Read Online We Go On (THE DELL) by Stephen Woods - Free Book Online Page B

at me as I stepped inside.
    "Jim, relax. We’re going to meet in the planning room
at midnight. Till then just keep everybody in the bunkers and quiet. If they
need stuff, let them go a few at a time and come right back. Be upstairs at 12.
We'll talk about it then." I could see he didn't like those answers but he
said okay and I headed for the Aid Station.
    Kat was in the Aid Station. She sat in a chair talking with
Doc Groves and one of the nurses, a lady named Laurie Silversmith. They saw me
walk in. "How goes the war?" Doc asked.
    "We're winning," I replied. "Doc, I need to
borrow part of your staff for a few minutes."
    "Well, I think we can do without her for a bit. Just
make sure you feed her before you bring her back."
    I smiled. "Will do, Doc." I held my hand out to
Kat and she stood, placing her hand in mine. I led her out of the Aid Station
and up the stairs to our room.
    As soon as the door was shut she asked what was wrong. I
explained the situation, told her about the gang’s demands and the deadline. I
told her I wanted to end this without bloodshed. I said I needed to come up
with a plan by midnight as that’s the time I had set to brief the others on
whatever we were going to do. I also explained that I'd pulled her out of the
Aid Station because I wanted her help coming up with something.
    She walked over and sat at the desk. I could tell she was
considering all the options. I knew how her mind worked. She would look at all
the factors, weigh all options, and then develop a couple of different courses
of action. Then she would look at the pros and cons of both courses and choose
the best one. I'd seen this dozens of times. While she considered, I walked to
the desk and picked up my note book and a pen. Kat’s a detail person and would
insist on me writing down her thoughts.
    Finally she looked up at me. "You have to kill
them." I had been concentrating so hard on being prepared to write down
her detailed ideas it took a moment for what she said to sink in.
    "Huh?" was all I could get out. I know I need to
work on my vocabulary one of these days.
    My wife gets an exasperated look when she's talking and she
thinks I'm not listening. She had that look now. "I said, you have to kill
them."
    "Kat, I heard what you said."
    "Then why did you say huh?" she asked.
    I was still in shock. "Because I'm in shock. I came to
you for advice on how to end this peacefully and you tell me I've got to kill
them! Pardon me but, huh ?"
    Occasionally she will take pity on me and describe in detail
a concept that I'm too thick to understand. This was one of those times.
"Scotty, sit down and I'll explain," she said.
    I pulled a chair close and sat so we were knee to knee. She
looked me in the eye. "We know they’re willing to commit atrocities by
what they did to Nancy, right?" she said. I nodded. She continued, "They
know where we live now. Maybe they have for a while. They know we send groups
out to forage for food and supplies. Even if you succeed in forcing a peaceful
resolution to this situation, it's only postponing the inevitable. They will be
back. Next time they might want some of our supplies or some of the women. Or
they could just wait and ambush the foraging parties as they go out or come
back in. The bottom line is they won't stop. You have to kill them."
    I let her words sink in for a few moments. "All of
them?" I asked. I know, I was being dense but hearing her explain in cold
hard facts that I needed to just face up to it and kill them had screwed me up.
    She took it in stride, though. She patted me on the knee. "Yes
Scotty, all of them or at least most of them."
    "Wow. Not what I expected form you, sweetie."
    "You’re the one always going on about second and third
order effects. How if we do this, then this will happen and then that will
happen. I'm just pointing out what's going to happen if you let them walk away
from here in the morning. You know I'm right."
    The more I thought about it the more I knew she