by Reed, N. C.
“Brother, perhaps you should bring your smaller toy for this excursion?” he smiled. “Something more attuned to close quarters murder and mayhem?”
“That sounds like an excellent suggestion, brother,” Brick smiled back. “Just the thing for a night on the town.”
“The let us prepare and depart.”
-
Bruce Garrity was angry.
“Newest man on the totem pole pulls guard duty,” he mumbled to himself. He had joined this outfit in Nashville, wanting to be away from the super violent gang problems that were still raging there. This had seemed like a good fit for him. Two tours in the Middle East had given him a good resume so Garfield had been glad to have him.
The others had accepted him but little else.
He had expected some razzing, as it was normal among combat units, but this shit was getting ridiculous. Three nights in a row he'd been out here, stomping around in a town that was deader than U.S. Grant, standing guard for wh--
Garrity's problems ended abruptly when a triple edged broad-head arrow erupted from his chest. He collapsed on the ground without so much as a groan.
Four shadows separated from the night and moved to where the unfortunate sentry had been standing. Bodee wrenched the arrow from the dead man's back and wiped it on the same dead man's clothing.
Zach quickly stripped the man of everything usable, including a very nice knife that Zach would keep for himself unless Kevin wanted it. It was the archer's kill, after all.
Zach was the beast of burden as they moved toward the shoe factory, now less than one hundred yards distant. There was one more sentry, somewhere, and then the rest were apparently inside. They were twenty-five yards from the factory when Xavier abruptly stopped, his hand raised in a fist.
He silently touched Kevin's shoulder, then pointed. Bodee followed that point and saw what Xavier was seeing.
A man and a woman, engaged in sex against the wall. Xavier raised a hand to cover Zach's eyes, Brick snorting at the gesture while Zach had to fight a laugh. Kevin Bodee crawled closer to the couple, wanting to hear what was being said between the two. To see if the woman was willing or not. He stopped when he reached a point where he could listen in.
“... at bitch Kimmy's fault,” the woman said breathlessly as she continued to be bounced against the wall behind her. “She's the one... one who keeps sti... oh!... keeps stirring them... them... them up to try and escape! You get... get rid of h-h-her, ah!... and things will ca... calm down.”
Kevin backed away, deciding he didn't need to hear anymore. This woman may have started as a prisoner, but she was clearly a turncoat now. He could understand her trying to do the best she could for herself up to a point, but betraying others was beyond that point in his book. He withdrew into the shadows and waited. It took five minutes by his count but the shot he wanted presented itself when the man pulled her from the wall and turned them both away so that the man's back was toward Kevin.
The arrow was already drawn and he let fly the second the opportunity presented itself. The arrow sliced right through the man's heart and kept going, erupting through his tee shirt and striking the much shorter woman in the esophagus. Both fell to the ground, the man dead and the woman dying as she choked to death. Kevin retrieved the arrow and watched the woman grasp futilely in the dark toward his shadow. Shaking his head, Bodee knelt to gather the man's discarded gear and then hurried back to his teammates.
“I don't know if he's the other sentry or not,” he admitted. “He was doing the girl, but she was a traitor, ratting out the other girls for trying to escape.”
“Well, that's just a shame, is it not?” Xavier commented dryly. “Let us operate on the assumption that there is one more sentry, on the far side of the building. He could appear at any time, but there could also be a shift change coming. We move now and secure the vehicles since they are literally in the front door. That done, we enter.”
The four of them moved easily in the dark, there being very little light anywhere these days. The Hummers didn't require keys, but the gun trucks were based on transport vehicles. As the other three covered him, Xavier carefully checked each truck. Both had the keys inside, probably so that in an emergency anyone could operate them. A good idea so long as your sentry wasn't shagging the locals on his watch. He flashed a thumbs up to the others which they returned.
Zach and Kevin quietly deposited the gear they had taken into the passenger seat of the nearest truck before joining the brothers at the entry point.
Instead of a dynamic entry, being it was well after midnight, Xavier simply tested the door and found it open. He pulled slowly to avoid as much noise as he could, holding the door back while the other filed through into the foyer.
There was no sign of light coming from under any of the doors, which Xavier took to mean that either the rooms were not in use, or else whoever was in there was asleep. Zach opened the door to the cafeteria and could see a sliver of light beneath the door that led to the factory floor, but nothing else. A cursory sweep of the cafeteria itself showed it to be empty. He motioned Xavier to look, and the older man nodded. He turned and quickly motioned to Kevin and Brick to hold the foyer open, and then that he and Zach would take the factory. It was a gamble and they all knew it, but they were counting on surprise to aid them, so they might as well go all in. As long as their way out was open, they could find a way.
Zach made his way to the factory door and then paused to raise his night vision equipment and secure it. Xavier did the same and then placed a hand on Zach's shoulder, patting it twice and nodding to the door. Zach took a deep breath and let it out, then nodded in return, once, before simply opening the door as if he were reporting for work. As if it was the most normal thing he'd done today.
And it worked.
Two men were awake when they walked in, playing cards around a battery lantern. Their night vision ruined by the lantern, neither realized it wasn't their comrades coming inside as they each got a three-round burst of suppressed rifle fire in the chest.
Four.
Women were instantly heard screaming from more than one location, but neither Zach nor Xavier paid that any attention. Xavier shut the light off, leaving the factory in darkness and allowing Zach and himself to return to their night vision equipment. The light going out elicited even more screams, and this time a few demands to know what was going on.
Ignoring that, Zach and Xavier stood back-to-back, watching as the other men inside began to roust themselves from sleep to see what was happening. Two men were pounding down the metal steps in front of Zach and each got a three-round burst, putting them down. Another crawled from behind a crate, a pistol in hand, and got single round through his tee shirt covered chest.
Seven.
Three men came running in from outside through a door opposite of where Xavier and his team had entered. What they had been doing or perhaps where they were sleeping, he didn't know, but all three went down in a controlled burst of automatic fire from Xavier's rifle.
Ten.
A bullet pinged off the floor in front of Zach as he realized someone else had night vision. He scanned around him and finally saw the green blob at the edge of the factory, aiming at him again. The laser on his rifle rose to center on the target and he fired, perhaps one second before his enemy. He heard the bullet whine over his head, but his target hit the floor and stayed there.
Eleven.
Two men burst through the doors that led directly from the office area, bypassing the foyer where Kevin and Brick were holding. Xavier turned to catch both as he expended the rest of his magazine on them.
Thirteen.
“Loading,” he whispered as he carefully pocketed the empty and slipped a fresh magazine into his rifle.
“Done,” he whispered again when he was finished.
“Loading,” Zach copied his mentor, replacing the depleted magazine in his rifle, though it still had four rounds. Better to replace it when not under fire. “Done.”
/>
“I got thirteen. You?” Xavier asked.
“Same,” Zach agreed. He hated to think they would have to sweep the entire factory to find-
A storm of fire erupted from the way they had come and both tensed. Kevin Bodee's voice was calm however as it came across the radio.
“Three Tangos on the floor.”
“That's sixteen,” Xavier replied to him. “Dare we hope that was it?”
“I think so,” Kevin replied, sounding as if he were moving. “One of these guys is actually wearing a bar, and the other two have stripes. I think they were in command and were probably somewhere more comfortable when the shooting started. None of them are fully dressed, but they are, or were, armed.”
“Copy. Let B... Brick hold there and you come assist us in restoring order. We need to move quickly in case we are not alone.”
“Moving.”
“Gunner, there is no alternative but to use the lights at this point,” Xavier told Zach. “Shut off your goggles and let’s see what we have here.” Both men raised their goggles and activated the lights on their rifles.
Several women yelled and more than several kids cried. Three ramshackle cages had been constructed on the factory floor, with young women crammed into two of them and children into the other. All of the children looked to be between eight and twelve to Zach's eyes, but he was hardly an expert. He didn't see a woman who looked over thirty-five, and only a few of them approached that age.
“Bastards,” he muttered.
“Put that away, for now,” Xavier told him at once. “Ladies! Ladies, please let me have your attention if you will!” The noise level dropped as the women quietened, leaving on the children to wail.
“Ladies, we must hurry,” Xavier told them calmly. “As we get these cages opened, you have a choice to make. You can strike out on your own, or you can come with us. We can't promise you much, but we can get you a shower, a meal, and let you at least clean your clothing. We will require your assistance with the children as we move, so please be prepared to do that, assuming none of you have family among them.”
“You're going to wonder how we knew you were here,” he continued as Zach and Kevin worked to get the cages opened. “Two things. The first is a young woman named Charley Wilmeth, whom we found some time ago, injured and the only survivor of an attack on her community. Second, the men who attacked that community tried to attack us.”
“They failed. We eliminated all of them that remained, that we are aware of at least, just now. If you choose to go with us, then we ask first that you make your way over to the children and be prepared to help us load them. If you would rather go your own way, then you are free to go and we wish you well. I do ask that you hurry, whatever your choice may be, as we are on a schedule. Also, there is a man with a rifle in the front foyer. He is with us, so please don't panic when you see him.”
“Who are you?”
“Where are you from?”
“Where are you taking us?”
“Ladies, I understand your concern, but I will not be taking questions. I simply do not have the time. I will say that we are quartered in this area in a known community. No, I am not from 'around here', as you may have guessed, however my young friend here is, and so is our benefactor. It is your choice whether to go or not. No one in this group will force you to do anything.”
“Is there a place for us there?”
“Can you take me home?”
“Questions later, please, move now,” Xavier refused to go into more detail. “There are two trucks outside courtesy of these fine gentlemen who were your hosts. If you wish to go with us, please choose one and get aboard, and help the children aboard as well. If they are without supervision, we have an orphanage operating that can take them in, but do not get aboard one of those trucks while leaving a child behind. Please move. Now!”
There was no count on exactly how many women and children there were, and Xavier didn't bother with trying to get one. Zach had opened the cage with the children inside and was now moving to collect any gear he could from the men they had put down, or collect any information he could find. Kevin was trying to keep his light on the children as the young women, slowly at first but then faster, began to take a child by the hand and lead them outside. Xavier did manage to count a total of eleven children, but had no idea how many women were in the group.
“Oh, me. Clay will be upset about this I'm sure.”
-
With one of the Hummers stuffed with two women and part of the captured gear, Zach led the two trucks back to drop Brick off where their ride was hidden. Brick took less than a minute to check their Hummer over before starting it and flashing the lights. He would ride drag.
Flashing his own lights in reply, Zach started down the road, taking the long way home.
“Who are you?” the woman in the seat next to him asked. “You look familiar.”
“Zachary Willis,” he saw no reason not to tell her who he was. “At your service,” he added, thinking it made him sound a little bit like Xavier.
“The football player?”
That was literally the last thing he expected to hear. The absolute last thing.
“Uh... I mean, I played, yeah,” he managed to stammer out. “At CCH.”
“You don't recognize me, do you?” the woman asked.
“Not in the dark, no,” Zach admitted. “Sorry.”
“I probably look like hell anyway,” the woman chuckled bitterly. “I'm Kim Powers. They called me-”
“Kimmy,” Zach finished for her. “They called you Kimmy. You were a cheerleader a year ahead of us.”
“Us?”
“Me, Gordy and the rest. We were all seniors when the lights went out.”
“Gordy Sanders?” 'Kimmy' asked.
“One and the same,” Zach replied.
“So is that where we're going, then?” she asked. “To the Sanders' Farm?”
“For now,” Zach nodded, though she couldn't see it. “After that, I guess it's wherever you guys want to go. That's above my pay grade, really.”
“Your pay grade,” she repeated, as if testing the words. “What do you do these days, exactly?”
“Uh... I mostly kill people and break stuff,” he replied without much thought. “Kinda like tonight. You know.”
“Well, I'm very grateful for your job tonight, Zach Willis,” Kimmy's voice grew a bit distant. “Very thankful indeed.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“So... let me make sure I've got this straight,” Clay fought to keep his voice calm. It just made him more scary.
“I go to bed for the first time in what seems like days and sleep for maybe, maybe six hours,” he bit his words off with frightening precision. “I do this at the urging of my second in command, who tells me that's what sergeants are for. Before I could possibly have gotten to sleep, the four of you, in a captured vehicle, head into town on a fucking adventure,” he almost snarled the words, “which I had already said we were not doing,” he yelled at this point, abandoning the effort to even appear calm, “and come back with nineteen women and seven kids!”
He paused here to take a breath and get control of himself.
“Would that about cover it?”
“Sounds accurate,” Xavier was completely unrepentant. “Several of the women chose to make their own way to wherever. Took their children and departed before we did, in the two Hummers we couldn't take, in fact. I suppose they can trade them to Jordan for a place in their community, assuming that's where they planned on going.”
“Did it ever occur, even once, to any of you, that there was a perfectly logical reason why I chose not to carry out said mission?” Clay began to work himself up again. “That the risk was too great to the farm? To the families here? That we couldn't take care of so many new people? That we were stretched to the limit as it was? Did that ever cross your minds in any way before you just... set off into the fucking sunset to play hero?”
“Uh... it was already
dark, so... the sun was-,” Zach began.
“Not the best time, Zachary,” Xavier muttered.
“Did you have something to add, Mister Willis?” Clay asked politely.
“No sir, I did not,” Zach got his mouth under control. “Sir.”
Clay continued to stare at them for a few more seconds before looking back at Zach.
“What did the town look like, Zach?” he asked quietly.
“It's a wreck, Boss,” the teen admitted sadly. “I mean, there's stuff we could salvage, like tin and what not, but... it's a ghost town for the most part. We didn't see a soul that wasn't part of that crowd's action. Not even dogs or cats. Nothing.”
“Whoever was left has moved on, then,” Clay said heavily.
“I doubt there was many there when this last bunch set up shop,” Zach shrugged. “If I had to guess, the people they shot it out with were no better than they were. Just not supplied so well is all.”
“Possible,” Clay nodded. “So, what did you promise all these people you've just so casually added to our number?” he turned to Xavier.
“A meal, a shower, and a chance to wash their clothes,” Xavier replied. “The possibility of a ride to wherever they wanted to go, assuming it wasn't too far and we could manage it.”
“That's it?” Clay raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I did ask this one chick to marry me and have my babies, but she wasn't interested,” Kevin Bodee tried to lighten the mood. “Man, what a rack.”
“So at least one of them has some sense, then,” Clay snorted. “Where are they now?”
“Getting checked out at the clinic and cleaned up,” Xavier said. “We brought you another Hummer, two gun trucks in perfect working order, three M2 BMGs, a pair of M240s and an M249, eleven M4 rifles, ten pistols, twelve helmets and a pretty good haul of ammunition, magazines and munitions. And oddly enough, a crate of duty uniforms, another of web gear, and a dozen different pairs of boots. Whoever is supplying them has access to real hardware.”
