Safe Zone

by Chesla, Gary

  “I think the guys around here are getting too impressed with Shaun and his ideas.” Bill smiled. “We have all we need from him to protect the fort. Some of his ideas have been quiet ingenious. The gutter system is great and that damned catapult will make our jobs a hell of a lot easier. I thought about taking out Doug first, but that damn Shaun is smart. It might get him thinking. I feel we need to eliminate him before he figures out too much about us.”

  “When are you going to have it done?” Ed smiled.

  “I arranged for Shaun and Doug to stand watch tonight around 2:00 AM. George is going to take him down to the front gate then. Tell Charlie to be down there at that time. The two of them can eliminate them and Charlie can take them up to his shop. Tell him to process them both tonight right away and dispose of any identifiable parts.” Bill said.

  “What are we going to tell the grieving widows?” Ed grinned.

  “All we know is that some of those bikers must have grabbed them off the wall. Who knows where they took them.” Bill smiled.

  Ed laughed. “I like it. I’ll let Charlie know he has a job tonight.”

  Ed left and Bill sat back in his chair and thought. Things were changing, but all seemed to be under control. Shaun’s group had contributed a lot to the fort in their short time here. All four of them would continue to contribute, in different ways.

  Now, if only he could eliminate the threat Bear posed to the fort, things could start getting back to normal around here. With his new weapons, it would be much easier to keep it that way.

  Bear? He only had eight men left. How much of a problem could he be?

  Chapter 19

  Lilly had laid in the small space between the cottage and the wall for what seemed like hours. She kept watching for someone to come looking for her. She tried to stay alert so she could move if anyone came snooping around. She didn’t know where she would run to, maybe she would just try to keep the cabin between her and the person looking for her. She just had to hope there would only be one person looking for her that she would have to avoid.

  She was basically trapped. She was surrounded by a twelve foot wall. At least she wasn’t still in the smaller main fort. She had more room to move around out here in the outer fort, but the problem still remained, she was trapped. If she couldn’t find a way out she would sooner or later be found.

  Lilly looked back up at the sky through the narrow space above her. The sky was now black. She could see stars starting to twinkle in the sky. It was a clear night. Hopefully the moon wouldn’t be too bright, she needed the darkness.

  She crawled to the far corner of the cottage. The clear night and the scattered campfires gave her a good view of the area inside the outer forts walls.

  There were more guards out tonight than she remembered seeing in the past when she had made her late night treks to the outhouse. That was going to make it harder for her to find a way out of the fort.

  She thought for a minute. How could she get out of the fort? There were only two ways out. Well, there were actually three ways out, but she didn’t want to think about the third option. She wanted to concentrate on the options that allowed her to get out and still be alive.

  The only two ways would be to go over the wall or out the gate.

  The wall was twelve feet tall. Too high to jump and there was no way to crawl over the wall without a rope. She didn’t have a rope. The other way out was to go out the gate, but she could only do that if it was open. She was sure no one was going to just open the gate and let her leave.

  She needed a plan. It had to be a simple plan, something she could do, her situation was already too complicated.

  She decided that she would crawl in the shadows at the base of the wall. She would follow the left wall of the fort down to the front gate. She would keep her eyes open as she crawled and hopefully she would find a rope somewhere. If she found a rope, she would try to get over the wall. If not she would continue to crawl down to the front gate. She would wait until they opened the gate. When no one was looking she would run out the gate.

  She thought about her plan. “Who was she kidding? They never opened the gate at night.” Even if they did, as hobbled as she was, she would be easy to catch.

  But as hard as she thought, she could not come up with anything better.

  If she had any hope of escaping, she had to do something.

  So she started to crawl.

  She crawled slowly to be sure her motions wouldn’t attract any attention.

  The scariest part was when she had to crawl under the platforms where the guys were keeping watch.

  She could hear them talking above her as she crawled under the platform. The platform was a frame with boards set out over the top so they could stand and walk. Lilly could see the men standing above her. She tried to keep her face buried in the grass so her light face wouldn’t give her away against the dark grass.

  She had crawled under two platforms before she was close enough to see the front gate in the glow of the campfire near the last cabin.

  She crawled to the corner where the front wall met the left fort wall. She twisted her body to fit back into the angle where the two walls met and laid quietly in the shadows.

  So far her plan had been a bust. She had seen a rope. She could see it now. It was tied to the water pump a hundred feet away. Next to the pump was a large campfire. It lit up the area around the pump in case the pump was needed to put out any fires. It brightly lit the area around the pump. It was so bright, there was no way she could get anywhere near it without being seen.

  Her last chance was to hope someone opened the gate. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had.

  She watched and waited.

  George stood on the wall and looked out into the darkness. All was quiet. He hoped the night would pass the same way. Bear was a pain in the ass. He had been that way since he first met the guy. Bill had known Bear from his time at the meat processing store. Bear had always brought his deer in for Bill to cut up for him. Even though you were only permitted one kill each hunting season, Bear would always bring in numerous deer over the course of the year and Bill would take care of it for him and not give him any problems or threaten to report him to the game commission.

  They weren’t friends, but had over the years gained a certain amount of respect for each other.

  Bear was a bad ass that ran with various biker gangs. Bill was greedy and would turn a blind eye to anything as long as it put money in his pocket.

  They had a long relationship of scratching each other’s back as they phrase goes. George didn’t think Bill and Bear liked each other, but they had come to accept each other and expect to profit from the relationship.

  When the world started to fall apart and the dead began to rise and hunt the living, Bill, George, Ed and a few of their friends took refuge in the fort. Soon others started to show up at the fort and asked for a place in the fort. The fort soon became known throughout the area as the safe zone.

  After the first month, Bill started to become concerned because the fort was getting crowded. Supply runs throughout Ligonier were becoming less productive and it became a struggle to feed everyone at the fort.

  One day Bear and his gang showed up at the gates. George thought there was going to be a blood bath, until Bill recognized Bear out among the bikers.

  Bill went out to talk to Bear. They talked for a long time. Bill and Bear had worked out an agreement.

  Everyone in the fort cheered when the bikers left. Little did they know Bill had just made a deal with the devil.

  Bear really wasn’t interested in the fort. The bikers loved it out on the road. They were just looking for women and entertainment. With all the people coming to the fort, Bill agreed to supply Bear with what he wanted.

  To keep the supplies at the fort from running low, Bill came up with a creative solution. The women were shipped off to Bear, the men were converted into food to feed all the newcomers. The new people were thrilled to have a diet of
meat again, something that had become scarce after the dead began to ravage the area.

  To explain the disappearance of the people at the fort, Bill had come up with the story that things were going so well, he was able to relocate them to better and safer locations and even give them what they had lost and longed for again, a home of their own.

  Bill became a hero to the people at the fort.

  George fought the agreement at first, but after weeks of safety and comfort at the fort, George did what he never thought he would do. He turned his back to what was going on around him, as long as he didn’t have to participate and could keep his hands clean. He was happy to just go along with everything and not make waves.

  When supplies at the fort started to run low, it was an easy transition to shift the diet of the original members at the fort to a meat based diet. It took a week or so before anyone noticed, after a short adjustment period, it was quickly accepted as what they had to do to survive. Soon no one had a problem with it. They all just sort of looked the other way and were happy to be alive and secure and enjoy the safety and comfort of living at the fort.

  When the flow of people coming to the fort started to dry up about a month ago, George could see the writing on the wall. The great numbers of the dead were too much for the living to handle. George thought maybe all the people that were able, had fled the area. But in his heart he knew that wasn’t the real reason so few people were coming to the fort. He truly believed the reason was that there weren’t that many people left alive. Mankind could be approaching the point of extinction. The population at the fort began to get smaller and smaller. They would soon have to start scavenging for food or turn on each other.

  George knew there would be trouble with Bear when they were no longer in a position to give him what he wanted.

  He could see a time coming when all of this would collapse around them. If it hadn’t been for Shaun’s ideas, that time might have come yesterday with that massive horde of the dead or Bear’s attack on the fort today.

  If not from one, a combination of the two could have been enough to bring it all to an end.

  He liked Shaun. It had been a long time since he had someone that he thought could be a real friend. Shaun was a good guy and he had saved his life today. His ideas had saved the fort. But, for how long? George could see the writing on the wall.

  It was at times like this he had to ask himself. “Was it all worth it? He had sold his soul for what? Maybe a few extra months?

  George told the guy standing watch with him to stay alert. He would be back. He had to go to the outhouse.

  He climbed down off the platform and started to walk towards the outhouse. In front of Shaun’s residence, he veered off the road and walked to Shaun’s cottage.

  He stepped up to the door and knocked.

  He waited a few minutes and knocked again when he didn’t get any response.

  He waited and listened until he heard voices coming from inside.

  Shaun came over and opened the door. It took a minute until Shaun recognized George standing at his door in the darkness.

  “Hey George. Did I sleep in? Is it 2:00AM already?”

  “No. It’s just after midnight. I need to talk to you for a minute, could I come in?” George asked quietly.

  “Sure come on in.” Shaun said. “Give me a second and I’ll light a candle.”

  George stepped inside and closed the door. Shaun lit the candle and pulled a chair over for George to sit down.

  George looked around the small cabin room. Megan smiled up at him. She was still in bed and had the covers pulled up to her chin. He looked around and saw how Shaun and Megan had their clothes laid out neatly on the little table. He noticed the new green curtain hanging over the window. All the little things they had done to make the cabin feel like a real home. Their home.

  Finally Shaun asked. “Is there something wrong, George?”

  George looked at Shaun. Shaun saw a sadness in George’s eyes. “Yes, there is a lot wrong, Shaun.”

  Shaun looked confused.

  “Shaun. I’m here because I like you. You saved my ass out there today. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t come here and warn you.”

  “Warn me about what?” Shaun asked now concerned.

  Megan sat up in bed and wrapped the blanket around herself, disturbed by George’s remarks.

  “Shaun, you have to leave the fort, tonight before 2:00 AM”

  “Why George? We like it here. What’s going on?” Shaun asked concerned. Worry showed all over his face.

  “Shaun, this fort isn’t what it looks like. There are no farms! There is no relocating people to homes around Ligonier. It’s all a ruse. If you stay here you are going to die.” George said.

  “What are you talking about George?” Shaun asked.

  “If I told you what you have been eating you would die. So I’m going to spare you that part.” George said softly.

  “But what about all the people that have come to the fort? I’ve talked to people and they said it was great here.” Shaun added.

  “I don’t have much time. Long story short, people come to the fort, but no one leaves. Some do, but it’s not what they are expecting. Bill and Bear are in this together. The new people come in, the men are killed and the women are shipped off to Bear. I came here to warn you. You and Doug are to be killed when you go on watch tonight.” George looked at Megan. “They have other plans for your wife and your friend’s wife.”

  Megan gasped as her eyes grew large.

  “This can’t be true George. Everyone has been so nice to us. We’ve all fought side by side the last two days.” Shaun looked at George.

  “This is a place of horrors. I don’t have time to tell you the whole story, but you have to leave within the next hour or you will die and your wife will find herself in a living hell.” George stared at Shaun.

  “Who are ‘they’?” Shaun asked.

  “Bill, Ed and all the guys up at the main fort. Shaun, Charlie and I have been ordered to kill you tonight. I can’t live with that. I can’t live with any of this anymore. If they see me in here warning you, I’ll be killed too. You have to leave now.” George almost shouted.

  Megan looked horrified. “Shaun, I think we should go. I’m scared.”

  “If they want me dead, do you think they are just going to let me walk out that gate?” Shaun almost shouted.

  “No, they won’t let you leave if they see you. You have to sneak out.” George pleaded.

  “How the hell am I supposed to do that?” Shaun glared, obviously getting upset and confused at what George was telling him.

  “There is a way out that only a couple of us know about. When we first set up the fort, we made a way to get out if the fort ever got over run. If you go up to cabin four, that’s the last cabin on the left wall. It’s near the back corner. They never put anyone in that cabin so we could use it to get out if we had to. Under the bed is a trap door. We dug a tunnel that comes out on the other side of the wall in a small patch of brush. Just get up there and get out of here. You have to get out of here before we come for you at 2:00 AM.” George pleaded.

  “How do I know this isn’t a trap or you just want to get rid of us?” Shaun glared.

  “Shaun, it would be easy for them to come down here in the middle of the night and kill you and your wife if that was what they wanted to do. They wouldn’t have to set a trap. They could just tell everyone else that you had been relocated. The only reason they are going to kill you on the wall tonight, is so they can claim you were taken by the bikers. They don’t want your wife to know what really happened. They plan on keeping her for themselves. They figure if she knew what really happened to you, she would never cooperate. But if she found herself to be a widow all of a sudden, she would be grateful to Bill for the comfort and protection of the fort. They feel after a while, and her feeling so grateful, well you get the idea!” George said.

  “No way in hell!” Megan growled, hate dri
pping from her words.

  “You saved my ass today. I owe you. I don’t want to see you get killed. I don’t want to see your wife….” George’s voice faded to a whisper.

  “I have to go before they miss me on the wall. I told you what will happen if you stay. I’ve given you a way out. I can’t do anymore. Please go while you can. I have to leave. Please trust me.” George turned and walked out the door.

  Megan looked at Shaun. “We’ve had a feeling that something wasn’t right. Now this! Let’s get out of here.

  I’m not feeling safe here anymore and I’d certainly never feel that grateful. Those bastards!

  We always suspected something wasn’t quite right. Shaun. Let’s go, Please!”

  “I know Meg.” Shaun said looking confused. “I don’t know what to believe? I never expected this. We were just starting to feel comfortable here at the fort. I feel like I have just been hit over the head with a two by four!”

  Lilly laid at the base of the wall. She knew this was never going to work. She was starting to feel desperate. She didn’t want to get caught. She didn’t want to be put back in that room again. The more she thought the more afraid she became. The idea of being carved up like a piece of meat terrified her. She started to cry. Seeing those bodies hanging in the room, her mom hanging in that room, being cut up and eaten, was almost more than she could handle.

  Tears ran down her face and dripped down on to her hands. Even if she just killed herself, it wouldn’t be the end of it. They would still cut her up. Desperation began to consume her, and she started to shake. It was beginning to look like there was no way out.

  Lilly tried to control herself and held her hand over her mouth to keep the sound of her sobbing from being heard by anyone nearby.

  She caught a motion in the darkness near the gate. She held her hand tighter against her mouth as she watched.

  The shape started walking on the road that led to the main fort.

  As the shape moved passed the fire that was burning near the water pump she got a glimpse of the man. It was that guy George that always worked at the gate. He had never been mean to her, but he also had never been kind to her. He never associated much with any of the newcomers. He never bothered with anyone except the men up at the main fort. It was like he didn’t want to know them or learn anything about them. He would walk by and never even look at any of the people that lived in the yard of the outer fort.