A Dead Man's Tale

Chapter 12 (Jessica)

The alarm was spreading throughout the missile silo and everyone was preparing for battle. The Hill People's slow moving column was approaching the fence line. The plan would be to let the raiders pass through it and encounter the traps rigged in their path. The battle itself would be fought on the doorstep of the Judges' Place. The power was disengaged to the elevator so the only way in or out was the ladder running the depth of the missile launch bay, now a beehive of activity from the survivors ready to defend their home.

Heaps of junk were piled around the battle ground to provide cover for the Judges. They did not know what the Hill People would be armed with. Word was they were armed with only hammers, bats and other odds and ends tapped to chunks of wood.

Jessica was testing the trigger pull of her rifle, every so often she would flinch drastically. She knew that if she was taking an actual shot the flinch would drive her round off target. Dennis saw her reaction.

"A shot like that isn't going to help us." It was more of a criticism then an insult. Jessica was a very capable markswoman, they both knew it. It had been a life or death situation ever since the first outbreaks began. Skills like proficiency with firearms became very necessary. Jessica knew she could do it but the fear was taking an unexpected toll.

Jessica's flinching was caused by fear but it wasn't of the rifle, the gun didn't scare her. She had used guns to put down walkers but rarely had she turned them human beings. She never had been involved with a pitch battle like the kind that would soon engulf the Judges. She remembered the night they fled from the Ridge Mount High School, their shelter and home. Jessica had been forced to fire upon people she lived with for two years. She wondered if she killed anyone that night, wondered how they were fairing under the command of Commander Lee. Jessica looked up to her friend, strong and unbending, looking for guidance.

"How did you deal with your first time in combat? I mean against living people trying to kill, you not the living dead." Her hands were shaking.

Dennis watched the scrambling Judges performing odd jobs that were more to stop boredom and the thoughts of the battle. One group was being addressed by a priest offering absolution. Others just sat and waited with their comrades close by and their weapons closer.

"I was in a firefight in Afghanistan, it started and I remembered I was shooting. Before I knew it, it was over, one friend gone and a few dozen jihadist dead on the ground." He was back in the desert, when the only enemy was the one with a pulse. "I don't remember how I dealt with it. I got so drunk that I don't recall what I did."

Jessica laughed, which surprised her considering the circumstances. Dennis always knew what to say. He had seen so much with his time as a marine that he was able to talk to others about fear, death and destruction when it appeared in front of so many people. It helped when that fear reached a fever pitch. Jessica normally controlled her fear rather well, she would coolly dispatch corpse after corpse whenever she was out on her scavenging missions but she had a different feeling when it came to killing the living.

With the fear subsiding to a more manageable level she waited for the inevitable battle to come.

The Hill People were in view, a thin line of figures just resting out of range of the Judges' bows. They did not move any further towards the missile silo and nerves were stressed waiting for the signal. From the host came a single warrior with a white flag waving in the breeze. He stopped when he reached shouting distance to address the Judges.

"Judges! I am Benjamin Little Fox, Leader of the survivors that live in the Blue Hills Nature Preserve! I want a parley with your leader!"