The Redemption Trilogy

by A. J. Sikes

  Jed woke up to someone shaking his shoulder. It was Keoh. They’d bunked in the day room and Jed had given them all the night off from pulling any watch duty. The fire chief said they’d have someone monitoring the area and the radios. It wasn’t too different from being at a rear base, only nobody was hollering at Jed to get his squad up for PT in the middle of a war.

  “What time is it, Keoh?”

  “About 0600. Doctor DuBois is outside. She’s with the fire chief and some guys with 55-gallon drums and demo gear.”

  “About fucking time,” Jed said as he rolled up and dropped his feet onto the cold floor. He grabbed his boots, laced them up, got to his feet, and rolled the kinks out where he could. “Get everyone else up, rah? Have chow, hit the head, whatever else feels good. I’ll be back.”

  He took his weapon, but left his gear behind. The doctor, fire chief, and a few other men were by the clinic doors. They had three barrels with them, a roll of det cord and some bricks of C4. Jed took his time walking over to them.

  “Good morning, Sergeant,” Doctor DuBois said. “I hope you had a good night’s rest.”

  “Sure,” Jed said, wanting to get this over with. He knew what was coming, and the doctor didn’t disappoint.

  “You can see we’re prepared to carry out the destruction of the clinic. I hope you and your people will now fulfill your part of the bargain. You’ll leave two of them here to assist with security.”

  Jed agreed with a nod. “Anything else y’all gonna need us to do? Or do we just come back and each pick out a house to live in?”

  “The council will select a building for you and your squad. With five of you, they’ll ask that you occupy only one. Any role you have here will be determined by your choice and the community’s need. We’re hoping you’ll choose to remain, but nothing will be required of you.”

  “Just this shopping trip. All right,” he said. “When do we leave?”

  “Greg said he’ll be at the gate around 0830,” the fire chief said.

  Jed gave them a limp salute and went back to his people. They were all up and either pulling their boots on or digging into an MRE. They took turns using the shower, which amounted to filling a bucket and having someone else dump it over their head. They scrubbed down with some soap and a rag, and then had a buddy dump another bucket over them to rinse off. Jed went last, and ate last. His radio crackled as he was finishing his breakfast.

  “Shorewatch, Six. Over.”

  “Go ahead, Six.”

  “You about ready? We’re at the gate.”

  “Roger. Moving out here in about ten minutes.”

  “Okay. We’re going to Lowe’s first. It’s about two klicks up the main road and then make a left. Can’t miss it. We’ll meet you there.”

  “Yut!” Jed said into the mic before tossing it aside.

  “Feels like bullshit, eh, Sergeant?” Garza asked.

  “Yeah, smells like it, too.”

  They were in the SUV a few minutes later with McKitrick driving. Keoh was in the back with the M27. Jed left Garza and Mehta behind, as Doctor DuBois requested. It didn’t sit right with Jed to divide the squad, but he’d been given no choice. He could either take all his people and risk being stuck outside the wire indefinitely, or he could leave two of them to help secure the community.

  With any luck, this would be a quick run for supplies and they’d be inside the wire before lunchtime. It would take them easily two hours to load up enough to make the trip worth it. Greg’s people had two flatbeds and the now empty five-ton truck. The goal was concrete, rebar, and as much plywood as they could possibly carry. Houses would be double-walled on the lower stories. Windows would be fitted with barricades that could be quickly put in place from the inside. Doors would get a second layer and additional barricades that could be emplaced with minimal effort.

  Greg also wanted to grab every air compressor and portable generator they could find, along with all the nail guns and cartridges.

  “Nothing shoots better at close range,” he’d said. “For people who don’t know firearms, it’s a good weapon for home defense.”

  They got to the Lowe’s and pulled into the lot. Jed could tell before going in that the place was already cleaned out. Scattered bits of building lumber and pallet wrap filled the parking area. Jed lifted the mic.

  “Six, Shorewatch. We’re out front, over.”

  “Loading dock behind the store, over.”

  Jed confirmed and McKitrick drove them around back. Soon they were all standing in the open bay of what used to be a home repair center. The place was trashed now.

  “Should we waste our time?” Jed asked as Greg surveyed the scattered remains.

  “There’s gotta be something in there we can use. Quick run, get whatever you can grab. We’ll drive a flatbed in. One team on the truck to keep the haul organized, the rest of us making a hole, grabbing what we can, and tossing it on board.”

  Jed told McKitrick and Keoh to stay at their six.

  “Stay frosty and keep your eyes open, in case anyone’s watching and decides to roll up on us.”

  They both muttered an Err his way before stepping to the rear of the flatbed. Greg’s driver wheeled it into the store and Jed joined the other Six Team people pushing display stands and debris out of the way of the truck.

  It took over an hour to empty the place of as much useful wood and tools as they could find. Most of it was picked over pretty well, but they got two pallets of concrete thanks to a functioning forklift they found in a corner of the store.

  The sun had nearly crested in the sky when they got out, sending blazing light straight down on them and turning the empty parking lot into a sticky field of tar. Their next stop was across the street and down a bit. Jed’s vehicle ended up in the point position because McKitrick was anxious to get back to Baytown.

  “We shouldn’t be out here, Sergeant. This far from our people. I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t like it either, McKitrick. It’s bullshit served on a silver platter. Still stinks and tastes bad no matter what you put on it.”

  She turned them onto the main road dividing the Lowe’s lot from the rest of the commercial district. Up and down the street, parking lots were ringed with cars and trucks on their sides or piled on top of one another.

  Jed watched the area for movement, in case the automobile barricades hid more danger than they kept out.

  McKitrick maneuvered their SUV across a median strip and toward the Home Depot. The lot there was wide open and empty. Just a stretch of ugly pavement with weeds growing out of the cracks. She was turning into the lot when a car raced out from one of the fortified lots a few blocks ahead. It sped in their direction, then veered off down a side street with a squeal of rubber and a cloud of smoke. Jed lifted his weapon to get a better view through his ACOG. He couldn’t see the driver, but he could see the car just fine. It was a dark-colored Subaru wagon with a surfboard rack on the top.

  Jed picked up his mic and called to Greg.

  “Six Actual, Shorewatch. You see that?”

  “I did. Probably another scavenger. We’ll make this as quick as we can and get back inside.”

  “Negative, Six. That was our bomber. Same car from that morning.”

  “Shit, you kidding me?”

  “I say again. Same vehicle. Didn’t see the driver, but I’d bet he has hair to his ass and his breath smells like patchouli.”

  “What’s your thinking? We good to Charlie-Mike? Council isn’t going to like it if we’re back too late. They’re expecting this load by midday, and it’s already close to noon.”

  “He might have been collecting materials or he might have been laying in IEDs. But he’d have to know we were coming. You sure Baytown is good people? Nobody has a grudge against us, do they?”

  “I’d be surprised as hell if that were the case. But we can just ask ’em. They’re on a different channel. Wait one.”

  McKitrick steered them into the lot and stopped in the fir
st aisle. Greg came back a moment later.

  “Council and watchtowers confirm Baytown is buttoned up tight. Nobody outside the wire but us. They’re breathing down my neck to get this stuff back. Somebody’s taking your word about the Variants seriously, at least. How you wanna handle the Depot?”

  Jed let scenarios play out in his thoughts. In one, they don’t make it across the parking lot before taking fire from snipers hidden around the building. In another, they hit an IED before they get halfway to the building. And then the one he wanted more than anything: they go in, load up, and get gone.

  “The fucking council’s going to piss me off someday,” he said.

  Keoh said, “They’ve already pissed me off, and it’s not even lunchtime.”

  The radio crackled. “Shorewatch, this is Six. We good to go? How copy? Council’s waiting.”

  Jed looked at his people before replying. If McKitrick or Keoh’s eyes rolled any farther, they’d be looking out the back window.

  “Good copy, Six. Let us scout it first, just in case.”

  “Okay. We’ll take it slow and careful.”

  “Shorewatch out.”

  McKitrick took them across the lot and circled toward the front entrance. The pavement was torn up around each of the lamps they passed. Exposed piping showed where vandals had ripped the wiring out of electrical conduits.

  Chunks of pavement spilled across their path as they got closer to the store, trailing bits of pulverized concrete. Jed had McKitrick stop just outside the damaged area. hailed Greg before going any farther.

  “Signs of explosives here. Tell your people to hang back and wait for our word.”

  “Roger, Shorewatch.”

  “Get us around this and over by the front of the store,” Jed said. “And stop before you get under the breezeway.”

  McKitrick muttered Errr, and took them around the damaged section of the lot. She pulled up beside the scattered remains of a barbecue display on the sidewalk in front of the store. Gas grills and smaller Webers were strewn across the pavement like broken black shells. Up ahead, beneath the breezeway, the roll-up doors were closed and mounds of trash and concrete debris blocked them from the outside. Jed eyed the mess, looking for any wires or other telltale signs of an IED. The problem was, everything looked like it could be a bomb. If they went forward, they’d could be going right into a trap that would turn them all into a memory.

  — 30 —

  “Try the loading dock, Sergeant?” Keoh asked.

  Jed nodded and motioned for McKitrick to get them behind the store. His guts twisted with worry that they would be blown up any second. He’d only done a handful of patrols in Iraq before he was chaptered out, but it was enough to make him look twice at anything they passed by.

  They got to the back of the building and found the loading dock door in the same condition as the ones out front. Sealed up with shattered concrete and pavement that had been torn up from around the perimeter.

  Jed shook his head and said, “Let’s get with Greg. Let him know whoever was using this place, they didn’t want anyone going in. I’m betting it’s either mined or already emptied out.”

  They met Greg at the edge of the parking lot. The five-ton and one flatbed trailer had already gone back with their loads. Jed wanted that to be enough, but he had to confirm it with Greg first.

  “Somebody doesn’t want us going in there,” he said. “Looks like the main doors and loading dock were sealed up a long time ago, but—”

  “What about the garden?” Greg asked. “They usually have a side door. Truck won’t fit, but we could walk stuff back to the flatbed. Check it out, okay?”

  “You really want this, don’t you?”

  “Not me, man. It’s the council. They’re the only reason we have a place to call home right now. They can shitcan us just as quick as they let us in.”

  Jed put a hand on his M4, thinking about how easy it would be to use a weapon to dictate his terms.

  “You sure that’s how you want to play this?” Greg asked, eyeing Jed’s rifle. “I know plenty of places you can try that and have a good chance it’ll work. Baytown’s not one of them. Let’s get in there, grab what we can. If it’s a waste of time, I’ll call it in and we can bail. But we have to at least give it a look.”

  “Right,” Jed said. “Sure thing, boss.”

  They drove to the garden side of the store. It looked jammed up like everything else.

  “Think somebody’s still in there?” McKitrick asked.

  Jed shrugged and said, “Maybe, or maybe it was that hippie dude’s hideout and he bailed when he saw us coming. Still no way to get in though.”

  He was ready to call it quits when he spotted an open door between shelves of broken pottery and display stands full of dead and rotting plants.

  “Hold up,” Jed said.

  He got out and had Keoh follow. They moved in a low crouch, keeping covered behind the fence around the garden entrance. Jed told McKitrick to keep the engine running.

  “We’ll be quick. Just need to confirm it’s worth the trouble,” he said.

  “Errr, Sergeant.”

  Jed let Keoh take point and they made their way into the garden area. With a little effort, the nursery tables and tool racks could be pushed aside to make room for the other flatbed to back in. They’d be stuck carrying things through the store unless they could find a larger access point. At the door, Jed scanned for any movement inside. The place felt dead and empty, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t hiding any number of scavengers, each of which could turn out to be an enemy if they were infected, or just plain hostile and wanted to be left alone.

  He and Keoh moved inside. The acrid stink of fertilizer hit Jed’s nose as he stepped into the store itself. Spilled bags of the stuff lay everywhere, along with mounds of potting soil and who knew what else. He and Keoh stayed low and took cover behind an overturned shelf just inside the door.

  “Doesn’t feel occupied,” Keoh said. “Feels fucking dead.”

  Jed had to agree. For being sealed up on the outside, the building didn’t have much to offer. Maybe the doors outside were closed up to protect people from the Variants, and the place had been abandoned after the monsters vanished.

  He stood and walked a little further into the place. Light was limited to what came down from skylights and the few windows on the front wall. But it was enough to show Jed row after row of empty shelves. The place was entirely cleaned out as far as he could tell. Keoh wandered over to a display of pool toys. They were the only things remotely serviceable that Jed could see.

  “Fuck it,” he said. “Let’s go tell Greg and get the fuck back to Baytown.”

  He turned to leave and stepped into a pile of fertilizer pellets that rolled under his boot. He stooped down to inspect the mess on the ground. It was mostly clumps of dark, dry soil, but here and there were little white pellets scattered around the area. At first, he thought they were just part of the fertilizer mix, but they had a familiar quality to them.

  The blast knocked Jed off his feet. He went down hard on his side onto a pile of earth that he tumbled over. He ended up on his back, and had to draw his legs down to curl up behind the dirt pile. He tried to roll to a kneeling position, but blasts kept rocking the building, sending debris flying around the space and rattling off the walls. It was all he could do to keep his head down and stay covered by the mound of dirt he’d fallen over.

  When the explosions stopped, Jed shakily got to his knees. His ears rang with a steady pulse and his guts felt like they might turn over any second. Jed held a hand over his nose as he breathed, fighting the urge to retch. The air stank of ammonia.

  He breathed into his hand until his vision and hearing stabilized, and he was finally able to stand up.

  Smoke and dust filled the space in a hazy cloud. Pieces of metal fell somewhere in the building, clanging and echoing around the high-ceilinged space.

  Keoh was lying on her stomach near the doors they’d come in. Her
body armor was split down the middle and a dark stain spread across her uniform underneath. Something jagged and metallic jutted from her back. Jed stumbled across the dirty floor and reached her just as McKitrick got there.

  “That fucker,” McKitrick said. “The motherfucker!”

  She collapsed to her knees next to Keoh. Jed knelt down and put one hand on her shoulder. He put the other on Keoh’s outstretched hand.

  Greg’s pickup screeched to a halt beyond the fence outside. He came running in and drew up short just outside the doors.

  “Ah shit. Shit, I’m—”

  Jed stared at him, daring him to say another word. Greg backed up, and climbed into his truck.

  “We have to get him, Sergeant,” McKitrick said. “We saw which way he went. We go after him, we get him, and we fuck. Him. Up!”

  Jed felt the same way, and he knew their mission in Texas would not be complete without retribution. But he also knew they were two people on their own, and with next to nothing for support behind them. They needed to get the team together in one place, regroup and stock up, and then they could move to contact.

  “C’mon,” he said to McKitrick, forcing himself to his feet. “Get her shoulders. I’ll get her legs. Gotta take her home before we do anything else.”

  McKitrick moved like a machine, with silent anger written across her face. She hoisted Keoh under her arms. Jed grabbed her weapon and laid it across her body, then picked up her legs. They carried her to the SUV and put her in the back.

  Greg was out of his truck, by the driver’s door.

  “My guys saw which way they went. If you want to go after them, I can’t stop you, but—”

  “No, you can’t,” Jed said as he and McKitrick climbed into their vehicle.

  “They’ve got two Humvees, with turrets. You’ll want more than small arms if you plan on coming back alive.”

  Jed stared at him, half-hearing Greg’s words repeated in his mind.

  “What do you mean they? We saw the guy. Same guy was at the bridge two days ago.”

  “Maybe he’s involved. Maybe he’s the boss and the guys we just saw are the muscle. I don’t know. But as soon as this place started banging, two trucks scooted out from behind the diner across the street. Their gunners sprayed us and nearly took out the flatbed.”