The Legend of Dark City

Chapter 22

Bree and Napier discussed the appearance of the soldiers later that night. Riley had confirmed that there were fifteen heavily armed men and women in the platoon. If they had wanted to stage a coup or bring harm to the village they could easily have done so. Instead they had made camp outside the village and had sent Sam in as an ambassador.

It was tempting to leap at their offer of assistance, but Napier was showing his usual caution and looking at things from every angle. Bree reminded him that in six days time, they were supposed to deliver the requested food to the raiders. They knew the location of the raiders' base but they had no plan for how to deal with them. The soldiers were armed and their participation would more or less ensure victory.

The troops and the doctor claimed to be from Dark City but anybody could do that. Napier had always assumed that the presence of the scientists at a secret location was just an urban legend, but here was someone who was saying all the stories were true. An identity card or a badge didn't have the same impact as they would have before the plague.

Napier had interrogated Sam for some time in an effort to ascertain who he really was and whether his words could be believed. The doctor had told him about the call which had gone out to scientists, military personnel and government employees and how their numbers had dwindled when the plague hit them. They had been battling in vain to try to find a cure for the plague so they had turned their attention elsewhere.

So many people had died and those that were left were widely dispersed. There was not going to be a need for any type of government for quite some time. Their observations of the local settlement had revealed the problem of the birthmarks on the children and they had become alarmed at how many of them were dying. He told Napier about the autopsies they had carried out which confirmed the children had died of cancer.

Dark City was a place where people had gathered, but it was also a store of equipment and weapons. In an ideal world they would be amongst the population helping cure the children, but as that was not possible, they had to try to help in other ways. They were travelling around meeting various communities seeing what they needed and whether they could supply something which might help.

In the end Napier, Wilson, Riley and Bree had to decide about the visitors. This was a job for Bree and her uncanny abilities. She had immediately felt comfortable with Sam and the Captain and she assured the others that they were trustworthy. The fact that they had camped outside the village and sent an emissary had been a good sign. Had they been so inclined they could have wreaked a lot of damage on the settlers with the amount of weaponry they had at their disposal.

The next day Bree and Napier went to the army camp to tell the Captain and Sam the true extent of their problems with the raiders. The stories which had been told by people who had joined the village were related and they revealed the details of Esther's murder and the demand for food and goods which had followed. The raiders would return in five days to exact their price. Bree explained how they had sent out search parties and had been successful in locating the enemy camp. She outlined their set up and how difficult it would be for the villagers to attack.

Captain Armitage set his jaw and issued orders. Bree returned to the village to find Campbell and send him to the camp. He would then take two of the platoon members to the site so that they could observe it for themselves. Once they had gathered more information, they would formulate a plan of attack. The Captain and Napier were in agreement that this gang could not be merely chastised or negotiated with. There was only one way to deal with people like them.

When Campbell and the soldiers returned two days later a war council was convened. The scouts reported that they had seen approximately twenty men, ten women and four children. The women mostly lived in the large farmhouse with the majority of the men being billeted in the barns and stables which were next to the house. They confirmed that the only route of approach which had cover was through the woods to the west. The raiders posted guards but most of them found a comfortable place to sit and then fell asleep. Their overconfidence would make the Captain's job much easier.