“Yeah, I’m…”
…A large dark figure suddenly slammed into Bray’s left shoulder sending him flying sideways to the far side of the camper. Tom and Ken barely caught a glimpse of it as it flew past the gap and disappeared with their friend. Before Tom or Ken could react a second animal streaked past.
Bray let loose a bloodcurdling scream that send a chill down the spine of every single man on that highway. They would hear a great many sounds coming from the other side of that camper, terrifying sounds, inhuman sounds, but nobody would hear another peep out of Bray again.
Tom was unarmed and there was no way in hell that he would be rushing towards the ravenous sounds he was hearing without a weapon. Ken had his handgun on him, but he frozen with fear. Whatever those monstrous shadows were, he was absolutely terrified of drawing his weapon for risk of offending them.
“Get in the truck!” they heard Xander shout. “Get in this fuckin’ truck right now!”
Ken and Tom knew that Xander wasn’t shouting at them, that the frantic order had been directed at the others, but that didn’t make a lick of difference to them. There were some very bad things out here with them and they had no intention of waiting for their own personal invitation. Tom leapt onto the tanker’s driver’s side running board and climbed in as quickly as he could. The heals of Tom’s boots almost caught Ken in the chin as he scrambled up after him. Tom slid over to the passenger’s side while Ken got behind the wheel and slammed the door shut again.
Looking outside, Tom understood immediately why Xander had ordered them all to take shelter. Being on the right side of the plow truck, Xander could see exactly what Tom was seeing now. A dozen snarling wolves were running out from the trees to join their alphas in securing their prey. What Xander and Tom could also see, what they alone bore witness too, was what those two enormous animals were currently doing to Bray’s lifeless body.
While Xander fixated on the right side mirror of the plow truck, watching a scene from his worst nightmare unfold behind him, Tom found himself with a front row seat. He stared out of the windshield of the tanker and directly into hell. Within seconds, the wolves had congregated beside the camper’s right side tires and joined in the rendering of Bray’s body.
As they pulled forcefully at all four of Bray’s limbs, working together to hold his tensioned body suspended from the ground, several others used their razor sharp teeth and powerful jaws to saw away at his joints. The first limb to let go was Bray’s bandaged arm which had already been compromised by its damaged tissue and broken bones. Moving with blazing fast speed, one ran off with it while the others worked away at amputating the rest.
The instant they had the carcass stripped of its limbs, the largest among them clamped onto Bray’s neck and effortlessly began trotting off with what remained of his body.
A single shot suddenly rang out from the cab of the plow truck. Finally able to identify his primary targets, Xander had begun the process of destroying the pack. Unlike his men, he knew that he didn’t need to kill them all. He only needed to shoot the breeding pair, the two in charge. Once they were dead the pack’s ability to work as one would be severally disrupted. The single murderous organism would be reduced to a directionless gang of thugs fighting amongst themselves for dominance. Many would die in the civil war to come.
That’s what his research from 30 years ago had told him anyway. He would soon learn that theory is often far removed from reality.
The wolf carrying Bray’s torso went down before it made the treeline, a hole bored through its heaving chest. When its mate moved in to take over, it was quickly shot as well. Xander had succeeded in killing the pack’s alphas. Instead of confusion and disarray, however, the wolves turned all of their attention back to the trucks. They instantly shifted their focus from consumption back to predation. Without their leaders’ discipline, they immediately went back to their most basic instinct… to kill.
Every single wolf instantly dropped whatever piece of Bray they were currently working away on and darted for the trucks.
“Fuck me.” Tom said as additional shots began ringing out from the other truck. “Ken, pass me your…”
…A growling predator suddenly snapped at Tom as it leapt past his window.
“Shit!” Tom shrieked.
Tom cancelled his request for Ken’s weapon and chose instead to frantically roll up his window. He no longer had any interest in joining the hunt. His only priority now was ensuring that he didn’t end up with a furry bundle of muscle and teeth in his lap. The instant his window was closed the truck ahead of them began to roll forward. Mars and Xander had obviously seen enough as well.
“They’re moving, Ken! Go, go, go!” Tom practically screamed.
Seemingly undaunted by the rolling target, the wolves continued to circle the tanker jumping and lunging at the doors. Ken and Tom continued to watch as the bloodthirsty animals abruptly abandoned their truck and ran ahead to concentrate on the lead truck alone.
“Damn, I hope they didn’t just get another one of the guys.” Ken said.
Ken and Tom didn’t know it, but Mars had opened the driver’s side door to let the others climb in over top of him. By the time Xander started shooting through the passenger side window, Cam and Easton were already sitting between them in the cab. Geoff, however, quickly realized that there was no way for him to squeeze in.
Instead of giving up on the truck and testing his luck on a snowmobile, he tried desperately to climb up onto the truck’s hood. When he heard Xander shout to Mars to get moving, Geoff knew that he was quickly running out of time. As the truck began to roll forward, the predators zeroed in on their last remaining prey.
Geoff eventually made it up onto the hood, but not before the wolves had caught up to him. Staring in disbelief through the windshield, Xander, Mars, Cam and Easton saw that Geoff had somehow managed to make the climb with a fully grown timber wolf firmly attached to his right boot. Through sheer will and raw determination, Geoff had ignored the excruciating pain in his foot and dragged that beast of an animal up with him. If one of the other voracious wolves had of gotten a hold of his other foot he wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Without saying a word, Mars drew his Sig Sauer, placed it in his left hand and stuck his arm out of the window. He fired a round directly into the ferocious demon’s midsection, but the shot only caused it to clamp down harder on Geoff’s mangled foot. As Geoff screamed out in pain, Mars fired again. This time the persistent animal let go and tumbled back down to the highway below. As Mars watched it fall, a second wolf jumped up and nearly missed latching onto his face. That one landed back down on the highway with a bullet hole as well.
As they drove off, miraculously only down one man, Geoff clung to that hood as though welded to it. Blood continuously flowed from his shredded boot. The river ran along the hood and eventually froze to the windshield.
The wolves, still unwilling to abandon the chase, were eventually reminded of why they normally avoided running on the highway. Coming up on them from behind, Ken managed to run over two before the rest finally leapt into the snowbanks and gave up the pursuit.
Three kilometres down the highway, Xander finally ordered Mars to stop, so they could help Geoff down from the hood. Xander absolutely detested a moron, but he had to give Geoff credit for what he had managed to pull off. Very few people would have had the strength and determination to survive what he had just gone through.
At that moment, Xander decided that Bray’s idiot cousin had earned a reprieve. As one final favour to his lost friend and captain, Xander would allow Geoff as much care as they could afford him. If he healed and remained remotely useful to the crew, Xander would keep him around. If his foot festered or he slowed them down, though, Geoff would be left behind to fend for himself. The last of the Ward family would literally, in their families newest tradition, be left to the wolves.
◆◆◆
Three kilometres back, the 11 remaining wolves sniffed at the hast
ily abandoned snowmobiles and then went back to their alphas. Seeing them both lying dead, they became anxious, whining and howling over their stiffening bodies. Their fear and worry, however, was soon replaced by anger and hatred. It wasn’t so much towards the humans that had killed their leaders, but rather the rivals in line to replace them.
One lowered its head and bared its teeth while looking at the others with absolute contempt. It made a low guttural growl and stomped aggressively at the snow. Seconds later, another did the same and then another. Before long the eight males began circling one another, snarling fiercely while the three females backed timidly away.
Xander may have misjudged the wolves’ ability to function without their alphas, but he was right about one thing, without them the rest would be forced into holding a snap election. Whether it turned into a bloodbath or not depended entirely on how many of them decided to run for office. The three youngest, realizing how little they brought to the race, quickly withdrew their candidacy and backed away. The other five remained steadfastly determined to prove their worth refusing to concede.
When it was over two lay dead and two were wounded. The injured participants could only roll onto their sides and beg for forgiveness. They pawed at the air and pleaded for mercy from the one the humans would call ‘alpha.’ Their new leader accepted their surrender and stood proudly with its tail held high. It was ready to take its rightful place at the head of the pack. The alpha male’s first order of business would be to choose a mate and get to work. They had to build their numbers back up while they still had a decent supply of fresh meat. The nicer weather was fast approaching and with it… the spring harvest.
◆◆◆
Later that day, Stu and the guys found themselves hanging out on the dock looking over the newest addition to their arsenal. None of them were expecting to ever see the monstrous Barrett again, let alone learn that George had actually managed to repair it. It would appear that Sydney wasn’t the only one that thought George had disposed of it long ago.
“I thought you said you were gunna toss it in the lake.” Stu said.
“Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot lately.” George said. “As soon as I realized that I couldn’t reinstall the muzzle brake… I really should have.”
“So there’s no way you can repair the one you took off?” Stu asked.
“Not a chance.” George replied. “Maybe if I had a lathe and a proper grinder, but not with the few tools I have here. It is what it is.”
“Well, that sucks.” Corey said. “Was it really that bad without it?”
“Shit, man, I never seen a guy planted on his ass so quick.” Terrell said, happily answering for George.
“Ha! Seriously George?” Stu asked with a laugh.
“Screw you, man, you don’t know! I’d love to see you try it.” George said.
“Take it easy, George.” Brian said. “Nobody needs to test fire that beast again… as long as we know it shoots straight and cycles properly.”
“It shoots about 15cm to the left at 100 metres. I’m sure it’s the bullshit sights that are the problem. I know that’s not great, but it loads rounds perfectly… It also happens to kick like a pissed off mule on steroids.” George said, rolling his shoulder for emphasis.
“Maybe it can serve some purpose then.” Brian said. “Is there anything you can do to lessen the recoil, George?”
“Yeah, some poor schmuck’s gunna have it assigned to him.” Stu added. He was speaking to George, but Stu was looking squarely at Corey and sporting a huge grin.
“Oh, no freakin’ way, man.” Corey said, protesting as he wagged his finger at Stu. “You’re not sticking me with that cannon.”
Ignoring Corey’s objections completely, George said, “I suppose I could rubber up the butt stock some… give Corey’s shoulder a bit of padding at least.”
“Are you assholes not hearing me?” Corey asked. “I don’t want to play anymore. I’m out. I’m taking my ball and I’m going home.”
“Good idea, George. Please go ahead and do that.” Stu said, also disregarding their indignant friend. “Corey doesn’t need it to look pretty.”
“That’s it!” Corey said as he threw up his hands and stormed off.
“Come back, Corey, they’re just messing with you, man.” Terrell said as he tried to stifle his laughter.
“Screw you, T. Screw all you guys.” Corey said. “I’m gunna see if the kitchen is hiring.”
◆◆◆
Later that evening, Hal, Rob and Nate went out to the gates to meet with the American families. Hal thanked them profusely for taking on the bulk of their security needs, but he had a much more important matter to discuss. He was happy to see that all five servicemen and four of their wives had decided to attend. Reese, Daniella, Sienna and Molly stood with their husbands, Dan, Russ, Jamal and Collin while Seth stood alone. Only Seth’s wife, Amy, had stayed behind to look after the children. Hal intended to keep the meeting short, as he knew many of these people had been out here all day.
“We have no idea if they plan to come back or not, but Stu and Brian seemed to believe that they might.” Hal said. “Now that we know Tom was Mick’s brother… it’s kind of got me wondering.”
“And that Xander fella was some sort of warlord?” Collin asked.
“That was my word, guys, not theirs.” Hal replied. “Brian called him an arms smuggler. Either way, though, they’ll have access to a lot of guns. I’m told those pistols you guys got off of Mick and his men are all US Army issue?”
“They are.” Jamal said. “They just issued us these Sigs last year. Mine’s still on base.”
“Yeah, mine too.” Seth added.
“So, it kind of makes sense.” Hal said. “How else would they have gotten them?”
“Is that why those guys took off in such a hurry, Hal?” Russ asked. “They worried about their place too?”
“They are.” Hal replied. “Knowing how well equipped Stu and his people are… seeing them that concerned… I’m getting a little worried about this place.”
“We’ve got to get our shit together, guys.” Rob said, jumping in. “On top of those handguns you have, we found four AR-15s in Mick’s cabin and a few cases of ammo. Stacey left us her rifle too. What was that thing called again, Hal?”
“Ah hell, I don’t know… damnedest thing I ever saw.” Hal replied, looking over at Nate.
“It’s a Tavor X95 9mm bullpup with two 30 round magazines.” Nate said, holding it up.
“Nate, you sure you don’t mind giving it up?” Hal asked.
“That’s fine, Hal.” Nate replied, looking down at his newly acquired Smith and Wesson M&P. “I’m better off with this handgun anyway.”
“We’d like you guys to take the five combat rifles.” Rob said. “At least you guys know how to use them.”
“If it’s all the same to you, Rob, I’d rather use that nice scoped Remington 700 you got on your shoulder there.” Jamal said. “That’s closer to what I use on a regular basis. My wife is an Army Reservist. If you’re willing to loan me your rifle, Sienna will take that Tavor and give us another experienced soldier up front.”
“Might be a good idea to have a sniping option available to us.” Dan said with a shrug.
“Well, that’s fine with me if it’s okay with you, Sienna.” Rob replied.
“Are you kidding me? That would be great!” Sienna replied. “Be nice to get rid of this heavy ass SKS I’ve been carrying around all day. Did you say you only had 60 rounds for it though?”
“Yes, but we found a case of 9mm in those cottages too.” Rob replied. “That means we have an extra 1000 rounds to divide up between that rifle and our handguns.”
“Okay, so that settles it then.” Hal said. “We’ll use the SKS rifles, the deer rifles and the shotguns. You guys hang onto Rob’s .300 Win. Mag. and the fancy black stuff.”
“Done.” Dan said.
“I’ll bring out the rest of the ammo I have for it in a few minutes, J
amal.” Rob said as he passed him his rifle. “I’ve been working through a small parallax problem with my scope. Maybe you can figure it out for me.”
“It shoots straight, though, right?” Jamal asked, hesitating before accepting the rifle.
“Yes, but you should test fire it tomorrow.” Rob replied. “The crosshairs just tend to swim around a little.”
“You’ll figure it out, Corporal.” Dan said.
“I’ll figure it out, Rob.” Jamal said.
“Dan and Russ, did you guys retire with the same rank?” Hal asked. “I hear the guys calling you both ‘Sarge,’ but I have no idea.”
“I was a master sergeant.” Dan replied. “Russ retired as a staff sergeant.”
“I’m sorry, Dan, does that mean you outranked Russ?” Hal then asked.
“Ha. Just a little.” Russ said with a snort.
“I helped run the battalion, Hal.” Dan replied. Then with a wink and a nod towards his old friend he added, “Old Russel over there ran the motor pool.”
“Ha! You old prick.” Russ said.
“In that case, we’d like to put you in charge of security, Dan.” Hal said. “I’ll handle the day to day stuff and you take care of our security needs. The US Army has a much better chance of securing this place than any of us do.”
“That sounds fine to me.” Dan said. “The first thing we need to do is reinforce those bulwarks that Stu’s people helped us out with. We’re too exposed out at this entrance.”
“Whatever you need, Dan.” Hal said. “You’ll have all the help we can give you. All you have to do is tell us what you want.”
“We have to lock this place down, guys.” Rob said. “We don’t know if Tom and Xander will show up or not, but if they do we need to be ready.”
“We’ll be ready.” Dan said. “If those two pricks show up here again they’ll be joining Tom’s brother at the dump.”
EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4 Page 27
