by Ricky Sides
“I know, Baby. You just follow the instructions I gave you.”
“I will,” she said with a concerned expression on her face. She added, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Sweetheart,” Tim replied. Without another word, he opened the hatch and stepped out. He closed the hatch and heard the metallic sound of the hatch being locked from the inside. At least he knew no one could get inside the ship before Patricia could leave the area if it came down to that. He’d made her swear that no matter what happened, she wouldn’t open that hatch unless it was to let him inside.
He’d landed the ship so that the hatch was not within sight of the men in the truck. When he was within their view, he stopped and yelled across the intervening fifty yards, “Okay, I’m out.”
In the two months that he had been leader of the Marauder group, Tom Neals had never lost a battle. He’d always been a cruel man. Prior to the disasters, he’d expressed that cruelty by killing dozens of dogs and cats for kicks. When he saw the man that had single handedly wiped out the majority of his men, his hatred for him grew to new levels. He said, “Drop your weapons and kick them away from you.”
“Tom,” Tim said with a smile. “You can kiss my ass. If you want my weapons why don’t you come and take them?”
With a snarl of rage, the Marauder reached out and grabbed one of the hostages. He pulled her in front of him and wrapped his left hand in her hair. He pulled her head back savagely and pressed a knife to her throat with his right hand. He stared at Tim and shouted, “I’ll only say this once. Drop your weapons or the girl dies.”
Tim stared into the eyes of the female hostage and said, “I’m sorry, Ma’am. If I did what he wants me to, you’d all die, or wish you had.”
“You got my sisters freed, Mister. Thank you for that.” She tried to turn her head to face her captor. Her movement caused the knife to cut a small section of her throat. It wasn’t a deep cut, but Tim saw blood begin to flow from the wound. He clearly heard the woman’s next words. “Now, kill this bastard when he kills me,” she yelled in defiance of her tormentor.
Tim saw the Marauder’s face contort with rage and he thought that the woman was about to die. The Marauder spun her around and punched her in the face. The hapless woman fell to the bed of the truck out of Tim’s sight.
Tim fired a round with his M16 to get Tom’s attention. Instantly the Marauder had his shotgun pointed at Tim. “I just wanted to get your attention, Tom.” He smiled at the enraged man and said, “If you kill any of the hostages the deal’s off. I can still get back in my ship and blow your ass to hell.”
“Not without killing some of the hostages,” replied Tom with a sneer on his lips.
“The way I see it, if you kill one you’d kill them all. At least if I kill them while killing you, I’d have the satisfaction of knowing you’d never hurt another soul. As he talked to the leader of the Marauders, Tim was sizing up the six remaining men. They were all in the back of the truck guarding the hostages. It was plain to Tim that these men just wanted to get the hell out of town.
Tim stared at his adversary and said, “You want my ship don’t you.” It wasn’t a question. He knew the Marauder did. With the firepower of the ship at his disposal, he could conquer any city. “I’ll make you a sweet deal. You and your men get off the truck with the hostages. Let them go to the barricade and then we’ll fight it out among ourselves for possession of the ship.”
When Tom didn’t immediately answer, Tim taunted him saying, “You mean you’re afraid to face me and fight for the ship? Even with seven to one odds in your favour, you’re afraid you’ll lose?”
Tom’s head snapped up. “Okay, you’ve got yourself a deal,” he said.
Tim watched as the Marauders released the women. He saw two of the victims helping the one he’d spoken with hobble away. She seemed to be all right, but she was obviously still shaken up by her ordeal.
When the women were about halfway to the barricade, Tom and his cronies dropped to the ground and opened fire at Tim. He dropped to the ground and rolled away from the ship. “Come on Patricia,” he thought. “Follow the plan just like I laid it out.”
Tim came up in the firing position and fired at the men. He wasn’t trying to hit them. He was just trying to keep them where they were for a few more seconds. Just as his rifle fired the last round in its magazine, he saw the ship glide past him. It approached the Marauders on the ground who concentrated their fire on it. The bullets deflected harmlessly from the hull of the ship as Patricia stopped and hovered over the men. They were scrambling to vacate the area when the belly gun of the ship fired. Their clothing and hair instantly burst into flames. Their skin melted and, mercifully, their ammunition cooked off and exploded, killing them.
Tim rammed a fresh magazine into his rifle and chambered a round as he stood up. He walked over to the bodies. Frowning, he counted the bodies and noted that one was missing. He threw himself to the ground and rolled to the right. A shotgun blast ripped through the air just a foot to his left as he brought his rifle into alignment to fire beneath the dump truck. He squeezed off a five round burst just as two more shotgun blasts tore into the earth beside him. He was struck in the left arm by a few of the pellets, but the main group of shot missed him. He fired another burst with his rifle. This time a three round burst and then he ceased fire. His last few rounds had ended the battle.
Getting up from the ground, he walked cautiously over to the truck. Tom was lying under it in a pool of blood. Tim knew he’d been lucky. The sun had reflected off Tom’s mirrored sunglasses. That brief warning had meant the difference between life and death in this battle. It was a sobering experience.
Tim walked to the ship and entered. “Let’s go somewhere quiet for a couple of days. I’d like a rest,” he said with a wry grin.
Patricia saw the blood on the sleeve of Tim’s camouflage shirt and said, “You’re bleeding. Tim, you’ve been wounded. We need to see if there’s a doctor in town.”
He started to argue with her, but his arm was really beginning to hurt, so Tim let her lead him out of the ship but stopped at the hatch. “Secure the hatch, babe.”
She sealed it then and no one but Tim or Patricia would be able to open it. He nodded his head and together they walked to the barricade.
Before they could reach the barricade, men and women came to greet them. They were all grateful for what the couple had done and wanted them to know it. One woman even said, “Thank god for the Peacekeepers.”
Tim finally said, “If you’re really grateful, you’ll get me a doctor. My arm’s hurting like hell.”
***
That night Tim and Patricia sat talking in their cabin. He said, “Patricia, I’ve got a confession to make.”
“Oh? What’s bothering you dear?” she responded.
“At first I sort of resented the delays we were encountering. I wanted to get home as fast as I could so that I could check on my brother.”
“That’s understandable, Hon. He is your brother.”
“Yes, but now I don’t resent it anymore. I see that what we are doing is necessary. We have a responsibility to use this ship to help others. With it, we can accomplish so much good. I think we should keep doing what we’ve been doing don’t you?”
“Of course I do. We are making a difference in people’s lives. I’ve given this a great deal of thought, and it seems to me that our impact may be greater than we realize. For every person we directly save, we may be indirectly saving one to three more.”
“If you mean that the Marauders we kill would take that many more victims, you’re probably right.”
Patricia nodded her agreement. She frowned and asked, “So what do we do now? I know you still need to check on your brother.”
“We set course for Alabama and monitor radio traffic as we go. If there are signs of Marauder activity, we deal with it as we encounter it. Eventually we’ll make it to Alabama.” He smiled and added, “Who knows. Maybe Jim will want to join u
s.”
Patricia smiled and hugged her man. She asked, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Oh yes, Darling. I’d like that a lot.”
Patricia broke the embrace and walked over to the mirror Tim had installed on the wall for her. She stood there brushing her freshly washed hair for a minute and then she said, “That woman was quite courageous today.”
Tim knew she was referring to the woman who’d had her throat sliced by the Marauder. He nodded his head grimly and said, “She’ll probably survive the breakdown of society. I just wish that more of the victims would stand up to the Marauders as bravely as she did. What she told me in front of that crazy Marauder took guts.”
Patricia smiled and walked over to Tim. She stood facing him for a moment and then she sat down in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. When she stopped, Tim asked, “What was that for?”
“I just want to make sure that you remember that you’re my man.”
Tim laughed and said, “Why Patricia! I do believe you’re jealous!”
With a haughty expression on her face, she turned away and returned to her mirror. When she resumed brushing her hair she asked, “Whatever gave you that idea? I was just expressing my undying love for you.”
Tim wisely let the subject drop. He made a mental note that in the future he’d keep his opinions of the women they met to himself.
Chapter 37
Pete stood in the assembly chamber and addressed his men. “Today I have an important announcement to make.” He paused and stared at the faces of the group of people he’d come to consider a large extended family. He saw several faces among the men and women that he’d trust with his life, or he would have before he found the traitor’s letter.
Lieutenant Bill Young stood at attention beside Pete. Standing behind both men were several members of the elite women’s guard. They’d taken it upon themselves to provide security for Pete after someone tried to shoot him the week before. He’d been inspecting one of the tunnels when the attempt had been made. Sheer luck had allowed him to escape the assassin’s bullet as he’d bent over to pick up a pocketknife someone had lost in the tunnel. The bullet had passed within inches of his head. His combat reflexes had taken over and he had returned fire. The would-be assassin had fled.
After that, he’d found himself surrounded by the elite women’s corps twenty-four hours a day.
Pete sternly looked into the eyes of most of the people in the assembly hall before he spoke again. When he spoke, his voice was brisk and business-like as he said, “You were all asked if you wanted to go to Alabama with me when I go.” He stopped talking and looked at the assembled group for a moment. “When the vote was taken a few of you said that you didn’t want to go to Alabama. I suggested that anyone who didn’t go wouldn’t last long in this city but still a few of you want to stay.”
Pete turned and took a few steps to his right. “As you know we had set a tentative date of August the tenth for that departure from the shelter. I’m pleased to inform you that we are ready to leave now.”
Several of the people in the room started to murmur and a few were trying to ask questions. Pete raised his hands and gestured for silence. He said, “I know that’s ten days earlier than we’d planned to leave, but I want to get as early a start as we can, for the sake of the children. By leaving now, we gain an extra ten days to establish a new base before winter sets in.”
Many of the parents in the room nodded their approval of this. Pete had fielded many questions from the parents regarding the timing of the move. Many had valid concerns regarding the onset of winter. They were concerned that the children would suffer the most if they moved and didn’t have the time to set up a proper shelter before winter set in. Therefore, he voiced this concern when he announced the early departure.
One of the men in the fifth row asked, “When are we leaving?”
Pete took careful notice of the man and discretely signalled Bill. With an almost imperceptible nod, Bill indicated that he understood. Pete answered the man’s question saying, “We’ll be leaving in the morning.”
The same man asked, “Isn’t that a little sudden, Pete? I mean some of us have friends on the outside we’d like to say goodbye to.”
Pete stared hard at the man for several seconds. Finally, he said, “Mister, if there is someone you wanted to say goodbye to, you should have done that before even coming to the retreat.”
To the rest of the people in the room, Pete said, “I’m sorry if my plans inconvenience you, but the base is sealed off now and won’t be opened until we leave at 2:00 A.M. tomorrow morning. Until then, I suggest that you see to any individual packing that you need to do.”
“How long do you expect it to take us to reach Alabama?” asked a blond haired woman in the third row?
“Three weeks, max,” answered Pete.
“What kind of transportation are we going to use?” asked the same man in the fifth row that had asked the other questions.
Pete smiled coldly at the man and asked, “How well did you know Reggie?”
Instantly the people in the room became quiet. Not a sound disturbed the silence in the assembly hall. Every man and woman who was in a position to see the man was staring at him. The man visibly paled and said, “No better than anyone else in this room.”
“That’s a lie, Pete!” said a man near the one under suspicion.
Pete turned to this man and ordered, “Tell us what you know.”
The man walked forward and saluted Pete. He stood at attention until Pete said, “At ease, Corporal.”
“Sir, I often saw Reggie and Kevin talking together. It seems odd to me now, however, at the time I didn’t think much of it, but they were always meeting in tunnels and other places where they could be more or less assured of privacy.”
Pete looked at the young corporal and saw that the man was telling the truth. He was about to ask a question when Kevin drew his pistol. Pete had been keeping an eye on Kevin and as soon as he started to draw his pistol, Pete slammed his shoulder into the corporal, knocking him out of harms way, and then he went for his own pistol.
Pete’s pistol had just cleared his holster when he saw Kevin drop his weapon. Surprised by this, it took a moment for the sight of the knife sticking out of Kevin’s arm to register.
Several men quickly surrounded Kevin and secured his hands behind his back. The leader of the women’s guard retrieved her blade. Pete smiled at the woman and said, “Thank you for your rapid response.” The woman blushed slightly at the open praise before the assembled group of survivalists.
Pete turned his attention to the man who’d betrayed the group. He laughed and said, “I guess I don’t have to ask who your friend is you want to say goodbye to.”
Kevin’s face turned scarlet red and he spat at Pete. One of the guards spun and kicked him in the groin. The man was lifted several inches off the ground. He immediately vomited and then cursed the woman. With a satisfied grin on her face, the woman turned to Kevin and said, “I’ve seen what Reggie has been doing to his victims on the streets above us.” Turning to Pete she said, “I’m sorry, Sir. I lost my temper. If you like, I’ll take the prisoner out and teach him some manners.”
Kevin’s face blanched then, and an expression of abject fear came over his countenance. Pete replied, “I need some information from him before I turn him over to you and your team.”
Kevin managed to find a little nerve then. He laughed and said, “You can forget getting any information out of me, Pete.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you. My girls are pretty effective at getting information when they want to do so,” Pete said with a serious expression on his face.
“If you turn me over to the women, you won’t learn a thing from me,” he boasted but his voice lacked conviction. He was staring in mortal fear at three of the women who had drawn their skinning knives. The women were looking at Pete expectantly.
Pete
said, “You’re wrong, Kevin. These women have seen a dozen or more of Reggie’s victims in the streets. They know what he’s done to innocent women. They are committed to stamping out such predators and they’re not afraid to get their hands bloody doing it. You’ll talk all right. You’ll talk so much they’ll have to slit your throat to shut you up.”
Kevin looked desperately around the chamber for some means of escape or a friendly face. He found neither. All of the men and women in the group hated Reggie for what he’d done. They were still learning the identities of several of their little girls who Reggie had fondled. The parents of those abused little girls stared with hatred and loathing at Kevin. Many wondered if he’d also stalked the confines of the shelter seeking their children and abusing them. To the members of the group, Reggie was the worst Marauder they’d ever known. They’d kill him on sight and do the same to any of his cohorts.
Kevin looked pleadingly at Pete, and then he said, “I’ll give you the information you want in exchange for my freedom.”
Pete smiled coldly at the man and said, “The only thing I’ll promise you is an easy death if you give me the information I want. If you don’t, then I’ll turn you over to the women. They’ll get the information I want from you. Either way, you are going to talk. Your only choice in the matter is how you die. You can die easy and painless, or much, much worse.”
Kevin’s shoulders sagged and an expression of resignation came over his face. He asked, “What do you want to know?”
“Several things, but let’s start with where Reggie is hiding,” Pete said tersely.
“I don’t know the answer to that.” Seeing that Pete didn’t believe him, he added, “He leaves messages for me in the streets. If I want to tell him anything I have to leave him messages.”
Pete nodded his head and said, “I believe you. Reggie’s much to smart to tell you where he is hiding.” Pete paused for a moment, and then he said, “Give me the contact points.”