“It’s not your fault, Captain. People take for granted the fact there are decent people out there. You just got caught with the wrong group. Hell, I could have just as easily been out there with some of the crazy assholes as I am in here with you. It’s just the hand you’re dealt,” Boyd said.
White snickered. “Thanks, kid, but I don’t think the past matters much now.”
Boyd opened his mouth to speak again, but the door opening cut him off. Joe and Larry strolled in, both looking like they had something on their minds.
“White, we got more problems,” Joe said.
Captain White tossed the bloody rag on the floor. “No shit. I can’t get anything useful out of this fucker.”
Joe came around in front of White. “No, we have more enemies at the gates. If they aren’t here already, they will be soon.”
“Like what?” Boyd asked.
“Those crazy bastards from Bishop are on their way, too,” Larry said.
Boyd’s face lit up. “Those crazy religious nutjobs? They follow that preacher. What’s his name? Wright or Rife or something like that?”
“Yeah. Cornbread and Jamie were out booby-trapping the roads on the north end of town when they ran up on two of ‘em. One got away, but they are bringing the other one here. We are now officially cut off on all three sides,” Joe said.
“Shit. So what’s the plan, Captain America?” Larry asked White, turning towards him.
White cocked an eyebrow. “Fuck if I know. Why you asking me for?” White pointed back and forth to Joe and Larry. “It’s your town, boys. I just live here.”
“Which way will Wyatt be coming? If he’s moving up from Alabama, there is an entirely likely possibility that he will be coming from the south side of town. Right?” Joe asked.
White nodded. “Yeah, the general was always a fan of the path of least resistance. Seeing as how he’s apparently got a boner for you, I’d say that he will drive it right up the middle.”
“Good,” Joe said.
“Good?” Larry asked.
Joe motioned for Larry to hand him the map of the area. Larry obliged and spread the map out on the table. Joe ran his finger to the route that Wyatt would be arriving.
“Wyatt comes from the south. The assholes from Bishop come from the north. The horde is coming from the east…” Joe started.
“Yeah, which leaves us going west,” Captain White said.
Larry shook his head. “Nope. The road that goes west also is the most direct route south. In order for that to work, we’d have to get to Richlands before the road splits and goes due west. That’s nearly twenty miles with nowhere else to go.”
“Fact of the matter is that we need a force multiplier. We don’t have enough people, guns, or any kind of armored vehicles to use. The LMTVs are going to be used for the second part of my plan, but we’ll get to that in a minute. The biggest issue we have is two human enemies. The undead will go where we want, right?” Joe said.
Nodding from everyone in the room.
Joe grinned. “Good. Then we need some volunteers to go get them.”
CHAPTER 11
Cornbread dragged the dirty, mangy Follower from the back of the Ram. While he hadn’t regained consciousness just yet, he was starting to come around. The man moaned as Cornbread and Jamie removed him from the truck. Balboa, Rick, and Reggie watched as they sat the man down outside the jail.
“Joe and Larry in there?” Jamie asked, nodding to the jail.
“Yeah. Him, Larry, and Captain White are going over some things,” Balboa answered.
Rick stepped forward to the filthy man and pointed. “Who the hell is he?”
Before Jamie or Cornbread could answer, the man leaped forward, pinning Rick to the ground. Jamie grabbed the man by the head, putting him in a sleeper hold. He yanked back and rolled over, pinning the man to the ground, face first. The more he struggled, the harder Jamie wrenched down on his neck.
“You have no right to this place! We will take what is ours! God Almighty will destroy the sinners and give the land back to the worthy!” the man choked out.
“I don’t fucking think so, asshole! Where is your asshole leader? I’m gonna choke the shit out of him, too!” Jamie said, grunting.
The man slowly lost consciousness once again and fell limp. Jamie let go of his sleeper hold from the man and stood up. Rick, who was still sitting on the ground, got up and kicked the man square in the head. While the move didn’t elicit a response from the man, it did from Cornbread. He shoved Rick back. The big man was no match for Joe’s son, and Rick tumbled back on his ass.
“What the hell was that for?” Rick yelled, quickly getting to his feet, his face turning red. Reggie and Balboa both held the young man back.
Cornbread pointed a finger. “Don’t kill him! We need more information from him!”
“He was trying to kill me! I’d say he’s earned that, don’t you?” Rick yelled.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” Joe said, storming out of the jail. Larry, Captain White, and Boyd were on his heels.
“Nothin’… Just pissed off,” Rick said. Balboa and Reggie let go of him, trying to direct him away from the man on the ground.
“You get anything useful out of him?” Joe said, pointing to the man on the ground.
“More or less. Sounds like that crazy preacher from Bishop is planning to take this place over. Homeboy here said they were taking over. My guess is they were like our friend upstairs. Some kind of scouting party or something,” Cornbread said.
Joe stepped forward. His dirty, tired, and aged-beyond-their-years cohorts stared back at him. Could he pull off saving the town with such a ragtag group of good ol’ boys? All the pieces were there, he just had to figure out how they fit together. While they may not have had the most scholarly group, they were tried and tested survivors, every one of them. The word can’t was not in their vocabulary. Joe took a deep breath.
“All right, boys. Here’s the deal. We have human enemies coming from the north and south. We have the horde from the east. Normally, that would leave going west as our best option, but Route 460 goes south for twenty miles before turning west towards Kentucky. We have nowhere to go and not enough ammo or explosives to make a dent big enough to escape. They are going to be on top of us before we know it, probably in the next few hours. Larry and I have a plan, so I need everyone to be on point. I don’t know if we can save the town, but we can save the people in it,” Joe said. He held out his hand, palm down. “I need you guys in on this. The people in town depend on us to protect them. I need every one of you to help. I can’t do it without you.”
Larry patted Joe on the back and held his hand out. Jamie, Cornbread, Rick, Captain White, Reggie, and Boyd held their hands in as well. Joe looked each one in the eyes.
“Now, we got work to do. First off…”
“Joe! Larry! We got comms with ZBRA! Get down here!” Curtis yelled across the radio, the pitch of his voice rising as he did.
Joe smiled and grabbed his radio. “Hot damn! Where are they from?”
“Not sure. Kody and Keith are trying to secure the antenna and get us a better signal. I think they said something about North Carolina, but I can’t be sure. I know we had some units down that way, but I can’t remember if they’re still in operation. Get down here and talk to them and see what we can do…hang on…”
“What is it?” Joe asked.
“Signal is coming in much better now. Sounds like they’re operating out of Fort Bragg. Also sounds like we need to get them here most fucking ricky-tick.”
“Damn right we do. Get them to send whatever they can as fast as they can, preferably a Chinook. We can load up everyone in one of those,” Joe answered.
“Will do. Soon as I get confirmation from them, I’ll let you know,” Curtis said.
Joe’s eyes lit up. “Thank God!” He looked around to the men who had lived their lives with him. The men who had taken care of him from the day the world started to
go to shit. They were his brothers, his family. They had to leave the home they had worked so hard to build; the life they had so desperately tried to keep.
“Get everyone together. Tell them the truth. Tell them that if they stay here, they will die. We might come back one day, but we have to leave. Get everyone to the hospital and hide. That’s the only place we can land a chopper that size,” Joe said.
“What about Wyatt and the crazy preacher?” Captain White asked.
“Fuck ‘em. Hopefully, we can get everyone loaded and gone before they get here,” Joe said.
“I think we should go ahead and…” Larry started. Before he could say anything, the rest of the group felt what he felt. Starting as a low hum, the noise rolled slowly through the mountains, echoing off the hillsides. Larry slowly walked forward, craning his head and trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. The men collectively turned towards the sound as it grew louder and louder.
“What the fuck is that? Is that the horde?” Rick asked, straining to hear.
Joe’s heart thumped, his adrenaline beginning to kick into high gear. He swallowed hard. “No…that’s coming from the west, towards Richlands…”
“Oh God…” Jamie said.
An impossibly loud boom echoed through the valley. Joe jumped, startled by the massive blast. A split second later, a whistling scream passed over their heads. It was a sound that Joe hadn’t heard in a long time, but one he immediately recognized. It was the sound of a 105mm round piercing the air above them. Another moment later, the round hit home nearly four miles away. The 105mm round could hit a target from nearly seven miles away, a fact not lost on Joe as he ducked down.
“Christ on rubber crutches! What the fuck was that?” Cornbread blurted out.
“That’s a one-oh-five mike mike round travelling out of an M1 Abrams tank,” Captain White said matter-of-factly.
“Joe! Joe! ZBRA base in Carolina says a forty-minute ETA! What the hell was that sound?” Curtis yelled across the radio.
Joe gritted his teeth. Just like the last time he’d run into Andrew Wyatt, there was little time to reflect on his current situation. Nearly a decade ago, Joe stood with his friends in the wind and rain of a hurricane while Lieutenant Andrew Wyatt attacked and killed some of his friends. Just like that day, air support was coming, but it was far off. The end of the road was cresting the horizon, and the next forty minutes was going to decide whether he would be able to weather the figurative storm bearing down on him.
“We don’t have forty minutes, Curtis. Tell ZBRA to haul ass, we have a hostile enemy at the gates,” Joe answered.
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah, Curtis. He’s here.”
CHAPTER 12
Thinking quickly, Joe spun around and addressed his group. “Jamie, take your Barrett and get a sniper position. On top of the chow hall will give you the best line of sight, I think.”
Jamie nodded and started making his way across town.
“Balboa, you, Reggie and Boyd start getting people out of town and get into the hospital. It’s out of sight, so you should be able to get everyone there without being seen. Grab that new girl, what’s her name? Laura. Get her to help you with the new gate and get everyone out of town.”
Balboa, Reggie, and Boyd took off in the direction of the chow hall. The thought suddenly hit Joe like a freight train.
“Get Angel and get her to the hospital, too! Tell her I will find her!” Joe yelled as the three men took off. Balboa threw a thumbs up as he ran off.
Larry looked to Joe. “Paige and the kids know where to go. Something tells me I might not get to see them again. Tell me that we are doing the right thing, Joe.”
“Fuck if I know, Larry. Let’s make sure what we’re dealing with here is what we think it is. Time to make the introductions.”
Larry took a deep breath and looked towards where the tank’s shot had come from. “Plus side is that he’s away from the hospital. They should be able to get everyone inside without being seen.”
“Small miracles, buddy. Come on. Time to save the fucking day once again,” Joe said.
Larry nodded, and then proceeded towards the increasingly louder rumble. Larry couldn’t help but think about his wife and boys. For the last decade, they’d made a life for themselves. It was a simple life, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. They had food, they had security, and they had a roof over their heads. All things considered, he couldn’t ask for much more. Maybe if he could see his boys just one more time. The imminent battle laser-sharpened his focus. He wasn’t about to give up, not by a fucking long shot.
Joe trotted behind his longtime friend, with much the same focus on his mind. Throughout the friends, family, and companions that he’d lost, he managed to stay positive. He sometimes felt like he’d fooled himself into thinking everything would be all right.
Then there was Andrew Wyatt.
Like a cancer in remission, he’d always wondered when the psychotic Marine would resurface. The last ten years seemed like they never happened. He felt like was once again racing towards danger, trying to outlast something that was simply unshakeable. He felt like he was back in Monroeville, Alabama again. He was running for his life, trying to get away from the storm, but at the same time, trying to escape the path of a madman.
“Joe, I know it ain’t the best time, but our other guests have arrived,” Cornbread said across the radio.
“Which ones? The horde?” Joe said exasperatedly.
“Ah…no. Father Rife and his nutjobs are coming down Route 16 right now. They look about a hundred or so strong. And they don’t look like they’re here to make friends.”
“Stall them! Do whatever you can to keep them from getting into town! Did you get the Claymores up?” Joe asked.
“Goddamn right I did. I’ll do what I can.” On the other end of the radio, Cornbread smiled. He watched as the group of angry hillbillies slowly paraded in front of him. He held the M57 clacker in his hand, the device getting a little slippery from sweat.
Just a little bit closer…
* * *
Keith and Kody had done all they could for Curtis. The antenna was secure, the signal was strong, but help was a long way off no matter how many ways they sliced it. The next forty minutes would determine whether the town would die pitilessly or simply relocate a little further south. Only time would tell. It would creep by, mercilessly ticking away one second at a time. Both men knew they had jobs to do, but were both far out of their element.
Kody stuck his head back in the door of the commo building. The massive boom was still echoing through the mountains as he spoke to Curtis.
“Jesus, Curtis. What are we going to do?” Kody asked, his voice cracking slightly.
“Joe has Wyatt at the front gates and I just heard Cornbread say that Rife and his crazy-assed followers are coming up Route 16. You could go help evacuating people to the hospital. Joe said that’s where everyone is hiding out until air support gets here,” Curtis said, turning around in the chair. Beads of sweat were popping up on his brow. He knew what was coming. Since the day that he’d run upon Joe and his small group, Curtis had always felt welcome around Joe and his people. From Alabama hurricanes to West Virginia snowstorms, he’d been through it all with Joe. Never a day went by that he wasn’t grateful for running into Joe when he did. He might have made a good run at things in Monroeville, but it was highly unlikely. Curtis knew what Wyatt was capable of it as well. After beating the shit out of his people, he’d left one nearly dead and kidnapped another, all in the name of trying to find something that they had no idea about. Wyatt had flipped a switch once he’d arrived on the mainland and away from the tethers of a chain of command, and Curtis had seen it firsthand. Curtis was no stranger to the ways of the United States military; he was a second-generation soldier himself.
Curtis’ mind flashed back for a moment to his parents. He never tried to reach them once he was aboard the USNS Mercy. Maybe it would have done him some goo
d, maybe not. He already had purpose, protecting the few survivors at the airport. When Joe came along, it just seemed like he was meant to go with him. There was something about him that Curtis naturally fell in with. Joe was a born leader, even if he forgot it sometimes. The burden of responsibility was too much for him sometimes, and Curtis had witnessed it on more than one occasion. Joe never let anyone go without, no matter what the situation was. Despite his occasional misgivings, he still came back to the head of the pack, leading away and making sure shit was done.
Curtis felt useless sitting at his desk. He felt what Kody did, as if he should be doing something. ZBRA had the coordinates for Tazewell, and it was unlikely that they would be able to do anything should the mission go awry for the choppers.
Curtis stepped outside with Kody and Keith. “Front gate is taken care of, Cornbread is out keeping an eye on the crazies, why don’t we…?”
A low roar in the distance interrupted Curtis. All three men heard it, but none wanted to say what it was. They all knew. Enemy number three was at the gates, and there wasn’t a damn thing they could do about it. Once the gunfire started, and it was bound to any moment now, the horde would quickly take notice and tear the whole town down brick by brick.
“Shit,” Keith said.
“That’s a fuckin’ understatement, brother,” Curtis replied. “I guess we found where we need to go. C’mon, let’s see what damage we can do.”
CHAPTER 13
Over two dozen people were gathered at the main gate when Joe and Larry came running up. The sound of the tank combined with the warning shot over the town had drawn serious attention to the unwanted guests. Joe’s heart sank when he saw Balboa, Reggie, and Boyd trying to get the citizens to leave.
“What the fuck is going on?” said one man.
“This is bullshit! He wants those assholes! I say we give ‘em to him!” yelled another. The same man pointed to Joe as he came up. “This is all your damn fault! These military assholes never showed up until you got here! Go out there and take what’s coming to you!”
Six Feet From Hell (Book 6): End Game Page 7