Patriots

by Max Masen

  Chapter 9:

  Where Do We run?

  “Wake up!” a voice called to me.

  I was sleeping. I didn’t plan on waking up for anything. Why is it still calling? It kept demanding that I wake up. I refused to open my eyes. It was still yelling to me. Come to think of it, what are those loud bangs? Why do I hear the shuffling of feet? What’s happening?

  I finally opened my eyes to the sight of a bayonet about two inches from my face. Attached to it was the long, black resemblance of a military assault rifle. But it wasn’t a soldier that woke me up.

  I was dizzy from lack of sleep. Ideas swirled in my head of what was happening. I was almost deaf to the sound of the woman screaming for me to get up. Is she going to shoot? I doubt it. She looks nervous. More nervous than me.

  “Get up!” she screamed again.

  “I want my lawyer,” I replied weakly. My mind was still a little hazy from just having woken up.

  I don’t know why, but after having lost my arm, I had become immune to the shock of situations like this. No more fear.

  “That’s it, I’m gonna shoot!” she yelled.

  “No, you won’t. Not unless someone was pointing a gun to your head. Like him,” I said as I pointed to Benny.

  Benny appeared from her side with a pistol to her head. Without hesitation, he shot her and helped me to my feet.

  “What the hell is going on out there?” I asked Benny.

  “Jed proving us right about needing an army. Now it’s too late,” Benny told me.

  “Who’s attacking us?” I looked around, trying to make sense of what was happening.

  “Hell if I know. Probably bandits. They want what we have. They all want what we have.” Benny searched the area frantically. People were getting gunned down left and right. A rag-tag army was overrunning the entire community. Most of Jed’s people were completely defenseless against the onslaught.

  “Where’s Levi?” My face tensed up. I was nervous to hear Benny’s answer.

  “He’s with Emily. That’s where we’re going,” Benny explained briefly.

  “They’re across town. These bandits are all over the place,” I said back.

  “I made it here. We can make it back,” Benny said seemingly without concern.

  He grabbed my arm and pushed me to get me to move. Explosions sounded around us but mostly we could only hear gunfire and screams.

  These were no bandits. There were too many of them. Bandits generally only travelled with five to seven men. Hardly ever any women. That was one of the other things that tipped me off: the woman with the gun in my face. Whoever was behind this wanted more than just our stuff. They wanted our land. I could feel it.

  We ran past several people from Jed’s group on the ground bleeding out. There was no time to stop and attempt to save them. Not that we could. Their wounds appeared far too severe. All we would be doing was comforting them before the inevitable happened.

  There’s no help on its way. No police, army, or firefighters in case of emergency. Maybe this is the apocalypse. It’s finally sinking in. Maybe this is the end of the world. What if there are no Hyenas left? No government. What if the last few humans live in this small piece of land and they are all fighting for it? The size of each group was a few hundred a piece. Humanity had been in a downward spiral since the beginning of the war. No, before the war. Either way, I don’t see any coming back from this. It’s all over.

  I had to stop thinking like that. But I couldn’t. These thoughts kept emerging. What if I die? Of course, that thought was omnipresent since I lost my arm. Levi is capable enough now. Maybe I should have died. Maybe if Marley died, everyone would have been done fighting. It wouldn’t have been that easy, though. It was a fairytale to think it would all be over with one death. The news wouldn’t even reach the outposts for weeks or months. Maybe longer. Therefore, I have to keep fighting, right? No, not fighting. Running. All I did was run because we kept getting caught off guard. Because of Jed this time. It isn’t my fault this time.

  “Keep up,” Benny yelled back to me.

  “Sorry, I don’t have an extra arm to swing so I go slower,” I said as I was losing my breath.

  “Shut up and run!” Benny screamed with a sound of concern in his voice.

  I was falling too far behind. Benny knew it. The look on his face showed that he was gathering information on his surroundings. He was forming a plan. His arm rammed into mine as he ran in reverse. He threw me to the ground and laid there with me. We were behind a few bushes that kept us hidden enough.

  “Look, man, just go, alright?” I pleaded with Benny. I didn’t really want him to go. He knew that. I wasn’t ready to be the one to let him die though. Then we would just perish together.

  “Shut up, I’m thinking.” He looked around but, after a moment, his face showed a frustrated expression.

  “Get Levi and Emily. Get out of here,” I said trying to convince him. “I’ll go out the… back door or something. I’ll figure something out.”

  “Just… stay here. I’m gonna come back,” Benny said and waited for a response from me.

  I was too tired. I gave him a thumbs up. My arm toppled back down to the ground as I lost all energy. Benny ran about ten feet before I heard a gunshot close by. A body lay on the ground. I threw my head back to the direction Benny ran in and immediately I recognized the jacket. It was Benny. I suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline. I ran out from behind cover and tackled Benny’s assailant. I hit him with my arm and went to hit him with the other. I realized there was no other arm to hit him with and attempted to use my other arm again. It was too late. The stranger lifted his hand and grabbed my arm, except this was no stranger. I recalled the face of this man. It was Joe. He came back to finish us off. If finally made sense. They weren’t bandits. They weren’t even slavers. Joe convinced all of these people to join him and fight us. They gathered together to kill this group of innocents. This is all about revenge.

  Joe had a smile on his face. He used his free hand to pummel in my face repeatedly. A smile remained poignantly placed on his face.

  “You said we were friends,” Joe said in between punches. “You said I would be your right hand man.”

  I couldn’t talk. I felt the warmth of blood on my face. It wasn’t all my blood, though. A lot of it came from Joe’s hand.

  I couldn’t stand the thought of it ending by Joe’s hand. Literally. I thought he was dead. We all thought he was dead. There was no killing this bastard. He was back and he destroyed everything these people worked so hard to build and maintain. Their sense of security had been obliterated. If there was anyone left that is.

  I kept wondering where Jed was. That shouldn’t have been my main concern but it was. So many things should have been on my mind before the thought of Jed’s whereabouts. I should have been wondering where Levi was and if he was safe. Or, more immediately, if I would survive this ordeal.

  Suddenly, Joe’s hand switched from a fist to a cup and grasped my throat. There was no hesitation in his movement. He meant to kill me. His other hand joined his choking hand and squeezed viciously. I used my one hand to attempt to push him off. It wasn’t that I thought I could actually get him off; it was more out of instinct. His grip suddenly shifted from aggressive to deadly. I felt his intentions every second he held onto my throat. There was no escape. There was no help. Benny lay dead and I was soon to join him.

  Maybe I would have been better off a slave. At least I would have been alive. Suffocation was a horrible death. Fear encapsulated every second of it. My legs jerked frantically. My body was looking for a way out but my mind was relaxing. I felt my phantom arm trying to join my real arm in its attempt for the freedom of my airway.

  My body finally joined my mind in relaxing. It’s over. I’m dying.

  My leg abruptly jerked itself upward into Joe’s crotch. He let out a whelp and quickly keeled over. I let out a long breath of relief. My airway was finally free. I was finally free. I got
to my feet quickly and looked over my adversary. He was lying in pain on the ground. I noticed a pistol resting next to him. He must have dropped it during our fight. Upon regaining some strength, he reached for it. Once I realized his plan, I quickly lifted my foot and stomped on his hand with my steel-toed boots. There was a cracking sound in his palm. I reached down and grabbed the pistol while he gripped his hand in agony. I stood over him and squeezed the trigger.

  I stood half-victorious and half-traumatized. It hadn’t sunk in yet. Nothing had.

  “Joe?” I asked. Is he dead? He has to be.

  His finger twitched sporadically. This lasted for a few seconds until his hand dropped. He was dead. I won. But the town hadn’t. I still had to run. We all had to retreat. Joe lost but his army was sure to take the oasis.

  I lept hurriedly to Benny’s side. There was a faint glimmer of life left in him; his body still breathed softly.

  “Benny?” I asked. I wasn’t expecting an answer. I knew I didn’t have time to stick around. It was time to leave. If Benny wasn’t dead, he would have been soon after I left.

  The battle was still raging. It had almost completely avoided me. I still heard people screaming which meant people were still dying. These thoughts brought me to my feet and urged me to hurry. I had to get Levi and Emily. How can I tell them Benny was dead? Or worse, that I left him behind when he was still alive. I pushed these thoughts aside and pressed on toward the direction I believed I would find Emily and Levi.

  I watched around me as untrained, unarmed people from Jed’s group attempted to hold off members of Joe’s army. If only they knew their leader was dead. Not that that would make a difference. They had no rules or morals. These people just wanted blood. Our blood.

  I continued onward until my vision started to blur. What’s happening to me? My body feels weak. I’m bruised and… everything hurts. I was starting to fall over. Soon after, I hit the ground and lost my vision altogether. My mind shut down and I fell unconscious.

  Chapter 10:

  What Does He Want?