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

speaking to the community. If we leave the city, whatever hope they have of taking this place will be ruined. “

“Hold on, he left?” Alicia asked.

“Temporarily.”

She nodded. “But he’s coming back?”

Johnson nodded. “He said he wouldn’t leave you or his brother Dylan behind.”

Alicia looked down into her hands. She glanced at Dan. He gave her one of these I told you so looks. Lily reached over and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“I don’t get it. Why didn’t he just come with you?” Lily asked.

“They’d throw them back in the cargo box,” Dan said.

Johnson nodded. “And they needed to get more help. More people. That’s why this is important.”

“Why didn’t she do that to you? I mean, you’re out. Free.”

This was the moment when he imagined they were all thinking the same thing.

Dan got up and went over to the window and looked out. “Did anyone follow you?”

“No. I made sure.”

Alicia understood why he asked. “You think Rachel released him to see what he would do?”

“It’s possible. I wouldn’t put anything past her,” Dan said, closing his curtains. “When will Colby be back?”

“We’ve got to bring those who will help to WinCo by 9:00.”

Dan glanced at his watch. “Well, if we’re going to do this, we need to start now.” He went over to his wife. “Get your jacket, and let’s go.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

The atmosphere was dangerously tense. Gathering the Rikers and the Stricklands together in one room without a fight breaking out hadn’t occurred in over ten years. The last time it happened, they’d made an agreement for peace, an agreement that Martha would break a decade later.

Under a starless night, deep in the heart of Redwoods State Park, the two families gazed at each other across a blazing fire.

An aroma of earthy undertones and sweetness permeated everything as wood crackled and popped. Shadows danced on the faces of young and old, as they eyed each other with suspicion and hatred. Parents, sons, daughters, cousins, it was a sight to behold but far below the number needed. Standing up to insurmountable odds, Colby had sent word to the reservation, to Dakota Moon asking for his assistance. He wasn’t holding out much hope as he’d already told him that if an event of the same magnitude occurred again, unless a tribal member’s life was at risk, they wouldn’t put themselves in harm’s way.

Sure enough, helping the town was rejected by the tribes but not by Dakota.

He showed up with a handful of men and women, friends, family, those who knew Colby well. It still wasn’t enough. With the odds stacked against them, their families did the next best thing and reached out to locals, families throughout Humboldt that had refused to give up their weapons and move into Eureka, and survivors that had done business with them.

It had taken all day.

Scouts on horses, family members on ATVs, and old-timers getting on ham radios.

It was a call to all to rise up against a new form of tyranny — a rousing of every man and woman who refused to become slaves to laws and rules that would govern them.

Freedom. That was the message.

It wasn’t about saving a town or a county as much as it was preventing a violent dictator from taking hold and stripping them of their way of life. Some said it was revenge. Others, a chance to level the playing field.

Colby didn’t care what convinced them, only that they showed up.

And show they did in great numbers.

Grizzled old-timers bearing hunting rifles, young mothers eager to protect their kids. Old, young, black, white, those with an agenda, those without. It mattered not.

He wasn’t sure how many of them truly understood the gravity of the situation they were about to walk into, but from the expressions that masked their faces they knew how serious it was. Although there were over a thousand in Eureka, they weren’t really up against that many. The community was guided by the actions of a few. At a rough guess, based on their run-in with Boone in Arcata, and their knowledge of how many deputies and volunteers patrolled the city, they couldn’t have been up against more than three hundred. And he had to wonder how many of those were really onboard with the council.

Murmurs spread as Colby made his way over to Hank.

“I think that’s everyone. You ready?”

“Whenever you are,” Hank replied.

Colby addressed the people, raising his voice. “If I could have your attention.”

Eyes bore into him. Silence settled. “Thank you for coming. I know that many of you still have concerns and that’s why we are giving you the opportunity again to decide if you want to help. We aren’t forcing anyone into this. What we do this evening, we do of our own accord, for our families, knowing the risk. I won’t cherry coat this. Some of you won’t return. It’s as simple as that. These are dangerous men. The worst kind. The rest are just puppets being led along by a false narrative.”

“I hope you have a good plan of action then,” someone said.

Colby nodded. There was no plan that could be created that wouldn’t be shot down by someone who didn’t think it was tactically sound. They were about to enter chaos. While they knew the structure and the schedule for Eureka, that was all they knew. And there was a good chance that had been changed in anticipation of an attack. No matter what Colby said, there was a possibility someone would find fault with it. He just had to believe that those who had taken the time to attend the meeting were folks who saw solutions when others only saw problems.

“If you have any doubt. Go home. I don’t want to be weighed down by any more guilt than I already carry,” he said, glancing at the Stricklands. Both families carried their own fair share. “But know this… If you go home, you will live but for how long? Boone’s men and those who have taken over Eureka