Chapter 11

It was a mixed group of survivors that filtered into the meeting place. They all had their hands near their weapons but seemed willing to talk and not start shooting. Desmond appreciated the fact they were well-armed and seemed to be familiar with firearms. That was always a key element to survival in these dangerous times. He could tell they had been through the mill from the thousand yard stare in their eyes. Even the females were poker faced and deadly serious. All in all, he considered that all points in their favor and not matters of concern.

In fact, he recognized immediately that the survivors seemed no different than his own group scattered in defensive positions out of sight just in case the other group wanted to use force to gain control. It was one thing to be peaceful and friendly and quite another to be naïve and ignorant of risk. He wasn't surprised when the tall brunette with the tight blue jeans addressed his entourage revealing that she was the one in charge and ready to speak for the other group.

"Who's in charge of this gaggle of losers?"

Desmond knew the woman was merely trying to ruffle his feathers to see if he was the type to act impulsively but he didn't mind her duplicity in the least. It was something he might have done if the situations were reversed.

"I guess that would be me, honey, I am Desmond and we are from the impact zone just trying to find a nice place to settle down away from all the chaos."

The tall woman lit a thin black cigarillo and he caught the scent of cherry in the early morning air. It was tantalizing and he wondered if she had any more of them stashed away for a later time. It was strange to see a female smoking a cigarillo but it was a lot more sensible than the funny weed that the younger crowd all seemed to keep for private moments away from all the others.

The woman who he later found out to be called Diane was a close friend of Mike the leader of the other group and apparently now was in charge of a military wing of the survivor force. She looked to be in her early forties and was extremely fit for female of that age. He could tell that the other members of her party were loyal from the way they sort of formed a defensive circle around her to protect her at all cost. He liked that sort of reaction and wished some of his own guards were more attentive to such details.

"Well, mister, we have come to hear your proposal. I understand that you treated my scouts with dignity and I appreciate that but I have to be honest and I get the distinct vibe that you have some "Looters!" look to you that is hard to conceal inside an ordinary survivor backstory."

Desmond had to laugh because she was right on the money and he didn't even bother to respond to the accusation.

"We are a sort of rag-tag collection of folks. I won't deny the Looter connection but we are basically survivors just like you folks and we don't have any hidden agendas other than just wanting to find a place of safety and being left alone by the government forces. All we want to do is to join together with you so our forces will be a little too large for the military searching parties to mess with. The further we get from civilization, the better off we will be but there is strength in numbers for any number of reasons. My folks are all well-armed and we have a good record of taking care of ourselves when push comes to shove."

Diane liked what she saw and proposed that they join together for a trial period but that it would be better to take their combined force and split up into a three-pronged separated unit with the numbers being equally split for each separate force. They would have close to two hundred in each unit and it would be an opportunity to see how they managed to work together. Desmond would have one unit under his command and Diane another with Mike leading the central element that kept the supplies and non-fighting members in a less risky position.

They were a slow-moving fighting force because they were basically on foot and the vehicles were restricted to off road carriers and some horses and pack mules that helped with the heavier items. The key to their longevity was the fact both original groups stayed away from roads and developed areas using the deep woods as their primary defensive weapon to stay out of trouble.

The separation of the groups was accomplished with little difficulty and it seemed like everyone was happy with the new arrangements. Desmond was pleased to see that his new force was comprised of almost equal numbers of his original party and the survivor group. Almost half of the survivor group assigned to his unit was female and he welcomed the opportunity to explore their capacity for establishing friendly relations with all of the usual side benefits of nocturnal interaction. He had kept the two blonde twins Bobbie and Billie with him just in case the new females proved unresponsive to his charms.

The area that they were moving through was unusually rough and lacking in even the most rudimentary of animal trails that they could adapt to their needs to make good time. It was necessary to cut their way through the brush on more than one occasion and it was a good thing that their machetes and their brush-axes were sharp and up to getting the job done in a way that allowed them to keep up with the other two elements of the total group. A messenger from Diane's group informed him that there was a small town in his path that would be best avoided since it had been occupied by looters almost from the day after day one. Actually, that was more of a motivation to him to do just the opposite but he didn't let the messenger know his true feelings on the subject. She was a young thing probably still only eighteen or nineteen years of age and was not even sporting visible breasts underneath her olive drab thin cotton shirt. She must have been a good runner because he saw that her legs were long and slender and that she had a graceful way of walking and moving that indicated she was capable of considerable speed in moving through the rough terrain. She told him that her name was Tammy and that she was one of Diane's selected bodyguards. He could tell that she was devoted to the woman and wondered if that meant she was more inclined to seek female rather than male companionship.