by Poe, S. B.
Tilly stood at the gate. The horse waited for the door to open and then calmly walked inside. Raj had called Evelyn on the walkie. She and Emma Grace were halfway down the street as the horse walked by them too.
“There’s a gun on the back of that horse.” Evelyn said as they joined Tilly and Raj by the gate.
“And no Ham or Scott.” Raj said.
“What the hell is happening out there?” Tilly turned and looked down the road through the open gate.
“So when you mentioned Collier, he paid attention?” Bridger asked.
“I guess. He asked more about it?” Ham said.
“What are you thinking?” Kate asked.
“Well, I’m pretty sure that big truck is the same one I’ve heard out past the barricades before. Evelyn and I spent the first few nights after we got here down the other end of the street from the doctor’s office and we heard a truck like that. On more than one occasion.” Bridger said.
“So they’ve been watching.” Kate said.
“Maybe, the town. But probably before we even got there. I need to ask Vernon or Cody if they ever saw a truck like that before.” Bridger said.
“Well, we’re almost there. We need to get everyone together as quick as we can. We need to make sure everyone is up to speed on the Noah guy and we have to be ready for whatever it is he’s got planned.” Kate said.
The hummer topped the hill. He pulled up to an open gate and saw Tilly, Evelyn and Emma Grace standing beside the truck halfway down the street. Raj waved at him from atop the bus as he pulled through. He stopped long enough to hop out and close the gate behind him.
“Keep it closed.” He looked up at Raj.
“What happened out there?” Raj asked.
“Come up to the field. We’re going to have a long talk.” Bridger said. “I’ll send Josh back to watch the gate.”
The hummer pulled past the truck and parked. They all got out and walked back to where the truck was parked.
“Josh, I need you to stay on gate.” Bridger said. “The rest of you go round up everyone. We need to get everyone filled in at once. Have everyone come to the field and we’ll go get the fire going.”
“I think your horse came back.” Tilly turned to Ham.
“Really?” Ham smiled.
“Yep, came by us and headed down the street.” Evelyn said. “Don’t know where he went from there, but he’s somewhere inside.”
“She.” Ham said.
“Sorry, she.” Evelyn said.
“We need to worry about the horse later.” Bridger interrupted. “There’s a lot to talk about.”
Scott sat in the back of the trailer watching the three people talking. Noah and Hannah he knew, or at least had met. The third he hadn’t. She was tall and slender, maybe a little older than Tilly. Her hair was long and jet-black. Her skin was the color of desert sand. The first thing that came to his mind was a cartoon movie from his childhood. She looked a little like Pocahontas. He wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but the woman kept smiling and nodding. Scott watched as she made notes in a little green notebook. She would scribble a bit, then look back to Noah. As he spoke, she wrote. And after almost every sentence stroke, she would look up at him and smile. The group finally broke up and Scott watched as Noah and Hannah walked towards him.
“You didn’t have to say all that to Bridger.” Scott said.
“Excuse me?” Noah said as he walked up the ramp.
“Bridger. All that did was piss him off.” Scott said.
“That was my goal.” Noah said.
“Why?”
“Good question.” Noah said. “We have a lot to do.”
“What do I have to do?” Scott said.
“You were watching?” Noah asked. “Out there?”
“Yes.” Scott said.
“That is who I am sending to your town.” Noah said.
“Who is she?”
“Someone very special.” Noah stood and walked to the end of the trailer. “I hope I don’t regret this.”
“Regret what?” Scott asked.
“You’re a smart kid. I like you. It really isn’t your fault you’re in the middle of this, but you are. You showing up just sped things up. And was a good turn of luck for me.”
“I don’t understand.” Scott said.
“I know you don’t. All you really need to know is that sending her is the only way I can convince the others. I need her to be successful. But the only way that happens is if she is safe. After the brief conversation at the bridge today, I’m not feeling all that confident.” He turned his gaze from the open end of the trailer and focused his eyes on Scott. “For your sake, no matter how much I like you, you better hope I’m wrong about that. If your people lash out at her, they will never see you again.”
Scott didn’t say a word. Noah stood and walked down the ramp and disappeared around the end of the trailer. A few tears escaped from Scott’s eyes and he quickly wiped them away. Hannah stood.
“He’s not a monster, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She said.
“Yeah, just a psycho that loads me up in a coffin to see my mom.” He said.
“You don’t understand.”
“He’s made it clear that if someone back home screws up, you’re going to take it out on me. I understand that.” Scott said.
“He’s doing what has to be done.” She said.
“What is he doing?” He asked.
“He’s trying to save us. All of us.” She said.
“You’re psycho too, if you believe that.” He said.
“I believe it because I know him. I know what he has done for me. For all of us, even you. The coffin was to keep YOU safe. It kept the dead from smelling you while we moved. So he’s even trying to save you and I know that if he says this is what needs to be done, that’s what we’re going to do.” She said.
“Why?”
“Because I have more faith in him than I have ever had in any god.” She turned and walked out, leaving Scott sitting alone in the back of the trailer.
The fire crackled, and the smoke twisted in the breeze. The afternoon sun was still setting but night was still an hour or so away. They set several chairs on one side of the fire to avoid the smoke as it drifted towards the south. Most sat on the ground looking up as Bridger and Kate spoke.
“There are more of them than us. If that was their entire group, they still outnumber us. Maybe two dozen of them and seventeen of us. If it comes to it, we’re probably outgunned too. I counted twenty long guns and all of them had sidearms. We’ve got half that. And even though we have a lot of ammo, my guess is they have more.” Bridger said.
“Are we talking about war here?” Charlie asked. “Because…”
“No, we’re talking about why that would be a bad idea.” Kate said. “Especially since they have Scott.”
“Why?” Jennifer asked. “Why did they take him?”
“I don’t know.” Kate said. “But we’re going to get him back.”
“By letting one of them inside?” Cody asked. “Y’all gonna get us all killed trying to save one boy.”
“That one boy is my son.” Kate said.
“And my brother.” Josh added.
“So?” Cody said. “You’re talking about letting in the people who took him, and that puts everyone else in danger. Including my sister. Or does your family matter more for some reason?”
“I’m not saying that.” Kate said.
“Well, it sure sounds like it.” Cody said. “I ain’t sure I’m on board with all this but like it’s been ever since y’all got here, it don’t really matter does it?”
“We all need to be on board with this. Even you.” Kate said.
“Well, I ain’t.” He said.
“Well, you need to get there.” Bridger said. “And fast.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re bringing in one of them. And we’re going to treat them well. And we’re going to learn as much as we can about what
we’re up against from them. Because that’s the only option we have.” Bridger said.
“No, it ain’t. Let em keep the kid.” Cody said.
“Look dumbass, we’ll get him back but this ain’t just about the kid, this is about this place. They have been out there, watching. I don’t know why, but they have been. And whether or not they grabbed Scott, they were going to come this way. It may even turn out that them grabbing him was good luck. Maybe it gave us a chance.”
“To do what?” Cody asked.
“Avoid being slaughtered.” Bridger said.
“You think they are that dangerous?” Jennifer asked.
“I don’t know. But I know the one in charge is dangerous.” Bridger said.
“How do you know that?” Charlie asked.
“The meeting at the bridge.” Bridger said.
“It sounded like a bunch of rambling from a crazy man to me.” Devin said.
“It sounded like that on purpose.” Bridger said.
“What makes you say that?” Jahda asked.
“Everything. From the part about the soldiers and the Humvee to Ramey. He was letting us know they’ve been watching and listening. Scott told him most of what he knows but some of it he knew from being outside our walls.” Bridger said.
“You sure you ain’t giving him more credit because he rattled your cage, are you?” Jahda asked.
“No. But that was part of it, too. It was all just to fuck with us.” Bridger said.
“Yeah, well, it worked.” Kate said. “And even if it was just to fuck with us, we still have to play along.”
“I know.” Bridger said.
The glow from the fire grew brighter as the sky grew dimmer. The sun finally slid below the horizon and the wind died down. The cool night air settled over them.
“Maybe you’re right.” Cameron said. He had been sitting in one of the lawn chairs listening to the back and forth.
“About what?” Bridger asked.
“About this exchange being advantageous to us.” Cameron said.
“I hope we can glean something that helps us is all.” Bridger said.
“Perhaps there is the possibility of more than that.” Cameron said.
“How so?” Kate asked.
“Well, an exchange of hostages is an ancient way of maintaining peace. It goes back centuries as a way to ensure that agreements are held in place. Even agreements brought in force by coercion.” Cameron said. “You’ve unwittingly mentioned a party to one such arrangement from history already, Bridger.”
“You lost me.” Bridger said.
“Ha, sorry. You remember when we first arrived here and I offered to help start our now budding electric grid from solar panels?” Cameron asked.
“I do.” Bridger said.
“That first day we went out, we saw that deadun impaled with the stake. You made mention of Dracula. The real one. Vlad the Impaler. One of your targets emulated him, correct?” Cameron said.
“I guess. It was just something I remembered from the briefing we had about that target.” Bridger said.
“Well, Vlad had also been a hostage in his youth. He was given over by his father to keep the peace with the Ottoman sultan. And while he was held hostage he fought for the very sultan that held him but eventually opposed that same sultan with his forest of the dead.” Cameron said.
“So he got free and fought back.” Kate said. “Pretty sure Scott will do the same.”
“He faced a very special force the sultan had sent after him. The Janissary. In their time they were the equivalent of our very own Major Preston here. Elite soldiers. Special Forces. And one of their leaders that ultimately defeated our friend Dracula and was placed on his thrown was his own brother Redu, who had also been held as a hostage by the sultan before becoming loyal to him.” Cameron said.
“So the sultan flipped him?” Bridger asked.
“Sort of, he raised him. Both Vlad and Redu had been surrendered to the sultan in their youth.” Cameron said. “But perhaps we can still try to sway whoever it is that is to be placed among us.”
“Maybe that guy out there is busy flipping the kid as we speak. Maybe we end up going through all this to get the kid back and he ends up being loyal to the other guy.” Cody jumped in.
“Maybe you need to just shut up.” Josh said. “Scott is my brother.”
“Just saying.” Cody said. “Old Bridger there already told us this guy is dangerous. Out-thinking us already, and we think we’re gonna turn his guy against him? You’re all delusional. And not being able to see that, is even worse. I’m going back to my house. Y’all do whatever you want. I’ll stay out of the way. But you’ll wish you had listened to me. I’ll betcha that.” Cody stood and walked away without looking back.
“I’m sorry.” Emma Grace spoke up.
“Don’t be. He’s right.” Kate said. “He’s an asshole about it, but he’s right. We really don’t know what’s going on. And the only way that changes is by playing along for now.”
When the Walls Fell
The third day since the meeting at the bridge began as the sun slowly made its way from the other side of the world. Jennifer sat atop the bus and watched the sky slowly turned from black to gray to full of color as the sun broke above the horizon. She wondered what it had seen on its journey around the globe. She thought of a planet overrun with the dead. An image from school popped into her head of the pyramids standing against a bright sky with hundreds of tourists taking pictures and milling around. Her mind replaced the tourists with deaduns. She wondered if every place she had ever imagined of visiting was now just like this place right here. Full of scared people surrounded by the dead.
“Anything?” Kate’s voice called from below.
“Nothing.” Charlie said. “A few deaduns, but not much else.”
Kate turned from the gate and walked back towards the big house. The wind picked up and a few leaves danced across the road. She stopped and looked up at the sky.
“Everything okay?” Evelyn asked as she came out of the door to her house.
“Still waiting.” Kate said. “I wanted to say I was sorry…”
“Stop. Don’t even think about it. You have nothing to apologize for.” Evelyn said.
“But I didn’t mean to be…”
“It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. We all have our own reasons. We’re all in this together, anyway.” Evelyn said.
“You’re right. And I’m glad we are. I’m glad you are.” Kate said. “I just wish whatever is going to happen would hurry up and happen.”
Scott stood in the portapotty listening to the sound of his piss echo back from the dark hole in front of him. He could hear the deadun on the outside of the fence scratching at the back of the stall. Less than a quarter inch of plastic separated him from the walking corpse outside the fence. He zipped his pants and listened. The scratching was just in front of him. He laid his hand against the wall. He could feel the vibrations through the thin plastic. As if sensing his hand, the deadun scratched harder. It felt like its nails were gouging into the plastic under Scott’s hand. He turned and stepped out into the sun and walked straight away from the slits. The deadun scratched the back wall for another half hour before wandering away.
Scott looked up at the tanker with the little ladder heading to its top. He suddenly knew that was how she got out. He glanced around and saw Hannah watching him.
“Yeah, that’s the way she went. Pretty sure.” Hannah said.
“Did you see her?” Scott asked.
“No, but that’s the only place she could have gotten out.” Hannah said.
“What if I tried it?” Scott said.
“I’d have to shoot you.” Hannah said as she tapped the pistol on her side. Ever since the meeting at the bridge, Scott had noticed all of them were now wearing pistols and carrying other weapons.
“Just like that?” Scott said.
“Yep. Especially after today.”
“What’s today?”<
br />
“Today is the exchange. He’s let them have a few days to get all worried and worked up, so today is the day.” Hannah said.
“So it’s all a game. My family? My life?” Scott asked.
“It’s not a game. Not to him.” Hannah said.
“Then what is it?” Scott asked.
“I can’t tell you. But he has a plan. And if your people will just not screw it up, it will be good for us all.” Hannah said.
“What’s the plan?” He asked.
“I just said I couldn’t tell you. But he’s had to convince more than a few of us it was the right plan.” Hannah said.
“Convince you?”
“Not me. Whatever Noah says to do, I will do. The first group always has his back, no matter what.”
“First group?”
“Seven of us. Plus Noah. We’ve been together since, well really since the first few days. Since Tallahassee.” Hannah said.
“Tallahassee? How the hell…”
“Sorry. Maybe later. But like I said, today is a big day, so I have things to do. Come on, we’re going to keep you somewhere safe.” Hannah pointed the spear at him. “Don’t worry, it’ll only be while we’re gone.”
“To Collier?”
“Yeah, we have a lot of things to get together.” Hannah almost laughed.
Scott looked at her but understood the conversation ended. He walked ahead of her and turned where she said turn. They ended up among a row of small travel trailers with a FEMA logo on their sides. She opened the door to the first one.
“In here. There’s food. I’m going to lock the door, but it’s just for show. You could kick out any of these windows if you wanted too. It would be real easy. But if you do, if you try to escape, we will bring the dead down on Collier and you will be the reason why. Have a good day. I’ll see you tonight.” She said.
The door closed and he heard it lock. He could smell the damp, moldy smell of the trailer. He sat down on the faux wood bench and pulled out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Warm. He took a sip and waited.
Tilly walked out of the house. The sun was almost overhead and she felt warm. She reached under her shirt and scratched the spot under her boob that had been driving her crazy. She had refrained from scratching while helping clean the dishes from lunch away, but now she scratched with fury. The sound of her nail brushing against the inside of the bra became rhythmic until she stopped and the sound continued. She tilted her head up and listened. It sounded like a drumbeat. She could hear music. Loud music from a long way away. She and Raj had spent a night at a casino outside Biloxi on their way to New Orleans. A live band had been playing on the beach a half-mile away. The sound she heard now sounded like that. Carried on the wind. She began walking towards the gate. As she did, she caught Bridger and Josh both walking down the street with their ears tilted towards the sky.
