Chapter 14 :THE NEW KINGDOM

It felt like only a matter of time until three weeks had passed.

We had managed to find an old lodge within the depths of the national forest. It was a sturdy building with stone walls and heavy iron doors. There was a clear view of the only road to the top of the mountain. It had a natural spring, large stone fireplace and plenty of land to grow crops.

This was perfect.

The first thing I did was vaccinate my group. All three girls got vaccinated one by one, Martha, Chloe, Trent, Jason and Adrian. I was glad to know that we could no longer catch airborne viruses.

The next thing to do was to increase my living space.

My space had doubled in size to fifty square metres. I spent hours arranging everything so that the grey empty room became a survivalist's dream. On the left I had set up shelves filled with food. Canned food, rice, flour, dried meat and the instant noodles Jason used to laugh at. On the right I had weapons and ammo. At the back were our animals; chickens, goats and rabbits.

Everything was simple, wholesome and satisfying.

"Sarah!" Adrian yelled from the front porch of the lodge.

I headed outside and saw him standing by the radio. The radio was a ham radio we had taken from a ranger station. He had been trying to pick up any signs of life outside the mountain for hours.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He turned the volume up. A female voice came through the static.

"repeating this is the Haven. We are a fortified town in the southern valley. We have food, water and shelter. All survivors who would like to contribute are welcome to join us. If you can hear us please head to the coordinates..."

"That's a town?" I asked. "How many people are there?"

"Maybe more." Adrian said.

Looking at the radio, there were only a few hundred people. A few hundred mouths to feed, a few hundred people to protect. It was risky but also an opportunity.

"Do you think we should contact them?" Adrian asked.

I thought about the vaccination, my stockpile and the Syndicate.

"They could be a great asset or another waiting to become the Syndicate. We won't know until we go and check it out."

The next morning I drove with a small group, Adrian, Trent and Jason. Martha and Chloe were staying back to protect the lodge and children.

The Haven was located in a valley. The whole town was protected by a natural ravine. There were lots of wooden barriers, watch towers and guards with weapons at the gate. It wasn't as big as the Syndicates safe zone but appeared to be well organised. People were farming in the fields, children playing in the dirt and the air smelt of cooking.

We parked our Jeep and walked up to the gate.

One of the guards approached us with his rifle raised. "What are you doing here?"

"We're survivors. We heard your broadcast and want somewhere to trade." I said.

The guard looked me up and down. We looked much better than most survivors with our clean clothes and full stomachs.

"Just wait here whilst I get the leader." He said.

He ran off into the compound. A few minutes later the gate opened and a woman came out. She was tall, strong and had short hair. Her face looked like she had seen too much. She looked to be in her fifties but her eyes were sharp and calculating.

"I am the leader of the Haven." She said,

I held out my hand. "Sarah. This is my team."

She shook my hand firmly. "You look well fed, Sarah. Either you are very lucky or very dangerous."

"A bit of both." I said.

She chuckled dryly. "I like you already. Come in, we have a lot to discuss."

We sat down in Reyes' office. It was a simple room. There was a wooden table and a map of the valley on the wall.

"Let me cut to the chase." She said, serving us all a cup of tea. "We are growing. We have two hundred people and more coming every day. However, we are running low on supplies. Winter is going to be tough and we just don't have enough food and medicine to last."

"What can you offer us?" I asked.

"We have a working water mill, small weapons arsenal and a medical team." She said pointing at the map. "We also have information. We know where the Syndicate are regrouping and what they plan to do."

"What do they plan to do?" I asked, leaning forward.

Her face fell. "They are creating an army. Using the vaccine as a weapon to force survivors to fight for them. If we don't stop them soon they will take over the whole region."

Adrian and I exchanged a look. They were a real threat. Even though we had attacked their safe zone they were now more dangerous than ever.

"We have a vaccination." I said quietly.

Her eyes widened. "You have the cure?"

"Yes. We have ten vials. Enough to cover our group and a few more people but we don't have the formula to mass produce it."

Reyes leaned back in her chair. Her brain was obviously whirring. "If we had the formula we could create enough vaccinations to cover everyone. We could wipe out their power overnight."

"Yes." I nodded. "So we need to find the formula. And I know exactly where to look."

"Where?" Reyes raised an eyebrow.

I looked out of the window to the mountains. The main research facility was located there.

"Where it all started. The original lab.”