“Were these men soldiers?” Gail asked when Margaret had finished.
“No, I don’t think so,” Margaret said. “But they did have what looked like really old military trucks. The type I remember seeing transport soldiers in Vietnam. The backs of their trucks were filled with crates and canned food.”
“So they hit our supply depots first,” Don mused. “That would have taken planning and coordination.”
“How did they get past our road blocks?” Feagen asked.
“We don’t have the resources to guard every single road,” Colton said.
“Did you see where they went?” Gail asked Margaret.
Detective Ryburn stepped forward. “I did. They were heading toward the park entrance.”
Colton pivoted so he could look the detective in the eye. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
“The Stanley was burning,” he said. “I’m sorry, Chief, but there wasn’t anything I could do. Some of them even had automatic rifles.”
Don held up a hand. “Wait, back up. You said they were heading into the park?”
Ryburn nodded, his chin jiggling.
“That’s where we’re storing the meat,” Don said.
Colton drew in a long breath. “Jesus, these guys knew where we were hiding everything.”
“How?” Gail asked.
“Good question,” Tom Feagen said. “It was your job to make sure our facilities were protected, Colton. Now what are we going to do?”
“What will we do for food?” someone asked.
Gail scowled. “And medical supplies.”
“And where are we supposed to house the tourists?” asked Officer Hines.
The questions came in a flurry around Colton. He took a step backward. It was all too much—the questions, the pressure. He had lost control of the town in a single afternoon.
“We’ll find a way,” Lindsey said. “Right, Chief?”
She looked at him with the hopeful gaze that he would expect from a rookie soldier looking to a commander for reassurance before a battle. Colton didn’t have any to give.
“We have to get our supplies back.” He pulled out his Colt .45, flipped open the loading gate, thumbed the hammer, and spun the cylinder to inspect the chambers.
“Grab the pickup, Lindsey,” Colton said. “Don, you coordinate with our officers and volunteers to see if you can figure out what these guys took. Margaret, stay on the radio. I’m heading up Trail Ridge Road.”
“No,” came a firm voice.
Colton snapped his full cylinder closed and turned to Gail.
“I’ve talked it over with the others, and I’m putting Sergeant Aragon in charge of the police department and Estes Park militia,” she said.
He could only stare at her for a moment. “What the hell are you saying?”
“You’re not in charge anymore, Marcus,” she said. “We still want you on the force, but it’s time for a change in leadership.”
Don put his cowboy hat on and stepped next to the mayor, but Lindsey walked over and stood by Colton.
“You can’t do this, Mayor,” she said. “This isn’t Chief Colton’s fault.”
Officers Matthew and Officer Hines, along with Detective Ryburn, remained where they were standing—unwilling to take a side, or perhaps waiting to figure out which side to take.
“If Jake were here—” Colton started to say when Gail cut him off.
“He’s not. I’m sorry, Marcus, but Jake is dead. And you haven’t kept your promise to protect this town. It’s time to let someone else try...before it’s too late.”
The words stung Colton deep, like a hot knife scraping his bones. A hundred things rushed through his mind, memories of better times and dreams for the future.
Hines and Matthew slowly moved over to Don’s left side, but to his utter shock, Ryburn walked over to Colton. Lines had been drawn, three against three. But Don had the support of the town administration.
Colton balled his fists.
Don saw that and raised a brow as if to taunt him. Colton narrowed his eyes at the sergeant. God, he wanted to jack Don in the face and knock him on his ass, but that wasn’t going to do anything but make Colton feel better. The true test of a man was doing the right thing even when clouded by anger. His father taught him that when he was just a boy. Too bad no one had taught Don what a real man was.
“Fine, Mayor,” Colton said, relaxing his hands. Without Jake, Raven, and Nathan to stand by his side, he had no choice but to back down. In the end, the town came first. His family came first. He would not make things worse by resisting the decision of the majority.
Colton pulled off his chief of police badge and handed it to Gail.
“You can take mine, too,” Lindsey said. She fumbled for her shield, but Colton put a hand on her arm.
“Don’t,” he said. “The force needs you.”
She scowled, but stepped down. As Colton left, he heard Don giving the same damned orders he’d been delivering before Gail demoted him.
A few minutes later, Lindsey and Ryburn followed him outside.
“This is horseshit!” Lindsey said. She ran alongside, her face redder than her hair. “You can’t let Don take charge. He’s a jackass.”
“A real jerk,” Ryburn agreed.
“It’s not my call,” Colton said.
Lindsey looked at the ground. “I hate to do this, Chief, but I’m gonna need the keys to the truck back. Don is sending me up to the park to check on the meat.”
Colton pulled the key from his pocket and held it out, even though giving up Jake’s truck felt like a betrayal. “Did he say you had to go alone?”
Lindsey grinned, looking more like her usual self. “Why don’t you drive? I’ll take shotgun.”
“Let’s go,” Colton said, closing his fist around the key.
Lindsey took the passenger side, and Ryburn jumped in the back. The drive out of town was met with silence, Lindsey looking out the window and Colton focusing on the road. They all knew the men who had taken their supplies were long gone now, but the threat lingered and Lindsey loaded her AR-15.
“I’m sorry, Chief,” she said.
“Better stop calling me that.”
She shook her head and turned back to the window.
Twenty minutes later, they were winding up the long road into Rocky Mountain National Park. Snow framed the sides, a foot at first, then an entire wall the height of a man. A chilly breeze rushed into the open windows.
Colton had plenty of time to think about everything that had happened, but his primary concern right now was that meat. They had at least two weeks’ worth, plus a week from the dozens of elk and other game they had killed to feed the town. That meant three weeks of survival without having any outside help. Without it, they were going to be scrambling to keep everyone fed, especially with their canned and dried food stolen.
At twelve thousand feet above sea level, the bitter breeze stung Colton’s lungs. He rolled up his window and parked the truck outside the Ranger station.
“Where the hell is Ranger Field?” Colton asked. He was supposed to be guarding this place, but the old Indian motorcycle that Field had been driving was gone.
Colton got out of the truck and un-holstered his Colt .45. He thumbed back the hammer and stepped onto the snow. Breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains surrounded him on all sides, but he was focused on the open doors to the metal sheds next to the ranger station.
He crunched over the snow, already knowing the frozen goods and the meat were all gone, but needing to see it for himself.
“Ryburn, go check the station for Field,” Colton said, automatically taking command of the situation as he’d always done. “Lindsey, you check the other sheds.”
Colton walked to the first building and stepped inside, breath coming out in an icy poof. Sunlight shone through the open door, illuminating a snow-covered floor still marked with the impressions of meat and the other goods they had stored here
. In the center of the room, a single glass bottle of pickled herring protruded from the snow.
“The other sheds are all empty, sir,” Lindsey said.
Colton pulled the bottle out of the snow and found a piece of paper tied onto the side. He retreated back outside and held it into the sun.
“What’s that?” Lindsey asked. She wrinkled her nose. “Seriously? I hate pickled fish. Of all the things to leave….”
Colton untied the note and read the message.
You can blame Raven Spears for your missing loot. I wouldn’t have even known about Estes Park if it weren’t for him. Your first mistake was trusting that weasel, and your second mistake was putting my cousin Theo in jail. Estes Park is a nice place. I might have to come back for another visit soon.
Sincerely – Nile Redford
“What’s it say?” Lindsey asked.
Colton almost laughed. He shook his head, handed it over to her, and then turned to look at the view. Behind the ranger station, arms of smoke from the smoldering ruins of the Stanley rose into the sky. Below, the Estes Park valley stretched out like a bowl. The Fall River wound through the flat meadows, and a herd of elk, little more than a constellation of brown dots from this distance, moved along the banks at the water’s edge.
Ryburn rounded the station a moment later. “No sign of Fields in the station,” he reported.
Colton cursed and lit a cigarette he had bummed off Officer Hines. The situation had gone from bad to worse with Ranger Field missing. He feared the man was buried in the snow somewhere out here.
After taking a drag, Colton took a final look out over the valley. The only thing the town had left was clean water and the wild game in the park—and the game wouldn’t last forever. Two of his officers were dead, and he feared more would die in the violence that ensued from the starving citizens.
For a fleeting moment, he felt relieved that he was no longer in charge. The feeling passed in a heartbeat when he looked back at the place where he had married his high school sweetheart and raised a daughter. He wasn’t in charge anymore, but he was going to be damned if he let anything happen to Estes Park.
The Humvee growled down the road. Raven had traded his Jeep in for the upgraded military vehicle, but he hated leaving his baby behind. He would be back for her soon. Just like he would be back for Creek. He was really missing his four-legged best friend. Nathan was a poor substitute.
He pushed down on the gas pedal and the Humvee rocketed up a hill. His eyes flitted over the canvas—a drab landscape, gray rocks, and grayer sky.
“Eyes up,” Nathan said to Joe from the back seat. The racist little prick was groaning from the pain. Nathan slapped the kid every time he began to lose consciousness.
“You can’t die yet,” Nathan said. He continued the interrogation with a backhand to Joe’s chin.
“How many of you are there?”
“I—I don’t know,” Joe said.
Nathan put his thumb into the bullet wound in Joe’s leg, prompting a screech of agony.
“Please,” he cried, whimpering like a child. “Please don’t kill me.”
Raven looked away from the rearview mirror. They were coming up on a canyon with high rock walls. Shadows crossed the road. Easing up on the gas, Raven ducked down to look at the outcroppings as they entered the gully. He was searching for a glint of metal or scrap of color that didn’t belong in the gray rocks. The second he took his eyes off the road, the tires jolted over a rock.
He swerved just in time to miss a skirt of scree that had spilled onto the pavement. The trail of loose rocks spread until the road was completely blocked. Raven slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid a collision.
“Looks like a rockslide,” he said.
“Is there a way around?” Nathan asked.
Raven backed up to find an alternate path, moving into the shadows. A crackling noise came from the back seat.
“Hey, is that a radio?”
Nathan pulled up a backpack from the floor behind the passenger seat. He rummaged through the contents and found a handheld radio.
“I thought you checked this bag, Raven.”
“I thought you checked it,” Raven replied.
Nathan turned the radio on and a voice came over the channel.
“Liberty 1, this is Snake Nest. Do you copy? Over.”
“Shit,” Nathan said.
“Liberty 1, Liberty 1. Snake Nest, do you copy?” repeated the voice.
Raven gestured for the radio. “Gimme.”
“What are you going to say?” Nathan asked.
“Just trust me.”
He grabbed the radio from Nathan and brought it to his lips.
“Copy you. Snake Nest, this is Liberty 1.”
“Where the hell have you been, Liberty 1? You missed your last check-in.”
Raven couldn’t help but grin, getting into the character. “We found some loot back on Interstate 70. We’ll be back in a few hours.”
There was a pause that felt like an eternity.
“Roger that, Liberty 1. The General looks forward to seeing what you brought him. Over.”
Raven turned off the handheld. “Who the fuck is the General?”
“Answer him,” Nathan said, squeezing Joe’s arm.
“General Fenix,” Joe mumbled. “He’s the leader of the Sons of Liberty.”
“That’s the guy Dupree was talking about, right?”
Nathan nodded and looked at Joe. “You’re with the Aryan Nation or what? How many of you fuckers are there?”
Joe didn’t answer. He shifted in the seat next to Nathan and brushed up against the door, moaning in pain.
“How many soldiers are there in your group?” Raven asked.
Nathan grabbed Joe and pulled him away from the door. His eyes had rolled into his head and his lips pursed. The wrap covering Joe’s leg was saturated with blood. It looked like he’d lost a lot—maybe too much. Raven didn’t feel so much as a flicker of remorse. Skinhead bastards got what was coming to them.
“I don’t think we’re getting much more out of our friend,” Raven said. “We have to stick to the original plan.”
Raven pulled around the debris pile, the tires jolting over the loose rocks. After powering through the last stretch, he continued through the windy ravine at fifty miles an hour. Gray clouds rolled overhead, only a sliver of sun peeking through their belly. Raindrops pelted the windshield, seeping through a bullet hole and onto the dashboard.
“The first turn-off is about a mile ahead,” Nathan said.
“I know,” Raven replied. He had memorized the map Joe had sketched out for them. He claimed it was the back way to the Castle. Totally unguarded. Raven and Nathan were both skeptical, but they had no other choice than to check out the road. They would find a place to ditch the Humvee and move the rest of the way in on foot.
“Hand me that radio,” Nathan said. “I’m going to try and see if I can get ahold of my sister or someone who can reach her.”
Raven handed it back to Nathan.
“You ever hear of this General Fenix?” Nathan asked while he was fiddling with the channels.
“Nope,” Raven said. “But I know the type. If he’s part of the Aryan Nation, then he sure as hell isn’t going to like me.”
Nathan caught his gaze in the rearview mirror. “You’re sure you’re up for this?”
Raven took a moment to think before he answered. Running the gauntlet was one thing, but heading into a lion’s den to face the kind of men who would skin him alive was another. Sandra, Allie, Creek, and Colton needed Raven. But so did Nathan, and so did his nephew and the other kids being held hostage.
“I’m up for it, Major, but I need you to make me a promise. If something happens to me, I want you to look after my family. You have connections through your sister. Make sure that Estes Park gets supplies and help.”
“You have my word, Raven. I promised Colton the same thing.”
Raven held up
a hand. “One more thing. If I die, you better tell Lindsey that I went down in a blaze of glory—especially if I didn’t.”
Nathan scanned through the channels, reaching out to anyone who might be listening. Raven sped through the ravine while they waited for a response that never came.
They drove in tense silence. Up ahead, Raven saw something hanging from a tree that made his blood run cold.
“I think we’re about to enter enemy territory,” Raven said, pointing. He pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and backed into the shadows of a bluff.
“Is that a...” Nathan’s voice trailed off.
Raven pulled the binoculars from his vest and narrowed in on the figure of a man stretched out in a T-shape, lashed to the branches of an oak. A vulture pecked a ribbon of flesh away from his neck.
“They crucified the poor son of a bitch,” Nathan said.
Joe groaned. “Liam didn’t see eye to eye with the General, so the General took his eyes.” He coughed and rested his head against the seat.
“Damn,” Raven breathed. These bastards were even worse than he’d imagined.
“Took his eyes,” Joe mumbled to himself. “He’ll take yours too, and do worse to the injun.”
Raven shook his head, thinking of the Sioux story about the end of the world.
It tells of a place where the prairie meets the badlands—a place with a hidden cave.
Well, there was a nice rolling meadow ahead, and behind them was a stretch of rocky, arid terrain and a network of caves in the mountains—if Joe was to be believed. All they needed was a black dog, and yet another of Raven’s childhood stories would come to life.
Nathan tightened the rope around Joe’s hands and then tied it to the door. He finished securing the prisoner with tape over his mouth. Nathan grabbed one of the six M4s they had taken from the dead Sons of Liberty, and climbed into the passenger seat.
Trackers 2: The Hunted (A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller) Page 20