Survival Rules Series (Book 4): Rules of Engagement

by Hunt, Jack

  Almost ten minutes later, Tyler found her lying on her back, four wounds to the chest and her throat slit. No tears fell from his eyes as they had already fallen many years ago. Tyler turned towards Andy and Corey who were still searching a short distance away. At first he didn’t want to tell them as he knew it would destroy them. He considered covering her face, perhaps pulling one of the other dead over her and letting them believe she’d escaped, but after all they’d been through, he couldn’t do it.

  “She’s over here,” he shouted.

  Both looked his way then hurried, Andy reaching him first, eager to see if all he’d been told was true. He came to a halt, looming over her body, his eyes filled with shock and awe. Jude fell down beside her, his arms pulling her in close, crying in the crook of her neck. He rocked back and forth like a disturbed mental patient. Tyler took a few steps back and felt the reassuring hand of his brother on his shoulder. He beckoned him away without saying a word, leaving Andy and Jude in their grief.

  Corey had instructed Bennington, Holden, Gibby, Markowitz, and the men that had gone with Jude to spread out and take up defensive positions further up just in case those who had attacked were still nearby.

  Smoke drifted across the sky above them as Corey wrapped his arm around Tyler’s shoulder and led him out of earshot of their fathers. Their boots crunched over dirt and gravel as they walked back to the ATVs. Tyler took a seat on one while Corey put his foot up and wiped a hand across his brow. Corey cast a nervous glance over his shoulder.

  “What is it?” Tyler asked.

  “Expect a blowback from this.”

  “What? Why?” Tyler asked.

  Corey looked back at him. “Think about it. No one is alive to tell us what happened. Jude will think our camp did this.” Tyler groaned. There was a strong possibility in his grief he would want to point the finger and with the history that the two camps had, who wouldn’t at least wonder. Tyler looked around. Surely there had to be at least one person alive. He looked back at his brother.

  “Why didn’t you walk over and look at her?” He was referring to their mother. Corey had yet to see her since he had discovered that she was still alive.

  “Because in my mind she was buried a long time ago.” Corey looked up towards where her body lay and then dipped his chin. “Perhaps this is for the best.”

  Tyler frowned. “How?”

  “She was nothing but a thorn in the side of both of them.”

  “But she was still our mother.”

  Corey snorted. “Yeah and not a good one.” He pushed away from the ATV. “Once they’ve had a few minutes with her, tell them we need to go. Camp Olney is now at risk.”

  “Why can’t you do it?” Tyler asked but he didn’t get a response. Corey didn’t want to get close and see their mother. His reaction to her was to be expected. Tyler’s emotions weren’t that far off. Corey wandered off in Bennington’s direction, casting the odd glance at the dead as he went. Tyler remained where he was for a few more minutes, his eyes drifting to Maddox. Had he played a hand in all of this? He could never read the guy, and yet somewhere underneath all those lies was someone like himself who just wanted to be accepted. Tyler let out a lungful of air and watched the two men unload their grief in their own way. Andy stood aloof, shaking his head, unable to believe it. Jude looked truly heartbroken. How could one woman have that much power over two men? And did either one really know her? Now they would never know.

  Jude used his forearm to wipe away the tears before rising. He glanced at Andy who still hadn’t taken his eyes off her. He looked out across the camp and shook his head. This was his fault. He shouldn’t have left the camp so unprotected.

  “Jude. Jude!” Perry, one of his guys, yelled up to him. “Quick, Sheila is alive.”

  He broke into a sprint nearly losing his footing as he came down the hilly landscape. Sheila had been one of four in charge of overseeing cooking in the camp. Upon reaching her he fell to his knees and gripped her hand. She was barely clinging to life. There were multiple rounds in her body and her skin was a pasty white.

  “Who did this?”

  She struggled to get words out. He brought his ear down to her lips expecting to hear her say Camp Olney but that wasn’t what she muttered. “Soldiers.”

  He kept hold of her hand for another five minutes before she took her last breath. Kneeling there he was aware of someone nearby. He turned to find Tyler watching him.

  “There was nothing you could have done,” Tyler said.

  “I shouldn’t have left them. I should have had Andy come here.”

  “That wouldn’t have happened. You know that.”

  “Stupid. Stupid,” he said closing his eyes and pounding the earth with a closed fist.

  “We can still turn this around.”

  “Turn it around? I’ve lost my son, Sara and my daughters. I lost the only woman I really ever loved. Turn this around?” He chuckled. “No. It’s over. There aren’t enough of us. Maybe if they’d been alive…”

  There was a long pause as he glanced back at Sheila and apologized. He’d been involved in the creation of the camp. They’d trusted him. And he wasn’t there when they needed him the most.

  “So what? We run?” Tyler asked. “We bury our heads in the earth and hope they don’t use mortars to get us out?” He shook his head and looked around. “No. We can still do this. The odds are against us but there are good people in Whitefish. People who will fight. We just need to set the example, lead the way.”

  Jude chuckled. “Lead the way. Listen to yourself. Andy was right. It’s not our responsibility.”

  “What just because you chose to not live there? Because you don’t know every single person?”

  “Because we can’t win!” Jude bellowed.

  Silence followed.

  Tyler nodded slowly. “No. Maybe we can’t. Maybe it would be better to walk away. Leave now and hope to God that they don’t follow. Hope to God that we don’t encounter another group like this.” He paused and ran a hand around the back of his neck. “Maybe that would be easier.” He nodded. “Or…we fight back. Perhaps we’ll die, but we sure as hell won’t have to live with the guilt of not having tried.”

  Tyler turned and walked away leaving Jude contemplating what he said. There was so much in his past that he felt guilty for: Relationships that had gone sour, bridges he’d burned, and people he’d turned his back on. It was easy to do but so much harder to live with. Jude looked across the hilly terrain towards Andy who was now kneeling beside Dianna, holding her hand. They’d both lost so much.

  He turned his head at the sound of his men finding a few more people clinging to life farther up the hill. He owed it to these people. He owed it to Dianna, to Maddox, to Tyler and… He looked back over at Andy and let out an exasperated sigh. He owed it to his once closest friend.

  Corey strolled over. “We’re leaving. Heading back to camp. We need to make sure…”

  “I get it. Give me a minute, and I’ll go.”

  “You’re coming? Tyler said that—”

  “I changed my mind. Tell him, I will do it,” Jude said, his eyes towards the dead. “Their blood is on my hands.”

  It was a morbid display of contempt. A complete lack of respect for him, for his men, and for all they represented. This wouldn’t go unpunished. Hopkins gritted his teeth and balled his fists as he looked up at eight of his men hanging from nooses. They’d been strung up to lampposts, their clothes stripped. Some were showing signs of burns, the rest bullet wounds. They were found on the north side, a clear message to him that they would continue killing until he left. But he had no intention of leaving.

  “Cut ’em down,” he said in an angry tone to one of his men. “I don’t want people seeing this.” He scanned the homes nearby.

  Thompson bellowed for some of the soldiers to get up there and get them down. Hopkins charged off. He couldn’t believe that this could happen under his watch. How had they managed to do this? Who was responsi
ble? He could feel his control over the town slipping through his fingers. If he didn’t do something fast his own men would start to think he wasn’t strong, and that he couldn’t lead. He needed to speak with Chief Bruce. He was holding back. There was something he wasn’t telling him about this town. Hopkins got in a Jeep and tore away heading back to the police station. His mind was running amok with worry. Exhausted emotionally and physically after the previous night’s raid, this was the last thing he needed on his plate.

  He drove recklessly through the streets of Whitefish, determined to get to the bottom of this. As he got closer, he saw his second in command giving instructions to soldiers at one of the roadblocks. He swerved the Jeep nearby. “Nathaniel. Get in.”

  “But I’ve…”

  “Get in!”

  He jogged over and climbed in. Hopkins peeled away.

  “Ten of our men are dead. Two from earlier, eight today. Another two are missing. And all of this has happened within the town. If we don’t find who is behind this and stop it now, they might inspire the people of this town to fight back.”

  “We have it under control.”

  Hopkins slammed the brake on and twisted in his seat. “You have nothing under control! I gave you a simple task to find who killed our men at the hospital.”

  “You told Baxter.”

  “Yes, and I told you as well. So please tell me, what the hell have you been doing?”

  Nathaniel scowled. “What you asked.”

  Hopkins slammed his fist against the steering wheel and ground the accelerator to the floor, forcing Nathaniel back into his seat. Nathaniel continued. “You know how many things I’m juggling right now? You want to blame this on me, go ahead, but I told you we were putting ourselves at risk by heading up to that camp. Dividing our group wasn’t smart. And coming here was foolish. At least back in Helena, we knew the area, we had more people.”

  Hopkins refused to get into an argument. There was much about what Nathaniel said that was right. Helena had been a city torn apart by the blackout. Riots, looting, killing, it had been one big mosh pit of people struggling to make it out alive and right there in the heart of it all was them. The only way to handle this was to get the people’s attention and that meant putting civilian lives on the line. When they arrived at the station, Hopkins double-timed it inside with Nathaniel in his shadow. He hurried down to the cell block and had one of his soldiers unlock the door. Once it was open, he stepped inside and looked at Chief Bruce laid back on the bed.

  “Wyatt Hopkins. What brings you into my humble abode?” Bruce swung his legs off the bed. He had this arrogant look on his face as if he still thought wearing that uniform carried weight.

  Hopkins narrowed his gaze. “What are you not telling me?”

  “Telling you?”

  “Don’t bullshit me. More of my men are dead.”

  Bruce had this glib expression. “How unfortunate. My condolences.”

  “Who is behind this?”

  “How the hell would I know? I’ve been locked up in here.”

  Hopkins jabbed his finger at him. “There are consequences for this.”

  Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Obviously.”

  “You know what that means?”

  “You’ve decided to leave?” Bruce asked, a smirk appearing.

  Hopkins lashed out, unable to control his anger. He backhanded the chief across the face. He grabbed him and threw him up against the wall and began to lay into him, throwing a jab into his stomach multiple times until he dropped to the floor. “Oh no, I’m not going anywhere. This is just the beginning.” He loomed over him breathing heavily. “No, this means more of the good people of Whitefish are about to die and this time, you’ll be the one to squeeze the trigger.”

  22

  The people of Camp Olney huddled together as he and Jude stood side by side preparing to address them. Most were confused, others curious. From the moment they’d entered the gates, murmurs spread throughout the crowd. Young, old, and even children came out to hear what they had to say.

  Andy raised a hand to settle the chatter. He felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple as he summoned what strength he had left to deal with the matter at hand. All he wanted to do was disappear, leave all the crowds behind and go off and be alone with his thoughts, but that wasn’t to be.

  “Settle down. I know you have your questions and we will answer them but before we get to that you are probably wondering why Jude is here.” He looked to his left and Jude stepped forward to take over.

  He paused for a second and dipped his chin before looking up. “There are many of you that don’t want me here. I understand. Believe me, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. Last night the settlement at Camp O’Brien was attacked and massacred. No one survived.” He let his words sink in before continuing. “I was with Andy last night discussing a plan to help Whitefish when this happened. We are the only survivors,” he said motioning to himself and the four men that went with him. “The same militia that attacked here is responsible. We believe there is a strong chance they will return. With mortars and more firepower than we can deal with, unless we strike first.”

  “Strike first?” a woman in the crowd said. “But we have kids. Elderly people.”

  Andy stepped in. “And they will be protected. You have my word. What Jude is trying to say is that we have weighed the options before us and our best hope is to attack them before they come for us.”

  Everyone in the crowd began talking, almost two hundred voices resounding.

  “Listen, please,” Andy said over the noise. “Believe me when I say that I am not for putting any lives at risk, however unless we fight, there will be no Camp Olney.”

  “But we can just retreat into the domes,” someone yelled.

  “Yeah, we have more than enough food and water to last us a year,” another person said. “Isn’t that why you built this place? To survive every situation?”

  Andy glanced at Jude and he answered those questions. “Hide. We can do that. But for how long? These domes were built to survive a nuclear fallout, a chemical attack, and general threats. They can withstand a lot but the militia have mortars, they have high-powered weaponry. In the hands of someone who is determined, there is a good chance they could force their way in.”

  “What about the tunnels?” Edison asked.

  “Tunnels?” Jude looked confused.

  Andy stepped forward. “We had plans for tunnels to extend out beyond the camp.”

  “Huh. Always the innovator, Andy.”

  “It was Edison’s idea.”

  Edison smiled, grateful for the recognition. Andy informed him they didn’t have time to complete the tunnels. This matter had to be dealt with fast.

  He nodded and Andy returned to addressing the crowd when someone shouted, “How many are we up against?”

  “We’re not exactly sure but from the reconnaissance our scouts have been able to gauge that we are dealing with at least two hundred, maybe slightly less.”

  “Two hundred?” a woman cried out as she looked around. “But not all of us can fight. We have young ones, elderly.”

  “I know,” Andy said. “Those of you who can will be given instructions, grouped with others. The rest of you will go into the domes and the camp will be on lockdown until we return.”

  “And what if you don’t return?” the same woman asked. Others nodded, and murmurs spread over the group. Andy walked out among them and placed a hand on various people’s shoulders. He smiled and they waited for him to speak. He understood their fear but he also realized what was at stake.

  “I won’t cherry coat this. There will be those that won’t return. What we do this evening, we do for the survival of all. Not just this camp. But the town, the community, the state at large.” He looked over to Tyler. Tyler had made him think about his choices. He was right. For so long he’d focused on his own survival, and those closest to him, and had placed very little emphasis on the community at large, bu
t what were they without community? “Fighting back and defending what is ours starts with us. With small towns saying no to raiders,” he glanced at Jude, who looked guilty and lowered his head, “and militia, and anyone who tries to come and steal what we have worked to build. If they want what is ours, they have to be as willing to die for it as we are to defend it.”

  He looked around at the many faces, those he knew and many that he was still getting to know. Andy knew he didn’t have long before cancer spread throughout his body. He also knew he had done many things wrong in his life and that if ever there was a time to turn things around, it was now. “Look around you,” he said. “Every single person that is here is your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, your child, your uncle, your aunt, your friend and your co-worker. Blood might be thicker than water but we are joined together by our humanity, our commonalities, not our differences. The road forward will only work when we are ready to lay down our life for the one beside us. I know that now.” He looked towards Tyler and smiled. “If we die this evening protecting Whitefish, then so be it. You can prepare, build and have the greatest rules for survival…” he trailed off. “But unless you are prepared to defend those you created them for, they mean very little.”

  He gave a strained smile and slipped through the crowd towards the working Jeeps, trucks and horses that had been gathered. One by one, men and women followed him, and began the final preparations for battle.

  Many hours after they had been saved from near death, Nate felt a surge of confidence and hope. He took a slug of water then poured some over his head to cool himself down. A shot of pain went through his shoulder as he lowered it. His arm was sore, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as his heart. Witnessing the execution of Helen had angered him beyond anything he’d ever felt.

  She was innocent, incapable of harming anyone. She’d given her life to helping those suffering from all manner of afflictions but to them it meant nothing. They used her like a pawn. But he wasn’t the only one to witness it. Neighbors had watched it play out and seen how callous they were with one of Whitefish’s own. And just like him, it had lit a fire in their bellies, and made them even more determined to ensure the militia paid dearly. After clearing the road of the dead, and hiding the Humvee and truck, Nate, and the others were now holed up inside a home one street over waiting for additional support from those who had also suffered and lost family under the militia’s tyranny.