by TW Brown
“Seriously,” Braden continued, “all we have to do is station somebody at the entrance and start making some noise. We have all sorts of things stashed over there to make noise with, and in no time, that little gulley is packed with walkers. Once we have a good bunch headed out, we have somebody else make noise back this way. It stops the flow and brings them back around. It ain’t perfect, but it seems to work pretty freakin’ well. Sorta like a leaky zombie faucet.”
“Can we bring them all?” Catie asked.
She knew that she was crossing a line if she chose this path, but much like the era of the old Cold War, she needed a nuclear option if reason would not be heard. This was exactly the sort of thing that some evil villain in one of Kevin’s stories would do. Using the undead as a weapon was terrible, but if she could not reason with these other communities, starting with the folks of Montague Village, then she would take drastic measures.
“All?” came the chorus from all four of the Beasties.
“There has to be over five thousand down there,” Chuck gasped, leaning out over the lip of the ledge and giving a low whistle.
“You know how long it took us to get that many?” Mario asked. “And every time we bring out a batch and run them through town, we always lose a couple. This has been our safety net.”
“Yes, well it is time that we venture forward without a net. Trust me, if I call on this option, it is a last resort.”
“Look what we have here,” a voice called from behind the five individuals standing on the ledge overlooking the sea of undead.
Catie felt her blood freeze up just a bit as the voice quickly pinged on her radar as both familiar…and dangerous. She already had her weapon in her hand, and each of the Beastie Boys had his crossbow ready as they turned to face the owner of the voice. When she turned, she found herself staring at the familiar visage of Eldon Lindsay.
This was the man who had first interrogated her when she had arrived at Montague Village. She had put a small beat-down on the man when Dean had ordered him to remove her from the chamber where Kalisha was about to be punished for having left the compound without permission and then returning with a stranger in tow.
Eldon was standing with a dozen men and women in protective gear. Each of them had a bow aimed in their direction. This did not bode well for her or the boys on the surface.
“Hi there, Biff,” Catie said, doing her best to sound casual. She had once told Eldon Lindsay that he reminded her of the character, Biff, from the Back to the Future movies. She stood by that assessment.
Three of the people with the man snickered and quickly tried to cover it up. Apparently Catie was not the only person who saw the resemblance.
“Interesting that we find you and your little band of…” Eldon let his voice trail off as he gave a flippant snort and apparently dismissed the four young men. “Aren’t they a little young for you?”
“You mean my security detail?” Catie gestured to the boys who now flanked her; two on each side.
“Not worth much if they let us just walk up on you. And considering the fact that my people all have weapons held on you, I don’t see how they could have any use at this point other than playing the role of human pin cushions.”
“Listen,” Catie held up her hands, “you don’t have any reason to hurt these boys.”
“Catie—” Braden started, taking a step forward to put himself in between her and these strangers, but she held up a hand and eased him back.
“I will surrender to you right here and now if you promise to let these boys go.” Catie reached down and unclasped her belt, letting her weapons drop to the ground. “No tricks, no games. I will come with you freely.”
“But you can’t!” Louis insisted. Catie gave his shoulder a pat and eased his arms down so that the crossbow was pointing at the ground.
She nodded to the others to do the same and then she returned her attention to Eldon. Holding her arms out to her side, she took a step towards him.
The man seemed at a loss for a few seconds. He obviously had not expected this reaction from her. Judging by the look on his face, the man seemed annoyed that she was not putting up a fight. She also noticed how the people with him were letting their weapons droop a little with her apparent refusal to engage.
“Let the boys go right now and there won’t be any bloodshed.”
“You would come with us of your own free will?” Eldon finally asked, sounding confused.
“You people don’t understand,” Catie sighed. “Of course I will come of my own free will.”
“I guess you boys can go,” Eldon finally said with a shrug. “We’ll be seeing you again real soon, though. You can count on that.”
“You heard the man,” Catie said over her shoulder. “Head home, I will be okay.”
“But, Catie—” Braden protested, only to have her silence him.
“I said go home…NOW!”
The four young men moved away, keeping their eyes on the people from Montague Village as well as continuing to look to Catie as if they expected her to change her mind at any moment. She simply gave them a slight nod and then returned her attention to the man standing before her with the eternal scowl seemingly a permanent feature on Eldon’s face.
Things were not going exactly to plan, but they were at least following what she anticipated. There was still a long ways to go before she would actually feel comfortable. Also, she was relying a great deal on other people. That had never been her strength. She always felt that she had to have her hands in every aspect of an operation if it was going to succeed. That used to drive Kevin crazy. The thought of him allowed her to focus on the task at hand once more. It was a pain sharper than any rubber band being snapped on the wrist. She hoped that she would be able to process that loss someday, but for now, she had a job to do.
She needed to establish a safe place to bring up her child. With that in mind, she locked eyes with Eldon.
“I want this whole thing squashed.”
“Are you out of your ever-loving mind!” Eldon spat. “You people murdered Dean Stockton in cold blood.”
“No!” Catie countered. “Denise DeCarlo murdered him. I met with him to try and reach an understanding about the immune citizens of your community.”
“We don’t have any,” Eldon said with a quiet calm that bristled with the hatred he felt towards all who were immune.
It took Catie a few moments to realize what he had said. Surely he could not mean what she thought. She looked deeper into his eyes and saw the cold hatred. Her encounters with this man had been unpleasant for the most part, but she did not think he could possibly be meaning what was going through her mind.
“Every last one of them,” he whispered as if reading her thoughts. “And we won’t stop now until all of you are gone.”
“Are you sure it has to be like this?” Catie asked. She looked at the individuals who stood just a few steps back and was more than a little discouraged when they all seemed unable to keep eye contact. She looked back up at Eldon and felt her resolve intensify with the flutter in her stomach as the baby inside her made itself known; always seeming to do so at the most important moments.
“I am sure that we will not rest until we root out every single person in your little community of freaks and cut them down.”
“So why let the boys go?” Catie asked.
“So they can return with the word of your capture and imminent death. Maybe some of the fools will mount an attack or rescue attempt. It will be so much easier for us if you people just walk into our turf so we can kill you with minimal risk.”
“Do you have any idea how ridiculous this is?” Catie countered.
“Saving ourselves? I don’t think that is ridiculous in the slightest. I think it is no different than what you and your people were planning…first with Elliott and his scheme to poison us and wipe out anybody who is not immune, and then your plan to force us to accept you people or face a siege led by a mob of the undead.”
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br /> Catie was not all that surprised to have him reveal that there was a spy in their midst. She was a little surprised that they were apparently so well-informed and that they could so easily betray their own people…her people.
That thought hit her with a hard suddenness. Her people. She was one of “them” now. Somewhere along the way she had chosen her side. For better or worse.
“I will give you one chance to sit down with me and meet. Let us talk things over and come to an agreement. It isn’t too late, Eldon,” Catie said calmly.
She knew the answer before it came out of his mouth.
“You got guts, I will give you that.”
The words left his mouth and then there was a hiss. From the tall grass, fifty people rose up as one. Arrows flew and death came fast for almost all of Eldon’s people. Catie walked over and looked down at the man. She expected his face to be a rictus of pain or that permanent sneer; instead, she saw a sense of peace. Kneeling, she brushed her fingers over his eyes and shut them. Looking back up, she saw Melvin striding towards her.
“We should be hearing from the other teams before long,” the man said as he surveyed the death all around them.
Catie had planned on Montague Village sending out scout teams. She knew that those people had the numbers when it came to manpower. If her forces were going to have any chance, they would need to whittle down the opponent’s numbers. Ten or twelve people represented a lot more these days. Taking down four patrols would mean committing her entire compliment of fighters, and it was a risk, but it was one they needed to take to have a chance.
It had apparently worked to perfection. The reports came in over the next hour as each of the teams managed to take down a scouting party. The death toll came in at fifty-four people. That was a huge number in today’s world.
“Where did you come up with this idea?” Braden asked as the last team leader exited the room. They had created a post in the remains of an old movie theater lobby. Catie was sitting on the metal counter sharpening one of her many knives.
“The Native Americans,” she answered without looking up.
“Huh?”
“They used to lure out soldiers from the forts back in the old days. The soldiers were so overconfident in their superior firepower that they would only send out a detachment. Those fools would roll up on a whole bunch of pissed off Natives who were fighting for their land.”
“But didn’t they lose?” Braden pointed out.
“Eventually,” Catie said with a nod. “It was a numbers game. That has been an issue throughout history. Superior numbers can withstand an attack for much longer because the casualties don’t hurt them as bad.”
“But we are the minority…does that mean we are gonna eventually lose?”
“Maybe.” Catie shrugged as she sheathed her blade and put away her sharpening gear. “If we are truly the minority, then it will be tough sledding. And that is why I had our little excursion go to your zombie pit.”
Braden had almost forgotten about that little trip. When the people from Montague showed up like Catie had said they would; he had been too amazed at her ability to make such a prediction.
“I want you and Mario to continue with that plan. I want the pit emptied, and I want the zombies directed at Montague Village,” Catie announced as she headed for the door.
She emerged onto the deserted street of what had once been some suburban hub of Chattanooga. It looked like every other small community on the outskirts of every city she had seen. That was another side-effect of the zombie apocalypse; it had basically wiped out anything and everything that made someplace special and unique.
That had been the realization that Catie had come to over these past few months. One place was pretty much like the next. There was no such thing as states or even countries anymore. All that remained were pockets of survivors trying to carve out a new life in a dead world. However, she believed that the dead were almost done. They had performed their role in thinning out a world that had grown over-populated and wasteful. The global reset button had been pressed and released.
It was a new game. Her mind drifted momentarily back a few days when she had realized just how drastically that game had been altered.
***
Catie moved along the roof of the building. From her position, she could see the lights of Montague Village just starting to shine as dusk deepened and the night drew near. They were more like pinpricks, but in such a concentrated area, it made finding the village a relatively simple task.
She brought up the binoculars and scanned the buildings. She knew exactly what she was looking for and even in the poor light of lanterns and a few bonfires and barrels, she believed that she would eventually find what she was seeking.
At last, her diligence paid off. Her target came into view. Catie felt her stomach twist and a sour taste fill the back of her throat. As she watched her target walk into one of the buildings with a handful of people in tow, she sighed.
“I guess I will never understand human beings,” she muttered.
She climbed to her feet and moved back to the large gray piece of defunct machinery that once pumped cool air into the warehouse she was currently using for her little mission. She came around the old swamp cooler and looked down at the expectant face staring up at her.
“Is he there?”
“Yes, Kalisha…Marty is there.” Catie sat down beside the girl who snuggled up under her arm and shuddered just a bit. Catie was not sure if it was due to the cold or if the girl might be crying. “By the way, that was not only a very smart thing you did, but also very brave.”
“It made me feel dirty,” Kalisha whispered. “I was so sure that I was wrong and that all of the bad things would be my fault.”
Catie gave the girl a squeeze. She reached in her pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper with the scrawled note. She still could not believe that this little girl could be so brave, so practical, and so apparently wise for being so young.
The note had been stuffed into her hands that day she had first come to the library to see Elliott. It was from Kalisha, and the things that it said were just too incredible to believe. If they were true, she might never be able to trust another human being ever again.
They had been true. Boy howdy had they been true.
***
The note said that Marty and Melvin were working as spies for Elliott and Dean Stockton. Double agents of the zombie apocalypse. Now there is a book title for you, Kevin, Catie had thought when the words had come to her head as she tried to make sense of what she had been told by Kalisha.
The twins were playing both sides against each other by giving each of the ego-driven leaders just enough information to incite them in the direction that the twins wanted things to go. She still had no idea why they had acted like they were friends with her, or cared about her at all for that matter.
The note also said that Kalisha had discovered that the twins were the ones who had been behind pushing Elliott to use the serum as a bio-weapon against the unknown. They had convinced the man that Dean was about to launch a full-scale attack on downtown Chattanooga and raze every building in the process. If Elliott would have demonstrated half a brain, he would have seen that for the lie that it was. The firepower needed for such an act of war was a thing of the past.
While it was true that the firepower to take down large numbers of people was now ancient history, human ingenuity had found a way. She had heard of such things. Over the years, she had seen what a herd of the undead could do to a settlement.
The first time that she and Kevin had come across one such scene, the devastation had been indescribable. The stories from the few survivors they encountered who were picking through the remains of their former homes were horrible and amazing.
Kevin had listened to the accounts like he did anything of that nature, and then become a bit of a prophet. His words had been chilling, and Catie recalled thinking that it was just a case of Kevin thinking so far abo
ve and beyond the normal human mind.
“People will eventually figure out a way to turn zombies into weapons.” She had elbowed him and told him he was being silly. “How long did it take for people to start using the blood as a bio-weapon? As soon as somebody comes up with a way to gather a large crowd of the undead and use it to take down another community, we will be back in the Cold War era all over again, but with much less stability.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Catie had pressed.
“It is our nature. Mankind is nothing if not ingenious when it comes to devising ways to kill each other. We are the creators of countless horrible biological weapons and then we have our nuclear arsenal. It is simply the way we are wired. Look at history. Disease ridden blankets? Us. Atomic bombs on two Japanese cities? Us again. We kill. That is what man does, and he does it with a ruthless efficiency.”
Kevin had continued in his ranting lecture, and the entire time he did, Catie had considered him to be just a bit mad. Yet, in the back of her mind, a not-so-small small voice was pointing out that everything he was saying was solid truth and cold facts.
Armed with the knowledge that she was standing in the middle of a hornet’s nest and steadfast in her decision to make this her new and permanent home, Catie had some tough decisions to make. She knew that even only being a few months into her pregnancy, she was still too far along to just up and leave. Who knew what else she might find out there? Add in her status of being immune and the varying reactions that brought, and Catie was of the mind that she had no other choice. She would have to do terrible things, but they would serve a greater good. She knew right then that the road ahead these next few days would be barbarous and bloody. She would have to revert to that old version of Catie that existed before Kevin.
She would need to fight and kill.
Catie had told Kalisha to take her brother and hide. There were a number of buildings in the downtown area that were empty. They had found one of the taller office buildings and the brother and sister had gone there to wait until Catie gave the word for them to come out.