The conversation on the walk back to
the prison raises more questions and apprehension about Peace and his
comrades. Trust does not come easily in this world, and while these
new acquaintances had done nothing to warrant mistrust, they had also
done nothing to earn the trust of Dave's group. What is their agenda?
How does a relationship with Dave and his people fit into it? In the
end, the appeal of hot venison steak is not worth the risk they would
face if they accepted the invitation. If they were to meet this new
group then it would be to assess their intentions and identify their
agenda, not simply to eat their food. The decision whether or not to
meet with this militant group is not a decision for Dave alone. They
would have to make this decision as a group when they got back to the
prison.
Jae Kyu asks, “Dave, was it a good
idea to invite those guys back to the prison?”
Dave nods to acknowledge Jae Kyu's
concern. “I understand your concern Jae Kyu, but I don't like the
fact that we could be walking into a trap very much either. You know
that they had eyes on us from hidden locations back there, right?
They will do the same at their camp, for sure. They could have taken
us out at any time if they had wanted to. At least back at the prison
we can account for our guests. We're in control at our home. They're
in control at theirs. That is exactly why they wouldn't come back to
the prison with us, so it's a moot point anyway.”
“It ain't that complicated. They
didn't come back to the prison 'cause they didn't want to walk into
an ambush, Dave!” adds Billy.
Marci had been quiet until now.
“Billy's right. Did you see what they were wearing under those
robes? There are plenty of people out here who would kill that man
just for his helmet!
“Who did he kill for his helmet?
Maybe they are planning to ambush us. We were baited too, did y'all
notice that? Why was he skinning the deer in the middle of the road?
That's not what you do. You bleed it and gut it and take it back to
camp to skin and butcher it. And half a mile from the prison? They
wanted us to find them. They probably want the prison! It's a lot
easier to take an empty prison than it is to take one that's
defended. In any case, I don't think it was about home field
advantage” Billy continues, “at least not entirely.”
As the group approaches the prison they
encounter a handful of ghouls that are dispatched effortlessly. As
they enter the gate Dave says “come on, let's discuss this with the
others.”
Inside the prison everyone gathers and
the encounter with Peace is recounted. It is decided that Peace and
his companions are indeed too significant to be ignored, but that the
risks must be mitigated. Only a small contingent of the group should
attend the dinner as emissaries. Furthermore, since the most
plausible scenario for concern is that Peace intends to lure the
group into a trap to facilitate the capture of the prison facilities,
the emissaries should be composed of the most sympathetic members of
the group while the strongest and most capable members should stay
behind to defend the prison and, if need be, mount an infiltration
and rescue party should events transpire that require such actions.
With that in mind, the emissaries will include Benji, Karen, Marci
and, of course, Dave. The sun is getting low and the shadows long as
the emissaries depart, and it is decided that a reconnaissance team
will be deployed at midnight if the emissaries have not returned.
The emissaries arrive at the
destination in time to witness a zombie being dispatched by a loud
pop of electricity as it comes in contact with a large lamé
fence and Dave is reminded of Peace's warning not to attempt to enter
the perimeter on his own, its reason now apparent. On the ground
around the perimeter lie a half dozen charred and smoldering bodies,
long dead before their encounter with the fence. A red light on a
post changes to green and a portion of the fabric is rolled back to
allow the car to enter the perimeter. As soon as the car is through a
large man in tactical body armor rolls the fabric back again to
complete the perimeter and the light changes once again from green
back to red.
Inside the camp is the matte black
Humvee from earlier as well as a matte black armored semi with a
cattle pusher and a matte black trailer heavily fortified with thick
armor plates. Another blue flag like the one on the Humvee hangs from
a pole on the cab. The buck has been butchered and is on a rack above
a fire pit, his hide hanging nearby. Peace meets Dave at the the car
and warns the group to stay clear of the fence. He is no longer
wearing his robe or his ballistic mask, although he still wears his
helmet and dragon skin. His face is clean and handsome with sincere
eyes. and he looks to be around thirty years of age. “I'm glad you
made it. Just the four of you?”
“Yes” smiles Dave, “unfortunately
it will just be the four of us tonight. Thank you for having us.”
Turning to Marci, Peace offers his
hand, “Glad you could make it. We weren't properly introduced
earlier. I am Peace.”
Marci smiles as she takes his hand.
“I'm Marci. Pleased to meet you.”
Dave introduces the others, “This is
my son, Benji, and Karen.”
“Thank you for coming.” Peace's
smile is genuine. “This is my wife, Angel.” Even in ballistic
gear she is feminine and beautiful. She nods as her eyes betray her
smile. “The Jamaican giant who opened the gate for you is Popeye,
Sparky is helping him cook the deer. That's Vision and Nero keeping
watch on top of the mobile command center and Painless and Cinnamon
are inside.”
With introductions and pleasantries
addressed, Dave and Peace walk over to the Humvee and sit on the hood
to have a private discussion while the others intermingle. Peace
begins by saying “I understand your caution Dave, and I respect you
for it. Tell me what I can do to alleviate your concerns. I am here
to help.”
Dave is anxious for answers, so he
minces no words. “I am just trying to wrap my head around a couple
of things. You can start by telling me why you were skinning that
deer in the middle of the highway, and then you can tell me why
you're here and exactly what it is that you want from us.”
Peace smiles at Dave's insight and
candor. “I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said my knife was
already out so I just carried on after dressing it, would you? You're
half right if you suspect that I wanted you to find us. The truth is
that we did want to be found, so yes, when we shot the deer we did
use it as bait. We set up a perimeter and hoped that somebody would
show up, but we did not know it would be you. We didn't even know you
existed until you showed up. We have used this tactic many times, and
sometimes the people who show up try to attack us, so we defend
ourselves. Sometimes the people who show up cry and plea for help, so
we help them in any way we can. So that brings us to why we're here.
Simply put, we're here to help. And what we want from you is the same
thing we want from everyone, and that is for you to find success in
honest ventures and be productive, because we cannot rebuild this
world by ourselves.”
“I find it hard to believe that you
would put yourselves in harm's way to help others with no benefit to
yourselves.”
“We are in harm's way whether we put
ourselves there or not, and I didn't say there was no benefit to us.
Back home we helped one group clear out a wind farm. We didn't know
how to operate a wind farm, and they didn't know how to clear the
lurkers out, but now we both have electricity, so I'd say we received
some benefit there. The water treatment facility wasn't so easy,
because we had to find engineers and put together a group to operate
it, but now we have clean water. Then there is an agrarian community
that was being harassed by raiders. When we flew our flag over their
compound the raids stopped, so now we have sustainable food. We have
a hospital, staffed with doctors and nurses. We produce basic
pharmaceuticals at the hospital as well, antibiotics, morphine... We
have limited manufacturing and we are working on petroleum
refinement. We have suffered loss and yes, there are still times when
we wonder if it's worth it, but these are the tasks we have chosen to
undertake nonetheless.”
“And the eight of you did all of
this?”
“Of course not. We are only a part of
a larger community. We are a simple scouting party, and there are
others like us. We are part of a republic, and we are just doing our
small part.”
“So, where is this republic located?”
“We are mostly out west, but we are
growing. We do a lot of good things, but we are not perfect. We make
mistakes, but we are learning. We are learning about ourselves. We
are learning about this new world. We do what we can, but there is
still a long way to go, especially out here. The more populous the
areas were before the fall, the more difficulties we face, and the
eastern seaboard was the most densely populated area of the country.
Many thought that this was an extinction level event, but mankind
endures. I do not know if we will rise, like a phoenix from the
flames, and I do not know if this fall will prove to be fortunate,
but we have an opportunity to make a new world. A better world, but
only if we learn from our past mistakes, and that is why we put
ourselves in harm's way, as you put it.”
Dave is not certain if Peace is being
completely truthful, but his motivations seem to make sense. “That's
a nice story, but even if I did believe it I'm not sure why you would
work so hard to build a new country that you'll never see in your
lifetime. Are you sure this isn't just what you think I want to
hear?”
“Most people we meet dream of a hot
bath and a cheeseburger, yet when we tell them that we want to give
them just that, they would rather believe that we have come to steal
their women and children to put them in chains and make them push
around a big heavy wheel endlessly and for no apparent reason. I
don't understand. Perhaps I should have been a psychiatrist...”
“What were you before the world went
to shit?”
“I did things that developed a
certain skill set that turned out to be useful in this new world.”
“If you don't want to answer the
question, just say so. Being cryptic doesn't exactly earn my trust.
It makes me feel like you vagueness is hiding something.”
“I worked for the government. I'm not
proud of all the things I did, and I doubt telling you would make me
more trustworthy in your eyes, but I will if that is your wish. Black
ops... Wetworks. I did bad things. I told myself I did them to bad
people for good reasons, but maybe that was to make myself feel
better, especially toward the end, when plausible deniability became
increasingly more difficult. I think that makes it easier for me to
do what I do now. On some levels, I think I am atoning. Hell, on
every level I think I am atoning. Today, I tell people that I am
called Peace in the hope that I will bring it, but back then I think
the ones who called me Peace liked the irony. It was more complicated
though. I believed that my actions, justified or not, at least had
the effect of avoiding conflict on a larger scale, and that was true
at least.”
“What about the others? Did they do
the same thing?”
“The short answer is no. Angel was a
ballerina with the Paris Opera Ballet. She was performing with her
company stateside when the airports closed. She had locked herself in
the security gate at the French Consulate, but the consulate was
abandoned, and the doors were locked tight, so she effectively
trapped herself. The roamers couldn't reach her, but she was
dehydrated and starving when we found her. She recovered quickly. She
was strong and fit, as you can imagine. The discipline of a ballerina
is no joke. So she was well suited for our group, and she was the
most beautiful woman I had ever seen, before or after civilization
fell, so I took advantage of the situation and made her my wife. I
don't think she minds though, at least we didn't make her push a
heavy wheel round and round endlessly. Popeye grew up in Kingston, so
the world hasn't changed much for him. We found him holed up at a
farm in Humbolt county with more weed than most humans could consume
in a lifetime, but I think he's pretty much smoked it all in the last
couple months. It seems to be like spinach to him. He's also a damn
good cook--he can make pretty much anything taste like jerk chicken.
Painless and Cinnamon found us at our compound, and when they offered
to join our cause I jumped at the opportunity. He was an ER doctor at
Cedar Sinai and she was an ER nurse there as well, so they had plenty
of experience treating trauma victims before the war. Also, he did a
stint in Africa with Doctors Without Borders, so he has a skill set
uniquely suited to this new world. I don't think he liked me very
much at first. Something about dedicating his life to helping people
while I dedicated my life to hurting them. I think I'm growing on him
as he begins to understand my motivations though. We found Sparky at
Laguna Seca Raceway. He had been a staff mechanic there and he took
refuge at the speedway because the fence that used to keep deer from
running out on the track while people drove around it at two hundred
miles an hour was also fairly effective at keeping roamers out. He'd
probably still be there trimming seconds off his lap times if he
hadn't run out of racing fuel and Snickers bars, so now he keeps our
vehicles running instead. Nero worked with me before the fall. He's a
highly disciplined sniper, and Vision was his girlfriend back then.
Now she's his spotter, but she's also turned out to be a damn good
shot. So all in all I think we have an excellent team for most
situations, and we get all the support we need from The Republic.”
Dave still wonders about Peace's
intentions, so he thinks that clarity might come through Peace's
curiosity. “Don't you have any questions for me?”
Peace nods. “I'd like to know what
you know about the area's settlements or threats. Any experiences
that you have had that might help us do our job would be good, but
mostly I'd like to know what we can do to help you accomplish
whatever it is you are working toward.”
Dave shrugs to indicate that his groups
objectives are simple. “We're just trying to survive, man. Don't
you want to know about our group?”
“You told me there are nine of you. I
assume you are held up at the prison down the road. You said you had
a safe outpost, so that makes the most sense. You were worried that
we were trying to lure you out of the prison so that we could take it
for ourselves, so you brought women and children with you to garner
sympathy and you left your most able bodied people to defend the
compound in case our intentions were as nefarious as you feared. I
hope your concerns have been alleviated, at least to some degree.
Anyway, this is just conjecture, so let me know if any of my
suppositions are off base. And any further details you wish to share
about your group could be helpful, but not necessary.”
“We would never leave the compound
undefended, even if we trusted you implicitly. That doesn't mean that
we thought you were leading us into a trap necessarily.”
“We don't take it personally. Being
cautious isn't the same as being misanthropic, and in this world you
wouldn't have survived this long without a degree of caution. I told
you flat out that we wouldn't be able to go to your camp for security
reasons. That was us being cautious, and we are highly trained and
largely bulletproof! No, if you had shown up with eight more people I
would have concluded that you were either lying about the size of
your group, had no camp to protect or that you were idiots. So I
applaud you for your caution, and I encourage you to stay vigilant.”
“There are nine of us like I told you
before, and we have been held up at the prison for a couple months.
We have planted a few crops and we have been able to maintain a
defensive posture so far. Before that we were held up on a farm, but
that got overrun. We spent the winter mostly day to day, just trying
to survive until we found the prison. Atlanta is pretty much
completely overrun...”
“Most urban areas are.”
“Yeah, but there is another group we
met inside the city, but I don't know if they are still holding out.
We were at the CDC and there was a doctor who shared some information
about the plague.”
“There are some pockets of survivors
in Atlanta still, but it's difficult there. What did the doctor have
to say?”
“Well, we saw a ct scan of the
transformation. Apparently, the cerebral cortex is affected, but
higher brain functions do not return. He said it was probably viral
or bacterial...”
“We believe it's viral.”
“And he sad that we are all
infected.”
“Yes. You don't have to be killed by
one of them to transform. Everyone who dies becomes one unless
measures are taken. What happened to the doctor?”
“The CDC is gone. When it ran out of
gas for the generators there were containment measures. It blew up,
and the doctor is gone too.”
“Safety precaution. Was he in touch
with any of the other facilities?”
“He said France believed they were
close to a cure, but they are gone now too. I think the CDC in
Atlanta was the last one.”
“Hmmm, that's interesting. Did he say
anything about the origin?”
“No. Does it matter?”
“It might matter. Finding the cause
might make it easier to find a cure. We believe it originated in
Europe. Probably France, so that might explain why they thought they
were close to a cure. It might have begun as an effort to extend the
scope of human life that mutated, but we're not sure. Anyway,
continue.”
“There is a cure. A bullet to the
head!” Dave shakes his head in contemplation. “That's all I can
think of right now. All that you'd care about anyway. I could tell
you about losing my wife or my best friend... Sophie... Alex... We
were able to save Abraham after he got bit in the leg by amputating
it.”
“Sometimes that works if it's handled
quickly. And I do care, but it's not going to help us rebuild the
world.”
“Sorry I don't have more for you.”
“That's fine. Let's go see if dinner
is ready yet.” Peace jumps down from the hood of the Humvee, heavy
with his body armor, and Dave thinks he won't be able to survive the
jump with the heaviness that is in his heart.”
On the way to the fire, now glowing in
the night sky, Peace asks Dave what he did before the fall. “Were
you in the military?”
“I was a cop.”
“That makes sense.”
Benji is helping Popeye by the fire and
Marci has on new clothes, a black tank top and black BDU bottoms. Her
hair is wet, and she smells like soap. She is giddy as she spins
around and informs Dave that she's had a hot shower! “Karen's
taking one right now! Did you have a good talk?”
“It was interesting. Where are your
clothes?”
Marci looks coyly at the fire. “These
were a gift, is that okay?”
“Of course, you look great. Don't
drip on the fence, alright!” Dave lets a small smile as he walks
over to Benji by the fire. He looks at Popeye, “I hope venison is
the only thing you guys are smoking over here.”
Popeye's red eyes smile at Dave.
“Everyting cris mon! Popeye g'wan keep him spinach for himself mon.
Praise Jah!”
Another pop at the fence reminds Dave
that this backyard barbecue is different from the ones he attended
last spring, a gruesome reminder of the world that he had forgotten
for a brief moment. He wishes he could forget again, but the smell of
ion and burned flesh lingering in his nose won't let him.
Karen emerges from the trailer, hair
wet and now dressed like Marci. Peace follows, tossing a cold beer to
Dave and popping one open for himself. “Now, this is officially a
barbecue! Just ignore the born on date.” Peace produces more beer
from an ice chest and distributes them to the rest of the party
before he finally tosses a Coke to Benji.
Dave walks over to Benji and takes the
Coke. He then hands his beer to his young son. “I'm driving.”
Peace tosses another beer to Dave, “One
for the road then. You can't wash grilled meat down with a Coke!”
Popeye carries a huge platter piled
high with grilled venison over to a folding table and sets it down,
followed by corn and potatoes and garlic bread. Angel brings a stack
of paper plates, utensils, napkins, butter, salt and pepper.
Everybody grabs a plate and loads it up with more food than they can
eat before finding a place to sit. After everybody has eaten more
than possible, they go back for yet more, but there is still more
food left than they have eaten. Dave decides that he had been wrong
when he thought that the food would not be worth the risk. The
venison steak alone was worth the risk. Any information he could have
garnered could never match satisfaction in his belly.
Having been relieved of their sentinel
duties by Sparky, Nero and Vision have joined Dave and Benji by their
SUV to enjoy some grilled venison. The young couple are trying to
explain the difficulties they had trying to date before the fall.
“They say love will prevail,” Nero tries to explain “but,
there's no way we could have lasted before the fall. The ultimate
irony is that Peace, who had always told me that I was an idiot for
trying to maintain a relationship when we were in black ops together,
is the one who brought her to me after the fall.”
“Peace knew how much you must have
loved her to struggle through all of those difficulties” mused
Dave.
“Either that or he knew that she was
the only one who could save me. I kinda snapped when the world fell
apart” admits Nero.
Peace joins the conversation as he
approaches with an ice chest. “Kinda snapped? That's when I started
calling him Nero. Nero fiddled while Rome burned, except his fiddle
was a sniper rifle and there wasn't a walker left standing within a
mile of the compound by the time I brought Vision to that rooftop. I
knew she was the only one who could save him because I knew how much
he loved her.” Peace sets the ice chest on the hood of Dave's car.
“Here is some food for the rest of your people. You'd better get
going before they worry. We'll be breaking camp in the morning, but
we'd like to get together again before we leave. You can either come
back here early or we can meet you at your camp. It's up to you, but
if we see the place we might be able to offer some suggestions to
help you get it buttoned down.”
Dave nods in agreement. “Thank you
for the food, and thank you for having us. We really needed this. I
wish I had brought the rest of our group. They're good people. If
you'd be willing to come by in the morning we'd appreciate that very
much. I would definitely love to have your input.”
“Certainly. We'll see you in the
morning then. I think Marci and Karen are over by the fire with some
of our guys. We hate to send you on your way at night, and you're
certainly welcome to stay, but I'm pretty sure your people will
worry.”
“You're
right, we need to get going. Besides, I need to get this little lush
to bed. We'll see you in the morning.” Dave and Benji gather Marci
and Karen before saying goodnight to everyone and thanking them for
their hospitality. Popeye looks for the all clear from Nero on the
roof before he rolls the gate back for Dave to leave. As they drive
away Dave sees the light change back to Red again in his rear view
mirror.
***
