A New Republic Chapter 1: Sacrifice, Part 4

Peace and Dave exit the cafeteria as Painless stands up to address the group. “I'd like to share with you a few words of advice about our new world. I know doctors always seem like alarmists and nothing bad ever happens to you, so just bare with me. I won't take too much of your time. Aside from the obvious ghouls, raiders and the like, the most dangerous aspect of this new world is the general lack of health care. Formerly treatable and sustainable illnesses such as diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and the like are deadly without treatment regiments. There are still places that specialize in treatment of these conditions, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so I am distributing some information on how to identify some common symptoms and avoid contributing factors such as obesity. If you find yourself in the advanced stages of one of these conditions, contact us and we will do our best to see that you are relocated to a place where you can receive the treatment you need. Don't let infections fester. Keep antibiotics on hand if you want to keep your appendages. Speaking of which, gangrene, trench foot and other flesh eating diseases have become more common as you might expect. Learn how to recognize and treat them. Other than that, we have seen deadly outbreaks of MRSA rising to near epidemic levels. MRSA is notoriously difficult to treat, even under the best circumstances, so the best way to beat it is to avoid it. Other viral and bacterial infections are becoming increasingly problematic as well. The best way to avoid these is through good hygiene. Keep yourself and your surroundings clean. Soap, bleach, Lysol and other disinfectants should be part of any survival kit. I cannot stress this enough. Cuts and other trauma need to be tended to by your doctor, however insignificant they seem. We are seeing Tetanus and infection becoming more problematic because people are not tending to seemingly insignificant lesions. Without refrigeration you can use salt to preserve food, but never eat anything that's rancid. Make sure fowl and swine are well cooked. If you have any concerns about your drinking water, boil it. Never drink from a river downstream of a beaver dam. Mosquitoes and ticks spread disease, so use repellent if you have it available. Rats caused the bubonic plague, carry rabies and other diseases. A rat or a bat or even a dog can just as deadly as a ghoul. Learn how to identify poison oak, poison ivy, venomous snakes and spiders and other dangerous plants and animals. This is all covered in the materials I am distributing, so read it and try to stay healthy. Do you have any questions?”

Abraham does. “What can you tell us about walker bites and scratches?”

“Good question, doctor.” Painless turns to Abraham. “I didn't address that because frankly most of what we believe is only theory. We believe that the rapidly advancing fever and consequent death associated with infection is probably more related to the general infectious state of the ghoul itself than the disease that causes reanimation. Diseases and infections that might kill a man doesn't kill the ghoul, so the diseases and infections continue to fester and grow without hindrance. The resulting rot and decay probably contribute to the appearance that we associate with ghouls, but also with their seemingly infectious nature. In short, it is likely that what causes the syndrome that appears to cause the transmutation is actually no more than a transference of the infectious diseases that these ghouls carry rather than some unknown bloodborne pathogen. That is why the amputation of your leg saved your life Abraham. If a bloodborne pathogen were responsible it would have been distributed throughout your body in less than a minute and far beyond your lower leg in seconds, but most of the diseases and infections carried by these ghouls act more slowly. In theory, an immediate and thorough cleaning of the wound site should stop the infection from spreading, but the complexity of such a quick and thorough cleaning is beyond the scope of what is possible within current limitations of medical science, so this theory is still unproven to the best of our knowledge. A more practical approach is the removal of the wound site and the surrounding tissue. You are, excuse the pun doctor, walking proof of the effectiveness of this method. I should issue a few words of caution on this topic while we are at it. While most people believe that the only way to be infected by a ghoul is through a bite or a scratch, any contact with a ghoul or ghoul tissue can spread infection through an open wound or lesion. For this reason, we recommend extreme caution when attempting to handle a ghoul. In fact, we advise against handling ghouls at all when it can be avoided. Best to burn the bodies, and always wear gloves and a mask when attempting to move the bodies to a burn pile.”

In the yard Peace and Dave have finished the walk around and Peace is discussing his thoughts with Dave. “Ok, Dave, I have a few thoughts and ideas to share with you. First of all, I'd seal that tunnel. You can pile some of that rubble up and reinforce it with cement. That is your biggest vulnerability.”

Dave nods in agreement. “We are planning to, we just haven't gotten around to it yet.”

Peace continues, “Good. The water tower will run out of water eventually. I would cut the top off when it does so that it can collect rainwater. Then keep an eye on it so that you don't get dead rats and birds fouling it.”

“Good idea. Is rainwater potable?”

“It is these days. Not so much acid rain with the factories gone.” Peace looks toward the fence. “I wish I could think of a way to keep those ghouls from gathering around the fence. The fence is too massive to electrify... I don't know. Too many ghouls piling up on the fence could compromise its integrity. Plus, if we could keep the ghouls away we could bait the field out there to try to get some deer for you guys. Maybe we could set up some kind of distraction, A bell or something, but that wouldn't hold the ghouls' attention if a deer wandered up, not that one would with a bell ringing anyway. You'll figure something out. These are all minor details, and you've got this place buttoned down pretty well so far.”

“Thank you. These are all good points.” Dave waits expectantly.

“Now, don't take this the wrong way Dave, but you were a cop, so you're familiar with chain of command. Right now everybody turns to you for everything. They respect you, and they trust you, but the group is growing, and eventually you're not going to be able to handle everything yourself. You know that right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Have you thought about organization? I think you need to start delegating your authority and deferring to others. Not so much for yourself right now, but you need to start establishing more leaders. Let the people who will ultimately have to handle different aspects of the outpost start building trust and experience. I think the time for this is now while you still have time to guide them and make sure they can handle authority.”

“That makes sense. It's just easier to handle everything myself right now. I'm not an administrator, I'm a doer.”

“I don't like administration either. I have passed on promotions to remain in the field. Nobody is better than I am in the field, but the day will come when I will have to leave what I love to do something else. I think that time is now for you Dave. Not that you are not still plenty capable, but your people need you to assume a different role now.”

“How would you organize us, Peace?”

“Oh, that's not for me to do. I can suggest some basic structures, but nobody can decide who fits which role better than you. Nobody can decide which areas need more or less attention than others better than you. Of course, there are some obvious choices. Abraham, for example, is the only choice for heading up medical, but who would you follow into combat? Somebody has to head security, and if you were to ever find yourself needed for a security detail, you would need to defer to him even if you think you know better. That is what leadership is about, making other people successful.”

“And how do I do that?”

“You pick the people who are best qualified to do what needs to be done, and then you let them do it. Don't ever do anyone else's job for them. Nobody should ever have to report to more than one person. If somebody asks you a question about medicine, you send them to Abraham. Even if you know the answer, you send them to Abraham. If you answer their question, you are not letting Abraham do his job. It may seem counter intuitive, but it works. Trust me on this. So of course you can be an administrator, it's the easiest thing in the world.”

“I get that; chain of command. So what roles do you think I should institute?”

“I would start with three areas if I were you. Defense, Medical and Agricultural. Then, you can add new roles as needed, like Commerce or Justice. These are the people who report to you and only to you. You might call them Minister of Defense, Minister of Science and Medicine and Minister of Agriculture.”

“Isn't that a bit stuffy?”

“Yes it is. You don't tell Abraham 'I dub thee Sir Abraham of the scalpel, Minister of Science and Medicine,' you say 'Abraham, I'm putting you in charge of medicine.' Titles are for flow charts and directories. I don't care what you call them, and neither do they as long as you let them do their job.”

“Ok, I'll do my best.”

“Good, now to the final item. I am not going to put you on the map. I'm sure you agree that is for the best. Once you get a little better established we can revisit that decision. How about a green flag though? I gave you one for your vehicle, but would you like one to fly over the prison?”

“What is expected of us if we fly the flag?”

“Only that you treat anyone else flying the flag as a friend and that your actions don't reflect badly on The Republic.”

“We would do that anyway? What are the advantages of flying the flag?”

“Anybody who recognizes the flag will treat you as a friend of The Republic.”

“Ok, so if we fly your flag we face retribution from your enemies, right. I don't know if we're equipped for that.”

“All our enemies are dead.”

“All of them? No one escapes? What about the ones who surrender?”

“Dave, I was black ops. ALL of our enemies are dead. Didn't you see Saving Private Ryan? We don't want anyone seeking retribution against us or our allies. I will leave a flag with you. You can fly it when you've sured up your defenses.”

“We'll fly it.”

“Fly it when you're ready if you want to. We won't pressure you to fly our flag. We only want you to fly it when it's in your best interest to do so, and at this point it doesn't really hold much benefit for you if I'm honest. If you were out west I would recommend that you fly it for the protection it would afford you, but until we have established more of a presence out here I can't offer any significant degree of protection.”

“What if somebody asks about the flag, what do we tell them?”

“You tell them whatever you want as long as it's true. We have nothing to hide.”

“So, I should tell them that a black ops team baited us into a trap to give us gifts? Anyone would believe that.”

“It's the oldest trick in the book. Now let's go inside and see how the others are doing.”

When Dave and Peace return to the cafeteria, Painless is answering questions about The Republic. “A member is like a friend only with more responsibilities and more benefits. A republic under The Republic has to have elected officials and they have representation in The Republican Congress... Here comes Peace, he can tell you anything you could ever want to know about The Republic. He's one of the founders.”

“I didn't find it, I made it.” Peace keeps a copy of Plato's Republic even though he knows it by heart. “Don't look at me like I'm Thomas Jefferson, The Republic hasn't even been in existence for a year yet! Hopefully someone will come along and form a real government before this all gets out of hand. It all started because I read this book called The Republic of Pooh and I thought it was pretty cool. Apparently there was some old dude with a big beard named Plato and he really liked honey... I don't know, it's confusing, but it has a lot of pictures. Or was it The Tao of Pooh? Maybe it was Pooh and The Philosophers... Anyway, his best friend has this springy tail...” Another book Peace kept was Tao Te Ching, which he often describes as five thousands words extolling the virtue of action over words.

Dave almost lets another smile slip. “Ok, does anyone have anything else for Peace before he leaves?”

Marci stands up. “Will we see you again?”

“I can't promise you that,” Peace looks around the room “but I can promise that this will not be the last you see of The Republic.”

Dave walks over to Peace with his hand extended. “Thank you. Not just for the gifts, but for helping restore our faith in people, and for giving us hope.”

Peace shakes Dave's hand. “Stay vigilant, Dave. You are positioned for success here, but the rest is up to you.”

Painless helps Abraham stand up. “Come on, let's tend to that leg. We'll bring you back when we're done.”

The group walks Peace, Angel and Painless to the yard where the Humvee is waiting. Peace gets a large folded green flag out of the back of the vehicle and hands it to Dave as Angel and Painless help Abraham into the back seat before climbing in themselves. Peace climbs in the front seat with Sparky. Dave opens the gate for the Humvee and closes it behind them when they leave. Dave removes one of the new pistols from his holster and begins to clear the ghouls who have gathered around the gate.”

At the scout camp, Popeye is taking the fence down while Nero stands guard on the roof of the trailer. Each section of fabric retracts into its corresponding pole like a window shade, and in no time Popeye is lifting the entire bundle up to Nero on the roof. Popeye enters the trailer while Nero straps the fence bundle to the roof before climbing down and following Popeye into the trailer.

Inside the trailer, Painless is fitting a prosthetic leg for Abraham. “You're lucky you still have good articulation in your knee. Prosthetics were custom made, so this was only meant to be temporary, but it should work out fine. The fitment might not be perfect, but close enough. The ankle has a slight bit of articulation, but your gait will be a little stiff. The length is adjustable if you need to change it, just unlock this clip here and turn this bolt here. How does it feel?”

Abraham stands up. “Woah!” His balance is unsteady on his new foot.

“It's ok. Continue using your crutches until you get used to it. It will start to feel natural in a couple days.”

“I'm sure it will. Thank you doctor. Thank you.”

“No need for that, Abraham.” Painless looks at Popeye. “Will you escort us to the Humvee?”

“Ya mon. Hop on Popeye's back, him g'wan give ya'a ride!”

“No need for that Popeye, I'm going over with Abraham in the Humvee.” Peace smiles, “unless you want a ride Abraham.”

“I think I can walk.”

Peace walks over to an intercom on the wall. “Sparky, can you bring the Humvee up next to the door here?”

The intercom cracks, “I'm already here. It's all clear.”

Peace gives Abraham his hand as Abraham climbs down from the Trailer. Abraham climbs in the back seat, before Peace jumps down and climbs in the front of the Humvee. Peace picks up the radio, “follow us over, and wait for us on the highway.”

Dave opens the gate when the Humvee arrives. Peace exits the vehicle and walks around to the back as Sarah and Marci help Abraham out. Peace motions Dave over to the back of the vehicle. “There's one more thing I want to show you.” Peace pulls a riot shield out of the back and shows it to Dave. The shield has a dozen scuff marks where it has been struck by bullets. “I was wearing this on my back when you first saw me cleaning that deer in the road. Whenever I think I am losing my humanity I think of this shield, and it reminds me that I have never shot a man for his meal. Whenever you feel like you are losing your humanity, I want you to think of this shield and remember that there are only twelve marks when there could have been thirteen. Good luck my friend.”

Dave doesn't know what to say. He wants to say be careful or don't do that anymore, but he doesn't. The tears welling up in his eyes say it for him.

It has been twenty-four hours since Dave first saw a madman in a robe cleaning a deer in the middle of a lonely highway. In twenty-four more hours a madman in a robe will be cleaning another deer on another highway. Right now, that man is somewhere in a cloud of dust on a dirt road, nearly gone. A green flag flies over a prison fortress in Georgia.

***