The Last Gallon (7 page)

The girls sped out of the quarry and soon there was another truck giving chase. Sissy, Miko, and Greta poured enough lead in their direction to make them realize they could just make more booze. You can’t shine from the grave, but you can live another day! The truck screeched to a halt and the girls had a non-eventful drive home.

The commander allowed the girls to have a little bit of a party that night. They had captured 150 gallons of 100+ proof moonshine. It wasn’t much considering their population but it wasn’t a democracy either so most of them would never see another drop. Kara enjoyed the buzz and she really didn’t hate her company either. She realized that everyone was just out there trying to survive. These scummy gangs were probably a mix of every walk of life back in the day.
Situations make people into strange interpretations of what they thought they were. A pseudo-military quasi-lesbian school girl gang wasn’t such a farfetched idea in a world like this. Kara realized she was drunk and decided to hit the sack; she needed to find Cindy and get the hell out of here before she ended up with Stockholm syndrome.

The next morning the routine began again except Kara was now on the assignments sheet instead of being called out. She staggered over to the list and saw she was on cattle feeding detail. Part of her was happy; going on patrol with this raging headache would be difficult. On the other hand, shovelling cow shit would probably be a disaster too.

She was pointed over to a woman who wore a cowboy hat along with her school girl outfit for directions on how to proceed. The woman, who introduced herself as
Gigi explained the process. “You just go in the stables, fill up the feed, and clean up the stalls. Sometimes you gotta hose ‘em off as they will roll around in their own shit. Dirty animals they are.” Kara nodded and proceeded to the stable to get her long, stinky day started. As she walked away Gigi yelled out “You packin’?” Kara got a puzzled look on her face as she tapped at her back indicating she was. Gigi smiled and said “Good, sometime’s they’ll try to kill ya.” Kara couldn’t figure that one out but she let it go.

Upon entering the stable everything became very clear. The cattle were people. Young women to be exact. A wave of nausea struck Kara and she
leaned over a bail to relieve herself of breakfast. That sausage, that goddamned yummy sausage was girl? Oh Jesus. Kara’s head spun and she took a seat on a hay bale to try to regain her composure. She was thankful to be alone, well alone in the sense that her “fellow” cannibals did not see her reaction.

Kara gathered a bucket of feed and pretended to do her job while she looked for Cindy. “God I hope I didn’t eat
you child” she said to herself. The stables had dates on them. The first one was tomorrow’s date. The girl in the stable was fairly chunky. She sat on the hay ground with the saddest look Kara had ever seen on her face. She was chained by the ankle and had enough room to roam and “graze” a bit. The inhumanity of the whole thing just made her want to cry. It made her want to run away and forget she ever saw such a place. She thought about eating her pistol for a split second. “NO” she said too loud and it startled the girl who scurried back into the corner of her stall. Kara blushed and moved on, she had to find Cindy.

Each stall presented a girl that was a little less chunky than the last. Kara realized that these girls were being grain fed to bulk them up but also to clean them out. She recalled a story from an uncle who used to trap feral pigs. He would feed them corn and such to get all the bitter berries and
nuts out of their systems. He would then slaughter them and claimed they tasted just like pig from a store.

The damn school girls were doing the same thing with teen girls. They appeared to range in age from 14 to about 19 or 20. All of them were built like Cindy, not overly bodacious or curvy but not little
twigglets either. They were getting fattened up for the slaughter so they could eat them for breakfast. Breakfast! Kara vomited into one of the girl’s feed troughs. “I am so sorry” she said as she blushed. “Don’t you worry” she backed it up with, trying to reassure the girl without alerting her to the fact that she was going to get freed soon.

A dozen stalls in she found Cindy. Sweet Cindy, poor Cindy. She lay naked in her hay with her back to Kara. She recoiled when she saw that the girl had been branded on the butt. She fought off tears and rage and composed herself so she would appear strong for the girl. “Cindy” she whispered. Cindy just whimpered. “Cindy, it’s Kara” and with that Cindy rolled over and sat up. She had a look of disbelief and then a look of relief and excitement when she recognized Kara. “Holy shit Kara! Oh thank you Kara thank you!” Cindy whimpered. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around her. “We’re
gonna get the hell out of here” she told Cindy, “let me see if I can find the keys.” Cindy shook her head no, “That bitch Gigi is the only one with the keys” she said while choking down a tear.

Kara scoured the building for a set of pliers or anything that could break the chain and had absolutely no luck. She did find a short handled scythe while scouring the tool-shed and formulated a plan. Kara opened one of the barn doors and gestured to
Gigi. “Gigi, can you help me please?” she cried out doing her best to sound like a stupid little city slicker. It apparently worked, Gigi dropped her shovel with a huff and bounded off towards the stable.

Kara stepped to the side so
Gigi would hide her with the door when she walked in. When Gigi entered and shut the door behind her Kara lashed out with the scythe and sliced Gigi’s neck all the way to the spine. Her head tilted back to show a tortured grin as the body fell backwards and into Kara. Kara stumbled under the weight and fell onto the barn floor. Kara pushed her off as fast as she could but was still covered in Gigi’s blood. On Gigi’s gunbelt she found the key ring with the keys for the captive girls. She also relieved Gigi of her .45 so Cindy could have a gun. As she unlocked them she demanded they gather in the middle of the barn and not move. She told them she would shoot them dead if they did anything stupid. She wasn’t sure if they would comply, they had to be insane and the longer they were in captivity the worse off they would be.

When everyone was free
she told Cindy what the plan was. All the freed girls were going to burst out of the barn through the door Gigi came through, Cindy and her were going to go out the back door and Kara would pop her flare to alert Mark. Hopefully he was watching. She prayed that he was watching.

Kara fired her gun into the air and sent the girls into a frenzy to get out the front door. She and Cindy went out the back and Kara pulled the flare pistol out of her boot and shot it into the air. Cindy was already firing at a girl who had spotted her and was about to yell out in alarm. The camp was starting to realize something was wrong and the alarm started to sound.

Joey had guard duty when he saw the flare pop. He wasn’t completely sure it was his mother until he heard the pop of gunshots along with the visual of the flare. “Yup, that’s mom” he said out loud followed by “Dad, get up, mom’s ready!”

Mark leaped out of his sleeping bag and sprang into action. It had been a boring, gut wrenching time waiting for Kara to signal for them. He was relieved to hear that it was time to go; being cooped up in an empty house was not his idea of a good time.

Joey had the tarp off the Armadillo before Mark even got to the door. They hopped in and Joey immediately popped the turret open, they were surely going to need it. Mark put the car in gear and kicked up a cloud of dirt as he zoomed out from their makeshift cover. With the car in full ride height mode he slammed it over the curbs and toward the gate.

The girls at the gate didn’t even have time to react to the matte black car that appeared out of nowhere. They
dove to the side as it blasted through the gate and into the compound. Joey did a double take when he realized the street was filling with naked women of various shape and size. Behind them were school girl gang members firing recklessly into the crowd of women but also searching for the cause of the commotion. Joey took shots when he could get a clean one, the naked girls seemed to be everywhere and causing one hell of a good distraction. He smiled and thought to himself what a hell of a woman his mom was. He also thought about Cindy and hoped mom had been able to save her. His question was quickly answered when he caught a glimpse of his mother with another naked girl further up the road.

“Dad, Mom at 2 o’clock!” Joey shouted from above the roof-line. Mark glanced to his right and saw them, Cindy and Kara engaged in a gun fight with an unseen enemy behind the large building
that housed the prisoners. Mark stepped on it, dodging the wild naked women that seemed to run around without direction and materialize out of nowhere. As he went by the girls seemed to want to gravitate in his direction. Joey waved them forward.

Kara spotted Mark barrelling up the road and nudged Cindy who turned and got a huge grin on her face when she saw Joey on the SAW. They both smiled when they saw the squad that was closing in on them
get pinned down by his suppressive fire.

Mark jumped the curb and slid the car into position between the girls and their attackers. Joey lit the barn up with a couple blasts from the SAW to keep the school girls under cover while Kara and Cindy got in the car. With their precious cargo secured Mark started to put the car in reverse but quickly saw that the released prisoners and the entire school girl army was gaining on them fast.

“Hang on ladies & gents, we’re gonna punch through that fence” Mark announced and aimed the car towards their exit. He floored the pedal and the car gave every bit of its power to getting them out. The car exploded through the wood and chain-link fence and their freedom was ensured. Mark didn’t just keep going though; he slid the car to a stop so Joey, Kara, and Cindy could open fire with the full force of their arsenal on the pursuing army.

Captives poured out the gate and around the car. Once they were clear the family let go with their weapons. The firepower was enough to stop the advance of the girls and force them to take cover. They expended several hundred rounds until they were certain most of the captives had disappeared into
night. Mark left a mushroom cloud of dust in his wake as he launched the Armadillo out of Havre de Grace for good.

Kara turned around and faced Joey. “Hi son” she said with a smile. “Hey mom, good to have you back” he replied. “I see you have another naked girl with you in the back seat, quite the stud you have become” she said while giving him a wink. Joey turned a deep red from embarrassment and Cindy leaned over and put her hand on his arm. “Joey honey, tell me about these other women” she joked. That shade of red got a bit deeper as everyone laughed.

“To DC?” Mark asked. Kara replied “I didn’t think I would ever say this, but yes, let’s go to DC.” Mark headed up 155 towards I-95 so the family could make the best time as possible on the interstate. Kara looked at Mark with her best puppy-dog eyes and said “Please don’t ever give me sausage again, I don’t think I can handle it.” Mark didn’t understand why but he laughed nervously and agreed with her. He had no idea the horrors she had discovered back at the compound and probably never would unless she told him.

They discussed their addictions and both realized that besides some occasional cravings they were both pretty much over it. The adventure and need for quick thinking prevented being messed up so in many ways this journey was beneficial for the souls and their minds. Joey still enjoyed his coffee but they all agreed that wasn’t such a horrible addiction.

The family made good time on their way to DC. If they couldn’t avoid trouble they just tried to barrel through it. On the way they discussed how they would handle the Cindy situation but nobody could really come up with a plan that would work. Joey suggested abducting another girl and delivering her but they all protested that they couldn’t, in clear conscience, submit someone else to whatever depravity Cindy was fated to receive.

Mark finally just told everyone that he would wing it, he would report to the woman who was supposed to be getting Cindy and just tell her that she had been killed after being abducted by the school girls. He would see what happened from there, hopefully it wouldn’t involve execution. Kara reminded him to bring his Sig just in case he needed it.

The
Mechacorp HQ for DC was Boling Air Force Base. It was across the river from the main city and just inside the first perimeter wall that used 295 as its border. Entry was easy with the provided passes but would require a full armor brigade without one. Mark was surprised to see so much military equipment on-hand, most of the weapons used were small arms these days. Seeing a tank up close and personal really gives one pause, especially when the turret had been tracking them since they came into sight.

The guard told Mark to head to the building just south of the running track and pointed him in the right direction. When they arrived Mark was surprised as the building looked kind of decrepit, not the usual opulent setting the officials of the company liked to surround themselves with.

It was pretty clear right away that this exchange was not a normal one and maybe not even an authorized company transaction. The man he met wore sunglasses, a hooded sweatshirt and a bandana over his mouth so there was almost no facial feature identifiable. He had 6 men with suppressed MP5ks flanking him and two at the door who frisked Mark and relieved him of his 220.

“Quite the welcome wagon you’ve rolled out here” Mark nervously said, trying to lighten the mood. “The case” the man demanded and sent one of his goons forward to retrieve it. Mark had to wonder if he was just getting robbed, not making the drop at all. He wondered if there was some company official standing on steps outside of a building somewhere in the city like had happened on all the other exchanges. All it would take is one guard in on the heist. Shit.

The goon took the case and carried it over to his master. The man inspected the case and asked, quite bluntly, “Did you open this?” Mark immediately answered no and asked how would he even do that without the code? The man nodded in agreement and set the case on a table that was to his side. He entered the code and popped the case open. Even the goons gasped when they saw the quantity of diamonds contained within. Mark could sense the man’s excitement even with all the concealment.

“Sid, grab the case” he ordered as he turned back to Mark. “Bring this case to Atlanta” he instructed, adding “no fucking around either, get there as fast as you can, no stopping, no side trips, and no backyard barbeques with the local bandits. Get to the city and make the drop.” Mark nodded and held out his hand for the case. “I’ll be going as soon as you hand it and my weapon over” he said boldly as if telling the man to stop wasting his time with the rambling.

The goon brought the case over and set it at Mark’s feet along with the envelope containing the cash and supplies for the journey. The door goon unchambered Mark’s 220 and set it on the ground by the door. Mark picked up the packages and walked backwards so he didn’t have to turn on the crew. “One more thing” the man said. Mark stopped and raised his eyebrow in question. “The girl” he continued “do you have the girl?” Mark gulped and contemplated his answer for a second. “Take her ass to Atlanta too, her owner is down there on an extended....vacation.” Mark exhaled in relief and said “Will do boss” as he backed to the door, picked up his gun, chambered a new round and kicked the door open with his heel in one swift move. The goons brought their muzzles to bear on him as he backed out the door but the man waved them off.

Mark pulled out the vials of drugs and chucked them in the bush just outside the building.
Back in the relative safety of the Armadillo Mark heaved a sigh of relief. “Well,” he explained to the family, “we bought at least a couple days. Cindy is supposed to go to Atlanta with the package.” Everyone rejoiced, it would be much easier to plan their next move with a little bit of room to breathe. “Kara, as soon as we are clear of this place start working the code, it’s a 6 number combo so it will be a bitch to decode.” Kara smiled and put her hand on Mark’s knee. “Mark honey, I’ll have this open before you figure out which direction to go for Atlanta.” Mark laughed and leaned over to give her a kiss. She was a hell of a woman and proved it to him every day. He hoped that she felt the same about him, especially after what he had accidentally done to his family.

“Hey look, a depot” Joey announced as they pulled out of the parking lot. He was pointing to
the left, across the street. Mark looked over at Kara who was nodding yes to pull in “Ok, you might have bought yourself a moment to pull out a map” she joked.

The attendant at the depot pointed Mark to the gas pumps right away. Mark asked for the
armory as well and the guy told him “Just go inside and place your order, if its on-hand it will be in your hands by the time I am done filling your tank.” Mark thanked him and the family disembarked to load up while the car was being filled. Kara took the briefcase with her. Mark told Joey and Cindy to act as if she was being contained. Joey kept a tight grip on her arm as if to prevent her from running away.

Inside the depot looked like a gun shop in pre 2013 America. Better yet, it looked like a gun shop in an 80s action movie since it featured full auto weapons and anti-personnel and tank missiles.
“Woah” Joey said as his jaw dropped looking at all the gear. Mark went over to the pistol counter and immediately asked for a Beretta Cheetah with suppressor. The guy behind the counter nodded and pulled a beautiful example out from behind the case. He checked the weapon clear and handed it to Mark. “I’ve only got one mag for it” the guy informed him. Mark answered “Shouldn’t be a problem, I’ll take it” The guy produced 3 boxes of ammo and slid them over the counter to Mark.

Kara was fondling an AR pistol that was modified to fire the 22TCM round that her pistol shot. It had a one point sling and Mark knew she had a new toy immediately. He smiled and patted her butt as he walked by. She smartly asked if they could fix a permanent stock to it as she didn’t need to worry about the NFA regulations of old. The gunsmith took the gun from her and headed to the back room with it.

Mark grabbed some knives and some more rations and was about to call it quits when Joey tapped him on the shoulder. “Dad” was all he could say while pointing to an odd looking weapon on the wall. “Dad, I gotta have that” was all he could say. Mark squinted his eyes and tried to figure out what the hell it was. “It’s an XM307 grenade launcher” the counter man informed him, knowing what he was looking at since Joey had grilled him on it earlier. Mark got a quizzical look on his face, he had never heard of the weapon. “It was scrapped but it was supposed to replace the 40mm grenade launchers and the .50cal machine guns. It is a full auto 25mm grenade launcher with a range of nearly 1.5 miles.” Mark’s interest was surely piqued and before he could ask the question the guy answered “We could replace your SAW but keep in mind you may never see another 25mm grenade after you leave this depot.” Mark thought about that point and asked “Pound for pound, how many can we carry if we pull the SAW?”  The guy laughed and answered “About none, the gun weighs 50lbs by itself and your SAW with 1000 rounds is close to that. But, these things will absolutely devastate just about anything you are going to encounter. Consider about a pound a round and decide how fat you want to be.”

Joey and Mark sat down and discussed the situation. They would be giving up sustainable firepower for devastating strike capability. It could end up hurting them down the road when they fired their last grenade, then the car would be strapped with a 50lb air brake. Joey told Mark that the gun could be converted to .50cal after they ran out of ammo. Finding it in the wild would be a little more possible. Finding a 25mm grenade would be like finding a unicorn, finding .50cal ammo would be like finding a horse dressed as a unicorn. “We could bust roadblocks before they even see us” Joey said as one of the many positives, “Also mom is going to have her TCM rifle, I will use her M4 from the turret if I need to fire for suppressive purposes.” His arguments were pretty valid so Mark finally relented. “Let’s get the car in the garage” he said.

About 2 hours later the car rolled out with its new toy installed. The family decided that 100 rounds would be adequate. They had a mix of the high explosive air-burst rounds and armor piercing rounds. The high tech grenades used microchips that were told by the targeting system the distance they were supposed to detonate at. All the shooter had to do was paint the target with a laser and fire and the gun would do the rest.

They offset the difference by ditching some non-essentials that they had not even touched since their original trip and dropping additional pistol ammo which had been pretty easy to find on the road anyways.

The gun-smith and Joey took off to an empty field and did some test firing with dummy rounds. About 20 minutes later Joey returned with a smile bigger than the time he saw Simone naked. Mark knew they had made the right choice after that.

Kara loaded out with 300 rounds of TCM ammo for her new full-auto short barrelled carbine. It didn’t quite have the punch of a .223 but with a 7” barrel its speed was damn-close. The guys at the
armory also had tungsten tipped 50gr ammo they had designed so it packed a pretty healthy wallop. The full-auto cycle speed was also obscene and could drain a full mag before the first case hit the ground. It would also stay on target because it had very little recoil. Kara was quite happy with her new toy and Mark knew that was all that mattered, practicality gets trumped by personal preference almost every time.

The team also grabbed a Mossberg 500 with some of the same steel slugs that had beaten the car’s
armor and Simone’s knee back in Boston. It was always a good idea to have a shotgun on hand and in all actuality it was for Cindy who had quietly requested it while everyone was shopping.

“Let’s hit the road guys” Mark said as everyone was gathering their things and putting them in their places. “We’ve got a long ride to Atlanta” he informed them and winked knowing damn well they should never step foot in that city if Kara could break the code. “Everyone buckled in?” he joked to which Joey and Cindy replied in unison with “Are we there yet?” Mark laughed and told them he would turn the car around if they didn’t shut up.