by Steven Bird
“That’s impossible to say,” Jessie replied. “I’ll go back for him once we’ve got you two to safety.”
“You’re something else, you know that?” Jack said. “I mean; I just can’t figure you out. You lost everything. En route to find your sister, you take a diversion to investigate something you found along the way, to help total strangers, and you keep risking your neck over and over again for something that I can’t even figure out. What do you have to gain from it all? Are you trying to get yourself killed? I mean, you didn’t know T. R. from Adam, you didn’t know me, you didn’t know Rosa, and you sure as hell don’t know the woman or the kids. You could have just kept on going in safety and you wouldn’t even know all of this was going on. But here you are. Do you have a death wish? Is this a suicide by another’s hand kind of thing?”
Thinking for a moment before replying, Jessie said, “What point would there be in living if I had just kept going? If I kept avoiding trouble as I went, sure, I could stay alive for quite some time. I might even avoid danger long enough to live to be an old man, somewhere hidden from the world. But you know what? I was hidden from the world, and it found me anyway. No, I don’t have a death wish, but I don’t have a desire to wander this world like a coward or a ghost, either. If my life has no meaning, well, then it just...”
“I understand,” interrupted Jack. “I understand completely.”
Turning his attentions back to the task at hand, Jessie began searching the ceiling for a way out and noticed something of interest. Focusing his light on what appeared to be an old, rusty handle caked in layers of dirt and decay, he stood up in the cramped space the best he could, held the handle, and slammed his shoulder into the ceiling in an attempt to loosen the exit, if that was what he had found.
As several inches of dirt and dust fell from the ceiling of the filthy tunnel from the impact of his shoulder, Jessie, Jack, and Rosa all began to cough and fan the dirt-particle-filled air from their faces.
“Sorry about that,” Jessie said, shining his light back to the ceiling. “I think I see the edges of the opening.
Placing his shoulder against it once again while holding on to the handle tightly, Jessie pushed with his legs as hard as he could, getting the large, heavy stone door to begin to move as he stood.
With light shining down into the tunnel, Rosa said aloud, “Thank you, God,” as she clutched and kissed the Catholic rosary that hung around her neck.
Climbing up out of the tunnel and into the light, Jessie looked down and said, “Brilliant.”
“What?” asked Jack, curious as to what they had found.
“We are in the graveyard across the street from the courthouse. We’re literally crawling up out of a false grave inside of a granite family burial vault.”
Chuckling through the pain, Jack said, “At least we’re going in the right direction.” Seeing that both Jessie and Rosa were confused by his statement, Jack clarified, “You know, coming out of a grave instead of going into one.”
With a smirk, Jessie replied, “The day’s not over yet.”
“That’s not funny,” Rosa replied.
“Oh, I meant him,” Jessie added. “I’m sure you and I will be all right, but him, well, who knows.”
Changing the subject, Rosa said, “Let’s get out of here. The thought of being beneath the graves isn’t serving my nerves well.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jessie replied as he forcefully slid the large, heavy stone door, that they now knew to be the lid to a tomb, inside of a false mausoleum.
Pulling himself up and out, Jessie squinted as the day’s failing light shined through the mausoleum’s stone window openings. Looking back down to Rosa and Jack, he said, “The sun will be gone soon. This mausoleum will be a good place to hide out until then. We can try to make a move under the cover of darkness.
Looking down to Jack, Jessie asked, “So, how do you want us to do this? You’re the one that’s gonna have to go through the hurt of it all.”
“Just get me out of here. I can deal with it.”
“Rosa,” Jessie said while extending his hand. “You come on out. I’ll go back down and lift Jack out while you pull from up here.”
Taking his hand, Rosa climbed out of the tunnel and into the mausoleum. Once clear, she immediately took her rosary into her hand and said a prayer of thanks for being delivered from her captivity. Turning to Jessie, she tucked her rosary back into her shirt and said, “Okay, let’s get him out.”
Climbing back down into the tunnel, Jessie said, “If you sit on my shoulder, I can stand and lift you toward the opening. Swinging your busted leg over that stone edge at the top will be the tricky part. Keeping it good and straight, that is.”
As Jack and Jessie positioned themselves to lift Jack out of the tunnel, Jessie added, “Oh, and one more thing.”
“What’s that?” asked Jack.
“If it hurts, try not to scream or make any noises. Remember, we’re right across the street.”
With a nod in the affirmative, indicating that he was ready and understood, Jessie stood, lifting Jack up and into the false tomb, where Rosa took his hands and began to pull him up and into the mausoleum. Reaching the edge of the tomb, Jack placed his hands on the stone while Rosa reached in and took hold of his leg, attempting to help Jack to swing it over the ledge.
Gritting his teeth through the pain as he had to bend his leg slightly to clear the structure, Rosa could see that Jack’s pain was severe. Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, and his skin grew pale.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Nodding in reply while breathing heavily, Jack’s leg cleared the opening while Rosa helped him down to the floor where he could lie down and recover from the pain for a moment.
“Okay, we’ve got him,” Rosa quietly said to Jessie down below.
Handing Jack’s rifle up to Rosa, Jessie said, “Here. You two stay put. I’ve got to go back for T. R. He should have caught up with us by now. And those shots...”
“Be careful,” she said with fear in her eyes. “Please don’t leave us here alone. He’s going to need medical attention very soon, and I can’t get him there alone with Peronne’s men out there.”
“I’ll be back. I promise,” Jessie said in a reassuring voice.
~~~~
Slipping out of sight and back into the darkness of the tunnel below, Jessie worked his way back toward the courthouse, occasionally pausing to listen for any sounds that T. R. could be heading his way.
Reaching the rubble where the dozer had entered the building, Jessie climbed through the debris and into the basement corridor and began working his way toward the stairwell, leading to the above ground floors. Slipping into the stairwell, working his way up and around the stairs to the main floor above, Jessie paused and listened for activity.
Hearing nothing but silence, Jessie worked his way into the main floor hallway, uneasy about the silence. This doesn’t make sense. Where are Peronne’s men? How did we assault one of their facilities without having them come down on top of us like a ton of bricks?
Clearing each room as he went, Jessie worked his way toward a room on the left at the end of the hall. The door to the room stood open, with everything around him eerily silent. As he approached the room, the silence was broken by a static-filled, incoming radio transmission.
All units report to the intersection of 2nd and Mc Gee. The female suspect has been located. Standoff in progress. All units report to the intersection of 2nd and Mc Gee. Standoff in progress. Shots fired. Officers down.
Gripping his rifle tightly, double-checking with his thumb that the safety selector was in the fire position, Jessie raised his barrel to the high ready as he worked his way toward the door. Expecting to hear a reply from the officer in the room, Jessie waited for the opportunity, knowing that the officer would be momentarily distracted by the radio communications.
Hearing no response, or no activity of any kind, Jessie sliced the pie with his rifle around the door, making en
try into the room, ready to engage the threat as it presented itself. As the last rays of the sun’s light faded from the building, Jessie saw two dead officers laying on the floor in front of him. He quickly saw that the radio transmission had been coming from the belt-mounted radio of one of the dead officers.
Continuing his scan, Jessie saw T. R., lying still and lifeless by the window, in a pool of blood. Rushing to his side, Jessie touched him, to feel that his skin was cold and lifeless. “Ah, man. I’m so sorry,” Jessie said as he closed T. R.’s eyes. “I’m sorry you won’t make it back to your family. I’m sorry I treated you the way that I did. You really have redeemed yourself. You died a hero to us, serving others instead of yourself.”
Hearing another radio transmission, this time, a very faint incoming transmission from the hand-held radio that T. R. had taken from Jack to reach Angela, Jessie heard:
Are you still there? Are you okay? Please answer...
Picking up the radio, Jessie pressed the transmit button and replied, “Angela?”
After a brief pause, he heard a woman’s voice answer, “Yes.”
“It’s me, Jessie,” he replied. “T. R. didn’t make it.” Looking up at the broken window and the way the glass was dispersed on the floor, Jessie said, “It looks like you were still his guardian angel, though.”
“I tried,” she replied through her tears.
“Are you safe?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m fine. How’s Dad?”
“He busted up his leg, but he’ll be okay. You just get somewhere safe, but not too far. Stay within radio range of the courthouse. I can’t say where we’ll be, but we’ll be safe. Just keep yourself that way as well.”
“Okay,” she replied. “Tell Dad I love him.”
“I will,” Jessie said as he clipped the radio to his belt.
~~~~
With the day having fully given way to the night, Rosa peered anxiously out of the stone mausoleum’s window as she watched for movement at the courthouse across the street.
“Don’t worry,” Jack said from behind her, laying on the floor with his leg elevated. “If Jessie ran into trouble, you’d have heard it by now.”
After a few more minutes of silence, Rosa and Jack heard rustling from the tunnel below. Picking up his rifle, Jack prepared for the worst as they heard a faint voice say, “It’s me, Jessie. I’m alone.”
Climbing up into the mausoleum, Jessie dusted himself off and said, “T. R. didn’t make it,” as Rosa’s eyes filled with tears.
“What happened?” Jack asked.
“Two of Peronne’s men cornered him in one of the rooms. He did his job, though. He had made contact with Angela, and she’s fine. It looked like she had even managed to provide him with a little bit of fire support during his struggle.” Reaching to his belt, Jessie unclipped the radio and handed it to Jack, saying, “Here. She told me she’s safe. I told her to stay within radio range of the courthouse, but to stay put for now. Oh, and she told me to tell you that she loves you.”
Closing his eyes and silently saying, “Thank you, God,” Jack turned to Jessie and said, “Now what?”
“The woman is held up near 2nd and Mc Gee. It sounds like she’s holding her own for now.”
“How do you know that?” Jack asked with a confused look.
“One of the dead officer’s radios was still on. Peronne’s men are all being called to the scene, which explains why they didn’t rain hell down upon us. They’ve got other fish to fry. It sounds like she’s taken a few of them out down there as well.”
“Good girl,” Jack said with a crooked smile.
Looking down at Jack’s leg, Jessie asked, “How are you holding up?”
“It hurts like hell,” Jack replied while rubbing his thigh. “It’s throbbing like crazy, but all things considered, at least the bone isn’t sticking out through the skin. A compound fracture would certainly have complicated things. I think I’ll survive.”
“Good, try and stay alive until morning.” Looking to Rosa, Jessie said, “Keep an eye on him. Have him show you how to use that rifle of his. You never know what the night will bring.”
With a concerned look on her face, Rosa looked to Jessie and asked, “Where are you going?”
“We’ve got to see this thing through. With Jack out of the fight...”
“I’m not out of the fight!” Jack interrupted.
“Okay, then,” Jessie said, rewording his statement, “With Jack not in any condition to go sprinting from house to house, the best chance we have is to take advantage of Peronne’s distraction with the woman. Not to mention the fact that she could use our help. I’ll do my best to be a thorn in their side, distracting them from their task at hand. Where that will lead is anyone’s guess at this point, but it’s all we’ve got. We’ve already stirred the pot. Life isn’t gonna go back to normal for you folks while Peronne is still in power, so we’ve got to try and fix that.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As the sun finally disappeared over the western horizon, darkness fell over the streets of Fort Sumner, and with it, the dreadful uncertainty of what might come. Leina knew that Peronne and his men would use the cover of darkness to make their move on her, but when? How? The only thing she knew for certain was that her odds of seeing another sunrise in this world were slim. That was okay with her, though. Her husband, her friends, and now her children, had all been taken from her. She felt as if she had nothing more to live for, and if she went down swinging, nothing would feel quite so fitting. Her only concern at this point was the woman who had risked and lost everything to take her in and offer her shelter in her time of need.
Looking over at the woman, hidden underneath the mattress, Leina reaffirmed her will to fight. There were still good people in this wretched, God-forsaken world and she would do her very best to protect this wonderful lady whom she didn’t even know, until the very end.
The sound of a familiar voice rang over a public address system, interrupting her thoughts, saying, “Leinaʹala. We offered you everything. We offered you safety. We offered you a future. And this is how you repay us? You murder our officers and take that poor woman hostage? You know we can’t let this stand.”
“You lying bastard!” she yelled toward the window in a fit of rage. “You murdered my friends. You took my children. You’ve taken everything from me, and all you offered me in return is servitude to you and your little kingdom! Well, I’ve got news for you, you dirty son-of-a-bitch. I don’t know how you’ve kept the good people of this town from taking up arms against you all this time, but your reign of terror ends now. I won’t stand for it. I won’t allow you to impose your will on these people or any more passersby out on the roads, even if it costs me my life doing so. Your crimes simply won’t stand!”
Pausing for a moment, Chief Peronne answered in a very calm and collected voice, “Oh, it will cost you your life. I can promise you that.”
~~~~
Climbing into one of the police SUVs left at the courthouse by Peronne’s men, Jessie started the engine, switched on the lights, and said to himself aloud, “Why do I feel like I’ve been here before?”
Shifting the transmission into gear, Jessie began speeding down Sumner Avenue to the west. Approaching 2nd Street, Jessie hung a hard right and said to himself, “Mc Gee Avenue should be just up ahead.”
Seeing several patrol SUVs in what appeared to be a defensive position around a small, two-story single-family home, Jessie saw an officer wave him over, seeming to give directions on where he was to position himself.
Slowing the vehicle, appearing to acquiesce to the officer’s request, Jessie watched as the man seemed to be taking extra effort to look into the vehicle to identify the driver. “Here goes,” he said as he shoved the accelerator to the floor, spinning the rear tires of the SUV wildly on the dry, dusty road.
Smashing the hood of his car into the officer, Jessie slammed on the breaks, throwing the man violently to the ground. He then brought his AR-10 t
o bear, firing as rapidly as he could through the window of the SUV, causing the other officers, who had previously been taking positions of cover from the potential fire from the house, to scatter like rats.
Throwing the transmission into reverse, Jessie backed away as fast as he could, reaching the engine’s peak RPM, bouncing off of the rev-limiter as he fired the last round from his twenty-round 7.62 NATO magazine, locking the bolt firmly to the rear.
Smashing through a stop sign and the chain-link fence of one of the neighboring homes, Jessie felt the SUV slam to a stop as it crashed into the wooden steps leading up to the home’s main entrance.
With Peronne’s men beginning to regroup, Jessie swung the door open and ran out of the vehicle and behind the house, vanishing into the darkness of the night.
~~~~
Hearing the commotion and rapid-fire gunshots from across the street, Leina watched as a strange man in one of Peronne’s SUVs seemed to be attacking his own men from their flank. As the vehicle sped away in reverse, firing wildly through its own windshield, Leina took advantage of the confusion. Taking aim on one of Peronne’s men who was illuminated by the retreating vehicle's headlights, she placed the crosshairs of the scope on his chest, and slowly pulled the trigger until she felt the powerful .30-06 cartridge shove the rifle firmly into her shoulder, simultaneously dropping the man as the bullet tore clean through his torso.
Quickly cycling another round into the chamber with the bolt, Leina took aim once again as the men began to take cover behind their vehicles. She let another one-hundred-and-eighty grain, thirty-caliber projectile fly, striking one of the officers in the right shoulder, impacting the man so hard it spun him nearly all the way around before he fell to the ground.
Ducking back into the safety of the room as she saw a muzzle flash from the rifle of one of the men who had managed to take cover, Leina felt a high-speed 5.56 millimeter round whiz by her head as the officer managed to return fire with his AR-15 patrol rifle.