Her father was face down in the mud, his arms behind him bound with zip ties, his ankles restrained too. He struggled on the ground as Cornwell held him there with one boot. “You bastards, leave her alone!”
Then there came an unbearable sound that echoed through the quiet forest, a little girl in anguish, screaming at the top of her lungs. In a moment it ended and only the silence remained.
The old man lowered his gun, turned towards the sound and back to Rob, now unable to conceal the loathing inside. “I should kill you.”
Rob didn’t think he could, or at least hoped, “You should, but you won’t. Like I said before, you’re not going to let the people you love die over some food. If I don’t get some cooperation out of you right now, not only is your granddaughter going to be killed, but it will be very unpleasant too. Several of my men would love to make a woman out of her before she dies.”
The old man raised his gun again and right at that moment Robert wasn’t sure if he was going to live or not. Without taking his gaze off him, Rob brought the radio to his mouth, this time making sure he could be heard, “Coyote ...”
“Go ahead.”
“Rape the little girl, all of you. Then kill her. Make the man watch and then kill him too.”
Enraged, the old man closed one eye and took aim as he started to squeeze the trigger, but his wife came running out on the road, blocking her husband’s shot. “Please, please don’t hurt them! We’ll do whatever you say!”
Rob was relieved he could have a rational conversation with someone. “You seem like a reasonable lady. So I’m going to be reasonable with you. I know you’re afraid I am lying and your granddaughter and the rest of you will be killed. That’s not an unfounded fear in this day and age. So here’s what I’m going to do to make it easier for you. I will stand here and let your husband hold his rifle on me. Then I’ll have my men bring up our cart. You’ll let them fill it up with all the food it will hold. Once that is done my men will go on their way. When they’re out of range, your loved ones will be released and I’ll leave, the end, and we all live happily ever after. But there is a caveat. You knew there would be, didn’t you? If I or any of my men are killed, or if you try to come after us, all of you women will die horribly. Your men will be forced to watch it too, before they die.”
She agreed and talked her husband into the deal, although it was obvious he would rather be committing murder. Rob called Peavey and the boys, along with Cornwell and Martinelli to help pack up the food. McCain and Rudd stayed on standby with their rifles just in case. It took them over an hour of careful packing before they were ready to go.
When the group left later that morning, their cart was so full it was overflowing, along with their packs that were nearly bursting. They did leave the family some, but only because it wasn’t enough to warrant returning for. The cart was so laden it took three men and both boys to get it moving, even then traveling was slow.
When they were finally out of view, Rob got on his radio again, “Coyote, release the prisoners. Coyote and Jackal, proceed to point Cherry for rendezvous.”
In just a few seconds the girl and her father came running out of the woods; they were frightened and dirty but didn’t appeared harmed. As they approached, Rob turned to say adieu. The old man still held his rifle on him.
“You would like to kill me, wouldn’t you?”
“I most certainly would.”
“But then you know what would happen.”
“Yes ...” He continued holding the gun on him.
The girl came running, “Grandpa, no!”
The son was right behind, “Dad, put the gun down. We can’t fight their kind. We’re not hurt, we’re alive, just let it go.”
The father at last lowered his gun. “Get out of here, scum. You think you’ve won, but sooner or later God will make you pay for the things you’ve done.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?”
The old man nodded.
Rob scoffed and walked on.
It took Rob a half hour to catch up with the group and everyone was pulling or pushing the cart along.
As soon as he arrived, James came to his side, “Rob, can I ask you something?”
“Sure ...”
“You weren’t really going to hurt them, were you? You weren’t really going to hurt that little girl?”
Rob looked James right in the eye, “Did you think I was going to hurt her?”
“Yes, kind of ...”
“Good.”
“Good?” The boy was confused.
“James, I wasn’t going to hurt anyone. But we have to make people think we would. If we can’t make them afraid of us we would never eat. People won’t give you much unless they fear you. Oh, if they pity you they might give you a little, but not enough to live on, though. But when they fear you ... well, you can get anything you want.”
Rob continued to march out in front. “It’s like with the Whitmans. I wouldn’t have hurt that lady, I certainly wouldn’t have burned her to death. But I had to make the husband believe I would. If I didn’t he would have never gave us a thing. We would have had to use force to get what we wanted. Then one, or both of them would have probably been killed, and some of our guys too. You see, James, you really don’t have to hurt a person to get what you want, that’s not important. What’s important is that they believe you would.”
“Oh, I see ...”
With their work done they were ready to move on to their newest opportunity. All weighed down, they slowly made their way towards their next mission. They had a third of the journey under their belts before Rob decided it was time to stop for the day.
They slept under a highway overpass that night, without a fire, and James bundled himself up in his sleeping bag to cut the cold breeze that blew through.
Just before sunup they were awakened by gunfire.
Rob was on his feet right away, yelling out to D’Cruz who was on guard duty on the overpass above, “What’s going on?! Where? How many?!”
D’Cruz took another shot at something unseen and turned back to Rob, “There’s at least two of them, one just over that hill northeast and another west of us past that car!” He pointed at an old derelict about two hundred yards away. “They both took off running when I returned fire!”
By now everyone was on their feet and armed.
And there was no doubt Rob was in charge, “Alton, you take D’Cruz and Martinelli and go after the one northeast. McCain, you take Rudd and Peavey and go after the one down by that car.”
All of them were quickly off.
Robert yelled out after them, “Bring them back alive if you can! I need to question them!”
In the dim pre-dawn light, Nicky and James were under the cart and out of sight, terrified.
By their arms, Rob quickly pulled the two out and lifted them up. He quietly spoke to them, “James, Nicky, come on, get up.”
James was clearly frightened and you could hear it in his voice. “What’s happening? Where are we going?”
But Rob didn’t have time to talk, “Come on, I’ll explain it to you later. Nicky, you too.”
He led the boys to a ditch nearby and they all got down.
James still needed answers, “Rob, what are we doing?”
“James, be quiet for now, I promise I’ll explain it all later.”
After about three minutes of silently waiting, they could all hear a faint rustling in the grass, then see a shadowy figure stealthily approaching the cart.
Rob whispered, “Stay here, boys,” jumped up and pulled his gun. Instantly he was on top of the figure, aiming his Colt right at them and shouting, “STOP! Show me your hands!”
A woman recoiled in fear and instantly put her hands up. All she had with her was a soiled and empty pillow case.
He gave her a good look in the faint light. Rob at last spoke, “I know you from somewhere.” He only had to think about it a second more. “The other day, we caught you and your boyfriend
hiding in that truck. He gave us some information and we paid the two of you. Was he one of them shooting at us?”
The woman wouldn’t say a word.
Rob spoke again and motioned with his Colt, “Just sit down, right there, and keep your hands where I can see them.”
She dropped right to the ground.
He kept his eyes on her while pulling the radio from his belt. Rob asked, “Alton, McCain ... any luck yet?”
A familiar voice came back over the radio, Alton’s, “We caught one guy. We’re heading your way now.”
Then another voice came, McCain’s, “We’ve got ‘em on the run! I’ll call back when we’ve got him!”
Shortly after dawn, Alton and his men returned with a prisoner in tow, a man about twenty years old. He was filthy and in tattered clothes. Alton was holding his gun, a .22 Remington rifle, a ‘Nylon 66.’ Robert had never seen him before.
Alton spoke up as he approached, “Where did the woman come from?”
Robert gave his report, “I had an idea, so me and the boys hid right after you left. A few minutes later this one came crawling up, thought she was going to help herself to our food.”
He made sure the rifle was unloaded and Alton placed it in the cart. “Yeah, these two, and that third one must be working together, two of them try to divert us while the third steals our stuff. Heard back from McCain?”
Rob picked up the little plastic rifle and looked it over while he talked. “Yes, he just called. He said they caught one man and I bet I know who it is.”
“You’ve already met him?”
“Yeah, we picked up this woman and a man the other day on highway patrol. They were the ones that gave us the info on those two women, and that family in the drain pipe. This isn’t the man but I’m betting the one McCain captured is.” Rob tossed the rifle back in the cart.
“Has she said anything?”
“No, but I haven’t tried real hard. I was waiting for everyone to get back.”
Just then McCain and his men were heard yelling out as they came over the top of a hill. They all turned to face them.
As they approached, Rob could see it was the man he was thinking of. Unlike Alton’s prisoner, this one was bruised and shaken. McCain shouted out, “Look what we caught! Had a nice gun on him too,” and waved in the air the captured Glock pistol.
Rob walked up and took it from him, “Any rounds left?”
McCain answered, “Four.”
He checked the chamber and Rob smiled, “Well, that’s one more than we need.” Then he addressed the man he met before, “You’ve got some guts, fella,” Rob casually pointed the gun right at him. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you?”
They all stood there nervously waiting for something to happen, but then Alton broke the tense silence, “Why don’t we question them, Rob? There’s some answers we need.”
Rob didn’t say a word but took aim at the man’s head.
“Rob?”
He still stood there, his finger on the trigger, looking the man right in the eye.
“Rob?”
Finally Robert lowered the gun, “All right, why not.” But he kept his eyes right on the man, “Alton, did you search your prisoner? How about you, McCain?”
Alton spoke, “Just a brief weapons search.”
And then McCain, “Yeah, same here.”
Now Robert had a thought, “I didn’t search the woman yet. We might as well do it right now, and let’s be thorough about it.” Rob stepped back and pointed the Glock at the ground. “All three of you, stand right here.”
The two men and the woman formed a line, shoulder to shoulder, right where Rob told them, “Take off your clothes.”
The three of them awkwardly looked at one another.
Rob started waving the gun around, “All of you, take off your clothes!”
The three started slowly undressing with everyone watching them, each filthy piece of clothing landing at their feet. In a minute they stood there shivering, naked in the cold.
Rudd never once stopped staring at the woman, a disturbing glint in his eye.
Robert seemed quite pleased with himself as he addressed the man he met before. “Like I was saying, you’ve got a lot of guts. Did you really think this was going to work? Did you even consider what was going to happen to you if it didn’t?” He waited a moment for an answer, none came, and the anger only grew, “Hey! I’m talking to you!”
The man stood there trembling both from the cold and the fear that was quite apparent to everyone there. “Mister, please don’t kill us.”
“Why shouldn’t I kill you? You knew what would happen if you screwed with us. While I’m trying to make up my mind whether you’re going to live or not, why don’t you tell us all about it, tell us about your big plan.”
The man still stood there silent and shaking.
And Rob’s anger was only growing, “Start talking!”
Finally the man found enough courage to speak. “It’s nothing against you, mister, or your guys here. We were hungry, we had to have food.”
“We just gave you some food, what happened to it?”
“We ate it.”
“You ate it all, already?”
“Yes, we were hungry.”
“You were following us, weren’t you?”
“Yes ...”
“You were planning this the whole time?”
“Yes ...”
“Okay, so tell us all about this ‘Big Plan’ of yours.”
The man stood there shaking, almost crying. “We didn’t want to hurt anyone. We wanted some more of your food. We thought we would fire off some shots, make you chase after us. Then she could sneak up while you were gone and steal us some more, that’s all.”
Rob scoffed, “Oh yeah, brilliant plan, Einstein. Didn’t you even consider that some of us would stay behind to protect the food? What were you going to do then? Your wife is not even armed. She could’ve been killed.”
The man had very little left to say, “We weren’t thinking that far ahead ... we were hungry.”
“Who is this guy?” Rob motioned to the other man with his gun.
“Just a guy we met on the road.”
“You just met him?”
“Yes ...” He still stood there shaking, cold and exposed.
“And you decided you knew him so well the two of you could pull off this robbery together.”
“I figured there would be a better chance of success if you had two people to chase.”
Rob turned to the other man who was also trembling. “What about you, anything you would like to add to the conversation?”
He covered himself with his hand as he spoke, “We’re sorry, mister. It was a bad idea. We know that now. We weren’t looking to hurt anybody, especially no kids, but we were desperate, we had to have food. You have so much.”
Robert turned to the first man once more, “Who else have you told about us?”
“No one, I give you my word ...”
“YOUR WORD?!” Rob stretched out his arm, putting the Glock right to the man’s forehead. “Your word?! I should kill you right now just for saying that!”
The man was petrified. He urinated on himself and on the toe of Rob’s boot.
McCain and Rudd started laughing and couldn’t stop.
Rob stepped back and looked down at his wet boot, their laughing still in his ears, brought the pistol up again, aiming it right between the man’s eyes.
Alton tried to intervene for the three, “Rob, we don’t have to do this. We’ve got their guns. We can let them go, I’m sure they won’t bother us again. I’m sure they’ve learned their lesson.”
Rob took the pistol in both hands, taking precise aim, their laughter still in his ears.
Unexpectedly, James came between Rob and the man. “Please, Rob, please don’t kill him. Let them go, please ... for me.”
Instantly Nicky was there too, right next to James. “Please, Rob, please don’t do it.”
; Rob stood there a few seconds more, ready to take the shot. Everyone stood there completely quiet now, unsure what was about to happen.
Without warning, he dropped the pistol to his side and addressed the man again. “I should kill you ... but I’m not. You should thank these boys.” He tousled Nicky’s mop of hair. “They’re the only reason you get to walk away from this with your life. Thank them.”
The three of them wholeheartedly thanked both boys.
Very shortly Rob tired of their groveling. “Now get out of here. If I ever see you again, I won’t be so nice.”
The three scooped up their clothes and started running down the road. In a moment they were gone.
As Rob was watching them scurry out of sight, he felt a tap on his back. It was James behind him. “Thank you, Rob. I know you was mad, but thank you for not hurting them.”
“You’re welcome, James ... and thank you for stopping me. I was so angry I couldn’t think straight. You should never do anything out of anger. Never try to do anything out of emotion. Always try to think things through. You’ll live a lot longer.”
Their laborious journey continued and by mid-afternoon the entire group was ready for a break, one Robert wouldn’t give them just yet.
Suddenly they all heard a loud thud and the sound of a gunshot a fair distance away. They turned to see water pouring from a hole in the side of their drum.
Before anyone could even move, several more shots rang out, the bullets coming down all around them.
Robert shouted out, “We’re under fire!” He looked around for a split second, “Everybody down in the ditch!”
The group ran for a shallow trench there by the highway twenty feet away.
Nicky slipped and fell to the ground. Without slowing, Rob picked him up and covered the boy’s body as they both slid headfirst into ditch, the sound of gunfire still in the air.
Alton checked his rifle, “This is a bad spot to be ambushed!” He lifted his head out just enough to see all around. Then he dropped down again, “I heard at least three different rifles, and one of them is firing from that hill southeast.”
Rob checked around himself, “Yeah, another one is coming directly east of us. I don’t know about the third ...”
McCain interrupted, “The third is southeast too, about a hundred yards further back than the other.”
Joshua (Book 2): Traveler Page 6