time.”

  All of a sudden, the building was bathed in a blinding light and then they could hear Preacher Josiah's voice, over a loudspeaker. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff comfort me.”

  Sue and Miri looked at each other and then burst out laughing and Miri waved her hands in the air. “Woooo.”

  Sue barely able to speak, from laughing so hard, asked. “This is their big plan, they are going to preach us to death?”

  Abigail took a much more serious tone. “No, this is just to soften you up. They are relentless, they will not let us talk, think, or sleep. When they wanted to take my daughter from me, after three days with no sleep, Zoe just curled into a ball and cried. The next day, I agreed to let them take her.”

  Sue's amusement turned to anger and incredulity. “You knew they were going to do this, you knew they were going to put our kids through that?”

  Abigail shook her head, sadly. “I didn't know about this, you've got to believe me, I do not know their plans. All I can do is tell you, my experience with them.”

&nbs
p; Tom slammed his fist down. “Enough! We are not going to give into panic. We roll with the punches and we will figure this out, Jeff please continue.”

  Jeff took a minute to gather his thoughts, before starting in again. “Abigail, how many adults do they have?”

  “Well, everybody is kept pretty busy, not easy to take a count, but the worship services are mandatory. From attendance at those, I'd estimate a hundred fifty, no more than two hundred.”

  Jeff did some quick math in his head. “Let's split the difference and say 175. That is amazing in itself, we've only come across one other group that was significantly much larger, than ours. Lets see, that would mean there are about sixty zealots, hardcore True Believers, and about a hundred trading in their kids and following along for a warm bed and full stomach.”

  Abigail shook her head. “That's not really fair.” Abigail stood up, turned around and lifted her blouse to reveal a series of long, nasty scars. “You see, before they went to work on Zoe. Delilah and some of the sisters tried a more direct approach on me.”