So, the whole sequence in book 3 where Cal and Knott break into the survivalist bunker in their desperation to get away from Helmut Varken. The narrative makes no secret of how disturbing this is to the survivalist family, who think they're being invaded and inevitably corner the duo. To the family's credit, they let Cal and Knott explain themselves (at gunpoint), even if in the end, the family decides that nope, Cal and Knott have to get the hell out. They are unmoved even by the reality that Varken is perched on their doorstep, waiting for the duo to emerge. Sure enough, Varken executes a Boom, Headshot! on Knott the moment he and Cal are thrown out, and Cal survives only by distracting the sniper (with a grenade, signal flare, or just firing wildly into the woods) long enough to run away. This entire chain of events is tragic enough on its own, but take one last look at things from the survivalists' point of view. Cal, of course, didn't have time to bury Knott before he fled, so the poor man's corpse will still be right outside the front door for the hapless family to discover the next time one of them ventures outside. So they're going to get either that one final reminder of the whole disturbing incident or a slap in the face to their conscience (as they would know that they threw this man into the sniper's line of fire without giving a crap).
While we're on the subject of Helmut Varken, it's interesting that when he begins killing off Cal's party, he seems to prioritize the World Defense League soldiers, as though he were saving Cal for last. At first glance, this seems logical, as Varken is a legendary agent of HAVOC, who were always the COBRA to the WDL's GI Joe, and thus Varken would prioritize the WDL guys as targets over a civilian (however badass) like Cal. Then again, Varken would certainly have known that Cal is the person that his commander (Mad Dog Michigan) hates most in the whole world, and it's all too easy to imagine that Varken wanted to put Cal through the horror of watching all his comrades die one by one!
