Dark Days (Book 1): The Collapse

by Davis, James

  "Go rest up and eat a meal with your families, we'll have a couple guys here to help with protection and the rest of us won't be far. We'll start training in a few days. Everything you need is right here in this camp.” he finished up and the two turned toward the exit. A few minutes later, Hank and Clay were back with their main group, talking about how to move forward with this many people.

  They all agreed to sleep on it and to head back to their camp for the night. Dub pulled into his driveway and everyone piled out of the bus one at a time then headed straight for the showers. Hank and Clay played with Emma and Toby while their ladies showered first. Sarge and Bella came trotting up to their masters and sat waiting for their turn to get some attention from their long lost humans. Clay and Hank had been going non-stop for weeks now. They sometimes forgot that they didn’t have to do this and that they did it by choice, but in the end, they both enjoyed helping people even when it meant getting shot at or losing a loved one. Jeff and Randy had offered to stay and take on guard duty so they could give Chris a proper burial. They brought his body back and planned on doing a small ceremony for Clay and Hank to say goodbye in the morning.

  Chapter 17

  Hank and Clay had gotten up early to start digging their brother’s grave. They picked a spot under a large oak tree on the backside of the property. Each time they jammed the shovels into the earth it felt as if they were losing a part of themselves. The two made quick work of the grave then headed inside to get cleaned up. Later that morning they all stood around as Clay and Hank said a few words about their fallen brother.

  “For those of you who don’t know, or didn’t know our brother Chris very long, we just want to say thank you for showing him the respect he deserves by being here right now. Thankfully, Chris isn’t leaving behind a wife or any children. He actually never got that chance before the world went to shit. Chris was a great brother, uncle, and human being. He was a great soldier, friend, and a badass Marine Scout Sniper. He understood the values we all share, Faith, Family and Freedom. He fought to protect those values until his final breath and we will return that favor! We will not let his death be in vain. Chris died on a mission to help free the enslaved people at these FEMA camps. We will finish his mission for him! We’re going to make sure that those responsible for this travesty; those that wish to strip you of your freedom will not go unpunished! Till we meet again, rest in peace brother.”

  The people standing around the grave were all in tears at this point. They went over to give their condolences to Clay and Hank as they each left the graveside. After everyone left they started to fill in the grave. Several people offered to help, but both Clay and Hank declined. They felt it was their duty to do it. It wasn’t exactly the proper military burial but it was close enough. They had made a small wooden cross for the head of the grave and carved his name in it. Once they finished, they went inside to join everyone else for lunch. They were all eating and remembering what a good man Chris Mitchell had been throughout his life.

  “Alright folks, listen up!” Hank shouted over the room.

  “How many of you know how to handle a weapon with confidence?” Only a few hands went up.

  “Ok, for the people that don’t know what they are doing, my brother and I will be holding training sessions out back over the course of today and tomorrow. If you don’t know what you’re doing, then you have to come. It’s non-negotiable. Everyone has to learn for the sake of the community. First off, we will be working on gun safety then reloading and charging your weapons. This will create muscle memory if you do it over and over, which could save your life in a high-pressure situation. Grab your weapons and meet us outside.” Hank finished and headed for the door.

  Over the next two days Clay, Hank, Jeff, and Randy went over exercise after exercise, drill after drill. The group of people took to the training very well. Their muscle memory was getting better all the time and they were able to run through the exercises with ease now. Dub even helped out by training three new snipers. Their militia was growing stronger every day. Dub climbed up in the bed of his truck and started to speak.

  “Alright everyone, you have all done very well with the training. I see a bunch of soldiers standing before me now. You were all just a bunch of sheep when we first got you out of that camp but now, now I see a bunch of wolves ready to take the enemy by the goddamn throat!” A valley of catcalls and cheers fired back at Dub. Clay jumped up into the truck and took over,

  “We are going to be picking out three teams to go out and recon the other camps. This will not be an assault mission; this mission is strictly for intel purposes. We’re sending three ground men and one sniper with each team. The sniper will find a good hide well away from the camp to provide overwatch for the other three people to get in close and observe the camps. Now is there anyone here that wants to volunteer for the mission?” Everyone there raised their hands.

  “It’s certainly good that everyone wants to help, but unfortunately we only need twelve of you for this mission. Not to worry though, once they come back we are going to work out an attack strategy for each camp they find.” Hank picked out the twelve people for the mission and took them to gear up. They packed up enough food and water to last them two days. If they couldn’t find the camp at that time they were instructed to return to the camp so a new team could go out and try to locate one of the camps. That way no one team would get overworked too quickly.

  “You guys will be heading out in the morning, so go get you some grub, spend time with your families and make sure to get plenty of rest. You all have a long hike ahead of you." Hank said as he headed inside to be with his own family. Clay and Hank both had been gone a lot lately and hadn't been able to spend much time with their own families. They were going to make it a point to change that today. Over the next week, Clay and Hank did not go anywhere. They spent a lot of time with their families, and helped with the chores around the farm. They were in the middle of mucking out the horse stalls when one of the second teams that went out came limping up the driveway. It looked like they had been in the shit big time. Clay and Hank dropped their shovels and started running toward the team.

  “Ashley, go find Dub!” Clay yelled as he raced toward the four injured men. The four men all but collapsed when they reached them.

  “What the hell happened?” Hank asked.

  “Water!” was all the one guy managed to say.

  “Hank, go tell Ashley and Karen to bring some water down here.” A few minutes later the girls came running down the driveway with two-gallon jugs of water. The men took turns chugging down the water. Slowly the team leader, Chuck, started to talk.

  “They ambushed us on the road and beat the hell out of us!”

  “That bitch was crazy! She said her name was Raina and said to tell our leaders that she was coming for them and that they were going to pay for what they did to her.”

  “She killed all of Team Three. She had them all gutted and hung upside down from the telephone poles and shit! We have to go kill this bitch and her minions before they kill any more of our people!” Chuck exclaimed. Clay and Hank looked at one another with a shocked look on their faces.

  “Can you take us back to where this happened? We can't just leave our people hanging from light poles!”

  “This fucking cunt needs to die like yesterday!” Clay shouted.

  “Let’s get these guys patched up then we go find this bitch and take her and all of her cronies out for good this time!” Hank replied with a scowl on his face.

  Twenty minutes later, Clay and Hank had on full battle rattle and were heading out the door.

  "You boys are going to need these." Dub said as he tossed the keys for the Monstrosity to Clay. He snatched the keys from the air and said,

  "We'll be back later. We're going to get a few volunteers from the school, and then we're going to blow that bitch’s brains out."

  "You boys stay safe and keep your damn heads down." Dub said. With that the two brothers hopped i
n the big ass bus and took off, ready to take out Raina and her cronies, come hell or high water. Clay stopped the bus just outside of the school's' view and looked over at his brother,

  “I got a weird feeling about this Hank. I feel like we are about to walk into some shit.”

  “Yeah, I got that same feeling going on. I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but I don’t feel good about this at all.”

  “Alright, well let’s walk up to the school and talk to Mike and Larry at the door before we decide to say anything about our plans.” Clay said. Hank nodded his head as Clay talked, then said.

  “Yeah ok, sounds like a plan.” They climbed down out of the truck and started walking toward the school. As they approached the school entrance they could see that neither Mike nor Larry were stationed at the entrance.

  “They must be off duty today.” Hank observed. As they approached the school entrance, two unknown armed guards stopped them. This annoyed Clay and Hank. It’s not like they were strangers to these people.

  “Why are you stopping us?” Clay asked in a smart assed tone.

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stand back and wait for the man in charge.” One of the guards said.

  “If it wasn’t for me and my two brothers you would all still be locked in those damn slave camps or dead! Now get the hell out of the way so we can go talk to someone that has a little more sense than you!” Clay replied, getting right in the man’s face.

  “Gentlemen, gentlemen, calm down. What is this all about?” A strange voice sounded from off to the side of them. Clay and Hank turned their heads to see who was talking, only to find a young guy staring back at them. The man was tall. He had short dark brown hair with a chinstrap goatee. He looked like a marathon runner with his thin frame.

  “My name is Lucas Crawford,” he said as he stuck out his right hand to Clay.

  “I’m Clay Mitchell and this is my brother Hank.” Clay said, ignoring the man’s friendly overture.

  “Where’s Mike and Larry? They always take the day shift guard duty.” Clay asked, with a suspicious look on his face. Lucas laughed at Clay’s suspicion.

  “Not to worry, they are just fine. We decided to help out and let them have the day off, after all, it is the least we can do for the safe refuge here.”

  “So you’re telling us that Mike and Larry just took the day off and let two strangers take over their post for the day?” Hank asked suspiciously.

  “The way you came running up here to stop the ass whoopin I was about to put on your dog over there, makes it look like you’re the man in charge around here.” Hank said, looking at each of the men.

  “The good folks here asked me to lead them about a week after we got here.” Lucas’ story just wasn’t adding up to Clay and Hank. They looked at each other and took a couple of quick steps back while raising their rifles at the same time.

  “Drop your weapons right fucking now!” Clay shouted as the two guards started to raise their own weapons but were too slow. The two did as they were told while Lucas watched with a stunned look on his face.

  “Now take five steps back away from the weapons!” Hank ordered.

  “Down on your knees, hands on your heads now!” Clay demanded. Again the two complied and Clay covered Hank while he zip tied each of the men's arms behind their backs.

  “On your feet, we’re going to take a little walk.” Clay said.

  “Where are you taking us?” Lucas asked. Clay and Hank didn’t say a word as they stepped over to their prisoners and wrapped duct tape around each of their mouths.

  "We can't have one of you start screaming and alerting any of the other guards now can we?” Clay asked. They marched the three men down toward the bus and into the forest before they stopped and forced them back to their knees.

  “Alright, it’s question time!” Clay said as he cut the tape off of Lucas’s mouth.

  “Who are you guys?” Hank asked.

  “I already told you, they asked me to lead them a week after we got here.” Lucas pleaded.

  “Now that we do not believe. You got one more chance to tell us who you really are and what you’re doing here, then my brother and I are going to start breaking shit.” Hank said, with a dead serious look on his face. Lucas could see these two guys were not fucking around anymore.

  “Who are you and why are you here?” Clay asked again.

  “I already told you!” Lucas said with wide eyes, praying the two brothers were going to believe him this time.

  “You know something, I respect your loyalty and determination to your story, but I already told you what was going to happen if you lied again didn’t I?" Hank replied. Clay’s fist slammed into the side of one of the guard's heads over and over while Lucas watched in horror.

  “Now, let’s try that one more time. This time it's not going to be the guard that gets the punishment.” Hank stated as he squeezed Lucas’ shoulder.

  “Who in the hell are you, and why are you here?” Hank asked again, this time he was nose to nose with Lucas as he said it. Hank moved back as Clay stepped up in front of Lucas.

  “You have something you want to tell my brother?” Clay asked. Lucas was scared; he never thought he would end up in a position like this. He could not tell these two why they were actually here though. He would be killed if he told these two anything.

  “I already told you everything,” he said. Clay pulled out his pistol and looked at a now wide-eyed Lucas and said,

  “This is your fault, you had your chance.” Lucas started to protest but Clay raised his gun and pulled the trigger before Lucas could get a single word out of his mouth. The two guards were both trying like hell to get free from their restraints as Clay and Hank walked over to them.

  “We’re only going to ask you two this one time. If you don’t tell us what we want to know then you’re both dead. Do we make ourselves clear?” Hank asked. Both men were nodding their heads emphatically. Clay cut the tape from the first guard’s mouth and stepped back out of Hank’s way. Hank bent down to look the man in the eye.

  "I'll ask one simple question at a time, I want one simple answer at a time, we clear?" he asked. The man nodded his head.

  "Good, who are you?"

  "Jackie," Hank pointed at the other guard

  "Him?"

  "His name is Matt," the man replied.

  "Now we're getting somewhere, when did you get to the camp?"

  "Last night." Hank nodded

  “Why?"

  "I don't know, Raina's waiting for someone, they don't tell me shit." The man said. Clay took a step forward

  "Who the fuck is Raina and what the fuck does she want?"

  "I'm telling you that's all I know, I don't know why she's here, but she's looking for someone.” he insisted. Hank stepped back in.

  "Is Raina there now?" The man nodded.

  "Did you hurt anyone in there?" Hank asked,

  "I didn't' hurt anyone, I swear!" Jackie stammered. The back of Clay's hand smashed into his nose, blood began to stream down his face.

  "You know damn well what he meant, did anyone in there get hurt?" Clay demanded.

  "Just the two guards." He lamented through the blood and tears pouring from his face.

  "They dead?" Clay asked.

  "I think so."

  "You're doing great Jackie, just one more question and this will all be over," Hank said, giving Jackie a pat on the back.

  "How many of you are there?"

  "About twenty of us, you don't have to worry about me though, I swear, you untie me and you'll never see me again." Jackie pleaded. Clay pointed his pistol toward the back of Jackie's head and pulled the trigger. Hank jumped back, narrowly avoiding the blood that sprayed from Jackie's face as he fell forward, slamming what remained of his face into the ground. Matt jumped as best he could and tipped from his knees to his side as he futilely tried to crawl away whining and whimpering, as tears streamed down his face. Hank lifted his rifle and fired three quick shots into t
he man's head, the whining ceased instantly.

  "I guess there's seventeen of them now," Clay said, chuckling to himself.

  “I guess we should head back to the house and get some backup.” Hank said as he turned to see Clay basically running toward the school.

  Chapter 18

  “Clay! What the fuck are you doing?” Hank yelled, trying to get his brother’s attention. Clay was done fucking around. He was on a mission to kill these bastards and no one was going to get in his way or slow him down.

  “Ah, fuck it!” Hank barked as he turned to catch up with Clay before he got to the school.

  “Clay, wait up dumbass! You can’t go charging in there alone! That's a good way to get yourself killed.” he yelled. Hank finally caught up with Clay and was breathing heavy as they got to the entrance. They checked the areas around them for hostiles, and then proceeded to move inside the school. There were flickers of candlelight dancing on the walls of the hallway as they made their way down toward the first classroom that had light. Clay leaned into Hank and whispered.

  “Do you hear anything yet?” Hank shook his head. When they were to the edge of the first classroom door they stopped to listen again. Hearing nothing they peeked inside, seeing no movement. They passed the room and Hank split off to the other side of the hallway to check the room on his side. Again they stopped and peeked inside the classrooms. They looked at each other and shook their heads indicating both rooms were empty. Hank nodded and they moved down to the end of the hallway, where another hallway intersected the one they were currently in. They peeked around the corner again, still seeing nothing. This confused them both. They knew for a fact that there was something like twenty-five of their own people that lived here, and at least seventeen more of Raina's people. They should have already been running into other people, be they friend or foe.