Read THEM (Season 1): Episode 3 for Free Online

eventually due to infighting and rebellion. It took a very strong leader to keep a group of violent men and women together and working toward a single purpose, and those were in short supply these days. Any fool could see why punters stuck together; criminal enterprises always seemed to thrive wherever there were people to prey upon. But keeping a paramilitary group together was another thing entirely, and it worried the shit out of me that there might still be one that was operational in the vicinity.
    The reason why was simple; punters tended to work in isolated and fragmented groups, which meant that while they were dangerous, they normally steered clear of the settlements. On the other hand, an organized paramilitary group with a competent leader could become a sizable threat over time. Such a force could invade any area where a power vacuum existed, rapidly taking over the region and enforcing martial law. I’d seen it happen before, in Afghanistan, and here in the States after the bombs fell.
    The last thing we needed was a tin-pot dictator trying to take over the Hill Country safe zones, especially now, considering how vulnerable and impressionable people would be after the ’thrope raids. I knew that most folks tended to take any port in a storm, and the promise of protection against the raids might be enough to make them easy prey for a warlord. I hated to think what life would be like in the settlements if such a thing occurred.
    Setting such thoughts aside for the moment, I turned my attention to the task at hand, and took off at a lope to follow the trail left by Captain Perez’s attackers. Within a few hours, I began to pick up sounds and smells that indicated I was nearing their camp. I slowed my pace and left the trail, choosing instead to come upon them from an unexpected, and likely unguarded, angle. I moved as quietly as possible through the dense brush, coming over a small hill to view where the group had set up camp.
    Whoever these people were, they’d taken over one of the old training areas and turned it into a makeshift command post of sorts. They’d managed to move a number of metal Con-Ex containers to form a crude stockade around their CP, or perhaps that had been done before they arrived. I also noted immediately that they’d salvaged the remains of some barracks tents in order to get four serviceable shelters for their troops. If they were using all that space it could indicate a sizable force, perhaps fifty to sixty heads. In any case, I could see at least three sentries patrolling the wall, and a dozen more of them milling around inside the compound.
    There were also two quonset huts inside their perimeter, as well as a three containerized housing units. It was anyone’s guess where they were keeping the captain, but based on the number of people I’d seen already seen in the compound, this was not going to be easy. I was going to have to go in undetected, find the doc, get her out quietly, and then haul ass out of here before someone figured out she was missing.
    That was if she was in any condition to travel. While I did see some females carrying weapons inside the walls of the compound, I also knew what could happen to an attractive woman like Captain Perez among a group of violent individuals. In fact, I’d hazard to say that her looks were likely the only thing keeping her alive at the moment. That, and she might have convinced them she was worth something to them due to her medical training. In fact, they probably already had her working in their med station. I decided to hunker down and gather as much intel as possible on these assholes, and then once I had an idea of where she was, I’d move in and snatch her in the lonely hours of the night.
    At least, that was the plan. I’d just have to see how things went, once I got inside the place.
    - - -
    I caught a glimpse of Captain Perez just a few hours before dark. When I saw her, they were leading her from one of the CHUs to