He retrieved the pistol from his back pocket as the cries of the newborn cocoon monsters echoed all around him. Claws tapped on the floor in the shadows just out of sight.
They were surrounding him like a pack of wolves.
“Come on out, you fuckers!” Johnny yelled. He realized that he was laughing. “Show me those ugly faces!”
But the creatures stayed out of sight, hidden by the shadows. They were watching, Johnny knew. Waiting for their opportunity to strike.
Seconds ticked by. Claws clicked on the floor as the monsters positioned themselves around him.
When the first one came charging toward him out of the shadows, Johnny put two bullets in its chest.
The others followed one by one as Johnny emptied the pistol’s magazine into the lot of them.
Then the pistol’s hammer fell onto an empty chamber, the sound barely audible over the shrill cries of the white monsters as they descended upon him.
Chapter Nineteen
Gunshots echoed from inside the Costco as the screeching and the shrieking grew increasingly louder. Dave realized after a moment he was holding his breath as each surreal second passed excruciatingly slowly. He was barely aware of Audrey beside him, stroking Gia’s blood-matted hair as she whispered soft words to her dead friend.
The gunshots popped in quick succession before abruptly going silent, leaving behind only the screams of the monsters to fill the air.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to happen. This wasn’t at all how he’d planned it to be.
“We have to go,” Dave said, his voice flat and emotionless.
“We can’t just leave her here,” Audrey said.
“There’s nothing we can do for her now.”
“I won’t leave her here like a dog in the street. She deserves a decent burial, like any other human being.”
Dave looked at her with cold eyes. “So did Johnny.”
“He made his choice.”
“And so did Gia.”
Audrey’s eyes narrowed. “You’re an asshole.”
Dave shrugged. “This is how things are now. There’s not much any of us can do about it.”
“We have a choice to still be humane.”
“Gia is dead. Those kids of yours might not be. So what’s more humane? Should your time be spent burying a body or trying to save lives?”
“You don’t have to be so cold about it.”
“The world is cold,” Dave said. He motioned toward Gia’s lifeless body. “Help me lift her.”
He took a step toward the Jeep when the sound of an engine filled the air. He turned to see a battered pickup truck approaching. The roof had been cut away, and the exterior painted a flat black. Inside the truck were two men, one behind the wheel and the second in the passenger seat. He carried a rifle and wore an expression of malice on his face.
“Run,” Dave said.
He gripped Audrey by the hand, pulling her with him. She hesitated for only a moment before she followed.
The men in the truck hooped and hollered as the driver gunned the engine, closing the gap between them quickly.
Another engine roared as a second pickup truck emerged from behind the Costco, also headed toward Dave and Audrey. Two men occupied the cab this truck as well, both sharing the same malcontented look on their faces.
Things had escalated quickly from bad to worse.
Dave pivoted, heading away from both approaching trucks. More cries erupted from the oncoming vehicles as engines growled and tires squealed. Then a third car appeared; a muscle car, also painted flat black, moving toward Dave and Audrey with sinister speed. A man clutching a pistol hung out of the open window, yelling and screaming with a vicious smile on his face.
The driver hit the brakes and turned the wheel hard. The tires squealed as the car skidded to a hard stop in front of them. The car rocked on its worn shocks, nearly tossing the passenger clear of the window.
Their way now blocked, Dave and Audrey stopped short. Dave spun, looking for another way to run, but by then the other two vehicles had closed the gap behind them.
There was nowhere left to go.
The driver of the car got out and took a step toward them.
Dave raised the pistol and pointed it at the man.
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you,” the man said. He was tall, clad in tattered jeans and black boots with a long black beard covering his face. He wore what Dave assumed was a Kevlar vest.
Bullet-proof.
Behind Dave and Audrey, the trucks screeched to a halt. The men inside filed out, rifles and pistols in hand.
So, this is how it ends, Dave thought. It was disappointing, but he couldn’t say he was surprised. Had he thought they’d find Calvin? Maybe at one point he had, but the idea seemed so ridiculous now.
“We got you surrounded, buddy,” Kevlar Vest said. “You come quietly, and we won’t hurt you.”
Dave gripped the pistol tighter, his finger on the edge of the trigger. “Why don’t I believe that?”
“Do what he says,” one of the men behind him said. “You don’t wanna do something stupid.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Kevlar Vest continued. “You can probably take me out. But when you do, my boys here will fill your ass full of lead.” He looked at Audrey with a wolf’s gaze. “And we won’t be so easy on your girlfriend here.”
Dave kept the pistol trained on the man in the vest. The guy was right; Dave thought he could probably put a bullet in the man’s head. But if he pulled the trigger, he also believed that these men would kill him on the spot. And they’d do God knew what to Audrey.
Seconds passed, pregnant with tension as Dave contemplated what to do next.
“Be smart,” Kevlar Vest said. “Make the right decision.”
Dave sighed. Things had gone sideways. Johnny was dead. Gia was dead too. Now he was surrounded by men with guns and nothing but ill intent. Maybe they were fucked either way, but maybe if they cooperated for the time being, he could find a way out of this mess.
In the end, that was worth a shot, so long as he could get his chance at Calvin Summerville.
Dave lowered the pistol.
“Put it on the ground,” Kevlar Vest said. “Nice and slow.”
Dave placed the pistol to the ground and put his hands in the air.
For better or worse, this was his path now.
Chapter Twenty
After binding Dave and Audrey’s hands behind their backs, two of the men in Kevlar Vest’s party tossed them into the back of one of the trucks. As they were being escorted away, one of the men unceremoniously pulled Gia’s lifeless body from the truck, tossing her onto the faded, cracked pavement before hopping into the driver’s seat and firing up the engine.
Dave glanced at Audrey’s face, hoping she hadn’t seen. She had, of course. She blinked a single tear from her eye before forcing her face back into composure. He could feel the rage radiating from her like a palpable thing, her face red and her lips pressed into a thin line.
Dave knew all too well how she felt.
After loading their human cargo in the back of the pickup, the gang climbed back into their vehicles and headed toward the highway. As they pulled away from the Costco, Dave saw Gia’s body lying on the ground, her eyes open and her left arm twisted unnaturally. Her nearly severed head tilted backward, her mouth open in a horrible, silent scream.
As the truck bounced along the crumbling highway, the building faded into the background. A lonely stretch of cluttered road replaced it as the truck’s headed to an unknown location. Dave leaned against the truck’s cab, his arms aching from having his wrists bound, again considering just how wrong of a turn things had taken. It was a harsh world that was only getting tougher, but tracking Calvin down had kept him going at least.
Now Dave’s chances of finding the man who’d killed his wife and his unborn baby seemed dashed beyond any hope of repair. He didn’t know who these men were or where they were taking him, b
ut it couldn’t be good.
But then again, there wasn’t much good left in the world.
* * *
They drove for nearly twenty minutes, eventually arriving at a large warehouse a mile or so off the highway. They stopped at a large chain link gate as two men with rifles slung around their shoulders greeted the convoy. The guards opened the gate and waved them through. From the back of the truck, Dave watched the guards close the gate and wrap a length of thick chain around it, securing it with a padlock.
The party proceeded further into the lot until they arrived at a tall and wide loading dock door. The door opened as they approached, steel panels rattling and wheels squeaking as they rolled up the guide rail.
Once the door opened fully, the men drove into the building one by one. The door closed behind them. Sunlight filtered in through hazy, dirty windows, casting a jaundiced glow over dozens of shelving units stacked with crates and boxes and the silhouettes of items unrecognizable in the dim light. Dust motes danced around in the stale air, flittering in the sun’s rays.
Then the engines were killed, and the men exited the vehicles. Two of the men herded Dave and Audrey out of the truck and onto the loading dock’s hard concrete floor. Through a metal door inset with a narrow wire-reinforced window at eye level, they were led deeper inside the building. The two men guided them silently through a mildewed hallway. They took a single flight of steps up to the second level before making a series of turns that Dave couldn’t track. At the end of another hallway, the men stopped at a nondescript door.
The man in the lead opened the door and gestured inside.
“After you,” he said, a smirk on his face.
It took all Dave had to resist breaking the man’s nose with a strong headbutt.
Audrey entered the room first. Dave followed. Inside, a makeshift jail cell assembled from old two-by-fours and chain link fence awaited them. The men untied the ropes binding Dave and Audrey’s hands before pushing them into the cell and locking the door behind them.
“Gideon will call for you when he’s ready,” the smirking man said, the grin never leaving his face. He turned to his partner. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
And then the two gang members were gone, leaving Dave and Audrey to their new prison.
Dave looked at Audrey. The expression on her face was exactly what he’d expected it to be; a mixture of frustration and disappointment, mirroring his own emotions exactly.
And then a voice came from the cell next to theirs, a voice Dave recognized all too well.
“Well, I’ll be goddamned,” Calvin Summerville said. “Of all the motherfuckers in the world, Porter, you were the last one I expected to see in this dump.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“You miserable son of a bitch,” Dave said between clenched teeth, his voice so low it was nearly a growl.
Calvin grinned. “I’m happy to see you, too.”
“Fuck you.”
“Now is that any way to talk to an old friend?”
“You’re lucky this fence is between us, otherwise you’d already be dead.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Calvin said, the grin morphing into a confident smirk. “That’s always what I liked about you.”
“Where are the children?” Audrey asked. “What did you do with them?”
Calvin shifted his focus to Audrey. “And who might you be?”
“Where are the children?” Audrey asked again.
Calvin took a deep breath. He smiled wide, his eyes maintaining that wolfish glare.
“Where are they?” Audrey repeated. She paused. “Please.”
“Don’t beg him,” Dave said, glaring at Calvin. “It’s what he wants. He’ll tell you eventually. He’s too proud of himself to keep it a secret for long.”
Calvin chuckled. “Porter’s got a point there. He knows me better than I thought.”
“Did you kill them?” Audrey asked. “I need to know.”
Calvin glanced at Dave. “Ask Porter.”
Audrey looked at Dave, a confused look on her face. “What’s he talking about?”
“Answer the question, Calvin,” Dave said.
“You didn’t get my messages?” Calvin asked. “I figured you did since you were able to follow me here.”
“What is he talking about?” Audrey asked.
Dave hesitated, wondering how he could explain the dead child Calvin had used as a signpost. There was no gentle way to say what he needed to say.
“We found a body,” Dave said. “Right before we ran into you and Gia.” He paused. “A child.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Audrey asked.
“I didn’t know if she was yours,” Dave said. “I still don’t. Only Calvin can answer that.”
Audrey walked to the chain link fence separating the cells and gripped the metal latticework tightly. “Did you kill them?”
“Just the mouthy ones,” Calvin replied.
Audrey’s lips formed a thin line. “How many?”
Calvin shrugged. “Three or four. Who can remember?”
“Where are the rest of them now?”
“You’ll have to ask the guy in charge here,” Calvin replied. “He’s a real asshole. Calls himself Gideon.”
Audrey glared at Calvin. “When I get out of here, I swear to God I’ll fucking kill you,” she said, her voice low and deliberate.
“That’s a great segue to my next point,” Calvin said, getting to his feet. “Because I want to make a deal.”
“You’re in no position to make any deals,” Dave said. “You’re just as fucked as we are.”
“It would look that way,” Calvin said. “And maybe you’re right. But I’ve been here for a while. I know the players. I know their routines. I know the building.”
“What’s your point?” Dave asked.
“This isn’t an organized group. It’s basically a bunch of thugs with a loose association to a small-time criminal who by dumb luck became a big fish in this shitty little pond. But with you here we have a chance to get the hell out of this pit.”
“Why would I ever help you?” Dave asked.
“Because the enemy of your enemy is your friend.”
Dave folded his arms.
“Look,” Calvin said, “I get that you hate me. I thought I did you a favor by getting rid of that ball and chain of yours, but you disagree. Fair enough. You want to kill me, and I get that too. But nobody’s doing anything if we’re all locked up in these cages.”
Dave remained silent.
Calvin looked Audrey in the eye. “I think I know where the rest of those kids are, too. Assuming Gideon didn’t kill them, of course.”
Audrey’s eyes lit up for a moment before her face went slack. “I don’t believe you.”
Calvin shrugged. “That’s up to you, sister. But ask yourself this. What if I’m telling the truth? What if those little shits are still here, locked up and getting buggered by the shitkickers who run this joint? I’ll bet you’d like to put a stop to that, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would,” Audrey said.
“Then help me. Let’s get the hell out of this cage and teach these cousin-fuckers what it means to suffer.”
Silence ensued. Audrey turned to Dave. They didn’t speak. They didn’t have to. Audrey had her children to save. Dave had his revenge. Neither of them could argue with Calvin; inside their new prison, none of them would have anything.
“If we pull this off,” Dave said, “then I kill you. This little agreement doesn’t change what you did or what you have coming to you.”
Calvin smiled wide. “Now that’s the Dave Porter I wanted to see.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“They have a cache of weapons and ammunition, and I know where they keep it,” Calvin said. “If we can get ourselves out of these cages and make it there, we can give them one hell of a fireworks show.”
Dave looked upon the man he hated, the man he’d dreamed of killing for months now.
The man who would murder children and leave their bodies to rot in the hot sun, all in the name of playing psychological games. The same man who’d casually slaughtered Dave’s wife and unborn baby, leaving her lifeless body along the side of the road like yesterday’s garbage.
Dave had never wanted to kill anyone so badly in his life.
“Are you paying attention, Porter?” Calvin asked, irritation obvious in his voice.
Dave huffed. “How’d you get caught, anyway? Big, bad Calvin Summerville. I thought you were building a new world order or some other such bullshit. You thought you were invincible, rounding up innocent people as your slaves.” Dave shook his head. “Now look at you. Trapped in a cage like a goddamn dog.”
Calvin stared at Dave with measured annoyance. “Are you finished?”
Dave grinned.
“They ambushed us, if you have to know,” Calvin said. “Gideon and his merry band of assholes.”
Dave nodded, observing Calvin. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. “So much for your new world order, eh?”
“Nothing’s changing that.”
“Sure looks changed to me,” Dave said. “Speaking of, where are all your faithful followers now? Where’s Rand? I thought he was your right-hand man. I don’t see him anywhere.”
Calvin glared at Dave. “Are you going to listen to the plan or not?”
“He’s dead,” a voice sounded from behind Calvin.
Calvin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Shut up, Jeffrey.”
A man peeked out from the makeshift jail cell behind Calvin. He had a thin and wiry frame, with blonde hair equally as thin and wiry. He stood maybe five foot ten and weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet. Dave hadn’t even noticed him when they’d been brought in.
“They killed him,” Jeffrey continued. “Blew his goddamn brains out.”
“Shut the fuck up, Jeffrey,” Calvin muttered through gritted teeth. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut your trap right now.”
“Or what?” Jeffrey countered. “You ain’t doing shit.”
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