Joseph Talluto - White Flag of the Dead

We made it back to the school as the sun started to head down, throwing long shadows across the ground. A cold wind came up from the north, stirring the leaves and reminding me that I was running out of time.

Nate was at the entrance to greet us, and raised his eyebrows at the fact that we had left with three, and came back with five. “Busy day?” he asked.

I glanced at him. “We need to talk about a few things.” I looked pointedly at Frank, who was in an animated conversation with the man we had rescued. I could hear him say ‘What could you do?’ and making conciliatory gestures. The man hadn’t gone near his son, and Sarah was still trying to kill him with her eyes. She walked off with the boy after shrugging off her gear.

Nate nodded and went over to Frank and the man. “Get yourself out of your gear, I’ll take care of this.” Frank clearly did not want to leave his friend, but Nate’s look did not brook argument. Nate turned to the man. “Welcome to the fort. Who are you and how can you be of use to us?”

Nate’s twist on words was lost on the man. He stuck a hand out and said “Kevin Pierce. Pleased to meet you.” Nate shook his hand and I could see he wasn’t impressed. I took off my goggles, gloves and balaclava, and reslung my rifle over my shoulder.

Nate gave him the standard speech. “We’ll give you a room, you can decorate any way you like. We have clothes if you need them, and food is prepared three times a day. We eat together, and each person is responsible for cleaning up after themselves. If you have children, we have a sort of school…”

“I have a son.” Kevin interrupted.

“…which meets for four hours a day. You are expected to attend training to defend yourself and the community. If you are worthless or useless, you will not eat. Any questions?” Nate had given the speech before, but I always found it amusing to hear.

“Who’s in charge? Is it you?” Kevin wanted to know. “I was a superintendent of a pretty big district and can lend leadership advice.”

Nate pointed at me. “He is. He’s saved more than half of us. Fact is, this place probably wouldn’t exist without him. Superintendent, huh? John here used to be a principal before the Upheaval.”

Pierce actually tried to look down his nose at me. Which was tough, since at six-two, I was a full head taller than he was. “Just a principal, hmm?”

I looked at him. “What I was is irrelevant. What I am is disgusted by your presence. The only thing that is keeping me from throwing you to the zombies is the fact that your wife managed to save your son before she was eaten. If he had been killed as well, you wouldn’t be here. I saw you leave them. I saw you run. You can’t change that. What you were was a superintendent. What you are is a coward and a bastard.”

Kevin actually took a step back under my onslaught. Nate’s eyes hardened and he dropped a hand to his gun.

I spoke again. “We’ll keep you safe only for your son’s sake. But cross me, and I’ll throw you out. Run from a fight in here, and I’ll kill you.” Kevin sputtered but I cut him off. “Learn the rules and don’t speak to me. You might actually live. Right now you need to find your child and beg his forgiveness for leaving him and his mother to die.”

I turned on my heel and left him, signaling Nate to follow me. Frank came scurrying up and he took Kevin away. Sarah had left with the man’s son, and in all likelihood was getting him something to eat and drink.

Nate followed me up to the Day Care, and I picked up Jakey. I remembered that boy running from his mother’s killers, and I gave him an extra hug and kiss. He grinned at me and buried his face in my shoulder, making squeaky baby noises. He noticed Nate standing there, and reached out to be held by the big man. Nate was Jake’s guardian when I was not around, and I knew without hesitation that Nate would die to protect Jake. Nate tickled Jakey’s chin, causing him to laugh and causing Nate’s features to soften. I could see how good of a father Nate probably was, and I was saddened his children were no longer around.

We went back to my room and as I fed Jake his dinner, I outlined my plan. Nate asked a lot of questions, and we talked long into the night, poring over maps by candlelight and making adjustments. Tomorrow was going to be a long one, but it was the first step in taking back what we lost.

The next day, I called the community together in the commons. Since I had only done this a few times before to discuss rules and such, people tended to take these things seriously. Everyone showed up on time, except for Frank and Kevin. They strolled in five minutes late and huddled together in the back. Charlie James wandered over to where they were and casually sat down next to them. Frank looked at Charlie like he was a bug, and Kevin was talking animatedly and gesturing with his hands, his fingers sticking out at weird angles. It was so distracting that Nate had to bump me to get me started.

“Good morning. I’m grateful all of you came down to the meeting. First of all, I want to bring you up to speed on our newest members. Kevin Pierce, sitting there next to Frank Stearns, and his son Phillip, joined us yesterday. Sarah, Frank, and myself rescued Kevin and Phillip from the interstate. His wife did not make it.” There were murmured condolences, and that bastard Kevin actually had the nerve to look sad. I considered spoiling the moment for him with the truth, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. The man’s true nature was easily seen, and I doubted anyone would be fooled. Besides, Sarah and Nate had already spread the word about Kevin, so it was done.

“Second of all, we need to talk about winter. We are relatively sheltered here, but heating a place this size is going to be difficult. Food we have no worries about, thanks to our raid on the Big Circle,” There were a few cheers at this. “But we need to think about leaving the school behind.”

There was a stunned silence as people took in what I had told them. Then the questions began to flow and Nate raised his hands for silence.

“I understand you are reluctant to leave, considering what we went through to get to this place and what we go through to keep it. But in reality, what did we win? We bought ourselves a little time, that’s all. We bought ourselves a little security. We can sleep somewhat easily at night, but we always have to be on guard, always have to be ready for the next attack. Ask yourself this question. Do you want to grow old here? Do you want your children to grow up here? We don’t know how long the zombies will last, be it a year, two years, ten years? All the time stalking us and waiting to devour us. We’ve regrouped, yes. But we need to move out, reclaim the world that was ours, and tell the zombies we will not just lay down to be their dinner. We need to strike out and start taking it back. I have a feeling there are a lot of survivors out there, and they will not make the winter without help.

“Nate and I have been planning, and we think we have come up with a viable plan. First of all, we will move out of this building and into another facility. One that is more secure and allows us to move about freely outside.” That struck home. Many people hadn’t been outside in months, and they often talked about their yards, their gardens, whatever.

“We don’t think it is possible yet for everyone to go back to their homes. If you did, you’d face the survival problem on your own. We think staying together as a community will ensure our success and survival.” There were several nods at this.

“Secondly, we need to establish secondary posts, manned by essential personnel and self-sufficient. I have figured out one perfect location for such a post, and it is there I will be heading in the near future. We figure to have five or six of these posts set up next spring, and from there we will begin the final part of our plan, which is to begin clearing the area of zombies, securing it completely, and establishing ourselves in a permanent home to rebuild what was lost.