by Eric Vall
“Thanks,” Viv smiled. “That would be really helpful.”
“We do think the Guard is heading south too,” I said.
“Yeah,” Rick nodded. “That’s why they had us making those wagons and shit.”
“Right,” I said. “So, I would avoid the interstate and main highways if I were you.”
“Okay,” Thomas nodded.
“Where do you think the guard is going?” Viv asked.
“We can’t be sure,” I said. “But we think Virginia.”
“They never told us anything,” Corey said. “All we did was work.”
“How did you get out of there anyway?” Tara asked.
“There’s a sewer grate that leads from a corner of the lot,” Thomas said.
“It goes over to some country club,” Rick nodded.
“Do the guards know how you got out?” I asked, and I narrowed my eyes.
“No,” Corey shook his head. “The only reason they knew we were out was because one of them spotted Annabelle.”
“Right,” Paige nodded. “You mentioned last time that they caught her.”
“Yeah,” Thomas frowned. “It was terrible.”
“Did they shoot her?” Anna asked.
“No,” Viv said, “they tackled her and tied her up.”
“That must’ve been awful to see,” Tara frowned.
“Tav and I saw how they treated you all,” Paige said, and she reached out a hand and laid it on Viv’s hand. “I’m sorry you all had to go through that.”
“It wasn’t as bad after Colonel Harkness left,” Viv said. “He would let his men use the women.”
“We took him out,” Anna said with a hard nod. “You don’t have to worry about running into him.”
“What do you mean ‘took him out’?” Rick asked with wide eyes.
“The whole camp,” Tara grinned. “We saved all the civilians too.”
“Why would you do that?” Viv asked.
“Wait, just the four of you?” Thomas asked.
“No,” Anna shook her head. “There were six of us.”
“Six?” Corey asked incredulously. “That’s still such a small team.”
“We’re well trained,” I grinned.
“I guess so,” Thomas said. “How are the people that were there?”
“They’re better now,” Tara nodded. “They found somewhere to make a home, and they’re safe, at least for the time being.”
“That’s amazing,” Viv said, then she frowned. “I hope we can find the same peace.”
“I’m sure you will,” Paige smiled. “We’ll get you a map, and I’ll help you figure out where to go.”
“You guys have already done so much for us,” Thomas said as he began to blink his eyes quickly. “How can we repay you?”
“No worries,” Anna said.
“Yeah,” Paige smiled. “We like to help.”
“Just pay it forward,” I smiled. “Help someone else when you can.”
“We will,” Thomas nodded, and he smiled at me.
“We should probably let you all get some sleep,” I suggested. “I’ll be on lookout for the evening, and I’ll keep an eye on this place as well.”
“That would be amazing,” Viv said. “It would be nice to get a good night’s rest.”
“We’ll get that map for you in the morning,” Paige smiled, and then she stood up, and the other girls followed suit.
“If you need anything tonight,” I said. “Let us know.”
“Okay,” Viv nodded. “Thank you again.”
My team and I made our way back to the firehouse, and Paige offered to take over as lookout, but I told her to get some rest and that I would wake her if I needed a break.
After the girls had gone back to bed, I thought about our skinny escapee friends and the torture they must have endured at the camp. It made me sick to think about it, but I was happy we had been able to help them out once more, and now we knew how they had escaped. Even if we chose to not act on that information, the rest of the group had a right to know, and we would need to have a discussion on the topic.
I sat on lookout and watched the small light in the house go out, then the street was dark, and I was left alone with my thoughts, so I tried to focus on the good in our situation, instead of the inevitable dangers that winter would bring.
Chapter 6
The next morning, I woke the girls at dawn. I hadn’t slept at all, and I was ready to head back home and offload our supplies. Truth be told, I was extremely concerned about the winter. My girls and I were capable fighters and resourceful survivors, but even the most competent people couldn’t stem a hundred-thousand strong tide of humanity. My thoughts had been dwelling on the impending crisis and the different options available, and I had to admit to myself that for the time being I didn’t have all the answers.
“Were you on lookout all night?” Anna asked with wide eyes once she noticed the daylight shining through the windows.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“You should’ve woke me up,” Paige frowned.
“It’s fine,” I told the pretty brunette. “We should go get a map for the others.”
“Yeah,” Paige nodded. “Anna, did you say you know where the library is?”
“Yeah,” the redhead answered. “I’ll go with you.”
The girls stood up, rolled up their sleeping bags, and headed out the door.
“Soooo…” Tara said, and she rolled on her side to look at me. “Wanna fool around?”
“We should probably get ready to go,” I chuckled. “It is tempting though.”
“Okay,” Tara pouted, and she stuck out her full bottom lip at me before she stood up and stretched.
Tara raised her arms over her head and arched her back as she stretched, and I couldn’t help but watch her perfect, perky breasts push against the top of her tank top.
“You stare a lot for someone who doesn’t want to fool around,” Tara said, and she cocked an eyebrow at me.
“It has nothing to do with want,” I laughed.
“Well, that’s good to know,” the platinum blonde smiled and then leaned forward and gave me a kiss.
“We should go help Anna and Paige,” I said in an attempt to stay focused as I headed toward the door.
“Should we get the other people?” Tara asked as she followed me.
“Not yet,” I shook my head. “Let them sleep a while longer.”
“Okay,” the blonde nodded, and we walked toward the library.
We found Paige and Anna looking through the shelves in search of a useful map, so we moved to help, but it only took a few moments for Paige to find what she was looking for.
“This should work,” Paige announced as she looked over a large, foldable map.
“Does that show them how to get south?” Anna asked, and she looked over Paige’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” Paige nodded. “It should help them avoid the guard too, they can try to follow the lakeshore down.”
“That might be smart,” Anna commented. “The coastline doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
“If they could find a boat that would be even better,” Tara said, then she sighed. “It’s been forever since I’ve been on a boat.”
“You like boating?” Anna asked, and she cocked a red eyebrow at her blonde friend.
“Well, yachting,” Tara nodded. “But yeah.”
“I don’t know if that counts as boating,” Paige chuckled.
“A yacht is just a big boat, isn’t it?” Tara sneered playfully.
“I guess so,” Anna laughed. “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been on one.”
“We’ll make that our summer goal,” Tara grinned. “We’ll find a yacht and have a party.”
“A party, huh?” I asked with a smile.
“Well we can drink all we want if we take it out onto the lake,” Tara chuckled.
“I’m not sure about that,” Anna laughed again. “But we’ll put it on the lis
t.”
“That’s all I ask,” Tara smiled.
“We should get this map over to the others,” Paige said, and she started to walk to the front door of the library.
“Yeah,” I nodded, and I followed her. “We should get home and offload this stuff. We need to call a meeting.”
“What for?” Anna asked as she walked beside me.
“Well, now we know how the prisoners escaped the Burlington camp,” I said. “I think it’s only right we share the information.”
“I thought we decided to focus on ourselves?” Anna asked rhetorically in a confused tone.
“We did,” I nodded. “But we should still share any information we receive. We want to build a solid trust between everyone.”
“That makes sense,” Anna said, and she pursed her lips. “I guess even if we don’t do anything about it, it would be nice to include everyone in what we know.”
“Right you are, Major,” I chuckled.
When we arrived at the house where the escapees were, we knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.
“Hey,” Viv said as she opened the door. “Come in.”
“No thanks,” I shook my head. “We really should be going.”
“But we brought you the map,” Paige said. “I marked some roads I think are best.”
“Thank you,” Viv said, and she frowned. “Are you sure there isn’t anything we can do in return?”
“Just take care of yourselves,” Anna smiled.
“We will,” Viv nodded. “Thank you again.”
We made sure all our supplies were strapped in and that nothing would fall out, then we grabbed some granola bars from one of the boxes to eat on the way home, and before long we were back on the road.
It was a beautiful day with chilly morning air, and a bright orange sun rising in the east.
“I’m glad we ran into those people again,” Paige said as she ate her granola bar.
“It feels good to help people,” Anna smiled.
“It does,” I nodded. “I think they’ll be fine on their own. It was really nice of you to help them with a map, Paige.”
“It was nothing,” the brunette said, and she turned a bit red.
“Give yourself some credit,” Anna smiled at the brunette.
“Yeah,” Tara nodded. “Without you I’d be so lost. Like, literally lost.”
“I’m pretty handy with a map,” I said. “But I think you’re better.”
“I’ve just always been good with directions,” Paige shrugged, and she smiled at me.
“I can’t wait to be home,” Tara groaned.
“We still have to offload all this,” Anna pointed out.
“Yes,” Tara nodded. “But I called first dibs on a shower.”
“When?” Paige asked the blonde.
“Right now,” Tara grinned.
“That’s not how dibs work,” Anna laughed.
“Pretty sure that just worked,” Tara shrugged.
“Oh my god, you’re ridiculous,” Paige chuckled.
“I call second dibs,” I said.
“I guess we’re SOL for the day,” Anna said to the brunette.
“Looks that way,” Paige said. “I’m sure we can find something better to do anyway.”
“We do have board games now,” Anna grinned.
“Actually, could you two run and tell the farmers and civilians to come for a meeting tonight?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Anna said. “Same time as usual?”
“That will work,” I nodded.
The drive home seemed longer than it was, and by the time we arrived I had forgotten how tired I had been from not sleeping, and I was just happy to be back home.
Bailey rushed over with Winchester in tow to give me a hug.
“I’m glad you’re home,” the blonde hippie said into my chest.
“It’s good to be back,” I said as I kissed the top of her forehead, then I turned to Rolly. “How ya doin old timer?”
“Not too bad,” the old man grinned. “Got started on the chicken coop.”
“Great,” I smiled. “We have lots of unloading to do.”
“Looks that way,” Rolly nodded. “Had a good score in Burlington?”
“We didn’t quite make it that far,” Paige told him.
“Yeah,” Anna nodded. “We got this stuff from Morrisville.”
“Looks like you cleaned out the place,” Bailey smiled as she inspected the full trailer.
“Pretty much,” I chuckled. “Let’s get this offloaded.”
“Do you want some coffee first?” Rolly asked. “We just made some since we got back from checking the traps.”
“Yes, please,” Tara groaned.
“Me too,” Paige nodded, and everyone started to walk toward the firepit.
“Come on, Tav,” Anna called. “I’m sure you could use some coffee.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “You’re probably right.”
I was antsy to unload and tally up our supplies, but Anna was right, they weren’t going anywhere and a cup of coffee sounded like just what I needed right then, so I followed the redhead to the fire pit and took a seat next to her.
“Hey buddy,” Paige said as she petted Winchester.
“He turned out to be a damn good dog,” Rolly grinned as he poured us cups of coffee.
“He did,” I nodded. “I wasn’t sure if the guard guys had done a number on him or not.”
“He seems like he got over it pretty quick,” Anna chuckled, and she reached out to pet our dog.
I took the cup of coffee from Rolly, and we were all quiet for a moment as we enjoyed our first sips of the hot beverage.
“After we unload is there anything specific you want us to do?” Bailey asked.
“We’re going to have another meeting tonight,” I told the pretty blonde.
“About what?” Rolly asked.
“We found out some information we want to share with the others,” I said.
“Do we get an inside scoop?” Bailey asked with a smile.
“Of course,” I smiled back. “We found the escapees that Paige and I helped on our trip to Burlington.”
“They were in Morrisville?” Rolly asked, and his bushy gray brows pulled together.
“Yeah,” Paige nodded. “But they wanted to head south.”
“That’s good for them,” Bailey said. “But does that warrant a meeting?”
“Well, that’s not the information we’re sharing exactly,” I smiled.
“They told us how they got out of the camp,” Anna said, and Bailey’s eyes widened.
“That’s great!” Bailey exclaimed.
“Don’t get too excited,” I warned her. “We’re going to talk to the group and make a decision together about what we should do with the information.”
“Right,” the pretty blonde nodded. “That makes sense.”
“We’ll figure out the best course of action for our group,” I told her, and I put my hand on her shoulder. “Even if it’s not what we really want to do.”
“We have to think about survival first,” Anna nodded, and she gave Bailey a small smile.
“I get it,” Bailey nodded. “But that’s why we’re having a meeting right? I can share how I feel with the group too.”
“Yes, you can,” I grinned at the cute blonde. Even if everyone decided against helping the prisoners, it made her feel better to know that her voice would be heard, and I was proud of her for standing up for what she felt was right.
After we finished our coffee, we unloaded the truck and trailer, which took some time, but we were still able to get in some target practice and make dinner before the others arrived for the evening. Once everyone was seated around the fire, I stood up and moved so everyone could see me.
“What’s the meeting about, Tav?” Betty asked, and she leaned her head against Rolly’s chest.
“We’ve been doing all our daily chores,” Jeff told me.
“I have full trust that ever
yone is doing their jobs,” I smiled. “That’s not what this is about.”
“We found out how the civilians escaped from the Burlington camp,” Anna announced.
“Yes,” I nodded. “There’s a sewer grate that leads to the country club.”
“Wow,” Cathy said. “If only we had known when we were there.”
“The question tonight,” I started, “is what to do with this information.”
“What do you mean?” Justin asked.
“Well, we have two options,” I said. “We can choose to use this information to help the other civilians still in the camp, or we can do nothing with it.”
“I think we should help,” Bailey smiled at the others. “We don’t have to let them live with us, but we should at least free them.”
“Isn’t that risky?” Joanna asked with a frown.
“It is,” I nodded.
“Yeah,” Mike said. “I know you guys are badasses and everything, but I wouldn’t want to volunteer you to do that.”
“I’m willing to go if that’s what we decide,” I said, and I smiled at Bailey.
“Yeah,” Bailey grinned. “Me too.”
“I don’t know,” Jeff frowned.
“If it all went wrong, I don’t think we could last without you,” Betty said, and she looked at me.
“That won’t happen,” I said. “But even if it did, I know you all would be fine.”
“The guard does have a lot of supplies,” Jeff said.
“That’s true,” Cathy nodded. “If we could sneak in there, we may be able to get some stuff.”
“We can scavenge for our own supplies,” I said. “Without having to secretly infiltrate a military base to do it.”
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “But they have a reserve of gasoline.”
“And I know they have some canning machines,” Joanna offered.
“Another canning machine would help a lot,” Betty said. “It’s going to be impossible to keep up with just the one while we harvest, even if we have someone on it twenty-four seven.”
“Well, if we’re going to get the canners and gasoline there’s no harm in helping the prisoners,” Bailey said with a frown.
“You’re right,” I nodded. “We do need the canning machines if we’re going to survive the winter. We’ll go in and grab the supplies, but we’ll help the civilians escape as well. But let’s be clear, the canning machine is the priority. Everything else we sacrifice if we have to.”