by Jake Bible
"That hurt to say, didn't it?" she laughs.
"Fuck you," I reply and laugh with her.
I give her a big hug because sisters like to hug. She groans as I squeeze. I may have given her a big hug because I wanted to prove my point too. Sisters like to prove points.
"Bitch," she says as she pushes me away. "Okay, I'll take overwatch. Hey, Jack, you got any coms?"
"I do," Jack says as he starts hunting through the pile of boxes and crates. "The question is if any of them still work. Not so much the coms as the batteries needed to power them."
He finds a small box and tosses it to Audrey. She catches it easily and pops it open. Inside are a dozen earpieces and throat mics. There are also about four dozen tiny batteries tucked into a pocket.
"You'll need to check them one by one," Jack says. "We only need three, so hopefully three sets still work. Don't toss the rest. They could come in useful later and we may be able to charge them up if we reach the prison."
"When we reach the prison," I say. I say it because that's what you say when people say if. I have no fucking clue if we'll actually pull this off and reach the prison. A lot of things can go wrong between now and then.
"The sisters know we're coming?" I ask. "Or do they think you're dead?"
"I didn't blow half the farm up trying to fight, so I think they know I played possum," Audrey replies.
"That's probably true," I say.
"Okay, this gear is ready to go," Jack says. "There's a cart over there with heavy-duty rubber wheels. I use it to haul supplies from the Jeep. Haven't had to haul supplies from this cave back down to the Jeep, though, so be careful on the trail."
"You ain't gonna help?" I ask.
"I'm going to sort through my personal items," Jack says. "See what I can't leave behind."
"Okey dokey," I say. "Take your time."
"Not too much time," Audrey says as she fetches the cart.
"Give me that," I say, noticing how she strains with the cart being empty. "You head out and make sure we ain't being watched. Don't need no Doyles spoiling our surprise."
"You can't coddle me forever, El," Audrey says. "Eventually, you'll have to let me fight like a sister."
"Eventually," I say. "But hauling shit down a trail ain't fighting, is it? So go be lookout and rest your ass so you're up to snuff when we start killing Doyles. Got it?"
"Got it," she says and picks up the Barrett. "Where's the night scope?"
"In the duffel," I say.
She finds it and heads out to cover my ass while I load the Jeep.
It takes us a couple hours to get the gear loaded and strapped down. It took Jack a lot longer than I wanted for him to get his personal shit together. But I wasn't gonna bitch at him. I didn't mind hauling most of the shit down the trail to the Jeep. It was kinda nice to just do something boring. Sometimes killing and fighting gets old.
Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? Killing and fighting never gets old.
But I still didn't mind doing the hauling.
"Muffin, in," Jack says and the dog jumps into the Jeep then crawls back into a small open spot I left him with the gear.
"Want me to drive?" I ask Jack. "I can drive at night without headlights. Done it a million times."
"I got it," Jack says. He looks up at the clear night sky. So many fucking stars. "You'd be surprised how much light the night has when there aren't any city lights to mess things up. Between the stars and the moon, I can see just fine."
"Good," Audrey says. "Then let’s go. El, you take shotgun. I'll ride back with the dog and keep the Barrett ready. I can scan the area with the night scope and make sure Doyles don't try to pop out at us."
"What if they do?" Jack asks. "That rifle makes a lot of noise and noise carries. You have to break a round and Doyles will hear you for miles."
"Let's hope I don't have to break a round," Audrey says. "Keep the driving even and try to stay to as much cover as possible. I know where a lot of the Doyles are and I'll steer you away from them. But not all of them. We'll lose too much time playing hide and seek with these assholes."
"That's fair," Jack says. "Let's go."
We load ourselves in and Jack starts up the Jeep. It's loud in the quiet, but not as loud as it could have been without the sound dampening he's put on the thing. He gets us down off the ridge and out into the open. I keep my eyes peeled from the passenger's seat, an M-4 in my hands with a night scope of its own. Audrey is behind me and scanning back and forth with the Barrett.
Even Muffin's in on it, his ears perked up and eyes flitting this way and that, looking for Doyles. Or looking for jackrabbits. I don't know. I can't read dog minds.
Chapter Fifteen
The day ride in the Jeep was hot as fuck. The night ride is cold as fuck. But the Jeep has heat. Good heat and my toes are nice and toasty.
"I'm freezing my tits off," Audrey says from her spot in back.
"There should be some cold weather gear in a pack right on top," Jack says. "The winters here suck, so I have plenty of thermals and some heavy parkas. There's also shooting gloves in there."
Audrey hands me the Barrett and I hang onto it while she rummages around. She pulls out a heavy fleece coat and some gloves. It takes her a bit to get the coat on. She struggles a lot more than she should. That ain't good.
"Thanks," she says as I give her the Barrett back once she has the parka and gloves on. She takes a look around with the scope then taps Jack on the shoulder. "Slow it up. Doyles at two o'clock. It's a pair of them up by those rocks."
Jack slows the Jeep and looks at the large pile of boulders about half a mile away.
"Hard not to see us from there," Jack says. "They call us in to the farm and we'll have every gun there ready to blow us apart."
"They won't see us," Audrey says. "The ones they send out this far are stupid as shit. Desert duty is a punishment for these guys. Nobody expects you to do shit, so they're probably both asleep."
"Probably is how you get killed," Jack says. "I like certainty."
We hit a bump and the whole Jeep shakes and shudders. Audrey hisses.
"You want certainty then go back in fucking time and stop the dead from rising," Audrey snaps. I look back and she hides the look of pain on her face. "I'm fine."
"Bullshit," I say. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she snarls. "I said I'm fine."
"You tear your stitches?" I ask. "Or is there something else?"
"I'm fine, El," she says. "You watch the road and take care of yourself. I'm a big girl and got this shit handled."
"Okay," I say. I pretend to turn back to the road, but jab the barrel of my M-4 into her ribs. She hisses and jerks back.
"Dammit, Audrey," I nearly shout. "How many are broken?"
"One or two," she says. I raise my eyebrows and even in the dark she knows the look on my face. I ain't letting her lie to me. Sisters don't lie when they're hurt. Not tonight. "Okay, okay, fuck off. I have four broken ribs. But I'm good to go."
"Which side?" I ask. "Your right? The side you shoot from?"
"I am good to go," she insist.
"Dammit, Audrey," I growl. Muffin growls too. I ignore the mutt. "How the hell are you going to work overwatch if every time you shoot the Barrett your ribs come apart?"
"I can work it just fucking fine," Audrey says. "It's gonna hurt, but I have been injured way worse than this. You know that, El. You've been there. I'll do my job and no ribs are going to get in my way."
"They better not," Jack says. "Because this plan is shit to begin with. We lose you and it gets even shittier."
"I'm fucking fine," Audrey says. "Back the fuck off, both of you."
I nod and then give Jack a look. He starts to argue, but stops and nods too.
We drive.
We pass two more Doyle lookouts and I have to laugh. One of them has a campfire going. Right there in the open. A fucking campfire. I'll bet that Doyle is nice and toasty. I'll also bet he can't see shit fifteen feet from that c
ampfire. We could drive the Jeep right up on his ass and he wouldn't even know it.
Fucking Doyles.
Jack takes us way around the farm to the far side and parks it. No way we can park the Jeep where he usually does since the Doyles know all about him.
"You two will come in from here," Audrey says, drawing in the dirt with a stick. "You use the RPG to take out this watchtower on the corner first. One of their better shooters is up there. I watched him nail rattlers with some really good shots. You reload and take out the watchtower on the opposite corner. The one in the middle is manned by complete morons. They'll probably panic and shoot themselves before they even see you coming."
"I only have the one launcher," Jack says. "We're gonna lose time between reloads."
"I'll do some time-killing with the Barrett," Audrey says. "I can dial in on one of the other watchtowers away from you all. They'll think the attacks are coming from more than one direction that way."
"You sure you can handle it?" I ask. She glares at me. "Just asking."
"Well, stop," Audrey says. She draws in the dirt some more. "We're here. I'm going to head to this ridge and get set. It'll take me about five minutes. I'll call you over the com when I'm ready."
We all check the coms in our ears and the mics on our throats. We found enough working batteries for the three of us.
"Don't make a move until I am in place," Audrey says. "Five minutes to get there and maybe another thirty seconds to take out the Doyles in that spot."
"There are Doyles there?" I ask.
"There are Doyles everywhere," Jack says. "Apparently, a lot more than I knew about."
"And we're gonna stop them from making more Doyles," Audrey says. "You two clear on what needs to happen?"
"Not a hard plan," Jack says.
"Blow shit up then shoot shit after we blow shit up," I say. "If it's got tits, don't shoot it. If it does have tits then get it to help or at least follow. Get the sisters, get to the garage and the trucks, load people with tits into the trucks, drive like a motherfucker out of there."
"That's about it," Audrey says. "And don't get shot doing any of that."
"We'll try not to," Jack says. He looks over at Muffin. "You stay with the Jeep, boy. We'll be back to get you."
"Once I know you are in the trucks and getting away, I'll bust ass back here and get the Jeep," Audrey says. "Muffin will be safe with me."
"He better be," Jack says. "He's been my only friend all these years."
"Got it," Audrey says.
I go to hug her, but she winces and I just give her a thumbs up.
"I'm off," she says and hefts the Barrett. More wincing, but she deals. "Five minutes. Listen for my cue."
"Five minutes," Jack says.
She takes off running and all we can do is wait. From where we're at, we can't even see the farm. Too risky to try to get a view. If a Doyle sees us then the surprise is over and they'll probably start shooting the sisters. Just gotta wait in the rocks.
"This guy you're after," Jack says, "Kramer? Hunting him isn't just about stopping whatever he has planned, right? You and your sisters are looking to even a score."
The last part ain't no question. Jack's not stupid so I don't lie to him.
"Yeah, it's about that too," I say. "More for me than the other sisters."
"Why?" Jack asks.
So I tell him. Why not? I tell him how Kramer brainwashed Cassie and turned her against us. I tell him how Kramer set up conditioning in almost everyone's heads. I tell him how Cassie came and killed Stella then rescued Kramer. I also tell him how I tracked Cassie down and brought her back to the Stronghold so the Stanfords could stab the fuck out of her. I don't specifically say the Stronghold, but he gets the idea
"Jesus," he says. "These Stanfords sound like something else. You're telling me the two kids run the place you're from?"
"No, they don't run it," I say. "We got lots of other people that run things. Stuart and Melissa and Critter. But Critter's getting too old and I think Stuart just wants to handle security. Melissa is a good leader, but her heart hurts. She lost brothers and a daddy."
"We've all lost people we love," Jack says. "Everyone's hearts hurt."
"Yeah, but she's been tough as nails for a long time," I say. "She gets to have a vacation. Charlie and Greta are young and they are Stanfords. People expect them to step up. Charlie's got a big brain like his dad. Everyone just lets him think. Greta's got brains, too, but she's also got a will like her mom. Charlie gets tired, Greta never does. With the two of them, we got things covered for a long while."
"Sounds nice," he says. "But not nice enough for you to let us come with you?"
"Ain't our call," I say. "That's something we have to ask the others about first. We get survivors knocking at our gates all the time. Most of them we let in. Some of them we don't."
"What's your criteria?" Jack asks. "How do you decide?"
"You can tell," I say. "If it was just you showing up then we'd let you in. But we don't know anything about these ladies. They could have their brains all washed and be ready to kill us if we let them in. That's why you're going to the prison."
"I get it," Jack says and smiles. "I get the women to the prison and see who lives and who dies."
"I ain't said nothing about anyone dying," I reply. "But it'll be better if you weed out the crazies. We'll be back through to check on you. If y'all aren't dead then we'll tell you where our place is and you can decide if you want to come live with us or stay put."
"If we aren't dead," he says.
"If you aren't dead," I echo and nod. "So don't die and it'll all be good."
"Sure it will," Jack says and chuckles. "What could go wrong?"
Our coms crackle.
"Fuck me," Audrey says over the com. "That wasn't as easy as I'd hoped."
"You hurt?" I ask.
"Nothing new," she answers. "But one of the Doyles just didn't want to fucking die. I nearly had to slice his fucking head right off to get him to stop fighting. There's blood everywhere and most of it is right where I have to sit."
"Sorry," I say. I am sorry. I've had to sit in pools of blood before. It gets sticky and starts stinking fast. "You okay to keep overwatch?"
"I am," Audrey says. "You two ready to go in?"
"I think so," Jack says. "Let us know when to fire."
"You go right ahead," Audrey says. "I'm in position. Let's get this party started."
"You ready?" Jack asks me.
"I'm ready," I say.
He grabs the rocket launcher and two tubes from the Jeep then starts walking. I'm right behind him with his rifle and kit. We clear the rocks and start walking towards the farm. Lights are on everywhere which is good for us. Makes it easier to see where we're shooting and harder for them to spot us out in the darkness.
Jack pops open one of the tubes and loads a rocket into the launcher. He puts it on his shoulder and flips a couple switches. There's a high-pitched whine then lights start blinking on the sides. I hear a shout from the farm.
"Shit," I say. "Somebody is paying attention. Fire that thing."
"It's still warming up," Jack says. "Give me five seconds."
"Dammit," I say and take a knee next to him.
I get my M-4 up and take a look at the farm. I already switched out scopes since I knew the place would be all lit up and shit. No need to go blind looking through a night scope at spotlights.
"First target is staring straight at us," I say. "Audrey was right. They must have a good shooter up there if he saw the lights on the launcher."
"Ready," Jack says and pulls the trigger.
The night goes away as fire lights up a flight path from us to the first watchtower. I keep my scope on the shooter and see him start yelling and waving his hands at the other Doyles. He shoves one of them out of the watchtower just as the rocket hits. I don't think it helped the guy.
The watchtower goes up in a ball of flame then the top half just topples. It falls right over,
crushing the fencing below it and opening a huge hole for us to go through. But we ain't going through yet. Still gotta kill another watchtower.
If the Doyles don't kill us first.
Puffs of dirt explode around us and I have to yank Jack to the side so he doesn't take a slug to the chest.
"Get the other rocket!" he yells as he readies the launcher.
I reach out for the tube the rocket is in, but yank my hand back as a bullet nearly takes off my fingers.
"Audrey!" I shout into the com. "A little help!"
"I'm already on it," she responds. "But it's not just one guy. They're all firing like wild men. I don't think any of them are aiming, they're just emptying their magazines at you."
"Shit," I say.
I grab the tube and toss it at Jack as I roll onto my belly, my M-4 to my shoulder. There are so many Doyles running around that I barely have to aim. I squeeze the trigger over and over, dropping a Doyle for every two shots. I'm good, but there's a lot of distance between my M-4 and the Doyles. And like I said, they're running all over the place and won't stay still long enough so I can kill one with every shot.
Fucking Doyles.
The loud hiss of the second rocket gets my attention and I turn my head to watch it shoot towards the next watchtower.
"Come on!" Jack shouts as he grabs me and helps me up on my feet. "We finish this now!"
By the time the rocket hits the watchtower, we're halfway across the ground to the farm. I duck my head when the fireball explodes into the air, but I don't keep it ducked for long. I want to see what's the damage. The second watchtower fully explodes. Jack hit it just right and the entire thing ripples apart from bottom to top.
More fencing goes down and I can see tent flaps opening up behind the carnage. Women are running out into the dark and Doyles are torn between going for us or going after the women. They go after the women, probably because some parts of their lizard brains know that there's no reason to fight us if they lose all their ladies.
I put four Doyles down and Jack puts down six before we hit the broken and mangled fences. I jump over scorched razor wire and point my M-4 up at the center watchtower once I reach the perimeter. Three shots and two Doyles come falling down to the ground. One splats open like a melon. The other gets impaled on a jagged tube of a fence post.