“Do you see any obvious weak spots, Steve?” Erika thought she recognized that voice. It was the darker-skinned man she had seen before. What was his name? Oh yeah, Doug. It was that same man that she had overheard in the jeep. She had averted him then, and now, here she was overhearing him once more.
“See where the fence is just made of that sheet metal?” Steve replied.
“Yeah.”
“Well, if we could throw something sharp through it, with a barb on it like a fishing hook, we could tie it to a rope and use them to break those walls wide open.”
“All right, Steve, I’m buying what you’re selling. With a big barb, we might be able to take those walls right down. Too bad we couldn’t find those horses that left those tracks the other day. We would be more mobile down there. We only have the one truck that can make it down there and back up again through this shit. Plus, you know what our gas supply looks like. I almost hate to waste any on another raid. Animals like that could make a big difference. We could tie the ropes to them and use them to rip those walls down in no time.”
“We have what we have, boss, and that’s it. Unless we can get more from those tree huggers down there, and I think the grapplers would do the trick. I know just the materials we can use at the compound to make them. You know those iron fence posts? All we need to do is sharpen them and weld on barbs and we are set. If all the guys pitch in, we could be ready by nightfall.” Steve’s plan was formulating.
Erika was starting to develop a much bigger picture of what was going on here. She ascertained that this guy, Doug, was the leader of the group in Auburn. He had brought his guy, Steve, here to devise a plan to attack these people! What was she going to do? She couldn’t attack two fully grown men. They had been hardened from all this fighting. She was one little woman with two sticks, who was she kidding. She had her family to get home to. Not to mention Star and the horses, who were still waiting for her. This was not her fight, but why did she feel she had to help? She could not deny this overwhelming urge to protect these people on the river. The ideas were running round and round in her head. All her thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when the men below started to move again.
Erika shrunk back as she saw Doug and Steve slowly and cautiously start to make their way back up the canyon. They were so concerned about not being seen themselves that they never bothered to look for footprints of anyone who may have followed them. Erika followed them back up. She was concerned about being spotted but wanted to learn more of their plan.
“Steve, do you really think we could have the grapplers ready by tonight?” Doug questioned.
“Yeah, I do, boss,” Steve replied confidently.
“Good. Because there is a rumor that they are preparing to leave,” Doug said in a concerned voice.
“Leaving? Where would they go? Where would anyone go?” Steve questioned curiously.
“I don’t know and I don’t really care, but they are blocking a good spot to access the river, they have food supplies from somewhere, they have some smart fellows down there that made that generator they run. I even heard that they have at least half a dozen women in that camp. We have to overtake them before they leave,” Doug insisted.
“What are you talking about, Doug? If they leave, we can have their camp without a fight. I understand that we need supplies, and raiding and killing have been necessary to keep us alive and safe, but we can’t take people. What would we do with them? How would we feed any more people than we already have in camp?” Steve sounded shocked by Doug’s suggestion.
“Think about it, Steve. Those men are smart enough to get us connected to someone who might still be out there, waiting to rescue us. They already have power down there, and they can make more at our camp. They can figure out how to fuel our vehicles. Plus, if we capture them by force, what say will they have in what they do or eat. If they don’t do what we say, then they won’t eat, or we will just beat them for a while.
“As for the women, I don’t know about you but I could use some action. We have thirty guys and five women at camp. It is a regular sausage fest. Plus, four of those women are married, and the last is already taken by Bill. We could take those women down there and hold them at the compound. They can cook and clean and if we need some action, well, they can take care of that to, if you know what I mean.” He grabbed his groin and thrust it forward as he finished his statement.
“I guess you’re right. I could really use the company of a woman. There are some people at the compound who will protest.” Steve still sounded concerned despite his partial agreement to Doug’s plan.
“Probably just those mouthy bitches anyway. If they don’t like it, let them leave and try to survive on their own. They will be crawling back in no time,” Doug said in a very cocky tone.
Erika could not believe what she was hearing. What century was she in? What country? How could our super-civilized world decay so quickly? What Doug was talking about was slavery! He was going to take those people as slaves. She knew now she had no choice. She had to warn these people. She had to get them to leave or life for this once-sleepy little town was going to rapidly be transferred back to the eighteenth century.
After what seemed a very long time, the men finally reached the top. They were full grown men in their twenties and thirties, and as they walked, they crushed through the top layer of crust on the mud and slipped and slid everywhere. Plus, the mud got stuck to their boots on each step, and they had to pull the boots back up through the crust. It looked very arduous and Erika was glad for her soft steps. Finally, they were scrambling up the last hill. They kicked the mud off their boots and pants for one last time. Then they went over the top of the hill and disappeared into the ruined city. Erika waited to hear their vehicle start up in the distance and, in a flash, she was climbing back into the hole that contained Star.
Chapter 13
"Come on, we are leaving now!” Erika barked at Star.
Star didn’t even reply. She just began quickly packing the blankets and food she had brought from the packs. By the time Star was done, Erika already had the horses ready to go. They finished packing the things that Star had brought to the tent into the horses’ packs and mounted Artaz. Erika no longer cared about tracks, and she rode directly into the road and started down the canyon.
Erika was very frightened for the horses all the way down. She had thought that the heavy men had slid a lot on this mud but that was nothing compared to the horses’ pounding footsteps. They slid and scrambled. Star clung to Erika like a tick. Erika never liked riding downhill. She had grown up riding in the flat Midwestern land. When she did ride downhill, she did it with grace, but it was never one of her favorite places to be. Now, not only was it going to be a long downhill ride, but the slippery mud made it a horrific experience. There was no grace here. Erika thought of getting down and leading the horses to reduce the weight they carried, but it would have taken twice as long to reach the bottom, and time was not something they had very much of right now.
Erika followed the old road at first, but soon she would have to leave it and start going directly down the steep mountainside. She had decided that she would try to wind down the side of the mountain in the classic S-formation. She thought it might take a little more time, but it would be much safer for the horses. Erika found it kind of ironic that these people, that Doug had referred to as hippies, now camped in an area which had been a nude beach for free spirits back when the river flowed unabated through the canyon. She wondered if the energy in the area had called them back and chuckled to herself about the idea.
Now, it was time to leave the road. Erika had liked traveling the old road because when they were on it, she knew that somewhere beneath them a road did exist. Some remains of solid, paved ground remained there in some form and provided support for the horses’ footings. Now she was stepping off into the abyss. Before the lake, this ground was pockmarked with cliffs and mini canyons. Since it had been made a lake, the silt at the
bottom had filled in those nooks and crannies, making all the ground look smooth. Erika knew better. She knew that under that smooth layer she might be stepping off a cliff.
There was no option; she had to go. She didn’t know how passable the river was. She had no idea what may be down there, but she had learned a lot from those scoundrels. Now, she knew there were people down there. People surviving off the river and not allied with the ruffians above. The scoundrels also gave her something else: a bargaining chip. She knew when and where the attack would come, but she didn’t know if this knowledge alone would provide her with safe passage.
So far so good, Erika thought. Artaz and Kit were sure-footed and chose their steps carefully. They slipped and slid but continued on. Erika and Star didn’t bother to eat all morning. There was no time. They rounded a bend in the canyon and they finally saw the camp. It was very creative. They had used huge pieces of iron and concrete to build a fence around their compound. It was secure. They also had access to the river, and it looked like their compound protected a potential crossing spot. Most of the river was still very wide from the flooding, but this area seemed to pinch off at the width of the original river, which was very easy to cross.
Erika knew that if she could see the compound, they could see her. No warning came, and she continued forward. Soon she was up alongside one of the iron walls. She continued until she found a section of fencing that looked like a gate. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the marks in the mud from the gate being opened.
“Hello there,” she called, eagerly anticipating a response. Star jumped a little as Erika broke the silence with her yell.
“What do you want?” A voice had come from a hole in the iron that was located at the top of the wall.
“I only want to use your crossing, and in return, I can give you information regarding the marauders in Auburn,” Erika responded, laying her cards out on the table.
“How do you know about them? Maybe you are one of them. How else would one small woman with a child make it past them on two horses? Maybe you were sent here to take our guard down.” The voice seemed leery.
“No one sent me here. I am just trying to get home to my family in Georgetown. I only want to cross the river safely with this girl and my horses.”
“How do we know that you are what you say you are?” This time it was a female voice from the window.
“I only have my word,” Erika screamed back. “I have already been through hell and back and thought maybe, just maybe, I could find one decent person left in this world. I overheard an attack plan on this compound this morning and thought I could help, but if you don’t want my help, fine. I will cross somewhere else and hey, at least I know the marauders won’t be looking for me for a while.” Erika was trying to entice their curiosity about what she knew and could tell them.
Erika had turned Artaz in a direction that would follow the wide girth of the river in hopes of finding an alternate crossing, when she heard the clanking of metal beyond the gate. Star squeezed Erika in fear and excitement, and Erika quickly turned back toward the gate. The gate slowly creaked open toward Erika, and she had to back the horses up a little so it could open far enough to let them in.
She was met with grim faces inside the gate. They were not very dirty but they were thin, and everyone bore the pain of this situation. Three of the men had rifles and the rest of the people were armed with sharpened makeshift spears of one type or another. Erika urged the horses inside the gate. The ground inside had been covered with pieces of iron and concrete that the survivors had sunk into the muck to make a flat, clean area. There were walls inside built of this same material. The group inside the compound had formed a circle around her, and one of the men with a rifle stepped forward.
“Well, you better start talking, sweetheart.” It was the same voice that she heard at first from the window. It had come from a dark-haired man with a mid-sized build. He seemed highly protective, and who could blame him.
“How do I know that if I tell you what I know, you will help me to safely cross the river?” Erika questioned. She did not want to be stuck inside their camp with her can of beans opened, depending on the honesty of these people.
“You should not ask so many questions when you have a gun pointed at you and nowhere to go,” the man replied angrily.
“Oh Sam, don’t act like one of those assholes out there. Show her the crossing and let her go if that is what she needs. She is not asking for food or water. She is offering help, so shut up.” It was the woman from the window. She was huge, a really tall, really big woman with long brown hair and brown eyes. She could definitely have been a lumberjack or an Amazon woman in a past life.
“My name is Jane. We aren’t going to harm you, the girl, or your horses,” Jane said this with pure honesty and directly met Erika’s gaze so there would be no doubt.
Erika dismounted, leaving Star seated on Artaz, and went to shake Jane’s hand. Erika was so small compared to Jane, she felt as if she was sitting in the front row in a movie theatre when she looked up to talk with her.
“Hello, my name is Erika.”
“Nice to meet you, Erika, please follow me. I will show you the river crossing and a place where you can keep your horses while we talk.” Jane turned and started to walk away from the gate.
During this time, Erika had been inconspicuously surveying the compound. The circle was made up of about twelve people in all. There was Sam, who was always close to Erika, waiting for her to make the wrong move. There was a man who was fairly small with a gray beard and dancing green eyes. There were three other men that looked to be in about their thirties. There were four teenagers there—three boys and one girl. Two other women were there as well as Jane. They had all lowered their weapons and turned along with Erika to follow Jane along a passageway.
The area to the left of the passage they were following looked like it was used for bathing and clothes washing. It was along the river, and had some towels and clothes hanging on lines there. The space on the right of the passage looked like it was used as sleeping areas. There were smaller rooms blocked off by walls that were not as tall or fortified as the outside walls. At the end of the passage, the group emerged into another open spot. Here, the river was loud. It looked like a section for eating and talking, and to the left was an actual bridge they had made to cross the river.
“This is not a crossing. This is a bridge!” Erika was ecstatic— finally a stroke of luck coming her way. She would not have to worry about how to keep her things dry or make sure Star was safely across. They could simply clippity-clop across an actual bridge.
“Now that we have shown you our secret, you must tell us yours,” Jane said this with the same honest determination in her eyes. “You can tie your horses up over there by the river.”
Erika led her horses to a half wall that had iron rebar posts sticking up out of it. This made it perfect for tying the horses to. The horses could reach the water from their tethered area, and they drank heartily after days of trekking across the mountains depending on Erika’s dwindling supply. Then she walked over to the sitting area with Star in tow.
“Please, sit here.” Jane was indicating a seat near her that was in a circle with other seats, and everyone sat down. Sam was the only one still standing, and he left to go take his place at the guard house. Star sat on the ground beside Erika.
Erika started to speak. “I have come to tell you all about an impending attack,” she said calmly. She felt weird. Like she was in an old-school war movie, and she was the messenger of death.
“What! When?” Now it was Jane’s turn to get frantic.
“Tonight.” Even though Erika was flush with emotions, she tried to make her statements very matter-of-factly. This was not her fight. She had to get home, and even though she really felt that she needed to help, she was also thinking of herself, Star, and her family. Putting herself at risk for a fight that was not hers would not be a smart move now. Not when she was so clo
se to home.
“How do you know? What else do you know?” Jane wanted all the information now so she could plan. So Erika spilled it. She told Jane about her close run-in with those horrible men in Auburn, how Star had come to be in her care, and then the spying she had done when the men were at the top of the canyon and all that she had heard.
“They are going to use grapplers to bring down the walls? They are not aluminum, they are iron. Will it work?” Jane asked.
“I really don’t know. My knowledge of the situation ends there. I don’t know what kind of grapplers, or metal, or any of that. All I know is what I heard them say, and it seems their estimation of the situation was wrong to begin with, but I really thought you all should know what they were up to so you could have a chance to protect yourselves,” Erika replied. She had nothing left to offer. She had given them all of the information she knew, and she did not really have any idea of how to successfully attack or defend something.
“Taylor.” Jane was speaking to one of the teenagers; he was tall and lean with brown shaggy hair. “Go relieve Sam at the guard post and send him here.”
“Okay,” Taylor quickly replied as he loped off.
“Steve, you worked in construction and you designed a lot of this place, what do you think?” Jane questioned calmly.
It was obvious to Erika that Jane was in charge here. It was a weight she bore well. She had been frantic when she heard the immediacy of the situation, but that franticness quickly melted into calculated calmness. To be calm here in this world was truly commendable. She was quickly working out a plan and would carefully evaluate all of her resources before coming to a conclusion.
The man she had questioned, Steve, was a big man with blue eyes and very strong-looking hands. He had been one of the riflemen when Erika arrived. Now, with his rifle stored away, he looked much friendlier, and Erika was eagerly anticipating his reply.
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