ALEXIS: [laughs]. Calm down, killer.
ME: Okay, we’re going. Get comfortable up here. We have to walk a wide way out and around to the back of their camp and get high. Will take awhile.
REGGIE: Y’all getting high?
ME: Up high! Shut up…
REGGIE: [laughs]
And a long walk it was. For the most part the entire area was clear. We spotted a few Roamers and Shamblers around some side streets. We just stayed quiet and kept our distance. Last thing we needed was a Dead Call. Our worst thought was being spotted by a pack of Bolters. Even a single Bolter. We watched every corner and dark area for any Stagnants. For all we knew they could have guard teams patrol side streets. That turned out to not be the case, so that was a relief.
We finally arrived about a hundred yards behind their back wall. I spotted two guards on trucks quickly after I caught glimpse of the glow of a cigarette.
After some time we found a two story brick building that also had a fire escape and it gave a clear view over the back wall. We got low on our stomachs and pulled out the night scope and binoculars. The area was dotted with bright torches and some guards as well as slaves became visible. The larger plaza was full of tents. Slaves could be seen inside some of them. Beyond the tents were two stores…some sort of discount store and a hardware store. The stores looked empty and unused.
JIM: What do you think?
ME: These people are sick fucks.
JIM: Yeah…that’s obvious. I meant the back of the place.
ME: I don’t know.
JIM: What do you think they got in those stores? More slaves? An arsenal?
TODD: They wouldn’t keep an arsenal near the slaves’ tent city. There’s like twenty some tents there…big enough to hold three or four people each.
JIM: This is so messed up. Can you see anything with the night thing? Zoom in.
ME: It looks empty. Wait…yeah, it’s empty. It’s barricaded from the inside.
TODD: That’s weird…why not use it?
JIM: Maybe they don’t have a need for it right now.
ME: They probably cleared them for supplies and then barricaded from the inside and keep any slaves attempting to get in and make a break for a side wall.
JIM: Can we get the hell back now? It’s a long walk back and we don’t wanna be around come dawn. Not to mention Kelly is probably a pacing wreck.
ME: Yeah, let’s move out. I’m sure Reggie, Travis and Alexis are getting worried as well.
TODD: We have to have a meeting with Alan when we get back…he’s just going to have to listen.
ME: I concur.
TODD: I’m not leaving these people to this.
ME: We’re not. We’ll worry about it later. Let’s just get back in one piece.
**
Once we returned to the others we didn’t initiate immediate conversation. We opted to get back to the vehicles first. We stood in the alley looking around into the dark. It was a dark night, nothing stirring. No sounds at all. To this day it still sends a shiver sometimes. Just the views, I mean. Empty towns and streets. Shrieks in the night. Watching nature slowing reclaim the world.
REGGIE: Alright…what’s it like on the far side?
ME: Two guards on the back wall, also on trucks. The big plaza is full of tents where slaves sleep.
TRAVIS: Damn…I hope they didn’t have to sleep there in the winter.
ALEXIS: I don’t think they could survive that, Travis.
JIM: Not on the subzero nights. No way.
ALEXIS: And the buildings?
TODD: Boarded up. They don’t appear to be using it. Not anymore, anyway.
TRAVIS: Seems like a waste…that’s a lot of space.
REGGIE: This is fascinating as fuck. Can we please go now??
TRAVIS: We talking to Alan tomorrow?
ME: I think we should. Sooner the better.
REGGIE: Hello?
JIM: We need to figure this out. This is a mess. I don’t know how we’re-
REGGIE: Am I fuckin’ invisible?
ME: We’re going, keep your pants on. We’ll meet up in the afternoon after we get some sleep.
We kept the headlights off until we were at a safe distance and then quickly made our way back to Haven. It was the middle of the night but Jim found Kelly sitting on their front porch. She ran to him with relief and wrapped her arms firmly around him. Over his shoulder she gave me a look that was twisted in a mix of gratitude and anger. I’m used to it. Can’t blame her. It’s usually always my ideas that send us outside doing something risky, but it’s for the greater good. For the safety of us all. And as long as the Head Hunters were out there, we weren’t safe.
**
Later that day in the 2:00 hour our little crew went to speak with Alan.
ALAN: Drinks?
TODD: Oh, yeah. You’re gonna need it.
ALAN: Please don’t tell me that. Please.
ME: Wish we didn’t have to.
Reggie flopped down on a small couch in the corner of Alan’s office and let out a sigh. Alan sat at his desk while the rest of us stood.
ALAN: Reggie’s sense of humor is missing today which tells me there’s shit I really don’t want to hear.
JIM: We have a…well, can’t sugar coat it. We have a major problem. Not just with them being a threat-and they are one-but morally we have to do something.
ALAN: Do something? What exactly are you thinking? I said we’re not attacking them.
TODD: So you’re alright with innocent people being enslaved and murdered?
ALAN: The fuck are you talking about?
ME: They have people captive. A lot of them. They capture and enslave.
ALAN: You gotta be ki- how many do they have??
TRAVIS: A lot, sir.
ALAN: What the hell’s a lot?!
REGGIE: Dozens.
ALAN: Just lay it all out and put all the cards on the table…what are we looking at here, Jack?
ME: Well, as Reggie stated, they have dozens. They live in poor conditions. Some are housed in some old stores. The rest are in a ton of tents in a parking lot. We watched one woman get backhanded to the ground for simply asking for some water while she worked a garden.
ALAN: Savages.
TODD: Oh, we haven’t even gotten to the savagery yet. The heads on pikes are heads of slaves that couldn’t pull their weight.
ALAN: No! Are you fuckin’ sure??
ME: We heard it all on the dish thingy. Outside the walls they have Roamers chained to the walls as a kind of security alert system…throats are slashed so they can’t attract others.
ALAN: That’s damn barbaric.
ALEXIS: More so considering they were slaves, too.
ALAN: [sigh] son of a bitch. How many men do they have? How many Head Hunters?
TRAVIS: Couple dozen, at least.
ALAN: Couple dozen?! We can’t deal with that!
JIM: We’ll just have to figure something out.
ALAN: To take on two dozen men?? There’s no way, Jim!
TODD: We have to find a way.
ALAN: Maybe they won’t find us…
TODD: We’re not leaving those people there to be tortured and butchered!
ALAN: We’re out manned! You want to end up tortured and butchered yourself?
TODD: I didn’t peg you as one to turn their back on people in need. We take people in need in.
ALAN: How do we possibly go up against that many people?? I’m all ears, guys. I feel horrible for those people, I do. But we have to think about Haven.
ME: That’s what we’re doing, Alan. This place is not safe. It’s only a matter of time and they will venture out. They’ll scope us and catch us off guard. We’ll end up slaves in their fucked up makeshift village.
ALAN: How many people we have that can fight? You guys! That’s it. Ray and reckless Heather? My daughter isn’t much of a fighter.
JIM: But she can shoot. That’s a skill everyone needs. Everyone should know how to do that,
honestly. Should have known for awhile. Precisely for something like this.
ALAN: Tina probably wouldn’t even be able to shoot! Kurt can shoot, I know that. You know that. He goes out with you. Mark of course is useless. Sorry to say about my own brother.
ME: I’ll have a word with him, anyway.
ALAN: Pfft. Yeah, good luck. Might as well try to get that chair over there to help out.
TRAVIS: Larry will fight.
ALAN: Larry…right. That sounds really promising.
TODD: Maybe you forgot him being right there when those two guys hit us. He might be an asshole but I know he cares about this place and it’s people, regardless of how he acts. He’ll fight. Trust me.
ALAN: Okay…well, Mindy is a nurse not a fighter.
ME: it ain’t all about fighting. Not physically. They need to know basic self defense, but anyone can shoot. Mindy can learn.
ALAN: Lily has two children to worry about, she’s not going to risk her-
ME: She just needs to know how to shoot! Self defense goes a long way in a conflict. It can be half the battle here. Remember, there’s offense and defense.
ALAN: I suppose you want to give her kids some guns too, right?
ME: Of course not, but the oldest is eleven. He can learn to safely operate a gun. Ben learned when he was around his age.
ALAN: People are going to be scared shitless.
ME: They will be. They’ll also be okay and get prepared. We have to have a meeting with them all and lay it out.
ALAN: Be a damn panic.
TODD: We’ll keep them calm. Calm as possible.
ALAN: When? Now?
ME: Tomorrow. Noon.
ALAN: Okay…
**
Alan was one hundred percent correct when he said there would be a panic; not that I doubted him. None of us did. Fear and panic was a natural response to feeling relatively safe to finding out that not far away was a group of lunatics.
We gathered everyone close enough to Mark’s house so that he would hear the commotion and perhaps get curious and listen to what was happening. Maybe even come out. I tried to speak to him before this, but the prick wouldn’t open his damn door.
We did however speak to Lily and Tina together first privately. Lily would not want her kids at the gathering. Lily would come to it, but Tina needed to watch her children for her. They were very shaken and I told Tina I would brief her on how the meeting went and what would be decided. It effected everyone so it would need a vote. Tina wouldn’t be there, but whatever the plan ended up being, regardless of how scared she was, voted in favor of helping them.
After everyone finally began to quiet to a murmur among themselves, then we began to speak again. Firstly, to let everyone get their questions out, to which Ray began very angrily.
RAY: Why wasn’t I privy to any of this? Why wasn’t I out there?
ALAN: Because it’s how I wanted it…and that’s something we can discuss later. In private. For now, we need to stick to the issue at hand, son!
Rachel: How many people do they have enslaved?
ME: Looked to be dozens. Can’t give an exact number but a lot.
[murmurs]
HEATHER: And how many Head Hunters?
ME: Not gonna lie, folks. A lot. Also a couple dozen that we could see.
[panicked murmurs]
ME: However, they are not aware of us. Not yet.
MINDY: What do you mean yet? Do you think you were followed??
ME: No, no, no…please. Try to remain calm everyone. We weren’t followed by anyone. No one knew we were there. Aside from a Roamer, but he ain’t talking.
KURT: How bad is it?
ME: It’s bad, Kurt. These people are living in deplorable conditions. They’re abused and treated like shit. And the heads on pikes we all know about? Those are the heads of slaves that couldn’t keep up to these freaks’ standards.
[rising murmurs]
ME: Worse still, some of them are purposely infected and put on the outside of the walls…chained to the the walls. The Head Hunter’s personal security system.
[fearful talking]
RACHEL: How could we possibly do anything? There’s too many.
HEATHER: We just have to be creative, that’s all.
JIM: Heather is on a good line of thinking here, let’s keep it moving on that line.
KURT: They have the numbers, man.
HEATHER: We have some numbers here, though…it’s not always about how big an army is per se. It’s about strategy.
LARRY: That’s a damn fact, young lady.
HEATHER: Thanks, Larry.
JIM: What are you thinking?
LARRY: Just look at history, man. Plenty of advanced and overwhelming numbers have been defeated by smaller groups. It’s all about guerrilla warfare. Make yourself more trouble than you’re worth to them. Traps and sneak attacks. Unconventional methods. Be creative and you can bring a larger enemy down to shit.
REGGIE: I’m still freaking the fuck out…and I never thought I’d say this…but Larry just made me feel better and oddly, kinda inspired.
KAREN: Soooo….what the fuck are we doing, assholes??
REGGIE: That’s really helpful, Karen. You snotty ass little bitch.
KAREN: The fuck did you say to me you-
ME: Shut the hell up, Karen!! If you’re gonna just escalate shit then stand there and keep it to yourself. If you actually want to contribute an idea, then speak up.
KAREN: [mumbles] Whatever.
LILY: This is scaring the hell out of me, guys. I have two kids!
ME: We know…we swear to you, they will be safe!
LILY: How can you promise that?
ME: It’ll be a top priority. That’s why we have to keep talking and plan everything to the letter.
MINDY: Plan what? What are we talking about here? Fighting them? You’re insane!
JIM: Mindy, what if it were you? These people are capturing survivors and making them slaves…killing them! If it was you, wouldn’t you be hoping everyday for help? Lily, what if they had Danny and William? They might even have kids there. It’s likely they do. Do we turn our backs on these people and leave them to that hell?
MINDY: I’m not saying..I just mean…how the hell do we do it?? I feel bad for those people, but all that’s gonna happen is they will beat us and take us, too! Why risk us ending up the same way! I don’t think those poor people would want other decent people to end up the same way. They might never find us out here!
ME: Decent people? How decent are we to turn our backs and pretend? Why risk it? Because they need help! Even if they didn’t…if there were no slaves..we’re still at risk doing nothing. It’s not if they find us, it’s when! Our community is not safe, people!
[from behind us]
MARK: Didn’t I try telling you that? I told you this was just a fucking illusion. A pipe dream. Didn’t I ask you…I asked you how long before a giant horde tears these walls down? And how long before a larger group knocks those walls down? Well, scenario two looks to be right around the corner.
ALAN: How long you been standing there??
MARK: Long enough. Enough time to see that only a teenage girl, who brought it up, and Larry have said anything of use. They’re right.
LILY: Since when do you give a damn?
MARK: Since it effects me, that’s when. I’m a little partial to my brother, niece and nephew. If this place goes to hell we’re all screwed. I’d like to maintain shit.
ME: I thought you were a fuck it, if it burns it burns kinda guy?
MARK: I just want left alone. That’s all.
ME: So you you care after all…more optimistic than I pegged for you.
MARK: Oh, I meant the shit I said! I said this good time was temporary and I was right…now we have enemies nearby. Our odds are shit against the numbers you mentioned…our only chance would be guerrilla tactics. Believe me, I’m not an optimist. I’m a realist.
ALAN: You’ll fight?
M
ARK: Obviously. Could you tell any leadership?
The Dead Lands Diary Vol. II) Page 7
