Living for War: The Collin War Chronicles

by W. C. Hoffman

  Collin nodded, but didn’t say a word as Jeb continued. “Then, we send strike teams out on horseback. I’d say ten people at most, but honestly two would do. They’ll be able to move fast and quick, to bring back people and supplies from Echo and Delta to form an army of ass-kickin’ survivors.” Jeb turned his attention to Julie. “By the time they return I reckon you should have the cure ready?”

  She nodded.

  “We cure the masses, build an army and then ... then we march on HAGS.”

  Collin liked the idea. It meant they would be spread out; however, staying dispersed ensured the survival of the resistance.

  After a few long moments of thought, he looked around the room. “Any volunteers?”

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Standing on the ridgetop on the outskirts of town, Collin, Brady, Jeb, and Hunter waited for the rest of the caravan to make their way up the road. Today they would send off the strike teams as they left on separate missions.

  After much deliberation, Brady and Tiny, along with two other Vipers, would head to Delta. Since it would lead them past their old home in the caves, a large portion of the route would be familiar to them and ease their journey. Hannah, Frank, and two Eagles would head to Echo. Jeb would stay back and serve as the new head of the Eagles, charged with security and defense of the town.

  They had planned to meet up around noon and judging by the mid-day sun, it was no surprise when Hunter pointed out the groups breaking the crest of the ridge.

  “Here they come!” Hunter shouted. “Can you lift me up?”

  Tiny nodded his head and grunted. Hunter jumped and sprinted over to him. Hunter’s best friend scooped him up, making the boy actually look puny as he rode atop the man’s shoulders.

  “Koby, are you going too?” Hunter asked innocently.

  Collin was surprised to see his buddy made the difficult trek up the hill on his newly crafted mechanical leg.

  “No way, Jose,” Koby replied. “I had to climb my robotic ass all the way up here to make sure your grandpa didn’t try something stupid and leave us.”

  Collin smiled at Koby, realizing his best friend knew him very well. It was killing Collin that he wouldn’t be heading out on a mission that could possibly save not only Goshen or America, but the entire world.

  Koby sat down on a large boulder, wincing.

  “You okay?” Julie asked him.

  “Yeah, but we need to work on this sleeve. It’s chafing pretty bad,” Koby explained.

  Julie bent down and examined the rubbed area of exposed skin. “You tore it up all right. It’s all red.”

  “That’s what she said.” Koby grinned, nearly falling over in giggles.

  Julie simply got up and walked away knowing she had walked right into that one. Collin even caught her cracking a smile.

  The small group then gathered around Collin. “My friends and fellow warriors, you know I am not one for speeches. However, I figured if one was to give their first, a moment like this stands as resolute as any.”

  Smiles appeared on every face around him.

  “If we desire the true freedom we deserve, then we must fight. There is no peace as long as HAGS exists. This war has begun,” Collin said. “We have all lost loved ones to the fever brought upon us by HAGS. If you struggle with the actions and hardships we will face, remember what has been sacrificed for each of us to have made it this far. I would echo the words that helped give rise to the American Revolution. Give me liberty or give me death!”

  As the roar of cheers died down, Collin raised his hand to speak again. He took a deep breath, but was interrupted by another round of cheers and applause that echoed down the valley.

  Then another rumble echoed throughout the valley, almost as if in response. It was unlike anything any of them had heard before. It growled through the ground, sending vibrations up their legs like an earthquake.

  The group atop the ridge fell silent. Collin and the others exchanged nervous glances. Again the ground pulsed beneath them. This time the booming thumps were followed by a flurry of panicked voices coming from Goshen. Even from that far away, Collin knew something was wrong. Something was happening down in the valley.

  Rushing over to the edge, they peered down at Goshen.

  “Grandpa look!” Hunter shouted, extending his finger and pointing just past the small town.

  “Oh my freaking God, no!” Koby yelled as he quickly began to hop back over to the rock where he’d set his mechanical leg to give his stump a breather. The group watched, but Koby didn’t need to. He could tell by the sound as another rumble reached them.

  Collin looked back in terror at Koby. “Water is shooting out from the side wall of the dam! What the hell?”

  “Earthquake?” Frank asked.

  Koby shook his head. “No, it couldn’t be. The dam was designed to withstand that. This is something else; it’s almost as if –” Koby was unable to finish his sentence as another rumble shook the valley.

  Cracks spread across the dam, dark and thick like a tarantula’s legs. Water began to spray from the fissures for just an instant. Then, a disturbing cracking sound reverberated off the mountains, similar to the sound of ice fracturing on a frozen pond. A massive geyser of water burst from the weakened concrete, tearing out a chunk of the dam’s wall.

  In the blink of an eye, it went from a chunk crumbling away to the entire dam bursting and giving way to a surge of bright blue lake water. Like a massive waterfall, the crash of liquid launched spray high into the air as the water level in the river rose and buckled the town’s bridge. Massive pieces of concrete tumbled downstream, forced along by the overwhelming power of Mother Nature being artificially held back for decades.

  As they watched in horror, everything they had worked for and so many of their friends and family were swept up by the deluge. Goshen’s most prominent centerpiece gave way. The tall bell tower of the church crashed into the pool below as the rest of the building imploded into itself. Within seconds, the skyline of Goshen had been forever changed. The entire field of crops and berms that had served as yesterday’s battlefield disappeared beneath the tsunami-like wave charging down the river that destroyed everything in its path. The blue lake water quickly turned into a swirl of brown death as it picked up dirt and sediment from the town and farmland.

  “Charges. Those bastards put charges in the dam,” Koby sputtered.

  “Who would want to blow the dam?” Tiny asked out loud, in too much shock to realize he knew the answer.

  “Oh my God! What do we do?” Hannah asked, her voice strained and panicked.

  Houses and store fronts were swept away, wiped off the earth below like chalk under an eraser. Collin watched as the water levels rose until hardly a piece of dry land could be found. One by one, survivors populated various building rooftops that remained after the initial surge. Some buildings gave way and became flotillas of deadly debris. They saw some people along the foot of the mountains scrambling for higher ground.

  “Let’s go!” Collin yelled as he began to head for a horse. Before he could mount up and head down into the valley to attempt to rescue people, Jeb grabbed him by the arm.

  “No, sir.”

  Collin glared at Jeb as the others watched for his response.

  “Excuse me?” Collin looked at Jeb. While a small voice told him Jeb was right, his entire being wanted to do something other than stand around like an idiot.

  Jeb held his position. “You are no good to anyone if you wind up dead.”

  “I will not sit here and watch my people die. A town can be replaced, their lives cannot,” Collin said.

  “Dad, he’s right,” Brady said cautiously.

  “Are you serious? You all want to sit here and watch this? Watch everything go to hell? Have the last sixteen years been so hard on you that now, now you have had enough? Now you are giving up? What to do expect me to do?”

  Jeb raised his voice. “Goddammit, Collin. That is exactly what we do! We stand here and wat
ch. And we never forget.”

  The pleas of both his friend and son were not enough to drive out the warrior spirit that sang in Collin’s blood.

  “Fuck that. I’m going down there.” Collin saddled up on his horse and nudged her in the direction of the road. He wasn’t going to be dissuaded.

  Knowing that short of holding him down there was no stopping Collin, the others who could join him did. Koby agreed to stay on the ridge with Hunter. Brady and Jeb both turned to Julie and asked her to stay as well, citing her research.

  “He-ya!” Collin yelled, spurring his horse down the slope toward the town.

  With his rescue crew behind him, they had to ride a few hundred yards down the road when their worst nightmares came into view.

  The last fragments of the gigantic beast they had relied on for years tumbled into the rapids below, losing the battle between gravity and pressure. The colossus of engineering that provided them both with a place to live and a source of electricity went through its death throws.

  Yanking back hard on the reins to stop his horse, the horror Collin had seen from above suddenly became real. Another wall of water rushed out of the space where the edges of the dam had stubbornly clung.

  It was too much. The sudden surge drowned out both the remaining residents screams as well as their lives. Within seconds not a single standing structure was visible.

  Goshen had been reduced to a brown mud lake full of debris and floating bodies.

  Brady pulled his horse up next to his father’s as they looked at the death and destruction sweeping past them mere yards away. The horses were unsettled and shuffled uneasily.

  Collin looked at his son with a red face as hate filled tears escaped his eyes. “They will pay.”

  The End

  THANK YOU

  Thank you for reading Living for War. Find out what happens next in Fighting for War, book three of The Collin War Chronicles, coming soon.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Tim Moon is a writer and avid hiker from Washington State. Tim was an editor for the Salmon Creek Journal at Washington State University, where he graduated with a BA degree in political science and a minor in psychology. Tim is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy and primarily writes in those genres. He loves to travel, go backpacking, play with his dog, and watch movies. After five years working airport security, Tim moved to South Korea to teach English and wrote Dead Apocalypse. Tim currently lives in China with his beautiful wife. For more information about Tim Moon and his books, visit his website http://www.timdmoon.com

  W.C. Hoffman is a lifelong resident of Michigan.

  If you took a guy who loves to hunt and fish and then made him a professional magician with a decade long career in law enforcement who also enjoys his work as an ordained wedding officiant you would have W.C. Hoffman. A loving husband and father of two, his writing utilizes the outdoors knowledge he has gained over the years he has spent chasing game in the wildest areas of North America. Hoffman's unique life skills are often evident in his novels. For more information about W.C. Hoffman and his books, visit his website http://www.wchoffman.com