A SHTF story compiled by your fellow ATS'ers (story thread)

Setting - post SHTF United states, the world has been overrun by a plague causing social and economic collapse the world is in ruins. A group of survivors have fled to a remote part of the Southern Rockies and set up a village in a strategic lower mountain pass. The village is guarded on three sides by sheer mountain cliffs.


The cast-

Leader-

Second in command-

Chief medical officer-

Chief ag mind-

Chief electrician- crimsongod21- versed in building of- power generators, transformers, and electrical grids.

Chief security officer-

Lone wolf-

Camp Pharmysist- BrokenCircles- not overly skilled, but has lots of meds on him.

Feel free to add any other positions as needed to fill out the story and roster.

Claim your role and start the story this should get um let’s say interesting

to the discussion thread - click

The sun is out with not a cloud in the sky it is unseasonably warm for this time of year, the bustling of the camp below is music to my ears now if only i could get this transformer back into operation our small camp has been growing at a rapid pace and this small transformer isnt quite up to the load. I'm going to have to send a scavenger squad out to find a larger pot, but for now i think this will work. I flip the switch and the transformer starts to buzz back to life and lights come back on in town. I make my way down the narrow rock pass back into camp as i get closer i hear the shouts from worried guards, we must have new arrivals waiting to be "judged" worthy of access to our camp. while if find this practice a little unnecessary i have seen the good and bad sides of letting just any one in. With any luck our new found friends will have some skills or goods for trade, though we are mostly self sufficient new goods and skills are always needed to improve our way of life.

I hurry to the gate and climb up the ladder to look out and see what new arrivals we have, to my suprise i see a running van, plastered on the hood is what appears to be a cleaning companies logo, i cannot see the driver through the cracked and pitted windshield this van has seen better days and appears to be on its last legs. The guards seem to be on there highest alert, i wonder if the isolation is starting to get to them. A loud bang echos through the mountains as the van backfires and dies, a spooked guard unleashes a barrage of warning fire infront of the van and only stops once he is smacked by lead guard. I wonder once again what this new visitor has to offer and if they have been rattled by the nervous guard.
(tbc upon further arrivals of co-authors.)

(this was written by (broken circles)


Several months earlier.......



I had been working nights, cleaning floors. The small company that I was working for, had contracts with many local businesses. It was on a Thursday, when I had first heard about the 'Nano Plague,' here on ATS. I didn't really think much of it. I just figured it was more doom-mongering. Then a couple of days later, over the weekend, I was struck with a very extreme paranoia. I'm not really sure why, but something inside me, caused me to feel that this one was real. On Monday, I went into work, and continued my normal daily routines for the next couple of days.

However, the same cannot be said for my thoughts. My thoughts were anything but normal. Monday night, I cleaned the floors of a few offices. Those offices are easy, and I always do them on Mondays. Tuesday, I got the hardware store, and a couple other local businesses. By this time, I was freaking out inside. and so it seemed were others around town, but there was still not much of a threat to us in the Midwest U.S., at that time. The horror stories from across the pond though, they were coming more and more frequently.

Now is the time. Wednesday night. Just as on all of the previous Wednesdays over the last several months, I went to clean the floors at the local pharmacy. It was a risky decision, and believe me, there were several occasions during the following week, that the thoughts came to me that maybe I had not made a good decision. I cleaned that place out. When I had gone into the garage that night, to get the van, instead of making sure that I was fully stocked on all of the necessary cleaning supplies, I did the opposite. I tossed everything out of the van, before heading down to the pharmacy. The only thing in that van, was empty boxes.

I'll admit, I had been scoping that place out for several months. Every time I cleaned those floors, I felt like Matt Dylan in 'Drugstore Cowboy.' I had fantasized about it, but I had never actually thought I would go through with it. The fantasies were simply a way to pass the time. Made my nights go by faster.

Yes, I did grab all of the pain medications, nerve pills, and tranquilizing meds, but I also got the penicillin, and all antibiotics too. By then, the 'Nano Plague' was spreading fast. I knew that there was currently no cure for it, and as far as I was aware, there is no known method of prevention, but that had nothing to do with my reasoning for cleaning out the pharmacy. My own personal method of prevention, was abstinence. I wasn't going to take a chance with being around anyone or anything with the Nano Plague.' I also got several other items, such as personal hygiene products, some juices, and bottled water.

I had also grabbed a few prepay cell phones, and calling cards. Wasn't really sure what I wanted those for, but I had a little room left in the van, so I grabbed them. One of the phones came in handy the next morning, when I called my boss and told him what I had done. He started screaming about how I had just ruined his business, blah blah blah. I told them that if I was right, there would be no need for his business anyways. Well, I also told him that if I was wrong, then I still wouldn't feel bad about it, in regards to his business. He should have given me that raise I asked for. That guy was making a fortune off of me. Screw him.

I left the pharmacy and drove straight home. I already had my stuff packed up and ready to go. My 12 gauge, and several boxes of shells. Several boxes and bags of clothes, random gear, and canned and dried foods. And more importantly, several bags of cat food. I loaded my stuff into the van, and grabbed my little furry friend. We took off heading northwest. I have a cabin in a very remote area, that nobody knows about. Me and my friend stayed there for about a month and a half. I had no internet, but I did have a radio. Eventually, due to the stories on the radio, I decided that we better continue further on westward.

I am no doctor, and I'll be honest, I have no clue what alot of these meds are for. Regardless, I do have lots of meds, and about 10 different pill books. I am certain that these items will be very useful.

Walt lay in the brush just below the ridgeline, watching the scene below unfold with a feeling of helplessness through the binoculars. Not a damn thing he could do about it. There was a group of Raiders, 5 or so (they had started with 6, but at least one was down for the count, face down in the grass of the yard) assaulting the old farmhouse.

All Walt had was this old shotgun and a pistol in the way of firepower, and shells had come at a premium for each of late. There was just no way he could get close enough to make a difference now.

So he watched, in helplessness.

It appeared that the farmhouse was a single family trying to hold out. No telling how many were inside, but he'd seen the bloom of muzzle flashes from at least 3 windows at the front of the house. The Raiders had evidently parked their transportation - in this case motorcycles - a distance from the target, and had approached to within shooting distance on foot. that meant they had reconned the farm previously, else they'd not have known enought to make even that much of a plan. As it turned out, the plan was better than he'd thought.

While the group out front were staying just visible enough to keep the house occupants busy, without actually getting shot, another entry team approached the house from the back. That entry team was staying quiet, and hidden, as they leapfrogged toward the rear of the farm house. Meanwhile, the front group were shooting and yelling and making all sorts of racket. A diversion. The only reason Walt could see the entry team in back was the virtue of his vantage point, above the micro battlefield.

It was all over in a matter of minutes once the entry team was out of sight at the back of the house. Several shots from inside, and out the front door they came - not in any sort of hurry, either. Walt could hear yelling amongst the raiders, and at least one feminine scream from inside the house, but he wasn't close enough to make out what was being said. Three Radiers took up a post on the porch of the house, armed, evidently to guard the prized, and another group broke off and walked away, probably to retrieve the motorcycles, Walt surmised. He slithered backwards, deeper into the brush, then slunk over the ridgeline, heading back towards camp.

"Stupid farmers" he muttered to himself. One had to find some way to cope in this brave new world, and an outward indifference was Walt mechanism of choice. Inwardly, he seethed. Somewhere between the ridgeline and camp, the scruffy old wolf dog joined him. "Where have YOU been?" he asked the dog. The dog just looks at him, perked it's ears and cocked it's head. "Don't talk much, do you?" Walt said. The dog just stuck it's tongue out and panted at him as they walked along. Not deterred, Walt at least kept up his own end of the conversation. "Cold camp tonight, boy. No fire - there's rogues about. Jus' jerky and water, and a nap. We're going night hunting later. You up to it?"

The dog yipped a little bark in answer.

Alas, the out come of this situation is not for me to worry about at the moment, i need to slip out, by this time Walt should be back at his camp waiting for me. After weeks of tedious work i have been able to create a unique two way radio transmitter and receiver to keep me in contact with him. Despite what some of our members here might think Walt is a big asset to keeping our home safe.

I slip out a small side exit running along the narrow part of a steep ridge after a few hundred feet i find myself at the entrance to a small deer path that will run me close to Walts hidden base camp. I arrive shortly before dusk to see Walt and his dog preparing for the nights hunt, i announce myself so as to keep from getting a new hole in my chest. Walt its me Ben i brought the two ways i was telling you about along with some Elk Jerky. So whats the good word out here on the fringe?

Walt its me Ben i brought the two ways i was telling you about along with some Elk Jerky. So whats the good word out here on the fringe?

Walt looked up from cleaning his shotgun at the sound of the voice. He put the pistol, which he'd had at the ready since the shotgun was torn down, to the side. "Come on in and have a sit down, Ben. I'm 'fraid there ain't much good news just now." Ben entered the camp. laid a package to the side, and looked at Walt quizzically. "So what's the word?"

"That farmhouse two ridges east - the ones that were holding out on their own - they're not holding out any more. Raiders got 'em a bit ago. Damned shame I never got close enough to contact 'em, but there ain't much chance for that now, I reckon. I don't even know how many of 'em are there that I'm gonna have to bury." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, then added "but I know there's at least 3 on the outside that I'm gonna string up in the trees at the gate to the farmhouse." He looked up with a strange glint in his eye, but said no more, allowing THAT to sink in.

Ben nearly exploded. "You really ARE crazy, aren't you?"

"Might be" was all Walt said.

Ben, finding his voice, continued. You said THREE of them?"

"Well, yeah, that's what I saw on the OUTSIDE. I dunno yet exactly how many inside."

"you're nuts, Walt, You're just not right. here you are on the long side of 50, and you think you can take on THREE men, and be gone before the rest on the inside put an end to you? HOW, precisely, do you propose to do that, and WHY"

"First question: one at a time, my friend, one at a time. Second question: because they're THERE. Long as they're operating in this area, they're a danger to all. " He got a faraway look for a second, seeing something that wasn't there, then said "besides. If they got that close in, I've gotten slack. Can't have that. I gotta sharpen up, and that means going against the grinder." He didn't add that he considered it to be a sort of penance for allowing it to happen in the first place, Couldn't have folks figuring out if there were really any feelings in there or not.

Walt fought his own demons, on his own time.

Ben considered that, and decided there'd be no dissuading Walt. In the time he'd known the man, the one thing he'd figured out was that Walt was as hard-headed as they came. Once he got a notion in his head, there was just no talking any sense to him. Ben decided on a slightly different approach. "At least take some of the Security from the compound with you. Safety in numbers, you know."

Walt shook his head. "There's noise in numbers, too. Iffen I'm to get this done at all, I'll have to do it sly, sneaky, and quiet, I don't want anyone else thrashing around in the dark in the brush. If my hand hits anyone, anyone at all, they're a target, and I can be comfortable knowing that. Beside, Y'all might want to beef up the guard over there, considering this incursion. More folks on guard leaves none to ride along. Nope, me and D.O.G. will handle this."

"we'll wind up burying YOU too, Walt. You know that, right?"

"Bring a shovel over there in about 4 days or so then if you don't hear no more from me." As an afterthought, he said "I like daisies, the yaller ones."

Seeing that Walt would not be persuaded into a common-sense approach, Ben just asked dropped it and instead asked "Why did you name that dog D.O.G. any way?"

Walt cracked a rare grin, and said "Well, he'd look mighty stupid coming to me if I called for C.A.T., now wouldn't he?"

Ben shook his head, not for the first time dealing with this fellow, and simply said "You really ARE crazy, aren't you?" for the gozillionth time.

Walt issued the standard answer. "Might be."

Walt lay on his belly, watching the house. He had been in place in this brush since slightly before sundown, a few hours before. there were only two guard on the front porch at this point. He guessed they'd dropped their guard somewhat because of the out of the way location. That somehow disappointed Walt who knew that, at the same time, it made the task he'd set for himself a great deal easier.

A cigarette flared as one of the guards took a draw, and D.O.G. raised his head at that and emitted a low growl, staring at the flaring ember. "Hush boy!" Walt admonished in a whisper. "If you want to give away your OWN position, that's fine by me, but don't be doing it when I'm there, too." The dog whined slightly and dropped his head back onto his paws, continuing to watch the compound as he lay alongside Walt.

Over the course of the evening watching, Walt had figured out that every so often, one of the guards would go around the side of the house to urinate, leaving the other guard alone on the porch for just a couple of minutes. Walt was going to take advantage of that slight habit. He looked towards the dog in the dark and said "Stay. I got work to do - you STAY, right here." the dog whined, Either he didn't like what Walt was getting into, or else he wanted to get into it too. Walt couldn't tell which, but he didn't want too much ruckus just yet, so the dog would have to stay put for the moment.

It took the better part of an hour to crawl the few dozen yards to the house, and when he was there, Walt took up a position around the corner of the house, and waited. And waited. And waited. It seemed like it was taking forever for the next trip around the corner for the next guard. Walt had left the shotgun with the dog because it tended to rattle too much at the wrong times. He'd have to see about re-taping the rattling parts - when he could scrounge some more tape, that is. For the time being, he had only a knife and an axe handle. His pistol was in it's holster on his hip in case he needed it to get out of a jam, but if it turned out he DID need it, that would be because he's made too much noise and alerted those inside prematurely. In other words, if he needed that pistol, he'd done it wrong - he'd screwed up.

Just as Walt was deciding that no guards were going to come and he'd wasted his time with all that careful sneaking, the BACK door of the house itself opened. "A target is a target, I reckon" Walt thought as he edged towards the back corner. Two figures emerged from the back of the house, heading towards the outhouse - without electricity, plumbing had reverted to something less than it had been previously. One figure, smaller than the other, walked directly in front of the rearward figure.

"It's all fair game from here" Walt thought, and gripping the axe handle tighter, he quietly sprinted from the corner of the house where he was, and was upon the rearward figure before anyone knew it. Without breaking stride, adding the momentum of his rush to the swing, he swung the axe handle out and upward, connecting with the base of the figure's skull at the back or the neck, and trying to drive his head right off of that same neck upward.

The figure's head didn't come off, of course, but there was a wet sickening POP that accompanied the meaty THWACK of the axe handle connecting, and the man dropped like a pole-axed steer. What had happened was Walt had separated the skull from the spinal column, but Walt had no way of being sure of that. He sliced the mans throat just that quick to be sure, and started for the other figure.

To Walt's surprise, it was a girl - maybe old enough to be a woman, but he couldn't be sure of that in the starlight. She was on her back on all fours, trying to crab walk away from him. "Nonononono! No more!" she babbled.

"Hush!" Walt hissed a command. "You get quiet or I'll kill you right where you are, just that quick" he hissed.

"that was Art you just hit! he's gonna be mad!"

"Yeah." Walt hissed dryly. "I give a damn. I doubt he's gonna be all that mad, considering his current state of disrepair. Who are you?"

"You know perfectly well that I'm..." she broke of in mid sentence and strained to peer at him in the dark, then announced "you're not one of them."

"Nope. Now that we know who I'm not, who the hell ARE you?" Walt was getting impatient.

"I... we... I live here... lived here. These guys came and..." Her voice broke and trailed off, but Walt picked it up.

"Yeah, I heard." He couldn't bring himself to say he saw, that he'd watched the whole assault from relative safety. "Lissen. This wasn't in the plan, but we gotta get you out of here pronto, before someone comes looking. I got someone up on the hill you need to meet. C'mon."

"You're not going to... I mean they..." and she trailed off again, trying to draw her tattered dress protectively tighter.

Walt read the sign and attempting, poorly, a bit of levity, said " No ma'am I ain't. Wouldn't be able to recall what to do with if if you tried to throw it on me, and I damn sure ain't gonna try to sneak it out of yer pocket. You're safe enough - assuming we get the hell out of here, NOW!"

He grabbed her by the elbow and started off into the brush at the edge of the yard with her, trying to guide and hasten her. The passage made more noise than his entry had, drawing the attention of one of the guards. "What's that in the weeds?" Walt heard him say to the other guard. Walt sucked on his teeth to make a chattering noise like a raccoon, and sat still.

"Critter" said the other guard. and they went back to talking quietly amongst themselves.

Walt laid a finger on the girls lips to indicate "quiet", and they snaked their way back up the hill to where D.O.G. waited. Once there, Walt introduce the girl to the dog. "He'll watch out for you while I'm gone." Walt said. "You just stay with him, and he'll not let nothin' nor no body bother you."

"Gone?" the girl said. Gone where?"

"I got a bit more work to do."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Just never you mind what. I'll be back in a bit. You hear any loud noises down at the house, you two sky out of here pronto. D.O.G. knows the way to camp. You hear a racket, you GIT - y'hear me?" The girl just nodded solemnly, not at all sure about this.

Satisfied, Walt turned to the dog and said "Protect! You keep an eye on her, ok?" The dog laid down with his muzzle in the girls lap, demonstration an understanding of what was expected of him. The girl was absent mindedly scratching the dogs ears. Walt grinned. She didn't know it, of course, but ten minutes of that, and she'd have a friend for life, the worthless mutt.

"I'll be back shortly" Walt said, and faded back into the night that stretched toward the house.

--------------------

"Shortly" became nearly two hours. It was nearing dawn, the sky starting to lighten ever so slightly in the east by the time Walt returned, reeking of copper or some metallic smell for some odd reason. "let's git" was all he said. They trudge back to camp in silence.

On the way, the sky got lighter and lighter, and dawn was upon them before they made camp. Noticing Walt for the first time in the lightening day, the girl took in a sharp breath. "Mister, you have blood all overyou! Where are you hurt?"

"I ain't hurt" was all he said, lost somewhere in his own thoughts.

"But you look like hell! Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine, just tired. And as far as looking like hell goes, you may not've heard, but hell walks on two legs 'round these parts these days." He fished a blood smeared pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one. The girl raised an eyebrow, and Walt simply said "Spoils of war. I ain't had one of these in a while!"

The girl started to open her mouth to say something else, but Walt cut her off. "You sure do talk an awful lot for someone that's s'posed to be travelin' quiet."

And that was that.

Walt fiddled with the settings on the two way radio when they were back in camp. He looked over at the girl, who had inexplicably curled up in HIS bedding and gone promptly to sleep. He couldn't figure out how she could do that, considering what she'd been through. "Must be the youth" he thought. D.O.G. was curled up right next to her. "Traitor." Walt said out loud to the dog. D.O.G. just cocked his ears at Walt, and didn't even lift his head.

When he thought he might have the settings right, Walt keyed the mic and said "Hallo the Retreat. You listening?"

Static. He fiddled with the settings and tried again. "Hallo the Retreat. You listening?" Static again, but this time broken by a responding voice cutting through the static. "We got you, go ahead."

"This is Walt," Of course it was, he thought. Who else out here had one of their radios? Plowing ahead, Walt continued. "I went for a walk last night over to the raided farmhouse. Left 'em some messed up presents hanging in the trees at the gate over there, and I expect them Raiders are gonna be angry as a bunch of hornets right around now. Near as I can tell, one of them 'presents' was their former Dear Leader, so they're probably angry AND in a bit of disarray right now."

The voice at the other end paused, then said "Presents? You gave raiders presents?"

Walt rolled his eyes, as if the voice on the other end could see him. "Yessir. Presents in the form of somewhat less than optimal former Raiders hanging in their trees where they can see 'em real good. Three of 'em, just like I promised. Not the exact same three I had in mind, but close enough. I also hauled a girl out of there, one of the family that lived there, and she's gonna need some medical attention probably. She had a pretty rough time of it."

"We can send someone out to see to her..."

Walt stopped him right there. "Nah. She's sleeping right now - probably the best thing for her at the moment. She's mobile, so when she wakes up, I'll bring her to you. Just tell your gate guards I'm coming, and not to shoot us for raiders. Another thing - if you've got an explosives man available, and explosives to go with him, it might not be a bad idea to cut a couple of ditches across the road to the farmhouse on either side of the entrance to keep the raiders from getting away, and it needs to be done some time in the wee hours tonight. I wouldn't get too close to the house, 'cause they're bound to be a little edgy. Stuff blowin' up nearby, though, and in the middle of the night, ought to help those nerves right along."

Static crackled, and then the voice said "Why wouldn't you want them to leave if they intend to?"

"Why, because I intend to exterminate them, of course! What else do you do with pests? You know they're going to have to put more guards out to replace the ones that got inconvenienced last evening... If I wait long enough, I'll never even have to go inside the house until it's over."

"We'll see what we can do about ditching the road, but I can't make any promises."

"Good enough then. If you can't do it, I'll come up with another plan, but that's the one for now. jangle 'em up, button 'em in, pin 'em down, and take 'em out."

"You're not right in the head, are you?" the voice asked.

"Probbly not" Walt agreed, "but you don't hafta keep reminding me of that." and he clicked the radio off to conserve the batteries.

Looking around, Walt realized that all of his bedding was currently occupied. "Damn" he muttered. the dog perked his ears up at Walt's voice, and Walt said "traitor" again to the dog as he went to a tree at the edge of the camp and sat down for a nap, leaning his back against the tree.

D.O.G. didn't seem to take any particular notice of what Walt thought of his loyalties.

In the early afternoon, when the shadows were just starting to get long, Walt rose up from his catnapping, and stretched out the kinks with a popping noise here and there. He cast a glance towards the girl, who still appeared to be sleeping, worn out, and quietly moved to the fire pit, cleaning it out and piling the bits of unburned charcoal to the side on the heap of dirt from the excavation of the pit.

Deciding there probably wasn't enough there, Walt walked around gathering up dried grass, leaves and bits of litter in the form of twigs and small sticks, with a few larger sticks, and returned to the fire pit. He looked at the dog and quietly said "You ready to eat yet?" At mention of the word "eat" the dog raised his head, perked his ears, and stared at Walt for a second before thumping his tail on the ground - once. D.O.G. decided that was answer enough, and lowered his head back to his paws, still beside the girl, to wait.

Walt grinned and said "traitor" again, The dog just rolled his eyes towards Walt, who set about arranging the litter to get a fire started. When he had it arranged, Walt pulled out a plastic card from his encrusted shirt pocket. It was clear and about the size of a credit card, with closely spaced concentric rings molded into it. Gauging the position of the sun and frog walking to the other side of the pit, Walt held the card above the litter pile, and waited. He jumped slightly when he heard the voice.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked, still rolled up in the bedding.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you. I'm building a fire."

"With a credit card?"

"Nope. It's a fresnel lens - a sort of a flat, flexible magnifying glass."

"Ain't you got no matches?" She asked.

"Sure, and a couple of disposable lighters left, too. Thing is, I think this collapse may run for a while, and when they're gone, they're gone. I'm saving them for a rainy day - one when I ain't got the sun to work with."

"Oh" was all she said as she sat up to see if this was really going to work.

"As tendrils of smoke started to rise from the pile, Walt said "Can you walk? last night was motion on adrenaline. You might be a little more give out and stiffened up after sleeping."

"I think so... I'm going to HAVE to walk soon - I gotta go" she replied.

"Walt gestured around the small camp. "Pick a bush - any bush. Just don't get so far out that I can't hear you holler if you run into trouble."

"Bush?" she sounded horrified.

"Yup. Our 'facilities' out here in the green are a little more basic than you might be used to, but they're functional."

"I see" she said as she stood and started to shuffle out past the edge of the camp. the dog in tow.

"DOG!" Walt barked, "Git yer raggedy ass back here. Folks need some privacy sometimes." D.O.G. whined, but dropped his head and trotted back to the fire.

By the time the girl returned, Walt had a small fire going in the pit, and was trying to haggle the top out of a can of something or other with a bayonet. She cleared her throat to announce her presence, then said "Um... mister... have you got any sponges, or old rags or anything like that around here?"

Walt looked up from his task and said "what fer?"

The girl, in obvious discomfort at the situation, said "Uh.. I... er... well I've..." Her face reddened in embarrassment at this awkward conversation with a stranger, but there was nothing to be done for it. She decided the only thing to do was blurt it out. "I've started, or else I've been damaged somehow.. umm, you know, down there" and just ducked her chin to indicate a direction.

"Started what?" Walt queried, then it dawned on him. "OH! You've started" he said, sounding a bit embarrassed himself. He sat the can down and glared at the dog "you stay out of that - it ain't ready yet." The dog cocked his head in reply as Walt stood and went to his rucksack. He opened it up and pulled out an entire box of pads - regular ones, like from before the fall. "Will these do?" he asked, handing them towards the girl.

"She took them from him, but raised an eyebrow like a question mark. "What are you doing with these? Something about you I need to know?"

Walt snorted. "hardly." he said. "I've got 'em for wound compresses in case I get a boo boo. They work. Now you get along and dress yer own little boo boo, and stop askin' so many questions" he said.

"Where did you get them?" she asked, thinking of re-supply.

"That was a question, now wasn't it? GIT! tend to your business. I'm busy - gotta rassle the top off of this can that's got your lunch trapped in it." and he turned back to the task at hand.

By the time she again returned, Walt had the lid off of the can, and the whole can nested in the fire, warming it. When it was ready, he picked up a rag in his left hand, and in one swift movement snatched the can out of the fire with his other hand and wrapped the rag around the can for insulation, turning loose of it with his fingers just as quickly as he could. He fished a spoon out of a pocket on his rucksack and handed the can and the spoon to the girl.

"How did you do that?" the girl asked. "I mean, pick that can up with your bare hands?"

Walt brushed off the question by simply saying "I'm fireproof. Ain't nothing to it. Now eat."

"Where's yours?" she asked.

You're just FULL of questions, ain't ya?" Walt replied. He picked up a rolled piece of hide and unfolded it, fishing out a couple of pieces of jerky."Mine's right here. Don't you worry 'bout me - I ain't gonna go hungry." his stomach growled, and he tried to play it off on D.O.G. by looking at the dog and saying "shaddup. here's yours, too" and handed the dog a strip of jerky.

The girl eyes the can and the spoon, and said. "I'm not sure I should be eating anything you won't eat, mister."

"Ah Jeezus!" Walt said. he picked up the can lid and wiped the dirt off against his grimy and bloodied pant leg, with scant improvement shown on it, and said "reach it here" She handed the can over as Walt bent the can lid into a U shape, with which he scooped out a bite and ate it. "There ya go. I ain't pisoned you, and got no mind to. Lissen girly, it's a hard, harsh world out here, but you're gonna have to trust someone, some time, and it really ought to start here. Why would I have drug you all the way into my camp, then left you alone and let you sleep, only to poison you after you woke up? That'd be a waste of perfectly good poison!" He handed the can back and sat back down to gnaw on the jerky.

The girl, feeling a bit sheepish, said "You don't want a share of this hot food?"

"Nope" Walt replied. "It don't agree with my stomach. I jus' save it for company and special occasions. You're 'company', so I broke it out. Beside, we get done eating, I've got to take you to the Big Camp and drop you off so the medics can look you over. A hot meal won't hurt you before the walk, in your present state."

"Drop me off?" the girl asked.

Walt rolled his eyes. Questions! "Yup. I've still got work to do, and you can't go considering that I got you OUT of there because you ought not to be there in the first place. So then, it's the Big Camp fer you... and some medical attention."

"You're going back to my house?" she asked.

"Yup. Raiders still own it, and I aim to see that don't last long."

The girl looked doubtfully at the scrawny old man. "they'll kill you, you know."

Walt harrumphed "they didn't have much luck at that last night. I'll get by. Now EAT! We gotta be moving shortly." He gave another strip of jerky to D.O.G. and worried some more at his own strip.

"You're crazy." the girl pronounced as a simple statement of fact.

"Probably" Walt replied "but why do folks think they have to keep telling me that, like I don't already know?"

I rustled in my cot as the sun starts to raise, I havent slept this good in months, I just know there is trouble on the rise. I get up and fire up my hot plate gotta get some of this rag coffee in my system before I face the world. As soon as my kettle starts to boil I hear a soft rasping on the side of my shack, Yeah come in I notice its Dwayne the boy I put in charge of watching my two way last night.

Sir, it’s the radio it came to life last night and well a gruff sounding man was on the other end. He… he… sounded a bit um crazy said something about giving presents to the raiders.

Damnit Dwayne I told you if any one tried to contact base camp on that radio to come and wake me up, not wait tell morning how long has it been since he contacted you?

Well as best as I can recon its been about six hours sir, Im really sorry I just thought you needed some rest I know you’ve been working hard these last few days keeping the power on.

I appreciate it Dwayne its just that any message from o’l Walt could be a matter of life or death do you get me? Now what did he want?

He wanted to know if we had any explosives, and any one who knew how to use them.

Explosives! What the hell for?

Something about blowing the road to a farm house where he left those raiders a present.

Ok, Dwayne thank you, now you go and get some rest, you have guard duty tonight.

Dwayne is a good kid, not exactly right in the head though, I better get down to my shop and see if I can get Walt on the “phone”.

Lone wolf can you read me, this is Ben

Hey Ben this is , hiding a supressed laugh, Lone wolf did you get my message?

Yeah, I got it, and we do have some purloined C4, that came in on a wagon yesterday, but sadly we are without an expert on how to use it. Though I imagine we can figure it out if its any good to you.

Well not that im overly familiar with C4, but I think I can make it work. A slight pause as if he was thinking about something, did you get my message about the girl I found last night?

A girl, no sir I did not, is she ok? We can have a med crew to your camp in about an hour.

The girl is a little worse for the wear, but seems to be alright for now. I will be bringing her in to base camp, here shortly after we get some food in us. Will you have that C4 packed and ready by the time we get in?

Ok Walt, bring her in and I will personaly have the C4 ready for you when you get here, how are you on other supplies? There is a sound of ruffling papers and a couple loud grunts from the reciever, oh and also I got a couple new presents for ya, I think your gonna get a kick out of em too.

Presents eh? Sounds interesting, another muffled laugh rings through the speaker, as far as supplies go I guess I could use some tape if you got any, any excess ammo you can spare and maybe a little food you know for D.O.G.

Walt what have I known your for three four months now and you still cant own up to the fact that some times even you the great huntsman needs a little food from camp. Don’t worry about it I will have all the goodies ready for you when you get here. This is Ben signing out.

I hurredly get up and start to packing away some provision for walt, taking care as to what I pack and how this make shift litter is only good for so much weight. I load the C4, then a 50 lb bag of dry dog food and a couple ten pound bags of dried meat and two rolls of electrical tape, I hope that will do him. I shuffle down the cramped hallway in my workshop to a small locker I got tucked in back I pull out two boxes of 12 guage buck shot and then tucked in back I pull out my present for walt a shiney new M-4 carbine with an acog scope with toggle on/off night vision, this should make his “hunting” a little easier. I load the rife and two cases of ammo onto the litter and it grones as I pick it up and start to drag it to the gate.

A few hours pass as I wait near the main entrance, the guards have been notified that Walt is coming and are to alert me when he arrives. The more I think about it the more I think I should go with Walt tonight, Im do for a little excitement I have been all but locked up in here for months other then my occasional trips to Walts camp that is. It seems like a life time ago but I used to do the type of hunting Walts doing now for a living, and I was damn good at it too, though I have to admit it started to wear me down after a time.

Flash back fifteen years ago…………..
I sit on the roof top of a blown out stone building a battle rages around me, all I can hear is the sound of my heart beating and my spotter reading of information to me. I look down the scope of my M-82 I slowly dope it in on my target, I breath slowly and nod to my spotter.
Im on target call it in, and lets call it a day.

Alpha leader this is Alpha two we have eyes on target and waiting for orders

Alpha two this is Alpha leader you are cleared to fire. I repeat you are clear to fire.

Time slows to a crawl and every thing around me fades to nothing all that is left is my rifle and my target, I slowly squeeze the trigger in between heart beats like I have done a million times before, a flash of light and the bullet is gone and then so is my target a pink mist wafts into the air. I exhale and look down my scope again time to aquire another target, what I see leaves me breathless a child maybe eight or ten lays slumped behind my first target, I freeze and that’s long enough for my enemy to regain there composer and flee deeper inside the building.

Back to present time….

That was the last time I fired a shot as a marine, I was done I couldn’t bare the thought of taking another innocent life. It was years before I was able to pick up another gun, now I don’t move without one.

Sir, the man and child you told us about are almost to the gate they will be inside soon.

Thank you, let them in and give them anything they need and call for a medic to check out the girl, I will be needing to talk to Walt in private so if you could please keep the towns people back untill were done.

Walt, listen up, what your planning to do sounds dangerous, and at the risk of sounding, I pause and carefully choose my words, human I cant let you go out there alone tonight.

Youre not coming with me, your just a pup, the world may have gone to # but all in all your still just a kid. Walt opens his mouth to continue his speech as to why Ben shouldn’t join him

Walt you crazy old fool, I have seen more in my short years on this planet then most people even today ever will. I have done things that even today most people would cringe at. I’m going, like it or not, you cant play lone wolf all the time, well that is unless you want to die. I Bring my A4 to my shoulder then grab the poles to the litter, now lets get going there is only a few hours of day light left, I don’t want to be dragging this thing in the dark.

Fine, Walt snarreled, but if you end up dead out there tonight its not my fault! Remember even though your just another body in this camp people do look up to you and they will be worse off without you, but I have to admit I will be thankfull for the company, and for what I have planned tonight I just might need your help.

Glad you came to your senses Walt, lets get moving.

We start to move to the gate when I hear some one screaming for Walt, I turn around to see the girl he had brought in running in our direction.

Walt, we don’t have a lot of time make this quick we need to get moving.

I know I know, but this girl has been through a lot in the last couple days, I cant just leave her here without saying something, right now I imagine in her eyes im the closest thing to family she has left….

Ben was right, of course, and Walt knew that right down in the middle of him. He couldn't save the world all by his lonesome. He just didn't like getting anyone else caught in the crosshairs, so he tried to discourage that whenever he could. It appeared that this wasn't one of those times that he could. He had to admit that, so long as they kept coordinated and he knew where Ben was - and vice versa - he'd be glad for the company.

When the girl caught up to him, Walt said "The way you were hobblin' around earlier, I'd never have though to see you runnin'! looks like you're limbering up, walking all the stiffness out."

"I want to go with you. Mr..." and she left it trailing, upon which Walt suddenly realized that he'd never even told her his name.

"I'm sorry - I wasn't born with any social graces. My name's 'Walt', not "Mister' nothing. I wasn't born high enough on the totem pole to get a title, and NO, you can't go. I didn't haul you out of there just to drop you back into it. You need to stay here and get your rest, heal up and whatnot. What do you think you're going to do, any how? Knit their whiskers together?"

"But ... Walt," she whispered, looking around, "I don't know any body here!"

"You don't know me any better!" Walt said. "Fact is, everyone you've ever known was new to you at one time or another. Get to know 'em - that's how we make friends, y'know? Can't make friends by avoiding them, and you'll be a lot safer here than you will be out there on the sharp end where we're going."

"What if you get hurt?" she asked.

"So what if I do? Ain't none of us guaranteed our next breath any more, much less to draw it in comfort. You've known me all of what? 12 hours? 18? You ain't got enough invested to fret over it. You've got a lot more guarantee of comfort here than out there layin' in the weeds. No ma'am, you're stayin' here."

She looked crestfallen, but resigned. "Alright Walt" she said. "Before you head out there, and in the interests of introductions, my name is - "

"Walt cut her off right there. "I don't need yer name just yet. Nothing I can do with it no how." And he turned to walk away towards Ben, who was waiting at the gate with the makeshift travois. D.O.G. whined. This wasn't in HIS plan, and he hesitated following Walt, for probably the first time he ever had. The girl knelt to the dog and putting her hands on either side of his head, said "You protect that old fart this time, you hear me? It's his turn now." D.O.G. answered her with a bark, causing Walt to raise any eybrow.

"So you'll talk to her, an' not me, eh? Traitor!". Walt briefly thought that he was going to have to stop that, before the dog started thinking his name was "Traitor" instead of "D.O.G." The dog looked back at the girl, but trotted off after Walt, who wondered briefly whether the dog was going because he always had, or because the girl had told him to.

Pasing through the gate, Walt overheard one of the guards say "Looks like Old Walt caught him a prime piece there!" which drew Walt up short.

He spun on the man, and all of the sudden Walt was the 6'2" height that he used to be, instead of the 5'10" or so that his hunched over habit had made him. Striding purposefully up to the guard, Walt stopped within 6 inches of his face, uncomfortably close, and barked "Lissen up, Sonny. It ain't no such thing as that, No such thing! I'm old enough to be that girl's pappy, maybe old enough to be her grandpappy, and THAT just ain't gonna be. I have utterly and completely disassembled far better men than you over far less. You tend to yer own knitting, and I'll tend to mine." Then Walt added "furthermore, YOU ain't a fittin' suitor for her, either, so it'd be best for all concerned if you was to keep yer yap off of 'er. Otherwise, you and me, we're gonna have some more words. You understand me?"

The guard swallowed, stared at Walt, and didn't say anything. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, BOY! DO you understand me?" He nodded, and Walt took that for good enough. The dog barked his two cents worth, feeling the tension and picking his side. Walt turned and walked away. Another guard said to the first "I wouldn't piss him off, I don't think. All that black stuff smeared all over him looks to me like blood, and I don't think it's his."

As they walked down the lane away from the gate, Ben said "I'm glad you didn't hurt that boy."

"Walt snorted and said "Truth be told, he'd have turned me inside out probbly come to a fair fight. It's all in convincing him not to jump in the first place."

Ben replied with "Well you were pretty convincing."

Walt just said "remember I said a fair fight. I try and stack the odds in my favor when I can. Long as he never jumps, we won't have to see whether he'd whoop me or not. Better for everybody that way. I can't afford to lose me, and you all can't afford to lose anyone, either, None of these small communities can - you need every available hand when it comes to the crunch, and it always does."

Walt eyed the travois, and the supplies. "We need to cache that stuff, so we can travel lighter. I found a little cave not overly far from here. We can stash the stuff there until we're done, and just take the mission essentials. We'll need the axes, the C4 and detonators, and our guns and knives and such, and a bit of grub. The rest gets left in hiding." Walt added "You put two cases of ammo for the rifles on there? That's a bit much. It'll have to be stashed, too. Whe'll split out a couple hundred rounds apiece, and pack 'em into magazines - one for the gun, and the rest to spare for reload. If we need more, we'll know where it is."

After a hard walk through the brush, Walt located the cave, and he and Ben set about unloading and repacking the load. Walt unloaded his rucksack at the same time, leaving the frivolities along with the other things that weren't essential to the task at hand. He then repacked the rucksack with the C4, magazines for the rifles, and what other goodies he thought might be useful in the prosecution of a young war. "This way we can carry what we need ruther'n dragging it. Makes less noise, and it's harder to just drop it when you have to run." When they were finished repacking, they moved out cross country towards the old farm house.

Walking along, Ben asked Walt "what sort of dog is that, anyhow?" indicating D.O.G., who was ranging out from them and scouting.

"He's a Timber Shepherd" Walt replied. "Part Timber Wolf and part German Shepherd. They're smart, and usually loyal to a fault, they bond with you as a pup, and never re-bond" Walt eyed the dog again and added "normally. That'n has got a bit of the traitor streak in him, I think. He seems to have took to that girl. You all might keep that in mind assigning work tasks later, She seems to have a way with critters."

Ben made no reply, but had private reservations as to how that living arrangement was going to go over with the girl.

They walked on, and finally got into a position on the ridge above the farm house late in the day. Making what amounted to sniper's lays, they watched, and they waited... for nightfall.

Looking through the binoculars at the farm house, Walt muttered "Now that offends me."

Ben asked what it was offending him, and Walt handed over the binoculars and said "See that tree down there on the lane near the road? it ain't got no bodies hanging in it."

"Why would that offend you?" Ben queried.

"Because I put a lot of work into putting them bodies in it last night! Now they've gone and cut 'em down, buried 'em, and undid all that hard work! That offends me."

"Nothing to do for it now" Ben observed.

"You bet there IS somethin' to do for it!" Walt said, retrieving a collapsible e-tool from the carrier on the side of his rucksack.

"Like what?"

"Soon as it gets dark enough, I'm diggin' 'em back up and puttin' 'em right back in that tree, I am! The graves are right there, just east of the tree, an' they don't appear to be all that deep. Nossir, them boys are coming back up and gettin' back to their posts!"

Studying the area through the binoculars, Ben said "I thought you killed 3 of them."

"Yup" Walt muttered.

"There are 4 graves there" Ben observed.

"4th one is probably the one that got killed in the assault. I couldn't find the grave in the dark last night, but now that I know where it is, he's goin' up in the tree, too. The girl said there were 10 men in the house, two of those wounded. that one makes 11 total, but he ain't no bother no more. That means there are still 7 men to contend with, depending how bad off the wounded are."

"You wouldn't kill the wounded too!?"

"Yup. Predator is a predator, Bein' wounded just make 'em more vicious and out of sorts."

=====================================================

Ben found the work distateful, but couldn't argue with the contention that finding the bodies right back in the tree in the morning would have a negative psychological impact on the Raiders. Between the two of them, they got all 4 bodies back into the tree.

Afterwards, Ben went back to the overwatch on the ridge, and Walt started sneaking and slithering slowly towards the guards on the front porch of the farm house. Ben's job was to watch, and if Walt got into more trouble than he could handle, Ben was to pick that trouble off. Otherwise, the operation hinged on stealth and surprise - the surprise of findiing the bodies back in the tree again in the morning, with additions, and no noise in the night to indicate what was going on.

The axe handle worked it's magic once again on the first guard to come aroung the corner of the house to relieve himself. The noise of the axe handle connecting was faint, but enough to draw he attention of the second guard, who queried in a hoarse whisper "Frank? Frank! Answer me!" When no answer was forthcoming, the guard, spooked, went to investigate.

His mistake was hugging the side of the house, sliding along it and leading wtih the muzzle of his rifle. Ben had taken the slack up on his trigger, in prepartion for the final squeeze, when Walt's sudden movement made that shot unnecessary.

Walt heard the guard scraping along the side of the house, and when the muzzle appeared ahead off the guard at the corner, Walt unexpextedly grabbed it and jerked it forward, jerking the guard right into his elbow. Lifting his arm rapidly until it contacted the guard's chin, he snaked his forearm aroung the guards neck and bore down, putting pressure on his throat to cut off his wind and taking him off balance. The guard, for his part, turned loose of his rifle entirely, intent only on getting the arm from around his neck and restoring his air supply.

Walt tosssed the rifle to the side, straightened up and rocked backwards. There was a crunching noise which was the guards neck breaking, and Walt held on pressure to keep the air cut off so the guard couldn't scream until he stopped struggling.

Walt did a little more quick work at the house, then dragged the bodies - and their weapons - through the grass down to the tree. Ben helped once again, and the two of them added two more bodies to the tree, then carried the booty back to the overwatch position.

Ben, somewhat shaken, said "Walt, those bodies didn't have heads attached."

"Nope." Walt agreed. "they didn't need 'em any more. How 'bout I take a nap, and you wake me up in a couple hours, then you can take one while I watch, ok?"

=====================================================

Early in the morning, the front door opened and one of the brigands stepped out onto the porch calling "Frank? Bill? Time for beddy bye for you two." When there was no answer, he looked around and, grabbing his chest screamed "AHHHH! JEEZUS!" and fell right backwards, skittering away from the chair to the left of the doorway.

Another, called out by the alarm, said "What's the pro-" then looked to where the first was pointing, There, in the chair, Frank's lifeless eyes stared into eternity towards the door, and there wasn't any body attched to the head which sat in his chair. Casting his eyes towards the road, that one muttered "DAMMIT! They've hung 'em back in the tree out there, and now there are six."

Raising his voice to carry onto the house, he called "Harrison! Come here! We've got another problem."

Just then, the first man who came out of the house tried to raise himself from the floor, grabbing for the seat of the other chair. That was when he accidentally grabbed Bill's head, and that was the precise instant that he started puking.

As the night wore on I put some distance between myself and Walt slowly edging away untill I thought for sure that Walt wouldn’t miss me. I made my way down the narrow trail that Walt and myslef had been following through out the night, I had plans of my own for how we should treat our guest down at the farm house. I slowly snaked my way up to the house trying to remember my scout sniper training, from cover to cover moving just inches at a time. I finaly made it up to the porch where Walt had left his gift, That’s where I found what I was looking for a pool of blood and ichor at the base of one the skulls impaled on the chair, I dipped a finger in and tip toed to the door in as big as letters as I could manage I left a message.
We can get you any time, with or without your knowledge we choose the how and the when, your crimes bring you death.

With my new art work completed I snaked my way back up the trail and positioned myself a few hundred feet from where I had left Walt. I set up my position and trained my eyes on the door, the sun would be rising soon and that’s when my game would begin. An hour or so passed the horizion was just starting to show shades of orange and red, when a rustling in the brush behind me brought me from my revelry.

Ben what the heck do you think your doing? Walt asked in a dry whisper.

Putting the fear of god and all that is holy into these no good murdering bastards, I reach a hand into my cargo pocket and pull out a small set of binoculars, here take these and get a good look at the door.

What’s that say I can tell there is something written on it I just cant read it, Walt scratches the scruff on his chin as he looks at Ben in bewilderment.

It’s just a little note I left for our dear guest down there.

Ben are you okay? This doesn’t seem like you at all, your usualy so quite and well just no offense non threatining.
None taken Walt, but we all have our pasts to deal with and I think its high time I start remembering mine.

Ok Ben I will wait and see what you got cooking.

I see the men come out the door and the comotion that Walts gift brings about, one man is sitting vomiting on the ground with his hand resting on whats left of his friend, another turns to run inside and stops dead in his tracks, he’s seen my note this is my time to act.

I level my sights, from this ridge im aiming well above my target im lucky there is no wind this morning don’t have to factor that in, my heart beats one, two, I pull the trigger sending a round down range, three, a slight shift in the barrel and I let off another, four, and another slight adjustment and I let it ring one more time, five I exhale whats done is done.


Down on the porch chaos has set in Harrison turns to the door in an attempt to escape the gore infront of him only to catch sight of big blood red words written on the door, Harrison turns to get the attention of his fellow comrads when three small cracks break through the comotion. Harrison first feels the burn in his right shoulder then his left and finaly the sweet release of death as the third catches him in the forehead. A red mist fills the air around the marauders and every thing is quite then screams of rage and horror fill the air, as the two remaining fight there way past Harrisons now limp body to get inside.


Ben that was mighty fine shooting, not exactly what I had in mind, but mighty fine shooting. Walts face ashens as he looks at his friend Ben in a whole new light, if you don’t mind me asking where did you learn to shoot like that?

Walt you and me are friends, I hope you know that, but it’s a long story and right now we need to start heading back I need some sleep, I pulled guard duty tonight and something tells me it could be eventfull.

Fair enough Ben fair enough.

Oh yeah Walt you still plan on using that C4 this morning or you going to wait and use it later? I crawl back into the brush and push myself up I start to pack and stow my gear its going to be a long hike back to camp.

Walt Scratched his jawline and said "Well, for the C4 I'd figured on making some improvised claymores. I wasn't quite sure where to set them, but have been formulating a notion of blocking the road with trees in a sort of abattis in either direction from here so's these fellas don't get away when they go full-on rabbit on us. Now, if you'll recall your ambush lessons, claymores are a grand thing to lay in the ditches at roadblocks - the roadblock stops 'em, and before they figure out whether to try to clear it or go t'other way, all these big explosions make their minds up for 'em more or less permanently."

"Now, in this situation, we really don't know which way they're gonna go, so we'd need at least 4 claymores, and better 8, to cover both possibilities. That's with two to four on the ambush side of the road at both roadblocks. Between the two of us, we've whittled down the odds to probably four left in the house, and it's unknown how many of those are wounded, but fair certain at least some of them are. Right about now, they'll not be eager to fight, and I'd imagine they won't be all that excited to even come outside in the daylight where they might get sniped as soon as they hit the door."

"I'd guess they'll try to ride out under cover of darkness tonight, and stay buttoned up inside until then. They're going to count on the speed of their scooters to outrun the bullets we might send at them in the dark. That means we've got today to drop those trees in the road, and make and set the claymores and clackers. On top of that, a couple of ambushes, probably not more than squad strength each, need setting - one at each roadblock, to handle any that the claymores miss."

"If you can spare the people from the compound, we'll need a two man OP/LP crew to keep an eye on the house during daylight and to give warning when they leave - and which way they go - and 4 or 5 each for the ambush sites. Those points will need to be set at choke points, where there's no chance of 'em just riding around the blocks, and there will have to be at least one uphill side for the ambushers to sit above the road, out of the line of fire of the claymores. Best if we can find a couple places where we only have to set the claymores on the ambush side of the road block, between the raiders and the ambushers. The ambushers can double as a cutting crew to drop the trees for the roadblock. Maybe 4 trees each, but if they're big enough, two will do. Have to use axes rather than chainsaws or 'splosives to drop them, or else we'll alert the Raiders as to what's up. "

"For the claymores. we're going to need some sort of backing plates. Something like old worn truck brake shoes would probably work. You run that C4, which is like clay, about an inch thick all over the face of it, and push a whole bunch of pellets out of double-ought shotgun shells into the front side of the C4. Then set the caps and clackers, and you're all set. It'd be a shame to mess up their motorcycles, but some times that just can't be helped."

Walt scratched his head, and added "That's gonna be a whole lot of work and organizing for one day, plus we've got to figure travel time and work time to set up the ambush sites into it.. If you don't think you've got the people for it, I'll try and figure something else out."

It was Ben's turn to ask Walt "where did you learn this sort of thing?"

Walt grinned and said "Like you, I've got a past, and like you and everybody else, mine's behind me. Seems like it's gaining on us these days though, don't it Ese? We'll swap stories over a camp fire one of these days."

Walt I will have a team of guys down here shortly to give you a hand, if you could try and keep them away from your, Ben clears his throat, wind chimes up there. I don’t want them getting distracted when it comes time to work. Ben Turns and starts heading up the path, Walt you be good now tell your help gets down here maybe try and catch some shut eye.

Well I will be thankful for the help and the sooner they get here the better, we have work to do. As far as the sleep goes I think I will keep my eyes open and alert until I’m back at camp. Walt cocks his head at Ben, you better hurry I would hate to fell all those trees by myself.

Alrighty Walt you be safe up here, your help should be along shortly. Ben starts up the trail in a slow jog.


I arrive at camp the guards see me coming before I get within five hundred feet of the gate, they leave it open a crack for me. Upon entering I find Dwayne and tell him to round up as many men as he could to go help Walt. I duck inside the door to my shack and spot my cot immediately it looks so inviting I collapse on it without even removing my boots my turn on the tower will come all too soon tonight. I think about the events of last night as I drift off to sleep I wonder if what I did was right, and if my message got across. I don’t have much time to worry as sleep sets in.

I wake in a startle the sound so familiar yet foreign to me something I haven’t heard in what feels like forever though it’s only been a few years at most.
Coming from a radio off in the corner in Ben’s room, this is WKGB and we're glad to report that we are back on the air, bringing you all the news from this post-apocalyptic nightmare.
I sit on the edge of my bunk stunned, I had left that radio on scan since I restored power two years ago and nothing not a sound one, now all of a sudden it springs to life and the voice on the radio it sounds so familiar to me, but for some reason I just can’t place it.

(The radio) Before we get to the news of the day how about a few songs to take us back, music starts to play.

The song seems out of place for the environment we live in now, its old, childish, and going to be stuck in my head for days… one two buckle your shoe… three four better lock your door…. Or at least that’s how I remember the song, it was in a horror movie I saw as a kid, boy did it ever mess with my head.

I go about getting my things around I will have to let the council know about this news, I’m not really sure what to make of it all the events taking place over the last couple of days what with everything Walt has going on, now the radio coming back to life things are changing of this I am sure for good or not though is yet to be seen.


I step out the door to see the sun is just going down, my turn on the wall will start soon, I only have a matter of minutes to get to the council and let them know about the radio. I take off in a full sprint towards there chambers hopefully they are still there and have not retired for the night.

Now Terra knew she was going crazy, or dying...or both. She could hear the very faint sound of what sounded like "music" if you could call that old kiddie crap music. But it was so faint it could only be coming from her own brain.

It had been four days since she had run into the woods from that psycho that killed Jason. After the first day she was no longer running but wandering aimlessly. She had no idea what to do, her brother, Jason, was the "plan guy." Terra just tagged along. But now he was gone. Her dad was gone. Her mom was gone. The baby was gone. She was alone.

Terra sat down on a fallen log, throwing her pack in front of her. She opened up her pack and start to rifle through it. She had done this time after time over the past four days hoping maybe...just maybe she had missed something. But once again there was only her copy of The Stand, which seemed pretty ironic to Terra, an ipod that died loooong ago, a picture of her family,a lighter, and a carton of cigarettes.

Those damned cigarettes. If she hadn't gone outside maybe Jason...But it had been so long since Terra had seen an actual pack of cigarettes much less a WHOLE CARTON! She had lit up outside despite her brother's warnings about going outside anyway. Now Jason was dead and it was her fault. Yet, she couldn't make herself throw them out.

She had learned a while back, even before the "end of the world" that cigarettes were like currency. She had learned this in jail a couple years back and that was one of the lessons that stuck with her. Throwing the cigarettes away would be like throwing hundreds of dollars into a furnace.

Terra picked up an already opened pack of cigarettes and sighed. She was hearing things. She was out of food. She was out of water. She was out of family. She could have at least one more smoke before she died. She lit up, threw her pack back on, had to steady her weak body, and started wandering again. The music was gone and again there were only the sounds of nature.

After only a few minutes Terra had to stop again. She was getting really dizzy and lightheaded. Her hunger and dehydration were catching up with her. She tried to start walking again but only made it about 20 steps before passing out onto the forest floor.