From the journal of Marie Costa, June 17

June 17, 2017

     Well, the decision made at the meeting to “think about it some more” regarding the group in town has been taken out of our hands, in a way. We have been patrolling a perimeter around the cabin and the land we've been slowly clearing. On the mid morning patrol yesterday, one of our patrols came across an unknown man sneaking through the woods trying to move without being see or heard. Too bad for him that our people had heard the sounds of the animals stop ahead of them and had stopped and taken refuge on one of our platforms, above the man.

     Brian, the ex-fireman, was one of the scouts and waited until the man was underneath him, then dropped down on him. This knocked the man to the ground and the other scouts, Josh, Jake and Sally, climbed down quickly and they were able to subdue the man with no problems. They gagged him with duct tape so he couldn't call out to anyone else that might be near and blind folded him, just in case. They brought him back right away before returning to their patrol to make sure no one else was around.

     We had already decided that we could hold someone in the back of the food truck, like a cell, so that's where they put him before telling us what had happened. I called a meeting of anyone available and we discussed what to do. We decided we needed to interrogate him and find out for sure where he'd come from. There were too many unanswered questions. Is he a loner? Is he from the group in town? Is there another group we don't know about?

     We talked and argued about who would do the questioning. Everyone else agreed that we should have Charlie, who was in the Marines and worked security, Richard, who was a retired police officer and I, as the groups' leader, do the questioning. We took him some water and then tied him to a chair. Chairs and a table for the rest of us were also brought in and set up. Richard brought a black case that sort of resembled an old doctors bag and placed it at his feet.

Picture of Marco from his wallet

     We started out being nice and just trying to have a conversation with him, but he just laughed at us and called us names. The only thing he'd tell us was his name, Marco. Charlie got up and continued asking him questions, but added in some good punches when he didn't get answers. After about fifteen minutes of questions and roughing Marco up, Richard called a halt and brought us back together for a quiet conversation. His case held all kinds of instruments used for torture. He'd used it as a teaching tool when he gave lectures. He knew how to use them, since he'd studied all about it and he was willing to use his knowledge to help us.

     It didn't take long from there. I'll probably have nightmares about what Richard did to Marco, but we had to get the information and we needed it now. He was as student at the local college when the dead rose. He had joined the group in town right away and seemed proud that they had lost so few people since the beginning. He detailed the murders, torture, rapes and other atrocities like it was normal to act like psychopaths and do whatever sick thing came into their sick minds. He told us everything. He was alone in the forest, an advance scout, out looking for places to move on to after town.

     Marco told us how many of them there were, men and slave women. He told us what weapons they have, how much ammo, fuel, food and water. He told their routines, who does what, what their leader was like. Anything and everything Richard asked him about his group, he told us. When we ran out of questions, we gave him a meal and some water, then locked him up for the night and placed a guard on the roll up door of the truck.

     We went inside, cleaned up and ate something before telling the group what we had learned. That other group is evil. They don't care who you are, they'll kill the men and keep the women for their pleasure, but not for her's, obviously. We are going to have to get enough weapons and ammo together to make a plan and take them out. There is no other option.

     Tomorrow we're taking inventory of our weapons and ammo, then sending out our scouts to find more of everything. We're also going to question our captive again before making a plan. We're going to be really busy.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.