Page 28 of Remington
“No.All gone,” he said with tears in his eyes.The small envelope slid to the ground and Rush picked it up.He opened, seeing a pocket knife and cash.
“I believe this is yours,” he said to the boy.He stared at it, shaking his head as he cried.King gently sat him in the grass, careful not to force him to stand upright just yet.
“Let me clean the wounds,” said King.“You guys go search the place.”
“B-bunkers,” said the boy gasping in pain.“Find the bunkers.”
“Didn’t they take the weapons?” asked Remington.The boy looked up at him wondering how he knew there were weapons but he was in too much pain to even care how he knew.
“They took the weapons in their own bunkers but, but my brothers and I had another bunker where we were stashing things to keep from them.Th-that’s why my mother beat me.She knew that I did it but didn’t know about Zane.”
“Is he here?” asked Remington.
“No,” he said gently shaking his head.He hissed in pain as King cleaned the wounds, trying to be careful but the shredded skin needed to be cut away.
“I’m sorry.I’ll be done soon and we’re going to get you somewhere safe,” he said to the boy.Although, the more they spoke to him, they realized he was a young man, maybe twenty or twenty-one.
“No, he and Monty helped to build one before they left.Then we moved a lot of the firearms, rocket launchers, and grenades to the hidden bunker.It’s on the other side of that small ridge over there.No one went there because there’s a rattlesnake den but we put it there.”
“Good to know,” smirked Rush.
“Can you stand?” asked King.
“If it will get me out of here, yes, I can stand.”
They helped the young man stand and noticed the lean hard muscles built from hard work.He was definitely older than they first thought.
“Where did everyone go?” asked Remington looking around the property.
“There’s a second compound on the other side of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.It’s smaller.Smaller houses, smaller land, all of it but they have bunkers there as well.They’ve hidden animals in the caves and placed bars over the cave entrances.The animals are let out once a day only, by someone they hired.”
“How long ago did they leave?” asked Rush.
“Maybe four hours?” he said with a painful shrug.“I think I passed out after the last beating by my mother.They’re all insane.All of them.They take the girls.Do you know about the girls?”
“We know they take them to entertain the hunters,” frowned Remington.
“Theygivethem to the hunters.They either cooperate or are forced to run and be hunted.How sick is that?” he cried.
“It’s very sick, son,” said King.“Come on, let’s get you on the bird and we’ll take you someplace safe.”
“I want to see my brother,” he said with tears in his eyes.“Please, can you find Zane.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” said Remington.“For now, let us make sure that you’re safe and getting the treatment you need.”
While King walked the young man to the bird, getting him settled, he then continued to work on his back, giving him water and some light food.The other men trekked toward the ridge, careful to watch for the snake den.
“Well, the kid wasn’t lying,” frowned Joseph.“A snake den, right there.”They saw the disturbed grassy area and Joseph kicked the ground, hearing the sound of a wooden door.
Pushing the grass aside, he realized it was a rug made to look like the grass.They pulled the door open and stared down into the darkness.Rush snapped two fluorescent sticks and tossed them into the space.There was a small ladder that allowed them to enter the pit.What they found shocked them.
“Holy fuck,” muttered Rush.
He turned to look at Remington and Joseph who were now shining their lights around the room.The walls were lined with automatic rifles, all military grade, grenades, rocket launchers, landmines, and so much more.
“Look,” said Remington pointing to an ammunition box.Stamped on the lid was ‘Property of the U.S. Army’.“It’s stolen.AJ?Contact someone at the army and find out if they’re missing something important.”
“Roger that.”
