by Hunt, Jack
Tyler had a taken a few more steps when he noticed the sound of the forest had gone very quiet. There were only a couple reasons for that, one was there was an apex predator nearby prowling for food, and the other was humans, lots of them. He brought around his AR-15 and panned the muzzle. He cast a glance over his shoulder and took a few steps back, leaving the well-worn trail and entering thick brush. He waded through lush, leafy greenery like water with only the sound of his clothes brushing against it all. He turned 360 degrees and got this sinking feeling in his gut. It was the same kind he’d get when he felt as if someone was watching him. His eyes lifted scanning the treetops and branches. That was when he spotted the figure. The lone person was well camouflaged and had it not been for experience he may have overlooked the bulky darkness between the branches, but the sun’s rays made metal glint, giving them away.
He backed up, making sure he was out of the person’s line of sight and attempting to not make it obvious that he’d seen them, when instantly he heard something snap, and then his legs went out from underneath him and he soared into the air hanging upside down. It happened so fast. His rifle clattered on the ground.
Laughter followed, female, he knew who it was.
Without wasting a second, he reached for the knife in his sheath, used the muscles in his abdomen to pull himself up and cut the rope around his ankles. His body dropped, he scooped up his rifle and rolled disappearing into brush. By the time Allie made her way down from the tree and came over to the spot, he could see the look of confusion on her face. She turned her head and scanned. A smile flickered as he watched her from behind boulders nearby. He activated the red dot scope on his rifle and a tiny red dot danced on the front of her jacket. She glanced down and her eyes closed as she lifted her open hands and smiled.
“I’ll give you props for the spring noose snare but it only works if you move your ass,” Tyler yelled coming out from behind the boulder with a grin on his face. “Now why on earth would you go to all the trouble of rigging that up?”
“Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t for you?”
He chuckled, trudging over. Tyler lowered the muzzle of his rifle. “Am I to believe you hang out here on a regular basis?” he said looking around. There was no cabin in the woods and unless she had built a treehouse, there were no signs that anyone but wildlife lived out here.
“I frequent this place often. By the way, you’re fast,” she said thumbing over her shoulder. “I expected to find you flailing around.”
He scoffed. “If you knew my father you would understand. Let’s just say it wasn’t the first time I’ve been caught in one of those. If we didn’t cut ourselves free in time, he would treat us like a piñata.”
She shifted her weight from one foot to the next, and an eyebrow shot up. “Is that your excuse?”
“Can you think of a better one?”
She flashed her pearly whites and as he got closer, she pulled back her hood and dark hair flowed down past her shoulders. The surrounding forest brought out the green in her eyes. The chemistry between them was palpable. Although they had only spoken briefly a few times since his arrival at the camp, they’d exchanged glances and unless he was reading the signals wrong, she’d been throwing some serious heat his way. He felt like he was being teased every time he was around her.
“Why have you waited this long to meet?” Tyler asked.
“Because I wanted to see if he opened up to you. Did he?”
“Jude?”
She nodded, as she turned and beckoned him to follow her.
“He told me a thing or two.”
“Obviously not everything, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, glancing at her.
Instead of answering him she shifted the conversation.
“No problem finding this place, I hope?”
He smiled at the way she dodged the question. “Am I late?” he asked in answer to her question, knowing full well he was on time. She didn’t respond so he continued. “What is this place? And why here?”
“You’re telling me you’ve never been here?”
“It’s a big place,” Tyler replied walking beside her. “Why here? Why not back at camp?” When she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he continued, “Too many prying eyes. Right. I get it. You know, you could be mistaken as being overly paranoid. Anyone told you that?”
Her lip curled. “Plenty.”
“Maybe you should listen to them.”
“That would be kind of hard. They’re all dead now,” she said without looking at him. Allie led him on through the knee-high brush. He glanced at the bow on her back. “You any good with that?” he said, tapping it.
“You any good at eating with your hands?” she replied in a sarcastic manner.
“Point taken. Who taught you?”
“Our mother.”
“Our? You have siblings?”
“One. An older sister.”
He frowned. “Have I met her?” he asked.
“No, she’s not at the camp.”
He let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “She’s not dead.” Then her smile faded as quickly as it appeared. “But she might as well be.”
Her brow furrowed as she forged ahead not wanting to discuss the matter any further. He did his best to keep up as she broke into a jog and led him deeper into the forest, over a rise, across a stream and towards O’Brien Mountain.
“Allie, where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see,” she said. “It’s easier for me to show you.”
By the time they made it to the location the sun was beginning to wane. He wasn’t sure how long it had taken to reach the area but as they came up over a rise, she jogged up to the bottom of a tall pine tree and began to climb. It was only when he followed and they made it past some of the lower branches could he see what appeared to be a camouflaged hunters’ tree stand, but instead of it being metal it was made out of planks of wood. It was like someone had begun to build a treehouse and only managed to get the floor and wraparound railing finished on it. There was a large camo netting that went over the top, and more covering the bottom so that it blended in with the foliage.
“You know, I’m really beginning to wonder about you. I feel like I’m being led around like a pup on a leash.”
“Patience,” she muttered. “You’ll see.”
She offered her hand as he climbed over the lip. As soon as he was up and brushed off pieces of tree bark, he looked around. The spot gave them a breathtaking view of the forest from above, and a clearing in the distance. “Here, look through these. This is as close as we can get without drawing attention.”
“Them?” He frowned as he brought up the binos. “What am I looking at here?”
He felt her guide them in the direction she wanted him to look. Tyler strained to see and then with a slight adjustment of the focus he saw it — a camp. Unlike Camp Olney this one looked like a summer camp site with RVs, small and large tents and cedarwood cabins. Smoke rose up from different fire pits, and he saw numerous armed men patrolling, chatting with one another or guiding in working trucks.
“What is this place?”
“That’s been the great mystery, and for a while I didn’t know until my sister was asked several times by Jude to go with him to bring wild game to a trading post.”
“Trading post?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s what the meat is exchanged for — ammo and medical supplies. They have a reloading machine for bullets. At least that’s what my sister told me before she vanished after her last trip.”
Tyler frowned. “Vanished?”
Allie pointed. “Here. Jude said that raiders attacked them on the way back and she was dead but I didn’t believe that. Not for one minute. My sister is strong. Besides, no body was returned,” Allie said. “Anyway, a few months later—”
Tyler c
ut her off. “Hold on a second. A few months later? The power has only been down for a month. Are you telling me you’ve been at that camp longer than that?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “He didn’t tell you?”
“No. I mean Jude said Camp Olney had been in existence for over twenty years but he told me it was used as a prepper retreat, a place where they could train people and so forth. Essentially that’s where Andy began teaching.”
She swallowed hard and shook her head. “I’ve been there for over a year, Tyler.”
Her response made him stare. At a loss for words, she continued. “Anyway, as I was saying. A few months later, after my sister’s disappearance, he arranged another trip with a different group.”
“And you were part of it?” Tyler assumed.
“No,” she said shaking her head. “I followed. They didn’t know I was tracking them. That’s when I saw this place, and most importantly, I saw my sister — alive.”
“What? He lied to you?”
“He’s been lying to many of us.”
“Didn’t you say something? Confront him and ask him why he lied?”
“You’ll learn fast, Tyler, that confrontations only end badly. People go missing. There’s always an explanation, like that person didn’t like the rules of the camp and took off, or they were attacked by raiders. But there’s only so many times you can hear that before you start to question it.”
Tyler nodded slowly and peered through the binos again.
“What about the others? The ones that originally went with your sister?”
“I don’t know. They might be down there too.”
“But why? Why would he lie? And what purpose would it serve by having her here instead of the other camp?”
“You’ve met Sara, Jude’s wife.”
He nodded.
“A little young, don’t you think?”
“Yeah but…”
“I know. He has an answer for it. He always has answers. The man is a modern-day Warren Jeffs, except Jude isn’t pushing religion, no, he prefers his own agenda where he presides over the people like God. But one thing he does have in common is a taste for younger women, and lots of them. I told you, he’s dangerous.”
Tyler stared back at her. Had that been what Andy meant? Did he know about this? No. It seemed too out there to think that someone could have that much control over others. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Sure, Sara was younger than Jude but in the three weeks he’d been at the camp he hadn’t seen any women around him. Neither had he witnessed women being treated badly or enslaved in any subservient manner.
“No. It doesn’t make sense, Allie.”
“Why, because he’s your father? Because he seems normal around you?”
“Perhaps he figured your sister and their group were attacked on the road.”
“Then how does that explain him sending more people back to this camp a few months later? This needs to stop right now. He’s lying to you, Tyler. He’s lying to all of us. I just don’t know exactly why. But I plan on finding out and getting my sister out. But I can’t do it alone.”
4
Town politics. Corey hated it. The military wasn’t that much different but at least the higher-ups who barked out orders had at one time been in the thick of it. They knew what it meant to bleed in the killing fields, they’d experienced the dusty back roads and ever-present sense of danger looming over their shoulder. Hudgens and the city council on the other hand were clueless — nothing more than scared suits hanging on to titles that at one time afforded them respect, admiration and power.
All of that meant very little now that civil society had gone by the wayside.
Ferris jabbed his finger at the ground. “If these men were telling the truth, perhaps we can put a dent in their operation. But we need a skilled team.”
“And what of these men? Where are they?” Hudgens asked.
“I told you, dead.”
“Right.” Hudgens was perched on the lip of a table. He pushed off the table and paced the cramped room where Corey, Hudgens, Ferris, Chief Bruce and Andy were gathered. “And again, how did that happen?”
Ferris glanced at Corey before rehashing the lie. He’d told them that the raid had been a success. They’d managed to drag out six and interrogate them for details only to lose control of the situation, and have one of the men kill some of their own before they took him and the others out. It explained away his mistake of sending those officers in too soon, and it covered his ass for executing in cold blood. Corey could have outed him but it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t like those he’d killed were innocent.
Hudgens went behind the table and tapped a pack of cigarettes in his hand. After lighting, he sat looking up as if seeking guidance from a higher power. “Take Andy’s team.”
“What?” Andy looked disturbed by the suggestion.
“You have a new batch of volunteers. Now is the time to prove their worth.”
“These are untrained individuals. The plan was to train them before…”
“Don’t speak to me about plans. I was the one that had the idea, rallied them together. They were brought in to replace those who have already died. If you think these men were speaking the truth, then this might be our one shot at putting an end to these raiders. So far they have eaten into our supplies, crippled the town’s security and made residents even more fearful. I won’t stand by and see more die. Arm your group and take them with you.”
“You don’t get it,” Andy said leaning forward and eyeing Hudgens. “It takes more than arming people to go up against trained militants.”
“Trained militants? These raiders are nothing more than opportunists who have made a mockery of us.” He got up from his seat and came around and got really close to Andy as if challenging him. “Unless of course you know something we don’t?”
There was a pause as all eyes fell on Corey’s father.
Andy’s brow furrowed. “Have it your way. But their blood will be on your hands.”
“How dare you. How dare you!” Hudgens bellowed in his face. “You think you can run this town any better than me? I have been at the helm of this ship for over six years.”
“And yet you have never dealt with this,” Andy shot back.
“Nor have you.” He looked at him smugly. “None of us have. You might have taught workshops on prepping but what you know in here,” he said reaching up and tapping the side of Andy’s head, “it’s of no value if it’s never been tested. That kid you went at yesterday. He was right. Knowledge means very little if you haven’t had the experience. If anyone is capable of leading this shit show, it would be your son,” he said glancing at Corey. Andy’s eyebrows shot up as did Corey’s along with his hands.
“Hey, woah, I served time overseas, that’s a hell of a lot different than this.”
“I think you underestimate yourself,” Hudgens said walking away from Andy and approaching Corey. “You are your father except unlike your father you have known the heat of battle, fought in the hardest of places and gone up against armed militants. It’s for these reasons I want to know what you think?”
“Hold on a goddamn minute,” Andy said. “You put me in charge of…”
Hudgens brought up a hand. “Training. That’s right. I put you in charge of training, not leading men.” He turned back to Corey. “So? What are your thoughts?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Andy said casting a glance at the chief who simply shrugged. Ferris lowered his chin. “Really? Do I have to remind you that my son nearly died at the hospital? But who bailed him out? That’s right, I did.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Hudgens said keeping his eyes fixed on Corey. “You put an end to the previous threat. So, what do you make of this one?”
“Look, man, the chief wanted me to help. I’m here to do that but I’m not stepping on anyone’s shoes.” He cast a glance at his father. He knew he wanted this. He wanted to show them what he was worth. Prove himself and c
ome out the other side with the respect of the town.
“I determine that. My shoes are clean. Chief?”
“No problem here.”
“Ferris?”
“I’m just along for the ride,” he said in a glum way, as if secretly he expected to be asked to lead after obtaining the intel.
To avoid an argument, Corey spoke up in his father’s defense. “My dad is right. These people aren’t ready for this. You would be sending them to their slaughter. Putting a gun in untrained hands only makes the situation more dangerous. I need to time to gather a group together.”
“As much as I respect your input,” Hudgens said, “time is something we are short on around here. Isn’t there anything you can use this group for?”
“Target practice,” Andy piped up sarcastically.
Hudgens glared at him and returned to looking at Corey. However, that gave Corey an idea. “They could be a distraction.”
“A distraction?”
“In Fallujah we received intel on a gathering of insurgents on the outskirts. Time was of the essence. If we didn’t move in right then we’d lose a high-value target. The problem was, there were only four of us in the area at the time. A fire team.” He breathed in deeply, reliving it in his mind. “Iraqi civilians were fleeing the city at the time. Large groups were moving out to camps set up by the government and the UN because many were targeted by ISIL gunmen.”
“Your point?”
He dipped his head, not proud of what they’d done. “We redirected a group, covered ourselves in Iraqi clothing and joined them.” He paused and closed his eyes for a second. “We sent them through the area where the insurgents were located. It was the only way we could get close. As soon as we were within distance, we broke away and took up position in this building that overlooked the store they were meeting in. The group drew attention, allowing the four of us to take them out.”
Hudgens got this broad smile. “So it worked. I told you this kid knew what he was doing.”
“It worked but they all died. Caught up in the crossfire.”
“But you achieved your mission, yes?”
“Of course, but at what cost?”