Dark Ages: 2020 (Dark Ages Series Book 1)

by JD Dutra

  Daniel stood by the door in silence while Nathan got up slowly. Daniel looked at his build, there were rippling muscles under the dark polo shirt he was wearing. Daniel realized he probably wouldn’t be able to fight him. He’d have to shoot him, and preferably from a distance.

  “Guards!” Nathan yelled sharply, and in a few seconds, both doors began to open.

  “I hope you saved a few condoms from your good time with my wife here in jail Daniel. Whitey is HIV positive.”

  Chapter 27

  Phoenix Suburbs, Arizona

  Saturday, October 24th, 2020

  9:52 P.M.

  “This night seems so dark man, it’s freaking me out,” said Baby Ray. He was behind the wheel of his car, driving through a high middle class suburb of Phoenix.

  “Yeah, seems like there ain’t that many people around,” said Saucey-Sauce, the man with the red bandana on his forehead. He looked ill, but he kept assuring everyone it was nothing but regular flu, but somehow he looked much worse than he had earlier in Oneita’s apartment. He was sweating, his nose was runny and his coughs were so loud and full of mucus it silenced whatever chat was going on inside the car. He was sitting in the backseat of the old Mercedes along with the guy who was wearing sweat pants with jeans pockets sewn onto them, who liked to be called Snappy.

  “I think that’s the tenth car I’ve seen abandoned tonight,” said Baby Ray.

  “The air stinks too, smells like a mix of something burning and rotting meat,” said Saucey-Sauce.

  “I ain’t got a good feeling about all of this,” said Baby Ray.

  “Ya’ll scared of what, huh? There ain’t no one to be scared of out there but us, not even the police can stop us tonight,” said Jimmy, scowling.

  “Whatever Jimmy,” said Baby Ray. There was suddenly more tension in the air than before.

  “Now that I think about it, there is only one thing in the entire world that can scare me and that be that lady of yours, Baby Ray, she’s a new low even for you. She’s even worse than that old white lady granny you shacked up with for a while…”

  “Shut your mouth, Jimmy, I ain’t got the patience —” Said Baby Ray, his anger getting the better of him, but he was quickly interrupted.

  “Hey! You keep your mouth shut! You better show Jimmy some respect alright?” Said Snappy, sitting up and leaning towards the driver’s seat. When their eyes met in the review mirror they had nothing but hate for one another.

  “Chill, Snappy… Baby here ain’t seen me in a year an’ he’s still learning who’s the boss,” said Jimmy with a surprisingly calm voice. “Who you work for now, ain’t that little fat cousin you used to pick on, Baby Ray. If I even told you a thing or two of the stuff I’ve done in that prison you’d crap all over the seat of this ghetto car of yours.”

  Baby Ray’s lips pressed together and he kept his eyes straight, wishing he had the courage to accelerate towards a wall or another car and jump out in the last minute.

  “And I’ll tell you another thing, that One-ita or whatever her name is, better not think she’s gonna see any of that 50 grand. Now I’m gonna give you some of that cash Baby, but nothing for her man. If you wanna give her a few hundred bucks out of your own cut, that’s your business,” said Jimmy.

  I’m gonna leave Oneita and you, you ungrateful bastard, after all I’ve done for you this is how you pay me.

  Baby Ray suddenly pulled over in front of a typical suburban house. The house was probably the expensive model of the tract homes and it looked bigger than the others. It had some lights inside but nothing outside.

  “This ain’t looking like no mansion to me,” said Saucey-Sauce.

  “I didn’t say we were going to a mansion, I said we were going to hit another home that I thought had money in there. This one I’m sure there ain’t nobody in there,” said Baby Ray.

  “Nah… It ain’t empty. There’s someone in there,” said Jimmy.

  “The home owner is locked up in Tent City and from what I remember his daughter is going to school somewhere out of state. I think he has another kid, but with him in jail, the kid must be with the mom or something,” said Baby Ray.

  “This house doesn’t look like the guy got a whole lot of money,” said Jimmy.

  “Oh he’s got money, he paid me two grand in cash and he’s got a pretty decent size landscaping business, he’s got some money. It ain’t like the other mansion, but this is high middle class right here. I bet there is stuff in there that we can sell and —”

  “I don’t want no pawn shop junk, Baby Ray, that’s for your girl! I want what I can carry and sell for a lot of money. I ain’t gonna make 50 grand then go back to making 50 bucks man, you gotta look to the future, you know what I’m saying?” As he said this Jimmy patted Mei-Lin’s box with his foot.

  “So you want me to drive to the rich people’s side of town then? Mountain Park Ranch? Encanto? Scottsdale? I’ll do it right now, let’s go!” Said Baby Ray.

  Jimmy thought about it for a moment and then looked at the two men behind him; they just shrugged.

  “Yeah let’s not even waste time here man. We only have time to hit a place or two before we’re gonna meet some more of my homies. It’s gonna be a long night,” said Jimmy, howling in laughter as he turned to his men in the back.

  Baby Ray turned his wheels away from the curb, looked to one side then another. The road was deserted, most of the homes on the street looked abandoned. The car was on its last leg and it roared louder than it should have as pulled away and smoke and gas shot through the muffler in a loud explosion. After a few moments, the car seemed to move forward and Ray had just stepped on the gas when Jimmy suddenly placed a hand on the wheel.

  “Wait up man,” said Jimmy, and Baby Ray stepped on the brakes.

  The face of a young blonde girl had suddenly appeared on a second floor window of the house they were meant to rob, she looked straight down into Baby Ray’s eyes. He could tell she recognized him, probably from the picture her dad took of him to make an identification badge.

  She stood there for a few seconds, but when the other, more intimidating faces pushed against the window of the car to take a closer look, she suddenly pulled away and the blinds were quickly shut.

  “Well look at that… A pretty white girl with no daddy in the house. I bet she looks even hotter up close,” said Jimmy.

  “Jimmy, come on man, we ain’t no molesters or rapists alright? Let’s get out of here,” said Baby Ray, stepping on the gas pedal.

  “Pull over!” Jimmy yelled, throwing out an arm and slamming it into Baby Ray’s chest. He winced and the car slowed, but he still kept moving.

  “No man, I ain’t down with this. Stealing stuff from rich people is one thing, but taking a girl and raping her just ain’t right. I ain’t gonna let you guys do this,” said Baby Ray.

  “You mean you sleep with your girl because you want to? She don’t rape you?”

  The men in the back laughed and Baby Ray stepped on the accelerator in anger, the motor burst into life in and within seconds they were a few houses down from Daniel Cross’ house. Jimmy pulled his chrome pistol from his waistband and pointed it at Baby Ray’s face.

  “Pull. Over. Now… I ain’t gonna ask you again Ray-mond.” Jimmy’s voice was low and menacing and suddenly the scene of him pressing the alarm guy to open up the door came to Baby Ray’s mind.

  “No Jimmy! We’re cousins man! I got your back when you left prison just a few days ago, so what the hell are you doing?” Said Baby Ray, keeping his foot on the accelerator.

  Snappy reached from behind and put the edge of a blade on Baby Ray’s neck.

  “Just say the word Jimmy,” said Snappy. Baby Ray could feel the sharpness of the blade against his Adam’s apple.

  Within seconds, Baby Ray felt the blade being pulled from his neck and something red flashed before his eyes as his neck was now being squeezed tightly from behind. The back of his skull sank into the headrest of the driver’s seat with an overpowe
ring pressure. He looked in the mirror and saw Saucey-Sauce’s red bandana across his own neck, the man’s fists wrapped tightly on each end, pulling it back to choke him. The bandana was soaked with sweat and as Baby Ray gasped the smell that hit his nostrils from the red fabric was sickening.

  “Jimmy… Help me…” Said Baby Ray in between coughs. The car began to sway slowly on the road, like a drunk losing his balance and looking for a comfortable place to break his fall.

  Baby Ray’s vision began to blur and his foot felt so heavy as it slipped off the gas pedal. Jimmy calmly took control of the steering wheel and stepped over the middle console to press his foot on the break. He paid no attention to his cousin’s call for help.

  “Keep on pulling ‘til he’s passed out,” said a voice that sounded faintly like Snappy’s.

  Baby Ray managed to turn to look at Jimmy, and the face that now looked back had no love in it. He couldn’t feel his body anymore and although he heard voices, he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Seconds later, the night had never felt so dark.

  Chapter 28

  Tent City Jail, Phoenix, Arizona

  Sunday, October 25th, 2020

  8: 02 A.M.

  “You must have some pretty powerful friends, Mr. Cross.” Said Officer Smith, an African American officer who was well regarded among all inmates, regardless of their race. He was one of the few officers who treated the inmates with dignity and did what he could to keep them comfortable. It was morning, and he was escorting Daniel out of the solitary confinement wing of Tent City Jail. It was past 8 A.M. but the inmates in the solitary cells were strangely quiet. There was a strong odor in the air, it reminded Daniel of the first time he saw a roadkill up close.

  “Are you related to someone in the government?” Officer Smith asked.

  “I guess I am… In a way,” said Daniel, thinking of Nathan and Isabella. Another lover also crossed his mind, “Officer DeLeon, I haven’t seen her lately. Is she ok?”

  “She called in sick like some other officers,” said Officer Smith.

  “Flu season is just around the corner I guess. Some people get it worse than others,” said Daniel.

  “You have no idea…”

  They stopped at the end of the hallway, near the double reinforced metal doors with shatterproof glass that opened into the tent yard. Daniel raised his arm so that the officer could unlock the handcuffs on his wrists and looked out to the yard while the officer worked on his cuffs. After a few moments, Daniel asked, “What’s going on out there?”

  When the guard looked up, he stood in silence and both of them just starred towards the tents, neither of the two could understand what was happening.

  It was breakfast time and on a normal day, hundreds of inmates would be walking about, playing cards in the morning sun, chatting, coming and going from the meal room. Today the yard was empty save a few people here and there, scattered across the jail yard. Most of the inmates seem to be still asleep in their beds, a few of them were even laying on random parts of the ground. A dozen or so were going from tent to tent, trying to wake people up. There was a faint, sweet smell of rotting meat that blew in from the outside, just enough to be noticed but not overpowering.

  Officer Smith took a deep breath and raised his eyebrows at Daniel before he brought the radio to his lips, his dark eyes were still fixed on the most unusual scene before him.

  “Captain Bryant, what’s your ‘10-20’, Sir?”

  After a brief silence, a deep voice came cracking through the radio.

  “Officer Smith, my ‘20’ is Central Command Office.”

  “Sir, there is some unusual activity in the yards today… or I guess, lack thereof. Things seem… very strange. There are lots of people —”

  “’10-4’ Officer Smith,” interrupted the Captain. “End your ‘10-59’ and report to me immediately.”

  “’10-4’” Officer Smith said, before placing the radio back on his hip and opening the door for Daniel to step into the yard.

  “Good luck, inmate,” said the officer, shaking his head as if he felt it wrong to be sending Daniel out into such an incomprehensible situation, but he was just doing his job. He then gave Daniel a light nod along with a forced smile, and shut the door behind him.

  Daniel began his walk to towards the yard and as he passed the meal room he looked in, trying to locate Whitey, to see if he was out in the yard or still in solitary. There were only a few dozen inmates sitting at the concrete and metal tables, but they had no food in front of them. Two of them were peeking through the iron bar doors and one of them yelled for food, but the breakfast crew was nowhere to be seen. The kitchen looked closed as if no one was there. Not even the usual set of officers who normally stationed the meal room at all times were there. For the first time since Daniel had been arrested, there was more silence than noise at Tent City, and that made him feel very uneasy.

  A fat Hispanic inmate who was in tears rushed past Daniel and went over to the exit that led to the Officer’s quarters.

  “Open the door! They’re all dead out there! Help!” He screamed, hysterically crying in front of everyone. Daniel stopped for a moment to watch, wondering if anyone was going to make fun of the man or join in, but everyone’s face was a mix of fear and tension, there was no answer from the guards. With wet cheeks like a distraught child, the Hispanic man simply slumped to his knees and began to pray.

  Daniel turned his attention back to the inmates in the meal room where things had begun to feel tenser, more violent. One of them began to kick the kitchen door, which was made out of metal and every kick made booming sounds which echoed throughout the hallways. Another inmate who had his back to Daniel began to squirt some dark liquid over the gates that would shut off the lunchroom when it was closed and then he too broke down in desperation. He screamed at the guards that he was ill and his urine had the color and smell of blood in it.

  Still the guards were nowhere to be found and Daniel decided to walk away; his gut told him things would escalate quickly and he wanted to avoid any more trouble. He began his walk towards the tent of the Chiefs and on his way he passed a few inmates who were still walking around trying to wake up others. Some of them tried to help another towards the lunchroom and with every step they got closer to Daniel, the smell of death in the air got stronger, reminding him of what he had noticed when he walked past cell 47 the day before. It was the smell of rotting corpses and, something else.

  As he kept on walking, the stench got stronger and he wished he had a handkerchief to cover his nose, the best he could do right now was try to only breathe through his mouth. The white inmates he passed while making his way to the tents didn’t seem to notice him. They were either too sick or too busy carrying someone else to be interested in him.

  There were a few inmates that seemed healthy walking among the sick, Daniel estimated the total number of inmates out and about to be near one hundred, a small fraction of thousands that kept Tent City busy on a normal day.

  Once he got near the Chief ’s tent he noticed two dark stains of blood still on the dirt ground, one larger from Benny and another from the shank guy who was shot in the head just days before. The remembrance of what happened that day made the ache in his back as well as his anger begin to flare up again.

  Once he stepped into the tent, the air was so heavy with the stench of decay Daniel could taste a sweetness in his mouth. He saw an inmate who looked like Willy, one of the Chiefs lying in bed.

  “Willy is that you?” He asked softly, walking closer. He looked at the man’s chest, but he didn’t seem to be breathing. Once he got closer, he saw a yellow secretion from the corner of Willy’s eyes, they were open and staring into nothingness. Another inmate in the Chief’s tent had rolled off the bed, and his legs were halfway caught in the bed frame and sheets as he lay motionless on the concrete floor. Only the hot, noxious wind gave his black and white inmate uniform any motion. The man’s skin was pale green like a cadaver’s, there was a dark poo
l of coagulated blood and vomit near his mouth, dozens of flies were feasting on it. Daniel looked up at the other tents, and they all seemed to be in similar condition. He felt like he was walking around an undug graveyard.

  As he turned to look back out of the entrance to the tent, Daniel noticed a group of inmates coming towards him. There were five of them, some walking normally while the others looked like they’d much rather be in bed.

  Daniel knew immediately who the man in the front was, he knew his step and the man was talking while the others around him were silent, his disgusting sore covered hands flying in front of him as if having an animated conversation with an unseen tormentor. Daniel could recognize the yellow mustache even from a distance. This time Whitey was smoking a cigarette out in the open, the gray smoke trailed behind him as he walked.

  Whitey stopped about ten feet away from Daniel and locked eyes with him before he turned to look up at the guard towers. He puffed on his cigarette then blew a long cloud of smoke towards one tower before he spun on his feet like dancer and blew more smoke towards the other. All towers were empty of guards.

  “I’ve been waiting for you, Pretty Boy… Welcome to my crib.”

  Whitey’s voice was slow, deeper than normal, whether it was because it was still morning or maybe he was ill, it was impossible to know.

  “There is something I need to give you and you may even enjoy it… but I will love it,” he added with a low, malicious growl.

  Daniel chose to stay silent as he felt his ire continue to rise, against the jail and everything he had been through, especially in the last few days. All those things combined kept the flame of his anger burning hot constantly.

  “Respect is everything, Mr. Danny,” continued Whitey. “People like you, the good lookin’ and smooth talkin’ ones, have looked down on me all my life. That blowout over the phone token was no different. You wanted to show everyone that you are better than me… Oh yeah, I know your type.”

  Whitey stepped into the Chief’s tent and the men with him, despite looking so tired, also got closer as they sought to encircle Daniel from different directions. Daniel began to step back slowly, looking for a way to run but there were beds, with either dead or dying inmates, all around him.