Page 47 of Born Savage

“I don’t think you understand. You have two good choices. First, you can hand over the weapons, which as long as you don’t do anything stupid, you’ll get them back when you leave. Or you can turn around. There is a third, but I don’t think you and your friends want to go there.”

The older man had a sense of authority. Seeing he was dressed as if a soldier, I sensed he knew how to use the weapon as did the others. Their challenge wasn’t appreciated by my men, all seven taking a step closer.

While I had no intention of charging forward under any circumstances, I sensed this was a powder keg moment that could get out of hand. As with every encounter with members of the Resistance, they were terrified we were the first generation.

I stood in front, Wrath and Vicious flanking my sides. When I took a single step, the man in front did as well, taking aim at an imaginary spot between my eyes.

“Don’t,” I finally said, throwing out my arm.

“You should leave,” the man repeated. “You’re not wanted here.”

Finding Star had been easy enough, although I was surprised at the trek she’d taken with a child and dog in tow. The terrain had been rough, including a raging river that was difficult even for us to cross. She had skills that hadn’t been highlighted to their full spectrum the day before.

We had our own weapons of course, bringing enough ammunition and explosives to start a small war on our own. That certainly wasn’t our intention, but I would not allow a few old men to keep me from taking her with me.

The location was one I’d seen on a map, the bunker’s entrance carefully camouflaged by rough but surviving terrain. There were other buildings in proximity, some made of materials that had withstood the harsh weather conditions. Given the location was near a former army base, it had been easy to create the environment without prying eyes.

They’d been lucky finding it. Unless the location had been provided by design, which was entirely possible. My thoughts were all over the place after realizing who she was in my life. I didn’t like surprises and couldn’t stand being lied to, which was what I’d experienced one too many times after signing on the dotted line to have my entire DNA structure altered.

Maybe I’d finally get some needed answers.

“Is Star inside?” I asked. Although I sensed her presence and had it confirmed by the second GPS console we owned, I was already growing impatient.

“The beast can put full sentences together,” another man said as he laughed, twisting the rifle he was holding back and forth between my companions.

My neck cracked as I turned my head in his direction, studying the facility as I did. They obviously had some security equipment in use. We’d barely found the entrance hatch when several men had popped out, all eager and willing to kill anyone disturbing the peace.

Yet they weren’t trained soldiers as was the case for so many within the opposing force. From what I knew about the king, his first order of business after slaughtering his opponents had been to eliminate the military force capable of engaging in combat.

And in possibly winning.

The entire End of Days had been planned well ahead of the Independent States of the Soviet Union planning an attack. And by planned, I didn’t mean bunkers built and supplies stored away, but in the sense that lists had been made of those allowed to not only survive but thrive.

In the blink of an eye, more than just the physical world had collapsed.

The basic hierarchy of men and women had done so as well.

I lowered the assault rifle completely, allowing the strap on my shoulder to carry the weight. It was a sign we weren’t interested in violence, only I suspected almost immediately the limited act of solidarity meant little.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Wrath told him, moving just enough closer there was raw fear in the eyes of men who’d been taught to loathe creatures who’d been turned against them.

One of the other men who’d been pacing the terrain suddenly developed an itchy finger. Without any additional warning, he advanced, almost able to get off a shot before I grabbed him around the neck with one hand, ripping the weapon from his clenched fingers with the other.

The shock from my quick response was momentary, the men responding by preparing to fire. With the gleam in their eyes, they couldn’t care less why we’d dared risk our lives by knocking on their door.

I threw a jab at another as he approached, catching him in the throat and just before a vicious fight broke out that would have ended in bloodshed, three other figures appeared, but only Star jumped into the middle. Armed with only the knife I’d painstakingly cleaned, she swung in a wide circle, plunging the blade toward her people as well as mine.

“Stop. All of you,” Star hissed, her nose wrinkling as she snarled from disgust. She turned once again, prepared to fight while daring a single one of us to engage.

“The bastards were determined to get inside, Commander,” the man I was still holding several inches in the air managed to say. “They also refused to drop their weapons.”

Commander.

A title I hadn’t expected.

I turned my head toward Vicious, who lifted his eyebrows. Ranks had been given in a ghost army, men and women barely strong enough to travel more than a few miles put in charge of the various groups of survivalists. Order had been deemed required. Most believed the majority of those within the branches of the military had been wiped out in and around the war.

Few understood the lengths the Freedom Society had gone to eliminate anyone with motive and opportunity to oppose their takeover of the government. Even fewer knew that within the core Resistance, key players had been saved and were now living in protection.