Chapter 12

We waited until after Greg had a good night’s sleep, before meeting again in the Council Room. We had to make a decision on where and how we were going to live. Summer was here and some of the girls were about to deliver their babies. If we were going to plant crops, we needed to get started. Already it was going to be a late crop, if it ever produced. We had to decide on either farming here around Waller Ville or going someplace else. The time to make a decision was now.

Everyone was in the council room, Marla still wrapped in a few bandages, was sitting in a padded wheel chair that had been brought back from Moss Berg. Bill was there with his wired jaw, and eager to get loose from the contraption. A glance around the room, revealed protruding tummies on almost half the girls. A few looked like they could have the baby at any time.

The meeting started with Greg again telling what they had seen of the country side while on their mission. He added that Waller Ville for all practical purposes was damaged and couldn’t be used. Yet, Moss Berg wouldn’t be much better, as we wouldn’t be living in the towns any way. If we farmed we would need to be near our crops.

Some of the women, wanted to know about the dangers of radiation, was it still high and how were we to deal with it. Greg shook his head, saying that all the levels measured from here to Moss Berg were normal. That didn’t mean we could stroll through Portland or the other cities that had been hit. It didn’t look like the radiation was spreading as some had feared it would. As far as cattle feeding on grass and getting contaminated, that might be true if the fields were down wind of the fallout. The mention of Cattle, brought more questions about what farm animals he had seen.

“Very few, I’m sad to say. Maybe five in all, but there could be many more. This winter was hard on those left out in fields too small with too little feed. We saw many dead animals, their bones turning white scattered through the fields. Those that still had flesh on them, were being devoured by birds, and other predators.” Greg smiled at the young ones, trying to assure them that we could survive all this. “It won’t be easy, but it can be done. We can farm, gather live stock from where ever we find them, and get a breeding program going. Even if the present live stock are contaminated, we can maybe breed them, and the next generations to come will not be contaminated. It’s going to take some doing, but we can do it.”

“So what we must decide now is, do we stay here or move on.” Violet brought us to the point. It was time to lay it all out. “If we stay here, in the Bunker, we will have hot running water, comfort, protection, but will we be able to provide food for everyone?”

Bill speaking through his clinched teeth, stated that if we remained anywhere near Waller Ville, we would have to root out the ones that had broken his jaw and beaten Marla. It had to be done, and if we didn’t have the stomach to do it, we should push on to somewhere else. He didn’t get an argument about that. Whether we stay in the Bunker or out on some farm, we would need to take some sort of action. The end result would have to be, that we remove any threat from the ruins of Waller Ville.

I didn’t bring up the idea that there were new people in Waller Ville. Probably those that Carl had contacted. They would still need to be dealt with. From what little I’d seen by way of the Bank Camera, they were ready for anyone wanting to eradicate them. If we did try to do anything about them, it would probably fall on the shoulders of the few of us that could be trusted with a weapon. Nora, Nicole, and now Greg, along with Bill, would be the ones joining me. Marla was still stove up and seeing her in a wheel chair, dashed my hopes that I could count of her being there. I didn’t realize that she had any leg injuries.

The evening wore on, with the idea being mulled over that we might find another location for our survival. Another scouting party could set out and find a safer place, was what someone brought up. It was quickly pointed out, we didn’t have time to do that. We had a good flowing river no more than two miles east of town, the same direction we would be starting our farm life. We knew this area, and have the safety of the Bunker to birth the babies. All we needed to do, was wipe out any hostile’s in the area.

Violet was the one that brought up the idea of again offering to take in any that wanted to join us. Both Bill and I started to say something on that, but Violet put her hand up to silence us and went on to say, “I know, we didn’t fair so good the last time it was tried, but things change. We know who the leader was, and we can deal separately with him. We make the offer, from a position of power. If they join us, they can bring their family and friends. Once they are with us, they will have every reason to see that we succeed.” She paused with a sigh, “It’s either that or we exterminate them?”

“I’m all for killing every last one.” Bill stated flatly.

“gain Violet shook her head. AIt may come to that, Bill. But were going to need every able bodied man we can get. Maybe we will get some machinery going and maybe we won’t, but there will still be a lot of hard work, more hard work than we have men for.”

“A woman can do just as much as a man Can.” I heard Donna speak out defiantly.

“I’m not going to enter that argument,” Violet said with a wave of her hand. “Women are going to be birthing babies and doing all the things a woman use to do. You will probably be working just as hard as a man, right alongside of them. But the fact is, men are stronger, we need them for protection, fathering babies, and making a living for the rest of us.”

“If we leave, and go someplace else? What is to become of Carl?” Donna put forth. She was becoming a thorn in our side. It was a good question, and one that should be answered. It was the reason behind her asking that bristled me. She wanted Carl loose because she perceived it to be a battle between the two of us. It didn’t matter what the result was, she just wanted to win.

“Whether we leave or stay, Carl will be going free.” I said, taking her chance of victory away from her. “He will be given a supply of food, and sent on his way. If he returns, while I’m here. I will kill him. Him and anyone that throws in with him.” Turning to Donna I added. “You can go with him if you want. That goes for anyone else that wants to leave. Anyone that wants to go, can leave. No one is going to be forced to stay. From now on, we only keep those that want to be here.” Then looking around at everyone, I asked. “Do you all agree to that?”

For a moment they all just looked at me, I couldn’t tell what was going on in their minds. Then I saw some heads nodding in agreement. Next came a rousing yes from the three men, who I knew would be agreeing. The women were different, they just smiled and clapped their hands. Most of them that is. The girls had worried looks on their faces, now they saw the women were for it, and they too joined in with applause. In the end the only one not applauding was Donna. It was clear that she either didn’t like the idea, or she just didn’t like that it was me who voiced it.

When the meeting was over, we had managed to reach a decision. We would continue to live out of the Bunker and also on any farms we worked. To do this it was agreed to remove any threats living in Waller Ville. It was also agreed to try and gather more members into our group. Do to the lateness of the year, for planting crops, we were to start immediately. Removing the threat would be risky, but I thought it would be easy compared to deciding who could join us. How could we tell if the person was really with us, or would cut our throats while we slept.

The first thing to do, was get rid of Carl. He was a threat to me, and the others too. Some thought I was the only one Carl wanted to do away with. Donna had taken up his cause and voiced her opinion that Carl shouldn’t be punished simple because I had issues with him. Of course I pointed out to her and the other like minded people, that Carl tried to have me killed. I wasn’t the bad guy here, as I had the upper hand and Carl was still alive. It didn’t matter, Donna was on Carl’s defense team and wouldn’t be dissuaded. Neither would I. The door to Carl’s room was open with the help of a cutting torch, and he was marched down to the showers. I held a gun to his head, and told him that if he caused any trouble I would pull the trigger. I meant it.

Carl didn’t give us any trouble, as I think he was tired of being locked up. He seemed to enjoy his shower and the new clothes we laid out for him. He was given a good pair of shoes, several pairs of socks, and a pack with a week’s supply of food. There had been some talk of letting him have a weapon to defend himself, once he was on his own, but I nixed that idea. You don’t give arms to your enemies.

Before leaving and taking Carl outside of Waller Ville several miles to the North, I gave Donna the choice of either going with him or Staying. I told her, if she stayed, she had to get over her loyalty to Carl and become one of us. That meant, she had to quit blaming me for the trouble with Carl. It seem to come as a shock to her, that I was offering her the choice. She had no idea that her staying on in the bunker was jeopardized. Violet was with me when I gave Donna the choice, and she quickly looked to Violet, appealing for her aid. No Aid was coming from that quarter, instead Violet told her to make a choice. Either join us with her heart and soul, or go with Carl.

In the end, Donna chose to stay with us. I think the whole thing was just her wanting to fight with someone. She was never close to Carl, not that I could see. It was just a bone that she could pick a fight over. Personally I was glad she stayed. She was good looking, but better than that, she worked hard at her tasks. That was the last I ever heard a word out of her about Carl. Violet later again told me that all Donna probably needed was to get laid.

Greg and I took Carl out in the “PC. We drove about ten miles North of town and kicked him out next to a row of houses that looked pretty much intact. He argued with us, that we didn’t have the right to do this to him, but it didn’t matter. ANo one had any rights anymore.” I told him, and opened the rear door. The ramp went down and I motioned to the outside. “Time to go.”

“I was the one that let you in.” He said referring to when he let me in the bank just before locking it up. With a nod, I acknowledged that he did just that, and then he tried to have me killed. That seemed to shut him up, and I poked him with the barrel of my magnum. He took the bag of rations, and walked down the ramp.

“Don’t come back, Carl.” I told him as the ramp closed. “I will kill you on sight.” I hoped it would be the last time I ever saw him.

We were just getting started on our house cleaning. On returning from booting Carl out, Greg and I got our gear for hunting down the threats in Waller Ville. It was dark by the time we were ready and left the Bunker by way of the Bank building. Going out the other exit’s would have put more ground to cover before getting to where we figured the others would be. I didn’t like using the lift at the bank, because I felt that some day we would be discovered coming in or going out. Either way, it would compromise our safety. When I mentioned my concerns to Greg, he just nodded his head and stated that it was one more reason to remove the Bad Guys.

Tonight was clear, hardly any cloud cover and the moon was just coming up. We wouldn’t have total darkness, which meant we would have to move slow and keep to the shadows. Once we left the bank, we only talked in whispers, and not very often. It had to be important, because everything was so still, the slightest sound carried a long distance.

We were operating under the assumption that these new guys in town knew what they were doing. They probably had night vision just like us, and were not giving away their positions by using the infrared lasers. We had checked it out in the gym, after turning off all the lights. The light from one night vision goggle could be seen by another. So we knew not to use the infrared beam, but just go with its regular function. I know, I’ve gone over this before, but it was a matter of safety. Greg understood it better than the others.

We moved down the sides of the street, skirting around the scattered rubble from the crumbling buildings. At first we tried moving through the buildings, much like we’d seen the bad guys doing, but it proved to be too cluttered and maintaining quiet was difficult. There were too many things that went crunch when stepped on, and so much of it scattered across the floors, it was impossible to find a clean spot to put a foot down.

Greg was carrying an M16, while I packed my magnum and a scope’d hunting rifle. A 7mm Remington to be exact. We had checked it out with a laser sight in the gym before deciding to bring it. It didn’t have a night vision scope but the scope gathered enough light that on a moon lit night, I could see a target good enough to shoot.

Our objective was the fallout shelter where Marla and Bill had been assaulted. We were not going to enter it, but take up a position where we could see the comings and goings. To get there we needed to cross the street. I didn’t like that, as it would have us exposed without any rubble or trash to hide with. What we did was find a spot where a shadow laid completely across the wide street and then we crawled across on our bellies. I went first, and took up a position while Greg came next. Moving to the alley, we could see the entrance to the Fallout shelter. It was seven hundred feet from where we found a spot to hide.

We could see the main door from behind a broken wall. There we improved our position by stacking the debris and putting a grey blanket over it for concealment. We didn’t change the outside portion of our sniper nest, but fixed it to where anyone passing through the building would be hard pressed to discover us. Once the nest was completed, Greg left his bag of my supplies and headed back to the bunker. I was going to stay and watch the Fallout shelter, to see if they were still there and whatever information we could learn from watching. I wasn’t to shoot anyone yet, but the rifle was there in case it needed to be done. I had a radio, and an ear piece to communicate with the bunker. Bill was on the other end of it, monitoring it and the Bank camera.

In case the situation developed to where talking in the radio was dangerous, we set up a code that by clicking the send button, I could let them know what was happening. Three clicks meant danger, Three clicks and two clicks after that meant come help. One click meant, stay put, or okay, or yes and two clicks by its self meant no. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to use any of them. The whole purpose was to inform them of my condition. If something happened to me and I was captured or killed, my not signaling back when called would be the giveaway.

Now I would find out if I could trust Greg. I had been putting a lot of faith in him, but still there was the doubt and his past actions when Carl was prompting the men to shoot me. I was unsure of Greg, but having to use him. What I was relying on now, was he return with either Nicole or Nora to be the second member in the sniper nest. Our plan was to man this position over several days or however long we needed, to find out what we could about our advisories. We were still to make an offer for people to join us, but I thought it would better just to wipe them all out. Just how we were to approach them, was beyond me. That was to be worked out as we went. So I wasn’t suppose to take anyone out just yet.

I was comfortable laying there, watching the door to the fallout shelter. The moon rose higher and I worried that Greg wouldn’t have the shadows crossing the street to hide in. As the moon climbed higher in the night sky, the shadows would retreat and leave less concealment for my team. I had to move a rock or two into a better placement, so that it didn’t stick me in the ribs. Other than that I was snug and warm. I had everything I needed, food, water, and even chocolate, but no cigarettes. Nobody smoked anymore, and a cigarette would be like a neon sign giving my position away. I even had baggies to urinate in and do other bodily functions. Odor was another give away, and the plastic bags would take care of that. The town had plenty of strong odors, but we didn’t want to introduce new ones to the area.

Greg’s voice came over my ear piece, as he notified me that he’d returned to the bunker. I clicked once, acknowledging his message. A little while later, he called again, saying they were now leaving. That meant he and one of the girls were on the way back to me. That news gladden my heart. I was looking forward to having company. One person alone, was like the word said, lonely.

The night was quiet, and only once in a while could I hear the wind whispering around the bare concrete buildings. There were different smells too. As the wind shifted, it brought a variety of odors. There was the dirty concrete smell, and the burnt smell of clothing, plastic and wood. I could also catch on the wind, the smell of the dead. It wasn’t strong, just a whiff now and then, but I knew that some where there was rotting flesh. From somewhere behind a building I heard the crying of a cat. It sounded several times and then it too was quiet again. A cat, I hadn’t seen a cat or a dog for so long. I was beginning to wonder if any were still alive.