shook his head in disgust. Cunt like Ann had on her and she plays with fucking dolls! Tony grinned. He knew Ann had been lying when she’d told him she got off their first time together. But Tony knew women, and after their
fourth time together, he looked at the kid’s face and knew she really was getting off. Now she couldn’t get enough cock. His grin widened.
Women were all alike. Young or old. Kept their brains between their legs.
It had been a good move, coming up to south Georgia. He’d been friggin’ tired of north Florida. He’d left a good man down there to run the operations, so he wasn’t at all concerned about that.
Ben Raines concerned him.
All that garbage about him being some kind of a god. Shit! Goddamned law-and-order freak was what he was.
Wasn’t no back-up in Raines. He just went in shooting. But he was a mortal; he bled just like anybody else. And Tony meant to be the one who pulled the trigger on Ben Raines.
Yes, getting rid of Raines would be quite a feather in his cap.
He’d definitely see about wasting Ben Raines. He had people in Raines’ camp.
The son of a bitch!
CHAPTER TWELVE
It didn’t take Dan Gray long to put it all together. He had looked around and found a lot of seasoned combat vets gone from camp. Probably gone to link up with General Raines.
He wondered if the general was going to make a move against those who grabbed Colonel McGowen. Probably, he concluded. Dan knew he had a bad reputation in a fight. But nothing to compare with General Raines’ reputation as a bad ass. He felt very sorry for the Ninth Order when Ben Raines caught up with them.
The Englishman had detected a growing restlessness in General Raines lately. And he had pegged it accurately. When the Rebels were settled in, the problem with Willette and his malcontents solved-and it would be solved-and Ike found, dead or alive, Dan was certain Ben was going to take off. Probably after Gale birthed her babies. But he couldn’t be sure of that, for Gale was one very astute person, and Dan had spoken with her at length many times. Gale knew Ben was getting restless, and she also knew no one woman held Ben for very long. Not since Salina. Gale just might insist Ben take off without her.
Dan didn’t blame Ben for wanting to getaway for a
time: a few months, perhaps even a year. Lord knows the man had been saddled with the problems of creating nations for more than a decade. It was time for a break.
Dan smiled. All right, General, he thought, take your hiatus-you’ve earned it. But before you do, I shall be equipping a new truck for you. And when I get through with it, I shall be able to track you and pinpoint your location no matter where in the ravaged nation you might decide to wander.
He was grinning and rubbing his hands together gleefully as he walked off toward the motor pool.
“I suppose, Mr. Raines,” the spokesman for the Macon group said, “it would be a losing proposition for us to stay here. Is that the way you see it?”
“Yes,” Ben replied without hesitation. “Mr. Harner, Tony Silver, so I’m told, has a small, but very well- equipped army. And he is pushing hard into south Georgia. His tactics are brutal. I’ve told you about them. I believe the only way civilization can endure is for people of like mind to band together. When that is done, perhaps others will join us and we can spread out. I’ve been entertaining the thought of outposts throughout the nation, small fortressstvillage types.”
“Well-armed and well-equipped,” Harner said, leaning forward. “Much like the old west days when the settlers were pushing westward. Yes. I like that concept, General. Count us in.”
“Don’t delay your move too long, Mr. Harner,” Ben cautioned the leader of the Macon survivors. “I
noticed you have a good communications system. I’ll be in touch if I hear anything I think you should be informed of.”
“We’ll start the packing in the morning, General Raines. But we’ll do it in a manner that will not be too obvious. We should be ready to pull out in two or three weeks.”
“Good. I’ll radio Colonel Jefferys and tell him to be ready to receive you, or to give you help, if you should need it.”
“General? Are you, ah, aware of the, ah, manner in which many people view you?”
Ben smiled. “The rumor that I am more god than man? Unfortunately, yes. But every time I bring it up, it seems to make matters worse. Strengthens the rumor, so to speak. So I decided to just drop the subject.”
“I see,” Harner spoke softly. “But, General … have you ever given any thought to the idea the rumor might just hold some degree of truth?”
Ben shrugged that off. He’d heard it many times before. “Take care of the kids,” he said.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The team following the convoy of armed men had reported the men headed into the mountains of north Georgia. They appeared to be skirting the Rebels’ new Base Camp and heading toward the border of Tennessee.
Ben told them to break off pursuit and to head for Clark Hill Lake. Wait there for the other contingent to join them. Ben’s convoy would meet them there.
Ben pulled his small convoy out of the Macon area at noon, pointing them east on Interstate 16. The going proved very slow.
They were heading for Savannah.
The nation’s highways and freeways were rapidly deteriorating, Ben noted. Almost fourteen years of virtual neglect had dramatically taken its toll. Another fourteen years, and many roadways would be impassable. If he was to once more see the country, or what was left of it, with even some degree of access, he would have to do it quickly.
Gale picked up on his thoughts. She could do so by watching the expression on his face and the direction his eyes were taking over a period of time. That plus the fact that when deep in thought, Ben had a tendency to mutter. “The twins will be born around the
last of February. I won’t even consider taking them on the road until they are a year old.”
“Hell, Gale, that’s eighteen months,” Ben said, frowning.
“My, how quick you are this afternoon.” He laughed at her. “Woman, thou hath a barbed tongue.”
She slid across the seat and whispered vulgarly in his ear.
“Well … I suppose there might be a modicum of truth in that-putting it that way. I was speaking figuratively, however.”
“No kidding! Did Cecil have any good news about Ike when you spoke with him?”
Ben shook his head. “No, nothing. He’s got teams out looking. Ike will show up, unless he’s dead. As soon as we take a quick look-see at Savannah, I think we’ll head north, link up with the platoon at Clark Hill Lake, and then join the search.”
“You weren’t listening to a word I said the other day, were you, Ben?” He grinned at her.
“Shit, Ben!” She stared out the window for a few seconds. “I wonder if Ike is all right?”
Ben said nothing. He was wondering the same thing. He was worried about Ike, but not as much as Gale thought. Ben knew the ex-Navy SEAL’-IF he wasn’t dead, and Ben didn’t like to think about that-was busy planning and rejecting escape options. Given just a second’s carelessness on the part of his captors, Ike would strike faster than a cobra and be gone.
After reviewing what he knew of the ambush in his
mind, going over it many times, Ben was almost positive Ike was being held captive in either the Chattahoochee, the Nantahala, or the Cherokee National Forest. Hundreds of thousands of acres of wilderness. More wilderness now than ever before. And that would be in Ike’s favor, for he was survival-trained, and Ike knew where the hidden caches of guns and ammo and supplies were located, left behind by the Rebels a couple of years back. And God alone could help the Ninth Order if Ike escaped and found the caches. The ex-Seal would not leave a one of them alive.
“Ike is all right,” Ben said.
