Chapter 19 - 1 The Catalyst

[Adogg]

Remember Marcus said the only people who are let out are the Scavenger teams.. and not very far. The signs would not have been a priority for anyone, plus they were set up PRIOR to the Colony being built. When you're concentrating on staying alive, how important will a number of signs miles and miles out be? Who knows, they could have been spray painted anyway.
Most people there seemed to have forgotten about them anyway.
- I don't think Marcus would have killed Saun, then turn around an look for a replacement. He may seem like a super ass, but he's not showing any overt violent tendencies. Just a hard on for order.
- If Marcus NEEDED a replacement, then the Gatekeeper would have gone right in by defaut. He didn't, even though he seems to be drinking the koolaide.
- Another thing is why even need a replacement? Marcus could have set himself up as the sole ruler/leader. He didn't do that.
Why?
- The other thing is that Saun had a team with him. According to Pete, his team bought it during the Wave that got Fernando. It happened quick as hell.

The Russians and Chinese (during WWII) would use the soldiers from groups they did not like for suicide missions. Maybe Marcus did the same thing. I speculate that Marcus does not NEED a second in command but wants a Bad Cop to his Good Cop. Basically, making him look like the nice alternative to a coup.

[kjarman]

There were a lot of disucssions there, a lot to read, especially when I'm at work. But I have a feeling that they may be able to call for help using Victor's help sometime. The fact that he was trying to warn them that they wouldn't want to go to The Colony, gives Michael the impression that he may be able to help. The fact that Victor was one of the "scouts" and is able to leave for missions, I think they'll give him the latest frequency scheduled with Burt, trying to get Victor to get in contact with The Tower. It's a stretch, but since it has been almost a week, Burt may have sent people out to look for the trio and may be in range for that radio frequency. Also, since Victor seems to be one of the few level-headed individuals in The Colony, he may be of further use down the road with The Tower and other survivors.

Just my theory

[HaveCrowBarWillTravel]

KJ,
They're too far away for CB communication. They're a couple days South. A CB may reach 10 miles out at the most. Boy were those things fun to talk on during the 70's! LOL

[nikvoodoo]

... and guarded since it was the only road into the colony.

How was it guarded? And how do we know it's the only road into the colony? There are multiple roads in any major city and multiple ways to get to any location. We only saw one of them.

If they really wanted to 'hide' then how hard is it to send a guy out with a can of spray paint. If it was a priority then it would have been done by such an industrious group. You forget they were already there when they moved a car to block the road. So when they established a roadblock, they saw the sign, and said to themselves it made sense to leave it there. Why? My only conclusion is that Marcus has an unending desire for more servants.

No, I didn't forget the signs would be there when the road block was set. If the Colony doesn't have access to spray paint, that would make it very difficult to send someone out to cover up the sign. Someone originally had access to black spray paint to make the signs. That doesn't mean they have access to it anymore, especially since the organizers of the evac are gone now.

Also, and a point I did not see made already, is that all of the traps along the one path we have seen were marked with instructions on how to get around them. Do you think the traps on the other paths have these instructions? I speculate that they do not.

But evidently the Colony isn't aware of the smart ones that can comprehend language and talk. Which is why the code is still on the door. They may think they are safe, but that doesn't mean they are. Just because we as listeners know certain things doesn't mean the Colony are aware of the same things. And I would imagine that every path in and out of the colony is booby trapped, and they are all marked so all their scouting parties are safe as they enter and exit the colony.

What is so bad that someone has to guard you from running INTO a zombie filled city?

Who's guarding from running into the city? There are towers overlooking the city walls for protection....I'm confused by that statement.

That is very scary when you think about it. You would think the threat of banishment (and thus certain grisly death) would be enough of a deterrent from 'misbehaving'.

Banishment isn't an option (except for Hope who would most certainly die without help). If you are banished, you might find another group of survivors, and you might clue them into The Colony's existence and location...

and we are now back to yours and my fundamental disagreement. Marcus doesn't want anyone other than who he already has to be in the Colony. You disagree. Mainly the reason I think he doesn't want new people: Look how quickly the new people cause turbulence in the everyday happenings of the Colony. Michael screwed up Bixby's face. The scary thing about oppression is how people will let it happen to them if it happens slowly and incrementally. If you walk into that system after it's well established you'll resist giving up your freedoms and buying into the system. New People=Unrest....or A Catalyst if you will..

[Adogg]

I see your point. But you've got to admit, that a can of ANY paint would be fairly easy to come by. And if Marcus' goal is to "turtle up" then this little detail overlooked will surely lead to his demise. I mean some distance greater than 2 miles away is a sign pointing to their location ...

Of course what would make the turtle theory work (for me) is if the Colony did not block the roads ... what if either the Zombies or other humans were trying to prevent humans from getting there (or getting out)? If you've ever played Left 4 Dead and had a tank throw a car at you, then you have to ask yourself why couldn't a big nasty one nudge a car into the road? Heck, a smart one drove a tanker. What if that was part of a larger plan by "INK" to isolate the colony? Or prevent their rescue (maybe to Sea?). Or if the scouts are trying to prevent more from coming into the camp. That would mean the Colony has truly been holed up and was not right next to the sign placing roadblocks but leaving rescue signs up.

Also, my point about the guarding is that the threat of being fed to the Zombies should negate the need to have armed guards over the work crews. Instead we have a situation sooo bad that we can assume at least some of the people would gladly choose to temp fate on their own then stay there. Now, we get to see how bad that is ....

[Kc]

KJ,
They're too far away for CB communication. They're a couple days South. A CB may reach 10 miles out at the most. Boy were those things fun to talk on during the 70's! LOL

I will confirm, since I haven't released the map yet, they are too far away with standard CB radio.

[nikvoodoo]

I see your point. But you've got to admit, that a can of ANY paint would be fairly easy to come by. And if Marcus' goal is to "turtle up" then this little detail overlooked will surely lead to his demise. I mean some distance greater than 2 miles away is a sign pointing to their location ...

Of course what would make the turtle theory work (for me) is if the Colony did not block the roads ... what if either the Zombies or other humans were trying to prevent humans from getting there (or getting out)? If you've ever played Left 4 Dead and had a tank throw a car at you, then you have to ask yourself why couldn't a big nasty one nudge a car into the road? Heck, a smart one drove a tanker. What if that was part of a larger plan by "INK" to isolate the colony? Or prevent their rescue (maybe to Sea?). Or if the scouts are trying to prevent more from coming into the camp. That would mean the Colony has truly been holed up and was not right next to the sign placing roadblocks but leaving rescue signs up.

Also, my point about the guarding is that the threat of being fed to the Zombies should negate the need to have armed guards over the work crews. Instead we have a situation sooo bad that we can assume at least some of the people would gladly choose to temp fate on their own then stay there. Now, we get to see how bad that is ....

I will readily admit that a can of paint could be very easy to come by even in one of the houses they are squatting in. And I'm starting to formulate the idea that Marcus has a tremendous amount of arrogance. A hallmark of arrogance is one's overlooking something obvious that one believes to be unimportant. Marcus' oversight of the signs could indeed lead to his downfall by leading Michael to him. Besides, after a little while, they didn't expect to see anyone else from up North. If they thought everyone up there was dead, there'd be no need to even worry about the signs at all.

I will also readily admit that I personally don't have enough information to say why the roads are blocked. I can only theorize why they were. Without seeing if all the roadblocks forced every survivor traveling via car a specific route, I'm not willing to say that the Colony is funneling people in. Michael says when they hit the roadblock that there are too many ways to get out. That means there are many different options they could have taken. Lets say for instance that you're heading south (as MPK were). You hit a road block. You have three options: Go back North, Go West, Go East. If they chose West: they head to the colony. They chose east: They never reach the colony. They chose North: They never reach the Colony.

I really don't think The One With the Markings (I'm retreating from calling him Ink now a days until he's confirmed as such) has visited this far south...yet. I'm going again by the code on the door. The Colony doesn't know any better....yet.

I don't think the Guardians are necessarily watching over the crews working. They happen to have weapons and are on higher ground giving them a power position. But they had to have their attention called to the altercation by The Supervisor. If they had been watching the whole time, and had orders to stop incidents like this from happening they would have shot Michael dead immediately before he had a chance to snap off a second shovel hit and a witty comment.

[Ra1th]

I will confirm, since I haven't released the map yet, they are too far away with standard CB radio.

perhaps the yacht and it's radio will play a role

[Teethingbiscuit]

Perhaps they do know Voodo. Know, that is, about the code on the door, after all there is redundancy and, "you know what will happen if there are more of you in the room than you said were coming in" from the gatekeeper. Perhaps the Colonists are baiting them a bit. (Rally cry,"GET THE SMARTIES!!)
For the story's sake I hope they don't fully understand what they are up against. As for humanity perhaps it is time for an evolution.
Teeth

[nikvoodoo]

Perhaps they do know Voodo. Know, that is, about the code on the door, after all there is redundancy and, "you know what will happen if there are more of you in the room than you said were coming in" from the gatekeeper. Perhaps the Colonists are baiting them a bit. (Rally cry,"GET THE SMARTIES!!)
For the story's sake I hope they don't fully understand what they are up against. As for humanity perhaps it is time for an evolution.
Teeth

You know, originally I thought that as well (and I'm sure I posted it on the boards somewhere), but now it seems like "If there are more than 4 of you, you know what will happen...." and the "what will happen" is any extra people who come into that room will be turned away, or even possibly killed. Not to mention you, as a Colony member, have just broken a rule and will be punished severely. It always seemed like an extra safeguard against some intelligent marauding zombie who had taken a recon team hostage. Now I think it's yet one more measure of control Marcus wields over the Colony and its occupants.