6 Chapter 6: Investigations

Lisa and John left the house after telling Mary they would be out late. As they closed the door behind them, John started asking Lisa more about herself. As a former police detective, he could tell that there was much more to Lisa than just a pretty face and a tall body.

John motioned for her to follow him towards the house next door as he spoke. "So, I haven't seen you in town before. Word of a woman carrying a coffin on her back is sure to spread."

"Yes, I just arrived here early this morning. Walked all the way from Salt Lake City.” Lisa replied before questioningly asking, “Where are we going?"

"Salt Lake…" John mumbled a bit surprised, but ignored his thoughts and continued, "Most of the people living in this cul-de-sac are former cops or EMT personnel. We're going to get my old patrol partners to come with us too."

Arriving, John knocked on the neighboring door with a quick rap. After a moment an older man, looking to be in his fifties or early sixties, answered the door. He looked surprised seeing the woman behind John carrying her conspicuous coffin.

"John, what is going on? Who's this?" He asked nodding in her direction.

"This is Lisa, she just brought back Hanna a little while ago.” John then sighed and lowered his voice. “It seems that the Marshals are dead."

"Dead! How?” He gasped while covering his pepper-colored mustache with his hand. “Their bodies weren't in the burned house, so what happened?"

"I can explain on the way. We are going to search where Hanna told Lisa that they might be. Can you get your gun and come with us?" John asked.

"Of course." The older man nodded vigorously in reply and his combed over brown hair fell in his face some. "We need to find out what happened. First the fire and now the Marshals are dead! This is a major problem. This area of town has always been so peaceful. I'll be back."

He then turned and went into his house, but quickly returned, pistol in hand. "Alright, let's get going then.” He then extended a hand towards Lisa, “Oh, and pardon my manners, my name is Benjamin, but just call me Benny."

"Nice to meet you sir." Lisa replied shaking his hand firmly.

"Quite a grip you got there, young lady." Benny remarked. Lisa only smiled in reply.

"Let's go get Richard next, then we'll head to the place." John explained.

When John knocked on the door to Richards house, he was already coming out to greet them. He even had his pistol in its hip holster ready to go. Richard was also an older man, but his age was between John and Benny. He was also a great deal taller than both men and slightly taller than Lisa herself. Lisa guessed he had to be just over two meters tall.

"What's up?" Richard asked.

Benny replied first. "Miss Lisa here, just brought Hanna Marshal back from somewhere and tells us that the Marshals might have been killed. We're going to check it out."

"I'll come for sure!" Richard replied closing the door behind him.

However, before the door finished closing a lady's voice cried out, "Not without me!"

Reopening the door Richard’s wife came out to join the group. She had a worried look on her face, though it didn't harm her soft, mature looks. Lisa thought she look young, despite being only a year younger than Richard.

Brushing back her long brown ponytail she said, "You guys are bound to get hurt out there, so I'm coming."

Lisa and the three former police officers saw that in her hands there was a large EMT medical kit. Looking back up she had a determined expression that basically screamed, ‘just try and stop me’.

"Well, no argument there, Joan. We just might need you." John said with a faint smile. "Well, this should be enough for where we are headed. Alright, I'll explain everything as we walk."

They hadn’t gone far before the sun had finally risen to its peak. The small group decided to stop for a quick rest in the shade of a large oak that grew in the center of town. They were still mulling over Lisa’s recount of what Hanna had told her about what happened to her parents, and they had been silent for most of the walk.

Benny broke the silence with a heavy sigh, and he shook his head slowly while speaking. "Why would they kidnap the Marshal family, burn the house, then kill them all, just for some blueprint? They are gangsters, what do they care for such things?"

"I'm not sure either." John replied. "That's why we're going to the north police station."

Lisa had an idea, "What if they are trying to get the power back on for the town? If they did, it could make the gang more powerful. Is the Mad Dogs gang the only one in town?"

"Hmm." John thought for a moment. "There are three main gangs in town, but the Mad Dogs are already the most influential. As for your theory to get electricity, who can say?" The other members of the group shrugged, unsure themselves.

"Let's just go and find out." Richard said while walking up ahead. The rest quickly followed his lead.

They followed a winding road going north along the Colorado River, of which also headed in the direction of the police station. The sun sparkled off the river's muddy brown waters and a breeze was starting to pick up, giving a bit of a chill in the late spring air. Though a pretty day, it did little to brighten their spirits.

Meanwhile, Lisa noticed that there were several large sail boats and barges traveling on the river. Some of these barges were docked on the old rusting and splintering piers, and she could see several people unloading cargo and supplies from them. By a large barge a hand cranking crane was lifting large metal containers off it. Even without a power source the crane was a huge help in the process.

"So that's how this town is staying alive." Lisa thought while making a mental note. “The river trade is probably the only lifeline this town has got.”

This town was far away from any major city's that had power sources. They also didn't appear to be in contact with the American Fascist State or revolutionary fighters. As far as she could tell The Damn was in a neutral zone.

Lisa decided to keep the river trade practice in mind. She might be able to buy something to restart her trading business ideas that she couldn’t get by normal means in a city controlled by an organized government. Especially one that was a threat to her. The issue was exactly what to buy and sell, not to mention to who?

They soon arrived at the fenced in parking lot of the police station. The tall metal chain linked fence that surrounded the stations perimeter had lots of trash that had been piled up against it from over the years. This provided the group some cover so they could investigate the station from a distance, just in case the gangsters were still around.

"Now remember," John said in a hushed voice, "Hanna mentioned three people's description that we need to keep an eye out for. A guy with a yellow shirt, a big muscular guy with a black shirt and another with orange sunglasses. I know these aren't very good clues, but it's better than nothing. If you see anyone or those three, we need to capture and interrogate them."

The former cops and EMT nodded.

Then as if planned, Richard and Joan split from the group and walked calmly past the station parking lot entrance to get to the other side. Meanwhile, Benny stayed with Lisa and John. They braced themselves just in case something happened, or someone was spotted by the couple. Yet nothing happened.

"Seems like you're the boss here, John." Lisa whispered.

"He's only a rank higher than us." Benny snorted. "He just likes telling us what to do."

"Ah, quit complaining." John said looking at the station through a gap in the fences trash heap.

The station seemed to be empty. There was no one outside, nor was there any signs of people walking by the windows inside. Everything was eerily quiet, even for this empty town.

The two had by now finished crossing the entrance and appeared to have seen nothing worth mentioning. John waved to Richard, who then nodded back in reply and all three of the former officers pulled out their guns. They approached the building carefully, but nothing continued to happen.

Once they got to the main entrance, they found that the metal doors were unlocked. After entering they found that it was relatively disorganized and clearly vandalized in some places, but nothing out of the ordinary. They split up and investigated the area and it soon became clear that no one was here.

Then from the back of the building Benny called out loudly, "Come quick! I found the Marshals."

Knowing they were alone, the rest of the group hurriedly gathered outside of the data center doorway where Benny was standing looking glumly inside. There on the floor, in their own drying blood, were the two victims.

…

Across town, in an abandoned lot, a crowd of around eighty people had gathered. They were all noisily talking amongst themselves when a young blond man climbed up on an old truck bed and called out to them.

"Thank you everyone for showing up. We need to discuss what we are going to do about the gang problem our little town has." The young man’s voice was easily heard by all, and everyone soon quieted down enough to hear him.

The crowd murmured only a bit, but no one interrupted, and the young man continued. "My name is Nathan Dees and I propose that we get rid of the Black Rats gang from our neighborhood, permanently. They have been extorting us, attacking everyone needlessly and treating us like garbage! They aren't from around here, they just showed up and acted like they owned the place. Well, they are wrong! This is our home, and we need to show them that they are not welcome anymore!"

He paused for a moment and the crowd started talking excitedly. Several people even voiced out their agreement. The Black Rats had been a festering sore in their community for too long.

"Let's go right now and get rid of these losers!" Someone yelled.

Then another person called out, "They stole everything in my shop last week, they can't get away with this."

The crowd was steadily getting stirred up into a mob now. Most of the people were calling out similar strife and insults towards the Black Rats.

"Well then, if you want to rid ourselves from their oppression, I know where their leaders are right now! In the Marriott Hotel by the river!" Nathan said waving with his hand for the crowd to follow. "Let's go!"

The crowd cheered excitedly and started to follow Nathan towards the riverside hotel. As this mob was yelling and walking rapidly down the street, more people heard them stirring up the once silent town. People came out from homes and businesses to see what all the commotion was about. Some, hearing what the cause was about, joined in with the mob and their numbers swelled rapidly.

The riot had started!