The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken

by S. M. Armstrong

  Lisa asked, "About what?"

  "This is my house and my food. You're not eating for free anymore."

  Pam turned toward the door but found the way blocked by one of the men. "I'm leaving now!"

  Greg said, "Not till you pay for the food you've eaten."

  Pam tried to push her way past, but the man slapped her hard across the face. She looked back and judged by the look in his eyes that he desperately wanted to do it again.

  Greg looked the girls over and continued, "You don't have any money and that's not any good now anyway, but I do know what you can do."

  Andrea said, "Fuck you, chicken shit."

  Greg reached behind him, pulled out a pistol, and shot her in the head. "Anybody else have a problem paying their bill?"

  The girls were terrified.

  "Larry, get that bitch out of here. Put it on the patio till we can bury it."

  One of the men dragged the body out of the house.

  "Okay, bitches. First you clean up that mess you made me make. Towels are in the bathroom."

  Maria and Sandy went to grab towels. Once the gore was cleaned up and the towels thrown in the garbage, Greg said, "Now, strip." The women hesitated until he reached for the gun, then all the clothes came off quickly.

  "Now, blowjobs for starters. Remember, there are four of us and five of you. That means we got one extra we don't need, so make it good, or else."

  Things only deteriorated from there.

  FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA

  FEBRUARY 20th

  Julie was partnered with Luke for this class. Jim was insistent that they avoid having the same partners all the time, but she still would have preferred one of the others. The little shit hits hard, she thought.

  Jim addressed the group, "So far all of you are getting the most basic concepts down. You've probably noticed that this looks nothing like wrestling or mixed martial arts. That's because your only goal is to hurt or kill an armed opponent, not to make them submit. But before that, your goal is to get the hell out of the way of what's coming at you." He reached into a bag and said, "Roll!" He pulled out a pistol and started firing at head level.

  Everyone rolled and stayed low except for Angie who just stood there in shock.

  Jim said, "Everyone up," as he changed the magazine. "Those were blanks, fortunately. Roll!" He repeated the exercise. This Angie was the first one out of the way.

  "Very good, Angie!" He put the pistol away. "Understand how fast everything happens. Experience the pain and fear here in training so you don't freeze up out there. Ok, partner up and work through the warm up. Remember, treat rolls as stretching."

  Jim walked over behind Angie and put his hands on her shoulders and whispered to her. "Sorry about that, kiddo, but it's important training. Go change and come right back. If you don't come right back I'm going to come get you. Understand?"

  "Yes, Sensei." She ran out the door and back to her trailer.

  If anybody noticed she wet herself, they'll be good enough to pretend they didn't see it, I hope, he thought.

  In ten minutes she was back in an identical pair of sweats.

  "You need to understand that your only goal is to finish the situation quick," said Jim. "If you need to kill your opponent, you take the quickest route to opening them up and interrupting some vital function. Dave, attack."

  Dave flew at him and Jim lightly moved out of the way, struck the arm, and then stepped on the back of the closest knee. Dave's chin rose as he started to fall, and Jim struck his throat lightly and twisted Dave's head to the right and up. He let go and stepped back.

  "Dave, what did you feel?"

  "I punched and missed, and then I don't know what the hell happened."

  Jim said, "That's what I'm looking for. Take it slow. Get the concept down. Help your partner learn."

  Later in the class, Jim asked Dave to make sure that Angie was doing alright. "Will do, Mayor," said Dave.

  After class Jim would sometimes meet at the pub with any of the students who were free and interested. Today it was just Julie and Helen.

  He sipped a soft drink and asked, "What did you two think of today's training?"

  "I almost wet myself, too," said Helen.

  "Good," said Jim. "Just be sure to let Angie know that at some point."

  Julie asked, "Do you always train like this?"

  "With this level of intensity? When I had students who were leaving to go into combat, yes. For the recreational students, no."

  "It's appropriate," said Helen. "I hate to think about what we're going to be stepping into once we leave here."

  "I'm very sure it won't be pretty," said Jim, "whatever the situation is. Unfortunately, our mission won't allow us to hang out here till everything is back to normal. As soon as there is a vaccine, we're up. I expect that it's not going to be the safest of occupations."

  Julie asked, "Do we know anything about the outside yet?"

  "Just a few shortwave broadcasts from Europe. It doesn't sound good. The virus has been just as lethal as we expected, but they have done a better job at keeping people home to slow down the spread."

  Helen looked at him and asked, "What do you think things will look like when we get back out there?"

  "I'm thinking that having too many people won't be the problem anymore," said Jim. "Beyond that, I'm preparing for the worst and hoping that the reality is somewhat better than that."

  Julie said, "Well, on that note, tell Aunt Susan we're playing The Holy Grail in the theater tonight. The popcorn maker is working great."

  Jim smiled and said, "We wouldn't miss it."

  MARCH 27th

  It had taken a while, but the armed group Rob had been expecting finally showed up in a bunch of old trucks and was gathering in front of the embankment blocking the road. Matt and Luke were on watch and called it in, and Rob called an alert over the radio. Everyone had hardened snipers nests to go to and even the back sides of the camp were well covered. Julio and Frank made a quick stop to grab extra hardware. Rob, Jim, and Ann remained in the communications room watching the monitor. All of the children were taken to one of the shelters and where they were guarded by Angie and Rebecca while Rita kept them calm.

  What Rob didn’t expect was that four uniformed sheriff’s deputies were leading the group of thirty or more men with AR-15’s and hunting rifles. One of the deputies aimed his assault rifle in the air and fired off a shot. He picked up a megaphone and said, “We know you’re in there. Come out now.”

  Rob said to Jim, “Mind if I take this one?” Jim shrugged and pushed the microphone over to him.

  Rob pushed the microphone and said, “We’re not risking contamination and we don’t have enough supplies anyway.” The speakers were intentionally set very loud in order to be more intimidating and the mob did appear to wince.

  The officer said, “This isn’t a discussion. Come out now.”

  Rob said, “This is a federal outpost and you have no authority here. You will stand down and you will leave now.”

  The deputy looked like he was about to lose it. “You are under arrest for disobeying the instructions of a peace officer during a time of martial law. You will come out now or face the consequences.”

  Ann said to Rob, “They’re hungry; they’re not going to back down.”

  Rob answered her, “You’re right, but I have to try anyway.”

  Jim pointed to the monitors and said, “Look!” There was a large group of men on foot entering the trees a half mile to the rear of the property. “Screw these assholes.”

  Jim activated his radio and said, “Be advised, we have another group of at least thirty doing a flanking maneuver at the back of the property.”

  Rob said, quietly, “Move the reserve to the rear line. Ann, get out there with a thirty cal.”

  Jim clicked the radio on again. “Reserve to the rear line, now. Contact in three minutes. Rules of engagement are no survivors. Front line is to open fire on my order or with first shots heard. Rear line
may fire at will once ambush is set.”

  Rob picked up the microphone and said, “Look, asshole. I know you’re not going to leave and I know you aren’t going to believe me when I say you don’t have a chance. So, fuck you, pig. If any of the rest of you men would like to haul ass, now is the time. You have two thirty caliber machine guns pointed at your position. None of you will survive.”

  Rob heard the deputy screaming at a couple of the men who were edging toward the road, “He’s lying. Stay where you are!” The rest of the men were nervously trying to spot where the machine guns were hidden.

  Jim said into the radio, “The second group is entering the kill zone. It’s time.” He keyed the radio. “All groups stand by to fire. Pick your targets. Stand by. Ready. Fire! Fire! Fire!”

  Two machine guns and eight assault rifles opened up on the front group. The deputy with the megaphone died first with one shot through the forehead. The rest of the group was quickly cut to pieces.

  The enemy to the rear lasted slightly longer and was able to get off a few aimless rounds, but the machine gun and nine rifles firing from covered positions made short work of the assailants. It was a slaughter.

  Rob keyed his radio. “Rear group, stay in place in case of stragglers. Manny, we need recon on the rear. Front line, make sure the job is finished, and then cover the cleanup crew.”

  There were a few shots at the front as Will made sure that all of the enemy were dead, and a few more as Julio did the same thing at the rear. Rob opened a new screen for the remote controlled recon plane Manny had just launched. The infrared camera didn’t show any more of the enemy in the woods.

  Once they were sure it was safe, Jim and Ann put on protective gear and gas masks, and drove the excavator to the rear. She collected all the weapons and ammo into an open barrel while he used the excavator to quickly dug a twelve foot deep mass grave. They both dragged the bodies to the pit and kicked them over the side. Jim almost threw up when he recognized what was left of the handyman he’d hired to fill the pond. They covered the bodies with lye and buried them.

  Rob asked Samantha to not take any pictures. For once she was happy to agree.

  Frank, Stewart, Todd, and Dave donned MOP gear and masks, and then took the tractor and bulldozer to the front. Frank moved the embankment out of the way with the dozer and started to dig a pit next to the road. Dave collected the weapons into a wheelbarrow while Todd and Dave started moving vehicles far back into the tree line across the street. They left the keys in each vehicle under the driver seats. Soon, the pit was complete and Frank and Stewart used the tractor and bulldozer to push the bodies into it.

  Frank filled the hole with the bull dozer, and Stewart used the back hoe on the tractor to dig up and move two small trees and several bushes to cover the site. The others collected pine needles and eliminated as much evidence of the disturbance as possible. Finally, Frank replaced the embankment blocking the unpaved ranch road.

  They returned the tractor and bull dozer to the ranch where everyone in MOP gear received a shower with strong disinfectant before exiting the gear. The excavator, tractor, and bulldozer received the same treatment, as did all of the collected ammo and firearms, and all were left outside to dry. Anything that could have been contaminated would be off limits for the next several days, until they were positive that any bird flu virus would be dead.

  While they were cleaning up the mess, Manny found where the rear group’s vehicles were parked by the side of the road three miles away. Julio and Manny went to check out the site and were surprised to find no evidence of anyone left behind to report. Julio reported, “Unless they were parked elsewhere or knew how to fly, those idiots didn’t leave anyone to report back to whoever sent them.”

  Jim and Rob were both relieved at this. They left the vehicles in place as there really wasn’t much point in hiding them. Jim said, “Whoever sent them knew where they were going.”

  Rob answered, “Hopefully they will have learned their lesson and won’t be sending anyone else to hassle us.” Neither of them believed that.

  Rob and Jim called everyone not on guard duty to come in to the headquarters for sandwiches and a quick debriefing.

  Rob started off the session. “Today was the hardest day of most of your lives. Right now you’re questioning if we did the right thing. We buried 68 men today who were here because they were hungry. Know that they would have killed all of us and taken everything. Don’t ever forget that.

  “Today you chose to do what you had to do to live, but I need you to know this isn’t just about your lives.”

  Rob walked over to the radio equipment that Frank had set up in the main room and said, “General Whitman, can you hear us?”

  “Yes. Thank you Rob.”

  There were a number of gasps around the room.

  The General continued. “I don’t have a lot of time but I wanted to touch base with all of you. Satellites are back in place and we will be in communication from now on.

  “What you had to do today should never have been necessary in America. I regret that it was and apologize to you for the circumstances that led to it.

  “I want you to know that we are a few months away from having a vaccine, and America desperately needs you in place to deliver that vaccine once it is ready. We are grateful for what you are doing. I know that sounds insignificant at the moment, but know that what you are doing is of great importance and you will be remembered for it.

  “As of 19:00 hours, I am reactivating Robert’s commission in the United States Army and am promoting him to Colonel. Colonel Mullins, you have the full authority of the government of the United States of America to do whatever is necessary to get that vaccine out and restore government control over as much of the South Western United States as possible. Do you understand these orders?”

  “Yes, General,” Rob replied.

  “We will be sending you the vaccine and troops in the next few months. Until then, I won’t have much help for you. Your mission is to maintain your ability to deliver that vaccine, no matter what.”

  “We will, sir.”

  “Good luck and God bless.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  There was silence in the room.

  Jim spoke after a moment. “I’m so sorry for today. We needed all of you on the line.

  “Many of you may have problems processing what happened today. Understand that those men killed themselves today by placing us in a position in which we were left with the choice to fire on them or be killed. I gave the order to fire. In the end, it was my decision and I am fully responsible for all of the results.

  “If you are having problems with what happened today, I want you to talk to me about it. Tonight I want you to talk to someone about it. Process it. Talk about it as much as you can. Understand how traumatic and screwed up it was. Forgive yourselves for what you had to do.”

  Rita stood up at the back of the room. “I want to say something. My kids are safe today because of what all of you did.” Tears were flowing down her cheeks, but she looked furious. “Those assholes would have taken everything and left our kids to starve. They deserve to rot in hell. I’m glad we could help send them there.”

  Jim noticed Rob say something in to his radio. A moment later, Pia opened the door from the outside and the younger kids ran in wearing costumes ranging from superhero outfits to various animals. They marched around the room like it was a Christmas parade. Immediately, the somber mood of the room was broken with the kids taking over the room.

  Rob, you smooth, manipulative, son of a bitch, thought Jim, I don’t know if we’re lucky to have you or completely screwed.

  Either way, one thing was sure, Jim knew. The community would never be the same again.

  Stewart, Ann, and Jim took first watch that night. Stew said that he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.

  Jim spent a lot of time talking with different community members in the communications room. No more incursions were attempted, fortunately,
but even while he provided solace to his friends, Jim couldn’t forget all of the corpses in cold graves a few hundred meters away. Whatever happens from here on out, our lives will never be the same, he thought, sadly.

  Later that evening, the General called back on an encrypted phone and talked with Jim about the village and how people were doing. He told Jim, “Call me Paul. You’re our civilian leadership for that group and are not under my command. Besides, I’d like to have some sane civilian to talk to once in a while.” At the end of the call, Jim was left surprised that he would take such an interest in their little camp. They would have many more such conversations over the next few weeks.

  APRIL 6th

  The week and a half since the attack had been restless for everyone, but Luke noticed a large difference in how the teenage boys were treated. They had fought without hesitation and had destroyed the enemy completely. He was surprised at how easy it was when there was no other choice.

  The downside to it all was that they were now looked at as men. With all the crappy responsibilities that go with that, thought Luke. No more getting away with anything. This sucks!

  There just wasn’t a lot of slack for them anywhere. Even Uncle Jim’s classes were getting tougher and they were spending a lot of time on weapons, especially trench knives and other blades. Now Julio was training them in sniper skills in addition to all of the small squad tactics training that everyone else was doing. I always thought that stuff would be fun, but it’s mostly hard and uncomfortable. I still itch from that damn ant hill I crawled through yesterday.

  The highlight of the past week was that Rob took them out for a ride in the helicopter so see what was left of the world. The homes within a few miles of them appeared to be mostly empty, though a few had smoke coming from the fireplaces. For these they would land briefly to leave a box of MRE's with a note and a radio. There were cars abandoned on the roads here and there, but nothing looked too bad until they got to Flagstaff.

  The city was a mess with stores looted, broken windows everywhere, and even rotting bodies in the streets. Luke recognized stores that they had shopped in a few weeks before that were now destroyed. There were a few people who came out to wave at them, but overall, it looked like a ghost town.