by Ryan Horvath
“Jesus!” she gasped. “Couldn’t… see… couldn’t breathe!”
“What happened?” Ian asked with growing concern.
Amanda was already calming but moved a hand to her sternum. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t breathe. I don’t know. For a minute… for a minute, I thought I was buried alive!”
66
JACK, BRIAN, AND RIVER
“Let me know what the recoil’s like, okay? Oh, and be careful. Any trouble, get your asses back right away,” Jack said to Simon as he exited the front door with Blaze. Apparently Karen wanted to get some stuff from her car where she’d left it. Ian was outside on the back deck. Amanda was looking out a window, probably at Ian, Jack guessed given the way the woman’s heart sounded and the strong smell of pheromones she was giving off. A few moments later, she exited the house through the back door. Jack smiled to himself and thought now might be a good time for him and Brian to sneak off themselves. He could imagine how everyone felt. It could very well be the last night on Earth for all of them after all. Who wouldn’t want a little human touch and companionship at the eleventh hour? Jack certainly did. He looked over at Brian and felt and heard his own heart beat faster in his chest.
Jack crossed the living room into the kitchen and took his sterling silver monogrammed flask, a gift from his step-father on his twenty-first birthday, from his backpack. He went to the counter and picked up the bottle of whisky, filled the flask, and then closed both containers. He slipped the flask into his front pants’ pocket. There had been a four pack of Harp Lager in the refrigerator, the sole thing remaining there by the owners. Jack grabbed it and set it on the kitchen table. He touched one of the bottles. Not the coldest but they’d do just fine for chasing whisky.
Jack didn’t want to get Brian drunk but he could tell his partner was still agitated, probably about killing a man, even though it had been in Amanda and Karen’s defense. He figured some shooting, a little booze, and some great sex would help Brian out.
He then walked over to the wall where his trusted shot gun was leaning and picked it up. He grabbed the gun that the killer had dropped as well. Jack identified the pistol as a Sig Sauer P226. The style of the gun, Jack admitted, he only knew because it was stamped on the barrel. It was a fine weapon, like his Walther, and Jack admired the custom grip of what had to be mother-of-pearl inlays. Jack also felt better about having two hand guns now. Karen had told them she’d never shot a gun before and Jack felt it’d be better for her to learn with a smaller weapon. Amanda had shot before and said she was comfortable with a hand gun. Jack, Ian, and Simon could arm up with shot guns leaving one more person to take care of, which Jack wanted to do very soon.
“Hey Bri-,” Jack called to him.
“Yeah?” Brian said, walking into the kitchen. A small look of alarm came across his face when he saw Jack was carrying guns. “What is it? Is someone here?”
“No,” Jack said. “It’s cool. Grab the cross. Let’s go try it out. I’ve got these,” he said, indicating the beers on the table, “and this,” he said slipping the top of the flask out of his pocket. He made sure to raise the bottom of his shirt to show a little bit of his underwear to Brian, which Jack knew Brian loved. The response was favorable this time as was usually the case.
Brian eyed the flask and caught Jack’s thought. His expression softened. It would have been pretty obvious what Jack wanted even if Brian hadn’t been privy to Jack’s thoughts but Brian agreed. Some drinks and some fresh air would definitely do them some good. It’s not like they had to work tomorrow.
“Cool,” Brian said and stepped over to the crossbow. He picked up the weapon and raised it so it was parallel with his body. “Let’s do it,” he said, trying to emphasize the double entendre and gave Jack a look he could tell raised his body temperature a couple degrees.
“Sweet,” Jack said. “Oh, I want to check something too.”
“Lead the way,” Brian said and waved a hand for Jack.
“Can I join you guys?” River meowed.
“Yeah, I think that’d be okay,” Jack said. “But you’ll have to… uh… stand watch for us for a little while,” he added with a grin.
“I can do that,” River mewed.
Jack, Brian, and River left the front door when Ian and Amanda entered through the back. The two men and the cat walked across the front yard.
“Where are we going, Jack?” River asked.
“Over there,” Jack said and pointed. “I want to check out that guy’s car. I can’t believe we didn’t do that already.”
They arrived at the vehicle. Its driver’s door had been banged up and pushed closed from Simon’s shot at the killer and Jack pulled it open. He sat down in the driver’s seat as Brian opened the passenger door and got in. River hopped on Jack’s lap and darted between the bucket seats into the rear area of the car where she began sniffing under the seats.
The key was still in the ignition but there was no beep. Jack examined the dome light and found it to be functional but switched off. No sounds, no light. Jack figured the murderer of his father had set the car like that for stealth. He flipped down the visor and found nothing.
“Christopher Miste,” Brian said. “Miste, with an ‘e.’”
“What’s that?” River questioned from the back.
“Vehicle registration. Says he’s from DC. Probably fake or a fake name,” Brian answered. He had pulled the registration from the glove box where he’d found a liability insurance card under the same name. “Ah ha! And look at this!” He produced a pack of Camel Blues with a matchbook tucked in the cellophane wrapper. He opened the box. “It’s full!”
Jack knew Brian had quit smoking shortly after they had met but Brian had said that his biggest incentive to quit had been the thought that two, maybe three, times a year he would indulge in a cigarette or two. And his smoking usually went hand in hand with some drinks so today might be one of those days. Jack didn’t mind. He didn’t mind one bit. In fact, if Brian chose to smoke today, Jack would probably join him, even though he himself hadn’t smoked since high school.
Brian pocketed the cigarettes and dug a little further. Underneath the owner’s manual and a book containing the service records for the vehicle, which did indeed show services in DC, Brian found a full magazine for the Sig-Sauer. He showed it to Jack.
“Good find,” Jack said smiling. “We can’t have too many of those. Anything else?”
“That’s it,” Brian reported.
Jack opened the center console and found a smart phone but its battery was dead. Jack doubted a man like the killer would have had an unlocked phone and besides, what did it matter anyway? Who could they call? Who could the dead man call?
“Anything back there, River?” Brian inquired.
She had been pressed flat to the floor and rooting around under the driver’s seat so that only the back half of her body was visible. When Brian spoke to her, she wiggled out.
“There’s something under your seat, Jack,” River meowed. “You’ll probably find it useful.”
Jack took a deep breath and smelled it instantly. It was clean but the metallic smell was unmistakable when he sought it out. “Awesome!” he said and fished under the seat. He produced another hand gun. The distinctive “HK” emblem on the barrel and grip identified the gun as a Heckler & Koch. He handed the gun to Brian.
“Three hand guns. Not bad,” Brian commented. “Anything else back there?” he asked River.
“No, that’s it,” she meowed in answer.
“Pop the trunk, Jack,” Brian said as he was getting out of the car.
Jack did so and got out and River followed. They met Brian at the rear of the car which was missing its bumper.
“Wonder what happened to it,” Brian said as he raised the trunk lid. “Oh, there it is.”
With the exception of the bumper, a toolbox, and a set of jumper cables, the trunk appeared empty.
“Nothing,” Brian said and started to close the lid.
&nbs
p; Jack grabbed his wrist and said, “Wait.” He pulled the bumper out of the trunk and tossed it on the ground. The toolbox and jumper cables followed. Jack seized the cover for the spare tire and lifted it. There was no tire beneath. In its place, they found a small arsenal: eight boxes of bullets for both of the killer’s pistols, six hand gun sound suppressors, ten hand grenades, two extra magazines, a pair of razor sharp switchblades, and a fourteen inch long machete.
“Jackpot!” Brian said.
“You said it. No real need to go back to the city now,” Jack agreed. “Let’s load this into the truck real quick. But bring two of the silencers. I want to try them out.”
They quickly unloaded the arms from the car owned by a man they knew as Christopher Miste and put them in Jack’s SUV. Brian held back two of the suppressors and put them in his pocket. When they were done, it was just past noon and the temperature couldn’t have been better. The air held almost no chill to them and the sun shone down warm on their skin.
“Let’s go try out our new toys,” Jack said, grinning and bouncing his eyebrows.
Jack, Brian, and River headed around to the back of the house and walked until they reached the small woods. They entered and tread through until they reached a small clearing.
“Here looks good,” Jack said. “Are you ready to use that?” he asked, nodding at the crossbow.
“Ready as I’ll ever be. It seems like a simple process. This is the safety, this is the sight, and this is the trigger.” Brian showed these parts to Jack and then clicked off the safety. He raised the cross to his eye, aimed, and squeezed the trigger and an arrow blasted out with a phsst. It embedded in the trunk of a tree forty yards away. He lowered the cross and said, “Nothin’ to it.”
“Good. Let me see one of those silencers,” Jack said.
Brian set the crossbow down on the ground and retrieved the two silencers he had brought. They both produced the killer’s weapons and screwed the silencers in place. Each of them fired a shot into trunks of nearby trees. River walked over to the nearest tree and curled up and lied down.
“Wow!” Jack marveled. “They really work well!” They each fired a couple more shots and then Jack set his gun down, retrieved two beers, opened them with a flat stone, and handed one to Brian.
Brian accepted the beer and smiled. He took a long pull and belched heartily which Jack followed up with one of his own. Jack then produced the flask and Brian produced the cigarettes. Jack took a belt off the flask while Brian lit up.
Jack was glad to see Brian had lightened up and he almost immediately looked even more relaxed as nicotine came over him. Brian offered Jack a cigarette and Jack accepted. He passed Brian the flask from which Brian took a healthy pull. Jack lit his smoke and instantly felt light headed and warm.
Brian took another sip of the whisky, capped the flask, and sat down on the ground. “Thanks for this, babe. I needed it.”
Jack sat down next to Brian, puffed his cigarette, opened the flask, and took another drink. The whisky was warming him nicely. The combination of firearms, alcohol, and smoking had fueled his testosterone levels in the way he’d hoped it would do to Brian. He drank more whisky and chased it with beer.
“It’s not all I had in mind by coming out here,” Jack said, exhaling smoke while he talked.
“I know, stupid. I can read your mind,” Brian said with a randy smile.
Jack snubbed out his cigarette in the dirt and set his beer down. He turned to Brian and kissed him. The tastes of beer, whisky and tobacco mixed with masculinity and Jack felt himself harden as he reached between Brian’s legs. He discovered Brian was at full attention. They stood and pulled each other’s shirts off. A quick glance over his shoulder told Jack that River had fallen asleep. Brian was kissing Jack’s chest and knelt before him. He undid Jack’s jeans and pulled them and his briefs down. Jack nearly toppled over as he tried to get his shoes untangled from his pants and they both laughed. When Jack was successfully free of his clothing, except his shoes, Brian stood and stripped off his jeans and underwear.
Brian moved back to Jack and knelt once again. He took hold of Jack’s erection in one hand and tickled his testicles with the other. Brian slid Jack into his mouth and began to work on him, using his lips, tongue, and hands in unison to stimulate Jack.
Jack leaned back against a tree and savored the sensations of Brian’s warm mouth sliding up and down while his hand followed. When Jack felt his orgasm begin to rise, he pushed it down and stopped Brian. He pulled Brian up, and held him close while he kissed his mouth, neck, and ears. Then, being that Jack was not a selfish lover, he knelt down before Brian and reciprocated the oral stimulation he had received. Brian had always been very verbal during sex and he encouraged Jack in his efforts; asking for more, telling Jack what he liked and what to do.
Brian felt his own sexual eruption building and forced Jack to stop. He laid out their clothes on the ground in a makeshift blanket and ordered Jack to lie down on his back. When Jack was in position, Brian slid him into his mouth for a few more seconds before straddling Jack. He pushed Jack’s erection inside him and gasped. He eased down onto Jack until he was fully inserted. Once there, Brian waited for a moment before moving up and down on Jack. It didn’t take long until they reached a perfect sync in movement and were gasping and grunting in pleasure. Brian expertly rode Jack in a variety of gyrations and nearly forty sweat and testosterone fired minutes later, he climaxed.
Seconds later, Jack felt his own body shaking with orgasm. He thrust long and deep, relishing in the sensations.
When he was satisfied Jack was finished for the moment, Brian leaned down, kissed Jack with loving passion and said, “Yeah, I really needed that.”
Jack laughed deeply at this and hugged Brian close to him. “So did I!” he exclaimed with laughter.
After they separated, they lay side by side, naked, on their clothes, smoking cigarettes and passing the flask. River had awoken and was sitting near them.
“What’d I miss?” she meowed.
Jack and Brian burst out in laughter. River looked at them confused.
“Nothing,” Jack said when his laughter subsided. He stood up and started to pull his clothes on. “C’mon. We should get back.”
Brian stood and pulled his clothes on as well. They gathered up their weapons, popped the last two beers and sipped on them as they walked back to the house.
67
THE RADIO
Jack and Brian walked back into the house in Orono where they found Karen, Simon, and Blaze in the kitchen. Jack could hear the shower running and Amanda in it and he heard Ian stumbling around in the back bedroom. It sounded like Ian was doing a dance with his pants not unlike Jack had done himself. Jack, with his improved hearing, could hear a drumming sound and Simon explained he’d turned on the generator, which proved to be in a well-insulated room in the basement and was nearly inaudible from the outside.
Simon and Karen were making food. Jack was shocked to be smelling fresh meat cooking. It smelled rich and hearty.
“Where’d you get the meat?” Jack asked.
“On our way back,” Simon responded. “Bagged a couple of rabbits. It’s not a lot of meat but it’s going to jazz up our soup a little bit tonight.” He looked proud by his hunting prowess.
“And I found some tomato plants that still had some great fruits on them,” Karen said. She was chopping some up as she spoke.
“Cool,” Jack said. “I guess we eat like kings,” he added, hoping this wasn’t an indication that this would be their last meal. He stepped over to the counter and leaned his back against it. The combination of the walk, the drinking and smoking, the robust odor of the food, and the sexual endorphins made Jack feel a little tired. He turned to Simon. “How’d it go with that new Mossberg?”
Simon smiled without looking up from where he was chopping up the raw rabbit meat. “Why don’t you ask Karen?”
Bewildered, Jack turned to Karen. She had a sheepish grin on her face.
“Karen? You fired the shot gun?” Jack stared at her.
Karen nodded. “I did, Jack. At first I was scared but Simon here gave me good encouragement.” She nudged Simon with her elbow. “I fired both guns actually.”
“Really?” Brian chimed in.
“It was easier than I thought, really. I was expecting a lot worse. Truth be told, it was really pretty exciting.” She was thinking about the shot that she had fired into her gas tank and the eruption of flames that had followed and her heart sped up.
“Well, great!” Jack said. “I guess getting you trained is something we can scratch off our list.
“Yes it is,” Karen said proudly.
“What’s shaking guys?” Ian said as he sauntered into the kitchen.
Brian instantly recognized the look about Ian… the post-sex look. But this time there was something different in the look. “What happened to you dude?” Brian asked furrowing his eyebrows. “Something’s… weird.”
“I’m just… happy,” Ian said, beaming. But then his expression changed. “But I’m worried about Amanda.”
“What is it?” Blaze barked. Karen translated looking concerned. It seemed Karen and River were the only ones who could understand Blaze.
“I don’t know. Something strange happened. She seemed so sure,” Ian said.
“So sure of what?” Karen said, stepping to him.
“I’m okay, Karen” Amanda said, stepping into the room behind Ian.
“What’s he talking about?” Brian asked her. Everyone was now staring at Amanda.
“It’s all right,” Ian said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “All friends here, remember?”
“Yeah. I remember.” She steadied herself.
“Did you have a… vision?” Karen said quietly, touching her index and middle fingers to her lower lip. She thought about her own most recent vision that she hadn’t said anything about. A guilty look came across her face.