Resistance: Pandora, Book 3 by Eric L. Harry

Author:Eric L. Harry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2019-10-24T11:11:39+00:00

Chapter 28

NEW ROANOKE, VIRGINIA

Infection Date 91, 1600 GMT (12:00 p.m. Local)

When the full meeting of The Community council was convened, one thing was immediately apparent to Emma. Everyone present was infected. “What happened with the uninfected representatives? That woman?”

“Jane Finch?” Samantha found in her notebook. “No one can find her.”

“Maybe she doesn’t like exercise,” Sheriff Walcott said.

“Was that a joke?” Samantha asked. It wasn’t a challenge, just a question.

“A joke? Ah, no, I don’t think so. The biggest rule change since we had our last all hands meeting was requiring daily workouts. Maybe she left because of that.”

“We lose people every day,” Dwayne noted. He had begun wearing camouflage military uniforms, and the latest addition was a black insignia on his collar denoting his rank in the Marine Corps—“Lance Corporal,” he had explained, even though he commanded over a thousand troops. When Samantha had suggested he should be a general, or at least a colonel, he hadn’t seemed to understand. “But I’m a Lance Corporal.”

“How many leave?” Emma asked. Dwayne clearly had no idea. “Maybe we should have them…sign out or something? Otherwise, our census won’t be accurate.”

“Or should we end our policy of allowing people to leave?” Samantha asked.

“No,” Emma replied. “It’s like a relief valve. If people are trapped, they might rebel. If we give them the option to leave, the most disgruntled will take it. I’d only consider ending the policy if Uninfecteds set up their own community right on our border and leaving was easy. But as it stands now, the Exclusion Zone and the ungoverned areas along our periphery are so dangerous most people are staying put.”

Most of the Infecteds around the table said nothing. Emma wasn’t even sure they were listening. “We need someone to represent the interests of the Uninfecteds. We need to know what they need—what they want—so they don’t take up arms against us.”

“Entertainment,” Samantha said.

“What?”

“I was talking to a boy yesterday—”

“In Copper Hill?”

“Yes. He said they’re all really bored.”

Walcott surprised Emma by speaking up. “They’re lucky to be alive.”

“One of our Boards was spray painted with swastikas,” Dwayne said as the floodgate of commentary opened. “Last night in Callaway. That’s not far from Copper Hill. Maybe it was that boy. Should Sheriff Walcott arrest him?”

Emma scrutinized Samantha. Dwayne’s bodyguard/spy had reported that Samantha and the boy had eaten sandwiches near each other during his work break, and that Sam had clearly manufactured several other chance meetings with him before they left. But the girl displayed no distress at the suggestion that he be detained and executed.

“No,” Emma replied. “And swastikas sound like a political protest. Like we’re Nazis.” She turned to Samantha. “What kind of entertainment would keep them happy?”

She shrugged. “How should I know? A circus? Carnival rides? He asked if I knew where he could get any weed.”

“There’s drugs in old police evidence rooms,” Walcott noted, “if we need ’em.”

Emma said, “This is why we need a representative from them. They could tell us whether drugs would help.”

“But I don’t trust Uninfecteds,” Dwayne said.

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