Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series) (16 page)

Charlie tossed the file onto his desk with the others. “All right, any word on the three we’re missing?”

Ed shook his head. “Nope, they just disappeared.”

“Did they disappear or were they taken?”

“It’s unclear. There wasn’t any call from them, no spent brass. There were obvious signs of struggle. I’d say someone snatched them.”

“Well, keep your ears open.” He picked yet another sheaf of papers. “Okay, how about the comm link to the new camp in Apopka?”

“Word is it will be up tomorrow.” Ed shifted in his chair. “You know, there’s some folks here who said the state spent millions buying that land up just so they could shut those farms down. Now we’re going to put it back into production again.”

“Well, it isn’t going to be farmed like it was back then, that’s for sure. Besides, all they grew was sweet corn and sod. Sweet corn would be nice, but no one needs sod now.”

Ed chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t see anyone wanting to purposefully plant any grass anytime soon. What are they going to be growing anyway? I mean, if they can keep the lake from flooding, that is. Bet no one’s going to care about all that fertilizer dumped out there now.”

“I have no idea, Ed. I manage refugees, not crops. Those farms were a mess, but you could grow golf balls in that muck. Got anything else?”

“We also got a call from Frost Proof wanting to know if we could send some of our people to their camp. They say they’re going to be ready down there soon and they’ll need labor.”

Tabor rocked back in his chair. “What the hell? Their camp is bigger than ours, and they don’t have enough people there?”

Ed shrugged. “Just relaying the message, boss.”

“Tell ’em we’ll send what we can, but they’ll have to provide transport.”

“Already did.”

“I would imagine we’ll start getting more and more requests along these lines as spring gets closer. There’s going to be lots to plant and those fields will need tending,” Tabor said.

“There’s going to be a bunch of really unhappy people soon. Going from doing software programming to running a hoe on a farm is gonna be a shock,” Ed said with a chuckle.

“They want to eat, they got to work. That’s the way it is.” He waved his hand. “All right, I got work to do.”

“Niigata’s outside.”

Tabor rolled his eyes. “What does he want?”

Ed shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Tabor exhaled dramatically. “Send him in on your way out.”

Ed smiled and left the office. After a moment Niigata was standing at attention in the doorway.

“Come on in, Niigata, take a seat.”

Niigata nodded and stepped in, not taking a seat. “Thank you, sir.”

Tabor sat back in his seat, folding his hands across his chest. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to give you a report on the interrogations to this point,” Niigata said.

Tabor sat up in his chair. “What have you learned?”

“Nothing of substance. No more than you already knew.”

A look of annoyance spread across Tabor’s face. “Then why are you here if you have nothing to tell me?”

“I simply wanted to keep you apprised of the situation,” Niigata said, smiling.

“Look, let me make this clear, I don’t want to be kept
apprised
. I only want the end result with no details of the trip it took to get there.” Now Tabor smiled. “Unlike you, my interest is in the destination, not the journey.”

Niigata nodded. “I see, I’ll report to you once I reach the destination. If you’ll excuse me,” Niigata said as he turned for the door.

Tabor looked down at his papers and shook his head. “Where do they get these people?”

 • • • 

Dunlap knelt in front of the model of the camp. “Wow, looks really good.”

Sarge nodded. “What can you tell me? Our intel didn’t provide too much detail.”

He pointed at the rows of magnolia leaves. “These are the tents for the detainees. They are brought in here”—he pointed to a couple of leaves near the front of the camp—“and processed, then moved here.” He went on to point out the medical, mess, and latrine facilities, as well as fuel storage, motor pool, and equipment storage.

“Where’s the armory?” Ted asked.

“It’s inside of this connex here, underground. There’s a set of steps that take you underground once you’re inside. All weapons and ammo are stored there.”

“What sort of weapons do you guys have? What could we be facing if these rogues get to them?” Sarge asked, keeping up the lie.

Dunlap looked at Wallace. “You know better than me.”

Wallace cleared his throat. “M4s, SAWs, a couple of Browning .50s—”

He was cut off by Mike. “Why the fuck does a law enforcement agency need .50s?”

Wallace smiled. “Just as strong, just as well equipped, remember that speech?”

Sarge bit his tongue. “I remember, what else?”

“Let’s see, everyone carries a Glock. There’s a few .300 Win mag scoped rifles and a few M320 launchers.”

“Jesus, 320s?” Mike blurted out. Sarge shot him a look telling him to rein it in.

“We mainly use them for less than lethal, they’re for gas and stuff like that,” Dunlap said.

“Do you have any lethal for them?” Sarge asked.

“Oh yeah, we got that too,” Wallace said.

“Where’s the CP?” Sarge asked. Wallace pointed it out.

Ted knelt down and pointed at a rifle magazine with sticks arrayed in a square around it. “What’s this?”

“That’s the detainment facility,” Dunlap said.

“Who’s held there?” Sarge asked.

“You know, troublemakers, people caught committing crimes. Sometimes they take people straight there from reception. I don’t know why. I’m not part of that.”

“Anything else we need to know?”

“Not really. It’s basically run like a big jail. People come in and they go out.”

“Is that how they operate, like a jail?” Ted asked. “What I mean is, that’s how the security is set up, looking in?”

“Yeah, for the most part. They do fence-line patrols, drag the roads, that sort of thing. Other than the gates, everything is focused in.”

“Thanks for the input, gentlemen. Why don’t you guys go get some rest while we get ready to move,” Sarge said.

 • • • 

Jess was moved back to her cell once they realized Shane’s hypothermia was no longer an issue. What she’d initially thought was going to be a horrible experience had turned out to be an almost enjoyable break from the monotony of isolation.

Shane stayed under the blankets. He expected they would take them and was surprised when they didn’t. Any time he was not under them he would start to catch a chill. Now his thoughts focused around when he would have to face Niigata again as that was surely in his future.

The door to the unit opened, and Shane listened as footsteps grew nearer. The sound of his cell unlocking was accompanied by the usual light washing in. He hid under the blankets to avoid it. Then the nurse pulled his blankets back and began to check him out: taking his temperature, checking his pulse, the usual routine. What she did not do, unlike any other health care professional, was ask him how he felt. That was irrelevant.

“How does he look?” a man’s voice asked.

“He’s getting better. Probably one more day and he’ll be back to normal. Well, nearly normal,” she said.

“You got one more day, there, sport, then you’ve got a date with your favorite person,” the man laughed. “You and him will have all kinds of fun.”

When the door closed, relief washed over Shane. Sure he had to meet Niigata again, but at least it wasn’t today. He wasn’t sure he could take it right now.

The men went to Calvin’s cell where the nurse checked him over as well. The diagnosis for him was not as positive as Shane’s.

“His ribs are healing slowly. He’s old, and old people just don’t heal that fast,” the nurse said.

“Well, how long will it take him to get healed up?” the man asked.

“It could take weeks.”

“You better hurry up, old man. They aren’t going to feed your worthless ass forever.”

Calvin didn’t respond from the floor where he was lying with his arms over his eyes. There was a lot he wanted to say, but he was in no shape to deal with the consequences.

The men continued down the row of cells. As they passed Jess’s cell, one of them banged on her door.

“Wake up!” he shouted.

The other banged on Fred’s and Mary’s cells.

“Tomorrow is the day, ladies! You’re finally going to get what’s coming to you!” the man said, then began to laugh.

“Yep, tomorrow’s your big day!” the other shouted.

Jess was immediately terrified. She tried to convince herself that she didn’t know what that statement meant, but deep down she knew. She sank against the wall.

Fred took the statement without any emotion. She’d already accepted the fact. There was no escaping from her current situation and she knew it. It’d taken time to come to the conclusion and it was hard to accept. But now that she had accepted it, there was nothing more that could affect her. She didn’t want to give the bastards the satisfaction of ruining her last hours.

 • • • 

Aric sat on an empty fuel drum, staring at the detention facility. He was thinking of ways to get Fred out of there—and fast. But then what? Where would they go? They’d have to leave the grounds, with no place to stay, without any food.
Wait a second
, he thought to himself. Looking back at the motor pool, he started to develop a plan. Kay would probably give him food, or at least turn a blind eye if he took some. He could stash it in a truck along with weapons and extra ammo. The hard part would be getting out of the camp. He’d never get through the gates with Fred in tow. He thought about how he could pull that off when an idea struck him. Right before the breakout, he would cut through both fences, opening a path. He could move a truck over to the fence, cut it open, and head to the detention center. The fence line was only about a hundred yards past the detention facility.

When Cortez and the other idiot showed up to deliver food, he’d go inside with them, as he had the other day, and shoot them both. Once they were down, he’d take the keys and get Fred out. Then he thought about the other girls. If they wanted to come, they could. If not, they were on their own. Aric hopped off the barrel and headed for the kitchen. It was still a rough plan, but it was the best one he could think of. He decided to run parts of it past Kay.

As it was between services, Aric found Kay in the dry goods storage doing an inventory. The shelves weren’t exactly overflowing.

“Hey, Kay, whatcha doing?” Aric said as he came up behind the older woman.

Kay yelled and jumped, turning around with a hand over her chest. “Aric! You scared the life out of me!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, wasn’t trying to.”

Kay smoothed her hair, composing herself. “I’m inventorying our supplies.”

Aric looked at the shelves. “Doesn’t look like there’s much here.”

“There’s supposed to be a delivery tomorrow. I was just trying to see what we have on hand.”

“Well, that’s
kinda
what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Kay laid her clipboard on a shelf. “What do you mean?”

Aric looked around, then quietly asked, “Is there anyone else in here?”

“No, what’s going on?” Kay asked, concern in her voice.

“Look, this needs to stay between you and me. Can you promise me that?”

“What is it? What are you talking about?”

“Will you promise me that you won’t say anything to anyone about what I’m going to tell you?”

“All right, Aric, I promise. What’s wrong?”

Aric took a deep breath. “I’m going to get Fred out.”

Kay’s eyes went wide. “What? How are you going to do that?”

“The less you know, the better for you.”

“Then why are you even telling me? I don’t understand.”

“Because I need your help. When I get her out, we’re leaving here, and we need food.”

Kay slowly nodded her head. “I see.”

“You don’t have to give me anything. Just let me, you know, take some.”

Kay looked upset by what she was hearing. “I don’t know, I don’t want to end up over there too.”

Without even thinking, Aric blurted out, “Then come with us.”

Kay was shocked. “What? Come with you? Where are you going?”

Aric looked at the floor and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know yet. I’ll have to figure that out. But anywhere is better than here.”

Kay looked around the kitchen. “How do you plan on getting out of here? You’re going to just try and run? They’ll catch you in no time. You need to be smart about this, Aric.”

“Well, I’m going to take a truck, so we’ll have transportation. I’m taking weapons and ammo too.”

Kay started thinking it over. The idea of getting out of camp was intriguing, but the uncertainty of what lay outside the camp’s fence was scary.

“I—I don’t know if I could, Aric. I mean, where do you plan to go? Hell, how are we going to get out of here?”

“I can get us out, I think.”

“You think! This isn’t the sort of thing we’re going to do on a hunch—either you can or can’t. Do you want to end up dead?” Kay was incredulous.

“Look, I want to get her out of there, and I’ve decided I want out of here too, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get out.”

“When are you going to do this?”

“Soon. There isn’t much time before the”—Aric swallowed hard—“execution.”

Kay thought about the situation for a minute. She’d like to be in charge of her own life too. But it was scary to think about having to try to survive without the camp. She’d been there long enough that it was the only life she knew now.

“Let me know when you’re going to do it. I’ve got to think about it.”

“What about the food?” Aric asked.

“You can take what you want. If I don’t go, I’ll just say it was stolen. If I do come, it won’t matter, will it?”

Aric smiled. “I guess not.” He wrapped his arms around the older woman. “Thanks, Kay.”

Kay patted his back. “No problem, just think it through. I don’t want you winding up dead over this.”

“Me neither, me neither.” They released their embrace and Aric added, “I gotta go, got things I need to check out, so that this is a smart plan.”