Still Surviving (Book 5): Dark Secrets:

by Craven III, Boyd

  “But … how?” Jessica asked.

  “When they pass through town and get on the road heading out here, we drop trees all around them and set off a gas canister.”

  “But where would we get—”

  “You know how many crop dusters are on the outskirts of here?” I asked her suddenly.

  “I… but we don’t have any pilots,” she said quietly.

  “No, but the plane has the canister tanks, and I bet you the pilots have all the equipment needed to fill them with whatever we wanted.”

  “Ok, so we kill a little bit of them, they come to fight us, we drop gas on them…”

  “Then we hit them hard enough to finish them off.”

  “Wait, what?” she asked.

  “As they’re fleeing, we hit them with our anti-armor, ANFO barrels and the APC we held in reserve, with all the heavy firepower we have. Then we hit their camps. Anybody who doesn’t throw down their guns gets lined up against a wall. We stop this, we stop this hard. Then we let the women and children point out any hidden abusers in the civilization population, and we line them up against the wall as well.”

  Jessica shivered, her arms wrapping around her middle. “That’s… horrible. We just execute them?”

  “I was thinking about handing out hunting knives to the abused, and letting them decide.”

  “You’re kind of scaring me,” Jessica said as Yaeger made another round.

  “I’m not saying we should do it, but it’s a trap within a trap, that’s a bigger trap,” I said softly, hugging her tight to me. “Remember how you mentioned how much things have changed? How people have changed?”

  “Yes,” Jessica said looking at me.

  “In order to protect our loved ones, I’m afraid I’m going to have to become more like the enemy. I’m worried that the only thing that’d separate me from Spider some days, is my morals.”

  “And you’re not a raving sociopath,” Jessica said, shuddering.

  “What he’s done, what he’s doing… It’s dehumanized himself in my opinion… dehumanizing. Like, I think about killing his people, killing his men. It used to really bother me.”

  “And now it doesn’t?” she asked.

  “No, but it’s… When I killed Emily’s husband, I had nightmares about that. The second time? It bugged me for a night, but the nightmares weren’t as bad. When we hit Henry’s with your mom?”

  “Nothing?”

  “Not much,” I admitted. “I didn’t even see them as human, not really. They were targets, ones who could think and shoot back.”

  “Let’s go back,” Jessica said suddenly, getting up.

  “Ok, that was an idea though. Lots of room for improvement, it was just a… rough idea?” I got to my feet.

  She took my hand and whistled over her shoulder. Yaeger came bounding up and we started down the hill, but not before I noticed the tears running down her cheeks.

  10

  Jessica tossed and turned. She was curled in next to me on my small bed, the sheet pulled over her. I’d tried sleeping, but my talk with her had started to bug me and we were waiting to hear back from her mom. The callous way I’d explained myself was weighing on my mind. I wasn’t sure if I’d really been serious about the rough sketch of plan, but I’d be a liar to say I hadn’t thought about what I’d do if I was stripped of morals. It was like I’d told them earlier when I‘d been playing bad cop: I’d looked at the situation and seen a way I could hit them, maybe cripple them, or even put them down and out.

  “I wish that she’d radio in soon,” Jessica said suddenly.

  “I know. Look, about what I said earlier…”

  “It’s ok,” Jessica said, sitting up.

  I swung my legs off the bed to give her more room.

  “No, I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said softly, hearing Diesel’s snores from the living room where Mary was out like a light.

  Both Raider and Yaeger had insisted on the bedroom door being open, and with Linda gone, we couldn’t get any of the dogs to stay in the barn, so I had a mass of fur shifting in the darkness near my feet. Raider put his big fuzzy head in my lap, and I scratched the side of his head, and under his ears. The big dog moaned and turned his head to the side. Yaeger must have been getting jealous, because he jumped up on the bottom of the bed and flopped between Jessica’s feet and my back to get his own loving.

  “You didn’t. I know it’s probably… I don’t know. It’s our best chance of stopping Spider. We didn’t do this kind of warfare when I was enlisted.”

  “I know,” I told her softly as Raider jumped up and put both paws on my shoulders, licking the side of my face. “Get off, you goof,” I said, pushing him back gently.

  “They’re just as nervous as us. I don’t know if I can sleep. I’m worried, Young’s team had to have driven right by that antenna, but they haven’t contacted us on the radio either.”

  “We gave them a channel to contact us on,” I reminded her. “Maybe we should try to get ahold of them while waiting for your mom to check in?”

  “We can do that. Do you think getting some coffee going would wake Grandma?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  We were sitting on the front porch with the percolator, having poured both of us cups of coffee. The chickens had all gone to bed, and in short few hours, Foghorn would be letting the world know it was time to get up. All the dogs were on the porch with us, sleeping. I could see some shapes huddled around the cook fire, and the smell of the never-ending stew wafted through the air. Crickets chirped in the darkness and the mosquitos were out in force. They didn’t bother us, other than flying near our faces. We sipped coffee and swatted at them. The encrypted handheld radio was in Jessica’s lap.

  “I’m afraid, and I don’t know why,” Jessica said softly.

  “Afraid to transmit, or afraid to find out what’s going on?” I asked her.

  “They’re both sort of the same thing, but yeah.”

  I held up the sheet of notebook paper we’d brought out for the radio frequencies. The flickering candle light was barely enough for me to make things out.

  “Want to go into the barn and see if Michael is still working the radio?” I asked her.

  “We can,” Jessica said, handing me the radio and standing up.

  I clipped it on my belt, feeling foolish. Almost all communications had gone through the larger base unit. Something made the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stand up and I shivered. Why had Linda and Jay called us on the handhelds, a different channel and frequency than the base unit?

  We walked as quietly as we could to the barn, waving to the men and women who were tending the cooking and eating. Many of them had been watching and patrolling around our area and were getting in some food before sleeping. We were stretched thin manpower wise, but we still had enough eyes out there to alert us if somebody was coming. With the losses we’d suffered, especially to our watchers, it was a dangerous job.

  “He’s at the radio,” Jessica said softly as we walked in.

  The radio station was lit by candle light and the lights of the radio equipment. I could see a heavyset figure there, with headphones on, talking silently into the radio. Soft snores could be heard throughout the barn. Still something seemed wrong. Michael wasn’t heavy set, was he?

  “Les?” Jessica asked, putting her arm on the figure she’d originally thought was Michael.

  “Holy mother…!” Les started, knocking the headphones off one ear, one hand going to his chest.

  “Any news?” I asked Lester.

  Jessica sat down on the bench next to him, looking at the gauges on the radio.

  “I… you scared the crap out of me,” Les said quietly.

  “Sorry about that,” Jessica said. “We were heading in here to see if anybody has checked in.”

  “Just the roving teams,” Les said. “I’ve been able to get a bit more range tonight for some reason, and you’re not going to believe this... I’ve… Hold on a sec,” he pu
t a finger up, then put the headphones back on. “You have eyes on her? Give me that description again? Ok, I’ll let them know. When you know for sure and it’s safe, please get back with us. Thanks. Out.” Les slid the headphones off one ear again and turned to us, his expression grave. “I just heard from Deputy Rolston.”

  Mine and Jessica’s mouths dropped open in surprised shock.

  “Wait? How? What?”

  “I said, I just talked to Dave Rolston,” Les said quietly, “and he said a small blonde lady just walked into their main camp unmolested.”

  “Who…? What?” I stammered.

  “He thinks it’s Emily, doesn’t he?” Jessica asked.

  Raider whimpered, hearing her name, as Les nodded.

  “Start from the top,” I said. “Wait, let’s go get the coffee.”

  “We better wake folks up,” Jess said. “Sheriff Jackson will want to hear this.”

  I nodded. “Want to meet us at the porch?”

  “Oh yeah,” Les muttered, “I’ll go wake up old grumpy britches.”

  Jessica gave him a pained smile, turning. I followed her out, taking her hand as the furballs followed.

  Jessica had poured the remaining coffee into a carafe and put the percolator back on for a new batch. Curt, Sheriff Jackson, Les, Michael and the two of us sat around. Our spots had already been determined by ritual and familiarity. Raider stayed outside by me, but the other two were now inside, watching over our small family.

  “So start from the top again,” Sheriff Jackson said.

  “I was working in the gun room. Had a late night with my lady friend, when I saw the lights blinking at the base station—”

  “Which I told him meant there had been an incoming transmission. I was going to try to get half an hour of sleep,” Michael said, rubbing his hand across his face. “I was hoping Linda would have checked in already, but I was losing the battle to stay awake.”

  “So I was half watching it while I was cleaning up the belt fed,” Les said, “when I saw the indicator light go off that somebody was trying to transmit on the open channel we monitor. When I heard Dave’s voice, I had him switch frequencies and we kept the talk short. He was swept up in the raid, but has been playing the part of the jealous suitor,” Les said looking at Jess and I before going on, “and apparently one of the Guardsmen who had come through your property remembered him so it kind of gave him some legitimacy.

  “He’d been working as a night guard over the men’s quarters, where they’re keeping the farm laborers. That’s when you two about gave me a heart attack.” Les took a big sip of his coffee. “He said he just saw a lady walk into camp without an escort. The other guards seemed to know her. Said there’s only one other lady there like that. Said he thought it was Emily because of the blonde hair and how petite the lady was, but he didn’t get a good look.”

  Jessica shivered and I shuddered. If that was Emily who’d walked into Spider’s camp… Willingly? Without escort? I knew the horror stories of the women who were kept there. Ladies didn’t just walk around unless they were attached to the upper echelon of Spider’s group. His main guys in the KGR. She was the mole?

  “Holy shit,” Curt said softly. “That can’t be right, can it?”

  “How many tiny blonde ladies with short hair can you think of in this county?” Les asked the group.

  My mind was running a thousand miles an hour. Emily was just at the farm up the road a couple of days ago. Spider’s main camp was over fifteen miles east of town, once we got into town. Twenty miles? Could she have walked that? Easily, I concluded, even faster if she had a bike or some sort of transport… Or, more likely, she’d hitched a ride back with the laborers. Still, it must be three in the morning. My head was starting to pound.

  “Oh shit,” Sheriff Jackson said. “If it is her, she knows my nephew was talking about infiltrating their group. If he’s seen…”

  His words trailed off and we all looked around uncomfortably. “Did Dave say when he was going to be calling back?” Jessica asked.

  “No,” Les said, “but we’ll know to keep an ear out for him.”

  “We need to set up a frequency and encryption for him to get ahold of us,” Michael said, “and it might not be Emily. I’ve talked to that young lady. She’s had a pretty rough go in life, abused, widowed, and sounds like she’s been dealing with some mental health issues. I don’t see her willingly going to them.”

  “Unless she was a plant all along?” Curt asked.

  “Can’t be, we met her before the KGR really rolled into town.”

  The radio on Jessica’s hip squawked loudly, startling all of us.

  “Girl Scout & Silent Hunter, Lil Momma here. You copy?”

  “I’m here,” Jessica said after pulling the radio loose and turning the volume up.

  “We have new movement at the site. Looks like two familiar faces just walked up,” Linda’s voice was a whisper, but the volume made it loud enough for all of us to hear.

  “Who?” Jessica asked.

  “I’m pretty sure it’s McKinney and Young,” Linda’s voice came back.

  I cursed quietly and killed my coffee cup, ignoring the burning heat.

  “You see their faces?”

  “They’re wearing camo paint, one is limping badly on the same leg that Wes sniped and the other one walks around like he’s got a stick up his ass,” Linda replied immediately.

  “Is this camp for sure KGR?” I asked Jessica, who repeated the question.

  “The men who were here all day were wearing KGR vests and the usual black ripstop BDUs, so yeah,” Jay replied.

  “What of the rest of the team?” Jessica asked.

  There was a long pause in the transmission, and I looked around. Everybody looked how I felt; like we’d been sucker punched.

  “No sign of them,” Linda whispered back. “Going silent to watch.”

  Jessica didn’t reply right away, but she turned to me. “I believed them.”

  “Do you think the team was sent here to probe us?” Jackson asked.

  “There’s a Guardsman who Dave recognized,” Curt said. “Maybe the whole damned government is in on this.”

  “That’s crazy talk,” Michael said. “The KGR just hold a small area in one state. They can’t have corrupted the entire military.”

  “But we do know that Spider has a way of blackmailing and getting others to do what he wants,” I said simply, “remember that State Trooper?”

  “I know,” Michael replied, “but we’ve all but confirmed that anybody in authority in this area is now potentially a suspect.”

  “Silent Hunter, this is Angry Princess,” my radio squawked.

  I just about fell over.

  “What?” I felt like there was a large stone falling silently from a mile up, pushing the air ahead of it, bearing down on me.

  “Answer her!” Jessica hissed.

  “This channel isn’t secure,” I said into my handset.

  “None of them are,” Emily said. “How’s my little girl?”

  “Missing her mom,” I said, showing Jessica the frequency that Emily was transmitting on.

  “Listen, I’ve got things almost figured out. You promised me to keep my girl safe. I need you to keep that promise.”

  “I’m planning on it, but what are you doing, and where the hell are you?” I asked, feeling anger light up in my gut.

  “I’m not where I’m supposed to be. I’m working on something. I need you to get everyone away from the homestead.”

  “We can’t just pick up and leave,” I said.

  “Spider’s going to make a move, in two days. Maybe three,” Emily whispered.

  “How do you know that?” Jessica hissed into her handset.

  “Because I’m in their camp,” Emily said, her voice cracking.

  “You… What?” I sputtered.

  “I have to go. Get out of there, make sure my baby is safe,” Emily said. “Angry Princess, out.”

  Jessica frantically
played with her radio for a moment before speaking. “Lil Momma and Jaybird, bugout. You’re needed here. Give me two tics if you received message?”

  There was silence. Jessica repeated the call.

  I changed frequencies to match Jessica’s handset. “Lil Momma, if you cannot confirm we’ll have no other choice than to come in hot with Rolling Thunder,” I said.

  After a moment the radio crackled. “Dammit,” Jay’s voice said softly. “Moving.”

  11

  Les’ reaction to Emily’s words were the first thing I remembered as I awoke. He looked like he’d been punched in the gut, and had his innards twisted up. I knew the feeling, I did as well. Was her admission and radio warning another ruse?

  We’d kept Emily’s name out of it, but we’d spent all of yesterday evacuating everyone and everything we could to the Crater of Diamonds. We couldn’t move them too far, and our choices were limited by what we could carry on foot. We’d move the APC last.

  Grandma and Mary had been moved right away, along with everyone else. Sheriff Jackson and some of our scouts had found a good spot for everyone to camp and hide off to the west side of the park in the tree line. Jessica and Linda were coordinating things, but today was going to be the day by the sound of things. I’d snuck out, my head and heart burning with the anger I knew was coming my way. Emily was Spider’s turncoat? If she wasn’t a plant, then I was a church going choirboy.

  “Silent, this is ‘Lil Momma,” Linda said into the earpiece I wore. I’d walked off nearly alone, leaving everyone but Raider safe back at our new emergency camp.

  “Silent here,” I whispered.

  I was wearing my grandpa’s ghillie suit and had been dozing off and on, making myself one with the vegetation.

  “Your fiancé is pissed and everybody is about at near panic. We need you back with the camp,” Linda said crossly.