It was strange, but Kathleen missed working with Nikki in the sick room. She missed learning all the things Nikki had to teach her. At least twenty minutes had passed as she and Ruth had cleaned up the kitchen. Nikki should have been in and out of David’s old suite by now.
“That’s weird,” Kathleen murmured to Ruth. “I wonder if Nikki left already?”
“Probably not,” Ruth said. “Maybe there was more left behind than we thought.”
“Do you think? I can’t remember,” Kathleen said and then paused. “Maybe I should go check up on her?”
“She might need some help,” Ruth said. “I know how awkward some of that medical equipment can be. She might need some help hauling the supplies back to the gun club.”
“Hmm,” Kathleen said and gave Ruth a sly look. “Maybe we can get Patton to help her out.”
Ruth laughed. “Oh, you softie. You’re just looking for an excuse to lift that ban on him.”
“I know,” Kathleen said and lingered by the doorway, torn between checking up on Nikki and indulging in conversation with Ruth. “Matthew isn’t a fan of those other boys that Patton hung out with at the gun club on principle only, but I know Patton is chomping at the bit to go see them.”
“Teenagers are bound to test limits,” Ruth said, her voice softening with advice. “Plus, he needs to be around children his own age. He needs to make friends.”
“I can’t believe we’re calling Patton a teenager,” Kathleen admitted.
“I know. It seems like yesterday that he was a little boy,” Ruth said. “He used to be such a sweetheart, and now he’s grown up so much.”
“But he has been working in the garden without complaint,” Kathleen pointed out, and she couldn’t fight the smile crossing her face. “Maybe he does deserve a reward for such good behavior and hard work. Don’t you think?”
“A reward his father doesn’t need to know about until later?” Ruth said with a grin, and motioned for Kathleen to go down the hallway. “Take care of Nikki and then send your boy on an adventure. It will be a pleasure not to see him moping around the hotel anymore. I’m due for him to fill an hour of my time with his ramblings about everything he’s done, and I don’t want to hear about gardening.”
“I’ll give you all the credit. Patton will think it was all your idea,” Kathleen said as she turned and walked down the hallway. It felt good to joke with Ruth and have her mother-in-law smile again. She knew grieving would be a slow process, but at least Ruth was facing it bravely. She knew that Matthew was pushing his feelings down, but Ruth was facing them as much as she could.
The door to the suite was half-open. Kathleen pushed it fully open carefully without looking. When she glanced up, she made a small gasp and came to a standstill. In front of her, Nikki stood with a gun in her hands pointed straight at Kathleen’s face. Kathleen’s heart clenched in her chest, and for a moment her mind went blank with white static. Nikki’s arms shook and the gun wavered a bit.
“What are you doing?” Kathleen asked, her voice breathy with fear. Her heart thundered against her ribs. “Nikki, for god’s sake, what are you doing?”
“Call for Ruth,” Nikki said, her voice flat as though she’d never met Kathleen before. “Right now.”
“Put the gun down,” Kathleen said and motioned for Nikki to lower the weapon. “You don’t want to do this. You don’t want to hurt me. Nikki, we’re friends.”
“Do what I said,” Nikki said and her voice strengthened with authority. She straightened her elbows, and the shaking in her hands stopped. She bent her knees. “Call for Ruth, Kathleen. Right now.”
“Why are you doing this?” Kathleen said. “Don’t do it. You can have anything you need. You don’t need to take anything from us like this.”
“Call for Ruth or I’ll shoot,” Nikki demanded, and her face hardened so that Kathleen barely recognized her. “I swear, Kathleen, I will shoot you.”
Kathleen swallowed hard and looked behind Nikki. Nikki hadn’t taken anything from the room, and Kathleen couldn’t understand what had possessed Nikki to do this to her. Her fear overwhelmed her, but she didn’t want her children to lose their mother. She didn’t want Matthew to raise them alone. Maybe at some point she could fight Nikki with Ruth on her side.
“Don’t force me to do this,” Nikki said in a dark voice.
“Don’t shoot Ruth,” Kathleen said.
“Don’t make me,” Nikki said.
Kathleen cleared her throat, but her voice wouldn’t come out at first. When she called out, Kathleen knew her voice was too small to reach Ruth out in the dining room.
“Louder,” Nikki said. “I’m serious, Kathleen. I’m not playing around.”
Kathleen called out louder, and Ruth’s name echoed around her. She heard Ruth’s voice call back and then get louder as Ruth came down the hallway, answering Kathleen’s call. Nikki’s eyes flickered to the door and then focused back on Kathleen.
“Ruth!” Kathleen called louder, hating herself for what she was doing. She was directly putting her mother-in-law in danger because she was worried about her own fate and her own family. But she had to do what Nikki commanded. She couldn’t let her children or her family down. Hopefully, Nikki would just take whatever it was she wanted and leave their lives for good.
She heard footsteps heading down the hallway. The gun looked like a black hole staring right at her, ready to suck her away from this life. She realized she was shaking with fear. Then the sharp blast of gunfire reached her ears. She winced, believing for a moment that Nikki had fired a round.
The gunshots rang out again.
The sound was coming from outside. Kathleen glanced at the window, as if she might see something—anything—but she knew she wouldn’t be able to see a thing except for the sky. The gun blasts increased in volume and frequency. Kathleen started to breathe erratically with terror.
Somehow, the hotel was under attack. They were under attack.
30
The sound of gunfire filled Matthew’s ears as he wove around the thick trees and headed farther into the woods. Farther away from the hotel, he thought with despair, even as the ground at his feet exploded in tufts of dirt and grass. Sometimes bullets would explode nearby branches, making wood rain down on them like a new kind of shrapnel. His heart was in his throat, and he knew they couldn’t keep doing this for long. They had to prove they could fight back. Even though Matthew, Jade, and Wyatt were leading Samuel’s men away from the hotel, it still meant that the rest of the Riley family were sitting ducks.
His pistol was still in its holster around his waist. He removed it in one smooth motion and clicked the safety off even as he launched himself over a rotted log and felt the debris from a missed gunshot spray up behind him. Jade’s idea to weave through the woods was saving his life right about now.
He hunkered down behind a tree, fired once, twice, three times, and nearly cried out in success when he heard the muffled cries of anger from his opponents. That left two men in pursuit of them. He hoped this meant that the other men would be more cautious now that they knew Matthew, Jade, and Wyatt could give just as good as they got. He pushed up off the tree and bolted further into the woods to catch up with Jade and a limping Wyatt.
Once he was close enough, Jade dodged behind a trunk and returned fire at Samuel’s men, but it seemed as if she was aiming more to create obstacles than to hit those who were chasing them. The answering gunfire slackened off for a moment. Matthew’s ears rang in the silence. He smelled the sharp reek of gunpowder. In the brief moment of reprieve, Jade motioned them forward and pointed into the woods. “There,” she whispered, her breathing heavy from running.
Matthew followed her line of sight to see two large trees growing next to each other in somewhat of a V-shape. Moss, old branches, and woodland debris surrounded the old trees. It would be a perfect shield for them to regroup and take a stand before deciding what to do next. Together, they ran for the trees.
Matthew and Jade ea
sily outpaced Wyatt. Matthew skidded to the ground on his knees and yanked Wyatt down and around so that the Marine rested with his back against the tree and was completely covered. Wyatt grunted in pain, but Matthew didn’t have time to find out what was wrong. Not yet, at least. He had his pistol up to his eye and was carefully aiming, glad that they finally had a moment where he could really focus and aim.
Jade leaned up against the other trunk and peered around it. She carefully aimed her gun, but ducked back as a new round of gunshots pinged around them. Bark flew off the trees, and the bullets made thunking sounds as they embedded into the trunks. Matthew jerked back and together he and Jade waited for silence before they both returned fire. Matthew’s gunshot exploded leaves off one tree, but Jade hit the mark, and one of Samuel’s men grasped his shoulder with a cry of agony. One down. One left.
Except that the wounded man climbed back up to his knees, switched his gun to the other hand, and shot back at them again. Matthew ducked back around the tree and covered his head as the gunfire made more leaves, pine needles, and moss fly up around their shield. When he glanced around the tree again, he saw Samuel’s lumbering form following the other men. There were still two remaining. Samuel cocked his shotgun, but Matthew already had his gun aimed and ready to take the betrayer out.
But he immediately had to duck back around the tree again as more gunshots pelted around him. He cursed and then looked at Jade. She winced as bark flew up around her and they shared a moment of panicked comradery. At least they were in this semblance of a foxhole together. He looked around his shield, frantic to locate Samuel, but the man had disappeared from view. Matthew searched for any sign of him, but Samuel was gone.
Where could he have gone? Matthew suddenly knew even as his stomach dropped with fear. Another round of gunfire exploded the natural shield around him, and he lunged back behind the tree. “He’s going back to the hotel,” Matthew said and then realized that neither Wyatt nor Jade could hear him. “He’s going back to the hotel!” Matthew shouted.
He looked at Wyatt who was hunched next to him, but it seemed as if his words were lost in the ear-shattering sound of constant gunfire. The Marine tried to stand and leaned heavily against the quickly eroding tree. Matthew’s eyes widened as he saw the blood pouring from Wyatt’s thigh and soaking through his jeans. Wyatt grunted and his teeth were gritted in pain. Another round of gunshots exploded around him, and part of the tree trunk near Wyatt’s head teetered, broke off, and fell away. Terror cascaded through Matthew as he reached over and yanked Wyatt down, as another bullet whizzed past where Wyatt’s head had just been.
Together, they landed on the forest floor with a whoosh, and Wyatt cried out in pain. His hands scrabbled to clutch his wounded thigh. Matthew covered Wyatt as more blasting gunfire exploded around them. The Marine needed medical help and fast. Matthew knew next to nothing about medical attention of this caliber, but he knew by the way the blood from Wyatt’s thigh wound splattered on him that Wyatt was in trouble. Wyatt was tough as nails, and if this kind of wound had him staggering instead of gritting his teeth to make it through in one piece, it was a bad sign. Another round of gunfire deafened Matthew, but this time it was from Jade’s gun. Matthew glanced up and let out a breath of relief. Jade was still holding out and hadn’t been wounded or hurt. She was covering for both of them.
Matthew helped scoot Wyatt behind a new tree for cover as Jade continued to shoot back at Samuel’s men. Matthew breathed hard. “How are we going to get out of here?” he said close to Wyatt’s ear. “We have to get back to the hotel.”
“We don’t want to bring this kind of heat onto the hotel,” Wyatt said back, panting heavily. His face screwed up in pain as he shifted his legs. “We need to draw them away from everyone else.”
“That’s exactly what Samuel is counting on,” Matthew said.
Wyatt looked at him in confusion and agony glazed his eyes over. “What do you mean?”
“I saw Samuel coming toward us,” Matthew explained. “Only, he wasn’t shooting at us. Not like these two guys are. I think he was making sure we were occupied while he goes back to the hotel to take it over. He wants to keep us pinned in the woods by these two chuckleheads until we either give up, run out of bullets, or get too far away from the hotel to stop him from taking it back. Don’t you see?”
Wyatt’s jaw dropped in understanding. “Oh my god. He knows we’re the heavy hitters of the group. He knows we have most of the weaponry with us. The hotel isn’t defenseless, but a lot of the guys from the gun club aren’t close by.” Horror filled his eyes. “The kids are there.”
“I know,” Matthew said, already terrified for his children. He knew Kathleen and Ruth were tough, but keeping Allison and Patton safe would be their top priority. If Samuel threatened them, he knew his wife and mother would surrender to keep them safe, even if it meant that Samuel would take over the hotel. “We need to get back there as soon as possible,” Matthew finished.
Wyatt gripped his arm so tight it hurt. “You have to go,” he said to Matthew. “You have to go and warn them.”
More gunfire whizzed by. Matthew and Wyatt ducked. How many bullets did they have? Matthew knew his mouth had thinned into a grim line. More than likely, Samuel had a stockpile of bullets before the EMP, and he probably collected as much ammunition as he could after the EMP. He wouldn’t have come back to take the hotel without bringing a whole armory.
Unlike Samuel’s men, Matthew knew they had a limited supply. Soon they would run out. What would happen then? Would Samuel’s men take them prisoner? Or would they execute them all in the woods? By the way they were attacking them now, Matthew doubted that Samuel cared one way or the other if he ended up dying.
The real question was, would he have the same mindset toward those at the hotel?
Jade returned a volley of shots and then scooted behind the tree more fully as more bullets tore apart the tree that was shielding her. The shield was quickly turning into nothing. Her hands went up over her head, keeping the exploding bark and dirt from raining down on top of her.
“I can’t leave you guys,” Matthew said to Wyatt. “You’re wounded. Jade can’t do everything on her own. We’re going to run out of bullets soon.”
“You have to,” Wyatt said, and if it was possible his hands on Matthew’s arm tightened even more. “You have to go and rescue your family. I might be wounded, but you shouldn’t worry about us.” He grinned at Matthew. “I’ve been through worse.”
“You’re a bad liar,” Matthew said. “All you’ll be able to do is make one last stand. You can’t run.”
“No. Listen to me. Use the trees as cover and go back toward the hotel, but go around the men. There are only two left, and they won’t be expecting that. Jade and I will lead them away from the hotel and somehow meet up with you again. I can still walk, I promise. You have to get your kids to safety. Your mom. Your wife. Jade and I will get through this, I swear to you.”
“Wyatt, I can’t—”
“It’s a solid plan,” Wyatt insisted. “Your family can’t bury you too. Go.”
Matthew took in a deep breath, struggling with his desire to leave, but hating to abandon his friends. It felt like another kind of betrayal. Yet Wyatt’s face was stern, as if he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and Matthew knew that time was running short. He didn’t have time to dilly-dally with what-ifs. He remembered his father’s advice and knew he had to trust Wyatt. Finally, he nodded. “Okay,” Matthew said. “Okay, fine. But if you die on me, I will be so mad at both of you.”
“I’ll tell Jade.” Wyatt glanced over at her and they shared a knowing look. He shoved Matthew weakly. “Go. Hurry!”
The sound of gunfire lessened, and as Jade turned and shot once again into the woods, Matthew kept low to the ground and ran, keeping in cover as he bolted away from his friends.
He hoped against hope that he would see Jade and Wyatt again.
31
Patton sat on top one of the spare room’
s beds with a deck of cards spread out between him and Allison. Allison shifted up onto her elbow and made the cards slide to the left, but at least she didn’t mess up the whole game. She eyed her cards and gave Patton one of those looks that told him victory would soon be his. He pretended not to notice. His poker face was getting better and better.
At some point in the early morning, Wyatt had come out to retrieve Jade. The two adults had spoken to each other in low whispering tones that annoyed Patton more than he wanted to admit. Finally, after a couple of secrets passed back and forth, Jade had shooed Allison and Patton back inside, saying that they needed to take care of business. They sent Lauren running for the gun club on some pretense that she was needed just because. Whatever that meant. Patton hated when adults got all secretive like that. It was like they thought he and Allison didn’t get that something was going on. Like, they couldn’t pick up on obvious social cues. Ugh. People didn’t just tell you to go inside because something good was happening. Nope, something stank to high heaven, and no one wanted to tell him where it was coming from.
He sighed and looked up at his sister. “Do you have any kings?”
She glared at him and handed over two cards.
“Ha!” Patton cried out and laid his cards face up on the bedspread.
“This is a dumb game,” Allison said, pulling her cards closer to her chest.
“That’s because you’re losing.” Patton eyed her remaining cards. “Got any fives, sis?”
“God, you’re annoying,” Allison said as she handed over another card.
“Sore loser,” Patton retaliated and laid his final cards down. “Victorious once again, good lady. Will you once more attempt to defeat me?”
Allison’s eyes narrowed at him. “Bring it on. You’re so full of yourself.”
Patton grinned and gathered the cards into a single deck. He started shuffling, but the sudden sound of a gunshot startled him and made the cards slip from his hands and cover the bedspread like the worst version of fifty-two pick-up. Allison leapt to her feet. “Did you hear that?” she demanded. She bolted toward the window and looked outside.
EMP Catastrophe | Book 3 | Erupting Chaos Page 20