Chapter 31

We were still going over where we thought the raider's camp was when Mike came in with another man who he introduced as his electronics whiz for the camp. He and the Chief started discussing the radio and Mike motioned for me to follow him. We went outside and walked towards the spring along the back wall of the old ghost town. When he stopped, we were standing next to the wall and he began to speak.

"Do you trust him, Thom?"

"I don't know yet, Mike. The Fort sent him along with the buggy and he is a Navy Seal, but I don't really know enough about him to form an opinion yet. He's supposed to be my second when we are out, but he asks too many questions that don't fit in with what we are doing."

"Yeah, for some reason I kinda got the same feeling. Martha got the girl to talk and she escaped from the raider's camp two days ago. She is scared to death they will find her. She was beaten pretty badly the last time she ran, and they told her if she did it again they would skin her alive when they caught her. Thom, you remember the old cotton gin over by Animas?"

"Yeah, I been there a few times with several retired officers, but I thought the owner sold it to some company over in Deming. If I remember right, there was a couple of old Quonset huts and what's left of the gin. I know they had a helluva nice range 'cause I used it several times. I do know they put a high fence around the whole property and told everyone it was private property."

"According to the girl, when she left they had thirty or more women they sold to anyone who could trade food, weapons or gas. She said it was mostly Border Patrol and a lot of Army Officers who came on a regular basis. Thom, she said some of the women were children aged twelve and up. They keep them in cages during the day under the old gin where they used to store the bales of cotton. The front hut is used for entertaining and the rear one is storage, baths and kitchen. She said they get fed once a day and were only let out at night. She also told me that a bunch of the men went out and didn't return, so there are only about ten men there during the day. That must have been those raiders you had wiped out. She also said this was going on before all this happened. She heard the leader talking about how it used to be a way point for girls they sold across the border to buyers from all over. He sometimes picks one of the women who has been there awhile and has bets on who can shoot stuff they hang on them. She told Martha that everyone is usually so drunk that they shoot the poor woman full of holes and bet on how long it takes her to bleed out. The Army Officers are the worst of the lot, from what she told Martha."

"Did she mention the leader's name, Mike?"

"Yeah, she kept saying he had a girl's name Sally or Salli or something like that. I don't recall anyone by that name."

"That son of a bitch! You should know him Mike, 'cause you introduced me to him at Denny's one morning when I drove over to join you for breakfast."

"I don't remember anyone ... no it can't be. You don't think he would do something like that, do you? Salazar Mendez was a Captain with the State Police until he retired, just before this happened."

"I don't know for sure, but I ain't ruling it out. I never liked him from the get go and I hated that fake smile of his. Mike, he lived way beyond his means and if one of his men questioned any of his decisions, he was either put on a desk or transferred. Hell, from what I could find out they transferred him down here to get him out of Santa Fe. Mike, if it is him, he is dead and that I guarantee you. I appreciate the information and let's keep it to ourselves. With the Army and Border Patrol involved, I don't know who the hell I can trust now. This just keeps getting better and better, my friend. We better get back before the Chief starts getting suspicious. Somehow or other I will get something set up to end this crap."

"Ok, but you watch your ass. This whole camp owes you their lives and you know you will always be welcome here. Besides, other than my daughter, you are the only friend I have left from before. Thom, have you heard anything from your daughter?"

"Not a thing, Mike, and she is too far away from here for me to even try to find her right now. I don't know if she and her daughter even survived. I know I taught her how to survive, but whether she still remembers enough of it to do so is another question. Besides, from what we been told by other ham operators, these things are spreading out and looking for us to eat. There are supposed to be pockets of the living all over the country, but how long they will survive when those things start migrating is a question I don't know the answer to."