Daniel ordered two more pods to be hit the next night. Both were farther away, up in the Woodminster area. He was looking for supplies, and got them. Olivia led the first team, which lost only one man, and returned with numerous cans of fruit.

Daniel personally led the second group hitting a pod, that interestingly enough, turned out to be a chicken farm. The clan got into a heavy firefight with the overseers, losing six people, before Daniel managed to drop a grenade on the enemy and ended the fight.

The pod raiders returned with not only bags, but arms full of live birds, and even two crates packed with eggs. It was a huge morale booster for the clan. They had a good old-fashion breakfast for dinner that night. After they ate, his parley crew met up, ready for the upcoming night’s mission. There were ten of them. This included Daniel, Olivia, Hambone, Tiana, and six others.

The group took several tunnels, making a wrong turn at one point, now that they didn’t have Stiffy with them. After backtracking, the team eventually ended up exiting near the High Street Bridge. It was a total of about ten miles to Crown Memorial State Beach, where the meeting was supposed to occur.

It took them nearly three hours to cover the distance, because they were constantly searching for drones, and traveling in the dark was treacherous. One man stepped in a pothole and broke his ankle once they were on the island. Daniel had Hambone take the injured man back to the Oakland Clan, while the rest of them continued to the meeting place.  

Once the small group reached the beach, Olivia and Tiana took two men forward. They scouted around, making sure that this wasn’t another overseer trap. By midnight, the group of eight were waiting patiently on the beach. Then one o’clock came. Then two. Just as Daniel was about to call it off, thinking that they had been stood up, they heard oars.

Two long aluminum boats loaded with people arrived, totaling ten men and two women.  Daniel found himself wondering how hard it must have been to row all the way across the bay. He guessed that it was at least twelve miles.

“You must be the legendary Dat?” A smiling light-skinned black man came forward offering his hand. He had brown curly hair and was smiling. “I’m Stigler. I run the Frisco Clan as of about two months ago.”

“I’m Dat,” Daniel said, shaking the man’s hand, noticing that the Frisco Clan members were all skinny, sickly looking, and wore torn and damaged clothing.

“I apologize for our tardiness, the bay is full of drones tonight,” the Frisco Clan Leader explained.

“No worries. We had some issues of our own,” the Oakland Clan Leader replied.

“We haven’t come to harm you,” Stigler said. “I know that relations have been . . . tense in the past.”

“So, what are you here for?” Daniel asked.

“Several of the clans are still using the old morse code system.  We’ve heard of your efforts over here,” the small black man said.

“So, you want to join up? An alliance?” Daniel inquired.

“Actually, we need help. We’re down to less than a hundred people, and we’re starving. We were hoping that you would be willing to help us,” Stigler requested.

Daniel signaled Tiana, who came forward with a large military style duffel bag and a crate with six chickens, while he said, “This is a friendship offering. The bags are loaded with various canned goods. The chickens are roosters and are for eating. It will go a long way if you make a stew.”

“Oh, thank you brothers,” Stigler answered, signaling for some of his own people to grab the goods. Daniel could see a few of them licking their lips.

“There is plenty more where that came from.”

“What do you mean?” Stigler questioned.

“Are there overseer pods in San Francisco?”

“Not too many in the city, but numerous ones out on the north and south ends,” the man relayed.

“They’re full of food and people. Yours for the taking,” Daniel advised.

“But how? Show us Dat, and we’ll ally ourselves with you,” Stigler offered.

“Okay. Deal,” Daniel agreed. “I will come with you and show you how, for your promise of alliance. But there is one strict rule that you must agree to.”

“What?” Stigler eyed him.

“No more people eating. None. That’s over,” Daniel said.

“You show us how to get food and that won’t need to happen,” Stigler agreed, looking at the ground and then his feet; his gaze shifting anywhere but meeting Daniel’s.  

Dat held a meeting with his people on the beach and ordered Olivia and another man to return to the clan and lie low until he got back in a week. She protested, wanting to accompany him. Once Daniel explained that he needed her in charge, until his return, she agreed.

Before Olivia left, she pulled him in tight and gave him a warm hug, saying, “I’m still not so sure about this, Daniel. Remember that they are cannibals.”

“We’re so thankful to you guys. You really are saving us,” Stigler called out to him, causing Daniel to realize that he was doing the right thing.

“We have to trust people at some point.” Daniel turned his focus back to the cute Hispanic woman. He leaned down and kissed Olivia on the forehead, before releasing her. Dat, Tiana, and his four remaining people got into the boats and left with the Frisco Clan. Olivia and her partner stood on the shore and watched them leave. Her face was covered in worry.

The people in the two boats rowed for several hours, starting out by taking turns. Once Dat was on the oars, he noticed that nobody relieved him. He didn’t mind the workout, thinking that maybe the Frisco Clan members were all in a weakened state due to their lack of food.

When the boaters approached Alcatraz Island, they could see bright lights. Daniel asked about the lights, causing Stigler to say that nobody who went to Alcatraz ever came back. Several of the men in the boat kept repeating “Bad people. Bad people.”

Later, the boaters saw the lights of a couple of drones, but luckily, they remained far off. The group arrived safely at a long dock where Stigler directed Daniel to moor up. After tying up the two boats, the group walked into an open area. There was a burn barrel lit the center of it, casting off just enough light to give the scene an eerie surreal look, but failing to penetrate the surrounding dark shadows.

A second later, they were surrounded by at least fifty-armed people, aiming their guns in the faces of the Oakland Clan members The armed people were led by a young man with curly hair and a small moustache. He could have been Stigler’s twin, if he weren’t white and red-headed.

A few men came up and took the weapons from Daniel and his people. Tiana gave him an “oh shit, should we fight” look, but her leader shook his head no. There were way too many of them.

“Looks like it went well, babe,” the red-haired man said to Stigler.

“You know it, Ronnie. I brought fresh meat, as well as chickens and a lot of can goods.” Stigler replied, placing a long kiss on the man’s lips.

“Oh great, gay cannibals,” Daniel said, shaking his head.

“Shup up you toxic alpha male,” Stigler answered and signaled his people, who responded by pushing six prisoner onto their knees.

“Oh Stiggy, you told that big lummox what’s what!” the man named Ronnie giggled, slapping Stigler on the butt.

Daniel heard a gurgling down at the end and realized that the Frisco Clan members were slicing the throat of the far man. Then the second and third. Daniel tensed up, preparing to fight. He would make a play when they got to Tiana, who was right beside him. He would at least go down fighting. Then the fourth, a female, fell over drowning in her own blood.

"Not those two,” Ronnie ordered. “That tall piece of oaf is worth a lot to the overseers, and maybe they’ll give us extra for one of his lieutenants.”

“Chop those four meat bags up and have them ready for supper by tomorrow night. Grab the food they gave us and let’s move out,” Stigler ordered as he and Ronnie approached Daniel and Tiana, cracking them over the head with the butts of their rifles.

Daniel woke up on a hard floor. It was dark, and after feeling around he felt a body beside him, which let out a moan. It was Tiana, who was still unconscious. They were handcuffed, but foolishly they had been cuffed in the front, giving them more mobility.

Daniel managed to shake Tiana awake. While she came to, he crawled around in the dark, realizing that they were in a small closet. When he found the door, he discovered, unsurprisingly, that it was locked.

“Oh man, they slit our people’s throats,” Tiana groaned out. “We’re so screwed.”

“Keep your wits together. We have to wait for an opportunity,” Daniel whispered back.

“I don’t want ta’ be a people sandwich,” she cried.

“I don’t think that’s in the cards. They said that they’re going to turn us over to the overseers for a reward.”

“Shit,” she answered. “We’re gonna have to make a play. I say we jump whoever comes through that door.”

When the door did finally open, about a day later, Daniel and Tiana were sleeping. Both were dragged out of the closet by their hair and taken down a long hallway. After a painful stretch of distance, they reached a large open room, where several fires were burning in fire rings.

The smoke wafted to the ceiling, and flowed out of several windows. There had to be at least a hundred people standing around the fires eating. Stigler and Ronnie were two of the people at the biggest fire.

“Wanna say goodbye to your friends?” Stigler asked, holding out a piece of meat to Daniel. “Can you believe that he demanded that we stop eating people?”

The comment caused Ronnie to giggle, then the redhead said, “As if. Do you have any idea where you’re at, Dat?”

“San Francisco,” the captured man quipped.

“Don’t smart aleck me, boy toy,” Ronnie hissed, and smacked Daniel across the face.

“God, you hit like such a sissy.” Stigler laughed, then punched Daniel in the gut.

It was a solid hit, and catching him by surprise, doubled Daniel over.

“Do you need another slug to understand that I want you to sit?” Stigler asked, causing Daniel to go down on his butt, before he addressed Tiana, “And what about you bitch?”

Once they were both sitting down, Stigler said, “I believe that my man asked you if you knew where you are?”

“No idea,” Daniel stated truthfully.

“This is the Transamerica Pyramid Center. Forty-eight floors of Frisco Clan fabuloso!” Stigler revealed.

“Ta da!” Ronnie threw his hands into the air, palms up and wide open, to signify the splendor.

How in the hell did these two idiots take over this clan, Daniel wondered.

When neither of the two captives spoke, Stigler continued, “I might have lied a teensy bit about our clan. We’re much stronger that I let on.”

“That’s why we invented the ruse to capture you. The overlords offered us a year of free meat if we gave you to them. Seems they want the fantastic Dat!” Ronnie explained.

“You were so dumb to fall for our little trick!” Stigler giggled.

“The cute ones are always dumb, Stiggy.” Ronnie giggled back.

“The food you gave us was just a bonie,” Stigler stated.

“A bonie?” Dat asked.

“A bonus silly.” Stigler and Ronnie frowned at him.

When Daniel shook his head, Ronnie said, “Oh my, I feel like we are getting off on the wrong foot. You really don’t like gay cannibals do you, Dat?”

“I have no issue with the gay part. I could care less where you put your pecker. It’s the cannibal part that disgusts the crap out of me,” Daniel answered, truthfully.

“We told you that we weren’t going to eat you,” Stigler replied.

“Not unless you ask us much more nicely. Ooogah!” Ronnie interjected causing the two gay men to laugh out loud and high five each other. “Although your clan thinks that we already did eat you.”

“Yeah, they think . . . wait, what?” Stigler looked at Ronnie. “What’d you do?”

”I really couldn’t help myself, Stiggy.” The redhead shrugged.

“What did you do Ronnie?” Stiggy didn’t seem very happy now.  

“His people morse coded to check up on their leader and to see how he was doing. I coded back that he was great. Especially on bread with mustard and ketchup. I finished with ‘Thanks, let’s do lunch sometime,” Ronnie had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from bursting out in laughter.

“Oh my golly, that is funny isn’t it?” Stigler was now biting his lower lip to keep from laughing. “Funny, but stupid. What if his clan comes?”

“Who cares if they do? San Francisco is big. They’ll never find us in time to save the Datster here.” Ronnie’s words soothed his nervous boyfriend.

“Well, anyways, we aren’t going to eat you. I can’t promise that the overseers won’t gobble you up. Who knows what they do with the people that they take.” Stigler smiled at him.

“That’s right. You’re working for the overseers,” Daniel accused.

“Don’t be so naïve Dat. We’re working for ourselves. If that means giving the overseers what they ask for every once in a while, so that they leave us alone in our little fabulous palace, then so be it,” the black man scoffed.

“Small price to pay for peace, Datster.” Ronnie rolled his eyes.

“I’m so excited!” Stigler stuck his tongue in and out of his mouth several times at Daniel in a perverted fashion. “They’re going to give us fresh people meat for a whole year just for you, handsome.

“Oh, I’m so jealous,” Ronnie informed them and began sticking his tongue in out of his mouth in the same fashion that his boyfriend was doing, both staring at Dat.

“Oh babe, you got a little something in your teeth there.” Stigler pointed at Ronnie’s mouth.

“I do? Where is it?” Ronnie started picking at his teeth.

“Never mind, I think it was just a little piece of the Oakland Clan!” Stigler joked, causing both men to high five again.

“How did you become the leader of this clan?” Daniel asked Stigler, ignoring their crude vulgarity.

“Co-leader.” Ronnie corrected him, with the two cannibals becoming serious again.

“My daddy was the previous leader. He didn’t approve of Ronnie,” Stigler explained.

“Frightful man, really frightful.” Ronnie gave an exaggerated frown.

“Yes, so one night we chopped him up in his sleep, and ate him the next evening.” Stigler laughed.

“Ta da!” Ronnie threw his arms in the air again, striking a dance pose.

Several lights towards the front of the building interrupted their conversation. A commotion ensued, and then several people came over and whispered something to Stigler, causing him to exclaim, “Well alrighty then. It looks like your ride is here.”

Ronnie turned his back on Daniel to see what the activity at the front of the building was. It was the moment that Daniel had been waiting for. In a flash, he was up and had his cuffed hands over Ronnie’s head and around his neck. He held the small man tightly in place.

“Oh Dat, stop being so rude. I have a hundred people in this room alone. If you kill him, you will be dead before you reach the doors,” Stigler said whimsically, but Daniel could see fear in the man’s eyes.

“I may be dead, but you will be single,” Daniel laughed out, knowing that he was in control now.

“You couldn’t possibly kill him before we get to you,” the black clan leader said, pulling out a .38 pistol, while others from the Frisco Clan were closing in from behind Daniel.

“Oh, ya think so?” Tiana joined in, rising to her feet. “Wanna know how Dat here became the leader of the Oakland Clan?”

“Go ahead and tell them,” Daniel said.

“He killed Big Jim with one punch.” Tiana said, whistling sharply for affect, while Daniel picked Ronnie up off the floor by the chain around his neck, causing the small man to kick at the air frantically.

“Okay, okay, okay. Point taken, Daniel. Don’t hurt my baby,” Stigler pouted. “What do you want?”

“We are going to---” Daniel was interrupted by all hell breaking loose.

Explosions rocked the front door area. One, two, then three. They came one right after another. A couple of red blaster flashes could be seen, leading Daniel to believe that the overseers were attacking.

 Glass shattered and people screamed. Then gun fire erupted from all around the building, blowing through several windows and taking down most of the Frisco Clan members in the front of the room.

Daniel snapped Ronnie’s neck with a fierce twist, causing Stigler to unload his revolver at him. Five of the rounds hit Ronnie’s dead body, while the sixth struck Daniel in the left shoulder, knocking him down. Tiana leapt on the light-skinned black man and began pounding him in the face with her cuffed hands locked together. She beat Stiggler over and over again, until he was dead.

 A massive firefight took place in the center of the first floor, with the Frisco Clan members quickly falling. The people that had been coming up behind Daniel had faded into the shadows. Oddly, no reinforcements came from the other floors. Then Daniel and Tiana were surrounded by shadowy figures. A second later, the wounded Daniel could see Olivia’s face in the firelight. When Daniel got up, she ran over and gave him a big hug.

Sterns also came over and happily slapped Daniel on the back, bringing a panful groan from his lips. Hambone rushed over and began tending to his leader’s shoulder.  

“Oh, thank God you are alive! We didn’t know if they had really eaten you,” Olivia exclaimed in relief, while a small tear of joy ran down her cheek as she carefully helped Daniel over to a nearby bench. Every time she turned around, Daniel seemed to find a new way to lose blood.