Defiance (The Defending Home Series Book 1) (22 page)

Read Defiance (The Defending Home Series Book 1) Online

Authors: William H. Weber

Tags: #EMP, #SURVIVAL FICTION, #post-apocalyptic

“Who’s he accused of murdering?” Walter yelled.

There was a pause.

“Dad,” Brooke said from the southern position. “Three men are in the backyard, digging up the vegetables.”

“This is Dale,” Dale shouted. “You tell me who I killed and I’ll consider coming out there.”

“My son and your own nephew,” the voice said. “Colton Baird.”

Dale’s shocked gaze shifted from Walter to the doorway where Colton was standing.

“Zach,” Dale yelled. “That you?”

“Who else would it be? Now get out here and face it like a man.”

Colton ran to the window and Dale had to hold him back.

“Dad,” Colton shouted. “It’s me, Colton.”

There was no response and Dale wasn’t surprised. He didn’t know why Zach thought he’d murdered his son, but he could just imagine how confused the former convict was at this very moment.

Colton ran downstairs before Dale could stop him. He sprang to his feet, but the kid was gone in a flash. By the time Dale made it to the garage, it was already open and Colton was outside.

“Hold your fire,” Dale yelled. “Colton’s coming out.”

Chapter 45

Zach

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Z
ach watched the boy running toward him and couldn’t help feeling as though he were seeing a younger version of himself. “Hold your fire, boys,” he ordered his men, his mind reeling. A swirling sandstorm of emotion was whipping around inside his head. If this truly was his son, now twenty-one years old, then why had Sheriff Gaines bothered lying to him?

Colton came within five feet and stood there, the two men studying each other.

“You got your old man’s good looks, kid,” Zach said.

Colton smiled. “I like your wheels.”

Zach made a quick glance behind him and grinned. “Come here and give your old man a hug.”

Colton did, Zach patting him firmly on the back afterwards and holding him at arm’s length. He wanted to get another look at him. Make sure this was real.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited,” Zach said. “What it took to get here.”

Colton looked around at the bikers around him, gruff and tattooed men with large arms and equally large bellies. “I knew you’d come. No one believed me, but I knew it.”

Zach ruffled his son’s hair and strapped his half helmet back on. He let out a loud whistle, recalling the bikers who had circled around the back of Dale’s house.

“Are you leaving?” Colton asked, worried. “You just got here.”

“That sheriff of yours is a real lying... piece of work,” Zach said, censoring himself in his son’s presence. “I got a feeling he was trying to play us off each other and I don’t like being played.”

“He told you I was dead.”

“That’s right,” Zach said. “And now I’m gonna make him dead.” He started his engine, and twisted the throttle.

“I’ll come with you,” Colton said, anxious not to let his dad out of his sight. “But there’s something you need to know. Sandy says the sheriff’s called on a bunch of drug dealers from across the border.”

“I eat drug dealers for breakfast,” Zach scoffed. “You stay here in Fort Knox where it’s safe. We won’t be long.”

Zach and the others rode off, the sound from their departing bikes nearly deafening. Through his side mirror, Zach watched his son fade away and then wave.
Don’t worry,
he thought.
I didn’t come this far to die now.

The bikers were heading back into town, a few of the more bloodthirsty gang members speeding ahead, eager to kill them some cops. They were drawing even with Encendido High School when something tossed the first two men clean off their bikes. Zach and the others braked hard, coming inches from a cord that had been strung across the road. Machine-gun fire opened up from both sides, cutting deep grooves into the asphalt, marking the bullet’s path as they drew closer and then right on top of them.

Drainage ditches on either side of the road provided some cover and he ordered his men to split up and return fire. Zach followed his own advice, diving into the left hand gulley and pulling out his .44.

The enemy seemed to be positioned on the school roof behind them and also in the row of houses before them. It was a classic ambush and Zach couldn’t help feeling like his hot headedness had gotten him and his men into a serious bind. Staying low, he worked his way along the ditch, passing a handful of bikers who were springing up every few seconds to shoot back at their attackers.

Next to him was Hawkeye, carrying an AR and trying to keep his head down. “Any suggestions, sir?”

“Work our way around,” Zach suggested. “Take ’em from behind before they cut us to ribbons.” No sooner had he said the words than a biker beside him was struck in the forehead and killed as he rose to return fire.

“Cops in this town are crazy, man,” Hawkeye said, staring in fear at the dead body.

“I don’t think these are the Sheriff’s men,” Zach said, but didn’t elaborate. Instead, he called out for covering fire. The bikers came up one by one, shooting a variety of weapons and pistols. Zach and Hawkeye scrambled out of the ditch and ran to the side of the closest house.

They made their way into the backyard and came upon three mean looking Spaniards busy loading weapons, their arms covered in tattoos. Perhaps in their arrogance, the three men had been caught completely off guard. Zach leveled his .44 and fired. Hawkeye opened up as well, shooting from the hip with his AR, killing all of them at once.

The house’s sliding glass door was open and Zach rushed inside. As he entered, bullets from his own men firing from the ditch tore into the house. Zach and Hawkeye took cover.

They heard footsteps descending the staircase, shouting in Spanish. Zach flipped open his revolver, replaced his three spend rounds and snapped it closed. He was ready right as the first one reached the ground floor. Zach drilled him twice in the chest, sending parts of him splashing against the wall. Hawkeye did the same, killing the next man, but not before the third shoved his AK around the corner and sprayed wildly. Two bullets struck Hawkeye in the chest and head. He fell to the floor, dead.

Zach looked on for a moment, his mind catching up with what his eyes had just witnessed.

A moment later came the sound of more men shuffling down those stairs and worse than that, a slackening in the firefight outside. Zach and his men were likely losing. If there was one thing he knew well, it was when to retreat. Firing off a handful of rounds at the guy with the AK, Zach bolted back into the kitchen and out the sliding glass door. He made a silent prayer that Hawkeye would somehow find mercy when he met his creator.

Just as he’d feared, the Mexican gang members were exiting the school across the street, intend on finishing off the handful of bikers who remained. Hopping over the ditch and heading for the Harley he’d left in the street, Zach ordered them to retreat. Those who turned to run were immediately cut down. A few others made it to their motorcycles and struggled to get them started.

A round struck Zach’s bike as he shoved the .44 into a shoulder holster. He kicked down hard on the starter and heard the sweet sound of the engine growling to life. He twisted the accelerator, forming a cloud of white smoke. It was as much an attempt to create some concealment as it was to ensure a quick getaway. Two bikers were ahead of him. The first was shot dead and fell off his bike while the second crashed into him, flipping through the air.

Alongside the ditch, a panicked figure waved at him. It was Dannyboy. Zach swung over and pulled Dannyboy on, then peeled out, rounds whizzing over their heads and all around them. It was the shortest payback in history and probably the most costly of his career. Only one other biker made it out alive and even as they reached Dale’s property, the guy just kept going. Zach turned into the driveway as Dale, Colton and Shane were about to pull out in the pickup truck, probably on their way to help. Startled to see one another, Zach waved them back. The only thing up that road was death.

Zach had been played, not once, but twice. He was going to kill that sheriff. And when he put his mind to something, he either got it done, or died trying.

Chapter 46

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M
oments later they were back inside the house. To Dale, it seemed that one shock had quickly been followed by another. First Zach had showed up out of nowhere only to be ambushed in a bloodbath by the sheriff and his deputies. But something about that story didn’t seem right. Most of the deputies Dale had already encountered had been armed with pistols and shotguns. The sounds of gunfire they’d heard belonged to high-powered rifles. Either Randy had managed to upgrade his arsenal or he’d brought in some heavy hitters. Either way, it wasn’t good.

Zach and a young man with long hair he called Dannyboy were checking themselves for wounds.

“Who did this to you?” Dale asked.

“How the heck should I know?” Zach replied. “One second we were heading into Encendido, flying high like the Four Horsemen, and the next thing we know we’re being cut to ribbons.” He removed his helmet and flung it across the room.

Brooke’s voice called out from upstairs. Somewhere in the house, Duke had started barking.

Dale felt his heart begin to beat a little faster. He ran to see what she wanted, part of him hoping he was wrong.

He peered sideways through the front window, broken glass crunching under his feet. A strange-sounding horn blared from somewhere up the road as a number of large vehicles approached at high speed, their advance marked by a cloud of billowing dust behind them.

Any of Dale’s doubts were quickly silenced.

Zach, Dannyboy and the others crowded into the room, some of them standing in the hallway, waiting to find out what was going on.

“So?” Zach said. “What’s the verdict?”

Downstairs, Duke’s barking grew louder.

Dale felt his hand begin to tremble and steadied it. Adrenaline was surging through his system. “Say a quick prayer, then get to your positions and remember everything you learned. We’re about to be attacked.”

Thank you for reading Defiance!

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