Skyler snatched the rifle back up and spun it around, trying to use the butt end of the gun to try and shatter the back window. She was unsuccessful.
“Stupid tempered glass.”
She grabbed at her inner thigh, hoping Scotty and Dom hadn’t relieved her of her combat knife. She was in luck. Skyler unsheathed the knife and jabbed at the window with the sharp point of her knife. The glass shattered causing the river water to come rushing through the back window frame. Within seconds there were only inches of breathable air in the cab of the truck.
She held her breath and began to dive out through the open window, making her escape. And then she stopped. She turned to look at Dom in the front seat. He was completely submerged and still out like a light from the roofies he knowingly ingested, just to help her. She couldn’t leave him behind. She owed him one.
Skyler turned from the open window and grabbed Dom by the back collar of his t-shirt. She pulled hard. His body gave a little, but not nearly enough to get him out.
She made her way to the front seat and positioned herself on top of Dom, trying to reach the seatback controls on the right side of the driver’s seat. After some trouble, she was able to access the manual control and push his seat back. His body floated up and out of the seat, he was free.
As Skyler began to guide Dom’s body toward the back window her head was pulled back violently. Scotty had a fistful of her hair and it was clear to her that he was going to use the last of his life force to do what he could to kill her. Startled she breathed in a mouthful of water. She was running out of time and oxygen. She knew she had just one chance to get out of this situation alive.
Skyler elbowed Scotty hard in the face. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward him. Skyler brought her free arm around and stuck her hand squarely into Scotty’s open gut wound. He let go of her and screamed, taking in a lot more than a mouthful of water.
Skyler snagged the passenger’s side seat belt from its anchored position just left of Scotty’s head and wrapped it around his neck, trying her hardest to choke the life out of him. Her strength was waning but she managed to eliminate him as a threat.
Her oxygen had nearly completely run out. She was running on fumes as she snatched Dom and pushed him completely out through the back window. She followed close behind, grabbed him and brought him to the surface with her.
Beneath her the truck’s headlights were still lighting up the area. As they broke the water’s surface, Skyler coughed and gasped trying to catch her breath. As she made her way toward the pier with Dom in tow she spied her rucksack floating nearby. She grabbed it on the way.
Still in the water, Dom began to come to, gagging and coughing.
“Hold on,” Skyler reassured him. “We’re almost there.”
A few minutes later Skyler was sitting on the pier and going through her rucksack, while Dom laid sprawled out, still groggy.
He reached his hand toward her and with great difficulty uttered, “Thank you.”
She smiled and nodded toward her pack. “Life Pro Tip time, Dom. Do yourself a solid, always use a waterproof rucksack.”
Dom squinted to see her better in the moonlight. He tried to sit up but didn’t quite make it. Skyler stopped what she was doing, walked over to Dom and helped him sit up. Satisfied that he wouldn’t fall back over, she went back to her pack.
“You’re going to need a story, you know.”
Dom answered her groggily. “Huh? Oh. Yeah. I’m sorry. I’m having a hard time focusing.”
Skyler smirked. “Now you know how Gregger’s dates feel.”
“Oh Jesus.”
“Real nice guy, I should have eaten him when I had the chance.” She zipped her pack up and turned her full attention to Dom. “Anyway, I hate to save your life and run, but I have a feeling Gregger’s dad has a back-up team on the way.”
Dom nodded he is able to focus a bit better now. “Right. And, really, thank you.”
Skyler sat down next to Dom and studied his face. “I owed you one. More than one if you think about it. You drank that beer. For me. So thank you.”
Dom hoped she couldn’t see him blush. He wasn’t sure why he drank the beer, he hadn’t really thought about the consequences. He just didn’t want Mr. Kelly to get his hands on this amazingly brave and resilient girl.
“So,” Skyler continued, “story. Tell them I got the gun from Scotty and killed him. You and I fought in the truck, I forced it off the road and you choked me out at the bottom of the Hudson. Got it?”
“Got it,” he answered with a nod. “Mind if I ask where you’re headed to now?”
“I think you know I can’t tell you that.”
“How about your name? Can I at least know that?”
“That’s probably not a good idea either. You may talk in your sleep.”
He was defeated. “Yeah, alright. Understood. All of the major entrances — the tunnels, bridges ... Gregger’s dad has them all covered though.”
Skyler nodded. “That’s fine, I don’t plan on taking the bridges or tunnels. But thanks for the tip. Now that you’ve killed me and left my body at the bottom of the Hudson River, they won’t be looking for me anyway.” She winked at him. “I should be fine.”
She got up and stretched her legs. She was winding up to say “goodbye” but Dom didn’t want to see her go.
“You know, this is going to sound stupid, but three weeks ago — before all of this — if we’d met, I would have been chomping at the bit to take you out on a real date.”
Skyler motioned to her face and skin, “And now, not so much?”
Dom shook his head slightly. “And now, you’re leaving.”
Skyler was caught off guard by his answer. She hadn’t had anyone profess to wanting to go anywhere with her for a very long time. She and her grandfather had been exclusively Team Campbell for five years. The night he picked her up from the home coming game had been the last night she’d been involved in any school or social activities at all. She wouldn’t have given up that time with her grandfather for anything in the world, especially now, but maybe a date now and then would have been nice.
Skyler looked past Dom, in the far distance she could see headlights heading north on the West Side Highway. She got up and gathered her rucksack.
Dom stood up and held out his hand. Skyler shook it.
“Good luck out there, wherever you go, warrior princess.” His voice barely above a whisper.
She smiled at the reference. “You too, favorite Dom.” she answered.
Skyler turned to leave and then thought better of it. She walked back to Dom, leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Maybe if we run into each other again I’ll take you up on that night out.” And then she turned and ran off, disappearing into the shadows.
“Damn.”
Dom was still thinking about the kiss when the back-up crew sent by John Kelly arrived on the scene.
TWENTY-ONE
Skyler’s rucksack, her Ruger and two-way radio were on the counter in the Army Navy surplus store on 42nd Street. Her pile of wet clothes were on the floor near the entrance. While she shopped naked for a new outfit, she listened to the radio, which was abuzz with word of her capture and subsequent killing by the hero of New York City, Dom.
Apparently, Gregger’s dad was elated by her death.
Through the radio’s speaker Mr. Kelly sang Dom’s praises. “We all owe Dom a debt of gratitude for what he did out there today, for all of us, for Gregger, for America.”
“Oh brother.” Skyler chuckled to herself as she searched the store for some clothes.
She continued listening to John Kelly’s inspirational? Speech while she slipped on some underwear and a sports bra she found on a shelf.
“That terrorist zombie bitch was responsible for taking the lives of nine of our best men. Nine of our brothers.”
She stopped “shopping” and looked at the radio with feigned indignation. “Uh, hello? Crocodiles anyone?”
&
nbsp; As John droned on she rooted through a pile of some camouflage combat pants and picked out a pair in her size.
“Her and her kind will not be tolerated in this great country of ours. There is a reason God has chosen to forsaken them, and we will carry out His plan and eliminate each and every one of those ... vile creatures, and restore America to her former glory.”
After she slid on the camos, she spotted a stack of black tank tops on another set of shelves on the wall. She grabbed one and pulled it over her head. Then she set out to look for anything that resembled a mirror. A large piece of glass from the storefront was the best she could do.
In the moonlight she had to admit, she looked ok for someone who had been chased by the militia, swum with crocodiles, fought off snakes, got smashed in the head with the butt of a gun and nearly drowned in the Hudson River.
She searched the store for a sweatshirt and a pair of sunglasses. She found both easily. With her shopping completed Skyler gathered her pack, clipped the radio back to her waistband and headed for the exit. As she was walking out she passed by a box of bandannas. She reached down and grabbed one, thought for a moment, and then grabbed a second.
Dom had arrived to much fanfare back at Base Command. Standing in front of a group of cheering militia men, John had his his arm around his shoulder.
John beamed with pride at Dom. “You did God’s work out there today son. I know you lost your partner, your friend, but you have to look at the bigger picture.”
Dom nodded. “Oh, I know sir. And I am.”
“Good. Good to hear. And now, if you’ll follow me, there’s someone who wants to talk to you.”
John guided Dom away from the group and over to Gregger’s bedside. He was sitting up and looked a good deal better than he had when he was first brought into base.
“I’ll leave you two boys alone,” John said, and walked back to the group of men and out of ear shot.
Dom sat down next to Gregger’s bed.
Gregger was happy to see him. “Dom, my man. Amazing work out there. Thank you.”
Dom remained silent and reached into his front pocket, fishing for something.
Gregger continued, “We should have killed that bitch when we had the chance. Think of all the lives we would have saved.”
Dom glared at Gregger. “Or you could have not harassed her to begin with and none of this would have happened.”
Gregger was taken aback by Dom’s reply. “Harassed her? Fuck that. Stupid bitch was looking for trouble. Smart-mouthed bitches like her always deserve what they get.”
Dom tossed the nearly empty baggy of roofies onto the blanket that was covering Gregger. Gregger looked down at the baggie, confused at first. After a beat he recognized it for what it was.
“Where the hell did you get those?”
“She found them in your Hummer. In the end, these are what got Scotty killed.”
Gregger began to stammer, “I don’t understand —”
Dom kept his voice low, but it was filled with venom. “All of this shit that happened. All of it. It’s your fault.”
Gregger shook his head incredulously as Dom continued.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell your father — or those men out there — that nine of their own were lost in the span of three days because you’re a fucking asshole. Your secret is safe with me, but you’ll need to figure out how to live with all of that blood on your hands.”
Dom got up from his chair and headed toward the exit. Along the way he was stopped numerous times by his colleagues shaking his hand, offering congratulations and expressing thanks.
Skyler had traveled uptown from the Army Navy story and was taking a break on a rooftop on the upper east side. The family photo she had stashed in her rucksack back in Long Island was leaning against her pack while she was once again checking her transistor radio for a signal.
Along most of the dial there was nothing but static, but near the top of the frequency range she heard music, very faintly coming from the speaker.
She held the radio up to her ear. The unknown radio station was playing “America, The Beautiful” on a loop.
She sang along for a few seconds, happy to hear something finally being transmitted.
“God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood ...”
Before she could finish, her combat radio crackled with a burst of static.
Jack was looking for her. “Sky? You there? Sky?”
Skyler lowered the volume on the radio and picked up the two-way.
“Hey, I’m here.”
“Oh thank God.” His voice was awash in relief. “We’ve been listening to their channel all night. They said you were captured and then that you were killed. We didn’t want to believe it. We’ve been trying to get a hold of you since the park.”
Skyler chuckled her answer. “I was a bit busy.”
In the background she could hear Alissa. “Jack! Tell her I said Hiiiiiii. Tell her Buddy says Hi too. Oh. And that we miss her!”
“Did you get all that, Sky?”
“I did. Hi to ‘Lissa and Buddy.”
From her vantage point she could see the building she had holed up in with Jack, Alissa and Buddy. She could also see that Jack was looking out the window at the streets below while he was talking to her.
“I’m glad everything turned out ok. We’re about to head out now.” She watched as he turned from the window.
“Good to hear,” she answered.
“How ‘bout you?” he asked. “Still waiting for a signal?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Skyler hooked her radio to her waistband and made her way to the building’s fire escape. She turned and looked toward the east. Dawn would be arriving soon. She took a brief moment to enjoy the view.
She took a deep breath and continued down the fire escape. As she did she slid on her sweatshirt, pulled her new bandanna over her face and donned her new sunglasses.
From her radio’s speaker Jack offered, “You could come with us while you wait.”
Skyler grabbed her radio and hit the transmission button “I could.”
As she reached street level she saw Jack, Alissa and Buddy head out of the building. She waited for them around the corner, hoping to surprise them.
As they walked closer to her location, Skyler hung her radio back up and poked her head around the corner of the building, revealing herself to the group. Jack noticed her first, a huge grin broke out across his face. Buddy was next, his tail began to wag furiously, his ears back. Finally, Alissa looked up and saw her. Her excitement was uncontrollable.
“Sky!” she shouted from almost a half block away. She began to run toward Skyler as fast as her little legs could carry her, completely ignoring Jack’s pleas to slow down.
Skyler pulled something out of her sweatshirt pocket and held it high for the little girl to see. A bandanna, exactly like the one Skyler was wearing.
The thought of having a matching bandanna with Skyler was too much for the little girl. She continued to run, but in her excitement she pulled down the gator that she wore around her neck, wanting nothing more than that bandanna to take its place.
Skyler and Jack yelled at the same time. “Nooooooooo!”
It was, of course, too late.
Within an instant little Alissa’s face began to smoke, her tiny body caught fire and turned to ash. Her clothes fell to the ground in a smoldering pile.
Skyler dropped to her knees and for the first time in a long time, she wept.
EPILOGUE
Surprise, New York is approximately 130 miles — give or take — north of New York City. That might not seem like a huge distance, but those miles make a world of difference when it comes to population, terrain, views, lifestyle, and so much more.
Alissa’s grandparents had purchased a 35 acre plot of land in the small town when Karen was still in diapers. Almost every weekend, birthday, Christmas, etc was spent on that plot of land. Tall trees surroun
ded the property and its meadow filled with wildflowers, its three acre pond and its small but well appointed cabin. It was Karen’s favorite place in the world, and she loved spending time there with her parents.
It wasn’t until she married Dick that she stopped making regular trips to Surprise. He absolutely hated going “to the country.” When her parents passed away, Karen became the sole owner of the estate. Sadly, Alissa had never visited the beautiful land and cabin that would one day be all hers. She never got to experience the serene landscapes and quiet living of this particular patch of upstate New York that her mother loved so much.
Jack and Skyler thought she deserved to be buried on her family’s land, to forever be at peace in the place her mother so desperately wanted her to escape to.
On that terrible day, they carefully collected the little girl’s ashes and her belongings from that sidewalk on the upper east side and wrapped them in a neat bundle. They traveled with it by boat up the Hudson River for two days, mostly without incident, and then journeyed inland by foot to Surprise.
They cried together as they dug a small grave for her under a strong and beautiful willow tree that stood between the cabin and the pond. They fashioned a makeshift cross to place on top of her grave. They rested her beloved Señor Fluffy Pants against the base and hung the new bandanna Skyler had picked out for her from the crossbar.
And for the second time in little more than two weeks, she recited the old blessing her grandfather had taught her.
“May the road rise up to meet you –
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon the fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Amen.”
The End
Plagued (Book 1): The Girl Who Chased The Shadows Page 17