Nightwalker 5

by Frank Roderus

  “That much game is in the Hot Zones? I heard it’ll melt your face off out there.”

  Wolfe laughed.

  “My eyes were hurt in the wilds, but we still have our faces. Buddy eats well enough, but still loves a good sandwich.”

  “How long you been out in the Hot Zone?”

  “Three years,” Wolfe answered honestly. Jennifer finished, and Wolfe stuffed the two canteens back into his pack, cinched it tight, and nodded to the man behind the counter. “A pleasure.”

  “I’d like to hear more,” the man said.

  Wolfe wondered how much longer the man would try to keep them there. He felt like he was stalling. He had no interest in learning the man’s name. He only wanted to leave.

  “We need to go. Thank you.”

  Wolfe ignored the man’s protests while Jennifer called to the dog, who vaulted halfway across the room to join the pair walking out the front door. Wolfe glanced through the front window before opening the door. Bessie was reaching for the handle.

  Chapter Four

  Wolfe stepped back, pulling Jennifer with him. Bessie opened the door and walked into Buddy, who was ready to be outside. He was okay with being indoors, but he preferred being outside. He sniffed her while wagging his tail vigorously.

  “Aren’t you going to stay?” the older woman asked. It was not really a question, more of a statement. She remained in the doorway, blocking their exit. The impasse continued since Wolfe didn’t want to hurt her. He kept glancing out the window, looking for a truck filled with FEDCOM soldiers to come after them. “What are you looking for?”

  Wolfe didn’t answer.

  “You think I turned you in to the Feds?”

  Wolfe figured he’d better speak if he wanted a chance out of this mess before he was forced to start hurting people. “What would you turn us in for? We are traveling through on our way home. It is finally safe enough that a man and his daughter can keep from getting killed. It wasn’t always that way.”

  “It’s the opposite, Mister. You need us to protect you from the Feds. There are two worlds here…”

  “Hey!” the man behind the counter protested. He pounded his fist next to the can of beans that remained where Wolfe had put it.

  “Hush yourself, Gemini. I know a warrior when I see one, and this one ain’t too fond of FEDCOM.”

  “He’s hidin’ a rifle in his pack,” the man called Gemini offered. Wolfe looked back and forth between the two. He pulled Jennifer close in case he needed to pick her up and carry her while they made a break for freedom.

  “I told you I could tell. I figured that.” She waved her hand at Gemini to be quiet.

  “I’m not a soldier. Far from it. I don’t want to fight. I just want to get back home to my family. I’d take it as a kindness if you let me go.”

  Her expression softened as she held up her hands. “I think you have the wrong impression of me. By telling you what I’m about to tell you, I’m risking my life, but I’m a good judge of character, and you are the kind of man we need on our side. Desperately.”

  Wolfe stopped her with a single hard look. “Then maybe you should not tell us anything and let us go on our way. We want to leave in peace.”

  Bessie ignored him and started to talk. “We have an underground movement to free ourselves from the hellspawn called FEDCOM. Their soldiers are devils. No woman is safe. Families are an inconvenience. They are the masters, and we are the servants. They live well, and we survive.

  Wolfe looked back at the can of beans on the counter. A sandwich, the man’s only meal. Wolfe started to reconsider but caught himself. “I’m not a soldier.”

  “You are more of a soldier than anyone we have. I’m not. Gemini there isn’t. The other hundred members aren’t.”

  “You have one hundred members and have not yet been found out?” Wolfe shook his head. “FEDCOM has eyes and ears everywhere. Snitches. Turncoats. The refuse humanity has thrown away is given a uniform and power. I cannot tell you how much I have grown to despise those criminals and thugs who order people around worse than cattle.”

  Bessie finally moved away from the door. She was a good judge of character, since that was the point when Wolfe and Jennifer had decided not to flee. They would hear her out.

  “We lost a bunch in the beginning. Taken away in the middle of the night at first. They were never afraid, but at least they tried to make believe they were the good guys. They turned to taking people in the middle of the day, made examples of ‘em. It drove us farther underground, but we grew. With each abuse, we added members. With you, we can turn the tide, take them in the middle of the night. You see just fine in the dark, don’t you, Mister Wolfe?”

  Wolfe winced and Jennifer gripped his hand more tightly.

  Bessie pulled a piece of paper from a pouch in her apron. It was the wanted poster with Wolfe’s likeness, complete with the welding goggles.

  “Dying your hair can only go so far. FEDCOM ain’t stupid.”

  “I can’t go without the goggles. Not in the daytime.”

  “I figured,” Bessie replied. “We are about to own the night, thanks to you. It’s time to strike back for all the decent people.”

  “I’m not a soldier,” Wolfe repeated weakly.

  “You’re the best soldier we got, Mister Wolfe.”

  “You can call me Jim. This is Jennifer, and the shaggy beast is Buddy. Before we go any further, we need to get a few things straight…”

  Chapter Five

  The back office of the boardinghouse was kept in good order. Bessie probably would not have it any other way. It was the office, but also the kitchen. Meals did not come with boarding unless you were James Wolfe and Jennifer. Then you were someone to be wined and dined.

  Even if you weren’t a soldier.

  Wolfe reluctantly joined Bessie in her conversation about the underground by listening to what she had to say. Gemini stayed out front where he could keep watch.

  The first thing Bessie did was show Jim and Jennifer the secret way out.

  “Under this rug is a trap door.” She pulled the rug aside, then unlatched a recessed ring and pulled. The door opened to show steps heading into the darkness. He cupped his hands around his face and pulled his welding goggles free. There was a landing at the bottom. To the left was the basement, positioned under the main house. To the right was a passage leading away. “Take that passage and you’ll end up on the other side of the garage next door. It looks like a fruit cellar entrance, but the two are connected. You’ll be able to escape if you have to.”

  “Thank you kindly,” Jennifer said. Whenever she injected herself into a conversation, it was to draw attention from Wolfe. She knew how adults could easily be distracted. It was almost uncanny, and Wolfe silently thanked her for it.

  He put his goggles back in place and helped Bessie put the door down and the rug over the top. They took seats at the kitchen table and the older woman started.

  “We had to do something. After the bombs, FEDCOM moved in, almost as if they were part of a plan to reshape the States. It was quick and coordinated, but we wanted to feel safe. They did that for us until they became the predators. There is no threat of invasion. We can start turning things back to the way they were. This town could take care of itself if they would only let us.”

  “Where did you get that flyer?” Wolfe asked, looking to find out how much the Feds knew about him.

  “They had it on the wall in the post office. That was where I was going when I ran into you three.” She studied her reflection in the welding goggles, imagining that Wolfe was looking at her just as keenly. “I thought it was best if no one else had a picture of you for when you’re walking around.”

  “Much obliged,” Wolfe offered. He did not care for FEDCOM in the least. Maybe the conditions were right for the local henchmen to meet an untimely end. “I can see like it is daylight outside. I will need you to draw me a map of the town, and where the soldiers are. I need to know how many there are. It would b
e best to send them somewhere else and ambush them when they are bunched up. I cannot do it alone. I will not do it alone. I have Miss Jennifer to look out for…”

  Before he could continue, Jennifer jumped to her feet. “I’m coming with you. If you don’t make it, I won’t either. We’re family!” She didn’t cry, but her lip quivered as her emotions took over. She had not shared her feelings with Wolfe. He would not have known what to do if she had. He accepted her as she was, letting her actions stand on their own. He respected her, but he did not know what bubbled deep inside. She had not talked much since her parents died.

  Then again, neither had he. He did not have much to say that he had not already said. It mattered to get to Lurleen and JoJo, to see if they made it. He had to know for sure. He was not much for speculating.

  “How will helping you help me get where I want to go?” Wolfe asked. That sounded harsher than he had intended, but it was the truth. If he didn’t look out for himself and Jennifer, no one would. “Stirring up a hornet’s nest is one more thing to run from.”

  “I wish I had an answer.” Bessie sighed heavily. “You have weapons and everything you need. We can offer a small taste of modern conveniences. Electricity. Running water. Flush toilets. We even got toilet paper. I will feed you like royalty, and when it’s time to go, you’ll go with a full stomach and packs filled with food.”

  Jennifer looked up at Jim with big eyes. There was a clean spot on her face, but the rest was dirty. Her hair was getting matted, and her clothes needed to be washed.

  “A taste of civilization sounds good after all we been through. I want Miss Jennifer cleaned up, clothes washed, and ready for church.”

  “We got no church, Mister. The bombs took the last of people’s faith in God.”

  “We won’t be needing a church. Just something my mother used to say. I am glad she did not see the war. She and my pop were long gone by then. Died young.”

  “Like my parents,” Jennifer agreed before realizing what she had said.

  “She’s my daughter now. Her parents met with the worst misfortune, sickness. One of the body, and one of the mind. They have been gone these four or five months now. My wife and son are waiting. They will both be proud to have Jennifer join our family. And if anything happened to them, Jennifer is my only family. I will protect her with my life, and expect that you will, too. I will not abide losing her. That would not turn out well for anyone involved. And please do not take that as a threat. It is just how things will be. We do not have much, but what we have, we want to keep.”

  “I understand, Mister Wolfe. If you help us, you will find that maybe FEDCOM is not as all-powerful as they try to make you think they are. I see them as dominoes. Once you get the first to fall, the rest will go down one after another.”

  Chapter Six

  A dark night was a good sign. It was overcast and cool, perfect conditions for Jim Wolfe to take a walk, check on the neighbors, and scout out the Feds. He waited until sometime between two and three in the morning to give himself a couple hours. It was not a big town, but it sprawled across a fair amount of acreage. FEDCOM had the bases at both ends of the main road into and out of town.

  The reason Wolfe and Jennifer had missed the soldiers on their way into town was that they came in on a side road, having walked cross-country. They could not risk the main road after what they had done to the soldiers at the crossing into the Red Zone. The soldiers here did not seem to be on high alert. Maybe they thought those two had killed each other.

  Wolfe had thought his effort to cover up the crime would be less than convincing. He refused to underestimate his enemy, but maybe they deserved the low opinion he had of them, especially if they were so easily manipulated by men like the Alstons. It bothered him that his picture was down here. He thought he had gone beyond their reach. Wilders. Scum from the Red Zone of what used to be Idaho. Wolfe thought he had made it almost to Oklahoma.

  It did not matter what they called the states now. All that mattered was that he could pass through them to get back to Bradenton, Florida. If it still existed.

  Wolfe walked quickly, staying in the shadows of the darkened street. His eyes drank in what light there was to make it look like the middle of the day. He knew that wasn’t true, though. It was a little gray, like on a cloudy day, but that was it. The rest of the people probably never saw him.

  Even though the town had electricity, they didn’t bother with streetlights. Some windows were framed by the brightness of interior bulbs. Wolfe had to squint to see if anyone looked out. He circled wide of those homes to avoid casting a long shadow and being seen. He was only out to take a look. In the morning, he would use his information to start making a plan.

  Bessie had not shared the exact numbers of the people in the underground. She said they only knew four names—the three in their cell, and one from another cell. That was all. In World War II, Bessie would have been a resistance fighter. She was too young to have been in any conflict, but she had the mind for it. She also had the passion.

  Wolfe had left them back at the boardinghouse. They said they would await his return, but he told them all to sleep. Buddy was in bed with Jennifer. Bessie lived at the boardinghouse, but Gemini did not. He had gone home to the farm where he boarded and worked part-time. Most folks had two jobs to stay busy and keep FEDCOM supplied while also providing for themselves. Many were better off than if they had been in the Red Zone.

  FEDCOM was keeping one type of scavenger out. That left them the easy pickings of a passive population. The underground had problems because there were no active soldiers left, no able-bodied veterans, no physically fit men with heads for tactics. They’d been drafted or killed.

  Wolfe did not want to be anyone’s last hope, but here he was, doing it anyway.

  The first compound, the one to the east, had a minimum number of soldiers on hand. There was one gate, where a single soldier was sound asleep. Wolfe crept through a gap in the fence not far from the sleeper. There was no risk since he was deep in the shadows. One light bulb in the small guard shack burned brightly, blinding the guard to anything in the darkness outside. Maybe he had floodlights he could turn on, but Wolfe couldn’t see them if there were.

  He walked smoothly and slowly to what he determined was the barracks. Through the windows, he saw twenty bunk beds with only ten occupied, and then only the bottom bunks. Including the soldier at the gate, that meant eleven total. He continued his survey of the compound to find the locked storage area where he assumed the weapons and ammunition could be found. He noted a building he had thought was an office, but it was a duplex. When he looked through the windows, he saw couples in each of the two beds.

  Wolfe sat down outside to think about what that meant. If he fired the place, he might be killing civilians. Or victims, if the women had been kidnapped. Knowing FEDCOM like he did, that was what he suspected. Prisoners, even if they didn’t know it.

  He checked again. They seemed to be sleeping soundly. He’d mark those buildings for personal attention. Wolfe needed to move on now. He had to get to the other side of town and back to the boardinghouse before morning.

  He left the compound crouching low, moving faster than when he’d arrived. Once clear, he started jogging. It was past three, and still in the dark of night. No one was up. No lights remained on in the houses. From far off, no one would know there was a growing town here, except for the glow from the west side—the FEDCOM compound.

  He ran faster, instinctively staying in the shadows. Moving across the grass to deaden his footfalls, he made great time.

  The town wasn’t as big as he had thought, maybe a mile from one end to the other. That meant two minutes or less travel time for a vehicle, unless it couldn’t take a direct route because of barriers or spike strips in the road like the police used to use in the before time. More information to add to the planning.

  As he approached, he headed into a ditch that angled toward the compound. Even in the shadows, the glaring floodligh
ts forced him to put on his welding goggles. Wolfe moved closer to the compound, raising his head slowly over the edge so he could look for sentries or watchtowers. He saw an unoccupied tower and multiple gates, the biggest being at the main entrance up front.

  There were additional gates on the sides, and although Wolfe couldn’t see what was behind the buildings, he suspected there would be a gate back there, too.

  Two soldiers walked back and forth across the double-vehicle-wide main gate. They were alert, and the compound was so well lit, Wolfe wouldn’t dare approach. He would have to shut the lights off before he could get inside.

  His advantage was also his disadvantage when the enemy had electricity and wasn’t miserly about using it. Bessie, as part of the underground, might have an idea. Cutting the power because of a blown transformer would have credibility. It probably wasn’t far-fetched, either. He retreated up the ditch, but a noise alerted him. Someone was coming.

  Had he been followed?

  He turned his head back and forth. They were coming from the area he had just traversed. He ducked and hurried ahead, taking care to walk toe-heel to avoid making any noise. He could see the sticks and debris to avoid it, unlike those behind him, who made too much noise as they walked.

  They didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Two distinct sounds, and then a conversation. They were talking in hushed tones about what they would do when they finished their shift. Wolfe didn’t wait to hear the rest. He ran ahead and dodged out of the ditch since he was beyond the reach of the floodlights. He ran for cover and then slowed, moving like a shadow through the sleeping town.

  When he reached the boardinghouse, he did not go in. He used the fruit cellar entrance of the next building over and found the tunnel behind a shelf that rolled easily away from the wall. He hurried through the tunnel and into the basement, then climbed the ladder and slowly opened the trap door. He looked through the crack under the rug and didn’t see any feet, so he lifted the door the rest of the way and climbed out.