by Alex Gunwick
Luke nodded gravely. “I could hardly believe it myself, but I’m sure.”
She shook her head before turning back to watch Kyle and Edwin. They were messing around with several wires on the back of the big console in the center of the room.
“What should we tell him?” she asked in a low tone.
“For now, nothing.” He squeezed his wife’s shoulder, as much to reassure himself as to comfort her. “He’s having a good day. I don’t want to ruin it.”
“Would he even understand? I mean, the scale of it. It’s hard for me to fathom. Maybe he won’t understand the true impact of what those numbers mean,” Liz said.
“I feel the same way. It’s tough to imagine trying to explain it to him. But didn’t he learn about the Holocaust in school last year?”
“Yeah, they had a short unit on it. But I don’t think they go into much detail at that age. I was surprised they covered it at all in his grade, but school isn’t how it used to be. Kids are growing up much faster than when we were young.”
Luke watched his only son sadly. He imagined future generations reading about the detonation of the bombs over Manhattan, LA, and San Francisco in their history books, just as he had read about the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in his.
He wondered what the books would have to say about the United States’ retaliation against Russia. As far as he knew, that part of history hadn’t happened yet, but it seemed inevitable at this point. The government message wouldn’t have hinted at retaliation unless they’d already set their plan into motion.
Edwin had made a good point about one thing. The announcement of an impending retaliation against Russia was unusual. Why announce it? Why not just carry it out? Why wait? And why hadn’t NORAD protected the US from the attack?
Every time they listened to the radio, there was a different report. They’d started giving out conflicting information. Granted, they were dealing with an unprecedented situation, but something wasn’t right.
He shook his head.
“What?” Liz asked.
“Nothing.”
What the hell did he know? What would normal look like in the middle of a nuclear war? Did anyone even know what was really going on?
He chuckled mirthlessly.
Edwin had gotten into his head with his conspiracy-theory nonsense. The guy’s theories about the US being behind the attack couldn’t possibly be true. However, Luke was standing in the control room in a secret military fallout bunker, so who knew? Maybe there was some truth to Edwin’s theories. Luke just wished they could get multiple sources of news. They’d tried to get Edwin’s HAM radio from their cabin, but looters had gotten to it first. The bastards hadn’t even taken it. They’d just destroyed it. It was a damn shame.
“You okay, babe?” Liz’s brow furrowed.
“Fine. I’m just thinking about something Edwin said earlier, but it’s not important. Should we go learn about this ancient computer stuff?” He nodded toward Kyle and Edwin. They were lying on the ground, examining the underside of the massive console.
She laughed, shrugging. “Why not?”
They started over toward the console. He draped his arm around her shoulders, and she slipped her arm around his waist. He tried to enjoy the moment, but he couldn’t. The cult was still a huge threat and the still-missing water purification system troubled him. He hoped Derek would return from his reconnaissance with some valuable intelligence about the enemy. Luke was looking forward to formulating an attack plan. They’d deal with one problem at a time until they were safe enough to survive the winter.
22
Luke stood beneath the flickering fluorescent lights in the workout room. He preferred to exercise beneath the open sky, but security dictated he remain in the bunker. It was strange, going days without seeing the sun or the sky.
Yesterday, Liz declared that each family member needed to go outside in daylight for at least twenty minutes a day. She kept saying something about vitamin D deficiency and the immune system. Since they hadn’t found any additional vitamin supplements in the bunker, he agreed with her. The last they needed was to get sick.
Despite her insistence, he found it challenging to find the time to get outside. They had to be cautious so that they wouldn’t be discovered. They planned on going out as a group to have more protection, but no one could decide when to go. Potential danger filled every hour of daylight. They’d tabled the decision until they could figure out a plan.
Luke stretched out on the floor and started pumping out push-ups. When he reached one hundred reps, pain hit hard. The wounds sustained during his cabin assault had not fully healed. Perhaps they never would. But Luke was determined not to accept any limitations. He insisted on matching his previous routine, and that meant three hundred standard push-ups, then one hundred fifty on his knuckles.
Pain spread like fire through his shoulders and arms. Memories of an angry drill sergeant pressing a boot between his shoulder blades sprang to mind. Getting through to the end of his reps was pure torture, but Luke finished the set.
Despite his willpower, he gasped for air for a good three minutes while lying on the floor. He was still on his back when his wife happened upon him. He saw her upside-down face when she bent over him,
“Are you dying?” she asked, a hint of amusement in her tone.
“No.” His voice came out rough, so he coughed. “No.”
“That’s good. Derek’s back.”
“He is?” Luke rolled up to his feet, his weariness forgotten. Ignoring his body’s protests, he shook out his limbs. He pulled on his shirt then cracked his neck.
“You’re going to get arthritis,” she grumbled.
“Old wives’ tale.” He grinned while she rolled her eyes. “Is he in the main room?”
“Yep.” She turned on her heel and headed back down the hall.
Luke found Derek sitting on a crate, snacking on an energy bar. Kyle was eagerly pressing him for details about his extended expedition.
“Did you kill anybody? Did you?” Kyle asked.
Luke’s mouth twitched into a glower. He stood behind his son and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Derek didn’t kill anyone. That would be a damn foolhardy thing to do, and Derek is no fool. Right?” Luke stared at Derek.
“No, I didn’t kill anyone. They never even saw me or knew I was there,” Derek said.
Luke put his hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Son, it may be necessary to kill at times to protect the people you care about, but it should never be the first course of action. When you end a man’s life, you take away his past, present, and future. You’d better be sure it’s necessary before you pull the trigger.”
“But what if someone’s a bad dude, Dad? Like the original cult leader?” Kyle’s voice held a note of challenge. “I mean, what if they deserve it?”
“Yeah. What if they deserve to die?” Derek raised a brow. A slight smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Luke turned Kyle around and knelt before him. “It’s not always easy to know when it’s time for someone to die. It’s not always clear. I’d love to tell you the world is black and white. I’d love to tell you it’s good guys and bad guys, but it’s not. It’s all shades of gray. To the cultists, we’re the bad guys. We might fight them. We might kill them. But we do it because it’s necessary. Do you understand? We don’t get to decide if they deserve to die. But we can defend ourselves.”
Kyle frowned, but he nodded. “I think I get it, Dad.”
“Why don’t you run along and find out if the Wrights need help with anything?”
“I want to hear what Derek has to report.”
“You will. But right now, I need your manpower where it benefits us most. Edwin and Sandy are going to help you put your unique skill set to work.”
“They’re just going to have me mop and dust.” Kyle rolled his eyes.
“Probably. Now scoot.”
Once the boy departed, Luke turned to Derek. He was abou
t to speak when Liz strolled in. She eyed Derek warily.
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“I’ve been watching these clowns. They’re the biggest bunch of rank amateur, weekend warrior, answer ads in the back of Soldier of Fortune magazine posers I’ve ever seen.”
“I take it you’re not impressed with their organizational skills?” Luke asked wryly.
“That’s putting it mildly.” Derek laughed. “They don’t set sentries. They don’t have fortifications other than one old limestone building. They clutter up the woods with their filth and trash. I could track them for days and they’d never see me. I could probably sneak right up and slit their throats.”
“What about armament? What kind of weapons are we dealing with?” Luke asked.
“That’s one area they do have covered pretty well. I saw M19s, semi-automatic pistols, both 9 and 10mm, some shottys, and at least two XM205s.”
“Oh, shit. Two XM205s? How the hell did they get those?” Luke asked.
“Beats me.” Derek shrugged. “Maybe they found some rich asshole’s arsenal.”
“Ah, gentlemen, would you please explain why a XM225—”
“XM205.”
“—whatever, would you explain why it’s significant?” Liz asked.
Luke started to speak, but Derek cut him off.
“It’s a tripod mount for a heavy machine gun, usually a belt-fed monster that one person could never hold and fire at the same time, despite what you’ve seen in the action movies.”
Liz’s eyes went wide. “That sounds bad.”
“It’s not that bad. They’re damn hard to fire accurately. It takes special training. And the way these bozos have been acting during my recon, they’re more likely to kill themselves than us with a heavy assault weapon,” Derek said.
“I think I need to go in for a closer look at their compound,” Luke said.
“Why?” Derek threw up his hands in exasperation. “Didn’t you hear me? They’re total amateurs. We could take them out without breaking a sweat.”
“No.” Luke shook his head. “We’re outnumbered and possibly outgunned. I can’t risk my family without better intel.”
“What more do you want? I told you what they have. Sure, it’s a lot of guns, but we’re smarter. We don’t need more firepower if we can just pick them off one by one. But I am worried about one thing. More people are showing up at their compound every day. We must take them out now before they gather reinforcements,” Derek said.
Luke looked at his wife. He wasn’t willing to risk losing her or Kyle. He wanted to see the COB’s operation himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Derek. He did. But the younger guy seemed gung-ho about taking out the enemy. It felt careless. And that kind of attitude got people killed.
“I just don’t know.” Luke covered his mouth with his hand as he pondered. “I just don’t know.”
“What? You don’t believe me? Un-fucking-believable.” Derek stormed off.
“He seems pissed,” Liz said with a smirk.
“I should go on recon and check things out. I wanted to go before, but you—”
“Go. Don’t let me stop you. I was just worried. But we need to be able to trust his information before we attack the cult.”
“Do you trust him?” Luke asked.
“Mostly, but how much can you trust someone you don’t really know?” She sighed. “I don’t think he’s going to be a problem for us. He could have easily killed us in our sleep already. But those big guns he talked about have me worried. What if they have a bunch of ex-military in their ranks?”
“That’s what I’m worried about. Until we get more info, we need to wait. Once I’m confident we know everything about the cult, we’ll make our move.”
“Thank you, honey.” Liz moved into his arms.
He held her close, pressing his lips against her hair. She meant everything to him. He’d sworn to protect her for the rest of her life. As much as he wanted to go running down the mountain to attack the COB, he knew better. His age and experience taught him never to underestimate the enemy. And he wasn’t about to start now.
Derek fumed as he stalked through the shelter toward the armory. So, the old man wanted to wait, did he? That was typical. There was a reason young men like Alexander the Great did magnificent things, while old men puttered into obscurity.
Sure, Luke had a family to protect. But why couldn’t he see that going after the Children of the Bomb now was the best way to protect them?
He yanked open the door to the armory and grabbed an AR-15. It was a little dirty, so he took out a long brush and began cleaning it.
As he bored out the barrel with the stiff wire brush, footsteps approached. Derek turned, expecting to see Luke, but it was Liz.
“Your husband is a very stubborn man.”
“Yes, he is.” Liz watched as he finished cleaning the barrel. He added a brace of automatic pistols and steel alloy survival trench knives to his growing requisition pile. “He’s also not wrong very often.”
Derek grunted as he dug through several cabinets. At last, he found what he’d been searching for: terrain maps of the area surrounding the bunker. Surely one of them detailed the site where the COB cult had set up shop.
“I’m not afraid to fight if we have to.” Something in her tone made Derek stop what he was doing and make eye contact. “I killed the cult leader the first time around, remember? But we need to do this Luke’s way.”
“No, we don’t.” Derek rifled through the maps, carefully scanning each for landmarks. “We can do this my way. Fast. I just want to get it over with. We have a ton of other things to consider. The COB is taking up too much of our mental space. If I have to go kill them all, I will.”
“By yourself?” She stood beside him, looking down at the maps. “You’re going to take on an army of cultists by yourself?”
“It’s not an army. But it will be.” Derek went back to his planning. “That is, if we wait around with our thumbs up our asses while your husband makes up his fucking mind.”
“Fine. Be an ass.” Liz stormed away.
Derek opened his mouth to apologize, but she was already gone.
Sighing, he returned to his task. He would have liked to bring Luke, and maybe even Liz, along on the assault. By himself, it would require a different, more finessed touch. He could manage it, but he’d also never turn down help.
With the terrain maps, Derek could easily find cover near the bunker. Preying on the cultists using guerrilla warfare tactics would be easy. As much as he hated to admit it, the Viet Cong sure as hell knew what they were doing. He was damn glad he’d been born late enough to avoid that conflict.
Of course, the more cultists he picked off, the more they would start hunting him. He’d have to be really careful. He had to strike fast and strike hard, but most of all, he had to strike soon. He couldn’t understand why Luke was hesitating. It wasn’t like him. But maybe the thought of losing another family member had turned him soft.
Derek shook his head before returning his attention to the map. He found the large lake and the former ranger station the COB had turned into their headquarters. He had to admit, the one thing the cult had gotten right was to plant their headquarters right next to a source of fresh water.
The large glade surrounding the cabin and lake also made for an inadvertently good defense. It would be hard to get close to the main compound without being seen, even at night. Even if these amateurs didn’t know how to rotate a sentry shift properly, he’d still be at risk if he left the forest’s protection and ventured into the open.
No matter what, the fight could get ugly. Despite his bravado, Derek had to admit that Luke wasn’t wrong about being outnumbered. Even an amateur who was panicking and shitting his pants could pick you off. They’d just have to spray and pray. If he took only one bullet through his thigh, he’d bleed out long before help could arrive.
The utter chaos of a battlefield didn’t make him nervous, but the lack
of any good approaches to the compound did. If he chose to assault the Children of the Bomb, it would take a combination of wit and stealth. The best bet would be to pick off a large number of them at once to help even up the odds.
They had grenades, but the radial yield on the Cold War-era relics wasn’t great. Twenty feet at best. Certainly not enough to take out dozens of cultists at once. Again, he thought of waging a guerilla war but decided against it because it would take too much time. Winter was coming. They didn’t have time to waste while picking people off. They could still forage and hunt whatever was left before the darkness truly set in.
Derek shuffled through the maps, searching for an alternative approach to the compound, but he didn’t find one. There was simply no way to go about it except to attack at night and hope to get as close as possible to the main structure without being seen.
If the Children of the Bomb were holed up in that thick, stone-walled building, then it would be even more defensible. Laying siege to it would require more manpower and resources than Derek and the others could lay their hands on.
But what if he could pick off their leader? If he could get inside the main building and take out the guy holding the whole thing together, then they’d have a chance of destroying the group for good. Sowing as much discord and confusion as possible would be key.
However, they couldn’t make the same mistake they’d made last time. Everyone had to die. He just had to think it through a bit more. Maybe Luke was right after all. Going in guns blazing would only get them killed. They needed a better plan.
He’d figure something out, even if he had to do it by himself.
23
Liz’s footsteps echoed off the concrete walls of the shelter as she searched for her husband. Luke wasn’t in his workout room or their quarters. She found him in one of the side rooms, sitting on a wooden crate, cleaning one of the pistols. She stepped into the room and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Hi, honey.” Luke started to go back to cleaning his weapons but paused to examine her more closely. “Is something wrong?”
