Have to find Buckle.
Derek peered from behind a house to see if it was clear. Everyone was ducked behind crates, cars, and anything else that acted as a shield against bullets. The closest person Derek could see was Fred.
“Hey!” Derek called. “Hey!”
Fred turned, gun raised, and Derek flung his hands up. Recognizing him, Fred lowered his weapon.
“Damn, man! Where’ve you been?”
“They got Amy,” Derek shouted. “Where’s Buckle?”
“I don’t know!” Fred replied. “In the shit, probably!”
“I’m coming over!”
Derek waited for a lull in gunfire and rolled over. He heard a bullet whiz by his ear. When he reached Fred, he felt something wet and warm dripping down his neck.
“You got nicked, man!” Fred shouted.
“What? Oh. Never mind.”
Fred grabbed Derek’s chin and turned his face.
“Yeah, you’re fine. What’s up?”
Fred sounded surprisingly calm. All that military experience.
“There’s only about forty of them, at the most,” Derek said. “They’ve got guards posted back in the woods, and then three at the campfire. Amy’s back there. If we draw all the guards out, we can take them all down.”
“They said they had like a hundred back there. Didn’t want to risk it. How do you suppose we draw them out? They’re staying pretty low, I think they’re trying to get us to use up all our ammo and then they’ll start climbing.”
Derek thought for a moment. He peered over the top of the crate they were ducked behind. Someone who was trying to climb the barricade got shot and fell back, disappearing into the darkness.
“Set it on fire,” Derek said firmly.
“What?”
“Set the barricade on fire.”
“Won’t that send them all running? With your wife?”
“The guards will run back to the fire. Give me a gun and I’ll take them down.”
Fred stared at him for a moment. Then he grinned.
“That’s a bad ass plan.”
“Give me a few to get into a good place back there,” Derek said. “Then light ‘er up.”
Derek, his ear streaming blood, dashed back across the street and over the fence. They switched weapons so Derek now carried a semi-automatic rifle. Fred seemed confident that he didn’t have enough bullets, but there was no other option, so Derek would just have to make do. He slung the gun on his back and climbed back over the fence. He was sweating a lot now, but the sweat was freezing. Returning to a crouch, Derek entered the woods for a second time and found his back to the campfire. The women were still there, arguing again, and this time, Derek could hear Amy’s voice.
“I’m not going to fight you,” she was saying. “I’m not stupid, ok?”
“Watch your tone,” one of the women hissed. “We’re not leaving.”
“Megan is fine,” the other insisted. “She needs us. We’re going to have all the supplies. Her baby is back there, for God’s sake.”
“I SAID, we’re not leaving her with Megan!”
Their argument was interrupted by shouting. They all turned and saw flames rising up. A man charged back through the woods, startling everyone around the fire.
“They set the barricade on fire!” he said, breathing hard. “We’re pulling back!”
“What? Why not wait it out?” one of the women asked.
“It might be rigged!” the man shouted. “I don’t want to get blown up!”
He leapt over the fire and went running into the woods towards Derek. Derek had not planned for this, but took the opportunity. He held out the gun so the man ran straight into the barrel, knocking himself out. Derek dragged his body behind a tree and stuffed his mouth with leaves.
Don’t know if that works, he thought. But it’ll at least muffle him if he wakes up.
The women at the fire had all stood, watching the fire. The one who wouldn’t leave Megan poked Amy with her gun, forcing her to sit back down. More men were coming back, some injured. One was especially hurt; he had a wound in his chest.
“Oh my god, he’s bleeding!” the woman cried.
She looked at Amy helplessly and pointed her gun at her.
“You!” she shouted. “You’re a nurse. Do something!”
“Do you have any supplies?” Amy shouted back.
“Sarah, in the bag,” the other woman said, her voice softening.
Sarah dropped her gun and rummaged through a bag that had been in the shadows. Derek crouched down further, one knee on his captive’s chest. Sarah found what she was looking for and thrust it into Amy’s arms. She went to work. More men came running back, some of them just scattering into the woods. Derek held as still as possible and let them go past him; they were panicked and too blinded by the darkness to notice him. When they were far enough away, he looked back at the fire. A circle had formed around the shot man, who was lying on the ground. Derek couldn’t see him, but he could see Amy’s face clearly. She seemed unharmed except for a large bruise on her face. Derek clenched his fists, furious.
Stay calm, stay calm.
Another woman came running to the fire and almost tripped into it.
“They’re pushing us back!” she cried. “They’re on the other side of the fence!”
“Damn it!” a man said.
“Hurry up!” Sarah said to Amy.
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
“You’re not going to let him die, are you?” Sarah asked, suddenly paranoid. “I’ll kill you if he dies!”
“I’m not going to let him die!” Amy assured her. “I’m a nurse, I don’t do that.”
Sarah grew quiet, apparently convinced. Amy’s face tensed and Derek’s heart dropped.
He’s not going to make it. I gotta do something.
“Stay with me,” Amy said. “You’re gonna make it.”
Derek grabbed his captive by the collar and raised him off the ground. He came to suddenly, coughing out leaves. Pushing him in front, Derek held up his gun and shoved him towards the fire. He emerged like a ghost from the forest, causing everyone to shout in surprise.
“Don’t move!” Derek ordered.
He pointed the gun at his captive’s head. No one in the circle had their gun ready., except Sarah. Her eyes darted back and forth, as if she was thinking.
Don’t do it, Derek thought.
Sarah just had time to lift her gun before Derek’s bullet shot through her chest. She flew backward and hit the ground hard.
“Anyone else?” Derek asked.
He felt like throwing up, but he had to stay strong. He locked eyes with Amy, who was still kneeling by the injured man. He coughed up a mouthful of blood. Amy looked down.
“He’s gone,” she said quietly.
One of the men began to cry. It was a defeated cry, more like a wail, and he tried to reach for his gun. Derek whirled as he shot, the bullet missing Derek and hitting his captive square in the gut. The man gasped, bending forward. All chaos erupted. Derek kept the man up, using him as a shield, as he opened fire on anyone and everything that moved. Amy had the sense to stay low, and from the corner of his eye, he saw her crawling away. He thought he saw someone else do the same, but as they posed no threat, he let it go. Soon, it was quiet. Derek released his grip and the man slumped to the ground, his arms and legs riddled with bullet holes. Derek checked himself quickly to be sure none of them had pierced him, too. He turned and saw that most of the shots had hit the trees.
Geez. Everyone was a terrible shot.
He looked down at the pile of bodies. The shootout would alert the others, so he had no time to hang around. Derek hurried away in the direction he had seen Amy go. Sure enough, he heard voices behind him and he picked up the pace, trying to keep low.
“Amy!” he whispered. “Amy!”
He pulled down his goggles. He thought he saw a form moving through the woods. Unsure, he followed, but kept at a distance. The figure
led him out of the woods to a field by the fence.
“Amy?” he whispered again.
“Over here.”
The voice was coming from behind him. Derek whirled around, taking off his goggles, and saw his wife standing just on the outskirts of the forest. Derek turned again, to the figure he had been following. It straightened. It was Megan. She had a gun.
Chapter 11
Derek instinctively raised his gun, but Amy’s voice behind him stopped him.
“No, don’t shoot!”
Still aiming, Derek walked backward till Amy was beside him. She grabbed the barrel of the gun.
“She’s not going to hurt you.”
“Did they brainwash you already, Ams? Get a grip!”
Derek raised his gun again.
“Don’t shoot me!” Megan cried. “I’ll get rid of the gun. Watch.”
She threw it away into the grass. Derek wavered. He grabbed Amy’s arm and pulled her with him as he walked toward Megan. He kept his gun up the whole time. When they were close together and he could see better, he relaxed a little.
“Ok. What is going on?”
“She didn’t want to do it,” Amy explained, positioning herself to protect Megan. “They were going to hurt the baby. They starved her, wouldn’t let her feed the baby, so she’d look malnourished. They’re monsters, Derek.”
“What about all that stuff you said before? Is it true?”
“Yes,” Megan said. “After Blake died, the group I was with kicked me out. I was family, but they didn’t want to risk me spreading infection. I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to get sick again. But I didn’t. Sarah found me at a store, took me into their group. I thought they were good people. They were at first. Then we ran out of food. We had to steal. Then we had to hurt people. We saw your camp and they wanted to use someone as bait to get inside, to see if there was anything useful to take. We saw the sign, too. They wanted to see if it was true.”
“So they sent you? Because you couldn’t get sick again?”
“No. They thought I could. I was just the most dispensable. So was Britney.”
Derek chewed his lip. Amy looked at him, her eyes pleading. Derek sighed.
“It would be easy to just send you back out there,” he said, gesturing towards the woods. “We have the baby, she’d be safe.”
“I don’t care about anything else,” Megan said. “Send me away. Just take care of Britney.”
Derek looked into her eyes. He could tell she was telling the truth. About everything. The fire from the barricade was getting higher, and they could hear more gunshots, from deeper in the woods.
“Come on,” Derek said. “Let’s get you to where it’s safe.”
He led Amy and Megan back around to the fence. He let Amy over first, and then Megan. The street was empty. There were crates pushed up against the barricade where Mineral Pointers had jumped over the fire to chase the attackers. Derek went first to the house and called through the door.
“Adam? It’s me. I found Mom.”
He opened the door. Adam was kneeling on the floor over a body. He looked up at Derek with tear-red eyes. Derek looked down and saw that it was Buckle. He had a gunshot wound in his leg. He was still breathing, but there was blood everywhere. Adam had a towel in his hand and was pressing down on Buckle’s side.
“They brought him in,” Adam stammered. “A little while ago. I didn’t know what to do. He won’t wake up.”
He removed the towel, revealing a wound there as well. Amy pushed past Derek.
“You did the right thing,” she told Adam. “Quick, get the first aid kit from our bedroom.”
Adam ran. Derek let his gun slide off his shoulder so it dangled from his arm. Megan closed the door behind them and stood quietly in a corner. Adam returned with the first aid kit.
“The bullet went through on his side,” Amy informed everyone. “The other one’s still lodged in his leg.”
Derek leaned against the couch, staring down at his brother.
“We can’t move him,” Amy said.
It was like she was talking out loud to herself; she clearly didn’t expect anyone to respond. She used scissors to cut off Buckle’s shirt. The wound in his side was ugly, but looked like it missed any important organs. Amy rubbed her hands with an antiseptic and took a deep breath. She worked quickly, asking Adam for help. Derek wanted to take Adam’s place, but he found that his legs wouldn’t move. He just stared as Amy cleaned, stitched, and bandaged Buckle’s side wound as quickly as possible before focusing on the leg wound. She cut away his pants.
“Bullet’s in there,” she repeated. “Tweezers.”
Adam’s face went green and ran to vomit. He managed to hit the trash can. As if woken from a trance, Derek knelt down, pulling out the tweezers. Megan ran over to Adam and tried to soothe him.
“Get him some water,” Derek ordered her.
They all heard cries from the bedroom, indicating Britney was awake. The dogs, who had been whining and pacing in the hall, hurried to the bedroom as if to help.
“Go in the bedroom,” Derek said. “Shut the door.”
Megan obeyed and took Adam, a bottle of water, and the dogs into the room with her. Derek turned his attention back to Buckle. Amy had removed the bullet and was cleaning the wound. Buckle flinched despite his unconsciousness.
“He’s going to need a splint,” Amy said.
Derek emptied the contents of the first aid kit that Amy had packed. It included a SAM splint. It was already cut to size. Derek grabbed one of the survival candles and held it close so Amy could see better. Her brow was furrowed. Looking at her, Derek felt overwhelmed. He had just shot five or six people. Buckle was in real trouble. Amy was back. Derek felt the urge to just start screaming. He looked at Buckle lying there.
Don’t go, he thought desperately. I still need you.
When Amy had finished tending to Buckle, she fell asleep on the couch, still covered in blood. Derek propped a pillow behind Buckle’s head and sat with his back to the couch, peering into his brother’s face. He still hadn’t woken up. Derek cracked his knuckles and felt his ear. The bleeding had stopped on its own. He just had crust there now. Buckle stirred, taking a heavy, raspy breath. Derek brushed Buckle’s hair back from his forehead.
“Please wake up,” he whispered. “We still need you here, man. We...I...can’t do this by myself.”
Tears started to run down Derek’s face. He didn’t bother to wipe them away.
“I owe you my life. Everything. Without you...I never would have made it at home with Dad. I thought about killing myself once. Did I ever tell you that? I was going to go out to the back and shoot myself through the mouth. But then I saw you outside in the rain, holding that twenty-pound weight. I don’t remember what you did, but it made Dad mad, so he made you stand out there. You saw me looking at you, and you made this funny face. It made me laugh. And I knew I was going to be ok. It’s all because of you, Buckle. You saved us all. Adam, Amy...we’d be long gone without you. You don’t deserve to die like this. You were made for this life. You gotta wake up. There’s still so much to do. You’re going to be a legend. People are going to remember you. But, you have to wake up.”
Derek was rambling now. Sobs wracked his body and he curled up, rocking on his heels. He let himself fall on the rug, now soaked in Buckle’s blood, and just lie there. Eventually, he fell asleep. When he woke, it was because Amy was shaking him.
“Derek, he’s awake!” she said.
Derek was so groggy he almost thought he was still dreaming. He rubbed his eyes with his fist.
“What?”
“Buckle’s awake.”
They were able to move Buckle on the couch, where they layered him with blankets and fed him by hand. Amy threw out the bloody rug and moped the floor with an antiseptic. Though pretty pale, Buckle was in relatively good spirits.
“I see you got your woman back,” he said to Derek. “Well done.”
Dere
k couldn’t stop grinning. He still hadn’t showered and must have looked horrifying. He had a combination of his own blood and about six other people’s all over his shirt and head.
“You got into some shit, too,” Derek said. “Got yourself shot up.”
“Ah,” Buckle said, waving his wrist around. “I’m pretty talented that way.”
Adam was also ecstatic. He insisted on caring for Buckle’s every need, even seeing to Buckle’s bathroom needs. Buckle heard from Amy how Adam’s quick thinking had essentially saved him bleeding to death, and was appropriately impressed.
“You’re a natural, Adam,” he said. “I owe you my life, man. Thank you.”
Buckle was not happy to see Megan again, though he was more shocked than anything else until Derek told him the story. He was also willing to believe what Amy told him about her, especially when Amy recounted a story that Derek had not heard. Apparently the outside group had not been happy that Megan had not taken any supplies with her and wanted to shoot Amy, but Megan convinced them not to.
“I knew someone would come after her,” Megan explained. “And cause a distraction.”
“That’s kind of a gamble,” Buckle countered.
“I saw the first aid kit in the bedroom, but I didn’t want to steal anything. I’m sick of stealing. But I had to bring back something, or they’d kill me. I also thought maybe we two could overpower Sarah and Beth at the campfire and get away.”
Buckle was willing to believe that Megan was harmless, not because of her kind heart, but rather because her plan made so little sense it was impossible to think she might be plotting something new. She was clearly a victim of a malicious group and had no evil intents of her own. The rest of the community faced her when they came to visit Buckle. They also took some convincing. Megan was able to win their favor by telling them where the group had hid their few supplies and ammunition in the woods. She led the way, unarmed, to dispel any concerns about another trap. At a distance, Derek and five other Mineral Pointers watched her approach a tree with a slash through it and unbury a bag from a pile of dead leaves. She returned with the bag, her hands up.
Band of Preppers: A Prepper Fiction Novel (Book 1) Page 11