“Tye, what is all this stuff?” Milly said.
“Is she for real?” Kat said.
“I’m the only one among us who’s seen the gone world,” Tye said. “I was on a cruise ship with their parents, and in some cases grandparents. We self-quarantined on an island in the Pacific.”
“So you have no idea what’s happened since things ended?” Kat said.
“Nothing since The Day,” Peter said.
“The Day?” Grady said.
“The day God’s Brigade nuked LA,” Tye said.
“Tester said it ain’t pretty up that way. Stuff at the higher elevations is starting to grow back but everything from the mountains to the sea is a wasteland,” Kat said.
“How long will it take to get to Stadium?” Milly asked. She wanted to meet Tester the turtle preacher.
“Not long. We’ll be home in time for steak,” Grady said.
The train rolled on at a steady twenty-five miles per hour, and Peter and Milly told their story from first to last. Tye occasionally made a correction, or added additional information, but after two hours, everyone in the boxcar was listening.
“Then Grady and Kat here helped us out,” Peter said.
Silence fell. The question. Everyone waiting for it to be asked, nobody wanting to give an answer. Milly said, “So what’s this place you’re taking us to like?”
“It’s not an easy life,” Kat said.
“We do pretty good, though. And we’re doing better all the time. Bringing things back,” Grady said.
“Are you free?” Milly asked.
“What does that mean?” Kat said. “Everything has a cost, and freedom is really just a state of mind.”
“We eat well, have clean water, a place to sleep. Us hunters live in the first bowl, but it isn’t so bad.”
“You’re scavengers?” Tye said.
“Some of us. Kat and I do long range recon and bring beef on our way in. We map zombie nests, keep track of their number and whereabouts. It was Tester who said we should bring a scavenge party along with us.”
The train whistle blew.
“A decoy. We stop at an out station and wait and to see if the dumbasses attack us.” The train jerked to a stop. They sat in silence for an hour and let the sun sink below the horizon.
“Train travel is best during daylight, but when we leave the train, darkness is our friend,” Grady said.
In the distance, Stadium’s single red warning light shone like the North Star in the blackness.
Chapter Fourteen
Year 2068, Houston, Texas
Tye and company walked through the maze of old cars and trucks, rusted storage containers, and ramshackle fortifications that protected Stadium’s main entrance. They made many turns, and Tye didn’t think he’d be able to find his way out. He took mental notes, trying to print distinguishing features and anything out of place on a mental map for future reference, but he wasn’t confident. The knot on his head throbbed, and his vision was still blurry at the edges from the blow he’d taken.
“What’s with the guns?” Tye said. Armed guards followed him with rifles leveled at his back. “We haven’t earned any trust?” Their new friends were nice enough, but it didn’t take a genius to understand you didn’t enter or leave Stadium without permission.
“We don’t know you,” Grady said. “People have tried to infiltrate us before. There aren’t many as well off as us. We’d be overrun if we opened our gates.” He looked around to see if anyone was listening. “And one of Gerral’s guys might be watching.”
Tye looked at Milly, who stared back at him. Gerral’s guys.
The community of Stadium lived in a college football venue from the gone world. Tye had seen it before on TV as the Houston U regularly had a good team. Solar panels had been added to the lighting superstructure, and crops grew on the upper deck. Gun turrets, foxholes, and traps filled the space between the maze and Stadium.
The party were stopped and padded down at the old ticket booths. Guards with guns manned the entrance, and even Grady and his team got searched. “We could be under duress, carrying a bomb or some such,” Grady said.
Tye stared at him.
“Bombs?” Milly said.
“There is one constant in this world: war,” Kat said. She’d appeared before them like a wrath, and Tye hadn’t seen her enter with them.
The interior of the arena overflowed with humanity. A commons square surrounded by shacks and tents covered field level. Paths ran between the structures, and children played on the remnants of the old artificial turf. The lower bowl had nicer shacks, and some were adorned with brightly colored murals and decorative accents. Above the first bowl, a thin second ring of houses ran around the underside of the upper bowl like a belt. The top bowl had a few structures, and was comprised of hydroponic fields, animal cages, and solar panels. Tye didn’t see many people walking around up there.
“How many are you?” Tye said.
“We’re just over four thousand now,” Kat said. “This way.” She motioned toward an escalator forever paused, and they headed up it.
Guards stood at the top of the stairs, heavily armed in full battle dress. “We have newcomers here to see Gerral,” Kat said.
“Wait here. I’ll see if the boss will see your sorry asses without an appointment,” the lead guard said, and left. The soldier returned after a few moments. “He’s in the main hall, eating.”
Grady nodded, and they passed through a concrete tunnel that led to another frozen escalator. Patch cement covered large cracks, and all the overhead lights were out. They passed more guards as they made their way to the second level. Here the walls looked freshly painted, the air sweet, and each luxury box had been converted into an apartment with windows looking out on the subjects below. After another guard checkpoint where Kat got harassed,
