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

Arrogance (Chapter 11)

I heard it then. The hearty growl of a big engine. I searched until I found a green garbage truck barreling toward us. This truck was undamaged and didn’t have all the armor plating, but it was from the same garbage company. When it approached, I tensed.

It stopped, then turned and backed up toward the pit, the sound of beep-beep-beep echoing around us. The back lifted and dumped two more bodies onto the pile. I covered my nose and scanned the pile to make sure none were moving.

“You see, Captain,” Doyle said. “How many lives did we save today?”

Tyler didn’t reply.

Smugly smiling, Doyle turned to the man getting out of the truck. “I trust everything went well, Keith?”

The driver bowed to Doyle before speaking. “No problems.”

I gasped. “You.”

The man looked. His eyes widened, and he froze.

We’d found the fourth rapist. The one who got away.

Clutch and I raised our rifles at the same time. Doyle’s guards and Tyler and his men raised their rifles in response.

“Whoa.” Tyler held up one hand above his rifle. “What’s going on here?”

“Stand back,” Clutch nodded to the newcomer Keith, “That rat bastard is responsible for the rape, torture, and death of a young woman.”

“Do you have proof?” Tyler countered, though Tack and Griz both moved their rifles onto the Dogs.

“We both saw it,” I said. “She tried to escape and he was one of the four chasing her.”

“I didn’t do nothing!” Keith shrieked.

I looked at Clutch. His hard gaze told me everything I needed to know. I aimed my rifle and fired. Keith fell back, into the pit, a bullet hole through his forehead.

I expected to be riddled with bullets, but surprisingly, no one else fired even though everyone except Doyle held a rifle.

Doyle’s lips thinned. “You’ll be sorry for doing that, girl.”

Tyler leveled his rifle on Doyle. “We have laws, Doyle. I’m arresting her, and she’s coming with me to stand trial.”

“If you’d seen what he and his friends had done, Captain,” Clutch growled, “you’d have done the same thing.”

“Everyone, stand down,” Tyler commanded.

None of the Dogs lowered their weapons, and so no one else did.

“Doyle, your men are ordered to stand down,” Tyler said, reaching out to me, but Clutch grabbed me first and pulled me against him.

“That Dog got what he deserved,” Clutch said.

He took us a step back, and then froze.

“No!” I cried out when I saw Doyle’s pistol aimed point blank at Clutch’s temple. I turned to Tyler. “Clutch is innocent.”

“The only way anyone leaves here is if I allow it,” Doyle countered.

“You are disobeying a direct order, Doyle,” Tyler stated. “This camp is under the jurisdiction of Camp Fox. If you do not have your men stand down now, you will be stripped of rank and deemed outlaws. This is your last warning.”

Doyle snorted. “My camp, my rules. It’s you who need to lower your weapons.”

“If your men open fire,” Tyler said, keeping his rifle aimed at Doyle. “You’ll be the first one dead. Now, you are ordered to stand down!”

Clutch’s eyes were completely focused on me. “Let them go, Doyle,” he said, “and I’ll join your crew.”

I shook my head. Don’t do this.

After a lengthy pause, Doyle pulled away his pistol and sneered. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood today, Masden. You have five minutes to clear out of my camp.”

“Get her out of here, Captain,” Clutch ground out.

“The militia is done, Doyle,” Tyler said. “Effective immediately.”

Doyle belted out a laugh. “Camp Fox needs me. I don’t need you.” He sobered. “And you’re wasting your minutes.”

Tyler reached for me. “You don’t have to do this, Clutch,” I begged.

Clutch’s face hardened and he turned away, gritting his teeth while one of the Dogs disarmed him.

“Well, this worked out better than I expected,” Doyle said to one of his men.

Tyler grabbed my wrist. He pulled me through the doorway and through the camp, flanked by Griz and Tack.

Knots tightened in my gut with every step. Doyle had wanted Clutch. Defeated and under his control. And we’d let him do it. He’d expected Clutch to kill the rapist so he could imprison him. When I killed the man, Clutch had volunteered to stay, making Doyle’s job easy. Doyle had got exactly what he’d wanted. Clutch was no longer a threat, leaving those he cared about easy game for the Dogs.

With a surge, I twisted free and grabbed Tyler’s arms. “Clutch is a good man. He doesn’t belong here. Promise me you’ll try to get him out of here.”

Tyler watched me for a moment. Maybe he understood, maybe he saw something in my eyes. He gave a thin smile. “I’ll do what I can.”

When his words registered as truth in my mind, I nodded and inhaled. “Good.” I headed to the waiting Humvee, a thousand rescue scenarios running through my mind.

The only problem was, without Clutch, I couldn’t do anything, let alone pull off a rescue.

Before I climbed into the Humvee, I looked back one last time to find Clutch, but only saw Doyle watching us smugly, promising retribution. Clutch had sacrificed himself for our freedom. And it was a waste, because Doyle wouldn’t stop until we were all dead.