Chapter 8

In the aftermath of what the New Times called the Battle of Tallahassee we debriefed fifteen people who had been prisoners of the renegade group. Eight of the prisoners were women who had been captured. Some of the women had been beaten and broken by their captors. They reacted automatically to directions and seemed to have no spirit left. Dr. Walling explained that although he was not a psychiatrist he had read of this happening to prisoners. He said given time they should recover.

Surprisingly, seven of the prisoners were also members of the original biker group who had opposed the violent methods of the leaders of the renegades. We found that the club that made up the backbone of the renegade group had been peaceable before the collapse. Some of those former members speculated that the shock of the collapse, along with the way society had looked down on the bikers, was the catalyst that changed the leaders' perspective. Of course they didn't put it in those words.

All agreed that the group's leaders, along with a majority of the group, had quickly become sadistic and violent in the aftermath of the collapse. The thinking of the biker group's leaders was that they would take what they wanted and when everything in the area was gone, they would move on to other areas. They had no use for planting or building as they planned to live off of the leavings of the society that had so despised them. They were scavengers who would rob from the previous generation and not worry about the future.

Many in the group were good mechanics who kept their bikes in good repair. They seemed to have also discovered the additives that could be mixed with the existing gasoline to keep bikes running smoothly. Where Jan and her small group had been lucky in using gasoline that homeowners had stored away for emergencies and already contained the additives, the bikers actively stockpiled quite a collection of different items to boost octane. Some of these were quite innovative.

We offered those former bikers who had been prisoners of the renegades the option of either striking off on their own, using one of the captured bikes, or throwing their lot in with us. Although all were grateful for their freedom, in the end only three of the seven were flown back to Hurlburt Town with the eight women. The four that left headed south to try to make it to central Florida.

There were only ten renegades left alive after the battle. Four of those had tried to sneak off and were captured. The other six had suffered slight wounds or had been rendered unconscious during the attack. More severely wounded were mercifully put out of their misery by our forces. Although this would have been unthinkable before the collapse, our shortage of medical personnel made it a necessity. We simply could not afford to waste valuable resources on the extensive medical needs of prisoners.

The prisoners' first duty was to bury their comrades. We did not want to attract scavenging animals into the middle of a city where we would be operating. Our dozer operators dug a mass grave and we used the prisoners to strip the bodies and haul them to that gravesite.

Judy and Karen had gladly gone to Hurlburt Town on one of the first flights back. Jan, Judy and Karen had already done extensive work cataloging the FSU research library. Jan had decided to stay in Tallahassee and help our technicians. She more than agreed with our decision to preserve all of this for the future. She had kept the cooling and dehumidification going and would help us as we moved larger standby generators into place along with larger fuel storage tanks. As FSU had also been involved in alternate energy generation there were many locations on campus where electricity was generated by solar panels. Jan and our technical team wanted to use these to ultimately provide a long-term source of electricity that could be used for our original purpose. It was a long term task but an important one.

A smaller security team was left in place to guard the facility and the technicians as they completed their work. Larry Preston had volunteered to lead that small force. There was something about the self assured nature of the young woman he had captured that captivated him. Toby joked that it had more to do with her obvious physical charms but Larry knew that was not the case.

Before the collapse the idea of these two people, who were so different in so many ways, getting together would have been absurd. Now the common experience of the collapse had made all of their differences meaningless. They were both survivors, by both luck and disposition. Beyond that Larry could sense from the start that Jan was a comrade in arms. Jan looked at the handsome young man as the antitheses of the rough renegades she had fought against. Both wanted a chance to explore a possible relationship and so Larry stayed on with Jan.

Year Two: Day Thirty-Five: Sunday

Early in the morning five of us gathered around a small round conference table in the aviation training building in Hurlburt Town. As soon as I took my seat I began to reread my copy of the report that Kari passed out to each of us. Out of my peripheral vison I could see Kari study my face as I read. She looked as beautiful as ever.

I glanced across the table at Jim Baxley, my best and most trusted advisor. He was looking younger than when I first met him. How was that possible? I asked, "So that's it Jim, you're ready to move on with Project Runway?"

Jim rubbed his chin and answered, "I think so, Steve. The small security unit we are leaving behind in Tallahassee should be able to control the situation there. The augmented security force that Bill won't let me operate without should keep us from being surprised again. There's no reason not to finish the job we started."

Bill Jenkins, the head of militia training, spoke up and said, "Like I said at the after action conference, we were lax and made a tactical mistake bunching up the security detail prior to Tallahassee. From here on out we'll keep scouts out well ahead of the working crew. We grew complacent and relied too heavily on those overflights by the air brigade."

Kari pursed her lips and started to say something. I smiled at her and said. "I don't think Bill was being critical of the air brigade. He's just saying that the commander on the ground needs eyes on the ground as well as in the air to keep him apprised of the situation."

Directing my words to Bill I asked, "What about the prisoners?"

Bill gave me a half-grin as he replied, "We're going to take them with us. Dr. Freeman has come up with something that is going to help us deal with them."

I looked over at the fifth person seated at the conference table. Dr. Alice Freeman had been an Electromagnetic Resonance specialist before the collapse. She had been one of the lead scientists from the electronics warfare laboratory at Eglin AFB that had joined with the original group soon after the collapse. She was always enthusiastic about any project she was assigned. I noticed her eager, almost smug countenance as I asked, "So what have you cooked up for us now, Doctor?"

Alice almost seemed to wince as she said, "Ryan is the doctor, I'm Alice."

Looking at each of us in turn she continued, "Earlier this year Bill asked me if I could think of a way to make a collar to control prisoners. What he had in mind was something akin to the dog collars they use to keep dogs from excessive barking. You probably have seen them advertised in hunting magazines. The device is basically a leather collar with two metal studs that touch the skin on the throat of the dog. There is a simple voltage accumulator housed in a plastic case on the collar. This is charged by a small battery and discharged by an infrared signal from a small remote unit. When the dog barks the owner presses the button on the remote which sends a small current into the dog's vocal cords. There is also a similar item that is activated by the dog's barking.

"The problem with these units is that they are for dogs. A dog doesn't have hands. A man could easily take them off. In addition, most people would be able to bear the pain associated with the small current so they wouldn't be much of a deterrent. Bill's idea was to combine that technology with the stun gun commonly carried by police. In addition a lock and heavier leather would keep the prisoner from opening the collar. I call the completed device PRIS for Prisoner Restraint and Immobilization System."

She pulled the device from its container and handed it to me to examine. She then joked, "Not a very good acronym but all the people responsible for developing catchy acronyms never made it through the collapse."

Everyone laughed as I passed the device to Kari. Alice continued, "There are a few refinements to this device that I think make it even better than what Bill originally had in mind. Because of advances in battery technology it can physically incapacitate the prisoner or even kill him if need be."

Kari who was examining the device almost dropped it when Alice said that. Alice held up what looked to be some type of remote control and said, "The selector on this remote has three settings. Pushing the level one button will administer enough of a tingle that the prisoner will react letting the guard know the device is working. Level two will cause the prisoner's incapacitation."

Although I felt I knew the answer I asked, "I thought you said there were three levels."

Alice gave me a wicked grin and said, "I almost stopped with those first two levels but realized that there might be a situation where more was needed. Pressing a code into the remote and pressing the level 3 button will discharge the voltage stored in the second accumulator along with that of the primary accumulator into the collar. This should be enough to stop the heart of the prisoner. If this happens life can be restored with a defibrillator if one can be found in time."

Kari was looking at the controller that she now had in her hand. She asked, "What will happen if the prisoner gets out of range of the remote? It seems like he then could then take the collar off at his leisure and be home free."

Alice answered, "Good question. We knew that was a possibility. The collar also transmits a signal of its own back to the remote. That signal in turn triggers a response signal from the remote controller. If the collar doesn't get that signal back in a set time or less a level two discharge is sent to the prisoner. That will hopefully incapacitate him long enough for someone to find him."

I asked, "How far away does the prisoner have to get before this happens?"

Alice answered, "We initially set the collars for 50 yards but if the operators determine a greater or shorter range is needed there is an adjustment that can increase or decrease the range. There is also a homing device built into the collars that causes a hum on channel 13 of the security radios as soon as the collar moves out of range of the remote. The hum is low enough that it shouldn't interfere with conversations but loud enough that is should catch the attention of anyone tuned into that channel. The hum is also directional and should hopefully allow guards find prisoners while they are incapacitated."

Jim looked at the collar he was holding in his hands. He looked up at Alice and said, "So does this means that you have to have a single guard for each prisoner?"