The Ranch

by Sean Liscom

  “It’s all here, boss,” Dan’s voice was loud and clear in my ear. I made a show of squeezing the throat mic again.

  “Copy, Dan. Return to the Jeep, please,” I made eye contact with Cowboy again. “You’re in luck though. My man says everything is in order and you haven’t completely managed to ruin my good mood, yet anyway. Why don’t you ride with me so we can continue to have a civilized conversation about how we’re going to make this work?” I gestured to the passenger door.

  “Ahhhh, why don’t you call your ranch and tell them everything is okay? I wouldn’t want to get that far only for something bad to happen,” he suggested. I unplugged the ear piece from the radio so he could hear the conversation.

  “Sterling ranch, Rogue two.”

  “Go ahead, Rogue,” Jeff Owens answered.

  “Everything’s good to go out here. We’re going to be inbound plus three five-tons and five sedans. I repeat, all is well.”

  “Copy that, Jason. Appreciate the update.”

  “One more thing, Jeff. I’m sure our guests would like a hot meal, could you get Megan on that and have one of the bunkhouses cleared out. These guys look like they could use a hot shower and a decent bed to sleep on.”

  “Not a problem. The teams have been dispatched to Elko to help out the sheriff, so we got plenty of bunks,” Jeff replied.

  “Good enough?” I asked Cowboy. He nodded his approval and the grin returned to his face.

  “Weren’t so hard, was it?” he asked. I ignored his question and keyed the mic again.

  “That’s all, Jeff. Rogue two, out.”

  “If ya don’t mind, I’ll drive your rig. You can ride shotgun and Jill can ride in one of the other trucks. Same with the Jeep. I want your people split up between the rigs so there ain’t nothin stupid goin on.

  Tuesday, September 6th, 2017

  The ARK.

  T-Minus 1 hour until launch.

  Melissa had nearly three hours to do nothing but sit and wait for Jack to return to the control center. In that time, she had played out endless scenarios in an effort to come up with a plan of her own. The security cameras had been subverted by Jack; they were now useless to her. He had taken her means of communication and left her with nothing but her thoughts.

  He had been ahead of her every step of the way the entire time. It had become painfully obvious there was no way she could run a game on the man. He was too smart, too seasoned for her to handle. What’s worse, his once wholesome persona had completely shifted to something darker, some form of evil she couldn’t begin to understand. The man she was dealing with now may have looked like her uncle Jack, but this version was full of hate and anger.

  His remarks about launching the missiles and wiping out half of the human race had left her with a pit in her stomach. His admission that he hadn’t fully made up his mind yet was chilling, to say the least. When the thought of just shooting him crossed her mind, she shook it off and began to pace the room as the countdown timer continued its march to zero.

  For the first time, she felt he might not give a damn about anything or anyone except for his need to have revenge. This was the man who triggered the EMP that was responsible for billions of deaths. All in the name of vengeance, he killed more people than she could begin to imagine. Deep down, she knew that even more blood on his hands would make no difference at all. He had to be stopped, the question was; how?

  “You look like a woman with a lot on her mind,” Jack remarked as he walked into the room, jolting her from her thoughts.

  “I’m trying to figure out if I should just shoot you now or hope you have everyone’s best interests at heart,” she stopped her pacing and sat in the chair where her laptop was.

  “You got a gun. It’s your call,” he set the communications laptop back in its place and then sat where his laptop was.

  “I need some answers, Jack. I need some honest answers.”

  “What’s the question?”

  “Do you feel any remorse over the things you’ve done? Doesn’t the blood you’ve spilled haunt you at night?”

  “No and no.”

  “Is there any emotion left in you? How can you not feel bad about what you’ve done?”

  “I don’t have time to waste on emotions anymore. All they do is get in the way of the job.”

  “That’s all this is to you? A job?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened to you? What happened to the man that took care of my family when my dad was sick? You used to be so kind and caring....” her voice faded out at the memory of the man she used to know.

  “That was a long time ago, Mel. A lot has happened since those days,” he began to type on the keyboard. She glanced up at the countdown timer. Twelve minutes until the last ship was in position. One by one, the ships icons began to turn from green to red.

  “There is one thing I don’t understand,” she decided to change the direction of her questions.

  “What’s that?”

  “You said you triggered the EMP warheads that were aboard the satellites, correct?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Then explain the dirty bombs that went off.”

  “It’s all on your laptop. Everything you could ever want to know about every active or inactive operation is in there.”

  “I want to hear it from you.”

  “Too bad.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m done with all the questions, Mel. If you don’t understand what’s gone on here or what’s about to happen, that’s not my problem. If you’re too impatient to read through everything on the laptop, again, not my problem. When you get back to the ranch, give it to Bill. He’s got the time and the brains to figure it all out.”

  “You owe me some answers!”

  “No, I don’t owe you a damn thing. You’ve been asking questions since we got here, and I’ve given you answers. Maybe something got knocked loose in your brain and you can’t understand the answers you’ve been givin, I don’t know but the Q&A is over.” he casually replied. His right hand left the keyboard and he retrieved his sidearm from its holster. He set it on the table, mere inches from where he was typing.

  “Jack....”

  “Don’t give me that “Jack” crap. I will not tolerate any disruptions in this mission. None!” he said sharply. “You help me complete the mission, you walk out of here. You hinder me and the outside world will never hear from you again. Understood?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Use your left hand, a finger and a thumb, remove the gun from your waistband. Set it on the floor and kick it over here,” he instructed. She did as she was told. When the gun bumped into is foot, he simply lifted his foot and put it down on top of the firearm.

  “What is wrong with you? Have you lost your ever lovin mind?” she asked quietly.

  “I assure you, I’m quite in control here,” he stopped typing and leaned back in his chair. The main monitor began to flash a red bar around its borders. Melissa glanced up and could see the countdown was in its final 30 seconds.

  “Then what happened? One minute you’re in a good mood, the next, the Devil himself wouldn’t cross your path. You’re toying with the idea of killing billions more and you feel no remorse, no guilt about those you’ve already killed. What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked again.

  “That’s kind of a loaded question, don’t ya think?”

  “No, I don’t think it is. I really want to know what pushed you to this point. Why are you here today?”

  “As you said earlier; evil will always exist. Some men, like my sons, can stare it down. Other men, men like me, become what we fight. It’s the only way for us to beat back the tide. Fight fire with fire, so to speak. Men like my sons don’t have the guts to cross the line, I did! When Irene died, I went there. I became what I was trying to kill. A part of me stayed there because the rules were so much easier to deal with.”

  “When these bastards killed Olivia, I embraced the darkness.
All bets were off! I knew the price would be my soul and so many more. The only redeeming fact is that I’ve done everything I can to stop the plans of the elite. They are the ones who set the price in human lives, I’m the one who cashed the check.”

  “The people of this planet have been nothing more than cattle, poorly treated cattle at that, to the elite all throughout history. Big Pharma was making people sick. I ended that. Their processed food was making people sick. I ended that. The governments of the world were getting too powerful, corrupt and rich. They were doing it on the backs of their citizens. I ended that.”

  “One thing you need to understand is that even if I don’t destroy the missiles, the end result won’t be as bad as you think. The strongest of the human race will survive and the weak will perish. Once again, the balance we were supposed to have all along will be restored. Whether a man is good or evil, the playing field will be leveled. No more stacked odds.”

  “Tell me again; what happens if those missiles never leave the ships?” she asked, shifting slightly in her chair.

  “In that case, they will be nothing more than ticking time bombs. They could sit for years, maybe even a decade or two, but eventually the elements will get to them. Once that happens….”

  “Don’t launch them. Give the Navy time to do their job.”

  “It’s not the Navy I’m worried about, Mel. Once they lose two or three ships, do you really think the bureaucrats will have the guts to risk even more of their precious ships? Or worse; what if those same bureaucrats decide they want to keep the weapons for themselves? What then?” he leaned forward and began to type again. The last ship was in position and its icon had gone red. The countdown had reached zero.

  “What about all the people you’ll kill that had nothing to do with this?”

  “They had their chance, Melissa. They had their chance and they squandered it! They sat back and they allowed it to come to this. They could have risen up and thrown off the chains but they didn’t. No, they are just as complicit as anyone with direct knowledge and they too shall suffer the consequences!”

  “You can’t do anything without the pendants and right now, and I have no intention of giving them to you.”

  “Keep ‘em. Call them a souvenir if you wish,” he said with a chuckle.

  “What?” her voice was flooded with confusion.

  “They’re keys, Melissa. That’s all they are. I needed you to think you held some sort of power and that was the easiest way to do it,” he continued to type. “You’re far to gullible.”

  “Back away from the computer!” she was out of her chair and on her feet.

  “Or what?” his fingers were still tapping at the keys. Before she finished taking the first step toward him, his hand was on the pistol and she was staring down the barrel of it. She froze before she could take a second step. “Sit down, Melissa. To shoot you now, when this is so close to finished, would be tragic,”

  “You have to stop this! This is crazy!” she plead.

  “This is probably the sanest thing I’ve done in a very long time,” he hovered over the “ENTER” key for the briefest of moments before he tapped it. The lighting in the room changed from white LED lighting to red. A low alarm klaxon began to sound.

  “No....” Melissa whispered. Her eyes were fixated on the main monitor. One by one, the shipboard cameras showed the missiles launching from their tubes.

  “If the Phoenix is to fly, there must first be ashes from which it can rise....”

  CHAPTER 28

  Tuesday, September 6th, 2017

  The Ranch.

  “Stop the rig here,” I said after we rolled across the culvert under the driveway.

  “Why?” Cowboy asked looking at me sideways.

  “Protocol,” I offered. “We always stop here to signal that everything is okay, and they always send out two guards to check the vehicles.”

  “Oh,” he replied and stepped on the brakes. Once my truck had come to a stop, I told him to shut it off. He got on his radio and told all of the other vehicles to shut down too. Jeff Owens and Jake Fields opened the gate just far enough to slip through. Both men carried their rifles at low ready as they approached.

  “I kinda figured you’d put up more of a fight,” Cowboy said from the driver’s side of the seat.

  “Won’t lie about it but I did give the idea some thought.”

  “Why didn’t ya?”

  “Too much chance of the vaccine getting destroyed and this actually works out a little better.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Whether you realize it or not, you just added 12 fighters to my ranch. That is assuming you’ll fight to keep what ya get once were inside,” I waved out the window as Jeff and Jake got closer. Jake stopped short and Jeff came up to the open window.

  “Everything okay, boss? Your leg bothering you?” he asked.

  “Yeah, you know how it is,” I smiled. He returned the grin.

  “Alright. Let me walk the line and then we’ll get the gate open,” he did a quarter turn and started walking down the line of vehicles. I was watching him in the mirror and could see him tap his foot each time he stopped at a window to speak to the occupants.

  “Was he talkin about the leg you got shot in?” Cowboy asked.

  “Yeah. It still gives me hell from time to time.”

  “What you said about fighting to keep this place.... Do you think there’s gonna be another fight like the one where you got shot?”

  “It’s always a possibility. It ain’t just about fighting for this place. The food and the animals need tending. There’s plenty of hard work and long days to go around. Is that gonna be a problem?” I glanced at him as Jeff passed the sixth vehicle in our ten-vehicle convoy.

  “Well, we didn’t really expect to come here and work!” he said indignantly.

  “That’s how it works here. You work for what you eat, and you stand a post to defend it.”

  “I don’t think all the boys are gonna be down for that. We ain’t farmers!”

  “If you think you guys are gonna be sittin on your asses, gettin all fat off our hard work, you might be in for a big surprise,” a quick glance in the mirror and I saw Jeff working his way back to the front of the convoy.

  “Why you keep watchin your man in the mirror?”

  “Just making sure nobody gets stupid back there.”

  “Oh. Yeah, we don’t need that,” he chuckled. “You do this shit every time you come in?”

  “Yep. Can I ask you a question?”

  “What?”

  “Why didn’t you disarm us? That one has been bothering me a little,” I admitted.

  “Easy. You guys are pros and we’re pros. If we took your guns, you’d be on the defensive and we wouldn’t be able to work out a deal. The way I’m readin you, the last thing you want is another shoot-out. You’d rather work somethin out. Right?”

  “Of course. Everyone that was quick to pull a gun is already dead. There’s more than one way to end a stand-off. We don’t always need our guns but it’s always a good idea to have one handy. You know, just in case,” I finished as Jeff’s face filled my window again.

  “Everything looks good. Let’s get you guys inside the wall,” he shot me a thumbs up and walked away. When he joined Jake at the front of the truck, Jake pointed to something on the ground under the front of the rig. He knelt down, out of sight and came up smelling his fingers. He made a sour face and walked to the driver’s door.

  “Yer leaking something,” he said to Cowboy.

  “What is it?” Jake held out his fingers so he too could sniff them.

  “Smells like someone shit their pants,” Jake grinned. While Cowboy was focused on Jake, I reached across the seat and grabbed his pistol from its holster on his thigh, cocked the hammer back and pointed it at him. Looking past him into the mirror on his side, I could see the floor of the desert come to life.

  Forty men and women had perfectly concealed themselves in the dirt and sagebrus
h on either side of the road. When they stood, their rifles went against their shoulders and they were advancing on all sides. It took about three seconds for them to close the gap and begin yanking people out of the vehicles.

  “Get the hell out of my truck!” I growled. He slowly opened the door and slid from behind the wheel.

  “You son-of-a-bitch....” he muttered as Jake told him to get his hands on the hood. I got out of the truck and began working my way toward the Jeep. It was fifth in the column. Jill exited from the passenger door and met me halfway.

  “That guy I was riding with, the one who had the radio when we met Dana, I think he’s more than just the muscle,” she stated.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “I dunno, it was the way he was rambling on about what they were going to do to this place once HE was in charge. If he isn’t the leader, he sure wants to be. If I had to guess, Cowboy is one of his lieutenants.”

  “Alright, I’ll sort it out. Take Dana, her son, Thomas and Anthony and get them inside. Then....” I was cut off by the sudden blaring of the ranches alarm klaxon. The man Jill had been riding with took advantage of the distraction and made a grab for the rifle that was pointed at him. With lightning speed, he spun, grabbed the barrel and punched the young woman who was guarding him. Eliza, her name flashed through my mind’s eye. As she went down on her back, he jerked the rifle free, breaking the sling mounts.

  Before he could bring the AR-15 to bear, I simultaneously shoved Jill backward and leveled Cowboys six shooter. Out of pure reflex, I pulled the trigger once. The large handgun barked and the round struck the man in the hand that was holding the grip on the rifle. Had the weapon not been in front of him, it would have been a perfect center mass shot. His hand and the pistol grip exploded in a pink mist, one of his fingers landed on the hood of the Jeep.

  He dropped the damage rifle and clutched his destroyed hand to his chest with his good one. His screams of pain over-rode the blaring of the klaxon. I moved around the front of the Jeep, never lowering my weapon. In my peripheral vision, I could see no one else moving. Several of the team members had their weapons pointed at him but no one moved.