Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse

44. Ignis

Ignacio was furious. He spent the hours before sunrise running from house to house, assessing the damage. He radioed his cousin Simon in Humboldt. Adding Simon’s tally, he concluded that every one of La Fuerza’s armored vehicles had been destroyed by fire. So were more than half of the pickups and vans. Further, more than half of the gang’s loot, ammo, and fuel were gone, destroyed in the fire and explosions. Some twenty-six of his men and three women had been killed. Another fifteen men had been wounded, and of those, three were not likely to live.

Only one of the men who had attacked them had been captured. He lived under torture only long enough to tell them that the raiders had originated from Prescott. Ignacio was whipped up into a genuine frenzy. He ran from truck to truck, screaming “¡Bastardos! ¡Venganza, venganza! ¡Matenlos a todos!” (“Bastards! Vengeance, vengeance! Slaughter them all!”)

They spent the next day and a half salvaging what they could from the wrecked vehicles, and requisitioning more pickups and vans from all over Humboldt and Dewey. They ended up with an odd assortment. Several were bright colors, but that didn’t matter. They just needed enough to get all of his men to Prescott. He was going there soon, and going for blood.

Two days after the raid, they had stolen enough trucks and vans to have room for everyone to ride. Simon and Tony met with Ignacio Garcia over lunch. Simon asked, “What is the plan of operations?”

Garcia grunted: “We drive to Prescott and we burn it down.”

“That’s the plan? The entire plan?”

“Here is the entire plan: We go there, and we burn the city to the ground, and we kill everyone. I mean everyone, and their children, and their dogs and their chickens and their goats.”

Simon nodded gravely. He knew that Ignacio was still extremely angry and that he wouldn’t take any advice. So he merely echoed, “Okay, we go to Prescott tomorrow, and we kill them all.”

After a pause, Simon added: “I’ll have everyone go look for more road flares.”