by Brown, TW
“Papi!” Denita scolded. “You did it too soon!”
Juan bit back a comment that would only be fitting if he were to use it directed at an adult. Besides, he had bigger problems; the first wolf came within range and Juan brought his machete down on the top of its flat head.
At that exact moment, both his girls let out blood-curdling shrieks.
***
Vix acted on instinct and rolled to her left just in time to avoid the huge mining pick that came down and plunged into the ground where her head had been only a moment before. Having never changed her values when it came to being out in the wasteland that was now all that remained of her beloved England, Vix was wearing her boots as well as her weapon in her bed roll.
With one smooth move, she drew the machete as she scooted and rolled one more time to come out of her bedroll that she always left unzipped for just such emergencies. She was on her belly and had to shift to the side in order to swing her weapon. She did not get much behind it, but it was enough for the heavy blade to bite into a foolishly unprotected shin.
Her efforts were rewarded with a yelp of pain. In another few heartbeats, she was up in a crouched position. Part of her was now thankful for the fire; however, she was not sure that hadn’t been what brought these raiders in the first place. Able to see shadowy shapes, she spied two figures hunched down over somebody who was struggling and still well tangled in their bedroll. The muffled cry gave it away as Chaaya.
Vix saw a dark form coming at her from the left and ducked just in time. The body slammed into her, but she had managed to set her feet and absorb the collision. She was further rewarded by the person folding over her back. Standing, Vix sent the person flipping over and onto the ground with a loud “oof” as the air was forced from his or her lungs.
Not waiting for the person to recover, Vix stepped over and brought her weapon down hard. She knew from experience how jarring a shot to the skull could be for a person’s hands, but she still winced at the stinging sensation. Her next move brought her to the man on the ground holding his shin and wailing. She silenced him with another swing, this one cutting into the much softer tissue of the throat.
Rushing over to Chaaya’s attackers, Vix caught the first one off guard and drove the belt knife she’d drawn along the way into the small of the back were the kidneys should be located. She’d opted for the smaller, easier to wield weapon now that she was not simply trying to hack her way free. The person crumbled, unable to even yelp as the pain was so completely devastating.
She saw Chaaya holding the wrist of her attacker, a large knife inches from her face. Wasting no time to allow the person to register the loss of his accomplice, Vix plunged her dagger into the side of the man’s neck and then gave an added kick to send the body sprawling.
She was just leaning down to give Chaaya a hand up when a strangled whimper came from the darkness. Vix ended up giving the Indian woman an unceremonious yank to her feet before dashing to the sounds of pain coming from just beyond the light of the fire.
It was Marjorie.
The woman was on her side, the shadows making her little more than a dark blob. Even once Vix was kneeling at her side, she could barely make out any details. Between the sudden transition from the campfire to the darkness, and the lack of any moon or even starlight to see by, she was basically blind.
“My side,” the woman gasped. Vix leaned over and ran her hand along the woman until she reached the warm wetness of blood. Her hand stopped when it came to the hilt of the weapon that was jammed between Marjorie’s ribs.
“Just be still,” Vix shifted into her nursing mode and spoke in soft comforting tones to the woman. She eased Marjorie’s head into her lap and stroked her brow as Chaaya arrived.
“They did in poor Gordon,” she whispered. “Nasty business that. Looks like he was hit in the chest by a pick-axe.”
Vix shuddered. Luck of the draw was the only thing that had prevented her fate from being identical.
“How’s Marjorie?”
“She’s gonna be fine,” Vix whispered, knowing it to be a blatant lie. The woman was fading fast. She simply saw no point in letting Marjorie’s last seconds be ones of dread.
It was no more than another five or ten minutes before she felt the woman give a slight tremor, a wheeze, and then one final exhale. Vix eased from under Marjorie’s head and climbed to her feet.
“I thought…” Chaaya’s voice faded as Vix stepped past her and went straight to the campfire.
“We are leaving this place right now.”
Vix began kicking dirt onto the fire. Part of her considered leaving it in case another band of miscreants decided to come look for their friends, but she decided against it. That fire would give them a specific location to start from if there was a search.
After gathering up a few of the more choice weapons used by their attackers, Vix started off. Chaaya did not say a word, but simply fell in beside her as they pushed into some tall overgrowth that was probably once a farmer’s field.
“Are we going back?” Chaaya asked.
“Nope,” Vix grunted as she pulled herself up and over a stone wall that was just a shade taller than waist high. “Wherever these blokes came from, it is close by. I want to get someplace where I can look around for any signs of them.”
“Okay, first, how do you know that they came from someplace close? And second, what do you plan to do once you find them? There are only two of us.”
“They weren’t even carrying water. They had to come from someplace nearby. And I will figure out that next bit once I see what we are dealing with.”
That seemed to satisfy Chaaya. At last, Vix found what she’d been searching for. She knew that there had been a power line tower in the area. If she could climb it, she might be able to find where her attackers had come from. And as for her plan…as always, she did not actually have one. They always got blown to hell anyway.
***
“You have to be checked out by the doc, and you will need to fill out a survey about what skills you possess. Also, until you have completed your three month trial, you have to stay in the temp shack. Good news on that is that we haven’t had a resident in temp for over five months, so it will be all yours for now,” Daryl Sheppard said as he walked along the wide path, pointing out a large building with a huge grassy area in front.
“You still get many folks coming in?” Chad asked.
He was interested in the answer, but at the moment, he was more interested in a single-file line of a dozen children being walked along the banks of the lake by a lanky man with a guitar on his back. He hadn’t seen that many children of the living variety in one place since Dustin’s compound. Even then, he didn’t recall anything like this. None of them could be older than six or seven. That meant every single one had been born post-apocalypse.
“Not so much these days. Last influx came just over a year ago. Some folks from the Lake Tahoe area. Some warlord wanna-be invaded them and basically took all the women, executed the men. A dozen or so managed to escape,” Daryl replied. “Hard to believe that people are the biggest threat these days.”
Chad nodded, an uncomfortable laugh escaping his lips. “Yeah, we’ve seen enough of that ourselves.”
“Smart idea, by the way,” the man said with a shake of the head. “Can’t ever be too sure anymore.”
Chad chewed on the inside of his cheek a bit as he tried to figure out the best way to bring up his next and largest reason for apprehension. He looked around at what would amount to a paradise as far as Ronni was concerned. The fact that they were this close, but still so far, was plunging daggers of anxiety into his heart.
“I guess I got one more question.” Chad stopped and waited for Daryl to face him. “What is this place’s stance on people who show immunity?”
“That’s the million dollar question, ain’t it?” Daryl laughed. “We had a rough experience with that sort of thing back in the early days. Thing is, we learned how to deal with it.
Even have a simple blood test that tells if you will show immunity.”
Chad’s expression must have changed drastically because the man held up his hands. His smile was still there, and it looked genuine all the way to his eyes. Still, Chad could not help it.
“No, we don’t shoot people up with tainted blood or anything like that. We are lucky to have honest to goodness doctors here. They worked like crazy for the first few years. We lost some folks bringing in things that they would require to run tests. Even had a bit of a rift over what was more of a priority, the solar grid or the little devices that the doctors needed. Came to blows at a few of the council meetings.”
“Wait.” Chad held up his hands to stop the man. “Solar grid? I didn’t see any solar grid.”
“We keep it on the far side of the community. Way back in the day, we rationalized that we would probably get more people coming north from California than we would coming south from Oregon and Washington. We figured that would be the first place that bad guys would want to hit.”
“Wow, you guys thought of everything.”
“Trust me, this is the result of years of trial and error…mostly error.” Again Daryl let loose with a good-natured laugh. “Anyways, we have a blood test that is part of your “welcome to Green Springs” package.”
“I guess I will go get the ladies,” Chad finally said after another long look around.
“We can send an escort if you like,” Daryl offered.
“No thanks,” Chad replied with a shake of his head.
He was escorted to what was apparently only one of six entry gates to the community. He shook hands with Daryl as well as the guards who all seemed more than happy to allow him inside when he first arrived. That had actually been his first question. Daryl had pointed to a dozen men and women up on the catwalks that ran the entire length of the walls that kept this place safe. Each of them held a crossbow cradled in their arms.
“We have different protocols based on the number of refugees that show up at our gate. Plus, it is quite likely that you passed at least a dozen of our perimeter sentries. If even one of them had considered you a threat, they would have signaled back to the gates and a welcoming party would have been here instead of just me. Hell, if you would have been a woman, then Sheila or Annette would have been the person to greet you. We even have a few of the younger folks trained in the off chance that a kid arrives at our gates.”
As Chad walked back to Caroline and Ronni, he could not help but be impressed. Every step saw his nervous excitement grow. By the time he reached the highway and could see the area where the ladies were supposed to be camped, he was a bundle of nerves.
It was all too simple. Too convenient. How was it that they had gone this long and found nothing even remotely resembling Green Springs? As he crossed the highway, a new feeling replaced his excitement.
Fear.
Surely Caroline and Ronni would have seen him cross the interstate. Yet, he was almost all the way up the hill and not only did he not see any sign of them, but Caroline would have made her presence known and come to greet him and ask what he’d found.
Suddenly, the feeling that he should have never left them behind hit him with the force of a fist to the gut. How could he have been so careless?
***
“What!” Jody actually staggered backwards a step. He was not sure if he was relieved, or even more suspicious.
“I overheard a couple of them talking about it last night in the tavern. Didn’t recognize either of them. I guess I thought that it was just a lot of big talk from a couple of guys who had too much to drink.” Jody’s expression had obviously changed to reflect his thoughts. Danny threw up his hands. “I swear, pal, I never once gave it a moment of credence.”
“So why the sudden change?” Jody spat, his distrust showing clearly as he took a step back, his hand absently drifting over one of his belt knives. “Seems awful strange that you are here all suited up out of the blue if you didn’t take these bastards seriously.”
“Because I told him to meet me here,” a voice called from behind.
Jody spun in a flash of movement that had his knife drawn and in hand before he completed the hundred and eighty degree spin. His hand shot out quick and he had this newest arrival by the throat. With one swift sweep of his foot, he knocked the new arrival’s legs out from under him and was straddling the man’s chest before the person could do anything to defend himself.
“Jody, no!” Danny barked.
“Stay the fuck back!” Jody growled. The he turned his attention back to the man on the ground with a razor sharp blade to the throat, just a hint of blood already trickling from where the skin had been nicked. “As for you…”
“Jody, I am here to help,” Tracy Sasser said in a hoarse whisper. His eyes were wide with fear and a single bead of sweat was already beginning to trickle down the man’s temple.
“Is that right?” Jody said, his lips curling up in an ugly snarl. He allowed just a slight hint of an increase in pressure as his hand flexed on the grip of the bone handled hunting knife.
“Yes,” Tracy managed, although it was a strangled sound as his ability to swallow was now becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second.
“He was working in the bar last night,” Danny called. “He heard everything after I left. He came to my house this morning and told me that those guys had not been kidding. He said they snatched little Alana from the back yard this morning.”
“And just how would you know that?” Jody pressed just a bit harder. It was now a simple matter of sliding his hand to the right and the man’s throat would be slashed, his jugular sending a geyser of blood across the sidewalk.
“Because I live behind you and over to the left one house,” Tracy squeaked. “I heard Selina’s cry.”
Jody stared into the man’s eyes once more. He saw fear, uncertainty…and honesty? If the eyes were supposedly the window to the soul, these were wide open.
“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” Jody eased the blade away revealing a long thin line of blood that was seeping from the three or four inch cut.
“Because I am afraid this is bigger than anything I can handle. And I needed somebody who could convince you that I wasn’t part of the plan. You don’t know me from Adam. Danny has been staying across the street from me since his rehab. I knew you guys were buddies once.” Tracy climbed slowly to his feet, brushing himself off as he did.
Jody gave the man a once over and realized that he was obviously not a soldier. And if he was, then he was a supply type and not a front line sort. Nobody ever looked more out of place with his weapons than Tracy Sasser.
That made Jody recall how they met. The two of them had helped lower Danny when he’d been in that cage after the women had hobbled him. Tracy had gotten sick at the sight of Danny’s injuries. He had demonstrated obvious distaste for what George and Margarita had inflicted upon Jan Sieber, the woman they were supposedly going to question about the tower deaths.
“I’m coming as well.”
Speaking of Jan, Jody thought as he looked to see the woman come up from behind Danny. He was only a little concerned that she had her own crossbow loaded and pointed in his general direction.
“Okay…and how did you know?” Jody sighed, sliding his knife into its place on his belt.
“Tracy and I have been roomies for a while,” Jan said with a shrug.
“Now let’s get rolling,” Danny spoke, clapping his hands together once for emphasis.
“Yeah…” Jody let that word drag out a bit. His eyes drifted down to Danny’s feet and then snapped back up as soon as he realized what he was doing.
“Oh no you don’t, Rafe,” Danny protested, turning and starting up the road. His limp would have been comical any other time but this.
“Sorry, Danny,” Jody apologized as he trotted to get ahead of his friend. “I would love to have you at my side for this, but you know as well as I do that you are a liability.”
; “Kiss my ass.”
“He’s right,” Tracy added. Jan nodded her agreement as she patted the man on the shoulder and walked past him. Jody quickly realized that they obviously knew exactly where they were headed.
“You could do me a solid and go sit with Selina. Partially so she has somebody to talk to, partially because I need somebody to watch her and the baby. I could not think of anybody better.” Jody squeezed his friend’s arm and then jogged after Tracy and Jan.
“As I understand it, you know where they took my girl?” Jody asked as soon as he caught up.
“Yep,” Jan answered. “They took her to Pitts’ place.”
***
Entry Nineteen—
It has rained for three days straight. I am wet and cold and miserable. If I feel like this, then either that woman has already killed the child, she is long gone, or I simply went the wrong direction when I tossed my coin.
I admit, it is not the most scientific method to use on a search for a missing person, but I am not nearly skilled enough to sniff a footprint or see a crease on a leaf. Finding a person who does not want to be found is damn near impossible these days. This is a big chunk of land, and you can be a hundred yards from another person and not have even the slightest clue.
As I sit under this rocky overhang where about forty percent of my body can stay out of the soaking downpour, I realized that I am probably not as smart as I like to believe. Take the guy who recognized me back at the settlement. I figured it might be because I am a pretty big dude. Not for a moment did it cross my mind that the huge tomahawk I wear on my hip might actually give me away.
While handheld weapons are simply a part of everybody’s outfit these days, not many people sport a yard long ‘hawk with an ornately hand carved handle. That is probably the sort of thing that stands out in a person’s mind.
I think I will double back in the morning. There is a trade route not far. I might be able to hear something from a passing merchant or settler.
