Death Has Fallen: Freedom Rock Chronicles: Book 1 by Kris Beus Page A

protection.  Amanda, Jaime, and I jumped in the back of a truck finally getting a break from the labor of walking.
                  As we continued along the road with the wind in our hair I sat absolutely stunned.  I had feared the men would be desperate for any and all females, but they looked at me as if I were the prize.  This had gone against the majority of horror literature I read and movies watched.  It then came to me that the only reason they did that was for the fear factor.  It made sense that if there was an extreme danger the men of our species since they would jump at any threat imposed to their partner and would be willing to die for them given the need.  Every Great War in American history has led to more male deaths than female.  I would guess this would fall into line with most countries in the world since the armies are filled with men.  It was very interesting that women would have to worry more about finding a man rather than being the victim of sexual assault.
                  The thought gave me great relief in worrying about the protection of my two traveling companions.  I also knew that in Amanda’s case she would fight or work and Jaime with her ever optimistic attitude would be found as a productive member rather than a burden to our new society.  Ted joined us on the drive and began telling us about some of the rules the community had put in place.  The first one he seemed to stress the importance of.
                  “The most important thing you need to understand is in our town we have no jail or punishment.  If you are a thief, liar, murderer, rapist, or anything else we either kill you where you stand or kick your ass out of our town.”  He looked down as if contemplating what he just said.  Sadness came over his face and I could see the regret in his eyes.
                  “Either way it is pretty much a guaranteed death.  In the beginning we tried to establish some remnant of the criminal justice system, but with so little space and in an area so dangerous we were unable to realistically impose anything even close to what we had.  Understand we do not throw you out for a simple mistake and if the offense is minor we let you choose between an extra work detail or banishment.  It may not be the best system out there, but from the stories I have heard our system is not the most gruesome either.”  He looked down the road, finished speaking for the moment.
                  “There are more places like yours then?” I asked.
                  “Well sure there are, the human species can’t be snuffed out like a candle.  We are some hard headed sons of bitches.”  He smiled as he said this and the two other man laughed in agreement.  Down the road a ways there was a large sign made out wood with a massive letters stating “Freedom Rock Quarry” and in smaller letters under it said “Welcome Travelers”.  It was nice that the good feelings I had meeting Ted were reaffirmed with the sign. The sign had a large arrow pointing right.  We turned off on a dirt road that brought us a through dense forest. 
                  The ride was extremely bumpy and I almost flew out of the truck a couple times.  I glanced over to Amanda and Jaime who both seemed to be having a difficult time staying in the back of the truck as it barreled down the busted up dirt road.  Amazement glazed over my face as the quarry came into view.  The wall surrounding the quarry stood at least fifteen feet high and was an assortment of flat metal pieces scavenged from an array of busted up vehicles and structures.  The large door was made out of chain link and on the outside two guards stood in normal looking clothes with large rifles.  They walked out to the convoy acknowledging Ted first then seeing us asked, “Found some stragglers huh?”
                  Ted just shook his head in agreement then