Threat Ascendant

by Brian M. Switzer

  The peace officer flexed an arm and his sinewy bicep blew up to the size of a grapefruit. "Damn straight I will."

  Will pointed a hand at him in triumph. "See? You'll be able to reach us any time in case of an emergency and we'll talk on the radio every night."

  Danny spent three days poking through area police stations and ambulance bays until he found a CB radio system with a mobile transmitter that was still in working order. He brought the unit back and handed it off to Cyrus. The corpulent inventor tinkered with it for five days, until it could run on a low voltage DC current provided via solar cell-charged car batteries. Jiri assigned it a frequency and doled out the hand-held radios- two for the road team and five for the community.

  Will stood, reached out, and grasped both of Justin's shoulders. "Son, listen to me. Not only can you do this, you'll be better at it than me. You have more patience than I could ever hope for. You're a natural at getting a consensus on a subject. Changing your mind when you get new information is not a problem for you. We needed somebody like me to get the community organized and pointed in the right direction. But I'm a dinosaur. Now it's your turn to take the reins." He looked at an imaginary wristwatch and patted Justin on the shoulder. "And we can’t talk about this anymore because I’m leaving in thirty minutes."

  A ghost of a smile played on the younger man's lips and he gazed at Will with reverent eyes. "Gosh," he mumbled. "You never put it that way before."

  "Until now, son. You'll be fine."

  "Thanks, Will." He swallowed hard. "I-"

  "Don't start gushing all over me," Will interrupted. "Go on, get out of here. Go get some work done and let me talk to Terrence a minute."

  Justin dipped his chin, gave Jiri a nod, and coasted toward the exit like he was walking on clouds. Terrence watched him with a grin, then took his seat after Justin left the tunnel.

  The hardest decision Will made was leaving the ex-bounty hunter behind. He'd come of age running the streets in the hard part of St. Louis, been an outstanding soldier, and after the outbreak spent nine months traveling the back roads of Missouri and Illinois, delivering justice for those unable to get it on their own. He was a stone-cold expert in the art of putting down creepers.

  But Will had first-rate creeper fighters all over his team. What he didn't have was anyone other than Terrence who the community feared and respected almost as much as they did Will himself. Besides, he was already the village's peace officer; people were accustomed to turning to him in times of trouble and accepting his decisions as fact.

  He expected Terrence to push back hard the night they sat down and Will asked him to remain at the quarry. But the man had surprised him.

  He had ducked his head, then looked up and flashed a broad grin. "To be honest with you, I was going to tell you I want to stay here and continue on as the peace officer." He explained that He had his fill of righting wrongs and helping the downtrodden during his time on the road with Riley. "Man, I like what I do now, Will. I'm good at it. These folks like me and admire me, and the fuck-ups are afraid of me. I put in my time killing men as I rescue battered and broken women who will never be the same. I can affect more people if I stay, accomplish more, and enjoy my day-to-day to a greater degree." He pursed his lips and tapped out a funky little rhythm on the tabletop. "The Judge's law committee will propose we link the size of the police department with the population."

  Will blinked. He wasn’t privy to that particular little nugget.

  "I prefer to be the one who selects the new officers, instead of some redneck who sees the department as a chance to set up his own little fiefdom. Take it from a black man- the wrong person in charge of the cops can sure make life miserable for everybody else."

  Will replayed that conversation as he, Terrence, and Jiri sat in a comfortable silence. With a sly grin, Jiri went into his pocket and came out with a pint of Old Forester.

  Terrence smiled. "That's what I'm talking about.” He popped up and retrieved three coffee cups from a table near the wall. Jiri poured a trio of shots, then three more.

  Will threw back his whiskey, examined the inside of his empty cup, smacked his lips, and turned to Jiri. "Did you tell him?"

  "I’m about to."

  "Tell him."

  Jiri fixed Terrence with a matter-of-fact expression. "Take a radio, wrap it in waterproof plastic, and hide it outside the quarry. Pick somebody you trust implicitly and show them where it's at. That person can't be on the Council or a fellow policeman. If The Judge or anybody else tries to take over and they go about it in a smart way, their first move will be to control the communications and muzzle the only way to reach out to us. The next thing they'll do is kill or jail you and Justin."

  Terrence whistled. "Shee-it, Professor. You are a devious-minded white boy.”

  Jiri gave a mock bow. “The person you trust with the location of the radio has to know that at the first sign of an attempted takeover, they must get out of the quarry as unobtrusively as possible, get to that radio, and make us aware of what's going on."

  Will raised his empty glass to the peace officer. "And the cavalry will ride day and night to come storming back and save your ass." He leaned in Terrence's direction. "I don't believe anything like that will ever happen. If I did, I wouldn't leave. But I've stayed alive in the shit storm this long by always planning for the worst."

  Jiri rose to his feet. "And on that cheery note, I bid you goodbye. I’ve got a few last-minute things to do before we head out." He scooted around the table and stopped next Terrence. "We’ll say goodbye out there, but while we're alone, get your ass up and give me some sugar."

  They traded bro-hugs, then shook hands for a long time, both grinning and silent. Jiri smacked him on the bicep a few times, gave Will a nod, and departed.

  Terrence sat back down and studied the departing leader. "Are you trying to put a brother in the po' house?" He pointed his thumb toward the exit Jiri took. "I would've bet my last dollar he'd be the guy you left in charge."

  "He is the best man for it."

  "No shit. So why not him?"

  Will sucked on a tooth. "Me and him and Danny, we have a… connection. Becky said once that the three of us together equal one superhero. I don't know about that, but I’m sure I know their minds almost as well as mine. And we haven't failed at anything we’ve tried to do since we got together. I guess I just didn't want to break up the team."

  "That's understandable."

  "Justin will do a great job, though. I'm confident of that. That's why I don't feel any guilt about taking Jiri."

  "I'll watch over him like a mama duck with just one duckling."

  "I know." Will rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger and thought for a moment. His eye’s bore into Terrence’s. "The first opportunity you get — the first time somebody sasses him, bitches about him behind his back, or, God forbid, plots against him — come down on them like a load of bricks. Tear them up like a fat man in a briar patch. Set that first example, and things should go pretty smooth after that."

  Terrence stuck a toothpick in the corner of his mouth and grinned. "One thing’s for sure, Will- we think alike." His grin disappeared and he gave a long, heavy sigh. "You be safe out there, you hear?"

  "I hear."

  "Stay alive and get your ass back when your little adventure is over." He stood and Will followed. They exchanged a warm and brief embrace, then ambled toward the exit.

  106

  * * *

  Danny was first to finish his hugs, handshakes, and goodbyes and climb aboard the truck. Pretty much everybody in the world he cared about was making this trip. He'd miss Terrence, and the Hendrickson sisters, little Tempest, and a few others if he never saw them again. But he'd always been good at making friends. If he had to make a bunch of new ones somewhere else, he was confident he could do that.

  The passenger door opened and Tara slid into the front seat opposite him. T
hey were in a late-model Tahoe with bucket seats that prevented them from sitting side-by-side. So they did the next best thing and held hands with their arms resting on the console.

  A few minutes later, Becky opened the back door and climbed inside. She scooted into the middle of the seat and Will jumped in after her, closing the door behind him. Tess got in on the other side. She rubbed her sister’s shoulder and they smiled at each other in the flip-down vanity mirror on the sun visor.

  Danny listened absently to the chatter of the other passengers and looked in his rearview mirror. The three-quarter ton Ford sat behind him, its engine rumbling. Mark waited in the driver's seat, across from Jiri; Coy and Jobe shared the back seat with Willa. He adjusted his mirror to get a better view of Willa and smiled. She sat slumped in the corner formed by the seat and the door, her arms crossed over her chest and her face red with indignation because nobody in either vehicle would let her smoke.

  He readjusted his mirror and turned sideways in his seat until he caught Will's eye. "Looks like everybody's ready, boss."

  Will gave him a nod "Let's get her going, then."

  He shifted the Chevy into drive. "Let's go, here we go," he called out. His high school football coach used to start every practice with that phrase, and Danny had decided to adopt it as his own.

  He navigated the sharp curve and goosed the Tahoe up the steep hill, actions that were almost second nature by now. I won't be making this drive for a while, he thought.

  The interior of the SUV lapsed into silence as they drove through Carthage, with everyone lost in their own thoughts as they took in the town.

  As he skirted a familiar pileup at the corner of Macon and Garrison, Tess leaned up and caught Will's attention. "How far do you think we'll be able to drive this time?"

  "I don't know, Tesser. Could be the whole way, could be five miles and then we're on foot."

  Tess took a hank of her long, shiny hair and wrapped it around her finger. "Will we stick to the back roads again?"

  "Absolutely. The folks at the church said the four-lane is infested worse now than it was when we came through nine months ago."

  The CB in the cup holder to Danny's right crackled, making him jump.

  "Oh dear, Becky murmured, "they've killed Justin already."

  Laughter rang through the SUV; the contact ended up coming from Coy in the truck behind them. His tinny voice said hello three times before Danny answered it, still chortling.

  "Let me talk to my mom," Coy said in a voice that sounded like he'd been laughing, too.

  Danny handed the radio back to Becky and Coy told her Jobe had a question for her. There was a short silence, presumably while Coy showed Job how to use the hand-held, and then a click.

  "Becky?"

  "Yes, Jobe. What is it, dear?"

  "Did we pack enough food for this entire trip?"

  Becky swallowed a laugh. "Of course, dear. As long as the trip only takes three days."

  Another round of laughter sounded as Becky passed the radio back up. "Does that child know how much room enough food to feed nine people for a month would take up?"

  Danny chortled. "It appears he doesn’t, no. That's okay; right now, Jiri and Coy are explaining to him what life on the road is like."

  They motored along at a steady thirty-five miles an hour, slowing to weave around abandoned cars and debris in the road. Will, wearing a contented grin, broke a comfortable silence. "Hey, Danny. It's been a long time. Let me hear one."

  Danny thought for a moment, then spoke with a snarl. "Let's go rip out their small intestines through their throats, their large intestines through their asses, tie them together, and play jump rope with them!"

  Gales of laughter and shouts of approval echoed through the Tahoe as it motored down the road toward St. Louis.