Dead Ones

Chapter 29: Crossfire

The trees began to thin out as the terrain began to elevate. The moist soil became more dried and rocky. I thought about the man we had left behind as we walked. Indeed, he was a coward, but the man had good intentions. He helped people. He saved Sophie's life. Not like he had a choice, but he still did it. Now he is gone. Out of everyone in the group, I didn't expect him to go. I wondered if it was my fault. If I had left him where he hid he likely would have lived. Then again, someone else could have died. I stopped thinking about it. Everyone around me was speckled in blood. No one was clean anymore. Some, more heavily covered than others. It showed who did the majority of the fighting. Everyone had their weapons drawn and ready. Everyone besides myself. I wasn't keen on wasting bullets. As I led the group through the increasingly treacherous terrain, someone approached me. David walked by my side. "You really think we'll find them out here?" he asked me. "Willow told us we would," I said. "And you trust her?" he asked me. I shrugged. "The first impression I got of you, that man wouldn't trust her," he said. I looked over at him. "I've changed," I said. "The world around us changed and if you don't change with it you're going to die," I said. He closed his mouth and clenched his jaw. I was right and he knew it. "Why are we even killing the living?" he asked me. "Did you forget what they did to our people? Or should I remind you?" I asked with a nasty tone. He was silent. "They killed our people and if we didn't retaliate they would've tossed us around like a rag doll," I said. "Sure, human kind has a common enemy right now with the dead, but we have to realize that the living are a greater threat," I said. Sophie was walking close behind me on my other side. "When all this is over, we should make some rules for the Refuge," she piped up. "I'll leave that to you," I said. I glanced back at her. She looked like she was going to say something but didn't. "Why? Something on your mind?" I asked. "I thought that we should imply a rule after this is over," she said. "Spit it out," I said. "We shouldn't kill the living unless absolutely necessary," she said. "I agree. All human life is precious now," David added. "I agree with that, but that doesn't mean we should let other communities walk all over us," I said. "No one group of people should be dominant over the other. Everyone should work together in surviving in this world," Sophie said. "As long as there are two humans left on this planet, they will never see eye to eye on everything," I said. It was true. No two people were bound to agree on everything. Conflict was simply a part of human nature. It was at that moment I envied the dead. The living were controlled by emotions, whereas the dead just existed purely on impulse. It was a simpler way of living. So much less conflict and chaos that makes up human life. After all of this was over, I fully planned on stepping down from leadership if I was still alive by that point. I wanted Sophie and Elijah to lead the people. I was unfit to be the guidance they required. Yes, I changed and adapted with the new world, but the people weren't ready for that yet. These were things to settle at another time. I was more focused on the task at hand. Getting distracted was dangerous. It proved to be so shortly. Off in the nearby distance a singular gunshot rang out. The bullet whizzed overhead. "Everybody down!" I shouted. Seconds after the people got lower to the ground, several bullets came flying overhead. It's an ambush. Wolf was set up on a nearby rock and was trying to find the enemy position. "Bout' seventy-five yards out," he shouted back to the group. William wasn't scoping out the enemy with Wolf. "Give me that," I said, ripping his rifle out of his grip. I crawled next to Wolf. "Which one do you want?" he asked me. I looked through the magnified sight. There were six men shooting at us. Five of which I didn't recognize. One of them, however, I knew. "See that one with the false leg?" I asked. "Yeah, I see em'," Wolf said. "Don't shoot that one," I said. "Gotcha," Wolf said. I steadied my breath and focused on one of the men. "Ready?" I asked. "Always," Wolf said...

"Three, two, one," I said. We fired our rifles almost simultaneously. Two of the distant men dropped dead. The other three stopped being on the offensive and ran for cover instantly. I cycled the bolt of my rifle and so did Wolf. I lined up a shot on the third man. I took the shot and struck him in the shoulder. He dropped his weapon and fell backwards. Wolf decimated the fourth man. "Let Bill live," I said. Wolf backed off. I stood from the rock and handed the rifle back to William. "C'mon," I said, motioning for the group to follow me. We began walking over to the bodies of the people who had been shooting at us. "Bill!" I called out. There was silence. "It's me Bill! It's Grim!" I shouted. Bill poked his head out from the tree he was hiding behind. He emerged from his hiding place and began walking towards us. The injured man from his group outstretched a hand towards him and called for help. Bill drew his pistol and shot the man once as he walked past him without even looking. He holstered his pistol and continued at a steady pace towards us. "Man am I glad to see you," he said with a broad smile. Sophie aimed her pistol and fired a single shot into Bill's false leg. He flinched hard at the bullet impact. I turned to face Sophie. I shook my head at her. "Hey man! Control your bitch!" Bill shouted at me. I whorled around so fast. I got up in his face. "Ever say anything like that again to her, I'll break your jaw," I said. Bill looked taken aback. "Remember who you owe your life to," I added. He was quiet. "Are you with us, or are you against us?" I asked. Bill hesitated. I waited patiently. "If I can have a life without judgement for my poor life choices, I'm in. If not, just shoot me now," he said. "We're already promising a home to the Hive soldiers and workers who help us put an end to the war. If they drop their loyalties to the Hive and pledge to help the Refuge, then they have a future with us," I said. "Then I'm in," Bill said. "I missed that place. I never felt at home at the Hive," he added. "Your grandfather's house was burnt to the ground, but you can still make a home within the walls," I said. "Big talk for someone who wants to step down," Sophie said sarcastically. "You wanna turn this man away? I thought you wanted to help the living, not kill them," I said. She didn't have a snarky retort to that. I turned back to Bill. "Why were you five still out here?" I asked him. "Scouting," Bill said. I cocked my head at him. "Hexblade figured either you or the army of the dead would follow him and the others. He knew that you people would likely take prisoners and interrogate them to get to us," he said. "Bet he didn't know we'd be working with them," Willow said. "You willingly told them the meetup spot?" Bill asked her. "I thought you wanted a life after this? I'm being useful to the people of my new home," she said. "I suggest you do the same," she added. "Good point," I said. "Where are they?" I asked. "Same place Willow likely told you. The ridge by the ravine with the river," he said. "How far is that from here?" I asked. "About a mile," he said. "They likely heard the gunshots and are gonna wanna know what's up," he added. "Were you followed by the dead?" he asked. "We dealt with them," I said. "All of them?" he asked. "All of them," I said. He whistled and raised his eyebrows. "Damn, you people mean business," he said. "How many did you lose?" he asked. "One," I said. "A good one?" he asked. "He was our doctor," I said. "I ain't much of a physician, but I could help in the medical aspect. I was a neuro-scientist before all this," he said.  "One step at a time," I said. "How many of the things did you guys take out?" Bill asked. "Too many to count," I said. "Seventy four, for Grim," Sophie said. "Seventy five," John said. "The Screamer," he added. "You were counting?" I asked. "I wanted to see if I could beat you," she said, sticking her tongue out playfully. "Did you?" I asked curiously. "No, I got thirty five," she said. "Still impressive for a gal your size," Bill said. I shot him a 'shut up' look. "You really took out one of those things?" he asked me. "The Screamer? Yeah, why?" I asked. "Those things were engineered to be extremely difficult to kill," he said. "It was," I said. "How'd you do it?" he asked. "Shotgun blasts to the arm, machete to the leg, slit stomach, shotgun blast to the leg, a little piss on the head, and one of its own claws to its head," I said. "You're a beast for taking that thing on by yourself. It took five of our own to even be able to touch the damn thing," I glanced over at John. "I had a little help," I said. "A little, huh?" John perked up. "Okay fine, a decent bit," I said. "Still, two men is better than five not being able to take the thing out," Bill said. He looked at us in awe like we had invented something that fixed all of the world's problems. "Look, can you stop looking at me like I'm the messiah and can we please kill this big blonde baby?" I asked. Bill laughed out loud and shook his head. "Willow should lead the way. She's been a part of the Hive longer than me," Bill said. I gestured for Willow to lead us. We followed her up to the top of a ridge. Down in a distant valley there was a large crack running through it with a river at the bottom of it. Near the edge of the ravine there was a small camp with less than twenty people milling around it. "That's our target," I said. "Lets finish this," I said...

We made our way into the valley and approached the camp. It was mid to late afternoon by this point. The light in the area became more dull than when the sun was directly overhead. We moved quickly and silently through the spread out trees. Through the treeline I could see people moving about and building small makeshift structures. They were setting up camp for the night. They seemed more relaxed than when I saw them milling around at the Hive. They were still wearing some armor, but not as heavily armored as before. Many lacked helmets and face coverings, exposing the real humans behind the identical helmets and masks they wore. Men and women alike. A few of them actively had weapons on their person, but many had their rifles and shotguns leaned against trees and logs that were nearby them. I could not see Hexblade from where we were. "Stay here," I whispered to the others. I left the group and crept closer. With every step, I risked exposing myself and being seen. I got within a few yards of the camp and looked around. I heard a soft rustling behind me. I turned to see the source of the noise. Rose crept up beside me. "I said stay back," I said extremely quietly. She leaned in close to me and gave me a long awkward hug. "Whatever happens, just know I still care for you," she said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my half empty pack of smokes and my custom lighter. I offered them both to her. She shook her head and pushed my hand back to me. I offered again. "Take them. They're no use to me," I said. She took them hesitantly. "Actually stay put this time," I said. She nodded reluctantly. I squinted and observed each small structure. Some of them had occupants sitting inside, eating or cleaning their weapon systems. One structure caught my attention. There was a man sitting under the cover of the makeshift roof. He was hunched over.  He was wrapping something around the stump on his arm where a hand used to be. "There he is," I whispered. I stood up and walked out of the cover of the trees without hesitating. "Bobby!" I shouted, my voice being muffled slightly by the mask. The man under the structure sat upright stiffly and froze. All of the Hive soldiers and workers stood and stared, not knowing what to do. "Bobby!" I shouted again. Hexblade slid forward on the stump he was sitting on under the cover of the small structure. He ducked and walked out from the structure. "Now that is a name I haven't heard in a while," he said dryly. I ripped the burlap sack off of the bag that I had around my torso. I untied the open end of it and tossed it to the ground in front of Hexblade. The bag opened and his wife's head rolled out onto the ground in front of him. Her faded dead eyes stared at him. Her mouth opened and closed weakly and a faint whispering sound came from her mouth. He stared at her decapitated head for a moment, then looked back at me. His face grew older as he stared at me. "She's with your daughter now," I said. He flexed his jaw muscle on his defined face. He pulled out his Desert Eagle handgun and pointed it at me. "Bad move," I said. I heard a great number of footsteps behind me. Seconds later, looking to my left, then my right. All of my people, including former Hive soldiers were standing around us, weapons pointed at Hexblade's people, as well as the man himself. His hand shook and he lowered the gun. "Drop it," I said. He did. "The blade too," I said. He unclipped the five sided blade from his belt. He kicked both the handgun and blade away from him. I removed my knife from its sheath. I took the machete out of its sheath. I unholstered my pistol and threw it to my side. "What the hell are you doing?" Maria asked me. I ignored her. "Hexblade," I said challengingly. "You know my real name. Use it," he said. I didn't acknowledge that sentence. I took my mask off and tossed it to the side. I began unclipping and removing all of my armor. "Let's finish this like men. Whatcha say?" I said, outstretching my hand. He blinked and looked at me, a shadow falling over his face. He sighed greatly. He too removed his bulletproof vest and his armor. He pulled off his shirt, exposing a slender but muscularly toned body. His body was clean without scars. A star tattoo shone brightly on the left side of his chest. A tulip on the other side. I too pulled off my shirt. I flexed my toned and built body. Covered in scars and ink alike. "Like men," he repeated. Like men...