Dark Days (Book 1): The Collapse

by Davis, James

  “Grenade! Run! Get down!” Several of the soldiers screamed as the flashbang sailed through the air toward them. BOOM! The explosion from the flashbang was deafening. The flash from it disoriented the soldiers giving Clay, Hank, Jeff, and Randy the perfect opportunity to rush in and take them all out. The four men rushed out in the hall and immediately started firing. The soldiers tried to return fire, but the four advancing men were on them too fast.

  “Reloading!” Clay yelled as he ducked inside another classroom. He quickly ripped out the mag, dropping it into his dump bag and slammed a new one in. He stepped back into the fight giving the other three men a chance to reload. The soldiers were dropping like flies. They took the full brunt of the flashbang and were basically firing blind, missing their target every time. Hank and Clay had zero mercy for these men. They had killed their brother and taken their women. The soldiers would pay with their lives for those transgressions. The fight was over almost as fast as it began. Soldiers lay either dead or dying at the end of the hallway, but the women were still nowhere to be found. Clay walked right up to one of the dying men and shoved his finger inside a large hole in the man's thigh.

  “Where the fuck are they?” He screamed, shoving his finger deeper into the man's wound down to the first knuckle. The man screamed out in pain.

  “Fuck, okay! They're in the basement!” he said through gritted teeth. Clay nodded at the man and stood up. He pulled out his sidearm and shot him in the face.

  “You all hear that? They are keeping the women in the basement.” They looked at each other for a second before Randy sighed and spoke up.

  “So how are we going to extract them out of there without anyone getting hurt?”

  “We need to make them think we left so that they come out and try to leave with the women.” Hank said.

  “Right, so everyone go to the front entrance because it is farther away than the other exits.”

  “They will probably send out one guy first to make sure we're not doing what we are planning on doing.” Clay added. That got a chuckle out of the men as they all headed for the exit.

  *****

  The two soldiers that were left looked at one another as they waited to hear the door at the top of the basement stairs open.

  “We have got to get the hell out of here. I don’t want to die for any of these bitches,” he said, nodding his head toward the group of captive women.

  “Bitches? Who the hell do you think you are, you son of a bitch? Fuck you!” Karen shot back. This seemed to piss the soldier off. He stomped over to Karen and got right down in her face and said in a low growl.

  “Fuck me? No, fuck you bitch!” He drove his fist into the side of her head, almost knocking her out cold. He grabbed her arm and jerked her to her feet.

  “Remember, you asked for this,” the soldier said, as he drug her over to an old school desk.

  “Get your disgusting hands off of her, you fucking pussy!” Ashley screamed as she watched Karen struggle against the man.

  “Steve, shut that bitch up!” The soldier said as he slammed Karen over the desk and started to rip her pants down. Steve was stunned into silence. He never thought that this man would do something like this. They had been friends for years, and he had never shown this side of himself. Not even once. Steve’s partner had Karen's pants down at this point and was trying to undo his own pants while attempting to hold a struggling Karen down. Tanya came flying across the room holding the leg of an old wooden chair and slammed it into the back of the man’s head. The man went down immediately.

  “Steve, what the fuck? You were supposed to be protecting us!” She screamed as she stomped toward him, pointing the chair leg at him.

  “I… I… I’m sorry. I never thought he would try anything like that. We have been friends for years and he's never done anything like that. I am so sorry!” Steve pleaded as he took a step back from Tanya.

  “You need to man the fuck up soldier!” She hissed at him before turning to Karen, and asking.

  “Are you alright?” Ashley was there helping her keep her now torn pants up.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” she said as she rubbed the side of her head. She walked over to the still stunned Steve and snatched his sidearm from its holster. She turned and went back over to the soldier on the floor, aimed the weapon at the side of his head and said.

  “You hit like a bitch,” before firing two rounds into the side of the man’s head. No one said a word as Karen turned and walked away from the corpse. She handed the pistol back to Steve and started to walk across the room toward the stairs, but stopped mid-step when the basement door slammed open followed by the sound of multiple people stomping quickly down the stairs. Steve stepped in front of the group of women and raised his rifle toward whoever was barreling down the stairs. Moments later, three men stood there aiming their own rifles at Steve.

  “You got two choices here, either you drop your weapon and step away from the women, or we drop you here and now.”

  Chapter 16

  Ashley dove into Clay's arms, kissing him and squeezing him as hard as she could. All around them, each couple was going through the exact same motion. Even Dub and Betty Sue were tangled up in a mass of hugs and kisses. Once the reunions settled down Clay looked at Ashley with hurt and rage in his eyes as he started telling Ashley about Chris’ unfortunate death, as he tried to save her and the rest of the people in the camp. Clay turned to look away from his wife as tears started to well up again, but his sight landed on Steve.

  “You motherfucker!” Clay shouted as his shoulder connected with Steve's chest. The air audibly left Steve’s lungs and both men landed hard on the ground. Clay quickly mounted him and began dropping heavy blows to Steve's face. He only managed to land a couple before Hank's arms wrapped tightly around him, constricting any movement.

  “Let me go! Let me the fuck go!” Clay screamed as he tried to break the vice-like grip that Hank had around his body. Hank made a swift motion, finally pulling Clay away from Steve.

  “Get your fucking hands off of me! They killed our brother! They killed him! Fucking let me go!” Clay screamed, still trying with all of his might to break free. Ashley approached her husband, placing her hands on either side of his face. She looked into his eyes.

  “No Clay, he isn’t. He’s been helping Tanya and Betty Sue get out of here. He kept us safe. He’s on our side.” she said, before wiping a tear from his cheek.

  “Let me go Hank.” he said, his body visibly relaxing. He broke Hank's grip and strode over to the edge of the woods. Hank moved to follow his brother. Ashley placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him "Give him a minute." she said quietly. Hank nodded.

  “So where are all of the men they had here?” Hank asked.

  “They send them all to the work camps during the day and bring them back at night. Sometimes they bring them in early, but not very often." Steve replied as he got to his feet.

  "Can you show us where these work camps are?" Steve nodded.

  "I can show you, but it would be a suicide mission to attempt to attack them there.” Hank sighed and said.

  “We don’t have the numbers to attack them there. We need to wait till they bring the men back here. They shouldn't have that many guards with them just to bring back a couple of dozen tired men right?” Steve shook his head and said.

  “They show up with the men just before sundown, like clockwork. There are seven trucks, two soldiers per truck. The last two will have the men in it, those trucks have four soldiers." Hank listened intently.

  "We messed this place up too badly, they'll know something’s up as soon as they get here."

  "We can do it a few miles out, there isn't a side road for miles and plenty of cover." Hank thought for a moment.

  "That's eighteen soldiers, we have five. What's your plan?" Clay walked back up to the group and started to say something, but before he could get the words out Steve cut in.

  "Look, I'm sorry about your friend-“

  "
Brother." Clay corrected.

  "I'm sorry about your brother. I didn't want anyone to die, and I damn sure didn’t have anything to do with his death. I wasn’t even firing my weapon when you busted in here. I was working out the details to help your ladies escape, we were just waiting for the right time.” Tanya patted Steve’s arm and stepped into the discussion.

  “He helped me and my granny when we first came here and he’s been trying to make plans for us all to get out of here. He is not the bad guy Clay. I really am sorry about Chris, and I know you need to take it out on someone, but you can’t take it out on your own team. Clay gave a slight nod but did not reply.

  “It seems to me that you need to make a decision about Steve before we go any further. You either believe he’s telling you the truth or you don’t, it's that simple. Now I am truly sorry about Chris, but I think the man is telling the truth. If it turns out that he is full of shit then I’ll put a bullet in his head myself. Now let's get ready for this fight!” Dub said through gritted teeth.

  *****

  “Do you really trust Steve?” Clay asked Hank as they pushed a stalled car down the road.

  “I never said I trusted him, but I do believe his story. Don’t you?” Hank replied.

  “I guess if you and the old man believe him, then I do too.”

  “Look, if anything looks the least bit sketchy we'll get the hell outta there fast."

  "If we can. Maybe we just all end up like…" he said, trailing off, unable to finish his sentence.

  "We're gonna make them all pay for that. We won't stop until everyone involved in this whole mess is dead, I promise." Hank said reassuringly.

  "Besides, we better get outta here, you want Winston raising our kids?" Hank chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood. Clay returned his chuckle.

  "Hell no, that guy is fucking weird."

  "Right up here's the spot," Hank said.

  "We'll park this thing diagonally and we'll wait," Clay said, hopping into the driver's seat to steer. Hank nodded, pushing the car into place. After positioning the car just right and stashing their rifles in the back seat, Hank climbed into the passenger seat, joining Clay inside the car. He pulled out his pistol, held it out the window, aimed for the sky and pulled the trigger, signaling that they were in position. A shot rang out in the distance to the south.

  "Jeff and Randy are in position." Clay said. Another shot sounded from the north.

  "Dub, Steve, and Tanya are too," Hank said from the passenger seat.

  "Not long left before sundown," Clay spoke, pointing at the sun, only half visible over the horizon to the west. Hank nodded. Thirty minutes later, the sun had all but disappeared over the horizon. As predicted a convoy of military trucks came into view. The truck in front slowed, stopping about thirty feet from the car where Clay and Hank sat. Both doors swung open and two soldiers hopped to the ground, readied their rifles, and began walking toward the car.

  "Ready?" Hank asked. Clay gave a quick nod, gripping his pistol between his leg and the center console as the men approached each side of the car.

  "Identification." A dark-haired soldier said on Clay's side of the car.

  "Sorry, we were just driving home and our car died. We'll get it o-" Clay stammered.

  "Identification!" An older balding soldier demanded through Hank's window. In a single quick movement two guns came up, two shots rang out, and two soldiers fell to the ground, blood and brain matter pouring from the new holes where their faces used to be. Clay and Hank quickly retrieved their rifles from the back seat and left the car, taking cover at the front of the truck.

  "Ambush!" A man screamed from one of the trucks as Randy and Jeff opened fire from the woods, quickly dispatching the four soldiers as they exited their trucks on that side. A deafening roar filled the air from somewhere in the north as Dub fired up the Monstrosity. The giant bus came screaming across the field. Tanya and Steve unleashed hell on the next four trucks in line. The convoy erupted in a mixture of screams and gunfire as the remaining soldiers returned fire at the new assailants. Smoke poured from the engine bays and fluids began to leak as the bullets turned the trucks into paperweights. Blood splattered what was left of the windows and the gunfire ceased.

  Dub hit the fifth truck in line at full speed, knocking Tanya from her gun. She landed in a heap on the floor of the bus. The truck slid to the other side of the road almost folded in half by the impact from the cattle guard. He reversed the truck and backed up, moving quickly to park behind the remaining two trucks in the convoy. Tanya rejoined Steve in her position at the gun mounted atop the bus. Clay and Hank made their way toward the end of the convoy, counting bodies as they went.

  "Five," Clay said as they met in front of the sixth truck. Hank nodded

  "Five." Randy and Jeff joined them next to the trucks, weapons aimed at the terrified drivers seated inside.

  "Come on out of those trucks!" Hank shouted.

  "Slow!" Clay added. The two men in the front of each truck opened the door and slowly stepped out. Two more soldiers emerged from the back of each truck.

  "One at a time, drop your weapons in a pile here!" Hank shouted at the soldiers, pointing to the ground in front of him.

  "Once you've done that, on your knees over there!" He continued, pointing to a spot about ten feet away. Jeff walked over to Hank and said.

  "What do we do with them?" He asked, motioning to the soldiers. Hank's eyes met Clay's and Clay nodded. The two men raised their rifles in unison, aiming at the kneeling soldiers and fired. Smoke began to rise and the night lit up with the flash of gunfire as blood misted the air. The shots finally ceased as the last man's face slammed into the fresh pool of blood on the pavement.

  “Now let’s go meet our new recruits,” Jeff said as he headed for the passenger trucks. Hank stopped the group just before they got to the first truck with people.

  “Let me and Clay go first to make sure there are no more traps waiting, you guys watch our six.” Hank said. Everyone nodded and watched the two men slowly make their way around each truck, clearing them of all threats.

  “Alright, guys come on out. We are here to help. Your women are back at the camp waiting on you fellas." Dub stated to the men in the back of each truck. The men started piling out of the truck. Dub explained to the men what was going on and then asked.

  “So, do you fellas want a chance to get back at the sons a bitches that did this to you, and the rest of the people in this country?” A chorus of yeah’s and hell yeah’s fired back at him.

  “Alright, if you do then we are going to need your help. We are starting up a militia to fight back and we need as many people as we can get. Anyone over the age of eighteen is welcome.” Not one person from the group declined. Dub smiled at the crowd and said.

  “We will be outfitting all of you from the stock of gear and weapons at the camp, so the quicker we get back there the quicker you all will be locked and loaded and ready to take these bastards on.” Dub said as he kicked a dead man's leg. They all piled into the bus and hauled ass back to the camp.

  When they pulled into the school parking lot, Dub stopped the Monstrosity and hopped out.

  “Listen up!” Dub shouted over the clamor of excited voices.

  “My two sons and a couple of the women here will get you all some gear and weapons. There is plenty of it to go around, so please be patient and wait till it's your turn. When you have your gear and weapons, meet us over in the mess hall so we discuss a few things you probably don't know about.” With that Dub, Clay, Hank, and Steve all went to the mess hall to start discussing the potential problems before everyone got there and started hammering them with questions.

  The next couple of hours went by quick. Dub did most of the talking as he told about what happened, and who was responsible for it. The crowd was silent as he explained that their own government was responsible for the hell that the country was currently going through. Dub told them how he wanted to build up a militia big enough to take on the m
ilitary itself and that if they lost the fight it would be the end of America as they knew it. When he was finished the questions went on forever. The main things people wanted to know was why the government did this, and how Dub was planning to feed and house so many people.

  "Look, people, we are going to have to fight these FEMA camp soldiers and take over those camps in order to outfit and feed everyone, but it can be done. We did it here with just a handful of people. What do you think we can accomplish with a damn army?" Hank stepped in at this point, as Dub was getting visually aggravated.

  “Alright, if you all have any more questions direct them at me or my brother Clay. We will be more than happy to answer any of your concerns.” A man in the back started grumbling and moving his way toward the front of the crowd. He had on the same camo outfit as the rest of the group, but he had long greasy hair and looked like he hadn’t bathed in quite some time. The looks people were giving him as he passed by confirmed Hank’s suspicion. The man made it to the front of the crowd and stood there with his arms crossed as he asked.

  “How the hell do you expect to send these people into a battle? I'll bet you that sweet ass monster bus outside more than half the people here don't know which end the bullets come out of. They aren't soldiers. How can you expect them to fight an enemy that's been battle-tested and trained for war?” The man shouted for the entire room to hear. Hank listened intently to what the man had to say. He took in a deep breath before replying, calmly addressing the group of men.

  "You're not soldiers, we get that, but you're not slaves either. I won't lie and tell you this will be easy, it won't. Some of you may not make it, I might not make it. We lost our brother this morning liberating this very camp. If we don't try though, none of us will make it. Our wives, our kids, our brothers and sisters, none of them have a chance. Our government did this, we don't know why, not yet, but we will find out. We can't force any of you to fight, it's a huge risk and maybe a lot to ask. If any of you want to take your families and go about your lives, no one is going to stop you. They've taken a lot from all of us, now they want to take our freedom, and if that isn't worth fighting for, I don't know what is." The speech prompted cheers and shouts from the group of men. Clay walked over to stand next to Hank and addressed the crowd,