Paradise (Aftershock Series Book 1)

by Michael R. Watson

  I decided to try to coax him out. “They’re not coming. We put the fire out. There isn’t any signal for them to follow.”

  He didn’t reply. That was good. Maybe he was thinking about his options.

  “What do you suggest?” I asked Ryder. “We can’t just sit here and wait and we can’t rush the cabin, the person inside could be hurt.”

  “If they aren’t already,” Ryder pointed out.

  “Let me talk to him,” said Samuel as he came up behind us, continuing toward the cabin.

  “Dad! Come back. He’s too unpredictable and dangerous,” said Ryder, standing up to go after him.

  “Nonsense,” said Samuel as he waved Ryder away and continued to walk toward the front door.

  “Stop right there, Samuel,” said Taylor forcefully. “Or I’ll kill her.”

  Now we knew it was either a girl or woman he held captive.

  “There’s no sense in that,” replied Samuel. “And it wouldn’t be in your best interest. You’d lose the only bargaining chip you have.” Again, Taylor had no reply.

  “What do you propose?” asked Taylor.

  “Let the girl go and I’ll give you my word you can ride out of here unharmed.”

  * * *

  I couldn’t believe my ears. After everything Taylor had done? There was an old woman mourning her dead husband at the other end of town at this very second. And he had betrayed every person in this valley by leading the Guard here.

  “He can’t do that,” I said to Ryder. “Is he trying to trick him into coming out?”

  “Not my dad. He’s a man of his word and means exactly what he says. No tricks.”

  “I don’t think I can let Taylor just ride away,” I told Ryder.

  * * *

  “What guarantee do I have?” Taylor asked.

  “My word,” Samuel replied, still standing in front of the door.

  “Why don’t I just wait until the Guard gets here?”

  “For one thing, as John pointed out, you don’t even know whether or not they saw the fire. So, how long are you willing to wait and see? I’m giving you a free ticket to get out of here. Now, are you going to take it or not?”

  There was another moment of silence. “Bring me my horse!” shouted Taylor.

  Samuel looked to Ryder and nodded. Ryder understood, running off for the horse.

  “It’s coming,” said Samuel, clasping his hands together behind his back. “Now, send out the girl.”

  I heard a laugh within the cabin. “Nice try, old man. Not until the horse is here.”

  “I gave you my word,” reminded Samuel.

  “I know. It’s John and Ryder I’m worried about.”

  “They won’t do anything. Come on out.”

  The door slowly swung open awkwardly on the remaining hinge. A few moments later the hostage began to slowly appear, followed closely by Taylor with his arm around her waist. A pistol was held to her head. It looked like the one I had given Christopher. He had stolen it at some point on our journey together. In the bright moonlight I could see clearly. It was Jill. I hadn’t considered until that moment the hostage might be someone I knew. It shouldn’t have mattered who it was since an innocent person’s life was in danger. But it did. His hostage was someone I personally knew, and a friend. Whether Taylor had specifically chosen Jill or if it had been just pure blind luck, I had no idea.

  Ryder rode up on a horse and dismounted, holding out the reins to his dad. Ryder stepped back.

  “Here’s your horse, now let her go,” said Samuel firmly, perhaps with a slight edge in his voice, appearing to grow tired of Taylor’s games.

  Taylor kept a firm grip on Jill as he retrieved the reins from Samuel and moved toward the horse.

  “Jill, are you all right?” I asked. She gave me a slight nod. Her face showed the terror she was feeling, her eyes wide with tears running down her cheeks.

  Taylor smiled. “A friend of yours, John? Well, isn’t this an unexpected coincidence.”

  “Let her go, Taylor. That was the deal,” I said. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I became more angry.

  “Not here. At the edge of town,” he said. He then forced Jill up into the saddle and he swung up behind her. He now held the pistol tightly against her side while he held the reins in the other hand.

  “This isn’t what you agreed to,” I repeated.

  “Deals were made to be broken,” he said as he showed a toothy arrogant smile.

  Ryder’s two friends were now on the other side of Taylor with his back to them. They were slowly moving in. He glanced around and saw them just as they were getting near enough to strike. He shook his head at them and motioned for them to come around to where Ryder and myself were standing. As soon as they had joined us, Taylor turned back towards us. “It’s been a real pleasure. I’ll probably see you all again very soon, but next time I won’t be alone.” He let out a laugh and kicked the horse in the flanks, riding off in a gallop.

  I ran after him, Ryder at my side.

  “Let him go,” said Samuel. “We’re better off without him and we already have one of our brothers to bury.”

  But it wasn’t him I was worried about, it was Jill. We cut through yards in an attempt to head him off before he started up the one lane road out of the valley.

  We arrived just behind him. He was riding up the road alone. Surprisingly, he’d dropped off Jill just as he said he would. She was lying on the ground and Darby was checking to make sure she was alright. I pulled my .45 and took aim. Ryder grabbed my arm.

  “Don’t shoot!” he said. “Not here.”

  I looked at him without understanding.

  “Why not? After everything he’s done?”

  “Dad gave his word no one would stop him from leaving the valley.”

  Taylor was too far away now anyway. I stuck the pistol back into my waistband.

  “What do you suggest we do now?” I asked.

  “We go after him before he gets too far ahead.”

  “But you said ...”

  “Dad said no one would stop him from leaving. Well, he’s left, so, now we go after him.”

  Ryder’s companions had mounted and approached with two horses in tow.

  “Expecting me to go with you?” I asked.

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Of course. Just let me check on Jill first.”

  “She took a hard spill, but she’s going to be okay,” said Darby from his saddle.

  I could see she was to her feet now and a small group was tending to her.

  “Then, let’s go.”

  “Don’t you need to tell Sarah where you’re going?” asked Ryder.

  “She’ll know.”

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  Counselor Damon anxiously entered the governor’s office. The governor was standing at the window overlooking Tent City.

  “I have great news, Governor. A member of the Guard search party has just entered through the gate. The escaped workers have been located, but unfortunately our men were ambushed before they could reach them. The courier relays a message that reinforcements are needed.”

  “Ambushed? By who? One family of workers? I doubt if reinforcements will make a difference if your Guard is that incompetent.”

  “It’s as we suspected, sir. They’re being aided by the Raiders, and there is something else.”

  “More good news, Counselor Damon?”

  “Perhaps. The man who was in your service as a protector for the missing family left with them. It would appear he convinced them to take him along, but has remained in contact with the Guard incognito. According to his last report, there is a luscious green valley within the wasteland …”

  The governor’s eyes widened with interest.

  “I wasn’t aware anything of worth remained in the wasteland. “

  “No one did, sir.”

  “Where is this man now?” asked Davis. “And can he be trusted?”

  “The last we knew
, he had joined the Guard detail and was leading them to the alleged valley when they were ambushed by the Raiders. The valley is supposedly where the family has taken up refuge. As far as being able to trust him? I feel sure he can be trusted as long as some sort of compensation is forthcoming.” Counselor Damon handed a piece of paper to the governor. “The man, Taylor Grey, sent this with the rider.”

  Governor Davis read it silently, a smile growing on his face. “How long to reach them?”

  “Two hard days to where they were ambushed.”

  “They’ll have their reinforcements. This note says there are over one hundred people living there, young and old. We can use the younger ones as workers and eliminate the old ones. It also says they are farmers, growing grains and vegetables, and raising livestock. Those resources will make a nice addition to our food supply. He says they call it Paradise. Perfect.”

  The prospect of acquiring more supplies and more workers produced a hint of a disturbing smile. Then the smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. “If this valley does indeed exist, I must have it. This will give us an advantage over the other Sectors. See to it Master Gant takes adequate troops and personally leads the attack.”

  “As you wish, Governor.”

  * * *

  It was still dark when we rode after Taylor. We had to assume he was headed straight to the Guard’s last known encampment. The advantage was on our side since Ryder knew the area better than most and Taylor had only been this way twice before. We wouldn’t know how far ahead he was until we could physically see him or his dust trail by the light of day. When I asked, Ryder assured me there wasn’t a shortcut. The hope of catching him before he reached them was slim. We could only try.

  We didn’t know if the Guard had continued toward the valley after our ambush of their encampment or if they had stayed put, regrouping until morning. There was also the possibility they had proceeded south if they had seen Taylor’s signal fire. Even if we caught up with Taylor, it wouldn’t necessarily remove the impending danger that was sure to come. The Guard now knew the general direction and even without Taylor as their guide, they would probably be able to eventually find the valley on their own, unless they were to be discouraged in a major way.

  At sunrise and after riding for several hours, there had been no sign of Taylor. By noon we approached the location of the previous night’s ambush. We dismounted and crawled across the sandy soil, snaking through the clumps of sagebrush to where we could see into the Guard camp, if it was still there. Both of us were somewhat surprised to see that it was. Ryder pulled out a small pair of binoculars, handing them to me. Their security was much tighter this time with sentries posted at regular intervals around the camp’s perimeter.

  “What do you suppose they’re waiting for?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Possibly reinforcements?” Ryder replied. “Remember, one man rode off in that direction.”

  “It looks like our boy is there,” I said. “And he looks upset. He keeps pointing this way, but the apparent guard-in-charge continues to shake his head. Whoa! You should have seen that?” I handed the binoculars back to Ryder. “He just knocked Taylor to the ground. I wish I’d done that.”

  Ryder looked, still in time to see Taylor picking himself up off the ground and back away from the officer. “I guess he got tired of him too,” said Ryder. We exchanged smiles at the unfortunate incident.

  “Darby, Sims,” whispered Ryder, motioning them over. They crawled over to us. “It looks like we’re going to need some help. Can you go and round up some of the boys and let them know we need their help? Make sure they know it’s just a request for volunteers. They don’t have the same ties to Paradise as I do.”

  Darby smiled. “They’ll all want to help. If not to protect the valley, then to strike back at the Guard and Davis. How many men do you think we’re going to need?” asked Darby.

  “As many as you can round up on short notice. We’re going to make a stand right here.”

  “Okay, but it may be two or three days before we can get back.”

  “I know. Just come back as soon as possible. We’ll hold them off as long as we can. If they’re waiting for reinforcements, it’ll probably be a few days before the guard can come back from Sector 4.”

  “What are you going to do if the reinforcements arrive before we can get back?” asked Darby.

  “Let’s just hope they don’t.”

  “Do you want Sims to stay here with you?” asked Darby.

  “No. We’ll be alright. Come in quietly and slowly from the west on your return. I don’t want to alert them with any unnecessary noise or dust clouds until we’re all here. It would spoil the surprise.”

  “We’ll see you soon. Stay out of trouble, will you guys?” said Darby.

  “We’ll try our best, and thanks.”

  They crawled away to where their horses were tied up.

  Ryder was acting more as a leader than as just one of the group, and they were following his instructions without question. There was more to Ryder than I had originally thought. I was beginning to suspect he was more than just one of the boys.

  Now, it was a waiting game, to keep an eye on the Guard encampment and hope they didn’t advance, and if they did, to hope Ryder’s Raider friends arrived in time to stop them. When I asked how many men would be coming, he’d just smiled and said, “I’m not sure, but I think you’ll be surprised.” His response didn’t fill me with confidence. As before, he didn’t seem to be concerned in the least, even with this encounter soon to unfold. On the second day, we decided to pull back to a safer distance where we could still see their camp without obstructions and where it would be less likely to be detected. If they decided to advance, we’d know about it just as easily from our new location. It was a boring wait. Not a sound came from their camp. As late afternoon turned to evening, it appeared they were settling in for another night, in no hurry to go anywhere, which suited us just fine. Ryder and I took turns catching up on the sleep we’d missed. Once things started to happen, who knew when we’d get another chance.

  In the early morning hours of the fourth day just before sunrise the silence was suddenly broken. Drowsy only moments earlier, we were now both wide awake and alert. The reinforcements had arrived, even though it was still dark. They must have traveled straight through. I was overwhelmed by the number of torches that appeared in and around the camp. It appeared the governor had sent more than a hundred men. I looked at Ryder, wondering what was going through his head.

  “This doesn’t look good,” I said. “And I’m guessing your men won’t be here for another day or more. Have any bright ideas?”

  “Nothing comes to mind,” he replied.

  “Look! We may be in luck, they’re dismounting.”

  “They probably need to rest and water their horses after that long of a ride. If Taylor told them how treacherous the landscape is from here on, they’re probably just being cautious, waiting for good light before proceeding south.”

  “Do you suppose we could try the same stunt you pulled the other night by stampeding their horses?” I asked.

  “No. I’m sure they’re on high alert now and it appears there are too many sentries to slip by. We’d never pull it off.”

  “I just wish there was something we could do other than sitting around and waiting.”

  “When they move out you’ll see plenty of action,” said Ryder.

  “Even though it’s just the two of us, I’d rather do what we can now to disrupt their plans while they’re not expecting it instead of waiting and meeting them head on. I’m not suicidal.”

  “Did you have something in mind?” asked Ryder.

  “What if we built several fires between us and their camp?” I asked. “It might give the impression we have an army of our own. They might not be so anxious to proceed then.”

  “It would take a while to collect all the firewood and any noise might alert them that someone is out here.”

  “
If we’re careful and can stay quiet, they won’t be alerted until we light them. We’re just sitting around anyway. Are you game or not?”

  He paused, staring into my eyes; I suppose he was trying to read my thoughts to see if I was genuinely serious, Then, he smiled. “Sure, why not?”

  We spent the next couple of hours attempting to be as quiet as possible while collecting dead mesquite branches for the three wood pile locations, ready to light. With the mesquite brush being sparsely spread across the landscape, it was harder than I had thought to find enough branches for the fires. At every sound, we’d stop and drop down, anticipating trouble, not knowing whether the sentries were roaming outside the camp perimeter. It made both of us jumpy.

  The coming dawn began to lighten the eastern sky just after we finished. Soon, it would be too bright for them to see the glow of the fires, but they’d be able to see the smoke easily, still serving the same purpose.

  As the sky became brighter, we could see that the number of guards had grown considerably, and activity throughout the camp was frantic. Tents were coming down and horses were being saddled. It appeared they were getting ready to move out.

  “How many men did you say you had?” I asked, concerned over the number they were up against.

  “As my dad would say, “have a little faith.”

  “I think this is going to take more than a little faith.”

  He just smiled in that annoying ‘don’t worry about it’ way. It was his dad’s smile again.

  We heard the sound of hooves approaching rapidly behind us. We jerked around. In the hazy morning light it was still too hard to make out who it was at a distance. Had the Guard slipped in behind us? I aimed my pistol, ready to fire. The sound came closer. I relaxed and let out a deep breath as Darby came into view and dismounted a short distance away. He stooped low as he joined us.

  “We didn’t expect you until tomorrow,” said Ryder.

  “I passed the word around for help to come as soon as possible. I brought a few men with me and I know others will come as soon as they hear they’re needed. Thought you might need some help sooner than later.”