Rogues Apocalypse (Book 2): Rogues Rising Read online

  The man interrupted with, “I’m Doc Billings, and we don’t need your help. Go back to where you came from.”

  Max smiled, “Doc, there are gangs in Gallatin and Nashville that will run through you like shit through a goose. Look at your weapons. Three shotguns, a .38, and a deer rifle. Every one of our police and soldiers has AR 15s, Glocks and other semiautomatic weapons. You won’t last another month before the raids finish you off and your women and children are captured, and your men will be slaves or dead.”

  “Bullshit, the government will be here to help us any day now. Hell, the local police from Gallatin should have been here by now.”

  Max waved at his Sgt. to come forward, and before he got to the group, Doc said, “Joe, why haven’t the police arrived yet, and why are you with these people.

  Sgt. Joe Friday who was with the Gallatin Police before TSHTF responded, “I joined this community after they saved my men and me from being slaughtered by a local gang. We have over twenty of the local police in our new Sheriff’s Department. Doc, you really need to listen to us and join. Only together can we survive this crap.”

  “Joe, it can’t be that bad. The president said that the federal government would be busy, but surely the local and state governments will help us,” pleaded Doc.

  Joe replied, “Listen to Max. Doc, the state, and local governments are gone. They all went home to be with their loved ones, and many are dead now from the rioting and gangs taking over the cities.”

  Max asked, “Do you have any vehicles running?”

  “Yes, a few.”

  “We have a refrigerated warehouse with meat that will spoil soon. Come and get as much as you can haul away. I’d smoke it, dry it or do something to make it last,” Max said as he looked at the desperate man.

  “My wife can teach people to can the meat if we can find enough canning jars and equipment,” one of the men answered.

  Max looked at Amy, “Tell Oscar to have his scavengers look for canning jars and that other stuff. Doc, send some of your people over this morning to start to bring meat back here. We are eating steaks and chops for every meal just to use some of it up before it spoils.”

  “Thanks,”

  Max then said, “Come on over and talk with our leader. This isn’t us giving you anything. We are investing in a shared future. We need ranchers, farmers, doctors, and mechanics and you have a bunch of people that will need food and work. We can also train your people how to properly defend yourselves.”

  The man called Doc replied, “Sorry if I offended anyone, but we are frightened and don’t know what to do. We need your help.”

  Max replied, “And we need your help to survive. A word of clarification. Listen to Tony, our leader, very closely because he will give you two choices. One is to join us and receive all benefits that go with belonging to our community and the second, which is becoming a trading partner with no benefits except fair trading with us.”

  “I don’t understand,” answered Doc.

  “The most significant benefit is the protection of our security force. If you are only a trading partner, then we don’t come to your defense if the attacker is not a danger to us. If you are part of our community, we will annihilate anyone who attacks you, and we have the skilled soldiers, weapons, and ability to do so. Your choice. Listen to Tony and make up your minds.”

  “Thanks for the explanation. Is tomorrow morning okay with you?”

  Max looked at the man, “Yes, make it to our front gates about 9:30 and be prepared to leave your weapons at the front gate. Oh, we are finding kids whose parents have been killed. Do you have people that would want to adopt them? We are living in the warehouses, and that doesn't make a good home for children. We are slowly working to move some campers and mobile homes to our location, but it’s still not ideal for children.”

  Doc smiled, “I’ll check with our people.”

  “Amy that went very well and I think we made several friends that will be a benefit to our community,” Max squeezed her shoulder and watched her drive.

  “Max, I thought we had a deal to be friends with benefits until Tony came around. What gives,” asked Amy.

  Max thought for a minute and said, “Amy, I’ve always been a one woman man and have always been loyal and true to my girl and find this arrangement to be very confusing. I just don’t know what to do. At times I feel like I’m cheating with Tony’s girl and don’t want to hurt him, and then five minutes later I want you so bad I can’t stand it but then feel bad because I could just be using you until I get back with my girl.”

  “Shit Max, you sound like a whiny assed woman. Grow some balls and enjoy life while you can. I can’t stand whining. I’ve never been attached to anyone but Tony. I’ve shacked up with several guys over the years but always ditch them when they start getting too close,” she explained.

  “So you’re okay with just the sex and no commitments,” Max replied.

  She ran her hand along his thigh caressing him and said, “Yes, until Tony gets his head out of his ass.

  They drove on to the next large subdivision that was due north of the community and spied on it for an hour from several locations. Joe and Sam came back from their post on top of a small gas station at the road that entered the subdivision.

  “Max, somethings not right about the place. There appear to be a few men with guns making others work. We saw a group of men go into a house, heard gunshots, and two men came out dragging a young woman with her kids screaming as they followed,” said Sam.

  Max asked, “Do any of you know anyone in this subdivision?”

  One of the new deputies replied that he knew a man who used to work with him at a local factory ten years ago and that he had stayed in touch with him and his family.

  “Sneak in there after dark and see what you can learn from the family. Be careful, but we will have Oscar’s men ready to storm in and help you get out of there,” said Max.

  Roger spoke up, “Max, if you are okay with it, two of us will go in with Jack and make sure he isn’t harmed.”

  “Good and thanks for volunteering. We’ll go on to the last northern subdivision and then turn you three loose to infiltrate the suspicious one,” Max calmly added.

  The next neighborhood was almost a duplicate of the first but didn’t have a single spokesperson, so Max had to give his presentation twice to two groups that didn’t see eye to eye.

  One faction loved the idea, but the other one had several hard cases that drowned out the members of their own group. Max finally had enough and signaled for Roger to bring his team into the meeting.

  Max forcefully said, “Now you three have had your say, now let the others speak.”

  “We speak for them.”

  Several people disagreed, and one of the three threatened them, so Max pulled his pistol and shot it into the air, “You three shut your traps and let the others speak.”

  The three started to attack Max, and Roger’s men drew their weapons and forced the men to leave the meeting under threat of death.

  “Now that those three assholes are out of the meeting, what do the rest of you want to do?”

  “Sir, it doesn’t matter what we want. Those three have several men and women on their side that think they are taking over our neighborhood. When you leave, they will shoot anyone who speaks out against them. Can some of us go with you,” one of the men asked?

  “Point these men out that are trying to take over, and we will deal with them. As I said earlier, I am the Sherriff of the county and will arrest them,” Max urged.

  An older woman stepped forward and said, “I’m not going to let my daughter and her children live under these men’s rule. One of them is forcing my daughter to live with him,” she said and then pointed out five more of the men as the bad guys.

  “Roger, arrest the men and let Oscar handle them. Sam and Joe find their wives and families and determine if they need to go also,” said Max.

  Several of the women said, “Most of the f
amilies are good people. We’ll take you men to the bad apples.”

  Max looked at the crowd of over 60 people and said, “Elect a temporary town council and mayor. Be ready to meet with our leader in two days. Thanks, and we’ll take out the trash for you,” Max scowled as he knew what Oscar’s men would do with the scum.

  One of the women asked, “What will you do with them?”

  Max told a half truth, “Lady, we will drop them off about a hundred miles from here and tell them if they come back we will kill them. You can’t reform evil mean people.”

  Max gave Amy a kiss on the forehead and said, “Amy, I've had time to think this morning, and I’m sorry for acting up last night. I’m good with our arrangement.”

  Amy hugged Max as Roger watched and then they both got in the pickup and headed back to the community. They arrived as supper was being served; Liz was seated beside Tony, and they were holding hands like giddy teenagers. Max could see that Amy was about to explode but handled herself very well as the two lovers flaunted their love in front of her.

  Max made sure he kept up the act and whispered in Amy’s ear as he kissed her neck and then held her hand while they ate. Max was sure everyone noticed, and he saw some nasty looks from Roger that he didn’t expect. This was a surprise because Roger and the others treated Amy as though she were one of the boys and never mentioned her in the context of being a desirable woman.

  Tony was pleased with the day’s work and thanked Max and the team several times. Amy gave Max a lingering kiss and then said, “My Max is just wonderful with the outsiders. He has them eating out of his hand.

  Max saw something again that worried him much. Tony, the man who didn’t care one bit about him shagging the one lady in the world who adored Tony Mongolusio, showed a bit of anger at what Amy said about Max has the locals eating out of his hand. Max kept a smile on his face and knew that he had to raise Tony’s name up to the locals and keep his low key or Tony would have Oscar take him on a trip with no return ticket.

  ☆☆☆

  Max woke up early and snuck out of bed without waking Amy who had been snuggled up against his back. The sun wasn't up yet, and he wanted to collect his thoughts on how to defuse any potential issues with Tony. He walked down to the kitchen and saw the cooks were busy preparing the morning meal and were glad to pour him a cup of steaming hot coffee.

  Max sat at the leadership table and began replaying the previous day in his mind to see if he was overplaying the issues and to see if he had missed anything. He was deep in thought when Roger walked up with a cup of coffee and sat down beside him.

  “Hey Max, how’s it hanging this morning?”

  “Better than I deserve Roger. How about you this morning,” Max returned Roger’s fake smile.

  “Sorry to interrupt your deep thinking this morning, but I want to give you a word of advice,” Roger said.

  Max grimaced because he thought he knew what was coming, “I’m all ears and appreciate any advice you can give me since I’m new to the mobster game.”

  Roger’s smile evaporated, “Buddy, you might want to back off flirting with Amy out in public. Tony might act like he doesn’t care, but he has a thing for her and will eventually take you to task.”

  “Thanks, Roger, but I’ve had a talk with Tony, and he urged me to see her and was happy when she moved in with me. Hell, we’re way past the flirting and holding hands stage,” Max replied.

  “Max, I like you and remember what I said a few months from now when Tony has had a few too many drinks and uses you for a punching bag, and you can’t punch back,” Roger said as he ran his finger across his nose, which had been broken in the past and was still crooked.

  Roger left leaving Max wondering if Amy and Roger had a history. Max wondered if Roger was jealous of Max or being a friend and warning him off to help keep him alive.

  Max’s mind went back to the upcoming visit from the first neighborhood he had visited the day before and he developed a plan to transfer the goodwill from the neighborhood to Tony and get his ass off the hook. He drank two more cups and then headed to the restroom before the others arrived.

  The toilets worked but only because Tony had a crew hauling water into the building to flush them with. Max had warned that eventually the underground pipes would fill up and they would literally be up shit creek.

  Max returned to the kitchen and saw Tony talking with Oscar and sat down with them.

  “Max, have a seat. That was a good job yesterday convincing a new neighborhood to join our little community,” beamed Tony.

  Max cautioned, “Tony it’s up to you to seal the deal today. I got them warmed up for you to wow them with your oratory skills. You reel them in, and we give them a tour of the warehouses and let Oscar show a little muscle, and it should be a sure thing.”

  Tony looked over at Oscar, “Max did you cover our new rules for our newly legal operations?”

  “No Tony, I thought it would be best if you covered that. I could do it if you want, but I think you do a masterful job of handling the topic.”

  “I agree, and I think your role is to be their tour guide and longterm contact. Of course, you will have to develop others to assist you as we grow. As we’ve discussed the key is they have to have people skills.”

  One of Oscar’s men came running into the room and stopped beside Oscar who said, “Speak up.”

  “Sir the new community that was to visit today is under attack by a small group of thugs from Nashville. Do you want us to respond?”

  Tony interrupted and said, “Oscar, let’s all go to their defense. A few photo ops would do us well as the news that the leaders of our community came to the neighborhood’s defense. Grab your guns men.”

  Three pickups were waiting for them out front, and they sped off as soon as all of the men were loaded. They were only two miles from the neighborhood, so they arrived a few minutes later and fanned out as they searched for the attacking gang. Max noticed that Tony hung back and that five of the sixteen men were actually Tony’s bodyguards. Max ran on to the front of the pack with Oscar and soon encountered three of the gang members who were hiding in a ditch inside the front entrance to the subdivision.

  Oscar shot two in the back and Max shot the third as she turned to fire at them as they approached. They only made it to the front yard of the second home when shots rang down at them from above knocking Oscar to the ground. Max felt a blow to his back, turned, raised his pistol, and shot the sniper before he could shoot Oscar again. Max went to Oscar and lifted his head to be greeted with a forced smile.

  “Max, thanks for killing that bastard before he shot me again. My vest stopped the bullet, but it hurts like a sumbitch. I’m okay, go ahead and kill a couple more for me.”

  The fighting was over by the time Max left Oscar and ran to where the battle was the most fierce. He noticed that Tony and his bodyguards were nowhere to be seen until the bullets stopped flying. They came walking up in time to greet the people of the neighborhood as they went out of their shot riddled homes. Tony shook hands as Max faded back to tend to Oscar and helped him to the truck. Max feared Oscar had some broken ribs and wanted to get him back to be checked by Maggie and the doctor.

  Max helped Oscar into one of the trucks and drove him back to the community and had one of the guards help walk him into the makeshift hospital. Maggie was shocked when she saw her man stagger across the room to her but kept her head and helped lay him down on the bed.

  “Baby, what happened?”

  “Maggie, I wasn’t paying attention, and a damned gangbanger shot me in the back. Max killed the piece of shit and kept him from finishing me off. He saved my life.”

  Max heard Oscar telling the story and didn’t want to become a hero and take away from Tony’s glory. Max guessed that Tony had taken credit for killing most of the thugs himself and acted very humble as he patted his team on the back for saving the helpless neighborhood.

  Max left Oscar in good hands and went to the kitchen to get
the breakfast that he missed earlier. He sat down at a table by himself to enjoy his meal in peace when Amy ran up and sat next to him.

  “Max, what happened? I heard Oscar was shot and that you saved him from certain death. Why did you leave without waking me up this morning? Max, I was afraid that you were wounded.”

  “Babe, I’m okay, and I wanted to go over the upcoming meeting without any distraction so I could collect my thoughts. You’ve been working your ass off, so I let you get some rest.”

  She turned toward Max, placed her arms around him, and gave him a hug when Max winced and pulled away.

  “Max you’re wounded. Take that jacket and vest off,” Amy said as she peeled his jacket and vest from his body.

  “Damn, Max you are bleeding. Hold still damn it while I get your t-shirt over your head. It’s covered in blood,” Amy scolded.

  She removed the shirt and saw a softball size bruise and a small bloody hole in his left shoulder on his back.

  “Hey, somebody, help me get Max to the doctor. He’s been shot,” Amy cried out.

  Greg and Rob rushed over and helped Amy move Max to the same room Oscar occupied.

  “Hey. What’s wrong with my hero?”

  Amy looked at Oscar and replied, “He got shot saving your sorry ass. Doc, please look at his wound.”

  Maggie made Amy and the guys leave the room so they could concentrate on treating the wounded. The doctor removed the small caliber bullet from Max’s back, dressed the wound, and sent him to rest.

  Max and Oscar walked into the room where Tony was meeting with the neighborhood’s leaders to see if Tony needed them and Tony said, “I believe you know Max. The other hero today is Oscar my head of security and our small peacekeeping force. You two go get rested, and I’ll handle the details.”

  Max and Oscar waved at the neighborhood leaders and left the room as Oscar said, “That’s the boss taking credit for everything we accomplished this week. Better get used to it because Tony will take excellent care of us as long as we are loyal and he gets all the credit for the good stuff we do, and none of the bad stuff blows back on him.