“You know you don’t have to be so hard on Miles and Juan,” Kyle commented.
“Yeah, I do, Juan especially,” Coal replied.
“I don’t understand,” Kyle admitted.
“I know you don’t, if you did you would have thought twice about having them along,” Coal said and then gesturing towards the embankment added. “Grab a few handfuls of that dead grass, help me wipe them down.”
As Kyle worked at wiping the dust and drying sweat from the animals Coal found an old plastic milk jug caught in the brush along the bank. He cut the top off and then used it to water each horse, in turn, emptying the canteen completely.
“The problem you see is that you all want to baby the kid. That’s about the last thing he needs right now, he has to start learning to rely on himself,” Coal continued.
“Like you? Is that what you mean?” Kyle asked.
“No, I mean that life is going to be hard for an illiterate mute and that Miles is not going to be around forever,” Coal said grinning.
“Miles is, is…” Kyle stammered looking at things now in a different light.
“An old, crippled man?” Coal offered as he continued to brush the horses.
“My partner,” Kyle managed to say.
“True, who is as we speak being chased by a gang of killers, which I may add he betrayed. That is currently attempting to cross a desert that no one in recent memory has been able to survive. Without any water,” Coal continued.
“There is water at the service station!” Kyle interjected in an angry whisper.
“Yeah, yeah, but even if he survives all of that, he’s an old man. What does he have left 5 years’ tops? And then ready or not, Juan is being raised by Uncle Kyle and Aunty Ann,” Coal said now chuckling.
“That is not Miles’s plan, he just wanted to get out of town same as all of us,” Kyle said replied shaking his head.
“Well, you can bet his plan sure isn’t to let crazy Uncle Coal the half-breed murderer raise the boy after he’s gone, kinda leaves a short list,” Coal said still chuckling to himself.
Kyle was shaking his head, he hadn’t talked to Anna about their future, hadn’t dared dream of anything other than escaping that town and Murphy’s reach. Now that they were actually out here trying, every moment was increasing their chances of escape and his questions. Would Anna want to raise children in this world? What would Miles do? Would they still be partners? And Juan, if Coal was right, would Kyle be ready to care for a child already half grown?
“Kyle,” Coal whispered to him, he stood still and had stopped brushing the horses.
“Not now Coal, I’ve had enough listening to you for one night,” Kyle answered and turned back towards the wagon when Coal asked from behind him.
“Do you smell smoke?”
Fireside
Coal and Kyle crawled up and out of the streambed on their bellies. To the West of them, barely half a mile away a large campfire burned brightly. Even from here they could see figures moving around in the flickering light, and a string of horses picketed in a line nearby. In the night breeze, Kyle could even pick out a scattering of words as well as bits of rough laughter.
“You know what I hate about being chased by amateurs? You have no idea if they found you by skill or just blind luck,” Coal said.
“It’s Murphy’s Rangers then?” Kyle asked.
Coal turned and looked at him. “Who the fuck else would it be?”
“You said they never rode out for more than half a day, and then came back to town each night,” Kyle demanded in a whisper.
“They don’t, usually. You running off with those drugs, us killing Vincent, we must have really pissed old Murph off this time,” Coal replied.
“You killed Vincent?” Kyle blurted out in shock.
“No, I did not. Miles killed Vincent, killed the shit out of him. Don’t let that old man’s crippled exterior fool you, underneath beats the heart of a true psycho!” Coal whispered back with a grin.
Kyle just shook his head in disbelief. “Do you think they know we are here? Are they waiting for first light to ambush us?”
“No, they wouldn’t have made a fire. Hell, I don’t think they even know this streambed is here. Why would they camp on the open plain like that when these washes would make such a better campsite? I bet they continued pushing even after nightfall, just like we did. Then they stopped and set up camp in the dark. They couldn’t see the creek bed, they don’t even know it’s here I bet,” Coal surmised as he continued to stare into the darkness.
“So, we just lay low and wait for them to ride away in the morning?” Kyle asked.
“Hell no. As soon as the sun comes up and they get a good look at the terrain, Rory will have his men riding up and down these washes before he’s even had his morning piss.”
“So we run then?” Kyle asked.
“Not as much run as walk away, real quiet like,” Coal explained.
“That sounds good, let’s do that,” Kyle nodded in the darkness.
“Only trouble is, this creek bed peters out little less than a mile from here. We’ll be in open desert then, no cover. I don’t think anyone would be able to see us in the dark, but sound tends to travel in this country at night,” Coal said.
As if to emphasize the Indian’s point a fresh exchange of unintelligible conversation came from the Ranger’s camp, and the two men instinctively hunkered down lower. After a long moment, Coal raised his head again.
“Okay, new plan. I’m going to take a bit of a walk and stir up some trouble for these boys. Spook their horses if I can maybe put a few of them in the ground if I get a chance. You’re going to take the wagon down to the end of the creek bed, walking it real slow and quiet like. Have the rest of the group out front, moving sticks, rocks anything that may make a sound. You wait there at the end of the creek, and I’ll catch up. We’ll be running hard then, your little gas station is only about 5 miles’ northeast of here,” Coal explained and unslung his rifle.
“That’s a stupid plan,” Kyle said. “I think you just see a chance to kill Rory and you’re willing to risk all of our lives to do it.”
“No, that’s just one of the perks of my plan,” Coal replied.
“I don’t know a thing about horses, you said so yourself. I can’t handle the team,” Kyle pointed out.
“Well nothing teaches like doing, you’re smart, you’ll pick it up quick enough,” Coal replied as he began to crawl forward.
Kyle reached up and grabbed the half-breed by his knife belt and pulled him back.
“You’re not going out there. Your job is to guide this group, so go down to the wagon and start guiding,” Kyle commanded.
The darkness between them couldn’t hide the murder that filled Coal’s eyes in that moment.
“You lead the wagon out, you wait for me…I’ll go shoot up the camp,” Kyle said weakly turning to face the campfire.
“You? There must be fifteen armed men out there, with guns and swords and shit,” Coal blurted, his eyes losing a bit of their bloodlust.
“Not a one less than you were going to take on alone a few seconds ago,” Kyle replied checking the cylinder of his magnum.
“But I’m me, I mean no offense but you're, well you. Hell, my people have been doing this kinda thing, well, for a hell of a long time. I was practically bred for this,” Coal argued.
“Yeah that’s not racist at all,” Kyle replied sarcastically.
“What about Anna?” Coal asked forcing Kyle to pause uncertainly and take a breath.
“I’m thinking about Anna and the rest. You give them the best chance of getting out of here. You just wait for me, wait as long as you can. Then make your run for that gas station. The water is under the caddy in the garage,” with that Kyle began to crawl ahead into the shadows.
“Under the caddy?” Coal asked in confusion, but Kyle had already crawled out into the darkness.
“You’re not even going to go tell this to Anna yourself? Say go
odbye maybe, you know just in case?” Coal whispered after him.
Kyle didn’t reply he just continued his slow crawl forward into the shadows. He knew that if he went back down to the wagon, if he saw Anna’s face again, Kyle knew he would lose his nerve.
Behind him, Kyle heard Coal move back down into the creek bed headed for the wagon. The Scavenger crawled forward, his pistol in hand. The light from the campfire silhouetted the ground in front of him and helped him navigate around and between the low lying bushes. He continually pushed his free hand out in front of him along the ground using it to find and move twigs and sticks from his path. All the while trying not to think of the wide variety of scorpions, spiders, and snakes that hunted the desert floor by night.
As he slid up between a pair of thorny bushes, Kyle got his first clear look at the camp and realized camp may have been too generous a term. A half dozen small clumps of brush had been pulled up seemingly by the roots and thrown into a waist-high pile that was now burning. About a dozen men could be seen lying haphazardly around the fire, most were laid out using their saddles as pillows. It didn’t look like a single man had a blanket or a ground pad. It was pretty obvious they hadn’t come prepared for an overnight ride.
Even from where Kyle lay he could sense their frustration, their unease. The men tossed and turned on the hard ground muttering to themselves. Other men seemed to have abandoned the hope of sleep entirely and now paced about the circle of light fitfully. Three men sat in a small circle and played cards in the dirt. Only one solitary figure seemed truly relaxed. Rory sat upon his saddle close to the flames, he sat alone, the rest of the Rangers giving him a respectful distance. In his hand, he lovingly held his saber over which he ran a whetstone in slow even strokes.
Kyle raised the magnum and held it steady with both hands, taking aim at the Ranger leader. If he killed Rory would the rest give up the chase and return to town? Or would another one of these killers take charge and continue hunting them? As Kyle pondered this, he realized how badly his hands were shaking, the front site of his pistol danced in quick figure eights as he tried to keep them planted squarely on Rory’s back. Could he even hit the man from here? What if he missed? He would be dead soon after he realized and Anna, Coal and the rest wouldn’t even make it to sunrise. Kyle lowered the pistol and took a breath.
On the far side of the camp from him, Kyle could just make out the string of horses in the shadows. A rope had been tied between two bushes, and in turn, each horse was tied to it by their reins. That was the smart play Kyle realized, cut the horses loose, let Rory’s men spend the night chasing the animals through the dark rather than them. Buy them the time to escape. Kyle would need to skirt around the entire camp he realized and began to slowly crawl back into the darkness.
Coal slid down the embankment and broke into a run towards the wagon. Miles still sat near the tailgate where he had ridden all day and hissed out a challenge.
“Who’s that? Who’s there?” the old man demanded.
“It’s your faithful Indian companion. Now, don’t you shoot me you old fuck!” Coal hissed back.
“What’s wrong?” Miles demanded as Coal reached the wagon, the other members of the group began to come awake.
“We got trouble, the Rangers are camped out on the plain, real close to here. We are moving out, now!” Coal whispered.
Almost immediately, Miles, Pauli, and Anna unloaded a series of questions. Coal shushed them into silence.
“Shut the fuck up! Nobody says a word. Everybody out of the wagon except Miles. Juan grab an extra shirt or cloth anything and come give me a hand. I’m going to teach you how to muffle horse hooves son. You other three start walking the trail ahead of us. I want you clearing the path, any sticks, loose rocks, anything that may cause noise or give the wagon trouble I want it moved, and everybody be fucking quiet!” Coal shout-whispered at them.
The group broke into motion instantly and began to jump down from the wagon. Coal turned to head for the horses but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“Where is Kyle?” Anna demanded.
“He’s watching their camp. Wanted to make sure they don’t hear us sneaking off. He’s going to catch up with us in just a bit,” Coal explained.
“Why is he the one watching the camp?” she pressed.
“Believe me, not my idea, but he’s the boss…I guess,” Coal simply replied with a shrug and started back towards the horses again. Anna paused staring into the darkness for a moment and then went to help the others.
A few minutes later the wagon lumbered slowly forward, Coal walking next to the team leading the palomino by the reins and Juan leading the gray mare. The rest of the group spread out in front of them, quickly picking up and moving anything that looked like it may even remotely be in their path. The group moved slowly down the streambed without saying a word. The wagon itself seemed loud in the silence, the creak of wood and rusted metal constant. The horse hooves were wrapped tightly in cloth, but occasionally a hoof would strike a stone and Coal’s heart would skip a beat in reply. He knew this was going to be a long slow trip.
Kyle’s heart was beating faster also, as he crawled slowly around the edge of the camp trying to stay just outside of the ring of light. Most of the bushes were only knee high in this area with the occasional odd clumping of taller ones. Kyle kept his head down, at times sliding his face across the sand, the desert floor had already started to wear through his clothes at the knees and elbows. The occasional burst of noise, curses, laughter or conversation would force him to freeze in place listening closely for the rush of feet or the crack of gunfire. But each time he froze the sounds that would preempt his death never followed, and after a few moments, he would begin sliding forward again.
Just to Kyle’s left, almost halfway around the edge of the campsite a particularly thick patch of tall brush sat on the very edge of the firelight. Kyle began picking his way in its direction, the promise of a moment to at least sit upright too much to resist by this point. Kyle crawled carefully around the edge of the bushes, shielded from the campfire the shadows were darker here. With a sigh of relief, Kyle rolled onto his back and then sat up, his back popping loudly as he straightened his spine.
“So good,” Kyle groaned to himself.
“What? Who is that?” hissed a black shape inside the shadow of the brush.
Kyle froze and then slowly turned his head. He could just make out the shadow of a man squatting in the bushes, his pants bunched around his knees.
“God damn it, this bush is fucking ocupado,” the shitting Ranger hissed.
At a loss for words, Kyle raised the magnum slowly and pointed it at the crouched figure. The only idea that raced through his head was series of “Oh shit, Oh, Shit, Oh shit!” Not the most helpful thought he had ever had.
“Hey who the fuck is that? Ricky if that’s you? You trying to jump me again you fuck? I swear to god I’ll make you pay for it,” the Ranger yelled and then climbing to his feet awkwardly tried to pull up his pants and draw his sword at the same time. Not sure what else he could do, Kyle shot him in the stomach.
The gunshot shattered the silence and was followed by a terrible scream as the wounded Ranger pitched backward into the brush. Kyle leaped to his feet and was running, to his left the camp had exploded into action with shouts and curses as men were roused from their sleep. Kyle raised the gun and fired twice more blindly through the brush in the direction of the campfire and bolted forward in the direction of the horses. A moment later a series of shots ripped back through the brush where he had stood, another shot clipped the wounded Ranger. The man screamed again in fresh pain and having fought his way clear of his pants got back to his feet. A moment later his fellow Rangers peppered him with a half dozen shots, and the man went down again this time for good.
Kyle ran for his very life keeping to the edge of the circle of light. Shadows danced and shifted randomly as Rangers ran back and forth in confusion in front of the fire. Kyle fired back tow
ards the camp again without bothering to aim. A fresh wave of curses followed by a scattering of gunfire came back in reply.
“They’re all around us!” One man shouted in panic followed by more gunfire.
Kyle kept running, staying low as he moved and as he passed by another bush he fired through it as well. More gunfire erupted from the camp, rounds cutting the air and the brush all around the terrified Scavenger. Kyle could hear the cries of the panicked horses at the far side of the camp. He had circled almost half the camp by now, and the Rangers were firing blindly into the dark. Men that were used to having the upper hand, being the ones shooting and not getting shot back at were now in full panic. Several Rangers had emptied their rifles and simply dropped them before running to find cover in the darkness of the desert at the opposite side of the camp. Rory was screaming at his men, urging them forward to attack and shouting curses and threats at those that were in retreat.
One Ranger, in particular, caught Kyle’s eye the man wasn’t running for the desert but was headed straight for the horses. In a moment Kyle realized he wouldn’t stand a chance if the Rangers were able to get on horseback. Kyle dashed from the bushes and cut across the edge of the camp into the glow of light, running to try and cut off the Ranger’s path. A few more shots rang out, but if they were directed at him, he couldn’t tell his focus was on the back of the Ranger in front of him. The man reached the line of horses and untied the reins of the animal on the end. He leaped onto the horse's back with an ease only fear or rage could muster.
Kyle was only a few strides behind the Ranger and made a leap of his own. The Scavenger jumped and grabbed the back of the mounted Ranger’s tactical vest hauled himself up and over the back of the horse to lay like a sack of potatoes across the animal’s rump. The horse and rider spun in shock and confusion, the Ranger cursing as he drew his sword. Kyle reached up and awkwardly shoved the muzzle of his pistol deep into the man’s lower back and fired. The round exploded out of the Ranger and showered the horse and the two men with a spray of frothy blood. The horse bolted in fear and raced forward into the darkness. The dead rider toppled off, and Kyle nearly followed him but was just able to grab a handful of mane and pull himself up at the last moment.
To Cross a Wasteland Page 35