Chapter 44: Welcome Home

Katherine and Yuki sat there while the patient rested. They had both discarded of their bloodied gloves and washed their hands.

The work was done, and there was nothing to be said between the two of them. And yet, Yuki had to speak. She needed to know…

“Will he make it?”

Katherine looked over at the operating table and the equipment Todd was hooked up to, the flickering of his heart rate on the EKG invading the otherwise solemn atmosphere. She nodded her head and returned to the drink she had poured herself.

“I’ve done all I can… For what it’s worth, he’s stable, and Dean’s blood is pumping into his veins now. I was honestly hoping to save that blood in case Dean needed it. But he made his choice… dumb bastard.”

Yuki looked up at the troubled expression on Katherine’s face and narrowed her gaze. Until now she hadn’t confronted the woman. And her attitude towards her had been far from pleasant.

Perhaps because it was the first time the two of them were truly alone together, but Yuki felt the need to speak up.

“What’s your deal? Dean says that there’s nothing going on between the two of you. I trust Dean… I don’t trust you.”

Katherine was taken aback by Yuki’s unusual assertiveness, her eyes blinking in astonishment for a few moments before she simply scoffed and sipped her drink.

“Relax… I’m not worried about him in the way you’re thinking. It’s the end of the world… and ever since I left the hospital, Dean is the only man I’ve come across who is remotely capable enough to keep me alive.”

Yuki still seemed unconvinced by her words, causing Katherine to roll her eyes before continuing to spill her guts, so to speak.

“Listen… If the world is frozen over, then I just want a place that’s warm to crash, three square meals a day, and a cozy bed to sleep in. Dean is able to provide that for me, and I intend to earn my keep. But my continued well being rests squarely on his own survival. That’s it… Whatever else you’re thinking about is entirely in your own head. I don’t want your man… I’m probably too old for him, anyway.”

She waved the thought away like it wasn’t worth examining. While Yuki sighed in relief upon hearing that Katherine wasn’t interested in Dean that way.

If she were being honest with herself, she could not wait for the day that this was all over, and the two of them could go back to enjoying movies, playing video games, and simply living peacefully without ever having to step outside in the frozen world beyond their doors.

—

Dean had performed one last sweep with a drone, confirming that the enemy was indeed wiped out. He and the boys then returned to the Agoge, where they found Daniel still heading toward them. Dean took one look at the boy, he couldn’t see his face, but he could tell by the way the lines of his balaclava had set that he wasn’t grieving.

“I take it Todd is going to make it?”

Daniel took a moment to think about how to phrase his words before ultimately nodding his head.

“Looks that way… The Doctor more or less confirmed I got him to her just in time… But Dean… I need to talk to you about her….”

Whatever Daniel was going to say, Dean knew it was best left in private. And unfortunately there was no time to spare for such a moment right now.

Hence, Dean motioned for the boys to stop.

“I understand. But that will have to wait. I’m going to go fetch the kill switch tethers we stole from the Raiders’ snowmobiles, then we’ll go retrieve them, and anything else worth seizing from their camp. Wait here, I’ll be back in a few minutes, then we march.”

Daniel was left alone with the boys, who told them the story of how Dean had run through the woods like a god of death, cutting down the enemy left and right. Before ordering the execution of the prisoners after briefly interrogating them.

Some of them spoke with reverence, others spoke with fear or uncertainty. But one thing was certain to Daniel. Dean was far more capable than he had initially expected.

Dean arrived not long after and led the march to the raiders’ camp just beyond the battlefield and the scars it had carved into the snow.

There they found the camp far more absent than just a few nights ago when Dean and Daniel led a small group to infiltrate it and sabotage the area.

When they arrived, they noticed that those inside were not armed, and many of them were still hiding in tents. Among them was a disproportionate number of females compared to the males. And Dean could instantly guess the reason.

Those few men quickly approach Dean and the others, unarmed and their hands held up. Braving the cold and the winter winds that whipped past them like a storm of nails.

“We’re unarmed! And we have no love or loyalty to those bastards!”

Dean motioned towards Daniel and another one of the boys who stepped forward and patted the small group of men down, confirming they were indeed unarmed. Only then did he step forward and interrogate them.

“Let’s say I believe you… Your survival relies upon my goodwill. Explain to me why I should feed and shelter you? Tell me how many of you there are, and what use you are to me?”

The men looked at one another, and instantly realized they hadn’t been liberated. They had just ended up in the hands of another tyrant born from the winter and its lack of mercy.

—

The conversation lasted only a few minutes. In the end, however, it was confirmed that the slaves who had been spared by the raiders and kept in the camp as “followers” were divided into three categories.

Domestic slaves, whose purpose was obvious. Laborers, like the men who had approached Dean unarmed. And their families.

These laborers all had some kind of use that was paramount to the camp’s continued survival. Or it had been prior to their raid. Some were mechanics, others were electricians, and others simply had some form of knowledge that the raiders found useful.

Either way, Dean knew that bringing them and their families on board was far more useful than it was detrimental.

Unlike the raiders who posed a constant security risk, if Dean properly extended an olive branch, these “liberated slaves” would become useful members of his own workforce. It didn’t take long for him to come to a decision.

“I’ll take you in, the Polis is in desperate need of manpower at the moment. You work, you eat. You work well you get priority access to heating. You prove yourselves irreplaceable, and you might see your comforts increase beyond basic survival. Those are the terms I offer. If they’re not good enough for you, then start walking and never show your faces around here again. You have seen what we do to those who infringe upon our borders.”

The camp’s “followers” had gathered in the square, they eyed one another cautiously. As Dean interrogated them, Daniel and the boys rounded up all the others. They had all more or less heard Dean’s terms.

Some were dismayed that Dean wasn’t a savior. Others with a more pragmatic understanding of their position were quite surprised that Dean wasn’t asking for anything outrageous, and was even offering scaled rewards based on their contribution to the community’s survival.

But the important thing was that in this cold and unforgiving world, Dean was a hell of a lot better option than the Raiders who now lay dead, buried beneath its frigid wastes. And he was better still than the daunting task of braving the unknown.

With that in mind, one by one the slaves stepped forward and offered themselves to Dean and the community of Paradise Falls. Within a few hours, the camp was stripped bare. Its tents were broken down, its snowmobiles were scavenged and repaired.

The fuel inside them re-heated. And anything that was still of some use was salvaged. Everything else was left to be consumed by the relentless march of winter.

Dean led the new members of his workforce back to Paradise Falls, carefully avoiding every trap that lay hidden beneath the snow.

There he divided them up, making use of the same tents they had previously dwelled in as temporary housing until the suburban neighborhood had been properly reforged into a Polis capable of surviving a new ice age.

It was only after Dean had resettled everyone, did he return to his keep? He stood before its door, exhausted. It was as if every muscle in his body had run out of energy. When the door opened, he face planted.

However, he didn’t smash his head into the floorboards. Instead, he landed in something warm and soft. Looking up, he saw Yuki looking down at him, there were tears of relief in her eyes as she held him tightly.

“Welcome home.”

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