We are definitely getting out of here soon.
DAY(S) 86, 87, 88
Things have finally settled down enough for me to catch up with this journal.
First off, we are now 170 miles away from David Kester and his nut jobs and just north of a place called Redding. We all got out safe, although it was a little dicey for a while there. Our escape didn’t exactly go as planned, but I’ll get to that later.
It is scary being back out on our own. I think we all started to take the relative safety of the compound for granted, but it’s too late to go back now.
The morning after Grace’s party, everybody got back to business as usual. Roger Holtby and I decided to take the six new recruits out for a training mission outside the compound. We took four other veterans with us and drove south, away from where we knew the National Guard unit to be. We went to one of the remote farmhouses we had already cleared and foraged at (but didn’t tell the new guys we’d been there before).
We knew it would be a dry run, but I wanted to see how they’d do outside in the real world. There were still the bodies of the undead lying around from when we’d killed them before. The smell was horrid. We left one team on watch and cleared the farm with the second team. Seeing the undead carcasses kept everyone alert.
Danny Beckett was my partner. When we were away from everyone else he told me he wasn’t going back. I looked around to make sure no one could hear us and then asked him where he was planning on going. He seemed surprised that I didn’t object. I didn’t tell him of our plans, but instead just said that I understood how he felt.
He decided to take the codebook back to the Guard unit in exchange for joining back up with them. I didn’t offer any comment, but didn’t think much of his plan.
“Why don’t you just tell Kester you’re leaving?” I asked.
Danny laughed at me and told me I was stupid if I thought that Kester and Dietz would let anyone leave. He told me that several had tried but that Dietz put them in the kennels until they came to their senses.
When I asked him about the others that had left before, Danny told me that the only people who ever left were the ones that Kester banished. No one who could potentially benefit the community was ever allowed to leave.
I wanted to tell Danny that I didn’t believe him, but instinctively knew he was probably right. I told Danny that I would call the other team to the farm so that it would be easier for him to slip away in the confusion of more people.
We went back to our vehicle and I pulled the spare car battery and a can of gas out of the back and covered them up with some loose boards. There was an old Toyota in the barn that Danny could come back for after we left.
We brought in the other team and ran clearing drills for an hour. It was still early, but I wrapped it up and told everyone to load back into our two trucks. When I looked around I didn’t see Danny anywhere. I guess everyone assumed that he was in the other vehicle on our trip back.
When we got back to the compound I told everyone to go grab some food and meet back later to debrief. Roger Holtby looked at me funny, as this was a breach of protocol, but didn’t say anything to me.
I met with Jim and Albert and told them about what Danny had said. They looked as worried as I felt. I think it was then that I realized we weren’t going to be able to just slip out the back while everyone was at church.
I avoided going back to the clubhouse to debrief. Instead, I went to the armory and scrounged up an empty ammo can. I went to my Land Rover and retrieved some supplies that I had hoped I would be able to save. I asked Albert to build me a timer and went to the machine shop to rig the ammo can.
Remy was pretty curious as to what I was doing so I told him I was building something to take with us on our next foraging mission. He studied my work from over my shoulder and at one point said, “Huh, looks like you’re making some kind of bomb.”
I ignored him and finished up, thanking him for the use of his shop. I met with Alison, Albert, Jim, and Marion and told them we were leaving that night. I told Alison to go get Grace and Chloe and to keep them close. Albert, Jim, and Marion all went to the stables to keep an eye on our vehicles and make sure they were gassed up and ready.
I issued radios to everyone and told them when they got the call to bring the vehicles to the main house. I had one more thing to take care of before I put everything into motion.
At 4 p.m. I holstered my .44, strapped on my carry bag, and walked across the courtyard to the main building. I saw Roger Holtby and Dietz talking over by the Clubhouse. When they saw me they started walking toward me. They didn’t look happy. I managed to reach the house before them without looking like I was rushing. As I opened the front door I heard Dietz and Roger rushing up behind me.
“We need to talk to you, now!” Dietz demanded.
“Get in line.” I replied casually, and closed the door in their face.
I locked it behind me and mounted the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Hey, damn it!” I heard Dietz yell as he tried to open the locked door.
When I reached the top stair, I crossed the landing and walked into Kester’s office without knocking. He was sitting behind his desk reading. He looked up and smiled at me, asking what he could do for me. I stopped in front of his desk and stared at him for a second, trying to think of how I was going to start the conversation.
I heard feet rushing up the stairs so I just waited, knowing that I would be interrupted in a moment anyway. Sure enough, Holtby and Dietz burst into the room, angry and out of breath. Kester and I looked over at them, unimpressed. If anything, Kester seemed a little annoyed with them.
“This boy’s got some explaining to do about Danny Beckett.” Dietz exclaimed.
When nobody said anything, he continued. “He let the kid get clean away from us. I told you we should have taken that book when we had the chance.”
Kester considered this and looked at me.
“Do you know what Ron is talking about?” he asked. I nodded.
“Did you assist Danny Beckett in…?” he began. “Escaping?” I finished.
Kester looked down at his desk and smiled. He asked Roger Holtby to wait outside and, when he was gone, looked back up to me, all business.
“Danny had something that would have been very helpful to our continued survival. I would have liked to speak with him about it before he left.” Kester said carefully.
“Well, it really wasn’t any of my business. And I wasn’t aware that you were holding him hostage here. If that was the case, maybe you shouldn’t have let him join the foraging team.” I said.
Dietz started to protest, but Kester held up a hand to stop him.
I didn’t want to get sidetracked from why I had come to see Kester so I just bluntly said, “We’re leaving.”
The room went silent. I could see that I caught Kester off guard.
Dietz recovered first and said, “You can take your miserable, damn dog and go wherever the hell you want, but you ain’t taking anyone or anything else with you. And that’s a fact.”
I took a half step back and put my hand on the butt of my weapon, unsnapping the holster. Before anyone could make any other idiotic comments, I spoke first.
“Tell you what, Dietz. Why don’t you open your mouth again and give me an excuse. Just for the record, I may not be able to get both of you, especially since Kester’s got his hand on that shotgun taped under his desk, but I will get you first, and after that, it won’t really matter what happens, will it?”
I stared at Kester the whole time I spoke, but watched Dietz through my peripheral vision. I could see his hands move away from his sides cautiously. He didn’t want to die. I took a quick side step to the corner of Kester’s desk to get out of the way in case he fired, but Kester put his hands on the desk in plain sight. I guess the story about my gunfight with Karl Jackson had made an impression on them.
Dietz worked his jaw, trying to come up with something to say, but stopped when I glared at him. The room got deathly still. I could hear an old clock ticking away from somewhere across the room.
Kester broke the silence by saying, “I hope you can see this from our perspective. We’ve invested time and valuable resources in you and your friends. We’re going to have to come to some form of arrangement if you want to leave. Possibly you, Jim, and Marion could be permitted to leave, but we’ll need to talk about the terms.”
The way he said it sent a shiver down my spine. I had truly misjudged this guy. He was insane if he thought I would leave Albert, Alison, and Grace at his mercy.
I started getting the adrenaline shakes from both fear and anger.
In a low voice I said, “How about this. I’m going to take all my friends, including Grace, with me. We’re going to get in our vehicles loaded with our supplies, and we’re going to leave. And you’re not going to do anything about it. In turn, I’ll let you know where the insanely destructive bomb I planted is, and I’ll even tell you how to safely disengage the timer before it goes off and takes out half your compound and most of your supplies.”
“Does that sound pretty fair?” I finished. Kester and Dietz looked at each other. “There ain’t no damn bomb.” Dietz said.
I told him to get on the radio and ask Remy about it first before he said anything else stupid. Dietz got on his walkie and after a minute, got Remy on the radio. They went to a secure channel and Dietz asked Remy if he knew anything about a bomb.
I tried not to smile as good, old Remy told them about me making the “mother of all firecrackers”. From the way he described it, if the thing actually worked, I could probably blow a crater “the size of a WalMart” wherever the thing went off.
Dietz actually turned white as he listened. He signed off and looked at Kester helplessly.
“Just so we’re clear, nobody but me knows where the thing’s at, and it’s set to go off soon, so I wouldn’t dick around if I were you.” I said.
Kester contemplated the situation for a full minute while he stared at me. I stared back stoically. Inside, I was pretty nervous. My knees began to shake as the adrenaline surged through me. I clenched my jaw because my teeth were starting to chatter.
He finally nodded and rose from behind his desk. I told him to stay put and crossed the room to Dietz.
I disarmed the moron and cranked him into a wristlock, dropping him to his knees before he could protest. I rolled him down to his face and zip-tied his wrists behind his back. I zip-tied Dietz’ ankles and then zip- hog-tied his wrists to his ankles. I pulled a roll of duct tape from my carry bag and wrapped it around his head (several more times than I needed to) to cover his mouth.
Kester watched me disapprovingly, but didn’t try to stop me. When Kester asked me if that was necessary, I looked at him and raised my eyebrow. Kester looked at Dietz and thought about it, finally nodding.
I motioned Kester for the door and then stopped and looked back at Dietz. I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t help myself. I hauled back and kicked Dietz in the ribs as hard as I could. From under his tape gag, he let out a muffled yell. Tears streamed down his face.
“That’s for bad mouthing my dog, asshole.” I snarled.
I actually stopped shaking after I did it. As I led Kester down the stairs, I got on the radio and called Albert, telling him it was time to go. By the time Kester and I were halfway across the courtyard, I saw our vehicles pull up. I could see people looking over curiously. Several of them started toward us to see what was going on.
Alison opened the driver’s door to the Expedition and then crawled over the console to the passenger seat. I quickly got into the driver’s seat and closed the door, rolling down the window. A crowd started to gather. Roger Holtby walked up to Kester and asked him what was going on.
Kester ignored him and asked me, “Now what?”
I tossed him my radio and told him that once we got out safe and were sure we weren’t being followed, I’d call him.
“By the way,” I added. “I taped the ingredients and instructions on how to make the explosive on the side of the bomb. After you disarm it, you might want to build a few more to use as land mines against the guard unit that’s probably coming for you sooner or later.”
I looked at the crowd forming around us and started to get a little nervous. I saw Cody and felt a twinge of guilt. I cursed myself as I realized what I was about to do. Even as I turned to Kester, the little voice in my head begged me to shut up.
“One more thing, Cody’s coming with us.” I said.
I heard Grace squeak with delight from the back seat. Kester looked at me quizzically. I pointed to Cody and Kester looked at him, his eyebrows furrowing. He looked back at me and nodded. Cody’s eyes lit up and he raced for the vehicle. He jumped in the back and I tried to ignore the commotion he and Grace made.
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t want it to be this way between…” Kester began.
“Just make sure you radio ahead and let them know to open the front gate.” I interrupted.
I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, before someone decided to start something.
We got away without further incident. I waited until we were at the edge of radio range before I called Kester to tell him where I had planted the explosive. Alison was shocked that I hadn’t been bluffing.
We drove to the edge of Winters and pulled off the road until dark. At 9 p.m. we drove with the lights off through the town and past the now burnt-out service station and onto the 505 freeway north. We got through relatively unscathed, with the exception of hitting a few undead as they chased after our vehicles. We continued up the 505 and finally intersected with Interstate 5. We headed north up the 5 and pulled into a field under some trees just after midnight.
Yesterday we stayed under the cover of the trees and scanned the area for any signs of movement.
We all agreed to stay through the day and only travel at night until we were well away from the National Guard’s area of operations.
At one point I was watching Cody and Grace play quietly next to the Land Rover.