Chapter 4 - MILLER FARM
Ana slept fourteen hours.
When she woke, she asked for water before food.
Then insulin.
Not for herself.
“For Mr. Briggs.”
No one knew Briggs.
“He’s diabetic too,” she said. “At Mercer’s camp.”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
Another captive needing the same thing they feared losing.
The world kept refusing simple categories.
Ana had lived at Miller Farm before the raid.
Twenty-three people.
Corn.
goats.
solar.
well.
Mercer’s group arrived calling themselves Haven Logistics.
They traded batteries for grain.
Friendly.
Then asked:
How many guards?
How much fuel?
Who has medical training?
Miller Farm answered.
Why not?
Information exchange felt normal among survivors.
Two weeks later Haven returned with forty infected trailing behind.
Not accidental.
They used sound lures.
Forced Miller Farm to open an emergency side gate to escape the infected.
Then Haven entered through the other side.
Same method Rebecca tried.
Manufactured breach.
Create danger.
Offer rescue.
Control survivors.
Daniel felt sick.
Rebecca had learned tactics from Mercer’s radio instructions.
He asked Ana:
“Did Rebecca know?”
Ana shook her head.
“I don’t know her.”
“What does Haven tell recruits?”
“That their camp is safe.”
“Is it?”
“Walls. Food. Generator.”
“So why leave?”
Ana looked at him.
“You don’t leave.”
There.
Mercer’s camp was an old distribution center.
Strong.
He collected skilled survivors.
Nurses.
mechanics.
farmers.
armed guards.
People who resisted worked outside fences.
People who tried to flee lost ration priority.
Not zombies.
Human coercion.
Mercer justified:
civilization needs discipline.
Rebecca had been vulnerable to that argument.
She already believed shelter democracy was too slow.
Ana described Miller Farm deaths.
Seven shot during takeover.
Four killed by infected.
Others captured.
Some escaped.
No one knew.
Eli listened.
He was sixteen.
He had almost been on Rebecca’s six-seat list.
“Why me?”
Ana looked at him.
“Scouts are valuable.”
He swallowed.
Rebecca later asked to speak to Ana.
Daniel let Ana decide.
She said no.
No obligation.
The shelter faced another problem.
Mercer knew location.
One truck escaped.
He might return.
They had to choose:
stay and fortify,
move,
split,
negotiate.
This time Daniel refused to choose alone.
Rebecca’s crime had shown what unilateral survival logic could become.
They held council.
Even people not on elected council spoke.
Rina wanted leave immediately.
Omar wanted stay.
Marcus said:
“We cannot outrun insulin.”
Tessa said:
“We have maybe ten weeks of his current supply, less if temperature control fails.”
Ana said Mercer had insulin.
That tempted.
Could raid?
No.
Too dangerous.
Could trade?
Maybe.
But Mercer wanted people.
Claire said:
“There’s another possibility.”
Everyone looked.
The old county map showed a cold-storage pharmacy warehouse thirty miles south.
They had never gone because highway overrun.
Ana knew a service rail line bypassing highway.
Her father used to work freight.
Could reach by maintenance vehicle.
Long shot.
But real.
Daniel asked:
“Why haven’t we tried?”
Omar:
“Because we didn’t know line was clear.”
Ana:
“It might not be.”
Uncertainty.
Different from Rebecca’s certainty theater.
They formed plan:
small scout team.
Daniel.
Claire? Maybe too important with Lily. Claire volunteered.
Eli.
Ana.
Jonas.
Mara stays Lily.
Tessa shelter medical.
Marcus stays.
Rebecca?
No.
She was confined.
But she had medical knowledge.
Some argued:
take her under guard.
Claire said no initially.
Then Ana said:
“If she knows Mercer radio codes, she may matter.”
Rebecca did.
Could she redeem by helping?
Not erase crime.
But practical.
Daniel asked Rebecca:
“Will you give us all Mercer frequencies and codes?”
“Yes.”
“Without condition?”
“Yes.”
“Will you stay confined while we go?”
“Yes.”
No dramatic trust restoration.
Useful cooperation.
Rebecca handed over notebook.
It contained more than codes.
Mercer schedule.
route call signs.
drop points.
rumors of medicine sites.
One note:
COLDSTORE S-19 — LOOTED? UNKNOWN.
Same warehouse.
Mercer had considered.
Maybe dangerous.
Then another:
Rebecca’s notes contained no family surname, only initials and radio call signs.
Rebecca said:
“He told me south warehouse was empty.”
Ana:
“He lies when he wants routes unused.”
So maybe not empty.
The scout trip became Chapter next.
Before leaving, Daniel stood at Lily’s cot.
Mara said:
“You do not have to go.”
“I know.”
Claire:
“I can go instead.”
Daniel looked at her.
She had already risked herself.
He almost said:
I’m father.
Then stopped.
Fatherhood does not make every outside mission his.
They chose team by skills.
Jonas mechanical.
Eli scout.
Ana route.
Daniel security and radio.
Claire stayed because Lily trusted and because shelter needed someone besides Mara.
That was better.
Daniel left Lily with Claire.
Hours after Rebecca tried to destroy that trust.
Claire looked at him.
“You sure?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
He handed her Lily.
Trust after evidence.
Not blind.
Earned.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
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Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
Miller Farm showed that a fortified destination can still be unsafe when the people controlling the walls also control whether anyone is allowed to leave.
