by Brown, TW
“Segregation?” Catie almost laughed.
“We prefer to call it safety. While we are still small enough of a community where most of us know each other by face and a stranger is easy to identify, we still do what we feel is important to maintain the health and safety of all our residents.”
“Call it what you want.”
“So, will you be staying?”
“Do I have to make that choice right this second?” Catie asked.
“Absolutely not,” Denise replied with obvious relief. As they reached the door, she leaned close like she was opening the door, but whispered, “You would have been under even greater suspicion if you’d said yes right away.”
Catie allowed the woman to open the door, and then she stepped through to find four armed men and women in the waiting room. They were doing a poor job of trying to act casual. There was a door to the right that she figured must lead to the two-way mirror viewing area, and there was a door just across the room with a single small window. One of the armed women rose and went over to give a rap on that door.
It opened to reveal what looked like every doctor’s office reception room that she’d ever seen. There were a couple of people sitting in the chairs that lined the walls. One was actually reading a book. Nobody seemed to pay them any mind at all as Catie was escorted to the reception desk where a young man around the age of thirteen looked up and opened the ledger before him.
“I will be escorting Catie to the dorm.” Denise reached down to turn the ledger her direction and scribble something on one of the lines.
“Did you really come from way out west?” the boy asked with obvious astonishment.
“Yeah,” Catie said with a smile.
“Did you see a lot of the walkers?” The young man leaned forward, his expression one of obvious amazement and curiosity.
“You say that like it is a big deal.”
The young man’s face flushed. He looked around the room and then to Denise like he was waiting for permission or approval. “I’ve never seen one.”
Catie followed Denise out of the reception room and into the bright sunlight of a beautiful day. All around her, the hustle and bustle of people going about their business made her suddenly homesick. Why had they ever set out on Kevin’s fool quest? He knew damn good and well that they would not find anybody alive.
As they wove through the people, Catie’s mind flitted from one memory to the next. She could hear Kevin’s voice whispering in her ear about how she needed to be paying attention, but she didn’t care at the moment. Her mind had found a special memory from their trip. They were at the lip of some part of the Grand Canyon. The sun was setting and everything looked as if it were on fire. The colors were unlike anything that she had ever imagined.
Kevin sat with his legs dangling over a precipice. He was just gazing out over the vista and his smile was big and broad. He glanced over his shoulder at her and winked. Only, Kevin was one of those poor souls who could not control his eye muscles very well, so it was more of an awkward blink than anything else.
She had walked up and sat beside him. Together, the two of them waited until the sun slipped below the horizon. They did not say a single word, and Mother Nature rewarded them with a near perfect silence. Even the insects had grown quiet, almost as if they wanted to drink in the majestic spectacle themselves.
That night, they made love under the stars. Afterwards, with the glow of the campfire pushing a small circle of the darkness away, Kevin had sat up. He had laughed. When Catie asked him what was so funny, his answer had been simple but honest.
“This is more than I deserve.”
She had sat up beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist. With her head resting on his shoulder, she had drifted in and out. She woke the next day with his arms wrapped around her. She remembered how bad she had to pee, but she did not budge. She wanted that moment to last as long as possible. At this exact second, she was thankful to have made that decision.
“And this is where you will be staying,” Denise said, opening the double-doors to a non-descript, three-story brick building…mostly.
It was obvious that the top floor had been added on, post-apocalypse. The third floor was a wooden structure, and the workmanship was such that Catie had serious doubts as to how it had lasted any length of time.
The first floor was a wide open area, and it took a moment, but Catie finally recognized it as a gymnasium. There were rows of wooden walls that were just high enough to allow a small degree of privacy.
“Take your pick,” Denise said, gesturing for Catie to lead the way.
Walking down the first aisle, she saw cubicle after cubicle, each looking identical with a small bed, a dresser, a desk with a chair, and a small foot locker. She also noticed that each appeared empty as each one had the thin mattress rolled up and situated at the head of the bed with an uncovered pillow.
“Yeah, we don’t get many visitors,” Denise answered the questioning look that Catie shot over her shoulder.
“I would be in here alone?” Denise nodded. “Seems like a real waste of space. You have all this room and an additional floor just vacant?”
“When we started planning this place, we wanted to allow for growth. We over-estimated. Add in the fact that some of the other communities have differing views and have set up accordingly.”
“Different views?”
Denise looked around nervously and then leaned in close to Catie as if somebody might just appear out of nowhere and listen in on their conversation. “We are the only mixed community in the area.”
“Mixed community?” Catie had a feeling that she knew what the answer would be, but she wanted to hear it for herself.
“Immunes. We are the only community that allows both immune and the unknown.”
“Unknown?”
“Can’t very well know until you get bit or something and then don’t turn. Not many folks all that anxious to simply find out voluntarily.”
“So the other communities don’t allow anybody who is known to be immune?”
“Yes,” Denise paused and then added, “well…the Beastie Boys. They are all immune.”
“Kalisha is immune, isn’t she?” Catie asked, suddenly starting to get her mind around the situation.
“Born to immune parents, as was her brother.”
“And you people are okay with this sort of thing?”
“We don’t have the numbers. There are more here who are unknown than are immune. We have petitioned the town council, but they have rejected every single time,” Denise explained.
“How much?”
What?” Denise asked in obvious confusion.
“How lopsided are the numbers?”
“The unknowns have about a thirty person advantage. We have had a few of the first generation children reach voting age, thirteen in case you are curious. But we remain in the minority.”
Catie dropped her backpack inside the cubicle that she had chosen. It was in the very center of the massive “dorm” that had once been a high school gymnasium.
“And none of you think it is odd that the children keep getting snatched by these Beastie Boys?” Catie asked.
“We aren’t stupid,” Denise said with a touch of anger in her voice. “But we don’t have any proof. We can’t just up and leave. None of the other communities will take us, and starting from scratch is a romantic idea until you realize the work involved. We have farms, crops, and livestock here. None of which would be allowed to be taken if we left.”
“So every single animal and farm belongs to one of these unknown types?”
“Immunes are not allowed to be the sole owners of any property.”
Catie opened her mouth to ask what the hell Denise meant when the doors to the gymnasium-turned-dorm flew open and hit the walls with a loud clang. On instinct, Catie’s hand went to her hip where a machete should be but was suddenly very noticeable in its absence.
“Denise, come quick, they took Kalisha to
the administrator’s office!” a man shouted.
The older woman did not say so much as a farewell. Turning on her heel, she ran for the door. By the time Catie had recovered and tried to follow, the doors had swung shut. She opened them and stepped out onto the little avenue. People were still going about their business like nothing in the world was wrong.
“That was what I was seeing,” Catie whispered to herself.
She went back inside and returned to her cubicle. As she walked through the empty dorm, her mind began to mull through the possibilities. By the time she reached “her” cubicle, she had an idea as to what she was going to do. She didn’t know if it was the smartest idea, but she became more committed to it with every step.
“I sure do miss you, Kevin,” she whispered.
3
Hunter
I slid down the embankment and came to a stop in the shallow creek. My feet were now soaked, but that was the least of my worries. So far, I had managed to stay in the brush. Add in the fact that there were a few hundred thousand of the undead less than a mile away and headed straight for us, and I was the lowest of the priorities.
I peeked through some of the branches that made up my cover and sighed. So far, I had come up empty. I thought that I had a good idea where Jim and Jackson were being kept. I figured it would be easy to make my way to where they were being held prisoner. Of course, from there I had not even the slightest clue as to what I was going to do.
It wasn’t like I was heavily armed or some sort of badass like Jackson. I couldn’t scrounge together a few common items and make them blow up like Jim. Nope, I was flying by the seat of my pants. I was also trying to reason with myself by mentally preparing for the serious possibility that I was going to have to run for it and leave them both behind.
Staying in the tall grass, I got down on my belly and started crawling up the hill. When I reached the top, I wanted to cry in relief. Just ahead of me, I could see the grates over the holes in the ground where I knew Jim to be held. At least that was where he was when Suzi had brought me to see him that one time. I shoved away the thoughts of how he might be gone or even dead.
Scanning the area, I was relieved to see that only one person was currently posted as a guard here. Sure, that was a bonus, but the guy was almost as big as Jackson, so once more, I had no clue as to what I thought I might possibly be able to accomplish in the way of pulling off a rescue.
Meanwhile, the camp was a buzz of activity. However, I had to pause for a moment to be sure that I was not imagining things. Sure enough, I could hear the sounds of children laughing! How could that be possible? Also, I moved just a bit and could see between a row of tents. People were walking! One couple in particular stood out as they strolled by holding hands like nothing in the world was wrong…like there was not a sea of the walking dead coming right for this place.
“So?” the voice came from right behind me. I would have screamed if a hand did not clamp over my mouth. “What do you think you are doing?”
Whether it was because my attention was focused in front of me and I’d just been careless, or the person crouched right behind me had been that quiet, I have no idea. In any case, I could feel the person’s body now that he had moved up right behind me—while the whisper made the voice unidentifiable, I had no doubts that it was a male.
“When I take my hand away, it would be a good idea not to scream. That would bring the guard and then you would probably end up in big trouble,” the voice warned.
I nodded and felt the hand move away from my mouth and then grip my shoulder, turning me around. I was only a little surprised.
“Hunter?” I mouthed.
He nodded and then pulled me back down the embankment. Once we reached the creek, he returned his attention to me. It was obvious that he was angry.
“Are you trying to get yourself and those friends of yours killed?” Hunter hissed. I opened my mouth, but he cut me off and kept talking. “Suzi is tolerant of a lot of things, but if you run, she will have you hunted down and killed. And trust me when I tell you, she would find you. She has some of the best people working for her in that department.”
“People like you?” I sneered.
“Yes.”
Wow, he didn’t even try to hide it. That actually caught me off guard enough so that I just remained hunkered down with my mouth open.
“She is not evil, but she is pragmatic to the point of being dangerous to any that she feels might be her enemy. She actually is still holding out hope that your people will come in and join the fold,” Hunter explained.
“Why do my people have to do anything? Why can’t they just stay where they are and be left alone? We never wanted any trouble to begin with. We were down here looking into why a large community like Island City got torched along with those college kids that, as far as I know, committed the crime of growing vegetables in their little commune.”
“It is hard to understand the big picture when you focus on something small. There is a lot more going on than you might be aware.” Hunter paused, but when I opened my mouth, he held up a finger to stop me so that he could continue. “And when I say you, I mean your entire little community up in the hills.”
It took me a second to register what he’d said, but when it sank in, I felt my stomach churn. He never broke eye contact with me, but instead nodded his head as my own understanding was obviously painted on my face.
“Yes, Thalia, we are very aware of where your people are set up. We know all about your leader. Billy Haynes? His name is actually spoken with great respect.” Hunter looked around and then returned his attention to me. “And you might be happy to know that you have passed a number of tests as well in these few days that you have been with us. But we can discuss this more later. We need to return you to your tent before Suzi finds out that you are gone.”
I was too numb to resist. I got up and followed Hunter. Nothing made any sense. How could he…they…how could these people know about us? We did not range far from the compound, and we had not brought in any new members in at least a couple of years. In fact, Island City was as far as any of us had been as far as I knew.
Of course that was the real key to unlocking this mystery in my opinion. I was not in on any of the details when it came to missions outside of the fence. Hell, I’d just been promoted to these things in the first place. My experiences up to that point were confined to within a mile or so of the walls.
If I got home—
No! When I got home, I was going to find out what the hell was going on. Did we have a spy? Did this Suzi person have people embedded in little communities all over? Is that how Island City fell?
Only, that didn’t make sense either. There were too many loose ends for that to tie up all nice and neat. Additionally, there had been a few things that she did not know about. The biggest that came to mind was this mysterious “Skins” person that had simply vanished.
Then something hit me. While it was true that there had not been any new citizens to join our little community, there had been that one man who’d been captured just before all of this started. I’d been part of the detail that had escorted him into the interrogation room. And that was the last I’d heard of him. In fact, right after his arrival, I’d been tasked to my first field run and simply forgotten he existed.
That was extraordinary in and of itself. A new person, whether it is a simple traveler or somebody from one of the surrounding areas stopping in to trade or just use our place as a layover on their way from one place to another, that is always big news.
How had I forgotten that guy? I tried to recall everything about his arrival as I followed Hunter back to my tent.
***
“We found this guy down by the stream. He won’t give his name or anything,” Jim Sagar said to Billy and Dr. Zahn.
I was still shaking from the excitement. What had been just another boring perimeter patrol had turned into something a lot more exciting in a hurry. I was simply thankful that Ji
m had come out today to find me with a list of some items he wanted me to keep an eye out for during my patrol.
I’d been so intent on Jim’s list that I’d forgotten one of the biggest rules when you are outside the walls. You always kept your eyes open for trouble. While zombies were rare, they still managed to find their way up here to our neck of the woods.
And then there were the living.
That was why Jim noticed the man first and had to grab me by the shoulders to stop me from walking out into a clearing where this guy was sitting on a fallen tree, sifting through (presumably) his back pack. From the looks of him, he had been out in the wild for a fair amount of time. He had a scraggly beard and his face was a mixture of dirt, grime, and over-exposure to long periods of sun that gave him a ruddy, brown-ish complexion.
We flanked the guy, and when Jim came out and told the man to raise his hands and step away from the pack, the man had done so with little more than a drooping of his head; sort of how my brother Stevie did when he got caught red-handed doing something he knew he shouldn’t.
We escorted the man back, and once we arrived at the gates, I was given the honor of escorting the “prisoner” to a holding room. Of course, he wasn’t technically a prisoner yet; he was simply going to be questioned. (Since we had not experienced any serious problems with raiders in such a long time, I guess we just got lazy.)
The problems started when this guy refused to say a single word. Not to me when I was just trying to be friendly and let him know he wasn’t in any serious danger, not Billy who had gone in shortly after, nor Dr. Zahn who joined Billy after over an hour where this guy had done nothing more than stare straight ahead, hardly even blinking.
I knew this because Dr. Zahn had asked me to bring in the cart with all of her tools. It was a scary collection of some of the sharper and nastier things she used as a doctor. They were just for show as far as I knew. They’d never failed to get a person to talk simply by being set out on display in front of the prisoner…at least until this new guy.