by T A Williams
They reached the edge of the clearing, leaving 50 yards of open space between them and the livestock building, with nothing to hide behind.
Grant looked to Alec. His eyes said more than his words ever could. Alec saw the sorrow, saw the pain, the regret, the anger, and most of all he saw the determination. “Once we find her you grab here and get back to the car, understand?” Alec nodded. Grant continued staring at him. “Alec-“
“We’ve got this dad.”
For a second a look of shock flashed before his father’s face. Alec wasn’t sure why and would have been alarmed but his father’s gaze never left him. When the realization hit him the overall feeling of numbness nearly evaporated, nearly. He had called Grant dad. A label he didn’t think he had used since he was a child. When his father abandoned them Alec didn’t think the man was worthy of the label. Since then this man had been there every day, every single step of the way. That was why he called him dad without even thinking twice.
Grant looked down at the ground. “Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
Grant hesitated again and then focused on the livestock building. He held up three fingers and slowly started to count down, when he was at zero they ran. Alec had his hand on his gun and tried to run as fast as he could; even with that those fifty yards where the longest stretch he had ever run. When they finally reached the building they collapsed next to it and tried to listen. They listened for any shouts, for someone chasing them, even for gun shots, but there was nothing outside of the sound of them trying to catch their breath.
Grant crawled over to the nearest window and looked in. Alec saw the man’s eyes turn to shock for just a second then they hardened with determination once again. Alec moved up next to his father and looked inside. In the small building were several large cages and two of those cages were filled. In the one almost directly in front of them was an older woman, clothing in near tatters, hair in disarray, staring blindly back at them. If the woman saw them she gave no indication, she seemed to be in her own little world.
In the cage next to that one was another woman, this one noticeably younger but her general condition wasn’t much better. She was sitting in the corner and appeared to be talking to herself. Before Alec could register the fact they were keeping people in cages he saw that the younger woman wasn’t talking to herself she was talking to something lying between her legs. Alec stood up a little more and saw his sister.
Grant pulled him back down quickly just as a man with a rifle casually walked past the window, but the sight of his sister was burned in his retinas. She looked scared but not as scared as he would have thought given the circumstances. She was staring up at the lady listening intently.
“You ready?” Grant’s voice was cold.
Alec nodded and Grant let out the bird call whistle that Trent had taught him. After a few seconds there was a return call from far way then silence. They sat there waiting for it to happen. They saw the edges of it before the people in the building did. One of the trucks near the main building sat there with a fire dancing all over its metal body. Finally after less than a minute there was a scream from the main building and several people came running out. At first the men just stared at it dumbfounded as if their brains were trying to rationalize what they were seeing, during this time several other men came out. That is when the others opened fire on them.
Alec saw two of the men go down instantly never moving again. A third appeared to get hit but started to crawl away as the bullets whizzed overhead. The remaining men ran for cover, some back to the main building, the others behind the burning truck.
Grant grabbed Alec’s arm and pulled him to the backside of the livestock building. Grant stood with his back against the building and put his hand on the handle. “If anyone approaches, take them out.”
Alec didn’t, couldn’t say anything. Grant didn’t wait. In one smooth motion he opened the door and rushed inside.
Grant
He had been worried about opening the door and being hit by bullets, instead he was hit by the smell. Almost like a wall it knocked him back. The smell was dirty. He could make out a mixture of unwashed bodies, and feces. While disgusting it only caused a slight delay as he moved forward again towards the cage that housed his daughter.
Grant tried to control his breathing but was failing. The barrel of the gun moved up and down as he fought through the nerves, the anger, and the fear of the situation. He knew there was a man somewhere inside of here. He heard a loud bang then the wall near his head sparked in the dim light as a bullet shot past his head. Grant threw himself to the side behind some containers as several more bullets flew past. The shots hit all around him, the man wasn’t entirely sure where he was. Grant glanced in between the containers and saw the man backing slowly towards the front door firing blindly. Grant took a deep breath and swung out. He aimed down the barrel of the rifle and did his best to point it in the general direction of the man. His first shot hit wide right, the second wide left, but the third hit its mark.
The man let out a scream of pain and fell on his back. Grant approached him carefully.
“Daddy!” Alya screamed from the nearby pen.
Grant wanted to turn and look but he knew it wasn’t safe. He made a wise choice as the wounded man reached for his dropped rifle. Two more shots connected and the man’s struggle was over.
He ran to the pen containing Alya and she grabbed him from the other side.
“Daddy, you found me.”
He pulled her to him with only the chain link bars in between them. “Of course I found you honey, I’m going to get you out of here.”
Tears streaked down her face but her smile brightened the room. The woman in the same cage as her approached. “That man has the padlock key.” She pointed at the man he shot.
Grant ignored the bullet riddled body as he rummaged through the man’s pocket and soon found the keys. Just as he turned to head towards Alya he heard gun shots right outside the building.
Alec
Bullets pounded into the side of the building all around Alec sending sparks flying through the air. The boy dove behind the side of the building. He had no idea where the shots were coming from but as soon as he was behind the livestock building they stopped. Alec had to give his father more time to get to Alya.
On the other side of the compound he heard more shots being fired and his thoughts turned briefly to the others. He hoped they were ok. They were supposed to create a diversion so Grant and Alec could find and free Alya, but things didn’t turn out to be that easy. His father was firing at someone inside and now the back of the building wasn’t even safe.
Another shot rang out, this time striking the ground a few feet from him. This time Alec saw where it had originated. There was a broken down car on the far side of the clearing and behind it was the shooter. His pistol wasn’t accurate enough to hit the man from that distance so Alec did the only thing he could do, he ran. Not towards the safety of the building but away from it. His legs carried him towards the tall grass of the open field and he heard the shots raining down all around him. He dove into the tall grass and then there was silence. The only thing he could hear was his own ragged breathing and the rapid beating of his own heart. That was when he realized he may not have led the man away from his father but left his father completely exposed. Before he could give that idea much thought a bullet shot past him as the man hidden behind the broken down car gave chase. Alec gave the opening of the livestock building one last look before he ran further into the tall grass.
Grant
Grant saw the man run into the tall grass after his son and he couldn’t move. He had two choices, run after the man to protect his son or free his daughter. His heart broke knowing there wasn’t a right answer. If he went after Alec he could potentially lose his daughter, if he stayed with his daughter he could lose his son. Grant knew exactly what Alec would want him to do but that didn’t make the choice any easier. Grant took a deep breath and
let his son go.
“Please hurry.” The woman said her name was Jessica. Grant didn’t ask how long she had been there and didn’t want to know why.
He unlocked the pen housing Jessica and his daughter then unlocked the pen with the other woman in it. The entire time he had been there, from the gun battle to now, the woman hadn’t moved a muscle. He motioned towards her. “We’ve got to go.” The woman didn’t move.
Jessica rushed into the pen and shook the woman but she still didn’t budge. “Dammit Julie you’ve got to come back to me.” She slapped the woman across the face to no avail. “You’ve got to be stronger then this baby, come on.”
Grant looked down at his daughter and saw the tears in her eyes. Those eyes had seen more in the last 24 hours than anyone should see in a lifetime. He bent down and gave her a hug. “I love you honey.”
“I love you t--. Watch out daddy!”
He registered her scream just moments before someone slammed into him from behind. His daughter flew to the side and he was smashed face first into the ground. He heard Jessica let out another scream just as a fist slammed into the back of his head. Grant pushed back and managed to find enough room to put the floor to his back and that was when he saw V standing over him. The man jumped on top of Grant and let loose a torrent of punches into him. Grant managed to block a few but the majority struck his face causing his head to slam back against the concrete ground.
“You bastard!” Jessica screamed as she smashed a shovel into V’s head. V fell back against the side of the building dazed.
Bloodied and beaten Grant turned to Jessica. “Please, take my daughter and get her away from this. Please protect her.”
Jessica started to say something but stopped. She scooped up Alya and ran towards the door. Alya reached out for him and let out a scream. Grant watched as his daughter was carried out of the building and prayed it was to safety.
V let out a curse and staggered to his feet. Grant tried to follow but the world seemed to spin all around him. Before he could get back to his feet V rushed him again. The massive bulk of a man slammed him into the pen causing pain to shoot through Grant’s body.
His head spun, his back screamed in pain but then the realization struck him. The man pushing up against him was the same one that stared Joseph right in the eyes and shot him in cold blood. The pain belonged to someone else, there was not any room left in his body for it. The only thing left in his body was anger, it fed him, it rejuvenated him.
Grant let out a scream of pure hatred as he began pummeling his fists into the back of V’s head. The man let out a couple of grunts then fell back. Grant’s body needed oxygen, being slammed against the pen must have knocked the wind out of him, but he didn’t care. He pushed off of the pen and tackled V, smashing him into the ground. Grant heard the air escape the man’s lungs but he didn’t hesitate for a second. With all his might he began to punch the man in the face, over, and over again. With each blow Joseph’s face flashed before him. He saw his son’s smile being cut short by a man who felt the best way to get what he wanted was to forcibly take it from everyone else. Grant had every intention of beating this man to death and probably would have until he was shot.
Alec
Alec ran through the field, slowly working his way back towards the front of the compound. Every time he began to fear he had lost the man a bullet would strike the ground near him. As the burning car came into view Alec glanced back and saw the man fifty yards behind him, but the man had stopped. The man was reloading his gun. Alec stopped and the world seemed to stand still. A year ago he was safe sitting in their old apartment watching over his brothers and sister with only the memory of his dead mother hanging over him. Things seemed bad then but deep down he knew everything was going to be alright. He knew even if his father left them again he would find a way to provide for his family. Then things changed. As Alec raised his gun and leveled it at the unaware man he came to realize that he was going to have to change in order to protect his family.
He fired the gun and watched as the man screamed out in agony and then fell to the ground. The man let out a whimper then went quiet. For a brief moment Alec thought he was going to throw up but he fought the sensation.
“Alec get down.” Whitford screamed from behind a nearby wheelbarrow.
Alec dropped to the ground and crawled towards the man. The gun fire had slowed down and now the night air was filled with the occasional scream for help and the breeze blowing through the trees. As he approached he noticed a body laying still in the yard only a handful of yards away. He glanced and continued forward but stopped when his mind registered what he saw. The body belonged to Trent. He looked again waiting for the man to move or say something but it was clear, Trent was dead.
“Alec you’re in the open, get over here.”
Whitford’s words floated past him. Trent was dead and Alec was certain he wasn’t the only one. Alec was vaguely aware that gunfire had erupted around him again the only thing he could think of was his father. He got to his feet and ran back towards his father.
Grant
The blow knocked him back onto the floor and for a second all he could focus on where the cobwebs hanging from the building ceiling, then the pain caught up with him. It radiated from his stomach and he let out a scream of pain. His stomach felt warm and when Grant looked down he could see blood soaking through his shirt. It took him a moment to realize it was his own.
“You think you can come to my house and destroy my things?”
Grant saw the battered face of V standing before him, in the man’s hand was a pistol.
V stumbled forward a couple of steps and fired a shot the missed Grant’s head by less than a foot.
“I was going to let you all live in peace. You gave me your daughter and that was payment enough, but not anymore.”
Grant clenched his teeth as another wave of pain caused the world to come out of focus for a brief moment. “You killed my son.”
V waived his hand at him like it wasn’t a big deal. “I didn’t have a fucking choice. He killed one of my men. I couldn’t just let him get away with that.”
Once again his anger helped to push the pain aside. Grant looked to the side and saw his rifle just out of reach. V shot again into the concrete near his head, the shot missed but something shot up and struck Grant in the face.
“You stupid piece of shit. I know where your family is. I want you to know that once I kill you I’m going to head over there and kill each and every one that is left.”
Grant grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at V. It struck him in the face and the man staggered back a step, Grant rolled to his left, grabbed his rifle and fired. A bullet tore throw V’s shoulder causing him to drop his pistol and fall to the floor. Grant started to get to his feet but the pain knocked him back down. He pushed himself up against one of the nearby cages and aimed his rifle back at V. “I want you to know that I’m going to send you to hell and there is not a single person here that will mourn you.”
V started to say something but Grant ended his life with a single shot.
Grant rested his head against the cage and closed his eyes. He had ended the life of the man who had murdered his son. The world was a safer place.
His body was wracked by another wave of pain and Grant let out a small grunt. He looked to the side and saw an ever expanding pool of blood, his blood; it was at that moment that Grant realized he was going to die. His thoughts turned to Alec, Ben, and Alya. Once again he was going to leave them behind.
“Dad?”
Grant opened his eyes and saw Alec standing before him.
Alec
His father’s shirt was soaked in blood and Alec knew who the blood belonged to. He ran to his father and lifted up his shirt, he knew there wasn’t anything he could do but that wasn’t going to stop him. “Dad I need you to put pressure on this, I’m going to get the others so we can carry you out of here and get hel-“
“Stop.” Grant grabbed hi
s arm. “There is nothing you can do, I’m sorry.”
This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, I can’t lose him too. “Get off me I’ve got to get you some help.”
“Listen, the woman that was in the cage with Alya took her out of here when V attacked me. You’ve got to find her and bring Alya back home, do you understand?” Tears blurred Alecs vision but he nodded his head. “You’re an amazing person Alec, much better than I ever was. I’m sorry I’m leaving you all again.”
Alec hugged his father and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “You’re not leaving us again dad, you saved us. If you hadn’t brought us here then we would have starved in the city, you gave us a chance.”
Tears ran down Grant’s face and he gave Alec a kiss on the forehead. “I love you son.”
“I love you too dad.”
Grant closed his eyes and didn’t open them again.
Alec
The sun crested over the horizon giving everything a warm orange glow. Whitford found Alec as he was slowly dragging his father out of the building and helped him, nothing was said. Alec didn’t ask where the rest of the bandits were, part of him didn’t care. Freddie found them at the edge of the clearing.
“The few that were left took off towards the woods.”
“Did you see my sister?”
Freddie nodded. “I saw her and some lady get in a truck and take off down the road.”