Apocalypse Empire (Book 1): Apocalypse Origins (21 page)

"Laramie next exit," Greg announced as he drove
past the sign. 

"Think we'll find something here?" Shirley asked
from the backseat.

"Hope so," Greg replied.

"Me too," Carol said, "it's been slim
pickings."

Greg nodded. The group was down to about three days of food.
After Ashton they had had little luck scavenging. If they were lucky, they'd
discover a can of soup or two, but for the most part they had to use the
supplies they had on hand. It also didn't help that a trip that should have
taken hours had taken days instead. The roads were horrible, they constantly
had to maneuver around wreckage or worse, spend time moving it out the
way. Greg was really hoping they could restock their supplies.

Greg took the exit ramp and they found themselves entering
Laramie. There was little sign of the infection here. The streets were clear of
wreckage and the buildings seemed to be intact. 

"Looks pretty good here," Jackson announced.

"You think the infection missed this place?" Carol
asked.

Greg shrugged. "It's good news for us regardless of how
it happened. I'm thinking we should be able to restock here."

Greg's optimism quickly wilted when he noticed an
obstruction ahead. Greg saw that this is where all the wreckage had went. The
road was blocked with a minivan and either side of the road was littered with
wrecked cars. There was no way to get a car through that unless the car
blocking the road was moved. Greg brought the suv to a stop so they could plan
their next move.

"What do you think?" Greg asked.

"Well, they're not shooting at us so that's a good
sign," Jackson said.

"That's true," Carol said, "maybe they're
friendly."

"We haven't had the best luck with that so far,"
Greg said. "But you're right, they're not shooting so maybe it's okay.
Have you guns ready just in case."

Greg slowly drove forward and stopped when a figure
approached from behind the barricade. As he drew closer Greg could see that he
was dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. There was a rifle slung across his
back and knife holstered at his hip. The man walked with his hands spread out
as if to indicate he didn't mean any arm. Greg exited the vehicle, making sure
to keep his hands well clear of the weapons holstered at his side.

The man nodded amicably as Greg met him halfway. "How
are ya?" he asked. "I'm Hal Dow. I'm in charge of security around
here."

Greg nodded. "Greg Lyons. Nice to meet you."

"How can I help you, Greg? You just passing
through?"

"Yeah,” Greg replied, "although I wouldn't mind
trying to trade for some supplies." Greg sighed internally. So much for this
place being the boon they'd hoped for. He had hoped they'd be able to get in,
restock, and get out. He had no idea what they could expect to get if they had
to trade as they had little to keep themselves going.

"Trade? Well, that's fantastic," Hal said with a
smile. "I'm really glad to hear that. The last group that came through,
well we had to send them on their way. Thought they'd take over or some
such."

Greg thought there was little chance of that happening. They
seemed to be well organized. "You guys survived the outbreak pretty well
then?"

Hal nodded. "Laramie's a hunting town. Just about
everyone has a gun of some sort. When those things showed up we sent 'em
packing. We put the wall up right after that and haven't had too much
trouble."

"Wow," Greg replied, "that's impressive.
We've been running place to place just trying to survive."

"Well, if you're looking for a place to call home, this
might be it for ya. We did well enough in the outbreak but a lot of people are
gone. Most of them commute, you see. So we haven't seen any of them since the
outbreak. They're either holed up somewhere or didn't make it."

"Sorry to hear that," Greg replied.

Hal shrugged. "It's the world we live in now." He
motioned towards the roadblock and another figure came into view. "Let's
get you inside. We can do some lunch and talk about that trade you
mentioned."

"Thanks," Greg replied. He returned to his vehicle
and led the way past the barricade. He immediately saw why that other group had
failed in their takeover. There were maybe a dozen men and women all armed with
rifles of some sort. They all seemed to carry their weapons with an easy
familiarity that probably meant they knew how to use them. One of the figures
directed them to pull over to the side and Greg complied.

Greg exited the vehicle again as Hal joined him. "We'll
have to ask you to leave your firearms in your vehicles," he said. He
shrugged apologetically. "You can keep you blades," he said as he
noticed the machete on Greg's hip.

Greg nodded. He wasn't thrilled about having to put the
pistol away but he understood. He wouldn't want strangers walking around armed
in his town either. He poked his head inside the suv to relay the message and
then walked over to give James the news. With that done, Hal led them to a
house near the road.

"This is a visitor center of sorts," Hal announced
as he held the door open for them. "Lunch will be up in a few minutes so
we can sit in the dining room."

Hal waited for everyone to get inside and then led the way.
The dining room had a long table big enough for all of them sit comfortably.
There was a picture window that looked out onto a field where people could be
seen working the ground.

"It'll be a small harvest this year," Hal said as
he joined Greg at the window. "It's July so we've already missed most of
the growing season."

Greg nodded. "Looks like you'll be set for next year
though."

Hal nodded. "We are doing pretty well." Hal turned
as several women entered the room and began setting food out on the table.
Everyone took their seats and Greg smiled as he saw beef and mashed potatoes on
his plate.

Hal chuckled. "Probably been a few days since you guys
have had a good meal, huh?"

"You have no idea," Carol replied.

"It's canned beef and instant potatoes but we've got a
good store of spices so it should still be pretty good."

"It looks amazing," Carol said.

"Well, let's dig in," Hal said. "We can do
business after we eat."

The group applied themselves and made quick work of the
food. They'd been given large portions so everyone was satisfied when they were
done. After that, Hal led them to a building a few blocks away. It looked to be
an old hardware store. "This is where we keep most of our stock," Hal
explained as he led the way inside. "It's guarded round the clock but we
haven't had any trouble. Hal led them over to a middle aged man that was making
notations on a clipboard.

"This is Ryan Barton. He's in charge of our stores.
He'll take good care of you. Have someone send for me when you're done and we
can set you up with a place for the night. No reason to head back out on the
roads at night."

"Thanks," Greg replied, "I appreciate
that."

"Not a problem. You seem like good people so we've got
to stick together. There's plenty of bad people running around. Alright, I'll
see you guys in a bit."

The group spent the next fifteen minutes trying to negotiate
with Ryan but were disappointed to find that he had little interest in what
they had.

"I'm sorry," Ryan said, “you don't have that much
worth trading except for that ammo. I doubt you wanna part with that, you're
gonna need that on the road."

Greg sighed. "Well we need the supplies, so we'll have
to make do."

"That won't be necessary," a voice said from behind
them. The group turned and they saw a middle aged woman dressed in jeans and a
button down shirt. She approached for a handshake and Greg held out his hand.

"Dawn Stamper," she said as they shook hands.
"I'm what remains of the administration here in Laramie. That pretty much
makes me the mayor I guess."

"Nice to meet you," Greg replied, "Greg
Lyons."

"I think I might have a way that we can both get
something we want out of this deal," Dawn said.

"What do you have in mind?" Greg asked.

"Walk with me if you would. I can have one of my
assistants find lodgings for your friends."

Greg glanced at the group and saw that they looked excited
at the thought of resting for the remainder of the day. They had gone through a
rough few days, the rest would probably do them good. "Alright, lead the
way."

Dawn smiled and led the way out of the hardware store. They
kept walking until they reached a fence of sorts. Looking closely, Greg saw
that it was a combinations of cars, wood, and sheet metal. Every thirty feet or
so there was a platform of sorts that let the man guarding have clear view over
anything approaching the fence.

Dawn chuckled. "Not much to look at but it's kept the
infected out so far."

Greg shrugged. "Doesn't matter how it looks as long as
it's getting the job done."

"You're practical," Dawn said, "I like that.
I like to think I'm pretty practical myself. Do you have any idea why I brought
you out here, Greg?"

Greg frowned for a moment in thought. They weren't
completely alone Greg thought. From the men on the platforms to the men that
appeared to be going about their business, there were plenty of people close
enough to protect Dawn if he tried anything. Further, he figured she wouldn't
have put herself this close to him if she didn't have some idea of his temperament.
That meant she probably listened closely to Hal's recommendations. What could
she want though? According to Ryan, they simply didn't have much that the town
was interested in. Greg thought some more, they were alone, at least for all
intents and purposes. Maybe she needed a favor of some kind. Maybe something
she couldn't trust to her men.

"You need me to do something for you," Greg
replied. "Something you can't trust your men with for some reason."

Dawn smiled. "Hal was right about you. You're quick. I
do need something. You see, we're doing pretty well here. My men are doing a
great job of keeping the infected at bay and the only group that came through
looking for trouble was quickly dealt with. The main problem we have right now
is that there's another group on the other side of town. The short version is
that we're competing for what resources remain when it would be so much more
efficient if we were to join forces."

"Why do you need me?" Greg asked. "Why not
work out some sort of deal?"

"Look around you, Greg. We're trying to rebuild
something here. We've established security so that all of the remaining
residents can safely sleep in their beds at night. We're in the process of
planting so we'll have a reliable source of food.  That's gonna take time
though. To get there, we need all the resources remaining in the town."

"The other group doesn't want to work something
out?"

"Exactly," Dawn replied. "They'd rather go
their own way instead of joining forces and dealing with this crisis together.
I don't even know if they're rationing what they have. Properly managed, there
should be enough food remaining to see us until harvest next year."

"What do you want me to do?" Greg asked.

"Go and talk to them. Maybe they'll listen to reason if
it's coming from someone new. I'm afraid communication has broken down to the
point that they open fire as soon as one of my people approaches them."

"That bad?" Greg asked.

Dawn nodded. "I have nothing but the best in mind. I
want to make sure all the food is evenly distributed so we can all survive
this."

"Alright," Greg said, "what if they don't
want to listen."

"Well, you'll be in a position to convince them that
joining us is in their best interest. Maybe destroy some of their food
supplies."

"I thought you wanted to keep all the supplies so you
could make it to harvest."

"Well, you wouldn't destroy everything of course. Just
enough for them to realize their best chance for survival is in joining with
us."

"Alright. And if I fail? If they don't want to join up?"

"I'm not trying to force you do anything you're not
comfortable with. I look at you and I see a man that has survived for days out
there. I'm sure you've had to do some things you never would have done before
all this happened. I'm sure that you'd do anything to keep you friends safe,
I'm just trying to do the same for my people here. But hey, if you can't go
through with it, we'll put you up for that night and you can be on your way in
the morning. Without any supplies mind you, we can't give anything away for
free."

Greg nodded. "And if I do this for you?"

"I'll give your group a week's worth of food. That
should be enough to see you through until you find another place you can
scavenge for supplies."

That would be great. A week's worth of food? He didn't
really like how easily she talked about destroying food supplies but did he
have a choice? They were down to what, three days of food now? How long before
they reached a place that was safe enough to scavenge for supplies? 

"Alright," Greg said, "I'll go talk to
them."

"Great," Dawn said with a smile. "I'd wait
'til morning," she said as she glanced at the sun. "It'll be dark
soon and the infected will be out in droves beyond the fence."

Greg nodded and she led the way back to the hardware store
and dropped him off with an aide that took him to where the rest of the group
was staying. They'd given them a whole house for their use. If Greg hadn't just
talked with Dawn, he'd think it was rather generous. As it was, it was probably
part of her plan to get him to do her dirty work.

Greg entered the living room and saw everyone lounging on
the couches. The kids were in the corner playing games on their handhelds.