The three men let Hutch finish his deed and then stopped him on his way back to the cart. Walter spoke first. “You want to share a little more with us? That way we can pay our respects when we come back to play.”
“Me and Ben served together in the Navy.” Hutch pulled up his sleeve to show the Seal trident to them. “I never actually worked here when I was younger, but I heard about this place nonstop from Ben. He always said if anything ever happened, he wanted to have his ashes spread over the 14th hole. Told me it was the only hole he ever got a hole-in-one. About three years ago Ben was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan, and I’ve been totting him around since, with every intention to eventually get him here.” Hutch turned around to give one last salute to his old friend.
The other three guys quickly joined up beside him and saluted, too. When they finished , the three guys all turned to Hutch and pulled up the sleeves of their polo shirts to reveal a tattoo of the Marine scout sniper logo emblazoned on each of them. “Oorah,” they all said in unison.
Hutch smiled. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place and explained how these three guys had managed to stay alive for as long as they had.
The rest of the golf game was played out and they invited Hutch back to their place for dinner, and he accepted. After they ate and enjoyed a little drink, they retired for the night with the promise of another game the next day.
As morning came, Walter entered Hutch’s room to wake him for some breakfast, and found that he and his gear were both gone. The only thing left behind was a note on his pillow that read:
Thanks. Please watch over Ben for me. I have a few more things to do. Stay safe.
Oorah.
Hutch
Hutch silently slipped through the water to get back to his van. As he arrived, it was still in the same spot, and looked completely undisturbed. He climbed in and pulled down the map from his visor, and put an X over Hilton Head. He sat for a long moment while he looked at the map and the several small circles drawn on it, all in various directions from where he currently was. After contemplating all of the different places he’d marked out, he finally chose one and drew a red line over to his next destination to….
CHAPTER 54
Josey and The Bitch
Josey was running through the kitchen gathering up as much food and supplies as she could stuff into a duffle bag when Christi reentered the house. Christi called out to Josey, trying to find out where she was. As Christi came down the hallway from the garage, she picked up the two bug-out bags lying in front of her before she continued on to find Josey. She finally found her as Josey zipped up the last duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. “The kids are secured in the bus. Let’s grab the bags in the living room and get out of here. Brian is waiting for us.”
As the two women entered the living room, the back door of the house unexpectedly swung open, almost as if it were kicked in, and let in a huge gust of wind. Christi turned towards it and hesitated for a second, making sure nobody or nothing came through before she moved over to shut it. Josey let Christi handle the door while she moved to pick up the last two bags they needed. As she gathered up the bags, she was startled by a stifled scream that was quickly cut short by the sound of a silenced rifle. Josey stood just in time see Christi fall to the ground with a single gunshot to the head as two figures emerged from the dark through the open doorway.
The first to enter was a military-dressed figure aiming a gun which had just killed her friend, at her. The second was a woman,sharply dressed in a tight-fitting black outfit similar to the military man’s, but in women’s fashion.
The woman pointed. “Hold. I want this one alive.”
Josey immediately honed in on the woman’s instructions. If she was needed alive, it would give her more of an opportunity to try to do something. She dropped the bags off her shoulder and charged straight at the strangers as she pulled her pistol and fired. She hit the man squarely in the chest with the first two shots, which knocked him to the ground and left the woman unguarded as Josey continued to fire. Somehow she missed with the rest of her shots as she continued to fire at the mysterious woman, all the while still running straight at her until the gun ran out of ammo. As a last ditch effort, Josey threw the empty gun at the stranger, hoping to distract her while she closed the gap between them. When she finally came face to face with the woman, Josey was caught off guard. The woman simply stood still, as if bored with the entire exchange, and smiled. Strange behavior or not, Josey lunged at her, anyway, and stabbed into the woman’s stomach with the knife she had unsheathed after she threw the gun at her. “You bitch,” Josey screamed as she continued to push the knife deeper into the woman.
“You miserable little wretch. You have completely ruined this outfit.” The woman looked down at the knife stuck into her stomach. She then reached a hand across her body and backhanded Josey so hard it broke her jaw and sent her flying backwards.
Josey tried to get back to her feet, but she was quickly snatched off the ground and flung across the room with such force that she shattered the sheetrock on the wall she. The pain and shock made her feel like she was going to blackout until the intruder picked her up and pinned her to the wall.
The woman leaned in real close to Josey. “How many of you disgusting little roaches are present in this encampment? Oh yes, I nearly forgot, I would very much like to know who killed my men out there as well. I will not ask again.”
Josey took a breath as if she was about to say something, but a barely audible sound came out when she tried to speak.
The woman leaned in a little closer. “I did not quite catch that, please try again.”
Josey took another breath, and this time produced a large amount of bile mixed with blood, and spit it right into the eyes of the woman and grinned. “Bite me, bitch.”
The woman let out a growl as she wiped the spit from her face. She looked down at the blood on her hands and grinned back at Josey as she licked clean the tips of her fingers. Almost as an afterthought, she looked down and slowly pulled the knife out of her gut and placed it against Josey’s throat. She leaned close and whispered into her ear, “You insignificant piece of meat. I had wanted to keep you alive for a time, but not only did you try to harm me … you. Ruined. My. Outfit! I shall enjoy taking my time with you. You will beg me to end your suffering and kill you before I have finished. As far as biting you, don’t worry, I will.”
Josey closed her eyes. She knew whatever came next would hurt, and all she could hope was that Ron would be coming in at any moment to save her. As she braced for the pain to start, she heard a screeching howl in the distance, almost bird-like, that got the attention of her assailant and caused her to release her grip. Josey slumped to the floor as she saw the mysterious woman look at the military man Josey had shot. He had somehow gotten up from the floor and was eyeing the bullet hole she had put into his chest and was inspecting his bulletproof vest.
“Which way did Tovas go?” the woman asked the man.
“They went to the house on the other side of the ditch.”
“Something has happened. Go! I’ll be there momentarily.” She turned back to Josey. “You stay here until I return. I am not through with you, I promise.” She took Josey’s own knife and shoved it through her collarbone and into one of the exposed studs in the wall, pinning Josey in place.
Josey gasped for air as the woman turned, and almost in a flash, exited the house in pursuit of her fellow consort’s howl. Josey tried to pull the knife free, but couldn’t budge it. She tried to scream out for help, but her broken jaw made it impossible to do it loud enough to be heard. She hoped her absence would soon be noticed and someone would come looking for her and Christi. As she resigned herself to waiting for help to show, she heard a sound near the back door of someone approaching. Hopeful that her rescue was at hand, she relaxed for a moment until finally her rescuer made their appearance.
Coming through the door was a group of three slabs, wet and very hungry. Th
ey entered the house and made their way straight at the trapped meal on the wall. Josey let out one last scream as they descended upon her.
CHAPTER 55
EIGHT MONTHS PRIOR TO THE CAMP H INVASION
Kane
The door to Kane’s office swung open and four armed security personnel entered with two men carrying a large crate. They swiftly sat it down, and just as quickly as they entered, they exited the office and shut the doors behind them. Kane and Rowland, who had still been deep in conversation as they each spoke of their own ordeals since the outbreak, stood and approached the box.
“Is this the item you spoke of?”
“Yes, Rowland,” Kane answered. “I believe this to hold the answers we seek in regards to ending this vile plague.” Kane carefully opened the box and began to sift through its contents.
Before him were several artifacts from 13th century Europe, according to the label on the top of the box. He removed a 700-year-old vase and tossed it to the side with no concern for its age as it shattered on the ground. He continued to dig through item after item, his anxiety increasing, until, finally, he upended the entire box and its contents to the floor. “Damn it! Where is it?” Kane started to sift through the items on the floor.
“What is the item we seek??” Rowland asked, hoping to help.
“It is a book. The personal ledger of Mercer. According to the Smithsonian records, it should have been placed for storage in this very chest after it was located years ago. The Council has been searching for this particular book for quite some time . It should hold the key to the location of the cure we need to wipe out the scourge we face.” Kane slowly got up from the floor. In his anger he kicked the old box, shattering.
“Truly?” Rowland asked. “The actual ledger of Mercer? How long have you known of its possible whereabouts?” He used the tip of his foot to scoot around some of the items on the floor.
“I only recently discovered this. One of my assistants found an article in the Smithsonian record logs describing it. Apparently, it was donated by the family of a deceased member of the House of Lords in England, very quietly about two years ago. It was cataloged and stored away without any media attention given. It clearly stated in the records we found that one of the items was a small leatherbound book with the name Mercer imprinted on it. As soon as I learned this information, I sent a team to retrieve it. So I ask again, where the hell is it?” Kane continued to stew over his fruitless search. Frustrated, he walked over to the large viewing window.
“That would have been most fortunate, had it truly been in the crate,” said Rowland. “But regardless, we still have every member available present for the meeting. I have sent my consorts to rouse everyone and ask them to proceed to the meeting room. I assume all other preparations have been seen to?” Rowland gathered up his long crimson robe and slipped it on in preparation for the gathering.
“Yes. All the arrangements have been seen to. Alas, my friend, Rowland, if only you were my number two.” Kane donned his ceremonial robe, and the two men departed the office.
They made their waydown the hall, then pushed the button to call the elevator. When it arrived, the doors opened and President Miller stepped out and was startled by the two men in front of him.
“Mr. Kane, I was coming up to see you,” Miller stated. “I have a few questions to ask.”
“Mr. Miller, I will summon you when I have need for you. Now, please, step aside and wait for the next elevator.” Kane stayed aloof as he and Rowland entered the elevator and left Miller standing alone in the hallway as the doors shut.
“You still have him roaming around and not under your control yet?”
“I find it quite humorous to toy with him at the moment. I’ve decided to wait and see how far I push him before he snaps. I find I am a bit intrigued to see just what he will do when the time comes to rid myself of his presence.” Kane wore a devilish smirk.
“I see. I suppose in this time of chaos I cannot fault you for having a bit of fun, if that is what you wish to do.”
They both fell silent for the remainder of the elevator ride down to the meeting.
CHAPTER 56
Eva, Benjy, Kyle, and David
Eva bolted through the back door of Kyle’s house, and found her escort as he checked his fallen comrade’s pulse.
“He’s dead. Looks like he was shot just above the top of his vest,” he said as he stood to face Eva.
“He is not my concern, you worm. Have you found Tovas yet?” Eva went back inside and started looking through the house, starting with Kyle’s bedroom.
“No, ma’am. I’ll check the front half of the house.”
Eva walked through the modest bedroom off of the living room and snarled as she looked at the humans’ possessions. Items such as family pictures and decorations adorned the walls, and the room was furnished with meager furniture she would never have sat upon if her life depended on it. She walked over to the bed and with a single shove of her foot slid it across the room to reveal a collection of memories underneath. A wedding dress in a vacuum-sealed bag, along with several photo albums and numerous boxes of keepsakes and mementos from a previous life, were scattered before her. She just smirked at the sight of it all before she turned to leave the room. As she emerged once more into the living room, she heard her guard call out for her to come immediately.
As she arrived at the front bedroom of the house, she saw three bodies on the ground.
Her companion again checked the pulse of one of them, who obviously had a broken neck. “This one’s dead,” he said as he stepped over a pile of dirt to check on the other two bodies lying near the doorway.
“Stop. What is that?” Eva pointed to the mound of dirt.
“Just dirt, ma’am.” He kicked his foot, and as it passed through the mound of dust a medallion of gold and silver popped out of the pile.
Eva immediately recognized the medallion, as it matched the one around her neck, tucked inside her uniform. It signified their place as consorts to the Council leader, and there were only two of them in existence. She then saw the black clothing underneath the dirt and realized what she was looking at. She lunged at her companion, who had just drug his foot through the remains of her fellow consort, and snatched him by the throat before she slammed him to the ground with so much force it cracked his skull open and immediately killed him upon impact. “You defile his remains! You deserve nothing else but to join him!”
As she leaned down to pick up the medallion, a feeling of dread began to creep into her mind. If Tovas could be killed so easily, could they do the same to her? Being self-serving had always been one of Eva’s strongest survival traits, so she did what would have been expected of her; she bolted for the back door to make sure she could escape before she was dealt the same fate.
As Eva ran down the hallway to exit the house, the front door slowly opened as Benjy walked in to make sure Kyle got Hope out to safety. He caught a brief glimpse of the fleeing woman with long black hair exiting through the back door and out of sight. Storm bolted past and barked at the appearance of the stranger and almost took off to pursue until she caught sight of Hope and Kyle on the floor at the doorway to Hope’s room. This alerted Benjy, who had also been contemplating giving chase. He leaned down and checked for a pulse and found one on both the father and daughter. He looked at Ron and could tell by the condition of the body he was gone. As for the military man, who had been dressed in similar garb as the assailants he’d killed earlier in the evening, he didn’t spare a second glance. Then he saw the pile of dirt lying on the floor and he knew that it hadn’t been there earlier when he’d been in the room. As interesting as all this was, however , at the moment it wasn’t his priority.
He scooped up both the father and daughter with relative ease, especially for one of his supposed age, and threw each of them over a shoulder and turned to get them out to the evacuation vehicles. He called Storm to follow, and almost immediately, she started barking at the back door agai
n. Benjy looked, thinking maybe their assailant had returned, but, instead, found four slabs coming in through the back door. He called the dog again and made his way out the front door, realizing they were only moments away from being completely overrun.
Benjy battled the wind and rain as he tried to get to the Devastator with the extra weight on his shoulders. Being less aerodynamic in the wind, he found the situation was quickly become a losing battle. As he began to rethink his plan in the face of the wind, he spotted David running past and called out for his help. David didn’t see Benjy in the dark, but he abruptly stopped and sought out where the call for help had come from as he recognized Benjy’s voice.
David quickly found him and was shocked at the sight of his friend draped over Benjy’s shoulder. “What happened?”
“Don’t know, but here, take one of them,” Benjy replied as he leaned toward David offering up a body to carry.
David slipped Kyle over his shoulder and turned to run toward the Devastator. After a few steps of struggling with the new weight, he thought he should’ve grabbed the lighter of the two as he watched Benjy sprint past him toward the bus. “Damn, buddy, you need to go on a diet,” David yelled aloud, since he thought Kyle was unconscious.
“You ain’t no picture of health either, fat boy,” a voice came from over his shoulder. “Put me down and I’ll walk.”
“Oh, thank God,” David said. He stopped to let Kyle down. As he did, Kyle screamed and clutched his broken left arm, which drew David’s attention for the first time. “Whoa! What the hell happened to you?”
“Got attacked. They killed Ron. I got one of them, but the other was too strong. Where’s Hope? We gotta go back for Hope.” Kyle was almost rambling.
“Benjy’s got her. They’re on the way to the kitchen to evacuate. We gotta go now. The camp’s being overrun. Wes and everyone from the house hit by the tornado are gone.All of them either got chewed in the damage from the twister or from the slabs that showed up afterwards. We couldn’t get in there to get them out.” David tried to guide Kyle toward the Devastator. “Are you sure about Ron?”
Humanity's Hope (Book 1): Camp H Page 25
