“Pull over,” he told Anna.
They pulled over and he jumped out and motioned for the backhoe and Bradley to keep going, then he walked up to the bus. Whatever Jimmy Don wanted, it must have been important.
Jimmy Don jumped out and pulled off his trucker cap. “I was just headed out to your place. We’ve got ourselves a heap of trouble heading our way.”
“You mean the storm?” Jared asked, glancing at the rapidly moving clouds.
“No siree Bob! I’m talking about the invading army! Harry caught some chatter on the radio. Apparently, there is some kind of coup in the government or military. The country has gone all to pieces and each one’s got their own army. We got one marching through just north of us on the way to Cheyenne Mountain.”
“Cheyenne Mountain?”
“Yep. That’s that old underground government base. The new army took it over after the old government launched those nukes at the cities.”
“So, the army that’s marching through belongs to the old government?”
“Yep, looks like they’re planning to go to war against the new ‘un. T’tell you the truth. I ain’t too happy with the old government myself. Imagine nuking your own cities, and now going to start a war with people when we’ve got all these things running loose.” He shook his head and patted the side of the VW. “I just wanted to let you know so that you all can lay low for a while.”
“Did Harry say when and where this was all going down?”
“Nope. Just said soon and a little north of here.”
“Okay. Tell Harry we’ll come by tomorrow to pick up those radios and to have an emergency meeting.”
“Will do. I’m just headed out to warn the others,” Jimmy Don said, jumping back in the bus.
“Others?”
“Other groups,” Jimmy said.
“Well shit. How many more are there?” Jared asked.
“There’s a good handful of groups hereabouts. Sten Halvorsen’s is probably the largest, but they don’t like outsiders much.”
“His group is bigger than Harry’s group?”
“Shoot yeah, he’s got a least five hundred in that place over there, maybe more, didn’t you know?”
“What the hell! I’ve only ever seen a few, maybe twenty at the most.”
“They blend in well.”
Blend in well indeed.
“Okay, we have to finish up what we’re doing here. Is the co-op clear? We need to pick up some fencing supplies.”
“It’s clear for now, but ya’ll will want to go get your stuff before too long. Doubtful it’ll be there after folks regroup and start getting their defenses up.”
“See you later,” Jared said and waved.
Jimmy Don tooted the horn and made a U-turn back to town, toward the storm. Jared jumped back in the truck and motioned for Anna to catch up to Bradley and the others.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
He could see that she was worried. He wished he had better news.
“I’ll tell you when we get back with the others. It isn’t good though. Not at all.”
Chapter Fourteen
Portents
Anna
“There’s going to be a war,” Jared said as they all gathered in the backyard.
The clouds seemed to be shifting off further to the south of them, which was fortunate. The storm looked to be a bad one and it would have made their project a lot harder to accomplish. She wasn’t even sure you were supposed to dig in wet ground.
Hank had parked the backhoe over near the fence where he would soon start work. Juan and Stewart were going to provide security for him while he got the job done. Violet and Carlos were going to watch the front of the house. Enid, Maria, and Alejandro were getting the chickens taken care of. She, Jared, Bradley, and Fletch were going to get the fencing.
As soon as Jared enlightened them about what the heck was going on.
“What do you mean, a war?” Bradley asked.
“Jimmy Don said that Harry picked up communications about it. Apparently, after the old government nuked our own country, some of the military leaders broke off and formed their own government out west. Jimmy Don said they’ve taken over Cheyenne Mountain, some underground military complex.”
“It’s a huge underground structure out in Colorado,” Bradley said frowning. “So, there are two governments now?”
“At least two, and they each have their own forces.”
“Shit,” Bradley said.
Anna wiped the sweat from her forehead and took a drink of water. It was hot, and she was tired, and they still had so much to do. Now this. Would it ever end?
She interrupted their comments about the factions. “So, what does this mean for us? I mean, I know it’s bad, but why does it have anything to do with us here and now?”
“Jimmy said that the old government is sending a large force west, presumably to try to subdue the new army out there. They’ll be passing up north of here,” Jared said.
“I bet they’re going through Thompsonville. Remember how I told you they basically demoed the city? Well, that’s because the higher-ups were planning to build it up as a defensible base. They wanted to relocate people there and start a new city. They must think we’re still holding it.”
“Even after you lost radio contact?” Anna asked him skeptically.
“They must think they can handle whatever is there. That means they’re bringing a large force.” Bradley rubbed his head and looked out at the trees. “It’s possible our unit linked up with the old government forces. They could be headed out to Colorado right now.”
“And Kate,” Jared said. “I bet Kate is still with them.”
Anna sighed, but didn’t contradict him. She sensed that he needed to believe that she was still alive, and hey…maybe she was.
“So, what will the military do if we come across them?” Anna asked.
Bradley looked nervous and Hank looked grim, and she felt her heart sink. “Well…it depends.”
“On what?” Jared asked.
“On how well supplied they are, and how many men they have,” Bradley said, avoiding their gaze.
“Spit it out, Bradley,” Jared said tersely.
“They could take whatever they needed from us. Food, weapons, ammo, people…they could commandeer whatever they wanted. We wouldn’t be able to stop them.”
“Would they really do that? Even though we need the stuff too?” she asked him.
“It’s the government. They nuked our own cities and confiscated weapons at the slightest excuse. They can, and will, take our shit.”
“So, how do we stop them?” Anna asked.
Jared put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “We don’t.”
“We lay low and wait for them to pass us by,” Hank said, getting to the point.
“Underground again?” she sighed.
“Not necessarily. I don’t know what capabilities they still have. If they still have satellites and drones, then there is really no place we can hide. They have the technology to pinpoint places that people are hiding and storing goods. The question is: Are those satellites and drones still operational, and if so, will they be using them against us?”
Everyone was silent at that. It was scary thinking that there was no possible way to hide. That they wouldn’t be able to fight. There would be no way to win, or even just ride it out quietly.
“Personally, I do not think they’ll be worried about people like us. Yet. They’re going to be focused on the main threats, which are the Cheyenne Mountain government and the muties,” Bradley said. “For now, we’ll make ourselves as uninteresting and unimportant as possible, and I’m sure Harry’s people are advising him to do the same. There might be a time when they will come for us. We’ll need to be ready.”
“So, you’ll be with us?” Anna asked.
“I guess you guys are stuck with me and Stewart for the long haul,” he said with a faint smirk.
“Okay
, let’s get to town and get the fencing supplies. I want this project done in two days at the most. That means we’ll need to work around the clock,” Jared said.
Anna, Bradley, Fetch, and Jared went back to the SUV and unhitched the trailer. They hooked it up to the pickup truck and gathered their weapons, spare ammo, and bags of supplies. She took her bat, like always.
She rode shotgun on the way to town. She was nervous about what they would find there. The muties and road gangs were bad enough, but at least they had a chance against them. They could hide or fight.
Against a whole army, with massive weapons, trained personnel, and technology? They had no chance. None.
“Jimmy Don said the co-op was clear,” he said, catching her worried look. “He also said there are more groups around here. More than we thought.”
“Really? Good ones?” she asked.
“I think he would have said if they weren’t,” Jared said. He looked in the mirror and spoke to Bradley. “Guess what he said about Sten’s group.”
“What?”
“He said Sten’s group is the largest. Over five hundred people.”
Fletch whistled and Bradley raised his eyebrows in surprise. “He’s got a battalion,” he said to Fletch.
Town looked the same, sort of. The cars that were left there were dirtier than they had been before. More glass had been broken out of windows and doors and she wondered if muties had done that, or people.
The Dollar Store where she had been shot had burned to the ground. She wondered if the shooter had burned with it. The thought didn’t make her unhappy.
She wondered, not for the first time, if people were watching them right now. If so, why didn’t they come out? Fear?
They crossed town without encountering any snipers, muties, or biters, which was a little suspicious. There should be large herds of biters left here. She wasn’t aware of any actions taken by Jimmy Don or the others against them. He never said anything about clearing them out. So, where were they?
“Do you think it’s weird that we haven’t seen a single biter yet?” she asked Jared. “Remember that first night? They were everywhere.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of weird. Maybe they moved on?”
“Maybe.”
“If town is clear for now, I think we should stop at the store and stock up while supplies last,” Fletch said.
They were quiet. Bradley looked at her and Jared and shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt to check it out. There are many things we might need that Jared hasn’t stocked.”
“Like what?!” Jared asked, and she giggled at his taking offense to the suggestion that there were things he had forgotten about.
“Like multivitamins, feminine hygiene products, vinegar, canning supplies, prescription medications…”
“Oh,” Jared said and looked at her. She nodded in agreement.
“Well, let’s get the fencing first then we’ll stop at the store if it looks clear.”
◆◆◆
The county co-op was a large windowless building near the empty field that used to be used as the fairgrounds. She was really tired of going into windowless buildings. At least there were skylights.
“Anna, you stay and guard the truck while we go in and check things out. If it’s clear then you can load up whatever you think is necessary while we get the stuff outside,” Bradley said.
She nodded. “We should get a lot of chicken feed as well.”
“Good thinking.”
She scooted over into the driver’s seat to wait for the men to finish checking over the building. She had only been in there once, but she remembered it as a large room, with a bathroom and dressing room on one side, and product storage on the other. There were three main doors.
She looked out the front windshield at the Subway across the street. The front windows were busted, like almost every other place in this town. The parking lot was deserted, and a breeze blew dust tornadoes across the road.
It was weird being in town. It was like her past was being superimposed on the future. She could remember the smells of town…gas, asphalt, food cooking, cut grass, fresh breezes. She could remember the sights…cars passing by, people milling around, the wind blowing the flags over on the bank’s flagpole, colorful digital displays of services and products and special occasions. It was eerily similar, but also different.
She realized that it was just going to get worse and worse. Grass and trees would start growing through the cracks in the road. Weather would destroy the paved surfaces and sidewalks, and nobody would fix them. Traffic lights would never again direct traffic. These stores would never again be what they had originally been. Subway would never offer fresh sub sandwiches.
In a couple of generations, the young people may not even know what many of these things were even for or what the town looked like. It made her sad and scared and lonely. She and Jared and Bradley and the rest of them were the last generation of their kind. She imagined it must be similar to what war veterans must have felt like when they realized they were the last man alive to have fought in that war. It was a depressing thought. What did they have to look forward to?
“Ready?” Jared asked through the open window.
She put her depressing thoughts to the side and went in. The men were going to pull around to load the trailer and she would just make trips back and forth.
She pulled a cart from the line near the door and first went to the storage area. She found a large empty box and put it in the cart. Over at the seed display, she emptied everything into the box. She even took the flowers, though she didn’t know why. They weren’t exactly useful.
She filled another cart with canning jars and other supplies they would need to preserve food. She saw several food dehydrators on a bottom shelf, but they were electric, so she left them. She grabbed netting to keep the birds from any fruit they managed to produce. She took work gloves, boots, pants, shoes, coats, hats, and socks. Anything that could be useful went into a cart.
She was going to run out of carts.
There was a display of locally made jarred foods such as molasses, pickled garlic, honey, jams, and other things. She took them all. She also took a good quantity of the animal medications but left most of it for others who actually had animals. There were plenty of buckets and other things, which she carried out by hand. Each time she made a trip out to the truck, the stack of fencing was higher and higher.
“I’m sure we could load up the shelving and bathroom sink if you want to take those too!” Jared shouted down at her.
She smirked. “I do actually. Go get them for me,” she called back.
Jared threw his hands up in the air theatrically, then went back to loading up the trailer.
“What if we found another truck and took that trailer back there? We could load up the chicken feed on that. I’m not sure we can haul much more on this trip otherwise,” Bradley said.
Jared bit his lip as he considered it. “Okay, you and Fletch keep loading up the trailer. Anna and I will walk over to the car dealership down the street and see if we can get something.”
Anna looked down the road. Several streets down, the sun twinkled off of the new cars still parked in the lot. She realized that unless something drastic happened, those would be the last cars ever made. Even if they had plenty of cars, fuel would become scarce. It didn’t stay good indefinitely and then where would they be?
Suddenly, she felt an urgent need to find some horses and other animals. They would be the transportation of the future.
They didn’t seem to be major targets of the biters and she didn’t know why, but there were probably a lot of animals trapped in barns and houses that were slowly starving to death. It tore her up thinking about that.
“Jared, I want to go to the pound and the vet clinics and farms around here. There have to be animals that need food and water. I can’t leave them to starve to death.”
Jared closed his eyes and sighed. “It’s been over six weeks Anna…I don’t—”
“Please! I’ll go alone if I have to. We have to save the ones we can. I can’t believe we didn’t think of it sooner.”
“Shit. It’s not going to be pretty. We probably won’t find anything alive at the clinics or the pound.”
“We have to make sure,” she pressed.
“Fine. Let’s get the new vehicle and trailer and load up the chicken feed. We’ll go around as much as we can today before dark. The store can wait until tomorrow,” Jared said.
“I think we should keep any livestock that we can manage to find. Maybe see if Sten can take in the extras,” Bradley said.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
“Okay, we’ll be back. If you hear screaming, that’s probably us being chased and eaten by muties,” Jared said, slinging his bag on his back and handing Anna hers.
“Not funny,” Bradley said. “Fire off three rounds in succession if you need help.”
She and Jared took off at a fast walk down the sidewalk. She didn’t like being in the open, but the town was a typical one for this area. It had space between parking lots, and most buildings were only one or two stories. Cars were required to get around. This also meant a lot of possible places for people to watch them without being seen, and very few places for them to hide as they moved.
The day was typical for summer, hot and humid. The sun beat down on them from the west. She barely noticed the heat anymore. She had gotten used to it surprisingly fast.
Thinking back to the days of cold offices and hot showers, it seemed like a different world. It seemed so extravagant. Maybe some of those things that she thought were really important, weren’t.
“Let’s go around by the alley. We’ll take the main entrance on the right side of the building. I don’t want to stay out here next to the road any longer than we have to,” Jared said, leading them down a side street.
They crept along. Anna had her bat in her hands, ready. Jared carried his rifle. She didn’t feel good about being separated from the group. Bradley and Fletch could be getting attacked right now. Jared's house could be completely overrun, and they wouldn’t even know. Military units could be spotting them with drones right now.
The Salvation Plague | Book 2 | The Mutation Page 11
