Nathan Jones - Shortage

Gutierrez shuddered. “I never hurt anyone, I just helped take their stuff. I tried to tell myself if I wasn’t hurting them I wasn’t hurting them, you know? But deep down I knew what it meant to leave them in the cold with nothing. It’s eaten at me all winter, especially as Ferris got more and more brutal with anyone who resisted, but I was afraid that if I left the group I’d be in the same situation as everyone else and I’d end up starving to death too.”

The would-be defector raised his eyes from Matt’s chin to meet his gaze. “What your town just did woke me up. Everyone else in the convoy is pissed off and ready to rip this place apart, but I was actually cheering you guys on for being the first group that not only had the courage to resist but also the ability to maybe fight us off. Before I left to join you guys I tried to argue with the others that maybe we should just leave your town alone, but nobody would listen to me. They’re out for your blood.”

He shuddered. “I never thought I was with good people, but I at least thought they had some morals. Now I know better. You don’t want to know the things they were talking about doing to you after your sniper killed Ferris and Turner.”

There were murmurs from the other defenders, and Matt shared a grim look with the cousins. “Is the convoy going to attack?”

“I don’t know,” Gutierrez admitted, sounding eager to answer and a bit crestfallen that he couldn’t. “I’m guessing that with Ferris and his second in command gone leadership will probably fall to a guy named Joaquin, leader of a small group of raiders Ferris took in rather than fighting them. Him or maybe Berthold.”

Matt nodded. “Berthold commanded the FETF detachment under Ferris last fall, right?”

The soldier nodded. “Although he hasn’t had nearly as much influence since Turner knocked him down a peg and sort of took control of the, uh, former US soldiers working for Ferris. Berthold’s not quite as brutal as Turner or Ferris were, and with them gone he might take over. If so that’s good for you because there might not be a fight at all.”

“How many people are in the convoy and what weapons do you have?” Lewis asked.

Gutierrez was eager to answer, and thorough in his descriptions. It turned out that there were 46 people left in the convoy now that Ferris and Turner were dead, possibly soon to be 45 if the missile launcher handler Lewis had shot in the shoulder didn’t make it.

They were fairly well equipped, too, because the FETF camp at Antelope Island that had been taken over by refugees had been well supplied with weapons as well as food. It had resulted in a lot of bloodshed in the next few weeks, but also an opportunity for Ferris to make a big score.

After leading his group north the former administrator was able to take control of a weapons cache from the gang that held it, getting enough fuel to begin raiding nearby areas as well as capturing the trucks the convoy was using at the moment. He also got his hands on military grade weaponry like dozens of M1As, three missile launchers and nearly a hundred missiles, crates and crates of grenades of all varieties, and two .50 caliber heavy machine guns, one already attached to a vehicle and the other on a sturdy tripod so it could be quickly moved and mounted. There were also plenty of gas masks, hazmat suits, and riot gear and body armor.

Once he described the convoy’s equipment Gutierrez went on to cover their brutal history raiding through the winter, including all the towns and populated areas of the bigger cities they’d hit. He even offered to testify to the crimes he’d seen his fellow raiders commit, assuming they could be captured and a formal court convened.

The raider defector talked for a long time, almost a half hour, with no news of any activity from the convoy. Trev was just thinking they should probably send people back out to see what was going on when Gutierrez finally seemed to wind down.

“I can’t really think of anything else right now, but I’d be happy to tell you anything else you want to know about what our group was up to before we came here,” Gutierrez assured them. He hesitated. “Although I did have one question. Is, um, Mandy…”

Trev felt his expression sour at the mention of the blond woman. He’d heard a bit about her hooking up with a FETF soldier from the gossip circles, but he hadn’t connected the dots between that and Gutierrez. Maybe it was petty of him, but it was another reason not to like the man.

Beside him Matt shook his head. “She was exiled for trying to steal food not long after you left.”

“Not too surprising.” The former soldier sighed. “Probably a good thing. Definitely a good thing. Nothing good came from being with her. A lot of bad, actually.”

… Or maybe it was a reason to like the man.

After looking at him thoughtfully for a minute or so Matt motioned to a couple of people manning the roadblock. “Get him to Chauncey and have him learn what he can about Ferris’s group, then make sure he’s comfortable and well guarded in a secure place.”

As Gutierrez was led away, hands still bound behind his back, Matt caught his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “I owe you for saving me and Sam from Razor last fall,” he said quietly. “And from what I remember you seemed like a good guy back then. But a lot has changed over the winter.”

Gutierrez nodded. “I get it.”

Once the man was gone Trev sidled up to his friend. “I didn’t know he saved you and Sam. Actually I didn’t know much about him at all until just now.”

Lewis gave him an impatient look. “Now’s not the time to get on Matt’s case for failing to fill us in properly.” He turned to their friend. “I take it you trust him, at least a little?”

“Yeah. A very little.” Matt lifted his radio. “Tom, how do you feel about abandoning your sniper’s post to try to get an eye on the convoy?”

There was a reluctant pause before the older man answered. “Like I’d really rather not.”

“Will you anyway?” Trev gave a start as his friend turned to him and his cousin, still pressing the radio’s transmit button so Tom could hear. “Trev, Lewis, will you go with him?”

Trev glanced at his cousin, who sighed. “I should’ve just changed positions and kept observing them,” he muttered. “Maybe I panicked.”

Matt shook his head. “I don’t think you did. They’ll be more careful about securing their perimeter from now on. Stay far back, far enough that you can barely see the vehicles and they can’t see you, and just let us know if they move and in which direction.”

Lewis nodded thoughtfully. “Fine with me.” With that his cousin turned and started for the lefthand building, pulling out his night vision goggles to hang around his neck until it got dark enough to use them.

Trev hurried to follow as they made their way around the roadblock and started circling towards where the convoy was parked.

Terry had got the wounded stabilized and found volunteers to help carry them on stretchers back to the clinic before Tom and the cousins reported in that the convoy had pulled their trucks into a tight defensive formation and now appeared to be arguing.

About a half hour later Trev radioed in that the raiders were driving away, back towards Highway 6. At that news the people behind the roadblock cheered, and more cheers came through the radio.

Matt wasn’t about to start celebrating, though. “Can you guys follow them and make sure they’re gone?” he asked over the hubbub.

“Sure, although we might just find empty road when we get there,” Trev answered.

The mood around Matt was much lighter with the wounded gone to receive whatever help Terry could give and the news that the raiders were gone. Matt had a bad feeling that things were too easy, even with Lewis’s skill at sniping.