Amitola: The Making of a Tribe

by A. Grant Richard

  The men made introductions amongst themselves and shook hands as a peace offering. Maia was relieved. Clarence walked over and put his arm around her, escorting her aside. “Are you sure you want these men to come back with us?” he asked discreetly.

  “Yeah, I am. I thought a lot about what you said, and you’re right. If we are going to survive, we have to have numbers, and we need people with skills. And these men are good people. They had every opportunity to hurt me, and they never did. In fact—“ She looked over at Tye, and they smiled at each other. “They protected me and saved me several times. They came here with no promises or understanding of what they would find here other than the community. Trust me.”

  “I do,” he said, “I just wanted to be sure you thought it through.”

  The men settled in the den. Rodney brought them some water and leftover macaroni. Danny took a seat by Tye. “So you do all that fight stuff. That’s how you provided for your family?”

  “Not really,” Tye said, putting a clean t-shirt on. “I’m a welder. I worked in the plants, mostly turnarounds. I made extra cash training people, but my wife would tell you that it was more of a hobby. It paid for birthdays, Christmas and vacation every year though so she didn’t complain.”

  “Where’s your wife?” Danny asked.

  “Judgement Day took her from me. A garbage truck hit us. She didn’t make it, and my other boy got messed up bad too. He died not long after.” He stared straight ahead and rolled his tongue around his mouth.

  “That’s a shame. Sorry to hear it.” Danny looked back at Maia then asked Tye, “So, which one of you managed to put the bell on the cat?”

  “What? Maia? We’re friends. I’ve known her for years. Her husband was a good friend of mine, and like she said, I trained her.”

  Danny stared at him. “And what about him?”

  “Caleb? He’s married. His wife is on her way here. He hopes anyway. He hasn’t gotten any news in a while.”

  “Mmm, hmm,” Danny muttered as he finished chewing his macaroni. He swallowed, pointed in the general direction of Maia then with accusation in his voice he said, “I’m supposed to believe the two of you took care of her out of the kindness of your heart?”

  Tye stood up and looked down at him. “Yes, we did.” Danny put his plate down and stood to face him. Everyone else stopped to find out what was going on.

  Tye got in Danny’s face. “She’s my friend. I care about what happens to her. I wasn’t about to leave her out there with those rapist bastards, and I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating.”

  Danny stared him down. “Maia, did either of these men make you do anything you didn’t want to do?”

  “No, now stop this, that’s enough.”

  “Are you with either of them?” he asked.

  “That’s not your business, but no, I’m not.” She walked over and stood in between the two men then faced Danny. “They’re not like that. You have no idea what they’ve done for me, and they’ve asked for nothing in return, not even promises.”

  Danny smiled and patted Tye’s shoulder. “Good because we don’t have room for ass caps in Amitola.”

  “Hats,” Maia corrected him. “It’s hats, not caps.”

  “Whatever sinks your pirogue, Kitty,” he replied.

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s 'floats your boat.' And I’m not a cat.”

  “Says the woman with nine lives and who always lands on her feet,” Dumais said while Danny laughed.

  Luke decided to add his two cents as well. “Y’all better watch out. The hair on her back is standing up. She about to hiss.” And just like that several of the guys acted like cats, purring, hissing, and rubbing their shoulders against others the way cats do.

  Charlie came out of the bathroom fanning his nose with one hand and holding a magazine in the other. He marveled at the sight he was seeing. In a move reminiscent of a five-year-old throwing a tantrum he stomped his foot and said, “Sombitch. What’d I miss this time? Is this a cat videos remake contest? If so, I got some doozies!” he laughed.

  While the men talked, Maia whisked Sadie away and spoke to her privately. It turns out because this was the first time it happened, she wasn’t sure if it was her menstrual cycle or not. That’s why she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t nearly as naive as her dad probably hoped either. Her mom had been giving her regular talks for the last couple of years, so she was familiar with the process and what it meant for her in the future. All Maia had to do was recap a few things and give her some pads to use.

  The two of them hurried out to share the good news with Tye. He smiled and grabbed his little girl, picked her up off her feet and held her tight. Over her shoulder, he mouthed “thank you” to Maia. The happy moment was cut short by Jason and his crew returning. Once they convinced Danny and Dumais not to shoot them, they sat down to discuss their options.

  “What did you girl scouts find out?” Danny asked.

  The condescension appalled Jason. “Does Little Hands have to be here?”

  Danny lurched at him across the table. “Little Hands? Let me get my hands around your throat, boy, then you can tell me how little they are.”

  Dumais and Luke pulled him back. He popped his shoulder forward and fixed his shirt. He didn’t know who this little punk thought he was but he wasn’t about to let him get away with insulting his manhood or his heritage.

  Clarence held his hands up and raised his voice. “Settle down fellas. Save your energy for the fight.”

  Dirk laid out a map of the area. Several places were marked with notes. He explained that there were five camps that they saw and so far, at least fifty to sixty men occupied them. Their spy inside the camps informed them they were planning to double that number with recruits over the next couple days. He also reported there was a significant amount of firepower at their disposal and more than thirty trained dogs.

  “For the last couple months, they’ve been carrying out operations like this in communities across the river and south Baton Rouge. They captured all the females and some of the boys under twelve. A couple dozen men were asked to join them. The rest of the men and boys were assassinated then dumped into a pit and burned. They ransacked every house and took the food, supplies, weapons and whatever else they thought they might be able to use.” He held up a stack of papers. “And there’s this.”

  Clarence took the papers from Garcia and thumbed through them. His eyes nearly bulged from his head, and his jaw dropped. Without taking his eyes off of the papers, he asked, “What am I looking at? I pray to God it’s not what I think it is.”

  Dirk pointed to a block of text on the page. “That’s their motto, I guess. They plan on getting rid of most of us.”

  The block of text read, “In order to rebuild a thriving society, women must be highly valued. When captured, they will be sold at a high price to ensure that only men with power and influence have them. Our potential for population growth is solely dependent upon the number of child-bearing women we possess, not the number of men who survive. Having significantly higher numbers of men decreases the food supply. Our best chance to survive and thrive is to eliminate the majority of men, capture all childbearing women, and enslave all boys 12 and under along with non-childbearing women who are capable of working.”

  Clarence reached for the table to steady himself then he took a seat in the chair. His eyes moved left to right as he read the words.

  Danny looked at it over his shoulder. “What is this? The freaking Illuminati? That’s bullshit. I say we kick their ass on principle alone.”

  Jason replied, “Heck no, that ain’t the Illuminati. Even they had morals. This is worse than the Nazis. This is a whole new level of dumb ass.”

  “So this is what they’ve been doing this whole time?” Danny read out loud, “Agents will be compensated per childbearing woman according to the specifications chart. Each agent is allowed one slave per day and one recruit per week unless otherwise specified. Compensation is rewarded per
eliminated male, unlimited.”

  Rodney grabbed his forehead, amazed at what he heard. “That’s one way to make sure only certain men have wives and children.”

  “It would also put a handful of men in powerful positions in the days to come,” Charlie added.

  “Who decided this?” Caleb asked. “Who’s in charge?”

  “Our guy says a man named Silverstein is the one in charge. He’s a politician from Vermont. Rumor is, somehow he knew the asteroid was coming and this was going to be one of the safest places when it hit. He’s been here since a month before it happened.”

  Caleb said, “We heard that too; that a few highfalutin people knew it was coming and made preparations for it. The guy we stayed with, in the beginning, Shelton Foist, he kept telling us he had friends who did that, and he put up money to fund it so he could have some of the spots. My dad said he was ready for this too. Makes me wonder if he knew and didn’t say anything. And whoever built that psych facility they’re staying in.”

  “Yeah,” Danny agreed. “I keep telling them that wasn’t meant to be no nut house.”

  Maia decided to redirect the conversation. “Guys, as much as I want to solve the mystery of the Psych Hospital and those who were prepared, we’re wasting time. We need to figure out what we’re going to do. I’m not willing to let them kill the only good men left in this world including my sons.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Tony, a former Sergeant with the National Guard, took the reins. “We need men, weapons, and a plan. Allen is willing to send twenty guys. If you can get another twenty, and if we can come up with some weapons then we can beat these guys and end this. Your boys need to know there’s a chance that some of us ain’t gonna make it so make sure their affairs are in order if you know what I mean. Our guys are ready. We're aware of the cost if we don’t get rid of these SOBs.”

  Clarence replied, “Good we’re going to need them—“

  “Hold on, Mr. Clarence…Not that we aren’t grateful, but what does Allen want in exchange for offering his twenty guys?” Caleb asked. It didn’t take more than a night for him to figure out Allen was always working an angle. Maia winked at him, quite proud of his response.

  Jason jumped at the chance to reply. “He wants what we all want…to live in peace. We can’t let these animals roam free.”

  “And…” Caleb said.

  “Well, it’s only fair if we’re each putting up half the men plus we brought the intel and the military experience, then whatever we get from them when we win should be divvied up accordingly. That sounds like about seventy percent our way, agreed?” Jason said as he held out his hand to shake on it.

  “Lick that mule again?” Danny said.

  Caleb looked at Jason like he had a hole in his head. “No, not agreed.” He stood up and put his hands flat on the table in front of him. “The only intel you provided that we didn’t have was this stack of papers. We were neck deep in the fight without this. Not to mention, they are the only ones who know this land and have worked it for the last five months. This is their shelter, their food, and supplies, and they know every inch of these woods. They are the plan. You need to come up with something we don’t have just to be even. And no, you don’t get an additional twenty percent just for showing up, cowboy. Don’t fool yourself. You ain’t that special.”

  Maia’s confidence level shot up immediately. Caleb slid right into his role and owned it. She looked over at Clarence, and he was grinning ear to ear. Even Danny gave Caleb a thumbs up though it was more like a grunt with a head nod, it meant he approved.

  “If that’s your final answer, then I’ll let him know, but he’s likely to be disappointed.”

  Caleb replied, “Tell him to get un-disappointed then. He knows they’ll come after y’all eventually, so it’s in your best interest to get them out of the picture now. Do you think they’ll let y’all be? It’s only gonna take one time for them to catch one of your guys and interrogate him to find out where Allen’s stashes are and then he no longer has any power.”

  “Fine, let’s just agree to 50/50.”

  Caleb shook his head in agreement then sat down. “Now, with all due respect Mr. Clarence, if I may I’d like to get things rolling.”

  “Go ahead, son. We’re listening.”

  Caleb opened his and Maia’s notebook. He turned to pages where they’d both written down each person’s name, their skills, gifts, or talents, and other interesting things about them. They were both people watchers and their attention to detail as listed on these pages showed how well they’d studied their companions. Based on the two lists he was able to come up with a startup plan.

  With pen in hand, he wrote down additional thoughts as he talked. “Mr. Clarence, I need you to gather twenty people from Amitola who are capable and willing to fight. Danny and Charlie, the two of you should find the key locations to set up traps that we can lure them into. They need to be easy to set up, quiet, and easy for us to avoid.”

  He looked over the notes to find those with military or fighting experience. “Dirk, Tony, and Tye, you’ve got tonight to come up with the best plan of action for training these people. They need to know how to be stealthy, hit their target, and basic hand to hand combat.”

  “Speaking of stealthy, who would be the best choice for capturing a couple of these guys without getting caught. We need to question them.”

  “I got that covered,” Danny said.

  “By yourself?” Luke asked. “You sure?” Charlie chimed in.

  “If a dog shits in the woods but no one is there to smell it, does it still smell?”

  Eyes bounced around the room at each other, dumbfounded. Not a single person understood what he meant nor did they attempt to figure it out though they all had an inkling he was trying to reassure them. Most shook their heads and let him be. Clarence felt the need to ask for clarification. “Can you tell us how you got it covered? So that we know?”

  “I sent one of the pigeons out with a message for my cousin.”

  “Well, there goes the neighborhood,” Dumais said.

  “Pigeons?” Tye asked.

  “Him and his cousin, JT, train homing pigeons. This guy is the real deal. He could be standing in front of you out in the woods, and you wouldn’t know it,” Dumais replied.

  Caleb continued, “Okay well let me know when he gets here.”

  “He’s already here,” Danny said.

  Thinking he had to be joking Caleb continued, “Sean, I need you to gather up your twenty guys and get them back here. Jason and Dumais, I want the two of you to find out the best time for us to bring our people over. Find other vital intel while you’re at it. We’ll also need a plan of action and questions to ask when we’re able to bring some of them in for questioning. I’m going to put the two of you on that.”

  He looked over each of the boys’ skills and talents; some were good with animals and wildlife, some had been training with the fire department to be EMTs, and some were excellent carpenters and builders. “Joaquín and Chad, find out how we can distract or detain those dogs. And make sure you talk with Danny and see what ideas he has. Junior, Jaxon, and Trey start a list of supplies, especially medical, that we’ll need from Amitola. Jimmy and Carsten, I want you at a safe distance in those trees finding out as much as you can about how they operate. I especially want to know how they’re training. Tomas and Parker, I want the two of you to find as much wood and other material as possible for us to build these traps.”

  He looked over the initial plan he’d just drafted and reviewed it carefully. All things seemed to be covered, and he was happy with the start they’d be making. “Finally, Maia, I want you to take Sadie and Elex back to Amitola. Rodney and Luke, I need a ride to Highland Road not far from Lee Drive. Is that doable?”

  Rodney and Luke nodded at each other in agreement. “Yeah, actually that route is pretty clear if we take the main roads to get there. Most of the roadblocks let up at dark. If we go this evening, we can probably d
o it without too many people noticing.”

  “So that’s it? Are we just gonna put fifty men out there to be slaughtered like that? That’s the plan?” Jason asked.

  “You got a problem with your ears?” Danny replied.

  Clarence tapped his finger on the table. “If you would’ve listened, this is not the full plan. Look, this is a good start. The man laid it out for you. Do your part, report back, then we modify and add to the plan as necessary. Nobody gets glory in any of this if we lose. We have to win.”

  “The only problem with the plan is us going back,” Maia said. “Right now, that’s not possible. Danny mentioned they counted sixteen dogs this morning on their way out, between our landing and here. We’d never get past them.”

  “Then y’all can go back to Allen’s for a couple nights,” Charlie said. “That’s close enough.”

  Tony and Jason both shook their head no. Tony held up his hand. “No, that’s where they came from. There are more dogs along the way now than there was earlier.”

  Jason added, “They’d never make it there. This place is surrounded by their camps.”

  Danny shook his head. “I can cover their tracks and their scent. We can get them home.”

  A man with long black hair, thick arms, and a scowl walked in with a younger man at his side. The young man looked much like him. “No, Danny Boy, you don’t get it. There is a reason why the dogs can smell one of them right now. We can’t cover that up.”

  “One of you’s on the cloth? Why didn't you just say so? Yeah, I can’t cover that up. We’ll have to wait ’til Aunt Peg leaves.”

  Maia shook her head briskly, "It's Flo, not Peg. Oh my gosh. Nevermind."

  Dirk agreed, “If that’s the case and we try to move them, yeah, they’re as good as gone.”

  Tye shook his head in disbelief. He put his hands on the back of Maia’s chair. “Then what are we gonna do? They can’t stay here. They have to be somewhere safe. This is my family we’re talking about.”