Arthur left Joseph no choice but to accept the deal. There was one last thing Arthur wanted to do. He took his Beretta out of his holster. He aimed it right between Joseph’s eyes.
“Do we have a deal?” Arthur asked.
Aiming the gun had no emotional weight against Arthur. He would have no regrets if he was forced to fire.
“Get me the keys,” Joseph said. “And get those people out of here.”
Arthur approached the small gang of well-armed deputies alone. He had no weapons on him, but he was guarded by his hidden squad. He held his hands up. The deputies watched him with suspicion painted on their faces.
Arthur’s heart pounded in his ears. He didn’t see Byron around, so he feared they had already killed him. He imagined what he appeared like to these men. He was in full armor, a set of mirrored sunglasses, and his Army ball cap turned backwards.
“I’m here to talk,” Arthur said. “Can we talk civilly?”
“Come with me, Colonel Hummsfeld,” a deputy said.
The deputy led Arthur to a white building with blue trimming several blocks away. It seemed as though the building use to be an old pub.
“Go in,” the deputy said.
Arthur wasted no time. He went in to find three men sitting at a booth. He took his cap and sunglasses off.
“Join us, Colonel,” one of the men said. He gestured at the empty seat across from him.
Arthur sat down as instructed. He studied the chipper looking man who seemed to a leader. He was a stocky man with a goatee, dark spiky hair and brown eyes.
“I’m here to talk about our ordeal,” Arthur said.
“Well, Arthur, I think we can discuss that you tried to raid us. You killed one of my deputies. You were also involved in one of the worst cases of genocide in human history.”
Arthur tilted his head and narrowed his head at the speaker.
“You killed five of my troops, and you are hopefully holding my top advisor and friend.”
“Byron Greene is fine, other than a broken rib,” the man that Arthur assumed was the sheriff said. “He’s being treated.”
“Who are you?” Arthur asked.
“Ian Svuehm, the sheriff of Genesee County.”
“We have a problem,” Arthur stated. “First of all, you are right. I am guilty of everything you mentioned. I will likely be doing laps in the lake of fire after I die. I’m not the one you need to worry about.”
“You’re the second person who’s said that,” the man sitting next to Ian said.
“If Lieutenant told you about the captain, then you know he’s capable of killing every last one of you, including your families. He can go take a nap right after and sleep soundly.”
“Is it the weapons you all want?” Ian asked.
“I don’t want them now that I know you have people to look after. When I thought the station was empty, I was trying to get ammunition. We’ve nearly exhausted what we had.”
“So you don’t want them anymore,” Ian said, more of a statement than a question. “What about this Spelasky?”
“He wants the station, and everything in the armory,” Arthur replied. “He’ll also take the city.”
“He can have it all,” Ian said. He laughed as if Arthur had missed a joke. “All he’ll find is air and gust mites.”
Ian pointed at the opposite wall with a thumb. Against the wall sat stacked crates of weapons and ammunition.
Arthur laughed harder than Ian, who looked at him as if Arthur cracked.
‘Jokes on you, you son of a bitch,’ Arthur thought to himself. Arthur revealed his embarrassing high-pitched laugh.
“Sorry,” Arthur said, waving off the humor of the situation with both hands. “Spelasky is going to be quite upset. As for you and your families, we can get you down to Detroit and away from the captain.”
“How can you assure that we’ll be safe there?” Ian asked.
“Part of the arrangement with Spelasky states he’s not allowed back in Detroit, or I’ll have him killed. He’s completely off the deep end.”
“I see,” Ian said. “Byron mentioned a group of survivors in Dearborn that you don’t want the captain to know about. Is that where we’re supposed to go?”
“It would be the best place,” Arthur said.
(“They’ll be protected by you and your deputies, along with your families.”)
Ten soldiers arrived at a sight they weren’t expecting. Crews of people were working on a trench along Mercury Drive. Among them were other soldiers. Backhoes and bobcats ripped into the grass covered roadsides. Buckets attached to pulleys carried dirt from the trenches. Other people were building brick posts for heavy steel gates at the entrances to the parking lots.
The soldiers from Arthur Hummsfeld’s company were spotted quickly. Shovels were replaced with silenced assault rifles. No one was going to take a chance against the newcomers. People wielding spears and compound bows reinforced the rifle-bearing soldiers.
(“I’m not exactly sure what their condition is,” Arthur said. “They may be living in squalor, with no food or weapons to protect them.)
Hummsfeld’s troops were surrounded by thirty or more armed men and women. They dropped their weapons to raise their hands in surrender.
“Get the fuck down!” different men and women soldiers repeatedly yelled.
The squad was forcibly placed on the ground. They were restrained with handcuffs while their guns were taken out of their reach.
Then a woman who wore a lieutenant’s insignia on her lapel stood before the ten.
“What brings you here?” the woman said. The squad leader read the name on her uniform.
Warm rain began to fall, which made the situation seem more ominous.
(“They’re likely scared and alone, with no help. That’s where you’d come in.”)
“Lieutenant August Daley?” the squad leader asked.
“Who’s asking?” the woman asked.
“I’m Sergeant Paul Loggings. We were sent by Colonel Arthur Hummsfeld.”
“What does he want?” August asked.
“He wants to meet in three days,” Sergeant Loggings replied. “He would like to know what all of this is. He swears that you all will be safe. He told us to warn you to watch out for Captain Joseph Spelasky.”
“I’ll have to talk to the survivors here,” August said.
The lieutenant was away for some time. When she returned, she had more soldiers with her.
“Tell the Colonel we’ll meet with him when he wants,” August said. “Tell him that we are prepared for Spelasky. Never come here with guns again. We won’t be as cordial next time.”
“How many people do you have here?” Loggings asked.
August walked away again with a gesture. The ten soldiers were brought to their feet. Instead of having their guns returned, they were given spears.
Hummsfeld’s men walked back to their vehicles feeling as if they were soundly defeated in a battle. They returned to Pontiac Lake neighborhood with the reply to Arthur’s inquiry to meet. The colonel hadn’t returned yet from Flint.
Joseph stood in the empty weapon armory alone. In his right hand jingled the keys for the armory. His men were somewhere in the station making the place theirs. Colonel Hummsfeld already left for Detroit with the sheriff and their families. Flint was now his.
“Sir, we brought someone with us that would like to talk to you,” a sergeant said at the doorway.
Joseph silently walked out of the armory. After he closed the door, he turned to face a man in a full uniform. He had the rank of captain on his lapel.
“Hello, Captain Spelasky,” the man said with outstretched hand. “My name is…”
“Nikolai Grayson,” Joseph said. “We’ve met before. You’re an army doctor and scientist.”
“That’s correct. I think we can help each other out.”
“Is that so,” Joseph said.
“I know of a growing problem in Detroit,” Nikolai said. “There are
refugees mixed with guardsmen.”
“You’ve seen them personally?” Joseph asked.
“I was inside,” Nikolai said. “I’ve seen what they are doing in this store in Dearborn. They are getting help too.”
“Who’s helping them?” Joseph asked.
“Lieutenant August Daley,” Nikolai told Joseph. “I was with her in Farmington. She didn’t obey the directive.”
Joseph rubbed his eyes after he received the bad news. Every word that came out of the man’s mouth kept making the news worse.
“I’m guessing we’re not going to get even close to that place now,” Joseph said.
“Not without help from inside,” Nikolai said.
“And you can help with that?” Joseph asked.
“I came across some survivors that may help. I could tell them to get inside, and leave the door open for us.”
“And do what?”
“Finish the job,” Nikolai said. “Orders are orders, and we have a duty to carry them out.”
“I’m not allowed to go anywhere Detroit,” Joseph said. “We also have Arthur Hummsfeld who thinks he can rescind the order. He wants to let them live.”
“I can go, and get my crew to do it,” Nikolai offered.
“If you think you can, you’d have my gratitude,” Joseph said. “You crew would have a door open to be excluded from death. If you get a chance, take that lieutenant out in a way she’d walk around mindlessly.”
“Consider it done,” Nikolai said. He left immediately to begin the mission.
“You saw her?” Arthur asked Sergeant Loggings. “Are you sure it was Lieutenant Daley?”
Arthur was bristling with joy at what the sergeant said.
“It was her,” loggings said. “She has a lot of people with her, a lot of soldiers too.”
“She has refugees with her at this place you went to?” Byron asked.
“I’m not sure if they were refugees, or people she gathered while being out. She took our guns and gave us these.”
“That’s not a problem,” Arthur said. “What did she say? Did she ask about us?”
“She said not to go back with guns, or they won’t be as receptive,” Loggings said.
“She used the word ‘cordial,’” a specialist from Loggings squad said.
“That’s right,” Loggings said. “She said she would be willing to meet you in three days, but she went to ask some survivors. We don’t have her cooperation.”
“We have her exactly where we need her,” Arthur said. “She will protect those people from Spelasky.”
“We warned her about him,” Loggings said.
“That’s great news,” Arthur said. “You did us, and those people a great service, Sergeant. You should feel good about this.”
“We feel like we got our asses whooped,” Loggings said.
“Don’t feel that way,” Byron said. “The colonel is right, you did a fantastic job. We have a long way to go before we could scratch the surface of redemption, but this was a good start.”
“I can never join those people,” Arthur said. “I’m condemning myself from that, but you all, when we’re through with getting this all worked out, I’m going to send you to Selfridge and help those people take it. You can join them after that.”
Byron nodded at the colonel, but his face screamed frustration. Arthur knew that as long as Joseph Spelasky was alive, people were going to die. Byron has told Arthur many times that he wasn’t the same kind of man as Joseph, and not to bring himself to Joseph’s level. But Arthur was stubborn. The colonel would even admit that fact. For the first time in nearly a week, Arthur was truly happy.
“Tell me what you saw,” Arthur said.
“They are building what looks like a trench where they’re staying,” Loggings said. “There are buckets on pulleys, backhoes, bobcats, and massive piles of dirt along the north road. They are also building gates at the entrances. It would be a fight to get anywhere near there. We saw piles of burnt bodies on the other side, likely from the reanimated.”
Arthur listened to the report with great interest.
“I’m not sure if the soldiers are from August’s platoon or not,” Loggings continued. “There were a lot of them with the civilians. Civilians were holding these spears and compound bows. The guns were all silenced. Other than the sounds from the backhoes and bobcats, it was nearly silent. They don’t want to attract the attention from something.”
“Dearborn is crawling with the reanimated,” Byron said to remind Loggings.
“I was wrong when I told the sheriff they were alone and scared,” Arthur said. “Ok, so we’re going to cover them from the north. Pass this along. All of my soldiers are ordered to leave those people alone. They are to keep this to themselves. We do not want this getting to Spelasky. As far as I’m concerned, these people earned their right to live out their lives. They refused to listen to the evacuation orders. They have a good thing started, and we’re going to allow them to continue. Understood?”
“Hough,” Byron, Loggings and the specialist all said.
“You two are dismissed,” Arthur said. “Your squad has tomorrow off, you earned it.”
Arthur shook the hands of Loggings and the specialist tightly. He saw that their mood had changed from downtrodden to more relaxed and proud of an accomplishment they hadn’t realized they made. Weapons can be replaced, but the discovery was priceless.
Arthur lost five men by his own mistake, but he also took in a sheriff and ten deputies. He wanted to send them all to August to help her, but he also had to deal with the problem in Flint. The captain will eventually figure out about the people in Dearborn, if he hadn’t already. Joseph won’t just go away. He’s going to have to be killed.
“Why didn’t I let those people live?” Arthur thought out loud.
“Are you thinking about Warren again?” Byron asked.
“Yeah,” Arthur said. He sat down with a grunt.
“You need a break,” Byron stated. “Stop being such a depressing pussy. You’re not the only person who’s fucked up, pretty badly, yes, but August had the majority of her camp reanimate.”
“You’ll come with me when we meet them, right?” Arthur said.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Byron replied.
“Send Durbin’s squad out in place of Loggings,” Arthur said. “They’re going to set up a patrol between us and Flint. They are to shoot any of Spelasky’s men who try to get passed them.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Byron said.
Byron left immediately to issue the new order.
Chapter 13: Breakdown
“Oh, hey Sarah,” Scott said. “I wasn’t expecting anyone else out here. Are you stalking me?”
“Ha-ha, very funny. What are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep because someone next door, ahem, Jeremy was busy getting it on. I think with August,” Scott said with a prudish look on his face.
“Again,” Sarah said. She burst out laughing when Scott nodded.
“I think so, but it’s ok. Everyone deserves to be happy, except me.”
“I have a feeling you’ll find someone special, Scott.”
“I’m not holding my breath. How about you? Do you have anyone in mind?”
“I’m still mourning Mark’s death,” she said. “I’m not ready to have a relationship right now.”
“I understand that, but you also have to let go. Don’t let time leave you behind.”
“I’m more worried about taking care of all of them,” Sarah said. She pointed from a hand that rested on her knee. A lone shambler wandered well off toward the Ford Building. “Then we can explore love. What I mean, you deserve love as well, and Robert. We both know that Jeremy is getting some.”
Sarah knew Scott was falling for her, and hard. He would throw a hint that he was attracted to her. Not like Jeremy in his first meeting with August, but she knew. He decided to act on it. He leaned toward her with a kiss to her lips. When she didn’t k
iss back, he backed away and saw she was stunned.
“I think we had a bit of a misunderstanding there,” she said quietly.
“I’m sorry, I just,” Scott mumbled. “It’s just how I feel.”
“I don’t see you like that. Like I said, I am still in pain over Mark’s death, and I have to be careful with Tracy. It was a nice kiss, but Scott. I’m not the woman for you.”
“Wow, I feel like an ass right now.”
Sarah didn’t know what to say. It was a desperate move by the man.
Scott took in a deep breath. He nodded in the direction of the lone shambler.
“Wonder who he was,” Scott said about the lone shambler.
‘Seriously,’ Sarah thought. ‘You kiss me, get denied, and now you want to get all philosophical.’
“If he get’s any closer, he’ll just be an addition to a burn pile,” Sarah said. “Goodnight, Scott.”
She got up and walked inside.
-----
Jeremy groaned when he fulfilled the intimate connection between him and August. He heard his heart pounding rhythmically in his ears from the exertion. His face found a warm spot against her neck.
For no apparent reason, they both began to laugh. They were both covered in beaded sweat from both the hot July evening and making love.
They had fallen so deeply for each other, with this being the third time tonight they made love. They decided to go without protection again. It was the night that their triplets were conceived. Their bodies remained intertwined as he kissed her. He didn’t want to leave the warmth of her body, or the touch of her skin against his.
“Oh my god,” August said, trying to regain her breath. “Jeremy, we’re crazy.”
“I don't think so.”
“I love you so much,” August said. “That alone is flipping nuts.”
“Then I guess we’re both crazy,” he replied. “I love you, too.”
‘And the crazy thing about it, it’s true,’ Jeremy thought.
Jeremy took a deep breath. He moved down to lay his head on her breasts.
“Do you realize how beautiful and exotic our children are going to look?” August asked, followed by a chuckle. “We’re going to end up paranoid old bats, even after they’re fully grown.”
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