Parchman
we do not get help soon then I fear too that we will become monstersand turn on each other. I am scared for the future.”CHAPTER TWO
Deep inside a tent somewhere in the middle of Texas Nathanial Matherssat dejected, exhausted, hungry and looking at the other men around himwho were arguing about what the community should do next in order tosurvive the next twenty-four hours. It did not look promising.
In just under two weeks they had travelled less than two hundred milesfrom the decimated government base and were critically low on foodsupplies and gasoline. As fuel ran low so did the vehicles they had takenfrom the base, each one being left along the roadside when the tank randry, leaving their passengers to jump into another vehicle with sufficientspace and fuel to continue.
Many of the community had already broken off and started the journey byfoot back to the base to try and scavenge what they could from thewreckage. The rest of the base group were on the verge of starvation andmany were contemplating going it alone as well.
Franklin J. Pitkin stood up to try and speak over the rest of the men.‘It’sbeen two weeks and we’ve had no communication with anyone. Thecomms units are dead, and ourGPS are unusable. We’ve no way of askingfor help even if there was anyone out there that could help us,’ he said.
‘How absolutely helpful Pitkin,’ said Chad Carlgren being childish. ‘Funnily enough when we were escaping bombs exploding and bulletsflying by our heads picking up batterieswas the last thing on our minds.’
Nathanial grimaced but knew Carlgren was right. In the commotion peoplegrabbed for their loved ones first and clothes and personal belongingssecond. No-one thought to start loading food and petrol onto the vehiclesbefore leaving, and they had little time to do so anyway. In two weeks, thisgroup of geniuses hadn’t made it as far as a group of teenagers had in aday.
‘Tallulah, do you have anything to add?’ Nathanial said.
Tallulah who had been sitting silently and listening to the group of menargue stood to address the table.
‘Look, it was never going to be easy. Our home was destroyed by theCommander General and we didn’t have the foresight to pre-empt whatwas going to happen. Let’s all take a breath and take a step back. Movingover two thousand eight hundred people across country with minimal foodsupplies, and what, twenty-two vehicles?’ she looked to one of the menfor affirmation.‘No wonder so many have left to go their own way. It wasto be expected.’
‘Down to eleven vehicles now Miss Tallulah,’ said the man. ‘Less than aquarter tank in all of them,’ he added.
She lowered her head.‘So not great,granted, but we didn’t bring this onourselves. Commander General Roderick did. Arguing among ourselvesisn’t going to help the situation. Putting our heads together and coming upwith a plan is the only way we are going to get to the nearest city. Now arewe agreed that we need to get to Mississippi and regroup at the prison?They are the only ones out there that we know for sure have the resourcesto not only transport us but can feed us too.’
The men silently nodded one by one.
‘Now by my reckoning you’ve already got a group of people out there atyour disposal who have been to the prison and know their way therewithout a GPS. This group has a relationship with the men inside thatprison. No disrespect to Captain Gradel,’ she nodded to a man stoodsilently in the corner of the tent, ‘but if the Captain turns up with a militaryescortthey aren’t going to take to kindly to it,’ she said.
‘Can you get to the point please Tallulah?’ said Carlgren, lighting up acigarette and unamused that they were reliant on a girl of eighteen yearsold for advice, such was his male chauvinism.
‘We pool our gasoline from our last vehicles and completely fill one jeep. Then with additional spare gas tanks we send Logan and his team back tothe prison. They can get help and come back to get the rest of us andhopefully bring some interim supplies in the meantime,’ said Tallulah.
‘Absolutely not,’ Carlgren replied standing up to face her. ‘So yourboyfriend, who I might add is partly responsible for this situation we findourselves in, travels off with his friends to this so-called oasis whilst therest of us sit here and wait for who knows what. Who is to say he evencomes back?’ he said raising an eyebrow.
‘That’s my son you’re talking about Chad. Be careful what you say next,’Nathaniel said with all the authority of his previous position as Presidentof the United States.
Carlgren held up his hands in apology. ‘OK, but what if they head off andfor whatever reason don’t make it back. We just sit here on our handswaiting for the cavalry, which isn’t actually coming? My concern is that,yes, they’ve done it once, but they were lucky. We know what is out theredon’t we Brad?’ he said looking to Brad Senior and referring to the deathof his son at the hands of one of the Savages last time around.
Brad sat there broken and not speaking. His son had been his whole lifeand without him he didn’t want to be sat at this table and he honestlydidn’treally care what happened to the rest of the community.
‘We’ve all lost people,’ said Nathaniel. ‘I know as much as anyone thepain of loss,but we’ve got to do something. Moving such a large groupjust isn’t working. People are losing hope. They are hungry and we do nothave the capacity to transport everyone. Half of the community we do haveleft are either too old to make the journey by foot or two young, and thefood we