by Ricky Sides
“Oh, for crying out loud! How hard can it be to keep someone in isolation?” Erma demanded.
“Erma, I know you’re upset about what happened, but let me remind you that I operate a clinic, not a jail. And I’m a doctor, not a jailer. Furthermore, I don’t like my clinic being used to house dangerous people. I respectfully request that in the future, you utilize one of the empty food storage containers as a jail.”
Erma sighed and nodded her head in the doctor’s direction. “That’s a good suggestion. I’ll see to it that we do that. And I’m sorry, Doctor Fielding. I don’t know what’s come over me. I’m normally not this unreasonable.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” the doctor responded, but Erma could see that he was pleased she had said she was sorry. “It’s perfectly understandable, under the circumstances. I think you’ll understand when I say that I want that woman removed from the clinic as soon as possible. That’s twice she tried to orchestrate a rebellion in the refuge under my roof, and I don’t like that one bit.”
“That’s going to happen today, regardless of her punishment. I can promise you that much,” Erma pledged.
“That man could have killed Herb,” Amy interjected. “What are we going to do about him?”
“Amy’s right. If he’d been a better shot, he’d have hit Herb in a kill zone instead of the thigh,” Randy said.
“You’re certain he’ll make a full recovery, right Doc?” Henry asked Ezra.
“Yes, barring infection, and if he stays off his feet for a week, he’ll be as good as new in a few weeks. He’s lucky the bullet missed the femur and the femoral artery. It passed in one side of the thigh and out the other. It’s going to hurt like hell and leave a set of scars, but his prognosis is excellent.”
“Do we need pain medication for him?” Martha asked.
“It’s in short supply, but I have enough on hand for this case. I hope the council puts a priority on gathering medical supplies soon.”
“I’ll draw up a mission proposal for that, Doc. I’ll need a list of what you need,” Randy said.
“Randy!” they all heard Herb shout from the bedroom.
Randy was on his feet in an instant and headed for the room. “Help me get to the meeting,” Herb instructed his friend when he entered the room.
“The doctor says you should rest,” Randy argued.
Erma stepped past Randy and went to the bedside. “Now, Herb, you should stay in bed,” she said.
“No, I shouldn’t. This meeting is too important for me to miss. You people are about to make decisions that set precedents. The full council should vote on important decisions like that. It won’t kill me to sit in a chair for a few minutes.”
So Randy helped Herb get to the table where he sat down gingerly and the meeting resumed.
Herb said, “I’ve been listening to what you all said, so I’m caught up to this point. Randy, Doctor Fielding is right. When this meeting is over, put some men to work on one of the empty storage containers. Put one of our five gallon camping toilets in it, as well as two folding cots. Then I want both prisoners put in there.”
“You want them both in the same container?” Randy asked for clarification.
“That’s right. Is that a problem?” Herb asked.
“Shouldn’t we segregate them because of their genders?” Martha asked.
“Normally, I’d say yes, but in this case, my answer is no. She promised him sex for murder. If he tries to collect, then that’s her problem. I want them together so they’ll talk. I want a listening device installed in there with them. If he lied about any of this, it’ll come out when they talk,” Herb explained.
“It sounds as if you don’t want to make a decision today,” Erma said with a frown. Herb could see that she felt it was a mistake not to make a decision now, but he didn’t share that opinion.
“Two lives are riding on this. Plus, we’ll be setting precedents we’re going to have to live with for the rest of our lives. You’re right. I don’t want to make an instant decision. I say we give it a week. The doctor has ordered me to bed rest for a week, so let’s use that time to build a case.”
“You want to conduct a trial?” the doctor asked.
“I gathered from the tone of the conversation earlier that at least some of you are considering the death penalty,” Herb responded. More than one of the council members looked down at their hands atop the table and wondered if they had spoken in haste earlier. “So yes,” Herb continued. “I think we should have an open trial that any of the people of the refuge can attend. If we’re going to call for the death penalty, everyone needs to see and hear the evidence. Otherwise, we run the risk of doing what she has failed to do, which is cause a rift between the people of the refuge and the council.”
“You’re a wise man, Herb,” Doctor Fielding said. “I know I’m not a council member, but I think your plan is the best approach to this problem. With the possible exception of putting them in a cell together. I’m not sure that’s not a mistake. He could be lying about her.”
“He could be, but I doubt that seriously,” Amy said. “It’s the same offer we know she made to Raman. She verified her guilt in that case in front of us. She just tried it again with another man who decided to take her up on it.”
“Regarding that man, I’d like to know how he managed to get outside the refuge with a rifle,” Herb said.
“No one saw him exit a gate,” Randy reported. “As to the rifle, it was his. The weapons were returned to the people from Hunter when they were released.”
“If no one saw him leave through a gate, then he found another way to slip out. You checked the fence?” asked Herb.
“Yes, but it was getting dark, so it was hard to check for signs of passage. There were no breaks in the wire, but a patient man, willing to work at it, can slip through in a couple of places.” Randy replied.
“Double the guard tonight. Tomorrow morning, send out a good team to find out how he exited,” Herb instructed.
“Jason and Ed are leading a party to check our perimeter in the morning. I’ll radio instructions to double the guard.”
“Good, and don’t forget to get that cell equipped and move the prisoners tonight. Doctor Fielding, I’m sorry we tried to use the clinic as a minimum security jail. We’ll make other arrangements in the future.” Herb frowned in pain. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?” he asked.
“Nothing that can’t wait,” Erma said as she saw the pained expression on her husband’s face. The others nodded in agreement.
Herb nodded and started to rise. Randy and Doctor Fielding were quick to get to their feet and help him get back up.
“Thank you, Herb,” Henry said as Randy was helping Herb get back to his bedroom. “I think we may have been rushing into this without full thought to all the consequences.”
Herb paused and turned to regard Henry. “Don’t thank me, Henry. Frankly, I don’t see a way out of this without a death sentence for those two. We could let them go. Force them to leave the refuge. But...”
“But if we did that, they’d either lead others back here or end up being zombie food,” Randy finished for him.
“Probably, but we’ll do this right,” Herb said tiredly, and then he walked away with Randy’s help.
Epilogue
Almost all of the adults present at the refuge attended the trial. At first, Dana tried to deny that she had enlisted Bernie in a conspiracy to murder Herb and take over the leadership role at the camp. Her story was soon disproven by the conversations that she had with Bernie during their week of sharing a cell. He had insisted that she make good on her promises of sex for his help. She had then pointed out that he had failed, therefore, she didn’t owe him anything.
After that, Bernie had grown silent and withdrawn in anger. Finally, after two days, she was unable to bear the boredom and his silence any longer. Dana had then agreed to have sex with him, if for no other reason than to break his will to remain silent. And altho
ugh she agreed to the sex, she couldn’t help taunting him on his inability to do the job they had agreed upon.
That evidence, coupled with Raman’s testimony that she had made him a similar offer, which he had reported to the doctor, was enough to convince everyone present that the couple was guilty of the charges leveled against them. They were accused of conspiracy to commit murder for the sake of gaining control of the refuge.
The two options listed by the council as punishment were death by execution, or exile from the refuge with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and a backpack with a little food, and some water. However, Herb surprised the rest of the council members when he asked them to consider a third option, if the prisoners were willing to accept it. That option was for them to serve a period of time as prisoners at hard labor. During the night, they would be locked up in their cell. By day, they would be brought forth to work for the community inside the refuge. In that manner, they removed the threat of them bringing trouble back to their gates without having to kill them.
The council discussed that option. Some didn’t like it because it could be considered slave labor. Since they were in disagreement on the matter, Herb finally said, “It may be a moot point anyway. They might not be willing to agree to it at all. Why don’t we let them tell us if they would even consider that third option? If they say yes, then we can continue with this discussion. If they refuse, then we can table the matter as irrelevant and move on with the decision process.”
It turned out that Bernie was willing to take that arrangement, since it seemed the best option as far as he was concerned, but Dana wanted to choose exile instead. “It’s better to die free than live years as a slave,” she said, playing on that loathing she had heard some of the council members expressing. To the very last, she sought to divide the people of the refuge.
“Bernie, are you willing to serve your sentence alone?” asked Herb.
“No, I’ll go with her if she wants to choose exile. She’ll need my protection. A woman alone won’t last long out there,” Bernie said. “Besides, the sex is incredible,” he added with a leer on his face as he looked at her.
“Forget that shit,” Dana said. “We’ll be going our separate ways when we leave here. You’re just not my type.”
Bernie’s expression changed from a lascivious grin to crestfallen and embarrassed in an instant. “In that case, yes, I’ll take the hard labor deal,” he said to Herb as he lowered his eyes to the grass at his feet.
“All right,” Herb said to the council, “we have their decisions. Bernie will take the hard labor offer and be confined at night for a period of time that we will determine is suitable at a later date. He is doing this of his own free will, so it isn’t slavery. All in favor?” he asked, calling for a vote. The council voted unanimously to accept that as his punishment.
There were murmurs of approval from the crowd. Herb noticed that Raman seemed relieved that Bernie wouldn’t be facing the death penalty.
“Now, as to Dana Rainey, she has declined confinement and hard labor as punishment. That offer is now off the table for her. That leaves execution or exile for us to consider.”
“Wait a damned minute. I said I wanted exile, not execution,” she said insistently.
“Unfortunately for you, you don’t get to make this decision,” Herb said coldly. He had heard enough of the tapes of her conversations with Bernie to come to the conclusion that she possessed no redeeming qualities that were evident to him.
“If we exile her, she may lead other people back to us,” Henry warned.
“Given her history among us, I’d say that’s a given,” Erma replied.
Dana neither confirmed nor denied their accusations. Instead, she just smiled at the council as she stood waiting before them. She knew how to avoid the zombies. It was dangerous out there, and there was some risk of being caught and torn apart by them one day, but in her opinion that risk was low. Her real fear had been contracting the parasites through contact with contamination left by zombies. The inoculation she had received at the refuge had removed that threat from the equation, so she didn’t expect to have any real issues surviving for a while on her own. It wouldn’t take her long to find a strong man or group of men she could lead back to the refuge, and when that happened, she’d get her revenge on them all.
“All right, council, it’s time for us to vote,” Herb said. He distributed small objects to each of the council members. “You each have two marble-sized balls. One is black, which represents death,” he explained as he held up a black one for the people of the refuge to see. Then he held up one of the red ones between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. “The other is red, which represents exile. Since there are six of us, I have the tie breaking votes. Therefore, I have four balls. Two are black, and two are red. This is an anonymous ballot. I’m going to cast my votes and then pass the box around so that the rest of you can vote.”
His explanation finished, Herb selected the balls he was going to use and placed the others in his pocket. He then looked at his ballot one last time to confirm there was no error, and then he dropped them through a small hole in the top of the little six inch square box. Next, he passed the box to Randy, who in turn voted and passed it to Erma.
When the box was returned to Herb after everyone voted, he called on Doctor Fielding to come forward and tally the results. The good doctor was well respected by the majority of the people of the refuge. Therefore, he was the obvious person for Herb to call on for the impartial announcement of the results.
As the doctor examined the balls, Dana looked apprehensive for the first time. She didn’t believe they would outright kill her. She was pretty sure they would choose exile, but she wasn’t 100% positive of the outcome, and that little bit of doubt was enough to cause her more than a little anxiety.
Doctor Fielding cleared his throat and said, “Three votes are for death, and four are for exile.”
Many members of the community shouted their approval of the decision and the mercy of the council, while some few expressed concern that the council had made a mistake.
Herb let the people vent for a few moments, and then he said, “Thank you, Doctor. Council members, you need never discuss your votes with anyone.” Turning to the other people of the refuge, he said, “The council has decided to exile this woman. You’ve all heard and seen the evidence, so I hope you know this is fair.”
“I hope we don’t come to regret this one day,” a woman in the back of the crowd said.
Herb hoped so too. He turned to Dana. “Just so you know the truth, there was a strong push to just execute you and put all this behind us. You’re getting off easy, but if we ever see you again, we’re going to assume you’re here to pick up where you left off, and that being the case, we’ll just kill you on sight.”
Herb motioned to two men. “Escort the prisoner to the gate,” he said.
“Just a second,” Erma interjected. She got to her feet and walked up to stand in front of Dana. “You’ve got one last shot to take while you’re here.”
“Good. I’m all for staying healthy,” Dana said with a smile of satisfaction on her face. She considered this latest development a setback to her plans, but it wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle. She waited patiently as Erma opened a small case and gave her a shot with a hypodermic full of a light blue tinted liquid.
“What was that?” Dana asked as she rubbed her arm after the injection had been administered.
“I’ve had a week to think about the fact that you tried to have my husband murdered,” Erma responded with a calm expression on her face. “So I decided I didn’t want you to benefit from my work for the rest of your life. That shot I just gave you will neutralize the nanobots. Within a day, two at the most, they’ll all be rendered inactive. You’re leaving here just like you arrived. Vulnerable to the Akins’ parasites.”
“You can’t do that to me, bitch,” Dana said. Her face was contorted in rage.
“Oh, but I just di
d, honey,” Erma said smugly, and then she turned and walked away.
Many people in the crowd laughed and shouted their approval of Erma’s actions. A few frowned and shook their heads, indicating their disapproval.
“I’ve changed my mind! I’ll take the hard labor. Hell, I’ll even sleep with that pig, if that’s what you people want me to do,” Dana said, pointing to Bernie.
“I do have some pride, woman,” Bernie said and then he turned his back to her.
“Escort her to the gate,” Herb instructed Jason and Ed.
“You people can’t do this to me!” Dana shrieked as she was led away.
“See to it that she gets the pack of food and water,” Herb added as the men half led and half dragged the woman toward the gate. “And I suggest you stop screaming. Zombies were spotted outside the fence last night, and you’re about to be out there.”
Dana stopped yelling after that. She glared at Herb and the rest of the council as she waited for the gate to open. “Just know this…you have not seen the last of me. You will regret what you are doing to me,” and then she walked through the gate and headed up the dirt drive toward the road.
Later that day, Herb and Randy met with Hernando and Jesse and asked them to join their team for rescue and scrounging missions. Hernando’s background as a truck driver made him a natural choice as a driver for the Mercedes Minibus. Both he and Jesse had all the qualities they were looking for in additional team members.
Both men accepted.
They also spoke with Bill Wiley, the computer programmer who had once traveled with Dana, concerning the need for a communications upgrade that wouldn’t leave them without the ability to communicate when they needed it most. Bill explained that such systems weren’t his specialty, but that he’d be happy to see what he could do toward making that happen.
Thirteen-year-old Robert Waller had no family left, so Henry and Martha decided to take him into their home. Martha doted on the young man, and along with Henry, came to think of him as a grandson.