Chapter 17
The next morning, Jake opened his eyes, staring face to face with a zombie, who had its head pressed up against the front passenger window in attempts to take a bite of Jake. It was wearing torn work clothing and a construction hat.
“I think I recognize you,” Jake sighed. “Seen you around a time or two before I moved.”
The zombie continued to try and gnaw through the glass window, unable to due to the hindrance that was its work helmet.
“Yep,” Jake continued. “You were always talking about how you would leave this place or die in it. Guess you never left, huh?”
“Sir?”
Jake turned his head around to see Joseph sitting up in the back passenger seat.
“You know that guy?” Joseph asked, rubbing his eyes.
Jake turned back around to continue staring at the zombie attempting to chew its way inside the vehicle.
“Not anymore,” Jake answered.
The other three Shinobi woke up behind Joseph, stretching their arms and legs and cracking their necks.
“Hey, Joe” Hector said. “What time do you have on your watch?”
“7:26,” Joseph answered as he glanced at his watch.
“You guys ready for the day?” Jake asked the group.
Everyone was silent, but they nodded in unison. With that, Jake pulled out a small hand held radio and handed it to Joseph.
“This radio is for Kyle,” Jake said. “We’re gonna need him and the rest of the Reapers. They can grab some extra weapons and some of the equipment we’ll need to set the outpost up and retake the settlement.”
“We raiders now, sir?” Hector joked.
“Temporarily. They’ll have their stuff back once we have no more use of it.”
The group drove back to the trailer park. Jake stayed behind as the rest removed their wallets and dog tags, then dressed up in civilian clothing and hooded long sleeved shirts. Then the group continued to the fence surrounding the settlement.
“How we getting in?” James whispered.
Joseph looked around and saw a group of infantry patrolling around the fence, two guards at the gate, and a truck carrying come survivors pulling up.
“Trejo,” Joseph started. “I need you to be a distraction. You need to create a scene to get you inside.”
“I can do that,” Hector nodded.
“Lowry, are you able to pull up the fence and shimmy under it?”
“I can,” Brittany replied. “I can also dig under it if I need to since that will be quieter.”
“Great,” Joseph continued. “While Hector’s distracting the guards, you make your way under the fence. Bass, as soon as that civilian truck stops, you’re gonna crawl under the truck and hold on tight. I’ll climb inside while the guards are busy.”
Joseph then handed the three civilian volunteer badges. Then everyone went to work.
“Hello?” Hector called out as he crept towards the guards at the gate.
“Who are you?!” one of the guards asked abruptly.
“Please help me! I heard people over here! I’ve been out here for so long!”
Hector then fell over, pretending to be unconscious.
“We got a fainter,” The other guard called out. “Can we get some water over here?”
The patrol guards hurried to the guards at the gate to assist them in reviving Hector, giving Brittany enough time and space to crawl under the fence and quickly slip on her badge and head towards the commotion.
“You,” one of the guards pointed to Brittany. “Can you go get one of the nurses so they can screen this fella?”
Brittany nodded and went to the infirmary to get one of the nurses. As she did so, she glanced over at one of the surgery desks, spotting an unwrapped syringe and a small bottle labeled:
Ketamine HCI 10 milliliters.
Brittany swiped those two items inconspicuously, then raced back out to the commotion Hector was starring in.
Once the civilian truck stopped in front of the gate, the driver stepped out.
“What’s going on over here?” The driver asked.
“Got an unconscious survivor,” the guard replied. “Just appeared out of nowhere.”
“I have a few survivors back here, too.”
While the driver was busy in front of the truck, Joseph and James hurried to the back. James quickly crawled under the truck, shimmying on his back and grabbing the frame. Joseph climbed inside the back of the truck where some other survivors were.
“Hey,” one of the survivor said. “Where did you come from?”
“Civilian volunteer,” Joseph answered, pulling out his badge. “Don’t mind me; just following standard protocol. Just pretend I’m not here.”
The rest of the survivors nodded as the driver stepped back inside the vehicle. Brittany helped the nurse load Hector on a stretcher, passing him the ketamine and syringe without anyone noticing. Hector placed the anesthetic in his pocket, trying not to blow his cover, as Brittany and the nurse hoisted him up and carried him to the infirmary.
Once the commotion was halted, the truck carrying the survivors proceeded inside the settlement. The truck parked nearby the screening tent, where two soldiers were waiting for them. As the survivors were being occupied, James sneaked away from the bottom of the truck, then heading to the infirmary to meet up with Hector and Brittany.
Joseph hid underneath one of the benches in the back of the truck, hiding from the guards doing a head count on the survivors that were rescued. One of the soldiers glanced one last time, unaware of Joseph’s presence, then motioned the driver to park the truck next to the other vehicles. After the vehicle was finally turned off, Joseph slid out from underneath the bench, snuck out from the back, then proceeded to the infirmary to meet up with the rest.
On the way, Joseph seen Kyle strolling to his squad, and remembered the radio Jake wanted him to have. Joseph spotted a large box of food nearby, which gave him a perfect idea for switching radios. He picked the large box of canned goods, and carried them towards Kyle.
As Joseph was passing by, he knocked Kyle over from the left side, knocking his radio from the loop on the shoulder pocket on his vest. As he did so, he also fell, creating a mess. He then covered his head with the hood around his neck in hopes that Kyle wouldn’t recognize him.
“Oh,” Joseph said, turning his back away from Kyle while swapping both of the radios, now laying on the ground. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t see you.”
“That box heavy, bud?” Kyle asked. “Need a hand with it?”
“Oh no, sir. Thank you though. But if you’d be so kind to point me in the right direction?”
Kyle pointed his prosthetic arm towards a truck where other canned goods and non-perishables were stacked up.
“Right over there,” Kyle answered.
“Alright,” Joseph replied. “Thank you kindly.”
“No problem. Have I seen you around before?”
“I wouldn’t think so; just started. But I do see a radio on the ground. Is that yours?”
Kyle fixed his eyes to the ground and saw the radio. He then felt his pocket where his radio used to be at.
“So I did,” Kyle replied, picking up the radio, unaware that it was the swapped radio. “Good eye. If you are interested, you should check into the Z-Corps. With eyes like that, you might make a good sniper.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, sir,” Joseph said as he walked away, dropping the heavy box of food off with the rest of the stockpile.
After releasing the box, Joseph removed the batteries from Kyle’s radio, then set the radio on the ground, keeping the batteries. He then met up with the rest of the Shinobi at the infirmary.
When Joseph snuck in the tent, he looked around and saw the rest of the guys standing up and about, waiting for him. The nurses that were present were laying in the beds unconscious.
“Are they gonna be alright?” Joseph asked.
“We had some sedatives lying around,” Brittany answered. “They’ll be out cold for at least thirty minutes.”
“Then that’s our time limit.”
The Shinobi left the infirmary tent. As they were leaving, Joseph saw Kyle heading to his tent, away from the rest of the soldiers.
“You guys go ahead,” Joseph said. “I’ll catch up with you.”
As the rest proceeded towards the civilian settlement, Joseph trailed Kyle to his tent, keeping his distance. He then snuck to the side of Kyle’s tent to overhear what was being said.
“Alright,” Kyle began. “I’m away from everyone else. Identify yourself.”
“I think you know exactly who this is, Kyle,” the man in the radio replied.
“Jake?! Are you crazy?! You tapped into my radio! Someone else is hearing this right now! You’re gonna get me arrested!”
“That’s why one of my friends swapped radios. This line is secure.”
Kyle looked around in his tent, then peeked outside, looking for anything suspicious.
“Don’t worry about looking for anybody,” Jake continued. “I know how you are: anything out of the ordinary, you try and look for anything odd. I’ll let you know it was Joseph that swapped your radio. By the time I told you, he’s already left and gathered some more intel with his crew.”
“Alright,” Kyle replied. “You got me. What do you want?”
“I want your help.”
“My help?!”
Joseph continued looking around to make sure no one was present.
“Do you think I would do all of this if I didn’t know something was up?” Jake asked.
“All I know,” Kyle replied. “Is that my team and I were ordered to kill you
on sight
!”
“By who? Boris?”
All was silent for a moment.
“What are you getting at?” Kyle asked.
“Boris is trying to overthrow the council and take over the settlement,” Jake answered. “He may have killed Bryan and pinned it on me. He may have been responsible for tampering with the radios when you lost your arm. He’s already killed Alan and has Tyrese in captivity.”
“You sure about all of this?!”
“Answer me this: did you see Tyrese at the base at all today?”
Joseph knew he had to meet up with everyone else at the jailhouse, but was eager to know if Kyle was going to assist this resistance that was soon to begin. Joseph continued to overhear a little more.
“Even if what you’re saying is true,” Kyle sighed. “Boris needed an accomplice when tampering with the radios that one time.”
“Well that’ exactly what Joseph and those guys are going to find out.”
“Well what if someone finds them before they meet up with you?”
“They’re Shinobi, Kyle; they’ve been trained to
not
be found.”
With that, Joseph headed towards the civilian settlement to link up with the others at the jailhouse. As he met up with them, he noticed that every one of them were staring in shock; Brittany’s hands were shaking and her face was nearly driven to tears.
“What is it guys?” Joseph asked, looking in the same direction the rest were looking. “Oh, God... No.”
Joseph’s face turned to shock and despair when he saw the same heart tearing scenery that was set before them. Adam Lee was in the courtyard of the jailhouse conversing with Boris.
Chapter 18
“Not a bad turn of events,” Boris told Adam. “Things are now going according to plan, thanks to you.”
“Not really,” Adam responded. “He’s out there somewhere; outside of the settlement with Joseph and the rest of the Shinobi. You should’ve let me go with them so I can find out where they’re setting up at. Why did you want me here?”
“Well, Adam, to find out if there’s anyone else on the inside planning to work with Jake. I’m sure you can take care of business if there is.”
“How long do you think this will pan out? We already tried to kill Jake once, with Alpha being collateral damage.”
Joseph and the rest overheard the entire conversation that Adam and Boris was having.
“Why would he do this to us?!” Hector whispered. “We were family to him!”
“I can’t watch anymore of this,” Brittany cried. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now.”
“This is not happening,” James added. “There’s no way. He wouldn’t do this to us, would he?”
“He wasn’t around that day,” Joseph sighed, shaking his head to the ground. “He fooled every one of us.”
“What more do you want from me?” Adam continued, unaware that the Shinobi were watching him. “You had me kill Bryan, Jake’s already an enemy of the settlement, along with the Shinobi, Brandon is no longer Chief of the Z-Corps, Tyrese is in custody, and Alan is dead. You have everything. Our agreement is over!”
“Not until I know that Jake is dead,” Boris responded. “After that, then we’ll be finished. You can do whatever you want as soon as we’re done. Until then, I still need you to assist in keeping things in order. Do you still want to be Presiding Officer Adam Lee?”
“Oh, you know exactly what I want.”
“He killed Bryan too?” James commentated, overhearing the rest of the conversation.
“I know this is hard to say,” Joseph stated. “But Adam Lee has betrayed us and this entire settlement. He’s involved with treason. We have to get rid of him.”
The Shinobi continued to listen to the conversation.
“Then I expect you to do your part,” Boris ordered. “You’ll need to find out if there is any sign of resistance in the settlement. Then we’ll look for his hiding spot. Squeeze him out and constrict his movement.”
“Yessir,” Adam replied.
With that, Boris headed back inside the jailhouse, and Adam left the jailhouse, heading for the military outpost.
“He doesn’t know that we know,” Joseph said. “Let’s hurry up and get to him.”
The Shinobi followed Adam back to the gate and entered with the help of their civilian volunteer badges. Then the group met up with Adam, who was surprised to see them.
“Guys,” Adam said. “What are you doing here?! You’re gonna get caught!”
“We came back to get you,” Joseph answered. “Jake is going to start the assault tonight and he wants all of us involved.”
“I can’t just stay inside the base and attack outward?”
“With what Jake has planned,” Hector responded. “He’s gonna need all of us on the outside.”
“Alright,” Adam answered. “How are we supposed to get out of here then, genius?”
Kyle, Grimm, Brandon, and Rodney appeared from behind the quarreling group, with their weapons pointed at them. Jake and the rest silently stood still, with their hands in the air.
“Never mind,” Adam uttered. “Forget about it.”
“Hey, fellas,” Joseph said. “What are you guys up...”
“Can it, Boyer!” Rodney asserted. “We already know you’re working with Jake. You’re gonna tell us exactly what he’s planning on doing!”
“What are you talking about?”
Grimm stuck the barrel of his rifle in the back of Joseph’s head, nearly digging through his hair.
“Okay, okay,” Joseph gulped. “Yes! Jake is planning to take down Boris and retake the settlement!”
“With just him and you five?” Kyle laughed. “He’s pretty dumb. Of course; not that dumb, because he knew we’d help him.”
The Reapers lowered their weapons and made sure none of the other soldiers were around.
“Our chopper is ready and it has all the supplies that Jake asked for,” Kyle continued. “We told the Z-Corps that Alpha was called on an emergency rescue mission. Former Chief Peterson is waiting on us as well. If you want a way out, I suggest we start running to the chopper and load up.”
Joseph nodded in agreement and everyone rushed to the chopper that was about to take off. As everyone stepped inside, the pilot lifted the helicopter in the air, leaving the settlement. They flew until Joseph showed Kyle where the limestone mine was.
As the chopper landed in the pit, Jake pulled up in the Hummer meeting the rest of the group.
“Turn off all communications,” Brandon told the pilot as he and the rest stepped off the chopper.
“Good to see you guys again,” Jake said as he greeted Brandon and HR-Team Alpha.
“So what’s the plan?”
“Well, Joseph now knows what part of the jailhouse Tyrese is in, right?”
“Not yet,” Joseph replied, cringing his teeth and clenching his fists. “But I did find out something else.”
The Shinobi turned to look at Adam, who has already started running away to leave the mine.
“Stop him!” James shouted.
As the Shinobi began chasing Adam up the steep slopes, the Reapers began shooting in the direction. Adam dashed in a zigzag pattern to avoid the gunfire. Brandon then pulled out a scoped 30-06 and aimed straight for Adam’s back.
Pow!
Thp!
Adam arched backwards, tumbling down the slope of lime rock and stone. Hector and Brittany stopped him before he could roll into one of the deep waterholes in that mining pit. The rest of the group rushed to Adam, who was gagging blood and foam from his mouth.
“Explanation, Boyer!” Jake ordered.
“The bastard killed Bryan and tampered with the radios that day Lieutenant Williams lost his arm!”
“He got hit in the lungs,” Kyle uttered. “He doesn’t have that long to live.”
“I’m.. so... s-sorry,” Adam choked.
“You should be!” Joseph shouted. “You betrayed us! Your own family! You chose a damn council position over everything you stood for!”
“It’s not.. like that.. at... all.”
“Then what the hell is it?!”
Joseph tightly gripped Adam’s collar.
“Boris... kn-knew I was.. o-onto him,” Adam continued, coughing up blood. “He was... gonna... k-kill... my... my family... if I didn’t... do... what he said.”
Joseph released his grip on Adam and Jake kneeled down.
“You said you didn’t have any family,” Jake said.
“I didn’t... wanna... p-put her in jeopardy, s-sir,” Adam replied. “But Boris... found out about her... and he said he was gonna... k-kill her... if I didn’t... do what he said.”
“Why didn’t you just come to us, Adam?” James asked. “We would have helped you.”
“I was scared, James. He would have killed her... if I... said anything. What was I supposed to do, huh?!”
As Adam began weeping, he continued coughing up blood and it was getting harder for him to breathe.
“Besides,” Adam continued. “By the time I saw... Lieutenant Williams... without his arm... I knew I was... already in... t-too deep.”
“Come on, Adam,” Jake asserted. “Stay with us.”
“I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t wanna... do any of that; I swear.”
“I know you didn’t; you have nothing to be sorry about. I know you were trying to protect your family. She’s gonna see you as a hero.”
Adam’s breathing was getting slower and weaker; he was starting to suffocate.
“She will... sir?” Adam asked.
“Yes, she will,” Jake answered. “And you can still save her, Adam. Just tell us who she is so we can get her out safely and protect her.”
Adam stopped breathing and his pupils started dilating. His body became limp and his head swayed to the left, with his cheek pressed against the dust.
“Don’t do this, Adam,” Jake said. “Not yet. We still gotta find out who this person is! Who is she, bud?!”
Jake sat still as he gazed at Adam’s lifeless body. The rest in the back stood in shock as they watched Adam fade away before their eyes.
“What now, sir?” Joseph mumbled as he wiped his eyes.
“We still have this task ahead of us,” Jake answered. “Not only do we need to break Tyrese out of confinement, but now we have to also retrieve the census and check the names of anyone who might be related to Adam Lee. Any extra information inside helps.”
“But everyone at the settlement may already be onto us by now.”
“You can wear my gear,” Brandon suggested. “I’ll stay here with Jake and keep in contact through the radios we now have in possession. While HR-Team Alpha returns to refuel and reload their weapons, you can retrieve the census. The Shinobi can sneak into the jailhouse and extract Tyrese from his cell. Once we do that, we’ll meet back here and plan our assault on Boris.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Kyle agreed.
Grimm nodded as he unloaded the radios and other tactical gear from the chopper. Then everyone but Brandon and Jake stepped on while the pilot turned on the ignition. Jake turned on their communications as the chopper flew back to Mayo to continue with their objective.