Apocalypse Empire (Book 1): Apocalypse Origins

by R. A. Neely

  "I imagine we had it easy compared to be people caught in the cities. We've got plenty of food and I don't have a problem getting fresh meat," he said with a nod towards the platter of venison.

  "When did the bandits show up?" Greg asked.

  "About a week now," Kelly replied. "They showed up and demanded all of our food."

  'You can't give in to people like that," Byron said. "You give in once and they'll keep coming back."

  "One of them shows up every day around noon and makes the same demand. I don't know how long it'll be before they just try to take what they want," Kelly said worriedly.

  Byron nodded, "We're really the only ones that know how to use a gun. The campers really don't have any idea of how to survive."

  "If they attack, we've been thinking of having everyone come inside and hoping for the best," Kelly said.

  Gregg nodded, "I think it's not as bad it seems." At everyone's look he explained. "Here's what I'm thinking. They've been here a week and haven't attacked yet. That makes me wonder if they can. I mean why would they wait otherwise?"

  "Maybe they just want an easy victory," Russell said.

  Greg frowned in thought. He wanted to help these people but the situation reminded him of when he had first met Dawn. Everyone had seemed friendly at first then too. He felt they were genuine but he didn't want to find himself in the middle of another civil dispute. It had worked out then, he now had thirty men under his command. It would probably be best if he could verify some of what they were saying for himself.

  "Do you know where they're operating from?" Greg asked.

  Russell nodded, "I followed their guy back the first day he showed up asking for our supplies. I followed him again yesterday to make sure their camp hadn't been moved."

  "Alright," Greg said, "I'd like to see the camp for myself."

  "I’ll take you first thing in the morning," Russell replied.

  ***

  Morning came and found Russell, Greg, and James stealthily moving through the forest. "We're nearly there," Russell said quietly.

  The sound of heavy metal music reached their ears and Russell went prone. The others followed suit and they belly crawled until they reached the edge of a clearing. Inside they saw a number of men moving about. They were all dressed in leather attire and Greg assumed that they were bikers of some sort. This was confirmed a moment later when he saw bikes neatly arranged on one side of the clearing.

  Greg continued looking around and suddenly went still. On the other side of the clearing there were a number of women in various states of undress. On their legs he noticed that a chain had been attached to a bracelet around their ankle. The chain was then staked to the ground with a peg of some sort. Greg frowned angrily. There was no doubt in Greg's mind about what they had been force to do. To make matters worse, Greg saw several women dressed like the men moving around. He saw several of them go out of their way to walk past the captives. There were pinches and slaps as the women walked by and Greg heard raucous laughter in response.

  Anger filled Greg's heart. These things, he wouldn't dignify them with anything more, were worse than Dawn. She at least had reason for her madness. These animals were being purposely cruel for no reason. Who would have thought he'd find something worse than the infected? Greg had seen enough. He'd gather the men and they'd strike this place in force. He'd save the women too if he could. Hopefully they'd be able to recover from what they'd been through. He reached out to tap Russell on the shoulder and indicated that he wanted to leave.

  They stopped once they were a safe distance away. Greg looked at each of them and saw the same fire in their eyes that was no doubt in his own. "We're coming back," he said.

  Russell and James nodded in unison. "I'm glad you're on board," Russell said.

  "No way we couldn't be after seeing that," James said.

  "I'd like a plan so we can try and save the women but I'm putting those bandits down. They're worse than infected."

  Russell nodded his agreement. "I'm glad you feel that way. There's no way we could do anything about them without your help."

  Back at the inn Greg gathered his inner circle and met with the rangers and the Oates. They tried to come up with a plan that would give the captives the best chance of surviving.

  "How do we know they won't just hurt the captives as soon as they see us?" Jackson asked.

  "Let's not give them the chance," Russell said.

  "Yeah," Melissa chimed in, "let's him them so hard that they'll be too busy trying to save their own skin."

  "That seems a good way to get those women hurt," Laura said.

  The group went back and forth for a while, each of them pushing a plan that they thought would guarantee the captives' safety. Greg waited for a lull in the conversation before speaking.

  "There are things worse than death," Greg said. Everyone looked at him and he smiled sadly. "Getting bit by the infected and then turning on your loves one," he said as he looked towards James who nodded in response. He was no doubt thinking of the ordeal he had faced in the hospital. "Getting captured by animals and being forced to endure God knows what. There are things worse than death."

  They all sat quietly as they thought about what Greg had said. "We'll go with this," he said. "I'd like to save all the captives but I'm not going to let these animals get away. They're not gonna hurt anyone else. We'll task a few men to go for the captives once the fighting starts. If we get lucky they'll be able to get everyone. If not, we'll still have saved some."

  Greg looked around the table and he could tell from their facial expressions that they weren't happy with his proposal. He didn't see any other options though. There was no way to guarantee the captives safety. They couldn't call a hostage negotiator and bargain for their release. Greg was sure these animals wouldn't be satisfied unless they got all of their food and maybe not even then. He was surprised that they hadn't already attacked the inn. Bargaining with your survival was a dead end. If Byron gave up all his food, how we these people survive?

  "Let's move," Greg said putting an end to the discussion. Everyone quickly filed out of the room and he quickly found himself alone with Byron.

  "Thanks for that," Byron said. "We'd still be arguing if you hadn't taken charge."

  Greg shrugged, "Just doing what needs to be done."

  "I mean it," Byron said, "I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't shown up."

  "Good thing we showed up then," Greg said as he stood. "You coming?"

  "Wouldn't miss it," Byron replied with a deadly smile.

  A few hours later, Greg and his forces were arrayed just outside the bandit camp. The strains of heavy metal music still filed the air so the entire group had been able to get into position unseen. For this fight, Greg had a rifle in addition to his usual machete and pistol. Greg raised his rifle and zeroed in on one of the bandits. They were all waiting for his signal. He squeezed the trigger and the bandit fell to the ground motionless a moment later. All around the clearing, his men opened fire and more bandits fell. Several seconds passed before the bandits realized they were under attack and went for cover.

  ***

  Marcus Sands knelt behind the tree stump as shots flew overhead. "What is this?" he demanded. "Who's attacking us?"

  "It's gotta be those guys from the inn," one of his men replied.

  "You've been going out there every day. I thought you said there were only five of them to worry about!"

  "That's all there was, I swear!" the man replied fearfully.

  "Well, I don't care who they are," Marcus said angrily. "Who do they think they are coming up into my camp like this?" Marcus leaned out for a moment and squeezed off a few shots, smiling in satisfaction when one of his enemies hit the ground.

  "We can do this!" he yelled to encourage his men.

  Taking heart at his words, several of his men returned fire. The shots coming from the other side died off as they were forced into cover. "Keep it up men! Look at 'em. They're hidi
ng like little girls." He leaned out to fire more shots then cursed when his pistol went empty.

  "They're taking the women!" someone yelled.

  Marcus peeked out to see several figures pulling up the stakes that were keeping the women immobile. He had half a mind to open fire on them, just on principle mind you but he figured he should save his bullets for the idiots shooting at him.

  "Forget them," he called as he reloaded. "We'll get them back after we take care of these idiots." He let off another shot and smiled again when it hit home. He suddenly realized that he didn't hear a lot of gunfire from his side. He looked around as best he could and saw that a good number of his men were on the ground. The ones that were left were cowering, no doubt in hopes of not being shot. What did had he done to get stuck with a bunch of cowards?

  "Come on, men. We can do this!" he looked around but got no response.

  "Throw down your weapons," a voice called. "Or we can finish you off. Makes no difference to us."

  The nerve! Who did they think they were to talk to him like that? They wanted him to surrender? He'd take as many of them with him as he could.

  "We surrender," one of his men called out. "Stop shooting."

  Marcus yelled. "We're not giving it up."

  "It's over," one of them said. "Most of us are down and we’re all out of ammo. I'm not getting shot for no reason."

  "We fight to the death," Marcus replied. He looked up in shock as two of his men charged towards him and tackled him to the ground. They wrestled his pistol away from here and held him there like he was some kind of animal. How dare they? After all he had done to take care of them, they treated him like this?

  Moments later he heard the approach of a large number of footsteps. His men got off of him and he looked up to see himself surrounded by a number of hard looking men. One of them stepped forward and looked down at him. He had a rifle slung over his back and Marcus noticed a pistol and a machete on either hip. "You the leader of this group?" he asked.

  "Yea that's right," Marcus said as he stood to his feet. "That was a raw thing you did, coming at us like that."

  Anger flashed across the man's eyes. "Should I have sent a herald? Announced my intent? You are filth. You're lucky I'm talking to you at all. The only reason I'm talking to you is that one of my men pointed out that some of you may have been coerced."

  A few of the bandits looked up at this, hope evident in their eyes. They were kneeling off to the side, bound by twine. Several of the guards were keeping watch over them. Seeing the look on their faces, Marcus cursed.

  "Wasn't no coercion. They all wanted to do it," he said angrily.

  "I will determine their guilt," Greg replied.

  "We're all guilty then," Marcus insisted. "You really gonna trust them?"

  Greg looked at the bandits as they tried to bargain for their lives. He could let them go but he had no doubt they would rally and go right back to preying on anyone weaker than themselves. He felt it was his duty to stop them. Who else would do it? The government was fallen and the police were nowhere to be found. Who would protect the weak? He couldn't save everyone but he could protect the people in the park right here, right now.

  "Enough," he said quietly. The bandits fell silent and he looked at each of them in turn. Ten had survived the firefight and they all looked terrified with the exception of Marcus. They likely understood that their lives hung in the balance.

  "No more pleading. I'll show you the same mercy you've showed."

  "We don't always hurt people," one of them said desperately.

  "Of course," Greg replied, "you just take their food and leave them to die slowly instead."

  Greg shook his head, "No, this ends here." He moved to stand in front of Marcus and two guards came forward and forced him to his knees.

  "Let me go!" Marcus yelled defiantly. "What gives you the right?"

  "I suppose we give ourselves the right," Greg replied. "We're trying to rebuild. I won't stand by while people like you tear down what's left."

  Marcus realized he was moments away from death. "Okay, you're right! I've done some bad stuff but I was just trying to survive. We didn't have someone like you. We did the best we could."

  Greg shrugged, "The best you could do was steal the little food that people have? Even if some of that's true, it’s too late. I'll leave her knowing there's one less piece of scum preying on people just trying to survive." Greg stepped forward and plunged his machete into Marcus' chest. He stepped back and Marcus' lifeless body fell to the ground.

  Greg looked at the remaining bandits. "Take care of them," he said to his men. "Let one of them survive. Maybe the story they tell will stop someone else from trying this."

  Greg made his way over to a semi-truck where the bandits had been storing their goods. Laura had arrived and was directing several workers. "Laura," Greg said as he walked up.

  "Greg," Laura replied with a smile. "Are you okay?"

  Greg nodded, "I'll be alright. What's going on here?"

  "Doing some inventory," Laura said. "A good amount has gone bad but they had a lot of canned goods so that helps."

  "That's good," Greg replied. "I'll leave you it." Greg left Laura and headed over to where the captives were being held. Carol was overseeing some workers handing out food and water.

  "How are they?" Greg asked.

  "They're alive," Carol replied quietly.

  "That bad, huh?"

  "Those bandits did terrible things. Some of them were thinking about trying to kill themselves rather than go through another day of it."

  Greg shook his head and knew he had made the right decision. People like that couldn't be allowed to roam free. He couldn't stop everyone like that but he could protect the people close to him. "Can they be moved to the other camp?"

  Carol nodded, "I've the thought some of them would crawl over broken glass to get away from here."

  About an hour later Greg and his inner circle were once again ensconced in the Oates' dining room. They'd just finished a meal of venison along with carrots and potatoes. "I can't thank you enough," Byron said.

  Greg shrugged, "Some things have to be done. This was one of them."

  "I'd like to give you some extra food," Byron said. "You'll need it if all those women are coming with you."

  "Thanks," Greg said, "I appreciate it." Laura would be happy to hear that. She had been going over their inventory trying to figure out how they were going to feed all those extra people. Greg had thought some of them might choose to stay with Byron but every single one had refused.

  "How long will you be staying?" Byron asked.

  "Just another day or two," Greg replied. "Laura wants to give the women a chance to recover a bit before we get back on the road."

  "Where are you guys headed anyway?"

  Greg shrugged, "I don't really have a specific destination in mind. We're just heading north at the moment. Looking for a place we can settle. Something remote, easy to defend."

  Byron nodded, "That's not a bad idea. I'm not too sure how long we'll be able to stay here. What's to stop another group of bandits from coming through?"

  "Come with us," Greg said. "You'd be a great asset with your survival skills."

  Byron looked thoughtful for a moment. "I may take you up on that but not just yet. This place has been in our family forever. I'm not ready to give it up just yet."

  Greg nodded in understanding. Some people might say it's just a piece of land and he should move on but weren't they looking for that very thing? A place to call their own? He couldn't blame the guy if he wanted to stay and protect what was his. The rest of the evening passed pleasantly and Greg's group eventually made their way back to their camp. The following morning they took it easy and the day passed uneventfully. The day after that they got on the road early and continued heading north.

  ***

  A few days later Byron was behind the inn dressing one of his kills. The sound of a branch breaking caught his attention and he turne
d around to see Kelly walking towards him with several men behind her. They were all dressed in black fatigues with rifles slung across their backs. There was one figure that stood out though. He was dressed the same as the others but he carried himself differently. The others had this potential threat hanging around them, as if they could explode into violence at any moment. This other guy, he seemed...shifty. Byron wasn't sure if it was the beady eyes or something else but he took an immediate dislike to him.

  "What's going on?" Byron asked as he mentally cursed having put his rifle away earlier. Not that he could do much against the six of them but it would have been comforting nonetheless.

  "These men are looking for someone," Laura explained as she came to stand by him. She leaned against him and he felt something poking his stomach. He shifted and placed his hand on the small of her back and felt one of their handguns. Good girl! It wasn't much but they would at least be able to put up a fight if it came to that.

  "Who are you looking for?" Byron asked. "We've got quite a few campers here and a large group left just this morning."

  "I'm looking for a woman," the pasty man said.

  Byron spread his hands, "You'll have to be more specific. Have you checked the campers?"

  "She is distinctive," the man replied. "It's possible she's been forced to disguise herself to hide from me. Maybe you noticed the man she's traveling with.

  He proceeded to give a detailed description and Byron realized he was talking about Jackson. That meant the woman he was talking about was probably Shirley. So what was this guy? Some sort of jilted lover? A husband? And why look for her with a group of armed men that were clearly some sort of military force? Byron wasn't sure but he felt that the truth sprinkled with some misdirection would best serve here.

  "I think I remember a man like that," Byron said.

  "When did you see him?"

  "He was with that large group I mentioned. I didn't have a conversation with him, I mostly talked to their leader."

  "Do you know which way they went?" he asked, eagerness evident in his voice.

  Byron shrugged, "You've gotta head north to get out of the park. They'd have to go as far as Morton before they could head in another direction."