Chapter 63

For the next three days we rode on, heading westward the whole time, unwavering in our pursuit of Winslow and his men. We rode for the most part in silence. It gave me time to think and to reflect on how things had changed for me and my people over the last several weeks. I started wondering if it really was for the good. To say that killing Ferguson hadn’t affected me would have been a lie. The man wasn’t inherently evil, but he had killed people who shouldn’t have been killed. Giving me the excuse that he’d only been doing his job, out of gratitude to Winslow, hadn’t cut it with me. Even so, Ferguson had been a friend at one time. I found myself wishing that Kim was with me so we could talk. Dunbar and Burton weren’t much help in the matter as they both felt I’d done the right thing. I certainly couldn’t have let the man go, and considering what had happened to Kirov, I’d have had to put a twenty-four seven guard on the man, just to keep one of my people from killing him. That’s what got me the most during those three days of riding; I found myself justifying what I’d done. I even wondered if in the end, once Winslow was dealt with and my missive to General Ridgeway had been sent off, that maybe I should simply ride off into the sunset. My people could survive without me. Perhaps it would be for the best.

Then we found Fillmore, Reed, and Marlin. They were dead.

It hadn’t been hard trailing Winslow and his remaining goons. His party were using travois to haul their possessions and their plunder with them as they moved along. The trailing ends of the travois poles left a distinctive track in the earth. That, and the occasional burnt out village let us know that we were on the right track. Hell, I didn’t even need to send Lottie up in the Huey to look about, even though we did once, just so she could hop the helicopter ahead of us and report on the lay of the land. By then the helicopter was low on fuel and we all knew that the next flight would be the last one. However, as I’ve pointed out, it wasn’t really needed. Winslow was certainly not trying to hide where he was going.

It was Gort and Geeta who found the bodies. I’d put the pair out ahead of our party to ensure that we didn’t stumble upon an unexpected situation. I had Dunbar and Burton out on our flanks doing the same job. By now I knew that Winslow and his people were probably desperate for resources. Every village we came upon told the same story. Winslow’s people had slaughtered everyone in camp, regardless of age or sex, and then they had rifled through each hut, lean-to, or tent looking for food. We found empty storage containers strewn about each village, showing us that Winslow’s party had grabbed what they could, without care or thought. The only thing I was grateful that we didn’t find was signs of cannibalism. Winslow’s party hadn’t devolved that far.

The bodies were found in a small, secluded spot off the trail we were following, situated opposite a small stream that flowed down from a nearby hill and across our route. Two of the bodies were lying dead side by side in their sleeping bags. Someone had put spears into their hearts while they slept. The third man had been killed near the edge of the camp with someone having slit his throat from behind. The bodies hadn’t been lying there for very long as the scavengers hadn’t gotten to them yet.

“Well, it looks like Winslow has taken matters one step further,” Dunbar declared flatly, in a detached manner, after glancing about the area and taking in the sign. “What do you think happened?”

Dunbar’s query was more of a rhetorical question than it was anything else. The man knew what had happened here, just as I knew it. Winslow had killed the three men, most likely with the help of Jefferson, his security chief. The real question was, why he had killed the men. It just didn’t make sense.

“It’s fucking crazy,” Burton pointed out as he carefully paced about the site. “Winslow’s left behind everything these poor bastards owned, including their personal weapons, but from the look of it Winslow took all the magazines. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

It did make one wonder and I admitted it openly before rolling the information over in my head and musing upon it. Ferguson had said that the group was low on ammunition, and his statement had been proven out when we’d gone through his gear, including the weapons that he had with him when Burton had captured him. The man had had his service pistol, his carbine, and a hunting rifle. In total he’d had eight rounds for his pistol, twenty-two rounds for his carbine, and thirteen rounds for the hunting rifle. That wasn’t much. It definitely wouldn’t have sustained him long if he’d been stuck supporting himself by using modern firearms to hunt and protect himself. He’d have been in trouble long before summer was over. Seeing the three dead men and learning that they’d been stripped of what ammunition they had left suggested that Winslow might be even worse off, in comparison, to Ferguson. It made me shake my head in disgust.

“Fuck! That man is a really sick bastard,” I declared angrily, drawing everyone’s attention to me with the vehement nature of my tone. “He killed them for bullets. The bastard killed three men in their sleep so he could have enough ammunition to move on to the next village to do a little more murdering and a little more plundering. Fuck, I can’t wait to catch up to him.”

No one argued with me on that point. Dunbar and Burton nodded their heads sympathetically in response to my outburst, while the others just sighed and shook their heads in disbelief that what I had said was true. Even Sygor looked perplexed at what had happened.

I ordered the bodies buried. It surprised a couple of people, given that I’d left the other men that we’d killed lying where we’d killed them for the scavengers to clean up, but for some reason I felt sorry for these three men. They were raping, murdering bastards, but they’d been loyal bastards, and their boss had betrayed them. Gogra volunteered to see that the job got done, and I thanked him.

It was two days later and early in the morning when a gunshot, off in the distance, alerted us to the fact we were closing in on our quarry.

We’d actually only been on the trail for an hour when it happened. The shot rang out in the morning air, and I pulled up everyone short. I quickly looked about to make certain we weren’t coming under fire, and then I dismounted. Ten seconds later Bogdi and Sygor came running in.

“There is a man up ahead, maybe five minutes walk from here,” Bogdi reported without hesitation, panting heavily as he did. “He is dressed in black like the other men we’ve met and dealt with. He is off the trail to the right by a hundred yards or so. He just killed a deer.”

By then Dunbar and Burton had come from where they’d been patrolling on our flanks. I quickly told them what Bogdi and Sygor had seen, including the description of the man.

“That sounds like Jefferson to me,” Burton declared promptly, glancing off in the direction where the man was supposed to be. “We need to be careful with him as that man is dangerous.”

I was about to agree when suddenly another shot rang out. To both my surprise, and immediate horror, one of my people went down.

I dropped immediately and turned in the direction the shot had come from. As I did I brought up my carbine. I didn’t see a thing.

“He’s on the ground and moving to the right,” Dunbar spat out as he panned his big rifle in that direction. “Cover me.”

At that, Dunbar slipped away, also moving towards the right. Bogdi and Sygor went with him. As he moved out I started barking orders to those of my party left behind.

“Tonko, take Gort and Geeta and head left,” I told the squad leader. “Keep your heads down and your eyes open. If you get a chance, shoot the man.”

Tonko muttered an acknowledgement and then went off as I’d ordered. As he slipped away I took a quick look around to see what was going on. I spotted Carmen and Ruba leaning over a body, and I could hear Carmen cursing in Spanish under her breath, but I still didn’t know who’d been hit. Just then Burton who was on the ground a few feet away from me opened up with a long burst of fire from his M16. His fire was joined by several other bursts as my people joined in. Then as quickly as the firing started it stopped.

“Report,” I called over to Burton since he’d been the one to start firing. “What the fuck’s going on.”

“The bastard popped his head up to take another shot, and I made him eat dirt,” Burton muttered in reply as he shifted his firing position. “I don’t think I got him, but I definitely made him shit his pants. At least now he knows that he’s in trouble. It might keep his head down long enough for our people to flank him.”

I didn’t know about that. From what Ferguson, and for that fact, Struthers had told me, Jefferson was a nutcase and a loose cannon. The guy could end up doing anything, including charging our position. I took a look through my scope, trying to spot the man, and I failed miserably in my attempt. I then called Dunbar on my throat mic asking for a report. Even as I did, Jefferson popped up again; this time to the left of his previous position and few yards closer to us.

“Down!” I snapped in warning as the shot rang out.

There was a cry to the rear of me. Another person had been hit and from the sound of it, it had been a woman. I rolled to my right and I came up looking for the bastard. He wasn’t there anymore.

“We need to find him,” Burton growled angrily over at me, rage in his voice, “and put him down.”

“Okay,” I spat back in agreement, “Let’s go get the bastard.”

I told everyone else to cover us. Burton inched forward slowly, trying to keep low. There really wasn’t much cover for us other than the occasional fold in the landscape. The plains were devoid of anything besides grass and this early in the year, it wasn’t that long and it certainly didn’t hide us. Once he had advanced about ten feet and he’d taken up another firing position, I pushed myself up into a walking crouch in an effort to move forward. At that point, Jefferson popped up again.

I spotted him about the same moment he spotted me. I let loose with a short burst of automatic fire just before throwing myself onto the ground. Burton cut loose at the same time. Then we heard a loud bang. Obviously Dunbar had taken a shot.

I waited. So did everyone else. Then Dunbar radioed me.

“I got him,” Dunbar reported. “He’s down and on the ground in front of you, maybe eighty yards out and to the left. I’m sending Bogdi and Sygor in.”

I acknowledge Dunbar’s transmission, and then I told everyone to wait. One minute later Bogdi confirmed the kill. With that I was on my feet and heading back into our location, spouting off as I went, asking who the fuck had been shot. I was back before anyone could answer me.

The first hit had been Helen. The hit had taken her high on the right. Thankfully, she’d been wearing a vest which hadn’t stopped the bullet, but had slowed it down. It was still a very serious wound. Carmen was tending to it. The second shot had hit one of the local women and she’d gotten lucky. The round had clipped her left shoulder, creasing it, but that was it. No bone had been hit, and no major artery had been damaged. Ozmat and Ohba were tending to her.

“What can I do to help?” I asked Carmen once I’d seen what the situation was.

“Call in a medevac helicopter,” Carmen spat back at me, focusing on her patient and the job at hand, “and get me to a fully equipped hospital that has a trauma team standing by. Besides that, just stay out of my way!”

“Can she be moved?” I asked pointedly, ignoring the last thing that Carmen had said. “Can we transfer her back to the base? Would that do?”

“It would,” Carmen admitted as my words sank in through the fog of fear and concern that had taken hold of her. “Just give me a couple of minutes to stabilize her.”

I said I would, and then stepped away and checked on the other patient. She was in pain and frightened, but besides that she was okay. Ohba had cleaned and dressed her wound and both Ozmat and she were looking after the woman. She was one of the Forest People. I did my best to reassure her that she’d be okay. Then I took a look about at the rest of my party.

My people had fanned out about the non-combatants in our group, and our horses, covering them the best they could. I nodded approvingly on seeing that. Then I noted that Dunbar and the others had returned. They’d dragged in Jefferson’s body. Seeing this I went over to speak to him.

“Are we safe?” I asked the big man pointedly as I got to him.

“I’ve sent out scouts, to sweep the area,” Dunbar reported without hesitation, glancing off in the direction that Jefferson had attacked from, as he spoke to me. “I don’t figure that Winslow will be too far away. There has to be a camp or a village nearby where the man is holed up. I’ve told the men to be careful and not to confront him. Hopefully, they’ll listen to me.”

“I hope so as well,” I sighed heavily in reply, looking off towards the west as I did. “By now Winslow knows we’re here. That one shot of yours had to tell the man that Jefferson ran into company. That means that Winslow will be on alert and probably dangerous. We’ll have to approach him with caution. I still want the man alive.”

Dunbar didn’t reply to that. He just nodded his understanding and then moved off. I glanced over at Burton. He was off to one side, standing watch while Carmen tended Helen’s wound. Seeing him there I walked over to him and asked him how he was.

“Pissed,” Burton told me bluntly, “but I’ll survive, and truthfully, I think Helen will too, once she’s been evacuated back to the base. Carmen will take care of her.”

“I’m sure she will,” I acknowledged in a reassuring manner. “I’m also sure that Alexa will as well. I’m going to tell Carmen to pass the word to Koo and Kim, on arrival, to get Alexa back to the base to help out. It shouldn’t take long to send someone through the Gateway to fetch her and bring her back to the sickbay at the base. The way I see it, two pairs of hands are better than one.”

“Thanks alot,” Burton groused in reply, glancing over to where Carmen was finishing up with Helen, prepping her for the move. “You do know that will really piss Helen off, when she comes to after surgery and finds out that Alexa helped save her life. She’s going to hate me for letting it happen.”

I smirked at the thought and then chuckled awkwardly in reply. Then getting a grip of myself, I suggest to Burton that if the topic did come up, he could blame it entirely on me. He said he would.

Carmen let me know that she was ready to go. I ordered everyone out of the immediate area except for the young Forest Woman, who I was sending along with Carmen. While Dunbar, Burton, and Gogra made certain that all the horses were led off, and that everyone was at least a hundred yards away from where Carmen and her patients were, I knelt down beside Carmen to give her the transponder I was carrying, and my last minute instructions, particularly about sending for Alexa. Carmen thanked me for that. I then spoke to the young Forest woman, telling her she was going on a special trip, but that she needn’t be afraid. I hoped it would help her manage the transfer. I then got out of the way.

It took a few minutes to happen. Carmen pushed the transponder activator and then we waited. Eventually the area about her and her patients began to glow. Then in a blink of an eye, the glow enveloped Carmen and the others. When the light faded, they were gone.

Naturally that caused quite a stir with the locals. I spent the next half hour reassuring them that everything was all right.

Finding Winslow turned out to be a simple task. In fact, it only took my scouts another fifteen minutes to achieve, once the Gateway had opened and Carmen had left us with her charges. It was Bogdi who found the man.

It seems that Winslow was waiting for us in a nearby village. The village was only a couple of miles up the trail we were following, give or take a few yards. It was relatively small and unremarkable as it contained roughly two dozen tent-like dwellings, all of which were still standing. That took me by surprise. The only thing special about the place was the fact that it had been erected atop a knoll. The knoll stood above the surrounding landscape by about eight feet, and had a diameter of roughly three times the height. It wasn’t much to look at, but it was obvious from first glance that anyone standing at the summit of the knoll could easily see for miles about them. Which meant sneaking up on the man was impossible.

That was fine with me, and I was certain that it was fine with everyone else in our group. We were all tired of the game and most of us just wanted it to end. I was of that frame of mind, as were most of my uptime companions, and some of my other people. Even Sygor was ready to call it quits; of course, only after Winslow was dead.

I stood back and looked at the man through my binoculars. He was seated on a folding stool at the top of the knoll, alone and holding a pistol. I frowned on seeing that and wondered what he intended to do with it. It appeared to be the only weapon he was carrying.

“What gives?” Dunbar asked me after taking a quick look at the man through his own binoculars. “Why the fuck is he just sitting there?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed in reply, putting my binoculars to my eyes again and then scanning the knoll once more, this time taking in a few more details as I did.

Winslow was alone, that much was certain. I cast my gaze about and saw nothing to suggest that he was with anyone else. That made little sense since we all knew that he’d been trudging along for the last week or more in the company of others, most likely slaves since Ferguson had told us that Winslow had taken some. He’d had them dragging travois laden with whatever had been plundered from all the other villages that he’d sacked. Those slaves should be somewhere about, waiting on their master’s whim. I couldn’t see them. I also couldn’t see any of the villagers. I got the feeling that Winslow had slaughtered them all.

“I’m going in,” I finally told Dunbar and Burton. “Spread our people out about the hill and have them cover me. I still want the man alive if possible. I’ve got questions for him, and I’ve got a special death planned for him, so if he does do something stupid, try not to kill him.”

Both men grunted their acknowledgement and then they started taking charge of our fighting force, spreading them out as I suggested. While they did it, I glanced over to where Gogra was standing, waiting with the local women that we’d acquired. I nodded to him and he came over to talk.

“I’m going in,” I told him bluntly. “I’m hoping that the man is ready to surrender. I’ve looked at him through my binoculars and from the look of him, the man isn’t well. He looks tired and haggard. If I’m lucky, he’ll give up without a fight and we can put an end to this today. If he does resist, and gets in a lucky shot, killing me, well ... make certain the man pays for everything he’s done. Also make sure that Clara and Kim complete what needs to be done. I’m certain they will, but I’d like you to give them your support. They’ll need it.”

“I will support your women, Jake; you needn’t worry about that,” Gogra muttered reassuringly. “As for the man, just be careful. Your people will need you after this is all over. The spirits will need appeasing and you speak to them better than most.”

I smiled at the compliment and then extended my forearm to the older man. He clasped and then patted my shoulder with his other hand. After a brief moment, I thanked him again and then let go of him. He did the same. Then I walked away.

I took my time approaching the knoll. I was armed and wearing armour, including a helmet, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew anything could happen. As I got closer to the place I started to notice the bodies. They looked like locals, and from what I could see, they’d been shot in the back. Some of them were women and children. The younger children looked to be alive, though dazed at what had happened to their parent. A couple started to cry as I stepped past them.

The sight tugged at my heart. As I moved forward, pressing on and moving carefully up the hill, I called back to Gogra over my throat mic. I told him what I had found, and suggested sending a few women forward under the watchful eye of one of our warriors to collect the children. He said that he would.

Eventually I reached the foot of the knoll and found myself looking up it, to where Winslow was seated. The man was watching me, but that was all. He didn’t raise his weapon and point it at me, even though I was now within range of the weapon, and he didn’t make any kind of threatening move. He just sat and stared at me. I paused once I reached the spot and called out to him.

“It’s over Winslow,” I shouted up to him. “Put down your weapons and surrender.”

Winslow jerked his head to the side for a moment and then canted it in a manner that made it look to me as if he was peering at me through one eye. After a moment or two of him doing this, the man shook his head, as if he was trying to clear it. Only then did he speak.

“Ryerson, I should have known it was you all along,” Winslow muttered in a strained voice. “Everyone told me you were dead. That bastard Ridgeway swore to me that you’d died when the anchor point exploded. Everyone else did as well. Hell, Jefferson told me not to worry about you at all, even though shit was happening that shouldn’t have happened. He said you were dead as well. I shouldn’t have believed him. I should have sent someone after you instead of that blasted woman. Fuck I was a fool.”

“We can talk about this later Winslow,” I shouted back at him. “All I want you to do right now is to put down the gun. If you do that, we can talk.”

Winslow looked down at the pistol in his hand and then he looked back at me. Then he spat on the ground in front of him.

“If I shoot you, do I win?” Winslow asked coldly.