New Eden

by Michael Watson

  They then proceeded to the corral and saddled up, riding toward the woods. Their rifles had been placed in improvised holsters attached to the saddles. Levi led the way to Uncle Don’s body. Ryder dismounted. He had to make sure for himself. It didn’t take long for him to be convinced that he was dead. “I’ll have someone bring a wagon out later and pick up his body.” Jeremy and Levi said nothing.

  Re-mounted, Ryder suggested, “Let’s spread out and ride toward the lookout stand. If you spot anyone, shout out.”

  They reached the edge of the woods, watching the open field in front of them from below the tree stand. There was no sign of Uncle Don’s people. Ryder carefully led the way out into the open area. All of them were sitting ducks if one or more marksmen were waiting in the trees on the other side.

  Ryder came to a stop at a location where the grass had been trampled down and a grave dug. He was sure this was where the second man had fallen after being shot just the day before. “I’m surprised they took the time.” It was a good sign. This person’s friends were most likely not coming back. They rode a little further, finding the grave of the first man he shot.

  “Can we go back now?” asked Levi, looking and sounding tired.

  Ryder knew that Levi didn’t really want to be there.

  “Soon. First, we need to check these woods too. Then we can head back. Okay?”

  Levi sighed and gave a weak nod.

  Before Ryder had a chance to lead them into the woods, a shot rang out.

  “Get down!” shouted Ryder as he jumped from his horse. He looked back to check on his brother. Both he and Jeremy were already down, but he could tell by the stillness of Levi that something was wrong. He quickly crawled to him. Immediately, he saw the blood on the side of Levi’s head. He’d been shot. Ryder’s anger flared up. “Jeremy, come here!”

  Jeremy, still holding his reins, crawled to him, using the horse as a shield. No one these days would shoot a horse. They were too important and valuable as a commodity. He saw why Ryder was panicking and upset. There was a lot of blood, coming from a head wound. “Is he …dead?”

  “No, he’s still breathing, but he’s unconscious. I don’t know how bad he’s hurt.” He looked directly at Jeremy. “I need you to take Levi back to the compound. He needs immediate medical attention.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going after the ones who did this. Evidently, we didn’t send a strong enough message earlier. I intend to rectify that. Don’t let anyone follow me.” He helped Jeremy place Levi across his horse’s saddle, took Levi’s rifle for a backup, and then watched as they left through the tall grass.

  Another shot rang out. As he heard it, he felt the searing pain in his upper left arm. Grabbing his arm and dropping back down, he examined the damage. Painful, it wasn’t bad, but just added to his anger. These people had been given a chance to peacefully leave New Eden, and now they paid him back this way? They would soon know how bad of a mistake they’d made. And on top of that, he could lose his brother. They would pay for this.

  Staying low, Ryder grabbed the reins of his horse and led it quickly away along the tree line, looking for a place to slip back into the woods. There was no reason for undo risk by meeting them head on where they expected it. He wanted to surprise them, on his terms, so he could kill them all.

  “Stay with me, Darby.”

  ***

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Blake was the first to see dark silhouettes emerge from the trees. He turned off the light inside the cabin of the helicopter.

  “Hey, why’d you do that?” asked Nick.

  “You might want to place your finger on the trigger. It looks like someone just strolled out of the woods.”

  As the shapes came closer, Blake recognized Jeremy leading two horses with a body across one of the saddles. He’d been instructed by Charles to stay and help Nick find the problem with the helicopter. “Nick, look!” Both jumped to the ground and ran to meet them.

  “What happened?” asked Blake, as he saw it was Levi across the saddle.

  “We were ambushed,” replied Jeremy.

  “How is he?”

  “I don’t know. Ryder just told me to bring him here.”

  “Where is Ryder?” Blake asked, hoping Ryder wasn’t lying back there somewhere.

  “He went after them.”

  “Alone?” The answer was obvious. He knew he was alone, only surprised he would try to take the others on by himself. “How many are there?”

  “No way to know. We didn’t see anyone. But I would guess only a few. They only got off a few potshots.”

  “Tell me which way they went and I’ll go help him.”

  “He said he didn’t want anyone to follow him and I suggest you listen to him. You’d understand if you saw the look in his eyes.”

  Blake thought about it for a moment and then nodded. In the dark, it would be almost impossible to find him and he didn’t want to be mistaken for one of Uncle Don’s people.

  Levi groaned.

  “I need to get him to the infirmary,” said Jeremy as he pulled on the reins and led his horse toward the compound.

  Blake climbed back into the helicopter. Nick had turned the light back on, continuing to search for the problem with the controls.

  Blake watched Jeremy and Levi approach the New Eden compound, and then turned to stare into the woods. Should he or shouldn’t he? If their roles were reversed, Ryder would come to help him. If there were only a handful of Uncle Don’s people left, Ryder could handle them himself. But what if there were more? He grabbed his rifle that rested against the wall of the cabin.

  Nick glanced at him, looked at the rifle, and then went back to work. “Do you even know where to go?” he asked without looking up.

  “I have to do something.”

  When Nick looked up again, Blake was already gone, running into the woods.

  Samuel was outside, helping a dozen or so men clean up around the gate and the breached area of the wall. Not one to stand around and watch, he was trying to keep his hands and mind busy, Eli at his side as usual. The last he’d seen of his boys, they were riding off to the south. Ryder had told him not to worry, that there shouldn’t be any danger, and they would be back soon. He became aware of the others around him stopping work to look down the road. He too stopped to see what they saw. Two horses were coming up the road, being led by one individual. A body was across one of the saddles. Samuel slowly began to move toward the gate, feeling as though he couldn’t catch his breath.

  Jeremy spotted him. “Samuel!”

  Samuel was moving faster now with a sense of urgency. Something terrible had happened. He reached them as they passed through what was left of the gate. Seeing Levi and the blood, he looked at Jeremy, horrified.

  Jeremy saw the look on Samuel’s face. “He’s still breathing, but we need to get him to the infirmary so Betty can check him out.”

  “Ryder?”

  “He’s still out there. He went after the ones who did this.”

  Hearing that Ryder was still alive, he let out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t too worried about Ryder. He’d been on his own for some time now, was smart, and had a survivor’s instinct. Samuel, at the moment, was more concerned about Levi. He walked with them as Jeremy continued to lead Levi’s horse to the main entrance.

  Levi groaned as he was gently removed from the saddle. Samuel was thankful to hear the groan. It meant his son was alive. He helped carry Levi inside.

  Betty had been told they were coming and was prepared with water and bandages. She carefully cleaned and wrapped Levi’s head wound while Samuel, Eli, Jeremy, and several others looked on. The tiny room was becoming crowded, making it hard to breath. “Okay, everybody out except his dad. Jeremy, keep everyone else out.”

  Eli looked at Samuel. “I’ll be out in a little while,” said Samuel.

  There were a few mumblings about being kicked out, but all did as requested. Even though Levi wasn’t an actual
member of the community, everyone knew him and liked him. He still hadn’t come to. Samuel stood over his son, his eyes closed, his lips moving silently as he said a prayer.

  Jenny appeared at the door, her arm in a sling. Her face showed her concern. “Is he going to be alright?”

  “We’ll have to wait and see,” answered Betty. “He’s still unconscious.”

  Jenny came up to the edge of the exam table and stood next to Samuel. “I’m sorry. I’m the one who told him to go away.”

  Samuel’s eyes opened. “It’s not your fault. It was his brother that took him out there.”

  Levi moaned. “It’s not Ryder’s fault. No one made me go.” He moaned again as his hands went to his head, feeling the bandage. “My head is killing me. Can’t you give me something?”

  Betty didn’t have much in the way of medicine. Over the last few years, they’d gone through most of the supplies they’d accumulated. Now, all she could provide was aspirin.

  Samuel looked at Betty with a pleading question obvious in his eyes.

  “Now that he’s awake, and seems alert, there’s a good chance he’ll recover fully.”

  Jeremy gave Samuel a big smile and Jenny gave a nod of approval. Samuel, however, didn’t appear to have been comforted.

  ***

  Blake had only a vague idea of where to go. He knew Uncle Don’s people had retreated into the woods and then had crossed the open field to the other side, but that was all he knew. Beyond that he didn’t have a clue. Luckily, the moon was out and the sky clear, lighting only patches through gaps in the trees canopy. He hadn’t gone far when he spotted a large dark object on the ground between two of the trees. It wasn’t moving. He approached cautiously. Two paces from it he realized it was a body. There was no sound or movement when he poked it with his rifle. Turning the body over he saw that it was Uncle Don.

  He assumed then that he was headed in the right direction. He continued on, stopping frequently to listen and watch his surroundings. The woods were eerily quiet and still. A few minutes later he came to the edge of the woods, looking across the field. He hesitated to step out. The moon shone brightly across the open area. If anyone was watching, he’d be an easy target, like Levi had been. Maybe coming hadn’t been such a good idea.

  Suddenly, he heard two shots fired and saw the muzzle flashes in the trees on the other side of the field. The following silence was pierced by a scream. The woods fell silent once again. Blake wasn’t sure what to do. Did Ryder really need his help? If he crossed the field to where he saw the muzzle flashes, would he be going toward Ryder or Uncle Don’s people? Indecisive, he decided to wait and watch. The silence was making him uneasy. He ducked down and headed into the tall grasses.

  Halfway across there were two more shots fired in quick succession. He stopped and raised his head slowly, hoping to see something. It was too dark to see within the cover of the trees. Then he heard rustling in the grass, someone or something was getting closer. He lowered his head and raised his rifle.

  The sound stopped. It was very close. His finger began to apply pressure to the trigger, the rifle pointed at where he last heard the noise.

  “Come out now and I won’t shoot!” someone said forcefully.

  Blake didn’t move. He didn’t recognize the voice. It was a tired voice. Maybe he still had a chance to put up a fight. The person might not know exactly where he was. Slowly he raised his head, sighting down the rifle’s barrel. In the bright moonlight, a man was on horseback, looking directly back at him. At first he was puzzled, and then recognized Ryder.

  “If you’re going to shoot me,” said Ryder matter-of-factly, “Just get it over with.”

  Blake lowered his rifle and stood. “How did …?”

  “I saw you raise your head. You know you can get shot that way. I told Jeremy I didn’t want anyone to follow me.”

  “I know. I just thought there might be something I could do.” As he stepped closer, he could see that Ryder was covered in blood. “Are you hurt?”

  Ryder looked down at himself. “No. It’s not mine.”

  “I heard the shots. I assume you caught up with them?”

  “Yeah.” Ryder dismounted. “I’ll walk back with you. How’s Levi?”

  “I don’t know. They hadn’t reached the infirmary when I decided to come out here.” There was a moment of silence. “Do you think they’ll be back?”

  “If they have a death wish. Right, Darby?”

  ***

  Samuel stayed at Levi’s side. At Betty’s request, everyone had left the room to leave father and son alone. Betty came in periodically to check on Levi’s condition.

  “Why don’t you grab some fresh air?” Betty asked Samuel. “It looks like he’s out of danger and resting well. I’ll come and get you if anything changes.”

  Samuel considered what she said. It did seem that he was sleeping soundly. He nodded and left the room.

  Jeremy was still standing guard in the doorway with Eli at his side. “Is he going to be alright?” Eli asked Samuel.

  “It appears so. Have you heard anything about Ryder?”

  “Nothing,” said Jeremy. “Nick said Blake went to help him.”

  Samuel walked through the foyer with Jeremy and Eli following. Nick was there talking to Charles and Roy.

  “How’s your boy doing?” asked Charles.

  “He’s going to be alright. How’s your helicopter situation?”

  “It wasn’t as bad as we thought. Nick was just telling me that he’s already fixed the problem. One of the bullets hit a linkage. With a little ingenuity he’s got us ready to fly again.”

  “Glad to hear it,” replied Samuel out of courtesy. His mind was more on his firstborn, looking past Charles through the doors into the darkness. “Excuse me,” said Samuel as he proceeded out the doors into the night air. He had a two-fold reason for going outside – one, Betty had suggested the fresh air and two, to be there when Ryder returned.

  Jeremy and Eli stayed close to Samuel. As Ryder’s closest friend, Jeremy felt an obligation to watch after his dad. Besides, he liked Ryder’s dad and they seemed to get along. All three sat on one of the concrete barricades.

  “Nick said he heard a few shots earlier,” volunteered Jeremy, breaking the silence. It didn’t help since neither knew who was shooting at whom.

  The sky was just beginning to lighten to the east. “The sun will be up soon,” announced Jeremy. “Maybe we should go out and see what’s happening.”

  “No. That won’t be necessary. I have faith that Ryder will be back when he’s done with what he felt he had to do.”

  Alerted by movement in the distance, Samuel stood, straining to see who was coming up the road. There were two individuals on foot, one leading a horse. He walked to the fence. He looked back at Jeremy and smiled. “He’s back.”

  Jeremy was surprised by Samuel’s show of emotion, rarely showing any.

  Samuel worked his way along the fence to the gate, meeting Ryder and Blake there.

  Ryder was the first to talk, “How’s Levi?” he asked his dad.

  “He’s going to be fine,” replied Samuel. It was then that he could clearly see Ryder’s appearance. “You’re covered with blood!” he exclaimed, concerned.

  “It’s okay, Dad. It’s not mine.”

  Samuel let out a sigh of relief, but also appeared disappointed and saddened. He knew Ryder had taken out his revenge on the others. This wasn’t the way Ryder had been raised. His upbringing had been a strictly non-violent environment.

  Ryder began to tie his horse to the fence, but one of the men stepped up and offered to take care of it for him. “I want to see Levi.”

  “Not like that,” said his dad. “He’s resting right now anyway.”

  “Maybe you should clean up first,” suggested Eli.

  “You don’t want to scare him do you?” asked Jeremy with a grin.

  Ryder looked down at himself. As the sky continued to lighten, he could see what the others saw. He
was a sight. “I’ve got some clothes at my camp I can change into.”

  He headed back out the gate, Jeremy following. Ryder stopped and turned to Jeremy. “I’ll be right back. I think I can handle this alone. Keep Dad company.”

  Jeremy appeared offended but just nodded and turned back toward the compound.

  Ryder’s camp was close and it didn’t take long to reach it. But it wasn’t how he’d left it. Evidently, Uncle Don or his people had had a good time shredding his tent and destroying everything in sight. He found some of his clothes that had been scattered around the camp, most torn, but would make him more presentable than he currently was. After cleaning himself off and changing, he salvaged a handful of personal items. Before leaving, he pulled out his flint and started a fire, moving it to his tent and setting it ablaze with everything else thrown inside.

  When Ryder returned to the compound, Jeremy and Samuel were waiting. “What’s burning?” asked Jeremy.

  “My camp. They destroyed everything, so I burned it.” Ryder’s voice was calm with an undertone of finality.

  Jeremy and Samuel exchanged glances, but said nothing.

  “Now, can I see Levi?”

  “You look much better,” said his dad. “He’ll be glad to see you when he wakes up.”

  As they entered the foyer, Charles smiled at seeing Ryder return. “I guess our problem is over?” he asked.

  “I think so.”

  “Good. Nick fixed our helicopter, so I think we’ll head home later today.”

  “I’m glad you came when you did. Thanks. Right now, I need to see my brother.”

  “Of course. We’ll talk more later.”

  Ryder headed for the infirmary with his dad, Eli, and Jeremy close behind. When they reached it, Ryder stopped at the door before entering. He looked in at Levi who appeared to be asleep.