by Mack Norman
The man turned and saw them standing amidst the sea of people groveling on the floor and said, “What the fuck are you two doing among the people who slaughtered our outpost?”
Max walked up to the man, stuck a finger into his chest each time he spoke, and said, “Did you know they were torturing people? Did you know they were cutting people’s heads off? Did you know they cut an old lady’s head off because she hid her canned goods from the bastards?”
“No, of course not, Tony just told me this morning about this operation and the ones in Atlanta and New York. Are you certain that Tony’s men are the ones who did these horrible things?”
“Oscar, I have the man’s Sat phone in my room. If it connects with Tony, then the man works for Tony. Let’s go to my room. Please don’t shoot any of these people. Amy and I led the revolt against them and personally killed all of their leaders,” Max insisted.
Oscar replied, “Oh, shit. Tony won’t be happy. This can’t be Lorenzo’s phone.”
Amy said, “There is no way Tony knew what was happening here. He would never condone rape, murder, and slavery.”
Max grimaced as he replied, “We’ll see about that.”
They left the ballroom and headed up to Max and Amy’s room. Max found the Sat phone and held it in front of him. Oscar waved him off, pulled another phone out of his jacket, and dialed a number.
“Tony? Yes, this is Oscar. We are in Lawrenceburg. Yes, we have taken the city back from the rebels. We can’t find Lorenzo. Can you call him and ask him to meet us at the Sheriff’s office? Yes, the town is secure, and Lorenzo will be safe.”
A few seconds later, the phone rang. Max pushed the button, and they heard, “Lorenzo, this is Tony. Lorenzo. Lorenzo.”
Max turned the phone off, and Oscar stood in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that his boss and friend for over twenty years could tell men to do such horrible things. Max looked at the phone and asked, “How long have you had these phones that aren’t supposed to work after an EMP blast?”
Oscar thought for a minute and responded, “Oh, about two to three years. A man who ran a large defense contractor for the military ran up a huge gambling debt that he couldn’t pay. Tony took a bunch of electronics, weapons, and other equipment as a down payment. He also took ownership of 25 %of the company.”
Max asked, “Did Tony learn any military secrets from the man?”
“I don’t know about that, but after he met the man, Tony was obsessed with this prepping stuff and was always talking about being prepared for the end of the world. Wait a minute. This morning when I heard about the other operation, Tony told me that a military guy told him to be prepared for a surprise attack within the next year over a year ago.
We thought he was crazy, but he treated us very well, so we mostly ignored him. Hell, you should see his setup in upstate New York. He has a bunker prepared for everything that could possibly happen. It’s a shame the law had him down here when the shit hit the fan.”
“Well, Tony knew a lot more about the Apocalypse than I thought. He played me to help him build an empire. I guess that explains the phones and some oddities I’ve been wondering about, however, what explains the difference between the Tony in Gallatin and the Tony murdering people down here?” Max mused aloud.
Amy blurted out, “Hey, I don’t know if Tony is responsible for the murders here, but someone contacted him, or Oscar and the troops wouldn’t be here now.”
They moved back downstairs to the dining room where the people were being held. Max looked around the room and said, “Oscar frisk the people in this room, and I think we will have our rat.”
Oscar directed his men to search the people attending the dinner. They lined everyone up and examined them without finding anything. Then Amy saw something odd and pointed at one of the tables in the back. A woman was under the table trying to sneak out the back door.
Amy ran to the back of the room and caught the woman as she tried to make a call. Then she snatched the phone away and stuck it in her waistband. Amy took the woman into a separate meeting room and made her sit down. Oscar, his lieutenants, and Max caught up and entered the room.
Amy held her pistol pointed at the woman’s chest, placed a knife to the woman’s face, and said, “You know the drill. We can do this easy, or we can do this the hard way. This knife won’t hurt me, but you are going to be screaming for me to stop in a minute. Oh, I’m not going to cut your pretty face until later. I will start with small slices to your arms and legs. I’ll keep you from bleeding to death until you tell me. You decide what happens. Makes no difference to me.”
Max gulped and wondered how far this would go before the woman talked. The lady started crying for mercy as Amy made a small cut to her left arm. She screamed in pain before words flowed from her mouth.
“I’m Mr. Mong’s mole in the St. Louis operation. I was on the golf trip with Lorenzo when the attack occurred. Lorenzo thought that I was his girlfriend. I report to Mr. Mong only if I see the leaders of his group skimming off the take or cheating Mr. Mong in any way. Otherwise, I keep my mouth shut. Please let me go.”
Oscar took the woman by the wrist and said, “We will let you go. Max, call the Sheriff over here. This woman hasn’t told us everything. The townsfolk would love to have her after I tell them that she is responsible for the murders.”
“Wait, what do you want to know?”
“Did Mr. Mong know about the torture and murders?”
“Of course he did. No one does anything without his approval. He sits up in New York pretending like he’s a nice guy, but he has these operations around the country that sell drugs, runs sex trade operations around the world, and kills anyone in his way. He has several killers who do their dirty work, and then he discredits the dead by salting the news media with stories about them being pedophiles,” the woman announced.
Amy had tears flowing down her cheeks as the realization that the man she loved so much was a murderous monster and she had been used to do his bidding. The end of the world hadn’t changed anything it just made it easier for Tony to spread the cancer of his operation.
Oscar and his men were in deep thought about what they had done for this monster over the years. Oscar suddenly exclaimed, “Men, I have always preached that we should never kill innocent people and never steal from them either. The perverts, gamblers, and whoremongers that spend money on our businesses have a choice about where their money goes. We didn’t rob them. Now we hear that the boss also runs businesses that we didn’t know about before. He sells sex slaves, drugs, and murder for hire. Men, I am ashamed that we have been a part of this organization and wonder how many people we have killed thinking they were bad people when in fact we work for the bad people.”
The men were still in information overload but agreed with Oscar. Now the only question was what to do with the information. Oscar asked his top lieutenants to take a break until the morning to gather their thoughts before they regrouped.
Max caught Oscar off to the side and asked, “Oscar, don’t take this wrong but who is the mole on your team? Tony had a mole in each of his operations. Why should his large security organization be exempt from having the same?”
Oscar ran out of the room after saying, “Oh, shit. I gotta go.”
Twenty minutes later Max heard a gunshot from the other end of town as he and Amy prepared to lie down for the night.
“That was Oscar dealing with the mole,” Max said as Amy lay her head on his chest.
Max thought for a minute and said, “Amy, I’m here for you, and if and when you want to talk I’ll listen. Good night.”
“I know you will be there for me. Max, I should have treated you better. You told me the truth, and I didn’t want to hear it,” she said as she clung to Max. Then she acted as though she was asleep. Her mind went crazy thinking that she has been played since they were children while Tony whored around with other women.”
Max laid wide awake planning their next move and wondering what to do
to help this town and others around the country.
∞
Chapter ❹
Attacked
Max lay awake as he had all night with Amy in his arms and her head on his chest. He had to pee urgently and started to squirm a bit when Amy said, “Max go pee. You are jumping around like a Mexican jumping bean.”
Amy rolled off Max, and he went to the restroom. He relieved himself then looked in the mirror and saw a man with dark circles around his eyes and bags under them. The man in the mirror had numerous wounds and black and blue bruises. He went back to bed and lay there while Amy used the facilities. She came back naked and lay on top of Max as she had before. She didn’t try to seduce him or even talk with him. She just needed to be held and loved at this very confusing time in her life. She had only loved two men in her almost forty years. Now she had learned that the one she loved the most had never loved her and had been using her the whole time. She felt devastated, betrayed, and lost. Only the arms of the second man made her feel safe, or anything at all, for that matter.
They lay together for another hour until Amy’s stomach growled several times and Max laughed as he said, “You’re lying on my belly, so I can’t tell if that growling is your stomach or mine, but I am hungry. Let’s get dressed and go down for breakfast.”
“Not until you ravage my body and promise to never leave me. Max, I’d die if I ever lost you,” Amy said with a certainty in her voice.
Max didn’t have to be asked twice, and he was indeed up to the task. He tried not to feel used since he knew Amy was using sex to help her get over Tony’s betrayal. They didn’t make it down for breakfast until an hour later. Max now knew that he didn’t have a rival anymore. His concern had now shifted to how he could keep his woman from being killed when she went after Tony Mongolusio.
Oscar and his lieutenants were sitting at a table at the end of the cafeteria when Max and Amy joined them. They had already eaten a substantial breakfast provided by a thankful town.
Oscar stood up and gave Amy an awkward hug before she sat down. Amy responded with a big hug and a kiss on his cheek as she whispered in his ear, “Thanks.”
Amy looked around the table and asked, “Where is Karl?”
One of Oscar’s lieutenants replied, “He decided to abruptly resign last night when we caught him with a Sat phone trying to make a call. Now only our boss talks with the big boss.”
Max replied, “Oscar, we have to decide what to do next. Do you trust these men?”
Every one of the three turned to look at Oscar who quickly answered, “Yes, with my life. I have trusted them with my life several times during the last war in Saudia Arabia, and they have trusted me with theirs. These men served with me, and we have been together for 20 years. Karl joined us a few years back and was one of Tony’s men. I never thought I shouldn’t trust Tony. I know better now. We can talk openly with them.”
Max followed up, “How many men do you have here and how many of them can be trusted. How many back home can be trusted?”
“We have nineteen soldiers down here, and most are new, so we need to keep our plans close to the vest. The same for the men up in Gallatin,” Oscar conceded.
Amy proposed, “We have to make this coup appear to be the result of an outside threat. Tony dies during an attack, and our force saves the day. Tony gets a statue for the birds to shit on and we get rid of the monster.”
Max added, “Oscar you need to stall Tony so we can stay here and make plans. We also need to figure out how to convince the troops up there that what we tell them about Tony is genuine.”
“I took care of that already. I told him that we were mopping up the resistance and needed a couple of days. I also told him that I rescued you from a local gang. He would be suspicious if you just showed up without warning. I was shocked that he appeared to be annoyed that we found you.”
“Great,” Max said.
Oscar replied, “I need an hour to check on the troops and let’s meet here in an hour and a half.”
Oscar held Max back for a minute when they were done and asked, “How is Amy taking the betrayal?”
“She says she is over Tony and wants to skin him alive. I think we have to be careful that she doesn’t walk up and shoots him between the eyes when she sees him,” Max replied.
Oscar probed, “Point taken. How about you two? Are you a couple?”
“The jury is out on that. I think I’m her rebound guy right now but the sex is great so who am I to complain?” Max said.
“I know you love her. Everyone knows it. I know she cares for you, but I just don’t know what she’ll do once Tony is dead and she finally has to deal with her feelings. Amy has always been seen as very tough and never showed much personality or feelings. She has done a 180 since she met you. You have been a big positive influence on her. Hell, my guys don’t run and hide anymore when she shows up,” Oscar laughed.
Max joined Amy in their room and saw she was still dressed but laying on top of the covers with her head resting on her hands. Max lay down beside her, and she immediately crawled over to him and laid her head on his chest again.
“Max, do you love me?”
“Of course I do. I have since a few days after I met you. You would know it if you weren’t blinded by the feeling you have for Tony.”
“Max, I don’t mean do you love screwing me. Do you love me?
Max drew her head closer and kissed her long and hard before he said, “Both, I love you more than anything, and the great sex is a bonus my darling. I forced myself to move on when you told me we would never get together. I knew that I’d have to leave when we got back to Gallatin. I could never be around you every day and not be with you. I tried not to love you because of your profession. Now we both need those skills to help people.”
“Max, don’t give up on me over the next few weeks. I need time to sort this out. I do love you and now know what true love is. Oh, shit, we are late,” Amy said jumping off the bed and pulling Max with her.
One of Oscar’s lieutenants walked up as they exited the room.
“Oscar needs you two now. Things have changed.
With that ominous declaration in their heads, they followed the man to the meeting room, where a lively discussion was taking place. One man was demanding they leave immediately to head back to Gallatin while Oscar and the others were advising caution.
Max asked, “What happened? Why do we need to head home this minute?”
The vocal man interrupted Oscar and said, “The community is under attack by a gang out of Nashville that wants the drug warehouse and the rest of our supplies. We must leave now.”
Oscar spoke, “Tony called me a few minutes ago and ordered us to head home at full speed. A gang has attacked the neighborhood below the warehouse and is staged to attack as we speak. I urge caution because we need a plan and not go in with guns blazing only to get slaughtered.”
“Al, the vocal man, replied, “That’s easy to say because you don’t have loved ones there being attacked.”
They all looked at Al, and Amy asked, “Who did you fall in love with?”
“Paula, the young blonde who works in the clinic, is my girlfriend. She bandaged my arm a few days back, and we have seen each other ever since.”
Oscar hit the table with his fist and said, “We need a plan in the next half hour. Al, have everyone start packing to leave in an hour.”
Al ran from the room and was barely out the door when Max said, “This could be a trap because we missed a spy down here and Tony knows we aren’t as loyal as he hopes.”
“I agree, so let’s head there at full speed and stop short of the community and feel out the people in the neighborhood below. The gang should be there, and if Tony was telling the truth, we would execute our original plan to eliminate Tony as we kill off the gang members.”
They all agreed, and Max and Amy went to their friends in the town and said their goodbyes. They loaded into the trucks and made a beeline toward Gallatin. Th
e trucks sped out of town, taking the most direct route back to the warehouses. They got up to 50 MPH on several occasions but only averaged a bit over 35 MPH due to the stalled cars, downed trees, and people trying to wave them down. They had six armed men in the bed of the front truck and six in the back truck, and all were vigilant. They didn’t take time to argue with the people on the side of the road, and most of them jumped out of the way. A couple of groups tried to block the convoy with their bodies, but several shots over their head convinced them to run.
Oscar’s team killed a stubborn bunch that blocked the intersection where the Saturn Parkway intersected Highway 6 at Springfield. They had 55-gallon drums stretched across Saturn Parkway and were demanding one of the trucks and half of Oscar’s team’s weapons. Oscar told the team to put the pedal to the metal. His men strafed the people manning the roadblock and broke through the barrels.
Tony called them several times and asked for an update on their progress. Oscar convinced him that his men should attack the gang from behind and catch the gang between their two forces. Tony agreed.The attack was to commence before dawn the next morning.
It only took them seven hours to arrive at the bridge below Gallatin and send scouts out to determine what was happening. They saw several large fires from the location of the warehouses, but Tony had told Oscar the fires were houses close to the community. Oscar’s men quickly found the gang’s staging place while Max and Amy sought out locals to get the story from their viewpoint.
Max and Amy traveled around the warehouses to the friendly neighborhood northwest of the warehouses. They were greeted by several people they had met before and what they heard was troublesome, to say the least. Several told them that they had been roughed up by the community’s security force when they refused to give up their guns. Others said they were now being forced to construct a wall.
