Dark Days (Book 1): The Collapse

by Davis, James

  “Think you can watch over our families till we get back?” Hank asked. Dub nodded and replied.

  “I will as long as you two watch over my boys out there.” Hank gave a quick nod and turned to join Clay at the Monstrosity.

  “Alright, folks listen up! The people we're going to fight today are trained soldiers, but we are pretty certain we have them outnumbered. With that being said, is there anyone here that wants to back out now?” Not one person left the group.

  “Alright then! Let’s all go kick some ass!” Hank yelled, getting everyone pumped up. Clay climbed up into the massive bus and fired it up. The roar of the engine drowned out everything else. Hank climbed up and took his spot to Clay’s right while several others got in the back. He put the bus in gear and slowly pushed down on the throttle till they were out of the driveway, then Clay put the throttle to the floor and shot down the small road like a rocket.

  They slowed to a stop and the four trucks behind them followed suit. Hank turned toward the back of the bus and spoke

  "Jeff, Randy, go ahead and take out those guards. Radio in once they’re down and we’ll come and take out the ground troops.” Randy and Jeff nodded then exited the back of the bus and disappeared in opposite directions into the woods. The inside of the Monstrosity was dead silent as they waited for the snipers to get into position. Clay looked over his shoulder and addressed the men.

  "Any minute now, you two man those guns and hold on tight, you might feel a little bit of turbulence."

  "And for god's sake watch where you aim those things, we don't want to kill any innocent people.” Hank added. A few minutes later they heard a series of booms followed by Jeff’s voice on the radio,

  “Targets are down.” Clay signaled for the other trucks in the convoy to follow, as he pushed down on the throttle. They were going to plow right through the front gate that the military had put up around the school. As they came around the final bend, they could see the front gate which was blocked by two humvees and several armed soldiers.

  “Y’all better hold on to something!” Clay screamed, as he put the throttle to the floor. The armed guards at the gate were all waving trying to get Clay to stop. Once they realized he didn’t plan on stopping, they opened fire on the bus, peppering the front windows. Clay slowed down slightly before he slammed into the two humvees sending them both sliding away from the gate in opposite directions. The bus crashed through the gate, then slid to a stop. The other trucks stopped behind Clay and people started piling out, taking up defensive positions all over the school's parking lot.

  “Get on those .50’s now!” Clay barked. Moments later, the two large machine guns barked to life, raining down hell on anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in their path. Clay and Hank hopped out of the bus and immediately started taking down targets.

  "Take Team One and go secure the women, we'll hold them off! " Clay shouted over the gunfire. Hank nodded and turned toward the truck behind him and yelled.

  "Team One! On me!" Fifteen men immediately fell in line behind Hank as he started toward the building behind them. They took up positions at either side of the door. Hank nodded at the short, broad man on the other side. The man returned the nod. Hank reached over and grabbed the door handle, giving it a jerk and holding it open. The men sprang into action, entering through the door with weapons drawn, and taking positions on alternating sides of the hallway.

  Hank raised his rifle and followed the last man in. He walked past them, the sound of his boots on the tile floor echoing down the long corridor. As he passed, each man fell in behind him as they made their way to the end of the hallway. The walls were still covered in posters advertising upcoming dances or football games. At the corner of the hall, Hank got low and took a quick glance down the hall.

  "Clear." he whispered behind him, before rising and rounding the corner, followed by his team. The next hall was plastered with the same kind of propaganda as the first, but this one had four doors, two adjacent and then another set about fifteen feet from the first. The group split in half again taking each side of the hall. When they reached the doors, Hank peered into the glass. Seeing nothing but empty desks and a white board with some math equations on it. He turned toward the other side

  "Clear." he said. "Clear." The man replied, indicating a similar scene in the other room. The group crept to the other set of doors and peered in, both appeared empty. They made their way past the doors and to the end of the hallway. Hank peeked around the corner and drew back fast as gunshots went off, spraying the corner with bullets and sending bits of concrete flying through the air. He looked behind him and held up four fingers. He turned to the man behind him and pointed a finger at himself and then at the opposite side of the hall. The man nodded. Hank stepped across the hallway, took a breath, raised his rifle and sprinted across.

  The four soldiers took aim and fired, leaving a perfect line of bullet holes in the wall behind him. As he ran, the remaining group poured out from the corner unloading on the four soldiers. The sound was deafening as hundreds of gunshots echoed through the hallway. When the gunfire ended, ears were ringing and the soldiers lay dead on the tile floor. Blood splattered the walls and pooled at the floor beneath them. Hank made a mental note to let these men know how proud he was once they made it home. He stepped past the corpses.

  "Let's go." he said indicating the set of orange double doors behind them. The sign above read 'Cafeteria'. Once again they stacked up on either side of the doors, Hank nodded at the man across the hallway. They simultaneously planted powerful kicks into the doors, which swung open and stepped in with rifles ready. The men behind them piled into the room and split up to the left and right. The room was large and square with a rail around the outer edge leading into the back. The center was lined with orange plastic table and bench combos.

  Women and children, some of them younger than Hank's own child were seated at the tables. The room erupted into screams and shouts as the invaders rushed in. Hank walked over and addressed the nearest woman, a middle-aged redhead, dressed in the same white clothing from the first camp and holding a two-year-old.

  "We're here to help, are there any more soldiers here?" The woman hesitated and glanced around nervously, her eyes falling on the back room, which appeared to be a kitchen.

  "Are they back there?" he asked. She nodded her head.

  "How many?" Hank pressed her.

  "Just two." The woman stuttered. Hank turned toward the other men.

  "Two in the back." Five men on the right side of the door ran toward the back.

  "What's going on?" The woman asked. Hank turned to her and began to speak before changing his mind and addressing the whole room.

  "I know you all have questions, I know you haven't seen your husbands, I know you don't know what the hell's going on. I promise we will get those answers and we're working on getting your husbands back to you. By the time this is all done we will explain everything in great detail. For now, though we need to focus on getting everyone through this unharmed. To do that, I need you all to trust me and I know that’s a bold request, but it's the only way. I just need you all to stay put for now until we give you the all-clear.” The men returned from the kitchen, falling back into place outside the door. The first man approached Hank and spoke:

  "We cleared the back, looks like they got out through the fire exit."

  "Okay, put two men on that exit, I don't want them coming back in with any stupid ideas."

  "Got it." The man said before turning to two men on the end.

  "Cover that fire exit, no one gets back in." He instructed.

  "Copy." the men replied, heading toward the back again. Static crackled from Hank's radio as Clay's voice came through barely audible over the sound of the constant gunfire.

  "We're taking heavy fire, could use some backup if you're done with your circle jerk in there." A loud explosion shook the building and the radio went silent.

  "You five hold this position. Everyone else on me!
" he shouted as he bolted back toward the doors they had just come through. He sprinted down the hall to the exit and stopped just short of the door. He barely got the door open an inch when more bullets slammed into the steel door causing him to take a few steps back.

  “Shit, they have this door pinned down. No way we’re making it out there without someone getting hit,” Hank said. They all turned to a voice that echoed from the back of the crowd.

  “There's another exit over here. It comes out on the opposite side as this one.” the man said.

  “Alright, lead the way then,” Hank replied as everyone turned to follow. The man led them to a rear maintenance door and Hank slowly opened it enough to see out. Hank couldn't see anyone outside of the door so he turned and said:

  “Alright, we have to move fast before they figure out what we did.” Hank stepped through the door and held it open for the rest of his team while he scanned the area for incoming threats. Once they were all outside Hank ran over to the corner of the school and quickly peeked around it. He had to take a second look, as he could not believe what he was seeing. All of the gunfire was coming from around that corner, but the soldiers were all firing in the other direction.

  Hank stepped out from behind the corner where he was fully exposed, but every single one of the enemy soldiers was facing the other direction. Hank smiled and stepped back around the corner to relay this to the rest of the group.

  They all stepped out from around the corner and lined up behind the enemy soldiers. Hank held up his closed fist and waited a few seconds to see if anyone would notice them standing there. No one did. Hank could not believe his luck right now. If the lottery was still around he would have bought a bunch of tickets as soon as this was over. He told the man on his left to fire on his signal, and then instructed the man to pass the message down to the next man in line. When he saw that his message had reached the end of the line he turned, raised his rifle and yelled

  “FIRE!”

  Chapter 20

  Dub was outside playing with Sarge, Toby, and Emma when suddenly Tanya came running from around the house yelling for him. When she finally got to him she was breathing heavy,

  “Dub, I picked up someone on the radio! He said his name is Jim Andrews and that he has spoken with you once before.” she said in between gasps of air. He quickly stood up and said.

  “Will you keep an eye on these two while I go talk to him?”

  “No problem, I got them,” Tanya replied. Dub took off toward the bunker with Sarge right on his heels. Sarge had been hanging out with Dub a lot more since Clay was gone all of the time these days. He helped Sarge down into the bunker and quickly made his way over to the radio mic.

  “Dub here,” he said into the mic.

  “Finally! I’ve been calling for you on this damn radio for two days now.” Jim replied. “So what can I do for you, Captain?” said Dub.

  “Well, I’ve got a bit of news to relay to you about the state of the country and what our jackass president is doing.” Dub hit the record button and sighed.

  This can’t be good, he said to himself. He leaned forward and pushed the transmit button on his mic.

  “I’ll be honest with you Jim, I don’t like the sound of this at all.”

  “You shouldn’t. Nothing I’m about to tell you is good news, so just allow me to get it all out before you start asking questions.”

  “Sure thing Cap.” Dub said, as he leaned back in the chair and started scratching behind Sarge’s ears.

  “Okay, so about a week ago we got a private transmission from the White House, which is still fully operational somehow. Anyway, we got a private transmission and it was from President Sharp. He said that he was contacting all the active bases and telling us all the exact same thing. He said that the country is now under martial law, and anyone that owns any kind of firearm are ordered to surrender them to their local sheriff’s department. Anyone caught possessing a firearm after the grace period will be detained or shot if you’re deemed a threat. After the grace period, which ends tonight at midnight, we are supposed to start sending out teams to go through every home in our local area and confiscate any and all guns we find. If we find anyone that refuses to allow the soldiers entry, they are to do whatever they have to do in order to get into the home and confiscate people's weapons, even if they aren't trying to cause the soldiers any harm. If the person is trying to defend their rights, we were told to kill the person and burn the house to the ground.

  If you are a farmer and you have a surplus of crops stored away, or if you just have a garden you are basically the government’s property, and you’re supposed to report any and all foods to your local sheriff, then a team of soldiers will come by and take almost all of your supply. They are only going to leave enough for the farmers to live on, and that’s only so that they can continue to produce more crops. If you’re just a regular joe, you have a choice of going to the FEMA camps and working for your food, or staying out here and starving.

  We are not to help anyone outside of the camp. Farmers are the only people that are supposed to continue living outside of the camp. He said that he has called on the UN to send troops here to assist with the gun round-up.” Dub was about to explode with anger, but Sarge noticed this and nudged his head under Dub’s’ arm trying to help calm him down. Jim continued.

  “I’m sorry to say that the America that I signed up to defend is just a shell of her former self. We here at the base have decided that we will not be part of this. When our general tried to force us all to follow these demands we removed his rank and tossed his ass in the hoosegow. We are currently sifting through each person here to weed out the ones that are loyal to the general. We put them in with the general when we figure them out. We’ve locked down our armory so no one can access it outside of this base.”

  “That is certainly not what I was expecting to hear. I am going to need a little while to think all this through and relay the info to my people.” Dub sighed.

  “No worries. We still have to get ahold of the few other camps and bases that are with us and tell them all what I just told you. There is going to be a lot of changes going on and possibly a split of the country itself. We have proof that President Sharp is part of the reason that this happened. He will be prosecuted and executed for treason if we ever get our hands on him. Anyway, my entire reason for bothering you was obviously to tell you everything, but also to make sure that we have your group as an ally. We may have troops in your area at some point and they will need help getting supplies from time to time. Can we depend on you and your group to help us?” Dub sucked in a long breath and held it for a three count before answering the Captain.

  “Captain, I am sorry but I cannot answer that right now. We have too many members of our militia for me to be calling the shots for every single person. Can you give us until this time tomorrow to talk about it?” Dub asked.

  “Certainly. We are in a hurry to gain allies, but we still have a few more groups and bases to talk to so that won’t be a problem.”

  “Ok good, I will talk to the others when they get back from the FEMA raid.” Jim cut Dub off before he could continue.

  “FEMA raid? What in the world are you talking about?”

  “Oh, I forgot to mention that I guess. Ok, so a lot of what you were saying about the soldiers taking peoples guns and food is already happening all over here. These small groups of soldiers keep setting up these camps at the schools around here, and then they imprison the people that live close by. We have taken out two of the camps as of today.” Dub replied.

  “Ok, well I certainly didn’t know about that. I’m going to have a talk with our higher-ups here and see if we can get you folks some more weapons and ammunition out there to continue fighting these bastards!”

  “Did a bunch of the stuff there get destroyed in the initial attack? Dub asked. Static filled the speaker and Dub waited for what seemed like forever until Jim came back on the line.

  “Sorry about that
, we had a drone flying over the base. They can triangulate the signal and find exactly where you’re broadcasting from. Once they find you they will most likely send out a hit team to shut you down and take you out so don't be surprised if you see a drone in your area in the next few hours. Back to your question, no we didn’t lose anything at all. All of our electronic stuff is housed inside steel buildings which act as a giant Faraday cage. We still have working planes, jets, and choppers with plenty of fuel for each. That's why the president wants this place so bad. We are self-sustained on this base with many, many resources at our disposal. How do you think we were going to get all the weapons and ammo to you?” Jim asked with a chuckle.

  “Honestly, I just thought you were yanking my chain. I did not think you would actually send us anything.” Dub replied.

  “Well, that's where you are wrong my friend. We take care of our own! We will be sending a few choppers full of weapons, ammunition, tactical gear, and food for you folks. Do you have any special requests?” A large grin crept across Dub’s face as he pushed the talk button on his radio,

  “As a matter of fact there is.” Jim started to laugh,

  “I had a sneaking suspicion there would be.” Dub chuckled, and then responded.

  “Do you have any .50 cal sniper rifles with scopes for long distance?”

  “Sure do. We can afford to send you four of them, ammo and all if you need them.”

  “Shit yeah! We’ll take those for sure. We also need a few thousand rounds of 5.56 nato and a few of the full auto AR-15’s. We could use a few service pistols and ammo as well.”

  “Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll make sure to get you folks a nice care package for the work you’ve already been doing. It’ll have some nvg’s and thermal scopes in the mix too. I got you covered.” Jim stated.