Wormwood Dawn (Episode IX) (7 page)

“Cliff’s alright, then?” Dan asked, happy to hear the man’s name.

Max nodded. “Who are your new friends?”

“This is Bill, and his daughter Linda,” Dan said. “Bill saved my life the other night. We ran into a little bit of trouble.”

“I’ve heard,” Max said.

“You killed a guy named Russ,” Toby said. “Somebody named Seth is very mad about it.”

Dan winced. How did they know about Russ? Who was Seth?

The gate clanked and Cliff and Gena stepped out. They were armed to the teeth, and Cliff was bandaged but seemed alright. Dan went to him, hanging his head low.

“Dan,” Cliff said. “It’s okay. I’m fine. But we’ve got other things to worry about.”

“Tell me about this Seth,” Dan said. “Maybe our new friends here can help.”

Dan introduced everyone, glad to see that Bill and Linda’s presence didn’t raise any alarms with the rest of the group.

“Come inside,” Cliff said. “We’ll bring you up to speed and make a plan.”

“It was Mike,” Dan said after he was asked about the incident at Bill’s farm. “He was the guy I was held captive with at Robert’s house.”

“I thought he was your friend,” Toni said.

“He seemed like an alright guy. But I guess he was just worried about getting out alive. He didn’t stick around after we got out. He just left and went back to Martinsville, I guess.”

“This Seth said he didn’t really care about Russ,” Cliff said. “It was the principal of the thing. He has a brother named Enoch who I assume is their leader. He said Enoch would be pissed. I think we’ve got some trouble on our hands; more than just a simple rescue.”

Dan nodded. “Mike said something about this being their territory. I thought he was talking about his little group. I guess there’s something bigger, though.”

“If there’s a bigger group,” Toni said. “Then that could mean a war. We can either pack up and leave, or stay and fight.”

“Either way,” Dan said. “We have to get the guys back. What did this Seth ask for?”

“All of our weapons, ammo, and food,” Cliff said. “And we have to get it to them by nine this evening or they’ll kill all three of them.”

“Fuck that,” Dan said. “We’ll go with your plan, Cliff. We go early, get our guys back, and leave none of them alive. These guys seem to be everywhere. I don’t know how safe it’ll be here once the shit hits the fan.”

“We’ve got the RV loaded up with the rest of our weapons and food,” Cliff said. “If we need to leave, we’re ready. Max, Travis and Grace will stay here with Toby. And I guess Linda will, too. Bill, you have no reason to join us. This isn’t your fight.”

“The hell it isn’t,” Bill said. “Because of them, Linda and I had to leave our home. I know for sure they’ll be back and burn the place down. But I’ll stay here and help keep the others safe. I’m too old for that kind of shit. I ain’t a grunt anymore, and this ain’t Vietnam.”

Cliff smiled, nodding. “You’re a vet, then. That’s good. I feel better leaving them here with you.”

“Linda’s a good shot, too,” Bill said. “And she’s full of piss and vinegar.”

“Cliff, brother,” Travis said. “You shouldn’t go, man.”

“What do you mean?” Cliff asked.

“You just lost your forearm in case you forgot. It isn’t fully healed. You could pop your stitches and bleed to death, or get an infection if you get caught. With no antibiotics, a septic infection could kill you.”

“He’s right,” Dan said. “You should really stay behind. I don’t want you getting fucked up any worse. It’s my fault this happened to you anyway.”

Cliff shook his head, giving Dan a look of sympathy. “Don’t blame yourself, man,” he said. “You saved my life. Really.”

“Still,” Dan said, strapping on his Blackout. “You’re needed here, to protect everyone else.”

Though Cliff began to protest, the look he saw on Grace’s face changed his mind. Dan realized Cliff had a little thing for Grace, and the feeling seemed mutual. It might make him feel a lot better if he could stay with her.

“We’ll take care of it,” Dan said. “It’ll be the three of us.”

Gena and Toni nodded confidently. He knew they could all do it together. Gena had military experience. Toni was just a badass in general.

“We’re with you,” Toni said. “Either way, Jake is my boy, and I’m not sitting this one out.”

“Alright,” Dan said. “Let’s get going then. Cliff, take care of everybody, and don’t hesitate to flee if you need to.”

“Where should we meet you if we do?”

“How about the hardware store in Nashville?”

Cliff nodded. “Sounds good,” he said, holding out his good arm.

Dan took his hand, keeping his eyes locked on Cliff’s face. “Good luck, brother,” Dan said. “Stay safe.”

“Bring ‘em back.”

“Be careful Dan,” Travis said. “Bring my boy home.”

Eric, Jake, and Drew were dragged out of the van by two of Seth’s cronies. They had arrived at a large, secure building in an undeveloped area that looked like Columbus. Jake searched the area for landmarks as they were led inside, seeing a water tower in the distance that was labeled with the city’s name. Like the rest of the city, this area was overgrown, but much of the foliage had been trimmed back from the doors, and chopped down inside the high, barbed-wire topped fences.

The three of them were pushed roughly into the double doors directly in front of them, and led down a dark hallway to a small room. There was a single table in the center, a large number of metal racks lining the walls, and a pile of worthless computer equipment stacked in the corner. Jake guessed it was a server closet, where powerful computers once kept track of… who knows what?

“Against the wall,” one crony said. He was a gaunt and dumb-looking guy with a man bun and a missing tooth.

The three of them were chained to the empty racks behind them with their hands above their heads. Though the shackles themselves were secure, the racks were somewhat flimsy, Jake realized. Someone his size or even Eric’s size could rip them right from the wall with enough effort.

The four cronies stepped back after they were finished, and stared at the three of them. One of them smoked a cigarette, his eyes locked on Jake for some reason.

“Problem?” Jake said.

The man sneered, then grinned crookedly as he shouldered his rifle. The cronies stepped aside just as Seth walked in. He set a handgun down on the table, and turned to them, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Here’s how it’s gonna go,” he began. Jake felt his blood boil as he glared at the man. “We’re going to wait here until your friends arrive. In the meantime, I’ll be communicating with my brother. I’ll be telling him exactly who you are, where you live, and what you’ve done.”

“We haven’t done anything to you,” Jake said. “So what’s the point?”

“You have weapons, and other things we need,” Seth said. “And you’re in our territory. We control this town and all the surrounding areas. Anyone wants to be safe, they join us and become a part of our community, here or elsewhere. Everyone who is with us started out just like you. They were also worthless assholes who scavenge for shit and do nothing in return.”

He stepped forward, glaring right at Jake. “We don’t appreciate loners. That’s not what the world is anymore. If you produce, you share. If you scavenge, you share. You have women… you share.”

“So you’re a bunch of commies, then?”

Seth smiled, stepping in front of Eric. “What about you, Grizzly Adams? Don’t you like to share? You look like a coffee house fuckface, like this asshole behind me with the bun.”

“I don’t drink coffee,” Eric said. “And I don’t like coffee houses.”

Seth shook his head, moving in front of Drew. “And you,” he began, turning his head to his friends and laughing. “What’s your story? Are you some kind of wannabe biker? Can you see me? I noticed you lost your glasses when I punched you in the face. Are you still bitter about that?”

Drew snorted, as if preparing a nice chunky loogie to blow into Seth’s face.

“Alright, alright,” Seth said. “The silent type. I get it. But get this. If I want you to talk, you
will
talk. Understand? And the first thing you’ll talk about is where your base is located.”

“If you know exactly where we’re located,” Jake said. “Then that’s kind of redundant, don’t you think?”

“I wanna hear it from this guy here,” Seth said, still staring at Drew. Jake couldn’t see his face, but he knew Drew was probably gritting his teeth.

“Do I have to punch you again?” Seth taunted him.

“If you want.”

Seth’s face darkened, and he reared his fist back, slamming it into Drew’s face. The impact threw Drew’s head back into the racks, but he spit and chuckled in response.

“Is that all you got, lady?” he hissed.

Seth punched him again, knocking him senseless. Drew slumped down, barely able to stand. Seth stepped away, his eyes locked on Jake. Jake’s heart thumped with rage, and he could feel his face tighten. Drew gasped and spit blood, but underneath his pained noises, he began to chuckle. Jake grinned at Seth, who turned back to his cronies as a voice came through his headset.

“Unlock the worm and chain him the table,” he said, handing one of his cronies the headset. “Keep this on and let me know when he talks.”

Seth stormed out, taking one of the four men with him. The three others prepared the table, sitting one chair on either side of it, then unlocked Drew. They dragged him to a chair and chained him to it, letting his head slump onto the table. Then, one of them laid a large handgun on the table and sat at the other chair, putting on the headset. The other two stood by, their rifles trained on Jake and Eric.

“Sorry about that,” manbun said, grinning as he scooted his chair closer to the table. “Seth can be a little… bitchy.”

“Just like a bitch,” Drew spat.

Manbun grinned, placing his hand on the gun. “I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you.”

Jake looked over to Eric, who was breathing heavily with anger, but had his head hung low. He seemed like a volcano building up the pressure to spew lava all over the place. He could almost feel Eric’s rage, and it added to his own. He was about to explode, himself. He pulled on his restraints as hard as he could without alerting any of the three cronies. The racks they were clamped to were solid and sturdy. There was no hope of breaking them.

Eric’s left arm, however, was shackled to a rack with one loose screw. Jake could see the head of it sticking out at least a quarter of an inch. One good tug from a guy Eric’s size and the rack would come loose. Of course, the whole shelving unit would probably come with it, but it was worth a shot. He only had to get Eric’s attention.

Or maybe not.

Eric looked to his left, made a small tugging motion with his left hand, and looked back at Jake. His jaw clenched, and Eric’s brow furrowed. He knew. But if he did it, then what? What good was having one hand free? There were three dipshits with guns, one of them staring at Drew as he recovered from the face bashing he got from Seth.

They needed a plan.

“Hey,” Jake said to manbun.

The jerk looked up, smirking, keeping his hand on the gun that lay on the table in front of him. “What?”

“I gotta take a piss,” Jake said. “How we gonna work that out?”

“Piss your fuckin’ pants, asshole,” manbun said. “I don’t give a shit.”

Jake sighed.
Fucker,
he thought. Manbun went back to glaring at Drew, and the other two began pacing. They held their rifles in a strange way, though, as if neither of them had ever held one before. In fact, as one of them turned to his left, Jake could see that the bolt of his rifle was open. He could see the brass inside, off-kilter and slanted instead of snug inside the barrel. The asshole’s rifle was jammed.

So much for M4 feed ramps,
Jake thought, smiling.

“What are you smiling at?” the other asshole asked him, walking his way.

“Nothing,” Jake said. “It’s a nervous tic.”

The guy walked over slowly, keeping his eyes on Jake. There was a slight creak from Eric’s position, and the quiet sound of a screw being pulled tight. Jake gritted his teeth, readying himself for what was coming next. Just as the asshole got in front of Eric, the man let loose.

With a grizzly bear growl, Eric ripped the top shelf from the wall. It came loose from its frame, swinging around in an arc, bashing the asshole’s head with a loud crack. The man went down in a bloody pulp. Drew leaped up, dragging his chair with him, and shoved the table toward manbun, knocking him onto the floor and jumping on top of him.

The remaining guy shouted just as Eric ripped himself free and swung the heavy shelf at him. He raised the rifle just as the heavy steel clipped him in the shoulder. He went down, flung in Jake’s direction. Jake kicked him in the gut with enough force to make him puke, and Eric finished him off with his shackled weapon.

Drew rolled to the side, still handcuffed, just as manbun threw the table off of him. Eric grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground by his neck. Manbun struggled and gagged as Eric squeezed.

“Kill him,” Jake said. “Break his fuckin’ neck.”

Eric closed his eyes and growled again, the veins in his hands popping out as he put more pressure on Manbun’s neck. Then, with a crack, Eric’s vise-like grip did its job, and manbun fell limp. Eric dropped his body to the floor, putting his hands on his knees and spewing vomit on the floor.

“Find the keys,” Jake said. “Get us out of here.”

Eric wept loudly, sounding like a tortured dog. Jake felt bad for him, knowing that the man had basically popped his murder cherry. Eric was a gentle soul, and now that aspect of his being was gone. His life would change forever, Jake knew, but now was not the time to dwell on it.

“Eric,” Drew said, hopping around with the chair dangled from his shackled hands. “Get the keys out of his pocket and unlock us.”

“Oh my god,” Eric moaned. “Fuckfuckfuck.”

“Dude!”
Jake shouted. “Focus.”

Eric stood, grasping his hair as he looked around. He reached down into manbun’s pockets, rooting around and finding a set of keys. He unlocked Drew first, handing the keys to him and squatting on the floor. Drew unlocked Jake’s shackles, giving Jake a look that showed he was sympathetic to Eric’s plight. Jake rubbed his wrists, going to Eric and putting his hand on the man’s back.

“Come on, brutha,” he said. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”

“I just killed three people,” Eric said, nearly choking.

“So what?” Jake said, picking up the jammed rifle. “Let’s go. Grab a gun and let’s find our way out.”

Jake cleared the rifle’s chamber, unjamming it. He searched its owner’s pockets, finding two mags in his thigh pocket. “Sweet,” he said.

“I want that fuckin’ Seth’s head,” Drew growled, grabbing manbun’s gun.

“Later,” Jake said. “Let’s just focus on getting out. We can come back with a larger force and erase these mother fuckers for good.”

Jake dragged Eric to his feet, handing him the remaining rifle. Eric took it reluctantly, making sure it was loaded. After a moment, he nodded sadly. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s go.”

Dan and his two female companions crept through the abandoned warehouses on 450W. They had parked at the intersection to avoid being seen and were now close to their destination. It was likely that this new group had lookouts all over the place, so Dan wasn’t taking any chances.

Though the sky was darkening, there was still enough light for them to navigate through the rubble. They were all shocked at the massive amount of foliage that had sprung up all over the place. Dan could swear it looked like several hundred years had passed since he last laid eyes on Columbus. However, it was only a few days ago.

“Watch out,” Gena said, raising her hand to stop them.

Dan and Toni crouched as Gena scouted ahead. She stopped just inside a steel door leading into a dilapidated warehouse. Dan’s heart pounded in anticipation. Gena turned and crept back, her face confident. Dan was glad he had brought her.

“There are two cholos inside,” she said. “Follow me.”

Dan and Toni fell in after her, following her to the door. Dan looked inside, squinting in the dim light that came through the filthy and vine-covered windows. Two men were there, smoking as they scanned the warehouse. They were both armed with shotguns, and dressed in biker-style clothing.

“I’ll take the one on the right,” Gena said, raising her rifle.

Dan raised his Blackout, centering on his target’s head. He heard the muffled pop of Gena’s rifle, and pulled the trigger. The two men fell straight down, silenced for good.

“Those could have just been two guys scavenging around for supplies,” Toni said.

“I don’t think so,” Gena replied. “They were walking casually, like they were on patrol.”

Dan got up and went to the bodies, picking up one of the rifles. It was a silenced AR15, chambered in 6.5 Grendel. He handed it to Toni with a grin. She holstered her revolvers and admired it with an almost sexual expression.

“This’ll have some punch,” Dan said. “Not quite as much as your Magnums, but it’ll do.”

Gena snickered at Toni’s facial expression and went to the warehouse’s opposite door. The opening was draped with vines, giving them a good cover to observe the parking lot outside. From what they could see, there were no people out in the open. The tech building complex was only another block away, so it was logical to assume they would run across some patrols, or at least an occupied guard tower or two.

“I don’t see anything yet,” Gena said. “Give it a look through your IR scope.”

Dan flicked on the scope and looked through. He swept from side to side slowly, seeing only the heat signatures of small animals; mice, rats, squirrels and the like. Nothing human sized. He lowered his rifle and nodded, prompting Gena to move the vines to the side and step through.

“Keep low,” she said. “Anyone on guard might have IR, too. So make your mass as small as possible.”