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

by AJ Newman

  Gil and Krista stepped toward each other and kissed. Krista said, “I’m going to tell my friend to join us. Tom, come on over and meet my friends.”

  Tom held his rifle ready but pointed to the ground. “Hello, I’m Tom. I guess you know Krista.”

  Krista answered, “Tom, these are men I served with. We’re close friends. This is Gil, that’s Bo, and the big guy is the Hulk. He’s also known as Clarence.”

  Tom shook their hands. “Thanks for killing those asshats. We came back to do it, but you beat us to it.”

  Krista asked, “How did you get back here? I thought you were down in the San Francisco area.”

  Gil said, “We were down there. We decided a month ago to give up on sunny Californication and go north to Oregon to find you and the girls. We enjoyed our previous visit with you and figured we might as well join forces. We’ve been killing skinheads and Mexican cartel assholes ever since we crossed the Oregon border.”

  Krista looked at Tom and said, “Tom, what do you think?”

  Tom asked, “We have a couple of safe hideouts in the hills and plan to wipe both groups out and reclaim the area to make it a safe place to live. Would you like to join us?”

  Gil looked at the others, and they just shrugged. “Are the other Amazons with you?”

  Krista replied, “All but Susan. A group of slavers captured us, and she was sold off quickly before Tom rescued us.”

  The other two men became more enthused about joining Tom’s group when they heard the rest of their woman warrior friends were in the group.

  Tom asked, “Did all of you serve together?”

  Gil said, “Yes, we were all together at one time in Iran. We also served a few times with only a few of the group.”

  Tom asked, “What were your ranks?”

  Gil said, “I was a captain. Hulk was a lieutenant, and Bo was a staff sergeant. Krista was a lieutenant, and the other ladies were sergeants of various ranks.”

  Tom knew he had an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “I’m sure Krista will get you off to the side and tell you that while my group has been successful so far, our soldiers need better leadership and training. I need a field general and men and women with actual military experience.”

  Gil quickly replied. “I don’t ever want to be involved with group politics and day-to-day civilian crap, but I’ll be glad to serve the group as I’m called to do.”

  Tom shook his hand. “Well, general, we need to get our booty back to our camp and finish scavenging before we can take you to our base.”

  Gil said, “We need to fetch our gear and supplies. Our truck petered out yesterday. Do you have any vehicles?”

  Tom nodded. “Yes, several pickups and large farm trucks. Where are your supplies?"

  “South of Ashland down by Emigrant Lake,” Gil said.

  Tom said, “If it’s safe where it is, we can pick it up in a few days. I can have a drone watch over the area if needed.”

  Gil’s head snapped toward Tom. “You have drones?”

  Tom exclaimed. “There are two over us now watching for any dangers. That’s how I knew they were following us before Krista saw them. We use the large civilian models for surveillance, dropping small bombs, and shooting small caliber bullets at the bad guys.”

  Gil smiled. “I’m impressed and hope I can help. It sounds like you’re doing better than most people trying to survive these days.”

  Tom replied, “Thanks.”

  Gil said, “My supplies can wait. Let’s get more of these drones and train my team about their use. They are a game changer.”

  The following two days were spent scavenging for more large professional drones and other aircraft at companies all over the cities above Ashland. Tom kept two teams scavenging while Krista, Gil, and his team guarded their efforts along with the eyes in the sky.

  Colt saw several large airplanes at another hobby shop and showed one to Tom. “This plane should be able to carry about five to ten pounds of explosive. It would make a great bomber. We might even add cameras from the smaller drones and use if for surveillance or a cruise missile for a kamikaze attack.”

  Tom chuckled, “Bring a dozen. The more bombs, the better.”

  By the end of the trip, they’d added eight more large drones, four helicopters, and dozens of smaller drones and other assorted aircraft. They also had a vast inventory of every type of battery one could imagine. Thanks to the drone eye in the sky, they avoided any further contact with Mendoza’s gang.

  Several citizens inquired about joining Tom’s group, but he gently turned them down. Tom chatted with them and decided they would be a liability and drag on the group’s resources. He hated being the leader when making those decisions but knew he was doing the right thing.

  *

  Chapter 27

  The Ranch

  The next two weeks were spent between farming, ranching, and training for war. Rick led the farming effort to free up Jerry to work on building more bombs and new weapons. Colt led the men and women tending the cattle, and Tom turned the military training over to Gil and Krista.

  Granny B took charge of the ranch’s large garden, and Deidre’s grandmother took control of the two smaller gardens at the cave. Jerry suggested that once the danger of being discovered was over, they could build some terraces to grow gardens along the path up to the cave. Tom listened to Jerry tell him about the future gardens but thought that time might not come in their lifetime.

  The military training went much better than Tom had hoped. He was amazed at how little he knew about military tactics and leadership. He gladly turned control of their small force over to Gil and Krista. Tom secretly enjoyed having one last reason to give orders and think ahead about improving their band of misfit soldiers.

  All people above eleven were thoroughly trained on all weapons, hand-to-hand fighting, and guerilla fighting techniques. Tom enjoyed the training because he didn’t have to decide about his people’s life or death. Krista took charge of training snipers, and Jackie took charge of the drone air force training. Gil wanted to improve the accuracy of high altitude bombing and made all the drone pilots practice with dummy bombs. Jackie was up to the task and soon had bombs hitting targets as small as a pickup from a thousand feet.

  Bill and Alan began a small laboratory to manufacture explosives from recipes found in several of Granny B’s survival manuals. He made several large bombs from fertilizer and diesel fuel. Gil showed them how to make blasting caps from bullets and how to make better booby traps. Tom had each project supervisor give him a brief update every day in a brainstorming session.

  After a grueling session of hand-to-hand training, Jackie approached Tom and said, “We aren’t performing any bow and arrow or crossbow training.”

  Tom gave her a sweaty hug. “Darn, you’re good. Can you and Kate take that on for me? We never want to lose that skill and need everyone able to use a bow or crossbow. Train them and then start some kind of competition to bring out the expert level in as many as possible. One never knows when we will need to silently kill the enemy.”

  Jackie said, “Sometimes you are funny and other times you just make me laugh because you think you’re funny. Anyway, I’ll do the training if I can get Kate to volunteer.”

  Tom replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll get her to volunteer.”

  Kate had walked up behind her husband. “Volunteer me for what?”

  Tom turned and kissed her. “I know you want to help train folks on how to shoot bolts and arrows. Don’t you?”

  “You know I do. I was surprised Gil didn’t mention training everyone.”

  Tom laughed. “If the Army didn’t train him about something, he ain’t trained on that topic.”

  Kate grinned, “They don’t have how to sex training, and I’ll bet he found a way to train and practice.”

  Tom blushed. “Ya got me there. I’ll mention the silent killing training to Gil.”

  ***

  Tom took Gil, Rick, and Krista to the pond a
bove the bunker to get them off alone to discuss plans for defeating the Aryans and Mendoza. Tom had told everyone but Kate they were on a scouting mission for new recruits with military experience. He hated the subterfuge but needed the secrecy.

  They took Tom’s old truck and parked it in the woods about a hundred yards from the pond. The spring air was crisp and a bit cool for that late in the year. The leafless branches of winter had all fleshed out with new growth, and the air smelled of pine trees and a bit of smoke coming up the hills from Ashland.

  Tom found a suitable place where they could sit on some logs for his meeting. “I wanted to meet with you three to get your thoughts on dealing with the Aryans and the Cartel without being interrupted a dozen times. Feel free to speak. I have an open mind as long as the end result is that all of us are safe and thriving at the end of the plans.”

  Rick said, “The latest information from our drone surveillance has the gang attacking a small Aryan outpost below Ashland. The Aryans attacked a gang scout group that drove out Green Springs Highway. They should have launched major attacks by now.”

  Krista’s head moved side to side. “That’s Highway 66, isn’t it?”

  Tom said, “Yes, that’s what the locals call the road.”

  Krista said, “Both groups are too weak to mount a major attack on the other. We either need to find a way to wipe one out at a time or leave them alone to build up their strength to mount a real war on the other.”

  Gil said, “I agree with the first part, but if the winner comes out relatively strong, they’ll be able to gain more fighters as the living losers want to join the winning team. Remember, Mendoza has more white thugs than brown thugs. The whites could easily jump into the skinhead group.”

  Tom said, “Then we quickly build up our group’s fighting ability and weapons. Where can we get military weapons and more ex-military folks?”

  Gil and Krista’s heads snapped from looking at Tom to staring at each other, and then they broke out laughing. Krista snickered and said, “Eddy.”

  Gil nodded. “Eddy would know where the weapons and people are to be found.”

  Krista shook her head. “No! I mean, invite Eddy and his MAG to join us up here. There’s plenty of room in the cave and bunker until we defeat the bastards.”

  Gil’s eyes opened wide, and he turned toward Tom and Rick. “Sergeant Major Edward R. Ray left the Special Forces when he got to the ripe old age of fifty and began training Special Forces recruits. He’s one of those doomsday theory nuts. Sorry about that comment.”

  Tom laughed. “Considering doomsday happened last year, I don’t feel too nutty now.”

  Gil went on talking about Eddy. “He has contacts everywhere. He started a Mutual Assistance Group over ten years ago between Redding and Mount Shasta in Northern California. Eddy must be about sixty-three or so. I doubt if he’ll want to join us, but he’ll know where weapons and maybe some recruits to join us are to be found.”

  Rick asked, “Can you find Eddy?”

  Gil said, “Yes. We just have to drive down there and leave a note under a rock and wait for a reply.”

  Tom didn’t ask about the rock. “We need to give the trip down some thought and get the rest of my senior team involved. I can see some logistical issues with the drones. My team will handle that. Obviously, I want a plan from you two that includes routes to and from, what vehicles, personnel, and supplies are needed. I also want to keep the trip from becoming common knowledge.”

  ***

  Tom and Rick gathered the rest of the senior team in the library and locked the door. Tom looked around the room and welcomed Jerry and Sam to the group. “Let’s welcome Sam or Helen, oh whatever her name is, and Jerry to our team.”

  Sam said, “I’ll answer to Sam or Hellen. I’ve been Sam for several years.”

  Tom then started the meeting by telling the team that everything said in the meeting was top secret. He then told them about the plan to send a group down to the Redding area to find weapons and maybe some ex-military folks to join their group.

  Tom cleared his throat. “Gil and Krista will join us for the next meeting. They have responsibility for our security down and back from California. Jackie and Kate will provide drone coverage for the roughly one-hundred-fifty miles down and back. I guess we’ll need a large truck just for the drones and maintenance equipment. Put a plan together that yields twenty-four-hour eyes in the sky during the entire trip.”

  Jackie and Kate looked stunned. Kate spoke, “Holy crap! Twenty-four hours a day is a huge ask of our group. We’ll need to train more drone pilots, so we don’t leave the ranch and cave undefended.”

  Jackie quickly added, “This will play hell on battery life. We’ll need to scrounge for new batteries a month earlier than planned.”

  Sam interrupted the conversation. “I think I can have the batteries and maybe some other gear brought to us by my boss. I complained the other day that if he wants us to survive to restart civilization, he has to give us some help. Give me a wish list, and I’ll pass it on to him.”

  Before anyone else could speak, Jerry said, “We need some real bombs and blasting caps or at least some C4 or Semtex. I’ll even take dynamite as a last resort.”

  Sam said, “Put those on the list, with drone batteries, weapons, and ammunition.”

  Tom didn’t have much hope for Sam’s boss coming through. Still, he did remember that Krista had mentioned a guy up above Medford had some weapons and ammo that they might be able to get if it was still there.

  *

  Chapter 28

  The Ranch

  One of Krista’s ladies had previously mentioned she knew where a large cache of weapons and ammunition were located. A friend’s father had been an avid shooter and gun collector but had been killed in a plane crash on day one of the apocalypse. Her friend had grabbed all the guns and weapons in the living quarters but couldn’t break into his old man’s large weapons vaults.

  Tom called Rick, Jerry, Kate, Jackie, Krista, Gil, Sam, and Cliff to plan the operation. Tom told them about the cache of weapons and ammunition, and he wanted to break into the vault and bring it all home in one trip.

  Tom gave a high-level overview. “Kate and Jackie will supply drone surveillance. Krista and Gil will handle security. Jerry will get us into the safe, and Sam and Rick will provide manpower. Now we have to put a plan together to get to the hills east of White City and back home safely without being spotted by Mendoza or the Aryans.”

  Tom pointed to the map and said, “This is the location.”

  Rick said, “I’d go out Hyatt Prairie Lake Road on up to Dead Indian and then up to Highway 40, you know Falls Highway, and take it over to White City. We can avoid the gang and the Aryans.”

  Tom said, “It’ll be much longer but shouldn’t run into any of Mendoza’s people or the Aryans. We’ll need a large truck and two pickups with a heavily armed team.”

  Cliff said, “We still have some ammo for our machine guns. We could mount one on each pickup.”

  Gil agreed. “Tom, you said the Aryans have several planes. We’ll need the machine guns and any other anti-aircraft weapons we can field.”

  Jerry had an idea. “Cliff and Gil, could you get with me after the meeting to help me with an idea I have on how to take down a small plane.”

  Both men agreed to help Jerry with his brainstorm. Tom asked for input on how many people would be needed to perform the mission and protect it. They decided on fifteen, six in the front and rear pickups plus three in the farm truck. Gil’s three men, Krista’s four women, and one man plus Gil, Sam, and Tom’s team would provide the protection. Jerry and Alan would bring the knowhow and tools to break into the vault.

  Kate, Kendra, and Lucy would provide the drone eye in the sky to watch the small convoy and scout ahead and behind for danger. Jackie, Lou, Doris, Greta, and Carla would be ready to provide offensive capability with additional bombs and gunfire using the new drones in addition to the older ones.

 
Tom gave Jerry a couple of days to gather the equipment needed to break into the vault and make his top secret weapon. Gil also asked Jerry to help his men add some armor to the three vehicles. Tom loved the idea and gave them an extra day to accomplish all the work needed. They were ready by the night of the third day.

  Tom gathered the team.” I want all of you to rest all day tomorrow, and then we’ll leave tomorrow night. As usual, we’ll travel at night using the night vision scopes and Gil’s NVGs (Night Vision Goggles). Triple check your weapons and extra ammo. I want everyone to bring a spare sidearm. Now go get some sleep.”

  ***

  The next day dragged on for the crew. They were excited and wanted to leave ASAP. Tom scolded them and told them to get rested for the mission. He was just as eager to go but dreaded every time they had to leave the safety of their bunker and cave.

  Night finally came, and most of the group was sitting in their vehicles waiting on the safety of the dark of night. The moon was only a quarter full that night, and the sky was cloudy. They’d have to use their night vision equipment, but that also meant they’d be harder to see.

  Tom walked over to Kate and Jackie’s drone truck and kissed his wife. “I know y’all have to set up within ten miles of White City but don’t forget to move around and don’t communicate over the radio more than absolutely needed.”

  Kate said, “We know the plan and won’t allow a direction finder to lock on to us. You be careful also.”

  Tom whistled and said, “Start your engines, and let’s go.”

  Tom drove the lead pickup with Paul using the night vision scope to help find their way. Tom could see the road enough to drive at about twenty miles per hour, but the scope helped him go faster since Paul could warn him about any surprises.

  They left the ranch and took back roads and fire trails north to Hyatt Prairie Lake Road. They stayed on Hyatt Prairie Road for several miles until it ended at Dead Indian Road. Tom turned right and drove northeast on Dead Indian Road for twenty miles before turning left on Highway 140.