by Eric Vall
“They’ll be leaving soon,” Bailey whispered next to me.
“Yes,” I whispered back. “I think we’ve seen enough.”
I gestured to my team, and we all met around the front of the country club.
“It looks like they have a lot of stuff packed,” Paige frowned.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “They’re going to try to beat the first snowfall.”
“We have no idea when that is, though,” Bailey said, and she pursed her lips.
“It can’t be far off,” I told the blonde. “Though I can’t say when for sure.”
“I never thought I’d miss the weather channel,” Tara muttered, and Anna chuckled at her comment.
“We should get out of here,” I said. “If they’re packing up, then that gives the soldiers more opportunities to sneak out.”
“You’d think they’d be scared to go out and get drunk after we killed the last guys,” Anna commented.
“They may not know,” Paige said.
“Yes,” I nodded. “It’s very possible they thought they went AWOL.”
“True,” the redhead nodded.
“Paige,” I said, and I looked at the brunette. “Lead the way.”
“You got it,” Paige smiled, and she started back toward the construction office.
“Okay,” I said once everyone had their backpacks on again. “I know we were careful on the way over here, but I want us to be ten times that careful on the way to the truck.”
All the girls nodded.
“Remember you have explosives on your back,” I looked at each of them very seriously. “What do you do if we start getting shot at?”
“We drop our bags and run,” the girls all said in unison, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Okay,” I grinned. “Let’s do this.”
We made our way swiftly out of the building and kept behind trees or buildings on the way back to our vehicle. I kept side by side with Paige, and the other girls followed closely behind us, with Anna bringing up the rear, I hadn’t told her to take that position, but it was the one a leader would take, and I was impressed by her initiative.
We arrived safely at the mechanics shop and made our way inside.
“Whew,” Tara said after we shut the door.
“Yeah,” Bailey nodded, and her breath was slightly exaggerated. “I think that was worse than being in an actual fight.”
“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Paige chuckled. “But the suspense really was killer.”
“Now you guys understand why I like horror movies,” Anna grinned.
“What?” Tara said with a look of disbelief, and she laughed. “We’re saying we didn’t like that feeling!”
“Whatever you say,” Anna joked.
“It is exhilarating,” Paige chuckled.
“See?” Anna smiled, and she stuck out her tongue at the platinum blonde.
Tara glared and stuck out her tongue back at her, then Anna pushed her playfully, and they both laughed.
“Alright,” I clapped. “Let’s head out.”
We all piled into the truck, but I put the explosives in the back, and tied them down so they didn’t get jostled on the ride, then we started back toward home, but just as we were about to make it out of Burlington I noticed two figures near a building to my right.
“Shit,” I said.
“I see them too,” Anna said quickly, and she lifted up in her seat and pointed. “Two soldiers by that Rite-Aid up ahead.”
“Damn,” Paige said. “Do you think it’s a checkpoint like we ran into before?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I think they’re probably out scavenging.”
“Well we should be fine, right,” Tara said. “Just blow past them.”
“They probably think we’re Guard right now,” Anna said.
“Let’s hope so,” I said, and I watched the men staring in our direction. “Because we’ve already been noticed.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Anna asked, but we were almost where the men would be able to see in the cab.
“Hold on,” I said, and I gunned it. The truck lurched as I tore down the road, and I looked over to see the look of surprise on the soldier’s faces when they realized we weren’t their men.
I continued down the road but watched in my rearview and side mirrors as the men rounded a corner.
“They must be going back to the camp,” Paige said.
“Then we should get the fuck out of here,” Anna commented.
“That’s the plan,” I said, but I looked out my mirror again and saw another military truck take the corner by the Rite-Aid going so fast their tires squealed. “Fuck.”
“Oh shit,” Bailey said with wide eyes.
“Should we shoot at them?” Paige asked.
“No!” I hollered. “They haven’t shot at us yet, and if you shoot at them, they’re going to shoot back.”
“Fuck,” Tara groaned. “The dynamite.”
“What do we do?” Bailey asked, and her voice was slightly panicked.
“I’m going to try to lose them,” I said. “Anna, get ready, but only shoot if I tell you to.”
“Bailey,” Anna said hurriedly. “I think you should do this, switch spots with me.”
“Right,” Bailey said, and I felt the movement as the girls traded places and someone kicked me in the ribs.
I sped up and took a sharp left, then a right onto a residential road, but when I looked back the soldiers made the same right behind us.
“Hold on,” I said, and I hit the gas hard, and waited for the soldiers to speed up as well, once they did I pulled the emergency brake, and we did a full three-sixty, but I quickly pulled a one-eighty and tore down the road in the opposite direction, then I made three lefts, and a right.
“Do you see them?” I asked, and I kept my foot on the gas.
“I don’t think so,” Paige said.
“Three o’clock!” Bailey shouted, and I turned to see the other vehicle speeding down a side road headed right for us.
“Fuck,” I said, and I pressed harder on the gas, but then I had an idea, and I pulled the emergency brake and spun us around to face the Guard after they had turned down our road.
“What are you doing?” Tara exclaimed.
“Trust me,” I grinned.
“Oh my god,” Anna said. “Tav, you’re not…?”
“Chicken,” I nodded.
“They seem confused,” Bailey said, and she pointed at the vehicle in front of us that was barely moving, I could see the figures of the two men looking at us and then at each other.
I surveyed the area, and there were buildings on both sides of this road, I knew it was a risk, but I was confident my plan would work.
“Hang tight,” I yelled, and I gunned it.
We watched as the military truck came to a halt, then after a second they started to speed toward us.
“Um, Tav,” Tara said. “I don’t think this is working!”
“It’s working,” I said, and I pushed harder on the gas, and I watched the other car do the same.
“Fuck fuck fuck” Paige said, and I felt all the girls cringe back against the seat as we got closer and closer to the other truck.
“Give in,” I muttered, and my eyes narrowed on the driver of the other vehicle.
“Tav!” Tara yelled.
“Trust me!” I hollered, and I flashed the girls a smile.
All the girls screamed as we came almost head to head with the other truck, but at the last second the soldier swerved and pulled his truck hard to the right, and his vehicle went through a small boutique shop with a loud screeching of tires.
I whipped around a corner and got us back on track to head home, but I didn’t slow down.
“Holy… shit,” Paige breathed.
“What the fuck was that?” Anna asked, and her breathing was heavy.
“We’re okay now,” I grinned at the girls, that encounter had really got my adrenaline going, and I could feel that my f
ingers were still shaky.
“Where did you learn to drive like that?” Tara asked incredulously.
“I didn’t,” I chuckled. “But I was a pretty reckless teenage driver.”
“Bailey,” Anna said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Bailey said quietly after a moment. “I’m just trying to figure out if I spilled my water or I peed myself.”
The girls all laughed, and Paige reached down and picked up an empty water bottle off the floorboard.
“It’s water,” the brunette chuckled.
“Thank God,” Bailey sighed, then she laughed too.
“I wouldn’t blame you if it was pee,” Anna commented. “That was fucking intense.”
“It was,” I nodded.
“What the hell were they doing?” Tara asked.
“I’m guessing they were scavenging,” I answered.
“Too bad for them we already got all the good shit,” Anna smirked.
“They could’ve been looking for something specific,” Paige commented.
“That’s true,” I agreed. “What though, I have no idea.”
“Well they were at Rite-Aid,” Bailey interjected.
“There’s a lot of stuff you can get at Rite-Aid though,” Paige mused.
“It doesn’t really matter what they were out getting,” Anna said. “We got away, but there could be others out here.”
“She’s right,” I said. “Be on high lookout on the ride home.”
“It seems like we’re running into those assholes all the time now,” Bailey muttered.
“We are,” I said. “But they’ll be gone soon.”
“Yeah,” Paige said. “But then we’ll have the Canadians to deal with.”
“Yes,” I nodded. “But we’ll take care of ourselves, just like we always do.”
Chapter 14
We arrived back at the campus in the late afternoon and were greeted by Rolly and Winchester.
“Hey,” the old man called, and he walked up to the driver’s door with Winchester.
The brindle dog jumped up on the vehicle and shoved his head inside the window, so I petted him, and his tongue flopped out and drooled on my pant leg.
“Hey old timer,” I said with a smile.
“How did it go today?” the old man asked.
“It was… interesting,” Anna said, and she hopped out of the truck.
“Good interesting or bad interesting?” Rolly asked, and he looked to me for clarification.
“More bad than good,” I told him, and I got out of the truck too.
“We got into a car chase,” Tara informed the old man.
“A car chase?” Rolly asked incredulously.
“Yeah,” Bailey said as we walked toward the fire pit. “We ran into some Guard guys.”
“Wow,” Rolly nodded, and he took a seat on the bench. “Sounds like you all had an exciting day. I’m happy you’re home safe.”
“Us too,” Paige smiled.
“So, I’m guessing you didn’t get the dynamite?” Rolly frowned.
“We got it,” Anna grinned. “And some C-4 too.”
“C-4, huh?” Rolly whistled low. “I’ve never worked with the stuff, but I hear it can pack quite the punch.”
“That’s the hope,” I smiled. “I’m counting on Jeff to know more than I do about it.”
“Let’s hope so,” Rolly grinned. “How about some dinner?”
“Yes please,” Paige groaned.
“I could use some food,” Tara nodded.
“I’ll cook,” Bailey offered.
“You sit,” Rolly said. “I can handle dinner.”
The old man got up and retrieved some venison, canned vegetables, and a box of crackers.
“So, how many guard guys were there?” Rolly asked as he heated up the pan over the fire.
“Only two,” Anna told him. “They jumped in their truck and came after us.”
“I didn’t think you all would be near the camp,” Rolly mused, and he pursed his lips.
“We weren’t,” I said. “They were in town scavenging too, and we ran into them just as we were leaving.”
“How did you manage to outrun them?” Rolly smiled.
“We didn’t,” I grinned, and Rolly raised an eyebrow at me.
“Tav played chicken,” Anna said with a wry smile.
“You went head to head?” Rolly asked, and his eyes widened.
“It worked,” I shrugged.
“Does everyone know about this game except me?” Tara asked.
“I didn’t,” Bailey said.
“I did,” Anna smiled.
“Me too,” Paige nodded.
“Who the hell does that?” Tara asked. “That’s so crazy.”
“Mostly teenagers,” I chuckled. “We used to do it for fun.”
“That is not fun,” Tara said, and she shook her head.
“It is for teenage boys,” Anna rolled her eyes. “Kids in my high school used to play.”
“What’s the point of the game?” Bailey asked with pinched together blonde brows. “Do you try to crash the other person?”
“Not really,” Anna said, and she thought for a moment. “I think it’s just to make the other person back down.”
“What happens if nobody backs down?” Bailey asked quietly.
“You wind up with quite a mess,” Rolly smiled. “It was a popular game in my day as well, but just about always somebody will get scared and swerve.”
“That seems incredibly dangerous,” Tara scoffed.
“Like you were the pinnacle of teenage safety,” Anna chuckled.
“True,” Tara laughed. “But damn, that was scary.”
“It’s a scary game,” I smiled.
“What’s scarier is how often we’re running into the guard,” Anna interjected.
“Yeah,” Paige nodded. “it’s hard to feel safe anymore.”
“We have someone on guard duty just about all the time,” I said. “Does that make you feel any better?”
“A little,” Bailey admitted. “But I’m still worried about protecting this place.”
“Don’t be,” I told her. “Our plan will work, we just have to do it right.”
“Okay,” the pretty blonde hippie nodded.
“So, when we do we blow the bridge?” Paige asked.
“We need to talk to Jeff,” I told the brunette. “We’ll know more after that, but it will be after everyone is here for the winter.”
“You really think our fortifications will be good enough?” Anna asked with a small voice that I wasn’t accustomed to hearing from her.
“I do,” I nodded.
“He hasn’t let us down yet,” Rolly grinned. “We should trust him on this too.”
“Rolly’s right,” Paige nodded. “We do trust you, Tav. We’re just a bit shaken up.”
“I don’t blame you one bit,” I told the brunette. “It was an exciting day.”
“Not exactly the word I would use,” Tara chuckled.
“I’ll take first watch tonight,” Rolly said, and he smiled at the group.
“You don’t have to do that,” Bailey protested. “You’re already making dinner.”
“Oh hush,” Rolly said, and he waved his hand at the blonde hippie. “You all had a long day, you deserve some rest.”
“Thank you, Rolly,” Anna smiled at the old man.
“Don’t mention it,” he smiled, and then he stirred the meat and vegetables in the pan.
“We should tell the others to do the same thing,” Paige said.
“Yes,” I nodded. “We will do that tomorrow.”
“We’re running into the guard all the time now,” Tara commented.
“Not quite all the time,” I smiled. “But it does feel very frequent.”
“If the Guard or Canadians try to come here do you think we can really keep them out?” Bailey asked with a frown.
“Yes,” I nodded. “There will be a lot of Canadians but ninety-nine percent of them wil
l see the blown up bridge and the cold river and not even consider trying to cross it and come up the mountain. But we might get a few who are desperate enough to try, so we’ll have someone on roof guard duty at all times, even at night.”
“That chase today really got you girls on edge,” Rolly commented, but all the girls were quiet. “Nothing wrong with that, a little fear can be a good tool.”
“He’s right,” I smiled at the old man. “Without fear it’s impossible to be brave.”
“Dinner’s ready,” Rolly grinned, and he served us each a plate of a casserole type dish he had made, it was savory and delicious and a nice end to a very strange day.
“Where should we store the dynamite?” Anna asked after everyone had finished eating.
“Let’s put it in the math and science building,” I said. “We rarely use that building, so if it blows up, we won’t miss it.”
“Perfect,” Tara chuckled. “I hated every class I had in that building anyway.”
“Aww,” Paige pouted.
“Well, just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean I don’t love you,” Tara laughed, and Paige joined her.
We put the dynamite away, and the girls started to head for bed, but I stopped by Rolly to have a word with him.
“If you’re tired, I can take first shift,” I told the old man.
“You get some sleep,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “Don’t shoot unless you come under fire, otherwise, come and get me.”
“You got it boss,” Rolly grinned.
“You’re a good man,” I grinned back, and I clapped him on the shoulder before I headed inside to lay down with the girls.
It had been a long day, and I felt the effects of my adrenaline earlier, my body was crashing, and I was more than ready for a good night’s rest. I laid down among my girls and let their warm bodies lull me to sleep.
“Wake up!” I heard Rolly shout, and I immediately shot up in bed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“There are people coming up the road by the bridge,” Rolly breathed, and he bent over and placed his hands on his knees, I could tell he was winded and I figured he had run all the way down from the roof.
“Fuck,” Anna said, and she hopped out of bed and reached for her pants.