by Jack Hunt
Damon hopped over the edge and took a look inside. While the tires were inflated, the insides of the truck had been gutted. It looked as though someone had been using it for parts. Wires were hanging down from under the steering wheel, the radio was missing, deep holes were where the speakers used to be, and the air conditioning panel had been ripped out and tossed on the floor.
Elliot wanted their focus to be on searching for a camp on the ground. He wouldn’t mention cabins in the trees. Although they were hard to spot, setting up their expectation for a base on the ground would increase the odds of them looking ahead.
“Now listen up, everyone. You need to be on the ready. They have a perimeter that is three miles out from the main camp. I need you to pay attention. Keep your eyes ahead, watch each other’s backs and don’t get trigger-happy. Last thing we need is to deal with friendly fire.”
He hopped down, folded up the map, pocketed it then led the way.
Back at the compound Frank had made a point to have all the elderly, women and children placed down in the phase three bunkers. Barring a few to watch over them, he had the rest of his men positioned around the walls just in case those in the group had second thoughts. From his position in the central watchtower he had a good lay of the land. His brother John brought up binoculars to his eyes and scanned the perimeter.
“Settle down, have a coffee and cigar. You worry too much,” Frank said.
“And you don’t worry enough,” John replied, lowering the binoculars.
“If there’s a problem, Baldwin will contact us. That’s why he went with the group.”
“Yeah, and what happens if someone recognizes him?”
“They won’t. Sit down. You’re making my blood pressure go up.”
John took a seat beside him and turned up the volume on his radio. Static noise came out and he set it on a table in front of them. A warm morning breeze blew in as they sat there sipping coffee and basking in the heat of the day.
Frank could see his brother was tense. He placed a hand on his arm. “John, this is what it’s all about. Trust. We’ve got this. We hold the cards. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Eventually this is what it would have come down to. Okay, it’s a little premature, I will admit that, but what better way to see what kind of people are among us than to send them out to run an errand.”
He snorted. “Run an errand? You act like you have this under control.”
“I do.”
“No. Not only are you placing your faith in the people you’ve abused, you put guns in their hands. This can only end one way.”
“Damn it! When will you ever have some faith in me? We are seven months into this EMP and living better than anyone else. We have people ready to die for us. Do you think FEMA could do that? No, that’s because they haven’t got what we’ve built here.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“Loyalty.”
John laughed. “The only reason these people aren’t back here ready to take this compound is because we have their loved ones. Don’t mistake loyalty for fear. They are afraid. There is a big difference.”
“Fear is a healthy part of a relationship.”
“Oh I see, you want to talk about dad?”
“Hey, I’m just saying. He might have been an asshole but he taught us some valuable lessons along the way.”
“Yeah, like how not to treat women.”
He laughed. “Well you can’t say that mother didn’t grate his nerves. If I’ve learned anything about women, it’s that they know how to get under your skin. I always thought he was to blame but you don’t know what he dealt with.”
“I know raising your hand to a woman is wrong.”
“I agree but so is cheating. Our mother wasn’t an angel, John. You were too young to know. I heard the conversation she had with her lover on the phone. I caught her in the arms of another. You don’t think that would cause a man to flip out?”
“Perhaps if he’d spent more time with her she wouldn’t have had to get her needs met somewhere else,” John replied lighting his cigar.
There was no point arguing with him. They would never see eye to eye on their parents. And yet at the heart of who they were was a family torn apart by violence and adultery. Frank flipped down his sunglasses and closed his eyes allowing his mind to wander. He focused on the end goal. Everything was being taken care of and by the end of the day if it all went to plan he’d have Mack’s head impaled on a stake.
Chapter 20
According to Calvin, the FEMA camp had been set up near San Augustine, Texas. It was one of several throughout the state, and on the smaller end of the scale. The largest one was in Austin, almost five hours away by car. Problem was they didn’t have a vehicle and even if they did the roads had become far too dangerous to travel. At one time it was just a matter of weaving around stalled vehicles and driving past the odd group out to take advantage of anyone but now there were roving gangs. On the long hike from Rosevine to San Augustine, which took them over four hours, Gary filled him in on what it was like.
“Holy shit,” Calvin said.
“Oh yeah, it was that bad. The highways were dotted with stranded vehicles, the landscape north of us was burnt to a crisp. Literally you could see miles and miles of forest that had been reduced to nothing more than charred logs and black dust.”
“And you weren’t afraid of radiation?”
He snorted. “I could regurgitate the lengthy explanation that Elliot gave us about time, wind direction and blah blah blah, but it would only bore you. To be quite honest, I didn’t care whether I lived or died anyway. After I got word of Jill’s death, it was like time ceased to exist.” Calvin listened intently. “I didn’t know how much I could miss her until she was gone.”
Calvin nodded and then winced reaching up to his shoulder. “But you seem fine now?”
“What you see and how I feel are two different things. Sure, the sting isn’t as bad but the pain is still there. I don’t think that will ever go away. It’s more a sense of guilt in thinking that I should have been there to protect her.” He gave a thin smile. “The irony of it all is I don’t think she even needed me.” He breathed in deeply the rich noon air. “According to Rayna she handled herself like a champ.”
“Most women are when you get to the heart of them,” he replied.
He shook his head pushing the thoughts of her from his mind. It hurt too much to dwell on it. “Anyway, that’s how we came to lose our vehicle. We barely escaped with our lives. It was brutal.”
Before the EMP, San Augustine had just over two thousand people, and the last time Calvin had seen it, roughly four months ago, it was a hive of activity as droves of people flocked there seeking water, food and medicine. It was one of many Survivor Centers that had been erected outside of the fallout zones.
“I’m telling you, Gary, don’t get your hopes up. The last time we were here they were turning away people. It was quite the sight. It almost turned into a riot outside. Some of the military had to fire smoke and rubber bullets into the crowds to get them to back off because some folks were setting vehicles on fire and threatening to throw Molotov cocktails over the chain-link fences. We took one look, turned around and headed back. It was probably the best thing we could have done. You see, while most folks were abandoning their vehicles, homes and towns to try and get to one of these SCs, we raided homes, stores, vehicles taking anything we could get our hands on. You can imagine the surprise on people’s faces when they got turned around and came home to find their homes emptied of food, medicine, tools and anything that was of use. In many ways we owe our lives to Mack. He knew what to do in the worst situation. He kept a level head and laid out a plan for our group to survive.”
“Sounds like Elliot,” Gary said.
“How long you known him?”
“A long time.” He nodded, adjusting the pack on his back. They stuck to the county roads and avoided the highways, it was easier that way. Of course there was a
chance of encountering local thugs but so far it had been clear. Gary reached into his bag and pulled a canister of water out and handed it to Calvin who chugged it back before Gary took a hit on it. He was carrying for the both of them, so the darn strap was eating into his shoulder.
“And his wife?”
“Even longer.”
He nodded. “So tell me, what happens if it works out with the FEMA camp?”
Gary replied, “I’ll see if can borrow a truck and go get them.”
“They mean that much?”
“Believe me, there were times I wanted to turn my back on them but friends like that don’t come along very often. I can probably count on one hand how many true friends I have.”
“Tell me about it. Before the EMP I used to have like 500 people that had connected with me through social media, but I hardly knew any of them. We rarely talked and well, quite frankly I just think they were lurking to see what had become of my life. You know, like old school buddies.”
“It’s weird how the world changed, isn’t it?” Gary said. “We created all this technology that was meant to bring us together and make us feel more connected and yet before the lights went out, I’d never felt so disconnected from society. I mean, sure, my job pushed me out into the community, but I rarely saw the good side of it. It was always the underbelly; you know... the stuff that rarely gets put in local papers. I tell yah, it can wear a person down.”
“Is that why you think you had problems in your marriage?”
It felt weird to open up to a complete stranger, at least someone whom he hadn’t known for longer than a few days, and yet with so much ground to cover and so much swirling in his head he kind of found it therapeutic to unload. Besides, he figured once he got back they’d be leaving and he probably wouldn’t see Calvin again.
“Yeah, the job played a role for sure. You don’t log countless fourteen hour days without it eventually affecting your marriage. I think we married too young. We both came into it with unrealistic ideas about one another — you know, that I was meant to make her happy and she was meant to do the same for me, I guess it just didn’t happen.”
“It would have never happened,” Calvin said.
“Because?”
“We can’t make people happy, Gary. We can make them feel good on the inside for a time but whether they are happy or not is out of our control. Happiness comes and goes and quite often it doesn’t matter how much you fill someone’s cup, they can still be unhappy. It’s their responsibility to discover what makes them happy and bring that to the relationship. As it is yours.”
“Um. You sure you weren’t a therapist before the EMP?”
They both chuckled as they came over a rise that would bring them to the final stretch of the journey. As they crested the hill their eyes widened and their pace slowed. In the distance black smoke drifted across the highway that led into the FEMA camp. Gary pulled out the binoculars and took a look. “No. No. No,” he said slowly.
Calvin didn’t ask but took the binoculars from him to see for himself. Gary took off his bag and tossed it down and dropped to a crouch and put his head in his hands. What he’d seen in the distance wasn’t just disheartening, it was downright frustrating.
“We’ve come all this way for nothing.”
Calvin handed him back the binoculars.
“We should go see. We’re here now. Who knows what we’ll find.”
He shook his head and didn’t respond but got up and continued walking forward. He wasn’t sure why, other than maybe to please Calvin or out of morbid curiosity. When they arrived at what he could only refer to as ground zero his gaze washed over the disaster. Chain-link fences had been brought down, tents torn to shreds, semi-trailers overturned, floodlights smashed, and bodies lay in various states of decay. He brought a hand up to his nose after inhaling the stench of death. Gary stepped on a FEMA camp warning sign that was riddled with bullet holes. There was nothing. It was all gone. Their own defenses had been chain-link fences that were three deep with barbed wire, and not even that could prevent the angry mobs from taking what they wanted.
“It was to be expected. You can only control people for so long and they eventually fight back.”
A warm breeze blew paperwork across the ground like tumbleweed, and Gary reached down and snatched up a piece. Spots of blood covered it and he couldn’t make sense of what it was about. It was all to do with protocol and whatnot. That hadn’t exactly helped them.
Over the course of the next twenty minutes they waded through the debris searching for anything of use that had been overlooked. All Gary could think about was the long road back, and what Elliot would say.
Trudging through dense forest, Elliot had told Samuel to go back and speak with a few of the people originally from New Hope Springs that he trusted and have them create a distraction so Damon, Jesse and Maggie could splinter off. They were meant to act as if they’d seen some of Mack’s crew and open fire. It would cause everyone to seek cover, at which point they’d escape in all the confusion.
He was still torn on whether to try and speak with the group as a whole and persuade them to turn their backs on Shelby with a guarantee that they’d be able to ensure the safety of their loved ones if they worked together with Mack’s group, but Samuel was certain that one of Shelby’s men was among them.
They couldn’t risk it, all of which meant innocents would die.
There was no way around it. It wasn’t just the lives of the group but those back at the compound. He wasn’t going to jeopardize the lives of Rayna and his kids.
He trudged on, gritting his teeth and regretting not listening to Gary.
If they’d just done what he’d said perhaps now they’d be inside a camp. Sure they’d have to hand over their guns but a warm bed, and the military patrolling the camp, sure sounded good in that moment.
Elliot had led the group three miles northeast of the main perimeter, he figured if he could get those who wanted to be there to believe that they were close to the camp, it would not only give Damon a chance to make it back, but the sudden eruption of gunfire would give Mack the heads-up.
When the gunfire erupted, instinctively everyone hit the ground.
Elliot cast a glance back at Damon and nodded.
“Where are they?” Elliot shouted, feeding the paranoia of everyone else who wasn’t aware of the plan. Several of Samuel’s crew pointed and then dashed forward taking cover behind trees.
“Spread out,” he shouted as more gunfire added to the confusion. He glanced back one more time to check if Damon was there but he was gone, as were Jesse and Maggie. In that moment he felt a smidgen of relief, a sense that perhaps they might stand a chance even if Damon didn’t have a large group to go with him. He trusted all three of them like they were his own blood.
Rounds echoed as Damon sprinted at a crouch, darting in and out of the trees, then pitching sideways down a steep incline. He lost his footing and tumbled over until a tree broke his fall. He groaned in pain as Jesse caught up with him.
“You okay?”
“You know I once said Rikers was bad, I take that back. I would gladly walk into that jail.”
Jesse chuckled and helped him to his feet. He brought up half of the forest with him attached to his clothes. Leaves, dirt, even a few loose stones dropped to the ground as Maggie came over the rise and jogged down. More rapid gunfire followed.
“If you guys are done playing in the sand pit, we need to move.”
“Sand pit?” Damon said brushing himself off.
They hauled ass out of there until they could no longer hear the crack of rounds. Realizing time was against them they maintained a steady pace, jogging, and walking fast when they got out of breath. “You know this is pure insanity. We are going on a hunch that this escape hatch exists, that we can find it and that it’s even accessible. You remember how hard it was for those two guys to break into Elliot’s underground shelter? I hardly think this is going to be a walk in the park.
”
“It exists. I spoke with Samuel. Harlan told him before they left the compound that it comes out near a mound of earth and is covered by iron bars. It resembles a storm sewer and has a lock on it. It’s in the middle of the forest, covered up with branches, so the chances of anyone being able to find it without knowing what to look for are slim to none. Besides, who the hell in their right mind would be out here?”
“I think finding it is the least of our problems. If that entrance comes out into his office, how the hell are we meant to get in if there is a desk on top and the potential of Shelby inside?”
“We’ll need to create a distraction, draw him away.”
“Oh, that’s not going to raise any questions. I can hear him now… ‘Oh hey guys, back so soon? Where is Mack’s head? And while you’re at it… where the hell are the others?’” Maggie said shaking her head.
“We’ll figure it out when we get to that point.”
“Yeah, well, we are at that point.”
“What’s your problem, Maggie?”
She shook her head and Damon could tell she was pissed. “I just want this to be over. Since this whole thing has kicked off, I’ve not had a chance to unwind. It’s been one thing after the next. Will we ever get a break from the struggle?”
Damon stopped and looked at her, and tears welled in her eyes.
“Hey, hey, c’mon. It will get better, I promise.” He gave her a hug. “Besides, we’ve been through worse.”
Jesse chimed in and pulled a face. “Uh. I would beg to differ.”
“Okay, I admit this is a pretty fucked-up situation but it is what it is. Our options are limited. Hell, if Elliot could be here now he would, but it’s down to us. So let’s find this damn tree and end this.”
Chapter 21
Ray Tamlin couldn’t believe what he was seeing. At first he thought the heat of the day was playing tricks with his eyes, as all he saw was a hint of red, then it was gone. He blinked hard. Nothing. He shook his head, and was about to turn away when he saw it again. He and his group of twenty-four were perched high up on a rocky overlook waiting on word from Mack when a familiar-looking man came into his field of vision followed by two more. What the hell?
