Free Deadland Rising (Deadland Saga) (S) by Rachel Aukes

Thursday. We’ve gotten the entire population of four hundred and sixty four souls into the silo and sealed in nine minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Justin thinks we need to get it down to five minutes.”
    “Agreed,” Clutch said. “If the fences were breached, you could easily be overrun in under ten minutes. What are your backup plans?”
    Charlie frowned, and then shook his head. “The silo is it. We’ve been working non-stop at getting it back into shape. It hadn’t been used in forty years. A good part of it was full of water, and some of the floorboards had rusted through. We’ve got it dried out, and we store our food in there for winter. The government flew over and dropped seven pallets of food about three weeks ago, so we’re sitting pretty decent for the winter now.”
    “Let me guess,” Griz said. “That’s about the same time the bandits upped their game.”
    Sarah nodded. “Most of the bandits are hungry and scared, like us.”
    Charlie continued. “The difference is we got Justin and they got Hodge. Two leaders with very different approaches. Under Hodge, they first tried to offer “protection” in exchange for access to the silo, but Justin saw right through their bully tactics and refused unless they became New Eden residents. A few joined right up, but it didn’t take Hodge long to make an example of anyone who tried to leave his group. Soon after, the assassination attempts on Justin started. According to the last assassin we questioned, they think if they kill Justin, the rest of us will fall in line.”
    They’re probably right , I thought to myself. Without Tyler and Clutch, Camp Fox would’ve crumpled against attacks. Though, in the end, their leadership hadn’t mattered. The Black Sheep had still managed to take nearly everything and everyone from us.
    Charlie led us to a small brick house. “This is Justin’s home and where most of New Eden business is handled. Come on in. Justin wanted to talk with you.”
    I was surprised that Justin lived in one of the smaller houses. There was nothing special about it. And, other than the New Eden flag hanging near the door, nothing indicated the house was different from any other down the street.
    “Why did you change the American flag?” I asked.
    “Justin figured it would be good to give New Eden a symbol. Since there’s no longer a United States, we were all born here and wanted to keep the stars and stripes. We voted on the eagle as a symbol of our strength, and we ended up with the New Eden flag. Who knows, maybe it’ll become the new state flag once all the dust settles.”
    As we filed through the door, I found Justin sitting at a large oak dining table. Two men sat next to him, both completely focused on the stacks of paper in front of them. A cat lay on a chair, seemingly oblivious to us.
    As soon as Justin caught sight of us, he stood. “How’s the tour going? I hope Charlie and Sarah are answering your questions.”
    “They did,” I said. “Thank you for the hospitality.”
    Justin smiled. “Oh, it’s not only to be nice. I’m hoping you all decide to become New Eden residents. We need all the people we can get. From renovating the silo, to managing the food and supplies, to securing the town and surrounding area, we’re extremely short-staffed.” He looked at Clutch and Griz before continuing. “Your experience would be invaluable here. Anyone with military experience served on our squadrons, and between the one we lost and the two the capital has taken control of, we have essentially no forces to scout, forage, and bring in survivors. We have a state trooper who runs our security forces behind the gates, and his teams have been running double-duty lately. So, you see how much I hope you decide to stay here with us.”
    “New Eden is a good place,” Marco added. “I’m proud to call it home. We work hard here, but that’s because we’re building from scratch.”
    “Thank you, Marco,” Justin said.