evening
The Kid left a few hours ago. Farmers Wife went with Farmer to their room after dinner, after she smoked from the dessert joint without him bitching about it this time, and so far not a peep had been heard from either one of them. Apocalypse Girl told me that she didn't much like the looks Farmer had been directing her way. The Twin said she too felt distinctly uncomfortable around him. Fat Dealer mentioned that Farmer had words with him about me, and that he had told Fat Dealer that I was a menace and should be thrown out to feed the Dead. He went further to say that he wouldn't wish that even on someone like Farmer and that since Apocalypse Girl and I had contributed so much to the overall welfare of the group that he was thinking about officially declaring us the new leaders of the community just to avoid any of this kind of bullshit in the future.
I told him that this was his place, not mine, but that if The Kid didn't return tomorrow or the day after that, at the latest, then we might have to consider moving on. Initially he thought I just meant Apocalypse Girl and myself, and was heavily resistant to the idea when he realised I meant the entire group. After a while, however, and the odd remark about how nice the place would look with bits of us all strewn over the place while the girls are being raped by a thousand former prisoners he relented and said that if it came to that he and the older guys would stay back and buy us some time to get the fuck out of here. He also showed me where he kept the keys to the Ute He also showed me where he keeps his stash, saying “I'll be fucked if those bastards get anything good from this place.”
We discussed quite a few other plans and ideas, but other than The Kid's suggestion only Archer had anything useful to say. He threw in the potential for carnage and pain amongst the prisoners ranks should we send the cows stampeding towards them. Other than a timely arrival of a horde of Dead, that would have to do. Anyway, a horde of Dead would have a host of its own problems.
Apocalypse Girl and I decided to reinstate our personal watch system, just in case some of the bandits try getting into the barn late at night thinking everyone is asleep. As it turned out I was nearly dozing off on my own watch when I heard an odd noise in the night. I silently woke Apocalypse Girl with a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. Together we listened to
somebody
wandering around upstairs. The noises began getting closer to our room, and soon somebody began gently turning the handle to get in.
I hid directly behind the door, Apocalypse Girl taking position flat against the wall on the other side as it swung open to admit someone. I saw a shadow go over to the bed before I quietly shut the door and coughed. The shadow spun around in fright. It was The Twin, looking scared shitless. Turned out she had overheard Farmer talking with his 'wife' about how he planned to go over to the bandits camp and basically turn over the other women in our camp for immunity for himself and his 'wife'. Farmer still didn't know where they were, exactly, but once The Kid comes back he can get the location from him and make the deal. We all had trouble sleeping after that.
January 11th Year 1 A.Z.
dawn
Patrolling with Junior and The Twin, while Apocalypse Girl kept an eye on Farmer, I spotted The Kid running full pelt towards us once we arrived at the clay pits. The workers were just now finishing up gathering the last of the clay needed for our Dead wall, under minimal guard. Huffing and puffing, The Kid slowed down once he reached us, and walked alongside us as we patrolled, giving a full report on his activities in the bandit camp.
He found it easily enough, anybody would considering the amount of noise they are making. Several hundred men at least, most armed with various types of blunt weapons, drinking heavily and partying loudly, celebrating their freedom with the end of the world. This made it ridiculously easy for The Kid to insinuate himself into their ranks, and as bottles were being handed around by all and sundry, spreading his infection was a much simpler task. All he had to do was just keep moving, taking a swig from any bottle offered him. In the end he was so afraid of actually getting too drunk from it that he just touched his lips to each bottle, but that was more than enough. He entered the camp from one side, passed through the middle, and left out the other. Then he made a beeline straight for the commune as the screams began from the far side of the camp. Straight into a horde of Dead heading in the direction of the bandit camp. This is where things got really interesting, because the Dead showed absolutely no interest in The Kid whatsoever. Other than tracking his movements, and lurching towards him any time he moved overly swiftly they totally ignored him. It seemed, in fact, that to the Dead, The Kid was simply one of the crowd. Once he realised this, his journey back became a little slower than he had hoped but a damn sight safer.
We, in turn, told The Kid about everything The Twin had overheard Farmer saying last night. He was furious. Archer came by on his patrol, coming from the other direction, and we took the opportunity to tell him about Farmer's little plan, too. He was all for taking the fucker out right then and there, but at that moment I spotted a scout from the bandit camp in the distance. I raised my bow, arrow knocked, but he was way too far out of range. He saw me, and ran. “Fuck.” was the unanimous sentiment shared by us all.
noon
We decided it would be a good idea to hid The Kid's return from Farmer for as long as we could manage, at least until evening, to give us as much time to prepare as we could. Fat Dealer was told in private, naturally, and he and Archer formulated a plan while Junior, The Twin and I went about our usual routine of archery practice after lunch. Apocalypse Girl joined us, as always, and we told her about The Kid's adventures and the scout we had seen. She in turn informed us that Farmer had been trying to kick up a stink about how if most of us survive isn't that good enough? After being shouted at by everyone else in the group he went up to his room to sulk, not even bothering to order his 'wife' to accompany him. Probably because she was one of the more vocal of those opposing his plan. She was now wandering around outside, moving in the general direction of Archer's shed. We estimated that at the very latest the bandits would probably attack the day after tomorrow, if they wait even that long.
mid-afternoon
Fat Dealer asked me to accompany him on an inspection of the wall, as the builders had finally finished their toil. As we walked, we discussed the situation. His take on it was that we needed to defend ourselves, and the women, our food and our home. I agreed, but also told him that no matter what, our lives were of paramount importance. He nodded, and we began talking about exit strategies. It was decided that if it looked as though the bandits were going to get in, we would have a few sheep ready to be loaded up into the Ute, which was already filled with fuel, as was Farmer's battered old Valiant. Archer had taken the idea for armour that I had given him and not only had he, with the skin of a slaughtered cow, created armour that was reasonably light and flexible, but it would also protect from the bite of the Dead, he had also been rather busy welding bits of metal to the vehicles. Butcher's cattle truck had been taken apart carefully, and the pieces scavenged had been quite effectively attached to the Valiant and the Ute, turning them into sharp pointy instruments of Dead destruction. The Valiant had what was essentially a miniature cow-catcher bolted onto the front, though it was lower to the ground and almost horizontal, spreading outwards to almost double the width of the car itself. It had been sharpened so finely that it gleamed in the dying sunlight.
From inside Archer's shed I could hear The Kid telling someone that he wouldn't do it before he came storming outside. Farmer's Wife was inside, I could see as the door opened to allow his egress, and she was crying. He headed in the direction of the barn, and from the expression on his face whatever she had asked him to do was not giving him happy thoughts. Archer came out next, Farmer's Wife following The Kid outside and to the barn. The hippy bowyer/mechanical genius told us that Farmer's wife had asked The Kid to infect her husband. Fat Dealer said that if she had known how we found out about his gruesomely handy little ability she wouldn't have asked.
We continued our inspection, and Fat Dealer mentioned, while we passed the cattle, that though they might have to be left behind we could perhaps induce a stampede in the general direction the bandits attack from. As the two encounters we have had with them both came from the opposite end of the property from the dirt track we were able to easily hide our vehicles from view by simply parking them on the far side of the barn from the archery range. Butcher had slaughtered a couple of cows, butchering them expertly and packing the fresh flesh away in barrels of salt that had been loaded up into the boot of the Valiant. The rest of the fresh meat had been taken into the kitchens.
As we began our return journey to the barn, Junior came running up to us shouting that they were here. We followed him to the wall, and saw several men, most covered in blood, one of whom waved a stick with a white sock tied to it high in the air. They stood within bow range, but far enough away so that none but The Twin could be certain of hitting them effectively.
“Who's in charge here?” The largest of the bandits barked. Fat Dealer and I looked at one another. He nodded to me to take charge of the situation.
“That would be me.” I said.
“Right. I don't know how the fuck you managed to infect so many of my fucking men, or lure those fucking rotting things to us, but now we know where you are. You're time is up. Surrender now, let us have your bitches and we will allow some of you to leave alive. None of us want any more deaths on our hands, do we?” He shouted.
“Nice try dickhead. I doubt there's any more of you that that pathetic bunch here. Go fuck yourself!” I yelled back, punctuating my words with an arrow that, to my credit, sailed past his face, taking a chunk out of his ear. He yelped in pain.
“Fine!” He shouted in return. He ordered his men back to camp. “See you tomorrow, dead men!” His laugh as they retreated sounded as though it was meant to be mocking, but there was fear in it too.
I turned to Fat Dealer and said “We leave tonight.”
He shook his head. “Tomorrow morning is better. They'll be able to tell where we've gone if they can see headlights.” I asked him if we had anywhere we could go. He didn't answer.
evening
Beef stew tonight, and everybody ate their fill, even though nobody felt they could eat. The morning would bring war and death. On a small scale, perhaps, but we knew that the older members of the community who insisted on staying behind would die horribly. Fat Dealer even pulled out his old shotgun for the occasion. This was his land, he had lived here nearly fifty years now. His wife was buried here, and one of his sons. The other son had left, gone to Adelaide to go to university, and they were not on speaking terms. Realistically speaking, the other son was likely dead before the one that had shared his last joint with The Kid. The musicians were going to stay as well. As they were the most proficient at creating sound, they had volunteered to try and stampede the cattle. Farmer was being a complete arsehole, saying that I had doomed us all. He then went up to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. Archer looked like the decision was killing him, but he elected to leave, as his skills would come in handy. Butcher needed to go also, and it was assumed that Farmer and his 'wife' would be going also. Some of us would need to ride in the back of the Ute with the sheep. That's going to be pleasant. Farmer had already screamed his head off when he discovered what had been done to his car, and was insisting that nobody but he drive it. He even tried to keep the keys to himself, until his 'wife' told him they needed to be in the car at all times, just in case.
Farmer's Wife and The Kid were talking quietly among themselves near the staircase. Apocalypse Girl sat near me, practically clinging onto me. The two of us had been through so much in the last two weeks that it seemed we had been looking out for each other for years. She whispered in my ear that no matter what she had my back. I smiled reassuringly at her, telling her that I had hers in return, and that we will be fine. I only wish that I actually believed that. Junior and The Twin stayed nearby, the four of us made a formidable team. If nothing else, these people I feel truly safe with.