“It sounds like Raphael, and his guys are on the other side of the mall right now,” said Tank. “We should grab supplies before those emergency lights run out of juice. Kevin, you should go warm up your jeep and bring it closer to the doors. Ben, Joe, go find some food, water, and blankets that we can take with us. We’ll meet back at the exit doors in 10 minutes. Camille, you’re with me.”
Kevin left to get his jeep, while Tank and Camille went to the hunting section. Joe and Ben walked through the shadows towards the cashier area to find some snack foods.
“Ben, are you coughing up blood?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sure it’s nothing. I had a cousin once who always coughed. Every time he…” he stopped mid-sentence and erupted in a fit of coughing. Joe looked down to see black splatter on the tile floor.
“Maybe you should sit down.”
Ben stopped coughing. “Okay, maybe I just need to rest for a minute.” He sat on the floor.
“I’ll go grab some snacks and I’ll be right back.” Joe ran to the racks by the cashier. He realized he had left his backpack of supplies in the food court, so he grabbed a bag from behind the cash counter and filled it with chips, bottles of pop and filled his pockets with chocolate bars and beef jerky. Then he went back to find his friend. They walked slowly towards the exit doors where they met up with the others.
Camille was standing beside Tank, who was holding a large black compound bow and had a quiver of arrows on his back. “I can’t believe they don’t have any guns,” he said.
Kevin was standing in the doorway covered in snow. “Bad news, guys. The jeep tires have been slashed.”
“Can we find another vehicle?”
“Not tonight. There’s a snowstorm brewing and it’s as dark as sin out there. Looks like the power is out in the whole area.”
“Okay, let’s go upstairs,” said Tank. They have beds up there and there’s only one way up, making it easier to guard.
Chapter 24
Blender and Monique found tracks again outside the mansion gate the next morning. They got to work, making their home more secure.
Blender helped Zach set up the cameras. They placed one in the backyard overlooking the pool, one at the front door and one at the gate entrance. Ayesha checked all the windows to ensure they were all locked. Monique went through the police car in the garage. She grabbed a black duffel bag and threw in the pistol, shotgun, ammunition for both, two portable radios and pepper spray. Monique lugged the bag and a bullet-proof vest into the house and put it behind the desk in the study.
As per Monique’s instructions, they all packed to-go backpacks with essentials. If there was any trouble, they planned to meet in the guesthouse at the back.
That night after supper, they heard a vehicle honking at the front gate. Zach checked his laptop and saw a brown pickup truck outside the gate. A large man wearing a brown winter jacket stood outside the truck, waving his arms at the camera.
“What do we do?” asked Blender.
“Let’s just wait a bit and see if he leaves.”
Five minutes later, he was still there, standing in the snow, illuminated by the truck headlights. Every thirty seconds he would walk back to his truck and honk the horn a couple of times. Then he would get back out and lean against the side of his truck, looking up at the camera.
“I don’t think he’s leaving,” said Zach.
“I’m going out there,” said Monique.
“Don’t leave,” said Ayesha.
“Ayesha, you watch Olivia – she’s upstairs sleeping. Zach, you watch the camera feeds, and take one of the radios. I’ll take the other. You let me know if you see anything I need to know about. Blender, let’s grab some of the guns and ammo from the study.
Moment later they stood by the front door. Blender held the shotgun and Monique carried the pistol in her pocket.
“Blender, I need you to follow me, but stay out of sight. Roxie stays here.”
“Do you think this is a good idea?” asked Blender.
“It’s my only idea.”
Minutes later, she was walking down the laneway, the snow crunching under her feet. Her flashlight announced her arrival to the man at the gate, who stood on the other side.
“Good evening,” he yelled, his gloved hands holding on to the steel bars of the gate.
She stopped several metres back from the gate with one hand in her pocket. “What do you want?”
He held his hands back, “I’m not here to hurt anyone, I just need to talk.” As he spoke, his words turned to steam in the glow of the headlight beams.
Monique pointed the flashlight at his face. He squinted and put his hand up to block the light. His face did not look like he bore ill intent. She stepped closer. “So, talk,” she said in a stern voice and clicked off the flashlight.
“I know this isn’t your house,” he said.
She clenched on to the gun in her pocket but didn’t pull it out. “It was given to us.”
“I know that’s not true,” he said. “My wife used to work here as a housekeeper. She was with the owners when they died. They told her to lock the doors and leave after they died. After all the hours she spent slaving away cleaning this place for so many years, that’s the thanks she gets? They paid her peanuts. Even when they died, they couldn’t do the right thing and tell her that she could live here. We should be living here.”
“Well, you aren’t and we are. I’m sure there are a lot of other houses you could live in,” she said. She took a step back.
“No, no, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to scare you. Let me start over - my name is Milosz.” He offered his hand through the bars.
She did not move towards him. “My name is Monique. Like I said – what do you want?”
“I thought about coming here and forcing you guys out, but my wife, bless her soul…” He made the sign of the cross. “She said it wasn’t right to kick you guys out, because you must have needed a place to live too. Anyway, we did find another house. One that was not as big as this one and didn’t take so long to clean. When she got sick and died, I left and wandered into a C3.”
“What’s a C3?” asked Monique.
“It’s a Community Command Centre. You haven’t heard of them? They’re run by the Army and provide food and shelter for those that need it. I moved into one of the local C3’s and got talking with some people there. I found out that the Masterson’s kid came back from the States. He and a few of his buddies had come out here. They discovered that someone was living in his house. I overheard them plotting to storm this place and take back his family’s house. I knew from scouting out this place, that there were women and children living here, and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I drove out here as fast as I could to warn you. His name is Warren, and he has at least four of his college buddies with him, and they are armed. I don’t want to get caught in the middle of all this, so I’m leaving, but I thought I should warn you. If you want my advice, I’d say you should pack up and leave as soon as possible.” He turned to leave.
Monique loosened the grip on the pistol in her pocket, stepped towards the gate and offered her hand through the bars. “Thank you, Milosz.”
He shook her hand and nodded. “Good luck.” He climbed back in his truck and drove away, leaving Monique in the dark.
She clicked her flashlight back on and started running back to the house. Blender materialized out of the shadows and ran to catch up.
“Did you hear all that?” asked Monique.
“Yeah, what are we going to do?” asked Blender
“We’re leaving.”
“We have guns now - can’t we try to defend ourselves?”
“The two of us and two kids against five angry twenty-year-old’s? Besides, it sounds like we unknowingly stole this house.”
They ran down the laneway. “I thought that old guy told Kevin he could have it.”
“Maybe it wasn’t his to give.”
“Monique, are you there?�
� said a voice in Monique’s pocket.
She jumped, but then realized it was her radio.
“Yes, Zach,” she said panting.
“We got company.”
They ran into the house and over to Zach and the laptop without taking off her coat or boots. On the screen, she saw a purple pickup truck and a black SUV at the gate, which was now opening. The man who had just punched in the code looked up at the camera and gave them the finger.
Monique started yelling out orders calmly - which was not how she felt. “Ayesha go get Olivia.”
Ayesha ran up the stairs.
“Blender, go to the study and grab the black duffel bag with the ammo and pepper spray.”
He was on his way before she finished. “Zach, take this laptop to the basement and-”
“They’re here!” he was pointing at the screen.
The front door opened, and a small canister was thrown in, before the door closed again.
“Go!” she yelled at Zach, who ran down the hallway. The room was filling with smoke. She ran to the stairs, her eyes burning, and flew up the stairs towards her baby. When she opened the door to the baby’s room, it was empty.
From downstairs, she could hear the front door open and voices talking excitedly. Roxie was growling and barking.
“Ayesha,” she called out, “where are you?” She was about to call out again when she heard a voice from the main floor.
“I hear someone upstairs. You check the basement…”
Monique didn’t hear the rest as she ran down the hall, checking the other rooms. From behind her she heard one of the men at the top the stairs. Monique opened the closest door and went inside the bathroom as the man entered the hallway. She quietly locked the door and kept the light off.
“Monique…” her radio squawked before she turned it off.
The hallway light was still on, and she could see a shadow creep by the door. The hallway light went out, and everything went black. Even the night light plugged in below the mirror went out. She could hear yelling downstairs and the loud booming of a shotgun blast. There was more yelling and footsteps racing back towards the stairs.
She splashed her eyes with water, but her eyes still burned. As she left the washroom, she pulled the gun out of her pocket and clicked off the safety. She crept slowly down the hallway to the stairs. Just as she was about to take the first step down the stairs, she felt the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed against her temple.
“Don’t move,” a man’s voice said.
“Look, we don’t want any trouble. We were just leaving,” she said as composed as she could. Her eyes were still stinging and she blinked rapidly.
“I’m sure you were,” he said and turned his flashlight on. “I’m thinking we may want to keep you around for entertainment. You’re pretty and -” he paused when he heard Olivia crying out from one of the rooms down the hall. “What was that?”
The moment she heard Olivia, Monique went from calm and composed to aggressive. She swiftly pushed the gun away from her head, and at the same time, shoved her own gun into his gut and fired. The man fell backwards down the stairs, his flashlight bouncing down ahead of him. He started to get up and reach for his gun when Roxie appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“Kill!” yelled Monique, and the dog attacked the man before he could raise the gun.
Monique turned on her flashlight and ran to the room where Ayesha and Olivia had been hiding. They were both crying.
Monique knelt beside them and stroked Olivia’s cheek. “Is the diaper bag here?” she asked.
Ayesha pointed beside her. Monique used the flashlight to find a soother and stuck it in Olivia’s mouth, who stopped crying. She looked Ayesha in the eyes.
“Ayesha, listen to me. We are leaving, but I need you to stop crying for five minutes. You’ve had a tough life with people that didn’t care for you, but you kept going. Tonight, I need you to trust me. I love you, and I will do everything possible to keep you safe, but I need you to be tough. I need you to be strong. Be strong for me. Be strong for little Olivia here. Be strong for your friend Zach. And even be strong for Blender.” She cracked a small smile.
Ayesha stopped crying and let out a little giggle. She wiped her eyes and pursed her lips with determination. “Okay, what do you need me to do?”
“I need you to carry Olivia, and follow me downstairs. Do you have a scarf in your bag?”
“Yes.”
“Cover your mouth with your scarf and keep Olivia’s face covered. There’s still smoke downstairs. Once we get to the back door, I need you to run to the guest house.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to lead the way.”
“What if those guys try to hurt us?” she asked.
“Then, I’m going to shoot them.”
They left the room and walked down the hall. It was dark upstairs, but one of the vehicles outside had its headlights pointed into the living room window downstairs. The beams of light illuminated the dissipating smoke. Roxie was still shaking the man on the stairs by the throat.
“Off!” yelled Monique, and the dog’s jaws opened, and the dead body sank onto the stairs. “Heel!”
Roxie complied and walked with them down the stairs.
They could hear voices and movement from the other side of the house, but it didn’t sound like anyone was nearby.
“Watch your step, but don’t look down,” Monique said as they stepped over the mutilated body on the stairs. They made it to the bottom of the stairs. As they walked through the living room, they heard a noise and stopped mid-stride.
“Monique is that you?” said a voice from behind them.
She turned to find Blender standing with the shotgun in his hands and a stunned look on his face.
“Blender, are you okay? Where’s Zach?” she said.
Blender stepped forward into one of the beams of light coming through the window. “I killed a man,” he said, staring at nothing.
“Come on we have to go,” said Monique.
There was a loud gunshot from behind Blender. His face froze. With a stunned look, he fell forward. Blender was dead before he hit the carpet.
Ayesha screamed, and Monique fired her pistol towards the sound of the gunshot.
“Kill!” she yelled at Roxie.
The dog took three steps and then leapt through the air towards the man, snarling and growling.
“Run, Ayesha,” she said harshly. Ayesha ran out of the living room towards the back of the house. Monique crouched behind a chair and pointed her gun towards where Blender had been standing. She could see the dog fighting with the man but couldn’t find an opening for a shot.
As soon as she saw the gun fall from his bleeding hand, she yelled at Roxie, “Off!”
The dog let go of the man, and she took the opportunity to shoot him. He fell backwards, falling to the ground.
Monique ran out of the living room to catch up to Ayesha. She found her in the laundry room. “I told you to go to the guest house,” she said.
Ayesha pointed. “There’s a man by the back door. We can go through the window here, but I can’t do it with Olivia.”
Monique helped her out the window and handed Olivia down to her. “Can you find your way?” she asked.
“Yes, I think so.”
Monique then managed to hoist the dog through the window. “Roxie,” she yelled, “protect!” She pointed at Ayesha.
“Here, take my flashlight,” she said to Ayesha, “but only use it if you really need to.”
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I will be, soon. I have to find Zach first. Now, go.”
She waited till Ayesha, Olivia and Roxie disappeared into the back yard before slinking out of the laundry room. She couldn’t hear anything except her heartbeat as she walked silently into the kitchen. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the dark. There was small flame from the stove pilot light casting an eerie blue glow. She heard someone bump the dinin
g room table. She ducked behind the island counter and listened.
She felt a tapping on her back, and her heart leapt out of her chest. She turned, fearing the worst. A flashlight turned on for a moment, and she saw Zach staring back at her from behind his thick glasses. He had the look of total despair on his face.
“I saw Blender,” he whispered, “he’s dead.”
“I know, Zach, but you have to do as I say or we will be too. When I stand up, I need you to run out the back to the guest house where Ayesha and Olivia are, okay?”
She hoped he was nodding in the dark.
There was the sound of movement on the other side of the counter. Monique stood and fired, but her shots ricocheted off the pots and pans hanging from the rack above the counter.
The man dove for cover as Monique continued firing in his direction. She fired three more times. The gun flashes lit up the kitchen. She pulled the trigger again, but the gun clicked empty.
Suddenly it was silent and dark. Monique looked behind her. Zach was gone. She slowly backed out of the kitchen. A light flashed in her eyes, blinding her. She tripped backwards as shots were fired over her.
She looked up and saw the dark form of a man pointing a gun at her. She heard the shot and assumed she was dead, but the man clasped his side. He turned and fired two shots across the kitchen, then collapsed to the floor. Monique got to her feet and turned the flashlight on. Her attacker was leaning against the cupboard, holding his side, which was hemorrhaging blood. The gun lay on the floor beside him. She grabbed the gun and then shone the light across the kitchen.
It was Milosz, and he was bleeding badly from two bullet wounds.
She knelt beside him. “Let’s see if we can stop this bleeding,” she said, grabbing a tea towel from the counter.
“Are the kids safe?” he asked.
Within seconds the towel was soaked through, but she still held it tight against his wound.
“Yes, they’re safe,” she said. “You came back, and you saved me.”
He smiled for a moment, then stopped breathing.
Monique wiped a tear from her cheek and stood up. She walked quietly to the back door, knowing there was one more attacker left. Slowly, carefully, she moved the sliding door aside. The cold night air blew in, and she stepped out into the snow. She heard footsteps behind her and swung her pistol up as she turned. Before she could pull the trigger, there was a bright muzzle flash and a gunshot. She felt the impact of the bullet in the centre of her chest as she fell backwards into the snow, and for a moment, everything went black.
Black Flag | Book 1 | Surviving The Scourge Page 15