Grant Us Mercy: Installment Three: Post-Apocalyptic Survival Fiction by DC Little

Author:DC Little [Little, DC]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian, sci-fy, survival
Publisher: Carson River Publishing
Published: 2019-10-13T06:00:00+00:00

~6~

Blake could smell the man’s fear, a sour stench that made him want to let go. Yet, the man was his only bargaining chip, and he needed all he could get. His mind swam from the emotion of seeing his wife and son in the midst of an armed group.

Hearing that it was Arland made no difference to him. People changed when the world collapsed, and Arland certainly had. He could tell by the hardness in his eyes and the confident set of his shoulders. Who knew what his intentions were?

“What are you doing on my property, holding my family hostage?” Blake’s words sounded as edgy as he felt.

“Whoa there, Blake. No hostages. We were just visiting friends, and we’re happy that you returned before we left.” Arland smiled, holding up his hands.

Blake didn’t move. There was a hardness in Arland’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. The man had been working, and he had done things he wasn’t proud of. His eyes told Blake that.

“Do you see how he’s holding his feet?” Arland turned and asked the people in his group. “One foot in front of the other so he has time to react in any direction.”

The quick turn of conversation floored Blake. He held one of Arland’s guys by knifepoint, and yet, the man gave a lesson on his tactics.

“We’ve been working on learning defensive and offensive positioning. Hope you don’t mind being an example.” Arland watched him carefully, keeping his smile spread widely.

“I see you acquired followers,” Blake said evenly.

“I didn’t ask to lead. I just wanted people to survive.” Arland cocked his head. “Do you feel ready to let David go yet? I don’t want him having a heart-attack. His wife and young children would be devastated.”

Blake almost smiled, but he kept the grin in. He had chosen well. Arland had turned into the leader that Blake thought he had seen in him.

“You have nothing to fear from us, obviously.” Arland motioned to the group.

“Why are you here?” Blake asked.

“We heard shots. Wanted to see what we were up against. I can’t tell you the joy at finding your lovely wife, even if she was quite intimidating holding that shotgun aimed at my heart.” Arland laughed.

This time, Blake did allow a small smile to tug at the corner of his mouth. The image of his wife eight months pregnant and holding a shotgun at an armed group made him want to go up there and hug her. His grip on David loosened, but he didn’t release him.

“Tell your people to leave all their weapons on that table over there.” Blake nodded toward the picnic table he had planned on setting the deer on before finding this mess.

“You do as he says,” Arland motioned to them.

The group watched Blake with something between fear and appreciation.

“Why are they looking at me like that?” he asked.

“You’re the Survivalist,” Arland said as if it were common knowledge.

Blake grit his teeth, like that answered anything.

Once all the weapons were on the table and the group had moved away, he dropped the knife from David’s neck.

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