Exodus

by Michael R. Watson

  “How much further?” asked John.

  Gant came to a stop, much to the relief of John. “I think this is it,” whispered Gant. They had come to the end of the tunnel with another tube rising vertically to what they hoped was their destination.

  ***

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Gant, John, the two boys, and the ex-Guard had only been gone an hour. It had been too long for Darby as he grew more and more impatient, pacing near the campfire with the rest of the Raiders watching in silence. The intent had been for them to hold back and stop any other hostile forces from advancing on Paradise if Gant and the others were unsuccessful. The more he thought about the whole situation, the more ridiculous it seemed. If the majority of the Guard were, in effect, resigning and leaving, then the governor wouldn’t have adequate troops to send, even if Gant and the others did fail. If they had gone with them, with their numbers, they could have made quick work of the rescue.

  Darby began to think about afterwards. Once the rescue was accomplished, they could take over the entire prison for their own people’s use, and have access to all the supplies that were stockpiled there.

  He climbed onto a wagon, waved his arms in the air and yelled, “Everyone, come here!”

  The men slowly gathered around the wagon. “I’m tired of sitting around, while Ryder and Levi sit in that prison.” He could see nods from the crowd. “Maybe Gant can get them out, but together I know we can. I’m determined to go there right now while the remaining Guard is at its weakest.” The men were alert and listening intently, excited at the prospect of joining the others. “I say, let’s not only free our friends, but let’s take over the prison. Now, who’s with me?” he shouted.

  Yells of agreement rose from the crowd, eager to do something other than waiting.

  “But …” started one of the men near the wagon.

  Darby raised his arms to silence the crowd. “But what?” he asked.

  “But weren’t we supposed to stay here? Wasn’t that the plan?”

  “You’re right. It was the plan.” He turned his attention to the crowd. “So, I only want volunteers to go with me. If any of you feel compelled to stick with the plan and stay here, that’s okay. No one will think lesser of you for it. It’s actually a good idea for some of you stay here to guard the road.” He still didn’t entirely trust the ex-Guard, any of them. He felt there was always the chance that they could switch back to supporting the governor if the circumstances dictated it.

  “Decide among yourselves who is going and who is staying. About half of you should probably stay. If another run is made on the valley, there should be enough of you to stop them. Whoever is going with me, be ready to leave in ten minutes. We need to hurry if we’re going to help.

  ***

  “Damon, what are we going to do now?” asked the governor. “They’re inside the gates. You have to protect me!”

  Damon maintained his outward composure, but inside he was furious at the troops being allowed to enter the compound. He barricaded the governor and himself in Davis’ office. Based on Peck’s report, Damon was fairly certain they would be safe there and that the returning Guard were only interested in gathering their families together and leaving. He knew he couldn’t stop them with the small Guard force that had been left behind, if he could still count on any of them, but he could make it difficult for the returning Guard by locking the doors leading into the living quarter cells.

  Knowing now where the men’s allegiance laid, he could only think of good riddance to them all, but he didn’t have to make it easy on them. He was certain there were plenty of men living in Tent City who would jump at the chance to join the Guard and reap the rewards, which included living inside the compound and an upgrade of food from what those at Tent City received.

  He didn’t believe retaliation against him or the governor was in the ex-Guards plans. But if it was, there were two sets of extra heavy duty double doors between the living quarters and the offices, presumably impenetrable, installed initially to prevent being breached by prisoners in the event of an escape or riot. As a precaution, he had personally made sure they were locked and guards placed at the doors.

  With a few moments to think, leading to a clearer head, he made a decision. Why prolong the confrontation? In hind sight, locking the doors hadn’t really accomplished anything. The sooner they were rid of them with their families, the less chance of anything happening to Governor Davis. Without consulting with the governor, Damon rose, moved the barricade, and unlocked the governor’s office door.

  “What are …” began Davis.

  “I’ll be right back,” he told the governor, who didn’t have time to respond, peering out from behind his desk with a puzzled look on his face. Damon calmly walked down the corridor to the set of locked doors leading from the administrative section. Two guards were situated behind the doors.

  Damon unlocked the doors and went through. The two guards began to follow, but he waved them back. From here he could clearly hear random shots fired. He went through the next set of doors. He was now inside the family living quarters. As he walked by, each cell, or home, was silent. He could see the wives and children huddled together in the corners of the cells, not knowing what was happening or who was shooting.

  At the far end of cell block C was another set of doors which he’d locked to block access to the Guard’s families. This was where he had positioned Peck and a rookie guard. Their rifles were up and ready. One door was open. Peck fired a shot as Damon approached, keeping the ex-Guard pinned down, just beyond a jog in the corridor.

  Peck was startled when Damon placed a hand on his shoulder, swinging around with his rifle. Damon grabbed the weapon’s barrel. “Easy. I want you both to fall back.”

  “It’s okay, sir. We’re holding them from getting in, just as you instructed.”

  “And how long do you think you can do that? Your ammunition will inevitably run out and then what will you do?”

  Peck didn’t have an answer. He knew Damon was right.

  “It’s not open for discussion. Leave these doors and come back to the offices with me. If need be, we’ll protect the governor from there. We’re going to let them take their families and leave. The sooner they’re gone, the safer the governor is, and the sooner we can start over.” He paused. “Next time, you’re going to have to make a special effort to recruit those who can be trusted to be loyal.” It was both a warning and a rebuke for those he’d recruited since Gant’s departure.

  Peck nodded that he understood. “What about this set of doors?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry about them. Just leave them unlocked.”

  Peck didn’t understand why Damon blamed the desertion of the Guard on him. Most of the Guard who’d decided to leave had been leftovers from Gant’s time, still holding a loyalty to him because of how he treated them, strict but fair. Peck was well aware of how they felt about him and didn’t consider it his fault that they had left, but he also realized it wasn’t a good idea to set Damon straight on the fact.

  Peck and the young recruit followed Damon to the other end of the cell block, exiting the living quarter’s area, re-locking that set of doors behind them. “Stay by these doors!” he instructed Peck and the other guard. “Don’t let anyone through. But I doubt if they’ll even try. I expect they’ll be more concerned about getting their families out.”

  Damon then proceeded back to the governor’s office, where Davis was cowering behind his desk. “Lock the door!” ordered the panicked governor. “Where did you go?”

  “I made sure the traitors could reach their families and leave.”

  “What? I didn’t give you permission to do that!” yelled Davis, furious that his authority had been circumvented.

  “I did it to save you from harm, Governor. Now, they’ll leave and we’ll be rid of them and any danger to you will be over,” assured Damon calmly.

  “But we needed them,” stressed Davis.

  “Them? No. We need
guards we can trust. We’re better off without them. We’ll get new guards, better guards, and start over.”

  “And what about the Raider leader and his brother? We still need them, don’t we?” asked the governor.

  “As long as we need leverage for the valley, we need them. Your old Guard is only here for their families. Don’t worry. They have no reason to release them.”

  That seemed to appease Davis. He braced himself on the edge of the desk and pulled himself up from his knees, plopping into his chair, his head resting against the soft pillow-like back. “What if they decide they want me too?”

  “Then we’ll know I was wrong.”

  ***

  At first, Gant tapped gingerly along the inside of the panel, expecting it to open. There was a hollow, metallic sound, but it didn’t budge. He moved the lantern along the edges, looking for a latch of some sort. There didn’t appear to be one. He raised his fist. “Be ready,” he said, “it’s going to get loud and it might draw attention to us.”

  John nodded, acknowledging he was ready and to go ahead. Gant pounded on the inside of the panel, progressively harder and harder. He paused and listened. Nothing. He lay on his back, bracing himself against John, and kicked with all his might. The panel cover flew open and slammed into the adjacent panel loudly. If anyone was in the vicinity, they would have heard it. They quickly crawled out, finding themselves in another utility room. They approached the door where they waited for any sounds from outside. After a few moments, John asked, “Hear anything?”

  “Nothing.”

  Gant tried the door handle. It turned easily, but wouldn’t pull open. Then he noticed the deadbolt lock and turned it to the unlocked position. He wondered why the room would have a lock on the inside. He slowly pulled on the door until it was just wide enough for him to peek out. Looking into the corridor he saw rows of cells with the doors open. He didn’t see any guards or anyone else. He pulled the door a bit wider and then opened it completely. He stepped carefully out into the corridor of cell block A.

  “Anything?” whispered John.

  Gant shook his head, motioning for John to follow. Their pistols were drawn and ready.

  “Have any idea where Ryder and Levi might be?” asked John.

  “They should be in this cell block somewhere,” he whispered back. “You take that side and I’ll take this one. We’ll have to look into every cell. They could be on their beds. We don’t know what kind of condition they’re in.”

  “Why aren’t there any guards?” asked John.

  Gant shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

  Gant told John that there were one hundred cells, on both the lower and upper levels, for them to check. They would have to hurry before a guard did show up and discovered them. They split up and began the search, quickly moving from cell to cell, whispering Ryder’s and Levi’s names as they went.

  ***

  Jason raised his head slowly toward the small shattered window. There was still enough unbroken glass to see through. He anticipated having to duck back down in an instant, realizing that if he did hear a shot fired, it had missed him. But there wasn’t one. Afraid of being shot, he had moved his eyes past the window quickly, not seeing anything. He removed his cap and moved it back and forth in front of the window. There were no more shots.

  “James,” said Jason, “I think they’ve stopped.”

  Jason positioned himself under the window and slowly rose until he could see the doors where the shots had been coming from. The rifle barrel, previously seen extending from the open door, wasn’t visible and the door was now closed. He kicked the door in front of him twice, loudly, in an attempt to draw their attention. There was no reaction.

  “Step back!” ordered Jason as he stepped back, followed by the deafening sound of him shooting out the door lock with his automatic assault rifle. He kicked the door and it flew open. He and James once again remained still, waiting to see if a trap was waiting for them. After a few brief moments, Jason made a dash for the doors. The former guards were almost to their families, just ahead on the other side of this set of doors. Jason looked back and waved the other men to come up. When they joined him, he passed the word to stay back and keep against the wall, while he went ahead to check things out.

  He threw caution aside and kicked one of the doors with everything he had, while still keeping his balance. Unexpectedly, the door flew open, slamming against the inside wall and bouncing back. For some reason, it hadn’t been locked. Several shell casings littered the floor, but the shooters had retreated.

  Something wasn’t right. Why would they put up such a fight and then all of a sudden give up? This cell block had been converted to the living quarters for the guards and their families. He stepped inside and stood motionless. It was deathly quiet. A bad sign. Without being given the okay, the other men came through the doors to join him.

  Jason edged his way in, stopping in front of the first cell. Huddled in the corner he saw scared and anxious faces. He gave the mother and her two children a reassuring smile and then moved on to the next cell, and then the next. It was the same in each one. He turned to the men.

  “Get your families out of here!” he shouted. “We’ll meet outside the gates!” The men rushed to check on their families. He then ran to his own home, cell C98. His wife, Jen, was standing in the doorway crying, as was his four year old son as he held tightly to her leg. Jason knew his son was too young to understand what was going on. For that matter, his wife was probably confused and afraid too. She picked up their son and quickly moved to meet her husband. He gave them both a huge hug and kissed his son on the top of his head. Tears also came to his eyes. Abruptly, he pulled himself away. There would be time for this later. They needed to hurry.

  “We’re leaving,” Jason told his wife. “I don’t have time to explain. Take only what you can carry. I’ll be back for you in two minutes.” And then he turned to leave.

  She didn’t understand. “But where will we go?” she called out to him, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

  He stopped and turned back to her. “To a better place.”

  Jason ran to the end of the cell block and checked the next set of doors. They were locked from the other side. That was just fine. He had no need or desire to go any further, to where he suspected Damon and Governor Davis were probably barricaded in the governor’s office. His only desire now was to take his family and leave. As he turned to go back and retrieve his family he caught a glimpse of Peck peeking through a small port sized window in one of the doors. The sight of him instantly brought back a desire to get even. He had never known a man more traitorous and conniving. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to deal with him right then.

  The men and their families were frantically gathering what they could in their arms and rushing down the stairs and out the double doors toward the main gate. Each man was on his own, responsible only for his own family, no longer a part of the Guard and no longer subject to following orders. They were on their way to freedom.

  ***

  “Ryder!” called Levi. “Listen! There’s someone coming!”

  Ryder placed his face against the bars as tight as he could in an attempt to see down the corridor, looking in both directions. Then he heard his and Levi’s names being called out in a loud whisper. The voices weren’t recognized by either. Perhaps the guards were messing with them. The calls were getting closer. Ryder still couldn’t see anyone. Then, a figure abruptly appeared in front of him. His eyes grew wide with joy as he recognized John’s face.

  “What are you doing here?” Ryder asked him.

  “I could ask you the same thing,” replied John.

  “You think you can get us out of here?” asked Ryder with a tinge of urgency.

  “That’s what we’re here for. Where’s your brother?” asked John.

  “Right here,” answered Levi from the next cell. Damon had Ryder placed in the cell next to his brother when they’d returned from his failed atte
mpt at reaching Paradise.

  John stepped over to get a good look. One of Levi’s eyes was swollen shut and judging by the bruises he’d been beaten badly. “You okay?” he asked.

  “I will be as soon as you get us out of here.”

  John could tell that neither of them was in a mood to chat. Gant had rushed over when he heard John talking with someone.

  “Gant? You too?” questioned Ryder. “I thought you two had gone off to start a new life away from all this.”

  “We did,” replied Gant, “but your father came to us and asked for our help.”

  “That doesn’t sound like him,” said Ryder.

  “I think your mother had a lot to do with it,” said John.

  “Now, that makes sense,” replied Ryder.

  “So, are you here to get us out or not?” asked Levi impatiently.

  Gant smiled as he pulled the set of keys out of his pocket. From his time there, he knew which one was the master key for the locks without having to use trial and error. In a matter of seconds, both Ryder and his brother were free. Ryder gave a sigh of relief with a huge smile on his face. “Thanks.”

  “What happened to your guards?” asked John.

  “We have no idea. Haven’t seen either one for a couple of hours, but we heard shouting and shots fired,” said Ryder.

  John and Gant exchanged surprised looks. “Shots?” asked John. “We didn’t hear anything, but we have a pretty good idea where they probably came from.” Neither he nor Gant elaborated.

  “So?” asked Ryder.

  Levi was more concerned with getting out of there. “Can we have a discussion later? Which way?” he demanded.

  “We’ll tell you everything later,” John told Ryder. “First, let’s get you out of here.”

  “This way,” instructed John, with Gant already heading down the corridor. Levi didn’t resist as Ryder helped him along.