Bitter Cold Apocalypse 2 (A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller) Read online

  Or they were in Town Hall having a celebration party, as Henry had said.

  Either way, there would be no one out on the street to see us coming—or to warn Randall that we had arrived.

  32

  We got all the way to the square without seeing a soul, just as I’d hoped we would. And it wasn’t because we were moving slowly or being extremely subtle about it.

  Hell, we were a group of eighty people rushing down the sidewalk and trying to stay close to the building but not really doing that terrific of a job at it. Because we were eighty people all coming at once, and we were all cold and stressed and wanting to get this damn thing over with.

  I hadn’t told them to be incredibly careful. I’d given them the information that I had—that I hadn’t seen anyone on the street, and that we suspected Randall and his men to be inside Town Hall rather than out in the cold—and told them that our job was to get to the hardware store as quickly as possible and then regroup.

  It took us about ten minutes.

  I stared around the corner of the hardware store, my people ranged out behind us, and then turned back to where Marlon and Bob were standing behind me.

  “Bob, you and Sean take half of the group to the other side of the street,” I said quickly. “I want us to be able to rush Town Hall in a more even-handed way, and that’s not going to happen if we’re all coming from the same place.”

  Bob nodded in his usual businesslike way. “Are we just going to rush in there and start shooting?”

  “Maybe not shooting, since they might be more inclined to shoot back, but we have to catch them off guard and then order them to drop their weapons. Like a police raid. I think it’s our only option,” I finally said. “I’ve had my brain working on this since we got here, and I just don’t see any way around it. We’re going to have the element of surprise, and if they’re not expecting us, then it means they’re definitely not in there already set up with weapons and ready to battle. With luck, they’ll be more likely to just sort of…give up. But we need to scare them badly enough to get them to do that. We need to look and sound like we’ve got more people than we actually do. If we do it right, maybe we can get out of this without any bloodshed.”

  I looked up and caught Marlon’s eyes on me, and read his expression perfectly. Because he was thinking the same thing I was: I hoped that there wouldn’t be any bloodshed. But I didn’t think it was likely. Randall was too reckless—and I had to assume that his men would be the same way. I still didn’t have a good handle on what exactly Randall thought he was doing—or why he thought he needed all the weapons he’d stored here, and the town itself had confiscated—but I was almost entirely positive that now that he’d won it back, and had his hands on those weapons, he was going to do whatever it took to keep it.

  Still. None of that meant I had a better plan than just rushing in and getting them to surrender as quickly as we could. It wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t going to be pretty. But it was our best shot at getting this thing done.

  For a split second, I wondered again if it was even worth it. We were going to be risking our lives—and people might even die—just to take back the town, when the reality was that I wasn’t sure we needed it. No, we couldn’t stay at Marlon’s indefinitely. But we could stay there for a little while. And when everyone was ready to move, we could find a different town to take us in. This wasn’t the only civilization in the area. There were other towns within a fifty-mile radius. Surely we could just move the people there.

  But then I remembered all the arguments against that. Those towns would be suffering, just like ours had. They’d be running low on food and supplies, and they’d be scared out of their minds. If they saw a force of two hundred people marching toward them, they’d be likely to think someone was trying to invade them. Hell, even if they knew we were just from the next town over, and were looking for shelter, they might turn us down. They might not be able to help us. And we couldn’t afford to leave our people out in the cold for another night. We couldn’t afford to be so far away from our own homes without any shelter.

  We had to have our town back if the people were going to survive. It was as simple as that.

  And that didn’t even take Marlon’s magical communication device—or its connection to the government—into account. It didn’t account for the fact that Marlon could use that device to get in touch with the authorities, find help for our town. Maybe figure out what we were supposed to be doing, and how long it would be until things got back on line.

  I didn’t know how much I cared about Marlon getting his orders for whatever mission he needed to run next. But I definitely cared about being able to contact the authorities for information and help.

  So I came right back to the decision we’d already made once. We had to take the town back. There was no other choice.

  And to do that, we had to go charging into Town Hall, guns out and at the ready, and scare Randall’s men badly enough that they surrendered.

  “Marlon and I are going to take our group around the back and go in through the back door,” I told Bob, continuing in my orders. “You and Sean are going to take people in through the front door. I have no idea where Randall and his men are, but your job is to go in and try to get as far as you can without alerting them. That means sneak until you can’t sneak any longer. Shoot only if they start shooting at you. If they don’t—if you can get in without them noticing you—then we work to try to take them prisoner rather than starting a gun battle. If those guys are anything like Randall, they’re not going to hesitate to shoot, and I’d rather avoid bloodshed if we can. If it comes to shooting...well, we won’t really be able to do anything about that. Don’t try to hit anyone unless they’re aiming at you. Knock anyone out that you can. If they’re unconscious, they can’t shoot you. Look for Randall, but don’t engage with him. Just figure out where he is. I want him alive. I want to know what the hell he’s doing, and why he’s doing it.”

  I reached out and grabbed Bob’s shoulder, squeezing it firmly once.

  “Marlon and our group will be coming at you from the back of the building. We’re going to be running in their blind, and I won’t be able to check in with you. But I’m counting on meeting you again in the large hall. You got this?”

  Bob reached up and squeezed my shoulder in return. “I’ve got it. How long before we invade?”

  “Ten minutes,” I answered. “It gives us time to get around the back of the building and get the door open. I’ll see you in there.”

  I watched Bob quickly divide the group of people following us and head to the other side of the street, going back three blocks to cross, to eliminate the chance of anyone seeing them from Town Hall. Once they were directly across the street from us, Bob gave me a nod.

  I turned, called my own group of people to order, and headed down the alley that I knew would take us to the edge of town, my mental clock already starting the countdown.

  It was a quick, straight shot to where town ended and the clearing between the buildings and the trees began, and we came upon the open snow of the field behind the last buildings within three minutes. I moved to the back of the building next to me and waited for everyone to join me there, their backs against the wall, their eyes on me. And then I ran my eyes down the line. They weren’t the ideal soldiers, and they weren’t trained. They were people that I was far too emotionally attached to. People that I was terrified to lose.

  But I didn’t see any hesitation from any of them. They might not be trained, but this was their town and those were their people in Marlon’s house. They were ready to fight for them. Ready to fight to be able to bring them home.

  I pulled my gun out and noticed my company do the same, their faces dead serious.

  “We go in the same way I told Bob,” I told them sharply. “We’re trying to catch them unawares, and that means going in quietly. We want to capture them, not kill them. But if they start shooting at us, we’re not going to have a choice. Remember, shoo
t people only if you see that they’re about to engage. But I don’t want to take that step unless we’re forced. Our aim is to get close enough to them to scare the hell out of them and force them to surrender in their panic. Anyone sees Randall, point me to him. He’s mine. Got it?”

  All the heads nodded sharply, and I considered that enough.

  I turned and headed for the back door of Town Hall.

  “You got any last thoughts?” I asked Marlon as we walked. “Any brilliant ideas or magical ways to get into Town Hall faster?”

  “I’m afraid I’m flat out of magical ideas and brilliant ideas at this point,” he replied grimly. “I’ve already used everything up from my bag of tricks.”

  “Well then I guess we’re doing it the old-fashioned way,” I said, and kicked the door in.

  33

  We crept through the back door of the building and then ran along the wall, taking cover behind the columns as we came to them and ducking down behind any structures we found in there. It looked a whole lot like Randall’s men were doing something similar to what the townspeople had been doing—namely, setting up a campground in Town Hall.

  Which really just confirmed my thought that they were planning to stay. And that was exactly what I didn’t want them doing.

  We got everyone into the room though, and crouched down in single file against the wall, our eyes on the empty room ahead of us. I saw a whole lot of clutter, but zero men, and wondered suddenly where the hell they all were. Had they detected Bob and his men already, and gone to the front of the building to fight with them?

  Because if they’d done that, I thought there was a good chance that Bob and his men were currently outnumbered.

  I paused and listened, narrowing my eyes, but didn’t hear anything. And that was…weird in and of itself, actually. We were in a large building, yeah, but it was also a building full of men. Men who had just achieved their goal—and who thought they had won a battle, if my guess was right.

  So the fact that they were all quiet was…wrong.

  “Something’s wrong,” I breathed to Marlon, who was kneeling next to me.

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” he whispered back. “It’s too damn quiet in here. Where the hell is everyone?”

  I breathed out quietly and looked around, trying to see through what looked like hundreds of tents. The place was completely packed with tents and supplies, including enormous barbecues—where the hell had those come from?—and a number of army cots sitting side by side along the wall. The men had also set up what looked like a picnic area in this relatively large room, and I could see—through a door to my right—the stockpile of weapons that they’d brought with them.

  In fact, now that I was looking, the room was full of weapons. I hoped that meant they didn’t have any on them, wherever they were. It would be incredibly stupid for them to have put them all in one place and not kept anything with them…

  But I was also guessing that they thought we were long gone. They’d had no idea that we were coming back. And with luck, that meant they’d let their guard down.

  With luck, it meant that my plan would work. We’d find them unarmed and be able to scare them so badly that they’d just give up rather than put up a fight.

  Then I saw one of the tents start to shake. And another. And another.

  “Oh God, they’re not at the front of the building,” I hissed. “They’re in their tents.” I turned and glared down the line of people I’d brought with me, making my voice as loud as I dared while still trying to keep it at least a little bit hidden. “The tents,” I said shortly. “Spread out and get to them. Capture them now, while they don’t know what we’re doing. And pray to God that they’re all in here.”

  Then I was racing for the far side of the room, counting on my soldiers to do as I’d told them—and to do it quickly. As I raced through the room, making for the tents furthest from the door—and the tents my people would be least likely to get to—I saw men starting to tumble out, their faces covered with shock and confusion at the number of strangers running through the room, guns in hand. I didn’t recognize any of them, but I did recognize that expression.

  They definitely hadn’t thought they were going to be facing any more enemies now that they’d taken the town. Hell, they’d probably found our camping spot in the barn, done what they needed to screw it up, and then written us right off.

  They definitely weren’t prepared for an invasion… Which was exactly what this was.

  “Hands up!” I shouted at them, brandishing my gun. “Now!”

  And that was when the shooting started. Not in the room we were in, but somewhere else. The front of the building, I realized.

  Bob and his men. They were shooting. Or someone was shooting at them.

  And in that moment, the man in front of me—one of Randall’s—gave me a grin that was so completely malicious that it made my blood run cold. Then he darted toward the gun that had been leaning up against his tent. Around us, I could see the other men from Randall’s camp doing the same, and I had the split-second thought that it was choreographed.

  Oh God, had this been a trap? Had I actually walked my people right into a trap?

  I ducked and rolled, instinct overruling the doubts of my brain to send me to ground behind the closest tent—much good it would do me once the shooting started in the room I was in—and turned to direct my voice toward the room itself, lifting it up and using the volume I’d only ever used in battle.

  The tone I used when I needed to make sure people heard me over gunfire.

  “Ellis Woods, they’ve got guns and they’re going to use them!” I screamed. “Take ’em down!”

  I spared a glance for the townspeople I could actually see, watched them nod at me in understanding, and then rolled out from where I was hiding, took aim, and shot the guy who had smiled at me.

  He went down, his face a blank, and I had the one thought that he’d damn well had that one coming. But then the world devolved into the snapshot, stop-action look it always got when I was in battle, and I stopped paying attention to the details. I saw a snap of Marlon helping someone behind a tent. A snap of one of Randall’s men going down, his face registering pain and fury.

  The report of a gun way too close to me.

  I ducked and hit the ground again, my body acting on instinct, and when I came up, I came up shooting. The guy who had fired was still holding the gun, but a split second later his brains were all over the tent behind him.

  I jerked another magazine out of my belt, released the one in my gun, shoved the new one home, and whirled around to face the room.

  The people from Ellis Woods were doing okay, I realized through the haze of gun smoke and noise. I could see most of them hiding behind what structures there were, popping up to shoot every so often but then staying out of sight.

  Randall’s men, on the other hand, weren’t doing so well. Several of them were on the floor, either dead or wounded, and I knew I’d taken care of two of them myself. They might have had guns, but we’d also woken them up with our sneak attack—and they hadn’t been prepared.

  If we did this thing carefully, we might still be able to get out of it without losing too many people.

  I started running toward the largest group of Ellis Woods people, but came to a screeching halt and pointed my gun right at the first man I came across. One of Randall’s. The guy looked up, his own gun seemingly out of ammunition, and then he dropped the gun.

  “Hands up,” I ordered.

  I saw his eyes go wide like he knew I would spend approximately .3 seconds deciding whether I wanted to shoot him or not if he talked back, and then his hands were behind his head. Around me, I could still hear some gunfire—but I could hear voices as well. Most of them loud. All of them aggressive.

  I glanced around, trying to make sense of all the action and noise, and saw that many of my people were shouting commands to Randall’s men, who were wisely dropping their weapons, and one by one we
re being zip-tied and shoved to the floor. I was glad now that Marlon had a stash of zip-ties—just another surprise from his armory back at his compound that we’d felt necessary to bring along.

  Marlon was to my right, shouting at a group of men who weren’t moving quickly enough to get down, and I saw Henry working with Joe beyond that, both of them ripping down tents to figure out whether anyone was hiding.

  The entire room had gone from being a mass of chaos and noise to being something that had at least a little bit of organization, and though I wasn’t positive exactly how it happened—exactly how we’d suddenly managed to come out on top—I wasn’t going to complain. The important thing was that it was all heading in one direction: my people were absolutely running riot in the area, and Randall’s men were prisoners, and being zip-tied, their weapons being gathered. We’d taken the room, but the battle was yet to be won.

  Some of my people stayed behind in this first room for now, to not only guard the weapons room, but to finish gathering up the prisoners, while I led the rest of my group to the bigger hall, where I’d promised Bob we would meet them.

  “Let’s go!” I screamed. “Check every last tent, then get to the next room. We have to get to the other side of the building to back them up!”

  Around me, most of my people began to push forward, while some took the time to look through any tents along the way to ensure there weren’t any of Randall’s men still in hiding. No one was going to get out of this, I realized. None of Randall’s men were going to be left free in this room once we were done. My people were walking forward purposefully, their guns ready, their faces intense.

  I couldn’t have been prouder if I’d trained them all myself.

  I just hoped Bob and Sean were having as much luck on the other side of the building, where the shooting sounded like it was actually increasing rather than dying down.