Dark Days | Book 2 | Retribution

by Davis, James

  "It's the same color as the fence. No one will see it unless they're looking for it. One layer on each link." he said, moving the loose piece of fence back into place. Bear went to work applying the tape.

  Once they had finished repairing the fence. Bear reached down and wiped away a pile of leaves, revealing the lid of a coffee can. He pulled the top off, grabbed a folded paper from his pocket and dropped it in before replacing the lid and covering the can with leaves.

  "You make sure the old man's gonna take care of the women and kids?" Johnny asked, as the men trekked back into the woods.

  "It's all in the note." Bear replied with a nod.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The fence rattled slightly as Clay knelt down to feel around for the coffee can. His fingers grazed across something metal.

  “Got it!” Clay said in a soft whisper. Hank shuffled over next to him as he pulled out the note and put the lid back over the can. After brushing a handful of leaves over the can they both stood as Clay opened the note. They quickly went over the handwritten note and realized they already knew the gist of it.

  “Let’s go find Dub. We need to meet with them and explain the plan in detail so there is no confusion about each person's role.” Clay said.

  The sun was just coming up over the horizon as they walked toward the barn for breakfast. Inside, they found Dub sitting with Karen and the two kids as they ate. Karen glanced up, feeling Hank’s eyes on her and smiled weakly at him. He could tell that the constant separation like this was hard on her and Toby, but what else could he do? If Sharp realized that they were back at the farm he would surely send an army to kill them, and anyone else that happened to be standing next to them.

  “It’s only one more day.” Hank said to himself as they got in line to get their food. He pushed the thoughts from his mind and focused on the mission. Once they took the farm back, they would have plenty of time to catch up. After breakfast they headed back to the tent to go over the plan with everyone. They had to go over it several times so everyone knew what their role in the battle was.

  “Everybody got it? You all know what you have to do?” Dub asked as he looked around the room at each person. A chorus of yeahs, and yes sirs, came from the group of men before they departed. It was almost time to get to work and no one wanted to be late. Being late got you a beating in front of everyone.

  “You boys watch your asses out there. I’ll keep an eye on things here and tonight we’ll have us a big celebration after we kick the shit out of those damn blue hats.” Dub said looking from man to man. Clay nodded once and turned to leave the tent. A few seconds later, he was joined by Hank, Jeff, and Randy as they all headed for the large work trucks.

  The sun topped the horizon filling the sky in a brilliant mixture of orange, purple and blue. It was going to be a beautiful day. A damn fine day for a war. The big M35 military truck topped a hill and immediately slammed on the brakes. All of the workers were sitting down so the hard braking didn’t really affect them. The two guards standing in the back however, were launched off of their feet, slamming head first into the truck cab. Neither of them moved, and Clay jumped into action.

  “Guess we’re doing this right here. Get his rifle!” Clay said to his brother as he grabbed the other weapon from the second guard. He jerked the guard’s sidearm from his holster and tossed it and the spare mags to another man sitting across from him. Hank did the same and handed the second guard’s sidearm to a man next to him. When the truck finally slid to a stop, Clay leaned out and spotted two masked figures sprinting toward them.

  Bear and Johnny scouted the roads around the refinery until they found the perfect spot to set up the ambush. They drove down the hill and turned around to make sure they wouldn’t be spotted until it was too late. Sure enough, the dip in the road made it impossible to see anything until you were already topping the hill.

  “This is perfect.” Bear said as he got out of the truck and looked around. The area was surrounded by large trees and there wasn’t a house in either direction for miles.

  “Let’s get started then.” Johnny said as he dropped the tailgate and pulled out one of two large chainsaws. Their plan was to drop several trees in the road so that the guard driving the truck would have to slam on the brakes as soon as he topped the hill and saw that the road was impassable. Two hours later, the two men set the chainsaws in the back of the truck and took a seat to admire their handiwork.

  “Sure hope the driver is paying attention when they come up over that hill. If he hits that pile of trees, they’re all dead.” Bear said. Johnny nodded.

  “They’ll see it. No sense in worrying about it now.” The road was completely blocked with the downed trees. There was no way anyone was getting through on this road unless they got out and moved the massive trees. Bear and Johnny got back in their truck and headed back to Johnny’s town. They got everyone they would need for the ambush and loaded up extra guns and ammo before heading back to the downed trees. They had everyone duck back behind the tree and hide in the tree lines while they stood out in the open. Just as the sun was rising in the sky, they could hear the first sign of an approaching vehicle.

  “Showtime everybody! Look alive!” Bear shouted over his shoulder as he pulled down the face mask. The truck topped the hill and slammed on the brakes as soon as the driver saw the trees. Bear and Johnny watched as the two guards standing in the back of the truck went flying. They slammed into the cab of the truck and it didn’t look like either of them got back up. Bear and Johnny looked at each other and chuckled.

  “That was smooth.” Johnny said, still laughing. They started walking toward the stopped truck and they watched the two guards inside the cab shuffling around as they got closer. Once they were only fifty feet from the front of the truck the two people in the cab brought up rifles and started to lean out of the window but were stopped immediately by Clay and Hank. They had jumped out of the truck without anyone seeing them and proceeded to circle the truck until the two guards in the cab were in their sights.

  “Drop those fucking weapons!” Johnny shouted as they both moved in closer to the two guards, aiming their own rifles right at their faces. The two guards lowered their weapons slowly and then eased their hands up.

  “Now use one hand to open the door and then get out of the truck and lay face down on the ground with your arms and legs stretched out away from your body. If you try anything, I think you already know what is going to happen, don't you?” The guards didn’t answer. They just did exactly what Johnny had instructed them to do. Bear handed two sets of handcuffs to Clay and Hank and they each went to work securing the two prisoners. When they were done, they stood both men up. Bear and Johnny started eyeing the two foreign soldiers.

  “Looks like they’ll fit us. Might be a little small in the crotch for me though.” Johnny said with a chuckle, as he glanced over at Bear, who was shaking his head with a smile on his face.

  “You’re an idiot.”

  “Let’s get back to the club and get these fine folks armed. I’ve got a nice place for these two as well. We can get some answers out of them later.” Johnny said, looking right in one of the prisoner’s eyes. The man said something Johnny didn’t understand and then spit in his face. Johnny’s face turned red with anger. He wiped the disgusting wad of spit from his face, and then proceeded to beat the living shit out of the man. After a few hits, Bear grabbed him and pulled him away.

  “That’s enough! You’ll have plenty of time for that later.” Hank said as he shoved the second prisoner toward one of the trucks. After getting everyone loaded up, they headed back to the club. Bear showed Clay and Hank where all of the weapons and ammo was while Johnny and Gene took the two prisoners down into the basement of a store across the street from the Eagles Club. They tied their hands above their heads and pulled the rope taut. They were barely able to stand on their tiptoes.

  “C’mon man, just let us go please! I swear to God we will disappear and you will never hear from
or see us again!” One of the prisoners begged, his Asian accent sounding thicker and thicker as he realized how truly fucked, he was now. Bear stepped over to the man and grabbed him by the face.

  “Don’t you worry, my little Asian friend, we’re going to let you both go just as soon as we get some answers out of the two of you.” Bear pulled out a large blade and pointed it at the man.

  “You will tell us everything we want to know right?” The Asian man had a look of panic on his face when the glint from the blade shined in his face. The sound of water leaking caught Bear and Johnny's attention. They both looked around the room but didn’t see anything. Bear ignored the sound and stepped in closer to the panicked man. He started to say something, but he had stepped in a puddle or something cause his foot now felt warm and wet. He looked down and saw that the man was pissing himself and that his foot was directly under it.

  “Son of a bitch!” Bear shouted and jumped back away from the scared prisoner. Johnny started to laugh.

  “Guess you scared the piss out of him. Literally!” Bear shot daggers at Johnny and stormed out of the basement. He wasn’t about to go into a battle with a piss drenched foot and boot. Johnny continued to laugh as the puddle under the man continued to grow. All signs of panic now gone from his face and replaced with a satisfied grin. Johnny stepped up and back handed pissy pants, and then slammed his fist into the other man's nose, destroying it even further.

  “We’ll see how funny it is after we’re done killing all of your shithead buddies at the farm, and get back here to start on you.” Johnny said as he stepped over to the ropes that held them both up and inspected them closely. He had plans for these two when they got back, and they would not get away because of a loosely tied rope. Seeing that everything was nice and tight, Johnny started for the stairs. He stopped after only a few steps up and turned around to go back down. He needed to check these two for hidden knives or anything they could use to escape. A few minutes later, he was headed back up the stairs.

  Clay was busy handing out rifles and ammo to each one of the men that was in his group when Johnny walked in. Bear was sitting at a table with a bucket of soapy water washing the piss off of his foot and Johnny burst into laughter when he saw what he was up to.

  “You know he did that shit on purpose right? He started grinning about it after you left.” Johnny said. Bear sat up and started drying his foot off and then slid a new pair of socks on his feet followed by a brand-new pair of steel toes. He looked at Johnny with a steely look.

  “That’s alright. We’ll see how funny he thinks it is when we get back later. Who is going to stay here and watch those bastards?” Bear asked. Johnny shrugged.

  “No reason for anyone to watch them really. You tied them up so tight their hands were turning purple by the time I came back over here.”

  “I’d feel better if we left Gene here to watch them.”

  “Just kill the bastards and stop playing games with them.” Clay said from across the room.

  “Not yet. They have a lot of useful intel we could use I bet.” Bear replied. Clay shrugged and went back to handing out gear. When he finished, he got up and headed outside. Hank was sitting on the steps talking to Gene and having a cigarette.

  “Where the hell did you get a smoke from?” Clay said, his face full of envy. Hank nodded his head toward Gene who was digging a pack from his shirt pocket. He tossed the pack to Clay and then a lighter.

  “I got plenty to go around. I hit up every gas station in a twenty-mile radius around here one day. I have enough smokes to supply a damn army. Remind me later and I’ll get you boys a few cartons to take home with you. What's your poison?” Gene asked as Clay handed the pack and lighter back to him.

  “Camel Menthol for me, and Marlboro Blacks for him.” Clay said as he took a deep drag from the cigarette.

  “Got plenty of both. Just don’t forget to remind me before y’all go back home.” Gene replied with a nod.

  “Thanks Gene! It’s been a while since we last had a cigarette.” Hank said, flicking the butt into the street. The front door opened and Johnny walked out, followed by Bear, and the rest of the newly armed fighters.

  “Y’all about ready to go kick some blue hat ass?” Johnny asked.

  “Hell yeah!” Everyone shouted at the same time, startling Johnny.

  “Damn, I was talking to Clay and Hank, not all of you.” he said with a hearty laugh so no one thought he was being an asshole. When the laughter died down Johnny spoke again.

  “I’ll ask again, are you boys ready to go kick some ass?” He was ready for it this time.

  “Hell yeah!” They all shouted. Johnny looked out across the field at the sinking sun. He stared at the beautiful colors in the sky for a long minute. This may be the last time he got the chance.

  “Let’s go then!” He finally shouted with a wave of his arm. They all loaded up into the big M35 and several other smaller trucks. A few minutes later, they were cruising down the road, headed straight for the farm.

  Dub watched the sun sink below the horizon as he continued to harvest different crops that he had planted. Once it was completely dark, he headed for the tent where he found everyone waiting on him.

  “Alright y’all, you know what time it is. We have to do this quick, fast, and in a hurry. If any of you get caught, we’re toast.” Dub stated bluntly. He glanced around the room and saw that they were all listening intently, so he continued.

  “I only want two of you at a time to go down there. Once you’re there stay hidden and keep watch. If a guard happens to come back there to take a piss or anything, someone has to take him out before he has a chance to scream or radio in for assistance. Everyone understand?” he asked, looking from one side of the group to the other. There were only around twenty men that had to get down there but that was plenty to raise suspicion among the guards.

  “Danny, you and William go first. You two are the best shots here next to me. Once you’re out there and armed, find a spot to defend from just in case we get busted before Clay and Hank get back.” Dub added. The two men nodded and then turned to leave the tent.

  “Alright, shitbirds, you two are next.” Dub said pointing at two more men. Things were moving smoothly now and Dub prayed it would stay that way until they were done.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Danny and William made it behind the barn without any problems. They quickly found the duffel bags and began pulling guns out and laying them on the ground so the other men could get to them a lot easier than it had been for them. Danny picked up a Remington 700 and flipped it over in his hands, lifting it quickly and peering through the scope. He picked up a second nearly identical rifle and tossed it over to William. William nodded and hung the rifle over his shoulder. Each man grabbed an AR-15 and started shoving full mags into their pockets. They stepped back in and replaced the piece of fence, loosely wrapping the used tape around a few links to hold it up.

  Once the fence was back in place, each man moved to each corner of the barn to watch for enemies. It wasn't long before Danny spotted two men heading toward the barn, awkwardly attempting to appear as if they weren't together. A few yards away from the barn, one of the men suddenly stopped and dropped to his knee, pretending to tie his boot while the other continued strolling toward his destination.

  As the second of the two men rounded the corner to stand behind the barn, Danny and William handed over the AR's and spare mags then instructed the two new men to take up watch. Danny removed the few pieces of tape holding the fence up and moved it aside, allowing William to step through before following. He secured the fence once again and the men began moving through the woods.

  "This is a good spot" William said after a few moments walking.

  Danny nodded, looking around. "I got eyes on two towers, the road, and the barn."

  "Two more by the barn, watch the road, I'll cover our guys, less than an hour til it’s party time."

  Danny nodded, turning toward the road and peering th
rough the trees.

  "Shit, blue hat." William hissed, peering through his scope. He watched as a dark-haired soldier stopped two men just before they rounded the corner of the barn. He could tell the soldier was questioning the men, though he had no guess as to what they might be saying. He moved his sights onto the man's face and inched his finger toward the trigger.

  "Not yet," Danny said, "see how this goes, don't blow our cover before we have to."

  William relaxed and watched as the men behind the barn didn't move or even speak. The man closest to the corner of the barn slowly pulled a large knife from the waistband of his pants and held it at his side. William didn't know the man well, but was almost certain he could remember someone calling him Spencer. The soldier and the two prisoners appeared to be having a very heated discussion at this point.

  The soldier suddenly threw his hands up and shoved his way past the two men. As he rounded the corner of the barn, Spencer moved fast, shoving the knife to the hilt into his throat. Two men grabbed the soldier's arms and held him in place as Spencer pulled the knife out and slowly shoved it into the man's throat again. After three more stabs, the soldier's struggling stopped and the two men guided his lifeless body slowly to the ground.

  "Just you two left, give it five minutes and take off. Stay ready, it’s not gonna be long now," Dub instructed, turning to leave the tent.

  "Where are you going?" One man asked.

  "Women's tent." Dub stated "Don't want any of the women or kids gettin in the middle of all the shit that's gonna be flyin around here." Dub turned and left. He looked around, making sure the coast was clear before turning and making a beeline for the women's tent. He peeked his head inside and peered around before stepping in and closing the flap.

  "Everybody in here?" Dub asked, approaching Karen who was seated on her cot holding Emma and Toby on her lap.

  "Counted three times, everyone’s here."

  "Good, how's the youngins?" he asked, reaching out and ruffling Toby's curly hair. Toby giggled, squirming to move his head away. "And how's Miss Emma doin?" he asked, looking down at Emma and bopping her nose. Dub had grown rather fond of the two toddlers over the past several months, especially since the soldiers had moved in. He had made it his mission to keep them safe in the absence of both fathers. Emma looked up at him and smiled. He winked at the little girl.