They were inside for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the door opened and they came out. Once in the yard, one of the Guardsmen pulled a small pump sprayer from the truck. Putting on a respirator of his own, he started to spray each of them down. Once they were rinsed off, they pulled the suits off and piled them up, along with the masks and booties. Once everyone was out of their suits, the soldier poured a jar of fuel on the pile and tossed a match on it, sending a flame leaping into the sky with a plume of black smoke.
“Is all that really necessary?” I asked.
“TB isn’t anything to fool with. The last thing you want is for this to take hold. You guys did the right thing by isolating them. Let’s just hope you did it soon enough,” the doctor said.
“Roll up your sleeve, Morg. We’re going to test you too,” Doc said.
“Me? Why?”
“We’re going to do a few random tests. You interact with about everyone here. So if anyone had it, you certainly could,” Doc said.
His statement scared me. “But I feel fine.”
Doc smiled. “It’s not that big a deal. We just want to make sure there are no other cases.”
I rolled up the sleeve on my left arm and held it out. He produced the preloaded needle and inserted it just under the skin. He slowly pressed the plunger, and whatever it was went under my skin. I was looking at the spot when I asked, “How do you know if it’s positive?”
“If it’s positive, it swells up real big.” Doc replied.
Still looking at the spot, I responded. “Great, I’ll be staring at this thing for the next three days.”
“Don’t let it eat you up, Morg. I seriously doubt you have it. You’d be coughing your guts up if you did,” Doc said.
I glanced at the spot again. “That really doesn’t makes me feel better. Can you give me a ride to the house? I need to talk with the old man.”
Doc nodded. “Sure, let me talk with these guys and we’ll head that way.”
Doc spoke with the other medical folks for a moment and climbed into the truck. I was already in the passenger seat waiting on him. We followed the other trucks out of the yard and past the bunker. They waved at Danny and Dalton as we passed, but I didn’t even notice them. I was a little distracted about the guest waiting for me at Sarge’s.
Doc looked over at me. “What’s your plan for the dude at the house?”
Shrugging, I replied, “I don’t know. See what he can tell us about the Elk’s Camp. I want to know how many of those guys there are.”
“Hmm.” He looked back over at me. “You sure you’re up for this?”
Looking back, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“This isn’t pretty stuff, ya know.”
Turning my attention back to the road, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
We pulled up to the house and I got my first look at the guy. The garage door was open and he was tied to a chair in the middle of it. Sarge, Mike, Ted, Thad and the girls were there. So far, he looked untouched. But then I couldn’t see his head with the sack on it.
Getting out, I asked Sarge, “He tell you anything yet?”
The old man shook his head. “No, we haven’t got that far yet. Just exchanging pleasantries.”
As I walked up to the garage, I looked at Lee Ann. “Why don’t you guys take off. I don’t think you need to see this.”
She was staring at the man and didn’t look at me when she replied. “No. We’re going to stay.”
I looked at Jess and Fred, but Jess just crossed her arms as if to say, we’re not going anywhere.
Shaking my head, I said, “Suit yourself,” and looked at Sarge. “Let’s get this done.”
Sarge walked into the garage as Aric was coming out of the house with another chair. The old man pointed to the floor in front of the other chair and Aric set it down. Sarge spun it around and straddled it, resting his arms on the chair back. He reached over and pulled the sack off the guy’s head. The man blinked, looking down to try and avoid the light coming through the door.
Sarge gave him a minute, then said, “I guess you know what comes next. We’re going to ask you some questions. You’re going to try and be tough and not answer. But this will be a lot easier if you just answer them. We’re going to find out what we want one way or another.” He lowered his head to see the man’s eyes. “And all I have is time. This don’t have to end today.”
Everyone stood in silence for a minute letting the man take it all in. He looked around, taking each person in. After a moment, he simply looked back down at the floor without commenting. But Sarge was right there in his face and didn’t let him have time to collect his thoughts.
“So let’s kick this off,” Sarge said. The man raised his eyes and Sarge started his questions. “I’ll start with what we already know. You guys are holed up at the Elk’s Camp.” That statement caught the man off guard and he couldn’t hide it. “You thought we didn’t know that, didn’t you? Well, we know some more. We also know there’s some DHS turds and some of their lackeys.” This time the man stared back, but it obviously came as a surprise to him.
The man looked around, sat back in the chair and swallowed. “Sounds like you already know everything.”
Sarge nodded. “Well, we can always know more. Like, how many men are in the camp?”
The man shrugged. “More than one, less than a million.”
Wagging a finger in his face, Sarge said. “Now, see that kind of smart ass shit is what’s going to make this more unpleasant than it needs to be. So I’ll give you another chance. How many?”
He simply slumped in the chair without replying. I walked over to the work bench and picked up a small tack hammer. Moving over beside the man, he was eyeing me up. I twirled the hammer in my hand and said, “I’m not nearly as diplomatic as he is.” Looking at Sarge, I added, “and that’s saying something.”
Sarge smiled. “I know he means business. After all, you really hurt one of his daughters with that little bomb of yours.”
The man shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do! I saw you!” Jess shouted.
The man looked up as Mike and Ted moved towards the girls. They were already on their way into the garage. While his attention was distracted, and to let the girls know this wasn’t going to be that easy on him, I tapped the guy on the head with the hammer. Not a really hard hit, more like when you bang your head on a cabinet or something. But it was enough, and he let out a yelp.
Sarge laughed. “That smarts, don’t it?”
The man was shouting something. Probably because he really wanted to rub his head. To reinforce that this was just the beginning, I tapped him a little harder this time. He squealed again and rocked back and forth in the chair. This time though, he had more to say.
“You’re all dead! We’re going to kill you all!”
“You’re in no position to be making threats, my friend,” Sarge said calmly.
The man was now wild-eyed. “Screw you! We know who you guys are.” He looked at me. “We know who you are, Morgan. He then looked at Sarge and added, “and you, Linus.”
While he was still looking at me, I tapped him on the head three times in rapid succession. I was trying not to hit him too hard, just hard enough to really smart. He started to scream and rock in the chair.
“Don’t worry. If the lumps get too tall, I’ll just tap ‘em back down like in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons.”
His eyes were watering now as he looked up at me. “Do not hit me again! I swear to God if you hit me again—“
I cut him off by tapping him on the head again. “Or what?” Then I tapped him again, “Or what?” And again, followed with the same question.
He was screaming out in pain. While none of the blows was p
articularly hard, the accumulated blows were starting to add up.
Sarge grabbed his chin and lifted it. The man’s eyes were squeezed tightly closed. “If you want that man to stop hitting you, you’d better start talking.” When the guy looked over at me, I raised the hammer as though I was going to whack him again. Then he screamed, “Okay, okay!”
Sarge smiled and winked at me. “That’s more like it. So, back to the question. How many guys are over there?”
“There’s about 53 of us, plus some women and kids. There, you happy now?” The guy answered and shook his head.
Sarge reached over and rubbed his head. “That shit smarts, don’t it? How do you know our names?”
This time there was a smile on his face when he looked up. “We’re the federal government. You don’t think we know who you clowns are?”
Just to remind him where he was, I gave him a slightly harder tap on the head. He jolted as though he’d been shocked, and started to scream again. “You’re dead! You’re a fucking dead man!”
“You’re awful sure of yourself. There’s only fifty of you guys. Hell, with the National Guard, we’ve got more men than you do. What the hell makes you think you can take us? We could hit your camp and take it out,” Sarge said.
With his eyes still tightly shut, he replied, “Maybe for now; but there are big changes in store for you assholes.” He opened his eyes, “big changes.”
“What kind of changes?” Sarge asked.
But there was no answer this time. He simply sat back in the chair and sniffed loudly. His eyes were tearing up badly. And as a result of that, his nose was running.
Using the hammer, I pushed the side of his head. “What kind of changes?” He didn’t answer, so I pushed harder and asked again. He didn’t answer, only glaring up at me. So I gave another rapid round of taps to his noggin, the last one having the most force yet. He went into a fit in the chair, rocking, gyrating and screaming, but still didn’t answer.
Sarge looked over at Ted. “Hand me those tin snips right there, Teddy.” Ted handed them over and Sarge grabbed the guy by his face. “I’m going to ask you one more time what kind of changes are coming and you better answer me.”
The guy answered by spitting in Sarge’s face. Sarge took a moment to take out a handkerchief and wipe his face. Looking at the man, he said, “That was a mistake.” The guy glared back with half a sneer. In one quick motion, Sarge reached up with the snips and cut through the septum of the man’s nose. His eyes went wide and he began to scream as blood poured from his nose. Sarge followed it up with a severe punch to his nose, snapping his head back and cutting off the scream.
When he brought his head back up, he looked around, dazed for a moment. Then he settled on me, and in a calm voice, he said, “Next time were going to kill all your daughters. All three of them, and that pretty wife of yours too.”
I smashed him in the head with the hammer so hard it broke the handle. Drawing my pistol, I gripped the barrel like a handle and started to beat him as I screamed profanities. Savage blows rained down on the man’s skull as blood splattered me. Sarge jumped from the chair and tried to stop me, but I gave him a hard shove, sending him sprawling to the ground as I continued to beat the man. The magazine popped out at some point, then I was grabbed on either side and pulled away. I fought against Mike and Ted as they pulled me back. We eventually fell to the floor in a struggling heap.
I was still screaming. I wanted to kill the man. I wanted to beat him, beat him to death with my own hands. I was trying to get back up and the garage was full of shouts and screams. I’d totally forgotten the girls were there. A sudden gunshot brought all of us back around. I stopped and looked up. Ted and Mike were still on me, but I could clearly see Lee Ann standing in front of the man. Her H&K was extended out in front of her in one hand. A small wisp of smoke was coming out of the barrel. I looked at the man’s bloody face and a small hole just above his left eye.
Lee Ann stood there for a moment, then lowered the weapon. She looked at the man as blood oozed from him. “No you’re not,” was all she said before turning and walking out of the garage.
Sarge threw his hands up. “Damn it, Morgan! We needed to get more info from him!”
I rose to my feet in a daze. I was in shock seeing Lee Ann shoot the man. I looked around the garage. There was blood splattered all over the place. It was on the ceiling, on the back wall and the floor in front of him. Sarge was still fuming, but I pushed past him and followed my daughter outside. She was leaning on the front of the truck.
“Why’d you do that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “He said he was going to kill us. Kill mom. He already hurt Taylor real bad.” She looked up at me. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt us again.”
Looking at her, I said, “But you shot him, like it was nothing.”
“He wasn’t the first.” She looked up at me. “And he won’t be the last.”
I shook my head and wrapped my arms around her. “Baby, don’t let this eat you up. Trust me, I know what it’s like, and it isn’t good.” I felt her nod her head. “You’re too young and sweet for this kind of thing.”
She pulled back a little. “I’m not going to be a victim. I’m not going to let anyone hurt us. Just like you.”
I pulled her in again. “Just don’t let it take control of you, baby. This is ugly stuff, and you’re too beautiful to let it take charge.”
“Don’t worry, dad. It’s not like I enjoy it. I know you don’t either. But if it has to be done, I’ll do it.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t you guys take off. Maybe go relieve the guys at the barricade for a while. I’ll come by later.” I let go of her and wiped tears from my eyes. Jess, Fred and Aric were staring at us. Lee Ann motioned to them and they walked off together.
Thad was standing outside the garage. He’d been there the whole time but never said a word. He walked up and put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m going with them. I’m going to go have a talk with her.”
I nodded as he followed the group off and turned my attention to the man in the garage. The 9mm didn’t do much damage on the entry. But the beating certainly did. And the exit wound of the mushroomed projectile took out the back of his head. Mike and Ted were staring at the body, and Sarge was sitting on a stool shaking his head.
“Damn it, Morgan. I really wanted to know what the hell he was talking about, changes coming,” Sarge said.
Still looking at the body, I replied, “Sorry. It wasn’t a conscious decision. When he said they were going to kill my girls and Mel, I snapped.”
He let out a long breath. “I don’t blame you.” He then let out a little chuckle. “Hell, if you hadn’t done it, I would’ve.”
“Guess we’ll have to wait and see what he was talking about,” Ted said.
Sarge jumped to his feet. “Like hell! We know where they are, and they know where we are. But they don’t know we know where they are, so we’re going to pay them an unexpected visit.”
“You don’t think we should leave? We know they’re going to come back. Hell, they know your names now,” Ted replied.
“I’m not going anywhere. We’re not going to run again. All I want is to be left the hell alone. No way in hell am I going to tell my family we have to run into hiding again,” I added.
Sarge shook his head. “No. We ain’t running again. We’re going to take it to them this time.”
“What are you thinking?” Mike asked.
Sarge lifted his hat and scratched his head as he thought. “We’re going to take that Goose and knock out as many trucks as we can. Use the sixty millimeter tube to keep ‘em in their holes and apply some very accurate rifle fire on any fucker that sticks his head up.”
Mike smiled like a jackass eating briars as he rubbed his hands together. “Aww hell,
I’m gonna blow some shit up!”
“When do you want to do this?” Ted asked.
“As soon as possible,” Sarge said.
“I have to meet with the engineers at the power plant tomorrow,” I said.
Sarge nodded. “Alright, that’s important. We need to try and get that thing up and running if we can. We’ll plan the attack for a couple days from now.”
“What do you want to do with him?” Mike asked, pointing at the body.
Sarge glanced at him. “We’ll take him with us tomorrow and leave him where they can find him.”
Mike grinned devilishly. “Can I leave them a little something?”
Sarge looked over as a smile slowly spread across his face. “Mikey, I think that’s a fine idea.”
Ted rolled his eyes and moaned. “Oh hell.” Then he looked at Sarge. “Why do you encourage him?”
Sarge guffawed. “As damn annoying as he is, he does have his uses.”
“Yeah. When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed, just call Mikey!” Mike shouted.
Waving Mike towards the body, Ted said, “Come on demo dork. Help me get this guy outta here.”
“You need a hand?” I asked.
Ted shook his head. “No, we’ve got this.”
“Sarge, you should come with me. Dalton said he’s found heavy tracks somewhere and wanted to show us,” I said.
He nodded, “Let’s go.”
We walked over to the barricade to find everyone still there. Dalton was talking with Fred, Jess and Aric, and Thad was talking with Lee Ann. Their relationship was still pretty strong and I was glad to see them together.
“So where’s these tracks, Dalton?” Sarge asked.
Dalton pointed to the east. “Back over there. You wanna go take a look?”
Avenging Home Page 3
