The Wrath of Yellowstone (Preppers Fiction): The Wrath of Yellowstone Trilogy Boxed Set (Preppers Fiction, Apocalyptic Fiction, Survival, Travel Fiction Book 4)

by Montgomery, Frank

  “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Chad screamed in horror as he hastily climbed out of the RV.

  “The necessary thing. I’m trying to ensure our survival, that’s all,” Todd responded quietly.

  Anthony didn’t say a word; he just stared at the bodies with an emotionless look on his face. The two of them had been waiting behind the RV until the time to strike seemed right.

  “THEY WERE PART OF OUR SURVIVAL YOU FUCKING MORON!” Chad’s voice was only growing louder. He looked at the bodies and then vomited, no longer able to control his emotions.

  “They were using us Chad, can’t you see that? They wanted to take all of our supplies and then kill us. Look at the weapons they’re carrying. They knew damn well that if we were out of the picture they would have more rations to share with their friends and families. You should be thanking me because your wife would certainly have been raped tonight if it weren’t for me.”

  While Todd’s word made sense to Chad he was still disturbed by the fact that he had absolutely no proof of what he was saying. He was assuming that Gabriel and his crew were evil people, but Chad had started taking a liking to Gabriel and he found him to be quite a caring person.

  “You don’t know that you dumbass, just because they have weapons on them doesn’t mean they were going to murder us. The fucking apocalypse has begun, carrying a gun is completely normal!”

  The next gunshot was much louder; it was most certainly a shotgun. The spray of bullets hit Chad in the lower back and behind his right knee. Anthony got hit in the lower abdomen and the left breast, ironically Todd did not get hit. Chad and Anthony dropped to the ground instantly as they tried to comprehend what had just happened.

  “You son of a bitch,” Todd said as he steadily aimed his handgun at Gabriel, who was laying on the ground with his shotgun aimed at directly at him. Todd pulled the trigger but he only heard a click, he was out of bullets. Gabriel was barely breathing, but he slowly reached up to cock his shotgun and blow Todd away.

  Chad rolled over and realized it was Gabriel who had shot him and Anthony. He was in immense pain, but he managed to stand up and jump onto Gabriel. Just as Gabriel had successfully cocked his shotgun, Chad was on top of him, ripping the gun from his hands. Chad stood up tall, the gun now in his possession. He turned the barrel and pointed it directly at Gabriel’s head. He glanced over at Gabriel’s crew, who were all lying dead on the ground, each one of them had been shot in head. Gabriel had been shot in the throat and the second bullet had skimmed his ear, ripping it almost completely off.

  “I meant to hit him,” Gabriel said slowly raising his arm and pointing at Todd.”

  “Did you plan to kill us?” Chad asked sternly.

  “No…. we just wanted to survive. I…. just wanted to help my family,”

  Gabriel was struggling to speak and blood was trickling out of the bullet hole in his throat. Chad knew there was no possible way he could survive, so he decided to put him out of his misery. He aimed the gun at his head and slowly began to slide his finger towards the trigger.

  “Good luck, you can make it if you stay in that container. Remember that the sun will shine again someday.”

  Gabriel’s last words seemed to echo and they made Chad tear up. He gripped the gun tightly, turned his head away from Gabriel and pulled the trigger in one swift motion. Blood sprayed everywhere as his life came to an abrupt end. Chad wiped Gabriel’s blood off of his face and turned to Todd and Anthony,

  “It’s time to fucking leave.”

  BOOK 2

  Chapter 1

  Todd’s hands were developing blisters from hauling the heavy trailer, but it was so cold outside and his body was so numb that he didn’t feel much at all. Chad and Anthony were clearly in pain due to their gunshot wounds. Chad was walking with a limp and seriously favoring his left leg. Anthony was walking very slowly as he held his stomach. There was blood streaming down the front of his body and he looked like he was on the verge of fainting. The air was freezing and thick with ash, you could barely see 10 feet in front of you and it constantly felt as though you were in the midst of some kind of desert sand storm.

  “I don’t think he’s going to make it,” Chad whispered to Todd as Anthony was trailing behind.

  “He’ll make it. For the love of God please take your turn with this trailer.”

  Todd handed the front end of the trailer over to Chad and he began to haul the heavy load.

  Anthony collapsed and Todd ran to his side. Todd helped him to his feet and decided it would be best if Anthony sat in the trailer for the remainder of the voyage. The container wasn’t far now and Chad could see the bright orange color of the thing in the distance if he squinted his eyes, but the ash made it difficult to see. They finally arrived at the entrance of the container and it was closed, just as they anticipated. Todd gave a loud knock and they waited for someone to let them in, but nobody came.

  “Lynn, are you in there?” Chad hollered.

  There was no answer. He grabbed the door of the container and it took all of his might to pull it open. His jaw dropped as he peered inside. Everyone and everything was gone. There were numerous bloodstains scattered throughout the container but there was no sign of anyone. Chad got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he dwelled on the possibility of his family being dead.

  “Where the hell did everyone go?” Todd asked even though he knew Chad had no idea.

  “I don’t know, but I do remember overhearing Gabriel and Sam talking yesterday. They were saying that there is another container about 100 miles north of here in a town called Ockport. They were afraid that the people from that container might try to overtake ours.”

  “Then we must head north right now!” Todd exclaimed.

  Chad walked over to Anthony who was now lying down in the trailer. He tried to wake him up only to realize that he was no longer breathing.

  Chapter 2

  “HELP, HE’S FUCKING DEAD!” Chad screamed in horror. It was bitterly cold out and he could barely feel his face as he yelled to Todd. Todd ran over to Anthony’s side and began to do something he rarely ever does, break down in tears. Todd immediately recognized that there was no chance of saving Anthony. He plopped himself on the ground and buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

  “This is my fucking fault, he told me not to kill them and if I didn’t he’d still be alive.”

  Todd’s words were barely understandable. Chad made no attempt to comfort him, as he was completely right, this was his fault and Chad had no intention of telling him otherwise. He joined in with Todd’s crying, beginning to reminisce about the good times he and Anthony had shared

  “The ground is too cold to bury him, we’ll leave his body in the container and be on our way. We don’t have time to waste,”

  Chad said trying to hide his tears.

  “Oh so that’s all he is at the end of his life hey? A God damned waste of time? You’re pathetic Chad, completely fucking heartless”

  “You know damn well if the circumstances were different I would ensure that Anthony had a proper burial, but since the human species may be on the verge of extinction we need to move, RIGHT NOW!”

  “Moving anywhere is pointless, we’re dead, everyone is going to die, I mean look at this shit,”

  Todd said as he pointed around at the desolate landscape. The ash was thick, the sky was grey and black, the ground was frozen and it was snowing hard.

  “I don’t know about you but I’m not giving up on my family, fuck you, stay here and die if you want but I’m leaving” Chad yelled.

  With that, Chad began packing supplies into his bag from the now full trailer. He put on his warmest clothes, pocketed a handgun and started to head north. He didn’t even look back at Todd; he just walked away into the thick haze, boldly and confidently, yet terrified on the inside.

  Chapter 3

  As he walked Chad started to feel bad about what had happened with Todd. He realized that the stress had got the better
of the both of them and that they both acted irrationally. Anthony’s death hadn’t even begun to sink in, but Chad knew he would eventually have to face reality, but not now. He guessed that he had walked about 10 miles and he had many more to cover. His plan was to walk through the night in order to keep warm and not freeze to death. Sleeping outside in these harsh conditions would surely be a death sentence. He turned around and could see Todd following him in the far distance. He gave off a sigh of relief and decided that once it started to get dark (it was always pretty dark due to the ash), he would wait for Todd.

  His bag was beginning to make his shoulders incredibly raw, the pain was becoming too much to bear. His mind drifted to Lynn, Tammy, Bryce and their home in Fortuna. Chad wondered if his house was still standing, or if it had succumbed to the weight of the ash. He tried to rationalize his missing family, thinking that the odds of them being dead were very low. He knew none of them would have resisted if the container got ambushed, and with Lynn holding his two children, he figured the odds of some Canadian slaughtering them were not high at all. But this was all just wishful thinking.

  The wind was completely piercing. Chad was wearing many layers but it didn’t seem to matter at all. The sunlight had all but vanished and Chad was now patiently waiting for Todd. When he finally emerged he was not happy at all,

  “Fucking moron. We’re all each other’s got and you just leave me behind. If we don’t stick together we’re as good as dead.”

  “Todd I’m sorry man. We’re both just stressed out about our families. Let’s just forget about it, we need to focus on surviving the night.”

  Todd nodded in silent agreement and then proceeded to drop his bag. Chad grabbed a small metal shovel out of his bag and started digging into a thick snow bank.

  “Okay, we’re going to do this like we were kids again. We need to make a snow fort of sorts. I’m going to dig us out a little cave and we can have a fire in there and cook some dinner.” Chad said as he drove his shovel into the snow.

  “Sounds good to me, let me know when you want me to take a turn shoveling”

  “I should be fine, you can cook dinner and we’ll call it even.”

  Chad had created quite an impressive snow cave. The entrance was just big enough to crawl through, but the main den was fairly spacious and the two men were able to kneel comfortably without hitting their heads. The cave took Chad just under an hour to create. Within no time Todd had made a small fire, which rapidly heated up the cave. Chad could smell the beans cooking and the canned tuna was calling his name, he was very excited to eat.

  The cave offered them more than enough room to stretch out and sleep. It was a lot more comfortable than both of them had anticipated and they were pleasantly surprised. As they slept soundly, six wolves lurked around the entrance of the cave, smelling the food Todd had cooked. The wolves treaded silently on the ground, they were born killers and they intended to prove it. The alpha male, clearly the largest in the pack, quietly entered the cave. He moved like a thief in the night, quietly slinking into the den. The only sound that could be heard was his deep, raspy breaths. The wolf licked the pot that the beans had been cooked in and then searched for leftover tuna. Chad and Todd were both fast asleep and had no idea what was going on. The large animal approached Chad, gently sniffing him out. Once the wolf decided Chad was an adequate meal, he lunged, sinking his long, sharp teeth directly into Chad’s collarbone. Chad could feel the animals powerful jaws clamp down onto his bone, shattering it in seconds.

  “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, HELP ME!”

  He screamed in horror. The wolfs teeth were still lodged inside of him and it began to violently shake him, sending him into a state that was so far beyond pain that it was almost incomprehensible. Chad was in shock and he was on the brink of unconsciousness. He was bleeding a lot and the entire den was now painted red with blood.

  Chapter 4

  Todd frantically searched for his gun as he watched Chad being mauled. He knew that Chad was very lucky to be alive. The wolf had likely miscalculated as it seemed strange he would target the collarbone. Wolves always go for the kill right away so he probably meant to grab Chad by the throat, which would have killed him almost instantly. Chad continuously punched the wolf until it released him and jumped back slightly. He immediately covered his throat, anticipating another lethal lunge. As the wolf made a move Chad kicked it directly in the noise, causing the animal to yelp in pain. Todd had found his gun and was now taking aim, the wolf took notice of this and lunged at Todd.

  “Take it!” Todd yelled as he tossed the gun to Chad. The gun landed at his feet and he immediately made the painful effort to grab it.

  Todd held his arm out in front of him, blocking the wolf from grabbing his throat. The beast’s fangs sunk into his arm and it began thrashing him around wildly. It was now or never, Chad took aim, but he was shaky, when he finally decided he had a decent shot, he took it. The bullet lodged into the wolfs back and it immediately turned around. As it jumped at Chad he took another shot, this time hitting it in the throat and causing it to quickly run out of the snow cave.

  Both men were in extreme pain, but they knew that their wolf friend had probably come in a pack, so they slowly crawled out of the cave to scare away any other potential predators. When they looked outside they could see the body of the wolf Chad had just shot. In the distance there were five wolves running away as fast as their legs could carry them.

  “I’m bleeding bad man,” Chad said as he put pressure on his wound

  “I know, you got it a lot worse than me,” said Todd holding his arm up for Chad to see.

  “Just keep putting pressure on it, I don’t think you should sleep tonight. You’ve lost a lot of blood and it’s probably best to just stay up and nurse that wound”

  “Yea you’re right, we should probably get moving within the next few hours anyway. Jesus this hurts a lot. My collarbone is definitely broken.”

  With that they retired back into the snow cave. Todd tightly wrapped his arm up and Chad tended to the fire, keeping pressure on his wound, which proved to be very painful due to the broken bone.

  Chad let Todd sleep for about 2 hours and then he announced that it was time to leave. They packed up their stuff and headed back out into the icy world. It seemed like each day was becoming colder and colder. Todd tried to remain optimistic, but he knew very well that the ash wasn’t going anywhere for many yeas to come.

  Chapter 5

  They knew they wouldn’t reach the container before nightfall, but they were very excited to reach the town of Ockport, where the container was located. When they arrived they found that the town was fairly large and there was a river dividing it down the middle. Chad assumed the container was somewhere in the outskirts of town, but he wasn’t exactly sure. They looked around until they found a building that they deemed to be suitable to sleep in. Every building was either collapsed, or partially collapsed. They opted to sleep in a small barbershop with a partially collapsed roof. They created a lean-to inside the building so that the wind would be blocked. They decided that they would not have a fire for fear that it would catch the barbershop on fire. They bundled up in their warmest clothing and slept uncomfortably inside the lean-to.

  Morning came quickly and the search for the container continued. They walked around for most of the day but they didn’t find anything. They were quite far from central Ockport and they were rigorously searching the outskirts of town for the container, which they were assuming would be orange. They stopped and ate some canned beans and tuna on a large rock for dinner. After resting for about an hour, they decided to split up. It was 5pm and they decided to search around by themselves for two hours and then meet back at the rock that they were currently sitting on. They decided that they would jog so that they could cover more ground and also stay warmer.

  “Okay man, I’ll see you in a couple hours, remember if you see the container don’t approach it. Meet back at the rock and we’ll go in together,” C
had told Todd sternly

  “Ya alright, sounds like a plan, best of luck brother!”

  Jogging was not the easiest thing for Chad to do, as he was fairly overweight. But jogging was certainly a whole lot warmer than walking due to his body heating itself up under his thick layers. Things were looking bleak and there was no sign of a container anywhere. Chad couldn’t run anymore, he was breathing heavily and he started to walk. He had been so caught up in his own personal endeavor that he hadn’t even really stopped to consider the circumstance of the rest of the planet. He knew that at this point millions of people had certainly died, and that the universal suffering was almost incomprehensible. He couldn’t even fathom the pain that everyone on earth was going through. Every single day he felt like he was living in a nightmare and he was certain that at any moment he would wake up and be back in his simple home in Fortuna. He missed the simplicities of his former life, but he knew very well that those days were behind him. His wound was hurting more than ever and he was quite positive that it was now infected. He wished that could see a doctor but he knew that was impossible. He fashioned a makeshift splint for himself out of an old t-shirt and some wood, in hopes that the bone would eventually heal.

  Chapter 6

  Lynn stared blankly at the wall of the container, her eyes were dry and she had no tears left to cry. She didn’t care about anything anymore, her mind was totally blank and if she died right there in that moment, it wouldn’t have mattered to her at all. She had nothing left, only the hope that Chad would somehow come to her rescue, but she doubted that and part of her hoped he never found her, so that he would never have to deal with the reality of the situation. He could just go on living his life with the hope that she and the kids had somehow made it to safety and were living a somewhat decent life. It pained her to think about how untrue that really was. Her daughter, Tammy, had succumbed to the cold and her captor’s son had killed her son, Bryce. She was currently chained up in the back of a container, praying that her captors didn’t rape her again.