We Go On (THE DELL) (21 page)

The truck continued forward until
it was only a few yards from the gate. All of the Stinkies that had been trying
to get in now turned toward the truck. As they moved toward the newest thing to
gain their attention, the man behind the cannon sprayed a long stream of fire
covering the entire group. Just like that, there were now thirty less of the
creatures. If these guy’s, whoever they were, kept this up our problem with the
Stinkies would soon be over.

Once the last of the latest group
to be set on fire fell, the truck inched forward until they were close enough
for us to yell to each other. The large guy behind the fire cannon pulled one
of the earphones back and pushed the microphone down under his chin. He looked
up toward the tower and in a loud voice asked, "Hey, who's the honcho
here?"

"That would be me," I
replied. "That's an impressive toy you've got there."

He laughed and patted the top of
the cannon. "Yeah, she's something alright. Anyway, is this place the
Dell?"

Surprised that they were looking
for us I yelled back, "Yes, this is the Dell." As soon as I said this
he pulled the mic back in front of his mouth and depressed a button attached to
his chest rig. "How'd you guy's hear about us?" I asked. He held up a
finger to indicate he was listening to his headset and after a few seconds
pushed the mic back under his chin.

"Hey, my boss wants to know
if you want us to take care of the rest of this little problem?" he asked,
then answered my question, "Oh, and yeah, we were talking on the HAM set
with a guy named L.B."

L.B. and his radio. I wondered why
he hadn't told me he'd been in actual contact with someone. I'd have to ask him
after I got back to town. Right now we had a chance to break this siege and I
wasn't going to blow it. "We'd appreciate all the help we can get. Who and
where is your boss so I can thank him in person?" I replied.

The big man laughed again.
"Boss is a she not a he. Lieutenant Commander Camille Ruiz, USN. She's in
the armored car. I'll let her know she can come on up." I thanked him and
he shrugged. "No sweat. Couple of hours and we'll have this cleaned up.
Course it's gonna look like a barbeque in Hell went bad. No worries, we're Sea
Bee's. Just as good at cleaning shit up as we are at fucking it up. Couple days
and this place will be good as new." He keyed the mic and spoke for a
couple of seconds then looked back at me. "Boss will be up momentarily.
I'm gonna get started frying these shits. Talk to you later." And with
that, the truck lurched backward and wove its way out of the serpentine.

Once they were back out in the
open the big man’s truck cut right and started along the anti-vehicle ditch.
The other truck turned left and they both started spraying fire as they eased
around our perimeter. The smell was incredible. I had thought the smell of the
decomposing Stinkies was bad but it could not compare to the smell of burning
human flesh mixed with the odor of gasoline. I tried not to retch as I watched
the horrific scene of the burning Stinkies trying to catch the truck until they
collapsed in to little flaming piles. I knew this new horror would be forever
locked in my mind.

As I watched the Stinkies being
fried, I failed to notice the armored car and HUMMVE approaching along the
road. By the time I became aware of them they were pulling up to the gate. I
climbed down and went to greet our guests. I instructed the guards to keep the
vehicle covered with their weapons from the tower and to only open the gate a
crack. I advised them if things went bad to slam it shut and not to worry about
me. The guard reluctantly agreed but didn't look happy about it. As the gate
opened, I squeezed out and stood in the open alone facing whatever came out of
the armored car.

As I stood in no man’s land all of
the times I had faced someone down alone ran through my mind. I always worried
my luck would run out. It's a fact that eventually every fighter meets someone
just a little tougher or quicker and, though I had a lot of experience, I’m
getting older. I hoped my luck would hold out a while longer. Either way, I was
committed.

I didn't have to wait for long.
Within seconds of me walking through the gate the rear door of the big heavy
truck swung open. A young man and a young woman, both wearing camouflage and
carrying M-4 rifles came around to the side of the truck, but didn't approach.
A second later, I noticed an older woman wearing a pair of cammy trousers and a
khaki shirt. She was short and stocky with short jet black hair. As she joined
the first two they came forward together. When they were a couple of steps away
from me, the two in front stepped aside to allow the woman in back to step
forward.

I got my first good look at her.
Her dark hair and eyes along with her complexion were testament to her Latino
heritage. I estimated her age at around forty and her short hair accentuated
her features. She was not attractive with wide set eyes and a crooked nose that
looked like it had been broken several times set in a wide flat face. Little
gold oak leaves pinned to her collar points identified her as a Navy Lieutenant
Commander. I was surprised when she spoke and her physical appearance hid the
loveliest Spanish accent I had ever heard. "I am Lt. Cmdr. Ruiz, U.S.
Navy. You are Mister Williams, I hope?"

I nodded and asked her to call me
Scott. "Okay Scott, my people have traveled a long way to get here and it
was a costly trip." I could see from her face what she meant.

"How many?" I asked.

"Five. Five good people but
if this place is what we were told it was worth it. Is it?" She looked at
me with those hard dark eyes as she again. “Is it what we were told?”

I smiled. "Well I don't know
what you were told. L.B. is known to exaggerate." This got me a smile in
return. "But after helping us with our little problem it wouldn't be very
neighborly of us to turn you away. Yes, Mrs. Ruiz, you and your people are
welcome."

"Thank you." she said.
"And it's Lieutenant Commander."

"Not here, it's not," I
told her. I wasn't trying to start an argument but I wanted her to know who was
in charge and it was our rules they would have to obey. The U.S. Navy no longer
existed and while her rank might mean something to her and those in her group,
they were just another band of survivors to us. Albeit, a band of survivors
with a great skill set but survivors just the same.

I continued to smile so she
wouldn't see my comment as such a challenge and I tried to explain. "Here
we have our own security and our own rules. The chain of command is well-established
and while your opinion will be valued you and your people may or may not be
part of the security element. If you do become part of the security section you
would fall under their chain of command. We have our own rules and one of them
is that you will have to agree to abide by all of our rules to gain
admittance." This time I looked her right in those dark eyes and kept my
face as serious as I could manage. "Can you do that?"

She looked at the woman on her
right and the man on her left then back at me. "I think we can do that,"
she said smiling.

"Good." I told her. "Now
let’s get your vehicles inside so you and I can discuss what happens
next." I turned and motioned for the guards to open the gate.

The gate opened fully, and Lt.
Cmdr. Ruiz motioned her vehicles to follow her inside. I radioed Jim and asked
him to have Doc Groves head over to the barn to get ready for our new
inhabitants. He radioed back he'd take care of it and I had one of the guards
on an ATV guide the vehicles to the barn. I told Ruiz that as soon as the other
two trucks showed up I'd send them to link up with her. She shook my hand and
climbed back into her vehicle for the short ride to the barn.

I asked Dave to check on the
progress of the fire trucks and he jumped on another ATV and roared off toward
one of the far towers. I stayed at the gate to make sure that everyone got
inside. A few minutes later, Dave called on the radio to inform me that the
truck crews were doing fine and had the perimeter about half cleared of Stinkies.
I told him to keep an eye on things and let me know if anything went wrong.

It took far less than two hours to
clear our perimeter of the Stinkies. The two truck crews finished in the record
time of one hour and ten minutes. The siege was broken. We could send out
foraging parties in the morning. The Dell had been saved by the intervention of
strangers and I wouldn't let them down by allowing them to starve to death.
Ruiz and her crew still had a few supplies left but they were in almost as bad
a shape as we were. Without resupply we could have held out for another three
weeks. We had cut it close.

With our luck holding for the
first time since Thanksgiving, I had a sense of hope again. The good feeling
over the intervention by our new friends spread throughout the village and
although more subdued than euphoria, the old attitude that we could accomplish
anything returned. Restocking our supplies would get us through until mid-summer
and time for our first harvest. If we could make it that far we might accidentally
make it all the way
—
if you believe in
miracles.

I talk a lot about luck and, yes,
I believe in luck. It doesn't matter how good at something you are, eventually
you encounter a situation that's beyond your control and only being lucky will
see you through. If you are unlucky, well you probably won't have to worry
about what comes next. Luck has always played a part in my successes.

Don't get me wrong, I've worked
hard to be good at what I do. When I was in the Army I was extremely
competitive and after I got into Law Enforcement I strove to be the best cop I
could. I studied to learn as much as I could about doing investigations and it
made me a good detective. I hated having an unsolved case and worked diligently
to close every case. That's when I first figured out that luck always plays a
part in how successful you are. You can follow every lead, find every clue to
solve a case, and if luck isn't on your side there will be something that keeps
you from making the arrest.

Since the Event, I'm an even
bigger believer in luck. I had no idea how to make it in this new world that
Kat and I found ourselves in. I did what I thought was right and sometimes it
turned out okay and sometimes it didn't. I have learned a lot since those first
days but mostly what gets you through the uncharted waters is luck. So far my
luck has held for the most part. It was luck that got us through the battle
with the Road Gang in Lebanon. It was luck that Jenny Moss found the valley we
now inhabit. It was luck that brought us Lt. Cmdr. Ruiz and her people at a
time when we were desperate.

I'm not superstitious and I don't
think you can re-charge lost luck. You are either lucky in a given situation or
you aren't. I have known many unlucky people throughout my life and they all
have one thing in common. They don't believe in luck. It's their belief that
they can make their way strictly on their own abilities but the sad truth is no
matter how able they are; without luck they never make it far.

I didn't know it in February when
Ruiz showed up but a storm was coming and luck would play a big part in our
continued survival. It's the end of March now and as I sit in the little
cottage in the oak trees writing this we’re preparing for the final battle. With
the coming of dawn we will fight to determine whether we are to survive or not.

In the days following the arrival
of the Sea Bees we did our best to welcome them. The three-day quarantine
passed with clean bills of health for everyone and the security interviews
didn't reveal anything of concern. We took extra care with the questions. We
had learned our lesson with Marvin Hamilton. They assimilated into our group
with ease. Most of them joined the security detachment including Camille Ruiz.
Dave had never had an Executive Officer or XO. He had always acted as mine but
looking forward to a time when we moved to an elected government and I retired,
Dave would need an assistant. Camille filled that spot nicely. When I told Dave
his comment was, "A Navy Lieutenant Commander working as the assistant to
a Marine Staff Sergeant. Yeah, that sounds right." I laughed so hard I
about pissed myself.

The days passed and February
became March and with the change in months came a change in the weather. The
cold of January and February gave way to warmer temperatures and rain. As
spring closed in we were busy getting ready to plant our first crop. There
would be a few more cold nights but we had survived our first winter in The
Dell. Now that the foraging parties and the hunters were able to be out again
our food stocks had increased to the point we could make it until harvest time.

During this time I learned the
story behind the arrival of Camille’s group. I had, of course, asked L.B. why
he hadn't told me about their approach. He told me he didn't know they were
coming. He hadn't talked to them since last August. When I asked Camille about
this she confirmed the last time they'd talked had been sometime in late summer
and they had been trying to get here since then. They were from Biloxi,
Mississippi and had been in hiding on the Navy base since the Event. They were
beginning to run out of supplies. They had been trolling the airwaves looking
for other survivors when they heard L.B. He told them about The Dell and that
they were welcome if they could get here. The group had spent about a month
preparing and stocking up on supplies. They had also used that time to perfect
the flame weapon that had saved them many times on the trip and us after they
arrived.

They had run into trouble
immediately when they were swarmed by Stinkies once they left the base. They
had lost three people in that fight. The rest were lost during an engagement
with a Road Gang outside of Memphis. Memphis is still a dangerous place. I told
her about our losses during our travel through Memphis. Loss is the one thing
that we all have in common.

The important thing was that they
made it and now they were part of our group. The population of The Dell was
increased to two hundred and fourteen with the arrival of the two survivor
groups. This place has already become a sanctuary for the remaining humans. If
our farming’s successful and we became self-sufficient, I thought of a time
when we would seek out the small pockets of survivors that had to be scattered
across the country. If we could get them here it would increase our population
and our knowledge base. The Dell could be the starting point for the rebuilding
of the entire country. I know I was over eager but success breeds’ success and
hope.

These were the things going on as
the first weeks of March passed. That is until the seventeenth. That was the
day our world changed again and it would be a miracle if any of us survive this
time.

It started at around 10 a.m. I had
stayed at the cottage drinking coffee and talking to Kat. We were trying to
spend more time together and I had been going out later than normal. We sat on
the porch when the weather was decent and in front of the fireplace when it
wasn't. We drank coffee in the morning and Bookers bourbon in the evening and
talked. No subject was off limits, not even our parents, not even Alex our son.
I've loved Kat since the first time I met her and we have never had problems
communicating. We always talked. After the Event, our conversations were mostly
about staying alive, but here now. We had started to talk again about us. About
the future.

The morning of the seventeenth Kat
and I were sitting on the porch, her wrapped in a blanket her legs curled under
her, cradling a cup of coffee in both hands. I was dressed as I normally am in
a pair of fatigue pants, hiking boots, and a sweater to fight the morning
chill. The ever-present AMT 45 pistol in a tactical holster on my right hip. I
only carried the rifle when I knew I'd need it. I had a cup of coffee, my third
of the morning. I don't remember the topic of discussion but I do remember Kat
was laughing when my radio came to life with Dave's voice.

After I answered him he said,
"Just got a call from the gate tower. They have movement on the road where
it comes through the hills on the west."

"Movement?" I asked,
"What do you mean? Are there vehicles coming?"

"There’re vehicles but they
aren't moving forward. They've stopped at the cut and there’re troops moving
around like they’re setting up security," he replied.

"Troops? Are you sure it's
not Stinkies?" I asked, trying to figure out what’s going on.

"Not Stinkies, for sure. I'm
heading down to the gate to get a handle on what’s happening. I've had Camille
put the rest of the security detachment on alert." He paused for a moment.
"It might be a good idea if you came down."

I looked a Kat, knowing she would
be disappointed we couldn't finish our conversation. She smiled and told me to
go do my thing. I kissed her and headed for the ATV parked beside the cottage.
She waved at me as I drove down the road away from our home.

It only took a couple of minutes
on the ATV to reach the gate. I killed the engine and climbed off as soon as it
came to a stop. As was my usual procedure I walked over to the gate and peered
through a crack between the posts. I couldn't see anything so I went to the
ladder leading up to the tower and climbed. When I reached the platform, I
joined Dave who had arrived before me. He stared through a pair of binoculars
and I gazed in the direction he was looking.

I could barely make out the forms
of people moving around in the vegetation on either side of the road where it
came through the hills. I asked Dave what he could see and he handed the
binoculars to me without saying a word. I brought them to my eyes and adjusted
the focus. The sight that greeted me scared the shit out of me like the Stinkies
never had. I knew immediately that what I saw were professional, well-trained
soldiers deploying to set up a blocking position. I knew without having to see
it that the same thing was occurring at the cut on the east end of the valley.
You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know this was bad.

Without taking the binoculars from
my eyes I said, "Dave we need to go to red alert now." I heard him
get on his radio to make the call. I continued to watch as the soldiers sealed
off the valley. As I watched a team of soldiers were setting up a machine gun
on a tripod that pointed straight at us. These guys were serious and didn't
want us to leave. The question now was, what did they want?

I had a feeling I'd be finding out
sooner rather than later. As soon as the machine gun crew was set up a convoy
of three black SUVs came through the cut and headed up the road toward the
gate. I yelled to everyone around the gate area to get ready. I didn't know
what these vehicles were going to do but I knew it wouldn't be good.

The vehicles came on until they
entered the serpentine. I instructed Dave to fire a round from his rifle in
front of the vehicle to let them know they were close enough. Without
hesitation, he skipped two rounds of the asphalt in front of the lead truck.
They got the message and stopped. I told the tower guards and Dave to keep
their weapons on the vehicles and to be ready for whatever happened. Dave asked
what I thought might happen. “Not sure,” I said, “but it'll probably
suck."

"Got that right," he
mumbled as I started down the ladder. Once on the ground, I went to the gate
and peered through my crack again. I couldn't see much because of the restricted
vision but I was able to watch as the doors came open on the lead truck. A
thought occurred to me and I got on the radio to Dave instead of yelling up to
him. He clicked his push to talk button and looked over the edge of the
platform toward me. Still on the radio, I told him if our visitors ask for
who's in charge, to tell them the Boss’s at the Village Office and I'd take it
from there. He hesitated for a second then said, "Okay."

Sure enough, the guy who'd gotten
out of the front passenger seat asked to speak to the person in charge. Dave
played his part and told him that the boss was in his office, then asked what
they wanted. The guy put his hands on his hips and said, "I want to talk
to your boss. That's why I asked where he was. Now run along and get him."

I didn't have to see Dave's face
to know he had turned bright red and his finger had taken up the slack in his
trigger. I motioned for the guards to open the gate just far enough for me to
squeeze out. They pulled the heavy gate open about two feet; then stood ready
to slam it shut if that became necessary. I stepped through into no man’s land
again and waited. The three heavily armed men glanced at each other then
started toward me. Without any verbal command that I could hear, two of the men
took flanking positions to either side and just to the rear of the man I
suspected was in charge. Their easy professionalism impressed me and I
grudgingly respected them. These guy’s had worked together for a long time and
it showed.

All of them were dressed similarly
in cargo pants, boots, and short sleeved shirts. All wore baseball caps, gloves,
and body armor. Each carried a pistol low on their right hip and an M-4 rifle
held at the low ready. This was the most scared I'd been in recent history but
I was determined not to let it show. I tried to take on a casual, uninterested
air. Just another security guy, no big deal.

When the three guys from the truck
reached an imaginary line about twenty-five feet away, I told them to stop.
They didn't push it and stopped where I told them. I continued to stand relaxed
with my hands at my waist near but not to near the butt of my pistol and waited
for them to make the first move. After about ten seconds of nothing happening,
I faked a yawn. That brought a smile to the leaders lips but not his eyes.
Finally he asked me, "Are you the guy in charge?"

"Nope,” I said as I smiled
back. "He sent me to find out what you want."

The leader looked down and shook
his head for a second before looking back up and saying, "You know I'm getting
tired of saying this. I want to talk to whoever’s running this place. Now are
you going to get him or not?"

Once again I replied with,
"Nope." I let that set in for a few seconds. "The way this works
is you tell me what you want and I pass it on to the boss. If he wants to talk
to you, he'll tell me and I'll take you to him." I stood my ground and
continued to look him right in the eye while I waited for his response.

He started to get annoyed and he
dropped his hands from his hips till they hung loose at his sides. I knew I
only had seconds before he drew the pistol on his hip and my right hand slipped
unnoticed closer to mine. We were in a standoff and I waited to see what he did
when the door on the second vehicle came open. I glanced past the three facing
me to see what this new threat was and was surprised to see a pair of high
heels and shapely calves appear below the open door.