The Horror Squad 2 (5 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN
I WOKEup to the sound of the backhoe

squeaking in the distance and the sun fully in
my face. I stretched out and looked around to
see my family was gone and I was all alone
except a letter my wife had left on the bed.

“My love,

We left out to the cafeteria to grab some
breakfast and left you to sleep since you
strongly needed it. If you awake before I return,
join us, if not, I’ll bring you breakfast in bed.
Yours truly,

Kris”

I smiled and tucked the letter into the pocket
of my blue jeans that I was about to put on and
pulled them over my ghostly white legs. I had
to get up and make motions around the room to
inquire a shirt and socks, but finally landed a
clean pair before putting on my boots and
walking out of the door to join my family.

I was shocked to see they were eating
pancakes when I walked into the chow hall, it
had been forever since I had eaten any and it
was my favorite breakfast food.

“Hey honey!” Kris called out from her seat.
I was still dragging ass walking to the table.
“Hey babe.”

She pulled me out a chair and I sat down.
Seems how, I’m not a morning person, I stole a
bite of of Kris’s pancake to make sure they
were good before deciding if I really wanted to
walk up to the front and grab my own plate. It
had a pretty good consistency, so I walked to
the front and got a plate and a cup of coffee
without greeting anyone. I sat back down and
mixed my coffee with one creamer and two
sugars.

“Who’s running the backhoe?” I asked.
“Steven. He’s been working since before I
even got up.” She responded.

I started cutting my pancakes into bite sized
triangles. “I figured he would have been the one
that slept in.”

“Why is that?” She asked.

I shoveled several of the triangular pieces of
fluffy goodness into my mouth. “Because he
was having shitty dreams last night. Gizmo and
I had to go check on him…Speaking of...where
is Gizmo?”

Kris pushed my cup of coffee towards me,
while trying not to insult my rudeness of talking
with my mouth full. “He’s running a crew out
at the tower. From what I was told about an
hour ago, he brought a new guy into our
compound this morning.”

I dropped my fork onto my plate. “What
guy?”

“I don’t know, honey. Finish eating and you
can go ask Gizmo all these questions. All I
know is Tina was in here a bit earlier and said
there was a man with dreadlocks outside the
gate that Gizmo had let in.” She replied.

I picked my fork back up and continued
eating. “I’ll check him out and help get the
framing done on the tower.”

My wife started laughing. “You really aren’t
a morning person. Did you not see the tower on
your way in? They already have it framed up
and should be running the ladder and roof on it
by now.”

I dropped my fork back onto my plate.
“Really? I guess I should get my ass out there
then.”

I pushed my plate over to my son Daltin that
was sitting across from me with his head laid
on the table and staring at my food as if he was
going to use the “force” to mind travel it in
front of him. “Here you go piggy boy.”

I kissed my wife and grabbed my coffee
before heading out to meet the new guy and to
see the progress.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked
out of the chow hall to see the tower was up.
They had even built it about ten foot higher
than I had originally planned. A ladder hung off
of the side and had been secured to the sides.

I walked over when I heard Gizmo throwing
out his shit. “Damn brother, I was wondering if
you were going to sleep the whole day away
while we work?”

Before I could manage to talk shit back, I
saw the new guy’s head lean over the side of
the tower. “Bo is that you?”

He turned his head and placed his hand at an
almost salute to block the sun. “TJ? Holy shit!”
He started climbing down the tower.
“I take it that y’all know each other?” Gizmo
suggested.
He made it to the bottom and ran up and
gave me a hug. “How’s it been brother?”

“It’s been fucking crazy. How the hell did
you wind up here? I thought you wasn’t ever
coming back to Texas.” I followed up with.

He threw his dreads over his shoulder
. “Kind
of hard not to when the world seems to be
plagued. I figured Texas would be a safe bet,
seeing how y’all pack all the guns.”

Gizmo was still standing there shifting his
head side to side to follow the conversation.

I looked over at Gizmo. “Oh, I’m
sorry
brother, this is Bo Dinkins. We used to play
shows in a lot of the same spots back in my
band days before he moved off to Florida.”

I looked back over at Bo. “Have you ate?”

“Na bro
, I was walking through and saw the
top of this tower. Figured I could climb up it
and get a better view of where the hell I was
going and found this guy that was kind enough
to let me in. Figured I’d chip in and help out
since he was nice enough to not leave me
stranded.” He responded.

“Well, come on. I’ll take you to meet my
wife and kids and get you some food.” I
suggested.

He turned and looked at Gizmo that still had
a confused look on his face. “Only if it’s okay
with you.”

“Yeah, go grab something to eat.” Gizmo
stated.

We walked off and headed back to the chow
hall. Kris was taking my empty plate from
Daltin and headed to the front to return it.

“Hey babe!” I called out to her.
She walked up staring at Bo. “Hey, you must
be the new guy.”
“This is Bo Dinkins.” I told her.

She looked at him and then looked back at
me. “As in Bo Dinkins, your old friend and
vocalist of Murderfly?”

I started laughing. “That’s the one.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh wow, well I’m happy to
meet you. TJ and I have talked about going on
vacation to Florida and seeing one of your
shows for quite some time before the world
went to shit.”

He held out his hand and shook her hand.
“That would have been cool.”
Daltin walked over and stared upward at Bo
whom towered over him. “I know you.”
Bo took a knee and held out his hand. “Hey
little man.”
“H-hhi.” Daltin hesitantly stated while
shaking his hand.

“That’s my son Daltin and here’s my
daughter Shianne.” I stated while pointing my
daughter out.

“Hey Daltin, why don’t you run up to the
front and tell Milissa that we need one more set
of pancakes.” I guided my son.

“It’s nice to meet all of you.” Bo still being
polite to everyone.

“Go find you a seat and my son will bring
you some food. I’m sure we’ll catch up more
later, but I’ve got to go help get some work
done.” I told him.

“Sounds good, brother. Hey maybe later we
can sit down and share some lyrics together.”
He suggested.

I turned back to him. “Oh bro, I haven’t done
any lyrics in years. I’ll read some of yours
though.”

I walked out and made my way back to the
tower. Gizmo was standing next to the tower
with a level held up on one of the side beams
that we had cemented in the night before.

“Something wrong?” I asked as I walked up.

He pulled the level away. “No, just checking
it. I know my ass ain’t climbing forty feet in the
air on something that ain’t perfectly straight
and solid.”

I started laughing. “Well, you want to go up
and see how sturdy it is?”
“Fuck no, you have at it.” He stated.

I laughed more and started climbing up the
tower’s ladder that was braced against 2X6’s
that were in a “X” pattern all the way up to help
secure its stability. Almost short of breath, I
reached the top, where I found Howard and
Donald.

“How’s it going guys?” I asked.
Howard was hammering over his head and
then turned to me. “It’s going.”

I shifted my legs side to side to check its
stability and never felt it budge. “Well, it’s
looking good. Maybe we can put up a pulley
system so we can send up food and water to
whoever is on guard instead of risking people
falling from climbing up and down. Maybe
even hoist up the most comfortable chair we
can find and do twelve hour shifts.”

I looked out at the trench that was about
three quarters of the way complete and could
see Steven walking towards the tower holding
the last gas can. “Donald, you still good to go?”

“I’m always ready to go.” He responded.

“Good, help Howard out for about another
thirty minutes and then meet me at the base of
the tower.” I told him.

“What about me?” Howard asked.

“Stay here and finish up what you can
of the
tower and then come as well.” I stated before
finding my way down the ladder.

I barely stepped off the ladder before Steven
approached me. “I know, we’re out of gas. I’m
putting together a team as we speak to make a
run.”

“Great, so where are we going?” Steven
asked.

“You’re going back to your bed because your
hand looks even worse, but we’re going out.” I
ordered.

“But I always go out with you.” He tried to
clarify.
“You’re correct, but not this time.” I told him
before turning to Gizmo.
“I’ll grab a bag.” Gizmo stated before I could
say anything and started to walk off.

“Good and while you’re at it, tell everyone
you come across to meet in the cafeteria.” I
informed him.

“10-4 little buddy.” He called back without
even turning around.
Steven stormed off, not being happy with my
decision.

“Hey Donald! Go to the cafeteria when
you’re done.” I called up to him before walking
off.

CHAPTER EIGHT
NIGHT WASstarting to blanket us as

everyone finally made it into cafeteria. I stood
on top of one of the tables to help my voice
reach everyone.

“I need to put together a team. We nee
d fuel,
more backup generators and food. I know I
normally just pick my team and go, but some of
my typical team is injured, tired or even
worse…dead. So I need to build a new one for
now.” I announced.

Bo stood up. “I’ll volunteer.”
Lisa and Karen stood up. “We volunteer
too.”

“Okay, you all meet me out front and Jason
Neilson meet me out front as well.” I
announced further before climbing off the table.

I started finding my way through the crowd
to get back out of the door when Jason bumped
into me.

“Hey man, I’m not sure I’m the right guy to
go out on missions.” He stated.
“Relax, I just want you in the tower while
we’re away.” I tried to ease his mind.

“I can do that, but I’d be better if you’d just
let me work in the plant. That was my old job
before all of this.” He responded.

I stopped dead in my tracks. “Wait, you
operated a nuclear power plant and you’re just
now telling me this?”

“I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.” He
responded.
“Okay, well follow me outside and let’s
solve this.” I demanded.

I shoved the doors open and walked outside
to join the rest of the crew. “Lisa, I want you to
take boy wonder here and show him everything
that you found in the plant. That’s what he did
at his old job.”

“What…and you didn’t say anything?” She
replied.

“He didn’t want to step on any toes. Either
way, just take him there and show him
whatever you can.” I intervened.

“Come on!” She demanded of him.
I turned to my family. “Shianne, I want you
up in the tower to keep watch.”
“I don’t think she’s ready for this.” Kris
stated.

“She made it from Colorado to us and she
thinks she’s ready to go out on missions, so
she’s big enough to take watch.” I answered.

“But what if something happens while you’re
away like it did with Tina?” She questioned.

“
Easily solved. No one is to come up in the
tower with you. If someone starts climbing, you
can holler down at them for a warning and your
next action is to shoot them. Also, it’s not going
to be while I’m away, it’ll be while we’re
away.” I replied.

“Okay, so who all is going?” Karen asked.

“It’ll be me, Bo, Donald, Howard, Gizmo,
you, Kris, Tina and Lisa. Now many of you are
new to missions and more importantly you’re
new to missions with me. So I need everyone to
stay on their toes and watch each other’s back.”
I responded.

“Why so many?” Tina chimed in.

“Because we’re going to have to do some
wide spreads to find the gas and the bigger the
group the bigger the spread, but if you don’t
want to go I can snatch someone else up.” I
answered.

“No, I want to go, I was just asking.” She
responded.
“So are we leaving out at first light?”
Howard questioned.

“No, we’re going to leave just as fast as you
can pack a bag. We’re going to have to travel
for gas, so we need to put as much road behind
us as possible, so we can be on the search for
gas by first light.” I answered.

Everyone split off and collected bags without
argument, except me and Bo since he had just
got there and didn’t have a bag, I let my wife
collect me a bag while Bo and I walked around
and checked the vehicles fuel situation out to
see what we could manage. I found Gizmo’s
old hunter green Tahoe that still had a full tank
and Steven’s white F-150 that had close to a
full tank as well.

“We going to take two vehicles bro?” Bo
questioned.

I squatted down to get a good look at the
tires. “Yeah, that way we can haul more back
with us and can split up if we have to.”

I reached in and turned the key over to the
truck. “Follow me to the storage shed.”

I walked over to the Tahoe and fired it up as
well and drove down to the storage and waited
on the tailgate of the truck for Karen to arrive
so we didn’t mess up her inventory sheets.

“Hey bro, do you care to read something
while we wait?” Bo asked.
I looked over to him pulling a piece of paper
from his pocket. “Sure man.”
I unfolded the paper and read.

“I destroy homes, tear families apart, take
your children, and that's just the start. I'm more
costly than diamonds, more costly than gold,
the sorrow I bring is a sight to behold, and if
you need me, remember I'm easily found. I live
all around you, in schools and in town. I live
with the rich, I live with the poor, I live down
the street, and maybe next door. My power is
awesome; try me you'll see, but if you do, you
may never break free. Just try me once and I
might let you go, but try me twice, and I'll own
your soul. When I possess you, you'll steal and
you'll lie. You do what you have to just to get
high. The crimes you'll commit, for my narcotic
charms will be worth the pleasure you'll feel in
your arms. You'll lie to your mother; you'll
steal from your dad When you see their tears,
you should feel sad. But you'll forget your
morals and how you were raised, I'll be your
conscience, I'll teach you my ways. I take kids
from parents, and parents from kids, I turn
people from God, and separate from friends. I'll
take everything from you, your looks and your
pride, I'll be with you always, right by your
side. You'll give up everything your family, your
home, your friends, your money, then you'll be
alone. I'll take and take, till you have nothing
more to give. When I'm finished with you you'll
be lucky to live. If you try me be warned this is
no game. If given the chance, I'll drive you
insane. I'll ravish your body; I'll control your
mind. I'll own you completely; your soul will be
mine. The nightmares I'll give you while lying
in bed, the voices you'll hear from inside your
head, the sweats, the shakes, the visions you'll
see; I want you to know, these are all gifts from
me, But then it's too late, and you'll know in
your heart, that you are mine, and we shall not
part. You'll regret that you tried me, they
always do, but you came to me, not I to you.
You knew this would happen. Many times you
were told, but you challenged my power, and
chose to be bold. You could have said no, and
just walked away, If you could live that day
over, now what would you say? I'll be your
master; you will be my slave, I'll even go with
you, when you go to your grave. Now that you
have met me, what will you do? Will you try me
or not? It’s all up to you. I can bring you more
misery than words can tell. Come take my hand,
let me lead you to hell. ~by Bo Dinkins.”

“Damn brother, that’s some deep shit.” I
stated after taking my mind back to my stupid
years.

I folded the poem back up and handed it to
him.

“I know you have some up your s
leeve, let
me hear it.” Bo stated while tucking his poem
back into his pocket.

“I scream as I feel the chains bite on my life,
Another victim fallen under the knife, Picking
at everything I ever try, Nothing I could say as
you threw it all away, Short leash I’ve been left
with, A bleeding heart, Nothing I could
describe, It never feels like it’s going to be
over, As you take me layer by layer, Steady
drips as these chains tear away.

If I gave the chance would you have
anything to say, Or just tear me apart just for
knowing, Always looking over my shoulder,
Cause it’s never enough, It’s never enough.

You can sign off on this sleepless night,
Tossing and turning a constant rattle of the
chain, As you never looked back, Speechless,
Nothing to say, Does it ever seem like I’ve
taken enough beatings, The doormat under your
feet, As you threw it all away, It’s never
enough, So come one and let’s throw it all
away.

Now I can live my life sober, No more
looking over my shoulder, Released of the
chains, As we threw it all away.” I spoke as I
noticed I had gained an audience.

“Where did you hear that?” Lisa asked.
“From my heart and soul, my past and my
present.” I answered.
“A side of our leader we never knew about.”
She went on to say.
“I did. I’ve known he was deep from the first
time we met.” Kris stated.

“Okay guys, you all can get all gushy later. I
want the guys in the Tahoe and you ladies in
the truck. Pack a box of MRE’s in each vehicle
and y’all take whatever weapons and ammo
you need. We need to load all of the gas cans
we can. They have to all be refilled.” I
announced.
“What about you?” Karen questioned.

“I have my knife and my machete and that’s
all I need.” I replied before climbing back into
the driver’s seat of the Tahoe.

Tina ran up to the Tahoe and knocked on the
window while everyone else was getting in.
“What direction are we headed?”

I rolled the window down. “We’re going
south this time.”
“Why south?” She questioned.

“Because we usually go west, so we already
know what’s not there.” I answered before
rolling my window back up and pulling off to
drive back to the gate.

Gizmo got out and opened the gate and I
pulled far enough forward to allow both
vehicles to clear. Gizmo closed the gate and
caught a slight jog back to the Tahoe and then
we pulled off and started heading south.