The area was once one of the more affluent areas of Atlanta. Josiah had never had any illusions about living there but he’d had a better chance of making it than the guys currently occupying the area. They were gang members through and through complete with prison tattoos, baggy pants, wife beaters, and colored handkerchiefs holding back their hair. Most of them were Latino but a few were black. They carried pistols with comfort but a few did have rifles slung around their shoulders. Knives, chains, and baseball bats were also common. The thugs were obviously doing their best to give an air of overwhelming force and intimidation and, despite himself, Josiah found himself intimidated. Rob felt ill-at-ease as well. Only Daryl seemed completely unfazed by the other men. If anything, the redneck looked vaguely amused by the spectacle. Their escorts kept the three of them on a pre-set course, preventing them from looking around or checking any of the houses for resources. That annoyed the sheriff but he supposed he couldn’t blame them. If these gangsters held this territory, they weren’t going to allow three strangers who weren’t part of their group to wander through taking whatever they wanted. Chances were that the homes had been picked through already with anything of immediate use being taken to where ever it was that the group was staying. It was obvious that they weren’t living in the houses. Besides the fact that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to secure them, none of them had a lived-in look. The entire area felt largely abandoned and empty. Which, of course, begged the question as to why the gang bothered to claim the territory at all.
“There has to be a reason,” Josiah muttered to himself. “Even if we can’t make sense of it.”
“Kinda surprised they ain’t bragging and showing off,” Rob muttered. “Gang-bangers were always big on running their mouths and trash talkin’ back before.”
“Won’t get ‘em nowhere wi’ me,” Daryl grunted. “They know it, too.”
“Where are they taking us, then?” Josiah asked.
“Some place where we can talk without having to worry about the undead or without having to deal with an attack,” one of the gang members answered. “D-man there knows the score.”
“Look, we just want our people back,” Josiah said calmly. “Seth and Merle. And a woman named Shy if you have her.”
“We got Seth and Merle. Ain’t got no bitch, though. Wouldn’t give her back if we had her, though, bro. Women is fair game.”
Rob chuckled. “If you ever do get your hands on her, she’ll teach you different, bro. Of course, you won’t be a bro any more when she’s done teaching you, but you’ll learn that lesson well enough.”
“Whatever. Bitch like that just ain’t had it from the right one.”
“Why don’t you shu’ yer mouth fo’ I shu’ it for ya?” Daryl snapped, rolling his eyes irritably. “Tha’s my brother’s ol’ lady yer talkin’ ‘bout.”
“Oh. Shit. Don’t tell Raulo, yo?”
“Then keep yer hands offa her if ya find her.”
“Awright.”
They continued on in silence for a while longer until they reached a small church with an attached daycare center. Josiah couldn’t help but chuckle softly to himself. The Latino gang members eyed him coldly as he entered the main part of the small Roman Catholic church. In the nave, there were only a dozen pews in pairs leading up to the chancel where the altar stood. The cathedra sat to the left of the altar with the pulpit to the right. Surprisingly, the Tabernacle was untouched, as were the gold candlesticks. Instead, the red candle that was lit to indicate the Presence seemed to still be intact. The gang members took their places in the pews with their leader, Raulo, having single chair at the end of the nave. They set their guns aside and glared at their three captives until they did the same. Daryl set his crossbow down without a comment so Josiah and Rob removed their own weapons, following his lead. The redneck walked up towards Raulo and then took a seat in the front pew. Josiah and Rob sat in the one across the aisle from him.
“I am glad that you have come peacefully,” Raulo said. Josiah perked up. Though this man was covered with his share of tattoos, he wore black dress pants and a white button-down shirt with plain work boots instead of sneakers. He also sounded educated. “I am Raulo and these are my associates.”
“I’m Josiah Denton and this is Rob Myerson and Daryl Dixon. You have two of our people prisoner. We’d like them returned to us.”
“We will be happy to return them to you. We found them while we were out searching for medical supplies and one of them attacked us. They have not been harmed. We are aware that your group has claimed the CDC. Now, I know Merle Dixon from Before and I know he would never team up with the people running the rest of Atlanta. However, I also know that he’s not in charge of your group. I also know that there has been a lot of smuggling women out of the CDC to the east. The person doing this told me those women were claimed and she had the firepower to give us a reason to back down. But I want to know that I’m not making a deal with the devil here before I turn your people back over to you and send you on your way, Sheriff Denton.”
“The person smuggling women out is a girl named Shy,” Josiah said quickly. “She’s taking them east to a farm her family runs. She’s been doing that because there’s a couple of guys in our group who aren’t the best and who think that any unclaimed woman should belong to them. We’re not too big on rape,” he added meaningfully. “I don’t care what you do here but if there are any women here who don’t want to be, they are free to leave with us and we’ll send them on their way.”
“All our women want to be with us,” Raulo said calmly. “We take in any we can find to keep them out of the slavers’ hands and out of the cops’ hands. The cops running Grady and the other hospitals use women as a reward. We don’t like rape either — no matter what some of my more loud-mouthed associates might lead you to believe,” he added, glancing at the younger men still sitting at the back of the church. “Any woman who wishes to leave is free to do so. We give her food, water, and a weapon.”
“I’m sure yer all real chiv’r’us,” Daryl snorted. “Buncha knights ‘n all that. Brass tacks. Whaddya want from us for you’ll let us take Merle ‘n Seth up outta here?”
“You’re at the CDC. They have medicine there. Drugs. We need some medical supplies. We have a list. You bring us what we need, we give you back your people. Simple.”
“Arigh’,” Daryl nodded. “Let’s see the list.”
~*~*~*~
“Well, they ain’ lookin’ ta get high offa this,” Daryl said an hour later once they were half-way back to the CDC and had stopped to read the list Raulo had given them. “I don’t know wha’ half this shit is.”
“Let me see that,” Josiah asked. Daryl handed the list over, his blue eyes fixed on the sheriff’s face and bright with curiosity as he watched the man scan the list. Rob read over Jo’s shoulder and started chuckling when he was half-way finished. “I don’t believe it. We can get half of this from a pharmacy. These guys must have exhausted the supplies from the pharmacies in their territory.”
“What’s all that for?” Daryl asked. “Merle an’ me been tryin’ ta figger out wha’s keepin’ ‘em here. Why they ain’ moved on, ya know? Any clues in that list?”
“They’ve got their grandparents with them,” Josiah explained. “Or at least a lot of older folks. Half of these medications are for things like dementia, high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol. A few are for asthma. A couple are for sickle cell anemia. The rest look like pregnancy and neo-natal equipment.”
“Probably raided a book store or library,” Rob guessed. “They have women. Stands to reason some of those women are knocked up by now.”
“Now there’s sumthin’ I hadn’a considered,” Daryl muttered. “Swapping shit ya know. The docs gotta know how to do C-sections ‘n stitches ‘n shit like tha’. Those guys’d trade a lot ta learn how ta do all tha’, I bet.”
“That’s not a bad idea. And it might put pressure on the people running those hospitals, too,” Rob said. “Shy says they are some bad folks. The more we can squeeze them, the happier I am.”
“Still don’ know where she is, man,” Daryl pointed out.
“She’ll turn up. She always does,” Rob said with the faith of one who had never yet been wrong on a point.
“We’ll talk to the doctors about it when we get to the CDC. It is a good idea, Daryl,” Jo agreed. “We’ll also go hit up the pharmacies after that, see what we can find. The doctors might know how you can manufacture some of this stuff from other things. We can trade that to Raulo as well. That might give us some credit with them in case we need it.”
“Credit is good. They ain’ bad people. Tough guys but not bad’uns,” Daryl nodded. “Aight. Let’s go.”