II - Ghost Town
Lori, Jason, and David walked ahead of the group, with the others looking out for any nearby roamers. The group moved for many minutes until Lori, Jason, and David paused.
David uncovered a shrub and pointed at the mesh fence and a rogue soldier standing behind it. Lori felt her heart beat faster and her fingers becoming damper.
"C'mon. Let's keep moving," whispered David.
The group moved to the left, through the low branches and the thick shrubs. Some areas were relatively open but hidden from outside of the woods.
The armored vehicles returned to their base. Dr. White drove the truck towards the spot that that he was supposed to clear out before being stopped by two rogue soldiers.
"What are you doing here, doctor? Aren't you supposed to drive to the base?" asked one of the soldiers.
"I just had to take Haley somewhere," replied Dr. White.
"You finished your errands? Let me check the truck!"
"Will that be necessary?"
The soldier opened the rear door of the truck and found bloody stains inside. He also found three crates, one for firearms, one for ammunition, and another for equipment and knives.
"Hey, doc! Where'd you find this?" asked the soldier.
"Found it on one of the vehicles! Seemed abandoned, so Haley and I just brought it with us! I'll just bring in to the armory–"
"Nah, don't worry about it, doc! We'll take it for now!"
The two soldiers removed the crates from the truck, one by one, into a small, empty house. Dr. White grumbled as Haley looked ahead read the map, then peeked through between two bushes. He found a small gate tied by a rope from the fence to the edge of the gate. He returned with the group and turned on his walkie-talkie.
"We're here," said David. "Can you give us a sitrep?"
Luna zoomed in on the scope. She licked her lips and smiled as she located the area where the group was supposed to be at with a clear sight in the scope. Sam turned on the walkie-talkie, allowing Luna to speak into it.
"It's just one wanker sitting by the gate. I think he's… smoking. Anyways, it looks like he has an assault rifle, a pistol, body armor– no helmet– and his uniform, nothing else."
"Is Dr. White there?" asked David.
"Oh, no. Not yet."
David looked back at the group. Some of the group members sat in the grass, awaiting for further soldiers banged on the truck door and smiled at Dr. White.
"Take care, doc!" said one of the soldiers.
Dr. White started the truck and drove it ahead in the street. After making a right turn, then a left turn, and then another left turn, he found himself in a narrow street behind a neighborhood of houses. Since the street he was stopped in didn't have a four-way intersection, the soldiers were unaware that he parked not more than two hundred feet away from the house with the weapons crates.
"That house," said Dr. White. "You bring the man there. I'll be in this house, then when they come, we'll take 'em over there. By then, I'll lead him away. Got it?"
"Yeah," replied Haley, exiting the truck. "I'm not very comfortable with it, though."
"You don't have to do it. I can come up with another distraction."
"No, I'll do it. Just come as fast as you can, okay?"
Dr. White nodded. He walked inside the house as Haley walked away, setting the plan into motion.
Sam followed Haley with her binoculars while Chunk and Luna kept the crosshairs in their scopes below their feet. Sam turned on the walkie-talkie again.
"Haley is heading towards the guard. Is that part of the plan?" asked Luna.
David responded affirmatively. He peeked through the bushes and found the guard tossing his smoke to the ground. After seeing Haley in the distance, he returned with his group.
Haley walked looking down at the ground and her hands inside the pockets in her lab coat. The guard squinted his eyes at her and placed his hands on his chin. Haley clenched her teeth and let out a nervous sigh.
"Hey, Lukeman. Watcha' doing?"
"I'm on watch for this area. Doesn't look kinda obvious, Haley?"
"Right, that was a dumb question," said Haley, letting out a nervous laugh. "Wanna have lunch with me?"
"Is that another dumb question?" asked Private Lukeman.
"No, I'm serious! I caught you looking at me several times. Least I can do is have a nice date with you."
"Sure. But, uhh, can we settle for dinner? I got a job to do and I just got on Black's good side."
"Don't worry about it!" Haley smiled. "Dr. White's getting another guy to guard the gates! C'mon, if you like, we can go somewhere private… Private!"
Lukeman looked around and was able to form a nasty smile. Haley felt chills go down her spine as Lukeman nodded and reached for her right hand.
"Lead the way," said Lukeman.
Haley headed away from the gates with Lukeman next to her. She twisted and crossed her fingers with her left hand, tucking it inside her coat pockets before she left the street with Lukeman.
Luna watched Haley leave with the rogue soldier, allowing her to give David new information.
"The gates are clear. Closest rogue would be two blocks away. Move quickly."
"Roger that."
David peeked his head through the bushes and then waved his hands at the group, motioning them to follow him. The group moved swiftly to the small gates, not taller than two people standing on top of each other. However, David tugged on the rope and noticed how uniquely it was tied.
"Stand back," whispered Benny. "I got this."
Benny lifted his sword and swung it down, cutting the rope tying the gate to the fence. The gate remained still, but now David was able to open it to allow the group to come inside Houlton.
After all the infiltrators went inside the guarded ghost town, David closed the gates so that it would line up with the fence. He placed the rope around a gate bar, as if nothing ever happened to it.
David ran back with the group, pointing at the street ahead. However, his walkie-talkie crackled.
"You know those rogues two blocks away? Two of them are heading your way!" warned Luna. "They're about to make a turn on the intersection in about seven seconds!"
"Shit! This way, guys, this way!" exclaimed David softly. "This house! To the backyard!"
The group dashed between the driveway and the next house, making their way to the backyard. They found an empty pool, a tree with a wheel hanging below it, a pool house, and a rocking chair. The group raised their weapons and aimed at the pathway that led them to the backyard.
"They're looking at the house strangely," said Luna. "I think they made you out! Hide!"
The two rogues slowly walked through the pathway, with their weapons ready to take down the source of the sound. The soldiers were almost sure they heard intruders. However, when they arrived at the backyard, they found no intruders, unless they counted a frog from the swamp a few miles west of Houlton.
The frog jumped from the wheel below the tree to the rocking chair, letting out a ribbit that fooled the rogue soldiers. However, they were still not convinced.
Lori, Jason, and David watched the two rogues walk a couple feet away from the pool house through small bullet holes in the door. One of the rogues strided a few inches away from Lori's right eye, causing a shadow to befall on the group inside the pool house.
"C'mon there ain't anything, Sturgess. Just a damn frog looking to get some. Let's leave it alone."
Sturgess remained still with his back turned on the group. He continued to look around, almost turning his face to the door of the pool house.
David turned his head at the two people closest to him. Richard nodded while Lori shook her head. He held his knife tightly, ready to lunge, but his guts held him back.
"We got other things to worry about. Like where the hell did Lukeman go?"
"Probably stalking that Haley girl," said Sturgess, his voice sounding deeper than the other soldier. "You know he got his eyes on her."
"Right! Though, he wishes she can take off her damn coat just to see how her ass looks like. Some of the other guys seen it but I think they're just bullshittin'."
The two rogues headed out of the backyard.
"They gotta be bullshitting. I ain't ever seen her without her lab coat on, but damn you know we ain't need to. Just her face alone… damn!"
Lori felt slightly disgusted, but relieved that the rogues were gone. She looked through a hole and saw the frog leap away.
"Let's go," said Richard.
"No. Wait. Just for a minute or two," whispered David. "They could still be lingering outside in the street."
The walkie-talkie crackled again.
"You guys are in the shed by the pool, right? You're clear. The two rogue wankers are walking southwards. They left."
"Thank you so much, Luna," sighed Lori.
David opened the door and allowed the group to come out the pool house. They looked back at the pool house and found a large stain of dried blood in the wooden floor.
"Explains the smell," said Wavehead.
"Let's go," said David, pulling out the map of Houlton. "We're a block away."
Luan closed the pool house door and followed the group to the front yard.
The increasing intensity of the heat slowed the group down, though they didn't stop for anything. In their light jog, the group members observed their surroundings and noticed that most windows were covered by curtains. Though, Richard found it strange that there were no American flags hanging outside the houses, or any flags for that matter. The neighborhoods didn't seem real.
Few minutes passed by, and Dr. White noticed the group approached the house he was at. He patted his torso and loosened his collar as David motioned the group to stop.
The group stood by the truck, looking around for the doctor. After a few seconds, Dr. White opened the door and motioned the group to come inside.
Dr. White turned on the powerful battery-powered lamp, providing light for the group inside the house. Becky sat on the couch in the living room next to Carol.
"Did anyone see you?" asked Dr. White.
David took a sip of water from his canister.
"No. Time to come up with a plan. Too bad Lincoln isn't here, 'cause I bet he coulda came up with a great plan."
"Just a small problem. Two rogues inspected the truck and now the weapons aren't in the truck anymore."
David clenched his teeth while Dr. White walked to the back of the house, opened the curtains for the back windows, and pointed outside. Though another backyard stood in the way, there was a small area where the street behind the house could be seen.
"That house over there. The one with the oak tree. That's where your weapons are."
David rubbed his chin.
"Let's go then. When there's no one around, we sneak there and get our weapons back."
"Another small problem. Haley distracted one of the soldiers for you people. They're inside. Which means you guys have to stay here."
"Can't you take him somewhere else?"
"I can take him back to the Units, but once I do, I won't be able to come back to this house until tomorrow. We gotta come up with a plan."
David remained silent and returned with the group. Then, he formulated many thoughts together.
"There are guards in the Units, we know that. We need to take 'em out in order to distribute the weapons to the hostages. YOU, Dr. White, need to be there to open the cells. There's no way this group could sneak to the Units without getting caught by the other rogues. Therefore, the truck is outta the question for now. How do you take out the guards inside the Units as stealthily and quickly as possible before we can give the weapons to the hostages?"
Haley took a sip of water on the stairs inside the house, listening to Lukeman talk about his time in boot camp.
"And sure it was hard, but it weren't that hard. Not for me at least. Especially running two miles. I guess you can say, I have… excellent stamina."
Haley found a garbage can by the sink. She walked to it to toss her and Lukeman's water bottles. However, Lukeman stood up and followed her to the point where he was inches away from her back.
"Why don't we take this upstairs?" whispered Lukeman. "We can talk about other things."
"No, no. Keep telling me about boot camp. Sounds very interesting."
Haley walked away from the kitchen and into the living room, anxiously awaiting Dr. White's return. Lukeman sat on the couch.
"You don't sound very interested in it. Getting a little bored? We can get on to other things…"
Haley continued twisting and crossing her fingers.
"That sounds nice, but–"
She gasped as Lukeman grabbed her waist and forced her down on the couch.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this," grinned Lukeman.
The group lowered their voices down until no one spoke at all. David stood in front of the shattered TV ready to announce whether to set the plan in motion or reject it and look for another plan.
"Bring the shackles, George," declared David. "We're going along with the plan."
Bobby looked down and felt defeated. Despite his protests, Lori insisted on acting on the plan. Still, Bobby tried again to convince her to change her mind. He and Lori walked away from the group to talk in private.
"Babe, please don't go. It's too dangerous. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you!"
"I have to go, Boo-Boo Bear. You don't understand how important this is."
"Can't someone else go? It could be Richard or Sergei…"
"They'll be recognized! And it's important to me! I have to see my family! I have to know if they're still alive!"
"Then, let me come with you!" exclaimed Bobby.
"Bobby. The reason we all chose George is because I didn't want anything to happen to you!"
"That's what I'm worried about–"
"I mean your humanity, Bobby! I don't want you to destroy your humanity for me! You have no idea what taking a life does to you! Once you do it, you can never go back. The hours of sleep that you lose. The images that haunt you in the hours that you sleep. But I learned how to handle it because that's who I am. But you, Bobby, you're different. You're too good for this world, and doing this, trust me, it'll literally destroy you!"
Bobby looked down, realizing his girlfriend is right.
"You don't have to change for me," whispered Lori. "You'll change… but not yet."
Lori walked back with the group.
"Ready?" asked George.
Lori nodded. She raised her arms in front of her along with George and Jason. Dr. White handcuffed both of them using George's cuffs. Then, he lead the three of them out of the house. But before Lori left, she nodded at Bobby, who was behind everyone else, letting him know that she was going to be alright.
"How does it feel?" asked Lori. "You know, being handcuffed?"
"Not my first time," George grinned. "Though, it is the first time I'm going to prison."
"This is my first time being handcuffed," said Jason. "But this isn't my first time going to prison."
"Really I never thought you would commit a crime?" replied Lori.
"I didn't, it was an enemy prison they captured and interrogated me," said Jason. "But I broke out with some other prisoners."
George pulled on the handcuffs.
"Damn! I hate these things! Almost makes me feel sorry for the low-life scums I arrested. ALMOST."
Dr. White whispered to himself as he continued to look at the photo of Rita and Lynn Sr.
"Ah! Yes, I remember where they are," exclaimed Dr. White as he pocketed the photo inside his coat.
Lukeman pressed on her chest, leading Haley to gasp in an uncomfortable way. She tried shoving him away, but he gripper her arms with one hand and the back of her neck with the other.
"Lukeman! Wait– ugh– wait!"
"No time for waiting. C'mon, stop struggling. You know you want this, you slut!"
She gasped as Lukeman shoved her head down to the couch. He lifted her coat and began to force himself onto wriggled her right arm loose and swung it upwards, smacking Lukeman's chin.
"Shit! I don't like it rough!" yelled Lukeman.
"Too bad!"
Haley pushed herself away from the couch down to the floor, causing both herself and Lukeman to tumble down. She landed on top of Lukeman and quickly moved away. Lukeman groaned as he picked himself opened the curtains for one of the windows and noticed Dr. White with Lori, Jason, and George walking closer to the house.
She turned around. She yelped as Lukeman grabbed her shirt.
"Oh, you slut! You shouldn't have done that!"
Haley looked at him with fear in her hazel eyes. Her eyes then turned towards the door as Dr. White entered the house.
"Oh, it's just you, doctor," sighed Lukeman, releasing Haley.
Haley's messy hair unraveled to its long form. She tied it back into a ponytail and fixed her coat while Lori looked at Lukeman in disgust. Jason looked at Lukeman with pure anger.
"I wouldn't be so relieved, Lukeman," Dr. White said sternly. "I'm seeing some serious discipline in the future. K.H.A.N. rules, remember them?"
"How 'bout I break 'em anyways? What's your smartass going to do it about it if I stop you from talkin'?"
"Keep talking to me like that, and you're going to have to deal with Black," whispered Dr. White.
Lukeman licked his lips and placed his hand on his chin.
"Who the hell are these people anyways? Prisoners?"
"TS-18 and TS-26 and TS-34. You'll be helping me escort them back to the Units. Do it and I'll forget this thing ever happened."
"But, I'm on guard–"
"I took care of that for you," said Dr. White. "Sturgess is covering for you."
Lukeman nodded.
"Let's go."
Dr. White nodded at Haley. Lori, Jason, and George followed him out of the house. Haley watched the five of them leave the street, and she was finally free to go meet with the group.
Richard scribbled on the notebook, using his right palm to use the pen. He sat on the dark stairs, his book turned away from everyone.
"I'm not the only one who finds him suspicious, right?" asked Lynn.
"Let him have his privacy," replied David. "It's not easy dealing with a loss. You know what we should be talking about? The stunt you pulled yesterday. Wandering off into the woods with the other kids at night!"
"We were trying to protect some of the group!" Lynn whispered loudly. "We wanted to stop Richard before he did anything because you didn't do anything. And guess what. He did. He did do something."
"Lynn, your suspicions were misled. Richard pushed D off of the store because he had to! If he hadn't, D would've been devoured by the roamers engulfing the store!"
"And they still did! Not only that, he was also ready to put a bullet in Becky's head! And he also was ready to put a bullet in Jason too and leave him for the roamers!"
"Okay, alright, quiet down," whispered David. "I have my suspicions too. But we gotta give him a chance! He lost someone very close to him just a month ago, and he's still having trouble moving on. Give it some time."
"I almost lost someone a month ago, too."
Lynn gulped. She felt uncomfortable thinking about her younger sister, but she only blamed herself for starting a conversation with David.
"It doesn't mean I want to go on a murderous rampage," whispered Lynn. "That's why I followed him. I know he's killing members of our own group, and you're blind to this."
"What are you talking about? Richard said he followed you guys into the woods."
"Yeah, I know. I don't believe him. I followed his tracks."
"Then, why didn't you end up in the cabin? Only near, but not inside," rebutted David.
Lynn couldn't find an answer. She was so sure that Richard murdered Bill and would have murdered Zach too, but when looking at the bigger picture, she realized the lack of evidence she had. Could it have just been misunderstandings after misunderstandings?
Carol walked up to Richard with fresh bandages, a bottle of water, and a rag. She peeled off a bandage from his forehead and cleaned the wound with the damp rag.
"What are you doing, Richie?"
"Making a plan. I gotta keep George and the kids quiet about the things they heard of me."
Carol stopped in the middle of peeling a bandage in Richard's nose.
"You're going to silence them?"
He nodded. Carol peeled off the bandage, placing a mild sting on Richard.
"Why do you say that so… sinisterly?" asked Carol.
"I didn't mean to come off like some sort of crime lord. That's not what I mean. But you need to understand, that these rumors… their paranoia, they don't trust me anymore. Look what it led to."
Richard lightly tapped on the wound on his jaw that Carol cleaned up.
"You're right," admitted Carol. "I know exactly how you feel."
"Pretty soon, this paranoia is going to hurt someone close to me. And I figure, sooner or later, someone's going to take a guess and figure out about us."
Carol frowned. Richard looked at the group.
"I promise you I won't hurt them."
Richard looked back at Carol.
"But if either one of them threaten you or hurt you… well, I cannot promise you that I'll keep my promise."
The door opened, and David immediately aimed his pistol at the visitor. Haley looked up and yelped, but she immediately caught her breath as David lowered the gun.
"God! Maybe I should've knocked first!"
"My bad. Is the plan in motion?"
"Yeah. We should move to the other house now."
David looked at his group.
"It's go time. Who's driving the truck?"