As the sun slowly rose behind him, the figure walked over to an abandoned truck rig directly in front of the Explorer and crawled into the cab.
She asked Bonnie, “I wonder how he got that thing running?” although she didn’t really expect an answer.
Red was a big believer in minding her own business, so she let it go.
She pulled Bonnie’s reins to the right and said, “Come on, girl. Let’s go home.”
Chapter 18
The next day Red was in her apartment above her Dad’s hardware store.
It wasn’t really an apartment. It was actually a series of storage rooms. But as long as she could recall, she’d claimed them, either as a place to go meditate or a place to store her stuff.
These days they stored almost nothing except memories.
She’d moved all of her belongings out and into hers and Russell’s house just before they got married.
That was the house that had exploded, then burned to the ground some months before. Not only did her husband and son go down with it, so did every stick of furniture she had, every stitch of clothing she wore.
Luckily, her childhood room was still intact at her Dad’s place. So she had a bed to sleep in while she recovered from the injuries she’d received during the explosion. Lilly and some of her other friends were kind enough to share their clothes with her. Most of them didn’t fit well, but Red was not one to complain.
The few things above the hardware store were things she hadn’t had much use for before the explosion… extra sets of dishes, books she hadn’t read in years, her vinyl record and stuffed animal collections.
She was going through the boxes, deciding which stuff to give to Lilly and which stuff to haul to the town square with a “Free to Good Home” sign.
Outside the window, on Main Street, she heard a fight going on.
It wasn’t the first time she’d heard such commotion. Periodically in her teenage years, youthful angst and hormonal changes sometimes made her moody and irritable. She ran away from home several times. Not because she didn’t love her father or appreciate what he did for her, but because she just needed to get away and be alone.
Sometimes she’d saddle Bonnie and take her into the woods for a few days.
And sometimes she’d come here, sleeping on an air mattress in the center of the floor.
She’d heard a fair share of brawls which had started in the two competing town bars. One was directly across the street, and the other was two doors down. When the brawls would occasionally spill out of the bars and into the street, they sometimes woke Red up from a sound slumber.
But this was something different. The bars had been closed since just after the blackout. It was hard to keep such an establishment open once they’d run out of liquor and beer.
And this was the daytime, not late at night when the drunks always came out.
She went to the window and peered through a sheer curtain to see what was causing the commotion.
In the street below was a man she’d never seen before, but who for some reason looked familiar.
John Savage was standing over him with a gun, and was taking great delight as four of his henchmen kicked at him and beat him with a baseball bat.
Red watched for only a few seconds before she decided she had to intervene. She was not a person who butted into other people’s business. But even more than that, she wasn’t a person who would idly stand by and watch a man being beaten to death.
As she hurried down the stairs, she remembered the days when she was a small child and rescued other boys and girls from being beaten up by bullies on the school playground. It occurred to her that twenty-odd years later, the bullies were still around. They’d gotten larger but still hadn’t grown up.
Before she went onto the street she went behind the hardware store’s sales counter and grabbed her Remington rifle.
She cocked it as she went out the door and onto the boardwalk outside. Then she fired off a round into the pavement right next to the boot of the fat man swinging the baseball bat.
Understandably, all the activity before her came to a screeching halt.
Savage looked directly at her and yelled, “Now, you stay out of this, Red! This don’t concern you.”
Red obviously disagreed, and she knew that Savage himself had started this assault on the defenseless man, whoever he was.
And Savage was the only one with the power to stop it.
“Any time I see a murder being committed, it damn sure does concern me. And I’m damn sure gonna stop it.”
“This man’s a thief, Red. We can’t cotton to thieves.”
Red scoffed.
“Savage, you’re the biggest thief in this part of Texas. Maybe you’d like to take your turn rolling around on the street getting acquainted with the business end of a baseball bat.”
The fat man spoke.
“The Chief’s right, Red. This ain’t none of your concern. Go back to your window and watch, like everybody else who’s smart enough to mind their own business.”
Red turned to him.
“All of you. Take off your weapons and throw them away from you. I’m not gonna ask a second time. If I have to ask a second time, my Remington’s gonna do it for me.”
The men in the street all complied. Even Savage, who was none too pleased about it.
Red didn’t care.
“If anybody is gonna die here today, it ain’t gonna be some city slicker for stealing things that nobody else has a use for anyway. If anybody’s gonna die here today, it’s gonna be you, John Savage.”
Then Red turned back to the fat man before continuing.
“Unless you’d like to volunteer to die in his place, Brady.”
The fat man swallowed hard and shut his mouth.
Red backed toward Bonnie, who was tied to a post in front of the hardware store, and continued to address the group.
“There’s been too much dying in this town already. Too much of people shoving others around, just so they could feel better about themselves and their lot. It’s time somebody got the balls to put a stop to it.”
One of the men grew bold enough to laugh at her.
“And I suppose that somebody is you, Red? Seriously?”
Red turned again while pulling the reins down from the big horse and saddling up.
The rifle’s sights were now pointing at the blowhard’s chest.
“I’ve got nine bullets left, Billy. How many of ‘em do you want?
He had no more words.
Red said, “Billy, unless you want to piss me off any more, you lift that city slicker up and put him behind me. And you better be damn gentle with him. You’ve hurt him enough already.”
She slowly rode out of the town, the injured man hanging onto her for dear life. She kept a wary eye on the men in case one of them reached for their weapon. And she wouldn’t have hesitated, at that moment, to blow away anyone who did.
Red had never killed a man in her life. But at that moment, in the state she was in, she’d have done so without any regret.
She was sick and tired of watching the oppressed get beaten down by the more powerful. Most of the time there was nothing she could do about it.
But this time she could save one. She didn’t have a clue who the man was, and was ill prepared to leave the town of Blanco for what might be the very last time.
But she slowly rode into the town’s outskirts and then into the open country knowing she was a marked woman.
Chapter 19
Red was surprised when they made it out of sight of the town without getting shot in the back. It would have been just like John Savage to order his men to shoot them both, and then claim Red was helping a felon escape.
After all, had he done so, no one would have investigated the shooting. Not when he was Blanco’s only peace officer. And not many of the townsfolk would stand up to him and demand he be held accountable, now that her dad and Crazy Eddie were both dead.
Lilly would
have. And so would Luke, the naked guy. But Lilly was terribly timid and could be rolled over easily enough, and Luke was considered a crackpot by most.
Red surmised that if Savage did give that order, to shoot Red and the stranger in the back, his own men probably refused.
Not because they had any morals. For they were bottom-feeders just like Savage himself.
No, if Savage told them to shoot and they said no, it was because they knew if they missed, Red would dump the stranger in the dirt, return at a fast gallop and send them to meet their makers. All of them.
It was likely that the group of thugs would sulk for a while and get plied with liquor to build their courage. Then they’d likely find reinforcements, for they knew that the four of them were no match for a pissed off Red Poston.
And Savage would likely insist that they come up with a plan. Some kind of ambush, far enough away from the town to ensure no witnesses would see the carnage. And they’d hide and wait for Red to come happening by, with or without the stranger. They’d get her in a crossfire and blow her away, leaving her bullet-riddled body lying in the dirt for the coyotes and turkey buzzards to find.
And truth be known, Red wouldn’t have cared much. She’d been depressed lately, after the death of her father and the realization that of all the people she loved in the world, only Lilly was left.
Lilly and Bonnie.
Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing for her to check out of this miserable planet and go to a better place.
But there would be no one to care for Bonnie.
And no one to watch out for Lilly and to protect her from Savage and his savages.
And no one to administer justice. To make sure Savage and Luna and Sloan and whoever else was involved paid for the evil things they’d done.
No. She couldn’t check out. They might get her in the end, but she still had much to do. Still had good reason to stay alive.
They made it to Highway 281.
She told the man on the back of her horse, “They’ll be coming after us soon, stranger. Are we going north or south?”
Red got the sense the stranger was hurt bad. Real bad. But he managed a single one-word answer: “South.”
Red smiled.
The men were laughing as they’d loaded him onto the back of her horse. They’d said he had stolen an alternator from the boarded-up auto parts store to use as an anchor for his boat, and saying he should have just used a big rock and saved himself a beating.
The only body of water large enough to use a boat was a couple of miles north of town.
That’s where they’d go to look for Red and the stranger.
And they were headed south.
They might just get away after all.
The stranger found his tongue again.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Well, that depends. Where do you live?”
“I’m a drifter of sorts. I was just passing through. I spent the night in a bobtail truck. A cabover Ford, I think. It’s in front of a sign that says Blanco One Mile.”
“Well, that’s interesting.”
“Why?”
She ignored his question and asked one of her own.
“So you didn’t really need the alternator for your fishing boat?”
He hesitated, and said, “No.”
“So that’s why you pulled up behind the bobtail and parked this morning, just before daybreak? Your alternator went out?”
Again, he hesitated.
“So it was you, wasn’t it? I saw you, just before the sun came up. Bonnie and I were on the crest of that hill over there. We watched you climb into the truck, and waited for you to come back out to see what you did.
“You never came out, so we figured you were a night traveler and went to sleep. So we left.”
The stranger was confused.
“What? Wait… who’s Bonnie?”
“You’re sitting on her.”
“Why do you think I needed an alternator?”
“Why else would you take one? Duh… I don’t understand why you took the battery, though. You do understand, don’t you, that it’s worthless without the acid. Right?”
She paused before finishing, as though she was afraid of hurting his feelings.
“Unless you’re just dumber than dirt.”
“I know it’s worthless without acid. I was on my out behind the store to look for acid when your police chief arrested me.”
“You know he’s not really the police chief, right?”
“The badge looked real to me. So did the gun in my face, so I didn’t think it wise to argue the point.”
“That was probably pretty smart on your part. He’d surely have put a bullet in your head then and there. Would have saved me some trouble. As for the badge, the town council had no choice but to give it to him. They’re scared to death of him. Have been for a long time, even before the blackout.”
“So I take it he’s not the upstanding citizen and administer of justice he claims to be?”
“Maybe in his own mind. Actually, he was the town banker before the world went to hell. He was under indictment for wire fraud, money laundering and embezzlement. Then everything went black and he was suddenly off the hook.
“Truth be known, he’s guilty of a lot of other things as well. Including murder. He’s had this town under his thumb for a long time.”
It suddenly occurred to her she hadn’t a clue who she was talking to.
“Hey, stranger. What’s your name, anyway?”
He spit a mouthful of blood, and a piece of a tooth, onto the side of the road. Then he said, “Dave. Dave Speer. I’d shake your hand but I’m busy hanging on for dear life.”
“Are you not a rider?”
“Oh, I’m a good rider. But not after I’ve been beaten all to hell and can’t feel my arms or hands.”
She pulled Bonnie to a sudden stop.
“This your truck?”
Through one half-open eye, Dave peered to his left, then waited for his vision to clear.
“Yep.”
“Then that Explorer is the vehicle I saw you crawl out of in the dark?”
With some apprehension, Dave admitted, “Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you get off. If I climbed down, you’d fall before I could catch you. The best I can do is hold your arm and try to keep you from falling while you slide off. With any luck we can keep you from hurting yourself more.”
Dave slowly did what he was told. As soon as he put weight on his left leg, though, he fell to the ground in agony.
“Stay there,” Red commanded. “I’ll be right back.”
Dave tried his best to keep from passing out.
Red took Bonnie to the passenger side of the big Ford diesel and tied her to the chrome handle on the side of the cab.
Bonnie had just enough slack to munch on the grass on the shoulder of the road, growing through a crack in the pavement.
Then Red had a better idea.
“I’m sorry, girl. You deserve a better meal than that, after carrying an extra load for the last half hour.”
She took her to a large oak tree, fifty yards off the road.
Then she returned to Dave.
“Okay, my new friend. This is probably gonna hurt you more than you’ve ever hurt in your life. But we have to get you up into that truck and into the bunk so I can doctor your wounds.”
“Is it smart to stop? You said they’d be coming after us. Shouldn’t we keep moving?”
“First of all, you’re in no shape to keep moving. If you do, you’ll probably die on me. And I’ve spent too much time saving you to have to bury you too. Secondly, they won’t be coming this way. First, they’ll get drunk. That’s the only way they’ll be brave enough to challenge me again. Then, they’ll go the other way, north. Not south.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You told them you had a boat. The only fishing pond in the area is two miles north of Blanco.
&nb
sp; “Now, then. Put your hand on my shoulder, grit your teeth, and let me help you up.”
Chapter 20
For three days Red tended to Dave and his wounds while getting to know him.
It turned out that Dave was a prepper, who lived in San Antonio a hundred miles or so south of Blanco. He and his wife had been preparing for the apocalypse for years. Thought they’d covered all the bases. They had food and weapons and water and seeds all stashed so they could survive even as others around them were dying.
The one thing they didn’t have was a clue.
Not a clue when the crisis was going to hit.
Not a clue what to do if they happened to be separated by a very long distance when it did.
Not a clue to indicate that when Dave’s wife and family flew from San Antonio to Kansas City for a wedding, fate would deal them a cruel blow.
Red asked him, “Are they alive?”
“I honestly don’t know. Their plane was due to land at almost exactly the same minute the EMPs hit the earth and knocked out all the power. So I don’t know whether they landed safely. Or if they were still in the air when the power went out and the plane fell from the sky. I just don’t know. I won’t know until I get to Kansas City.”
“You said they were staying with relatives on their farm. So chances are, those relatives were waiting for them at the airport and helped them get back to the farm. And they’ll be waiting there for you. Do you know they’re coming?”
“We never talked about the possibility of being separated when the stuff hit the fan. But yes, if the plane didn’t crash… if they’re still alive, they’ll expect me to come for them.”
Dave was startled when Red said, “Well, the plane didn’t crash. So you can that much to rest, anyway.”
He looked at her, puzzled, and asked, “How in the world do you know that?”
“Blanco is in the flightpath of Austin’s airport. Airplanes flew over us all the time. And I saw some after the lights went out.”
“After the lights went out?” Are you sure?”
“Yes. We were standing on the street in front of my dad’s hardware store when one flew over. My dad used to fly heavies for the Air Force.”
Too Tough To Tame: Red: Book 2 Page 7