Still Surviving (Book 5): Dark Secrets:

by Craven III, Boyd

  “I don’t know if they would do anything. Remember, KGR used to contract with the people in FEMA and DHS, so they’re a known entity. Why?”

  “Thinking about getting on the road and going for help,” I admitted. “We’re outgunned and, perhaps, outclassed. The last attacks here at the house dropped our numbers by more than half when you count all the dead lookouts.”

  “What if we all left?” Michael asked suddenly. “You know Spider is afraid to come after us again. Wes’ threat of chemical weapons has him worried. He’s said it himself over the air; right, Linda?”

  He turned to her, and she nodded back to him.

  “I almost think you need to…”

  “The chlorine gas in the bunker wasn’t enough?” Jessica asked her.

  “They still don’t know what that was,” Linda said with a grin. “Which makes me think they believe that Wes really can come up with the nastier stuff.”

  “I can,” I said softly.

  Linda went very still. “I thought you were playing bad cop again.”

  “Not about that. With the right equipment, chemicals, tools, I could easily make something that’d…” I let my words trail off. I was going to say kill a lot of people.

  “I’ve asked him not to,” Jessica said. “I’ve seen what it can do, over in the sandbox. Saddam still had old stores of chemical shells, and what he didn’t send to Iran, he sent into Syria.”

  “Not that the nightly news reporters will say anything about that,” Jay finished.

  Linda was nodding. “What are you thinking, call for help, then start an arms race?”

  “We’re already in one,” I said simply.

  “What about Mary?” Michael asked.

  “What about her?” Jessica asked. “We’re taking care of her.”

  “I mean, what happens if something happens to you?” Linda asked pointedly at me.

  “I… It won’t.”

  “How about Jay and I head north and west, see how far the jamming goes?” Linda asked.

  “Can you do that safely?” I asked her.

  “What about me?” Michael asked.

  “We’ll need you here, manning communications and breaking their new codes,” Linda told him. “You’re better at it than anybody else.” The last was probably said for his benefit, but he was an engineer and had never fired a gun before.

  “I … ok. That makes sense. You just be careful yourself. This bench would be lonely without you snarking at me.”

  Linda turned red in the face but nodded. Jessica and I looked at each other, a smirk on our faces that wasn’t lost on Jay or Linda, whose eyes narrowed at me. She wasn’t ready, but most folks here, Michael included, probably didn’t know she was a recent widow.

  “When do you want to go?” I asked Linda.

  “How about tomorrow? What have you got planned?”

  “Taking the dogs for a long perimeter walk, really sneaky like. See if we have anymore watchers up close.”

  “You don’t have to be the one who does it,” Jay shot back, then pointed at Jessica and me.

  “Why not? You two are going to be busy, and we’re seriously down on manpower right now. Who else do we have that the dogs will listen to?”

  “You’re putting the dogs in as much danger as you yourself are taking on,” Linda said.

  “Mom, it’s what they’re trained for,” Jessica reminded her.

  “Yeah, Mom,” I added in helpfully.

  Linda pointed at me, then went back to the stool and sat down.

  “Thanks, Mom!” I said, turning, but not before I saw her flipping me off.

  3

  Jessica and I worked on the map for a good hour. She was going to make a more overt sweep with three of the dogs. I was going to get into a good position to hide, and crawl through the brush and tall grass that surrounded the property. Despite originally saying it was going to be just the two of us, Jay had offered to climb to the roof of the barn and work as long eyes. Since he and Linda weren’t leaving until tomorrow, he was going to get to one of the squared-off vents that housed the lightning rods on top of the roof from inside and pull down some boards from the inside. It honestly wasn’t a bad idea, and if we worked it out right, we could put somebody up there full time to act as another lookout point and sniping position.

  “Silent, you ready?” Jessica asked.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  I was in Grandpa’s homemade ghillie suit, crawling slowly through the tall brush. To throw off anyone who might have been watching, I waited to change into it until I’d walked to the outhouses and changed inside, leaving my backpack and Grandpa’s old cane near the building. I was walking almost normally now, lucky that I’d just pulled something and not broken or sprained my ankle badly when I’d dropkicked a KGR operator in the head a while back. I’d brought along my pistol and my M4 that was now wrapped with bits of my camo netting and brown and black duct tape. Lester had frowned at me putting the sticky stuff to it, but thankfully he didn’t say anything as I’d filled him in on what we were doing.

  I was hoping to go in quiet, and if I had to shoot, I wanted to stay quiet. That was why once I hit the tangle of brush and tall grass that marked the edge of the property, I dropped down on my belly and started moving out slowly. Jess, who’d started out first, was visible long before I made my move. The dogs would alert her in time to take cover if she jumped somebody. For me, I was moving to a spot that was slightly uphill from the homestead. It was going to be a long crawl. In the distance, I could hear Raider bark, then the sound was picked up by Yaeger’s deep basso voice.

  “Silent, they caught a scent. Going to work slowly.”

  “Might be from a few days back.” I whispered so I didn’t give away my position.

  “Copy that.”

  I wasn’t sure if what I said was true, but it made sense if the dogs caught the scent of a human. The folks who had been snatched had to have come and gone from somewhere. I kept moving slowly, scanning in front of me. I would crawl forward a step, stop, pause, look, listen. My progress was slow, and I listened to the dogs move back and forth along the property ahead of me. Jessica didn’t radio ahead anymore, and time passed slowly.

  I was getting cold. Fall was starting to hit, and the ground hadn’t warmed up as much as I’d hoped, and I’d gotten wet on my front from the morning dew. I ignored it as best as I could, knowing toward the top of this hill were some rocky areas where I could get off the damp earth and maybe rest and dry myself off. Another crawling step forward. Stop, pause, look, listen. I turned my head further to the right and up to the spot I’d been making my way toward. Something was off. The bush in front of the rock jutting out of the hill had flattened itself out more.

  I remembered Linda’s words when we’d been in a faux sniper battle, how she’d seen the clump of vegetation in a different spot than she’d remembered…

  “Girl Scout, think I have a KGR in sight,” I whispered, using the headset.

  “Can you walk me in?” She was out of sight, but I could hear the dogs.

  “Come back in the direction of barn,” I said, moving my gun in front of me slowly.

  “Copy that.”

  “I could hear the dogs, but they weren’t close. I mean they were, but not within fifty yards. I couldn’t see them.

  “Jaybird here, been following your progress. Jess and the Cerebos crew are out of line of fire if you wish to engage.”

  I grinned at that. Cerebos? The three-headed dog? I looked through the scope and saw a twinkling of light as I focused in on that brush, then the brush moved! Something golden glinted, and then the brush moved again. It was moving as slow, if not slower, than I had been. Then I saw a rifle barrel.

  I aimed center mass of what I thought was another man facing me and flipped off the safety to PEW and slowly squeezed the trigger. The mechanical sound of the action working and the brass ejecting was louder than the round that went down field. A scream erupted and the brush got up and started running on two
legs. I fired one more hasty shot, and a spray of red fountained from the back of the man’s leg. The figure stumbled and was soon out of sight.

  “Target injured. Armed, approach with caution. We want him alive.”

  “He’s got the high ground, Silent Hunter.” Jessica’s voice came over the radio. “Sending in the hounds.”

  “I’ll wait,” I said, praying the dogs wouldn’t be hurt. “Jaybird, you be my eyes. I’m going to scope for more assholes.”

  “Copy that,” Jay said into my earpiece.

  I tried to ignore the sudden barks and baying of the dogs. An unmuffled shot went off, but no dog whined, but what I did hear was a man start to shout and beg us to call off the dogs.

  “Jaybird, anymore movement?” I asked.

  “Dogs got him down. His rifle went off as he fell. They’re tearing him up.”

  “Cover Silent Hunter.” Jess’ voice came over the radio, panting.

  “Copy,” Jay replied.

  I got to my feet and started jogging as fast as my sore ankle would let me, dodging the brush, almost high-stepping and praying no snakes that had biting on the mind were in my path. As I crested the hill, I saw a mass of snarling fur. I gave the command to stop and pushed the mask out of the way with my left hand, my right hand lowering the M4 toward the man. I saw he had been dressed similarly to me when the dogs backed up and sat. He was holding his leg where it was crimson, but I could see puncture marks in his hands and arms as the dogs had made sure he wasn’t a threat. His rifle was similar to mine, but built heavier, probably built on an AR10 frame. A suppressor was on that as well. A moment later, Jess shouted a command, making the dogs turn to look at her.

  “Who are you?” I asked, noting the sidearm the man was wearing.

  “You shot me,” he gasped, pulling his hat and mask off with one shaking hand.

  “If he goes after a gun, make Diesel eat his face,” I said to Jess.

  “Got visual on you both, nothing moving,” Jay said in my ear.

  I pressed the PTT once so he knew we’d heard.

  “Copy,” Jess said for Jay and everyone’s benefit.

  “What were you doing creeping up on the homestead? I told Spider what I’d do to you Keggers if I found anymore of you bastards around here,” I said rather blandly, holding the gun at the nearly prone form.

  “Spider? The asshole who linked up with the survivalist group?” the man asked suddenly, wincing. “Can I get something to stop the bleeding?”

  I looked at Jess, confused, then noted he wasn’t wearing the colors of the KGR, nor did he have any of their patches. In fact, he looked just like…

  “You’re National Guard?” Jessica asked.

  “Yeah, went into the guard after nine years in the sandbox. Got my degree and then got called up.”

  I walked over, keeping the long barrel and suppressor out of his reach. Diesel and Raider grumbled as I got in front of them, but I wanted to be close enough to fire on him when I had him do what I was going to do next.

  “Pull the pistol out by your fingers. You do anything else funky, like go for a knife or a grenade, I’m going to fire then feed you to these three.”

  Yaeger growled on cue, taking a stuttering step forward. The man didn’t flinch, but he didn’t take his eyes off of Jessica, nor the dogs. He all but ignored me as he pulled out a government-issue pistol, then he pulled his shirt up to show he was carrying another and pulled his runout gun out with his fingers.

  “I’ve got knives and all sorts of shit all over, under the suit. If you won’t let me get to my stuff, can one of you let me lay down and you put the dressing on?”

  “Wes, I’ve got this,” Jess said, walking forward, handing me her rifle.

  I watched as she pulled a wicked looking knife from the small of her back and cut away the pant leg of the ghillie suit. My shot had been the hand-loaded subsonic stuff Les had loaded for me, but it had been enough to make a bloody crease in his calf.

  “It’s almost a through and through. Didn’t have a chance to tumble. Bloody, but not fatal. More of a wicked furrow.”

  “This has to be a setup,” I said quietly, slinging my rifle and holding hers at the low and ready. “These guys work in pairs.”

  “I’m basically a LRRP,” he gasped, the word sounding like ‘lurp’. “My team is closer to the farm, a couple miles down the road. I was getting in place so I could watch you guys, before they came in. Six of us in all.”

  “Don’t these guys come in at least pairs? He’s still alone,” I asked Jess. “And how do we know this isn’t another Spider ploy?”

  “You want to see my military ID?” the man asked, his face pinching as Jess pulled an Israeli emergency bandage from her pack and held it out to him.

  “Yes,” Jessica told him simply.

  The man put the bandage on, wincing as he tightened it, then slowly pulled off his ghillie top. Like my camo netting and Grandpa’s ghillie suit, he’d woven local brush and vegetation into it to make it blend in better. He was wearing digital camo, all military issue from what my uneducated eyes could see. He pulled a wallet out carefully and tossed it to Jess.

  Raider growled deeply as his wallet hit her in the legs. She bent down to pick it up, and all the dogs tensed; even I tensed. Had he done it intentionally to get her closer? He leaned back, putting his arms behind him to brace himself. I realized it was an awkward position, and it was done to put me at ease. Both hands were on the ground supporting his upper body, and his neck was exposed. I realized I’d put my finger dangerously close to the trigger.

  “He’s legit as far as I can tell. Still doesn’t mean he’s not working with Spider,” Jess said, tossing the billfold back on his chest.

  I handed Jess her rifle and walked over to Raider, patting him on the head and rubbing his ears. “What’s your story?” I asked him, watching Jess scoot his handguns in my direction then walking around him.

  “Our unit was sent out to investigate what’s been called a small-scale war in this county. Transmissions from the state police outposts were sending out wild reports, then went totally silent. The higher ups thought some kids had been jacking with the signals, or somebody had gotten ahold of their radio at headquarters and was broadcasting nonsense.”

  “Let’s get you back to the house and get you looked at. You know how to get ahold of your men?” Jessica asked him.

  He nodded.

  “Jaybird, we’re inbound with a potential friendly. Looks like the National Guard is back in the game down here.”

  “Copy that,” Jay said, and in the background, I could hear a whoop go up.

  4

  Linda had one of the roving patrols meet us as we walked back up. The dogs trailed Jessica, who was helping support the soldier with the last name of McKinney. The Israeli bandage was doing a lot to keep the bleeding down, but he would need more than just a bandage. When we got close, we handed off the man’s weapons to Curt and Sheriff Jackson. Linda was waiting just inside the barn. She had a medical kit out and ready, but she looked a little bit uncertain.

  “Let’s get these bandages off and see what’s going on,” she said as Jessica moved slowly, pulling the man’s belt off and out of the way.

  “And let’s get some privacy in here,” Jessica said loudly as a small crowd of people started forming just inside the barn near the communications gear.

  “Is there anything you need me to do?” I asked.

  “Can you hand me my radio?” McKinney asked. “I need to call this into my team. We’re just the forward group. We’ve got full support rolling in, in a couple of days.”

  I thought about that. I didn’t know much about the military and how things worked, but I was learning from Jessica. She nodded as if she understood, and Linda gave him a quick look and then pulled off the bandage and the wad of gauze pads that we’d use to staunch the bleeding.

  “It’s a through and through,” Jessica told her mom softly. “You can tell from the entry and exit wound that the round didn�
�t have a chance to tumble.”

  “This might not be too bad then,” Linda told the soldier.

  He nodded at her as I dug through his gear and found his radio, handing it to him.

  “Westley, can you go get me some of your high proof stuff?”

  “Are we running low on antiseptics in the med kits?” I asked her softly.

  “I’d rather not use up what we have. This needs to be cleaned out and flushed well, but I think with some stitches and letting it drain, he will be in good shape.”

  “If you guys can fix me up so I’m not gonna bleed out,” McKinney said, “we’ve got a medic on our six-man team. He’s pretty good at this stuff.”

  “So am I…” Linda murmured as she started laying tools out in front of her.

  I put the rest of the gear down and let the core group start their work and walked quickly into the house. Grandma was at her usual spot, sitting at the kitchen table reading Where The Wild Things Are to little miss Mary. They both looked up as I came in, and Grandma shot me a questioning look.

  “I thought we had someone from the KGR sneaking up on us on the property,” I told Grandma, “but Jessica and Linda seem convinced that he’s with the National Guard.”

  “But you look like you’re worried about something,” Grandma told me as I walked to the pantry and got a bottle of 75 percent down from the shelves.

  I thought about that and looked at all the booze we’d put up there since the last time I had taken a big jug of shine out to share around the campfire. I’d have to run more soon if I was going to keep handing it out and everyone in good spirits. It could also turn ugly if we did this too much, and although we’d done a lot to knock down the sense of entitlement from a few people, I didn’t want the overall attitude of the camp to start turning sour again.

  “I’m worried that this guy might be with Spider’s gang,” I said to her softly, “but that’s just me being a worrywart. I think I know this guy’s on the level, but when I saw him out there sneaking around in the grass like a ninja—"