Free Refuge From The Dead (Book 1): Lockdown by Joseph A. Coley

charge of everything overall, the Assistant Warden took his place if he was not available. The Major was Chief of Security and dealt with any issues concerning the security of the institution.
    “I don’t know. Last one I’d spoken to was Warden Franklin. He said that he would be on his way up here. That was six hours ago and I haven’t heard anything from the other two, so it looks like we’re on our own.”
    “Well, I say that we lock the place down and throw away the fuckin’ keys! These assholes don’t need to be let out in the middle of the goddamn apocalypse! Fuck ‘em!” Cunningham blurted out.
    “So where do you propose that the rest of us stay, Cunningham? Did you think of that, you fucking moron?” Helton yelled, laughing. “Fact of the matter is that this is the most secure building in the goddamn state. That being said, the inmates are going to want to know what the fuck is going on. Question is, do we tell them or not?”
    Cunningham’s face turned red. He didn’t like being put into situations he couldn’t control. He was young and impudent, though. He’d had a temper ever since walking through the doors of Black Mountain, and that kind of attitude combined with a “you can’t touch me” demeanor spelled disaster. Helton knew the truth about the kid, though. He’d been hired since his father had worked there previously, and Charles Cunningham was a hell of an officer, his son, however, was a total douche.
    “I vote that we don’t tell them shit. We tell them that we are on lockdown until further notice,” Cunningham said. “And if they give us any shit, we tell ‘em to hit the fucking road since Captain Winston here doesn’t think we should have the public around criminals.”
    “Well I sure as hell wouldn’t want them around my family if I had any, Cunningham, which brings me to my next point. We will be sending two and three man teams out into town, going as far as Bluefield. If you find people who want help, pick them up and bring them here. We have more than enough food for everyone for quite a while. We will figure out what to do with the inmates later.”
    “Sir, with your permission, I would like to take myself and Officer Caine along with a couple rifles, shotguns, and Glocks and go get his family,” Helton said, looking towards Michael.
    Michael had sat through the meeting, largely avoiding most of the conversation. He’d already made up his mind that – no matter what – he was leaving to go get his wife and daughter. The fact that Ryan Helton was willing to help was a godsend; he needed all the help he could get. In addition, taking the guns under the guise of the DOC could take some of the heat off them once they left the mountain. Martial law had been declared, not that anyone was paying attention. The streets were a dangerous place to be right now, law enforcement or otherwise. The chatter of automatic gunfire earlier had convinced him of that.
    “I don’t think we should waste our assets on getting anyone else in here, Captain. I think we should focus on…” Cunningham started to say.
    “I think you should shut the fuck up and mind your own damn business, Cunningham. It’s done. Helton, Caine, take one of the state vans, one of the four-wheel-drive ones. Pick up the people you need to get. I will get the armory open and everyone – and I mean everyone is to be armed right now. Once the power goes out and we are on generator power, we will only have a few days of it before we run out of fuel and this place will be a hell of a lot harder to control. We will stay armed until further notice. The rest of us will stay here and secure vital resources. I will take a team over to the warehouse after we draw weapons and get what we have over there. Commissary truck just ran the other day, so there should be more food over there. I want to grab tactical gear, clothes, anything that might be of use. Oh, by the way, Cunningham, you can pull chow by your damn self for