by Alex Gunwick
“Those were good men.” Turner frowned.
“Of course,” Elijah said quickly. “They were good, honorable men. But we need stronger men. Men who are capable of dealing with the coming darkness. We must prepare for any and all attempts to destroy our community.”
“What do you propose?”
“We need men between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five.”
“That’s awfully specific.”
“Only bring back men in their prime.”
“Bring them back from where?”
“Town. And they should be single. No families.”
“Why not?” Turner asked.
“Families are dead weight.”
“That’s rather harsh.”
“It’s the truth. Think about it. What can kids contribute to the group? Nothing. They’re just additional mouths to feed. And the women, it’s nice to have them around, I suppose, but they do nothing to strengthen us.”
“I see.”
Elijah sat silent for several seconds while he assessed Turner’s mood. Although he’d never needed to sugar-coat his intent before, maybe he should have done it when talking about people.
“Please don’t think I’m being heartless. I just want to do what’s best for our community. I want to take care of the women and children we already have living here, but I can’t do that without more men.”
“I understand,” Turner said.
“Excellent. Now, I don’t want any thugs or drug addicts.”
“I doubt there are any drugs left out there.”
“You never know.”
“What should I be looking for?”
“Soldiers. Ex-military. Muscle. I’d start over at Cook’s Corner.”
“Why there?”
“It used to be a big meeting place for men. Maybe they’re still meeting there.”
“How many should I bring back?”
“Food is scarce for now. Let’s start with five. After we’re able to go on supply runs, we can add more.”
“Seems simple enough.”
“On the surface, but I don’t want just anyone,” Elijah said. “In order to join our community, they need to be able to bring enough food to feed forty people for a week. No less.”
“How could they possibly transport that much alone?”
“That’s part of the challenge. If you can find a group of five that will work together, even better. They would need to bring five weeks’ worth of food. It would be ideal if we could find five men who already know each other, but I don’t know what it’s like out there.”
“What if I can’t find five?”
“Can’t?” Elijah sat back and steepled his fingers in front of his chest. “I have complete faith in you. I expect that you won’t return with less than five capable soldiers. We’re depending on you. I’m depending on you.”
“Sir, I won’t let you down.”
“Good.” Elijah stood and gestured toward the door. “Please close it behind you. I’ll be praying for you. Godspeed.”
After Turner left, Elijah returned to his desk. He took a key out of his pocket and used it to open the bottom drawer. He retrieved a bottle of twenty-year-old scotch. He poured two fingers’ worth into a glass and kicked it back.
As he refilled the glass, a knock sounded on the door. He quickly placed the glass in the top drawer and hid the bottle.
“Come in.”
When Melinda walked into the room, he suppressed a groan. She’d been a thorn in his side ever since her son had started cavorting with that girl, Sierra. If he could find a reason to get rid of them, he would, but the family was too small and he couldn’t afford to lose any more members. Not yet anyway.
“How can I help you?”
“You can starve me all you want, but you can’t starve my son.”
“I didn’t starve him, you did. I warned you not to disobey me, but you did anyway. For that, you had to be punished.”
“Sooner or later people are going to see what you’re doing.”
“Really?” He leaned forward. “Please, enlighten me. What am I doing?”
“You’re trying to turn this place into a cult.”
“A cult? Never,” he snapped. “I know what a cult looks like and this isn’t it.”
“That’s exactly what this is.”
“You’re free to go anytime you want to leave. If this was a cult, I’d force you to stay. Have I forced you to do anything?”
“You starved us.”
“Humph. Let’s just agree to disagree. Anything else? I’m very busy right now.”
“Adam and I are going to eat dinner tonight.”
“Of course you are. Your penance will be over. I hope you learned your lesson.”
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked so softly he almost didn’t hear her.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.”
“Good. I’ll see you at dinner.”
He walked around the desk to the door and held it open. As soon as she crossed the threshold, he slammed it shut.
Bitch! How dare she talk to him like that? She was the kind of person he wanted to weed out as soon as possible. He didn’t need her, or her lazy son.
He headed back to the desk and pulled out the glass as well as a notepad. As he sipped his drink, he drew a line down the center of the page. He made a list of everyone in the church. He listed the expendables on the left side, the assets on the right.
Although he wasn’t sure how he was going to thin the herd, he would have to do it at some point. He only wanted the strongest people. The best people. The chosen ones. And if he had to break a commandant to get his way, then so be it. God would forgive him.
Elijah stood next to the smoldering barbecue while everyone else threw away their plastic dinner plates. He held a piece of paper covered with new work assignments by his side. After watching the way several women had been whispering behind the men’s backs, he’d decided to change things up. He didn’t want any factions to start to develop. Maintaining order was hard enough without active dissent.
“Everyone, please take a seat,” he said.
As people returned to their seats, he forced a smile. He was doing everything in his power to make the community stronger, but he wasn’t getting the credit he deserved. Sure, several people had congratulated him privately, but an undercurrent of trouble simmered in his flock. An unfortunate side effect of being too lenient with them. Well not anymore.
“We’re going to be making a few changes tonight,” he began. “First, I’d like to commend each of you for the incredible job you’ve been doing to help keep our little community running. It’s not easy to do laundry without electricity, or be stuck collecting water for the barrels. I understand how hard you’ve been working, which it why it’s time to change roles.”
When several people groaned, he held up his hand.
“Now hold on. I realize everyone is enjoying their routine. It’s nice to be able to count on something being the same from day to day. But there’s also a tendency to get bored. Complacent. Not that any of you are doing that, but before we get to that point, I thought it might be good to change a few things.”
“What are you planning on changing?” Melinda asked.
“Assignments.” He plastered a smile on his face. “Starting with kitchen duties. You’ve been doing a great job baking, but it’s time we have someone else take over. So Melinda, you will be moving to laundry duty and Gertrude will take over as baker.”
“What?” Melinda stood up from the picnic bench. “You can’t do that.”
“I’m only doing what’s best for everyone.”
“How so? If we already have jobs we love to do, why change them? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yeah,” someone else said.
“I don’t know about you,” Gertrude said, “but I wouldn’t mind having a crack at baking. Back before the bombs dropped, I could make a mean biscuit. I’m sure I can work some magic with acorn flour too.
”
“You can come and help me whenever you like,” Melinda said. “But I’m not giving up my position.”
Elijah sighed in frustration. She was always the troublemaker. Well, not always. She’d been meek until that woman and her brat daughter started poisoning her mind.
“I also think we should form a council,” Melinda said.
“What? Why?” he asked.
“We’re all equals in this community, right?”
“Right,” he said through gritted teeth.
“So we should make decisions as a group.”
Seething, he shoved his clenched fists into his pockets. If they’d been alone, he would have slapped the smirk off of her face.
“It does make sense to create some kind of council,” Ivan said. “Up until now, you haven’t really asked what everyone wants to do, you’ve just told us.”
“Because I’m guided by God,” Elijah said.
“Even so, I doubt He’s interested in the day-to-day operations at one of His many churches,” Melinda said.
“Maybe we should discuss this privately,” Elijah said.
“Matters involving the community should be discussed as a group. I realize we can’t have forty people trying to agree on everything, which is why we should vote for council members. We could choose five people to represent the community.”
“And I suppose you will be one of the five?”
“Only if elected.”
“I’ll need to pray about it,” he said. “In the meantime, everyone, please try to have a good evening. Melinda, come walk with me so we can discuss details of your council idea.”
He stalked toward his office and waited until Melinda was inside before closing the door.
“How dare you question me in front of everyone,” he said. “You’re here because I allow you to stay. But maybe you’re ready to leave. Maybe you should go back to your house and fend for yourself there.”
“How dare I? How dare you!” Her face flushed. “You treat us like slaves and run this place like a dictatorship.”
“What’s happening to you? You were never this belligerent.”
“Nothing’s wrong with me, but something’s not right with this community. Everyone’s too afraid to speak up. Several people have gone missing and when we ask you where they went, you tell us they left the community.”
“Because they have. Not everyone chooses to stay. If you’re not happy here, no one will stop you from leaving. I can’t understand what your problem is. You’ve been here since the bombs dropped. Why the sudden change?”
“I’ve felt this way since you assigned everyone jobs.”
“Yet you did nothing to stop me then.”
“Because I didn’t want to make waves.”
“But you do now. Why?” He took a step toward her, enjoying the way she cowered away. “Is this coming from that woman?”
“What woman?”
“The one whose daughter is cavorting with your son.”
“Liz?”
“How do you know her name?”
“Adam told me.”
“Have you spoken with her?”
“Never.”
“But Adam has.”
“Not that I know of.”
“I should remove him from water duty or at least send another man with him. These women, running around unsupervised by a husband, it’s not right. They will poison your mind with falsehoods about us. Are you not happy here? Do I not feed you?”
“You starved us.”
“I regret that,” he lied. “I should have been more lenient.”
“It’s not your place to judge us.”
“Isn’t it?” he asked. “Who else will keep the community from falling into chaos? Do you want to be like the people in the cities? Scurrying like rats for a bite of rotting bread?”
“How do you know what’s happening in the cities?”
“I’ve sent men to look for others. People who can join us and help support the community.”
“Where will they live?”
“In the abandoned houses.”
“Those belong to other people.”
“Who may or may not choose to come back,” he said. “You need to start trusting me. I’ve done nothing to deserve your attack.”
“I didn’t attack you.”
He pressed his lips together. His hands flinched as he momentarily fantasized about wrapping them around her neck. Was this what Samson felt when he’d realized Delilah’s betrayal?
“I need time to think, and to pray about the future of our community,” he said. “Please close the door when you leave.”
For a moment, she didn’t move. He narrowed his gaze, which spurred her into motion.
After she’d left, he swiped a pile of books off of his desk. As they clattered to the ground, he realized the issue wasn’t with Melinda. She’d been a good servant to the community until her son had been tempted by Sierra. She was the root of this evil swirling through Melinda’s mind.
If he got rid of Sierra and her mother permanently, he could restore order to the group. But how? Attacking their home had resulted in two deaths already. No, he couldn’t make a stand there. They’d have the advantage. But he had another idea. A perfect plan to end the discord within his flock.
14
Liz cracked open the door to the shipping area. Rather than risk shining a flashlight into the darkness, she paused. She strained to listen for any indication of people inside. Nothing moved. The absolute stillness did little to calm her nerves, but at least they hadn’t been ambushed. They’d be in and out before anyone in the area realized they were there.
“Ten minutes,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” the guys responded.
She flicked on a tiny flashlight. Its dim glow illuminated a two-foot-wide path. She used it to scan the mostly empty shelves in the storage area. Apparently they didn’t keep much back stock. The few items left included clothes, dumbbells, and Christmas decorations. Nothing edible.
As she headed toward a pair of doors, she glanced over her shoulder. Harvey’s jaw tightened. His lips formed a thin line. The hand gripping his pistol clenched, but his finger didn’t move from the side.
She pushed through the swinging doors and stepped into a disaster zone. The electronics section contained shattered DVD cases. Smashed TVs were strewn across the floor. Headphones with dangling wires formed tangled tentacles of useless technology. Books and magazines sat in shredded heaps.
Moving forward, she kicked a copy of a popular self-help book out of the way. All that psycho-babble wouldn’t do much good these days. People would either man up and learn to live in the new world, or die. At first she’d been hesitant to accept her new reality, but as each day melted into the next, she’d come to the realization that no one was going to help her. She had to learn to help herself.
Across the aisle, Franklin and Burt disappeared into a section of toppled furniture. Apparently no one was interested in redecorating.
She headed toward the baby section. Strollers lay on their sides. Baby clothing was tossed all over the aisles. She found the baby food section. Two jars of mashed peas lay on their sides. She picked one up and inspected it. The plastic jar and seal were intact. It wasn’t much, but it gave her a shot of hope.
“Let’s see what else we can get,” she whispered.
“Okay.”
As she and Harvey piled formula and jars of food into a bag, she smiled. If people had overlooked this area, they might have missed other items in the store. Hopefully Franklin and Bert were having some luck too.
After gathering two bags’ worth of food, she motioned toward the grocery section. She passed row after row of stripped-bare shelves. Six rows back, she finally found a lone can of olives. It lay on its side underneath the bottom shelf. If she hadn’t been paying close attention, she would have missed it.
She stuffed it into a bag before walking to the next aisle. She meticulously searched every shelf, adding several cans of
Spam, a jar of pickled pig’s feet, and a half-torn-open bag of black-eyed peas. It wasn’t the biggest grocery haul, but it was better than nothing.
“It’s been ten minutes,” Harvey whispered. “Let’s head back.”
“You lead.”
He nodded and took point. As they made their way back toward the loading docks, she strained to pick up Franklin and Burt’s location. She didn’t hear their footsteps. Maybe they were already outside?
When they reached the set of double doors, she grabbed the back of Harvey’s shirt and turned off the flashlight.
“Something feels off.”
“I feel it too,” he murmured.
“Maybe we should go out the front and circle around.”
“If we change the plan, the others might not know it’s us and they’ll shoot.”
“Good point,” she said. “What about going in through a different door? If someone else is on the other side, we’ll at least have a surprise advantage.”
A loud metallic bang reverberated from the loading docks.
Harvey’s eyes went wide. He pointed down the wall toward another set of doors they’d spotted on the way in. She took the lead and headed for the other exit.
When she pushed on the door, it didn’t budge. She glanced at Harvey, who shrugged. Without light, she couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t opening. She felt along the door and found a large bolt at the top. As she pulled down, nothing happened, but when she pushed up, the door popped free and swung open.
Flashlights blinded her. She held up an arm to block the light. With her gun hand, she pointed toward the dark shadows behind the light.
“Don’t shoot!” Franklin said. He directed his flashlight at the ground. Burt flicked his off. “What the hell are you guys doing over here?”
“We heard a bang so we decided to come this way instead,” Harvey said.
“If you were trying for a tactical advantage, you failed,” Franklin said.
“What was that noise?” she asked.
“Burt didn’t want to use the lights and ran into a trash can. The lid fell off,” Franklin said.