Read Online Take Back Denver by Algor X. Dennison - Free Book Online

of evil masterminds to the east, where they could find the supplies they needed to keep up their reign of terror.
    Their absence hadn’t improved anything, however. There were still plenty of criminals running loose in the absence of organized policing. No one dared organize anything beyond their local sphere of influence for fear of becoming a target for the opportunists and angry mobs that remained. The few authorities that had survived the first weeks were now cowed and desperate, hiding in their immediate communities and unable to drum up any support because of their failure to prevent disaster when it really mattered.
    Some neighborhoods were better off than others, guarding their water and food fiercely. Many no longer existed, aside from empty shells of buildings and scattered trails of ruined property. Refugees were streaming eastward across the plains, but so far no definitive word had filtered back to suggest that there was any refuge to be found there. This group of hikers had opted to head west into Utah, willing to tackle the expansive mountain ranges on the chance that food and comfort would be found among the preparedness-conscious Mormon communities there.
    They floated one other piece of information that was of great interest to the men from the ranch. Rumors had reached Denver about a prison camp set up in Colorado Springs. They couldn’t say who was running it or on what authority they were doing so, but just that more than one Denverite had been taken there and held in harsh conditions.
    The men passed Green Mountain and left the forest the next day near Highway 67, hoping to come at Denver from the south. They were stopped at an overlook, scoping out the valley below through their binoculars, when an older man approached on horseback.
     
     
     
    Chapter 9  :  Storm Clouds
     
    At first McLean thought it was his old friend Morgan. The man wore a similar ten-gallon hat and had a gray beard. As he came nearer he kept one hand on the reins and raised the other in greeting, but plainly showed the gun on his hip and the rifle in his saddle scabbard. Once he got close it was clear he was Latino and not quite so old as Morgan.
    “ Hello there. Can you fellows tell me what you’re doing on my land?” the man called out.
    Brad stepped his horse forward. “We certainly can. We’re moving toward Denver, just came through the national forest. Sorry to disturb you, but if you can tell us anything about the roads between here and the city, we’d be much obliged.”
    The old man eyed the four of them and nodded, apparently liking what he saw. “I can do that. But I ought to warn you, don’t make any sudden moves or draw your guns for any reason. My sons are in the hills with rifles, covering me. Are we clear? It’s just that we’ve had to drive off more than one band of trouble-makers. We’re getting good at it, I’m afraid. But you won’t cause any trouble, am I right?”
    The others heartily agreed, and the old man took a swig from a canteen he carried. Then he told them about conditions on the southern route into Denver, where the most highways robberies were taking place, and which parts were controlled by various groups that would either turn them back or charge them a fee for letting them through.
    “ Frankly, though, I don’t recommend going into Denver at all,” the man told them. “Can I ask why you’d want to?”
    Rory spoke up. “I’ve got someone there I’m hoping to find. My friends were good enough to accompany me, and they’re interested in knowing whether the city has begun to recover any semblance of order.”
    The old man shook his head. “Heaven help you, son. There’s no order there, not that I’ve been able to determine. You go in there, you’re likely to not come out again.”
    “ Can you tell us about a prison camp south of here?” McLean asked. “Some hikers we passed told us rumors about one in Colorado Springs, but they didn’t know who was behind it.”
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