Havoc by Russell Blake

Author:Russell Blake [Blake, Russell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic | Dystopian
Published: 2018-04-22T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Western Oregon

Lucas and Art rode abreast of Sam and Bill, at the head of a long procession of men on horseback, possible now that the bikers’ animals were theirs. A head count put the fledgling army at over a thousand strong after a decent number of Salem’s young men had taken up arms and joined, and spirits were high after the easy victories in Astoria and Salem.

The mounted troops now accounted for well over half their force, and in the interest of travel time, Art and Lucas had decided to leave those without horses in Salem while they rode to Newport. If en route they couldn’t concoct a strategy to defeat two hundred Chinese with over six hundred men, they figured that four hundred more on foot, tired after marching hundreds of miles, wouldn’t tip the balance.

Lucas and Sam had gone to Clovis’s in the late morning to return the cart and buy his entire inventory, which had overjoyed the old man as much as the news that the assault on the bikers had been successful. He’d sold them everything except his beloved rooftop Browning and five thousand rounds in green ammo cans, which he’d reasoned would be sufficient to keep any threat at bay – and if not, insufficient ammunition likely wasn’t the problem.

They’d loaded ten carts with his arsenal and trundled it to the camp, and then selected what they could comfortably carry in saddlebags and on two carts. Because of the terrain, the roughly sixty-mile trek would take at a minimum three days on horseback, and they would have to slow as they approached the town for fear of inevitable patrols.

Lucas had begged Ruby to remain in Salem with Rosemary to avoid any more drama than was already baked into the situation, but his pleadings had fallen on deaf ears, and the two women were part of the medical triage team that would care for any wounded.

Art had handled the logistics of supporting such a large group. Unlike the trek from Astoria to Salem, where they’d had to forage whatever they could, the residents of Salem had bent over backward to show their appreciation for the group’s actions on their behalf, and had loaded them down with fruit, vegetables, and meat, ensuring they would arrive in Newport well fed and with no delays, other than to refill their containers with potable water.

Hayden trailed behind Lucas, and Lucas’s dislike of the man hadn’t abated with time. Lucas didn’t for a minute believe he’d lifted a finger to help his fellow townspeople, and figured that he’d turned tail at the first sighting of the ship. It wasn’t his problem, but he had no interest in spending a moment more than necessary around him and had deliberately made himself unavailable, too busy with planning and organizing to dither.

The afternoon sky darkened as they crossed the river and headed west, and they’d barely made it an hour before the heavens opened up and rain transformed the highway into a muddy

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