The Roaming by W. J. Hegarty

Author:W. J. Hegarty [Hegarty, W. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Zombies | Undead
ISBN: 9781693659829
Published: 2019-09-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Understanding

By dinnertime, Town Hall was filled far beyond capacity. Nearly every man, woman, and child turned out for whatever news Takashi and his men had to offer. The appearance of nine battle-worn soldiers in their quiet little town rightfully unnerved these people. It started with a few whispers, a comment here and a response there, but quickly turned into full-blown conversations until the assembly room was filled with panicked voices. The citizens of Pepperbush, who for so long hid behind the false sense of security the berm provided, were in no way prepared for the implication of Takashi’s unit showing up at their doorstep.

Marisol approached the podium. The concern etched on her face only added to the growing trepidation of the crowd, which remained vocal. Various people shouted questions in unison. Their loud voices blended together in a cacophony of nearly unrecognizable ramblings.

“What’s happening, Sheriff?”

“Why is the army here?”

“Are we being evacuated?”

“We’re being quarantined, aren’t we?”

Marisol began with an unfamiliar tremble to her voice. “Everyone, if you would please quiet down, we’d like to get this briefing started, but first I have an announcement to make concerning Colonel Takashi and his unit’s presence in our town.”

Behind her, Colonel Takashi stood, waiting for her to finish. He was prepared for his own address to the uneasy crowd. Miller and the other soldiers stood behind him at attention. Their stern looks solidified the people’s dread that an ominous announcement lay ahead.

Radzinski stood far off at the end of the dais, displaying his typical disregard for proper posture. He rolled his eyes with every eager question from the crowd. The Marine obviously held these people in contempt.

“This isn’t good.” Miller leaned in for Takashi’s benefit, careful to keep his comments from the people’s eager ears.

“No, it isn’t. We’re committed now, though, Miller. Focus. These people need us. We don’t have much time.”

Marisol turned the podium over to Takashi. The crowd began to calm as the stranger took the stage.

Takashi grew up poor in an Indiana suburb; he was born during the Kennedy administration to first-generation immigrants. The colonel was intimately familiar with small-town politics and their penchant for distrusting outsiders. His family scraped by as best as it could by stretching every last dollar as far as possible. Takashi’s parents had a rough go of it as immigrants in a turbulent era, a direct result of losing everything after spending time in a Japanese internment camp as young adults during the Second World War. Tales from those trying years were the catalyst for Takashi enlisting. He felt compelled to prevent something similar from ever happening again. If such fear manifested itself on American soil once, it could raise its head anew. Takashi wanted to put himself in position to make a difference. Maneuver to the front lines, fighting as the voice of reason against such atrocities. At least the people of Pepperbush were letting strangers in. That was a good sign that they might actually be receptive to what he had to say, despite a few sideways glances and hushed accusations.

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