Community center¶
The community center is the fenced cinder-block construction project, pushed by Deborah Wells and Mayor Wilford Hiram on bulldozed Pueblo ruins within sight of Sherman Ranch, which proves to be the skinwalkers' stronghold above the "Ballroom" shaft and collapses into a sinkhole in the finale.
| Type | Location (construction site) |
| Aliases | Community center site; community center project; rural community center |
| Region | Desert outside Ballard, Utah |
| Held by | Skinwalker faction |
| Status | Collapsed into a sinkhole (as of Walkers 09) |
| First appearance | Walkers 02 |
Description¶
From the ranch, Walt Murphy points out the building going up beside a gray substation built just for it, about four miles from the only part of the county where anything strange happens. The town says it will swallow the ranch area, but Alberta, Walt says, will never sell (Walkers 02).
Up close it is most of a cinder-block building, ringed by a heavy chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, with bulldozers and a backhoe parked outside and work lights on. Mean graffiti over the construction logos on the fence accuses the builders of "cultural genocide". It stands at the end of a dirt road in empty desert, and the guest house is visible from it (Walkers 03).
Notable places within¶
- The hollow hallway. An unguarded back door opens onto an ordinary hallway with dirt on the floor and a hollow-sounding floor (Walkers 09).
- The Ballroom. A locked door in the hallway opens onto a shaft a few hundred feet deep that leads to the cavern.
- The fenced yard. Behind a fence that has been knocked down in several places, most of Roosevelt's cars are piled up (Walkers 09).
History of events there¶
Suspicion. Maggie says the center is being built far from the community, pushed by Deborah Wells, over Pueblo ruins that were bulldozed despite a protest (Walkers 03). Rita (as Andrew) photographs the site, and the team decides not to break in yet. Kurt concludes the ranch is the likely reason for the location. After meeting the mayor, Andrew and Kurt wonder whether it is a "community center scam", or a church community center moved to mine a gas reserve (Walkers 05).
The assault. In Walkers 09 a convoy of Guardsmen, the task force, ranch hands on horseback and Ned Simpson's killdozer approaches from behind a hill. The APC with the megaphone is answered with gunfire. The naked defenders are tactically poor but show no fear of death, and they swarm the killdozer; Kurt sears the last two climbers off with the flame light. Hoarded supplies and cars are stored here.
The collapse. After the team destroys the portal machine in the cavern below, the community center slides into a sinkhole while the survivors above lie unconscious from the falling white powder. Dozens of people in hazmat suits then load up bodies as black aircraft circle overhead (Walkers 09). See Hazmat cleanup teams.
Inhabitants¶
The skinwalker faction (copies of the people of Roosevelt and Ballard, including the mayor), who haul supplies into the center and defend it with guns (Walkers 09).