Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series) (17 page)

Kay nodded and Aric quickly left. Kay stood there thinking about what he’d said for a long time. It was both petrifying and exhilarating, the thought of getting out of the camp. Even though she wouldn’t admit it at the moment, she knew in her gut that she didn’t want to be here forever.

Aric went back to the motor pool to look for a truck. The Hummers were fuel thirsty, but not nearly as bad as the other options, so one would have to do. At the pool he started checking the truck, and headed to the mechanics office. He knew they kept a roster of all the vehicles and their statuses in there. While he was going through the log, he remembered something that would really help: the locker for the scavenging crew.

The locker was literally a one-stop shop for what he was planning.
Why didn’t I think of this before?
he thought to himself, as he surveyed the SAWs, ammo, batteries, body armor, first aid supplies, and stack of MREs inside of it. He took a quick inventory. Everything he needed was there—it would just be a matter of loading it quickly when the time came.

Returning his attention to the log, he read that one of the Hummers had recently been serviced and went to look for it in the rows of vehicles. After he found the truck, he started it up. It seemed to run just fine. Now he needed to make sure it was still there when they made the escape. There was only one way to take a truck out of service, and that was to red tag it, but he needed a reason.
That’s all I need, a reason
—
doesn’t have to be legit
,
Aric thought. Going back to the mechanics desk, he looked around for anyone who might snitch on him being there. Seeing no one, he grabbed a red tag and took it back out to the truck.

Filling out the tag, he listed the default as electrical short. In the description
box he wrote,
shocked driver when attempting to start
. Anyone other than the mechanic that saw the ticket would just move on to the next. And if the mechanic saw it, he would have to find Aric to find out what happened. Either way the truck would be there until he needed it.

With the transportation element sorted out, he breathed a tiny sigh of relief. His mission was going to easier than he’d first anticipated. He smiled to himself and headed back toward the kitchen to reassure Kay. It was there that he realized his timetable had just become a hell of a lot shorter.

Aric arrived back at the kitchen to find Cortez there, collecting meals for the prisoners in the detention center.

“’Sup, Vonasek?” Cortez asked.

“Same old shit, man, what are you up to?”

“Getting ready for the big day!” he said with a smile.

Kay and Aric both looked at him. “What big day?” Aric asked.

“Oh, you haven’t heard?”

“No, heard what?” Kay asked.

“There’s gonna be an execution tomorrow.”

“Execution? Who’s being executed?” Aric asked, playing dumb.

“Those three murdering bitches are going to be shot in front of a full assembly of the camp tomorrow.”

Aric’s head started to spin. It took considerable effort to remain on his feet, as his knees wanted to buckle. Kay was just as stunned. Her mouth was hanging open.

“Hey, man, you all right?” Cortez asked, squinting at Aric.

Aric placed a hand on the counter to steady himself. “Oh yeah, just tired. When are they going to do it?” Aric’s mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to get Fred out in the shortened timeframe.

“Tomorrow afternoon. Gonna be a firing squad, and I asked to be on it,” Cortez said as he tossed a freeze-dried pea in his mouth, smiling as he crunched it up.

Aric wanted to beat the man to death where he stood. Not shoot him, but use his own hands to inflict pain. It took every bit of restraint he possessed to stand there and look at him.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you then,” Aric said.

Cortez picked up the meals. “Get there early so you can get a front-row seat.”

Kay and Aric watched as Cortez walked out. As soon as the door shut Aric looked at Kay, tears were running down her face.

“Oh my God, what are we going to do?” Kay asked as she fought back sobs.

“I’m going to kill that bastard,” Aric said through gritted teeth.

“I can’t believe they’re going to do that.” Kay shook her head. “I just can’t believe it.”

“We have to get her out before tomorrow afternoon. Kay, please say you’ll come.”

Kay nodded her head, wiping away tears. “Yes, yes, I’ll come with you. If this is how they are going to act, I don’t want to be here. Jess was raped. He deserved it. What those girls did was right. We are going to get them all, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are. I’m not leaving any of them behind. Get ready. I’ll let you know when I am.”

She gave him another quick hug. Aric left the kitchen and headed for his room. It was time for action.

W
e were running low on meat again. The fastest way to get some was to use the gill net in the creek to catch mullet, so we used the kayak to get the net across the river just as we did last time. The difference now was that there just didn’t seem to be any mullet in the river. We watched the creek for hours, even going up and down the river to look for them, but we came up empty.

“I guess we need to let the net sit for a while,” Thad said.

“Yeah, let’s leave it out for the rest of the day and see if it catches anything. No use waiting here,” Danny said.

“Well, in that case, I’m going to go over to Chase’s place. I want to see if he knows of anyone around who might have taken the shots at us,” I said.

Danny adjusted his hat. “You think he’ll know?”

I shrugged. “Can’t hurt to ask. Plus, we can get out of here for a little.”

“I’m going to stay here. I don’t think I need a change of scenery,” Thad said.

“Me too, I’ll hang out with him,” Jeff said.

“You want to see if Mel and Bobbie want to go?” Danny asked.

“Sure, we’ll take the girls too. Getting out of here would be nice for everyone. We’ll take Sarge’s big buggy so we can all fit.”

Danny gave me a look. “You think he’ll care?”

“Hell no, he wouldn’t care. Plus, he ain’t here to say anything about it,” I said with a grin.

“Cool, let’s get everyone rounded up and take a ride.”

Everyone was excited to leave the camp, even if it was just for a short trip up the road. After making sure we all had our weapons, Danny and I tossed our packs into the back. I got in behind the wheel with Mel beside me and we headed out.

“This is fun!” Little Bit said, holding her hand outside the buggy.

“It
is
nice to get out,” Bobbie agreed.

Mel nodded her agreement. Taylor sat in the back with her face to the sky. “The sun feels good.”

Even Lee Ann seemed to be enjoying the ride. She was at least looking around, not sitting with her face buried in her arms.

The road was windswept, the only tracks on it from deer and other critters.

“We need to come hunt out here. The deer are obviously using the road a lot,” Danny said.

“Can I go hunting with you?” Taylor asked.

“We’ll see,” I replied.

“Come on, Dad, I wanna go.”

“You ever been hunting?” Danny asked.

She shook her head. “No, but I want to try it.”

Danny looked at me. “You never took her hunting?”

I laughed. “She never wanted to get up early enough to go. Plus, she’s been fishing with us before, and we know how that goes.”

“Hey! What do you mean?” Taylor shouted, half smiling.

I did my best to mimic a teenage girl voice. “I gotta pee, can we go to the boat ramp?”

Danny started to laugh. “Yeah, she never would use the can in the boat. But you’re one to talk, you can’t piss out of the boat either!”

“Hey. That’s not from lack of effort, it’s the whole bobbing-up-and-down thing,” I said.

Taylor rolled her eyes and Mel hit me in the arm playfully.

“Ew, Dad. But yeah, I still want to go hunting, though,” Taylor said.

“You’re quick to volunteer for things that involve guns,” Danny said.

“She does like her some shootin’ irons,” I said. Taylor smiled. “You know you can’t use that machine gun to deer hunt.”

“I know, I know, I just want to go.”

“I think we can work it out,” Danny said.

We drove on, chatting. About a half mile down the road, I pointed out a large patch of leafy greens.

“Ooh, we gotta stop here on the way back and pick that,” I said, pointing to it.

“What is it?” Danny asked. “Mustard?”

“It’s in the same family and tastes a lot like it. It’s called winter cress.”

“Yuck, mustard greens are gross,” Taylor said.

I looked back at her. “Shoot, when you were a baby you would sit in my lap and eat them as long as I would feed them to you.” I knocked on the window, gesturing toward the greens. “You ate that very type all the time.”

“I remember that! You were so cute, Tay,” Mel said.

“Well, I ain’t a baby anymore,” Taylor replied.

Chase’s place wasn’t that far from our camp, so it didn’t take long to get there. As we got closer, Danny told me to slow down.

“Let’s see if anyone is around before we go running up in there.”

I stopped and we watched the place, looking for any sign of life. After a few minutes I honked the horn. The front door opened slowly and Chase stepped out holding his turkey gun.

“Hey, Chase. It’s me, Morgan!” I called out. “Can we come up?”

Chase looked around, then waved us up.

“Hey, Chase, how you been?” I asked as I got out.

“We’re doin’,” he replied.

Seeing it was safe, his wife and daughter came outside as well. The ladies started to chat while Danny and me talked to Chase.

Looking around, I asked, “Where are the boys?”

“They set out on their own.”

“Really, just left?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, ’bout a week ago. Said it was boring around here.”

“Where’d they go?” I asked.

Chase shrugged. “Got no idea, haven’t seen hide nor hair since they left. Andy’s momma’s a little worried about him, told him it was a bad idea, but he’s pert near growed and left anyway.”

“How have you guys been here?” Danny asked.

Chase scratched at what was now a very full beard. “We’re all right. I manage to get enough out of the woods to feed us. Sure could use some vegetables, though.”

“You see them patches of winter cress down the road?” I asked, pointing back the way we came.

“What? That green stuff on the west side?”

“Yeah, they’re kind of like mustard greens.”

“Good to know. I thought it looked like mustard greens but wasn’t sure and didn’t want to get anyone sick,” he said.

“It’s good to eat. We’re going to pick some on the way back,” I said.

“Some fresh greens would be good. I found a lemon tree and we been eating them—sour as all get out, but we need it.”

“Wow, a lemon tree, that’d be nice,” Danny said.

“It has been. I’d trade you some but we’ve ’bout cleaned it out now.”

“Thanks anyway,” Danny said with a smile.

“How’s your daughter been feeling?” I asked.

Chase looked over at her. He wasn’t the type of man to show emotion, from what I gathered, but I’m sure he was smiling on the inside.

“She’s been real good. Boiling the water really helps and that bleach idea y’all had really helped out too.”

“Good, glad to hear it,” I said.

“Hey, Chase, you seen anyone around lately?” Danny asked.

“’Bout a week ago a couple of fellers come through here. Said they was from Orlando, had to get out ’cause it got so bad there.”

“Did they say where they were heading?” I asked.

“Naw, just said they was passing through.”

“Did they have any guns?” Danny asked.

“One of ’em had an old H&R single-shot shotgun. Why? They give y’all some trouble?”

“Someone was sneaking around our place at night, then the next day they took a shot at Danny with some sort of shotgun.” I left out the part about Danny shooting up the creek.

“I think I heard that, heard a whole bunch of shooting one night not long ago.”

“Yeah, that was probably it. I was just curious if you’d seen anyone around,” Danny replied.

“Not since them two fellers, but they came through ’bout a week before I heard the shooting, so I don’t think they’re your guys,” Chase said.

We talked a little more about what each of us was doing to get by. I told Chase about the squirrel snares and explained the concept to him. He said he’d give it a try. He’d been concentrating on hunting, shooting deer and even a turkey.

“Bet that was nice,” Danny said.

“Yeah, it was. I cooked it on the grill, best meal we’ve had in a while.”

“We haven’t seen any turkeys yet. I’d like to, though,” I said.

“I’d like to see more of ’em myself. I’ll fight you for it,” he said with a chuckle.

“How are you fixed for ammo?” Danny asked.

“Been doing most of my hunting with my .22, trying to save the shotgun and rifle ammo. I still got a couple hundred .22s and a couple boxes of birdshot, some turkey loads and slugs and buck.”

“If you get to where you need some, come by. Ammo is something we’ve got,” I said.

Chase smiled. “I figured you for the type to hoard ammo.” He nodded at the carbine slung across my chest.

After talking a little longer, we said our good-byes and got back in the buggy. Everyone wanted to ride a bit longer. They weren’t ready to go home yet. I told them we could for a little while and we continued on the road away from the camp. There were several houses in the area, though none of them seemed occupied. All the homes showed the lack of human attention, leaves piled up all over the yards and roofs, lawns composed almost solely of weeds. The dirt road met a paved road at the transfer station in Paisley. As we passed the site, Danny suggested we ride over to Clear Lake Campground. As soon as he suggested it, there was no getting out of it, as it was met by cheers from all the girls.

We rolled down Highway 42 at a good clip. The ride was so smooth that I was soon going seventy without even realizing it. Just as I started to slow down, the sign for the campground came into view.

The campground was much like I remembered it, just with an air of neglect about it. The small shack at the entry was actually lying on its side. All the windows had been knocked out and shards of glass littered the ground. I stopped beside it.

“You think it’s a good idea to be here?” I asked as I looked at the broken glass.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look like there has been anyone through here in a long time,” Danny said.

“Let’s ride through, just check it out,” Bobbie said.

We drove past the gate and down the narrow paved track that was now covered in leaves and other natural debris. The namesake for the park, Clear Lake, sat on the west side of the campground. On our way there, Bobbie suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

I slammed on the brakes, looking for whatever she saw. Bobbie was pointing to a small building.

“A bathroom!”

Bobbie’s idea was immediately seized on by the rest of the girls, so I pulled up to it and everyone got out.

Danny and I cleared it, then waited by the buggy.

“Wonder how the fishing is in the lake now?” Danny asked as he leaned over the front end of the buggy.

“You’d think it’d be better with fewer people around now,” I replied.

A breeze picked up, blowing through the trees and dropping even more leaves down on us. It carried with it the very familiar smell of woodsmoke.

“You smell that?” I asked.

Danny stood up and looked around. “Yeah, I do. Wonder where it’s coming from.”

We looked around for the source, but couldn’t get a visual on anything or anyone.

“Someone’s out here,” I said.

“Yeah, let’s keep our eyes open.”

“You still want to go through or do you want to leave?” I asked.

“Naw, I don’t want to leave yet. Let’s just see who’s here.”

When all the girls finished using the facilities, we loaded up. I told them about the smoke and asked them to keep their eyes peeled.

“I can smell it too,” Taylor said as she adjusted the sling on her H&K. She had the slightest bit of worry on her face.

I pulled back out onto the road and continued to follow the loop around toward the lake. I was driving slowly, not wanting to run into an ambush, which was a strange thought in itself. A few months ago I would never consider an ambush a potential road hazard, but that was the reality in this new life.

“There! There,” Mel said, pointing to a campsite just beyond the woods.

I stopped the buggy and Danny and I got out to look the camp over. There were two tents as well as a lean-to-style structure that appeared to be used for cooking. It was then that Danny noticed four people down at the lake—a man, a woman, and two children, from the looks of it.

“Let’s go say hi,” Danny said.

“I don’t want to get shot. You and me coming up to them like this through the woods isn’t going to look very friendly. Why don’t you get Bobbie and you two walk out and call to them? I’ll cover you from over here,” I replied.

“They’ve got kids. I don’t think they’re a threat.”

“Yeah, well, better safe than sorry.”

“All right, all right, let me get her,” Danny said.

Danny and Bobbie walked out through the campsite while I took up a position where I could cover them but hopefully not be seen. They held hands as they walked. Danny had his carbine slung behind his back to look less threatening. When they got to the edge of the campsite, Danny called out, “Hello!” and waved.

The people at the water’s edge immediately looked up. The woman grabbed the two kids and pulled them behind her, while the man moved to pick up a rifle leaning against a chair. I raised my carbine and drew a bead on him. If he shouldered it, I would have to shoot him, not something I wanted to do in front of his kids.

“Can we come down?” Bobbie called out.

The two exchanged words for a moment, then the man said something I couldn’t hear. Danny and Bobbie started walking toward them as the man walked to meet them, still clutching his rifle. They stopped a short distance from each other and talked, Danny gesturing toward the campsite. After another minute of talking, the man called to the woman and motioned for her to meet them. Holding the kids’ hands, she cautiously made her way toward Danny and Bobbie.

When I saw Danny and Bobbie start back up toward the camp, I headed over toward the buggy.

“What’s going on?” Mel asked.

“I think they’re coming up here.”

“Is everything going to be all right?” Little Bit asked.

“I think so, don’t worry,” I said to her as I rubbed her head. She smiled but didn’t really look like she believed it.

Danny and Bobbie came up. “Are they friendly? What are they doing?” I asked.

“They’re coming up to meet everyone.”

“What’d he say?” I asked.

“Not much, just that we scared the hell out of him.”