Grace waved in a friendly manner. “It’s nothing. Just a little fire in the rear compartment. We’re good.” The ski-feet of the Lahti sat on the open tailgate. If the driver saw it, she didn’t make a comment. Grace shifted on her feet to try to block it from view.
“Well, do you need anything? Is it out? I have a fire extinguisher on board.”
The woman was about a minute too late to be of use. However, since she was there, Grace figured it was worth asking. “You wouldn’t by chance have any bandages? We have an injured friend in another vehicle.”
The woman smiled. “Yeah, I can scare something up. Let me check in the back.”
While she drove ahead and moved the sleeper cab to the shoulder, Grace jumped in the truck and turned it around, so it faced the proper direction. She put it directly behind the woman’s tractor trailer. Asher, smudged shirt mostly back on, immediately climbed in the front with her.
“Hey, you did good putting out the fire. I wouldn’t have thought to take off my shirt.” She laughed at herself for saying it.
Asher chuckled as well; he was tucking in his soot-stained shirt while they sat there. “If I’m being totally honest, I would have preferred you’d taken yours off.”
She glared at him.
“I meant because I didn’t want to ruin my shirt!”
Grace maintained her focus.
He relented. “Okay, I guess I also wouldn’t have minded seeing you without it.”
She relaxed. “Well, unlike you, I have a tank top underneath, so I wouldn’t mind taking my own shirt off. However, I didn’t think of it. You did. That’s the important thing right now. Thank you for saving my truck.”
He patted the dashboard above the glove box. “She’s taking quite a beating, isn’t she?”
Grace sighed. “I’ve given up worrying about what my bosses are going to say when I bring this back to the depot. I figure I’ll be paying this off for the rest of my life. On a park ranger’s salary, it’s not an exaggeration.”
A couple of cars roared by on the highway, then the woman walked up to Asher’s window. “I don’t have much. I forgot I helped at a motorcycle accident a few weeks back. Haven’t replaced my supply.” She held up a small bundle of gauze bandages.
Asher took them. “Thank you.”
The woman looked across Asher’s spot and directly at Grace. “Are you all right, miss? I’ve been on the road long enough to ask questions when I see a young woman in a wrecked truck with two men,” she turned to Asher. “No offense.”
Grace smiled. “Oh, no. It’s nothing like that.” She stopped to think about it. How would she explain one of the men was previously a hitman sent to kill her? It was best to avoid such thoughts. “These two guys are my friends.”
An orange glow lit up the sky across the highway. The woman stopped looking at her and instead gazed at the attraction. Grace turned left, expecting the helicopter to have returned. However, the orange lance of tracer rounds fell from the sky far out on the nighttime grasslands. At first, it seemed as it if was a waste of bullets, but the zaps of light were aimed at one point.
Misha slammed the rear liftgate, pushing the heavy Lahti inside the truck. “We have to go!” he shouted, while walking around Asher’s side. When he climbed in, he added, “Nerio is using her minigun on the train engine. We have to get out there to shoot her from sky once and for all.”
Grace turned to find the woman standing with her mouth open. They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Grace spoke. “I promise you, I’m fine. These two men are protecting me. It would take too long to explain all that we’re doing, but thank you for the bandages. We might need them now more than ever.”
The trucker stood back from the window. “You’re going toward machine gun fire?”
“We have to,” Grace assured the lady.
Grace put it in gear. Once she was around the big rig, she put the hammer down.
“How bad is it?” she asked.
Misha was glued to the window, looking to the left. “We will not know until we get there, but attack is already over. She is leaving.”
“That can’t be good,” Asher added.
Kansas City, MO
Butch leaned over to talk to Ezra. It was obvious he didn’t want their new passenger, Kelly, to hear what was said. “I don’t think he’s armed, but maybe we should have a policy where we pat down anyone we bring on board.”
Ezra laughed quietly. “I’m with you. I believe what he said about someone following him, but I think there’s more to it. Stay sharp.” Louder, he added, “Please keep an eye on the water. If you see garbage out there, let me know so I can go around it.”
“Aye, aye,” Butch replied, only loud enough for those on the boat to hear.
They inched through the darkness, ever searching the far shore. Ezra was certain he saw flashlights bobbing after they’d gone a few hundred yards, but it could have also been car headlights far in the woods.
“Where are we taking you?” he asked Kelly, who remained seated against the rear bulkhead.
The man glanced up. “Not far. Upriver until you see the casino. It’s pretty much the last thing standing in these parts.”
“You said you came from your home. Where is that?”
Kelly sniffled loudly. “I live around. Drop me at the casino and I’ll get there.”
Ezra liked the guy less with each interaction. Was anything he said truthful?
After a short drive, they’d gotten around the searchlights on the far shore. He guessed they’d passed their old campsite and had added another quarter of a mile of river. He was beginning to feel better about their chain of events.
“Hey!” a man shouted from the near bank. A flashlight beam cut through the darkness until it found the boat. “I see you! Can you stop?” The man’s voice was loud and colored by desperation.
Ezra went into full alert mode. He’d gotten them so close to the left bank, someone could probably throw a rock and hit them. Even the darkness couldn’t hide them completely.
“Sorry!” he said forcefully, but not in a loud voice. At the same time, he gave the motor more gas.
“Bastard! Don’t go!” the man seethed. “Are you with TKM?”
Additional flashlights appeared on the near shore. Some were behind them, but many appeared in the trees on the bank ahead. Kelly popped his head up and down, getting more anxious as the number of beams converged on them. “Don’t stop,” he cautioned.
“Are these the gangs?” Ezra asked, wondering if it was the same on both shores of the river.
“All bad,” Kelly whined.
Another man shouted from the trees. “There’s a boat! They’re with TKM!”
Many people rallied to his words.
“We’re not with them,” Ezra replied, still unwilling to shout and attract more attention to himself. He didn’t dare go too fast; Ezra had to keep watch for debris in the water. However, he veered toward the middle of the river, hoping to put some distance between himself and the angry people.
“Butch, what do you see?”
“Lots of threats, E-Z.”
Sure enough, as he continued upriver, the woods on the left side cleared out. A number of tents had been pitched along the open shoreline. Lanterns illuminated many of them, despite the late hour.
“It looks like a campground,” Haley volunteered.
“No,” he replied. “Those are refugees.”
“Come back!” a man bellowed across the water. There was a pregnant pause before the guy added, “Or we’ll shoot!”
“Crap,” he said under his breath. “Hang on, guys.” After giving his crew a few seconds to prepare, he shoved the throttle forward, getting them up to a reckless cruising speed for the middle of the night on unfamiliar waters. The wide river made it easy to avoid the shore, but everything below the surface could potentially destroy his prop.
Flashlights followed Susan’s Grace, despite Ezra’s push to reach maximum speed. Seconds later, the man m
ade good on his threat. The boom of a shotgun echoed across the water as if chasing his speeding pontoons.
“Stay down!” he ordered his people, knowing it wasn’t necessary to be so obvious.
The shooter manually cycled another round and shot toward them.
“What are they thinking?” he asked the wind. “If they shoot us, do they think we’ll then willingly come over to them?”
Somehow, Kelly heard him. “People aren’t right in the city, dude! The space rock has ’em spooked.”
“I’m spooked, too,” he agreed.
Butch edged over to Ezra. “Want me to pop a few back to shore?”
“No, there are tents everywhere. I don’t want to hit an innocent bystander. Then the whole city would be after us.”
“Smart, as always, E-Z, but I think the whole city is already after us…” He pointed to the riverbank ahead. More lights blinked on, as if the tents weren’t part of a small campground isolated by the river but were instead part of the city itself.
The man with the shotgun gave it one more try, but they were at the edge of the gun’s range. However, Ezra wondered if the man was trying to hit them at all. Maybe it was a call to arms for those on the shore.
“Ezra, look back there.” Haley pointed behind them. More tents lit up, on both sides of the shore. Running flashlights were everywhere.
Kelly cautiously peered over one of the seats. “I told you the gangs were out there. Now they’re going to get us.”
The boat was in the middle of the river, but Ezra wasn’t sure any distance would make a difference. Ahead, more lights focused on the waterway, some very bright. Car headlights were turned on, pointing toward his boat.
“My God, why are they doing this?” he shouted to his friends.
“I don’t know,” Kelly yelled back. “But I see the casino.”
While almost everything else in the city was dark, or run by battery lights inside tent canopies, the two-story hotel and casino was shrouded in bright white floodlights. A three-story clocktower served as the centerpiece. The time showed three thirty.
“I’m not sure if we can—” Ezra started to say.
He was cut short as Kelly sprang up, climbed over the rail, then jumped into the water. He didn’t explain himself or say goodbye.
Ahead, more headlights came on.
Apparently, they were about to be the main attraction.
Chapter 16
Somewhere in Central Wyoming
“Please be all right,” Grace mumbled to herself while driving off road toward the train. The moonlight provided enough of a guide to see the stopped engine and she was able to drive alongside the tracks to get there. When she got close enough, she saw several small fires burning in the wooden boxcar, showing her the extent of Nerio’s attack. Things weren’t going to be all right.
“Stop here,” Misha instructed when they were about a hundred yards out.
“No thanks,” she replied.
Misha made a sound of frustration from the back, but she ignored it. He might have been thinking about a repeat attack, but she knew Asher needed to see his sister without delay. Grace skidded the truck to a halt as soon as she was next to the smoky engine.
She glanced over to Asher. “You check on her. I’ll help at the front.”
“Got it,” he said, springing into action.
“You are too close to train,” Misha said quietly.
She yanked the keys out and tossed them back to him. “Move it if you want.”
The engine was a mess. There were many holes in the orange metalwork of the side, and a round or two had gone into the compartment at the front where the engineers worked the controls. As she ran along the side rail, the voices of men in the front caught her attention. She became concerned about being mistaken for the assassin. “Hey, this is Grace Anderson. Is Robert in there?”
A few seconds went by before a face appeared at the open entrance. She exhaled with relief to see the engineer alive. Robert waved her closer.
“I’m glad to see you,” she said on approach.
“You too,” he replied, before turning somber. “I lost my partner.”
It had been ten minutes since the helicopter attack. It took her about that long to get off the highway, find her way through the tall grass, and drive the rest of the way next to the tracks. Robert’s overalls were covered in blood, suggesting he’d been working those ten minutes to save his partner.
“What about everyone in the back?” she pointed over her shoulder, toward the boxcar. The flatcar was presumably empty, since her truck was no longer on it.
He shrugged. “I haven’t been back there.”
She spun around, knowing there was nothing to be done at the front. She noticed Misha had moved her truck. She heard it in the darkness.
After hopping off the engine, and running along the boxcar, she found a handful of passengers in the grass, tending their wounded. Asher wasn’t there, prompting her to look around. The boxcar door had been left wide open, giving her a clear view of the fires inside. “Asher?”
“He went that way,” one of the men said without looking up at her.
“Thanks,” she replied, already jogging toward the rear of the train.
The tendrils of flame from the wooden panels lit up the empty surface of the flatcar, as well as the closest parts of the fields next to the train. It was evident in seconds Asher wasn’t there.
“Ash?” she cried out, feeling legitimate worry for the first time.
Grace went all the way to the back end of the flatcar. She checked underneath the car, simply to be thorough, but he wasn’t there. She even went to the far side and glanced toward the engine. Not there, either.
“Where the heck are you?” she said to herself.
“I’m here,” he finally replied. Asher came running up from behind her, sweaty and winded.
“Did you run around the whole train?” she asked with surprise.
“She isn’t here,” he said, ignoring her question.
“Seriously?” Grace knew he wouldn’t joke about it, so she waved him to follow her. “We’ll check again.”
He was about to follow when he enacted a robotic halt as he watched the tracks behind the train.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I see someone.”
They both studied the darkness as several shapes strode into the aura of light thrown out by the fires. One of the figures was limping. Another supported the injured man. A third person walked nearby, though not with much haste.
“It’s them,” he exclaimed. Then, louder, he yelled to the trio. “Diedre!”
A woman waved with her good arm.
“Let’s—” she started to say.
Asher was already on the move.
“Go help them,” she finished.
Kansas City, MO
Ezra was tempted to turn around and give up the idea of using Susan’s Grace to reach his daughter, but the rising anger on both shores of the river suggested he was on the one and only course to get through the crowds. Kelly might not have been telling the truth about why he was in the woods, but it became clear with each new headlight that something big was going on at the borderlands of Kansas City. The tweaker had run the gauntlet on foot and remained so fearful of doing it again he preferred to swim in the hazardous river.
Butch and Haley huddled together in the middle of the boat, serving as weights for the tents, so they didn’t blow away. It was also the only shielded position on the deck; the chairs and side rails provided a minimal amount of protection. Butch’s rifle lay next to him. Haley’s was close by.
“Stay down, guys,” he said over the engine noise. Though they had rifles at the ready, there was no way to fight back against such odds.
“I’m comfy,” Haley joked.
They were passing the casino when an explosion of light erupted about fifty feet over their heads. Fingers of purple light shot out in multiple directions.
“Damn!” Butch shouted.
>
The concussion from the blast fell upon the boat, literally blowing his hair back. Butch’s cowboy hat seemed to be glued to his head. It didn’t move at all.
“They’re using fireworks,” he said as an attempt to comfort his passengers.
Haley pointed to the next one arcing across the sky toward them. “Incoming!”
A giant pink starburst exploded over the middle of the river. The airburst was so large most of the display went right into the water. The top half went up a short way before collapsing and fizzling out.
The first two fireworks signaled the start of the follow-on show. A dozen streams of industrial-grade pyrotechnics rose up from the area around the casino. Ezra had no choice but to risk going faster, throttling up to about forty.
“E-Z, you enjoying this?”
“The fireworks?” he asked with surprise.
Another went off about ten feet over the water. Fortunately, it was about fifty yards behind them. They were bathed in a wash of warm air.
“Not really. Susan and I preferred watching them from across the lake, not directly inside them.”
Haley laughed.
“Just get us through,” Butch said in a reasonable tone of voice.
A ping on metal suggested it wasn’t merely harmless fireworks heading their way. Someone, maybe everyone, was shooting real guns at them. It occurred to him what the people on the shore were doing.
“The fireworks are only a light show. They’re using them to spot us!” More quietly, he added, “I think they believe we’re with TKM.”
Butch went right to sarcasm mode. “And why would that piss anyone off?”
“Because TKM are assholes?” Haley replied in a serious voice.
The headlights, spotlights, and fireworks combined to make the filthy river light up as if it were the feature in a Broadway show. Ezra needed to keep his eyes forward, ever searching for floating debris to avoid, rather than look into the blinding lights. Water spurts shot up in random places around them.
“I hope they shoot themselves in the crossfire!” Butch yelled, keeping his arm over Haley’s back.
Ezra couldn’t think of a valid reason why anyone would want to shoot at them. Even if they were with TKM, they hadn’t been given a proper warning or been told the area ahead was off limits. It seemed absolutely random.
Impact Series Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 93