Standoff in the Ashes Page 10

  “Forbidden food? Oh . . . you mean like fried foods, and snacks that aren’t considered healdiful?”

  “That’s right.”

  Ben started laughing. He couldn’t help it. He recalled an episode of an old TV program about disc jockeys, one of them fearful of the ‘phone cops.’

  “What is so funny?” Lara demanded.

  “This crazy form of government now in power. It really doesn’t have a name. In some ways it’s unique. The bottom line is totalitarian . . . but on the fringes, all around the edges, it’s something else.”

  “It sucks!”

  Ben started laughing once again. Even though the laughing hurt his bruised ribs, the expression on Lara’s face was priceless.

  “Damn, Ben!” Lara stamped a boot and stood facing him, hands on her hips.

  That broke Ben up even more. God knows, he needed a good laugh, and now he was getting one. He finally managed to contain his laughter, and held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you . . . more at the situation, I suppose.”

  “You had me worried there for a few moments.”

  Ben wiped his eyes and said, “Let’s tuck these vehicles out of sight and prowl this little village. While we’re doing that, you can tell me how we’re going to travel the final miles to our destination.”

  They found parts of a garage and lean-to still standing to hide the Broncos, and then began walking what was left of the silent village. There was nothing left of any value that immediately met the eye. Punks and thugs and other people who could best be described as human trash had picked over the town many times, leaving nothing of value behind them.

  “How many times have you seen this?” Lara asked, waving a hand at the looted buildings.

  “More than I care to remember, over the long years,” Ben replied. “It began within hours, perhaps moments, after the fall of government. When I recovered from the illness, it had already spread all over the nation.”*

  *Out Of The Ashes

  “I remember it well. I was just out of college, and home for a few weeks before I started a new job. I stepped out of the house one morning, looked around, and thought the air smelled funny. Then I don’t remember anything else for a couple of days. Sure didn’t take long for the whole damn world to fall apart,” she added softly.

  “No, it sure as hell didn’t.”

  Ben cocked his head to one side and listened for a few seconds. “We’ve got company coming, Lara. Let’s find us a good ambush spot. And do it quickly.”

  “Damn! You take the woods to the left. I’ll take the right. That’s about the best I can do on the spur of the moment.”

  “See you later, darlin’,” Ben drawled, and took off for the timber.

  TWELVE

  Ben made it to the edge of a building and bellied down in some brush. He smiled when he saw the first vehicle approach—a beat-up old pickup truck. For a fact, the visitors were not soldiers or the police.

  The second vehicle was a car of nearly ancient vintage, and the third vehicle was a Jeep that looked as though it might be from the World War Two era.

  Three people in the pickup, four in the car, three in the Jeep.

  “Only five to one odds,” Ben muttered. “Things are definitely looking up.”

  The three-car caravan stopped, and eight men and two women got out to stand and stretch in the street. The women looked as rough as the men.

  They were all armed with rifles or shotguns, and Ben suspected that under their jackets they all carried pistols. These did not appear to be average law-abiding citizen types. Ben suspected they were bounty hunters, probably sanctioned by the government.

  “He ain’t here, Red,” one of the men said, his voice carrying clearly to Ben.

  “You don’t know that for a fact, Johnny.”

  “Son of a bitch could be anywhere,” one of the women said. “Maybe hooked up with one of the survivalist or militia groups around here.”

  “Hell, most of them are busted up and scattered,” another of the men said. “Or dead or in prison.”

  “For a fact,” another man piped up. “We don’t have to worry none about those people anymore.”

  “Don’t make a mistake and sell Ben Raines short,” the man called Johnny said, taking a slow look around him. “Bastard’s got more lives than a sack full of cats, and more luck than anybody I know.”

  “And that whore with him,” the other woman in the bunch. “Don’t forget about her. She’s a top leader in the militia movement. She won’t be no piece of cake.”

  “No,” another man said with a laugh. “You’re right about that, Jean. Just a prime piece!”

  “Get your mind off pussy, Mack,” the woman said.

  “Why?” Mack questioned.

  “Knock it off!” Johnny ordered. “There’s a reward out for the woman, too. And don’t forget, if we take them alive they’re worth more.”

  “Oh, I intend to take Lara Walden alive,” Mack said. “I got plans for her.”

  Both women looked disgustedly at him, but said nothing.

  “You really want to screw some militia whore?” a man asked. “She’s probably got some horrible disease.”

  Mack looked at him. “Jeff, you’ve got shit for brains, you know that?”

  “Why?” Jeff demanded. “How come you to say something like that, Mack?”

  “Because you’re stupid, that’s why. Isn’t that right, Pete? He’s dumb as a post, isn’t he?”

  “That’s enough!” Johnny said. “Good God. Knock it off. If you want to fuck that whore, Mack, fine with me. But first we’ve got to take them alive. So let’s start looking and knock off all the jabber.”

  “I agree,” Jean said.

  “Who the hell asked you?” Mack challenged.

  Ben lifted his CAR and gave the knot of bounty hunters half a magazine. A second later, Lara opened fire from across the street. Four bounty hunters went down, spinning and jerking from the impact of .223 rounds. The others hit the ground and scrambled behind their vehicles for cover.

  “Harry!” Johnny yelled. “See if you can get to the grenades in the Jeep.”

  The man called Harry jumped up and tried to make the Jeep. Ben and Lara’s CARs spat together, and Harry went down in a bloody heap.

  “Any other bright ideas?” Jean called.

  Johnny said nothing.

  “They’re on both sides of the street,” Sally said, her voice carrying clearly to Ben and Lara. “And we can’t move.”

  “I say we give it up,” Pete called. “It’s better than stayin’ here and dyin.’”

  “And if we do, you think Ben Raines is just gonna let us go?” Johnny asked. “Don’t be a fool. That man’s as coldblooded as a damn snake.”

  “Johnny’s right,” Sally said. “We’ve got to fight our way out of here.”

  “OK,” Jeff said. “I’ll sure go along with Sally on that. But how do we do it?”

  No one had a ready reply to that question. Ben and Lara waited, neither of them making a sound.

  “Help me!” one of the wounded men called. “My belly’s on fire. I’m hurt bad. Help me.”

  “He’s gut-shot,” Jeff said. “I seen him take the slugs. We can’t do nothin’ for him.”

  “You bastards!” the wounded man groaned. “You’re just gonna let me die, ain’t you?”

  “Can’t none of us get to you, Cal,” Sally called. “I’m sorry. But that’s the way it is.”

  “We would if we could,” Jean added. “You know that.”

  “All right,” Cal moaned. “But try to kill that son of a bitch who shot me, will you?”

  “You bet we will,” Jean called. “You can count on that.”

  Both Ben and Lara held their fire as they listened to the conversation.

  “Red, you’re closest. How ’bout Benny?” Johnny called.

  “He’s dead. I seen him take a round in the head like to have blowed one side of his head clean off. It was an awful thing to see.”

  Ben could see part of what he thought was a man lying behind a truck tire. He lifted his CAR and gave the man a quick squirt of lead.

  “Oh, Sweet Jesus!” the man hollered. Then he was still.

  “Mack?” Jean called. “Mack! Answer me.”

  “He can’t, not now or ever,” Jeff called. “That burst of lead took him in the top of the shoulder and must have traveled on to his heart or something. He hollered once, and then was still and quiet. He’s gone.”

  “Shit!” Johnny said. “Raines? You hear me, Raines? Is that you?”

  Ben said nothing.

  “You on the other side of the street!” Johnny yelled. “Whoever you are. Answer me.”

  Lara said nothing.

  “Goddamn ’em to hell,” Johnny cussed.

  “It’s Raines and the whore,” Sally said. “Has to be. Who else could it be?”

  “Goddamn militia people, is who,” Jeff said. “Those bastards hate us, you know that.”

  “Or survivalists,” Red opined.

  “Listen to me!” Johnny yelled. “You people shooting at us. Let’s talk about a deal here. How about it?”

  Neither Ben nor Lara replied.

  “They ain’t gonna deal, Johnny,” Jean said. “They got us cold, and they know it.”

  “Where the hell is Red? Red?” Johnny called. “Red! You answer me, now. Red!”

  Red could not utter a sound, now or ever again. He was dying with two bullets to the head. One of them had shattered his jaw. The other had struck him in the back of the head and mangled his brain.

  “Red’s layin’ in a pool of blood,” Pete called. “I can just make him out from where I am. He ain’t movin’, don’t look like to me.”

  “Bastards have pretty well cut us down,” Johnny said, his
words just audible.

  “Hey, you Rebels!” Sally yelled, startling those around her. “Talk to us. What do you want to let us live?”

  Silence from both sides of the street.

  “You sons of bitches!” Sally squalled. “Back-shooting, cowardly scum.”

  “That kind of talk ain’t likely to help us none, Sally,” Jeff cautioned the woman.

  “To hell with it, Jeff,” Sally came right back. “If we’re gonna live, we’ve got to fight our way out of this mess. They won’t deal.”

  “I’m sure open to suggestion,” Jean called.

  “Pete?” Johnny called. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I think he’s praying,” Sally called.

  “That’ll be a first for him,” Jeff said.

  “Don’t knock it,” Jean said. “If I thought it would do any good, I’d be trying it, too.”

  Ben carefully worked his way up to his knees and pulled a grenade from his battle harness. It was going to be a long toss, but he thought he could do it. If nothing else, it would damn sure get their attention.

  He pulled the pin, and with a grunt of effort chucked the pineapple. It landed just in front of the Jeep and then slowly rolled under it.

  “Shit!” Jeff squalled. “It’s a grenade!”

  The grenade blew, and the old Jeep disintegrated into many pieces. Two seconds after the grenade exploded, the gas tank went up with a roaring swooshing sound.

  Ben and Lara watched as the burning body of the bounty hunter called Jeff was lifted into the air and dumped about twenty feet from the blazing Jeep. Sally jumped up screaming, her clothing on fire, her hair a burning torch, engulfing her entire head. Lara shot her, to put her out of her misery.

  Pete jumped up and made a run for it, away from the inferno in the center of the street. Ben chopped him down with one burst, and Pete ended his life kicking and screaming in the middle of trash and litter.

  “Goddamn you both to the hellfires!” Jean screamed. She jumped up, yelling and cussing. Firing her rifle from the hip, she advanced toward Lara’s side of the street.

  Lara shot her. Jean sat down in the street, still firing her rifle and cussing. Lara finished her with another burst. Jean toppled over, and was quiet.

  Ben chucked another grenade into the blazing mess. It must have landed directly at Johnny’s feet. When it blew, bits and pieces of the last bounty hunter in this group went flying out of the smoke and fire.

  The old deserted town grew quiet except for the snapping and cracking of the flames, which were now slowly burning down into nothing.

  Ben stood up from behind cover and watched as Lara stood up. “Let’s find something to smother the flames and smoke,” Ben called. “If those tires start burning, the smoke will be sure to attract unwanted company.”

  “Entrenching tools in the Broncos,” she said. “We’ll toss dirt on the flames.”

  “Let’s get to it. I don’t feel like another war today.”

  “Personally, I’d like to have a bath.”

  “There’s a creek right over there,” Ben said, pointing. “If you’re not bashful.”

  “What do I have left that you haven’t seen?”

  “Not a thing, Lara.”

  She smiled at him.

  THIRTEEN

  The fires were eventually doused with shovels of dirt and with water carried from the creek in collapsible canvas camp buckets. When they finished, both Ben and Lara were filthy from the ash and soot.

  “Bath time,” Lara said. “God, do I need one.”

  “Take it, and take your time, enjoy yourself. I’ll stand guard and then you can keep a lookout while I bathe.”

  “Wonder if this soap we got from the nuthouse will lather.”

  “One way to find out.”

  Lara looked toward the creek. “That water is going to be cold.”

  “We have two choices—we can stink, or we can shiver for a little while and be clean.”

  “You do have a way with words, Ben. Be back in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  There was no need to hurry. There had not been much smoke, and what there had been apparently had not drawn anyone’s attention. No planes or choppers appeared in the sky, and no ground troops made an appearance.

  While Lara took her time in the cold waters of the creek—Ben occasionally heard a shriek from her—he dragged the bodies out of the street and dumped them into a ravine behind a row of decrepit old stores. He then shoved dirt over them, covering them as best he could. The animals would eventually get to the bodies, but that was nature’s way, and there was nothing else Ben felt like doing with the bounty hunters.

  At Lara’s call that she was finished, Ben wandered down to the creek. “Your turn, Ben. But let me warn you—that water is cold!”

  Very lovely woman, Ben thought, watching Lara dry her hair with a clean shirt. “You feel better?”

  “One hundred percent. And the soap does lather.”

  Ben didn’t linger in the creek as long as Lara, but he got his body clean and washed his hair, then dressed in clean BDU’s while waiting for his underwear to dry in the sun.

  “Is there underwear in the supplies you have cached?” he asked Lara.

  “You bet.”

  “The one thing we forgot to get back at the nuthouse.”

  “Believe me, I know. Mine is still drying over there on a rock.”

  Ben and Lara spent the next hour prowling the ruins of the town. They found a couple of old fishing rods and reels and some assorted tackle. Lara showed Ben the faint track of an old logging road that led off into the timber and another track that led to a nearby lake.

  “How far is the lake?” Ben asked.

  “About five miles.”

  “Should be jumping with fish.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Let’s put this town behind us, then. What do you say?”

  “I’m for it. After we pull the vehicles down this old road a few hundred feet, we can toss some brush over the entrance here. It might fool anyone who comes looking.”

  “You don’t think the Federals will?”

  “It’s doubtful, Ben. Feds that come into the wilderness don’t generally come back out . . . if you know what I mean.”

  Ben knew. The freedom fighters in the USA had gone underground, and were waging a guerrilla type of war. They were in control of a lot of the wilderness areas. “How about troops from Fort Drum?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing there anymore. The military has all been shifted down to the border with your nation.”

  Ben nodded his head. “And they’ll stay down there, too. Before this war is over, every man and woman Osterman can draft into service will be along our borders.”

  “She still has the thousands of mercenaries under contract,” Lara reminded him.

  “As long as the money holds out, they’ll stay. But how much is that costing the taxpayers? Several millions of dollars a day, I’m sure . . . probably more than that. When the money runs out, the mercenaries will leave. The currency in the SUSA is the strongest in the world. The USA’s dollar is weak, with no hope of getting stronger. We have trade agreements with many of the world’s nations. This is not their fight, and they’ll stay out of it. Many of them have signed agreements to that effect. This is strictly a civil war between Americans, Lara. And until the socialist/democrats up here in the USA learn to compromise and live and let live, this civil war will drag on forever.”

  “Can the SUSA stall long enough for the money to run out?”

  Ben shook his head. “No. Not stall. Hold out, yes. And we will. We’ll lose some territory and then regain it. Ground will pass back and forth several times before the worst of it is over.”

  “And the SUSA will be victorious?”

  “We’ll win the fight. Victorious? I guess that will depend on the individual’s point of view.”

  “I . . . think I know what you mean.”

  “We’ll talk more about it. I’ve got a few ideas about this civil war that we need to discuss. Right now, let’s get out of here. Head for the lake.”

  “Damp underwear and all, hey?”

  Laughing, they headed for the Broncos, Ben pausing long enough to grab his still slightly damp drawers from a rock.

  The road out to the lake had not been used in a long time, and the going was very slow. The road, never a hard surface road, had long since grown over, and several times they had to break new ground through the brush because of trees that had fallen and were blocking the road.