They waited for it to stop. The van pulled to a stop near a Humvee and the driver’s door opened. It was Cam.
Angie rushed ahead of Jim and threw herself into his arms, giving him a kiss that went on for what was, perhaps, a tad bit too long. She couldn’t help it. She missed him so much and had been so worried about him these last couple of days.
She couldn’t wait until all this was over and they could get on with their lives.
“Baby,” Cam said as he squeezed her tight.
His hair hung loose and brushed the side of her face as she embraced him. She could feel the heat of his chest through his black leather jacket. He wasn’t even wearing a shirt. She pulled back and looked him up and down. She did like this look.
“You should dress like this more often,” she teased.
He winked at her and gave her sexy smirk. “Maybe I will.” Then Jim walked up and put arm around Cam’s shoulder.
“Well, old man? What’s the story?” Jim asked him.
“Well, young man, you probably wouldn’t get it. It requires higher cognitive functioning and tactical knowhow. Too much for a kid like yourself,” Cam teased back.
“All right, all right. I’ll stop with the old man jokes…for now.”
“Here is how it’s going to go. First, I’m taking these weapons back to the prison. I’ve got a good place to store them until the coup.”
“That’s what you’re calling this? A coup?” Angie asked.
“It sounds nicer to the civilians than a rebellion. One thing I’ve noticed is that the average person doesn’t like to consider the grislier aspects of warfare. They don’t want a bloody rebellion. They want a nice, neat coup. They don’t want dead guards. They want enemies eliminated. It all ends the same though. Obtaining our objective, which is a transition of power from an extremely bad guy to a fairer process. That will be up to them though. I’m not going to stay here and be a nation builder. We’ve got our own community to worry about.”
“I guess you’re right. I don’t think there will be too many people against a bloody rebellion though, not there. They’ve probably been mistreated, badly.”
“That they have,” Cam agreed.
“So after you get the weapons, what’s next?” Jim asked.
“I’ve got the doc spreading the news to the fighters only. Everyone else will find out what’s going on after its finished. It’s safer for them that way. I’ve got the guards divvied up into two groups. One group are the ones most likely to be good guys. McDaniels will be the squad leader of that group.”
“And the other?” Jim asked curiously.
“Those are the ones that will be doing an early morning run on our new run route at exactly zero-four-hundred, two days from now. The route where your teams will be waiting with the M249s.”
“What about the mines?” Angie asked him.
“Those are insurance. We’ll go around and deactivate the ones we don’t use.”
Angie thought it was a pretty clear plan, but she still had questions.
“What about the people in there who side with the warden?” Angie asked him.
“They’ll be given a chance to leave. If they present a threat, then they’ll be dealt with. There are a few women in there that I have been told like their high status. I’m anticipating their resistance to this whole thing. I don’t want to have to take them out, but I will if I have to.”
“What’s going to happen to the warden?” Jim asked.
Cam stared at him for a few silent seconds. His gaze seemed to go right through him, concentrating on a place far in the past.
Suddenly, his gaze focused, and he raised his eyebrow slightly.
“I’m going to kill him personally.”
Cam
The weapons were loaded up in the back and Cam was headed toward a nearby town.
There was a small grocery store there that he had seen. It hadn’t been looted yet. He supposed the prison patrols had stayed away for some reason. That reason seemed to be long gone by now though.
He had a bottle of fifty-year-old scotch resting in the front seat. After he loaded up the groceries, he would be heading back to the prison kitchen access point. He had it timed so that the kitchen helpers would be finished with their duties by then.
Bev could probably still get away with lingering around after cleanup.
He pulled into the lot and looked around cautiously. This grocery store was on the outskirts of town, near an old industrial plant of some sort.
He had a good view, and he saw nothing moving. He went up to the glass of the front and peered through the dirty window. He could barely see in. It was almost full dark.
He banged on the glass and waited.
The echoes died down and nothing lurched to the front to answer his knock. He opened the door and breathed in. No death smells, but there was a lingering odor of spoiled food. That was a common smell now, and it was in every store that used to carry fresh foods. He pulled a shopping cart over from a nearby register and got to work.
Amazingly, all the cans of Spam still lingered forlornly on the shelves. As did some cans of beans, tuna, and corn. He took everything that was left. There were some prepackaged meals, the kind where you just add meat and water. He took those, though he didn’t think Bev would want them. He could keep them for the group though.
Further along, he found gold. There were whole sections of toilet paper left. He took as much as he could fit and packed it into the cart, then ran back for two more.
The store was becoming pitch black, and his headlamp cut wide swaths through the gloom. He started to get a feeling. A strange feeling.
A familiar strange feeling.
He pulled the pistol from his holster and cut the light on his headlamp. While he wouldn’t be able to see much at all without it, it made him even more uncomfortable to have whatever was in the store with him know his exact location.
For now, he would hold his position.
He stood with his back to the shelving unit, glancing slowly left and right. To his front was only another shelf, so that eliminated that as a possible direction of attack. He controlled his breathing and quieted his mind.
He listened.
Click. Click. Click. Click, a mysterious noise came.
It was somewhat rhythmic, but not mechanical.
It’s getting closer.
He pushed down his instinctive feelings of fear and dread. The odds were that whatever was in here with him was going to be significantly less dangerous than him. That made him feel better for a moment.
He sniffed deeply, but silently, hoping to detect an odor that would help him identify the eerie, unknown visitor. He detected a faint smidgen of musk in the air, layered underneath a dark animalistic rotting stench. It was foul and he was thankful that whatever it was hadn’t gotten too close to him yet.
Click click cli— it stopped suddenly.
It’s here.
He could feel it.
He heard a noise, a low noise, like the sound of a semi truck’s airbrakes far off on a highway somewhere. Except it wasn’t. It was close. The strangely menacing, rumbling sound approached, accompanied by the rapid click click click click of something.
Time to turn on the light, Cam!
He raised his hand and clicked on the headlamp, sure that whatever it was would attack him right now, while he was a little more vulnerable. It didn’t. In the dim beam of red light, he saw a frightening sight.
A demon from hell approached, feet clicking softly on the wood floor.
Its eyes glowed malignantly, two bright red orbs on a blackened face. It was so dark that it almost blended in with its surroundings. The hellhound crouched, snarling and slobbering, making harsh grating coughs in the otherwise silent store. Cam wasn’t certain, but he wouldn’t be surprised if this thing had rabies.
He definitely wouldn’t be bringing a friend home for Hans, the German Shepherd.
The demon dog crouched lower, preparing to leap, and Cam broug
ht the pistol up and fired. The round hit center mass, dropping the terrible creature instantly. He looked and listened to make sure there wasn’t a pack of these fuckers, before he walked over and switched on the white light.
In the glow of the white light, he saw that it was just a normal, black dog. It looked to be part lab, and part something else. Something big. Its ribs were showing, and it did indeed have a layer of foam dipping from its muzzle. He didn’t know if it was rabies or not, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to touch the thing. He needed to hurry and get his stuff packed up just in case more showed up.
The pistol shot could draw in some unfriendlies as well.
He loaded up as much of the toilet paper as he could, he was definitely keeping this for his group. The prison could find their own. He gave a cursory glance down the rest of the aisles, avoiding where the deli and produce sections had been. They hadn’t been completely cleared out and this was the source of the faint rotting odor.
He found a case of the wine that Angie and Jess had liked so much back on the island. Jess couldn’t have any now of course, but she might like a glass or two after the baby was born.
He shoved this all into the back of the van and started the engine. He exited the parking lot and followed the road back to the prison. The moonlight was soft, somewhat bright, and he knew his teams would be watching him return.
He wanted so much to tell them they could all just load up and go home.
As he entered the prison grounds and bypassed the front drive, he looked around carefully for guards. They weren’t supposed to be outside yet. He had rearranged their shifts so that they would start their patrols around the perimeter at zero-nine-thirty. It was only eight now.
He saw nobody, but he figured that his best chance as getting the weapons in undetected would be to just walk right in like he was supposed to be doing it. People didn’t generally question authority figures, especially when they acted like they had every right to be doing what they were doing.
He backed the van up to the kitchen door and jumped out. He rapped twice on the heavy metal.
He didn’t know if Bev would be lingering in the kitchen or not, but he hoped so. This would all go faster with help. He heard nobody approaching and assumed he was on his own.
He unlocked the padlock and opened the large creaky door. The hinges definitely needed some work.
He walked into the bright room. At least she had left the lights on for him. As he rounded the corner, he heard voices. Too late, he didn’t have time to stop and listen before he was spotted.
“What the fuck are you doing coming through that door at this time of night?” Rawlis asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Just got back from a run. However, I will remind you that I don’t answer to you. In fact, you answer to me. Why aren’t you at your assigned post?” Cam asked harshly.
Rawlis smirked at him but remained silent.
“Well?” Cam said, crossing his arms. “I guess my good buddy Jax would like to know we have a guard who won’t remain at his post, who won’t take orders…”
Rawlis sighed and finally answered. “I saw the light on back here. There isn’t supposed to be anyone here.”
“Well, now you know. There is and I am. Get back to your section.”
“Well, now that I’m here, why don’t I help you unload?”
Shit
“I don’t need your help. You are needed in your area, where you belong.”
“Perhaps Jax might like to come down and help then. Should I go ask him?” Rawlis threatened.
He obviously suspected Cam was hiding something. He was right.
Cam stared at him for a minute, then smiled.
“Be my guest,” he said, motioning for Rawlis to enter ahead of him.
Rawlis glared at him for a moment, then strode through the door and to the back of the van. He opened it and looked at the large space, tightly packed with toilet paper.
He shook his head and started tossing it down and into the building.
Any minute, and he would find the weapons cache hidden underneath.
Cam stepped forward to stop him. “Hey! What’s that?!? he said, pointing into the dark field their left.
Rawlis turned suddenly, expecting to see something significant.
Crack!
Cam reholstered his pistol and sighed.
He hated hitting people. You never knew if it would be too hard. If Rawlis died tonight, it could screw up the whole plan.
He checked his pulse. It was strong. His breathing was steady. He picked the large man up under the arms and drug him backward into the building.
“What happened!” Beverly shouted, looking nervously at the door leading to the cafeteria.
It was wide open, so she went to shut it and hurried back.
“He almost found the weapons,” Cam said in explanation.
“Is he dead?” she asked calmly.
“Does it matter right now?”
“Guess not,” she answered.
“Let’s get to work.”
By nine-fifteen they had all the weapons and ammo stashed up in the hidden space. Cam was just loading up his little stash of toilet paper and wine back into the van when the guards patrolling the perimeter made their appearance.
They nodded to him, and he nodded back. The easy part was finished.
◆◆◆
The next day dawned cold and cloudy, threatening precipitation of some kind.
Cam moved on with his plans though and hoped he didn’t get trapped here by a freak blizzard. He got up at zero-three forty-five and made sure Rawlis’s squad was doing their morning run. They would alternate with McDaniels’ squad.
That would place Rawlis and his men in the kill zone on Thursday morning, leaving McDaniels and his men here to take Jax’s remaining men out.
At least, Rawlis would if he ever woke up. He was in the infirmary still.
Speaking of which…
“McDaniels, follow me,” Cam ordered, leaving no room for argument.
He led McDaniels to a small storage room off the cafeteria, switched on the light, and closed the door.
“Beverly tells me that you are open making some changes in leadership around here. Is that true?”
Cam watched his face carefully. He could see McDaniels deliberating. Finally, truth won out.
He looked Cam in the eyes. “Yes.”
“Good. Day after tomorrow this prison won’t be a prison any longer. Are you up for that? For taking an active part in this?” Cam questioned.
“Absolutely. What do I need to do?” he asked.
Cam explained the plan to him in detail, occasionally listening carefully for movement outside the room. McDaniels was fully onboard, and even had some helpful suggestions, including who should remain behind to help.
“Johnson is a good guy. He needs to be a part of this. He was a mechanic in the old days, but he was kind of a prepper as a hobby.”
“Wait, he’s on Rawlis’s team. We need to get him switched to yours. Who else?” Cam asked.
“Move Rosenberg to Rawlis’s team, he’s no good. He’s got some serious issues,” McDaniels suggested.
“He’s the navy guy, right?” Cam asked.
“Yes, but seriously. He’s not stable and he is into some really messed up shit,” McDaniels warned.
“Okay, so we trade Rosenberg for Johnson. I’m working with Doc to get the civilian fighters coordinated. Remember, you will all meet here the day after tomorrow at exactly two a.m. That is the best time to avoid questions about why so many of you are congregating here in one place. Stay stealthy.”
“Roger,” McDaniels said.
Cam left him and went to the infirmary. He needed to decide what to do about Rawlis. He walked in and saw Jax conversing with Doc.
Great, that’s just what he needed.
“Cam, I’m glad you’re here. Doc here was just telling me what happened to Rawlis,” Jax said, looking at Cam closely.
“Oh
, he did?” Cam asked, glancing at Doc.
Doc gave a small shake of his head, then spoke up. “It’s a shame he didn’t tell anyone about his condition. I could have helped him…made sure this didn’t happen.
“Yeah, I never would have guessed. He seemed so strong and in shape,” Cam said, taking a chance.
“So, you don’t have any more insulin?” Jax asked Doc.
Cam breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Jax had unknowingly cleared up the confusion.
“Well, I do, but only a little. Some of the civilians are diabetic. Once the power went out at the pharmacies, the insulin lost refrigeration. After about a month at room temperature it shouldn’t be used anymore. There’s not really anything I can do,” the doctor said, raising his hands helplessly in the air.
Jax rubbed his nose and then sighed, “That’s too bad,” he said, shaking his head. “Do what you can.”
“I can make him comfortable, that’s about it. I can give him an I.V., but without insulin there isn’t really a chance for him to make a meaningful recovery.”
“All right. Do what you need to. I’ll be back later. Cam, come to my office in half and hour please.”
“Okay,” Cam said.
After Jax left the room, the doctor slumped down onto his rolling stool and leaned his head against the wall.
“I can’t believe I just lied about a man’s medical condition. Cam, he’s got swelling in his skull from the blow. I need to relieve the pressure to save his life,” the doctor explained.
Cam walked slowly over to him to explain exactly what needed to happen here.
“Listen Doc, I know you took an oath. I completely understand that. But Rawlis is the enemy here. The people he executed and the women he assaulted wouldn’t thank you for saving his miserable life. I know it goes against what you believe, but you are going to have to let him die.”
The doctor started to protest but Cam held up a hand.
“He will die, either today from this or the day after tomorrow. There will be more deaths before there can be any freedom, any chance to give these people the kind of life they deserve. Saving a bunch of murders, rapists, and whatever else is not the way to achieve that.”
Refuge From The Dead | Book 3 | Dead Fall Page 23