by Lee West
Through her fear, all Marta could manage by way of a reply was a simple head nod.
“I know you worked for the cops and have been using a radio to communicate with them. I also know that you’re probably responsible for getting a lot of cops out of here,” said Brown.
Marta’s legs trembled uncontrollably, and she began to sweat profusely. She felt the world spinning around her and started to black out.
“You there, lady?” said Brown, shaking her.
That was the last thing she heard before finding herself lying on the couch, her vision returning.
“For shit’s sake. You with me again?” asked Brown.
“Y-yes,” she said groggily.
“I don’t have a lot of time before some of the others might try to get into your house. I know you work with the cops. When the shit hits the fan and the cops make their move, I want to help them. I can’t be on the New Order side. I want you to tell them that.”
“Why would you do that?” was all Marta managed to say through her swirling thoughts.
“Because the cops always win. Those idiots think they can keep living here like kings. They’re all one stupider than the other. Eventually, the cops or the military will take back the town. I just want to serve my time and move on with life. I’ve made some mistakes in my life—I don’t want to make another.”
Feeling a little better, Marta said, “Who else knows about the radio?
“No one as far as I know. I was a radioman in the Navy and hung out in the comms room at the station because it was safe for me in there. It also gave me something to do that didn’t involve murder and rape. The guys mostly thought it was a waste of time, and so did I until last night when I heard you talking to that guy Charlie. I pieced the rest together and here I am. Look, lady, I have no reason to support those assholes. I didn’t gang bang inside and I don’t intend to now. I just need to survive,” said Brown.
“Why are they searching? What are they looking for?” asked Marta.
“Somehow those idiots figured out where your friend Charlie lived. They raided the place, but couldn’t get into his gun lockers. They left his house to get tools, and when they returned with the tools, the lockers were emptied. The Boss is shit-fire mad about it. He wants Charlie found and skinned alive as an example.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah. Charlie needs to stay away from town. I have to go now before they get suspicious. If I hear anything else, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, don’t answer the door,” said Brown with urgency.
Brown got up and left Marta’s home with a soft closing of the door. Outside, she heard him talking to some other New Order guys.
“Searched this shithole top to bottom, ain’t nothing in there. Let’s move on,” said Brown to two New Order men as they approached the house.
Marta couldn’t stop shaking. The surprise of what Brown had told her made her worry for Charlie and Johnny. She somehow needed to warn both of them. She wanted to trust Brown, but the events of the last two weeks had taught her that trust was hard earned.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jane and Sam followed the horse trail north, snaking their way through dense forest and some open areas, just as Charlie thought it would. They reached a few points along the journey where the trail split or veered off significantly, and Sam had to make a choice based on his compass and the knowledge he’d gained over the past two weeks.
“Do you really think Doris will be okay out there alone?” said Jane, breaking their silence.
“I think she should be fine. She makes most dedicated preppers look bad,” said Sam.
“I’m not talking about her supplies. Do you think she’ll be safe from the New Order?” said Jane, with an obvious edge in her voice.
“I knew what you meant. I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little. You’ve been off all morning?”
“I’m so worried about what we’ll find when we get home. The closer we get, the worse I feel. It should be the opposite.”
“I know. Me too,” said Sam as he squeezed her hand.
The obvious marking of the trail seemed to thin out, leaving Sam with that nervous feeling again.
“Hey, let’s stop for a minute. I need to get my bearings. We should be getting close to our break-off point. If that’s the case, we need to make it to the tree line so we can start working our way through the back of the neighborhood.”
“Can you believe we’ve lived here so long and never knew about this trail?”
“Actually, I can. We always seem to leave for trips, hiking included. It never occurred to me to look right in our backyard. Besides, this is more like a trespassing excursion. I think we’ve violated the property rights of dozens of people on this little walk of ours,” said Sam.
Sam laid the map on the ground and considered it for a moment. Jane tapped his shoulder. When he looked up at her, she was pointing toward the trees behind him.
“I think that’s the Reynolds’ house!” she whispered.
He turned on his knees and stared through the forest, catching a glimpse of the telltale dark blue siding. “So much for looking at the map. I guess I should have just opened my eyes. I guess we could start here and work our way through the development to our house.”
“Do you smell that?” asked Jane.
“The smoke?”
“Yeah. It’s really bad.”
“I noticed it a while back, but didn’t want to say anything. It’s been getting stronger.”
Breaking out of the tree line closer to their house, Jane and Sam discovered the charred remains of several houses. Half of the street in front of them had completely burned to the ground. Peering through the standing houses, they could see numerous other houses burned down as well. Smoke gently rose from the charred bones of several houses.
“Shit. What happened here?” said Jane, staring into the distance.
“Hey, hey…Jane, Sam! Over here!” called a lone male voice.
A familiar man stood on his back patio, waving his arms and motioning for them to join him.
“Who is that again? I don’t remember his name,” said Jane.
“I think it’s Mike. No wait. It’s Mark. He’s the guy who moved in a few years ago from somewhere out west. I think he’s widowed, with no kids. Does some sort of computer work. We met him at the fall neighborhood party.”
“Okay. Right. I remember him. Nice guy, from what I recall,” said Jane. “Do you think it’s safe?”
“I don’t know, but it’s too late to hide. If they’re using Mark as bait, they know we’re here.”
“I guess you’re right. Stay on your toes,” said Jane.
“Yep.”
They approached Mark, who looked a little hesitant to leave his patio. Beyond that, he didn’t sense anything off with Mark’s behavior.
“Hey, Mark,” said Sam.
Mark was unshaven and filthy, and his eyes darted across the landscape of the backyard. He appeared to be anxiously searching for something.
“Hurry up. Come inside before they see you,” said Mark, ushering them in through the open sliding glass door into his kitchen.
The house sat completely dark and still. Mark had closed all the blinds and taped every shade to its window frame, ensuring no one could look inside, even at an angle. The kitchen island, table and countertops were coated in a fine white layer of dust, same as the hardwood floor. Footprints trailed off in every direction. The rest of the house looked like it had been turned over in a tornado. Things were strewn across the floor. Tables and chairs sat on their sides. Sam wondered why Mark chose to leave the house like this.
More worrisome, a sickly metallic odor permeated the rooms, assaulting his senses. He knew the smell immediately. Blood. Glancing at Jane, Sam tried to assess whether she’d smelled it to. The worried look on her face suggested she had.
“It’s good to see you guys. I’ve been alone here for the past couple of weeks. Too afraid to go outside much,” said Mark. “Where did you
come from? I thought you lived in the other direction.”
“We were out on a backcountry hiking trip. When we walked out of the mountains, we came back to all of this,” said Sam.
“Whatever this is,” added Jane.
“Well, you missed everything, thankfully. The power went out probably shortly after you left—then all hell broke loose,” said Mark.
“We walked here from the north entrance to the park. We passed through Porter. An escaped gang from PrisCorp took over the town. It’s a real mess out there. They call themselves the New Order. Have you seen anything like that here?” asked Jane, hoping he hadn’t.
“Unfortunately, I’m well acquainted with this New Order. They rolled through and ransacked the houses. They stole anything of value and trashed the properties, leaving them useless to the homeowners. Then they started the fires. They basically burned down the house of anyone who resisted. The fire department is gone, obviously, so once they started a fire, it just sort of kept going to the next house along the line until it finally died out on its own.”
“Shit. It almost sounds worse than in Porter. Those guys didn’t start any fires,” said Sam. “What about the people?”
“Most people fled. I stayed awake at night, watching the dots of flashlights moving through the neighborhood. They all seemed to walk north. Not sure where they were going. I haven’t heard that things were better in other areas, so I stayed put, figuring the New Order already got what they wanted here.”
“What is that god-awful smell? Sorry to insult you, Mark, but it reeks in here,” said Jane.
“Yeah, it is pretty strong with the windows all closed up. I have a deer hanging in the garage. They stole all of my food, not that I would have had any left by this point anyway,” said Mark with a shrug. “I’ve been hunting in the woods. Yesterday, I snagged a deer with my crossbow. At least I managed to keep that hidden from the dummies. I had to wait until nighttime to drag it back and hang it up. I’m hoping they don’t come back and discover the deer. So far, they haven’t detected my presence. I left the downstairs like it is and taped the window shades tight. My hope is that I ride this thing out until the cops come back.”
“I’m not sure you recall, but Jane is with the Evansville PD,” said Sam.
“Sorry, Jane. I completely forgot. Where is everyone? Why aren’t the police out rounding up those guys?” asked Mark.
“The Porter and Evansville PDs were caught off guard by the PrisCorp gangs. Close to eight hundred of them strolled out of the facility. They quickly overpowered the Porter PD and started hunting down officers. The Evansville PD managed to get most of the police out of town ahead of the mob. They didn’t want to leave, but there’s nothing they could have done against hundreds of armed thugs. The departments are now working together to take the towns back. You said most of the neighbors are gone, why did you stay?” asked Jane.
“I have nowhere to go. This is my home. New Order or not. The living has been hard, but I’m managing.
“It doesn’t look like you’ve been staying here. Where are you living?” asked Jane, glancing around the still home.
“Come on. I’ll show you.”
Mark led them upstairs into a small, sparsely furnished spare bedroom. Reaching toward the ceiling, he grabbed a concealed notch between the ceiling and the crown molding. With one slight pull, a hidden staircase slowly lowered itself into the room.
“Holy smokes. Nice!” said Sam, clearly appreciating the mechanical genius that went into building the cleverly concealed staircase. The staircase’s existence was so well hidden that one would never realize it was there unless they saw it come down. Mark had created the perfect hiding spot.
“Thanks. I made the stairs a while ago, almost right after moving in. I planned to use the attic for storing computer equipment. Expensive stuff I don’t want lying around in my home office. I never ended up doing anything with it. I’ve been hiding up there ever since.”
“You said ‘searching as usual.’ What did you mean by that? Do they search often?” asked Jane.
“They would barge into the house almost daily at first. I think they expected people were hiding things. Other times, I think they were either bored or just trying to intimidate us. They took everyone’s guns, knives and anything else that could be used as a weapon. It was terrifying. Things have settled down a bit, but I still wouldn’t recommend turning on a light of any kind. It seems to draw them in like moths.”
The attic ran the entire length of the house. The steep roofline gave the space a high ceiling in the middle, with sloping sides, making it impossible to stand close to the front or back of the house. A table, mattress with blankets and stacks of clothing sat against one of the darkened windows. Empty cans of food, a camp cook stove and water containers were strewn across the floor several feet away. On the opposite side of the house, he spied a covered bucket in the corner. He assumed the very strong human waste odor came from the bucket. Mark must have read his mind.
“Yeah. The bucket is very nasty. But there’s no sewer service. I have to use the bucket and pour the waste out in the woods. It isn’t great, but it has been working.”
“It’s actually a really good idea. Looks like you attached it to a lever by the window to lower it down?” said Sam, once again admiring Mark’s ingenuity.
“Yeah. The last thing I need is to be sloshing shit water around my house, not that it would make much of a difference at this point. Eventually I hope to move back downstairs. Whenever that might be,” said Mark with a shrug.
“I’m not sure you recall, but we live on the other side of the development. We left our daughter, Lea, alone at the house. We haven’t been in contact with her since we left. Have you seen or heard anything about her?” asked Jane.
“No, I haven’t talked to anyone. I kept my head down from the beginning.”
“That’s fine. You did the right thing. These people sound ruthless. I guess we’ll find out all we need to know once we get there,” said Jane.
Sam took this as their cue to get moving.
“We need to get going. We hope to grab our daughter and head out of town,” said Sam. “You’re more than welcome to join us on the way out. We know a safe place, where you don’t have to hide in the attic and crap in a bucket.”
“Let me think about it,” said Mark.
“Don’t take too long,” said Jane. “If all goes according to plan, we should be back through here in less than an hour.”
“Fair enough. Your house is on the north side of the neighborhood, right?” asked Mark.
“Yeah, why?” asked Jane.
“You need to figure out the best way to get there unseen. Some of the New Order guys moved into a house on that side,” said Mark, pointing to the north-facing window.
“Good idea. Are they just in the one house?” asked Jane.
“I have no idea. My view is somewhat limited, but I’ve been trying to figure out where they are so I can work around them. I’m getting concerned about my water supply. At night I’ve been reconning the surrounding areas, searching for ways to get water and fuel. I got lucky with the fuel, but I’m still trying to find a plentiful water source,” said Mark.
“Recon? Were you on active duty?” asked Sam.
“A long time ago. Well, not that long ago. I served my enlistment in the Marine infantry, spending some time in Battalion Recon. I stayed in the reserves for a while after I left Camp Lejeune. Made staff sergeant, but got too busy with travel at work to stay in the active reserves. You?”
“Fleet Marine Force corpsman. Made petty officer, second class, before I came to my senses,” returned Sam with a slight smile.
“Small world,” said Mark.
“Do you mind if I pull back the shade a bit to scan the neighborhood,” said Jane, crouched at the window.
“Just a crack should be fine,” said Mark.
“Shit. There are cars parked at our house,” said Jane.
Sam raced to the window, placing his
head next to Jane’s. The front lawn of their house was crowded with two pickup trucks and a small beat-up sedan. A black, 1970s-era Trans Am sat in their driveway. He knew that Trans Am all too well. He’d dreamed about lighting it on fire, along with its owner, more times than he cared to admit. Their worst nightmare had come true. Tank was back, and he was with the New Order.
“We need to get over there. Fast,” said Sam, heading toward the stairs.
“Your house is the one with the cars on the lawn?” asked Mark, an alarmed look on his face.
“Yeah. Our daughter is still there. We have to go. Now,” said Jane.
“You can’t just walk into that house. The New Order guys have been living there—almost from the start,” said Mark.
“Let’s go. Maybe we can reason with them. Get Lea and leave. They can have everything,” said Sam, taking the first step on the homemade stairs.
“Hold on, you guys. You can’t just barge in there and reason with them. They’ll kill the two of you on the spot,” said Mark. “Think this through. It has been over two weeks. Your daughter might have left with one of the neighbors before everything started going to shit. She could be anywhere, and yes, she could still be in the house. The only way you’ll get her away from those jackals is by force, which you might be able to pull off with your load out. But you need to make sure she’s there before you go storming the doors,” said Mark. “Would be an awful waste to bust in there and find out she’s gone.”
“He’s right. We need to stop and think this out. We’ve come too far to blow it now,” said Jane.
“Here’s what I’d do,” said Mark, pointing out the window. “See that white house on the left? I haven’t seen anyone there the whole time. I think your neighbors must have been gone when all this went down and never made it back,” said Mark. You sit tight there and gather some intel before you do anything. You have to think through every move you’re gonna make, inside and outside. One knocked-over chair, a flash from a light—anything can put an end to your mission.”