Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series)

by A. American

Mike turned around. “Holy shit! I didn’t see you. Where’d you come from?” He wrapped her up in a hug.

  Jess wrapped her arms around him as well. “We were in the detention center. Aric helped us get out.”

  Mike nodded thoughtfully, reserving his judgment. The two of them then spent a few minutes catching up. Jess was glad for the company.

  Kay walked into the building a few minutes later, eager to check on Aric and Mary. On her way to Aric’s bed, she stopped by Sarge’s bed, looking down at the old man, who was now asleep. Ted walked up beside her. “He’s a good man.”

  “Friend of yours?” Kay asked.

  Ted laughed. “I don’t know if that’s the right word, but he’d do anything for me and I would for him. I’ve trusted him with my life more times than I can count.”

  Kay smiled. After a moment, she walked over to where Aric was lying. Fred was still by his side. “How is he?” she asked her.

  Fred was holding his good hand. “They say he’ll be all right, but he’s going to need a lot of care.”

  Kay looked at the IV tube in his arm and the two bags hanging over him. Like Sarge, he was on an IV antibiotic and oxygen.

  “I hope so. I really like this boy. He’s not like the others here. He’s kind,” Kay said.

  Fred looked over and smiled. “He is, isn’t he?” Kay smiled back and put her arm around Fred’s shoulders.

  “We’ll take care of him,” Kay said.

  With Fred’s head on her shoulder, Kay quietly asked, “Who are these guys?”

  Fred straightened up. “I don’t know for sure, but Jess is friendly with them. I think they’re the ones who helped her get home.”

  Kay gave a knowing nod.

  Once Aric was stable, the staff turned their attention to Mary. The ladies gathered around as she was examined.

  “Is she going to be all right?” Jess asked.

  The nurse stepped back. “I don’t see anything wrong with her, to be frank. I mean, she’s dehydrated and her blood pressure is a little low, but other than that I don’t see anything physically wrong with her. I’ll start an IV to get some fluids in her and put her on some oxygen.”

  Jess looked down at Mary, running a hand over her forehead. “Come on, Mary, wake up.”

  Kay tugged on the nurse’s sleeve. When she looked over, Kay whispered, “These two need to be checked out too,” pointing to Jess and Fred.

  The nurse smiled at Jess. “Why don’t you sit down here so I can check you out.”

  She performed quick exams on both Fred and Jess.

  “What happened to you girls?”

  “We’ve been locked in the detention center,” Jess said.

  “How long?” another one of the attendants asked, clearly alarmed.

  “We don’t know, because we were in the dark the whole time. But it was definitely a long time, more than a few days. They barely fed us and we had no water. It was really bad,” Jess said, shuddering.

  “Is that why you’re squinting? Does the light bother you?”

  “Yes, it does, a lot,” Fred said.

  “I think we have something that will help that,” one of the attendants said as he walked off.

  Once they were alone, Kay asked, “Jess, who are these guys?” pointing at Mike and Ted.

  She smiled. “The one on the stretcher is Sarge, that one’s Mike, and the other guy is Ted. They helped us out on our way home.”

  “Us?” Kay asked.

  “Yeah, remember me telling you about Morgan and Thad?”

  Kay nodded. “Mmhmm.”

  “So these guys helped the group of us out,” Fred said, looking at Ted and Mike.

  Kay leaned in. “What are they doing here?”

  In a whisper, Jess replied, “They took over the camp.”

  Surprised, Kay asked, “Just the three of them?”

  Jess laughed. “No, there’s more of them. Remember the other guys back at the jail? The ones with the army uniforms? They are all part of it, from what Mike told me.”

  “Oh wow. I wonder how many of them there are.”

  “Enough, I hope,” Fred said.

  Sheffield and Livingston came through the door, walking straight to Sarge’s bed.

  “How is he?” Livingston asked.

  “He’ll live, just gonna be out of action for a little,” Ted said.

  “We’re getting ready to make an announcement to the camp, to let them know we’re here now. Some of the civilians are getting a little antsy. For now we’re keeping the DHS people where they are. Shortly, though, we’re going to move them to a more secure place, probably that detention area back there,” Sheffield said.

  “Good idea. Anything going on out there?” Mike asked.

  “Not yet, but if we don’t get some info out to them soon, things could go to shit,” Livingston said.

  As if on cue, a sudden outburst of gunfire erupted, leading Mike, Ted, Sheffield, and Livingston to run for the door. Mike called into his mic, “What’s going on? What’s all the shooting about?”

  “Captain, you and the lieutenant drive. Mike, get in the turret!” Ted shouted as he climbed up into the turret of the other Hummer.

  The tempo of the shooting picked up. Ted keyed his mic. “Where’s the shooting coming from?”

  “By the armory. There’s four or five people back there!” a voice replied.

  Ted slapped the roof of the truck. “Go, go, go!”

  As they bounced along, the radio filled with chatter. The Guardsmen were already trying to maneuver on the shooters. Ian’s voice came over the radio just as a SAW opened up.

  “Ted, come in from the south, there’s cross fire on the east side!”

  “Roger that! Captain, you get that?” Ted said into his radio.

  He was answered by the truck swerving, forcing him to grab the SAW for support. I guess so, he thought as he righted himself in the turret. Livingston was behind them and followed the maneuver.

  As they rounded the corner of the motor pool, the armory came into view. Ted could see three people on the side of the building, using it for cover. Slapping the top of the truck, he shouted, “Stop!” Sheffield locked up the brakes and the truck slid in the sand. Before it stopped, Ted went to work with the SAW. Soon, Mike’s SAW was ripping away as well. Three figures besides the building were caught in the open, two of them went down immediately. The third ran around the corner of the connex. As soon as he cleared the corner, Ted watched him fall, cut down by fire from the Guardsmen.

  “We’ve got two down on this side. Move up and clear the armory!” Ted called into his radio.

  He could hear Ian shouting orders. Soon a line of Guardsmen with weapons shouldered appeared, moving toward the building. Again Ted beat on the roof of the truck, yelling, “Move up, move up!” Sheffield eased the truck forward. Ted kept the SAW to his shoulder as he bobbed around in the turret. Mike was likewise covering the building. The Guardsmen moved slowly toward the open door. Ted didn’t like what he was seeing.

  “Ian, stop them, we need to put some gas in there! Don’t let them just walk through that fatal funnel!” Ted yelled. He was referring to the term used for a place that an assaulting force is made to enter one at a time with no idea what’s on the other side.

  Ted dropped out of the turret and grabbed his carbine. “Mike, stay here and provide cover.”

  Without raising his head from the SAW, Mike replied, “Roger!”

  Sheffield and Livingston got out of their trucks and followed Ted as he moved toward the armory, running from one point of cover to the next. Ian came at the open door and launched a tear gas round from an M320 through it. When the round went off, white smoke began to pour out of the door.

  “Ian, coming to you from your right,” Ted said into his radio.

  Ian flashed a thumbs-up in response. Ted r
an toward him, keeping his weapon trained on the open door as he passed in front of it. Sheffield and Livingston were hot on his heels. Ted slid in the sand beside Ian. “We need to clear that thing.”

  “You got a gas mask?”

  “No, let’s just wait the gas out. Wish we had some flash bangs.”

  Ian smiled and held up two small black canisters. “We have these.” He handed them to Ted.

  Ted smiled. “Oh yeah, this will get their attention,” he said, looking at the sting ball, a small grenade with a rubber base filled with weighted rubber balls. In the tight confines of the connex, its effects would be overwhelming to anyone inside. “Soon as that gas settles a bit, we’ll put these two in at the same time.”

  Everyone waited outside while the tear gas dissipated. Ted called Mike and told him to come over. When he got there they went over their entry. It would be Ted, Mike, and Ian going in while Sheffield, Livingston, and their men provided security.

  “We’ll toss one of these”—Ted smiled as he held up the sting ball—“this little gem.”

  “Oh nice, I’ll take point going in,” Mike said.

  They maneuvered themselves around to the side of the box. Mike was in the lead, with his weapon up, and Ted was behind him, a grenade in each hand. He tapped Mike on the shoulder with the base of the bang sting ball. Mike nodded and Ted tossed them in.

  The bang from the sting ball was not very loud, but the sound of the rubber balls bouncing around inside made it clear that anyone in there was going to have a bad day. As soon as the grenades detonated, Mike, Ted, and Ian entered the building. They cleared it quickly. Ted then looked down and noticed a hatch in the floor.

  “Got any more of those stingers?” Ted whispered to Ian.

  Ian reached into his vest and pulled another one out, handing it to Ted.

  “Ian, lift the lid a little and I’ll drop it in. Slam it shut quick and don’t stand in front of it,” Ted said. Ian nodded.

  “Soon as it goes off, snatch the door open and I’ll drop in,” Mike said.

  “You sure?” Ted asked.

  “Someone’s got to go in there. It’d be best to drop in right after it goes off.”

  “You’re right. I just hate the thought of it,” Ted said.

  Ted pulled the pin on the grenade and nodded at Ian. Ian reached down and grabbed the handle, then looked up at Ted and started to tick off his fingers while mouthing the words, One, two, three. On three, he raised the door and Ted dropped the device through it. Ian slammed the lid down and it went off. As soon as it detonated, Ian snatched the door open again and Mike dropped through the hole.

  As quickly as he disappeared, Mike let out a howl. Ted and Ian looked down in the hole, Ted shining his weapon light down through the opening. They could see the light from Mike’s weapon and hear him moving around. After a minute he called out, “Clear!”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Ted called through the hatch.

  “I landed on some of those fucking balls and twisted my ankle,” Mike yelled up.

  “Can you get out of there?” Ian asked.

  “Yeah, just give me a hand,” Mike said as he started up the ladder. Ian reached down and grabbed Mike’s extended hand and helped pull him up.

  Ian and Ted helped him out the door. Ted shouted, “Coming out!” as they stepped through it.

  “Anyone in there?” Sheffield asked.

  “No, it was empty,” Ted said, then looked at the bodies lying beside the connex. “Who the hell are they?”

  “Civilian, I guess you’d call them employees.”

  “We should probably look at the CIs too, just to make sure none of them are of the same frame of mind,” Ted said.

  Sheffield looked over. “You think there could be issues with them as well?”

  Ted shrugged. “We didn’t think about the civilian workers. Who’s to say there aren’t folks out there who really like it here?”

  “We’ll check them out as well. I don’t think any of them ‘like it’ here, but if some of them were put into positions of power by the goon squad, they may be resistant to change.”

  Ted nodded, then helped Mike over to the Hummer. “I’ll get him over to Doc to look at his foot.”

  Sheffield nodded and turned to his men. “Let’s get these bodies loaded up.”

  At the infirmary, Ted helped Mike inside. As he sat up on one of the stretchers, a familiar voice called out, “What happened, you get a boo-boo?”

  Ted and Mike both looked up to see Sarge sitting up on his stretcher. Mike smiled. “Hey, you grumpy ole fuck, how you feeling?”

  Still slightly slurring his words, he replied, “Like I been shot, how the hell you think I feel?”

  Ted smiled. It was good to see Sarge back to his affectionate self. “They said you were lucky, said it hit your artificial hip.”

  “Yeah, when did you have that done? I didn’t even know,” Mike said.

  “Of course you didn’t know, dipshit, it’s none of your damn business.” Sarge looked down at the wound. “The VA did it after I got out. I’d taken a round”—Sarge jabbed a finger toward his hip—“in pert near the same damn spot in Iraq. Couldn’t take it anymore and had it replaced.”

  “Huh, I thought it was just ’cause you’re older than dirt,” Mike said.

  “You wait till I get out of this bed, I’ll show you old. What the hell happened to you anyway? Why you gimpin’ around?”

  “I slipped on some sting balls and twisted my ankle.”

  Sarge made a face like he was about to cry. “Oh, you poor baby,” then, pointing toward Aric, he said, “Least me and him have a real reason to here.” Sarge looked over at Aric. “You know you’re part of an exclusive club, don’t ya?”

  Aric was still pretty out of it and stared as a means of response. Sarge continued, “There’s only one other person in the world who’s shot me and lived to tell about it.”

  “Unlike the list of those who want to and haven’t yet. That one’s long as hell,” Mike said as he tried to get his boot off.

  Sarge’s head snapped around. “Keep it up, smart-ass. You think ’cause I’m laid up, I can’t get to you, but I ain’t going to be in here forever.”

  Through his own pain, Mike smiled. Ted helped him get the boot off as one of the nurses came over and started checking the foot out. Mike winced as she tried to turn it. She asked him to pull his toes toward his knee, but he wasn’t able to move them far.

  “Yeah, it’s a pretty bad sprain. You can already see bruising. All we can do is wrap it up. Unfortunately, there’s not much else to help speed up the healing process,” the nurse said.

  “Okay, wrap it up, then. If you could just try to keep it small enough so I can get my boot on, that’d be great,” Mike said.

  Sarge looked across the room at Jess, who was sitting in a chair beside Mary. He motioned for her to come over. She smiled and walked to his side. Sarge had a sloppy grin on his face and held his hand out. Jess couldn’t help but laugh at him, and took his hand.

  “How are you doing, Annie?” Sarge asked.

  “I’m good, now.”

  “I was worried about you, ever since we found out you were there.”

  Jess cocked her head to the side. “How’d you find out I was here?”

  “We did a little sneakin’ and peekin’. Morgan and Thad saw you.”

  A big smile spread across her face. “Where are they? I really want to see them.”

  “Teddy!” Sarge screamed. Jess jumped at the sudden outburst.

  Ted looked up. “Damn, I’m right here. Whaddya want?”

  “Get Morgan on the horn, tell him to get over here, and to bring that gentle giant with him.”

  Jess looked at Ted. “How are they going to get here? Is his house near here?”

  “They’re not at their house now. They had to
leave, but he’s got wheels.” Ted looked at Sarge. “I’ll call him.”

  Sarge nodded and looked back at Jess. “You’re goin’ ta be all right now.” He was starting to slur his words more and seemed unable to keep his eyes open.

  Jess leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, pushing him back onto the stretcher. “I know, now get some rest.”

  A small smile cracked his face. “I don’t need no rest,” he said as he drifted off.

  Jess stared at him for a minute, then looked over at Ted and Mike. “You guys have no idea how much I prayed for y’all to come.”

  “You have no idea what it took to get here. As soon as Thad and Morgan saw you, they knew it was you. Sarge wanted to come back right then, but it wasn’t possible,” Ted said.

  “How long ago was it?” Jess asked.

  “Three weeks, I guess,” Mike said.

  Jess stared off into the distance and winced from the pain in her eyes. A few weeks seemed so long ago. “Can I have your sunglasses?” Ted pulled them off his hat and handed them to her. “What did you guys see? I mean, where was I?”

  “Thad said it looked like you were cutting firewood,” Ted said.

  “Was it the day where there was all the shooting, I wonder? Was that you guys?”

  “Ha, yep, that was us. Not what we intended to happen, which is part of the reason it took so long to get back here,” Mike said.

  “It doesn’t matter, now that you’re here,” Jess said, then looked at the floor. Looking back up, she smiled brightly. “Now what?”

  “What do you mean?” Ted asked.

  “I mean, now what do I do?”

  “Whatever you want. Everyone here is free to leave or stay. The camp is now under the control of the National Guard.”

  Jess stood there staring at them for a minute. “You all right?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah, I . . . I just don’t know where to go.”

  “Ah, don’t worry about it, you’ve got time now to think about that,” Mike said with a grin.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Jess looked back at Mary, laid out on a stretcher, then at Fred. “What are you going to do, Fred?”

  Fred looked at Aric. He was out again. “I’ll have to wait till he wakes up and see what he wants to do.”