by Dave Bowman
The five men in the SUVs had looked possessed. Evil. Ready to kill just to take the supplies from the trucks.
She had saved her friends from a vicious attack. She had listened to her gut instinct and taken action instead of idly sitting by and hoping for the best. She had learned her lesson with James, the man prowling around the lodge in New Mexico. She had to protect herself and her friends at all costs.
Back in those carefree days before the virus – the days that felt so long ago – she had the luxury of being able to trust people. But that time was over. The world had changed, and her heart would have to change with it.
She wouldn’t lose her capacity to love or her compassion. She wouldn’t lose her humanity. But she would always have to be on guard. Her trust would have to be earned. No longer would she give it away freely.
As she drove through that highway, she began to see things more clearly. Liz had already lost everything once before, long ago. Her parents and brother had been ripped away from her, leaving her empty and gutted. She wasn’t going to let that happen again.
Today, she’d come so close to losing Nick and the others. They were people she had come to care about deeply in just a short time. They were all that mattered to her, all she had left in the world. They were her new family, and she would fight to the end for them.
Jessa, who had become like a sister to her, was out there somewhere. Liz would fight for her, too.
32
Jessa kept her eye on the man in the woods as her heart began to pound. She gestured to Trina to indicate that there was someone out there.
“Get down, and get ready to shoot,” she whispered.
The man climbed the hill drawing closer to the house. Finally, he stopped at the tool shed. Jessa gasped for air. It felt like her chest was closing in on her.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
The man called in a taunting voice. “I know you’re in there, and I know you two little ladies are alone.”
“What the –” Trina muttered.
Jessa shushed her.
“You gals are trespassing on BSC’s territory. All this belongs to us now. You’ll have to come with me and explain yourselves to the man in charge,” he called to them.
“Shit! I told you we shouldn’t be here,” Trina hissed.
“You’re the trespasser,” Jessa called out to him, still crouched near the window. “Get off this property or we’ll shoot!”
“Times have changed,” he said, his voice betraying the kick he got out of the whole interaction. “Now, we own everything out this way. We are the law around here now. You’re breaking the law, and I’ll have to take you in to Bobby.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Don’t make this harder on yourself, lady. Just do this the easy way and you won’t get hurt. We’ve got this place surrounded,” he said through a grin.
Trina crawled over to the window, where she peered out. “I don’t see anyone out there,” she whispered.
“Get off my property now, or I’ll take you out,” Jessa growled.
The man laughed from his position behind the shed.
She knew what was coming next. She didn’t want to shoot him. She wasn’t a killer. But he left her with no other choice.
It was dark out there now, with no moon up yet. The wind picked up, rustling the trees. Her gaze was still fixed on the tool shed, but he was out of sight. She frantically searched the area for him, hoping to spot him, but she saw nothing.
Suddenly, a figure darted from behind a tree, making a beeline for shelter behind the woodpile. Without hesitation, without thinking, Jessa’s body was propelled forward.
She sprang to her feet and threw open the door, keeping her body covered as much as possible. She brought her rifle up and aimed at the man. The deafening shot rang out into the night, echoing.
The man was hit in his chest, and he flew backward to the ground. Jessa fired once more at his twitching body, leaving him immobile and lifeless.
She swept her gaze right and left, looking for any other movement in the woods. The night was still and silent, and she said nothing. As she turned to retreat inside the cabin, she saw a white flash in the driveway.
Lifting her rifle once again, she took aim at the second man as he sprinted toward an SUV. She fired once and missed. She steadied herself and squeezed the trigger again. This time the round found its target, and the man fell in a heap.
Jessa looked around to see if there was anyone else. She held her rifle up as she patrolled the area, walking around the cabin and checking behind the outbuildings. But she found nothing.
After nearly a half hour waiting in the dark, she decided there must have only been two men.
“Dammit!” Jessa muttered as she walked back inside and closed the door behind her.
Her ears were ringing. She tried to keep her hand from shaking as she struck a match and lit the oil lamp again, sending a warm glow through the small space. She had shot two more people.
“Are you all right?” Trina asked, speaking loudly to be heard over the ringing in both of their ears.
Jessa nodded. “Just a little shaky, but I’m okay. I shot both guys. I think that’s all there were. There weren’t any other vehicles out there, and the property is clear.”
She looked up to see the horrified look on Trina’s face.
“You killed them?” Trina asked incredulously.
Jessa avoided eye contact. “I had to. Unless you wanted to go with them and report to Bobby?”
Trina looked out the window toward the place where the first man lay. “No, I know you had to do it. I – I’m glad you did.” Trina stammered. “You are so tough! I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“You were right after all. It’s not safe here. We need to leave,” Jessa said. She looked up at Trina, expecting her to gloat. But instead, she just saw worry and fear on the woman’s face.
Jessa walked to the gun safe, packing the shotgun that remained and boxes of ammo for the three firearms in a bag. “Pack up some of that food in whatever you can find.”
Trina nodded, and began to toss some boxes and cans of food into a cardboard box she found in the pantry. “What about gas?” she asked, calling over her shoulder.
“I think Chris has some gas in storage. It’s out in the shed. I’ll go check,” she said, leaving the bag near the door on her way out.
Clutching the rifle, Jessa walked out into the night. She passed by the man lying dead in the brush, avoiding looking directly at him as she passed. She found a barrel and several five-gallon gas cans with fuel stabilizer added, as noted on the label by Chris. He had even written a “Use By” date on the label, and Jessa was relieved to see it would still be good.
She filled up the tank of her Forest Service truck and threw the empty cans in the shed. She was just about to dash back to the cabin and grab the food Trina had packed when she saw a flash of light appear at the bottom of the driveway.
She ran behind the metal shed out of sight just before the headlights came into view. She took a deep breath, brought her rifle up once again, and took aim. When she saw the second set of headlights behind the first, the fear began to grip her. All she could hope for was that Trina would think fast enough to grab the second rifle and start shooting. There were too many for Jessa to handle alone.
33
As the trucks advanced up the long driveway, Jessa saw that there were three sets of headlights. She lifted her rifle and looked through the scope. She took a deep breath. She was ready.
She was just about to squeeze the trigger when she heard a familiar voice.
“Jessa!”
She looked more closely at the driver. Her heart pounded.
“Nick!” she cried, lowering her gun and flipping the safety back on.
“Hold your fire!” she yelled to Trina inside the cabin. “I know them!”
She watched, trembling, as Nick’s Silverado pulled up, with two trucks behind it. She was confu
sed but elated. Jessa ran up to greet them as Nick opened his door and stepped out.
She threw her arms around him, relieved to see familiar faces. Suddenly overcome with emotion, she couldn’t fight back a wave of tears that came rushing up. The grief over losing Chris, the threat from the invaders she had just dealt with, and now seeing her friends had driven so far just to find her – it all unleashed a flood of emotions. She found herself sobbing in Nick’s arms.
“It’s okay, Jessa,” Nick said soothingly. “Everything’s all right now.”
Jessa shook her head and pulled back to look at him. “No, it’s not. Everything’s terrible. Some people just tried to kill us. And Chris…” Her voice trailed off.
“He didn’t make it?” Nick asked gently.
“No, he didn’t,” she said, her voice breaking. “The virus got him.”
Nick pulled her in again in an embrace. “I’m so sorry, Jessa.” He held her for a moment until she had regained control. She stepped back and wiped her tears away.
“Thanks, Nick.” She sniffed and looked at all the others who had emerged from their vehicles.
“Liz, Mia,” she said, embracing all her friends. “Charlie. It’s so good to see all of you.” She shook the hands of Matt and Bethany without waiting to be introduced. “I can’t believe you made it all the way up here. But why did you come so far?”
Her eyes moved to the vehicles parked along the driveway. They were loaded with supplies. She looked back at their weary faces. Something was wrong.
“Is everything okay back at the lodge?” she asked warily.
Charlie took a deep breath. “The lodge is gone.”
The main space of the small cabin was full of people. They ate a hastily improvised meal with what they could find and caught everyone up on what had happened in the previous days.
They agreed to get back on the road soon, but everyone was exhausted and hungry. They needed a break.
Jessa sat with another cup of hot cocoa as she listened to the story of the forest fire, the evacuation, and the group’s encounter with the gang in Denver.
Nick told Jessa and Trina how they had found a back route using a road atlas. They had made an even wider berth to arrive at the cabin than Jessa and Trina, though the last leg of the route was the same.
She listened quietly, her eyes wide. When they had finished their story, she sat thinking for a moment.
“Did you see or hear anything about the BSC?” Jessa asked.
Nick’s mind flashed to the street sign he had seen marked with those initials. “It was painted over an exit sign on I-25. It looked to be gang related.”
Jessa relayed the story of her entrapment in the truck stop storeroom, when she heard the men talking about an organized group. “Trina says Denver is completely ruled by gangs now.”
Trina nodded. “The BSC is the main one. They were a West Coast gang who moved up to Denver a few years ago. Before the virus, you’d only hear about them once in a while. Now I think they control half of Denver. What’s left of it, I mean. From what I saw and heard before I went into hiding, the BSC and Los Pumas have enlisted or captured most of the survivors in the area.”
Nick paced back and forth, listening. “What was the pre-Hosta population of the Metro Denver area?” he asked Trina.
Trina shrugged. “I never paid attention to that kind of stuff. I just knew it was getting bigger all the time. And then suddenly almost everyone died.”
He looked to Mia.
“It was around three million people,” she said.
Nick nodded, then looked up at the ceiling to concentrate as he did the math.
“Four percent of that would be 120,000,” Mia said.
Nick flashed her a smile, then his face grew serious again. “That’s a lot of survivors. I’m guessing a lot of them headed for the mountains when the virus broke out.”
Trina nodded. “I think so. A lot of my neighbors left Lone Pine in the beginning. But my kids got sick so early that we didn’t want to leave home.”
Jessa jumped in. “So the people who stayed behind are either part of a gang or holed up at home…”
“Until they run out of food, like I did, and have to go out searching. Which is dangerous to do, because the gangs are everywhere. And every place of business is under their control.”
“So the survivors are forced to join their ranks if they want access to any resources?” Charlie asked.
“You got it. A lot of people join of their own free will, if you can call it that. They want protection and they want to eat. All the interstates to the south and west of Denver are in their territory. All the neighborhoods too. Everything, really – they control the supermarkets, gas stations, warehouses. Then you have people who are caught. Like I was, until I escaped and Jessa helped me get out of there.”
Trina smiled at Jessa, then continued. “I think that happens to some of the women. I know the guys who caught me were really happy to tell their boss. I think they’re always hunting for women. I don’t know where they keep them. I’m just glad I didn’t have to find out.”
Trina shuddered, and everyone was silent for a moment.
“And the two main gangs are fighting each other?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, it’s basically a war between them,” Trina said, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. “Each of them wants to push the other out of Denver.”
Nick shook his head. “They’ve got it all wrong. They think the food supplies in the city will last forever? If these people want to survive, they need to spend their energy on setting up something sustainable, like a large-scale farm.”
“Oh, they’ve got a few,” Trina said. “When my husband went to go check on his parents out in Aurora just before he died, he saw two or three. They’re taking over the existing farms, getting organized. That’s part of the reason they’re trying to force people to join their ranks. They want the labor. The BSC are kidnapping people and sending them to work.”
A chill fell over the eight people gathered in the living room.
“You mean they’re using slave labor?” Jessa asked, bewildered.
“That’s what I mean,” Trina said. She pulled her cardigan close around her neck. “I heard some of the bastards talking about it a few days ago when they were prowling around my next-door neighbor’s house. I was just lucky they got called out on their radio before they moved on to my house.”
“I think Mia and I are going to get some air,” Liz said, standing up after she noticed the terrified look on the child’s face. “This talk might be a little intense for her right now.”
“Good idea,” Nick said. “Stay close by, though. And don’t forget your rifle.”
Liz picked up the AR-15 and Mia followed her out onto the porch.
“Go on,” Jessa said to Trina. “And, by the way, I can’t believe you never told me any of this before.”
Trina shrugged. “We were preoccupied with running for our lives the first day, and then you checked out on me the second.” She gave Jessa a small smile before continuing.
“Anyway, the guys looting my neighbor’s house were talking about some recruits. At first I thought they were talking about people who had volunteered to join the BSC. Then the guy on the radio told them to bring some chains. Those bastards started laughing about the recruits trying to escape, how they didn’t want to be sent to work. That’s when I knew ‘recruit’ was code for ‘slave.’”
Nick looked at each of them in turn as Trina paused her story. Matt’s face was stricken; Jessa’s and Bethany’s were horrified. Charlie stared at his hands in his lap. Nick himself felt his insides twist into a knot. The sick tightening returned to his chest. There seemed to be no end to the horrific acts people were capable of.
“It sounded like they used a breaking-in period with the ‘recruits.’ They threw around some terms that sounded like they were talking about torture. Different psychological and physical techniques… I don’t really remember. I just remember feeling chilled to the b
one. These guys are heartless. They don’t have souls or something.”
“Did you hear anything else?” Nick asked.
“From the sound of it, after the breaking-in period, they have a system for deciding who goes to work where. They send them to work on one of the farms or the warehouses.”
“Or to run down people on the interstate,” Charlie added.
Trina shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’d bet those guys wanted to be there. They get a kick out of doing that.”
“So were they going after their supplies when they were chasing Nick’s truck?” Jessa asked.
“Sure, their supplies, their trucks, the women, everything. If you guys hadn’t put up a big fight, they would have taken you in as recruits. But because you shot back, I guess they figured they’d try to kill you and take your stuff. I bet they didn’t expect you to have all those guns."
“Or a sniper on an overpass,” Nick said. He was proud of Liz’s fast thinking.
“I think I can speak for everyone: Wow. I had no idea this kind of thing was going on up here,” Charlie said. “These guys sound organized and deadly.”
“They know what they’re doing,” Trina agreed.
“I think we should just get out of here as soon as possible,” Nick said. He looked at Bethany, who had been quiet for a while. “Do you think you’re ready to hit the road again?”
Bethany nodded. “I’m pretty tired, but maybe I can sleep on the ride. I don’t want to hold us all up if we’re in danger.”
“Do you need fuel?” Jessa asked the newcomers. “Chris had some gas cans out there. I was just filling up my truck when you guys drove up.”
Nick breathed a sigh of relief. “He was a smart man. Yes, we do need some fuel.” Jessa stood up and began to cross the distance to the door when Liz’s alarmed voice rang out into the night.
“Nick! Jessa, Charlie! I could use some help out here!”
34
Jessa threw the door open and looked out into the dark night. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, then she could see Liz pointing her rifle at a middle-aged man who was holding his hands up.