Days of Terror

by Jack Hunt

  Chapter 6

  Elliot rolled up his sleeping bag, shoved it into the thin holder and began gathering up their belongings and filling his backpack. The rest of them looked confused.

  “Hold on a minute, Elliot. What happened?” Clive asked.

  “We are leaving now.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Clive piped up. “They have food, protection, hell, I slept amazing last night. And you want us to leave this behind?”

  “It’s not safe here,” Elliot said.

  “Oh and it’s safer out there? We already had to give up on New Hope Springs and now you want us to give up this. Nope. It’s not happening.” He turned and his wife, Wendy, put her arm around his waist and they walked off talking to each other. Brian and Thomas Walsh went with them, leaving behind the rest.

  “Elliot,” Damon said grabbing him by the arm. “If it’s dangerous, we’ll leave but you need to tell us why?”

  He stopped stuffing his backpack and looked up at him. “These people aren’t who say they are. They just killed four of Shelby’s men, and tortured another man, just in an attempt to rile up Shelby and start a war. I for one am not getting caught up in it. I have my kids to think about.”

  Damon looked out then back at him. “Wait. Torture? Who?”

  “I’m not going into it now, all I can tell you is that Mack isn’t who he said he was.”

  “He’s right,” a deep voice said from behind them. Mack was standing in the doorway, his arms folded. “I didn’t tell you everything, that’s because we weren’t sure if we could trust you all.”

  Damon frowned. “Who are you?”

  “Mack Larson. That part is true. ” He walked in and regarded each of them.

  Elliot was quick to respond. “You want to be honest? How about you start by telling me how Shelby knows you? I heard what you said to that soldier. ‘He knows me,’ I believe your words were.”

  Mack exhaled. “We have a history. I knew Frank and his brother long before we formed the Texas Defense Force.”

  “You formed it? But you said you weren’t in the military?”

  “And I wasn’t but I was part of a militia that was started by the three of us. We had this goal of training up and arming regular Americans. You know, folks who were patriotic, people who loved their country and would do anything to hold on to that freedom and liberty. We wanted to stand against and expose corruption and injustice in the government. We wanted to create a national organization that would network, train and help others. We wanted to create a way of life more than a club. There were no fees to join, you didn’t have to be military though we found many of the folks who joined had a military background. These were some of the ones who taught us how to fire guns, tactical strategies and so forth. The biggest misconception is that we were against the government. I wasn’t against the government, but I was prepared to go against them if they didn’t abide by the Constitution or overstepped its boundaries.”

  He walked into the midst of them and acted completely different to the man Elliot had seen out there that morning. Was this just another form of control? He continued speaking, “The whole purpose of what we were doing was to put into place a series of fail-safes that might prevent the government from trying to reign over us in a tyrannical fashion. Believe me, an event like the one we have been through will show us the kind of government we are dealing with. We have yet to see it. None of us knows what is going on in those FEMA camps but we know it’s just one step towards—”

  “Helping people,” Gary said, cutting him off. “Look, you know what? I’ve met your kind before. You say one thing but do another. I’m not one for reacting but if Elliot doesn’t trust you, neither do I.” Gary crouched down and began rolling up his sleeping bag.

  Elliot was taken aback by what he said. It was a pleasant surprise though. That was the most they’d managed to get out of him in a long while.

  “Look, I’m trying to explain. I understand what you saw today, Elliot, was hard to stomach but you need to know what we have endured. Six months ago I was a part of Shelby’s group, so was Calvin, and so were four others. You’ve met them, Elliot. Shelby took violence to a new level. I tried to get him to rethink but he wouldn’t listen so our group splintered. We headed into the forest and in time as we scavenged the towns and cities around here our group grew. Shelby and his brother didn’t like it. They saw my decision to leave as an act of betrayal so he sent some of his men to kill us. If you don’t believe me, then go and speak with some of the people in this community. They will tell you what happened. We barely escaped with our lives.”

  “If that’s so, then why do you think you stand a chance now?” Elliot asked.

  “That was back when there wasn’t as many of us.”

  Elliot shook his head. “You know what, I don’t care — whatever issue you have with them, that’s your war, not ours. We’re leaving.”

  “And go where, Elliot? We are not the bad guys here. Don’t make me out to be one.”

  “Pissing on a man, cutting him up. There are some levels I’m willing to go to for survival but that’s not one of them.”

  Elliot brushed past him on the way out.

  “You’re making a big mistake, Elliot.”

  “Yeah, maybe I am but at least it won’t cost us our lives.”

  “I wouldn’t bank on that.”

  Elliot stopped and looked back at him as the rest gathered around.

  “Is that a threat?”

  He snorted. “Not from us but by all means, if you want to leave — go, but if any of you want to stay, you have my word we will continue to protect and feed you. You will be treated as one of us.”

  Mack looked at the others as if expecting them to follow suit. Elliot didn’t wait around to see who would stay; he’d already made up his mind. He wasn’t going to get caught up in another man’s war. They’d already lost a few good people. Rayna caught up with him, Lily and Evan were in her shadow. He heard Damon say, “Where they go, so do I.”

  “You’ll be back,” Mack said.

  “Don’t count on it,” Elliot replied.

  He heard him chuckle as if he knew something they didn’t.

  They trudged away until they were at the edge of the camp before looking back. Behind him were Gary, Damon, Maggie, Jesse, Rayna and the kids, Brianna and Tristan and her kid. Clive, Wendy, Brian and Thomas had stuck by their decision to stay.

  Elliot glanced at Mack one last time before they pushed into the thick trees and disappeared out of view.

  Thirty minutes later they arrived at the original campsite. None of them had exchanged words. Elliot unloaded his bag and set about putting up his tent.

  “So we are definitely doing this?” Jesse asked.

  Elliot nodded but didn’t respond. His thoughts were still on what Mack had told him, or that which he hadn’t.

  “Elliot,” Jesse asked again.

  “What?”

  “We’re staying here?”

  “For now until I can figure out what’s next.”

  “Right,” he said before ambling away looking deflated. Damon came over with a cigarette in his mouth.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  Elliot looked at him. “You want to lock heads with armed men?”

  “No.”

  “Do we have any reason to?”

  “No.”

  “Then avoidance is common sense.”

  “I don’t think Gary would disagree with you on that.”

  “And you?”

  He raised a hand. “Do you hear me complaining?”

  Elliot shook his head.

  Damon took a seat on a log nearby as Elliot went about erecting a tent. “I figure we have a couple of options.”

  “Let’s hear them,” Elliot hollered from inside the tent. He was pushing into place one of the rods.

  Damon sniffed and blew out a plume of smoke. “We find a town nearby and take up residence, or we create a camp similar to what Mack has built. A camp in th
e trees.” Elliot poked his head out and Damon was looking skyward. “I can see myself with a nice hammock, right over there.”

  “If we did that we would need to be near a stream, preferably a river.”

  “Why?”

  “So we can build a water-wheel electric generator.”

  “You know how to do that?”

  Elliot poked his head out again. “Roughly. How hard could it be?”

  “Extremely hard,” Gary said interjecting. He walked over and crouched down. “No, you guys seem to have forgotten about one other option.”

  “And what’s that?” Damon asked.

  “FEMA camp.”

  “Yeah, right, that’s not on the table.”

  “Why not, because of what Mack said?”

  “We’ve already had this discussion,” Damon said. “Elliot, tell him.”

  “He’s not against it, Damon. You remember what you promised, Elliot?”

  Elliot continued working away on the tent trying to stay out of it. “That was if we had a vehicle. Now we don’t.”

  “You said they have a truck and a Jeep.”

  “Yeah, it’s theirs. The last thing I need to have is both of these camps on our ass. No. We’re not stealing it.”

  “Then we go to the closest FEMA camp. Mack must know where it is.”

  “And give up all this?” Damon said stretching out his hands and gazing up into the blue sky. “No thank you.”

  Gary replied, “I think you spent too long inside. FEMA isn’t a prison.”

  “No? Where do you think they got the idea for Guantánamo Bay detention camp? Those FEMA camps are nothing more than a glorified version of that. Screw that. I’m not handing over my weapon and becoming Uncle Sam’s whipping boy. You might have served at his altar but that doesn’t mean I have to. Besides, who knows what information they might have on us? They might bring up my past and then what? I get demoted to cleaning the shitters. Yeah, no thanks.” Damon leaned back and puffed away on his cigarette looking content with his lot in life.

  “He has a point,” Elliot said.

  “Oh so you’re changing your mind now?”

  “No, things were different when we had that discussion. Jill was…” he trailed off realizing what he was about to say.

  Gary stepped forward. “Go on. You can say it. Alive. She was alive.”

  Elliot shrugged and finished erecting one side of the tent. He then went about knocking in the steel pegs. “I’m just saying that the reason you wanted to go there was because of her. I get it.”

  Gary’s brow furrowed. “What makes you think it was her idea?”

  “Well she said—”

  “I came up with the idea,” he blurted out.

  There was a long pause as Elliot stared back at him before he said, “You wanted to leave us?”

  “Well things haven’t exactly gone well since you returned.”

  “Hey, that’s not my problem. I wasn’t the one that came on to someone else’s wife,” Elliot said.

  Gary scowled. “And I thought you had forgiven me for that.”

  “Forgive, yes, forget, no, that shit doesn’t leave the mind too easily, Gary.”

  Gary ran a hand around his face. Over the past few weeks he grown out the stubble into a beard, most of the guys had. It was easier than trying to shave. A few yards away, Jesse was in the middle of starting a fire.

  “Well now that we have turned our backs on two camps, I’m going to look into the FEMA option. There has to be one close to here. I’m not expecting you to follow me in but if one exists then chances are they will take me in being as I’m ex-law enforcement and all.”

  “Oh great, go ahead and rub it in,” Damon muttered, tossing a loose rock into the forest.

  “You said you didn’t want to go.”

  “That’s right. But I don’t want to hear about how you’re going to be living the good life while we are stuck out here in Deliverance country.”

  Elliot chuckled. “You know you can go with him.”

  “Oh really, Dad, thanks for the permission,” he said in a sarcastic manner. “Of course I know I can go with him, I just prefer my freedom.” With that said he got up and walked away to talk to Jesse. Elliot finished up pushing in the last peg. When he was done he looked up at Gary.

  “Okay.”

  “What?” Gary replied.

  “Okay. If you want to go check out a FEMA camp, do it. Just do me a favor and let us know if it’s any good.”

  Gary smiled. “I knew it. You’re just like me. You’re not cut out for this outdoor living.”

  Elliot’s eyebrows shot up. “Hey, I lived over a year under the streets in New York. If anyone is, I am.” He grabbed up a bottle of water and took a swig. “I just think everyone deserves another option. We came this far and well, it’s not exactly gone according to plan.”

  Gary jumped up with a new lease on life. The change was like night and day. “Right, well I’m going back to Mack’s, find out where this FEMA camp might be and if it’s near, I’ll check it out.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Anyone want to come with me?”

  The expressions offered back answered that.

  “Okay, then it’s just me.” He collected his bag and slung the rifle over his shoulder.

  “Gary,” Elliot said walking over to him. “Play it safe. First sign of trouble, get out.”

  He nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry. I feel good about this.”

  Eliot offered back a strained smile, patted him on the arm and watched as he walked off into the forest. As he stood there Damon came up alongside him, resting his arm on his shoulder. The two of them watched Gary disappear. “Well that sucks.”

  “If you wanted to, you had the chance,” Elliot said turning back to the tent.

  Damon followed him over. “So what about my ideas? Should we head for the nearest town or try building a camp up in the trees?”

  Elliot lifted both hands. “Let’s see what Gary comes up with first, shall we?”

  Damon laughed. “You’ve sent him out like a guinea pig, haven’t you?”

  “Hey, he wanted to go. It’s not my place to tell him no. That goes for everyone here. I’m not running the show. If you want to build a tree community, knock your socks off but I figure that’s going to take some time, and you’ll need tools.”

  “So let’s go get some. Nearest town is Hemphill.”

  “Yeah, I was just there. I don’t fancy going back.”

  “Then Jesse and I will go.”

  “You’ll need some wheels or a horse, and we don’t have either.”

  “But Mack does.”

  Elliot shook his head. “I’m starting to think that we might as well have stayed there.” He turned towards the rest of the group. “Anyone else need something that Mack might have? Speak up now.”

  Some shook their heads, the rest gave back confused expressions. Damon took one last puff of his cigarette and crushed it below his boot. “Look, I know you’re against what he did but you had to know things were going to get worse, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then part of us surviving means aligning ourselves with others. Now in a toss-up, who would you rather go with? The guys inside the compound or Mack?”

  “Neither. I wouldn’t roll the dice.”

  Damon smiled. “No, you don’t get out of it that easy. C’mon. Two choices. Which way do you go?”

  “Neither. Just because the choice is there it doesn’t mean you have to make it. Desperation is what drives people into situations that change them into people they wouldn’t ordinarily become.” He took a seat. “I don’t trust either of them.”

  Damon nodded. “But it takes time.”

  “Sure but you can learn a lot from a man by the way he handles his emotions.”

  “They tortured and killed his wife and kid, Elliot. What would you have done?”

  Elliot glanced over to Rayna who was chatting with the kids. They’d already faced life-and-death situations. The
memory of returning from New York replayed in his mind. If they had died, what would he have done?

  Chapter 7

  Four of his men had been impaled and left to rot beside the road leading up to the compound. Frank stood near an idling truck looking at them; fury welled inside. He made a gesture with a jerk of the head for his men to take them down. They were the same ones from Hemphill. He knew them well. Martin. Keith. Wesley. Paul. They were among the first to join the TDF. There was no message left behind because that was the message. He eyed the forest tree line wondering if they were out there watching them. He kept his M4 on the ready, raking it from left to right.

  He turned to his brother.

  “He won’t stop,” John said. “We need to talk to him.”

  “Talking isn’t going to resolve it. We killed his wife and child,” Frank said.

  “He wasn’t meant to survive.”

  “Yeah, well he did and he knows us better than anyone.”

  He motioned for them to leave.

  They got back in the truck and waited for the men to remove the four from the tall, sharpened posts in the ground. The post itself had been rammed up their ass and came out their neck. It was a vile sight and certainly beyond anything he would have done.

  “I still think it’s best to talk to him,” John said.

  “Not him. Someone else.”

  “Who?”

  “Once Lucas is ready to head out, he knows what the group looked like. If Mack sent men to do this, he must send them out on a regular basis, and they have to be hiding in the woods. That’s the only place he would go. I want you to put together a team to find them.”

  John scowled. “You want us to start a war?”

  Frank turned to his brother. “It’s already started. We’re the ones who must finish it.”

  Gary had come across the men on the way back to Mack’s camp. At first he was going to call out to them but once he saw them remove the four dead soldiers he knew they weren’t a part of Mack’s group. Crouched down in a thicket of trees with his finger hovering over the trigger, he waited until they got back in the truck, reversed, turned and drove off in the direction of the compound. Another few minutes and then he darted across the open road and into the north side of the forest. Elliot had spoken about the man being cut up and pissed on, but this was a whole new level of gruesome that he hadn’t witnessed before. Since the EMP, violence had taken a hold, stripped him of his wife and robbed him of his home. Now he felt like a stranger in a foreign land, just trying to make it through the next hour searching for something, anything that could give him hope again. FEMA had to be it.