Trapped in the Ashes

by William W. Johnstone

  “I don’t think there’s two hundred creepies left in the city,” Ben told his commanders, from company level down to squad leaders. “So let’s knock it off. Tell your people to stand down and relax for twenty-four hours. We’ll shove off day after tomorrow.”

  Dan and West and Cecil stayed behind. “Gentlemen,” Ben looked at them.

  “What are you going to do with the kids, Ben?” Cecil asked.

  “They’ve already been flown back to base camp.”

  “You know what I mean, Ben.”

  “Nothing. I don’t plan on doing anything with them. I plan on leaving them right here when we leave.”

  West breathed a very audible sigh.

  “Something on your mind, Colonel?” Ben asked.

  “I must be getting old—turning into some sort of sentimental fool!”

  “And that means . . . ?”

  “Ben, some of those kids are just in their teens.”

  “I’m aware of that. Say what’s on your mind, West.”

  “Well, some of my men have agreed, if it’s all right with you, to take a few of the kids with us. We think we can shape them up.”

  “It’ll be your responsibility. Solely,” Ben cautioned him.

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “Fine with me. I just hope you don’t wake up some evening with one of them carving off part of your leg for a late-night snack.”

  The convoy pulled out of the Philadelphia area just as the weather was once more turning foul after days of pleasant weather. A cold, bone-chilling rain was falling as the Rebels pulled away from the still-smoking city, heading west.

  Ben had traveled the straight westerly route before, and wanted to see some new country this run, so he ordered the forward teams to plot them a southwesterly route. The city faded behind them. On the morning of the second day out, the recon teams reported smoke coming from chimneys; it looked like some sort of small community, set well back from the highway.

  Ben pulled the convoy over and told the recon teams, “Check it out. Carefully.” He sat in the Blazer and waited, the hard rain drumming on the roof.

  “They’re not friendly, Eagle,” the team leader’s voice came through the speaker. “They ordered us off the land.”

  “Did you tell them who we were, recon, and that we mean them no harm?”

  “Ten-four, Eagle. They said they didn’t like you and didn’t want to have anything to do with you.”

  “Whether they like me or not is their business,” Ben radioed. “Do they have children?”

  “Ten-four, Eagle. A whole bunch of kids all gathered around us.”

  “Ask one of the kids if they can read and write.”

  Ben waited for a few moments. Thermopolis walked up to the Blazer and Ben rolled down his window. Thermopolis had been listening to the exchange over a walkie-talkie.

  “And if the kids cannot read or write, Ben Raines?” he asked, rain lashing at his face.

  “We’ll take the kids with us.”

  “Just about the time I get where I like you, you pull something like this. Goddammit, Ben, what gives you the right to take someone’s kids from them?”

  “Thermopolis, we cannot have a nation of illiterates, not if this battered country is ever going to pull out of the ashes of war. Education is right up there with survival.”

  “They can’t read or write, Eagle,” the voice came out of the speaker.

  Ben lifted his mike. “How many people in the community?”

  “I’d say a hundred, tops.”

  “Stay put. Tanks, forward. Circle the community. West, your men in position behind the tanks.”

  Ben waited.

  “You’re really going to take the kids, aren’t you, Ben?” Thermopolis asked.

  “We’ve been doing it for years, Therm.”

  “In position, Eagle.”

  “Tell the leaders of that redneck community I want to talk to them—right now!” Ben got out of the Blazer and faced Thermopolis. “You want to come along?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  It was a miserable day all the way around, and Ben was in no mood for a lot of lip from near-cretins. He faced the group of men and came right to the point.

  “Why can’t your children read and write?”

  “’Tain’t none of your goddamn concern whether they can or cain’t, General.”

  Thermopolis then noticed that Ben Raines was awfully quick. The man with the smart—and now bloody— mouth also noticed it, from his position flat on his back in the muddy front yard.

  “Oh, but it is my concern,” Ben said. “It is the concern of every person in this shattered nation who possesses a forward-looking mentality. Now get your ass up off the ground and face me!”

  The man crawled to his hands and knees and stood up, with the help of a couple of his buddies.

  Ben said, “I will repeat the question again. And if you do not give me an answer that holds some degree of civility, I will take the butt of this M14 and knock your goddamn teeth down your throat. Why can’t your children read and write?”

  “Never seen no use for it, General.” The man wiped his bloody mouth with the back of his hand.

  Ben glanced at the ramshackle buildings of the community. In western vernacular it would have been called a rawhide outfit: not built to last for any length of time.

  “Can you read and write?” Ben asked.

  “Some. I never cared much for it. Readin’ makes my head hurt. I’d ruther watch the TV.”

  “What do you do now?”

  “Huh?”

  “There is no television, you idiot. What do you do now?”

  “Nothin’.”

  “How do you feed yourselves? Do you have gardens?”

  “Shore. The wimmin work ’em. The men does what men is ‘posed to do. Hunt and fish. Beat the wimmin ever’ now and then to keep ’em in line.”

  Several female Rebels stirred at that remark, and the man’s eyes flicked to them for a second. Somewhere amid the rot of his brain, he realized he had erred—badly.

  “Tina,” Ben called.

  “Here, Dad.”

  “Take a team and go house to house. Explain our philosophy to the women of this . . . community of ignorance. Ask them if they’d like to join us. And you might explain to them that we are taking the children.”

  The man did not stir at that.

  “That doesn’t bother you?” Ben asked.

  “Naw. Not really. Snot-noses is a bunch of bother anyways.”

  “Jesus Christ!” Thermopolis muttered.

  “But you ain’t takin’ Jenny,” the man stated flatly.

  “Who is Jenny?”

  “My oldest girl. She tends to my needs when the old woman don’t feel up to it.”

  The man looked to be about thirty-five . . . rotting teeth and all. So Ben figured the ‘old woman’ bit was nothing more than a colloquialism.

  And Ben did not have to be told what the man meant by Jenny “tending to his needs.”

  “How old is Jenny?”

  “Twelve, I reckon.”

  “And how long has she been tending to your needs?”

  “Three-four years.”

  “Having sex, you mean?”

  “She enjoys it. Says she don’t, but a man can tell. Wimmin was put here with a hole. Ain’t no point in lettin’ it go to waste.”

  Ben noticed that Rosebud had joined them, and mat the muzzle of her rifle was pointed a few inches below the man’s belt buckle. If she shot him there, he would not have to worry about anyone ever again tending to his needs.

  “Dan, find this Jenny. Take her to Chase and tell him what’s going on. We’ll wait for his report. It won’t take long. As a matter of fact, tell the medical team to inspect all the kids for signs of sexual abuse. Male and female. I think we’ve lifted the cover off of a snake pit here.”

  “I said you ain’t takin’ my Jenny,” the man spoke, his breath very foul.

  “We’re goin’
, Hoyt,” the voice came from Ben’s left. He cut his eyes.

  A very pretty woman, perhaps in her late twenties, stood with several children. One boy, two girls.

  “I’ll whip your ass, woman!” Hoyt warned.

  “No, you won’t,” Ben corrected. “Just stand still and shut that flapping mouth.” He looked at the woman. “Take your kids and go with this lady.” He nodded at Beth. “You don’t have to stay here against your will. Has this man, Hoyt, been having sexual relations with his daughter?”

  “Jenny. Yes. And he just started with Abby.” She placed a hand on the wet, uncovered head of a girl no more than seven or eight.

  “Beth, take them to the medical teams.”

  Hoyt stood and cussed Ben, his breath steamy in the cold rainy air.

  A dozen women and perhaps thirty or forty kids came trooping out of the shacks. Several of the women had black eyes and bruises on their faces. The kids looked malnourished and frightened.

  “This ain’t constitutional!” another man stuck his mouth into it.

  Ben laughed at him.

  Beth returned after only a few minutes and whispered in Ben’s ear. Ben nodded his understanding.

  Tina walked up. “That’s it, Dad. All the women and kids are out.”

  Beth whispered to Tina. Tina drew back, a grim look on her wet face. “All of them?”

  “Yes,” Hoyt and the other men heard Beth say. “And several of the boys have been sodomized.”

  “Colonel West, you and your men will stay here with me. The rest of you return to your units and prepare to pull out.”

  “Does that include me?” Thermopolis asked.

  “That depends entirely upon how strong your stomach is, Therm. And, of course, your interpretation of law and order.”

  Rosebud touched his arm. “Come on. Let’s get back to the van.”

  “Tanks out,” Ben told Chuck. Then conversation was impossible for a few moments, while the tanks roared and spun around in the earth, moving back to the road.

  “Chuck, you and Cooper return to the Blazer.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Beth, you and Jersey going to stay for this?”

  Their reply was to click their weapons off safety.

  Behind the wheel of his VW van, Thermopolis was not startled when the rattle of gunfire cut the cold wet air. He watched as Ben and West and the others walked slowly down the muddy hillside to their vehicles.

  “This has got to be the most barbaric time since man stuck his head out of the caves,” he said.

  Rosebud gave him a cold but not unloving look. “Either that, or justice was just served.”

  SEVENTEEN

  Ben ordered the convoy on a straight westerly route and instructed Dan’s Scouts to check out the York airport, but to stay out of the city itself until the main force had caught up with them.

  “That was a town of about forty-five thousand at one time. Big enough for a lot of night crawlers to hide in. If they’re in here, we clean them out. We’re going to be waiting a couple of days for the birds to come get these new people. There should be enough motels and private homes close by for us to use. Check them out.”

  And it was as Ben had suspected. The place contained the flesh-eaters.

  “How’s the airport look?”

  “It’s going to take some cleaning up, but it’s usable. Gong to take us a day or more to pick up all the litter and shove these old cars and trucks out of the way and patch some holes in a runway.”

  “Throw up a line of defense against possible attack from the creepies. They’re sure to know about what went down in Philadelphia. We’re about two hours behind you. Hold what you’ve got.”

  “No sweat, General.”

  Dan was standing outside Ben’s Blazer, wearing a poncho and hood against the still-falling rain. “No sweat?” he muttered. “I shall certainly give him a lesson in military courtesy. And promptly.”

  Ben smiled at the Englishman. But he did not interfere. Each commander ran his or her own unit, and Ben seldom interfered.

  Ben looked around. “Chuck isn’t back yet? Where’d he go?”

  “Back to see Doctor Chase,” Beth told him. “He was sweating and running a fever. I think he’s coming down with pneumonia. I’ve treated it before, General.”

  “I’ll take your word for it, Beth. You want some help with the radio?”

  “I asked for a replacement, sir.”

  “Good,” Ben said absently, his mind on other matters.

  “By your leave, sir,” Dan abruptly said, and went walking off, quick-stepping through the rain.

  “What was all that about?” Ben asked, not expecting a reply and receiving none. Had he turned around, he would have seen Beth and Jersey winking at each other.

  Cooper was looking in the rearview mirror. “Oh, shit,” he muttered.

  Ben cut his yes. “What’s that, Coop?”

  “Nothing, sir.”

  “Well, here I am,” the voice spoke through the open window, Ben’s side.

  Ben looked into very familiar blues. “I can see that. What are you doing here, Jerre?”

  “You sent for me!”

  “I didn’t send for you!”

  “Well, dammit, I was told you needed someone on the radio. I’m radio trained. By the way, Chuck will have to be flown back to Base Camp One. He has pneumonia.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Oh, hell, get in out of the rain.”

  With everybody settled, Ben said to Cooper, “Get this circus on the road, Coop. I swear to God, I sometimes think we ought to charge admission.”

  “Is something the matter, General?” Jerre asked very sweetly.

  Ben ground his teeth together and broke off an old filling.

  ***

  “Oww! Goddammit!” Ben roared.

  “General, I have to clean out the old cavity before I can fill it. It’ll only take a few more seconds.”

  “Hurry it up!”

  “Yes, sir.” The dentist did not like to work on the general. Made him nervous.

  What he didn’t know was that Ben had been scared to death of dentists all his life. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it. Not to a soul.

  After a few more minutes of trying not to hurt Ben— which he didn’t—the dentist stepped back. “There you are, General. Good as new.”

  “Thank you. Can I go?”

  “Oh, yes, sir.”

  “Thank you.” Ben got the hell out of the converted truck. Quickly. He never could stand the smell of dentists’ offices or hospitals.

  Tina caught up with him. “I’m so happy to see that you survived your terrible ordeal, Pops.”

  “Your concern is touching.”

  “Why are you talking funny?”

  “Because my damn mouth is numb!”

  “You’ll probably need an interpreter for a few hours. You want me to call Jerre?”

  Ben shook his head and had to smile. It was rough humor, no disrespect was meant by it, and he knew it. And Ben also knew that those involved really wanted him and Jerre to make up. This was their way of showing concern for the both of them.

  “Well, the damn rain has stopped,” Ben said, looking up at a few rays of sun trying to cut through the clouds. “Something good is coming out of this lash-up.”

  “You want me to reassign Jerre, Dad?”

  “No. In a few more weeks we’ll be out of each other’s hair for good.”

  “How do you know that’s what she wants, Dad? Has she told you so herself?”

  “It’s going to be totally volunteer, Tina,” Ben said, hedging her question. “And we’re going to be in the field for a long time. Maybe as long as a year before returning to base. Talk it over with Ham and the rest of your team, Okay?”

  “Okay, Pop. But you know that I’m going. So is Buddy. What are you going to do if Jerre volunteers?”

  “She won’t.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because you’re going to see to it, daught
er.”

  The Rebels began a house-to-house, building-to-building search of York, flushing out the creepies and destroying them.

  With the rain gone, the weather turned mild once more, and the Rebels shed their heavy winter gear. But all knew that the winter was far from over, and this warm weather might roll over onto a nasty side at any time.

  The birds flew in, picked up their passengers, and were gone, heading back south. They carried with them twelve wounded Rebels from the operations in Philly and York.

  Two dead were buried far from York, so they could not be dug up and eaten by the creeps.

  “Let’s wrap it up and get the hell gone from here,” Ben told his commanders. “Tina, you and your team cut us a path southwest. Wait a minute.” He looked at Jerre. “You want to go through Cumberland, Jerre?”

  “Why?”

  “Because it was your home, kid.”

  She was silent for a moment. Met Ben’s eyes. “Might as well, I guess.” As usual, keeping a tight lid on her true inner feelings.

  Ben nodded and turned to Tina. “We’ll cut south and pick up Interstate Seventy at Hagerstown, follow that all the way over to Cumberland.” He looked at the atlas’s index. “Hagerstown was about thirty-five thousand and Cumberland was about twenty-five thousand. Could be creepie-time again, people. So heads up.”

  The column rolled out at midday, meandering around on state and county roads, heading more west than south. They saw no signs of human life. Southeast of their position, and fading fast, lay the devastation that was once Baltimore and Washington.

  The weather was holding in the Rebels’ favor, with the skies blue and the temperature in the low fifties during the day, dropping down to near freezing at night.

  “Scout to Eagle,” Tina’s voice came through the speaker.

  “Go, Scout.”

  “We’ll hold here at Waynesboro, Eagle. Something you need to see.”

  “Ten-four, Scout. We’re about an hour behind you. We’ll approach on Sixteen.”

  As he approached the town, Ben began to suspect what Tina and her Scouts had found. It was very clear that a battle had recently taken place on both sides of the winding old country road.