Eden Lost (Eden Rising Trilogy Book 2)

by Andrew Cunningham

  “No one blames you,” said Brian. “We all had a hand in the decision. It was the smart thing to do, considering the circumstances. We just didn’t realize they were so close.”

  “Well, I still think we need to go for the tires first,” said Ben, feeling marginally better. “It will slow them down enough so we can start picking them off. It just depends how close to the town they made it.”

  The horses in front of them slowed to a stop.

  “Brian, look,” said Skip.

  Coming from the direction of the town was a large column of thick black smoke.

  Chapter 16

  (Lila)

  Everything had happened so quickly. One minute Lila and Katie were setting up their new house, and the next minute they were saying goodbye to Ben. Very few instructions were given, other than that Lila was supposed to help prepare the town in case of attack. She guessed that this honor was bestowed upon her by virtue of her experience in battle. Did violence just follow them wherever they went? Monett had been a happy little community for a few years. Enter Ben and Lila and suddenly they were at war. She remembered her grandfather once telling her about a comic-strip character years before who always had a black rain cloud over his head. It had stayed with her because she thought it was a funny image. She understood it now. She and Ben together were that character.

  Well, like it or not, she was here, and people were counting on her. She looked around. The rest of the town was still gathered in front of the town office. All eyes were on her. She suddenly realized that while her experience had something to do with the respect she was being shown, more of it had to do with her appearance. With the black patch and the small, but memorable scar, she looked like Lila, Queen of the Pirates.

  “What do you suggest?” asked Sharon. “I don’t think most of us have ever experienced anything quite like this. Frankly,” she lowered her voice for the children’s sake, “we’re pretty scared.”

  Lila looked around. Mostly women and children. Some men remained, but they tended to be the older ones.

  “I don’t think we have a lot to worry about,” she said in a voice all could hear. “I seriously doubt they would make it this far. But we should be prepared for that off-chance. I think we should have as few people as possible here in the town. I think the kids should be moved out of town. They should be taken to the stable to get their horses, then they should go to one of the farms further out. Chances are these people don’t know anything about those farms. Parents should accompany the kids, and the only people left here should be those without kids. How many is that?”

  Hands went up. Lila counted fifteen. “Okay, that’s the force to guard the town.”

  “Is that going to be enough?” someone asked.

  “It should be, if we do it right.”

  From the back of the group came a woman’s voice. “Who put you in charge?”

  Sharon turned in disgust to the woman. It was obvious to Lila that this was not the woman’s first altercation with the group.

  “Shut up, Elizabeth,” said Sharon. “We don’t need this right now.”

  “All I’m saying is that this Lila person is new to the town. Why should we listen to her?”

  Before Sharon could answer, Lila spoke up.

  “You’re right. There’s no reason for me to be in charge. I don’t even want the job. So why don’t you take over. It’s your show now.”

  She had used that technique a couple of times in high school when dealing with big-mouthed know-it-alls. It was usually enough to shut them up. Once again, it worked.

  “I wasn’t saying I wanted to be in charge,” said Elizabeth. “I was just questioning why we should be listening to her, that’s all.” Her voice had lost its punch.

  “Because we want to,” said Walt. He looked at her. “Have you ever been in a battle for your life?” She shook her head. “Well, this girl has … numerous times.” He motioned to Lila, now that Elizabeth had been put in her place. “Please continue.”

  “I think everyone with kids should leave now. Don’t stop to get anything, or just grab something from your house only if it’s really essential. Get to the horses and go to one of the outlying farms. Sharon, could you take care of Katie?”

  The thought of being separated from her daughter killed her, but she knew she had to keep her safe.

  “I’d be happy to.”

  Katie grabbed one of Lila’s legs. “No, mommy, I’m not going. I want to be with you.”

  “It would be safer, sweetie.”

  “No! We’re a team,” she said, echoing something both Ben and Lila had said to her many times in the past. “I have to stay with you.”

  Katie had brought up a good point. We had always done things as a family—as a team. Was it right to change that now? Would she really be any safer with that group than she would be with me? And what about me? Could I keep my attention on the task at hand worrying about Katie? What if she fell off her horse? After all, she was still new at riding. What if … what if anything. She wanted to be in the center of the action. In that way she took after both of us. No, I had to keep her with me. I thought Ben would agree. Anyway, I doubted we’d even see the Nebraska group.

  “Katie’s right, Sharon. I think it’s best if she stays with me. She’ll be okay.”

  Sharon understood and began ushering the kids toward the town entrance. She stopped and turned to Lila.

  “Good luck.”

  “Good luck to you too. I know the kids are in good hands.”

  Sharon came back and gave Lila a hug. She tapped the gun at her side. “We may not look like much, and maybe we don’t have much battle experience, but just let them try to mess with us. You don’t threaten a bunch of momma bears and their cubs.” She gave a smile and turned away.

  You’ve got that right, thought Lila.

  Including Katie, there were eighteen of them. Six women, eleven older men, and one child against a force of thirty or more fighting men.

  I’ve seen better odds.

  One minute there was the noise and confusion of the parents leaving with their children, and the next, complete silence.

  “I’m open to suggestions,” said Lila, breaking the silence. “Any of you guys serve in the military?”

  Seven of them raised their hands.

  “Any with combat experience?”

  They all shook their head.

  “I served in Vietnam,” said a man of about seventy, “but I was stationed at a base and didn’t see any action.”

  “I never saw combat,” said Walt, “but if you don’t mind, I have a suggestion.”

  “Please,” she waved him on.

  “Seems to me that if they happen to show up and no one is here to greet them, it’ll leave ‘em at a loss.”

  “Are you saying we should leave?” asked one of the other men.

  “No. Just give the appearance of it. We pick some houses along the street. We become snipers. They come in all cocky and ready to take over, only to find no one to here take over. If we have to fight, we have the advantage from the houses. I suggest two to a house—the first houses as they enter the town, four on one side, five on the other. If we’re lucky, we can take them without firing a shot. And if we do have to fight, we’ve got ‘em in a crossfire.” He looked at Lila. “That work for you?”

  “Works for me. I suggest we go gather all the fire power we have and meet back here in a few minutes.” She motioned for Walt to stay behind.

  “Thank you for the suggestion,” she said, when the others had left. “I feel a little awkward. All of a sudden everyone was looking to me. Elizabeth was a loud-mouth, but she was right. Who put me in charge? And why? I only know a few people here.”

  “Don’t kid yourself,” said Walt. “When a teenage girl carves out the legend that you did, people take note. And you’re not a teenager anymore, so you probably have a certain added wisdom that you didn’t have before to go along with your courage, experience, and abilities. Someone like you only comes
along in folklore, so when presented with the real thing, people will listen.”

  He thought for a minute, then continued. “Don’t ever doubt your leadership abilities. Those of us who are left in this world may be the strong ones, but it doesn’t mean we don’t still look for inspiration. We need the stories, and the legends, and the folklore to keep us going, to show us that we’re going in the right direction. You’ve got the humility that marks a good leader, but don’t be afraid to bark out an order from time to time. Believe it or not, they want that. Sometimes they crave it.” Lightening up, he looked down at Katie and said, “And I can already tell you take after your mother. You listen to her and you’ll be a leader too.”

  There was a part of me that didn’t want Katie to be a leader, but then I realized that Walt was right. People wanted leaders. Katie already had the instincts and the courage. In a few years—much earlier than it was for me—she would command respect just by her very presence.

  They parted to go to their respective houses to pick up their weapons. Lila loaded her rifle and put a box of shells in a backpack. She put a couple of extra magazines for her pistol in her jacket pocket.

  “Mommy,” Katie came into the room lugging her crossbow. “Should I bring my crossbow?”

  “No, honey. I think you can leave that here. I’m very proud of your shooting, but we won’t need that today. It’s going to be very important that you stay out of sight of the windows when we guard the other house. Do you understand?”

  “Okay.” She looked crestfallen.

  Lila gave her a hug. “The reason is, we need your crossbow for hunting. You’re the best hunter we have. As soon as all this is over, you and daddy can go and hunt us some meals.”

  That perked Katie up, so they finished filling Lila’s backpack and made their way back to the town office. The others were already there.

  “We were just talking,” said Walt. “How would you feel if the sixteen of us take the first four houses on each side, and you and Katie take the fifth house on your preferred side of the street. You being probably the best shot here can be our ace in the hole. You can pick them off one by one if they make it past us.”

  It wasn’t much of a plan, but Lila knew the reasons behind it. They wanted Katie as far from the action as possible. Truth was, Lila probably was the best shot there, and putting her the furthest distance away made sense.

  The house she took was fifth in line on the left-hand side of the road for anyone entering the town. Lila didn’t know who it belonged to, but they had done a nice job of decorating it. It was a house with children, as one of the bedrooms was filled with toys. Lila liked the house because it jutted out slightly, giving her a clear view of the whole street.

  With Katie playing with some of the toys at her feet, Lila sat in a chair by the window waiting for something that would probably never come.

  That theory was shattered an hour later when they heard the rumbling of trucks.

  “Shit,” said Lila under her breath. “Okay, Katie, I need you and Ralph to go into the room with the toys. Even if you hear my rifle, don’t come out, okay?”

  Katie got up and gave her a big hug. “Okay, mommy. Be careful.”

  “I will, sweetie. Don’t worry.”

  “I’m not. Come on, Ralph.”

  When they had gone in and closed the door, Lila took out her ammo and set it down on the floor below the window. Her rifle was a Bushmaster that carried a clip of four bullets. She had a pile of extra magazines filled with bullets and ready to go, in case she had to do a lot of shooting.

  Lila wondered what had happened to Ben and the posse, and how they could have missed them. It was a moot point. It was now their responsibility.

  The trucks began to enter the town. The first vehicle was a Jeep with two occupants. It took five minutes for the slow-moving trucks to come through the gate, the lead vehicle stopping in front of the fourth house in line. They turned off their engines and the street went quiet. Dorothy and Tom had exaggerated. It wasn’t twelve, it was only eight: the Jeep, some kind of armored vehicle, the tanker truck with the bridge strapped to the top, four large canvas-topped trucks, and another Jeep bringing up the rear. The Jeeps each had a large machine gun in the back with someone manning it. Surprisingly, the armored vehicle didn’t have any noticeable weapons, but it did have portholes in the side, probably for the men inside to shoot out of.

  Seeing nobody around, the first Jeep started to honk its horn. The two men in the front seat stood up to have a better look around. One of them was Tom.

  “What’d you do, scare them away?” asked the driver. “You were supposed to get them to surrender when we showed up, not run away.”

  “They’re just hiding,” said Tom. “They put too much work into this town to run. They’re around here somewhere.” He raised his hand and suddenly the street was full of men. Lila did a quick count and came up with twenty-two. Add whoever was in the armored vehicle and the number was probably closer to twenty-five. He called out. “Hey everybody! Look, I warned you. You are over-matched. You don’t want any of your kids hurt. Don’t make a fight of it. You won’t win.”

  Lila knew now that a fight was exactly what they were going to get. She went over to the room Katie was in.

  “Katie. Change of plans. I need you to go into the bathroom and get in the tub.” Lila had noticed the bathroom had an old-fashioned clawfoot iron tub. “Lie down inside it with Ralph.”

  Katie quickly obeyed and Lila dragged out a mattress from the kids’ room and laid it over the top of the tub. The iron would hold off any bullets coming directly in, and she hoped the mattress would protect her against ricochets. She was now seriously regretting not sending Katie away.

  “What was I thinking?” she mumbled as she got back to the window.

  The men started to move up the street.

  “Okay, Walt,” she said to herself. “It’s now or never.”

  Almost as if he heard her, a shot sounded, followed by a second. A moment later, a cacophony of gunshots filled the air. A few of the men in the street fell to the ground. Others dropped down to fire, or ran to one of the trucks for protection. The initial volley hadn’t taken as many of them out as she would have hoped—maybe four or five. She knew from experience that shooting in the heat of battle didn’t tend to yield very accurate results. She held off firing until she had a clear shot.

  The shooting died out momentarily. Tom took that opportunity to call out. “Cease fire! Stop your shooting!” Everyone on both sides held off, waiting to hear what he would say.

  “Listen a minute. Yeah, you got a few of us, but you won’t now. We’re all pretty well hidden. So this can go on for a long time. And we have another convoy right behind us with double the men.”

  That’s a lie, thought Lila.

  “Believe it or not, we’re doing this for your own good. Our city has power. It has all the conveniences you once had. And it’s growing. You can all live comfortable lives again.”

  “We’re comfortable here,” said Walt. “And you come in here with armored trucks, machine guns, and heavily armed men, and you expect us to believe you?”

  “That’s just to protect ourselves.”

  “Yeah, right. We don’t want you here, so go away.”

  Tom’s voice took on a different tone.

  “Then here’s some added incentive for you to give up. We have ten hostages. We’ll start killing them one at a time until you call it quits.”

  “Why should we care?” called out Walt.

  “Because you’re civilized. You don’t want innocent people to die. There’s no way you can win this.”

  “Aren’t you defeating the purpose of gathering people by killing some?”

  “Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.”

  At that moment, Dorothy climbed out the back of the second canvas-covered truck with a woman as a shield. The hostage was young—a teenager—and Dorothy had a gun to the girl’s head.

  “You have thirty seconds to
lay down your weapons, or that girl dies,” Tom commanded.

  Chapter 17

  “Can you really live with that on your conscience?” said Tom.

  Lila noticed that even though Tom was doing all the talking, he wasn’t in charge. The other one in the Jeep—the driver—was quietly calling the shots from the background. He was the one she had to take out. With him gone, the rest would have to make decisions for themselves, and she didn’t think that would happen. In this case though, she would have to take out both the leader and Tom, who was the obvious second-in-command.

  “Twenty seconds.”

  It was up to her. She knew the others would follow her lead.

  “Fifteen seconds.”

  She couldn’t let the girl die.

  She laid her rifle on the sill of the open window. She had yet to shoot, so they wouldn’t be expecting it from that house.

  “Ten seconds. C’mon people.”

  She lined up Dorothy in her sights, using her good left eye.

  The moment of truth, she thought.

  “Five seconds.”

  She fired. The teenager screamed and dropped from a stunned Dorothy’s arms.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” cried Lila. She had hit the hostage. She quickly took aim again and fired. This time the bullet caught Dorothy, who no longer had her human shield, in the center of her chest. She fell to the ground, a puddle of blood quickly forming around her.

  “No!” yelled Tom, who stood up from behind the Jeep.

  Lila redirected her rifle and hit Tom in the upper chest. The leader of the group, not expecting fire from Lila’s building, had left himself somewhat exposed from Lila’s direction. He turned to jump behind the Jeep. She fired and caught him in the butt. He jumped in pain as she quickly changed magazines. She put two more bullets into him before he could scramble over the side of the Jeep, and he went down.