The Fields of Lemuria by Sam Sisavath

or you’re against him. With him, you get benefits. Against him, you get a bullet to the head.”
    Keo nodded. He hadn’t expected anything less from Pollard. You didn’t get to lead a band of trigger-happy survivors without being more than a little vicious. The secret to holding power for any length of time was the occasional exercise of that power. You couldn’t expect to be king forever if you didn’t chop off a head every now and then in the town square for everyone to see.
    “Tell me something,” Keo said. “Where does he get all the hardware? Grenades, assault rifles, and all that ammo. And these assault vests, tactical belts, and military equipment. I’ve been running around this part of the country for the last nine months, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    “He didn’t say, but I always assumed he raided one of the army depots. Maybe Fort Damper? It’s around here, isn’t it? He’s ex-Army, so I’m assuming he’d know where to find all the guns he needs. It’s not like there’s anyone around to guard them anymore.”
    “It’s not Fort Damper.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Someone told me it burned down the night all of this happened.”
    “How about Fort Polk? Is it still standing?”
    “I have no idea,” Keo said.
    He spent the next few minutes trying to come up with a plan to save Norris that wouldn’t end up with the both of them dead. He was running out of options, and Pollard had all the advantage—not to mention all the manpower and guns. Those were two very difficult things to overcome. He could probably manage to slug it out against a dozen people if he was really lucky, but twenty? Thirty?
    Too many. Always too damn many…
    Fiona stared at him in silence for a while until she couldn’t stand it anymore. “So now what?”
    “I came back for Norris. I’m not leaving without him.”
    “You’ll never get close enough to get him back. If anything, you’re just giving Pollard what he wants by going there.”
    Keo picked up her rifle and tossed it back to her. He didn’t even know when he had decided to trust her, but at the moment, it seemed like the right thing to do. She caught it with her good arm, then picked up her handgun from the grass.
    He looked down at Rupert. “He’s going to be a problem.”
    “What do you mean?” she said.
    “If I leave the two of you here, can you promise me he won’t grab the radio and start blurting out where I’m going when he wakes up?”
    She shook her head. “No.”
    Keo reached for his sidearm.
    “Wait,” she said. “Just…wait.” She paused for a moment, then, “Maybe I can make him understand.”
    Keo gave her a doubtful look.
    “He knows me,” she continued. “I’ve been watching out for him and Georgette since the day they joined us. I can talk him into it.”
    He wasn’t quite sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. Maybe a little of both.
    Keo stared at her so she would understand he meant it when he said, “If he doesn’t go for it, I won’t have any choice. You understand?”
    She nodded solemnly. “If I’m going to help you with this, you need to do something for me, too.”
    That took him by surprise. “I’m already letting you go.”
    “Just listen.”
    “Okay.”
    “When you leave, I want you to take me with you.”
    “Why?”
    “Besides the fact that Pollard doesn’t trust me anymore, everything has changed, most of it for the worse. Ever since his son died, he’s been erratic. He uprooted half of our group—almost all of the unattached singles—from the safety of Corden to come after you and Norris. Since then, we’ve been on the constant move, slogging through these woods in search of you two idiots.” She shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong. I knew what I was getting into when I joined up, but the way he’s obsessing over you, it’s… Look, I don’t want to be around when it all goes bad, okay? And take my word for it. It will go bad.”
    “It’s dangerous out