by Brown, TW
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was one of those people. I also was not ready to share how Winters had met his end. While I was almost a hundred percent certain that this guy was being straight up with me, I had learned to always conserve at least a kernel of mistrust when dealing with strangers. Hell, Jake had taught me that I should keep it once I believed that I knew somebody.
“The only reason that Winters knew about the place was because he had a guy who had apparently hooked up with Jon and had information about just where he was supposedly heading. One of his men that got separated on some mission or another had run into Jon while he was out leading a team on a foraging mission. I’d heard the name a few times and knew him from our compound. Part of me believes that it was Winters who engineered the attack on our original compound where I got separated from my dad. Having seen how they work to establish communication and then take a place down, it would not be too far-fetched. That same guy had been in my truck.”
I felt the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand up. This was way too much. I was almost afraid to ask, but my mouth apparently felt no such restraint.
“Was the guy named Jake Beebe?”
Gable looked at me with wide eyes and his mouth hung open. I was about to start an entirely new line of questioning when he blurted.
“Jake Beebe was my dad!”
Now it was my turn to stare wide-eyed and slack-jawed. How in the hell was that possible? I tried to reconcile all of the bits and pieces that I knew to make the answer add up.
Jake had arrived back at our place with Jon Saunders and Jesus Sanchez a little before winter. They had talked about escaping from someplace, but there had never been much detail given.
“But your name is Matczak,” I stammered.
“Yeah, my folks split when I was young,” Gable explained. “My mom remarried and her husband adopted me. I hadn’t seen or heard from my dad in a long time. In fact, the first time I ever heard from him was when this stuff all started. Jake called in the middle of the night. He told me where he was and that I needed to get my mom and haul ass to him as fast as I could.”
“What about your…” I paused, not sure where to go with this. “What about your dad. I mean…you know…the guy whose last name you have?”
“Oh,” Gable waved a dismissive hand, “he and my mom split up when I was like twelve or so. I hadn’t seen that dick in almost a decade.”
I decided to just leave alone the fact that obviously Jake was aware that his mom and her second husband had split based on the fact that he gave what sounded to me like a pretty specific invite. Still, I was not seeing something here, and it nagged at me. I brushed it aside, hoping that it would reveal itself sooner or later. For now, I had the hard question still to ask.
“So, where is your mom?”
Gable’s face fell just a bit more. I didn’t need the answer. I probably should have left the obvious alone. I absolutely was not ready for his response.
“Last I knew…she was back at the camp where our militia is staying.”
“Wait…what?” By his expression, I had assumed her to be dead; after all, it isn’t much of a stretch these days.
“A dozen or so were left behind. We came here thinking that we would secure this settlement after taking down the people running the place. We really did not anticipate this level of resistance,” Gable explained.
“How could you not? Seriously…you roll in and start shooting up the place! You were blowing up people’s homes and taking the folks in the medical center as hostages. On what world does that not merit a response?”
“We were told that the people in charge here were evil. We were told that they were keeping the citizens hostages and that they were executing any who did not do as they were told by some secret council.”
That was all news to me. So far, the only trouble I’d actually run across, with the exception of our first couple of meetings, was when Jessie and Joshua had tried to kill me. Sure, I’d had some words with Graham, but I had not picked up on any sort of evil vibe coming from him.
However…my mind began to sift through a few things about our first encounters. There was that whole incident with sending me what were supposedly Carol’s fingers. Then there was the fact that we’d each been drugged before being allowed in. They had shot us up with something, and the next thing we knew, we woke up in our new “house”. Maybe there was something dark going on.
I shook those thoughts away and returned my attention back to Gable. He was looking at me with some sort of expectance. I weighed my choices and decided that, if it were me, I would want to know.
“Jake Beebe is dead.” The words hung in the air for a second before they connected with a solid punch to Gable’s gut. I saw his face crack, but he quickly pulled it back in and under control.
“How do you know?” Gable’s voice was barely above a whisper, but it pounded in my ears.
“Because I put the blade of this knife,” I pulled the weapon free and placed it on the desk, “in his head when he got up. I made sure that he stayed down for good.”
Okay, I was leaving out a lot of the story. But I was not ready to tell this guy that his dad had turned into a bit of a freak towards the end. He had led a suicide charge on this place for no reason that I could discern.
Jake had been a big mystery. He had pretended to be just some country boy with not much going on upstairs. That proved to be a lie. In fact, Jake was possibly the most cunning person that I’d ever known. That was one of the reasons that his final decision left me so confused. He had to know that he was going to fail. He had to know that he was leading any who followed to their death. He had certainly seemed too smart for such a thing.
A notion struck me and I leaned back in my chair to try and get a clear idea of what the hell was going on; steepling my fingers and tapping them against my lips for a moment. It was all in front of me, but it was like a million-piece puzzle of a solid black image. I could put the edges together, but after that, I was lost.
“How did you know that your dad was in this area?” I asked.
“I was told by one of the guys who worked in the comms tent that there was rumor he had been seen in La Grande. Only, shortly after he told me, we got the word that Winters had been attacked. This small group arrived at our camp and met with Colonel Brevin. When they left, the colonel called a meeting. That was when we got the rundown on La Grande, how there were a few smaller factions, but that one group in particular was making a play to seize control. We were told that they had launched a full scale assault on Winters and knocked him out.”
Somebody was pushing a lie, I thought. I knew how Winters had been knocked out. I was now pretty sure that Jessie was part of the group that had found these guys and spun whatever story had led to this attack. I knew that Jessie had tried to kill me. Unfortunately, the list of things that I did not know or have any answers for was far greater. My head was starting to hurt.
The door to the office opened and BP entered. “Graham and some of his people just arrived.”
I looked at Gable. If I turned him over to Graham, I might never see him again. I did not know who to trust, but I needed to make a decision right now.
“BP, I need you to do me a favor.”
***
“We are doing a house-to-house sweep, but if any of those raiders survived, I don’t think they stuck around.” Graham was standing in the center of the massive parking lot in front of the Walmart. A sea of people were sitting on the asphalt in a huge circle with Graham in the center.
The word had been sent out for everybody in the community to attend this little gathering. It was the first time that I had seen so many living people standing in one place. A few wore the signs of last night’s battle, and I noticed that everybody was carrying a weapon. That had been one of the first things I’d noticed about this settlement—the lack of personal weapons on the residents.
“There were a few prisoners taken, but so far we have learned nothi
ng,” Graham was continuing. “As far as the rumors that some of our people may have been involved or acted to assist these people…” I felt Graham’s eyes boring into me. I refused to look away. “Unfortunately that seems to be the case.” A murmur rose from the crowd.
Graham had wanted to keep that little tidbit of information away from the people. I had made it clear that if he insisted on keeping secrets, my group, including Dr. Zahn, would be leaving. He swore that it would do no good to stir up paranoia, but I made it clear that if he wanted to convince me that there was not some dark circle or secret council pulling the strings here, he would tell the people the truth.
Yep, I was a big ass hypocrite. BP had whisked Gable out a back way and taken him someplace safe that even I was not yet aware of and hidden him from Graham. I had divulged a good part of what I’d learned, saying that the information had been gleaned from one of the dead bodies inside the Walmart. I’d only had seconds to let my people know what I was doing. I’d sent BP and Gable away and rushed out to my group who were standing around in the parking lot. Graham and the group he was with were all the way on the far side of the lot which gave me enough time to give a very brief explanation of my plan. They would have to wait until we got home before I could give more detail.
“We have evidence to suggest that Jessie Long and Joshua Mazer have been dealing with an outside faction. It is possible that they helped to coordinate this attack. We do not know why, and the pair has not been seen since that failed run where they made an attempt to kill one of the members of their own team.” I glanced around and saw a lot of shocked faces indicating to me that the attempt on my life was not public knowledge. “We will be making some adjustments to the normal operations within the compound as well as any trips outside the fence.”
I spotted a trio of individuals drifting through the crowd. Since they were the only ones actually standing, they sort of stuck out like a sore thumb. I wasn’t the only person to notice. Without warning, a man leapt to his feet and drew a gun.
“Just stay back!” the man warned, waving the pistol wildly. He looked to be in his early fifties and had seriously thinning hair which was only more exaggerated by the fact that he was blond enough to be on the Norwegian Ski Team. People all around him scurried back, trying to get out of the line of fire.
“Just settle down, Mr. Svenson,” one of the individuals who had been approaching him warned.
Mr. Svenson? I thought. Hmm, maybe he was on the ski team.
Her skin was darker than Barry’s had been. She was short, but looked like she would not back down if challenged. She had no weapon drawn, but the other two who were out wide and to the sides of Mr. Svenson each had pistols in hand and aimed at the guy.
“Stop where you are, Tish!” Mr. Svenson warned. He leveled the gun at her.
Tish stopped, putting her hands up. “You gonna shoot me, Mr. Svenson?” she asked.
“That’s the watch captain that took me off the schedule,” Sunshine whispered.
Last night, I recalled Graham having been visibly bothered when he learned that Sunshine had been taken off the watch. Of course, so much had happened that I had not really given it too much thought.
“You are all being led like lambs to the slaughter!” Mr. Svenson yelled. He was not facing the right direction to see the two people moving slowly but steadily up behind him. “The wolves will come, and you will have nobody to protect you when they arrive.”
“We are not the ones who helped stage an invasion where many of our citizens were killed!” Graham shot back. I could tell he was now trying to help keep the man distracted.
“How many people have you sent out and to their deaths, Graham?” Mr. Svenson challenged. “Yet, you stay safe behind the walls. As it has always been, the politicians send others out to die and do their bidding while they stay protected. My son went on one of your missions…and where is he now? Out there somewhere as one of those…those…things!” His voice had cracked and it was obvious that he was beginning to cry.
“Your son died a hero!” Graham said calmly. “As have many others who have sacrificed so that we could secure this place and build a home.”
“While YOU remain safe, taking none of the risk but ensuring a share of the reward!” Mr. Svenson switched his aim from the lady he had identified as Tish and now had Graham in his sights.
He never saw the two men tackle him. There was a scuffle and the muffled sound of a weapon being fired. The reactions of those around the skirmish were hands over mouths and some turning their heads away.
One of the men that jumped Mr. Svenson was signaling for help and it wasn’t until the second man rose from the ground that I knew they were untouched, but Mr. Svenson had been injured. I had not even noticed when Dr. Zahn separated from our group and rushed to the people starting to cluster around the downed body of Mr. Svenson. I was on my feet as were the rest of my people. I saw fear in Melissa’s eyes as she clutched her baby to herself and tried to hunch over it like a protective shield. To my surprise, or maybe not, Thalia was interested in what was going on around us, but she did not seem the least bit frightened.
People were starting to get agitated and a few were even yelling and pointing angry fingers at Graham. One man suddenly jumped up and rushed at the men who were now standing over the downed body and allowing Dr. Zahn to do whatever it was she was doing with them acting as a buffer.
“Everybody please settle down!” Graham was urging. If he didn’t gain control in a hurry, he would have a riot on his hands.
Shouts were coming from every direction. People were pushing, shoving, and screaming each other down. I began to herd my group towards Dr. Zahn. Initially I had wanted to exit the scene, but there was no chance I would leave the doc behind to fend for herself. Not that she couldn’t, but I did not want us separated if this place went ballistic.
“Everybody please remain calm!” Graham repeated. I saw a few people starting to wade into the mob and pull people apart. They did not seem to be taking sides; it looked as if they were merely trying to stop harsh words from turning into hard blows.
By the time we reached the knot of people around the downed body of Mr. Svenson and the doc, it was actually beginning to mellow out. Somebody reached out to stop me, and I smacked the hand away. It was the woman, Tish.
“Stay back, we have a doctor doing all she can,” Tish warned. She did not seem the least bit fazed by my having slapped her hand down.
“Yeah,” I said, meeting her harsh stare. “That is Dr. Zahn, and she is with me.”
“Then you can stay, but you will remain back and out of the way so she can do all that she can for Mr. Svenson.” I was just a little surprised to hear the degree of concern in her voice.
“Fine.” I made it seem like it was no big deal.
We all stood by as Dr. Zahn did all that she could for the man. It turned out to be a wasted effort. Eventually, Dr. Zahn moved back and pronounced Mr. Svenson dead. It was Tish who stepped forward; I had not seen her draw the large metal spike, but she plunged it into the head of the corpse to ensure that he would be staying dead.
“Okay, people, there is nothing to see here,” Tish announced as she and the other two men that had been part of the attempt to detain Mr. Svenson began to try and usher the gathered ring of gawkers back and away.
I turned to see Graham and a handful of others, including that gal Laura who I’d met the first time I woke up in this place, along with Carol Wills, in some sort of conference. It did not look like everybody was seeing eye-to-eye if the scowls and red faces were any indication.
As the crowd simmered down and returned all of their attention on Graham, he shooed the others away and made a nervous gesture of wiping his hands on his pants like he wanted to clean them off. Taking a deep breath, he looked out at all of us.
“Ladies and gentlemen…” He paused until somebody yelled for him to just get on with it. “Yes, well it seems that there is growing support among many of you to send a large group
of our own people out to try and secure this town once and for all.
“We have had this come up before, but each time, calmer heads have prevailed. So, to do this the only way possible and ensure the desires of the majority are being served, I will ask for a show of hands.” He glanced over his shoulder and I saw Carol give him a rolling gesture with one hand, indicating for him to get on with it. “All in favor of assembling a force and moving out into the city and eventually the surrounding area, please show your support by raising your hand.”
Since we were the new kids in town, neither I nor any member of my group raised a hand. However, it was not necessary for him to count or call for those opposed. All around me, hands shot into the air, many adding a shout to their vote.
It looks like we are going to war, I thought.
***
“I, for one, am glad that it was a voluntary choice,” Dr. Zahn said from the couch.
Our group had filtered out of the huge parking lot with everybody else once the meeting had ended, but I had asked one question in all of the chaos that followed the landslide vote for the residents of this compound to mobilize an offensive.
“Why are we wasting resources on raising an army to go out and kill people instead of securing the stuff from that wind farm place like seemed to be the plan when I first arrived?”
“I would think you of all people should understand that, Billy,” Carol had said as she stepped forward and all but elbowed Graham out of the way. “It does us no good to put infrastructure in place for somebody else to come along and take from us. If we do not secure our borders, then we will be swatting at flies for the foreseeable future.”
