The Dead Familiar (Winterhaven Series)

by J. D. Mckenna

  He shook himself. He wanted to believe he'd be able to give into the despair, it would be easier than struggling on, but it wasn’t in his nature. Even if he was too late, Jack knew he would force himself to go on, locking the pain of losing his friends deep inside himself. He wouldn't abandon the people he had with him now, couldn’t even contemplate it.

  On the bright side, the fire confirmed one part of Duke's garbled message. Maybe he had been right about the second part. As they pulled into the dog park's small car lot, he was frantic with energy. He ordered the trucks to pin the Charger between them, keeping the occupants protected by the M35's armor. Hopping down from the truck, he called for Justin, Dax, and Cyrus.

  "Justin, I want you driving this truck, Meghan can't handle the stick. I'm going to look for the second group. If anything goes wrong, or If I don't make it back in an hour, I want you guys gone. Dax is in charge while I'm gone. Hopefully, I'll be back in a few minutes, but keep your eyes open until then.”

  Jack looked around cautiously, searching the darkness for threats. He turned back to the anxious looking group, “Cyrus and Dax, stay on the guns. Make sure you keep any random stragglers away from the trucks. Kate will recognize our group if they come by, so gimme a squawk if we get that lucky and I'll double time it back. That's it, lets do this and then get the hell out of here, agreed?"

  He looked around, glad to see that there were no objections.

  "Ok, good. See you in a few,” he promised.

  With a low whistle, Jack summoned Fenrir.

  "Ok boy, follow me, watch my back,” he commanded.

  The wolf gave him a quick affectionate growl, which Jack chose to interpret as an affirmative. Feeling better with the wolf watching his six, Jack moved off into the night. Wearing a kevlar vest and tactical radio in addition to his black outfit, he was geared up and ready to fight. The pair moved through the woods cautiously, but saw no sign of movement for several long minutes.

  Slinking through the inky darkness however, Jack finaly began to hear voices up ahead and headed their direction. Too far away to make out any words, he could tell that a large group was gathered. Closing to a hundred yards, he dropped to the ground, preparing to sneak in the rest of the distance to avoid detection. Fenrir lay down next to him, well aware of the situation. The sudden eruption of gunfire canceled any thoughts of subtlety however, and the pair was up and running an instant later.

  Throwing caution to the wind, Jack ran straight towards the sounds of fighting.They seemed to be emanating from over the crest of a hill directly ahead of him. Terrified of what he would find, Jack topped the hill and began searching the darkness. His well trained eyes could pick out more in the dark than the average human, but it was still a strain. After a moment, he managed to piece it all together into a coherent picture.

  Along the base of the hill he was now crouching on, a group of ten or so men had gathered. The few of them that had firearms were firing blindly up the adjacent hill towards a downed tree. He could make out a couple of figures crouched behind the tree, with one of them bouncing up to return fire occasionally in a haphazard manner.

  As he watched, a majority of the men below broke off and began to circle around, trying to flank the group on the high ground. The few left were those with guns and they continued firing in order to keep the defenders pinned down behind their tree.

  Jack automatically felt inclined to help the group at the top of the hill, but he couldn't afford to intervene unless he was sure it was his people. Going prone, he used the night vision on his ACOG scope to check. He couldn't get a good view because the figures were obscured by the fallen tree, but it looked like the right number of people. That is, it was the right number if the Xander's had made it.

  Wait for it....There! That was Mr. Cove!

  Jack was almost certain. It had been a long time since he had seen Liz's father, but he was relatively sure that the man jumping up to fire down the hill into the darkness was his ex-girlfriends dad. Even as he hesitated, Jack saw the man take a hit and go down behind the tree. The flankers noticed as well, giving up on the pretense of sneaking to go charging up the hill with throaty yells.

  Decided, Jack went fully into fight mode. He gave a quick signal to Fenrir, and the big wolf drifted off into the darkness. He then braced the rifle against his shoulder, supporting the barrel with his free hand for stability. With a breath, he calmed his nerves and went to work.

  His finger caressed the trigger. As the men charged the hill, he had a clear line of sight. Firing three-round bursts, he moved his muzzle slightly, targeting each individual man in turn. Within moments, all of them were down, most dead, others dying. Forewarned by their comrades demise, the men at the bottom of the hill turned and opened fire in his direction however. Bullets started to bury themselves in the ground below him, closing in on his position.

  Rolling, he dropped back down below the crest of the hill and sprinted to the left. He inched his way back up the hill from his new position. The men were still firing blindly at where he had been, unaware of his movements. He sighted in, and then waited. Coming from the darkness, ferocious as a hellhound, Fenrir tore into the last man on the line. The mighty wolf ripped the assailants throat out before dancing back into the darkness. Using the confusion his four-legged friend had caused, Jack struck once more.

  From this distance, and at their flank, he was able to place highly accurate enfilading fire on their position. The deadly fusillade tore through them like so much wheat in a thresher. The last few men were down and dying just a minute after he had seen Mr. Cove get hit.

  Satisfied that his enemies were vanquished, Jack trotted down the hill, He stepped through the bodies he had so recently dispatched, leery of any still clinging to life. Making his way to the people he had so recently rescued he called out, "Hullo! I'm Jack Hightower, I'm looking for some friends of mine, everyone ok up there?"

  After a second, he heard Dukes incredulous voice, "Jack? Is that really you?"

  Jack felt huge waves of relief begin to crash over him as he heard his friends voice.

  "Yeah man, I'm coming up, so don't shoot me.”

  He remembered Fenrir. No one up there had met him yet and he cautioned, “don't shoot my dog either."

  Safe passage assured, Jack climbed the last few yards of the hill and jogged to the group. Looking around himself, he quickly assessed the scene. Duke and Liz were crouched by Gretchen and Belle. Jeff was standing by the log, watching the bodies below. Belle held her husband in her arms, stroking his hair. He appeared to have been shot through the shoulder and wore a marked grimace, but remained conscious.

  "Nothing too serious Jack, mostly just a graze," Brian growled through clenched teeth, sighing before continuing, "I'm surprisingly happy to see you Jack. Good timing."

  Jack looked him over, uncertain about Brian's wounds, "Looks like maybe a bit more than a graze, Mr. Cove, but if your mobile, I've got a nurse back at the convoy. She can take a look and get you fixed up.”

  "I'm fine to move, but we should get out of here. I don't know who exactly those men were, but they aren't the first group of hostile people we have seen tonight."

  With a sigh of acceptance at the necessity of leaving Shoreview, Brian went on, "I don't know what you've got planned, but it can't be worse than this. Besides, you and your men just saved my family, which builds a lot of trust with me." Brian peered through the darkness, "where are the rest of your men?"

  Jack looked at him confused, worried that maybe the shock of his wound was getting to Mr. Cove.

  "What men? It's just me and Fenrir out here right now, the rest of the group is back with the trucks."

  Everyone stared at him, and Jack started to feel uncomfortable.

  "What?" he asked uncertainly.

  Finally Jeff Xander said what everyone else had been thinking, "Jack, there must have been ten or more men down there, some of them armed. I know you were a marine, but I guess we thought there must have been more than just you out
there to put them down so fast. Don’t get me wrong son, we’re grateful, just surprised.”

  Hiding his face, Jack turned from the group, uncomfortable with their attentions, “No, just me."

  He was already struggling with a little guilt over his actions, and their surprise made it worse somehow. It wasn’t that the men he’d killed hadn’t deserved it, but the way it had been done had made it feel more like butchering animals then fighting. The villains simply hadn’t been trained or prepared to deal with a warrior of his caliber, and he had known it. That knowledge was the source of his guilt, and the group’s assumptions only underlined the disparity between himself and the civilians who had attacked his friends.

  Sensing his discomfort, Gretchen Xander went and patted his arm. "No matter Jack, we're just glad you made it on time. We appreciate what you did for us. Those men had what found them coming, I promise you."

  Taking charge, she turned to the group,"Ok then. Duke, you help Brian there walk. Jeff hun, why don't you bring up the rear and keep an eye out." She turned back to Jack, giving him another pat. "Lead on."

  Giving Fenrir a quick hand signal, he sent the wolf behind them to check their backtrail.

  "Fenrir will make sure no one sneaks up behind us. It's only a few minutes walk, but there's no way to know who else is out there in the dark. Lets go as fast as we can." He turned from the hill, thankful to be leading his friends back to the relative safety of his convoy. With Brian injured, the going was a little bit slower, but the older man was game and he pushed hard to avoid holding them back. They made it back to the convoy in just under ten minutes, fifteen since Jack had left the convoy originally.

  Dax challenged him as he came close, but a quick reply assured him that it was Jack returning with the second group and not an attack. Using the radio, Dax called the Charger, asking Nicole come out and deal with the wounded.

  Nicole left May with Elizabeth. Grabbing her small emergency kit, she ran out to meet up with Jack and his new group of people. He introduced her to everyone while she went to work examining Brian. Nicole could tell immediately that the "graze" had actually gone straight through him. Luckily it had been a small caliber, and had missed anything vital, so the damage wasn’t as severe as it could have been. Using some of the medication and supplies that Meghan and Elizabeth had grabbed from their apartment, she cleaned the wound, bandaged it, and then made him swallow some antibiotics and a pain killer.

  "Ok, It should heal up in time, but it will take a while. We'll have to change the bandage regularly to help keep it clean, but since it went right through without making too big a hole I expect he'll make a full recovery."

  Belle and Liz almost broke down with relief when they heard that Brian would be ok, hugging each other and touching him gently, trying to avoid causing him any pain. He cracked an eye at them and saw Jack standing just behind them.

  "See, I told you it was just a flesh wound," he joked, chuckling slightly before grimacing as the laugh shook his wound.

  Nicole broke in, "I gave you a mild sedative and pain killer for that. You'll be pretty out of it for a while, but it should help with the worst of the pain." Packing up her bag, she looked to Jack for his orders. Something that Mrs. Xander took quiet note of. Jack nodded to Nicole, thanking her and dismissing her to return to the Charger.

  Using the radio, he talked to Dax again. “All right, we've got Brian stabilized. We need to get out of here. We may have to make some room since I'd planned on taking cars from their house, but that doesn't look to be an option any longer. I guess we'll have to leave some of the gear from the trucks, put Brian in the Charger. Thoughts?"

  Dax replied, "Actually, I think your boys have that covered. As soon as you got back, Cyrus and Justin lit out for that gas station a block back. I guess they saw a couple of vehicles just sitting there. Good initiative, glad you brought them.”

  Jack looked up. Sure enough, Cyrus and Justin had realized that they needed more room for everyone and decided to fix the problem themselves. They came cruising up in a pair of matching black Range Rover's. The man who owned the small shopping center next to the gas station had been caught at work when the riotous crowds had gone rampaging through. Jack wasn't sure what had happened to him, but he was grateful for the rides. The addition of the sturdy SUV's was a welcome one, and Jack gave Cyrus and Justin an approving nod for their quick thinking.

  "Ok guys, introductions will have to come later. We're heading out of town on the double, and we’re going north. Belle, Liz and Brian, take one of the Rovers. Duke, you're with the Xander's in the other. Trucks and Charger stay the same. Cyrus you're back in the cab, I'm taking the gun again. Clear?”

  Everyone was moving to their assigned locations and he gave a silent nod of approval, thankful yet again for his group’s trust. Later, when everyone was calmer and felt safer, he knew there would have to be a conversation about leadership. For now though, they were all to shocked to be anything but eager to follow his lead. That was all he needed for the moment. With a sigh and a quick stretch, he clambered back up the truck to his gun nest. Pulling out, the convoy fell in behind him.

  Only a few hours left now, but I think we're going to make it.

  Jack permitted himself a small smile as they rolled north.

  I know it.

  Chapter 12: The Student Body

  2:02 am

  August 16th, 2015

  Near Itasca State Park

  "Look Sam, If the world is going to hell, you know I'm down for a couple of brewski's to ease its’ passing… but some of the others, they have people to get to man, ya know?"

  Sam Hightower looked at his friend Dane, acknowledging his argument. His group had driven straight out from Duluth, cell-phones made worthless by the remote location. It hadn't been until one of the car's radio had picked up the MN geological outpost's emergency broadcast that anyone had realized they weren’t in for a simple night of fun. Once word had spread through the convoy, he had been forced to halt before entering Itasca State Park. There would have to be a conversation before they continued, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

  Feeling stressed, Sam looked to the milling students, watching as they passed rumor and gossip between small cliches. Sighing, he gave a loud whistle.

  "Alright, come on, circle up guys," Sam commanded. People had looked up at his whistle, and, following instructions, they drifted over to huddle in a circle around him.

  "So I know you guys have been hearing some stuff on the radios, and I assume you've all got some theories. Here's what I know. My brother used to be a marine, some of you probably knew that. While he was in the Corps, he met some people, made some connections. About a year ago, a little after he retired, he called me up. Jack believed that things were going to get bad, really bad, so he made some plans."

  Sam paused, making sure he had everyone's attention.

  "While I don't know exactly what is happening out there, I do think that the radio broadcast we heard from the president was legit. I also didn't ask you guys to come out here with me by coincidence. Part of what Jack did in preparation was set up a program. It's purpose was to inform certain people that Jack thought we were near the end. It was supposed to track our whereabouts and deliver us a plan based on our location. That plan was designed to help us survive what Jack thought likely to be an extinction level event."

  People started shouting at that, asking if his brother was nuts, and what the point of it all was. Sam raised his arms, gesturing for quiet.

  "I'm not saying I agree, or that I know what he’s thinking. What I am saying is that he believes it, and he prepared for it as if it was likely. At around ten o'clock tonight, I received my message. It told me to get myself, and anyone else that was willing, away from population centers. It also held directions to the compound that he has been preparing. By compound, I mean the supposed cabin that I've been leading you too."

  Sam sighed, "I don't know guys, I don't know if the world is ending, if my brother is crazy,
or if it’s something in between. I just know that I trust his instincts, and if the world goes in the shitter, I'll feel safer with him around. He invited you all to join, and we are almost there. I'm going, so you should all talk amongst yourselves and decide what you need to do. I leave in ten minutes, anyone who wants to join me should be ready, that's all I've got."

  Speech delivered, Sam moved out of the circle and back to his car. He sat down with the door open and then closed his eyes. He heard the passenger door open, and felt the weight of another body settling into the vehicle. Cracking one eye, he saw Dane next to him. His friend gave him a small shrug before he mimicked Sam’s position, the two of them waiting to see who else would follow. They waited the full ten minutes before Sam swung himself out of the car again, leaning against it and looking to the rear. Four other cars sat behind him, loaded with people who were quietly waiting for his lead. Only two of the six vehicles that had originally left Duluth with him were flashing tail lights. Shaking his head, Sam climbed back in and shut the door.

  Dane looked at him nervously as he re-entered, "how bad is it?" he asked.

  "Not as bad as it could have been. Looks like just two carloads split off. The rest either don't want to drive anymore tonight, or they actually see the point. We'll find out their reasons in the morning."

  "And what about the people who left?" Dane asked.

  Sam blew out a breath of frustration, "I don't know man. If Jack's wrong, they'll be at school when we get back, laughing at us. If not...they're on their own."

  Sam hated how much like a death sentence that sounded, but he knew there was nothing else they could do. Turning the key, he shifted and gunned his little car down the hidden dirt road he had been told to look for. The four other cars followed closely behind, bumping along over the gravel road. Everyone was driving fairly carefully, worried about losing traction in the dark and somehow damaging their vehicles. It didn’t seem like AAA would be very likely to make it out in the case of an accident.