by TW Brown
“Those of you who have made the choice not to help, you have six hours to be packed up and out of here.”
There was a moment of almost perfect silence and Catie braced herself for what was sure to come. It started with a couple of people gasping, but then came the protests. One in particular stood out as exactly what she was hoping and waiting to hear.
“Who are you to kick us out of our home?” a man snarled, shoving past the people who had made the choice to step forward.
“I’m the new person running this show,” Catie said coolly. “Elliott is gone and now it is me making the rules and the decisions. We are a community of immune citizens. We are looked upon as a threat to those who don’t know their condition. Considering the fact that there are only two possible outcomes to being infected, I can’t blame the unknown. However, due to how some of our brethren have chosen to use their status as a weapon, we are not exactly welcome in many communities.”
“That still doesn’t tell us why you are suddenly telling us we have to either fight in a fight of your choosing or be cast out,” the man shot back. “We were doing just fine before and had a system in place that has allowed us to survive for years.”
“Yes…survive.” Catie let that word hang in the air for several seconds before she stepped up to the man, her nose just an inch or so away from his. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to just survive. I want to live. I want my child to be able to live free and not hide in fear.”
“So you come here…execute the man who has held us together and stood against Dean and his tyranny and prejudice, and then tell us that we will be going to war?” the man continued to press, not backing down or showing the slightest degree of being intimidated by Catie.
“That is one way of looking at it,” Catie replied with a shrug.
“What is to stop one of us from simply killing you and cancelling your war?”
“That would be us.” Marty suddenly seemed to appear at the man’s left and Melvin on the right.
She had no idea how they did it, but the two monstrous men had been all but invisible until that very moment. Their sudden appearance at this man’s side made everybody step back and form a halo of empty space around the four individuals. Catie put a finger on the man’s chest and tapped him twice.
“There is no welfare system anymore. You either do your part with and for the better of the community, or you are out. It is that simple and it is not up for negotiation. If you would like to change your mind…” She paused, stepping back far enough so that she could let her gaze sweep over all who had yet to step forward. “This will be your last opportunity.”
That seemed to do the trick. Catie was not all that surprised. Nobody wanted to go out into the world alone and have to try and survive. Despite some of the romanticized fantasies of the old fiction, nobody survived out there on their own for too long. That had been the big reason that she had decided to try and make a go of living here.
Even in the many travels that she and Kevin had embarked on during their amazing trip across the country in that doomed attempt to see if perhaps his mother or sister had managed to survive, they had always fallen in with groups of people. Some had remained with them for months, others for just a few weeks or even a couple of days. The world was simply too dangerous for anybody to voluntarily go it alone. That was perhaps why most communities had one universal punishment when dealing with those who did not abide by the rules: banishment.
Being banished was the new form of capital punishment. Now that she had everybody on board, she was prepared to put her full plan into motion. The Beastie Boys would be leaving right away for their part in the mission. The only thing that she struggled with now was the fact that Kalisha and Caleb were still unaccounted for and people considered her a child killer. Now that she had dealt with the general population, Marty and Melvin would start for Montague Village and see if perhaps they could find any signs that the children had gone that way. She was doing her best to make it known that she considered them missing and not dead.
***
Catie stood about fifty yards from the main entry to Montague Village. She was flanked by the Wonder Twins. It had only been three days since she had assumed control, but it already felt like a lifetime ago. She was fairly certain that pretty much everybody that now marched under her command hated her and hoped that she would die a horrible death.
She could not say that she blamed them.
A student of history, she had pulled a page from the book of George Washington. She had held a public execution and announced that she would be hanging three individuals that had decided to go AWOL. When the sentence was about to be carried out, she granted clemency to one of the trio saying that she believed the person’s claim that the other two had been the instigators. After that, people seemed to jump any time she gave a command.
As she stood staring at the gates of Montague Village and waiting for Dean to show himself and decide whether or not there was going to be a fight, she had time to second guess every single decision that she had made up to this point. It all started with her order to execute Elliott. Had that really been necessary?
Yes, she told herself, the man wanted to have some of his people sneak in and contaminate the water or food or whatever and then give those who showed immunity the option of joining him.
Despite her own actions these past few days, she did not believe that her sins equaled those of the deceased lunatic. Yet, did any despot truly believe that the acts they were committing to be evil? Her only true regret in regards to having Elliott assassinated was that the two children, Kalisha and Caleb had disappeared and that the people all believed she had something to do with it.
“Well, well, Missus Dreon,” a familiar voice called down, snapping her back to the business at hand.
“Dean, nice of you to come and speak with me,” Catie called up. She had to shield her eyes a bit from the sun; she also could not actually see the man’s face. That had to change. “How about you come on down and we can speak civil. I believe things can be handled in such a way that benefits us both.”
“I find that unlikely, Missus Dreon. However, I will come down and hear you out. I am bringing ten men with me. You are welcome to do the same.”
“And we meet inside the ruins of that old gas station,” Catie said, pointing to the collapsed and charred ruins a few hundred yards to her left.
“I don’t believe so. We can meet right where you stand or not at all.”
Catie considered his offer. It did make sense. If she was setting him up, then surely she would want to meet him someplace where she could ambush him. She did not like the fact that they were in range of the guards up in the guard towers and catwalks, but she knew this might be the best offer she would be given.
“Deal.”
There was a long wait. In that time, Catie had the Wonder Twins bring up eight more people they felt would put up a good fight if it came to that. She was actually a little surprised when Denise DeCarlo strolled up.
“I want to hear what he says with my own ears,” the woman said. Her tone was flat, and Catie told herself that she would keep an eye on the woman. Later, she would make it a point to confront Marty and Melvin. She would ask them what the hell they were thinking bringing this woman up as one of her ten, although she would have her suspicions. Denise had been just a bit off since this mission began.
At last, the gates opened and Dean Stockton emerged with his entourage. They were wearing a lot of protective gear and every one of them except for the administrator of Montague Village was bristling with a variety of weapons.
“You sure about this?” Marty said out of the corner of his mouth.
“I haven’t been sure of anything in a long time,” Catie answered.
“You do a lousy job of instilling confidence,” Melvin whispered.
“So, Missus Dreon, I see that you have jumped ship. I take it my man Clarence won’t be returning?” Dean stopped about five feet away, his securit
y detail pulling up just a few feet behind him.
“Clarence went down like a soldier, but I had nothing to do with how that occurred.”
Dean studied her face; he was obviously looking for any signs of deception. Catie had no problem looking the man in the eye; after all, she was telling the truth. And this was actually the opening she was hoping for.
“Elliott is gone as well.” Catie let that hang in the air for a moment. Of course, if Marty and Melvin had come here, then it was probable that Dean already knew that much. “He was going to try and infect your entire community and then come in and scoop up all those who did not die. He wanted the immune to be free.”
“Free?” Dean scoffed. “Free is a myth. None of us are free.”
“That is easy to say when you are running the show,” Catie said. “You have made your community open to the immune, but they are not really welcome, are they? You keep them under your thumb and relegate them to a lower caste than the unknown.”
“I have done what needed to be done in order to keep the peace.”
“That’s bullshit. You put bands on people’s arms and have passed laws where they can’t own property.”
“We are the only community in the area that allows their kind to live within the protective walls—” Dean started, but Catie cut him off.
“Their kind?” She struggled to keep her voice under control. If she could do this without having to start her “reign” with a war, that was absolutely preferable. Still, she also knew the value of bargaining for a position. Right now, she was establishing her place in this man’s eyes. “Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?”
“The immune are a threat to anybody that they come into contact with,” Dean shot back. “They are walking biological weapons.”
“And I have no issue with making the public aware of who is and who is not immune, but to basically turn them into indentured servants, stripped of any position of authority—”
“You cannot put those people in control. If you met with Elliott, then you understand why.”
“I understand that he was the flip side of the coin to you. Both of you want to force the other side to take a lesser role. How can you not see that there does not need to be anything of the sort? The immune offer an advantage in this new world. But if they are going to be the ones put at risk, then is it not only fair that they be compensated?”
“I see you have been digging around in things from the past.” Dean stepped just a few inches closer, but the threat was obvious in the gesture. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I suggest you let those sorts of things be.”
“You were one of the names Sandy Bennett was going to reveal.”
Dean stared for several seconds before a smile spread across his face. His smile changed to a chuckle.
“Nothing quite so sinister, I’m afraid,” he finally said. “Although I do suspect a few people that might have been about to be exposed.”
“So you had nothing to do with her mysterious death?”
“I don’t think there is anything mysterious about it. She was going to rat a few people out and they shut her up before she could say their names and change their positions.”
“But that is part of the problem,” Catie insisted. “The fact that they had a status to lose…” Her voice trailed off when he raised his hand to interrupt once more.
“Listen, unless you can give me something that I can take to the people inside Montague Village, I believe that we are done. You have two choices from this point. You can either bring your people in and join this community, or you can walk away and be considered outlaws.”
“Outlaws,” Catie laughed.
“Nobody will trade with you, nobody in this area wants anything to do with your kind. You are pariahs.”
“Now I am going to give you a choice,” Catie said with her voice calm, but brimming with her confidence. Dean started to laugh again, but her hard expression killed it before he really got going. “You can let all the immune leave with us, and I will give you an hour to remove their bands and send them out the gate. If you decline, then we will consider you and your community hostile and act accordingly.”
“Accordingly?” Dean laughed, it sounded cruel and bitter. “I happen to know very well the people that Elliott had living under his umbrella. They were outcasts, weak and cowardly. Why do you think he never tried to attack me before? He knew that his people were not fighters. Maybe it is something in the genes. Perhaps the same thing that gives immunity is the same gene that makes people nothing but a bunch of pacifist pussies.”
Catie took a step back and raised her hand. “Be sure, because I won’t give you a second chance.” She watched as Dean’s gaze drifted past her shoulder. She felt her stomach tighten as she hoped that he was seeing what she wanted him to see.
“I seem to have underestimated you,” Dean finally said, his gaze drifting back to her.
Catie kept her expression stoic. She made it a point to not look over her shoulder. She did not want Dean to spend too much time examining her reinforcements.
“I don’t know how you have done this, and I am curious as to who you may have brought in. I don’t believe another immune community exists near here.” Catie let her eyes scan the people that Dean had brought in support. They all appeared a bit wide-eyed and more than a little nervous. Her gambit was paying off.
“I do hope that we can come to some sort of an accord,” Catie said, stepping back and joining her group.
“I am not certain that you understand what you have walked into, Missus Dreon,” Dean said.
“Just as I am not certain that you realize who you are dealing with.”
Catie turned. Had she waited just a second longer, perhaps held eye contact for just one more heartbeat, she might have been able to stop what happened next. At least, that is what she would tell herself over and over again for the next several days.
“You son of a bitch!” a voice snarled.
The meeting had been calm. Perhaps that is why everybody, including the team sent to escort Dean Stockton and see to his safety, did not see it coming.
Denise sprinted the very short distance and launched herself at Montague Village’s administrator. She apparently had a spring-loaded blade strapped to her wrist. It was that weapon that plunged into the man’s back.
The few seconds that it took for everybody to react proved to be enough. The woman was able to pull her blade out and then jam it home once more, this time plunging it into the side of Dean Stockton’s neck. There was a spray of crimson and the man made a gurgling noise.
The armed escort had snapped out of their frozen stance of shock and surprise, but Marty was already acting. He grabbed the woman by the hair and yanked her from the back of her victim.
There were shouts of alarm and anger. From up on the wall, somebody shouted the command “FIRE!”
Catie knew better than to stand still. She also knew that there was no way she could say anything that would help the situation at that very moment. The people on the wall had just seen their leader attacked and most likely killed.
“Fall back!” she shouted as she turned and ran for the cover that currently seemed a million miles away.
There was a good section of ground that had been cleared long ago to prevent anybody from sneaking up on the village’s gates undetected. That would also allow the people on the wall to pick off her detail as they ran for their lives. Fortunately, most of her army had been ordered to hold their position on the outskirts of the dead zone. (That was what she had always called any clearing on the outskirts of a settlement.) That meant the most they would lose would be her and her ten escorts.
She reached a ramshackle building and scooted around the corner. She was panting and gasping as she tried to catch her breath; also, there was a throbbing pain in her left calf that was now overpowering the run-induced stitch in her side. Looking down, she was not exactly surprised to see the shaft of an arrow jutting from the back of her left leg just a f
ew inches below the knee. Reaching down, she grabbed it with the idea of yanking it out. As soon as she touched it, her body dropped any and all chemical reactions that had so far been isolating her from the worst of the pain.
Catie had to clamp her teeth together to keep from screaming. She slid down to a seated position and pulled her knife, setting it beside her just in case something or someone came upon her. She was deciding on how best to handle the injury when the sounds of running feet snapped her head up. She had her knife in her hand in the blink of an eye and waited to see who owned the shadow that was closing fast. If it went past her and was the enemy, she would keep her mouth shut and hope she wasn’t noticed seeing as how she was not really in the best condition for a fight.
“Melvin!” she hissed as the massive form lumbered past.
The mountain of flesh stopped and instantly dropped to one knee and then rolled to his right with an agility that Catie still found incredible. The man came up with the building she was using as cover shading him from any arrows that might make it this far.
“You’re hit,” she gasped. She had just the one arrow sticking out of her calf; Melvin had at least four arrows that she could see. They were poking up from various locations, but the one she could not tear her eyes from was the one sticking out from almost the center of his chest.
The man glanced down at himself and scowled. With what looked more like annoyance than anything else, he slapped away the most critical looking of the shafts. When he did, Catie saw what looked like a bladder of some sort under his clothing.
He looked up, catching her puzzled expression. Pulling open his vest, he revealed a large square that looked like it was perhaps some sort of reptile skin.
“This is one of Marty’s little contraptions.” He pulled it away from his body and Catie saw something spill from it. “Sand,” the twin chuckled as it poured from the hole made by the arrow that was now at his feet.
“Very clever,” she said with an appreciative nod. “And where is the gigantic genius?”