What came next had to be up close and personal.
I approached the camp from its backside. The zed pit was still there, full of rotting corpses. I held up my rifle, using the scope to scan the ground, then the silos. It still looked like an abandoned camp except for the smoke.
Even I hadn’t given Doyle’s camp a second thought when we’d evacuated Camp Fox. We’d all been fools to not double check.
As I limped closer, I could hear the voices. They sounded like an echo of the dying at Camp Fox. My heart clenched. I’d caused this. I knew not all these people were bad, some were simply misled. I inhaled deeply and moved forward. There was no other way.
Sometimes, only killing would stop further killing.
I’d planned to dip the grenades in zed goo and give them a taste of their own medicine. I’d believed they deserved the karma after the hundreds of innocents they’d slaughtered. But, at the last moment I realized I couldn’t go through with that. I refused to sink to their level. These men were getting off easy.
Not all would be so lucky. The noise would attract zeds from Camp Fox, which was part of my plan. I was counting on them to take care of anyone I missed.
No guard stood at the gate by the pit, and I cracked the gate open and peered inside. Through the dusty, smoky haze, I could see contorted bodies littering the ground. Some moved, many didn’t. I limped across the camp, quickly glancing from body to body. One man covered in blood reached out to me for help but I continued on.
With my shaved head, no one seemed to notice me through the haze. They were all preoccupied. After I ran out of bodies to check, I gritted my teeth and headed toward Doyle’s office.
I’d really hoped to finish him off the easy way.
I didn’t even pause before throwing the steel door open.
Inside, I found Doyle alone, sitting with one leg up on a desk, wrapping his bloodied forearm. When he looked up, his eyes widened, and he reached for his rifle propped behind his desk.
“Don’t,” I ordered, pulling shut and dead bolting the door behind me.
He leaned back and watched me. His faded yellow cap was stained and bloody cuts crisscrossed his soot-covered face. “Where’s Clutch? I figured he’d come to finish the job himself.”
“He’s on his way,” I lied.
Doyle seemed to relax. “So, you’re here to keep me company until he gets here, is that it?”
“That’s it.” I kept my rifle leveled on Doyle. “I don’t get you. You had a good thing going with Camp Fox. Then you had to go and fuck things up by going after them. Twice.”
“Hmph.” Doyle leaned back. “It never would’ve lasted. Both Lendt and I were spreading my resources thin protecting the weak. Everyone would’ve all died if I didn’t change the game. It’s really quite simple. The weak had to die so that the strong can thrive.”
I stared at him for a moment. “That’s insane.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Think about it. We have limited food, limited supplies. Yet, too many people to do anything efficiently. Thinning our numbers for the strongest to survive has been the way of every species throughout history.”
“But that’s so…heartless,” I said, finding it hard to breathe.
He chuckled. “There’s no room for that sort of thing in this world.”
“You’re wrong,” I said coldly. “There’s no room for you in this world.”
He and I looked at one another for a split second. A wide grin crossed his face. “Your rifle’s empty.”
I dropped my weapon and pulled out my machete. The rifle had served its purpose as a prop. It had gotten me in front of Doyle.