Chapter 10: Plans

By the time Lisa and the others had arrived back at their cul-de-sac, the sunset was well underway. The sinking sun had now lit the cloudless horizon ablaze into brilliant hues of orange and faded reds. A vivid end to an otherwise somber toned afternoon.

As the shadows dripped off the dismal, quiet neighborhood buildings, it became more apparent to Lisa that this town truly was a place nestled in the wilderness far from civilization. The most notable proof of the town’s remoteness was the lack of electricity. Because of this fact, Lisa wondered how Joan was going to be preparing their meal.

Since the town lacked electricity, nearly everyone had to rely on old fashioned fire pits to cook their meals. Lisa assumed that Joan would cook in this simple manner too. However, this was not entirely the case.

To be able to cook outdoors, yet avoid the bad weather and heat, Joan had modified her car garage in the strangest way. The fireplace had been put inside the garage, no more than a meter from the door. Then above that place Richard had screwed a car engine hood into the ceiling to keep the roof from catching fire. Then using a hand pulley and a piece of thin plywood mounted overhead vertically, they had created a fan to blow the smoke outside. This way they could cook while being protected from the elements but avoid the dangers of being choked out by the smoke.

However, this unusual kitchen didn't hinder Joan's cooking talents in the slightest. Dinner was delicious! Lisa had been living off MREs for the last three weeks after leaving Salt Lake City. Lisa was so hungry for a warm home cooked meal, that she ended up having three servings of Joan's vegetable stew.

It was unfortunate that Hanna couldn’t join them. Mary had said that Hanna was still overwhelmed by what she had gone through. Rest was probably the best thing for her right now anyway.

As they ate, Lisa learned that some of the vegetables had come from a large joint garden that everyone living in the cul-de-sac tended together. While as for the salt and spices, Lisa wasn't sure as to how they got these items. After asking Joan, she told Lisa that the barges would transport the goods from southern modernistic towns further downriver. The town’s local shop owners would trade with the river merchants, giving them metal scraps or other items the townspeople could scavenge. There usually wasn’t that much to choose from, but they made the best of their poor conditions.

This revelation sparked Lisa's interest, for this meant that setting up some sort of trade networking might be possible here. However, she doubted she could ever make a fortune in a place with no electricity or initial intrinsic worth. She needed to learn more about what this town had to offer or if it might be just better to keep on traveling. Well, at least not until things with Hanna were settled.

"Wait, no electricity and the blueprints to a hydroelectric dam!" Lisa suddenly had come up with a revolutionary plan.

However, this sudden idea would have to wait for the right moment to come. She needed to understand the town's circumstances first. Making money would have to wait a bit longer.

"Everyone." Lisa addressed the others. They were all chatting heartily around the dinner table and paused to look at her expectantly. "We need to come up with a plan to deal with Hanna's parent's killers. We now know what they look like and where they might be. However, finding them or how dangerous it might be to confront them, we don't know. Any thoughts?"

From all her military experience, Lisa understood the importance of gathering intelligence. For this incident was no different. They needed to know more before running blindly after the gangsters. Lisa hoped that the locals would be able to give reliable advice for her to use.

Benny was the first to speak, "Simple really. We just stake the place out and wait for them to go to a vulnerable location and bam! We take them out."

John laughed, "How long would that take? Besides from what Lisa saw, they had been doing dealings of some sort with the AFR soldiers. That must mean the gangsters that were at the meeting, might very well be the leaders of the Mad Dog gang. If we did take them on like that, there's no way we could guarantee our lives. The Marshals wouldn’t want us to die doing something so reckless."

The group was silent for a few moments. Then Richard adjusted himself in his chair and cleared his throat. "What if we got into the Match Fighters Association and challenged him indirectly? At least then the revenge could be sanctioned."

"The Match Fighter Association? What is that?" Lisa asked curiously.

Joan gave Lisa a worried look, "What? No, you're not going to do that." She then pointed at the men sitting around her, "Neither can any of you. You all are too old to be getting involved in the Match Fighter Association."

"Again, what exactly is the Match Fighter Association?" Lisa asked a bit louder, before the others could argue with Joan.

John cleared his throat before explaining, "The Match Fighter Association is like a one-on-one cage fight, but there can be more fighters involved if agreed upon. It's where locals can deal out issues between each other if they are registered or hire someone that is already a Match Fighter. Also, the three big gangs often hold Match fights between themselves to see who controls what or to take care of disputes. It saves everyone from turning the whole town into one giant riot every time the gang’s fight. The system has been around for a very long time and even prominent people utilize its potential, including governments."

"Interesting. So this Association isn’t just a local thing?" Lisa muttered while tapping the side of her cheek with her finger. "Who are the three gangs? I know of the Mad Dogs already and they are the strongest, right?"

"Yes, they are." John continued. "They control the capital area of town, as well as the industrial zones from the dam all the way to the edge of downtown. Which is only a few kilometers to the south of us. Practically everything on this side of the river is under their supervision."

At this point, Richard took over explaining. "Then there is the Skull gang. The Skull controls everywhere downtown that the Mad Dogs don't. Mainly the docks by the river, downtown itself, and the smaller residential area beyond. Lastly, the Black Rats control practically the entire eastern far side of the river. The town on that side is only a third the size of everything on our side and is comprised of more industrial buildings."

"I see. So, how would someone enter the Match Fighter Association? Just walk up to someone and challenge them?" Lisa asked.

"No, you have to earn your way up through reputation to be able to challenge anyone.” John answered before pausing to raise his eyebrows skeptically. “Wait, you're not considering going into a Match? Lisa, Joan is right. Don't. I don't know what you're capable of, but as a woman you can't possibly be able to handle yourself in a Match. These guys are the real deal."

Lisa was quite offended hearing what John had to say. When she spoke, she hid her anger as best as she could, because he did seem genuinely concerned. "John, me being a woman has nothing to do with me being able to deal with a fight like a man could. In fact, I have my own reasons besides helping with your revenge."

"Like what?" Richard asked curiously.

"You do remember that I had gotten my hands on that dam's blueprints, right?" Lisa asked looking at John, who nodded 'yes' back. Lisa stood up and continued. "I want to see what was so important that the AFR would send gangsters to kill the Marshal's for. An actual military would not need to use such a roundabout way of getting some old dam’s data. There might have been a reason the Marshals were targeted to extract the information.”

Everyone was silent with rather serious looks on their faces. The severity of the situation was starting to unfold before them all. Lisa could tell that her concerns only made more questions, rather than answers.

Before they could say anything, Lisa continued, “We can figure all this out after we get the Marshal's revenge. For now, we should just find the killers and find out why they needed to get the blueprints. My assumption is that those blueprints were worth something. I know we all just met, but my objective is to make money and if I can do that by helping you, and poor Hanna, then I do not mind getting involved with the Match Fighter Association."

"Well, if you really think you got what it takes, I don't mind helping you." Benny declared.

The other three looked at him surprised. Benny smiled seeing their expressions, "Let's face it, we are old now. If she says she can and wants to help us too, then I am all for it."

"Sounds reasonable." Richard replied. Then giving a sigh, Richard stood up to square off with Lisa, "I'll agree, but you have to beat me in an arm-wrestling match for me to agree. I'm the strongest one of us here. If you can't beat me, then we won't do your plan."

Lisa smiled smugly, "Deal." She dropped down in her seat quickly and her right elbow thudded heavily on the tabletop. She opened her hand showing she was ready. "Are you ready to lose?"

"Nope." Richard replied competitively as he put his big hand into her delicate looking hand. He noticed that her hand wasn't as soft and feminine like his wife's, but it had rough calluses. Then when she tightened her grip slightly, Richard realized that he shouldn't underestimate her, her grip wasn't normal.

"I'll judge the start." Benny said while putting his hand on top of theirs. "When I say go, you can start."

The two nodded enthusiastically. John scoffed slightly. Even he had never beaten Richard before, and he trained every day outside of his normal efforts to provide for his family.

Benny started counting down, "Three, two, one… Go!"

Richard strained as hard as he could. His veins bulged out from his forearm as he attempted to beat Lisa. Lisa’s arm, however, didn't even budge. In fact, she didn’t even show the faintest sign of a struggle. Then with one quick flick of her wrist, Richard’s arm was sent crashing onto the table with a boom!

Everyone was in shock. No one anticipated the young and pretty looking woman to be so strong!

There was a broad smile of satisfaction on Lisa’s face. "Well then, where do we start?"

…

That night, inside of a big warehouse on the east side of the river, nearly a hundred people had gathered. They had all just voted to volunteer Nathan Dees to become their new mayor.

This came as a great surprise to Nathan. Sure, he had been quite vocal in his complaints towards the gangs and their present living conditions, but to be mayor? Never would he have guessed to gain this position.

At the meeting, the most vocal of the townsfolk formed a "committee" of sorts, along with Nathan. The main topic was how they would deal with the gangsters they had captured. As well as how to defeat the Black Rats leader and end the gang's control over them permanently.

The results were simple, everyone hated the gangs. Most of the gangsters were outsiders and not local residents and as thus, the vote was to kill them all. Mob rule was a terrible thing. Democracy at its purest form.

Nathan detested the brutality of the decision. However, he dared not say anything but instead took a mental note to find a way to avoid such rash decisions from happening again. Sure, he agreed they deserved it, but what if this was to happen to someone from their own community? A system of rules needed to be set and a judge that could fairly deal out punishment. However, now was not quite the time to bring all this up.

By the end of the meeting, they also decided to form a volunteer militia to act as police for the neighborhood and deal with any remaining gangsters. This was why there were nearly a hundred people here in the first place, they wanted to end the Black Rats and fighting was their only solution. After being urged by a few from the “committee”, Nathan was told to address the crowd and take charge of the new militia.

Somewhat reluctant, Nathan decided to take on the task.

"Thank you all for volunteering to join this militia. As well as choosing me to lead you. We will protect our own and see to that no one will treat us like trash as the gangs did before. We shall call ourselves the East River Militia, for now." The crowd’s reply was quite enthusiastic.

Nathan smiled to himself; he might have a talent for this. "Starting tomorrow, we will finally eradicate the rest of the Black Rats and free ourselves from them. We will rebuild the city like it never was before and bring us out of this hell we have endured for far too long! No more hunger, violence, darkness or cold will be in our future!"

The crowd cheered so loudly that the warehouse rafters shook slightly, causing dust to come loose and fall onto the enthralled crowd like snow. A new young leader was being born within this town.