Prepper's Betrayal: post-apocalyptic survival action and adventure thriller

by AJ Newman

  The man’s eyes opened wide. “You can shoot a drone down?”

  Tom released the talk button. “Jackie, lower your drone and be ready to shoot at a target.”

  Tom keyed the mic. “Point out a target at least as large as a dinner plate.”

  The leader told a man to go into the barn and find a target. The man quickly reappeared with a milk jug and placed it away from the barn and homes. The leader said, “Shoot the milk jug.”

  Jackie lowered her drone down to treetop level, aimed the shortened Ruger 10/22, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the jug and sent it careening across the corral.

  The vigilante leader exclaimed, “Well, ain’t that a whoopin’. We need that and the ability to drop bombs.”

  Tom said, “Let’s start slow and see how it goes.”

  *

  Chapter 7

  Southern Ashland, Oregon at the stranded train.

  Tom’s grain hauling team arrived at the train just before three in the morning. The drone team gave them the all clear signal, and they began loading their trucks. Just about five-forty-five am, Jackie reported activity at the gang’s headquarters, and several trucks pulled up. A dozen thugs loaded into the back of the trucks. Before the trucks could leave, the fireworks began over at the school. Kendra bombed the two buildings and demolished them. The buildings were engulfed in flames, and then secondary explosions rocked the area as the chemicals exploded. The gang’s trucks sped away, heading toward the school.

  At the same time, Tom sent Bill with an armed team to guide the vigilante trucks to the train. Bill and the six vigilante trucks arrived just in time to see the third of Tom’s trucks leave. Jerry took charge and directed the other group’s trucks. He had them back up to the railcar one at a time and let the auger do the work filling them.

  All of Tom’s trucks were gone within thirty minutes of the vigilante truck's arrival. Tom was pleased with the flawless operation. He moved his focus to the ongoing attack in Ashland. Tom had Jackie and Greta bomb the convoy of trucks before they arrived at the school, which allowed the vigilantes to kill all of the gang’s operations people in their barracks.

  Tom began to worry that this wasn’t a small diversionary attack as he’s hoped for when planning the operation. It appeared to be an all-out assault on the gang. It soon became clear that the vigilante leader had used them to expand his previously planned attack to become a final blow to Mendoza and the gang.

  Jackie talked to Tom through one of the drone monitors set up to have private discussions. Tom keyed the monitor’s talk button. “I’m here. What’s so urgent?”

  Jackie sounded pissed over the speaker. “Those vigilantes want me to bomb Mendoza’s headquarters.”

  Tom said, “Hell no. Tell them you accomplished your task and are leaving now.”

  Jackie stopped talking, radioed the gang leader, and told him the drones were finished for the day. The gang leader was enraged and threatened Jackie. She reported the threat to Tom, and he gave the signal to Bill to watch the vigilante’s grain hauling team. Bill had five heavily armed teammates ready to shoot.

  Bill walked over to the man in charge of the vigilante’s team. “Apparently, your boss wants to expand the attack on the gang. To make sure you and I don’t have a misunderstanding, I have half a dozen snipers zeroed in on your team. We never planned to try to kill Mendoza or take out the entire gang. Neither of our teams is strong enough to accomplish anything other than pissing Mendoza off and forcing him to start a blood feud against us. So, behave, finish loading your grain, and leave in peace.”

  The man’s head shook. “I tried to tell him not to stir that much shit up today, but he wouldn’t listen. We’re losing people because all he wants to do is to kill the gang members. We would probably have starved this winter without the grain. Thanks.”

  Bill shook the man’s hand and then said, “There’s a time to fight and a time to just survive. Are y’all going to plant any of this corn or try to grow any gardens?”

  The man said, “Yes, but it’s not high on our leader’s list.”

  Bill asked, “Was Sam actually your leader before this guy?”

  The man smiled. “Yes, and she knew that we had to plant gardens and grow our food. She brought a lot of good ideas from her stay with your group. She only wanted to slow down the drug trade until we grew stronger. She preached that we had to get our act together and join your group. That went down the shitter today.”

  Bill said, “Maybe we can still join up. Do you have a solid resistance group that can remove this maniac?”

  The man said, “We have plenty of followers but no leaders in the group.”

  Bill said, “I’ll talk with our leader. How can we get back together to work out a plan?”

  The man said, “Do you know where the old quarry is on Dead Indian Road?”

  “Yes.”

  The man replied, “Let’s meet there on Sunday morning at eight a.m. sharp. If we change plans, I’ll call you on the walkie-talkie that morning at five a.m. to change plans. I’ll use channel fourteen.”

  Bill said, “Hey, I don’t know your name. I’m Bill.”

  The man grinned, “I’m Cliff.”

  Tom climbed into his pickup and led the remaining grain trucks east on Green Springs Highway toward East Hyatt Lake Road. The trip to the cave was typical for Oregon. You had to drive twenty miles to go ten miles thanks to the hills and mountains. Tom didn’t like traveling in broad daylight, but the gang was busy up north, and he had two drones in the air watching out for any dangers. One was overhead manned by Kate, and the other was a mile ahead and manned by Jackie. The trip was uneventful until they were about a quarter-mile from Tyler Creek Road.

  Kate called Tom on the radio. “There is a vehicle with several men about a quarter-mile ahead of you. They are parked in the trees just before the turn on Tyler Creek Road. I think it’s an ambush.”

  Tom answered, “Your drones were rearmed with bombs, weren’t they?”

  “Of course.”

  Tom said, “I’m pulling off and driving the rest of the way under the powerlines on the left side of the road. We’ll stop short of their position and check them out. Keep a drone above us and one ready to bomb above them.”

  Kate replied, “Will do.”

  The three grain trucks followed Tom under the powerlines until he came back to Green Springs Highway. The grade was too steep to drive on, so Tom parked the truck. He motioned for the other drivers to join him. “Bill, take Jerry, and I’ll take Colt. You follow me across the road and then approach them from the other side. I don’t want anyone of us wounded or worse. We’ll ambush them if they’re the gang or mean us harm. You are free to shoot if we are threatened in any way.”

  Tom crossed the highway and climbed the hillside while keeping hidden from view in the trees. Bill split off and moved toward the target from across the street. Tom and Colt traveled several hundred yards and finally saw three vehicles hidden in the woods.

  Tom said, “Hold here and watch my back as I move in closer to check them out.”

  Tom crawled through the brush and trees until he was only twenty feet from the group. He watched for several minutes before crawling back to Colt.

  Tom shook his head as he walked toward his friends. “I’ve been to two county fairs and a goat roping and never seen anything like that cluster. I’m not shocked easily, but seeing men, women, and children in chains astounded me. This is a group of … well … I don’t know what to call them but slave traders.”

  Colt’s head shook. “I know the gang is abusing people and forcing them to work, but I never thought we’d have people in chains. What are we going to do?”

  Tom’s eyes opened wide. “We’re going to kill all of the bastards and free their slaves. Then we’re going to leave and mind our own business. Just because they’re slaves doesn’t mean they’re fit for our group.”

  Colt asked, “What’s the plan, boss?”

  Tom said, “I’m running a
cross the road to give Bill instructions, and then we’re going to shoot all five of the slavers before they know what’s happening.”

  Tom returned from passing his plan on to Bill and said, “use your crossbow to shoot the two furthest from the road. I’ll shoot the next one, and Bill and Jerry will shoot the others after they hear my shot.”

  Tom and Colt low crawled over to the slavers and stopped close enough that Colt had a clean shot at several men. Colt had a bolt loaded in his crossbow and had Tom’s loaded crossbow in front of him. Colt took aim, and the bolt flew to its target. The man fell with a bolt through his heart, but his reflexes squeezed the trigger on his AK 47. The other men jumped to attention to see what their comrade had shot when the second bolt and Tom’s shot dropped two more of the men. The last two began shooting wildly into the woods around them. Bullets whizzed over Tom and Colt’s heads, and all the slaves fell to the ground.

  Bill heard the gunfire, and he and Jerry shot the last of the two slavers. It was quiet for a few seconds, and then two men shoved the barrel of a machinegun out of the back of the largest truck and began strafing the woods. One of the men lobbed hand grenades toward Bill. The grenades fell far short, and the fragments peppered the vehicles. Tom rose enough to see one of the men pulling the pins on two grenades. The man looked Tom in the eyes just as Tom shot the man twice.

  Tom yelled, “Grenades! Duck!”

  The explosions rocked the area in front of them, and Colt’s butt was hit by a grenade fragment.

  Colt yelled, “I’m hit!”

  Tom yelled back at Colt. “Put pressure on the wound and stay plastered to the ground!”

  Silence filled the air for a minute, and then Tom could hear moans and groans coming from the direction of the trucks.

  Tom said, “Colt, stay put while I see if we killed them all.”

  Tom crawled forward and almost puked when he saw the mangled bodies beside the truck. Then he saw the body parts and distorted bodies of several women and kids. His stomach emptied, and tears came to his eyes. Tom heard a noise as he wiped his lips and saw Bill and Jerry advancing with rifles ready.

  Bill saw the carnage and began searching for survivors as Jerry tended to Colt’s wound. Tom shook off the shock and walked around the horrible scene to help with any wounded. Only two women were still alive, and they died a few minutes later. The slaver knew he was about to die and threw several grenades into the huddled people.

  Bill saw Tom was taking the disaster very hard. “Tom, we did everything right. No one could have known the SOB would have killed all of the people.”

  Tom looked up at Bill. “I should have left them alone and drove past them. At least they’d be alive.”

  Bill’s head shook. “No! This certainly brings new meaning to the word FUBAR. We did the right thing. It just didn’t go as planned. The next time and there will be a next time, we’ll have a better plan or wait until we have one. Stop second-guessing yourself. You have done a great job as our leader. Don’t let this shake your faith in yourself.”

  Tom looked up. “You’re right. Saving our people is our number one job. Keeping all of you safe during our missions is number two. Colt only got a nick in his ass, and we rid the world of a bunch of slavers.”

  Colt balked. “Nick! Nick! My ass is on fire and hurts like hell.”

  Tom spoke without much thought. “I’ll tell Greta to kiss your boo boo and make it better.”

  They all broke out in laughter, except Colt huffed. “You can kiss my butt and make it better.”

  ***

  Greta was surprised when they helped Colt down the steps to the bunker. “Colt, are you okay?”

  Tom spoke first. “Colt got a boo boo in the fight. He wants you to kiss it and make him feel better.”

  Greta saw Colt’s pants were torn, and there was a bandage on his butt. “Babe, did you forget to duck? Bill always told us to keep our butts down in a fire fight, or some joker might shoot us in the ass.”

  Colt said, “I’ll live. It’s only a small nick.”

  Greta took Colt to her room and made him comfortable. Granny B knocked on the door, and Greta opened it.

  Granny B said, “A respectable woman would keep the door open with a gentleman caller in her room.”

  Granny B turned around and walked away. Greta gave her the finger, and Granny B suddenly turned around. “Greta dear, you do remember that there are cameras in the hallway. I can’t wait to see if you stuck your tongue out or gave me the finger. If you close that door, I’ll bend you over my knee and spank you until the message travels from your butt to your brain. No unmarried fornicating under my roof! Marry the boy if you want to act like married people.”

  Greta looked past Granny B and saw Tom and Jackie laughing. “Yes, ma’am,” was all she said.

  *

  Chapter 8

  The Ranch

  Jackie had watched the massacre at the slaver camp in real-time on her drone monitor. She’d known her brother would take the deaths of the innocent captives to heart and would blame himself. She caught him off by himself as soon as he stowed his gear.

  Jackie said, “Brother, I know you, and you’re blaming yourself for those people’s deaths.”

  Tom made the timeout sign. “I was, but Bill talked with me and made me understand that I can’t save everyone and stuff happens to the best of plans. Yeah, seeing kids butchered by those grenades rocked me, but I got over it quickly. I don’t want to be a person that can smile and not think about a horrible thing like that.”

  Jackie said, “Great! I can save the pep talk for Colt. He’s acting all brave and stuff, but he’s in denial about what he saw. I saw it from five-hundred feet up, and I’ll have nightmares.”

  Tom said, “Changing subjects. I need you to drop a message to the vigilante leader from a high altitude to avoid any pot shots at the drone. The bastard tried to draw us into his private war with Mendoza. We aren’t ready for a fight with the gang, and neither is the vigilante group.”

  Jackie said, “What are you going to do?”

  Tom rubbed his jaw and then spoke. “I’m going to tell him we’re on the same side, but we need to hold off any major operation until the crops are in next spring. Bill told me that one of the other leaders of the vigilantes reached out to him. We think the current leader is on the way out. He also told Bill that the group still sees Sam as their leader.”

  Jackie cursed, “Crap,”

  Tom said, “Maybe not crap. I’m taking Sam to meet with the guy and see where this goes.”

  Jackie said, “There has to be more to Sam than I’ve seen.”

  ***

  The Cave

  Rick gave Tom a tour of the new addition behind the cabin at the cave. The room was forty feet wide by fifteen feet deep and sectioned off into four bedrooms and a shared dining and meeting room. A hidden door at the back of the dining room opened into the rest of the cave and had grain storage bins on both sides. The ones running down the hill were constructed of brick and mortar. The ones running uphill to the cave entrance were made from two-by-fours and plywood.

  Tom asked, “Rick, how much of the grain still has to be unloaded?”

  “None! Jerry made a gadget that blew the grain into the bins using a six-inch diameter PVC pipe. He added a couple of blowers along the pipe, and it worked better than we expected. We manned it around the clock and filled the bins as fast as we built them. We’re now building the extra bins to hold all of our future crops. I think we’ll be able to sell or trade grain and other produce once we get the farming under control,” Rick said.

  Tom smiled and thanked Rick for the significant progress. “Where did you hide the grain trucks?”

  Before Rick could answer, Tom heard a vehicle approaching from the direction of the cave’s opening. Lights danced along the wall of the cave, and then an ATV came barreling down toward them.

  Tom said, “So, you found some vehicles to use in the cave.”

  Rick answered. “Yes! The golf carts
and ATVs have made transferring supplies much easier. It’s also made it much faster to travel from one end to the other. I also have a team exploring the far end of the cave. We’ve traveled about a half-mile down the hillside toward Ashland, and the tunnel is still large enough to drive a golf cart and still turn it around and come back.”

  Tom scratched his neck. “I know there are other areas in Oregon that have massive caves running in all directions, but the caves around here tend to be small. You have figured out that the cave has to have another opening down there, somewhere.”

  Rick tilted his head and bit his lip. “I kind of hope it runs down toward Dead Indian Road so we can use it as an escape route. Maybe even stage some supplies and a vehicle or two just in case we have to bug out from here.”

  Tom replied, “Let’s get the cave construction finished, and I’ll start a major project to explore the cave. This could be our home one day if more shit hits the fan.”

  ***

  The Quarry

  Sunday morning at four o’clock, Tom’s team searched the area and found no one around. Twenty minutes later, the snipers were in place, and the location was secured for the meeting. Tom, Bill, and Sam were hidden in one of the quarry’s offices, waiting on their counterparts to arrive. A few minutes before six o’clock, several men and women tried to sneak into the area.

  Jackie saw them first and alerted the others. Tom checked the time. “My grandpa always said to make sure you were the first to arrive at a meeting and be prepared for a double-cross. These rascals learned the same trick but slept in this morning.”

  At eight a.m. sharp, Cliff and a woman walked into sight. Both were armed but had their long guns on their shoulders. Tom, Bill, and Sam left the office and walked toward them.

  Cliff smiled and said, “I think you found my guards.”