A Second Beginning by David Lucin

Author:David Lucin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Highway 3 Publishing

17

At sunrise, Austin and Brady met Jenn at the silos. None of the civilians had come outside, and every guard remained on duty. Jenn’s squad manned the front gate and the western wall.

“We found two dead raiders, none injured or captured.” The bags beneath Brady’s eyes were almost black. “Thirty-two residents were taken, from what I can tell. Three were killed trying to fight back. We lost nine guards, and eighteen are wounded, but they should be all right.”

We. New Liberty. The worst injuries to Jenn’s squad last night were a case of sore ears and a bruised trigger finger. But nine dead and eighteen wounded? As if she needed more motivation to wipe these raiders off the face of the Earth.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “They were using kids as freaking human shields. That’s the only reason they got away. They knew we wouldn’t risk shooting our own people.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Brady rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. The whites had turned pink. “It would’ve been a lot worse if not for you.”

It would’ve been a disaster. Security staff at the Beaumont farm knew more about gunfighting than New Liberty’s guards. How had this place survived so long on its own?

Austin’s voice was a growl. “That’s the worst attack yet. Before last night, they never got inside. They’re getting bolder.”

Or more desperate. “Why? Do they really need slaves that badly?”

“Maybe. They could have farmland and don’t want to work it, so they steal our people and force them to do it instead.”

A wildly sick thought popped into Jenn’s head: could the raiders be eating the people they kidnapped? No, not possible. Cannibals were the stuff of horror movies, not real life.

Right?

She shook off a shiver. “What I don’t get is why they attacked last night, the first night me and my squad are here. Either that’s the weirdest coincidence or they knew and attacked anyway.”

“Could be they wanted to pull off one last heist before you brought friends,” Austin suggested.

“Or before you helped us with our defenses.” Brady turned toward the hole the raiders had cut in the fence. “One more night and they would’ve been too late.”

“How would they know we could help you?” Jenn asked.

Austin spat through his teeth. “Buckeye can’t be the only place that took in refugees from New River.”

The scar on her tricep stung. For a second, she was back at Sunset Point, on the ground as she fought off that man with the switchblade. Her guilt had almost erased the memory. Almost convinced her that everyone at New River was a victim. Of course some of them would choose violence to survive. And they might have a vendetta against Flagstaff.

“We’ll bring most of the guards in at sundown today, spread them throughout the buildings.” Brady pointed toward a pair of watchtowers. “I’ll keep some lookouts outside with the infrared binos, turn off the spotlights.”

A good plan, and Jenn liked it. If only it wasn’t Camila’s idea. Then she wouldn’t have to admit a hard truth: Camila made New Liberty safer, and Dylan was right to leave her behind.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.