Survival Rules Series (Book 4): Rules of Engagement

by Hunt, Jack

  She nodded and brought a hand up to her lips. She stared back at him and smiled. He gave her hand another squeeze. Erika got up and walked through into the living room and over to Danny. She pulled back the curtain and looked out. “That guy is about your size,” she said turning back to Nate, “and he’s wearing a scarf around the lower half of his face.”

  “You aren’t suggesting I…”

  “It’s getting darker.” She smiled. “We use the bike. Danny distracts those three, when the fourth runs by here, we take him out and pull him in. Strip him and you take his place, leading us across and up the alley. Under escort we just walk straight by everyone. You can say you’re taking us to the north side where they’re building the fence.”

  Danny smiled. “Genius. It could work.”

  “It could get us killed,” Nate said.

  “Won’t know unless we try,” Erika said. “I got faith in you.”

  He laughed. “Yeah. You would say that now.”

  Nate walked over to see for himself. It was risky. Really risky but whenever had he not put his life on the line since this shit storm had started? “We’ll only have a small window of opportunity. And that’s if he even runs this way.”

  Erika glanced out again. “If not him, we grab the third guy.”

  “And get spotted by the fourth? Don’t be stupid,” Nate said.

  She took offense to that and walked off, scowling.

  “Erika. C’mon!”

  “No, you seem to have this all figured out.”

  “Geesh,” Nate looked at Danny who was smiling and popping almonds in his mouth like he was watching a Saturday matinee play out. The next hour was spent going over the plan in fine detail. Danny sketched on a large sheet of paper the route he would take to shake these guys and then get back to the store. By the time they had hashed it out and considered the potential flaws it was dark outside. Helen was still sleeping, so Erika went in to wake her and bring her up to speed.

  Nate went down with Danny to make sure he had everything he needed.

  “Remember. Stick to the plan. Don’t be foolish. Get your ass back here ASAP. We don’t have long.”

  “You worry too much,” he said putting on a helmet and waiting for the all-clear to roll out the dirt bike. It was a 1970 Kawasaki G31 Centurion 100 that had once been owned by his grandfather. They’d had it restored and now it looked in top shape. “One hell of a bike.”

  “We’re ready,” Erika said from the window.

  Nate patted Danny on the arm. “This is it, my friend. Remember…”

  “I know. Stick to the plan.”

  He quietly guided the bike away from the store as they didn’t want to alert nearby soldiers to where it had been started. Danny cut through an alley behind the Firebrand Hotel and out onto Central Avenue. He would have to ride it north, take the first left and hammer it down 93 drawing the men away. Before Nate went inside, he waited until he heard the guttural roar of the engine and then dashed in, taking out his knife. He got ready near the front door of the store. Erika moved into position with a Glock in hand. If worse came to worst, they would shoot the guy but he was hoping to use the knife.

  It couldn’t have been more than twenty seconds before they saw the glow of the bike’s headlight and then the bike zip by. “Are they following?” Nate shouted up to Helen who was on the second floor looking out the window.

  “Yep. Here they come!”

  His heart sped up. Nate stared at Erika who was positioned to get a better view of the soldiers running west. She held a hand up and would drop it the moment the last soldier passed the store. One hand on the doorknob, the other on the knife, he felt like an Olympic runner at the starting line.

  In his head he was counting the seconds.

  Eight.

  Six.

  Four.

  He didn’t reach one. Erika’s arm dropped, and he yanked the door open and burst out. He emerged within a split second after the man passed the door. It all occurred in a flash. Him wrapping one arm around the guy’s neck and ramming the knife up into his rib cage. He didn’t look back to see if there were any more coming. Nate dragged him in. He was still alive. His scream muffled by Nate’s arm.

  Nate yanked the knife out and plowed it into him multiple times until he had butted him into the store. There he dropped him and slit his throat. It may have been overkill but he wanted to be sure.

  “Anyone else coming?” he asked as he waited for the soldier to take his last breath.

  “Nope. That was it,” Erika said.

  As he choked on blood, Nate began stripping him. All the while the soldier looked at him; his eyes glassy, a look of shock. As much as Nate tried not to look, he couldn’t help it, and when he did, he didn’t see a soldier but a human being, someone caught up in the wrong group. He saw himself. It could have very well been him.

  “Helen,” Erika yelled. He heard her boots pounding down the steps as she came down. “You got the bags?”

  “Yeah,” she said with one slung over her left arm and another over the right. Erika took one and Nate stripped off. Both of the women watched as he got down to his underwear. He glanced at them and might have cracked a joke but he was in no mood.

  He glanced down and saw the guy was now dead.

  Within a minute he had most of the gear on. His hand touched blood, and he looked at the man again. Since the blackout he’d killed his fair share of people to protect himself but for some strange reason, this was affecting him in a bad way.

  Erika shot to the back of the store to wait for Danny while Helen and Nate dragged the soldier into another room. They didn’t want the militia to look inside and see his body and then seek out the owners, just in case Danny didn’t make it back.

  “Nate,” Helen said.

  “What?” he asked as they dumped his body and closed the door.

  “I appreciate all you’re doing for me.”

  “It’s fine—”

  Before he could get another word out, she pressed herself against him and kissed him. He pushed her back and turned and went out just as Erika came back in. She looked at them both and he could have sworn she knew what happened.

  14

  Eyes burned holes in the back of their heads as Tyler and crew arrived in Camp O’Brien on the back of ATVs. They’d taken the utility truck as far as they could before hopping on the back of the off-road beasts and rolling through the mountainous region hedged in by acres of forest. Curious onlookers came out to gawk, some stood with their arms crossed and scowled, but most were ready with weapons. Tyler swallowed hard, wondering if this was a big mistake. The disdain for them was obvious. The goal to speak with Jude was lofty, some might have called it insane, but there was only so much they could handle as a community. At the very least he hoped he could help them see the benefit of joining together to fight a threat that was far more dangerous than either one of the camps were to each other. Maybe then they could reunite permanently.

  Reunite, he thought. Yeah, as if.

  There were only a few weeks left of summer. With winter just around the corner, and no idea if the power would come back on, they were all facing a new challenge that would only be that much harder if they didn’t settle their differences. Back at camp he and Corey had talked at great lengths about what the future might look like if the power grid didn’t return and they remained at odds with Camp O’Brien. It wasn’t pretty. Most nights they’d get on a ham radio and listen for pockets of survivors and what was being done by government. Mostly static came back. As far as he was concerned the country was alone until Canada, the UK and other nations stepped up to assist. By then it might be too late. He couldn’t help but think it already was.

  Until then all he could do was try. Andy, and Jude were far too proud to bridge the gap, so someone had to do it. The trouble was he was relying on blood being thicker than water and Dianna had already shown she cared very little for blood, and as for Jude, he wasn’t sure where he stood or what kind of father he could
have been given the chance. It seemed everyone was flawed in some form or another. Survival had driven each of them to do horrendous things and justify them later.

  Considering Jude’s involvement with the raiders, it left him second guessing what hope existed. For a short period of three weeks he thought Andy had painted Jude in a bad light simply out of long-seated jealousy and bitterness, but with the power grid down it had made each of them abhorrent in their own way.

  Tyler glanced over to the ATV closest to him and saw Bennington. He looked over his shoulder and saw the others. Corey’s pals were probably the only ones he could trust. To have them by his side even though the odds were stacked against them put his mind at ease.

  Up ahead the crowd thinned out as it separated to allow Jude and Thomas through. Either side of them were armed security, all of them ready to die for these men. Loyalty was a strange thing. They shifted forward holding rifles and shotguns. Jude put up a hand. “Ease off.”

  “Ease off? These are the same men that killed some of ours,” Thomas said, digging up the past as soon as he could. Jude had disagreed with him back then but that was when he was still heading up Camp Olney. Tyler was interested to see what kind of power shift was at play.

  “That’s my son. Put your weapons down.”

  Maddox climbed off the ATV and walked over to Jude and whispered in his ear. He nodded and approached Tyler. “Been a while. How are you?”

  He knew Jude was referring to his meeting with his mother. She no doubt informed him the moment he’d arrived minutes after.

  “Confused. Conflicted. Concerned. Yeah, that about sums it up.”

  Jude looked over the others. “Andy send you out?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Just curious. With all the scouts you’d been sending our way I figured an attack was imminent.”

  “Likewise,” Tyler replied. “No, you’ll be pleased to know this has nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the future. Our future. Your future. All these people here.” He raised his voice and stood up on the ATV thinking it would be better to gain their respect than to take the conversation into a private tent where no one would be privy to it. That led to lies, secrets and deception and there had already been enough of that.

  “A war is coming!” Tyler said. “And not from us either. I don’t know all your reasons for being here, or your association with Camp Olney in the past but I know that we have one thing in common.” He paused. “Survival. We have all done terrible things in the name of survival. We have followed rules, broken them and created our own. We have killed, stolen, and had to live with that on our conscience every night.”

  “I think this conversation would be better suited for…”

  “Let him finish,” Jude said cutting off Thomas. He sneered, a look of disgust. “Continue,” Jude said beckoning Tyler to finish.

  “At one time we were not against each other, we lived among each other, neighbors, family, friends, co-workers. All residents of Whitefish, and Flathead County. A new threat has raised its head and is set to take everything, even that which you took.”

  “Did Andy Ford put you up to this?” someone yelled.

  More jeers followed.

  “Andy doesn’t even know I’m here.”

  Silence went over the camp.

  “Militia have moved in and already killed the mayor. They have sent a warning and we expect more violence. Now we can hunker down, ride this out and maybe survive but you…” He looked around. “There are no secure bunkers; concrete that will protect you from an attack. And as many of you as there are, there are far more of them. All of them are trained to kill and they won’t hesitate. Now I know both camps have had their disagreements and lost people. Logically, there is no reason to align. I know what you’re thinking. It’s a trap. That we want vengeance but vengeance is a two-edged sword. Believe me on that. No one wins. But together we stand a chance.”

  “And if we fail?” someone asked.

  Tyler smiled. “If we fail, we fail together.”

  “How can we trust you?” a woman in the crowd asked.

  “Yeah,” someone else called out.

  Tyler looked out and saw Thomas slip away. His eyes washed over the crowd and he saw Thomas talking to a man before he dashed off. In the pit of his stomach he could tell something was about to happen. He glanced at Markowitz. The other guys had already seen it too. Their fingers were hovering near their rifle’s triggers. He knew if shit went south, they would die fighting.

  Tyler replied. “You can’t. I can give you my word but trust is earned, and that applies to both sides and that begins by telling the truth,” he said glancing at his father Jude. Jude dipped his chin, a look of embarrassment, maybe? “What I’m telling you here today is the truth. This is unlike anything you or we have faced before. I’m not going to cherry coat it. People will die. But, if we plan ahead and have the element of surprise, maybe, just maybe…”

  “Don’t believe a single word he says!” Thomas said, reappearing as he pushed his way through the crowd holding in his hand a bloody rag. “Seems to me the element of surprise he’s talking about is distracting us here while Andy Ford’s people kill one of ours.” He stopped and turned, holding a white bandanna covered in blood. “This belongs to Brent Langdon. He’s now dead!”

  The sound of guns being cocked could be heard all around them as weapons were drawn. Bennington and the other three lifted theirs, refusing to put them down.

  “What? We didn’t do anything. Maddox will vouch for us.”

  Tyler turned searching the crowd for Maddox but couldn’t see him.

  “Is it true?” someone yelled.

  Jude looked confused. Tyler tried to appeal to what little he knew of his good nature. “Jude. Think about it. Why would we walk into the lion’s den if our goal was to kill someone from your group? That would be like dousing ourselves in gasoline and tossing the match. As for Andy. You know him better than anyone else. He wouldn’t allow us to be here if he knew because in his eyes, it shows weakness.”

  Jude nodded but Thomas had riled the crowd up and all they wanted now was justice. “It’s true!” Maddox’s voice rose. The crowd parted and Maddox and another man brought in a dead guy on a stretcher. His one arm hung off the side, his throat had been slit. Tyler gawked. He thought Maddox would take his side, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. They lowered the stretcher and Maddox pointed. “It was your men. You’re responsible!”

  “What? No!”

  “Put down your weapons!” Jude yelled. “Listen to me.”

  “You’re not in charge!” Thomas yelled.

  A commotion ensued as people from the camp pulled Tyler off the ATV.

  Just as he thought they were about to get beaten and killed a gun went off.

  Everyone dropped their shoulders and gazed around expecting to see someone dead but the crowd began to part and through the midst of them a figure emerged wearing a long coat and hood. Tyler’s lip curled.

  “That’s right, he’s not in charge. But I am!”

  The stranger pulled back the hood to reveal his mother’s face. Gasps spread among the knot of people as they knew who it was. One by one they dropped to a knee, their rifles beside them, like she was some god in their midst. What kind of control did she have over them? It was one thing to provide the needs of people but to have such an impact on them that they would kneel… Not even Tyler could comprehend that.

  “Morning Star,” the crowd said

  “You no longer need to refer to me by that name,” she said turning and observing them all. “My name is Dianna, and this is my son,” she said pointing to Tyler. Immediately those who had hold of him released their grip. He shrugged and smoothed out his coat. “Let the others go.”

  “But Dianna, they killed—”

  “As have we,” she said in a loud voice, cutting him off. “However, in this case I know this isn’t true, is it, Maddox?” she said turning and looking at him. He melted back
into the crowd, a look of shame and guilt on his face. Clearly, he or Thomas had been behind it. She beckoned him forward with two fingers. “Now, you tell me the truth.”

  Maddox dipped his chin.

  “Tell me the truth!” she bellowed with such authority that even Tyler was impressed. Maddox reluctantly pointed toward Thomas.

  Thomas scowled and took a few steps back. “Me? It wasn’t me. Dianna. He’s lying. Maddox. Tell her the truth.” Thomas stabbed his finger at Maddox. “He did this. I didn’t do this.”

  Tyler’s eyes darted between them. It was hard to know but after all the shit that Maddox had pulled, there was no chance in hell he could trust him. He was convinced Maddox would have thrown his own mother under the bus if push came to shove.

  “Take him,” Dianna said without giving Thomas another look.

  “Please. Dianna. You know me. I didn’t kill him.”

  Several armed men stepped forward and pulled Thomas out of the group, leading him off to a cabin that was no doubt used to imprison the unruly. Some in the crowd objected, protesting that it wasn’t right. They were treated in a similar manner and removed quickly before they riled up the others. Tyler stood in the midst of angry people, his eyes bouncing off faces, unsure of what would happen next.

  “Until we get to the bottom of this, put them in cells.”

  “What?” Bennington said.

  Tyler tried to come to their aid but was quickly held back as guards disarmed and dragged away Corey’s buddies. Tyler was the only one that remained. As soon as they were gone, Dianna asked a guard to lead Tyler to a cabin farther up on a rise. He was pushed forward; strong-armed up an incline towards the cabin. Jude followed closely behind. Once inside, Dianna dismissed the guard and the door closed, leaving him alone with his mother and father. “Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events,” Tyler said, scowling.

  “You shouldn’t have come here,” Dianna said.

  “Oh, did I ruin your reign of terror or are you just pissed that I forced you to reveal your face? I guess those weekly masquerade balls just won’t be the same, now will they?”