A Powerless World | Book 4 | Outlive The Darkness Hunt, Jack (feel good novels .txt) 📖

But it’s not me that needs to be convinced. It’s the people. And you have a chance to do that tonight but I’m warning you now. You show up ready to win a battle, you might find yourself losing.”

“So either way he wins,” Jessie said. “Are you going to let that happen?”

“You ask as if I’m the one calling all the shots. I’m not. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. One person calling the shots would lead to a dictatorship and that’s not what this community wants, needs or will allow. That’s why there’s a council. He might win but he might lose. In order for him to win tonight, he would need to get the other council members to agree. He would need to prove to the people that what occurred today was my fault not his. I’m just telling you what kind of ammo he has. If you want to win, you’ll need more than a voice or two who agree.”

“Then I guess we’ll see,” Colby said. “Find out who the scout is. Maybe they can vouch that you didn’t give the order.”

“It doesn’t matter, Colby, who gave the order. It’s who signed off on it, and like I said…”

“You all did.” He shook his head. “So then the people might blame you all.”

“No. They will blame me. Who do you think the people of America blame when decisions are made? The one in the hot seat. The president. We all know he has a team around him advising him and no doubt he’s been advised wrongly at times. But the people don’t take that into consideration. No. He’s the face. I’m the face of this city right now.” Johnson leaned back in his seat. “I’m beginning to understand why Dan stepped down.”

“And now you want to do the same.”

“I want to oversee law enforcement. That’s it. I’m not the mayor. I’m not a council member. I wasn’t trained for that.”

“And you think they can do a better job?”

He shrugged and twiddled a pen between his fingers. “Cathy!” he bellowed a couple of times before she appeared in the door. “Can you get me the name of the scout who contacted us this morning? And get me Rachel on the radio.”

She gave a nod and glanced at them before heading off.

“Are you expecting the scout to back you up?” Colby asked.

“I’m hoping whoever it was knows more about the situation, and as for Rachel, I’m planning on giving her the heads-up. The more people that know about this before we go into the meeting, the better.”

Chapter Seventeen

Something was wrong.

Colby raised his rifle as he eased the door wide with the tip of his boot. Cautiously he entered and stopped just in the doorway, listening. Before the madness of the meeting later that evening, Colby had made a promise to Alby to collect his dog and drop by Heath’s.

He’d expected to find him nose deep in constructing some new product.

Instead, the gate to Bud’s Gear was open, and the chains that held his dogs were laying on the ground. The door was ajar when they arrived. He lifted two fingers and motioned for Zeke to follow and watch his six.

He ventured farther in.

It was dark. The few windows that remained had been blacked out with paint. It looked as if it had been done in a hurry to prevent anyone from looking in. The walls were peppered with holes. Shells were everywhere inside, and multiple assault rifles were leaning up against the walls in different areas as if Heath had waged war with an army.

He didn’t have to go far to find the first casualty.

It was Heath’s Rottweiler laying in a puddle of blood. From what he could tell the dog had gotten caught in the crossfire. Not far from that was his other dog. Zeke went down a corridor that led into the production area, while Colby cleared the front office.

Glass on the door was shattered.

The walls had been spray painted with curse words.

“Heath?” Colby called out.

He didn’t imagine he could hear him but he knew there was a panic room and he could have easily been hiding in there. He stared up at a camera in the corner of the room. Could he see him? Had he made it to the panic room in time?

“You got anything, Zeke?”

He reappeared around a wall. “Nothing. You?”

Colby pointed to the wall that concealed the panic room. He made his way over and ran his finger down the corner of the wall. The concealed door was sealed shut and he had no idea how Heath opened it. He thumped a fist against it. “Heath. You in there?”

“Colby!” Zeke said, pulling on what looked like a thin bollard. It wasn’t. It was a lever. The door made a cracking sound, and then it shifted, ever so slightly.

“How did you know?”

“He showed me and Lincoln a few years ago.”

“Well you could have said something.”

“I thought you knew.”

“And it was as simple as pulling that lever?”

“No, there is a pin pad over here.” He walked around the corner and lifted a large poster of a nude Playboy model tacked to the wall. “Good place to hide it, right?”

Colby waved him off as he pulled back the heavy vault-style door. As soon as he stepped in the room, fluorescent lighting lit up. He stepped out and it went off.

“Pretty nifty. It’s motion controlled,” Zeke said.

“And the power?”

“Works off solar generators.”

“I don’t hear any.”

“You won’t, otherwise folks would sabotage them to get in. Heath says he has them concealed.”

The room was no bigger than a jail cell with bunk beds, a toilet and a sink. There were multiple flat screens all over one wall and equipment installed into the drywall. But there was no Heath. Zeke swept his rifle behind his back as he punched in a few numbers and the screens lit up providing a view of six different locations inside the building, and four outside.

He pecked a few buttons and turned