A
day earlier
, Billy had returned with three others to see if Keith Landers was still with the vehicle. He had fled, taken it with him. It was to be expected. It would only get worse over the coming months as more and more people became desperate.
We moved out late that afternoon, most on foot while ten went on horse. Instead of approaching Stockdale using the same route we had before, we curved around the back part of Kaniksu National Forest. It would add an extra twenty minutes on our time but Hank was certain that the Commander would be on high alert now that several of his men had been killed. He believed there would be a group of them waiting in the town, expecting trouble. That’s why we aimed to cut off the convoy of trucks before they reached Stockdale.
We crossed over Lightning Creek and made our way to NF419 and worked our way south to where the road intersected with NF275. Hank was sure that was the path they were going to take. It was the only way into Stockdale from the south.
When we reached the tree line we could see different vehicles that had been forced off the highway to make room for the trucks. Bodies in various states of decay lay on the ground. We took up position on either side of the road. The horses were tied up deep in the forest. In the event that soldiers opened fire we had geared up with tactical vests taken from soldiers. Only those that would approach the trucks wore them.
In preparation for their arrival we had shifted two cars into neutral and rolled them up into the middle of the road to force them to slow down. One more was shifted in between them just in case they attempted to ram it.
“We don’t need much time. Once they have slowed, our crew will move into position and if they have any sense they won’t fight back.”
“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” I looked at Hank. “Earlier, what was Abigail going on about?”
It took a moment for him to reply. “When we first escaped there were forty of us. Once we learned that they had trucks full of weapons, we wanted to get in there fast and get them without giving much thought to how. All of us were pumped up with emotion, anger. I wasn’t thinking right and we lost ten of our people that day and never got the weapons.”
“Great, that’s reassuring. So what makes you think you will get them this time?” Corey asked.
“There are fewer of them in those trucks than in the town of Hayden. We can control a situation like this.”
“Then why didn’t you control it before?”
“We were caught off guard. There were twenty men in the back of one of the trucks.”
My eyes widened. “And you never thought to tell us that might happen again?”
He glanced at me.
“Do the others know what happened?” Corey asked.
“No one else was there that day. Just fifteen of us. Myself, Abigail, Peter, Isabel and Reynolds made it back, the others died.”
“You should have told them.”
“If I do that, we won’t get those weapons and we need them.”
“But Hank…”
“I know. I know. Listen, we don’t know if the trucks will have soldiers in there but that’s a risk we have to take.”
Corey and Billy looked over at me. All three of us realized that this wasn’t a plan. It was a potential suicide mission. We were winging it here. We were the only ones with assault rifles. If this went bad, chances were we weren’t going to make it out. Hank kept glancing at his watch and looking over through his binoculars to a man who was further down the road.
“Anything?” Billy asked.
“Are you sure this is the only route?”
“There is one road into Hayden and Stockdale. If you go north on this road, it curves around, at the corner is Stockdale. Keep going and eventually that road comes to an end in the forest. That’s where Hayden is. They have no other way of getting there unless they come over the mountains, or cut through the forest.”
It was a nervous fifty minutes of waiting. People around me checked their ammo multiple times and made sure their rifles were ready. Hank yelled at one guy for testing his to make sure it was operational.
“So how’s this going down?”
“When the trucks get close, a couple of our best shooters will take out the wheels. We will take out this side and then move in on them.”
A deep sun burned between the trees and heat waves moved on the road. Though all of us were hot, thirsty and tired, no one put their gun down to take a drink of water. Everyone wanted to be ready for what was coming. A guy beside me twitched and I could hear him muttering to himself. Was that the first sign of losing your mind? If it was then I was beginning to unravel as the conversation in my head was telling me that this was bad. What if it went wrong? What if the trucks weren’t filled with guns but soldiers?
T
he rumble
of three aging trucks shook the ground. They were now within close proximity to the blockade. Hank had told everyone not to move until they came to a halt. The problem was they weren’t slowing down. No doubt the Commander had told them about the resistance in the woods. I heard a gear shift as the first truck barreled down towards the blockade of three cars positioned across the road. There was a slim chance they could make it through. Hank whistled his signal to take out the tires. It was the last resort if they didn’t slow.
Reynolds was on the other side of the road and their best marksman. He moved up the ditch into position behind one of the three vehicles, laid his Winchester across the hood and took the shot. The round hit but the truck didn’t stop or swerve. He fired again. This time it hit the engine. Steam came pouring out. Hitting the driver was considered the last resort. While they were willing to kill if need be, Hank wanted to avoid any unnecessary killing.
“They’re not slowing down,” Corey hollered moving into position and taking a shot at the vehicle before it was level with us. Contrary to what Hank had said, Corey didn’t aim for the tires, he focused on the driver. Two shots, the front screen shattered and then the truck served sharply and soared off the side of the road into the ditch. The explosion would have been heard for miles. Whatever they were carrying in the back of that truck caught on fire and then exploded. Bullets ricocheted in every direction possible. All of us hit the ground.
The second truck slammed its brakes and tried reversing but it was too late. Hank’s men on either side of the road rushed it, firing as many bullets at the cab as possible. By the time they stopped it was riddled with holes and the driver and two passengers were dead.
They didn’t wait to check the contents, they moved towards the third truck that had come to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road. The door opened and the soldiers jumped out and lay prone on the ground with their arms stretched out to their side. They weren’t fools. After what they just witnessed they knew that it would have been suicide to attempt to turn that truck around. They would have had to perform at least a four-point turn on a road that narrow and by then women and men on either side would have taken them.
I raced behind Hank towards the trucks with my AR leveled and sweeping for further trouble. Two trucks were still in working order. The other one was so badly damaged by the fire there was no way in hell they were going to be able to salvage whatever was in the back.
“Reynolds, take this one back to the turnoff two miles down and circle around to Old Wake Road. There is a trail that will take you up into the forest. Get that thing off the road before the Commander’s men show up.”
We all knew we had a short amount of time before they showed their faces. Hank had been in the town when they received the first load of trucks and he had seen them acting antsy when it was late.
“They nearly sent out a crew to go find them. If they don’t arrive on time they will be on this road searching.”
“What about the truck in the ditch?”
“Nothing we can do about that. Either way they are going to know that we took their supplies.” He then shouted to Abigail. “What’s inside?”
She went around the back of the second truck and took a look. “Weapons, food, clothes and ammo.”
“And the third?”
Reynolds shouted back. “All weapons. AK45s, AR-15s.”
“Jackpot.”
The morale was high. This had been the first good bit of news they had got since escaping the town. Everything was handled fast. Hank told the others to take the horses back to camp, they would catch up by truck.
Hank jumped in the second truck with Abigail and told me to go with Reynolds in the third along with Corey and Billy.
“We’ll meet you back at camp. Good works, guys.”
Everyone was high-fiving each other as though their team had just won the Stanley Cup. My eyes scanned the forest. There was something about it that didn’t feel right. I raced over to the third vehicle and hopped in. Billy and Corey rode in the back so they could keep an eye on any vehicles that might come up the rear. Reynolds was fiddling with his rifle as Hank and Abigail drove by. They waved and sped off into the distance. By the time we left there, everyone was gone. All that remained was a truck on fire in the ditch and black smoke going up into the sky. Without a doubt, the folks over in Hayden or Stockdale would see it.
“What’s taking you so long?” I asked Reynolds.
“You think I’m getting back on that road with a jammed gun?”
“Are you expecting others?” Corey asked.
“We’re always expecting them. The moment you drop your guard it’s time to —”
No sooner had he said that than a round was heard. Reynolds collapsed on the ground. I jumped out of the truck on his side to check if he was still alive. Corey was already up from the back and in the front.
“He’s dead,” I yelled. My eyes scanned the area but I couldn’t see where the shot came from. There were no vehicles in sight.
“Get in,” Corey yelled.
Another crack rang out, followed by about four more in rapid succession. Two of the bullets cracked the windshield. I jumped up just as Corey hit the gas pedal.
“Keep your eyes open, Billy,” I yelled looking around as another bullet took the wing mirror off.
“Great, why the hell am I in the back?”
Billy ducked down hoping that he wouldn’t get his head blown off.
Neither one of us replied. Corey pushed the pedal on that truck to the floor and gunned the engine. As we got further away the gunfire ceased. We figured the Commander had sent a team in by horse to watch over the transportation. Stockdale was only five minutes down the road. They would have heard the initial gunshots and then seen the black smoke rising. They had to have double-timed it down to our position.
Reynolds.
I couldn’t believe he was gone. One second he was alive, the next dead. Everything happened fast. In this new world, no mercy was given to anyone.
“Billy, what have we got back there?”
“Not a lot. A few cases of weapons, probably enough to arm about thirty people.”
“It will have to do.”
Corey looked anxious, he scanned the mirrors. As there were no vehicles in sight we assumed no one was following. No horse would have been able to keep up unless they cut through the forest. Anyone who was familiar with the area would know that there was only one way back into the forest. Hank knew about it. The question was, did the Commander’s men know?
When we made it to the turnoff that brought us around the forest to Old Wake Road, we were hoping to catch up with Hank but Reynolds had spent so much time with his weapon that they were long gone.
Corey looked over to me. “It wasn’t our fault, you know. Had he got in, he might have been alive now.”
I nodded. As we got closer to Old Wake Road, Corey began squinting. I followed his gaze and saw that further down the road were about eight horses in a line. On top, soldiers aiming AR’s at us. Corey slammed the brakes on. We must have been at least seventy yards from them.
“I’m going to ram them.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
It wouldn’t have taken much to riddle the truck’s cab with bullets and bring it to a halt. We had seen it happen with the first truck. No one survived that and they had been shooting at it with a Winchester rifle. These soldiers had AR’s.
“Billy, get out the back and head into the forest on your right, take an extra weapon.”
“We need these weapons, Sam.”
“You want to live?”
Corey was conflicted. Billy hadn’t done anything because Corey kept revving the engine.
“Leave it. They’ll take the weapons and if we are lucky, they won’t follow us through the woods on the south side. It’s too thick for a horse to get through.”
“There’s eight of them, three of us. You think we can take ’em?” Billy asked leaning forward. One of the men on horseback started to head towards us slowly. The others hung back. As he got closer he raised his hands in the air.
“We don’t want to harm you. We just want to talk.”
Corey revved the engine again.
“What about backing up?”
The truck was too bulky to be able to turn it in time. They would have caught up and taken all three of us out.
“I say we bail now and take our chances in the forest.”
“And if they follow?”
“They won’t. At least not all of them will. They need that truck. They have already taken a loss.”
The soldier on the horse came to a standstill forty yards from us. He looked back at his men and gave them a gesture as if to tell them to wait. Corey revved the engine a third time.
“Don’t do it.”
I looked back at Billy. He was at the rear lip of the truck getting ready. Just waiting for us to give him the go-ahead and he would bounce.
“Okay. You’re right, let’s just dump the truck and go.”
“Yeah,” I said opening the door and getting ready for Corey to come. He shifted over in his seat, leaving the truck running.
“Go!” I yelled to Billy and I dropped out and made a mad dash for the tree line. I turned back momentarily to see Corey slam the door shut.
“Corey!”
I tried to run back but rounds were being fired in our direction. Earth near my feet spat up as bullets tore into the ground. Corey gave one final glance in my direction then gunned the engine and began accelerating fast. I fired off a few rounds at those on horses in the hope that it would force them to get out of the way or at least prevent them from shooting up the cab. Everything happened so fast.
“Sam, let’s go.”
I looked towards the truck as bullets riddled it. I couldn’t wait any longer, as there were already two men on horses racing up to where we had ducked into the forest. Billy and I sprinted into the darkness. It was so thick in parts that our faces were cut by the gnarled branches. If they were following us we didn’t know, as we didn’t look back.
When we had put some distance between them and us, we stopped running so we could catch our breath. The forest was almost silent except for the sound of small critters and a stream in the distance. I let out deep lungful of air and tried desperately to catch my breath. My side was hurting. I hadn’t even stopped to think if a bullet had hit me. My arm was still in pain from the graze I got back at camp.
“What an idiot,” Billy repeated while pacing back and forth and looking in the direction that we had just come. “He’s as stubborn as a mule.”
“I just hope he made it. Come on, we need to keep moving.”
There was no way to know if they would follow us but my gut instinct told me they wouldn’t waste their time. They were there for the truck, nothing else. It was hard to tell where we were. Dan had taught us to use the sun for direction. My best guess was that we were traveling south. The camp was north.
“We’re going to have to turn back around but further downstream.”
“Maybe we should stay here for the night,” Billy said. “They could be searching the forest north of the highway. If we stay south, chances are they won’t be there in the early hours of the morning. We can head back then.”
We threaded our way around the tall green pines until we made it to the stream. Both of us fell to our knees and sank our heads under the cold water. I couldn’t get enough of it in my mouth. I was gasping. We didn’t stop to think about fallout. Six months and this far north, Dan had said that we would be fine. Besides, we had nothing to filter it. Thirst had taken over.
As I looked up I saw a rabbit staring. It moved a few feet then looked back before disappearing down a hole.
Once we had taken a moment we followed the river downstream for another half hour, focusing on the setting sun between the trees. It would be dark soon. If we didn’t find a way out, we would be stuck out here with whatever animals prowled the forest.
“Dude, I can’t go another inch, my legs are killing me.”
Billy slumped down beside a tree trunk and checked the magazine he had.
“Didn’t you grab another gun?”
“Are you kidding?”
I shook my head. There was no point getting into it with him. He would just argue until the cows came home. I began looking for branches and anything we could use to build a makeshift tent.
“We camping?”
“We are going to hunker down for now but only for a couple of hours. Once early morning is here we are heading north across that highway.”
“And if they are still there?”
“They won’t be.” I said it, but truthfully, I couldn’t know for sure.
Every sound in the forest made me nervous. If these men were trained soldiers, they would have learned how to move undetected, or at least approach us and stop within a range where they could take a shot.
The rumble of thunder in the distance and dark clouds hovering in the sky didn’t help.
“We are going to get soaked. You want to give me a hand?”
Billy hauled himself up and together we gathered as many large and smaller branches as we could find to build us a cover in a thick part of the forest. The goal was to nestle ourselves in an area where there was a lot of brush in the hope that we wouldn’t be detected. All I wanted was to keep the rain off our heads for a short while. What a futile goal that was. Within five minutes the rain poured down and we were soaked.
Underneath our small wooden A-frame covered in tree debris, we shivered and hugged our knees trying to stay warm.
“This reminds me of this one time my old man took me camping,” Billy said without even looking at me. “He had this big thing planned where we would head up into Flathead National Forest. It was meant to be like three nights. We lasted one.” He laughed. “The heavens opened up and turned the earth into water. You should have seen the look on his face. It was priceless.”
“You stayed there?”
“Hell no. We barely managed to get the truck out. Our tent got washed away. We were covered in mud. When we reached home my mother just laughed. My father didn’t find it funny.” Billy scoffed. “You know how long I tried to get him to take me camping?”
I shrugged.