“Go sit down, I’ll bring some water out with your coffee,” Tess said as she went back inside.
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Devin said.
Mary walked up behind Devin and said, “She’s a little firecracker that one. I can tell she’s tough as nails.”
“She’s tough but not invincible; she really needs to rest,” Devin commented as he took a seat in the same rocker he had been sitting in the night before.
Tess came out with a pitcher of water in one hand and a carafe of coffee in the other. She placed them down and quickly turned back around.
“Hold up there,” Mary said. “I agree with Devin, you need to be resting.”
“I’m fine. I rested last night, and the antibiotics are working.”
“They can’t be, too early. You need to be resting, I’m serious,” Mary barked.
Mary was in her mid-thirties, tall with long straight brown hair. Her tanned face and arms showed the signs of many days out unprotected in the sun. The crow’s feet around her eyes made her look ten years older than she actually was. However, her youthful and jovial temperament helped blunt her weathered features.
Tess stuck out her tongue in a playful gesture and went back inside.
“Where’s Daryl?” Devin asked.
“He was working on something in the barn,” Mary answered.
“Does he need any help?” Devin asked, and stood up. He was on a mission to be productive.
“No, he’s fine. The barn is his domain, kind of his man cave.”
Devin looked towards the barn, an immense metal building that stood at the far corner of the property surrounded by dead corn.
“You sure?”
“Yes, now sit down and relax. Gosh, you two are such busy bodies,” Mary teased.
Tess came out of the house again, a smile from ear to ear, this time with glasses and two cups for the coffee.
Devin took notice that he hadn’t seen Brianna, Brando or Hudson in a while.
“Where’s Brianna?” he asked Tess.
“I don’t know. I’ve been inside making myself at home.”
He looked at Mary, who shrugged her shoulders.
Tess turned around and hollered into the house, “Brianna, Brando!”
No response.
“Brando, come here, boy!” she hollered.
Nothing.
Concern gripped Tess and the others as they started to realize no one was in the house.
“Are you sure they’re not in the barn with Daryl?” Devin asked.
“I don’t think so but…” Mary said.
A series of barks echoed from the front of the house.
Everyone reacted identically as they dashed in the direction of the barks.
Always one to think of a means of protection, Tess grabbed her pistol from the bedroom on her way out.
Devin and Mary raced through the house and exited the front screen door onto the front deck. There they saw Brando crouched in a defensive posture, with Hudson and Brianna standing in the county road, a few feet away from several uniformed men and their Humvee.
The men heard the door open and responded by pointing the rifles they had at Devin and Mary.
“Hold up right there!” the first man said, his thick beard jetting out from his face.
Devin and Mary both put their arms up in the air to show they were not armed.
“Go check them out,” the first man ordered the other two.
They started to march towards Devin and Mary but stopped when Brando barked and growled deeply.
The first man looked at Brando and said, “Someone better shut this fucking dog up or I’ll put it down!”
“Brando, come, boy, come here. Everything is all right!” Devin ordered.
Brando wouldn’t listen; he kept his eyes glued on the first man.
“I’ll shoot the fucking dog, I swear I will!” the man screamed.
“Please don’t shoot my dog, please!” Devin pleaded.
Tess had stopped short of going outside; her pit stop to get the pistol delayed her enough to hear the interaction between the men and Devin. She took up position in the house, now with her rifle at the ready. She placed the front sight post on the first man’s head and aligned it with the rear sight aperture. There she kept a perfect sight picture and her finger on the trigger, ready to squeeze off a shot when necessary.
Even in the midst of this tense ordeal, Devin made a mental note that Tess hadn’t come outside. This made him feel safer; because he knew without a doubt she was inside ready to start shooting.
Brando barked and growled again. This time it was directed at the two men who were approaching Devin and Mary.
The first man lowered his rifle and took out a pistol from a holster he had attached to his tactical vest and held it firmly in his grasp.
“Please don’t point it at the dog. If you do, he’ll attack. I promise you, he’s trained that way,” Devin informed him.
The first man grinned and yelled, “Bullshit!”
Sensing he was about to act rashly, Brianna bravely stood in front of Brando, in between him and the man.
“Hey, guys, we have a brave little girl here!” The first man laughed.
“Don’t shoot Brando, please,” Brianna begged.
The two men reached Devin and Mary and immediately began to pat them down, looking for any weapons.
“What do you want?” Mary asked.
“We’re here to liberate you,” the one who was frisking her responded.
“Liberate us from what?” she asked.
“We’re a forward recon squad from Turner’s Raiders. We’re scouting the countryside looking to see who needs help.”
“You can leave. We’re fine,” Mary snapped.
“Whoa, we have a feisty one here. Hey, Chris, we have another one who needs a lesson!” The man laughed, then grabbed Mary’s breast roughly.
Mary was feisty, and without thinking, she kicked the man in the crotch.
He bent over in pain and cried out.
She kneed him in the face, breaking his nose.
The man who had been frisking Devin placed his rifle against her temple and yelled, “Stop right there, bitch!”
Inside the house, Tess had begun to squeeze the trigger but stopped when the third man placed his rifle muzzle against Mary’s head. Her heart was racing, and she was running various scenarios through her mind and attempting to calculate how quickly she could finish them off and just who to shoot first.
The first man laughed at the altercation and stepped up to Brianna in a sexually suggestive manner. “What will you give me if I don’t shoot the dog?”
“What do you want?” she asked, but fully knowing what he meant.
“How about you and I hop into the Hummer and you give me a Hummer,” he said as he caressed her tender face with his left hand.
The right passenger door of the Humvee opened suddenly, surprising Brianna, Devin and Mary. Out stepped a fourth man, he was clad from head to toe in an old woodland camouflage uniform. He stepped up to the first man and barked, “What the fuck, Chris!” he yelled. He pulled a stubby cigar from his mouth and blew the smoke into the other man’s face.
“Sir, you’ve heard these bitches!”
“Oh, I heard them, but you know that I get first stab at anything we find, and that includes pussy. Now back away from the girl.”
Chris begrudgingly took a step back from Brianna and leered at the man.
Back inside the house Tess stressed more when she saw this fourth man. Another person only added to the difficulty of success.
The man who had been kicked in the crotch got up and grabbed Mary by the face and thrust her against the side of the house, his knife now out and against her throat.
“Don’t hurt her!” Devin yelled.
“You keep your mouth shut, motherfucker!” the third man said, now jabbing his rifle muzzle under Devin’s chin.
On the road, the fourth man stepped up to Brianna, examined her le
an young body, and asked, “What’s your name, girl?”
“Brianna,” she answered, trembling.
“My name is Brian Liddel, I’m the leader of this patrol and a dear friend to President Turner. So in essence, what I’m saying is that if you help me, I’ll help you.”
Brianna was now shaking badly.
Brando stepped up to Brianna and placed his face against Brianna and growled at Brian.
“Nice poochy.” Brian laughed.
“Someone shut this fucking dog up!” Chris screamed and pointed his pistol at Brando.
That was all it took. Tess wasn’t ready, but Brando made his move and so did she. She applied a steady pressure against the trigger and fired the first round from her AR-15. The .223 caliber round traveled almost instantly and struck Chris in the side of the head.
The far side of Chris’ head exploded, and his head wobbled before his entire body dropped to the ground with a thud.
Tess took aim on Brian, but he seized Brianna and shielded himself with her body.
Brando turned on Brian, but not before Brian shot him. Brando yelped and fell to the ground, his front leg injured.
This entire time Hudson had been standing behind Brando, watching it all, paralyzed in fear. When the shooting began, the only thing he could do was place his hands against his ears and begin to scream.
On the front deck, Devin grabbed the rifle barrel and began to wrestle with the man. Before he knew it, they fell down the steps and spilled onto the gravel driveway.
Tess knew she needed to be outside to help, so she stormed out the front, rifle at the ready. She hadn’t seen Mary since she had been slammed against the outside wall, so her first objective was to help her. She turned right, but it was too late.
The man had slid his razor-sharp blade against her throat, opening it up wide.
Mary’s eyes were wide open in fear with the knowledge her own death was seconds from happening. Blood cascaded down and spewed from the gaping wound onto her clothes and the deck.
Tess didn’t hesitate. She put three rounds into the man, killing him.
Mary’s body slowly slid down the side of the house and collapsed onto the deck.
Tess wanted to go to her, but she knew it was too late and Brianna was in harm’s way. With the focus and determination of a killer, Tess made her way down the steps and ended the wrestling match between Devin and the man by shooting the man in the back of his head.
Devin pushed the body off him and jumped to his feet, now armed with the man’s rifle.
Both he and Tess turned their attention to Brian.
“Put your guns down, or I’ll fucking kill this bitch!” Brian ordered.
Hudson continued to scream out from the road.
“We’re not putting our guns down,” Tess barked back.
“I’ll fucking kill her! Do you hear me? Do you know who I am? I’m Brian Liddel. I’m a commander and friend of the great Matt Turner. I’m a soldier of the Ozark Republic, and you’ve already fucked up by killing my men. Now put your guns down, and I’ll forget this ever happened!”
“No!” Devin screamed. His temper had flared after seeing what happened to Mary and Brando.
“I’m a commander in the army of the Ozark Republic!” Brian screamed.
“Just let her go!” Tess commanded.
Both Tess and Devin hadn’t moved from their positions. They had their sights placed on what parts they could see of Brian as he jerked and moved around.
Tess had familiarized Devin with an AR-platform rifle, so when he picked up the one from the dead man, he knew exactly what to do and had quickly flipped the safety off so he was ready to fire.
“If you let me go, I won’t tell the others about what happened here, but I’m bringing her with me as collateral!” Brian yelled.
“You’re not leaving here with her,” Tess commanded.
“You don’t tell me what to do, bitch. I’m a commander in Turner’s Raiders, you hear that. I’m important!”
A shot rang out.
Tess and Devin both were shocked when Brian’s head jerked back from the impact of a bullet directly in the middle of his face. The back of his skull exploded, and his body went limp. He dropped like a heavy sack onto the ground.
“I don’t give a fuck who you are!” Daryl said as he stood from his covered position at the side of the house, grasping the Winchester Model 70 rifle. He ran onto the front deck and dropped to his knees in front of Mary’s dead body.
Brianna didn’t run. She too dropped down and began to care for the whimpering Brando, who had been shot through the front left leg.
Tess bolted for Hudson and snatched him from the road in a tight embrace. Not wanting him to see his dead mother, she headed towards the far side of the house away from the front door.
Devin just stood, his adrenaline was peaked, and his blood was coursing rapidly through his veins. He could feel his heartbeat throbbing in his temple as he lowered his rifle and scanned the carnage around him. He had never been in a fight like this, especially a fight where he was standing his ground and not fleeing. He wasn’t sure where the courage had come from, but it was there when he needed it. The man he had been over six months ago would never have grabbed the barrel of the rifle, much less fought as hard as he had with the man. Dashing these thoughts, he slung the rifle and went to Brianna’s and Brando’s side.
“Let’s get him inside,” Devin said.
“Okay,” she responded.
“On the count of three, one, two, three,” Devin said.
Brando let out a whimper when they lifted him carefully.
Devin and Brianna were cautious as they took him inside so as not to hurt Brando, as dogs did have a tendency to bite when injured.
As they passed Daryl, Devin saw him sobbing, Mary’s lifeless hand in his.
Once inside, they placed Brando on the dining room table and began to address the gunshot wound.
Tess appeared and took over. “Brianna, go to the first bedroom on the right. There’s a medical kit in there.”
Brianna ran off.
“Where’s Hudson?” Devin asked.
“Upstairs, he’s a mess. I think he’s in shock,” Tess said while she applied a kitchen hand towel to Brando’s wound, attempting to stop the bleeding.
As she held the towel against the wound, Brando leaned in and licked her hand affectionately several times.
“It’ll be okay, boy, you hear? Mama Tess will get you fixed up pronto,” Tess said in a sweet voice.
Brianna dashed into the kitchen, medical kit in hand.
“I’m going to check on Daryl,” Devin said, feeling that he wasn’t needed in the kitchen, plus he was very concerned for Daryl.
When he stepped out onto the deck, Daryl was exactly how he’d seen him minutes before, still sobbing on his knees next to Mary’s body.
Kneeling down next to her too, Devin looked at Daryl and quietly said, “What can I do? How can I help you?”
Daryl looked up, his eyes swollen red, tears streaming down his flush cheeks. “Just let me be for a bit more.”
“Sure, sure, not a problem. I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” Devin answered softly.
“She was a good woman, a good wife and mother.”
“Just let me know when I can help,” Devin said and stood back up. He again scanned the bloody scene and, not thinking, blurted out loud, “What are we going to do now?”
Hearing him, Daryl answered, his voice filled with anger, “We’re going to kill them, all of them!”
Denver International Airport
Lori was nervous about her dinner with Chancellor Horton. Not because of who he was but because of what she knew he wanted. It should have come as no surprise that men’s DNA hadn’t changed, but she thought that given it was the end of the world, they would stop focusing on things so one dimensional as sex. So much was riding on her success there that she didn’t know exactly what would happen tonight. She knew what she didn’t want to happen, and
she would try her hardest to make sure it didn’t.
After passing through several layers of security, she arrived at his residence. From the appearance of the hallway, it was nothing more than old offices converted into residential suites located on the main level of the airport.
She took a deep breath, pushed her hair back over her ears, and knocked. A brief moment passed; then the door swiftly opened.
Horton stood, a grin on his face and his attire more casual than she had expected. He was wearing jeans, and his black button-down shirt was untucked and the cuffs folded up.
“Lori, right on time, please come in,” he said, opening the door fully.
“Hi, thank you,” she nervously responded as she walked in. A quick glance around the living room told her that he was definitely thinking this could be romantic. The lights were dimmed, fragrant candles lit, and light music playing. A savory smell hit her and brought her attention to the kitchen, where she saw a man busy preparing their meal. Seeing the chef made her feel a bit at ease and allowed her to relax for the time being.
“Can I get you a glass of wine or maybe champagne?” Horton asked.
“I’ll take a glass of red wine if you have it,” she answered. She didn’t really want to drink, but she thought it strategically a good idea to come there appearing to want to relax and not cause trouble.
“Great, I’ll be right back. Please take a seat in the den. Make yourself at home,” he said, motioning to the first room.
Upon the wall she saw a shelf lined with framed photographs. Her first reaction to seeing them was ‘how strange’. She had a hard time making sense that his home was now the Denver International Airport. If she had been dropped in without having walked there, she could have been tricked that his place was a luxury apartment. Looking at the photographs, nothing struck her as odd; they all seemed like typical photos of family, friends and colleagues. It wasn’t until she came to the last one that she took note of the people in it. She recognized all of them. He was in the center, and to his right was Chance Montgomery; on his left was the man she had seen leaving his office yesterday when she had come by, and the other four she had seen eating lunch before together. It wasn’t that she thought seeing a picture with them was odd, it’s just that the photograph was taken outside near a monument or slab that she didn’t recognize. All the men were smiling, and one was pointing at the inscriptions on the large monolith slab. Curious as to what they said, she picked up the photo and brought it closer. She could only make out three of them.
The Death: The Complete Trilogy Page 12