with him. Inwardly, he was seething. The broadcast had not gone as intended and John Talon had quickly usurped his plan. Major Thorton was hoping to continue his broadcasts, now that his men had figured out how to interconnect the radio stations and broadcast all at once. But most of his plans just got thrown in the crapper because of that miserable son of a bitch.
How dare Talon call him out? Thorton had never been threatened in his life and the thought of someone not being afraid of him was a new one. When I catch you, you’ll suffer. I’ll kill you so slowly you’ll think it’s the new normal. Thorton thought to himself.
Outwardly, it was another story. “Well, that wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it did serve a useful purpose.” The Major said.
“Sir?” Corporal Ransom asked, moving one of the headsets.
“We know he’s within hearing distance which puts him… where?” Thorton asked.
The other soldier quickly scanned a map, did some mental calculations, then drew a circle on the map. “Rough guess would be within this circle, about fifty miles,” the soldier named Golat said.
Thorton scanned the map. “Best guess as to location?” he asked Ransom.
Ransom looked at the map, checked a larger map on the wall, then took the pencil and circled the top quadrant of the circle. “Up here, given where he came from. Makes no sense to be any further south. But I’m guessing.”
Thorton nodded. “I had the same notion. All right, we’re going to be pulling out of here soon, set up the relays like the others, then we’re moving on.” Ken walked over to the stairwell which led down to the ground floor. “Two hours,” he said with finality.
Thorton climbed down the stairs and walked across the small living space, his face momentarily clouding with rage. He had never been insulted, never been threatened and did not know how to react to it. He wanted to smash something, destroy anything, just to vent his rage. After a few minutes, he calmed down, remembering his Captain’s mission. By now Tamikara should be getting close to Starved Rock. I’m sure Talon will appreciate his homecoming. That is, if I don’t kill him first, he thought.
As he started to feel better, he went outside and looked around. He was standing outside a small barn, tucked away behind a row of pine trees. There was one access road and his men were camped around the three trucks and two cars they had with them. They had picked up the cars along the way, using them for short range reconnaissance and scouting. This barn was one of several they had encountered that were not barns at all, but government listening stations. The giveaway was the radio tower, but that was not unusual in these parts. Several could be seen in any direction one chose to look. In each station, there was a map with the locations of all the posts, which allowed for Thorton and his men to use them for their purposes. Each station had its own water supply and power source. This one used two windmills to recharge a bank of batteries for power. In all, the system was brilliant and perfect in its secrecy. No one would look twice at a barn in farm country and Thorton was sure the rest were similarly camouflaged.
At his presence, the men rose to their feet, whispering to each other about what they were going to be doing today. Fortunately, none of them had heard Talon call out the major, so he didn’t have to worry about any dissention or disrespect. It did bother him that other people might have heard and altered his ability to bring them into line, but that would not be a serious consequence. Already there were groups that were ready to swear their loyalty to him, survivors who did not have much to look forward to than the daily fight to live. If Thorton could bring some sort of order to their world, they were all for it. By last count, seven communities were willing to submit to his order, with the provision he provide security and some sort of future for them.
Thorton grinned. Naturally, such security came at a price. And the price was high, but the people were willing to pay for it. Fools for the fleecing.
As the camp began packing up, men were moving about, checking provisions and weapons, Thorton brought himself back to his current situation. How was he going to deal with Talon? Thorton mulled over a few possibilities, thinking about what and who he had on hand and what he knew about Talon.
Truth be known, Ken wasn’t a very intelligent man. He had what could be described as animal cunning, but when it came to overall strategy, he was severely limited. He tended to react as an animal would, biding his time, waiting for an opening, then striking with brutal efficiency. He was limited in patience and refused to admit defeat, even when it stared him in the face.
Thorton decided that Talon needed to be punished and punished now for his impertinence. He had no idea where Talon might be, just a vague notion of the direction the man might be in. But those were details and he wanted results. Looking over his men, he decided that ten men should be sufficient to take out Talon and whoever might be with him.
He walked over to a parked truck and hopped up onto the lowered gate. His massive size seemed even more impressive and men slowly began to realize their leader had something to say. They quickly dropped what they were packing up and gathered around the truck.
Major Thorton addressed the men. “I’ll get to the point. You’ve heard me talk about John Talon.” There were many nods and some frowns. “Turns out he might be close enough to where we might get a shot at him.” The frowns turned to grins. “I need ten men to head north and teach this fucker a lesson as to who’s in charge. Who wants the job?”
Thorton was gratified that all men present raised their hands. They were a motley bunch of criminals and losers, but they never hesitated to fight, especially when they thought the odds were on their side.
The major looked over at one of his sergeants. “You’re in command of this mission. Pick nine men and see me in ten minutes. Thorton jumped down from the truck bed. “Finish off this Talon and I’ll make you a lieutenant,” he said to the sergeant, who grinned evilly at the spoils to be his.
Thorton went back into the little barn to retrieve one of the many maps stored there. As he entered the building, he literally ran into Corporal Ransom, who bounced off the larger man and fell backwards over a chair. Thorton’s flash of anger changed to amusement as he watched the soldier flip over the recliner and crash down on the other side.
Ken placed his hands on his hips and waited for the soldier to scramble upright. “Got a hot date with a zombie?” he asked sarcastically.
“Sir! Sorry, sir. Needed to tell you something right away, sir. Hoped to talk to you before you spoke to the men, sir.” Ransom said quickly, brushing dust off his uniform.
“What is it, corporal?”
“Sir! Overheard a conversation between a couple of roamers, sir.” Roamers was the soldiers term for people who just wandered about, surviving by living off the leftovers of the Upheaval. “They reported a recreational vehicle outside of Lafayette, heading east.”
Thorton was skeptical. “What makes you think they saw Talon?” Even in a world where the dead walked, this seemed way too coincidental.
“Sir. They talked about passing a group of heavily armed men, people they said looked like they could handle themselves or anyone who got in the way. Said the leader looked like a cold-eyed killer, no question about it. Got to be Talon, sir.”
Thorton was a bit tweaked that people might think Talon was tough, maybe tougher than him and he let his irritability show. “We’ll see how tough he is. You have a map with his location on it?”
“Right here, sir.” Corporal Ransom handed over a small map of Ohio, which had their location marked and a small town outside of Columbus circled.
Thorton took the map, glanced at it, then chuckled as he went back outside. “Excellent,” he said to himself. Over his shoulder he barked “Set up for linking, we’re out in two hours.”
Corporal Ransom saluted Thorton’s back and headed back to the radio unit to link with the rest of the system.
Outside, Sergeant Rod Milovich had assembled a crew to carry out the major’s orders. There were nine men of various backgrounds, but all looked capable. They were lounging around the truck bed when Ken strode up to them. He signaled to Sgt. Milovich, who waved over his second, Corporal Tim Kazinski. Kazinski was only six inches above five feet in height, but was nearly that wide in the shoulders. He suffered from a massive case of short-man- syndrome and made sure he compensated for his stature by being stronger than everyone else and more brutal to anyone who crossed him. In fact, he was only a little less sadistic than Thorton himself.
Ken spread out the little map and the three men leaned over it. “Ransom says he figures Talon to be here,
