by Deane, Cliff
Our force has grown to the point that we now have two troops, one of Mobile Infantry and one of Mounted Cavalry. The Mobile Infantry located here, and the Mounted Cavalry at what was once called the Lykes Brothers Ranch and is now renamed Fort Pickett in honor of its founder, Captain Leon Pickett.
The Defiance military must continue to grow and train hard to be prepared and able to fend off those criminal bands who want to destroy us and take what little we have.
We musy also realize that we cannot become a successful and prosperous nation with only a twenty-mile border. No, Defiance must expand her borders to bring law and order, but more importantly…peace for those living within our borders.
We shall not seek expansion through aggression or war. We intend to build a nation that others will seek out to join. Thank you.”
Levi then named those Troop A & B personnel being promoted and presented each of them with the insignia of his rank before saying, “And that my friends will take us to the fun time. Lunch will be served around 1300, but the booths will be open for your enjoyment immediately after I quit yappin’, thank you.”
***
Chapter 33
Levi Gets Restless
June 10th, 2300
Levi’s Quarters
Defiance
The weeks since Unity Day had passed with a disarming calm sameness that left Levi feeling antsy. His dreams were filled with visions of Sarah, but occasionally those dreams took a darker turn. He would often awaken with a start and in a cold sweat after reliving the trauma of discovering her lifeless body on the second-floor landing.
These dreams took on a more sinister tone as the suppressed rage rekindled like the stacked coals of a banked fire.
Levi began taking his jeep outside of the accepted borders of Defiance, America as the vote had overwhelmingly decided to name the new nation.
While on these excursions he carried an upgraded M-14 which had been scoped, carefully sighted in and silenced. Levi had become an expert with this weapon out to one thousand yards. He also carried his sidearm and an M-4A1 along with a double issue of fully loaded magazines. No one in Defiance knew that Levi often left America to prowl the roads leading to towns known to have been taken over by invading gangs.
A few days back, on 8 June, two miles from the little town of Miller’s Ford, Levi had parked and covered his jeep with a camo net. He took his M-14, sidearm, a basic load of ammo and slowly made his way to within five hundred yards of the village.
It soon became obvious that Miller’s Ford was now in the hands of a very bad bunch of red neck bullies. Finding the highest piece of ground allowing him an unrestricted view of the happenings around one of the local bars, Levi prepared a sniper’s nest and through his rifle’s scope, he waited until he saw one of the red necks strike a young girl. Apparently, he had ordered her to undress. Levi could see the fear in her eyes as she began unbuttoning her blue cotton dress.
Levi saw that there was no wind at the target site as the tree hanging over the rape that was about to occur had no movement whatsoever. He checked his range finder and made a minute adjustment to his sight.
The man held a Jack Daniel’s whiskey bottle in his right hand. After taking a pull on the whiskey he must have ordered the girl to her knees as he began to loosen his belt.
Levi’s rifle made a soft pop, and the bullet arrived just as the man’s pants hit the ground. The NATO round passed directly through the heart of the drunk and came out of his back leaving an exit hole the size of Levi’s fist.
The man was knocked back and off his feet, dead before his brain could even register that he had been shot.
The girl screamed once before jumping to her feet. She grabbed her dress and ran away.
No one had heard the shot that killed one of the brutal animals of this new world outside of Defiance.
Levi then took out a few pieces of jerky and lay there awaiting his next target. His wait was nearly ten minutes before two other men exited the bar dragging two young girls by the hair.
Levi stopped chewing, sighted in on the man in the rear, took a deep breath before releasing half, and with the pad of his index finger squeezed off a round that struck his target directly in his genital sack. The man screamed and grabbed his balls as he fell to the ground. The front man turned to see his friend was in terrible pain. He pushed the girl down and ran the four steps to his brother.
Again, the silencer made no noise whatsoever to a target five hundred yards away. Levi shot the third man two times, once in each leg. The two men screaming in pain finally drew the attention of those inside of the bar. The first three men who came through the door were dropped in rapid succession.
Those inside the bar stopped at the door as they saw their mates fall to the ground screaming in agony. Levi did not shoot these men to kill them immediately, but to cause serious wounds that would lead to a lingering death. His goal was to cause them to fear.
The screaming lasted for roughly twenty minutes until the last man bled out.
Levi picked up his brass and poncho, and then returned to his jeep and home.
Those inside the bar waited afraid to come out for three hours. When they did emerge from the bar, they saw the carnage as six of members of their tribe lay dead. No one had heard a shot. No one had any idea how this had happened.
By the time the drunks found the courage to exit the bar, Levi had been looking over the training schedule and was on the way to the range to observe sharpshooter training. While there he joined the men for some target practice before cleaning his weapon.
That night Sarah came to him and cautioned him to be very careful. She said, “Levi, I love you. Please be aware that I do not require you to go hunting evil men. Perhaps you should consider staying on in Defiance.” When he awoke, he knew that remaining in Defiance was not in the cards, at least for the foreseeable future.
Today, Levi was back in his sniper’s nest patiently waiting for another of these evil men to emerge from the bar. His wait wasn’t long as two men emerged from the bar and went to the side of the building to take a piss. Levi figured the smell in the bar toilet must be too foul for even these men.
As they were relieving themselves, Levi placed a round squarely into the back of the man on the left and squarely in the kidney of the other. The first round passed through the lungs and exited just to the right of the left breast.
The man shot in the kidney began to scream in pain. This time, however, no one deemed it a good idea to run out to help.
Levi packed up and went home.
Now, at 2300 Levi lay in his bed wondering how long it took the kidney shot to kill that man. He also wondered if he was becoming a monster just like those he killed. He quickly decided that he was not becoming a monster. He was becoming an avenging Vigilante…
***
Chapter 34
Katie Jarvis
July 3rd, 1230
Just outside of Miller’s Creek
Levi rode Scar to the outskirts of Miller’s Creek. He wanted to see how the tiny community was getting along. He tied Scar to a tree and put on a feedbag of oats, then took his baseball bat from its scabbard.
He made his way quietly around the extreme edge of the village when he came upon three laughing men who stood over a poor skinny young woman who did not look like she was happy with the attention being given her by the three drunks who hemmed her in against the outside wall of an old building.
Levi had no question about what these animals had planned for this wisp of a woman.
He heard one tell her how she was going to service each of them. He also heard her tell them all to eat shit and die. Spunky, thought Levi. This woman most definitely deserved to be saved.
Drawing his Beretta M-9A1 nine millimeter pistol he walked up behind the three men and said, “Howdy boys, havin’ a bit of fun are ya’?”
The three men spun around and started for their guns, until they saw they were looking down the barrel of Levi’s Beretta. This fact changed
their demeanor immediately as they moved their hands away from their weapons and smiled through rotting teeth.
Levi said, “Peace boys, I’m lookin’ for a meth dealer I heard had a lab around here. You got any idea where I might find The Chemist?”
The leader of this group said, “Oh hell yeah, you come to the right place. I’m The Chemist, and I make the best meth you ever smoked.”
“Well,” said a smiling Levi, “just as soon as you are finished with your little party let’s talk.”
All three men were smiling now as The Chemist said, “Good idea, why not join us, this li’l ole gal can handle us all, just look at those lips.”
Now, for the first time Levi could see that this was not just a skinny young woman, but a child no more than twelve or thirteen. He asked, “So you think she’s willin’?”
“Willin’, why iffun she wuz hit woodun be no fun now would it?”
“No, I suppose not, but on second thought I think we should do our business first. Young’un you might just want to stand up and come over here behind me. Do it! Now!”
The girl scrambled to safety behind Levi just as he shot the two outside morons in the chest. The Chemist looked on not believing what just happened.
“What fer you dun that? We ain’t dun nuthin’ to Y'all. We juss havin’ a li’l fun. Now, look at my brothers?
The man was high on Meth, and the realization of what had just happened was only slowly sinking in. “I guess you gonna’ rob me of my meth and that li’l gal I dun bought for three grams uh perfectly good product.”
Levi looked at the chemist and said, “Drop your pants.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Maybe, but if you don’t drop your drawers, you will be just as dead as your brothers here. Do it now.”
The chemist quickly unbuckled his pants and let them drop around his ankles.
“Your shorts, too,” and Levi fired a round into the ground just in front of him.”
As he was pulling down his shorts, he asked, “Why you doin’ this to me?”
“Oh that’s easy,” said Levi, “I hate drug dealers, and I really hate rapists,” and with that he shot the chemist in his genitals.”
The chemist fell to his knees holding the area that once held his genitalia, but was now just a bleeding hole. His manhood lay on the ground just in front of him. His screaming continued as he slowly began to bleed out.
Levi took the weapons and said, “Filthy, just like the animals who owned them.” He then turned to the girl who looked at him and said, “I guess now you figger on doin’ to me what they wanted to do, huh?”
He looked back at the building and said, “Nope. Do you know where his meth lab is?”
“Of course I do, come on, and I’ll show ya’.” Levi followed her into the building as she took him to the lab. He then poured kerosene on the floor from the chemist’s cooking fuel and lit it as they backed out of the room.
As they returned to the three men, Levi was somewhat surprised to find the chemist still alive, and without a thought shot him in the head as he walked by.
Levi then asked the girl where her parents were.
“Hell, I don’t know, dead I guess somewhere up in Delaware.”
“Delaware? How did you get clear down here? Or do I not want to know?”
“No, you don’t want to know, and I don’t want to say.”
“Okay, how about your name?”
“Katie Jarvis, what’s yours?”
“Levi Levins, and how old are you?”
“I’m 22, is that a good age?”
“Well, it would be if you were 22, now how old are you? The truth this time.”
“Oh, okay, I’m thirteen, that is if it’s past July 1st.”
“Well then you must be thirteen since it’s now July 3rd. Come on; my horse is just up ahead. You can ride behind me back to Defiance.”
“Whoa, mister, what makes you think I’m going anywhere with you…’cause I ain’t. I know what the hell you want to do as soon as you get me over in them trees. Well, you best understand, I’m done with that. I’ll fight ya’ till you have to kill me before I let you do what they was gonna do, and if that don’t work, I’ll bite it off.”
“Whoa is the right word, little miss. First of all, I am no rapist, and second of all, I’m not interested in forcing myself on anyone, especially children. Now come on. I’ll get you back to Defiance and get some food into you, and you can get a bath…don’t say it. There are lots of mothers in Defiance that will protect you from me,” smiled Levi.
“Okay, but you been warned. You gonna’ bury ‘em?”
“Nope, buzzards gotta’ eat same as the worms, besides what difference could three more bodies make to a world that is one big open graveyard?”
“Good, let’s go, but don’t you try nothin’. You really got a horse around here?”
Levi looked at her and said, “Okay, I’ll somehow manage to restrain myself, and yes his name is Scar.”
As they walked back to Scar Katie suddenly stopped, looked at Levi and asked, “Wait a minute, how did you know he ran a meth lab?”
He laughed and said, “Aw, that was easy, remember how they all had rotted teeth?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well, if just one had had bad teeth I wouldn’t have known for sure, but not all three, well, that’s a dead giveaway. Ya’ see, long time meth users usually develop rotting teeth, I don’t know why I just know that they do.”
“…and their breath, whew, nasty.”
*
July 3rd
Defiance
“As they rode into Defiance Katie looked around at all the clean, happy people and said, “Holy shit, just look at this place. I didn’t think there was anywhere that looked this nice anymore.”
Levi helped her down, and as he placed his hands on her shoulders, she suddenly shook them off and stepped back ready to fight.
“Easy girl, I just wanted to tell you that you will no longer be living with animals so I’d appreciate it if you’d watch your language and speak with a civil tongue in your head.”
Relaxing somewhat, but with her back still up she said, “Oh, so now I can’t say what I want, huh?”
Levi smiled and said, “Not if you want to stay in Defiance. Now come on, I want to introduce you to the Mayor of our little village.”
Trust came hard for Katie, but it was understandable since she had been treated so badly, sexually abused and traded among evil men, but she decided to give Levi a chance and said, “Well, okay, I’ll try.”
“Fair enough kiddo, now let’s go meet Ralph.”
Ralph had been told of Levi’s return and was on the way when they met on the Village Green.
“Levi, what have you got here, picking up strays now are you?”
“Ralph, I’d like you to meet Katie, Katie Jarvis. She’s had a rough time since the lights went out and it’s about time something good happened to her. Think we could get one of the ladies to get her cleaned up and something to eat?”
“Of course, come on Katie,” said Ralph as he took her hand.
She jerked away and took two running steps to Levi. She threw her arms around him and said, “No, please. Let me stay with you.”
Levi tried to pry her off him to no avail. He finally said, “It’s okay sweetie, Ralph is a good guy, I promise. Won’t you please go with him so he can find one of the ladies to get you a bath?”
“No, Levi, please come with us. Don’t leave me.” Tears began to run down her cheeks for the first time in, well, a long time.
“All right Katie, I’ll go along with you, but I can’t be with you while you are taking your bath. Tell ya’ what, as soon as you are all cleaned up we’ll have lunch together. Okay?”
Her tears slowed and she said, “Not really, but I guess it’ll have to be okay. You won’t be far though, right?”
“Katie, I promise I’ll be close enough that you can hear my voice.”
“Okay then, let’s go.
I ain’t had a bath in a long time.”
“Oh my, we’d better get to it then. Lead the way, Ralph.”
Ralph led them to the home of Mary Collins, the Supply Officer for Defiance. She was thrilled to help and took charge.
As Katie was getting her shower, Levi filled Ralph in on the day’s events. “…then we burned down the lab and since it was bring her back here or leave her out there alone…well, the only thing to do was bring her back with me.
You know, I’d planned to look over Miller’s Creek, but I didn’t get close enough to see anything but the meth lab.”
Katie shouted to Levi as she was drying off and putting on clean clothes, “Oh, there’s folks there all right, but they got a new Sheriff. They didn’t elect him, he just showed and took over. He ain’t nuthin’ but a big bully and everbody is just way too scared to try anything. The folks got it bad there.”
Levi asked, “Katie, how many deputies does he have?”
“Nine and they are some kinda’ mean bastar…oops sorry, I meant to say, mean men.”
Levi smiled and whispered to Ralph, “She’s tryin’ to clean up her language among civilized people.”
“Oh, I see,” smiled Ralph.
Katie said, “Hey, you two know I can hear you, right? I hear real good.”
Levi began to laugh and said, “I guess we’ll have to keep that in mind. How much longer are you gonna’ be, I’m hungry?”
Mary came out leading Katie and said, “Well boys, here she is. Isn’t she lovely?”
Katie wasn’t really what anyone would call a real beauty. She was about average height for her age, but downright scrawny. She had sort of mousy brown hair, but good features to her face, Levi thought she looked like what he would have liked if he’d had a daughter, like the girl next door…put a few pounds back on her and yeah, a real cutie.
Ralph and Levi both said, “My yes. Katie, you do look lovely.”
