Surviving the Dead (Book 7): The Killing Line

by James N. Cook

  “The caravan is being followed.”

  “No shit,” Sabrina said. “Caravan this big, we probably had people dogging our trail since Hollow Rock.”

  “I’m aware of that. But this is different. The people following us are professionals. They have night vision gear and ghillie suits and they know how to avoid detection.”

  Elizabeth patted my forearm. “Not well enough, obviously.”

  “I’m pretty good at what I do. I doubt many other people would have spotted them. And that’s exactly what has me worried.”

  “Did you talk to Spike?” Eric asked.

  “Yes. He was his usual overconfident, dismissive self. No help there. Which is why I’m here talking to you right now. I know what happens when people get complacent, start to think nothing bad can happen to them. And I sincerely doubt those people following us are just doing it for fun. I think we’re going to be attacked soon, and when it happens, we need to be ready.”

  “I’m always ready,” Caleb said, his eyes shining in the firelight with the mad giddiness of anticipation.

  “I know that. But I want us all to be ready. Stay close to the horses, and stay armed. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but it just might save your lives. Even a failed attack can still get people killed. If the shooting starts, keep your head down. And if you have to shoot, don’t hesitate.”

  The faces around me in the firelight nodded slowly, and I let out a relieved breath. For once they were taking me seriously and not simply indulging what they considered paranoia.

  “You’re seriously worried,” Elizabeth said somberly, her fingers slipping into mine. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

  I gripped her hand. “I’ve never had so much to lose.”

  *****

  Eagle-eye Eric spotted them first.

  “Contact, south side,” he spoke into his radio, peering through a pair of field glasses. “Top of the green pre-fab metal barn, tin roof. Guy up there with a big-eye. Could be more.”

  “Copy,” Spike said.

  I had hounded Spike for two hours that morning until he finally agreed to give Caleb, Eric, and me a set of radios tuned to his encrypted comms channel.

  “Keep eyes on ‘em. Everyone else, maintain your AORs.”

  I raised my M-4 and peered through the VCOG sight. Sure enough, the same ghillie suited figure I had seen the night before was watching us through a large spotting scope. A rig that powerful could probably read the lines on my face. As I watched, he turned as if speaking to someone out of sight.

  “Spike, Garrett. He’s talking to someone up there. I think we’re headed into an ambush. We better turn around.”

  “Negative. We’ve been through this, Garrett. All stations, proceed as planned.”

  I swore vehemently and debated what to do. With each passing second, we grew closer to the narrow road through the abandoned town of Haviland. Another ten minutes and we would be surrounded by buildings within which anything could be hiding. I cursed Spike for a fool and shouted for the people in my group to switch over to the channel I had pre-arranged so we could speak in private.

  “What’s up?” Caleb asked.

  “We’re breaking off. Sabrina, get the wagon turned around. Caleb, Eric, you take rear guard. I’ll take point. Elizabeth, stay close to the wagon and be ready to bolt.”

  “Gabe,” Eric said, “you sure about this?”

  “No. But I’d rather be wrong and embarrassed than right and dead. Now get moving.”

  We left the column and began riding eastward, the confused faces of caravaners passing on our left. I felt my radio buzz to let me know someone was trying to reach me on the command net. When I switched over, Spike’s voice buzzed angrily in my ear.

  “The fuck you think you’re doing, Garrett?”

  “I’m doubling back, heading for Wellsford.”

  “What the hell for?”

  “I already told you. I smell an ambush. I’ve got my wife and daughter with me, Spike. I’m not taking any chances.”

  “What about your trade?”

  “I’ll come back for it if you survive.”

  “Goddammit, there’s not gonna be any ambush. You hear me? Get back here with my radios.”

  “If I don’t come back, assuming you’re still alive, take the cost of the radios out of my trade. You make it to the Springs ahead of me, turn my shipment in to the warehouse we talked about and tell them to take the monthly fee out of my salt. I’ll collect the rest when I get there.”

  “I’m not waiting up for you, Garrett. You get left behind, it’s on you. You’ll be a sitting duck out here by yourself.”

  “Spike, if I’m wrong about this, I’ll be happy to listen to you laugh at me and call me names and poke fun at me all the way to Colorado. But I don’t think I’m wrong. Keep your head on a swivel, and good luck.”

  With that, I clicked off my transmitter.

  “We need to move faster,” I said, kicking Red’s flanks. “If I’m right, we’ve got less than ten minutes. We need to put as much distance behind us as possible.”

  I looked and saw the others staring at me skeptically. A surge of irritation lent fire to my voice and I felt my eyes blaze with anger.

  “What part did you not understand? You wanna die today? Move your asses!”

  Their eyes went wide, their faces lost a little color, and I knew I would have to apologize later. Right then, I did not care. My outburst got them moving with a sense of urgency. For the moment, nothing else was important.

  The oxen kept pace with the horses for all of about five minutes, but then began to slow. Sabrina snapped the reins and shouted and even resorted to the whip, but it was no use. The cart was too heavy.

  “Hicks,” I said over my shoulder. “Hop in back of the wagon and clear out the excess weight. Nothing stays but food, water, and munitions.”

  Elizabeth looked startled. “But what about-”

  “We’ll come back for it,” I said, referring to her life savings and the comfort items we had brought along to make the journey less arduous. “If not…well, it won’t really matter.”

  She started to say something else, then stopped. I had the feeling she was beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation.

  Hicks, for his part, did not need to be told twice. In one motion, he tied his horse to the tailgate, dismounted on the move, and bounced into the rear of the wagon. A few seconds later, he had collapsed the canopy. No sooner had it settled onto the bench seat beside Sabrina than the first of Elizabeth’s possessions sailed over the side. They came to rest in the long brown grass and spots of unmelted snow in the ditch beside the highway. When finished, Hicks jumped out, caught hold of his saddle horn, untied his mount, and was back in position. Total elapsed time: ninety seconds.

  Three minutes until contact.

  With less than half the load to draw, the oxen were able to pick up the pace. Sabrina pushed them hard, the animals’ breath coming in labored huffs. The horses seemed to be holding up much better, but they had far smaller loads to haul.

  “Keep it up, folks,” I said. “Won’t be long now. No matter what happens, don’t stop. Just keep moving.”

  “What if there’s no attack?” Eric asked, exasperated. “What then?”

  “Then I apologize and we all have a good laugh at my expense.”

  The clock ticked down in my head. I found myself spending more time looking over my shoulder than watching where I was going. Ten minutes elapsed. I estimated in that time we had covered just over a mile. It did not feel nearly far enough. My shoulders felt tense and an itchy spot had started buzzing directly between my shoulder blades. I had felt it many times before, usually at the outset of a firefight when cover was scarce.

  “Gabe, this is ridiculous.”

  “Just keep moving, Eric.”

  “Come the hell on, man. The caravan is moving through town by now. If those assholes on the rooftop were going to-”

  A familiar sound echoed across the plains, s
topping Eric midsentence. We both pulled on the reins to bring our horses to a halt.

  “Was that…”

  “RPG,” I said.

  The moment the word was out of my mouth, another hiss-BANG split the air. The chatter of guns beat mutedly in the distance, a disjointed staccato cacophony second in volume only to the pounding of blood in my ears. At this range, the sounds of combat were reaching us on a delay. The battle had actually been joined several seconds before.

  “Shit!” Eric began wheeling his mount westward. “They’re under attack!”

  “Stop!” I shouted.

  “What?”

  “I said stop, you idiot. What do you think you’re doing?”

  For a few seconds, Eric was at a loss for words. “We can’t just leave them.”

  “The hell we can’t.”

  Eric stared incredulously. “Are you hearing yourself? We have to help them.”

  “No, Eric, we don’t. What we have to do is get as far away from that fight as we possibly can.”

  Elizabeth rode closer and touched my arm. “But what about all those people?”

  “There’s nothing we can do for them. Listen, we didn’t sign on as caravan guards. We signed on as passengers. I warned Spike there was an attack coming and he chose to ignore it. Hell, none of you even believed me.” I pointed a finger westward. “Do you believe me now?”

  No one spoke.

  “This is not our fight. You said it yourself, Eric. There’s over a hundred armed people protecting that caravan, two of them Blackthorns. If they can’t handle what’s coming at them, our presence won’t make any difference. We’ll just die with them. So what we’re going to do is keep moving, far and fast. We’re going to push through today and all of tonight if we have to. If need be, we’ll abandon the wagon. The horses should be able to carry most of the gear. We can use the oxen as pack mules. But it hasn’t come to that yet, and I’d rather it didn’t. Now if it’s all right with all of you can we please, for the love of Christ, get moving?”

  “I’m with him,” Sabrina said. “Anybody crazy enough to take on Spike’s group is no one we want to fuck with. We should get out of here. Now.”

  Eric jumped a bit, as if he had forgotten Sabrina was there. We both looked at her. The gray eyes were cold and hard, the mouth a thin, sharp line. It gave me an eerie feeling, like peering into a distorted mirror.

  “You’re right,” Elizabeth said. “Let’s go.”

  The reins slapped and the wagon began moving again. Eric spurred his horse, as did Elizabeth. I cast a glance at Hicks and saw him staring back toward the embattled caravan.

  “Hicks. You coming?”

  The young soldier waited a few seconds before he responded. “Yeah. I’m with you.”

  “Look, man. I don’t like it either.”

  His face cleared and settled into its usual emotionless mask. “Don’t much matter what we like or don’t like, does it?”

  I watched him catch up with the wagon and felt a hollow pit where my stomach should have been. The gunfire to the west increased in frequency and volume. I heard a few explosions, grenades or pipe bombs, maybe. I told myself if was not my fight, but the old voice of survival informed me it was not a matter of personal choice. There was no doubt we had been seen fleeing the caravan. Raiders do not like witnesses.

  Whether we wanted it or not, the fight was coming to us.

  EIGHTEEN

  “Riders coming,” Eric said.

  I keyed my radio. “How many?”

  “Twelve.”

  “Disposition?”

  “They don’t look happy.”

  “Can the jokes, Eric.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Skirmish line formation, five meter intervals. Probably not expecting much resistance. Bunch of auto-rifles and one long gun. Oh, and one of them has an RPG launcher and at least one rocket.”

  “So he dies first, then the long gun.”

  “Want me to take ‘em now?”

  “No, not yet. I want them to stay bunched together. How long until contact?”

  “They don’t seem to be in a hurry, but you know how fast that can change. Current pace, about fifteen mikes. At a gallop, maybe seven.”

  I cursed under my breath. Doesn’t leave us much time.

  “All right, get back up here. Time to make a plan.”

  “On my way.”

  I looked ahead to the low rise of squat buildings that had once been Wellsford, Kansas. Now it was an overgrown tangle of weeds, sapling trees, dilapidated houses, crumbling shacks, and rusted-out vehicles sinking slowly into the soft earth. Not a great place for a farmstead, but an excellent spot to set up an ambush.

  “What’s the situation,” Hicks said, riding next to me.

  “Riders on the way. Twelve of them.”

  “That all?”

  “For now.”

  Elizabeth’s face was pale, her eyes bright and wide like a hunted thing. “How are we going to fight twelve of them?”

  “We aren’t doing anything. You and Sabrina are going to hide while the rest of us set up an ambush.”

  “But what if we-”

  “It’s the only way,” Sabrina interrupted. “We’re on the plains. There’s nowhere to run. Our only chance is to turn and fight. And you don’t know how to fight, so somebody has to look after you. These guys are trained for this military shit. I’m not. I’m trained to run and hide. It’s how I’ve stayed alive for this long, so I’m the one who protects you. End of discussion.”

  Elizabeth started to say something else, but then put her hands over her face and nearly fell from her saddle. I grabbed her and held her with one arm, feeling her body tremble against me.

  “I don’t know what to do, Gabe. I’ve never been this scared before. Not even during the Outbreak.”

  “What you do is listen to me. Okay? Sabrina survived out here for four years. She’s been in some tough spots and always come out alive. She knows how to keep you safe. Stay low, stay quiet, and do what she says. The rest of us will deal with those raiders. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

  I knew it was a stupid thing to say as soon as it came out of my mouth; one can never promise the outcome of a fight. There are too many variables, too many things to account for, too much that can go wrong. But Elizabeth was only a few seconds away from falling apart, and I had to say something to calm her down. The job ahead of us was going to be hard enough as it was, the last thing we needed was someone going into hysterics.

  “I’m so sorry, Gabe. I don’t know why I’m acting like this.”

  “You’re afraid, Elizabeth. The last time someone came after you with a gun you almost died. It’s okay to be scared. Hell, I’m scared. But you have to control it, you hear? You can’t let it break you apart. You have to hold yourself together. I can’t focus on fighting raiders and babysitting you at the same time. Right now, I need you to be strong for me.”

  I said it more harshly than I wanted to, but I had to get the message across. Elizabeth took a few deep breaths, wiped her face, and sat up straight.

  “Okay. If you all can handle it, so can I.”

  I kissed her on the cheek and thought I had never been more proud of her. “Remember your weapons. You’re not helpless. If it comes down to it, you fight like a crazy woman. Hear me?”

  She nodded and gave me a weak smile. I kissed her again and turned to Sabrina. “Take her and go. Stay hidden.”

  A short nod. “Got my radio. Let me know when it’s all clear.”

  “Of course.”

  As they rode toward the thickest tangle of crud Sabrina could find, my daughter shot a look over her shoulder and I knew she understood the unspoken context of the conversation. We had only talked of winning, of what to do while Eric, Hicks and I dispatched the enemy. What we had not discussed was what to do if we failed, and died, and Sabrina and Elizabeth were on their own.

  Before leaving Hollow Rock, Sabrina and I had a discussion about what to do if something happened to me and she face
d capture by raiders. True to her pragmatic nature, her response to the topic had been fatalistic.

  “I won’t let myself be taken,” she had said. “There are fates worse than dying. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

  “And if someone is with you, facing the same thing?” I asked.

  A shrug. “I’ll put them down too.”

  “Even me?”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, Dad, but especially you.”

  I took no offense. I knew what she meant. Better to let a loved one die quickly and mercifully by one’s own hand than to leave them to rape, torture, despair, and a hopeless, agonizing death.

  I watched Elizabeth and my daughter disappear into the long brown grass and green saplings bordering the cracked and split highway and felt an unlikely sense of peace. No matter what happened in the next few minutes, Sabrina would keep her pledge. Elizabeth may not understand it, may be enraged and betrayed in her last moments if it came down to it, but it beat the alternative. If I ever got another chance and pressed her on the subject, I was willing to bet she would agree.

  *****

  The grass did a good job of hiding the claymores, but I was worried about the tripwires. “It’s fast work, but it’ll have to do.”

  Hicks looked at me and smirked. “I’ve seen worse.”

  “Doesn’t matter anyway. We’re out of time. Let’s get into position.”

  Eric and Caleb stayed low as they ran behind abandoned cars on both sides of the highway. I ran a hundred yards southward and climbed the stairs of a moldy, stinking house with several bleached skeletons lying amidst a wide black stain on yellow-brown carpeting that may have once been white. The stairs led to a bedroom with a window facing the highway. I bashed out the window with the stock of my M-40, pulled a nightstand in front of it, and piled dusty, rotting blankets from a closet until I had the right height for a rifle rest. Then I retrieved a chair from the next room, settled into it, and peered through the scope.