Resolutions

Chapter 3-1

3

People always assumed my father was raised to be a killer. He was raised to be a hunter. There is a difference between hunting and killing. Some understand the difference. Some never will.

ANDREW MURDOCK, THE REAL KEVIN MURDOCK: A DIARY

The next morning, Charles Benteen was the first of the new arrivals to exit his pod. What greeted him was Murdock, standing alone. He saw no tipis, no cart, no draft animals, and none of the other people who had greeted them a few days prior.

“Where’d everyone go?” Benteen walked toward the shorter man.

“My family and friends are going about our business. You need to wake the rest of the leaders,” Murdock responded hastily.

Benteen, shocked at Murdock’s attitude, roused the rest of the leaders. It took time to get them all gathered and facing Murdock.

“As you can see, my friends and family have better things to do,” Murdock said loud enough for all to hear. “You are, therefore, on your own. If you’re going to kill each other, at least have the courtesy to wait until I’m out of sight.” Murdock turned to leave.

“Wait!” called Erycca Valdez, leader of the third pod.

Murdock stopped.

“What are we supposed to do? How will we live?”

Murdock’s shoulders slumped and he turned around. “Haven’t you been paying attention? You build fires to keep warm and cook food. You build houses to live in. You do whatever it takes to survive.”

“Where are we supposed to find food?” Erycca asked innocently.

“You hunt and fish, or gather grain, or gather wild vegetables, or any combination thereof. How many hunters, fishermen, woodsmen, or survivalists do your groups have?”

“Um… we don’t know,” said Parker Sheetzen, leader of the sixth pod.

“You don’t know?” Murdock crooked his finger in Sheetzen’s direction. “Why don’t you go find out?” he whispered, once Sheetzen was close.

Sheetzen made as if he would go do it, and then stopped.

“Yesterday would have been a good time!” Murdock shook his head at Sheetzen’s back as he ran. “You were all supposed to figure out the skills of your people. Did any of you do it, or did you think I was kidding?”

Blank faces and downcast eyes met his gaze.

With the butt-end of his spear, Murdock made two parallel wavy lines in the dirt. “This is the river.” He drew a single wavy line. “This is the stream, the one over there.” He stuck the spear point in the dirt close to the single line. “You are here. You can get a few fish from the stream, but I’d recommend going to the river. Don’t go alone, and be sure to take someone that knows how to harvest them.

“On the other side of the river are trees. You know, for building shelter. But I wouldn’t go there.”

“Why not?” Benteen said.

“That side of the river is home to two different groups. One is a bunch of cut-throats. The other group is what I call Lotus Eaters. They’ll either help you, enslave you, or they’ll ignore you. Neither group is one I’d recommend. Just off this plateau, downriver, are a group of farmers. They may help some of you, but there’s a price to pay for their help. I’m not here to tell you what to do. You can go anywhere you choose, as long as you stay off the plateau second up from here, and off that plateau over there.” Murdock pointed to the cliff across the stream. “I’ve been here for ten years, so you can believe what you will. But I’d say your best chance for survival is downriver from the farmers. I’d stay here for a few more days, though, to build up your strength and get the lay of the land, so to speak. Whatever you decide, don’t venture out alone and don’t pollute the water.”

Sheetzen came hurrying back. “There are several hunters and fishermen.” He panted. “Exactly how many, I don’t know, but we have some.”

“Well, that’s something, anyway,” Murdock said. “There are deer and fish here, and there are also wolves and cougars. The wildlife will take care of you, one way or the other. Either you’ll learn to survive, or they’ll remove any sign of your existence.”

“You don’t like us very much, do you?” said Georgia Nyree, leader of the tenth pod.

“It’s not a matter of liking you or not. From my perspective, you’re all interlopers and tenderfoots. I don’t know you well enough to say if I like you or not. I’ve given you a few things you need to do, but most won’t believe me and will insist on doing things your own way. So why would I invest any time or emotion in someone who, most likely, won’t be around this time next year?”

Everyone stared after Murdock, mouths agape, as he strode over the rolling hills toward the river.

“We’re on our way to you,” Murdock flashed to Irene Harris, who was inside the medical complex. “We have three new arrivals—”

“You better hurry and get here!” flashed Harris. “We’re under attack!”

“Who’s attacking?” Murdock picked up his pace to a ground-covering trot.

“I don’t know for certain. It appears to be the Pirates or the Lotus Eaters. Luckily, I’d closed the wooden portcullis when you warned of Reyes’s anger. There are steel arrows coming over the wall, and one has hit Roy. Nothing major, but we’re barricaded inside the residence with the ladders pulled up.”

Murdock sped up to his mile-eating run. “Stay undercover. I’ll be there as soon as I can!”

He peered ahead to see his family upriver from his track, far enough that none could see his passage.

“Harris is under attack,” Murdock flashed to his family.

“Do you need help?” replied Declan and Mei Lee.

“Declan, ride hard and get there as soon as you can. Mei Lee, guard the rest of the family. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Declan, riding Dancer, stopped long enough for the rest to catch up to him. He leaned over to kiss his wife, who was driving the cart being pulled by Donder.

“Stay safe,” he flashed to Emily. “And keep the rest of the family safe.” He reined up his mount and rode off.

“What’s going on?” Kathy Watkins said. “You roust us in the middle of the night to break camp and walk to the river. Now, Declan rides off. And where is Murdock?”

“Madam, kindly shut your trap,” Zeke said. Since the wee hours of the morning, he’d walked next to her. “I’ve had to listen to you run your mouth, and, frankly I’m tired of hearing you. It’s obvious that there’s an emergency somewhere.”

“Does this happen often?” Curtis asked Emily, as he trotted next to the cart carrying the hides for the tipis, the younger children, and the leftover pork.

“Rarely, but your brother is well-versed in what he needs to do.” Emily said, trying to remain positive.

“I can see by the look of ya that ya be worried,” Curtis said.

“Only a fool wouldn’t be concerned,” Emily replied. “Out here, anything can happen at any time.”

Mei Lee prepared her bow and further extended her lead of the group. You better be careful, Kevin. I’m not done with you, yet.

When Murdock caught sight of the walls of the medical facility, he could see several men with bows, firing over the walls, and he sped up. When he jumped the river, he landed close to one man, his spear at the ready. He struck the man as he passed, with the butt-end. He ran around the area, dropping the aggressors with non-fatal strikes to the head with the blunt end of his spear.

Once everyone was down, holding their aching heads, he stopped in front of Wagner.

“Obviously, you’ve learned nothing from our last encounter,” Murdock grinned, trying hard to slow his breathing. “What is the meaning of this attack?”

“The meaning should be obvious,” Wagner said dismissively.

“So I take it you and the rest of this crew are… intellectually deficient. Well, that answers that.” Murdock chuckled.

“We value strength! The weak have always been the prey of the strong!”

“You were attacking a medical facility manned by two people, both medically trained, and you couldn’t manage it. So who is the stronger?”

“We would have, eventually, if you hadn’t stuck your nose into our business.”

“Just so happens that this facility is my business! I built it and I watch over it. How strong are you if I can stop your attack? One against, what,” Murdock glanced around, “ten men? By your logic, I should be in command of your entire crew!” He heard the scrape of a blade against scabbard. “If you continue to draw that weapon, I’ll be forced to defend myself.” He stared at Wagner.

Murdock heard the blade clear the scabbard. He turned his body and threw his spear. The spear hit the man in the shoulder of the arm holding the twelve-inch machete. The man screamed and dropped the knife as he hit the ground. Murdock turned to face Wagner, his own twelve-incher in hand.

“Anyone else?” Murdock looked around at the rest of the attackers.

“Need any help?” Declan said, from atop his mount, bow in hand with an arrow nocked.

“Nope, I can handle this bunch, but thanks for asking,” Murdock replied, without turning to look at Declan.

“What are you going to do with us?” Wagner said, defeat in his tone.

Murdock looked up in the air. “Let me see, you were behind a wall to keep everyone else safe from your predations, but that didn’t work. You tried to kill me and stole everything I had. I warned you the last time I saw you, Wagner. I should kill you here and now.”

“What goes on here?” a man yelled, from the trees. “Drop your weapons!”

Murdock chuckled. “No, I don’t think so. Be warned, I’m not in the best of moods, so attacking me will be… detrimental to your well-being.”

“Why are you holding those men?” the voice said, from the cover of the trees.

“He attacked us for no reason!” Wagner said. “We were just hunting, and he attacked us!”

“They were attacking the medical facility. I stopped them.”

“Is Doc Harris and Roy okay?” the voice said.

“From the information I received, they injured Roy, but I don’t know to what extent.”

“What do you intend to do with them?”

“I haven’t decided, yet.”

“How are we to know the truth of this matter?”

“Send one of your men to check with Doctor Harris. I’ll wait.”

Murdock heard someone run toward the medical facility. Then heard someone walk toward him.

“Aren’t you Clem Adams?” Declan said, as the man cleared cover.

He nodded.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“By rights, I should take you and Murdock into custody,” Adams said to Declan.

“Good luck with that,” Murdock said, with a surly tone. “I’m not in the mood!”

“I said I should. However, since these… people attacked Doc Harris and Roy, I’m inclined to let it slide.”

“Adams, what would your people do with this bunch?” Murdock said.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m sure it would be something nasty. Strip them and tie them to a tree for the wolves, would be my guess. The more the wolves get to eat, the less they attack us.”

Murdock heard running feet and whispering behind him.

“My man says Roy was injured, a metal arrow in the shoulder. But Doc is fine. Roy is one of ours.” Adams walked toward Wagner, a scowl on the bigger man’s face. “If you want us to deal with them, we will!”

Wagner blanched as he looked between two angry men.

“I think, since they admire strength so much, that all of them should strip. I want them as bare as the day they were born. Declan, come down and collect their weapons and clothing.”

“Is that all you’ll do to them?” Adams said. “I’m surprised you’re being so lenient.”

“I also need to know which hand is their dominant one,” Murdock boomed, as he put away his twelve-inch machete and picked up one of the captured bows.

As Mei Lee, Zeke, Emily, and the rest of the group arrived at the medical facility, Declan, leading Dancer, and Murdock approached the compound. They all were met by Doctor Harris.