Hell Released (Hell Happened Book 3) (16 page)

By the time evening had come and Russ sat down in one of the lawn chairs someone had found and set in a semi-circle around a barbecue filled with hot dogs and hamburgers, he and the three men working with him had found six nearly-f diesel trailers and four more filled with gasoline. They’d shuttled them all to the motor pool and parked them. Their bonus for the afternoon was a 16,000 gallon propane tractor and trailer rig parked in front of the modular home park on the other side of the base.

Lisa brought him a beer and sat beside him. She had a long island ice tea in a tall glass. “We can save a lot of the frozen food in the commissary,” she told him without preamble. “The coolers that had doors have most of the salvageable food…frozen pizzas, breaded fish, burritos and the like. Some of the meats have started going bad already, but there was quite a bit in the back of the store that I think we can save because it’s still frozen.”

Russ nodded and took a long drink from his beer.

“I think the problem is going to be rodents. Have you noticed there are no cats around?” she asked him.

“I saw some dogs today, but can’t recall seeing any cats now that you mention it,” he admitted.

“That’s because there aren’t any. We found a dozen or so dead cats when we were cleaning out the houses and I found two more in the commissary. I think they all died like the people did. We’re going to have to move everything we can from that building into one of these houses and seal the house up good to keep the rodents out.”

“Right now, we’re only occupying five houses on this little cul-de-sac. I think we can use that one there at the end. I’ll let you have the captain and Fred tomorrow and they can haul while you and your crew load and unload.”

“I like it when you talk administratively,” she said, giving him a wink.

Russ shook his head at her comment. She was a flirt, but he was too old to fall for such talk. He was 62 years old after all.

The captain saved them from more awkward conversation when he sat down with two burgers and some potato salad on his plate. “Hey Lisa. Is the colonel telling you about how much fuel we got now? I bet we have enough to keep the generators running for two or three years. He even found a propane truck so we can keep our furnaces running.

“If it weren’t for the fact that this is hell on earth, we’d be having a right nice time,” the chubby little man said, stuffing a burger into his mouth. Eldred had lost four sisters and his parents in the great death. He hadn’t been married or had any children and seemed to be handling the loss of everyone he loved better than most of the others.

Russ was about to tell the captain that it had been a team effort when they heard a vehicle coming down the road. Russ looked around and did a quick head count and everyone was accounted for.

The truck was coming pretty fast and he hadn’t even thought about other people on the base, assuming someone had been out late and was rushing to get back to the barbecue. This afternoon they’d driven up and down most of the streets on the base and hadn’t seen anyone.

The music that someone had set up had kept them from hearing the truck until it was almost to their little barbecue. He didn’t have time to do more than stand up from his chair before the truck pulled to a halt with a screech. Lisa was beside him and the captain had set his food down on his chair. No one was armed but a quick glance around showed two of their number had disappeared in the past four seconds.

Two men, armed with M4s got out of the truck. They were wearing army blouses and pants, but their boots weren’t bloused. “What’ve got going on here?” the one who had been driving asked. “There’s a party going on and no one invited us? Who’s in charge here?”

Russ stepped forward, but Lisa and the captain stayed close beside him. “I am in charge here,” Russ said using the same tone he’d used when commanding his civil affairs company. “Colonel Russ Hammond and these people and I are all survivors of the plague. We’re attempting to salvage what we can of the United States.”

The man who got out of the passenger side of the truck made it obvious his rifle was ready to shoot. He walked with an evil smile and a strutting swagger. He had a scraggly beard and an unkempt look, but walked like he was confident he and his buddy were in control of the situation.

“There is no United States of America, Col. Hammond,” the first man said sarcastically, drawing out Hammond’s last name into a drawl. “Now it’s the man with the gun who is makes the rules and I don’t see no guns here ‘cept mine, so I guess that makes me in charge.

“You can call me ‘General’ Mason,” said with a laugh while looking at his friend.

The second man had walked over to the barbecue and slapped together a sandwich while Devon, the 20-something man who used to work at a doughnut shop, stood to the side with a spatula in his hand. He laughed at his friend’s remark.

The other survivors grouped near the curb in front of the captain’s house.

The first man reached into the cooler with the beer and pulled one out. Using one hand he opened it and drank it down in three sloppy gulps.

“You got women here, too,” he said, pointing his rifle at the group by the curb. “We had one of them once.” He then laughed, like he’d told a good joke.

Russ felt Lisa’s hand squeeze his elbow. He recalled what she’d told them when they first met about the three men and a woman with a second woman chained to the hood of their truck. Russ looked over at the truck and he could see marks on the fender wells where chains might have been attached.

“Look guys,” the captain said stepping away from Russ, “we’re not looking for any trouble…” was all he got out before the second man hit him in the face with the butt of the rifle. The captain fell to his hands and knees with the blow.

The first one didn’t move except to point his rifle at the group by the curb when they started to move toward the captain.

“You all stand right there,” the first one told them as the second knelt down to the captain who was bleeding from his nose. “My friend here was just showing you we will run a disciple…” was what he was saying when a bullet shattered the stock of the M4 in his hands.

“The next shot goes into your head, asshole,” Marine Lance Corporal Douglas Angelopoulos said from the second story of the captain’s house.

The second man grabbed for the captain to use him as a shield, but the advertising executive who had a paunch and a few extra pounds, was also a soldier. He used his elbow on the man’s nose and kneed him in the crotch hard enough to lift the man off the ground. The man dropped the rifle he was carrying and Eldred made sure he wouldn’t be any more problem by stomping on the man’s instep and followed it up with a punch to the back of the man’s head. The man fell to the pavement.

Pvt. Lucien raced over and picked up the rifle that the second man dropped and covered the first man while Doug came out of the captain’s house. Fred came out of the house next to the captain’s with a shotgun. Russ knew there had been someone else missing from the group but he hadn’t guessed it was Fred.

The first man had blood running down one of his arms from shrapnel from the rifle that he’d been carrying. He had both hands in the air and had lost his arrogant attitude. Bare came over to the man and grabbed him by the collar to make sure he didn’t try to run.

Doug had hand cuffs out and slapped them on both the men before frisking them and forcing them to sit on the curb. He found two hand guns, a knife, and on the first man, a pair of woman’s panties in his pocket. Russ could tell Deputy Doug was taking his job seriously so he checked on Eldred.

“How you doing, exec?” he asked the young officer. “Bad?”

“Prick caught me right on the side of the nose,” Eldred told him. “I hope his hurts as bad as mine does.”

“Oh, I think you hurt him a lot more than he hurt you. That knee to the groin is right out of the movies,” Russ said to him while checking to make sure the captain’s nose wasn’t broken. “You’ll have a bruise, captain, but you handled that very well.”

The captain flushed with pride and sniffed to keep more blood from coming out of his nose. Lisa handed him some more paper towels.

Doug and Sgt. Bare walked over to where the two officers were talking. Fred kept the two men covered with the shotgun. “What’re we going to do with them, sir?” Doug asked the two.

“I think the first thing we need to do is lock them up so they don’t try something more stupid and Fred isn’t forced to shoot them. I’d suggest handcuffing them to the stop sign while we finish eating.”

Doug smiled at the colonel’s suggestion. He and Fred escorted the two men over to the stop sign. The leader of the two started to complain but Fred’s poke with the shotgun shut him up.

The mood of the group relaxed with the men secured and Russ and Myles sitting back down to finish their meal. Doug slung his rifle over his shoulder and took the burger offered to him by Devon, the vending machine repairman. Lucien kept the M4 he’d taken from the second man. He said the bore was dirty and it had been fired recently.

Russ, Lisa and Myles discussed what they should do with the two men. “The president was clear,” Myles stated without much enthusiasm. “We are technically still under martial law. We could execute them and they’d not trouble us again.”

“They don’t deserve any trial,” Lisa added. “I know that’s the same truck I saw with the woman strapped across the hood. But there were four of them I know there were.”

“So they probably killed the other two,” Myles thought out loud. “They were ready to kill any of us and we know they were after the women.”

“But who would we have do it?” Lisa asked him after a long silence. “Doug’s too young no matter what anyone says and Sgt. Bare doesn’t look like she could do it either. That means one of you would have to do it.”

Neither man voiced their thoughts. Instead they finished their suppers and drank another beer.

When the evening meal was complete and Pvt. Lucien rolled the barbecue back to his garage, Russ asked for Doug, Myles and Lisa to join him in the middle of the street before they retired for the night.

“I want to ask these men a few questions, and I want all of you to hear their answers. Then I will decide what must be done with them. You wanted me to be in charge, so it is my responsibility. Is everyone clear on this?”

All three nodded solemnly. This was the first time that any of them had heard the former Army colonel assert his authority. Once he had their acknowledgment he walked over to the two men still handcuffed to the stop sign.

“How did you find us?” he asked when the first man, who had at some time in the last two hours lost control of his bladder.

“My name is Sergeant Sam Mason and I have rights. I want a lawyer. This is cruel and unusual punishment and I’m going to sue your ass,” the man spat at the colonel.

Russ rolled his eyes.

He asked the same question to the second man, the one Myles had put the beat down on. “Shut up Kenny. They can’t do nothing to us until we have a trial,” the first one said.

“So I take it you’re not going to tell us anything?” Russ asked innocently.

“You got it man. You can’t do nothing to us or ask us any questions because I asked for a lawyer. Now shut up colonel and get out of my face.”

Russ pursed his lips and looked at the three people with him. “Deputy, do you have the keys to their handcuffs?”

“Right here, sir,” Doug said, pulling them from his pocket.

“Please secure the two prisoners and put them in the back of their truck. Captain Eldred, you’re with me. Lisa, thank you for your input, but this has become a military matter and the captain and I have our military duty to perform.” Lisa looked at Russ. He was glad the sun had set behind him and she couldn’t see his eyes. If she had, she’d have seen a sadness and anger at what he must do. She turned and went to the house she and Russ shared. She didn’t know what she was feeling and she didn’t know if she wanted to know what the colonel had planned.

“Corporal, you are dismissed for the evening and thank you for your service today.” Doug saluted Russ, did an about face and left the captain and colonel standing by the street.

Russ and Myles got in the truck, Russ was driving. He pulled into the armory and asked the captain to watch the prisoners while he went inside. He came back a moment later with two bottles of water.

Myles didn’t ask any questions. Russ got back into the truck and drove. He headed west on 59th St and pulled into the medical clinic. “I’m going to run in and find something for your nose, captain. Wait with the prisoners.”

“My nose is fine, sir. You don’t need to go to the trouble.”

“No, captain. If your nose starts to bleed again, we’ll need gauze or cotton,” he said climbing out of the truck.

Myles watched the senior officer walk up to the building and pull on the front door. In the headlights he could see they opened easily and the colonel went inside. He came out about 10 minutes later with a handful of sterile gauze and put it on the dashboard.

Russ backed the truck up and pulled back onto 59th and continued west past the fire station and running track. He pulled into the parking lot of the police station he’d been in just yesterday.

“Get the prisoners out of the back, captain. I’m going to get us some flashlights.”

Russ went inside the building and came back with a set of keys and two flashlights.