Music City Macabre: The Low Lying Lands Saga: Vol. 1

by Bob Williams

  “More importantly, me and my merry band are looking for a fight. It’s been awhile since anyone brought the fight to...wait...that’s never happened. I own this territory. We took Nashville. All of it. The big bad wolf huffed and puffed and blew down that safe zone. So, what are you? Are you the bricks, or the sticks? I’m betting...the sticks. You know, it’s a fuckin Freak parade just thirty miles down the road. It’s high time you joined us.

  “It begs the question, how have you managed to hang on this long? I think I know. It’s the medical center you have there in your compound. I’ve had reliable intelligence from within your Safe Zone that says highly skilled medical personnel have flocked here since the Collapse, and that they not only have the medical equipment all fully operational, but you have these highly skilled medical and technical minds doing “good work” for the Regulars. Well that stops today. Starting in about, oh, five minutes me and my boys here intend to cripple this operation. No, scratch that, we are going to annihilate you. When we’re through today, Luke Skywalker would think he won the fuckin lottery when he found Aunt Beru’s smokin’ ass on the ground compared to you. You feel…”

  A shot cracked off from an indeterminate point, went through Kade’s hand, and blew the mic to bits. Pieces from the microphone tore through Kade’s hand and a small but damaging piece lodged in his forehead

  Everyone stood absolutely still for a brief moment. Kade was bent over, covering his face with his bloody hands. He stood up tall and pulled the piece of microphone from his forehead which caused a torrent of blood to flow from the gash.

  With a blood soaked face and through gritted teeth Kade said, “Kill them! Kill. Them. ALL!”

  THE BLACK HAND SERVES

  Lou Bixby had been the Chief of Communications for the Murfreesboro Safe Zone for exactly one year. He’d worked his way up through ranks after showing up injured and near death at the front door of the MSZ about a year and half ago. He was also a card carrying, and rather fiercely loyal member of The Black Hand. He was sent to the MSZ after he willingly took a bullet in the leg and a vicious beatdown from Ortiz. It had to be authentic or they never would’ve bought it.

  Before The Descent, Lou had been a Navy midshipman with a specialty in communications. There wasn’t anything that could put two people in contact that he couldn’t operate or construct. Case in point, Lou built from existing undamaged components a communications array, which he had to credit Middle Tennessee State University for having a top-notch communications department. He supposed when the shit hit the fan and the looting and destruction had happened, college campuses weren’t deemed the greatest targets.

  He had pitched a plan to The Three about leading a party over to the communications building and cherry picking enough equipment to build a competent way to talk to other safe zones. The irony was, a Black Hand agent helped create The Network. But that was his job. Kade specifically told him, “You do everything in your power help them. Get in deep, Lou. I want them to be green with rage when they come to find out that we tore them down from the inside. I want to see it in their eyes. All I want you to do is set up a way to talk to me one time so we’re good. Then wait for the signal.”

  So that’s what he did. On more than one occasion he very much wanted to ask Kade when they were coming because, well, he was really building them up quite nicely. The Health Services Building took up about half of the Recreation Center of the former MTSU. While Lou did drag his feet, he’d been an integral part of getting the Med Center back up and running. It was shocking really, how the world fell and Freaks didn’t trash the shit that mattered. OK, yeah they did, because there was no society anymore, but that’s partially because the society are now freaks. The shit that’s around is basically still good.

  Then, on an epically glorious day, Lou Bixby received the message he’d been waiting for. Kade told him in two days, at an exact time, he was to disable the communications array and kill the security feed. Lou was in the know about a scouting party that was in Nashville and felt it would add a nice touch to make them aware in real time, before he slipped out, that the base was under attack. That way they couldn’t possibly do anything about it, and would be crushed upon their return. Kade lauded his sickness and told him to proceed.

  On this day, Kade would not actually get a fight from the MSZ inhabitants. There just wasn’t enough time to enact even their most basic defense protocol. Lou Bixby had, in fact, disabled communications after sending the message to Shields, Cole, and Prescott. He didn’t know what was so important about this Prescott guy, but Shields had gone with Cole, and they had lucked into finding him. Who knew he’d have a CB radio? Didn’t matter. This place was Freak Food. Hasta la vista, baby!

  As he made his way down the hall, he thought he heard a gunshot. It was faint, but he was pretty sure of what he heard. That was unexpected. I better get the hell out of here. No sooner had he thought that, he heard what he could only assume a cattle stampede sounded like coming his direction. He turned around and started to run. Arrows from a compound bow entered center mass, at the back of his head, and a silver tipped arrow replaced his nose. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  MASSACRE AT THE MSZ

  Even though the main security feed had been disabled, the Security detail didn’t panic. They simply adopted an attitude similar to Davy Crockett at the Alamo. They were going to defend the MSZ until they couldn’t any longer. There was simply no opportunity to evacuate, and there wasn’t enough time to get set up. The longer Kade talked the longer they lived. He was right about that.

  Jim Hawkins was the commander of base security and he was scrambling. While he didn’t have the ability to send out a base wide security alert, it was too late for that anyway. His personnel wore walkie talkies at all times.

  He was able to bark several sets of order into the radio as he was running to his quarters to retrieve his sniper rifle.

  “We don’t have a lot of time here. Get one and two into the Pod. Quickly. That is first priority. Next, establish a wall, as many security and non-security bodies that you can find. Protect The Network. Finally, whoever else may be hearing this, YOU HAVE TO FIGHT! Whatever you have, whatever you can, you use. You must help us. Go to the front entrance and fight. I know what I’m asking you to do, believe me, I do. And I’ll be joining you later after we send a few Freaks back to Hell where they belong. FIGHT, PEOPLE!”

  Hawkins made his way to the roof as fast as he could. He was sure The Freaks had spotters looking at the roof, but he had to take a shot. He made his way down the roof and to the front corner. He had one shot. And he didn’t have a spotter. If he could take out Kade, they were still all going to die, but the next guys to come along hopefully would be able to take advantage of a wild bunch without a leader. He guessed. He had no idea.

  He sat in the corner with his back to the wall. He had the butt of his rifle flat on the roof and the barrel pointing skyward. He said a quick prayer that the deaths of his friends, his family, would be quick and painless. And that the MSZ would go down fighting and never surrender. He popped up, dropped the gun to the edge of the roof, sighted up, and fired. Kade moved and his shot only hit his hand and killed his mic. Damn. He’d missed. He ran back down to join the others as he heard the stampede of running, screaming and shooting within the walls of the MSZ.

  As the tidal wave of terror flooded in through the front entrance, it didn’t take long to destroy the front doors. A mass of bodies went left to the Rec Center side, and a mass of bodies went to the Health Center. What followed was what Kade often referred as the “Sound of Music.”

  A group of about twenty men and women armed with as much as they could carry set up in the old pool area. The pool had been drained and was used for training. Another group of fighters set up in the gym. The armory did their best to pass out as many weapons as they could before it started.

  A small group of people unable to fight was asked to escort the children to the very back and try to escape via the tennis courts.
It was an exercise in futility, as the entire building was surrounded.

  The bulk of the available fighters and official security personnel were sent to what the MSZ referred to as the Med Center. The hallway into the lobby was filled with security officers and residents who were there to take down as many Freaks as possible. The medical machinery within the walls was invaluable. MRI machines, X-Rays, labs, a mostly full pharmacy, and supplies. If all of this was lost it would set the Regular movement in the Southern region of the former United States of America back essentially to the stone age.

  Two hours later there was nothing left of the former Murfreesboro Safe Zone. Kade’s Freak forces had easily made it past the trained security in the Med Center and destroyed everything. The Rec Center side had fared the same. Ortiz had taken a number of the most horribly carved up, shot-up, and violated bodies and posed them inside the empty pool to spell out, “MAYBE NEXT TIME.” This had truly been a devastating attack perpetrated by Kade and his crew, but it wasn’t over yet. They had come to steal gas as well, and they weren’t leaving without it.

  The tanker was pulled around to the back of the building where the racquetball courts were located, and also where there was about five hundred gallons of gas stored in homemade, industrial size storage barrels. Kade was pissed there wasn’t more gas here than there was. It was going to be a bitch getting those barrels transferred to the tanker. He guessed they’d also syphon what they could from the vehicles the Regulars had here and head on back to Nashville.

  Kade felt they’d just about worn out their welcome and it was going to be time to go soon. He was pleased with his Freaks. They had done him proud. As Ortiz had said, Chaos would most assuredly be pleased. It was time for their reward.

  He was standing on the ledge of the roof of the Med Center and started to fire his pistol into the air. When the masses started to look his way he waved them in as close as they could get. He didn’t have a mic anymore, but his voice was very commanding.

  “Can you hear me in the back?”

  “YES, SIR!”

  “This is what happens to Regulars who think they can operate with impunity and with malicious intent towards US on OUR land! This land did not belong to them. Did it?”

  “NO!”

  “It belonged to us!”

  “YES!”

  “Why do Regulars continue to believe that they have a place in this world? Our World! Do they?”

  “NO!”

  “You’re damn right they don’t.” He turned and shouted to Ortiz, who had been behind him. “Bring him to me.” Sitting on the ground, bound and brutally beaten was Jim Hawkins. “Go load the precious cargo. We’ll be leaving here shortly.”

  Kade fired another several rounds into the air to make sure they were all paying very close attention to what was coming. He turned to Jim Hawkins and said, “Have you made your peace, Regular? I guarantee it’s only going to hurt for a little while longer.”

  “Do your worst, Kade. I know where I’m going. And when the times comes for you—and it will—I know exactly where you’re going.”

  “Don’t make me laugh, ha ha ha! When my time comes, I will ascend and sit at the right hand of the Lord and Master, Chaos, who has made all of this possible.”

  “Whatever, pal. When your ticket gets punched, you’re going straight to hell.”

  “Regardless, you won’t be here to see it.”

  He walked to the edge of the roof and started speaking again. “We are going to be leaving in just a few moments, but I wanted to teach you a little something first. It’s about how you make an exit. Whenever one of these rat cage, safe zones gets destroyed, the Regulars say, ‘it fell.’ Well we are going to leave a little message for the remaining two members of this outpost that are rushing back as we speak to discover what we’re leaving them.”

  “This is Jim Hawkins. This is the man who had the balls to take a shot at me to kick off our little soiree. I respect the hell outa you, Jim. And it’s because of that that I have chosen you to deliver this very special message.” Ortiz brought forward a very crude handmade sign that had rope knots tied through the top corners. He showed it to the crowd of frothy, broken Freaks down below who still hadn’t come down from the violence. They went nuts with ecstasy. Ortiz turned and showed the sign to Jim Hawkins. When Hawkins read what it said he spit in Ortiz’ face. Ortiz put the sign around Hawkins’ neck and gave him a shot across the cheek for good measure. Kade resumed control and bellowed to his audience, “Gentlemen, start your engines.” He put a noose around Jim Hawkins’ neck, kissed him on the lips (because that’s what Al Pacino did in the Godfather Part 2) and shoved him off the roof.

  Kade always liked to be the last car to leave a conquest. He lit a cigar, puffed a big plume of smoke, and drove out away from his handiwork. He looked one last time in his rearview mirror and saw Jim Hawkins swaying gently from side to side. The sign around his neck clearly spelled out in blood: I FELL.

  NO MORE RUNNING

  We had come on to the old college campus via Middle Tennessee Boulevard and crept at a snail’s pace through the deserted campus in a tight bumper-to-bumper convoy. Lexi was on high alert and I felt pretty confident she would let me know if she saw something. I followed Cole and Shields up to the back of the Student Union. The place was massive. At least it was to me. There was so much glass. How had this place survived?

  Cole, who was an MSZ Security Officer, knew the immediate campus buildings in relation to the Rec/Health Services building, which housed the Murfreesboro Safe Zone. With weapons drawn and Lexi bringing up the rear, Cole directed us through the expansive hallway to the front of the building. Through the clear glass front double doors, we could see a killing ground strewn with bodies.There were three men standing on a lower piece of flat roof that covered the front of the MSZ. One was very much in charge. The other two were most likely a lieutenant, and either hostage or an example. It didn’t take us long to find out.

  I was looking at Kade for the first time. Although we were a good distance away, I couldn’t help but notice, and quickly acknowledge, the demonic force of nature that was Kade. He had to be about six foot five ,and weighed about two hundred and fifty pounds. He was big. He was also very loud, and extremely charismatic. I was almost mesmerized by his Jim Jones-like ability to get the Freaks to drink his Kool-Aid. If Lexi hadn’t bitten Cole’s pant leg, he would’ve stormed out the front door of the building and, well, we’d all be dead.

  Shields got in front of him. “Listen to me Cole.” She forcefully put her hands to either side of his head and said, “Listen. To. Me. I can’t begin to tell you what to feel right now, but it is my job to tell you to stand down. You feel me, Sergeant? Stand. Down! You and I both know Jim’s going to die. There is nothing we can do to save him. We are three against three hundred! Or more! We have to let it happen Cole. We have to. I’m sorry. Goddamn it. I’m sorry, Jim.”

  I watched, along with Cole and Shields as Kade threw Jim Hawkins off the roof. I didn’t know the man, but I vowed, in that moment, I would avenge him along with the others. I clutched Cole in the tightest bear hug I can honestly ever recall and that still wasn’t enough. Shields tackled us both to the ground and stuffed a rag in his mouth. She punched him square in the face and whispered viciously, “Shut up, you dumb bastard! You’re going to get us killed before we even get our revenge. You didn’t listen to a damn thing I just said, did you? Jesus, you fuckin idiot.”

  “They’re gone. They’re all gone,” sobbed Cole. “He just, just...hung Jim as a fuck you to us! How did this happen? How were we not ready? They’re all dead.”

  “I don’t know, Cole. I’m completely at a loss for reasons. We had surveillance. We had communication. We had The Network.” Cole walked about ten feet away, put his back against the large glass wall, and slid down. He put his face in his hands and began to cry.

  I stepped in close to Shields and said, “You know what? I’ve just about enough of this cryptic network bullshit! When are you two
going to tell me what the hell The Network is?”

  “Cole doesn’t have access to The Network. Only The Three,” said Shields. “There is nothing more important than The Network. If The Network wasn’t protected, then all is truly lost. Jim was a good man. His number one job above all else was to protect The Network. We have to trust that he did. Prescott, if we determine The Network lives, then you will be told everything. Right now, shut up and let me think.”

  She wasn’t looking at me while she was talking. She was looking at Jim Hawkins and that fucking sign that hung from his neck. She was absorbing the devastation of losing over a hundred family members. I looked at her, and despite only knowing her for a few hours, I could tell she was no longer the same woman I’d recently met. The ideals and experiences that had shaped the person she was were sliding off her body like a snake shedding an old layer of skin. When she decided to turn and face me, to meet my eyes with hers, she would be a new woman. A woman who wasn’t going to run any longer.

  “We need to make a camp. Regardless of the fact that the MSZ still stands, it has fallen, and is no longer secure. We’ll need to find another building.” She still had her back to us. I saw her shoulders begin to slump and went to her. I put my hand on her shoulder and she spun on me and struck like a pissed off cobra.

  “Don’t touch me! You will not touch me ever again! If you somehow figure out a way in your selfish, half-cocked, brain to put your hands on me again I will kill you. Is that clear?” She had tears in her eyes and rage in her heart.

  “Understood. I was only trying to help.”