by Mike Kraus
“Nobody’s been shooting at us until you two showed up!”
“Can we divvy up the blame later and get inside the school first?” Frank looked back and forth between Linda and Perry as he spoke. “Don’t you two think there’s probably more than one of them? Plus she needs to be looked at!” Frank pointed at Caroline, who was groaning in pain.
Perry clenched his jaw and nodded curtly. I’m taking her inside first. I want suppressive fire laid down to cover us.”
“Frank, grab the rifle.”
“The hell?” Frank looked at Linda with a wide-eyed expression. Another bullet came whizzing in, hitting the back of the truck sitting next to the car.
“Whatever that shooter’s got, it’s a bolt-action. You have a few seconds in between shots. As soon as the next one comes in, get in between that truck and the car and grab the rifle and my bag of ammo!” Linda pulled out her pistol. “I’ll try to give you a few extra seconds of cover.”
Frank groaned but moved to the front left corner of the car, getting ready to run to the back door as soon as the next shot came. When it did, ricocheting off of the top of the car, he ran for the side of the car and opened the door as Linda leaned up and fired several shots at the small rise next to the main road. Unbidden, Perry did the same, placing several evenly paced rounds at the top of the ridge in a line as they both tried to scare whoever was up there into waiting for the next shot.
“Got it!” Frank scurried back around the car and Linda grabbed the bag from his hands. Frank glanced at Perry and Caroline before speaking to the tall officer. “I’ll stay here and try to buy you guys a minute to get inside, but I need you to get Linda in, too.”
Perry glanced at Linda before shaking his head. “Sorry. We’re going in first, then we’ll allow you two to come inside.”
Frank pointed at Linda’s leg and nearly shouted back at the man. “She was shot yesterday and needs help getting inside, asshole! If we had known your idyllic town was going to turn into a shooting gallery we would have never stopped!”
“Perry.” Caroline’s voice was full of pain and the others could see a dark red stain spreading out across her shoulder. “I can walk just fine. She can’t. Do what he says.”
“Caroline…” Perry shook his head but Caroline reached up with her good arm and put a shaking hand on him.
“Just trust me, okay?”
Perry closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “I hope she’s right about you two. Fine. Get over here. You—as soon as the next shot comes we’re going to get moving. I think there’s just one shooter, directly up the hill next to the cluster of bushes around the big sign.”
Frank peeked up and squinted, trying to make out the location. The light from the moon had grown brighter as more clouds dissipated and after a few seconds of searching he saw what Perry was talking about. “Right. Shots on the bushes. Got it.” Frank felt the sudden weight of responsibility on his shoulders as another shot turned a chunk of sidewalk a few feet behind him into a cloud of dust.
“Let’s go!” Perry pulled Caroline up by her good arm, then yanked Linda into a standing position. He pushed Caroline forward and she began running for the school building, clutching at her right shoulder with her left hand. Before Linda could even take a step he had already picked her up and began running forward.
As Perry, Caroline and Linda made for the entrance to the school, Frank popped up and leaned against the side of the car. He peered through the rifle scope, trying to calm his breathing as he searched for the cluster of bushes in the narrow field of view. He swore silently as the seconds ticked past until, finally, he found what he was looking for.
A brief flash of movement in the bushes caught his eye and he loosed a round, sending it slightly off target. It passed through the sign near the bushes and the movement stopped as the shooter retreated from taking his next shot. Frank fired twice more into the bushes with no effect except to further delay the shooter from firing upon the other three. Frank glanced back after his last shot and saw the doors of the school swing open as Linda, Perry and Caroline ran inside.
“Okay then. Now what?” Frank talked to himself as he fired a few more shots into and around the bushes at the top of the ridge. Behind him, from inside the school, he heard more shots and glanced back to see Perry crouched inside the entrance.
“Get in here!” Perry bellowed at Frank who started moving towards the entrance of the school when a better idea flashed through his head.
“Hang on!” Frank threw the rifle through the open passenger’s side window of the car before running around to the driver’s side. He jumped in, jammed a key into the ignition and started the car. As it sputtered to life he threw it into gear and it lurched forward, bouncing on the curb and scraping the undercarriage as he drove it up out of the parking lot and towards the school building. When he was halfway there he slammed on the brakes and pulled the emergency brake, sending the car sliding through the soft grass towards the entrance. It stopped a few feet from the doors and Frank grabbed his rifle and backpack before jumping out, pulling his belongings along after him.
Perry moved out of the way of Frank as he dove through the entrance, the brief lapse in Perry’s suppressive fire giving the ridge shooter enough time to fire another shot that sent splinters of wood exploding from the door a few inches from Perry’s head.
Frank pulled the door shut behind him as he rolled away from it, yanking back his fingers just in time to keep them from getting pinched. Several more rounds hit the front door, but the material was thick enough that none could penetrate through.
Lying on his back, Frank closed his eyes and took several breaths before he felt something hard poking him in the shoulder. He opened his eyes slowly to see Perry taking a step back, his rifle trained on Frank’s chest and a frown etched across his face.
“So.” Perry glanced down at Caroline and then over at Linda, who was being held at gunpoint by a woman in blue jeans and a grey polo shirt. “Why don’t you stay still right there on the floor, keep your hands away from your gun and explain to me just who you are and what kind of storm you’ve brought down upon our town.”
Chapter 11
Liam Kevin Peters had a headache. As each bump in the road revealed new aches and sores from the car wreck earlier in the morning, the pain in his head continued to grow. Building off of a lack of sleep and food and compounded by the stress of trying to search down a spider web of back country roads for his prey, he knew that it wouldn’t be much longer before the headache turned into a full-blown migraine.
“Reggie.” Liam spoke quietly, though there was menace in his tone.
“What’s up?”
“I need something.”
“Oh. Sure. One second.”
“Mm.” Liam twisted his hands around the steering wheel as another bump jostled his body, making his ribs, legs and arms feel as though someone was stabbing them with sewing needles.
“Here you go.” Reggie dug through a baggie pulled out of his coat pocket and held up a small opaque shard of methamphetamine. Liam accepted the shard with a grunt and popped it in his mouth, crunching it between his teeth. Reggie grimaced as he listened to the sound and, from the back seat, Josh shook his head in disgust.
“Why do you do that?”
“Do what?” Liam looked at Josh in the rearview mirror.
“Eat it. You’re not supposed to eat it.”
“It helps me focus.”
“Yeah, but smoking it is way better.”
“You take it how you want and I’ll take it how I want.” Liam sighed as he felt the pain in his head receding as the methamphetamine penetrated into his bloodstream, releasing vast amounts of dopamine from his brain that helped to block out the headache. Oral ingestion of meth, while uncommon, was Liam’s father’s favorite way to take the drug, and Liam had picked up on the habit early in life.
For some reason, despite the fact that most of the people who worked for and with them were hopelessly addicted to injecting and smok
ing methamphetamine, Liam and his father had never truly been addicted to it. They had gone through periods of days or weeks where they ate or smoked it, but when they got tired of it they stopped for long stretches with no noticeable withdrawal symptoms.
“Give me a reading.” Liam felt stronger and more confident with the pain in his head gone and he looked back at Josh who was holding the small black box.
“Still dead ahead.”
“Hm.” Liam abruptly swung the Corvette onto a side road, taking a sharp right that threw Josh and Reggie against their seatbelts that Liam had insisted they all wear. “Keep an eye on it.” Liam looked down at the map on Reggie’s map and nodded. “Mark the signal strength so we can triangulate their position.”
Liam’s search for Frank and Linda had yielded no results for the first few hours of the day except for the intermittent detection of the transponder’s signal. The mountainous terrain and the fact that they had no other detectors with which to triangulate the precise direction of the signal meant that they had to constantly change direction in order to determine where their targets were.
A plan cooked up by Thomas years prior, each of the vehicles owned or operated by the gang had been outfitted with basic transponders that allowed him to know their exact location thanks to a series of antennas scattered in and around Binghamton. A few bribes and extortions later and he had outfitted the local police force with the same transponders without them knowing, making it possible for him and his crew to enjoy high levels of freedom while performing their illicit activities.
With the car that Frank and Linda took out of range of the antennas in Binghamton, the only way to track the vehicle was to use the handheld receiver. A combination of guesswork, common sense and a lot of back-and-forth driving gave Liam a rough estimate of the direction that they were headed, though he wasn’t sure how long it would take for him to catch up.
The hit-or-miss signal of the car finally started growing stronger late in the day as they passed out of the hilly areas of New York and into Pennsylvania. Liam chuckled as he realized where they were and remembered more than a few trips he had taken to the area while in search of new markets where they could sell their goods.
Several small operations overseen by associates of his father had sprung up and all were supplied by the Peters gang. The death of Thomas would no doubt have a huge impact on the regions around Binghamton, especially in light of the recent events in the world, and Liam grinned as he realized the opportunity that was laid out in front of him.
It was after dark before Liam realized that they were closing in on the car, just as they entered the outskirts of a small town. Liam kept the engine noise to a minimum by coasting along wherever possible. He shut off all but the running lights on the vehicle and rolled back the tattered top to make it easier to see, hear and—he hoped—shoot.
After driving straight through town, Liam headed for the lights on the western end that he had seen when they were driving in. Instead of driving down to the schools, though, he stayed on the main road that traveled up a modest hill. He parked at the top of the hill and got out of his car, taking a pair of binoculars and a rifle with him. He crouched behind the metal barricade at the edge of the road and looked down at the school through his binoculars.
The car that Liam, Reggie and Josh had been chasing was parked at the school and two extremely familiar figures were stepping out of it. In front of them, fanned out on the sidewalk, were two police officers. The larger of the two, a tall man, was pointing a rifle at the couple getting out of the car. The other, a shorter woman, was talking to the couple, though she wasn’t aiming at them.
The sight of the car and the couple he had been pursuing filled Liam with a sickening joy and he felt his heartbeat race. Got you. Liam smiled coldly before dashing back to Josh and Reggie, both of whom were still standing over by the car.
“Josh!” Liam snapped at the man. “Get your gun and get ready to start shooting. Reggie, you and I are going to flank the school. I’m taking the left side, you take the right.”
“What?” Josh looked confused and Liam slapped him across the face without warning.
“Those two are down there! You’re going to keep them pinned down while Reggie and I flank them. There’s a couple of cops there, too. Kill the cops if you want but make sure the two from before are left alive. You got it?”
Josh’s eyes were wide as he rubbed the side of his face. “Sure thing, Liam. Anything you say.”
“Reggie, grab a shotgun. If things go south just keep on the right side of the building and watch for anyone trying to leave. Stay out of sight, though. We don’t have the advantage of numbers or superior positioning this time. We’ll burn the place down with whoever’s in it if we have to.”
Reggie nodded and grabbed his shotgun from the back seat. Josh took his rifle and uncapped the scope while Liam pulled a small bullhorn from the trunk. He smiled deviously at it and shook his head in appreciation. Never thought I’d have use for this. Guess you were right about that.
“I’m ready.” Josh held up his rifle and Liam nodded.
“Good. Get in position. Reggie, get running. Go as wide as you can and sneak in towards the sides of the lot without being seen. Josh, keep them pinned down for as long as it takes for us to get there.”
“Got it.” Josh ran forward to the edge of the road and crouched down. He laid the barrel of the rifle on the guardrail and began sighting his targets while Liam and Reggie took off running in opposite directions down the road. They both ran for a good thirty seconds before heading back to the edge of the road and finding cover for their descent down towards the school.
On the left-hand side bordering the school was a collection of bushes and trees that offered Liam excellent concealment as he ran down the slope. Reggie, meanwhile, found a defilade along the length of the slope that provided concealment as long as he crouched the entire way down.
The first rifle shot came just as Liam and Reggie began their descent and it was accompanied by a cry of pain from near where Liam had seen the four people earlier. He scowled as he realized it was a woman’s cry, hoping that Josh hadn’t just killed one of the couple. Liam and Reggie increased their speed as they went down the hill until, finally, they arrived at the edge of the school. With nothing to provide concealment or cover in the parking lot, Liam realized that they were in a bad position if they wanted to advance on the couple. He decided to just try and see what was going on before he made any further moves.
Liam peeked out from the trees and brush as several shots rang out one after the other, though instead of coming from the hill they came from the direction of the parking lot. “What?” Liam muttered to himself as he tried to get a better view on whatever was going on. Finally he spotted movement out near the parking lot and watched helplessly as three figures ran into the school. The fourth waited at the cars for a moment and Liam hesitated, trying to decide if he wanted to engage or wait to see what happened next.
When the fourth figure jumped into the car and drove it towards the school entrance, Liam cursed as he realized that he had completely lost the element of surprise. As the car slid in front of the door, the fourth figure hopped out and ran inside. Anger clouded Liam’s face as he realized that his targets were inside the school and he would have to rely on his backup plan to flush them out.
Chapter 12
“Percival! For pity’s sake, leave the man alone!” Caroline struggled to sit up but a small cluster of people ran down the hall towards her and placed her on a makeshift stretcher before carrying her off. “Dammit, Perry!” Caroline’s shouts were lost as she was carted off to a back room to have her wound examined.
The rapidly changing events had caused Frank to instinctively freeze in place, neither speaking nor moving except to glance around and look for a way to gain the upper hand. Perry had ensured that he was far enough away from Frank to prevent any sort of surprise attack and Frank’s rifle was entirely out of reach as well.
Linda
, for her part, seemed more pissed off than anything else, and she shook her head slowly, keeping her hands raised but not even bothering to look at the person who had a gun pointed at her. Perry, she had determined, was one of—if not the—ringleader in whatever circus she and Frank had stumbled upon. Caroline’s apparent kindness aside, Perry was the one they would have to deal with.
“Do you mind if I sit down?” Linda was balancing the majority of her weight on her good leg. Perry looked her over and nodded curtly. “Do it slowly. No sudden moves. Barb—step away from her.”
The woman pointing a gun at Linda took a few steps back, glancing nervously between Perry and Linda. Perry watched Linda closely as she slid down to the floor, her face awash with relief as the pressure was lifted from her leg.
“How bad is your wound?”
“Not nearly as bad as your partner back there.” Linda could barely repress a sneer as she snapped back at Perry.
“Yeah, we need to have a talk about that. Who’s that who shot her, anyway? One of your friends, trying to take us out so you could loot this place unopposed?” Perry’s voice was commanding and forceful but without any trace of anger. What he said was stated as cold hard facts and he wasn’t about to let anything come between himself and his search for the truth.
Frank, still on his back on the floor, shook his head. “We have no idea. We got into town just a little while ago, on our way south to Pigeon Forge. We saw the sign in the thrift shop and left some fuel there in exchange for some clothes we took. We figured that given the sign, we’d try and see if we could trade for some food.”
Perry’s eyes narrowed. “South to Pigeon Forge? The road through town goes east to west. There’s nothing going south to Tennessee for a long way around here.”
“No kidding.” Linda rolled her eyes, not even attempting to mask her frustration. “Glad to see you understand basic geography.”