Background
Campers survive a disaster. Now they must survive each other and who knows what else.
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Previously, Johnny and Christine had a close call and had to decide what to do with hostages taken when the camp was retaken. As the debate continued the large cargo planes that had been dreamt of began dropping packages into the forest. Christine and Johnny went to investigate and were surprised to discover it was a deadly set-up designed to kill as many people as possible, They encountered Lester and an injured Jonesy on the way back to camp. It was clear that they would have to rally everyone together to fight against a common enemy. We pick up the story now as They return to camp.
"Damn it Christine. It is all a scam, even the dreams. What the hell is the point, continuing to come after us? We're already wiped out. What threat do we pose? There's every possibility that we'll destroy ourselves. Why the helping hand?"
"It's hatred, Johnny. What else could it be? Twin Towers. That's political? That's the will of God? Not any God that I have studied. And I have studied them all. How can your enemy be a stranger? Along with hatred comes arrogance. Real arrogance, Johnny, the kind that thinks that they are better than you are. They believe that. That's their downfall. That's their fatal mistake. By considering themselves superior, they become inferior."
Nothing ever sounded so sensible to me. But, now, what to do about it. Ma had said it right as rain. There could be no question about it now. We had to put aside everything and become one entity here. The thought of it made me tremble. Looking at the chaos around me didn't inspire confidence. The enemy, unknown enemy I should say, had just struck a lethal blow and it had been a deadly one. It wouldn't be possible at this time to even know the full effect. Just then, I saw a familiar face.
"Lester! Over here!" I blew our cover. It was a chance I had to take. Lester walked along trying to stay out of view, I could see that, but Jonesy could barely walk and had his arm over Lester's shoulder for support. We ran to their side. There was no danger from any of the walking wounded here anyway. Stealth wasn't a skill in great need at the moment.
"I shoulda known it would be you a wakin' the dead. I gotta say you's a lookin' pretty handsome to me as the sayin' goes." Lester managed a weary smile. "It's a mess Johnny boy. But, I reckin' you knows that already. Jonesy here got into it with a couple fellers on the way in. They wasn't too pleased to make his acquaintance as it turns out. They's not havin' to worry bout none of this no more. Saved us as it turns out. Kinda hobbled up Jonesy's leg a bit. We showed up late for the party. They's a droppin' like flies when we showed up. Booby-trapped. The ones openin' the crate dead right there. The ones nearby took a spell longer. The ones a little farther out got powerful sick and looked like a drunk possum climbin' a woodin' leg."
That was more than Christine could take. She burst out with some insane laughter right there on the spot.
"A drunk possum climbing a wooden leg! HAAAA! HEEEEE! Nothin' worse than a tree with only one branch!" She was on the ground delighted with the whole idea.
The rest of us couldn't resist joining her. I noticed a couple of somber men approaching and started to get up to intercept them, but one look at us and they took off running. That proved equally funny to me. Eventually the laughter died down and we were faced with the reality of the situation. It surprised me that Lester and Jonesy looked to me to begin. "Leader" never struck me as a title that came naturally to me. But, it seemed to somehow end up as my title on a regular basis.
"Ma had it to a tee, Lester. That's the plan. Not just the people in camp. All of these people, every damn one we can find and convince. Someone want's to wipe us off the face of the earth. That's what we know. That's all we know. There can be no doubt that it is bigger than that. Well, we can't worry about that now. We have to worry about what we have in front of us right here. These dreams wherever they come from are deliberate. But, maybe we can use them. We know that they are lies. We'll keep that in mind. Perhaps the day will come when we can turn their trick against them. The priority is survival. Survival of all of us. That means all of these people walking around here. If they don't have a clue we have to give them one."
Everyone looked in agreement.
Christine looked concerned. "We have to be as careful as hell, Johnny. We need to be in charge, but Christ, that isn't easy, not with this many people and a bunch of strangers on top of it. No one knows anyone else or has any reason to trust anyone else. There are going to be problems. This isn't going to be Shangri La. You're going to have to be strict. It isn't your nature, but if you're not, it's gonna unravel. You need to put people in charge of security and your military. This is war now. Life and death. We don't know who the enemy is. We need to find out and we need to destroy them. How? I don't know. But, I know this, as it stands right now, we are ducks in a barrel."
"I think that's fish in a barrel." I smiled.
"No. Fish could swim around a little bit. Ducks are already drowning." She smiled back, one of those dazzle the world smiles.
Jonesy moaned in low tones. He was in obvious pain. The lady that had bandaged up Turner and tended to his wounds came to mind. She took on a new significance to me. Head of medical operations came to mind.
"We have a nurse back at camp that can look at that and get you some relief. Let's get back there while we still have some daylight." Everyone moved at the sound of my voice. Somehow, that brought a weary sigh out of me.
We arrived in camp to a scene I hadn't expected. Carlos and Turner were huddled up by the stand of trees in an animated discussion. He wasn't bound and it was clear he was no longer a hostage. In fact, there were no longer any hostages. The camp buzzed with activity. Ma and her whole clan were there and a good number of people that I didn't recognize.
Linda and Jen were sights for sore eyes. They would be integral moving forward. These were true skilled and fearless warriors. Linda had leadership ability too. She had surprised me by speaking up and taking charge more than once. "General Lionheart Linda" and "Jaguar Jen", I thought to myself and smiled.
Several people were on the ground being treated. It looked like an army camp. All eyes were on us as we arrived on the scene. To be honest, all eyes were on me. It didn't suit me, but the responsibility had become familiar to me. I faced the crowd to address them,
"It is clear that some news of recent events has already preceded our arrival. Gather round, let me recap and I will tell you what we have discovered and what we believe our plan should be. Then we need to know what you think. The supply drop was a disguised attack. It was disguised to draw as many people as possible to achieve the maximum number of kills." A long pause right there. The sound of the word "kills" needed to be etched in everyone's brain.
Feeling that they had dwelled on that long enough, "There were no supplies, only empty boxes to entice hungry desperate people to their death. Upon opening the bundles, poisonous gases of an unknown nature were released. Those in the immediate vicinity were killed outright and those close by soon thereafter. Those a little farther away became quite ill and there fate is unknown. We saw many individuals walking in a dazed state." Once again, a long pause. The horror needed to be ingested deep within each of them.
Again, enough time had passed, "We have been attacked by unknown forces with the intent of wiping every last one of us off the face of the earth. We are at war! Whatever differences we have had with each other are now resolved. Look to your right and then look to your left. These are your brothers and these are your sisters. We are together now, one force, for each other, standing by each other, without any hesitation. Are you with me?"
"Yes!" They all shouted together with surprising conviction.
