Sisters of the Shadows

13th day of December in the year 2140

Bandit activity has increased–and they’re moving closer.

The Council of Elders met yesterday in hopes of figuring out what to do. Mama’s certain that it’s Clyde. Maggie, Lori, and Hank have all started training with the angels in order to prepare for the scout exam; they’ve all decided to join me on the border and defend the colony.

I’ve had to break up four fights at the border in the last week. The Fayetteville and Washington colonies have fallen, so we’ve seen an influx in colonists trying to enter our colony seeking protection. Sure, some of them bring tradable goods, but most just bring the clothes on their backs. The only plus side is that this has increased our workforce; we have more scouts standing on the border than ever before, and more medics and farmhands. Cienna’s been growing crops and herbs on a weekly basis just to sustain the rise in population. The Palladinos have some more help now, though, so I suppose there’s that.

Since Fayetteville and Washington were the closest colonies to us, the only way to trade for meds is if we send the traders either to Boston or Kansas City. Neither option is ideal, but the council is taking all of that into consideration.

I’ve been suggesting to Monty that we take the fight to the bandits who caused this mess, but he’s trying to avoid it. He thinks it’ll just make matters worse–but what he doesn’t realize is this is exactly what the bandits want. They want to choke us out of our trades and block off any potential escape routes. They’re going to wait until we’re vulnerable and then hit us with everything they’ve got.

Gavin and the others still text me regularly, and Gavin’s been telling me about how their tribe has had to fight bandits on a daily basis, but Dane refuses to ask the court for help. He just orders them to kill the bandits on sight.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Dane. The court just wants to hide behind its walls and ride things out. But you and I know the truth, Clint. The only way to get the bandits to stop is to kill them before they kill us. Shorten their manpower, show them that we don’t have the weaknesses that they think we do.

Monty is with the council now, so we’ll see what it is that they decide.

Stay safe.

P.S. – Monty just came home from his meeting with the council. They’ve decided to focus on adding to our defenses and medical staff, as well as train more scouts for the border.

I’m going to Matteo’s house tomorrow and proposing a more proactive plan, with or without Monty’s approval. I don’t like circumventing him, but he didn’t even take my suggestions to the council. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash

<< First | < Previous | Next >