The Collapse Trilogy (Book 3): Through the Ruins

by Rod Carstens

  “You’ll get it.”

  “We still got company?” Tim asked.

  “Yeah, so we need to get moving before their friends show up.”

  “On it,” Tim said, turning back to the motor.

  Tanner hobbled his way to the command bus and slowly climbed inside. Danielle was the first to see him.

  “All right, sit down and let me take a look at you,” she said, seeing the fresh blood stains on his arms and legs.

  Tanner groaned as he sat down. Morgan was staring at the drone’s video on a laptop.

  “Morgan, are you scanning the rear of the convoy?” Tanner asked as Danielle began to clean the blood off his arms.

  “No, I’ve got it scouting ahead right now. There’s a perfect bridge just a couple of miles down the road. If we had only made it a little farther we’d have had an ideal place to stop. Look at this.”

  Tanner leaned over so he could see the laptop, and sure enough, there was a narrow bridge that would be a perfect defensive position, with flat ground surrounding it and a deep gorge below. You could put a truck across the entrance and hold off an army there.

  “How far away is that bridge?”

  “Only a couple of miles. We were so close.”

  “Go to the rear. I want to see what our friends are doing.”

  “They followed you all this way?” Morgan said.

  “Yeah, so I think they have some backup coming.”

  Julia and Dr. Rule weaved their way through the equipment and supplies to Tanner. Seeing the blood on Tanner, Julia said, “Babe, are you all right?”

  “Yeah, yeah, just some scratches.”

  “Is he?” Julia said to Danielle.

  “Yes. I think he’s right. They’re just a bunch of small cuts.” Looking up at Tanner, she said, “What did this?”

  “An improvised grenade. These guys are dangerous people, with stuff we haven’t seen before.”

  “What could they want from us?” Dr. Rule said.

  “I don’t know. That’s the question. Why not leave us alone after everything? They’ve paid a pretty big price already, so why keep after us?” Tanner said.

  “I’ve got the video going, Vin,” Morgan said.

  Tanner stood and hobbled over to where Morgan had her laptop. She had the drone a hundred feet above the interstate, hovering near the two riders. They were sitting on their motorcycles just watching the convoy. Finally one said something to the other, and he jumped on his bike and took off in the direction they had come from.

  “He’s headed back to let his friends know we’re stuck here,” Dr. Rule said.

  “Yep, I’m afraid you’re right,” Tanner said. “How far to the exit for the mall?”

  “Best we can tell, since we lost the GPS with the first SUV, is a few hours, no more. Without a breakdown we could have made it by tonight,” Rule said.

  “Damn it!” Tanner said.

  He stood, but before he could leave, Danielle stopped him and said, “You okay or do you need a shot?”

  “Give me one shot. It would help me keep a clear head.”

  Danielle gave him the shot, and he headed out the door. Julia had been studying drone but came to him now and said, “What are we going to do?”

  “Either we get that bus going, or we’re going to have to leave it behind,” Tanner said.

  “But it has so much of—”

  “Yeah, I know, but maybe those punks would be satisfied with all the equipment and supplies. I don’t know. I need to think.”

  Tanner limped toward the rear of the convoy, weaving his way through men, women, and children as they waited for the bus to be fixed. Kids were running and laughing as if nothing had happened this was their new normal. It looked like any other time they had stopped on the road to rest and eat. To Tanner it only emphasized how bad a spot they were in. Tanner looked around at the terrain; there was no way he could turn this into a good defensive position. The tree line was farther back from the road than usual, and there was a lot of open ground between it and the buses. If they took up positions in the trees, they would have too much open ground to cross to return to the buses under fire. So that was out.

  He needed to know if that bus could be fixed or if they were going to be forced to leave it. It was crammed with all kinds of supplies and hacks they had built, and losing it would make starting the new settlement much more challenging.

  With Julia still at his side, he reached the rear bus. He found Tim and asked, “How are you coming?”

  “I think we’ve got it. We’re about to find out.” Tim turned and yelled to one of his men in the bus, “Give it a try!”

  The bus turned over and over but didn’t start. Tim leaned in and adjusted something, then said, “Now try it again!”

  The engine turned over and the bus sputtered, then coughed, and finally roared into life.

  “How long before you’ll have it back together?” Tanner asked.

  “Ten minutes. No more.”

  Tanner turned to Julia and said, “Get them loaded up. We’re out of here in ten minutes.”

  “Right.” Julia ran back to the other settlers and said, “Get them loaded up! We’re leaving in ten minutes!”

  The reaction was a tribute to the settlement’s training and discipline. Everyone, including the children, immediately stopped what they were doing and started loading up on their respective buses.

  Tanner headed back to the three gun trucks at the rear of the convoy. He approached Cat. “Anything?”

  “Nothing yet. What’s the story?”

  “They got the bus going. We’re leaving in ten. They’re loading up now.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Hey, boss, we got more company,” Matos said.

  Tanner turned to see a group of riders appear over a slight rise in the interstate and stop where the single rider had been waiting. They dismounted and stood around, talking and looking toward the convoy.

  “What’s going on?” Cat said.

  “They’ve got more coming so they’re waiting for their friends, is my guess,” Tanner said.

  Tanner looked back at the buses. There was no way they could handle a running fight with the buses exposed to fire from motorcycles and God knew what. Then it came to him: if they could just make it to the bridge ahead, a couple of guys could make a last stand there until they knew the community was safe in the mall. And it would be the last stand—the two, all in all, probably would not survive it. But it was the only way.

  He looked around for Matos.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Tanner walked over to Matos. He was cleaning his rifle as he usually did anytime he had a free moment. Always the professional.

  “Hey, buddy, we need to talk. Walk with me.” Tanner led him a few feet away from the others.

  “When you call me ‘buddy’ it means you’ve got a shitty job for me.”

  “How did you know?”

  “We’ve been together too long. What’s the scoop?”

  Tanner took a deep breath and said, “They’ve got the bus running. We should be leaving in just a few minutes, but our friends out there will be on our tail.” Tanner glanced back and saw another five riders had shown up. “They’re going to want to get in a running battle with the convoy. We’re not set up for a bunch of guys on motorcycles who have improvised grenades and who knows what else attacking buses filled with families.”

  “No. No, we’re not.”

  “A couple miles up the road there’s a perfect defensive position on a bridge over a nice, deep gorge with a river at its bottom and a wide-open field leading up to it. Good ground and cover, where two good men could stand these guys off for a long time.”

  Matos looked up at Tanner with a slow smile. “Two guys?”

  “Yeah, you and me. We take one of the trucks and let the other two go with the convoy. We hold that position for as long as we can, so we’re sure the rest make it to the mall and have enough time to get set up.”

  “How lon
g?”

  “A day or two, maybe.”

  Matos just smiled that cold smile of his and said, “You mean we’re going to pull an Alamo to save the others.”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.”

  Matos sighed and looked at the convoy. Men, women, and children were rapidly loading up and getting ready to head out. “You know, I’ve never belonged with them. I’m different. I’m a fighter. That’s all I’ve ever known and all I know how to do. Protecting these people has made me feel good about myself for the first time in a very long time. It’s one thing to know you were meant to be a soldier. It’s another to find a purpose for those skills. These people gave me a purpose.”

  Tanner was surprised. Matos rarely spoke and never talked about these kinds of emotions.

  Matos looked Tanner in the eye. “I’m in. They need you. You should ask for a volunteer and go with them.”

  Tanner had known the suggestion was going to come up and had decided not to tell Julia or the others in the command group about his decision. He didn’t want them talking him out of it.

  “No, I can’t do that. I can’t ask or order somebody to do this. I’d never be able to live with myself.”

  “Okay, you got a plan?”

  “Yeah. Grab me a .308 and as much ammunition as you can lay your hands on. Pistols and more rifles, anything you can think of. Load it in the pickup. We’ll take the last position in the convoy. Our friends are going to follow as soon as we start, so we’ll keep them busy until we reach the bridge, and then we make our stand.”

  “You know Cat and Blondie are not going to go for this, leaving us behind. They’ll want in.”

  “I know, but they’re the best fighters we have left, and we need them with the convoy.”

  “I’m glad you’re going to tell them and not me,” Matos said with a chuckle.

  Tanner walked over to Cat and Blondie as Matos began to round up the weapons and ammunition they would need. Cat saw Matos and then looked at Tanner. “What’s going on?”

  “Matos and I are going to take the tail-end Charlie truck. You, Blondie, and the rest will pile into the SUV. There’s a bridge a few miles up the road that’s a perfect place to make a stand, so when we get there, Matos and I are going to stop and slow down our friends while you take the other two gun trucks to guard the convoy.”

  “Bullshit. You’re not staying behind without me again,” Cat said.

  “How many goddamn times do I have to tell you that you’re my second-in-command and your place is with the convoy? I need to know the best fighters I have left are with the settlers. And that goes for you too, Blondie.”

  “But…” Blondie sputtered.

  “No arguments.” Tanner looked up the road as the last of the men, women, and children loaded into the buses. “They’re ready now. Cat, get your ass to the front of the convoy, and Blondie, you take the rear.”

  Without giving them a chance to argue, Tanner ran back to the pickup as Matos was loading the last of the extra weapons and ammo. “We ready?”

  “Yeah, boss. How’d they take it?”

  “They’re both pissed at me.”

  “What a surprise.”

  “I’ll drive,” Tanner said.

  Matos jumped into the bed of the pickup and took up his position. The buses were beginning to move, so Tanner accelerated after them.

  “They’re moving!” Matos yelled from the rear of the truck.

  Tanner glanced at the truck’s mirrors, and sure enough, the ambushers were following but keeping their distance. Good. Now if we can only get to that bridge.

  Matos fired his rifle and Tanner flinched not expecting firing soon. “What’s happening?”

  “One of them was testing us. He won’t do it again.”

  Tanner could see the bridge now. It was so close. Matos fired again. Tanner could go only as fast as the SUV in front of him, and it felt like they were taking their time instead of moving as quickly as they should. He gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. Just a few hundred more yards. Matos fired again and again.

  Tanner glanced back. The riders had realized the bridge was coming up and were trying to get around the gun trucks. Suddenly, a rider raced up next to them. Matos’s pistol roared, and the rider disappeared.

  They were only fifty yards away. Now two riders showed up, one on each side of the truck. Blondie, standing in the gunner’s hatch in the SUV, fired at the one on the passenger side. His arms flew up and he fell off the motorcycle. It veered to the right, away from the truck, and cartwheeled before coming to a stop. Matos’s pistol boomed again, and the other rider disappeared.

  They were at the bridge. Tanner slammed on the brakes and spun to the left, so the truck fishtailed to a stop across the bridge’s one good entrance, blocking it. The other two lanes were blocked by an old wash out just as he had seen on the drone video. It was perfect. He jumped out of the cab, with the truck between him and the riders. He grabbed his rifle and took up a position as Matos jumped out of the bed of the pickup to stand by his side. Tanner glanced over his shoulder. The convoy kept on moving across the bridge, then down the interstate. They were getting away.

  He turned back in time to see a line of riders racing for the bridge. He counted ten, with the rest holding back, waiting to see how these first ten did.

  “They’re going to come at us in waves,” Tanner said.

  “Yeah, looks like.”

  Before they got closer, Matos picked off three riders in quick succession with well-aimed rounds and Tanner opened up with his .48. He fired a long burst, sweeping from left to right, trying to down as many of the riders as he could. A series of explosions ripped into the riders as some of his last explosive rounds struck home. He hit one bike in the front wheel, and it catapulted the rider headfirst into the highway. Another rider was torn in half, and without hands on the handlebars, his bike veered to the right into the next rider, causing him to go down under the wreckage of the two motorcycles.

  The final rounds of Tanner burst struck a riders as he raised an arm to throw something at them. The round took the arm off the man, and an improvised grenade fell from his hand and exploded by the rider next to him.

  The three riders left screeched to a stop to turn and tried to turn to run. Matos fired, and another rider went down. The last two riders made their escape and headed for the others, out of range of Tanner and Matos weapons.

  “Not bad. They’ll make them think about charging us again,” Matos said.

  “Yeah, they’re going to need to come up another strategy,” Tanner replied. He glanced at his watch. It was close to four in the afternoon. It would be dark in a few hours.

  “Matos, can you get a good count of how many friends we’ve got out there with your scope?”

  “I was just trying to,” Matos said. He swept the area carefully. “My best guess is twenty-five more riders.”

  “You know, I still think they’re waiting for reinforcements,” Tanner said.

  “Yeah, charging us isn’t going to work. Have you got many more explosive rounds?”

  “A couple of magazines, that’s all, and then I’ll have blown my wad. I’ll have to use normal rounds from then on,” Tanner said.

  “Think they’re worried about the convoy getting away?”

  “Good question. These guys don’t seem to have a set territory. They may not care as long as they know it’s down the road. I’m starting to think they’re a roving band with no real base. Make a good ambush and stop there until they need more supplies then move on.”

  “You want to kill as many as possible. So no matter who is left they won’t to follow the convoy.”

  “Yeah. And if we buy the convoy enough time to get into the mall and hide the vehicles, there’s a good chance they’ll never find them even if they do follow,” Tanner said.

  “That’s a long string of assumptions you just put together.”

  “Yeah, ain’t it though. But it’s all I’ve got. I think the
y’ll wait for dark this time. Let’s see if we can get ready.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Tanner and Matos spent the next couple of hours carefully examining the ground in front of them, calculating the range to certain landmarks. Matos was writing down the range to a fold in the ground when he said, “How long have we been working together?”

  Tanner had to stop and think. “You know, I’m not sure. Our first mission was that one where we were suppose to observe only, and then the mission changed and they sent us in with those other teams. What was the name of that gang?”

  “I think it was the Blacks. Yeah, that was the first time the three of us pulled a mission together.”

  “We almost got our asses shot off on that one,” Tanner said.

  “Yeah, Cat saved our butts. Covered us while we flanked that ambush. She’s got real balls, that girl,” Matos said. “I’m gonna miss her.”

  Tanner looked over at him and said, “We’re not dead yet.”

  Matos smirked, “Not yet.” He put his eye back to his scope and began to work it across the ground in front of him. The light was fading, so it wouldn’t be long before they tried something. “Any ideas of what they’re going to try?”

  “No. Too many options. But they do like to fight off those bikes. They might try a charge in the dark. It would make your long gun a lot less accurate.”

  “Yeah, but even without night vision this scope gives me a pretty good view, and there’s a nice moon out tonight.”

  Tanner had been watching a stand of trees to his left. It was a hundred yards out but was the closest cover to their position. It would be a good place to use for a charge—come out of those trees fast and be on top of them quickly. As the darkness grew, Tanner could see orange light from what had to be cooking fires just over the rise on the interstate where the riders had stopped. He thought he saw some movement in the trees; the firelight was brighter than it should have been. He put his own lower-power optical on the trees but saw nothing. Then he heard the sounds of engines starting to his right. They were over the rise so he couldn’t see them, but the riders weren’t trying to muffle the sound. Instead they were revving them loudly.