The truck stopped on the entrance road two hundred feet from the compound. The horn sounded for a full fifteen seconds before a single stranger stepped away from the driver's side of the cab with an uneven gait. Both towers reported there didn't appear to be any other people in the truck, and the male driver appeared to be unarmed.
Martin Radcliff Jr. accompanied me to learn what had happened to our crew. On the surface, it didn't look good for our missing people. We each carried side arms but no rifles. Martin and I were both proficient long range pistol shots out to forty yards.
The man we approached was stocky and grungy. He hadn't shaved in days, and his dirty hair was matted. He looked to be in his early to mid-forties, about five feet ten and two hundred pounds. His t-shirt and jeans were dingy and rumpled. When he moved it was with obvious difficulty, and his left leg looked to be stiff and unwieldy.
We stopped ten feet away. "Thanks for returning our truck. Where’s the crew that was in it?"
"You mean the pretty gal with nice big knockers, that wetback Mexican, and the short, stout fella?" He smirked and made a nasty sound. "If you want them back alive, you'll fill this trailer with food and ammo. In two days, they'll come back in the truck. Otherwise, the dudes get beat and stomped and the woman gets screwed ‘til she can't take no more. Then we'll throw ’em all out to the zombies."
Junior stepped forward until I extended my arm to hold him back.
Scumbag grinned sardonically and laughed. "If I know Rance, he's probably drooling right now just thinking about gettin' in her panties."
Junior cursed, surged forward again and pulled his sidearm. I grabbed his right arm and pulled him back. I outweighed him by forty pounds, but his determined momentum pulled me forward a step. "Hold on, Junior, don't do anything rash. Holster your gun." Junior cursed and pulled his arm away but complied.
The scumbag smiled around cruddy teeth. "If I ain't back by dark, your fellas are gonna be kicked and stomped hard, and the real fun starts with the gal. So you need to control that hotheaded punk, and get to loading."
"How about if we decide to make you tell us where our friends are?"
"Look at me up close, pussy." He raised the front of the t-shirt up high on his chest to show broad, ugly red scars. "I was tortured for six months in Iran by experts." He turned around and raised the back of the shirt. The gross scar tissues were in big ugly patches that extended from his shoulders to his pants where the skin had been peeled off in strips. "They didn't make me talk, but if you think you've got the gonads to do more than they did, go ahead and try. But in about twelve hours your friends start dying."
I turned to Junior. "He's got the winning hand, so we'll give him what he wants."
I stepped closer to, scumbag. "How do you want to do this?"
"The trailer stays right here. You can load stuff in pickups or on a flatbed trailer and haul it out here and load it for me. Now let's get moving ’cause I'm going in to see what you've got that I want. Go! Time’s a wasting. And I want ammo, lots of ammo."
I harshly pushed the scurrilous trash back three feet and moved to stand toe to toe. "You're not going near our building, scumbag. You'll get half of what we have, no more." I drew my Glock and stuck it to his forehead. "You can take my offer, or I'll kill you right here and take my chances on finding my friends."
He glared at me and stared into the depth of the hatred in my eyes. Slowly he turned away as he backed down.
Junior muttered and smacked his left fist into his right palm as we walked back to our building. I was silent, thinking. Inside, our people gathered, and we relayed the ultimatum to them. As a whole, they didn't like it anymore than Junior and I had. I discussed the plan I'd thought of as I walked, and then I spoke to our law officer, Martin Radcliff Sr. He nodded and threw a grim half smile. He had the equipment to carry out my plan. We'd have two or three hours to implement it as the trailer was loaded. Shane directed crews to start hauling canned food and ammo out to the scum driving our equipment. I took Shane aside. "I'm certain from what scumbag hinted at that all three hostages are already being abused. The men may be dead, or they could be by the time we find them. Kira might even be getting raped as we speak. Make sure your crew understands how serious this is and what we might find if and when we get there. We're dealing with animals, so we're going in with no holds barred, and we're not taking any prisoners. If they want a war, we'll give it to them. Bring lots of ammo."
The trailer was fully loaded when I confronted Scumbag before he got in the truck cab. "If any harm comes to our people, we'll search for you until we find you. Think about that before you harm any of them."
He gave me the same nasty smirk as he settled into the driver's seat. "That's tall talk for a guy that's got no idea of where I'm going or how big a force is there waiting for me. See ya."
Seven of us stood helplessly as the scumbag thief cut a wide circle through the alfalfa and back onto the gravel road. When he was far enough off to not see my stern expression, I turned to
