“Let’s do this!” yelled Greg.
“Shhh… remember, keep your eyes open for guards and move quietly,” Rob warned.
Rob and his group moved off to the left. They were going to cross the river closer to where the dam had once stood. Erika’s group moved off to the right. Erika knew as well as Harold where the guards overlooking the canyon were. As they cleared the last of the tree line, they saw the destroyed camp off to the left. They slid down the dried-up hillside toward the river. They crossed it fairly easily. It was the end of September and the end of summer; the mountain water supply was low. Especially now that Mother Nature had destroyed the dams and the natural water flow had returned. The last dam to go went in the last quake. That is what had flooded the Georgetown River camp. Because of that recent flooding, they did stick in the mud around the river but it was managed easily enough. Now they were out in the open, though, and everyone was on high alert.
As they began to climb the other side of the canyon, an intense rumble started again and the ground began to shake. The group clutched to one another and waited as the rumbling shook them to the bone. Vince grabbed Erika and held her close. Erika’s thoughts immediately went to the caravan headed to Lotus, and she said a silent prayer for her children in route. Soon enough, the rumbling ended.
“Now what?” said Taylor in a shaky voice.
“We keep going,” answered Erika. “We have to. Too many people are counting on us and the wheels are in motion now.”
“Let’s go then,” said Harold. He was a man on a mission, and he turned to continue climbing the hill. He was stopped by an extremely muscular, short, stocky man.
“Stop right there, guys.” He sounded really cocky and confident. “Well, well, what’s going on here?” he said in a grumble.
The man had a rifle over his shoulder and a handgun pointed at Harold.
“Hey, I know you. You’re that guy Doug fought in that barn. Oh, Doug’s gonna love to see you. You knocked out one of his teeth,” he said with clear recognition in his voice. “He’s been taking it out on your lovely daughter ever since,” he sneered at Harold. Then he addressed the group, “Now you all are going to put down your weapons if you want your friend to live. Just put them—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a bullet from Greg’s gun ripped through the man’s head, splattering blood and bits of brain onto Harold’s face. The man had been so used to having the upper hand all the time he never saw it coming.
“Whoa, Greg!” screamed Erika.
“What? He would have killed us.” Greg was almost as surprised as Erika by his instant action.
“Yeah, but you could have shot him somewhere else. We don’t know if he was the only guard. We could have gotten some good info out of him. Plus, who knows who heard that shot.” Erika was trying to stay sensible.
“Shot him somewhere else? Where and with what guns once he had all our weapons? Sorry, next time I’ll just let him shoot one of us!” Greg was getting irritated with her reaction.
“It’s okay; I’m sorry. This is just crazy. Let’s just go, quick.” Erika was listening to herself and wondering what she was even talking about.
The group moved quickly up to the tree line where they met another man running toward the sound of the gun.
“Oh shit,” he yelled as he slid to a stop in front of the war party.
“Hello,” Greg said calmly as he grabbed the man by the collar and held his gun to the man’s head.
All Erika could picture was a hole in the man’s head and brains everywhere. “Wait, wait, Greg!” she yelled.
“I am, just calm down, girl,” Greg smoothly replied.
“Who are you people? Please don’t kill me,” pleaded the man.
“Are you the only one out here?” yelled Greg.
“Yeah, it was just me and Bill. When I heard the shot, I thought Bill killed an animal or intruder or something so I came running. Please don’t kill me,” he pleaded again as he glanced down the hill and saw Bill’s lifeless body.
“There, are you satisfied?” Greg asked Erika.
“Yes,” Erika responded.
“Good,” replied Greg as he pulled the trigger and put a bullet through the man’s head.
“ Hold up, Greg! We are not killers!” Erika screamed at Greg.
“Look, Erika, today we are. We are killers. We are going to kill or be killed. What were we going to do with him? Wake up, girl, what do you think we are doing here? You all better wake up.” He looked in the eyes of everyone in the group. “If we are going in there, it is to save those people they took as prisoners. It is to take their supplies for our group, and it is to kill anyone who gets in our way. Now if you can’t do that, turn back now, because that’s reality, folks.”
Erika knew he was right and they would all have to flip that switch inside themselves. She had killed before and now she would have to again. Everyone in the group did a mental check and forged on again. They all had faced reality and knew what must be done. There was no more chatting, no more smiling, it was all business as they crept through the tree line that Erika had traversed when she had skirted around the Auburn compound not so long ago. Now they were going to attack it and kill those bastards.
They passed the apartments where Erika had taken refuge and the stench of death rose through the air as they neared the compound. Smoke was in the air and the group realized the compound was in utter disarray from the last earthquake. Finally, a stroke of luck from the quakes.
They had to cross what used to be an interstate highway to get to the hill behind the compound and nature was reclaiming it all. Erika marveled at the marked difference as they went. The group was ready for anything as they mounted the hill in the rear of the compound and kept their eyes fixed on the tower. Night was falling quickly and their vision was becoming very limited, but their sense of smell was heightened and it was being ambushed by a sickening stench of death. Suddenly, they realized it was not deformed ground they were stepping over, it was dead bodies. This area had once been an old Chinese graveyard hundreds of years ago and now it seemed the people from the compound had been using it for this purpose again, except they were just piling the dead bodies here. Most of the bodies were headless. This gang had been putting the heads on spikes to ward off intruders, and the scene was utterly gruesome even in the dim light. Randy held Michelle as she threw up again and again.
“Try hiding in the bodies for days,” Harold said with a shudder. “Come on, let’s just get through this.” In order to find out the whereabouts of his family, that was exactly what Harold had done. He had hid amongst the bodies. He had watched the camp and found out their secrets, and he had been willing to endure all this decay to do it.
“Keep your eyes on that tower. Remember, that’s where we are headed,” Greg said, trying to keep himself and the group focused. He had never seen anything like this and wasn’t doing very well himself.
All of a sudden, they heard an explosion.
“Oh crap, that’s Rob. We got to get to that tower, now!” said Vince.
Then bang! A shot rang out from the tower, followed by shots at the front gate of the compound. The team broke out into a sprint for the tower, and they were up the stairs in no time. Vince shot a bolt from his crossbow straight through the sniper’s heart as he kicked the door open to the lookout tower. The sniper had never seen it coming. They heard, boom, boom, as two more explosions rang out from the gate. The team, from their vantage point, could see the group from the Auburn compound manning the front gate. They would never suspect an attack from behind.
“Michelle, Randy, you two stay here and start blasting those guys down there,” Greg instructed. “Taylor, you take this rifle and guard that door down there. Don’t let anyone up these stairs! Let’s go guys!” he yelled to the rest of the group.
The adrenaline was thick in the air now and they had completed step one. Taylor took up his post at the door as the group made their way toward the rear of the compound. It had
all looked so clear from the tower but now, as they neared the rear gates, reality began to set in. The camp was in utter chaos. The recent earthquakes had decimated this camp as well. There were fires everywhere and a wild look filled the eyes of the individuals inside. They heard a boom as another explosion rocked the front gate and then bang, bang! as Michelle and Randy began firing their rifles from the tower. Creeping closer to the rear gate, they could hear the confused chatter of the guards. They were discussing leaving their post to go help at the front gate. The attack team split up into two groups to flank the guards. With a silent signal from Greg, arrows from their bows sank into the hearts of the guards. Stealth was the key to the rear attack. They must not alarm the compound to their double-sided attack.
Taking lives was not getting any easier for Erika as she stumbled over their dead bodies and stared into their lifeless eyes.
“Come on, baby,” Vince commanded as he grabbed her hand and dragged her along.
“Okay, we’re in,” said Harold in a wild voice. “The prisoners are over here on the left.”
“And where are the supplies,” demanded Greg.
“They are in a store house on the other side of the camp. Over there.” He pointed to a building that used to be a supermarket.
Decisions had to be made fast.
“Okay, Erika, you go with Harold and Denton and get those people the hell out of here. Vince and I will go scope out the supplies and see what we can get.”
Vince and Greg started picking their way through the camp as Harold, Denton, and Erika made a break to find Henry, Carol, and the rest of Harold’s family. The fires were burning bright in the night, and Erika saw scared eyes peeking out of some of the tents that were not on fire. These folks weren’t fighting, and they looked just as imprisoned as the people they were going to save.
Bang! went Harold’s gun, as he shot a man coming at him with a spear.
“He was the prison guard. Come on, we are close!” shouted Harold.
Their noses filled with a putrid smell as they entered a building that at one time had housed restaurants and various other stores. It had been turned into a dungeon complete with chains hanging from the walls. Bang! went a rifle from the tower as a man that had come up behind Erika fell dead. Erika breathed a sigh of relief, knowing one of those teenagers had just saved her life.
“Whoa, that was close,” Denton yelled to Erika, as he gave the snipers a big thumbs-up.
Inside the building, the room was filled with people. The rescuers all gasped as they entered surprised by the sheer amount of people in here. The prisoners were chained to the walls and sitting in piles of their own defecation. They looked thin and hopeless. The prisoners covered their heads and eyes, fearing the return of their captors and shrieking from the light.
“Betsy! Henry!” Harold shouted, searching the miserable victims for his family.
“Over here!” boomed Henry’s loud voice.
Harold ran to his family.
“Denton, see if you can find some keys,” Erika commanded as she left to follow Harold.
Erika found Harold holding his wife, Betsy, in his arms with his kids smiling as they gazed at their hero, their father.
“Denton is looking for keys,” said Erika.
“Oh my God, Erika, is that you?” Henry’s voice boomed again. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He had wondered if she had made it home alive and now here she was rescuing him.
“In the flesh, Henry, you didn’t think I would leave you here after all you did for me? Did you?” Erika teased.
“Praise the Lord,” cried Carol. “These monsters have had us locked up in here like animals.”
“Let’s get you all out of here,” declared Denton as he arrived with a ring full of keys. He pulled Erika aside as he handed Harold the key ring. “Erika, the guards heard shots over here, and they are headed our way.”
“Erika, is that you?” whispered a weak voice down on the floor.
Erika looked down and saw Jaclyn White, from the Auburn River camp, lying in a heap. She had been captured when the camp was attacked. She was barely clothed and very bruised.
“Oh my God, Jaclyn, don’t worry, we’re going to get you out of here,” Erika said frantically. “Denton, go guard the door, I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Save us too,” shouted voices from all over the room.
“We are going to save you all, just sit tight,” Erika shouted reassuringly.
By the time Erika got back to Harold, he had his family free and was working frantically with the keys to free the others.
“Good job, Harold, we have to save them all, but I have to go help Denton guard the door. The jig is up and they know what we are doing here.” Erika was already headed toward the door.
“I’m coming too,” Henry said insistently.
“All right, we can use the help,” replied Erika as she handed him a handgun she had retrieved off of a dead guard.
When they got to the door, Denton was already firing at a group often. They had posted up behind a barricade facing the door. Henry began to fire as well. Michelle and Randy were doing their best to defend the doorway. The gun fight raged on and neither side had a clear shot at one another.
“I don’t know how much ammo they have but ours is running low,” said Erika when the shooting paused for a moment.
Suddenly, Harold was behind them. “I got them all free, but I don’t know how fast they can move. Some of them have been chained there for months.”
“Well, get them moving and we’ll cover you,” Denton urged.
They began to fire a huge barrage at the men behind the barricade as the prisoners slipped out the door and ran toward the rear gate. When the last one was out, Erika, Denton, and Henry ran to follow them. All of a sudden, Henry fell forward as a bullet ripped through his shoulder and out his arm. Harold had been supplying some cover fire and saw his dad fall. Denton turned to cover Harold as he ran up and scooped up his father.
“Run, run!” screamed Denton as he was shot in the heart and fell dead at Erika’s feet.
The group finally made it back to the rear gate. They had saved a lot of people, but it had come at a great cost.
“Harold, get these people back to the tower and wait there,” Erika demanded.
“What are you going to do?” questioned Henry in a weakened voice. He had been hit but it was not a killer blow.
“I have to go back and find Vince and Greg. I will be okay. Just go!” she yelled at Henry, knowing he would object to her going alone.
To avoid any further protest, Erika turned and left before they could fully register her decision. She was alone in the dark, asking herself what she was doing running off into the heat of a battle alone, but Vince and Greg were in there. She knew where they had gone. She was also an able bodied fighter. She shouldn’t just sit and wait for Vince and Greg to return when she could be in there, fighting or helping to relieve the group of some supplies.
Erika had reached the building that at one time had been a huge clothing store. Erika thought back to how new it had smelled inside, the grand spaces and the sight of the new items stacked wall to wall. The Auburn Gang had used this building’s shell as a shelter for their power producing equipment. She could tell from the amount of makeshift wiring streaming from the roof. Off to the left of the building in the center, a communal fire was still burning. The tents that were surrounding them were in a state of total disarray. There were scared people still hovering unsure of what they should do. It appeared that all of the Auburn Gang’s soldiers had now centered on the front gate and the explosions occurring there were coming at longer and longer intervals. Erika wondered if the men attacking the front were still alive, but if the gang’s force was still centered there, they must be. Also, the snipers were no longer firing from the tower. Erika knew they were still alive but they were having the same problem she was having: ammo was running really low.
She crept by in the shadows, in between the tents surround
ing the fire and the power building. She was super aware of any movement around her. She slipped past the store and was heading for the building that was at a right angle to the clothing store and stretched out to the left. There was a small parking lot entryway between the two buildings, just big enough for two cars to fit through. She hid next to the building and peeked her head out to check for activity before she crossed. It was dark and difficult to see, but it looked as if two dead bodies now stood guard over an abandoned gate. Fire light reflected off an arrow that was protruding out of one man’s head. She chuckled a little and knew that Vince and Greg had definitely been this way. She moved across the pavement and turned to creep along the wall of the next building when all of a sudden a man was right behind her. He came out from the corner of the building. He must have watched Erika cross. Erika had heard his approach and quickly turned to face him. She recognized this man; he was one of the leaders of this group. The one she had seen driving the jeep while she was in hiding in the bushes with Star.
He had a gun in his hand and Erika had one in hers. In an instant, they both raised them up to the head of the other. As they fired, both shots missed as they simultaneously kicked the guns out of each other’s hands.
“Oh, you’re quick,” the man said. Erika knew this was the guy. His name was Steve.
“Hi, Steve,” Erika said defiantly as they circled one another.
“Smart too,” replied Steve coarsely.
He threw a punch at her but Erika ducked it and countered his attack with a front kick straight to his jaw that sent him flying backwards. Erika grabbed her knife from its holster.
“Oh, you want to play! You’re gonna pay for that you fucking bitch!” Steve was pissed off now and bleeding from his mouth.
They circled one another again. Then, in a fit of rage, Steve lunged in to pierce Erika’s heart but Erika flowed with his movement and dodged his attack. Steve looked down and saw the hilt of Erika’s knife sticking out of his neck. He gasped desperately for air, and she reached up and pulled the knife from his neck. Blood began to bubble from his mouth and ran down his neck out of the gaping hole. His beady eyes stared into hers as he fell to his knees and then he fell flat on his face dead.
Day After Disaster, The Changing Earth Series, Uncut Edition Page 22