Trail of Tears (12 page)

“But that’s a slow death. Anyone who stays
here won’t have to worry about the radiation; they’ll be dead
within a week. Carter is already on his way here, I can assure you.
I met the bastard. There is no compassion in him, just a hatred of
what he once was. The weather can work in our favour. The vampires
are badly affected by the cold and we can use it to cover our
trail. As to where? South would be my recommendation and then
west.”

“He’s right.” The crowd shifted their
attention towards the far end of the room where McAteer had
gathered with his men. They stood out with their guns and black
clothing. Many of them were smeared with blood and their faces were
still blackened from weapon discharge. “Those thralls were elite.
Sneaky bastards. I looked through their kit and found a map. This
whole state is divided up into search grids. I don’t know if they
reported their position or not; it’s entirely possible they didn’t
until they were sure we were here. If they waited until they came
within range of the shield then it would have blocked the radio
signal so we might have a day or so. After that they’ll know
exactly where we are. I can’t speak for the radiation, but we can’t
stay here if those thralls are coming back.”

“We faced down the thralls before,” Regan
argued lifting himself straighter in his chair.

“That was a bluff that worked because you
were lucky,” McAteer replied. “Carter obviously wasn’t convinced or
he wouldn’t have sent his Elite squads in. He wants this community
something bad and we can’t stop him if he throws his full strength
at us.

There was silence in the auditorium. Harris
hadn’t wanted to discuss so much in front of the whole community.
In his mind it was best to present the solution to everyone rather
than argue each point and show the divisions and uncertainty within
their leadership. But he was no longer part of the leadership so
this was the best he could hope for.

“Maybe I’m missing something,” Phelps
frowned as he spoke, “but how the hell do we get two thousand
people out of here and safely away without anyone seeing us and
attacking us in the open? Maybe you’ve forgotten, Harris, but we
have wounded and children to consider.”

Harris paused as he looked out over the sea
of faces. The idea that was forming in his mind was still raw and
he would have preferred to have talked through some of the details
first but if he didn’t say something then he wouldn’t get another
opportunity.

“There is a way, but you won’t like it.”
Phelps cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. When no
one said anything Harris continued reluctantly. “A few months ago
we rescued nearly a thousand people and managed to get them back
here…”

“The train,” Phelps interrupted. “Are you
seriously suggesting that we just pack everyone here on to an
antiquated train and travel across the country? Now I know you’re
mad, Harris.” He laughed and turned his attention on the crowd. “My
friends, he is suggesting that you travel on the only mode of
transport that forces us to follow a pre-determined route and
belches smoke into the air just in case our enemies don’t hear the
ferocious noise of the antiquated engine. I don’t know if anyone
remembers the carnage that the thrall guns caused to the people
cramped into those rail cars but I certainly do. That train would
be suicide. The thralls would know where we are and where we are
going the moment we pass through the first town. And as for the
vampires, they could hardly miss a moving train.”

“All true,” Harris replied, “and don’t
forget that we don’t even know if the train will still work.”
People frowned at Harris as he added another nail to the plan he
had just posited.

“It’ll work alright.” Another voice across
the room suddenly broke the confused silence and people turned
towards a man near the back. Aidan Flemming mostly stayed in the
shadows these days. The scars on his face were terrible. He had
paid a heavy price for driving the train to safety and had been
largely forgotten by the community despite his sacrifice. The flesh
had actually melted when the steam had hit him and had healed
badly. There had been no equipment or surgeon to help with the
healing so he had been left with features that would give children
nightmares; in fact he suffered many taunts from the children in
the community. None of them realising that he had saved most of
their lives. He tried to smile but he knew from experience that a
smile on his face was not something that put people at ease. “I
left the train protected from the elements. All it needs is for the
fires to be re-stoked and allow a few hours to build up the
pressure. We’d need fuel as well, of course.”

“Look,” Harris spoke again and everyone
shifted their attention back to him. “I know it’s not ideal.”
Phelps snorted but Harris ignored him. “The facts are simple, we
have to move. If the radiation doesn’t kill us, then Carter and his
thralls most certainly will. That’s a fact whether you want to
believe it or not. Moving down the block is not going to help. We
have too many wounded to walk any great distance so the train will
get us out of the city and far enough away from Carter. It will
take him a while to realise where we’ve gone. If we can get out of
the state then it makes it difficult for Carter to follow without
starting a war.”

“I see the logic but there are thralls in
the other states, Harris. And vampires too,” Regan said. Harris
noted that Regan wasn’t trying to discredit the proposal, just
making a point. “Mister Phelps does have a valid point; we are
pretty much stuck to a straight line on a train. Once we hit the
first town the thralls will know where we are and where we’re
going.”

“That’s only true to a point,” Flemming
piped up again. “I have a pretty good rail map from our last
excursion and there are a number of points where we can switch
tracks and …”

“So the thralls need to cover two routes
instead of one,” Phelps sneered. “Either way it won’t take much for
them to have a nasty surprise waiting for us. Or they could simply
destroy the tracks and pick us off at their leisure.”

“We’ll have more than two routes open to us
from a number of central points,” Flemming continued doggedly. “We
should be able to stay one jump ahead of them for a while.”

“A lot depends on surprise and luck, I
admit,” Harris continued. “We can weld metal plate to the cars to
protect those inside from enemy fire but this is a risk. It helps
that the states do not talk to each other. If we can move quickly
enough and switch routes often enough we should be able to get
across each state without any major opposition. Once we get far
enough away we can consider other transport options.”

“Do you have any idea where we would go?”
Regan asked again and Harris noted the glare that Regan received
from Phelps. Phelps had lost the initiative and what made it worse
for him was that Regan had asked for Harris’ opinion.

“To be honest, no. I have no idea where we
can go,” Harris said and waited for the murmur to quiet. “But we
need to get to a warmer climate and we need to put some distance
between us and Carter. The other states are not aware that we exist
so we have the element of surprise. I am sure there are people in
this community that are better suited to finding us a new home than
I am. Somewhere remote, maybe in the mountains where we can hide
our crops from the air.”

“And what about your mission to save the
whole world from the serum?” Phelps was getting desperate to turn
the initiative back to himself.

“It’s too late for that,” Harris sighed. “We
have done what we can; now it’s time to save those that are here
and start again. We need to get somewhere remote so that we are far
enough away from the vampires. If we’re still here when the food
runs out and the madness takes the vampires, the radiation and
Carter will be the least of our worries.”

The swell of agreement swept the room and
Phelps began to knock the gavel on the table with increasing
desperation. When the noise finally reduced enough to be heard
Phelps continued. “Well, thank you for your thoughts, Mr. Harris.
We will take it under advisement. For now we will vote on the other
proposals raised; the first I believe was to move our wounded to
the east side of the city while we negotiated with this Carter. How
many in favour of…”

“Oh don’t be so stupid, Ian,” The sharp
voice came from the edge of the stage where the committee sat and
everyone turned to see Patricia Lohan make her way slowly to her
seat. She limped across the stage on her wounded leg but her voice
had lost none of its vigour. A ripple of applause swept over the
audience and Harris was pleased to see that Lohan had the good
grace to blush. The people in the community were well aware of who
had stayed to protect their retreat and who had led that
retreat.

“Thank you,” Lohan began as she raised her
hand for quiet. “I have done many things in my life,” she began,
“Some of them I am not proud of but the recent attack on this
community has driven home a few harsh truths. I have disagreed with
Harris most of my time here and sometimes I have been right to do
so, albeit for the wrong reasons. If Harris wasn’t so damn driven
most of us wouldn’t be here, I can admit that now. Yes, we are in
danger now but that is not Harris’ fault, Mister Phelps.” She
glared at Phelps beside her and he was about to interrupt when she
cut him off.

“I recently discovered what it meant to risk
one’s life for someone else. To even have someone else I was
prepared to risk anything for was a revelation to me I can tell
you. Now I can see what drives Peter Harris, his compassion, his
love for others, and his desperate wish to save as many of us as he
can. He hasn’t always been right and we are right to question him
but he has always acted with honour and with our best interests at
heart. I sat at this table and allowed a great wrong to occur not
very long ago, but I will no longer perpetuate that. I formerly
apologise to Peter Harris and reverse my vote that banished him
from this community.”

There was an eruption of applause in small
pockets of the audience but most were too stunned to respond. Ian
Phelps’ face was pale as the words hit him, but Lohan continued
before he could recover.

“I don’t believe that we have time to
examine every proposal raised here tonight, most of them are not
worth looking at anyway. Carter will not negotiate and Von Kruger
was half mad before the recent escalations so we can expect no
quarter from him either. Whether the serum effects are real or not,
whether the threat of the radiation is real or not let us be very
clear. We have to move. Without delay. We need to gather everything
we can and escape before the thralls level this city. Once that
reality is accepted it reduces our options considerably. In fact,
there is only one proposal that makes any sense, no matter how
half-assed it may appear. I propose that we vote to get majority
agreement and then spilt into various groups to best decide how to
get our loved ones, our food and supplies to this train as quickly
as possible.”

Ian Phelps stood while banging his gavel,
trying to bring order to the applause that rose from the
audience.

“She is a powerful woman,” Warkowski shouted
into Harris’ ear.

“Yes, and now that she has something to live
for we can at least trust her motivations.” Harris had to admire
Lohan. This was the first time she had not fought against
everything he had said and, by the reaction of the audience, it was
clear who the people thought should be in charge.

“Order!” Ian Phelps finally managed to be
heard over the swell of approval. “While we are delighted to see
Miss Lohan feeling better there are a number of other proposals
that we need to consider…”

“I do not think there are,” Regan
interrupted and Harris imagined he could see the very ground
beneath Ian Phelps turn to quicksand. Phelps had built his power
from the banishment of Harris and had emerged as the key figure on
the council, though Regan still held the chair. Now the power was
shifting again, carried along by Patricia Lohan’s speech. Harris
could see that Regan was doing what he did best, ruthlessly taking
advantage of the shifting power base.

“I call for a majority vote,” Regan
continued.

“Seconded,” Paul Williams announced.
Williams always sided with the winning side and, despite what
Phelps might think, the vote was already over. Harris managed to
catch Lohan’s eye and she nodded once. There was no smile, no smirk
or gloat of victory. All he saw was a very tired and sore woman who
had dragged herself from her bed to do what was right. Maybe there
was hope for them all yet.

Tanya Syn watched the patrol as it
approached. At this distance it was just a billowing of dust, but
she knew it would comprise of three trucks containing food with a
fourth truck filled with up to eight thralls. There would also be
at least one armoured truck and a jeep with a .50 calibre mounted
gun. She crouched behind a small outcropping of rock and, despite
the imminent danger, her mind wandered. Her every waking thought
was of her son, Mark.

She knew that Josh had been right to force
her to leave when he did but her heart would not forgive him or
herself. She was overjoyed to have Jillian safe, but the thought of
her son still being bled by the vampires was like a hot knife
through her soul. She looked over at Josh and saw him intently
watching the approaching patrol. Her emotions were too fraught to
be anywhere near fair and she glared at him. She wanted to storm
the vampire camp and rescue her son and instead he had her out here
in the middle of nowhere attacking a food convoy.

On one level she could see the logic. There
were too many thralls during the day and attempting anything at
night when the vampires were awake was suicide. She knew that, but
she wanted to do it anyway. Josh had told her repeatedly that by
attacking the food convoys that fed the thralls and humans it would
force the thralls to send patrols out to look for them and to
increase the number of guards in these convoys. Eventually, the
numbers of thralls around the pens would reduce as the thralls were
forced to send more and more of their resources out and away from
the camp. When enough resources had been pulled away then they
would attack the pens and rescue Mark.