by Jack Hunt
He’d often wondered if the dog knew what he was feeling — the anxiety, the sense of impending doom that hung heavy every day. He didn’t like living that way, but that was life now. He yawned, rubbed at his eyes and headed out the rear escape hatch so that he didn’t wake Damon and the others who were sleeping farther down in the bunker.
Once he was topside, he relieved himself in the bushes before reaching into his pocket for a pack of smokes. Shit! He crumpled the empty packet.
“Need a smoke?” Gary said. Elliot twisted to find him ambling through the forest. He nodded and once he made his way over he took one.
“Won’t be long and we’ll have no choice but to quit.”
“I guess,” Elliot replied lighting his. “You didn’t sleep last night?”
“Not much,” Gary replied, looking off into the distance.
Elliot blew smoke out his nostrils. “Look, about last night.”
Gary screwed up his face. “Let’s not talk about it.”
“No, we need to. I understand why you’re heading to FEMA. I get it. It’s just that we’ve been through a lot over the past six months. I thought if we stuck together—”
“Enough, Elliot. It’s too damn early in the morning and I haven’t even had any coffee.”
He walked out of the woods into the clearing of Elliot’s backyard and over to the campfire where there was a blackened pot. “You got some coffee?” he asked.
“Down in the bunker.”
Elliot watched him disappear inside. He took a few more logs and threw them on the fire and took a seat. He cast his eyes over the remains of his home. It was hard to believe it was gone. While he was lost in thought, Gary returned and put some water on to boil. He took a seat beside him.
“How are you going to get down to the city?” Elliot asked.
“The Jeep.”
“We’re taking that.”
“So you’re onboard with heading to Texas?”
“I am now.”
He scoffed. “You’re only saying that because you want to make it hard for us.”
“The Jeep was ours to begin with,” Elliot replied.
“But it became property of the department.”
“And where are they now?”
There was silence between them. Obtaining transportation had become tough. Raiders had stolen one of their trucks in the night, and another one was taken by force months ago. Gary went over to the pot and poured out two cups of coffee. He handed one off to Elliot and returned to his seat. He gave it a stir while staring into the fire. It popped and crackled, an orange glow warmed their faces.
Gary sniffed his mug. “Ah that first drop of coffee in the morning.”
“Doesn’t get any better.”
Both of them chuckled.
“Listen, Gary, how about you come with us, check out this compound? If it’s not good, we’ll head to the FEMA camp.”
“You’ll enter?” he asked.
“I didn’t say that. But I’ll personally drop you off.” Elliot smiled.
“Right, and let me be the guinea pig.”
“Hey, it was your idea.”
They continued drinking coffee and smoking as the sun started to come up, its deep orange light filtered through the dense pines.
Elliot raised his arms and stretched. “Anyway, I don’t think we’re going to have enough space in the Jeep for everyone. Some of us are going to need horses.”
“And where do you plan on finding those? Anything that has four legs has become food, barring Kong,” Gary said with a smile.
“Yeah, don’t let him hear that.” Elliot chuckled. “Lake Placid Horseback Riding. It’s a twenty-minute drive outside of town. I took Lily and Evan there a few years back. It’s a ranch just off County Route 18.”
Gary frowned. “Okay, wait a second. You’re telling me you knew about this place all this time?”
“Yeah,” Elliot replied as if it wasn’t a big thing.
“And you didn’t think to tell us?”
“Well we had a Jeep.”
“But there were some of us that could have used those horses.”
“For food?”
“Damn right.”
“That’s why.”
He frowned. “You’ve got to be joking. You mean you would rather starve than kill a horse?”
“Up until now there has been plenty of deer in the wilderness for us to eat.”
“But still we could have used the horses for transportation.”
Elliot smirked. “Listen, even if I told you, how would you have kept those horses alive? We had enough on our plate as it was without the burden of having to feed ten horses. I figured the owners of the ranch would take care of them and when things got desperate, we’d head that way.”
“Desperate?”
“Yep.”
Gary ran a hand over his face. “How the hell did we end up here?”
“I’ve asked myself that countless times. People are people. Instead of seeing the good in each other, we keep picking out the faults to make up for our own inadequacies.”
Gary drained the rest of his coffee, tossing the dregs into the fire before rising.
“Well let’s go see what that ranch has to offer.”
“But I thought you were leaving at seven.”
“And I thought you were going to let us use the Jeep.”
They both smiled at one another.
At just after seven, Ryan awoke to the sound of gunfire. A flood of memories came back from that morning’s attack. He was surprised at how easy killing them had been. Of course he knew there would be consequences. He glanced at his hands one last time to make sure all the blood was gone. Even though he’d worn gloves, paranoia had kicked in. If there was even a drop of blood on him they’d probably find it. He’d removed his clothes, bagged them and hid them behind a ceiling tile. Outside his room he could hear shouting. Soldiers beat on doors for people to get up and head out.
A soldier burst into his room with an M4 pointed at his face.
“You! Let’s go! Outside!”
He hurried past him, scooping up his boots on the way out. Their large group traversed the tunnels like ants until they emerged into the bright morning. Ryan squinted and brought an arm to his face to block the glare of the sun. One by one they were dragged, pushed and made to get on their knees in a straight line. The general emerged shoving his way through the crowd with his Glock by his side.
“I thought I had made myself clear about how this was going to work. Well it appears one or maybe some of you didn’t understand. Two of my men are dead.” He paced up and down staring intently at each of them. “Now I could go ahead and shoot two of you and that would send a clear message but I have a feeling you would just continue, and that would be too easy. The rest of you wouldn’t suffer and for this… believe me, you’re going to suffer.” He stopped in front of Ryan but didn’t look down, instead his eyes swept over everyone. “So, I’m going to give you until the count of twenty for someone to tell me who was responsible.”
Ryan had made a point not to tell anyone. He knew there was a chance they would buckle under the pressure.
“Come on. If you don’t tell me I’m going to cut your rations in half. That’s right, you will work more, and get less food.”
Harlan spoke up. “Perhaps it wasn’t any of us. Have you thought about that? You blew two holes in the wall. Anyone could have got in last night.”
Shelby eyed him with a look of death. “You’re right. Someone could have.” He turned and looked at his men and a smirk formed. “Guys, were you asleep at the walls last night?”
They shook their heads. “No.”
“Did you see anyone enter?”
“Nope.”
He turned back to Harlan. “So that rules that out. Now back to your group.” He crouched down beside Harlan and grabbed a firm grip on his collar before dragging him out and shoving him in front of them all. “Which one of you was responsible? I want an answer and I want it now!”
Shelby crouched beside Harlan and placed the Glock against his head.
“Do I really need to start executing people to get my point across? Cause I really don’t want to have to do that.”
A few cries were heard, but no one stepped forward to say they were the one. The general released his grip and paced for a few more minutes. “Okay. Do it your way. Today all of you are going to work on the walls to close the holes. You will work until they are complete. No food today. Do you hear me? You’re getting no food! And for the one who did this — when I find you and I will, your death won’t be fast.”
Chapter 7
It should have taken exactly thirty minutes to reach County Road 18, however, it meant passing through Saranac Lake, a town that had nearly killed them the day before. Jesse didn’t like the idea so he’d opted to hang back and help out with one of the blockades. With so much on the line and a need for people to ride back on horses, if there were any, they took as many people as they could fit into the Jeep with several others riding in the back of a trailer. Gary figured they’d only need five or six horses. One horse for two people would suffice.
They were heading north on NY-86, and were only minutes outside of Saranac Lake when Elliot saw the blockade in the distance.
“That wasn’t there yesterday.”
Elliot brought the Jeep to the shoulder of the road so he could get a better look with the binoculars.
“How many?” Gary asked.
“Three. All armed.”
“You can head back and take 33 in,” Ella said.
“If it’s not blocked,” Gary replied.
“It’s the only other way you are getting through the town.”
“What do you want to do?” Elliot asked Gary.
“What are you asking me?”
“Because you’re the one that needs the horses.”
He shook his head. “Just go around.”
Elliot did a U-turn in the road and traveled roughly five minutes down the road to County Highway 33. It was a narrow, winding road referred to as McKenzie Pond Road. As it got closer to the town, it fed into Pine Street. Ella kept yakking on about it as if none of them was aware. “I told you,” Ella said. “It’s smooth sailing from here on out. Just follow this over to Bloomingdale Avenue and then hang a right on Broadway and take a left on Ampersand Avenue. That will take us onto County Route 18 and hopefully get us past any other blockade that’s in place. I’m guessing they have one at the corner of Edgewood and State Route 3, and maybe one on the north side.”
Elliot scanned the homes as they passed them, weaving his way around stalled vehicles. “You say this as if you already knew about the blockades.”
“They’re not new. When you arrived yesterday, they had everyone searching for me.” She said it without batting an eye. She stared out the window acting as if that remark wasn’t going to raise further questions.
“Hold on a second, they were searching for you? Why?” Gary asked.
“I killed four of their men over the past two months, stole supplies and have basically been a thorn in their side since day one.”
Gary turned in his seat. Even Damon was looking at her with wide eyes.
“You want to run that by me again?” Gary said.
“When I arrived here from Lake George there were no blockades. After I found my family dead, I tried to track down who’d killed them. Wasn’t easy but just like Lake Placid has its gangs, so does Saranac. I managed to lure a guy into a store and…”
“Lure?”
“Use your imagination, Damon,” Gary said. “Continue.”
“Anyway, before I killed him I got him to tell me how many other groups were operating in the town.”
“And?”
“He said he only knew of two. Some idiot by the name of Dallas ran his group. He also admitted that his group was responsible for my parents’ death, and most of those in town.”
“And the other?”
“No longer in operation. Dallas forced them to get onboard with what he was doing or die.”
Damon nodded. “So that’s why those men were out searching for you.”
“Bingo!” she said with a smirk on her face.
“Great, Damon brought back a psychopath,” Gary muttered.
“Hey, I haven’t done anything you all haven’t done. So cut me some slack. Besides, those assholes killed my parents.”
“Okay, okay,” Gary said turning back in his seat. “But this is information I would have liked to have known before we headed out. If I’d known I would have left you at home. Now we have to hope we don’t get…”
Before he could spit the words out, Elliot slammed on the brakes. They were like rats streaming out of the woodwork. One second the street was clear, nothing but abandoned vehicles, and the next, armed individuals rushed the vehicle. Knowing he had only seconds he switched on the radio and pressed the button.
“Come in, Maggie, this is Elliot. We’re under attack. Saranac Lake. I repeat, Saranac Lake.”
There had to have been fifteen. They swarmed the truck shouting for them to toss the keys out while raking their assault rifles.
“Well that explains why there was no blockade along this street,” Gary said. Elliot looked in his rearview mirror at Sean, Zach and Bobby who were now surrounded. A man wearing camouflage gear, with sunken eyes and hair pulled back into a ponytail, came up to the driver’s side window and tapped it. He had a cigarette in his mouth and an AR-15 hanging low. Elliot brought the window down.
“Get out.”
His directions were straight to the point. No theatrics.
“Look, we don’t mean any trouble,” he replied.
Without saying another word, the man twisted around and fired a round into Bobby’s head. His body slumped over the edge of the trailer to the ground.
“If I have to ask again, you’re next.”
Elliot turned off the engine and handed over the keys and slipped out. All of them were quickly disarmed, zip tied and had rope strung between them to keep them together. The group of men and women led them away while two of them hopped into their vehicle and drove off.
“Fucking great!” Elliot said.
“Well, had you told us about the horses before, maybe we wouldn’t have needed to come here today,” Gary muttered under his breath.
“Shut the hell up!” the grizzled-looking man said smacking Gary in the back of the shoulders with the butt of his rifle. Gary stumbled forward nearly losing his footing.
Maggie had been sitting by the ham radio running several questions by the owners of New Hope Springs when she heard Elliot come over the walkie-talkie beside her. She picked it up and replied but got no answer. Hurrying to the surface of the bunker she scanned the road for Rayna but she couldn’t see her. Farther down the road Jesse was standing beside two neighbors when she came sprinting up, out of breath.
“It’s Elliot. They’re in trouble.”
“What?”
She brought him up to speed. At first Jesse paced back and forth running a hand over his head. “Shit. What do we do?”
“We need to find Rayna, where is she?”
“She went into town with Jill.”
“Do we have another vehicle?” Maggie asked.
“No.”
Dismay swelled in her chest. This was the first time they hadn’t had the input of Damon, Gary, Rayna or Elliot. They’d always turned to them for guidance.
“What about that vehicle that was stolen from the police?”
Jesse shook his head. “We don’t have it. It could be anywhere.”
&nbs
p; “We’ve seen it six times over the past two weeks. It has to be with someone in this town.”
“Well we don’t have time to go searching.”
A sense of despair washed over them as they waited for Rayna to return. In the meantime all they could do was hope that Elliot and the others would manage to get out of whatever predicament they were in.
It felt like they’d been walking for half an hour before they arrived at a bar called the Rusty Nail just off Broadway Street. It was a run-down joint made from faded brick and pine. All six of them were shoved through the dilapidated double doors. The aroma of alcohol attacked their senses as they were guided to a bar on the right where two men were chatting and drinking beers. Off to the left another four men played pool. A generator could be heard churning away. They were using it to provide light in the dingy interior.
“Dallas, we got them.”
“Well done, guys.” An ordinary-looking man turned on his seat. He wore a baseball cap, a crisp blue shirt, a pair of blue denim jeans and a sleeveless leather jacket where a patch had once been. He was average in size, close to six foot, and had to be in his early forties.
As he turned, he wagged his finger at Ella and smiled. He didn’t get off the stool but instead just stared, looking her up and down like a piece of meat.
“Isn’t this ironic? You’ve managed to elude me for close to two months, had plenty of opportunities to run, and when I finally nab you, you’re trying to get into Saranac.” He slapped the heavily bearded guy beside him and laughed. He slipped off the stool and walked over and with a simple gesture of the eyes, and a slight nod, all of them were forced down to their knees. He reached down and ran a hand around Ella’s face. “You and I have unfinished business. But right now I’m curious. Who are your friends? The last time I saw you, you were alone.”
His eyes washed over them.
“No one, just people who gave me a ride.”
“Really? How generous.” He sniffed hard. “You wouldn’t be lying to me?” he asked, walking over to her again and grabbing her chin and squeezing it with one hand.
“Get your hands off her!” Damon said. Elliot squeezed his eyes tight wishing he hadn’t said anything. That was just asking for trouble.