“That’s what we wanted to see you about. I think we should form a kind of alliance, and work together,” Jared said.
Harry looked at his team, then nodded.
“Sounds like a good idea.”
Chapter Ten
Rangers
Anna
“You’ll be our rangers,” Harry said.
“I’m not a Ranger,” Bradley said with a little grin.
“I understand. I meant a ranger more in the general sense. You guys have more range, you go out, you have more patrol activity. We’re kind of a main base here, with better defenses, if your attack earlier is any indication.”
Bradley nodded. Anna wondered if that meant her too. She wasn’t keen on sitting things out just because she was a woman.
“Okay, so we’re the rangers. What does that mean as far as our alliance goes?” Jared asked.
“You provide us with extra firepower if we ever need support, give us intel from locations further out if you travel, and let us know of possible supply locations. In return, we’ll provide you a place here to use as a backup location in case you need one. We’ll be available for support if you find yourself in a bind, and we’ll pass on intel we get from the radio. If you need help with supplies, we can do that too. We also have medics, a nurse, and a radio operator along with some other key personnel. We can eventually get some things back up and running in town.”
If Jimmy Don doesn’t get there first…
“Sounds good,” Bradley murmured to Jared.
“I think so too,” she said. “As long as you understand that just because you consider us rangers doesn’t mean we’re at your beck and call. Just because we have the same goals doesn’t mean our methods will be the same, and we have people to protect too.”
“That’s a given, and you don’t have to worry about that,” Harry told her. “Consider this more of an agreement between two nations. We’re autonomous but work together for the common goal. Obviously, we’ll never go to war against you,” he stopped and smiled. “Unless you don’t stop leading biters to out front door.”
“It was one time!” Jared sighed.
“Twice,” Harry insisted.
“The first time they were already heading this way,” Jared replied.
“Is this necessary?” Bradley asked.
“Fine. We will not intentionally lead biters to your front gate.”
Harry narrowed his eyes.
“Or the back gate.”
“All right. I’ll get you a list of locations where you can pick up some supplies if you want to beef up your perimeter. I can’t guarantee they’ll be safe, or that the supplies will still be there, but they were a few weeks ago.” He motioned for a team member to go get it.
“Thanks,” Bradley said. “What radio setup do you have?”
“Our radio guy could give you the details on the models, but we have a ham radio and various SINCGARS options.”
“Can you have your radio operator extend the antenna and possibly get us a vehicle mounted RT-1532 and another handheld?”
“Make a note,” Harry told one of his men.
Anna studied the men as they discussed various aspects of preparedness and defensive techniques that went a little over her head. Aside from Cary Rhodes, the medic—who was a pretty nondescript looking man in his thirties or forties— there was a man named Lowe, who seemed to be the leader of Alpha team.
Lowe was a veteran as well, though Harry didn’t mention any details. He was a bigger man, around forty years old, with brown hair and eyes. He was very serious looking, and she knew right away that they would not want him for an enemy. Harry had chosen his Alpha team leader well.
The other men were introduced as Kinney, Marcum, and Flynn. Aside from a brief wave and a quick hello, they hadn’t talked. She felt a little intimidated being around so many men and supposedly being a ranger now. Speaking of that, she was really going to have to be more consistent with her workouts. Her last real run was the one in town after she ditched the Caddy, and she needed to do more upper body stuff. Maybe they could find some free weights or something. She didn’t want to be a weak link.
“All set?” Harry asked.
“Yep.”
“Would you guys like some coffee now?” Harry asked. “You could get a tour of the place and meet some of the residents. Bradley, maybe you’d like to talk to Romeo?”
“Romeo?” Anna asked.
Jared looked at her and she shrugged and nodded.
“Okay, we should leave before dark though. I don’t want to be traveling in case we cross paths with any more herds.”
“Follow me,” Harry said once again. Bradley went first and Jared had Anna go ahead of him. They walked back through the building to a small seating area.
“Take him to Romeo,” Harry told an Alpha team member. Bradley followed the man deeper into the building.
“We keep our radio equipment here. There’s already a tower and we have a power source. Let’s go meet some people.”
Jared and Anna went back outside with Harry. They checked on Fletch and Stewart. The windows were down and Fletch had the door open for better air circulation. She was glad Jared had parked under a shade tree or they’d be dead of a heat stroke. Well, Fletch would. Stewart didn’t look like the heat bothered him much.
“We have one hundred and twelve people inside these walls. As you can see, the responsibility for ensuring their survival has fallen to me. I was the captain of our little neighborhood watch group. Within the last eighteen months we developed into a larger group and decided to shift our priorities from crime to survival preparedness and self-defense. It’s a damned good thing we did too.”
They followed him to a large house on a corner lot. The yard was overgrown, like the others, but the porch was neat, and the windows were open. There were solar panels on the roof and rain barrels under the gutters. It was something they should consider doing at Jared’s.
“This is my house. If you ever need anything, come here first. If I’m not here, then I’m likely at the community center.” He pointed at the walls toward the end of the street. “As you can see, we’ve added to the walls. Bradley will probably sketch out a similar plan for your place. With the herds that we’re expecting to get, you’ll want to get that done quickly, or consider moving in here.”
Anna looked at Jared to see how he’d take it.
“We’ll think about it. Thank you,” Jared said. She didn’t think he’d actually move away from his home unless he had to, and she would definitely miss it.
“What do you know about Oak Grove?” Jared asked, surprising her.
“Sten’s people?” Harry asked. “They are good people. A little weird. Loners. They don’t like outsiders.”
“You know them?” Anna asked.
Harry smiled. “We talk sometimes via courier.”
“Have you heard from them since the blasts?” Jared asked.
“No, but I’m sure they’re fine.”
Bradley rejoined them later with another handheld radio and specific instructions to return soon for a vehicle that had a special mounted radio inside. Harry gave Jared a list which included a ton of information about supplies and routes, plus a listing of places where gang activity was ramping up. They thanked him, waved goodbye, and left.
◆◆◆
Back at Jared’s they were all sitting down for the evening meal. Stewart was in the garage eating his cornbread. Violet made it for him special, and she was pretty glad he decided to eat it out there. She had seen the way he ate, and it wasn’t pretty. She supposed she was thankful he wasn’t tearing apart living creatures, but still…
“You know, I think I’m beginning to wish this had been a zombie apocalypse. I feel like our chances would have been a little better,” Jared said, studying a large map and marking the places that Harry had said were dangerous.
“We need to get the supplies to fortify the house,” Bradley said, scanning the list. “Most of these places are close, bu
t we’ll need a truck and trailer.”
“The chickens!” Anna said.
“Yes, we’ll go get the chickens,” Jared said. “We can do that tomorrow.”
“No, I meant that the place with the chickens had a trailer. Don’t you remember? It was out behind the shed where they kept the feed.”
“Oh yeah! We can kill two birds with one stone. Grab the chickens and the trailer. They may even have some stuff there that we need.”
“Let’s do that first thing,” she told him, then looked up as Bradley spoke. He was looking out the kitchen windows.
“Honestly man, I don’t think we’re going to be able to fortify the fences around this place. I mean, they’re good for slowing down the regular biters a little, but unless we put up concrete walls or large steel plates, I don’t think it will stop the muties,” Bradley said.
“What should we do then?” Jared asked.
She hoped he wasn’t going to say that they needed to move.
“I think we should dig pits. We can put up tall chain link panels around the main yard and top it with barbed wire. If we dig pits on the outside of it, that will be an added obstacle that could slow those things down. We could even put spikes in the bottom.”
Anna winced and Jared’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea. Let’s do that. Do we need to dig by hand or—”
“Get me a backhoe and I can dig you a ditch that even the muties won’t be getting out of easily,” Hank interrupted.
“That’s perfect. I know where we can get one close by, if Jimmy Don Booth hasn’t gotten to it yet,” Jared said.
“Okay, this is going to sound like a bad idea, but I think we should split up tomorrow and get both these jobs done at once. They are both important,” Anna said.
Bradley looked skeptical. Jared chewed his lip for a minute. “You’re right. It’s a terrible idea. Why do you always suggest splitting up? I mean, have you ever watched a horror movie in your life?”
“It worked out okay last time,” she said.
“Barely.”
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault we almost got blown up!”
“Okay, fine. Me and you will go get the chickens and the trailer and come back here. Bradley, Fletch, and Hank can go get the backhoe.”
Jared turned to Hank. “You know that excavation business back down the highway out of town? Last time I had a load of gravel dumped I saw some heavy machinery out behind their office. If it’s still there that would be the closest and best place I know of to get a backhoe.”
“I know the place,” Hank said, nodding.
Juan, Maria, and the boys came up then and sat with Violet on the couch. Maria looked exhausted and Anna was certain that this was much harder on her. She had kids to worry about. It must be terrifying to have little kids right now. She didn’t even want to think about it. They had to keep them safe.
“Juan, you and Violet mind guarding the place tomorrow while we get some stuff? You can lock yourselves in the basement if you think it’s safer.”
“Yeah, we can do that,” he said, looking at Violet.
“It’s settled then. We’ll leave at dawn.”
“There’s one little problem,” Bradley said.
“What?”
“We only have one vehicle, not counting your mom’s hooptie out in the driveway.”
“Shit, I forgot about that,” Jared said. He looked at his mom over in the kitchen and started to say something, but she cut him off.
"You aren't taking my car."
Jared glared at her and raised an eyebrow.
She crossed her arms and stood her ground.
Jared shook his head. "I didn't want that piece of junk anyway."
He looked at Anna and winked.
“Your plan is a no-go,” he said to her.” Here’s what we’ll do…”
Chapter Eleven
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Jared
Jared looked at all of them squeezed in the back and was glad that he was the driver. Bradley, Fletch, and Hank sat in the back seat, with Stew in the cargo area, like usual. Anna was in the passenger seat with their supplies.
They had decided it would be best to all go get the chickens, then find another vehicle on the way back so the men could go get the backhoe. Anna and Maria would set up the chickens in one of the sheds, with Juan as a guard.
“So, we have to pass through Sten’s to get the chickens?” Hank asked.
He was doing well, and Jared was glad he hadn’t immediately gotten sick from the scratch. He would still need to rest and not move his neck too much. He insisted that he could still drive the backhoe home for them and get the work done.
“Yeah. The chickens are about eight miles past Sten’s. We should be done and back home in a couple of hours if everything goes according to plan,” Anna said.
“You just had to say that didn’t you? Once you say that, something’s going to go wrong. It’s practically guaranteed,” Jared said.
“Bad juju,” Bradley said.
“Knock on wood,” Hank said.
“Ahhhh,” Stewart added.
“You guys are freaking weird. You know that right? There is no such thing as bad juju,” Anna scoffed.
“I’m definitely going to say ‘I told you so’ when it happens,” Jared said.
“When what happens?!”
“It! Whatever bad thing you just set in motion,” Jared clarified.
“Fine,” she knocked on her bat. “There. Is that better?”
“I don’t know. There was kind of a delay from when you said the bad juju words and then knocked on wood. I don’t know if there’s like a five second rule for that…”
“Whatever,” she sighed. “I didn’t have enough coffee to be putting up with this.”
They drove in silence, and he was glad nobody wanted to talk. He was getting a headache and he couldn’t stop thinking about Kate, and the road gangs, and the massive mutie herds. What were the odds that Kate would not only survive a nuclear blast—if there had been one near Nashville— but also gangs, and muties?
It wasn’t good.
He knew that he was going to leave and look for her as soon as they had fortified the house enough that he felt comfortable leaving Anna there. He hadn’t told her his plans yet. He hadn’t told anyone.
“What the fresh hell is this?!” he yelled and stomped the brakes.
Stewart went flying into the back of Bradley’s seat and grumbled out something that sounded suspiciously like ‘asshole’ without the ‘H’.
“Apt, Jared. Very apt,” Bradley said as he scanned the sides of the road and the freshly constructed gate and roadblock.
Jared studied the large, ten-foot-tall spikes mounted at intervals along the road which gradually converged on the gate and dump truck barricade. That would have been weird enough without the mutant heads that were currently mounted on them.
“Who does this?!” he said aloud. “This is sick!”
“Why aren’t the heads all black looking?” Anna wondered.
Good question. What the hell did Sten do? And how?
“I think it’s badass. Give those fuckers a warning,” Fletch said.
“Guuuuuhhhh,” Stewart said from the back seat.
“Stewart thinks it’s a good idea,” Bradley added.
“Well, he’s the expert,” Jared said, still cringing at the decapitated monsters lining the road.
He was actually glad they had brought Stewart along. He had unique insight into these kinds of things, even if communication was a little hard. He was really glad they had washed him off and changed his clothes. He was apparently capable of maintaining his own bodily functions—he didn’t want to know how— but he didn’t seem to care about keeping his clothes clean.
The dump truck in the road didn’t move, and there was no movement in the trees, so he honked the horn.
“Jared! Rude!” Anna chided.
“And dumb,” Bradley added.
“Well, it’s not like they hav
e a damned doorbell!” Jared said defensively.
“Actually, they do,” Hank said, and he followed his pointing finger.
There was a large cast iron bell on a pole nearby.
“Well, shit,” Jared said. “They should have put up a sign or something.”
He jumped as he turned back and Sten was glaring at him through the driver’s side window.
His face was grave. Jared rolled it down and Sten leaned in and crossed his arms on the sill. He didn’t seem to have any concept of personal space.
“Did you think that maybe…just maybe…there’s a reason that there’s a big fucking bell on a pole over there?” Sten said calmly, nodding at the pole.
“I was a little distracted by the heads on spikes! Pardon the hell out of me!”
Sten turned his attention on Anna and gave her a little panty-dropping smile. Jared scowled.
“Hello again, kære. I’m glad to see you looking well. Thought I was going to have to send out a search party to come rescue you when the sirens went off.”
“Raiding party, you mean,” Jared mumbled, trying to ignore the strange word that he was sure meant something intimate, and Sten smiled.
Jared knew he was just trying to irritate him. It was working.
You don’t know where I live,” Jared said.
He felt his jaw ticking as Sten gave Anna a flirtatious look. If he backed up fast enough, could he run over Sten’s foot?
“Everybody knows where you live,” Sten said, brushing off Jared’s comment.
“I’m glad you guys are all okay. We didn’t know where you all went when we came back through. We took shelter after the bombs hit,” Anna said.
Jared looked at her, glad to see that she was ignoring Sten's advances. Wasn’t she at all worried that a band of Vikings knew where they lived though?
“We have a place,” Sten said mysteriously. “I figured it was you who left the keys in the dump truck,” he added with a look at Jared.
“They were in there already,” Jared said.
“They weren’t in the ignition.”
“Can we come through? We don’t have much time to talk today,” Anna said.
The Salvation Plague | Book 2 | The Mutation Page 8
