by Brown, TW
I galloped up from the rear and had to pretend to ignore her when she cast a glance over her shoulder at the sound of my approach. I was hunched over and looking past her so that she might mistake me for just a courier or somebody in a hurry.
The moment I was alongside, I brought my left hand up and gave a huge backhanded swing with the handle end of my tomahawk. She never saw it coming. Blood and teeth flew in a chunky red slurry, and the woman toppled from her seat and hit the ground hard. Unfortunately for her, the cart ran over one leg and crushed it.
Before you get too worked up, I had plenty of time as I approached to see that child was in a bundle in the bed of the cart. I would have never done anything to intentionally endanger the little one.
The woman was unconscious from the pain—and likely my shot to her mouth. I was able to get the horse to stop and then I led the cart off the road. The first thing I did was to secure and gag the woman. Once I was done, I actually took the child home to the mother. People wanted to make a big fuss, but I simply told them it was the right thing to do. When asked about the captor, I just said that she died in the struggle.
After being re-supplied (this time I was willing to accept the fresh baked bread, the block of cheese, the dried meats, and even a bottle of handcrafted blackberry brandy), I was ready to go. I also kept the horse. The man who had been so generous actually wanted to give me a better one, but I told him I was fine with the one he’d originally provided.
I rode back and reached the woman sometime after dark. I settled in for what was to come, but found that I simply did not have the taste for it. Yes, she had committed terrible acts; and yes, she would pay for them with her life. However, I could not bring myself to draw this ordeal out as I had with men in the past. Call me weak, or whatever else you like. (Although I do not suggest you call me compassionate.)
Once I had her awake (the method is unimportant) I explained to her who I was and what I planned. I was not surprised that she made no attempt to beg or plead. Honestly, that usually only happens after a considerable amount of trauma has been inflicted.
I did ask her if any of the children she stole were still alive. I hoped that maybe she would tell me that she had indeed sold them or something along that nature. Sadly, it was not the case. While she would give no details, she did nod in agreement when asked if each of them were dead.
It would have been nice to at least hear what ever sick and twisted reasoning she might offer as an excuse for her actions. That would not be the case.
When I brought her to the stream and pushed her face down in the water, she did not even kick. The only indication I had that she was dead was when she went completely slack.
I gathered my things, climbed on the horse, and rode away. She might still very well be face down in that stream to this day.
17
The Geek’s Wife Plants a Flag
“Jesus Christ!”
All four of the young men jumped back as the severed head landed with an ugly sounding thud on the sidewalk. Marty and Melvin both stepped in beside Catie in the momentary confusion. Catie hid the wince she felt inside. This was the line, and it had officially been crossed.
She took a second to shoot a quick glance over at the head that had come to rest on one side. She looked into the glazed over and dead eyes that actually showed no signs of surprise. Maybe he had not seen it coming.
She could hope.
“You killed Elliot!” the man who had admitted to being the leader of this little band said with a strangled cry. “Why would you do that?”
“You are aware that he injects people with a serum that either kills them and turns them into the undead or else proves that they are immune?” Catie replied. She was proud of how calm her voice sounded. If she was going to pull this off, she knew full well the need for appearances to be just so.
“We are only trying to protect ourselves. In case you are new around these parts, there are actually groups of people out there that hunt the immune. We have been run out of every community except one, and that one treats us like animals!” the young man shot back.
Catie was actually impressed. The other three young men were a mix of confusion and open fear. They had the right one in charge as far as she was concerned.
“Listen…” Catie paused, “I don’t know your name. I don’t want to just call you ‘Kid’ or ‘Hey you’ so maybe we should start over. My name is Catie Dreon. I am immune just like you, and I want to make some changes that require your help.”
“Braden Riley,” the young man said. He cast a nervous look over his shoulder at his three companions. “This is Chuck, Mario, and Luigi.”
“My name is not Luigi!” one of them snapped, stepping forward and extending a hand to Catie. “My name is Louis.”
Catie shook the offered hand and gave a tilt of her head to each of the men at her shoulder. “This is Marty and Melvin. And since you haven’t run off in fear or tried to attack us, can I at least assume that you are interested in what we have in mind?”
“We haven’t run because those two look like they would have no problem shooting us with those crossbows they have on their shoulders.” Louis jutted his chin in the twins’ direction. “As for an attack, I think I would rather them shoot me than rip me apart like a daddy longlegs. Those two look like what I imagine when I read stories about huge ogres.”
“Wow, don’t hold back, kid,” Marty mumbled.
“First, I will tell you that we are in agreement that this community needs to be free to exist, and we also believe that the immune at Montague Village should be free as well. What we disagree with is the method.” Catie glanced back at the twins who nodded in consent. “I don’t think forcing people to be injected is the right way to go about it. I did not agree with biological or chemical warfare before the zombie apocalypse and I sure as hell don’t think it is the way to do things now. We just prove that we are the evil that those who hate us profess.”
“That is all good, but Dean Stockton made it clear a long time ago that he would not let the immune go. They are his best source of free labor. He can use them outside the walls as he sees fit without endangering one of the unknown,” Braden protested.
“That is because you have been going about this all wrong. You have let this man hold the high ground by kidnapping children,” Catie countered.
“We took the ones that we were asked to take by the families inside Montague,” Louis said with an openly defensive tone.
“But that is not how it is being sold to the people of Montague. Also, what you now have is a heavily slanted population that needs to be cared for versus one that can hold its own. And can I ask why it is that nobody else seems to be engaged in these missions that you boys have been running?” Catie elbowed Marty and indicated for him to retrieve the head and return it to the bag. The point had been made and there was now no longer a reason for it to be out in the open for anybody else to see.
“Who would you send?” Braden laughed. “The doc? Any of the medical people? Those folks are way too valuable.”
“What about some of these people that we see standing sentry positions?” Catie asked.
“Standing guard someplace safe is one thing,” Braden replied with a shake of his head. “Going out there where stuff can get real nasty in a hurry is another thing entirely. Elliot liked to keep it to just us and a few others.”
“Less people to worry about possibly defecting?” Melvin asked.
“You old people watched too many movies when you were young,” Braden snorted. “The truth was that this post was one hundred percent voluntary. Nobody was made to leave the community. He said that forcing people to act against their will was Dean’s way, not his.”
“And I am surprised that you all have survived this long.” Catie’s voice came in a harsh tone that made all four of the young men wince.
“Why?” Louis challenged. “Because we are not out trying to conquer our neighbors? We just want to be left in peace.”
&nbs
p; “And how is that going for you?” Catie shot back.
“Fine until you showed up!”
Catie stepped right up to Louis. Her voice was little more than a low growl as she spoke, but all four of the young men could hear her very clearly. “This is not the world where you can just stick your head in the sand and wait things out. There are bad people out there who rape and murder for fun because nobody is out there to stop them. There are people who want to kill you because you are different, and you think parading a few hundred zombies down Main Street every so often is going to be enough. I just left an army behind that was led by a lunatic that makes Dean Stockton seem like an angel. If she would have turned south instead of north at some point, it might have been you and your people that she came across.”
“Sh-sh-she?” Louis sputtered.
“Did you think that only men could become evil, self-serving pieces of crap?” Catie scoffed.
She suddenly stepped in and grabbed Louis by the throat. With a single sweep of her foot, she swept his legs out from under him and was straddling his chest while his mouth opened and closed and he wheezed in a pitiful attempt to bring air back into his lungs.
“I could kill you right here and now before your buddies could take so much as a step closer to try and help you,” Catie said flatly, her nose almost touching Louis’ as she leaned in close.
Hopping to her feet, Catie wiped her hands on the seat of her pants and turned her attention back to Braden. The young man started to take a step back and then stopped, making a point of actually planting his feet. He shot a nervous glance at Marty and Melvin; neither who so much as flinched or batted an eye as they stood with their arms folded across their massive chests.
“But you won’t kill him or any of us,” Braden said, his voice giving away just a slight tremor that belied his fear despite the brave face he was wearing.
“You are exactly right.” Catie gave a slight nod. “I need you boys on my team.”
“And what about everybody else?” one of the other young men asked; Catie thought that it was Mario. “We are not the only people here. This place has a population of seven hundred and thirty-seven. How are…” he made a point of doing an exaggerated head count, “…seven of us going to just take over. I don’t know what you think you knew, but the people here loved Elliot. He let them have a sense of peace and calm. You are talking about turning this place into an army and becoming the type of people that we were trying to stay away from.”
“Elliot was going to inject people! He was going to mount a war of his own. The only difference is that he was going to do his in a sneaky, dirty way that is wrong on every level.” Catie had to fight to keep her voice down. She was already surprised that nobody seemed to notice when she had thrown Louis to the ground.
“Last I checked, killing is killing,” Braden offered.
“This whole time, have I said anything about having to kill anybody?” Catie raised a single eyebrow and let her eyes drift from one of the young men to the next. Eventually, she saw a slow shaking of heads.
“That is because we don’t actually have to kill anybody if this works.” She saw all four of the young men open their mouths with the questions each had, but she raised her hands and stopped them as she went on to explain the basic idea of her plan.
“You have been running around this place making the Beastie Boys something that people actually fear. All of that with just four of you? You have caused enough havoc to have people think that there is some band of heartless animals out in the zombie wilderness preying on innocent children. In a way, it is genius. It helps us take your little masquerade to a whole new level of deception.”
Catie saw looks cross the faces of the four as they listened. She hurried on with the explanation of the basics regarding her plan. As she spoke, she began to see eyes go wide and lips curl into smiles. She was winning them over even easier than she believed. She also watched Marty and Melvin. This was not exactly the plan she had laid out to them. In the one she used to bring them on board, there was no bluffing. Of course that plan had been made when she was one of those who thought that Elliot’s Beastie Boys were an army, a force to be reckoned with as opposed to the reality.
In truth, these people were ripe for the picking. She could make bigger changes once they had secured their safety. It would start with Montague, but she would deal with the less tolerable communities as well. She had found her place. This is where she would plant her flag and make a home for her and Kevin’s unborn child.
She had no doubt that there was going to be a fight ahead. She did not think this would be able to be pulled off without casualties. It would be the first ones that made or broke her fledgling band, but she would see this happen now. As if to signal that she did in fact need to hurry, she felt something shift in her body.
The baby had kicked!
18
So Few Answers
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Commander Suzi McFarlane,” Randy crowed.
“I am just going to go out on a limb and guess that there is no mutated plague virus inside the walls of Island City,” Suzi spat as her gag was removed.
“Nope.” Randy handed the reins of her horse over to one of the riders that had come from the ruins.
“So then where are my people?” Suzi asked. “I have lost at least thirty of my scouts on missions in and around that place.”
“Honestly, I couldn’t tell ya. We were not kidding when we reported that your Outriders were disappearing.” Randy did not seem the least bit bothered by the icy stare that Suzi was directing at him.
“And it wasn’t the college kids or some rebel faction from Island City that tampered with and contaminated our vaccine?” Suzi pressed.
“Correct again, Commander.” Randy did not try to hide the derision in his voice and the mockery he was making of her title.
“I take it you have failed to locate the Haynes faction?” one of the riders asked Randy.
“If she knows, she isn’t telling me,” Randy replied, giving a nod of his head to indicate Suzi. “You have people better suited for that kind of thing. I got no problem if you want me to just kill her, but I am not the torturing sort.”
“Since I am about to be tortured…apparently,” Suzi shot a withering glance back to Randy once more before continuing to address her new captors, “perhaps you can finally let me know what your real reason for wanting this Billy Haynes might be. After all, we at least got you in the ball park. And had your idiot child here not just up and killed the one prisoner we still had in our care, it is likely that he would have eventually come down and spoken with me.”
“You let the other two go!” Randy spat. “I would almost wager that they are behind those two herds that are causing so much trouble.”
“So much trouble?” Suzi lost her cool at that moment. She was starting to struggle against her bonds and her voice was audible death. “You would not let the alarm be sounded and the word given for my people to enact the emergency evacuation procedure. By the time somebody figures out that I am gone and gives that order for my people to move, it will be too late. You will be allowing thousands of men and women to die needlessly.”
“You only have yourself to blame.” Randy wheeled his horse around in a complete circle and came up beside Suzi. “Hunter was making headway, that stupid girl was starting to trust him. She would have spilled her guts before much longer.”
“Then I guess I am glad that I used your own serum on him. I suspected that he was doing something sketchy when it came to that girl. I only wish that I could have broken him in time to reveal your names so your head could have joined his on that trip. I am willing to bet that this Dr. Zahn would have been able to understand the message.”
I had to cover my mouth with my hand. While I was almost gaining some sort of understanding on some of the things that had evaded me for the most part, I was now getting a whole new batch of questions dumped in my lap.
Suzi knew Dr. Zahn? And w
hat was this about rumors of a mutated version of the zombie virus inside the walls of Island City? All of this was now a lot more than I was ready or able to handle. I needed to get back to Platypus Creek and give this to Billy and Dr. Zahn. As much as I tried to be all grown up and try and handle things like an adult, I was not up to the task of dealing with something this big.
I was going to hate myself, but I started to retreat back to Kayla. I would try to swing through Island City on the way and make good with Cricket, but my priority was to make it home. Even if they abandoned Platypus Creek, this was not going to go away. For whatever reason, this group wanted Billy, and by the sounds of things, it was not going to be a happy or pleasant meeting.
I reached Kayla to discover that she had actually fallen asleep! I leaned over and shook her. She did not move at first and I felt my heart skip a beat. I put a hand to her chest and it took me a second before I felt it rise and fall very slowly. All I could think was that she had somehow gotten nipped or infected while she led me to safety from the encampment.
When her eyes fluttered, I pretty much expected to see dark tracers. When I saw regular old whites, I grabbed her and hugged her.
“What’s wrong?” Kayla mumbled. I could hear the fatigue in her voice and realized that she had simply been asleep; all of this adventure had taken its toll on her.
“Nothing.” My voice was muffled as I had yet to release her from the hug.
I finally put myself at arms’ length and gave her one more quick inspection; never can be too careful. After I was reassured that she was not infected or in any way injured, I related what I had heard. I don’t think that I was ever happier to see such an expression of cluelessness on somebody’s face. If I was stumped, Kayla was even more lost than I.
“Look, I doubt we are gonna figure this out,” I finally said. “What I am sure of is that we need to get home and tell Billy, Dr. Zahn, Jim, and Paula. If somebody is going to make sense of this mess, it will be one of them.”
