by Bruno Miller
Ben heard voices and doors being slammed. He jogged to the opening in the tent and looked out.
Allie followed, but he put his hand out and motioned for her to stay out of sight until he determined what was going on. She huddled behind him as he peered out of the doorway and watched as a line of people began to emerge from the tents.
They were walking the same route that he and Allie had been brought in on. Hunched over and broken, they slowly moved across the last open stretch toward the gate. Their clothes were ragged and stained with dirt and blood. Several of them had makeshift bandages fashioned out of torn strips of cloth. It was a mixture of women and men of varying ages. There were 18 of them in total.
Keeping them at gun point were the same woman and the kid that had brought Ben and Allie in. But with them now was a new guy in civilian clothes who was carrying an M4. He was helping the other two keep the captives in line and corral them toward the enclosure.
It was overkill, as most of the people shuffling along barely looked capable of walking on their own let alone making any escape attempts. Nonetheless, he kept his gun trained on the sad bunch until the last one was through the gate and it was locked.
One of the last stragglers in the gate, an older man with gray hair, turned and yelled back at the new guy, “What about our food and water?” His voice cracked.
“You’re lucky you’re getting anything at all after the way you worked today,” the new guy scoffed before he turned and left back through the tents.
The two in uniforms followed him and left the ragged bunch without saying anything more. The ragtag group of prisoners now inside the gate began to disperse to different areas of the enclosure. Most of them headed for the tent where Ben and Allie had remained concealed.
Ben stepped back from the opening as the first man entered. Besides a blank look in their direction and a shake of his head, he hardly paid them any notice. The next man that came in had the same empty expression on his face.
“Welcome to hell,” he muttered.
Ben stepped back and in front of Allie as the man passed by them and made way for the blonde woman behind him to enter the tent.
“Mom!” Allie screamed as she bolted past Ben and embraced the woman, nearly knocking her off her feet. Allie wrapped her arms around her mother, who hadn’t even realized what was going on yet.
Ben saw the resemblance right away now that the two were standing next to each other. It took her mother a few moments before she managed a response.
“Allie? Is that you? I don’t believe it.” Her mother pushed her back away so she could get a look at Allie’s face. She cupped her daughter’s cheeks in her hands.
“It’s me!” Allie sobbed and embraced her mother once more. This time her mother returned the affection, and the two stayed that way for a while before anything was said.
“I thought I might never see you again. How did you get here? Where did you come from?” The questions started to flow as Allie’s mother came to the realization that her daughter was standing in front of her. She grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her again as if to make sure that it was really her.
“Mom, this is Ben Davis.” Allie stepped aside and wiped the tears from her face, keeping one arm still around her mother’s shoulder.
Ben nodded. “Nice to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“Me, too. I’m Sandy.” She offered a weak hand, and as Ben took it, he saw how frail and tired she was.
“This is Joel’s dad,” Allie added. “Remember the boy I told you about from school?”
“Yes, but how did you find me? How did you end up here?” Sandy’s eyes were filled with wonder as the others filed into the tent and sat down on their cots.
“It’s a long story, but they found me at the house and I’ve been traveling with them since. They were taking me to Pittsburgh to find dad. I…I thought you were gone.” Allie began to tear up as she spoke. Her mother pulled her in close.
Sandy looked at Ben through watery eyes. “Thank you for taking care of my daughter!”
“Sure thing. She’s quite the trooper. We’re lucky to have her with us.”
Allie looked at her mom. “We ran into some people a while back at a church. There was a little boy with a pair of wings on his shirt. Was that you?”
Sandy shook her head in disbelief. “Yes, it was! But how did you know I was here?”
“We didn’t,” Allie said. “We took a chance, hoping you might have ended up here. What happened?”
“We were on an early-morning training flight to Indianapolis when the bombs went off. Fortunately, we were already making our approach before we lost power. Our pilot was able to bring us down safely, but we were lucky to make it out of the airport. Planes were falling out of the sky all around us. A few of us made to the highway and started walking.” Sandy paused for a moment. “I need to sit down.”
Allie helped her over to one of the vacant cots and sat beside her. Ben took the cot across the narrow aisle from theirs and sat as well.
Sandy continued where she left off. “We knew we had to get out of the city. Things were starting to get really bad. I wanted to get back to you—to Durango—but I thought maybe I could get to your dad and then together we could make it back to you. We got a ride from an older couple in a pickup a day after we left the church, and they dropped us off here at this FEMA camp.”
“What’s going on here?” Ben asked.
“These people!” Sandy paused and looked out toward the compound. “They took the place over a couple days ago. Most of the troops got called away. We heard they were having problems at another camp outside of Cincinnati. After most of the soldiers left, they attacked the camp at night and took the place over. They’ve been holding us prisoner and forcing us to work for them.”
“Work doing what?” Ben had an idea, but wanted to hear it for himself.
“During the day, they take us out in one of the big supply trucks and force us to scavenge and loot people’s houses. They work us until we fill the truck with stuff and then they bring us back here.”
“How many of them are there?” Ben asked.
“At least six that I know of.” Sandy looked at the ground and let out a heavy sigh. “I’m the only one left out of our group. The others were killed the night they attacked the camp. We tried to help, but it was useless.” She shook her head. “And now you’re stuck here, too!”
Allie tried to comfort her mother and hugged her again. “We’ll figure something out, right?” She looked at Ben. “I mean, Joel is still out there.”
Ben glanced around at the others nearby, hoping they hadn’t heard Allie mention Joel. “Let’s keep that information to ourselves for now. We’ll get out of here somehow. I just need to think.”
For the time being, there was no reason to let anyone here know that they had a man on the outside. These people were in rough shape, and that bred desperation. He wasn’t about to trust anyone in here with that information. He wouldn’t put it past one of them to trade that knowledge to gain favor with their captors.
And if they were going to make it out of here alive, they would need every advantage they could get.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As Ben sat quietly, thinking over their situation, he began to hear voices outside the tent.
Sandy picked her head up. “That’s them, bringing food and water before they make us unload the truck.” She grimaced. “At least that’s how it’s been working.”
The voices grew louder until Ben heard the chain being unlocked and untangled from the gate. One of the guards shouted for everyone to stand back.
Ben, Allie, and her mom followed the others out of the tent slowly and watched from a distance as the younger kid named Billy pulled a cart with water and MREs into the enclosure. The woman and the man that had been there before stood guard, their guns at the ready, until Billy made his way back out and locked the gate.
“You got 15 minutes,” the man in civi
lian clothes barked before the three of them disappeared through the tents once more.
The pathetic group of prisoners suddenly came to life with the promise of food and water as they descended on the cart. By the time Ben, Allie, and her mom got there, only one MRE remained. Fortunately, there were still several waters left behind.
“I’ll share it with you guys.” Sandy picked up the packet of food and a water bottle.
“No, you need it more than we do. I only want the water.” Ben grabbed two of the plastic water bottles and handed one to Allie. He drank one down right away and then grabbed the last one on the cart before anyone else claimed it.
He couldn’t help but think about Joel and Gunner out there as he sipped on the second bottle. He hoped Joel would drink the last of the water they had and stay hydrated. But he knew his son too well and was worried that he would end up sharing it with Gunner in spite of needing it for himself.
Poor Joel out there on his own, no doubt scared and worried about them. He wished there was some way he could communicate with him, even if it were just to let him know that they were at least okay. Ben knew he was going to have to come up with an idea fast or else Joel would attempt something on his own.
The thought of his son singlehandedly trying to take on all of these guys was more concerning to him than their immediate situation.
If they were going to be forced to unload the truck later, maybe an opportunity would present itself then? That was the only thing Ben could think of right now. Breaking out of this enclosure wasn’t an option. The razor wire around the top of the fence guaranteed that.
Ben glanced around at the people he was stuck with. He thought about talking to a few of the prisoners about coming up with a plan of attack, should a moment arise, but the more he looked around, the more discouraged he became.
These people were barely capable of functioning right now—not to mention they were less than friendly and he didn’t want to take a chance on one of them giving him up. He hated to admit it, but there was nothing he could do right now but wait.
Allie’s mother and the other prisoners had hardly finished their MREs when the three guards returned. The kid was assigned the task of unlocking the gate once more while the other two stood at the ready.
The woman took charge this time. “Let’s go. Move it. Single file.”
Tired groans came from the small crowd of prisoners as they began to shuffle toward the gate and line up.
“Just do what they say and they’ll leave you alone,” Sandy whispered.
“Probably best if they don’t know you two are mother and daughter,” Ben replied quietly but unfortunately attracted the woman guard’s attention.
“You two, up to the front so I can keep an eye on you.” The woman was looking at him and Allie as she motioned with her gun for them to come forward.
Ben reluctantly headed to the front of the line. Allie walked behind him. He was proud of her for not making a scene while leaving her mother’s side.
As they took their places at the front of the line, the man in civilian clothes ordered them to start walking. Ben and Allie led the way as they were escorted back through the tents and past the trailers along the same path they came in on.
As they approached the main gate, Ben noticed the last tent in the row had both of the large main flaps open, allowing him to see inside as they passed.
The tent was filled with personal items ranging from flat-screen TVs and furniture to gun safes and large garage toolboxes. Off to one side was an area of shelves filled with food, water, and a large collection of liquor bottles—all pilfered from the surrounding neighborhoods, no doubt.
The goods were all stacked up neatly in piles. These people either knew something he didn’t or were complete idiots. Aside from the food and water, most of this stuff was worthless.
“Keep moving. Come on,” the woman shouted.
Ben continued to lead the weary line out past the front gate. There, parked next to the Humvee, was one of the National Guards LMTVs (light medium tactical vehicle). The cargo truck had a canvas top that covered the rear trailer area. Ben could see through the rolled-up side panels that the truck was about half-full from the day’s pillaging.
There were two more men with guns waiting by the back of the truck. They had a small step ladder leaning against the tailgate and motioned for Ben and Allie to climb into the truck.
One of the men leered at Allie as she climbed the ladder. “Hi there, sweetheart.”
“Later.” The other man pushed him and laughed as they both stepped aside a few feet to make room for the rest of the captives to form a line behind the truck.
There wouldn’t be a later if Ben had anything to say about it. He eyeballed the two men as he climbed the ladder and stepped onto the truck bed.
A door slammed and a tall older man emerged from the trailer with the AC unit on top. He was the only one of the six that didn’t have a rifle. Instead, he carried a large-caliber pistol on his side in a holster. He adjusted his tall black cowboy hat and sauntered down the steps from the trailer, letting his left hand rest on the holstered gun at his side as he walked.
“Let’s see what we got today, shall we?” He boasted as he passed the original three guards that had brought the group out.
“Nice and easy now. Don’t scratch nothin’ up,” one of the two men at the tailgate scolded.
Ben and Allie reluctantly began grabbing the items in the truck one by one and handing them down to the people on the ground, who in turn carried them to the tent for storage.
They started with the smaller things in the truck, and the whole time, Ben kept his eye out for anything he could use as a weapon. The man in the cowboy hat, who Ben presumed was their leader, had made his way into the watchtower to oversee the operation.
The three original guards were grouped together by the entrance to the camp and were busy smoking cigarettes and passing around a bottle of something. The two near the tailgate were the only ones half-heartedly paying attention to what was going on, and Ben noticed they were drinking as well.
They had moved most of the smaller things, and Ben helped Allie as they worked together now, lifting some of the larger pieces. He shook his head as he got one end of a large flat-screen TV. This was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever seen. He could feel his hatred for these people and what they were doing to them grow with each passing moment.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sandy was next in line so Ben and Allie handed down the large flat-screen to her and another guy. She managed a sad little grin at Allie as they handed off the TV.
Next up was a large garage toolbox. It was a nice unit with multiple drawers on top and a large cabinet on the bottom with casters. It looked heavy and he was glad to see it had wheels on it. He tugged on it and tried to roll it out from where it was wedged against the side of the truck, but it was very heavy and only moved a few inches on the uneven truck bed.
He put more effort into it this time and managed to make enough room for both him and Allie to get behind it. “Come around this side and help me push it, Allie.”
She squeezed in next to him behind the massive tool chest and they began to push it toward the tailgate. Ben had no idea how they would get it down and out of the truck or how they had gotten the thing up there in the first place.
They picked up speed as they pushed until one of the wheels caught something on the floor. The cabinet came to an abrupt stop and began to tip. The upper cabinet must have been loaded with tools, since the whole thing was top-heavy and unbalanced.
He was able to catch it before it tipped too far and steadied it back on all four wheels. Taking a lower position on the cabinet, they started pushing toward the tailgate again. With all this work, Ben wasn’t sure he’d have the energy to make an escape.
“Ahh!” The man in the cowboy hat yelped loudly from the watchtower and grabbed at his chest.
The dull crack of a distant rifle filled the air.
The
man dropped out of sight behind the plywood half-wall and was gone.
Before any of the others had a chance to react, another shot rang out. This time, the man in civilian clothes near the front gate was the target. Ben saw a large chunk of the man’s neck had been blown away.
The man grabbed at the wound in an effort to stop the heavy stream of blood shooting out, but it was no use. He looked at the other two with wide eyes as the blood oozed through his fingers.
“Help me,” he gurgled, but he was done for by the time he hit the ground.
The young private was standing next to him when the bullet struck and had been caught in the bloody spray. He stood motionless, staring at the lifeless body on the ground.
It had to be Joel doing the shooting. But regardless of who it was, the time to capitalize on the moment was now.
“Push!” Ben yelled as he put everything he had behind the tool cabinet.
Allie joined him, and they gained speed quickly.
By the time the two men standing guard at the tailgate realized what was happening, it was too late. One of the men managed to get a couple shots off, but neither one penetrated the thick metal cabinet.
When Ben and Allie reached the end of the truck bed, the tool cabinet’s wheels caught the edge like he’d hoped they would. The tool chest careened top-first over the edge and onto the men below with a sickening thud, crushing them both under its enormous weight.
The only two left standing now were the woman and kid pretending to be a private that had first intercepted Ben and Allie at the gate.
The kid began to shoot wildly in every direction as he tried to locate the source of the sniper, while the woman ran for cover back toward the camp. She yelled for him to follow her, but he was oblivious to her calls and remained in the open. Locked in the moment and driven to panic by adrenaline and fear, the kid stood his ground, spraying bullets as fast as he could pull the trigger on the semiautomatic rifle.
