Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series) (26 page)

After crossing the Juniper Run, I called Thad and told him to hold up. He slowed and we pulled up beside him. “We’re going to be turning off right up here. Follow us till we get there.”

Thad nodded and fell in behind us. We continued a little farther up the road before turning off. Danny stopped and I got out, motioning for Thad to do so as well.

“What’s up?” Thad asked.

“We’re going to follow this trail. There’s going to be a fork. Take it to the left. It’ll head for a river. We’ll let them out down there.”

Thad nodded and went back to his buggy.

“Where the hell are we?” Andy asked.

“You’ll see soon enough,” I said.

“Well, hurry up. This shit is getting old.”

Thad took off down the trail, much slower this time as it was rough. The trail ended short of the river, but we could see it through the trees. Danny pulled up beside Thad and we got out.

“All right gang, you’re home,” I said.

“About damn time,” Andy said.

As we removed their blindfolds, they looked around.

“Do you know where we are?” Franco asked Andy.

“Sure do, know exactly where we are.”

“Really, where are you, then?” I asked.

“We’re in the fucking woods!” Andy shouted and started laughing.

“Nice, smart-ass. Let’s get ’em untied so they can unload their stuff,” Danny said.

“I’m going to untie you guys. Try any shit and it won’t end well, I promise you,” I said.

“We ain’t going to do anything, just get these ropes off me,” Andy said.

We untied them all. They stretched their arms, rubbing their wrists.

“Go ahead and get your crap out of there,” Danny said.

Andy looked at the others. “You heard him, get to it.”

Thad was leaning on the front of his buggy, and without turning around he shouted, “You too! You ain’t no better than them.”

“Hey, I loaded it, they can unload it.”

Thad spun around and leveled his shotgun at Andy’s head. “You better get your ass to work too!”

Andy raised his hands and turned to the mound of soggy gear in the bed of the buggy. Together the five of them unloaded it quickly. Once all their gear was out Andy looked through it quickly, then asked, “Where’s my shotgun?”

“I got it,” I said.

“What are you waiting on? Give it to me,” Andy said holding his hand out.

“I don’t think we should,” Thad said.

“That’s bull, you can’t leave us out here without it!” Andy shouted.

“Yeah, come on, we need it,” Brian said.

I grabbed the gun from the bed of the buggy. “All right, here.” I tossed it to him.

Andy quickly pumped the action, looking into the empty chamber. “Where’s my shells?”

“We didn’t say we’d give you those,” Danny said.

“Come on, man! Leave us the shells,” Andy pleaded.

“We will, up the trail. You can walk up there and get them,” I said, holding up the box of birdshot.

Andy glared at me as we got back into the buggies and started them up. A couple hundred yards up the trail I tossed the box of shells out of the buggy. “That ought to be a nice walk for him,” I said, smiling at Danny.

“We going to the camp?” Thad asked over the radio.

“Yeah, you know where it is?” I replied.

“Straight down the road, ain’t it?”

“Ten-four.”

I
t was kind of surreal to be hauling ass right down the middle of the road. Thad kicked up a cloud of dust and dry leaves and pine needles. We moved off to the side of Thad to keep from choking on it all. The ride was smooth, and it was kind of fun, compared to the damn dirt roads. I was curious to see what the camp looked like up close. The only view I’d ever had was from outside the fence, so I knew this would be interesting.

There were several uniformed men standing around in front of the gate. Ted walked out from the group, waving. Thad pulled up and stopped beside him.

“Hey, Thad,” Ted said as he stuck his hand out. He waved at us. “Hey, fellas. Welcome to the newly run National Guard camp!”

Danny looked out at the camp. “Nice! So how’d it go?”

Ted glanced back. “Almost perfect. Just a couple little hiccups, but we’ve got it secured now.”

“Where’s Sarge?” I asked.

“He’s one of the hiccups. He stopped a bullet.”

“Is he all right?” Danny asked, looking alarmed.

“Oh yeah, he’ll be all right. It wasn’t too bad. He’s already back to his jovial self.”

“Good, that’s good. Did you guys find Jess?” I asked.

“Yeah, she’s back at the infirmary. I’ll show you the way,” Ted said.

“How is she?”

“She’s had a rough time, but she’ll be all right. Just needs some time.”

“What happened to her?”

Ted hesitated. “I’ll let her tell you about it.” He hopped into Thad’s ride. “Come on!”

As we followed them through the camp, Danny and I took in the surroundings. Being inside was strange—things looked very different from when we were spying from the outside. Being so close we could see the people’s faces, see the hopelessness on so many of them, and the fear. Gone now were the DHS troopers, in their place were Guardsmen. I would have thought the folks inside would be relieved, happy even, but I wasn’t seeing that.

“I figured these people would be happy to see the Guard here, but they look scared shitless,” I said.

Danny glanced over. “I was thinking the same thing. There seems to be some tension hanging over the place.”

As we weaved our way through the camp, every person we passed stared, and furtive whispers were exchanged. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. These people had lived under the boot of their oppressors for so long it appeared they didn’t trust anyone.

Thad stopped in front of a large military-style tent, and Ted hopped out, gesturing for us to follow.

As we stepped out, the camp’s PA system crackled to life:

“Attention, please—may I have your attention, please. This is Captain Sheffield of the Florida National Guard. I am sure you have a lot of questions about what’s going on, and I’m here to answer them. Earlier this morning my unit took possession of the camp, and we are now in control if it.”

To my surprise, there were no cheers. The address continued, “This is no longer a detainment camp: it is now a refugee camp. After we’ve stabilized the operation of the facility and interviewed each of you, you will be free to leave if you so choose. If you have nowhere to go, then you are also free to stay here. We will do our best to provide for your needs. I respectfully request your complete cooperation with my staff. Your security is our highest priority. If you see anything that you feel is a threat to the safe operation of the camp, please let one of the Guardsmen know and we will address it. They’re easy to spot; they wear the same army uniform as me. In the meantime, I would appreciate your cooperation. Thank you.”

I looked at Ted. “So how’s it going?”

“It’s been a cakewalk in terms of the takeover, but some of the civilians are getting nervous. Guess the captain is trying to relieve some of that.”

“What are we doing at the infirmary?” I asked, pointing at the sign above the door.

“The old man’s in here. So is Jess.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Cranky as ever. Come on, let’s go in.” We followed Ted through the door.

Once inside the tent, I immediately saw Sarge and Mike on stretchers and smiled.

“What happened to you?” I asked Mike.

“Ah, I twisted my ankle and fell.”

“Graceful as a baby gazelle, aren’t you?” Thad said, a smile finally showing on his face.

“Yeah, he is,” Ted said.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Sarge said in a gravelly and somewhat weaker voice than normal.

“Lying down on the job?” I said with a smile.

“Let me poke a hole in you and see how you feel,” he said.

“Looks like you managed to take this place without too much trouble,” Thad said.

Sarge nodded. “It was almost perfect, almost.”

Before Thad could say anything else, he was grabbed from behind. Jess wrapped her arms around him.

“You trying to break me in half?” he asked.

She finally released him, came around to his front, and once again wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. He looked down at her and smiled, patting her head.

“Nice to see you too,” he said.

Jess pulled back and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She was trying to smile, without much success.

“I’m just so glad to see you.”

I couldn’t help but smile broadly at the scene. “We’re glad to see you too,” I said.

She opened her arms, and we embraced in a heartfelt hug. I patted her back while she sniffled. I pulled away from her with concern. “You gonna be all right?”

She stepped back, wiping at her eyes. “Yeah, I’ve just thought about you two for so long.” Her expression changed a little and she continued, “You left without saying good-bye, remember?”

I nodded. “I know, I felt bad about that, sorry. How are your mom and dad? Are they here?” She didn’t answer me, and I could see it on her face. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said.

She nodded and stared at the floor for a moment before quickly recovering. She grabbed Thad and me by the hands and started to pull us. “I want you guys to meet someone.” She dragged us over to another stretcher with a girl standing beside it.

“This is Fred. Fred, this is Morgan and Thad,” Jess said as an introduction.

Fred smiled and stuck out her hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you two.”

“All good things, I hope,” Thad said with a smile.

Fred winked at him. “Good enough.”

“Who’s this?” I asked, pointing to the man on the stretcher. “He looks like he’s one of them.”

Fred looked down at him. “He is, but he was helping us. He saved me more than once here.”

“Sort of a sheep in wolves’ clothing, huh?”

“More like a sheepdog in wolves’ clothing.”

They then introduced us to Kay and told us about her and what she’d done for them. We all chatted for a little while.

“Kay ran the food service here. We eventually were assigned to work for her.” Jess smiled. “She took really good care of us.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kay,” I said.

“It’s nicer to meet you. I’m so glad your friends showed up. It’s been rough in here for”—Kay paused a moment—“some people.” It was clear there was more she wanted to say, but she kept quiet.

“Who’s this?” Thad asked, pointing to Mary.

Jess’s face fell. “That’s Mary. She’s a really good friend of mine. She didn’t do so well in the detention center.”

“Why were you guys in there?” Thad asked softly.

Jess didn’t respond. Fred looked at her and took the lead. “We killed a guard.”

The answer shocked me. “You did what?”

“We had to. He did something horrible.”

She didn’t have to say it—I could tell from looking at Jess and the way her head was down what it must be. It was a horrible thing and it pained me to know. I stepped around to Jess’s side and wrapped my arm around her. “It’s okay now. With these guys here, you’ll be safe.”

Jess wiped tears from her face. She nodded and smiled but said nothing.

After a few minutes, I asked, “So now what? What are you guys going to do?”

“We don’t know, we have nowhere to go,” Jess said, then added, “Is there any chance we could come with you, to your house?”

I looked at Thad, then back at her. “I hate to say it, but where we are is a really tight fit . . .”

“We could make some room,” Thad said.

“Yeah, we could.” I looked at Danny. “Would you and Bobbie mind doubling up with us?”

“Sure. Whatever we need to do.”

“Actually, let’s think about this. Now that the camp is gone, we can go back to the old neighborhood. There are plenty of empty houses there. Maybe we can get one of them set up for you guys.” I looked at Fred. “I assume you’re coming too?” She nodded and smiled appreciatively.

“Wait—you’re not at home? Where are you living now? I didn’t think you’d ever leave,” Jess said.

“Well, we were persuaded to do it, but it wasn’t easy,” I said.

From across the room, Sarge shouted, “Hell no, it wasn’t, bunch of damn loggerheads.”

Remembering those conversations, I said, “Yeah, he tried for a long time to get us to leave.”

Sarge wagged a finger at me. “One of these days you’ll learn to listen to me.”

“Hey, we did eventually listen,” Thad said.

“Pfft, eventually’s ass,” Sarge replied. His comment got a smile out of everyone.

I looked at Ted and Mike. “Glad to see he’s still his same old self.”

“Yeah, it’d take more than a bullet to get him down,” Ted replied.

“You need more than that to kill something that damn mean,” Mike added.

Sarge looked over at Mike with one eye squinted. “You just wait, I’m gonna show your ass mean.”

“Big talk from an old man lying on his back,” Mike said with a laugh.

“Why, you rotten little shit!” Sarge shouted as he started to get up. “I ain’t lyin’ around now!” Before he could actually get up, Ted moved on him.

“No, no, lie down. There’ll be plenty of time to whip his ass,” Ted said as he pushed Sarge back onto the stretcher, then he looked at Mike. “I’ll even help you do it.”

“Now, that’s just uncalled for,” Mike said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“I don’t need no help to whip his sorry ass!”

Ted looked back at Sarge and patted his shoulder. “I know.”

We were already laughing at the exchange going on, but what happened next put everyone in stiches: Sarge grabbed Ted’s hand and rolled it over, twisting it. “Don’t patronize me, Teddy. You’re close enough for me to reach.”

“Damn! I’m not. Let go of me, you old prick!” Ted shouted.

Sarge released him and Ted rubbed his wrist. “You’re awful strong for an AARP member.”

“Don’t you forget it either!” Sarge barked.

Still laughing, I asked Ted, “So, with this place under the control of the National Guard, can we go home now? I mean . . . back to my
real
home?”

“I don’t see any reason why not. Those DHS goons aren’t going to be messing with you guys anymore.”

“What about the storm troopers? What are you guys going to do with them?” I asked.

“They are going to be detained for a while. Once the interviews of the civilians here are done we’ll have to address any abuses that come to light. Any of the staff that comes up clean will be paroled. They’ll be allowed to leave, stripped of their uniforms, of course,” Ted said.

“You’re just going to let them go?” Thad asked.

“We can’t keep them here. There’s just not enough resources.”

“What if they turn up later, causing trouble?” Danny asked.

“This camp has some nice equipment. We’ll create a database, complete with photos and fingerprints. If they turn up later committing crimes against anyone, they will be executed. We’ll make it clear to them before they go, so they’ll know the risks,” Ted said.

“How long before you start letting them go?” I asked.

“It’s going to be a while. There’s a lot that has to be done. It’ll be a couple of weeks at best. They’ll be under supervision of the Guards in the meantime.”

I looked at Danny and Thad. “Looks like we can go home, then.”

“Yes, Morgan, take the girls home! Get ’em out of that swamp,” Sarge added from his stretcher.

Danny added, “They’d like that. Hell,
I’d
like that.”

I looked at Thad. “You want to go home?”

Thad appeared deep in thought for a moment before answering, “I like it out there on the river, but them little cabins are kind of rough. I’m ready for a real bed again.”

“What about us?” Jess asked, her voice small.

“You could come too. Like I said, there are houses there I know no one is coming back to. You ladies could take one of those,” I said.

“Really?” she asked.

“Really, Jess.”

“Thank you so, so much. I don’t even know . . .” She started to cry.

“Aww, dry up, Annie!” Sarge yelled.

I couldn’t help but smile at the grumpy old bastard.

“What are you guys going to do?” Danny asked Ted.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I do know I’m ready for a break from the action for some time, though.”

“Me too,” Mike agreed.

“Morg, if you guys are leaving the cabins, we’re going to go stay in them for a while. We could use a spot to take a break,” Sarge said.

“Sure thing,” I said. “Just wait for us to check out our neighborhood, and then you guys can take over.”

“Perfect,” Mike said. “Give the old man enough time to heal up.”

“Speaking of healing, where’s Doc?” Ted asked.

Mike looked around. “I don’t know, wonder where he went.”

Doc answered the question when he appeared from the back of the tent with an armload of medical supplies.

“Where the hell you been?” Ted asked.

Doc hefted the supplies in his arms. “Replenishing my stock.”

“Hey, how long before we can move the old man?”

“Why, what’s up?” Doc asked as he dumped his load on a table.

“Nothing, we’re just talking about going out to the creek for a while. Taking a break from the action.”

“Oh, I’d say two or three days at least,” Doc said.

“I’m fine, I don’t need to wait two or three days,” Sarge barked.

“It’s going to take us that long to get cleared out,” Danny said.

“That works out, then, doesn’t it?” Doc said.

“You wanna head back and let the ladies know the good news?” Thad asked.