Chapter 8

We searched high and low and finally came up with some small metal drums with well-fitting lids. Each of the small drums held 50 gallons, so we were able to put about 45 gallons into six drums. I wanted to leave some head space in case the liquid tended to expand excessively when it got warm. Each small drum still weighed about 300 pounds, so it was a pain to handle. We used our empty carts plus one other after we rearranged the loads among the carts.

Around 600 pounds aboard each cart meant that one person could not pull it up hill and was in danger in going down hill. We solved that problem by tying ropes to the cart and adding four people to help move each cart. That was a pain in the ass, of course, but I hoped to store the bulk Water of Life in the depository at Albany where we had found the weapons.

Under the circumstances, we decided to return to Albany right away to store the Water of Life. It was simply too valuable to take a chance with it. We should be able to make the trip to Albany in one day; at least, that was our intention.

No selling was necessary to convince everybody of the importance of our load, so we had no trouble with griping or slacking off when we started on the trek back to Albany. Uh-oh, we had finally woken up the sleeping giant. The scouts found that we were being followed by about 100 Erglets and 20 Grampets on our way back to Albany. I guess that a demon had seen us loading the drums on the carts, so they figured out what we were doing.

We picked up our pace a little, but our traveling speed was determined by what we could safely do with the carts. I was constantly in fear that we would break a wheel on a cart and dump 90 gallons of Water of Life onto the ground. The pavement on the road was in surprisingly good shape because of the virtually nonexistent traffic, so we did not have broken pavement to contend with. I didn’t want to take any chances, so Jim had someone constantly on the lookout for breaks or bumps in the pavement.

We were about five miles from Albany when the demons finally hit us. We always knew exactly where they were because of the close shadowing by our scouts. Therefore, we always had several rows of pikemen between the enemy and the tail end of our column. The pikemen did not walk backward as they followed the carts, but they were prepared to spin around to face attacking demons at a moment’s notice.

The first sign of trouble was a scout running to me to report that the demons had sent ahead a group of 20 Erglets with the 20 Grampets. I had two squads of Rattle Snakes, 18 men counting the squad leaders, move over to the side of the road and hide in the tall bushes. They were to let the demons get past them and attack the demons from the rear. At the same time, we would also attack the demons from our side. I figured that catching the demons between two advancing detachments of pikemen would confuse them to distraction.

If we could hit the demons at the same time from two sides, I was sure that we could wipe out both the 20 Erglets and the 20 Grampets without putting the carts in danger. Here they come. I swear that I have never seen such sloppy soldering as that exhibited by the Erglets. Could it be that they still didn’t know that we had also taken a dose of the Water of Life?

The Erglets advanced at a casual walk without couching their tridents. They must have been expecting us to run as soon as we were approached by the Grampets. Well, we were going to surprise them pretty damned soon.

Jim shouted, “COUCH PIKES!” and the command was repeated by each squad leader. I was impressed at the way the pikes popped into position. Hell, these guys must have been practicing harder than I had realized. Then the command was issued, “STRIKE AT WILL!” This command was also repeated just as it should have been and pikes were thrust out at the Grampets. Most of them were caught in the chest with the thrust, but some were caught in the head. Well, it made no difference, those steel pike points killed every one of the Grampets before they could harm a single human.

Now, the men of the Rattle Snake Company were close enough to the backs of the demons that the command rang out, “COUCH PIKES!” and that was done. “STRIKE AT WILL!” followed closely, and every one of the Erglets felt a pike point jab into its back. Those creatures died just as quickly as did the Grampets.

Now we could go after the approximately 80 Erglets that were waiting to see the glorious victory by their companions. They were caught flatfooted. The Rattle Snake squad leaders shouted, “RETURN PIKES! ... ABOUT FACE! ... DOUBLE TIME, MARCH!” Jim gave the same command to his men, the command was repeated by the squad leaders, and we all stepped off at a rapid pace toward the remaining Erglets.

We caught most of them before they could escape, but a few did get away. I was really sorry that we did not have enough pikemen to have a line behind those demons. If we had, none of them would have escaped. This was more like a real battle than our other excursions, but the maneuvers by the Erglets showed that they simply were so poorly trained that they really did not know what to do. Sure, they were deadly when they faced a single unarmed human while they were carrying a trident, but we had shown them what properly armed and trained humans could do, especially after a dose of Water of Life.

We were ecstatic and it took some time to get the troops back under control. We had won our first major battle handily, and it was worth celebrating. The few troops who were otherwise occupied were really pissed off at having missed the fun, but they were already congratulating the troops who had actually done the fighting. Dammit, I was now ready to call them Infantry, because they had earned that title. They still needed some polishing of their technique, but they were certainly good enough to take on their current enemies and confidently expect to win the battle. I could see it already: given enough time, we humans were going to win the war!

****

We arrived at the depository just as the sun was going down, so we had about half an hour to get the drums of Water of Life safely stowed away. We could do it, but it was going to be a narrow thing.

We did it and marched back to the park. That we could safely do because the streets were in good condition and we had made the trip before. Besides, no one was willing to look like a fool by tripping over his own feet after winning a victory such as they had done today.

It seemed like our vision was improving because we could see well enough just from star and moon light. Anyway, necessary chores were done like cleaning weapons and sharpening a questionable edge, but most of the time was spent socializing and rehashing the fight. Of course, sex was enjoyed, including between Naomi and me. By the way, we were happy to see that Bill had found a willing partner.

Nevertheless, we were going to have to recruit more women. Too many men were having to share a woman, and I didn’t expect that to work out over the long run. Not only that, but I was concerned over what would happen when babies started to arrive. We certainly were going to have to come up with more carts when we had to haul infants around. There was a serious question of whether or not the Water of Life traits were passed along to the children as inherited characteristics. That was going to make one hell of a significant difference in how they were treated.

The next morning, I called a meeting of my “staff,” which consisted of Naomi and Jim. We discussed what to do next. Of course, what I really wanted was for them to agree with me, but I was willing to listen to other ideas. I wanted to move on to pick up more recruits and to visit the depository in Florida before swinging north to visit South Carolina and its three depositories.

It turned out that they agreed with both of my ideas, so that did simplify things. We decided to make one last sweep of Albany to see if there were demons that we could kill and stray humans that we could recruit. Naomi thought that her scouts could handle the job if we allowed three days. That was fine because a couple of the carts needed some maintenance and we could always use extra training time.