ZACH
I made my way to the front of the house where Martinez was stationed. We were a fucking beacon in the night, the house blazed with lantern light, anyone could have spotted us a mile away.
Three vehicles were coming up the highway, their bright headlights ominous in the darkness. Three vehicles meant there were at least three of them, probably a lot more. I couldn’t be sure from this distance, but they looked large, SUVs or vans.
We couldn’t keep our hostages in line and defend ourselves from the unknown. This wasn’t going to be good. I should probably just shoot all the hostages. Take them out quickly so we could face this new threat without any extra baggage. We knew where they took Lex, we didn’t need them anymore. It was more than they deserved, a quick death.
“They might keep going, just pass us by,” I said as I watched the vehicles get closer. I doubted it, but it could happen.
“Blake, put our slavers in a back room, out of sight. Shoot them if they act up,” I ordered and he grabbed Clem from the floor and began forcing him down the hallway. Baby grabbed the old woman by the arm and she went with little resistance. When the other two were locked away in another room, I focused my attention back on the approaching vehicles.
They had slowed and stopped on the road about a click from us. They had spotted the light. They would either push on and ignore us, or pay a visit.
“Should we try and encourage them to move along?” Martinez asked. “Warning shot?”
“We don’t know who’s in those cars. They could be just civvies trying to find somewhere to hole up. I don’t want to do anything drastic.”
“What if they’re not friendly?” Blake asked, coming up behind me.
“We’ll deal with it,” I said flatly.
The cars had begun moving again and when they got to the turn-off to the camp, they slowed and turned in.
Visitors, great.
“Show of force. I want you, Blake, Martinez and me on the ground. Hannah, cover us from above. Ito, keep an eye on our slavers in the back.”
We descended the steps quickly, rifles at the ready. This night couldn’t get any more eventful.
It was two black government SUVs, obvious from the numbers on the front, and one State Trooper SUV that pulled into the drive. The vehicles fanned out in front of us, imposing and going for intimidation. We must have looked like some scene out of a movie. The three of us at attention, standing in front of the encroaching Feds. Or people that were trying to look like Feds. Doors popped open and a man stepped out, he was older, and dressed in military fatigues. He raised his hands in a “we come in peace” gesture.
“Ho! No reason for the armed greeting, we’re just passing through, saw your lights.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Blake spoke up, taking a step forward. “Where’d you get the gear?” He gestured to the SUVs and the man’s clothes.
“Standard issue, Major Napier, 199th, where’d you get your gear?”
“eBay,” Blake said flatly.
“Heard the 199th had hightailed it out of here when the twin-span was overrun,” I spoke up.
“We’re what’s left. I got ten under my command and a few troopers.” He glanced up and clocked Hannah on the porch. “Y’all seem like you got your shit together and not just from internet shopping.”
“Why’d you stop?” I was done with small talk, I wanted to know this guy’s intentions.
“Curiosity and we’re looking for a group in this area, thought you could point us in the right direction.”
“There ain’t nothing out here,” Blake said.
“That’s not what we’ve been hearing.” He made a motion with his hand and someone got out of the second SUV. The person came forward to stand next to Napier dressed in the typical Army digital camouflage uniform, just like the Major, but much slighter. I couldn’t see with the glare of the headlights but I was pretty sure it was a female. She said something inaudible to the Major.
“We were told there was a well-equipped group of survivors out here, most of which were former military, and I’m thinking we found them. Y’all wouldn’t happen to be MJ Services?”
BLAKE
“Murphey, is that you?” I looked up at Baby who was leaning over the railing like she had just spotted her long lost cousin.
“Hannah Klink, I knew you’d survive this shit.” Baby shouldered her rifle and made her way down the stairs.
“I did Ranger school with Murphey, we were the only females in that class,” she whispered in the com. “She’s legit. Helo Pilot from SOAR. She went guard after her last tour. Last time I checked in she was doing a stint as a helo instructor up at Bragg.”
“We’re what’s left of MJ Services,” I spoke up, hopefully ending this tension. We had other things to worry about than this stand-off.
“I’m Captain Blake Miller, 2nd Marine Raider Battalion.”
“A Devil Dog, damn.” He stuck out his hand and walked with purpose toward me. I took his hand and shook it after shouldering my rifle. He put a little extra bite into the shake to try and put me in my place. When I bit back, he winced, but his face broke out into a smile as if I passed some test. “We didn’t know what hell we would find out here.”
“Who else you got in the vehicles?” I asked.
He motioned and doors popped open. I counted five in total, two dressed in civilian clothes, another one in fatigues and two others in the polyester uniforms of the Louisiana State Troopers.
“Why are you looking for us?” Zach asked.
“This one here,” he motioned to Murphey, “Ran into a group coming from the east, said they had run into a group acting like a military unit, and mentioned a female named Hannah that took down more of the infected than the men and was mean as hell.”
“I knew Klink had been working for MJ Services before the shit and y’all had some kind of operational base down here. Figured we would come and see if you were willing to get Uncle Sam back in working order,” Heather Murphey added.
“There’s an operating government?” Zach asked.
“Yes, nothing like before, but there is a body in place in the central part of the country. We’re intermittently receiving orders from Fort Bragg. Our current orders are to establish control in the city and hold tight. We’re scheduled for reinforcements at the end of the month.”
“Not much as far as orders,” I scoffed.
“We were doing that anyway,” he shrugged. “And if they can get reinforcements, we’ll be even better.”
“Where in New Orleans? Heard the FEMA camp the Guard was manning got overrun and is now being held by a gang of bikers.” I played dumb.
“That was the 139th, poor bastards, they were set-up for disasters, not defending against the living.” The Major shook his head in frustration. “We’re outgunned and outnumbered, Miller. Can I call you Miller?” He looked up and I nodded.
“I’m just trying to get things right for my men. When I heard there was a group of ex-SOFs hiding out in the swamp out here, I just had to see for myself. Not to mention, they got that manufacturing warehouse out here which is stock full of vehicles and weaponry, thought we could use a bit of gear upgrade. We want to take back the Lakeview base. It’s tactically and strategically optimal and we can’t let a bunch of leather-clad fuck-wits get away with killing our Army brothers. We want to take them out ASAP.”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. Long and loud. I had forgotten completely about Textron, the manufacturer he mentioned. Zach and I had even provided them with tactical support when they got in a few black list shipments. They had marine and land vehicles in the hundreds, equipped with the latest and best shit, not to mention the combat gear.
Holy fuck
. You could supply an Army with what Textron had in its warehouses.
“Did I say something funny, Captain?” The Major was looking at me sternly.
“You need help taking down Lakeview? You stumbled down the right path. If you want, we can leave now.”
ALEXIS
I sidled up to the tub of water. It was cleaner than I expected, but that wasn’t saying much. The water was lukewarm and I felt like I was putting more stink on than I was washing away as I rubbed at the grit, but it would do. The women washing with me ranged in age from the very young teen to the middle aged. They all looked haggard. The woman that had helped me earlier shot a quick look at me and pushed a bit closer.
“Brandon Senior really claimed you as his property?” the woman whispered, handing me a bar of soap that was barely a sliver.
“Yes,” I whispered back. I didn’t know why we were whispering. There was no one around us but other women.
Would they rat us out to the men?
“He does so much meth, he can’t ever get it up,” she whispered. “You’re lucky. He took it out on you though.” She reached out and touched my face lightly. I must be sporting one hell of a shiner judging from the pitying gaze she gave me.
“I’m Melinda,” she said, taking the washcloth from me and running it across my cheek, a startling act of compassion in a very cold environment. She was a little older than me and from what I could tell, attractive, but bags under her eyes and a starved look to her cheeks and body made her look so much older. Her hair looked to be a reddish color and hung limply down her back. She had pale skin and a smattering of freckles across her cheeks. She was thin, too thin, and only a few inches shorter than me, but most girls were.
“Alexis,” I said back.
“Senior doesn’t like to be talked back to or mocked. He doesn’t even take anything from his own men. Just stay quiet and let him get high and you’ll be fine. He keeps a woman in his bed every night, but from what I know from the other girls, he has never been able to get it up. If he’s marked you as property that means no one else can have you. He did you a favor.” She looked like she was telling me great news. What was worse? A good beating or being raped?
“Has he claimed a lot of girls as property?” I asked, not knowing if I really wanted to know, but I asked anyway.
“Two others before you. He goes for the prettiest and the youngest, but we age quickly here. He’s one of the guys the girls fight for, they’ll be jealous he nabbed you. They want Rebel and Mace too, just so you know…those are the ones that are nice.”
“Are you…err someone’s property?” I asked feeling self-conscious.
“No, but Rebel picks me a lot,” she whispered close to my ear. “He doesn’t want to have sex, he just lets me sleep. Some of the girls think he’s gay. Wash up, this’ll be your only chance. The water will go cold and dirty before long.”
I followed her lead and stripped out of the tee and shorts that the old woman had given me. It was freezing in here, so I moved quickly, scrubbing myself as fast as I could with the tiny sliver of soap and washcloth.
“What happened to the other girls before me?” I asked.
“He got tired of the first one and she’s back with us, she has a mouth on her. You gotta stay quiet, he hit her a lot. The second one died of an overdose only two days ago. You can’t do the meth, no matter how shitty it gets in here.” She looked at me gravely.
“I won’t be doing any drugs, don’t worry about that. I need to get out of here,” I said plainly.
“We all do, there’s too many of them and they’re all armed. A few have tried, they’re all dead.”
“There has to be a way.” I knew there was a way. There had to be. Lani made it out, and if she could do it, I could do it.
“If you find one, don’t forget us back here.” She didn’t say it with any confidence though, just like it was some girl’s silly dream. This was a woman that had accepted her fate and was trying her best to deal with it. There wasn’t any fight left in her, she was surviving the best she could. I couldn’t fault her for it, but I could do my damnedest to make her realize that this wasn’t her fate, that there was hope.
I reached down and squeezed her hand and she lightly squeezed mine back.
“Go, get yourself an outfit. Senior likes slutty, the sluttier the better. If you dress like he likes, he’ll be less likely to make you take it off. But, you’ll have some time. They won’t come for you until the evening. Usually, anyway.”
I did what she said, selecting something sheer and short and grabbing some ridiculous pair of heels that matched. I didn’t put the clothes on though, I dressed in the tee and shorts and followed Melinda back to her area of rags and soggy cardboard boxes.
“What’s it like out there?” she asked me when I sat down next to her. “You’re the first new girl in a long time.”
“It’s not as scary as it was when this all started, but probably because I’ve gotten used to it. There are still tons of Z’s, but they’re slow and dumb and easy to evade. It’s the packs that are tricky.”