“No need for stealth now Tawny. Lights on and pedal to the metal, let her rip,” Mercy shouted, the breeze pulling at her hair.
God save us now—
Chapter 11
Road Kill
Tawny led the way in the DPV. She skirted around the perimeter road, accelerating away from the main casino complex. Mercy watched the road ahead, her hands on the M60 machine gun. A fenced off area caught her eye. Rows of neatly stacked, twenty-litre jerry cans stood behind the wire.
Fuel dump, we should grab some of that, we don’t know when we’ll get the chance again—
Mercy raised a hand, “Tawny, stop over there. We’ll get some fuel and destroy the rest.”
Tawny took the turn for the fuel dump and pulled in at the front gate. Mercy jumped out and grabbed the long axe from the side of the DPV. Flynn and Jade left their vehicles and jogged towards her. Mercy walked up to the gate and swung the axe at the chained lock. The chain broke on the third strike.
Mercy kicked the gate open and turned to Flynn and Annalise, “Quick, grab as much fuel as you can. These muscle cars are heavy on gas. I’ll do the same, then we’ll blow up the rest so the Judge’s people can’t use it—”
Flynn and Jade took two jerry cans each and staggered back to their vehicles. Mercy did the same. They made a second trip each then returned to their cars. Mercy gave the signal and they pulled away from the fuel dump.
Tawny stopped the DPV and turned to Rose, “Take the shot Rose.”
Rose swung the .50 calibre machine gun around, and fired a burst at the fuel dump. Her bullets hit home and the fuel ignited, sending a huge tongue of flame into the sky. The conflagration sent heat far out into the desert.
Mercy averted her eyes from the flames and turned back to the road, “OK, Tawny. Let’s go—”
Tawny gunned the DPV’s engine and they lurched forwards. Flynn followed in the Pontiac Firebird and Annalise in the Dodge Charger. Mercy shook her head.
There must have been a millionaire vintage car enthusiast in the area, either that or these gas guzzlers are from some car museum. Don’t complain, it’s not Barnes’s Harley Davidson or my Hummer H3 but we’re not doing too bad considering—
Tawny Sped down Resort Boulevard towards Twin Arrows Road. Mercy took the map from her jacket and examined it.
“OK, this road swings around and joins I-40 west, there’ll be a slip road down here on the right,” Mercy said, peering out over the front of the vehicle.
“Christ, do you see what I see?” Tawny said, alarm in her voice.
“We’ve got company, it’s the other car, from earlier on. They’re coming straight for us, they’ve seen our headlights. Maybe they think we’re friendlies. Keep going Tawny,” Mercy said.
Mercy readied the DPV passenger seat’s M60, she turned to Rose, “Rose, that car’s mine, you watch for any other targets.”
Rose nodded, “Roger that.”
Mercy turned back to face the road and the fast approaching headlights. She took aim and squeezed the M60’s trigger. The machine gun spat into the night, every fifth round a tracer. Its 7.62 mm rounds found the road, the desert, and the oncoming car, shredding its engine and occupants.
The oncoming car swerved off the road and came to a halt a hundred yards away. Tawny took her foot off the accelerator as they neared the bullet ridden vehicle. Mercy took a look as they drove by.
Three guys, all toast. Three less to worry about—
“Job done, Tawny. Get us out of here,” Mercy said.
What were they doing out here? Escort vehicle? Forward observation position? Who the hell knows—?
Tawny increased her speed and they pulled away from the mangled wreckage. The slip road took them onto the interstate. Mercy kept her hands on the M60, her eyes scanned the road and desert ahead. She checked the time; 4:58 am.
Christ, it feels later. It’ll be dawn soon. Dawn means drones. Barnes looked pretty beat up, we have to check him out. We need food and rest. But not now, our best bet is to run, run hard—
The interstate was clear. They passed abandoned vehicles that had been pushed off the road.
The Judge is pretty keen to keep the interstate open, communication is the secret to power. She must have an ample fuel supply to be able to operate all these vehicles. She’s got Camp Navajo’s reserves. Maybe that wasn’t the Judge back there, maybe that woman was just a lieutenant. But she did look the part—
Mercy scrutinised the map then turned to Tawny, “This says it’s twenty five miles to Flagstaff, we could be there in thirty minutes, at sunup. We’ll pass Winona on the right. We might meet resistance at any point, but trouble is more likely in Flagstaff. I think speed is the only card to play right now, we’ve got to put distance between us and that crew behind. Are you up for blasting through Flagstaff?”
Tawny stared at the clear road ahead, “I like driving, to me this is freedom. I like speed. Sure, I’d like to blast through Flagstaff, but what if they’ve radioed ahead? What if there’s a roadblock?”
She’s right, dammit—
Rose’s voice cut through Mercy’s thoughts, “Roadblocks? Bring them on, that’s what these babies are for.” Rose reached down and tapped one of the two long tubes strapped to the DPV’s roll cage.
Mercy pulled a face.
“We’ve got two AT4s here,” Rose said, a wry smile on her face. “The Angels had a few of them back in New York, we looted them from an army ammunition dump. They came in handy, clearing pockets of infected near our place.”
Mercy shook her head, “In plain English, Rose. What the hell are AT4s?”
Rose held Mercy’s gaze, “Kind of like a bazooka; it’s a light anti-tank missile. Unguided, single-shot… it’s a point and shoot bazooka. So, as long as Tawny points us at any roadblock I can fire them from up here. We can blast our way through—”
Mercy smiled. She gave Rose the thumbs up and sank back into her chair.
You beauty Rose, you beauty. We’re back in the game—
Chapter 12
Flagstaff
Morning broke over the desert landscape.
“Not quite how I wanted to cruise Route 66,” Mercy said, her voice flat.
“Yeah, I bet Barnes is feeling the same way,” Tawny replied.
“He told me Route 66 was constructed in 1926, it’s almost 2,500 miles long and runs all the way from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California,” Mercy went on.
“The Mother Road, the road of adventure,” Tawny answered.
“Although I’ll bet they hadn’t envisaged this type of adventure when they built it,” Mercy said.
“Word,” Tawny said. She straightened up, “Look, a sign for Winona.”
Mercy examined her map, “We don’t actually have to go into Winona, we just pass by it. Keep on going, it’s another fifteen miles to Flagstaff.” Mercy turned to Rose, “Rose, are you sure you know how to use those AT4s?”
Rose lent forwards, “Stop worrying girl, they’re fixed to the frame here. Like I said, Tawny points us at the target and I’ll do the rest. They’ve got a range of 300 metres, so we’re all good.”
“I’ll hold you to that Rose,” Mercy replied.
They passed Winona on the right and the interstate remained clear. Mercy studied the map in the cold morning light.
“Route 66 turns off into Flagstaff Tawny, don’t take the off ramp. Keep on the I-40 and we’ll avoid downtown. Hopefully, we’ll just bypass most of the city,” Mercy said.
“Gotcha,” Tawny replied. She pointed north, “They’re pretty big hills out there on the right.”
Mercy checked the map, “Yeah, the near one’s Elden Mountain and the big one in the distance is Humphreys Peak. Impressive, aren’t they? This must be what it felt like to be a tourist—”
“Or a pioneer, back in the wagon train days, on the way to find fortune in California,” Tawny shot back.
We’re just retracing their steps, in a different time, a different context. Everyone’s life i
s a journey. Beginning, middle, and end. All you can do is ride it out the best way you can—
“Road’s still clear ahead. We’re on the outskirts of Flagstaff, keep your eyes and ears peeled Tawny. Rose, how’re the others doing behind us?” Mercy shouted up at Rose.
Rose turned to look at Flynn’s Pontiac and Annalise’s Dodge. She held up her thumb and yelled into the wind, “They’re keeping up, those V8s are humming good.”
Mercy turned back to the road.
How come I get the feeling we’re going to need all the horse power we’ve got—?
Mercy spotted a sign over the road: I-40 WEST, LOS ANGELES. The words sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.
This is actually happening. Los Angeles. We’re on our way. This is insane—
Tawny sped under the road sign, a look of glee on her face. Mercy read her friend’s expression. Rose let out a whoop from above.
They saw it too—
Mercy grinned.
We’re still over four hundred miles from the City of Angels, get a grip. A lot of shit can happen in those miles. Stay cool… I can’t though. It still feels good, hell. Who am I kidding? It feels great—
The interstate curved, swinging south to skirt around Flagstaff.
There’s a lot of pine trees along this section, everything’s a bit greener. I can see houses and buildings through the trees, this is where we could run into people and tropes—
Mercy examined the map.
“We’re coming up to a junction Tawny. The I-17 comes up from Phoenix somewhere ahead, watch out for any shit,” Mercy said.
Tawny put her foot on the brakes and pointed, “You mean like that?” The DPV slowed, causing Mercy’s seatbelt to bite into her shoulder. Mercy’s eyes narrowed and she frowned.
The highs never last, they’re always followed by the crushing lows—
Ahead, the two lane interstate narrowed to one lane. Cars, trucks and SUVs had been deliberately placed to block the outer lane, forcing any incoming vehicle to use the inner lane.
Goddammit, this’s got trouble written all over it. We can’t stop, this is the bottleneck, we knew it was coming. Suck it up—
“Come on Tawny, keep going,” Mercy said.
Tawny grunted, “Yeah, we’re kind of committed now, ain’t we?”
Tawny put her foot on the accelerator and the DPV moved forwards down the inside lane, towards the intersection ahead.
Two minutes later Rose tapped Mercy’s shoulder, “In the sky, two o’clock… drone.”
Mercy nodded and gritted her teeth, “Lock and load Rose, be ready—”
Fucking drone. They know we’re coming, they’ll be ready. That’s why they didn’t bother to chase us down earlier on, they wanted to funnel us in here, to their bottleneck. Nice. Well, we don’t give in so easily and sometimes the direct approach is the best—
The drone hovered fifty feet above the road. Mercy took her AR-15 and took aim, she fired a burst but missed.
Worth a try, but save your ammo, they know where we are anyway—
Tawny groaned, “OK, eyes on the road people, roadblock ahead.”
Mercy turned her attention to the road and looked through her binoculars, “Yeah, so there’s a container truck on its side, seen that one before. Looks like it’s blocking eighty percent of the road. They’ve got some other vehicle blocking the rest. There’s guys on top of the container. Snipers. The overhead road sign has a couple of guys on it too, and yeah, there’s flags. OK, Tawny, keep going, don’t slow down. Rose, shoot your missiles when we’re in range. I’ll fire to keep their heads down. They’ll be expecting us to stop—”
Tawny grunted and gripped the steering wheel, she kept her speed at fifty miles an hour. Mercy watched as the roadblock grew nearer. She counted down from five to one and opened fire with the passenger seat 7.62 mm M60 machine gun. Her rounds went wild but had the desired effect. The two men on the overhead road sign threw themselves down onto its walkway. Three of the men on the overturned container returned fire, their rounds spraying the road surface ahead. Mercy used the M60’s tracer rounds to fine tune her aim and swept its deadly fire across the container truck.
Tawny kept the DPV straight and their speed steady. Enemy rounds hit the road in front, the DPV’s two front tyres sustained direct hits. The self-sealing tyres were unaffected and the DPV ploughed on. Mercy’s M60 ran out of ammunition, she switched to her AR-15.
“Rose, anytime now would be good, we’ve gotta be in range—” Mercy yelled over her shoulder.
A powerful blast shook the whole vehicle as Rose fired the left AT4 rocket. Mercy cringed at the sound and held her breath, watching the road block ahead. The rocket hit the container truck, exploding on contact. The container and the adjacent vehicle disappeared in a sheet of flame and smoke. Debris shot up into the road sign overhead, shredding the two men above.
Jesus—
Tawny took her foot off the accelerator and peered at the smoke ahead. Mercy stared wide eyed at the scene of carnage.
Where’s the gap? That should’ve blasted a way through, please—
The smoke parted, revealing a wide gap across the road where the road block had stood moments before.
“There,” Tawny shouted. She slammed her foot on the accelerator and the DPV responded, surging forwards.
They shot through the breached roadblock at fifty miles an hour. Mercy laid down suppressive fire on the road verge as they passed, sending the remaining guards scurrying for cover. A piece of fabric flew up from the road and caught in the DPV’s roll cage. Open road beckoned ahead. Tawny gunned the engine and they roared west, away from the destruction.
Rose swung around in her seat and gave a one finger salute, “Eat that you bastards. From Rose with love.” Her words disappeared into the wind.
Mercy looked up, “What about Flynn? And Annalise?”
Rose nodded, “They’re fine, they’re following in our slipstream.”
Mercy blinked and sank back in her chair, relief washing over her. She freed the flapping piece of fabric and examined it.
It’s one of their flags. It’s… a blindfolded woman, holding a set of scales, and a sword. A bit like the Statue of Liberty. Hang on, I’ve seen this image in courtrooms—
Tawny looked over and smirked, “That’s Lady Justice you’ve got there. The symbol of law and order or something. That Judge character takes his brand seriously then.”
Mercy grunted and tucked the burnt flag down the side of her seat. “Yeah, all tyrants have to have their look, their brand, their iconography. It lends them legitimacy. Uniforms and flags always lend credence to criminals—”
Dress up their lies with flags and drama—
Tawny nodded, “Hey, don’t let it get you down. It is what it is. As Rose says, men are assholes, always predictable. That shit back there, that was kick ass, and right now I have a need for speed. What do you say Rose?”
Rose let out another whoop, “Go Tawny, go—”
The I-40 stretched out before them, open, as far as the eye could see.
Mercy smiled, “A need for speed? Don’t let Barnes hear you say that. He’ll relapse.”
Tawny laughed and gunned the engine.
Chapter 13
Thirst
The minutes went by. The elation subsided. The road continued on. Mercy stiffened in her chair.
Barnes said Camp Navajo was just to the west of Flagstaff. Shit, it’ll be coming up soon—
Mercy examined her map and found the military base eight kilometres west of Flagstaff.
It’s set back from the road, but if they’re co-ordinated that’ll be another hot spot—
Mercy turned to Rose and yelled, “Camp Navajo, coming up on the left in five or six klicks. Be ready—”
Rose nodded, “Give me something to shoot at. I’m ready for the next fucker that wants some—”
Tawny turned to Mercy, “You want to take this head on? Or are you wanting stealth mode?”
Merc
y shook her head, “No, we’re too close to Flagstaff. We want speed, we want to put as much distance between Flagstaff and us. Eat as much road west as you can—”
Mercy reloaded the M60. They continued in silence, their eyes peeled for trouble. The trees were fewer along the road. Mercy used her binoculars to scan the terrain ahead. A few minutes later she crouched forwards.
“There it is, the exit-ramp. Camp Navajo will be on our left,” Mercy said, squinting over Tawny’s shoulders. “Hey, check it out, there’s an old Harley-Davidson dealership too, see the sign?”
Tawny glanced left and grunted, “Sure do, don’t tell Barnes, he’ll be pissed we didn’t stop.”
Mercy put the binoculars down and placed her hands on the M60, “So, where are the bastards? They’ll have comms, they’ll know we’re in the area.”
Tawny shook her head as they passed under a bridge, “No sign of anyone, least not yet. Who knows? It’s a big area to cover, maybe they’re stretched. Barnes said the intel was they were in conflict with a Vegas warlord to the north, and a Phoenix warlord to the south. That’s got to take up a lot of resources.”
Mercy nodded, “Yeah, sure, that’s true. Maybe we’ll bump into someone further west. Maybe they’re not that bothered with us, maybe we’re small fry.”
“That’s a lot of maybes,” Rose commented from behind. “A lot of wishful thinking if you ask me. We just destroyed their Flagstaff roadblock and wasted some of their guys. I reckon they’ll be real pissed.”
“Agreed Rose,” Mercy said. “Check your gun and have that second AT4 ready. We’ll keep going for as long as we can.”
They continued for another twenty five kilometres then Flynn sounded his horn from behind. Mercy turned to see the Firebird’s headlights flashing.
What now—?
“I bet they’re running low on fuel. Those V8’s are thirsty engines,” Tawny said, slowing the DVP.
Shit, we’re vulnerable if we stop. But we’ve gotta refuel, might as well do it now—
“OK, Tawny, stop and be ready. We’ll refuel and get going again. Rose, you’ve got the best view up there. I want your eyes doing a full 360, got it?”
The Survival Chronicles | Book 8 | Final Mercy Page 7