We Go On (THE DELL) (16 page)

I called down to the lead car,
identifying myself, and asked to speak to whoever in the group was in charge.
The driver’s door of the lead car opened and scarecrow of a man stepped out
into the cold rain. His clothes weren't much better than what we saw the Stinkies
wearing. Thread bare and torn, he was not dressed for the weather. He was rail
thin and looked as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. The dark circles around his
eyes, unshaven face, and scraggily hair were indications that he had been
living a hard life for a long while. I asked his name and he said Frank Wilson
and he had his family and several other survivors with him, including seven
children. I asked what his intentions were and he told me his group had been
driving for almost a month. They had come from Texas answering a call on a ham
radio they had received. He said they had no food and were looking for a safe
place to stay. He looked at me pleadingly and asked, "Is this the
Dell?"

I smiled. "Yes." The
look of relief on his face tore at my heart. I thought he would collapse as he
broke down in the realization that they had made it to their destination. I
told him I'd be right down and after a quick warning to the guard on duty to
keep them covered I climbed down and told the other guards to open the gate. I went
out and shook his hand as I introduced myself. He started to tell his family to
get out of the car and I stopped him. I told him that he and I needed to talk
first and that his family should remain in the vehicle until we were finished.
He looked suspicious, but conceded. I think he would have stood on his head in
the rain if he thought it would get them inside our enclosure.

I motioned for him to follow me
and we went to the little guard shack just inside the gate so we could talk in
the dry. Once we were inside, I explained why I had asked him here before
giving them entrance. "Frank, I know you have come a long way and I
understand the hardships you faced getting here. We've all experienced them
ourselves but before I can let you and your people in we have to talk about the
rules."

He looked at me and his eyes were
wary. "Rules?" he asked.

"Yes, we have very strict
rules here about certain things and you need to understand them and agree to
abide by them before you can be admitted. If you and your group agree then we
will be glad to have you join us."

"What if we don't agree to
your rules?" he asked with just a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"We would never just send you
away in the shape you guys are in. We would gladly give you supplies that would
last you a couple of weeks but we would not be able to let you inside the
enclosure. We broadcast that message in order to help survivors but we also
have to consider our own protection. If you agree to our rules we will welcome
you with open arms. If you don't, we can't let you in. I'm sorry but that's how
it is."

He considered what I had told him
for a moment. "Okay, what are the rules?"

 I explained that a physical
examination would have to be performed on each individual. Men, women, and
children. This prevented not only a bitten and infected person from entering
but to also check for any illnesses that might spread to the rest of The Dell.
We didn't have an abundance of medicine and couldn't afford an epidemic. He
seemed to understand this and asked me to continue. I told him that they would
be required to be in quarantine for a period of three days. Our doctor had said
that any illness they brought in undetected would show itself in that time and
if it didn't they were most likely clean. He asked where they would have to
stay during the quarantine period and I told him that we had fixed up a place
in the barn for just such an occurrence. I told him it was warm and dry and
that they would be given food and clothing while they waited so it wouldn't be
as bad as it sounded. He nodded.

"All of your people will be
screened to make sure we’re not letting in people with the idea of causing us
harm,” I continued. I also said if everything checks out and after the three
day quarantine, they would be brought in and introduced to the community. They
would be given a place to live and would be allowed to join the rest of the
group in working to better the village. I explained that everyone worked here
to help everyone else. That was one of the rules, no free loaders. To eat you
had to work.

He had started to shiver and I
knew it was unfair to keep him out in the cold dressed the way he was but I
wanted to be sure he understood what access to the Dell meant. He asked if
there was anything else and I told him that breaking the rules had
consequences. That most infractions meant less food or harder work as
punishment but more serious offenses had stiffer punishment such as being
forced to leave the valley. I pointed out I knew his predicament and his
attempt to do right for his family and friends but to please consider carefully
what I told him. I said I had been the leader of this group for over five years
now and would do nothing to risk their safety even if that meant turning away
children.

He straightened himself up to his
full height. I could tell it took all of his strength just to do that simple
thing. He looked me in the eye. "If we agree to all your terms and you let
us in. Will we be given the same consideration and protection that you’re
showing toward the people already here?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "You have my
word," I said and offered him my hand again. He shook it without
hesitation and said he agreed. I told him I was glad and welcome to the Dell.
Now he could bring his group in and he was to follow my ATV up to the barn. He
still held my hand as he said thank you then went out to get his family. I got
on the radio and called Dave. He answered immediately and said he had a
security force ready to head to the gate if I needed it. I told him he could
stand down but I wanted him to get Doc Groves and meet me at the barn. We had
new arrivals and Doc would need to check them out. I also wanted to talk to him
about the security screening. He said he would be there in five minutes and
signed off. I climbed on the ATV and led the small convoy into the edge of town
and up to the barn.

As soon as we arrived at the barn,
I ushered all of the new group inside out of the worsening rain and showed them
to the area we had set aside as a temporary housing for new arrivals. We had
brought a lot of the cots we had used at the Lebanon compound and set them up
here. We had installed a wood stove and I got a fire going to heat the area. I
explained about the wood pile located just outside the quarters to be used to
keep the place comfortable. If they needed bedding for the cots, we could
provide it, and I would have food prepared and brought up as soon as I could.
There were MREs in one of the stalls across from them and they were welcome to
use them until the hot food could arrive.

They were a miserable looking
bunch standing in the barn listening to me but I could also see the relief in
their faces knowing they were one step closer to a safe permanent home. Dave
arrived with Doc a couple of minutes later and I introduced everybody. Doc went
to work examining the men first and then the women and finally the children.
The entire group went along like they were operating on automatic pilot. They
were the worst bunch I had ever seen. I didn't think any of us had ever looked
this bad but they were still alive and still fighting. I sincerely hoped they'd
be able to stay.

Doc's exams took longer than I
thought they would and when he finished I asked the results. He said they were
all malnourished and were suffering from several different illnesses but none
of them were contagious or posed a health threat to the rest of us. He said he
was amazed that some of them were still alive. Thankfully, none had been
scratched or bitten by the Stinkies so they were good for the moment. I told
them all to start making themselves comfortable and I'd send our storekeeper,
Gwen, up to see what they needed. Frank nodded and said thank you again. I told
him to hang in there, that we would help them to get healthy again. After our
talk he went over to his family and tried to get them settled.

I told Dave to get a few security
guys to the barn and to make sure no one left the quarantine area but not to be
hard ass'ed about it. They had been through enough and bossing them around was
not what they needed. The security people were also to be there to help them
with anything they might need and to let him and I know if there’s anything we
needed to do or get for them. He said he understood and got on his radio to get
it done.

Gwen arrived with Jim and I
explained the situation to them. Gwen went in to motherly mode and started
making a list of the things the new group would need. She talked to the women
and was horrified at the shape the children were in. She told Jim to go back
down to the village and tell some of the women to start cooking; these folks
needed a hot meal. Jim said okay and headed off. I tried not to, but couldn't
help but think that this group would put a strain on our already tight supply
situation. I asked Gwen if she thought there would be enough and she screwed up
her face and punched me in the arm. I was so shocked by what she had done I
couldn't speak. Before I found my tongue she started in. "Scott Williams,
how dare you ask that with these poor people in the shape they are in? They
need our help and they are going to get it. We'll make do and don't you even
think about canceling the Thanksgiving dinner." I looked down guilty
because that’s exactly what I had been thinking. She must have recognized my
discomfort at what she said because she added, "We have even more to be
thankful for now.  We have a whole new group to add to our family. Isn't that
what you wanted this place to be about?"

She was right, of course; it was
exactly what I had envisioned in my mind. A place that survivors could come to
for comfort and safety. A place for a new beginning and these people definitely
needed it. I leaned over and kissed Gwen on the cheek. "Gwen you’re the
best." She smiled at me and turned and went back to helping get things
arranged for our guests.

I stuck around the barn until the
entire new group had been given a hot meal. Gwen was still there and seemed to
have taken charge. She made sure they all had new warmer clothes and supplies
to clean themselves up with. She even brought some small toys up for the kids.
She did a fine job and I tried to stay out of the way. Dave had gotten the
guards in place and they were trying to remain unobtrusive but still alert.

By the time I left the barn the
visitors were starting to settle down and most of the kids were already asleep.
It was probably the first uninterrupted sleep they'd had in months. The adults
were starting to smile and were even talking some. They were exhausted as well
and I told them to get a good night’s rest and I would see them in the morning.
This time, they all thanked me and I told them it was my pleasure. As I left
they were turning in for the night and I was sure it wouldn't be long before
they were all sound asleep. I told the guards to keep a good watch and not let
anything happen to them. They nodded and I went to the ATV for the ride back to
the cottage.

When I went to sleep that night I
thought of what Gwen had said. That The Dell was supposed to be a place of
sanctuary. She was right and now we had truly proven it. We had our first group
of new arrivals and it left me feeling satisfied. This Thanksgiving would be
special.

The conference room was spacious
and lavishly furnished. Rich walnut paneling lined the walls and was so highly
polished that it was possible to use the finish as a mirror. Expensive
paintings, mostly land and seascapes, hung throughout the room and helped to
relieve the stress of being underground. A large flat panel liquid crystal
monitor filled one end wall and displayed data from all the systems available
in the complex.

A luxurious dark blue carpet
adorned the walk way around the perimeter of the room and framed the central
square of bamboo wood flooring. A buffet style side table sat along one wall
and was covered with a variety of pastries and fruit. An enormous teak wood
conference table filled the center of the room. Several carafes of coffee and
pitchers of water were spaced along its length and it was surrounded by
handmade leather high backed chairs. The entire room was designed to showcase
the privilege of the director and to impress visitors.

The woman standing at the end of
the table reflected the same privilege as the room. She was dressed in a dark
gray Cavalli suit with a tapered waist that accentuated her feminine curves and
exemplified her taste. For this operational meeting, she’d chosen the matching
slacks instead of a skirt. The handmade Italian leather pumps by Bruno Magli
gave her two additional inches of height to her five feet seven inch frame. She
found the added height helped her when dealing with men.

She was trim, yet shapely, thanks
to the two hours each morning she spent in the complex gym and helped to add to
her confidence. Her hair style had changed since arriving at the complex. She
had opted for a very short and severe look for her white blonde hair. The style
made it easy to care for and had the added benefit of giving her an
intimidating quality.

Her age was indeterminate and
could have been anywhere from twenty-five to forty. She was, in fact, thirty-three
and her naturally dark skin tone reflected her Mediterranean heritage. She wore
little make up beyond a lip gloss to reduce the severity of her rather small
and thin lips. Her dark eyes, high cheekbones, and straight nose added to her
beauty and helped to hide the fact that she was completely howling at the moon
insane.

Her outward appearance had been
designed and fostered by her to be appealing and to disguise her more
unappealing qualities. The only clue to her present mental status was her
voice, which at the moment was a high falsetto due to the rage she felt. The
object of her rage was the assembled group seated around the conference table.

Her audience was a cross section
of the individuals assigned to work at the complex. There were technicians,
analysts, and operators clustered in groups on both sides of the table. The
division between the groups was clearly defined and would have been apparent to
an outsider. The technicians were all male and down to the last were dressed
like a group of frat boys in shorts, flip flops, and t-shirts. The analysts
were a little better dressed and were both men and women.

The operators were another all
male group and similarly dressed in either tan or green cargo pants, hiking
boots, and black polo shirts. The polo shirts all had the logo GMOI over the
left breast which stood for Global Military Options Incorporated. They were the
only group armed and each wore a holstered semi-automatic pistol on his hip.
While the techs and analysts wore their hair long, for the most part, the
operators all had clean shaven faces and close cropped hair. Their physiques
also set them apart from their peers. To a man, the operators were all in
excellent physical condition and exuded confidence. They were clearly
ex-military.

On the table in front of each
person was a white folder with TS: SCI, the acronym for Top Secret: Special
Compartmentalized Information stamped on the face in inch-high red letters.
Inside the folders were a stack of eight-and-a-half by eleven inch photographs.
Each photograph was of the same geographic area with different date and time
stamps. The area depicted on the photographs was the subject of the tirade
being directed at them by the woman standing at the head of the table.

In the intervening time since “Key
Hole” had taken the first photograph of the anomaly the technicians had
adjusted the computer program that directed the satellite to change its orbit
every twenty four hours. “Key Hole” was now in a single orbit track over the
same geographic area and sent back to earth fourteen photographs of the same
anomaly each twenty-four hour period. Hundreds of photos had been taken and
sent to the printer in the vault where the technicians worked.

Those photos were then given to
the analysts to study and make determinations as to what the anomaly was. From
the analysis it was determined to be a compound approximately fifteen- hundred-feet-by-fifteen-hundred-feet
square. The varying location of vehicles clearly discernible in the photos from
day to day and pass to pass led the analysts to determine that the compound was
manned by non-infected humans. A closer inspection of the photos revealed some
of those vehicles to be military in appearance. Although high resolution
enlargements of the photos were studied and humans could be seen, there was not
enough resolution to make an accurate determination as to who they were or
their health status.

The analysis of the photographs
was given to the operators. Their part was to study the analysis and develop a
tactical plan for approaching the compound and conducting reconnaissance. Their
information would then be added to a growing file being developed on the
anomaly and would be used to further develop a tactical plan for an assault on
the compound if that should become warranted.

After a detailed study of the
photos and the analysis, the operators sent back a request for further
information, and the cycle of photograph, analyze, and plan started all over
again. It was the opinion of the operators that not enough information was available
to accurately plan a reconnaissance operation to penetrate the area of the
compound. They would be a long way from their support system and didn't want to
get caught in a situation they were not prepared for.

Continued requests for further
information had succeeded in running the techs and analysts through the cycle
four times. This delay had caused the directors time line guidance that the
recon operation be conducted by mid-November to be missed, and according to
weather and moon phase data, the next acceptable time for conducting the
operation would be sometime in January.

The continued delays along with
the obstinacy of the military types only added to the stress that the director
felt. Couldn't they see she was under enormous pressure? The personnel from
GMOI were being paid a lot of money to do her bidding. Why couldn't they just
do what they were told? She would never admit to being overwhelmed but her
frustration with the excuses had reached boiling point. The operator’s
insistence that more time would allow them to conduct the operation with a
wider margin for safety and success meant nothing to her. In her mind, they
were paid to take chances and if it resulted in casualties, well, so much the
better for her. Casualties meant salaries that wouldn't have to be paid and her
bosses were all about saving money.

All of these things combined in
her mind and had led to the rage she felt and she would not be the only one to
suffer. Oh no, they were causing her stress and they would know the meaning of
the old saying, “Shit rolls downhill.”

She stared out at her audience,
her face red and blotchy, eyes wide and bulging as she screamed, "I don't
give a fuck. I don't give a fuck who they are or how they are armed. I don't
give a fuck if they have roving patrols or dogs. I repeat, I don't give a fuck!
I want to own that compound by the middle of summer. Understand? I want it. I
don't give a fuck how you do it. But you will get it for me or I will fuck you
up, each and every one of you. Now, get me that compound!" With that she
turned and stormed out of the room.