The Dying Time (Book 2): After The Dying Time by Raymond Dean White

news they had gathered since The Dying Time. Though most of this news had been related informally during the days trading activity, there were a few surprises. The Cheyenne mentioned that herds of buffalo, longhorns, wild horses and packs of wild dogs appeared to be on the rise. They had heard rumors from the Ute tribe about a large settlement of peaceable people near what used to be the Great Salt Lake in Utah, now part of a vastly expanded Gulf of California.
    Terribly disturbing however, were the experiences related by the ex-slaves. Tales of torture, rape and murder, of families torn apart and of fearsome weapons, the likes of which hadn’t been seen for years, were commonplace.
    Jacques and Denise Lachelle, who led the Troubled Land Band and who were old and trusted friends of the Whitebears, told of being warned away from an ambush involving the King’s Army by Doctor Merriman’s small group, who had then joined up with them for mutual defense. The Doctor related how he and his hospital had experienced a close call with the King’s Army themselves, having escaped from Flagstaff, Arizona, just before it was taken by the soldiers.
    A piece of information here, a rumor there, a jigsaw puzzle of distress that when put together led to a nasty conclusion. The six hundred men who attacked the Cheyenne were just a small part of a very large and well-equipped army belonging to a man who called himself King Joseph.
    He was apparently attempting to establish an empire in what was left of the Western United States. His Army reportedly had tanks, flame-throwers and planes. Ellen and Michael questioned several of their guests and newfound friends closely to determine the King’s military capability, but when they got to Dr. Merriman they got a shock.
    “From what I saw in Flagstaff, the King has biological weapons,” the Doctor said.
    “My God,” Ellen exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell us about this immediately?”
    “This is the first opportunity I’ve had to speak to you in private,” Merriman explained. “I didn’t want to start a panic. I was...”
    Michael butted in. “Are you sure about this, Doctor?”
    Merriman’s double-chin appeared and disappeared as he nodded. “Dead sure. I saw typhoid and cholera, diseases I haven’t seen since right after The Dying Time, when too many unburied bodies were lying around. And there was something else...I’m not sure what it was, but it looked like a strain of anthrax. It was deadly, damn deadly.”
    Michael and Ellen exchanged a glance. Another reason so many communities were hostile to strangers was the fear of disease.
    Ellen asked, “Have you told anyone else about this?”
    “No! Like I said, I don’t want folks to panic. Hell, the Cheyenne would have kicked us out if they’d known we’d been exposed to any diseases. But there wasn’t any danger. My staff has been vaccinated against everything but the anthrax and it was so quick-acting if any of us had contracted it we would have died before we met up with the Band, much less the Indians.”
    “Thank you, Doctor,” Ellen said as she showed him out. “I would appreciate it if you kept this confidential.”
    She turned back to Michael. “We need to talk to Daniel.”
     
    *
     
    The magnitude of the threat posed by the King convinced Daniel Windwalker and Ellen Whitebear to form a mutual defense pact between the Cheyenne and the Freeholds. The new community voted three courses of action. First, they would contact the folks in Utah to see what kind of people they were and find out if they knew any more about the enemy. Second, they would send envoys to other settlements to see if they were having problems with this King. Third, they would scout for, locate and spy upon the King’s Army.
    The King had attacked the Freeholds, the Cheyenne and Flagstaff, more or less simultaneously. Who else had been hit? How large was this King’s Army that he could waste battalions on probing attacks? And most important