Amitola: The Making of a Tribe

by A. Grant Richard

  “Where’s mom?” Jaxon asked.

  Weak and unable to move the muscles in his face, Carsten mumbled, “Danny went back to find them.”

  Tye’s hands flew up as he searched to find where the voice was coming from. Suddenly, a hairy fist collided with his temple. Dazed, he stumbled then regained his composure. He looked the man in his eyes and cracked him in the jaw. He drew his arm back to land another blow when he felt someone jump on his back.

  He grabbed their arm and spun around, flinging them to the ground. His eyes met Maia’s. She was straddling someone and had a gun pointed at their face. Tye swung an uppercut taking down the first man who’d attacked him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tomas and Charlie holding their own against other marauders.

  He shook his head “no” to Maia warning her not to shoot the gun. The dog hunters were still out there, and he didn’t want to give them their exact location. He wasn’t sure who these people were, but he knew they weren’t the dog hunters.

  He put a couple more men on the ground then pulled some young guy off of Charlie, “What’s your problem, boy? Didn’t anybody ever teach you to respect your elders?”

  Charlie sat up and swung a pipe at the boy’s legs. He fell to the ground. Charlie got up and stood over him then hit him one more time. “I know how to earn respect,” Charlie said. He turned to Tye and pointed the pipe at him, “Call me your elder one more time, sonny boy.” He laughed.

  “I’m glad y’all are having such a good time,” Maia said, still holding a gun on someone. “What do we do with her?” she asked.

  Tye opened his mouth to reply before the words even left his mouth, the woman grabbed Maia’s hands, pulled the gun towards her own head and pushed the trigger.

  Blood, bone fragments and brain matter instantly forced their way out of the side of her head.

  Maia gasped and pulled the gun back, quickly standing to her feet. “Oh, my God! I didn’t do that!”

  Charlie grabbed the gun from her and handed it to Tye. He grabbed ahold of her and led her back against the tunnel where the kids were hidden. “It’s okay,” he said. “She did what she wanted to do. That’s on her.”

  She acknowledged Charlie and walked back to the woman to search her. “Who are they?” she asked. “Where did they come from?”

  “I don’t know who they are, but I recognize one of them. That long-haired one over there is the one that robbed me a couple days ago at the roadblock,” Tye replied as he finished searching the guys and tying them up. He pointed to their feet and told Tomas, “Take their shoes off and go throw them in the tunnel.”

  One of the coywolves walked over and sniffed the men. Tye swatted his hand at him to shoo him away. “Go!” he said, as the wolf slowly walked away whimpering.

  Maia walked over to him and knelt beside him.

  “You okay?” he asked her.

  “I found this on that woman’s finger. I know it isn’t hers. I’ve seen this beauty on Beth’s hand one too many times. I remember when she told us how she chipped it too,” she said pointing to the imperfection on the ruby.

  He took the ring from her, smiling from ear to ear. “I had it on my pinky that day. I don’t know why. I just felt like I needed to be close to her.” He kissed it then put it in his pocket. “I figured it was gone for good.”

  They stood and faced each other. She had tears in her eyes. They were lost in each other as the crew around them scrambled to clear the area so they could move on. He pulled her closer to him, “My love for her will always be there but this, with you, this will too.”

  “We going or we waiting here until we get more customers?” Charlie asked.

  “I know,” she said to Tye. She flung her backpack onto her shoulder, “We’re going, Charlie. Golly, you are so impatient.”

  Charlie smiled back at her then winked at Tye. “Let’s go then,” he said. “That gun going off is like a blue light special in the Piggly Wiggly Supermarket.”

  They were only a few yards away from the clearing when they heard the trucks. Tye needed to assess the situation, so he motioned for them to stop. They hung back a bit and watched. There were three trucks of dog hunters. Apparently, some were unphased by botulism.

  “Let me guess, these are the non-drinkers,” Charlie said.

  One by one they stepped out of the vehicles. A couple of them staggered but regained their composure quickly. A tall, brut man walked around to the back of the truck and pulled up the drop cloth. Two dogs stood at attention, ready to obey.

  Another man, short and stout pointed out toward the area where they were hiding. Maia’s breaths increased. She knew they were bordered on two sides. If they were looking to find someone, then they would. They had nowhere to go.

  Her pulse raced when she saw the tall, brute man clip the leashes on the dog’s collars. She knew no matter what preventative methods she tried that those dogs would sniff Sadie out. Then they began to walk towards them. They had nowhere to go.

  Maia looked over at Tye, then Sadie. There was no other choice to make in her mind. She knew what she had to do. The dogs were getting closer.

  She gave Charlie a hopeful glance and mouthed, “thank you,” then she rushed into Tye’s arms, removed her bandana, pulled his bandana away from his trembling lips, and hesitated only for a moment before leaning in to kiss him.

  She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him to her. She felt the heat as he wrapped his arms around her, maneuvering his fingers up her back and into her hair underneath the beanie she wore. For that brief moment no one else existed. She gave him every bit of life left within her then she pulled away. “Promise me you’ll take care of my boys and find Gabe.”

  “Yes, I will, but what are you saying?” he asked her, his voice breaking.

  Promise me,” she said again.

  She heard him whisper, “I promise,” as she walked away.

  The dog hunter noticed her, and he paused. He gave a command and pulled back on the beast’s leash. She felt her anxiety level rise, but she knew she couldn’t function that way. She shook it off and told herself this was just one more obstacle to overcome.

  She turned to look behind her. Tye writhed against the tree. Charlie wasn’t visible, but she knew he was probably comforting the kids and keeping them safe.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Tye’s eyes caught hers. He felt himself losing control. He shook his head no. There was no way he could let her do this. He grabbed his stomach, then reached for his gun.

  He looked over at Charlie, “Get them out of here.”

  He didn’t dare look at Sadie. He couldn’t. He had to focus on getting Maia out of that situation then getting them all to Amitola. He struggled. He knew this was likely a suicide mission. His daughters would be left without him in this world.

  He stopped and tucked himself behind a tree. He pulled his bandana down so he could breathe, but the wind blew with such force that he had to put it back on. He wound his fists tight, and sweat dripped from his forehead as he pounded them on the top of his own head. Tears threatened to flow. For a moment he considered letting her go, but only for a moment.

  The sound of the dogs growling brought him out of his daze. He wiped the moisture from his face, readied his rifle and spun around the tree ready to take every last one of them out even if he died in the process. At least his girls had Junior, Caleb, and Charlie. Right now, he was all Maia had.

  He had barely made a full pivot when he gasped out loud and stopped dead in his tracks. He stared, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

  Maia stood still a couple of yards in front of him. About a dozen coywolves surrounded her. They snarled, teeth bared, ears stretched forward, and their tails held high. It was them he heard growling, not the dogs.

  The dog hunters were stunned. Their dogs, unwilling to face off with the coywolves had tucked their tails and retreated behind their handler. Maia stood motionless.

  His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of someone coming towa
rds him. It was Danny. He gave Tye a thumbs up. They both moved toward Maia at the same time.

  As soon as the dog hunters saw them coming, they moved in. Gunshots blared. Canines yelped and attacked. The stout man and the dog handler both went after Maia. She quickly escaped the grasp of the stout man, and within seconds, the coywolves were on him.

  Tye took aim and pulled the trigger to stop the other man. The lead pierced the dog handler’s throat, and he dropped to his knees. With the stout man still within reach, she pushed him to the ground and pointed the gun at him even as the coywolves tore at his flesh.

  Rain poured as the men from Amitola joined them from every direction. They’d all been waiting for Maia and the kids to make it across safely. Tye swung a few blows and ended the misery of one of the severely wounded dogs who’d been attacked by the coywolves. He stood in the center of the chaos and looked around in every direction.

  Charlie and Danny were running towards them with the kids. Maia was still holding a gun on the stout man, yelling at him. Men, and younger men, all from Amitola fought side by side to protect the most precious thing they had left: a woman; a girl; and the idea of home. These were his people. This was his tribe.

  The sound of more trucks coming down the road put him on alert. He pulled Maia up and grabbed Sadie then led them to the truck. When they got to it, they were startled once again. It was full of people. Several women, girls, and two men occupied the space.

  A few of them held up their bound hands in surrender, “No, please!”

  “No, they’re okay. We know them,” they heard a voice say.

  The woman was barely recognizable. “Saraya?” Maia asked.

  “Yes,” she said in a barely audible voice. “They killed Jamil. They hit Preston in the head. I don’t know if he’s okay. He won’t wake up.”

  Maia lifted her foot to climb in when Tye stopped her. “Wait.” He said.

  He climbed in and checked to be sure each person was restrained. He didn’t know what to believe yet, so he wasn’t taking any chances. He found Preston laying in the corner with a deep gash on his head. He checked him for a pulse. “He’s alive.”

  Saraya began to cry again. Tye reached down and helped Maia into the truck. “We gotta go. There’s more trucks coming,” he said, pointing.

  “No, they just radioed. That’s our boys,” Danny reassured him.

  Tye noted how kind Maia was to the women, especially Saraya. She gave them her own bottled water and food. She even tried to clean up Saraya’s face.

  “We’re all going to be okay. You don’t have to be anybody’s slave.”

  “Are you going to let us go?” One woman asked.

  Before Maia could answer the trucks that had been speeding towards them skidded to a stop. Jaxon ran from around the back of one of them. Tye watched as tears ran down the boy's face and he whispered something inaudible to his mother. “No!” she cried as she pushed everyone out of the way and jumped out the back of the truck.

  He attempted to follow her, but Caleb stopped him. “What happened, man?” he asked him.

  Caleb shook his head. Tye knew that look on his face. He chased Maia around the back of the truck where she was hovering over Carsten.

  Tye hopped in and looked at the boy. His visible eye was alert. He was alive, but he was shaking and he lips were blue. “Are you okay, dude?”

  He tried to speak but couldn’t. Jaxon interceded for him, “He fell on a branch, and it went in his eye and out the side of his head.”

  “What?” Maia gasped.

  “He’ll be alright,” Trey assured her.

  “It looks bad, mom, but he’s going to be okay.” Jaxon put his arm around her and began to cry.

  She looked at him, searching for a reason. “What’s wrong? What? Tell me.”

  “Parker,” Rodney blurted out. “He’s gone. He’s dead.”

  Caleb tapped the back of the truck. “We’re moving out. Hold on to something.”

  The truck vibrated and slowly began to move. Tye held on to Maia as she cared for Carsten and mourned the loss of Parker.

  He looked out the back of the truck and smiled, “Huh. Well, look at that. It looks like we have some new pets.”

  The coywolves paraded behind them, slowly at first then to an all-out run. Only one slowed. It walked with a limp and left a blood trail behind it.

  The trucks stopped. Danny and Jay got out and gathered up the coywolves in one of the trucks. The injured wolf was seated right between Dumais and Charlie. The three of them would’ve made the cover of TIME Magazine if such a thing still existed.

  The trucks rolled on, and soon they could hear an eery howl resonating from the truck carrying the coywolves.

  “Our dead are in that truck,” Rodney said.

  Maia turned to Rodney, he was holding an IV bag up. She realized it was Sean who was laying there.

  “Our dead?” she asked. “Who? Who died?”

  Tye could see that Rodney didn’t want to answer her. He fought it. Told her to worry about all that when they got home and to be thankful her boys were alive.

  “Dammit, Rodney! Who died?” she asked him again.

  Rodney’s eyes widened, and his jaw clenched. Maia looked at Jaxon then back at Rodney. She held her hands out like she was trying to steady herself.

  “Oh my god,” she wailed. “Tony?”

  Rodney didn’t say anything. He didn’t look at her. Jaxon reached out to comfort her, but she was inconsolable. Tye couldn’t do anything but be present for her. He held his little girl on his lap and tightened his grip on her. Burying his face in her back to hide his own tears.

  She cried the whole way to the gates of Amitola. She paused on a moment or two to comfort her boys, but then she went right back to mourning her loss.

  The truck was cold but smelled of sweat and blood. They were exhausted, hungry, thirsty and angry, but they were also alive.

  Not another soul was spotted along the way. In fact, it was rather quiet until they passed over the train tracks and made it down a couple of blocks.

  People began to come out of their doors and the streets filled with cheers and shouting. Though he didn’t see many women or children at all, he was still pleasantly surprised at the number of people. And it was peaceful here. It washed over him the moment they crossed the tracks.

  He pulled his bandana down, leaned his head back, closed his eyes and inhaled. He almost smiled. He filtered out the noise and realized he no longer heard Maia crying. He opened his eyes and looked over at her.

  She had shaken off her tears and though her eyes were still red and swollen, she smiled, "We’re finally home." Then she fixed her eyes on Tye, "Welcome to Amitola.”

  Also by A. Grant Richard

  I hope that you enjoyed book one of the Amitola series. If so, it would really help me out if you would post a short review on Amazon. These reviews help us authors in so many ways, but mostly, it allows us to continue writing great content!

  You’ll also want to be sure to get a copy of the second book in the Amitola series, due to be released March 2019!

  You can purchase using the link below:

  http://simplelivingbayou.com/New-releases

  About the Author

  A. Grant Richard, or just Amy, is an emerging author of fiction thrillers. She’s a sassy little Cajun woman born and raised just south of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

  Professionally, Amy is a detailed oriented, organizing fiend whose mad skills have landed her jobs as Executive Administrator of government offices, the Director of Development of a multi-faceted organization, as well as holding a chair on the board of one of the largest women’s ministries in the country. These days though, Amy carries a badge and works as a death investigator at a local coroner’s office.

  In her spare time, Amy is an author, marketing strategist, and digital designer with years of online experience. Amy is most proud, however, of her success as the mom of four boys and one daughter-in-love. She resides in Cajun Country wi
th her significant other, her two youngest sons, and two fur babies.