The Tribes, Chapter 15

Nolan, the head of the green-robed Seekers, licked his lips nervously as he waited outside the conference room door. Nolan knew The Leader was chafing at the prolonged forced inactivity. He also knew equally as well that much of the reason The Brotherhood hadn’t moved on was because the Seekers had been forced to take longer than usual as they reconnoitered the next town. Once the initial recce was finished, it was Nolan’s job to find or make detailed maps of the area and approaches so The Leader could decide where to stage the Thunder Strike.

The conference room doors opened and Alpha stuck his blue-haired head out to invite Nolan into the room. Taking a deep breath, Nolan gathered up his large portfolio case and stepped into the conference room. The Leader was standing at the middle of a heavy oak conference table. Beta, clad in his electric blue robes, sat to The Leader’s left. An empty chair to The Leader’s right was obviously Alpha’s place. Gull, looking even more vulture-like than usual, stood on the other side of the room by the large picture window. At the end of the conference table was Bull, the head of the soldier divisions. His white robes were trimmed in silver braid to set his apart from the regular soldiers. True to his name, Bull was broad shouldered and chested. His bleached white hair was usually cropped so short he looked almost bald. The Leader looked up and indicated an empty chair directly opposite from him. Nolan quickly made his way to the chair and took his place.

“I’m getting restless,” The Leader said slowly. “The soldiers are getting lazy – we’ve been in one place and inactive for far too long.”

“I understand, Leader,” Nolan said, swallowing hard. “The fact is that the next target you chose presented my Seeker teams with some unusual challenges. We were forced to expand our recce wider than we normally would have. But, I think the information we’ve managed to gather will prove worth the wait.”

“Is that a fact?” The Leader asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Yes, Leader,” Nolan confirmed. He lifted his portfolio. “If I may, Leader, I’ll show you what we’ve gathered.” The Leader nodded his head once, indicating Nolan should continue. “As we all know, the next target is the town of Dutch Creek.”

Nolan removed a large-scale map encased in clear acetate from his case and spread it out on the table. Five wide red circles had been drawn on the acrylic overlay. Each of the circles overlapped. He tapped two circles located on each side of the four-lane road leading into Dutch Creek.

“These four circles … two each on either side of the road … indicate guard posts … there are always two at each post, and at least three on roving guard at all times,” Nolan said.

“And the larger circle back here?” Beta asked, indicating the fifth circle.

“That is a command outpost and barracks,” Nolan explained. “It’s located in an old church. The number of Tribe members residing at the command post varies … but, it’s usually around fifty people.”

“What kind of schedule are the roving guards on?” The Leader asked.

“That was one of the problems, Leader,” Nolan said. “They aren’t on a regular schedule. At first, it seemed that their roving patrols were haphazard. The truth is that the roving patrols are carefully scheduled to prevent routine from settling in.”

“This Tribe sounds very cautious,” Gull observed from across the room.

“They are on their perimeter, sir,” Nolan confirmed.

“What about the town?” Alpha asked.

“Actually, it doesn’t exist anymore,” Nolan said as he pulled a new acetate overlay from his case and laid it over the map. Large black boxes marked the central downtown section of the town. “At some point, a fire … actually, it was probably a series of fires destroyed all of the downtown section and large sections of residential neighborhoods.” Nolan looked around the table. “This is the major reason our recce took so long –we knew that at least one Tribe inhabited Dutch Creek.”

“So where are they?” Alpha growled.

Nolan permitted himself a small grin as he brought out yet another acetate overlay. This one had a large green circle on it. Placing the overlay on top of the map and existing overlay, Nolan explained that the Tribe was located almost eight miles outside of town at an old summer camp.

“Strength?” The Leader asked.

“Again, it’s hard to be exact,” Nolan said. “But, the closest estimate is that there are about one hundred and fifty Tribe members – one hundred of them at the camp and the rest at the outposts I indicated earlier.”

“What’s the security like at the camp?” The Leader asked.

Nolan grinned broadly, “Almost non-existent.” Nolan produced a large-scale map he had made showing the entire camp. “There is a guard booth at the main gate … never more than three people are on the gate.” Nolan traced his finger along what appeared to be a narrow, broad-bottomed valley at the far side of the camp. “This is an old canal bed – it’s totally dry now and about eight feet deep. Two guards patrol along the top. Most of the time, they stand close to the middle together and chat their shift away.”

The Leader studied Nolan’s map of the camp. “What’s this area here,” he indicated an open space between the cabins and the baseball field.”

“That’s an assembly area,” Nolan replied. “The rectangle at the front indicates a raised stage.” Nolan began pointing out the various landmarks of the camp. “This big building here is a combination recreation hall and dining facility.” He moved his finger to a cabin that was slightly smaller than the other buildings. “This is the cabin where the Tribe leaders sleep.”

“Leaders, as in plural?” Alpha asked.

“Yes, there are five of them total,” Nolan confirmed. His finger jabbed at the other cabins. “There are seven additional cabins here…”

“What is this green squiggly line?” The Leader interrupted.

“That indicates a heavy woods,” Nolan explained.

“I’d say we wait until the Tribe goes to the dining hall for breakfast or lunch,” Beta suggested. “We’d catch them all at once – a perfect situation for a Thunder Strike. We’d have the element of surprise.”

“Good point,” The Leader agreed. He turned to face Bull who had remained silent so far. “Bull, what do you think?”

“That plan should work, I agree,” Bull said slowly. He stood and leaned over the map, studying it intently. “How far from the woods are these cabins? It looks pretty close.”

“It is,” Nolan confirmed. “The cabins are about ten yards from the edge of the woods.”

“Could your Seekers act as guides and get my soldiers from the dry canal and into position in these woods?”

“Easily, Bull,” Nolan said.

Bull finally looked up, grinning savagely, “In that case, I’d recommend we strike before dawn while the Tribe is asleep. Our surprise would be total – they’d all be asleep in their bunks and totally disoriented.”

“Yes, that would work,” The Leader said. “Anything else, Bull?”

“Well, if we have two squads enter from each end of every cabin, we’d could herd the Tribe out of the cabin and across the grounds to the assembly area. My soldiers could ring that area and keep everyone under control nicely.”

“What about the Tribe leader cabin?” The Leader asked.

“I assumed Gull would want to have his Enforcers take that cabin,” Bull said, glancing deferentially towards the Enforcer chief.

“That works for me,” Gull said, his eyes feral and grim. “Once we have control of the camp, the Scroungers could go through the dining hall building and take charge of their food provisions.”

The Leader turned to Nolan, “How long will it take your and your Seekers to guide Bull’s soldiers into position?”

“Once we leave the dry canal and head into the woods, I’d say about three hours,” Nolan said after a few moments.

“Why so long?” Alpha asked.

“Noise,” Nolan explained. “The ground is covered in dry leaves and branches. The Brothers can move stealthily in most situations, but with so much potential to make noise it is better if we take a little extra time so as not to spoil the element of surprise.”

“Gentlemen,” The Leader looked around the room, “this is why it’s always worth waiting for Nolan – even if he does sometimes arrive late. He provides us with everything needed for every Thunder Strike to be successful.” He turned to Nolan; “If we set out at midnight can we be in place before dawn?”

“Most certainly, Leader,” Nolan assured him.

“Then it’s settled,” The Leader said. “We move tonight.”

Nolan detailed three of his Seekers to guide two of Bull’s soldier squads to capture the guard posts and outpost barracks along the highway. The rest of his Seekers were attached to Bull’s attack squads, which would be storming the cabins at the camp. Nolan himself would guide Gull and The Leader to the main cabin. Once the assignments were made, Nolan ordered his Seekers to eat lightly and get as much sleep as possible so they could be alert for the raid.

Moving through the woods, Nolan signaled for a stop. He moved his head from side to side listening in the darkness. Occasionally, he could hear a crunch of leaves or the snap of a dry branch. Surprisingly, the large number of soldiers was able to move with as little noise as possible. Signaling his group to continue moving, Nolan guided them to a point just behind the main cabin. Gull and his crimson-robed Enforcers were almost invisible in the deep shadows. He could just make out The Leader’s lighter robes behind Gull. Moving silently, Nolan whispered that he was going to move along the tree line to make sure every attack squad was in place and ready for the signal to attack.

Gliding from shadow to shadow and from tree to tree, Nolan made his way down the line to check that each squad was in place and ready to move on Bull’s signal. With every squad in place, Nolan gave the order to his Seeker guides to take the squads into position at each end of the cabins. Nolan moved through the trees and took up a position by Bull’s side. This was the riskiest part of the raid – the time when the element of surprise could be lost if someone woke up to answer a call of nature and glanced out the window. In less than five minutes, an attack squad of white-robed soldiers was waiting at either end of each cabin. Bull raised a black plastic whistle to his lips and gave two short, shrill blasts.

The raiding squads moved on the first shrill blast of the whistle, the doors at each end of the cabins burst inward as the raiders poured into the buildings screaming and shouting. From his position by Bull’s side, Nolan could hear the confused cries of surprise as the sleeping Tribe members were suddenly roused from a peaceful slumber. They had no chance to resist before being swept out of the cabins – most were wearing underpants only. A small few wore jogging shorts and T-shirts. None of them had anything covering their bare feet.

Bull’s soldiers expertly herded the prisoners to the assembly field where they took up positions surrounding the captured and confused Tribe members. From start to finish, the raid had taken just a little more than five minutes. Congratulating Bull, Nolan hurried off to join The Leader and the others at the main cabin.

Nolan reached the main cabin in time to find the new Enforcer, Nathaniel moving down the line of five prisoners. Nathaniel was busy slicing off prisoner’s underwear and leaving them naked and exposed. Gull already had one prisoner on his knees and was busy shearing off the prisoner’s thick mop of ginger curls. From time to time Gull had to bat the kid’s hands away as he reached up to feel the damage being done to his mane.

The Leader stood to one side of the cabin staring intently at the prisoners lined up against the wall, studying their expressions. A feral smile spread across his features as he raised his finger and pointed towards a tall, muscular teen with a thick mane of floppy golden blond hair. Glancing towards the prisoner The Leader was indicating, Nolan figured the guy must have been on a swim team at some point in the past – at least, he had the slender, muscular build he associated with swimmers.

“You,” The Leader said softly, moving across the room to stand in front of the blond. “You’re the head man for this Tribe, aren’t you?”

“I am,” the blond said, turning clear blue eyes on The Leader.

“Your name?” The Leader asked.

“Morgan,” the blond replied coolly.

“And just what do you call this Tribe of yours?”

“The Eagle Tribe,” Morgan replied.

“The Eagle Tribe,” The Leader repeated. He turned to face the Brothers in the room, a sneering grin on his face. “Anyone want to bet Morgan used to be a Boy Scout … an Eagle Scout even?”

“You’re right, I was,” Morgan said evenly. “And, I’m not ashamed of it, either. Being an Eagle Scout taught me a lot of good lessons.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like it taught you how to stand up for yourselves,” The Leader sneered. “You call yourselves Tribe leaders and yet you stand passively by and watch one of your number being humiliated and do nothing.” He pointed towards Gull who was almost finished shearing the ginger curls from the boy kneeling before him.

“Jamie will get along just fine without his hair,” Morgan said. “Resisting would only needlessly risk everyone’s safety. You clearly outnumber us … the smartest thing to do at this point is cooperate.”

“Oh, you’re going to cooperate?” The Leader asked.

Morgan nodded, “As head of this Tribe, my biggest concern is for the physical safety of the Tribe members. So, go ahead with your raid … take our supplies. No one is going to interfere … take what you want and go on your way. We’ve survived raids before.”

“So, we can just take what we want?” The Leader asked. “And, you’ll cooperate and not resist?

“That’s what I said,” Morgan replied.

The Leader reached up and grabbed a handful of Morgan’s thick golden hair, “What if I want to take all this pretty hair of yours?”

Morgan did his best not to wince as he said evenly, “It won’t be the first time I had my head shaved. I used to shave it all the time before swim meets.”

From the other side of the room, Nathaniel groaned inwardly. Morgan clearly thought that by being cooperative he was protecting his Tribe from physical harm. Maybe that tactic had worked to protect the Tribe in the past, but that tactic was only going to spur The Leader to further atrocities. Nathaniel watched as The Leader dragged Morgan across the cabin by the hair, forcing him to his knees in front of Gull. Morgan was barely on his knees when the click-clack of Gull’s hand clippers filled the small cabin.

Nathaniel ignored Gull’s activities – he’d seen heads shaved before. He’d even experienced it himself. Nathaniel watched intently as The Leader forced Jamie into a wooden armchair. A signal from The Leader was all that was needed to bring two Enforcers to his side. Nathaniel watched The Leader whisper instructions to the Enforcers. In moments, Jamie’s arms were tightly lashed to the chair’s arms and the chair was pushed tight against the wooden table in the middle of the room. Nathaniel’s stomach clenched when Jamie’s hands were forced onto the tabletop.

Gull was just making the last passes with his straight razor over Morgan’s scalp, dry shaving him smooth, when The Leader once again began questioning the head of the Eagle Tribe. “I’m surprised … you didn’t protest or complain in the slightest as Gull shaved off every lock of your hair.”

“I told you we’d cooperate fully,” Morgan said. “And, like I said, a smooth scalp is nothing new to me.”

“So, you really are serious we can taken anything we want,” The Leader said coyly. “I’m not sure you really mean that, but we’ll soon find out.”

On the assembly field Caleb Kennedy stretched as he tried to work out the kinks in his shoulders. Ever since being herded out of the cabins, the members of Eagle Tribe had been forced to stand still with their hands clasped behind their heads. Furtively glancing around, Caleb was amazed at the sheer numbers of the attackers. There had to be at least two hundred or more raiders in white robes surrounding them. Then there were even more raiders in green robes, some in yellow and even some in blood red robes. There were even dozens of bald-headed members of the attacking Tribe. The bald-headed attackers were totally naked except for canvas slip on sneakers. The attackers came from the biggest Tribe Caleb had ever seen. Each of the white-robed raiders surrounding the assembly field was armed with a baseball bat or machetes making even the thought of escape seem foolhardy.

Caleb gave a sudden start when the air was suddenly filled with unearthly screaming. The screams came from the head cabin and grew in intensity. The screams were unlike anything Caleb had ever heard in his life before … they just went on and on, undulating and piercing. Once, Caleb thought he could make out the single word ‘NO’ shrieked over and over. As suddenly as the screaming started, it stopped filling the camp with an eerie silence. Caleb’s stare bored into the head cabin as if he could will himself to see though the walls and find out what was happening. Three figures in robes emerged from the head cabin and headed straight for the assembly area. One figure wore gold robes and the other two were in robes of electric blue.

Seeing the figures approaching, the white-robed raiders began chanting, “LEA – DER! LEA—DER! LEA – DER!

Striding onto the stage at the front of the assembly area, the one called Leader faced the prisoners and his own troops, silently savoring the adulation the chants. Suddenly, he thrust his hands up in the air high over his head and hands balled into fists crossed his arms at the wrists above his head. The chanting stopped at once.

“POWER AND CHAOS!” The Leader bellowed, his voice ringing out in the crisp early morning air.

“POWER AND CHAOS!” came the chanted reply from his robed followers.

For at least ten minutes, the litany and response of ‘Power and Chaos’ filled the morning air. Glancing around, Caleb noticed that some of his own Tribemates were beginning to quietly take up the chant. With a jerk, The Leader brought his hands down to his sides and the chanting stopped. The sudden silence seemed oppressive to Caleb. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. He waited to see what came next.

“From the ashes of the past, the Phoenix brings The Brotherhood what?” The Leader bellowed.

“Power to create to create a new society,” came the chanted reply.

“And the Phoenix brings what to our enemies?”

“Chaos!” the chanted reply answered.

“POWER!” The Leader bellowed.

“CHAOS!” The Brotherhood chanted.

Caleb endured the litany for another ten or fifteen minutes, wondering if The Leader ever got hoarse. With each chorus of ‘Power and Chaos’ the robed raiders seemed to get more and more worked up and frenzied. The Leader finally signaled for silence and began pacing from one end of the stage to the other. Caleb watched him carefully, wondering what The Leader had planned next.

“You are presented with a wonderful opportunity today,” The Leader said, his voice ringing clear and full in the morning air. “You have witnessed and experienced the power of The Brotherhood of the Phoenix. Now, the opportunity to be one of the Chosen is yours. You can serve The Brotherhood as one of the Chosen and receive the benefits of our power.”

“What do we have to do?” A voice called from the ranks of the prisoners. Caleb looked around sharply, trying to identify the speaker. He thought the voice sounded a lot like Larry Fisher, but he couldn’t be sure.

“That’s a good question,” The Leader said. “And, the answer is very simple – all you have to do to join the elite of the Brotherhood is to kneel down and swear your allegiance to the Phoenix. Pledge your loyalty to me as The Leader and renounce your former Tribe affiliations.” The Leader looked around, a very reasonable expression on his face. “That’s not so much to ask. In return, you get to serve the community of the Brotherhood in bringing a new order to the world.”

The Leader strode to the edge of the stage and signaled towards the main cabin. On cue, Gull led his crimson-robed Enforcers from the cabin. Caleb could see the raiders were frog marching a couple of figures along.

“There are those who will urge potential converts to deny themselves this opportunity to serve with the Brotherhood to bring the New Order to this sad world,” The Leader said, turning back to the prisoners. “They think they can turn their backs on the opportunity to serve in such a noble cause. They are wrong! They also shall serve – as slaves of the Brotherhood.”

Gull marched onto the stage, his Enforcers finally breaking ranks to reveal Jamie and Morgan. Caleb was stunned to see that both were naked and had been shaved bald. Four of the Enforcers forced their two prisoners to kneel on the stage. Caleb noticed that both had been gagged to prevent them from crying out.

“You might think your old Tribe leaders had been doing a good job by you,” The Leader said, pointing contemptuously at the two naked kneeling figures. “But, you’d be wrong! They made absolutely no move to protect you or their own. Your leader, Morgan, eagerly offered us the opportunity to take anything – anything at all that we wanted. He did nothing when the one called Jamie was forced to endure having his head shaved. He did nothing when his head was shaved. At that point, he again told us to take anything we pleased – that he wouldn’t oppose us and would refuse to allow any of you to refuse us.”

The Leader nodded to Gull who ordered two Enforcers to lift Jamie to his feet. A gasp moved through the Eagle Tribe prisoners – once Jamie was on his feet, it was easy to see he had been castrated. Where his balls had been there was nothing at all – balls and sac were just gone.

“As you can see,” The Leader announced. “Slaves to The Brotherhood have no need of their testicles – they are no longer males. They are just slaves.”

The Enforcers holding Jamie up suddenly brought his hands from behind his back. Caleb felt sour bile rise in his throat and choked it back down. Every one of Jamie’s long, slender fingers had been hacked off. Caleb felt his eyes burn hotly with tears as he remembered those fingers making beautiful music on the violin. Caleb knew that playing the violin was the one thing Jamie passionately loved, and now he’d never play again.

“As you can clearly see, this one has already suffered a severe penalty for refusing to kneel and pledge his allegiance to The Brotherhood,” The Leader said scornfully. “I’m sure none of you wish to suffer the same fate as these two foolish and pitiful excuses did.”

Caleb was shocked when one by one about a quarter of the Eagle Tribe began dropping to their knees, heads bowed. He heard someone mutter, ‘All power to The Leader.”

The Leader nodded benignly, a wide smile splitting his face, “Welcome to the fold my new Brothers.” He looked up at the rest of the prisoners. “Be sure of your decision – one way or another you will serve The Brotherhood. The choice is all yours … you can serve as members of The Brotherhood and be a part of the new Power sweeping across the world. Or, you can serve as slaves to The Brotherhood and lose your manhood, never tasting of the Power that could have been yours.”

On The Leader’s signal, Gull had two more Enforcers force Morgan to his feet. Caleb hung his head in shame for his friend. Morgan hadn’t just been castrated. His penis had been removed as well. A long, angry looking red weal ran from just below his navel and disappeared between his legs. Even from where he stood, Caleb could see that the ugly cut had been crudely stitched together. The rest of the prisoners dropped to their knees en masse and began pledging their allegiance to The Leader. Morgan began to sink down and then suddenly stopped himself. Straightening, he turned a defiant face towards the stage as he shook his thick chestnut hair from his face. Looking around, he found he was the only one standing.

A look of surprise flashed across The Leader’s face before he asked Caleb, “You would share the fate of those up here and turn your back on the benefits of The Brotherhood?”

“I’d rather burn in Hell than willingly serve a puke like you,” Caleb spat contemptuously.

Onstage, Nathaniel suddenly stepped up to Gull’s side and began whispering in his ear. Listening to his protégé, Gull began smiling as he nodded his head and affectionately patted Nathaniel’s face. Gull moved over to The Leader, whispering Nathaniel’s suggestion to him. The Leader turned to look first at Nathaniel, then past him to one of the cabins, and finally to Caleb. His face broke into a feral grin.

“Are you sure you’d rather burn than serve The Brotherhood?” The Leader asked Caleb.

“It’s better than bowing down to the likes of you,” Caleb snarled.

The Leader bowed graciously to Caleb, “Very well, your wish is granted.” Lowering his voice as he turned to Gull, The Leader instructed, “Put Nathaniel in charge of this exercise. It will be a good test of his abilities.”

“My thoughts exactly, Leader,” Gull said softly. A sly look crossed his face, “If I might make a suggestion?”

“Of course – you know how much I admire your touch in these matters,” The Leader smiled.

“This defiant prisoner must be admired for his bravery in being the only one to oppose you,” Gull said.

“Perhaps slightly,” The Leader conceded. “Where are you going with this line of reasoning?”

“He deserves to have a dog or slave share his fate as an honor to his bravery … however foolish,” Gull explained. “We can order Nathaniel to have his old friend Wolf join this prisoner’s fate.”

“Another test of Nathaniel’s loyalty, my friend?” The Leader asked with a knowing grin.

“Of course,” Gull admitted. “Is his total loyalty to us or is there still residual loyalty to his old friends?”

“I like your thinking,” The Leader said. “Give the order.”

Nathaniel listened in respectful silence as Gull ordered him to select ten worker slaves to help him carry out his plan. When Gull added that Wolf should share Caleb’s fate, Nathaniel nodded and complimented his superior on improving the original plan. Bowing, Nathaniel hurried from the stage to select his ten worker slaves. Once he had his team selected, Nathaniel ordered five of the slaves to seize Caleb and the other five to bring Wolf along. Without waiting for the worker slaves to respond, Nathaniel strode off towards the cabin he had selected.

Entering the cabin, Nathaniel paced up and down the main aisle between the bunk beds. He wasn’t alone long before the two teams of slaves entered with their prisoners. Nathaniel ordered the slaves to tie Caleb and Wolf hand and foot so they could get down to work. As soon as Wolf heard he was to be tied, he began protesting that he hadn’t done anything to deserve punishment. Nathaniel reacted swiftly; slapping Wolf across the face and ordering him to hold his tongue or else have it cut out. The threat was enough to stifle Wolf’s protests.

“Okay, now that we know the prisoners aren’t going anywhere, we can get to work,” Nathaniel said in his most imperious tone of voice. He stood next to one of the bunk beds. “I want this bed pulled into the middle of the floor directly opposite the window facing the assembly grounds.” He pointed to the right side of the cabin. “I want all those bunks moved over in front of the exit over there. The ones on this side get moved down towards the other exit, but don’t block it yet. We need to get out of here first.”

The slaves hurried to carry out Nathaniel’s orders, moving the one bunk into the middle of the cabin directly opposite the window. The rest of the bunks were quickly shoved against the exit at the far and of the cabin.

“Now, take one mattress from each of those bunks and bring them to the middle of the room,” Nathaniel ordered. “Place them under each window and rip them open – get that stuffing exposed. I want all the footlockers opened and pulled over by the windows, too, and get those shades pulled down off the windows – add them to the pile.”

“What’re you gonna do with us?” Caleb asked.

“You said you’d rather burn than kneel down to The Leader,” Nathaniel said coldly. “Well, you’re going to get your wish.” He pointed down at Wolf, who was already quietly sobbing. “The Leader was impressed with your bravery in standing your ground – even though it was a stupid think to do. He decided you shouldn’t burn alone. That worthless slave is going to keep you company.”

Caleb swallowed, trying to hide his fear, “I don’t need to have any company. You can take him away with you.”

Wolf looked up at Nathaniel hopefully. His hopes were dashed with Nathaniel’s chilling laugh, “You don’t get to make any decisions. The Leader had decided your fate. The issue is closed.” Nathaniel turned his attention to the worker slaves. “Come on, get all the bedding and towels piled up over here!”

The workers scrambled to carry out the new Enforcer’s orders. They knew he was Gull’s new protégé and as such capable of causing them unspeakable suffering if he chose to do so. They hastily stripped the beds of sheets, pillows, pillowcases, blankets and towels, tossing them onto the growing piles by the windows as Nathaniel jerked Caleb to his feet and dragged him over to the bunk facing the window.

It didn’t take Nathaniel long to have a loop of rope around Caleb’s neck and tie it to the rail at the foot of the bed. Next, he untied Caleb’s hands and retied them to the bedposts on either side of the bed. Finding the worker slaves searching for something to do after having carried out his last orders, Nathaniel ordered them all to troop to the dining hall and scrounge up all the flammable liquids – kerosene, cooking oil, lamp oil, anything that would burn. As the slaves hurried out to do his bidding, Nathaniel ordered them to check the grease trap in the kitchen. They could bring all the grease back as well. He watched them scramble off before he dreamed up some new chores.

Once Nathaniel was sure the slaves were gone, he turned to Caleb, “Do you want to live?”

“Huh?” The question threw Caleb for a loop. One minute this crimson-robed Enforcer was giving orders that could only end in Caleb’s death and the next, he was asking if Caleb wanted to live.

“Just listen, the both of you,” Nathaniel hissed. He started retying Caleb’s wrists, but this time the ropes were loose. “I’m kinda playing this by ear – and it’s risky as hell, but here’s the general idea. You two are going to have to wait until the flames and smoke obscures the view through the windows. Until then, you better scream like you’re really on fire and suffering. Once you can’t see out the window, you can be pretty sure they can’t see inside. Pull yourself loose from the ropes and get the hell out the back window – get into the woods and run like hell.”

“Why are you doing this?” Caleb asked.

“Ask Wolf after the two of you get out of here,” Nathaniel said. “It’s enough that you know I’m not interested in letting Gull get his hands on you.” He looked Caleb right in the eye. “I swear, I’m not playing a game on you or Wolf. I owe Wolf and you must have something special in you to stand up to The Leader like you did.”

Nathaniel turned to Wolf and dragged him across the floor to Caleb’s feet. “Listen Wolf,” he said urgently as he began retying Wolf’s ropes so he could easily slip out of them. “You’ve gotta stick it out as long as you can in here – I know it’s gonna be pretty bad for a while. But, you know what will happen if Gull catches on and comes after you. You know what’ll happen to you two and to me.”

Wolf gulped and nodded, “I know … I won’t screw up.”

Nathaniel smiled for the first time and patted Wolf’s head, “Remember, you two run through the woods as fast and as far as you can. The grass and leaves are pretty dry around here – I don’t know that the while place won’t catch fire.” Nathaniel thought for a minute. “Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea if a grass fire started and took the whole Brotherhood out all at once.”

Nathaniel pulled a switchblade knife from his boot and held it up in front of Caleb, “This knife is going to be right behind your head under the mattress. You might need it to cut through the screen.” Secreting the knife, Nathaniel whispered into Caleb’s ear, “You have to do just what I said. If they think you and Wolf are dead, they won’t come after you. If you move too soon – the two of you and I are going to suffer like you can’t imagine. That stuff they did to your friends – that’s nothing compared to what will happen to us.”

“Okay, I’ll do my best,” Caleb promised. There was something about the intense stare in Nathaniel’s eyes that made Caleb trust him. Before he could say anything else, the worker slaves returned lugging twenty gallons of kerosene in four five gallon jerry cans and several cases of cooking oil in gallon cans.

Nathaniel grabbed a jerry can of kerosene and made a show of soaking the bedding by the windows. He ordered the slaves to soak the bunks blocking the door at the end of the cabin and the floor around the bunks. Caleb noticed that despite all the splashing of kerosene and oil, Nathaniel was careful not to get any close to him and Wolf. When all the containers of flammable liquids had been emptied, Nathaniel ordered the slaves to return to their places on the assembly field.

“Remember what I said,” Nathaniel said in a low voice as he hurriedly made a makeshift torch from oil soaked towels and a broom handle. “Wait for the flames to obscure the window if you can and scream … scream like you life depends on it – because it does.”

Hurrying to the far end of the cabin, Nathaniel lit the first torch and touched it to the bunks by the door. It didn’t take long for the mattresses to catch fire. Backing through the cabin, Nathaniel touched the torch to the oil and kerosene soaked footlockers, bedding and mattresses by the windows. At the other door, he looked back at Caleb and Wolf with a sad expression.

“Good luck,” he said and dropping the torch on the nearest bunk was gone.

By the time Nathaniel got back to the stage, the cabin was already well ablaze. Flames were crawling over the edge of the windowsills when he took his place beside Gull. Caleb was clearly visible through the window, as the flames grew higher. He threw his head back and began screaming as he writhed and tossed his head from side to side. It wasn’t long before Wolf’s high-pitched wail joined Caleb’s screams. Nathaniel prayed the two of them were just doing a wonderful job of acting and not really burning to death. He knew there were lots of problems with his plan, but it had just popped into his brain when he heard Caleb’s words to The Leader.

“Excellent job, Nathaniel,” Gull said, not taking his eyes from the burning cabin. Glancing up at his supposed mentor, Nathaniel was surprised to find Gull’s eyes were glazed and his mouth hung open as if he was in rapture. His mouth twitched with each round of fresh screams. Nathaniel forced himself to watch the flames engulf the cabin – black smoke was beginning to pour from the windows and flames were already starting to burn through the roof. Soon it was impossible to see inside the cabin – only the frenzied screams indicated that Caleb and Wolf were still alive inside the inferno.

Neither Caleb nor Wolf found it hard to scream convincingly, as the flames grew higher. Caleb felt a primal fear of the flames, as they grew higher and hotter. He had to force himself not to free himself before the flames and smoke obscured the window. As he rolled his head around, he kept checking the window – as long as he could see Nathaniel and Gull, he knew he didn’t dare act. Once the billowing smoke obscured the window, however, Caleb didn’t waste any time pulling at the robes binding his hands to the bunk posts. He was surprised at how easily he was able to pull loose. He pulled the rope looped around his neck free and spun around to retrieve the knife Nathaniel had left for them. Glancing around, Caleb saw that Wolf was already free of his ropes and was crawling toward the rear window. Caleb decided it was a good idea to follow him.

Reaching the window, Caleb pressed the button on the side of the knife to spring the knife blade free and slashed the mesh screen. Standing aside, he helped Wolf through the window before dropping to the ground himself. Flames were already starting to spread across the dry grass behind the cabin. Neither of them wasted any breath on speaking as they ran for the safety of the woods. Caleb quickly took the lead and guided Wolf deeper into the woods. They were about twenty yards into the woods when the first explosion punctuated the morning. Caleb stopped suddenly, a look of horror on his face.

“Oh shit!” he sighed.

“What was that?” Wolf asked.

Caleb didn’t answer – instead he dashed back towards the cabin and halted at the edge of the woods. Against his better judgement, Wolf followed Caleb back and peered around the side of a tree trunk.

“What was that?” Wolf repeated.

“Propane bottles, I think,” Caleb whispered. “This is bad…” He was interrupted by another popping explosion. What looked like a rocket to Wolf shot through the roof of the cabin and flew high into the air, a plume of flames following in its wake. “Every cabin has these small bottles of propane for making instant coffee or soup or hot chocolate,” Caleb explained. “I didn’t even think about them – they’re gonna set the whole camp afire.” As if to punctuate his words, another propane bottle exploded through the side of the cabin and streaked into the woods. “We’ve gotta get far away from here. Last Spring the hardware store in town caught fire and the propane tanks and bottles went up like rockets and burned the whole town down.” Leaping to his feet, Caleb grabbed Wolf’s arm and dashed deep into the woods.

The sight of the first propane bottle soaring high into the air transfixed Nathaniel. After the initial shock of the first explosion, everyone cheered at the sight of the propane bottle flying up through the roof. The cheers turned to gasps of amazement when the bottle plummeted to the ground and shattered, spreading flames in a wide circle in front of one of the cabins. The flames raced across the dry grass and started licking at the clapboard walls of the cabin.

Alpha acted quickly, ordering a group of worker slaves to follow him. He put them to work beating out the flames to keep them from spreading towards the assembly ground. He was busy directing the slaves when a propane bottle blasted through the side of the cabin, striking him and tearing most of his head away before exploding in a ball of flames.

The popping sounds of small explosions filled the air as more and more propane bottles lit off and rocketed in all directions. For a brief instant Nathaniel was reminded of the sound made by a pop corn popper. Then, the saw a propane bottle shooting across the ground straight towards the stage. Without thinking, Nathaniel shoved Gull off the stage onto the ground just as the propane bottle missile struck a tree root and shot into the air straight at him. The bottle missed Gull entirely and struck Nathaniel square in the chest with such force that it knocked him backwards almost eight feet. The propane bottle bounced ricocheted off Nathaniel and struck Jamie killing him instantly before falling to the ground and bursting into flame in the middle of Nolan and five of his Seekers.

Seeing Jamie fall, Morgan dropped prone on the stage and rolled to the ground as if he, too, had been struck. When no one took notice of him, he slid under the stage and stayed motionless as pandemonium broke out on the assembly field.

Sprawled on his back, Nathaniel tried to sit up and found his body refused to obey his commands. The momentary burst of pain that had blossomed in his chest was gone and a heaviness was filling his chest. Rolling his head to one side, Nathaniel saw The Leader shouting orders for The Brotherhood to clear the assembly area and keep the prisoners from escaping. Suddenly, Gull was standing over him, wiping blood away from his lips. For the first time, Nathaniel realized he was bleeding from the nose and mouth.

“You saved my life,” Gull gasped in amazement. “Just hold on and we’ll get you clear from here. You’re gonna be okay.” Turning, Gull bellowed for several worker slaves to haul their asses over to him and carry Nathaniel to safety. Nathaniel tried to laugh at the irony, but only succeeded in coughing up more blood and spraying Gull’s hands and robe in red droplets. Nathaniel braced himself for intense pain when the slaves lifted him from the stage, but none came. As they hurried towards the relative safety of the dry canal, Nathaniel closed his eyes, gurgled, and slipped away.

Caleb refused to let Wolf stop for a rest as they crashed through the woods; heedless of how much noise they made. Caleb figured The Brotherhood had their hands full enough back at the camp and probably weren’t even bothering to consider the possibility that their intended victims had escaped. Caleb knew from Wolf’s emaciated form that he was near the end of his physical limits, but couldn’t risk letting him stop for even a few moments. Caleb had seen wildfires before and knew how fast they could race across open fields or through treetops to trap unsuspecting campers or firefighters. He wouldn’t feel safe until he had guided Wolf across the four-lane highway just a couple of miles ahead. He figured the road might serve as a firebreak – at least he hoped it would.

By the time they reached the highway, Caleb was dragging Wolf along. Once they were across the road, he let Wolf sink to the ground exhausted. He turned and examined the horizon – columns of black smoke rose high into the sky for as far as he could see. Looking towards the woods, Caleb could see tongues of flames licking at trees here and there along their escape path. He looked down at Wolf who was sprawled limply on the ground, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water as he gulped in lungfuls of air.

“We can rest here for a bit,” Caleb said, keeping one eye on the woods across the road. “Then, we’ve got to move on. I know someplace we can get clothes and food for both of us.” Caleb sank down to the ground and eyed Wolf. “Looks like you were worked over pretty bad. Did The Leader do all that to you?”

“Not The Leader,” Wolf gasped. “He has Gull do all the torture.” Wolf lay back still sucking in air. Finally, he stirred and propping himself up on one elbow told Caleb everything he, Nathaniel and Daniel had suffered at Gull’s hands. At first his story came out haltingly in dribs and drabs, then as he spoke, it began to pour out of him in a torrent. The verbal dam had broken and Caleb knew he wouldn’t be able to stop Wolf until everything had poured out of him. He listened in horror as Wolf described in graphic detail all of the tortures Gull had devised for them.

After Wolf had unburdened his soul, Caleb stood and announced it was time to start moving. The acrid aroma of smoke was beginning to drift their way. Glancing back at the woods, Caleb could see a wall of flames working through the woods and coming closer to the highway. He wondered if anyone back in the camp survived.

Wolf stared in amazement at the shelves of neatly stacked Boy Scout uniforms in the large storeroom. There were hiking boots, uniform green shorts and pants, T-shirts, socks, and swimming trunks. Caleb was working through the stacks of clothes finding the right sizes for the two of them.

“Afraid we don’t have any underpants here,” Caleb said over his shoulder. “But, we can make do with swim trunks for now.”

“What is this place?” Wolf asked.

“Our Scout Lodge,” Caleb explained. “Back before it happened, we used to have meetings and cookouts here. Scouts used to be able to buy uniforms and official BSA equipment here at cost and save some money. After it happened, we went through all the stores and gathered all the Scouting equipment and brought it here. We’ll get some camping gear and sleeping bags after we eat.”

“There’s food here?” Wolf asked, licking his lips.

“Want to know why Morgan wasn’t going to put up a fight when he thought The Brotherhood was just raiding our Tribe for supplies?” Caleb asked. Before Wolf could say anything, he smiled and waved his hands around. “This is where the real stockpile of supplies is … well, here and a couple other places scattered around the area.”

“Brilliant!” Wolf cried. “That way if your camp is raided, they can’t get everything.”

“Exactly,” Caleb said. “Now, let’s get dressed and rustle up some food.

From the food supplies in the basement Caleb loaded up on cans of corned beef hash, beans, and beef stew. He figured that even without any teeth, Wolf would be able to eat those foods without much problem. Setting up a double burner camp stove, Caleb attached a bottle of propane gas to the stove and began cooking the food. Wolf turned a spare green bottle of propane over in his hands in wonder.

“You mean it was bottles like this one that were blowing up back there and shooting off like rockets?” Wolf asked incredulously.

“Yep,” Caleb said. “Sometimes they just explode and sometimes they shoot off like rockets. Either way, it spreads fire like you wouldn’t believe.” He stirred at the hash. “When the hardware store went up, you should have seen the bigger tanks … y’know like the ones used by gas grills … well, you should have seen them shoot up into the air.” He shook his head as he remembered the large white tanks spinning end over end high in the air before crashing down through the roofs of other buildings and spreading the fire across the whole downtown area.

Wolf certainly lived up to his name after Caleb filled their plates – he wolfed down his food, shoveling it into his mouth so fast that Caleb was afraid Wolf would bring it all back up again. He urged Wolf to slow down and take his time, promising he could get more food from the basement if Wolf was still hungry. Blushing, Wolf forced himself to slow down. As a slave, The Brotherhood hadn’t been generous with food servings. Wolf couldn’t remember the last time his belly had been full and there had been the promise of more food. As Wolf was working on his third can of beef stew, Caleb returned with sleeping bags and two rucksacks of provisions.

“Well camp out somewhere out of sight for a couple days,” Caleb said.

“Why? Can’t we just stay here?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Caleb said. “Remember, I’m not the only one who knows about this place. Maybe The Brotherhood survived and one of my former Tribemates talked. We’re better off where we can see without being seen.”

“Good point,” Wolf agreed nervously.

“I figure if anyone escapes from The Brotherhood, they’ll head for this place,” Caleb explained. “If that happens, it should take a day or two … maybe more before they reach here, depending on how bad the fire is and how far it reached.”

For three nights Caleb watched the night sky glow red and orange from the flames of the fire. As far as he could tell, the fire was burning away from the Scout Lodge, but that didn’t really mean anything. A sudden shift in the wind direction and the fire could easily race to the southeast side of Dutch Creek and towards them. Wolf was slowly breaking from his habit of gulping his food down as if someone was going to come along and take it away from him and even seemed to be putting on some weight. On the morning of the fourth day, Caleb had just about given up hope that anyone had escaped The Brotherhood, or if they had, had managed to survive the fire. He was just starting to suggest that he and Wolf pull up stakes and head out of the area when he caught sight of a movement from the corner of his eye.

Turning in the direction of where he had seen the movement, Caleb watched patiently. Nothing happened. He had almost concluded that a squirrel had caused the motion when he saw it again. Someone was slowly and stealthily through the bushes on the other side of the driveway leading up to the lodge. Grabbing the field glasses he had dumped in his rucksack, Caleb focused in on the area of movement. Again, nothing happened for a long time. Now that he knew someone was out there for sure, Caleb waited patiently. Slowly, furtively a head rose above the bushes, turned from side to side and then disappeared again.

Caleb didn’t know who was out there – through the field glasses he could tell that the person had camouflaged himself with a layer of mud and had wrapped vines around his head to break up his outline. From their hiding place, Caleb watched the figure slowly make its way closer and closer to the lodge. It took over an hour for the figure to move twenty-five yards to the edge of the bushes bordering the drive. Then, there was another half-hour of inactivity. Either whoever was out there had backed off, or he was working up the nerve for the dash across open ground to the safety of the lodge. At long last, the figure made his break from the bushes and dashed across the driveway in a curious limping lope. Whoever it was had covered himself from head to toe in mud; not a single inch of flesh was left uncovered. Caleb had to admire the camouflage It took a few moments, but eventually Caleb recognized the figure.

“Morgan!” he exclaimed. He felt like crying for joy at the knowledge that Morgan had survived. He resisted the urge to race down to the lodge and greet his friend. First, he knew he had to scan the area for a while to make sure no one had followed Morgan. When no movements stirred the bushes for another fifteen minutes, Caleb finally announced to Wolf that they could go down and meet Morgan.

Moving quietly through the lodge, Caleb finally found Morgan in the canteen area eating directly from a can of fruit cocktail. Three empty water bottles lay scattered across the counter. Morgan had obviously gulped down the water in a rush – spilling some of it down his chin. Pink skin showed through the coating of mud where the water had washed it away. Caleb stepped into the doorway smiling.

“Don’t you think it would be better if you jumped in the pool out back and washed that shit off?” Caleb asked.

Morgan slowly lowered the can of fruit cocktail, his eyes growing round in shock at seeing Caleb. “You – you burned up,” Morgan rasped, his voice a ragged croak. “How…”

“I was just about to ask you how you escaped,” Caleb laughed.

“Nathaniel – the guy who took us into the cabin and set it on fire – he fixed it up so we could escape using the fire as cover,” Caleb explained.

Stopping only long enough to get Morgan some clothes and a towel, Caleb led Morgan out to the pool and insisted he jump in and get clean. As Morgan soaked and washed the mud away, Caleb and Wolf described what had happened in the cabin and how Nathaniel had come up with the plan on the fly. They explained that once the flames and smoke blocked the window, they had pulled loose of their ropes and made their escape out the back window. Caleb added that he had figured if anyone managed to escape The Brotherhood, he figured they’d eventually show up at the Scout Lodge.

“I can’t believe it,” Morgan said, shaking his head after dunking himself under the water to rinse the soap from his head. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you guys survived.”

“What about Nathaniel,” Wolf asked his voice full of concern. “They didn’t find out what he did, did they?”

“No, no they didn’t find out what he did,” Morgan said. “I hate to tell you this, but your friend died.

Even though Caleb barely knew Nathaniel, the news of his death hit him like a blow. He felt sorry for the young man who had risked everything to save the life of a stranger. Glancing over at Wolf, Caleb saw that the former slave had tears streaming down his cheeks. “What happened?” Caleb asked.

“When the propane bottles started going off, things got kind of confused,” Morgan said. “One of them was shooting across the ground right towards the stage where he and Gull was standing.” Morgan paused. “I guess he saw his chance … anyway, he pushed Gull off the stage right in front of the bottle…”

“So Gull is dead?” Wolf asked hopefully.

“No,” Morgan said. “The propane bottle hit something and shot into the air … it missed Gull completely and hit your friend in the chest. It bounced off and killed Jamie before exploding in flames in the middle of a group of guys in green robes.”

“Jamie,” Caleb asked slowly, his voice catching. “Did he suffer.”

“No, it hit him in the head and I don’t think he even felt a thing,” Morgan said. He looked over at Wolf, “If it matters, your friend didn’t suffer either. I don’t think he was in any pain at all … leastways, he didn’t cry out or writhe around. He seemed real peaceful … the funny thing is that Gull got the idea that Nathaniel had tried to save him. He insisted some of the slaves carry Nathaniel off with them for a funeral with honors.”

Wolf stopped crying and smiled at the thought, “I think Nathaniel appreciate the irony in that … kind of like one last way of screwing Gull.”

“What about The Leader?” Caleb asked.

“He survived,” Morgan said sourly. “You should have seen him … he was so fucking calm. He jumped off the stage and started shouting orders to evacuate the field and to keep all the prisoners together. He didn’t even seem scared.”

Morgan described how he had stayed low and was finally able to work his way out from under the stage and escape the camp. By the time he left the camp, he said, the whole place was blazing and propane bottles were still popping off. He had followed the long road leading to the camp just barely keeping ahead of the fire. The day after he escaped the camp, he had wallowed in the mud near a little creek to cover his white skin and camouflage himself in case The Leader decided to search for him.

“I had to work my way all the way around the other side of town,” Morgan said finally leaving the water and toweling off. “I figure the fire should burn itself out in a day or so unless the wind changes. It was headed towards downtown last time I checked. That’ll work as a firebreak – everything’s already burned out in that direction.”

Morgan finished dressing and looked around, “So what’s the plan?”

“I figure get us all rested up,” Caleb said. “And then, put as much distance between us and here as possible.”

“You have a destination in mind?” Morgan asked.

“Not really,” Caleb admitted. “Just far away from here.”

“Uh huh,” Morgan grunted. “Ever thought about going to The City?”

Caleb and Wolf looked at each other and shrugged, “Sounds as good a place as any, I guess,” Caleb said. “Why there?”

“Remember those jugglers and minstrels who came through the camp a couple weeks ago?” Morgan asked. Caleb nodded – it would be hard to forget the entertainment they had provided. “Well, they were talking about a Tribe called The Shiprats … they organized a free trade market, make their own electricity and lots of other things. From what they said, this Tribe is the kind of people we’d get along with.”

“Sounds good to me,” Wolf said.

“Me, too,” Caleb agreed. “Just one thing, how do we find them?”

Morgan grinned, “That should be easy … all we have to do is look for the Queen Mary, that’s where they live.”

“Well that shouldn’t be too hard,” Caleb said. “We just go until we see the water and then look for an ocean liner. A piece of cake.”

To be continued…