Dead America The Third Week (Book 9): Dead America, Carolina Front, Part 5

by Slaton, Derek

  His friend complied, and they both raised their hands for the surrender.

  “Is your man able to walk?” Coleman asked.

  Rob glanced down at his wounded buddy, who raised a shaky thumbs-up. “Yeah, he can move.”

  Coleman nodded, and waved them towards the busted door. “Let’s get a move on, then.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Mario twitched as he came to, head throbbing and vision blurred. He looked around, and then jerked, trying to move but unable to.

  “About time you came around,” Terrell said, standing over him. “Was looking around for some pliers to help motivate you to get up.”

  Mario tried to speak, but struggled to form words. He turned to the side and spit a glob of blood onto the floor, a tooth coming along for the ride.

  “I’m…” he gurgled, “gonna… kill-”

  Terrell kicked him in the side of the head. “You ain’t gonna do shit except lay there and take the punishment I’m about to deliver,” he snarled. He walked around him, staring down at his handiwork in securing the murderer's body with jumper cables.

  Mario looked up, focusing on the muscle car above him on the hydraulic lift. Terrell approached him with the controls for the lift, smirking down at his squirming body.

  “Normally in situations like this, I would take my sweet ass time with you,” he said. “Making sure you felt every ounce of pain I could possibly wring out of you. But as it so happens, I’m on a bit of a time table, so I’m going to have to speed things along.” He hit the button on the lift, causing it to lower a little.

  Mario whimpered, trying to squirm away but to no avail.

  Terrell growled and knelt beside him. “You cut that whimpering bullshit out right now.” He grabbed Mario’s face and forced it to the side, making him look at Walter’s corpse. “That boy over there had more balls than you could ever dream of. And your bitch ass crying just proves it. I want you to take a good look at him. See what you did to him. Think about what you did to him. For your sake, I hope it was worth it, but you’re about to pay the price for what you did.”

  Mario’s mouth opened, but nothing came out as Terrell punched him a few times in the side of the head. He jumped up, and paced back and forth in his rage before stooping to kneel again, getting right in his victim’s face.

  “Before you go, there is something you should know,” Terrell said in a low and menacing voice. “If you have a family, I’m going to end them. If you have friends, I’m going to need them. If your second grade teacher is still alive and kicking, then by motherfucking god I’m going to end them too. You did this, you brought this reckoning down on their heads. The only comfort I can give you is that you won’t have to live with that knowledge for long.”

  He hit the down button on the lift, and tossed the controls to the side.

  Mario squirmed and gargled a scream as the lift slowly descended towards him. Terrell grabbed his rifle and reloaded it violently, starting to walk away. Mario moaned and cried and then the press fell silent, as did Mario.

  Terrell glanced over his shoulder, watching the goo that had been his enemy sneak out from below the lift. He huffed, rage still boiling hot, and then grabbed a metal rolling cart with the supplies for the trucks, along with Walter’s cold body, and began to push it down the street.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Miles, Coleman, and their three prisoners sat out back of the Chamber building by a car. The wounded man stretched out on the hood, his two friends flanking him. The soldiers stood a few feet away, handguns at the ready.

  “So, what did you boys do before all this began?” Miles asked casually.

  Rob snorted. “Do you really care?” he asked.

  “Sure, I enjoy the occasional tale of a life now gone,” Miles replied with a smirk.

  Rob sighed and shrugged. “All right,” he said, “I used to be a fast food restaurant owner.”

  “Really?” the soldier asked, blinking at him. “How many you have?”

  “Had three pretty successful chicken joints,” Rob replied. “Was all set up to open up another one next month, but uh, pretty sure that deal fell through.”

  The group laughed a bit, breaking the tension between them.

  Miles glanced at the other uninjured gunman. “What about you?”

  “Package delivery driver,” he replied.

  The soldier groaned. “Damn, that had to suck,” he said. “Did you just mainline ibuprofen at the end of each backbreaking shift?”

  “Nah, I stuck to something a little more natural,” the gunman replied. “Copious amounts of whiskey.”

  Another chuckle rippled through them, and Miles shook his head with a heavy sigh.

  “What’s up?” Coleman asked him, furrowing his brow.

  “Just, these times, man,” he replied. “A month ago we could all be hanging out on a patio bar, putting down buckets of cheap beer and living it up. Now we’re out here shooting at each other.”

  “It’s the way things go, buddy,” Rob cut in. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in my way too many years on this planet, it’s that life is just one big fucked up mess. We just gotta learn to roll with whatever comes our way.”

  Coleman pointed at him. “Solid advice right there.”

  Rob looked past the two soldiers, and inclined his head. “That looks like your man, doesn’t it?”

  They turned and saw Terrell heading up with a stern look on his face, pushing a cart full of tires.

  “Yep, that would be him,” Coleman said.

  Miles nodded. “Looks like he came through with the tires, too.”

  As the Captain grew closer, the soldiers frowned.

  “Where’s…” Miles trailed off. “Where’s Walter?”

  Coleman spotted a limp hand hanging off of the car, and his breath caught in his throat. “No.. man…” he croaked. “Just… no.”

  Miles gasped at the sight, but before either could greet Terrell, he let go of the cart and drew his rifle, firing several rounds into the men at the car. The bullets pierced their chests, shattering the windshield behind them, sending blood everywhere. He screamed, and whipped around, facing his friends.

  Coleman and Miles put their hands up.

  “Easy Cap, easy,” Coleman said gently.

  Terrell’s heart raced and anger coursed through him still. He finally registered his soldiers, and he let out a deep breath, lowering his gun and heading over to the cart. Without saying a word, he began pushing it up the road towards the trucks.

  The soldiers glanced at each other, and then trotted to catch up.

  “Terrell,” Coleman broke the silence. “What happened?”

  The Captain shoved the cart and whirled around, eyes wild. “What the fuck do you think happened?” he snarled. “They murdered him like a fucking dog!” Chest heaving, he waited for them to say something, but they didn’t know what they could possibly say. “Come on,” Terrell said shortly, “we gotta get back to the trucks. We got people to protect.”

  He turned and grabbed the car again, moving at a brisk pace. Coleman and Miles glanced at each other, worried, but all they could do was follow.

  When they reached the trucks, Terrell readied his gun, and his soldiers followed suit, getting ready behind him. He crept around the first truck, and then his shoulders sagged. He waved for them to come over, and they did, mouths dry with anticipation.

  Terrell holstered his gun. There was nothing there. The ammonium nitrate was gone. He patted the side rail of the truck once, then twice. Then everything he’d had bottled up came out, and he punched the back window. The force was enough to send spiderwebs of cracks through it.

  “Cap?” Coleman asked gingerly, as Terrell stood there, hand bleeding, eyes closed, struggling to control his breathing.

  “Fix the tire,” he said simply, through his teeth.

  “We’ll take care of it, Cap,” Coleman said, motioning to Miles to get the supplies. “You… you just take a minute.”

  Terrell n
odded and turned, walking down the road a bit.

  Miles returned to his partner, face pale. “Is he all right?”

  “No, he’s not,” Coleman admitted. “Only seen him like this one other time.”

  Miles winced. “And how’d that go?”

  Coleman shook his head. “I share a lot of stories from my time overseas,” he said. “But that night… I would be a happy man if I could forget the carnage of that night.” He stared at his friend dead in the eyes. “I really hope you’re a hundred percent with us, Miles, because we’re about to go to war.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Xavier sat in the center of town as the afternoon turned into evening. He stared out, watching the hustle and bustle of his little community. His tranquility was broken when he heard the front gates opening up. He stood as Terrell and the guys rolled in, parking the truck on the edge of the green space in the center of town.

  He approached as they got out of the vehicle. “Gentlemen, how did it go?”

  Coleman gave him a quick look, and shook his head. Xavier watched them all get out, and his brow furrowed.

  “Where’s Walter?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry,” Coleman replied, clenching his jaw. “He-”

  “He was murdered,” Terrell cut in. He was noticeably calmer than he’d been before the ride, but still cold. “He was murdered in cold blood, and they took what we needed to keep this town safe.”

  “I…” Xavier stammered. “I don’t understand.”

  “Well join the club!” the Captain snarled. “I don’t understand how someone could take the life of that young boy. But I made damn sure that’s the last life they’ll ever take.”

  The old man shook his head. “So more violence…”

  “Oh, there’s a lot more violence where that came from,” Terrell declared. “We’re not playing defense any longer. From this moment forward, we’re on the offensive. We’re going to hunt them down, and we’re going to end them once and for all.”

  “Captain,” Xavier said, voice stern. “May I remind you that there are civilians in their group?”

  Terrell whirled on him and yelled, “And there are civilians here!” He waved a hand over his head. “Look around! Look at Ruth and June over there fixing dinner by the fire. Look at Hoyt and those kids patching up that barricade. Do you think they give a fuck about them? Because I know they don’t.” He pointed a finger in Xavier’s face. “You need to get on board with this and get on quick. We’re at war, so if you care about these people, you’re going to let us do what we need to do, civilians be damned. Because if they come here, which they will, you will die knowing you picked their women and children over our own.”

  The old man blinked at him. “I can’t abide by civilians dying,” he finally said. “It’s something that would haunt me. However, you are going to do what you think is right, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.” He put up his hands. “All I ask it that you limit my people’s involvement as much as possible. You may continue to stay here, however, after this is through we will have to reevaluate our arrangement.”

  “If we’re still standing a week from now, I hope you still see that I’m right,” Terrell replied coldly.

  Xavier nodded. “As do I,” he said. “As do I.” He turned and headed off, leaving the soldiers to themselves.

  “So, Cap, what are we doing now” Coleman asked tentatively.

  Terrell turned to him. “I need you to get a line on weapons,” he said, “we’re running real low on stuff.”

  “I’ll scrounge up everything we can use,” Coleman replied.

  Terrell turned to Miles. “I need you to find out everything you can about where Mario’s tracker was,” he said. “I think the town was called…”

  “Newton Grove,” Miles replied.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” Terrell said, snapping his fingers.

  Miles nodded. “I”ll talk to Xavier and find out where it is,” he assured him. “Dig up what I can on it.”

  “You’re a good man,” the Captain said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Glad you’re on our side.”

  “I’d imagine so,” he replied with a wink, and the Captain sighed, giving him a much needed smile. As the soldiers headed off, he walked to a bench overlooking the town and collapsed onto it.

  There were a lot of people working, just going about their daily lives, blissfully unaware of the storm that was coming. After a few moments of watching them, Ruth approached him, carrying a small plate of food.

  “I may not know a lot in this world, but I know when a man’s troubled,” she said gently. “I also know the second best way to ease his mind is a hot plate of food.”

  Terrell chuckled and took the plate of fried chicken and collard greens. “Thank you,” he said honestly, “this will help out a lot.”

  “I’m glad, dear,” she said, and turned to leave.

  “Hey, Ruth,” he said as he set the plate in his lap.

  She glanced back at him .”Yes, dear?” she asked.

  “If a hot plate of food is the second best way to ease a man’s troubled mind, what’s the first?” he asked.

  The older woman smirked at him. “If you had asked me that when I was thirty years younger, I could have given you a proper answer.”

  He barked a laugh as she winked and sauntered off, and then shook his head, eating his dinner. When he finished, he let out a deep sigh.

  “Walter…” he murmured to himself. “I’m so sorry I let you down, man. You were good people, just like the people in this town. I don’t know if you can hear me, or if you’d even care, but I’m gonna make you a promise. I’m going to do whatever I can to protect this town, even if it means laying down my life.” He clenched his fists and stared at the sky. “You have my word.”

  END

  Up Next: Terrell leads the group into an all out war against the Boss in Carolina Front - Pt. 6.

  Carolina Front Pt. 6 releases on 8-8-20 and can be found here! Pre-order now!

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CM6M3R2