Chapter 10

[Preservation – Janice]

Ted had, quite by accident, captured one of the Six. The man was lightly injured and Doctor Anne had bandaged him. She didn't like him. He was mobile and, when we all met, Ted had him with his group. Bennie and I were asked to question him. We both told Poppa that we hadn't a lot of hope for him being useful with regard to information. We also recommended that those on our useless list be executed without further delay. We also suggested that our probably good guys list be kept separate from the questionable and bad guys. Poppa Jack was not happy about our execution recommendation but was thinking about it seriously after interviewing a couple of them with Momma Shirley in attendance. They were abusive to her and that was guaranteed to make Poppa angry.

Bennie and I took over the Six prisoner and took him into an open area where the rest of the prisoners could see the three of us. We cut him loose and gave him a little time to recover from being tied up. When he seemed to be as recovered as he would ever get, I stood before him and said, "My name is Janice. He's my husband, Bennie. We're here to get some questions answered. You have two choices. You can be an ass as have some of your other men and I will beat you badly until you want to talk or you can just talk. Choose."

"I'll talk to you. I saw what you did to Tom. He said that you didn't break a sweat. What can I tell you?"

I started, "Let's get your name."

"My name is Archie Hughes. I am one of the Six though the failure of our mission will probably be blamed on me and the other five will not be gentle."

Bennie said, "Archie, you're the only one of the Six who survived the attack on our community. The other three are dead. We guess the other two are still up at Northlake Mall. That's where we met Jim and Art before they were killed. We don't like slavery or the mistreatment of women. This isn't the first time our community has had to do something about petty dictators."

"I don't think you are strong enough to take us on successfully." Archie said.

"Oh, I think so." I said. "We've handled bad odds before and our main strength was never used in this little skirmish with your people. You see, our women can and will fight. We fight hard because we are fighting for our future and that of our people. You are trying to continue a life style that you know is wrong morally."

Bennie picked up a map and set it on the table. He said, "I want you to mark the position of every sentry post and armed position of any kind on the map."

Archie said, "I don't think it would be healthy for me if I did that."

I said, "I know it won't if you don't."

He looked me in the eye and said, "I will have to take that chance. I will not fight you." This man was as smart as Art and Jim. Getting information from him would take a different tack if it would be possible at all. Bennie had told me to watch our prisoner closely. It was more embarrassing for them to be beaten by a woman than by a man. Bennie began to place marks on the map where the three attack launching points had been. He then marked the sentry posts at the points on I-285 that we thought we knew about already.

He purposefully missed one and Archie's eyes widened. I said, "Honey, you missed one."

Bennie looked down and said, "You're right. There's one right there." We didn't mark any positions on or around I-85 or west on I-20 maintaining the fiction of Preservation's location off I-75. "Actually, we already know all we need Archie. We were just verifying our information. Your help could hold down Triple-A casualties.

We are going to take the fight to you this time. You will find we are dedicated fighters for our community. I think we will chain you with the other troublesome prisoners until we have won. Then, your fate will be decided. At that time, you will be useless to us and executing troublesome people is our policy. We will not allow you to infect others with your moral madness."

Archie's eyes widened at that bit of information. He said, "I thought you might imprison me for some period until I was rehabilitated."

"We have found that death rehabilitates quite well. There are no repeat offenders." Bennie said coldly. He turned his back on Archie and said to the two guards, "Tie him back up and put him with the other probables like before."

Archie suddenly became nervous. He said, "Maybe I was hasty. Perhaps it would be best to help you folks. After all, there is not much hope the two remaining members of the Six will want me back whether or not we or you win."

"Oh, Archie, you have a problem. No one wants you now, I guess." I said. I gave him a sorrowful smile.

"Please, I will show you everything. I will fight on your side. I just ask that you try to help my main woman, as we call them. She has been good to me and I wouldn't want her hurt."

Bennie turned toward him and said, "That's an interesting statement. I want you to go over the map marking every item on it. We have a blow-up map of the mall. You need to go over where everyone is and where your armored points are located. If your woman wants you, I will put in a good word with our leader, Jack Mathews. He and his wife, Shirley, are our elected leadership and Janice's foster parents."

Archie went to work on the map of the area and that of the mall.

When we compared it later with the one that Carl had done, they matched quite well. Archie did show some detail that Carl's was missing but they were close enough for us to have a good picture of the Triple-A positions. Archie's notes showed sentries on the roof of the mall. That was the biggest difference in his map and that of Carl.

Ted, Robert, Michael, and Poppa Jack's Dad all joined us to have a council of war.

Poppa Jack started the meeting, "We have been lucky thus far. Only two killed and four wounded after Todd and Becky were killed. That's luck and care. We need to continue to be lucky and take care. Every person is precious. I think we need to make plans to roll up the Triple-A's and get those women freed. We have a map of their dispositions and we should use that information carefully to take out their sentry posts and then cover them at that mall."

Ted said, "I can get a crew together with Bennie and Janice. We can go up there and clear out their sentry stations. That will give the rest of you time to develop a plan for the mall. That's going to be a tougher nut to crack. Perhaps, we should do a night raid like we did with the Blasters."

We talked further. Ted, Bennie, and I would head north with a few more and start taking out sentry positions. Michael and Poppa would lead a large group to plan and carry out an attack on their headquarters.

We would take an evening off before heading north. Bennie and I rode home and slept in our bed for the evening. It was nice to be in our own home after our long trips. We had picked our bed carefully and celebrated our time together again that night. The next morning, we went over to Momma and Poppa's house for a quick breakfast. It was good to spend time with Momma and Poppa and the children before heading out. While eating, we heard from Ted and would meet him later to head out and begin to roll up the Triple-A sentry posts. We met him later as he gathered George, Fred, Mitch, and us for the trip north. We talked about what we would try to accomplish which was to remove their sentry posts without injury to ourselves. If possible, we would do that by taking prisoners. Ted cautioned us that an injury to us was not to be risked to keep any Triple-A member alive.

We all agreed. Bennie and I brought our bows for silent work. We went up I-85 almost to I-285 before pulling off the road to go stealthy. We found the Triple-A post like it had been described. They hadn't seen any people nor any action and weren't that attentive. They seemed to be more focused upon lunch and a woman. Though difficult, we managed to sneak up on them.

Ted had a loudhailer and spoke into it, "We have you surrounded. Surrender and live or fight and die." There were four of them there. Two raised their hands slowly. One continued to use the woman for a moment before raising his hands. The other one went for a rifle. As he touched it, Bennie sent an arrow into his chest. That seemed to convince the other three removing any doubt about their plan. We came into sight and advanced upon them. The one who had been with the woman was covering his crotch with his hands while the rest had theirs in the air. The woman remained on the ground. We had been watching for half an hour and this was the third man to use her.