A Powerless World , Hunt, Jack [easy novels to read txt] 📗

he ever asked where his two guys were, he would tell him they’d ended up in the river. No bodies to show. If they turned up alive, it could be explained away as a miracle. Either way, they came out on top.

The truth was he wasn’t sure what happened to Marvin and Lee. They were heading to a northern checkpoint when they failed to radio in. He figured they’d been taken out by disgruntled locals, more specifically one of the two feuding families. After hearing about their reputation, he now knew he’d have to deal with them soon rather than later, but for now, their time was divided between bringing in supplies from towns in Trinity County and patrolling the streets.

But that was just the beginning.

So far Dan had listened to him, allowing him to put a curfew into effect, allowing him to determine how much food was rationed out. And so far phase one was working. Win the hearts and minds of the people, then slowly tighten the noose, making everything appear as if they were working in their best interest while keeping Dan as the head of the spear. If any fingers were to be pointed, it would be at him. And sure enough, they’d seen it play out just as he expected.

The next phase was to corral people into the main town of Eureka, that way he wouldn’t have to spread his men thin, and potentially incur another situation like Marvin and Lee.

Finally, he would reduce the number of mouths and in turn reduce the number of threats. Fortunately, many had left two weeks ago, making their job a little easier, but with still so many mouths to feed, it would require specific actions, deadly actions that could leave no room for doubt. It wouldn’t just convince Dan, but the people themselves. Fear was a great motivator and he had already started to convince people that folks were taking their own lives. It was to be expected. It was easier than putting a bullet in every head. This way he killed two birds with one stone. Murder-suicides.

It was going to plan until that Riker showed up.

Evans was in the office discussing with the sheriff which neighborhoods they would put everyone in when Deputy Johnson knocked on the door.

“Come in, Johnson,” Wilder said.

“Sorry to bother you, sir, but I think you should hear this.”

He stepped out of the way and a strong-looking guy walked into the room, his hands caked in dry blood, wearing a black T-shirt, dark jeans, military-style ankle boots. His hair was buzzed all over, short, tidy, and he was sporting ink on his lower arms. “Jessie?”

“Could we talk in private?” He looked at Benjamin.

“Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of him. He’s helping us.”

Jessie nodded. “I just got back from Trinity County.”

“Trinity? Who permitted you to leave?” Evans asked, trying to remind him about the rules of leaving the county.

Jessie smirked and shook his head, ignoring him. “My mother wanted us to get some dialysis supplies for the center.”

“And?”

“It’s a bloodbath out there. Raiders have been attacking towns throughout the county.”

“We heard. Looting.”

“No, this isn’t just looting. No one is left alive. We are talking about murdering men, women, children. In brutal fashion.” He reached around behind his back and took something out and tossed it on the table. He did it so fast neither of them could tell what it was until it landed.

“It’s a scalp,” Jessie said.

“What the fuck…” Dan said, taking a step back.

“Whoever is raiding these towns is scalping them.” Jessie glanced at Benjamin with accusing eyes. “I spoke with a local. No one has seen them yet but they are stripping clean every home they go into. Supplies. Lots of supplies are gone.”

Dan caught him staring at Evans. He felt under the microscope. He had to speak up and fast. “I didn’t want to mention this because I didn’t want to scare the community, but he’s right, we saw them.”

“You saw them?” Dan asked.

Evans nodded. “Yeah, a few nights back.”

“What were you doing in Trinity County?” Jessie asked.

“We weren’t,” he replied. “We were along the road up near the Six Rivers National Forest, near Orleans. We saw riders coming out of the woodland heading south.”

“Did you try to stop them?”

“We were busy collecting supplies. Couldn’t risk anyone else finding them.”

“I bet,” Jessie said again in a manner he didn’t like. There was something about his accusing tone that was beginning to niggle him.

Evans pointed at him. “You are from what family?”

“Jessie’s a Riker,” Dan clarified.

“A Riker.” He acted surprised. “I’ve heard a lot about your family.”

“I expect you have.”

“Hear you have a reputation for creating trouble.”

“Only with those who deserve it,” he shot back. “Look, I just figured you’d want to know. And as for the Native tribes, before you make a fool of yourselves and cause even more division, ask my brother Colby. He knows them well. You’d have better luck speaking with him than going directly to any of the tribes.”

He turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Dan asked.

“To bury my brother.”

“Jessie, hold up.” He placed a hand on his forearm. “Your brother?”

“Lincoln.”

“What happened?”

“We were attacked. He didn’t make it.” His chin dropped and then he walked out. Dan looked back at the scalp.

“So what do you make of this? You think these Native people were the same raiders who attacked from the south?”

Evans took a deep breath, realizing he would have to spin this in a new direction. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to deal with this yet. That was the whole purpose of moving people into the town, to prevent people from leaving the county unless they were heading to a FEMA camp.

“It could be.”

“Feel free to speak,” Dan said.

“I do think it’s one of the Native tribes.”

Dan mused as he picked up the bloody scalp and tossed it into the trash, then took the garbage can and called out to his assistant. “Cathy. Hey. Can you dispose of this?