EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4

by Tony Mastrolacasa

  “It’s just Brian and I’m not on the job, sir. I lost contact with my organization after the first EMP.”

  “I see… well, my name is Colonel John Bennet, Special Operations Regiment, Canadian Army. As you can see, I have not lost contact with my… organization.”

  “I’m very happy to hear that, Colonel.” Brian said. “We’ve been living in the wild west out here for seven months now. It’s nice to know we’re getting back some semblance of law and order.”

  “Ha. You have no idea what the ‘wild west’ is like, Mr. Baker.” Bennet said. “My unit arrived in Alberta on September 24th. We landed just two hours before the second EMP barrage.”

  “Your unit was on those planes, Colonel?” Brian asked. “We were listening to that on the…”

  …Gunfire suddenly erupted down by the cabins. Everyone up on the road could clearly make out the distinct sound of three or four different rifles firing. The civilians instinctively ducked down while the soldiers kneeled and raised their weapons towards the resort. Colonel Bennet simply shook his head and smiled.

  “Let me guess… the men that did not choose to remain in the house.” Bennet asked with a smirk.

  “I assume so, Colonel.” Brian said. “Four of our friends are still unaccounted for. Two of them are Army. One’s a Canadian combat veteran and the other is active duty U.S. Army.”

  “Give me their names and descriptions.” Bennet ordered, the humour instantly gone from his face.

  “Stacey and Mia will be the only females down there.” Brian said. “Corey is basically dressed like you and your soldiers and Collin…”

  “…That’s all I need.” Bennet said as he turned around. “Sergeant Stryer, front and centre!”

  “Sir!”

  “Get Warrant Officer Blackwell on the radio. I want two LAV IIIs brought forward on the double.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Armoured vehicles?” Brian asked. “Colonel, our friends are down there too.”

  “Not for long.”

  ◆◆◆

  “You are such an asshole!” Stacey shouted as Tom threw her into his cabin. “Why did you do have to do that?”

  “Shut your damn trap for once and sit the fuck down!” Tom shouted back, slamming the door and locking it behind them.

  On the way down, Tom had spotted Tyler, Curtis and Owen peaking out of a cabin window and ordered them outside. They were told to set up around his cabin and shoot anybody that came down the driveway. They immediately did what they were told as they knew very well that they wouldn’t be given any second chances with Tom. Unlike Xander, Tom had no ability to ‘check’ his rage or think before he acted. Anything short of instant compliance would be met with a quick and violent death for all three of them.

  “She was no threat to you… You didn’t have to shoot her.” Stacey said as she took a seat.

  “I suppose that other fucker with no threat to me either.” Tom said as he searched frantically for a towel. “Stupid asshole tells me to drop my gun… What an idiot.”

  “Collin would have blown a hole right threw you, but Mia didn’t even have a gun. She was completely defenseless, you jerk. You have no idea what she’s been through.”

  “Oh, I know exactly what she’s been through.” Tom said as he continued his search. “Been through her a few times myself.”

  Unable to believe the unspeakable brutishness she had just heard from the father of her child, Stacey simply put her head down and cried into her hands.

  Finally finding a dish cloth, Tom wrapped it around his left hand as tightly as he could. The blood vessels he had torn in his palm had been bleeding profusely the entire time. He had tried to apply pressure to the wound, but his constant need to use both hands had prevented it from closing up. Tom didn’t know much about an injury of this nature, but he at least knew that he needed to stop it from bleeding. As he looked down at his makeshift bandage, a drop of blood rolled off of his forehead and landed directly onto it.

  Reminded that he also had a head wound to deal with, Tom went into the bathroom to take a look in the mirror. His appearance shocked even him, as the entire left side of his face was covered in a river of blood. His beard had absorbed so much of the accumulation that he now had a grotesque lump of blood gelatin hanging from his chin. Disgusted, he wrapped his good hand around it and squeezed like he was forcing buttercream icing from a piping bag.

  That bathroom sink would never be right again.

  It wasn’t the initial explosion that had injured Tom, but rather the resultant fall when the truck toppled over. Choosing to lie down on the seat had no doubt saved his life. Unfortunately, it had also positioned him for a head first fall to the opposite door. He slammed his head into the passenger side door so forcefully that he was knocked unconscious for several minutes. When he came to he found that he had landed on his rifle and snapped it in half. It was the misguided decision to use that rifle to help right himself that had caused the injury to his left hand. A jagged edge sliced right through his palm and severed one of its arteries.

  Willing to admit that the good looking ladies man was probably gone forever, Tom placed a small towel over the gashed goose egg on his head and held it in place with the same injured hand. He could get by with only his right until something happened that required him to use both.

  Walking back into the kitchen, Tom saw that Stacey was still holding her face in her hands. That’s when he finally noticed the interesting addition to her left hand. The sparkle of the engagement ring’s diamond was unmistakable. In that moment, Tom suddenly realized that Stacey hadn’t rebuffed his proposals because she was opposed to marriage. She was just opposed to marrying him. The entire lie was just an excuse to keep him at a distance and provide her the escape option that she had eventually utilized.

  “Nice ring, Stace.” Tom said. “Who’s the lucky guy? Oh no… I hope I didn’t just blow his brains out.”

  “You’ll meet the guy that gave me this ring soon enough.” Stacey said. “He’s the only real man I’ve ever been with.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.” Tom said. “After you watch me blow his fuckin’ head off, you’re gunna take me to my daughter. You, me and Emma are heading down south out of this damn snow. I hope you’re not opposed to having a big family because I intend to drop another kid into you the first chance I get.”

  “Ha! That’ll be the day.” Stacey said with a laugh. Noticing the half empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the table, she added, “Must be the booze talking.”

  “You know… I hadn’t taken a drink since the night you left, but that bottle probably saved my life. I was suppose to be part of that hunting party that went out this morning. I was so hung over when they knocked on my door that I told them to shove it and went back to bed. I’m guessing the guy that took my place is probably dead.”

  “He is and so are most of your friends.” Stacey said. “You will be too if you don’t end this, Tom.”

  “It’ll end as soon as I find the prick that killed my brother.” Tom said. “I don’t suppose you know anything about that.”

  “Mick, Joe and those other two idiots were shot when they refused to leave. They were given every chance to ride their sleds out of here.”

  “What do you know about it?” Tom asked. “Who killed them?”

  “I did, asshole.” Stacey said defiantly.

  “Ha!” This time it was Tom’s turn to laugh. “I’ll just kill them all then… It’s the only way to be sure.”

  One of the guys outside fired a shot that was immediately answered. A few seconds later, a serious gunfight erupted.

  Stacey smiled and looked up at her ex-idiot.

  “Time’s up, dipshit.”

  ◆◆◆

  Running from tree to tree, Corey made it half way down to the cabins before the first shot was fired at him. Guessing at the gunman’s position, Corey instantly fired a three shot burst back and jumped to the next tree.

  He regretted not grabbing a spare
magazine from one of the guys before heading off to find Stacey. Had he asked, he would have discovered that they didn’t have any either. His rifle held a full mag, but his pockets were empty. He still had three fully loaded magazines for his handgun though. Unless this went very poorly, Corey assumed it would be enough to get the job done.

  As he peaked out from the tree, however, three men opened up and Corey found himself second guessing his assumptions. Realizing that he was pinned down and outgunned three to one, Corey had no choice but to retreat back and come at them from a different angle. He would try to get across the driveway and surprise them from a new location. He still had no idea which cabin Stacey was in, so he had to make sure that only lake ice served as his backstop.

  Corey managed to back out of their line of sight, but before he ran across to the other side, he began to hear an old familiar sound approaching. Back when he served, the Canadian Army called their eight wheeled light armoured vehicles ‘Kodiaks,’ but he believed they were simply referred to as ‘LAV IIIs’ now. The American versions were called ‘Strykers,’ a far superior designation in Corey’s opinion. The fact that the name honoured two fallen U.S. soldiers and Medal of Honour winners, only strengthened his views on the subject.

  Regardless of the name, at least two were entering the resort and he would soon have to come out from cover to make his presence known. He would also need to do so in a way that would not result in his immediate annihilation. Corey laid down his rifle and prepared to stand up and deliver a hand signal. He hoped that his stolen uniform would buy him enough time for them to recognize the gesture he would attempt to convey.

  The turret of the lead vehicle quickly came into view with the head and shoulders of two soldiers protruding from the hatches. Before they were hidden behind its hulking bow plate, Corey stood up keeping a tree between himself and the cabins. He knew the driver would be able to see him, but he wanted to make sure the troops behind the controls of the machine guns had a clear view of him as well.

  Corey began twirling his left index finger in the air while pointing to the driveway in front of him with his right. Thankfully, instead of being instantly shredded by a deadly array of weapons, the LAV III team recognized the signal for ‘Rally-Here’ and began to slow down.

  Corey breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and offered a second far less formal hand signal. It was one they had also surely learned, but not from any field manual. He flattened his right hand horizontally in front of his face and used his left to extend a middle finger under the right. What a civilian would instinctively take as an insult of some kind was actually the common Army signal for, ‘Cover me-I’m screwed.’

  Sure enough, the soldiers in the turret of the lead LAV III immediately turned their guns towards the cabins down the hill.

  “I assume you’re the veteran.” The soldier in the commander’s hatch said as they came to a stop.

  “Yes ma’am, Corey Fletcher.”

  “I’m Warrant Officer Melanie Blackwell. Our commander ordered my unit to assist you.”

  “I appreciate the help.” Corey said, knowing that Brian had undoubtedly had a hand in this. “Please relay to your soldiers that they are to resist the urge to fire until I know where the hostage is located. She’s a high value asset.”

  “We’re on an open mic, sir. They already know.” Blackwell said. “We were told there were four friendlies.”

  “Two were already lost before I arrived.” Corey replied. “It’s just me and her now. All remaining males are to be considered hostile. The lone female is our hostage.”

  “Understood. You want to hop in or you want to take cover behind the vehicles?”

  “I’ll walk, thanks. I’m just gunna retrieve my weapon. Can you spare any mags?”

  “Lowrey.” Blackwell ordered with a single word. A few seconds later, Corporal Lowrey tossed two fully loaded magazines down to Corey.

  Damn, I miss this shit.

  Instead of waiting for both vehicles to pass him, Corey fell in behind the lead. Not only did this bring him considerably closer to the action, but it also left him covered from the rear. Not surprisingly, not a single shot was fired at them as they approached the cabins. On the contrary, they were instead met with three young males in the process of surrendering.

  The instant they saw what was coming down the hill for them, Tyler, Curtis and Owen immediately abandoned their post outside of Tom’s cabin and ran next door. None of them had any delusions about what Tom would do if he saw them run away, so they were sure to put a cabin between themselves and Tom as quickly as possible. Their weapons were tossed inside and the three of them stood at the side of the building with hands raised nervously above their heads.

  “You three there.” Blackwell said over the loud speaker. “Come to my vehicle and submit to arrest. Any hostile action will be answered with extreme force.”

  “As soon as we step out, Tom will shoot us!” Tyler shouted back, pointing towards the next cabin over.

  The mere mention of the name made Corey’s blood boil. Corey had hoped that Dan had already taken care of Stacey’s abusive beast of an ex, but apparently that wasn’t the case. The headless man in the house was just some other schmuck.

  “Stay where you are.” Blackwell said. “We’ll come to you.”

  The two LAV IIIs were driven closer while their guns were all pointed towards Tom’s cabin. As ordered, none of them intended to fire, but the display alone would certainly suppress any thoughts Tom might have to take a pot shot at anyone. As Corey held the three young men at gunpoint, the rear ramp door was dropped and four soldiers ran out. They quickly grabbed them, tie wrapped their hands behind their backs and led them into the back of their vehicle. Corey followed, so that he might be able to ‘coax’ a few answers out of them.

  “Fuck me, the gangsters are getting younger every year.” Corey said to one of the corporals.

  “Roger that, Sarge.” The corporal replied.

  The soldier was no doubt reacting to the three chevrons and maple leaf that adorned his stolen jacket. Corey had already removed some of the uniform’s insignia, but hadn’t gotten around to removing it all yet. He didn’t bother correcting the young soldier, even though he had never been a non-commissioned officer.

  “Alright, dickheads, if any of you have harmed a hair on Stacey’s head none of these soldiers will be able stop me from killing all three of you.” Corey said by way of an opening statement. “Is she in the cabin next door with Tom?”

  “The good looking blonde? Yeah, man.” Tyler said as he and his brothers were chained to the floor.

  “We didn’t have anything to do with grabbing her either.” Curtis added. “We were already here when Tom brought her down.”

  “Is there anybody else down here or is it just the two of them?” Corey then asked.

  “It’s just Tom and her, far as we know.” Owen replied. “Are we going to jail, mister?”

  “I don’t think jail’s a thing anymore, kid. I imagine the three of you are in the Army now.” Corey said as he turned to leave.

  Coming out of the armoured vehicle, Corey found Warrant Officer Blackwell waiting to speak with him.

  “Get what you needed, Fletcher?” Blackwell asked.

  “Yeah, but it wasn’t much, Warrant Officer.” Corey replied. “He’s got Stacey in there with him and they said there’s nobody else around. I’m gunna have to go in there and see what it’ll take to get him to release her. I’d appreciate it if you guys could watch my back… maybe train a few guns on those windows.”

  “You got it, but my orders are to remain with the vehicles.”

  “I completely understand, ma’am.” Corey said. “Just take the shot if the opportunity presents itself.”

  “Roger that.” Blackwell said. “Feel free to call ‘fire’ at any time and we’ll bring the thunder.”

  Corey handed Blackwell his rifle, unholstered his Beretta and placed it in the waste band behind his back. Then he took a deep breath and stepped int
o the open.

  “Tom, if you want to survive this let Stacey go. You won’t be shot or imprisoned. You’ll be arrested and given a job helping the Army with the recovery effort.”

  …Right after I cut your balls off and feed them to you.

  ◆◆◆

  “How long will they wait before they send down reinforcements?” Stu asked.

  “Colonel Bennet won’t send in anybody else, Stu.” Brian replied. “The only reason he’s taken any interest at all is because of Corey and Collin’s service records. I’m sure the Canadian and U.S. militaries are working closely together now, especially after the Rockies. He’s willing to help, but it’s only so he can get a U.S. serviceman back to his unit and a Canadian veteran back to his family.”

  “Well, that’s a bummer.” George said. “You think he’d let us go down there ourselves?”

  “With what?” Brian asked. “All of our weapons are gone, remember?”

  “We could get…”

  “… The answer is no, guys.” Brian said, ending the debate. “This is a military operation now.”

  They saw Terrell walking back from one of the first aid trucks. Judging by the big smile on his face and the even bigger duffel bag on his back, it appeared as though he may have some good news for them.

  “How’s Liv and Hal?” Stu asked.

  “Liv’s wounds are being treated.” Terrell replied. “They’ve got a trauma surgeon with them, but they didn’t think she was gunna need surgery. Pricks wouldn’t even let me observe.”

  “Well, we still love you, buddy.” George said.

  “Ha! Thanks, homie.” Terrell said. “Hal has a few hairline fractures in his ribs and a mild concussion. He’s being wrapped up and medicated, but that’s pretty much all they can do for him. Time and rest will take care of that one on its own. Nora’s with him now.”

  “Thank goodness.” George said.

  “What’s in the bag?” Brian asked.

  “A ton-o-shit.” Terrell replied. “Because I’m a surgeon they were authorized to give me the works, not just the regular first aid care packages that they’ve been passing out to civilians. We’ve got meds, antibiotics, fluids, almost everything we need. I might even be able to numb up your shoulder a bit before I patch you up, Stu.”