Ashes - Alone In The Ashes Part 7

"Cease fire!" Ben yelled. "Cease fire!

Back off, people! Back off! It's over, G.o.dd.a.m.n it!"

Silence settled over the smoky, b.l.o.o.d.y carnage-filled highway. The men and women looked at what was left of that which they had so feared for so long.

"Doctor Barnes!" Ben yelled, standing up.

"Here, General."

"See to West's wounds. We want him alive for barter. The rest of you gather up the weapons and tear down the barricades. Get the road clear of nails and gla.s.s."

"We did it!" a woman cried, crying tears of joy and relief and disbelief. "We really did it!"

Ben looked down from the overpa.s.s, his eyes touchingDoctor Barnes.

"Might rules once again, right, General?" the doctor called.

"An armed, disciplined, organized people cannot be enslaved, Doctor. were I you, I would keep that in mind."

"Still the writer, aren't you, General?" Barnes said, his voice carrying to the top of the overpa.s.s. "Still carrying your liberal-hating message to the ma.s.ses, right?"'

"Somebody d.a.m.n well better continue doing it," Ben said.

The doctor turned away. The canvas patch on the seat of his trousers had worked loose.

His a.s.s was showing.

Chapter 6.

One hundred and fifty of the town's residents were now armed, with plenty of ammunition for the weapons.

Only a handful of West's men made it out of the ambush alive, and two of those died during the night.

West's leg, from the knee down, was amputated by Doctor Barnes. It really was not that tough an operation, for Ben's bullet had done most of the work.

When Barnes complained that he had nothing to knock the man out with, Ben looked at the doctor as if he were an idiot.

The doctor got the message.

"It's going to be very difficult closing all this off," the doctor b.i.t.c.hed.

"Cauterize it," Ben said.

The doctor finally lost his temper. "You're a f.u.c.king savage, Raines! G.o.dd.a.m.n it, the man is a human being."

Ben met the man's hot eyes. "West has killed, in cold blood, no telling how many hundreds of people. He has raped, tortured, mutilated, degraded, enslaved, and G.o.d only knows what else, to countless hundreds more. If you're expecting me to feel any degree of pity for that sc.u.m, you're going to have a long wait, doctor. Like forever!"

"Now I know why the Tri-States was virtually crime-free!"

"That's right, Doctor. We just didn't tolerate it."

West lay on the table, tied down with ropes, and cursed Ben.

Ben looked at the man and spoke quietly.

After his words, West shut his mouth and kept it shut.

Ben had placed the muzzle of his pistol against West's temple and said, "I can put you out of your pain permanently, West. The choice is yours."

Doctor Barnes said, "G.o.d, Raines! I'd hate to have to live with your conscience."

"I don't have any problems with it at all, Ralph," Ben replied.

The contingent of Rebels rolled in just after first light. They were commanded by a Captain Chad.

"You made good time, Captain," Ben told theyoung officer.

"We took s.h.i.+fts at the wheel, General.

Only had to detour three times and then not too far."

He looked around at the looted and nearly destroyed city. "This going to be our first outpost, General?"

"One of the first, I suppose. I'd like to set up at least two more between Base Camp One and here.

We'll see how this one works out."

The Rebels were introduced all around. The men and women of what was left of Dyersburg could only stand and stare at the healthy, well-dressed, and fit Rebels. A young woman, dressed exactly like her Rebel counterparts, walked up to Ben. She wore a .45 belted at her waist and looked very comfortable with it.

"I'm Doctor Walland, General. We met briefly back at Base Camp One."

"Yes, I remember, Doctor," Ben said, shaking the woman's hand. He waved for Doctor Barnes to come over. He introduced them and said, "I'll leave you two alone. Doctor Barnes doesn't care for my company."

Gloria Walland looked at Ben and smiled.

"You're joking, of course, General."

"According to Doctor Barnes, I am a barbarian and a savage," Ben said bluntly. "He doesn't care for the Rebel system of justice."

Doctor Gloria Walland, a captain in the Rebel Army, faced Doctor Ralph Barnes.

Ben leaned over to see if the doctor had changed trousers. He had.

"Let's clear the air, Doctor Barnes,"

Gloria said.

"That would probably be best, Doctor Walland," Ralph said.

"Captain Walland," Gloria corrected.

"But of course."

"I am a physician, Doctor Barnes.

If you bring two wounded people to me, one a member of the Rebel Army, the other a prisoner of war, I will check to see which person is the more severely wounded.

But I would not, and will not, allow a member of the Rebel Army to die in order to save the life of the enemy. Is that clear, Doctor?"'

"Perfectly clear, Captain," Barnes said stiffly.

"One more thing, Doctor Barnes," Gloria said. "Two years ago I was seized at gunpoint by armed men. Scavengers, looters, sc.u.m. They raped me. One of them made a mistake and turned his back to me when he had finished. I grabbed his pistol, a .38-caliber revolver, took very careful aim, and shot the b.a.s.t.a.r.d squarely and precisely in his a.s.shole. He was still screaming as I killed the other two and drove away. Does that give you some insight as to what I think about criminals, Doctor?"

"I get a very clear picture, CaptainWalland."

"Fine, Doctor Barnes. Now if you'll help me with my equipment, we'll see about giving everybody here a checkup and see where we have to go concerning vitamins and diet."

"With pleasure ... Doctor," Ralph said.

As Walland walked away, Ralph looked at Ben and smiled. "Very ... ah, forceful young woman, General. I think we're going to get on splendidly."

"I hope so, Ralph. I'm told she's an expert shot." When Ralph had gone, Captain Chad said, "General? I've known Gloria for five years. She never was raped."

Ben smiled. "Yes. I've read her file.

She's just telling Doctor Barnes how the show is going to be run, that's all."

Leaving half the newly arrived contingent of the Rebels behind, Ben took the mortar crews, the machine gunners, and one hundred of the newly armed citizens with their newly acquired vehicles and led the column toward the first of West's labor camps.

Ben's heavily armed force rolled up to the gates of the forced labor camp, located some twenty-odd miles from Dyersburg.

A strange silence greeted them. There were no guards in the crudely built towers, no guards to be seen behind the high barbed wire that surrounded the camp.

"I don't think we're going to like what we'll see in those barracks, General," Captain Chad said.

"Nor I, Captain," Ben replied. "Blow the gates and let's take a look."

Several of the civilians lost their breakfast and many more turned green around the mouth.

The prisoners in the labor camp had been machine-gunned in their barracks. The rough wooden floors were slick with blood. The stench of loosened bowels was nearly overpowering.

"Why, General?" a man asked. "Why did they do this?"'

"Revenge. West must have had observers behind the main column yesterday. They reported back, and this," he waved his hand, "is their reply to us." Ben turned to Dot. "You know where the other camps are located?"

"Most of them. But... what about the dead here?" she asked.

"You have no earthmoving equipment, Dot. And I didn't bring any body bags with me. So unless you people want to spend several days digging holes for the bodies-which the dogs and other wild animals will dig up as soon as you're gone-I suggest we put all the bodies in one barracks and burn them."

"And ... then?" Canby asked.

"We go wipe out what is left of West's operation."

The smoke from the controlled burn poured black and greasy into the morning sky. The unmistakable odor of burning human flesh filled the still air.

The scene was nothing new to the small contingent of Rebels that stood impa.s.sively by and watched. Many of them had been with Ben for years; they had seen much worse than this during the years of traveling.

But to the civilians of Dyersburg, the scene was awful.

"Got a long way to go to make these folks fighters, General," Captain Chad said quietly. "If it's possible at all."

"I'll opt for the latter, Captain," Ben said.

"And I'm not downgrading them for it. I think we can train them to become a pretty good militia force, as long as some of us are around to lead."

"And that's up to me and my troops, right, General?" Captain Chad asked.

"That's it, Captain. This outpost idea was just a thought. We'll review what's happened next spring. Take it from there."

The captain thought about the small city. "First thing we do is clean up the town. Got to give the people some purpose; keep them busy. Elect a leader and set up work teams. But the people will have to think they're the ones who thought of it and implemented the plan."

"The chief of security will be Charles Leighton. Let him pick his own security people; he'll do a good job. Watch Doctor Barnes, Captain. The man is living in a dream world."

Ben was thoughtful for a moment. "I believe Barnes is a good man. But he's no Rebel and never will be. He's going to question every decision you make, Captain."

"What you're saying, sir, is that the man is going to be a pain in the a.s.s."

"Very aptly put, Captain."

Ben sent out scout teams of his own people, with Charles Leighton guiding them, to reconnoiter the largest of the forced work camps. While that was being done, he sent a jeep back to get West.

"Doctor Barnes isn't going to like that, General," Canby told Ben.

"He probably won't," Ben agreed.

Ralph Barnes returned with West. The man was clearly upset and made no effort to conceal his ire.

"I.

demand to know why you ordered this man taken from his bed and brought here, General?" he said. "Can't you see he is clearly in pain?" The doctor sniffed several times. "What is that smell?"

"Burning bodies," Ben told him. "Several hundred of them." He told Barnes what they had discovered at the camp.