Knight Terrors: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (13 page)

     “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, putting that knife into her brain when she turned.  I couldn’t do it by myself, Karen had to help,” I continued. 

     “I’m sorry, Mr. Knight.  I can’t imagine what that was like,” said Ron.

     “And I can’t imagine not knowing Ron.  I hope you find her,” I said.  “I hope you find them both.”

Friday, January 9, 2015

     The next few days were much of the same.  Successful supply runs with no casualties.  New latrines were set up to accommodate the needs of a larger group.  A cistern was constructed using tarps and some of the existing structure.  And some of the casemates were sheltered from the wind and rain using wood panels.

     My ankle was slowly starting to heal and I was staying off of it more.  I hated having people wait on me hand and foot.  Lois came by in the evenings and Tracie brought me food when Tabby didn’t and helped me when I needed to get up.  But, I was trying to relax and stay off my foot. I got to spend time with Mal and that was a pleasant side effect of being injured.  Mal and Willie spent part of each day hanging out and playing with me.

     After lunch on the fourth day, Mike and Tony came over to see me.  They had Justin’s mother, Mary in tow.

     “We need to talk,” said Mike.  They all sat down around me and smiled.

     “Why are you all smiling?”

     “We don’t want Ron to see what we’re doing,’ said Tony.

     “I found out today that Captain Rendina is planning a coup,” said Mike.  I raised my hand to stop him from continuing, but he kept talking.  “Yeah, I know.   You think I just hate the guy, which is why I brought these two.”

     “It’s true Mr. Knight, he’s been planning it from the first day he saw you at the dock at Patriot’s Point.  He was furious that you were at Fort Sumter and he hadn’t thought of it first.  The decision was to come out here and take over, by any means necessary.”

     “Ryan, he even approached me today,” said Tony.  “Asked if I was happy, if I wanted things done differently, that kind of thing.”

     I sat back to think about what they were saying and thoughts flooded my mind.  If he was really planning this he must be planning to do it soon if he was bold enough to approach Tony.  He had to know that Tony was one of my closest allies.  There’s no way we’d win in a fight.  He had five military trained fighters.

     “Mary, do you think I have convinced anyone from your boat to vote for me to stay in charge if it came to that?”

     “No, he threatened us all on the boat.  We go against him and he hurts our families.  Or he kills us.  And he’s a lot scarier than you.  Sorry.”

     “I’m open to suggestions…”

     Mike wanted to fight, I could tell.  Tony was hard to read.

     “Mr. Knight, why don’t you just let him be in charge?” asked Mary.  It was a legitimate question.  After all, I really didn’t want to be in charge did I?

     “Because he is using force to get what he wants.  And, because it’s not up to him.  He doesn’t get to impose his will on us just because he’s stronger.  That’s not what our country is about.”

     “You have to try to negotiate with him,” said Tony.

     “You mean beg?” asked Mike slamming his hand down on his thigh.

     “We can’t fight him Mike,” said Tony calmly.  “I’m too slow and none of you are trained.  Maybe if we still had Keith and Morgan we might have a slim chance.  But we don’t have them and I don’t think we even have Tom or John.”

      “I’ve seen them pulling away,” I said.  “Are you sure they would side with Ron?’

     “Yeah, I am.”

     “So, what then do we do?” asked Mike.

     How the fuck do I know?  I’m a tour guide.  I don’t have any answers.  But I know I have to do something.  I wish Sam were her.  Oh, do I wish Sam were here.  We can’t fight.  Shit.

     “I’ll go talk to him.  Tony would you come with me?’  He nodded.

     “Mike, please watch my children.”  He nodded.  Let’s see where this goes.

     Ron was sitting with his assistants around a fire.  He looked up and smiled when we approached

     “Mr. Knight, Mr. Miller, how are you this fine afternoon?”  Smug bastard.

     “We’re fine, Ron.  How are you?’  I’ll play along for a minute.

    “Fine, fine.  What can I do for you?”

     “Well, I’ll get right to the point.  We’ve got a good thing out here.  Why do you want to go and fuck it up?”  He stared at me blankly for a moment then that smug smile returned.

     “Surely you’re not afraid of a little election, are you Mr. Knight?”

     “A fair one? No.  I’ve done well for these people and everyone can see that.  But, you’re threatened the safety of the people you brought with you if they don’t go along with your plan.  And I know that you’ll just overpower us if we don’t go along.”

     Two of his men jumped up and I put my hand on my Glock.  Tony did the same.

     “Easy, gentlemen,” Ron said.  He indicated to his men to sit.  “They’re not here to fight.”

     The two guard, for lack of a better term, sat back down obediently and I took my hand off my weapon.

     “My apologies, Mr. Knight, Mr. Miller.  My men lack my finesse.  So, now you know my plan.  What do you want?”

     “Why?  I want to know why?  Things are good out here.  Why do you want to take the fort by force?  Why do you want to take it at all?”

     “It’s my nature, Mr. Knight.  My training, Too.  You truly have done a good job out here.  And I’m being honest when I say that I could not have stormed the fort and taken it.”

     “And now you don’t have to because I let you in.  Damn.”

     “Don’t beat yourself up.  Any decent person would’ve let us in.  And you screened us exceptionally well.  I wasn’t so sure you were actually going to let us in.”

     “And you would’ve just killed us if we hadn’t?”

     “No, of course not.  I would’ve taken you and the rest of the welcoming committee hostage.  Those two on the casemates are good shots, I saw that.  But they’re not snipers and they’re not warriors.  They’d have let us in.”

     “Don’t be so sure,” said Tony.

     “In any case, Mr. Miller I’m here now.  I’m a career military officer.  I want this place run with discipline.  No more councils, no more people taking what they want from the supplies, no more asking for permission to do what needs to be done…’

     “Let’s suppose for a moment that I let you do this.”  He smiled that smug smile at that.  “My people are not going to want to live in your new world order.  Let us pack our share of the supplies and just leave.”

     “No, I’d lose too many supplies.  And, I’d lose too many strong backs and scavenger hunters.  There’s no way I’m giving up half my soldiers.”

     “You forget, we’re not soldiers.”

    “You are now.”

     By the time Tony and I got back, Mike had rounded up everyone on our side and had them by my campsite.  I’m sure he wanted to show me just how many people supported me in this.  It was appreciated for sure.  But it wasn’t enough.  Karen, Tabby, Mal, Mike, Lois, Tony, Beth, Tracie, Justin and Mary.   Conspicuously not Tom, John and Pat.  I made eleven.  Not enough to fight.  Not enough to win.  I had to protect my kids and working with Ron was the best way.  For now, anyway.  But, it left a horrible taste in my mouth.

     “We’re going to lose the fort,” I said.  And then gave them a moment to react.  Mike was angry, Tony was, too.  Most everyone else looked shocked or scared.  “I am no longer in control.  There’s going to be some changes, but I’ve been assured that no harm will come to any of us as long as we cooperate.” 

     Even as I said it, it sounded false.

     “Still,” I lowered my voice some.  “I want each of you to get up, right now and go hide a weapon.  Hide it good, not in your packs.  Go now.”  Nobody moved and Mike began to smile.

     “Already done, Boss Man,” he said.  I was genuinely surprised.  He was going to make a great leader one day.

     “That’s good thinking, Mike.”

     “Thank Tracie.  It was her idea.  I just made it happen.”

    I looked over at Tracie.

     “Thank you.”  She smiled and nodded.

     “What can we expect?” asked Karen.

     “We’ve all been drafted basically.  Captain Rendina wants everthing to run like it’s the military.  We can expect the food and other supplies to get locked up and distributed as necessary.  There will be no more talking out our decisions like we have in the past.  Beyond that, I don’t know.”

     “God complex much?” said Lois.

     “Captain Rendina,” said Tony.  “Thinks he’s the only person qualified to save us.”

     “Him and the U. S. Military.  I get the impression that if one day the Government comes back and finds him in charge of a group of survivors he’d be very happy,” observed Tracie.

     “Yep, to be honest, I think we’ll be okay.  He’ll impose some new rules, impose his will and push us around some and we’ll roll with it.”

     “But…”

     “Yeah, Tony, I know.  But, we need to be prepared in case he turns into a Hitler or a Stalin.  Keep your mouths shut and your eyes and ears open.  And communicate discreetly what you find.”

     Everyone nodded.

     Captain Rendina talked over dinner about the way things were going to change on the fort.  All weapons, food, water and other supplies were to be turned in.  Weapons and supplies would be issued as needed and we’d get three meals a day and snacks based on our calorie needs and energy expenditure.  Made me glad that Tracie had the idea of hiding weapons.

     He said he’d do everything necessary to keep us all alive in the long haul.  And that included doing  everything he thought that I wasn’t willing to do.  Schedules for work and supply runs would be posted in the morning.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

     No one liked having their freedoms stripped away by a dictator but free will was now a thing of the past at Fort Sumter.

     At breakfast, Rendina outlined his plan for the day.  First thing, all weapons and supplies would be turned in and added to inventory.  He and a few trusted associates would then search everyone’s bags and belongings for what he called contraband.  Anything found today would be considered an oversite.  After today the offender would be punished.

     After all of us turned in the very item that had kept us alive, I offered my own area up for inspection.  Rendina searched it himself.

     “I appreciate that you are continuing to show your leadership, Mr. Knight.”

     “Just trying to set a good example.  Show people that if we cooperate everything will be fine.”

     “Well, it sets a good tone,” he said.

     A knife was found in Tabby’s bag and Mal had some snacks in his.  Rendina let him keep some of them before moving on.  It seemed like everyone was hiding a knife or some other weapon.  I was getting concerned that everything we hid would be found.

     “It looks good, doesn’t it?” Tracie asked.  “Him finding all these weapons?  Makes him think that he’s accomplishing something.  They’re all plants.  The good stuff is still hidden.”

     I must’ve just looked dumbfounded.

     “I went around and discussed it with everyone last night,” she said.

     “I could kiss you,” I said.  But, of course, I wouldn’t.

     Everyone’s belonging were checked, even the people who came with Rendina had theirs checked.  He even had me check his stuff for food.

     “I thought we all had to turn in our weapons, Ron.”

     “I think I’ll keep mine.”  Again with that smug smile.

     One of Rendina’s assistants would be the keeper of the keys for the supplies and weapons.  He would be the one to distribute things as needed.  Which also meant that he would be on the fort full time in case we had to get to the weapons in an emergency.

     Another person was assigned to be the cook.  A woman who was on Rendina’s boat had been a chef at a North Charleston restaurant and she had experience cooking for large groups.  She would also be on the fort full time.  She cooked a stew with rice for a hearty lunch.  It was good.

     After we ate lunch, Rendina assigned teams to go out for an afternoon scavenge.  I jumped up when I heard Tabby’s name called.

     “No, she’s not going.”

     “Dad!”

     “Mr. Knight, you do not make the decisions around here any more.”

     “I do when it comes to my daughter.  She’s not going.”

     “She shoots well, she’s smart and she wants to go.  I heard her asking you to go on a supply run just a few days ago.  She’ll be safe.”

     “You can’t promise that.”

     “I will personally watch over her myself.  Just like she was my own child.”

     “I went along with your little power play because I wanted to do what was best to keep my family safe.  The people that I love and care about.  And now you want to take her into harms way?”  I was just screaming now.