TRIAL: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Thriller

by Murray Mcdonald

  “There are three horses and only two men in restraints!” said Alex, once again turning to his breakfast preparations. “However this ends, it isn’t well, certainly not for your ‘ray of hope’ community.”

  Nick looked up at the sky. He was sure he’d caught the glint of the drone that circled overhead awaiting their updates. He wondered if they could see him, if they had watched the events unfold throughout the night. If they were getting everything they wanted from the situation. If their actions really did warrant the suffering, destruction, and death.

  “Nick,” cautioned Alex, watching his colleague’s thoughts cloud. “We have our orders!”

  Nick nodded as he looked back into the binoculars and followed the three horses making their way down to the main road at the riverside before they dropped out of sight.

  “So, what’s for breakfast?” he asked as cheerily as his somber mood would allow.

  “Random food in a small bag,” offered Alex, handing over the MRE pouch he had just heated. It had been another of their purchases on arrival at Boise to ensure their real identity remained unknown should a worst-case scenario arise. A special offer with a selection of MRE meals had been purchased. Unfortunately, the codes on the individual packs identifying the contents were explained on the packaging, and that had been discarded in the interest of weight management. Hence their almost Russian Roulette-style meal selection.

  Nick pulled back the top of the bag and was hit with a wave of spices. Chicken curry, a perfect start to anyone’s day, he sighed sarcastically to himself.

  Chapter 33

  Bob, the Duke, was a not a man that anyone wanted to be anywhere near that morning. His temper had frayed beyond reason. The news that his cousin was missing, along with Neil, Eddie and three horses had not been well received. The base had been turned upside down for any clue as to where they could have gone.

  The last anyone knew, Trey had given instructions to the four perimeter guards, and ridden off with Neil and Eddie.

  They had ridden west into the darkness. Bob looked across to the west and the main city of Boise. Where the hell would they be going in the darkness? Thoughts of the three deserters began to form in Bob’s mind, enraging his fractious mood further.

  “How many horses do we have?” he asked, already knowing the answer. Over the last few days, they had doubled their number of horses and were adding more each day. They were the future, as far as Bob was concerned. With no other means of transport to ship products, or cover even short distances in good time, the horse and cart once again ruled the west. There was also no doubting their additional power. Five men riding at speed on horseback were a far more intimidating force than five men on foot. Adding their fully automatic rifles to the mix, the militia outgunned and outmanned any other faction in Boise, and had the means to project that power around the city with ease.

  Hearing the number, less three, didn’t help his mood. Although, had they not discounted the missing three, he’d have been equally as annoyed and likely to punish whoever it was who’d failed to count properly. As it was, he had to go with what he was told.

  “Okay, I want twenty men saddled up and ready to leave with me in ten minutes.”

  His instruction resulted in a flurry of activity, men rushing to meet his ten-minute deadline. Within nine minutes, twenty-one horses sat ready in the center of the militia base. Twenty men were armed and ready to accompany Bob, who strode out of his house on the tenth minute and pulled himself onto the twenty-first horse. He led the way and, rode towards the main gate without so much as a word. Dark thoughts had taken hold in his mind – Trey’s betrayal.

  “Riders coming in!” came a shout from the sentry post ahead.

  Bob threw up his hand and stopped his posse in their tracks.

  “How many?” he called.

  “Three horses, looks like five men.”

  The sentry post sat atop the house at the entrance to the estate, the elevated position offering a greater field of vision.

  Bob clicked his horse onwards and rode towards the first line of defense, their machine gun nests that sat either side of the entrance to the estate.

  The three horses came into view shortly after he, for a second time, had drawn his posse to a stop.

  Bob immediately recognized Gary as the lead rider. His mind raced as he tried to work out just what had happened.

  “Gary!” he said as cordially as his temper would allow. Gary drew to a halt ten yards from Bob.

  “Bob, I’m sorry about this.”

  “Will you just shoot these guys already!” demanded Trey from the back of the second horse.

  “Trey, are you okay?” asked Bob calmly. His temper was settling as his mind over Trey’s desertion was eased.

  “What do you think? I’m tied up and have a broken finger!” whined Trey.

  “That was before he was tied up. He has not been harmed in any way as a prisoner,” assured Gary quickly. He’d had no idea just how powerful the militia had become until they had arrived at the base. He thought Bob had twenty or so men. What faced him was a well-armed base and a heavily-armed cavalry troop, with a small army still in reserve.

  “Bob–”

  “Trey, I think I’ll hear what Gary has to say first,” said Bob, interrupting his cousin. He turned to his posse and dismissed them. His two machine gun nests and sentries were more than adequate to deal with the threat of Gary and his two men. He also did not want Trey’s indiscretion, whatever it was, broadcast across the base.

  Bob rode out and stopped next to Gary, allowing their conversation to be undertaken at a more private level. He had to maintain his chain of command and authority, which included ensuring that Trey, his number two, was not the butt of the base’s jokes.

  Gary took less than five minutes to lay out what had happened. Bob’s eyes flickered a number of times to his cousin, only to be met with a defiant, ‘so what’ look. None of what Gary claimed did Trey dispute.

  “So, you have two injured men and one dead?”

  Gary nodded. Summing up the night by casualties was not exactly how he would have summed up events. “And one very traumatized family,” he added. “Three young kids, one girl who will–”

  “Yeah, yeah, I get it,” said Bob, seeing where Gary was heading. “Trey, do you want to add anything?” he asked. Trey shook his head.

  “Neil?”

  “Just that I had no idea why we were going there, Duke. I stayed outside and never went in the house! I was just following Trey’s orders.”

  Gary raised an eyebrow as the name Duke was uttered, while Trey cast a look of derision towards Neil for his spinelessness.

  “I don’t want any animosity between us. I know you didn’t sanction their actions and I brought them back here as a show of good faith, along with the horses,” offered Gary, signaling for his men to jump down before joining them. He patted the rear end of his horse, his two men did the same and the three horses, Trey and Neil trotted towards the base entrance. Gary and his two men stood with no more than side arms below Bob, still astride his horse.

  “I appreciate you bringing them back and taking care of them.” Bob leaned across the horn of the saddle, adding to the sincerity of his words. “I really do, more than you will ever know. Trey, despite his faults, is very special to me.”

  “We are living in crazy times. I’m sure you appreciate things could have ended very differently.”

  Bob nodded, “I really do.” He turned his horse towards the base and clucked it onwards. “I wish things were different but please understand, I have to maintain the militia’s authority.” Bob nodded to his sentries as he rode past them on his way back into the base.

  Chapter 34

  Kate removed the chair that was wedged under her bedroom door handle. If somebody wanted to get in, they’d have had to kick the door down. Danny raced down to let Hank out, although Hank was not in any shape to keep up with Danny. Sophie had hardly moved after they had climbed into bed. She had clamped her
self to her mother’s side and despite the heat that was generated between them, refused to let go. Sleep had been, at least for Kate, minimal, as the events of the day and night circled wildly. She had killed a man, shot him with a gun. A gun that lay by her bedside, ready to defend her family again if needed. She lifted the gun and slid it into the holster she had affixed to her belt. She looked down at it and the mere sight of it sent a shiver through her. Not because it felt wrong; it felt good. She caught sight of herself in the mirror. She felt powerful, protected.

  Kate walked downstairs to the hallway and the scene of the previous night’s fracas, fully expecting to see a mess. It was perfect, even their front door appeared to be working properly. Gary and his men had worked through the night to ensure she and her family were safe. She needed to do something to repay their support and kindness. What they had done for her and her family was beyond what she could ever have expected. They’d risked their lives for her and her family. After breakfast, she would make a point of going to visit Gary and personally thank him and his men.

  First, she had to go down to the basement. She needed to check that it had been cleaned and secondly, she needed to change the code on the safe. A curious nine-year-old knowing the code to a gun safe was not and never would be her idea of good parenting. She lit the candle and pulled the broken door back from the entranceway. She took two tentative steps, ducking down with the candle and looking towards the far corner. The candlelight offered little help and she had to walk down the stairs. Once at the bottom, she could see where Eddie had fallen. His body had been removed. A dark stain marked the area where his blood had soaked into the floor, but the smell of bleach told her once again that the men had gone above and beyond to help her. Even in the dead of night, they had gone to extraordinary lengths to help her and her family. The sense of gratitude and pride she had for the wonderful community they lived in brought her to the edge of tears. She moved away and back towards the gun safe, wiping her eyes as she walked. She opened the safe and surveyed its contents more thoroughly than she’d had time to the previous night. The revulsion she would have had just a few hours earlier had passed. An epiphany had occurred.

  To her, for the last twenty years, guns had been the reason her father had died. Of that she had no doubt, and she hated the sight of them. A brief bout of depression from losing his job had ended instantly and without effort, by one shot to the head. It had been so easy, too easy. There’d been no doubt in either her mind or her mother’s. The ease with which he had been able to take his life was the reason he was dead. Had he had to think about his actions, think about how to end his life, they were sure he’d have faltered, sure he would have opened up about his situation, sure he would still be alive. But no. From cleaning his gun to death, in the blink of an eye, one suicidal thought and he was gone.

  But everything had changed. The world had changed. Law and order no longer existed. Nothing had made that more evident than the previous night’s events. Had it not been for her own actions, her daughter would have been raped, as would she. Trey would have killed Gabe in the corridor and most likely Gary. After being raped, who knew what would have happened. She didn’t even want to think like that. Danny. Ava. Still young and innocent. What would have become of them had she and Sophie been taken away to be used? She shuddered at the thought. Guns had saved her. Just as surely as they had killed her father, they had saved her family. She had thought it many times, said it many times over the last few days. They were in a new reality and in that reality, guns were necessary for survival. And if there’s one thing Kate was going to ensure, it was that her family was going to make it through whatever was thrown at them.

  Without a second thought, Kate began to check the weapons. She knew what to do. Her father had her stripping and cleaning guns from before she could even remember. Her fingers worked the catches and springs as though she had cleaned them every day. It was as the expression went, just like riding a bike, it came straight back. She barely had to think about what she was doing, the muscle memories were so natural from all those years earlier. Once checked, she loaded a magazine in each weapon and after changing the combination, locked the safe. She patted the pistol on her belt, and a sense of reassurance swept over her. A comfort that, despite the previous night’s events, she hadn’t felt since the lights had gone out. She was in control. She had the power and resolve to protect her family. Never again, would her children be in fear for their lives, not on her watch.

  The arrival of Zach who, on hearing what had happened the previous night, had rushed to their aid, meant little was going to happen in the house for the next couple of hours. The events would be relived in great details, details that Kate had no intention of reliving.

  With Zach in situ, she felt comfortable leaving the house, at least to venture next door. With a heavy heart, she pushed open Harry’s door. He had given detailed instructions over the previous few days that if anything happened to him, she wasn’t to hesitate in taking any and every ounce of food he had left. He had stored his supplies in the most unlikely places, in the event of marauding gangs of thieves, which he’d been sure would come. He had advised her to do the same. She worked her way through his hiding spots; empty water tank, toilet cistern, under his sofa, under his bed, in the washing machine, each more obscure than the previous. A small amount remained in the kitchen cupboards, but only to misdirect potential thieves into believing he had little to offer. Harry, like her, had no illusion that whatever had happened wasn’t changing anytime soon. Food and clean water were going to be the most important commodities known to man, and worth killing over.

  Moving the food via their connected back gardens, she avoided anyone seeing what she was doing, and deliberately left the foodstuffs in his kitchen cupboards. She knew he would be smiling down on her. ‘Good on you, girl’, he would have said, especially given her U-turn on guns. That, she knew, would have pleased and relieved him.

  A final trip took care of Hank’s bed, leash, and other items. He was theirs now. Danny was making so much of a fuss, that the old dog barely had time to miss Harry. Kate just hoped Danny gave him some peace. The poor old dog was going to have a heart attack, if he didn’t let up.

  With breakfast over, it was time to put the previous night’s events behind them. Preparations for the winter ahead needed to continue. Kate also wanted to secure the house further. Eddie had come through the back door far too easily for her liking. She also wanted to change the sleeping arrangements. No more sleeping in separate rooms, they would have one sleeping area. All beds in one room that they’d barricade closed each night for added security. She explained what she wanted to do to Zach, and sent him into the garage to fashion what she wanted, using whatever bits of lumber and tools he could find. Meantime, she set about tying numerous knots at regular intervals into a length of rope. Once completed, she placed it beneath the window in her bedroom; it was a last resort escape ladder, should they need it.

  By mid-afternoon, Zach was battering and banging with gusto into her door frame, creating cradles for solid wood bars that Kate would drop into place each night. It was just as she had imagined. Perfect.

  “Mom?” A shout from below was almost missed, thanks to Zach’s banging.

  “Hold up, Zach,” said Kate, catching Danny’s shout.

  “Yes, honey?”

  “Somebody’s here to see you.”

  “Coming,” Kate patted her pistol and walked downstairs, surprising herself at how natural it had become to check that it was there.

  Gary’s wife was waiting in the hallway, her face streaked in tears. “It’s Gary,” she exploded as Kate came into view.

  Chapter 35

  Kate followed Gary’s wife out into the street and was met by a number of somber faces. They indicated for her to follow them, but not a word was spoken. Kate followed, not sure what to make of whatever was happening. At the end of the street, she was directed to her right and down the hill towards the river and Boise beyond. She stopped. Sh
e didn’t need to go any further, a crowd below blocking their way. They all looked up towards the recently obsolete street lights. Three in particular were of interest to the community.

  A body was strung from each one. Gary and his two companions who had returned the prisoners to the militia.

  With Kate’s arrival, the interest moved from the bodies to her. Twenty faces turned to her, still not a word spoken. Kate tried to comfort Gary’s wife, but she recoiled to a number of ‘tut’ sounds. Kate looked around, the realization hitting her. They blamed her. The community felt she had led to Gary’s death.

  Wherever she looked, the eyes said more than the people had the sense to say. Of course, it wasn’t her fault. She had been a victim, her family, victims. Harry was a victim.

  “But how? I didn’t hear any gunshots,” she blurted, seeing the obvious wounds on each of the three men.

  “They brought them back. A message to us!’ replied Carol, consoling Gary’s wife. Kate looked at Carol, a woman who had welcomed them to Warm Springs and made them feel part of the community from day one. Even she blamed Kate.

  “Brought them back from where?” asked Kate, struggling to understand what had happened.

  “The militia base–”

  “Why on earth was Gary at the militia base?”

  “To deliver their men and horses back to them–”

  “What? You’ve handed Trey back to the militia?” shouted Kate incredulous.

  “We couldn’t keep him!”

  “What?! He killed Harry and would happily have killed Gabe!” A couple of loud intakes of breath had her looking more closely at the bodies hanging from the street lights. Gabe was there.

  “We’re not murderers!”

  Kate pointed east towards the militia’s base, “Wake up, for God’s sake, they ARE! Murderers and rapists! My fifteen-year-old was mauled by one of them last night. I killed him! The only reason I didn’t kill Trey was to save Gabe’s life! As a result, I now have to live in fear for the man coming back to try and rape and kill me and my children all over again, and Gabe’s dead anyway. I’m truly sorry they died, but please people, wake up! The world has changed! The militia are not our friends and trust me, we’re now in their sights!”