Survival Rules Series (Book 3): Rules of Darkness

by Hunt, Jack

  “They’re not your family, are they?” he asked.

  She lifted her eyes and chewed without replying. He would need to probe deeper to get even a crumb. “I saw the photos, you’re not in any of them. So, who are they? Neighbors? Someone that hurt you?” When she refused to speak, he shrugged and tried to use the us vs. them approach. It was an old-school marketing technique he’d learned when he’d taken a job in car sales. Just as people would rally behind the underdog, groups loved to stick together over the same issues. Religion, politics, the government, you name it, when you could get on the same page as someone else, they would often open up. Car sales was no different. It was — I’m not really a salesman, I’m your friend, I’ll make sure you get the best deal on this car by giving you my salesman discount. When in reality it was just a farce, a means of luring people into a false sense of security. The deal was there regardless but the customer didn’t know that. It was all about positioning yourself as being on the same team. Rubbing shoulders. Friends. Letting them in on a secret.

  Nate shook his head. “Whatever. I actually thought you were different from those out there. The mindless sheep that wander through this town like they think the law doesn’t apply to them. The ones that hurt others to get their needs met. That’s why I helped you. I figured you were a victim like me.”

  She stared at him. “Like you?” Mariah took the bait.

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “Let me guess, you were taken advantage of by someone?” He snorted. “I know I was. I trusted them and they broke that trust.” He lowered his chin and shook his head as if trying to give the impression he was reliving the moment. “That’s why I was out there. On my way over to set things straight but I spotted you and…” he trailed off. “Look, for what it’s worth. Whatever reason you have for tying me up I expect it’s a good one. I can’t say I understand but I want you to know that I don’t hold it against you.”

  Her brow furrowed as if she was looking for a crack in his façade. Of course that’s what it was. He had every intention of putting her two feet underground when he got out but first he needed to earn her trust. “You think I can get some of that fruit now? I’m kind of hungry.”

  Reluctant to repeat the same scenario she sat there staring at him until Nate tried to lean forward and reach the plate. A feat that if achieved would have been quite remarkable being as he could hardly move a muscle.

  Mariah set her fork down and made her way over. She picked up his fork and without saying a word stabbed some of the fruit in front of him. A final moment of hesitation before she brought it to his lips and he opened, chewed and swallowed. “Wow. That’s pretty good,” he said. As if he were a child unable to feed himself, she fed him the rest of the fruit without issue. Then she gave him a sip of water and wiped his lips with a napkin. He thanked her and breathed out. The frown on her face didn’t leave. She still didn’t trust him but that would change given enough time. The question was, how long would it take? He wasn’t sure he could handle being strapped to this chair for much longer. His hands were beginning to turn a light shade of purple.

  Tyler grew anxious as twenty minutes passed without any sign of them. Bennington leaned up against a tree trying to take shelter from the steady downpour. Madison sat on a large mossy boulder, gnawing the skin on the edge of her thumb.

  “Time’s up, kid,” Bennington said. “They’re not coming.”

  Tyler shook his head, unable to accept that. “I need to see for myself.”

  “You got a death wish?”

  “He’s my brother.”

  “And he knew the risks. He can take care of himself. Now let’s go.” Bennington pushed away from the tree and cradled his rifle as he trudged off leaving them behind. Tyler looked at Madison and could tell from her expression she wasn’t comfortable leaving without first knowing what had happened. He was done trying to convince Bennington.

  “You coming?” Bennington asked.

  Tyler gave one shake of his head. He extended a hand to Madison and she crossed the forest clearing and took it. “Go on without us,” Tyler said before turning to head north.

  Bennington sighed. “Stubborn asshole. Just like your brother.”

  Not far from Tyler’s location, the four of them sat in waterlogged soil with their hands tied behind their back. Corey was cold, wet and miserable. He didn’t need to see Thomas to know how this would end. However, his mind wasn’t on whether he lived or died but only on Tyler and Bennington. All he could hope for was they were as far away from there as possible. A slew of ATVs swerved nearby filling the air with the smell of gas and kicking up dirt. “Thomas,” Jude said approaching him. The one-eyed man dismounted and glanced at them. “It’s all under control.”

  Without saying a word, Thomas motioned with a gesture of his head for his people to take Corey and the other three. Jude immediately intervened blocking their way. A few of his own backed him up.

  “Step aside, Jude, this is between us and them,” Thomas said in a controlled voice as though he was in the habit of being obeyed.

  “You have my word it will be handled, but not here or by you.”

  Thomas’ brow furrowed as he got closer to him. “They killed nine of ours.”

  “And there will be punishment for such an act but we are taking them with us. I have unfinished business that requires them alive.”

  Thomas smiled and stepped closer. “Do I have to remind you how this works?”

  “They are coming with us,” Jude said in a firm tone.

  Thomas smiled, turned and walked among the twenty-odd people that had come with him. “Convenient.” He breathed in deeply. “These men show up and kill our people, stow away in your trailers and you want to be the one to take them and dish out justice?”

  Jude didn’t respond.

  “If I’m not mistaken, I almost get the impression that perhaps you were behind this attack.”

  “Us? You’re out of your goddamn mind.”

  “Am I?” he sneered, snapping back. “Then tell me this. If you knew this raid on our camp was to occur, then why did you wait until our people were dead? Unless of course you hoped to benefit from this.”

  Jude looked back at him in disbelief. “Why would I do that when we are days away from the merger?”

  “Perhaps you changed your mind and wanted to be at the helm of this ship.” Thomas said, giving him a steely look before walking over to the trailers and rifling through boxes. He removed one of the cartridge reloaders.

  Jude chuckled. “You have no clue. Trust me when I say that we are doing you a favor, not the other way around. You don’t see the bigger picture.”

  “Don’t I? You are doing us a favor? You are nothing but a face in an ocean of people who can deliver what you have traded.” He waved him out of the way. “Now step down or we will take you with them.”

  “I’d like to see that,” Jude said. In an instant, rifles were raised on both sides. The sound of guns cocking could be heard, and everyone yelling at each other. The tension could be cut with a knife.

  “Enough!” Thomas bellowed raising a hand. Silence fell upon them, except for the pitter-patter of rain striking clothes, trailer tarps and the earth. Thomas eyed Jude with a look of disgust. Jude was unmoved by the show of force.

  Corey had to admit it was a ballsy move. But it raised a question. What was the unfinished business? And what was Jude’s bigger picture?

  “I don’t see what interest Morning Star has in you but be assured of this. What has occurred here today will be made known. How that will affect the merger will be determined. Mark my words,” he said shaking his finger at Jude. “This is far from over.”

  Thomas raised a hand and at a simple click of his fingers his people fired up their engines. Thomas returned to his ATV, casting a stern glance back one final time before he spun his tires, leaving them in the wake of tension. Jude exhaled and lowered his head for a second before turning his attention to his men.

  “Take them back.”

 
Maddox approached his father. “And Tyler?”

  “He’ll return.”

  “You know he’s out there, Father. Let me take a few men and bring him in.”

  He nodded and Maddox gestured with two fingers to eight guys to follow him. They quickly mounted their horses and galloped away heading for the tree line.

  “Unharmed. Maddox. You hear me?” Jude shouted.

  Maddox didn’t reply.

  24

  Minutes earlier, from the covering of the forest, Tyler zoomed in on the gathering of horses and ATVs surrounding Corey and the others. His heart stuck in his throat feeling helpless. Unable to hear the conversation, he could only imagine as he watched the confusing confrontation play out between two headstrong men. Jude’s men on horses lifted their weapons at the raiders while yelling ensued. For someone that was supposed to be in league with the raiders, Jude’s actions brought that into question. What the hell was going on? Was Jude coming to the defense of his brother? Or was this a battle of egos? Leadership gone awry?

  The thought of killing Thomas passed through his mind as he centered the crosshair of his carbine on his head. One squeeze of the trigger could change everything. But would it? Wouldn’t someone else just step up? And then of course, if he opened fire now, he would give away his position and bring the whole goddamn army down on him. Tyler removed his finger and kept it on the outside of the trigger guard. He panned the rifle across the faces of the team then slowed as he focused in on Allie. What had happened? Had she given them up? Turned coat? Was she working for Jude all this time? No. He didn’t get that impression, and yet despite his reluctance to accept it, his eyes told him another story.

  “Allie,” Madison said in a low voice as she caught sight of her sister. She went to step out of the tree coverage when Tyler pulled her back.

  “You will get us killed.”

  “But…”

  “No.”

  He turned back in time to see Thomas and crew pulling away and Maddox talking with his father. A few more seconds and he and eight of Jude’s men galloped away heading directly for them. A cold chill washed over him as he pulled Madison back and told her to run. They had minutes before they would be upon them. They needed to get deeper into the forest where it was so thick that horses would have a hard time getting through. There were only so many clear trails, the rest was overgrown and dense brush.

  “Go. Go!”

  The moment of hesitation was cut short as rounds lanced away from the riders tearing up the dirt nearby.

  They’d been spotted and talking wasn’t in the agenda.

  Scared and confused, Madison broke into a sprint leaping over fallen trees.

  Tyler knew they wouldn’t make it unless he held them off. Seeing Madison disappear into the forest, he turned and aimed his weapon and unloaded a single round that struck one of the eight men in the chest, knocking him off the back of the horse. One down, seven to go. It wouldn’t stop them but it would momentarily slow them. Sure enough he saw Maddox pull on the reins and yell at the others. Tyler rose from his knee and caught the eye of Maddox before he fled deep into the forest.

  His thoughts flashed to when he was younger. Another one of Andy’s survival tests. He recalled being let loose in the forest, pursued by multiple people. Tyler swallowed hard, beads of sweat forming on his brow as he ran. He was reliving the whole damn thing again. At least back then he had darkness as cover. Now it was morning, and the sun was rising high in the sky flooding the forest floor with bands of warm light. The odds were stacked against him. It would have been easy to let panic set in. Tyler purposely slowed his breathing trying to get a grip on the fear before it got the better of him. It could be both an asset and a curse, Andy would say. It didn’t take long to catch up with Madison. He found her huddled behind a mossy boulder as he leapt off the top. There was little time to come up with an effective plan and these weren’t just average people he was going up against. They would have been trained by Jude, trained to be cautious and spot danger. He knew they were in deep shit. If only Bennington had stuck around.

  Rounds suddenly chewed up the trees and dirt near them. Tyler lunged forward taking Madison to the earth with him as a flurry of bullets snapped at the boulder above. “Can you fire a gun?” he asked. She pulled a face. “Of course you can.” He hesitated for a second but knew that he’d increase the odds of their survival if both of them were packing heat. He handed her his Glock and an additional magazine and wrapped both of his hands around hers as he said, “No heroics. Stay here behind cover. I’ll try and draw them away. If you get a clear shot, take it. The quicker we lower their numbers, the better.”

  She nodded. He wriggled away across the ground. He couldn’t believe it had come to this. Having looters, inmates, even psychotic religious freaks shooting at him was one thing, but not his half-brother.

  Scrambling to his feet he darted out returning fire and drawing them to the west of Madison. They’d dismounted their horses and tied them up and had fanned out throughout the forest.

  “Only one way out of here, Tyler,” Maddox said.

  “Jude approve this?” Tyler bellowed before changing position and dashing from one tree to the next. Each time he took the risk of being hit but he needed to put some distance between him and Madison. Right now they had no idea she was behind the boulder and he planned to keep it that way.

  “You should have stayed in Whitefish,” Maddox replied.

  “Come now, brother, you wouldn’t kill your own blood, would you?” Tyler shot back knowing it would rile him up. In the three weeks he’d spent in Camp Olney, Maddox had made it crystal-clear that he didn’t accept him, not as a friend, and sure as hell not as a half-brother. Tyler tore forward across the ground and pulled himself behind another large boulder. He tried to keep Madison in his line of sight to be sure that Maddox’s pals weren’t coming up on her. One tried, unaware she was there, and Tyler forced him back with a round that took off his ear.

  More bullets whizzed overhead. Pieces of wood from tree trunks shot out and rained down, a sliver catching him in the face and making him bleed a little. Tyler smeared the blood with the back of his hand.

  “We wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for your girlfriend.” Maddox laughed. “Oh, by the way, she was one hell of a good lay. When she returned to the camp she practically begged me to give it to her.”

  It was a failed attempt at getting a rise out of him.

  However, it worked for Madison.

  “You bastard!” Madison yelled appearing off to his right, unloading multiple rounds at them.

  “Madison!” Tyler yelled. “Get down.”

  She ducked, escaping the return fire. He motioned to her with an angry shake of his fist. That was all he needed. Now he had her to worry about. Tyler darted out again, trying to make his way back so he could watch her six but it failed. Rounds pushed him back to cover as bullets tore up the ground in front of him and ricocheted off rock.

  “Oh this just got better,” Maddox yelled. Tyler pressed his back against the boulder and turned his head towards Madison. She gave him a look as if to apologize for losing it. The tables had turned. Maddox’s group divided into two. Trouble was now breathing down both their necks.

  Mariah was a foster kid. That was why there weren’t any photos of her. Nate had finally managed to get her to open up to him. She’d bounced around the system and had arrived at this family’s home five months ago. That was all she’d tell him. She was tight-lipped about how they died. Any mention of the family only enraged her. He put two and two together and figured she’d done it. The question was why? Then again, did it matter? It was clear she was mentally unstable. He’d met his fair share of foster kids on the streets of Vegas, guys and girls who’d run away before the age of eighteen. Most foster homes were good, but there were always those that did it for the paycheck. Abuse was rampant and few would believe the children, especially if they had a track record of lying, running away from home and violence. Had
that been the reason?

  He couldn’t get a straight answer out of her and eventually he gave up and focused on trying to convince her to let him go.

  “If you’re worried that I’m going to tell anyone. Who would I tell? Hell, who would even care?” Nate said. “The town out there has gone to shit. Law enforcement is barely hanging on by a thread. No one gives a rat’s ass about a few people who died. Like I said, you probably had a good reason for doing what you did.”

  “I didn’t kill them,” she snapped. “They did.”

  “They?”

  She nodded. He craned his neck, anticipating clarification. Nothing.

  “Look, Mariah. I can’t help you if you won’t tell me.”

  “I don’t need your help,” she said rising from the table and disappearing out of the room. He heard her banging shit around in the kitchen. Cupboards slamming, plates smashing, a chair overturning and multiple hard thumps as if she was taking out her pent-up frustration on the fridge.

  It went quiet.

  “Then maybe you can consider letting me go?” he hollered. “You know, my fingers are tingling and going numb.” He paused. Still nothing. He continued, “What I did for you, Mariah, has to count for something? I could have walked on by.”

  She returned holding his rifle, and for a brief second, he thought this was where it would end. Staring down the barrel of his own gun. Victim of a psychotic girl he should have never helped. The irony wasn’t wasted. There was him thinking he was being lured into a trap, that somehow she was connected to the three guys that surrounded her in the street, and yet they weren’t the threat — she was.

  “Listen to me,” he said, his eyes bouncing from her face to the barrel. “I don’t care what happened here, or what you think I will say. I have seen worse. You have my word. Untie me, and you will never see me again.”