Josiah shook his head again as he let his fingers drift up and down his wife’s arm. He could feel her smiling against his chest as she pressed closer into him, tucking herself into his side and wrapping her arms around him. He could hear the twins snoring softly in the outer office. The rest of their group had embraced the sheriff and several of the others — including all three doctors and Daryl — had helped Caitlin and the children move their meager possessions into one of the unoccupied offices. Cots and mattresses had been dragged out of storage and set up so they could sleep comfortably. Rob and Taylor had been given the office next to the Denton’s and Dixon had taken the one across the hallway. The children had been overjoyed to see their father and had not wanted to let him out of their sight. He’d told and re-told the story of his trip back from Quantico several times, managing to impress even Brent with his resourcefulness. Once he and Caitlin had retired to the residential area to shower and get some rest, his wife had filled him in on the details of their group’s history and dynamics. It was a fascinating tale.
“So, let me get this straight,” he whispered. “You stayed at the house when the Outbreak happened waiting for me to come back from Quantico. By the time you decided to head for Morganton, it was too late. You and the kids and a few others from our neighborhood made it as far as the park where you met up with this group. How did you get mixed up with the Dixon brothers?”
“Daryl and Merle were there already,” Caitlin explained. “Brent had reached an arrangement with them. Honestly, I think they only stuck around because of Joyce and Tammy. Later, I think the rest of the kids kept them around. Merle will never admit it, but he’s got a soft spot for kids and I think he has a soft spot for Joyce as well. Daryl does, too, and he has looked out for me and for the other young women Brent’s been after as best he could. Frankly, the Dixon brothers have done a lot to keep Greg and Brent from going too far overboard. I know, I know,” she sighed, “they have a bad reputation. Merle’s a drug dealer and Daryl’s a drifter. I don’t care. They’ve more than redeemed themselves if you ask me.”
“So Brent’s a womanizer?”
“A bit more than that, I think. He seems to think that any unclaimed woman should be his. Or should share herself around to the men in return for their protecting her. Greg has a similar attitude. Most of the other guys didn’t agree with them but just didn’t have the force of personality to go against him. Daryl and Merle did but were outsiders. So long as we were at the park, there was little hope that things would change for the better. The few decent folks who were there left. Game started to get scarce. The radio-waves went dead. We started seeing more and more of the undead out where we were. It took some arguing but finally even Brent agreed we had to abandon the area. Merle wanted to head for this farm out near Elberton but everyone else wanted to come here to the CDC. We lost three people getting here and nearly lost Daryl as well. Still, this place was well-stocked and the doctors and workers here were happy to let us stay. We’ve been helping them out by going on supply runs and defending the place. Shy comes by once a month with news and she’s been smuggling people out, helping women get away from Brent. However, once we got here and Merle found out that Shy had been coming around here, working as an apprentice of sorts, he started going out of his way to avoid her,” Caitlin chuckled. “We’re not certain what’s going on there. She’s determined to see him and he’s determined to avoid her.”
“Don’t ask me. I remember something about Merle being mixed up with a kid a long time ago but it was before my time on the force.”
“Coming here allowed us to rein in some of Brent’s excesses and stay safe. He did set his sights on me but Daryl could protect me better here than he could out in the park.”
“We won’t be able to stay here much longer, though. From what I can tell, the city isn’t safe. Hell, it wasn’t safe when you came here and it’s just getting worse.”
“We can’t leave Shy and Merle!”
“We’re not. Tomorrow, I’m going with Daryl to find them and anyone else who’s missing. And, now that I’m back, Brent should leave you alone. So should Greg for that matter. What’s the deal with him, anyway?”
“He’s just…an abusive ass. He beats Joyce. He never has anything good to say to her. He treats Tammy like crap, too.”
“I see. Well, I’m here now. Hopefully we’ll be able to get those two on the straight and narrow soon enough.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Caitlin snorted. “You may have momentarily impressed Brent but he’s not one to give up power easily. He’s been getting more and more angry at the way we’ve been getting women away from him. Greg’s kind of his second-in-command and I wouldn’t put it past either of them to kill you if you try to take over right away. Once you’ve been here a bit longer and you’ve proven yourself to the other men and the women are comfortable with you — and if Shy gives you her vote of confidence, you can work with the doctors to get their support and that should give you all the political support you need to take leadership of this little tribal band.”
“We’ll worry about that when we come to it, then,” he sighed. “For now, let’s get some sleep. I have a feeling I’m going to have a busy day tomorrow.”
Josiah woke the next morning to the sound of someone pounding impatiently on his door. He shuddered before he remembered that he had been supposed to meet Daryl before dawn so they could leave at first light to search for the people who were missing. Caitlin groaned tiredly in his arms as he gently disentangled himself from her and got out of the bed. He padded over to the door before Daryl could start pounding on it again and opened it a crack. The other man glared at him through the opening. The sheriff met his gaze with a flat, if bleary, glare of his own.
“Figgers that you’d still be sleepin’,” Daryl grunted.
“Gimme ten minutes to shower and get dressed,” Jo muttered softly. “Meet me upstairs with a thermos of hot black coffee and we can be on our way.”
“A’ight.”
Josiah closed the door and hurried through his morning routine. He was glad that his children were heavy sleepers and that Caitlin was tired enough to sleep through the noise he made. Fifteen minutes later, he was in the lobby of the CDC with an irate Daryl and an amused Rob going over the search plan for the day while the Atlanta sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hints of false dawn.
“Got some more info outta Greg’s worthless ass las’ nigh’,” Daryl said calmly. “Guys that got Seth sound like the ones runnin’ outta Lindridge. Merle use ta sell dope ta som’a ‘em back in the day so we might be able ta get in wit’ ‘em on that. Dunno fer sure if it’ll work. If not, I’mma offer to do some work for ‘em. See if they’ll let us swap Seth ‘n Merle for me doin’ some huntin’ ‘n fixin’ shit for ‘em.”
“What are we along for?”
“Insurance,” Rob grinned. Daryl nodded. “We’re extra eyes and ammo to get him in alive and we’re extra hands to work and to add to the deal. Scavenging runs, repairs, that kind of thing.”
“Yeah,” Daryl agreed.
“What keeps them from forcing us to help them fight for more territory or lead them back to our base?” Jo bristled. Both men looked at him as if he were stupid.
“We won’t do that unless we were planning to join their group and they’re probably not going to offer to let us join them right off. Hell, the only reason you got in with these people is because your wife was here,” Rob explained, “and the only reason they let me in was because I was with you.”
“Yeah,” Daryl added. “An’ tha reason we got in here in tha first place was ‘cause the docs needed us as bad as we needed this place. It was a fair swap.”
“I guess I’ll have to see this for myself,” Jo sighed. “Let’s go.”
Daryl led them out of the CDC, taking care to re-secure the doors behind them, and then began leading them through the maze that was post-apocalyptic Atlanta. Josiah was stunned at how much the city had changed in a few short months. Several major roads were completely blocked by traffic jams that it would take weeks of work to untangle. Bodies in various states of decay clogged other roads and the stench made his stomach clench. The odor was so strong it created a haze in the air like smoke that caused his eyes to water. After several more clogged streets, Daryl led them into a parking garage where they piled into a truck that he drove to Lindridge. He was forced to take several detours to avoid crowds of the undead and more traffic snarls. Finally, he stopped and parked the truck, pocketing the keys.
“Saw some lookouts,” he explained. “Let’s go.”
Seth glared at Merle over the gag that choked him. The other man was bound with his hands behind his back, tied to his chair, but not gagged. The gang members considered Merle amusing and let him talk. Seth, on the other hand, was called an annoying whiner. Hence the gag. At the moment, though, it was only the two of them in the room.
“My brother’ll be here ta get both of us outta here soon, Seth. You can count on that. S’why I let ‘em catch me. An’ fer old times’ sake. I us’ta run drugs up this’a way back in the day. Mostly meth but some coke ev’ry now an’ again. S’good to stay in touch wit’ old friends.” Seth gave him a flat stare. With ‘friends’ like these, who needed enemies? Merle started laughing as if he could read Seth’s mind. “Don’ be like that. They’s good folks. They ain’ gonna kill ya. Rob ya, maybe. Beat the hell outta ya. But they’d only kill ya if they had a good reason. Naw — they’s plannin’ ta swap us back ta the others.”
Before Seth could make any kind of response, one of the gang members walked in. Merle grinned at him and he laughed back. The two of them exchanged quips that Seth didn’t quite understand. Eventually, though, he did understand that Merle was asking if they could ungag him.
“C’mon, man. Dude ain’ gonna holler or nothin ‘n I’m bored as shit up in here talkin’ ta myself,” he said. “‘Sides, the others gonna take it outta the trade if’n he complains about mistreatment.”
“Big T ain’t gonna like it, Merle.”
“Aw, he’ll git over it, Pablo. Hell, kid’s just a little shit. He ain’ gonna try nothin. Ain’ got the balls.”
“A’ight, man. But if he makes a racket, it’s gonna be both of you gettin’ gagged.”
“He won’t.”
Seth heaved a sigh of relief when the gag was removed. The gang member gave him some water and then left the two of them alone. “Thanks,” he whispered to Merle, his voice hoarse from disuse and his jaw sore from being forced open by the gag.
“No problemo,” Merle muttered.
“You really think Daryl’s gonna get us outta here?”
“Pablo said that three strangers was spotted walkin’ up ta one the lookout posts. One of ‘em was carryin’ a crossbow. Sounds like Daryl ta me.”
“Must be Brent and Greg with him.”
“I doubt it. One’s a black dude and tha other don’t sound like anyone from our group. Lil’ bro musta found some new folks.”
“What do they want from us?”
“Dunno,” Merle admitted. “They’re being really cagey about it, even wit’ me. There’s somethin’ tha’s really important ta ‘em an’ they’re not gonna give in over it. I jes’ hope they’re not gettin’ in over their heads. What?” he said when Seth shot him a disbelieving look. “Like I said, they’re good people.”
“Merle, they’re criminals!” Seth grimaced.
“Yeah, so was I and so was Daryl. You gonna have to get over that. It’s gonna be assholes like Brent and Greg that’ll fuck ya nine ways from Sunday, Seth. Naw, these guys got their code. And they got somethin’ they wanna keep safe and sound. They want somethin’ from us — somethin’ we have or that they think do we have or could get easily enough — that they cain’t get to without riskin’ whatever it is they’re tryin’ ta keep safe.”
“How do you figure that?” Seth asked curiously.
“Jus’ been talkin’ to ‘em is all. They picked this place for a reason, boy. Buncha gangbangers and thugs rollin’ up in Garden Hills? These fellas mighta wanted to live large like the folks that lived here back in the day but they ain’t comfortable up in here.” Seth snorted in disbelief but Merle chuckled. “Look at ‘em. Really look. They’re holin’ up in a buncha storage units an’ RVs. Ain’ none of ‘em made a move on any of the big houses other than t’search ‘em for food and tools and shit ta swap. Hell, Como himself tol’ off a couple of his own boys fer lootin’ a buncha jewelry.”
“How do you know that?”
“Heard them bitchin’ about it. Como said cain’t no one eat no necklace and ain’t no one swappin’ ‘em right now so ain’t no sense takin’ ‘em yet. Boys were thinkin’ ta use ‘em to try ta buy off the fuzz or maybe try ta get their hands on some good shit outta one of the hospitals. That could be why Como cracked down on ‘em. Still, ain’t non’a’em comf’table up in here. This ain’t their place, Seth.”
“Then why are they here?”
“That’s the $64,000 question, ain’t it? Well, just sit tight an’ be patient. Maybe we’ll find out.”