Borders: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Aftershock Series Book 3) Page 19

  Ryder and Levi headed off to help with the search. A few of the former Guard were recruited along the way. They would be able to recognize the former governor and his counselor.

  John and Daniel came back within the hour, finding Jeremy and two others waiting at the spot where they had split-up earlier. Jeremy shook his head. Soon Blake came out of the building and joined them at the fence.

  Ryder and Levi came from Tent City with Roy following. “I didn’t think they’d be in there,” Ryder told them, “but everywhere needed to be searched. I can see from your faces no one else had any luck.”

  “They’re probably gone for good this time,” commented Roy.

  Grayson came from the helicopter. He noticed the anxious and disappointed looks on their faces. “What happened?”

  “Davis and Damon are gone,” explained Blake. “We just finished searching inside and out and couldn’t find them.”

  Grayson cursed to himself. He’d been responsible for appointing Davis as Sector 4 governor. Everything bad that had taken place since then had been a direct result of it. Silently, the others waited to hear what he wanted them to do next. He was still the chief governor. “Do we have any idea which way they went?” he asked.

  “No,” answered Ryder while the others shook their heads.

  Grayson turned away from them, sighed deeply, and then turned back. “Forget about them. I wasn’t looking forward to hauling them all the way back to Springfield anyway.” Blake’s mouth gaped open. “Agree with me or not, I’m going to go along with Roy and assume their gone for good this time. They’d have to be complete idiots to come back here.”

  “I’m not going to waste another second on them,” declared Daniel. “I’m going to take my family home.”

  “Both of us are,” agreed John.

  “I understand,” said Grayson. “You’ve both given more time to pursuing them than you needed to. Thank you.” He reached out and shook both of their hands. “Have a safe trip home.”

  John turned to Ryder. “It’s a good thing you’re staying, these people need you. Are you going to be okay?”

  Ryder smiled. “Sure.”

  “You know where we’ll be. Come for a visit sometime,” said John.

  Blake stepped in beside Grayson. “Helicopter alright?”

  “Everything checks out.”

  “I’m more than a little surprised you’re willing to let Davis and Damon get away,” said Blake. “They killed our men.”

  “I haven’t forgotten. I have a feeling men like that will get what’s coming to them wherever they end up.”

  Blake nodded. “I hope you’re right.” He looked around. The others were moving off. He turned back to Grayson. “If we leave now, we can get back to Springfield before dark.”

  “I would like to get home,” admitted Grayson. Something caught his attention. He raised his nose into the air. “Does anyone else smell that?”

  The others sniffed the air.

  “Something’s burning,” confirmed Daniel.

  “Look over there!” shouted John, pointing to a column of dark smoke rising into the sky from the other side of Tent City.

  “No!” yelled Roy, as he began to run toward it. “It must be the granary. It’s on fire!”

  They all followed him down the dirt road. Once past the car barricade they could clearly see the wooden structure ablaze. It was near the corral and the horses were going wild with fright, trying to get away from the heat, smoke, and flames.

  “Get buckets at the horse tank!” yelled Roy. “Form a bucket brigade!”

  “Stop!” Daniel called out. Everyone stopped and looked at him. “It’s too late. It can’t be saved.” It was true. The entire building was engulfed in flames. “But we can save the horses.” He ran to the corral gate with John right behind him. As they opened the gate, Ryder rushed past them, carefully avoiding being trampled by the frightened horses, making his way to the tack room. He reappeared with one bridle in his hand. Cornering one of the horses, he slipped the bridle on and swung up onto its back. Riding bareback, he forced the horse to join the others as they fought to escape through the small gate opening.

  Ryder rode past John who yelled, “Where are you going?”

  Ryder pulled back on the reins and turned back to John. “This was no accident. Damon’s on the loose and he has a thing for fires. I know he did this and that means he’s still nearby.” The fire was the only clue to which way Damon and Davis had gone. It made sense that since the fire was set at the far east end of the community, that was the most likely direction they had gone.

  Samuel stepped in front of Ryder’s horse, his arms waving, grabbing the side of the bridle. “You don’t have to do this,” his dad attempted to reason.

  “Let me go, Dad! He has to be stopped! And it appears I’m the only one willing to go after him.”

  “He’s already gone, Son,” Samuel replied calmly.

  “I’m sorry, Dad, I have to go.” Jeremy ran up and handed him a rifle. Ryder nodded a thank you and pulled the bridle free from his dad’s grasp, then kicked the horse into a gallop headed east.

  Sarah came to her husband’s side. “Are you going with him?”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m through chasing after Damon and Davis. I’ve neglected you and the children long enough. We’re going home.” Sarah, happy at his decision, wrapped her arms around his neck. He glanced at Daniel who smiled and nodded agreement.

  John and Daniel walked back to where Roy stood staring at the fire. Several of the residents from New Eden, who had also smelled something burning, had joined him. All were in silent shock. They’d worked so hard in planting and harvesting the crops. There was nothing they could do but helplessly watch as the building and grain were consumed.

  Samuel went to Roy, placing a hand on his shoulder. “There should be silos nearby with grain still in them to use for seed.”

  Roy continued to stare at the fire. “I hope you’re right.” He paused. “I just can’t understand why he would do this. How can a man be so evil?”

  “I’ll come back in a few weeks and help you build a new granary. I happen to have a little experience with raising barns. You’ll see, Roy. Everything will be fine.” He was smiling, always the optimist.

  “We’d all appreciate that, Samuel. We’ll have the area cleared by the time you get back, ready to rebuild.”

  Samuel stepped between Roy and the fire, blocking his view. “There’s nothing more you can do here. Come back to the compound with us.” He gave Roy’s arm a gentle tug, meeting only a slight resistance at first, and then felt him give in, ready to go with them.

  ***

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Ryder drove his horse on, pushing it to its limits. He had to catch them. They couldn’t be far ahead. The granary would have gone up in a matter of minutes after Damon started the fire.

  He’d left so quickly, there’d been no time to grab food or water. If Jeremy hadn’t handed him his rifle, he’d be without a weapon too. His thoughts were now focused on what he would do when he caught up to them.

  Ryder stayed on the main trail that ran east. It was the most direct and quickest route of escape from New Eden and most likely the one Damon had taken. Ryder was sure he’d be traveling faster than they would, assuming Damon still had Davis with him.

  If he’d had the time, he would have preferred to have had a saddle. Without one it was harder to keep his balance while riding bareback and not nearly as comfortable. He didn’t dwell on the discomfort.

  His attention was on the trail ahead, looking for any indication of where they may have left the old road. After thirty minutes of pursuit his horse was showing signs of fatigue and knew theirs must be too. He was counting on Damon and Davis to slow down once they believed themselves to be safe and to give their horses a chance to rest. That was when he would catch up to them. He needed to push his horse just a little longer and hoped the gamble would be worth it. He knew he was closing in, but his horse was begin
ning to struggle. Damon and Davis were nowhere to be seen. He sighed and let up on the pace so his horse could recover.

  Ryder rode to the top of a low rise, having a clear view down a long straight stretch of road ahead. His gamble had paid off after all. There were three riders in the distance, approximately one-half mile ahead, and they were walking their horses. He hadn’t expected three riders. The third person must be the one who helped them to escape. Peck was the only name that came to mind. If it was him, why would he have risked his neck to come back? He knew they weren’t friends, just an unlikely alliance. Ryder couldn’t identify any of them positively from that distance, but he was certain it was them. It had to be.

  He had a choice to make, either to keep following and wait for them to rest, or use the rifle from where he was. But then, which one was Damon? He didn’t care as much about the other two. Damon was the worst of them as far as he was concerned. If he shot the wrong one, the other two could run and get away.

  The decision was made for him as the riders veered off to the right, disappearing from the trail. Perhaps they’d found a place to rest or he’d been spotted. Either way, it wouldn’t be smart for him to stay in the middle of the road where he could be easily seen. They could already be waiting to ambush him. But they couldn’t have identified him any better than he could any of them. He slowed his horse to a walk and moved to the edge of the trail where it would be harder to see him.

  He’d been out this way three years earlier when he had been sent out with the Guard to scavenge for supplies. They had searched everywhere from rural houses to stores in small towns. If he recalled correctly, the remains of an old farmhouse wasn’t too far ahead. Davis had probably spotted the old farmhouse from the trail and had whined about stopping until Damon had given in. He knew Damon though. No amount of whining would have been enough to get him to stop unless he felt it was safe.

  The old dirt road, now no more than a seldom used trail, was overgrown with waist-high weeds up to the edges with a strip down the middle. Once an area had been stripped down by the collection squads, there was no reason to return. The crews were thorough, taking anything and everything that had even a remote chance of being useful for their survival. The list of materials most sought after had included food, clothing, kitchen wares, gasoline, weapons, and pharmaceuticals. Ryder didn’t remember any specifics about the house, but knowing they’d been there before he was sure the old farmhouse had been stripped clean. Some of the walls could still be standing, providing some shelter.

  Ryder guided his horse off the trail into the weeds and brush, deciding it was too risky to even ride along the edge. He wove in and out of the vegetation. When he was a couple hundred yards from where he remembered the house to be, he crossed a shallow creek bed with only a few scattered shallow pools of water. He dismounted, tying the reins to a low-hanging cottonwood branch. The horse immediately dropped its head and began to drink from one of the pools. Ryder continued on foot, rifle in his hand, stopping at intervals to look and listen. He swung out to the south to approach the house from the side opposite the road. If they had seen him coming and were waiting to ambush him, this little misdirection might give him the element of surprise he needed.

  ***

  Davis and Damon went inside what remained of the old farmhouse leaving Peck outside to take care of the horses. There was a pen across the drive from the house with a water tank and working windmill. The sound of the creaking windmill reminded Peck of the one on his grandparent’s farm. It was pumping a trickle of water into the tank. He led the horses over to it and watched as they drank. He cupped his hands and took a drink of the cool, clean water. Out of the corner of his eye Peck thought he saw movement in the trees behind the house. He paused to take a long look. In the blink of an eye he caught a glimpse of a man’s face. It was Ryder. And wherever he was, Gant and John would be nearby too.

  Peck had known it would be just a matter of time before someone came after them again. He had just hoped it wouldn’t be quite so soon. He had a pretty good idea what would happen to them if they were caught. Now, it was every man for himself. He’d already risked his life by going back for them and he wasn’t going to do it again. Quietly, and without any sudden movements, he placed his foot in the stirrup and casually swung into the saddle of his horse. Ryder peeked past the tree again, looking on curiously, surprised that Peck hadn’t yelled a warning to the others. Their eyes locked on one another. With a slight nod of acknowledgement, Peck casually rode back to the road and then kicked his horse, yelling and galloping away, continuing eastward.

  Peck was Ryder’s least concern. He shook his head, not understanding Peck’s actions. He had already risked going back for them once and now was abandoning them at the first sign of danger. Whatever his reason, his taking off had just made Ryder’s job that much easier.

  It was Davis and Damon that he really wanted. He doubted whether Davis had ever killed anyone by his own hand, but was responsible for ordering the deaths of many at Sector 4 and for having even more hauled away to the wasteland to die. His friend, John, had been one of the lucky ones.

  ***

  Damon stepped out onto what was left of the small side porch where Ryder could see him clearly.

  “Where do you suppose he’s going in such a hurry?” asked Damon.

  “Who?” asked Davis.

  “Who do you think?” asked Damon with disbelief. “Peck!”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Damon sighed heavily. “Peck just rode away!”

  “Why would he do that? Especially after going to the trouble of helping us escape.”

  Damon didn’t understand, but there had to be a good reason why he’d taken off. It didn’t make any sense. He stepped out further from the house and slowly scanned the surrounding woods. He couldn’t see any danger, nothing that would have spooked Peck. But he had a gut feeling something wasn’t right. Perhaps Peck had felt it too and that was why he’d left in such a hurry. He backed toward the house, keeping his eyes peeled on the surrounding woods.

  “Governor, we need to leave,” suggested Damon, his back still to Davis.

  “We just got here,” moaned Davis. “I’m tired and need to rest.”

  “You can rest when you’re dead. I think we’re in danger if we stay here.”

  Davis jumped up from a simple wooden kitchen chair he’d pulled from the ruble, a worried look on his face. “What danger?”

  “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling.”

  Worried, Davis moved next to Damon. He peeked out the remains of the side door frame. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Neither do I, but someone is out there. I’m sure of it. Slowly, we need to move to our horses and get away from this place.”

  Davis didn’t argue. If Damon sensed danger, that was good enough for him. He had always trusted Damon’s gut instinct, and it had always proved to be reliable. Together, they slowly walked to the horses, Davis right behind Damon. Damon checked his rifle to make sure a bullet was in the chamber and the safety was in the off position.

  ***

  Somehow, Damon and Davis knew they were in danger, even without a warning from Peck. Ryder could tell by the way they were watching the woods and moving together toward their horses. He couldn’t let them get away. He quickly raised his rifle to his shoulder. This was the moment he’d been thinking so long about. His adrenaline level was building as he remembered the senseless deaths Damon had been responsible for. He could feel every beat of his pounding heart. His hands began to shake and he could feel the perspiration build on his forehead, having to wipe it away as it ran into his eyes. He looked through the scope, unable to keep the crosshairs steady on Damon. He took a deep breath and held it, attempting to force himself to relax, but time was running out. They were almost to the horses. He needed to act now. He’d never killed a man in cold blood before, but if any man deserved it, it was Damon. Slowly, he squeezed the trigger. The force of the shot kicked against his shoulde
r. He lowered the rifle to get a good look.

  Damon had dropped to the ground, struggling to get up while Davis ran back to the cover of the house. Damon, holding his hand over a growing red spot on his thigh, yelled for Davis to help him, but refused to come. Ryder watched Damon limp back toward the house as quickly as he could, using his rifle as a cane, and dragging the injured leg.

  ***

  “Why’d you leave me out there?” Damon shouted, grimacing at the pain.

  Davis didn’t answer, instead asking, “Did you see anyone?”

  “No!” gasped Damon, tearing off a sleeve from his shirt and tying it around his leg over the bleeding entry and exit wounds. Luckily, the bullet had missed his artery and the bone.

  “What do we do now?” asked Davis.

  “Oh, now it’s we? Do whatever you want!” shouted Damon, frustrated and in a great deal of pain. He didn’t know who had shot him or how many more were out there. He honestly wasn’t sure what to do. Another attempt at the horses was out of the question, at least for the moment.

  ***

  Ryder was having regrets. He’d shot a man purely out of revenge, and that wasn’t his way. He’d let his rage build and take over. It was something that had never happened to him before. At that moment, he made a conscious decision to take them both back alive or at least try to. He would let Grayson deal with them since he was the only government they had, even if it was self-imposed.

  ***

  “Who’s out there and what do you want?” yelled Damon.

  Damon’s voice brought Ryder back to reality. Neither one had seen him. As far as they knew, they were surrounded. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

  He tried to disguise his voice, “Come on out with your hands up!”