Coal rolled out from underneath the wagon with his rifle in hand, seeing the Indian one of the Rangers turned and fired several rounds from a pistol. The rounds struck the dirt around him but Coal was focused, he sighted in on the man, took half a breath and fired. The Ranger toppled backward off of the horse dead before he hit the dirt. The sound of running hooves behind Coal gave him just enough warning to drop and roll back under the wagon. The ground where he had stood a moment before was raked by a shotgun blast as Rory rode passed. The big man was laughing hysterically as he racked the shotgun again.
“Miss me Coal? I missed you, but just barely,” the Ranger leader shouted and then pointed the shotgun at the canvas wagon and fired blindly.
Hearing the sound of the shotgun rack, Pauli pushed Miles down and then dove on top of Juan. The blast ripped through the canvas and peppered her body. She let out a terrible scream as blood splattered across the canvas and wood behind her. Miles lay there helplessly, only able to watch in horror. The sound of hoof beats announced the arrival of another rider to the back of the wagon. Miles grabbed his second rifle and this time didn’t miss, the lead shot ripped into the Ranger, and he toppled him from the saddle.
Rory racked his shotgun again and urged his horse around to the front of the wagon, eager to chase down Coal. The Ranger leader cleared the team and Coal leaning around the edge of one of the gas pumps fired. The round cut a line across Rory’s left cheek and took most of his ear off in its passing. The big man swore and fired blindly in the Indian’s direction. Coal had a split second to duck behind the pump again as the shot peppered it. He worked the bolt on his rifle furiously, but as he leaned out to finish the big man, Rory spurred his horse forward and was around the edge of the garage and out of sight.
“Come back here you fuck!” Coal shouted after him.
“Coal, the horses, we are getting out of here. Now!” Kyle screamed as he ran up behind Coal feverishly reloading his magnum as he ran.
“But Rory!” Coal yelled.
“Forget Rory, his men are chewing us to pieces, get those horses moving, don’t wait just go,” with that Kyle was running back towards his wife and their dying friend.
As the Scavenger ran around the back of the wagon Anna just came into view, another Ranger was riding hard towards her with his sword poised for a strike. Anna raised the shotgun again and pulled the trigger, the hammer fell on a spent shell, and even Kyle could hear the click from where he stood. Kyle raised the magnum and fired again and again as he screamed in desperation and fear. The first five shots flew wide but the last round struck the rider high on the shoulder, and the man dropped his sword and slumped over the saddle. The Ranger rode past Anna and out of the fight. Relief and joy flooded into Kyle as his eyes met Anna’s across the space, for a mere heartbeat they shared a moment, and he smiled. He didn’t see Rory charging from his left until it was too late.
Anna screamed as the Ranger leader lashed out as he charged passed the Scavenger. The sword blade slashing across the side of Kyle’s head in a bloody arc. Kyle staggered backward and started to collapse next to the wagon. A set of strong arms reached out from the back of the wagon and caught him as he fell. Just then the wagon lurched forward as Coal kicked the horses into a run. Miles pulled at Kyle still form and only with Juan’s help was the old man able to pull him into the back of the wagon. Kyle was out cold, blood poured down his face and Miles could see a narrow 6 inch strip of white exposed skull in the deep cut.
As the service station slipped further behind them, the old man watched helplessly as Rory rode up to tower over Anna’s still kneeling form and the dying Dante. The two other remaining Rangers both wounded sat on horseback nearby and then they were all lost from sight by the wagon’s dust. Miles looked down at his unconscious friend and then over at the dying Pauli. Pauli met his eyes and then gave a wet cough, he could see frothy blood on her lips.
“Coal, Coal!” Miles shouted desperately.
“What?” the Indian screamed back over the sound of the running horses.
“We have to go back, we have to, they have Anna!” Miles shouted, but his words held no conviction.
The Indian slowed the horses to a trot and turned to look back into the wagon. Miles laid Kyle’s head down as gently as he could and painfully climbed up to the buckboard to talk to Coal.
“They have Anna,” the Old man repeated and then added. “I think Dante was dead.”
Coal leaned forward trying to peer back into the wagon. “Who the fuck do we have?” he demanded.
“Kyle, he’s hurt pretty bad. He’s out for now. Pauli is, she’s, dying,” Miles added weakly.
“If we go back she won’t be the only one,” Coal said simply.
Miles nodded his head in agreement, ashamed to feel the relief that flooded him.
“Are you alright? Is Juan?” Coal asked, and the old man simply nodded.
“Did we get any of the water loaded?” Coal asked.
“None,” Miles replied.
“Well, that settles it. The horses got a bit just before the shooting started, but it won’t last them long. I know a place that has water, maybe a good place to lay low for a while as well. It’s going to be a few hours ride from here though, see what you can do for Kyle and Pauli until then.”
“What about Anna?” Miles asked weakly.
“Nothing we can do, if they are going to hurt her, well it’s already been done by now. But Anna is a doctor, she has some real value to Murphy. We can only hope Rory decides to keep her alive and bring her back to the big man,” with that Coal turned around and spurred the horses on again.
Miles crawled back into the wagon, just inside Juan was curled into a ball, the boy stared ahead at nothing and rocked gently. Miles stroked the boy’s head reassuringly for a moment.
“It’ll be alright Juan, you’re safe now,” he said. Miles crawled over to Anna’s medical bag and opening it looked inside and frowned.
“Miles,” Pauli gasped.
The old man crawled to the dying woman’s side.
“Miles,” she called again, and Miles replied. “I’m here.”
“Roll me onto my side,” Pauli whispered.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Miles warned.
“Shut up…I’ve been… watching Anna for years...I picked up a few things,” Pauli snapped back and then coughed wetly.
Miles helped her roll onto her side, putting the injured side of her chest down. She coughed up a bit more blood, but after a few deep breaths, her eyes seemed to regain some of their focus.
“What can I do to help you?” Miles asked feeling helpless.
“Nothing…for me…now shut up and listen. There should be a bundle of tubing in Anna’s bag there. Find it, I’m going to talk you through this,” Pauli said followed by another round of bloody coughing.
“Any idiot can bandage a wound; this is a bit more complicated. So we’re going to do it first, in case I pass out,” Pauli explained between pained breaths.
Miles paused, looking down at dying woman and then spoke. “Pauli, thank you for what you did back there, you saved Juan, and you saved me too,” Pauli just nodded weakly in reply.
“Let’s… get this done,” she coughed again, and Miles opened the medical bag.
Discovery
It was just after noon when Coal pulled the wagon to a stop in front of the small mesa and dismounted. He walked around checking both horses, each was covered with a layer of sweat and dust. They were both spent, he could tell they wouldn’t be much good if they had to run again. He unhitched each horse in turn and found a shaded spot nearby and tied them off. Coal then walked around the back of the wagon to check on his passengers. Juan was curled up into a ball, seemingly asleep next to the tailgate. As if trying to get as far away from the wounded as he could.
Miles looked up at the Indian and Coal asked. “How are they?”
“Both alive, for now. Pauli passed out a while back, she’s still breathing, but I don’
t know for how much longer. Kyle’s pulse is getting stronger,” Miles replied.
“Will he wake up?” Coal asked.
“How in the hell should I know?” Miles asked rubbing his eyes, the constant flow of the day’s adrenaline had left him, and Coal could see the weariness in his eyes now.
Coal’s initial urge was to punch the old man, but that passed quickly. The half-breed took a breath and asked himself what would Kyle say in this situation?
“I’m sure you did what you could Miles,” Coal said awkwardly.
Miles just nodded and said. “Thank you…I’m…I’m just exhausted. You did pretty well back there as well, you’re the only reason that we escaped at all, thank you Coal.”
The old man moved to check on Kyle again, and Coal saw the Scavengers wound for the first time. A wide swath of the Scavenger’s hair had been shaved away. The long slash was closed, the skin pulled back together.
“Damn Miles, that doesn’t look half bad. You were actually able to stitch him up while bounces all over hell in the back of this thing?” Coal asked surprised.
“Well no, I’m no good with thread and needle, so I kinda cheated,” Miles admitted and produced a small plastic bottle from his pocket and held it out for Coal to see.
Coal Laughed. “You glued his head shut?”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Miles said defensively.
“I don’t know if the Doc would have approved, but it looks like it worked to me!” Coal chuckled in reply.
“We have to get her back Coal, we have to. I don’t even know what Kyle will do when he wakes up if he wakes up,” Miles said looking down at the unconscious Scavenger.
“One thing at a time old man, first I need to get us some water, it’s going to take a bit of some doing though and apparently I’ll have to climb up and down a damn rope or something,” Coal said turning to face the mesa.
Miles crawled to the back of the wagon and saw the mesa for the first time. “If this is the place where Kyle….,” Miles began to say but then his eyes fell on the 15-foot-wide steel door.
“This is the place!” Miles exclaimed crawling down from the back of the wagon. “The place that Kyle saw the light!” Miles added his fatigue temporarily forgotten.
“Light? I don’t know anything about any light, but this is where I first met Kyle. He told me there was water inside,” Coal said.
“He told me the same, but also that he saw a blue flashing light on a wall,” Miles added.
Coal nodded and began to walk towards the mesa. “Well he didn’t say anything about a light to me, but hopefully the water is still there,”
“Coal, when you get in there their may be a way to open those doors from the inside,” Miles said prompting Coal to stop and turn back to look at him.
Coal sighed. “Okay, I’ll bite. How do we open a door that big without electricity?”
“This place was a test bed for equipment and systems intended for use in space. All of NASA's systems are triple redundant, everything. I’m betting these doors are the same, there has to be some type of mechanism to open them without electrical power. A hand crank, maybe spring-loaded or perhaps even a hydraulic system of some kind,” Miles explained.
“So why didn’t Kyle use it to open the doors then?” Coal asked.
“He wasn’t really looking then, he was more interested in the salvage and of course the light,” Miles added, but his eyes were fixed on the door one hand stroking his chin.
“And the raiders,” Coal added.
“Raiders?” Miles asked looking back to Coal.
“Yeah, he had to deal with some Raiders, he didn’t kill them though. He wasn’t exactly clear on what happened,” Coal replied.
“He never mentioned anything about Raiders to me,” Miles said looking around the mesa with a fresh set of eyes.
“Yeah, well while I’m in there you may want to keep one of your rifles ready. So what exactly would I be looking for to open one of these doors?” Coal asked.
“I’m not exactly sure, but if it exists, it would be near the door. Either as part of the frame or built into the door itself. Look for panels, anything with red or yellow markings or lettering. The kind of thing that would be marked for emergency use,” the old man replied.
“If it exists?” Coal asked.
“This is all just theory mind you,” Miles replied and reaching into the pocket of his overalls pulled out a road flare and handed it to Coal.
Coal accepted the flare with a nod and without another word turned and began to walk around the base of the Mesa searching for a way up.
“Just theory the man says,” Coal grumbled to himself, and he strode on.
Fifteen minutes later the half-breed was standing on the top of the mesa and peering into the facility through a very round hole. He found Kyle’s rope secured in place just as the Scavenger had once told him and without as much as a second thought Coal lowered himself down into the half-light of the facility.
The half-breed touched down inside the circle of light made by the hole. The cavern floor was dirt and carpeted with a crop of long dead and dried plants. The half-breed could immediately feel the increased humidity from outside, and he knew right away that standing water was nearby. Coal struck the road flare bathing the cavern in red light. After a moment of letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, he began a leisurely stroll along the cavern wall and after just a few minutes found the small pool of water.
The Indian knelt in the flare’s shifting light and dipped a hand into the still water then raised it to his nose. Not smelling anything unusual he let a few drops fall on to his tongue and tasted it. The water had been sitting for quite a while, and while Coal couldn’t see any signs of animal life around the edge, he knew better than to trust unfamiliar water. He would have to boil it before anyone could drink it safely. A small circle of ash nearby showed at some point that someone else had the same idea. Maybe it had been Kyle or maybe some of the Raiders he had mentioned.
Coal stood and glanced around at the shadows, he would need something to boil water in and then figure out a way to carry it while he climbed out. He knew there wasn’t anything out in the wagon that would help, from the beginning the plan had been to use water from town and then Kyle’s cache. Coal looked up and down each wall then picked a direction at random and followed it. A few minutes later Coal stood in front of the steel door.
“HHHmmm… seemed bigger on the outside,” he remarked to himself eyeing the man-sized door.
Coal stuck the flare into the dirt at the base of the wall and then ran a hand across its smooth flat surface. The door had a red lever for a handle, which of course didn’t budge when he tested it. The door had no visible hinges and was set into the wall and bordered by an 8-inch-wide steel frame. The frame was divided every 10 inches or so by a seam between the individual joints of steel. Coal ran his hand across the frame tracing the edges all the way to the floor. The last section at the base of the wall on his right had a red band painted around its edge that Coal could just make out in the light of the flickering flare. The section was partially buried, forcing Coal to dig away 6 inches of dirt and sand. With the sand removed he could now see a red dot painted at the panel’s center.
Coal paused for a moment considering and then pushed the red dot. With a click the panel popped open, swinging out on hinges. The narrow space inside revealed a small cylinder and piston, a 10-inch handle with a rubber grip hung on the back of the small door. Coal picked up the handle and looked at it closely. It looked exactly like the type of thing that you find under the seat of a new car, the handle for the kind of jack you hoped you would never really need.
Coal exhaled and looked down at the mechanism and could already see where the end of the handle would slide into.
“Damn it, Miles will be impossible to live with after this,” Coal mumbled and sliding the handle home began to work the mechanism.
After a few dozen pumps the door began releasing a series of loud popping soun
ds and then very slowly began sliding open. Coal worked the handle feverishly back and forth, his body was soon slick with sweat. After a tedious half hour, the Indian had grown tired and had switched arms several times. The heavy door was barely open 10 inches now, but Coal’s patience and his arms were spent. He tossed the flare through the opening revealing a short hallway. The walls were cut into the stone, but the floor was covered in steel grating. The hall ended after just 6 feet and opened into a wider space, but the light revealed nothing else. Coal took a breath and turning sideways squeezed through the narrow opening and then collapsed into a heap on to the steel floor panting.
After a moment the Indian stood retrieving his flare and stepped into the large space. He lifted the flare up to spread the light, his other hand still gripping the jack handle. The area was roughly the size of a two car garage and set up in much of the same way. Counters and shelves lined the back wall nearest the hallway. A series of steel mesh cages lined one side of the space, from here Coal could see oddly shaped suits and helmets hanging in each one. A large shape covered by a clear plastic tarp dominated the center of the room. Coal gave the tarp a tug, filling the space with dust. When the cloud dissipated it revealed some type of vehicle, a sleek spacey looking off-road dune buggy.
“Now who owns the coolest, most expensive and yet still completely worthless car around. You and your caddy can suck it, Kyle,” Coal said with mock enthusiasm.
“At least the tarp might be good for something,” Coal mumbled tossing the piece of plastic to the side.
The 15-foot-wide door was set into the opposite wall of the chamber. Coal looked at the monster, and his arms started to ache all over again. He walked directly to the lower right-hand side of the massive frame and quickly located the section with the red band and circle. This one was thankfully larger, and as he depressed the circle, a 3-foot panel sprung open. Seeing a much longer jack handle set against the inner side of the door Coal looked at the small length of steel in his hand for a moment and then flung it blindly back over his shoulder into the darkness. He gripped the handle and with another exacerbated breath, began working the mechanism.
To Cross a Wasteland Page 37