The bikers exchanged glances then slowly began to come to their feet. “Where do you want us?”
Simon pointed out the door. “Up and down the ridge. Any trails you might find leading to here, we should have covered.”
“Where do you intend to be?” Hammer asked.
Simon squared his shoulders. “I’m headed to the main gates. I’m hoping Tony is too lazy to hike the hills.”
Hammer grunted as he used his crutch to lift his large frame from the chair and snatched his walking stick. “It’s getting dark, boys. If we’re gonna head them off, we better get stationed.”
Simon nodded slowly as the men filtered out of the trailer. He stepped in front of Hammer as the man approached the door. “Thank you.”
The old man shook his head. “I ain’t doing this for you, boy. I’m doing this to keep this camp safe.”
Simon shot him a smile. “Maybe you should be the one in charge here.”
Hammer shook his head. “These people don’t need a leader.” He reached past Simon and lifted his hat from the hook by the door. “But they do need protecting.”
Jedidiah felt a swelling of pride as he watched the building burn. The screams had died out a long time ago, and his army was now fed to the point of bursting. He watched the orange flames rise high into the air only to rain glowing embers back upon them.
Some of the soldiers still held chunks of flesh or full limbs in their hands, chewing the raw meat as they watched the show.
Jedidiah turned to them and nodded. “The Lord’s work is done for the night. You men have earned your rest.” He smiled as they stared at him blankly, chewing the flesh of the unclean. “Enjoy your meals, boys.”
He turned back and clapped his hands. “We shall return to our sanctuary and prepare for tomorrow; there you’ll sleep well, lads. You’ve earned it.” He began to march away from the burning structure and the soldiers fell into step behind him.
26
“We were going to wait till morning to come out here, but we can’t reach them on the radios,” Hatcher explained as he drove through the city streets.
Roger turned in his seat. “One of the sentries said he thought he heard a garbled radio call, but wasn’t sure who it was.” He shrugged. “We figured it was better to be safe than sorry.”
“I think you’ll like this place, Rich. There’s still some damage left from the fires, but structurally, the place is sound. There’s not many who decided to stay behind, but I’m sure if some of your people wanted to come up for an extended visit, we could easily let them crash here.” Hatcher turned the Tahoe onto the street that the retirement home was on. “Will saw to all of the repairs before we—”
“Hatcher!” Roger swatted at his arm, pointing. “Look!”
Hatcher slowed the truck and noted the orange glow and smoke rising from where the retirement home was. “Oh, no…”
Goosing the accelerator, he sped along the street, blowing through intersections until he locked up the brakes just outside the main gates. The entire structure had been reduced to smoldering remains. The roof had collapsed into the adobe walls, crushing everything below.
The four men exited the vehicle and Hatcher stepped over the remnant of the main gate. “No…” He felt a lump form in his throat. He turned to Roger, “Check for survivors.”
Buck pushed past the pair and ran through the destroyed front doors. He slid to a stop in the inner courtyard and squinted as his eyes began to water from the acrid smoke. “They didn’t stand a chance,” his voice was a hoarse whisper.
“You said there was still fire damage.” Rich glanced at the ruins. “I’m guessing this isn’t what you meant.”
Hatcher ignored the comment and scanned the area for survivors.
“Hatch,” Roger called, holding a hand over his mouth. “They didn’t get out.”
Hatcher stepped over to where Roger stood and saw the charred remains of a woman. He bent low and lifted the burnt remnants of a door from her form and pushed it aside. “No…this can’t be right.”
Buck stood beside him and his lower jaw quivered as he stared at the corpse. “Those look like bite marks.”
Hatcher bent low and inspected the large chunks missing from her thigh as Roger continued sifting through the debris. “This wasn’t an accident, Hatch.” He held up the charred remains of a torch, the fabric tied to the end still stunk of kerosene.
“Who would…” Hatcher trailed off.
“They were eaten,” Buck reiterated.
Rich held a rag over his mouth and nose. “I thought they had security here.”
Hatcher nodded. “They did.” He picked up a handful of empty shell casings. “They went down fighting.”
Roger gave the others a questioning stare. “Simon?”
Hatcher shrugged. “Who else?” He threw the shell casings into the debris and looked outside the perimeter. “We need to do a slow drive by and see if anybody fled to a surrounding building for safety.”
“Who is Simon?” Rich asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Buck growled as he marched past the trio.
“I’ll tell you in the car.” Hatcher fell into step behind Buck. “And if I ever see the son of a bitch again, I’ll rip his heart out with my bare hands.”
Roger stiffened. “Hatch…if Simon struck here again…” He swallowed hard. “He knew that we were scouting the other place as well.”
“Radio back and tell them to be on high alert. Double the watch.” Hatcher trotted towards the car. “We’ll do a quick drive around the area, then hightail it home.”
Buck climbed into the Tahoe and slammed his door. “Please, let me find him first.”
Andre stared in shocked amazement as scores of people launched themselves at the fence only to fall back into the crowd gathered below. The unlucky few who maintained their grip were caught in the razor wire overhead.
“That’s not gonna hold them for long,” Randy moaned as more people rushed from the surrounding woods.
Andre pushed the door open
