by Liscom, Sean
Fifteen minutes later I was sitting at her dining room table. She joined me, this time she was wearing a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt. She couldn’t make eye contact with me. I almost felt bad for her, almost.
“First things first, Kaitlyn. You are a very, very attractive woman. If I weren’t a married man, that might have gone a whole lot differently,” I started. She made eye contact this time and they were filled with confusion.
“But…..”
“Let me finish, please. My name is not Jack Kenshaw. It’s Jason Sterling. I’m very happily married and I run a ranch just outside of Elko…..” I spent the next half hour telling her the truth about the events leading me to a seat at her table.
“Why lie about all of that?” she finally asked.
“I didn’t know if I could trust you. To be perfectly honest, I’m not so sure I shouldn’t have just jumped out the window and made a run for
it. In the end, I guess I felt like I owed you an explanation, I owed you the truth. You did save my life after all and that’s not something I can easily forget.”
“You didn’t owe me an explanation, not for
what happened in your room. If anything, I owe you an apology,” she shifted in her seat a little. “I’m not normally like that. I guess the end of the world has made me a little crazy.”
“It’s made us all a little nuts,” I chuckled. “I’ve been on the run for 11 days now. I’ve eaten snake, canned dog food, and rabbit to survive. I shot a man at point blank range just to shut him up. I’ve been shot at and hit in the back. I’ve been clubbed in my bad leg. I’m perpetually exhausted, hungry and thirsty. I miss my wife, my bed, my ranch and my friends,” I leaned back in the chair.
“That’s just the last 11 days,” I continued. “Now I’m going to leave here today and ride east to a place called Atlanta, Nevada to take out a communications relay. Then I’m going to ride to Caliente. With any luck, I can find some supplies there and then continue on to Las Vegas. Once there, God only knows what’s going to happen. It may very well be my last stop. I may never see my wife or ranch again but I have to do this.”
“You could leave here and ride north. You’d be back at your ranch in three days, four tops.”
“I could, but then what? Wait for Ray and Adolpha to consolidate their power and crush us? That’s what would happen. No, I made a promise to do everything I could to save the ranch and everyone who calls it home. I will leave
here at daybreak and, as you said, see the
mission to its conclusion,” I paused for a moment. “You are going to have to make some decisions too.”
“Like?”
“You have three dead enforcers in your post office. Ray or any of the other enforcers will be none too pleased with that.”
“We will just dispose of the bodies and tell Ray that they left.”
“You could do that. Ray could also kill everyone here as a form of retribution.”
“He wouldn’t…..”
“Oh yes he would. You said that the end of the world has made you a little crazy, right? Well, it’s sent him so far over the edge that there’s no coming back from it. He’s batshit crazy and has the body count to prove it.”
“We didn’t kill those men, you did!” she blurted out.
“Doesn’t matter! Ray will kill you for giving me safe harbor!”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“You don’t stand a chance here, in this town. There aren’t enough of you and you don’t
have the weapons or training to take him on. There is nobody out there that can come to your rescue. If you stay here, you’re on your own. Plain and simple. You’ll die here. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not!” she said defensively.
“Then get out. Take everyone you can and get out of here before he comes back.”
“And? Where are we supposed to go?”
“Go to Elko.”
“Jason, these people won’t leave their homes, their ranches. They’re too set in their ways. I could get both of my deputies and we could go with you to Las Vegas. We could help you beat Ray!”
“No offense, you’ll only end up dead if you do that. No, go to Elko, you’ll be safer there. Those that won’t leave, that’s on them.”
“Safer? How’s that supposed to make me feel better? You said that Ray had control of Elko too. How’s that safer?”
“I was able to use the radio before it got blown away. My brother answered my call. That tells me that they are back in control of the ranch and it’s a safe bet that Elko has been retaken too. If you go to Elko, you will have some safety in numbers. I know Mayor Calvert. If he’s back at the helm, he’s digging in for a fight. That’s just the kind of guy he is!” I said. That was met with silence from Kaitlyn.
I took my eyes off of her and looked at my watch, 4:12am. I was stuck. She didn’t want to make the leap and run north. I had to continue my mission. It felt so wrong just to leave the fate of the people of Lund just hanging in the balance. Dammit….
Friday August 25th, 2017
30 miles west of Lund, Nevada.
Jill had made it about 10 miles the previous afternoon. When it got too dark to follow Jason’s trail, she called it a night. Instead of going to sleep, she stayed up and examined the map she had. Lund, Nevada. It seemed to be the next logical step in Jason’s travels. Her best guess told her that she could be there about mid-day.
The big question was, where was he going after Lund? The map that she had been given by her father was marked up with known communications relays that Ray’s army had been using. He felt it important enough to make sure she knew where they were.
It would seem that Jason was on a mission to disable those relays, effectively cutting off Ray’s communication network with his northern units. It made sense. She found that if she stayed on the general heading she had been on the previous day, she would end up at the Atlanta
relay. That was about a days’ worth of riding from Lund.
Red highlights were just starting to streak the eastern sky when she finally nodded off. If she had only known how close she really was, there’s no question that she would have ridden
hard through the night to be with her husband
again.
Friday August 25th, 2017
North of Ely, Nevada.
Melissa knew that time wasn’t on her side. Getting held up for two days in Ely was something she hadn’t expected. Thinking back to her encounter with Kari, she was kind of happy about the little layover. She smiled to herself, remembering every moment, savoring it.
She tried to block Kari from her thoughts most of the time. It helped her through the periods of separation. This time it had been almost four brutal months. Her smile grew wider, hoping that those periods of separation would soon be over.
She had no intention of stopping for the night. No intention of stopping at all. She had to get back to the ranch and soon. The stallion that Kari had given her was one of the best horses she had ever ridden. He had stamina for days and she planned on using all of it to get home.
Friday August 25th, 2017
35 miles North of Duckwater, Nevada.
Dan had followed the motorcycle trail all the way to where it intersected highway 50. He backed off a little and decided to pick it up again
in the morning. So far, Jill’s hunch that the two had split up would seem to have been correct.
He was about a half mile from the road in a stand of pinyon-juniper trees when he was awoken by the distant sound of vehicles. He slipped out of his sleeping bag and peeked out of his blind.
On the highway he could see headlights. Thirty six sets of them to be exact. They were traveling from the west to the east. It was hard to make out what kinds of vehicles they were in the low light but at least 30 of them were double trailer fuel tankers.
He pulled the notepad from his sleeve pocket and notated the time, 4:15am, and what he guessed the vehicles to be. If there we
re 30 fuel tankers, the other 6 had to be their escorts. It looks like Ray’s fuel problems were about to come to an end.
When the last vehicle was out of sight, he threw the saddle back on his horse, gathered his gear and continued to ride north. His mission of locating Melissa had just taken a backseat. This
was information that he had to get back to the ranch.
CHAPTER 31
Friday August 25th, 2017
Lund, Nevada.
I’d left Lund a little after seven that morning. I wanted to get out of there at first light but I’d spent nearly two hours trying to convince Kaitlyn to go north. She promised that she would talk to the townspeople but whatever they decided, she would abide by. I had to accept that.
Before I left, she had filled a set of saddle bags with food and water. Deputy Kerns also came by and gave me one of the rifles they had found in the enforcers house. It was just a plain Jane AR-15 but it would accept the magazines and ammo I already had.
I thanked them for all of their hospitality and got on my way. The little bit of rest, hot food and the hot bath went a long way toward improving my morale but I was glad to be moving again.
I’d made it halfway to Atlanta and it was only two in the afternoon. I was about two miles from where I was going to cross highway 93 when I spotted the convoy. Eight vehicles, evenly spaced, were coming from the south and headed north. I had been traveling in a sand wash and I was reasonably sure they hadn't seen me.
I quickly dismounted and ran up the side of
the wash. Poking my head up just above he brush, I could make out two Hummers, two five-tons and four six wheel drive MRAP’s. This had to be the “Ghost” crew. The only thing north of my location would have been the town of Ely. By the looks of it, they were in a hurry.
I watched them until they were out of sight and was just about to go back to my horse when I heard more vehicles. Looking back to the south, there was a second convoy. This one was made up of the same exact vehicles.
“What the hell?” I muttered aloud. Now the wheels in my mind were really turning. Were there two “Ghost” crews? Were these Ray’s people? Either way, I didn’t really want to stick around and find out. I had places to be and I really wanted to be there before dark.
Once the second convoy was out of sight, I waited a few more minutes before I climbed back into the saddle. Not wanting to waste any more time or get caught in the open, I urged the mustang into a gallop and got across the highway as quickly as possible.
Friday August 25th, 2017
Lund, Nevada.
Jill was pissed. She’d overslept by a couple of hours and that put her behind schedule. She
wanted to be in Lund by noon and that wasn’t
going to happen now. It was a quarter till two in the afternoon when she finally rode into town. She was surprised to find a crowd just beginning to break up on main street.
She dismounted and led her horse through the sea of townspeople. Many would just look at her with mild curiosity and then continue walking. When she spotted the two men and a woman wearing badges, she started in their direction. The tall brunette broke away from the two men and started in her direction.
“Afternoon,” she greeted Jill when she got closer.
“Hello, Sheriff,” Jill replied after looking at the woman’s badge.
“You look a little lost. Can I help you?”
“I hope so,” Jill pulled the pictures of Jason and Melissa from her sleeve pocket and handed them to the Sheriff. “I’m looking for these two people. Any chance they might have come through here?”
“You missed Jason by about seven hours,” she said holding up his picture. Jill was sure her heart skipped a beat.
“He was here?”
“Yeah. He pulled out bright and early this morning. You must be Jill, right?”
“Where was he going?” Jill ignored the question.
“He said he was going to Atlanta, bout 40
miles east of here,” Jill grabbed the pictures from the Sheriffs hand and started to climb back into the saddle.
“Thank you, Sheriff!”
“Hold on, Jill!” Kaitlyn grabbed the reigns just under the bridal. “Wait, please.”
“What is it, Sheriff? I need to go, I’ve got to catch up to him!”
“He’ll be gone by the time you get there. You’re too far behind him. You’ll run this poor horse to death if you try to catch him that way!”
“How’d you know my name?” Jill asked realizing that the Sheriff had used it twice now.
“Come on down from there. We’ll go back to my place and I’ll explain everything. I know where he’s going after Atlanta. That’s the only way you’ll catch up to him.”
Friday August 25th, 2017
The ranch.
“Do I need to send Doc into the barn with his medical kit or a body bag?” Braden asked Bill when he sat in the chair across from him. Even though he was technically off-shift and he should have gotten some sleep, Braden couldn’t bring himself to be out of the shack, away from the radio.
“Neither, actually,” Bill chuckled. Braden just eyed him. “The thing about torturing
someone for information is that it’s unreliable. A good interrogator will never touch his subject. A good interrogator will get them to spill their secrets because it suits them. If you actually torture someone, there comes a point that they will tell you anything just to get you to stop.”
“You didn’t torture that guy?”
“Absolutely not!”
“What the hell have you been doing the last two days? Playing 20 questions?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that but you can be assured that I got all of the information that I needed without laying a hand on him or the other three. Information that has been corroborated and verified,” Bill smiled.
“Well you’re torturing me! What did they have to say?”
“They were going to kill the conscripted soldiers as soon as Ray Judge returned. There is some high level meeting going on at the end of this month. Judge, the warlord Adolpha and the five highest members of the Mexican cartels are all supposed to be in attendance. When that’s over, Judge will return with enough fuel to replenish all of the equipment that he has left lying around and he will begin to push farther north.”
Bill continued. “However, he won’t need or want the conscripts around anymore so he will eliminate them in favor of his regulars. As you
know, his regulars are some pretty despicable people. His endgame is to destroy any enclave that refuses to bow to his will.”
“Like us, Elko?” Braden asked.
“Precisely. Now, he took your brother and who he thought was Jill because they were valuable targets of opportunity. The cover story was that he wanted the gold that Adolpha had put on their heads. Truth is that he’s the one that initiated the bounties. He’s not going to pay himself, right? No, he wanted Jason and Jill so that he could make an example out of them.”
“Everyone has heard about what went down here last October and in many ways, Jason and Jill are idolized by quite a few people. If he could destroy that image, people would be a little easier to control. Destroy their heroes, destroy their hope.”
“That’s kinda backfired what with Jason and Melissa getting away and all.”
“It has and apparently those two have left a wide swath of dead bodies and destroyed equipment in their wake. One dead enforcer and a destroyed communications shack at an airfield north of the Amargosa valley. Four dead enforcers in Rachel, Nevada. Four dead and a destroyed Comms unit in Adaven, Nevada. Five
more dead outside of Duckwater and four more found burned to death in a canyon a couple of miles away!”
“Eighteen dead?” the astonishment in Braden’s voice didn’t go un-noticed by Bill.
“Your brother is on the warpath and the best part about it is that Judge can’t seem to get out ahead of him. He’s stuck in Vegas until after this meeting.”
“Go b
ack to the part about him returning with fuel for his equipment….. Where’s he getting this fuel from?”
“Okay, he’s supposedly trying to work out a deal with the cartels. The fuel is their down payment on his ability to deliver everything all the way to the Canadian border…..”
“WHAT?”
“You heard me. He is planning on pushing all the way to Canada and giving the cartels first dibs on the resources. In return, he gets to be the supreme leader of what was the western United States.”
“Are you frickin kidding me?”
“No, I’m not. This dude has some pretty grand plans. It’s also a safe bet that he’s insane. We’re talking fitted white jacket in a padded room kind of insane.”
“Sounds like it.”
“You haven’t heard the half of it, but you already know some of it without realizing it.”
“Huh?”
“The journals. You found the 44th journal and you’ve begun to decode the other 43. I
assume you know about the Arks and the work your father was doing before the EMP. What’s happening now, it’s all related.” Bill stated bluntly,’
“How…..? Braden’s voice trailed off.
“How do I know about the Arks? Is that what you were going to ask?”
“Yeah.”
“You know that your father and I worked for the government before we retired, right?” Braden nodded, unable to find any words. “I was Jacks contact that he was feeding information. I was the one feeding that information back to the agency. I was the one that helped him code all of the journals. In fact, I’m the one that encouraged him to do it. I know everything.”
When Braden had nothing to say, Bill continued. “The Arks started out as nothing more than sites to store vital information and a place to keep top executives safe should something like another 9-11 happen. Somewhere along the line, they evolved into something sinister, something evil.”
“They began to experiment with things that, should they escape containment, could wipe out 99% of the planet’s human population. I say human because that seemed to be their
