In reply to Roadkill (msg # 14):
It didn't seem like a definite plan was going to present itself at that time, although there were some ideas. The main problems were that if they went in after Kargo (the biker and possible Anti-Templar) with all guns blazing the local Law Dogs would have something to say about it. The second was that Kargo would probably recognise Smoker (again). Roadkill's rig was also at the last battle over Modeen and the Destroyers and could be recognised as well.
They drove south on LA Route 1 to just beyond the outskirts of Vivian, on LA State Route 1 west of Black Bayou Lake.
Dawn was breaking through the surrounding forest.
All around was heavily wooded, and although before the war much had been cleared for agriculture all the abandoned farms and roadside buildings of various kinds were swallowed up by newly grown trees hung with Spanish moss. What little remained was hidden under a thick layer of Kudzu, which also had begun to encroach the sides of the road, even growing across it in places.
Entire farmhouses and silos were completely overgrown:
The Posse stopped in what was once a large parking lot outside a gas station and Cracker Barrel convenience store. Now there was barely clear space to part the rig and the technical in the middle, even then they needed to roll over some of the livid green tendrils that stretched across the cracked pavement. Several vehicles including a couple buses abandoned along the parking lot perimeter were wholly or partially overgrown by Kudzu vines and sinking into the ground.
They had begun passing more and more dire warning signs:
WARNING: THE TOWN OF VIVIAN IS UNDER MARITAL LAW INCLUDING A STRICT WEAPONS BAN.
ALL FIREARMS, BLADES OVER 6 INCHES, BOWS AND CROSSBOWS, THROWN WEAPONS, EXPLOSIVE DEVICES AND ANYTHING DEEMED A DEADLY WEAPON BY TOWN CONSTABULARY ARE TO BE SURRENDERED AT THE OUTER PERIMETER BEFORE ENTRY IS ALLOWED. VOUCHERS WILL BE ISSUED FOR RETURN.
TRAVELLERS DESIRING TRADE AND ACCOMMODATION BUT NOT DESIRING ENTRY TO THE TOWN ARE DIRECTED TO THE ROAD HOUSE ON ROUTE 2 BY I-95.
BY ORDER OF VIVIAN TOWN MARSHALL THOMAS ITSON.
Vivian is part of the Oil Town Protection League, Rotary Club and home of the Red Bud Festival."