by Boyd Craven
“How many? And are they coming this way?” I asked her.
“Apparently there’s close to a hundred more men, and the numbers seem to grow as they’re heading south from the larger cities. People are throwing in with them because they have food, medication, drugs, and safety. The big cities are emptying out of people FEMA missed, and there’s a certain type of person that seems to gravitate to men like Spider.”
“If they’ve survived this long without starving or from revenge killings, they’re pretty rough guys?” I asked her.
“Yes,” she said softly, “and there’s quite a few of them who were military and have been making coded radio contacts with what appears to be a large force.”
“What?” I said, sitting up and wincing at the pain.
“Hold still or you’re going to rip yourself open,” she said roughly.
I sat back as much as I could and tried to relax. The jolt of pain had made me start sweating hard, and I noticed my backpack on the floor next to Raider.
“Ok, get my pack for me, would you?” I asked her.
“Sure,” she said and lifted it up, putting it in my lap.
I got the canteen out of it and swished it around, smiling at the heft of it.
“What are you doing?” she asked as I started unscrewing the cap.
I took a slug of Grandma’s doctored lemonade. It was warm, but it lit a fire in my stomach after I had four or five fast swallows. I handed it to Jessica, who sniffed it, then took a sip. Her eyes went wide in surprise.
“I was going to call this our second date?” I asked lamely.
“One of these days, we’re going to have us a real date,” she grinned, taking another long slow sip.
The flap of the tent parted, and two feminine figures stepped in. I recognized them both immediately.
“Is he awake yet?” Mary asked quietly.
“Yes, you want to talk to him?” Jess asked the little girl, her voice tender and shaking.
“Yes please,” she said, her little hand in her mother’s.
As they stepped forward, I saw the tear-streaked face of Emily.
“You warned us. I’m sorry you got hurt but thank you!” Emily said, dropping her daughter’s hand and leaning down kissing me on the forehead.
Jessica made a rude sound and Raider made a chuffing, sneezing sound. When Emily stood back, I rubbed at the spot a moment. She looked at me tenderly with something else I couldn’t pinpoint.
“This time, Mister Wes, I have candy for you,” Mary told me, pressing a Hershey’s into my hand.
Raider chuffed loudly, then licked her suddenly before letting out a quick bark.
14
With me awake, things started happening fast. After the ladies left Jessica alone with Raider and I, they started packing up. The tent was taken down around us as I was fed first some broth, then what tasted to me like Dinty Moore Beef Stew. I could feel myself getting stronger, and my stomach began cramping. I couldn’t tell if it was from hunger, or from too much food after almost a week of nothing but liquids. I needed it. I sipped water after Jess took my doctored lemonade away. I’d humor her for now. I had a stash in my pack if her group hadn’t removed it.
The frame of the tent was being packed into a pickup truck, then the canvas folded. All the while I was sitting on a cot. Yager and Diesel sat nearby, as still as statues, watching all of us. Vicious at command, but wonderful companions when not on a job. Lastly, I was helped to my feet and put into the passenger side of the truck. I was about to object when I felt the bed of the truck move. I looked back and saw Raider had hopped in with both of Jessica’s dogs.
“Where are we going?” I asked, not sure where we were.
It looked like an overgrown field, but we were surrounded by trees. Not an area I’d hunted in, though it was vaguely familiar.
“Back to our facility,” Jess said. “Carter hasn’t medically released you entirely.”
“What’s Duke do for you guys?” I asked as she fired up my truck and put it in gear.
“He’s got some medical training, but mostly, he’s… Our go-to guy when things get hairy.”
“How come I hadn’t met him before?” I asked her.
“He’s… quiet. Does a lot of our observation work. He’s like a ghost when he wants to be. I couldn’t find you and neither could he. If it hadn’t been for Raider…”
Her words trailed off. I was horribly weak, and the seatbelt was rubbing against my left arm. I adjusted it for more comfort and watched slowly as Jessica pulled onto the road and worked the gearshift like she’d been driving trucks forever.
“Hey, aren’t we on the old lumber—”
“Shhhh,” she said, her hand patting my leg.
I tried to ignore how casual that move was, and I realized as she hushed me, she had an earwig in her right ear and was listening to something. Dammit, why couldn’t she have just put the radio on the dash and let us both listen? As much as I wanted to watch, pay attention, I felt myself drifting to sleep. The food had done much to restore me, but I was tired. I felt a hand against my chest and opened my eyes to see Jess grinning at me.
“Didn’t want you to bump your head on the dash,” she said as the entire truck bounced across an unseen rut.
We’d turned down a two track at some point, and I recognized this from the time Grandpa and I had gone to enlist their help.
“I’m good,” I said, scooting back and straightening up in the seat. “How long was I out?”
“Twenty-minute nap. You snore, you know that?”
“I do not,” I said, but I was grinning.
“What’s that smirk for?” she asked.
I shook my head, remembering the night in the barn. She snored too, but I wasn’t going to fill her in on that tidbit. She snorted at me, and I glanced in the rearview. Three big fuzzy heads were staring through the back glass. I thought about opening the middle window up, but I knew Raider would crawl through and make a pain of himself. If Diesel tried to follow… we’d have a hard time. I was actually surprised that they’d stayed in the back of the truck without complaint.
Another thirty yards, we made a turn onto what looked like a natural opening between the new growth of trees. Jess pulled to a stop in the middle and tossed the keys on the narrow dash.
“This is it,” she said. “Don’t move and let me come around to let you out.”
“I’m not that weak,” I protested.
“It’s a security thing,” she whispered.
I nodded and waited, remembering the protocols she’d talked about when she’d been prepping Marshall days back. I was able to get my seat belt off as she got out. She lowered the tailgate, and I felt rather than saw the dogs jump down. I heard Diesel let out a low woof. For some reason, the big slab of dog meat reminded me of something. I cracked my door just as Jess made it to my side. She opened it and offered me an arm. I grinned and swung my legs out. They immediately turned to Jell-O and she let out a surprised shout, ducking lower than me and putting her shoulder under my armpit and using her legs to push me back up.
“Owwwww,” I grumbled softly as my head and shoulder banged on the door frame.
“Shhh, big baby,” she chided.
“Step to the left,” a voice called out.
“I can’t, he’s not steady enough on his feet.”
“The tree of liberty…” the voice called.
I knew this one! I almost opened my mouth, but Jess beat me to it. “Is used to hang the traitors from,” she finished, not even remotely close to the quote I’d thought of.
It hit me, it was a pass phrase? Something like a duress code? If she’d answered any other way, I probably would have had my head splattered all over my upholstery. Several figures stepped into the open, one of them I recognized. The medic was looking me over, shaking his head.
“How’s the shoulder?” he asked me.
“Not too bad,” I said, looking around.
There were four men including Carter and a lady who
looked to be Grandma’s age, though quite a bit wirier and mean looking. All were dressed in Mossy Oak and boonie hats, except for the lady. Her steely silver hair was tied in a severe bun. She gave me a hard stare, then approached me. Carter stepped back, and she got up in my face. She had to tilt her head up to look at me, but I met her glare. Jess repositioned her hands, and I was able to stand a bit straighter. She grabbed my chin and moved my head side to side, then tilted it so she could see my scalp. Then she gently pushed the sleeve of my t-shirt back and felt the flesh on the outside of the bandages. I tried not to wince at her firm grip, but I could see my flesh was angry, bruised looking. Then she let me go and stared me in the eyes again.
“You’re a dumbass,” she said and turned, walking back the way she’d come, a .45 on her right hip.
“I... Thank you?!” I said over her shoulder.
“How bad are you feeling?” Carter asked.
“Still wobbly on my feet,” I admitted.
“That blow to the head almost killed you,” he said, taking Jess’ spot, and put an arm around my back, grabbing my belt. “We’re going to walk slow.”
“But my—”
Raider barked happily. He’d come around the other side of the truck and was lined up with his two new best friends. Yager and Diesel were on either side of him. Traitor.
“I’ve got your stuff. Carter will help you, and the dogs…” Jess said something in German and both Yager and Diesel laid down.
Raider looked at both of them, then back at me before laying down. Jess pulled a leash out of her back pocket and walked to my dog, clipping it on him.
“You walk with me, buddy,” she said, patting him on the head. “My boys know the trails.”
“Oh, ok,” I mumbled, my muscles starting to strain from being upright.
I was weaker than I’d thought, and was a little bit startled to hear Carter say it was my head that had almost done me in. No way. That couldn’t be?
“One last thing,” a man who’d been sitting back said, pulling out what looked like a black scrap of cloth. He fluffed it out and I realized it was a hood, one with no eye holes, just a slit for my mouth, “Put this on.”
“Henry, dammit, I—”
“No arguments, Jess,” the man she’d called Henry said, “or he can go sit at home with his family.”
“He needs us to recover, and we need him to show us how to—”
“Not here, not now. Don’t breach security and don’t you ever question me again in front of others.”
“Yes, sir,” she said quietly.
I was halfway awed at the way Jess reacted and halfway pissed enough to want to knock the lights out of this guy. I took a closer look at Henry who appeared to be somewhere between his mid to late forties to a little older. Wiry, hard. Mean eyes. That described half the men down here in the hollers though, but he had some authority, and nobody was speaking up or out for Jessica. I’d thought Jessica’s family was sort of the top of the food chain in this group. I had another thing coming.
“I’ll do it,” I said, holding out my hand.
Carter propped me up and helped me get the hood on and positioned. I never could have done it myself one handed and remained upright, something Carter seemed to have intuited.
“Thanks,” I told him quietly as he got under my shoulder again, to lend me his strength.
“Don’t mention it,” he whispered back, “and just a tip, don’t mouth off to Henry.”
“Who is he?” My voice was almost too low for anybody else to hear.
“The real guy in charge,” he whispered back.
We had to stop often for me to rest and for Carter to push a straw into my mouth to drink. It was hot under the hood. I couldn’t see out of it, but when the cloth moved just right, I could get a glimpse of the grass and what looked like a well-worn trail. Nobody talked except Jessica reassuring Raider, but I heard a series of clicks on the radio from someone in front of Carter and me.
We came to a halt, and I felt something brush my leg. I put my hand down and Raider’s wet nose pressed into my hand, then gave me a reassuring lick. I felt around and patted him on the head. Another dog, probably Yager, sniffed my hand, then pressed his head under it, pushing Raider back. I scratched his ears. I could tell it wasn’t Diesel, his head was shaped differently, and he was definitely the larger of the three canines.
“Can he climb down a ladder?” Henry asked.
“He’s got use of one arm, and he’s wobbly on his feet,” Jessica said from slightly to the side of me.
Being blindfolded wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I turned my head as if to follow the conversation, but realized I was all but invisible to them. A non-entity.
“Do you think you can climb down a steel ladder?” Carter asked me softly. “I can go first if needed and steady you.”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Today’s the first day I’ve been on my feet, and I feel like we’ve gone on for twenty miles.”
Sweat was running off of me; part of it was the radiating pain in my shoulder, the other part was the heat and exertion.
“We can’t afford for him to get stuck—” Henry’s voice was cut off by a deep one.
“If he can’t make it, I’ll carry him if needed. Ain’t no sense taking him the long way when he’s ready to pass out already.”
Duke, I’d recognize his voice anywhere.
Where did he come from? He hadn’t been with us, hadn’t driven with Jess and I, and I hadn’t seen him come up.
“I got a better idea,” Jess said.
“What?” a few of them chorused.
“Let’s get him on the material slide, rope him down slow using a safety sling. If it’s good enough for our dry goods, it should work for him. If he’ll fit,” she finished that by patting my arm. At least I thought it was her.
“Slide?” I asked.
“It’s a narrow opening but made out of sheet metal riveted together. No sharp edges. It’s got a pretty sharp incline, but in a harness and with Duke and I holding the ropes, you should be fine. Easier than climbing, right?” Carter’s voice sounded upbeat, maybe even happy that they’d found a better solution.
“I don’t care,” I said, my legs close to buckling again. “Where are my grandparents?” I asked them.
“Back at the homestead,” Carter’s voice said from my other side. “We can’t bring them here, and you’re still too busted up to be there without somebody watching over you.”
“I got my bell rung. A few days of rest and food and I should be good to –”
“No, you’re not. We kept you sedated because we weren’t sure how much of the brain swelling had gone down. Didn’t want you to hurt yourself. It’s common in TBIs in the early days. I’m frankly shocked you’re able to stand at all right now.”
TBI?
“I should be there with them, ready to help in case…”
“If Lance and Spider’s boys come back, we have people in place to take them into hiding. They are being well watched over,” Henry’s voice came from ahead of me. “Let’s get him in the harness.”
I’d gotten a brief look around before the rope was clipped to the harness. There was a section on the side of what looked to be a drop off of a tree lined area that had been cleared out. Camouflage netting was woven with natural materials and was pulled back, showing what looked like two man hole covers. One was set at an angle into what looked like stone, the other a few feet away, went straight down. There were heavy locks on each. Duke had produced a key and pulled the lid off like it weighed nothing.
“There’s easier ways in, but it’s a longer walk,” he said by way of explanation.
“Let’s go. Jess should be in place,” Henry said impatiently.
I felt like I was being lowered down an inclined laundry chute. My back and legs were almost flat on the sheet metal, and I felt like I might have shot down at speeds a roller coaster would envy if it weren’t for the rope and the harness around my legs and waist. I could hear Ca
rter and Duke, both large men, talking as they lowered me. Jessica’s voice floated up from below occasionally, calling out now and then to make sure I was still conscious and awake.
“Your feet are almost at the bottom,” Jess said.
I tensed, and then I was free of the chute, the harness digging into my hips a bit. I held on with my good arm until I got my legs under me. It was pitch black, but I felt Jess’ hands as she felt for the rope and unclipped me.
“All good,” she said into her radio.
I wondered how it was working; I felt like I’d gone fifty feet straight down into the rock.
The rope started coming down the chute behind me and I took an uneasy step forward, my hand finding Jessica’s shoulder. She pulled me close, hugging me. My legs were giving out, so she helped me down to the ground.
“I was so worried you weren’t going to make it,” she said softly, “you shouldn’t even be on your feet.”
“Then why move me?” I asked, feeling dizzy, nauseous again.
“We didn’t have a choice. The men coming to join up with Spider will have this entire valley covered soon.”
“I’m worried about my family,” I told her softly.
“I’m worried for all of us,” she replied, her hand going through my hair gently.
I winced as her fingers found the stitches, and she used the tip of a finger to feel it. She pulled her hand back in gloom and rubbed her fingertips together, seeing if I had been bleeding again?
“Why can’t my family come here?” I asked her.
“Henry’s decision,” she said softly, “and I lost the argument.”
“I thought you and your parents were the head of this outfit?” I asked, confused.
“We sort of are,” she said softly, “but Henry is the reason we’re all here and ready. He started the MAG years and years back, before we were born.”
“MAG?” I asked.
“Mutual Assistance Group. You’ll find out anyway, but in this area, we have a dozen and a half or so families. My parents and I live in this location, where others are spread out. Not everyone is underground, but this is the group’s fallback location.”