Mad City: Book One of the Sean Walsh Post Apocalyptic Series

by Patrick O'Donnell

  I made her switch to a chair closer to where I was sitting but out of sight from outside. I dug into my bag and retrieved a protein bar and a bottle of water offering them to the girl, “I bet you’re hungry. What’s your name?”

  The girl snatched the food and water out of my hand quickly and said, “Yes, and my name is Angel.”

  I dug around and found a couple more protein bars and put them out in front of her. I kept them just pass her arms reach saying, “I will feed you. All I ask in return is information about what is going on down there.” She smiled at me and nodded her head. I gave her the two protein bars and she ate them like this was the first thing she has had to eat for days. Maybe it was.

  I was now aware that I hadn’t looked at the lot for some time. I grabbed my binoculars and saw the same gray Jeep that the man in black was driving yesterday. It was parked in the same spot. “Shit! I can’t be distracted anymore.”

  Angel coward I her chair looking frightened.

  I shook my head feeling bad that I scared her, “Sorry about that. I’ve been waiting for a certain vehicle all day. I missed him getting there.” I collected my thoughts, “If he did the same thing as yesterday. It would be a while before he would return back to his Jeep. The thing that pissed me off the most was I didn’t know if Roxy was with him.”

  I split my time between keeping an eye on the kid and looking through my binoculars. I used my peripheral vision most of the time to keep an eye on Angel. This was a lull in the action so I thought it best if I used it.

  Angel looked cold and I gave her a blanket that I got out of my truck earlier. This worked out well because she wrapped herself in it tightly. She would not be able to get out of the wrap quickly. That would buy me some time if she tried to escape. She now looked relaxed and somewhat happy, still sipping on the bottle of water I had given her earlier.

  “So are you some kind of cop or something?” Angel said with a slight smile on her face.

  I was surprised by the question, “Ya. I was about a hundred years ago. I’m long since retired. Trying to live out the good life in this paradise.”

  Angel laughed at me and I could tell she was getting more comfortable around me. I was supposed to do the interrogating. If she felt more at ease asking me some questions that would work in my favor also.

  Angel had a little spark now, “Are you married? Do you have kids? Are you from Madison? You have a lot of stuff, you know, guns and your binoculars and stuff. Are you sure you’re not some kind of cop?”

  I gave her an annoyed look, “Now you’re giving me a headache. Stop flapping your jaws so much. Please speak in a whisper.”

  She look down at the ground whispering, “Okay. I’ll try not to talk too much or too loudly.”

  I felt bad that I chastised her knowing what she probably went through down there. “Sorry about that.”

  She smiled again, “Don’t worry. Say what’s your name?”

  I smiled back at her, “My name is Sean. What were you doing out there when I, um I mean you found me.”

  That wiped the smile off her face, “I was hungry and ever since I stopped working for Roxy, it’s been tough.”

  A cold chill went down my spine, “Roxy! Who is she? Is she your pimp?”

  A sad look now overtook Angel’s face, “Yes. I guess you could have called her a pimp. But that would imply that she would pay me. It was more like I was her slave. I would get a few scraps of food every now and then. The men would pay directly. I never saw any money. When she got drunk, she got evil. She raped me many times and cut me. She is a horrible person. One night about a week ago I snuck out when she was drunk and passed out before her and Demetrius left for the evening. It’s been tough, I wanted to get out of there but I don’t know of any other place around here to go. That’s why I was in this area. I was hoping I could get some help, or go into business for myself.”

  I shook my head in disgust, “First of all, you are not going to do that business any more. How old are you?”

  “I’m 18 years old now, almost 19.” Angel said in an ashamed tone.

  “I’m not going to hurt you and I will make sure nobody else hurts you. I just want to know a little bit more about Roxy and her friend.”

  Angel was smiling again, “Don’t you want to know about my parents? I never met my father, he was in the army and died overseas. It was tough on my mom. She developed a bad heroin problem, she resorted to selling herself to put food on the table and a needle in her arm. We got separated when we were forced to live in the communes underground. I have no idea if she’s even alive. I doubt that she is. That’s where I met Roxy. At first she protected me, but it didn’t take long to figure out what was on her sick mind.”

  This girl has seen too much pain in too little of time. She was robbed of her childhood by a junkie mom and victimized by a brutal pimp, Roxy. I wanted that bitch dead before, this just poured more gasoline on my fire of hate for her. I ground my teeth and snarled.

  I tried to wipe the anger off my face and I changed the subject, “I’m divorced and I have two boys. One is about your age and the other one is a bit older than you.” I started to get a little choked up thinking about Sean Jr. “I will find him, just like Collin came back into my life.”

  Angel smiled at me and said, “I bet you have a girlfriend though, don’t you?”

  One more punch in the proverbial gut for me, “No, not anymore. And I don’t want to talk about that. Okay?”

  Angel nodded and could tell it was a sensitive subject.

  I got up and stretched my legs and asked Angel, “So, does Roxy come with this Demetrius guy every night? Did they take you with and where did they go?”

  Angel squirmed around in her chair and said, “Most of the time they arrive together. Almost all the time they leave together. Demetrius and her are always talking about how terrible our government is and how they should take over. I tuned most of it out. They were in the skin business to finance whatever other stuff they were doing.” Angel started to talk in a much softer tone now. “After I was done at the mall, they would blindfold me and some other girls and take us to one of their places. Sometimes they kept the blindfold on even after we got there. Most of the time I was alone in a room handcuffed to a bed post or other piece of furniture. They would have big parties trying to get more people in their club. I would be brutalized by random men. I just wanted to die.” Angel was now sobbing.

  Now I felt like an asshole for having Angel relive this, “I’m sorry. Like I said before, I’m not going to let anybody hurt you again.” Angel stopped crying and attempted a smile. My interrogation should probably end now. I started to get anxious looking at the Jeep. In a couple of hours, it would be the time that Demetrius left yesterday. I have to stay alert.

  I looked at Angel in her eyes speaking softly, “Angel, I’m going to have to do something that is pretty scary. When I say so we are going to have to go to my truck that’s parked outside. I want you to lay down in the back seat. Make sure you wear your seatbelt. I will not have time to explain anything. You will have to do as you are told. Do you understand all of this?”

  Angel nodded and said, “You are going to kill them, aren’t you?” I looked away and said nothing. Angel took some comfort in all of this and drifted off to sleep.

  It was 0330 and the mall was almost empty now. The Jeep was one of the only vehicles left in the lot. I checked my AR-15 and made sure the safety was off and I tapped the magazine just to make sure it was seeded correctly. “Angel. Get up. Get ready to move when I say so.” Angel carefully took off the blanket and rolled it up on her lap. She gave me a reassuring smile and sat at the edge of her chair.

  0400 and Demetrius was coming out the door alone. Shit! This is not good. I trained my sights on his center mass. It was too far of a shot, and I couldn’t afford to miss. The AR is a great weapon, just not for this. Too much chance for their friends to join in the fight if I started to spray the area with lead. It was
only me and now I had to protect one. I would let them leave and engage them on the road. I guessed they would head on the highway or keep going east. It didn’t matter. I would be able to take them out either way.

  Demetrius stood still and held the door open as a female walked out wearing a coat with the left arm not in the sleeve. It was Roxy! They were both looking around the lot, surveying the area.

  I kept my AR fixed on them as Demetrius hopped in the driver’s seat and Roxy took her place riding shotgun. I took a peak with my binoculars and saw Roxy’s right hand on her Uzi. Demetrius had an AK-47 he put next to the gearshift on the floorboard.

  I shifted position and said, “Get ready Angel. This is it! When I say go, head to the truck. It is unlocked. Just lay down in the back seat.” Angel nodded and looked scared.

  The grey Jeep fired up and its headlights were on now. This time he didn’t head towards East Washington, they were heading right towards us! If they saw us or my truck it would complicate things.

  The Jeep slowed down as they drove past the hotel as Angel and I hid under the blanket she was using. I put my body over hers as protection and I could hear her whimper. They never went into the lot and didn’t see the truck. I threw off the blanket and yelled, “Go!” We both ran to the truck as quietly as possible. I fired it up still seeing the taillights from the jeep in the distance.

  28 Revenge

  The Jeep’s taillights were in the distance as I crept a safe distance behind them.

  My AR-15 was muzzle down on the floor board next to me with the stock resting on my thigh. I looked back at Angel who had her seatbelt on but managed to be in a fetal position on the rear seat. “That’s good Angel, make yourself small. I will let you know when it is safe to get back up. If anything happens to me, run like hell and get out of wherever we are. Do you understand?”

  I heard a faint, “Yes… yes, I do.”

  I could hear the fear in her voice and I was sorry she had to be a part of this, but I didn’t see any other way out of this.

  The tail lights of the Jeep were starting to go dim as it started to pull away from me and head east onto Highway 151. The frontage road leading to 151 was rough and I kept one hand on my rifle and the other on the wheel as I tried to keep up. My truck was old and it was showing its age. Acceleration was not its high point and the Jeep was newer and had more pep. Poor Angel was getting tossed around pretty bad, but she never complained. She just stayed in the fetal position holding on to her seatbelt.

  I started to gain ground on the Jeep when I got on 151. I didn’t know if they spotted me or they were just slowing down. I quickly looked back at Angel in the back seat and yelled, “It’s going to get rough now. If you hear any gunfire get on the floor and stay there.” I heard a faint, “Okay.”

  The Jeep kept its speed at about 40 mph and it was in the right lane. I’m going to have to do something soon before they get into Sun Prairie. This can’t happen in front of a crowd. I stayed a couple of car lengths behind the Jeep.

  I took a quick look back at Angel and caught the Jeep taillights getting brighter. It slammed on its brakes and broke left in my peripheral vision. I instinctively hit the brakes, but it was too late.

  Pop, pop, pop I heard and glass breaking. It was Roxy firing her Uzi out the window. My driver’s side window was broken out and there was glass flying everywhere. “Get on the ground!” I screamed as I grabbed my AR and returned fire resting it on the jagged glass. My forehead was bleeding and it was streaming into my left eye burning and distorting my vision. I didn’t think I was hit, it was probably glass that cut me. The Jeep sped away from me when I started to return fire and moved into the right lane. I could see Roxy moving around in her seat to get a clear shot from behind. Her coat was off and the sling was slowing her down. She was yelling something at Demetrius, but I couldn’t make it. She struggled to get her gun in position to fire into my windshield.

  They are expecting me to slow down or go off road. One thing they are not expecting is a PIT maneuver. Much to Roxy’s surprise I sped up and switched over to the left lane. I drove to the Jeep’s left rear quarter panel as I placed my right front bumper next to the Jeep’s left rear bumper. I could see for a split second the shock on Roxy’s face as I turned my wheel right forcing the jeep to slide sideways. The doomed Jeep eventually rolled twice resting on its side. During the roll I could see Roxy fly though the air like a rag doll landing in the ditch. That will teach her for not wearing her seatbelt. I carefully stopped my truck behind the Jeep leaving about 50 feet between us.

  I kept my eyes straight and yelled back at Angel, “Stay on the floor. I have to go check on them. Stay down until I tell you to get up!” I could barely hear myself scream. My adrenaline had kicked into high gear and my hearing was almost gone. I carefully moved towards the Jeep and saw Demetrius still holding on to the wheel that was carved into his chest cavity with his eyes wide open. There was no doubt he was dead. Good riddance asshole, you should have suffered. You didn’t deserve a quick death. I made my way to the ditch where Roxy had landed.

  I heard the slight sound of her groans, which made me smile. It was music to my ears that were now working. I carefully broke the line of the ditch and Roxy on her back squirming in pain. Her arm had been thrown out of the sling and now was horribly disfigured. Her arm now had the radius protruding from the skin. Her forehead had deep cuts that were bleeding profusely. I could only imagine the variable cornucopia of internal injuries she suffered. Her right shoulder was dislocated and her right arm was rendered useless. She tried desperately to reach the Uzi that was fingertips away from her.

  I placed my boot on her hand squishing it in a circular motion as she let out a loud scream, “Fuck you!”

  I smiled at her as I let my AR sling in front of me, “I guess you want to shoot me, don’t you. Too bad neither of your hands works right now.” I continued to crush her hand chuckling out loud. Roxy continued to cry and curse. I did this until I could see the life drain out of her face.

  I stopped torturing her and placed my hand inside my jacket and pulled out the Beretta. “No Roxy. I want you to be awake for this. This is from Susie and I, don’t ever say we never gave you anything.” With that I pulled the hammer back and pulled the trigger twice. The hollow point bullets did a fine job of Roxy’s scull as they entered just above her nose.

  I stood there just looking at her dead body with the Beretta hanging in my hand by my side. I heard a noise come up from behind me and I spun around with the Beretta. It was Angel, “Hey don’t shoot!” she yelled looking shocked at the sight of Roxy’s corpse. I holstered the Beretta and turned Angel away from Roxy, “You don’t have to see this. Did you see what happened?”

  Angel shook her head yes, “I’m glad she’s dead. I would have liked to have done it myself.”

  I stopped and went down on one knee, “No Angel. Even if it’s an appropriate kill, you still have to live with it.”

  I got up and put my hand on her shoulder and we got back into my truck. I went towards the Highway 94 on-ramp where we would eventually wind up in Cambridge. The bleeding on my head stopped when Angel found some gauze in the glove box and I stuck it to my forehead.

  Angel sat back in the passenger seat and asked, “Where are we going now?’

  I smiled at her and said, “Home, Angel. We are going home.” She smiled back at me and drifted off to sleep as we headed towards Cambridge.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

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