“Don’t come any closer,” I yelled, trying to sound more confident than I was.
The man walking with Chen stopped instantly, but the leader kept coming forward at a saunter.
“Stop!”
This time he did, but not in a submissive way. He planted his feet apart, and kept his hands down by his side, the shotgun pointed safely at the concrete. I took in his hard face and slicked back hair. Then he laughed at me. Of all the things that I expected, this was not one of them. I felt myself cringe; as a child I hated kids at school laughing at me when I wasn’t in on the joke. It sometimes made me feel weak. In the vulnerable state I was in right then, it succeeded in doing just that.
“Well, what have we here? A little man with a big gun. Why don’t you come out and we’ll talk about all this nonsense.”
He actually sounded reasonable and I almost stood up, but then I spotted his cohort take a step and I yelled again, firing a warning shot into the air. It hit the concrete above me and the bullet ricocheted dangerously close. As the dust fell onto the car and into my hair, I was gratified to see a look of uncertainty flash across Chen’s smug face.
“No need for that, little man. I just want to talk to you. I believe you knew my brother?” Unexpectedly, he crouched and put his shotgun on the floor and then began to walk toward me again, this time with his hands up. I raised my gun and pointed it at his head.
“Now, now. You wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man, would you?”
He judged correctly. I wouldn’t, couldn’t, shoot a man who was unarmed with his hands up. My hand was shaking and I knew he could see it.
“Stop ... I said stop.” It sounded weak and he didn’t stop.
“It’s okay, we’re just gonna talk, little man,” he whispered, as he reached the other side of the car. I felt like I was under the control of a snake charmer. I knew he was lying and as soon as he was within reach of me I was as good as dead.
That was when the truck screeched around the corner behind them and the parking garage was flooded with light. Chen spun around as the fast moving vehicle sped toward us.
Chen’s partner raised an arm to shield his eyes from the bright headlights as the rifle in his hands barked. He was too slow. The truck’s front fender struck him and, even though it was a glancing blow, he flew off to the side like a rag doll as the truck came barreling on. Chen was a lot quicker. He glanced at me, the soothing look on his face now one of venomous hatred.
“Not over, bitch!” he yelled, before sprinting to the safety of the stairwell. The truck locked up its brakes and screeched to a stop beside me. The passenger side door opened and Luke held out his hand.
“Hurry up, get in!” he yelled. “Where’s Arthur?”
I grabbed Luke’s arm and he helped pull me up into the cab. A rifle shot sounded behind us and we heard the whine of a bullet ricochet off the back of the truck.
“Where is Arthur?” Sonny repeated, glancing over from the driver’s seat.
“He ... he didn’t make it,” I replied, a sob escaping my throat. Sonny’s face spasmed in anger before he stepped on the gas again and we lurched off. I nearly fell out as we turned the corner, but managed to pull the door shut as we careened down the ramp. A couple more shots followed us but we met no more Tigers as we roared out of the parking garage and skidded onto the icy street. Sonny drove erratically, taking random turns in order to confuse any pursuit, but he soon began to slow down.
“Sonny, what are you doing, dude?” Luke asked, looking at our driver. With my hurried addition to the truck, Luke was right next to him now. Not only was Sonny driving slower, but he seemed to be having trouble keeping the truck straight, and was constantly having to readjust the wheel with sharp jerking motions, causing the whole truck to wobble. “Is there something wrong with the truck?”
“No, the truck is fine ... there’s something wrong with me. I’ve got to stop. Can either of you drive?”
“Isaac can,” Luke said, as Sonny stopped the truck in the middle of the road.
“I don’t know how,” I said, “I only learned to drive my foster parent’s car after the Flu.”
“You will have to do,” Sonny said, weakly. He struggled to put the shifter into park and slowly slumped toward Luke. “Isaac, go ...”
Luke pulled Sonny out of the driver’s seat; as soon as he was away from the door I saw the hole in it. One of the bullets the unseen Tiger had fired had gone through it and hit Sonny in the side.
I opened my door and hopped down, slamming it behind me before running around the front of the truck and ripping open the driver’s side door. The seat where Sonny had been sitting was splattered with blood. I climbed in, feeling its sticky warmth through my pants. Sonny was now in the middle, resting against Luke.
“Hold pressure on it here,” Sonny was saying quietly, in a matter of fact way. “I’ve lost enough blood to feel lightheaded, but I think if we can stem the bleeding I’ll be okay. It seems to have passed all the way through ... but ... I don’t think it’s hit anything vital ...” he closed his eyes.
“Drive!” Luke roared at me.
I put the truck into drive and started down the street. Thank God it was an automatic. I was afraid to drive too fast because of the ice, but found that the truck wasn’t any more difficult to drive than Eleanor’s Honda had been. I thought about continuing the evasive route that Sonny had been following, but worried it would take too much time. I certainly didn’t want him to bleed to death while I was meandering around Worcester.
With that in mind, I decided to head straight back to the academy as soon as I came to a cross street I recognized. The trip still took a good 20 minutes before I finally pulled the truck into the alley near the side door. Ben and Brooke were standing by the door waiting for us when we arrived, along with Karen. My heart sank as I thought of Arthur.
Miraculously, Sonny came to when we pulled him as gently as possible from the truck, although he was pretty out of it. We were surrounded by the rest of our group as we laid him on a pile of folded up practice mats just inside the door. Looking around at the concerned faces, I saw Karen try to catch my eye. I wouldn’t meet her intense gaze though; instead I looked quickly down at Sonny before she could ask the inevitable question.
In a pained voice, Sonny ordered John to go and get the bottle of vodka he kept in the bottom drawer of his desk and the superglue in the drawer above it. I had no idea what he planned to do and, in truth, I am somewhat ashamed to admit I was spending as much time finding ways to avoid looking at Karen as I did worrying about Sonny. I took it for granted, I think, that Sonny would be okay, which in hindsight seems like a foolish assumption to have made. It was certainly one which could’ve backfired on me.
“Help me hold him down,” Luke said, giving me a tap on the shoulder. “Everyone else, just stand back a little, please. When we clean the wound it’s going to hurt like hell.”
“Alright, I’ll get his shoulders,” I replied, less distracted now as I moved toward Sonny’s upper body.
“Help me sit up,” Sonny grunted. “Give me some of that to drink before you pour it on the wound. It’ll help dull the pain, you know?”
“Sure,” I helped Sonny lift his head and shoulders and allowed him to prop himself up against me. He grimaced in pain.
“You’ll be okay Sonny,” I said to him as he took the bottle from Luke. “After we patch up the holes, you can get some rest. You’ll be good as new in no time.” Sonny’s body tensed and shuddered as he swallowed a couple of good-sized gulps of the vodka.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said through gritted teeth while handing the bottle back to Luke. “Pour it on.”
Sonny’s cry echoed throughout the academy.
Luke applied superglue to the sterilized and surprisingly neat wound and sealed it shut. I had no idea superglue could be used that way but, as he worked, Luke told us superglue was originally created for just these sorts of situations.
Strangely enough, he also said tampons had
been created during World War I, originally designed as wound bandages because of their ability to soak up copious amounts of blood. They hadn’t become a feminine hygiene product until later after the war when there was a huge surplus. His educational banter seemed to calm everyone there and, once again, I was grateful I hadn’t set out alone all those days ago.
“You’ll probably have a hellacious scar,” he said to Sonny as he blew on the wound to dry the glue quicker. “But there shouldn’t be much else in the way of complications unless the bullet hit something important on its way through.”
“Do you want us to move you someplace more comfortable?” I asked Sonny.
“I think I’m good here for now,” he slurred, waving his hand weakly in my direction. “Have somebody bring me a blanket, and make sure the supplies get loaded on the truck.” He winced as he pushed himself into a more comfortable position on top of the mats. “Luke, give me what’s left of that bottle ... it’ll help me go to sleep faster.”
I didn’t know if that was a good idea, given our situation, but I held my tongue. Worst case, between us we could load an unconscious Sonny into the truck without too much of a struggle.
“Here you go, man,” Luke said, handing him the quarter-full bottle of vodka. “Knock yourself out.”
I looked at Luke, wondering if he had been reading my thoughts. Now that Sonny was out of action, I took charge again. Time was all important. We only had a small window in which to make our escape.
“Okay, Ben, why don’t you, Brooke, and Allie start loading up some food, while John and Samara gather blankets and bedding. Luke, you and Mark set up a mat for Sonny in the back of the truck.”
“Shouldn’t we wait ‘til he’s recovered?” Mark asked. “Isn’t the plan for him to drive? So in case the Chinese Army sees us, we’ll have a Chinese man driving?”
“Well, he’s in no shape to drive, as you saw, and we can’t afford to wait ... looks like I’m going to be the one driving,” I said with a shrug. “We just have to hope the Chinese Army doesn’t get a good look at me and I don’t crash on the first corner.” No one laughed at my attempted humor.
I looked around at every single one of them, my eyes lingering on Karen for a moment before I glanced away. “If what Sonny’s contact told him is correct, we need to get out of here by tomorrow, and with the Tigers stirred up, time is even more vital, whether Sonny’s in condition to drive or not.” I paused for a moment longer and then told them about the conversation I overheard the night before.
“So, what do you want me to do?” Indigo said. “You gave everybody else jobs, but not me.”
“I was hoping you would stay here and watch over Sonny,” I said, turning to look at her. “Make sure he stays warm and comfortable.”
“Alright, I guess I can handle that,” she replied.
“Thanks,” I said, before turning my gaze back to Karen. I felt a lump rising in my throat and a little bit sick to my stomach, but I knew what I had to do. “Karen, can I talk to you for a moment up in Sonny’s office? Privately?”
“Where’s Arthur? Just tell me what happened. He’s dead, isn’t he?” she blurted out. With the subject broached, the questions came fast and furious from her mouth and the others in the room began to disperse, discomfort clear on their faces.
“Please, Karen, let’s just talk in the office.”
Tears welled in her eyes and her shoulders slumped in resignation. We didn’t talk as we took the long walk from the alley door to Sonny’s office on the other end of the building. How am I going to tell her? Was the question running through my head. I knew, of course, I was going to have to tell her the truth.
How I was going to tell it to her, that was a different story altogether. What I was really asking myself was what form of the truth am I going to tell her? The question of exactly how much responsibility I should take for Arthur’s death was also lurking in the shadowed corners of my mind. When we got to Sonny’s office, I held the door for her and followed her in, closing it gently behind me.
“Arthur’s not here because he’s dead, isn’t he?” Her voice trembled slightly, and I could see a silent tear begin to run down her cheek. As used to losing people we loved as we had all become, the pain was never any less. I nodded. There was a long silence as she wiped the tear away and looked at the floor, trying to contain her grief.
“Karen, I’m sorry, so ... so sorry,” I said softly. “He had just saved me. He was fighting to the end. But one of the Tigers killed him, shot him in the back like a coward.”
“What happened to the Tiger who shot him?” Her voice still trembled, but now I was having trouble distinguishing whether it was from grief or rage.
“Dead,” I said. “I killed him.”
“Good.”
14
It took about two hours to get the truck loaded. Everyone did an excellent job getting all the supplies stowed away and leaving plenty of sitting room for those that would be riding back there. When they were finished loading the truck, I called everybody in for a meeting in the main practice room.
Sonny was sleeping but seemed to be okay, so I asked Indigo to join us as well. I looked at each of them: John, Karen, Allie, Samara, Mark, Luke, Ben, Brooke, and Indigo. I thought of Arthur and wondered if we would lose any more of them on our trip north to the sanctuary promised by the coded message. I knew it was very likely.
“I wanted to talk to you all about leadership,” I said. “As long as Sonny is down, I think it would be a good idea for us to elect a new leader. Someone who can make decisions for the entire group, if and when the shit hits the fan.”
“Well, you seemed to have put yourself in charge, what with calling this meeting and all, and being the one to direct who’s doing what while loading the truck,” Mark said.
It was said in a matter of fact way, not meanly, but I felt my face flush anyway. When he finished speaking, a confusing babble of voices rose, as everybody started talking all at once.
“Guys, guys,” I said raising my hands. “One at a time.”
“What’s wrong with democracy?” John asked. “I think we should all get a vote, before we do anything as a group.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you,” I replied. “But there may come a time, sooner or later, where we’ll have to make a decision fast and there won’t be time for a vote. That’s why I want to take a vote now, so when the time comes, we can all agree on whose lead to follow.”
“Why not just make yourself leader, Isaac?” Brooke asked. “I mean, after all, you are going to be the one doing the driving. It would seem most logical for you to be the one to make any quick decisions while we’re motoring down the road.”
“No, that’s not the way we do things here. I’ll accept the responsibility if I am voted leader, but I’m not going to just claim the position,” I replied.
In truth, the very thought of being leader scared me a little. I wasn’t certain I was the right man for the job, and being responsible for the well-being of 10 other people was not something I was totally comfortable with.
“Why don’t we just wait until Sonny wakes up? If he is too weak to lead us, perhaps he has a preference as to who should lead us in his place,” Allie said. “After all, before you guys showed up, we all knew that Arthur was his second in command.”
“Arthur’s not here,” Karen said, her voice retaining an edge of the cold rage I had heard earlier. “For all we know, Sonny may never wake up either and, even if he does, we have no idea how out of it he’s going to be. I say we vote on a new leader, now.”
“Sonny’s going to be okay, right?” Samara asked, with a slight quaver in her voice. I realized she had not yet contemplated the possibility our makeshift medical job might not prove up to the task of saving him.
“Sure he will,” Mark said, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders, casting a wicked glare in Karen’s direction.
“We’ll have to wait and see about Sonny,” I said. “But I’m almost sure he will be fine. It
is only a flesh wound, so I’d say he has a decent shot of recovering ... the main reason I don’t want to wait for him is because I am worried that one of these situations might pop up before he wakes up or is thinking straight enough to decide for us.”
“Let’s vote then,” Ben said. “How are we going to go about it, by secret ballot, raise of hand, ayes or nays?”
“How about this,” Luke said. “I nominate Isaac. Anybody who wants him to be interim leader, raise your hand.”
Luke put his own hand up, followed quickly by Ben and Brooke; the rest just sort of looked around at each other for a moment, before Karen’s hand went up to join them. Indigo was watching me.
“I see you haven’t voted for yourself,” she said. “Is that because of modesty or fear?”
“A bit of both,” I answered truthfully. “But I guess if they are willing to follow me, I should be willing to lead.” I raised my hand.
“I think you’ll make an excellent leader,” Indigo said, raising her hand, as well. That was a majority, six out of 10.
“Fine, Isaac can be the temporary leader until Sonny is up and about again,” John said, shaking his head.
“I still think this is bogus,” Allie muttered, but raised her hand anyway.
“Looks like it’s official. You’re the boss, Boss,” Luke said, giving me a broad smile and I caught myself wondering if he had quickly nominated me so that nobody would nominate him. Luke was universally well-liked by the people of the academy, as well as by the twins and myself.
“Okay, let’s try to get some rest,” I said. “Sonny was planning on leaving about noon tomorrow, but I think we should get started earlier than that.”
“I’m going to go back and check on Sonny,” Indigo said. “Now that the leadership issue is resolved, I think the meeting is pretty much over with.”
The After Days Trilogy [Books 1-3] Page 15