Fighting Chance - A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (Lights Out in Vegas Book 3)

by Sean Patten

  I pointed the flashlight in the direction of the voice, the beam landing on a ragged woman in her twenties, her face wet and her hair soaked.

  Without thinking, I slipped my arm away from Steve and ran over to her.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “My daughter,” she said, pointing to the wall behind her. “She’s on the other side of the wall.”

  Her eyes were wild with fear, and she could barely speak straight.

  “I went through the pipe to check the passage and when I turned around it had flooded…I don’t know how to swim…I…I…”

  The poor woman looked on the verge of having a panic attack. I shined the light down into the rising water and spotted a pipe leading to…somewhere.

  “Steve,” I said, turning back to him. “I gotta—”

  To my surprise, he nodded without hesitation.

  “I can make it the rest of the way,” he said. “Do what you need to do.”

  “Her name’s Katie,” said the woman. “Please!”

  I pulled him into a tight hug, and he gave me one last knowing look before turning towards the exit and heading off as fast as his injured leg could take him.

  I didn’t waste another moment. After taking in a deep lungful of air, I jumped into the water. The flashlight shined a murky beam through the water, low but bright enough for me to see. The pipe kept on ahead, and I swam through it as fast as I could.

  After a few moments, I spotted the surface of the water. I went up, breaking through and taking in a full breath of dirty air. The beam cut through the dark, landing on a small girl, no older than eight, dressed in grimy clothes and clutching a small doll with dingy hair.

  “Katie?” I asked.

  She said nothing at first, her wide eyes on me.

  “We have to go now,” I said. “Your mom sent me.”

  “I…I don’t know how to swim,” she said.

  “That’s okay,” I said as I treaded water. “I’ll hold onto you, and you hold onto your doll, okay?”

  She hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. I went over to the edge of the water and reached up, taking the surprisingly heavy girl into my arm.

  “Now, take in a breath and hold it, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Now!”

  We both took in a big lungful of air before I plunged under the water. But as we sank, the flashlight fell from my hand, sinking to the bottom.

  No time to get it, not with the girl in tow. I was going to have to swim in the dark.

  Katie clutched close under one arm, I swam as hard as I could back in the direction that I’d come. The pipe was dark, and for a moment I worried I wasn’t going to be able to reach the end. But after a few more seconds, I spotted beams of light through the water from the fleeing people who’d been carrying flashlights.

  I went up, breaking through the surface, Katie and I taking in breath after breath.

  “Katie!” shouted her mother, her hands shooting out and taking her out of my arm.

  “Mommy!”

  She pulled her daughter close as I made my way to the edge and climbed onto the submerged path.

  “Thank you!” she said, the tears in her eyes visible even in the low light. “I don’t know what to—”

  “Don’t thank me, just take your daughter and get out!” I said, pointing to the exit. “This whole place is going to be underwater in a few minutes.”

  She nodded, taking one last look at me before heading off with Katie’s hand clutched tightly in hers.

  Without Steve to support, I was able to break into a full run and cover the rest of the distance. Once I reached the exit pipe I tore through it, weaving my way through the crowd and coming out onto the other side.

  It was morning, but the sky was dark from the storm clouds above, torrents of water pouring down. I looked for Steve, spotting him taking cover under the remnants of a bus stop.

  “You do it?” he asked as I approached.

  “Did it.”

  He nodded.

  At that moment the urge to check my back pocket came over me. I reached around, placing my hand over where the medal was and…found nothing.

  It was gone.

  “Come on,” said Steve, turning and beginning his way to the Strip. “No time to stick around.”

  I wanted to drop to my knees in defeat. But I didn’t. I kept on.

  This wasn’t over yet.

  Chapter 24

  “It had to be the Medley,” said Steve over the downpour. “Of all the casinos in this city…”

  “It was the first one that came to mind,” I said. “And it’s not like it’s hard to find.”

  “I guess you’re right,” he said. “But shit, I’d be happy if I never saw the Strip again in my life.”

  “I’m right there with you,” I said.

  The scene at the Strip was just as chaotic as ever, perhaps even worse than it had been before. The wild partying of the mob hadn’t let up, the rain giving it an even more primal, uncontrollable feel. The roiling sky above, dark with thick clouds of desert rain, only made the scene seem more surreal.

  Sewer dwellers continued to pour out of the pipe, their eyes adjusting to the low morning light. Dozens and dozens emerged, the city’s poor soon merging with the lawless masses above, fights breaking out here and there.

  I stayed until I spotted the mother and her daughter emerge safely. Part of me wanted to go over to her, to tell her and her little girl to come with us. But I realized there was no way.

  “Can’t help everyone,” said Steve. “Not unless you want to find a bus to bring them all.”

  “I know,” I said. “Just don’t like feeling helpless is all.”

  “You were hardly helpless,” he said. “You saved that little girl’s life.”

  I nodded, my eyes still on the mother and daughter as they disappeared into the crowd and were gone. Whatever fate had in store for them, I wouldn’t be around to see it.

  “Come on,” said Steve. “Let’s find the others.”

  The two of us stepped out from under the cover of the bus stop, the rain soaking us to the bone and washing the disgusting grime off our bodies. Being drenched was a problem that would need to be solved, but it would have to wait until we were reunited with Hopkins and Kelly and as far away from the Strip as possible.

  Gunfire crackled through the commotion at the Strip, accompanied by the smash of whatever windows were still unbroken. I knew it had to be dawning on the city by this point that the power was out for good—what was happening now was wild, animal behavior, the kind one would expect from those who just realized that civilization was gone, and wasn’t coming back.

  Here and now.

  I snapped myself out of it as I tried to get a sense of where we were. To our left and right the casinos loomed over us, most of them already looking wrecked, windows smashed and cars overturned on the front of the property. Many of the buildings, which only two days ago were bright and clean, looked like they were ready for demolition.

  “Didn’t take these assholes long to ruin this city,” said Steve as we continued on in the rain, making our way from cover to cover.

  “No kidding,” I said. “Now imagine this scene in every other city in the world.”

  “Shit,” he said. “Your bunker in the middle of nowhere’s sounding better by the minute.”

  I couldn’t agree with him more. I knew it’d be a hell of a trip to get there, but it’d be all worth it once we were safe and sound back in New Mexico, surrounded by food and guns and no one for miles. Once there, we could hunker down and wait for the worst to be over.

  “There!” shouted Steve, pointing ahead with his free hand. “Medley’s just past there!”

  The two of us picked up our pace, making our way down the Strip. As we moved I kept a close eye on the mobs of people in the street. Thankfully, most of them were too high or drunk or whatever else to pay us any mind.

  Before too long the enormous Medley fountain appeared of
f in the distance. No jets of water sprayed through the air, of course, the water rippling from the downpour. Steve and I rushed to the fountain, Steve taking a load off and sitting on the edge once we arrived. I glanced down at his bandaging, relieved that Hopkins had done a hell of a job getting the wound covered.

  “How you holding up?” I asked.

  “Hanging in there,” he said, adjusting the strap of the bag of supplies. “Wouldn’t mind getting into the scotch I saved.”

  I let out a dry laugh.

  “Wait until we’re in a car on the way to New Mexico before we celebrate,” I said. “And you can drive—I’ll be in the backseat with the scotch.”

  He cocked his head to the side and stuck out his lip in an over-the-top display of sadness.

  “You’re going to make your poor injured brother drive?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I said. “Should make you feel good to do something other than lying on your ass.”

  I reached over and gave him a pat on the shoulder as he let out a laugh. He glanced over his shoulder and took in the sight of the abandoned Medley.

  “Where are those two?” he asked. “Standing around in the rain like this isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.”

  “No kidding,” I said.

  A tinge of panic ran through me at the idea of something having happened to Hopkins and Kelly. But before I could dwell on it for too long, a pair of familiar figures appeared at one of the many front doors of the Medley.

  “Shit!” said Steve, spotting them at the same time as me. “There they are! Come on!”

  Steve hobbled up onto his crutch and together the two of us made our way across the vast expanse of the Medley property. Kelly and Hopkins cut the distance, relief flowing through me as I saw that they were both unharmed.

  “What took you two so long?” asked Hopkins.

  “Someone had to play hero,” said Steve, tilting his head towards me.

  “That right?” asked Hopkins. “What kind of hero-playing are we talking about?”

  “I’ll tell you all about it later,” I said. “Once we find a car.”

  “Good call,” said Kelly. “Hopkins and I checked the casino out while we were waiting. Turns out that they’ve got the same setup as the Troika, with all the expensive cars down at the lowest level of the garage. Bet we could find a ride to hot-wire if we look.”

  She smiled.

  “Might not be a pink Caddy, but hopefully it should get us where we need to go.”

  “A pink Caddy?” Steve repeated. “What the hell did you two get up to while I was laid up?”

  “More stories for the road,” I said. “But for now, let’s get moving.”

  “Yeah,” said Steve. “I’m ready to get out of the rain.”

  Together, the four of us crossed the rest of the front stretch of the Medley, soon arriving at the doors. I looked into the place before stepping inside, the interior ravaged from looting and the gunfight we’d been there to witness.

  We stepped into the lobby, the rain giving way to a strange quiet. In addition to the wrecked…well, everything, the bodies from the shootout were still there. This time I could make them out in the low light of the stormy morning. Their black-clad bodies had been scavenged, of course, picked clean of guns or anything else that might’ve been of use.

  “Come on,” said Kelly. “Parking garage is this way.”

  “Yeah,” said Steve. “This place gives me the creeps. Less time we spend here, the—”

  A gunshot cracked through the air, cutting Steve off.

  “What the—” he asked.

  The four of us turned on our heels, and what I saw was beyond belief.

  It was Oleg.

  He was drenched, his expensive suit ruined from fire and rain, a wild, almost fanatic expression plastered on his face.

  And a gun was held up in front of him.

  “Mr. Powell,” he said. “How funny to see you here.”

  He pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger, the barrel flashing with a bullet aimed straight for my head.

  Chapter 25

  My eyes closed, I waited for the searing pain to cut through me. I’d never been shot before, but from what I’d heard, it was something akin to being bitten by an animal with hot teeth.

  I waited, and I felt nothing.

  When opened my eyes I realized why. Standing in front of me was Hopkins, his arms outstretched. He stood for a long moment before dropping down to his knees and slumping over.

  “Everyone get down!” I shouted.

  The three of us broke up, another shot ringing through the air and pinging off the metal of one of the nearby slot machines. Kelly ran to the right, Steve hobbled to the left, and I took off directly behind me, running deeper into the depths of the casino floor.

  “Running’s not going to do you any good!” shouted Oleg as I scrambled for cover.

  Another gunshot rang out through the casino, followed by another ping against metal. Oleg was out of control, his rage having pushed him into a frenzy. I scrambled behind one of the card tables, my eyes frantically scanning the area for anything I could use as a weapon.

  “You could’ve had it all, Mr. Powell!” he cried out. “But you had to throw it all away. And for what?”

  Another gunshot. I looked around, trying to spot any sign of Kelly or Steve.

  “You took my money, my casino—everything my father and I worked for! And now you’re going to pay!”

  I stayed perfectly still, not moving an inch.

  “Only thing I need to figure out is how I’m going to make you do it,” he went on. “Maybe kill your girl first? Make you watch? That might work.”

  Another gunshot, this one closer.

  “And who’s this? Your brother? Be a shame if you went to all that trouble to get him just for me to shoot him in the street like a dog!”

  Another shot, this one kicking up the cards on the table behind me. Oleg was getting closer. It was only a matter of time before he found me or Kelly or Steve.

  “Where are you, Mr. Powell?” he asked. “You know you can’t hide forever, right? Thought you’d leave me to burn, thought you were done with me. But God, I haven’t been thinking about anything other than the look on you and that bitch’s faces when I’ve got you both on your knees in front of me, my gun right between your eyes.”

  Another shot popped, this one hitting the back wall of the main floor. I began to wonder how close he was to running through his bullets.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” he called out. “Might as well make this easy for all of us!”

  I could hear his footsteps on the floor, growing louder by the second.

  “Psst!”

  Someone had called out to me.

  I searched around, eventually spotting Kelly. She was hidden behind the farthest back row of the slot machines, her arm outstretched as she pointed at something up ahead. I looked in the direction she was pointing, trying to see what was she was trying to draw to my attention.

  Then I saw it. Up ahead was the body of one of the heist crew who’d assaulted the Medley the other night. I turned my attention by to Kelly. She formed her hand into a fist, making a stabbing motion.

  A knife.

  I squinted, spotting what she was trying to point out. Hooked onto the belt of the robber was the black handle of a KA-BAR knife. Whoever had scavenged the supplies from the bodies had overlooked it.

  It’d do the job. Only problem was that it was two dozen feet ahead.

  Kelly pointed to her chest, nodding. I had no idea what it meant.

  But I didn’t wonder for long. Kelly closed her eyes and slammed her body against the slot machine she was hiding behind, the massive silver thing rocking from the impact. She did it again, then again, then again, each time causing it to tip over more and more.

  Then, with one last slam of her body, she knocked it over. The slot machine fell back, colliding with the one behind it. That one hit the one behind it, then the one behind it,
and on and one, the massive machines falling over like a set of dominoes.

  “What the—” said Oleg over the sound.

  I wasn’t going to get a better distraction than that. My head low, I rushed over to the robber and snatched the knife off his body, tucking the blade into my sleeve, the steel cold against my skin.

  “There you are!” shouted Oleg.

  A glance in Kelly’s direction revealed that she was long gone. I turned to see Oleg standing only a few dozen feet from me, the gun in his hand and the wild expression still on his face.

  “Got you.”

  He raised the gun slowly, drawing a bead on me. But right at the moment he fired, something sailed through the air out of the corner of my eye, something headed right towards Oleg.

  It was Steve’s crutch.

  The thing hit Oleg square in the temple, a cry of pain sounding from him as it fell to the floor in a clatter.

  “Fuck!” he said, his face in a wince. “You fucking—”

  And there was my chance. Taking the blade out, I ran towards Oleg with all the strength I had. I closed the distance in seconds and was soon on top of the prick. With a quick jab, I drove the blade into his stomach, the muscles of his core giving way as the blade pierced his guts.

  He let out an “oof” as the knife hit its mark. Oleg flicked his eyes up at me, his expression of animal rage having given way to confusion.

  “This time,” I said. “Stay down.”

  Oleg complied, dropping to his knees in a heap.

  Done.

  I rushed over in the direction that the crutch had come from, finding Steve hidden behind another set of electronic games. He was shaken, but fine.

  “Holy shit,” I said. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded.

  “Think so,” he said. “But you see that throw? I was like a damn Olympian with that shit!”

  I let out a laugh, one of relief and exhaustion.

  “He dead?” he asked.

  “Looks like it,” I said. “But I’m not going to stick around to find out.”

  “Where’s Kelly?” he asked.

  “Right here.”

  I turned around and, sure enough, she was standing behind me. In her hand was Steve’s crutch.