Vengeance: A Post-Apocalyptic, EMP-Survival Thriller (Seven Cows, Ugly and Gaunt Book 4)

by Mark Goodwin

  Danny looked past the sights of his AK but saw nothing. “Clear.”

  “I’ll check the sleeper.” Jack climbed into the cab and pulled back the privacy curtain with the barrel of his rifle. “All clear.”

  “Let’s clear the trailer so we can get out of here.” Chris led the way to the back. An unlocked padlock hung from the latch. Chris removed the lock and pulled the latch.

  Danny clicked on his flashlight as he looked into the trailer. “Something’s in here; on the floor.”

  Jack shined his light into the trailer as well. “Open the doors all the way. Let the sun in.”

  Danny saw movement behind a pallet of boxes. “Someone is in here. Come out with your hands up!”

  A young female voice called out. “We can’t. We’re chained up.”

  Danny’s stomach sank. His fear quickly turned to disgust. He gritted his teeth and looked at Chris. “We still have to clear the trailer like it has hostiles. For all we know, there’s a guy back there with a gun.”

  “Yep.” Chris nodded. “Jack, you come with us. Gwen, you and Antoine cover us. For all we know, another group could emerge from the woods.”

  Danny steeled himself as he stepped up into the back of the trailer. Sleeping bags, crates, and boxes were strewn about, all over the place. “Looks like this was being used as a mobile barracks.”

  “Please don’t hurt us!” Another girl called out.

  “We’re not here to hurt you. We just have to be sure no one else is in the truck who wants to do us harm.” Danny slowly looked around the side of the pallet. Horror struck his heart as he saw two scantily dressed girls with handcuffs chained to the side of the trailer. Danny quickly scanned the area to be sure no one else was around.

  The two girls turned their faces away from him in fear. Both were sobbing.

  Danny looked away. “I’m going to send Gwen in here. She’ll get those cuffs off you. Everything is going to be okay.”

  Chris’s face was filled with rage. He stormed out of the truck. Danny and Jack followed him.

  Danny turned to Antoine and Gwen. “Check the pockets of the corpses. One of them has a set of handcuff keys. When you find them, Gwen, you can go in and let the girls go.”

  Chris pulled his knife out, cut the zip ties off the feet of the hostile, and removed the duct tape off of his face. He began taking the man’s pants off.

  “Stop it! What are you doing?” the man screamed.

  “Shut up.” Chris bashed the butt of his rifle against the back of the man’s head, which silenced the hostile. Chris got the man’s pants off, then zipped tied his ankles back together. He cut the man’s hands loose and removed his shirt. He then restrained the man’s wrists once again.

  “I found the handcuff keys.” Antoine held up a key chain he’d retrieved from the pants pocket of the dead man lying at his feet.

  “Give them to Gwen. Jack, you go in with her,” Danny said.

  Chris tossed the shirt and pants to Gwen. “One of the girls can wear these. We’ll look around and find some other clothes that aren’t all bloody.”

  The detained hostile came to. He seemed to give a sigh of relief that nothing more serious had been done to him.

  “Don’t get too comfortable. I’m far from being done with you, buddy.” Chris kicked him in the teeth, sending blood flying across the pavement.

  Danny had no remorse for the man, but he knew that Chris was only fueling his hatred. Danny began examining each corpse looking for a clean pair of pants. All the dead men scattered around the semi-truck wore pants that were either blood stained or wet with urine. “Antoine, can you come with me to check the men on the other side of the bridge?”

  “These guys probably have clothes in the trailer.” Antoine pointed toward the semi-truck.

  Danny turned and nodded. “I actually saw clothes in the sleeper. Let’s check that out.”

  Danny and Antoine entered the cab. A shrill, ear-piercing scream came from the man outside.

  Antoine winced and looked at Danny. “Are you going to say something to Chris?”

  Danny wasn’t sure it was his place. On the farm, it was generally accepted that Danny was in charge for the time being. But, out here Chris had military training and a more adapted skill set. If he were to challenge Danny physically, Danny had no doubt that Chris would take him. Yet, Danny knew he had to try. He had to step up if he expected everyone else to look to him for leadership. “Yeah, I’ll say something.” Danny dug through the small built-in dresser and quickly removed the clothing inside.

  The two of them stepped out of the cab to see Chris standing over the man with his knife to the hostile’s face. The man was moaning.

  “Chris, cut it out. Put a bullet in his head or leave him alone!” Danny barked.

  Chris stood up erect and glared at Danny like a cobra ready to strike. “Why should I?”

  “Because it’s traumatizing the poor girls in the trailer even more than they already are.” Danny’s voice sounded direct.

  Chris's nostrils flared. He looked like an enraged bull, ready to charge. Danny locked eyes with him and didn’t flinch. Chris took his knife by the blade and lifted it over his head. Danny’s heartbeat quickened, but he didn’t turn away. Is he really going to throw a knife at me? Danny tensed up, ready to jump out of the way.

  Chris snapped his arm down and released the knife. The blade lodged in the detained man’s bare shin like a dart. The man yelped in pain. Chris spat on his face, shot Danny a defiant look filled with venom, and walked away.

  Danny and Antoine brought the clothes up to the trailer. Danny stood at the corner of the pallet and held the clothing around the side. “Gwen, here’s some more clothes.”

  “Thanks, Danny.” She took the clothing out of his hand.

  Jack stood on the other side of the pallet of boxes. “What was all that outside?”

  Danny pressed his lips together. “Your brother was having a little too much fun with the prisoner.”

  “So?”

  “So, it’s traumatizing to the girls to hear all that screaming. Besides, it’s not right.”

  Jack made a tisking sound. “I can’t believe you’re sticking up for that animal out there. You didn’t have any problem with it when my dad was cutting those guys up to get information about your wife. I guess right and wrong are subject to convenience for you.”

  Danny’s mouth hung open. “Jack! Are you serious? You can’t tell the difference between that and this?”

  “Enlighten me.” Jack smirked.

  “That had a purpose. JC was trying to save Alisa’s life! The only purpose in what your brother is doing is to throw gas on the fire of his own vindictive spirit.”

  “Whatever.” Jack rolled his eyes.

  Danny grunted. This was exactly what he’d been worried about. I should have known that the second I started something with Chris that Jack would side with him. Forget about a team. Now it’s them and us.

  Danny listened as Gwen helped the two girls get dressed.

  “What are your names?” Gwen asked.

  “I’m Taylor. This is my little sister, Willow.”

  “Where are you guys from?” Gwen inquired.

  “Winston-Salem, well, Muddy Creek actually. I was living on campus at Wake Forest when the lights went out. I hiked home on foot to our family’s farm. Willow still lived at home. She was going to Wake Forest next year. We were going to be roommates at college.” The girl’s voice was filled with pain and disappointment.

  Danny called out to the girls. “We’ll get you back home.”

  “They killed our parents. It’s just an empty farmhouse now. We don’t have a home.” Taylor’s voice came back.

  “You’re welcome to come live with us. We have a community. We can give you food, shelter, and most importantly, protection.” Danny felt no need to talk it over with the other group members. He knew it was the right thing to do.

  “It’s true,” Gwen said. “You’ll be safe with us. I promise.�
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  Gwen came out from behind the stack of boxes followed by the two frail blonde sisters. “This is Danny, this is Antoine, and that’s Jack.”

  The slightly taller girl, Taylor, most likely, glanced at Danny’s AK then at his load-carrying vest, which was stuffed with a pistol and multiple magazines. “Thank you.” She was trembling, but she managed to speak. “For saving me and my sister. And for not hurting us.”

  Danny swallowed the knot forming in his throat. What kind of world did he live in that not hurting someone should deserve an expression of gratitude. “Absolutely. You’re welcome. We’ll do whatever we can to help you.”

  The shorter girl stood close behind her sister, clutching her hand. She said nothing as her eyes darted back and forth from Danny to Antoine to Jack.

  Gwen looked them over with her hands on her hips. “Not bad for now. We’ve got plenty of clothes that will fit you girls back at the farm. You both look like you’d fit in my clothes. Plus, there’s Dana and Alisa. We’re all about the same size.”

  Danny forced a smile to try to put the girls at ease. “We need to be going.”

  “Sure.” Gwen led the way. She hopped out the back of the trailer and held the girls’ hands as they jumped down.

  Antoine pointed to the boxes on the pallet. “MREs. We could use those. Especially if we have a big fight coming up.”

  Danny nodded as he looked around the trailer. “That’s ammo over in the corner. We should probably round up all the weapons and ammo. Then, we’ll fill up the bed of the Ford with as many MREs as possible.”

  Jack, Danny, and Antoine exited the truck.

  “Oh, no.” Danny looked over to see Chris standing over the hostile with his pistol drawn.

  Chris held the pistol by the barrel and offered the handle to Taylor. “Would you like to do the honors?”

  Taylor looked at the pistol then down at her oppressor. She was still and silent like a statue for a moment. Finally, she shook her head and turned her back to the man. “I just want to get away from him.”

  Willow stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”

  “Be my guest.” Chris handed her the pistol. “Do you know how to use it?”

  Willow took the pistol. “Point and shoot, right?”

  “That’s a little more economical explanation than I’m used to, but in this scenario, I think it works just fine.” Chris stepped back.

  Willow took aim at the man’s head. Her hands shook.

  “No, please! I’m so sorry. I had to go along with the guys. They would have killed me. Please don’t.” The bleeding man pleaded with the teenage girl who now held his life in her hands.

  She tightened her jaw and took a deep breath. She lowered the pistol away from the man’s face and began sweeping the barrel lower and lower. She traced the front sight down his chest, across his stomach, and finally paused when the barrel lined up with the man’s underwear.

  “Oh, no, no, no. Please, no.” The man begged.

  Danny could see the hatred and anger boiling up inside the girl's eyes. Her hurt and pain were turning to vengeance, becoming a poison, which coursed through her veins like fire and ice. Danny quickly leveled the barrel of his AK-47 at the restrained man on the pavement. He fired at the man’s head. The gun barked, and the AK round pierced the man’s eye and popped a golf ball sized hole out of the other side. Blood and gray matter oozed out of the man’s skull. He fell still and silent. Danny had given him the most merciful death he could hope for.

  “What the heck did you do that for?” Chris raged.

  Danny lowered his rifle. “You don’t need any more disciples, Chris.” Danny began walking back to the F-150. “Jack, Chris, you two fill up the tank in the Humvee and get the diesel out of the semi. Gwen, help the girls to the Humvee. Get them some water and something to eat if they’re hungry. Antoine, let’s get the Ford and load up the supplies. We’ve got people waiting on us, and we’re going to be late enough as it is. We can’t waste another second. Let’s go!”

  As he walked across the bridge, Danny looked out of the corner of his eye to see if Chris would comply with his orders. Jack began following Danny across the bridge. Chris stood motionless for a moment, still fuming over the situation, but eventually started walking after his brother.

  Once they were out of earshot, Antoine glanced over at Danny. “You handled that well.”

  “Thanks.” Danny sighed. “I never asked for this position.”

  “No, but you fit right into the role. Maybe you don’t see it, but everybody else does. Including Chris. And just so you know, if it ever came down to it, I’ve got your back.”

  Danny smiled. “That means a lot to me.”

  Danny and Antoine collected the weapons of the dead men littering the west side of the bridge and placed the guns in the cab of the truck. They got in and drove to the east side of the bridge. First, they collected the weapons from the corpses, then began loading the MREs and ammo from the semi.

  “We should be able to move the semi-truck.” Antoine followed Danny with two cases of MREs.

  Danny placed the cases he’d been carrying into the bed of the Ford. He turned back to look at the tires and began counting. “Seven out of eighteen are flat.”

  “We only need to move it enough to get the F-150 and the Humvee across the bridge. It might warp the rims, but that’s not my problem.”

  “Do you know how to drive it?”

  “I’ve never been a trucker, but I’m confident in my ability to move it ten feet.”

  “Then, by all means, let’s move it.” Danny stepped up on the rail to look in the window of the cab. “No keys.”

  “That would have been too easy.” Antoine began inspecting the pockets of the dead man closest to him.

  Danny took the next corpse and started working his pockets. The two of them searched each man and found nothing. Danny looked at Antoine. “Gwen has them. I bet they’re on the same key chain as the handcuff keys. I’ll run and get them.”

  “I’ll come along.” Antoine grabbed a case of MREs from the bed of the truck. “And I’ll bring a snack in case those girls are hungry.”

  “Good call.” Danny led the way.

  When they arrived at the Humvee, Danny looked at the two pitiful creatures in the back. “Gwen, do you still have those keys? We think they might be the keys to the semi-truck.”

  “Sure.” She passed a second bottle of water to Willow and retrieved the keys from her pocket. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks.” Danny took the keys. “We brought food for the girls. Let them pick out whichever meal they want. And let them eat as much as they want.”

  Gwen took the case of MREs from Antoine. “I will.”

  “How is it going with the fuel?” Danny asked.

  Jack hoisted the last Jerry can into the rear of the Humvee. “We’re done with the diesel, but the gas is going to take a while. We have to drain it slowly into a small water bottle. That’s the only thing that will fit under the tanks.”

  “We’ll try to find a larger receptacle in the trailer. We’re finished, so Antoine and I can give you guys a hand.” Danny hoped that he could break the ice between Chris and himself by helping the brothers with the gas.

  Danny stood behind the semi while Antoine got in the cab and started the engine. Danny waved him back as far as he could go, pressing the back bumper into the guard rail. Then, Antoine pulled the tractor-trailer forward, creating a gap large enough for them to drive the vehicles through.

  Next, the two of them returned to the trailer and looked around for a larger container. Danny kicked through the trash, which was all over the floor. “These guys were disgusting. I can’t imagine what Taylor and Willow have been through.”

  “I know.”

  Danny paused. “To us, hitting this ambush was a major inconvenience. But, to those two girls, it was an answer to prayer.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Antoine looked at Danny.

  Danny tried to erase the horrid im
ages racing through his mind, visions of what their ordeal had been like. “Here’s an empty ice tea jug.”

  “That should fit under the van’s gas tank, but I’m not sure about the El Camino.”

  “Then we’ll cut it down.” Danny led the way out of the trailer. “Come on, let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”

  “I feel exactly the same way.” Antoine stayed close behind Danny as he exited the trailer.

  Danny brought the tea container to Chris. “This might help speed things up.”

  Chris made eye contact only for a moment then looked away as he took the jug. “Thanks. The El Camino only had about two gallons. We’ve already drained it. The van seems to have a little more.”

  “Whatever we can get will help, but it’s not a critical issue anymore. Antoine was able to move the semi enough for us to drive through.”

  Chris nodded. “That’s good. The further we have to go out of the way, the higher our odds are of another hostile encounter.”

  Danny felt relieved to have Chris engaging in conversation with him. He watched as Jack and Chris punched a hole under the van’s gas tank. They finished draining it in a matter of minutes using the larger container. Then, the group returned to their vehicles and pulled away.

  CHAPTER 5

  Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

  2 Chronicles 20:15

  “I’m glad we didn’t have to take a detour. I really want to get home tomorrow. I don’t want Alisa to stress out because we’re not back on time. Stress releases an excessive amount of cortisol into your system. It can suppress your immune system and raise your blood pressure. All that can’t be good for the baby.” Danny looked up and down the cross streets as they moved into a more suburban area.