Jaded Warriors book 2 (Jade Series)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24


We pulled to a stop on the crest of the hill before we headed down into the new camp. Men scattered about with partially constructed tents strewn across the plotted space. It didn’t seem like the best place for a camp, unprotected and out in the middle of nowhere with no fence line or secured border. The only large grouping of trees stood at either side of us for about a hundred yards and like sentry soldiers that lined the roadway. The camp, positioned in a large valley amongst rolling hills with a stream that weaved down the middle, looked like an oversized bowl made of earthen ground, tall yellow grass and receding icy snow.


Opposite of where we sat on the far corner, a newly constructed guard tower stood out on the ridgeline with a shack and couple tents beneath it, the only means for a look out, but in my opinion, stood out like a sore thumb that taunted, “Look at me, I’m right here.”


Past the tower, the city stretched across the valley in the far distance. Under the greying hue of an overcast evening, every block in the city looked dark, abandoned and silent, but I knew, somewhere in that jungle of concrete, two forces met and it was far from quiet.


“Where’s the front line?” I asked, as I looked at Gage with a sidelong glance. His eyes scanned the sight before us, discontent on his face as if scoping out the numerous possible risks of placing a camp here.


“They’ve retreated to the other side of the tracks,” he said, without looking my way. I looked back towards the city. Quite a far retreat from their position a week ago, the refinery to our backs by at least five miles.


A natural divide created by the vacant freeway and parallel railroad tracks weaved through with lazy turns like a snake that cut through a rocky mountainside. The hub station, with roadways that branched out like spokes on a wheel, coiled in the central part of the city. To the east, businesses lined the rims of city blocks with cookie cutter homes and neighborhoods stacked inside. To the west, the industrial part of the city with factories and large commercial buildings amongst older, run down homes, spread sparse from each other.


I sighed, slightly relieved that there were at least ten city blocks and several miles of open space and abandoned buildings between us and them, but I couldn’t completely shake my unease at being so close, close enough to see the front line. The truck lurched forward and I felt my breaths increase with the beat of my heart as the horizon swallowed us and the city disappeared behind it as we crept deeper into the pit.


“Did Kane see this location?” Casey asked.


“No,” I replied, my unsettled heart confirmed that I wasn’t the only one who felt it. We pulled up to a tent as a rather tall, robust man stepped out. He moved awkward with Neanderthal movements as he walked up to us. His complexion dusky with dark hair and eyes a deep brown, so much so you couldn’t see his pupils, but soft and gentle with long eyelashes as he smiled.


The side window dropped slowly with an annoying squeak as Casey unrolled it.  “Let’s get her unloaded,” the man said, tall enough from the ground that I could still see part of his head. Without much said, they jumped out of the cab. They were around the side and I heard the rolling metal as they opened the back before I jumped down and two more men stepped out of the tent. I met them in the back as the platform lowered with the first stacks of armaments.


I went to pick up a box, the weight of it not too heavy but awkward in my hands and the large man took it from me. “That won’t be necessary, miss,” he said with a smile, “we’ve got it.”


An instant scowl surfaced in my eyes with my injured pride at his comment, a polite way of saying, he didn’t want my help. I went to protest then stopped as a deep chuckle brewed from his gut.


“We’ll be done soon,” Gage said, as he caught my eye.  My cheeks heated with embarrassment.


“I’m going up there,” I said, then pointed to the corner of the ridgeline closest to us. He gave me a perplexed glance as he slipped a dolly under a stack of boxes, then I walked away before he could question me further.


I felt suffocated and couldn’t breathe as the tightness in my chest grew. I hated this camp and that I couldn’t see my surroundings beyond it. I tried to see the reasoning behind the move Darby ordered, and of all places, here.


My breaths quickened as I started up the side, steeper than I originally thought. Shell rocks slipped underfoot and made my climb harder and my determined mind, all the more stubborn as I pressed faster. With each step closer my legs ached and my lungs burned in my chest until I reached the top.


Winded, like I ran a mile, I stopped to rest as I scanned my surroundings, then as my breathing recovered, I walked down where the hill descended and sat cross legged on the frozen ground. It hadn’t snowed in almost a month and the air felt dry. The snow that remained littered the ground in dirty, frozen ice patches with very little moisture. I licked at my lips, dry and slightly chapped then pulled my jacket tighter around me and plunged my hands into my pockets as the air grew colder with a slight breeze that pushed back my hair. 


The city, the same as ten minutes ago, looked foreign to me, yet eerily familiar and it felt strange to see it from here. A view I saw many times, in a different world, at a different time. A time that wasn’t too far away when life was good, but would never be retrievable again.


Now occupied by us, the city hall, the tallest building stood out above all the others at the far end. I used to look for it when I was little when I traveled with my parents along the freeway at night. It stood out with a constant red light on its rooftop that directed the way home as we drove into the valley, like a light house would for a ship headed home in the dark. A deceptively beautiful building, but with the red light gone and the secrets it held in the tomb-like jail, hidden behind and deep in its belly, I no longer saw its magnificence.


An involuntary shudder moved through me as I wondered if there were any prisoners inside and I hoped we treated them better than Morrison did. My time spent there, far too painful yet fresh in my mind as I remembered those days like it happened yesterday. The maze of concrete walls and metal bars, every sound magnified and echoed through them, cold and unforgiving.


My eyes burned with dryness as I swallowed at a knot in my throat, refusing to let even one tear surface. The day of the escape, a bittersweet day. The streets littered with debris and abandoned vehicles, storefronts ambushed and empty from looters and desperate hungry people. Then later, further destruction caused by battle, including the one that took Trey’s life and forever changed mine. An unbelievable scene, once only understood to me in movies became real. The metal gun jammed between the bare skin of my back and my jeans, evidence of our never ending nightmare, our reality so bleak that I needed to carry a pistol.


“Are you okay?” I whirled around, startled by Gage as he stood a few feet behind me. His words and the worry in his eyes, all too familiar as I forced a weak smile.


“Yeah,” I paused, then looked down at the camp, small and insignificant from here. “I feel smothered down there… I don’t like not being able to see where I am.”


“This camp was a poor choice,” he added, as he sat next to me then sighed as he pulled out a scope and scanned the valley before us. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. A few minutes passed, both of us quiet, lost in our thoughts, and then he pointed off into the distance and handed me the scope. I closed an eye then squinted with the other until my vision focused on the scene before me. I scanned over spacious fields until I reached a warehouse, fully fenced and at least twelve feet high. “Those abandoned warehouses would have been better than this… I’ve radioed Kane, he’s on his way. I’m not unloading anything else until he gets here.”


Gage’s presence curled around me like a warm blanket as we looked out over the valley, it felt familiar and comforted me. I slipped my arm through his and leaned against him. His shoulders drooped some and I felt his body relax as I glanced to the north at the white snow covered mountains. Somewhere, a cabin resided among the large steep slopes and craggy outcroppings of grey rock that formed the mountainside just above the farm. Littered with bare trees and pines too distant to distinguish, and somewhere underneath it all, the lake. The sky above it, ominous and grey with dark clouds.     


“Do you think a storm will come?” I asked, as I studied the turbulent, grey clouds that churned with energy. The pressure in the air, heavy. I gave him a sidelong glance, his brows tense and his blue eyes surged with inquiry as he looked to the sky.


“Feels like it,” he said, then stood and reached for my hand. I took his as he pulled me up. His chest looked fuller and with his coat partially unzipped, I noticed he replaced his bulletproof jacket. The same bullet proof jacket he wore the day he rescued me, the same that still housed three bullets over his heart. I shuddered as I let my fingers graze over the cold lead. “We need to go to the arms tent and fit you with a jacket until I can get you home,” he said, with a look of concern in his deep blue eyes. I could tell he felt uneasy with having me here, so close to the front with a questionable camp, he wouldn’t take that same risk again.


A voice cut across the radio in sporadic, indistinguishable bursts. “Gage, where’s your location?” He unclipped it from his belt.


“I’m on the south ridge,” he said, as we glanced back over our shoulders. The air grew increasingly colder as the breeze pushed tendrils of my hair, whipping into my face and I struggled to grip it into a ponytail with my hand.


I watched as Kane’s truck lurched to the edge of the hill just before the road sloped and stopped in between the long row of trees then he pulled the truck off road to the right. I heard the gears grind from where I stood as he shifted into four-wheel drive. The truck bounced slowly over rocks and uneven ground covered with a three inch layer of crisp, old snow as he made his way along the ridgeline. The churn of the motor grew louder as he approached us then shut off. He stared out over the valley as he stepped out, resting his arms against the frame of the door. 


“I just had it out with Darby,” Kane said, with tolerant indifference.


“How’d that go?” Gage asked.


“Darby really wants to put the pressure on them and I agree, but… not here,” he said. He squinted his eyes against the breeze, an alert icy blue and I wondered what churned through his mind to make them look so intense. “Joel radioed me… he didn’t like the location either, so I told Darby we aren’t making camp here.”


“How did you manage that?” Gage questioned, unable to believe Darby would concede so easily.


“I gained a few supporters, Charles, Olivia, even Dr. Walstrom sided with me.”


“Where do you want us?”


Kane sighed as he ran a stressed hand through his hair then glanced at Gage. “We’re going to keep base camp where it is, back by the refinery. The injured and the main med tent will stay, along with most of the supplies. They can stock casings and cartridges there and bring stuff to us as we need it along with a team getting the refinery running again… not to full capacity, but enough to get fuel from those two tanks. We’ll keep the supplies that we already brought here, and set up a smaller base… Dr. Ashton is on his way with medical supplies… Joel thought we could utilize those abandoned buildings,” he said, as he turned back towards the city, this hands clasped behind his head as he studied the area. “I just don’t think Darby thought this through very well. The idea of bringing all of our ammo and food, and all our other supplies so close is a bad idea and this location sucks, we’re boxed in.”


“I was thinking the same thing,” Gage said, then pointed to an area on the left as I passed him the scope I held in my hand. “That site over there is big, it’s fenced, has several buildings and the roof looks good to set up a watch… it has a guard tower on both ends and the ground looks high enough to see the surrounding areas.”


“It’s settled then… it’s getting late, we’ll scout that location tomorrow, make sure it’s safe. Run it by Joel, he’s going to head this post. I don’t feel good about leaving all our supplies in Darby’s hands so I’m going to stay back and help Charles with the refinery…  When Mike gets back, I’ll move up,” Kane said, then with a fleeting glance looked at me and sighed. “I’m going to go talk things over with the guards in the tower… I’ll be down soon, so let’s get started and get that diesel reloaded… I’ll take Jade back tomorrow morning with me.” 


***


A sudden popping, like firecrackers on the fourth of July, exploded into the night. Gage rushed towards the front of the tent and peered out the canvas doorway. I stood slowly and walked towards him, an ominous feeling grew heavy in my stomach as my heart began to race.


“What was that?” I asked hesitantly, unsure if I really wanted the answer.


“Machine guns,” he said, without looking at me as he picked up his gun and checked the cartridge as the shots continued sporadically. He opened the nearest box that read cartridges in bold, black lettering and pulled out a case then looked at me as he added. “And they are way too close.”


He moved quickly as he filled his jacket pockets with supplies then quickly scanned the room. “Put one of those bullet proof vests on under your jacket and fill your pockets with ammo,” he said.


I gave him a startled look as I pulled off my coat. “I don’t have a rifle…”


“We’re going to get you one right now,” he said, as he opened a crate and searched with intent before he pulled out an assault rifle and handed it to me. “Try this one… is it too heavy?”


I glanced over the frame and the mechanics, all foreign to me, its weight like a bowling ball, awkward and too heavy. Fear slashed through me, severing what little confidence I had. I had no idea what would happen once we stepped out of the tent, but I imagined something along the lines of a gun fight, maybe like the time we fled the jail. The scent of burned gunpowder and fresh terror lingered in the air. My chest tightened as my breaths became jagged and my heart pounded, suddenly terrified by what that meant.


“Or,” Gage paused, as if he sensed my unease and took it from me and set it down as he walked over to another crate. “We have a few long range rifles, they are semi-automatic and shoot like a hunting rifle.”


“Yeah,” I said, as he handed me another gun. More familiar to me than the previous one. I held the rifle close to my chest and stared down the barrel. It was heavier than I was used to, but it would work.


“I don’t know what we’re going to run into out there and you may have to shoot.”


“Okay…” 


He hesitated, his eyes followed me as he handed me a bullet proof jacket and I slipped it on as he instructed. My fingers trembled from fear as I zipped it then fumbled to put on my jacket.


“Are you going to be okay?”


“Yeah, why?” It wasn’t an odd question, but with feigned confidence I glanced at him with a peculiar look as if he asked me if I’d ever been to the moon. The look in his eyes said he saw right through me and I needed to convince him that I could be strong, that I could be brave. I didn’t want him to see my fear and put himself in a hard situation in order to protect me. He had to know, I would handle it and I prepared myself mentally for what might lie ahead. “I’ll be fine, Gage.”


“Just checking… you just about ready?” He asked, as he stuffed a back pack and slung it over his shoulder.  He walked to the tent door, his eyes strained, alert and cautious as he peered out and studied the situation.


“How many of these do I need?” I asked. I worked quickly as I shoved my panic aside and stuffed my pockets with bullet filled cartridges as I consciously slowed my breaths to calm myself.


“As many as you can carry comfortably.”


“I’m ready,” I said, then slung the rifle over my shoulder and followed him outside.


***


The fading day cast a grey hue on everything it touched, with dark shadows in the crevices, behind every tent and truck, and around every corner. Random bursts of machine gun fire cut through the air. I scanned my surroundings with difficulty as we crouched behind a parked truck, searching through the chaos around me for anything familiar, anything abnormal. My heart raced in my chest, the incessant pounding echoed in my head and pulsed in my temples.


I spotted Joel as he rounded the corner and crouched down next to us. “Are you online?” He directed the question to Gage, then handed me a radio with a headset and instructed me how to use it as I clipped it to my belt.


“Yeah… how many of them?” Gage asked, as he watched for Militia. I scanned the ridgeline with the scope of my rifle.


“Maybe thirty… us… fifteen, three are unaccounted for. They either don’t have their ears on, or they’re down.”


“Those aren’t terrible odds, we can take them… who’s missing”


I continued to watch the ridgeline.


“The two in the guard tower,” Joel paused. I gave him a sidelong glance, only half listening as his eyes shifted quickly to me, then back to Gage. He went to speak then stopped and shook his head. I looked back towards the ridgeline and waited for any sign of movement. My heart pounded in my throat as I waited for him to answer. “Casey was on the north end of camp with Dr. Ashton, setting up the med tent with two other men… Chale is somewhere in the middle with a few and…”


“Who’s not accounted for, Joel?” Gage asked, impatience thick and threatening in his tone.


“There’s men by the guard tower,” I said, interrupting them as I strained my eye and closed the other to make out the image through my scope. I whispered each count as I spotted silhouettes of fifteen Militia surfaced through the greying dusk on the ridge, some of their faces barely distinguishable, the others, just gun slinging black figures. The one in the middle stepped forward and stood out taller than the others. “Add fifteen to those numbers,” I said, my breaths quick in my chest from the crippling panic that surged through me as I saw someone else on his knees in front of the large figure, the one apparently in control. “They have one of the guards… and they have Kane.”