Escaping Home (14 page)

Fred asked, “If that's the case, then why were we fed so little on the other side?” She took a big bite of the chili mac.

Kay leaned in and whispered, “Well, you know I'm not part of the apparatus here, but it's just my opinion that they are doing that as a weapon of sorts.”

“That's fucked up,” Fred replied.

“Here's not the best place for this discussion. Just enjoy your dinner,” Kay said with a smile.

After dinner, the ladies returned to their housing area and headed to the latrine to take advantage of having a hot shower. Afterward, Jess fell back onto her bed, sighing. “I could almost get used to this.”

“Tell me about it. It's almost like living in the real world again.”

Jess stared at the bunk above her. “You know, I think Kay might be a big help to us.”

“Yeah, she seems like she goes along with the program here but isn't really part of it.”

“You know, it's really messed up that they are starving people on purpose. I mean, why?”

Fred ran a towel through her hair. “Control. Think about it, what else do they have? There's no power or Internet or cell phones or anything. It's the only thing they can take.”

Mary came through the door. “That water felt so good!”

“Did you leave any?” Jess asked.

Mary smiled. “I tried to use it all.”

“Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm tired, and four
A.M.
is going to come early.” Jess lay back on the bed, her mind swimming with questions.

M
org, Jeff, you guys got yer ears on?”
Sarge's voice came over the radio.

Jeff keyed the mic. “Yeah, we're here.”

“See anything?”

Jeff whistled and pointed down the road. I looked with my binos, but it was empty, so I shook my head. “No, nothing up here.”

“It's been about an hour; let's wait till dark and see what happens.”

I looked at my watch. It'd be another three hours before it got dark. That would be a long time for the girls to sit under that damn tree.

“I hear engines,” Mike called.

“Where?”
Sarge asked.

“In the woods behind us somewhere. Can't tell where yet, but it's more than one.”

“Everyone keep yer eyes open. Jeff, you seeing anything?”

Jeff motioned to me, and I looked through my binos again. I shook my head. “No, road's empty.”

“They may hit us from both sides; watch for it.”

I suddenly felt that we were woefully under gunned. Between Jeff and I, we had one AK, one AR and his Mosin—not nearly enough if they rode up on Hummers with machine guns. Taking a quick look around, I sprinted across the road.

“Trade places. If they do show up here, you'll be able to engage them a lot sooner with your Mosin than I can with this.”

Jeff nodded. “If truckloads of them show up, we'll have to shoot an' scoot quick. There's no way we can stand here and try to fight them.”

“Yeah, no way.” I looked down the road. “If you see anything, start shooting as soon you can. Once they start getting close, we'll run back to Sarge.”

“Sounds good to me.” Jeff ran across the road in a hunch, carrying both rifles.

I took his spot and tried to keep an eye on the opposite side of the road. The likelihood of them coming from that direction was slim as shit, but you never know.

 • • • 

“Mikey, where are those trucks?” Sarge called.

“I don't know, they moved past us. They sound like they're to the south of us now.”

“To the south, you sure?”

“That's what it sounds like.”

Sarge looked at Ted. “Run down the road past Reggie's house and see if you see anything in the woods.”

Ted jumped up and jogged down the road, his weapon at the ready. He'd traded his M4 for one with the 203 since Mike had taken one of the SAWs. Doc was behind the other one at the intersection with Sarge. Ted went past Reggie's, trying to stay below the overgrown fence for some concealment. He traveled along the fence and then looked over it.

Instantly his weapon came up and he began to fire, brass flying from the weapon. Almost as fast as he loosed a 203 round, an explosion followed—a short-distance shot.

Doc had the SAW pointing to the east and had to reposition to the south. Just as he was settling behind the weapon, a Hummer barreled out of the woods.

“They're to the south, coming in behind us!” Sarge screamed into the radio, the staccato of the SAW in the background.

“Shit!” Mike shouted as he got to his feet. “You guys stay here and keep an eye out; I'm going to help Sarge.” He picked up his SAW and ran through the yards of Danny's neighbors, scaling fences as fast as he could.

“Oh my God, that's a lot of shooting!” Bobbie said as she pressed herself closer to the ground.

Ted was walking backward, trying to stay near the fence as bullets ripped through the vines that plated both sides. Doc finally had the SAW in position and was firing at the Hummer, stopping it. The driver had the truck in reverse trying to back it up. Doc could see that the windshield was decimated by all the rounds. Even the gunner was forced to take cover behind the armor of his turret, firing blindly.

Sarge quickly positioned the tube and slid a round into it. Squeezing the trigger, the round blasted out on its high trajectory. When it exploded in the woods behind the Hummer, Sarge adjusted the tube and squeezed the trigger again, sending another high-explosive round downrange. The explosions had an immediate effect on the attackers; their shooting died down. Ted took the opportunity to run back to Sarge and Doc, sliding in like a runner coming into home plate. The situation there wasn't much better—the only cover they had was the large corner post of the fence he'd used for concealment earlier.

Doc was laying down a steady stream of fire in short bursts. Fire superiority was the name of the game.

 • • • 

I jumped up. “Jeff, they're behind us!”

Jeff slung the Mosin and quickly got up, AK in hand. Together, we ran down the road toward the intersection.

“Follow me!” I said, turning into my gate. If they were to the south then they could come up behind my house and the girls.

As I rounded the corner of the house, I collided with Meathead, and we both went asshole over teacup. He recovered immediately, back on his feet and running without missing a beat. Before I got to my feet, I heard Jeff's rifle go off. I could see three men in the lot behind mine, they went to the ground with Jeff's shot. In the opposite corner of the yard was the tree, I looked over and saw Mel's head poking out of the brush. The men were trying to figure out where the shot had come from, and then one of them pointed at the tree and swiveled his weapon around.

In a panic, I yelled, “Mel! Run! Run, run!” I raised my rifle and began firing at the three men.

Mel and the girls came out of the pile of brush as bullets started tearing through it. I was firing double taps at each man, going back and forth from one to the other. Suddenly Jeff's Mosin went off and I saw a pink mist erupt where one of the shooters had just been standing.

The demise of their comrade caused the other two to pause for a moment, and there was a brief pause before the second shot rang out. One of the men let out a long wail of pain. Mel and the girls made it to the side of the house, all of them crying and hyperventilating. I turned my weapon again. I could hear Sarge screaming over the radio, asking Jeff where the shooting was coming from, but there wasn't time to answer. It was only us versus them at this point.

W
e have to do this every day?” Jess asked, leaning on the rolling pin.

Mary wiped her forehead with the back of her arm, creating a streak of paste. “I don't know if I can.”

“How many of these damn biscuits do we need to make?”

“Kay said to keep going till the flour ran out.”

Both women looked over at the giant bowl of dough sitting in its cradle on the mixer. Jess shook her head and went back to rolling out the pile in front of her.

Fred came back from sliding a tray of them into the oven. “It's full, finally.”

“Yeah, well, the dough ain't gone yet,” Mary said.

“Thank you for the report, Captain Obvious,” Fred said, leaning on the table, then looked up at Mary and pointed to her cheek. “You got a little something right there.”

“What?” Mary wiped at her face again with her arm, smearing the flour even further. “Did I get it?”

Jess looked over and cracked up. Fred couldn't hold back and laughed as well. Mary looked at them. “What? Did I get it?”

“Oh, you got it, honey. Now keep cutting,” Jess said, shaking her head.

Kay passed behind them, looking at the oven. “Ladies, we have to turn the oven
on
once we have the biscuits in,” she said, then turned a knob. She walked over to the table they working on. “How y'all holding up?”

“This is a lot harder than I thought it would be,” Jess said.

Kay smiled. “It'll get easier. This isn't like Sunday-morning breakfast at home.”

“Tell me about it! Mom always cooked it!” Jess smiled wistfully, remembering the smell of her mom's fresh-baked banana bread.

“Hey, if you don't like doing this, you can go work out there.” Kay pointed to the dining hall.

“Hell no, not me. I'll stay behind the curtain,” Fred said.

Jess started laughing. “Ignore the women behind the curtain.”

Through her laughter, Kay added, “Who knows, you might find Mr. Right in that line out there.”

Mary looked up from her cutter. “You mean Mr. Right Now?”

“I don't need mister anything,” Fred said.

“Then get these biscuits done, ladies,” Kay said over her shoulder as she headed for another part of the kitchen.

Once their shift was over they had to clean up before the next shift came in. Jess was rinsing out the big mixing bowl when Fred walked up and whispered in her ear, “Follow me; you gotta see this.” Fred took her to a small room crudely constructed of plywood.

“Look at all this,” Fred said, pointing to shelves of canned food.

“Wow, there's a lot of food here. Where do they get all of this?”

“I know. When I asked Kay about it she said it was stuff the scavenging crews bring back. They use it for crews that leave the camp, for their lunches. And get this—no inventory. They don't keep track of it.”

Jess looked at her and smiled. “So they wouldn't miss any, would they?”

“Nope, they'd never know.”

“Well, this takes care of one problem. Now we just need to find a way out of here.”

“Exactly, and I'm working on that,” Fred said with a mischievous grin.

“How?”

“I'll tell you later, not here.”

They left the little room and returned to the kitchen to wrap up their duties. Back in their room Jess asked Fred, “Did you show Mary?”

“Show me what?”

“Not yet.” Fred looked at Mary. “There's a little room in the storage area full of canned food.”

“So what? There's canned food all over the place,” Mary said.

“Yeah, but this isn't like those big cans of freeze-dried stuff we use. These are small cans, like from the grocery store. The salvaging crew picks them up.”

“Okay, so? What's that mean?”

“It means we could take it when we leave,” Jess said.

Mary looked at them in disbelief. “And just how are we going to do that? There's no way out of here.”

“There's always a way, Mary, and I'm working on it,” Fred said.

“How? How do you think you're going to get out of here without getting shot? You saw what happened down there in the reception area. They just gunned them people down.”

“I don't plan to go over the fence; that's suicide. I plan to go out the front gate.”

Now Jess was the one to look shocked. “What?”

“The salvage crews. We go out with them, then escape.”

“You don't think they've thought of that?”

“I'm sure, but like I said I'm working on it.”

“You haven't even been out on a run.”

Fred smiled. “No, but I'll go tomorrow.”

“Really, you're going out?” Jess asked.

“Yeah, Kay set it up.”

“Can I come?”

Fred shook her head. “No, she said only one of us could go. Eventually we'll all have to be on it, though. It may be difficult to get us all out there at the same time, but I'm working on an idea for that too.”

The talk died down and they spent the rest of the afternoon napping and playing cards. The area they were in was completely off-limits to the residents on the other side of the camp, but they were allowed in most areas. Jess and Fred took advantage of this fact by taking walks and making mental notes of where things were located. They wouldn't talk much on these walks, scared to say anything that could be misconstrued, and instead they enjoyed the relative freedom of movement.

As they passed a gate with several large trucks behind it, a voice called out, “Hey, Fred!” A young guy sporting a blond buzz cut ran up to them.

“Hey, Fred,” he said again.

“Hey, Aric.” Fred paused and looked at Jess. “This is Jess. Jess, this is Aric.”

He waved. “Hey, Jess, heard a lot about you.”

A little embarrassed, Jess replied, “Don't believe everything she says.”

Aric smiled. “Oh, not just from her. Your biggest fan also has a lot to say about you.”

“My biggest fan?”

“Yeah, Singer. She's got a
lot
to say about you.”

Jess's frowned at the mention of her. “Ugh, fuck that bitch!”

Aric smiled, holding his hands up. “Easy, now, just letting you know how she feels.”

“The next time you see her, tell her I said to kiss my ass.”

Laughing, he replied, “I think she knows.” Leaning in and lowering his voice he added, “No one here likes her either.”

“Gee, I wonder why, with that sparkling personality of hers.”

Aric looked at Fred. “I hear you're going out with us on the crew tomorrow.”

“Yeah, Kay worked it out; she's got a list of things she wants me to look for.”

“Cool, that'll be fun.”

A voice called out, “Vonasec, get your ass over here and unload this ammo!”

He looked back in the direction of the yelling and turned back to them. “Hey, I gotta go. See you in the morning, Fred. Nice to meet you, Jess.”

“Yeah, see you,” Fred replied.

After Aric ran off, Jess looked at her mischievously. “So, is that your plan?”

Fred smiled, bouncing her eyebrows. “Part of it.”

“The fun part?”

“I hope so. He's got a purpose and I may as well have a little fun.”

Jess laughed. “I bet he's got a purpose. How'd you meet him? He's kinda cute.”

“He drove the truck that brought me here. He's always dropped by to check on me, and sometimes he brings me things he finds on his trips.”

“Must be nice having a sugar daddy. I always heard that women in prison who slept with the guards got special treatment.”

Fred looked at her. “Don't hate the player, hate the game.”

Jess laughed. “Oh my God, really, Fred? I haven't heard anyone say that in forever.”

They headed back to their cabin and flopped down on their respective beds. It was getting late and both had an early start to their day tomorrow.

 • • • 

Their wake-up call came at four
A.M.
As none of them were exactly morning people, they got dressed in silence, save the sound of their feet scuffing the sand on the floor.

Outside they gathered in a knot. “How long will you be gone?” Mary asked.

“Dunno, they told me to pack a bag for two nights.” Fred turned her shoulder with a pack slung over it.

“Well, be careful. We'll be here when you get back,” Mary said, giving her a hug.

“Take care of yourself out there,” Jess said, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

“I will. After all, I've got my own bodyguard.” A sly smile slid across her face.

“I bet he wants to more than to guard it.”

“I hope so.” Pausing, Fred looked around. “'Cause that's part of my plan: get him to trust me, then use that to my advantage later.”

“Well, be careful, just be careful.”

“I will. Have fun in the kitchen. I'll be thinking about you girls while I'm out.”

Jess turned to leave. “Oh, I bet you will!”

 • • • 

At the trucks, Aric found her.

“You ready?”

“I guess. How's this work?”

“Normally you'd ride in the back of the truck, but today you can ride up front with me.”

Fred smiled. “Cool, which truck?”

Pointing, he replied, “That one. Hop in, I'll be there in a sec.”

Aric ran off and Fred opened the door. The truck was a massive military vehicle with thick glass on the window. The interior was sparse to say the least—comfort was obviously not the designer's motivating force. Fred climbed up onto the stiff seat, setting her bag on the center of the bench, and closed the door. She looked around at all the gauges, knobs and buttons, thinking,
How in the world does anyone know what all this shit does?

Suddenly the door jerked open, and a brown face with a thin mustache was smiling up at her. “You must be Fred. I'm José.”

“Uh, hi, José.”

“Slide over to the middle seat,” José said as he stepped up into the truck.

Confused, Fred moved her bag and slid over, trying to stuff the bag under her seat.

“Where's Aric?”

“Oh, he's coming. We're about ready to leave.” José smiled at her. “You didn't know I was coming?”

“No, this is my first trip. I don't know how this works.”

“It's cool. There's always two people up front. Usually you'd have to sit in the back, but we're making an exception this time.”

The driver's door swung open, and Aric said, “I see you've met José.”

Aric climbed up into the truck and started the engine. José was fidgeting with a radio as Aric pulled the truck through the small gate, falling in line with the others.

“Where are we going?” Fred asked.

“East.”

“Anywhere in particular?”

“We've been doing this so long now that we have to go farther and farther out. It's getting harder to find stuff,” José said.

Fred looked over. “Oh. How long will we be gone?”

“We never know. Until there's enough stuff to bring back,” Aric said as they passed through the main gate, turning out onto Highway 19.

Fred sat back, enjoying the ride. It'd been so long since she was in a vehicle that it was a surreal sensation. The truck convoy continued to the intersection with 40 and turned east. It would be a long ride before they came to anything resembling civilization. Ahead, there was something on the side of the road. Aric moved the truck over to the opposite lane, getting as far away as he could.

“Hey, man, that's the bus that was hijacked the other day,” José said, looking out the window.

The burned-out carcass of the bus was surrounded by mounds of brass. Every window was shattered, either as a result of the flames or bullets. Fred looked out the window at the large brown stains on the pavement that resembled Rorschach test images. A single smeared brown handprint pointed out the horror that had taken place here.

“Where are the people who were on the bus?” Fred asked.

José looked over and smiled. “Oh, we caught 'em all.”

Aric looked over in a smirk. “Yeah, they
caught
them all right.”

Fred looked at Aric for more. “They were all brought back,” José said.

“Dead,” Aric added.

“They killed them all?” Fred asked. Aric nodded his head. “Why?”

“Hey, they hijacked the bus, killed one of our guys. They got what they deserved,” José said.

Fred sat silently and looked out the windshield. José announced that their destination was Ormond Beach; they were to search the business district just east of I-95.

The radio in the truck crackled to life. “Hey, you guys listening to what's going on over on the TAC channel?”

José picked up the handset. “No, what's up?”

“Switch over. Someone's getting their ass shot off.”

José flipped the channel on the radio and it immediately came alive with frantic calls.

“. . . yes, yes, heavy automatic weapons fire!”
The background was filled with the sounds of gunfire.
“One truck is burning, they've got a mortar or something and are dropping rounds on us. We've got to abort!”

“Delta Six, break contact and abort.”

“We're trying; we're missing people!”

“Who is this?” José asked.

“They were conducting a raid on some place today; sounds like they bit off more than they could chew,” Aric replied.

“Why were they raiding them?” Fred asked.

Aric shrugged. “I heard something about teaching them a lesson or something, but who knows.”

“A lesson?”

“There's a cop that came to the camp; most of the people from his neighborhood came as well. There were some hard-asses who said they wouldn't come. We sent people by there a couple of times and they still wouldn't come, so they went to get them, I guess.”