That was interesting. I ruminated on the possibilities and if a group could pull it off, they could effectively take over a good portion of the country.

Simon continued. “From the beginning, I knew something was wrong. Men and women worked the fields and tended to the animals. There was a rough fence to keep the zombies out, but the Major’s men managed that pretty well.”

“What was wrong then?” Charlie asked. “Seems like you managed to get to a place of safety, regardless of who was in charge.”

Simon glared at Charlie. “It wasn’t safety, it was slavery. And those bastards used the worst methods to keep people in line. If a family showed up or was brought in, the husband was immediately beaten and the wife raped by the Major’s men. That was standard. If there were children, they were used as leverage. Women who resisted found themselves bound and gagged in a room, with their child put in a dark room next to them. They got to hear their children scream for their mothers. No one resisted long after that, especially if it was a baby left alone to cry.”

My hands involuntarily clenched into fists as I thought briefly about Jake locked in a room to cry for his daddy who couldn’t get to him. I could see Charlie was just as upset.

Simon looked down. “But the older kids, the ones who were between twelve and fifteen, they got separated from their parents and were held in a different part of the camp. The boys were used for labor and the girls…”

Charlie leaned forward, his eyes hard. “What about them?” His voice was flint and I had no doubt he was thinking of his own daughters, living and dead.