Sound of Survival (Book 3): Home Free

by Patten, Sean

  “Go!” said Mr. Powell. “You have to hurry!”

  “Okay, okay!” I said.

  I rushed over to the other side of the basement, clamping my hands onto the edge of the cool, steel workbench. Once there, I popped open the toolbox, shelves of silver tools extending out to me.

  “You see them?” asked Mr. Powell. “They should be right in front of you!”

  His voice was nervous and fearful, and much louder than it should’ve been. I wanted to bark at him and tell him to keep it down, but instead I focused on the tools in front of me.

  “I’m a musician!” I hissed back. “The only tools I use are screwdrivers and needle-nose pliers!”

  “Amy!” he growled. “You have to hurry!”

  He was letting his panic get the better of him, not watching his volume like he should’ve been.

  Finally, I spotted them. They were a large set of what I guessed had to be wire snippers, the steel clean as a whistle and the handles coated in spotless red rubber. I grabbed them, the tool heavier than I anticipated it was going to be.

  Moments later I was back next to Mom, who’d been mercifully quiet throughout this whole process.

  “No!” said Mr. Powell. “Get me out first. I can cut your Mom’s chains faster!”

  It was a lame excuse, and I could tell right away that his concerns were more about his own safety than mine or my mom’s. Mr. Powell had shown some courage in warning me and Ed before, but that same courage was, at that moment, nowhere to be found.

  I positioned the cutters on the chain of the handcuffs and slowly cut into them.

  “Sorry if this hurts,” I said.

  “It’s fine, baby,” said Mom. “I’m fine.”

  It took every bit of strength I had, but I eventually managed to cut through, the blades severing the chain with an abrupt clicking noise

  Mom whipped her hands from around the column and wrapped them around me, pulling me close and tight just as I’d done with her.

  “Oh, Amy,” she said, her tears trickling down onto my neck. “You came. You really came.”

  I hugged her back, so happy to see her that I almost allowed myself to forget where I was and what I was doing.

  Mr. Powell was nice enough to snap me out of it, however.

  “Hey!” he said, his voice still loud and carrying. “Get over here!”

  I let go of Mom, and she nodded.

  “Get him free and let’s get the hell out of here,” she said.

  “Right there with you.”

  Wire cutters in hand, I started towards where Mr. Powell was bound up.

  But I didn’t get far.

  The door at the top of the stairs opened slowly, followed by the sounds of heavy footfalls on the steps. My gut sank as I realized what was happening.

  “Now, friends,” said David as he reached the bottom of the stairs, gun in hand. “You’re not thinking about going anywhere, are you?”

  22 Amy

  David pointed the flashlight in my direction, blinding me and forcing my hands up to my face. My flashlight had been bright enough to see through the basement, but his was like looking into the sun.

  Then I remembered the gun. I stepped out of path of the beam, getting back into the darkness. Mom followed close behind, but the beam landed on us seconds later.

  “Don’t bother,” David said. “If I’d wanted you two dead I’d have done it without you even knowing I was here. Now, stay where you’re standing. You won’t like what’ll happen if you don’t.”

  I glanced over at Mom and she nodded.

  I raised my hands slowly enough that David could see that I wasn’t a threat. But my mind was on the multi-tool in my pocket, part of me hoping that he’d be stupid enough to get close enough for me to use it.

  Normally, the idea of violence was sickening to me, and I’d seen more than enough of it already these past few days. But it wasn’t only my life at stake—it was Mom’s. If I needed to get my hands dirty to defend her, I wouldn’t hesitate.

  “David,” said Mom, her voice even and calm. “Please. Whatever it is you’re thinking of doing, don’t do it.”

  “Dave!” Mr. Powell shouted, his panicked voice a perfect contrast to Mom’s. “Please, stop this bullshit. I’m sorry for what I did, just give me the chance to make it up to you.”

  Silence hung in the air, David saying nothing. Instead, he stepped over the tool bench, opened one of the drawers, and withdrew a large, battery-powered lamp. He flicked it on, casting the basement in a light that somehow managed to be more eerie and haunting than that from the moon. Then, as he if didn’t have a care in the world, David made his way back over to the stairs.

  “So!” he said. “Little Amy decided to be proactive and get to the bottom of what was going on.”

  “What’s happening here?” I asked. “What the fuck—”

  He held up a finger of his free hand, cutting me off.

  “Language,” he said. “And especially in front of your mother.”

  “Fuck you, David,” Mom spat.

  I was scared, but I couldn’t help but feel a touch emboldened by Mom’s spine. She’d always been a tough cookie.

  “Lori,” David said. “Even you?” He shook his head. “I would’ve thought that a couple of days down here would be enough to get you to calm down.”

  “David!” said Powell as he struggled against his bindings. “Please, let me out of here! I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Just don’t leave me in this basement another minute!”

  “You’re awfully contrite for someone who almost brought this whole neighborhood down around us,” said David, waving his gun at Powell in a chiding manner, as if scolding a kid.

  “I’m sorry!” said Powell, repeating himself. “I just…I just got worried.”

  “You lost faith,” said David. “You lost faith in me, and the rest of your community. You should be thanking me for keeping you down here and not exiling you on the spot.”

  “David,” I said. “What…what the hell is going on here? Why are there drugs in Mr. Powell’s basement? Why do you have my mom down here?”

  I was scared out of my mind, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want answers.

  David regarded me through the low light of the lamp, as if debating how much he wanted to say.

  But he didn’t have to.

  “You were peddling drugs,” Mom cut in. “Like a common criminal.”

  “Such an uncharitable way to put it,” said David. “I didn’t like what I had to do any more than you, Lori. But I did what I needed to keep this community afloat.”

  He pointed off to the side. “You want our homes to look like those out there in the rest of the town? I know your budget’s been tight ever since you became a widow. What little wealth you had has been caught up in that home. If I’d let that go to shit, these homes would be worth nothing to anyone. I saved us all.”

  “Tell me what you did, exactly,” I said. “I want to know what was worth doing this to my mom.”

  “And me!” shouted Mr. Powell.

  David fixed his eyes on me for a long moment before speaking, as if trying to determine just how much of a threat I was.

  Finally, he spoke.

  “When the plant closed,” he said, tucking the gun into his jeans waistband and leaning against the side of the stairs. “Well, you were here for that, kiddo. I don’t need to tell you how bad all that was for us. Over the course of a few months Sandy Vista turned from a prosperous little factory town into a ghost town. And we were right on the cusp of having to abandon it just like the rest of them.”

  “And then you sold out to criminals,” I said.

  “I did what had to be done,” David said. “The leader of the Black Mountain Mob, Dante. He’s a smart guy, had his eyes on everything going on his territory—even what was happening to our little town. One day I got an old-fashioned letter from someone in his crew, letting me know that if I was interested in saving my community, he had just the plan.”

  David wince
d for a moment, as if replaying a decision in his mind that he still felt conflicted about.

  “I was expecting to meet with some financier,” he said. “Nothing in the letter suggested that it was a criminal gang who wanted to speak with me. Should’ve known something was up when they wanted to meet a damn bar, but I was too excited about the idea of saving the development to think about anything else.”

  “And that’s when you sold us out,” said Mom. “Right under our noses.”

  “That’s when I saved this place,” he said, his voice turning hard. “At risk to no one but myself and whoever else was brave enough to join me. It was a simple proposition. We store some of their goods—”

  “Their drugs,” said Mom, her voice hard. “Don’t talk in euphemisms. Call it what it is.”

  “Their drugs,” barked David. “Their coke, whatever. They make it, and when it’s done and packaged, they store it here until they find buyers. Pretty good setup, really. Who’d think to check the basements of a neighborhood like this for kilos of hard drugs?”

  He smiled and shook his head, as if still in disbelief about what he’d managed to pull off.

  “And just because the power went out didn’t mean the deal was off, no sirree. Within hours one of Dante’s men came by to make sure I still had the product. I told him of course, and that was that. Even told me that they’d pay in food and water and other supplies instead of cash. Not like money’s going to be doing anyone any good now.”

  A confused expression formed on his face as he continued. “They’re a little late in coming to get their goods and pay up, but I’m not too concerned about it. They’ve always been nothing but gentlemen, despite all that tattoos and beards and what have you.”

  “David,” I said. “You have no idea what went down at Dead Air. The Black Mountain guys got wrecked. They lost control of their shipment, not to mention a bunch of their men in the process. And I’ve seen this Dante guy, I know how he operates. I’d bet you anything that if he’s still alive and kicking he’s going to be coming back for his product, all right. But he’ll start thinking about how bad of shape he’s in and whether or not it’s a good idea to give up valuable supplies when he can just take what he wants.”

  “No,” said David. “He won’t. We have an agreement and he’s going to stick to it.”

  “You don’t get it,” I said. “This isn’t some other homeowner’s association you’re dealing with. This is a criminal gang. I bet you right now Dante’s thinking about how he can make up for the losses he took at Dead Air, and leaving you high and dry is most definitely at the top of the list.”

  “So cynical,” said David. “Well, that’s why a man like me is running this show, and not some kid.”

  “Please, David!” cried out Mr. Powell. “Give me another chance!”

  “You know, buddy,” he said. “I’m starting to wonder if maybe you’re right about that. After all, it was your whining that woke me up and let me know that something was going on in the basement that I ought to know about.”

  “David, listen to me,” said Mom, her voice still calm and collected. “You can stop this. Right now, just let us all go.”

  “Lori, Lori,” he said. “Me and my soft spot for you.”

  He slowly stepped towards me and Mom, his eyes locked onto hers.

  “See,” he said. “When the power went out, your mother decided to run over to old Powell’s here. He was the HOA member closest to her and figured he might’ve had some answers. But he wasn’t home, and when she checked the basement to see if he was down there, she stumbled across the drugs that his dumb behind left out in the open!”

  His voice built to a roar as he spoke, sending a fresh wave of fear through me.

  “Whatever,” he said. “What’s done is done. Lori saw some things that were for the eyes of board members only, and she decided to let me know about it. So, I had an executive decision to make—kill her right then and there, or get her out of harm’s way and see if I could talk her into coming over to my way of thinking.”

  “Never,” said Lori.

  “Willful as ever,” he said, closing the distance between him and Mom down to mere inches. “But it’s only been a couple of days, it’s about what I expected. Give me a week or two, and I bet I could’ve had you playing ball like a good girl.”

  He reached up with his free hand, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Maybe even more than that.”

  It made me sick to my stomach to watch. But I kept calm, and used the fact that his attention was diverted to move my hand around slowly to begin working the multi-tool out of my pocket.

  Quick jabs.

  Mom’s hand shot up towards David, connecting hard with his cheek and sending a crack through the air.

  “Don’t you dare touch me,” she said.

  But he only smiled, the slap seeming to amuse him more than anything else.

  “Didn’t count on your degenerate daughter and her low-class friend coming by to screw things up for us, though.”

  “Please, David!” called out Mr. Powell, his voice even more desperate and pleading than before. “Let me go!”

  But David’s eyes stayed focused on Mom.

  “Just a matter of cleaning up loose ends, really,” he said. “Doing what I should’ve. But it’s not too late to make things right.”

  “David!”

  With incredible speed, David pulled the gun out of his waistband. With his eyes still on Mom, he pointed the pistol at Mr. Powell and fired three shots in his direction, the man’s body jerking with each impact.

  A few days ago I would’ve screamed at such a sight. But all I felt at that moment was that I was ready.

  I took the multi-tool out, flicked open the blade, and held it in front of me.

  Quick jabs.

  23 Amy

  But I didn’t feel the give of a blade cutting through skin. My hand stopped in midair, panic rushing through me at an immediate awareness that something was very, very wrong.

  David’s glance flicked over to me, the expression of amusement still on his face. He and I both glanced down to see what had happened. With incredible reflexes, David had grabbed my wrist mid-stab. The blade was still pointed towards his gut, the tip only an inch or two from his shirt. My hand shook as I desperately tried to overpower him and drive the blade home.

  “Wow,” he said. “Going right for the kill, huh?”

  He didn’t seem bothered by what was happening. As always, he seemed more amused than anything else.

  “You’ve always been a bit of a pill, kiddo,” he said. “But I never would’ve guessed you had this in you. What happened to you at that festival, huh?”

  “I developed a very low tolerance for bullshit,” I said.

  With that, I put every bit of my strength into my hand, forcing it forward. But the blade didn’t move.

  “Amy!” Mom cried, seeing what I was doing.

  “Okay,” said David. “I think playtime’s over.”

  He then squeezed my wrist hard, the pain instantly unbearable. I used every last bit of strength I had to hold onto the tool, but David was too strong. And he was squeezing harder and harder.

  There was only so much my wrist could take.

  “Ah!” I cried out, my fingers shooting open and the multi-tool dropping to the ground with a clatter.

  “There you go,” said David. “Don’t be a pain in the ass.”

  I was ready to let loose with some choice words, but before I could say anything David pulled back his hand and brought across my face, hard.

  Mom let out a scream as I stumbled backward, my back slamming into a stack of boxes behind me, the contents falling to the ground and spreading out all around me.

  “You bastard!” Mom shouted as she ran towards David, bringing down her hands hard onto his body.

  But just like when I went after him with the knife, he was totally unfazed. With a quick motion, David soon had Mom’s arm twisted behind her back. Mom struggled, but it didn’t do her any g
ood.

  David was armed and stronger than the two of us put together. We were screwed.

  “Okay,” he said, holding Mom in place as I sat in a daze. “First thing’s first.”

  He glanced down, holding Mom in place as she fought against his grip. With a quick kick, he knocked the multi-tool away. It was already nowhere near where I could get to it, but he’d sent it over to the other side of the basement—not a chance of even making a dive for the only weapon I had.

  “There we go,” said David. “Don’t want either of you getting any big ideas, after all.”

  Then he placed the gun against Mom’s head. I was still in pain, still in a daze, but the sight of him threatening Mom was enough to make me see red, to feel a rage that I’d never known before.

  “Now,” he said. “Lori, you know I think you’re great. But I’m telling you right now, if you don’t stop squirming like this I might just be forced to paint the walls with your little girl’s brains. Got it?”

  Mom obeyed, going still in his arms.

  “Good girl,” he said. “Lori, Lori, Lori, what am I going to do with you? I’ve given you all the time in the world to come around. But you’re still as stubborn as can be.”

  He nodded in my direction. “I see where Amy gets it from.”

  “Fuck off,” Mom spat.

  David shrugged, unmoved by the insult. “I’ve tried to reason with you, Lori, and I’ve tried to give you time to think things over. But you’re still stuck in the damn mud. So, the only thing I can think is that you’ve need a little bit of a…let’s call it a priority adjustment.”

  “What?” Mom asked.

  “If we’re going to survive, then all of us, down to the last man and woman, is going to need Sandy Vista to be the reason they get up in the morning, the most important thing in their life. And with you, Lori, I’m thinking that you’ve got something else occupying that particular position.”

  He raised the gun, slowly pointing it at me. Mom let out a scream, which caused David to tighten his grip. Her face was dark red, tears tricking down her cheeks.