by Bruno Miller
“It’s okay. She’s down.” Ben could see the body a little better now and recognized the middle-aged woman as someone they’d seen at the chained roadblock. He moved past Sandy with his pistol ready and approached the body to confirm the kill. The woman had two gunshot wounds, the first of which was in her arm. Ben assumed it had been Joel’s doing.
With her blood-soaked T-shirt and jeans, it was clear where the blood trail had come from, and the belt wrapped around her arm explained why it had all but disappeared. The belt was a smart move on the woman’s part and had prolonged her life, at least until she took a round in the forehead from Sandy’s rifle. The .223-caliber bullet made a small entry hole, almost unnoticeable in the dark except for the growing trail of blood that trickled down her head and ran between her still-open eyes.
Ben noticed the kids coming over toward him, all except for Allie, who was standing by her mother’s side with her arm around her shoulders. Ben took the woman’s gun and rolled her head so it faced away from the kids. He’d barely gotten up off the ground and taken a step forward when Bradley and Emma wrapped their arms around him. Almost losing his balance, he was forced to pass off the woman’s shotgun to Joel in a hurry.
“See if it’s loaded,” Ben said. “Looks like another 20-gauge.”
Joel took the gun and started to inspect it. Ben was still holding the pistol but was able to use his free hand to grab onto the kids and get his balance. They embraced for a few seconds, and no one said a thing. Ben wished he could pick them up and carry them away from this place right now. But even if that was possible, they weren’t as small as they used to be and he wasn’t as strong as he once was. He could keep them safe, though, but in order to do that, they needed to keep moving. There was still work to do, and plenty of it, if they were going to get out of here.
Ben glanced at Joel as he got up, and Bradley and Emma loosened their hold on him.
“I was helping them and Allie out of the car. I didn’t even see her coming.” Joel kicked at an old can on the ground.
“It’s okay. We’re a team. We’ve got each other’s backs. That’s how it works.” Ben paused for a second, then turned to Sandy. “Thank you.”
Sandy didn’t respond, though, and instead remained almost motionless as she continued to stare at the body and resist Allie’s attempts to draw her away.
“Mom… Mom, you didn’t have a choice.”
“Allie’s right, you know. She would have killed all of you without batting an eye.” Ben hated to say that in front of the younger kids, but it was the truth. A truth they all knew but were reluctant to speak about sometimes. That was going to have to change. A long time ago, Ben had committed to being up front about everything with Joel and Allie, and it was time to do the same for Bradley and Emma. Glossing over the grim details of what their lives had become and trying to shelter the kids from reality would only hurt them in the long run.
For the first time since she fired the shot, Sandy finally broke eye contact with the body and turned to face Allie, then the rest of them.
“I’ll be okay,” she said flatly. Ben wasn’t buying it, but it didn’t matter. There was no time to stand around and talk about it right now. Sandy would have to put her emotions aside for the time being and do her best to stay focused. Ben stared at her until she turned his way again, and he gave her a look that hopefully conveyed that message.
She nodded at him and brought the AR-15 up from her side to hold it like she was prepared to use it again if need be. He was glad to see that and hoped she meant it.
“Let me see that.” Ben took the woman’s shotgun back from Joel. It was a simple pump action similar to one of Jack’s that Bradley had learned to hunt quail with.
“There’s one in the chamber and two in the tube,” Joel reported.
“Here you go.” Ben handed the gun to Bradley, whose eyes grew wide as he took the weapon in his hands and studied it.
“Can you handle that?” Ben asked.
“It’s just like Grandpa’s, right?”
“Exactly like Grandpa’s. I want you to keep the safety on but be ready to switch it off. Understand?”
“Yes.” Bradley swallowed hard and looked around at the others.
“Stay with your sister at all times,” Ben added.
Bradley nodded but continued to look the gun over. If Ben wasn’t mistaken, he spotted the hint of a smile on his son’s face. He wouldn’t win any father-of-the-year awards for giving a shotgun to a ten-year-old to defend himself with, but this was survival. Emma was older, and he thought about giving it to her, but Bradley had more experience with guns from hunting with Jack. Besides, judging by the look on Emma’s face, Ben figured that she wasn’t up to the task. And there was no way he was leaving them unarmed right now, not when they had the means to protect themselves. He couldn’t be everywhere at once. No one could.
Emma was going to have to carry a weapon at some point. The next chance they had, Ben would talk to her about it and figure out what she was most comfortable with. Carrying was the new norm, along with knowing how to use what you carried, at least for the foreseeable future, anyway. Even if the power came back on tomorrow and there was food and water for all, Ben doubted that life would return to normal.
Some people had crossed the line to survive, and there would be no coming back from the things they had done to others. He feared this was the new way of life for years to come. Only the strong and able would survive, and he would do everything in his power to make sure his kids were both.
Chapter Twelve
With everyone armed, including Bradley, the tables had turned in their favor. It didn’t mean they were in the clear, but they were well on their way.
“When can we go get the dogs?” Emma asked.
Ben had been waiting for her to ask that and was surprised it took so long. Both Sam and Gunner occasionally barked in the distance.
“How about right now?” Ben answered. He was worried about the dogs, too. If there were any moonshiners left—the two he’d seen near the cages came to mind—they might retaliate by hurting the dogs or maybe just shoot them to shut them up. Sandy and the kids had been the priority, but now that they were relatively safe, he could turn his attention to Gunner and Sam. The welfare of those dogs was just as important as anything else he could do for the kids, and in his opinion, they were crucial to helping them cope with the status quo.
Rita and her husband Carlos weren’t far from his thoughts, either, but they were safer in the container for the time being. He’d let them out, as well as the other guy, when they had things well under control in the compound. They seemed harmless, especially in their weakened state, and Ben hated to leave them locked in those disgusting, dank containers any longer than he had to, but he didn’t need any liabilities wandering around the camp.
“So what’s the plan now?” Allie asked.
“I think I want you guys to stay put while Sandy and I get the dogs.”
“Dad,” Joel protested.
“Joel, we still don’t know if there are more of them out there. It’s best if we move in small groups for now, and I want you kids to stay together back here by the cars. When we get back, we’ll let the others out of the containers. Then we’ll sweep the place, one container at a time, until we get all of our gear back. Don’t worry. There’s still plenty to do here.”
Joel sighed, and Ben was relieved to see him give in. They were all tired—apparently too tired to argue. Joel led Allie and his brother and sister back to an area behind the row of cars and took a position over the top of the Cadillac. Joel had a clear shot down the path the woman had used to sneak up on them, and Allie set up to face toward the still. Bradley and Emma hid out of sight, except Bradley watched through the back window of the car. Satisfied that the kids were all set, Ben and Sandy headed out.
Ben would have felt more confident if Joel was tagging along with him, and he felt bad about not asking him to, but he thought it would do Sandy some good to move to a new
location. He hoped it would keep her occupied and her mind off what she had just done.
Her attempts to reassure him that she was all right seemed sincere, but he noticed the constant glances over at the body and the resulting look on her face. Rescuing the dogs would give her something to focus on, and it would be a feel-good moment when they let them out of the cages. That was what she needed. Of course, his plan could backfire if there were moonshiners waiting for them when they got there.
Sandy stayed a few paces behind Ben, and he was impressed with her ability to keep up and move quietly without any instruction. They made their way through the camp without incident, and the only moonshiners they crossed paths with were already dead.
Ben motioned for Sandy to stay put before moving to his position. He wanted to take a look and see what they were dealing with. As he crept around the container, he could tell by the yellow glow that reflected off the metal container wall that the small campfire the two moonshiners had going earlier was still burning brightly. He wished he had better cover, and the light made him feel exposed.
As he was about to ease his head around the corner, a shadow appeared on the container wall across from them, and Ben froze. He watched as it grew larger, and he barely made it to his feet as the moonshiner came around the corner. He was carrying a lever-action rifle of some sort and stomping clumsily through the brush when he nearly ran into Ben.
He tried to raise the rifle but was less than a foot away, and Ben was able to grab the gun and force it back against the man. Gunner and Sam let out a barrage of barks and growls, watching helplessly from their cages while Ben wrestled with the man. If Gunner had been loose, the fight would have been over before it started, but he wasn’t. Ben was on his own, and there was no safe way for Sandy to take a shot without the risk of hitting him.
The guy was huge, towering over Ben’s six-foot-two-inch frame by at least six inches. He also had him in size by a good fifty pounds, apparently all made of muscle. Ben could smell the moonshine on his breath as they struggled, and for a brief moment, he thought that he might have bitten off more than he could chew. At least Sandy was there to put a bullet in the guy and the kids would be safe.
No. He wasn’t going out like this. He wasn’t going to let this piece of subhuman trash take away his chance to watch his kids grow up. Ben dug deep. Through the fatigue, through the hunger and the thirst, he summoned the strength from somewhere to free his hand with the pistol and push it into the man’s chest.
Bang! Bang!
The sound was deafening at that range, and Ben felt the impact of the bullets as they blasted through the man. Ben let go of the lever-action rifle, which was still between them, and the moonshiner took a step back and looked down at his chest. He reached for the wound and tried to touch the gaping hole but fell backward before he could.
Ben stood over the body for a moment longer, ignoring the barking dogs for now. He had to make sure the guy was dead, although there was no way he was getting up from that. He kicked the rifle away from the man and motioned for Sandy to join him. She was still hiding in the last cluster of bushes with her hand over her mouth.
Ben waved her over again. “Come on.”
She snapped out of it and ran to him this time.
“Are you okay?” she asked while taking in his blood-soaked shirt.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s not mine. Let’s get these dogs out of here.” Ben’s head was still spinning a little from the fight and he felt dizzy, but he didn’t want to stop moving, mostly because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to start again. The dogs had changed their tune now, and the growls turned to yips of excitement as their wagging tails thrashed against the tiny cages. Sandy freed Gunner first, then Sam without hesitation, but she paused when she reached the other dog.
Gunner and Sam both ran to Ben, begging for attention. Ben mustered enough strength to give them each a few reassuring rubs on the head.
“What do you think?” Sandy asked.
The dog was a pit bull. A little thin but by no means too weak to give either one of them a run for their money if it turned out to be hostile. Sandy put the back of her hand up to the kennel and let the dog smell her. In a matter of seconds, a bright pink tongue was lapping at Sandy’s fingers through the wire cage, and the dog’s tail was wagging in a way that made its whole body wiggle.
“Aw, she looks friendly,” Sandy said affectionately as she crouched down to take a closer look at the tag. “Her name’s Bajer.” She had her fingers through the cage now and was scratching Bajer’s snoot. The dog was eating it up and ringing the kennel wall with her tail like it was a cymbal.
“All right, let her out.” He didn’t have the energy to argue or the heart to leave the poor dog locked up. Gunner and Sam were all noses as Bajer jumped down from the kennel, and the two of them cornered her for a brief moment. Ben braced for a fight, but it never came. Instead, Gunner threw his paws together on the ground and hunched down in the way he did when he was trying to initiate a game of chase.
“Looks like they get along,” Sandy said.
“Good, now let’s get back to the…”
“Ben, what is it?”
Something had caught Ben’s eye while he was talking, and he approached the container closest to the stacked cages. There was a countertop installed along the outside wall, along with what looked like a cleaning station. A large butcher knife along with a rusty saw hung from a nearby nail just overhead. Then he saw something he wished he hadn’t. It was another nail with several collars hanging from it. Ben felt his stomach turn, and a wave of nausea washed over him. They were eating people’s pets.
“Oh, God.” Sandy looked away and doubled over like she was going to throw up.
Ben’s nausea quickly turned to disgust and then anger as he pulled his hands away from the blood-stained counter. It was impossible for him to think any less of these people, but this was a new low, even for them. If they were capable of eating people’s household pets, it wasn’t a stretch to think that somewhere in the more desperate future the captured people might have made their way onto the menu as well.
Ben’s thoughts turned to Rita and her husband. It was time to get them out of their enclosure. And maybe even the guy who didn’t want them talking. That was if he could agree to go along with their plans. As long as Ben could recover the gear and food that originally belonged to them, he didn’t care about the rest of the stuff here. Rita and Carlos could have it all if they wanted—if there was anything left.
Chapter Thirteen
“Let’s not mention this to the kids.” Ben leered at the collars once more before making himself turn away.
“Yeah.” Sandy regained her composure but stayed crouched down to rub Bajer. Jealousy got the better of the other two dogs, and before long, Sandy was surrounded by all three of them demanding her attention.
Ben did a quick three-sixty and made sure there was no one around. If his count was right, that made a total of ten moonshiners that could be accounted for, all dead. The other guy who had been here when Ben first found the dogs could have been among the bodies out there, but he couldn’t be sure. Still, there should have been a couple more women, and didn’t Rita say something about kids? Great, just what I want to deal with. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it. Right now, they needed to get back.
Cautiously, Ben and Sandy made their way toward the kids, but with all of the dogs in tow, the journey was less than stealthy. After the initial excitement, Bajer fell into sync with the other dogs and followed along like she’d been with them for the entire trip. The biggest problem Ben had with the sweet-mannered dog was that every time he crouched down to take cover, she would come straight to him and nuzzle him for attention.
Emma was going to love this dog; there was no denying that. Ben really hoped that Bajer belonged to Rita and Carlos. The last thing they needed was another dog crammed into the Blazer with them. Did they even have enough room? What about the food? These were all good points, but they
would be invalid arguments as far as his daughter was concerned.
They crossed the last hundred yards or so through the open center of the camp, where the bulk of the fighting had occurred. Ben couldn’t stop himself from eyeing the old man’s body once more as they passed. He was still slumped over in the recliner where Ben had ended his days of terrorizing people and God knew what else. He took satisfaction in knowing that, regardless of what else happened here, the horrors forced onto unsuspecting travelers unlucky enough to pass this way ended tonight, and it ended because of them.
The dogs passed by each of the bodies they encountered with indifference and barely gave them a second sniff. Once the cars were in sight, Ben whistled out a signal as loud as he dared. Joel returned his call a few seconds later with a similar noise, and the dogs zeroed in on the kids’ location.
Gunner led the pack in a full-speed charge as soon as he worked out exactly where the sound had come from. He knew it was the kids right away and closed the last fifty yards in a matter of seconds. By the time Ben and Sandy reached the kids, Bajer had found her way to Emma and was reaping the rewards of a girl who couldn’t say no. Emma had her arms wrapped around Bajer’s neck so tightly that it made Ben envious.
He had to smile and even laugh a little. “Don’t get too attached. She might be Rita’s dog,” he warned.
“And if she isn’t?” Emma asked.
“Let’s talk about that later.” Ben shook his head and pursed his lips. Emma already knew the answer and smiled even bigger as she gave Bajer a kiss on the head. It was good to see her smile, even if it was just for a moment.
“What do we do now?” Joel asked.
“We have to assume that there are a couple of them left and maybe a few kids as well. But I think it’s time to let Rita and Carlos out. Maybe they can ID some of the moonshiners and give us a better idea of who’s left,” Ben said.
“Maybe they ran away.” Allie shrugged as she looked around at the carnage.