Primal Shift: Volume 2 (A Post Apocalyptic Thriller)

by Griffin Hayes

  Singleton was already shaking his head. “I paid you for ‘em with six days of rations fair and frickin’ square, and you shirked on the deal after you ate the food I gave you.”

  “Those cans were past the due date,” Hobbes shot back as the two men began to bicker.

  “Gentlemen,” Larry said calmly without any success in stopping the squabble. The two men were still going at it. Larry slammed the desk with his fist. “Will you shut up? You’re like a couple of kids arguing over a box of toys.” Larry sat back in his throne and steepled his fingers together. “I know what we’ll do. Donavan, go into the weapons cache and grab two machetes.”

  The blood in Hobbes’ and Singleton’s faces drained all at once. A minute later, Donavan returned with the blades.

  “You’re men, aren’t you?” Larry shouted.

  Both men nodded, fearfully.

  “I thought you were. Then both of you will go outside and settle this as men.”

  Hobbes wiped the sweat from his brow. “You want us to kill each other?”

  “Of course not. Chances are only one of you will die.”

  “He can have the damned gold coins,” Singleton said, backing away.

  Larry shook his head. “It’s far too late for that now. You’ve already wasted enough of my time. We either bring you outside to settle this dispute with blood, or Donavan here shoots both of you dead where you stand.”

  The two men looked at each other.

  “So, what’ll it be?” Larry asked, picking dirt from his fingernails.

  Donavan pulled a Glock out of his belt and aimed it at them.

  “OK, we’ll fight, we’ll fight,” Hobbes stammered.

  Larry grinned. “See, I knew you’d come to your senses.” He waved one of the guards over. “Take our two gladiators outside and then assemble the people of New Jamestown, will you?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Then Larry turned to Donavan. “How many sick and wounded are we feeding these days?”

  Donavan scratched the side of his head. “Oh, maybe 20. Most of those are from the attack on the hotel.”

  “Oh, yes, the valiant battle against Alvarez and the dozen Wipers who were protecting him.”

  The expression on Donavan’s face registered confusion. He looked uncertain whether Larry was mocking the very people who had fought for them.

  “We’ll need to make room for our new Navy guests. See to it the sick and wounded are shot.”

  Donavan looked stunned. “Shot?”

  “Yes, maybe you’re right,” Larry cut him off. “Bullets are so messy, aren’t they? Best to use what’s left of Timothy’s cyanide. Good point. Oh and get me that satellite phone. I’ve got a call to make.”

  Donavan went to the other room and returned a moment later with the phone, looking decidedly uncertain.

  Larry was thumbing the button as Donavan started to head outside. “And don’t let those two idiots kill one another before I arrive. A little bloodshed is just what I need to cheer me up.”

  Finn

  Joanne was playing with her long dark hair, staring off at nothing in particular. They’d just seen two colonists, Hobbes and Singleton, hack each other to pieces with machetes, cheered on from the sidelines by a rather maniacal-looking Larry.

  “He wasn’t always like this,” Finn told Zhou, Callahan, and Kulik who were sitting nearby in the tent.

  “That man’s lost his shit,” Foster said. “Gone medieval on our asses.”

  Zhou nodded. “You said there was an assassination attempt made against Larry?”

  “Just the other day,” Finn told him. “There’s a fresh hole still in the compound to prove it. You think that has something to do with his paranoia?”

  “It never helps. He certainly waited till our guard was down before he swept in and confiscated our weapons.”

  Kulik lifted the boot cuff of his blue and gray pants and revealed a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .38. “But those sticky-fingered pricks didn’t get my concealable.”

  “That isn’t just paranoia,” Joanne said, still staring off. “Foster is right. Larry’s mental state is deteriorating, and fast. I mean, he made those two men butcher one another.”

  Finn didn’t want to hear any more. He’d seen the carnage with his own eyes; Hobbes and Singleton swinging madly at one another, as if somehow they believed the loser would get a thumbs-down from the emperor and receive a summary execution.

  “Is that what we’ve come to?” Finn finally asked. “Gladiatorial games designed to frighten and intimidate the rest of us? It certainly sounds like something Alvarez would do, but not Larry. The man was a weasel and a snake, but never a sadistic fiend.” Finn turned to Zhou. “I made a terrible mistake telling you and your men to come here. I’ll make it better, I swear.”

  Zhou looked like he was about to assuage Finn’s guilt when Callahan spoke up.

  “There’s something I should tell you,” he said, turning to his commander.

  “Another confession?” Kulik spat. “What is this, a Roman Catholic pity party?”

  Callahan ignored the comment. “When I arrived here with Carole and the others from the hotel boiler room, I told Larry who we were.”

  “Should it matter?” Joanne asked.

  “A great deal,” Zhou told her. “The nuclear arsenal onboard the Alabama is capable of destroying every major city on the continent.”

  “I knew Larry had something up his sleeve this morning,” Finn admitted, “when I saw him pull his ‘host of the year’ performance. The man wouldn’t butter a piece of bread unless he was sure to get half of it.”

  “Larry wanted Zhou here,” Joanne said, her hand pausing for a moment.

  Joanne’s comment clearly worried Commander Zhou.

  “I hate to be the one to say it,” Finn told them. “But we need to head to San Diego and scuttle the Alabama before Larry or anyone else can get their hands on those nukes.”

  That’s when the sound of desperate shouting outside drew their attention. It was coming from the medical tent next door.

  •••

  They arrived at the medical tent a second later to find Lou surrounded by Donavan and six of his men. Lou was demanding to know what business armed men had there.

  “What’s going on here?” Finn asked.

  “None of your concern,” Donavan barked back. “We need to make some room.”

  Lou’s chest was heaving and his face flushed with anger. “Make some room. The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  Finn could see Donavan was holding a tiny brown bottle in his hand, and he grabbed his wrist and held up the contents. Rifles from militia members snapped into Finn’s face.

  “Cyanide,” Finn said, ignoring the rifles aimed at his temple. “You aren’t here to move beds around, are you? Larry sent you here to kill the wounded.”

  “I’ve had enough of this,” Donavan shouted. “You’re all under arrest.”

  “Over my dead body,” Lou growled and tackled two of the militia to the ground. One of their rifles went off and struck their own man in the knee. He fell, screaming. Now there were three men with rifles still standing, and one had the barrel pointed directly at Finn’s chest. The man’s eyes narrowed, and Finn knocked the barrel into the air and punched him square in the face. He moaned in surprise and pain before reeling backward onto his ass. Another rifle was swinging toward Finn, and just then when Kulik swung up with the Smith & Wesson .38 and put two rounds into the back of his head. Down went Donavan’s man. If there was a point of no return, they’d just crossed it.

  Donavan pushed through Callahan and Zhou and ran from the tent along with his two remaining men.

  Lou was pummeling the cult members he’d tackled when Finn made him stop.

  “Donavan’s gonna be back any minute with plenty more weapons, and we don’t have much to protect ourselves with. Get Ethan out of here while you still have a chance.”

  They removed the AR-15s and ammo mags from the militia. One of them was de
ad. The other three had only been knocked around.

  “Tie them up and take them with us,” Finn said. “They might come in handy.”

  “What about the rest of the wounded?” Joanne asked.

  Zhou took Kulik’s pistol and handed him one of the AR-15s. “The only way to help them is to stop Larry.”

  “I want my M-4 back,” Foster whined.

  “He’s got a point,” Kulik agreed. “We’re too thin on firepower to do much good.”

  Finn headed for the tent flap. “We need to get back the weapons they took.”

  “They must be somewhere in the compound itself,” Joanne said.

  Zhou rubbed his chin. “If I were Larry, I’d have stashed those confiscated guns as close as possible.”

  The sound of militia shouting in the distance was growing louder.

  “The compound basement,” Finn said. “Makes sense.”

  Dana and Tanner came running into the medical tent just then. “I heard shots and saw Donavan running away.” Her eyes found the dead cult member. “What the hell happened?”

  Finn pulled the charging handle on the AR-15 he was holding. “I think we just started a civil war.”

  •••

  That the sun was well on its way to setting was a blessing for Finn and the others. As soon as they left the medical tent, they caught sight of Donavan rallying the militia.

  Finn leaned out and peered over at the guard towers by the front gate. “Interesting.”

  Joanne was right behind him. “What do you see?”

  “The guards aren’t facing out over the wall anymore. They’re facing in. I noticed it yesterday, but it didn’t fully register.”

  Joanne frowned. “Facing in, like ... ”

  “A prison. Yes.” Finn turned to Zhou and the others. “Our best bet is to move through the parked cars out back and in through the gymnasium.”

  Zhou held up the .38. “I’ll stay here with Callahan and Foster and keep them busy.”

  Finn, Joanne, and Kulik circled back into Tent City and made their way up toward the car park. Dana and Tanner were right behind them. Liberating the weapons and ammo Larry had taken would take plenty of hands.

  Gunfire rattled off in the distance as they made their way between tents crowded with regular colonists hugging the floor with fear.

  They reached the cars, ducking down behind them. Dana moved in beside Finn. “I won’t be able to join you when you blow the source of that pulse into tiny bits,” he told her as they caught their breath, the sound of guns and yelling rattling their nerves.

  Dana looked surprised. “We could use you.”

  “Something more important’s come up. Larry’s got his sights set on snatching Commander Zhou’s nuclear sub, and we gotta scuttle it before that can happen.”

  She understood, Finn could see that, but he could tell she was disappointed all the same.

  “I don’t think anyone’s leaving,” Tanner told them both.

  “Why’s that?” Finn asked, crouching to stay out of sight.

  “Larry had Donavan remove the sparkplugs from all the vehicles.”

  Finn didn’t bother asking about the Humvees ‘cause he could see they were boxed in on every side by disabled cars and trucks.

  “That’s one more thing on our shopping list,” Dana said, grimacing.

  “Keep moving,” Kulik shouted from the rear.

  They made their way through the car park and around the back of the compound to the gym doors. Back by Tent City, Callahan and Zhou were firing sporadically, trying their best to present themselves as a larger force than they really were.

  Finn, Dana, and Tanner were about to head inside when Kulik stopped them. “I’ve got an idea.” He was looking back at the car park. The Humvees might not have sparkplugs, but Larry’s men hadn’t thought to remove the .50-cal from the mount on Zhou’s lead vehicle.

  “You’ll be a sitting duck,” Finn warned him.

  The crazed glint in Kulik’s eye erased the notion he could be reasoned with. He handed his AR-15 to Dana. “Don’t worry about me. You just get our gear back.”

  Finn nodded and wished him good luck before the rest of them disappeared inside.

  The gym was devoid of life, although it bore all the signs of a great party. Not long ago, Zhou’s men were being treated like rock stars. Larry’s strategy was certainly tried, tested, and true. Lull your victims into a false sense of security before you strike. It had been a rare bloodless move on Larry’s part in what was quickly becoming a blood-soaked tyranny.

  Up ahead, two armed cult members emerged from the basement. Finn and the others tried to crouch, but they were already spotted. The enemy’s rifles rose up when Dana fired, dropping the first one. The echo of gunfire inside the gymnasium pierced Finn’s ears. As though on auto pilot, he quickly drew the other in his sights and squeezed the trigger three times, sending the man spinning to the floor.

  “There goes the element of surprise,” Dana said, springing to her feet.

  Finn caught the sound of a large-caliber rifle opening up outside and knew it was Kulik wreaking havoc with the .50-cal.

  When they reached the two dead cultists, Finn snatched up their rifles, tossed one to Tanner, and slung the other over his back.

  AR-15s at the ready, Finn, Dana, and Tanner made their way toward the stairway and into the basement.

  Shots rang out from down the hallway, passing over their head. Finn ducked, and all three of them unloaded. The shooting stopped, but they could hear the distinct sound of someone moaning.

  The basement had rooms on both sides of the hallway. They would have to check each and every one, Finn realized. If they were lucky, they’d find Larry hiding in a corner like the coward he was.

  “That’s the interrogation room,” Dana said, pointing to the right. She nudged the door open and quickly closed it. “Empty.”

  Across from that was a room neither of them had been in. Finn grabbed the handle and found it locked. “Block your ears,” he told them and aimed his rifle at the latch. He took three quick shots and then kicked the door. It swung open, revealing an assortment of handguns, shotguns, rifles, and piles of ammo.

  “There’s enough here to outfit an army,” Finn said, jubilantly.

  Dana was more surprised than elated. “No way all this came from the colonists and Zhou’s men. They must have been stockpiling for a while.”

  “Quick, grab what you can,” Finn told them. He wasn’t more than five feet into the room when he spotted a box with an assortment of spark plugs. “These, too,” he told Tanner, who swept in and plucked the box from his hands.

  That’s when the basement door from outside burst open, followed by the sound of men shouting. Finn and the others hadn’t managed to gather more than a few M-4s and a handful of ammo mags.

  Tanner peeked outside and turned back, looking white. “A ton of Larry’s men just showed up. We better do something quick before they figure out we’re in here.”

  “Don’t panic,” Dana said. She pulled out a crate under one of the tables and held up what looked like a green can of bug spray. “This a grenade?”

  Finn took a look. “Yeah, but it lets off smoke, not shrapnel.”

  “Good enough,” she said.

  Already, footsteps and alarmed voices were heading their way. Dana pulled the pin. “Tanner,” she called out. “Covering fire.”

  “Got it.” Without even looking, he swung the barrel of his AR-15 into the corridor and let off every round he had in his magazine.

  Dana was next and released the handle on the grenade before tossing it down the hall. Smoke filled the hallway, spilling into Larry’s office and every other adjoining room. The cult members were coughing and sputtering as the three of them fled. First up the stairs and then out through the gymnasium.

  Outside, Finn listened for a moment, finding the occasional clatter of gunfire, but not the .50-cal Kulik had been manning earlier. Coming around the corner, Finn’s heart sank when he saw Zhou�
�s Humvee on fire, along with the cars that surrounded it.

  “Think he made it out?” Dana asked.

  “It ain’t looking good, although right now, I’m more worried that we didn’t get nearly enough firepower.”

  They no sooner began hugging the wall by the car park than shots began landing all around them.

  “They’re sniping at us from the towers,” Dana said, peering up. “Keep your heads down till we make it to Tent City. They may not be able to see us as easily there.”

  Then Finn spotted a handful of dark figures moving toward them, low to the ground. He raised his rifle and then let it relax when he saw Zhou with a handful of others. Nearby were Callahan and Kulik, although the latter had a gash on the side of his head and blood running down his face.

  Keeping low, Finn clapped Kulik on the shoulder. “You look the way I feel.”

  Kulik returned a sly smile. “Took a few of those worker bees out before they started lobbing in the heavy stuff.”

  Zhou didn’t look nearly as jovial. “Did you get the weapons?”

  “Only what you see,” Finn told him. “The place was crawling with Larry’s men.”

  “We need a lot more than that to make a difference, I’m afraid,” Zhou said, handing them to Foster and the other men behind him. “Larry’s militia’s been cutting us to shreds out here. We’re gonna need to break out of New Jamestown before he has a chance to regain control. But there’s a problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m hearing word that Larry disabled all the vehicles.”

  Tanner produced the box of sparkplugs. “Ask and you shall receive.”

  “Cute,” Zhou shot back, ruffling Tanner’s blonde hair. “Now let’s find an SUV big enough to blast through those front gates.

  “I know just the one,” Finn said, eyeing Larry’s Escalade.

  •••

  The Escalade’s nose facing away from the guard towers and the car’s large profile meant re-installing the spark plugs hadn’t taken more than a few minutes. Zhou, Callahan, Kulik, and Joanne snuck into the car one by one. Finn was about to go when he stopped and caught Dana, peering over at the towers. The shooting had died out a few minutes ago, and some of Larry’s men were searching through the trailers. Another group was heading toward Tent City.