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certain places.”
    Charlie spoke up. “Well, it’s a hell of a thing, but the chances of this major finding us are pretty slim and if he does, we’ll deal with it.”
    “There’s one other thing.” Simon said cautiously.
    “What would that be?” I asked.
    “The Major is not entirely sane. He had been getting a lot of people in camp lately that have been yelling about their rights and he can’t do what he’s doing. ‘This is America’ and all that. Usually the voices have been silenced quickly enough, but some managed to get overheard by the Major. In his warped mind, he probably figures if he destroys the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, he will be able to set himself up as ruler, and no one can challenge him.”
    I looked incredulously at Simon. “What would be the point of that? Pick up any history textbook and you can find a copy of the Constitution.”
    Duncan chimed in. “Yeah, but the documents themselves are as much a symbol of our country as the flag is. If it were to become known that they had been destroyed, we’d have a harder time coming together as a country again after the zombies were gone. As it is, we’re barely holding it together. If the Constitution and Bill of Rights become destroyed, what we believe about our country would be destroyed.”
    Tommy spoke up. “What have we been fighting for in the end? Sure it’s to survive, but do you want to live in a country where only the strong survive? No thanks. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are what made this country great and whether you believe it or not, they’re the only hope of rallying everyone who’s left to the cause. If they get destroyed, we’re finished.”
    I looked at Charlie. “What say you, old friend?”
    Charlie looked at the floor for a long time. When he looked up, his eyes were clear and his voice strong. “My first wife and daughter died from the virus. I buried them both with my bare hands. I got a second chance and a reason to live with Rebecca and Julia. That chance is wasted if I let some lunatic take over the country. I know it may be crazy, but even though we might be wasting our time and very likely manage to get ourselves killed, I couldn’t look at my daughter and tell her that I did nothing to stop it.”
    All four men looked at me and I glanced over at Sarah who was coming in from the back hallway with Jake and Julia. I thought about Todd, Nola, and their daughter and little Ellen, who I had saved from scum so long ago.
    I cannot let you die in vain , I thought.
    I looked at Simon. “Do you really think he’s coming?”
    Simon nodded. “From what I saw for the time I was at that camp, I would bet my life on it. When he gets fixated on something, no matter how crazy, he has to have it. I remember the men hunting for gold watches because he wanted to have a different watch for every day of the year. And God help you if you are in his way or he sees you as a threat.”
    “Why?”
    “He isn’t content with just removing things that irritate him, he has to completely destroy them, smash them, make them disappear. A man accidentally got dirt on the Major’s boots when the Major came to inspect an earthen wall. The man was beaten senseless, then buried alive in the wall. They forced his family to watch him being buried.”
    I shook my head as Charlie asked my next question. “How does he get men to follow him? I would think that some might actually be decent men who wouldn’t stand for such behavior.”
    Simon shrugged. “He keeps his men happy with women and loot. Most of them are as degenerate as he his. Also, he’s huge. He’s six foot six if he’s and inch and I figure him to be two hundred forty pounds of solid muscle. I saw him beat a man to death with his bare hands. He’s a brute and his men respect and fear him with good reason.”
    I looked around at the men and my wife and son. Charlie had gathered up Julia and was looking at me expectantly.
    I asked Simon again. “You’re sure