by Jack Hunt
“We’re going to have to go after them,” I replied.
“What?” Dax said.
“Do you want to leave here?” I asked.
“Yeah but…”
“Then we have to finish this tonight. Bennett is still alive.”
“You don’t know that,” Thomas said.
“No? Did anyone of you drop him?”
They looked at each other expecting one of them to answer. It remained quiet.
“It’s suicide,” Elijah added before taking a seat and wiping blood from his forehead with a cloth.
“These people aren’t going to be free until every single one of them are dead.”
Dax got up in my face. “Listen to yourself, Johnny.”
“Tell me that what I’m saying isn’t true?”
Dax couldn’t deny it. It was the reason why military didn’t just pull out after one attack. The threat still existed. Sure they might withdraw some troops but a new batch would go in after. Damian spoke up, “This is the first place that we have come across that we could see being a home base. We’ll do whatever it takes. I’m with you on this.”
“Me too,” Spike and Alec said almost at the same time. I stared at Dax. Again there was a moment when I knew he disapproved. I don’t know what burned him most. Having me go against what he wanted or seeing others agree with me.
I climbed back up the steel ladder until I was back out in the fresh air. A cold wind blew through the place, chilling me to the bone. I went around and checked to see how much ammo we had. We had survived an attack by Z’s and the living insane. Some had fallen in the process.
“What are we protecting here?” Dax asked from behind me.
“You’re asking me?”
“Well, you seem to have this figured out.”
I dropped two magazines in my hands.
“I don’t have any of this worked out, Dax. I’m just trying to survive.”
“Then let’s leave. Anyone who wants to come with us can.”
“And those who don’t?” I paused. “What about them, Dax?”
He sniffed and stared around. “I don’t know what we are fighting for anymore.”
“Each other,” I replied.
CONSEQUENCES
Back down in the bunker, none of us were keen on going out. We had no way of knowing where they were. The forest was cloaked in darkness. Every minute that passed we became more nervous. I had considered what my brother had suggested. Leaving, that is. We didn’t owe these people anything. Hell, if it wasn’t for Specs we damn well wouldn’t have come back.
All of us were running on steam and adrenaline.
“Maybe us going after them is exactly what they want,” Elijah said. “That’s what I would do. Draw you out and pick you off.”
“Or an attack from above.”
“What, they’re going to fast-rope down into here?”
“They’re military, dickhead. They are trained for this shit.”
“You give them too much credit. These are deserters.”
“And? I could have been one of them,” Dax said.
“You know, Dax, I don’t have time for your shit right now.”
I turned to leave and he grabbed hold of my arm. “You know if you had just killed him. They wouldn’t be here. Hell, we wouldn’t be here.”
“You don’t think I know that?” I shot back.
“Guys,” Benjamin tried to intervene but Dax was having none of it. He was looking for someone to blame. This wasn’t about leaving the guy alive. It was the fact that we had stopped listening to him. Following his lead. But the fact was, I was following his lead. If I wasn’t, we would be at NORAD by now and these people would be dead. So what did he want? We couldn’t save everyone. It was insane to think that. Some had died out of their naiveté about the risk that lurked beyond the walls, and others were just casualties of a new war — a war against the living and dead.
I forced his hand off. “You done?”
We exchanged icy glares.
“Where are you going?”
“To finish this.”
“What, by yourself? Dude, you’re not Rambo,” Baja muttered.
“Listen, Johnny. Let’s find out if people want to come with us. Avoidance is better than confrontation,” Benjamin said before turning and leaving the room to ask people if they wanted to leave. I shook my head and went up. Danielle followed me.
Outside the smell of smoke, flesh, and death was carried on the air.
“Johnny.”
She caught up with me as I was going to the hut where all the guns were stored.
“What are you looking for?”
“Pipe bombs. Anything that can finish them off.”
“Listen. I know you want to get this over with but going out there by yourself will get you killed.”
“I didn’t say I’m going alone.”
“Then who’s going with you?”
I gestured to Alec, Damian, and Spike.
She shook her head. “You are joking. Kids?”
“Don’t underestimate them just because of their age. They survived a town full of Z’s. Hell, they are like us. We might be older, but that doesn’t mean we are smarter.”
I continued to root around inside the hut. They had built up quite a nice arsenal. Preppers were like that. They were way ahead of the game.
“Looking for pipe bombs?” Specs asked.
I was bent over at the time. I twisted around. “Something like that.”
“You won’t find them in here. They kept them down in the bunker.”
“Well then, let’s get them.”
Specs’s arm was up in a sling. The end bandaged over. Most of the white had turned to a deep dark crimson color as though he had dipped it in dark red paint.
“What is going through your head, Johnny?”
He fell in step as I went back to the bunker. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve never seen you like this. You are usually cool-headed. But this isn’t you. Give it some time and the people will probably go with us.”
“But that’s the thing, isn’t it, Specs? We don’t have time. For all I know Jess is…” I didn’t even want to deal with the thought of her death. Being at NORAD didn’t guarantee safety.
“So we’re short on time.”
“You don’t get it, do you, Specs? Dax was right, so was Liam. All these people are dead because of one action. Leaving that man alive.”
“You can’t be sure about that.”
“Can’t I?” I spun around. “How else do you think they would have known about this place? It wasn’t Liam. They attacked before he went to the other side.”
“So you left a guy alive. How many more times are you going to blame yourself for your actions? You were doing the right thing.”
“Did I? As people are dead because of it.”
Specs shook his head. “Fuck. Johnny. Enough with blaming yourself. So you left him alive and he returned and killed. Tomorrow. What happens when you do it again?”
“I won’t. Lance was right, we should have killed Bennett.”
“You said all we had was our humanity. We can’t become like them. And yet what you’re saying is absurd. What if you had killed Elijah or Benjamin back in the city? You didn’t know they were going to help us. Listen, I might have one hand but I will knock the shit out of you with the other if you go down that path.”
I snorted. “What path?”
“The one that leads to killing for no other reason than because you can.”
I studied his face.
“Specs. If you step outside that wall and a Z attacks. You kill it, right?”
He nodded.
“Why? Because it’s all about surviving,” I said.
“I know where you’re going with this, Johnny, but it’s not the same.”
“Isn’t it?”
We stood there in the middle of the fortress. Two friends who had become very different people. Specs was taught to survive. It had becom
e like a religion to him. His father drilled into him from an early age that no matter what, you protected your own at all costs. Now he was telling me that survival wasn’t what was critical. Being human. Doing the right thing. Letting people live was right even if it meant killing them later because they turned on you.
But that was the dilemma that faced us daily.
Did we just kill everyone that we met out of fear? Wasn’t that the reason there were so many wars in the world? So much hate for people of different ethnic groups, sexual preferences, and religions? I never thought it would come to that. But you were screwed either way. If you acted human and spared a person’s life, there was a chance they would return to kill you. If you shot them, you had to live with that on your conscience.
* * *
Within a matter of ten minutes we had rustled up some pipe bombs, gathered enough ammo together, and were going to move out. It had already been established by Benjamin that families that were still alive weren’t going to go to NORAD. This was their home. Home? This was no home, it was a death trap. There were no safe areas left in the world. At least that’s what I had thought.
We trudged our way into the darkness. No flashlight was used just in case they were out there. For the first time since leaving Castle Rock we hadn’t discussed a plan of action. You couldn’t plan for things like this.
Not everyone had left. The others hung back preparing for another attack. They had tried to persuade us to see sense. But it wasn’t happening. There was myself, Alec, Spike, and Damian.
“You think we can pull this off?”
“Yeah,” I replied. I had no bloody clue. If ever there was a suicide mission this was it.
“Like I told you, they’re all wussies,” Damian replied.
He had just finished saying that when a bullet hit him right between the eyes. We hadn’t even made it a quarter of a mile outside of the camp when the gunfire started.
“Damian.” Alec fell on the floor. I grabbed a hold of his arm. “Leave him, he’s dead.”
We rushed back through the forest with bullets snapping around us. They’d been waiting in the darkness for us. What an idiot I had been to allow my own emotions to run amok. Within a few yards of the fortress we shouted for them to open the gate. We raced inside, breathing hard. Dax, Benjamin, Elijah, and the others rushed over to us. I was trying to catch my breath when more gunfire erupted. There was no time to explain. They were coming in for a second wave.
I took the bag that held the pipe bombs and pulled one out. They were easy to make. Packed with gunpowder, the pipe itself was the shrapnel. I lit the end, then tossed it over the gate in the direction of where the gunfire was coming from. A huge explosion and then more bullets flying.
“Can you see them?”
“How are many are there?”
“Where are they?”
Everyone was peppering each other for answers. How do you fight what you can’t see, and yet it didn’t stop us from shooting at anything that moved. Without light we were screwed. I turned to Thomas.
“You guys were in the military. Don’t you have night vision gear?”
“Yeah, it’s in the bunker.”
“You’ve got to be joking? All this time and no one knew about it?”
“Well, Theo had a few of the guys in charge of the equipment.”
“And they’re not here?”
He shook his head, looking around as though he hadn’t even been paying attention to who was alive or dead.
I didn’t know whether to punch him or kiss him. But that was the problem with these guys. They were never expecting an assault of this magnitude. They had stocked up this place with little regard to how or why they needed things. It was just part of a prepper list. Of course there were preppers out there who were smart. Ones who only bought what they knew they would use. But whoever had been in charge of military equipment was either dead or just following orders on what they needed to stock this place with.
Five minutes later he emerged with a bag of gear. He began distributing it out to everyone. There was more than enough for us. Lights were attached to military helmets. When snapped into place they gathered existing ambient light from stars, the moon, or infrared and pushed it through the front lens. Suddenly everything was green and clear. But that wasn’t all, you could now see a ghostly white effect around anyone that we looked at.
“What the hell is that?” Elijah asked.
“They have thermal imaging built into them. That white is where people are giving off heat.”
“Shit, this is like Medal of Honor, except a hell of a lot better.”
“Yeah, just don’t get shot. There is no round two.”
We scaled the ladders up to the inside perimeter walkway that went around the top of the wall and took positions. As soon as we reached the top and looked over the side, it was like night and day. Instead of seeing just pure darkness, we could now see them moving.
I ducked down.
“Listen up. A few of us need to go out, circle around.”
“Are you kidding?” Dax snapped. “You want a bullet in your head as well?”
“That was before we had these. If we just start shooting, they are going to bolt. We can’t let any escape.”
Dax knew I was right. “I’ll go with him,” Elijah said.
“Me too,” Benjamin added.
“Right, the rest of you get into position. Give us five minutes. I’ll fire a flare when we get around the back.”
I was about to climb down when Dax stopped me. “I’m going. You stay here.”
Normally I would have argued with him. But in light of what had just happened to Damian, I just let it go. I watched them slip out. At the top behind the perimeter of the walls we waited. We could see the soldiers in the forest. There had to have been at least six of them on our side. I ducked down and whistled over to Alec and Spike who were on the other side.
“How many?”
Spike threw up three fingers. There were none on the north and south side.
“Nine. That’s it. Nine and this all over.”
“About time. I’m fed up with these jarheads.”
I snuck another peek over the side.
“What are they waiting for?” I muttered.
“Us to come out.”
I looked over at Alec and Spike. They hadn’t had even a second to process what had happened to their friend. I thought of Matt. The way his death had hit me. Damian’s body was still out there. Alec looked over at me.
“Do you think he blames you?” Baja asked.
“If he does, he would be right to do so. I was the one that made the decision to head out.”
I turned back and looked over. A couple of them were moving closer. I put one of them in my crosshairs and followed him.
“Should we fire?” Thomas asked.
“Not yet. Wait for the signal.”
Those minutes seemed to last forever.
Come on, come on! My heartbeat started to drum harder in my chest. My finger was twitching on the trigger. If the guy got any closer, I was going to shoot him with or without the signal. Suddenly there was a small bang, then an orange light shot up into the night sky like a small sun that burst apart. I glanced briefly at it before returning to my scope. I refocused on the figure approaching, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then fired. He dropped instantly.
Right then, all hell broke loose but instead of us being on the tail end of it this time, they were. Caught off guard, they didn’t know what had hit them. They turned to return fire at what must have been Dax and the others, then turned back to us as we fired. I could see them hitting the ground for cover but that was just pointless. It didn’t matter where they stood. It was like being stuck in no man’s land with a big red flag that said, here I am!
We let out short bursts; a few of the others just let the bullets fly. I heard an explosion behind us, they must have thrown grenades over.
This time though instead of us fighting for hours, it w
as over within a matter of twenty minutes. Silence crept over the forest, then we saw the three of them returning.
“Don’t shoot, it’s just us,” Benjamin hollered.
“Is Bennett out there?” I asked.
I could see them going from body to body checking.
“Yep! He’s here,” Dax said.
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” he yelled. “It says Bennett.”
I looked down to the ground where Danielle was. “You can tell the others it’s safe to come out.”
“You sure you want to do that yet?”
“Do you see any others?”
“No.”
We watched as the others continued to check on the bodies. I breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. But it was what happened next that I didn’t expect. When I turned around again I noticed that Alec was holding Spike.
“What the fuck?”
I rushed around the perimeter until I got to him. I tossed my weapon down. He’d been shot in the neck. He was coughing up blood and making a horrendous gurgling sound. For a brief moment I thought we hadn’t lost any others. The look in his eyes was wild. He was scared. Gripping Alec. Tears streamed down his face. I yelled for a medic but it was too late. His chest rose and fell fast, then slowly his eyelids fluttered, then closed. Alec was shaking. In one night he’d lost two friends. When I placed a hand on his shoulder he flinched. These were just kids. Just fucking kids. I cursed inwardly what this world had become.
I didn’t think it could get any worse than this
I was wrong.
Down below coming into view was Danielle. Right behind her was Bennett. He had a gun placed to the side of her head. Bennett? He’d swapped clothes with another one of his men.
“You really shouldn’t have told Liam about that entrance.”
I cast a glance at the side exit, which was partially open. When did he slip in? Had he ducked in when I rushed out after Liam? My mind was spinning.
“Just put it down, Bennett.”
“Why? You’ve killed every single one of my men.”
“It didn’t have to be this way.”
“Of course it did,” he replied.
