RESIST AND EVADE: A Post Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (The Blue Lives Apocalypse Series Book 2)

by Lee West

  “That’ll be great. I want everyone to know that even though we had this one victory, we’re far from being completely safe. Everyone in town needs to be ready to fight. We can distribute the weapons, arming all citizens who have weapons experience,” said Charlie.

  “I’ll get right on it. I’m sure there are many citizens who would be willing to be part of a citizens’ militia. I’ll get one of the vets to head it and organize their team,” said Reynolds.

  “That should work. Mark, I need you to take control of the armory. You can handle the weapons distribution. Also, take any of the hoarded New Order food out of the station and give it to Father Roy. He can handle food distribution. He’s already doing that and is very good at giving people just what they need,” said Charlie.

  “I’ll have the weapons cleaned and ready for distribution this afternoon. The food we can move right away. I’ll grab a couple of guys and start making that happen,” said Mark.

  Officers Cleff and Rogers walked past the three, heading out to the front lawn. Cleff slowly unfastened the flagpole’s rope while Rogers handed him the flag. Together they hoisted the United States Flag and the City of Porter flag and the flag for the City of Porter’s Police Department. Charlie was surprised by his emotional response to seeing the flags flying. He thought about the brave officers who were victims of the New Order and all those who fought to free the town. The fight was by no means finished, but they would make it, one step at a time.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Jane and Sam made better time getting back to HQ than Jane would have thought. She always considered Sam to be a slow walker and assumed that they would add an extra hour or two to their journey because of his pace. However, today, he seemed as anxious to get back to HQ and Lea as she did. After being admitted through a hole in the fence on the south side of the property, Jane could not stop thinking about seeing Lea and then jumping in the lake for a refreshing rinse.

  The smooth, serene lake glistened in the afternoon sun, beckoning her to jump in. She knew the refreshing waters would do her aching feet and back wonders. Later, she would have to go to the camp’s lost and found to see if she could grab an extra set of shoes. Her hiking boots were quickly deteriorating into two very painful blister-causing torture devices.

  The main lodge sat in the distance. Its broad beam porches and three-story frame contrasted beautifully with the deep green forest. Jane thought the place looked more like a rich person’s mountain hideaway than a kids’ camp.

  “Finally, almost there,” said Sam.

  “I thought we made pretty good time, considering.”

  “Considering what?”

  “Well, you always seem to walk a little slowly, but not today. You were moving faster than I expected. I originally thought we’d be lucky to get here by dinner.”

  Laughing and mocking feigned insult, Sam said, “Are you saying I actually feel like a ball and chain, slowing you down?”

  “No. More like an anchor.”

  Jane grabbed his hand, softly squeezing it and smiling.

  “Where do you think Lea is?” she asked as they approached the lodge.

  “Don’t know. Let’s go inside and see who’s around.”

  Walking into the lodge, Jane was struck at how silent the place was. Most of the officers were either down in Porter or at Doris’s house. The HQ contained only a fraction of the number of people that were there the first time they arrived at the camp. The place seemed deserted.

  “Hello?” Jane shouted into the empty lodge.

  Sunlight streamed into the lodge through the floor-to-ceiling western-facing windows in the lodge’s main gathering room.

  “Hello?” she yelled again.

  “Where is everyone?” asked Sam.

  “Beats me. You’d think the kids would be around.”

  “Anybody home?” yelled Sam toward the dining area.

  “Back here!” came a reply.

  The door to the kitchen swung open. Doris greeted them cheerily, wiping her hands on her apron. “Hey, guys! You just getting back?”

  “Yeah, where is everybody?” asked Jane.

  “There aren’t many people left, just a few officers and families. I think most of the officers, including the chief, are standing watch. They all seem to rotate in and out of here at odd times.”

  “Have you seen Lea?” asked Sam.

  “No, sorry. I haven’t seen her all day.”

  “Okay, we’ll see you later. We’re going to go look for her,” said Jane.

  “Alright. If the two of you need a snack or anything, just come back. I’m making dinner but can get you something to tide you over, if needed.”

  “Thanks, Doris,” said Sam over his shoulder.

  Sam and Jane walked back outside toward the center of the camp. Only the sounds of the forest greeted their searching ears. They couldn’t hear Lea or the kids she usually spent her day with.

  “Let’s go and check the cabin. Maybe she didn’t feel well and is taking a nap?” said Sam.

  Joyce Rolz walked steadily up the road in their direction. Jane assumed she must’ve been coming from her watch-standing rotation at the entrance to the camp.

  “Hey, Joyce!” shouted Jane.

  “Hey, guys, you just get back?” said Joyce, jogging toward them.

  “We did and are looking for Lea. Have you seen her?” asked Sam.

  “No, I haven’t. I assumed the chief has her doing something other than babysitting because this morning I saw Patty Epstein with the kids.”

  Laughing slightly, Jane said, “Well, Lea really didn’t like babysitting. Maybe she finally convinced the chief to move her. Anything else happening?”

  “Not really. It’s been very quiet here. No new families have arrived, but one car has been driving down the main road pretty consistently,” said Joyce.

  “One car? What do you mean? What sort of car?”

  “A red Trans Am with one large bald man driving. He keeps driving the main road like he’s looking for something. We haven’t flagged him down because he doesn’t look like a parent or lost citizen.”

  Jane could feel her legs buckling at Joyce’s description of a person who could only be Tank.

  “Oh crap. That sounds like our daughter’s ex-boyfriend Tank. Did he have neck tattoos? Could you tell?” asked Sam.

  “I’m not sure about the neck tattoos, but he seemed like a really big guy from how he was seated in the car. So far he hasn’t stopped, but the chief has us doing extra watches to accommodate a larger presence at the road side of the camp.”

  “That’s a good idea. If it is Tank, he is extremely dangerous and has been working with the New Order. He cannot be let into the camp under any circumstances,” said Jane.

  “If you see Lea, would you tell her we’re back?” said Sam, taking Jane’s hand and pulling her toward the trail to the cabin.

  “See ya, Joyce. I’ll check in with the chief later to help with the watch,” said Jane.

  The two walked quickly down the narrow trail leading to their cabin.

  “Tank is in the area? That can’t be good news. And he looks like he’s looking for something? That’s even worse,” said Jane.

  The screen door banged loudly against the wooden frame of the cabin. Their eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom inside the one-room, open structure. A single sheet of paper sat on Jane’s cot. She grabbed it and read silently.

  Looking up at Sam, she said, “She’s gone. The note says she went to find Tank. Something about wanting to slow him down.”

  Handing the note to Sam, Jane sank to the cot, crestfallen. She stared at the floor as Sam read the note.

  “Damn her. What the hell is she thinking?” he said.

  “She’s brave and stubborn. That’s not always the best combination.”

  “We need to find her before she does anything stupid.”

  “You mean anything else stupid. Where do we start our search? She could be anywhere in town by now,” said Jane, rubbing her bro
w.

  “We should start at the storage locker. Maybe she decided to go there first? Or, I don’t know, maybe home?”

  “No, there’s no way she went back to our house. She told me she would never want to sleep in that house again. I think you’re right. We start with the storage locker. Who knows, maybe if our stuff is still there, she’ll decide to rest at the locker and we’ll be able to find her.”

  “Alright. Let’s get going, unless you need more time to rest before setting out again,” asked Sam.

  “I’m good. I just want to find her.”

  “Me too.”

  Jane couldn’t believe they were heading out looking for Lea. Part of her wanted to strangle their daughter for being so reckless. Part of her admired Lea’s strength and bravery. Jane knew Lea was doing what she thought was right.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  The Boss sat at Tank’s usual table in the restaurant, talking to the guys as they came and went. He didn’t particularly like running things from the restaurant, but since that hulking man Tank returned to town, he needed to hold the position so Tank knew he had been dethroned. The Boss relished seeing Tank’s expression when he realized he had been replaced. Nothing gave the Boss more pleasure than watching Tank try to decide how to respond. Fight, flight or fall in line. Of course Tank chose to fall in line. There were not many men alive who chose fight when confronted with the same set of circumstances.

  Although Tank did a decent job of pretending to fall in line with the Boss’s control of the town, the Boss just didn’t trust the man. There was something going on that he could not put his finger on. The Boss suspected Tank of hiding supplies. But then again, he suspected everyone to be hoarding his own stash. Things were starting to get more desperate. It would be stupid not to be looking out for one’s own interests. No, it was something more than that.

  Turning to one of his men, the Boss said, “Hey, Paulie, next time that asshole Tank rolls out of here in his seventies-style shit can of a car, I want you guys to follow him. Not too close, though. I want to know where he’s going.”

  “You got it, Boss. He usually disappears in the late afternoon. We’ll spook him. Who knows what we’ll find.”

  “He’s up to something. I can just feel it.”

  “I’ll get Rico and Jones on it. Rico is like a fucking basset hound, man. He can find anything. There’s no way Tank’ll know they’re spooking him.”

  Satisfied, the Boss got up from the table and stretched. Looking out the window, the Boss contemplated leaving the stifling restaurant but then thought better of it.

  “Any more new arrivals?” he asked Paulie.

  “Just the guys from Grant that came yesterday. I suspect we’ll see more and more of them streaming in.”

  Numerous PrisCorp prisoners were on the move in the general area. Some had initially stayed in and around Grant, the location of the prison. As time went by, those men started moving in a steady stream westward, into Evansville. The Boss was able to recruit most of them into his army by flashing the cache of weapons he had stolen from Porter’s and Evansville’s Police Departments. However, he had to deflect uncomfortable questions from the guys about what happened in Porter. He knew the men would be nervous about the cops pulling off another coup, even if some of them were too afraid of him to mention it. He needed a surefire safe place to rebuild his empire; maybe he’d found it in Evansville, maybe not. Only time would tell.

  For now, the Boss was determined to rebuild his army with the men who came from Grant. Only this time, he would make it stronger and larger than before. He would not let the cops retake Evansville or any other place he called home. Nor would he let that two-bit thug Tank interfere with his goals.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Lea moved steadily through the woods, roughly following a narrow trail toward Evansville. The trail ran parallel to the road to Evansville. She knew Tank would have driven that road in order to get to the camp. Getting out of the camp was easier than she imagined. First, she asked Mrs. Epstein to watch the kids, feigning illness. Then she walked into the woods between where she knew the guards were posted. She’d simply snipped the chain-link fence and slipped out.

  She wavered about leaving the note for her parents, unsure of what to say to them. She knew they were coming back at some point later in the day. By her estimation, she would be back before they even got to the HQ. However, just in case, she decided to leave them a quick note so they wouldn’t worry. She knew she was right to try to stop Tank. He would only cause her and the entire camp trouble. Stealing a Mason jar full of tack nails and some extra bullets for her rifle, she set out.

  Lea hiked almost to the marina. It only took her about an hour to get all the way down the winding roadside to the base of it, near the four-way stop. It was at this stop that one would choose to either take the road up to the camp or head in a different direction. Tracing her steps back toward the camp, she decided on the perfect spot to lay the tacks. She shook out the tacks onto the road, careful to concentrate them where the tires of a car would be.

  Once the tacks were in place, she jogged back up the road to the camp. She found a flat, hidden spot to wait. She laid a dirty towel on the ground and then set up her rifle. She tried to remember what the officer at the range had told her about shooting downwind. Something about counting or offsetting the scope, she couldn’t recall. The memory was foggy. She mostly used the pistol and wished she had one now instead of this ancient-looking rifle. Oh well. She’d make do. Hopefully, the tacks would stop Tank and she wouldn’t need to shoot out his tires.

  She waited in her position for what seemed to be an eternity. Boredom quickly set in, making her wonder how long she would have to sit there until he rolled past. She tried to stay alert by counting, doing mental math and other boring things until finally dullness turned to sleepiness. Her head dropped and then jerked back up as she fought sleep. Standing up, she decided to jog in place to get her blood flowing. Once alert again, she settled back into place.

  Looking through the rifle scope, she scanned the woods across the street. Trees and more trees blended together in a seamless span of various shades of green. Dullness started to creep back into her mind. She fought it as best as she could. Suddenly, something moved, catching her eye. She focused on the area where she saw movement.

  Mom? What the hell?

  Her parents were walking on the other side of the road, basically cutting their way through the forest. Shit. What are they doing here?

  “Mom! Dad! Over here!” she yelled across the road.

  Sam and Jane quickly spotted her and ran toward her.

  “Lea! Geez! What the hell are you doing out here?” yelled Jane.

  Sam grabbed Lea and held her in a tight embrace.

  “What do you mean? Didn’t you see my note? Tank is out here looking for me. I can’t let him get to the camp. He’ll wreck everything for the people there and it’s all because of me. He just wants me. I have to stop him, Mom!”

  Tears streamed down Lea’s grimy face as all of her bravery melted under Jane’s warm, loving embrace.

  “You don’t have to do anything alone, baby. We’re all in this together. We’ll fight Tank head-on, together.”

  “If anything happened to you, I don’t know what we’d do,” said Sam, stroking her back.

  The three stood in silence as mom and daughter embraced.

  “I placed a line of tack nails across the road. I thought I could at least give him a flat. That’d slow him down a little,” said Lea.

  “That’s not a bad idea, honey, but what are you doing here?” asked Sam.

  “Well, if the tacks didn’t work, then I figured I would shoot out his tires.”

  “Oh crap. Bad idea. We need to get out of here and back to HQ. The sooner we’re behind the fence, the safer we’ll all be,” said Jane.

  “Get down! I hear something!” said Sam urgently.

  The three ducked down behind the low brush of the forest just as Tank’s Tran
s Am rolled past them. He was alone, one hand on the steering wheel and the other stretched out the open window.

  “Shit! He made it through! We need to warn the camp!” said Lea.

  “No! We stay put until he’s gone. They can handle him. I’ll radio HQ and let them know he’s in the area and to be vigilant,” said Jane.

  After calling HQ, the three waited for a little longer before deciding to start hiking back to the safety of the camp. They all knew eventually Tank would turn around and pass them on his way home. Fear bolstered their alertness as they walked, listening for any sound of his vehicle.

  “Did you hear that? I think he’s coming,” said Jane.

  The trail had meandered away from the road and onto a higher elevation. They were able to look down onto the roadway without being seen. The three waited and listened. After a short time, a pickup truck with two hard-looking men drove past their location. On the side of the truck were the words “New Order.”

  “We’re definitely not alone up here. Let’s pick up the pace. The chief needs to know that we should move the HQ to Doris’s house sooner rather than later before the New Order or Tank finds us all,” said Jane.

  The family moved through the forest with a quick purposeful step. Their once triumphant, safe world morphed again into something unpredictable.

  THE END

  THE ADVENTURE WILL CONTINUE WITH BOOK 3 in the FALL of 2017. Sign up for my newsletter below for news about the third book.

  LOOKING FOR ANOTHER HOT POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIES? CLICK HERE to check out USA Today bestselling author Steven Konkoly’s PERSEID COLLAPSE saga. Available free through Kindle Unlimited.

  Click Here to Join LEE WEST’S NEWSLETTER for periodic news about Lee West’s work and updates about new releases. If you borrowed this book through Kindle Unlimited or the Prime Lending Library, you’ll be the first to know when the next book is available for you to borrow.