Breakout (Final Dawn) (24 page)

    
Alvarez went through all the cabinets at the compound’s security control desk, looking for radio batteries. He found several, still in boxes marked “Motorola MX-310.” But they were for a different model of radios and were worthless to him.

     He was pissed, more at himself than anything else. He’d trusted that scumbag Skully to take care of all the details. They’d come to this place intent on taking it over, and staying here for the long term. How could they h
ave forgotten spare batteries and a charging station for them? How the hell were they going to maintain security without radios?

     And, most importantly, why in hell did he trust somebody like Skully to plan for something like this?

     He knew he should have asked more questions. He shouldn’t have taken Skully at his word when Skully said he had a handle on everything.

     Skully couldn’t put
both hands on his own ass at the same time. Yet Alvarez trusted him to be the brains of this operation.

     What else was he overlooking? What else was going to go wrong?

     He thought about sending the ChoMos back to the prison to get additional batteries and a charging unit. But then he thought better of it. He needed every body he could muster if the attack came soon. And he didn’t trust the ChoMos. If they were stopped leaving the area and taken alive, they’d sing like canaries. They’d tell their adversaries exactly how many men were in the compound and where.

     No. He couldn’t risk sending anyone back for the radios. He’d just have to win the next battle and steal some from the other side.

     He went up to the roof to check on his crew.

     “It looks like we’re going to have to operate without radios. If you see anyone, fire a single shot to let everybody else know the attack is coming. And I’ll be up here as fast as I can to help out.”

     He gave the same instructions to the ChoMos at the front gate, and to the two men patrolling the yard.

     Then he paced back and forth and waited for an assault he was sure was coming. He just didn’t know when.

Chapter 47

     Mark and Hannah walked over to the security desk. Helen was taking her turn at the console, and John was there reading the logbook entries from the night before. It was basically a rundown of things that went on with the men occupying their compound.

     Mark said, “Good morning. Anything interesting in there?”

     “No, not much. They’ve established rooftop and gate surveillance, two sentries at each location. They’ve apparently broken down into shifts. Half of them are sleeping during the daytime and half at night.

     “We’ve been able to count heads. There appear to be thirteen of them total.”

     He pointed to Alvarez on monitor 5, walking through the kitchen.

     “We believe that this is the man in charge. It appears that people keep coming to him for instructions, then leaving again.”

     “He’s a big sucker.”

     “Yes, and he’s moved into your place, by the way. That’s where he slept last night.”

     Mark and Hannah looked at each other but didn’t say anything.

     “Do tell? Well, I hope he cleans up after himself. I don’t want to have to clean up after him when we chase those creeps back out of there.”

     “Indications are that he’s a mean one. They left a wounded man on the outside. The one who was shot through the wall just before they attacked the gate. Apparently he was able to crawl to the gate looking for help and was pleading with them to let him in. The big guy had them open the gate, but instead of helping the guy the big man shot him. Then he pissed on his body. The two men guarding the gate appeared to get a kick out of that.

     “They dragged all of their dead over and threw them into the trash pit. They’re burning them all now.”

     “Nice guy.”

     “Definitely not somebody I want to hang out with.”

     “So, what’s on the agenda today?”

     “More of the same. I want to build that wall of sandbags a bit higher. Then I want to fill that bay with
whatever we can find that’s heavy. They’ve already shown an affinity for crashing vehicles into things. I’m not so much worried about bullets coming through the door. The plywood and sandbags will stop those. I’m more worried about them crashing a truck through the door. Going at a high rate of speed, a truck would smash right though there. The more stuff we have in its way, the faster we can stop it.”

     “Do you really think they’d attack us over here?”

     “Probably not. For one, I don’t think they even know the mine is here. And if they did, I don’t know if they’d associate it with our hiding place. I’m hoping they think we’re all still in the woods trying to regroup.

     “But… we can’t get in that guy’s head and don’t know what he’s thinking. So we have to plan for every possibility.”

     “So, we fortify the main entry today. Anything else?”

     “Yes. Two things. We need to build a bunker at the mouth of the tunnel. More sandbags and plywood. With firing ports so we can shoot anybody coming out of the tunnel if we have to.

     “And we need to inventory our ammunition and load as much as we can into magazines. Then we need to distribute the mags to the shooters. If it gets ugly fast, we don’t want to be having to look around for ammunition. We want it to be with the people who are going to need it. And I’d like for you to be carrying Bryan’s AR-15 for the time being. Since he’s on crutches right now, he’s not much good to us in a firefight.”

     “I’ve been saying he’s not much good ever since he was a little kid.”

     Debbie walked up.

     “Good morning
, you guys.”

     Hannah said, “Good morning, Deb. I was going to walk over and check on Sami. How’s she doing this morning?”

     “Oh, she’ll be okay. She’s hurting a bit. That outdated morphine is too weak to take away all the pain. It helps, but isn’t as good as newer stuff would be. And the nerves that went numb on her yesterday are starting to wake up now. That’s not helping her. Mostly she’s mad at me and David, though.”

     “Why?”

     “We told her we want to keep her in the clinic for forty eight more hours.”

     “I thought she was going to be okay.”

     “She is. She will be. But we need to be extra cautious. She lost a lot of blood. It takes time for the body to make more. In the meantime she has to be careful not to exert herself. The last thing we want is for her to get dizzy or lose her balance. She could fall on that shoulder and tear her sutures and start bleeding again.”

     “She’s a reasonable girl. She didn’t understand all of that?”

     “Oh, she understood it. She just didn’t like it. Yes, she’s reasonable. But she’s also stubborn. She knows there’s a lot going on out here and she feels bad that she’s not able to contribute.”

     “Oh, that’s not a
problem. I’ll tell her I’ll lie in the hospital bed and she can fill sand bags in my place.”

     “Very funny. I did make one concession. I told her that if her blood pressure looks better tomorrow I’ll talk to John about letting her man the security desk. That’ll
free someone else up, and she’ll be playing an important role.”

     “Well, I’ll go see if I can cheer her up.”

     “Thank you, Hannah.”

     “Hey, it’s what best friends do. Have you seen Sarah?”

     “Sarah’s over there with her now. They’re playing cards, and Sarah’s letting her win to brighten her spirits.”

     “Is that what Sarah told you?”

     “Yes. Why?”

     “Sarah never lets anybody win. She just sucks at cards.”

Chapter 48

     Three more days passed without incident, and both camps had settled into something of an uncomfortable routine. In the compound, it finally dawned on Alvarez that the compound and everything in it was of little value to him if they let everything die.

     So he appointed one man to do nothing but water the plants in the greenhouse, water the w
heat and corn crops in the fields, and keep the chickens and livestock fed.

     It was a full time job fo
r one man, and he quickly became the hardest working man in the compound.

     And the most scared.

     “If you let any of my cows die, or any of my chickens, you die along with them. And you’d better take good care of those strawberry plants also. Same goes for them.

     “As for those stinkin’ pigs, I don’t care if they live or die. If you have to kill something, kill them.”

     Hawkins, who took on the name “Farmer” from that point on, wasn’t sure if Alvarez was kidding or not about taking his life. But he sure wasn’t taking any chances. He not only made a valiant effort to keep everything from dying. He also picked Alvarez a bowl of fresh strawberries each morning.

     He felt he was p
aying homage to a king. But he’d never complain about it.

     In the mine, John
, Bryan and Mark were formulating plans to take back the compound. They had the details pretty much worked out, and were mainly waiting for two things.

     First, they wanted to wait until they were back at full strength. Specifically, they needed to wait until
Bryan was off his crutches and able to move around. He was one of the group’s better shots, but he needed to be mobile. And Sami, although she wasn’t a designated shooter, was also an integral part of the team. She helped in a lot of other ways, and was at a disadvantage until she was able to move quickly and keep up with everyone else.

    
The group of three was sitting at a table in the dining room, discussing how disgusting their MREs were.

    
John changed the subject and asked David at the next table, “When will Sami be able to run again?”

     “Well, she could run now if she had to. But that wouldn’t make it a good idea. It’s not the running that worries me. If
she hit the ground again for any reason, and impacted that injured shoulder, she could rip the sutures I put in that vein and start it bleeding again. She needs another week.”

     John looked at
Bryan.

     “And you? Will you be ready to go by then?”

     “Yes. I’m able to put a little bit of weight on it now. In a week I’ll be running marathons again.”

     “Well, I was hoping to go before then, but maybe it’s better we give them some time to get complacent. To think maybe we’re not coming back. That’ll put the element of surprise on our side.”

      Mark agreed, but for another reason.

      “It’s easy to see from watching the
monitors that there’s a lot of tension over there, with the big guy ordering everybody around. Maybe waiting a few extra days will give them a chance to start shooting each other, and make it easier on us when we do go.”

      John got a call on the radio. It was Karen, on the security desk.

     “Hey, John?”

     “Go ahead, Karen.”

     “John, you might want to come back to the desk. We might have a problem.”

     John sprinted back, Mark
right behind him. Bryan hobbled far behind them, but would get there eventually.

     “What’s up, Karen?”

     She pointed to monitor 7.

 
   A tractor trailer rig had stopped on Highway 83, blocking the road to the mine.

     “Do you think the
trailer’s full of men? Are they going to attack us?”

     “I don’t know. It may just be a breakdown. Maybe somebody
was gathering supplies and something happened to the truck.”

     Mark added, “It would be a stupid place to start an attack. They’re two hundred yards away from us. Anybody who gets out o
f the trailer and heads this way is out in the open. I agree with John. I think it’s just a breakdown.”

     They continued to watch the monitor for
half an hour. They watched as two men exited the cab and lifted the hood on the tractor, then appeared to be working on the engine.

     Finally, one man climbed back inside the tractor and they saw black smoke coming from its exhaust pipes. The other man lowered the hood back into position and locked it into place. Then he got in the passenger side of the tractor and the rig pulled away.