Dead Lands Pass the Ammunition Read Free

They were all fighters. I saw a girl of nineteen give birth in the camp. Even with the rotters and the death and everything, I never saw so much blood or so much strength.
    Before everything came apart, before the plague and the war and the end, I never understood how much fight it took to care for a child. I’d never doubt the fight in any mother once I saw the grit in their eyes. In a different place, my stomach might have turned over. Before the world fell to pieces, I might have skipped writing those lines about babies and taking care of the children because it sounded so God-damned archaic like something out of Old Testament law. Like I was some kind of backwoods redneck.
    Hell.
    The women were survivors, just like the men. Every one of them could, and would fight.  Under all that,  Sasha would make a politician like Big D blush. Women like Sasha knew the secret strings to pull and make a man dance like a puppet. And most men were more than willing to dance.
     
    ~
     
    I made my bunk near the one wall the single men shared with the family room. The family room had a wholesome name but scarred heart. Lennie called it an orgy once, but I wouldn’t believe it. Lennie like to tell stories, and he always puffed them up.
    We stayed in the adjoining shack, one wall in common. Maybe we stayed there to remember or imagine. Maybe we stayed close so when we heard the grunting and moaning through the thin metal sheets, we’d grab our dick’s and spank them until the loneliness went away even though it never did. Entertainment, I guess. Self-abuse…
    I heard Mack and Sasha whispering the night after the big skirmish, and I don’t mean making the beast with two backs. They were talking.  Their voices came like rats’ scratches at first, so quiet I almost wasn’t sure I heard what I heard.
    “You saw the way Lennie and Rex followed you,” Sasha said.
    “They just wanted to kill some flesh bags,” Mack replied. “Everybody just wants to kill some flesh bags.  All this waiting around for them to come to us is nuts. I didn’t do anything special. I was just antsy. Ready to do something.”
    “You’re a leader. A natural. Half this camp would stand up and bark if you asked them to. God knows I’d bark if you asked me to.”
    “Sash… I’m no leader.”
    “Bullshit and you know it. Nobody else has the balls you do, baby.”
    Mack grunted. I imagined where Sasha’s hand must have been.
    “Big D knows it. He hasn’t done anything to move us forward. We just hang here, waiting. He knows you’re going to challenge him.”
    “What?”
    “He has to know,” Sasha said. “He has to suspect something.”
    A metallic squeak leaked through the thin wall. I scooted closer, listening, waiting for their voices again.
    “I don’t want to challenge Big D. Plenty of folk love him. He’s done right by us most of the time. He’s kept everyone safe. He was here in the beginning. What’s this all about, anyway? I never mentioned challenging Big D.”
    “But you could. You could take him,” she said. “But maybe not out in the open. You know the council would jump on you if Big D was out of the way. If this pest hole needed another leader, you’d be next in line.”
    “What about Donnie?” Mack asked. “Donnie lives in his back pocket.”
    “What about Donnie? He’s a snot-nosed weasel.”
    “Donnie’s a dangerous guy. He’s number two, and suspicious as hell. He’s got that lean and hungry look.”
    “He’s a head case. You’re a natural leader.”
    “No,” Mack said. “I can’t do what D’s done. What he keeps doing for this camp.”
    “He’s an egomaniac and weak, too. You should be in charge.”
    “No, Sash. Big D’s the man. He’s kept us safe here. Got us planting seeds and farming. We’ll start raising hogs in the next year—once we grab some of those wild razorbacks down in the bottoms.  Big D’s the man.”
    “You think those were his ideas? You think any of that shit is going to win