EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4

by Tony Mastrolacasa

  Mick would be relieved to learn that Xander and Mars were very much alive and standing front and centre with those 30 riflemen. With one simple word from Xander, these four ‘would be’ raiders were skewered by every bullet that 30 AR-15 rifle magazines could carry.

  “Fire.”

  Relieved when the barrage of gunfire up the road finally ended, Mick and Larry walked over to the dead snowmobilers and flipped them onto their backs. After being shot, they had spent the last several minutes lying face down in the snow. This had allowed the blood from their face wounds to pour out and partially fill their helmet visors. With the temperature well below the freezing point of bodily fluids, only a disgusting blood slushy greeted them when they forced open their visors. After spending the longest minute of their lives scooping out frosted red goop, Mick and Larry were both relieved to find the faces of two strangers.

  “Well, that’s a relief.” Mick said.

  “You have any idea who these guys are?” Larry asked.

  “Not a clue.” Mick replied. “I know who they aren’t though.”

  “You really thought they were Xander and Mars?”

  “Shit, man, I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  Surprised when they suddenly heard another gunshot, their heads snapped back towards the road. Mars was standing over the first man that had been shot in the legs. They were both broken far beyond anything that this group could deal with, so Mars had put him out of his misery. Stepping over to the other, a man by the name of Richie that Mick had known since high school, Mars raised his Sig and fired again. The fact that Richie was begging for his life at the time had absolutely no effect on Mars whatsoever.

  Mick looked on with indifference, but Larry couldn’t help the loathing that he felt for Mars at that moment.

  Cold son of a bitch.

  “I think that was Richie.” Larry said somberly.

  “Yeah, I know.” Mick replied. “Just leave it alone, Larry. These guys don’t really need us anymore either.”

  Mick and Larry stood and watched as the others came walking up to the gate. Once all the men had arrived, Xander and Mars walked straight over to the two dead snowmobilers to take a look.

  “That’s what I figured.” Xander said.

  “Cord and Adrian.” Mars said.

  “You know these guys?” Mick asked.

  “They’re two of our guys from the SaveCor.” Xander replied. “All six of them were.”

  “I guess they weren’t happy with the deal we made them.” Mars added. “We should drive over there right now and finish off every one of those pricks.”

  Ignoring Mars for a moment, Xander turned to the men and ordered them all inside to start loading up the trucks. The leaders had something to discuss and he didn’t want everybody listening in, especially when it involved some of them. Only Mars, Bray, Ken, Mick and Larry stayed behind to hear what Xander was planning.

  “How many of your guys got hit, Mick? What are we down to now?” Xander asked.

  “Six are dead, so I guess there’s 64 of us left.” Mick replied. “We’re still heavy 14 guys.”

  “And there’s still 24 of those shitheads at the SaveCor, right, Mars?” Xander asked next.

  “Yeah, with Cord and Adrian gone, I imagine Emilio’s in charge now.” Mars replied.

  “Oh, that’s perfect.” Xander said as the solution to his manpower problem suddenly came to him. “I say we cut Spencer’s crew loose and give them all the guns and ammo that we leave behind. Spencer and Emilio can’t stand each other. That’s one of the reasons why I sent Emilio out there in the first place.”

  “Spencer’s not the only one.” Bray said. “At least half of the guys had a problem with Emilio before you sent him away.”

  “Shit, man, that is perfect.” Mars said.

  “We’ll tell Spencer and his guys that the SaveCor is theirs if they can take it from Emilio.” Xander said.

  “Ha! They’ll lose their damn minds!” Ken said with a laugh.

  “How many on Spencer’s crew, Xander?” Larry asked.

  “Kenny?” Xander asked, deferring to his assistant.

  “There was 10 of them, but then those six French guys from Wanup came in.” Ken replied. “Spencer was doing a good job, so we added them to his crew. That brought them up to 16 total.”

  “Close enough. We’ll send all 16 then.” Xander said. “That brings us to 48, so we can even give Spencer a truck. You know what, if it means killing every single one of those disloyal bastards, I’ll even give him two sleds and a trailer. We only need 18 for our core group anyway.”

  “Were you planning on bringing along that big ass M2, Xander?” Mars added.

  “Yeah, I wish. It’s just too big to…” Xander stopped himself midsentence as he suddenly caught onto what Mars was getting at.

  “Oh, man, that’s too good… We’ll let them mount it to Spencer’s truck.” Xander said.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Mick asked. “What the hell is an M2?”

  “The ‘Ma Deuce,’ man.” Mars replied. “It’s an M2A1 .50 calibre fuckin’ cannon.”

  “It’s a tripod mounted, belt fed heavy machine gun system.” Ken said, a little less dramatically. “It was buried in a shipment headed to the U.S. Marine Corp.”

  “After we brought it back, I had to look it up to see what the hell we were looking at.” Mars added.

  “We ‘found’ it over a year ago, but we were never able to find a buyer for it.” Xander said. “I think there’s something like 5000 rounds for it too.”

  “Fuck me.” Mick said.

  “No, fuck those guys.” Xander said while patting Mars on the back.

  “When Spencer rolls up with that thing, I don’t imagine there’ll much left of that storefront.” Bray said.

  “They’ll figure it out.” Xander said.

  “At least we can rest easy knowing Emilio and the rest of those bastards were fuckin’ ripped apart.” Mars said.

  “Alright, let’s head inside and talk to Spencer then.” Xander said. “I know exactly how I’m gunna handle this, so just play along. Make sure you watch my back though… just in case I’m not as good at this as I think I am.”

  The way that Xander chose to ‘handle’ the situation only reinforced what his captains already knew about him. Alexander Diakos was a master of manipulation. Instead of telling Spencer he was fired, Xander promoted him to captain and placed him in charge of The Company’s entire northern operation. Rather than becoming angry, Spencer was overwhelmed with gratitude. As anticipated, the unexpected advancement completely overshadowed the fact that he and his men were being left behind. By choosing to focus on the positive, Xander had once again managed to convince a loser that he was a winner. Spencer was now the successor to the great Xander, sole commander of the hollowed out wasteland that was now the Greater Sudbury area.

  Of course, when informed of Emilio’s challenge to his supremacy, the anger finally came. Spencer was absolutely incensed. There was simply no way that Emilio would be permitted to hold the greatest asset in Spencer’s kingdom and he would move to correct that immediately. They would be outnumbered 24 to 16, but ‘Ma Deuce’ would be more than enough to shift the advantage decidedly in Spencer’s favour.

  So, while Spencer’s men prepared for battle and worked away at mounting the powerful machine gun, Xander’s men loaded up and moved out. They would never know how the battle for the Sudbury SaveCor would play out, nor did they care. The entire thing was only a cleaver misdirection, an attempt to deflect anger away from Xander and towards his enemy. Even if only a few of those treasonous bastards were wiped out, at least they would know that Xander had sent his regards.

  Had Xander returned, he would be surprised to learn that neither Spencer nor Emilio had managed to maintain control of Sudbury. Spencer’s crew would defeat Emilio’s swiftly and soundly, but the victory would be extremely short-lived. The last lesson that Spencer would ever learn was to never leave a warehouse full of we
apons unattended when there were dozens of angry families starving for justice. Sudbury would fall under the control of a man named Cutler and his lovely daughter Chloe.

  ◆◆◆

  By 7:00 p.m. that evening, all 48 of Xander’s men had split up into crews of six and headed off in different directions. Sudbury had basked in the sun and enjoyed a rare beautiful January day, but just south of it the snow had been falling steadily. Although their four wheel drive Minecats were capable of doing 35 km/h, they were only able to achieve a fraction of that. With the storm building and threatening to grind their convoy to a complete halt, the decision was easy to make. At the highway 64 off ramp Xander ordered them to split up and start looking for eight separate places to call home for a few months. If that meant taking homes that were currently in use, so be it.

  Not knowing how many of his men he would find in the spring, Xander had decided to form three core groups made up of his top 18 guys. At the very least, his two oldest and most trusted captains, Mars and Bray, would be sure to lead their crews to meet him in 100 days. If any of the other teams showed up, Xander would consider it a bonus.

  Mars had been given Ken to serve as his second in command. They turned east onto highway 64 and led their crew towards Lake Nipissing. Bray had his cousin Geoff with him in the passenger seat. Geoff had proven to be almost useless to Xander, but he kept his opinions to himself. As his only surviving relative, Bray had a soft spot for his uncle’s son and couldn’t bring himself to cut him loose. At the very least, Geoff was an excellent hunter, a skill that would prove very useful in the coming months. Their crew also got onto highway 64 and when Mars turned onto a small cottage road, Bray continued on further north. That would leave their two crews approximately 10 kilometres apart.

  The five teams of six that didn’t have the benefit of backup snowmobiles had decided to turn around and head back to the cottages around the Burwash area lakes. They had noticed several decent looking places when they had driven past earlier in the day, but at the time it still seemed too early to stop. As they struggled to get back north in the deep snow, however, they wished they had of just settled for them earlier.

  Xander took control of Mick’s crew and continued south towards the French River. They still had a fair distance to travel, but Xander willed their trucks to keep moving forward. He was determined to get across that river bridge, as he knew there would be many resorts and lodges that would keep them nice and cozy until spring. He just had to get them there. Xander would learn something very important about will and determination that night. They don’t mean a damn thing when you’re driving head on into a blizzard on unplowed roads.

  Of the eight crews out there searching for a new home, only Xander’s would end up getting bogged down in the snow. After unloading their six snowmobiles, they hooked up the three sleighs and loaded them up with as much as they could carry. Their Minecats and half of their belongings were left behind. Xander also found himself with a pocket full of fuses from their trucks. By pulling them all out, Xander hoped anybody that happened along would assume another dead vehicle and carry on. Even if somebody figured out the problem those trucks wouldn’t be going anywhere without replacements.

  Their journey had just become extremely desperate and far more dangerous. Fortunately, they finally reached that long French River bridge and continued across. Their salvation would come two hours later.

  It looked to be a large place with a lot of activity. There may have been more people living there than they could overcome on their own. Perhaps not. For now, though, they would approach as helpless souls, innocent hunters lost in the snowy wilderness. The master of manipulation would once again have an opportunity to practice his craft.

  Xander was happy with the decision he had made to leave their AR-15s buried beneath their gear and their pistols concealed under their coats. Each of them only displayed a hunting rifle across their backs now. If the guards let them in, great. If not, they would leave peacefully, put their hunting rifles away and get out those AR-15s. Then they would return and deal with them in their own unique way, a way that was far more familiar to the men of The Company.

  Xander came to a stop in front of the six armed guards and shut down his snowmobile’s engine, the others soon following his lead. Then he looked up at the sign above the gates.

  ‘WELCOME TO WEYR RESORT!’

  Welcome, indeed.

  Chapter 6

  “George, Stu… ‘bout time you boys showed up.”

  “We’re lucky we made it at all, Hal.” George said as he shook his friend’s hand. “Damn snow’s over a metre deep in the bush. Took us forever to plow through and it’s already starting to pile up again.”

  “Yeah, winters up here can be brutal.” Hal said. “This squall is gunna keep up for a while too. Nice to see you, Stu.”

  “Hey, Hal.” Stu said.

  “You already know Liv.” Hal said. “This her dad, Nate Bishop, my sister’s husband.”

  “Nice to meet you, guys.” Nate said, shaking each man’s hand in turn.

  “Pleasure to meet you too, Nate. Hi, Liv.” George said. “You guys picked a heck of a day for joyride.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to meet you guys yet.” Nate said. “Nora’s been working me like a dog over there. The sun was out when Hal was leaving this morning, so we thought we’d tag along. Didn’t know it would turn into snowmageddon out here.”

  “That’s what you get up here in February, heavy snow or deep freeze… sometimes both.” Hal said. “Be happy it’s not both.”

  “Oh, I think we all remember vividly what both was like.” Stu said.

  “Ha! Like I said, it can get brutal.” Hal said with a chuckle.

  “Leo didn’t come with you?” Olivia asked, looking back towards the cab of the Dodge.

  “No, I’m sorry, Liv.” Stu said. “He and Corey went out hunting this morning and they didn’t make it back in time for him to tag along.”

  “I imagine the snow has got something to do with that.” George added.

  “You’re not worried about them, are you?” Hal asked.

  “No, they’ve got plenty of gear with them and they’re only a few kilometres from the cabin.” Stu replied. “They brought along those snowshoes you gave us too. They’ll be fine.”

  “Well, that’s good.” Hal said. “I’m glad you’re getting some use out of those snowshoes. Nora’s got everybody in camp making them now.”

  “I’ll let Leo know you were asking for him, Liv.” Stu said, noticing the look of disappointment on her face.

  “Can you make sure he comes with you next week, please.” Olivia asked. “I really wanted to talk to him.”

  “You got it, kiddo.” Stu replied. “He’ll be happy to hear that.”

  Well, that’s an interesting development.

  “So, how’s everyone at the cabin doing?” Hal asked.

  “Not bad, Hal, thanks for asking.” George replied. “We finally got the school started up, so that’s keeping the younger ones busy anyway. How’s it going at Weyr Resort? Those six idiots from Sudbury figure out how to get along with everybody yet?”

  “Yeah right.” Hal replied. “A couple of days ago, two of them decided to have a go at one another. When it was over, two of them were so pissed off they packed up and left. They hopped on two of those old sleds of theirs, hooked up one of their sleighs and just took off. So, now we’re down to four idiots from Sudbury and four snow machines.”

  “No kidding?” George asked, surprised by the unexpected bit of drama.

  “No kidding. They were sour because I wouldn’t put them on guard duty. They showed up three weeks ago and already they’re bitching about having to do a little manual labour. ‘We’re northerners.’ the one guy tells me. ‘We’re the toughest guys in the bush and you’ve got us chopping firewood.’ Pieces of work, the lot of them. If it wasn’t for the occasional deer they bring to camp, I would have kicked them out long ago.”

  �
�Damn… you think the rest of them are gunna be a problem?” Stu asked.

  “Hard to say… I’m hoping they’ll smarten up.” Hal replied.

  “Well, you’ll let us know if you need a hand, Hal.” George said. “We don’t need anymore damn excitement around here.”

  “Hal…” Nate said expectantly.

  Nate’s wife, Hess, had sent him out on this trip for a reason and joyriding wasn’t it. Nate was there to make sure that Hal asked for some help from their friends. Knowing how stubborn her older brother could be, Hess had sent her husband along to make sure that Hal didn’t ‘forget.’

  “Alright, Nate, I know.” Hal said.

  “What’s up, guys?” George asked.

  “I hate to ask you, fellas, especially with the weather being so damn bad… Do you think some of you guys could come down and stay with us for a few days? I have some cabins that aren’t being used. We can call it a security audit or a partner inspection or some shit. I don’t want to start any trouble, but there’s been a couple of other fist fights. The Campbell kid got slugged and then his buddy, Tucker, got a few lumps when he went to talk to them about it. Then their fathers got involved… It was a bit of a mess. Nobody got seriously hurt, but it might be time to lay down the law, let them know that we have friends in the area looking out for us.”

  “This was all the guys from Sudbury?” George asked.

  “Yeah… I think the whole stupid thing was over a damn ice auger.” Hal added.

  “Grown men beating up a couple of teenagers… Jerks.” Olivia said, getting in her two cents worth as well.

  “It wouldn’t really be an issue if those guys weren’t armed.” Hal said, continuing. “The Americans were super pissed about it too. They were getting ready to go deal with it themselves, but I managed to settle them down. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep it from boiling over though. All four of them Sudbury guys have started carrying their deer rifles around camp full time now. Something needs to be done soon.”