Survival Rules Series (Book 4): Rules of Engagement

by Hunt, Jack

  From specific positions, two of his men unleashed a flurry of gunfire from Gatling guns at those trying to escape to the west and north. Hopkins watched in awe as round after round cut them down making short work of them. It was like taking candy from a kid. Whoever had designed this place hadn’t put much thought into security.

  However not all of them were easy to take down.

  A large number had taken up cover behind RVs.

  Return fire came swiftly, muzzles flashing in the night causing several of his men to fall on the battlefield. Hopkins yanked a grenade from his vest and pulled the pin before hurling it towards the RVs. Loud bangs dominated the valley as grenades exploded sending life-threatening shrapnel in every direction. Horses reared up on their hind legs, fear overtaking some, rounds cutting into others. It was the closest thing they could have got to civil war. A round pinged off his armor, and he reacted by roving his barrel and unleashing three-round bursts. Bullets punched through RV metal, tore through tents like butter and shattered cabin windows.

  One of his guys carrying a flame thrower dismounted from a horse and forged ahead, releasing a burst of fire that set anything in its path ablaze. Men, women and children screamed as lives were cut short, and families destroyed. His men showed no mercy.

  Hopkins slowed the horse and swung his leg over to get off. He raced for the cover of an RV and took up a position alongside four of his men. Bullets whizzed over his head. He unloaded more rounds peppering tents to make sure those in the camp taking cover wouldn’t be a threat.

  A young mother ran out to grab her child and he saw her cut down. She hit the ground and her child fell forward on his face. Another shot ended the kid’s life. Hopkins felt nothing. They were just another mouth to feed.

  The firefight continued for another ten minutes before there were no more threats. Slowly but surely the staccato of gunfire faded leaving only the sound of the trees rustling in the wind. The odd gunshot could be heard as his men came across survivors still clinging to life.

  Hopkins ordered his men to gather up what supplies they could and begin to haul it away using the horses or by hand. Any heavier items would be hauled on the backs of ATVs they found in the camp. Shouldering his rifle he scanned the camp searching for movement. The dead were everywhere.

  20

  They were officially screwed. Trapped and outnumbered. Militia had boxed them from the front and rear. Nate peered out the second-floor window at the four guys crouching in the high brush and partially covered by a cluster of trees. He hurried to the front and saw the other four. “Shit. Shit. Shit!” he bellowed. His heart rate sped up as he tried to come up with some way to escape.

  “It was those bastard kids,” Danny said. “I knew we should have shot them.”

  “Seriously?” Erika said looking his way.

  “Of course not… but no, seriously, I think we should have iced them.” He roared with laughter.

  “You think this is a game, kid?” Nate said charging past him and down the stairs. Helen was in the kitchen on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. At first, instincts to survive took over and so they locked the doors and barricaded them with anything heavy they could find, but it was clear that wasn’t the answer. Nate glanced at Helen before he rushed to the front of the house. Erika followed Nate into the living room. She didn’t say anything, but he knew what she was going to say. “Don’t,” he said before she could open her mouth.

  “What? I didn’t say anything.”

  Nate fingered back the drapes and narrowed his eyes. “Look, this might be it. End of the road.”

  “No. We are not going out like this. Not now.”

  “It was gonna happen one way or the other, Erika. Whether it be by them or someone else. The fact is we’ve dodged the bullet one too many times.”

  “Do you even know what you’re suggesting? They will kill us. There will be no trial. You saw what they did to those council members.” She took a breath. “If I’m going out, I’m doing it on my terms.”

  Nate looked at her and he could see the hard exterior beginning to unravel. Nate walked over and wrapped his arms around her and pulled Erika in tight. They exchanged no words for a few minutes, just held on to each other. When he released her, he asked how many rounds she had. Erika checked while he called out to Danny to check his ammo. One by one they told him. It wasn’t much. Enough to take out eight guys, for sure, but that was if they didn’t waste many.

  “They’ve probably already called for backup,” Danny said.

  Nate nodded and paced. There had to be a way out of this.

  He was about to walk over to the window and take another look when he heard the rear door open. “Helen?” He hurried to the hallway that led into the kitchen and saw the back door wide open. Nate rushed into the kitchen. On the table was a note. He hurried to the door just in time to catch a final glance of her as she raised her hands and was taken down by two militia covering the back.

  “Helen!”

  Upon seeing him they ordered him to drop his weapon, but he wouldn’t. Instead he dropped, kicked the back door closed and hollered for Danny and Erika. Before they made it into the kitchen, rounds speared the windows sending glass over Nate. Erika and Danny returned fire to push them back. The attack was short but brutal and when it was over, glass, drywall dust, and debris were everywhere.

  “Damn it!” Nate said, still in the same position, crouched down, his back against the lower kitchen cabinet. He hammered the floor with his fist. Erika reached up and grabbed the note off the table and looked at it before scrunching it up and tossing it to Nate. Inside her message was brief.

  Nate,

  This is on me. You guys don’t deserve this.

  I’ll try to reason with them. Maybe they’ll understand.

  Helen

  Furious, he smashed his fist against the cabinet, causing a crack in the wood.

  “Why? What the hell would go through her head to think that would work?” Nate said running a hand over his head. Before the others could reply, Nate rushed into the living room and peered out. Danny joined him looking out the other side. There he saw Helen being dragged towards the Humvee. She glanced over her shoulder. His heart ached. All he could do was watch. Though they were unable to hear the conversation, it was clear the soldiers weren’t in any mood to listen. A tall hulk of a man stepped in front of her and raised a finger before backhanding her across the face then giving his men instructions to put her in the Humvee. He then spoke with another guy in a truck who turned on a large spotlight and shined it at the house. Nate squinted and pulled back. Then instructions followed. “You have five minutes to exit the house or we are coming in.”

  The megaphone squealed as he passed it off to one of his men and got into the Humvee that Helen was in. Nate dipped his head and sighed. “It’s over.”

  “Over?” Danny said. “Like hell it is. Those bastards killed my parents.”

  Nate looked at him. “Hold on a minute. You told us that they took them by force.”

  “That’s right. My father put up a fight, and they shot him. My mother came to his aid and as they tried to pull her away, she went ballistic, and so…” He paused as if reliving it again in his mind. “… they killed her too.”

  Erika overheard the conversation as she made her way into the room.

  “But you were laughing earlier. Making light of situations.”

  Danny looked at her and shrugged. Nate understood it. Everyone had their way of dealing with intense grief. Some would retreat into a shell and say nothing, others would sob uncontrollably, then there were the few that would use humor to get through the hard stuff. Nate looked at Erika and was at a loss for words. He was all for going out in a blaze of glory but in all honesty, he didn’t want to die. Not here. Not like this. Then again if it was going to happen, at least he could go out on his own terms.

  “I say we take out as many of those assholes as we can before they break their way in here,” Danny said, reloading h
is rifle as he spoke. Nate nodded slowly then got up and hurried into the kitchen. Five minutes wasn’t long. If it ended here, he was going to make it as hard as hell for them.

  “What are you doing, Nate?”

  “Empty those bottles of beer.”

  “What?”

  “Just do it.”

  Erika hurried to help him empty out beer from bottles. He then disappeared into the garage attached to the house and returned minutes later with a red gasoline can and a can of oil. “That was full?”

  “No. I had to siphon some from their car,” he said as he went about filling up the bottles with gasoline and oil. “Danny! I need some sheets off the beds. Hurry!”

  He glanced at them, pausing for a second before he bolted upstairs and returned seconds later with a sheet. He and Erika began tearing it and tucking strands into the tops of the bottles. As they finished creating homemade Molotov cocktails, Nate discussed the idea he had.

  “Are you kidding me?” Erika asked. “We could die too.”

  “News flash, Erika. We’re not getting out of this alive.”

  “But…”

  “You have a better idea? As this is the only way I can see us dropping their numbers. They’re not stupid. They’ll keep their distance otherwise.”

  She mumbled under her breath.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “I said, it’s not gonna work.”

  “Well then, let’s just go out and give ourselves up, shall we?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Of course you did. Come on. Let’s do it!” Nate was frustrated with the way Erika had been and her constant pushing of Helen. He had begun to blame her in his mind. If she hadn’t made Helen think she was the problem, maybe she wouldn’t be out there. Nate grabbed her arm and tried to lead her to the front door. “C’mon. Let’s get it over and done with.”

  “Nate, get off!”

  “No, you think there is no other way out. So let’s just end it now.”

  She tugged at him and then Danny intervened getting between the two of them. “Would you both stop it? Shit! I’m not dying with you two assholes acting like this. If we go out, let’s go out with some self-respect.”

  Nate released his grip, and she sneered.

  Danny began pulling away items from the door to clear a passage for the militia. The rear was already clear. After doing that he said, “Erika, you go up.” He headed into the kitchen and scooped up a few of the Molotov cocktails and handed them to her. “Remember what Nate said.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” She scowled at Nate and disappeared up the stairs.

  As Nate and Danny got into position, concealed behind furniture, Danny called over to him. “It’s not her fault, you know. Erika, I mean. She has a right to be pissed.”

  “Whatever, man.” Nate’s focus was on the front door, Danny’s on the rear.

  “You know they’ll probably kill her for this.”

  “We’re all dead anyway,” Nate replied in a defeated tone. In his mind they had already escaped death numerous times. It was only a matter of time before it all led up to this. He thought about his mother and how much he missed her. At least he would see her again. Life had been hard, a struggle since losing her. Trying to get through each day had been tough until he came across Erika and Tyler. It hadn’t been a walk in the park since then but in the short time he’d known them he’d experienced a sense of family, connection and purpose.

  Right then over the megaphone the militia guy spoke again. He gave them one last chance. Danny replied loudly, “Fuck you, weekend warrior!”

  “Weekend warrior? These guys live for this shit,” Nate replied, a smile forming.

  They heard the sound of boots approaching and both of them prepared for the worst. One hand on a Molotov, the other ready with a lighter. Staring at a glass cabinet, Nate saw the first and second guys’ reflection as they entered the front door, muzzles panning. A flame burst to life from his lighter and he lit the strand of material hanging from the bottle.

  Before hurling it over the sofa he was crouched behind, he heard the sound of glass shattering outside and a whoosh of flames. Erika had done her job, cutting off their path from the outside. She’d been instructed to wait until they entered before dropping the bottles in front of the doors. Nate saw the men whirl around, startled by the eruption of flames, and that was when he tossed his bottle over at them.

  Gasoline and oil splashed against the tiled floor and up their legs, flames bursting to life and catching them on fire. Nate lunged out from the sofa, but staying on the floor opened fire with a rapid succession of rounds. The two men didn’t stand a chance.

  At the same time at the rear of the house, those entering suffered the same fate, except Danny didn’t manage to put one of them out of his misery. The soldier stumbled out into the backyard, collapsing on the ground with flames consuming his pant leg. He rolled trying to put the flames out but it was no use, the oil and gasoline had soaked into his gear. Erika was the one to put him out of his misery from the second-floor window.

  What followed was an eruption of gunfire as the remaining four over by the Humvee and truck retaliated. What remained of windows was shattered, debris flew across the room. Danny hurled another Molotov out though it fell short.

  Rounds lanced away from behind the Humvee, tearing through the house. All they could do was lay on the floor and wait for it to end. Meanwhile Nate watched as flames licked up the walls near the front of the house.

  “Erika. Erika! Let’s go!” he bellowed.

  She hurried down to join them. They were about to rush out the rear door when they heard the militia over the megaphone. “You just screwed over the wrong person. Now she’s gonna die.”

  Nate turned back towards the house.

  “Nate. There’s nothing we can do,” Erika said. “This is our only chance.”

  He shook his head, unable to leave her. He couldn’t help but feel that he was partly to blame. Making his way around the side of the home, he had got to the corner of the front of the house when he saw Helen dragged out of the Humvee. She squirmed in the grasp of the oversized soldier. He brought a handgun up to her head, gritted his teeth and bellowed something but Nate couldn’t hear it over the noise of flames tearing through the house. Dark smoke billowed out.

  “No!” Nate yelled, but it was too late.

  Crack.

  The gun erupted and Helen dropped.

  Nate swung the M4 around the corner and opened fire. The soldiers ducked, taking cover behind their vehicles as rounds punched through the windshield of one of their trucks. A couple of rounds hit the tires causing them to deflate. He kept firing until he ran out of rounds. He tossed the magazine and palmed another one in just as he heard more gunfire. He thought they were returning fire, but that wasn’t it.

  All four of the militia came under fire.

  Nate couldn’t see clearly because of the smoke but he soon realized the soldiers were being fired upon from behind.

  It was over in seconds. The final four were dead. Not wishing to be mistaken as one of them, he removed his helmet and upper fatigue and tossed them. He did a quick scan of the trees framing the neighborhood, and the homes behind, and that’s when he saw a group of men and women emerge. They weren’t dressed in fatigues or anything that would make him think they were part of a gang or resistance. They were ordinary folks, suburban homeowners who’d witnessed the whole thing play out.

  Erika and Danny came up behind him and looked on in shock. All three of them wandered out to the road to meet those fighting back.

  21

  As daylight pushed back the darkness, Jude, and Andy had finally reached an agreement. Though the previous evening had been one full of dissension and trouble, Andy had returned, willing to listen and discuss how the two settlements could work together for the good of Whitefish. Plans were shared, ideas shot down, and though it seemed almost impossible to imagine, Tyler and his brother bore witness to a handshake.

&n
bsp; In some ways if Tyler wasn’t mistaken, the two looked grateful.

  Eager to see Dianna, and inform the community of Camp O’Brien, they returned that morning with Jude, their hearts encouraged and full of hope. That soon faded as they caught the smell of thick smoke then saw billowing black clouds rising above the mountains. As the ATVs came over the hilly landscape and reached the top of a crest that looked down at the camp, eyes widened. Devastation. Complete and utter devastation. Tents burned to the ground. RVs turned over and cabins nothing more than charred remains. There amid it all were bodies, everywhere. Jude took off a high rate of speed down the narrow trail, followed by the rest of them.

  The engines roared as they tore into the camp and soaked in the sight of the aftermath. Oblivious to anything or anyone, Jude leapt off his ATV and hurried to a cabin that was still intact. He burst through the door calling out to Dianna, Sara, his daughters, and Maddox.

  It was Corey that spotted Maddox, a few feet from an RV. He looked as if he had scrambled to escape to the west when he was cut down from behind.

  “Jude!”

  Jude emerged, his eyes flitted over and then he raced towards him. Falling to his knees beside his son he scooped his arms around him and wept loudly. “Maddox. My son!” Tyler looked on unable to grasp the level of brutality. People were not just shot, they were mutilated. Most had wounds to the front or back of the head as if their attackers had gone around to make sure they were dead. Some had been disemboweled, others had their ears or noses cut off. Blood ran away from bodies creating in one area a mini stream that had now dried in the morning sun.

  Andy scanned the faces, going from one to the next. Tyler knew who he was looking for. He assisted, calling out Dianna’s name; hoping, praying even that she would be alive if only for the sake of his father, and Andy.