The Nation Chronicles: Book Two (The Nation Chronicles Trilogy 2)

by Wendell Sweet

  "...Think it will work?" John asked from behind her as he re-entered the room.

  "No," she replied, "I don't, at least not entirely. Can somebody like him even be fooled?"

  "I don't know," John said tiredly, "if he can't be fooled, maybe he can be confused. I mean he can't be all seeing, and all knowing... he's not God."

  Annie's eyes brightened. "Maybe then," she said hopefully.

  "Maybe," John agreed, "just maybe."

  They watched the rest of the short ten minute recording in silence. It consisted of showing the edited recording, while Frank talked about their need to discuss it with everyone else, and a short plea for more time at the end. They made no mention of Luther's demand to turn over five of the assembled group. It had been Frank’s suggestion to leave it out, but Frank did say they were considering his demands, which left it open to Luther's interpretation. At the most, they knew, it would only buy them a few extra hours if Luther went for it, but those few extra hours might allow Frank, Ira, Gary and Jimmy, to get to Fort Drum.

  They also knew that once Luther realized that he had been tricked, he might push the button right then. The whole thing's a crap shoot, Annie thought, as the recording ended, and she turned off the machine.

  She looked at John. "No way to know," he said, as if reading her mind, "but it beat's doing nothing."

  "Ira thinks they'll come at us today from the north side," she said.

  "When did he say that?" John asked, surprised.

  "After Frank went for coffee, he told Hank, I guess. He didn't want Frank to know. Hank told Jimmy too, and Jimmy told him to make sure that I was aware. Ira told him to tell me I should make myself scarce," she said, "wonder why?"

  "No telling with him, but... If it was me he had said that to, you can bet I'd be making myself scarce," John said thoughtfully, and then continued. "Odd though that Ira didn't tell you or me directly," he shrugged. "I believe I'll just keep an eye on you today, if you don't mind," he held up his hand when she began to protest. "I'm not saying you can't handle yourself, Annie, but two is better than one any way you look at it," he favored her with a stern look. "I mean it, Annie, if he said it, even if he didn't say to us directly, he didn't say it to hear himself speak."

  "Okay, "she said, "you win. You can babysit me, John."

  "That makes me feel better," John said. "I'm an old man, Annie, but I spent a lot of years in this city dealing with the bad elements of it, I can hold my own, and then some if I have to," he patted the .38 that was holstered at his hip as he finished speaking.

  "I intend to stay right in here today anyway," Annie said, "I want to make sure nothing goes wrong when we broadcast that recording."

  "Well in that case," John said, getting up from the small table, "I guess I'll go get us some more coffee," he walked off as he finished speaking.

  "Thanks," Annie called after him.

  ~ 7 ~

  Willie LeFray leaned back into the worn old couch in the living room of the house on Hudson Avenue. The empty bottle lay in shards in one corner of the room, where Willie had flung it. He had drained the last drop from the bottle, and then flung it against the wall when he realized there was not another bottle to replace it. He had of course called Mike in from the front porch, and had him dispatch someone to liberate a new supply from one of the many liquor stores that dotted the avenue. Whoever he had sent would be in hot water when they returned though, Willie promised himself, they had already been gone for more than three hours. How long does it take to follow simple fuckin' directions and go to a damn liquor store, Willie wondered. Probably forever, he told himself. Especially with this bunch of morons he was saddled with.

  He debated calling Mike back in to find out what was taking so long, but rejected it. Mike was dumber than Alfred, he knew, and Alfred was a frigging moron. A creepy moron, but still a moron. Actually, Willie thought, the guy scares me a little. He looks like a little kid, and even acts like a little kid. Sort of naive, maybe even innocent-looking to someone who didn't know better. Willie knew, however, that it was nothing but an act. Alfred was a straight out nut-case, and the calm kid-like demeanor could change in an instant, without warning.

  The kid was also loyal. Well, not loyal, he reasoned, more like devoted, or fanatical. Alfred embraced evil and death, more even than Willie himself did.

  The day Willie had arrived he had dismissed Alfred out of hand, simply because of that kid-like quality. Alfred had begged Willie to make him one of his right hand men, the friggin' kid had been in tears over it, and Willie had jokingly told him that all the positions were filled, and that if he wanted in, he would have to kill his way in. Willie had figured that would satisfy the kid. Either he would be killed trying to take out someone, or he would simply walk away, and Willie would have bet ten to one on the walking away. Either way Willie didn't have the time for him.

  But, no sooner had the words been out of Willie's mouth, than the kid had turned quickly, cat-like almost, Willie thought, and slit the throat of one of the guys Willie had bought with him. The guy had been standing there laughing at Alfred. At how pitiful he looked, and a second later he had been gagging on his own blood, and trying to hold his neck together, before he crashed to the floor.

  Yeah, Willie thought, Alfred was a nasty little bastard all right, and he had no doubt that he would manage to bring the woman back.

  The phone call from Luther had been short and to the point. Get her, but get her alive. "It should be easy, even for a no-brained fuck-up like you, Willie," Luther had said. "After all, Willie my sweet, I did the hard work for you, I lured their big shots away, I opened the door and left her alone, and I think you should be able to handle one old man, hmm, Willie, think you can handle it?"

  Luther had an inside man over there, Willie correctly guessed. He had no idea who, and hadn't asked, but whoever it had been had told him that the four men, who in Luther's estimation held everything together, were gone. While Alfred went for the woman, Willie himself would lead a small army right into their midst. There wouldn't be anyone, or anything, to stop them, Luther had assured him.

  Willie planned to be sneaky about it though, he already had snipers stationed close to the roadblocks. They were so stupid that they didn't even try to hide behind their barricades. They just walked back and forth, like they were on guard duty at a friggin' factory somewhere. Apparently, Willie thought, they didn't take a threat from the north side seriously. After today they would though, Willie promised himself, and smiled as he did.

  He got up from the worn sofa. "MIKE, where the fuck is that little bastard you sent to the liquor store?" he yelled, as he opened the front door. If the little prick didn't get back soon, there wouldn't be time for another drink before he'd have to leave.

  ~ 8 ~

  Annie stood up from the small table. It was nearing 6:00 PM, time to play the tape. John had left ten minutes before to get them some fresh coffee, but hadn't returned yet. What's keeping him? She wondered, as she walked toward the hallway. She was almost to the door when a red-haired wild-eyed looking kid came running through it, nearly knocking her over.

  "Ma'am...Miss Davidson, ya gotta come quick, ya gotta, they're coming through the barricades, and they got John, Ma'am, they got... you gotta come quick!" the kid said in a panicked voice.

  The kid was clearly scared witless, Annie realized. "Calm down, calm down," she said as she grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook him. The kid was carrying what looked to be a machine gun, Annie saw. What the hell are they doing putting a young kid like this on guard duty? Annie thought angrily.

  "Miss Davidson?" the kid asked still sounding panicky, "you are Miss Davidson I was supposed to come get, right?"

  "Yes, now calm down," Annie said sternly, turning away from the kid and heading toward the table where she had left her gun, "just let me get my..."

  "Good," the kid said from behind, cutting her off. "Real good."

  Bright stars exploded in her head, cutting off the rest of what she had been
going to say. WHAT... she thought, as she crumpled to the floor. She was dimly aware of the sound of gun fire, before she passed out.

  Hank Nelson entered the room just as Alfred clubbed Annie in the back of the head with the machine gun. Alfred quickly reversed the gun and aimed it at Hank.

  "Hey!" Hank yelled in surprise, and then looked fearfully to the gun in Alfred's hands. "Hey, don't kid, I'm on..."

  Alfred didn't let him finish. He squeezed the trigger and in a split second Hank was cut in two by a hail of bullets.

  "Fuck you," Alfred spat, as Hank fell to the floor. Two men appeared in the doorway behind him, Alfred whirled around cat-quick but lowered the weapon once he recognized them. "Pick her up, let's go," he ordered. The two men quickly did as ordered, and followed Alfred out into the hallway. They passed John's lifeless body in the corridor, where Alfred had let it fall, after he had snuck up behind him and clubbed him in the back of the head as he had Annie. He had slit John's throat, almost before he had hit the ground, and so he had made no sound whatsoever. Alfred kicked an empty paper coffee cup, resting by one of John's outstretched hands, out of his way as they trotted by.

  Outside, in the late afternoon air, the sound of gun fire reverberated through the Streets. It was audible now, even inside the building. Alfred mowed down a group of seven people with the machine gun, who had been crouched fearfully just inside the doorway to the building, as he came upon them. None of them had the chance to return fire, or even turn around, and Alfred, followed by the two men, trampled over their bodies as he pushed through the doorway and out into the Street.

  The South side of the city was in the grip of a battle that had begun two blocks away, when Willie himself had taken out the patrolling guard, and then quickly rushed through the barricade, toward the War Memorial.

  All was not going as planned however, as a heavily armed group in the County Court House building had pinned them down before they had been able to take the War Memorial, and that had allowed the people in the War Memorial, to react.

  As a consequence Willie's group was rapidly falling in numbers, and although he did not wish to, he would have to drop back, or risk losing all of his men if Al didn't show soon. He had just started to draw back, when Alfred came trotting out of the television station, in a deafening roar of gun fire. The kid had done it, Willie realized, as he saw the two men running behind him, carrying a slumped form in their arms as they ran. He could see even from the distance of the two hundred yards that separated them, that the form was female, and he was quite sure that Al knew better than to bring him the wrong woman.

  As Willie watched, one of the men carrying the woman was cut down by gun fire, and Alfred quickly picked up the fallen mans’ burden and continued forward. Willie was torn, Alfred had to make it through in one piece with the woman, or Luther would have Willie's balls, he had told him as much, and Luther didn't bull-shit.

  The gunfire from the Court House, and the War Memorial was restrained somewhat, but they apparently had more than a few shooters who could aim well enough to miss the woman. When they were less than a hundred feet away, the kid went down, and the remaining man struggled to get the woman over his shoulders and continue on. Willie hesitated, only an instant longer, and then leapt up and sprinted for the man. Chips of asphalt flew all around him as he ran. The War Memorial crowd was trying to stop him from reaching them, he realized. But gunfire was nowhere near as bad as Luther, so he kept on, marveling that he hadn't yet been hit, as he ran the last few feet and grabbed the woman's body along with the other man.

  He felt the man behind him go down just ten feet from the safety of his small band of disciples, and he felt as well the ripping of his flesh, as three rounds caught him in the back. He stumbled the last few feet pushed forward by the impact of the rounds, fully expecting to finally drop dead as two men rose from behind the barricades to take the woman's body.

  He had done it, he had reached safety, he realized, and he had also caught three solid rounds in the back doing it. That made him happy, as he wanted nothing more than to lay down right here on the pavement and die, it would feel so good, so right, he thought, as he began to ease toward the road. His hands were clasped across his stomach. What's left of it, he thought. He could feel his insides trying to squirm out through his fingers.

  Good, he thought, very fuckin' good. Very, very, good. So, how come I'm not dead? he asked himself.

  Takes longer, his mind whispered, this ain't a friggin' movie.

  Okay, fine, he reasoned, this ain't a movie. But how come it don't hurt even, huh?

  Shock, his mind told him.

  Well fuckin' fine, but...

  Two of his men squatted and quickly picked Willie up, just as his eyes slipped shut. "His gut's is hanging out, Tommy," one complained, gagging.

  "Shut up and get going, we ain't leaving his body here, no way."

  The two men ran off down the Street, and deeper into the north side of the city, carrying Willie's body between them as they ran.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Wendell (Dell) Sweet wrote his first fiction at age seventeen. He drove taxi and worked as a carpenter for most of his life. He began working on the internet in 1989. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1974.

  Thank you for purchasing this book. The rest of the series is available at all major book sellers.

  All music, lyrics, artwork or additional written materials attributed to characters in the novels, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright © 2009 - 2017 Wendell Sweet