by Chesla, Gary
“The bridge is only about two hundred feet long. Meg and I will go first. After we get off the bridge, take a quick look then run across.” Shaun said.
Doug nodded as Shaun and Megan ran across the bridge and disappeared into the brush off to the right at the end of the bridge.
Doug and Lisa ran across and joined them.
They started walking again off to the side of the highway. Half way up the hill they stopped. Sitting back off the road, slightly in the woods was a large log cabin looking structure. The sign saying The Road Toad Restaurant and Bar hung sideways, barely clinging to the sign pole by only one of the two chains that originally displayed the sign.
“I always thought the name of this place was neat.” Shaun said as he looked at the restaurant. It had once been a nice rustic looking restaurant. Now it barely resembled the cool place it had been. The doors and windows had been smashed out and trash and debris lay everywhere.
“Let’s go take a look.” Megan smiled looking at the question in Shaun’s eyes. “Maybe whoever trashed the Inn also trashed the Road Toad. They didn’t bother the vending machines. Maybe we can get another candy bar?”
Shaun laughed, but started walking towards the building.
After scanning the area and the inside of the restaurant through where the door had been, they stepped inside.
A few minutes later they walked back out into the shadows of the woods and sat down to eat their peanut butter cups.
“Besides zombies, I think Meg can sense candy bars too!” Lisa laughed.
Shaun laughed as he tossed the final piece of his peanut butter cup in his mouth. “That’s my Megan.”
Shaun stood and tossed his pack over his shoulder. “We shouldn’t have too much further to go. I’m starting to get curious what we will find at the fort. It sure would be nice if it was like Fred told us.”
“It would be nice to stop running.” Megan added.
“We’re not going to find out standing around here.” Shaun said as he started walking again. The others followed.
Twenty minutes later the woods ended. In front of them was a fifty foot tall Santa Claus.
They stepped out of the woods and looked around. The top of the Ferris wheel stood out above the trees to the right.
Under the rows of trees that started at the end of the empty parking lot stood dozens of pavilions and picnic tables. The signs directing you to the Soak Zone, the roller coaster and Kiddie Land, the bright blue, red and yellow signs stood at the entrance to the road leading into the park in front of them.
“It looks like Idlewild Park never had the chance to open this year.” Shaun said.
“I always liked Idlewild Park.” Megan said.
“Remember when we first started dating, we came up here on the Fourth of July to ride the rides before the fireworks?” Shaun asked.
“You had that old Camaro.” Megan added.
“And you weren’t able to leave after the fireworks because his car wouldn’t start, right?” Lisa laughed.
Shaun laughed. “No. The car ran great. Meg hid the keys and wouldn’t give them back until I kissed her.”
Megan smiled. “He was shy. He needed some help.”
Lisa laughed. “I never came to Idlewild Park. Is it nice?”
“It was.” Shaun said. “We have to walk through part of the park to stay off the highway. We’ll give you a tour.”
They walked across the parking lot and into a patch of trees. As they started into the trees they passed a twenty foot tall shoe.
“The little old lady who lived in a shoe!” Lisa smiled. “We must be in Kiddie Land.”
They passed Mr. Roger’s neighborhood, the park train station, and the merry go round.
“It looks so sad empty like this.” Lisa said.
“What’s really sad is to think it will never be open again. It will just start to get overgrown with trees and weeds.” Megan said.
They all jumped as they heard a loud crash coming from somewhere back in the park.
“We better keep moving.” Shaun said as he started walking faster.
They left the park and continued following the highway.
They had walked for another forty minutes. As the highway began to bend to the right, Ligonier came into view.
They started to pay close attention to the area around them.
They were careful to keep hidden behind the high grass and brush that sat back off the highway.
The first street sign they saw, West Main Street, seemed to go through a large field before it entered the outskirts of Ligonier.
They slowly crept along the highway. Two hundred feet later they saw the sign for North Walnut Street.
There was nothing but trees and brush on their side of the highway, but on the other side, numerous buildings lined the streets as Ligonier proper began to take shape.
Megan pointed across the highway to the Giant Eagle that was located at the intersection of North Walnut and Route 30. “That grocery store looks like it has been completely ransacked. All the windows have been broken and it looks like shelves and boxes are everywhere.”
Shaun looked to see shopping carts lying on their sides in the empty parking lot. It looked like someone threw everything that was in the store out into the parking lot. There they rummaged through and took what they wanted. What remained, stuff like laundry detergent, Christmas decorations, spoiled meats and many other things that no one could eat, were scattered around the front of the store.
“This was a very profitable store.” Doug said. “They had all us managers spend a day here at this store to observe. If we stick around here long, we might want to come back down to the store. I might be able to find some things we could use back in the stock room. The stock room shelves are really tall. The stuff on the top of the shelves might still be there.”
Shaun pointed at two of the dead that came staggering out of Railroad Street, across from the store, going in the direction of the store. “I don’t know how long we are going to be staying around here. It doesn’t look too promising so far.”
They continued moving slowly down their side of the highway, looking across the road as they passed College Street and Grant Street. The town looked deserted except for the occasional sighting of one of the dead roaming the side streets.
Their hope for a safe haven was slowly fading as they walked.
As they passed North Fairfield Street on the other side of the road, Shaun signaled them to get down.
“What do you see?” Megan asked as she scanned the area.
“Two blocks down. See the red light?” Shaun whispered.
Megan looked down Route 30 until she saw the dead stop light that hung over the highway. “I see it.”
“Look up on the hill to the left above the light.” Shaun said.
Everyone looked down at the now non-functioning traffic signal that hung at the intersection or Routes 30 and 711. Then their gaze drifted up on the hillside that overlooked the intersection. On top of the hill sat Fort Ligonier.
“The fort is still there!” Lisa exclaimed.
“Come on, let’s get closer.” Shaun said as he crawled on the ground behind the brush and high grass. He crawled until he was opposite from Glassner street, less than half a block from the entrance to the fort.
They all sat and watched.
They all stared at what they saw.
A tall wall, about twelve feet tall made of logs, was built around the hill. The logs were all pointed at the top. Every couple hundred feet, a platform sat behind the wall. A man was on the platform watching the area around the wall.
Inside the large walled in area were two more smaller walled in areas, with men standing on platforms keeping watch over the inside area of the outer wall.
A road ran up to the outer wall and to a gate. Two men manned the gate. Once inside the wall, the road continued up the hill to the next walled in area, where again two men manned the inner gate.
Many other people were moving ar
ound inside the walls, going about their business.
Occasionally, someone would enter or leave the fort.
Inside the outer wall, there were gardens scattered about.
Around the inner walls and at various parts of the enclosed area were what appeared to be little cottages. Smoke from camp fires rose into the air from different parts of the fort.
Shaun tapped Megan on the shoulder. “Look up to the right from the inner gate.”
Megan strained to see. “Look working in that one garden. It looks like women.”
Megan smiled. “That could mean it is peaceful here at the fort.
“Let’s just watch and see if we see anything that doesn’t look right.” Shaun said looking over at Doug and Lisa.
“What kind of things?” Lisa asked.
“Watch for anyone being pushed around, being made to do things. Anyone that looks like a prisoner. Watch how they treat the women.” Shaun said.
“Look at all the smoke going up into the sky.” Doug said. “It’s daylight and they don’t seem to care that anyone might see it.”
“The fort looks secure enough to keep out the dead. I’m not sure about the gangs, but you’re right. They don’t seem too concerned about anything.” Shaun answered.
They laid in the weeds and watched. After about an hour and a half, Shaun asked. “Anyone see anything suspicious?”
“It all looks normal to me.” Megan answered. “Old time normal, not today’s screwed up normal.”
Shaun smiled. “It looks like they are all living a regular life in there. No dead, no one pushing others around and no worry about anyone finding out they are here.”
“I think it looks fine. It looks just like Fred told us about.”
“Are we going to go in?” Lisa asked.
“I originally thought we would spend a day or two watching the fort, but now I don’t know. It looks to be OK.” Shaun said.
“I think we should go in.” Lisa said.
Shaun looked around. ”What do you think, Meg? Doug?”
They studied the fort. “I’m for going in.” Doug said. “It looks a lot better in there than it does out here.”
“I vote for going in too.” Megan said.
“I think we should try to go in too, but how about we do it this way.” Shaun said as he looked at the others. “All of you wait here in case something isn’t right and I’ll go in and get a closer look.”
“I don’t want you to go in there by yourself. I’m going to go with you.” Megan said.
“No!” Shaun said. “And you know why. You and Lisa have to stay out here until we know it’s safe. I don’t even want them to know there are girls with us until I feel it is safe. Besides, if they grab me, I need all of you out here to figure a way to get me out of there.”
“Maybe I should be the one to go in. You would be a lot better at getting me out of there than I would be trying to figure how to get you out. I’m not good at that stuff and you are.” Doug replied.
“Because I am better at that kind of thing, I’d also be better at spotting a trap. So I think I need to be the one to go in.” Shaun said. “If everyone was willing to just walk in to the fort, you shouldn’t have any problem with me going in. Right?”
Shaun looked at Megan. She looked unsure what to say.
“I just don’t like you going without me. Look at last time and it was just over to Doug’s house.” Megan said almost pleading.
“I know, but I honestly think this is different. I think it will be fine, I just want to take one extra look before we all go in. That or I think we should stay out here for a couple of days just to make sure.” Shaun replied.
“I think it would be OK to let Shaun go.” Doug said. “I’d be willing to go if you guys would let me.”
“I would let Doug go. I think this place feels right.” Lisa added.
Megan looked at Shaun. “OK, but I don’t like it. I’m going to worry the whole time you’re gone.”
Shaun reached over and squeezed Megan’s hand. “I’ll be fine.”
“You better be!” Megan glared back at him.
“I’m going to go back down the road a couple blocks before I come out on the road and walk up to the fort so they won’t know where I came from. So they won’t see you guys. When I come out, unless I signal for you to come over, you go back down around the bend and I’ll meet you there. If I feel it is fine, I’ll just signal for you to come over.” Shaun said.
He gave Meg a kiss and started to crawl back along the highway the way they had come. When he was out of sight from the fort, he stood and walked out onto the highway and began walking back towards the fort in the middle of Route 30.
He saw the fort come into view as he walked down the highway. He stared at the fort to see how they reacted.
As he passed where the others were hiding, he glanced over at them to see Lisa’s smiling face and Megan’s worried look.
He looked at the fort. No one seemed to pay him any attention.
He walked up to the closed gate and the two men that controlled the gate.
Shaun spoke. “Good afternoon gentlemen. I heard the people here at the fort were allowing others to come and stay at the fort. I am here to ask if that is correct or if I was misinformed?”
“You heard correct, mister. Would you like to talk to someone about joining the fort?”
“Yes if I could, please. It is bad out there. It would be nice to have a safe place to stay.” Shaun answered.
“Sure, wait here for a minute.” The man said. He stepped inside the fort and signaled the man standing watch on the stand inside. When the guy came down, the guard from the gate told him something. The man turned and ran up the road inside the wall and went into the inner wall.
The gate guard stepped back outside the wall and approached Shaun. “I just sent Josh up to get Bill. He is the one you want to speak with. You can sit on that bench and make yourself comfortable until he comes out if you would like. Could I send someone to bring you a glass of water?”
“No thank you.” Shaun answered, surprised by the offered hospitality.
Shaun walked over and sat down on the log bench that was against the fort’s outer wall. Shaun felt at ease where he was sitting, but kept watching and listening to make sure he wasn’t getting himself into trouble.
He saw the man, Josh, from the stand inside the wall coming down from the inside fort wall, accompanied by another man who appeared to be about forty years old. His hair was shaggy, as was everyone’s hair now days, but he seemed to be clean shaven and clean.
The two men came down to the gate. The man that had been on the platform, crawled back up to resume his job.
Bill walked out of the gate. He nodded to the guy manning the gate. The man pointed over to Shaun.
Bill came over and sat down next to Shaun.
He turned facing Shaun and held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Bill. I understand you were inquiring about joining the fort?”
Shaun shook his hand. “Yes sir. My name is Shaun. I ran into a man out near Latrobe who told me about the fort. Where I was staying got over run by a gang. I was hoping what I had been told was true.”
“Is it just you or do you have a family?” Bill asked.
“There are a few of us.” Shaun answered.
“As long as you and your friends are not associated with any gangs, we would welcome you. But gang members are not welcome here.” Bill said.
“How would you know? I could be a gang member and lie and say I wasn’t.” Shaun smiled.
Bill laughed. “We use our gut. Most gang members have a way about them. If we talk to you and you seem OK, we let you join us. If we don’t feel right about you, we won’t agree to let you stay.”
Shaun smiled. “That’s how I like to do business. I like to look people in the eye. The eyes tell you a lot more about a man then his words.”
“Would you like to come in and look around?” Bill asked.
Shaun seemed to hesitate.
“I know we have to gain your trust too. You are free to leave and think about it, or you are free to just walk in and talk to whoever you would like. You just check in and out with George at the gate. You seem like an honest man. I feel we would welcome you here at the fort. You have nothing to fear from us. We are trying to rebuild an area where decent people can live safely and work together. You take your time and decide.” Bill said. “I’ll be inside. Let George know what you decide.”
“If I decide I want to join, what happens?” Shaun asked.
“We’ll meet with our five member committee who will tell you a little about us and ask you some questions. Then we vote. If we allow you to join, we will assign you a hut. Then we will assign you a job and give you the opportunity to join different projects we have underway. Hopefully in a month or two you will have your own place here in Ligonier.” Bill smiled. “You decide. I hope you will decide to join us.”
“I can just go inside and talk to anyone I want?” Shaun asked.
“Sure.” Bill said as he turned and started to go back inside the gate.
Shaun went over to George. “Bill said it would be OK for me to go in and look around.”
George handed him a walking stick with a red handle. “Sure can. Here, take this walking stick. The walking stick is your pass. Keep this with you at all times when you are inside. Give it to me when you come back out.”
“Thank You.” Shaun said as he took the stick and walked in through the gate.
He began to walk up the road that led to the inner wall. It was like a fort inside a fort. It seemed so peaceful inside the walls. People walking and talking freely. He saw a girl working with a hoe in a little garden off the right side of the roadway. He decided to go over and ask her a few questions.
He walked up to the edge of the garden. “Excuse me ma’am. Could I ask you a question?”
The girl smiled. She seemed to be around twenty. She seemed calm and relaxed, not afraid to see him standing there at all. She walked over and offered her hand. “Hi, I’m Lilly. How can I help you?”