Chapter 10

David eyed the guards nervously as they approached what looked like a fortified base. Beth squeezed his hand and moved closer to him for protection. She looked as if she was going to cry at any moment. He pulled his cap lower to hide his eye. The last thing they needed was problems with this group.

He got to thinking about his extra eye and wondered why it didn't really bother him much, it was as if it had always been there and it wasn't so important. The eye itself was slightly larger than his normal eyes; however it didn't close in the normal sense. From what he could tell he had several translucent eyelids that protected the eye from damage and seemed to filter out UV rays. He had never felt blinded from using that eye.

The vehicle came to a stop in front of a gated entrance. The first fence looked like it belonged to a gated community — seven foot tall and made of metal bars. The second fence was a large chain fence that was set about 5 feet back from the initial fence. 'Smart, ' thought David. There were makeshift walkways behind the second fence and several walkways that extended beyond the compound. It seemed as if they were using these walkways they constructed to move freely about the city above the heads of any walking corpses. The car was stopped in the middle of the two fences by two men up above. A loud voice called to them to exit the vehicle and throw down any weapons they might have.

"Ok kids, we have to be brave here. No matter what happens do not let them separate us. We have no idea who or what these people are, They could be criminals for all we know," said Janet.

They left their weapons inside the car, hidden away in case they could get back to it. They proceeded to the right side of the SUV with caution. Nervous looks passed between all of them. Janet held onto Mike's hand and Beth clung to David like a frightened child. David kept his book close to him in his left hand.

"It'll be ok Beth. I promise we will get out of here, Ok? I won't leave you behind," David said.

Beth nodded and relaxed a bit. Two men climbed down from the scaffolding with guns drawn. They didn't point the guns directly at them, but they did aim in their direction. They couldn't believe the contrast between the two men who had climbed down. The first one down was a rather obese man who was practically winded from the climb down. He was wearing a blue shirt with khaki pants and he had a tie. It all looked ridiculous in contrast to the M-16 he carried.

The other man however strode over to them with purpose. He looked like he knew his way around a gun and had an air of confidence. It didn't help however that he looked like he was a mercenary of some kind. Jagged scars adorned his right forearm and a small scar ran along his cheekbone. He was wearing a pair of work clothes. There was a sewn on nametag that said Jim. There was a picture of a man golfing on the back of his shirt.

Jim motioned for them to follow them and he made his way towards the base. Neither of them had said a word between themselves.

"Who are you people and where are you taking us," Janet asked.

Her question was met by silence and they continued on towards the structure. As the group neared the building they could see that it used to be a warehouse that was converted into a three story building. There was a loading dock on the front with big metal sheet doors that were closed and locked. There were no windows until the 2^nd and 3^rd floors. It seemed extreme odd, but there was a big spray painted mural that said "Welcome to OZ" in bright green lettering with gold trim. The closest window to the group had a rope ladder extended from it. Jim pulled on what looked like fishing line and the ladder rolled down to him. He moved the gun to his back using the shoulder strap and began his assent. The others followed one by one and the fat man brought up the rear. It was difficult for David to climb using only one arm so he shoved the book into his shirt and started his way up.

They made it inside the building and it was surprisingly bright inside. David pulled his hat low reflexively when he got inside. The fat man rolled over the windowsill and sat there gasping for breath.

"Damn, Plus. I can hear your wheezing from the other room," the feminine voice said.

<We are inside the compound Luna. No solid information yet. I will keep you posted.>

<Master, can you try something for me? I was thinking maybe I could use your remote viewing like you do with me. It shouldn't be too taxing and it will allow me to gather information on things you might miss.>

<Ok I will try, just a second.>

He took a deep breath and channeled energy into the contract between them. He could feel Luna inside his head and wondered absently if she felt this way when he did the same to her.

"Sorry Jasmine, I promise I will work out a bit harder at the gym just as soon as the corpses quite traipsing through it," Plus said.

"Excuse me, can someone please tell me what is going on around here," Mike asked.

Jasmine came into the room and looked the family over. She was a thin white girl with long brown hair. She wore far too much makeup for her age. She couldn't have been more than 16 years old. She gave a snort of derisiveness and moved closer to Mike.

"You were caught looting our town, and while me and the boys here may be sane, the rest of 'em aren't. If I were you, and I'm not, I would be worried about how I was gonna be saving my skin. We have a good thing in this town and while the rest of the world goes to shit, I aim to squeeze every bit of pleasure out of it while I can. So try not to fuck things up for us, eh?" Jasmine looked at the other family members in turn and saw David.

"Well, well, what do we have here? You're a cute one. Take off that silly hat and let me get a look at you."

Jasmine moved closer to David and he moved back instinctually. Jasmine was startled by the sudden movement and Plus raised his gun at David.

"Your best bet at living is keeping on the little missus' good side. I don't reckon you should be making any sudden moves like that again or your family might have to mourn ya."

"Sorry, but it would be safer for me to keep my hat on if you don't mind."

Jim looked at David and wondered if he was possibly hiding a weapon. He moved in front of David and yanked the hat off his head. There was a small gasp from Jasmine and Plus fell backwards into a chair. It looked as if Jim was finally ready to talk.

"I don't know what your story is, or what your problems are, but if they find out about that little thing? Your short life is going to get a whole lot shorter," Jim said while pointing at David's eye.

<Prince please be careful. I am outside the compound now but something is happening on the back side of the building. I am going to try and scale the wall here and check it out from the roof.>

Jim tossed the hat back to David and he put it on again, smoothing his hair into place. Jasmine look startled that Jim had spoken. Apparently that was stranger than seeing someone with three eyes.

"So what the hell do we do now Jim?"

"Well Jasmine, I suggest we pretend we didn't see a thing and just let whatever happens, happen. If they think we are helping them it's our ass and not theirs," Jim replied.

Plus took the opportunity to straighten himself up and look presentable. He kicked himself mentally for looking so stupid in front of the new 'guests'. The sound of voices and footsteps were drawing closer to the room. Three robed figures entered the room.

"Welcome to our happy home," the robed figure said.

"We would offer you food and drink, but until we know more about you we will have to withhold our hospitality," the second figure said.

The robes themselves were very plain. They were simple brown robe, such as a monk would wear at a monastery. However the first man to speak had a white robe on. The robes had cowls that pulled low to cover the face. It was a stark contrast to Jasmine who was wearing nearly nothing while standing next to them. They whispered amongst themselves and motioned for the family to follow. Not having any better options they decided to go along with it. The sounds of people performing manual labor could be heard down below. It sounded like someone was doing some welding and another person was hammering away.

They moved into a small room that had been converted into a small shrine. They all stopped and said a prayer before passing into the next room. It looked like a planning room which had several rows of tables and chairs.

"Please have a seat and let us tell you a few things about ourselves. Then we will get your story and if we deem you worthy we will extend an invitation to join us."

<Master, from the roof I can see what is going on behind the building. You need to see this for yourself.>

David focused on Luna's eyes and felt a moment of disorientation. He wasn't sure how she managed to scale a 3 story building, but he wasn't about to complain either. He looked down over the edge of the building with her and saw a horrific scene. In the back of the building they had a pen which housed 30-50 of the undead creatures. The truly terrifying part was that they were feeding them by tossing buckets full of meat and bones into the crowd. David severed the link and tried not to vomit. He had never seen those creatures eat anything other than people and he doubted they started today.