Radioactive and The Decay Dystopian Super Boxset- A Dirty Bomb and Nuclear Blast Prepper Tale of Survival (9 page)

Jim used a pair of binoculars but didn’t see any movement on the ground. The most activity he saw was of some troops sent to escort a group of firefighters into the city. There was a full blaze of fury in the distance. The smoke from the fires blanketed the night sky, and the glow from the flames washed over the desert in an unearthly orange tinge.

Jim climbed back down the dune to where they were camped. Brett and Twink did an inventory of what ammo and supplies they had left while Annie sat curled in a ball in Samantha’s lap.

“Mommy, when can we go home?” Annie asked.

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” she responded.

Jim walked over to Coyle, who was leaned up against the wheel of the truck with his eyes half-closed. Jim slid down next to him.

“How are you doing?” Jim asked.

“I could use some of that mush right about now,” Coyle replied.

Jim rested his head back on the metal siding of the truck. The glow from the fires rose up above the dunes. The shadows from the city danced across his face. He wondered how many died for some mad man’s search for power.

“I can see why you got out. This job’s very high risk,” Coyle said.

“That’s not why I got out.”

“Why then?”

“I joined the Navy because my father was branded a coward. I thought it was my duty to join and restore what pride I had to my family’s name.”

“That’s why you got in, but why’d you leave?”

“The same reason.”

Jim helped Brett find a spot in between two dunes, and they dug out three trenches about six feet in length and three feet wide. They piled the sand one foot-and-a-half high on three sides of each of the trenches.

Brett and Twink each had some ponchos in their packs, and Jim used them to cover their trenches for protection from the sun. Brett, Twink, and Jim would sleep under the ponchos while Coyle, Annie, and Samantha slept in the truck.

It was early morning when Jim finally awoke. One glance at the smoke-blackened sky told him that the firemen hadn’t been able to stop the blaze. Twilight from the morning daybreak sparkled on the desert sand. Bits of light struggled to shine through the thick smoke in the sky. Jim brushed the sand out of his hair.

Brett and Twink were still snoring in their sand beds. Samantha and Annie were sound asleep in the backseat of the truck. Coyle was propped up in the passenger seat with his mouth hanging open and drooling. Suddenly, Jim felt the hard iron of a pistol pressed to the back of his skull.

“You’re getting easier to sneak up on, Farr,” Hult said.

Hult had his 9mm pistol with his finger on the trigger. Four of his men tore the ponchos off Brett and Twink’s shelter before they could wake and disarmed them with rifles pointed at their heads.

“For your sake, I hope you found what you were looking for,” Hult said.

“Find what?” Jim replied.

“Turn around,” Hult ordered.

Jim kept his hands in the air and slowly turned his body to face Hult. He saw Coyle, Annie, Samantha, Twink, and Brett lined up on their knees with their hands behind their heads next to the truck. Tears streamed down Annie’s face.

“You really are a fucking pain in my ass, you know that?” Hult said.

Then, without any explanation or warning, Hult clicked the safety on. He lowered his pistol and holstered it. He took Jim’s gun, dropped the magazine out, cleared the chamber, and tossed it back to him, though he kept the magazine.

“We need to talk. Boys?” Hult motioned over to his men, who lowered their weapons.

Coyle kept his hands over his head even after the men walked in front of him. “Is this a trap? Coz it feels like a trap.”

“What is this?” Jim asked.

“This is my mission. Locke told me to keep an eye on you and make sure you and the girls were safe. He thought there was a high-level leak. How do you think you got to speak to Matt by yourself without any guards listening in? Who do you think the guard called when you were leaving the camp?”

“You were helping us this whole time? Jesus, Jim, you tried to kill him,” Coyle said.

“That reminds me.” Hult threw a right hook into Jim’s jaw that knocked him to the ground. Jim wiped the blood from his lip, and Hult extended his hand to help him up.

“Now we’re even,” Hult said.

“Why should we trust you?” Samantha asked.

“I lost seven men in the city. I’d been with those soldiers for years. If it wasn’t for Locke’s orders, I’d kill you on principle,” Hult replied.

With Hult confirming Jim’s suspicion of a mole, they all agreed that trying to get Matt out of the camp wasn’t going to happen. And with Phoenix burning behind them, they wouldn’t be able to get him back to his office to run the program anyway. Matt would have to do it from the camp.

“One of the guards is Locke’s man. We can sneak Matt out when it’s his shift and get him over to a station to do what he needs to do and find the bastards behind all of this,” Hult said.

“How do we get back in?” Jim asked.

“They think I’m out looking for you. Give me the drive, and I’ll keep two of my men here to guard you. I’ll tell them that I couldn’t find you and get the drive to Matt tonight,” Hult replied.

“No, we don’t know who’s involved in this, and if you get caught, you’ll need all of the help you can get. Brett, Twink, and I will come in with you,” Jim said.

It was settled. Coyle would stay back with Samantha and Annie while the rest of them went to the camp to give Matt the drive and find the source of the orders. Jim himself would come back to get the girls and Coyle once it was safe. If he didn’t return before tomorrow, or he was killed, then one of Hult’s men, Twink, or Brett would come back with a safe word that only the group knew. They would then take the truck and immediately head back to the refugee camp. They would speak to no one except Locke.

Hult and his men had hotwired two sedans from the garage after they had lost the armored trucks earlier. Jim opened the doors of the sedan and brushed empty coffee cups off the back seat. Brett sat in the passenger seat while Twink joined Jim in the back. Hult drove while the rest of his men piled inside the other car.

“Jesus. How many Starbucks breakfast sandwiches can one man eat?” Brett asked.

As the cars got back onto the main road, they headed for the expressway that would take them around the outskirts of the city. It was here Jim saw just how huge the fire had become. When he was in school, Jim remembered hearing about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and how it wreaked havoc on the districts of the city, killing hundreds and causing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage.

He wondered if this is what people saw on the outskirts of Chicago that day, fires rising into the sky with the flames engulfing buildings, cars, and people. How could an entire city just burn like that? Then again, just a few weeks ago Jim thought a Naval base could never be leveled on American soil. He was experiencing a lot of firsts lately.

It only took them about ten minutes to get back to the base from where they were at in the dunes. Jim was right about them not checking who they were, although the guards at the gate did a thorough inspection of the vehicles. Hult brought Jim, Twink, and Brett back to his tent along with his men, then left to check on Locke’s man to see when his shift would start. Jim’s leg bounced up and down nervously. He declined an MRE from Brett. He didn’t have an appetite.

***

Coyle leaned on the front driver side of the truck while Samantha and Annie sat inside it.

“When will I get to see Daddy again?” Annie asked.

“Uncle Jim is getting him right now,” Samantha replied.

Annie jumped from her mother’s lap and gasped. Samantha grabbed her shoulders. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“We forgot to tell Uncle Jim to get Tigs!”

“I’m sure Jim will remember to bring Tigs with him, Annie. You don’t have to worry about her.”

***

The tent flaps flew open as Hult entered. “Locke’s man says his shift starts in one hour. He’s got watch for four hours, and halfway through, Matt’s scheduled for a bathroom break. We’ll get him to a computer station then.”

“Where’s the station at?” Jim asked.

“We’ll use one of the cubicles across the hallway where the holding cells are. We can put him on a computer there,” Hult said.

“I’ll be outside with you,” Jim said.

“Farr, it’s too risky,” Hult replied.

“I have just as much to lose in this mission as you do,” Jim said.

“What if somebody sees you? Hult’s supposed to have not found you, remember?” Brett asked.

“Nobody recognized me when I came through the front gate. I’ll just make sure I keep some extra gear on while I’m out,” Jim said.

***

When Annie had finally fallen asleep, Samantha peeled her arm off the hot leather and slid out the door quietly. Coyle was still leaning up against the truck when she got out.

“I’m really beginning to hate the desert,” Coyle said.

He took a swig from the cantina and passed it to Samantha. She didn’t say anything as she rested her head back on the window, taking a swig.

“It’ll be fine. Despite my jokes, Jim’s actually pretty good at what he does,” Coyle reassured her.

“Being a marine mechanic?” she replied.

“No, I still think he’s terrible at that,” he said.

That got a small smile out of her.

“He got me out of San Diego alive. He saved a half dozen people along the way and, despite a few setbacks, he’s kept us going since we’ve arrived here. He’ll bring Matt back.”

“I know,” she said.

***

Jim paced around the tent checking his watch. His steps were in sync with the sliding of Brett’s blade sharpening on a whetstone.

“Checking it every five seconds won’t make it tick by any faster, Jim,” Brett drawled.

Jim stopped. He found a seat and dropped himself in it. He leaned forward onto his elbows and rubbed his hands with his face.

“What are you worried about? We have the drive. We have a plan. All we have to do now is sit back and let the computer nerd do his thing,” Brett said.

“We could be wrong. What if Locke’s in on it?” Twink asked.

“If Locke wanted us dead, then Hult would have done it out in the dunes when he had the chance. He wouldn’t have brought us back here if he was in on it,” Jim said.

***

Samantha was on her side, clutching her stomach from laughing so hard.

“I’m serious. I ran through the entire dormitory butt-ass naked screaming that I was the Duke of Snatch. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t very popular with the ladies that year. I shouldn’t have had that fifteenth beer,” Coyle said.

“You’ll make me wake up Annie,” Samantha said, slapping Coyle’s side. Samantha peeked up to look in the truck cabin’s window, and then she jolted up. Annie was gone. “Annie!”

Coyle ran around to the other side as Samantha checked under the truck bed.

“I don’t see her,” Samantha cried.

Her face was stricken with panic. Her head swiveled in all directions looking for her daughter.