Ortiz laughed.

  "Come on, you never believed that is what we were doing?"

  He shrugged.

  "I'm not paid to think about it. I just do the job."

  "And now? Who is paying you to be here?" Donny asked.

  "Same bank as you."

  "I don't need to be paid to defend my town. I bet you never even heard of Wood Point before all this kicked off?"

  "No, but I have now."

  Donny took a deep breath as he thought about getting something off his chest.

  "What is it? Spit it out," said Ross.

  "What we did back there, going into town. It was the right move. Executed poorly, I admit, but you can't blame those lads for doing the right thing."

  "Yeah, and the right thing might get them killed."

  "That's my point."

  "What?"

  "They need training."

  Ortiz laughed.

  "Training?"

  "That's right, Sarge. We're fighting a war, and we've only got so many hands. We need to get our numbers up. It's no good coddling them because they're civvies. I'm not sure we can afford to have civvies around anymore."

  "They're not even out of school," said Ortiz.

  "Younger men and women have gone to war than them."

  Ortiz looked to Ross for support, but he looked deep in thought.

  "You aren't seriously considering this?"

  "He's right. We can't afford to waste the resources we have."

  "Fair enough, but we don't have months to make them soldiers."

  "They're all fit and can shoot. A couple of days, and you can make them competent."

  "Come on, kid, what would you know about training anyone?" Ortiz joked.

  "I know what we’re all capable of, given the right instruction. That's what I know about it. They'll listen to you. I know they will. Train these lads up, and we double our fighting strength."

  Ross stroked his chin as he thought about it and finally agreed.

  "Oh, come on, Jack."

  "If they want to fight, they have every right to. If we can shape them into something useful, maybe save them from getting themselves killed, sure. I'll train them."

  "You're gonna need ammo, lots of it."

  Miles had been watching and listening.

  "You want to make an army, start really fighting back, well you're gonna need a whole lot of firepower to do that."

  "You know something we don't?" Ramos approached and joined in the conversation.

  "Matter of fact, I do," he replied with a smile, "A fallout bunker not too far East of here. It's used as a stock pile of ammunition and equipment for the National Guard."

  "National Guard?" Ortiz asked.

  "Yep."

  "Well, if they're so nearby, why haven't we seen 'em?"

  "The base is a hundred miles further East. It's a shelter, like I said."

  "Manned?"

  "Nope."

  "And you suppose you're just gonna walk in there?"

  "Yes, I do, because I know the access codes."

  "How?" Ramos asked.

  "I’ve got a buddy on the base."

  "A buddy, another prepper you, mean?"

  "Yeah, Donny, like me."

  "We could head for the base? See if we can get some help?" asked Ramos.

  "After the shelter the ground is pretty open."

  "Go, get whatever you can get," said Ross.

  "What? You're gonna send this punk?"

  "We've got work to do here." He looked across to Lee and the others sitting on the steps of the cabin, "and take Donny with you."

  "Hey, Tucker, we’re gonna need your truck!" Miles yelled enthusiastically.

  "What? No way!" replied Jam.

  "You boys want to learn to fight, or what?" Ross asked.

  "To fight? You gonna teach us?"

  "You want to take your town back, right, Lee?"

  "Yes!" Emma shouted.

  "Then it's time you learnt how. Miles and Donny are going to get essential supplies. The rest of you, you can either sit around waiting for the inevitable, or you can learn to fight. What's it gonna be?"

  "Give him the keys, Jam," Lee said without hesitation.

  The big guy groaned as he tossed his keys over. Miles smiled as he climbed into the huge truck, clearly very happy with himself. Ross stopped Donny for one final word.

  "You get a chance to get a message out, you do it, you hear?"

  He nodded in agreement.

  "I don't even know what the hell we’re facing here, but we could sure do with some help. If you reach anyone, you tell them that First Platoon, 41st Logistical Support Group is here, you got that?"

  "Logistical Support?"

  "Officially, that's who we are. You get that name out to anyone who is willing to listen and on our side, and they'll know who it is."

  "All right, I'll do what I can." He climbed up into the truck.

  "Don't go looking for trouble. It'll find you easily enough. It'll find us all soon enough. Get the job done, and get back here. Don't take risks. If you have to come back empty-handed, so be it."

  "Master Sergeant, Sir?"

  He looked back. "Yeah?"

  "Don't go easy on them. They're young, but they're up for this."

  "I never go easy," he replied with a smile.

  Donny slammed the door as Miles fired the motor up.

  "Right then, time to get some real firepower!"

  Donny was already shaking his head. Miles acted as if he knew everything. Like he was a veteran soldier like Ross and his team, and yet there was something to him. He seemed to be a weird loner, but he was fearless.

  "You're sure about this place?"

  "Sure it's there, yep."

  Chapter 6

  Kim and Burns were standing at the edge of town. Wind swept through, kicking up rubbish that filled the streets. There was no sign of life. Neither of them wanted to say it, but it was like a ghost town.

  "What...what happened here?" Kim asked.

  They carried on and turned a bend, looking for any sign of life. There was nothing but a few stray dogs and cats scrounging for food. They reached the town’s police station and found it was a burnt out wreck.

  "What? What happened here?" she asked again.

  That’s when they spotted two bodies down the road beside the station. They went towards them without hesitation. Both were local police and had holes burnt right through them.

  "This is crazy. This can't be real."

  Burns looked rocked as well.

  "This really is happening all over," she said in shock.

  Burns felt it, too.

  "You think the whole country is like this?"

  He shook his head.

  "These are small towns, not a lot of people to fight back. Our troops will be fighting this."

  "You really believe that?"

  "You did, didn't you?"

  "I guess."

  "Whoever these assholes doing this are, they're smart and strong, but they aren't untouchable. We've proven that already. We've all taken them down when we had to."

  "You think the country is fighting back?"

  "I know it is."

  "Where...where are the rest of the people?"

  He walked into the nearest shop to find it was empty, too. He lifted the handset of a phone. "It’s dead."

  "Communication in combat is everything. They don't want us able to communicate with anyone."

  They wandered on through the town when Burns spotted something.

  "What is it?"

  He knelt down beside a black streak on the road. He touched it cautiously and then smelt it.

  "Oil." He got up to see more patches of it further up the road.

  "It's pretty fresh. Something took off down this way."

  "Probably people trying to flee, like they did at Wood Point."

  "Maybe, but they can't have gotten far, not losing this much. Come on."

  "What? We came here for the town."

  "And there ain't nothing here for us. We came out here for answers, and maybe to find help. I want those answers. Whatever went this way can't have gotten more than a few miles pissing oil the way they are. I'm not saying I like it any more than you, but we need answers. People are dying, and we'll be next, without some idea of what's going on."

  "Do you even have any idea how absurd this is?"

  "Sure I do."

  "Do you know how many measures we have in place to warn against any kind of attack?"

  "I've got some idea."

  "Yeah? Well, I've got a pretty damn good idea, and none of them saw this coming."

  "Okay, so what does that tell you?"

  "That whatever this is, it wasn't what anyone was expecting. If any world power attacked us, we'd know about it days or weeks in advance. Nobody could move that many resources into play without us seeing it. Only way to strike without notice would be nuclear, and our advance warning systems would still let the country know."

  "You already said yourself, no one saw this coming."

  "So what, are we to believe someone managed to plan and execute all this in complete secrecy?"

  "Sure looks like it."

  "But who? Nobody has that kind of power, or nobody that would want to use it."

  He sighed.

  "What?"

  "We've been at war with each other for as long as man has walked this Earth, you think that is gonna change any time soon?"

  "We've not seen a war between major powers in our lifetimes."

  "No, but our parents did, so did theirs. You think humanity has changed so much so quickly?"

  "Yes, I do."

  He laughed.

  "So we had the war to end all wars, you think?"

  "I didn't say an end to all wars, but we've not seen anything that could threaten this nation since the Nazis."

  "Yeah, well, we’ve got to face up to it. The Nazis never got to Wood Point, did they?"

  She groaned.

  "Whoever this enemy is, they've done a real number on our country."

  "And yet we’re still here?"

  "Yes, and we won't be the only ones. A lot of folks aren't gonna take this lying down."

  "We could sure do with finding some right about now."

  They wandered on for some time until the oil trail veered off down a small road and into a wood.

  "I don't like this, not one bit," she said.

  "Me neither, but I'm not going back without some answers."

  Burns suddenly grabbed her and hauled her into the cover of some trees. He’d spotted a vehicle parked ahead. They ducked down for cover and stayed silent. It wasn't moving, but they could hear someone else coming down the trail. It had the warbling sound of a jet engine, like those of the enemy. Sure enough, one of the small utility vehicles came into view a moment later. The doors were slid back and open. They both hunkered down even lower, and Kim clenched her hand around her rifle, praying she wouldn't have to use it.

  As the vehicle went past, they saw two robot soldiers inside. One had a marking on his helmet that neither had seen before, but they were familiar with.

  "That's the one Emma told us about," whispered Kim.

  He nodded in agreement, but didn't say a word, and watched the vehicle vanish into the distance.

  "What have we come across here?"

  "No idea, Kim, but I intend to find out."

  He led her further into the woods, circling back towards where the vehicle had been, and whatever was beyond it. They climbed a shallow incline, coming to a stop among some thick trees. The foliage was thin, but the trees themselves wider than a person, and so they stayed upright, clinging to two of them as they looked at the scene below.

  "What is that?" Kim looked down at a walled facility. The fences were slotted so they could see in, but there was a pulsating energy screen around it, too.

  "The fuck?"

  "This, what...what is this?" They studied the structure. It stretched out for several hundred metres, and they could see movement inside, "That's people down there."

  "They must be from the town, from Davis."

  "What are they doing here, in this...whatever it is?"

  "It's a holding area, a prison," he replied, noting two towers guarded by enemy soldiers.

  "I don't get it. Who would come all the way out here, and then imprison an entire town?"

  "An invading force wary of a population that would rise up against them."

  "What?"

  "If you're gonna face a hostile populace, you pacify them."

  "Why? To what end?"

  He shook his head. "No idea, but it can't be good."

  "We have to help these people."

  "We will, but not yet."

  "What?"

  "What do you think we can do for them right now? What? Call in the cavalry?"

  She got his point, but it saddened her that they had to accept they were powerless.

  "What do you think they’re going to do with them?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "They can't keep them there forever."

  "No idea. Come on, it's time to go."

  "Not exactly good news we're taking back."

  "Maybe. But there are survivors here, and that's something. Maybe the folk of Wood Point are caged up somewhere, too. If that's not hope, I don't know what is."

  * * *

  Miles pulled the truck down the road to a long abandoned industrial park. Donny was suspicious. He knew the site well and had no knowledge of any kind of military installation nearby. But soon enough he pulled up outside a large warehouse building that backed onto a hillside at the back of the site.

  "This is it?"

  "Yep, you're gonna love it."

  He leapt out enthusiastically and tapped a key code into a pad near the door. Donny was still doubtful, but low and behold the roller shutter began to rise.

  "Well look at that," smiled Miles.

  There were rows and rows of weapon crates, as well as all sorts of other gear, motorbikes and even a few old Ford Mutt jeeps at the back.

  "How the hell is all this stuff not under guard?"

  "This is the gear the base Commander was supposed to hand back. Excess kit he shouldn't be hanging onto. But if nobody knows about it, then well..."

  "I guess this is where you get your gear, then?"

  "Some of it. You can't be too fussy who you deal with. I prepared myself to survive anything."

  "Bet you didn't see this coming though, did you?"

  "Of course not. But that's the point of being prepared. You’re ready to deal with the unexpected, no matter how crazy things can get."

  "And were you?"

  "I'm still here, aren't I?"

  "That's fair," he replied as he went to the crates.

  "Three cases of rifles, and as much ammunition as we can carry," said Miles.

  "And that?" He pointed to long cases in the corner.

  "You know what those are, right?"

  "Damn right, I do."

  "What you gonna do with it? They don't keep tripods around anymore, they're vehicle-mounted only."

  "We'll find a way. Look, those things out there, the ones that come at night."

  "They're tough as hell, yeah, I know."

  "Well let's see how tough they are against a .50 cal bullet, you get me?"

  Miles smiled as he agreed and went over to help haul the box towards the truck.

  "I can't believe this place is even here. How come I never heard about it?"

  "It's only been put back into use seven months ago."

  They hauled the huge box up into the bed and went back for ammo. It wasn't long before they had the vehicle loaded to the brim.

  "That's about it." Donny wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve.

  "Give me a minute." Miles leapt back off the vehicle.

  "Miles, what are you doing? We've got as much as we can carry."

  "Yeah, yeah, just give me a second."

  He went back into the building.

  "Christ!" Donny got back off the truck and picked his rifle up. He'd propped it by the front wheel. He slipped it through the open window of the truck ready to leave. As he moved back, he caught a glimpse of himself in the wing mirror.

  "Jesus, Don, you look like a piece of crap."

  He was dirty and sweaty, and desperately in need of a shave. He turned back and forth. His eyes were blood shot, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. It wasn't far from reality. He tried to brush his hair back with his hand, and the slick sweat at least helped. He wasn't going to wear his helmet at a time like this. He smiled, feeling a little better in himself, although it was a minor improvement. He moved back, but as he did so, he revealed an enemy soldier’s reflection in the mirror. It was coming for him and just a step away. He turned in time to see its one hand. He couldn't tell if it was trying to reach for him or strike, but he narrowly missed it. The soldier found nothing but air and smashed the mirror off the truck.

  He looked over to his rifle in the cab, but the soldier was blocking his way. He reached for his sidearm, but before he could draw it, he was hauled off his feet. They went airborne, and he crashed down onto his back. He blacked out for a moment from the impact, but as he came to, he found himself facing three of them. He still reached for his pistol, but one of them stood on his hand. He cried out in pain, but another struck him with the stock of its rifle, and he was out cold.

  Miles peered around the corner as Donny was being hauled away. His hand reached for the pistol on his side, knowing it would do no good.

  "Shit!"

  He cautiously watched them from the edge of the doorway. A vehicle pulled into view, the same light utility they'd seen before, and then a larger one. It looked like a pickup, but with a mesh-like grill encasing the rear as a type of cell. The door opened, and Donny was thrown inside. He landed hard on the floor of the bed and was completely out of it.

  "Shit, shit, shit," he whispered.

  He ducked back inside so as to not get spotted. He heard the vehicles pull away and looked out once more to see where they were heading. He looked back inside the warehouse at a line of six off-road motorbikes. They weren't military spec, and yet there they were, all with the keys in them. He leapt on the nearest one, fired it up, and tore on out of there. He turned the bend quickly, racing up the road to catch the two vehicles. He needed to make up time quickly, and be careful to keep out of sight. He was the only one who knew Donny had been taken. He had to get back to the others and tell them. He hadn't even realised it, but he'd made friends.

 

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