We turned left and slowly drove up the hill. We pulled up after about a third of a mile and got out to watch the progress of our convoy. As the last Hummer was coming through the gates, I saw the yellow roof of the old bus as it was slowly pushed back into place. A few minutes later, our entire convoy was ready to move.
The guards from the gate joined the pedestrian contingent. Luke was picked up by Brock on one of the bikes which would serve as outriders and it raced him up the hill towards us. He waved to the front bus on his way past. I had to admit, from the head of the column, our convoy, or road train, or whatever you wanted to call it, looked pretty impressive. Only a really big force, like the Marauders, would give us any trouble.
Luke arrived and hopped off the bike, giving Brock a pat on the back as he swung the bike around and headed back down the hill.
Luke’s cheeks were flushed with excitement.
“Brock will be hanging back and waiting at the top of the hill when they arrive. We need to know whether the booby-trap works and also how many of them there are.”
“Good call. Hopefully, they’re still an hour or two away. What time is it?”
Luke pulled out the windup watch Brooke had given him for his twentieth birthday. He loved that thing, especially the fact that it had a stopwatch function. He had removed the band and carried it like a pocket watch now. Not a day went by when he didn’t pull it out at some point.
“3:37 A.M.”
“Okay. Let’s head out.”
Part Three: Convoy
25
No matter how impressive our convoy looked, it moved slowly. Especially up the hills. We couldn’t really have expected anything else considering more than two-thirds of us were on foot. By the time the sun began to brighten the horizon of the eastern sky, I had a sick feeling in my gut. We had made the turn off 25 onto 109 not long after we left the Valley, but had probably only travelled a few miles, three at the most.
“I’m worried we won’t put enough distance between us and them,” I said to Ben and Luke.
“I know,” Luke replied. “We’re only as fast as our slowest walkers. We probably could have all been walking and gotten this far.”
“Do you think they’re in the Valley yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’d say they would have planned to attack under cover of darkness. I’d guess they’ve been there a while now. Hopefully, they take their time to scope things out before they break in.”
“Won’t they be suspicious of the fire?” Ben asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” said Luke distractedly. “It should have burned low by the time they arrive. Hopefully, it just serves to light up my cutouts from behind. About a quarter of a mile down the road, we can hang a right to stay on 109 or we can go left and follow 171.”
“What’s the difference?” I asked Luke, looking down at the map he was holding.
“Well, 171 is a bigger and better road, but 109 hugs the lake and is probably more direct.”
“I’m sure 171 would have been quicker back in the old days, but it’s not like we have traffic to worry about. Let’s take 109.”
We reached the turning point a few minutes later.
“Pull up, Ben. I’m going to give everyone a pep talk. After I’m out, you speed up a bit. We’ll drag them along if we have to.”
I jumped out with the bull horn and walked back along our convoy. As I passed the buses, Indigo spotted me and stood up, pulling open her window.
“Hey there, handsome,” she said with a cheeky grin. “Need a ride?”
“My mother warned me never to get into a vehicle with strangers.”
“Aww. Fine then, not enough room for you anyway. What are you up to?”
“Just hurrying everybody up. We need to move faster. How is Max?”
“Max is fine. More comfortable than the rest of us, I guess. These seats aren’t exactly luxurious.” She craned her head to look down the line behind the bus. “Don’t be too hard on them.”
I nodded and blew her a kiss as she sat back down. I let the buses pass me and brought the bull horn to my mouth. “You’re all doing really well. We will stop for a ten-minute rest in another hour. For now, though, we need to pick up the pace. The Marauders will have reached the Valley by now and it won’t be long before they pick up our trail.”
Of course, one could live in hope they wouldn’t pursue us, but something told me it wasn’t going to work out like that. I remembered the bodies of the two brothers and their sister back in Plymouth and I knew there was no way the psycho, Ash, would let us go in peace.
There were a few moans and groans from the walkers, but they all managed to pick up the pace. I decided to walk with them for a while, to show I was willing to lead by example.
About fifty minutes later, I heard the sound of motorcycles behind us. Joe and Brock! I strode towards the front of the convoy as the noise of the engines grew louder. The two riders slowed as they caught up with me, but I waved them ahead, pointing to the lead Hummer. I decided now was the time for a rest and motioned for everyone to come to a halt.
“Okay, everybody. Time for a break. Let’s stop here for ten!”
I watched our road train pull up and the walkers slowly begin to sit on the road and the grassy verge as the gate guards handed out bottles of water. I went forward and reached the lead Hummer as Ben and Luke got out and accosted Brock.
“Did it work?” asked Luke, before the riders had even managed to pull off their helmets.
Brock’s face was white, and his hair wet with perspiration. A fresh red welt stood out starkly on his cheekbone.
“It worked,” he replied.
“Tell me, tell me everything. I want a blow by blow account. And what happened there?” asked Luke, pointing to Brock’s cheek.
“Wait,” said Joe, moving in front of his brother protectively. “Let’s go over there.”
Ben, Luke, and I walked over to the flat, grassy area Joe pointed out.
“Okay, spill,” said Luke impatiently.
“Okay. They got there just under three hours after you left.” Brock turned to me. “You definitely made the right call. Their army is huge. Bigger than I expected. They were pretty cautious. The majority stopped about a half mile out and they sent a bunch of guys in on foot. They were in black and armed with bow and arrows.”
“They were really cautious,” said Joe. “It was an age before they made a move.”
“Yeah,” said Brock. “It would have been funny, you know, them sneaking up on cardboard cutouts and all, but I couldn’t help thinking what would have happened if they’d arrived the day before. Anyway, they set these guys all around, on the hills and by the gate.
“Once they were set, a smaller group arrived but stayed at a distance. I’m pretty sure it would have been the commanders and they had... they had Benjamin. They pushed him to his knees in front of the gate.”
“Shit,” I said.
Brock swallowed before continuing.
“They called out with a bull horn. They were calling out to you, and Indigo, and a few others they knew the names of. Obviously, they had forced Benjamin to give up information about us. They demanded the gates be opened or they would kill Benjamin. Anyway, they gave us five minutes. Some guy counted down the whole three hundred seconds and then, well, the gates didn’t open, of course. They — they —”
Joe put his hand on Brock’s shoulder. “Don’t worry; they get the picture,” he said. “I’ll tell them what happened next, okay?”
Brock nodded.
“Brock wanted to stop them. I had to hit him to make him quit or we both would have ended up dead.”
There was a short pause. Brock didn’t seem to hold a grudge against his brother and, after he nodded, Joe continued. “After they counted down and the gates weren’t opened, they killed him. It was Ash. He gunned Benjamin down in cold blood, right there in front of the gates with a shotgun.”
“Fucking bastard,” Ben whispered.
I put my hand on J
oe’s shoulder as he continued. “They waited for around twenty minutes. I guess until they were sure they weren’t going to be attacked. It took them so long to make a move I was getting to the stage I wasn’t sure if they were going to, but then someone shot off a flare and I saw the bow and arrow guys.”
“Archers,” Luke corrected, automatically.
“Right, archers. They began shooting over the fence at the cutouts you set up.”
Luke’s face remained stony.
“What happened next?” I asked Joe.
“While they were still firing, this massive bulldozer came roaring from further down the road with like two hundred men behind it. It didn’t even slow down, just barreled straight for the old school bus. And then boom!” He shook his head. “That booby trap made a real mess of them.”
“Good!” said Luke. “How many do you think it took out?”
“Hard to say, but obviously the guy driving the bulldozer. If my count is close, then I’d guess at least ten of the ones coming up behind the bulldozer died and a lot more were injured.”
“What then? How long did you stay? Did they turn around?”
He shook his head and the sick feeling in my gut returned.
“I stayed for another half hour. They didn’t turn around. They pulled back to regroup, but then came forward again. I think they’d figured it out by then. They sent about a hundred men through once the fires were out. That’s when I left.”
“Ben, can you grab the map?” I asked. “If they track which way we’ve gone, we’ll need to make a detour. They don’t know our destination, so a couple of turns should keep them off our tail.”
“Um, there’s something else,” Joe said. “They have dogs.”
“Fuck,” said Luke, echoing my own thoughts.
“Okay. Shit. How long did it take for you to catch up with us on your bikes?”
“Ten minutes or so. But I was really hammering it.”
“Okay, we’ve come about five miles. Even going twice as fast as we’ve been going, they will probably catch us in a few hours. They have some on foot, right?”
“Yeah, about half.”
“Even then,” said Luke, “there is no guarantee they won’t send vehicles to catch us faster. We can’t go on at the same pace. What are you thinking, Boss?”
He hadn’t called me that in a long time.
“We have to send the buses on ahead, escorted by a Hummer packed with as many guards as we can get in. Once they’ve reached Manchester, they can leave everyone and just send back the buses for us. We won’t all fit but at least we can evacuate about a hundred more quickly.”
“Sounds like it’s for the best,” said Ben. “The only thing is we don’t know what’s waiting for them in Manchester.”
“True, but we know what’s behind us. We just have to hope they’ll be alright. Come on, let’s break the news.”
We went onto the lead bus and told them the changes of plans. Of course, neither Indigo nor Brooke was happy with the idea, but they couldn’t argue with the logic.
We said another goodbye, this one more poignant, and I kissed my wife and my son goodbye, holding both of them in my arms for the longest time. I saw tears in Brooke’s eyes as Luke turned away from her. I vowed silently to bring him back safely to her.
“Can we send Ben with them?” Luke asked. “You know he’d rather die than let anything happen to the girls.”
“Yeah, I thought the same myself. Ben, Danny, and Jamal will drive the buses to Manchester. I want all of them armed. See if you can stack the Hummer with at least six of your guys and the weapons they’ll need. Paul can drive. Hurry.”
Within a few minutes, we were again waving goodbye to the bus. For real this time. Tears stung my eyes when Indigo held Max up to the window and waved his chubby little arm. I waved until the bus was out of sight, acutely aware it might be the last time I saw my wife and son.
26
After the buses departed, I took the bull horn from the remaining Hummer. I didn’t hold back. I told everyone the situation in plain terms, driving home the fact we had to move even more quickly now. I scanned their faces as I spoke. The majority were armed with homemade clubs, pickaxe handles, and other tools. I knew they would give a good account of themselves if they ever got the opportunity to get into close quarters fighting.
It was a big ‘if’ though, given the firepower of our enemy. If the Marauders caught up with us, most of our group would be slaughtered before raising a weapon. Our only hope was to get to Manchester without engaging. At least there we would have a chance.
I sent Beau and Brock ahead on bikes to set the pace at the head of the column. I didn’t think Brock should go back to track the Marauders after what happened to Benjamin. He seemed more rash and likely to do something foolish than Joe.
I sent Joe and the other rider, Brad, back to monitor the progress of the Marauders. On the small chance they found the enemy had turned back, they were to notify us immediately. Other than that, they were to stay ahead of the Marauders by a mile or so until we were in sight. At that time, they would ride forward as fast as they could to warn us, so we could ready ourselves for battle.
Along the way, Brad was to leave Joe and report to us every half hour. I gave them a handwritten map with the turns we would be taking. When I thought about it clearly, the fact the Marauders had dogs might actually be a mixed blessing because, to track us, they would only be able to go as fast as the animals would allow.
We set off at a brisk pace. The bikes lead those on foot and unarmed first, followed by Luke and me bringing up the armed contingent. The remaining two Hummers brought up the rear.
We made much better ground now that Beau and Brock were at the head of the column. Within twenty minutes, we reached the town of Wolfboro. It was right on the water and the land around it was level and green. As we walked through it, I could see that in its time it would have been a pretty little town, but now it was just plain creepy. A ghost town. It only took a few minutes to pass through the town and not far past it we turned onto 28.
“Okay, about a half mile ahead we should reach a town called Alton —”
Luke was interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle behind us. We looked at each other before turning around. It was Brad. I watched him approach with some trepidation. Would it be good news or bad? He hopped off his bike and wheeled it along as we continued to walk.
“Hey,” he said, without taking his helmet off. “They didn’t turn back. They’re following, not too fast, but faster than you guys.”
“How many?”
“All of them.”
I nodded.
“Dogs?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, how far behind?”
“Roughly about two-and-a-half miles.”
“Thanks. You can go back. See you in half an hour.”
As he sped off, I looked at Luke.
“They’ve gained a mile on us already.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I think we’ll have to make a stand before too long.”
“Let’s worry about that later.”
We pushed on and hadn’t quite reached Alton when Brad caught up with us again. The sun was higher in the sky now and my stomach growled.
“How far now?” I asked.
“I don’t think they made as much ground this time. I think just over two miles.”
Still too close. We sent him on his way again and I told him not to come back until they had closed the distance to a mile-and-a-half.
We stopped briefly in Alton to eat and drink and were back on the move within ten minutes. I had taken a look at Luke’s map, dismayed to see that Alton was barely a third of the way to our destination. Things were looking grimmer by the minute.
“We have to start thinking about where we want to make a stand,” Luke said as we walked out of town.
“Okay. Any suggestions?”
“Yeah, I’ve already thought about it.”
“And?”
�
��In about two-and-a-half miles, we’re going to come to a river called the Merrymeeting and cross a little bridge,” he said, unfolding the ungainly map and pointing to it as we walked. “It’s the only way across for miles around. If we can block the bridge or blow it up or something, they’ll have to make a major detour to follow us.”
“Any other options?”
“Not unless you want to take them on in a town or on the open road. Besides, if we cross the bridge, there we can continue on to Pittsfield and get back on 107. We should be able to put some distance between us while they’re finding a way around.”
“All right. Let’s do it.”
Luke knuckle-bumped me, apparently excited there would be something to do. He folded his map and strode ahead of me, suddenly invigorated and calling out encouragement to the marchers.
27
Thirty minutes or so later we arrived at the bridge. To say it was unimpressive would be an understatement. It was basically just a continuation of the road with some metal rails on the side. The look on Luke’s face spoke volumes, but he felt compelled to speak anyway.
“Fuck! They could almost walk across this shitty excuse for a river,” he said bitterly, shaking his head.
We walked to the head of the procession with Paul, who had pulled his Hummer to the side of the road. Luke leaned over the railing on the right. There the river was shallow and more like a marsh, although it looked like it was definitely deeper on the other side.
“We’ll have to make do,” I said. “We can still slow them down, can’t we?”
He began to look around, across the river and back to where we’d come from. I saw the familiar glint of creativeness in his eyes.
“Yeah. Fuck yeah. We’ll do better than that. By the time we finish with them, they’ll want to change the name of the Merrymeeting to the Fucked-up-meeting.”
We herded everyone across to the other side of the bridge. Once that was done, we got to work. One good thing about having all those people is that we got lots done and quickly. Within an hour, we had barricaded the end of the bridge with three cars, tires, timber, metal, bricks, and basically anything we found that wasn’t pinned down. The barricade ended up around eight feet tall and about double that in width. We left a narrow corridor through the middle, so Joe and Brad could cross and had a pile of crap ready to fill it as soon as they were through. Should all go well, we would get it done before the Marauders arrived.
Rude Shock (America Falls Book 4) Page 13