A Dead Man's Tale

Chapter 7 (Howard)

We've been forced to abandon the truck and are on foot, lugging around our supplies in large hunting backpacks. Cortez really did like that truck and said how he could never afford it on a factory worker's salary. There were just too many road blocks and traffic jams on our way to the quarry. We did manage to get close to the highway so now we just have to follow the road to our destination. For now we are squatting in another gas station. At least this one smells better than the previous one.

With the number of abandoned cars we might even be able to find something worth using. In people's haste to escape the corpses they would have forgotten something. I'm on watch after dinner, more of Cortez's venison jerky. There are a few corpses roaming in the nearby field but at their distance they can't tell if we are living or dead. We'll take care of them if they get any closer.

Sometimes I think about the corpses I've had to kill. Is it considered killing? If some piece of their soul remains, is it the same? Cortez believes it's like killing a dangerous animal, like a bear. The creature is nothing but a 'dumb sack of flesh, out to kill and the only way to make the world safer is to kill it first'. I just don't know yet. What would I feel if I was forced to kill an actual human? Those bandits are still out there after all.

                                                                                             ***

WE MADE IT TO THE QUARRY! We approached the fence slowly with our hands up to show we meant no harm to them. Three men armed with guns came from the main gate and brought them at the ready. For a minute I thought they were just going to shoot us.

"Who are you?" said one of the quarry-men.

We told them who we were and pieces of our story.

"What if they are with those bandits? We should just drop them," said a second man.

Luckily, the third man seemed to be more reasonable. He ordered the other two to escort us into their base. We are being held in some kind of storage shed. They took most of our gear but they let me keep my journal. Cortez is a little stirred up, being held at gun point, losing his gear and being penned in doesn't agree with him. Although, I'm just as nervous as he is.

We've been stuck in this shed for at least an hour and a half. There's a small window in one of the walls and I've been looking out to see more of the quarry. From my count there are at least thirty-five people, men and women, and there may be more in some of the buildings. There's a lot of activity out in the quarry's main yard, I wonder if it's because of us or the threat of bandits? It's probably both. Several people have pointed to the shed but then the same person that locked us in here waves them off.

                                                                                       ***

There is a leader here at the quarry, a man named Gabriel who is out scouting. The man that brought us in, named David, is willing to wait for him to make any decisions about us.

I overheard David talking with someone before they entered the shed to feed us, food from our own supplies of course. Cortez has calmed down, thankfully. I know him enough to know that he doesn't want to cause trouble, he just doesn't like being held up like this and waiting for something to happen. I'm feeling like I'm back at the house, penned in but this time to bodies are living.