by Davis, James
“Ok, just give me a day to get my group together to talk about all of this and we will get back on the radio at this time tomorrow with our final decision.” Dub replied then set the radio mic down.
“Sounds like a plan Dub. We’ll talk to you tomorrow, Jim out.” Dub sat back in his chair, taking in deep breaths trying to wrap his head around all the news he had just been told. He sat there thinking for a little while, then stood up and stretched out his back.
“Come on boy, I’ll help you back up top.” he said, scratching Sarge behind the ears before turning and heading for the bunker’s exit. Dub helped the big dog out of the bunker and then stepped outside and started heading for the house. He was waiting for one of the kids to come running around the corner but they never did. Sarge let out an audible growl causing Dub to stop at the front porch and look around. Not seeing anything he closed his eyes and listened for the women in the kitchen, or the kids playing, but all he heard was Sarge.
His heart started to race as he bolted around the house and up the stairs to the open front door. “Betty, Tanya where are you guys?” Dub yelled through the house. He stepped into the kitchen with Sarge right by his side and spotted a still steaming cup of coffee. Confused he immediately headed upstairs to check the bedrooms. Finding nothing up there he headed back outside defeated.
Where the hell could they all have run off to? Dub said to himself. He turned to look off to the edge of the forest when he noticed Bella’s large frame laying there in the grass. He called for Bella as Sarge trotted over to her and nudged her with his nose. She didn't move. Dub watched as Sarge laid down next to her and started whimpering and whining loudly.
What in the hell is that damn dog doing? Dub thought as he started walking toward the two animals. He approached the two dogs and knelt beside them. Bella lay motionless, Dub looked over the dog for wounds. Lifting her head with one hand, he plucked a red tipped dart from the underside of her neck. Sarge let out a long whimper as he scooted closer to Bella. Dub reached out and scratched Sarge between the ears.
“She’ll be alright. We'll just let her sleep it off there.” Dub said as he patted Sarge’s back. He headed back to the driveway and stopped. He looked back to see Sarge still laying next to Bella
“Come on boy, you can't stay out there. Help me figure out where everyone went.” As he stood in the driveway he noticed a pretty large tire tread pattern. It was too big to be a normal truck, and too small to be the Monstrosity. Dub was in full panic mode now. He could see that the military had come in and grabbed his entire group. He went around the house searching for more evidence to support his suspicions, when he rounded the last corner on the side of the house he could see two dead bodies next to the house. One of the bodies was a man with a blue helmet on and the other was Tanya. She had a .45 in her right hand and her left hand was wrapped around a large blade that protruded out from her gut, the man had several holes in his chest from the .45. Dub removed his green John Deere hat and knelt beside Tanya running his fingers through her hair
“At least you went down swinging sweetheart.”
*****
Clay and the rest of his group were pinned down on two sides behind a small shed on the side of the school.
“Everybody still good?” Clay yelled back at his group as they all leaned out and squeezed off a few rounds from time to time.
“Save your ammo! They’ll run out pretty fast if they keep dumping mag after mag into this damn shed.” Clay dropped down to a knee and took a quick peek around the edge of the shed. What he saw behind the soldiers made him smile from ear to ear. He turned and looked at the rest of the group and had them all stop firing completely.
“They won't know we stopped shooting until it’s too late,” Clay said, still grinning widely.
“What do you mean till it’s too late?” Jeff asked. Clay didn’t say a word. He just waited. A couple of seconds later his patience paid off. Hank and his group somehow managed to sneak in behind the soldiers without being noticed. He heard Hank scream FIRE as loud as he could before they unloaded on those soldiers. The fight was over in only seconds.
“You alright brother?” Hank yelled as he made his way through the mass of dead and dying soldiers.
“Yeah, we’re all good. They just wasted all that ammo on this shed.” Clay chuckled and patted the side of it.
“Did you guys make contact with the prisoners inside?” Clay asked.
“Yeah, most of them are scared. They don’t know what to think.” Hank started before Randy's voice came over his radio.
"Convoy coming your way, ten trucks." Hank pressed the button on his radio
"Copy." He turned to Clay.
"That’s gotta be the workers returning." Clay turned to his men and shouted,
"Take cover! We got more incoming!" The men scrambled to take cover behind the shed or the trucks. A moment later the convoy of trucks slowed to a stop just inside the gate. Soldiers piled out of the trucks weapons ready and scanning the camp.
"They're all dead, you will be too if you don't drop those weapons!" Hank shouted from his cover.
"Who are you and what do you want?" one of the soldiers shouted back, no one moving to lay down their weapons.
"We're here for the civilians, that's all. You have to the count of five to drop your weapons, I won't say it again!" Hank yelled. The soldier motioned for those behind to hold position before replying,
"You killed all of these men."
"One!" Clay roared from his position behind the shed.
"Two… Three!" The first soldier raised his hands in the air still holding his rifle.
"Alright! We're putting them down." He turned toward the men behind him.
"Stand down!” He ordered, placing his own weapon on the ground in front of him. The twenty men behind him followed suit and dropped their weapons.
"Now take ten paces forward and drop to your knees." Hank instructed them. The soldiers complied. The large group of men left their cover and moved in, weapons trained on the kneeling soldiers. Steve approached Hank.
"We can lock them up until we figure out what to do with them,” Hank ignored him he looked over at Clay.
"Five." he said. Both men raised their rifles and unloaded on the soldiers. The soldiers dropped to the ground one by one, it happened so quickly that no one had time to react. The gunfire ended and the soldiers laid in a heap of bodies atop a pool of blood.
"What the fuck was that?" Steve screamed, stepping closer to Hank.
"If we didn't do it to them, they would have done it to us." Hank said, taking a step back. Steve took a step forward following Hank.
"They were surrendering and you killed them like animals! We don't do that!" Steve fumed.
"We came to free prisoners, not take new ones." Hank replied. Steve was chest to chest with Hank now as he continued to rant.
"We do not kill unarmed, surrendering soldiers! That's what they do, and if we do it we're no better! That was the most disgusting fucking act of cowardice I have ever witnessed! You think you're leaders, but you’re both pussies."
"Take it up with the complaint department." Hank replied calmly.
"You watch your goddamn mouth!" Clay bellowed as the back of his open hand connected with Steve's face. Steve grabbed his face, stunned by the assault. He charged Clay grabbing his waist and struggling to take him to the ground. Clay slammed his elbow into Steve's back, and then again with the same elbow. One more elbow into the back and Steve fell to the ground, quickly flipping onto his back. Clay was on top of him in a second, slamming his fists into Steve's face.
"Should we stop them?" A young blonde haired man asked Hank. Hank looked over at the man.
"Nah, it's probably fine." Clay continued raining heavy blows down on Steve's face.
"You better remember who’s fucking side you're on." He threw one last punch and pulled out his pistol.
"Actually, now I remember whose side you're on." He pointed his pistol at Steve’s forehead.
/> "Alright, it’s time to go get him." Hank said to the man next to him. They stepped in and each grabbed Clay by the arm and pulled him away.
"Let me go!" Clay screamed, struggling to break free.
"Help him inside and get him cleaned up." Hank said motioning toward Steve.
“What's going on down there? How are we going to convince them we’re not the bad guys after that little stunt.” Jeff asked over the radio. Hank grabbed his radio and put it to his mouth.
“Come on down. Let’s start by getting them to their families and give them some food, let them get good and full. It’s probably been a while since they had any kind of decent meal.” Hank turned to the men who had exited the trucks and witnessed the scuffle.
"I'm sure you have questions, we have answers. Your families are inside. Follow me and we will get you up to speed over some dinner. With that, he turned and headed toward the school building. The civilians followed, eager to reunite with their families. Hank turned to Clay who appeared calmer at this point.
"You can take a couple of guys and collect gear, we can get them equipped after they eat."
“Sounds good" Clay replied as he turned toward the dead soldiers.
"You good?" Hank yelled from behind him.
"I'm good," Clay answered, not bothering to turn around.
"You four grab those crates and bring them with us." Hank ordered, pointing his rifle at a stack of boxes that read Meal, Ready-to-Eat.
They all carried the boxes inside and handed them out to everyone. The people grabbed them and started tearing into the food like a pack of rabid dogs. Jeff and Randy joined Hank in the cafeteria.
“Never seen anyone so happy to eat an MRE." Hank said as the two men approached him.
"Let's go talk to some people and see if we can get any information from them.” Hank, Jeff, and Randy mingled and listened to people talk about the horrible shit they had been dealing with as they sat and ate. A short black man named Tracy told most of the story as they all sat and listened intently.
“Man those bastards were cruel! If they thought that one of us wasn’t working hard enough or fast enough they would use the shoulder straps off of their rifles and beat us until we hit the ground bleeding. There was this one cat we called Brody. Man, this motherfucker was worse than the rest of them put together.
This dude would walk around with a dinner fork and a propane torch and brand people. It didn’t matter if you already had a burn mark from him either. If you were in his sights that day you would get burned again, and if you screamed out in pain he would shove that fork in your mouth and hold your mouth closed until it stopped burning. He would always have this sick look in his eyes when he did it too, like he got off on it or something.” Tracy said, as he looked around at each person around him. Randy, Jeff and Hank looked at one another with horrified expressions on their faces. They could not believe that people would do that shit to another human.
“Too bad that bastard Brody is already dead. I’d like to give him a dose of his own medicine.” Hank said. As the day went on the people began to let down their guards, and even almost seemed to trust them. They finally got them outside that evening and had them all pick out their new weapons. They would teach them firearm safety in the morning. They didn’t want to spend any nights here, but they had to help these people get ready to defend the place. The next morning, Clay and Hank led half the group in firearm safety and Jeff and Randy led the other group.
Once they all could shoot straight and were no longer scared of the guns, they thanked Clay, Hank, and the rest of the group for the help.
“I’m leaving you guys this radio and a map to our newest location. If you get in any kind of trouble don’t hesitate to call us on it. There is always someone sitting by the radio at our place.” The two groups shook hands and said their goodbyes. Clay climbed up into the massive bus and fired it up. Hank was right behind him, followed by the rest of their group. They all waved at the people in front of the school as Clay drove out of the parking lot and onto the road. He eased into the throttle until they were moving at a nice even pace down the road. An hour later they were almost back home. When Clay turned onto the driveway, everyone immediately knew something was wrong. They didn’t know what was wrong but something was definitely not right.
Chapter 21
“Clay, Hank, I am so sorry. Tanya came out and told me Jim Andrews was calling for me on the radio so I went to talk to him and when I came back up everyone was gone, and Tanya was on the ground with a knife in her gut. I never thought anyone would come up here and try something like this.” Dub said, as he hung his head.
“It's alright man, don’t beat yourself up over it. They aren’t going to hurt them. If they planned on hurting any of them they would have done it here. It could have happened to anyone of us.” Clay said, patting Dub on the shoulder. He turned and walked over to Hank and leaned in, speaking in a low whisper.
“Look I know you’re going to protest this but I need you to stay behind and help Dub guard the place. I’m going to take Jeff and Sarge with me. Jeff knows this area better than either one of us, so it’s best if he goes.” Hank took a step back and stared at Clay for a moment with a menacing expression on his face. He glanced back toward Jeff, then back to his brother,
“Alright, I’ll stay behind but I’m telling you right damn now that I do not like it one bit Clay! You tell Karen why Jeff is there and I’m not, and you damn well better bring them all back in one piece!”
“I will. Don’t worry, we’ll be back before you know it. Thank you Hank.” Clay said throwing a single armed hug around his brother.
“Just get this shit done and get your asses back here as soon as possible!” Hank replied, returning the hug.
“Come on boy, we have to go find Momma and Emma.” Clay said, patting Sarge on the head. He turned to face Jeff and Dub.
“Hank is going to stay and help you guard the place while Jeff and I go handle this. Jeff knows the area better, so it just makes more sense that he goes.” Clay explained. Dub nodded, fishing a set of keys from his pocket and tossing them to his son.
"You boys take my Jeep and don't do nothin stupid. We’re going to get this place cleaned up," he said as he walked toward the house
"I'll help, you can fill me in on this Jim Andrews conversation." Hank said turning to follow Dub.
“How exactly do you think you’re going to find them anyhow?” Jeff asked.
“Sarge will sniff them out. We’ll be on them before dark if they didn’t go too far.”
"Camp Davridge is only a few miles away from here. I'd bet money that's where they took everyone. And there’s no way that mutt is sniffing out anything but his own ass.” Jeff chuckled.
“You don’t know Sarge very well if you believe that. Sarge is a trained military service dog.” Clay replied.
“Yeah right, that dog does not act like any trained dog I’ve ever seen.”
“A couple of years back I pulled into a truck stop and this guy named Tony came up behind me while I was fueling up my semi. He had Sarge with him. Anyway, Tony proceeds to explain to me that he had left his wallet at the VA hospital, and that he had run out of gas right before he got to the truck stop. He asked me if he could borrow enough cash to buy a gas can and fill it up so he could get back to the VA and grab his wallet. He told me about his time in the military and how they let him keep his service dog because of the bad case of PTSD he had.”
“You expect me to believe that this Tony guy just gave you his dog?” Jeff said, as he climbed into the Jeep and started it.
“Just shut up and drive so I can finish telling you the story jackass.” Clay said. Jeff pushed down the throttle and the Jeep took off down the driveway after Sarge.
“As I was saying, they let him keep the dog since his PTSD was so bad.
Anyway, the only cash I had was a fifty-dollar bill, so I said screw it, and just gave it to him. He then asked me to keep an eye on his dog while he got the gas and I ag
reed. I waited on Tony to come back for as long as I could, and finally I went inside to see if he might have been on the shitter or something. I left the dog in my semi while I went inside, and when I got to the bathroom I found Tony inside one of the stalls with a needle sticking out of his arm. He was dead. I tried to bring him back but it was too late.” Clay finished. Jeff was stunned.
“Man, I’m sorry. I would have never said anything about Sarge if I would have known that.”
“It’s fine. You, Hank, and my wife are the only people on earth I have ever told that story to.” The two men sat in silence for a long time after Clay finished his story. Sarge was steadily trotting down the road in front of the Jeep. It was an extremely slow process following the dog. Sarge suddenly bolted off into the woods and Jeff turned to follow him.
“No. Don’t pull off the road. If we get stuck we’re screwed. Let's just go in on foot. Grab all of your gear; it might be awhile before we get back to the Jeep. Take the keys too.” Clay said as he gathered up his own gear. Minutes later they were both running through the woods trying to catch up to Sarge. The dog was no longer sniffing the ground, he seemed to know exactly where to go. They had only ran about a half of a mile before they came upon a clearing.
"This is the back side of Camp Davridge." Jeff said, pointing toward a fence.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were in there." Clay looked at Jeff, raising an eyebrow.
"You know this place?"
"Just know of it, never been inside or anything. Me and Randy used to watch the helicopters come and go when we were kids." Jeff replied. Clay knelt down and clipped a leash to Sarge’s collar and said.
"Well, what else do you know about this camp?” Jeff shrugged
"Like I said, not a whole lot. There was always military trucks coming and going, a few helicopters. Gotta be five or six hundred soldiers in there."
"We need to find a vantage point so we can see inside." Clay said.
