100-Days-in-Deadland(48)

We waited until all three were at the doors, before counting down…three, two, one. I yanked the door open and jumped back. Clutch swung the axe and then swung the machete. One of the zeds refused to go down after a glancing blow, but my axe to its forehead finished the job.

We dragged the bodies out of our way, and scanned the rest of the place, finding only one more zed trapped under a collapsed shelf.

We wasted no time in grabbing all the heirloom seeds, fertilizer, and fencing we could find. If we could plant enough crops, we could get through the winter and have plenty of seeds for next year. We might even be able to take in another survivor or two, which we desperately needed. Defending an entire farm with only three people was exhausting work.

We were heading back to the front doors to close up the greenhouse when we saw them. All four men wore military fatigues—much like ours—and had automatic rifles slung over their shoulders. With shaved heads, the men looked all the same: white, dirty, and mean.

And they were currently in the back of Clutch’s truck, stealing our loot.

Clutch threw me a quick glance, then whispered, “Stay inside, and be ready to run in case this goes to shit.”

“Be careful.” I pulled the rifle off my shoulder and leaned against the door, aiming at the men busy moving things from our truck to theirs.

Clutch fired a shot into the air, and they froze like skittish deer, one of them dropping his stolen cargo. They scrambled to raise their rifles as Clutch took a couple steps forward, keeping his Glock leveled on them.

The cleanest looking of the men relaxed and grinned. “Clutch! It’s good to see a familiar face.”

Clutch narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing here, Sean?”

One of the other men stepped forward. “You’re taking things that don’t belong to you.”

“And it belongs to you?” Clutch countered. “I knew Mabel, and she’s lying dead inside.”

“It doesn’t matter, Clutch. It’s the rules,” Sean said. “All supplies must go through the Fox Hills militia for reallocation. We divvy them out to citizens based on need.”

Clutch chuckled, though there was no humor in the sound. “Based on whose need? Yours or theirs?”

“You’ll turn over the truck, the supplies, and that girl with you,” another man called out, pointing at me.

“Good luck with that,” Clutch said before turning back to Sean. “Where’s the government order establishing a militia?”

“There’s no government anymore,” Sean replied.

“Camp Fox has fallen?”

Sean stammered. “We—we’re working in collaboration with the National Guard. We’re helping them out.”

“And who’s in charge of this little militia?” Clutch asked.

“Doyle,” one of the men said. “And he’ll kick your ass for getting in our way.”

“Let me see the government order from Camp Fox instating Doyle as head of the militia,” Clutch said. “Until then, you’re all just bandits. And, I’ll shoot any man who tries to take anything of mine.”

The men kept their fully automatic rifles raised.

“But Clutch…” Sean pleaded

“You going to shoot me, boy?” Clutch guffawed at the man who looked about my age. “You might get in a lucky shot or two, but I guaran-f*cking-tee that I’m taking every last one of your sorry asses with me. And I don’t give a flying f*ck that you’ve sold seed corn to me before, Sean.”

“Let’s just kill this * and be done with it,” one of the men said, and I leveled the rifle to aim dead center in the middle of his forehead.

“Dibs on the girl,” the third man added.

“Fuck you,” I called out, keeping my aim steady.

“Soon, girly,” the man with the toothy grin said.

Sean patted the air. “There’s going to be no shooting today. We’re leaving.” The men around him raised an uproar. Sean snapped around to his compatriots. “We’re leaving! This place is going to be crawling with zeds soon enough the way it is.” Sean turned to Clutch, looking exasperated. “You can keep this stuff from today, just because we have a history. But the militia is in charge around here. You’d be best to join up or get out of our way. And your little girl over there needs to be moved in with the other civilians at our camp for protection. The rules have changed. I’d watch your back if I were you.”