Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2)

by Sean McLachlan

  Then everything went black.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Annette stared openmouthed at the corpses strewn across the road. Her throat clenched, then relaxed when she saw they weren’t her own people.

  “They must be Righteous Horde,” Rachel said from the driver’s seat. “Nobody else around here’s got these numbers.”

  Annette nodded. They were all men, and all had been shot. Mutilated too. Some were missing ears or hands. Others had been beaten to a pulp.

  Annette’s hand went to her pistol as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The New City patrol came out from behind a heap of boulders by the shoulder of the road and waved to them.

  Everyone got out. Annette sucked in clean air, thankful that they had left the foul sea rains behind them.

  The patrol—five hardened members of Clyde’s special guards—approached the vehicle. One pointed to the dents in the fender.

  “Have some trouble?” he asked.

  “Nope,” Rachel said as she got out.

  Annette went and shook hands with the leader.

  “Hey Dean. So what happened here?” she asked him.

  Dean shrugged. “A massacre. And these aren’t the only bodies. You probably didn’t see because you were driving through the rain. There are corpses dumped here and there in the gullies and by the side of the road all the way up the mountain.”

  Annette turned and saw Jeb walking among the dead a little way off. He crouched by one man whose throat had been cut so deeply his head was all but severed.

  “Esperanza. Diego Esperanza. I knew this guy.”

  “One of the Elect?” Annette asked.

  Jeb nodded, his mouth a grim line. “They all are,” he said, pointing. “I knew him, and him. Recognize most of the others. At least those who still got faces.”

  “What do you think happened?” Christina asked. She stood near him with her pistol out.

  “The Pure One decided to make a clean slate,” Jeb replied. “I bet that most of the dead we missed on the road were Elect too. He’s cutting out all those he can’t trust.”

  “There’s still plenty, though,” Dean said, shouldering his M16. “We followed them down the other side of the mountain and for two days across the plains. There’s still at least a few hundred.”

  “The bodyguard numbers about two hundred,” Jeb said, “with the best weapons and of course that machine gun. The Elect that are still with them will have good weapons stripped from the dead. We’re facing the hard core now, all the true loyalists, and they got plenty of guns and ammo.”

  Dean furrowed his brow. “Wait, who are you?”

  Christina was about to say something when Jeb cut her off. “I was a machete man. I was given the choice of a bullet in the brain or fighting on the wrong side. I chose fighting on the wrong side. I’m on the right side now.”

  Dean looked him up and down. “Make sure you stay on the right side.”

  Jeb looked out across the plains, partly visible between the peaks. “There’s nothing for me out there. Hasn’t been for a long, long time.”

  Something in his expression pulled at Annette.

  He’s lost people. Hell, we all have, but it sounds like he lost everything.

  “How’s the road on this side?” Rachel asked. “I haven’t been down there in a season.”

  “Good for a few miles,” Dean said.

  Rachel scanned the sky. “We have a couple of hours of daylight left. I’m going to drive them down as far as I can and then come back for you. I don’t want to drive back alone, so if someone doesn’t mind squeezing in with a bunch of folks soaked with toxic rain, I’ll owe them a beer at $87,953.”

  Dean laughed and ordered his group to clear the road of bodies. Jeb helped them. Once they were done one of the guards joined them in the four-by-four and they headed down the other side of the mountain. Protected as it was from the ocean storms, the road here had stood the test of time better. Although the pavement was cracked and in a few places washed away by streams, Rachel maneuvered through these obstacles with no problem. They got most of the way down the mountain before they found the road completely blocked by a landslide old enough that bushes grew on it.

  “Got to send a work crew to clear this someday,” Rachel said. “Then we’d have access to the plains. We could drive all over.”

  “Maybe find that southern city,” Jeb said.

  “Do you really believe it’s there?” Annette said.

  “Yeah,” Jeb said, a faraway look in his eyes. “After seeing New City I’ll believe anything.”

  “So,” Annette sighed. “Looks like this is the end of the road. Literally. Everyone grab their gear and let’s go.”

  Annette felt her heart pounding in her chest. She’d been putting off the reality of this expedition as long as possible—the reality that she was tracking someone across the wildlands in order to put a bullet through them. She hated killing, and hated even more the fact that she was so good at it.

  I’m nervous about killing someone like that cult leader. How the hell did I ever survive out here?

  Everyone loaded up their packs and weapons. The guard handed Annette his radio.

  “Once you get to the top of the pass radio in. Clyde will be waiting to hear from you,” he said.

  Annette nodded and stowed the radio in a side pocket of her pack.

  “Jackson, come over here a minute. Christina, take Jeb back to the vehicle.”

  Jackson came up, pulling a laminated topographic map out of his side pocket.

  “This what you need?” he asked with a smile.

  “I didn’t bring you along for your personality,” Annette said with a grin.

  Jackson had the only topographic map of the region she had ever seen. It had proved vital on the last mission. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure the machete man was out of sight, Jackson spread it out on a flat stone by the side of the road. The swirling lines and various colors bedazzled her, but she had begun to learn how to read it, despite Jackson not offering any lessons. He had added his own marks too: red dots for chemical spills, a few blue spots for fresh water, and some green and yellow marks that were mysteries to her. She looked at the pass to the south of this one, the pass beyond Toxic Bay. She was glad to see Jackson hadn’t put a mark there. It was there that they had found the repeater for Radio Hope, and met a few of its masked operators.

  No, Jackson was far too cautious to mark that spot, and the only living person besides them from that expedition had joined the radio station. Briefly she wondered what Ha-Ram Lee was doing now. She had listened to Radio Hope a lot since then, hoping to hear his voice, but she never had. Of course with everyone tuning in, including scumbags like Abe Weissman, Ha-Ram would probably never go on the air.

  Again she worried what Abe thought of the story she handed him. She pushed that out of her mind. Abe was a problem for another day.

  Jackson looked out at the section of plains visible from where they stood in the pass. He called the guard over and pointed to a pair of steep-sided hills about a mile beyond the base of the mountain.

  “See those? Tell me where the Righteous Horde went in relation to those.”

  The man studied the terrain for a moment and then said. “They turned to the south about halfway between the end of the pass and those hills.”

  Jackson put his finger on the topo. Annette saw a pair of concentric ovals that she figured indicated the two hills. Jackson saw her looking and moved the map slightly.

  Still greedy with your knowledge, eh? Annette thought. What’s that expression of yours? “Knowledge is power.”

  The guard continued. “After they turned south they crossed a broad dry wash and continued due south for maybe ten miles. Then they shifted southeast.”

  Jackson traced the route with his finger. “Did they pass over a low ridge?”

  “Yeah,” the guard sounded surprised. “That piece of paper tell you that?”

  “So what did they do then?” J
ackson asked.

  “They followed the south part of the ridge for a while and hit a group of farms near where the ridge petered out.”

  Tanya cut in. “What did they do?”

  The guard gave her a grim look. “What do you think they did?”

  Tanya’s face fell. “I’ve been to that farmstead. The Ingalls family lived there.”

  Nobody had to ask why she referred to them in the past tense. After a pregnant silence the guard continued.

  “After that they turned due south again. We followed them for another ten miles before we came back to report. That was yesterday.”

  Jackson traced the route with his finger. “We can cut across their path diagonally and catch up with them quick enough.”

  “They’re moving pretty slow, sending out foragers on all sides. We had to keep well back to avoid them. We heard gunfire in their camp pretty much every night.”

  Jackson folded up the topo and stowed it in an inside pocket.

  “Thanks for your help. Looks like we’re ready to go.”

  Annette gathered everyone and Rachel and the guard hopped into the vehicle.

  “Best of luck!” Rachel called, waving out the window before turning the four-by-four around and heading up the mountain. Everyone watched in silence as the vehicle dwindled into a dot and disappeared around a bend in the road.

  Annette looked out across the plains. She licked her dry lips and said, “Let’s go.”

  The words came out as a whisper.

  Beyond the landslide, the road made a gently curving path that led to the plains. The weather was drier here, with patchy clouds that held no threat of rain. They’d left the coastal weather behind when they crossed the mountains.

  They still stank, though, and as they made it to the foothills and discovered a broad stream that smelled clean, Annette ordered a halt for the day. The men and women split off into two groups on either side of a bend in the stream and washed their clothes and themselves. Then they built two fires and dried out.

  Once they were all together again, Annette sat down next to Jeb. Tanya sat nearby with her gun trained on him. Annette was glad to see Christina was busy cleaning her gear and taking a break for once.

  “So tell me a bit more about their armament,” Annette said to Jeb.

  “Pretty much what you saw at the siege. A bunch of assault rifles, especially a lot of AK-47s we took off that Chinese group. Plenty of ammo for those but less for the M16s and other models. Some good hunting rifles too.”

  “Any sniper’s rifles?”

  “No. A couple of the hunting rifles have telescopic sights.”

  “Any machine guns besides that Gau-18/E? Any explosives?”

  Jeb shook his head.

  “It would be nice to get that machine gun and bring it back,” Tanya said.

  “No chance. We’re taking out The Pure One and getting the hell out of there,” Annette said.

  “Yeah, but if we—”

  Tanya never got to finish her sentence, because at that moment a rifle shot cracked the air and her skull blew apart.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Jeb hit the dirt as bullets sang through the air all around. Muzzles flashed not far off in the dusk.

  The New City and Burb fighters replied in an instant. Annette set off first one, and then the other of her shotgun barrels, while Jackson and Nguyen let loose on semiautomatic. Charley and Christina started firing with their rifles a moment later.

  The quick reaction startled their attackers, and for a moment the fire slackened. Everyone took that chance to get out of the light of the campfire. Jeb grabbed Tanya’s AK-47 and leapt into the shadows.

  Nguyen let out another burst and Jackson and Annette took that moment to advance a few steps before throwing themselves down. The others were out of sight. Jeb flicked the catch to semiauto and waited a moment. At Nguyen’s next sweep there was a spattering of return fire and Jeb squeezed off a three-round burst at one of the muzzle flares. Annette and Jackson popped up and ran a few more steps, firing and spreading apart from one another as they did.

  These two have been in some firefights together, Jeb thought.

  Jeb leapt up and fired off two bursts as he ran forward. Nguyen sprayed the area on full auto, and with the enemy putting their heads down from the swarm of bullets, Jeb, Annette, and Jackson advanced.

  A bullet snapped in from the right and nearly got Jeb in the head as he dove for cover a third time.

  Shit, they’re flanking us.

  Jackson was in that direction, visible for a glaring instant as the muzzle of his gun flared. Jeb stayed put, AK leveled, waiting. When the enemy returned fire, Jeb squeezed off another three-round burst and was rewarded with the dim view of a shadowy figure twisting and falling. Keeping low, he ran in that direction, passing Jackson as the deputy resumed firing at the enemy to their front.

  Jeb glanced at his magazine. It looked like a 24-round one.

  Half out of ammo already.

  More firing crackled further along the line but Jeb didn’t have time to worry about that now. If these people flanked them, forcing them back into the light around the campfire, they’d be cut down one by one.

  Jeb got to the body. A glance showed him what he had suspected all along—one of the Elect, a man who he knew was bucking for a position in the bodyguard. A real hardcore believer.

  Not anymore.

  Luck was on his side and the dead man had an AK-47 gripped in his lifeless fingers. Jeb took a moment to rummage around the man’s pockets and find a spare magazine. He tucked it in his own pocket and hurried further away from the battle.

  If anyone had seen him, they were dead or busy right now, because no bullets sought him out. The firing had reached a crescendo. From the sound of it, the cultists didn’t outnumber them.

  He passed through some bushes and over a low rill in the ground. Getting down, he did a military crawl in a half circle to get further away and around the enemy position. The firing began to shift away from the camp.

  The Elect are retreating. Time to prove yourself a hero.

  Jeb hurried as fast as he dared through the fading light. Twice he saw distant movement through the bushes, but he wasn’t sure who he was seeing so he held his fire.

  He started cutting toward the center of the line as he sensed more than saw that one or two of the Elect were close. A shot from one of his side (Jackson? Not sure) made a man flail from his cover and fall writhing. That prompted a quick movement not far off. Jeb only got enough of a glimpse to see it was male before the figure was gone. Jeb kept low and ran a short stretch before going prone and crawling forward.

  He stopped as he heard a sound. There were only a few bushes around, so the enemy was either prone like Jeb or hidden in a swale not far ahead.

  It’s big enough that going in at the wrong spot will put me in a jam.

  A slight scrape of metal on stone told him the enemy was indeed in the swale. He crept parallel to it for a moment, moving away from the camp, and then cut in.

  He popped himself up over the edge enough to get a clear aim with his AK.

  Not five yards in front of him crawled a member of the Elect, someone Jeb recognized but hadn’t bothered to get to know. The man was wounded in the shoulder and dragging his rifle behind him. The cultist spotted Jeb and froze. Jeb had the drop on him and he knew it.

  A soft sound a little ways off in the direction of the camp told him he had to make a decision fast.

  Option 1: Take him back to The Pure One. That maniac is desperate for a show of loyalty.

  Option 2: Take him back to Annette and the rest. They could question him and find out where the column is headed.

  Option 3: Shoot him now.

  The Pure One would ask Jeb why he had disappeared. He could make up some bullshit about being captured on sentry duty, but there was a good chance no one would believe it. And even if they took him back, then what?

  If we lean on this guy we’ll find out everything we need to kn
ow. But what if he recognizes me? What’s to keep him from—

  Option Three.

  Jeb blew the side of the guy’s head open with a single shot.

  A moment later Christina came up from behind a bush, rifle leveled.

  “Nice shot,” she said, scanning the area down the length of the barrel.

  Jeb moved across the center of the swale over to her. He figured coming out in the open would keep her from getting too antsy. She pointed with her rifle towards a cluster of three trees about fifty yards away.

  “Saw movement there,” she whispered.

  Jeb set the AK by Christina’s side.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “You were about to put a gun to my head and order me to drop it. I decided to keep things friendly.”

  Christina grunted in approval. “Keep it until we know they’re gone.”

  Jeb nodded and picked it up again.

  That’s what I was hoping you’d say.

  They lay in silence watching the shadows for a time. Jeb worried about the darkness, which was deepening quickly. If they didn’t root out these guys soon they’d leave and come back with reinforcements.

  Christina and Jeb split up about ten yards apart and inched forward.

  They didn’t get far before a rifle cracked within the cluster of trees, aiming for Christina from the sound of it. Christina fired back and Jeb resisted the urge at the last moment. Instead he lunged forward a few yards. When the two exchanged fire again, he cut low and ran, forward and a bit away from Christina.

  His move didn’t work, though, because the next shot came for him. It was wide enough that Jeb didn’t flinch and close enough to make him hit the deck. No point letting the guy get a second look at him.

  Jeb squirmed ahead and found a low, oval rock. Getting behind it, he made sure his AK was set to single and popped up. A quick glimpse gave him enough time for a snapshot before he ducked back.