Surviving Chaos

4

After the disaster of the escaping visitors, Kara had taken extraordinary measures to eradicate any traces of democracy from the compound. She now ruled with an iron fist, and she wasn’t going to let that change.

She enjoyed the way the others cowered when they saw her, the way they averted her eyes.

Max had killed Jeff. He’d been too useful to Kara, and it’d been hard to find a replacement. Right now, she was relying heavily on a tall muscular man who went by the name of Smitty. He was power hungry, just like Kara. He wasn’t as subtle or intelligent as Jeff, but he was willing to do almost anything to advance his position in the compound. That was just how some people were.

Kara’s trick was to use Smitty to her own advantage while not letting him get too far ahead. She knew that his loyalty would only go so far. The minute he smelled an opportunity to undermine her, he’d take it and try to seize total control for himself. Her plan was to use Smitty until he was just at the brink of being out of her control. Then she’d make him destroy himself with his own momentum.

“Anything to report?” said Kara in a low voice.

She was sitting on her bunk bed in the building that was her own. She was still the only woman in the community.

Smitty sat on an empty bucket opposite her. “Everything’s going well,” he said. “Everyone’s fallen in line well. Not many murmurs of dissent.”

“We can’t afford any. When you say ‘not many’ what do you mean?”

“I’ve heard a few grumbles. Some are resentful of your takeover.”

“’A few’ is far too many,” said Kara. “They need to be too scared to even grumble. Give me names.”

“Well, there’s Mark Koppel. I heard him whispering something to one of his friends, something about democracy.”

“He’s a trouble maker,” said Kara. “Bring him in.”

“What? Now?”

“Right now,” said Kara.

“He was on shit duty. I’ll go see if he’s back yet.”

“Fast,” said Kara.

She sat there as Smitty left, tapping her foot impatiently. She had dreams of power, dreams of growing the compound to something that everyone would know, something that would continue past her own lifespan. She’d go down in history as one of the new founders of law and order. Sure, there’d be some skeletons in her closet. People would have to die, but that was the way things worked. Only the truly powerful understood the costs in human lives required to establish true order.

People like Koppel should have been on their hands and knees thanking Kara that they had a place to live, that they were safe from the chaos of the cities and surrounding areas. But instead they were grumbling, complaining, and trying to undermine her new rule.

Smitty came back a couple minutes later, dragging Koppel by the collar. Smitty was much bigger and stronger than Koppel, and he threw him roughly to the concrete.

Koppel hit the floor hard, and looked up at Kara with a pleading look. “I didn’t do anything,” he said. His voice reeked of weakness. Kara couldn’t stand him. Maybe it was time to eliminate him. But he might know something. If there was a plot underfoot, Kara needed to know about it.

“I’ve heard,” said Kara, “that you aren’t happy with the changes here.”

“I didn’t say anything,” said Koppel. He stayed on the floor. He knew better than to get up.

Kara gave a nod to Smitty, who took his .357 Magnum out and pointed it at Koppel’s head. Koppel stared at the gun, terrified. His whole body started to shake.

“Now you know how things go around here,” said Kara in a sickly sweet voice. “You know that it’s better to just tell the truth. It’s better not to keep things inside. It can be damaging psychologically. We’re a group, and we all have to look out for one another.”

“I don’t know anything,” said Koppel. “I was just saying that I was still hungry. That was it. I swear.”

Smitty moved rapidly. He gave a hard kick to Koppel’s torso. Koppel cried out.

“Enough of the bullshit,” shouted Smitty. “I heard you. I know what you said.”

“There’s only one way out of this that I can see,” said Kara. “You’ve already outlived your usefulness and now you’ve become a real threat to our community. We can’t have rebel elements like you. We have to put out the sparks before they start a big blaze. The only way we’ll let you live is if you give some real information.”

“I don’t know anything. Really.”

“It’s easy. Name names. Give me what I want. Tell me who’s plotting against me.”

“No one,” said Koppel, his voice shaky and weak. “No one’s plotting.”

Smitty shoved his Magnum against Koppel’s skull, cocking it. He had a touch for the dramatic at times. “Try again,” he whispered.

“There’s no one. Really. But I have something better. There’s a woman in the area.”

Kara was stunned into silence. There hadn’t been any newcomers since Max and his friends.

Kara needed more women there. She craved to have more women there.

“Where are they? Who are they?”

“There’s just one woman,” said Koppel, his voice straining. “She’s with Max’s brother. They came looking for the compound. They’re looking for Max.”

“And you turned them away?”

Koppel was too terrified to speak. He just nodded. Tears were streaming down his face. He knew that he was going to die, despite giving her what she wanted.

“And where are they?”

“I don’t know. But they couldn’t be far.”

“We can make this easy for you or hard for you. You’re going to die either way. Might as well be as painless as it can be, right?”

“I don’t know. Honestly. I saw them towards the north. They must have been coming south.”

“Did they have a vehicle?”

“I don’t think so. They looked dirty, like they’d been hiking for a long time. There were just the two of them.”

“Smitty,” said Kara. “It’s time to show Koppel that we mean business.”

Smith flashed her a grin. He’d do anything for her, so long he thought it benefited him. “With pleasure,” he said.

Smitty drew his fixed blade hunting knife from the sheath on his belt. In a flash, he grabbed Koppel’s ear, pulled hard, and sliced it off with his knife.

Koppel’s scream echoed around the four concrete walls. Blood spurted from where his ear had been.

“It can get a lot worse,” said Kara, her voice still sweet. “Now tell us what you know.”

“I swear. That’s it! I swear!”

Smitty looked at her. “I’ll cut the other one off. Or maybe an eyeball?”

Kara shook her head. “He’s telling the truth. Let’s not waste our time with him any more. Finish him.”

Smitty gave her the nod. He thrust one arm around Koppel’s neck, jerking it back. His other hand ran his knife across his throat. Koppel managed to scream for a split second. Smitty let Koppel’s body drop with a hard thud on the concrete.

“Get someone to clean that up,” muttered Kara. “I don’t want to see a speck of blood in here when I get back. Now come on, we’re going hunting.”

“Hunting?”

“For that woman, idiot.”

“You’re going to go yourself? Don’t you think you should stay here? You’re too valuable.”

“I’m going,” said Kara. “I’m not trusting such a delicate operation to an idiot like you. We’re not going to have any more screw ups here. Get two good men. Maybe Johnson and McCarty. We’re going light and tight.”

“When?”

“Right now, you moron. We’re not letting them escape.”

Smitty practically ran out the door. He was eager not to displease her.

Kara stood up, checked her handgun, and gave Koppel’s body a kick with her boot. She gazed down at his expressionless face and his open eyes. She felt no horror or sadness. She felt no sorrow from the killing.

Fifteen minutes later, the group was assembled. Kara stood in front of them and stared them down, saying nothing for a long time. Smitty, Johnson, and McCarty were all tall, strong men. They had endurance. They could outrun most others. Johnson and McCarty had both worked in private security before the EMP. They were tough as nails, and willing to do whatever she said.

The men all had handguns and rifles. Kara wanted to go light, so she didn’t carry a rifle. Each of them had a flashlight. The community had been able to recharge the batteries with their homemade electrical generator.

“You all know the mission,” said Kara, finally speaking. “There’s a guy and a girl. Kill the guy like a dog. He’s of no use to us. But the woman is not to be hurt. We need her in good health. Now, they hiked in. If they were smart, they’ll have hiked all night. But we’ll still get them. If they were stupid, they’ll have stayed nearby, camping for the night. We’ve got the advantage. We’re well rested, and we’ve got flashlights. We’ll split into two groups and track them down. Everyone clear?”

The three of them nodded.

The four of them moved out into the darkness. Their boots tread heavily on the ground. The night was cold.