The Agora Virus (Book 2): Anxiety

by Jack Hunt

  No sooner had she said that than the house came under fire again by heavy rounds. Both of them hit the ground and she passed off the rifle to Hayley and motioned for her to head upstairs.

  “Whatever you do, stay out of sight.”

  Hayley looked like she had already shit herself. She couldn’t blame her. Ella hadn’t felt this scared in her life. She shuffled across the ground and moved into a new position. Did they know how many were inside the house? She peered out and heard Zach call out.

  “Ella, I’ve been hit!”

  More gunfire erupted, however, this time it was coming from behind them which meant Sal and Jameson were coming under fire again. Ella moved quickly towards the back door while shouting up to Hayley to give her cover. Rounds snapped over her head as she circled the house and dived down close to where Zach was laying. He’d taken one in his right shoulder.

  “Jameson!” she hollered but her voice was lost in the gunfire.

  Though the injury didn’t look life threatening, Zach was groaning in agony and clutching his shoulder. Blood trickled over his hand.

  “I’m gonna get you fixed up, but you got to move.”

  She could see the fear in his eyes as he looked at her as if she was insane. One thing she had learned while in college was to stay calm. She couldn’t forget the video they played for the entire academy of police dealing with a school shooting. They were running towards the school while kids were running out.

  “That’s what you signed up for. When others are running away, you are going to be running towards danger.”

  Cops in a small town could go their entire career only pulling their weapon a few times, whereas where she was going to be, in the heart of New York City, she would have had her hand on it daily.

  Moving around the house, it was a miracle they didn’t end up with a bullet in the leg or arm as the house was coming under heavy fire from every direction it seemed. As soon as they broke through the door and landed hard on the floor, Ella called for Gloria. She came down the stairs and Ella motioned to Zach and she didn’t miss a beat. Whether she knew how to treat a gunshot wound was another thing but Ella didn’t stick around to find out, she locked the back door and rushed to the front and did the same.

  She hurried to one of the windows and stayed low looking out to see where they were. It was hard to see. Even though her eyes had adjusted to the dark, without floodlights or light from the moon hitting them, all she could make out was the occasional silhouette of someone darting in and out of trees.

  “Hayley! You okay?”

  “Of course I’m not.”

  From the kitchen she heard Zach speaking.

  “Get me up, I’m going to help.”

  “You’ll stay right where you are,” Gloria muttered in her motherly tone.

  Right then there was a beating on the back door and Ella saw Zach reaching for his gun on the ground.

  “It’s me. Let us in,” Sal shouted.

  Gloria got to the door before Ella could. As soon as it was open Sal came in holding Jameson who still appeared to have all his limbs intact.

  Sal was breathing heavily. He immediately closed the blinds on the back windows and moved into position.

  “Gloria. The kids?”

  “They’re safe. Upstairs.”

  Sal looked over to Ella. “You okay?”

  “Just dandy,” she replied in a mocking manner.

  He turned out the lights and they all settled in for what they believed was going to be a long night. Though she felt a sense of relief flood over her, it wasn’t over. Outside there were at least six armed and dangerous men preparing to unleash hell on them. And it wouldn’t be over until either they were dead, or everyone inside the house was.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Shrouded by darkness, Gabriel stayed low to the ground. He had tried to put as much distance as possible between them and himself before they climbed out of the water but he could hear Palmer getting closer, hollering at the top of his voice.

  “You made a big mistake, kid. When I get my hands on you…”

  His mind was rushing a mile a minute. He feared for his life even though he was holding a rifle. When he shoved them into the water, he didn’t have intentions of killing them. It was pure survival, a means of escape, that’s all.

  Gabriel positioned himself flat below a series of pine trees and covered himself with as much foliage as possible. Under the cover of night, it would have been hard to see him, at least that’s what he hoped.

  Keeping his finger close to the trigger, he waited and watched as Palmer emerged from the shadows. He cast a glance around and trudged on shouting obscenities. Not that far behind him was Jackson.

  “Hold up, Palmer.”

  “I told you we should have zip tied him.”

  “How was I to know?”

  “You weren’t, that’s why you’re an idiot.”

  When Jackson appeared in the clearing close to Gabriel, he was panting hard and struggling to get air into his lungs. His boots were only a few feet away from Gabriel’s face, he could even smell the pungent stench of his body odor mixed with wet clothes.

  “Palmer, let’s just go back. We’ve done what he asked, we’ll just tell him the kid escaped.”

  The sound of boots could be heard moving fast through the trees and then Palmer came into view. He grabbed a hold of Jackson and got real close to him.

  “Escaped? Do you have any idea what he will do to us if we allowed that kid to escape?”

  “Then we tell him that we had to shoot him, and his body fell into the river.”

  Palmer released his grip and Jackson smoothed out his wrinkled clothing.

  “Fuck! This is so messed up. Alright let’s go, but if he can tell that we’re lying, I’m telling him you let him escape.”

  “Oh come on, Palmer, I wasn’t the first one he knocked in.”

  “Maybe not, but you didn’t do anything.”

  They began walking off.

  “How could I? The kid was like a jackrabbit. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast.”

  “No, you’ve just never moved fast yourself.”

  “Really? You want to go there?”

  Their voices became faint as they strolled off into the darkness and eventually disappeared out of sight. Gabriel breathed out hard and remained in that spot for what felt like at least another thirty minutes before he edged his way out and brushed all the pine needles off his clothes.

  The first thing he did was dig into his pocket for his cell phone and try to warn Ella and the others about the men coming to the island. What he didn’t realize was that it was already too late.

  Tyrell gazed despondently at the ground when Frank looked over at him.

  “Tyrell, you okay?”

  He cast a sideways glance. “I’m sorry, Frank. He had a gun to my head.”

  “I probably would have done the same.” Frank tried again to get his arms free but it was useless. They had tied the restraints so tight it was nearly cutting off the circulation in his arms. He surveyed the area, and winced as he heard distant gunfire. It was barely audible but he knew it was coming from his island. The thought of them massacring the others sent him in a cycle of anger, frustration, despair, and then back to being hopeful that he could get out before it was too late. He gazed into the fire pit and watched the flames flicker, and listened to the sound of wood popping. An overwhelming sense that he was out of control and a wave of regret for stepping foot on the island hit him.

  Fifteen minutes passed, maybe more before Palmer and Jackson reappeared. Frank’s brow knit together as he noticed that Gabriel wasn’t with them. They glanced over at Frank before making their way towards the house. They hadn’t got within ten feet when Butch came out and burst into a rant.

  “So where is he?”

  “Uh, dead. He tried to escape and well… his body is in the river,” Palmer said.

  Butch, who was probably used to them lying, looked at Jackson. “Is that right?”

&
nbsp; He nodded affirmatively like a young child who was hoping to escape the wrath of an angry parent. He shook his head and looked at them as if he wasn’t sure whether to believe them.

  “Well I guess that just speeds things up,” he said before walking past them and making his way over to Frank and Tyrell.

  “Seems your friend took the easy way out.”

  “Bastard,” Tyrell said.

  Butch scowled and then threw a right hook. “None of this would have happened if you had just stayed on your island.”

  “Oh, it’s our fault?” Frank said. “I think you must be suffering from a slight case of amnesia. You stole my supplies.”

  “And I would have gladly given them back, under certain conditions.”

  “They weren’t yours to make conditions on.”

  He laughed and pulled out a cigarette. “Now I’ve been thinking what would be a suitable death for both of you.”

  He pulled out his handgun and placed it against Frank’s head. “A bullet to the head? Would be quick, practically painless. It would almost be like I was extending mercy to you. No, then I thought about infecting you. I mean, I hear that is one hell of a way to die. Hours of excruciating pain, it seems fitting for someone like you.”

  “You’ve made the assumption I wanted to kill him. Think about it, Butch. If I wanted to kill, I would have killed Joey. I could have done it but I didn’t. I cuffed him instead. Hell, I even could have shot your cousin before he went for his gun but I didn’t. What happened to Jimmy has happened, and I’m truly sorry. But it was an accident.”

  “Sorry? Like you are about Clarence? Was the round in his head an accident?”

  Frank frowned as he thought back. “Clarence? I never shot Clarence. That was that lunatic Abner Rooney, and your brother finished him off. I just happened to be there.”

  “Accidents, coincidences, I got to say, Frank, you do have a way of getting yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He tapped him on the side of the face. “But you raise an interesting point. What were you doing there?”

  Frank gazed down at the ground and that’s when the idea came to him.

  “The same reason your guys were there. Guns, and a shitload of ammo.”

  Butch stepped back, regarding him with an expression of skepticism.

  “They told me there were none.”

  “None they could see. Abner might have been a lunatic but he was smart and made sure those weapons were not easy to find.”

  “Well, thanks for the heads-up, I’ll have some of my men tear the place apart.”

  Frank sniffed hard and shook his head. “You won’t find them. And believe me there are a lot. Enough I would say to arm all your family, the people on this island, and then some. More than enough ammo to last you at least one or two years.”

  “So where are they stored?”

  “I’ll take you to them.”

  “No, you will tell me where they are.”

  “Hard to explain really. Better you take me over there.”

  Butch got real close and stared at him. Frank startled chuckling.

  “You got trust issues, Butch?”

  After he said that, Butch pulled out a serrated hunting knife and went over to Tyrell and jammed it against the side of his neck. Tyrell let out a cry.

  “I’m not screwing around. Where are they!”

  “Don’t tell him, Tyrell, he’s only going to kill us anyway, isn’t that right, Butch?”

  Tyrell let out a gasping noise as Butch applied pressure.

  “Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. Just ease up.”

  “Fuck man, don’t you ever know when to close your mouth?” Frank said.

  “Screw you, Frank. You got us into this. I’m not dying for you.”

  Before he could say anything, Dougie came out of the house, yelling for Butch.

  “Butch, you need to take this.”

  He sneered at both of them, then released the knife and charged away. Frank watched as he went into the house. As soon as he was gone he turned to Tyrell.

  “Listen up. You want to get out of here, you are going to have to do everything I say.”

  “Forget it. I’m done listening to you. Hell, you are as mad as your daughter said.”

  Hearing that was like a knife going through his heart. It wasn’t as if he expected her to think that he didn’t have issues. He did. But he’d improved, at least Sal thought so.

  “Tyrell. I’m serious. You want to live, you are going to need to run with me on this.”

  Tyrell sighed, then nodded. Frank began to explain what he wanted him to tell Butch. It was a fifty-fifty chance that it would go wrong but those odds were better than the ones they had right now. The fact was Tyrell wasn’t even there on the day they visited Abner’s place. He knew about the table but not how it operated. That was his ticket out otherwise he might have taken Tyrell and killed Frank.

  When Butch came out of the house about five minutes later, his face was a beet red, and he looked as if he was about to explode. He yanked his knife from the sheath on his leg and rushed up to Tyrell and placed it against his neck.

  “You better have something good to tell me.”

  Tyrell gulped. “All I know is it’s below the pool table.”

  “Thank you, then I don’t need you.” He tensed up as if he was about to slash Tyrell’s neck when Frank spoke.

  “You don’t want to do that,” Frank blurted out.

  “Why not? Seems your people have shot one of mine.”

  “Self-defense. You act aggressively, what the hell do you expect people are going to do? Listen, Tyrell’s right. It’s below the pool table but unless you have some drilling device you aren’t getting through fifteen feet of concrete and steel without my help.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know how to operate the mechanism that brings it down. I saw him do it.”

  Butch pulled his knife away from Tyrell and walked towards Frank.

  “So how’s it work?”

  “Like I said. It’s not easily explained. There are sensors that are weight sensitive. They aren’t marked out. Unless you know where to stand, it doesn’t matter what button you press, you aren’t getting in.”

  Butch looked away and gnawed on the inside of his cheek.

  “Okay. You are going but he doesn’t need to go.”

  “You kill him, you can forget getting inside.”

  Butch narrowed his eyes and paced back and forth for a few seconds twisting the knife around in his hand.

  “And what do you get out of this?” Butch asked.

  Frank sighed. He hesitated before he spoke. “I know you’re not going to let me live, but all I ask is that you leave the others alone. They haven’t done anything to warrant this. You want someone to blame. Blame me. But leave them out of this.”

  Butch smirked and then chuckled wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “You know, Frank, you’re a real humanitarian. Are you really willing to die for others?”

  “If it means they get to live, yeah. But you have to promise to be true to your word.”

  “You got trust issues, Frank?” he said throwing back the same words Frank had said.

  “So? Is it a deal?” Frank asked.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, it’s a deal. I would shake on it but you’re kind of tied up,” he said before walking away.

  “So when do you want to go?”

  With his back to them he replied, “Soon, Frank. Soon. I just need to give the boys the heads-up.”

  He wandered off and disappeared into his home. Tyrell turned to Frank. “You trust him?”

  “Of course not, he’s going to screw us over the first chance he gets. I expect that.”

  “Why do I get a sense you’re not telling me everything?” Tyrell asked.

  “Cause a gambler always keeps his cards close to his chest.”

  Not far from Butch’s property, Gabriel was completely lost. After walking for what seemed like an hour
, he eventually emerged near a property that didn’t look anything like the one he’d been at. With it still being night he couldn’t tell if he had gone east or west. He looked up at the stars and moon and tried to remember what his old teacher had said about being able to navigate by way of the stars. He must have blocked it out as he had no idea now.

  He was about to head up to the house when his phone buzzed. Fishing it out, he saw a text from Ella. He’d managed to get through to her earlier but they had come under heavy fire and so she’d told him she’d get back to him as soon as there was a clear moment.

  “Is my father alive?”

  “The last time I saw him he was. I don’t know right now. Hell, I don’t even know where I am on this damn island.” He looked around for a sign, some indication of where he was but there was nothing. It was nothing but woodland, trails, and flat land. He continued up towards the house. The lights were on, he just hoped they weren’t Butch’s family.

  “Zach has been shot. He’s alive but in a lot of pain.”

  “Shit.”

  “If you see my father, let him know I love him. I don’t know if we are getting out of this.”

  “Don’t say shit like that.”

  “I’m scared, Gabriel.”

  “I know, just hang in there. Is Hayley okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Listen, we’ll come to help, trust me. We’re coming.”

  “Hurry.”

  And that was it. He sent another text message but didn’t get a reply. He felt like an idiot for promising her something when he had no clue where the hell he was. He looked up and pressed on towards the house. When he climbed onto the porch and peeked in through the window, he saw a family huddled together in a living room. They looked to be discussing something. A large kitchen knife rested on the table and a baseball bat was leaning up against the counter. He couldn’t make out what they were saying but the conversation with a dark-haired man looked to be heated. He contemplated just pressing on into the darkness of the night but he was done running. Something had to be done. This was bigger than his fear.