by catt dahman
“This is what they do,” Kim told the group, “they use handcuffs and chains and catch slaves to do their work for them in the RA. They were done the same way they did other people.”
“Naw. We never chained anyone. Those that got us, some bad motherfuckers, they were wrong doing us this way. Leaving us chained like a junk yard dog.”
“So the handcuffs and chains aren’t yours?” Kim asked. He yanked sleeves up and ripped shirts off them to find the tattoos he was looking for.The RA emblem, one eye, Nazi crosses, and other freshly added tattoos were inked onto their skin in various places. “Coincidence?”
“We deserted the RA. They’re just not right folks.”
Kim told the others, “For entertainment, they take people: African Americans, Mexicans, Asians…woman…children…gays and the disabled. Once a girl with Down’s syndrome…anyone expendable in their eyes, and they play gambling games. It may be who can run through a bonfire the best or who can survive the most zed bites before turning; everyone in the games dies screaming. Once, I watched them peel a little baby like a grape.”
He shuddered as his eyes went cold and faraway in the memory; he wished he could forget, but the image was seared into his mind. “They like human flesh like Zoms do.”
Carla gagged.
“They worship at the feet of a boy with one eye who likes playing with the dead. They enjoy pain and fear; it’s like a balm to them, but they never get enough of it. No one survives them,” Kim said in a soft voice.
All three men watched Kim, and for the first time, he knew true fear. Being chained up was a fearsome thing, yes, but this man’s eyes were scarier than those of the one-eyed boy, Pascal, or his father, Lucas.
“You survived it,” Carla said.
“I was a white male. They just whipped me a lot and beat us, pissed on our injuries, repeatedly raped a woman who was my friend, beat another friend of mine to death; we were very fortunate.”
The three captured men kept saying they ran away from the RA and wanted to be free of them, but Kim went through their packs and found a whip in one; that image made his head spin. He took stripes across his back that became infected in the piss-full mud and garbage. No medical attention was offered to him. “I was beaten with a whip like this; you all carry them. Kept your whips, handcuffs, and chains, huh?”
“In case of the zombies.”
“Yeh, I often have the urge to handcuff and whip a zom ‘cause that really does the trick, right?”
“But if they left that army….” Jack was torn between what to do.
“His neck.” Carla pointed to one. “Are those bones?”
Kim ripped the cord off of the man’s neck, glancing at the finger bones and tossing it at the man’s face. “Questions?”
“Why didn’t they kill them?” Jack asked, “why didn’t whoever chained you up kill you?”
“Dumb niggers didn’t have the guts.”
One of the other men kicked at the one who had blurted that out.
“Black older man with a white wife? Middle-aged couple and a teen boy? Then, there was a woman with them who looked like an African American warrior princess: head held high, big blue dangerous eyes, a white cowboy hat. She managed to smile some and have hope? Does that describe them?” None of the three answered, but they stared with slack jaws, shocked that Kim knew.
“Your friends?” Carla asked.
“Seems so from the looks on their faces. For having left the RA, you sure still have some racial lines drawn in the sand, Buddy,” Jack said.
“Those people aren’t niggers, you stupid, inbred piece of white trash. They are good folks who saved my life when I wanted to die,” Kim said as he spit on one of the men.
Bill shrugged. “Maybe they didn’t have the stomach for killing them. Maybe they thought this was worse: their sitting here waiting for the zombies to come along or for them to starve. Who cares?”
“We can vote, but I say we leave the bastards here to rot,” Jack said.
The group had grown to twelve with Kim, Carla, and Robbie. The vote was all in favor of leaving the men chained.
Kim stared at the tent.
“Why do I feel as if you aren’t going with us?”
Kim shook his head at Bill. “You’re two days away. Don’t go into the city. You don’t need me now, and I…I can’t go any closer, or I’ll want to go all the way in, and I can’t yet. I can’t.” He didn’t look at the remains of battles that took place here, but he knew this was a defining spot on the map.
The RA held the area, shooting many survivors and stacking them like firewood to rot. They killed people he knew: a young girl, a little girl, others who tried to go past, like trolls under a bridge claiming territory.
While the zombies were horrible, dangerous creatures, they had no working brains, no inclination to do anything beyond what the infection caused them to do: eat and infect. On the other hand, man’s inhumanity was staggering as people tortured, killed, raped, and stole, all for personal gain or enjoyment.
Sometimes Kim wondered about the changes within himself; he lost a large part of his humanity after being tortured. He told himself that actions he did were okay since everything was in the name of justice. Or vengeance. Or it was in the name of being a monster that he didn’t ask to be but was wrought in weeks of acute misery and seeing cruelty.
“I wish you luck out there,” Bill said as they all shook Kim’s hand.
Kim didn’t speak again as Carla and Robbie sat with him at a campsite they made close to the State Line. When it was dark, Kim said he would be back and left the camp, but Carla and Robbie were okay alone since they made it this long. He didn’t seem to be concerned about them.
They waited.
It was midnight when he returned, face pale, body weak with exertion.
“I’m exhausted. But I’m worried about Bill and the others; I think we should follow them,” he muttered as he came back from the little pond, body scarred. He was naked and dripping with water, yet he acted as if his nakedness were commonplace, which made her feel worse.
Carla nodded. “If you say so.”
She hadn’t been so scared in a long time.
At least, Kim was clean of all the blood he was covered in when he came back from the three men.
Carla was sure she heard screaming.
5
Base
“She said that she and Delta were headed to George’s place,” Benny repeated for the tenth time.
“Maryanne doesn’t have any feelings or visions so much anymore,” Pan said. “I don’t understand that. Why did she get feelings before, and why did we have dreams of coming here and now nothing?”
“Because Zane is here,” George said. They all shared the dreams of the Reconstruction Army and the one-eyed boy who led it with equally as cruel people, along with the dreams of rebuilding, and another boy who was light and peace: Zane.
It was what kept them going, but now the dreams were gone, and their resident psychic was out of her gut feelings about things, and they felt as blinded as Maryanne truly was blind. “We needed that nudge then; now, we’re on our own.”
“I thought we needed Zane.”
“I think we do. We just have to learn to stand alone and not depend on him fully…or anything other than hard work, ourselves, and God,” George said. “We can do this. I figure if and when we need a little nudge, we’ll have it.”
“What did Jules mean? What about George’s place and why?”
“She said that where they were was dangerous and there would be no evacuation, so I guess that’s what she meant,” Benny said. “Don’t write more into it. You know she’d want to prevent anyone from being put into a dangerous spot.” He stopped to pet his Border collie, Dallas, who panted happily.
“And if she needs help, then she’ll be at George’s house, so they can’t be too far from there.”
“It’s pretty safe there; we were okay during the siege,” George said.That was how he met the others, whe
n they stumbled along and ran into George and his three friends, Benny, Thurman, and Tink. He still missed Tink.
Len gave Juan an apologetic look, “You’ll have to tell Beth and have plenty of people around so that they can help hold her down; she and Jules are best friends.”
“Chicken shit,” Juan told Len, and he shook his head as he left the meeting, dreading the task. Maybe Hannah would help him.
The others caught the teams up on the information, and Rita relieved Benny at the radio. So far, they made contact with survivor groups all over the United States. They marked those places with pushpins on a map on the wall.
“Rita, tell Thurman, too, but if you hear anything from that military group on the other channel or if you hear them talking to anyone….”
“Get you or George at once. Gotcha, Len,” she promised.
Len nodded to people as he walked back to his desk, amazed at the paperwork he saw. When did he become a paper pusher? After he became the leader of their group, he told himself. It was tempting to slip it all to George’s inbox since he was the governor, but Len looked at each page that they used over and over as they recycled.
These people were proud of the hard work they did, all putting in more than twelve hours a day with no days off, and no air conditioning but a community work ethic that made them feel good about themselves and one another.
In some ways, they went back to pre-World War I living, yet Len couldn’t think of much from his old world that he missed; though without the modern weapons and medical supplies, they would be in trouble. It was good they had time to transition.
Each paper was a weekly report. The farming group reported more excellent crops, which the storage group was thrilled with as they made provisions for winter. Even with people joining them, they were set for years, or soon would be, and still have fresh fruits and vegetables and meat daily.
Solar panels were put in place, and at least a little lighting would be in the near future. Additional showers and toilets were in place, and hot baths would be available soon and for all winter if the plans worked out.
With gasoline going bad, one group already got wagons together which soon would be tested and implemented. The school report said the children were learning at a fast rate, and the school wanted more teachers. It seemed that a lack of technology increased learning; Len shook his head at the irony.
Beth turned in her report about what people asked for, and Julia left him a security report with a smiley face drawn in.
He had a personal note, too, which made him feel good.
Fences were doubled, ditches were added between the two lengths, but there were literally miles of fencing to work on, and Len signed something, allotting more people for the fences. He skimmed through the rest of the report, passed it to George’s inbox, and went back outdoors. His own team was on duty in a few minutes, so he went to eat dinner.
“Are you joining the swim party tonight, Len?” Hannah asked as he sat down, ready to eat.She was incredibly brilliant and cheeky as could be, but Len adored the teen even if she could debate him into circles.
“No, I have duty. Besides, I have the farmer’s tan, and my white belly would cause eye strain,” he said.
Hungry and turning his attention to the table, Len could see the prepared food: chicken and pasta, fish cakes, along with two kinds of beans, tomato-cucumber salad, potato salad, cornbread, and three kinds of pie.
“I got the last of the spinach,” Hannah said, twirling it on her fork, “They didn’t cook a lot of spinach since most won’t eat it, but I love it. They’re cooking more. If you swim more, your belly would be tanned. All work and no play make Uncle Len a grump.”
Len made a face. “You need spinach for muscles. I’m set.” He showed off his arm muscles, making them jump to Hannah’s delight. So far mostly the kids and those on the teams that had later duty ate.
Mark came in with his team following, ready for duty, after they ate.
“I haven’t heard Beth screaming yet,” Alex said, “I’m worried about Jules. And Len, why are you showing off your muscles?”
“Where is Aunt Julia?” Hannah asked.
Len told her and those who hadn’t been told yet. “I think she’s okay. Benny didn’t feel alarmed. I was showing them off because of Hannah’s eating all the spinach.”
Alex frowned, “That makes no sense.”
“It does to me and Hannah.”
More people came in chattering.
Andie stood after just sitting down for a minute. “I better go.”
Len saw her looking toward Beth and Juan who came in, looking for their children. “What’s up, Andie?”
“I don’t know. Beth, she really doesn’t like that Kim didn’t come back withMark and me.” She didn’t add that it pained her to see Kim go off without them, either.
“Is she mad at Mark? No,” Hannah commented, “just at you.”
Alex stared into his plate, pretending interest in the cornbread.
Andie looked at Hannah. When this started, it was Andie who watched out for Hannah, but now, the girl all but ignored her except to shoot her dagger glances. “Just at me, I guess.”
Alex made a flutter with his hand. “Talk to her. Bethy is a doll; she’s probably just a little puzzled and unsure what to think; tell her stuff and talk to her. She’ll be fine. She’s a good person.” It was pretty well known that he, Julia, Beth, and Misty were best friends.
“Mom hopes nothing bad happened to Kim,” Hannah said, “but we don’t know ‘cause he isn’t here. We never leave anyone behind.”‘For adults, some people could be very stupid,’ she thought.
“I didn’t leave him. He didn’t want to come back, Hannah. We went through hell, and he had some things to work out in his mind; he’s…he is very angry and uncontrolled right now, not like the Kimball we all knew before.”
“Oh?”
Andie saw the condescending look Hannah gave her, and it brought tears to her eyes. “He needs time to work the anger out.” She didn’t add that Hannah had no idea what adults went through because Hannah didn’t see herself as a child. It aggravated Andie.
“Andie, hey, we don’t blame you,” Len said. If anyone understood anger, it was Len. Anger and fury, which he could barely control, ate at him every day of his life. One more straw would send him over the edge. In fact, Len went over the edge once when he threw some raiders to zombies, but his friends were there to bring him back.
“Kim said only you could understand, Len,” Andie said.
“I do. Andie. Beth lost Kim, and she’s pregnant, and now she’s worried about Julia….”
“And she has two girls to worry over,” said Hannah, grinning.
“One especially.” Len grabbed her cornbread and ate it, both of them laughing.
Andie couldn’t help herself. No one acted as if she understood her side of this. The words flew out of her mouth too fast. “She’s seems to be doing okay, losing Kim.” She saw Juan hugging Beth.
Alex nudged Kevin, “I see Johnny; let’s go join her for dessert.” With shocked faces, both quickly moved away from the table.
Mark and Misty caught Hannah’s furious look and did a quick turn-around to sit somewhere else, following Alex and Kevin to get the gossip about what went on at Len’s table.
“You left Kim, and now you’re saying she didn’t care? She’s my mom,” Hannah said.
“I watched after you, Hannah, for a long time until Beth….”
Len looked at John for help.
“And you didn’t do so great, or I would be your daughter. But I am Beth’s daughter. And Juan is my dad.” Hannah rarely got emotional, but the tears threatened, and she shook with anger. It hurt so much to hear her mother being criticized, and no one but she knew how many hours Beth lay in the dark, crying over losing Kimball. Her weapon, her intelligence came out.
“You and Kim have bonded, but that gives you no more validity than Beth. I hope someone pops that sanctimonious grin off of your face one day, An
dromeda.” Hannah got up and walked away.
Andie sat with her jaw open.
John cocked his head, “Hey, she threatened me before, too. That’s Hannah, protective to a fault.”
“She was always a toot, but, my God, teen angst, and all that bullshit aside, that was nasty.”
Len sighed. He always tried to do the right thing, but when things got like this, he tended to withdraw into himself. Right was right. Leadership was leadership. But his loyalty and friendship were hard won but once won, went to the core. “I have to agree with Alex. Talk to Hannah,Andie. Please settle things as soon as you can. Please. He hated to see Hannah so upset.”
The first group left so that the second group could find places to sit and eat. Len saw Rae and called to her, “Foxy Roxy….”
“In-coming at the gate,” Conner yelled, out of breath from running the whole way up from the gate to get back as the teams changed over. “Zombies, at the gate. I need back-up.”
Mark, Misty, John, Beth, Juan, and others spun in place and took off at a run. “How many?”
“Over fifty. Maybe a hundred,” said Conner, grabbing his knees, huffing.
“Initiate Safety Zone,” Len yelled at Teeg who was the closest.
“Initiating Safety Zone,” Teeg responded, hitting the door at a run.
Andie and Big Bill looked for the rest of their team. The others were already in action: getting teachers and children in a line and moving with them, weapons at the ready, walking along side and alert. No one said there was a breach, but in the case of Safety Zone alert, they were to behave as if there were a breach.
Hannah grabbed for her little sister, Katie, and joined Jet who was walking armed. “Ready?” Len paused and kissed the top of her head. “Be careful, Uncle Len. Love you.”
“Let’s get her to the big house, and I’ll stand guard with you. Your mom and dad will kill me if I let you go to the gate,” Jet said to Hannah.