and neighbors. I looked back at Charlie and I could tell by the look on his face he was thinking the same thing.
We waved to a bunch of people and took in the rest of the town. The old ditch had been abandoned as a barrier and the new boundary was a highway divider fence that marked the new territories. It had the advantage of weight and portability. Six strong men could put up a fence relatively quickly.
I saw hopeful signs of life all around and everyone seemed to get along really well. I asked Nate about any internal troubles and he told me that he was surprised at how few problems there actually were. It was like people shrugged off the old complaints and got busy trying to live.
“We do have a new set of problems and I’m getting ready to deal with them,” Nate said as he turned the corner to another part of town.
“What’s that?” I asked as I watched a small boy helping his mother plant seeds in a backyard garden. It reminded me of Jake helping Sarah. He tended to try and eat the seeds.
“Well, there’s a small group of young men who are eager to test themselves and have been causing trouble here and there. Picking fights and such.”
“That wouldn’t be a small group of well-armed kids I saw earlier?” I asked.
“The same,” Nate said. “They’ve gotten bolder and there was a report of a possible assault, but nobody saw anything and they are sufficient in numbers and arms to intimidate any single person going after them.”
I said nothing, but nodded.
Nate continued. “It’s just a matter of time before someone gets killed and I was hoping to avoid those kinds of problems right now. We don’t have a legal system here, everyone has been pretty much following the laws as we remember them, but we’re thankfully short on lawyers.”
“Want some advice?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“Set up an official security team, made up of all able bodied persons in the community. Make a rotating schedule so everyone participates and above all, with a community this size, you need formal rules and regulations.”
“Seems like a lot of work.”
“Considering we’ve been shoved back a thousand years developmentally, I’d say you have little choice.” I was hardly sympathetic.
“Thanks.” Nate barely contained his sarcasm.
“My pleasure. Now you see why I’m on the frontier.”
“Speaking of which, you never told me why you guys came back.” Nate arched an eyebrow at me.
I shook my head. “I hate repeating myself, so I’ll save it for later. We’ll need to have everyone assembled for what I need to tell them.”
Nate pulled the truck into his driveway. “Fair enough. I’ll get the grapevine going. You all can relax for a while.”
10
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in Nate’s house catching up and hearing about all the improvements the community had made. I was impressed with the aggressive moves to root out the zombies in the neighboring areas and to secure more and more zones. It felt like we had been just vacationing in our own little world compared to what was happening here. Nate assured me that we had earned the rest.
I did relent and told Nate about what we had learned about Major Thorton and his band of merry marauders. Nate cursed more eloquently than I had ever heard from him before and managed to stun even Tommy and Duncan into silence.
When he had finished, he looked pointedly at me and said in a deceptively calm voice. “So what are we going to do about it?”
I shrugged. “What choice do we have? We try to get there first. If we succeed, great. If he beats us to it, we make sure no one knows he destroyed it. The idea can remain alive, even if the document is not. We will use force if pushed.”
Nate snorted. “I’ve seen you when you’ve been pushed. This should be interesting.” He stood up and stretched, the rest of us doing the same. “I’m going to make sure the meeting gets rolling. We are meeting now at the old school gymnasium. We’ll see you there in what, thirty minutes?”
“Deal. We’ll be there. Let Sarah know where I am if you see her,” I said, trying to work out a kink in my back.
Half an hour later, we stepped out into the growing darkness. The sun had set, but there was still a decent amount of light. We couldn’t make out small details unless we were right on top of something, but we could still see fairly well. We walked two by two, Charlie and I in front with Duncan and Tommy bringing up the rear. We moved down the center of the road, heads moving to every sound, hands straying near pistols. We passed a few people on their way to the meeting and it was interesting to see how alert we were and how casual they had become. If I had to guess, I would bet most people within town limits were no longer arming themselves as a regular part of their day. I wondered if I would have given up my guns had I stayed here.
My wonderings were interrupted by a voice to my left. “Well, well. The big hero everyone’s been talking about.”
I looked over and saw the same kid I had seen earlier in the day. He was casually sitting on a porch swing, his hands in his lap. He was about six feet, maybe less, and had a wiry, lanky build, with slightly stooped shoulders. His long brown hair was held back by his ears and his aquiline features were accented by deep-set eyes. With his head down, his eyes were just pits of black.
I gave a hand signal to my friends and they kept walking, Tommy saying they’ll see me at the meeting. I watched them walk to the end of the street, then they turned out of sight. I turned my attention back to the guy on the porch.
“You seem to know who I am, but I don’t know you,” I said, hooking my right thumb in my belt near my SIG. “Got a name or do I make one up for you?”
“Name’s Dan Winters, not that it matters. I just wanted to see for myself who the big hero was. Our savior!” Winters said sarcastically, waving his hands in the air. He stood up and walked to the end of the porch. “I heard a lot about what you did and how you got the people to stick together. I even heard some interesting stories about what you may or may not have done south of here.”
Winters came off the porch and walked out into the street. “I’m not so sure I believe what I have been hearing, because nobody is that bad ass. Nobody.” Dan had come to a stop about five feet in front of me and he stood in a mocking pose similar to mine.
“Is there a point to this conversation?” I asked. “Because I need to go talk to some adults.” I knew I was deliberately baiting him, but I didn’t care. If Nate was going to have to deal with this idiot, I may as well get the ball started.
Dan bristled as most near-men do when their lack of age has been pointed out. “Point is, hero-man, that I think you’re full of shit. I think all those stories are shit and the people who think you’re so great are full of shit too.”
He was pushing hard and I realized that he was nervous, like he was trying to get something over with before something went wrong. Too bad he didn’t know what I knew. After Charlie, Duncan and Tommy had supposedly left, they circled back and made sure I wasn’t going to be ambushed. I could handle idiot-boy on my own, but I was powerless against a bullet in the back.
I waited, not replying, and I could see Winters getting slightly more nervous as time stretched on. Finally, I heard the sounds I had been waiting for. On my right there was a strangling noise, like someone had just been put in a choke hold. On my left, there was stifled cry, as if someone had been hit, then silenced. Behind me, there was loud crashing sound, like someone had been bodily lifted and thrown to the ground.
I smiled at Dan and I could see his eyes widen as he began to realize this was not going as planned. I stepped up close as my companions dragged their victims through the yards and dumped them in the road. One of them started to get up, only to get pushed back by Tommy, who ended any further revolt by pulling his knife and
