“That’s Phil,” Melissa whispered. “He used to help build stuff for the kids back at Treefort.”
“I wonder what he’s doing for Fletcher in return?” Nash asked as they passed by. The sounds of the dead filled their ears as they walked along the wall and listened to them clamor. They could see Dietrich sitting on their front porch, eating a bag of chips as they approached.
“Are you sure you can trust him?” Melissa asked as they cut across the upward slope of their front yard.
“Nope,” he said while he made eye contact with Dietrich.
“So…did you take communion?” he asked as he closed his chip bag and placed it beside him on the porch.
“I think you know we didn’t,” said Nash, a stern look on his face. “Can we talk inside?”
Dietrich smiled and nodded, then stood up and let Nash and Melissa pass. The new lock took the key smoothly as Nash turned it and opened the door.
“You saw the women I assume,” said Dietrich.
“Yes, we did,” said Melissa.
“And I’m assuming he pointed out the missing spots in the pews to you.”
Nash replayed the image of the man from the Fort closing the curtains as he passed.
“Have you ever been with one of them?” asked Melissa coldly.
The question hung angrily between the three of them. Dietrich’s usual easygoing demeanor broke, visibly stunned by the question.
“In a way, yes,” he said plainly. “It’s not something I’m fond of talking about though.”
Nash took Melissa’s hand in an attempt to calm her. “Let’s cut to the chase. You’ve said we have friends here and I assume you mean yourself. Either let me know what’s really going on around here or we’re done here.”
Dietrich exhaled deeply and scratched his forehead. He showed himself into the living room next to the foyer and opened up the curtains, revealing the view of the path that led up to the home. He sat in a comfortable looking leather chair as Nash and Melissa followed him and sat across in a loveseat.
“I play the game well but I don’t fit in here.” Dietrich kept his voice down and calmly looked out the window as he spoke. “These aren’t my type of people.”
“You seem to fit in just fine,” said Nash. “You didn’t have to spy on us all that time by the creek. You could have warned us what was coming.”
“I didn’t have a choice, Nash. You’ve seen what he’s built here and I’m sure you can tell the caliber of people who are loyal to him. If I had given up my post and warned you all, he would have stormed in and murdered every last one of you. I think you know he would have destroyed your group if that had been the case. He has the firepower and the manpower. I knew he’d make the offer to have you all join him if you didn’t fight, so yes; I let it happen.”
“Tell me about your communion,” said Nash as he circled back to the original subject. “You say you don’t fit in but you’ve been with one of his girls from the church.”
Dietrich sat silent for a moment and tried to hide the fact that his own eyes were starting to well with tears.
“About a year ago, my wife and I were living in an abandoned school a few miles from here. It was a community similar to your own, but we were severely under prepared when he came calling. He gave us the same offer he gave your group, only the coward in charge of our group disappeared without alerting us to his offer. I’m sure you saw with Barry that Fletcher likes to use the dead as weapons, and that’s precisely what he did. He flooded the halls of the school with those monsters in the night and by morning, most of us were dead, including my wife.”
Everything about Dietrich’s secretive behavior came into focus as he sat in front of them.
“He could see pretty clearly that we had no idea that he’d offered us the chance to join him and took pity on the ones of us that had survived. I don’t know why but he took a liking to me, up until Duncan anyway. He knew I was out of sorts after my wife’s death and kept his distance, but his empathy only lasted so long before he was ready to start manipulating me with his communion.”
He stopped talking for a moment to check his watch, something he’d done a few times while he sat in the chair.
“I’m sorry,” said Melissa.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I would have done the same if I’d been in your position. He beckoned me to the church one afternoon, just like he did to you today. I walked up the aisle, just as you did, and there he was sitting in that ridiculous throne of his. I saw all the women sitting there, staring forward like a bunch of living mannequins. You can imagine the strength required to not react to seeing my wife sitting in the second pew, wedged in with the rest of those poor girls.”
“I’m so sorry, Dietrich,” said Melissa.
“He explained to me about his communion and what he required of me in return. I somehow kept my composure as I explained to him that my wife was sitting in the pews. That alone was easily the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. He initially offered her to me once a week, like any other communion offering he gives to his subjects, which I was unwilling to agree to. In the end, I basically committed to being his official servant. He calls me his handyman. Anything he needs, anything he wants, I get it done. In exchange, I get my own home to live with Sherry. He set me up with everything I need to keep her healthy and I’ve been living with her ever since.”
Dietrich constantly looked around, as if he was waiting for someone to catch him talking about things he shouldn’t. There was resolve in his posture, but fear in mannerisms, which made Nash equally as paranoid.
“You want him dead…” said Nash abruptly. He wanted to grab the words back the moment they left his lips.
For a moment, Dietrich just stared back at him and Nash thought he had made a big mistake. But he took a long inhale, held it and then with unblinking eyes said yes.
"I want to take this place from him and turn it into something proper. In better hands, this place could be a safe haven. Taking this place from him is going to be a delicate, complicated affair so please keep all of this between us.”
“Of course,” said Nash.
“As awful as it sounds, I got lucky with having Sherry here. It was an easy out, not having to partake in his communion like the other junkies here. The two of you will have to figure something out soon though. He won’t be okay with you making him wait.”
“I know,” said Nash.
“I’ve already prepped him that you’re good outside the walls. We’ve been here for a while but there are still plenty of areas around to explore. He sends groups outside daily to monitor the surrounding areas and to bring back supplies. He already knows I want you on my team, so if you ask him, he’ll let you.”
“And what about Melissa?” Nash asked.
“We can either get her an easy job in here or we might be able to get her on my team as well. You’ll have to play your cards really well, Nash. You’ll have to play the game.”
“I know what to do,” said Nash and stood with Dietrich as he shook his hand. They could see that Duncan was walking down the street with one of the gardeners who had finished his daily duties and noticeably strung out on his communion.
“I’ll keep you in the loop as much as I can, but for now, the less you know the better,” said Dietrich as he patted Melissa on the shoulder and made his way to the foyer.
With that, Dietrich left the house and joined Duncan and the junkie as they walked down the street. Nash could see through the edge of the curtain that Duncan was straining his neck to see into their windows.
“I never would have guessed he’d gone through all that,” said Melissa as she rubbed her face in exhaustion.
“I had a feeling he wanted Fletcher gone but I never knew his motivation.”
“You said you had an idea on what to do for communion,” she asked.
“I do; it’s going to make our house a little weird for the next while.”
Church bells began to sound loudly, like an alarm.
&
nbsp; “What’s going on?” Melissa asked, eyes wide. She pointed towards the windows as a dark silhouette ran past.
Nash leapt to his feet at the sound of the front door opening, expecting to see Duncan but instead, a somewhat panicked Dietrich appeared in their foyer.
“You need to come with me, right now,” he said, as people ran wildly through the street behind him.
Chapter 22
"What’s going on?” Melissa asked nervously as they joined Dietrich outside.
“Just follow me, and please, keep calm with what you’re about to see,” he said as they hurried down the road. “Any erratic behavior is going to show your hand and he’ll have you killed on the spot.”
The streets were dotted with people as they made their way toward the center of town. Some of them moved quickly with big smiles on their faces, while others walked at a normal pace, expressionless as they went down the road. Melissa nudged Nash and pointed to the steps of a house as they passed. A woman sat on her porch, barely able to hold herself upright as she sat immersed in the trip of some drug she had taken.
The church bells continued to ring loudly as Dietrich led them to join a growing group of people heading for the back of the church. Other members of the Treefort had gathered too and were intermingled with the members of Fletcher’s group. It was the first time they’d seen everyone gathered at once, and each of them had the same shallow, empty stare that Nash easily recognized from when he’d first met Barry.
Fletcher stood centered on a large platform situated directly against the back of the church as the group crowded around him. He raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth and a moment later the bells atop the church stopped chiming.
“Thank you all for coming,” said Fletcher. A scepter was resting on his shoulder while he spoke. “Most of you know what this meeting is all about, but for those who don’t, this is an atonement ceremony.”
The group stood in silence and watched him speak, as they hung on his every word. Nash and the rest of the Fort members listened to him with a nervous curiosity.
“Bring her up,” said Fletcher as he tapped his scepter on the wooden platform.
Duncan walked up a set of stairs at the edge of the platform, pushing a woman in front of him. The woman had her hands bound in front of her as she struggled to keep her balance, Duncan nudging her from behind. Her eyes were sunken in and empty, and once again, Nash was reminded of the day he’d met Barry on the roadside.
“Please,” said the woman, the word barely audible as tears rolled down her face.
“Quiet!” yelled Duncan and smacked her across the face with an open palm. She sobbed loudly as members of the group laughed and mocked her.
Nash looked at Dietrich in horror, shaken by seeing Duncan so aggressively violent toward the woman on the stage. Dietrich looked forward, his face unwavering, which sent a message to Nash to keep his cool.
“Most of you know Rose,” said Fletcher as he placed his arm around the lady’s shoulder. “Rose has been with us for about four months and she’s done wonderful things while working at our beauty salon. But, what she did last night was anything but wonderful.”
The woman continued sobbing loudly. Nash could see the imprint of Duncan’s hand across her left cheek.
“Communion is a very, very simple idea,” continued Fletcher. “You tell me what you want and I give it to you. In return, you work for me. You help me in keeping this oasis of ours afloat. The key to that statement is I give it to you!”
Fletcher’s anger drew some light applause and a few whistles from the overly faithful.
“You get your communion from me, weekly. You don’t go around my back to try and get more and you especially don’t break into the storehouses and steal from me. Like I said, it’s a very simple idea, which means there’s no room for second chances.”
“Please, Mr. Crawford! It won’t happen again, please!” Rose’s words were slurred, the drug she’d stolen clearly altering her senses.
“I know…” said Fletcher.
With that, he removed a large Bowie knife from behind his back and ran it quickly across the woman’s throat. Blood sprayed from her neck as she fell to her knees, gasping and gargling as she tried in vain to take in air. Duncan put his arms underneath her armpits, which forced her arms out to her side as she bled out helplessly in front of a now cheering crowd.
“For you new folks, this is a perfect example of how things go around here, and for everyone else, let this be a reminder. My rules are not to be trifled with.”
Fletcher placed his index finger into the flow of blood that came from Rose’s throat. Behind him, on the outside of the church, were dozens of reddish-brown tally marks. He walked up and ran his bloody finger on the wall, leaving a new, crimson-red tally beside all the others. Fletcher left the platform, which left Duncan behind to hold the dead woman up in front of the now silenced crowd. He began to wiggle her arms about wildly and made her corpse dance in front of him like a marionette.
“That’s enough, Duncan!” yelled Dietrich from the crowd.
“Too soon?” asked Duncan as he looked over to the edge of the stage to find that Fletcher stood and motioned for him to join. “You’re no fun, Dietrich.”
Duncan let the woman’s body fall in front of him into a growing pool of her own blood as the group slowly dispersed.
“Let’s go,” said Dietrich, snapping Nash and Melissa out of their shock.
Chapter 23
The atonement ceremony had closed and the group had mostly departed, save for a few junkies who stayed behind to poke and giggle at Rose’s body. Dietrich led Nash and Melissa to the park across from the church and sat in the shade of a large oak tree.
“You could have warned us!” Melissa hissed.
“No, I couldn’t have,” said Dietrich as he sat on the bench in front of them. “There is nothing you could have done to help her and I didn’t want the two of you going in with chips on your shoulders. I am sorry though. It’s not an easy thing to watch.”
“How often does that happen?” asked Nash.
“Often enough. Usually more often after a new group has joined us; someone trying to escape or taking more than they were allotted in their communion.”
“Can you take Melissa back to our house?” asked Nash.
“Pardon me?” Melissa reeled. “I’m not going anywhere with anyone but you.”
“I’m going to Fletcher to take our communion and I don’t want you around while I do it. I’m dreading what I have to do, and I don’t want you to see it.”
Melissa sat for a moment, staring at him with apprehension in her eyes before she stood to join Dietrich.
“Good luck,” said Dietrich.
“I’ll need it,” he said to himself.
He inhaled deeply as he sat alone on the bench, looking at the church that loomed nearby. A church was not a place to sell your soul. It was supposed to be a place where you could save it; or at least redeem it. That’s how Nash chose to look at this moment. That’s how he would live with his communion. Take communion, save Melissa. He repeated this mantra in his head as he made his way to the doors of the church.
The guards opened the large double doors as he approached and smiled at him as he walked up the steps and into the church hall. Fletcher sat on his throne at the end of the isle, his legs crossed with a book in his lap.
“Nash!” he cooed as he adjusted his glasses and closed his book. “Come on up here, my boy!”
Nash walked briskly up the aisle, glancing briefly at the women sitting in their pews as he walked. He noticed a few more open spots as he approached and his stomach clenched.
“I’m sure you and Melissa were shocked by the atonement ceremony. I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m not going to lie Mr. Crawford, it’s not what I expected to see once the bells started ringing.”
“Oh please, my name is Fletcher. I don’t think we’ll ever be seeing the two of you on that stage so don’t worry yourself too much.
What can I do for you?”
“Well, I have a few things actually,” said Nash, his hands in his pockets as he talked. “I was talking with Dietrich today and he was telling me there are groups that do sweeps of the area outside the walls.”
“That is correct,” said Fletcher. “Dietrich told me you handle yourself well out in the wild.”
“I did daily trips outside the fence back at the Treefort,” he said. “I’d like to do the same for you here.”
“I see,” said Fletcher as he sat forward slightly in his seat. “That could be arranged, I suppose.”
The two of them stood in silence as they listened to the soft breathing of the women around them.
“I think you know what’s expected of you next,” said Fletcher with a stern face.
“Melissa and I talked a long time about what we could possibly take for communion. It wasn’t an easy talk, and I learned a few things about her I hadn’t known before. She would have come with me but she’s too embarrassed. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course. I will eventually like to speak with her about her communion, in the future when she’s more comfortable.”
“I do have one condition, though,” said Nash, timidly.
“Go on,” said Fletcher as he grabbed his scepter and leaned back into his chair.
“Melissa comes with me, outside the walls, whenever I’m out there.”
“You’re worried about leaving her alone in here with Duncan.”
“Yes. He’s threatened her in the past,” said Nash. “Do we have a deal?”
“We do. Tell me, what is this communion that your girlfriend is so embarrassed over?”
“This is confidential, I assume?”
“Of course,” said Fletcher. “Don’t worry, he’ll never know.”
Nash came forward and stood beside Fletcher, scanning the women who sat in the pews.
“I never would have guessed,” said Fletcher with a smirk. “Take your pick.”
“They’re all gorgeous,” said Nash as he scanned the women in front of him. “How do you keep them so fresh looking?”
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