In Pieces (A Finding Peace Novel)

by Christa Lynn

  The thunderstorm barrels in and heavy rains drench the area, the puddles becoming deeper and deeper. It takes me back to being a little boy and playing in the rain, jumping into the water and singing. “Those were the days,” I whisper to myself. Abe hears me and grunts, nodding like he’s with me in my daydream. “One day, our kids will play in the puddles, Abe.”

  Once the storm dies down, we gather our things and get ready to head toward Brampton. The army of men we have is large, several hundred and we have to stay low as we get closer to OKC. The Heretics rule the city and anyone we come across, will blow our cover and get us all killed before we even get there. “Kane, we’ve got a problem,” Dale says as he comes in the old building through the back door.

  “What’s that?” I ask.

  “Truck is finally out of gas, we’re all on foot now.”

  “Fuck, well, we knew that would happen eventually. I’m actually surprised it made it this far without gas.”

  “Yeah, it’s been running on fumes for the last couple of miles. Man, I miss the old days,” he says.

  “Me too, Abe and I were just talking about that. But, once we take down Brampton and get the innocent people out of there, we’ll blow it to smithereens and get onto the next one. It’ll take time, but we will take our country back, one way or the other. I just wish we had help from other countries. Hell, the good ole USA helped so many others over time and once we need it, they vanish. Left us here to fend for ourselves as if we never existed.”

  “I know, but we’ll prove to the world that we are still a super power and we’ll pick ourselves up and be better than we ever were before.”

  “You bet, let’s roll out. I want to be at Trosper before dark.”

  “We’ll get there, we aren’t far,” Dale says as he scans the room. “Where are the girls?”

  “Probably in one of the rooms, let’s find them and move out.”

  Jo

  “This damn floor is cold,” I groan as I stand, stretching my stiff body. “I imagine the guys are looking for us, the storm is over so we need to move out. Emma, are you ready for this?”

  “No, but I guess I don’t have a choice, huh?”

  “Look, if you’re not ready for this you can stay back. I’m ready to blow those fuckers to the sky, but my situation was different from yours. No one is going to think less of you if step back and let the others handle it. Look at those other women, and Lucy. Len saved them, but they’re not going to have any part of this battle, they’re not ready, either.”

  “I want to be the one that kills Vic, after what he did to me and my baby.”

  “Does it really matter who takes him out?” I ask and she glares at me.

  “Vic didn’t shove you into a wall and kill your unborn child. Vic didn’t kick you out into the war zone with no preparation, Jo. They trained you, they didn’t me. I was nothing but Vic’s puppet, and I wasn’t prepared for what I found out in the streets.”

  “You think I was prepared?” I ask.

  “You’ve already killed, Jo. So yeah, you were more prepared than I was. Though, I’m not sure anyone could be completely prepared for this Hell we live in,” she says, pulling her hair up in a ponytail.

  “I had no idea who I stabbed until Kane told me, Emma. I was in a ‘protect myself’ mode, and I could have just as easily killed Kane when he and the others found me. Hell, I tried to.”

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. You have something inside you that tells you what’s right and what’s wrong, who’s good and who’s bad. In my world, they’re all bad and I need to take Vic down to get past this.”

  “Well, then, let’s go wake the others and get moving. The storm is over, and I imagine Kane is ready to head out.”

  We wake the others and head out front where the men are. They’re gathered in a group and Kane is on a rock talking, his hands animated and his eyes full of anger. It’s a strategic planning meeting and once he’s done, everyone raises their guns and shouts ‘peace’.

  “Peace, will we ever see that again?” I quietly ask myself. I nod, because I know we will. Brampton is the first stop of many, and maybe once we’ve proven ourselves to the rest of the world, we can get assistance from other countries and finally end this war.

  “There you are; did you sleep well?” Kane asks as he comes up to me and kisses me on the head.

  “On a cold, concrete floor?” I laugh.

  “Soon, princess. It’s only a matter of time now before we can get on with our lives and help bring the US back.”

  “I hope so, either that or get the fuck out of this country.”

  “We could do that too, but if we give in to the Heretics, then everyone loses.”

  I nod as we follow him out to the truck. I drop my bag into the back and open the door, “Sorry, Jo, we’re on foot. Truck finally conked out on us, so we have to walk.”

  “Fuck, I was afraid that would happen,” I say as I reach in and pull my bag out, pulling my AK out and slinging it over my shoulder.

  “Good girl,” he says as he presses his lips on mine. “Whatever happens, remember how strong you are.”

  “The only thing that is going to happen is a fireball in the sky, Kane. And God willing, Vic will go with it.”

  “That’s the plan,” he says as Emma walks up. “You sure you’re up for this, Emma?”

  “Why does everyone keep asking me that?” she huffs.

  “Fine, let’s go then.”

  We walk for miles and miles with the horses up ahead and everyone on guard, just waiting for something to go wrong. I think to myself that this has been way too easy, almost like the Heretics are letting us do this. “Kane, hold up.” I stop, watching the crowd ahead keep moving.

  “What? We don’t have time to rest, Jo. Do you want to get on one of the horses?”

  “No, but something’s wrong.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This has been too easy,” I say, Kane staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. Our eyes connect, and it’s almost like he sees what I’m thinking, so he whistles and the army of men stop and look back.

  “You know, you’re right,” he says as he hastily looks around. “Stay here,” he says as he quickly runs to the front line, gathering Abe, Dale and Len. Abe pulls the old paper map out and spreads it on the ground, tracing his fingers over the worn document. The four men are animated, pointing in different directions and scanning the landscape. The four of them fist bump before Kane comes back.

  “We’re going to split off into four groups and each go in different directions. We all agreed that you’re probably right, the Heretics are crazy enough to let us get close, then they’ll move in and blow us all to smithereens. We will still meet up at Trosper, though, only because we have no way to let the other groups know.”

  “How many are supposed to be there?” I ask.

  “Not sure, Dale and Abe visited the ones they knew of and they were supposed to spread the word, but who knows who will actually show. I was actually surprised to see Len’s team the other night. I had a feeling we would be going at this alone.”

  I nod, unsure what that really means, but I go along with it. Even though we have a decent group here, I can’t imagine that it would be enough to take down Brampton, and I know we’re going to lose people. I just hope everyone knows what they’re getting themselves into. This is a primitive world, and we don’t have the arsenal that they have, so we are going to be at a disadvantage. And if the Heretics know we’re coming, it’s going to be a blood bath for sure.

  Hank and Emma hop up on Corndog and we head off in one direction while the others go in different directions. Walt and Joel go with Dale and Abe’s men drop in behind. In my mind, I sound like a badass, and I’m putting up a good front, but inside, I’m scared shitless. I hope I don’t let everyone down and chicken out at the last second and make a run for it. I know, though, if I do that I’m a dead woman. And that would be only after I’m tortured and beaten to within an inch of my life. The Hereti
cs are the type of men that will let anyone suffer at their hands, they don’t believe in a quick death. Pain and torture are their middle names.

  Kane passes around a bottle of rainwater, which tastes like shit, but we need to stay hydrated in this late summer heat. All we need is our fighters to collapse of heat exhaustion before they even get the chance to fight. The earlier storm cooled things off but only added humidity so we exchanged one threat for another.

  As we continue through the woods, suddenly we hear gunfire erupting off in the distance. “Fuck!” Kane screams as he grabs my hand and pulls me into the deeper woods. The other men follow and find hiding places behind tall trees. “Get down and stay here,” he yells as he stands up and looks in the direction from where the gunshots came from.

  “Oh, hell no, Kane.” I stand up and cock my gun. “What are we, cowards?” I ask the men that are now crouched behind whatever they could find. “We are not cowards, and we will not let our men and women go down without a fight,” I yell. “We’re Mercs and no one can stop us!” I yell at these men, who are now slowly standing up.

  “Look, we all knew what could happen once we started on this venture. We are going to lose men, and maybe women, but we cannot show fear. Do you think the Heretics are scared? Hell no, they’re laughing as they blow our heads off. Laughing! Well, once they’ve seen me they will not laugh, they’ll be crying as I slice their cocks off and feed it to them.”

  Kane is off to my side smirking, and the anger inside me is making me want to smack him. “Now, let’s keep moving! We will not hide, and we will not back down,” I say, looking at Kane who nods his approval. Emma is still behind a tree shaking, but she slowly regains her composure and stands up. Her face is full of fear and despair, but her body is standing tall. I give her a thumbs up, and she nods so we look to Kane for our next step. Hank nods at her and takes her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before whispering something in her ear. She blushes and smiles, then walks back toward us holding Hanks hand.

  “Let’s move!” he says as the gunfire off in the distance tapers off.

  I walk up alongside Kane. “Whose team do you think that was?”

  “Hard to tell, but knowing Dale and Abe, the Heretics are the worse off now because of it. But now we know they’re aware we’re on the move, so we have to be more diligent and not let them get the best of us.”

  I nod and we continue walking quietly for what seems like hours. Hell, it has been hours. It’s been quiet thus far, and I’m beginning to get tired, my legs slowing turning to mush. “How much further is it?” I sigh.

  “The tree line should be coming into view soon. Hank, why don’t you let Emma hop down and let Jo on so she can rest a bit?” he says as Emma dismantles the also tired horse. I climb on behind Hank.

  I wrap my arms around Hank’s waist and rest my head on his back while he follows Kane’s lead. I close my eyes and do my best to rest, though it’s not easy on the back of a horse. Kane stops and Corndog whinnies a little, which catches my attention. I look up and over Hank’s shoulder and my heart stops. It looks like there are now thousands of armed men all in firing mode, aimed right at us. Hank gets off the horse. “You take off on Corndog if this gets ugly. I don’t know if these are Heretics or Mercs, and until we know for sure, they’re Heretics. Got it?”

  I nod, though there’s no way I’m running from this. I’ve come too far to back down now. If I die fighting for what I believe in, then so be it. Being a stubborn woman, I climb down off of Corndog and secure him loosely to a small tree. He can pull loose if needed, but he’ll stay put unless he’s spooked. “Jo, what the fuck are you doing?” Kane whisper-yells at me.

  “I’m not backing down any more than you are, Kane, we’re in this together,” I say as Emma stands behind Hank, obviously back in her vulnerable mode. I just hope Emma gets it together and keeps it together, because if she loses it …

  Kane walks slowly toward the line of men that surround the edge of the tree line, some of them dismounting their horses and taking aim. Kane holds up two fingers in the sign of peace and displays those fingers like he’s at a car show. His other hand is free and held up in mock surrender. Suddenly, the men lower their weapons and Abe steps through between two men, smiling and we all let out a deep sigh of relief before moving our own caravan toward Trosper. The sun is starting to go down, and as we get to the front line, Dale and his group come from the other side, though he looks like he’s down a few men.

  “Was that you we heard shooting?” Kane asks as Dale walks up, a little worse for wear. He’s dirty and has blood dried on the corner of his mouth. “Damn, did they beat you up as well as shoot?” Kane asked him.

  “No, Lady took a few bullets, and I was on her when she fell,” he says, his eyes downcast to the ground. “She didn’t make it, we had to euthanize her so she wouldn’t suffer,” he says as a small tear crests his eye.

  “Damn it,” Kane curses, his eyes now searching the sky.

  “But we did manage to clean house, Kane. Joel and I took down half of them, the others ran off. But I imagine they aren’t far behind.”

  “How many did you lose?” I ask, stepping around Kane.

  “Four,” he cries. “Fuck, I couldn’t protect them.”

  “Dale, listen, as I’ve mentioned before, men are going to fall. It’s a part of war. Do I like it? Hell no, but it’s going to happen, and we can’t let it get to us. I know these men have been with you for a bit, but the Heretics are out for blood, and if we’re going to take them out, we’re going to lose some in the process. Take a few minutes to do what you need to do, then meet up inside the tree line,” he says as he pats Dale on the back.

  We make our way up the small incline and line up in front of the others, shaking hands and making introductions. I had no idea there were so many Mercs out there. It makes me wonder why it’s taken this long to stand up for ourselves.

  “I had no idea there were so many Mercs, Kane.”

  “Me either, but I’m glad. We’re going to need the fire power once we get to Brampton. That is where you’re going to need to be the strongest, as you’re our way inside.”

  “I know, though, I don’t have to like it,” I say.

  “You can back out at any time, Jo. Personally, I don’t like this any better than you do, but you and Emma and the other women are the only ones that know their way around. You can get in there and hopefully set the other women free, then once you’re out, we blow it. While you’re inside, the rest of us will be setting detonators at strategically-placed areas, areas that Hank will help us with. I just wish we had a way to communicate once you’re inside.”

  “Yeah, I guess the days of walkie-talkies are over, huh?”

  “Not necessarily,” a strange male voice comes from behind us. “Name’s Clark,” the older man says before shaking Kane’s hand.

  “Kane Hardison. And this is Jo Tucker and her brother Hank,” Kane introduces us.

  “Jo? You the one that took out Hughes?”

  I look at Kane with curiosity. “Hughes?”

  “Yeah, one of the Heretics higher ups was taken out at the old drug store in OKC, heard a woman took him out.”

  “Yeah, that was me.”

  “Good on ya, girl. But I imagine life hasn’t been too good for ya since, eh?”

  “It’s been better than it was inside Brampton,” I say.

  “You manage to escape?”

  “No, they set me free thinking I’d be a spy for them, to bring more women there. Only they had no idea I deceived them, I guess until I took out one of their men.”

  “Well, if I got anything to say, we’re gonna take them all out,” Clark says. “I’ve got a good group of men, a few sharpshooters, and three explosive experts.”

  “Awesome, let’s get them together with my guys and get our plan together,” Kane says, eyeing me. I can tell he’s not thrilled with this Clark guy knowing who I am, and I have to admit, I’m not, either.

  Kane

  I’m no
t sure I like this Clark guy; he’s got a devious look about him. The fact that he knows Jo took out Hughes means I know I need to watch him hard until he proves himself. He’s older and I’ve found over the years the older men are more set in their ways and more prone to take the other side. They figure they’ve lived out their lives, and they’ve got nothing else to lose.

  I find Jo and the other women in a quiet spot under a big tree and hand them a bottle of water and some homemade trail mix that Emma put together before we left the compound. It’ll give them some energy. I’ll need to meet with them all later to see who wants to go in and who wants to stay behind. We may be better off only letting Jo in at first; she may even be able to convince the leaders that she’s had a change of heart and wants back in. She’s a good actress, so it’s a thought. But, if they don’t believe her then she’s dead.

  “You mentioned something about a communication method?” I ask Clark.

  “Yeah,” he says and pulls out two old kids walkie-talkies. “They aren’t much, and don’t have much range, but they still work. One of my engineering guys was able to rig them to run without batteries. As long as the person on the outside is close, it should work.”

  “Great, Jo will go in and try and get the women out. While she’s inside, we’re going to plant explosives and blow the place to kingdom come as they exit. It’s going to be tense, but I think Jo can do it.”

  “Just don’t send her in unarmed,” he says. The more we talk, the more I think he may know what he’s talking about. “You ever been inside?”

  “No, but one of my men has. He got out by the skin of his teeth, and he’ll go with Jo.”

  “You think that’s a good idea?” Abe asks as he walks up.

  “They’re related, so yeah.”

  “But don’t you think that would be a reason to not send Hank with her? He could get overprotective and fuck things up trying to save his sister.”

  “Yeah, but he’s the only man that’s been inside. And I’m not sending Jo alone.”

  “Just make sure Hank stands back, use him as a shield if needed, but he needs to not get in her way. Once she’s gathered the women, they make their escape.”