Chapter 3
It was after midnight when they pulled up to the gates leading into Haven. Russell, one of the newer residents of Haven, was on guard duty with Jack, one of the original members of Haven.
"You sure are getting in late. I would have thought you would have waited until morning to travel." said Jack.
"We got ambushed and I wanted to get the wounded back here as soon as possible." said Bobby.
Jack told Bobby to have everyone wait at the community center until they could be checked for bites or scratches. Jack rushed off to get someone to look at Rob and Luther's wounds as well.
Within the hour, Jenny, Betty, Veronica and I were at the community center.
Jenny and Veronica were fussing over Rob and Luther. Veronica put 10 stitches in the gash created by the bullet on Rob's forehead. She told Rob that he might have a slight concussion and advised him to stay in bed for a few days.
Luther's wound appeared to have entered at his shoulder and exited cleanly without hitting any bones or organs. Veronica cleaned the wounds and re-bandaged them.
I took Bobby aside and grilled him about the attack. After he told me what he knew, I told him to pick out an M4 and a couple hundred rounds and give them to Kent as payment for the trip.
Then I called Mike and Wally over and told them, "You guys did an outstanding job. Pick out a rifle and a pistol and a thousand rounds as payment for going out there and performing well. These weapons and ammo are not for community stock, your dad, or your uncle. They are yours. If called to go out and defend Haven, or go on forage, you will need to have your weapons close by." Then I said," If anyone try's to take them or tells you different, you let Rob or I know. Now, Wally, tell me everything you can remember about the attack on your vehicle."
Wally described the men who had attacked Rob's APC.
I then sent someone to get Neil to look at the body they had brought back with them. I wanted to know if it was the Power Plant guys again
I looked at them and asked the three of them if they would be willing to go back out with me when they rested up and when Rob felt well enough to make the trip.
Mike and Wally said they would go.
"Are we going to go to the Power Plant?" asked Bobby. He had automatically included himself, never questioning whether or not he would be accompanying me. And based on his judgment and recent performance, not to mention his rescue of Wally, Luther and Rob, I had no reason to doubt his ability to survive out there as well as Rob or myself.
"That's where we'll be going, and if Neil recognizes this guy I'll burn the damn plant to the ground and feed those bastards to the Zombies." I said. "Well, Neil turned out to be an OK guy. Maybe they aren't all bad. Maybe there are people there that we could use. We do need electricity and there are people there that have a much greater knowledge of that than anyone in Haven. They may have other knowledge that would be useful to us too." said Bobby.
Neil had been staying with Frank Blue, his wife and their eight year old son ever since Bobby and I had tangled with Neil and a couple other guys while on a foraging trip and brought him to Haven.
Neil had proven to be useful working on several construction jobs in Haven despite the fact he had shot Bobby at our first meeting. And if Bobby didn't hold a grudge I guess I shouldn't either. Neil had just been trying to survive in a world that was hostile to all living beings.
I Looked at Bobby and shook my head in amazement and said, "Good point Bobby, in case you haven't noticed, I sometimes let my anger get the better of me and look for the quick fix. You know, I also considered shooting Rob the first time we met. I'm sure glad I didn't now. That would have been a really bad move. Rob and I have saved each others lives on more than one occasion since then. It's good to know that you have a level head and my rashness hasn't rubbed off on you...yet."
Frank Blue and his family had fled Sacramento and traveling up Highway 99, had found themselves at the front gates of Haven about six months ago and stayed on.
The population of Haven had swollen to the point where new single people were assigned rooms with current residents to preserve homes for families. Frank had volunteered to let Neil use a spare room in the house he was given. Like most people that had dealt with the Zombies, Frank was glad to have another gun in the house.
When I had talked to Frank, he told me that he felt Neil could be trusted, and that Neil said that he was happy to be away from the power plant. Frank said Neil had told him stories of the things that took place in the plant since the take over that he would rather his wife and son not hear. Stories of them putting people outside the fence, and watching the Zombies kill them as an entertaining way of getting rid of someone. The place appears to be run with an iron fist and that the lives of the members were of little or no consequence to the guys running the place.
Neil had made a comment about the original Power Plant workers being held virtual prisoners. The workers were told to stay inside the plant at all times for their own protection. The bosses' real motivation was to keep the workers from getting any ideas about leaving the plant. The Power Plant employees were needed in order to keep the generators operating. The generators were needed to guarantee the interior, perimeter lights, and the jury rigged electric fence would remain operational. In the event of a Zombie attack, the Zombies might push the fence down and overrun the plant if they were able to push on the fence without getting electrocuted.
When Neil arrived at the community center I took him to see the body of the guy that had shot Rob.
"Do you recognize this guy, Neil?"
"Yes, that's Big Tony. He's one of the bosses' favorites. They must be getting low on people for him to have been sent outside the compound." said Neil.
"That settles it. I'm going to stop these guys once and for all. As soon as he's up to it, I'll talk to Rob about feeding those clowns to the Zombies." I told Neil.
Bobby said that he would stay over at Rob and Jenny's until Rob felt better.
When we were finally alone, Betty took my hand and said "Do you have to go back out there again so soon Ralph? I hate it when you are out there. I never know if you are coming back or not."
I took Betty into my arms and told her "I didn't think I had it in me to care for anyone as much as I do you. I hate being away from you, but those guys have to be stopped. I don't want Bobby, Rob or anyone else we might send out for supplies being endangered by both Zombies and those power plant guys. I can't make the Zombies go away, but I can end the threat from the power plant guys. As soon as I can put together a plan I'm going to end the danger they present to our people. After I do this we can talk about my staying here at home for awhile."
The next day Rob came by the house and said he was ready to go to Sacramento right now.
"I'm ready to go kick some ass." he said.
Rob suggested that we run by the National Guard Armory and pickup the low boy trailer and trailer one of the tanks Bobby had located over to the power plant.
"I think we should demand they give up their leaders or level the plant itself." said Rob.
We agreed to make the trip in five days time. I told Rob to go home and rest up and make sure he was healthy enough for the trip.
The night before we were to leave, there was a knock at my door.
Ted Winters, the security Subcommittee chairman with aspirations to Fred's General Committee chairmanship office, and five of the committee members, who were Ted's staunchest supporters were standing on my porch. They were accompanied by two armed men.
Ted cleared his throat and said, "Ralph, I really have to put my foot down and demand that you abandon this misadventure you have planned. I don't see how it helps Haven for you to declare war on another group of survivors. The security subcommittee has voted to have you placed under arrest if you persist in this ill advised plan. You and Rob have ranted and raved at the community meetings and you yourself have even gone so far as to threaten the lives of the committee members. This behavi
or will no longer be tolerated without repercussions. Tomorrow morning we will be arresting Rob for disobeying our orders. He had our permission to only go to the National Guard Armory and return to haven. Instead he chose to go to the Armory and then go on an unsanctioned trip to the Army Depot. He also planned to ignore our order to stay away from the Power Plant. It was while preparing for this side trip he and another resident of Haven were attacked and injured. We feel that he brought the attack upon himself and endangered the lives of others. And therefore a trip for retaliation purposes has neither been authorized nor deemed necessary by Haven or its representatives."
From the hallway, I heard an M4 being locked and loaded.
"Shut up Ted, or your next poorly chosen word could get you shot." said Rob.
Ted stammered, "I order you to put that gun down Rob. You are under arrest. Put that rifle down before you get in even more trouble or get yourself shot."
"I warned you to be carful about those poorly chosen words." said Rob
"See here son, if you think you can threaten and scare us into allowing you to do as you please, you are seriously deluded. I will have you and your family arrested and sent out the gates tonight. GUARDS, ARREST Him." yelled Ted.
The two armed men started to raise their rifles but before they could do anything, Rob said," Now I'm sure those, WERE the words." A burst from Rob's M4 which was set on full automatic mode hit Ted in the chest.
Ted fell back into the arms of the committee member standing behind him and slid to the floor.
Rob swung his weapon and trained it on the two armed guards. "You two, put down your rifles." Rob said motioning to the two armed guards. Both Men quickly complied. "Now, everyone just go home and wait for Ralph or me to call for your attendance at the next community meeting. At that time we can discuss the future cooperation between us and the committee. You can explain to the community members 'why' when the current food supply is exhausted, they will be required to forage for themselves. Or maybe they can send you to get supplies." said Rob.
As the committee members started to leave, Rob said, "Take that piece of crap with you." while pointing to Ted's lifeless body. The two guards grabbed Ted's body by the arms and dragged him out the door.
When they had the body off of my porch, I called for them to stop!
I walked over and pulling my pistol I put a round into Ted's head.
"I wouldn't want him turning Zombie and biting you. Now, get out of here." I said.
I turned to Rob and asked, "How did you happen to be here at my house at the right time?"
Rob said, "Bobby had heard there was to be a committee meeting here tonight and I thought I would come over and see what they wanted. I had just come in through the back door and heard the voices and I knew you wouldn't allow them to order you not to leave tomorrow. I thought it would be better if you weren't arrested or shot for resisting arrest."
"Don't you think your shooting Ted might be frowned upon by the committee? You know they won't just ignore this and pretend it never happened." I asked Rob.
"I don't care. I'm fed up with that damn committee. I'm sure if it ever comes up, I can depend on the committee members to testify that I shot Ted in self defense or they can die wishing they had." Rob laughed.
Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
"Now who's here to get shot?" I asked as I walked over to open the door.
"Wait a minute I'll go out the back and circle around the house to make sure you don't get ambushed." said Rob.
There was another knock at the door and I heard Fred shout "Ralph, it's me, Fred, I want to talk to you, and I'm alone." I opened the door and Fred was standing on my porch. Fred said, "I just heard what happened here tonight. I just wanted to tell you I was sorry that they behaved so stupidly. I'll call a special session of the committee and move to dissolve the security subcommittee tomorrow.
"I would prefer if you postpone that. I would like you to accompany us tomorrow to the Power Plant in the event we are able to reach a deal with them." I said. Fred agreed to represent the Haven committee in any negotiations with the Power Plant bosses.
The following morning with Rob, Fred, and Wally in Robs APC, and Bobby, Mike, Neil and I in my APC, we pulled through the gates and left Haven for the National Guard Armory.
Jack was manning the gate and wished us good luck. "Don't worry about the committee I'll keep an ear to the ground and let you know if I hear if they're up to anything." Jack said.
"Make sure Luther takes care of the girls for us." I said.
Four hours later, we pulled the APC's up to the gates of the Armory storage yard.
Using jumper cables, we were able to get the big D9 started. Rob backed it off of the big trailer. We jump started the big tow truck and started the trip to the road block where Bobby had seen the tanks.
We got one of the old Abrams M1A1 tanks started; thanks to Rob's US Army training as a tank crew member in Afghanistan. Rob gave Bobby, Mike and Fred a quickie course in loading and firing the 120mm gun.
"Don't worry about aiming, we'll just pull up close and you can point and shoot." said Rob.
Bobby and Mike grasped the technique fairly quickly so Fred said he would be the back up tank driver.
Using our fuel pump we were able to top off the fuel tanks and we loaded a full armament of 120mm shells into the tank.
Rob said that there was an excellent chance that he and I would need to find somewhere besides Haven to live after his disagreement with the council.
"Disagreement, you call that a disagreement? You killed one councilman, threatened the lives and fired five others. That might appear to most people as slightly more than a disagreement. But, I'm sure we can smooth things over, because Ted was way out of line. The Security subcommittee was getting power mad, issuing edicts rather than just advising the General Committee. And we do in fact need you and your services" said Fred.
We loaded the tank onto the trailer and decided to haul it most of the way to the power plant due to its 30 gallons an hour fuel consumption.
We spent the night at the road block sleeping in our APC's and were up at 5:30 am and on the road headed for the power plant by 6:30.
Four blocks from the power plant we off loaded the tank and Rob drove it to the power plant. Rob pulled the tank to a stop across the street from the Power Plants main gates.
The APC's were brought in from opposite directions and flanked the tanks position.
Neil yelled to the gate guards that he wanted to see Marvin and Davis or we were going to blast our way in and drag them out.
Ten minutes later the two individuals Neil had requested walked out the main buildings front doors. Based on their disheveled appearance, they had needed some persuasion.
I guess the guys in the plant felt more threatened by an Abrams tank than of the tough guy bosses. The street in front of the main gates to the plant had a population of between 100 to 200 Zombies. The two APC's and the Tank opened up on the Zombies using the .50 cal machine guns. The Zombies were dispatched within three minutes of machine gun fire.
Neil yelled for the gates to be opened. The two gate guards looked at each other then rushed to swing the gates open wide enough for the tank and APC's to enter single file. Inside the gated compound, the vehicles fanned out to the same formation they had used in the street.
With all guns trained onto the front doors of the main building. Neil asked one of the guys who he called Davis, how many people were living at the plant now. "There are only 22 people living here now. The last crew we sent after supplies didn't return. So, we might be down to 19 if they're dead." said Davis.
I climbed out of my APC, Rob climbed out of the tank, and we walked over to the pair and I said, "We want to borrow a couple of the former plant employees. They can return as soon as we get our power problems worked out."
Davis smirked and said, "Why would I let you take our people, we're fine here. We don't want or need any assistance fro
m you."
"Yeah, I know how your guys operate. Twice our people have been ambushed by your guys." I replied.
Davis laughed and said, "You have to be careful out there it's dangerous."
"Well hell, it's pretty dangerous inside this compound." I said.
Then I drew my pistol and shot Davis in the forehead.
The .50 caliber machine guns of the APC's and the tank swiveled and pointed toward six armed men standing at the front doors.
"Just put your rifles on the ground in front of you and stand back." commanded Rob. All six of the men dropped their rifles and stepped back against the wall.
Neil and Fred climbed out of the vehicles. Neil looked over at Rob and said, "Davis was the muscle but Marvin was the brains."
"OK, Marvin, I understand you and Davis were the leaders. According to Neil, you ran the plant through intimidation and force. Well, all of that is over. No one else has to die. I want everyone here on the front steps within the next five minutes or I'll blow the hell out of this building, pull down your perimeter fence and leave you guys to the Zombies. So decide. Do you want to meet with us or the Zombies?" Rob inquired.
Marvin ordered two of the guys standing against the wall to gather everyone out onto the steps.
When the site personnel were assembled on the front steps of the plants main building, Rob told them that we were leaving Neil in charge of the compound.
Marvin stepped forward at this information "What do you mean you are leaving Neil in charge? I'm in charge of this site." he protested.
"Are we going to have to do this again." asks Rob, drawing his pistol.
"NO, NO, no problem!" said Marvin.
From the looks on their faces the former construction workers and the original plant workers weren't too upset about having someone else in charge. I guess if conditions are bad enough the simple changing of bosses makes little difference to you.
Of the former employees of the Power Plant, eight of the original 15 people were still alive. Three volunteered to go back with us to Haven and help us setup the new generators we had acquired. In the course of negotiations at a meeting held later that day, Keith the former plant manager, said if they could inspect and repair the power lines between here and Haven they might be able to route power to Haven from the plant itself. This would eliminate our need to waste fuel running generators. Rob said that he would be willing to drive them to inspect the power lines. Fred, Rob and I agreed to supply the plant with food and ammunition in exchange for power.
Neil said that he could use Marvin's help in running the plant but he would need to keep a close watch on him. Mike agreed to stay with Neil and act as a body guard for Neil until he could identify the people he felt he could trust. We stayed at the power plant that night and planned to return to Haven the next morning.
The following morning we backed the tank and APC's back out onto the street and loaded the tank on its trailer. We planned to drop both at the National Guard Armory since it was on our way back to Haven.
Rob and I had been discussing the possibility of building another safe site if the situation at Haven turned bad for us. Rob said he had been drawing up plans for quite sometime. He said he had been fed up with the Haven Councilmen for quite awhile. And when Jenny came into his life, he really got inspired about leaving Haven. The conglomeration of the past, present and his future with Jenny and the family they were planning was also why it had made it so easy to take Ted out.
"I was thinking about constructing 15 foot high defensive walls sloped on the inside but shear on the outside for the living area. I think I'll cast the building wall in concrete on site and then erect them. I'll show you what I've planned so far. If I can get some assistance from the guys here, (Neil said they were construction workers before the Zombie thing hit) I should be able to finish construction of the living area in a couple of months. We could fence the farming and live stock areas with woven wire fence that we can salvage." said Rob
For the first time I realized just how serious Rob was about leaving Haven and starting his own compound. Up until now I had assumed it was just anger and idle talk. "How many people would you need to do that?" I asked.
"I think two or three guys with bulldozers working two weeks. A crew of 10 to 15 guys working cement. Plus a crew of 10 or twelve to salvage materials for a couple of weeks. One of the biggest problems would be obtaining sufficient fuel for the trucks and heavy equipment". Rob said.
"A trip to a fuel distribution point in Benicia could solve that problem. We should be able to get a couple of truck loads of fuel there." I told him. "The only thing that concerns me is how many people will you be able to house." I asked.
"At first, I'll plan for our families, and we can include anyone that works on the site. But they have to understand it will be run by the family. NO COMMITTEE. If they aren't happy about the way things are being run, they can always leave and go to Haven, or build their own site." said Rob.
"We may not even have a problem and have to leave Haven." I said.
"If not this time, then there will be a next time. I'm just so sick of the committee deciding when and how I do everything." Rob said.