100 Days in Deadland (part 1 of the Deadland Saga)

Betrayal (Chapter 31)

BETRAYAL: The Ninth Circle of Hell

Chapter XXXI

Three days later

Forty-two.

That’s how many Camp Fox survivors made it to the park. After surviving the zed outbreak, only one out of every seventeen civilians survived the Dogs’ attack. Of that number, over half the survivors were troops, as they’d been spread across the base hunting the Dogs when the attack started.

Forty-two was barely enough to protect the park from zeds, let alone protect it against the risk of Dogs. Same story, different day.  

I snuggled against Clutch and held his hand, just like I had every day since the attack. On the first day, his fingers had trembled, but the doctor said not to think anything of it, that the spasms were due to the swelling on his brain. Even though Clutch no longer showed any response, I still held hope.

Jase clung to hope, too. He slept alone in a beanbag chair on the other side of Clutch’s bed every night. He no longer had his faithful sidekick. The timid coyote had sacrificed herself to save her master when a zed tackled Jase. It seemed like he’d lost enough that he no longer had much to say.

He blamed himself for her death. But no more than I blamed myself for Clutch’s situation.

Griz, Tack, Smitty, Eddy, even Tyler had come through without injuries. A selfish, dark shadow deep inside me was angry that they were okay while Clutch lay lifeless on the bed. It had all seemed so unfair. But as soon as the guys stopped by to offer respect, I’d been ashamed of my thoughts. Those men were heroes as much as Clutch. They’d just gotten lucky this time.

Clutch had been crushed under the stampede. His back was broken, along with three ribs, both legs, and his left wrist. He also had a dislocated shoulder and a fractured skull. If—when— he woke, the doc said he could have permanent brain damage. And he’d be paralyzed from the waist down.

Still, I prayed for him to wake.

I needed him to wake.

On the nightstand next to his bed—against doctor’s orders—sat a fully loaded Glock and the can of chewing tobacco I’d given him. The doctor—a general practitioner—figured that if Clutch woke up, he’d be suicidal, and would put a bullet through his brain. I disagreed.

The Clutch I knew would never pull the trigger.

I only hoped that when Clutch woke, he’d still be the man I knew.

In the background, Hawkeye’s latest transmission droned on over the beeps of Clutch’s life support system.

“…The time is coming soon when we can all relocate to a zed-free zone. At the right time, I will give you all a date and time to meet, and we will head out together. A militia has volunteered to protect us on our journey. There is strength in numbers, my friends. Until tomorrow, this is Hawkeye broadcasting on AM 1340. Be safe and know that you’re not alone.”

Griz burst through the door and I nearly fell out of bed.

I got to my feet, gently, so as not to disturb Clutch’s broken body. “What’s wrong?”

“You better come quick.”

I placed a kiss to Clutch’s forehead and ran with Griz to his Jeep. “Where are we going?”

“Jase’s cabin.”

I sucked in a breath. No!

Fear stung my nerves. He’d been so quiet lately. He’d probably been planning on taking his own life since the attack, and I’d been so obsessed with Clutch that I ignored the signs.

I held on tightly as Griz squealed tires around winding roads through the dense morning fog. Three other vehicles were already parked at the cabin when we got there. I ran inside.

Expecting to find Jase’s lifeless body, I was surprised to find Jase alive and well, and I let out a breath that I felt like I’d been holding since Griz grabbed me.

Then I noticed Jase had a rifle leveled at his best friend. Eddy kneeled on the floor, whimpering, with his wrists restrained behind his back. Tyler stood nearby, his arms folded over his chest.

I frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Eddy couldn’t take the guilt eating away at him anymore,” Jase said with a cutting edge to his voice. “He’d figured his mom was exempt from getting chewed up by zeds. He figured wrong.”

“None of that was supposed to happen. I swear it!” Eddy pleaded. “No one except Colonel Lendt was supposed to get hurt.”

My jaw dropped. Eddy was the traitor? Of all people, a kid betrayed us?

Eddy sobbed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was trying to help everyone. I screwed up.”

“What you did is not called screwing up. It’s called treason,” Tyler said coolly. “Your actions brought about the deaths of over three hundred innocent people, including your own mother.”

Eddy lowered his head and sniffled, his body quivering.

“You can start making amends by giving us Doyle’s location,” Tyler said.

Eddy looked up, confused. He shook his head. “I had nothing to do with Doyle. Hawkeye arranged everything, even getting the two Dogs into Camp Fox.”

Tyler frowned. “The AM jockey?”

The blood drained from my head as I finally placed Hawkeye’s voice.

Eddy nodded. “Hawkeye had proof of zed-free zones that welcomed survivors. We could go there and be safe. But he’d said that Lendt didn’t tell us about the zones because he didn’t want to lose his power and control over everything and everyone at Camp Fox.”

“And Hawkeye showed you this proof?”

“Hawkeye told me.”

Tyler slowly shook his head. “Son, you were played for a fool. Hawkeye’s the one interested in power and control. Not Lendt.”

Eddy sniffled before looking across the faces in the room. His gaze stopped at one and morphed into a glare. “It’s your fault. Mom would still be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

The room temp dropped twenty degrees when every pair of eyes turned to Smitty.

Smitty’s gaze darted to Tyler. “I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Eddy’s glare narrowed. “You said everything would be all right. That we were helping everyone.”

Smitty fidgeted. “Stupid kid thinks to throw a scapegoat out to save his own ass. Don’t try to pull me into this, Eddy. This is all on you.”

Tyler took a step forward and shook his head. “You’ve always been a lousy poker player, Smitty.” He nodded to Tack and Griz who I noticed both already had a pistol aimed at their fellow soldier. “Arrest him. Put him with Eddy.”

Surprisingly, Smitty didn’t rabbit. He stood, jaw clenched, while Tack disarmed and restrained him and Griz held the weapon level on him.

“I don’t get it. Why, Corporal?” Tyler asked.

Smitty snorted. “When I joined up, I vowed to defend this country against all threats, domestic and foreign.”

I rolled my eyes. How cliché. “And how does killing innocents fall under that?”

“None of that was supposed to happen. Hawkeye had said only the leadership had to go, so then everyone could relocate to the zed-free zone. The Dogs must’ve disobeyed orders. Maybe Doyle got wind of their plans and turned them.”

“Hawkeye is Doyle, you idiot,” I said and then walked out.