I watched the strange man from Clyde Crossing as Kerry led him to an empty house on the far side of the first ridge. He wasn't walking well, but he was finally being released from the nursing area. I was lounging on a couch a deck on the third ridge while reading my textbook.
Diane and Ace were off in another meeting with Amber and Roland. I had been excluded from several meetings recently. That worried me. They were obviously discussing something they thought I was too young to hear. Considering our practice alarm drills were occurring more frequently, I also suspected it had something to do with the news the newly fired man brought. I tilted my head as I heard quiet voices below.
"Are you heading out as well?"
"Yeah, Roland asked all Messengers in Sanctuary if they would be willing to volunteer to go looking for these bandits. Over half of us have no current commitments, so most of those Messengers are going."
"Any idea where they might be located? I heard they are somewhere in northern Alberta, but that is a huge area."
"Diane recognized one from a bunch of murderers that left Wainwright and headed north. Ace figures they are along a big highway since they left in spring with big trucks. Trucks that big won't get far off the road in soft spring mud."
"That place has about 800 fighters alone from what I hear. Be careful."
"I heard that too. Roland said he was sending the next trade caravan to Wainwright to see if they might lend us some aid once we locate the settlement. We will need it, we barely have 400 people here all told and that is counting those in the trading caravans and the infants. A place that big should be easy to find though."
"That survivor said that they took everyone else as prisoners, so there is a good chance they took other captives from other settlements as well. It certainly explains why we didn't find any survivors or bones in the ruins. Make sure you don't get caught by those guys or I might have to come down there and free your ass from that place."
"I have no intention of even being seen, let alone caught. Those who volunteered are traveling in pairs at least, just for safety. Even if we don't find the bandits, there are always Swifts and wild animals to contend with."
"That is good. Just because we haven't lost anyone yet, doesn't mean that it isn't going to happen. Anything can happen when traveling. I also heard that those bandits have quite a few horses."
The man chuckled, "They would have to have one hell of a fast horse to catch me and a well-placed arrow would stop it before it got close. I plan on sticking to the trees as well."
"Just because that guy didn't see or hear any guns, doesn't mean that they don't have them. Don't take any chances."
"I have no intention of getting shot. Diane already gave me a good lecture on that topic. I plan to stay completely out of sight if possible."
"Looks like Adam is ready. I'll accompany you two to the gate. I also want to check if the sentries know when the next drill is."
The two men headed off and I remained still in case they glanced back and saw me. I had been on the third ridge and they had been on the first ridge, so I doubted they would check the upper decks as they left. Most people were out doing something at this time of the early afternoon.
Our Messengers were heading out to locate the bandit's settlement. I knew that at least five places had been destroyed, so the bandits weren't going to stop unless someone forced them. That worried me. If Roland was going to Wainwright for help, they would want us to also join them. Wainwright had just over a thousand people in it, but about half either weren't fighters or had just basic training.
Diane and Ace would certainly be joining the fight if it got to that point. If they fought, then there was a chance they could get hurt or possibly even killed. I really hoped that just the threat of an attack would make these bandits behave, but I somehow doubted that it was going to work like that.
I simply wished that a Swift would find the bandits and remove the threat that they represented. I knew that wishing that someone would turn into a zombie was wrong, but I didn't see any other easy alternative.
I suspected that regardless of how hard I studied, that there was no real easy and ethical answer to this problem.
Two weeks later Sanctuary was practically buzzing. Two Messengers had located the bandits' camp. I was excluded from the meetings once more, but I swiftly learned that if I hid in a location where I couldn't be seen, that it was rather easy to overhear gossip.
The bandits numbered around 900 and there were about 400 others that were being forced to act as slaves. One of the Messengers had managed to get close to some of the slaves in the field and speak with them.
The Bandits made their captives watch so that they knew their home was gone and there was no point in trying to run away. Such tactics made me mad, they should have never taken those people hostage, let alone done something so mean. It was just wrong.
Everyone else in Sanctuary was also outraged by it. I was currently eavesdropping on a Messenger speaking with someone from the kitchen. Those Messengers were alert, so I was taking extra care to not move or make any sounds.
"From what we heard, when the bandits leave to attack, they always take the vast majority of the fighters with them, regardless if the settlement they are targeting has fifty people or two hundred."
"I heard their next target is Sanctuary, is that true? We are so far away from them and Wainwright Fort is a closer target."
"Wainwright has more people than they do, and they were originally a military base. They got chased out of that place once with their tail between their legs and I doubt they want to repeat that defeat."
"So they are coming here?"
The Messenger sighed, "Yes, we are their next target. We have so many animals and crops, and they also want our location for themselves. They aren't entirely sure how they are going to get past the gate, but they have a few plans apparently. They are planning an attack in early September. The other Messengers are currently keeping an eye on the place in case they decide to move out early. If they do, then a couple will race back to bring warning. We have pretty good walkie talkies and if we can get within fifty kilometers of each other we can keep in touch."
I stifled a gasp of shock. The bandits were coming here, probably all eight or nine hundred of them. To Sanctuary. They wanted to take over our home. It was terrifyingly real and yet incomprehensible at the same time.
There wasn't anything I could do to stop them either. We only had about two hundred and fifty with basic fighting training, and most of those were fired. I had studied my math textbook last night and my math skills said that our numbers didn't bode well for us.
"Is Wainwright Fort going to help us?" The lady was worried as well.
"Roland is heading there first thing in the morning. He can make there in 18 hours if he pushes hard. Our tentative plan is to let the fighters leave, and then we can rescue those being treated as slaves. A handful of steam trucks can ferry the fighters from Wainwright within six hours. They can free the captives, and the traders can have all of them back to Wainwright within four days by ferrying groups at a time. Once we finish that, then those fighters will come to join the fight at Sanctuary."
"What about those who are here?"
"The wall and gate are fireproof and they would need a cannon to break down that much steel and cement. They will have numerous wagons and horses, so they will travel much slower than you might expect. Sanctuary will simply lock itself inside and wait them out. Nothing is saying that we can't lower ladders down the back of the cliff in the forest where they can't see us."
"What if the bandits try to get up the cliffs?"
"There are about a hundred fired people with advanced fighting training who will be in the forest and they will use bow and arrow to force the bandits to stay out of the trees. We know the area and we can move faster than they can through the trees. If they want to even attempt the back of the cliff, they put themselves in our element, and we can pick them off in ones and twos."
Those with advanced fighting training? My stomach sank as I was quite certain that Diane and Ace would be among that group.
The Messenger continued, "Let them sit outside our gates. They can't force their way in and they can't burn us out. We will have hit and run fighters in the forest, and if they dare to enter, our arrows can take them out before they even know what happened."
It sounded so simple and the Messenger sounded confident, but I knew that even those who were fired were just flesh and blood. My history textbook had made one thing quite clear, all wars had deaths on both sides.
The Messenger left and I quietly snuck out the back of the coldroom before I got caught. I went to the playground and climbed up a jungle gym. Fighting practice was in full swing and the field was overflowing as people practiced with swords, daggers, axes, and more were on the far side of the meadow with bows and arrows.
Diane waved me over and I headed towards her in curiosity. She was off to the side with a different group of people. Diane watched me approach, "Laura, would you mind helping me teach these people hand signals?"
I was surprised, I didn't think I qualified as a teacher, but I did know hand signals. I nodded, "Sure. What do you want me to focus on?"
Diane shrugged, "The basics for now. Mostly moving, hiding, and stuff that Rick had us work with at longer distances."
"Okay." Diane turned and went back to the sword practice she had been overseeing. That left me with about thirty adults who were watching me intently. Three of them didn't have blue eyes, but I really felt like I had been put on the spot and was completely unprepared. How did you teach a group anyway?
As soon as I thought that, Rick's training popped into my mind. I tried to stuff my shyness as far down as I could as I faced the group. I cleared my throat and tried to speak loudly, "Okay, we will start with basic directions."
My voice wasn't nearly as loud as I hoped for, but everyone was able to hear me. They didn't seem bothered by my nerves or my shyness. They were eager to learn and picked up on the signals quite quickly.
I kept on teaching until the supper bell rang. The numerous people across the training field started to break up and scatter. Diane came over, "Good job. I might get you to help me with such things every day. Tomorrow morning we want to start teaching them how to move through the forest without being spotted. Feel like helping with that?"
I grinned as I recalled the many times Diane or Ace had invisibly stalked me through the trees when I darted off for a game of catch-me-if-you-can. I had learned from them and was quite good at it as well. "Can I chase Todd with Sandy's pink hair decoration?"
Diane chuckled, "Tell him if you catch him, that he has to wear it the rest of the day."
I clapped my hands in gleeful mischief. I would have to borrow that horrendous pink bow hair clip from Sandy. She only had it to scare people, even she wouldn't wear it.