Living in the Land of the Dead
Chapter 10 'God's gonna Cut you down'
"You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down"
The next few days found Cirese returning to the safety of the main section of the prison. She held her infant daughter smiling as she talked baby talk to the little infant. Tony watched as the others smiled at the little wonder and found himself daring to think that things might not be so bad. He walked toward the kitchen and saw Anna helping Trina and Claudia.
"Morning" Claudia said as she gathered together a few odds and ins.
"Morning" Tony said as he yawned.
"Get use to not getting much sleep. That'll be pretty normal for the next few years." Claudia said with a knowing smirk.
"Wait… I thought that the whole keeping you awake thing only lasted about eight to twelve months." Tony said with a surprise.
"No, God no… It lasts well up until four or five years old, and even then you have to deal with nightmares." Claudia said with a laugh.
"Tony, have you see Chris?" Trina asked as she opened some canned chicken.
"He was over in the medical building earlier. Apparently he was making sure that the other girl, Debbie or Debra I think, was doing alright." Tony said.
Trina nodded and finished mixing the chicken into a pot along with some already cooked noodles, chicken broth, and cream of chicken soup. She looked at Claudia and the older woman nodded. Trina stepped away from the food and walked out heading toward the medical building. She opened the door and looked in to see Chris holding the hand held part of the Ultrasound machine and checking Debbie's unborn child's development.
"So far everything is looking normal." Chris said as he stepped back.
"Thanks so much. So… About my legs?" Debbie asked.
"I've said before that I was a premed student. I'm learning as I go here, and if it was a hundred years ago I could pass as a doctor. At best I would be an emergency medic now. You may be able to walk again, but I highly doubt it. More than likely you are going to face life in a wheelchair." Chris said as honestly, and gently as he could.
"So don't be expecting miracles." Debbie said as she moved off of the bed and into a wheel chair.
Chris turned to see Trina. He smiled and walked toward her. The two of them embraced for a moment before Trina backed up.
"I wanted to let you know that lunch is almost ready." Trina said.
"Checking up on me?" Chris asked as he laughed a little.
"I can't help it. So far the girl to boy ratio is a little on the side of you boys. I want to make sure what is mine remains mine." Trina said as she softly kissed his cheek.
"Sweetheart I would never, ever do anything to hurt what we have. You should know that." Chris said as he walked out.
Debbie took that as her que to leave and head back toward the main section of the prison. She started to open the door when the sound of gun fire caught her attention.
"What the hell?" Debbie asked as she rolled back.
Chris quickly reached over and grabbed the forty-five revolver and walked out sticking to the shadows. He heard someone walking lightly and looked to see a man holding a rifle and talking into a walkie talkie.
"Yeah, I don't see anyone yet. No, I had to use the damned gun something tried to bite me. No I don't know how many girls… Maybe eight or ten. Most of them are lookers. This place is perfect." The man said as he walked along the fence.
Chris listened and realized that there must be more people outside of the prison. The walkie talkie was one of those store brand kind that could reach about a mile or mile and a half in the wilderness. He had remembered selling several of them at Wal-Mart. Taking a little time he began to work toward the closest tower and tried to remain quiet. The moment he was on the tower he lowered a rope ladder they had constructed on each tower and climbed down. The man wasn't alerted yet and Chris moved closer to him. Finally he got close enough to the man that he hit him in the back of head hard enough to knock him out.
"Alright… Let's get your ass inside and find out what the hell is going on." Chris said as he threw the man over his shoulder. All of that time of working at Wal-Mart, carrying up to eight fifty pound bags of Dog food at a time just so he could get an end cap done on time was paying off. He began to climb and could feel the extra weight pulling on him. Finally he got up the ladder and pulled it up. He sat down for a moment and quickly zip tied the man's hands and feet together. The moment he was sure that he could handle going down Chris climbed down with their new guest.
He walked by the medical building and told both Trina and Debbie to get back into the main section of the prison. He could feel the man stirring as he walked toward the prison. Once inside he called for his dad, Tyrone, Darrel, and Tony to get over to him quick. The men ran over and he laid down the now awake and angry looking man.
"The mayor is going to fuck you all up for this." The man spat as he looked at them.
"Who in the hell is the mayor?" Chris asked.
"He's god. His word is law and if you join him he'll spare you, but he hasn't been letting anyone join for a while. Naw… He'll roll in here kill you sons of bitches, fuck your women, kill them, and then run this place." The man said as he laughed.
"Fuck… Just a matter of time I suppose." Tyrone said as he looked at them.
"What are you talking about?" Tony asked.
"Did you really expect this place to remain a secret or completely secure? Sooner or later someone was bound to find out about us. It was going to happen, and now… Now it's some psycho who wants to take it as his own. We've got two options. The first one is that we run. We load up in whatever we have and beat it out of here. Chances are they might make a move and catch some if not all of us. The second option is that we stay here and fight it out. With those towers in place we can make a pretty good stand." Tyrone said.
"He's got a point son. It's good to stay in a defendable fort. This place is about as defendable as we can get at the moment. One or two people per tower with rifles would be a help. And we can loot the riot room for rifles, bullet proof gear, and everything else we need." Thomas said.
"You won't win. There aren't nearly enough of you to win." The man said.
"Tyrone… were is solitary?" Chris asked.
"I'm way ahead of you." Tyrone said as he lifted the man.
"What the hell are you doing?" The man shouted.
"Ever shit in a bucket, or have nobody to talk to except for your own thoughts? If not then get ready for the experience of a life time." Tyrone said as he carried the man deep into the prison.
"There is no telling when they'll attack. We need to grab some gear, and get ready." Chris said as he looked at the others.