by Unknown
The silence held only for a second.
“Fuckin’ A,” Lydia spat.
She looks positively rabid, Katie thought. “What I mean is,” Katie said, “a truck… Maybe one of us… Who steals a truck when everything’s just lying around free to anyone who wants to pick it up?”
Jake nodded his head.
“Well as soon as it’s light I say we follow the tracks. If we’re careful, it should be no problem at all,” Conner said.
“Goddamn right,” Lydia said.
“Should be armed. I’m sure they will be,” Katie said.
“Not you. You’re not going are you?” Conner asked.
“I’m the best shot we have,” Katie said. “It’s that simple. If we don’t go after them,” she shrugged and then shook her head. “No,” she said. “The more I think about it, they’ll probably come back. And they’ll probably come back armed as well. Hell, maybe they were this time.” She looked at Lydia. “Lydia saw two in the truck, but how many more were there? Or back where ever they went to,” she finished seriously.
“So. The idea is to take it to them before they bring it to us?” James asked.
“Got a better idea?” Jake challenged.
“No… No, but I’m no killer. It’s still just a damn truck.” James finished.
“Yeah, tonight it was a truck, tomorrow it might be me… Or Katie… Or Jan,” Lydia said.
James stayed silent, thoughtful. He sighed. “What a damn mess,” he said at last.
“It’s that,” Jake agreed.
“I got to agree, James,” Conner said. “It’s not the same world. What if they do come back? Do we decide then to do something? It might be too late.”
“Honey. I think it’s best to go get them,” Janna said quietly, her eyes on James's own. Those eyes looked frightened, Conner thought. He supposed a little of that fright was resting in everyone's eyes right now.
“I don’t like to be bullied or pressured into anything,” James said.
“Hey,” Conner said. “It’s no pressure, Man. It’s real. It really just happened.”
James nodded his head yes, but a frown remained stamped onto his mouth. Deep lines scarred his forehead. His hands twisted restlessly in his lap. He suddenly brought his hands together firmly. “Okay,” he agreed. “Okay. I see the point. I’ve done a lot of hunting. I’m a good shot with a rifle. I’d like to go too.”
~
When the sun began to peek over the top of the ridge on the opposite shore of the Hudson river, everyone filed out to the two remaining trucks. It had been decided that Conner and Jan would stay behind while the others went in search of the stolen truck. They switched on and tested two sets of F.M. radios.
“The range is normally only about two miles or so, but it’s not like there’s anything to interfere with them anymore,” Jake said. “We’ll take three with us, and you keep the other here to monitor us, or if they come back here,” Jake finished.
“Do you think that’s a possibility?” Janna Adams asked.
“I doubt it, dear,” James told her with a reassuring smile. “It’s just to be safe.”
Conner walked over to Katie. Her eyes met his. He kissed her softly, and her arms slipped around him.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered, “I’ll be careful. And I’ll make sure they’re careful.” She kissed him and pulled back.
Conner stared at the face of the two way radio for a long second and then watched her get into the Suburban. James got into the front seat with her. Her eyes met his once more, and she smiled reassuringly, then started the Suburban, and fell in behind Jake as he drove the big State truck out across the pavement.
Conner and Janna stood quietly as the two trucks drove away. Neither of them wanted to go back inside the factory. The sun was up and warming the old asphalt of the road where it passed in front of the factory, and what little snow remained was already beginning to melt.
“Left here,” The radio squawked. It sounded like Lydia.
“Behind you,” came an answer that sounded like James.
Conner shifted the 30-30 Deer rifle he held in one hand and thumbed off the strap that held his Nine Millimeter in his web holster. Janna Adams grimaced and then thumbed the safety off the shotgun she was holding. A short clip protruded from the base of the shotgun, just forward of the trigger. She had two more clips in a small pouch on her side, as well as a fully loaded three eighty in a tooled leather side holster she wore.
What must we look like, Conner thought. Aloud he said, “They’ll be fine.”
“Really?” Janna Adams asked. “I truly hope so. I truly do.”
~
The next twenty minutes went by slowly. Occasional squawks of directions came from the radio, and in the distance the sound of both trucks could still be heard. The silence broke all at once.
The radio squealed in Conner’s hand. One word jumped clearly from the static… “Jesus!”… Conner couldn’t tell from whom. A crashing sound accompanied it, and in the far distance gunfire erupted in the still, previously quiet morning air.
The squeal from the radio abruptly cut off and it fell back to low static. In the distance the sound of gunfire continued for what seemed like ten minutes, but was probably no more than thirty or forty seconds in reality. Conner keyed the radio, “Katie,” he screamed. “Katie?”
Gunfire broke out again in the distance. The fast… POP, POP, POP of semi automatic gunfire, but the sharp crack of a heavy rifle too. No answer came back over the radio. Janna Adams made a small strangled sound in the back of her throat, and a low sob slipped from her mouth. “No, God, no,” she whispered.
“It’s alright, Jan,” Conner told her. He didn’t believe it himself, but it was what you said. It was how you lied to yourself when you were pretty sure that things were far from fine. Life didn’t work that way in his experience. The gunfire had stopped, but the radio maintained its teasing static as his mind continued to assure him that nothing at all was right and nothing ever would be again. Just as he had the thought, the radio in his hand squawked once again.
“You guys okay?” a panicked sounding James asked.
“We’re good… We’re good, base. We’re all good. Everything’s okay,” Jake answered.
Beside Conner, Janna broke into a sob. He reached over and pulled her close to him. “It’s okay,” he soothed. “They said they’re all okay,” Conner repeated dumbly, like the words were some magic mantra.
“I need you to come over here,” James said over the radio in a tight, controlled voice. Fear quickly spiked in Conner’s heart.
“Yeah… Uh, you need… Uh, yeah… Okay… We’re coming… We’re on the way,” Jake replied.
Conner pressed his button down. “What is it?” he asked. He spoke with more calm than he felt. “What’s going on?”
“Conner… Conner, we got a little problem here… Give me a second and I’ll get right back to you,” Jake told him.
“Standing by.” Conner forced himself to say. Now Janna was hugging him and the fear gripped his heart hard, refusing to let go.
~
“I’ll kill you. I will,” The kid said. He held his gun sideways like some banger kid from a bad Hollywood movie. Blood trickled slowly from one nostril, as well as from several deep cuts up the left side of his face. His eyes were focused and hard.
“No,” Katie said quietly. Her own forty-five was held in both hands aimed at the kid’s chest. He looks like he’s only about thirteen… Fourteen, she corrected.
The kids lip curled at her. “You think I won’t do it, Bitch? I will… I will, Bitch… I’ll do it.”
“No,” Katie repeated quietly. “I drop it and you shoot anyway. No way, Kid. No way.” She watched as James shifted to his right, drawing farther away from Katie so the kid couldn’t keep both of them in sight.
“Stop fuckin’ movin’! Stop fuckin’ movin'!” the kid suddenly screamed. The gun barrel wavered a little, nervously jittering up and down, the kid’s finger l
ightly, compulsively caressing the trigger as Katie watched.
Jake and Lydia worked their way up silently behind the kid, past the bodies that lay on the ground, one a young girl.
Behind Jake, Lydia dropped the barrel of her gun and sighted on the kid's back. Jake stared at her dumbly for a second and then followed suit.
The seconds played out as the blood continued to slowly leak from the kids face. His tongue darted out and tasted it where it ran from his nose. He tried to push it away from his lips where it ran and dripped down onto his chin.
“Last chance, Bitch,“ he said. He brought the barrel of his gun down towards her. At the same time James took another step sideways. The kid’s eyes darted to James. The gun dipped and swiveled towards him. “I told you…” he began.
All four guns spoke at once and the kid seemed to do a quick tap dance before the gun fell from his hand without firing. He tried to suck in a breath but collapsed onto the dirty asphalt instead.
Before anyone could react, the silence was split by a scream from down the river. A young boy stood silhouetted by the rising sun on a ledge above the river facing them. Something shifted from his side. “I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you… You killed my brother,” the boy screamed in a high falsetto. His arms came up quickly.
“Hit the ground,” Katie yelled as the kid opened fire with the deer rifle he had in his hands.
Everyone hit the dirt except Lydia whose face registered astonishment as she turned slowly to face the kid.
Katie yelled again as she raised herself to both cut and bruised elbows, and began to fire back.
The kid managed three shots before Katie hit him. He slowly toppled over and splashed into the river. Lydia stood. Her mouth open wide, staring down the river to where the kid had been.
Katie raised her eyes to where Lydia stood, and they caught on the ragged, gaping hole blown through the back of her t-shirt. She continued to stand. Seeming to still be looking out over the river. Her mouth working.
“Lydia,” Katie whispered.
Lydia slowly turned, her mouth still working but silent. A small neat hole wept blood down the front of her shirt. Her chest hitched and her eyes fluttered.
Jake lunged to his feet, his eyes dazed, and ran to her, catching her as she slumped forward. Her eyes flickered once more as he eased her to the ground.
A small tight smile came to her mouth. “Killed me,” she wheezed. Her eyes closed, and her chest stopped its struggle for breath.
~
The silence seemed to go on forever as Conner and Janna waited. Sudden gunfire erupted in the distance again. Janna moaned and Conner pulled her closer to him. “Ssss alright,” Conner told her. “Alright.” He didn’t believe it anymore than he had the last time he’d said it. The burst of gunfire came and went just that quickly, and then silence fell hard on the still morning air.
Janna held herself rigidly. Conner could feel her tremble against him. He patted her head. A stupid, useless, meaningless thing to do, he told himself, but he continued nonetheless, patting her head and stroking her hair. Useless, but if nothing else, it seemed to help calm him.
He drew a deep breath, and the radio squawked. “Conner?” James asked.
Conner took a deep breath and swallowed hard before he trusted his voice to answer. Jan let go of her breath in a deep whoosh and drew in a long, deep shuddering breath. Conner stroked her hair once more.
“Yeah,” Conner answered quietly.
“It’s bad,” Bobs voice broke as he spoke. “It’s bad, Conner. It’s bad.”
In his head, Conner could already hear the words he didn’t want to hear. He had heard everyone’s voice except Katie’s. It only stood to reason… Still, he didn’t want to hear it.
“It’ll be okay,” Jan told him. She pulled him tight. Her own hands trying to pull his head against her breast. “Conner… It’ll be okay.”
“It’s Lydia,” James said. His voice choked with emotion.
“Katie?” Conner asked. He hated himself for asking. He hated the weakness in his voice. How could it be Lydia, he asked himself. I just heard her voice. How could it be?
“I’m here, Babe,” Katie said through the crackle of static. Behind her voice they could hear what sounded like sobbing. The sobbing came across clearly as she stopped talking. “We’re on our way back… We’re coming back… It’s over,” Katie said. She held on to the button for a split second longer, the smooth silence spitting quietly, then the radio in Conner's hand went back to solid static once more.
~
“Be careful, Honey. Be careful.” Conner's voice came through the radio in her hand. She nodded, and then keyed the mic. button, “I will. We’re coming back.” She looked around her.
Jake sat cradling Lydia in his arms. Bright, thick blood covered the ground under her chest and the side of Jake's pants leg. The three other bodies lay close by. James stood, ashen faced, his gun still held tightly in one hand.
The pickup truck idled noisily about a hundred yards away from where Katie stood. The doors hung open. The Suburban and the state truck rumbled from behind her. Maybe, she thought, five minutes had passed since they had spotted the truck and stopped behind them. The kids had come out shooting. Just like in the movies, Katie thought. Exactly that. Hell! They had acted like it was a movie. Five minutes and four people dead. She shook her head slowly.
Jake looked up from the ground and met Katie’s eyes.
“Let’s get her in the truck... Okay, Jake,” She said softly.
Jake's head slowly nodded.
“What… what about these… these others?” James asked.
“Fuck them,” Jake rasped. “Fuck them! They can rot right there. They’re not going in the truck!” He looked at Katie defiantly.
“Okay,” Katie agreed. “Okay… James?” She waited until James's eyes left Lydia’s body. “Help Jake with Lydia?”
James nodded and started towards Jake.
“No,” Jake said quietly. “Don’t need help.” He swiped a blood covered hand across his eyes, leaving a bright smear of scarlet across his forehead as he did. “I’ll do it. I’ll take care of her.” His voice shook at the last, but he got to his feet, carefully holding Lydia in his arms, and headed for the pickup truck.
“James,” Katie said, motioning to the bodies.
James looked at her questioningly.
“In the river. We can’t just leave them here.”
James nodded, and together they bent to pick up the first body.
A few minutes later Katie let the last body slip from her hands and plunge over the cliffs and into the river far below. She turned her palms upright and stared at them for a second.
“Katie,” James said. She nodded, and followed James back to the truck.
Jake sat behind the wheel, Lydia slumped on the passenger seat, her head resting against Jake's shoulder. “You okay to drive?” she asked.
Jake nodded. His eyes met her own. They were red, and tears perched on the bottom lids waiting to spill down his cheeks. He cleared his throat, started to speak and then cleared his throat once more. “I’m going to take her to the park. I can't think of another place to go..” He trailed off, and Katie saw the tears that had been perched on his lower lid begin to course their way down his cheeks. He started to speak again, shook his head and gave up momentarily. Katie turned her eyes up to the clear blue morning sky and waited. Jake’s voice came to her quietly a few minutes later as she watched the empty sky.
“There’s the Sheep Meadow. There's a building there. I saw it open once... Shovels, uh, other stuff,” His voice caught and he stopped, closed his eyes and stayed silent for a few moments. He opened his eyes slowly once more. “… It's big. It's isn't all torn up… I thought.” His voice choked up again.
“Yeah. Yeah. I know that place,” Katie said softly. “You go. We’ll stop and get Jan and Conner. They’ll want to be there.”
Jake nodded. His hand fell to the shift lever on the steering column. His eyes
, tear-filled and overflowing, swept up to her once more.
“You’ll be okay to get there?” Katie asked.
Jake nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. He turned his eyes back to the road.
Katie nodded. “We’ll meet you there.” She stepped away from the truck and watched as Jake pulled slowly away.
FOURTEEN
East of Phoenix
Billy and Beth
The moon was fully up. The desert seemed almost as if it were lit with streetlights to Billy. He had found a dirt road and followed it to a concrete building that was part of a complex of buildings. The place didn't look like it had much going for it. A collection of buildings in the desert. A few trucks sitting around. Company trucks of some sort, painted the same colors, but no name on them. He passed through the complex slowly on the dirt road that fed it. Nothing. He turned and drove through it more slowly. Nothing again.
Billy stared out into the night. The moon was moving past the halfway point, there wouldn't be much of the night left. He looked over at Beth where she sat, head back, breathing slowly. At some time the bleeding had stopped. He looked back around at the buildings. Maybe ten, unless he had miscounted. A dozen trucks and cars sat around buildings. A large building that was probably a garage, or at least appeared to be. Doors down. A side door, closed. He drove slowly, circling the building. A back door, also closed. Maybe, he thought, if it had been closed from the start nothing had been in there.
Billy pulled back out front of the building, shifted the SUV into park and left it running. The door was fifteen feet away. He reached over, pushed the button on the glove box and let it fall open. He pawed through insurance papers, candy bars, those would come in handy later, maybe, and a half bottle of water. There was a small flashlight on a key chain. No keys on the chain. Probably no battery in the flashlight either, Billy thought, but when he pushed the click button on top of the small aluminum flashlight it shot a bright beam that lit up the inside of the truck and nearly made him blind to the night before he clicked it back off. He waited a second and then leaned across to Beth.