The Swamp (15 page)

             
“Not a chance in hell would I join a bunch of religious loonys.” Sam said, unable to hide his disgust for the group.

             
The man laughed, “Religion is just a means to an end, my good man.” With that he turned and walked back towards the house.

             
Once he had entered, Sam turned to the girl in the next cage, “Rebecca I assume that is your real name?”

             
“Yes,” she answered, and you are Samuel? Pleased to meet you.”

             
“Just Sam, please, whenever someone calls me by my full name it makes me think I am in trouble.” He looked from cage to cage; All of the men had finished eating and sat silently in their prisons. “What can you tell me about the other prisoners?”

“None of them have spoken or answered me since I was brought in, they all just sit there,
and I’m guessing they have been here a lot longer than me.

             
“How long have you been here? Sam asked

             
“I got here when they jumped a bunch of us coming down the interstate, about a week ago.” She responded, “I was with a group of about ten trying to find somewhere safe. They were hiding behind some vehicles and jumped us when we stopped our bus to clear the cars out of the way, we tried to run but there were just too many. I was one of three they brought back. They are all dead now.” A single tear flowed down her face.

             
“I am sorry, were you with family?” Sam asked feeling bad for her.

             
“No, my family is all in south Florida. Well, were in south Florida, I guess I need to accept that they are probably dead by now.  I was with some people I met on the road. I started out alone, and ran into a few people, then ran into a few more, and we just kind of stuck together. You know how it is.” She explained.

             
“That is Mike” Sam said as he hooked a finger at the form in the next cage, whom he was relieved to see was starting to stir again.

             
“I’m Rebecca, nice to meet you.” she said across the gap to Mike, and then turned her attention back to Sam “Is Mike your family?”

             
“No, we saved him and a bunch of others from a group of rogue military a few days back. My brother was one of them, but we helped them get away from this mob before we were taken, at least I hope they got away. If they did and got lucky they could be all the way to our hideout by now, safe and sound.” Sam said hopefully.

             
“You going to save me, Sam?” she responded dejectedly. “I sure could use it.”

             
“Me too.” was Sam’s response

             
The night came and they settled down to sleep. The night was long and very warm. The bugs were terrible, and the sound of buzzing flies came from where his plate still sat. He lay awake for a long time that night, trying to plan his next move. When he looked over at Rebecca’s cage, she also was awake and staring back. He watched her for awhile and eventually went to sleep.

             
The dreams came again almost immediately. He found himself still in the cage, but when he looked, Mike and Rebecca were gone. In their place, each cage was filled with the faces of the people from the farm and his family staring back at him.

             
“It’s not my fault,” he said to them after awhile, “I did all I could to save you.” The staring faces were motionless. He could feel all of their eyes on him, their gaze like a laser burning into his soul.

             
“I did everything I could!” Sam yelled at them. “Leave me alone!”

The people continued to stare at him,
as if blaming him for their situation. “I’m sorry!” he finally yelled.

             
Finally, the figure that had been his mother said, “It’s too late for that, Join us!” He woke up as the others joined in her chant.

Chapter 12

              He gasped as wakefulness brought him out of the dream. His attention was drawn by sounds from the camp nearby. He glanced to see several groups of about 20 men lifting packs to their back and heading down the long drive.

             
“What’s happening?” asked Mike.

             
“I have no idea.” Sam said and glanced towards Rebecca’s cell, but she was still asleep. “I guess these are the groups he talked about last, those he sends out to capture more like us.”

             
“We have got to get the hell out of here.” Mike said “I don’t care if we die in the attempt. I just want to take some more of those bastards with me.” The rage still glinted in his eyes.

             
“Take it easy man,” Sam urged, “I want to get out of here also, but don’t think of this as a suicide run. We might find a way to get out of here without us having to die.”

             
“Yeah, maybe you are right, but I keep thinking of Ted. He was a good kid. He didn’t deserve to go out like that.”

             
“I know Mike, I know. I liked him too.” Sam said “But getting yourself tazed again isn’t going to bring him back. Do you think you could pick these locks?”

             
Mike chuckled. “Not a chance, we have a better chance of breaking the chain link or prying loose the tie wires. But we can’t do any of that by hand. We need tools of some kind, a screwdriver or pliers maybe.”
              Sam patted all of his pockets and found absolutely nothing. “Fresh out,” Sam said “I don’t have anything on me.”

             
“Well, I guess we sit and wait.” Mike said and settled back against a corner of his cell.

             
They did wait, for several hours they watched the house, the tents, and the groups of leaving hunters. By the time the foragers had gone, he counted only about 20 people left in camp, mostly woman and small children.

             
Around noon, Joe came out and spying the captives, walked over to them. “How are you gentlemen holding up?” he looked at Mike, “Feeling a little less hostile today?”

             
“Oh just you wait, I will get out of here, and when I do…” Mike swore. Joe just shook his head and moved off to Sam’s cage.

             
“And you Mr. Samuel? How are you feeling today?”

             
“I would like to help Mike get out of his cage personally.” Sam responded coldly.

             
“Tsk, Tsk Mr. Samuel, this pointless hostility will get you nowhere.” Joe scolded and moved another few steps down the line.

             
“Ms. Rebecca, How have your new neighbors been treating you?” he said to Rebecca as if they had bumped into each other at a ball.

             
“Fine sir, they have been very nice.” She responded demurely. Then added “I’m sure their tempers would be greatly improved by a refreshing beverage.” She actually batted her eyes at the man with that last part.

             
“Why certainly my lady, how forgetful of me,” He snapped his fingers towards a woman nearby. “Be a dear and bring my friends some water if you don’t mind.” She scurried off to do his bidding and soon returned with a tall pitcher.

             
She moved up the line of cages filling small bowls that would fit under the doors. When everyone had been watered, she looked to Joe for instructions.

             
“If you would be so kind as to find Brother Caleb and have him come clean up these plates and have the guests buckets emptied.” Again she ran off, looking for the one he had asked for. Joe spent the rest of the time until Caleb arrived moving up and down the line talking to the people in the cages. Sam was pleased to see that he was generally met with anger or by being ignored, but he did notice a couple that talked to Joseph cordially.

             
When Caleb arrived, he approached his leader, and was told what was wanted of him. And set to work. He took away the empty plates and latrine buckets and replaced them one cell at a time. When he reached Mikes cell, Joe stopped him.

             
“Mr. Michael, are we going to have any trouble today?” He said as he pulled the tazer from a pocket.

             
“Not today.” Was all mike would say and moved away from the door. Caleb went to work and hurried out.

             
“I’m very proud of you Mr. Michael, much improved attitude today.”

             
Mike answered with an extended middle finger, but Joe just smiled.

             
“I like you Mr. Michael, you’ve got a fighters spirit. If you could just learn to control that temper, I could use someone like you in our little community here. Of course we have some recent openings thanks to you and your friend Mr. Samuel. If you joined us, we may even take him in as a way of showing gratitude and spar his life. And Rebecca, as I’ve told you before, we could use a few more women around here.” Mike seemed sincere in his offers, but Mike just spit at him. Only the distance saved Joe from being hit.

             
“What about you Ms. Rebecca, care to join us in gods work?”

             
“I will not serve as whore to one of these brutes.” Rebecca replied calmly. It was obvious she had been asked this same question before.

             
“Have no fear of that. These men have taken a vow of celibacy.” Joe answered, “God has chosen me to be the father of the new world.” Rick glanced around at the several pregnant women or the group.

             
“No thank you, I would rather stay here.” She said, with a touch barely concealed revolution in her voice.

             
“You will change your mind, I have little doubt.” He said finally and walked away.

             
“That is one crazy mother fucker,” Grumbled Mike.

             
“Agreed” said Sam.

             
“He has done that every day, propositioned me like that I mean.” She went over and drank some of her water. Sam did the same and ended up gulping it down. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he had been.

             
“It’s just water, right?” asked Mike, eyeing the bowl suspiciously.

             
“Tastes fine to me” Sam said and watched Mike down his bowl as well.

             
The spent the remainder of the day in idle conversation. There was nothing really else to do. Sam watched as their captures went about their tasks. Cleaning, cooking and a variety of other chores kept them constantly busy. They only saw Joe one other time. He sat of the porch of the house in a large swing and sipped something in a tall glass and watched them. Mike never noticed him, and Sam didn’t see a need to point him out, it would only anger Mike and throw him into another bout of rage.

             
They learned that Rebecca had been a college student in Tallahassee when the end of the world came. She had spent the first few weeks trapped inside a Wal-Mart with a group of other people until a gang of men on motorcycles had rammed open the front doors with a semi. They had rushed in and loaded up with everything they could grab and left. The dead soon found the opening that they had made and streamed in. Rebecca had lost several good friends then, and had barely escaped by going through the big loading bay doors in the back. Of the thirty of them that had found refuge at the store, only four had made it out. They had found an employee’s car out back that was unlocked and one of them knew how to hot wire, so they had been able to drive away.

             
They had driven south almost to the coast before they had run out of gas and found an abandoned seafood restaurant to hide in.

             
It had plenty of canned food so they had stayed there for a few weeks. When they food ran out, they started walking. The dead had started to thin out by then, drawn to the cities by the numbers of people, so they were able to get along pretty well. They stayed in abandoned houses at night and traveled during the day, avoiding people and the undead... They managed to make thirty miles the first few days on their trip south. After a week on the road, they had come across a car lot. They decided to steal a car, which was when it all went bad.

             
She and her friends had decided to break into the office and steal the keys. They elected her to keep watch from the road, in case someone had picked that moment to drive up. They were terrified to encounter people after the gang that broke into the Wal-Mart. She had watched as her friends broke down the glass window at the front and then gone inside. It wasn’t for almost a minute that she heard the screams. She had called for her friends, but instead a stream of walkers had poured out of the window. She had known that her friends were done for and had run. She ran until she couldn’t run anymore.