Cut Scene #1
A sunny, normal-smelling dawn broke over Kansas and encouraged survival, even in the scummy pond in front of the Campbell Castle Inn.
It had been a luxurious hotel before the War, self-sufficient and the perfect place for a traitor to hole up for the winter. The stone walls would keep out the cold, and the cellar was no doubt stocked with meat and fish to last a while. Places like this had been smart enough to use the natural underground coolness and old-fashioned technology.
The hunting party entered the Castle in a careful V formation with their guns up and ready… but Rick had spent a week preparing for their arrival, and he watched it all happen from the top of a bushy tree near where the team had pulled in. In his hand was a small box, and all of their lives.
As soon as they disappeared inside, he sent the command to detonate, grinning like the lunatic he’d become.
Neil heard the click and recognized it too late as Rick’s static-layered taunt echoed from a hidden radio.
“I’ll be in Safe Haven before the dust clears.”
There was a brief pause where they tried to flee…
“I’ll see you, too, little girl.”
Becky’s scream was smothered as the elegant walls exploded in a deadly fountain of flying debris and flames as the entire hotel came down.
“Gotcha.”
Rick waited, gun ready, but other than the dusty wind, nothing moved. A dozen Eagles and Becky with one blow. Rick couldn’t be happier with the total. He was still chuckling happily as he climbed into the driver’s seat of Neil’s truck and started the engine. Taking what belonged to the trooper was becoming a habit the traitor was enjoying to the fullest.
Rick turned the wheel, sticking to his plan. First, the hunting party. Next, the herd—all of it.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
Becky had been shoved into the fireplace, and she coughed sporadically as she called out to the men who’d been surrounding her. “Can anyone hear me? Hello?”
Silence…