Nathan Jones - Shortage

There was no response, but Matt wasn’t too bothered by that as he turned his efforts towards seeing the wounded cared for until Terry could arrive, as well as preparing for whatever explosives the raiders had brought with them. Hopefully the silence meant Lewis was concentrating on finding a way to save the town.

In spite of his urgency Matt froze along with everyone else as the distant crack of a gunshot sounded. He whipped his head around to look past the roadblock, and most of the people around him followed his gaze. They waited in tense silence for a moment, their radios buzzing with questions. He was reaching for his radio to tell everyone to calm down when he was interrupted by another sharp crack , then with less of a delay this time a third.

Matt finished reaching for his radio. “Lewis? What’s going on?”

There was a long, tense pause before Lewis answered, voice strained and juddering as if he was being jolted around. Or running. “Can’t really talk right now. My position has been compromised. I’m heading back to town.”

“What happened?” Matt demanded. “Did you manage to delay them?”

There was an even longer pause, but in spite of the tense situation nobody else spoke on the radio. Finally Lewis responded, voice even more strained from exertion. “If losing their leader and one of his lieutenants and possibly one of the men handling a missile launcher is enough to delay them then yes, I think I did.”

Trev snatched the radio out of Matt’s hands, in the heat of the moment apparently forgetting his own was hanging from his belt. “ What ?”

There was a shorter pause before Lewis responded between pants. “You heard me. Ferris and Turner are dead.”

Trev stood stunned at the news, along with everyone else in the crowd. Matt was the first one to respond, snatching back his radio. Trev barely noticed as his friend spoke into it.

“Good shooting, Lewis. I hope to see you safely back here soon.”

The words broke the shocked silence, and Trev felt a palpable shift in the air around him, as if everyone had let out a silent breath of relief. Trev certainly felt his own sense of relief at the knowledge that two major threats to the town were gone.

A few of the younger defenders even gave subdued cheers, and the radio was swamped by dozens of voices asking for details or about what they should do now, making a distorted jumble between bursts of static and feedback.

Matt interrupted the hubbub on the airwaves in a firm voice. “All right, everyone, quiet down. If two of the raiders’ leaders are dead they should be in disarray right now. There’s a chance they might decide to run and leave Aspen Hill alone, but there’s also a chance they’ll decide to attack us. And as Lewis said they’ve got explosives. Stay sharp and be ready.”

That did a good job of dampening the mood again, at least enough to get everyone back doing what they needed to do. For Trev that was returning to his place on the roadblock and watching the road through the scope on his Mini-14.

Lewis had done it. His cousin was one of the most competent people he knew, one reason being that he spent so much time learning how to do things properly and making sure they were done in the best possible way. Trev could’ve trusted he’d figure out the best way to defend the town.

Matt was right that they should probably stay on their guard, but deep down Trev knew there wouldn’t be any attack tonight.

Everyone at the roadblock waited in tense silence aside from a few rustles and coughs. In fact Trev was so on edge that he jumped slightly when the quiet was broken by Tom Harding speaking over the radio. “I’ve got movement on the road. One person, coming our way from the direction of the convoy.”

Trev brought his scope up to his eye. He didn’t see anyone yet. Beside him Matt lifted his radio. “Is it Lewis?”

“Not unless Halsson turned into a Hispanic dressed in combat fatigues and body armor and carrying an M16 on his back.” Tom paused for a second. “He’s not carrying a white flag or anything, but he’s just jogging towards the roadblock and he doesn’t look like much of a threat.”

“I see him,” Trev said, peering through his scope. “I don’t recognize him but he’s probably one of Ferris’s people.”

“All right,” Matt said into the radio. “Stand down but be ready to shoot if he reaches for his rifle. Let’s see what he wants.”

As the raider approached Lewis finally appeared from around the side of the building to the right of the roadblock, panting like a bellows. His arrival precipitated a sudden hush from the roadblock’s defenders, and as he stumbled over to join Trev and their friend several people murmured appreciative words or even stepped forward to shake his hand.

Lewis reached them in time to endure Trev’s crushing hug and Matt gripping him around the shoulders. “Are you all right?” their friend asked.

“They were too surprised to even shoot back at me before I was gone,” Lewis said between panting breaths. Then his cousin abruptly continued, tone businesslike. “Has the guy coming up the road reached us yet?”

That turned everyone’s attention back to the approaching raider, who was now almost within shouting distance of the roadblock. Matt clambered onto the lefthand car and yelled for the soldier to stop where he was. The man immediately complied, lifting his head from an intense inspection of the road so his helmet no longer hid his face.

Trev didn’t recognize him, but from the way Matt stiffened his friend obviously did. “Private Gutierrez?” he called, surprised.

The man flinched slightly. “Please don’t use my rank,” he called back. “I don’t consider myself worthy to be addressed as a member of the US Army. Just call me Raul.”

Trev did his best to keep his expression neutral. He could certainly agree with that. “Why are you here?” he yelled, climbing up beside his friend. Lewis, more pragmatic, had joined other defenders in lining up a shot with their rifles in case Gutierrez tried anything.

The man looked away for a moment then met their eyes, one after another. “I’m done with Ferris’s group. I’ve come to join your side, if you’ll let me.”

“I’ve got some questions first,” Matt said cautiously. “Kick away your rifle and get to your knees, hands on your head.” The former soldier complied, although rather than mishandling a weapon he obviously had great respect for he set it down carefully and moved away a safe distance. Matt had Trev run forward to pat him down and bind his hands behind his back with zip ties, then retrieve his rifle and lead him to the roadblock.

“What do you mean, you want to join us?” Matt asked as he helped the restrained man over the car.

“Just what I said,” Gutierrez replied, still having trouble meeting his eyes. Trev watched him suspiciously from behind and to the side. Guilt, or deception? “Being part of Ferris’s group isn’t who I am. Who I want to be.”

“That’s who you were , though,” Lewis argued, finally slinging his G3 on his back. “Who you’ve been all this time. Why the sudden change?”

Matt gave him an annoyed look. “Let me handle this.”

“It’s okay, he’s right,” the former soldier said. “I won’t pretend I was just an observer to things when I was with Ferris, or try to excuse my actions. I’ve done stuff I’m not proud of, obeyed orders I knew were wrong, and kept doing so long after I knew it was my duty to refuse those orders. I watched innocent people get hurt and did nothing to stop it.”

“So why come to us?” Trev demanded, trying to sound stern rather than harsh.

“Because I can only lie to myself so much. Ferris took a lot of things from a lot of people, but most of the time he didn’t have to do more than push around a few upstarts who balked. He kept insisting he was doing his best not to hurt anyone, and I was able to fool myself into thinking that he meant it. But I always knew it was a lie when I watched him order Turner to execute any prisoners we’d captured, those who tried to defend themselves after he’d given them his ultimatum about surrendering. Sometimes he’d even execute them himself.”