Chapter 46

Sheila was driving and skidded to a halt close to Alex’s truck. I could see people under it taking cover. I could see Alex in the passenger seat holding his arm. One of his guys was lying n the road not moving. There was a lot of blood around him. It was obvious something bad had happened. At that moment, a bullet pinged off the hood of the Hummer.

I said, “Okay. Weapons free. If you see a target, shoot it!”

Joe’s rifle let out a barrage that made me glad I wasn’t his target. On the other side of the Hummer, Nancy did the same. I saw Sheila cringe at the sound and number of bullets blasting.

I looked out the slit and saw a body in the woods fall out limply. I was quiet. I wondered if we got them all or were some playing possum. I also knew the way to find out was to get out and try to draw fire.

I unbuckled and opened the door carefully. I was wearing armor so hoped it would protect me. I got out and stood with my rifle ready. It was quiet for a moment, then multiple shots rang out pinging off the Hummer and my armor. It was obvious they were aiming at me.

We all returned fire using a lot of ammo intending to provide a suppressive fire and wiping out anyone possible. Joe got out joining me and we looked at spots around the area. The underbrush was pretty much shredded. I noticed that Nancy was wearing armor while she covered us with the roof mounted machine gun. A bush moved and she shot it away making hamburger of the person there. Over the loudspeaker, Sheila said, “If you want to surrender, now would be the time. Stand up slowly with your hands raised. No weapons!”

Very slowly, three people stood. Another bush moved. Nancy moved the machine gun in time to have a bullet ping off the roof of the Hummer. Nancy held down the triggers and the bush blew apart along with the person behind it. I looked and there was nothing left recognizable as human.

It looked like they were the only survivors of the attackers. I motioned them forward while the rest of my team looked out for any other lurkers. “Keep your hands raised. Come here. Is there anyone else from your group likely left alive?”

One guy looked around at the chewed up underbrush. “The rest of us were caught by your bullets. You didn’t give us a chance.”

“That’s true.” Joe said, “You made the mistake of ambushing our work party trying to restore electrical power.” He took a breath. “It’s a good idea not to piss people off when they have guns and are prepared to use them.”

I looked at the man who had questioned Joe and said, “Who were you people?”

He responded. “You didn’t leave many of us. Jim Adams was our leader. We’re trying to get back to basics. We don’t want the electricity restored.”

Joe said, “In your next life, talking before shooting would be a good idea. We wouldn’t mind cutting the lines for you but we want power. Are there any women in your group?”

“Yeah, but we don’t let them out to travel.”

Nancy said, “We don’t hold with that crap. Let’s go to your area and find out if the women agree with your feeling about them.” The man looked worried.

We tied all three of them with their hands behind them and a long rope tied to the front bumper of the Hummer. Nancy watched them while we checked on Alex’s electrical group. They had one dead and one wounded.

Alex said, “They hit us without warning. John never had a chance. We’re finished here once I hook it back up. It will be nice to have power. Unfortunately, this will continue to be a weak point in receiving electrical power. We need to check the area. Losing John hurts.”

“We’ll work on it. Alex. It’s going to take some effort to clear the area of troublemakers but we will do that.”

As soon as the firing had quit, Alex’s group had helped the wounded person. John’s body was loaded. We would bury him later after we returned. I got back into the Hummer. “Sheila, I’m getting tired of these idiots. I’m not inclined to be gentle when we get to their base.” She nodded.

Joe hollered, “You three, start walking to your place. If you go too slow, we’ll run you over. If you try to get away. We’ll shoot you.” He got into the Hummer.

They started out and we followed behind them keeping some slack in the lines. After a bit, they turned left on a road and later turned left on another. Eventually, they turned to face us and stopped.

Sheila stopped the Hummer. Joe and I got out and walked over to the one who had been talking. “Which one is yours? Are there any guards or should they simply be shot?”

He said, “No. We left them here.” He pointed at a house with his head. “They’re unarmed.”

I looked over at Sheila and nodded with my head. She keyed our public address system, “This is Sheila. My husband and Joe are coming in. Your men tried to shoot up a work crew. We took the survivors prisoner. Our husbands are on their way to help you.”

Joe and I walked to the front door of the house. Standing to each side, I opened the door and pushed it open. Joe and I stepped inside quickly and quietly to see a vacant room. I whispered, “Let’s do this slowly.” He nodded. I said, “Ladies, I’m Riley Norris, Sheila’s husband. Is there anyone who needs some help?”

We heard, “We’re in the first bedroom on the left. Help!” We walked down the hall ready for the expected women tied up or bad guys. We opened the door to the first bedroom on the left and looked inside. We could see a number of women on the floor and the bed. All of them were tied up. The same lady’s voice said, ‘Please untie us. We’ve been left here since early morning. We need help.”

Joe said, “That’s why we’re here. Our wives sent us inside.” He and I pulled out knives and cut the women loose. This was the master bedroom and two made for the bathroom quickly. One of the ladies on the bed was in bad shape. She was bruised and barely conscious. As soon as one left the bathroom, another took her place. Two on the floor had not been able to hold it and moved to another room to clean up and change telling us where they were going and why. We nodded.

After the women had rested and cleaned up, Sheila and Nancy took over the talking and questioning. The three male prisoners weren’t the worst of the pack but had joined in wholeheartedly in the humiliation of these women. I made the men undress completely and retied their hands in front of them. Joe and I strung them up leaving them for the women’s vengeance. It wasn’t pretty. The men died before the women were truly finished. We left them there still strung up but hanging limply.