by Hunt, Jack
She got close and pushed the barrel into his cheek causing his head to turn.
“Mariah. Please. You don’t have to do this.”
In all the years he’d been alive, he had brushed with death many times but nothing felt as real as right then. He swallowed hard.
“Shut up and look away.”
He forced his face back at her and stared. If she wanted to kill him, she was going to have to look him in the eyes.
“Put the gun down.”
“No, you are with them.”
“Them? Help me out here. Who are we talking about?”
“THEM!” she bellowed loudly, her spit reaching his face. If she was on meds…clearly, she hadn’t taken them in a while. How many others had lost their minds since the power grid went down? Perhaps she was telling the truth. Maybe her foster family were the victims of a home invasion. Maybe they took her for their own desires and she’d managed to escape. Who the hell knew?
“Them? I’m gonna need a little more than that,” he replied.
“It doesn’t matter as I’m going to take care of them. Yeah,” she said nodding, a smile forming on her anguished face. “Then I’ll deal with you.”
And just like that she turned and strode out of the room.
“Mariah! MARIAH!”
Locks unlatched and a door was slammed closed. Silence permeated.
Was she gone or was this a trick, some way to determine if he could be trusted? Nate cursed loudly and then waited for what felt like an eternity but was probably no more than fifteen minutes. Convinced she was gone, he began rocking the chair from side to side. If he could just build up some momentum, maybe, just maybe he could break the chair and escape.
Rounds cut into the landscape. The staccato of automatic rifles drove home their intentions. They didn’t want to bring him in alive. He steadied himself and scampered over a rise. He pitched sideways and was trying to scan the trees when he lost his footing. Tumbling head over heels he rolled down and narrowly missed plowing into a boulder, instead he wound up in a stream. He slapped in another magazine as he scrambled to his feet and raced into the coverage of the dense forest. Madison was engaging with them and had managed to take one of them out, bringing the group down to six.
A chorus of yelling signaled their approach. Tyler managed to elude them with the hopes of circling around and coming up the rear, however, that was harder than he anticipated. One of them spotted him and announced his presence to the others. Bullets snapped overhead. Tyler dropped to the waterlogged ground and wiggled his way towards a tree and rested the barrel of his rifle on a root rising out of the ground. He could hear boots getting closer and knew they were nearly upon him. Hold, hold, he told himself. A bearded man emerged. His eyes locked on to Tyler and he went to react but it was too late. A single round straight through his forehead and then Tyler shifted ass. He tried to make his way over to Madison, fearing for her life, when he was cut off by the bark of carbines. He ducked and bullets speared the trees around him. Thinking fast he tore off one of the EG18 high-output smoke grenades from his pouch, pulled the pin and tossed it. It kicked out an insane amount of black smoke which drifted and blocked their view as he darted back the way he came and slipped past two of them without problem. When he reached Madison, he was relieved to see she was still alive and unharmed. He threw her another magazine before resting his rifle on the top of the boulder and panning for threats.
“Tyler!” Madison yelled but before he could react, a gun cracked.
He turned to find one of Jude’s men dead only yards away. He must have spotted him and waited until his back was turned before coming up the rear. Tyler looked at Madison thinking she’d killed him but she simply shrugged. His eyes scanned the trees. Was it a case of friendly fire or… He got his answer when he saw another collapse. Neither one of them had shot him and he could clearly see the other three.
That meant only one answer — Bennington.
He couldn’t see him but he knew he was out there, probably tucked among the brush with his crosshair firmly fixed on… Crack!
Another dropped.
“What was that you were saying earlier, Maddox?” Tyler hollered, turning his face towards Madison, his lip curling ever so slightly. Maddox didn’t reply but he sure as hell didn’t back off. A torrent of gunfire was unleashed tearing up the trees all around them as they tried to throw everything they had at the wall with the hope of getting lucky. The onslaught of rounds put every other attempt to shame.
A surge of hope filled Tyler as he darted over to a tree to get a better lay of the land. He knew how many were left, but he needed to know where. He snuck a peek nearly losing his face in the process. He felt the air change, and the snap of bullets that were too close for comfort. A risk that had afforded him the exaction location of the last two. The only one he couldn’t see was Maddox. Had he turned and fled, leaving his pals behind to chew on a bullet? No, he was too egotistical to back down and accept defeat. Returning home to Jude with his tail between his legs wasn’t an option. Where are you? Tyler moved with purpose, ducking and darting from tree to tree, getting closer by the second to the last two. Another crack of a distant rifle and he saw one of them slump. Damn, Bennington, you are one hell of a sniper. Barring Maddox, one remained and within seconds his number would be up. Tyler clambered up a rise that would bring him up the rear behind the final shooter. Sure enough, there he was. Tyler brought his rifle up to take the shot when he heard a rustle to his left. He turned expecting to see Maddox but there was no one because the asshole was above him. He should have figured he’d go for a distraction. So focused on readying himself for the kill, he’d dropped his guard. Tyler felt the sheer force of his weight collapse on him before they rolled down the steep incline.
When a tree trunk broke his fall, it took the wind out of him at the same time.
Gulping air, he managed to take in two lungful before Maddox kicked him in the face. There was no pain as it happened too quickly but the assault that came next was brutal. A knife came down with Maddox behind it. Tyler reacted fast, rolling to avoid the collision of steel and flesh. A hard elbow to his back wasn’t enough. Maddox lunged with the knife hoping to stab him in the ribs. Had he not grabbed his wrist, it would have sliced into him, for sure. Clasping his arm, he banged it four times against the earth before he released the knife. Maddox brought a sharp knee up, striking him in the groin while they lay side by side fighting for control. Another loud crack of a gun. There was no telling if it came from Bennington, or the final shooter. So intent on trying to block his knee, he wasn’t fast enough to stop the second attack. Maddox pulled Tyler in and slammed his forehead into Tyler’s nose, busting it open. A direct hit to the nose brought tears to his eyes. That was followed by two hard jabs to the face before Maddox hauled him up and threw him against a boulder. Blood was gushing down Tyler’s face. The taste of iron filled his mouth as he tried to catch a breath.
Maddox came forward again, this time striking him with a side kick to the gut. Tyler buckled straight into an uppercut. “You sack of shit.” On the ground Maddox rained down his foot, pounding his ribs. Tyler balled in defense taking everything he threw at him. Another flash of his childhood. The endless self-defense drills Andy put them through played out. In that moment it wasn’t Maddox beating him but Andy. Calling him a pussy. Telling him to get up. Striking him as Corey looked on unable to help.
Something primal rose in him, a will to survive that no one could teach, as it was in every human being. Tyler’s arm lashed out like a cobra latching onto Maddox’s grounded leg as he raised the other, he yanked it hard bringing him down like a sack of potatoes. Pushing pain from his mind he scrambled over, straddling him, raining down punches, one after the other, each time not seeing his face but Andy’s.
He wasn’t sure how long he beat him only that when Bennington pulled him off, his knuckles were raw and Maddox was unconscious and unrecognizable. Like waking from a nightmare he snapped into the present moment. Madis
on stood at the top of the rise looking down, while Bennington dropped and checked Maddox’s pulse.
“Still alive.” Bennington pulled his weapon to finish him when Tyler put out a hand.
“No. I need him alive.”
25
“You lied to me!” Allie said loudly from inside Jude’s office. After returning to Camp Olney, Corey and the group were placed in cells and told they would stand trial for their crimes once Jude had conferred with the council. Jude leaned back in his chair with a cup of coffee in hand like he was some kind of god among men.
“First, watch your tone!” he replied with a stern look. “Second, I didn’t lie. You will be joined with your sister in due time once Maddox returns.”
“I’m not speaking about that. My father. You said you would release my father.”
“I think you misunderstood me. I said you could see your father. I didn’t say he could be released. Do you honestly think I would pardon a man who attempted to kill me?”
“But…”
Jude set his cup on his desk and leaned forward. “I like you, Allie. You’re smart and resourceful, and I probably haven’t given you enough credit but surely by now even you should understand how things work around here. There is a system, a flow to every community whether that be in a city, a town, a village or a settlement like ours. There must be some semblance of order otherwise people suffer. If I release your father what message does that send to the rest of this camp?”
“That you are merciful,” Allie replied without missing a beat.
“No. Weak. Indecisive. Unable to protect. We are living in precarious times, my girl. Survival is at the core of all we do. Why? Because we wish to live. That means not being in fear for our lives. If I release your father, and someone else attempts to take my life or someone else’s in the camp, they will also want me to extend the same mercy. Eventually someone will take it for granted and upon release they will return to finish the job and that time they might get away with it. As much as I would love to see Edison living among us as a free man, he made a decision and for that there is a consequence.”
“You’re going to kill him?”
He smiled. “What is it with people thinking I love to kill?”
“Because of Alexander.”
Jude blew out his cheeks and shook his head. “Alexander took the lives of three innocent people in this camp and he would have taken more had I not put an end to it.” Jude tapped the side of his temple. “He wasn’t all there, Allie.”
“And you are?”
He gave a warm smile, the kind that won over the hearts of those who had joined the community over the years. There was a charisma to him that was attractive. He had a way of making people feel welcome and yet on the other hand, he could turn on a dime. There was something very Jekyll and Hyde about him. “I never asked for this position, Allie. I never forced my way to the top of the chain. I started this camp with friends, a core group of people who I respected and admired. We had a similar vision for the future. After Andy walked away from it all, what was I meant to do? Do the same? No, I couldn’t turn my back on it as easily as he had.” He paused for a second. “You should walk in my shoes sometime. It’s not easy.”
If he was looking for sympathy, he’d come to the wrong person.
“When do I get to see my father?”
“When your sister returns.”
“No. I want to see him now.”
Jude stared at her intently and she got a sense she was overstepping the line.
“I could have you put in the cell with him for what you did. So if mercy is what you want, know that I have already extended it to you.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the next and looked down. “Ten minutes. You’ll see him longer when your sister returns and I’ve spoken with both of you.”
“Thank you, Jude,” Allie said backing away. Jude gestured to one of his guards to go with her. Escorted over to the community jail, she felt a wave of embarrassment at the thought of seeing Corey and the others again. What did they think of her now? What choice did she have? She was caught in a tight spot and it was either agree or find herself thrown into a cell. At least right now she was in a position to turn this around if the opportunity arose. The problem was she was being scrutinized by every one of Jude’s men. They were fully aware of her transgression and what a liability she was. She stood behind the hulking guard as he unlocked the entranceway. She entered the humid and foul-smelling cellblock. It reeked of bad body odor.
There he was. Her father was standing near the bars talking with Andy across from him when she entered. “Allie.”
“Dad,” she muttered before hurrying over to him. She reached through and hugged him and he placed a hand on her head. “I tried, Dad. I really did. But…”
“Ah there she is.” Markowitz rose to his feet and crossed to the bars adjacent to her father’s cell. “The girl with a plan. Except she forgot to mention the part where she screwed us over.”
“Settle down,” Corey said.
Allie cast a glance over her shoulder but didn’t reply. Her father spoke on her behalf. “Whatever she did, she probably had a good reason.”
“Oh, I’m sure she did. Like saving her own ass!” Markowitz slammed a hand on the bar and it echoed. The guard at the far end of the corridor shouted a warning. Allie dipped her chin, looking despondent.
Her father lifted her chin with two fingers. “Tell me what happened.” She sighed and brought him up to speed.
Edison exhaled hard and stepped back and paced. He looked over to Andy and then got close to the bars to tell her his idea. As soon as he was finished, she frowned. “That won’t work. All it takes is one of them to say something and I’ll be thrown back in here.”
“Trust me, Allie,” Edison said with a strained smiled. He glanced at Andy again and this time Allie looked behind. Could it work? It was possible but so much time had passed. Would they even care now?
No sooner had the thought passed through her mind than the door at the far end of the corridor opened and another guard stepped in and spoke with the other. A glance towards her and she was beckoned out. “I was told ten minutes,” Allie said when she reached him.
“There’s been a change.”
As soon as she stepped outside, she knew why. Multiple armed guards were ascending the steps to the top of the gates. That meant only one thing — a threat.
26
What on earth was I thinking? Nate squirmed in the chair that was now sideways. He’d rocked it from side to side until it finally gave way and landed hard knocking the wind out of him. For the first few minutes he did nothing except try to catch his breath, then he struggled for what seemed like forever to turn the chair so he could use his feet to knock the table and get one of the knives to land on the ground. He worked every muscle in his body. Every creak of the floorboard had his senses on high alert. Had she returned? It had been at least an hour since she’d left. If she caught him like this he wouldn’t fare well. Nate jammed his feet between the table leg and the chair, and with the back of the chair pressed against the wall he pushed the table in a jerking manner. He could hear the plates and cutlery shifting. “Come on!” he yelled. As hard as he tried the table wouldn’t budge. As he grunted and pushed, sweat trickled down his brow and dropped onto the wood floor. For the first time, he considered the possibility that he might not be able to pull it off. That desperate thought amped his strength into high gear, and he gave the table one giant heave. With a thud the table tipped but then rocked back into place. Damn it! Enraged, he tried again. To his surprise it gave way. The table shifted and his plate and the cutlery clattered onto the floor nearby. Now he’d given himself another challenge.
If he could just shift himself over to the knife, he could possibly… He groaned, realizing it wasn’t the sharp knife that had fallen, just a butter knife. He sighed, realizing he wasn’t getting out. She’d find him on the ground and he’d have to come up with some lame story about losing his balance. Of c
ourse she wouldn’t believe him and would probably take that damn crème brûlée torch to his hand again. He felt a growing dread. Perhaps she wouldn’t bother and would just put a bullet in him, and Tyler and Erika would find him weeks from now piled up in the bathtub — or worse, no one would find him and he would rot away. His entire being was awash with horror. Had he come all this way, escaped from the dangers of the city only to die at the hands of some lunatic girl? Another swell of anger and he tried to claw his way over to the cutlery, figuring he could at least try to use the fork and pick away at the rope. The most insane and desperate thoughts went through his mind as panic gripped him.
The sound of a window opening, and then footsteps caught his attention. Had she forgotten her key? His mind shifted to how he was going to explain this. Any second now and… A face appeared in the doorway, but it wasn’t Mariah.
It was a kid, no older than sixteen. He was wearing a Nike baseball cap, dark sunglasses and a bandanna around his face. As soon as he removed it, Nate’s eyes widened. It was one of the three teens he’d driven away. The same one that had frozen and warned him before hightailing it out of there.
“You should have listened,” he said. He stood there looking around. “What a fucking mess this place is.”
“You want to get me out of here.”
“Oh, yeah, sure thing. I’m Danny by the way.”
“She said your name was Jacob.”
Danny hauled him up so that the chair was straight again.
“That girl is two sandwiches short of a picnic. I don’t even know anyone by that name.” He dropped to a knee, withdrew a sharp knife from a sheath and began cutting through the rope. “We first encountered her a few days back. That bitch attempted to kill one of us after we got out of a home over on Sun Crest Drive. Don’t even ask me why. She kept talking about some Jacob kid, and a group of his friends. I told her we didn’t know who the hell she was talking about. Anyway, we gave her a free pass the first time. Figured she was off her meds, you know. A day later we came across her using a baseball bat on some poor kid. There was no hope for him but that’s when we figured we’d intervene.”