End Days Super Boxset (209 page)

He was in the process of telling himself that everything was going to be OK when suddenly it occurred to him that he was in a lot of trouble. Gordon was the key to everything. And if Gordon got back to New York before they did, their lives would be ruined. Jamie pictured Gordon at the local police station telling them everything. They might have put an APB out on them already. Jamie would have to be careful. Traveling alone helped him. It was about the only advantage he had.

After about a mile or two of walking, Jamie could see the highway through the tree line up ahead. The sight was exhilarating. Jamie’s steadied pace soon turned into a full-out run as he sprinted ahead, hoping to wave down a vehicle in time.

As he pushed forward, he could hear someone shouting from behind. He stopped and turned around, squinting into the distance. Someone was following him and he could recognize the voice. It was his friend, Aaron.

“Wait up, man!” he shouted.

Jamie sighed. He felt some relief knowing that he wasn't completely alone, but also some apprehension about the complication Aaron's presence would cause. They would stick out more. The police would have more to go on, since they probably had descriptions of both of them.

If caught, Jamie was ready to dump the entire thing on Scott. No one liked Scott anyway. They could easily unite against him. They were pawns in his evil plot to embezzle money and try to kill their coworker, Gordon. That was the ticket. Aaron finally caught up with Jamie as he stopped and leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.

“Thank God I found you,” he said.

“What happened?” Jamie asked. “You get sick of their shit too?”

Aaron glanced behind him and scoffed. “They're in over their heads. They don't know what the hell they're doing. Probably end up getting themselves killed.”

“I don't doubt it,” Jamie said. “I got a family back home, you know? I can't be fucking around. Should have never gone on this trip in the first place.”

“What about Gordon?” Aaron asked.

“What about him?”

“What if he talks?”

Jamie sighed. “We have to assume that he already did. But it's OK, I got a plan. We keep our stories the same and put the entire thing on Scott. It's our only hope.”

“What about Bryce?”

“Bryce will go along with it. We just have to talk with him first. Scott's a loose cannon.”

Aaron looked around worriedly. “I tell you, Jamie, if we get out of this thing, I'll never do anything this stupid again.”

Jamie put his hand on Aaron's shoulder. “It'll work out somehow. Maybe we can find Gordon and clear up the entire matter. Pay back the government, find new jobs. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but at least we won't go to prison.”

“You said it.”

Jamie started walking back to the highway as Aaron followed. Once they reached the long road, they were startled to see it so empty and quiet. Their eyes lit up when they saw a sign saying downtown as being only eight miles away. Aaron asked Jamie what he thought of everything that had happened with the van and their cell phones. They both assumed they had hit a dead zone. It certainly seemed in the realm of possibilities. Jamie told Aaron that he was never going to go anywhere in Georgia again. It just wasn't the place for him. In the end, Jamie was glad that Aaron found him. They could work together and get out of their troubling situation.
Two heads were better than one
, he thought.

They continued to walk despite their increasing exhaustion and dehydration. It would all be worth it once they got into town. They talked about what they were going to eat when they got there, the airlines they could take to get home, and their weekend plans. With the exception of the food James and his group served them, they had been living off handfuls of trail mix for the last two days. They didn't expect to see their backpacks again after losing them in the forest.

“Somebody's going to find them, someday,” Jamie said.

Aaron looked down at the ground in a panic. “My wallet was in my pack. I have to cancel all my credit cards now.”

“You're supposed to put your wallet in your pocket, dumbass,” Jamie said. “Simple as that.”

“Thanks for your brilliant observation.”

Their hearts raced with anticipation as they got closer to downtown. They hadn't seen a single working street light, lit home, or moving vehicle on their journey thus far. It raised plenty of questions, but their knowledge of the area was that it was a backwoods town, and the lack of modern amenities wasn’t surprising. They soon saw their first car yet; a blue Ford Taurus station wagon pulled to the side of the road. Jamie ran to it and knocked on the driver's side window. The car was covered in leaves and there was no one in it. Aaron ran to the other side and tried all the doors, but they were locked. “Damn it,” he muttered.

Aaron waved him forward and insisted that they keep walking. They soon passed other cars, some stopped directly in the middle of the road. It was the same picture each time. No passenger, and no apparent reason why the car was left there. Their elation upon finding one with several doors unlocked was cut short when they couldn't find any keys. Neither of them knew enough about cars to try to start one any other way.

Aaron grabbed a bottle of water and some leftover Skittles he found in an old abandoned Chevy Tahoe, and they proceeded toward downtown. They passed buildings, a closed gas station, and a storage facility before finally approaching a dirt road that led to a house under a water tower. The house appeared to have lights on, and they could hear people talking.

“Finally!” Jamie said with relief. Aaron looked at the night sky and took a deep breath. So far, the town hadn't been much to look at, but they were glad to see that their endless wandering was coming to an end. Jamie immediately turned down the road toward the house. They could smell smoke and fire. Something was cooking, and they could smell the enticing aroma of pork.

“I call dibs on the phone,” Aaron said, running past Jamie.

“The hell you do,” Jamie replied, picking up the pace.

They both stopped at the chain-link fence that surrounded the house and saw that there was indeed a fire in the backyard. The house didn't look very inviting as the windows were boarded up like something after Hurricane Katrina. Aaron looked at Jamie as Jamie carefully pushed the squeaky fence gate open. If they didn't know any better, they could hear music and laughter. There wasn't a single light around, aside from the glow of the backyard fire.

They walked across the space leading to the front porch. There was no driveway or garage, just a crappy looking house with boarded up windows and markings all over it. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have gone anywhere near a stranger's house in such condition.

“Just let me do the talking,” Jamie said. “Our car broke down, and we need to use the phone.

Aaron nodded when suddenly they tripped over some fishing line and managed to set off a flare in a nearby tree. As they stumbled forward, they watched the flare expand and smoke. They didn’t know what to think. They both failed to understand a thing about what had just happened. The front door swung open and a spotlight was flashed in their faces, blinding them.

“What's your business here!” a man shouted in a gruff-sounding voice.

Aaron and Jamie put their hands in the air, immediately following the sound of several weapons clicking.

“N-nothing!” Jamie said. “Our car--”

“Speak up!” the man shouted.

“I said that our car broke down.”

“That so?” the man said.

The light remained in their faces as the men with rifles studied them from afar. Jamie and Aaron tried to stop shaking despite being terrified for their very lives.

“I'm sorry,” Jamie pleaded. “We'll just go right back the way we came.”

They could hear whispering among the men, aside from the heavy beating of their own hearts. Aaron thought of running, but he could barely get his legs to move as it was.

“You say that's the men?” the man asked someone. There was a slight pause. “Ya'll come here,” he ordered them while moving the light out of their faces. “Slowly,” he added.

Jamie and Aaron approached the men, taking notice that they all appeared to be trigger-happy rednecks. A familiar man stood with them. Someone they knew. Someone who looked distinctively out of place.

“Gordon?” Aaron asked. “Holy shit. Gordon, is that you?”

Whereas Jamie and Aaron felt relief, Gordon recoiled in fear once he recognized them. “That's them!” he shouted. “I told you they were coming to get me, and here they are!”

Jamie and Aaron stopped dead in their tracks, unsure of what was happening.

“There's more,” Gordon continued. “Two more of them. They must have split up to find me!”

“Now hold on a minute,” Jamie said, raising his hand in the air. Before he could say another word, Bobby took him down with a single blast from his rifle. Aaron jumped, but he remained unaware that Jamie was no longer standing.

“Where's the others?” Bobby demanded from Aaron.

“The others, what others?” Aaron asked in a strained voice. He then looked at the ground and saw Jamie lying there in a bloody heap. He turned to the rifle-wielding men on the front porch, and his face was stricken with terror and confusion. “You shot him! I can't believe you shot him. Are you out of your minds?”

“Don't make me ask you again,” Bobby said.

Aaron looked around for witnesses, bystanders, or anyone who could help. He was anguished to see no one around. “You mean Bryce and Scott?”

“Yeah, where are they?” Gordon asked, walking closer to Aaron.

Aaron looked at him in panic. “Gordon, please. This is all just one big misunderstanding.”

“Is it?” Gordon asked. “You guys aren't so tough now, are you?”

Aaron fell to his knees and pleaded with his hands interlaced. “You got it all wrong. We never meant you any harm.”

“Where are the other two?” Gordon asked without emotion.

“We left them,” Aaron cried. “’Bout ten miles back. They were going to rob some prepper house. Jamie and I didn't want to be a part of it. We were going to turn ourselves in.”

Gordon seemed amused as he stood over Aaron. “Turn yourselves in? Hmmm. Now why don't I believe that?” He then walked away, leaving Aaron wobbling on his knees.

“Gordon, please!”

Another shot rang out from Bobby's gun, throwing Aaron to the ground with a crater-size hole in his head. Flesh was scattered everywhere in the tall green grass. There was nothing but dead silence. Bobby chambered his rifle and slung it over his shoulder. “Well, ol’ Gordon. They were your friends, so looks like you dig the holes. Shovel's out back.”

Gordon nodded as all the men went back outside to continue their late-night barbecue.

Later that night, as he buried their bodies in the woods across the street, Gordon contemplated his actions. It wasn’t that he held that much anger against Aaron and Jamie; it was more about the betrayal they represented. There had to be a way he could get back to New York and put the entire mess behind him. The train, he kept telling himself. The train will come soon.

Gordon never did encounter Bryce and Scott like he had planned to. Life after the EMP strike took some adjustment, but he tried his best. He missed the city and his job, but he imagined that many people were suffering just the same.

A week later, he was helping Bobby's group gather some supplies when the end finally came. A rogue group of survivalists, who had quite the reputation around town, ambushed the group for their supplies. Their group lived far from town at a secret hideout called Camp Liberty. It was a place no one could find. Whenever they hit the town for supplies, they hit it hard.

Gordon had heard of their ruthless and cunning nature and immediately fired at them with one of Bobby's loaner rifles. He took one of theirs out and was met with a hail of gunfire in return. Bobby and his group retreated into the night, narrowly escaping the shootout. Their haul lay scattered on the ground along with Gordon's bullet-ridden body, staring into the dark sky one last time.

James examined the carnage that surrounded Camp Liberty. The sights and sounds were as potent as anything he had experienced in the Gulf War. Daren and Dustin both ducked back inside the house after seeing Russell personally torch alive the people who had come to save them. James called for them, but they chose to retreat instead. Frustrated, he stormed into the cabin after them and closed the door.

Russell stood outside the gates proudly overlooking the charred bodies in his wake, scanning the forest for any others. Kyle and Eli ran outside the gate to meet up with him. They were stunned and had to cover their mouths with their hands to counter the noxious fumes of burnt flesh surrounding them. The blackened bodies were frozen in agonized positions. Eli wanted to vomit. He didn't know how much longer he could stand among the bodies. Kyle had apprehensions about even approaching Russell.

“You all right, man?” he asked, keeping his distance.

Russell stared ahead with his back to Kyle while still clutching the hose of his flamethrower.

“I can't take this,” Eli said with his hand over his mouth. He ran back into the camp while the other men surveyed the stunning aftermath of the attack all around them.

Russell finally addressed Kyle, though his eyes remained forward. “I was sick of playing around with these people. It was foolish of them to get in our way.”

Kyle walked in front of Russell to get his full attention. “I know, but we have to consider that more will come. This could be just the first wave.”

“What are you suggesting?” Russell asked.

“Relocation, for starters.”

“There's no time for that. This minor skirmish will set us back weeks. Relocation will set us back months.”

“We gotta be smart here, Russ.”

“Agreed, but let's not be rash in the process.”

Kyle looked at the contorted bodies around him and couldn't believe his own ears as Russell advised against becoming rash.

“We pick up the pieces from here. Properly deal with our KIA. Dispose of the rest of theirs. We make the repairs necessary and we continue training.”

“Russ, I--”

Russell turned directly to meet Kyle’s gaze and pointed in his face. “That's what we do! You hear me? It's my call, and it's the right one. I don't need you getting all weak-kneed now.”

Kyle didn't want to push the matter anymore. They had plenty of their own dead to tend to. It was disappointing to have their numbers drastically reduced just when they should have been increasing. “I'm gonna help clean up,” he said to Russell, walking away.

***

James followed Dustin and Daren back into the holding cabin and pleaded with them to make a move. “If you ever plan to get out of here, it's now or never.”

The boys were understandably frightened and unsure about exposure amid so much danger. Regardless, James's patience was wearing thin. “My friends and I are leaving, and that's final. I'm not going to put them at further risk by trying to convince you to come with us. The choice is yours.”

“We'll go,” Daren said.

“Are you crazy? They'll kill us!” Dustin objected.

James looked at them both. “You two figure it out. I'm going to get my friends.” He walked between the boys and then snuck out the back door, leaving them to ponder their fate in the empty cabin where evidence of their brother's murder still remained on the bloodstained floorboards. They knew that at any moment, one of Russell's men would be back to guard them again.

“You know he's right,” Daren said.

“You think I want to stay here?” Dustin asked. “I'm just trying to be smart about it.” A purple bruise had nearly consumed Dustin's face. He vividly remembered getting buttstroked and winced as he lightly touched it. “If we link up with those people, it puts a big fat target on us.”

“Then what's your plan, genius?” Daren asked.

Dustin stared down at the floor while scratching his chin.

“Well?” Daren said impatiently.

Dustin shook his head. “Hold on, I'm thinking.”

Morning sun shone through the windows, providing some much needed light in the darkened cabin. They could hear the commotion taking place around the camp, coming from all sides. Bodies were being loaded up, embankments were being reinforced, and repairs were being made to the damages done to the wall surrounding the camp. It seemed as if, for a moment, Russell and his men had forgotten about Daren and Dustin.

“Hear me out here,” Dustin continued. “That dude is set on getting out of here. So we take the moment when all attention is on them and make our escape.”

“What do you propose, tunneling below ground?” Daren asked. “There's only one way out of here, and it's through those front gates.”

“Not necessarily,” Dustin said, walking to a corner of the room next to a pile of boxes. He signaled Daren over and pointed to a trapdoor. He lifted the door, revealing a large hole leading underground, which was totally dark. “The tunnels are already made for us.”

“What the hell? How did you know about this?” Daren asked.

“I noticed when they hit me and I fell to the ground. Must be some kind of emergency escape.”

“Or maybe it leads nowhere.”

“There's only one way to find out,” Dustin said, pulling a lighter from his pocket.

“Where did you get that?”

“Swiped it from that James dude.”

The boys laughed, then looked at the black hole at their feet apprehensively. Crawling through a small, dirty tunnel wasn't the most appealing of options, but for them, it was better than being shot. Dustin placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and looked at him with a sobering expression. “We owe it to the people who tried to free us to get out of this thing alive.” Daren responded with a knowing look.

James ran into his cabin. Christina held Paula tightly, trying her best to put a good face on everything. “We're leaving soon, honey, and you'll never have to see this place again,” she said.

Janice was beyond anxious and ready to get the hell out of there. The screams of the men as they were torched alive had shaken her to the core. Jacklyn, Sally, and Jeff stood near James's group, stricken with fear over the fate of their friends.

“All right, is everyone ready?” James asked. He hated the idea of risking another standoff, but he knew, as well as they did, that the only option they had was to go right out the same way they came in.

As James's group grabbed their things, Christina knelt down in front of Paula, speaking calmly and directly to her. “I want you to do me a favor.”

“What's that?” Paula asked.

“You hold onto my hand tight, and don't let go for any reason.”

“OK.”

Christina pulled her close and hugged her tightly. James threw on his backpack and grabbed his rifle. Mark and Janice were armed and ready to go as well. Christina stood up and wiped her eyes. “We're ready,” she said. Suddenly a hush came over everything as they all looked over to Jacklyn, Sally, and Jeff.

“You guys stay safe,” James said. “I hope the rest of your friends are all right.” They looked too shaken to offer any goodbyes. Jeff stared ahead unresponsively.

James turned around to address his group. “Maybe I should talk to Russell first and clear everything up. There's literally no reason why he would still need or want us here. I think before, he was just a little on edge.”

“We go out there together, show a united front. That's the only way this is going down,” Mark said. He looked at Janice. “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” she said.

“What do you think, Christina? I would hate to put Paula in any more danger than necessary,” James said.

Christina looked determined. She had wiped away any sign of vulnerability and replaced it with defiant strength. “We stay together, like always.”

James nodded. “Very well. Stick close to each other and remain alert.” He took a step back and then swung the door open to the destructive aftermath before them and the path to freedom that lay beyond.

Russell, Kyle, Eli, Quinn, and Billy were huddled together at the front gate assessing the overall losses and damage to the camp. Six of their men had been killed during the attack, leaving a total of nine, including them, though some had been wounded. They still had the college kids, which put their numbers at fourteen. And of course, there were the two teenage boys, who Russell hoped would join them. The important thing for Russell was to rebuild and push forward, just as he had explained to Kyle.

Their six KIA were carefully carried to a burial site outside the camp, while the bodies of the townspeople were to be piled together and buried in a mass grave, thirty-two bodies in all. There was a certain despondency in the faces of Russell's men. Though they had managed to stave off an attack on the camp, there seemed nothing to celebrate. All the death around them seemed like a pointless waste. They didn't understand it any more than anything else that was happening around the world.

Russell, observant as he was, studied his men as they worked together to repair the camp and remove the bodies. He noticed Shane and Danny stumbling around and trying to keep up. Their slung rifles swung awkwardly from their necks, and their expressions were like that of ghosts.
The men would need a hell of a morale booster after this episode
, Russell thought. He would have to do his best to keep them united beyond all costs. It would require pulling out all the stops.

After contemplating the delicate task of keeping the men motivated, Russell suddenly noticed a very determined and familiar group leaving Cabin B and marching toward them, apparently ready for another showdown.

“Looks like we got company,” Kyle said into his ear.

James's group was distraught to find that the front gates had been closed in haste. It was clear that Russell's men weren't going to make it easy for them. The stench of death was in the air, even though most of the bodies had already been moved. Brass ammo shells littered the ground along the walls, especially at the bottom of the makeshift towers.

Camp Liberty was consumed by a haze of smoke from all the burnt wood, burnt bodies, and abundance of gunpowder in the air. All eyes were on James and his group, and they knew it. Activity in the camp came to a stop as Russell's men slowly formed a human barrier at the front gate.

James stopped walking and told the others to wait. He had almost forgotten about the Wilson brothers. He ran quickly to the next-door cabin and swung the door open as his group nervously waited.

“What the hell is he doing?” Mark asked Janice. She shrugged as they gripped their rifles tightly, ready for anything.

James looked inside the cabin and called out to the boys. No one was inside. He shook his head and slammed the door shut. His group eagerly waited as James ran back to them in a hurry. The situation at the gate had only gotten worse. Every remaining man in Russell's militia had gathered with their weapons drawn. It appeared they were approaching another standoff.

“Christina and Paula, I want both of you in the middle,” James said. “Mark, Janice, and I will form a circle around you.”

Christina was confused, but nodded her head in agreement with Paula close by.

“I'll lead up front,” James continued. “Mark takes one side, Janice takes the other.”

“What do you have in mind, James?” Janice asked with a worried look.

“It's just a precaution,” he answered. “Everything is going to be fine.”

They formed an adequate circle—even with its noticeable gaps—and proceeded to move toward the gate in one singular, vigilant movement. Christina held Paula's hand tight with one hand and James's pistol in her other.

Russell's men stood together watching the approaching group with curiosity. Among the militia was Shane, Danny, and Leo. Their exhaustion pushed them to a state of paranoia close to that of Russell's. They considered that James's group could possibly have been aiding the attackers. Perhaps Camp Liberty had been infiltrated from within.

Kyle leaned into Russell's ear again. “Just what in the hell do they think they're doing now?”

Russell took keen notice of their defensive formation and found it somewhat amusing. “Go check on the prisoners,” he said back.

Kyle turned then turned to Eli. “Go check on the prisoners, Eli.”

Eli grunted and ran off to Cabin C. He was in no mood to argue or make a scene in reaction to Kyle's demands.

As James's group got closer, Russell's men aimed their weapons into the air. Russell suddenly waved them off. “Lower your weapons.”

James stopped in front of the mass gathering of men, a few feet from the gate. Mark and Janice kept their positions while Christina and Paula huddled in the middle. They did their best not to show any fear.

Russell looked at their circular formation with befuddled amusement. “I gotta tell ya, James, this standoff routine of yours isn’t really necessary.” He was no longer wearing his flamethrower, but James knew better. They would have to stand tall against whatever mind games Russell used against them.

“We would like to leave, and there's really nothing more to say on the matter,” James said.

Russell brushed his long hair to the side. He then took an American flag bandana from his pocket and wrapped it on his head. James suspected he was stalling. Once Russell looked up into the blue sky, not saying a word, it became clear that their exit was going to be problematic.