"You're surprisingly calm," John said. "We disabled your CB radio station."
The man pointed to the nightstand where a large phone was sitting. "Satellite phone. My people will be here in five minutes."
"Then I suppose we won't." John walked over to the nightstand and picked up the phone. He redialed the last number and said, "Abort. Abort. Just a mistake." Turning off the phone, he said, "You know, I've always wanted one of these."
"You won't make it two hundred feet. My people will scour the land. Turn over every leaf. A hundred men. You'll never escape. You should join my little group. We could use people with your talents, although we had no trouble taking over your headquarters. So, maybe we don't need you. Too bad. For you."
John pointed his gun at the man and said, "People may scour the land, but they're not your people any more. I really don't like you. They will have to change the name of your group to the Duet. I never liked the name Triad, anyway."
John grabbed the man by the lapels of his pajamas and threw him across the room toward the door.
"I'm going to throw him down the stairs. I don't like him at all. This has become personal. Nobody has to watch."
"You won't get away with this."
"That makes two of us."
John picked the man up from the floor and threw him to the top of the stairs.
The man looked up at John with disbelief. "You are one of the mutants. Nobody's that strong."
"It's an ill wind that blows no good," John said, again picking the man up by the lapels. He held the man as high as he could over his head, then said, "If you can fly, you might find this loads of fun. Otherwise, not."
John used all of his new-found strength and threw the man. It was a long staircase, but the man flew through the air most of the way to the bottom. Once he landed with a crash, the man didn't move again.
Pierre looked out of the dining room. "What happened."
"A necessary accident."
"A little prejudice was involved," said Charles. "What next, John. Back to George's cabin."
Marceau spoke up, "Haven't you forgotten someone."
"Who is that, mon amour?"
"Mary. She sleeps in the first cabin."
"We'll pick her up on our way to George's cabin."
"By the way, Marceau," said John, "What happened to Carla and little John?"
"I do not know, Jean. When the first shots were fired, they ran out the back. I have not seen them since."
"OK, then back to the woods. We still have to watch for one missing man. He probably heard all the noise and he will be watching for us. So, be careful."
Mary had awakened and almost hit Marceau with a pipe when she entered the basement of Cabin One.
They stared at each other before Mary lowered her weapon. "Sorry. I thought it was one of those men. I've been expecting one."
As Masako crept from George's cabin to the back barrier, a gunshot was heard. Pierre saw the flash and in return fired a barrage and they heard no more shots.
Once out of the gate, Fred said, "Follow me."
"Where to?"
"Our emergency storehouse."
"The one you made from the extra culverts?"
"No," said George. "The one you told us to make from the extra culverts."
"George, what did you guys do? Not that I don't trust you. But, I am curious."
"Nobody liked the idea of crawling around in the three foot culverts. And, they would have been difficult to seal and to make into a bunker. We found a guy in town selling used forty foot long shipping containers and he even brought it over for free. We paid for it with a credit card. So, I suppose it was all free. We used the State's backhoe and made a big hole in the ground for the container and one for a culvert vertically for an entrance. Had to cut some trees for cribbing to provide room for the door to open under ground. We ran a pipe from the creek. It has food and guns and ammo and bows and arrows. It's almost like home."
"So that's the plan," said John. "Hold up until it's all over."
"A hundred guys with motorcycles would be difficult to deal with," said Charles.
"Right. Lead the way."
Five minutes after the group had entered their underground bunker, they heard noise from the road. George had installed a small audio system with a microphone outside and headphones in the bunker. Ten minutes later, the noise became greater and greater. Footsteps were heard. Thrashing in the brush. Dogs barking.
"We're screwed," said George. "It's almost impossible for an individual to escape trackin' dogs. Even after the trail has gone cold several days. The group of us left a really strong trail of scent, it's only a matter of time. And I'm guessin' a few minutes at most."
"We're done for?" John said.
"Afraid so."
Charles stood up and said, "You guys can leave on your own. No hard feelings. But, they'll have to come in and drag me out. I'm just not going to peek my head out and let myself be shot. I won't make it easy for them."
John walked over to Charles and hugged him. "I'm sorry, old friend. I should have known."
"Not your fault, John. Just the way it works. We had a good run. Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes not."
John went around the bunker and hugged each person, smiling each time, but saying nothing.
After a few minutes, the dogs stopped barking and a voice said. "Come on out. We know you're down there. We have forty men with guns. Come out now and we'll make it quick. If we have to come in and get you, you'll die slowly and in great pain."
John opened the large metal door and climbed the ladder. The hatch at the top was already open. He put his hands into the air and saw lots of people with their guns pointed at him. "Don't shoot. I can't outshoot forty guns. I know when I've lost. You win."
Masako followed and then the others climbed out one by one. The men herded them into a circle at the edge of the group. After everyone but Charles was out, one of the men shouted.
"Is that everyone?"
Nobody said anything.
"Who's the boss here." The man looked around.
John spoke up, "We don't have a leader, but it's my house you people have stolen."
"Is anyone left in there?"
"Only one, I think. Be best to leave him in there."
"You killed my older brother. I'm not going to leave a single one of you alive. I'll watch you all die. One at a time. And, I'll love it."
"You people were trespassing. Two of my friends are missing. Your people killed them. You can't blame us for defending our home. I hold you personally responsible for the death of my friends."
As John spoke, he began to slowly shift away from the entrance to the underground storage. He would look at one person while talking, then turn and face another, each time getting a few feet farther away. The others in his group watched and started moving with him."
"You people are just criminals. You take anything you want and kill anyone you want. That's coming to an end. The government is out of their bunkers and the military is off their ships. I saw them a few days ago. They're headed this way. If you want to stay out of jail, you'll leave now and go west, far west. And don't stop until you've passed the Mississippi."
Forty men still had their guns on him, but he and Masako had moved twenty feet by the time he finished speaking. The rest of the group had spread out along the edge of the group of invaders.
"I suppose that if it took forty of you to catch us, we weren't doing too badly. This has all made me sick. But, maybe it's the virus. My girlfriend died from it a week ago. Too much strain. The virus is in us all. It's just a matter of time and my time is coming soon."
As he mentioned the virus, the men began to step back away from them, closer to the bunker.
"I can feel my heart beating. Way too fast. You may not get a chance to kill me. This is too much, I'm going to pass out," he said pretending to fall onto his chest.
The others did the same as a horrendous explosion detonated. Dirt, trees and smoke filled t
he small clearing. John reached for the small pistol inside his sock and down in his shoe. Masako pulled a small automatic from an ankle holster.
She looked at him and said, "It was Cho's. I didn't think she would mind."
"No, under the circumstances, I think she would be proud of you."
They both began firing at anyone standing. When John's six shots were spent, he dived for a man on the ground, grabbed his rifle and continued shooting.
When it was all over, Masako said, "I don't suppose we'll have to bury Charles. That's so sad."
"No, I don't think we will. But we will have a ceremony." John looked around. "I think everyone is here. No. Where's Mary?"
Mary was lying on the ground. Pierre ran over to her.
"Sorry, John. She caught a bullet."
"Anyone else missing? Where's Abby?"
"I saw her," said Masako. "Just after the explosion. She ran into the woods."
"George and Fred, take lookout. If there's more, they'll come after us. I'll take a body count."
"No need," said George. "Forty-three. Add the four from earlier and we've taken them down a notch. And maybe two of the three leaders. That should put a hitch in their getup. They'll think twice about attackin' us again."
"They've killed two of us and scared others off. They still have us outnumbered by five to one. That's too much. But if we holed up in the lodge, we could make them pay a high price to take it. What do we do now?"
"Back to the original plan," said George. "I'm headin' off to pick up the Dark Demon. It'll be sunrise before long. Anybody want to join me and bring in the White Warrior?"
"Sure handsome," said Iris. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time," she said, smiling and pointing her rifle high in the air and firing off a shot. "Yee haw, what a day."
Chapter 61 - The Battle
The morning was sunny and bright. The air was hot and muggy by afternoon, and the White Warrior Number One had enough charge to allow going to the warehouse and bring back White Warrior Number Two.
Everyone, except Iris, who was on lookout duty, gathered in the dining room before dinner for a conference. Masako was first to speak.
"You always told me you were studying military tactics and survival tactics, John. Now, what's the plan? Fifty guys want to kill us. What's our best chance for survival? What do we do?"
"Come on, Masako. Why me? Why is this my responsibility? I'm not the only one here with a brain. Fred has military training. George is a genius. You had almost the same spy training I did. Everyone has a stake in this. We should listen to all suggestions."
"Yes, but you studied this. You learned all those battle tactics. The tactics of a thousand battles. You know what successful people in this situation did for the last thousand years. I don't know all that."
John stopped smiling and said, "I did study battle tactics, but in this case, I know what you know. When you are vastly outnumbered, you get on your horse and ride. Anyone with a better idea should speak up."
Fred stood up. "It's no different than when we were dealing with those guys in the warehouse up north. We have to carry the battle to them."
"Yes," said Pierre. "Tom was right, bless his soul. If we wait for them to attack, they have the advantage. We do not want that. We must do something."
"John," said Masako, "Didn't you say that the defenders have a three to one advantage? So, no way we could take over their place. Especially if they have fifty people. They would tear us up, right John?"
"Yes. That's right. What we did at the warehouse was to pick off as many as possible, one by one, until we got their numbers down. Then, they made a mistake and we picked off the remainder. But they were only a dozen or so. A much smaller problem."
"Still," said Fred. "The first thing we did at the warehouse was to spy on them. Gather more intel. It worked then. I think it's a good idea, now. We know where they are. They are well within the range of the Dark Demon. We leave this evening after dark and watch. If we can pick off a few, we do. Once we have more intel, maybe we'll discover some inherent weakness. Like Luke Skywalker. The Empire outgunned the rebels a million to one, but the Death Star was still blown to dust. Same thing."
John looked back at Fred with a grin. "You do know that was fiction, right. There was no Death Star."
"We can learn from fiction just like you learn from history."
"Low probability tactics work far better on the big screen. But, I can go along with surveillance. We can't wait long to start because they could be putting another force together right now. Who goes and who stays?" said John. "Our numbers are now less. Several people have to stay to defend the lodge. We made that mistake once. We can't make it again."
"OK," said Fred. "A small party. I'll go. Who wants to join me?"
"I'm with you," said John. He paused a moment and then focused on George. "But, with one change. George, do you still have the trailer you told me about that you had for the Dark Deceiver? You used it to carry clothing back when we were scavenging a lot."
"Yeah. It's out behind the barn," he said, gesturing behind him.
"How many bodies do you think we could pile onto that trailer and haul to the school using the Dark Demon?"
"Damn John! You are one strange dude. That's gross." George stopped talking and thought for a minute. "Twenty. Maybe twenty-five. You are jokin', right."
The stern expression on his face showed that John was dead serious. "Nope, we load twenty bodies on the trailer of the Dark Dementor and we put them along the road from the high school back in this direction. We have to do something with them if we want to keep living here. You don't want to have to bury them all do you? Even using a backhoe would take time, would take fuel and we would be outside, exposed. That thing makes a lot of noise and anybody nearby would know we are here. Also, it uses diesel."
"Interesting idea," said Fred. "I see where you're going. Back in olden times, an aggressor would put a dead and festering body on a catapult and hurl it into the castle to infect everybody in the castle. This is not exactly the same thing, but it could have similar results. Warriors have used dead bodies in battle before. It's not as weird or unusual as it first seems."
George looked like someone turned on a light bulb inside his head. "Hey guys, how about this? I'll drive you over and help distribute the bodies. Instead of a big pile, we put one every hundred feet or so along the highway. Then, I'll come back and grab another twenty and distribute them along the road, too. That's nearly a mile of bodies. If that doesn't spook these people, they aren't human. It would sure spook the hell out of me if I left home and found forty-five bodies of friends on the road."
"Good idea, George and John," said Fred as he slipped back into his chair. "Weird, but it has a good chance of working. Psychological warfare. We took classes in the Army. Spook the enemy. Make it look worse than it is. I like it." He pounded a fist on the table.
"I like it, too," said John. "This could be the best and most powerful trick we've ever played."
"You guys are really weird, but I like it too," said Masako. "I'll help any way I can."
Marceau looked at the four of them and shook her head. "Why is it that men never grow up? And you Masako. You have no excuse. You should not encourage them. You never know what crazy thing they might do next."
Masako answered, "It will be fun. That's the key. Fun. I'm beginning to enjoy this whole virus thing. The last attack and all. I know it's perverted, but I'm beginning to enjoy my life. I don't know why I feel so alive. So excited. It's a great feeling. I just don't understand it."
"I do." John lightly touched the back of her hand. "You just crossed the barrier."
"What are you talking about, John?" said Masako. "What barrier? Why do you always talk in code?"
"No code. Not this time. The life and death barrier. As long as you're sure you are on the life side of the barrier, you're afraid of crossing over. Because it means you're dead. Natural enough. It's all over. No more life. But if you are on the death side of
the line, if you've come to the conclusion that you are already dead, then you have no fear. You fear nothing. No reason to. You can't die, because you are already dead. Masako, you decided while we were in the bunker or just after we were out and surrounded by forty guns that you were dead. You figured you had nothing else to lose. You became totally uninhibited. I saw you kick three guys in the head near the end. One was going to shoot me." At that moment, John remembered what Cho had told Pierre. Masako would be his protector. That night she was. How did Cho know?
"Really. I didn't remember that. Maybe I do. That was amazing. I'm glad you reminded me. But, John, you're right. I remember saying to myself, I am dead. My life is over. Those were my exact thoughts as I climbed up that ladder and looked out at all those men with all those guns. How did you know?"
"Sure. We were all dead. And Charles realized that before most of us. He could have come out and they would have gunned us all down. On the spot. Or he could have used all of his explosives to make a giant explosion and kill most of them. He was dead already, but he gave us life, for a while. I'm sure he knew how it would turn out."
Masako's mouth upturned slightly. "That's why you went to him and hugged him first. You knew what he was going to do. You only hugged the rest of us to make it look like you didn't know he was committing suicide."
John gave his head a quick shake. "He wasn't committing suicide, Masako. That's the point of what I was saying. He was already dead. Like all the rest of us. We were all dead at that point. He was giving life to all of us, helping us claw our way back to life. And I loved him for it. I hope he understood."
Masako leaned over, hugged John and said, "I'm sure he did. How can I help? Can I go with George and help lay the bodies out on the road? It is so weird and so wonderful. I have never felt more alive. When did you first decide you were dead, John?"
John didn't have to think long. "The moment I saw three black bags being taken from that electronics factory across the street in China. From then until now, I have been clawing my way back to life. I'm still not alive, none of us are, but I'm still clawing with everything I have. Teeth, fingernails. Whatever. And I won't stop."
The Weak Shall Die: Complete Collection (Four Volume Set) Page 61
