by Hunt, Jack
Terry piped up, “Whitefish. We’re from Flathead County Search and Rescue. We got a call that a plane went down near McDonald Lake.” He handed over some identification and the cop scanned it before handing it back.
“License, registration and proof of insurance.”
Corey pulled down the visor and handed him what he needed.
The officer glanced at it. “Were you given any more details than that?” he asked while keeping his eyes on them.
“No. It was very general.”
The officer looked off towards his fellow officers. “Well, before the power outage we’d received a call from several residents near the lake to report a low-flying 737. Air traffic control provided information that it was carrying inmates from a different jurisdiction. Hence the reason for the blockade,” he said gesturing over his shoulder. “A number of our officers were on our way up there when our vehicles stalled. Strangely you are one of only a handful of vehicles we have seen operational since the event. Because of the danger of the situation we have to commandeer any vehicle available at this time. That would include yours, I’m afraid.”
“You can do that?” Terry frowned as he asked.
“Yeah, they can,” Corey replied. He’d learned about police being able to commandeer a vehicle a long time ago so there was no point in arguing. “Look, I’m a former Marine. If it’s okay I would like to go with you. I might be of some help, and being as this is my father’s vehicle, I’m not too sure he would be too pleased if he knew I’d handed it over to the boys in blue without going along.”
The officer pulled a face. Obviously they weren’t in the habit of pulling regular citizens into their work, however, under the circumstances there obviously could be some benefit. Having a search and rescue crew on hand might come in handy.
“Hang tight, while I speak with my superior,” the officer said before walking off.
While they waited, conversation swirled around what the officer had shared.
“Prison inmates? Holy crap,” Vern said. “Can you imagine if we’d made it all the way up there and…” he trailed off thinking of the possibility of encountering them and the worst outcome. While the second officer kept an eye on them, the third one was eyeing some of the gear in the back. Corey glanced in his rearview mirror and watched him hop into the rear of the truck and fish through it.
A few minutes later the original officer returned and tapped the truck. “All right, if you want to just pull off to the side over there, we have a few things to do first. You’ll be taking a few of the officers from Flathead County up there. You have any weapons in the vehicle?”
Corey nodded. “A rifle.”
“You have a permit?”
He pulled out his wallet and showed him.
“All right. Just move ahead.”
Moments later the truck idled at the edge of the road while the officers discussed among themselves who was staying and who was going. It couldn’t have been easy. With all the lights out in every town in the region, the need for officers patrolling the towns had increased. Many would be pulling double shifts, and feeling stretched. It was like throwing policing back to the 1800s. While waiting for them to decide who was going, Corey used his two-way radio to update his father. It was not that he had to, but in light of the fact that the cops were going to take the vehicle for a while he thought it was best.
“They are doing what?” his father bellowed.
“Nothing I can do about it.”
“I told you not to go. Didn’t I say this would happen? If anyone should have known better it was you. Now how are you getting back here?”
“I’ll find my way.”
“You’ll find your way. Really? That’s great. That means I’m going to have to collect you and risk losing the 4 x 4. Dear God. Didn’t anything of what I taught you sink into your thick skull?”
“You’re skating on thin ice, Dad.”
“No, son. You are, and it’s cracking beneath your feet. For God’s sake. Where are you now?”
“West Glacier and about to head up to McDonald Lake but you won’t get through the roadblock here. They see that truck, they’ll take it.”
“Like fuck they will.”
“Dad, don’t do anything stupid.”
His father scoffed. “What, like you just did? I should—”
“Calm down,” Corey muttered. Terry looked at him and shook his head. They were all too familiar with Andy Ford’s outbursts. He wasn’t always that way. When their mother was alive, she kept his ego in check but after she died, that all went to shit. The drinking didn’t help and his paranoia only got worse. Except now, this had all proven that he was right.
“Well, I’m on my way.” He cursed one more time before the radio went silent.
Moments later, several of Flathead’s finest hopped into the back of the truck and beat on the top to let him know to head out. Corey rolled out, his mind now preoccupied by the danger up ahead. It was one thing to search and rescue those in need, another to go up against people who had nothing to lose.
Although there was a good chance no one knew about their presence in the mountains and they could probably hunker down in the cabins for a few days, Gabriel was eager to move on. It was harder to catch a moving target. He’d sent a couple of the guys ahead to scout out the ranger station just in case that ranger wasn’t lying and he’d managed to get word out before the power outage.
The door burst open and Bryan Hauser came in out of breath. “There are two rangers at the station. What do you want to do?”
Gabriel cast a glance at the old man and woman and told Torres to tie them up.
“You’re leaving them alive?” Marcus asked with a look of confusion.
“They’ve been helpful. I don’t expect anyone is going to make it out of here for some time, and like you said. If they could have walked out of here they would have by now.” Gabriel gathered up a backpack of food and a first-aid kit, and headed out. Torres was given the additional rifle and they moved out planning to meet up with Jericho and Bill who were doing some reconnaissance on the ranger station. Several of them were still wearing prison garb. That would make blending in a problem. So the first thing on their list was to get to the nearest home and change out. Gabriel was fine, he was wearing one of the old man’s leather jackets and even though the jeans were a bit tight and long, they were dry, warm and he’d rolled up the bottoms.
A short distance down the road, Hauser led them to a thick grove of trees where Jericho and Bill were waiting. He ducked down and through the tree branches observed movement inside. One ranger was in his mid-forties, the other a female, much younger, both were armed. Behind the station, at least another two hundred yards away there was another building, a home. He’d seen the properties dotted around the edge of the lake. Marcus came up behind him, hunched over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “What have we got?”
“A male and a female.”
“A female. Nice.”
Gabriel glanced at him. “Stay focused.”
“Oh I am.”
Gabriel made a gesture and they moved out into the clearing, nothing more than dark bodies running through the blackness of night. As soon as they made it to the wooden porch that wrapped around the property, Gabriel had Jericho slowly turn the knob on the door while Bill kept an eye on the rangers through the window. As soon as he had the door ajar, Gabriel was the first in. Kicking in the door might have led to one of them getting shot, instead he took the subtle approach and slipped in, moving quietly towards the main living room.
“I still think we should have gone with him,” the female ranger was saying.
“No point. Rescue will be up here soon and…”
Before he could finish what he was saying, Gabriel emerged aiming his rifle at him.
“No sudden moves and no one gets hurt.”
“Who are you?”
That was soon answered when Marcus and Jericho came into view still wearing their prison garb. The ranger’s
hand lingered near his sidearm while the female looked terrified. “Don’t do it,” Gabriel said.
“Where is he?” the ranger asked.
“Your colleague? Ah, he’s fine. You should worry about yourself. Now take your hand away from your firearm.” He made a gesture with the barrel of his rifle. “Don’t make me do it.”
The ranger’s hands went up and Marcus hurried in to restrain him. He threw both on the ground, they were face down while Marcus tied them up. He took extra time doing the female and seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much. Marcus bent down and whispered something in her ear while running his hand over her ass.
“Marcus,” Gabriel said in a reprimanding way. His brother looked at him, gave a devilish smile and got up. Jericho hauled them to their feet and sat them on a large sofa in the center of the log cabin. Wood crackled and spat out a few hot embers from a roaring fireplace as the rest of the inmates went through the cabin gathering together anything that could be of use. On the far side of the room were two tables with a ham radio, a TV, a computer and a half-finished jigsaw puzzle. There were a couple of beer bottles out, and a bowl of nachos. There was a reason he kept the rangers alive. He wanted to know what they knew. Instead of asking if they had called for backup, he made the assumption they already had. “So, who’s coming?”
“What?”
“You called for backup. From where?”
“West Glacier. That’s where the park’s headquarters are. Where are you from?”
“Isn’t obvious?” Gabriel replied getting tired of the same dumb question, especially since most of them were still in prison garb. He went over to the ham radio to see if it was working. It powered on without any problem. Outside he could hear a generator running. “How many ways out of here?”
“Two. You can go north to Red Rock Point but beyond that you have to go south using the road around the lake. It will take you down to the village of Apgar. There are several trails off this road but those are the only ways in and out from here. Once you hit Apgar you can go south to West Glacier or north up Camas Road.”
“When you got the call from your buddy, who did you speak to?”
“Headquarters in West Glacier. It’s about twenty-five minutes by car from here. At least four hours if you hike. We handle everything related to the park.”
Gabriel walked up and down and looked out the window. What smidgen of peace he’d felt before was now gone. “You have a vehicle?”
“Yeah but it’s—”
“Not working,” Gabriel said, finishing what he was about to say. Frustrated, he scooped up a pair of binoculars that were on the table and went outside to have a smoke. He walked down to the water’s edge in the hopes of a getting a better look at the area. They were in a basin surrounded by a hilly landscape covered with thick forest. He brought up the binoculars and peered through. He could see a few homes had lights, where people had been smart enough to buy gas or solar generators. He squinted to see the area between the trees further across the lake. He was sure he could see movement, two yellow headlights gleaming through the trees heading their way.
He flicked the remainder of his cigarette into the water before heading back up to the cabin. No sooner had he got within a few feet of the cabin than he heard a woman screaming. Gabriel hurried inside to find the woman had been bent over a table and his brother was unbuckling his belt. Without a moment of hesitation, he lunged forward, grabbed him by the back of the collar and hurled him across the room straight into the ham radio. The whole thing slid off the table and crashed on the ground. He shouted at the other inmates to get out. They backed up and he slammed the door closed so he could have a moment with his brother. Turning to speak with him, he was met with a sharp jab to the face. The punch was hard enough to rattle his brain and buckle his legs. While he was on the ground trying to get his bearings, his brother came at him again. Before he could get another punch in, Gabriel kicked his legs out from underneath him and jumped on top. Straddling his chest, he held out his arms and pinned him down like he had many years ago as a kid. Back then they fought all the time. Their fights were vicious and often ended with one of them losing a tooth or being knocked out. The years hadn’t changed much between them.
“Stop. Stop, Marcus!” Gabriel yelled. He glanced over at the female ranger who had already covered herself up and was cowering in the corner near the male who looked furious.
“Get off me.”
“That shit might have flown before they put you inside but you are not doing it again.”
“Get the fuck off me.”
Gabriel slapped him on the side of the face as if trying to wake him from his madness. “You want to live that way, you do it once we are free but until then you do as I say.”
“Screw you. We are free!”
Gabriel grabbed him by the throat. “What happened to you?”
“Don’t give me that self-righteous attitude. You were inside before I was.”
“Yeah. And you should have learned from that. But no, you had to go fuck things up and look where it got you. Had I been out I would have…”
“Would have what?” Marcus asked.
Gabriel stared at him and then rose to his feet and offered him a hand. Marcus batted it out of the way, got up and stormed out. Gabriel looked at the woman and apologized, reassuring her that it wouldn’t happen again. He might have robbed banks, killed a cop and a ranger, but he was no rapist and he’d be damned if he’d let anyone do that while he was calling the shots. His mind went back to the lights between the trees. Someone was searching for them and he wouldn’t be here when they arrived. He headed for the door. Torres was outside smoking a cigarette. “We leave now. Deal with them.”
He didn’t need to ask what he meant. Seconds later, two gunshots were heard.
15
Crime existed in Vegas long before the blackout — robberies, murders, kidnapping, home invasions, there wasn’t any reason why that would stop now. In fact, everything that had taken place so far had only stacked the odds in favor of criminals. Darkness shrouded the lawless, communication was dismal at best, roads were clogged with stalled traffic, and emergency services were overwhelmed by downed planes. It was a perfect environment for the greedy. The first sign of trouble began with someone shaking the shutters on the outside of the building. It had triggered the silent alarm system. Tyler had been scooping hot soup into his mouth and relishing every drop when a red light on the wall started pulsating. Lou turned his head and grimaced. “For God’s sake. Your friend is going to end up with lead in his ass.” Lou shoved his chair back causing it to screech, and grabbed up his rifle.
“Darlin’, your soup will go cold,” Barb said.
Tyler took off after him. “Hold up, Lou, I’ll speak to him.”
“No, he’s had enough chances.”
Since being kicked outside, Nate had been banging on the garage door for the past twenty minutes. When that didn’t work, he’d gone around the front and tried there but when he got no response, it went quiet. They thought he finally had given up and left, leaving Tyler feeling somewhat guilty. He was of two minds about it all. He wasn’t opposed to letting Nate back in and giving him another chance, but Lou wouldn’t have it.
Tyler followed him into a small room out back that had multiple monitors displaying various views of the outside. He had cameras set up on the roof pointing down to prevent anyone from stealing or damaging them. That was when they got their first glimpse of the problem, and it wasn’t Nate.
“I knew it. I told you, Tyler, he would bring people back.”
Tyler leaned forward and looked at the screens. Four Asian men wearing red and black bandannas over the lower half of their faces were attempting to gain access to the front of the store. One of them was beating on the lock with an ax trying to get it to snap while another had hooked up a chain to the shutter and tossed the other end to a guy waiting by an old pickup truck. “Lou, Nate’s not even out there. And he’s black, not Asian.”
/> “Black. Asian. White. They’re all the same,” he said brushing past him. Tyler heard the sound of a magazine being slapped into place. “These bastards are in for a big surprise if they think they are getting in here.” Lou double-timed it to the front of the store, where he entered a door off to the right. It was the stairwell to the roof that was used as an additional fire escape in the event that any of the lower exits couldn’t be reached. He tapped in a code to unlock a large metal flap and pushed it open. Tyler followed him just to see what he had in mind. He figured he would open fire on them but that wasn’t to be. As soon as he reached the top, he swept his jacket to one side and yanked off what looked like a smoke grenade. They sold Enola Gaye products in the store. The damn things could kick out a lot of colored smoke within a matter of seconds. They were often bought for sports venues, nightclubs and festivals because of the sheer amount of smoke they produced in less than a minute. “Here, catch,” Lou said tossing one to him. “You take that side, I’ll take the other.”
He already knew how to use it. It was as simple as pulling the ring to the side and away it went. Not making a sound they crept up to the edge of the building. They could still hear the guy hacking away at the lock. He’d be doing that for some time as Lou didn’t install low-end locks, only quality. Lou gave a nod and pulled the ring, then tossed it down, while Tyler lobbed his towards the truck. Thick, blue smoke erupted, filling the air and creating confusion. A few rounds close to their feet and those assholes were scrambling to get the hell out of there.
Lou cracked up laughing as the truck tore away with one of them hanging on to the back for dear life. He unloaded a few more rounds their way for good measure before heading back for the opening. “Oh man, the look on their faces. They didn’t know who the hell was shooting or from where. Amateurs,” he said. Tyler took a moment to see if he could spot Nate. He went to the far side and looked down but he wasn’t there. He figured he’d given up and headed home.
“Tyler. Come on, we have a lot to do before morning,” Lou said crawling down into the shaft.