The Razor's Edge: A Postapocalytic Novel (The New World Book 6)

by G. Michael Hopf

  Back outside, the number of fleeing soldiers had quadrupled.

  Dominic was bent over near the entrance, dry heaving.

  Samuel dragged Annaliese to the SUV and put her inside.

  Soldiers by the dozens were now rushing around and past them.

  “Dominic, let’s get out of here,” Samuel ordered.

  Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Dominic stumbled back to the SUV.

  The rain pelted Samuel as it began to pour heavier. He walked around the front of the SUV, headed to the driver’s door when he heard his name called out.

  “Samuel!” Pablo yelled.

  Samuel turned and was shocked when he saw Pablo. The rain had washed away some of the blood that coated his body. “Hector?”

  In Pablo’s right hand he still clenched his knife. “Samuel!” he yelled again.

  The heavy rain made it difficult to see through the windshield, but not impossible. Annaliese recognized it was Pablo, so she got out of the SUV.

  “Don’t,” Thomas said.

  Pablo was coming towards Samuel fast.

  Seeing his life was now threatened, Samuel went for his pistol. He grabbed the grip but found it slippery from the rain. Managing to get his hand firmly on the grip, he tore it from his holster.

  It was too late. Pablo cleared the distance and with one hard thrust plunged the long knife into Samuel’s stomach.

  Samuel gasped loudly. The trauma caused him to drop his pistol.

  Annaliese shrieked, “No!”

  Dominic watched like a voyeur from inside the SUV. He was still in shock from the grisly scene in the tent, causing him to sit frozen and unable to act.

  Pablo jammed the knife into Samuel’s abdomen three more times with the knife going deeper each time.

  Samuel grunted in pain and a look of helplessness appeared on his face.

  “Hector, no!” Annaliese yelled and ran at him.

  Pablo put out his arm and blocked her approach.

  The wet ground coupled with Pablo’s push caused her to fall down. She got back up quickly and again came at him.

  Pablo leered at her, removed the knife from Samuel’s body, and lunged at her with his knife held high overhead.

  Samuel fell to the ground; he was alive but wounded severely.

  They collided and fell back onto the hood and grill of the SUV. With both hands she blocked his downward thrust with the knife. “Hector, no, stop!” Annaliese cried.

  Thomas fumbled as he tried to get out of the SUV by climbing over the petrified Dominic.

  “No, Hector, please, stop!” Annaliese begged.

  He pressed his knife-wielding arm down and slowly moved closer and closer towards her chest.

  She resisted with all of her strength, but she was losing the battle. “Hector, stop!”

  “My name is not Hector, it’s Pablo!” he wailed, bloody spit coming from his mouth and splattering on her face.

  A single gunshot cracked.

  Pablo stopped moving. He twisted his head and with a loud grunt dropped the knife and fell on top of Annaliese. Thick red blood poured from the massive exit wound on his face. He coughed and lifted his eyes to look at her. “Anna,” he mumbled.

  Disgusted, Annaliese pushed him off her.

  Pablo fell to the ground and began to convulse.

  Luis came forward, holding the pistol that had delivered the shot. He stepped over Pablo, looked down at him and said, “You’re not my emperor.” He spit on him, raised the pistol and squeezed off the fatal round.

  The bullet struck Pablo in the head.

  Pablo stopped moving. He lay still; it was over. He was dead.

  Thomas finally got out of the SUV and raised his rifle. “Freeze!”

  Luis looked at Thomas and said, “He’s dead.”

  Annaliese raced to Samuel and found him alive. “Put him in the truck, hurry,” she ordered Thomas.

  “What about him?” Thomas asked, his rifle still pointed at Luis.

  “If he was going to hurt us, he would’ve,” she said, giving Samuel a quick examination. “Thomas, help me.”

  Thomas lowered his rifle and went to Samuel’s side.

  Luis holstered his pistol. He watched Annaliese and Thomas working to stem the heavy bleeding coming from Samuel.

  Domingo stepped up behind Luis and said, “Come, Father, let’s go.”

  Luis nodded and said loudly, “This is your home. We shall go back to ours. Everyone should have a place to call home. We’ll be leaving, all of us.”

  Annaliese looked up and nodded.

  “We’ve all suffered enough,” Luis said and with Domingo at his side walked away.

  DECEMBER 31, 2015

  “Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” – Sun Tzu

  West of Joseph, Oregon, Republic of Cascadia

  The battle plan was drawn, and now the only thing left was executing it.

  Lexi led the trio from the house to their positions. Per the plan, Nicholas and Beau would provide cover from a hide position to the west. Using the .308-caliber rifle with its Trijicon optics, Nicholas would neutralize as many slavers as came into his crosshairs.

  Beau was to be by his side and only come into the farm if needed.

  Lexi, like always, would go into the chaos, find those imprisoned and free them.

  With trepidation in his voice, Nicholas said, “It would be fine if we just decided to hold off.”

  Her attention focused on what was ahead of her, Lexi ignored him.

  “We could head south to California or even go on to McCall. We know people there.”

  His voice rumbled in her head, but she continued to ignore him.

  “This really isn’t necessary,” he said.

  Hearing enough, she stopped and turned around. She gave him a hard look and stepped forward to get close.

  He gulped and wondered if she was going to punch him.

  “This is voluntary. You’re not needed. So go, leave,” she said and pointed behind him.

  “I’m with you,” he insisted.

  “Doesn’t sound like it.”

  “We just don’t have to risk everything, our lives specifically. We can just move on. This isn’t to say we don’t follow your code along the way.”

  Lexi shook her head and said, “Just go.”

  “No, I’m staying, but I just don’t want to lose you.”

  “That’s what this is about. You and I hook up one time and now you’re in love.”

  “I won’t deny that I care for you, and I won’t deny that I don’t want to lose you.”

  She looked up at the moon and chuckled. “And I always thought it was women that did that.”

  “Go ahead and make fun of me, mock me, but I do care for you and I know you care for me.”

  “Don’t let your emotions get in the way of our mission here. We have a job to do. Now if it’s too much for you, go, but if you want in, I trust you behind that rig, and if I have a chance in being victorious against the odds, I’ll take it.”

  “I’m in.”

  “Then come on.”

  They slowly marched in silence until they reached the hide position.

  Nicholas set up the rifle and sat down.

  Lexi also took a break and adjusted the contents of her pack. “Ugh, the gas smell is making me dizzy,” she said, referring to the Molotov cocktails they had made. One part of her plan was to burn them out of the house. Once in the open, Nicholas would be able to bring the rifle to bear.

  “I’m weird if I say I like the smell of gas?”

  “Yes, you are weird.”

  Lexi looked east; the glow of sun was making its appearance. “Okay, I’m off. If you do anything at all, make sure you don’t shoot me,” Lexi joked. She petted and kissed Beau. “You be a good boy. I’ll see you after.”

  “Good luck,” Nicholas said.

  Lexi gave him a look and said, “Same, see you on the other side.” She took a step, stopped and quickly turned around,
kissed him on the lips and said, “Maybe we should go to Montana next.” With a cute smile she slung her pack across her back and jogged off.

  That little kiss and the mention of them in Montana filled Nicholas up with a happiness he could now say he had never felt before.

  Lexi couldn’t get him out of her mind, but she needed to. She reached the edge of the property and took cover in a drainage ditch near the back of the house. She had memorized the layout of the property and knew the barn was on the far side of the house. From their earlier recon they knew the men used the house as quarters. Her first target would be the house with two Molotovs.

  The back door opened and heavy footsteps walked from the door across the deck and down the stairs.

  Lexi lowered her profile and peered through the blades of tall grass.

  A man walked to a small shack and went inside.

  Lexi and Nicholas had seen several people use it during their recon, and they guessed it was an outhouse.

  Seeing an opportunity to take out one person, she jumped up and ran to the side of the outhouse.

  The putrid smell filled her nostrils. Grossed out by the sounds from inside coupled with the smell, she held her breath. Needing this kill to be silent, she pulled out a long knife and gripped it tightly in her right hand.

  The man exited and stretched.

  Lexi sprang. She came up behind him swiftly, cupped his mouth with her left hand and inserted the long knife into the base of his skull with her right.

  The man grunted and instantly went limp.

  She removed the knife and let go of him.

  He was dead before he fell to the ground.

  She put her knife away and dragged his body to the ditch and rolled him in.

  “One down, twelve or more to go,” she said and ran to the side of the house.

  The eastern horizon was glowing brighter, announcing the sun’s arrival.

  “Looks about right,” Lexi said pulling out a Molotov cocktail. She lit it with a lighter.

  The orange flame was mesmerizing.

  She stepped away from the side of the house and tossed it through the window.

  In seconds, the room erupted into flames. Seconds after that yells and screams came from inside.

  Lexi looked towards the west and said, “You’re up, Nicholas.”

  ***

  The first Molotov cocktail was a success. The first floor was now engulfed in flames. It also provided Nicholas the additional light he needed to see. He got behind the AR-10 and looked through his optics.

  The first victim ran out wearing only underwear.

  Nicholas aimed and squeezed.

  The .308-caliber round did the rest. It struck the man squarely in the chest.

  A second person ran out. This one was a woman.

  Nicholas hesitated, he knew the slavers had women working with them, but was this a slaver or was this a slave? His hesitation was granted a reprieve when two more men raced out the back. He pivoted off the woman and sent two rounds, one each, for the men. His aim was true and devastating. When he went to look for the woman he found her, and her actions told him he had been wrong, terribly so. She had snuck up behind Lexi and was holding a stick or bat in her hand. He couldn’t tell nor cared. He squeezed but he was too late, the woman brought the stick down on Lexi, striking her in the head. Just after, Nicholas’ round struck her in the back, center mass. The woman hit the side of the house and fell down, dead.

  Nicholas put the scope on Lexi and looked. She wasn’t moving. Was she dead or just knocked out?

  “Shit,” Nicholas said. “Get up, c’mon.”

  More people exited the house, but from the front door and were hard to see.

  Nicholas would get them in his crosshairs, but just as he was about to squeeze they ran off and were out of sight.

  He put the scope back on Lexi; she was still down.

  “Get up.”

  A man came out the back.

  Nicholas aimed and shot.

  The man dropped.

  Concerned for Lexi, Nicholas checked on her, but what he saw made his stomach turn.

  Two men had found her and were dragging her into the front yard.

  “Fuck,” he cursed. He jumped to his feet, looked at Beau and said, “C’mon, boy, let’s go get our girl.”

  Beau and Nicholas ran at full speed towards the farm.

  The chaos was at a fever pitch as the slavers who were still alive watched as the house burned.

  The two who had found Lexi were slapping her around.

  She was conscious now but unable to fight back.

  Nicholas rounded the corner of the burning house, the rifle at the ready. He popped off several rounds, hitting two men, but there were still six more. He leveled the rifle on another who ran at him and let one fly.

  The men torturing Lexi let her go and engaged Nicholas.

  She watched as he lethally took out two more.

  When he turned to shoot two more, nothing happened. He looked and saw a piece of brass had jammed the action. With no time to clear it, he tossed the rifle at the men, pulled a pistol and shot them both.

  From behind him, a man and a woman charged.

  Lexi was bleeding heavily from the gash on the top of her head, and her vision was blurry at best. She got to her feet and immediately dropped back to her knees. She knew Nicholas needed help. She pulled her Glock from its holster and pointed, but her arm was wobbly.

  Nicholas shot the two who had been torturing Lexi, leaving no one between him and Lexi. He saw her struggling and ran for her.

  “No!” Lexi cried out. He didn’t know two others were coming up from behind him.

  Nicholas called out with a smile, “Hey, girl, I missed you. I couldn’t let you do this alone.”

  Lexi raised her pistol.

  Seeing her point in his direction, he gave her an odd look then realized someone was behind him. He turned but it was too late. The woman who was attacking came at him with a large knife and slit his throat.

  Nicholas grabbed his bleeding neck and gagged.

  Lexi shot the woman almost point blank as she closed on her fast and turned the pistol on the man and put several rounds in his chest.

  Another man came screaming out of the house; his pants were on fire. He ran towards the barn.

  Beau took off in pursuit.

  “Beau, no,” Lexi cried. She looked over her shoulder and watched Beau go into the barn. A heavy thud sounded in front of her. She looked and saw Nicholas was down. “Nick,” she said and crawled over to him. Her face and clothes were covered in blood. She reached him and cried out, “Nick”

  He lay motionless.

  She rolled him onto his back, and her worst fears were proven true, he was dead.

  The sound of flames came from the barn.

  Lexi turned back and saw the barn was now on fire.

  The wails and screams from those imprisoned inside were haunting.

  “Beau,” Lexi called.

  Nothing.

  A heavy vertigo hit her. She lowered her head and took several deep breaths. “Get up, Lexi.” With all her strength, she rose to her feet only to again fall down, and this time she blacked out.

  JANUARY 3, 2016

  “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.” - Seneca

  Sandy, Utah

  Annaliese woke refreshed and didn’t hesitate getting out of bed. The sun hadn’t yet appeared, but the dark sky outside her window didn’t stop her from starting her morning routine.

  The steam from the shower filled the small bathroom. She wiped the condensation off the mirror and paused as she stared at her reflection. She had suffered so much since society fell, yet she kept it together. She knew that most of that relied on the support and love of family. One person that left a gaping hole in her life was Sebastian. A moment came to mind of when they both were in that same bathroom, the steam of the shower filled the air, and there he was, standing right in the very spot she was. A pleasant sm
ile lifted her face as she recalled that intimate moment. There he was shaving and there she was standing directly behind him. As the razor glided across his chiseled jaw, her eyes drifted over his body, admiring the muscular tone. Oh, to have the ability to go back in time, she thought. She wondered if she would ever find someone like him again. She then wondered if she’d ever love again. Never one to believe in absolutes, she did doubt that someone with his unique blend of strength and compassion would cross her path again.

  She got dressed and immediately headed to the hospital. When she stepped onto the porch, the cool air washed over her. She zipped her coat to the top and shrugged away the chill.

  The sun still hadn’t made its appearance, but a glow to the southeast foretold of its impending arrival.

  Annaliese hurried across the compound and entered the darkened hospital. A few low-wattage lights provided enough illumination to work but were dim so the patients could sleep. She banked right and headed to the third bed on the right. When she arrived, she picked up a clipboard at the base of the bed and reviewed it. Happy with what she saw, she placed it back and took a seat on a stool next to the side of the bed.

  Samuel, a notoriously light sleeper, woke when he heard her sit down. He rolled his head in her direction and asked, “Is it morning?”

  “Yes, about seven forty-five,” she answered, taking his hand in hers.

  “Ahh,” he said.

  “How you feeling?” she asked.

  Samuel had suffered greatly at the hands of Pablo but was on the fast track to healing, due to the great work and expertise of their doctors.

  “I’m good, I just want to get out of this damn place. And the food, do we really feed these other poor souls that gruel?” he complained.

  “Grumpy Uncle Samuel is a good sign that you're almost better,” Annaliese joked.

  “I’m not grumpy, I’m just misunderstood,” he quipped. He squeezed her hand and continued, “I know I can be a hard-ass, or just an ass, but I do so only because I care for you. I know I was wrong about Sebastian, and like I said before I’m sorry for that. I know now I was wrong. He was a good man. It’s just been so hard for me to adjust. I spent all this energy and money on preparing for the end, knowing I needed supplies, tools and whatnot. I planned on the world changing, so I mentally prepared myself to adapt, but the one thing I didn’t change was my attitude. I allowed my old ways to interfere in your happiness, and for that I’m deeply sorry. I’ll actually always be disappointed with my conduct. I wish I could take it all back and embrace my nephew. I hope you can forgive me,” Samuel confessed.